CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
Cornell University Library 
 PR5214.T31895 
 
 A terrible temptation. 
 
 3 1924 013 538 941 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tlie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013538941 
 
AT THIS MOMENT MR. ANGELO DASHED UP. 
 
XiDrari? jEbltion 
 
 THE WORKS OF 
 
 CHARLES READE, D. C. L 
 
 A Terrible 
 
 Temptation 
 
 (5e 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 (IDetropoHtan publfsWng (Compass 
 
 189S 
 
Xftrars JEbftfon 
 
 LIMITED TO ONE THOUSAND SETS, 
 
 of which this is 
 
 Number 
 
A TEEEIBLE TEMPTATIOK 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The morning-room of a large house in Portman Square, 
 London. 
 
 A gentleman in the prime of life stood with his elbow 
 on the broad mantel-piece, and made himself agreeable 
 to a young lady, seated a little way off, playing at work. 
 
 To the ear he was only conversing ; but his eyes dwelt 
 on her with loving admiration aU the time. Her posture 
 was favorable to this furtive inspection, for she leaned 
 her fair head over her work with a pretty, modest, 
 demure air, that seemed to say, " I suspect I am being 
 admired : I will not look to see ; I might have to check 
 it." 
 
 The gentleman's features were ordinary, except his 
 brow — that had power in it — but he had the beauty of 
 color ; his sunburnt features glowed with' health, and 
 his eye was bright. On the whole rather good-looking 
 when he smiled, but ugly when he frowned; for his 
 frown was a scowl, and betrayed a remarkable power of 
 hating. 
 
 Miss Arabella Bruce was a beauty. She had glorious 
 masses of dark red hair, and a dazzling white neck to 
 set it off ; large dove-like eyes, and a blooming oval face, 
 which would have been classical if her lips had been 
 
4 A TBRKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 thin and finely chiselled ; but here came in her Anglo- 
 Saxon breed, and spared society a Minerva, by giving 
 her two full and rosy lips. They made a smallish 
 mouth at rest, but parted ever so wide when they smiled, 
 and ravished the beholder with long even rows of dazzling 
 white teeth. 
 
 Her figure was tall and rather slim, but not at all 
 commanding. There are people whose very bodies ex- 
 press character ; and this tall, supple, graceful frame of 
 Bella Bruce breathed womanly subservience ; so did her 
 gestures : she would take up or put down her own scissors 
 half-timidly, and look round before threading her needle, 
 as if to see whether any soul objected. Her favorite 
 word was " May I ? " with a stress on the " May," and 
 she used it where most girls would say "I will," or 
 nothing, and do it. 
 
 Mr. Eichard Bassett was in love with her, and also 
 conscious that her fifteen thousand pounds would be a 
 fine addition to his present income, which was small, 
 though his distant expectations were great. As he had 
 known her but one month, and she seemed rather amiable 
 than inflammable, he had the prudence to proceed by 
 degrees ; and that is why, though his eyes gloated on 
 her, he merely regaled her with the gossip of the day, 
 not worth recording here. But, when he had actually 
 taken his hat to go, Bella Bruce put him a question that 
 had been on her mind the whole time ; for which reason 
 she had reserved it to the very last moment. 
 
 " Is Sir Charles Bassett in town ? " said she, mighty 
 carelessly, but bending a little lower over her embroidery. 
 
 "Don't know," said Eichard Bassett, with such a 
 sudden brevity and asperity that Miss Bruce looked up 
 and opened her lovely eyes. Mr. Eichard Bassett replied 
 to this mute inquiry. " We don't speak." Then, after 
 a pause, " He has robbed me of my inheritance." 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 6 
 
 «0h, Mr. Bassett!" 
 
 "Yes, Miss Bruce, the Bassett and Huntercombe 
 estates were mine by right of birth. My father was 
 the eldest son, and they were entailed on him. But Sir 
 Charles's father persuaded my old doting grandfather to 
 cut off the entail, and settle the estates on him and his 
 heirs ; and so they robbed me of every acre they could. 
 Luckily my little estate of Highmore was settled on my 
 mother and her issue, too tight for the villains to undo." 
 
 These harsh expressions, applied to his own kin, and 
 the abruptness and heat they were uttered with, surprised 
 and repelled his gentle listener. She shrank a little 
 away from him. He observed it. She replied not to 
 his words, but to her own thought. 
 
 " But after all it does seem hard." She added with a 
 little fervor, "But it wasn't poor Sir Charles's doing 
 after all." 
 
 "He is content to reap the benefit," said Richard 
 Bassett sternly. 
 
 Then, finding he was making a sorry impression, he 
 tried to get away from the subject; I say tried, for till a 
 man can double like a hare, he will never get away from 
 his hobby. 
 
 "Excuse me," said he ; "I ought never to speak about 
 it. Let us talk of something else. You cannot enter 
 into my feelings — it makes my blood boiL Oh, Miss 
 Bruce ! you can't conceive what a disinherited man feels 
 — and I live at the very door : his old trees, that ought 
 to be mine, fling their shadows over my little flower- 
 beds ; the sixty chimneys of Huntercombe Hall look 
 down on my cottage ; his acres of lawn run up to my 
 little garden, and nothing but a ha-ha between us." 
 
 " It is hard," said Miss Bruce composedly ; not that 
 she entered into a hardship of this vulgar sort, but it 
 was her nature to soothe and please people. 
 
6 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION, 
 
 " Hard ! " cried Eichard Bassett, encouraged by even 
 this faint sympathy ; " it would be unendurable but for 
 one thing — I shall have my own some day." 
 
 " I am glad of that," said the lady ; " but how ? " 
 
 " By outliving the wrongful heir." 
 
 Miss Bruce turned pale. She had little experience of 
 men's passions. " Oh, Mr. Bassett ! " said she — and 
 there was something pure and holy in the look of sorrow 
 and alarm she cast on the presumptuous speaker — " pray 
 do not cherish such thoughts. They will do you harm. 
 And remember, life and death are not in our hands. 
 Besides " — 
 
 « WeU ? " 
 
 "Sir Charles might" — 
 
 " Well ? "■ 
 
 " Might he not — marry — and have children ? " This 
 with more hesitation and a deeper blush than appeared 
 absolutely necessary. 
 
 " Oh, there's no fear of that. Property ill-gotten never 
 descends. Charles is a worn-out rake; he was fast at 
 Eton — fast at Oxford — fast in London. Why, he looks 
 ten years older than I, and he is three years younger. 
 He had a fit two years ago. Besides, he is not a 
 marrying man. Bassett and Huntercombe will be mine. 
 And oh ! Miss Bruce, if ever they are mine " — 
 
 "Sir Charles Bassett!" trumpeted a servant at the 
 door ; and then waited, prudently, to know whether his 
 young lady, whom he had caught blushing so red with 
 one gentleman, would be at home to another. 
 
 "Wait a moment," said Miss Bruce to him. Then, 
 discreetly ignoring what Bassett had said last, and lower- 
 ing her voice almost to a whisper, she said hurriedly, 
 "You should not blame him for the faults of others. 
 There — I have not been long acquainted with either, 
 and am little entitled to inter — But it is such a pity 
 
A TEKKIBLB TKjrPTATION. 7 
 
 you axe not friends. He is very good, I assure you, and 
 very nice : let me reconcile you two. May I ? " 
 
 This weU-meant petition was uttered very sweetly, and 
 indeed — if I may be permitted — in a way to dissolve 
 a bear. 
 
 But this was not a bear, nor anything else that is 
 placable ; it was a man with a hobby-grievance ; so he 
 replied in character. 
 
 " That is impossible, so long as he keeps me out of my 
 own." He had the grace, however, to add, half sullenly, 
 " Excuse me : I feel I have been too vehement." 
 
 Miss Bruce, thus repelled, answered, rather coldly, 
 " Oh, never mind that ; it was very natural. I am at 
 home then," said she to the servant. 
 
 Mr. Bassett took the hint, but turned at the door, and 
 said, with no little agitation, " I was not aware he visits 
 you. One word — don't let his ill-gotten acres make you 
 quite forget the disinherited one." And so he left her, 
 with an imploring look. 
 
 She felt red with all this, so she slipped out at another 
 door, to cool her cheeks, and imprison a stray curl for 
 Sir Charles. 
 
 He strolled into the empty room, with the easy languid 
 air of fashion. His features were well cut, and had 
 some nobility ; but his sickly complexion, and the lines 
 under his eyes, told a tale of dissipation. He appeared 
 ten years older than he was, and thoroughly blase. 
 
 Yet, when Miss Bruce entered the room with a smile 
 and a little blush, he brightened up and looked hand- 
 some, and greeted her with momentary warmth. 
 
 After the usual inquiries, she asked him if he had met 
 anybody? 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 "Here ; just now." 
 
 "No." 
 
8 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " What, nobody at all ? " 
 
 " Only my sulky cousin ; I don't call Mm anybody," 
 drawled Sir Charles, who was now relapsing into his 
 normal condition of semi-apathy. 
 
 " Oh," said Miss Bruce gayly, " you must expect him 
 to be a little cross. It is not so very nice to be dis- 
 inherited, let me tell you." 
 
 " And who has disinherited the fellow ? " 
 
 "I forget; but you disinherited him amongst you. 
 Never mind; it can't be helped now. When did you 
 come back to town ? I didn't see you at Lady d'Arcy's 
 baU: did I?" 
 
 " You did not, unfortunately for me ; but you would if 
 I had known you were to be there. But about Richard : 
 he may tell you what he likes, but he was not disinherited; 
 he was bought out. The fact is, hfe father was uncom- 
 monly fast. My grandfather paid his debts again and 
 again ; but at last the old gentleman found he was deal- 
 ing with the Jews for his reversion. Then there was an 
 awful row. It ended in my grandfather outbidding the 
 Jews. He bought the reversion of his estate from his 
 own son for a large sum of money (he had to raise it by 
 mortgages) — then they cut off the entail between them, 
 and he entailed the mortgaged estate on his other 
 son, and his grandson (that was me), and on my heir- 
 at-law. B.ichard's father squandered his thirty thou- 
 sand pounds before he died ; my father husbanded the 
 estates, got into Parliament, and they put a tail to his 
 name." 
 
 Sir Charles delivered this version of the facts with a 
 languid composure that contrasted deliciously with Eich- 
 ard's heat in telling the story his way (to be sure. Sir 
 Charles had got Huntercombe and Bassett, and it is 
 easier to be philosophical on the right side of the bound- 
 ary hedge), and wound up with a sort of corollary : 
 
A TERKIBI.E TEMPTATION. 9 
 
 " Dick Bassett siiffers by his father's vices, and I profit 
 by mine's virtues. Where's the injustice ? " 
 
 "Nowhere, and the sooner you are reconciled the 
 better." 
 
 Sir Charles demurred. 
 
 "Oh, I don't want to quarrel with the fellow ; but he 
 is a regular thorn in my side, with his little trumpery 
 estate, aU in broken patches. He shoots my pheasants 
 in the unfairest way." Here the landed proprietor 
 showed real irritation, but only for a moment. He 
 concluded calmly : " The fact is, he is not quite a gentle- 
 man. Fancy his coming and whining to you about our 
 family afEairs, and then telling you a falsehood ! " 
 
 "No, no ; he did not mean. It was his way of looking 
 at things. You can afEord to forgive him." 
 
 " Yes, but not if he sets you against me." 
 
 "But he cannot do that. The more any one was to 
 speak against you, the more I — of course." 
 
 This admission fired Sir Charles ; he drew nearer, and, 
 thanks to his cousin's interference, spoke the language 
 of love more warmly and directly than he had ever done 
 before. 
 
 The lady blushed and defended herself feebly. Sir 
 Charles grew warmer, and at last elicited from her a timid 
 but tender avowal, that made him supremely happy. 
 
 "When he left her, this brief ecstasy was succeeded by 
 regrets on account of the years he had wasted in follies 
 and intrigues. 
 
 He smoked five cigars, and pondered the difference 
 between the pure creature who now honored him with 
 her virgin affections, and beauties of a different charac- 
 ter who had played their parts in his luxurious life. 
 
 After profound deliberation, he sent for his solicitor. 
 They lighted the inevitable cigars, and the following ob- 
 servations struggled feebly out along with the smoke : 
 
10 A TBERIBLB TEMPTATION, 
 
 " Mr. Oldfield, I am going to be married." 
 
 "Glad to hear it, Sir Charles." (Vision of settle- 
 ments.) " It is high time you were." (Puff, puff,) 
 
 " Want your advice and assistance first." 
 
 "Certainly." 
 
 " Must put down my pony-carriage, now, you know." 
 
 "A very proper retrenchment; but you can do that 
 without my assistance." 
 
 " There would be sure to be a row if I did. I dare 
 say there will be as it is. At any j-ate, I want to do the 
 thing like a gentleman." 
 
 "Send 'em to Tattersall's." (Puff.) 
 
 "And the girl that drives them in the Park, and 
 draws all the duchesses and countesses at her tail — am 
 I to send her to Tattersall's ? " (Puff.) 
 
 "Oh, it is her you want to put down, then ? " 
 
 " Why, of course." 
 
A TEREIBLE TEMPTATION. 11 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 SiK Chaklss and Mr. Oldfield settled that lady's retir- 
 ing pension ; and Mr. Oldfield took the memoranda home, 
 with instructions to prepare a draft deed for Miss Somer- 
 set's approval. 
 
 Meantime Sir Charles visited Miss Bruce every day. 
 Her affection for him grew visibly ; for being engaged 
 gave her the courage to love. 
 
 Mr. Bassett called pretty often ; but one day he met 
 Sir Charles on the stairs, and scowled. 
 
 That scowl cost him dear, for Sir Charles thereupon 
 represented to Bella that a man with a grievance is a 
 bore to the very eye, and asked her to receive no more 
 visits from his scowling cousin. The lady smiled, and 
 said with soft complacency, " I obey." 
 
 Sir Charles's gallantry was shocked. "No, don't say 
 'obey.' It is a little favor I ventured to ask." 
 
 "It is like you, to ask what you have a right to com- 
 mand. I shaJl be out to him in future, and to every one 
 who is disagreeable to you. What! does 'obey 'frighten 
 you from my lips ? To me it it is the sweetest in the 
 language. Oh, please let me ' obey ' you ! May I ? " 
 
 Upon this, as vanity is seldom out of call. Sir Charles 
 swelled like a turkey-cock, and loftily consented to 
 indulge Bella Brace's strange propensity. 
 
 From that hour she was never at home to Mr. Bassett. 
 
 He began to suspect; and one day, after he had been 
 kept out with the loud, stolid " Not at home," of prac- 
 tised mendacity, he watched, and saw Sir Charles 
 admitted. 
 
12 A TBKEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 He divined it all in a moment, and turned to worm- 
 wood. What ! was he to be robbed of the lady he loved 
 — and her fifteen thousand pounds — by the very man 
 who had robbed him of his ancestral fields ? He dwelt 
 on the double grievance till it nearly frenzied him. But 
 he could do nothing ; it was his fate. His only hope 
 was that Sir Charles, the arrant flirt, would desert this 
 beauty after a time, as he had the others. 
 
 But one afternoon, in the smoking-room of his club, a 
 gentleman said to him, " So your cousin Charles is en- 
 gaged to the Yorkshire beauty. Bell Bruce." 
 
 " He is flirting with her, I believe," said Eichard. 
 
 "No, no," said the other; "they are engaged. I 
 know it for a fact. They are to be married next 
 month." 
 
 Mr. Eichard Bassett digested this fresh piU in moody 
 silence, while the gentlemen of the club discussed the 
 engagement with easy levity. They soon passed to a 
 topic of wider interest — viz., who was to succeed Sir 
 Charles with La Somerset. Bassett began to listen at- 
 tentively, and learned for the first time . Sir Charles 
 Bassett's connection with that lady, and also that she 
 was a woman of a daring nature and furious temper. 
 At first he was merely surprised, but soon hatred and 
 jealousy whispered in his ear that with these materials 
 it must be possible to wound those who had wounded 
 him. 
 
 Mr. Marsh, a young gentleman with a receding chin, 
 and a mustache between hay and straw, had taken great 
 care to let them all know he was acquainted with Miss 
 Somerset ; so Eichard got Marsh alone, and sounded him. 
 Could he call upon the lady, without ceremony ? 
 
 "You won't get in; her street-door is jolly well 
 guarded, I can tell you." 
 
 " I am very curious to see her in her own house." 
 
A TBRBIBtE TEMPTATION. 13 
 
 " So are a good many fellows." 
 
 " Could you not give me an introduction ? " 
 
 Marsli shook Ms head sapiently for a considerable 
 time, and with all this shaking, as it appeared, out fell 
 words of wisdom. " Don't see it. I'm awfully spooney 
 on her myself ; and, you know, when a fellow introduces 
 another fellow, that fellow always cuts the other fellow 
 out." Then, descending from the words of the wise and 
 their dark sayings to a petty but pertinent fact, he 
 added, "Besides, I'm only let in myself about once in 
 five times." 
 
 "She gives herself wonderful airs, it seems," said 
 Bassett, rather bitterly. 
 
 Marsh fired up. " So would any woman that was as 
 beautiful, and as witty, and as much run after as she is. 
 Why, she is a leader of fashion. Look at all the ladies 
 following her round the Park. They used to drive on 
 the north side of the Serpentine. She just held up her 
 finger, and now they have cut the Serpentine, and fol- 
 lowed her to the south drive." 
 
 "Oh, indeed!" said Bassett. "Ah! then this is a 
 great lady ; a poor country squire must not venture into 
 her august presence." He turned savagely on his heel, 
 and Marsh went and made sickly mirth at his ex- 
 pense. 
 
 By this means the matter soon came to the ears of old 
 Mr. Woodgate, the father of that club, and a genial gos- 
 sip. He got hold of Bassett in the dining-room, and ex- 
 amined him. " So you want an introduction to La Somer- 
 set, and Marsh refuses — Marsh, hitherto celebrated for 
 his weak head rather than his hard heart ? " 
 
 Eichard Bassett nodded rather sullenly ; he had not 
 bargained for this rapid publicity. 
 
 The venerable chief resumed, " We all consider Marsh's 
 conduct unclubable, and a thing to be combined against. 
 
14 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Wanted — an Anti-dog-in-tlie-nianger League. I'll intro- 
 duce you to the Somerset." 
 
 "What! do you visit her?" asked Bassett in some 
 astonishment. 
 
 The old gentleman held up his hands in droll dis- 
 claimer, and chuckled merrily. "'So, no; I enjoy from 
 the shore the disasters of my youthful friends — that 
 sacred pleasure is left me. Do you see that elegant 
 creature with the little auburn beard and mustache, 
 waiting sweetly for his dinner ? He launched the 
 Somerset." 
 
 " Launched her ? " 
 
 " Yes ; but for him she might have wasted her time, 
 breaking hearts and slapping faces, in some country 
 village. He it was set her devastating society; and, 
 with his aid, she shall devastate you. Vandeleur, will 
 you join Bassett and me ? " 
 
 Mr. Vandeleur, with ready grace, said he should be 
 delighted, and they dined together accordingly. 
 
 Mr. Vandeleur, six feet high, lank, but graceful as a 
 panther, the pink of politeness, was, beneath his varnish, 
 one of the wildest young men in London, — gambler, 
 horse-racer, libertine, what not ? but in society charming, 
 and his manners singularly elegant and winning. He 
 never obtruded his vices in good company ; in fact, you 
 might dine with him all your life, and not detect him. 
 The young serpent was torpid in wine ; but he came out 
 a bit at a time, in the sunshine of cigar. 
 
 After a brisk conversation on current topics, the 
 venerable chief told him plainly that they were both 
 curious to know the history of Miss Somerset, and he 
 must tell it them. 
 
 " Oh, with pleasure ! " said the obliging youth. " Let 
 us go into the smoking-room." 
 
 "Let — me — see. I picked her up by the seaside. 
 
A TEBBIBLE TEMPTATION. 16 
 
 She promised well at first. We put her on my chestnut 
 mare, and she showed lots of courage, so she soon learned 
 to ride ; but she kicked, even down there." 
 
 « Kicked — whom ? " 
 
 "Kicked aU. round. I mean, showed temper. And, 
 when she got to London, and had ridden a few times in 
 the Park, and had swallowed flattery, there was no hold- 
 ing her. I stood her cheek for a good while, but at last 
 I told the servants they must not turn her out, but they 
 could keep her out. They sided with me for once. She 
 had ridden over them as welL The first time she went 
 out they bolted the doors, and handed her boxes up the 
 area steps." 
 
 "How did she take that ? " 
 
 "Easier than we expected. She said, 'Lucky for you 
 beggars that I'm a lady, or I'd break every d— — d window 
 in the house.' " 
 
 This caused a laugh. It subsided. The historian 
 resumed. 
 
 "Next day she cooled, and wrote a letter." 
 
 "To you?" 
 
 "2fo ; to my groom. Would you like to see it ? It is 
 a curiosity." 
 
 He sent one of the club waiters for his servant, 
 and his servant for his desk, and produced the let- 
 ter. 
 
 "There!" said Vandeleur. "She looks like a 
 queen, and steps like an empress, and this is how 
 she writes. 
 
 DEAB JOBGE, — 1 have got the sak an' praps your turn nex. 
 dear Jorge he alwaies promise me the grey oss, which now 
 an OSS is life an death to me. If you was to ast him to lend 
 me the grey he wouldn't refuse you. 
 
 Yours respecfully, 
 
 Rhoda Sohebset. 
 
16 A TBERIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 When the letter and the handwriting, which, unfor- 
 tunately, I cannot reproduce, had been duly studied and 
 approved, Vandeleur continued : — 
 
 "Now, you know, she had her good points, after all. 
 If any creature was ill, she'd sit up all night, and nurse 
 them ; and she used to go to church on Sundays, and 
 come back with the sting out of her, only then she 
 would preach to a fellow, and bore him. She is awfully 
 fond of preaching. Her dream is to jump on a first-rate 
 hunter, and ride across country, and preach the villages. 
 So, when George came grinning to me with the letter, I 
 told him to buy a new side-saddle for the gray, and take 
 her the lot, with my compliments. I had noticed a 
 slight spavin in his near hock. She rode him that very 
 day in the Park, all alone, and made such a sensation, 
 that next day my gray was standing in Lord Hailey's 
 stables. But she rode Hailey, like my gray, with a long 
 spur, and he couldn't stand it. None of 'em could, 
 except Sir Charles Bassett, and he doesn't play fair — 
 never goes near her." 
 
 "And that gives him an unfair advantage over his 
 fascinating predecessor ? " inquired the senior slyly. 
 
 "Of course it does," said Vandeleur stoutly. "You 
 ask a girl to dine at Eichmond once a month, and keep 
 out of her way all the rest of the time, and give her lots 
 of money, she will never quarrel with you." 
 
 "Profit by this information, young man," said old 
 Woodgate severely : " it comes too late for me. In my 
 day there existed no sure method of pleasing the fair. 
 But now that is invented along with everything else. 
 Eichmond and — absence : equivalent to 'Eichmond and 
 victory ! ' Now, Bassett, we have heard the truth from 
 the fountain-head ; and it is rather serious ; she swears, 
 she kicks, she preaches. Do you stiU desire an introduc- 
 tion ? As for me, my manly spirit is beginning to quake 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 17 
 
 at Vandeleur's revelations, and some lines of Scott recur 
 to my Gothic memory : — 
 
 • From the chafed tiger rend his prey, 
 Bar the fell dragon's blighting ysray, 
 But shun that lovely snare.' " 
 
 Bassett replied, gravely, that he had no such motive 
 as Mr. Woodgate gave him credit for, but still desired 
 the introduction. 
 
 " With pleasure," said Vandeleur; "but it -will be no 
 use to you. She hates me like poison : says I have no 
 heart. That is what all ill-tempered women say." 
 
 Notwithstanding his misgivings, the obliging youth 
 called for writing materials, and produced the following 
 epistle : — 
 
 Deak Miss Somerset, — Mr. Kichard Bassett, a cousin of 
 Sir Charles, wishes very much to be introduced to you, and 
 has begged me to assist in an object so laudable. I should 
 hardly venture to present myself, and, therefore, shall feel 
 surprised as well as flattered if you will receive Mr. Bassett 
 on my introduction, and my assurance that he is a respectable 
 country gentleman, and bears no resemblance in character to 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 Arthub Vandeleuk. 
 
 Next day Bassett called at Miss Somerset's house in 
 Mayfair, and delivered his introduction. He was ad- 
 mitted after a short delay, and entered the lady's boudoir. 
 It was Luxury's nest. The walls were rose-colored satin, 
 padded and puckered ; the voluminous curtains were pale 
 satin, with floods and billows of real lace; the chairs 
 embroidered, the tables all buhl and ormolu, and the 
 sofas felt like little seas. The lady herseK, in a delight- 
 ful peignoir, sat nestled cosily in a sort of ottoman with 
 arms. Her finely formed hand, clogged with brilliants, 
 
18 A TEKEIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 was just conveying brandy and soda-water to a very 
 handsome mouth, when Kichard Bassett entered. 
 
 She raised herself superbly, but without leaving her 
 seat, and just looked at a chair in a way that seemed to 
 say, " I permit you to sit down ; " and, that done, she 
 carried the glass to her lips with the same admirable 
 firmness of hand she showed in driving. Her lofty 
 manner, coupled with her beautiful but rather haughty 
 features, smacked of imperial origin. Yet she was the 
 writer to " jorge," and four years ago a shrimp-girl, run- 
 ning into the sea with legs as brown as a berry. 
 
 So swiftly does merit rise in this world, which, never- 
 theless, some morose folk pretend is a wicked one. 
 
 I ought to explain, however, that this haughty recep- 
 tion was partly caused by a breach of propriety. Van- 
 deleur ought first to have written to her, and asked 
 permission to present Eichard Bassett. He had no 
 business to send the man and the introduction together. 
 This law a Parliament of Sirens had passed, and the 
 slightest breach of it was a bitter offence. Equilibrimn 
 governs the world. These ladies were bound to be over- 
 strict in something or other, being just a little lax in 
 certain things where other ladies are strict. 
 
 Now, Bassett had pondered well what he should say ; 
 but he was disconcerted by her superb presence and 
 demeanor, and her large gray eyes that rested steadily 
 upon his face. 
 
 However, he began to murmur mellifluously. Said he 
 had often seen her in public, and admired her, and 
 desired to make her acquaintance, etc., etc. 
 
 " Then, why did you not ask Sir Charles to bring you 
 here ? " said Miss Somerset abruptly, and searching 
 him with her eyes that were not to say bold, but singu- 
 larly brave, and examiners point-blank. 
 
 " I am not on good terms with Sir Charles. He holds 
 
A TEBKIBLE TEMPTATION. 19 
 
 the estates that ought to be mine ; and now he has 
 robbed me of my love, he is the last man in the world 
 I would ask a favor of." 
 
 " You came here to abuse him behind his back, eh ? " 
 asked the lady with undisguised contempt. 
 
 Bassett winced, but kept his temper. 
 
 "No, Miss Somerset ; but you seem to think I ought 
 to have come to you through Sir Charles. I would not 
 enter your house if I did not feel sure I shall not meet 
 him here." 
 
 Miss Somerset looked rather puzzled. 
 
 " Sir Charles does not come here often, but he comes 
 now and then, and he is always welcome." 
 
 " You surprise me." 
 
 "Thank you. Now some of my gentlemen friends 
 think it is a wonder he does not come every minute." 
 
 "You mistake me. What surprises me is that you 
 are such good friends under the circumstances." 
 
 " Circumstances ! what circumstances ? " 
 
 "Oh, you know. You are in his confidence, I pre- 
 sume ? " this rather satirically. So the lady answered 
 defiantly. 
 
 "Yes, I am; he knows I can hold my tongue; so he 
 tells me things he tells nobody else." 
 
 " Then, if you are in his confidence, you know he is 
 about to be married." 
 
 " Married ! Sir Charles married ! " 
 
 " In three weeks." 
 
 "It's a lie ! You get out of my house this moment !" 
 
 Mr. Bassett colored at this insult. He rose from his 
 seat with some little dignity, made her a low bow, and 
 retired. B\it her blood was up : she made a wonderful 
 rush, sweeping down a chair with her dress as she went, 
 and caught him at the door, clutched him by the shoul- 
 der and half dragged him back, and made him sit down 
 
20 A TBRKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 again, while she stood opposite him, with the knuckles 
 of one hand resting on the table. 
 
 "Now," said she, panting, "you look me in the face, 
 and say that again." 
 
 " Excuse me, you punish me too severely for telling 
 the truth." 
 
 "Well, I beg your pardon — there. Now tell me — 
 this instant. Can't you speak, man ? " And her knuck- 
 les drummed the table. 
 
 " He is to be married in three weeks." 
 
 "Oh!— Who to?" 
 
 " A young lady I love." 
 
 " Her name ? " 
 
 " Miss Arabella Bruce." 
 
 " Where does she live ? " 
 
 "Portman Square." 
 
 " I'll stop that marriage." 
 
 " How ? " asked Eichard eagerly. 
 
 " I don't know ; that I'll think over. But he shall 
 not marry her — never ! " 
 
 Bassett sat and looked up with almost as much awe as 
 complacency at the fury he had evoked ; for this woman 
 was really, at times, a poetic impersonation of that fiery 
 passion she was so apt to indulge. She stood before 
 him, her cheek pale, her eyes glittering and roving 
 savagely, and her nostrils literally expanding, while her 
 tall body quivered with wrath, and her clenched knuckles 
 pattered on the table. 
 
 " He shall not marry her. I'll kill him first." 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 21 
 
 CHAPTEE III, 
 
 Richard Bassett eagerly offered his services to break 
 off the obnoxious match. But Miss Somerset was begin- 
 ning to be mortified at having shown so much passion 
 before a stranger. 
 
 " What have you to do with it ? " said she sharply. 
 
 " Everything. I love Miss Bruce." 
 
 "Oh, yes; I forgot that. Anything else? There is, 
 now. I see it in your eye. What is it ? " 
 
 " Sir Charles's estates are mine by right, and they will 
 return to my line if he does not marry and have issue." 
 
 " Oh, I see. That is so like a man. It's always love, 
 and something more important, with you. Well, give 
 me your address. I'll write if I want you." 
 
 "Highly flattered," said Bassett ironically — wrote 
 his address, and left her. 
 
 Miss Somerset then sat down and wrote : 
 
 DEAB siRCHABLES, — please Call here, I want to speak to 
 you. 
 
 yours respecfuly, 
 
 RHODA Somerset. 
 
 Sir Charles obeyed this missive, and the lady received 
 him with a gracious and smiling manner, all put on and 
 cat-like. She talked with him on different things for 
 more than an hour, still watching to see if he would tell 
 her of his own accord. 
 When she. was quite sure he would not, she said, — 
 "Do you know there's a ridiculous report about, that 
 you are going to be married ? " 
 
22 . A TEEEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 « Indeed ! " 
 
 "They even tell her name — Miss Bruce. Do you 
 know the girl ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Is she pretty ? " 
 
 "Very." 
 
 " Modest ? " 
 
 "As an angel." 
 
 " And are you going to marry her ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Then you are a villain." 
 
 " The deuce I am ! " 
 
 " You are, to abandon a woman who has sacrificed all 
 for you." 
 
 Sir Charles looked puzzled, and then smiled ; but was 
 too polite to give his thoughts vent. Kor was it neces- 
 sary; Miss Somerset, whose brave eyes never left the 
 person she was speaking to, fired up at the smile alone, 
 and she burst into a torrent of remonstrance, not to say 
 vituperation. Sir Charles endeavored once or twice to 
 stop it, but it was not to be stopped; so, at last, he 
 quietly took up his hat to go. 
 
 He was arrested at the door by a rustle and a fall. 
 He turned round, and there was Miss Somerset lying on 
 her back, grinding her white teeth and clutching the air. 
 
 He ran to the bell and rang it violently, then knelt 
 down and did his best to keep her from hurting herself ; 
 but, as generally happens in these cases, his interference 
 made her more violent. He had hard work to keep her 
 from battering her head against the floor, and her arms 
 worked like windmills. 
 
 Hearing the bell tugged so violently, a pretty page 
 ran headlong into the room — saw — and, without an 
 instant's diminution of speed, described a curve and ran 
 headlong out, screaming " Polly ! Polly I " 
 
A TERKIBUE TEMPTATION. 23 
 
 The next moment, the housekeeper, an elderly woman, 
 trotted in at the door, saw her mistress's condition, and 
 stood stock-still, calling "Polly," but with the most 
 perfect tranquillity the mind can conceive. 
 
 In ran a strapping housemaid, with black eyes and 
 brown arms, went down on her knees and said firmly, 
 though respectfully, " Give her me, sir." 
 
 She got behind her struggling mistress, pulled her up 
 into her own lap, and pinned her by the wrists with a 
 vigorous grasp. 
 
 The lady struggled, and ground her teeth audibly, and 
 flung her arms abroad. The maid applied all her rustic 
 strength and harder muscle to hold her within bounds. 
 The four arms went to and fro in a magnificent struggle, 
 and neither could the maid hold the mistress still, nor 
 the mistress shake off the maid's grasp, nor strike any- 
 thing to hurt herself. 
 
 Sir Charles, thrust out of the play, looked on with 
 pity and anxiety, and the little page at the door — com- 
 bining art and nature — stuck stock-still in a military 
 attitude, and blubbered aloud. 
 
 As for the housekeeper, she remained in the middle 
 of the room with folded arms, and looked down on the 
 struggle with a singular expression of countenance. 
 There was no agitation whatever, but a sort of thought- 
 ful examination, half cynical, half admiring. 
 
 However, as soon as the boy's sobs reached her ear, 
 she wakened up, and said tenderly, " What is the child 
 crying for ? Eun and get a basin of water and fling it 
 all over her : that will bring her to in a minute." 
 
 The page departed swiftly on this benevolent errand. 
 
 Then ' the lady gave a deep sigh, and ceased to 
 struggle. 
 
 Next she stared in all their faces, and seemed to return 
 to consciousness. 
 
24 A TBRBIBIiE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Next she spoke, but very feebly. "Help me up," she 
 sighed. 
 
 Sir Charles and Polly raised her, and now there was 
 a marTellous change. The vigorous Tixen was utterly 
 weak and limp as a wet towel — a woman of jelly. As 
 such they handled her, and deposited her gingerly on the 
 sofa. 
 
 Now the page ran in hastily with the water. Up 
 jumps the poor lax sufferer with flashing eyes : " You 
 dare to come near me with it ! " Then to the female 
 servants : " Call yourselves women, and water my lilac 
 silk, not two hours old ? " Then to the housekeeper : 
 " You old monster, you wanted it for your Polly. Get 
 out' of my sight, the lot ! " 
 
 Then, suddenly remembering how feeble she was, she 
 sank instantly down, and turned piteously and languidly 
 to Sir Charles. " They eat my bread, and rob me, and 
 hate me," said she faintly. "I have but one friend on 
 earth." She leaned tenderly towards Sir Charles as that 
 friend; but before she quite reached him she started 
 back, her eyes filled with sudden horror. " And he for- 
 sakes me ! " she cried ; and so turned away from him 
 despairingly, and began to cry bitterly, with head averted 
 over the sofa, and one hand hanging by her side for Sir 
 Charles to take and comfort her. He tried to take it. 
 It resisted ; and, under cover of that little disturbance, 
 the other hand dexterously whipped two pins out of her 
 hair. The long brown tresses — all her own — fell over 
 her eyes and down to her waist, and the picture of 
 distressed beauty was complete. 
 
 Even so did the women of antiquity conquer male pity 
 — solutis criniJms. 
 
 The females interchanged a meaning glance and 
 retired; the boy followed them with his basin, sore 
 perplexed, but learning life in this admirable school. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 26 
 
 Sir Charles, then, with the utmost kindness, endeavored 
 to reconcile the weeping and dishevelled fair to that 
 ' separation which circumstances rendered necessary. But 
 she was inconsolable, and he left the house, perplexed 
 and grieved : not but what it gratified his vanity a little 
 to find himself beloved all in a moment, and the Somer- 
 set unvixened. He could not help thinking how wide 
 must be the circle of his charms, which had won the 
 affections of two beautiful women so opposite in char- 
 acter as Bella Bruce and La Somerset. 
 
 The passion of this latter seemed to grow. She wrote 
 to him every day, and begged him to call on her. 
 
 She called on him, she who had never called on a man 
 before. 
 
 She raged with jealousy, she melted with grief. She 
 played on him with aU a woman's artillery, and, at last, 
 actually wrung from him what she called a reprieve. 
 
 Richard Bassett called on her, but she would not 
 receive him ; so, then, he wrote to her urging co-opera- 
 tion, and she replied, frankly, that she took no interest 
 in his affairs, but that she was devoted to Sir Charles, 
 and should keep him for herself. Vanity tempted her 
 to add that he (Sir Charles) was with her every day and 
 the wedding postponed. 
 
 This last seemed too good to be true, so Richard 
 Bassett set his servant to talk to the servants in Portman 
 Square. He learned that the wedding was now to be on 
 the 16th of June, instead of the 31st of May. 
 
 Convinced that this postponement was only a blind, 
 and that the marriage would never be, he breathed more 
 freely at the news. 
 
 But the fact is, although Sir Charles had yielded so far 
 to dread of scandal, he was ashamed of himself, and his 
 shame became remorse when he detected a furtive tear in 
 the dove-like eyes of her he really loved and esteemed. 
 
26 A TEREIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 He -went and told his tale to Mr. Oldfield. "I am 
 afraid she -will do something desperate," he said. 
 
 Mr. Oldfield heard him out, and then asked him, had 
 he told Miss Somerset what he was going to settle on 
 her? 
 
 "Not I. She is not in a condition to be influenced by 
 that, at present." 
 
 "Let me try her. The draft is ready. I'll call on 
 her, to-morrow." 
 
 He did call, and was told she did not know him. 
 
 "You tell her I'm a lawyer, and it is very much to her 
 interest to see me," said Mr. Oldfield to the page. 
 
 He was admitted, but not to a tete-a-tete. Polly was 
 kept in the room. The Somerset had peeped, and Old- 
 field was an old fellow, with white hair ; if he had been 
 a young fellow, with black hair, she might have thought 
 that precaution less necessary. 
 
 "First, madam," said Oldfield, "I must beg you to 
 accept my apologies for not coming sooner. Press of 
 business, etc." 
 
 " Why have you come at all ? That is the question," 
 inquired the lady, bluntly. 
 
 " I bring the draft of a deed for your approval. Shall 
 I read it to you ? " 
 
 "Yes; if it is not very long." 
 
 He began to read it. 
 
 The lady interrupted him characteristically. 
 
 "It's a beastly rigmarole. What does it mean — in 
 three words ? " 
 
 " Sir Charles Bassett secures to Ehoda Somerset four 
 hundred pounds a year, while single ; this is reduced to 
 two hundred if you marry. The deed further assigns to 
 you, without reserve, the beneficial lease of this house, 
 and all the furniture and effects, plate, linen, wine, etc." 
 
 " I see ; a bribe." 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 27 
 
 "Ifothing of the kind, madam. When Sir Charles 
 instructed me to prepare this deed, he expected no oppo- 
 sition on your part to his marriage ; but he thought it 
 due to him and to yourself, to mark his esteem for you, 
 and his recollection of the pleasant hours he has spent 
 in your company." 
 
 Miss Somerset's eyes searched the lawyer's face. He 
 stood the battery unflinchingly. She altered her tone, 
 and asked politely, and almost respectfully, whether she 
 might see that paper. 
 
 Mr. Oldfield gave it her. She took it, and ran her eye 
 over it ; in doing whieh, she raised it so that she could 
 thinJi behind it unobserved. She handed it back at last, 
 with the remark that Sir Charles was a gentleman, and 
 had done the right thing. 
 
 "He has; and you will do the right thing too, will 
 you not ? " 
 
 "I don't know. I am just beginning to fall in love 
 with him myself." 
 
 "Jealousy, madam, not love," said the old lawyer. 
 " Come, now ! I see you are a young lady of rare good 
 sense. Look the thing in the face. Sir Charles is a 
 landed gentleman; he must marry and have heirs. He 
 is over thirty, and his time has come. He has shown 
 himself your friend, why not be his ? He has given 
 you the means to marry a gentleman of moderate income, 
 or to marry beneath you, if you prefer it " — 
 
 " And most of us do." 
 
 " Then why not make his path smooth ? Why distress 
 him with your tears and remonstrances ? " 
 
 He continued in this strain for some time, appealing 
 to her good sense and her better feelings. When he had 
 done she said, very quietly, — 
 
 " How about the ponies and my brown mare ? are they 
 down in the deed ? " 
 
28 A TBKKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " I think not ; but if yon will do your part handsomely, 
 I'll guarantee you shall have them." 
 
 "You are a good soul;" then, after a pause, "Now, 
 just you tell me exactly what you want me to do for all 
 this." 
 
 Oldfield was pleased with this question- He said: "I 
 wish you to abstain from writing to Sir Charles, and him 
 to visit you only once more before his marriage, just to 
 shake hands and part, with mutual friendship and good 
 wishes." 
 
 "You are right," said she, softly; "best for us both, 
 and only fair to the girl." Then, with sudden and ea^er 
 curiosity, " Is she very pretty ? " 
 
 "I don't know." 
 
 « What — hasn't he told you ? " 
 
 " He says she is lovely, and every way adorable ; but 
 then he is in love. The chances are, she is not half so 
 handsome as yourself." 
 
 "And yet he is in love with her ? " 
 
 " Over head and ears." 
 
 "I don't believe it. If he was really in love with one 
 woman, he couldn't be just to another. I couldn't 
 He'll be coming 'back to me in a few months." 
 
 "God forbid!" 
 
 " Thank you, old gentleman." 
 
 Mr. Oldfield began to stammer excuses. She inter- 
 rupted him. " Oh, bother all that ! I like you none the 
 worse for speaking your mind." Then, after a pause, 
 "Now, excuse me, but suppose Sir Charles should change 
 his mind, and never sign this paper ? " 
 
 " I pledge my professional credit." 
 
 "That is enough, sir. I see I can trust you. WeU, 
 then, I consent to break off with Sir Charles, and only 
 see him once more, as a friend. Poor Sir Charles, I 
 hope he will be happy (she squeezed out a tear for him), 
 
A TftKBTBT^ ISEMFTASOX. St 
 
 tiiaa I am. JLad TiM» lie dues eo^e^ be ca& 
 sa@R &e deed, j«m Tammr.* 
 
 He (Hdfidd left ho, sad joiKd Sir C&aoks «t LoBg^ 
 as kad beea ptie«io>mlv agieed. 
 
 ''I: K all ng^ Sir Claudes. She is a seasiiiie gid, 
 and vin give joe no fnriiMr traoUe.'' 
 
 "BEow did yoa ge^ ot\» Oe lijstiexies ? ' 
 
 -Wedkp^^^f'Ivi&fbQB. S2ie ^w «t oafce it ^ras to 
 be InsiBKS, not sesEtiBeBL Toa are Id paj hsx ooe 
 a«e Tisix. to s^b, and part fixnds. li j«a please, TB. 
 ma^SB tiak ^^oiatne^ Ti& bulk paiiaes as scxsiastiie 
 deed is ffflwssed. O^ Iff tiie h^, shi did slierd a tear «Hr 
 twn^lMl ste dmd ^«ai to a^ ms £or tbe pooiBS and 
 
 i^doadffilswaal^vasKartified. Bat he lai^ied it 
 eS, aad said ide sboold ]a«« tiima, oi eooxse. 
 
 So iiov te miad ^ras at ease, Ms eaBrs«»ee ^vas at 
 T^. and be eooM ^cvs bis vbide fame vboe be bad 
 
 Eii^aid Basseu leazne-d. tbiiH^ bis SBrraa^ tint tibe 
 weddiagdresses "rei^? oideted. He ealkd cm IGss S(h»- 
 
 ftdfy opened tihe doa^ aad ga^« biaa a bmb of adadra- 
 tion — dms to bfe &^beolar — dat onmi^ed Ihh to 
 txj and eali^ ber im bis 8Bnrio& 
 
 Hie qaestianed bi^ azid ^e tidd bi^ in a ff u m g ^ way 
 bsw matteas w^e geiBg. -Bc^" s^dd die, '^wh^ not 
 eoseaadtalktober joinself ? Xi^ to oae bat she tells 
 JOB. Site is peelfy oat^ofc^" 
 
 »lly pnsttf deaf^" said Bit^ai^ ''sbe oe'^s will 
 
 ''Ok, ba& m Bake bs^"^ said PtAr. 
 And sbe did esat beria&eneess S^kws: ^Ijookiee 
 heeB, &KB eonsan^ »«CNBii^ to^aarrar, and Fve been aad 
 L be sboold see ' 
 
30 A TEEBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 « What did you do that for ? " 
 
 " Why, he's a well-looking chap, and a beautiful color, 
 fresh from the country like me. And he's a gentleman, 
 and got an estate belike ; and why not put yourn to hisn, 
 and so marry him, and he a lady ? You might have me 
 about ye all the same, till my turn comes." 
 
 " No, no," said Ehoda, " that's not the man for me. If 
 ever I marry, it must be one of my own sort, or else a 
 fool like Marsh, that I can make a slave of." 
 
 " Well, anyway, you must see him, not to make a fool 
 of me, for I did promise him ; which, now I think on't, 
 'twas very good of me, for I could find in my heart to 
 ast him down into the kitchen, instead of bringing bim 
 up-stairs to you." 
 
 All this ended, somehow, in Mr. Bassett being admitted. 
 
 To his anxious inquiry how matters stood, she replied 
 coolly that Sir Charles and herself were parted by mutual 
 consent. 
 
 "What, after all your protestations!" said Bassett 
 bitterly. 
 
 But Miss Somerset was not in an irascible humor just 
 then. She shrugged her shoulders, and said, — 
 
 " Yes, I remember I put myself in a passion, and said 
 some ridiculous things. But one can't be always a fool. 
 I have come to my senses. This sort of thing always 
 does end, you know. Most of them part enemies, but he 
 and I part friends and well-wishers." 
 
 "And you throw me over as if I was nobody," said 
 Eichard, white with anger. 
 
 " Why, what are you to me ? " said the Somerset. 
 " Oh ! I see. You thought to make a cat's-paw of me. 
 Well, you won't, then." 
 
 " In other words, you have been bouight off." 
 
 "No, I have not. I am not to be bought by anybody, 
 and I am not to be insulted by you, you ruffian ! How 
 
A TEKBIBLE TEMPTATION. 31 
 
 dare you come here and affront a lady in her own house 
 — a lady whose shoe-strings your betters are ready to tie, 
 you brute ! If you want to be a landed proprietor, go 
 and marry some ugly old hag that's got it, and no eye- 
 sight left to see you're no gentleman. Sir Charles's land 
 you'll never have ; a better man has got it, and means to 
 keep it for him and his. Here, Polly ! Polly ! Polly ! take 
 this man down to the kitchen, and teach him manners if 
 you can; he is not fit for my drawing-room by a long 
 chalk." 
 
 Polly arrived in time to see the flashing eyes, the 
 swelling veins, and to hear the fair orator's peroration. 
 
 "What, you are in your tantrums again!" said she. 
 "Come along, sir. Needs must when the devil drives. 
 You'U. break a blood-vessel some day, my lady, like your 
 father afore ye." 
 
 And with this homely suggestion, which always sobered 
 Miss Somerset, and indeed frightened her out of her 
 wits, she withdrew the offender. 
 
 She did not take him into the kitchen, but into the 
 5in^ng-room, and there he had a long talk with her, and 
 gave her a sovereign. 
 
 She promised to inform him if anything important 
 should occur. 
 
 He went away pondering and scowling deeply. 
 
32 A TEREIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Sib Chables Bassbtt was now living in Elysium. 
 Never was rake more thoroughly transformed. Every 
 day he sat for hours at the feet of Bella Bruce, admiring 
 her soft feminine ways and virgin modesty even more 
 than her -beauty. And her visible blush whenever he 
 appeared suddenly, and the soft commotion and yielding 
 in her lovely frame whenever he drew near, betrayed his 
 magnetic influence, and told all but the blind she adored 
 him. 
 
 She would decline all invitations, to dine with him and 
 her father, — a strong-minded old admiral, whose author- 
 ity was unbounded, only, ta Bella's regret, very rarely 
 exerted. Nothing would have pleased her more than to 
 be forbidden this, and commanded that; but, no! the 
 admiral was a lion with an enormous paw, only he could 
 not be got to put it into every pie. 
 
 In this charming society the hours glided, and the 
 wedding-day drew close. So deeply and sincerely was 
 Sir Charles in love, that, when Mr. Oldfield's letter came, 
 appointing the day and hour to sign Miss Somerset's 
 deed, he was unwilling to go, and wrote back to ask if 
 the deed could not be sent to his house. 
 
 Mr. Oldfield replied that the parties to the deed and 
 the witnesses must meet, and it would be unadvisable, 
 for several reasons, to irritate the lady's susceptibility 
 previous to signature ; the appointment having been 
 made at her house, it had better remain so. 
 
 That day soon came. 
 
 Sir Charles, being due in Mayfair at two p.m., compen- 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 33 
 
 sated himself for the less agreeable business to come by 
 going earlier than usual to Portman Square. By this 
 means he caught Miss Bruce and two other young ladies 
 inspecting bridal dresses. Bella blushed and looked 
 ashamed, and, to the surprise of her friends, sent the 
 dresses away, and set herself to talk rationally with Sir 
 Charles, — as rationally as lovers can. 
 
 The ladies took the cue, and retired in disgust. 
 
 Sir Charles apologized. 
 
 " This is too bad of me. I come at an unheard-of hour, 
 and frighten away your fair friends ; but the fact is, I 
 have an appointment at two, and I don't know how long 
 they will keep me, so I thought I would make sure of 
 two happy hours at the least." 
 
 And delightful hours they were. BeUa Bruce, excited 
 by this little surprise, leaned softly on his shoulder, and 
 prattled her maiden love like some warbling fountain. 
 
 Sir Charles, transfigured by love, answered her in kind, 
 — three months ago he could not, — and they compared 
 pretty little plans of wedded life, and had small differ- 
 ences, and ended by agreeing. 
 
 Complete and prompt accord upon two points: first, 
 they would not have a single quarrel, like other people 
 — their love should never lose its delicate bloom; second, 
 they would grow old together, and die the same day, the 
 same minute if possible, if not, they must be content 
 with the same day, but on that inexorable. 
 
 But soon after this came a skirmish. Each wanted to 
 obey the other. 
 
 Sir Charles argued that Bella was better than he, and 
 therefore more fit to conduct the pair. 
 
 Bella, who thought him divinely good, pounced on this 
 
 reason furiously. He defended it. He admitted, with 
 
 exemplary candor, that he was good now, "awfully good." 
 
 But he assured her that he had been anything but good 
 
 3 
 
34 A TBBBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 until he knew her; now, she had been always good; there- 
 fore, he argued, as his goodness came originally from her, 
 for her to obey him would be a little too much like the 
 moon commanding the sun. 
 
 "That is too ingenious for me, Charles," said Bella. 
 " And, for shame ! Nobody was ever so good as you are. 
 I look up to you and — Now I could stop your mouth 
 in a minute; I have only to remind you that I shall 
 swear at the altar to obey you, and you will not swear 
 to obey me. But I will not crush you under the Prayer- 
 book — no, dearest; but, indeed, to obey is a want of 
 my nature ; and I marry you to supply that want — and 
 that's a story, for I marry you because I love and honor, 
 and worship and adore you to distraction, my own — own 
 — own ! " With this she flung herself passionately, yet 
 modestly, on his shoulder, and, being there, murmured 
 coaxingly, " You will let me obey you, Charles ? " 
 
 Thereupon Sir Charles felt highly gelatinous, and 
 Jost, for the moment, all power of resistance or argu- 
 ment. 
 
 " Ah, you will ; and then you will remind me of my 
 dear mother. She knew how to command; but as for 
 poor dear papa, he is very disappointing. In selecting 
 an admiral for my parent, I made sure of being ordered 
 about. Instead of that — now I'll show you — there he 
 is in the next room, inventing a new system of signals, 
 poor dear." 
 
 She threw the folding-door open. 
 
 " Papa dear, shall I ask Charles to dinner to-day ? " 
 
 "As you please, my dear." 
 
 " Do you think I had better walk or ride this after- 
 noon ? " 
 
 "Whichever you prefer." 
 
 " There," said Bella, " I told you so. That is always 
 the way. — Papa dear, you used always to be firing guns 
 
A TEERIBLE TEMPTATION. 36 
 
 at sea. Do, please, fire one in this house — just one 
 before I leave it, and make the very -windows rattle." 
 
 " I beg your pardon, Bella, I never wasted powder at 
 sea. If the convoy sailed well and steered right I never 
 barked at them. You are a modest, sensible girl, and 
 have always steered a good course. Why should I hoist 
 a petticoat and play the small tyrant ? Wait till I see 
 you going to do something wrong or silly." 
 
 " Ah, then you would fire a gun, papa ! " 
 
 "Ay, a broadside." 
 
 "Well, that is something," said Bella, as she closed 
 the door softly. 
 
 " No, no, it amounts to just nothing," said Sir Charges, 
 "for you never will do anything wrong or silly. I'll 
 accommodate you. I have thought of a way. I shall give 
 you some blank cards ; you shall write on them, *I think 
 I should like to do so and so.' You shall be careless, 
 and leave them about; I'll find them, and bluster, and 
 say, ' I command you to do so and so, Bella Bassett,' the 
 very thing on the card, you know." 
 
 Bella colored to the brow with pleasure and modesty. 
 After a pause, she said, " How sweet ! The worst of it 
 is, I should get my own way. Now what I want is to 
 submit my will to yours. A gentle tyrant — that is 
 what you must be to Bella Bassett. Oh, you sweet, 
 sweet — for calling me that ! " 
 
 These projects were interrupted by a servant announc- 
 ing luncheon. 
 
 This made Sir Charles look hastily at his watch, and 
 he found it was past two o'clock. 
 
 " How time flies in this house ! " said he. " I must 
 go, dearest; I am behind my appointment already. 
 What do you do this afternoon ? " 
 
 "Whatever you please, my own." 
 
 " I could get away by four." 
 
36 A TEBEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 "Then I will stay at home for you." 
 
 He left her reluctantly, and she followed him to the 
 head of the stairs, and hung over the banisters as if she 
 would like to fly after him. 
 
 He turned at the street door, saw that radiant and 
 gentle face beaming after him, and they kissed hands to 
 each other by one impulse, as if they were parting for 
 ever so long. 
 
 He had gone scarcely half an hour, when a letter, 
 addressed to her, was left at the door by a private 
 messenger. 
 
 " Any answer ? " inquired the servant. 
 
 «]Sro." 
 
 The letter was sent up, and delivered to her on a silver 
 salver. 
 
 She opened it ; it was a thing new to her in her young 
 life — an anonymous letter. 
 
 Miss Bkuoe, — I am almost a stranger to you, but I know 
 your character from others, and cannot bear to see you abused. 
 You are said to be about to marry Sir Charles Bassett. I think 
 you can hardly be aware that he is connected with a lady of 
 doubtful repute, called Somerset, and neither your virtue nor 
 your beauty has prevailed to detach him from that connection. 
 
 If, on engaging himself to you, he had abandoned her, I 
 should not have said a word. But the truth is, he visits her 
 constantly, and I blush to say that when he leaves you this day, 
 it will be to spend the afternoon at her house. 
 
 I enclose you her address, and you can learn in ten min- 
 utes whether I am a slanderer, or, what I wish to be, 
 
 A Feiend of Injubed Innocence. 
 
A TEBBIBLE TEMPTATION. 37 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Sib Chabi.i:s was behind his time in Mayfair ; but the 
 lawyer and Ms clerk had not arrived, and Miss Somerset 
 was not visible. 
 
 She appeared, however, at last, in a superb silk dress, 
 the broad lustre of which would have been beautiful, 
 only the effect was broken and frittered away by six 
 rows of gimp and fringe. But why blame her ? This is 
 a blunder in art as universal as it is amazing, when one 
 considers the amount of apparent thought her sex de- 
 votes to dress. They might just as well score a fair plot 
 of velvet turf with rows of box, or tattoo a blooming 
 and downy cheek. 
 
 She held out her hand like a man, and talked to Sir 
 Charles on indifferent topics, till Mr. Oldfield arrived. 
 She then retired into the background, and left the gen- 
 tlemen to discuss the deed. When appealed to, she 
 evaded direct replies, and put on languid and imperial 
 indifference. When she signed it was with the air of 
 some princess bestowing a favor upon solicitation. 
 
 But the business concluded, she thawed all in a 
 moment, and invited the gentlemen to luncheon, with 
 charmiag cordiality. Indeed her genuine bonhomie after 
 her affected indifference was rather comic. Everybody 
 was content. Champagne flowed. The lady, with her 
 good mother-wit, kept conversation going, till the lawyer 
 was nearly missing his next appointment. He hurried 
 away ; and Sir Charles only lingered, out of good breed- 
 ing, to bid Miss Somerset good-by. In the course of 
 leave-taking, he said he was sony he left her with 
 
38 A TERKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 people about her of whom he had a bad opinion. 
 "Those -women have no more feeling for you than 
 stones. When you lay in convulsions, your housekeeper 
 looked on as philosophically as if you had been two 
 kittens at play, you and Polly." 
 
 "I saw her." 
 
 " Indeed ! you appeared hardly in a condition to see 
 anything." 
 
 "I did, though, and heard the old wretch tell the 
 young moiikey to water my lilac dress. That was to get 
 it for her Polly. She knew Pd never wear it after- 
 wards." 
 
 " Then why don't you turn her off ? " 
 
 " Who'd take such a useless old hag, if I turned her 
 off?" 
 
 " You carry a charity a long way." 
 
 " I carry everything. What's the use doing things by 
 halves, good or bad ? " 
 
 " Well, but that Polly ! She is young enough to get 
 her living elsewhere ; and she is extremely disrespectful 
 to you." 
 
 " That she is. If I wasn't a lady, I'd have given her a 
 good hiding, this very day, for her cheek." 
 
 "Then why not turn her off this very day for her 
 cheek ? " 
 
 " Well, I'll tell you, since you and I are parted for 
 ever. No, I don't like." 
 
 " Oh, come ! no secrets between friends." 
 
 " Well, then, the old hag — is my mother." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " And the young jade — is my sister." 
 
 " Good heavens ! " 
 
 " And the page — is my little brother." 
 
 « Ha, ha, ha ! " 
 
 "What, are you not angry ? " 
 
A TEilRIBLE TEMPTATION. 39 
 
 " Angry ? no ! Ha, ha, ha ! " 
 
 "See what a hornet's nest you have escaped from. 
 My dear friend, those two -women rob me through thick 
 and thin. They steal my handkerchiefs and my gloves, 
 and my very linen. They drink my wine like fishes. 
 They'd take the hair off my head, if it wasn't fast by 
 the roots — for a wonder." 
 
 " Why not give them a ten-pound note, and send them 
 home ? " 
 
 " They'd pocket the note, and blacken me in our vil- 
 lage. That was why I had them up here. First time I 
 went home, after running about with that little scamp 
 Vandeleur — do you know him ? " 
 
 " I have not the honor." 
 
 " Then your luck beats mine. One thing, he is going 
 to the dogs as fast as he can. Some day he'll come beg- 
 ging to me for a fiver. You mark my words now." 
 
 " Well, but you were saying " — 
 
 " Yes, I went off about Van. Polly says I've a mind 
 like running water. Well, then, when I went home the 
 first time — after Van, — mother and Polly raised a vir- 
 tuous howl. ' All right,' said I — for of course I know 
 how much virtue there is under their skins. Virtue of 
 the lower orders ! Tell that to gentlefolks that don't 
 know them. I do. I've been one of 'em. — ' I know all 
 about that,' says I. 'You want to share the plunder, 
 that is the sense of your virtuous cry.' So I had 'em up 
 here, and then there was no more virtuous howling, but 
 a deal of virtuous thieving, and modest drinking, and 
 pure-minded selling of my street-door to the highest 
 male bidder. And they wiU corrupt the boy; and if 
 they do, I'll cut their black hearts out with my riding- 
 whip. But I suppose I must keep them on; they are 
 my own flesh and blood, and if I was to be ill and dying, 
 they'd do all they could to keep me alive — for their 
 
40 A TEKRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 own sakes. I'm their milch cow — these country inno- 
 cents." 
 
 Sir Charles groaned aloud, and said: "My poor girl, 
 you deserve a better fate than this. Marry some honest 
 fellow, and cut the whole thing." 
 
 " I'll see about it. You try it first, and let us see how 
 you like it." 
 
 And so they parted gayly. 
 
 In the hall Polly intercepted him, all smiles. He 
 looked at her, smiled in his sleeve, and gave her a hand- 
 some present. 
 
 "If you please, sir," said she, "an old gentleman 
 called for you." 
 
 "When?" 
 
 "About an hour ago. Leastways he asked if Sir 
 Charles Bassett was here. I said yes, but you wouldn't 
 see no one." 
 
 " Who could it be ? Why, surely you never told any- 
 body I was to be here to-day ? " 
 
 " La, no, sir ! how could I ? " said Polly, with a face of 
 brass. 
 
 Sir Charles thought this very odd, and felt even a 
 little uneasy about it. All the way to Portman Square 
 he puzzled over it : and at last he was driven to the con- 
 clusion that Miss Somerset had been weak enough to tell 
 some person,- male or female, of the coming interview, 
 and so somebody had called there — doubtless to ask 
 him a favor. 
 
 At five o'clock he reached Portman Square, and was 
 about to enter, as a matter of course ; but the footman 
 stopped him. 
 
 "I beg pardon, Sir Charles," said the man, looking 
 pale and agitated ; " but I have strict orders. My young 
 lady is very ill." 
 
 " 111 ! Let me go to her this instant." 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 41 
 
 " I daren't, Sir Charles, I daren't. I know you are a 
 gentleman; pray don't lose me my place. You would 
 never get to see her. We none of us know the rights, 
 but there's something up. Sorry to say it, Sir Chajles, 
 but we have strict orders not to admit you. Haven't you 
 got the admiral's letter, sir ? " 
 
 «Ko: what letter?" 
 
 "He has been after you, sir; and when he came back 
 he sent Roger off to your house with a letter." 
 
 A cold chill began to run down Sir Charles Bassett. 
 He hailed a passing hansom, and drove to his own house 
 to get the admiral's letter; and as he went he asked 
 himiself, with chill misgivings, what on earth had 
 happened. 
 
 "What had happened shall be told the reader precisely 
 but briefly. 
 
 In the first place, Bella had opened the anonymous 
 letter, and read its contents, to which the reader is 
 referred. 
 
 There are people who pretend to despise anonymous 
 letters. Pure delusion ! They know they ought to, and 
 so fancy they do; but they don't. The absence of a 
 signature gives weight, if the letter is ably written, and 
 seems true. 
 
 As for poor Bella Bruce, a dove's bosom is no more fit to 
 rebuff a poisoned arrow than she was to combat that 
 foulest and direst of all a miscreant's weapons, an anony- 
 mous letter. She, in her goodness and innocence, never 
 dreamed that any person she did not know eovlS. possibly 
 tell a lie to wound her. The letter fell on her like a 
 cruel revelation from heaven. 
 
 The blow was so savage that at first it stunned her. 
 
 She sat pale and stupefied ; but, beneath the stupor, 
 were the rising throbs of coming agonies. 
 
 After that horrible stupor, her anguish grew and grew, 
 
42 A TEEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 till it found vent in a miserable cry, rising, and rising, 
 and rising in agony. 
 
 "Mamma! mamma! mamma!" 
 
 Yes ; her mother had been dead these three years, and 
 her father sat in the next room, yet, in her anguish, she 
 cried to her mother — a cry, the which if your mother 
 had heard, she would have expected Bella's to come to 
 her, even from the grave. 
 
 Admiral Bruce heard this fearful cry — the living 
 calling on the dead — and burst through the folding- 
 doors in a moment, white as a ghost. 
 
 He found his daughter writhing on the sofa, ghastly, 
 and grinding in her hand the cursed paper that had 
 poisoned her young life. 
 
 "My child! my child!" 
 
 " Oh, papa ! see ! see ! " And she tried to open the 
 letter for him, but her hands trembled so, she could not. 
 
 He kneeled down by her side, the stout old warrior, 
 and read the letter, while she clung to him moaning now, 
 and (juivering all over from head to foot. 
 
 "Why, there's no signature ! The writer is a coward 
 and, perhaps, a liar. Stop ! he offers a test. I'll put him 
 to it this minute." 
 
 He laid the moaning girl on the sofa, ordered his 
 servants to admit nobody into the house, and drove at 
 once to Mayfair. 
 
 He called at Miss Somerset's house, saw Polly, and 
 questioned her. 
 
 He drove home again, and came into the drawing- 
 room, looking as he had been seen to look when fighting 
 his ship ; but his daughter had never seen him so. " My 
 girl," said he solemnly, " there's nothing for you to do 
 but to be brave, and hide your grief as well as you can ; 
 for the man is unworthy of your love. That coward 
 spoke the truth. He is there at this moment." 
 
A TEEEIBLE TEMPTATION. 43 
 
 " Oh, papa ! papa ! let me die. The world is too 
 wicked for me. Let me die!" 
 
 "Die for an imworthy object? For shame! Gro to 
 your own loom, my girl, and pray to yonr God to help 
 you, since your mother has left xis. Oh, how I miss her 
 now ! GrO and pray, and let no one else know what we 
 suffer. Be your fatiier's daughter. Fight, and pray." 
 
 Poor Bella had no longer to complain that she was not 
 commanded. She kissed him, and burst into a g^eat 
 passion of weeping ; but he led her to the door, and she 
 tottered to her own room, a blighted girL 
 
 The sight of her was harrowing. Under its influence, 
 the admiral dashed off a letter to Sir Charles, calling 
 him a villain, and invitiag him to go to France, and let 
 an indignant father write scoundrel on Ms carcass. 
 
 But, when he had written this, his good sense and 
 dignity prevailed over his fury ; he burned the letter, and 
 wrote another. This he sent by hand to Sir Charles's 
 house, and ordered his servants — but that the reader 
 knows. 
 
 Sir Charles found the admiral's letter in his letter-rack. 
 It ran thus : 
 
 Sir, — We have learned your connection with a lady named 
 Somerset, and I have ascertained that you went from my 
 daughter to her house this very day. 
 
 IfGss Bruce and myself withdraw from all connection with 
 you, and I must request you to attempt no communication with 
 her, of any kind. Such an attempt would be an additional 
 insult. 
 
 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 JoHK Urqchakt Bruce. 
 
 At firet, Sir Charles Bassett was stunned by this blow. 
 Then his mind resisted the admiral's severity, and he 
 was indignant at being dismissed for so common an 
 
44 A TEREIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 offence. This gave -way to deep grief and shame at the 
 thought of Bella and her lost esteem. But soon all 
 other feelings merged for a time in fury at the heartless 
 traitor who had destroyed his happiness, and had dashed 
 the cup of innocent love from his very lips. Boiling 
 over with mortification and rage, he drove at once to 
 that traitor's house. Polly opened the door : he rushed 
 past her, and burst into the dining-room, breathless and 
 white with passion. 
 
 He found Miss Somerset studying the deed, by which 
 he had made her independent for life. She started at 
 his strange appearance, and instinctively put both hands 
 flat upon the deed. 
 
 " You vile wretch ! " cried Sir Charles. " You heart- 
 less monster! Enjoy your work." And he flung her 
 the admiral's letter. But he did not wait while she 
 read it ; he heaped reproaches on her ; and, for the first 
 time in her life, she did not reply in kind. 
 
 "Are you mad?" she faltered. "What have I 
 done?" 
 
 " You have told Admiral Bruce." 
 
 "That's false." 
 
 "You told him I was to be here to-day." 
 
 " Charles, I never did. Believe me." 
 
 "You did. Nobody knew it but you: he was here 
 to-day, at the very hour." 
 
 " May I never get up alive off this chair, if I told a 
 soul ! Yes, our Polly. PU ring for her." 
 
 "1^0, you will not. She is your sister. Do you think 
 PU take the word of such reptiles, against the plain 
 fact ? You have parted my love and me — parted us on 
 the very day I had made you independent for life. An 
 innocent love was waiting to bless me, and an honest 
 love was in your power, thanks to me, your kind forgiv- 
 ing friend and benefactor. I have heaped kindness on 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 45 
 
 you from the first moment I had the misfortune to know 
 you. I connived at your infidelities " — 
 
 " Charles ! Don't say that. I never was." 
 
 " I indulged your most expensive whims ; and, instead 
 of leaving you with a curse, as all the rest did that ever 
 knew you, and as you deserve, I bought your consent to 
 lead a respectable life and be blessed with a virtuous 
 love. You took the bribe, but robbed me of the bless- 
 ing — viper! You have destroyed me body and soul — 
 monster ! perhaps blighted her happiness as well ; you 
 she-devils hate an angel, worse than Heaven hates you. 
 But you shall suffer with us : not your heart, for you 
 have none, but your pocket. You have broken faith with 
 me, and sent all my happiness to hell ; I'll send your 
 deed to hell after it ! " With this he flung himself upon 
 the deed, and was going to throw it into the fire. Now, 
 up to that moment she had been overpowered by this 
 man's fury, whom she had never seen the least angry 
 before; but, when he laid hands on her property, it 
 acted like an electric shock. " No ! no ! " she screamed, 
 and sprang at him like a wildcat. 
 
 Then ensued a violent and unseemly struggle all about 
 the room; chairs were upset, and vases broken to pieces ; 
 and the man and woman dragged each other to and fro, 
 one fighting for her property, as if it was her life, and 
 the other for revenge. 
 
 Sir Charles, excited by fury, was stronger than him- 
 self, and at last shook off one of her hands for a moment, 
 and threw the deed into the fire. She tried to break from 
 him and save it, but he held her like iron. 
 
 Yet not for long ; whilst he was holding her back, and 
 she straining every nerve to get to the fire, he began to 
 show sudden symptoms of distress. He gasped loudly, 
 and cried, " Oh ! oh ! I'm choking ! " and then his 
 clutch relaxed. She tore herself from it, and, plunging 
 forward, rescued the smoking parchment. 
 
46 A TEBKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 At that moment she heard a great stagger behind hei^ 
 and a pitiful moan ; and Sir Charles fell heavily, strik- 
 ing his head against the edge of the sofa. She looked 
 round as she knelt, and saw him, black in the face, 
 rolling his eyeballs fearfully, -while his teeth gnashed 
 awfully, and a jet of foam flew through his lips. 
 
 Then she shrieked with terror, and the blackened 
 deed fell from her hands : at this moment, Polly rushed 
 into the room ; she saw the fearful sight, and echoed her 
 sister's screams. But they were neither of them women 
 to lose their heads, and beat the air with their hands ; 
 they got to him, and both of them fought hard with the 
 unconscious sufferer, whose body, in a fresh convulsion, 
 now bounded away from the sofa, and bade fair to batter 
 itself against the ground. 
 
 They did all they could to hold him with one arm 
 apiece, and to release his swelling throat with the other. 
 Their nimble fingers whipped off his necktie in a mo- 
 ment ; but the distended windpipe pressed so against 
 the shirt-button, they could not undo it. Then they 
 seized the collar, and, pulling against each other, wrenched 
 the shirt open so powerfully, that the button flew into 
 the air, and tinkled against a mirror a long way off. 
 
 A few more struggles, somewhat less violent, and then 
 the face, from purple, began to whiten ; the eyeballs 
 fixed ; the pulse went down ; the man lay stiU. 
 
 " Oh, my God," cried Khoda Somerset,, " he is dying ! 
 To the nearest doctor ! There's one three doors off. No 
 bonnet ! It's life and death this moment. Fly ! " 
 
 Polly obeyed ; and Dr. Andrews was actually in the 
 room within five minutes. 
 
 He looked grave, and kneeled down by the patient, and 
 felt his pulse anxiously. 
 
 Miss Somerset sat down, and, being from the country, 
 though she did not look it, began to weep bitterly, and 
 rock herself in rustic fashion. 
 
A TERBIBLE TEMPTATION. 47 
 
 The doctor questioned her kindly, and she told 
 him, between her sobs, how Sir Charles had been 
 taken. 
 
 The doctor, however, iastead of being alarmed by 
 those frightful symptoms she related, took a more cheer- 
 ful view directly. " Then do not alarm yourself unnec- 
 essarily," he said. " It is only an epileptic fit." 
 
 " Only ? " sobbed Miss Somerset. " Oh, if you had 
 seen him ! And he lies like death." 
 
 " Yes," said Dr. Andrews : " a severe epileptic fit is 
 really a terrible thing to look at, but it is not dangerous 
 in proportion. Is he used to have them ? " 
 
 " Oh, no, doctor : never had one before." 
 
 Here she was mistaken, I think. 
 
 " You must keep him quiet, and give him a moderate 
 stimulant, as soon as he can swallow comfortably ; the 
 quietest room in the house ; and don't let him be hungry 
 night or day. Have food by his bedside, and watch him 
 for a day or two. I'll come again this evening." 
 
 The doctor went to his dinner tranquil. 
 
 Kot so those he left. Miss Somerset resigned her own 
 luxurious bedroom, and had the patient laid, just as he 
 was, upon her bed. She sent the page out to her 
 groom, and ordered two loads of straw to be laid before 
 the door ; and she watched by the sufferer, with braiidy 
 and water by her side. 
 
 Sir Charles now might have seemed to be in a peace- 
 ful slumber, but for his eyes : they were open, and 
 showed more white and less pupil than usual. 
 
 However, in time he began to sigh and move, and even 
 mutter; and, gradually, some little color came back to 
 his pale cheeks. 
 
 Then Miss Somerset had the good sense to draw back 
 out of his sight, and order Polly to take her place by his 
 side. Polly did so, and, some time afterwards, at a fresh 
 
48 A TBKBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 order, put a teaspoonful of brandy to his lips, -which 
 were still pale, and even bluish. 
 
 The doctor returned, and brought his assistant. They 
 put the patient to bed. 
 
 " His life is in no danger," said he. " I wish I was as 
 sure about his reason." 
 
 At one o'clock in the morning, as Polly was snoring 
 by the patient's bedside, a hand was laid on her shoul- 
 der. It was Ehoda. 
 
 " Go to bed, Polly : you are no use here." 
 
 " You'd be sleepy if you worked as hard as I do." 
 
 "Very likely," said Ehoda, with a gentleness that 
 struck Polly as very singular. " Good-night." 
 
 Khoda spent the night watching, and thinking harder 
 than she had ever thought before. 
 
 Next morning early Polly came into the sick-room. 
 There sat her sister watching the patient, out of sight. 
 
 " La, Ehoda ! Have you sat there all night ? " 
 
 " Yes. Don't speak so loud. Come here. You've set 
 your heart on this lilac silk : I'll give it you for your 
 black merino." 
 
 " Not you, my lady ; you are not so fond of mereeny, 
 nor of me neither." 
 
 " I am not a liar like you," said the other, becoming 
 herself for a moment, " and what I say I'll do. You put 
 out your merino for me in the dressing-room." 
 
 "All right," said Polly joyfully. 
 
 " And bring me two buckets of water instead of one. 
 I have never closed my eyes." 
 
 "Poor soul ! and now you be going to sluice yourself 
 all the same. Whatever you can see in cold water to 
 run after it so, I can't think. If I was to flood myself 
 like you, it would soon float me to my long home." 
 
 "How do you know? You never gave it a trial. 
 Come, no more chat; give me my bath, and then you 
 
A TEEEIBLB TEMPTATION. 49 
 
 may "wash yourself in a teacup if you like, only don't 
 wash my spoons in the same water, for mercy^s sake ! " 
 
 Thus affectionately stimulated in her duties, PoUy 
 brought cold water galore, and laid out her new merino 
 dress. In this sober suit, with plain linen collar and 
 cuffs, the Somerset dressed herself, and resumed her 
 watching by the bedside. She kept more than ever out 
 of sight ; for the patient was now beginning to mutter 
 incoherently, yet in a way that showed his clouded facul- 
 ties were dwelling on the calamity which had befallen 
 him. 
 
 About noon the bell was rung sharply, and, on Polly 
 entering, Rhoda called her to the window and showed 
 her two female figures plodding down the street. "Look," 
 said she ; " those are the only women I envy. Sisters of 
 Charity. Kun you after them, and take a good look at 
 those beastly, ugly caps : then come and tell me how to 
 make one." 
 
 " Here's a go ! " said Polly, but executed the commis- 
 sion promptly. 
 
 It needed no fashionable mUliner to turn a yard of 
 linen into one of those ugly caps, which are beautiful 
 banners of Christian charity and womanly tenderness to 
 the sick and suffering. The monster cap was made in an 
 hour, and Miss Somerset put it on, and a thick veil, and 
 then she no longer thought it necessary to sit out of the 
 jatienf s sight. 
 
 The consequence was that, in the middle of his ram- 
 blings, he broke off and looked at her. The Sister puz- 
 zled him. At last he called to her in French. 
 
 She made no reply. 
 
 " Je suis k I'hdpital, n'est-ce pas, bonne soeur ? " 
 
 " I am English," said she softly. 
 
60 A TEEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTEE VL 
 
 " English ! " said Sir Charles. " Then tell me, how 
 did I come here ? Where am I ? " 
 
 " You had a fit, and the doctor ordered you to be kept 
 quiet ; and I am here to nurse you." 
 
 " A fit ! ay, I remember. That vile woman ! " 
 
 " Don't think of her : give your mind to getting well : 
 remember there is somebody who would break her, 
 heart if you " — 
 
 " Oh, my poor Bella ! my sweet, timid, modest, loving 
 Bella!" He was so weakened, that he cried like a 
 child. 
 
 Miss Somerset rose, and laid her forehead sadly upon 
 the window-sill. 
 
 " Why do I cry for her, like a great baby ? " muttered 
 Sir Charles. " She wouldn't cry for me : she has cast . 
 me off in a moment." 
 
 " Not she : it is her father's doing. Have a little 
 patience. The whole thing shall be explained to them ; 
 and then she will soon soften the old man. It is not as 
 if you were really to blame." 
 
 " No more I was : it is all that vile woman." 
 
 " Oh, don't ! She is so sorry : she has taken it all to 
 heart. She had once shammed a fit on the very place ; 
 and, when you had a real fit there — on the very spot — 
 oh, it was so fearful — and lay like one dead, she saw 
 God's finger, and it touched her hard heart. Don't say 
 anything more against her just now; she is trying so 
 hard to be good. And, besides, it is all a mistake : she 
 never told that old admiral ; she never breathed a word 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 51 
 
 out of her own house. Her own people have betrayed 
 her and you. She has made me promise two things : to 
 find out who told the admiral ; and " — 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "The second thing I have to do — well, that is a 
 secret between me and that unhappy woman. She is bad 
 enough, but not so heartless as you think." 
 • "Sir Charles shook his head incredulously, but said no 
 more, and soon after fell asleep. 
 
 In the evening he woke, and found the Sister watching. 
 
 She now turned her head away from him, and asked 
 him quietly to describe Miss Bella Bruce to her. 
 
 He described her in minute and glowing terms. " But 
 oh. Sister," said he, " it is not her beauty only, but the 
 beauty of her mind : so gentle, so modest, so timid, so 
 docile. She would never have had the heart to turn me 
 off. But she will obey her father. She looked forward 
 to obeying me, sweet dove ! " 
 
 "Did she say so? " 
 
 " Yes ; that is her dream of happiness, to obey." 
 
 ■The Sister still questioned him with averted head, 
 and he told her what had passed between Bella and hiTn 
 the last time he saw her, and aU their innocent plans of 
 married happiness. He told her with the tear in his eye, 
 and she listened with the tear in hers. " And then," 
 said he, laying his hand on her shoulder, " is it not hard ? 
 I just went to Mayfair, not to please myself, but to do 
 an act of justice ; of more than justice, and then, for that 
 to have her door shut in my face. Only two hours between 
 the height of happiness and the depth of misery." 
 
 The Sister said nothing, but she hid her face iu her 
 hands and thought. 
 
 The next morning, by her order, Polly came into the 
 room and said, " You are to go home. The carriage is 
 at the door." With this she retired, and Sir Charles's 
 
52 A TBEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 valet entered the room soon after to help him to 
 dress. 
 
 " Where am I, James ? " 
 
 " Miss Somerset's house, Sir Charles." 
 
 " Then get me out of it directly." 
 
 " Yes, Sir Charles. The carriage is at the door." 
 
 " Who told you to come, James ? " 
 
 " Miss Somerset, Sir Charles." 
 
 « That is odd." 
 
 " Yes, Sir Charles." 
 
 When he got home, he found a sofa placed by a fire, 
 with wraps and pillows ; his cigar-case laid out, and a 
 bottle of salts, and also a small glass of old cognac, in 
 case of faintness. 
 
 " Which of you had the gumption to do all this ? " 
 
 " Miss Somerset, Sir Charles." 
 
 " What, has she been here ? " 
 
 "Yes, Sir Charles." 
 
 " Curse her ! " 
 
 " Yes, Sir Charles." 
 
A TERRIBLB TEMPTATION. 53 
 
 CHAPTEE Vn. 
 
 "love lies bleeding." 
 
 Bella Bbuce was drinking the bitterest cup a young 
 virgin soul can taste. Illusion gone — the wicked world 
 revealed as it is, how unlike what she thought it was — 
 love crushed in her, and not crushed out of her, as it 
 might if she had been either proud or vain. 
 
 Frail men and women should see what a passionate 
 but virtuous woman can suffer, when a revelation, of 
 which they think but little, comes and blasts her young 
 heart, and bids her dry up in a moment the deep weU of 
 her affection, since it flows for an unworthy object, and 
 flows in vain. I tell you that the fair head severed from 
 the chaste body is nothing to her compared with this ; 
 the fair body pierced with heathen arrows was nothing 
 to her in the days of old compared with this. 
 
 In a word — for nowadays we can but amplify, and so 
 enfeeble, what some old dead master of language, im- 
 mortal though obscure, has said in words of granite — 
 here 
 
 " Love lay bleedfaig." 
 
 No fainting ; no vehement weeping ; but oh, such deep 
 desolation; such weariness of life; such pitiable rest- 
 lessness. Appetite gone ; the taste of food almost lost ; 
 sleep unwilling to come ; and, oh, the torture of waking 
 — for at that horrible moment, all rushed back at once, 
 the joy that had been, the misery that was, the blank 
 that was to come. 
 
54 A TEKBIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 She never stirred out, except when ordered^ and then 
 went like an automaton. Pale, sorrow-stricken, and 
 patient, she moved about, the ghost of herself ; and lay- 
 down a little, and then tried to work a little, and then 
 to read a little ; and could settle to nothing, but sorrow 
 and deep despondency. 
 
 Not that she nursed her grief. She had been told to 
 be brave, and she tried. But her grief was her master ; 
 it came welling through her eyes in a moment, of its 
 own accord. 
 
 She was deeply mortified too ; but, in her gentle nature, 
 anger could play but a secondary part. Her indignation 
 was weak beside her grief, and did little to bear her up. 
 
 Yet her sense of shame was vivid ; she tried hard not 
 to let her father see how deeply she loved the man who 
 had gone from her to Miss Somerset. Besides, he had 
 ordered her to fight against a love that now could only 
 degrade her ; he had ordered, and it was for her to obey. 
 
 As soon as Sir Charles was better, he wrote her a long 
 humble letter, owning that, before he knew her, he had 
 led a free life; but assuring her that, ever since that 
 happy time, his heart and his time had been solely hers ; 
 as to his visit to Miss Somerset, it had been one of busi- 
 ness merely, and this he could prove, if she would receive 
 him. The admiral could be present at that interview, 
 and Sir Charles hoped to convince him he had been some- 
 what hasty and harsh in his decision. 
 
 Now the admiral had foreseen Sir Charles would write 
 to her ; so he had ordered his man to bring all letters to 
 him first. 
 
 He recognized Sir Charles's hand, and brought the 
 letter in to Bella. "Now, my child," said he, "be brave. 
 Here is a letter from that man." 
 
 " Oh, papa ! I thought he would. I knew he would." 
 And the pale face was flushed with joy and hope, all in 
 a moment. 
 
A TEKRIBLE TEMPTATION. 55 
 
 "Do what?" 
 
 "Write and explain." 
 
 " Explain ? A thing that is clear as sunshine. He has 
 written to throw dust in your eyes again. You are evi- 
 dently in no state to judge, /shall read this letter first." 
 
 " Yes, papa," said Bella, faintly. 
 
 He did read it, and she devoured his countenance all 
 the time. _ 
 
 " There is nothing in it. He offers no real explana- 
 tion, but only says he can explain, and asks for an inter- 
 view — to play upon your weakness. If I give you this 
 letter, it will only make you cry, and render your task 
 more difficult. I must be strong, for your good, and set 
 you an example. I loved this young man too ; but, now 
 I know him " — then he actually thrust the letter into 
 the fire. 
 
 But this was too much. Bella shrieked at the act, and 
 put her hand to her heart, and shrieked again. " Ah ! 
 you'll kill us, you'll kill us both!" she cried. "Poor 
 Charles ! Poor Bella ! You don't love your child — you 
 have no pity." And, for the first time, her misery was 
 violent. She writhed and wept, and at last went into 
 violent hysterics, and frightened that stout old warrior 
 more than cannon had ever frightened him ; and presently 
 she became quiet, and wept at his knees, and begged his 
 forgiveness, and said he was wiser than she was, and she 
 would obey him in everything, only he must not be angry 
 with her if she could not live. 
 
 Then the stout admiral mingled his tears with hers, 
 and began to realize what deep waters of afliction his 
 girl was wading in. 
 
 Yet he saw no way out but firmness. He wrote to 
 Sir Charles, to say that his daughter was too ill to write; 
 but that no explanation was possible, and no interview 
 could be allowed. 
 
56 A TEKEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Sir Charles, who, after writing, had conoeiTed the 
 most sanguine hopes, was now as wretched as Bella; 
 only, now that he was refused a hearing, he had wounded 
 pride to support him a little under wounded love. 
 
 Admiral Bruce, fearing for his daughter's health, and 
 even for her life — she pined so visibly — now ordered 
 her to divide her day into several occupations, and exact 
 divisions of time : an hour for this, an hour for that ; an 
 hour, by the clock : and here he showed practical wisdom. 
 Try it, ye that are very unhappy ; and tell me the result. 
 
 As a part of this excellent system, she had to walk 
 round the square from eleven till twelve a.m. : but never 
 alone : he was not going to have Sir Charles surprising 
 her into an interview. He always went with her, and as 
 he was too stiff to walk briskly, he sat down, and she 
 had to walk in sight. He took a stout stick with Mm — 
 for Sir Charles. But Sir Charles was proud, and stayed 
 at home with his deep wound. 
 
 One day, walking round the square, with a step of 
 mercury, and heart of lead, Bella Bruce met a Sister of 
 Charity pacing slow and thoughtful ; their eyes met and 
 drank, in a moment, every feature of each other. 
 
 The Sister, apparently, had seen the settled grief on 
 that fair face ; for, the next time they met, she eyed her 
 with a certain sympathy, which did not escape Bella. 
 
 This subtle interchange took place several times, and 
 Bella could not help feeling a little grateful. " Ah ! " 
 she thought to herself, "how kind religious people are! 
 I should like to speak to her." And the next time they 
 met, she looked wistfully in the Sister's face. 
 
 She did not meet her again, for she went and rested 
 on a bench, in sight of her father, but at some distance 
 from him. Unconsciously to herself, his refusal even to 
 hear Sir Charles repelled her. That was so hard on him 
 and her. It looked like throwing away the last chance, 
 the last little chance of happiness. 
 
"ONE I LOVED; PROVED UNWORTHY. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 57 
 
 By-and-by the Sister came, and sat on the same bench. 
 
 Bella was hardly surprised, but blushed high ; for she 
 felt that her own eyes had invited the sympathy of a 
 stranger, and now it seemed to be coming the timid girl 
 felt uneasy. The Sister saw that, and approached her 
 with tact. " You look unwell," said she gently, but with 
 no appearance of extravagant interest or curiosity. 
 
 "I am — a little," said Bella, very reservedly. 
 
 " Excuse my remarking it. We are professional nurses, 
 and apt to be a little officious, I fear." 
 
 No reply. 
 
 " I saw you were unwell. But I hope it is not serious. 
 I can generally tell when the sick are in danger." A 
 peculiar look. " I am glad not to see it in so young and 
 — good a face." 
 
 " You are young, too ; very young, and (she was going 
 to say 'beautiful,' but she was too shy) — to be a Sister 
 of Charity. But I am sure you never regret leaving such 
 a world as this is." 
 
 " Never. I have lost the only thing I ever valued in it." 
 
 " I have no right to ask you what that was." 
 
 "You shall know without asking. One I loved proved 
 unworthy." 
 
 The Sister sighed deeply, and then, hiding her face 
 with her hands for a mom^ent, rose abruptly, and left the 
 square, ashamed, apparently, of having been betrayed 
 into such a confession. 
 
 Bella, when she was twenty yards off, put out a timid 
 hand, as if to detain her ; but she had not the courage to 
 say anything of the kind. ' 
 
 She never told her father a word. She had got some- 
 body now who could sympathize with her better than he 
 could. 
 
 Next day the Sister was there, and Bella bowed to her 
 when she met her. 
 
58 A TEBBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 This time it was the Sister who went and sat on the 
 bench. 
 
 Bella continued her walk for some time, but at last 
 could not resist the temptation. She came and sat down 
 on the bench, and blushed, as much as to say, "I have 
 the courage to come, but not to speak upon a certain 
 subject, which shall be nameless." 
 
 The Sister, as may be imagined, was not so shy ; she 
 opened a conversation. " I committed a fault yesterday : 
 I spoke to you of myself and of the past ; it is discour- 
 aged by our rules. We are bound to inquire the grief of 
 others, not to tell our own." 
 
 This was a fair opening ; but Bella was too delicate to 
 show her wounds to a fresh acquaintance. 
 
 The Sister, having failed at that, tried something very 
 different. 
 
 "But I could tell you a pitiful case about another. 
 Some time ago I nursed a gentleman whom love had lain 
 on a sick-bed." 
 
 " A gentleman ! What, can they love as we do ? " said 
 Bella bitterly. 
 
 "Not many of them ; but this was an exception. But 
 I don't know whether I ought to tell these secrets to so 
 young a lady." 
 
 " Oh, yes, please ! What else is there in this world 
 worth talking about ? Tell me about the poor man who 
 could love as we can." 
 
 The Sister seemed to hesitate, but at last decided to go 
 on. 
 
 "Well, he was a man of the world; and he had not 
 always been a good man ; but he was trying to be. He 
 had fallen in love with a young lady, and seen the beauty 
 of virtue, and was going to marry her, and lead a good 
 life. But he was a man of honor ; and there was a lady 
 for whom he thought it was his duty to provide. He 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 59 
 
 set his lawyer to draw a deed, and his lawyer appointed 
 a day for signing it at her house. The poor man came, 
 because his lawyer told him. Do you think there was 
 any great harm in that ? " 
 
 " No ; of course not." 
 
 "Well, then, he lost his love for that." 
 
 Miss Bruce's color began to come and go, and her 
 supple figure to crouch a little. She said nothing. 
 
 The Sister continued : " Some malicious person went 
 and told the young lady's father the gentleman was in 
 the habit of visiting that lady, and would be with her at 
 a certain hour. And so he was ; but it was the lawyer's 
 appointment, you know. You seem agitated." 
 
 "No, no; not agitated," said Bella, "but astonished: 
 it is so like a story I know. A young lady, a friend of 
 mine, had an anonymous letter, telling her that one she 
 loved and esteemed was unworthy. But what you have 
 told me shows me how deceitful appearances may be. 
 What was your patient's name ? " 
 
 "It is against our rules to tell that. But you said 'an 
 anonymous letter.' Was your friend so weak as to 
 believe an anonymous letter? The writer of such a 
 letter is a coward, and a coward is always a liar. Show 
 me your friend's anonymous letter. I may, perhaps, be 
 able to throw a light on it." 
 
 The conversation was interrupted by Admiral Bruce, 
 who had approached them unobserved. "Excuse me," 
 said he, " but you ladies seem to have hit upon a very 
 interesting theme." 
 
 " Yes, papa," said Bella. " I took the liberty to ques- 
 tion this lady as to her experiences of sick-beds, and she 
 was good enough to give me some of them." 
 
 Having uttered this with a sudden appearance of 
 calmness that first amazed the Sister, then made her 
 smile, she took her father's arm, bowed politely and a 
 
60 A TEEBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 little stifQy to her new friend, and drew the admiral 
 away. 
 
 " Oh ! " thought the Sister, " I am not to speak to the 
 old gentleman. He is not in her confidence. Yet she is 
 very fond of him. How she hangs on his arm ! Sim- 
 plicity ! Candor ! We are all tarred with the same stick, 
 we women." 
 
 That night Bella was a changed girl: exalted and 
 depressed by turns, and with no visible reason. 
 
 Her father was pleased. Anything better than that 
 deadly languor. 
 
 The next day Bella sat by her father's side in the 
 square, longing to go to the Sister, yet patiently waiting 
 to be ordered. 
 
 At last the admiral, finding her dull and listless, said, 
 " Why don't you go and talk to the Sister ? She amuses 
 you. I'll join you when I have smoked this cigar." 
 
 The obedient Bella rose, and went towards the Sister, 
 as if compelled. But, when she got to her, her whole 
 manner changed : she took her warmly by the hand, and 
 said, trembling and blushing, and all on fire, "I have 
 brought you the anonymous letter." 
 
 The elder actress took it, and ran her eye over it — an 
 eye that now sparkled like a diamond. " Humph ! " said 
 she, and fiung off all the dulcet tones of her assumed 
 character with mighty little ceremony. " This hand is 
 disguised a little ; but I think I know it. I am sure I 
 do. The dirty little rascal ! " 
 
 "Madam!" cried Bella, aghast with surprise at this 
 language. 
 
 " I tell you I know the writer, and his rascally motive. 
 You must lend me this for a day or two." 
 
 "Must I?" said Bella. "Excuse me. Papa would 
 be so angry." 
 
 "Very likely; but you will lend it to me for all that; 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 61 
 
 5 
 
 for, with this, I can clear Miss Bruce's lover, and defeat 
 his enemies." 
 
 Bella uttered a faint cry, and trembled, and her bosom 
 heaved violently. She looked this way and that, like a 
 frightened deer. "But papa? His eye is on us." 
 
 " Never deceive your father ! " said the Sister, almost 
 sternly; "but," darting her gray eyes right into those 
 dovelike orbs, "give me five minutes' start, ir you really 
 LOVE Sib Chaklbs Bassbtt." 
 
 With these words she carried off the letter ; and Bella 
 ran, blushing, panting, trembling, to her father, and clung 
 to him. 
 
 He questioned her, but could get nothing from her 
 very intelligible, until the Sister was out of sight, and 
 then she told him all without reserve. 
 
 "I was unworthy of him to doubt him. An anony- 
 mous slander ! I'll never trust appearances again. Poor 
 Charles ! Oh, my darling, what he must have suffered, 
 if he loves like me ! " Then came a shower of happy 
 tears ; then a shower of happy kisses. 
 
 The admiral groaned, but, for a long time, he could 
 not get a word in. When he did, it was chilling. " My 
 poor girl," said he, "this unhappy love blinds yoTi. 
 What, don't you see the woman is no nun, but some sly 
 hussy that man has sent to throw dust in your eyes ! " 
 
 Nothing she could say prevailed to turn him from this 
 view ; and he acted upon it with resolution : he confined 
 her excursions to a little garden at the back of the house, 
 and forbade her, on any pretence, to cross the thresh- 
 old. 
 
 Miss Somerset came to the square, in another disguise, 
 armed with important information. 
 
 But no Bella Bruce appeared to meet her. 
 
 All this time Eichard Bassett was happy as a prince. 
 
 So besotted was he with egotism, and so blinded by 
 
62 , A TEBEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 imaginary wrongs, that he rejoiced in the lovers' separa- 
 tion, rejoiced in his cousin's ilhiess. 
 
 Polly, who now regarded him almost as a lover, told 
 him all about it, and already in anticipation he saw him- 
 self and his line once more lords of the two manors, 
 Bassett and Huntereomhe, on the demise of Sir Charles 
 Bassett, Bart., deceased without issue. 
 
 And, in fact, Sir Charles was utterly defeated ; he lay 
 torpid. 
 
 But there was a tough opponent in the way : all the 
 more dangerous that she was not feared. 
 
 One fine day Miss Somerset electrified her groom by 
 ordering her pony-carriage to the door at ten a.m. 
 
 She took the reins on the pavement, like a man, jumped 
 in light as a feather, and away rattled the carriage into 
 the City. The ponies were all alive, the driver's eye 
 keen as a bird's ; her courage and her judgment equal. 
 She wound in and out among the huge vehicles with 
 perfect composure; and on those occasions when, the 
 traffic being interrupted, the oratorical powers were use- 
 ful to fill up the time, she shone with singular brilliance. 
 The West End is too often in debt to the City ; but, in" 
 the matter of chaff, it was not so this day ; for, when- 
 ever she took a peck, she returned a bushel ; and so she 
 rattled to the door of Solomon Oldfield, Solicitor, Old 
 Jewry. 
 
 She penetrated into the inner office of that worthy, 
 and told him he must come with her that minute to 
 Portman Square. 
 
 "Impossible, madam!" and, as they say in the law 
 reports, gave his reasons. 
 
 " Certain, sir ! " and gave no reasons. 
 
 He still resisted. 
 
 Thereupon she told him she should sit there all day 
 and chaff his clients one after another, and that his 
 
A TEKBIBLE TEMPTATION. 63 
 
 connection with the Bassett and Huntercombe estates 
 should end. 
 
 Then he saw he had to do with a termagant, and 
 consented with a sigh. 
 
 She drove him westward, wincing every now and then 
 at her close driving, and told him all, and showed him 
 what she was pleased to call her little game. He told 
 her it was too romantic. Said he, "You ladies read 
 nothing but novels ; but the real world is quite different 
 from the world of novels." Having delivered this remon- 
 strance, which was tolerably just, for she never read any- 
 thing but novels and sermons, he submitted like a lamb 
 and received her instructions. 
 
 She drove as fast as she talked, so that by this time 
 they were at Admiral Bruce's door. 
 
 Kow Mr. Oldfield took the lead, as per instructions. 
 " Mr. Oldfield, solicitor, and a lady, on business." 
 
 The porter delivered this to the footman with the 
 accuracy which all who send verbal messages deserve, 
 and may count on. " Mr. Oldville and lady." 
 
 The footman, who represented the next step in oral 
 tradition, without which form of history the heathen 
 world would never have known that Hannibal softened 
 the rocks with vinegar, nor the Christian world that 
 eleven thousand virgins dwelt in a German town the 
 size of Putney, announced the pair as "Mr. and Mrs. 
 Hautville." 
 
 " I don't know them, I think. Well, I will see them." 
 
 They entered, and the admiral stared a little, and 
 wondered how this couple came together, the keen but 
 plain old man, with clothes hanging on him, and the 
 dashing beauty, with her dress in the height of the 
 fashion, and her gauntleted hands. However, he bowed 
 ceremoniously, and begged his visitors to be seated. 
 
 Now the folding-doors were ajar, and the soirdisant 
 
64 A TEKBEBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Mrs. Hautville peeped. She saw Bella Bruce at some 
 distance, seated by the fire in a reverie. 
 
 Judge that young lady's astonishment -when she looked 
 up and observed a large, white, -well-shaped hand, spark- 
 ling with diamonds and rubies, beckoning her furtively. 
 
 The owner of that sparkling hand soon heard a soft 
 rustle of silk come towards the door; the very rustle, 
 somehow, was eloquent, and betrayed love and timidity, 
 and something innocent, yet subtle. The jewelled hand 
 went in again, directly. 
 
A TBKBIBLB TEMPTATIOK. 65 
 
 CHAPTER VIII, 
 
 Meantime, Mr. Oldfield began to tell the admiral who 
 he was, and that he was come to remove a false impres- 
 sion about a client of his, Sir Charles Bassett. 
 
 " That, sir," said the admiral, sternly, " is a name we 
 never mention here." 
 
 He rose, and went to the folding-doors, and deliberately 
 closed them. 
 
 The Somerset, thus defeated, bit her lip, and sat all of 
 a heap, like a cat about to spring, looking sulky and 
 vicious. 
 
 Mr. Oldfield persisted, and, as he took the admiral's 
 hint and lowered his voice, he was interrupted no more ; 
 but made a simple statement of those facts which are 
 known to the reader. 
 
 Admiral Bruce heard them, and admitted that the 
 case was not quite so bad as he had thought. 
 
 Then Mr. Oldfield proposed that Sir Charles should be 
 readmitted. 
 
 "No," said the old admiral, firmly ; "turn It how you 
 will, it is too ugly; the bloom of the thing is gone. 
 Why should my daughter take that woman's leavings ? 
 Why should I give her pure heart to a man about 
 town ? " 
 
 "Becalise you will break it else," said Miss Somerset, 
 with affected politeness. 
 
 "Give her credit for more dignity, madam, if you 
 please," replied Admiral Bruce, with equal politeness. 
 
 " Oh, bother dignity ! " cried the Somerset. 
 
 At this free phrase, from so well-dressed a lady, 
 6 
 
66 A TEKEIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 Admiral Bruce opened his eyes, and inquired of Oldfield, 
 rather satirically, .who was this lady, that did him the 
 honor to interfere in his family affairs. 
 
 Oldfield looked confused ; but Somerset, full of mother- 
 wit, was not to be caught napping. "I'm a by-stander ; 
 and they always see clearer -than the folk themselTes. 
 You are a man of honor, sir, and you are very clever at 
 sea, no doubt, and a fighter, and all that ; but you are no 
 match for land-sharks. You are being made a dupe and 
 a tool of. Who do you think wrote that anonymous 
 letter to your daughter ? A friend of truth ? a friend of 
 injured innocence ? Nothing of the sort. One Eichard 
 Bassett : Sir Charles's cousin. Here, Mr. Oldfield, please 
 compare those two handwritings closely, and you will 
 see I am right." She put down the anonymous letter, 
 and Eichard Bassett's letter to herself; but she could 
 not wait for Mr. Oldfield to compare the documents, 
 now her tongue was set going. " Yes, gentlemen, this is 
 new to you ; but you'll find that little scheming rascal 
 wrote them both, and with as base a motive, and as black 
 a heart, as any other anonymous coward's. His game is 
 to make Sir Charles Bassett die childless, and so then 
 this dirty fellow would inherit the estate ; and, owing to 
 you being so green, and swallowing an anonymous letter 
 like pure water from the spring, he very nearly got his 
 way. Sir Charles has been at death's door along of all 
 this." 
 
 " Hush, madam ! not so loud, please," whispered 
 Admiral Bruce, looking uneasily towards the folding- 
 doors. 
 
 "Why not?" bawled the Somerset. "The truth 
 
 MAY BE BLAMED, BUT IT CAn't BE SHAMED. I tell yOU 
 
 that your precious letter brought Sir Charles Bassett to 
 the brink of the grave. Soon as ever he got it, he came 
 tearing in his cab to Miss Somerset's house, and accused 
 
A TBREIBLB TEMPTATION. 67 
 
 her of telling the lie, to keep him — and he might have 
 known better, for the jade never did a sneaking thing in 
 her life — but any way he thought it must be her doing, 
 miscalled her like a dog, and raged at her dreadful, and 
 at last, what with love, and fury, and despair, he had 
 the terriblest fit you ever. Fell down as black as your 
 hat, he did, and his eyes rolled, and his teeth gnashed, 
 and he foamed at the mouth, and took four to hold him, 
 and presently as white as a ghost, and given up for dead. 
 No pulse for hours ; and, when his life came back, his 
 reason was gone." 
 
 " Good heavens, madam ! " 
 
 "For a time it was: how he did rave! and 'Bella* 
 the only name on his lips. And now he lies in his own 
 house, as weak as water. Come, old gentleman, don't 
 you be too hard. You are not a child, like your daugh- 
 ter. Take the world as it is. Do you think you will 
 ever find a man of fortune who has not had a lady 
 friend ? Why, every single gentleman in London, that 
 can afford to keep a saddle-horse, has an article of that 
 sort in some corner or other ; and if he parts with her as 
 soon as his banns are cried, that is all you can expect. 
 Do you think any mother in Belgravia would make a 
 row about that ? They are downier than you are ; they 
 would shrug their aristocratic shoulders, and decline to 
 listen to the ;past lives of their sons-in-law — unless it 
 was all in the newspapers, mind you." 
 
 "If Belgravian mothers have mercenary minds, that 
 is no reason why I should, whose cheeks have bronzed 
 in the service of a virtuous Queen, and whose hairs have 
 whitened in honor." 
 
 On receiving this broadside the Somerset altered her 
 tone directly, and said, obsequiously, "That is true, sir, 
 and I beg your pardon for comparing you to the trash. 
 But brave men are pitiful, you know. Then show your 
 
68 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 pity here. Pity a gentleman that repented his faults as 
 soon as your daughter showed him there was a better 
 love within reach, and now lies stung by an anonymous 
 viper, and almost dying of love and mortification. And 
 pity your own girl, that will soon lose her health, and 
 perhaps her life, if you don't give in." 
 
 " She is not so weak, madam. She is in better spirits 
 already." 
 
 " Ay, but then she didn't know what he had suffered 
 for her. She does now, for I heard her moan, and she 
 will die for him now, or else she will give you twice as 
 many kisses as usual some day, and cry a bucketful over 
 you, and then run away with her lover. I know women 
 better than you do : I am one of the precious lot." 
 
 The admiral only replied with a look of , superlative 
 scorn. This incensed the Somerset, and that daring 
 woman, whose ear was nearer to the door, and had 
 caught sounds that escaped the men, actually turned the 
 handle, and while her eye flashed defiance, her vigorous 
 foot spurned the folding-doors wide open in half a 
 moment. 
 
 Bella Bruce lay with her head sideways on the table, 
 and her hands extended, moaning and sobbing piteously 
 for poor Sir Charles. 
 
 " For shame, madam, to expose my child ! " cried the 
 admiral, bursting with indignation and grief. He rushed 
 to her, and took her in his arms. 
 
 She scarcely noticed him, for the moment he turned 
 her, she caught sight of Miss Somerset, and recognized 
 her face in a moment. " Ah ! the Sister of Charity ! " 
 she cried, and stretched out her hands to her with a look 
 and a gesture so innocent, confiding, and imploring, that 
 the Somerset, already much excited by her own elo- 
 quence, took a turn not uncommon with termagants, and 
 began to cry herself. 
 
A TEBRIBLE TEMPTATION. 69 
 
 But she soon stopped that, for she saw her time was 
 come to go, and avoid unpleasant explanations. She 
 made a dart and secured the two letters. "Settle it 
 amongst yourselves," said she, wheeling round and 
 bestowing this advice on the whole party, then shot a 
 sharp arrow at the admiral as she fled. "If you must 
 be a tool of Richard Bassett, don't be a tool and a dupe 
 by halves; he is in love with her, too. Marry her to 
 the blackguard, and then you will be sure to kill Sir 
 Charles." 
 
 Having delivered this with such volubility that the 
 words pattered out like a roU of musketry, she flounced 
 out, with red cheeks and wet eyes, rushed down the 
 stairs, and sprang into her carriage, whipped the ponies, 
 and away at a pace that made the spectators stare. 
 
 Mr. Oldfield muttered some excuses and retired more 
 sedately. 
 
 All this set Bella Bruce trembling and weeping, and 
 her father was some time before he could bring her to 
 anything like composure. Her first words, when she 
 could find breath, were, " He is innpcent ; he is unhappy. 
 Oh that I could fly to him ! " 
 
 " Innocent ; what proof ? " 
 
 " That brave lady said so." 
 
 " Brave lady ! A bold hussy. Most likely a friend of 
 the woman Somerset, and a bird of the same feather. 
 Sir Ghaxles has done himself no good with me by sending 
 such an emissary." 
 
 "No, papa; it was the lawyer brought her, and then 
 her own good heart made her burst out. Ah ! she is not 
 like me : she has courage. What a noble thing courage 
 is, especially in a woman ! " 
 
 "Pray did you hear the language of this noble lady ? " 
 
 "Every word, nearly; and I shall never forget them. 
 They were diamonds and pearls." 
 
70 A TERKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " Of the sort you can pick up at Billingsgate." 
 
 " Ah, papa, she pleaded for him as I cannot plead, and 
 yet I love him. It was true eloquence. Oh, how she 
 made me shudder ! Only think — ie had a fit, and lost 
 his rfeason, and all for me ! What shall I do ? What 
 shall I do ? " 
 
 This brought on a fit of weeping. 
 
 Her father pitied her, and gave her a crumb of sympa- 
 thy : said he was sorry for Sir Charles. 
 
 "But," said he, recovering his resolution, "it cannot, 
 be helped. He must expiate his vices, like other men. 
 Do, pray, pluck up a little spirit and sense. Now try 
 and keep to the point ; this woman came from him, and 
 you say you heard her language and admire it. Quote 
 me some of it." 
 
 " She said he fell down as black as his hat, and his 
 eyes rolled, and his poor teeth gnashed, and, — oh, aiy 
 darling ! my darling ! oh ! oh ! oh ! " 
 
 " There — there — I mean about other things." 
 
 Bella complied, but with a running accompaniment of 
 the sweetest little sobs. 
 
 " She said I must be very green to swallow an anony- 
 mous letter like spring water. Oh ! oh !" 
 
 " ' Green ? ' there was a word." 
 
 " Oh, oh ! But it is the right word. You can't mend 
 it. Try, and you will see you can't. Of course I was 
 green. Oh ! And she said, ' Every gentleman who can 
 afford to keep a saddle-horse has a female friend till his 
 banns are called in church.' Oh, oh ! " 
 
 " A pretty statement to come to your ears." 
 
 "But if it is the truth ! 'The truth mat be blamed, 
 BUT IT can't be shamed.' Ah ! I'll not forget that : I'll 
 pray every night I may remember those words of the 
 brave lady. Oh ! " 
 
 " Yes ; take her for your oracle." 
 
A TEREIBLE TEMPTATION. 71 
 
 "I mean to. I always try to profit by my superiors. 
 She has courage : I have none. I beat about the bush, 
 and don't make myself understood: she uses the very 
 word. She said we have been the dupe and the tool of 
 a little scheming rascal,- an anonymous coward, with 
 motives as base as his heart is black — oh, oh! Ay, 
 that is the way to speak of such a man : I can't do it 
 myself, but I reverence the brave lady who can. And 
 she wasn't afraid even of you, dear papa. 'Come, old 
 -gentleman,' — ha! ha! — 'take the world as it is; Bel- 
 gravian mothers would not break both their hearts for 
 what is past and gone.' What hard good sense ! a thing 
 I always did admire: because I've got none. But her 
 heart is not hard : after all her words of fire that went 
 so straight, instead of beating the bush, she ended by 
 crying for me. Oh, oh, oh ! Bless her, bless her ! If 
 ever there was a good woman in the world, that is one. 
 She was not bom a lady, I'm afraid ; but that is nothing : 
 she was born a woman, and I mean to make her acquaint- 
 ance, and take her for my example in all things. No, 
 dear papa, women are not so pitiful to women, without 
 cause. She is almost a stranger, yet she cried for me. 
 Can you be harder to me than she is ? No; pity your 
 poor girl, who will lose her health, and perhaps her life. 
 Pity poor Charles, stung by an anonymous viper, and 
 laid on a bed of sickness for me — oh, oh, oh ! " 
 
 "I do pity you, Bella. When you cry like this, my 
 heart bleeds." 
 
 "I'll try not to cry, papa. Oh, oh !" 
 
 "But, most of all, I pity your infatuation, your blind- 
 ness. Poor innocent dove, that looks at others by the 
 light of her own goodness, and so sees aH manner of 
 virtues in a brazen hussy. Now answer me one plain 
 question. You called her 'the Sister.' Is she not the 
 same woman that played the Sister of Charity ? " 
 
72 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Bella blushed to the temples, and said, hesitatingly, 
 she "was not quite sure. 
 
 " Come, Bella. I thought you were going to imitate 
 the jade and not beat about the bush. Yes, or no ? " 
 
 " The features are very like." 
 
 "Bella, you know it is the same woman. You recog- 
 nized her in a moment. That speaks volumes. But she 
 shall find I am not to be made ' a dupe and a tool of ' 
 quite so easily as she thinks. I'll tell you what — this 
 is some professional actress Sir Charles has hired to 
 waylay you. Little simpleton ! " 
 
 He said no more at that time : but, after dinner, he 
 ruminated, and took a. very serious, indeed almost a 
 maritime, view of the crisis. " I'm overmatched, now," 
 thought he. "They will cut my sloop out under the 
 very guns of the flag-ship, if we stay much longer in 
 this port — a lawyer against me, and a woman, too; 
 there's nothing to be done but heave anchor, hoist sail, 
 and run for it." 
 
 He sent off a foreign telegram, and then went up-stairs. 
 "Bella, my dear," said he, "pack up your clothes for a 
 journey. We start to-morrow." 
 
 " A journey, papa ! A long one ? " 
 
 "No. We shan't double the Horn this time." 
 
 "Brighton? Paris?" 
 
 " Oh, farther than that." 
 
 " The grave : that is the journey I should like to take." 
 
 " So you shall some day ; but, just now, it is a foreign 
 port you are bound for. Go and pack." 
 
 "I obey." And she was creeping off; but he called 
 her back and kissed her, and said, "Now, I'll teU you 
 where you are going ; but you must promise me solemnly 
 not to write one line to Sir Charles." 
 
 She promised, but cried as soon as she had promised ; 
 whereat the admiral inferred he had done wisely to 
 exact the promise. 
 
A TEBSIBIiE TEMPTATION. 73 
 
 "Well, my dear," said he, "we are going to Baden. 
 Your Aunt ilolineux is there. She is a woman of great 
 delicacy and prudence, and has daughters of her own all 
 well married, thanks to her motherly care. She will 
 bring you to youx senses better than I can." 
 
 Next evening they left England, by the mail ; and the 
 day after, Richard Bassett learned this through his serv- 
 ant, and went home triumphant, and, indeed, wondering 
 at his success. He ascribed it, however, to the Nemesis 
 which dogs the heels of those who inherit the estate of 
 another. 
 
 Such was the only moral reflection he made, though 
 the business in general, and particularly his share in it, 
 admitted of severaL 
 
 Miss Somerset also heard of it, and told Mr. Oldfield : 
 he told Sir Charles Bassett. 
 
 That gentleman sighed deeply, and said nothing. He 
 had lost all hope. 
 
 The whole matter appeared stagnant for about ten 
 days ; and then a delicate hand stirred the dead waters 
 cautiously. Mr. Oldfield, of all people in the world, 
 received a short letter from Bella Brace. 
 
 KoHiosBEso Hotel, Basen. 
 
 Miss Brace presents her compliments to Mr. Oldfield, and 
 will feel much obliged if he wiU send her the name and ad- 
 dress of the brave lady who accompanied him to her father's 
 house. 
 
 Miss Bruce desires to thank that lady personally for her 
 noble defence of one with whom it would be improper for her 
 to communicate ; but she can never be indiflFerent to his welfare, 
 nor hear of his sufferings without deep sorrow. 
 
 "Confound it ! " said Solomon Oldfield, "what am I to 
 do? I mustn't tell her it is Miss Somerset." So the 
 wary lawyer had a copy of the letter made, and sent to 
 Miss Somerset for instructions. 
 
74 A TEERIBLE TEirPTATION. 
 
 Miss Somerset sent for Mr. Marsh, who was now more 
 at her beck and call than ever ; and told him she had a 
 ticklish letter to write. " I can talk with the best," said 
 she; "but the moment I sit down and take up a pen, 
 something cold runs up my shoulder, and then down my 
 backbone, and I'm palsied : now you are always writing, 
 and can't say Bo to a goose, in company. Let us mix 
 ourselves ; I'll walk about and speak my mind ; and then 
 you put down the cream, and send it." 
 
 From this ingenious process resulted the following 
 composition : 
 
 She whom Miss Bruce is good enough to call "the brave 
 lady," happened to know the truth, and that tempted her to try 
 and baffle an anonymous slanderer, who was raining the hap- 
 piness of a lady and gentleman. Being a person of warm 
 impulses, she went great lengths ; but she now wishes to retire 
 into the shade. She is flattered by Miss Bruce's desire to know 
 her, and some day, perhaps, may remind her of it; but, at 
 present, she must deny herself that honor. If her reasons 
 were known, Miss Bruce would not be offended, nor hurt ; she 
 would entirely approve them. 
 
 Soon after this, as Sir Charles Bassett sat by the fire, 
 disconsolate, his servant told him a lady wanted to see 
 him. 
 
 "Who is it?" 
 
 " Don't know. Sir Charles ; but it is a kind of a sort 
 of a nun. Sir Charles." 
 
 " Oh, a Sister of Charity ! Perhaps the one that 
 nursed me. Admit her, by all means." The Sister came 
 in. She had a large veil on. Sir Charles received her 
 with profound respect, and thanked her, with some little 
 hesitation, for her kind attention to him. 
 
 She stopped him by saying that was merely her duty. 
 " But," said she softly, " words fell from you, on the bed 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 75 
 
 of sickness, that touched my heart ; and, besides, I 
 happen to know the lady." 
 
 "You know my Bella!" cried Sir Charles. "Ah, 
 then, no wonder you speak so kindly : you can feel what 
 I have lost. She has left England to avoid me." 
 
 "All the better. Where she is, the door cannot be 
 closed in your face. She is at Baden. Follow her there. 
 She has heard the truth from Mr. Oldfield, and she 
 knows who wrote the anonymous letter." 
 
 "And who did?" 
 
 "Mr. Eichard Bassett." 
 
 This amazed Sir Charles. 
 
 " The scoundrel ! " said he, after a long silence. 
 
 "Well, then, why let that fellow defeat you for his 
 own ends ? I would go, at once, to Baden. Your leav- 
 ing England would be one more proof to her that she 
 has no rivaL Stick to her like a man, sir, and you will 
 win her, I tell you." 
 
 These words from a nun amazed and fired him. He 
 rose from his chair, flushed with sudden hope and ardor. 
 " I'll leave for Baden to-morrow morning." 
 
 The Sister rose to retire. 
 
 " No, no," cried Sir Charles, " I have not thanked you. 
 I ought to go down on my knees and bless you for all 
 this. To whom am I so indebted ? " 
 
 "No matter, sir." 
 
 " But it does matter. You nursed me, and perhaps saved 
 my life, and now you give me back the hopes that make 
 life sweet. You will not trust me with your name ? " 
 
 " We have no name." 
 
 " Your voice at times sounds very like — no, I will 
 not affront you by such a comparison." 
 
 " I'm her sister," said she like lightning. 
 
 This announcement staggered Sir Charles, and he was 
 silent and uncomfortable. It gave him a chill. 
 
76 A TBEBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 The Sister watched him keenlyj but said nothing. 
 
 Sir Charles did not know what to say, so he asked to 
 see her face. " It must be as beautiful as your heart." 
 
 The sister shook her head. " My face has been dis- 
 figured by a frightful disorder." 
 
 Sir Charles uttered an ejaculation of regret and pity. 
 
 " I could not bear to show it to one who esteems me 
 as you seem to do. But perhaps it will not always 
 be so." 
 
 "I hope not. You are young, and Heaven is good. 
 Can I do nothing for you, who have done so much for 
 me ? " 
 
 " Nothing — unless," said she, feigning vast timidity, 
 "you could spare me that ring of yours, as a remem- 
 brance of the part I have played in this affair." 
 
 Sir Charles colored. It was a ruby of the purest 
 water, and had been two centuries in his family. He col- 
 ored, but was too fine a gentleman to hesitate. He said, 
 " By all means : but it is a poor thing to offer you." 
 
 " I shall value it very much." 
 
 "Say no more. I am fortunate in having anything 
 you deign to accept." 
 
 And so the ring changed hands. 
 
 The Sister now put it on her middle finger, and held 
 up her hand, and her bright eyes glanced at it, through 
 her veil, with that delight which her sex in general feel 
 at the possession of a new bauble. She recovered her- 
 self, however, and told him, soberly, the ring should 
 return to his family at ker death, if not before. 
 
 " I win give you a piece of advice for it," said she. 
 "Miss Bruce has foxy hair, and she is very timid. 
 Don't you take her advice about commanding her. She 
 would like to be your slave — don't let her. Coax her 
 to speak her mind. Make a friend of her. Don't you 
 put her to this — that she must displease you or else 
 
A TEEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 77 
 
 deceive you. She might choose wrong, especially with 
 that colored hair." 
 
 " It is not in her nature to deceive." 
 
 " It is not in her nature to displease. Excuse me ; I 
 am too fanciful, and look at women too close. But 
 I know your happiness depends on her: all your eggs 
 are in that one basket. Well, I have told you how to 
 cany the basket. Grood-by." 
 
 Sir Charles saw her out, and bowed respectfully to her 
 in the hall, while his servant opened the street door. 
 He did her this homs^e as his benefactress. 
 
 When the admiral and Miss Bruce reached Baden, 
 Mrs. MoUneux was away on a visit ; and this disap- 
 pointed Admiral Bruce, who had counted on her assist- 
 ance to manage and comfort Bella. Bella needed the 
 latter very much; a glance at her pale, pensive, lovely 
 fece was enough to show that sorrow was rooted at her 
 heart. She was subjected to no restraint, but kept the 
 house of her own accord, thinking, as persons of her 
 ^e are apt to do, that her whole history must be written 
 in her face. Still, of course, she did go out sometimes ; 
 and one cold but bright afternoon she was strolling 
 languidly on the parade, when all in a moment she met 
 Sir Charles Bassett face to face. 
 
 She gave an eloquent scream, and turned pale a 
 moment, and then the hot blood came rushing, and then 
 it retired, and she stood at bay, with heaving bosom, and 
 great eyes. 
 
 Sir Charles held out both hands pathetically. " Don't 
 you be afraid of me." 
 
 When she found he was so afraid of offending her, 
 she became more courageous. "How dare you come 
 here ? " said she, but with more curiosity than violence, 
 for it had been her dream of hope he would come. 
 
78 A TEKEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 "How coidd I keep away, when I heard you were 
 here ? " 
 
 " You must not speak to me, sir ; I am forbidden." 
 
 " Pray do not condemn me, unheard." 
 
 " If I listen to you, I shall believe you. I won't hear 
 a word. Gentlemen can do things that ladies cannot 
 even speak about. Talk to my Aunt Molineux : our fate 
 depends on her. This will teach you not to be so 
 wicked. What business have gentlemen to be so wicked? 
 Ladies are not. No, it is no use ; I will not hear a sylla- 
 ble. I am ashamed to be seen speaking to you ; you are 
 a bad character. Oh, Charles, is it true you had a fit ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " And you have been very ill ? You look ilL" 
 
 "I am better now, dearest." 
 
 "'Dearest!' Don't call me names. How dare you 
 keep speaking to me when I request you not ! " 
 
 "But I can't excuse myself, and obtain my pardon, 
 and recover your love, unless I am allowed to speak." 
 
 " Oh, you can speak to my Aunt Molineux, and she 
 will read you a fine lesson." 
 
 « Where is she ? " 
 
 "Nobody knows. But there is her house, the one with 
 the iron gate. Get her ear first, if you really love me ; 
 and don't you ever waylay me again. If you do, I shall 
 say something rude to you, sir. Oh, I'm so happy ! " 
 
 Having let this out, she hid her face with her hands, 
 and fled like the very wind. 
 
 At dinner-time she was in high spirits. 
 
 The admiral congratulated her. " Brava, BeU ! Youth, 
 and health, and a foreign air, will soon cure you of that 
 folly." 
 
 Bella blushed deeply, and said nothing. The truth 
 struggled within her, too, but she shrapk from giving 
 pain and receiving expostulation. 
 
A TEEBIBLE TEMPTATION. 79 
 
 She kept the house, though, for two days, partly out 
 of modesty, partly out of an honest and pious desire to 
 obey her father as much as she could. 
 
 The third day, Mrs. Molineux arrived, and sent over 
 to the admiral. 
 
 He invited Bella to come with him. She consented 
 eagerly ; but was so long in dressing that he threatened 
 to go without her. She implored him not to do that ; 
 and, after a monstrous delay, the motive of which the 
 reader may perhaps divine, father and daughter called 
 on Mrs. Molineux. She received them very affection- 
 ately. But when the admiral, with some hesitation, 
 began to enter on the great subject, she said quietly, 
 " Bella, my dear, go for a walk, and come back to me in 
 half an hour." 
 
 "Aunt Molineux!" said Bella, extending both her 
 hands imploringly to that lady. 
 
 Mrs. Molineux was proof against this blandishment, 
 and Bella had to go. 
 
 When she was gone, this lady, who both as wife and 
 mother was literally a model, rather astonished her 
 brother the admiral She said, " I am sorry to tell you 
 that you have conducted this matter with perfect impro- 
 priety, both you and Bella. She had no business to show 
 you that anonymous letter ; and, when she did show it 
 you, you should have taken it from her, and told her not 
 to believe a word of it." 
 
 "And married my daughter to a libertine! Why, 
 Charlotte, I am ashamed of you." 
 
 Mrs. Molineux colored high, but she kept her temper, 
 and ignored the interruption. " Then, if you decided to 
 go into so indelicate a question at all (and really you 
 were not bound to do so on anonymous information), why 
 then you should have sent for Sir Charles, and given him 
 the letter, and put him on his honor to tell you the truth. 
 
80 A TBEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 He would have told you the fact, instead of a garbled 
 version ; and the fact is that, before he knew Bella, he 
 had a connection which he prepared to dissolve, on terms 
 very honorable to himself, as soon as he engaged himself 
 to your daughter. What is there in that ? Why, it is 
 common, universal, amongst men of fashion. I am so 
 vexed it ever came to Bella's knowledge; really it is 
 dreadful to me, as a mother, that such a thing should 
 have been discussed before that child. Complete inno- 
 cence means complete ignorance, and that is how all my 
 girls went to their husbands. However, what we must 
 db now is to tell her Sir Charles has satisfied me he was 
 not to blame ; and, after that, the subject must never be 
 recurred to. Sir Charles has promised me never to 
 mention it, and no more shall Bella. And now, my dear 
 John, let me congratulate you. Your daughter has a 
 high-minded lover, who adores her, with a fine estate. 
 He has been crying to me, poor fellow, as men will to a 
 woman of my age ; and, if you have any respect for my 
 judgment, ask him to dinner." 
 
 She added that it might be as well if, after dinner, he 
 were to take a little nap. 
 
 Admiral Bruce did not fall into these views without 
 discussion. I spare the reader the dialogue, since he 
 yielded at last, only he stipulated that his sister should 
 do the dinner, and the subsequent siesta. 
 
 Bella returned, looking very wistful and anxious. 
 
 " Come here, niece," said Mrs. Molineux. " Kneel you 
 at my knee. Now look me in the face. Sir Charles has 
 loved you, and you only, from the day he first saw you. 
 He loves you now as much as ever. Do you love him ? " 
 
 " Oh, aunt ! aunt ! " A shower of kisses, and a tear or 
 two. 
 
 " That is enough. Then dry your eyes, and dress your 
 beautiful hair a little better than that ; for he dines with 
 me to-day." 
 
A TEKRIBUE TEMPTATIOJU'. 81 
 
 Who SO bright and happy now as Bella Bruce ? 
 
 The dreaded aunt did not stop there. She held that, 
 after the peep into real life Bella Brace had obtained, 
 for want of a mother's vigilance, she ought to be a wife 
 as soon as possible. So she gave Sir Charles a hint that 
 Baden was a very good place to be married in; and, from 
 that moment. Sir Charles gave Bella and her father no 
 rest till they consented. 
 
 Little did Bichard Bassett in England dream what was 
 going on at Baden. He now surveyed the chimneys of 
 Huntercombe Hall with resignation, and even with grow- 
 ing complacency, as chimneys that would one day be his, 
 since their owner would not be in a hurry to love again. 
 He shot Sir Charles's pheasants whenever they strayed 
 into his hedgerows, and he lived moderately, and studied 
 health. In a word, content with the result of his anony- 
 mous letter, he confined himself now to cannily outliving 
 the wrongful heir, his cousin. 
 
 One fine firosty day, the chimneys of Huntercombe 
 began to show signs of life; vertical columns of blue 
 smoke rose in the air, one after another, till at last there 
 were about forty going. 
 
 Old servants flowed down from London. New ones 
 trickled in with their boxes from the country. Carriages 
 were drawn out into the stable-yard, horses exercised, 
 and a whisper ran that Sir Charles was coming to live 
 on his estates, and not alone. 
 
 Bichard Bassett went about, inquirii^ cautiously. 
 
 The rumor spread, and was confirmed by some little 
 &u:ts. 
 
 At last, one fine day, when the chimneys were all 
 smoking, the church bells began to peaL 
 
 Bichard Bassett heard, and went out, scowling deeply. 
 He found the village all agog with expectation. 
 
 Presently there was a loud cheer from the steeple, and 
 6 
 
82 A TEEEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 a flag floated from the top of Huntercombe House; 
 Murmurs. Distant cheers. Approaching cheers. The 
 clatter of horses' feet. The roll of wheels. Hunter- 
 combe gates flung wide open by a cluster of grooms and 
 keepers. 
 
 Then on came two outriders, ushered by loud hurrahs, 
 and followed by a carriage and four that dashed through 
 the village, amidst peals of delight from the villagers. 
 The carriage was open, and in it sat Sir Charles and 
 Bella Bassett. She was lovelier than ever ; she dazzled 
 the very air with her beauty and her glorious hair. The 
 hurrahs of the villagers made her heart beat ; she pressed 
 Sir Charles's hand tenderly, and literally shone with joy 
 and pride. And so she swept past Eichard Bassett ; she 
 saw him directly, shuddered a moment, and half clung to 
 her husband, then on again, and passed through the open 
 gates amidst loud cheers. She alighted in her own hall, 
 and walked, nodding and smiling sunnily, through two 
 files of domestics and retainers ; and thought no more of 
 Richard Bassett than some bright bird that has flown 
 over a rattlesnake and glanced down at him. 
 
 But a gorgeous bird cannot always be flying. A 
 snake can sometimes creep under her perch, and glare and 
 keep hissing, till she shudders, and droops, and lays her 
 plumage in the dust. 
 
A TERKIBLE TEMPTATION. 83 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Generally deliberate crimes are followed by some 
 great piinisbment, but they are also often attended in 
 their course by briefer chastisements, single strokes from 
 the whip that holds the round dozen in reserve. These 
 precursors of the grand expiation are sharp but kindly 
 lashes, for they tend to whip the man out of the wrong 
 road. 
 
 Such a stroke fell on Richard Bassett ; he saw Bella 
 Bruce sweep past him, clinging to her husband, and 
 shuddering at himself. For this, then, he had plotted, 
 and intrigfued, and written an anonymous letter. The 
 only woman he had ever loved at all went past him with 
 a look of aversion, and was his enemy's wife, and would 
 soon be the mother of that enemy's children, and blot 
 him forever out of the coveted inheritance. 
 
 The man crept home, and sat by his little fireside, 
 crushed. Indeed, from that hour he disappeared and 
 drank his bitter cup alone. 
 
 After awhile it transpired in the village that he was 
 very ill. The clergyman went to visit him, but was not 
 admitted. The only person who got to see him was his 
 friend Wheeler, a small but sharp attorney, by whose 
 advice he acted in country matters. This Wheeler was 
 very fond of shooting, and could not get a crack at a 
 pheasant, except on Highmore; and that was a bond 
 between him and its proprietor. It was Wheeler who 
 had first told Bassett not to despair of possessing the 
 estates, since they had inserted Sir Charles's heir-at-law 
 in the entaU. 
 
84 A TEEBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 This Wheeler found lam no-w so shrunk in body, so 
 pale and haggard in face, and dejected in mind, that he 
 was really shocked, and asked leave to send a doctor from 
 the neighboring town. 
 
 "What to do?" said Eichard, moodily. "It's my 
 mind, it's not my body. Ah, Wheeler, it is all over. I 
 and mine shall never have Huntercombe now." 
 
 " I'll tell you what it is," said Wheeler, almost angrily, 
 " you will have six feet by two of it before long if you 
 go on this way. Was ever such folly, to fret yourself 
 out of this jolly world because you can't get one particu- 
 lar slice of its upper crust ! Why, one bit of land is as 
 good as another; and I'll show you how to get land — in 
 this neighborhood too ; ay, right under Sir Charles's 
 nose." 
 
 " Show me that," said Bassett, gloomily and incredu- 
 lously. 
 
 "Leave off moping, then, and I wUL I advise the 
 bank, you know, and ' Splatchett's ' farm is mortgaged 
 up to the eyes. It is not the only one. I go to the 
 village inns, and pick up all the gossip I hear there." 
 
 " How am I to find money to buy land ? " 
 
 "I'll put you up to that too; but you must leave off 
 moping. Hang it, man, never say die ! There are plenty 
 of chances on the card. Get your color back, and marry 
 a girl with money, and turn that into land. The first 
 thing is to leave off grizzling. Why, you are playing 
 the enemy's game ; that can't be right, can it ? " 
 
 This remark was the first that really roused the sick 
 man. 
 
 Wheeler had too few clients to lose one. He now 
 visited Bassett almost daily, and, being himself full of 
 schemes and inventions, he got Bassett, by degrees, out 
 of his lethargy, and he emerged into daylight again; but 
 he looked thin, and yellow as a guinea, and he had turne(i 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 85 
 
 miser. He kept but one servant, and fed lier and him- 
 self at Sir Charles Bassetf s expense. He wired that 
 gentleman's hares and rabbits in his own hedges. He 
 went out with his gun every sunny afternoon, and shot a 
 brace or two of pheasants, without disturbing the rest ; 
 for he took no dog with him to run and yelp, but a little 
 boy, who quietly tapped the hedgerows and walked the 
 simuy banks and shaws. They never came home empty- 
 handed. 
 
 But on those rarer occasions when Sir Charles and his 
 friendjs beat the Bassett woods, Richard was sure to 
 make a large bag ; for he was a cool unerring shot, and 
 flushed the birds in hedgerows, slips of underwood^ etc., 
 to which the feirer sportsmen had driven them. 
 
 These birds, and the surplus hares, he always sold in 
 the market town, and put the money into a box. The 
 rabbits he ate, and also squirrels, and, above all, young 
 hedgehogs ; a gypsy taught him how to cook them, viz., 
 by enclosing them in clay, and baking them in wood 
 embers ; then the bristles adhere to the burnt clay, and 
 the meat is juicy. He was his own gardener, and vegeta- 
 bles cost him next to nothing. 
 
 So he went on through all the winter months, and by 
 the spring his health and strength were restored. Then 
 he turned woodman ; cut down every stick of timber in 
 a little wood near his house, and sold it ; and then set to 
 work to grub up the roots for fires, and cleared it for 
 tillage. The sum he received for the wood was much 
 more than he expected, and this he made a note of. 
 
 He had a strong body that could work hard all day, a 
 big hate, and a mania for the possession of land ; and so 
 he led a truly Spartan life, and everybody in the yillage 
 said he was mad. 
 
 Whilst he led this hard life. Sir Charles and Lady 
 Bassett were the gayest of the gay. She was the beauty 
 
86 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 and the bride. Visits and invitations poured in from 
 every part of the county. Sir Charles, flattered by the 
 homage paid to his beloved, made himself younger and 
 less fastidious to indulge her; and the happy pair 
 often drove twelve miles to dinner, and twenty to dine 
 and sleep — an excellent custom in that county, one of 
 whose favorite toasts is worth recording — "Mat tou 
 
 DINE WHERE TOIT PLEASE, AND SLEEP WHEEE TOU DINE." 
 
 They were at every ball, and gave one or two 
 themselves. 
 
 Above all, they enjoyed society in that delightful 
 form which is confined to large houses. They would 
 have numerous and well-assorted visitors staying at the 
 house for a week or so, and all dining at a huge round 
 table. But two o'clock p.m. was the time to see how 
 hosts and guests enjoyed themselves : the hall-door of 
 Huntercombe was approached by a flight of stone steps, 
 easy of ascent, and about twenty-four feet wide ; at the 
 riding-hour the county ladies used to come, one after 
 another, holding up their riding-habits with one hand, 
 and perch about this gigantic flight of steps, like pea- 
 cocks, and chatter like jays, while the servants walked 
 their horses about the gravel esplanade, and the four-in- 
 hand waited a little in the rear. A fine champing of bits 
 and fidgeting of thoroughbreds there was, tiU all were 
 ready ; then the ladies would each put out her little foot 
 with charming nonchalance, to the nearest gentleman or 
 groom, with a slight preference for the grooms, who were 
 more practised: the man lifted, the lady sprang at the 
 same time, and into her saddle like a bird — Lady Bassett 
 on a very quiet pony, or in the carriage to please some 
 dowager — and away they clattered in high spirits, a 
 regular cavalcade. It was a hunting county, and the 
 ladies rode well; light hand on the snaffle, the curb 
 reserved for cases of necessity; and when they had 
 
A TEBKIBLG TEMPTATION. 87 
 
 patted the horse on the neck at starting, as all these 
 coaxing creatures must, they rode him with that well- 
 bred ease and unconsciousness of being on a horse which 
 distinguishes ladies who have ridden all their lives from 
 the gawky snobbesses in Hyde Park, who ride, if riding 
 it can be called, with their elbows uncouthly fastened to 
 their sides as if by a rope, their hands at the pit of their 
 stomachs, and both those hands, as heavy as a house- 
 maid's, sawing the poor horse with curb and snaffle at 
 once ; while the whole body breathes pretension and 
 affectation, and seems to say, "Look at me; I am on 
 horseback ! Be startled at that — as I am ! and I have 
 had lessons from a riding-master ; he has taught me how 
 a lady should ride — in his opinion." 
 
 The champing, the pawing, the mounting, and the 
 clattering of these bright cavalcades, with the music of 
 the women excited by motion, furnished a picture of 
 wealth, and gayety, and happy country life, that cheered 
 the whole neighborhood, and contrasted strangely with 
 the stem Spartan life of him who had persuaded him- 
 self he was the rightful owner of Huntercombe Hall 
 
 Sir Charles Bassett was a mag^trate, and soon found 
 himself a bad one. One day he made a little mistake, 
 which, owing to his popularity, was very gently handled 
 by the bench at their weekly meeting; but still Sir 
 Charles was ashamed and mortified. He wrote directly 
 to Oldfield for law books, and that gentleman sent him 
 an excellent selection, bound in smooth calf. 
 
 Sir Charles now studied three hours every day, except 
 hunting days, when no squire can work; and, as his 
 study was his justice-room, he took care to find an 
 authority before he acted. He was naturally humane, 
 and rustic offenders, especially poachers and runaway 
 farm-servants, used to think themselves fortunate if they 
 were taken before him, and not before Squire Powys, 
 
88 A TEEBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 who was sure to give them the sharp edge of the law. So 
 now Sir Charles was useful as well as ornamental. 
 
 Thus passed fourteen months of happiness, with only 
 one little cloud ; there was no sign yet of a son and heir. 
 But, let a man be ever so powerful, it is an awkward 
 thing to have a bitter inveterate enemy at his door 
 watching for a chance : Sir Charles began to realize this 
 in the sixteenth month of his wedded bliss. A small 
 estate called " Splatchett's " lay on his north side, and a 
 marginal strip of this property ran right into a wood of 
 his. This strip was wretched land, and the owner, 
 unable to rise any white crop on it, had planted it with 
 larches. 
 
 Sir Charles had made him a liberal offer for " Splatch- 
 ett's " about six years ago ; but he had refused point- 
 blank, being then in good circumstances. 
 
 Sir Charles now received a hint from one of his own 
 gamekeepers that the old farmer was in a bad way, and 
 talked of selling. So Sir Charles called on him, and 
 asked him if he would sell " Splatchett's " now. " Why, 
 I can't sell it twice," said the old man testily. " You ha' 
 got it, hain't ye ? " It turned out that Kichard Bassett 
 had been beforehand. The bank had pressed for their 
 money, and threatened foreclosure ; then Bassett had 
 stepped in with a good price, and, although the convey- 
 ance was not signed, a stamped agreement was, and 
 neither vendor nor purchaser could go back. What made 
 it more galling, the proprietor was not aware of the feud 
 between the Bassetts, and had thought to please Sir 
 Charles by selling to one of his name. 
 
 Sir Charles Bassett went home seriously vexed ; he did 
 not mean to tell his wife, but love's eye read his face, 
 love's arm went round his neck, and love's soft voice and 
 wistful eyes soon coaxed it out of him. " Dear Charles," 
 said she, " never mind. It is mortifying : but think how 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 89 
 
 much you have, and how little that wicked man has. 
 Let him have that farm : he has lost his self-respect, and 
 that is worth a great many farms. For my part, I pity 
 the poor wretch. Let him try to annoy you ; your wife 
 will try against him, to make you happy, my own 
 beloved! and I think I may prove as strong as Mr. 
 Bassett," said she, with a look of inspiration. 
 
 Her sweet and tender sympathy soon healed so slight 
 a scratch. 
 
 But they had not done with " Splatchett's " yet. Just 
 after Christmas, Sir Charles invited three gentlemen to 
 beat his more distant preserves. Their guns bellowed in 
 quick succession through the woods, and at lait they 
 reached North Wood. Here they expected splendid 
 shooting, as a great many cock pheasants had already 
 been seen running ahead. 
 
 But when they got to the end of the wood they found 
 Lawyer Wheeler standing against a tree just within 
 " Splatchett's " boundary ; and one of their own beaters 
 reported that two boys were stationed in the road, each 
 tapping two sticks together to confine the pheasants to 
 that strip of land, on which the low larches and high 
 grass afforded a strong covert. 
 
 Sir Charles halted on his side of the boundary. 
 
 Then Wheeler told his man to beat, and up got the 
 cock-pheasants, one after another. Whenever a pheasant 
 whirred up, the man left ofE beating. 
 
 The lawyer knocked down four brace in no time, and 
 those that escaped him, and turned back for the wood, 
 were brought down by Bassett, firing from the hard road. 
 Only those were spared that flew northwards into 
 "Splatchett's." It was a veritable slaughter, planned 
 with judgment, and carried out in a most ungentleman- 
 like and unsportsmanlike manner. 
 
 It goaded Sir Charles beyond his patience. After 
 
90 A TEEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 several vain efforts to restrain himself lie shouldered his 
 gun, and, followed by his friends, went bursting through 
 the larches to Eiehard Bassett. 
 
 "Mr. Bassett," said he, "this is most ungentlemanly 
 conduct." 
 
 " What is the matter, sir ? Am I on your ground ? " 
 
 "No; but you are taking a mean advantage of our 
 being out. Who ever heard of a gentleman beating his 
 boundaries the very day a neighbor was out shooting, and 
 filling them with his game ? " 
 
 " Oh, that is it, is it ? When justice is against you, 
 you can talk of law ; and when law is against you, you 
 appeal to justice. Let us be in one story or the other, 
 please. The Huntercombe estates belong to me, by 
 birth. You have got them by legal trickery. Keep 
 them, whilst you live. They will come to me one day, you 
 know. Meantime, leave me my little estate of ' Splatch- 
 ett's.' For shame, sir; you have robbed me of my 
 inheritance and my sweetheart ; do you grudge me a few 
 cock-pheasants ? Why, you have made me so poor, they 
 are an object to me now." 
 
 " Oh ! " said Sir Charles, " if you are stealing my game 
 to keep body and soul together, I pity you. In that 
 case, perhaps you will let my friends help you fill your 
 larder." 
 
 Eiehard Bassett hesitated a moment ; but Wheeler, who 
 had drawn near at the sound of the raised voices, made 
 him a signal to assent. 
 
 "By all means," said he adroitly. "Mr. Markham, 
 your father often shot with mine over the Bassett 
 estates. You are welcome to poor little ' Splatchett's.' 
 Keep your men off. Sir Charles ; they are noisy bunglers, 
 and do more harm than good. Here, Tom! Bill! beat 
 for the gentlemen. They shall have the sport. I only 
 want the birds," 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 91 
 
 Sir Charles drew back, and saw pheasant after pheas- 
 ant thunder and whiz into the air, then collapse at a 
 report, and fall like lead, followed by a shower of 
 feathers. 
 
 His friends seemed to be deserting him for Eichard 
 Bassett. He left them in charge of his keepers, and 
 went slowly home. 
 
 He said nothing to Lady Bassett till night, and she 
 got it all from him. She was very indignant at many of 
 the things, but as for Sir Charles, all his cousin's arrows 
 glided off that high-minded gentleman, except one, and 
 that quivered in his heart. " Yes, Bella," said he, " he 
 told me he should inherit these estates. That is be- 
 cause we are not blessed with children." 
 
 Lady Bassett sighed. "But we shall be some day, 
 shall we not ? " 
 
 " God knows," said Sir Charles gloomily. " I wonder 
 whether there was really anything unfair done on our 
 side, when the entail was cut off ? " 
 
 "Is that Ukely, dearest ? why ? " 
 
 " Heaven seems to be on his side." 
 
 " On the side of a wicked man ? " 
 
 " But he may be the father of iimocent children." 
 
 " Why, he is not even married." 
 
 " He will marry. He will not throw a chance away. 
 It makes my head dizzy, and' my heart sick. Bella, now 
 I can understand two enemies meeting alone in some 
 solitary place, and one killing the other in a moment of 
 rage ; for when this scoundrel insulted me, I remembered 
 his anonymous letter, and all his relentless malice. 
 Bella, I could have raised my gun and shot him like a 
 weasel." 
 
 Lady Bassett screamed faintly, and flung her arms 
 round his neck. "Oh, Charles, pray to God against 
 such thoughts ! You shall never go near that man 
 
92 A TEKBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 again. Don't think of our one disappointment: think 
 of all the blessings we enjoy. Never mind that -wretched 
 man's hate. Think of your wife's love. Have I not 
 more power to make you happy than he has to afflict 
 you, my adored ? " These sweet words were accompa- 
 nied by a wife's divine caresses, with the honey of her 
 voice, and the liquid sunshine of her loving eyes. Sir 
 Charles slept peacefully that night, and forgot his one 
 grief and his one enemy for a time. 
 
 Not so Lady Bassett. She lay awake all night and 
 thought deeply of Eichard Bassett and "his unrelenting, 
 impenitent malice." Women of her fine fibre, when 
 they think long and earnestly on one thing, have often 
 divinations. The dark future seems to be lit a moment 
 at a time by flashes of lightning, and they discern the 
 indistinct forms of events to come. And so it was with 
 Lady Bassett ; in the stilly night a terror of the future 
 and of Eichard Bassett crept over her ; a terror dispro- 
 portioned to his past acts and apparent power. Perhaps 
 she was oppressed by having an enemy, — she who was 
 born to be loved : at all events she was full of feminine 
 divinations and forebodings, and saw, by flashes, many 
 a poisoned arrow fly from that quiver, and strike the 
 beloved breast. It had already discharged one that had 
 parted them for a time, and nearly killed Sir Charles. 
 
 Daylight cleared away much of this dark terror, but 
 left a sober dread and a strange resolution. This timid 
 creature, stimulated by love, .determined to watch the 
 foe, and defend her husband with all her little power. 
 All manner of devices passed through her head, but were 
 rejected, because, if Love said "Do wonders," Timidity 
 said " Do nothing that you have not seen other wives do." 
 So she remained, scheming, and longing, and fearing, 
 and passive, all day. But the next day she conceived a 
 vague idea, and, all in a heat, rang for her maid. While 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 93 
 
 the maid was coming, she fell to blushing at her own 
 boldness, and, just as the maid opened the door, her 
 thermometer fell so low that — she sent her up-stairs for 
 a piece of work. Oh, lame and impotent conclusion ! 
 
 Just before luncheon she chanced to look through a 
 window, and to see the head gamekeeper crossing the 
 park, and coming to the house. Now this was the very 
 man she wanted to speak to. The sudden temptation 
 surprised her out of her timidity. She rang the bell 
 again, and sent for the man. 
 
 That Colossus wondered in his mind, and felt uneasy 
 at an invitation so novel. However, he clattered into 
 the morning-room in his velveteen coat and leathern 
 gaiters up to his thigh, pulled his front hair, bobbed his 
 head, and then stood firm in body as him of Rhodes, but 
 in mind much abashed at finding himself in her lady- 
 ship's presence. 
 
 The lady, however, did not prove so very terrible. 
 " May I inquire your name, sir ? " said she very re- 
 spectfully. 
 
 " Moses Moss, my lady." 
 
 "Mr. Moss, I wish to ask you a question or two. 
 May I?" 
 
 " That you may, my lady." 
 
 "I want you to explain, if you will be so good, how 
 the proprietor of ' Splatchett's ' can shoot all Sir Charles's 
 pheasants." 
 
 " Lord ! my lady, we ain't come down to that. But he 
 do shoot more than his share, that's sure an' sartin. 
 Well, my lady, if you please, game is just like Chris- 
 tians, — it will make for sunny spots. Highmore have 
 got a many of them there, with good cover, so we breeds 
 for he. As for ' Splatchett's,' that don't hurt we, my 
 lady; it is all arable land and dead hedges with no 
 bottom; only there's one little tongue of it runs into 
 
94 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 North Wood, and planted with larch ; and, if you please, 
 my lady, there is always a kind of coarse grass grows 
 under young larches, and makes a strong cover for game. 
 So, beat North Wood which way you will, them artful 
 old cocks will run ahead of ye, or double back into them 
 larches ; and you see Mr. Bassett is not a gentleman like 
 Sir Charles : he is always a-mouching about, and the 
 biggest poacher in the parish, and so he drops on to 'em 
 out of bounds." 
 
 " Is there no way of stopping all this, sir ? " 
 
 " We might station a dozen beaters ahead ; they would 
 most likely get shot ; but I don't think as they'd mind 
 that much, if you had set your heart on it, my lady. 
 Dall'd if I would, for one ! " 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Moss ! Heaven forbid that any man should 
 be shot for me. Ko, not all the pheasants in the world. 
 I'll try and think of some other way. I should like 
 to see the place. May I ? " 
 
 " Yes, my lady, and welcome." 
 
 " How shall I get to it, sir ? " 
 
 " You can ride to the ' Woodman's Eest,' my lady, ■ 
 and it is scarce a stone's-throw from there; but 'tis 
 baddish travelling for the likes of you." 
 
 She appointed an hour, rode, with her groom, to the 
 public house, and thence was conducted through bush, 
 through brier, to the place where her husband had been 
 so annoyed. 
 
 Moss's comments became very intelligible to her the 
 moment she saw the place. She said very little, how- 
 ever, and rode home. 
 
 Next day she blushed high, and asked Sir Charles for 
 a hundred pounds to spend upon herself. 
 
 Sir Charles smiled, well pleased, and gave it her, and a 
 kiss into the bargain. 
 
 «Ah! but," said she, "that is not all." 
 
MOSS'S COMMENTS BECAME INTELLIGIBLE TO HER THE 
 MOMENT SHE SAW THE PLACE. 
 
A TEKEDSLE TEMPTATION. 96 
 
 "I am glad of it. You spend too little money on 
 yourself,. a great deal too little." 
 
 " That is a complaint you won't have long to make. 
 I want to cut down a few trees. May I ? " 
 
 "Going to build?" 
 
 "Don't ask me. It is for myself." 
 
 " That is enough. Cut down every stick on the estate, 
 if you like. The barer it leaves us, the better." 
 
 " Ah, Charles, you promised me not. I shall cut with 
 great discretion, I assure you." 
 
 " As you please," said Sir Charles. " If you want to 
 make me happy, deny yourself nothing. Mind, I shall 
 be angry if you do." 
 
 Soon after this a gaping quidnunc came to Sir Charles, 
 and told him Lady Bassett was felling trees in North 
 Wood. 
 
 " And pray who has a better right to fell trees in any- 
 wood of mine ? " 
 
 "But she is building a wall." 
 
 "And who has a better right to build a wall ? " With 
 the delicacy of a gentleman he would not go near the 
 place after this till she asked him ; and that was not long. 
 She came into his study, all beaming, and invited him 
 to a ride. She took him into North Wood, and showed 
 him her work. Richard Bassett's plantation, hitherto 
 divided from North Wood only by a boundary scarcely 
 visible, was now shut off by a brick wall. On Sir 
 Charles's side of that wall every stack of timber was 
 felled and removed for a distance of fifty yards, and 
 about twenty yards from the wall a belt of larches was 
 planted, a little higher than cabbages. 
 
 Sir Charles looked amazed at first, but soon observed 
 how thoroughly his enemy was defeated. "My poor 
 Bella," said he, "to think of your taking all this trouble 
 about such a thing" — He stopped to kiss her very 
 
96 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 tenderly, and she shone with joy and innocent pride. 
 " And I never thought of this ! You astonish me, 
 Bella." 
 
 "Ay," said she, in high spirits now; "and, what is 
 more, I have astonished Mr. Moss. He said, ' I wish I 
 had your headpiece, my lady.' I could have told him 
 love sharpens a woman's wits ; but I reserved that little 
 adage for you." 
 
 " It is all mighty fine, fair lady, but you have told me 
 a fib. You said it was to be all for yourself, and got a 
 hundred pounds out of me." 
 
 " And so it was for myself, you silly thing. Are you 
 not myself? and the part of myself I love the best." 
 And her supple wrist was round his neck in a moment. 
 
 They rode home together, like lovers, and comforted 
 each other. 
 
 Kichard Bassett, with Wheeler's assistance, had bor- 
 rowed money on Highmore, to buy " Splatchett's : " he 
 now borrowed money on " Splatchett's," and bought 
 Dean's Wood, a wood, with patches of grass, that lay on 
 the east of Sir Charles's boundary. He gave seventeen 
 hundred pounds for it, and sold two thousand pounds 
 worth of timber off it the first year. This sounds 
 incredible ; but, owing to the custom of felling only ripe 
 trees, landed proprietors had no sure clew to the value of 
 all the timber on an acre. Eichard Bassett had found 
 this out, and bought Dean's Wood upon the above terms ; 
 i.e., the vendor gave him the soil, and three hundred 
 pounds, gratis. He grubbed the roots, and sold them for 
 fuel, and planted larches to catch the overflow of Sir 
 Charles's game; the grass grew beautifully, now the 
 trees were down, and he let it for pasture. 
 
 He then, still under Wheeler's advice, came out into 
 the world again, improved his dress, and called on several 
 county families, with a vie^v to marrying money, 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. ^7 
 
 Now, in the country they do not despise a poor gentle- 
 man of good lineage, and Bassett was one of the oldest 
 names in the county ; so eyery door was open to him ; 
 and, indeed, his late hermit life had stimulated some 
 curiosity. This he soon turned to sympathy, by telling 
 them that he was proud, but poor ; robbed of the vast 
 estates that belonged to him by birth, he had been un- 
 willing to take a lower position. However, Hearen had 
 prospered him ; the wrongful heir was childless ; he was 
 the heir-at-law, and he felt he owed it to the estate, which 
 must return to his line, to assume a little more public 
 importance than he had. done. 
 
 Wherever he was received he was sure to enlarge upon 
 his wrongs ; and he was believed ; for he was notoriously 
 the direct heir to Bassett and Huntercombe, but the 
 family arrangement, by which his father had been bought 
 out, was known only to a few. He readily obtained 
 sympathy, and many persons were disgusted at Sir 
 Charles's illiberality in not making him some compensar 
 tion. To use the homely expression of Govett, a small 
 proprietor, the baronet might as well have given him 
 back one pig out of his own farrow : i.e., one of the many 
 farms comprised in that large estate. 
 
 Sir Charles learned that Richard was undermining 
 hrm in the county, but was too proud to interfere ; he 
 told Lady Bassett he should say nothing until some 
 gerdleman should indorse Mr. Bassett's falsehoods. 
 
 One day, Sir Charles and Lady Bassett were invited to 
 dine and sleep at Mr. Hardwicke's, distant fifteen miles ; 
 they went, and found Richard Bassett dining there, by 
 Mrs. Hardwicke's invitation, who was one of those nin- 
 nies that fling guests together with no discrimination. 
 
 Richard had expected this to happen sooner or later, 
 so he was comparatively prepared, and bowed stifly to 
 Sir Charles. Sir Charles stared at him in return. This 
 7 
 
98 A TBRBIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 was observed: people were imcoinfortable, especially 
 Mrs. Hardwicke, whose thoughtlessness was to blame 
 for it alL 
 
 At a very early hour Sir Charles ordered his carriage, 
 and drove home, instead of staying all night. 
 
 Mrs. Hardwicke, being a fool, must make a little more 
 mischief. She blubbered to her husband, and he wrote 
 Sir Charles a remonstrance. 
 
 Sir Charles replied that he was the only person 
 aggrieved : Mr. Hardwicke ought not to have invited a 
 blackguard to meet him. 
 
 Mr. Hardwicke replied that he had never heard a 
 Bassett called a blackguard before, and had seen nothing 
 in Mr. Bassett to justify an epithet so unusual amongst 
 gentlemen. , " And, to be frank with you, Sir Charles," 
 said he, " I think this bitterness against a poor gentle- 
 man, whose estates you are so fortunate as to possess, is 
 not consistent with your general character, and is, indeed, 
 unworthy of you." 
 
 To this. Sir Charles Bassett replied : — 
 
 Deak Mr. Hahdwicke, — You have applied some remarks 
 to me, which I will endeavor to forget, as they were written 
 in entire ignorance of the truth. But, if we are to remain 
 fiiends, I expect you to believe me, when I tell you that Mr. 
 Kichard Bassett has never been wronged by me or mine, but 
 has wronged me and Lady Bassett deeply. He is a dishonora- 
 ble scoundrel^ not entitled to be received in society : and if, 
 after this assurance, you receive him, I shall never darken 
 your doors again. So please let me know your decision. 
 I remain, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Charles Dyke Bassett. 
 
 Mr. Hardwicke chafed under this, but prudence stepped 
 in : he was one of the county members, and Sir Charles 
 could command three hundred votes. 
 
A TEEBIBLE TEMPTATION. 99 
 
 He wrote back to say he had received Six Charles's 
 letter with pain, but of course he could not disbelieve 
 him, and therefore he should invite Mr. Bassett no more 
 till the matter was cleared. 
 
 But Mr. Hardwicke, thus brought to book, was nettled 
 at his own meanness, so he sent Sir Charles's letter to 
 Mr. Richard Bassett 
 
 Bassett foamed with rage, and wrote a long letter, 
 raving with insults, to Sir Charles. 
 
 He was in the act of directing it, when Wheeler called 
 on him. Bassett showed him Sir Charles's letter. 
 Wheeler read it. 
 
 " Now read what I say to him in reply." 
 
 Wheeler read Bassetf s letter, threw it into the fire, 
 and kept it there with the poker. 
 
 " Lucky I called," said he dryly. " Saved you a thou- 
 sand pounds or so. You must not write a letter without 
 me." 
 
 " What, am I to sit stUl and be insulted ? You're a 
 pretty friend." 
 
 "I am a wise friend. This is a more serious matter 
 than you seem to think." 
 
 "Libel?" 
 
 " Of course. Why, if Sir Charles had consulted me, I 
 could not have dictated a better letter. It closes every 
 chink a defendant in libel can creep out by. Now take 
 your pen and write to Mr. Hardwicke." 
 
 Deab Sm, — I have received your letter, containing a libel 
 written by Sir Charles Bassett. My reply will be public. 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 RiCHABD Bassett. 
 
 « Is that all ? " 
 
 "Every syllable. Now mind : you never go to Hard- 
 wicke House again ; Sir Charles has got you banished 
 
100 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 from that house ; special damage ! There never was a 
 prettier case for a jury ; the rightful heir foully slandered 
 by the possessor of his hereditary estates." 
 
 This picture excited Bassett, and he walked about 
 raving with malice, and longing for the time when he 
 should stand in the witness-box and denounce his enemy. 
 
 " No, no," said Wheeler, " leave that to counsel ; you 
 must play the mild victim in the witness-box. Who is 
 the defendant's solicitor ? We ought to serve the writ 
 on him at once." 
 
 " No, no ; serve it on himself." 
 
 " What for ? Much better proceed like gentlemen." 
 
 Bassett got in a passion, at being contradicted in 
 everything. "I tell you," said he, "the more I can 
 irritate and exasperate this villain, the better. Besides, 
 he slandered me behind my back ; and I'll have the writ 
 served upon himself. I'll do everything I can to take 
 him down. If a man wants to be my lawyer he must 
 enter into my feelings a little." 
 
 Wheeler, to whom he was more valuable than ever 
 now, consented somewhat reluctantly; and called at 
 Huntercombe Hall next day, with the writ, and sent in 
 his card. 
 
 Lady Bassett heard of this, and asked if it was Mr. 
 Bassett's friend. 
 
 The butler said he thought it was. 
 
 Lady Bassett went to Sir Charles in his study. " Oh, 
 my dear," said she, " here is Mr. Bassett's lawyer." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " Why does he come here ? " 
 
 "I don't know." 
 
 "Don't see him." 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " I am so afraid of Mr. Bassett. He is our evil genius. 
 Let me see this person, instead of you. May I ? " 
 
A TEEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 101 
 
 " Certainly not." 
 
 "Might I see him first, love ? " 
 
 " You will not see him at alL" 
 
 "Charles!" 
 
 "No, Bella; I cannot have these animals talking to 
 my wife." 
 
 " But, dear love, I am so full of forebodings. You 
 know, Charles, I don't often presume to meddle : but I 
 am in torture about this man. If you receive him, may 
 I be with you ? Then we shall be two to one." 
 
 " No, no," said Sir Charles, testily ; then, seeing her 
 beautiful eyes fill at the refusal and the unusual tone, 
 he relented. "You may be in hearing if you like. 
 Open that door, and sit in the little room." 
 
 " Oh, thank you ! " 
 
 She stepped into the room, a very small sitting-room. 
 She had never been in it before, and, while she was ex- 
 amining it and thinking how she could improve its ap- 
 pearance, Mr. Wheeler was shown into the study. Sir 
 Charles received him standing, to intimate that the inter- 
 view must be brief. This, and the time he had been kept 
 waiting in the hall, roused Wheeler's bile, and he entered 
 on his subject more brusquely than he had intended. 
 
 " Sir Charles Bassett, you wrote a letter to Mr. Hard- 
 wicke, reflecting on my client, Mr. Bassett — a most un- 
 justifiable letter." 
 
 " Keep your opinion to yourself, sir. I wrote a letter 
 calling him what he is." 
 
 "No, sir; that letter is a libel." 
 
 " It is the truth." 
 
 "It is a malicious libel, sir; and we shall punish you 
 for it. I hereby serve you with this copy of a writ. 
 Damages, five thousand pounds." 
 
 A sigh from the next room passed unnoticed by the 
 men, for their voices were now raised in anger. 
 
102 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " And so that is what you came here for. Why did 
 you not go to my solicitor ? You must be as great a 
 blackguard as your client, to serve your paltry writs on 
 me in my own house." 
 
 " Not blackguard enough to insult a gentleman in my 
 own house. If you had been civil, I might have accom- 
 modated matters ; but now I'll make you smart — ugh ! " 
 
 Nothing provokes a high-spirited man more than a 
 menace. Sir Charles, threatened in his wife's hearing, 
 shot out his right arm with surprising force and rapidity, 
 and knocked Wheeler down in a moment. In came 
 Lady Bassett, with a scream, and saw the attorney lying 
 doubled up, and Sir Charles standing over him, blowing 
 like a grampus, with rage and excitement. 
 
 But the next moment he staggered and gasped, and 
 she had to support him to a seat. She rang the bell for 
 aid, then kneeled, and took his throbbing temples to her 
 wifely bosom. 
 
 Wheeler picked himself up, and, seated on his hams, 
 eyed the pair with concentrated fury. 
 
 " Aha ! You have hurt yourself more than me. Two 
 suits against you now, instead of one." 
 
 " Conduct this person from the house," said Lady Bas- 
 sett to a servant who entered at that moment. 
 
 "All right, my lady," said Wheeler ; " I'U remind you 
 of that word when this house belongs to us." 
 
A TBRKIBLB TEMPTATION. 103 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 With this bitter reply, Wheeler retired precipitately ; 
 the shaft pierced but one bosom ; for the devoted wife, 
 with the swift ingenuity of woman's love, had put both 
 her hands right over her husband's ears, that he might 
 hear no more insults. 
 
 Sir Charles very nearly had a fit; but his wife 
 loosened his neckcloth, caressed his throbbing head, and 
 applied eau-de-cologne to his nostrils ; he got better, but 
 felt dizzy for about an hour. She made him come into 
 her room and lie down ; she hung over him, curling as a 
 vine and light as a bird, and her kisses lit softly as down 
 upon his eyes, and her words of love and pity murmured 
 music in his ears, till he slept, and that danger passed. 
 
 For a day or two after this, both Sir Charles and Lady 
 Bassett avoided the unpleasant subject. But it had to be 
 faced ; so Mr. Oldfield was summoned to Huntercombe, 
 and all engagements given up for the day, that he might 
 dine alone with them and talk the matter over. 
 
 Sir Charles thought he could justify ; but, when it 
 came to the point, he could only prove that Bichard had 
 done several ungentlemanlike things, of a nature a stout 
 jury would consider trifles. 
 
 Mr. Oldfield said of course they must enter an appear- 
 ance ; and, this done, the wisest course would be to let 
 him see Wheeler, and try to compromise the suit. " It 
 will cost you a thousand pounds. Sir Charles, I dare say ; 
 but if it teaches you never to write of an enemy, or to 
 an enemy, without showing your lawyer the letter first, 
 the lesson will be cheap. Somebody in the Bible says, 
 
104 A TEKKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 ' Oh that mine enemy would write a book ! ' I say, 
 'Oh that he would write a letter — without consulting 
 his solicitor ! ' " 
 
 It was Lady Bassett's cue now to make light of trou- 
 bles. "What does it matter, Mr. Oldfield? All they 
 want is money. Yes, offer them a thousand pounds to 
 leave hiid in peace." 
 
 So next day Mr. Oldfield called on Wheeler, all smiles 
 and civility, and asked him if he did not think it a pity 
 cousins should quarrel before the whole county. 
 
 " A great pity," said Wheeler ; " but my client has no 
 alternative. No gentleman in the county would speak 
 to him if he sat quiet under such contumely." 
 
 After beating about the bush the usual time, Oldfield 
 said that Sir Charles was hungry for litigation, but that 
 Lady Bassett was averse to it. " In short, Mr. Wheeler, 
 I will try and get Mr. Bassett a thousand pounds to 
 forego this scandal." 
 
 " I will consult him, and let you know," said Wheeler. 
 " He happens to be in the town." 
 
 Oldfield called again in an hour. Wheeler told him 
 a thousand pounds would be accepted with a written 
 apology. 
 
 Oldfield shook his head. " Sir Charles wiU never 
 write an apology ; right or wrong, he is too sincere in 
 his conviction." 
 
 " He will never get a jury to share it." 
 
 " You must not be too sure of that. You don't know 
 the defence." 
 
 Oldfield said this with a gravity which did him credit. 
 
 " Do you know it yourself ? " said the other keen 
 hand. 
 
 Mr. Oldfield smiled haughtily, but said nothing. 
 Wheeler had hit the mark. 
 
 "By-the-by," said the latter, "there is another little 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 105 
 
 matter. Sir Charles assaulted me for doing my duty to 
 my client. I mean to sue him. Here is the writ ; will 
 you accept service ? " 
 
 " Oh, certainly, Mr. Wheeler, and I am glad to find 
 you do not make a habit of serving writs on gentlemen 
 in person." 
 
 "Of course not. I did it on a single occasion, con- 
 trary to my own wish ; and went in person — to soften 
 the blow — instead of sending my clerk." 
 
 After this little spai", the two artists in law bade each 
 other farewell with every demonstration of civility. 
 
 Sir Charles would not apologize. 
 
 The plaintiff filed his declaration. 
 
 The defendant pleaded not guilty, but did not disclose 
 his defence. The law allows a defendant in libel this 
 advantage. 
 
 Plaintiff joined issue, and the trial was set down for 
 the next assizes. 
 
 Sir Charles was irritated, but nothing more. Lady 
 Bassett, with a woman's natural shrinking from pub- 
 licity, felt it more deeply. She would have given thou- 
 sands of her own money to keep the matter out of court. 
 But her very terror of Richard Bassett restrained her. 
 She was always thinking about him, and had convinced 
 herseK he was the ablest villain in the wide world ; and 
 she thought to herself, "If, with his small means, he 
 annoys Charles so, what would he do if I were to enrich 
 him ? He would crush us." 
 
 As the trial drew near, she began to hover about Sir 
 Charles in his study, like an anxious hen. The maternal 
 yearnings were awakened in her by marriage, and she 
 had no child ; so her Charles in trouble was husband and 
 child. 
 
 Sometimes she would come in and just kiss his fore- 
 head, and run out again, casting back a celestial look of 
 
106 A TEBBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 love at tlie door, and, though it was her husband she had 
 kissed, she blushed divinely. At last one day she crept 
 in and said, very timidly, " Charles, dear, the anonymous 
 letter, is not that an excuse for libelling him — as they 
 call telling the truth ? " 
 
 " Why, of course it is. Have you got it ? " 
 
 " Dearest, the brave lady took it away." 
 
 " The brave lady ! Who is that ? " 
 
 "Why, the lady that came with Mr. Oldfield, and 
 pleaded your cause with papa; oh, so eloquently! 
 Sometimes, when I think of it now, I feel almost 
 jealous. Who is she ? " 
 
 " From what you have always told me, I think it was 
 the Sister of Charity who nursed me." 
 
 " You silly thing, she was no Sister of Charity ; that 
 was only put on. Charles, tell me the truth. What 
 does it matter now ? It was some lady who loved you." 
 
 " Loved me, and set her wits to work to marry me to 
 you ? " 
 
 " Women's love is so disinterested — sometimes." 
 
 "No, no; she told me she was a sister of — and no 
 doubt that is the truth." 
 
 ". A sister of whom ? " 
 
 " No matter ; don't remind me of the past, it is odious 
 to me ; and, on second thoughts, rather than stir up all 
 that mud, it would be better not to use the anonymous 
 letter, even if you could get it again." 
 
 Lady Bassett begged him to take advice on that; 
 meantime she would try to get the letter, and also the 
 evidence that Eichard Bassett wrote it. 
 
 " I see no harm in that," said Sir Charles ; " only con- 
 fine your communication to Mr. Oldfield. I will not 
 have you speaking or writing to a woman I don't know ; 
 and the more I think of her conduct the less I under- 
 stand it." 
 
A TERBIBLE TEMPTATION. 107 
 
 " There are people who do good by stealth," suggested 
 Bella timidly. 
 
 " Fiddle-de-dee ! " replied Sir Charles ; " you are a 
 goose — I mean an angel." 
 
 Lady Bassett complied with the letter, but, goose or 
 not, evaded the spirit of Sir Charles's command with 
 considerable dexterity. 
 
 Deae Mr. Oldfield, — You may guess what trouble I 
 am in. Sh* Charles will soon have to appear in open court, 
 and be talked against by some great orator. That anonymous 
 letter Mr. Bassett wrote me was very base, and is surely some 
 justification of the violent epithets my dear husband, in an 
 unhappy moment of irritation, has applied to him. The brave 
 lady has it. I am sure she will not refuse to send it me. I 
 wish I dare ask her to give it me with her own hand ; but 
 I must not, I suppose. R:ay tell her how unhappy I am, and 
 perhaps she will favor us with a word of advice as weU as the 
 letter. I remain 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 Bella Bassett. 
 
 . This letter was written at the brave lady, and Mr. 
 Oldfield did what was expected : he sent Miss Somerset 
 a copy of Lady Bassett's letter, and some lines in his 
 own hand, describing Sir Charles's difficulty in a more 
 business-like way. 
 
 In due course Miss Somerset wrote him back that she 
 was in the country, hunting, at no very great distance 
 from Huntereombe Hall ; she would send up to town for 
 her desk ; the letter would be there, if she had kept it 
 at all. 
 
 Oldfield groaned at this cool conjecture, and wrote 
 back directly, urging expedition. 
 
 This produced an effect that' he had not antici- 
 pated. 
 
 One morning Lord Harrowdale's foxhounds met at a 
 
108 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 large covert, about five miles from Huntercombe, and Sir 
 Charles told Lady Bassett she must ride to cover. 
 
 " Yes, dear. Charles, love, I have no spirit to appear 
 in public. We shall soon have publicity enough." 
 
 " That is my reason. I have not done, nor said, any- 
 thing I am ashamed of, and you will meet the county on 
 this and on every public occasion." 
 
 "I -obey," said Bella. 
 
 " And look your best." 
 
 " I will, dearest." 
 
 " And be in good spirits." 
 
 "Must I?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "IwiUtry. Oh! — oh! — oh!" 
 
 " Why, yon poor-spirited little goose ! Dry your eyes 
 this moment." 
 
 "There! Oh!" 
 
 " And kiss me." 
 
 " There ! Ah, kissing you is a great comfort." 
 
 " It is one you are particularly welcome to. Now, run 
 away, and put on your habit. I'll have two grooms out : 
 one with a fresh horse for me, and one to look after you." 
 
 " Charles ! pray don't make me hunt." 
 
 " No, no ! not so tyrannical as that. Hang it all ! " 
 
 " Do you know what I do whilst you are hunting ? I 
 pray all the time that you may not get a fall, and be 
 hurt ; and I pray God to forgive you and all the gentle- 
 men for your cruelty in galloping with all those dogs 
 after one poor, little, inoffensive thing, to hunt it, and 
 kill it — kill it twice, indeed, once with terror, and then 
 over again with mangling its poor little body." 
 
 "This is cheerful," said Sir Charles rather ruefully. 
 "We cannot all be angels, like you. It is a glorious 
 excitement. There, you are too good for this world. 
 I'll let you off going." 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 109 
 
 "Oh, no, dear ! I won't be let off, now I know your 
 wish. Only I beg to ride home as soon as the poor thing 
 runs away. You wouldn't get me out of the thick covers, 
 if I were a fox. I'd run round and round, and call on 
 all my acquaintances to set them running." 
 
 As she said this, her eyes turned towards each other 
 in a peculiar way, and she looked extremely foxy ; but 
 the look melted away directly. 
 
 The hounds met, and Lady Bassett, who was still the 
 beauty of the county, was surrounded by riders, at first ; 
 but, as the hounds began to work, and every now and 
 then a young hound uttered a note, they cantered about, 
 and took up different posts, as experience suggested. 
 
 At last a fox was found at the other end of the cover, 
 and away galloped the hunters in that direction, all but 
 four persons, — Lady Bassett and her groom, who kept 
 respectfully aloof, and a lady and gentleman who had 
 reined their horses up on a rising ground about a 
 furlong distant. 
 
 Lady Bassett, thus left alone, happened to look round, 
 and saw the lady level an opera-glass towards her, and 
 look through it. 
 
 As a result of this inspection, the lady cantered 
 towards her. She was on a chestnut gelding of great 
 height and bone, and rode him as if they were one, so 
 smoothly did she move in concert with his easy, magnifi- 
 cent strides. 
 
 When she came near Lady Bassett, she made a little 
 sweep, and drew up beside her on the grass. 
 
 There was no mistaking that tall figure and command- 
 ing face. It was the brave lady. Her eyes sparkled, 
 her cheek was slightly colored with excitement. She 
 looked healthier and handsomer than ever, and also more 
 feminine, for a reason the sagacious reader may, perhaps, 
 discern, if he attends to the dialogue. 
 
110 A TEKBIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 " So," said she, without bowing, or any other ceremony, 
 "that little rascal is troubling you again." 
 
 Lady Bassett colored, and panted, and looked lovingly 
 at her before she could speak. At last she said, " Yes ; 
 and you have come to help us again ? " 
 
 " Well, the lawyer said there was no time to lose ; so 
 I have brought you the anonymous letter." 
 
 " Oh, thank you, madam ! thank you ! " 
 
 " But I'm afraid it will be of no use, unless you can 
 prove Mr. Bassett wrote it. It is in a disguised 
 hand." 
 
 " But you found him out by means of another letter." 
 
 " Yes ; but I can't give you that other letter, to have 
 it read in a court of law, because — do you see that 
 gentleman there ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "That is Marsh." 
 
 "Oh, is it?" 
 
 " He is a fool ; but I'm going to marry him. I have 
 been very ill since I saw you, and poor Marsh nursed 
 me. Talk of women nurses ! If ever you are ill in 
 earnest, as I was, write to me, and I'll send you Marsh. 
 Oh, I have no words to tell you his patience, his forbear- 
 ance, his watchfulness, his tenderness to a sick woman. 
 It is no use, I must marry him ; and I could have no 
 letter published that would give him pain." 
 
 "Of coirrse, not. Oh, madam, do you think I am 
 capable of doing anything that would give you pain, or 
 dear Mr. Marsh either ? " 
 
 " No, no ; you are a good woman." 
 
 "Not half so good as you are." 
 
 " You don't know what you are saying." 
 
 " Oh, yes, I do ! " 
 
 " Then, I say no more ; it is rude to contradict. Grood- 
 by. Lady Bassett." 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATIOK. Ill 
 
 " Must you leave me so soon ? Will you not visit us ? 
 May I not know the name of so good a friend ? " 
 
 "Next week I shall be Mrs. Marsh." 
 
 "And you will give me the great pleasure of having 
 you at my house, you and your husband ? " 
 
 The lady showed some agitation at this — an unusual 
 thing for her. She faltered, " Some day, perhaps, if I 
 make him as good a wife as I hope to. What a lady you 
 are! Vulgar people are ashamed to be grateful; but 
 you are a bom lady. Good-by, before I make a fool of 
 myself ; and they are aU coming this way, by the dogs* 
 music" 
 
 "Won't you kiss me, after bringing me this ?" 
 
 "Kiss you ? " and she opened her eyes. 
 
 "If you please," said Lady Basset^ bending towards 
 her with eyes full of gratitude and tenderness. 
 
 Then the other woman took her by the shoulders, and 
 plunged her great gray orbs into Bella's. 
 
 They kissed each other. 
 
 At that contact the stranger seemed to change her 
 character all in a moment. She strained Bella to her 
 bosom, and kissed her passionately, and sobbed out 
 wildly, " O God ! you are good to sinners ! This is the 
 happiest hour of my life — it is a forerunner. Bless 
 you, sweet dove of innocence I You will be none the 
 worse, and I am all the better. — Ah, Sir Charles ! Not 
 one word about me to him." 
 
 And with these words, uttered with sudden enei^, 
 she spurred her great horse, leaped the ditch, and burst 
 through the dead hedge into the wood, and winded out 
 of sight amongst the trees. 
 
 Sir Charles came up astonished. "Why, who was 
 that?" 
 
 Bella's eyes began to rove, as I have before described ; 
 but she replied pretty promptly, "The brave lady her- 
 
112 A TEEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 self; she brought me the anonymous letter for your 
 defence." 
 
 " Why, how came she to know about it ? " 
 
 " She did not tell me that. She was in a great hurry. 
 Hei fiance was waiting for her." 
 
 " Was it necessary to kiss her in the hunting-field ? " 
 said Sir Charles, with something very like a frown. 
 
 " I'd kiss the whole field, grooms and all, if they did 
 you a great service, as that dear lady has," said Bella. 
 The words were brave, but the accent piteous. 
 
 " You are excited, Bella. You had better ride home," 
 said Sir Charles, gently enough, but moodily. 
 
 " Thank you, Charles," said Bella, glad to escape 
 further examination about this mysterious lady. She 
 rode home accordingly. There she found Mr. Oldfield, 
 and showed him the anonymous letter. 
 
 He read it, and said it was a defence, but a disagree- 
 able one. " Suppose he says he wrote it, and the facts 
 were true ? " 
 
 "But I don't think he will confess it. He is not a 
 gentleman. He is very untruthful. Can we not make 
 this a trap to catch him, sir ? He has no scruples." 
 
 Oldfield looked at her, in some surprise at her depth. 
 
 "We must get hold of his handwriting," said he. 
 "We must ransack the local banks; find his corre- 
 spondents." 
 
 "Leave all that to me," said Lady Bassett, in a low 
 voice. 
 
 Mr. Oldfield thought he might as well please a beauti- 
 ful and loving woman if he could ; so he gave her some- 
 thing to do for her husband. " Very well, collect all the 
 materials of comparison you can, letters, receipts, etc. 
 Meantime I will retain the two principal experts in 
 London, and we will submit your materials to them the 
 night before the trial." 
 
A TBRBIBLB TEMPTATION. 113 
 
 Lady Bassett, thus instructed, drove to all the banks, 
 but 'found no clerk acquainted with Mr. Bassett's hand- 
 writing. He did not bank with anybody in the county. 
 
 She called on several persons she thought likely to 
 possess letters or other writings of Eichard Bassett. 
 Not a scrap. 
 
 Then she began to fear. The case looked desperate. 
 
 Then she began to think. And she thought very hard 
 indeed, especially at night. 
 
 In the dead of night she had an idea. She got up, 
 and stole from her husband's side, and studied the 
 anonymous letter. 
 
 Next day she sat down with the anonymous letter on 
 her desk, and blushed, and trembled, and looked about 
 like some wild animal scared. She selected from the 
 anonymous letter several words, "character, abused, Sir, 
 Charles, Bassett, lady, abandon, friend, whether, ten, 
 slanderer," etc., and wrote them on a slip of paper. 
 Then she locked up the anonymous letter. Then she 
 locked the door. Then she sat down to a sheet of paper, 
 and after some more wild and furtive glances all round, 
 she gave her whole mind to writing a letter. 
 
 And to whom did she write, think you ? 
 
 To Eichard Bassett. 
 
114 A TEEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Mr. Bassett, — I am sure both yourself and my husband 
 will suffer in public estimation, unless some friend comes 
 between you, and this unhappy lawsuit is given up. 
 
 Do not think me blind, nor presumptuous. Sir Charles, 
 when he wrote that letter, had reason to believe you had done 
 him a deep injury by unfair means. Many will share that 
 opinion, if this cause is tried. You are his cousin, and his 
 heh--at-law. I dread to see an unhappy feud inflamed by a 
 public trial. Is there no personal sacrifice by which I can 
 compensate the affront you have received, without compro- 
 mising Sir Charles Bassett's veracity, who is the soul of 
 honor ? I am, 
 
 Yours obediently, 
 
 Bella Bassett. 
 
 She posted this letter, and Richard Bassett had no 
 sooner received it than he mounted his horse, and rode 
 to Wheeler's with it. 
 
 That worthy's eyes sparkled. "Capital!" said he. 
 " We must draw her on, and write an answer that will 
 read well in court." 
 
 He concocted an epistle just the opposite to what 
 Richard Bassett, left to himself, would have written. 
 Bassett copied and sent it as his own. 
 
 Ladt Bassett, — I thank you for writing to me at this 
 moment, when I am weighed down by slander. Your own 
 character stands so high, that you would not deign to write to 
 me if you believed the abuse that has been lavished on me. 
 With you I deplore this family feud. It is not of my seeking ; 
 and as for this lawsuit, it is one in which the plaintiflf is really 
 
A TEKKIBLE TEMPTATIOK. 116 
 
 tJie defendant. Sir Charles has written a de&matory letter, 
 which has closed eyery house in this county to his victim. If, 
 as I now feel sure, you disapprove the libel, pray persuade 
 him to retauct it. The rest our lawyers can settle. 
 Yours very respectfully, 
 
 BiCHAKD BaSSETT. 
 
 When Lady Bassett read this, she saw she had an 
 adroit opponent. Tet she wrote again : 
 
 Mb. Bassett, — There are limits to my inflnence with Sir 
 Charles. I have no power to make him say one word against 
 his convictions. 
 
 But my lawyer tells me you seek pecuniary compensation 
 for an affix)nt. I offer yon, out of my own means, which are 
 ample, that which yon seek — offer it freely and heartily ; and 
 I honestly think you had better receive it from me, than expose 
 yourself to the risks and mortifications of a public trial. I am 
 Yours obediently, 
 
 Bella. Bassett. 
 
 Ladt Bassett, — You have fallen into a very natural 
 error. It is true I sue Sir Charles Bassett for money ; but that 
 is only because the law allows me my remedy in no other form. 
 What really brings me into court is the defence of my injured 
 honor. How do you meet me? You say, virtually, "Never 
 mind your character : here is money." Permit me to decline 
 it on eueh terms. 
 
 A public insult cannot be cured in private. 
 
 Strong in my innocence and my wrongs, I court what yon 
 call the risks of a public trial. 
 
 Whatever the result, you have played the honorable and 
 womanly part of peacemaker ; and it is unfortunate for your 
 husband that yonr gentle influence is limited by his vanity, 
 which perseveres in a cruel slander, instead of retracting it, 
 while there is yet time. I am, madam. 
 Yours obediently, 
 
 Bichasd Bassett. 
 
116 A TERKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 Mr. Bassett, — I retire from a correspondence which 
 appears to be useless, and might, if prolonged, draw some 
 bitter remark from me as it has from you. 
 
 After the trial, which you court, and I deprecate, you will 
 perhaps review my letters with a more friendly eye. I am 
 Yours obediently, 
 
 Bella Bassett. 
 
 In this fencing-match between a lawyer and a lady, 
 each ' gained an advantage. The lawyer's letters, as 
 might have been expected, were the best adapted to be 
 read to a jury ; but the lady, subtler in her way, obtained 
 at a small sacrifice what she wanted, and that without 
 raising the slightest suspicion of her true motive in the 
 correspondence. 
 
 She announced her success to Mr. Oldfield; but, in 
 the midst of it, she quaked with terror at the thought of 
 what Sir Charles would say to her for writing to Mr. 
 Bassett at all. 
 
 She now, with the changeableness of her sex, hoped and 
 prayed Mr. Bassett would admit the anonymous letter, 
 and so all her subtlety and pains prove superfluous. 
 
 Quaking secretly, but with a lovely face and serene 
 front, she took her place at the assizes, before the judge, 
 and got as near him as she could. 
 
 The court was crowded, and many ladies present. 
 
 Bassett v. Bassett was called in a loud voice; there 
 was a hum of excitement, then a silence of expectation, 
 and the plaintiff's counsel rose to address the jury. 
 
A TEEKIBLB TEMPTATION. 117 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 "Mat it please your Lordship: Gentlemen of the 
 Jury. The plaintiff in this case is Richard Bassett, 
 Esq., the direct and lineal representative of that old and 
 honorable family, whose monuments are to be seen in 
 several chnrches in this county, and whose estates are 
 the largest, I believe, in the county. He would have 
 succeeded, as a matter of course, to those estates, but 
 for an arrangement made only a year before he was 
 bom ; by which, contrary to nature and justice, he was 
 denuded of those estates, and they passed to the defend- 
 ant. The defendant is nowise to blame for that piece of 
 injustice ; but he profits by it, and it might be expected 
 that his good fortune would soften his heart towards his 
 unfortunate relative. I say that, if uncommon tender- 
 ness might be expected to be shown by anybody to this 
 deserving and unfortunate gentleman, it would be by Sir 
 Charles Bassett, who enjoys his cousin's ancestral estates, 
 and can so well appreciate what that cousin has lost by 
 no fault of his own." 
 
 "Hear! hear!" 
 
 « Silence in the Court ! " 
 
 The Judffe. " I must request that there may be no 
 manifestation of feeling." 
 
 Counsel. " I will endeavor to provoke none, my lord. 
 It is a very simple case, and I shall not occupy you long. 
 Well, gentlemen, Mr. Bassett is a poor man, by no fault 
 of his ; but if he is poor, he is proud and honorable. He 
 has met the frowns of fortune like a gentleman — like 
 a man. He has not solicited Government for a place. 
 
118 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 He has not whined, nor lamented. He has dignified 
 unmerited poverty by prudence and self-denial; and, 
 unable to forget that he is a Bassett, he has put by a 
 little money every year, and bought a small estate or 
 two, and had even applied to the Lord Lieutenant to 
 make him a justice of the peace, when a most severe and 
 unexpected blow fell upon him. Amongst those large 
 proprietors who respected him in spite of his humbler 
 circumstances, was Mr. Hardwicke, one of the county 
 members ; well, gentlemen, on the 21st of last May, Mr. 
 Bassett received a letter from Mr. Hardwicke, enclosing 
 one purporting to be from Sir Charles Bassett " — 
 
 The Judge. "Does Sir Charles Bassett admit the 
 letter?" 
 
 Defendants Counsel (after a word with Oldfield). " Yes, 
 my lord." 
 
 Plaintiff's Coimsel. "A letter admitted to be written 
 by Sir Charles Bassett. That letter shall be read to you." 
 
 The letter was then read. 
 
 The counsel resumed, " Conceive, if you can, the effect 
 of this blow, just as my unhappy and most deserving 
 client was rising a little in the world. I shall prove 
 that it excluded him from Mr. Hardwicke's house and 
 other houses, too. He is a man of too much importance 
 to risk affronts : he has never entered the door of any 
 gentleman in this county since his powerful relative 
 published this cruel libel. He has drawn his Spartan 
 cloak around him; and he awaits your verdict to resume 
 that place amongst you which is due to him in every 
 way — due to him as the heir in direct line to the wealth, 
 and, above all, to the honor, of the Bassetts ; due to him 
 as Sir Charles Bassett's heir-at-law ; and due to him on 
 account of the decency and fortitude with which he has 
 borne adversity, and with which he now repels foul- 
 mouthed slander." 
 
A TEEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 119 
 
 "Hear! hear!" 
 
 « Silence in the Court ! " 
 
 "I have done, gentlemen, for the present. Indeed, 
 eloquence, even if I possessed it, would be superfluous ; 
 the facts speak for themselves. Call James Hardwicke, 
 Esq." 
 
 Mr. Hardwicke proved the receipt of the letter from 
 Sir Charles, and that he had sent it to Mr. Bassett : and 
 that Mr. Bassett had not entered his house since then, 
 nor had he invited him. 
 
 Mr. Bassett was then called, and, being duly trained 
 by Wheeler, abstained from all heat, and wore an air of 
 dignified dejection. His coiinsel examined him, and 
 his replies bore out the opening statement. Everybody 
 thought him sure of a verdict. 
 
 He was then cross-examined. Defendant's counsel 
 pressed him about his unfair way of shooting. The 
 judge interfered, and said that was trifling — if there 
 was no substantial defence, why not settle the matter ? 
 
 " There is a defence, my lord." 
 
 " Then it is time you disclosed it." 
 
 "Very well, my lord. Mr. Bassett — did you ever 
 write an anonymous letter ? " 
 
 "Not that I remember." 
 
 "Oh, that appears to you a trifle. It is not so con- 
 sidered." 
 
 The Judge. "Be more particular in your question." 
 
 "I will, my lord. Did you ever write an anonymous 
 letter, to make mischief between Sir Charles and Lady 
 Bassett ? " 
 
 "Never," said the witness ; but he turned pale. 
 
 "Do you mean to say you did not write this letter to 
 Miss Bruce? Look at the letter, Mr. Bassett, before 
 you reply." 
 
 Bassett cast one swift glance of agony at Wheeler; 
 
120 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 then braced himself like iron. He examined the letter 
 attentively, turned it over, lived an age, and said it was 
 not his -writing. 
 
 "Do you swear that ? " 
 
 "Certainly." 
 
 Defendanfs Counsel. "I shall ask your lordship to 
 take down that reply. If persisted in, my client will 
 indict the witness for perjury." 
 
 Plaintiff's Counsel. " Don't threaten the witness, as 
 well as insult him, please." 
 
 The Judge. " He is an educated man, and knows the 
 duty he owes to God and the defendant. Take time, 
 Mr. Bassett, and recollect. Did you write that letter ? " 
 
 "No, my lord." 
 
 Counsel waited for the 'judge to note the reply, then 
 proceeded. 
 
 "You have lately corresponded wi& Lady Bassett, I 
 think ? " 
 
 "Yes. Her ladyship opened a correspondence with me." 
 
 "It's a lie!" roared Sir Charles Bassett, from the 
 door of the grand jury room. 
 
 " Silence in the Court ! " 
 
 The Judge. Who made that unseemly remark ? " 
 
 Sir Charles. " 1 did, my lord. My wife never corre- 
 sponded with the cur." 
 
 The Plaintiff. " It is only one insult more, , gentle- 
 men, and as false as the rest. Permit me, my lord. My 
 own counsel would never have put the question. I 
 would not, for the world, give Lady Bassett pain; but 
 Sir Charles and his counsel have extorted the truth 
 from me. Her ladyship did open a correspondence 
 with me, and a friendly one." 
 
 The Plaintiffs Counsel. "Will your lordship ask 
 whether that was after the defendant had written the 
 libel?" 
 
A TEEEIBIiB TEMPTATflON. 121 
 
 The question was put, and answered in the affirmative. 
 
 Lady Bassett hid her face in her hands. Sir Charles 
 saw the movement, and groaned aloud. 
 
 The Judge. " I heg the case may not be encumbered 
 with irrelevant matter." 
 
 Counsel replied that the correspondence would be 
 made evidence in the case. (To the witness) "You 
 wrote this letter to Lady Bassett ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " And every word in it ? " 
 
 " And every word in it," faltered Bassett, now ashy 
 pale, for he began to see the trap. 
 
 "Then you wrote this word ' character,' and this word 
 ' injured,' and this word " — 
 
 The Judge (peevishly). "He tells you he wrote 
 every word in those letters to Lady Bassett. What 
 more would you have ? " 
 
 Counsel. "If your lordship will be good enoi^h to 
 examine the correspondence, and compare those words 
 in it I have underlined with the same words in the 
 anonymous letter, you will perhaps find I know my 
 business better than you seem to think." (The counsel 
 who ventured on this remonstrance was a Serjeant.) 
 
 "Brother Wordsworth," said the judge, with a charm- 
 ing manner, "yon satisfied me of that, to my cost, long 
 ago, whenever I had you against me in a case. Please 
 hand me the letters." 
 
 While the judge was making a keen comparison, coun- 
 sel continued the cross-examination. 
 
 "You are aware that this letter caused a separation 
 between Six Charles Bassett and the lady he was engaged 
 to?" 
 
 "I know nothing about it." 
 
 "Indeed? Well, were you acquainted with the Miss 
 Somerset mentioned in this matter ? " 
 
122 A TEREIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " SligMy." 
 
 " You have been at her house ? " 
 
 " Once or twice." 
 
 "Which? Twice is double as often as once, you 
 know." 
 
 " Twice." 
 
 "No more?" 
 
 « Not that I recollect." 
 
 " You wrote to her ? " 
 
 " I may have." 
 
 " Did you, or did you not ? " 
 
 "I did." 
 
 " What was the purport of that letter ? " 
 
 "I can't recollect at this distance of time." 
 
 " On your oath, sir, did you not write, urging her to 
 co-operate with you to keep Sir Charles Bassett from 
 marrying his affianced. Miss Bella Bruce, to whom 
 that anonymous letter was written with the same 
 object?" 
 
 The perspiration now rolled in visible drops down the 
 tortured liar's face. Yet still, by a gigantic effort, he 
 stood firm, and even planted a blow. 
 
 " I did not write the anonymous letter. But I believe 
 I told Miss Somerset I loved Miss Bruce, and that her 
 lover was robbing me of mine, as he had robbed me of 
 everything else." 
 
 " And that was all you said — on your oath ? " 
 
 "All I can recollect." With this the strong man, 
 cowed, terrified, expecting his letter to Somerset to be 
 produced, and so the iron chain of evidence completed, 
 gasped out, "Man, you tear open all my wounds at 
 once ! " and, with this, burst out sobbing, and lamenting 
 aloud that he had ever been born. 
 
 Counsel waited calmly till he should be in a condition 
 to receive another dose. 
 
A TERRIBLB TEMPTATION. 123 
 
 "Oh, will nobody stop this cruel trial?" said Lady 
 Bassett, with tears trickling down her face. 
 
 The judge heard this remark, without seeming to do so. 
 
 He said to defendant's counsel, " Whatever the truth 
 may be, you have proved enough to show Sir Charles 
 Bassett might well have an hone'st conviction that Mr. 
 Bassett had done a dastardly act. Whether a jury would 
 ever agree on a question of handwriting must always be 
 doubtful. Looking at the relationship of the parties, is 
 it advisable to carry this matter farther? If I might 
 advise the gentlemen, they would each consent to with- 
 draw a jiiror." 
 
 Upon this suggestion the counsel for both parties put 
 their heads together in animated whispers ; and, during 
 this, the judge made a remark to the jury intended for 
 the public : " Since Lady Bassett's name has been drawn 
 into this, I must say that I have read her letters to Mr. 
 Bassett, and they are such as she could write without in 
 the least compromising her husband. Indeed, now the 
 defence is shown, they appear to me to be wise and kindly 
 letters, such as only a good wife, a high-bred lady, and 
 a true Christian could write in so delicate a matter." 
 
 Plaintiff's Counsel. "My lord, we are agreed to with- 
 draw a juror." 
 
 Defendant's Counsel. "Out of respect for your lord- 
 ship's advice, and not from any doubt of the result on 
 our part." 
 
 The Crieif. " Wace v. Haliburton ! " 
 
 And so the ear of justice rolled on, till it came to 
 Wheeler v. Bassett. 
 
 This case was soon disposed of. 
 
 Sir Charles Bassett was dignified and calm in the 
 witness-box, and treated the whole matter with high-bred 
 nonchalance, as one unworthy of the attention the Court 
 was good enough to bestow on it. The judge disap- 
 
124 A TEEEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 proved the assault, but said the plaintiff had drawn it 
 on himself by unprofessional conduct, and by threatening 
 a gentleman in his own house. Verdict for the plaintiff 
 — forty shillings. The judge refused to certify for costs. 
 
 Lady Bassett, her throat parched with excitement, 
 drove home, and awaited her husband's return with no 
 little anxiety. As soon as "she heard him in his dressing- 
 room she glided in, and went down on her knees to him. 
 " Pray, pr^y don't scold me ; I couldn't bear you to be 
 defeated, Charles." 
 
 Sir Charles raised her, but did not kiss her. "You 
 think only of me," said he, rather sadly. " It is a sorry 
 victory, too dearly bought." 
 
 Then she began to cry. 
 
 Sir Charles begged her not to cry, but still he did not 
 kiss her, nor conceal his mortification ; he hardly spoke 
 to her for several days. 
 
 She accepted her disgrace pensively and patiently. 
 She thought it all over, and felt her husband was right, 
 and loved her like a man. But she thought, also, that 
 she was not very wrong to love him in her way. Wrong 
 or not, she felt she could not sit idle, and see his enemy 
 defeat him. 
 
 The coolness died away by degrees, with so much 
 humility on one side, and so much love on both ; but the 
 subject was interdicted forever. 
 
 A week after the trial. Lady Bassett wrote to Mrs. 
 Marsh, under cover to Mr. Oldfield, and told her how 
 the trial had gone, and, with many expressions of grati- 
 tude, invited her and her husband to Huntercombe Hall. 
 She told Sir Charles what she had done, and he wore a 
 very strange look. "Might I suggest that we have them 
 alone ? " said he dryly. 
 
 " By all means," said Lady Bassett. " I don't want to 
 share my paragon with anybody." 
 
A TEEKEBLB TEMPTATION. 125 
 
 In due course a reply came. Mr. and Mrs. Marsh 
 would avail themselves some day of Lady Bassett's kind- 
 ness; at present they were going abroad. The letter 
 was written by a man's hand. 
 
 About this time Oldfield sent Sir Charles Miss Somer- 
 set's deed, cancelled, and told him she had married a man 
 of fortune, who was devoted to her, and preferred to take 
 her without any dowry. 
 
 Bassett and Wheeler went home crestfallen, and dined 
 together. They discussed the two trials ; and each blamed 
 the other. They quarrelled, and parted; and Wheeler 
 sent in an enormous bill, extending over five years. 
 Eighty-five items began thus — " Attending you at your 
 house for several hours, on which occasion you asked my 
 advice as to whether" — etc. 
 
 Now, as a great many of these attendances had been 
 really to shoot game, and dine on rabbits, at Bassett's 
 expense, he thought it hard the conversations should be 
 charged and the rabbits not. 
 
 Disgusted with his defeat, and resolved to evade this 
 bill, he discharged his servant, and put a retired soldier 
 into his house, and armed him with a blunderbuss, and 
 ordered him to keep all doors closed, and present the 
 weapon aforesaid at all rate-collectors, tax-collectors, debt- 
 collectors, and applicants for money to build churches, or 
 convert the heathen; but not to fire at anybody except 
 his friend Wheeler, nor at him unless he should try to 
 shove a writ in at some chink of the building. 
 
 This done, he went on his travels, third class, with his 
 eyes always open, and his heart full of bitterness. 
 
 Kothing happened -to Bichard Bassett on his travels, 
 that I need relate, until one evening when he alighted at 
 a small commercial inn, in the city of York, and there 
 met a person whose influence on the events I am about 
 
126 A TEKBIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 to relate seems at this moment incredible to me, though 
 it is simple fact. 
 
 He found the commercial-room empty, and rang the 
 bell. In came the waiter, a strapping girl, with coal- 
 black eyes, and brows to match, and a brown skin, but 
 glowing cheeks. 
 
 They both started at sight of each other. It was Polly 
 Somerset. 
 
 " Why, Polly ! How d'ye do ? How do you come 
 here ? " 
 
 " It's along of you I'm here, young man," said PoUy, 
 and began to whimper. She told him her sister had 
 found out from the page she had been colloguing with 
 him, and had never treated her like a sister after that. 
 "And, when she married a gentleman, she wouldn't have 
 me aside her, for all I could say, but she did pack me off 
 into service, and here I be." 
 
 The girl was handsome, and had a liking for him. 
 Bassett was idle, and time hung heavy on his hands ; he 
 stayed at the inn a fortnight, more for Polly's company 
 than anything, and at last offered to put her into a 
 vacant cottage on his own little estate at Highmore. 
 But the girl was shrewd, and had seen a great deal of 
 life this last three years ; she liked Richard in her way, 
 but she saw he was all self, and she would not trust him. 
 "Kay," said she, "I'll not break with Ehoda for any 
 young man in Britain. If I leave service, she will never 
 own me at all ; she is as hard as iron." 
 
 " Well, but you might come and take service near me, 
 and then we could often get a word together." 
 
 "Oh, I am agreeable to that. You find me a good 
 place. I like an inn best ; one sees fresh faces." 
 
 Bassett promised to manage that for her. On reaching 
 home he found a conciliatory letter from Wheeler, coupled 
 with his permission to tax the billj according to his own 
 
A TKTtRTBT.H! TEMPTATION. 127 
 
 notion of justice. This, and other letters, were in an out- 
 house ; the old soldier had not permitted them to pene- 
 trate the fortress. He had entered into the spirit of his 
 instructions, and to him a letter was a prob&ble hand- 
 grenade. 
 
 Bassett sent for Wheeler ; the bill was reduced, and a 
 small payment made; the rest postponed till better 
 times. Wheeler was then consulted about Polly, and he 
 told his client the landlady of the "Lamb" wanted a 
 good active waitress ; he thought he could arrange that 
 little affair. 
 
 In due course, thanks to this artist, Maiy Wells, hitherto 
 known as PoUy Somerset, landed with her box at the 
 "Lamb," and with her quick foot, her black eyes, and 
 ready tongue, soon added to the popularity of the inn. 
 Bichard Bassett, Esq., for one, used to sup there now and 
 then with his friend Wheeler, and even sleep there after 
 supper. 
 
 By and by the yicar of Huntercombe wanted a serrant, 
 and offered to engage Mary Wells. 
 
 She thought twice about that. She could neither write 
 nor read, and therefore was dreadfully dull without com- 
 pany ; the bustle of an inn and people coming and going 
 amused her. However, it was a temptation to be near 
 Bichard Bassett, so she accepted at last. Unable to write, 
 she could not consult him, and she made sure he would 
 be delighted. 
 
 But when she got into the villf^ the prudent Mr. 
 Bassett drew in his horns and avoided her. She was 
 mortified and very angry. She revenged herself on her 
 employer ; broke double her wages. The vicar had never 
 been able to convert a smasher, so he parted with her 
 very readily to Lady Bassett, with a hint that she was 
 rather unfortunate in glass and china. 
 
 Ju that la]^ house her spirits rose, and, having a 
 
128 A TBEBIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 hearty manner and a clapper tongue, she became a gen- 
 eral favorite. 
 
 One day she met Mr. Bassett in the village, and he 
 seemed delighted at the sight of her, and begged her to 
 meet him that night at a certain place, where Sir Charles's 
 garden was divided from his own by a harha. It was a 
 very secluded spot, shut out from view, even in daylight, 
 by the trees and shrubs and the winding nature of the 
 walk that led to it, yet it was scarcely a hundred yards 
 from Huntercombe Hall. 
 
 Mary Wells came to the tryst, but in no amorous 
 mood. She came merely to tell Mr. Bassett her mind ; 
 viz., that he was a shabby fellow, and she had had her 
 cry, and didn't care a straw for him now. And she did 
 tell him so, in a loud voice and with a flushed cheek. 
 
 But he set to work, humbly and patiently, to pacify 
 her. He represented that, in a small house like the 
 vicarage, everything is known; he should have ruined 
 her character if he had not held aloof. " But it is differ- 
 ent now," said he. " You can run out of Huntercombe 
 Hall and meet me here, andnobody be the wiser." 
 
 " Not I," said Mary Wells, with a toss. " The worst 
 thing a girl can do is to keep company with a gentleman ; 
 she must meet him in holes and corners, and be flung 
 off like an old glove, when she has served his turn." 
 
 "That will never happen to you, Polly, dear. We 
 must be prudent for the present : but I shall be more my 
 own master, some day, and then you will see how I love 
 you." 
 
 " Seeing is believing," said the girl sullenly. " You 
 be too fond of yourself to love the likes o' me." 
 
 Such was the warning her natural shrewdness gave 
 her. But perseverance undermined it ; Bassett so often 
 threw out hints of what he would do some day, mixed 
 with warm protestations of love, that she began almost 
 
A TBRBIBLE TEMPTATION. 129 
 
 to hope he would majry her. She really liked him ; his 
 fine figure and his color pleased her eye, and he had a 
 plausible tongue to boot. 
 
 As for him, her rustic beauty and health pleased his 
 senses, but for his heart, she had little place in that. 
 What he courted her for just now was to keep him 
 informed of all that passed in Huntercombe Hall. His 
 morbid soul hung about that place, and he listened 
 greedily to Mary Wells's gossip. He had counted on 
 her volubility ; it did not disappoint him : she never met 
 him without a budget, one-half of it lies or exaggerations. 
 She was a born liar. One night she came in high spirits, 
 and greeted him thus : " What d'ye think ? I'm riz ! 
 Mrs. Eden, that dresses my lady's hair, she took ill 
 yesterday, and I told the housekeeper I was used to dress 
 hair, and she told my lady. If you didn't please our 
 Ehoda at that, 'twas as much as your life was worth ; 
 you mustn't be thinking of your young man vrith her 
 hair in your hand, or she'd rouse you with a good crack 
 on the crown with a hair-brush. So I dressed my lady's 
 hair, and handled it like old chaney ; by the same token 
 she is so pleased with me you can't think. She is a real 
 lady ; not like our Ehoda; speaks as civil to me as if I 
 was one of her own sort ; and, says she, ' I should like 
 to have you about me, if I might.' I had it on my 
 tongue to tell her she was mistress, but I was a little 
 skeared at her at first, you know. But she will have me 
 about her ; I see it in her eye." 
 
 Bassett was delighted at this news ; but he did not 
 speak his mind all at once ; the time was not come. He 
 let the gypsy rattle on, and bided his time. He flattered 
 her, and said he envied Lady Bassett to have such a 
 beautiful girl about her. "I'U let my hair grow," 
 said he. 
 
 "Ay, do," said she, "and then I'll pull it for you." 
 9 
 
130 A TEKBXBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 This challenge ended in a little straggle for a kiss, the 
 sincerity of wMcli was doubtful. Polly resisted vigor- 
 ously, to be sure, but briefly, and, having given in, 
 returned it. 
 
 One day she told him Sir Charles had met her plump, 
 and had given a great start. 
 
 This made Bassett very uneasy. "Confound it, he 
 will turn you away ! He will say, ' This girl knows too 
 much.' " 
 
 " How simple you be ! " said the girl. " D'ye think I 
 let him know ? Says he, ' I think I've seen you before.' 
 ' Yes, sir,' says I, ' I was housemaid here, before my lady 
 had me to dress her.' ' No,' says he, ' I mean in London 
 — in Mayfair, you know.' I declare, you might ha' 
 knocked me down wi' a feather. So I looks in his face, 
 as cool as marble, and I. says, ''Eo, sir; I never had the 
 luck to see London, sir^' says L 'All the better for 
 you,' says he, and he swallowed it like spring water, as 
 sister Ehoda used to say when she told one and they 
 believed it." 
 
 "You are a clever girl," said Bassett. "He would 
 have turned you out of the house if he had known who 
 you were.'-' 
 
 She disappointed him in one thing ; she was bad at 
 answering questions. Morally she was not quite so great 
 an egotist as himself, but intellectually a greater. Her 
 volubility was all egotism. She could scarcely say ten 
 words, except about herself. So when Bassett ques- 
 tioned her about Sir Charles and Lady Bassett, she said, 
 " Yes," or " No," or " I don't know," and was off at a 
 tangent to her own sayings and doings. 
 
 Bassett, however, by great patience and tact, extracted 
 from her at last, that Sir Charles and Lady Bassett were 
 both sore at not having children, and that Lady Bassett 
 bore the blame. 
 
A TEERIBLB TEMPTATION. 131 
 
 "That is a good joke," said he, "the smoke-dried rake ! 
 Polly, you might do me a good turn." 
 
 The young woman shook her head. "Me meddle 
 between man and wife ! I'm too fond of my place." 
 
 "Ah, you don't love me as I love you. You think 
 only of yourself." 
 
 "And what do you think of? Do you love me well 
 enough to find me a better place, if you get me turned 
 out of Huntercombe Hall ? " 
 
 " Tes, I will ; a much better." 
 
 " That is a bargain." 
 
 Mary Wells was silly in some things, but she was very 
 cunning, too ; and she knew Richard Bassett's hobby. 
 She told him to mind himself, as well as Sir Charles, or 
 perhaps he would die a bachelor, and so his flesh and 
 blood would never inherit Huntercombe. This remark 
 entered his mind. The trial, though apparently a drawn 
 battle, had been fatal to him — he was cut ; he dared 
 not pay his addresses to any lady in the county, and he 
 often felt very lonely now. So everything combined to 
 draw bim towards Mary Wells — her swarthy beauty, 
 which shone out at church like a black diamond among 
 the other women ; his own loneliness ; and the pleasure 
 these stolen meetings gave him. Custom itself is pleas- 
 ant, and the company of this handsome chatterbox 
 became a habit, and an agreeable one. The young 
 woman herself employed a woman's arts ; she was cold 
 and loving by turns, till, at last, he gave her what she 
 was working for, a downright promise of marriage. 
 She pretended not to believe him, and so led him further ; 
 he swore he would marry her. 
 
 He made one stipulation, however. She really must 
 learn to read and write first. 
 
 When he had sworn this, Mary became more uniformly 
 affectionate; and as women who have been in service 
 
132 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 learn great self-government, and can generally please so 
 long as it serves their turn, she made herself so agree- 
 able to him, that he began really to have a downright 
 liking for her, a liking bounded, of course, by his incura- 
 ble selfishness ; but, as for his hobby, that was on her 
 side. 
 
 Now learning to read and write was wormwood to 
 Mary Wells ; but the prize was so great ; she knew all 
 about the Huntercombe estates, partly from her sister, 
 partly from Bassett himself. (He must tell his wrongs 
 even to this girl.) So she resolved to pursue matrimony, 
 even on the severe condition of becoming a scholar. 
 She set about it as follows : One day that she was doing 
 Lady Bassett's hair, she sighed several times. This 
 was to attract the lady's attention, and it succeeded. 
 
 " Is there anything the matter, Mary ? " 
 
 "No, my lady." 
 
 " I think there is." 
 
 "Well, my lady, I am in a little trouble ; but it is my 
 own people's fault for not sending of me to school. I 
 might l)e married to-morrow, if I could only read and 
 write." 
 
 " And can you not ? " 
 
 " No, my lady." 
 
 " Dear me, I thought everybody could read and write 
 nowadays." 
 
 " La, no, my lady ! not half of them in our village." 
 
 "Your parents are much to blame, my poor girl. 
 Well, but it is not too late. Now I think of it, there is 
 an adult school in the village. Shall I arrange for you 
 to go to it ? " 
 
 " Thank you, my lady. But then " — 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "All my fellow-servants would have a laugh against 
 me." 
 
A TERBIBLE TEMPTATION. 133 
 
 " The person you are engaged to, will he not instruct 
 you ? " 
 
 " Oh, he have no time to teach me. Besides, I dont 
 "srant him to know, either. But I won't be his wife to 
 shame him." (Another sigh.) 
 
 "Mary," said Lady Bassett, in the innocence of her 
 heart, "you shall not be mortified, and you shall not 
 lose a good marriage. I will try and teach you myself." 
 
 Mary was profuse in her thanks. Lady Bassett re- 
 ceived them rather coldly. She gave her a few minutes' 
 instruction in her dressing-room every day ; and Mary, 
 who could not have done anything intellectual for half 
 an hour at a stretch, gave her whole mind for those few 
 minutes. She was quick, and learned very fast. In two 
 months she could read a great deal more than she could 
 understand, and could write slowly but very clearly. 
 
 Now, by this time, Lady Bassett had become so inter- 
 ested in her pupil, that she made her read letters and 
 newspapers to her, at those parts of the toilet when 
 her services were not required. 
 
 Mary Wells, though a great chatterbox, was the closest 
 girl in England. Limpet never stuck to a rock as she 
 could stick to a lie. She never said one word to Bassett 
 about Lady Bassett's lessons. She kept strict sUenoe, 
 till she could write a letter, and then she sent him a line 
 to say she had learned to write for love of him, and she 
 hoped he would keep his promise. 
 
 Bassett's vanity was flattered by this. But, on reflec- 
 tion, he suspected it was a falsehood. He asked her 
 suddenly, at their next meeting, who had written that 
 note for her. 
 
 " You shall see me write the fellow to it when you 
 like," was the reply. 
 
 Bassett resolved to submit the matter to that test some 
 day. At present, however, he took her word for it, £tnd 
 asked-her who had taught her. 
 
134 A TEKBIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 <'I had to teach myself. Nohody cares enough for 
 me to teach me. Well, I'll forgive you, if you will write 
 me a nice letter for mine." 
 
 " What ! when we can meet here and say everything ? " 
 
 " No matter ; I have written to you ; and you might 
 write to me. They all get letters, except me ; and the 
 jades hold 'em up to me: they see I never get one. 
 When you are out, post me a letter now and then. ~ It 
 will only cost you a penny. I'm sure I don't ask you 
 fo^ much." 
 
 Bassett humored her in this, and in one of his letters 
 called her his wife that was to be. 
 
 This pleased her so much, that, the next time they 
 met, she hung round his neck with a good deal of 
 feminine grace. 
 
 Eichard Bassett was a man who now lived in the 
 future. Everybody in the county believed he had 
 written that anonymous letter, and he had-no hope of 
 shining by his own light. It was bitter to resign his 
 personal hopes, but he did, and sullenly resolved to be 
 obscure himself, but the father of the future heirs of 
 Huntercombe. He would marry Mary Wells, and lay 
 the blame of the match upon Sir Charles, who had 
 blackened him in the county, and put it out of his power 
 to win a lady's hand. 
 
 He told Wheeler he was determined to marry ; but he 
 had not the courage to tell him all at once what a wife 
 he had selected. 
 
 The consequence of this half-confession was, that 
 Wheeler went to work to find him a girl with money, 
 and not under county influence. 
 
 One of Wheeler's clients was a retired citizen, living 
 in a pretty villa near the market town. Mr. Wright 
 employed him in little matters, and found him active 
 and attentive. There was a Miss Wright, a meek little 
 
A TEEMBLE TEMPTATION. 135 
 
 girl, palish, on whom her father doted. Wheeler talked 
 to this girl of his friend Bassett, his virtues, and his 
 wrongs, and interested the yoimg lady in him. This 
 done, he brought him to the house, and the girl, being 
 slight and delicate, gazed with gentle but undisguised 
 admiration on Bassett's torso. Wheeler had told Richard 
 Miss Wright was to have seven thousand' pounds on her 
 wedding-day ; and that excited a corresponding admira- 
 tion in the athletic gentleman. 
 
 After that, Bassett often called by himself, and the 
 father encouraged the intimacy. He was old, and wished 
 to see his daughter married before he left her ; and this' 
 seemed an eligible match, though not a brilliant one : a 
 bit of land and a good name on one side ; a smart bit of 
 money on the other. The thing went on wheels. 
 Richard Bassett "was engaged to Jane Wright almost 
 before he was aware. 
 
 Now he felt uneasy about Mary Wells, very uneasy ; 
 but it was only the uneasiness of selfishness. 
 
 He began to try and prepare ; he affected business 
 visits to distant places, etc., in order to break off by 
 degrees. By this means their meetings were compara- 
 tively few. When they did meet (which was now gener- 
 ally by written appointment), he tried to prepare by 
 telling her he had encountered losses, and feared that to 
 marry her would be a bad job for her, as well as for him, 
 especially if she should have children. 
 
 Mary replied she had been used to work, and would 
 rather work for a husband than any other master. 
 
 On another occasion she asked him quietly whether a 
 gentleman ever broke his oath. 
 
 "Never," said Richard. 
 
 In short, she gave him no opening. She would not 
 quarrel. She adhered to him, as she had never adhered 
 to anything but a lie before. 
 
136 A TEKEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Then he gave up all hope of smoothing the matter. He 
 coolly cut her; never came to the trysting-place ; did 
 not answer her letters ; and being a reckless egotist, 
 married Jane Wright all in a hurry, by special license. 
 He sent forward to the clerk of Huntercombe church, 
 and engaged the ringers to ring the church-bells from 
 six o'clock till sundown. This was for Sir Charles's 
 ears. 
 
 It was a balmy evening in May. Lady Bassett was 
 commencing her toilet in an indolent way, with Mary 
 Wells in attendance, when the church bells of Hunter- 
 combe struck up a merry peal. 
 
 " Ah ! " said Lady Bassett. " What is that for ? Do 
 you know, Mary ? " 
 
 " No, my lady. Shall I ask ? " 
 
 "No: I dare say it is a village wedding." 
 
 "No, my lady : there's nobody been married here this 
 six weeks. Our kitchen-maid and the baker was the 
 last, you know. I'll send and know what it is for." 
 
 Mary went out, and despatched the first housemaid 
 she caught for intelligence. The girl ran into the stable 
 to her sweetheart, and he told her directly. 
 
 Meantime Lady Bassett moralized upon church bells. 
 
 " They are always sad, saddest when they seem to be 
 merriest. Poor things ! that are trying hard to be merry 
 now ; but they sound very sad to me, sadder than usual, 
 somehow." 
 
 The girl knocked at the door. Mary half opened it, 
 and the news shot in: "'Tis for Squire Bassett — he 
 is bringing of his bride home to Highmore to-day." 
 
 " Mr. Bassett — married — that is sudden ! Wlio could 
 he find to marry him ? " 
 
 There was no reply. The housemaid had flown off to 
 circulate the ncTys, and Mary Wells was supporting her- 
 seK by clutching the door, sick with the sudden blow. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 137 
 
 Close as she was, her distress could not have escaped 
 another woman's eye ; but Lady Bassett never looked at 
 her. After the first surprise she had gone into a reverie, 
 and was conjuring up the future to the sound of those 
 church bells. She requested Maiy to go and tell Sir 
 Charles ; but she did not lift her head, even to give this 
 order. 
 
 Mary crept away, and knocked at Sir Charles's dress- 
 ing-room. 
 
 " Come in," said Sir Charles, thinking, of course, it 
 was his valet. 
 
 Mary Wells just opened the door, and held it ajar. 
 " My lady bids me tell you, sir, the bells are ringing for 
 Mr. Bassett ; he's married, and brings her home to-night." 
 
 A dead silence marked the effect of this announce- 
 ment on Sir Charles. Mary Wells waited. 
 
 " May Heaven's curse light on that marriage, and no 
 child of theirs ever take my place in this house ! " 
 
 " A-a-men !" said Mary Wells. 
 
 "Thank you, sir!" said Sir Charles. He took her 
 voice for a man's, so deep and guttural was her 
 "A-a-men" with concentrated passion. 
 
 She closed the door, and crept back to her mistress. 
 
 Lady Bassett was seated at her glass, with her hair 
 down and her shoulders bare. Mary clenched her teeth, 
 and set about her usual work, but very soon Lady Bassett 
 gave a start, and stared into the glass. " Mary," said 
 she, "what is the matter ? You look ghastly, and your 
 hands are cold as ice. Are you faint ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Then you are ill ; very UL" 
 
 " I have taken a chill," said Mary, doggedly. 
 
 "Gro instantly to the still-room maid, and get a large 
 glass of spirits and hot water — quite hot." 
 
 Mary, who wanted to be out of the room, fastened her 
 
138 A TEKKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 mistress's back hair with dogged patience, and then 
 moved towards the door. 
 
 " Mary," said Lady Bassett, in a half-apologetic tone. 
 
 "My lady." 
 
 " I should like to hear what the bride is like." 
 
 "I'll know that to-night," said Mary, grinding her 
 teeth. 
 
 " I shall not require you again till bed-time." 
 
 Mary left the room and went, not to the still-room, but 
 to her own garret, and there she gave way. She flung 
 herself with a wild cry upon her little bed, and clutched 
 her own hair and the bed-clothes, and writhed all about 
 the bed like a wildcat wounded. 
 
 In this anguish she passed an hour she never forgot 
 nor forgave. She got up at last, and started at her own 
 image in the glass. Hair like a savage's, cheeks pale, 
 eyes bloodshot. 
 
 She smoothed her hair, washed her face, and prepared 
 to go down-stairs ; but now she was seized with a faint- 
 ness, and had to sit down and moan. She got the better 
 of that, and went to the still-room and got some spirits ; 
 but she drank them neat, gulped them down like water. 
 They sent the devil into her black eye, but no color into 
 her pale cheek. She had a little scarlet shawl ; she put 
 it over her head, and went into the village. She found 
 it astir with expectation. 
 
 Mr. Bassett's house stood near the highway, but the 
 Entrance to the premises was private, and through a 
 long white gate. 
 
 By this gate was a heap of stones, and Mary Wells got 
 on that heap and waited. 
 
 When she had been there about half an hour, Eichard 
 Bassett drove up in a hired carriage, with his pale little 
 wife beside him. At his own gate his eye encountered Mary 
 Wells, and he started. She stood above him, with her 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 139 
 
 arms folded grandly ; her cheek, so swarthy and ruddy, 
 was now pale ; and her black eyes glittered like basilisks 
 at him and his bride. The whole woman seemed lifted 
 out of her low condition, and dignified by wrong. 
 
 He had to sustain her look for a few seconds, while 
 the gate was being opened, and it seemed an age. He 
 felt his first pang of remorse when he saw that swarthy, 
 ruddy cheek so pale. Then came admiration of her beauty, 
 and disgust at the woman for whom he had jilted her ; and 
 that gave way to fear — the hater looked into those glit- 
 tering eyes, and saw he had roused a hate as unrelenting 
 as his own. 
 
140 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Fob the first few days Richard Bassett expected some 
 annoyance from Mary Wells; but none came, and he 
 began to flatter himself she was too fond of him to give 
 him pain. 
 
 That impression was shaken about ten days after the 
 little scene I have described; he received a short note 
 from her, as follows : — 
 
 See, — You must meet me to-night, at the same place, eight 
 o'clock. If you do not come, it tvlU be the worse for you. 
 
 M. W. 
 
 Richard Bassett's inclination was to treat this sum- 
 mons with contempt ; but he thought it would be wiser 
 to go, and see whether the girl had any hostile intentions. 
 Accordingly he went to the tryst. He waited for some 
 time, and at last he heard a quick firm foot, and Mary 
 Wells appeared. She was hooded with her scarlet shawl 
 that contrasted admirably with her coal-black hair ; and 
 out of this scarlet frame her dark eyes glittered. She 
 stood before him in silence. 
 
 He said nothing. 
 
 She was silent, too, for some time. But she spoke 
 first. 
 
 " Well, sir, you promised one, and you have married 
 another. Now what are you going to do for me ? " 
 
 " What can I do, Mary ? I'm not the first that 
 wanted to marry for love, but money came in his way 
 and tempted him." 
 
 "No, you are not the first. But that's neither here 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 141 
 
 nor there, sir. That chalk-&ced girl has bought you 
 away from me with her money, and now I mean to have 
 my share on't." 
 
 "Oh, if that is all," said Richard, "we can soon settle 
 it ; I was afraid you were going to talk about a broken 
 heart, and all that stuff. You are a good sensible girl, 
 and too beautiful to want a husband long. I'll give you 
 fifty pounds to forgive me." 
 
 "lifty pounds!" said Mary WeUs contemptuously. 
 " What, when yon promised me I should be your wife 
 to-day. and lady of Huntercombe HaU by-and-by ? lifty 
 pounds! No ; not five fifties." 
 
 "Well, I'll give you seventy-five, and, if that won't do, 
 you must go to law, and see what you can get." 
 
 " What, hain't you had your bellyful of law ? Mind, 
 it is an unked thing to forswear yourself, and that is 
 what you done at the 'sizes : I have seen what you did 
 swear about your letter to my sister ; Sir Charles have got 
 it aU wrote down in his study ; and you swore a lie to the 
 judge, as you swore a lie to me here under heaven, you 
 villain!" She raised her voice very loud. "Don't you 
 gainsay me, or I'U soon have you by the heels in jail, 
 for your lifes. You'll do as I bids you, and very lucky to 
 be let off so cheap. You was to be my master, but you 
 chose her instead — well, then you shall be my servant. 
 You shall come here, every Saturday, at eight o'clock, 
 and brii^ me a sovereign, which I never could keep a 
 lump o* money, and I have had one or two from Rhoda; 
 so FU take it a sovereign a week, till I get a husband of 
 my own sort, and then you'll have to come down hand- 
 some once for alL" 
 
 Bassett knitted his brows, and thought hard. His 
 natural impulse was to defy her ; but it struck him that 
 a great many things might happen in a few months ; so 
 at last he said humbly, "I consent: I have been to 
 
142 A TEEBIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 blame. Only I'd rather pay you this money in some 
 other way." 
 
 " My way, or none." 
 
 " Very well, then, I will bring it you as you say." 
 
 " Mind you do, then," said Mary Wells, and turned 
 haughtily on her heel. 
 
 Bassett never ventured to absent himself at the hour ; 
 and, at first, the blackmail was delivered and received 
 with scarcely a word; but by-and-by old habits so far 
 revived, that some little conversation took place. 
 
 Then, after a while, Bassett used to tell her he was 
 unhappy; and she used to reply she was glad of it. 
 
 Then he began to speak slightingly of his wife, and 
 say what a fool he had been to marry a poor, silly 
 nonentity, when he might have wedded a beauty. 
 
 Mary Wells, being intensely vain, listened with com- 
 placency to this, although she replied coldly and harshly. 
 
 By-and-by her natural volubility overpowered her, and 
 she talked to Bassett about herself, and Huntercombe 
 Hall, but always with a secret reserve. 
 
 Later, such is the force of habit, each used to look 
 forward, with satisfaction, to the Saturday meeting, 
 although each distrusted and feared the other at bottom. 
 
 Later still, that came to pass which Mary Wells had 
 planned from the first with deep malice, and that shrewd 
 insight into human nature which many a low woman has 
 — the cooler she was, the warmer did Eichard Bassett 
 grow, till, at last, contrasting his pale, meek little wife 
 with this glowing Hebe, he conceived an unholy liking 
 for the latter. She met it, sometimes with coldness and 
 reproaches, sometimes with affected alarm, sometimes 
 with a half-yielding manner, and so tormented him to 
 her heart's content, and undermined his affection for his 
 wife. Thus she revenged herself on them both to her 
 heart's content. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 143 
 
 But malioe so perverse is apt to recoil on itself ; and 
 women, in particular, should not undertake a long and 
 subtle revenge of this sort ; since the strongest have their 
 hours of weakness, and are surprised into things they 
 never intended. The subsequent history of Mary Welb 
 will exemplify this. Meantime, however, meek little 
 Mrs. Bassett was no match for the beauty and low 
 cunning of her rival. 
 
 Yet a time came when she defended herself uncon- 
 sciously. She did something that made her husband 
 most solicitous for her welfare and happiness ; he began 
 to watch her health with maternal care, to shield her 
 from draughts, to take care of her diet, to indulge her in 
 all her whims instead of snubbing her, and to pet her, 
 till she was the happiest wife in England for a time. 
 She deserved this at his hands, for she assisted him 
 there where his heart was fixed ; she aided his hobby ; 
 did more for it than any other creature in England 
 could. 
 
 To return to Huntercombe Hall ; the loving couple 
 that owned it were no longer happy. The hope of 
 ofkpring was now deserting them, and the disappoint- 
 ment was cruel. They suffered deeply, with this differ- 
 ence, that Lady Bassett pined, and Sir Charles fretted. 
 
 The woman's grief was more pure and profound than 
 the man's. If there had been no Richard Bassett in the 
 world, still her bosom woiild have yearned and pined, 
 and the great cry of nature, " G-ive me children or I die," 
 would have been in her heart, though it would never 
 have risen to her lips. 
 
 Sir Charles had of course less of this profound in- 
 stinct than his wife, but he had it too ; only, in him the 
 feeling was adulterated, and at the same time embittered 
 by one less simple and noble. An enemy sat at his 
 gate; that enemy, whose enduring malice had at last 
 
144 A TBRRIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 begotten equal hostility in tlie childless baronet, -was 
 now married, and would probably have heirs ; and, if so, 
 that hateful brood, the spawn of an anonymous letter- 
 writer, would surely inherit Bassett and Huntercombe, 
 succeeding to Sir Charles Bassett, deceased without issue. 
 This chafed the childless man, and gradually undermined 
 a temper habitually sweet, though subject, as we have 
 seen, to violent ebullitions where the provocation was 
 intolerable. Sir Charles then, smarting under his wound, 
 spoke now and then^ rather unkindly to the wife he 
 loved so devotedly; that is to say, his manner some- 
 times implied that he blamed her for their joint calamity. 
 
 Lady Bassett submitted to these stings in silence. 
 They were rare, and speedily followed by touching 
 regrets ; and, even had it not been so, she would have 
 borne them with resignation; for this motherless wife 
 loved her husband with all a wife's devotion, and a 
 mother's unselfish patience. Let this be remembered to 
 her credit ; it is the truth, and she may need it. 
 
 Her own yearning was too deep and sad for fretful- 
 ness : yet though, unlike her husband's, it never broke 
 out in anger, the day was gone by when she could keep 
 it always silent. It welled out of her at times in ways 
 that were truly womanly and touching. 
 
 When she called On a wife, the lady was sure to parade 
 her children; the boasted tact of women — a quality, 
 the narrow compass of which has escaped their undis- 
 criminating eulogists — was always swept away by mater- 
 nal egotism ; and then poor Lady Bassett would admire 
 the children loudly, and kiss them, to please the cruel 
 egotist, and hide the tears that rose to her own eyes ; 
 but she would shorten her visit. 
 
 When a child died in the village, Mary Wells was 
 sure to be sent with words of comfort, and substantial 
 marks of sympathy. 
 
A TEEBIBLB TEMPTATION. 145 
 
 Scarcely a day passed that something or other did not 
 happen to make the wound bleed; but I will confine 
 myself to two occasions, on each of which her heart's 
 agony spoke out, and so revealed how much it must have 
 endured in silence. 
 
 Since the day when Sir Charles allowed her to sit in 
 a little room close to his study while he received Mr. 
 Wheeler's visit, she had fitted up that room, and often 
 sat there, to be near Sir Charles ; and he would some- 
 times call her in, and tell her his justice cases. One 
 day she was there when the constable brought in a 
 prisoner and several witnesses. The accused was a stout, 
 florid girl, with plump cheeks, and pale gray eyes : she 
 seemed all health, stupidity, and simplicity. She carried 
 a child on her left arm. No dweller in cities could sus- 
 pect this face of crime. As well indict a calf. 
 
 Yet the witnesses proved beyond a doubt, that she had 
 been seen with her baby in the neighborhood of a cer- 
 tain old well, on a certain day at noon ; that soon after 
 noon she had been seen on the road without her baby, 
 and, being asked what had become of it, had said she 
 had left it with her aunt, ten miles off ; and that about 
 an hour after that, a faint cry had been heard at the 
 bottom of the old well : it was ninety feet deep ; people 
 had assembled, and a brave farmer's boy had been low- 
 ered in the bight of a cart-rope, and had brought up a 
 dead hen and a live child bleeding at the cheek, having 
 fallen on a heap of fagots at the bottom of the well. 
 Which child was the prisoner's. 
 
 Sir Charles had the evidence written down, and then 
 told the accused she might make a counter-statement if 
 she chose, but it would be wiser to say nothing at all. 
 
 Thereupon the accused dropped him a little short 
 courtesy, looked him steadily in the face with her pale 
 gray eyes, and delivered herself as follows : — 
 10 
 
146 A TERKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " If you please, sir, I was a-sitting by th' old well, with 
 baby in my arms ; and I was mortal tired, I was, wi' 
 earring of him ; he be uncommon heavy for his age : and 
 if you please, sir, he is uncommon resolute ; and, whilst 
 I was so, he gave a leap right out of my arms, and fell 
 down th' old well. I screams, and runs away to tell my 
 brother's wife, as lives at top of the hill ; but she was 
 gone into North Wood for dry sticks tO light her oven ; 
 and, when I comes back, they had got him out of the 
 well, and I claims him directly ; and the constable said 
 we must come before you, sir ; so here we be." 
 
 This she delivered very glibly, without tremulousness, 
 hesitation, or the shadow of a blush, and dropped an- 
 other little courtesy at the end to Sir Charles. 
 
 Thereupon, he said not one word to her, but committed 
 her for trial, and gave the farmer's boy a sovereign. 
 
 The people were no sooner gone, than Lady Bassett 
 came in with the tears streaming, and threw herself at 
 her husband's knees. " Oh, Charles ! can such things 
 be ? Does God give a child to a woman that has the 
 heart to kill it, and refuse one to me, who would give 
 my heart's blood to save a hair of its little head ? Oh, 
 what have we done, that He singles us out to be so cruel 
 to us ? " 
 
 Then Sir Charles tried to comfort her, but could not, 
 and the childless ones wept together. 
 
 It began to be whispered that Mrs. Bassett was in the 
 family way. Neither Sir Charles nor Lady Bassett men- 
 tioned this rumor. It would have been like rubbing 
 vitriol into their own wounds. But this reserve was 
 broken through one day. It was a sunny afternoon in 
 June, just thirteen months after Mr. Bassett's wedding ; 
 Lady Bassett was with her husband in his study, settling 
 invitations for a ball, and writing them, when the 
 church bells struck up a merry peal. They both left 
 
A TERB.IBLE TEMPTATION. 147 
 
 off, and looked at each other eloquently. Lady Bassett 
 went out, but soon returned looking pale and wild. 
 
 " Yes ! " said she, with forced calmness ; then, sud- 
 denly losing her self-command, she broke out, pointing 
 through the window at Highmore. " He has got a fine 
 boy — to take our place here. Kill me, Charles ! Send 
 ine to heaven to pray for you: and take another wife 
 that will love you less, but be like other wives. That 
 villain has married a fruitful vine, and (lifting both 
 arms to heaven with a gesture unspeakably piteous, 
 poetic, and touching) I am a barren stock." 
 
148 A TEKEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Of all the fools Nature produces with the help of 
 society, fathers of first-borns are about the most offensive. 
 
 The mothers of ditto are bores too, flinging their 
 cherubic dumplings at every head; but, considering the 
 tortures they have suffered, and the anguish the little 
 egotistical viper they have just hatched will most likely 
 give them, and considering further that their love of 
 their first-born is greater than their pride unstained by 
 vanity, one must make allowances for them. 
 
 But the male parent is not so excusable. His fussy 
 vanity is an inferior article to the mother's silly but 
 amiable pride. His obtrusive affection is two-thirds of 
 it egotism, and blindish egotism too ; for if, at the very 
 commencement of the wife's pregnancy, the husband is 
 sent to India, or hanged, the little angel, as they call it 
 — Lord forgive them ! — is nurtured from a> speck to a 
 mature infant by the other parent, and finally brought 
 into the world by her just as effectually as if her males 
 confederate had been tied to her apron-strings all the 
 time, instead of expatriated or hanged. 
 
 Therefore the law — for want, I suppose, of studying 
 medicine — is a little inconsiderate in giving children 
 to fathers, and taking them by force from such mothers 
 as can support them; and therefore let Gallina go on 
 clucking over her first-born, but Gallus be quiet, or sing 
 a little smaller. 
 
 With these preliminary remarks, let me introduce to 
 you a character new in fiction, but terribly old in his- 
 tory, — The clucking cock. 
 
A TEEEIBLE TEMPTATIOIT. 149 
 
 Upon the birth of a son and heir Mr. Kichard Bassett 
 was inflated almost to bursting. He became suddenly 
 hospitable, collected all his few friends about him, and 
 showed them all the Boy at great length, and talked 
 Boy and little else. He went out into the world, and 
 made calls on people, merely to remind them that he had 
 a son and heir. 
 
 His self-gratulation took a dozen forms ; perhaps the 
 most amusing, and the richest food for satire, was the 
 mock-querulous style, of which he showed himself a 
 master. 
 
 "Don't you ever marry," said he to Wheeler and 
 others. " Look at me ; dp you think I am the master of 
 my own house ? Not I : I am a regular slave. First, 
 there is a monthly nurse, who orders me out of my 
 wife's presence, or graciously lets me in, just as she 
 pleases; that is Queen 1. Then there's a wet-nurse. 
 Queen 2, whom I must humor in everything, or she will 
 quarrel with me, and avenge herself by souring her milk. 
 But these are mild tyrants compared with the young 
 King himself. If he does but squall, we must all skip, 
 and find out what he ails, or what he wants. As for me,^ 
 I am looked upon as a necessary evil ; the women seem 
 to admit that a father is an encumbrance without which 
 these little angels could not exist, but that is all." 
 
 He had a christening feast, and it was pretty well 
 attended ; for he reminded all he asked that the young 
 Christian was the heir to the Bassett estates. They 
 feasted, and the church bells rang merrily. 
 
 He had his pew in the church new lined with cloth, 
 and took his wife to be churched. The nurse was in the 
 pew, too, with his son and heir. It squalled and spoiled 
 the Liturgy. Thereat Gallus chuckled. 
 
 He made a gravel walk all along the harha that sepa- 
 rated his garden from Sir Charles's, and called it " The 
 
150 A TEEBIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 Heir's Walk." Here the nurse and child used to parade 
 on sunny afternoons. 
 
 He got an army of workmen, and built a nursery &t 
 for a duke's nine children. It occupied two entire stories, 
 and rose in the form of a square tower high above the 
 rest of his house, which indeed was as humble as " The 
 Heir's Tower" was pretentious. "The Heir's Tower" 
 had a flat lead roof easy of access, and from it you could 
 inspect Huntercombe Hall, and see what was done on 
 the lawn or at some of the windows. 
 
 Here, in the August afternoons, Mr. and Mrs. Bassett 
 used to sit drinking their tea, with nurse and child ; and 
 Bassett would talk to his unconscious boy, and tell him 
 that the great house and all that belonged to it should be 
 his, in spite of the arts that had been used to rob him 
 of it. >■ 
 
 Now, of course, the greater part of all this gratu- 
 lation was merely amusing, and did no harm, except 
 stirring up the bile of a few old bachelors, and embitter- 
 ing them worse than, ever against clucking cocks, crowing 
 hens, inflated parents, and matrimony in general. 
 
 But the overflow of it reached Huntercombe Hall, 
 and gave cruel pain to the childless ones, over whom 
 this inflated father was in fact exulting. 
 
 As for the christening, and the bells that pealed for 
 it, and the subsequent churching, they bore these things 
 with sore hearts, but bravely, being things of course. 
 But when it came to their ears that Bassett and his 
 family called his new gravel walk "The Heir's Walk," 
 and his ridiculous nursery "The Heir's Tower," this 
 roused a bitter animosity, and indeed led to reprisals. 
 Sir Charles built a long wall at the edge of his garden, 
 shutting out " The Heir's Walk," and intercepting the 
 view of his own premises from that walk. 
 
 Then Mr. Bassett made a little hill at the end of his 
 
A TEKKIBLE TEMPTATION. 151 
 
 walk, so that the heir might get one peep over the wall 
 at his rich inheritance. 
 
 Then Sir Charles began to fell timber on a gigantic 
 scale. He went to work with several gangs of woodmen, 
 and all his woods, which were very extensive, rang with 
 the axe, and the trees fell like corn. He made no secret 
 that he was going to sell timber to the tune of several 
 thousand pounds, and settle it on his wife. 
 
 Then Richard Bassett, through Wheeler his attorney, 
 remonstrated in his own name, and that of his son, 
 against this excessive fall of timber on an entailed 
 estate. 
 
 Sir Charles chafed like a lion stung by a gadfly, but 
 vouchsafed no reply ; the answer came from Mr. Old- 
 field ; he said Sir Charles had a right under the entail to 
 fell every stick of timber, and turn his wood into arable 
 ground if he chose ; and, even if he had not, looking at 
 his age and his wife's, it was extremely improbable that 
 Eichard Bassett would inherit the estates : the said 
 Richard' Bassett was not personally named in the entail, 
 and his rights were all in supposition ; if Mr. Wheeler 
 thought he could dispute both these positions, the Court 
 of Chancery was open to his client. 
 
 Then Wheeler advised Bassett to avoid the Court of 
 Chancery in a matter so debatable ; and Sir Charles 
 felled all the more for the protest. The dead bodies of 
 the trees fell across each other, and daylight peeped 
 through the thick woods. It was like the clearing of a 
 primeval forest. 
 
 Richard Bassett went about with a witness, and 
 counted the fallen. 
 
 The poor were allowed the lop-wood ; they thronged 
 in for miles round, and each built himself a great wood- 
 pile for the winter ; the poor blessed Sir Charles ; he 
 gave the proceeds — thirteen thousand pounds — to his 
 
152 A TEERIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 wife, for her separate use. He did not tie it up. He 
 restricted her no further than this : she undertook never 
 to draw above a hundred pounds at a time without con- 
 sulting Mr. Oldfield as to the application. Sir Charles 
 said he should add to this fund every year ; his beloved 
 wife should not be poor, even if the hated cousin should 
 outlive him and turn her out of Huntereombe. 
 
 And so passed the summer of that year ; then the 
 autumn ; and then came a singularly mild winter. 
 There was more hunting than usual, and Richard 
 Bassett, whom his wife's fortune enabled to cut a better 
 figure than before, was often in the field, mounted on a 
 great bony horse that was not so fast as some, being 
 half-bred, but a wonderful jumper. 
 
 Even in this pastime the cousins were rivals. Sir 
 Charles's favorite horse was a magnificent thoroughbred, 
 who was seldom far off at the finish ; over good ground 
 Eichard's cocktail had no chance with him, but some- 
 times, if towards the close of the run they came to stiff 
 fallows and strong fences, the great strength of the in- 
 ferior animal, and that prudent reserve of his powers 
 which distinguishes the canny cocktail from the higher- 
 blooded animal, would give him the advantage. 
 
 Of this there occurred, on a certain 18th of November, 
 an example fraught with very serious consequences. 
 
 That day the hounds met on Sir Charles's estate. Sir 
 Charles and Lady Bassett breakfasted in pink ; he had 
 on his scarlet coat, white tie, irreproachable buckskins, 
 and top-boots. (It seemed a pity a speck of dirt should 
 fall on them.) Lady Bassett was in her riding-habit ; 
 and, when she mounted her pony, and went to cover by 
 his side, with her blue velvet cap, and her red-brown 
 hair, she looked more like a brilliant flower than a mere 
 woman. 
 
 A veteran fox was soon found, and went away with 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 153 
 
 unusual courage and speed, and Lady Bassett paced 
 homewards to wait her lord's return, with an anxiety 
 men laugh at, but women can appreciate. It was a form 
 of quiet suffering she had constantly endured, and never 
 complained, nor even mentioned the subject to Sir 
 Charles but once, and then he pooh-poohed her fancies. 
 
 The hunt had a burst of about forty minutes, that left 
 Richard Bassett's cocktail in the rear ; and the fox got 
 into a large beech wood with plenty of briers, and kept 
 dodging about it for two hours, and puzzled the scent 
 repeatedly. 
 
 Richard Bassett elected not to go winding in and out 
 among trees, risk his horse's legs in rabbit-holes, and tire 
 him for nothing. He had kept for years a little note- 
 book he called " Statistics of Foxes," and that told him 
 an old dog-fox of uncommon strength, if dislodged from 
 that particular wood, would slip into Bell-man's Cop- 
 pice, and, if driven out of that, would face the music 
 agaLu, would take the open country for Higham Gorse, 
 and probably be killed before he got there ; but once 
 there, a regiment of scythes might cut him out, but 
 bleeding, sneezing fox-hounds would never work him out 
 at the tail of a long run. 
 
 So Richard Bassett kept out of the wood, and went 
 gently on to Bell-man's Coppice, and waited outside. 
 
 His book proved an oracle. After two hours' dodging 
 and manoeuvring, the fox came out at the very end of 
 BeU-man's Coppice, with nothing near him but Richard 
 Bassett. Pug gave him the white of his eye in an ugly 
 leer, and headed straight as a crow for Higham Gorse. 
 
 Richard Bassett blew his horn, collected the hunt, and 
 laid the dogs on ; away they went, close together, thun- 
 der-mouthed, on the hot scent 
 
 After a three miles' gaUop, they sighted the fox, for a 
 moment, just going over the crest of a rising ground two 
 
154 A TEEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 furlongs off. Then the huUah-baloo and excitement 
 grew furious, and one electric fury animated dogs, men, 
 and horses. Another mile, and the fox ran in sight 
 scarcely a furlong off ; but many of the horses were dis- 
 tressed; the Bassetts, however, kept up, one by his 
 horse being fresh, the other by his animal's native 
 courage and speed. * 
 
 Then came some meadows, bounded by a thick hedge, 
 and succeeded by a ploughed field of unusual size — 
 eighty acres. 
 
 When the fox darted into this hedge, the hounds were 
 yelling at his heels; the hunt burst through the thin 
 fence, expecting to see them kill close to it. 
 
 But the wily fox had other resources at his command 
 than speed. Appreciating his peril, he doubled and ran 
 sixty yards down the ditch, and the impetuous hounds' 
 rushed forward and overran the scent. They raved 
 about to and fro, till, at last, one of the gentlemen 
 descried the fox running down a double furrow in the 
 middle of the field. He had got into this, and so made 
 his way more smoothly than his four-footed pursuers 
 could. The dogs were laid on, and away they went 
 helter-skelter. 
 
 At the end, of this stiff ground a stiffish leap awaited 
 them ; an old quickset had been cut down, and all the 
 elm trees that grew in it, and a new quickset hedge set 
 on a high bank with double ditches. 
 
 . The huntsman had an Irish horse that laughed at this 
 fence ; he jumped on to the bank, and then jumped off 
 it into the next field. Eichard Bassett's cocktail came 
 up slowly, rose high, and landed his fore-feet in the 
 field, and so scrambled on. 
 
 Sir Charles went at it rather rashly ; his horse, tried 
 hard by the fallow, caught his heels against the edge of 
 the bank, and went headlong into the other ditch, throw- 
 
A TEKKIBLE TEMPTATION. 155 
 
 ing Sir C3iaxles over his head, into the field. UnluckUy 
 some of the trees were lying about, and Sir Charles's 
 head struck one of these in falling ; the horse blundered 
 out again, and galloped after the hounds, but the rider 
 lay there motionless. 
 
 Nobody stopped at fiist; the pace was too good to 
 inquire; but presently Richard Bassett, who had greeted 
 the accident with a laugh, turned round in his saddle, 
 and saw his cousin motionless, and two or three gentle- 
 men dismounting at the place. These were new-comers. 
 Then he resigned the hunt and rode back. 
 
 Sir Charles's cap was crushed in, and there was blood 
 on his white waistcoat : he was very pale, and quite in- 
 sensible. 
 
 The gentlemen raised him, with expressions of alarm 
 and kindly concern, and inquired of each other what was 
 best to be done. 
 
 Richard Bassett saw an opportunity to conciliate 
 opinion, and seized it. "He must be taken home 
 directly," said he. " We must carry him ttf that farm- 
 house, and get a cart for hisi." 
 
 He helped carry him accordingly. 
 
 The farmer lent them a cart with straw, and they laid 
 the insensible baronet gently on it, Richard Bassett sup- 
 porting his head. " Grentlemen," said he, rather pomp- 
 opsly, "at such a moment everything but the tie of 
 kindred is forgotten." "Which resounding sentiment was 
 warmly applauded by the honest squires. 
 
 They took Mm slowly and carefully towards Hunter- 
 combe, distant about two miles from the scene of the 
 accident. 
 
 This 18th of November Lady Bassett passed much as 
 usual with her on hunting-days. She was quietly 
 patient till the afternoon, and then restless, and could 
 not settle down in any part of the hoiise till she got to a 
 
156 A TBRBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 little room on the first floor, with a bay window com- 
 manding the country over which Sir Charles was hunt- 
 ing. In this she sat, with her head against one of the 
 mtillions, and eyed the country-side as far as she could 
 see. 
 
 Presently she heard a rustle, and there was Mary 
 Wells standing and looking at her with evident emotion. 
 
 " What is the matter, Mary ? " said Lady Bassett. 
 
 " Oh, my lady ! " said Mary. And she trembled, and 
 her hands worked. 
 
 Lady Bassett started up, with alarm painted in her 
 countenance. 
 
 "My lady, there's something wrong in the hunting- 
 field." 
 
 "Sir Charles!" 
 
 " An accident, they say." 
 
 Lady Bassett put her hand to her heart with a faint 
 cry. Mary Wells ran to her. 
 
 " Come with me directly ! " cried Lady Bassett. She 
 snatched up her bonnet, and, in another minute, she and 
 Mary Wells were on their road to the village, question- 
 ing everybody they met. 
 
 But nobody they questioned could tell them anything. 
 The stable-boy, who had told the report in the kitchen 
 of Huntercombe, said he had it from a gentleman's 
 groom, riding by, as he stood at the gates. 
 
 The ill news thus flung in at the gate by one passing 
 rapidly by was not confirmed by any further report, and 
 Lady Bassett began to hope it was false. 
 
 But a terrible confirmation came at last. 
 
 In the outskirts of the village, mistress and servant 
 encountered a sorrowful procession, — the cart itself, 
 followed by five gentlemen on horseback, pacing slowly, 
 and downcast as at a funeral. 
 
 In the cart Sir Charles Bassett, splashed all over with 
 
A TEBBIBLE TEaiPTATION. 157 
 
 mnd, and his white waistcoat bloody, lay with his head 
 upon Kichard Bassett's knee. His hair was wet with 
 blood, some of which had trickled down his cheek and 
 dried- Even Bichard's buckskins were slightly stained 
 with it. 
 
 At that sight Lady Bassett uttered a scream, which 
 those who heard it never forgot, and flung herself. 
 Heaven knows ho^v, into the cart; but she got there, 
 and soon had that bleeding head on her bosom. She 
 took no notice of Bichard Bassett, but she got Sir Charles 
 away from him, and the cart took her, embracing him 
 tenderly, and kissing his hurt head, and moaning over 
 him, all through the village to Huntercombe HalL 
 
 Four years ago they passed through the same village, 
 in a carriage and four, bells pealing, rustics shouting, to 
 take possession of Huntercombe, and fill it with pledges 
 of their great and happy love ; and^ as they flashed past, 
 the heir-at-law shrank hopeless into his little cottage. 
 Now, how changed the pageant! a farmer's cart, ^ 
 splashed and bleeding and senseless form in it, sup- 
 ported by a childless, despairing woman, one weeping 
 attendant walking at the side, and, amongst the gentle- 
 men pacing slowly behind, the heir-at-law, with his head 
 lowered in that decent affectation of regret which aU 
 heirs can put on to hide the indecent complacency 
 within. 
 
158 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 At the steps of Huntercombe Hall the servants streamed 
 out, and relieved the strangers of the sorrowful load : Sir 
 Charles was carried into the hall, and Richard Bassett 
 turned away with one triumphant flash of his eye, quickly 
 suppressed, and walked with impenetrable countenance 
 and studied demeanor into Highmore House. 
 
 Even here he' did not throw off the mask. It peeled 
 ofP by degrees. He began by telling his wife, gravely 
 enough, Sir Charles had met with a severe fall, and he 
 had attended to him, and taken him home. 
 
 "Ah, I am glad you did that, Richard," said Mrs. 
 Bassett. " And is he very badly hurt ? " 
 
 "I am afraid he will hardly get over it. He never 
 spoke. He just groaned when they took him down from 
 the cart at Huntercombe." 
 
 "Poor Lady Bassett!" 
 
 "Ay, it will be a bad job for her;" then, after a 
 pause, " Jane ! " 
 
 "Yes, dear." 
 
 " There is a providence in it. The fall would never 
 have killed him; but his head struck a tree upon the 
 ground ; and that tree was one of the very elms he had 
 just cut down to rob our boy." 
 
 "Indeed?" 
 
 " Yes ; he was felling the very hedge-row timber, and 
 this was one of the old elms in a hedge. He must have 
 done it out of spite, for elm-wood fetches no price : it is 
 good for nothing I know of, except coffins. Well, he 
 has cut down his," 
 
A TEKRIBLB TEMPTATION. 159 
 
 " Poor man ! Richard, deatli reconciles enemies. 
 Surely, you can forgive Mm now." 
 
 " I mean to try." 
 
 Eicliard Bassett seemed now to have imbibed the spirit 
 of quicksilver. His occupations were not actually en- 
 larged, yet, somehow or other, he seemed full of business. 
 He was all complacent bustle about nothing. He left off 
 inveighing against Sir Charles; and, indeed, if you are 
 one of those weak spirits to whom censure is intolerable, 
 there is a cheap and easy way to moderate the rancor of 
 detraction : you have only to die. Let me comfort 
 genius in particular with this little recipe. 
 
 Why, on one occasion, Bassett actually snubbed Wheeler 
 for a mere allusion. That worthy just happened to re- 
 mark, " No more felling of timber on Bassett manor for 
 awhile." 
 
 "For shame!" said Eichard. "The man had his 
 faults, but he had his good qualities, too : a high-spirited 
 gentleman, beloved by his friends, and respected by all 
 the country. His successor will find it hard to reconcile 
 the county to his loss." 
 
 Wheeler stared, and then grinned satirically. 
 
 This eulogy was never repeated, for Sir Charles proved 
 ungrateful : he omitted to die after all. 
 
 Attended by first-rate physicians, tenderly nursed and 
 watched by Lady Bassett and Mary Wells, he got better 
 by degrees, and every stage of his slow but hopeful 
 progress was communicated to the servants and the 
 village, and to the ladies-and gentlemen who rode up to 
 the door every day, and left their cards of inquiry. 
 
 The most attentive of aU these was the new rector, — 
 a young clergyman, who had obtained the living by 
 exchange. He was a man highly gifted both in body 
 and mind: a swarthy Adonis, whose large, dark eyes 
 from the very first turned with glowing admiration on 
 the blonde beauties of Lady Bassett. 
 
160 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 He came every day to inquire after her husband ; and 
 she sometimes left the sufferer a minute or two to make 
 her report to him in person. At other times Mary Wells 
 was sent to him. That artful girl soon discovered some- 
 thing that escaped her mistress's observation. 
 
 The bulletins were favorable, and welcomed on aU 
 sides. 
 
 Richard Bassett alone was incredulous. "I want to 
 see him about again," said he. " Sir Charles is not the 
 man to lie in bed, if he was really better. As for the 
 doctors, they flatter a fellow till the last moment. Let 
 me see him on his legs, and then I'll believe he is better." 
 
 Strange to say, obliging Fate granted Richard Bassett 
 this moderate request. One frosty but sunny afternoon, 
 as he was inspecting his coming domain from "The 
 Heir's Tower," he saw the hall door open, and a mufled 
 figure come slowly down the steps between two women. 
 It was Sir Charles, feeble, but convalescent. He crept 
 about on the sunny gravel for about ten minutes, and 
 then his nurses conveyed him tenderly in again. 
 
 This sight, which might have touched with pity a 
 more generous nature, startled Richard Bassett, and 
 then moved his bile. " I was a fool," said he ; " nothing 
 will ever kill that man. He will see me out ; see us all 
 out. And that Mary Wells nurses him, and, I dare say, 
 is in love with him by this time : the fools can't nurse a 
 man without. Curse the whole pack of ye ! " he yelled, 
 and turned away in rage and disgust. 
 
 That same night he met Mary Wells, and, in a strange 
 fit of jealousy, began to make hot protestations of love 
 to her. He knew it was no use reproaching her, so he 
 went on the other tack. 
 
 She received his vows with cool complacency, but 
 would only stay a minute, and would only talk of her 
 master and mistress, towards whom her heart was really 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 161 
 
 wanning in their trouble. She spoke hopefully, and 
 said, "'Tisn't as if he was one of your faint-hearted 
 ones as meet death half-way. Why, the second day, 
 when he could scarce speak, he sees me crying by the 
 bed, and says he, almost in a whisper, 'What are you 
 crying for ? ' — ' Sir,' says I, ' 'tis for you : to see you lie 
 like a ghost.' — 'Then, you be wasting of salt water,' 
 says he. ' I wish I may, sir,' says I. So then he raised 
 himself up a little bit ; ' Look at me,' says he ; 'I'm a 
 Bassett. I am not the breed to die for a crack on the 
 skull, and leave you all to the mercy of them that would 
 have no mercy' — which he meant you, I suppose. So 
 he ordered me to leave crying, which I behooved to obey, 
 for he will be master, mind ye, while he have a finger to 
 wag, poor dear gentleman, he wilL" 
 
 And, soon after this, she resisted all his attempts to 
 detain her, and scudded back to the house, leaving 
 Bassett to his reflections, which were exceedingly bitter. 
 
 Sir Charles got better, and at last used to walk daily 
 with Lady Bassett. Their favorite stroll was up and 
 down the lawn, close under the boundary wall he had 
 buUt to shut out « The Heir's Walk." 
 
 The afternoon sun struck warm upon that waU, and 
 the walk by its side. 
 
 On the other side a nurse often carried little Dicky 
 Bassett, the heir ; but neither of the promenaders could 
 see each other for the walL 
 
 Bichard Bassett, on the contrary, from " The Heir's 
 Tower," could see both these little parties ; and, as some 
 men cannot keep away from what causes their pain, he 
 used to watch these loving walks, and see Sir Charles 
 get stronger and stronger, till, at last, instead of leaning 
 on his beloved wif^ he could march by her side, or even 
 give her his smn. 
 
 Yet the picture was, in a great degree, delusive ; for, 
 U 
 
162 A TEEEIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 except during these blissful walks, when the sun shone 
 on him, and Love and Beauty soothed him. Sir Charles 
 was not the man he had been. The shake he had received 
 appeared to have damaged his temper strangely. He 
 became so irritable that several of his servants left him ; 
 and to his wife he repined ; and his childless condition, 
 which had been hitherto only a deep disappointment, 
 became in his eyes a calamity that outweighed his many 
 blessings. He had now narrowly escaped dying without 
 an heir, and this seemed to sink into his mind, and 
 co-operating with the concussion his brain had received, 
 brought him into a morbid state. He brooded on it, and 
 spoke of it, and got back to it from every other topic in 
 a way that distressed Lady Bassett unspeakably. She 
 consoled him bravely; but often, when she was alone, 
 her gentle courage gave way, and she cried bitterly to 
 herself. 
 
 Her distress had one effect she little expected; it com- 
 pleted what her invariable kindness had begun, and 
 actually won the heart of a servant. Those who really 
 know that tribe will agree with me that this was a mar- 
 vellous conquest. Yet so it was. Mary Wells conceived 
 for her a real affection, and showed it by unremitting 
 attention, and a soft and tender voice that soothed Lady 
 Bassett, and drew many a silent but grateful glance from 
 her dove-like eyes. 
 
 Mary listened, and heard enough to blame Sir Charles 
 for his peevishness, and she began to throw out little 
 expressions of dissatisfaction at him ; but these were so 
 promptly discouraged by the faithful wife, that she drew 
 in again, and avoided that line. 
 
 But one day, coming softly as a cat, she heard Sir 
 Charles and Lady Bassett talking over their calamity. 
 Sir Charles was saying that it was Heaven's curse ; that 
 all the poor people in the village had children; that 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 163 
 
 Richard Bassett's weak puny little wife had brought 
 him an heir, and was about to make him a parent again ; 
 he alone was marked out, and doomed to be the last of 
 his race. "And yet," said he, "if I had married any 
 other woman, and you had married any other man, we 
 should have had children by the dozen, I suppose." 
 
 Upon the whole, though he said nothing palpably 
 unjust, he had the tone of a man blaming his wife as 
 the real cause of their joint calamity, under which she 
 suffered a deeper, nobler, and more silent anguish than 
 himself. This was hard to bear, and when Sir Charles 
 went away Mary Wells ran in, with an angry expression 
 on the tip of her tongue. 
 
 She found Lady Bassett in a pitiable condition, lying, 
 rather than leaning, on the table, with her hair loose 
 about her, sobbing as if her heart would break. 
 
 All that was good in Mary Wells tugged at her heart- 
 strings. She flung herself on her knees beside her, and 
 seizing her mistress's hand, and drawing it to her bosom, 
 fell to crying and sobbing along with her. 
 
 This canine devotion took Lady Bassett by surprise. 
 She turned her tearful eyes upon her sympathizing 
 servant, and said, " Mary ! " and her soft hand pressed 
 the girl's harder palm gratefully. 
 
 Mary spoke first. 
 
 "Oh, my lady," she sobbed, "it breaks my heart to 
 see you so. And what a shame to blame you for what is 
 no fault of youm ! 'Tis always our side gets the blame. 
 Why, all these fine gentlemen, they be old before their 
 time with smoking of tobacco; and then to come and 
 lay the fault on we ! " 
 
 " Mary, I value you very much ; more than I ever did 
 a servant in my life; but if you speak against your 
 master, we shall part." 
 
 "La, my lady, I wouldn't for the world. Sir Charles 
 
164 A TBRKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 is a perfect gentleman. Why, he gave me a sovereign 
 only the other day for nursing of him; but he didn't 
 ought to blame you for no fault of yourn, and to make 
 you cry. It tears me inside out to see you cry, you that 
 is so good to rich and poor. I wouldn't vex myself so 
 for that. Dear heart, 'twas always so, — God sends meat 
 to one house, and mouths to t'other." 
 
 "I could be patient if poor Sir Charles was not so 
 unhappy," sighed Lady Bassett ; " but if ever you are a 
 wife, Mary, you will know how wretched it makes us to 
 see a beloved husband unhappy." 
 
 " Then I'd make him happy," said Mary, 
 
 "Ah, if I only could!" 
 
 " Oh, I could tell you a way, for I have known it done ; 
 and now he is as happy as a prince. You see, my lady, 
 some men are like children : to make them happy you 
 must give them their own way. And so, if I was in 
 your place, I wouldn't make two bites of a cherry, for 
 sometimes I think he will fret himself out of the world 
 for want on't." 
 
 " Heaven forbid ! " 
 
 " It is my belief you would not be long behind him." 
 
 " No, Mary. Why should I ? " 
 
 " Then — whisper, my lady." 
 
 And although Lady Bassett drew slightly back at this 
 freedom, Mary Wells poured into her ear a proposal that 
 made her stare and shiver. 
 
 As for the girl's own face, it was as unmoved as if it 
 had been bronze. 
 
 Lady Bassett drew back, and eyed her askant with 
 amazement and terror. 
 
 " What is this you have dared to say ? " 
 
 " Why, it is done every day." 
 
 "By people of your class, perhaps. No, I don't 
 believe it. Mary, I have been mistaken in you. I am 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 165 
 
 afraid you are a vicious gixL Leave me, please. I caa't 
 bear the sight of you." 
 
 Mary went away, very red, and the tear in her eye. 
 
 In the evening Lady Bassett gave Mary Wells a 
 month's warning, and Mary accepted it doggedly, and 
 thought hereelf very cruelly used. 
 
 After this, mistress and maid did not exchange an 
 unnecessary word for many days. 
 
 This notice to leave Tvas very bitter to Mary Wells, 
 for she was in the very act of making a conquest. 
 Young Drake, a very small farmer, and tenant of Sir 
 Charles, had &Llen in love with her, and she liked him, 
 and had resolved he should marry her ; with which view 
 she was playing the tender but coy maiden very prettily. 
 But Drake, though young and very much in love, was 
 advised by his mother, and evidently resolved to go the 
 old-&shioned way, keep company a year, and know the 
 girl, before offering the ring. 
 
 Just before her month was ont^ a more serious trouble 
 threatened Mary Wells. 
 
 Her low artful amour with Richard Bassett had led to 
 its natural results. By deg^es she had gone farther 
 than she intended, and now the fatal consequences 
 looked her in the face. 
 
 She found herself in an odious position; for her 
 growing regard for young Drake, though not a violent 
 attachment, was enough to set' her more and more against 
 Bichard Bassett ; and she was preparing an entire separa- 
 tion from the latter, when the fatal truth dawned on her. 
 
 Then there was a temporary revulsion of feeling ; she 
 told her condition to Bassett, and implored him, with 
 many tears, to aid her to disappear for a time and hide 
 her misfortune, especially from her sister. 
 
 Mr. Bassett heard her, and then gave her an answer 
 that made her blood run cold. 
 
166 A TEBEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 "Why do you come to me?" said he. "Why don't 
 you go to the right mau, young Drake ? " 
 
 He then told her he had had her watched, and she 
 must not think to make a fool of him. She was as inti- 
 mate with the young farmer as with him, and was in his 
 company every day. 
 
 Mary Wells admitted that Drake was courting her, but 
 said he was a civil, respectful young man, who desired 
 to make her his wife. "You have lost me that," said 
 she, bursting into tears ; " and so, for mercy's sake, show 
 youl'self a man for once, and see me through my 
 trouble." 
 
 The egotist disbelieved, or affected not to believe her, 
 and said, "When there are two, it is always the gentle- 
 man you girls deceive. But you can't make a fool of 
 me, Mrs. Drake. Marry the farmer, and I'll give you a 
 wedding present; that is aU I can do for any other 
 man's sweetheart. I have got my own family to pro- 
 vide for, and it is all I can contrive to make both ends 
 meet." 
 
 He was cold and inflexible to her prayers. Then she 
 tried threats. He laughed at them. Said he, "The 
 time is gone by for that. If you wanted to sue me for 
 breach of promise, you should have done it at once ; not 
 waited eighteen months, and taken another sweetheart 
 first. Come, come, you played your little game. You 
 made me come here week after week and bleed a sover- 
 eign. A woman that loved a man would never have 
 been so hard on him as you were on me. I grinned, and 
 bore it; but, when you ask me to own another man's 
 child, a man of your own sort, that you are in love with 
 — you hate me — that is a little too much. No, Mrs. 
 Drake ; if that is your game we will fight it out — before 
 the public if you like." And having delivered this with 
 a tone of harsh and loud defiance, he left her — left her 
 
A TERRIBIiE TEMPTATION. 167 
 
 forever. She sat down upon the cold ground and rocked 
 herself. Despair was cold at her heart. 
 
 She sat in that forlorn state for more than an hour. 
 Then she got up, and went to her mistress's room, and 
 crouched by the fire, for her limhs were cold as well as 
 her heart. 
 
 She sat there, gazing at the fire and sighing heavily, 
 till Lady Bassett came up to bed. She then went 
 through her work Uke an automaton, and every now and 
 then a deep sigh came from her breast. 
 
 Lady Bassett heard her sigh, and looked at her. Her 
 fece was altered, a sort of sullen misery was written on 
 it. Lady Bassett was quick at reading faces, and this 
 look alarmed her. " Mary," said she, kindly, " is there 
 anything the matter ? " 
 
 No reply. 
 
 " Are you unwell ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Are you in trouble ? " 
 
 "Ay ! " with a burst of tears. 
 
 Lady Bassett let her cry, thinking it would relieve 
 her, and then spoke to her again with the languid pen- 
 siveness of a woman who has also her trouble. " You 
 have been very attentive to Sir Charles, and a kind good 
 servant to me, Mary." 
 
 " You are mocking me, my lady," said Mary bitterly. 
 "You wouldn't have turned me off for a word, if I had 
 been a good servant." 
 
 Lady Bassett colored high, and was silenced for a 
 moment. At last she said, "I feel it must seem harsh 
 to you. You don't know how wicked it was to tempt 
 me. But it is not as if you had done anything wrong. 
 I do not feel bound to mention mere words ; I shall give 
 you an excellent character, Mary: indeed, I have. I 
 think I have got a good place for you. I shall know 
 
168 A TEREIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 to-morrow ; and, when it is settled, we will look over my 
 wardrobe together." 
 
 This proposal implied a boxful of presents, and would 
 have made Mary's da.rk eyes flash with delight at an- 
 other time ; but she was past all that now. She inter- 
 rupted Lady Bassett with this strange speech: "You 
 are very kind, my lady ; will you lend me the key of 
 your medicine-chest ? " 
 
 Lady Bassett looked surprised, but said, "Certainly, 
 Mary," and held out the keys. 
 
 But, before Mary could take them, she considered a 
 moment, and asked her what medicine she required. 
 
 " Only a little laudanum." 
 
 " No, Mary ; not whilst you look like that, and refuse 
 to tell me your trouble. I am your mistress, and must 
 exert my authority for your good. Tell me at once 
 what is the matter." 
 
 " I'd bite my tongue off sooner." 
 
 " You are wrong, Mary. I am sure I should be your 
 best friend. I feel much indebted to you for the atten- 
 tion and the affection you have shown me, and I am 
 grieved to see you so despondent. Make a friend of me. 
 There — think it over, and talk to me again to-morrow." 
 
 Mary Wells took the true servant's view of Lady Bas- 
 sett's kindness. She looked at it as a trap ; not, indeed, 
 set with malice prepense, but still a trap. She saw that 
 Lady Bassett meant kindly at present ; but, for all that, 
 she was sure, that, if she told the truth, her mistress 
 would turn against her, and say, "Oh! I had no idea 
 your trouble arose out of your own imprudence. I can 
 do nothing for a vicious girl." 
 
 She resolved therefore to say nothing, or else to tell 
 some lie or other quite wide of the mark. 
 
 Deplorable as this young woman's situation was, the 
 duplicity and coarseness of mind which had brought her 
 
A TEREIBLE TEMPTATIOIT. 169 
 
 into it, would have somewhat blunted the mental agony 
 such a situation must inflict : but it was aggravated by a 
 special terror ; she knew that if she was found out she 
 would lose the only sure friend she had in the world. 
 
 The fact is, Mary Wells had seen a good deal of life 
 during the two years she was out of the reader's sight. 
 Ehoda had been very good to her ; had set her up in a 
 lodging-house, at her earnest request. She misconducted 
 it, and failed ; threw it up in disgust, and begged Ehoda 
 to put her in the public line. Ehoda complied. Mary 
 made a mess of the public-house. Then Ehoda showed 
 her she was not fit to govern anything, and drove her 
 into service again; and, in that condition, having no 
 more cares than a child, and plenty of work to do, and 
 many a present from Ehoda, she had been happy. 
 
 But Ehoda, though she forgave blunders, incapacity 
 for business, and waste of money, had always told her 
 plainly there was one thing she never would forgive. 
 
 Ehoda Marsh had become a good Christian in every 
 respect but one. The male rake reformed is rather toler- 
 ant ; but the female rake reformed is, as a rule, bitterly 
 intolerant of female frailty; and Ehoda carried this 
 female characteristic to an extreme, both in word and 
 in deed. They were only half sisters, after all ; and 
 Mary knew that she would be cast off forever if she 
 deviated from virtue so far as to be found out. 
 
 Besides the general warning, there had been a special 
 one. When she read Mary's first letter from Hunter- 
 combe Hall, Ehoda was rather taken aback at first ; but, 
 on reflection, she wrote to Mary, saying she could stay 
 there on two conditions ; she must be discreet, and never 
 mention her sister Ehoda in the house, and she must 
 not be tempted to renew her acquaintance with Eichard 
 Bassett. " Mind," said She, " if ever you speak to that 
 villain, I shall hear of it, and I shall never notice you 
 again." 
 
170 A TEKEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 This was the galling present and the dark future 
 which had mad,e so young and unsentimental a woman 
 as Mary Wells think of suicide for a moment or two ; 
 and it now deprived her of her rest, and next day kept 
 her thinking and brooding all the time her now leaden 
 limbs were carrying her through her menial duties. 
 
 The afternoon was sunny, and Sir Charles and Lady 
 Bassett took their usual walk. 
 
 Masy Wells went a little way with them, looking very 
 miserable. Lady Bassett observed, and said kindly, 
 "Mary, you can give me that shawl, I will not keep 
 you; go where you like till five o'clock." 
 
 Mary never said so much as " Thank you." She put 
 the shawl round her mistress, and then went slowly back. 
 She sat down on the stone steps, and glared stupidly at 
 the scene, and felt very miserable and leaden. She 
 seemed to be stuck in a sort of slough of despond, and 
 could not move in any direction to get out of it. 
 
 While she sat in this sombre reverie, a gentleman 
 walked up to the door, and Mary Wells lifted her head 
 and looked at him. Notwithstanding her misery, her 
 eyes rested on him with some admiration, for he was a 
 model of a man : six feet high, and built like an athlete. 
 His face was oval, and his skin dark, but glowing ; his 
 hair, eyebrows, and long eyelashes black as jet ; his gray 
 eyes large and tender. He was dressed in black, with a 
 white tie, and his clothes were well cut, and seemed 
 superlatively so, owing to the importance and symmetry 
 of the figure they covered. It was the new rector, Mr. 
 Angelo. 
 
 He smiled on Mary graciously, and asked her how Sir 
 Charles was. 
 
 She said he was better. 
 
 Then Mr. Angelo asked, more timidly, was Lady Bas- 
 sett at home ? 
 
A TEERIBLK TEMPTATION. 171 
 
 " She is just gone out, sir." 
 
 A look of deep disappointment crossed Mr. Angelo's 
 face. It did not escape Mary Wells. She looked at him 
 full, and, lowering her voice a little, said, " She is only 
 in the grounds with Sir Charles. She will be at home 
 about five o'clock." 
 
 Mr. Angelo hesitated, and then said he would call 
 again at five. He evidently preferred a duet to a trio. 
 He then thanked Mary Wells with more warmth than 
 the occasion seemed to call for, and retired very slowly : 
 he had come very quickly. 
 
 Mary Wells looked after him, and asked herself wildly, 
 if she could not make some use of him and his manifest 
 infatuation. 
 
 But, before her mind could fix on any idea, and indeed 
 before the young clergyman had taken twenty steps 
 homewards, loud voices were heard down the shrubbery. 
 
 These were followed by an agonized scream. 
 
 Maiy Wells started up, and the young parson turned ; 
 they looked at each other in amazement. 
 
 Then came wild and piercing cries for help — in a 
 woman's voice. 
 
 The yoimg clergyman cried out, "Her voice ! her voice ! " 
 and dashed into the shrubbery with a speed Mary Wells 
 had never seen equalled. He had won the two hundred- 
 yards race at Oxford in his day. 
 
 The agonized screams were repeated, and Mary Wells 
 screamed in response as she ran towards the place. 
 
172 A TBBBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVI. 
 
 SiE Charles Bassett was in high spirits this after- 
 noon, indeed a little too high. 
 
 "Bella, my love," said he, "now I'll tell you why I 
 made you gire me your signature this morning. The 
 money has all come in for the wood, and this very day I 
 sent Oldfield instructions to open an account for you 
 with some London banker." 
 
 Lady Bassett looked at him with tears of tenderness 
 in her eyes. 
 
 "Dearest," said she, "I have plenty of money; but 
 the love to which I owe this present, that is my treasure of 
 treasures. Well, I accept it, Charles ; but don't ask me 
 to spend it on myself ; T should feel I was robbing you." 
 
 "It is nothing to me how you spend it; I have saved 
 it from the enemy." 
 
 Now that very enemy heard these words. He had 
 looked from " The Heir's Tower," and seen Sir Charles 
 and Lady Bassett walking on their side of the wall, and 
 the nurse carrying his heir on the other side. 
 
 He had come down to look at his child in the sun; 
 but he walked softly, on the chance of overhearing Sir 
 Charles and Lady Bassett say something or other about 
 his health; his design went no farther than that — but 
 the fate of listeners is proverbial. 
 
 Lady Bassett endeavored to divert her husband from 
 the topic he seemed to be approaching ; it always excited 
 him now, and did him harm. 
 
 " Do not waste your thoughts on that enemy. He is 
 powerless." 
 
A TERBIBLE TEMPTATION. 173 
 
 "At this moment, perhaps; but his turn is sure to 
 come again, and I shall provide for it. I mean to live 
 on half my income, and settle the other half on you. I 
 shall act on the clause in the entail, and fell all the 
 timber on the estate, except about the home-park and 
 my best covers. It mil take me some years to do this 
 — I must not glut the market and spoil your profits; 
 but every year I'll have a fall, till I have denuded Mr. 
 Bassett's inheritance, as he calls it, and swelled your 
 banker's account to a plum. Bella, I have had a shake. 
 Even now that I am better, such a pain goes through my 
 head, like a bullet crushing through it, whenever I get 
 excited. I don't think I shall be a long-lived man. But, 
 never mind, I'll live as long as I can; and while I do 
 live, I'll work for you, and against that villain." 
 
 "Charles !" cried Lady Bassett, " I implore you to turn 
 your thoughts away from that man, and to give up these 
 idle schemes. Were you to die, I should soon follow 
 you; so pray do not shorten your life by these angry 
 passions, or you will shorten mine." 
 
 This appeal acted powerfully on Sir Charles, and he 
 left off suddenly with flushed cheeks, and tried to com- 
 pose himself. 
 
 But his words had now raised a corresponding fury on 
 the other side of that boundary wall. Eichard Bassett, 
 stung with rage, and, unlike his high-bred cousin, accus- 
 tomed to mix cimning even with his fury, gave him a 
 terrible blow, a very coup de Jarnac. He spoke at him ; 
 he ran forward to the nurse, and said very loud, — 
 
 " Let me see the little darling ; he does you credit ; 
 what fat cheeks ! what arms ! an infant Hercules ! There, 
 take him up the mound. Now lift him in your arms, 
 and let him see his inheritance. Higher, nurse, higher ! 
 Ay, crow away, youngster; all that is yours — house, and 
 land, and all. They may steal the trees, they can't make 
 
174 A TEEEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 away with the broad acres. Ha ! I believe he understands 
 every word, nurse. See how he smiles and crows !" 
 
 At the sound of Bassett's voice Sir Charles started, 
 and at the iirst taunt he uttered something between a 
 moan and a roar, as of a wounded lion. 
 
 "Come away," cried Lady Bassett. "He is doing it 
 on purpose." 
 
 But the stabs came too fast. Sir Charles shook her 
 off, and looked wildly round for a weapon to strike his 
 insulter with. 
 
 " Curse him and his brat ! " he cried. " They shall 
 neither of them — I'll kill them both." 
 
 He sprang fiercely at the wall, and, notwithstanding 
 his weakly condition, raised himself above it, and glared 
 over with a face so full of fury that Eichard Bassett 
 recoiled in dismay for a moment, and said, " Kun ! run ! 
 He'll hurt the child." 
 
 But, the next moment, Sir Charles's hands lost their 
 power; he uttered a miserable moan, and fell gasping 
 under the wall in an epileptic fit, with all the terrible 
 symptoms I have described in a previous portion of this 
 story. These were new to his poor wife, and, as she 
 strove in vain to control his fearful convulsions, her 
 shrieks rent the air. Indeed, her screams were so appall- 
 ing, that Bassett himself sprang at the wall, and, by a 
 great effort of strength, drew himself up, and peered 
 down with white face at the glaring eyes, clenched teeth, 
 purple face, and foaming lips of his enemy, and his body 
 that bounded convulsively on the ground with incredible 
 violence. 
 
 At that moment humanity prevailed over everything, 
 and he flung himself over the wall, and in his haste got 
 rather a heavy fall himself. 
 
 " It is a fit," he cried, and, running to the brook close 
 by, filled his hat with water, and was about to dash it 
 over Sir Charles's face. 
 
A TEBBIBLE TEMPTATION. 175 
 
 But Lady Bassett repelled him with horror. 
 
 "Don't touch him, you villain ! You have killed him." 
 And then she shrieked ag^ain. 
 
 At this moment Mr. Angelo dashed up, and saw at a 
 glance what it was, for he had studied medicine a little. 
 He said, " It is epilepsy. Leave him to me." He man- 
 aged, by his great strength, to keep the patient's head 
 down till the face got pale and the limbs still; then, tell- 
 ing Lady Bassett not to alarm herself too much, he lifted 
 Sir Charles, and actually proceeded to carry him towards 
 the house. Lady Bassett, weeping, proffered her assist- 
 ance, and 80 did Mary Wells; but this athlete said a little 
 brusquely, "No, no; I have practised this sort of thing." 
 And, partly by his rare strength, partly by his familiarity 
 with all athletic feats, he carried the insensible baronet 
 to his own house, as I have seen my accomplished friend, 
 Mr. Henry Neville, carry a tall actress on the mimic 
 stage ; only, the distance being much longer, the perspi- 
 ration roUed down Mr. Angelo's face with so sustained 
 an effort. 
 
 He laid him gently on the floor of his study, while 
 Lady Bassett sent two grooms galloping for medical 
 advice, and half a dozen servants running for this and 
 that stimulant, as one thing after another occurred to 
 her agitated mind. The very rustling of dresses and 
 scurry of feet overhead told all the house a great calamity 
 had stricken it. 
 
 Lady Bassett hung over the sufferer, sighing piteonsly, 
 and was for supporting his beloved head with her tender 
 arm ; but Mr. Angelo told her it was better to keep the 
 head low, that the blood might flow back to the vessels 
 of the brain. 
 
 She cast a look of melting gratitude on her adviser, 
 and composed herself to apply stimulants under his 
 direction and advice. 
 
176 A TBKBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Tlius judiciously treated, Sir Charles began to recover 
 consciousness in part. He stared and muttered inco- 
 herently. Lady Bassett thanked God on her knees, and 
 then turned to Mr. Angelo with streaming eyes, and 
 stretched out both hands to him, with an indescribable 
 eloquence of gratitude. He gave her his hands timidly, 
 and she pressed them both with all her soul. Uncon- 
 sciously she sent a rapturous thrill through the young 
 man's body ; he blushed, and then turned pale, and felt 
 for a moment almost faint with rapture at that sweet 
 and unexpected pressure of her soft hands. 
 
 But at this moment Sir Charles broke out in a sort of 
 dry business-like voice, "I'll kill the viper and his brood." 
 Then he stared at Mr. Angelo, and could not make him 
 out at first. "Ah!" said he complacently, "this is my 
 private tutor; a man of learning. I read Homer with 
 him ; but I have forgotten it, all but one line, — 
 
 •vij^rtos OS najiga xjelPav naldag xaralslnBi' 
 
 That's a beautiful verse. Homer, old boy, I'll take your 
 advice : I'll kill the heir-at-law, and his brat as well, and, 
 when they are dead and well-seasoned, I'll sell them to 
 that old timber-merchant, the devil, to make hell hotter. 
 Order my horse, somebody, this minute." 
 
 During this tirade, Lady Bassett's hands kept clutch- 
 ing, as if to stop it, and her eyes filled with horror. 
 
 Mr. Angelo came again to her rescue. He affected to 
 take it all as a matter of course, and told the servants 
 they need not wait, Sir Charles was coming to himself 
 by degrees, and the danger was all over. 
 
 But, when the servants were gone, he said to Lady 
 Bassett, seriously, " I would not let any servant be about 
 Sir Charles, except this one. She is evidently attached 
 to you. Suppose we take him to his own room." 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 177 
 
 He then made Mary Wells a signal, and they carried 
 him up-stairs. 
 
 Sir Charles talked all the while with pitiable vehe- 
 mence; indeed it was a continuous babble, like a 
 brook. 
 
 Mary Wells was taking him into his own room, but 
 Lady Bassett said, " No : into my room. Oh, I will 
 never let him out of my sight again." 
 
 Then they carried him into Lady Bassett's bedroom, 
 and laid him gently down on a couch there. 
 
 He looked round, observed the locality, and uttered a 
 little sigh of complacency. He left off talking for the 
 present, and seemed to doze. 
 
 The place, which exerted this soothing influence on 
 Sir Charles, had a contrary and strange effect on Mr. 
 Angelo. 
 
 It was of palatial size, and lighted by two side windows 
 and an oriel window at the end ; the delicate stone shafts 
 and mullions were such as are oftener seen in cathedrals 
 than in mansions : the deep embrasure was filled with 
 beautiful flowers and luscious exotic leaf-plants from the 
 hothouses. The floor was of polished oak, and some feet 
 of this were left bare on all sides of the great Aubusson 
 carpet made expressly for the room. By this means 
 cleanliness penetrated into every corner; the oak was 
 not only cleaned, but polished like a mirror. The cur- 
 tains were French chintzes, of substance, and exquisite 
 patterns, and very voluminous ; on the walls was a deli- 
 cate rose-tinted satin paper, to which French art, unrivalled 
 in these matters, had given the appearance of being stuffed, 
 padded, and divided into a thousand cosy pillows by gold- 
 headed nails. 
 
 The wardrobes were of satin-wood. The bedsteads — 
 one smaJl, one large — were plain white, and gold in 
 moderation. 
 12 
 
178 A TEBKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 All this, ho-wever, was but the frame to the delightful 
 picture of a wealthy young lady's nest. 
 
 The things that startled and thrilled Mr. Angelo were 
 those his imagination could see the fair mistress using. 
 The exquisite toilet-table, the Dresden mirror with its 
 delicate china frame muslined and ribboned, the great 
 ivory-handled brushes, the array of cut-glass gold-mounted 
 bottles, and all the artillery of beauty; the baths of 
 various shapes and sizes; the bath sheets, and the 
 profusion of linen, fine and coarse. The bed, with its 
 frilled sheets, its huge frilled pillows, and its eider-down 
 quilt covered with bright purple silk. 
 
 A delicate perfume came through the wardrobes, where 
 strata of fine linen from Hamburg and Belfast lay on 
 scented herbs ; and this, permeating the room, seemed 
 the very perfume of beauty itself, and intoxicated the 
 brain. Imagination conjured pictures proper to the 
 scene : a goddess at her toilet, her glorious hair inun- 
 dating on the pillow, and burning in contrasted color 
 with the snowy sheets and with the purple quilt. 
 
 Prom this reverie he was awakened by a soft voice 
 that said, " How can I ever thank you enough, sir ? " 
 
 Mr. Angelo controlled himself, and said, " By sending 
 for me whenever I can be of the slightest use." Then, 
 comprehending his danger, he added hastily, "And I 
 fear I am none whatever now." Then he rose to go. 
 
 Lady Bassett gave him both her hands again, and this 
 time he kissed one of them all in a flurry ; he could not 
 resist the temptation. Then he hurried away, with his 
 whole soul in a tumult. Lady Bassett blushed, and 
 returned to her husband's side. 
 
 Dr. Willis came, heard the case, looked rather grave 
 and puzzled, and wrote the inevitable prescription ; for 
 the established theory is that man is cured by drugs 
 alone. 
 
A TERKIBLB TEMPTATION. 179 
 
 Sir Charles wandered a little while the doctor was 
 there, and continued to wander after he was gone. 
 
 Then Mary WeUs begged leave to sleep in the dress- 
 ing-room. 
 
 Lady Bassett thanked her, but said she thought it 
 unnecessary ; a good night's rest, she hoped, would make 
 a great change in the sufferer. 
 
 Mary Wells thought otherwise, and quietly brought 
 her little bed into the dressing-room, and laid it on the 
 floor. 
 
 Her judgment proved right ; Sir Charles was no better 
 next day, nor the day after. He brooded for hours at a 
 time, and when he talked, there was an incoherence in 
 his discourse ; above all, he seemed incapable of talking 
 long on any subject without coming back to the fatal one 
 of his childlessness ; and, when he did return to this, 
 it was sure to make him either deeply dejected, or else 
 violent against Richard Bassett and his son. He swore 
 at them, and said they were waiting for his shoes. 
 
 Lady Bassett's anxiety deepened ; strange fears came 
 over her. She put subtle questions to the doctor; he 
 returned obscure answers, and went on prescribing 
 medicines that had no effect. 
 
 She looked wistfully into Mary Wells's face, and there 
 she saw her own thoughts reflected. 
 
 "Mary," said she one day in a low voice, "what do 
 they say in the kitchen ? " 
 
 " Some say one thing, some another. What can they 
 say ? They never see him, and never shall, while I am 
 here." 
 
 This reminded Lady Bassett that Mary's time was up. 
 The idea of a stranger taking her place, and seeing Sir 
 Charles in his present condition, was horrible to her. 
 "Oh, Mary," said she, piteously, "surely you will not 
 leave me just now." 
 
180 A TBEKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 " Do you -wish me to stay, my lady ? " 
 
 " Can you ask it ? How can I hope to find such devo- 
 tion as yours, such fidelity, and, above all, such secrecy? 
 Ah, Mary, I am the most unhappy lady in aU England 
 this day." 
 
 Then she began to cry bitterly, and Mary Wells cried 
 with her, and said she would stay as long as she could ; 
 but, said she, " I gave you good advice, my lady, and so 
 you will find." 
 
 Lady Bassett made no answer whatever, and that dis- 
 appointed Mary, for she wanted a discussion. 
 
 The days rolled on, and brought no change for the 
 better. Sir Charles continued to brood on his one mis- 
 fortune. He refused to go out of doors, even into the 
 garden, giving as his reason that he was not fit to be 
 seen. "I don't mind a couple of women," said he 
 gravely ; " but no man shall see Charles Bassett in Ms 
 present state. No. Patience ! Patience ! I'll wait till 
 Heaven takes pity on me. After all, it would be a shame 
 that such a race as mine should die out, and these fine 
 estates go to blackguards, and poachers, and anonymous 
 letter-writers." 
 
 Lady Bassett used to coax him to walk in the corridor, 
 but even then he ordered Mary Wells to keep watch, and 
 let none of the servants come that way. From words he 
 let fall, it seems he thought " Childlessness " was written 
 on his face, and that it had somehow degraded his 
 features. 
 
 Now a wealthy and popular baronet could not thus 
 immure himself for any length of time without exciting 
 curiosity, and setting all manner of rumors afloat. 
 Visitors poured into Huntercombe to inquire. 
 
 Lady Bassett excused herself to many, but some of 
 her own sex she thought it best to encounter. This sub- 
 jected her to insidious attacks of curiosity admirably 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 181 
 
 veiled with sympathy. The assailants were marvellously 
 subtle, but so was the devoted wife. She gave kiss for 
 kiss, and equivoque for equivoque. She seemed grate- 
 ful for each visit, but they got nothing out of her, except 
 that Sir Charles's nerves were shaken by his fall, and 
 that she was playing the tyrant for once, and insisting 
 on absolute quiet for her patient. 
 
 One visitor she never refused : Mr. Angelo. He, from 
 the first, had been her true friend; had carried Sir 
 Charles away from the enemy, and then had dismissed 
 the gaping servants. She saw that he had divined her 
 calamity, and she knew, from things he said to her, that 
 he would never breathe a word out of doors. She con- 
 fided in him. She told him Mr. Bassett was the real 
 cause of all this misery ; he had insulted Sir Charles ; 
 the nature of this insult she suppressed. "And, oh, Mr. 
 Angelo," said she, " that man is my terror night and 
 day. I don't know what he can do ; but I feel he wiU 
 do something, if ever he learns my poor husband's con- 
 dition." 
 
 "I trust. Lady Bassett, you are convinced he will 
 learn nothing from me. Indeed, I will tell the ruffian 
 anything you like: he has been sounding me a little; 
 called to inquire after his poor cousin — the hypocrite ! " 
 
 " How good you are ! Please tell him absolute repose 
 is prescribed for a time ; but there is no doubt of Sir 
 Charles's ultimate recovery." 
 
 Mr. Angelo promised heartily. 
 
 Mary Wells was not enough : a woman must have a 
 man to lean on, in trouble ; and Lady Bassett leaned on 
 Mr. Angelo. She even obeyed him. One day he told 
 her that her own health would fail if she sat always in 
 the sick-room ; she must walk an hour every day. 
 
 "Must I ? " said she sweetly. 
 
 " Yes, even if it is only in your own garden." 
 
182 A TBREIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 From that time she used to walk with him nearly 
 every day. 
 
 Eichard Bassett saw this from his tower of observa- 
 tion ; saw it, and chuckled. " Aha ! " said he. " Hus- 
 band sick in bed. Wife walking in the garden with a 
 young man — a parson, too. He is dark, she is fair. 
 Something will come of this. Ha, ha ! " 
 
 Lady Bassett now talked of sending to London for 
 advice ; but Mary Wells dissuaded her. " Physic can't 
 cure him : there's only one can cure him, and that is 
 yourself, my lady." 
 
 " Ah, would to heaven I could ! " 
 
 " Try my way, and you will see, my lady." 
 
 « Wlat, that way ? Oh, no, no ! " 
 
 " Well, then, if you won't nobody else can." 
 
 Such speeches as these, often repeated, on the one 
 hand, and Sir Charles's melancholy on the other, drove 
 Lady Bassett almost wild with distress and perplexity. 
 
 Meanwhile her vague fears of Richard Bassett were 
 being gradually realized. 
 
 Bassett employed Wheeler to sound Dr. Willis as to 
 his patient's condition. 
 
 Dr. Willis, true to the honorable traditions of his pro- 
 fession, would tell him nothing. But Dr. Willis had a 
 wife. She pumped him : and Wheeler pumped her. 
 
 By this channel Wheeler got a somewhat exaggerated 
 account of Sir Charles's state. He carried it to Bassett, 
 and the pair put their heads together. 
 
 The consultation lasted all night, and finally a com- 
 prehensive plan of action was settled. Wheeler stipu- 
 lated that the law should not be broken in the smallest 
 particular, but only stretched. 
 
 Four days after this conference, Mr. Bassett, Mr. 
 Wheeler, and two spruce gentlemen dressed in black, 
 sat upon "The Heir's Tower," watching Huntercombe 
 Hall. 
 
A TEBKIBIiE TEMPTATION. 183 
 
 They watched, and watched, until they saw Mr. Angelo 
 make his usual daily calL 
 
 Then they watched, and watched, until Lady Bassett 
 and the young clergyman came out, and strolled together 
 into the shrubbery. 
 
 Then the two gentlemen went down the stairs, and 
 were hastily conducted by Bassett to Huntercombe HalL 
 
 They rang the bell, and the taller said, in a business- 
 like voice, " Dr. Mosely, from Dr. Willis." 
 
 Mary Wells was sent for, and Dr. Mosely said, " Dr. 
 Willis is unable to come to-day, and has sent me." 
 
 Mary Wells conducted him to the patient. The other 
 gentleman followed. 
 
 "Who is this?" said Mary. «I can't let all the 
 world in to see him." 
 
 " It is Mr. Donkyn, the surgeon. Dr. Willis wished 
 the patient to be examined with the stethoscope. You 
 can stay outside, Mr. Donkyn." 
 
 This new doctor announced himself to Sir Charles, 
 felt his poise, and entered at once into conversation with 
 him. 
 
 Sir Charles was in a talking mood, and very soon said 
 one or two inconsecutive things. Dr. Mosely looked at 
 Mary Wells, and said he would write a prescription. 
 
 As soon as he had written it, he said, very loud, " Mr. 
 Donkyn ! " 
 
 The door instantly opened, and that worthy appeared 
 on the threshold. 
 
 " Oblige me," said the doctor to his confrere, "by see- 
 ing this prescription made up ; and you can examine the 
 patient yourself, but do not fetigue him." 
 
 With this he retired swiftly, and strolled down the 
 corridor to wait for his companion. 
 
 He had not to wait long. Mr. Donkyn adopted a free 
 and easy style with Sir Charles, and that gentleman 
 
184 A TEEKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 marked his sense of the indignity by turning Mm out 
 of the room, and kicking him industriously half-way 
 down the passage. 
 
 Messrs. Mosely and Donkyn retired to Highmore. 
 
 Bassett was particularly pleased at the baronet having 
 kicked Donkyn; so was Wheeler; so was Dr. Mosely, 
 Donkyn alone did not share the general enthusiasm. 
 
 When Sir Charles had disposed of Mr. Donkyn, he 
 turned on Mary Wells, and rated her soundly for bring- 
 ing strangers into his room to gratify their curiosity ; 
 and, when Lady Bassett came in, he made his formal 
 complaint, concluding with a proposal that one of two 
 persons should leave Huntercombe forever that after- 
 noon, — Mary Wells or Charles Bassett. 
 
 Mary replied, not to him, but to her mistress, — 
 
 "He came from Dr. Willis, my lady: it was Dr. 
 Mosely ; and the other gent was a surgeon." 
 
 " Two medical men sent by Dr. Willis ? " said Lady 
 Bassett, knitting her brow with wonder, and a shade of 
 doubt. 
 
 " A couple of her own sweethearts sent by herself," 
 suggested Sir Charles. 
 
 Lady Bassett sat down, and wrote a hasty letter to 
 Dr. Willis. 
 
 " Send a groom with it as fast as he can ride," said 
 she ; and she was much discomposed, and nervous, and 
 impatient, till the answer came back. 
 
 Dr. Willis came in person. 
 
 " I sent no one to take my place," said he ; "I esteem 
 my patient too highly to let any stranger prescribe for 
 him, or even see him for a few days to come." 
 
 Lady Bassett sank into a chair, and her eloquent face 
 filled with an undefinable terror. 
 
 Mary Wells, being on her defence, put in her word. 
 
 " I am sure he was a doctor, for he wrote a prescrip- 
 tion, and here 'tis." 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 185 
 
 Dr. Willis examined the prescription with no friendly 
 eye. 
 
 "Acetate of morphia! The very worst thing that 
 conld be given him. This is the favorite of the special- 
 ists. This fatal dmg has eaten away a thousand brains 
 for one it has ever benefited." 
 
 "Ah ! " said Lady Bassett. " * Specialists ' ! what are 
 they?" 
 
 "Medical men, who confine their practice to one 
 disease." 
 
 "Mad-doctors, he means," said the patient very 
 gravely. 
 
 Lady Bassett tnmed very pale. 
 
 " Then those were mad-doctors." 
 
 " Never yon mind, Bella," said Sir Charles. " I kicked 
 the fellow handsomely." 
 
 " I am sorry to hear it, Sir Charles." 
 
 « Why ? " 
 
 Dr. Willis looked at Lady Bassett as mnch as to say, 
 " I shall not give him, my real reason ; " and then said, 
 " I think it very undesirable you should be excited and 
 provoked until your health is thoroughly restored." 
 
 Dr. Willis wrote a prescription and retired. 
 
 Lady Bassett sank into a chair, and trembled all over. 
 Her divining fit was on her ; she saw the hand of the 
 enemy, and was filled with vagae fears. 
 
 Maiy Wells tried to comfort her. 
 
 "I'll take care no more strangers get in here," said 
 she. " And, my lady, if you are afraid, why not have 
 the keepers, and two or three more, to sleep in the 
 house ? for, as for them footmen, they be too soft to 
 fight." 
 
 " I will," said Lady Bassett ; " but I fear it will be no 
 use, our enemy has so many resources unknown to me. 
 How can a poor woman fight with a shadow that comes 
 
186 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 in a moment, and strikes, and then is gone, and leaves 
 his victim trembling ? " 
 
 Then she slipped into the dressing-room, and became 
 hysterical, out of her husband's sight and hearing. 
 
 Mary Wells nursed her, and, when she was better, 
 whispered in her ear, — 
 
 "Lose no more time, then. Cure him. You know 
 the way." 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 187 
 
 CHAPTER XVIL 
 
 Is the present condition of her mind these words pro- 
 duced a strange effect on Lady Bassett. She quivered, 
 and her eyes began to rove in that peculiar way I have 
 already noticed; and then she started up, and walked 
 wildly to and fro; and then she kneeled down and 
 prayed; and then, alarmed, perplexed, exhausted, she 
 went and leaned her head on her patient's shoulder, and 
 wept softly a long time. 
 
 Some days passed, and no more strangers attempted to 
 see Sir Charles. 
 
 Lady Bassett was beginning to breathe again, when 
 she was af^cted by an unwelcome discovery. 
 
 Mary Wells fainted away so suddenly that, but for 
 Lady Bassett's quick eye and ready hand, she would 
 have fallen heavily. 
 
 Lady Bassett laid her head down, and loosened her 
 stays, and discovered her condition. She said nothing 
 till the young woman was well, and then she taxed her 
 with it. 
 
 Mary denied it plump ; but, seeing her mistress's dis- 
 gust at the falsehood, she owned it with many tears. 
 
 Being asked how she could so far forget herself, she 
 told Lady Bassett she had long been courted by a re- 
 spectable young man ; he had come to the village, bound 
 on a three years' voyage, to bid her good-by ; and, what 
 with love and grief at parting, they had been betrayed 
 into folly ; and now he was on the salt seas, little dream- 
 ing in what condition he had left her ; " and," said she, 
 " before ever he can write to me, and I to him, I shall 
 
188 A TERKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 be a ruined girl ; that is why I wanted to put an end to 
 myself ; I will, too, unless I can find some way to hide 
 it from the world." 
 
 Lady Bassett begged her to give up those desperate 
 thoughts ; she would think what could be done for her. 
 Lady Bassett could say no more to her just then, for she 
 was disgusted with her. 
 
 But, when she came to reflect that after all this was 
 not a lady, and that she appeared by her own account to 
 be the victim of affection and frailty rather than of 
 vice, she made some excuses ; and then the girl had laid 
 aside her trouble, her despair, and given her sorrowful 
 mind to nursing and comforting Sir Charles. This 
 would have outweighed a crime, and it made the wife's 
 bowels yearn over the unfortunate girl. " Mary," said 
 she, " others must judge you ; I am a wife, and can only 
 see your fidelity to my poor husband. I don't know 
 what I shall do without you, but I think it is my duty 
 to send you to him if "possible. You are sure he really 
 loves you ? " 
 
 " Me cross the seas after a young man ? " said Mary 
 Wells. "I'd as lief hang myself on the nighest tree, 
 and make an end. No, my lady, if you are really my 
 friend, let me stay here as long as I can — I will never 
 go down-stairs to be seen — and then give me money 
 enough to get my trouble over unbeknown to my sister ; 
 she is aU my fear. She is married to a gentleman, and 
 got plenty of money, and I shall never want while she 
 lives, and behave myself ; but she would never forgive 
 me if she knew. She is a hard woman : she is not like 
 you, my lady. I'd liefer cut my hand off than I'd trust 
 her as I would you." 
 
 Lady Bassett was not quite insensible to this compli- 
 ment, but she felt uneasy. " What I help you to deceive 
 your sister ? " 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 189 
 
 " For her good. Why, if any one was to go and tell 
 her about me now, she'd hate them for telling her almost 
 as much as she would hate me." 
 
 Lady Bassett was sore perplexed. Unable to see quite 
 clear in the matter, she naturally rererted to her husband 
 and his interest. That dictated her course. She said, 
 " Well, stay with us, Mary, as long as you can, and then 
 money shall not be wanting to hide your shame from all 
 the world ; but I hope, when the time comes, you will 
 alter your mind, and tell your sister. May I ask what 
 her name is ? " 
 
 Mary, after a moment's hesitation, said her name was 
 Marsh. 
 
 " I know a Mrs. Marsh," said Lady Bassett ; " but of 
 course that is not your sister. My Mrs. Marsh is rather 
 fair." 
 
 " So is my sister, for that matter." 
 
 "And tall?" 
 
 "Yes, but you never saw her. You'd never forget her 
 if you had. She has got eyes like a lion." 
 
 "Ah! Does she ride ? " 
 
 " Oh, she is famous for that ; and driving, and all." 
 
 "Indeed! But no ; I see no resemblance." 
 
 "Oh, she is only my half-sister." 
 
 " This is very strange." 
 
 Lady Bassett put her hand to her brow, and thought. 
 
 "Mary," said she, "all this is very mysterious. We 
 are wading in deep waters." 
 
 Mary Wells had no idea what she meant. 
 
 The day was not over yet. Just before dinner-time a 
 fly from the station drove to the door, and Mr. Oldfield 
 got out. 
 
 He was detained in the hall by the sentinel Moss. 
 
 Lady Bassett came down to him. At the very sight 
 of him she trembled, and said, " Richard Bassett ? " 
 
190 A TEKBIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 " Yes," said Mr. Oldfield, " lie is in the field again. He 
 has been to the Court of Chancery ex parte, and obtained 
 an injunction ad interim to stay waste. Not another 
 tree must be cut down on this estate for the present." 
 
 " Thank Heaven it is no worse than that. Not another 
 tree shall be felled on the grounds." 
 
 "Of course not. But they will not stop there. If 
 we do not move to dissolve the injunction, I fear they 
 will go on, and ask the court to administer the estate, 
 with a view to all interests concerned, especially those 
 of the heir-at-law and his son." 
 
 " What, while my husband lives ? " 
 
 " If they can prove him dead in law." 
 
 " I don't understand you, Mr. Oldfield." 
 
 " They have got affidavits of two medical men that he 
 is insane." 
 
 Lady Bassett uttered a faint scream, and put her hand 
 to her heart. 
 
 "And, of course, they will use that extraordinary fall 
 of timber as a further proof, and also as a reason why 
 the court should interfere to protect the heir-at-law. 
 Their case is well got up, and very strong," said Mr. 
 Oldfield regretfully. 
 
 " Well, but you are a lawyer ; and you have always 
 beaten them hitherto." 
 
 "I had law and fact on my side. It is not so now. 
 To be frank, Lady Bassett, I don't see what I can do, 
 but watch the case, on the chance of some error or ille- 
 gality. It is very hard to fight a case when you cannot 
 put your client forward — and I suppose that woidd not 
 be safe. How unfortunate that you have no children ! " 
 
 " Children ! How could they help us ? " 
 
 " What a question ! How could Eichard Bassett move 
 the court, if he was not the heir-at-law ? " 
 
 After a long conference, Mr. Oldfield returned to town, 
 
A TERBIBLB TEMPTATION. 191 
 
 to see what he could do in the way of procrastination, 
 and Lady Bassett promised to leave no stone unturned 
 to cure Sir Charles in the meantime. Mr. Oldfield was 
 to write immediately if any fresh step was taken. 
 
 When Mr. Oldfield was gone, Lady Bassett pondered 
 every word he had said, and, mild as she was, her rage 
 began to rise against her husband's relentless enemy; 
 her wits worked, her eyes roved in that peculiar half- 
 savage way I have described. She became intolerably 
 restless ; and any one acquainted with her sex might see 
 that some strange conflict was going on in her troubled 
 mind. 
 
 Every now and then she would come and cling to her 
 husband, and cry over him ; and that seemed to still the 
 tumult of her soul a little. 
 
 She never slept all that night : and, next day, clinging 
 in her helpless agony to the nearest branch, she told 
 Mary Wells what Bassett was doing, and said, " What 
 shall I do ? he is not mad ; but he is in so very precari- 
 ous a state that, if they get at him to torment him, they 
 will drive him mad indeed." 
 
 "My lady," said Mary Wells, "I can't go from my 
 word. 'Tis no use making two bites of a cherry; we 
 must cure him : and, if we don't, you'll never rue it but 
 once, and that will be all your life." 
 
 " I should look on myself with horror afterwards, were 
 I to deceive him now." 
 
 "No, my lady, you are too fond of him for that. 
 Once you saw him happy, you'd be happy too, no matter 
 how it came about. That Richard Bassett will turn him 
 out of this else. I am sure he will ; he is a hard-hearted 
 villain." 
 
 Lady Bassett's eyes flashed fire : then her eyes roved : 
 then she sighed deeply. 
 
 Her powers of resistance were beginning to relax. 
 
192 A TBKEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 As for Mary Wells, she gave her no peace ; she kept 
 instilling her mind into her mistress's, with the perti- 
 nacity of a small but ever-dripping fount ; and we know 
 both by science and poetry that small, incessant drops 
 of water will wear a hole in marble. 
 
 " Gutta cavat lapidem non vi sed ssepe cadendo." 
 
 In the midst of all this a letter came from Mr. 
 Oldfield, to tell her that Mr. Bassett threatened to take 
 out a commission de lunatico, and she must prepare Sir 
 Charles for an examination; for, if reported insane, the 
 court would administer the estates ; but the heir-at-law, 
 Mr. Bassett, would have the ear of the court, and the 
 right of application, and become virtually master of 
 Huntercombe and Bassett ; and perhaps, considering the 
 spirit by which he was animated, would contrive to 
 occupy the very Hall itself. Lady Bassett was in the 
 dressing-rooni when she received this blow, and it drove 
 her almost frantic. She bemoaned her husband; she 
 prayed God to take them both, and let their enemy have 
 his wiU. She wept and raved, and at the height of her 
 distress, came from the other room a feeble cry, " Child- 
 less, childless, childless!" Lady Bassett heard that, 
 and in one moment, from violent she became unnaturally 
 and dangerously calm. She said firmly to Mary Wells, 
 " This is more than I can bear. You pretend you can 
 save him — do it." 
 
 Mary Wells now trembled a little in her turn ; but she 
 seized the opportunity. 
 
 " My lady, whatever I say, you'll stand to ? " 
 
 " Wliatever you say, I'll stand to." 
 
A TEEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 193 
 
 CHAPTEE XVIII. 
 
 Mary Wells, like other uneducated women, was not 
 accustomed to think long and earnestly on any one sub- 
 ject ; to use an expression she once applied with far less 
 justice to her sister, her mind was like running water. 
 
 But gestation affects the brains of such women, and 
 makes them think more steadily, and sometimes very 
 acutely ; added to which, the peculiar dangers and diffi- 
 culties that beset this girl diiring that anxious period 
 stimulated her wits to the very utmost. Often she sat 
 quite still for hours at a time, brooding and brooding, 
 and asking herself how she could turn each new and 
 unexpected event to her own benefit. Now, so much 
 does mental force depend on that exercise of keen and 
 long attention in which her sex is generally deficient, 
 that this young woman's powers were more than doubled 
 since the day she first discovered her condition, and 
 began to work her brains night and day for her defence. 
 
 Gradually, as events I have related unfolded them- 
 selves, she caught a glimpse of this idea, that if she 
 could get her mistress to have a secret, her mistress 
 would help her to keep her own. Hence her insidious 
 whispers, and her constant praises of Mr. Angelo, who, 
 she saw, was infatuated with Lady Bassett. Yet the 
 designing creature was actually fond of her mistress ; 
 and so strangely compounded is a heart of this low 
 kind, that the extraordinary step she now took was half 
 affectionate impulse, half egotistical design. 
 
 She made a motion with her hand, inviting Lady 
 Bassett to listen, and stepped into Sir Charles's room. 
 13 
 
194 A TEKKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 "Childless! childless! childless!". 
 
 " Hush, sir," said Mary Wells. " Don't say so. We 
 shan't be many months without one, please Heaven," 
 
 Sir Charles shook his head sadly. 
 
 " Don't you believe me ? " 
 
 «N"o." 
 
 " What, did ever I tell you a lie ? " 
 
 "No; but you are mistaken. She would have told 
 me." 
 
 "Well, sir, my lady is young and shy, and I think 
 she is afraid of disappointing you after all; for you 
 know, sir, there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip. 
 But 'tis as I tell you, sir." 
 
 Sir Charles was much agitated, and said he would give 
 her a hundred guineas if that was true. " Where is my 
 darling wife ? Why do I hear this through a servant ? " 
 
 Mary Wells cast a look at the door, and said, for Lady 
 Bassett to hear, " She is receiving company. Now, sir, 
 I have told you good news : will you do something to 
 oblige me ? You shouldn't speak of it direct to my 
 lady just yet; and if you want all to go well, you 
 mustn't vex my lady, as you are doing now. What I 
 mean, you mustn't be so down-hearted — there's no reason 
 for't — and you mustn't coop yourself up on this floor : 
 it sets the folks talking, and worries my lady. You 
 should give her every chance, being the way she is." 
 
 Sir Charles said eagerly he would not vex her for the 
 world. " I'll walk in the garden," said he ; " but, as 
 for going abroad, you know I'm not in a fit condition 
 yet ; my mind is clouded." 
 
 "Not as I see." 
 
 " Oh, not always. But sometimes a cloud seems to get 
 into my head ; and if I was in public, I might do or say 
 something discreditable. I would rather die." 
 
 " La, sir ! " said Mary Wells, in a broad hearty way, 
 
A TERRIBLB TEMPTATION. 195 
 
 " a cloud in your head ! You liad a bad fall, and a fit at 
 top on't, and no wonder your poor liead do ache at times. 
 You'll outgrow that — if you take the air, and give over 
 fretting about the t'other thing. I tell you you'll hear 
 the music of a child's voice, and little feet a-pattering up 
 and down this here corridor, before so very long — if so 
 be you take my advice, and leave off fretting my lady 
 with fretting of yourself. You should consider, she is 
 too fond of you to be well when you be ill." 
 
 " I'll get well, for her sake," said Sir Charles firmly. 
 
 At this moment there was a knock at the door. Mary 
 Wells opened it so that the servant could see nothing, 
 
 " Mr. Angelo has called." 
 
 " My lady will be down directly." 
 
 Mary Wells then slipped into the dressing-room, and 
 found Lady Bassett looking pale and wild. She had 
 heard every word. 
 
 " There, he is better already," said Mary Wells. " He 
 shall walk in the garden with you this afternoon." 
 
 " What have you done ? I can't look him in the face 
 now. Suppose he speaks to me ? " 
 
 " He will not, I'll manage that. You won't have to 
 say a word. Only listen to what / say, and don't make 
 a liar of me. He is better already." 
 
 " How will this end ? " cried Lady Bassett helplessly. 
 « What shall I do ? " 
 
 " You must go down-stairs, and not come here for an 
 hour at least, or you'll spoil my work, Mr. Angelo is in 
 the drawing-room." 
 
 " I will go to him." 
 
 Lady Bassett slipped out by the other door, and as her 
 visitor soon left her, she spent the rest of the hour 
 walking wildly about the garden, and asking herself 
 whether she had the courage to go on or the courage to 
 go back. 
 
196 A TBKRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Meaittime Mary Wells had a long conversation with 
 her master ; and after that she retired into the adjoining 
 room, and sat down to sew baby-linen clandestinely.- 
 
 After a considerable time, Lady Bassett came in, and, 
 sinking into a chair, covered her face with her hands. 
 She had her bonnet on. 
 
 Mary Wells looked at her with black eyes that flashed 
 triumph. 
 
 After so surveying her for some time, she said, " I have 
 been at him again, and there's a change for the better al- 
 ready. He is not the same man. You go and see else." 
 
 Lady Bassett now obeyed her servant ; she rose, and 
 crept like a culprit into Sir Charles's room. She found 
 him clean-shaved, dressed to perfection, and looking more 
 cheerful than she had seen him for many a long day. 
 "Ah, Bella," said he, "you have your bonnet on ; let us 
 have a walk in the garden." 
 
 Lady Bassett opened her eyes, and consented eagerly, 
 though she was very tired. 
 
 They walked together; and Sir Charles, being, a man 
 that never broke his word, put no direct question to 
 Lady Bassett, but spoke cheerfully of the future, and" 
 told her she was his hope and his all ; she would baffle 
 his enemy, and cheer his desolate hearth. 
 
 She blushed, and looked confused and distressed; 
 then he smiled, and talked of indifferent matters, until 
 a pain in his head stopped him ; then he became con- 
 fused, and, putting his hand piteously to his head, pro- 
 posed to retire at once to his own room. 
 
A TEKEIBI/E TEMPTATION. 197 
 
 Lady Bassett brought Mm in; and he reposed in 
 silence on the sofa. 
 
 The next day, and indeed many days afterwards, pre- 
 sented similar features. 
 
 Mary Wells talked to her master of the bright days to 
 come, of the joy that would fill the house, if all went 
 well, and of the defeat in store for Kichard Bassett. 
 She spoke of this man with strange virulence, said " she 
 would think no more of sticking a knife into him than 
 of eating her dinner ; " and in saying this, she showed 
 the white of her eye in a manner truly savage and 
 vindictive. 
 
 To hate the same person is a surer bond than to love 
 the same person; and this sentiment of Mary Wells, 
 coupled with her uniform kindness to himself, gave her 
 great influence with Sir Charles in his present weakened 
 condition. Moreover, the young woman had an oily 
 persuasive tongue ; and she who persuades us is stronger 
 than he who convinces us. 
 
 Thus influenced, Sir Charles walked every day in 
 the garden with his wife, and forbore all direct allusion 
 to her condition, though his conversation was redolent of 
 it. He was still subject to sudden collapses of the 
 intellect ; but he became conscious when they were com- 
 ing on; and, at the first warning, he would insist on 
 burying himself in his room. 
 
 After some days he consented to take short drives with 
 Lady Bassett in the open carriage. This made her very 
 joyful. Sir Charles refused to enter a single house, so 
 high was his pride, and so great his terror lest he should 
 expose himself ; but it was a great point gained that she 
 could take him about the county and show him in the 
 character of a mere invalid. 
 
 Everything now looked like a cure, slow, perhaps, but 
 progressive ; and Lady Bassett had her joyful hours, yet 
 
198 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 not -without a bitter alloy; her divining mind asked 
 itself what she should say and do, when Sir Charles 
 should be quite recovered. This thought tormented her, 
 and sometimes so goaded her that she hated Mary Wells 
 for her well-meant interference, and by a natural recoil 
 from the familiarity circumstances had forced on her, 
 treated that young woman with 'great coldness and 
 hauteur. 
 
 The artful girl met this with extreme meekness and 
 servility; the only reply she ever hazarded was an 
 adroit one; she would take this opportunity to say, 
 " How much better master do get, ever since I took in 
 hand to cure him ! " 
 
 This oblique retort seldom failed. Lady Bassett would 
 look at her husband, and her face would clear ; and she 
 would generally end by giving Mary a collar, or a scarf, 
 or something. 
 
 Thus did circumstances enable the lower nature to 
 play with the higher. Lady Bassett's struggles were 
 like those of a bird in a silken net ; they led to nothing : 
 when it came to the point, she could neither do nor say 
 anything to retard his cure. Any day the Court of 
 Chancery, set in motion by Eichard Bassett, might issue 
 a commission de lunatieo, and, if Sir Charles was not 
 cured by that time, Eichard Bassett would virtually 
 administer the estate — so Mr. Oldfield had told her — 
 and that, she felt sure, would drive Sir Charles mad for 
 life. 
 
 So there was no help for it. She feared, she writhed, 
 she hated herself ; but Sir Charles got better daily, and 
 so she let herself drift along. 
 
 Mary Wells made it fatally easy to her ; she was the 
 agent ; Lady Bassett was silent and passive. 
 
 After all she had a hope of extrication. Sir Charles 
 once cured, she would make him travel Europe with her. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 199 
 
 Money would relieve her of Mary Wells, and distance 
 cut all the other cords. 
 
 And indeed a time came when she looked back on her 
 present situation with wonder at the distress it had . 
 caused her. " I was in shallow water then," said she — 
 "but now!" 
 
200 A TBRKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 SiK Charles observed that lie was never trusted alone. 
 He remarked this, and inquired, with a peculiar eye, 
 why that was. 
 
 Lady Bassett had the tact to put on an innocent look, 
 and smile, and say, " That is true, dearest ; I have tied 
 you to my apron-string without mercy. But it serves 
 you right for having fits, and frightening me. You get 
 well, and my tyranny will cease at once." 
 
 However, after this, she often left him alone in the 
 garden, to remove from his mind the notion that he was 
 under restraint from her. 
 
 Mr. Bassett observed this proceeding from his tower. 
 
 One day Mr. Angelo called, and Lady Bassett left Sir 
 Charles in the garden to go and speak to him. 
 
 She had not been gone many minutes, when a boy ran 
 to Sir Charles, and said, — 
 
 " Oh, sir, please come to the gate ; the lady has had a 
 fall and hurt herself." 
 
 Sir Charles, much alarmed, followed the boy, who took 
 him to a side gate opening on the high road. Sir Charles 
 rushed through this, and was passing between two stout 
 fellows that stood one on each side the gate, when they 
 seized him, and lifted him in a moment into a close 
 carriage that was waiting on the spot. He struggled, 
 and cried loudly for assistance ; but they bundled him 
 in and sprang in after him : a third man closed the door 
 and got up by the side of the coachman. He drove off, 
 avoiding the village, soon got upon a broad road, and 
 bowled along at a great rate, the carriage being light, and 
 drawn by two powerful horses. 
 
A TEKEEBLE TEMPTATION. 201 
 
 So cleverly and rapidly was it done, that, but for a 
 woman's quick ear, the deed might not have been dis- 
 covered for hours. But Mary Wells heard the cry for 
 help through an open window, recognized Sir Charles's 
 voice, and ran screaming down-stairs to Lady Bassett ; 
 she ran wildly out, with Mr. Angelo, to look for Sir 
 Charles. He was nowhere to be found. Then she 
 ordered every horse in the stables to be saddled; and 
 she ran with Mary to the place where the cry had been 
 heard. 
 
 For some time no intelligence whatever could be 
 gleaned ; but at last an old man was found, who said he 
 had heard somebody cry out, and soon after that a 
 carriage had come tearing by him, and gone round the 
 comer ; but this direction was of little value, on account of 
 the many roads, any one of which it might have taken. 
 
 However, it left no doubt that Sir Charles had been 
 taken away from the place by force. 
 
 Terror-stricken and pale as death. Lady Bassett never 
 lost her head for a moment. Indeed, she showed unex- 
 pected fire. She sent oflf coachman and grooms to scour 
 the country, and rouse the gentry to help her. She gave 
 them money, and told them not to come back till they 
 had found Sir Charles. 
 
 Mr. Angelo said eagerly, " I'll go to the nearest magis- 
 trate, and we will arrest Richard Bassett on suspicion." 
 
 " God bless you, dear friend I " sobbed Lady Bassett. 
 "Oh, yes, it is his doing — murderer !" 
 
 Off went Mr. Angelo on his errand. 
 
 He was hardly gone, when a man was seen running 
 and shouting across the fields. Lady Bassett went to 
 meet him, surrounded by her humble sympathizers. It 
 was young Drake. He came up, panting, with a double- 
 barrelled gun in his hand — for he was allowed to shoot 
 rabbits on his own little farm — and stammered out, — 
 
202 A TEEKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 " Oh, my lady ! — Sir Charles — they have carried him 
 off, against his will." 
 
 " Who ? Where ? Did you see him ? " 
 
 " Ay, and heerd him and all. I was ferreting rabbits 
 by the side of the turnpike road yonder, and a carriage 
 came tearing along, and Sir Charles put out his head, 
 and cried to me, ' Drake, they are kidnapping me. 
 Shoot ! ' But they pulled him back out of sight." 
 
 " my poor husband ! And did you let them ? Oh ! " 
 
 " Couldn't catch 'em, my lady ; so I did as I was bid : 
 got to my gun as quick as ever I could, and gave the 
 coachman both barrels, hot." 
 
 « What, kill him ? " 
 
 " Lord, no ! 'twas sixty yards off ; but made him holler 
 and squeak a good 'un. Put thirty or forty shots into 
 his back, I know." 
 
 "Give me your hand, Mr. Drake. I'll never forget 
 that shot." Then she began to cry. 
 
 "Doan't ye, my lady, doan't ye," said the honest 
 fellow, and was within an ace of blubbering for sympathy. 
 " We ain't a lot o' babies, to see our squire kidnapped. 
 If you would lend Abel Moss there and me a couple o' 
 nags, we'll catch them yet, my lady." 
 
 "That we will," cried Abel. "You take me where 
 you fired that shot, and we'll follow the fresh wheel- 
 tracks. They can't beat us, while they keep to a road." 
 
 The two men were soon mounted and in pursuit, amidst 
 the cheers of the now excited villagers. But still the 
 perpetrators of the outrage had more than an hour's 
 start ; and an hour was twelve miles. 
 
 And now Lady Bassett, who had borne up so bravely, 
 was seized with a deadly faintness, and supported into 
 the house. 
 
 All this spread like wildfire, and roused the villagers ; 
 and they must have a hand in it. Parson had said Mr. 
 
A TERBIBLE TEMPTATION. 203 
 
 Bassett was to blame; and that passed from one to 
 another, and so fermented, that, in the evening, a crowd 
 collected round Highmore House, and demanded Mr. 
 Bassett. 
 
 The servants were alarmed, and said he was not a,\ 
 home. 
 
 Then the men demanded boisterously what he had 
 done with Sir Charles, and threatened to break the win- 
 dows, unless they were told ; and, as nobody in the house 
 could tell them, the women egged on the men, and they 
 did break the windows ; but they no sooner saw their 
 own work, than they were a little alarmed at it, and 
 retired, talking very loud, to support their waning cour- 
 age, and check their rising remorse at their deed. 
 
 They left a house full of holes and screams, and poor 
 little Mrs. Bassett half dead with fright. 
 
 As for Lady Bassett, she spent a horrible night of 
 terror, suspense, and agony. She could not lie down, 
 nor even sit stiU. She walked incessantly, wringing 
 her hands, and groaning for news. 
 
 Mary Wells did all she could to comfort her ; but it 
 was a situation beyond the power of words to alleviate. 
 
 Her intolerable suspense lasted till four o'clock in the 
 morning ; and then, in the stiLL night, horses' feet came 
 clattering up to the door. 
 
 Lady Bassett went into the hall. It was dimly lighted 
 by a single lamp. The great door was opened, and in 
 clattered Moss and Drake, splashed and weary and down- 
 cast. 
 
 " Well ? " cried Lady Bassett, clasping her hands. 
 
 " My lady," said Moss, " we tracked the carriage into 
 the next county to a plaxje thirty miles from here, to a 
 lodge, and there they stopped us. The place is well 
 guarded with men and great big dogs. We heered 'em 
 bark, didn't us, Will?" 
 
204 A TEEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 "Ay," said Drake dejectedly. 
 
 "The man as kept the lodge was short, but civil. 
 Says he, ' This is a place nobody comes into but by law, 
 and nobody goes out on but by law. If the gentleman 
 i« here, you may go home and sleep ; he is safe enough.' " 
 
 « A prison ? No ! " 
 
 "A 'sylum, my lady." 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 205 
 
 CHAPTEE XXI, • 
 
 The lady put her hand to her heart, and was silent a 
 long time. 
 
 At last she said doggedly, but faintly, " You will go 
 with me to that place to-morrow, one of you." 
 
 " I'll go, my lady," said Moss. " Will, here, had better 
 not show his face. They might take the law on him, 
 for firing of that there shot." 
 
 Drake hung his head, and his ardor was evidently 
 cooled by discovering that Sir Charles had been taken to 
 a madhouse. 
 
 Lady Bassett saw, and sighed, and said she would 
 take Moss to show her the way. 
 
 At eleven o'clock next morning a light carriage and 
 pair came round to the Hall gate, and a large basket, a 
 portmanteau and a bag were placed on the roof, under 
 care of Moss. Smaller packages were put inside; and 
 Lady Bassett and her maid got in, both dressed in black. 
 
 They reached Bellevue House at half -past two. The 
 lodge gate was open, to Lady Bassett's surprise, and 
 they drove through some pleasant grounds to a large 
 white house. 
 
 The place, at first sight, had no distinctive character. 
 Great ingenuity had been used to secure the inmates, 
 without seeming to incarcerate them. There were no 
 bars to the lower front windows, and the side windows, 
 with their defences, were shrouded by shrubs. The 
 sentinels were out of sight, or employed on some occu- 
 pation or other, but within calL Some patients were 
 playing at cricket ; some ladies looking on ; others stroll- 
 
206 A TEKEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 ing on the gravel, with, a nurse dressed very nmch like 
 themselves, who did not obtrude her functions unneces- 
 sarily. All was apparent indifference, and Argus-eyed 
 vigilance. So much for the surface. 
 
 Of course, even at this moment, some of the locked 
 rooms had violent and miserable inmates. 
 
 The hall door opened as the carriage drew up. A 
 respectable servant came forward. 
 
 Lady Bassett handed him her card, and said, " 1 am 
 come to see my husband, sir." 
 
 The man never moved a muscle, but said, " You must 
 wait, if you please, till I take your card in." 
 
 He soon returned, and said, " Dr. Suaby is not here ; 
 but the gentleman in charge will see you." 
 
 Lady Bassett got out, and, beckoning Mary Wells, 
 followed the servant into a curioi^s room, half library, 
 half chemist's shop ; they called it " the laboratory." 
 
 Here she found a tall man leaning on a dirty mantel- 
 piece, who received her stiffly. He had a pale mustache, 
 very thin lips, and altogether a severe manner ; his head 
 bald rather prematurely, and whiskers abundant. 
 
 Lady Bassett looked him all over with one glance of 
 her woman's eye, and saw she had a hard and vain man 
 to deal with. 
 
 " Are you the gentleman to whom this house belongs ? " 
 she faltered. 
 
 "No, madam; I am in charge during Dr. Suaby's 
 absence." 
 
 " That comes to the same thing. Sir, I am come to 
 see my dear husband." 
 
 " Have you an order ? " 
 
 " An order, sir ? I am his wife." 
 
 Mr. Salter shrugged his shoulders a little, and said, 
 "I have no authority to let any visitor see a patient 
 without an order from the person by whose authority 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 207 
 
 he is placed here, or else an order from the Commission- 
 ers." 
 
 "But that cannot apply to the wife; to her who is one 
 with him, for better for worse, in sickness or health." 
 
 " It seems hard ; but I have no discretion in the mat- 
 ter. The patient only came yesterday — much excited. 
 He is better to-day, and an interview with you would ex- 
 cite him again." 
 
 " Oh, no ! no ! no ! I can always soothe him. I will 
 be so mild, so gentle. You can be present, and hear 
 every word I say. I will only kiss him, and tell him 
 who has done this, and to be brave, for his wife watches 
 over him ; and, sir, I will beg him to be patient, and not 
 blame you, nor any of the people here." 
 
 " Very proper, very proper ; but reaUy this interview 
 must be postponed tiU you have an order, or Dr. Suaby 
 returns. He can violate his own rules, if he likes ; but 
 I cannot, and, indeed, I dare not." 
 
 "Dare not let a lady see her husband? Then you 
 are not a man. Oh, can this be England? It is too 
 inhuman." 
 
 Then she began to cry and wring her hands. 
 
 "This is very painful," said Mr. Salter, and left the 
 room. 
 
 The respectable servant looked in soon after, and 
 Lady Bassett told him, between her sobs, that she had 
 brought some clothes and things for her husband. 
 "Surely, sir," said she, "they will not refuse me that ? " 
 
 "Lord, no, ma'am," said the man. "You can give 
 them to the keeper and nurse in charge of him." 
 
 Lady Bassett slipped a guinea into the man's hand 
 directly. 
 
 " Let me see those people," said she. 
 
 The man winked and vanished; he soon reappeared, 
 and said loudly, "Now, madam, i£ you will order the 
 things into the haU." 
 
208 A TEEBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Lady Bassett came out and gave the order. 
 
 A short, bull-necked man, and rather a pretty young 
 woman with a flaunting cap, bestirred themselves get- 
 ting down the things ; and Mr. Salter came out and 
 looked on. 
 
 Lady Bassett called Mary Wells, and gave her a five- 
 pound note to slip into the man's hand. She telegraphed 
 the girl, who instantly came near her with an india- 
 rubber bath, and, affecting ignorance, asked her what 
 that was. 
 
 Lady Bassett dropped two sovereigns into the bath, 
 and said, " Ten times, twenty times that, if you are kind 
 to him. Tell him it is his cousin's doing, but his wife 
 watches over him." 
 
 "All right," said the girl. "Come again when the 
 doctor is here." 
 
 All this passed in swift whispers a few yards from Mr., 
 Salter, and he now came forward, and offered his arm to 
 conduct Lady Bassett to the carriage. 
 
 But the wretched heart-broken wife forgot her art of 
 pleasing; she shrank from him with a faint cry of 
 aversion, and got into her carriage unaided. Mary Wells 
 followed her. 
 
 Mr. Salter was unwilling to receive this rebuff. He 
 followed and said, " The clothes shall be given with any 
 message you may think fit to intrust to me." 
 
 Lady Bassett turned away sharply from him, and said 
 to Mary Wells, " Tell him to drive home. Home ! 
 I have none now. Its light is torn from me." 
 
 The carriage drove away as she uttered these piteous 
 words. 
 
 She cried at intervals all the way home, and could 
 hardly drag herself up-stairs to bed. 
 
 Mr. Angelo called next day with bad news. Kot a 
 magistrate would move a finger against Mr. Bassett ; he 
 
A TEREIBLE TEMPTATION. 209 
 
 had the law on his side. " Sir Charles was evidently in- 
 sane ; it was qnite proper he should be put ia security, 
 before he did some mischief to himself or Lady Bassett. 
 They say, why was he hidden for two months, if there 
 was not something very wrong ? " 
 
 Lady Bassett ordered the cajriage, and paid several 
 calls, to counteract this fatal impression. 
 
 She found, to her horror, she might as well try to 
 move a rock. There was plenty of kindness, and pity ; 
 but the moment she began to assure them her husband 
 was not insane, she was met vrith the dead silence of 
 polite incredulity. One or two old friends went fur- 
 ther, and said, "My dear, we are told he could not be 
 taken away without two doctors' certificates ; now, con- 
 sider, they must know better than you. Have patience, 
 and let them cure him." 
 
 Lady Bassett withdrew her friendship on the spot 
 from two ladies for contradicting her on such a subject ; 
 she returned home almost wild herself. 
 
 In the village her carriage was stopped by a woman 
 with her hair all flying, who told her in a lamentable 
 voice that Squire Bassett had sent nine men to prison 
 for taking Sir Charles's part and ill-treating his captors. 
 
 " My lawyer shall defend them at my expense," said 
 Lady Bassett, with a sigh. 
 
 At last she got home, and went up to her own room, 
 and there was Mary Wells waiting to dress her. 
 
 She tottered in, and sank into a chair. But, after this 
 temporary exhaustion, came a rising tempest of passion ; 
 her eyes roved, her fingers worked, and her heart seemed 
 to come out of her in words of fire. "I have not a friend 
 in aU the county. That villain has only to say ' Mad,' 
 and aU turn from me, as if an angel of truth had said 
 ' CriminaL' We have no friend but one, and she is my 
 servant ; now go and envy wealth and titles. No wife 
 14 
 
210 A TBBKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 in this parish is so poor as I ; powerless in the folds of a 
 serpent. I can't see my husband without an order from 
 him. He is all power, and I and mine all weakness." 
 She raised her clenched fists, she clutched her beautiful 
 hair as if she would tear it out by the roots. " I shall 
 go mad ! I shall go mad ! No ! " said she, all of a sud- 
 den, " that will not do. That is what he wants — and 
 then my darling would be defenceless. I will not go 
 mad." Then suddenly grinding her white teeth, "I'll 
 teach him to drive a lady to despair. I'll fight." 
 
 She descended, almost without a break, from the fury 
 of a Pythoness to a strange calm. Oh ! then it is her 
 sex are dangerous. 
 
 "Don't look so pale," said she, and she actually 
 smiled. " All is fair against so foul a villain. You and 
 I will defeat him. Dress me, Mary." 
 
 Mary Wells, carried away by the unusual violence of 
 a superior mind, was quite bewildered. 
 
 Lady Bassett smiled a strange smile, and said, "I'll 
 show you how to dress me ; " and she did give her a 
 lesson that astonished her. 
 
 " And now," said Lady Bassett, " I shall dress you." 
 And she took a loose full dress out of her wardrobe, and 
 made Mary Wells put it on ; but first she inserted some 
 stuffing so adroitly, that Mary seemed very buxom, but 
 what she wished to hide was hidden. Not so Lady Bas- 
 sett herself ; her figure looked much rounder than in the 
 last dress she wore. 
 
 With all this she was late for dinner, and when she 
 went down Mr. Angelo had just finished telling Mr. Old- 
 field of the mishap to the villagers. 
 
 Lady Bassett came in animated and beautiful. 
 
 Dinner was announced directly, and a commonplace 
 conversation kept up, tiU the servants were got rid of. 
 She then told Mr. Oldfield how she had been refused ad- 
 
A TEERIBLE TEMPTATION. 211 
 
 mittance to Sir Charles at Bellevue House, a plain proof, 
 to her mind, they knew her husband was not in- 
 sane ; and begged him to act with energy, and get Sir 
 Charles out before his reason could be permanently in- 
 jured by the outrage and the horror of his situation. 
 
 This led to a discussion, in which Mr. Angelo and 
 Lady Bassett thiew out various suggestions, and Mr. 
 Oldfield cooled their ardor with sound objections. He 
 was familiar with the Statutes de Lunatico, and said 
 they had been strictly observed, both in the capture of 
 Sir Charles, and in Mr. Salter's refusal to let the wife 
 see the husband. In short, he appeared either unable or 
 unwilling to see anything except the strong legal posi- 
 tion of the adverse party. 
 
 Mr. Oldfield was one of those prudent lawyers, who 
 search for the adversary's strong points, that their 
 clients may not be taken by surprise ; and that is very 
 wise of them. But wise things require to be done 
 wisely; he sometimes carried this -system so far as to 
 discourage his client too much. It is a fine thing to 
 make your client think his case the weaker of the two, 
 and then win it for him easily ; that gratifies your own 
 foible, professional vanity. But suppose, with your dis- 
 couragiag him so, he flings up, or compromises, a win- 
 ning case ? Suppose he takes the huff, and goes to some 
 other lawyer, who will warm him with hopes, instead of 
 cooling him with a one-sided and hostile view of his 
 case? 
 
 In the present discussion Mr. Oldfield's habit of begin- 
 ning by admiring his adversaries, together with his 
 knowledge of law and little else, and his secret convic- 
 tion that Sir Charles was unsound of mind, combined to 
 paralyze him, and, not being a man of invention, he 
 could not see his way out of the wood at alL He could 
 negative Mr. Angelo's suggestions, and give good reasons. 
 
212 A TEEBIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 but he could not, or did not, suggest anything better to 
 be done. 
 
 Lady Bassett listened to his negative ■wisdom with a 
 bitter smile, and said at last, with a sigh, " It seems, 
 then, we are to sit quiet, and do nothing, while Mr. Bas- 
 sett and his solicitor strike blow upon blow. There — 
 I'll fight my own battle, and do you try and find some 
 way of defending the poor souls that are in trouble 
 because they did not sit with their hands before them 
 when their benefactor was outraged. Command my 
 purse, if money will save them from a prison." 
 
 Then she rose with dignity, and walked like a camelo- 
 pard all down the room on the side opposite Mr. Old- 
 field. Angelo flew to open the door, and in a whisper 
 begged a word with her in private. She bowed assent, 
 and! passed on from the room. 
 
 " What a fine creature ! " said Mr. Oldfield. " How 
 she walks ! " 
 
 Mr. Angelo made no reply to this, but asked him what 
 was to be done for the poor men. "They will be up 
 before the Bench to-morrow." 
 
 Stung a little by Lady Bassett's remark, Mr. Oldfield 
 answered promptly, "We must get some tradesmen to 
 bail them with our money. It will only be a few pounds 
 apiece. If the bail is accepted, they shall offer pecuniary 
 compensation and get up a defence. Find somebody to 
 swear Sir Charles was sane — that sort of evidence is 
 always to be got. Counsel must do the rest. Simple 
 natives — benefactor outraged — honest impulse — re- 
 gretted, the moment they understood the capture had 
 been legally made. Then throw dirt on the plaintiff. 
 He is malicious, and can be proved to have forsworn 
 himself in Bassett v. Bassett." 
 
 A tap at the door, and Mary Wells put in her head. 
 " If you please, sir, my lady is tired, and she wishes to 
 say a word to you before she goes up-stairs." 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 213 
 
 "Excuse me one minute," said Mr. Angelo, and fol- 
 lowed Mary Wells. She ushered him into a boudoir, 
 where he found Lady Bassett seated in an armchair, 
 with her head on her hand, and her eyes fixed sadly on 
 the carpet. 
 
 She smiled faintly, and said, "Well, what do you wish 
 to say to me ? " 
 
 " It is about Mr. Oldfield. He is clearly incompetent." 
 
 " I don't know. I snubbed him, poor man ; but if the 
 law is aU against us ! " 
 
 " How does he know that ? He assumes it, because 
 he is prejudiced in favor of the enemy. How does he 
 know they have done everything the Act of Parliament 
 requires? And if they have, Law is not invincible. 
 When Law defies Morality, it gets baffled, and trampled 
 on, in all civilized communities." 
 
 " I never heard that before." 
 
 "But you would, if you had been at Oxford," said he, 
 smiling. 
 
 "Ah!" 
 
 "What we want is a man of invention, a man who 
 win see every chance, take every chance, lawful or 
 unlawful, and fight with all manner of weapons." 
 
 Lady Bassett's eye flashed a moment. "Ah!" said 
 she ; "but where can I find such a man, with knowledge 
 to guide his zeal ? " 
 
 "I think I know of a man who could at all events 
 advise you, if you would ask him." 
 
 "Ah! Who?" 
 
 "He is a writer, and opinions vary as to his merit. 
 Some say he has talent ; others say it is all eccentricity 
 and affectation. One thing is certain : his books bring 
 about the changes he demands. And then he is in 
 earnest ; he has taken a good many alleged lunatics out 
 of confinement." 
 
214 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " Is it possible ? then let us apply to him at once." 
 
 " He lives in London ; but I have a friend who knows 
 him. May I send an outline to him through that friend, 
 and ask him whether he can advise you in the matter ? " 
 
 " You may ; and thank you a thousand times ! " 
 
 "A mind like that, with knowledge, zeal, and inven- 
 tion, must surely throw some light." 
 
 " One would think so, dear friend." 
 
 " I'll write to-night, and send a letter to Greatrex ; we 
 shall perhaps get an answer the day after to-morrow." 
 
 " Ah. ! you are not the one to go to sleep in the service 
 of a friend. A writer, did you say? What does he 
 write?" 
 
 "Fiction." 
 
 "What, novels?" 
 
 " And dramas, and all." 
 
 Lady Bassett sighed incredulously. "I should never 
 think of going to fiction for wisdom." 
 
 "When the Family Galas were about to be executed 
 unjustly, with the consent of all the lawyers and states- 
 men in France, one man in a nation saw the error, and 
 fought for the innocent, and saved them ; and that one 
 wise man, in a nation of fools, was a writer of fiction." 
 
 "Oh, a learned Oxonian can always answer a poor 
 igilorant thing like me. One swallow does not make 
 summer, for all that." 
 
 "But this writer's fictions are not like the novels you 
 read; they are works of laborious research. Besides, 
 he is a lawyer as well as a novelist." 
 
 " Oh, if he is a lawyer ! " 
 
 " Then I may write ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Lady Bassett, despondingly. 
 
 « What is to become of Oldfield ? " 
 
 " Send him to the drawing-room. I will go down and 
 endure him for. another hour. You can write your letter 
 
A TBKRIBLE TEMPTATION. 215 
 
 here, and then please come and relieve me of Mr. 
 Negative." 
 
 She rang, and ordered coffee and tea into the drawing- 
 room ; and Mr. Oldfield found her very cold company. 
 
 In half an hour Mr. Angelo came down, looking flushed 
 and very handsome ; and Lady Bassett had some fresh 
 tea made for him. 
 
 This done, she bade the gentlemen good-night, and 
 went to her room : here she found Mary Wells full of 
 curiosity to know whether the lawyer would get Sir 
 Charles out of the asylum. 
 
 Lady Bassett gave loose to her indignation, and said 
 nothing was to be expected from such a nullity. " Mary, 
 he could not see. I gave him every opportunity ; I 
 walked slowly down the room before him, after dinner, 
 and I came into the drawing-room, and moved about, and 
 yet he could not see." 
 
 « Then you will have to tell him, that is all." 
 
 "Never: no more shall you. I'll not trust my fate, 
 and Sir Charles's, to a man that has no eyes." 
 
 For this feminine reason she took a spite against poor 
 Oldfield; but, to Mr. Angelo, she suppressed the real 
 reason, and entered into that ardent gentleman's grounds 
 of discontent, though these alone would not have entirely 
 dissolved her respect for the family solicitor. 
 
 Next afternoon Angelo came to her in great distress 
 and ire. "Beaten! beaten! and all through our adver- 
 saries having more talent. Mr. Bassett did not appear 
 at first. Wheeler excused him, on the ground that his 
 -wife was seriously ill through the fright. Bassett's 
 servants were called, and swore to the damage and to 
 the men, all but one. He got off. Then Oldfield made 
 a dry speech ; and a tradesman he had prepared offered 
 bail. The magistrates were consulting, when in burst 
 Mr. Bassett, all in black, and made a speech fifty times 
 
216 A TBBRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 stronger than Oldfield's, and sobbed, and told them the 
 rioters had frightened his wife so, she had been premar 
 turely confined, and the child was dead. Could they take 
 bail for a riot, a dastardly attack by a mob of cowards 
 on a poor defenceless woman, the gentlest and most in- 
 offensive creature in England ? Then he went on : 
 ' They were told I was not in the house ; and then 
 they found courage to fling stones, to terrify my wife, 
 and kill my child. Poor soul ! ' he said, ' she lies be- 
 tween life and death herself: and I come here in an 
 agony of fear, but I come for justice ; the man of straw, 
 who offers bail, is furnished with the money by those 
 who stimulated the outrage. Defeat that fraud, and 
 teach these cowards, who war on defenceless ladies, that 
 there is humanity, and justice, and law in the land.' 
 Then Oldfield tried to answer him with his hems and 
 his haws ; but Bassett turned on him like a giant, and 
 swept him away." 
 
 " Poor woman ! " 
 
 " Ah ! that is true : I am afraid I have thought too 
 little of her. But you suffer, and so must she. It is the 
 most terrible feud: one would think this was Corsica, 
 instead of England, only the fighting is not done with 
 daggers. But, after this, pray lean no more on that Old- 
 field. We were all carried away at first; but, now I 
 think of it, Bassett must have been in the court, and 
 held back to make the climax. Oh, yes ! it was another 
 surprise, arid another success. They are all sent to jail. 
 Superior generalship! If Wheeler had been our man, 
 we should have had eight wives crying for pity, each 
 with one child in her arms, and another holding on to 
 her apron. Do, pray. Lady Bassett, dismiss that nullity." 
 
 " Oh, I cannot do that ; he is Sir Charles's lawyer ; but 
 I have promised you to seek advice elsewhere, and so I 
 wiU." 
 
A TBEEIBLE TEMPTATION. 217 
 
 The conversation was interrupted by the tolling of the 
 church bell. 
 
 The first note startled Lady Bassett, and she turned 
 pale. 
 
 " I must leave you," said Angelo regretfully. " I have 
 to bury Mr. Bassett's little boy : he lived an hour." 
 
 Lady Bassett sat and heard the bell toll. 
 
 Strange sad thoughts passed through her mind. " Is 
 it saddest' when it tolls, or when it rings — that bell? 
 He has killed his own child, by robbing me of my hus- 
 band. We are in the hands of God, after all, let Wheeler 
 be ever so cunning, and Oldfield ever so simple. — And 
 I am not acting by that. — Where is my trust in God's 
 justice? — © thou of little faith!— What" shall I do ? 
 Love is stronger in me than faith — stronger than any- 
 thing in heaveB. or earth. God forgive me — God help 
 me — I will go back. 
 
 "But, oh! to stand still, and be good and simple, and 
 so see my husband trampled on by a cunning villain ! 
 
 " Why is there a future state, where everything is to 
 be different ? no hate ; no injustice ; all love. Why is it 
 not all of a piece ? Why begin wrong, if it is to end all 
 right ? If I was omnipotent, it should be right from the 
 first. — thou of little faith ! — Ah me ! it is hard to see 
 fools and devils, and realize angels unseen. Oh that I 
 could shut my eyes in faith, and go to sleep, and drift 
 on the right path: for I shall never take it with my 
 eyes open, and my heart bleeding for him." 
 
 Then her head fell languidly back, her eyes closed, 
 and the tears welled through them : they knew the way 
 by this time. 
 
218 A TEBRIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXII. 
 
 Next morning in came Mr. Angelo, ■with glowing 
 cheeks and sparkling eyes. 
 
 " I have got a letter, a most gratifying one. My friend 
 called on Mr. Eolfe, and gave him my lines ; and he 
 replies direct to me. May I read you his letter ? " 
 
 "Oh, yes." 
 
 Deab Sik, — The case you have sent me, of a gentleman 
 conflned on certificates by order of an interested relative, — as 
 you presume, for you have not seen the order, — and on ground*, 
 you think insufficient, is interesting, and some of it looks true ; 
 but there are gaps in the statement, and I dare not advise in. 
 so nice a matter till these are filled ; but that I suspect can only 
 be done by the lady herself. She had better call on me in 
 person ; it may be worth her while. At home every day, 10-3, 
 this week. As for yourself, you need not address me through 
 Greatrex. I have seen you pull No. 6, and afterwards stroke, 
 in the University boat, and you dived in Portsmouth harbor, 
 and saved a sailor. See ' ' Ryde Journal," Aug. 10, p. 4, col. 3 ; 
 cited in my Day-book, Aug. 10, and also in my Index hominum, 
 in voce "Angelo" — ha! ha! here^s a fellow for detail. 
 
 Yours very truly, Rolfe. 
 
 "And did you?" 
 
 "Did I what?" 
 
 " Dive, and save a soldier ? " 
 
 "No ; I nailed him just as he was sinking." 
 
 " How good and brave you are ! " 
 
 Angelo blushed like a girl. " It makes me too happy 
 to hear such words from you. But I vote we don't talk 
 about me. Will you call on Mr. Rolfe ? " 
 
A TEKRIBLE TEMPTATION. 219 
 
 "Is he married?" 
 
 Angelo opened his eyes at the question. 
 
 " I think not," said he ; " indeed, I know he is not." 
 
 " Covdd you get him down here ? " 
 
 Angelo shook his head. 
 
 "If he knew you — perhaps — but can you expect him 
 to come here upon your business ? These popular writers 
 are spoiled by the ladies. I doubt if he would walk 
 across the street to advise a stranger. Candidly, why 
 should he ? " 
 
 "No : and it was ridiculous vanity to suppose he would. 
 But I never called on a gentleman in my life." 
 
 " Take me with you. You can go up at nine, and be 
 back to a late dinner." 
 
 " I shall never have the courage to go. Let me have 
 his letter." 
 
 He gave her the letter, and she took it away. 
 
 At six o'clock she sent Mary Wells to Mr. Angelo with 
 a note to say she had studied Mr. Eolf e's letter, and there 
 was more in it than she had thought ; but his going off 
 from her husband to boat-racing seemed trivial, and she 
 could not make up her mind to go to London to con- 
 sult a novelist on such a serious matter. 
 
 At nine she sent to say she should go, but could not 
 think of dragging him there; she should take her 
 maid. 
 
 Before eleven she half repented this resolution, but 
 her maid kept her to it, and at half-past twelve next day 
 they reached Mr. EoLfe's door; an old-fashioned, mean- 
 looking house, in one of the briskest thoroughfares of 
 the metropolis ; a cab-stand opposite the door, and a tide 
 of omnibuses passing it. 
 
 Lady Bassett viewed the place discontentedly, and said 
 to herself, "What a poky little place for a writer to live 
 in ; how noisy, how unpoetical ! " 
 
220 A TEEBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 They knocked at the door. It was opened by a maid- 
 servant. 
 
 "IsMr. Eolfeathome?" 
 
 "Yes, ma'am. Please give me your card, and ■write 
 the business." 
 
 Lady Bassett took out her card, and wrote a line or 
 two on the back of it. The maid glanced at it, and 
 showed her into a room while she took the card to her 
 master. 
 
 The room was rather long, low, and nondescript. 
 Scarlet-flock paper. Curtains and sofas, green Utrecht 
 velvet. Woodwork and pillars, white and gold. Two 
 windows looking on the street. At the other end folding- 
 doors with scarcely any woodwork, all plate-glass, but 
 partly hidden by heavy curtains of the same color and 
 material as the others. 
 
 Accustomed to large, lofty rooms. Lady Bassett felt 
 herself in a long box here ; but the colors pleased her. 
 She said to Mary Wells, "What a funny, cosey little 
 place, for a gentleman to live in ! " 
 
 Mr. Rolfe was engaged with some one, and she was 
 kept waiting; this was quite new to her, and discouraged 
 her, already intimidated by the novelty of the situation. 
 
 She tried to encourage herself by saying it was for her 
 husband she did this unusual thing; but she felt very 
 miserable, and inclined to cry. 
 
 At last a bell rang; the maid came in, and invited 
 Lady Bassett to follow her. She opened the glass folding- 
 doors, and took them into a small conservatory, walled 
 like a grotto, with ferns sprouting out of rocky fissures, 
 and spars sparkling ; water dripping. Then she opefied 
 two more glass folding-doors, and ushered them into an 
 empty room, the like of which Lady Bassett had never 
 seen; it was large in itself, and multiplied tenfold by 
 great mirrors from floor to ceiling, with no frames but a 
 
A TEERIBLE TEMPTATION. 221 
 
 narrow oak beading ; opposite her, on entering, was a bay 
 window, all plate glass, the central panes of which opened, 
 like doors, upon a pretty little garden that glowed with 
 color, and was backed by fine trees belonging to the 
 nation : for this garden ran up to the wall of Hyde Park. 
 
 The numerous and large mirrors all down to the ground 
 laid hold of the garden and the flowers, and by double 
 and treble reflection filled the room with nooks of verdure 
 and color. 
 
 To confuse the eye still more, a quantity of young 
 India-rubber trees, with glossy leaves, were placed be- 
 fore the large central mirror. The carpet was a warm 
 velvet-pile, the walls were distempered, a French gray, 
 not cold, but with a tint of mauve that gave a warm and 
 cheering bloom ; this soothing color gave great effect to 
 the one or two masterpieces of painting that hung on 
 the walls, and to the gilt frames ; the furniture, oak, and 
 marqueterie highly polished ; the curtains, scarlet merino, 
 through which the sun shone, and, being a London sun, 
 diffused a mild rosy tint favorable to female faces. Not 
 a sound of London could be heard. 
 
 So far, the room was romantic ; but there was a prosaic 
 corner to shock those who fancy that fiction is the spon- 
 taneous overflow of a poetic fountain fed by nature only. 
 Between the fireplace and the window, and within a 
 foot or two of the wall, stood a gigantic writing-table, 
 with the signs of hard labor on it,, and of severe system. 
 Three plated buckets, each containing three pints, full of 
 letters to be answered, other letters to be pasted into a 
 classified guard-book, loose notes to be pasted into various 
 books and classified (for this writer used to sneer at the 
 learned men who say, " I will look among my papers for 
 it;" he held that every written scrap ought either to be 
 burned or pasted into a classified guard-book, where it 
 could be found by consulting the index) j five things like 
 
222 A TEKRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 bankers' bill-books, into whose several compartments 
 MS. notes and newspaper cuttings were thrown, as a 
 preliminary towards classification in books. 
 
 Underneatli the table was a formidable array of note- 
 books, standing upright, and labelled on their backs. 
 There were about twenty large folios of classified facts, 
 ideas, and pictures ; for the very woodcuts were all indexed 
 and classified on the plan of a tradesman's ledger ; there 
 was also the receipt-book of the year, treated on the 
 same plan. Eeceipts on a file would not do for this 
 romantic creature; if a tradesman brought a bill, he 
 must be able to turn to that tradesman's name in a book, 
 and prove in a moment whether it had been paid or not. 
 Then there was a collection of solid quartos, and of 
 smaller folio guard-books called Indexes. There was 
 " Index rerum et journalium," "Index rerum et librorum," 
 " Index rerum et hominum," and a lot more ; indeed, so 
 many that, by way of climax, there was a fat folio ledger 
 entitled " Index ad Indices." 
 
 By the side of the table were six or seven thick paste- 
 board cards, each about the size of a large portfolio, and 
 on these the author's notes and extracts were collected 
 from all his repertories into something like a focus for a 
 present purpose. He was writing a novel based on facts. 
 Facts, incidents, living dialogue, pictures, reflections, situ- 
 ations, were all on these cards to choose from, and arranged 
 in headed columns ; and some portions of the work he 
 was writing on this basis of imagination and drudgery 
 lay on the table in two forms, his own writing and his 
 secretary's copy thereof, the latter corrected for the press. 
 This copy was half margin, and so provided for additions 
 and improvements, but for one addition there were ten 
 excisions, great and small. 
 
 Lady Bassett had just time to take in the beauty and 
 artistic character of the place, and to realize the appall- 
 
A TEKBEBLE TEMPTATION. 223 
 
 ing drudgeiy that stamped it a workshop, when the 
 author, who had dashed into his garden for a moment's 
 recreation, came to the window and furnished contrast 
 No. 3, for he looked neither like a poet nor a drudge, but 
 a great fat country farmer. He was rather tall, very 
 portly, smallish head, commonplace features, mild brown 
 eye not very bright, short beard, and wore a suit of tweed 
 all one color. Such looked the writer of romances founded 
 on facts. He rolled up to the window, — for, if he looked 
 like a farmer, he walked like a sailor, — and stepped into 
 the room. 
 
224 A TEKBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Mk. Eolpe surveyed the two women with a mild, 
 inofEensive, ox-like gaze, and invited them to be seated 
 with homely civility. 
 
 He sat down at his desk, and turning to Lady Bassett, 
 said rather dreamily, " One moment, please : let me look 
 at the case, and my notes." 
 
 First his homely appearance, and now a certain lan- 
 guor about his manner, discouraged Lady Bassett more 
 than it need, for all artists must pay for their excite- 
 ments with occasional languor. Her hands trembled, 
 and she began to gulp and try not to cry. 
 
 Mr. Eolfe observed directly, and said rather kindly, 
 " You are agitated — and no wonder." 
 
 He then opened a sort of china closet, poured a few 
 drops of colorless liquid from a tiny bottle into a wine- 
 glass, and filled the glass with water from a filter. 
 " Drink that, if you please." 
 
 She looked at him, with her eyes brimming. " Must I ? " 
 
 " Yes, it will do you good for once in a way. It is 
 only Ig'natia." 
 
 She drank it by degrees, and a tear along with it that 
 fell into the glass. 
 
 Meantime Mr. Eolfe had returned to his notes and 
 examined them ; he then addressed her, half stiffly, half 
 kindly. 
 
 "Lady Bassett — whatever may be your husband's 
 condition, whether his illness is mental or bodily, or a 
 mixture of the two — his clandestine examination by 
 bought physicians, and his violent capture, the natural 
 
A TBBRIBIiB TEMPTATION. 225 
 
 effect of wMcli must hare been to excite liiiii and letard 
 his cure, were wicked and barbarous acts, oontiary to 
 God's lav, and the common law of England, and, indeed, 
 to all hnman law, except oar shallow incautious Statutes 
 de Lunatico : they were an insult to yourself who ought, 
 at least, to have been consulted, for your rights are 
 higher and purer than Bichard Bassetf s : therefore, as 
 a wife bereaved of your husband by fraud and violence, 
 and the bare letter of a paltry statute whose spirit has 
 been violated, you are quite justified in coming to me, 
 or to any public man you think can help your husband 
 and you." Then with a certain bonhomie, " So lay aside 
 your nervousness : let us go into this matter sensibly ; 
 like a big man and a little man, or like an old woman 
 and a young woman, whichever you prefer." 
 
 IJadyBassett looked at him, and smiled assent; she 
 felt a great deal more at her ease after this opening. 
 
 " I dare not advise you yet. I must know more than 
 Mr. Angelo has told me. Will you answer my questions 
 frankly?" 
 
 « I win try, sir." 
 
 "Whose idea was it, confining Sir Charles Bassett to 
 the house so much ? " 
 
 "His own. He felt himself unfit for society." 
 
 " Did he describe his ailment to you then ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " All the better : what did he say ? " 
 
 " He said that, at times, a cloud seemed to come into 
 his head, and then he lost all power of mind : and he 
 could not bear to be seen in that condition." 
 
 " This was after the epileptic seizure ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "Humph! Now wiU you tell me how Mr. Bassett^ 
 by mere words, eould so enrage Sir Charles as to g^ve 
 him a fit?" 
 Ifi 
 
226 A TBKKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 Lady Bassett hesitated. 
 
 "What did he say to Sir Charles ? " 
 
 " He did not speak ^;o him. His child and nurse were 
 there, and he called out loud for Sir Charles to hear, and 
 told the nurse to hold up his child to look at his inher- 
 itance." 
 
 " Malicious fool ! But did this enrage Sir Charles so 
 much as to give him a fit ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " He must be very sensitive." 
 
 " On that subject." 
 
 Mr. Eolfe was silent; and now, for the first time, 
 appeared to think intently. 
 
 His study bore fruit apparently; for he turned to 
 Lady Bassett, and said suddenly, " What is the strangest 
 thing Sir Charles has said of late — the very strangest ? " 
 
 Lady Bassett turned red, and then pale, and made no 
 reply. 
 
 Mr. Eolfe rose, and walked up to Mary Wells. 
 
 "What is the maddest thing your master has ever 
 said?" 
 
 Mary Wells, instead of replying, looked at her mis- 
 tress. 
 
 The writer instantly put his great body between them. 
 " Come, none of that," said he. " I don't want a false- 
 hood ; I want the truth." 
 
 "La, sir, I don't know. My master he is not mad, 
 I'm sure; the queerest thing he ever said was, he did 
 say at one time 'twas writ on his face as he had no 
 children." 
 
 " Ah ! And that is why he would not go abroad, per- 
 haps." 
 
 " That was one reason, sir, I do suppose." 
 
 Mr. Kolfe put his hands behind his back, and walked 
 thoughtfully, and rather disconsolately, back to his seat. 
 
A TEKEIBLE TEMPTATION. 227 
 
 " Humph ! " said he. Then, after a pause, " Well, 
 well ; I know the worst now ; that is one comfort. 
 Lady Bassett, you really must be candid with me. Con- 
 sider ; good advice is like a tight glove ; it fits the cir- 
 cumstances, and it does not fit other circumstances. No 
 man advises so badly on a false and partial statement as 
 I do, for the very reason that my advice is a close fit. 
 Even now, I can't understand Sir Charles's despair of 
 having children of his own." 
 
 The writer then turned his looks on the two women, 
 with an entire absence of expression : the sense of his 
 eyes was turned inwards, though the orbs were directed 
 towards his visitors. 
 
 With this laek-lustre gaze, and in the tone of thought- 
 ful soliloquy, he said, " Has Sir Charles Bassett no eyes ? 
 and are there women so furtive, so secret, or so bashful, 
 they do not tell their husbands ? " 
 
 Lady Bassett turned, with a scared look, to Mary 
 Wells, and that young woman showed her usual readi- 
 ness. She actually came to Mr. Eolfe, and half-whis- 
 pered to him, "If you please, sir, gentlemen are blind, 
 and my lady she is very bashful ; but Sir Charles knows 
 it now ; he have known it a good while ; and it was a 
 great comfort to him: he was getting better, sir, when 
 the villains took him : ever so much better." 
 
 This solution silenced Mr. Rolfe, though it did not 
 quite satisfy him. He fastened on Mary Wells's last 
 statement. " Now tell me ; between the day when those 
 two doctors got into his apartment, and the day of his 
 capture, how long ? " 
 
 " About a fortnight." 
 
 " And in that particular fortnight, was there a marked 
 improvement ? " 
 
 " La, yes, sir ; was there not, my lady ? " 
 
 "Indeed, there was, sir. He was beginning to take 
 
228 A TERKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 walks .with me in the garden, and rides in an open car- 
 riage. He was getting better every day; and oh, sir, 
 that is what breaks my heart ; I was curing my darling 
 so fast, and now they will do all they can to destroy him. 
 Their not letting his wife see him terrifies me." 
 
 "I think I can explain that. !N"ow tell me — what 
 time do you expect a certain event ? " 
 
 Lady Bassett blushed, and cast a hasty glance at the 
 speaker; but he had a piece of paper before him, and 
 was preparing to take down her reply, with the inno- 
 cent face of a man who had asked a simple and neces- 
 sary question, in the way of business. 
 
 Then Lady Bassett looked at Mary Wells, and this 
 look Mr. Bolfe surprised, because he himself looked up, 
 to see why the lady hesitated. 
 
 After an expressive glance between the mistress and 
 maid, the lady said, almost inaudibly, " More than three 
 months," and then she blushed all over. 
 
 Mr. Bolfe looked at the two women a moment, and 
 seemed a little puzzled at their telegraphing each other 
 on such a subject, but he coolly noted down Lady Bas- 
 sett's reply, on a card about the size of a foolscap sheet ; 
 and then set himself to write on the same card the 
 other facts he had elicited. 
 
 Whilst he was doing this very slowly, with great care 
 and pains, the lady was eying him, like a zoologist study- 
 ing some new animal; the simplicity and straightfor- 
 wardness of his last question won by degrees upon her 
 judgment and reconciled her to her inquisitor, the more 
 so, as he was quiet but intense, and his whole soul in 
 her case. She began to respect his simple straightfor- 
 wardness, his civility without a grain of gallantry, and 
 his caution in eliciting all the facts before he would 
 advise. 
 
 After he had written down this synopsis, looking all 
 
A TEERIBLE TEMPTATION. 229 
 
 the time as if his life depended on its correctness, he 
 leaned back, and his ordinary but mobile countenance 
 was transfigured into geniality. 
 
 " Come," said he, " grandmamma has pestered you with 
 questions enough ; now you retort : ask me anything — 
 speak your mind — these things should be attacked in 
 every form, and sifted with every sieve." 
 
 Lady Bassett hesitated a moment, but at last responded 
 to this invitation. 
 
 "Sir, one thing that discourages me cruelly — my 
 solicitor seems so inferior to Mr. Bassett's. He can 
 think of nothing but objections, so he does nothing, and 
 lets us be trampled on ; it is his being unable to cope 
 with Mr. Bassett's solicitor, Mr. Wheeler, that has led 
 me in my deep distress to trouble you, whom I had not 
 the honor of knowing." 
 
 " I understand your ladyship perfectly ; Mr. Oldfield 
 is a respectable solicitor, and Wheeler is a sharp country 
 practitioner, and, to use my favorite Americanism, you 
 feel like fighting with a blunt knife against a sharp one." 
 
 " That is my feeling, sir, and it drives me almost wild 
 sometimes." 
 
 " For your comfort, then, in my earlier litigations — 
 I have had sixteen lawsuits, for myself and other 
 oppressed people — I had often that very impression, 
 but the result always corrected it. Legal battles are 
 like other battles ; first you have a skirmish or twoj and 
 then a great battle in court. Now sharp attorneys are 
 very apt to win the skirmish — and lose the battle. I 
 see a general of this stamp in Mr. Wheeler, and you 
 need not fear him much. Of course an antagonist is 
 never to be despised ; but I would rather have Wheeler 
 against you than Oldfield. An honest man like Oldfield 
 blunders into wisdom, the Lord knows how. Your 
 WJieelers seldom get beyond cunning; and cunning 
 
230 A TEKKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 does not see far enough to cope with men of real sagacity 
 and forethought in matters so complicated as this. Old- 
 field, acting for Bassett, would have pushed rapidly on 
 to an examination by the court. You would have evaded 
 it, and put yourself in the wrong ; and the inquiry, well 
 urged, might have been adverse to Sir Charles. Wheeler 
 has taken a more cunning and violent course : it strikes 
 more terror, does more immediate harm — but what does 
 it lead to ? Very little ; and it disarms them of their 
 sharpest weapon, the immediate inquiry; for we could 
 now delay and greatly prejudice an inquiry, on the very 
 ground of the outrage and unnecessary violence, and 
 could demand time to get the patient as well as he was 
 before the outrage. And indeed the court is very jealous 
 of those who begin by going to a judge, and then alter 
 their minds and try to dispose of the case themselves. 
 And to make matters worse, here they do it by straining 
 an Act of Parliament opposed to equity." 
 
 "I wish it may prove so, sir; but, meanwhile, Mr. 
 Wheeler is active, Mr. Oldfield is passive. He has not 
 an idea. He is a mere negative." 
 
 " Ah, that is because he is out of his groove. A smat' 
 tering of law is not enough here ; it wants a smattering 
 of human nature, too." 
 
 "Then, sir, would you advise me to part with Mr. 
 Oldfield ? " 
 
 " No. Why make an enemy ? Besides, he is the vehicle 
 of communication with the other side. You must simply 
 ignore him for a tinie." 
 
 " But is there nothing I can do, sir ? for it is this cruel 
 inactivity that kills me. Pray advise me — you know 
 all now." 
 
 Mr. Eolfe, thus challenged, begged for a moment's 
 delay. 
 
 " Let us be silent a minute," said he, " and think hard." 
 
A TERKIBLB TEMPTATION. 231 
 
 And to judge by his face, he did think with great 
 intensity. 
 
 " Lady Bassett," said he very gravely, " I assume that 
 every fact you and Mr. Angelo have laid before me is true, 
 and no vital part is kept back. Well, then, your present 
 course is — delay. Not the weak delay of those who 
 procrastinate what cannot be avoided, but the wise delay 
 of a general who can bring up overpowering forces, only 
 give him time. Understand me, there is more than one 
 game on the cards, but I prefer the surest. We could 
 begin fighting openly to-morrow, but that would be risk- 
 ing too much for too little. The law's delay, the inso- 
 lence of office, the uphill and thorny way, would hurt 
 Sir Charles's mind at present. The apathy, the cruelty, 
 the trickery, the routine, the hot and cold fits of hope 
 and fear, would poison your blood, and perhaps lose Sir 
 Charles the heir he pines for. Besides, if we give battle 
 to-day, we fight the heir-at-law ; but in three or four 
 months, we may have him on our side, and trustees 
 appointed by you. By that time, too. Sir Charles will 
 have got over that abominable capture, and be better 
 than he was a week ago, constantly soothed and con- 
 soled, as he will be, by the hope of offspring. When 
 the right time comes, that moment we strike, and with 
 a sledge-hammer : no letters to the commissioners then, 
 no petitioning Chancery to send a jury into the asylum, 
 stronghold of prejudice. I will cut your husband in two. 
 Don't be alarmed. I will merely give him, with your 
 help, an alter ego, who shall effect his liberation, and 
 ruin Eichard Bassett ; ruin him in damages and costs, 
 and drive him out of the country, perhaps. Meantime, 
 you are not to be a lay-figure or a mere negative." 
 
 " Oh, sir, I am so glad of that ! " 
 
 "Far from that ; you will act defensively. Mr. Bassett 
 has one chance. You must be the person to extinguish 
 
232 A TERKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 it. Injudicious treatment in the asylum might retard 
 Sir Charles's cure. Their leeches and their sedatives^ 
 administered by sucking apothecaries, who reason a priori, 
 instead of watching the effect of these things on the 
 patient, might seriously injure your husband, for his dis- 
 order is connected with a weak circulation of blood in 
 the vessels of the brain. We must therefore guard against 
 that at once. To work, then. Who keeps this famous 
 asylum ? " 
 
 "Dr. Suaby." 
 
 " Suaby ? I know that name. He has been here, I 
 think. I must look in my Index rerum et hominum. 
 Suaby ? Not down. Try Asyla. — Asyla ; " Suaby : see 
 
 letter-book for the year , p. 368." An old letter-book. 
 
 I must go elsewhere for that." 
 
 He went out, and after some time returned with a 
 folio letter-book. 
 
 " Here are two letters to me from Dr. Suaby detailing 
 his system, and inviting me to spend a week at his asy- 
 lum. Come, come. Sir Charles is with a man who does 
 not fear inspection ; for, at this date, I was bitter against 
 private asylums, rather indiscriminately so I fear. Stay ! 
 he visited me; I thought so. Here's a description of 
 him : ' A pale, thoughtful man, with a remarkably mild 
 eye: is against restraint of lunatics, and against all 
 punishment of them, — Quixotically so ; being cross- 
 examined, declares that if a patient gave him a black 
 eye, he would not let a keeper handle him roughly, being 
 irresponsible.' No more would I, if I could give him a 
 good licking myself. Please study these two letters 
 closely ; you may get a clew how to deal with the amiable 
 writer in person." , 
 
 " Oh, thank you, Mr. Eolfe," said Lady Bassett, flush- 
 ing all over. She was so transported at having something 
 to do. She quietly devoured the letters, and, after she 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 233 
 
 had read them, said a load of fear was now taken o£E her 
 mind. 
 
 Mr. Kolfe shook his head. 
 
 "Ton must not rely on Dr. Suabj too mach. In a 
 prison, or an asylum, each functionary is important in 
 exact proportion to his nominal insignificance ; and why ? 
 because the greater his nominal unimportance, the more 
 he comes in actual contact with the patient ; the theoreti- 
 cal scale runs thus : 1st, The presiding physician. 2d, 
 The medical subordinates. 3d, The keepers and nurses. 
 The practical scale runs thus : 1st, The keepers and 
 nurses. 2d, The medical attendants. 3d, The presiding 
 physician." 
 
 " I am glad to hear you say so, sir ; for, when I went 
 to the asylum, and the medical attendant, Mr. Salter, 
 would not let me see my husband, I gave his keeper and 
 the nurse a little money, to be kind to him in his con- 
 finement" 
 
 " You did ! yet you come here for advice ? This is the 
 way; a man discourses and argues, and, by profound 
 reasoning — that is, by what he thinks profound, and it 
 isn't — arrives at the right thing : and lo ! a woman with 
 her understanding heart, and her hard good sense, goes 
 and does that wise thing humbly, without a word. Sos- 
 suM coBDA ! — Cheer up, loving heart ! " shouted he, 
 like the roar of a lion in ecstasies ; " you have done a 
 master-stroke — without Oldfield, or Holfe, or any other 
 man." 
 
 I^dy Bassett clasped her hands with joy, and some 
 electric fire seemed to run through her veins; for she 
 was all sensibilities, and this sudden triumphant roaring 
 out of strong words was quite new to her, and carried 
 her away. 
 
 "Well," sai4 the eccentric persom^e, cooling quite as 
 suddenly as he had fired, " the only improvement I can 
 
234 A TEEEIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 suggest is — be a little more precise at your next visit ; 
 promise his keepers twenty guineas apiece, the day Sir 
 Charles is cured ; and promise them ten guineas apiece 
 not to administer one drop of medicine for the next two 
 months; and, of course, no leech nor blister. The cursed 
 sedatives they believe in are destruction to Sir Charles 
 Bassett. His circulation must not be made too slow one ■ 
 day, and too fast the next, which is the effect of a seda- 
 tive, but made regular by exercise, and nourishing food. 
 So, then, you will square the keepers, by their cupidity ; 
 the doctor is on the right side 'per se. Shall we rely on 
 these two, and ignore the medical attendants ? What is 
 the key to these medical attendants ? Hum ! Try 
 flunkeyism. I have great faith in British flunkeyism. 
 Pay your next visit with four horses, two outriders, and 
 blazing liveries. Don't dress in perfect taste like that ; 
 go in fii.er clothes than you ever wore in the morning, or 
 ought to wear, except at a wedding ; go, not as a peti- 
 tioner, but as a queen, and dazzle snobs ; the which being 
 dazzled, then tickle their vanity : don't speak of Sir 
 Charles as an injured man, nor as a man unsound in 
 mind, but a gentleman who is rather ill, 'but now, 
 gentlemen, I feel your remarkable skill will soon set him 
 right.' Your husband runs that one risk; make him 
 safe ; a few smiles, and a little flattery, will do it : and 
 if not, why, fight with all a woman's weapons. Don't be 
 too nice : we must all hold a candle to the devil once in 
 our lives ; a wife's love sanctifies a woman's arts in fight- 
 ing with a villain, and disarming donkeys." 
 
 " Oh, I wish I was there now ! " 
 
 " You are excited, madam," said he severely. " That 
 is out of place — in a deliberative assembly." 
 
 "No, no: only I want to be there, doing all this for 
 my dear husband." 
 
 " You are very excited, and it is my fault. You must 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 235 
 
 be hungry, too : you have come a journey. There will 
 be a reaction, and then you will be hysterical. Your 
 temperament is of that kind." 
 
 He rang a bell, ordered his maid-servant to bring some 
 beef wafers and a pint of dry champagne. 
 
 Lady Bassett remonstrated, but he told her to be 
 quiet ; " for," said he, " I have a smattering of medicine, 
 as well as of law and of human nature. Sir Charles 
 must correspond with you. Probably he has already 
 ivritten you six letters, complaining of this monstrous 
 act, — a sane man incarcerated. Well, that class of letter 
 goes into a letter-box in the hall of an asylum, but it 
 never reaches its address. Please take a pen, and write 
 a formula." He dictated as follows : — 
 
 My deab Love, — The trifling illness I had when I came 
 here is beginning to give way to the skill and attention of the 
 medical gentlemen here. They are all most kind and atten- 
 tive. The place, as it is conducted, is a credit to the country. 
 
 Lady Bassett's eyes sparkled. " Oh, Mr. Eolfe, is not 
 this rather artful ? " 
 
 " And is it not artful to put up a letter-box, encourage 
 the writing of letters, and then open them, and suppress 
 whatever is disagreeable ? May every man who opens 
 another man's letter find that letter a trap ! Here comes 
 your medicine. Yon never drink champagne in the 
 middle of the day, of course ? " 
 
 « Oh, no." 
 
 " Then it will be all the better medicine." 
 
 He made both mistress and maid eat the thin slices of 
 beef, and drink a glass of champagne. 
 
 Whilst they were thus fortifying themselves, he wrote 
 his address on some stamped envelopes, and gave them 
 to Lady Bassett, and told her she had better write to 
 him at once, if anything occurred. "You must also 
 
236 A TBEEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 write to me if you really cannot get to see your husband. 
 Then I will come down myself, with the public press at 
 my back. But I am sure that will not be necessary in 
 Dr. Suaby's asylum. He is a better Christian than I am, 
 confound him for it ! You went too soon ; your husband 
 had been agitated by the capture; Suaby was away; 
 Salter had probably applied what he imagined to be 
 soothing remedies, leeches — a blister — morphia. Re- 
 sult, the patient was so much worse than he was before 
 they touched him, that Salter was ashamed to let you 
 see him. Having really excited him, instead of soothing 
 him. Sawbones Salter had to pretend that you would 
 excite him. As if creation contained any mineral, drug, 
 simple, leech, Spanish fly, gadfly, or shower-bath, so 
 soothing as a loving wife is to a man in affliction. New 
 reading of an old song, — 
 
 ' If the heart of a man is oppressed with cares, 
 It makes him much worse when a woman appears.' 
 
 Go tp-morrow : you will see him. He will be worse than 
 he was, but not much. Somebody will have told him 
 that his wife put him in there ' — 
 
 "Oh, oh!" 
 
 "And he will not have believed it. His father was a 
 Bassett, his mother a Le Compton ; his great-great-great- 
 grandmother was a Eolf e ; there is no cur's blood in him. 
 After the flrst shock he will have found the spirit and 
 dignity of a gentleman, to sustain adversity ; these men 
 of fashion are like that: they are better steel than 
 women — and writers." 
 
 When he had said this he indicated by his manner 
 that he thought he had exhausted the subject and him- 
 self. 
 
 Lady Bassett rose and said, " Then, sir, I will take my 
 leave ; and oh, I am sorry I have not your eloquent pen, 
 
A TBBRIBLB TEMPTATION. 237 
 
 or your eloquent tongue, to thank you. You have inter- 
 ested yourself in a stranger, you have brought the power 
 of a great mind to bear on our distress. I came here a 
 widow : now I feel a wife again. Your good words have 
 warmed my very heart. I can only pray God to bless 
 you, sir." 
 
 " Pray say no more, madam," said Mr. Rolfe hastily. 
 " A gentleman cannot be always writing lies ; an hour 
 or two given to truth and justice is a wholesome diver- 
 sion. At all events don't thank me till my advice has 
 proved worth it." 
 
 He rang the bell : the servant came, and showed the 
 way to the street door. Mr. Eolfe followed^ them to the 
 passage only, whence he bowed ceremoniously once more 
 to Lady Bassett as she went out. 
 
 As she passed into the street she heard a fearful clat- 
 ter. It was her counsellor tearing back to his interrupted 
 novel like a distracted bullock. 
 
 " Well, I don't think much of Ae," said Mary Wells. 
 
 Lady Bassett was mute to that, and all the journey 
 home very absorbed and taciturn: impregnated with 
 ideas she could not have invented, but was more able to 
 execute than the inventor. She was absorbed in digest- 
 ing Eolfe's every word, and fixing his map in her mind, 
 and filling in details to his outline ; so small-talk stung 
 her. She gave her companion very short answers, espe- 
 cially when she disparaged Mr. Eolfe. 
 
 "You couldn't get in a word edgeways," said Mary 
 Wells. 
 
 " I went to hear wisdom, and not to clatter." 
 
 " He doesn't think small beer of hisself, anyhow." 
 
 " How can he, and see other men ? " 
 
 " Well, I don't think much of him, for my part." 
 
 " I dare say the Queen of Sheba's lady's-maid thought 
 Solomon a silly thing." 
 
238 A TEKBIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 "I don't know; that was afore my time" (rather 
 pertly). 
 
 " Of course it was, or you couldn't imitate her." 
 
 On reaching home she ordered a light dinner up-stairs, 
 and sent directions to the coachman and grooms. 
 
 At nine next morning the four-in-hand came round, 
 and they started for the asylum; coachman and two 
 more in brave liveries ; two outriders. 
 
 Twenty miles from Huntercombe they changed the 
 wheelers, two fresh horses having been sent on at night. 
 
 They drove in at the lodge-gate of Bellevue House, 
 which was left ostentatiously open, and soon drew up 
 at the hall door, and set many a pale face peeping from 
 the upper windows. 
 
 The door opened, the respectable servant came out, 
 with a respectful air. 
 
 « Is Mr. Salter at home, sir ? " 
 
 " No, madam. Mr. Coyne is in charge to-day." 
 
 Lady Bassett was glad to hear that, and asked if she 
 might be allowed to see Mr. Coyne. 
 
 " Certainly, madam. I'll tell him at once," was the 
 reply. 
 
 Determined to enter the place, Lady Bassett re- 
 quested her people to open the carriage door ; and she 
 was in the act of getting out, when Mr. Coyne appeared, 
 a little oily, bustling man, with a good-humored, vulgar 
 face liable to a subservient pucker : he wore it directly 
 at sight of a fine woman, fine clothes, fine footmen, and 
 fine horses. 
 
 "Mr. Coyne, I believe," said Lady Bassett, with a fas- 
 cinating smile. 
 
 " At your service, madam." 
 
 " May I have a word in private with you, sir ? " 
 
 "Certainly, madam." 
 
 "We have come a long way. May the horses be fed?" 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 239 
 
 " I am afraid," said the little man apologetically, " I 
 must ask you to send them to the inn. It is close by." 
 
 "By all means." (To one of the outriders) " You will 
 wait here for orders." 
 
 Mary Wells had been already instructed to wait in the 
 hall and look out sharp for Sir Charles's keeper and 
 nurse, and tell them her ladyship wanted to speak to 
 them privately, and it would be money in their way. 
 
 Lady Bassett, closeted with Mr. Coyne, began first to 
 congratulate herself. 
 
 " Mr. Bassett," said she, " is no friend of mine, bu^ he 
 has done me a kindness in sending Sir Charles here, 
 when he might have sent him to some place where he 
 might have been made worse instead of better. Here, I 
 conclude, gentlemen of your ability will soon cure his 
 trifling disorder, will you not ? " 
 
 "I have good hopes, your ladyship: he is better 
 to-day." 
 
 " Now, I dare say, you could teU me to a month when 
 he will be cured." 
 
 " Oh, your ladyship exaggerates my skill too much." 
 
 "Three months?" 
 
 " That is a short time to give ub ; but your ladyship 
 may rely on it we will do our best." 
 
 " Will you ? Then I have no fear of the result. Oh, 
 by the by, Dr. Willis wanted me to take a message to 
 you, Mr. Coyne. He knows you, by reputation/' 
 
 "Indeed! Eeally, I was not aware that my hum^ 
 ble" — 
 
 , " Then you are better known than you, in your mod- 
 esty, supposed. Let me see : what was the message ? 
 Oh, it was a peculiarity in Sir Charles he wished you to 
 know. Dr. Willis has attended him from a boy, and he 
 wished me to tell you that morphia and other sedatives 
 have some very bad effects on him. I told Dr. Willis 
 
240 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 you would probably find that and everything else out, 
 without a hint from him or any one else." 
 
 " Yes, but I will make a note of it, for all that." 
 
 " That is very kind of you. It will flatter the doctor, 
 the more so as he has so high an opinion of you. But 
 now, Mr. Coyne, I suppose if I am very good, and promise 
 to soothe him, and not excite him, I may see my husband 
 to-day?" 
 
 "Certainly, madam. You have an order from the 
 person who " — 
 
 "I forgot to bring it with me. I relied on your 
 humanity." 
 
 " That is unfortunate. I am afraid I must not " — he 
 hesitated, looked very uncomfortable, and said he would 
 consult Mr. Appleton; then, suddenly puckering his 
 face into obsequiousness, " Would your ladyship like to 
 inspect some of our arrangements for the comfort of our 
 patients ? " 
 
 Lady Bassett would have declined the proposal, but 
 for the singular play of countenance ; she was herself all 
 eye and mind, so she said, gravely, "I shall be very 
 happy, sir." 
 
 Mr. Coyne then led the way, and showed her a large 
 sitting-room, where some ladies were seated at different 
 occupations and amusements. They kept more apart 
 from each other than ladies do in general ; but this was 
 the only sign a far more experienced observer than Lady 
 Bassett could have discovered, the nurses having sprung 
 from authoritative into unobtrusive positions at the sound 
 of Mr. Coyne's footsteps outside. 
 
 " What ! " said Lady Bassett, " are all these ladies " — 
 She hesitated. 
 
 " Every one," said Mr. Coyne ; " and some incurably." 
 
 " Oh, please let us retire ; I have no right to gratify 
 my curiosity. Poor things, they don't seem unhappy," 
 
A TEKBIBLE TEMPTATION. 241 
 
 " Unhappy ! " said Mr. Coyne. " We don't allow iin- 
 happiness here ; our doctor is too fond of them ; he is 
 always contriving something to please them." 
 
 At this moment Lady Bassett looked up, and saw a 
 woman watching her over the rail of a corridor on the 
 first floor. She recognized the face directly ; the woman 
 made her a rapid signal, and then disappeared into one 
 of the rooms. 
 
 " Would there be any objection to our going up-stairs, 
 Mr. Coyne ? " said Lady Bassett, with a calm voice, and 
 a heart thumping violently. 
 
 "Oh, none whatever. I'll conduct you; but there I 
 am afraid I must leave you for a time." 
 
 He showed her up-stairs, blew a whistle, handed her 
 over to an attendant, and bowed and smiled himself 
 away grotesquely. 
 
 Jones was the very keeper she had feed last visit. 
 She flushed with joy at sight of bull-necked burly 
 Jones. " Oh, Mr. Jones ! " said she, putting her hands 
 together, with a look that might have melted a hang- 
 man. 
 
 Jones winked, and watched Mr. Coyne out of sight. 
 "I have seen your ladyship's maid," said he confi- 
 dentially. "It is all right; Mr. Coyne have got the 
 blinkers on. Only pass me your word not to excite 
 him." 
 
 "Oh, no, sir, I will soothe him." And she trembled 
 all over. 
 
 " Sally ! " cried Jones. 
 
 The nurse came out of a room, and held the door ajar ; 
 she whispered, "I have prepared him, madam; he is all 
 right." 
 
 Lady Bassett, by a great effort, kept her feet from 
 rushing, her heart from crying out with joy, and she 
 entered the room. Sally closed the door like a shot, 
 16 
 
242 -A TERBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 with a delicacy one would hardly have given her credit 
 for, to judge from appearances. 
 
 Sir Charles stood in the middle of the room, teaming 
 to receive her, but restraining himself. They met ; he 
 held her to his heart ; she wept for joy and grief upon 
 his neck. Neither spoke for a long time. 
 
A TEBICIBIiB TEMPTATION. 243 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Thet were seated hand in hand, comparing notes and 
 comforting each other. Then Lady Bassett met with a 
 great surprise: forgetting, or rather not realizing, Sir 
 Charles's sex and character, she began with a heavy heart 
 to play the consoler; but, after he had embraced her 
 many times with tender rapture, and thanked God for 
 the sight of her, lo and behold, this doughty baronet 
 claimed his rights of manhood, and, in spite of his 
 capture, his incarceration, and his malady, set to work 
 to console her, instead of lying down to be consoled. 
 
 " My darling Bella," said he, " don't you make a moun- 
 tain of a mole-hill. The moment you told me I should 
 be a father, I began to get better, and to laugh at 
 Hichard Bassett's malice. Of course I was terribly 
 knocked over at first, by being captured like a felon and 
 clapped under lock and key ; but I am getting over that. 
 My head gets muddled once a day, that is all. They 
 gave me some poison the first day, that made me drunk 
 twelve hours after ; but they have not repeated it." 
 
 "Oh!" cried Lady Bassett, "then don't let me lose a 
 moment. How could I forget ? " She opened the door, 
 and called in Mr. Jones and the nurse. 
 
 "Mr. Jones," said she, "the first day my husband 
 came here, Mr. Salter gave him a sedative, or something, 
 and it made him much worse." 
 
 "It always do make 'em worse," said Jones bluntly. 
 
 « Then why did he give it ? " 
 
 " Out o' book, ma'ani. His sort don't see how the medi- 
 cines work ; but we do, as are always about the patient." 
 
244 A TEREIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 "Mr. Jones," said Lady Bassett, "if Mr. Salter, or 
 anybody prescribes, it is you who administer the medi- 
 cine." 
 
 Jones assented with a wink. Winking was his foible, 
 as puckering of the face was Coyne's. 
 
 " Should you be offended if I were to offer you and 
 the nurse ten guineas a month to pretend you had given 
 him Mr. Salter's medicines, and not do it ? " 
 
 " Oh, that is not much to do for a gentleman like Sir 
 Charles," said Jones. "But I didn't ought to take so 
 much money for that. To be sure I suppose the lady 
 won't miss it." 
 
 "Don't you be a donkey, Jones," said Sir Charles, 
 cutting short his hypocrisy. " Take whatever you can 
 get ; only earn it." 
 
 " Oh, what I takes I earns." 
 
 " Of course," said Sir Charles. " So that is settled. 
 You have got to physic those flower-pots instead of me, 
 that is all." 
 
 The view of things tickled Jones so, that he roared 
 with laughter. However, he recollected himself all of a 
 sudden, and stopped with ludicrous abruptness. 
 
 He said to Lady Bassett with homely kindness, " You 
 go home comfortable, my lady : you have taken the stick 
 by the right end." He then had the good sense to retire 
 from the room. 
 
 Then Lady Bassett told Sir Charles of her visit to 
 London, and her calling on Mr. Eolfe. 
 
 He looked blank at his wife calling on a bachelor; 
 but her description of the man, his age, and his sim- 
 plicity, reconciled him to that ; and, when she told him 
 the plan and order of campaign Mr. Eolfe had given her, 
 he approved it very earnestly. 
 
 He fastened in particular on something that Mr. Bolfe 
 had dwelt lightly on. " Dear as the sight of you is to 
 
A TERBIBLE TEMPTATION. 245 
 
 me, sweet as the sound of your loved voice is to my ears 
 and to my heart, I would rather not see you again until 
 our hopes are realized than jeopardize that." Lady 
 Bassett sighed; for this seemed rather morbid. Sir 
 Charles went on, "So think of your own health first, and 
 avoid agitations. I am tormented with fear, lest that 
 monster should take advantage of my absence to molest 
 you ; if he does, leave Huntercombe. Yes, leave it ; go 
 to London — go, even for my sake ; my health and happi- 
 ness depend on you; they cannot be much affected by 
 anything that happens here. ' Stone walls do not a 
 prison make, nor iron bars a cage.'" 
 
 Lady Bassett promised, but said she could not keep 
 away from him, and he must often write to her. She 
 gave him Eolfe's formula, and told him all letters would 
 pass that praised the asylum. 
 
 Sir Charles made a wry face. 
 
 Lady Bassett's wrist went round his neck in a moment. 
 
 " Oh, Charles dear ; for my sake — hold a little, little 
 , candle to the devil. Mr. Rolfe says we must. Oblige 
 me in this — I am not so noble as you — and then I'll be 
 very good and obedient in what your heart is set upon." 
 
 At last Sir Charles consented. 
 
 Then they made haste and told each other everything 
 that had happened, and it was late in the afternoon 
 before they parted. 
 
 Lady Bassett controlled her tears at parting as well as 
 she could. 
 
 Mr. Coyne had slyly hid himself, but he emerged when 
 she came down to the carriage ; and she shook him warmly 
 by the hand, and he bowed at the door incessantly, 
 with his face all in a pucker, till the cavalcade dashed 
 away. 
 
246 A TBBBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXV. 
 
 Lady Bassett timed her next visit so that she found 
 Dr. Suaby at home. 
 
 He received her kindly, and showed himself a master; 
 told her Sir Charles's was a mixed case, in which the 
 fall, the fit, and a morbid desire for offspring had all 
 played their parts. 
 
 He hoped a speedy cure, but said he counted on her 
 assistance. There was no doubt what he meant. 
 
 "Oh, for one thing," he said to her rather slyly, 
 " Coyne tells me you have been good enough to supply 
 us with a hint as to his treatment ; sedatives are opposed 
 to his idiosyncrasy." 
 
 Lady Bassett blushed high, and said something about 
 Dr. "Willis. 
 
 " Oh, you are quite right, you and Dr. Willis ; only 
 you are not so very conversant with that idiosyncrasy ; 
 why have you let him smoke twenty cigars every day of 
 his life ? The brain is accessible by other roads than 
 the stomach. Well, we have got him down to four 
 cigars, and, in a month, we will have him down to two. 
 The effect of that, and exercise, and simple food, and the 
 absence of powerful excitements — you will see. Do 
 your part," said he gayly, "we will do ours. He is the 
 most interesting patient in the house, and born to adorn 
 society, though by a concurrence of unhappy circum- 
 stances he is separated from it for awhile." 
 
 She spent the whole afternoon with Sir Charles, and 
 they dined together at the doctor's private table, with 
 one or two patients, who were touched, but showed no 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 247 
 
 signs of it on that occasion ; for the good doctor really 
 acted like oil on the troubled waters. 
 
 Sir Charles and Lady Bassett corresponded, and so 
 kept their hearts up ; but after Rolfe's hint the corre- 
 spondence was rather guarded. If these letters were 
 read in the asylum, the curious would learn that Sir 
 Charles was far more anxious about his wife's condition 
 than his own ; but that these two patient persons were 
 only waiting a certain near event to attack Richard Bas- 
 sett with accumulating fury — that smouldering fire did 
 not smoke by letter, but burnt deep in both their sore 
 and heavy, but enduring, Anglo-Saxon hearts. 
 
 Lady Bassett wrote to Mr. Rolfe, thanking him again 
 for his advice, and telling him how it worked. 
 
 She had a very short reply from that gentleman. 
 
 But, about six weeks after her visit, he surprised her 
 a little by writing of his own accord, and asking her for 
 a formal introduction to Sir Charles Bassett, and begging 
 her to back a request that Sir Charles would devote a 
 leisure hour or two to correspondence with him, " Not," 
 said he, " on his private affairs, but on a matter of gen- 
 eral interest. I want a few of his experiences and obser- 
 vations in that place. I have the less scruple in asking 
 it, that whatever takes him out of himself will be salutary." 
 
 Lady Bassett sent him the required introduction in 
 such terms that Sir Charles at once consented to oblige 
 his wife by obliging Mr. Rolfe. 
 
 Mt deab Sm, — In compliance with your wish and Lady 
 Bassett's, I send you a few desultory remarks on what I see here. 
 First. The Ihies, 
 
 " Great wits to madness nearly are allied, 
 And thin partitions do their honds divide," 
 
 are in my opinion exaggerated and imtrue. Taking the peo- 
 ple here as a guide, the insane in general appear to be people 
 with very little brains and enormous egotism. 
 
248 A TEREIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 My next observation is, that tlie women have far less imagin- 
 ation than the men ; they cannot even realize their own favor- 
 ite delusions. For instance, here are two yomig ladies, the 
 Virgin Mary and the Queen of England. How do they play 
 their parts P They sit aloof from all the rest with their noses 
 in the air : but gauge their imaginations ; go down on one 
 knee, or both, and address them as a saint and a queen ; they 
 cannot say a word in accordance : yet they are cunning enough 
 to see they cannot reply in character, so they will not utter a 
 syllable to their adorers. They are like the'shop-boys who go 
 to a masquerade as Burleigh, or Walsingham, and, when you 
 ask. them who is Queen Bess's favorite just now, blush, and 
 look offended, and pass sulkily on. 
 
 The same class of male lunatics can speak in character ; and 
 this observation has made me doubt whether philosophers are 
 not mistaken in saying tliat women generally have more im- 
 agination than men. I suspect they have infinitely less ; and I 
 believe their great love of novels, which has been set down 
 to imagination, arises mainly from their want of it. You 
 writers of novels supply that defect for them, by a pictorial 
 style, by an infinity of minute details, and petty aids to realiz- 
 ing, all which an imaginative reader can do for himself on 
 reading a bare narrative of sterling facts and incidents. 
 
 I find a monotony in madness ; so many have inspirations, 
 see phantoms, are the victims of vast conspiracies (principali- 
 ties and powers combined against a fly) ; their food is poisonedr 
 their wine is drugged, etc., etc. 
 
 These, I think, are all forms of that morbid egotism which 
 is at the bottom of insanity. So is their antipathy for each 
 other. They keep apart : because a madman is all self, and 
 his talk is all self ; thus egotisms clash, and an antipatliy arises ; 
 yet it is not, I think, pure antipathy, though so regarded, but 
 a mere form of their boundless egotism. 
 
 If, in visiting an asylum, you see two or three different 
 patients button-hole a fourth, and pour their grievances into 
 a listening ear, you may safely suspect Number four of —sanity. 
 
 On the whole, I think the doctor himself, and one of his 
 attendants, and Jones a keeper, have more solid eccentricity 
 a&d variety about them than most of the patients. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 249 
 
 Extract from letter two, written about a fortniglit 
 later : 
 
 Some insane persons have a way of couching their nonsense 
 in language that sounds rational, and has a false air of logical 
 connection. Their periods seem stolen from sensible books, 
 and forcibly fitted to incongruous " bosh." By this means the 
 ear is confused ; and a slow hearer might fancy he was listen- 
 ing to sense. 
 
 I have secured you one example of this. You must know 
 that in the evening I sometimes collect a few together, and try 
 to get them to tell their stories. Little comes of it, in general, 
 but interruptions. But, one night, a melancholy bagman re- 
 sponded in good set terms, and all in a moment ; one would 
 have thought I had put a torch to a barrel of powder, he went 
 oflf so quickly — in this style : 
 
 "You ask my story: it is briefly told. Initiated in com- 
 merce from my earliest years, and travelled in the cotton trade. 
 As representative of a large house in Manchester, I visited the 
 United States. Unfortunately for me, that country was then 
 the chosen abode of spirits ; the very air was thick, and hum- 
 ming vrith supernaturalia. Ere long, spirit-voices whispered 
 in my ear, and suggested pious aspirations at first : that was a 
 blind, no doubt ; for very soon they went on to insinuate things 
 profane and indelicate, and urged me to deliver them in mixed 
 companies. I forbore with difficulty, restrained by the early 
 lessons of a pious mother, and a disinclination to be kicked 
 down-stairs or flung out o' window. 
 
 " I consulted a fiiend, a native of the country ; he said, in 
 its beautiful Doric, ' Old oss, I reckon you'd better change the 
 air.' I grasped his hand, muttered a blessing, and sailed for 
 England. 
 
 " On ocean's peaceful bosom the annoyance ceased. But, 
 under this deceitful calm, fresh dangers brooded. Two doc- 
 tors had stolen into the ship, unseen by human eye, and bided 
 their time. Unable to act at sea, owing to the combined effect 
 of wind and current, they concealed themselves on deck under 
 a black tarpaulin — that is to say, it had been black, but wind 
 and weather had reduced it to a dirty brown — and there, adopt- 
 
250 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 ing for the occasion the habits of the dormouse, the bear, the 
 caterpillar, and other ephemeral productions, they lay torpid. 
 But the moment the vessel touched the quay, profiting by the 
 commotion, they emerged and signed certificates with chalk on- 
 my portmanteau ; then vanished in the crowd. The custom- 
 house read the certificates, and seized my luggage as contra- 
 band. I was too old a traveller to leave my luggage ; so then 
 they seized me, and sent us both down here." (With sudden 
 and short-lived fui-y) " That old hell-hound at the lodge asked 
 them where I was booked for. ' For the whole journey,' said 
 a sepulchral voice unseen. That means the grave, my boys, 
 the silent grave." 
 
 Notwithstanding this stern decree, Suaby expects to turn 
 him out cured in a few months. 
 
 Miss Wieland, a very pretty girl, put her arm in mine, and 
 drew me mysteriously apart. " So you are collecting the vil- 
 lanies," said she, sotlo voce. "It will take you all your time. 
 I'll tell you mine. There's a hideous old man wants me to 
 marry him ; and I won't. And he has put me in here, and 
 keeps me prisoner, till 1 will. They are all on his side, espe- 
 cially that sanctified old guy Suaby. They drug my wine ; 
 they stupefy me ; they give me things to make me naughty 
 and tipsy : but it is no use. I never will marry that old goat 
 — that for his money and him — I'll die first." 
 
 Of course my blood boiled ; but I asked my nurse, Sally, 
 and she assured me there was not one atom of truth in any 
 part of the story, " The young lady was put in here by her 
 mother ; none too soon, neither." I asked her what she meant. 
 " Why, she came here with her throat cut, and strapping on it. 
 She is a suicidal." 
 
 This correspondence led eventually to some unexpected 
 results ; but I am obliged to interrupt it for a time, while 
 I deal with a distinct series of events, which began about 
 five weeks after Lady Bassett's visit to Mr. Rolfe, and 
 will carry the reader forward beyond the date we have 
 now arrived at. 
 
 It was the little dining-room at Highmore : a low room 
 
A TEERIBLE TEMPTATION. 251 
 
 of modest size, plainly furnislied. An enormous fire- 
 place, paved with plain tiles, on whicli were placed iron 
 dogs ; only wood and roots were burned in this room. 
 
 Mrs. Bassett had just been packed off to bed by mari- 
 tal authority : Bassett and Wheeler sat smoking pipes, 
 and sipping whiskey and water. Bassett professed to 
 like the smell of peat smoke in whiskey ; what he really 
 liked was the price. 
 
 After a few silent whiffs, said Bassett, " I didn't think 
 they would take it so quietly ; did you ? " 
 
 " Well, I really did not. But, after all, what can they 
 do ? They are evidently afraid to go to the Court of 
 Chancery, and ask for a jury in the asylum, and what 
 else can they do ? " 
 
 " Humph ! They might arrange an escape, and hide 
 him for fourteen days ; then, we could not recapture him 
 without fresh certificates ; could we ? " 
 
 "Certainly not." 
 
 "And the doors would be too well guarded: not a 
 crack "for two doctors to creep in at." 
 
 " You go too fast. You know the law from me ; and 
 you are a daring man that would try this sort of thing. 
 But a timid woman, advised by a respectable muff like 
 Oldfield ! They will never dream of such a thing." 
 
 " Oldfield is not her head man. She has got another 
 adviser, and he is the very man to do something plucky." 
 
 " I don't know who you mean." 
 
 " Why, her lover, to be sure." 
 
 " Her lover ? Lady Bassett's lover ! " 
 
 "Ay, the young parson." 
 
 Wheeler smiled satirically. "You certainly are a 
 good hater. Nothing is too bad for those you don't 
 like. If that Lady Bassett is not a true wife, where 
 will you find one ? " 
 
 " She is the most deceitful jade in England." 
 
 "Oh! oh!" 
 
252 A TBEEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " Ah, you may sneer ! So you have forgotten how she 
 outwitted us. Did the devil himself ever do a cunninger 
 thing than that ? — tempting a fellow into a correspond- 
 ence that seemed a piece of folly on her part, yet it was 
 a deep, diabolical trick to get at my handwriting. Did 
 you see her game ? No more than I did. You chuckled 
 at her writing letters to the plaintiff pendente lite. We 
 were both children, setting our wits against a woman's. 
 I tell you I dread her, especially when I see her so 
 unnaturally quiet, after what we have done. When you 
 hook a large salmon, and he makes a great commotion, 
 but all of a sudden lies like a stone, be on your guard ; 
 he means mischief." 
 
 " "Well," said Wheeler, " this is all very true ; but you 
 have strayed from the point. What makes you think 
 she has an improper attachment ? " 
 
 " Is it so very unnatural ? He is the handsomest 
 fellow about; she is the loveliest woman; he is dark; 
 she is fair ; and they are thrown together by circum- 
 stances. Another thing : I have always understood that 
 women admire the qualities they don't possess them- 
 selves, — strength, for instance. Now, this parson is a 
 Hercules. He took Sir Charles up like a boy, and carried 
 him in his arms all the way from where he had the fit. 
 Lady Bassett walked beside them. Eely on it, a woman 
 does not see one man carry another so without making a 
 comparison in favor of the strong and against the weak. 
 But what am I talking about ? They walk like lovers, 
 those two." 
 
 " What ! hand in hand ? he ! he ! " 
 
 " No, side by side ; but yet like lovers for all that." 
 
 "You must have a good eye." 
 
 " I have a good opera-glass." 
 
 Mr. Wheeler smoked in silence. 
 
 " Well, but," said he, after a pause, " if this is so, all the 
 
A TEBBIBLB TEMPTAXION. 253 
 
 better for you. Don't you see that the lover will never 
 really help her to get the husband out of confinement ? 
 It is not in the nature of things. He may struggle with 
 his own conscience a bit, being a clergyman; but he 
 won't go too far: he won't break the law to get Sir 
 Charles home, and so end these charming duets with his 
 lady-love." 
 
 " By Jove, you are right ! " cried Bassetfc, convinced 
 in his turn. "I say, old fellow, two heads are better 
 than one. I think we have got the clew between us. 
 Yes, by heaven ! it is so ; for the carriage used to be out 
 twice a week, but now she only goes about once in ten 
 days. By and by it will be once a fortnight ; then, once 
 a month ; and the black-eyed rector will preach patience 
 and resignation. Oh, it was a master-stroke clapping 
 him in that asylum. All we have got to do now is to 
 let well alone. When she is over head and ears in love 
 with Angelo, she will come to easy terms with us, and 
 so I'll move across the way. I shall never be happy till 
 I live at Huntercombe, and administer the estate." 
 
 The maid-servant brought him a note, and said it was 
 from her mistress. Bassett took it rather contemptu- 
 ously, and said, " The little woman is always in a fidget 
 now when you come here. She is all for peace." He 
 read the letter. It ran thus : — 
 
 Deahest Richaed, — I implore you to do nothing more to 
 hurt Sir Charles. It is wicked, and it's useless. God has had 
 pity on Lady Bassett, and have you pity on her, too. Jane 
 has just heard it from one of the Huntercombe servants. 
 
 " What does she mean with her ' it's ' ? Why, surely 
 -T- read it, you." 
 
 They looked at each other, in doubt and amazement, 
 for some time. Then Eichard Bassett rushed up-stairs, 
 and had a few hasty words with his wife. 
 
254 A TEKKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 She told Mm her news in plainer English, and renewed 
 her mild entreaties. He turned his back on her in the 
 middle. He went out into the nursery, and looked at 
 his child. The little fellow, a beautiful boy, slept the 
 placid sleep of infancy. He leaned over him, and kissed 
 him, and went down to the dining-room. 
 
 His feet came tramp, tramp, very slowly, and, when 
 he opened the door, Mr. Wheeler was startled at the 
 change in his appearance. He was pale, and his counte- 
 nance had fallen. 
 
 " Why, what is the matter ? " said Wheeler. 
 
 " She has done us. Ah, I was wiser than you ; I feared 
 her. It is the same thing over again : a woman against 
 two children. This shows how strong she is ; you can't 
 realize what she has done, even when you see it. An 
 heir was wanted to those estates. Love cried out for 
 one. Hate cried out for one. Nature denied one. She 
 has cut the Gordian knot ; cut it as boldly as the lowest 
 woman in Huntercombe would have cut it, under such a 
 terrible temptation." 
 
 " Oh, for shame ! " 
 
 "Think, and use your eyes." 
 
 " My eyes have seen the lady. I think I see her now, 
 kneeling like an angel over her husband, and pitying 
 him for having knocked me down. I say her only lover 
 is her husband." 
 
 " Oh, that was a long time ago ! Time brings changes. 
 You can't take the eyes out of my head." 
 
 " Suppose it should be only a false alarm ? " 
 
 " Is that likely ? However, I will learn. Whether it 
 is or not, that child shall never rob mine of Bassett and 
 Huntercombe. Anything is fair against such a woman." 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 255 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 That very night, after Wheeler had gone home, Eich- 
 ard Bassett wrote a cajoling letter to Mary Wells, asking 
 her to meet him at the old place. 
 
 When the girl got this letter, she felt a little faint for 
 a moment ; but she knew the man, his treachery, and his 
 hard egotism and selfishness, so well, that she tossed the 
 letter aside, and resolved to take no notice. Her trust 
 was all in her mistress, for whom, indeed, she had more 
 real affection than for any living creature. As for 
 Kichard Bassett, she absolutely detested him. 
 
 As the day wore on she took another view of matters : 
 her deceiver was the enemy of her mistress. She might 
 do her a service by going to this rendezvous, might learn 
 something from him, and use it against him. 
 
 So she went to the rendezvous, with a heart full of 
 bitter hate. 
 
 Bassett, with all his assurance, could not begin his 
 interrogatory all in a moment. He made a sort of 
 apology : said he felt he had been unkind, and he had 
 never been happy since he had deserted her. 
 
 She cut that short. "I have found a better than you," 
 said she. "I am going to London very soon, to be 
 married." 
 
 " I am glad to hear it." 
 
 "No doubt you are." 
 
 " I mean, for your sake." 
 
 "For my sake ? You think as little of me as I do of 
 you. Come, now, what do you want of me, — without a 
 He, if you can ? " 
 
256 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " I wanted to see you, and talk to you, and hear your 
 prospects." 
 
 "Well, I have told you." And she pretended to be 
 going. 
 
 " Don't be in such a hurry. Tell us the news. Is it 
 true that Lady Bassett is expected " — 
 
 " Oh, that is no news ! " 
 
 "It is to me." 
 
 " 'Tain't no news in our house. Why, we have known 
 it for months." 
 
 This took away the man's breath for a minute. 
 
 At last he said with a great deal of intention, — 
 
 "Will it be fair or dark ? " 
 
 "As God pleases." 
 
 " I'll bet you five pounds to one that it is dark." 
 
 Mary shrugged her shoulders contemptuously, as if 
 these speculations were too childish for her. 
 
 " It's my lady you want to talk about, is it ? I 
 thought it was to make me a wedding-present." 
 
 He actually put his hand in his pocket, and gave her 
 two sovereigns. She took them with a grim smile. 
 
 He presumed on this to question her minutely. 
 
 She submitted to the interrogatory. 
 
 Only, as the questions were not always delicate, and 
 the answer was invariably an untruth, it may be as well 
 to pass over the rest of the dialogue. Suffice it to say 
 that, whenever the girl saw the drift of a question she 
 lied admirably ; and when she did not, still she lied upon 
 principle ; it must be a good thing to deceive the enemy. 
 
 Eichard Bassett was now perplexed, and saw himself 
 in that very position which had so galled Lady Bassett 
 six weeks or so before. He could not make any advan- 
 tageous move, but was obliged to wait events. All he 
 could do was to spy a little on Lady Bassett, and note 
 how often she went to the asylum. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 257 
 
 After many days' watching he saw something new. 
 
 Mr. Angelo was speaking to her with a good deal of 
 warmth, when suddenly she started from him, and then 
 turned round upon him in a very commanding attitude, 
 and with prodigious fire. Angelo seemed then to ad- 
 dress her very humbly, but she remained rigid. At last 
 Angelo retired, and left her so ; but he was no sooner 
 out of sight than she dropped into a garden-seat, and, 
 taking out her handkerchief, cried a long time. 
 
 "Why doesn't the fool come back?" said Bassett, 
 from his tower of observation. 
 
 He related this incident to Wheeler, and it impressed 
 that worthy more than all he had ever said before on the 
 same subject. But in a day or two Wheeler, who was a 
 great gossip, and picked up everything, came and told 
 Bassett that the pai-son was looking out for a curate, 
 and going to leave his living for a time, on the ground 
 of health. 
 
 "That is rather against your theory, Mr. Bassett," 
 said ha 
 
 "Not a bit," said Bassett. "On the contrary, that is 
 just what these artful women do, who sacrifice virtue 
 but cling all the more to reputation. I read French 
 novels, my boy." 
 
 "^Find *em instructive ? " 
 
 "Very. They cut deeper into human nature than our 
 writers dare. Her turning away her lover now is just 
 the act of what the French call a masterly woman — 
 mattresse femme. She has got rid of him to close the 
 mouth of scandal ; that is her game." 
 
 "Well," said Wheeler, "you certainly are very in- 
 genious, and so fortified in your opinions, that with you 
 facts are no longer stubborn things ; you can twist them 
 all your way. If he had stayed and buzzed about her 
 while her husband was incarcerated, you would have 
 17 
 
258 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 found her guilty. He goes to Kome and leaves her, and 
 therefore you find her guilty. You would have made a 
 fine hanging judge in the good old sanguinary times." 
 
 " I use my eyes, my memory, and my reason. She is 
 a monster of vice and deceit. Anything is fair against 
 such a woman." 
 
 "I am sorry to hear you say that," said Wheeler, be- 
 coming grave rather suddenly. " A woman is a woman ; 
 and I tell you plainly I have gone pretty well to the end 
 of my tether with you." 
 
 " Abandon me then," said Bassett, doggedly. " I can 
 go alone." 
 
 Wheeler was touched by this, and said, — 
 
 " No, no ; I am not the man to desert a friend — but 
 pray do nothing rash; do nothing without consulting 
 me." 
 
 Bassett made no reply. 
 
 About a week after this, as Lady Bassett was walking 
 sadly in her own garden, a great Newfoundland dog, ran 
 up to her without any warning, and put his paws almost 
 on her shoulder. 
 
 She screamed violently, and more than once. 
 
 One or two windows flew open, and, amongst the 
 women who put their heads out to see what was the 
 matter, Mary Wells was the first. 
 
 The owner of the dog instantly whistled, and the 
 sportive animal ran to him; but Lady Bassett was a 
 good deal scared, and went in holding her hand to her 
 side. Mary Wells hurried to her assistance, and she 
 cried a little from nervousness when the young woman 
 came earnestly to her. 
 
 " Oh, Mary ! he frightened me so. I did not see him 
 coming." 
 
 " Mr. Moss," said Mary Wells, " here's a villain come 
 and frightened my lady ; go and shoot his dog, you and 
 
A TEBEIBLB TEMPTATION. 269 
 
 your son; and get the grooms, and fling him in the 
 horse-pond directly." 
 
 " No ! " said Lady Bassett, firmly. " You will see 
 that he does not enter the house, that is all ; should he 
 attempt that, then you will use force for my protection. 
 Mary, come to my room." 
 
 When they were together alone. Lady Bassett put 
 both hands on the girl's shoulders, and made her turn 
 towards her. 
 
 " I think you love me, Mary ? " said she, drinking the 
 girl's eyes with her own. 
 
 "Ah! that I do, my lady." 
 
 " Why did you look so pale, and your eyes flash, and 
 why did you incite those poor men to — it might have 
 led to bloodshed." 
 
 " It would ; and that is what I wanted, my lady." 
 
 "Oh, Mary!" 
 
 "What, don't you see ? " 
 
 "'No, no; I don't want to think so; it might have 
 been an accident. The poor dog meant no harm; it was 
 his way of fawning, that was all." 
 
 " The beast meant no harm, but the man did. He is 
 worse than any beast that ever was born ; he is a cruel, 
 cunning, selfish devil ; and if I had been a man, he 
 should never have got off alive." 
 
 " But are you sure ? " 
 
 " Quite. I was up-stairs, and saw it all." 
 
 This was not true^ — she had seen nothing till her mis- 
 tress screamed. 
 
 " Then anything is fair against such a villain." 
 
 " Of course is is." 
 
 « Let me think." 
 
 She leaned her head upon her hand, and that intelli- 
 gent face of hers quite shone with hard thought. 
 
 At last, after long and intense thinking, she spoke. 
 
260 A TEEKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 " I'll teach you to be inlmman, Mr. Eichard Bassett," 
 said she slowly, and with a strange depth of resolution. 
 
 Then Mary Wells and she put their heads together in 
 close discussion ; but now Lady Bassett took the lead, 
 and revealed to her astonished adviser extraordinary and 
 astounding qualities. 
 
 They had driven her to bay, and that is a perilous 
 game to play with such a woman. 
 
 Mary Wells found herself a child compared with her 
 mistress, now that the lady was driven to put out all her 
 powers. 
 
 The conversation lasted about two hours; in that time 
 the whole campaign was settled. 
 
A TKREIBLE TEMPTATION. 261 
 
 CHAPTER XXVn. 
 
 Mart Wells, by order, went down in a loose morning 
 wrapper her mistress had given her, and dined in the 
 servants' hall. She was welcomed with a sort of shout, 
 half ironical; and the chief butler said, "Glad to see 
 you come back to us. Miss Weils." 
 
 " The same to you, sir," said Mary, with more pert- 
 ness than logic ; " which I'm only come to take leave ; 
 for to-morrow I go to London, on business." 
 
 " La ! what's the business, I wonder ? " inquired a 
 housemaid irreverentially. 
 
 " Well, my business is not your business, Jane. How- 
 ever, if you want to know, I'm going to be married." 
 
 "And none too soon," whispered the kitchen-maid to a 
 footman. 
 
 "Speak up, my dear," said Mary. "There's nothing 
 more vulgarer than whispering in company." 
 
 " I said, ' What wiU Bill Drake say to that ?'" ^ 
 
 " Bill Drake will say he was a goose not to make up 
 his mind quicker. This will learn him beauty won't 
 wait for no man. If he cries when I am gone, you lend 
 him your apron to wipe his eyes, and tell him women 
 can't abide shilly-shallying men." 
 
 " That's a hexcellent sentiment," said John the foot- 
 man, " and a solemn warning it is " — 
 
 " To aU such as footmen be," said Mary. 
 
 "We writes it in the fly-leaf of our Bibles accord- 
 ingly," said John. 
 
 "No, my man ; write it somewhere where you'll have 
 a chance to read it." 
 
262 A TEEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 This caused a laugh, and when it was over, the butler, 
 who did not feel strong enough to chaff a lady of this 
 calibre, inquired obsequiously whether he might venture 
 to ask who was the happy stranger to carry off such a 
 prize. 
 
 "A civil question deserves a civil answer, Mr. Wright," 
 said Mary. "It is a sea^-faring man — the mate of a 
 ship. He have known me a few years longer than any 
 man in these parts. Whenever he comes home from a 
 voyage, he tells me what he has made, and asks me to 
 marry him. I have said ' No ' so many times, I'm sick 
 and tired; so I have said 'Yes' for once in a way. 
 Changes are lightsome, you know." 
 
 Thus airily did Mary Wells communicate her pros- 
 pects, and next morning early was driven to the station ; 
 a cart had gone before with her luggage, which tor- 
 mented the female servants terribly ; for, instead of the 
 droll little servant's box, covered with paper, she had a 
 large lady's box, filled with linen and clothes by the 
 liberality of Lady Bassett, and a covered basket, and an 
 old carpet-bag, with some minor packages of an unintel- 
 ligible character. Nor did she make any secret that she 
 had money in both pockets ; indeed she flaunted some 
 notes before the groom, and told him none but her lady 
 knew all she had done for Sir Charles. "But he is 
 grateful, you see, and so is she." 
 
 She went off in the train, as gay as a lark ; but she 
 was no sooner out of sight than her face changed its 
 whole expression, and she went up to London very grave 
 and thoughtful. 
 
 The travelling carriage was ordered at ten o'clock next 
 day, and packed as for a journey. 
 
 Lady Bassett took her housekeeper with her to the 
 asylum. 
 
 She had an interview with Sir Charles, and told him 
 
A TBREIBLE TEMPTATION. 263 
 
 what Mr. Bassett had done, and the construction Mary- 
 Wells had put on it. 
 
 Sir Charles turned pale with rage, and said he could 
 no longer play the patient game. He must bribe a 
 keeper, make his escape, and kill that villain. 
 
 Lady Bassett was alarmed, .and calmed it down. 
 
 " It was only a servant's construction, and she might 
 be wrong ; but it frightened me terribly ; and I fear it is 
 the beginning of a series of annoyances and encroach- 
 ments; and I have lost Mr. Angelo; he has gone to 
 Italy. Even Mary Wells left me this morning, to be 
 married. I think I know a way to turn all this against 
 Mr. Bassett; but I wiU not say it, because I want to 
 hear what you advise, dearest." 
 
 Sir Charles did not leave her long in doubt. He said, 
 ^" There is but one way : you must leave Huntercombe, 
 and put yourself out of that miscreant's way, until our 
 child is born." 
 
 "That would not grieve me," said Lady Bassett. 
 "The place is odious to me, now you are not there. 
 But what would censorious people say ? " 
 
 " What could they say, except that you obeyed your 
 husband ? " 
 
 " Is it a command then, dearest ? " 
 
 " It is a command ; and, although you are free, and I 
 am a prisoner, although you are still an ornament to 
 society, and I pass for an outcast, still I expect you to 
 obey me when I assume a husband's authority. I have 
 not taken the command of you quite so much as you 
 used to say I must ; but, on this occasion, I do. You 
 will leave Huntercombe, and avoid that caitiff, until our 
 child is born." 
 
 " That ends all discussion," said Lady Bassett. " Oh, 
 Charles, my only regret is that it costs me nothing to 
 obey you. But when did it ever ? My king ! " 
 
264 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 He had ordered her to do the very thing she wished 
 to do. 
 
 She now gave her housekeeper minute instructions, 
 settled the board-wages of the whole establishment, and 
 sent her home in the carriage, retaining her own boxes 
 and packages at the inn. 
 
 Richard Bassett soon found out that Lady Bassett had 
 left Huntercombe. He called on Wheeler, and told him. 
 Wheeler suggested she had gone to be near her husband. 
 
 "'No," said Bassett, "she has joined her lover. I 
 wonder at our simplicity in believing that fellow was 
 gone to Italy." 
 
 " This is rich," said Wheeler. " A week ago, she was 
 guilty, and a Machiavel in petticoats ; for why ? she had 
 quarrelled with her Angelo, and packed him off to Italy. 
 Now she is guilty ; and why ? because he is not gone to 
 Italy — not that you know whether he is or not. You 
 reason like a mule. As for me, I believe none of this 
 nonsense — till you find them together." 
 
 " And that is just what I mean to do." 
 
 "We shall see." 
 
 " You will see." 
 
 Very soon after this, a country gentleman met Wheeler 
 on market-day, and drew him aside to ask him a ques- 
 tion. " Do you advise Mr. Eichard Bassett, still ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Did you set him to trespass on Lady Bassett's lawn, 
 and frighten her with a great dog, in the present state 
 of her health ? " 
 
 " Heaven forbid ! This is the first I've heard of such 
 a thing." 
 
 " I'm glad to hear you say that, Tom Wheeler. There, 
 read that. Your client deserves to be flogged out of the 
 county, sir." And he pulled a printed paper out of his 
 pocket. It was dated from the Royal Hotel, Bath, and 
 
A TEEBIBLE TEMPTATION. 265 
 
 had been printed with blanks, as follows, but a lady's 
 hand had filled in the dates. 
 
 " On the day of while I was walking alone 
 
 in my garden, Mr. Richard Bassett, the person who has 
 bereaved me by violence of my protector, came without leave 
 into my private groimds, and brought a very large dog ; it ran 
 to me, and frightened me so that I nearly fainted with alarm. 
 Mr. Bassett was aware of my condition. Next day I consulted 
 my husband, and he ordered me to leave Huntercombe Hall, 
 and put myself beyond the reach of ti'espassers and outrage. 
 
 " One motive has governed Mr. Bassett in all his acts, from 
 his anonymous letter to me before my marriage — which I 
 keep for your inspection, together with the proofs that he 
 wrote it — to the barbarous seizure of my husband upon certi- 
 ficates purchased beforehand, and this last act of violence, 
 which has driven me from the county for a time. 
 
 "Sir Charles and I have often been your hosts and your 
 guests. We now ask yon to watch our property and our legal 
 rights, so long as through injusiace and cruelty my husband is 
 a prisoner, his wife a fngilive." 
 
 "There," said the gentleman, "these papers are going 
 all round the county." 
 
 Wheeler was most indignant, and said he had never 
 been consulted, and had never advised a trespass. He 
 begged a loan of the paper, and took it to Bassett's that 
 very same afternoon. 
 
 "So you have been acting without advice," said he, 
 angrily; "and a fine mess you have made of it." And, 
 though not much given to violent wrath, he dashed the 
 paper down on the table, and hurt his hand a little. 
 Anger must be paid for, like other luxuries. 
 
 Bassett read it, and was staggered a moment ; but he 
 soon recovered himself, and said, "What is the foolish 
 woman talking about ? " 
 
 He then took a sheet of paper, and said he would soon 
 give her a Boland for an Oliver. 
 
266 A TEKBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " Ay," said Wheeler, grimly, " let us see how you -will 
 put down the foolish woman. I'll smoke a cigar in the 
 garden, and recover my temper." 
 
 Eichard Bassett's retort ran thus : 
 
 I never wrote an anonymous letter in my life ; and, if I put 
 restraint upon Sir Charles, it was done to protect the estate. 
 Experienced physicians represented him homicidal and sui- 
 cidal ; and I protected both Lady Bassett and himself by the 
 act she has interpreted so harshly. 
 
 As for her last grievance, it is imaginary. My dog is gentle 
 as a lamb. I did not foresee Lady Bassett would be there, nor 
 that the poor dog would run and welcome her. She is playing 
 a comedy. The real truth is, a gentleman has left Hunter- 
 combe whose company is necessary to her. She has gone to 
 join him, and thrown the blame very adroitly upon 
 
 KiCHAED Bassett. 
 
 When he had written this, Bassett ordered his dog- 
 cart. 
 
 Wheeler came in, read the letter, and said the last 
 suggestion in it was a libel, and an indictable one into 
 the bargain. 
 
 « What, if it is true —true to the letter ? " 
 
 " Even then you would not be safe, unless you could 
 prove it by disinterested witnesses." 
 
 " Well, if I cannot, I consent to cut the sentence out. 
 Excuse me one minute, I must put a few things in my 
 carpet-bag." 
 
 " What ! going away ? " 
 
 " Of course I am." 
 
 "Better give me your address, then, in case anything 
 turns up." 
 
 "If you were as sharp as you pass for, you would 
 know my address — Eoyal Hotel, Bath, to be sure." 
 
 He left Wheeler staring, and was back in five minutes 
 with his carpet-bag and wraps. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 267 
 
 "Wouldn't to-morrow morning do for this wild-goose 
 chase ? " inquired Wheeler. 
 
 "No," said Richard; "I'm not such a fool. Catch 
 me losing twelve hours. In that twelve hours they 
 would shift their quarters., It is always so when a fool 
 delays. I shall breakfast at the Eoyal Hotel, Bath." 
 
 The dog-cart came to the door as he spoke, and he 
 rattled off to the railway. 
 
 He managed to get to the Royal Hotel, Bath, at 7 a.m., 
 took a warm bath instead of bed, and then ordered 
 breakfast ; asked to see the visitors' book, and wrote a 
 false name ; turned the leaves, and, to his delight, saw 
 Lady Bassett's name. 
 
 But he could not find Mr. Angelo's name in the book. 
 
 He got hold of Boots and feed him liberally; then 
 asked him if there was a handsome young parson there 
 — very dark. 
 
 Boots could not say there was. 
 
 Then Bassett made up his mind that Angelo was at 
 another hotel, or perhaps in lodgings out of prudence. 
 
 " Lady Bassett here still ? " said he. 
 
 Boots was not very sure; would inquire at the bar. 
 Did inquire, and brought him word Lady Bassett had 
 left for London yesterday morning. 
 
 Bassett ground his teeth with vexation. 
 
 No train to London for an hour and a half. He took 
 a stroll through the town to fill up the time. 
 
 How often, when a man abandons or remits his search 
 for a time, fate sends in his way the very thing he is 
 after, but has given up hunting just then ! As he walked 
 along the north side of a certain street, what should he 
 see but the truly beautiful and remarkable eyes and eye- 
 brows of Mr. Angelo shining from afar ! 
 
 That gentleman was standing, in a reverie, on the steps 
 of a small hotel. 
 
268 A TBRKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 Bassett drew back at first, not to be seen; looking 
 round, he saw he was at the door of a respectable house 
 that let apartments ; he hurried in, examined the drawing- 
 room floor, took it for a week, paid in advance, and sent 
 to the Royal for his bag. 
 
 He installed himself near the window, to await one of 
 two things and act accordingly. If Angelo left the place 
 he should go by the same train, and so catch the parties 
 together ; if the lady doubled back to Bath, or had only 
 pretended to leave it, he should soon know that, by dili- 
 gent watch and careful following. 
 
 He wrote to Wheeler, to announce this first step 
 towards success. 
 
A TEKBIBLB TEMPTATION. 269 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 SoMS days after this, Mr. Rolfe received a line from 
 Lady Bassett, to say she was at the Adelphi Hotel in 
 John Street. He put some letters into his pocket, and 
 called on her directly. 
 
 She received him warmly, and told him, more fully 
 than she had by letter, how she had acted on his advice ; 
 then she told him of Richard Bassett's last act, and 
 showed him her retort. 
 
 He knitted his brows at first over it, but said he thought 
 her proclamation could do no harm. 
 
 " As a rule," said he, " I object to flicking with a lady's 
 whip when I am going to crush, but — yes — it is able, 
 and gives you a good excuse for keeping out of the way 
 of annoyances, till we strike the blow. And now I have 
 something to consult you upon. May I read you some 
 extracts from your husband's letters- to me ? " 
 
 "Oh, yes!" 
 
 "Forgive a novelist; but this is a new situation, read- 
 ing a husband's letters to his wife. However, I have a 
 motive, and so I had in soliciting the correspondence 
 with Sir Charles." He then read her the letters that 
 are already before the reader, and also the following 
 extracts : — 
 
 "Mr. Johnson, a broken tradesman, has some imagination, 
 though not of a poetic kind ; he is imbued with trade, and, in 
 the daytime, exercises several, especially a butcher's. When 
 he sees any of us coming, he whips before the nearest door or 
 gate, and sells meat. He sells it veiy cheap ; the reason is, 
 his friends allow him only a shilling or two in coppers, and. 
 
270 A TEKBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 as every madman is the centre of the unirerse, he thinks that 
 the prices of all commodities are regulated by the amount of 
 specie in his pocket. This is his style — 'Come, buy, buy, 
 choice mutton three farthings the carcass. Retail shop next 
 door, ma'am. Jack, serve the lady. Bill, tell him he can send 
 me home those twenty bullocks, at three halfpence each ' — and 
 so on. But at night he subsides into an auctioneer, and with 
 knocking down lots whilst others are conversing, gets removed 
 occasionally to a padded room ; sometimes we humor him, and 
 he sells us the furniture after a spirited competition, and debits 
 the amounts, for cash is not abundant here. The other night, 
 heated with business, he went on from the articles of furniture 
 to the company, and put us all up in succession.- Having a 
 good many dislikes, he sometimes forgot the auctioneer in the 
 man, g,nd depreciated some lots so severely that they had to be 
 passed ; but he set Miss Wieland in a chair and descanted on 
 her beauty, good temper, and other gifts, in terms florid enough 
 for Robins, or any other poet. Sold for eighteen pounds, and 
 to a lady. This lady had formed a violent attachment to Miss 
 W., so next week they will be at daggers drawn. My turn 
 came, and the auctioneer did me the honor to describe me as 
 ' the lot of the evening.' He told the bidders to mind what 
 they were about, they might never again be able to secure a 
 live baronet at a moderate price, owing to the tightness of the 
 money market. Well, sir, I was honored with bids from several 
 ladies, but they were too timid and too honest to go beyond 
 their means ; my less scrupulous sex soared above these con- 
 siderations, and I was knocked down for seventy-nine pounds 
 iifteen shillings, amidst loud applause at the spirited result. 
 My purchaser is a shopkeeper mad after gardening. Doctor 
 Suaby has given him a plot to cultivate, and Jhe whispered in 
 my ear, ' The reason I went to a fancy price was, I can kill 
 two birds with one stone with you. You'll make a very good 
 statee stuck up among my flowers ; and you can haUo, and 
 keep those plaguy sparrows off." 
 
 "Oh, what creatures for my darling to live amongst!" 
 cried Lady Bassett piteously. 
 
 Mr. Eolfe stared and said, "What, then, you are like 
 all your sex — no sense of humor ? " 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 271 
 
 " Humor ! when my husband is in misery anJ. degra- 
 dation." 
 
 "And don't you see that the brave writer of these 
 letters is steeled against misery, and above degradation ? 
 Such men are not the mere sport of circumstances. Your 
 husband carries a soul not to be quelled by three months 
 in a well-ordered madhouse. But I will read no more, 
 since what gives me satisfaction, gives you pain." 
 
 " Oh, yes ! yes ! Don't let me lose a word my husband 
 has ever uttered." 
 
 " Well, I'll go on ; but I'm horribly discouraged." 
 
 "I'm so sorry for that, sir. Please forgive me." 
 
 Mr. Eolf e read the next letter ia date. 
 
 " We are honored with one relic of antiquity, a Pythagorean. 
 He has obliged me with his biography ; he was, to use his own 
 words, ' engendered by the sun shining on a dunghill at his 
 father's door,' and began his career as a flea ; but his identity 
 was, somehow, shifted to a boy of nine years old. He has had 
 a long spell of humanity, and awaits the great change — which 
 is to turn him to a bee. It will not find him unprepared ; he 
 has long practised humming in anticipation. A faithful friend, 
 called Caflfyn, used to visit him every week. Caflfyn died last 
 year, and the poor Pythagorean was very lonely and sad ; but, 
 two months ago, he detected his friend in the butcher's horse, 
 and is more than consoled, for he says, ' Caflfyn comes six times 
 a week now, instead of once,' " 
 
 "Poor soul!" said Lady Bassett. "What a strange 
 world for Mm to be living in ! it seems like a dream." 
 
 "There is something stranger coming in this last 
 letter." 
 
 "I have, at last, found one madman allied to Genius. It 
 has taken me a fortnight to master his delusion, and to write 
 down the vocabulary he has invented to describe the strange 
 monster of his imagination. Ml tJie words I write in Italics 
 are Ms own, 
 
272 A TBREIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 " Mr. Williams says that a machine has been constructed 
 for malignant purposes, which machine is an air-loom. It rivals 
 the human machine in this, that it can operate either on mind 
 or matter ; it was invented, and is worked, by a gang of villains 
 superlatively skilful in pneumatic chemistry, physiology, nervous 
 influence, sympathy, and the higher metaphysic, men far beyond 
 the immature science of the present era, which, indeed, is a 
 favorite subject of their ridicule. 
 
 "The gang are seven in number, but Williams has only 
 seen the four highest ; Bill, the King, a master of the art of 
 magnetic impregnation; Jack, the schoolmaster, the shorthand 
 writer of the gang ; Sir Archy, Chief Liar to the Association ; 
 and the glove-woman, so called from her always wearing cotton 
 mittens. This personage has never been known to speak to any 
 one. 
 
 " The materials used in the air-loom by these pneumaiic 
 adepts are infinite ; but principally effluvia of certain metals, 
 poisons, soporific scents, etc. 
 
 " The principal effects are — 
 
 "1st. Event-working. — This is done hy magnetic manipu- 
 lation of kings, emperors, prime ministers, and others ; so that, 
 while the world is fearing and admiring them, they are, in 
 reality, mere puppets played by the workers of the air-loom. 
 
 "2d. Gutting Soul from Sense. — This is done by diffusing 
 the magnetic warp from, the root of the nose under the base of the 
 skull, till it forms a veil; so that the sentiments of the heart can 
 have no communication with the operations of the intellect. 
 
 "3d. Kiting. — As boys raise a kite in the air, so the air- 
 loom can lift an idea into the brain, where it floats and undu- 
 lates for hours together. The victim cannot get rid of the ideas 
 so insinuated. 
 
 "ith. Lobster-cracking, — An external pressure of the mag- 
 netic atmosphere surrounding the person assailed. Williams 
 has been so operated on, and says he felt as if he was grasped 
 by an enormous pair of nut-crackers with teeth, and subjected 
 to a piercing pressure, which he still remembers with horror. 
 Death sometimes results fi'om Lobster-cracking. 
 
 "6th. Lengthening the Brain. — As the cylindrical mirror 
 lengthens the countenance, so these assailants find means to 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 273 
 
 elongate the brain. This distorts the ideas, and subjects the 
 most serious are made silly and ridiculous. 
 
 " 6th. ThougM-making. — While one of these villains sucks 
 at the brains of the assailed, and extracts his existing senti- 
 ments, another will press into the vacuum ideas very different 
 from his real thoughts. Thus his mind is physically enslaved." 
 
 " Then Sir Charles goes on to say, — 
 
 "Poor Mr. Williams seems to me an inventor wasted. I 
 thought I would try and reason him out of his delusion. 
 I asked if he had ever seen this gang and their machine. 
 
 " He said yes, they operated on him this morning. ' Then 
 show them me,' said I. ' Young man," said he satirically, 
 • do you think these assassins, and their diabolical machine, 
 would be allowed to go on, if they could be laid hands on so 
 easily ? The gang are fertile in disguise : the machine oper- 
 ates at considerable distances.' 
 
 "To drive him into a comer, I said, 'Will you give me 
 a drawing of it ? ' He seemed to hesitate, so I said, ' If you 
 cannot draw it, you never saw it, and never will.' He assented 
 to that, and I was vain enough to think I had staggered him ; 
 but yesterday he produced the enclosed sketch ' and explana- 
 tion. After this I sadly fear he is incurable. 
 
 "There are three sane patients in this asylum besides 
 myself. I will tell you their stories when you come here, 
 which I hope will be soon ; for the time agreed on draws near, 
 and my patience and self-control are sorely tiied, as day after 
 day rolls by, and sees me still in a madhouse." 
 
 IS 
 
274 
 
 TEBBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 £M^ 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 275 
 
 EXPLANATION OF THE AIR-LOOM. 
 
 a, a. Top of the apparatxis, called by the assassins ' ' Air-Loom 
 
 Machine," being as a large table. 
 6, 6. The metals which the workers grasp to deaden the sympathy. 
 
 c. The place where the pneaniaticians sit to work the loom. 
 
 <i. Something like pianoforte keys, which open the tube-valyes 
 within the aiz-loom, to spread or feed the waip of magnetic 
 fluid, 
 e, e. Levers, by the management of which the assailed is wrenched, 
 stagnated, and lobster-cracked, etc. 
 
 G. Seemingly drawers, etc, Probably they contain crude mate- 
 rials. 
 
 H. The cluster of upright open tubes or cylinders, and by the 
 afisii.ssins termed their musical-glasses, which I perceived 
 when they were endeavaring to burst my person by exploding 
 the interior of the coating of my trunk. 
 
 /. Apparatus standing on air-loom ; use unknown to me. 
 
 O. The barrels for supplying the " &mou8 goose-neck retorts" 
 with distilled gases, as well poisoned as magnetic. 
 
 S. The warp of magnetic fluid, reaching between the person im- 
 pr^nated with such fluid and the air-loom magnets by which 
 it is prepared; which being a multiplicity of fine wires of 
 fluids form the sympathetic streams of attraction, repulsion, 
 etc., as putting the different poles of the common magnet to 
 objects operates, and by which sympathetic warps the assailed 
 object is affected at pleasure; as by opening a vitriolic gas 
 valve he becomes tortured by the fluid within him becoming 
 agitated with the corrosion through all his frame ; and so on 
 in all their various modes of attacking the human body and 
 mind. I never saw this warp, but the assassins admit that 
 when heated it becomes luminous and visible to them for 
 some yards from the loom, as a weakish rainbow. 
 
 X. The assailed person, at the distance of several hundred feet. 
 
 T. One of the gang working the air-loom, and in the act of lobster- 
 cracking the person represented by the figoie X. 
 
 "There, Lady Bassetfc," said Mr. Bolfe; "aad now 
 for my motive in reading these letters. Sir Charles 
 may still have a crotchet, an inordinate desire for an 
 heir; bat, even if he has, the writer of these letters 
 has nothing to fear from any jniy ; and therefore I am 
 now ready to axjt. I propose to go down to the asylum 
 to-morrow, and get him out as quickly as I can." 
 
276 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Lady Bassett uttered an ejaculation of ]oy. Then 
 she turned suddenly pale, and her countenance fell. 
 She said nothing. 
 
 Mr. Eolfe was surprised at this, since, at their last 
 meeting, she was writhing at her inaction. He began 
 to puzzle himself. She watched him keenly. 
 
 He thought to himself, "Perhaps she dreads the 
 excitement of meeting — for herself." 
 
 At last Lady Bassett asked him how long it would 
 take to liberate Sir Charles. 
 
 "Not quite a week, if Eichard Bassett is well advised. 
 If he fights desperately, it may take a fortnight. In 
 any case, I don't leave the work an hour till it is done. 
 I can delay, and I can fight : but I never mix the two. 
 Come, Lady Bassett, there is something on your mind 
 you don't like to say. Well, what does it matter ? I 
 will pack my bag, and write to Dr. Suaby that he may 
 expect me soon : but I will wait till I get a line from 
 you to go ahead. Then I'll go down that instant, and 
 do the work." 
 
 This proposal was clearly agreeable to Lady Bassett, 
 and she thanked him. 
 
 " You need not waste words over it," said he. "Write 
 one word ' Act ! ' That will be the shortest letter you 
 ever wrote." 
 
 The rest of the conversation is not worth recording. 
 
 Mr. Eolfe instructed a young solicitor minutely, packed 
 his bag, and waited. 
 
 But day after day went by, and the order never came 
 to act. 
 
 Mr. Kolfe was surprised at this, and began to ask 
 himself whether he could have been deceived in this 
 lady's affection for her husband. But he rejected that. 
 Then he asked himself whether it might have cooled. 
 He had known a very short incarceration produce that 
 
A lEBiUDSLB TEMPTATION. 277 
 
 fatal effect. Both husband and wife interested him, aaid 
 he began to get irritated at the delay. 
 
 Sir Charles's letters made him think they had already 
 -wasted time. 
 
 At last a letter came from Gloucester Place : 
 
 Will my kind friend now act ? 
 
 Gratefully, 
 
 Bella Bassett. 
 
 Mr. Rolfe, upon this, east his discontent to the winds, 
 and started for BeUevue House. 
 
 On the evening of that day, a surgeon called Bodding- 
 ton was drinking tea with his wife, and they were talk- 
 ing rather disconsolately ; for he had left a fair business 
 in the country, and, though a gentleman of undoubted 
 skill, was making his way very slowly in London. 
 
 The conversation was agreeably interrupted by a loud 
 knock at the door. 
 
 A woman had come to say that he was wanted that 
 moment, for a lady of title in Gloucester Place hard by. 
 
 "I will come," said he, with admirably affected in- 
 difference ; and, as soon as the woman was out of sight, 
 husband and wife embraced each other. 
 
 "Pray God it may all go well, for your sake and hers, 
 poor lady." 
 
 Mr. Boddington hurried to the number in Gloucester 
 place. The door was open by the charwoman. 
 
 He asked her with some doubt, if that was the house. 
 
 The woman said yes, and she believed it was a sur- 
 prise. The lady was from the country, and was looking 
 out for some servants. 
 
 This colloquy was interrupted by an intelligent maid, 
 who asked over the banisters if that was the medical 
 man ; and, on the woman's saying it was, begged him to 
 step up-stairs at once. 
 
278 A TEREIBtB TEMPTATION. 
 
 He found his patient attended only by her maid, but 
 she was all discretion and intelligence. She said he had 
 only to direct her, she would do anything for her dear 
 mistress. 
 
 Mr. Boddington said a single zealous and intelligent 
 woman, who could obey orders, was as good as a number 
 or better. 
 
 He then went gently to the bedside, and his experi- 
 ence told him at once that the patient was in labor. 
 
 He told the attendant so, and gave her his directions. 
 
A TBKRIBLB TEMPTATION. 279 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Mr. Eolfe reached Bellevue House in time to make a 
 hasty toilet, and dine with Dr. Suaby in his private 
 apartments. 
 
 The other guests were Sir Charles Bassett, Mr. Hyam, 
 a meek, sorrowful patient — an Exquisite — and Miss 
 Wieland. 
 
 Dr. Suaby introduced him to everybody but the Ex- 
 quisite. 
 
 Mr. Eolfe said Sir Charles Bassett and he were corre- 
 spondents. 
 
 " So I hear. He teUs you the secrets of the prison- 
 house, eh ? " 
 
 " The humors of the place, you mean." 
 
 " Yes, he has a good eye for character. I suppose he 
 has dissected me, along with the rest ? " 
 
 " No, no ; he has only dealt with the minor eccentrici- 
 ties. His pen failed at you. ' You must come and see 
 the doctor,' he said. So here I am." 
 
 " Oh," said the doctor, " if your wit and his are both 
 to be levelled at me, I had better stop your mouths. 
 Dinner ! dinner ! Sir Charles, will you take Miss Wieland ? 
 Sorry we have not another lady to keep you company, 
 madam." 
 
 " Are you ? Then I'm not," said the lady smartly. 
 
 Tte dinner passed like any other, only Eolfe observed 
 that Dr. Suaby took every opportunity of drawing the 
 pluckless Mr. Hyam into conversation, and that he coldly 
 ignored the Exquisite. 
 
 "I have seen that young man about town, I think," 
 said Mr. Eolfe ; "where was it, I wonder ? " 
 
280 A TBKEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " The Argyll Eooms, or the Casino, probably." 
 " Thank you, doctor ; oh, I forgot ; you owed me one. 
 He is no favorite of yours." 
 
 " Certainly not. And I only invited him medicinally." 
 " Medicinally ? That's too deep for a layman." 
 " To flirt with Miss Wieland. Flirting does her good." 
 " Medicine embraces a wider range than I thought." 
 " No doubt. You are always talking about medicine ; 
 but you know very little, begging your pardon." 
 
 " That is the theory of compensation ; when you know 
 very little about a thing, you must talk a good deal about 
 it. Well, I'm here for instruction ; thirsting for it." 
 
 " All the better ; we'll teach you to drink deep, ere you 
 depart." 
 
 " All right : but not of your favorite acetate of mor- 
 phia ; because that is the draught that takes the reason 
 prisoner." 
 
 "It's no favorite of mine. Indeed, experience has 
 taught me that all sedatives excite ; if they soothe at 
 first, they excite next day. My antidotes to mental 
 excitement are packing in lukewarm water, and best of 
 all, hard bodily exercise and the perspiration that follows 
 it. To put it shortly — prolonged bodily excitement 
 antidotes mental excitement." 
 
 " I'll take a note of that : it is the wisest thing I ever 
 heard from any learned physician." 
 
 " Yet many a learned physician knows it. But you are 
 a little prejudiced against the faculty." 
 
 " Only in their business. They are delightful out of 
 that. But, come now, nobody hears us — confess, the 
 system which prescribes drugs, drugs, drugs, at every 
 visit, and in every case, and does not give a severe 
 selection of esculents the first place, but only the second 
 or third, must be rotten at the core. Don't you despise 
 a layman's eye. All the professions want it." 
 
A TEBEIBLE TEMPTATION. 281 
 
 "Well, you are a writer; publish a book, call it 
 'Medicina Laici,' and send me a copy." 
 
 "To slash in the Lancet? Well, I will: when novels 
 cease to pay, and truth begins to." 
 
 In the course of the evening Mr. Bolfe drew Dr. 
 Suaby apart, and said, — 
 
 " I must tell you frankly, I mean to relieve you of one 
 of your inmates." 
 
 " Only one ? I was in hopes you would relieve me of • 
 all the sane people. They say you are ingenious at it. 
 All I know is, I can't get rid of an inmate if the person 
 who signed the order resists. Now, for instance, here's 
 a Mrs. Hallam came here unsound — religious delusion. 
 Has been cured two months. I have reported her so to 
 her son-in-law, who signed the order; but he will not 
 discharge her. He is vicious, she scriptural ; bores him 
 about eternity. Then I wrote to the Commissioners in 
 Lunacy : but they don't like to strain their powers, so 
 they wrote to the affectionate son-in-law, and he politely 
 declines to act. Sir Charles Bassett the same; three 
 weeks ago I reported him cured, and the detaining rela- 
 tive has not even replied to me." 
 
 "Got a copy of your letter ? " 
 
 " Of course. But what if I tell you there is a gentle- 
 man here, who never had any business to come, yet he is 
 as much a fixture as the grates. I took him blindfold 
 along with the house. I signed a deed, and it is so 
 stringent I can't evade one of my predecessor's engage- 
 ments. This old rogue committed himself to my pre- 
 decessor's care under medical certificates ; the order he 
 signed himself." 
 
 " Illegal, you know." 
 
 " Of course ; but where's the remedy ? The person 
 who signed the order must rescind it. But this sham 
 lunatic won't rescind it. Altogether the tenacity of an 
 
282 A TEEEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 asylum is prodigious. The statutes are written with 
 birdlime. Twenty years ago that old skinflint found 
 the rates and taxes intolerable; and doesn't everybody 
 find them intolerable ? To avoid those rates and taxes 
 he shut up his house, captured himself, and took himself 
 here; and here he will end his days, excluding some 
 genuine patient, unless you sweep him into the street 
 for me." 
 
 "Sindhad, I will try," said Eolfe solemnly; "but I 
 must begin with Sir Charles Bassett. By-the-by, about 
 his crotchet ? " 
 
 " Oh, he has still an extravagant desire for children. 
 But the cerebral derangement is cured ; and the other, 
 standing by itself, is a foible, not a mania. It is only a 
 natural desire in excess. If they brought me Eachel 
 merely because she had said, 'Give me children, or I 
 die,' and I found her a healthy woman in other respects, 
 I should object to receive her on that score alone." 
 
 " You are deadly particular — compared with some of 
 them," said Eolfe. 
 
 That evening he made an appointment with Sir Charles, 
 and visited him in his room at eight a.m. He told him 
 he had seen Lady Bassett in London ; and of course he 
 had to answer many questions. He then told him he 
 came expressly to effect his liberation. , 
 
 "I am grateful to you, sir," said Sir Charles, with a 
 suppressed and manly emotion. 
 
 " Here are my instructions from Lady Bassett — short, 
 but to the point." 
 
 "May I keep that?" 
 
 "Why, of course." 
 
 Sir Charles kissed his wife's line, and put the note in 
 his breast. 
 
 " The first step," said Eolfe, " is to cut you in two. 
 That is soon done. You must copy in your own hand, 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 283 
 
 and then sign, this writing." And he handed him a 
 paper. 
 
 "I, Charles Dyke Bassett, being of sound mind, instruct 
 James Sharpe, of Gray's Inn, my solicitor, to sue the person 
 "who signed the order for my incarceration — in the Court of 
 Common Pleas ; and to take such other steps for my relief as 
 may be advised by my counsel Mr. Francis Kolfe.'' 
 
 "Excuse me," said Sir Charles, "if I make one objec- 
 tion. Mr. Oldfield has been my solicitor for many years. 
 I fear it will hurt his feelings if I entrust the matter to 
 a stranger. Would there be any objection to my insert- 
 ing Mr. Oldfield's name, sir ? " 
 
 " Only this ; he would think he knew better than I do ; 
 and then I who know better than he does, and am very 
 vain and arrogant, should throw up the case in a passion, 
 and go back to my MS. ; and humdrum Oldfield would 
 go to equity instead of law ; and all the costs would fall 
 on your estate, instead of on your enemy; and you 
 would be here eighteen months instead of eight or ten 
 days. No, Sir Charles, you can't mix champagne and 
 ditch-water; you can't make Invention row in a boat 
 with Antique Twaddle, and you mustn't ask me to fight 
 your battle with a blunt knife, when I have got a sharp 
 knife that fits my hand." 
 
 Mr. Rolfe said this with more irritation than was jus- 
 tified, and revealed one of the great defects in his 
 character. 
 
 Sir Charles saw his foible, smiled and said, " I with- 
 draw a proposal which I see annoys you." He then 
 signed the paper. 
 
 Mr. Eolfe broke out all smiles directly, and said, — 
 
 "Now yon are cut in two. One you is here; but 
 Sharpe is another you. Thus, one you works out of the 
 asylum, and one in, and that makes all the difference. 
 
284 A TEBRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Compare notes with those who have tried the other way. 
 Yet, simple and obvious as this is, would you believe it ? 
 I alone have discovered this method : I alone practise it." 
 
 He sent his secretary off to London at once, and re- 
 turned to Sir Charles. "The authority will be with 
 Sharpe at two-thirty. He will be at Whitehall three- 
 fifteen, and examine the order. He will take the writ out 
 at once, and, if Eichard Bassett is the man, he will serve 
 it on him to-morrow in good time, and send one of your 
 grooms over here on horseback with the news. We 
 serve the writ personally, because we have shufflers to 
 deal with, and I will not give them a chance. Now I 
 must go and write a lie or two for the public, and then 
 inspect the asylum with Suaby. Before post-time I will 
 write to a friend of mine, who is a Commissioner of 
 Lunacy, — one of the strong-minded ones. We may as 
 well have two strings to our bow." 
 
 Sir Charles thanked him gracefully and said, " It is a 
 rare thing, in this selfish world, to see one man inter- 
 est himself in the wrongs of another, as you are good 
 enough to do in mine." 
 
 "Oh," said Rolfe, " ' all work and no play makes Jack 
 a dull boy.' My business is lying, and I drudge at it ; 
 so to escape now and then to the playground of Truth 
 and Justice is a great amusement and recreation to poor 
 me. Besides, it gives me fresh vigor to replunge into 
 mendacity ; and that's the thing that pays." 
 
 With this simple and satisfactory explanation he rolled 
 away. 
 
 Leaving, for the present, matters not essential to this 
 vein of incident, I jump to what occurred towards 
 evening. 
 
 Just after dinner the servant who waited told Dr. 
 Suaby that a man had walked all the way from Hunter- 
 combe to see Sir Charles Bassett. 
 
A TEKEIBLE TEMPTATION. 285 
 
 " Poor fellow ! " said Dr. Suaby, " I should like to 
 see him. Would you mind receiving him here ?" 
 
 "Oh, no." 
 
 " On second thoughts, James, you had better light a 
 candle in the next room — in case." 
 
 A heavy clatter was heard, and the burly figure of 
 Moses Moss entered the room. Being bareheaded, he 
 saluted the company by pulling his head, and it bobbed. 
 He was a little dazzled by the lights at first, but soon 
 distinguished Sir Charles, and his large countenance 
 beamed with simple and affectionate satisfaction. 
 
 " How d'ye do. Moss ? " said Sir Charles. 
 
 " Pretty well, thank ye, sir, in my body, but uneasy in 
 my mind. There be a trifle too many rogues afoot to 
 please me. However, I told my mistress this morning, 
 says I, ' Before I puts up with this here any longer, I 
 must go over there and see him ; for here's so many 
 lies a-cutting about,' says I, 'I'm fairly mazed.' So, if 
 you please, Sir Charles, will you be so good as to tell me, 
 out of your own mouth, and then I shall know ; be you 
 crazy, sir, or bain't you, ay or no ? " 
 
 Suaby and Uolf e had much ado not to laugh right out ; 
 but Sir Charles said gravely he was not crazy. " Do I 
 look crazy, Moss ? " 
 
 "That ye doan't; you look twice the man you did. 
 Why, your cheeks did use to be so pasty like; now 
 you've got a color ; but mayhap (casting an eye on the 
 decanters) ye're flustered a bit wi' drink." 
 
 "No, no," said Kolfe, "we have not commenced our 
 nightly debauch yet ; only just done dinner." 
 
 "Then there goes another. This will be good news to 
 home. Dall'd if I would not ha' come them there thirty 
 miles on all fours for't. But, sir, if so be you are not 
 crazy, please think about coming home ; for things ain't 
 as they should be in our parts. My lady she is away for 
 
286 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 her groaning, and partly for fear of this very Richard 
 Bassett ; and him and his lawyer they have put it about 
 as you are dead in law — that is the word ; and so the 
 servants they don't know what to think ; and the village 
 folk are skeared with his clapping four brace on 'em in 
 jail ; and Joe and I, we wants to fight 'un ; but my dame 
 she is timorous, and won't let us, because of the laayer. 
 And th' upshot is, this here Richard Bassett is master 
 after a manner, and comes on the very lawn, and brings 
 men with a pole measure, and uses the place as his'n 
 mostly ; but our Joe bides in the hall, with his gun, and 
 swears he'll shoot him if he sets foot in the house. Joe 
 says he have my lady's leave an' license so to do, but not 
 outside." 
 
 Sir Charles turned very red, and was breathless with 
 indignation. 
 
 Dr. Suaby looked uneasy, and said, " Control yourself, 
 sir." 
 
 "I am not going to control my self" cried Rolfe, in a 
 rage. " Don't you take it to heart. Sir Charles. It shall 
 not last long." 
 
 "Ah!" 
 
 " Dr. Suaby, can you lend me a gig, or a dog-cart, with 
 a good horse ? " 
 
 "Yes. I have got a wonderful roadster, half Irish, 
 half Norman." 
 
 " Then, Mr. Moss, to-morrow you and I go to Hunter- 
 combe : you shall show me this Bassett, and we will give 
 him a pill." 
 
 "Meantime," said Dr. Suaby, "I take a leaf out of 
 your ' Medicina Laici,' and prescribe a hearty supper, a 
 quart of ale, and a comfortable bed, to Mr. Moss. James, 
 see him well taken care of. Poor man ! " said he, when 
 Moss had retired, " What simplicity ! what good sense ! 
 ■what ignorance of the world ! what feudality ! if I may 
 be allowed the expression." 
 
THE CLERK SERVED HIS, COPY OF THE WRIT. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATIOX. 287 
 
 Sir Charles was manifestly discomposed, and retired 
 to bed early. 
 
 Rolfe drove off with Moss at eight o'clock, and was 
 not seen again all day. Indeed, Sir Charles was just 
 leaving Dr. Suaby's room when he came in, rather tired, 
 and would not say a word till they gave him a cup of 
 tea ; then he brightened up and told his story. 
 
 " We went to the railway to meet Sharpe. The muff 
 did not come, nor send, by the first train. His clerk 
 arrived by the second. We went to Huntereombe village 
 together, and, on the road, I gave him some special in- 
 structions. Richard Bassett not at home. We used a 
 little bad language, and threw out a skirmisher — Moss, 
 to wit — ^to find him. Moss discovered him on your 
 lawn, planning a new arrangement of the flower-beds, 
 with Wheeler looking over the boundary wall. We went 
 up to Bassett, and the clerk served his copy of the writ. 
 He took it quite coolly ; but, when he saw at whose suit 
 it was, he turned pale. He recovered himself directly 
 though, and burst out laughing. 'Suit of Sir Charles 
 Bassett. Why, he can't sue : he is oimliter mortuus ; 
 mad as a March hare : in confinement.' Clerk told him 
 he was mistaken ; Sir Charles was perfectly sane. ' Good- 
 day, sir.' So then Bassett asked him to wait a little ; 
 he took the writ away, and showed it Wheeler, no 
 doubt. He came back and blustered, and said, ' Some 
 other person has instructed you : you wiU get yourself 
 into trouble, I fear.' The little clerk told him not to 
 alarm himself, Mr. Sharpe was instructed by Sir Charles 
 Bassett, in his own handwriting and signature, and said, 
 ' It is not my business to argue the case with you. You 
 had better take the advice of counsel.' — ' Thank you,' 
 said Bassett, 'that would be wasting a guinea.' — 'A 
 good many thousand guineas have been lost by that sort 
 of economy,' says the little clerk solemnly. Oh, and he 
 
288 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION". 
 
 told Mm Mr. Sharpe was instructed to indict him for a 
 trespass, if ever he came there again ; and handed him 
 a written paper to that effect, which we two had drawn 
 up at the station : and so left him to his reflections. We 
 went into the house and called the servants together, and 
 told them to keep the rooms warm, and the beds aired, 
 since you might return any day." 
 
 Upon this news Sir Charles showed no premature or 
 undignified triumph, but some natural complacency, and 
 a good deal of gratitude. 
 
 The next day was blank of events, but the next after 
 Mr. Eolfe received a letter containing a note addressed 
 to Sir Charles Bassett. Mr. Kolfe sent it to him. 
 
 Seb, — I am desired to inform you that I attended Lady 
 Bassett last night, when she was safely delivered of a son. 
 Have seen her again this morning. Mother and child are doing 
 remarkably well. 
 
 W. BODDINGTON, Surgeon, 
 
 17 Upper Gloucester Place. 
 
 Sir Charles cried, « Thank God ! thank God ! " He 
 held out the paper to Mr. Eolfe and sat down, over- 
 powered by tender emotions. 
 
 Mr. Kolfe devoured the surgeon's letter at one glance, 
 shook the baronet's hand eloquently, and went away 
 softly, leaving him with his happiness. 
 
 Sir Charles, however, began now to pine for liberty. 
 He longed so to join his wife, and see his child; and 
 Eolfe, observing this, chafed with impatience. He had 
 calculated on Bassett, advised by Wheeler, taking the 
 wisest course, and discharging him on the spot. He had 
 also hoped to hear from the Commissioner in Lunacy. 
 But neither event took place. 
 
 They could have cut the Gordian knot by organizing 
 an escape : Giles and others were to be bought to that ; 
 
A TEKEIBLB TEMPTATION. 289 
 
 but Dr. Suaby's whole conduct bad been so kind, gener- 
 ous, and confiding, that this was out of the question; 
 indeed. Sir Charles had for the last month been there 
 upon parole. 
 
 Yet the thing had been wisely planned, as will appear 
 when I come to notice the advice counsel had given to 
 "Wheeler in this emergency. But Bassett would not take 
 advice; he went by his own head, and prepared a new 
 and terrible blow, which Mr. Eolfe did not foresee. 
 
 But meantime an unlooked-for and accidental assistant 
 came into the asylum, without the least idea Sir Charles 
 was there. 
 
 Mrs. Marsh, early in her married life, converted her 
 husband to religion, and took him about the country 
 preaching. She was in earnest, and had a vein of natural 
 eloquence that really went straight to people's bosoms. 
 She was certainly a Christian, though an eccentric one. 
 Temper being the last thing to yield to gospel light, she 
 stUl got into rages; but now she was very humble and 
 penitent after them. 
 
 Well, then, after going about doing good, she decided 
 to settle down and do good. As for Marsh, he had only 
 to obey. Judge for yourself. The mild, gray-headed 
 vicar of Calverly, who now leaned on La Marsh as on a 
 staff, thought it right at the beginning to ascertain that 
 she was not opposing her husband's views. He put a 
 query of this kind as delicately as possible. 
 
 " My husband ! " cried she. " If he refused to go to 
 heaven with me, I'd take him there by the ear." And 
 her eyes flashed with the threat. 
 
 Well, somebody told this lady that Mr. Vandeleur was 
 ruined, and in Dr. Suaby's asylum, not ten miles from 
 her country-seat. This intelligence touched her. She 
 contrasted her own happy condition, both worldly and 
 spiritual, with that of this unfortunate reprobate, and 
 19 
 
290 A TBERIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 she felt bound to see if nothing eould be done for the 
 poor wretch. A timid Christian would have sent some 
 man to do the good work ; but this was a lion-like one ; 
 so she mounted her horse, and, taking only her groom 
 with her, was at Bellevue in no time. 
 
 She dismounted, and said she must speak to Dr. Suaby, 
 sent in her card, and was received at once. 
 
 " You have a gentleman here called Vandeleur." 
 
 The doctor looked disappointed, but bowed. 
 
 " I wish to see him." 
 
 " Certainly, madam. James, take Mrs. Marsh into a 
 sitting-room, and send Mr. Vandeleur to her." 
 
 " He is not violent, is he ? " said Mrs. Marsh, begin- 
 ning to hesitate, when she saw there was no opposition. 
 
 " Not at all, madam ; the pink of politeness. If you 
 have any money about you, it might be as well to confide 
 it to me." 
 
 « What, will he rob me ? " 
 
 " Oh, no ! much too well conducted ; but he will most 
 likely wheedle you out of it." 
 
 " No fear of that, sir." And she followed James. 
 
 He took her to a room commanding the lawn. She 
 looked out of the window, and saw several ladies and 
 gentlemen walking at their ease, reading, or working in 
 the sun. 
 
 " Poor things ! " she thought, " they are not so very 
 miserable. Perhaps God comforts them by ways un- 
 known to us. I wonder whether preaching would do 
 them any good. I should like to try. But they would 
 not let me : they lean on the arm of flesh." 
 
 Her thoughts were interrupted at last by the door 
 opening gently, and in came Vandeleur, with his grace- 
 ful panther-like step, and a winning smile he had put on 
 for conquest. 
 
 He stopped ; he stared ; he remained motionless and 
 astounded. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 291 
 
 At last lie burst out, " Somer — was it me you wished 
 to see ? " 
 
 " Yes," said she, very kindly ; " I came to see you, for 
 old acquaintance. You must call me Mrs. Marsh now ; 
 I am married." 
 
 By this time he had quite recovered himself, and 
 oifered her a chair with ingratiating zeaL 
 
 " Sit down by me," said she, as if she was petting a 
 child. " Are you sure you remember me ? " 
 
 Says the courtier, "Who could forget you that had 
 ever had the honor " — 
 
 Mrs. Marsh drew back with sudden hauteur. 
 
 "I did not come here for folly," said she; then, 
 rather naively, "I begin to doubt your being so very 
 mad." 
 
 " Mad ? no, of course I am not." 
 
 " Then, what brings you here ? " 
 
 "Stumped." 
 
 " What, have I mistaken the house ? Is it a jail ? " 
 
 " Oh, no ! I'll tell you : you see I was dipped pretty 
 deep, and duns after me, and the Derby my only chance ; 
 so I put the pot on ; but a dark horse won. Then, the 
 Jews knew I was done; so now it was a race which 
 should take me. . Sloman had seven writs out. I was in 
 a corner. I got a friend that knows every move to sign 
 me into this asylum. They thought it was all up then, 
 and he is bringing them to a shilling in the pound." 
 
 Before he could complete this autobiographical sketch, 
 Mrs. Marsh started up in a fury, and brought her whip 
 down on the table with a smartish cut. 
 
 "You little heartless villain!" she screamed. "Is 
 this the way you play upon people ? bringing me from 
 my home to console a maniac, and, instead of that, you 
 are only what you always were — a spendthrift and a 
 scamp ! Finely they will laugh at me." 
 
292 A TBRKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 She clutched the whip in her white but powerful hand 
 till it quivered in the air, impatient for a victim. 
 
 " Oh ! " she cried, panting, and struggling with her 
 passion, " if I wasn't a child of God, I'd " — 
 
 "You'd give me a devilish good hiding," said Vande- 
 leur, demurely. 
 
 " That I would," said she very earnestly. 
 
 "You forget that I never told you I was mad. How 
 could I imagine you would hear it ? How could I dream 
 you would come, even if you did ? " 
 
 " I should be no Christian if I didn't come." 
 
 " But I mean — we parted bad friends, you know." 
 
 " Yes, Van ; but when I asked you for the gray horge, 
 you sent me a new side-saddle. A woman does not for- 
 get those little things. You were a gentleman, though 
 a child of Belial." 
 
 Vandeleur bowed most deferentially, as much as to 
 say, " In both those matters you are the highest authority 
 earth contains." 
 
 " So come," said she, " here is plenty of writing-paper. 
 Now, tell me all your debts, and I will put them down." 
 
 " What is the use ? At a shilling in the pound, six 
 hundred will pay them all." 
 
 " Are you sure ? " 
 
 "As sure as that I am not going to rob you of the 
 money." 
 
 " Oh, I only mean to lend it you ! " 
 
 " That alters the case." 
 
 "Prodigiously!" And she smiled satirically. "Now 
 you friend's address that is treating with your creditors." 
 
 " Must I ? " 
 
 " Unless you want to put me in a great passion." 
 
 " Anything sooner than that." Then he wrote it for 
 her. 
 
 "And now," said she, " grant me a little favor, for old 
 
A TERBIBLE TEMPTATION. 293 
 
 acquaintance. Jost you kneel down there, and let me 
 wrestle with Heaven for you, that yon may be a brand 
 plucked from the fire, even as I am." 
 
 The pink of politeness submitted, with a sigh of 
 resignation. 
 
 Then she prayed for him, so hard, so beseechingly, so 
 eloquently, he was amazed and touched. 
 
 She rose firom her knees, and laid her head on her 
 hand, exhausted a little by her own earnestness. 
 
 He stood by her, and hung his head. 
 
 " You are very good," he said- " It is a shame to let 
 you waste it on me. Look here : I want to do a little 
 bit of good to another man, after yon praying so beau- 
 tifully." 
 
 « Ah, I am so glad ! Tell me." 
 
 "Well, then, you mustn't waste a thought on me, 
 Bhoda. I'm a gambler and a fooL Let me go to the 
 dogs at once ; it is only a question of time. But there's 
 a fellow here that is in trouble, and doesn't deserve it, 
 and he was a fciithful friend to you, I believe. I never 
 was. And he has got a wife ; and, by what I hear, you 
 could get him out, I think, and I am sure you would be 
 angry with me afterwards, if I didn't tell you. You 
 have such a good heart. It is Sir Charles Bassett." 
 
 " Sir Charles Bassett here ! Oh, his poor wife ! What 
 drove him mad ? Poor, poor Sir Charles ! " 
 
 " Oh, he is all right ! They have cured him entirely ; 
 but there is no getting him out : and he is beginning to 
 lose heart, they say. There's a literary swell here can 
 tell all about it ; he has come down expressly ; but they 
 are in a fix, and I think you can help them out. I wish 
 you would let me introduce you to him." 
 
 "To whom?" 
 
 "To Mr. Eolfe. You used to read his novels." 
 
 "I adore them. Introduce me at once. But Sir 
 
294 A TEEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Charles must not see me, nor know I am here. Say 
 Mrs. Marsh, a friend of Lady Bassett's." 
 
 Sly Vandeleur delivered this to Eolfe : but whispered 
 out of his own head, " A character for your next novel : 
 a saint, with the devil's own temper." 
 
 This insidious addition brought Mr. Eolfe to her 
 directly. 
 
 As might be expected from their go-ahead characters, 
 these two knew each other intimately in about twelve 
 minutes ; and Eolfe told her all the facts I have related, 
 and Marsh went into several passions, and corrected her- 
 self, and said she had been a great sinner, but was 
 plucked from the burning, and therefore thankful to 
 anybody who would give her a little bit of good to do. 
 
 Eolfe took prompt advantage of this foible, and urged 
 her to see the Commissioners in Lunacy, and use all her 
 eloquence to get one of them down. 
 
 " They don't act upon my letters," said he : " but it 
 will be another thing if a beautiful, ardent woman puts 
 it to them in person, with all that power of face and 
 voice I see in you. You are all fire ; and you can talk 
 Saxon." 
 
 « Oh, I'll talk to them," said Mrs. Marsh, « and God 
 will give me words : He always does when I am on His 
 side. Poor Lady Bassett ! my heart bleeds for her. I 
 will go to London to-morrow; ay, to-night if you like. 
 To-night ? I'll go this instant ! " 
 
 "What!" said Eolfe, "is there a lady in the world 
 who will go a journey without packing seven trunks — 
 and merely to do a good action ? " 
 
 " You forget. Penitent sinners must make up for lost 
 time." 
 
 " At that rate impenitent ones like me had better lose 
 none. So I'll arm you at once with certain documents, 
 and you must not leave the commissioners till they 
 
A TEEEIBLE TEMPTATION. 295 
 
 promise to send one of their number down without 
 delay, to examine him, and discharge him if he is as 
 we represent." 
 
 Mrs. Marsh consented warmly, and went with Bolfe 
 to Dr. Suaby's study. 
 
 They armed her with letters and written facts, and 
 she rode off at a fiery pace, but not before she and Rolfe 
 had sworn eternal friendship. 
 
 The commissioners received Mrs. Marsh coldly. She 
 was chilled, but not daunted. She produced Suaby's 
 letter, and Eolf e's ; and when they were read, she played 
 the orator. She argued, she remonstrated, she convinced, 
 she persuaded, she thundered : fire seemed to come out 
 of the woman. 
 
 Mr. Fawcett, on whom Mr. Rolfe had mainly relied, 
 caught fire, and declared he would go down the next day, 
 and look into the matter on the spot : and he kept his 
 word: he came down: he saw Sir Charles, and Suaby, 
 and penetrated the case. 
 
 Mr. Fawcett was a man with a strong head and a good 
 heart, but rather an arrogant manner. He was also 
 slightly affected with o£B.cial pomposity and reticence ; 
 so, unfortvmately, he went away without declaring his 
 intentions, and discouraged them aU with the fear of 
 innumerable delays in the matter. 
 
 Now, if justice is slow, injustice is swift. The very 
 next day a thunderclap fell on Sir Charles and his 
 friends. 
 
 Arrived at the door a fly and pair, with three keepers 
 from an asylum kept by Burdoch, a layman, the very 
 opposite of the benevolent Suaby : his was a place where 
 the old system of restraint prevailed, secretly but largely ; 
 strait-waistcoats, muffles, hand-locks, etc. Here fleas and 
 bugs destroyed the patient's rest ; and, to counteract the 
 insects, morphia was administered freely : given to the 
 
296 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 bugs and fleas it would liave been an effectual antidote ; 
 but they gave it to the patients, and so the insects 
 won. 
 
 These three keepers came with an order correctly 
 drawn, and signed by Richard Bassett, to deliver Sir 
 Charles to the agents showing the order. 
 
 Suaby, who had a horror of Burdoch, turned pale at 
 the sight of the order, and took it to Eolfe. 
 
 " Eesist ! " said that worthy. 
 
 " I have no right." 
 
 " On second thoughts, do nothing, but gain time, while 
 I — Has Bassett paid you for Sir Charles's board ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Decline to give him up till that is done ; and be some 
 time making out the bill. Come what may, pray keep 
 Sir Charles here till I send you a note that I am ready." 
 
 He then hastened to Sir Charles, and unfolded his 
 plans to him. 
 
 Sir Charles assented eagerly : he was quite willing to 
 run risks with the hope of immediate liberation, which 
 Eolfe held out : his own part was to delay, and put off, 
 till he got a line from Eolfe. 
 
 Eolfe then borrowed Vandeleur on parole, and the 
 doctor's dog-cart, and dashed into the town, distant two 
 miles. 
 
 First he went to the little theatre, and found them 
 just concluding a rehearsal. Being a playwright, he was 
 known to nearly all the people, more or less, and got five 
 supers and one carpenter to join him — for a considera- 
 tion. 
 
 He then made other arrangements in the town, the 
 nature of which will appear in due course. 
 
 Meantime, Suaby had presented his bill. One of the 
 keepers got into the fly, and took it back to the town. 
 There, as Eolfe had anticipated, lurked Eichard Bassett: 
 
A TEERIBLB TEMPTATION. 297 
 
 he cursed the delay, gave the man the money, and urged 
 expedition. The money was brought and paid, and 
 Suaby informed Sir Charles. 
 
 But Sir Charles was not obliged to hurry : he took a 
 long time to pack : and he was not ready till Vandeleur 
 brought a note to him from Kolfe. 
 
 Then Sir Charles came down. 
 
 Suaby made Burdoch's keeper sign a paper to the 
 effect that he had the baronet in clmrge, and relieved 
 Suaby of aU further responsibility. 
 
 Then Sir Charles took an affectionate leave of Dr. 
 Suaby, and made him promise to visit him at Hunter- 
 combe Hall. 
 
 Then he got into the fly, and sat between two keepers, 
 and the fly drove off. 
 
 Sir Charles, at that moment, needed all his fortitude. 
 The least mistake or miscalculation on the part of his 
 friends, and what might not be the result to him ! 
 
 As the fly went slowly through the gate, he saw, on 
 his right hand, a light carriage and pair moving up ; but 
 was it coming after him, or only bringing visitors to the 
 asylum? 
 
 The fly rolled on ; even his stout heart began to quake. 
 It rolled, and roUed. Sir Charles could stand it no 
 longer ; he tried to look out of the window, to see if the 
 carriage was following. 
 
 One of the keepers pulled him in roughly. " Come, 
 none of that, sir." 
 
 "You insolent scoundrel !" said Sir Cha,rles. 
 
 "Ay, ay," said the man : "we'U see about that, when 
 we get you home." 
 
 Then Sir Charles saw he had offended a vindictive 
 blackguard. 
 
 He sank back in his seat, and a cold chill crept over 
 him. 
 
298 A TEEEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Just then, they passed a little clump of fir-trees. 
 
 In a moment there rushed out of these trees a number 
 of men in crape masks, stopped the horses, surrounded 
 the carriage, and opened it with brandishing of bludgeons 
 and life-preservers, and pointing of guns. 
 
A TEEEIBLE TEMPTATION. 299 
 
 CHAPTEE XXX. 
 
 A BIG man, who seemed the leader, fired a volley of 
 ferocious oaths at the keepers, and threatened to send 
 them to hell that moment if they did not instantly 
 deliver up that gentleman. 
 
 The keepers were thoroughly terrified, and roared for 
 mercy. 
 
 " Hand him out here, you scoimdrels ! " 
 
 "Yes, yes ! Man aUve, we are not resisting : what is 
 the use ? " 
 
 " Hand down his luggage." 
 
 It was done all in a flutter. 
 
 " Now get in again ; turn your horses' heads the other 
 way, and don't come back for an hour. You with your 
 guns take stations in those trees, and shoot them dead 
 if they are back before their time." 
 
 These threats were interlarded with horrible oaths, 
 and Burdoch's party were glad to get off,, and they drove 
 away quickly in the direction indicated. 
 
 However, as soon as they got over the first surprise, 
 they began to smell a hoax ; and, instead of an hour, it 
 was scarcely twenty minutes when they came back. 
 
 But meantime the supers were paid liberally among 
 the fir-trees by Vandeleur, pocketed their crape, flung 
 their dummy guns into a cornfield, dispersed in different 
 directions, and left no trace. 
 
 But Sir Charles was not detained for that : the moment 
 he was recaptured, he and his luggage were whisked off 
 in the other carriage, and with Eolfe and his secretary 
 dashed round the town, avoiding the main street, to a 
 
300 A TERKIBtE TEMPTATIOK. 
 
 railway eight miles off, at a pace almost defying pursuit. 
 Not tliat they dreaded it : they had numbers, arms, and 
 a firm determination to fight if necessary, and also three 
 tongues to tell the truth, instead of one. 
 
 At one in the morning they were in London. They 
 slept at Mr. Eolfe's house; and before breakfast Mr. 
 Eolfe's secretary was sent to secure a couple of prize- 
 fighters to attend upon Sir Charles till further notice. 
 They were furnished with a written paper explaining 
 the case briefly, and were instructed to hit first and talk 
 afterwards, should a recapture be attempted. Should a 
 crowd collect, they were to produce the letter. These 
 measures were to provide against his recapture under 
 the statute, which allows an alleged lunatic to be retaken 
 upon the old certificates for fourteen days after his 
 escape from confinement, but for no longer. 
 
 Money is a good friend in such contingencies as these. 
 
 Sir Charles started directly after breakfast to find his 
 wife and child. The faithful pugilists followed at his 
 heels in another cab. 
 
 Neither Sir Charles nor Mr. Eolfe knew Lady Bassett's 
 address. It was the medical man who had written, but 
 that did not much matter ; Sir Charles was sure to learn 
 his wife's address from Mr. Boddington. He called on 
 that gentleman at 17 Upper Gloucester Place. 
 
 Mr. Boddington had just taken his wife down to Mar- 
 gate, for her health ; had only been gone half an hour. 
 
 This was truly irritating and annoying. Apparently, 
 Sir Charles must wait that gentleman's return. He left 
 a line, begging Mr. Boddington to send him Lady Bas- 
 sett's address in a cab, immediately on his return. 
 
 He told Mr. Eolfe this ; and then for the first time let 
 out that his wife's not writing to him at the asylum had 
 surprised and alarmed him — he was on thorns. 
 
 Mr. Boddington returned in the middle of the night, 
 
A TEKEIBLE TEMPTATION. 301 
 
 and at breakfast-time Sir Charles had a note to say Lady 
 Bassett was at 119 Gloucester Place, Portman Square. 
 
 Sir Charles bolted a mouthful or two of breakfast, and 
 then dashed off in a hansom to 119 Gloucester Place. 
 
 There was a bill in the window, " To be let. Furnished; 
 apply to Parker and Ellis." 
 
 He knocked at the door. Nobody came. Knocked 
 again. A lugubrious female opened the door. 
 
 "Lady Bassett?" 
 
 " Don't live here, sir. House to be let." 
 
 Sir Charles went to Mr. Boddington and told nim. 
 
 Mr. Boddington said he thought he could not be mis- 
 taken, but he would look at his address-book. He did, 
 and said it was certainly 119 Gloucester Place. "Per- 
 haps she has left," said he. "She was very healthy — 
 an excellent patient. But I should not have advised her 
 to move for a day or two more." ' 
 
 Sir Charles was sore puzzled. He dashed off to the 
 agents, Parker and Ellis. 
 
 They said, " Yes ; the house was Lady Bassett's for a 
 few months. They were instructed to let it." 
 
 "When did she leave? I am her husband, and we 
 have missed each other, somehow." 
 
 The clerk interfered, and said Lady Bassett had 
 brought the keys in her carriage yesterday. 
 
 Sir Charles groaned with vexation and annoyance. 
 
 " Did she give you no address ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; Huntercombe Hall." 
 
 " I mean, no address in London ? " 
 
 "No, sir, none." 
 
 Sir Charles was now truly perplexed and distressed, 
 and all manner of strange ideas came into his head. He 
 did not know what to do, but he could not bear to do 
 nothing ; so he drove to the Times o£B.ce, and advertised, 
 requesting Lady Bassett to send her present address to 
 Mr. Eolf e. 
 
302 A TEKEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 At night lie talked this strange business over with 
 Mr. Eolfe. 
 
 That gentleman thought she must have gone to 
 Huntercombe ; but by the last post a letter came from 
 Suaby, enclosing one from Lady Bassett to her husband. 
 
 119 Gloucester Place. 
 Dakling, — - The air here is not good for baby, and I cannot 
 sleep for the noise. We think of creeping towards home 
 to-morrow, in an easy carriage. Pray God you may soon 
 meet us at dear Huntercombe. Our first journey will be to 
 that dear old comfortable inn at Winterfield, where you and I 
 were so happy, but not happier, dearest darling, than we shall 
 soon be again, I hope. 
 
 Your devoted wife, 
 
 Bella Bassett. 
 My heartfelt thanks to Mr. Rolfe for all he is doing. 
 
 Sir Charles wanted to start that night for Winterfield, 
 but Eolfe persuaded him not. "And mind," said he, 
 " the faithful pugilists must go with you." 
 
 The morning's post rendered that needless. It brought 
 another letter from Suaby, informing Mr. Eolfe that the 
 commissioners had positively discharged Sir Charles, 
 and notified the discharge to Eichard Bassett. 
 
 Sir Charles took leave of Mr. Eolfe as of a man who 
 was to be his bosom friend for life, and proceeded to 
 hunt for his wife. 
 
 She had left Winterfield ; but he followed her like a 
 stanch hound; and, when he stopped at a certain inn, 
 some twenty miles from Huntercombe, a window opened, 
 there was a strange, loving scream. He looked up, and 
 saw his wife's radiant face, and her figure ready to fly 
 down to him. He rushed up-stairs into the right room 
 by some mighty instinct, and held her panting, and 
 crying for joy, in his arms. 
 
 That moment almost compensated what each had 
 suffered. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 303 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 So full was the joy of this loving pair, that, for a long 
 time, they sat rocking in each other's arms, and thought 
 of nothing but their sorrows past, and the sea of bliss 
 they were floating on. 
 
 But presently Sir Charles glanced round for a moment. 
 Swift to interpret his every look, Lady Bassett rose, 
 took two steps, came back and printed a kiss on his 
 forehead, and then went to a door and opened it. 
 
 " Mrs. Millar ! " said she, with one of those tones by 
 which these ladies impregnate with meaning a word that 
 has none at all ; and then she came back to her husband. 
 
 Soon a buxom woman of forty appeared, carrying a 
 biggish bank of linen and lace, with a little face in the 
 middle. The good woman held it up to Sir Charles, and 
 he felt something novel stir inside him. He looked at 
 the little thing with a vast yearning of love, with pride, 
 and a good deal of curiosity, and then turned smiling to 
 his wife. She had watched him furtively but keenly, 
 and her eyes were brimming over. He kissed the little 
 thing, and blessed it, and then took his wife's hands, and 
 kissed her wet eyes, and made her stand and look at 
 baby with him, hand in hand. It was a pretty picture. 
 
 The buxom woman swelled her feathers, as simple 
 women do when they exhibit a treasure of this sort ; she 
 lifted the little mite slowly up and down, and said, " Oh, 
 you beauty ! " and then went off into various inarticulate 
 sounds, which I recommend to the particular study of 
 the new philosophers. They cannot have been invented 
 after speech : that would be retrogression. They must 
 
304 A TBKKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 be the vocal' remains of that hairy sharp-eared quadru- 
 ped, our progenitor, who by accident discovered language, 
 and so turned biped, and went ahead of all the other 
 hairy quadrupeds, whose ears were too long, or not sharp 
 enough, to stumble upon language. 
 
 Under cover of these primeval sounds Lady Bassett 
 drew her husband a little apart, and looking in his face 
 with piteous wistf ulness said, " You won't mind Eichard 
 Bassett and his baby now ? " 
 
 "Not I." 
 
 " You will never have another fit while you live ? " 
 
 " I promise." 
 
 " You will always be happy ? " 
 
 " I must be an ungrateful scoundrel else, my dear." 
 
 " Then baby is our best friend. Oh, you little angel ! " 
 and she pounced on the mite, and kissed it far harder 
 than Sir Charles had. Heaven knows why these gentle 
 creatures are so rough with their mouths to children, but 
 so it is. 
 
 And now, how can a mere male relate all the pretty 
 childish things that were done and said to baby, and of 
 baby, before the inevitable squalling began, and baby 
 was taken away to be consoled by another of his sub- 
 jects ? 
 
 Sir Charles and Lady Bassett had a thousand things 
 to tell each other, to murmur in each other's ears, sitting 
 lovingly close to each other. 
 
 But, when all was quiet, and everybody else was in 
 bed. Lady Bassett plucked up courage, and said, " Charles, 
 I am not quite happy. There is one thing wanting." 
 .And then she hid her face in her hands, and blushed. 
 "I cannot nurse him." 
 
 "Never mind," said Sir Charles, kindly. 
 
 " You forgive me ? " 
 
 " Forgive you, my poor girl ! Why ! is that a crime ? " 
 
A TEBBEBLE TEMPTATION. 305 
 
 "It leads to so many things. You don't know what a 
 plague a nurse is, and makes one jealous." 
 
 "Well, but it is only for a time. Come, Bella, this is 
 a little peevish. Don't let us be ungrateful to Heaven. 
 As for me, whilst you and our child live, I am proof 
 against much greater misfortunes than that." 
 
 Then Lady Bassett cleared up, and the subject dropped. 
 
 But it was renewed next morning in a more definite 
 form. 
 
 Sir Charles rose early ; and, in the pride and joy of 
 his heart, and not quite without an eye to triumphing 
 over his mortal enemy and his cold friends, sent a 
 mounted messenger with orders to his servants to pre- 
 pare for his immediate reception, and to send out his 
 landau and four horses to the "Eose," at Staveleigh, 
 halfway between Huntercombe and the place where he 
 now was. Lady Bassett had announced herseM able for 
 the journey. 
 
 After breakfast he asked her, rather suddenly, whether 
 Mrs. Millar was not rather an elderly woman to select 
 for a nurse. " I thought people got a young woman for 
 that office." 
 
 "Oh!" said Lady Bassett, "why, Mrs. Millar is not 
 the nurse. Of course nurse is young and healthy, and 
 from the country, and the best I could have in every 
 way for baby. But yet — oh, Charles, I hope you will 
 not be angry — who do you think nurse is ? It is Mary 
 Gosport — Mary Wells that was." 
 
 Sir Charles was a little staggered. He put this and 
 that together, and said, " Why, she must have been play- 
 ing the fool, then ? " 
 
 " Hush ! not so loud, dear. She is a married woman, 
 
 now, and her husband gone to sea, and her child dead. 
 
 Most wet-nurses have a child of their own, and don't you 
 
 think they must hate the stranger's child that parts them 
 
 20 
 
306 A TEKEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 from their own ? Now baby is a comfort to Mary. And 
 the wet-nurse is always a tyrant ; and I thought, as this 
 one has got into a habit of obeying me, she might be 
 more manageable ; and then as to her having been im- 
 prudent, I know many ladies who have been obliged to 
 shut their eyes a little. Why consider, Charles, would 
 good wives and good mothers leave their own children to 
 nurse a stranger's? Would their husbands let them? 
 And I thought," said she piteously, " we were so for- 
 tunate to get a young, healthy girl, imprudent but not 
 vicious, whose fault has been covered by marriage, and 
 then so attached to us both, as she is, poor thing ! " 
 
 Sir Charles was in no humor to make mountains of 
 mole-hiUs. 
 
 "Why, my dear Bella," said he, "after all, this is your 
 department, not mine." 
 
 " Yes, but unless I please you in every department, 
 there is no happiness for me." 
 
 " But you know you please me in everything ; and the 
 more I look into anything, the wiser I always think you. 
 You have chosen the best wet-nurse possible. Send her 
 to me." 
 
 Lady Bassett hesitated. "You will be kind to her. 
 You know the consequence if anything happens to make 
 her fret. Baby will suffer for it." 
 
 " Oh, I know. Catch me offending this she-potentate, 
 till he is weaned. Dress for the journey, my dear, and 
 send nurse to me." 
 
 Lady Bassett went into the next room, and, after a 
 long time, Mary came to Sir Charles, with baby in her 
 arms. 
 
 Mary had lost, for a time, some of her ruddy color, but 
 her skin was clearer, and, somehow, her face was soft- 
 ened. She looked really a beautiful and attractive 
 young woman. 
 
A TEKKEBLE TEMPTATION. 307 
 
 She courtesied to Sir Gliaxles, and then took a good 
 look at him. 
 
 "Well, nurse," said he cheerfully, "here we are, back 
 again, both of us." 
 
 " That we be, sir." And she showed her white teeth 
 in a broad smile. " La, sir, you be a sight for sore eyes. 
 How well you do look, to be sure ! " 
 
 " Thank you, Mary. I never was better in my life. 
 You look pretty well, too ; only a little pale — paler than 
 Lady Bassett does." 
 
 " I give my color to the child," said Mary simply. 
 
 She did not know she had said anything poetic ; but 
 Sir Charles was so touched and pleased with her answer, 
 that he gave her a five-pound note on the spot ; and he 
 said, — 
 
 "We'll bring your color back, if beef, and beer, and 
 kindness can do it." 
 
 "I ain't afeard o' that, sir; and I'U am it. 'Tis a 
 lovely boy, sir, and your very image." 
 
 Inspection followed; and something or other offended 
 young master ; he began to cackle. But this nurse did 
 not take him away, as Mrs. MUlar had. She just sat 
 down with him, and nursed him openly, with rustic com- 
 posure and simplicity. 
 
 Sir Charles leaned his arm on the mantelpiece, and 
 eyed the pair; for all this was a new world of feeling to 
 him. His paid servant seemed to him to be playing the 
 mother to his child. Somehow it gave him a strange 
 twinge ; a sort of vicarious jealousy ; he felt for his 
 Bella. But I think his own paternal pride, in aU its 
 freshness, was hurt a little too. 
 
 At last he shrugged his shoulders, and was going out 
 of the room, with a hint to Mary that she must wrap 
 herself up, for it would be an open carriage — 
 
 " Your own carriage, sir, and horses ? " 
 
308 A TEEKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 "Certainly," 
 
 " And do all the folk know as we are coming ? " 
 
 Sir Charles laughed. "Most likely. Gossip is not 
 dead at Huntercombe, I dare say." 
 
 Nurse's black eyes flashed. 
 
 "All the village will be out. I hope ke will see us 
 ride in, the black-hearted villain ! " 
 
 Sir Charles was too proud to let her draw him into 
 that topic : he went about his business. ' 
 
 Lady Bassett's carriage, duly packed, came round, and 
 Lady Bassett was ready soon afterwards ; so was Mrs. 
 Millar ; so was baby, embedded now in a nest of lawn 
 and lace, and white fur. They had to wait for nurse. 
 Lady Bassett explained sotto voce to her husband : 
 
 "Just at the last moment she was seized with a 'desire 
 to wear a silk gown I gave her. I argued with her, but 
 she only pouted. I was afraid for baby. It is very hard 
 upon yoM, dear." 
 
 Her face and voice were so piteous, that Sir Charles 
 biirst out laughing. 
 
 "We must take the bitter along with the sweet. 
 Don't you think the sweet rather predominates at 
 present ? " 
 
 Lady Bassett explored his face with all her eyes. 
 
 " My darling is happy now ; trifles cannot put him out." 
 
 " I doubt if anything could shake me, whilst I have 
 you and our child. As for that jade keeping us all 
 waiting while she dons silk attire, it is simply delicious. 
 I wish Kolfe was here, that is all. Ha ! ha ! ha ! " 
 
 Mrs. Gosport appeared at last, in a purple silk gown, 
 and marched to the carriage without the slightest sign 
 of the discomfort she really felt ; but that was no won- 
 der, belonging, as she did, to a sex which can walk not 
 only smiling, but jauntily, though dead lame, on sloping 
 stilts — as you may see any day in Eegent Street. 
 
A TEKRIBLE TEMPTATION. 309 
 
 Sir Charles, with mock gravity, ushered King Baby 
 and his attendants in first, then Lady Bassett, and got 
 in last himself. 
 
 Before they had gone a mile, Nurse No. 1 handed the 
 child over to Nurse No. 2, with a lofty condescension, as 
 who should say, " You suffice for porterage ; I, the supe- 
 rior artist, reserve myself for emergencies." No. 2 re- 
 ceived the invaluable bundle with meek complacency. 
 
 By-and-by Nurse 1 got fidgety, and kept changing her 
 position. 
 
 "What is the matter, Mary?" said Lady Bassett 
 kindly. " Is the dress too tight ? " 
 
 " No, no, my lady," said Mary sharply, " the gownd's 
 all right." And then she was quiet a little. 
 
 But she began again; and then Lady Bassett whis- 
 pered Sir Charles, "I think she wants to sit forward; 
 Tnay I ? " 
 
 " Certainly not. I'll change with her. Here, Mary, 
 try this side. We shall have more room in the landau ; 
 it is double, with wide seats." 
 
 Mary was gratified, and amused herself looking out of 
 the window. Indeed, she was quiet for nearly half an 
 hour. At the expiration of that period the fit took her 
 again. She beckoned haughtily for baby, "which did 
 come at her command," as the song says. She got tired 
 of baby, or something, and handed him back again. 
 
 Presently she was discovered to be crying. 
 
 General consternation! Universal, but vague conso- 
 lation ! 
 
 Lady Bassett looked an inquiry at Mrs. MiUar. Mrs. 
 Millar looked back assent. Lady Bassett assumed the 
 command, and took off Mary's shawl. 
 
 " Yes," said she to Mrs. Millar. "Now, Mary, be 
 good ; it is too tight." 
 
 Thus urged, the idiot contracted herself by a mighty 
 
310 A TEKKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 effort, while Lady Bassett attacked the fastenings, and, 
 with infinite difficulty, they unhooked three bottom 
 hooks. The fierce burst open that followed, and the 
 awful chasm, showed what gigantic strength vanity can 
 command, and how savagely abuse it to maltreat nature. 
 
 Lady Bassett loosened the stays too, and a deep sigh 
 of relief told the truth, which the lying tongue had 
 denied, as it always does, whenever the same question 
 is put. 
 
 The shawl was replaced, and comfort gained till they 
 entered the town of Staveleigh. 
 
 Nurse instantly exchanged places with Sir Charles, 
 and took the child again. He was her banner in all 
 public places. 
 
 When they came up to the inn, they were greeted 
 with loud hurrahs. It was market-day. The town was 
 full of Sir Charles's tenants and other farmers. His 
 return had got wind, and every farmer under fifty had 
 resolved to ride with him into Huntercombe. 
 
 When five or six, all shouting together, intimated this 
 to Sir Charles, he sent one of his people to order the 
 butchers out to Huntercombe, with joints a score, and 
 then to gallop on with a note to his housekeeper and 
 butler. " For those that ride so far with me must sup 
 with me," said he ; a sentiment that was much approved. 
 
 He took Lady Bassett and the women up-stairs, and 
 rested them about an hour : and then they started for 
 Huntercombe, followed by some thirty farmers, and a 
 dozen townspeople, who had a mind for a lark, and to 
 sup at Huntercombe Hall for once. 
 
 The ride was delightful ; the carriage bowled swiftly 
 along over a smooth road, with often turf at the side ; 
 and that enabled the young farmers to canter alongside 
 without dusting the carriage party. Every man on 
 horseback they overtook joined them ; some they met 
 
A TEREIBLE TEMPTATION. 311 
 
 turned back with them, and these were rewarded with 
 loud cheers : every eye in the carriage glittered, and 
 every cheek was more or less flushed by this uproarious 
 sympathy so gallantly shown, and the very thunder of 
 so many horses' feet, each carrying a friend, was very 
 exciting and glorious. "Why, before they got to the vil- 
 lage, they had fourscore horsemen at their backs. 
 
 As they got close to the village, Mary Gosport held 
 out her arms for young master : this was not the time 
 to forego her importance. 
 
 The church bells rang out a clashing peal, the caval- 
 cade clattered into the village. Everybody was out to 
 cheer, and, at the sight of baby, the women's voices were 
 as loud as the men's. Old pensioners of the house were 
 out bare-headed ; one, with hair white as snow, was down 
 on his knees, praying a blessing on them. 
 
 Lady Bassett began to ciy softly ; Sir Charles, a little 
 pale, but firm as a rock ; both bowing right and left, like 
 royal personages ; and well they might ; every house in 
 the village belonged to them, but one. 
 
 On approaching that one, Mary Gosport turned her 
 head round, and shot a glance out of the tail of her eye. 
 Ay, there was Eichard Bassett, pale and gloomy, half 
 hid behind a tree at his gate : but Hate's quick eye dis- 
 cerned him: at the moment of passing she suddenly 
 lifted the child high, and showed it him, pretending to 
 show it to the crowd; but her eye told the tale; for, 
 with that act of fierce hatred and cunning triumph, those 
 black orbs shot a colored gleam like a furious leopardess's. 
 
 A roar of cheers burst from the crowd at that inspired 
 gesture of a woman, whose face and eyes seemed on fire : 
 Lady Bassett turned pale. 
 
 The next moment they passed their own gate, and 
 dashed np to the hall-steps of Huntercombe. 
 
 Sir Charles sent Lady Bassett to her room for the 
 
312 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 night. She walked through a row of ducking servants, 
 bowing and smiling like a gentle goddess. Mary Gos- 
 port, afraid to march in a long dress with the child, for 
 fear of accidents, handed him superbly to Millar, and 
 strutted haughtily after her mistress, nodding patronage. 
 Her follower, the meek Millar, stopped often to show 
 the heir right and left, with simple geniality and kind- 
 ness. 
 
 Sir Charles stood on the hall-steps, and invited all to 
 come in and take pot-luck. 
 
 Already spits were turning before great fires ; a rump 
 of beef, legs of pork, and peas-puddings boiling in one 
 copper; turkeys and fowls in another; joints and pies 
 baking in the great brick ovens ; barrels of beer on tap, 
 and magnums of champagne and port marching steadily 
 up from the cellars, and forming in line and square 
 upon sideboards and tables. 
 
 Supper was laid in the hall, the dining-room, the 
 drawing-room, and the great kitchen. 
 
 Poor villagers trickled in: no man or woman was 
 denied: it was open house that night, as it had been 
 four hundred years ago. 
 
A TBREIBIiB TEMPTATION. 313 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 When Sharpe's clerk retired, after serving that writ 
 on Bassett, Bassett went to Wheeler, and treated it as a 
 jest. But Wheeler looked puzzled, and Bassett himself, 
 on second thoughts, said he should like advice of counsel. 
 Accordingly they both went up to London to a solicitor, 
 and obtained an interview with, a counsel learned in the 
 law. He heard their story, and said, " The question is, 
 can you convice a jury he was insane at the time ? " 
 " But he can't get into court," said Bassett. " I won't 
 let him." 
 
 " Oh, the court will make you produce him." 
 
 "But I thought an insane person was civiliter mortuus, 
 and couldn't sue." 
 
 " So he is ; but this man is not insane in law : shutting 
 up a man on certificates is merely a preliminary step to 
 a fair trial by his peers, whether he is insane or not. 
 Take the parallel case of a felon. A magistrate commits 
 him for trial, and generally on better evidence than medi- 
 cal certificates ; but that does not make the man a felon, 
 or disentitle him to a trial by his peers ; on the contrary, 
 it entitles him to a trial, and he could get Parliament to 
 interfere, if he was not brought to trial. This plaintiff 
 simply does what, he will say, you ought to have done ; 
 he tries himself : if he tries you at the same time, that 
 is your fault. If he is insane now, fight. If he is not, 
 I advise you to discharge him on the instant, and then 
 compound." 
 
 Wheeler said he was afraid the plaintiff was too vin- 
 dictive to come to terms. 
 
314 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 "Well, then, you can show you discharged him the 
 moment you had reason to think he was cured, and you 
 must prove he was insane when you incarcerated him : 
 but I warn you it will be uphill work if he is sane now : 
 the jury will be apt to go by what they see." 
 
 Bassett and Wheeler retired ; the latter did not pre- 
 sume to differ ; but Bassett was dissatisfied and irritated. 
 
 " That fellow would only see the plaintiff's side," said 
 he. "The fool forgets there is an Act of Parliament, 
 and that we have complied with its provisions to a T." 
 
 " Then why did you not ask his construction of the 
 act ? " suggested Wheeler. 
 
 "Because I don't want his construction. I've read it, 
 and it is plain enough to anybody but a fool. Well, I 
 have consulted counsel to please you; and now I'll go 
 my own way, to please myself." 
 
 He went to Burdoch and struck a bargain, and Sir 
 Charles was to be shifted to Burdoch's asylum, and no- 
 body allowed to see him there, etc., etc. ; the old system, 
 in short, than which no better has, as yet, been devised, 
 for perpetuatingj or even causing, mental aberration. 
 
 Kolfe baffled this, as described, and Bassett was liter- 
 ally stunned. He now saw that Sir Charles had an ally 
 full of resources and resolution. Who could it be ? He 
 began to tremble. He complained to the police, and set 
 them to discover who had thus openly and audaciously 
 violated the Act of Parliament, and then he went and 
 threatened Dr. Suaby. 
 
 But Eolfe and Sir Charles, who loved Suaby as he 
 deserved, had provided against that : they had. not let 
 the doctor. into their secret. He therefore said, with 
 perfect truth, that he had no hand in the matter, and 
 that Sir Charles, being bound upon his honor not to 
 escape from Bellevue, would be. in the asylum still, if 
 Mr. Bassett had not taken him out, and invoked brute 
 
A TEKEIBLB TEMPTATION. 315 
 
 force, in the shape of Burdoch. "Well, sir," said he, 
 "it seems they have shown you two can play at that 
 game." And so bade him good-afternoon, very civilly. 
 
 Bassett went home sickened. He remained sullen and 
 torpid for a day or two ; then he wrote to Burdoch to 
 send to London and try and recapture Sir Charles. 
 
 But next day he revoked his instructions, for he got a 
 letter from the Commissioners of Lunacy, announcing the 
 authoritative discharge of Sir Charles, on the strong rep- 
 resentation of Dr. Suaby and other competent persons. 
 
 That settled the matter, and the poor cousin had kept 
 the rich cousin three months at his own expense, with 
 no solid advantage but the prospect of a law-suit. 
 
 Sharpe, spurred by Eolfe, gave him no breathing-time. 
 With the utmost expedition the declaration in Bassett 
 V. Bassett followed the writ. It was short, simple, and 
 in three counts : 
 
 "For violently seizing and confining the plaintifE in a 
 certain place, on a false pretence that he was insane. 
 
 "For detaining him in spite of evidence that he was 
 not insane. 
 
 "For endeavoring to remove him to another place, 
 with a certain sinister motive there specified. 
 
 "By which several acts the plaintifE had suffered in 
 his health and his worldly affairs, and had endured great 
 agony of mind." 
 
 And the plaintiff claimed damages, ten thousand 
 pounds. 
 
 Bassett sent over for his friend Wheeler, and showed 
 him the new document with no little consternation. 
 
 But their discussion of it was speedily interrupted 
 by the clashing of triumphant bells and distant shout- 
 ing. 
 
 They ran out to see what it was. Bassett, half sus- 
 pecting, hung back ; but Mary Gosport's keen eye, de- 
 
316 A TEKRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 tected him, and she held up the heir to him, with hate 
 and triumph blazing in her face. 
 
 He crept into his own house, and sank into a chair — 
 foudroye. 
 
 Wheeler, however, roused him to a necessary effort, 
 and next day they took the declaration to counsel, to 
 settle their defence in due form. 
 
 " What is this ? " said the learned gentleman. " Three 
 counts ! Why, I advised you to discharge him at once." 
 
 "Yes," said Wheeler; "and excellent advice it was. 
 But my client " — 
 
 "Preferred to go his own road. And now I am to 
 cure the error I did what I could to prevent." 
 
 " I dare say, sir, it is not the first time in your expe- 
 rience." 
 
 "Wot by a great many. Clients, in general, have a 
 great contempt for the notion that prevention is better 
 than cure." 
 
 "He can't hurt me," said Bassett impatiently. "He 
 was separately examined by two doctors, and all the 
 provisions of the statute exactly complied with." 
 
 " But that is no defence to this plaint. The statute 
 forbids you to imprison an insane person without certain 
 precautions ; but it does not give you a right, under any 
 circumstances, to imprison a sane man. That was decided 
 in Butcher v. Butcher. The defence you rely on was 
 pleaded a§ a second plea, and the plaintiff demurred to 
 it directly. The question was argued before the full 
 court, and the judges, led by the first lawyer of the age, 
 decided unanimously that the provisions of the statute 
 did not affect sane Englishmen, and their rights under 
 the common law. They ordered the plea to be struck off 
 the record, and the case was reduced to a simple issue of 
 sane or insane. Butcher v. Butcher governs all these 
 oases. Can you prove film insane ? If not, you had 
 
A TEBBIBLE TEMPTATION. 317 
 
 better compound on any terms. In Butcher's case the 
 jury gave three thousand pounds, and the plaintiff was a 
 man of very inferior position to Sir Charles Bassett. 
 Besides, the defendant. Butcher, had not persisted against 
 evidence, as you have. They wLll award five thousand 
 pounds at least in this case." 
 
 He took down a volume of reports, and showed them 
 the case he had cited; and, on reading the unanimous 
 decision of the judges, and the learning by which they 
 were supported, Wheeler said at once, " Mr. Bassett, we 
 might as well try to knock down St. Paul's with our 
 heads as to go against this decision." 
 
 They then settled to put in a single plea, that Sir 
 Charles was insane at the time of his capture. 
 
 This done to gain time, Wheeler called on Sharpe, 
 and, after several conferences, got the case compounded 
 by an apology, a solemn retractation in writing, and the 
 payment of four thousand pounds. His counsel assured 
 him his client was very lucky to get off so cheap. 
 
 Bassett paid the money, with the assistance of his 
 wife's father ; but it was a sickener ; it broke his spirit, 
 and even injured his health for some time. 
 
 Sir Charles improved the village with the money, and 
 gave a copyhold tenement to each of the men Bassett 
 had got imprisoned. So they and their sons and their 
 grandsons lived rent free — no, now I think of it, they 
 had to pay fourpence a year to the lord of the manor. 
 
 Defeated at every point, and at last punished severely, 
 Eichard Bassett fell into a deep dejection and solitary 
 brooding of a sort very dangerous to the reason. He 
 would not go out of doors to give his enemies a triumph. 
 He used to sit by the fire, and mutter, "Blow upon blow, 
 blow upon blow. My poor boy will never be lord of 
 Huntercombe now," and so on. 
 
 Wheeler pitied him, but could not rouse him. 
 
318 A TEKKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 At last a person, for whose narrow attainments and 
 simplicity he had a profound, though, to do him justice, a 
 civil contempt, ventured to his rescue. Mrs. Bassett went 
 crying to her father, and told him she feared the worst, 
 if Eichard's mind could not be diverted from the Hunter- 
 combe estate, and his hatred of Sir Charles and Lady 
 Bassett, which had been the great misfortune of her life, 
 and of his own, but nothing would ever eradicate it. 
 
 Eichard had great abilities, was a linguist, a wonder- 
 ful accountant. Could her dear father find him some 
 profitable employment to divert his thoughts ? 
 
 " What, all in a moment ? " said the old man ; " then 
 I shall have to buy it ; and, if I go on like this, I shall 
 not have much to leave you." 
 
 Having delivered this objection, he went up to London, 
 and, having many friends in the City, and laying himself 
 open to proposals, he got scent at last of a new insurance 
 company that proposed also to deal in reversions, espe- 
 cially to entailed estates. By prompt purchase of shares 
 in Bassett's name, and introducing Bassett himself, who, 
 by special study, had a vast acquaintance with entailed 
 estates, and a genius for arithmetical calculation, he 
 managed somehow to get him into the direction, with a 
 stipend, and a commission on all business he might 
 introduce to the of&ce. 
 
 Bassett yielded sullenly, and now divided his time 
 between London and the country. 
 
 Wheeler worked with him, on a share of commission, 
 and they made some money between them. 
 
 After the bitter lesson he had received, Bassett vowed 
 to himself he never would attack Sir Charles again, 
 unless he was sure of victory. For all this he hated 
 him and Lady Bassett worse than ever, hated them to 
 the death. 
 
 He never moved a finger down at Huntercombe, nor 
 
A TEBBIBLB TEMPTATION. 319 
 
 said a word; but, in London, he employed a private 
 inquirer to find out where Lady Bassett had lived at the 
 time of her confinement, and whether any clergyman had 
 visited her. 
 
 The private inquirer could find out nothing, and Bassett, 
 comparing his advertisements with his performance, dis- 
 missed him for a humbug. 
 
 But the office brought him into contact with a great 
 many medical men, one after another. He used to say 
 to each stranger, with an insidious smUe, " I think you 
 once attended my cousin. Lady Bassett." 
 
320 A TBRBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXIII. 
 
 SiE Charles and Lady Bassett, relieved of their 
 cousin's active enmity, led a quiet life, and one tliat no 
 longer furnished striking incidents. 
 
 But dramatic incident is not everything: character 
 and feeling show themselves in things that wiU not make 
 pictures. Now it was precisely during this reposeful 
 period that three personages of this story exhibited 
 fresh traits of feeling and also of character. 
 
 To begin with Sir Charles Bassett. He came back 
 from the asylum, much altered in body and mind. Stop- 
 ping his cigars had improved his stomach ; working in 
 the garden had increased his muscular power, and his 
 cheeks were healthy and a little sunburnt, instead of 
 sallow. His mind was also improved : contemplation of 
 insane persons had set him, by a natural recoil, to study 
 self-control. He had returned a philosopher; no small 
 thing could irritate him now. So far his character was 
 elevated. 
 
 Lady Bassett was much the same as before, except a 
 certain restlessness. She wanted to be told every day, or 
 twice a day, that her husband was happy ; and, although 
 he was visibly so, yet, as he was quiet over it, she used 
 to be always asking hiin if he was happy. This the 
 reader must interpret as he pleases. 
 
 Mary Gosport gave herself airs. Eespectful to her 
 master and mistress, but not so tolerant of chaff in the 
 kitchen as she used to be. Made an example of one girl, 
 who threw a doubt on her marriage. Complained to 
 Lady Bassett, affected to fret, and the girl was dismissed. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 321 
 
 She turned singer. She had always sung psalms in 
 church, but never a profane note in the house. Now she 
 took to singing over her nursling. She had a voice of 
 prodigious power and mellowness, and, provided she was 
 not asked, would sing lullabies and nursery rhymes from 
 another county that ravished the hearer. Horsemen have 
 been known to stop in the road to hear her sing through 
 an open window of Huntercombe, two hundred yards off. 
 
 Old Mr. Meyrick, a farmer well-to-do, fascinated by 
 Mary Gosporf s singing, asked her to be his housekeeper, 
 when she should have done nursing her charge. 
 
 She laughed in his face. 
 
 A fanatic, who was staying -with Sir Charles Bassett, 
 offered her three years' education in do, re, mi, fa, pre- 
 paratory to singing at the opera. 
 
 Declined without thanks. 
 
 Mr. Drake, after hovering shyly, at last found courage 
 to reproach her for deserting him, and marrying a sailor. 
 
 "Teach you not to shilly-shally," said she. "Beauty 
 won't go a-begging. Mind you look sharper next time." 
 This dialogue, being held in the kitchen, gave the women 
 some amusement at the young farmer's expense. 
 
 One day Mr. Eiehard Bassett, from motives of pure 
 affection, no doubt, not curiosity, desired mightily to 
 inspect Mr. Bassett, aged eight months and two days. 
 So, in his usual wily way, he wrote to Mrs. Gosport, ask- 
 ing her, for old acquaintance sake, to meet him in the 
 meadow, at the end of the lawn. This meadow belonged 
 to Sir Charles ; but Eiehard Bassett had a right of way 
 through it, and could step into it by a postern, as Mary 
 could by an iron gate. He asked her to come at eleven 
 o'clock, because at that hour he observed she walked on 
 the lawn with her charge. 
 
 Mary Gflspoit came to the tryst, but without Mr. 
 Bassett. 
 21 
 
322 A TEEEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Eichard was very polite ; she, cold, taciturn, observant. 
 
 At last lie said, " But -where's the little heir ? " 
 
 She flew at him directly. " It is him you wanted, not 
 me. Did you think I'd bring him here — for you to kill 
 him ? " 
 
 " Come, I say ! " 
 
 "Ay, you'd kill him, if you had a chance. But you 
 never shall. Or, if you didn't kill him, you'd cast the 
 evil eye on him ; for you are well known to have the evil 
 eye. No ; he shall outlive thee and thine, and be lord 
 of these here manors, when thou is gone to hell, thou 
 villain ! " 
 
 Mr. Eichard Bassett turned pale, but did the wisest 
 thing he could; put his hands in his pockets, and walked 
 into his own premises, followed, however, by Mary Gos- 
 port, who stormed at him, till he shut his postern in her 
 face. 
 
 She stood there trembling for a little while, then 
 walked away crying. 
 
 But, having a mind like running water, she was soon 
 seated on a garden-chair, singing over her nursling, like 
 a mavis ; she had delivered him to Millar, while she went 
 to speak her mind to her old lover. 
 
 As for Eichard Bassett, he was theory-bitten, and so 
 turned everything one way. To be sure, as long as the 
 woman's glaring eyes, and face distorted by passion, were 
 before him, he interpreted her words simply ; but, when 
 he thought the matter over, he said to himself, "The evil 
 eye! That is all bosh; the gill is in Lady Bassett's 
 secrets, and I am not to see young master ; some day I 
 shall know the reason why." 
 
 Sir Charles Bassett now belonged to the tribe of cluck- 
 ing cocks, quite as much as his cousin had ever done-; 
 only Sir Charles had the good taste to confine his clucks 
 to his own first floor. Here, to be sure, he richly indem- 
 
A TEEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 323 
 
 nified himself for his self-denial abroad. He sat for 
 hours at a time, watching the boy on the ground at his 
 knee, or in his nurse's arms. 
 
 And, whilst he watched the infant with undisguised 
 delight. Lady Bassett watched him with a sort of furtive 
 and timid complacency. 
 
 Yet, at times, she suffered from twinges of jealousy — 
 a new complaint with her. 
 
 I think I have mentioned that Sir Charles, at first, was 
 annoyed at seeing his son and heir nursed by a woman 
 of low condition. Well, he got over that feeling by 
 degrees, and, as soon as he did get oVter it, his sentiments 
 took quite an opposite turn. A woman for whom he did 
 very little, in his opinion — since what, in Heaven's 
 name, were a servant's wages! — he saw that woman do 
 something great for him : saw her nourish his son and 
 heir from her own veins ; the child had no other nurture, 
 yet the father saw him bloom and thrive, and grow 
 surprisingly. 
 
 A weak observer, or a less enthusiastic parent, might 
 have overlooked all this ; but Sir Charles had naturally 
 an observant eye and an analytical mind, and this had 
 been suddenly, but efEectually, developed by the asylum 
 and his correspondence with Eolfe. 
 
 He watched the nurse then, and her maternal acts, 
 with a curious and grateful eye, and a certain reverence 
 for her power. 
 
 He observed, too, that his child reacted on the woman ; 
 she had never sung in the house before ; now she sang 
 ravishingly, sang in low, mellow, yet sonorous notes, 
 some ditties that had lulled mediaeval barons in their 
 cradles. 
 
 And what had made her vocal, made her beautiful at 
 times. 
 
 Before, she had appeared to him a handsome girl with 
 
324 A TBKKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 the hardish look of the lower classes;, but now, when 
 she sat in a sunny window, and lowered her black lashes 
 on her nursling, with the mixed and delicious smile of 
 an exuberant nurse relieving and relieved, she was soft, 
 poetical, sculptorial, maternal, womanly. 
 
 This species of contemplation, though half philosophi- 
 cal, half paternal, and quite innocent, gave Lady Bassett 
 some severe pangs. She hid them, however; only she 
 bided her time, and then suggested the propriety of 
 weaning baby. 
 
 But Mrs. Gosport got Sir Charles's ear, and told him 
 what magnificent children they reared in her village by 
 not weaning infants till they were eighteen months old 
 or so. 
 
 By this means, and by crying to Lady Bassett, and 
 representing her desolate condition, with a husband at 
 sea, she obtained a reprieve, coupled, however, with a 
 good-humored assurance from Sir Charles that she was 
 the greatest baby of the two. 
 
 When the inevitable hour approached that was to de- 
 throne her, she took to reading the papers, and one day 
 she read of a disastrous wreck, the Carbrea Castle, only 
 seven saved out of a crew of twenty-three. She read the 
 details carefully, and, two days afterwards, she received 
 a letter, written by a shipmate of Mr. Gosport, in a hand- 
 writing not very unlike her own, relating the sad wreck 
 of the Carbrea Castle, and the loss of several good sailors, 
 James Gosport for one. 
 
 Then the house was filled with the wailing and weep- 
 ing of the bereaved widow ; and at last came consolers 
 and raised doubts ; but then somebody remembered to 
 have seen the loss of that very ship in the paper. The 
 paper was found, and the fatal truth was at once estab- 
 lished. 
 
 Upon this Mr. Bassett was weaned as quickly as possi- 
 
A TERRIBLE TElVrPTATION. 325 
 
 ble, and the widow clothed in black at Lady Bassett's 
 expense, and everything in reason done to pet her and 
 console her. 
 
 But she cried bitterly, and said she would throw her- 
 self into the sea and follow her husband. 
 
 Huntercombe was nowhere near the coast. 
 
 At last, however, she relented, and concluded to remain 
 on earth as dry-nurse to Mr. Bassett. 
 
 Sir Charles did not approve this ; it seemed unreason- 
 able to turn a wet-nurse into a dry-nurse, when that office 
 was already occupied by a person her senior, and more 
 experienced. 
 
 Lady Bassett agreed with him, but shrugged her 
 shoulders and said, "Two nurses will not hurt, and I 
 suspect it will not be for long. Mary does not feel her 
 husband's loss one bit." 
 
 " Surely you are mistaken. She howls loud enough." 
 
 "Too loud — much," said Lady Bassett dryly. 
 
 Her perspicacity was not deceived. In a very short 
 time, Mr. Meyrick, unable to get her for his housekeeper, 
 offered her marriage. » 
 
 "What!" said she, "and James Gosport not dead a 
 month ! " 
 
 " Say the word now ; and take your own time," said he. 
 
 " Well, I might do worse," said she. 
 
 About six weeks after this Drake came about her, and 
 in tender tones of consolation suggested that it is much 
 better for a pretty girl to marry one who ploughs the 
 land than one who ploughs the sea. 
 
 " That is true," said Mary, with a sigh. "I have found 
 it to my sorrow." 
 
 After this Drake played a bit with her, and then 
 relented, and one evening offered her marriage, expect- 
 ing her to jump eagerly at his offer. 
 
 " You be too late, young man," said she coolly ; " I'm 
 bespoke." 
 
326 A TEEEIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 " Doan't ye say that ! How can ye be bespoke ? Why, 
 t'other hain't been dead four months yet." 
 
 "What o' that? This one spoke for me within a 
 week. Why, our banns are to be cried to-morrow ; come 
 to church and hear 'em, that will learn ye not to shilly- 
 shally so next time." 
 
 "Next time ! " cried Drake, half blubbering; then, with 
 a sudden roar, " What, be you coming to market again, 
 arter this ? " 
 
 " Like enough — he is a sight older than I be. 'Tis 
 Mr. Meyrick, if you must know." 
 
 Now Mr. Meyrick was well-to-do, and so Drake was 
 taken aback. 
 
 " Mr. Meyrick ! " said he, and turned suddenly respect- 
 ful. But presently a view of a rich widow flitted before 
 his eye. "Well," said he, "you shan't throw it in my 
 teeth again, as I speak too lafe. I ask you now, and no 
 time lost." 
 
 "What, am I to stop my banns and jilt farmer Meyrick 
 iovthee?" 
 
 "Nay, nay. But I mean I'll marry you, if you'll marry 
 me, as soon as ever the breath is out of that dall'd old 
 hunk's body." 
 
 "Well, WiU Drake," said Mary gravely, "if I do out- 
 live this one — and you hain't married long afore — and 
 if you keeps in the same mind as you be in now — and 
 lets me know it in good time — I'll see about it." 
 
 She gave a flounce that made her petticoats whisk like 
 a mare's tail, and off to the kitchen, where she related 
 the dialogue with an appropriate reflection, the company 
 containing several of either sex: "Dilly-dally, and shilly- 
 shally, they belongs to us as women be. I hate and de- 
 spise a man as can't make up his mind in half a minnut." 
 
 So the widow Gosport became Mrs. Meyrick, and lived 
 in a farmhouse not quite a mile from the Hall. 
 
A TEREIBLE TEaiPTATION. 327 
 
 She used often to come to the HaU, and take a peep 
 at her lamb ; this was the name she gave Mr. Bassett, 
 long after he had ceased to be a child. 
 
 About four years after the triumphant return to 
 Huntercombe, Lady Bassett conceived a sudden coldness 
 towards the little boy, though he was universally admired. 
 
 She concealed this sentiment from Sir Charles, but not 
 from the female servants ; and from one to another, at 
 last it came round to Sir Charles. He disbelieved it 
 utterly at firsf ; but, the hint having been given him, he 
 paid attention, and discovered there was, at all events, 
 some truth in it. 
 
 He awaited his opportunity, and remonstrated, "My 
 dear Bella, am I ndstaken, or do I really observe a fall- 
 ing off in your tenderness for your child ? " 
 
 Lady Bassett looked this way and that, as if she medi- 
 tated flight, but at last she resigned herself, and said, 
 "Yes, Charles ; my heart is quite cold to him." 
 
 " Grood heavens, Bella ! But why ? Is not this the 
 same little angel that came to our help in trouble, that 
 comforted me before his birth, when my mind was mor- 
 bid, to say the least ? " 
 
 " I suppose he is the same," said she, in a tone impos- 
 sible to convey by description of mine. 
 
 " That is a strange answer." 
 
 " If he is, 7 am changed." And this she said doggedly, 
 and unlike herself. 
 
 " What ! " said Sir Charles, very gravely, and with a 
 sort of awe ; "can a woman withdraw her affection from 
 her child, her innocent child ? If so, my turn may come 
 next." 
 
 "Oh, Charles ! Charles ! " and the tears began to welL 
 
 "Why, who can be secure after tMs? What is so 
 stable as a mother's love? If that is not rooted too 
 deep for gusts of caprice to blow it away, in Heaven's 
 name what is ? " 
 
328 A TEERIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 No answer to that but tears. 
 
 Sir Charles looked at her very long, attentively, and 
 seriously, and said not another syllable. 
 
 But this dropping so suddenly a subject of this import- 
 ance was rather suspicious, and Lady Bassett was too 
 shrewd not to see that. 
 
 They watched each other. 
 
 But, with this difference : Sir Charles could not con- 
 ceal his anxiety, whereas the lady appeared quite tran- 
 quil. 
 
 One day Sir Charles said cheerfully, "Who do you 
 think dines here to-morrow, and stays all night ? Dr. 
 Suaby." 
 
 "By invitation, dear ? " asked Lady Bassett quietly. 
 
 Sir Charles colored a little, and said quietly, " Yes." 
 
 Lady Bassett made no remark, and it was impossible to 
 tell by her face, whether the visit was agreeable or not.' 
 
 Some time afterwards, however, she said, "Whom 
 shall I ask to meet Dr. Suaby ? " 
 
 "Nobody, for Heaven's sake ! " 
 
 " Will not that be dull for him ? " 
 
 "I hope not." 
 
 " You will have plenty to say to him, eh, darling ? " 
 
 " We never yet lacked topics. Whether or no, his is 
 a mind I choose to drink neat." 
 
 " Drink him neat ? " 
 
 " Undiluted with rural minds." 
 
 " Oh." 
 
 She uttered that monosyllable very dryly, and said no 
 more. 
 
 Dr. Suaby came next day, and dined with them, and 
 Lady Bassett was charming; but, rather earlier than 
 usual, she said, "Now I am sure you and Dr. Suaby must 
 have many things to talk about ; " and retired, casting 
 back an arch and almost a cunning smile. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 329 
 
 The door closed on her ; the smile fled, and a sombre 
 look of care and suffering took its place. 
 
 Sir Charles entered at once on what was next his 
 heart; told Dr. Suaby he was in some anxiety; and 
 asked him if he had observed anything in Lady Bas- 
 sett. 
 
 " Nothing new," said Dr. Suaby — " charming as ever." 
 
 Then Sir Charles confided to Dr. Suaby, in terms of 
 deep feeling and anxiety, what I have coldly told the 
 reader. 
 
 Dr. Suaby looked a little grave, and took time to think 
 before he spoke. 
 
 At last he delivered an opinion, of which this is the 
 substance, though not the exact words : 
 
 " It is sudden and unnatural, and I cannot say it does 
 not partake of mental aberration. If the patient was a 
 man, I should fear the most serious results : but here we 
 have to take into account the patient's sex, her nature, 
 and her present condition. Lady Bassett has always 
 appeared to me a very remarkable woman ; she has no 
 mediocrity in anything ; understanding keen, perception 
 wonderfully swift, heart large and sensitive, nerves high- 
 strung, sensibilities acute. A person of 'her sex, tuned 
 so high as this, is always subject more or less to hysteria. 
 It is controlled by her intelligence and spirit ; but she 
 is now, for the time being, in a physical condition that 
 has often deranged less sensitive women than she is. I 
 believe this about the boy to be a hysterical delusion, 
 which win pass away when her next child is born. That 
 is to say, she will probably ignore her firstborn, and 
 everything else, for a time ; but these caprices, spring- 
 ing, in reality, from the body rather than the mind, can- 
 not endure forever. When she has several grown-up 
 children, the firstborn will be the favorite. It comes to 
 that at last, my good friend." 
 
330 A TEERIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " These are the words of wisdom," said Sir Charles ; 
 " God bless you for them." 
 
 After a while he said, " Then what you advise is sim- 
 ply — patience?" 
 
 " No, I don't say that. "With such a large house as 
 this, and your resources, you might easily separate them 
 before the delusion goes any farther. Why risk a 
 calamity ? " 
 
 " A calamity ? " and Sir Charles began to tremble. 
 
 " She is only cold to the child, as yet. She might go 
 farther, and fancy she hated it. Obsta prmdpiis; that 
 is my motto. Not that I really think, for a moment, 
 the child is in danger. Lady Bassett has mind to con- 
 trol her nerves with; but why run the shadow of a 
 chance ? " 
 
 "I will not run the shadow of a chance," said Sir 
 Charles resolutely ; " let us come up-stairs : my decision 
 is taken." 
 
 The very next day. Sir Charles called on Mrs. Meyrick, 
 and asked if he could co^e to any arrangement with 
 her, to lodge Mr. Bassett and his nurse under her roof ; 
 " The boy wants change of air," said he. 
 
 Mrs. Meyrick jumped at the proposal, but declined all 
 terms. " No," said she, " the child I have suckled shall 
 never pay me for his lodging. Why should he, sir, when 
 I'd pay you to let him come, if I wasn't afeared of 
 offending you ? " 
 
 Sir Charles was touched at this, and, being a gentle- 
 man of tact, said, "You are very good: well, then I 
 must remain your debtor for the present." 
 
 He then took his leave, but she walked with him a 
 few yards, just as far as the wicket-gate that separated 
 her,little front garden from the high road. 
 
 " I hope," said she, " my lady will come and see me, 
 when my lamb is with me: a sight of her would be 
 
A TBRRIBLB TEatPTATION. 331 
 
 good for sore eyes. She have never been here but once, 
 and then she did not get out of her carriage." 
 
 " Humph ! " said Sir Charles apologetically, " she 
 seldom goes out now; you understand." 
 
 " Oh, I've heard, sir ; and I do put up my prayers for 
 her ; for my lady has been a good friend to me, sir, and, 
 if you will believe me, I often sets here and longs for a 
 sight of her, and her sweet eyes, and her hair like sun- 
 shine, that I've had in my hand so often. Well, sir, I 
 hope it will be a girl this time, a little girl with golden 
 hair; that's what I wants this time. They'd be the 
 prettiest pair in England." 
 
 "With all my heart," said Sir Charles ; "girl or boy, 
 I don't care which ; but I'd give a few thousands if it 
 was here, and the mother safe." 
 
 He hurried away, ashamed of having uttered the feel- 
 ings of his heart to a farmer's wife. 
 
 To avoid discussion, he sent Mrs. Millar and the boy 
 off, all in a hurry, and then told Lady Bassett what he 
 had done. , 
 
 She appeared much distressed at that, and asked what 
 she had done. 
 
 He soothed her, and said she was not to blame at all ; 
 and she must not blame him either. He had done it for 
 the best. 
 
 " After all you are the master," said she submissively. 
 
 "I am," said he, "and men wiU be tyrants, you 
 know." 
 
 Then she flung her arm round her tyrant's neck, and 
 there was an end of the discussion. 
 
 One day he inquired for her and heard, to his no small 
 satisfaction, she had driven to Mrs. Meyrick's with a box 
 of things for Mr. Bassett. She stayed at the farmhouse 
 all day, and Sir Charles felt sure he had done the right 
 thing. 
 
332 A TBBRIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 Mrs. Meyrick found out to her cost the difference 
 between a nursling and a rampageous little bpy. 
 
 Her lamb, as she called him, was now a young monkey, 
 vigorous, active, restless, and, unfortunately, as strong 
 on his pins as most boys of six. It took two women to 
 look after him, and smart ones too, so swiftly did he 
 dash off into some mischief or other. At last Mrs. 
 Meyrick simplified matters in some degree by locking 
 the large gate, and even the small wicket, and ordering 
 all the farm people and milkmaids to keep an eye on 
 him, and bring him straight to her if he should stray, 
 for he seemed to hate in-doors. Never was such a boy. 
 
 Nevertheless, such as had not the care of him admired 
 the child for his beauty and his assurance. He seemed 
 to regard the whole human race as one family, of which 
 he was the rising head. The moment he caught sight 
 of a human being, he dashed at it and into conversation 
 by one unbroken movement. 
 
 Now, children in general are too apt to hide their 
 intellectual treasures from strangers by shyness. 
 
 One day this ready converser was standing on the 
 steps of the house, when a gentleman came to the wicket- 
 gate, and looked over into the garden. 
 
 Young master darted to the gate directly, and, getting 
 his foot on the lowest bar and his hands on the spikes, 
 gave tongue. 
 
 "Who are you ? I'm Mr. Bassett. I don't live here : 
 I'm only staying. My home is Huncom Hall. I'm to 
 have it for myself when papa dies. I didn't know dat till 
 I come here. How old are you ? I'm half -past four " — 
 
 A loud scream, a swift rustle, and Mr. Bassett was 
 clutched' up by Mrs. Meyrick, who snatched him away 
 with a wild glance of terror and defiance, and bore him 
 swiftly into the house with words ringing in her ears 
 that cost Mr. Bassett dear, he being the only person she 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 333 
 
 covild pvinish. She sat down on a bencli, flung yonng 
 master across her knee in a minute, and bestowed such 
 a smacking on him as far transcended his wildest dreams 
 of the weight, power, and pertinacity of the human arm. 
 
 The words Eichard Bassett had shot her flying with 
 were these: "Too late ! I've seen the parson's brat." 
 
 Hichard Bassett mounted his horse, and rode over to 
 Wheeler, for he could no longer wheedle the man of law 
 over to Highmore, and I will say briefly why. 
 
 1st. About three years ago, an old lady, one of his 
 few clients, left him three thousand pounds, — just reward 
 of a very little law and a vast deal of gossip. 
 
 2d. The head solicitor of the place got old and wanted 
 a partner. Wheeler bought himself in, and thenceforth 
 took his share of a good business, and by his energy 
 enlarged it, though he never could found one for himself. 
 
 3d. He married a wife. 
 
 4th. She was a pretty woman, and blessed with jeal- 
 ousy of a just and impartial nature. She was equally 
 jealous of women, men, books, business, anything that 
 took her husband from her. 
 
 No more sleeping out at Highmore ; no more protracted 
 potations ; no more bachelor tricks for Wheeler. He 
 still valued his old client, and welcomed him ; but the 
 venue was changed, so to speak. 
 
 Kichard Bassett was kept waiting in the outer office ; 
 but, when he did get in, he easily prevailed on Wheeler 
 to send the next client or two to his partner, and give 
 him a full hearing. 
 
 Then he opened his business. " Well," said he, "I've 
 seen him at last ! " 
 
 " Seen him ? seen whom ? " 
 
 "The boy they have set up to rob my boy of the 
 estate. I've seen him, Wheeler, seen him close; and 
 hk's as black as my hat." 
 
334 A TEKKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XyXIV. 
 
 Whebler, instead of being thunder-stricken, said 
 quietly, " Oh, is he ? Well ? " 
 
 " Sir Charles is lighter than I am ; Lady Bassett has 
 a skin like satin, and red hair." 
 
 " Ked ! say auburn gilt. I never saw such lovely hair." 
 
 "Well," said Richard impatiently, "then the boy has 
 eyes like sloes, and a brown skin like an Italian, and 
 black hair almost ; it will be quite." 
 
 " Well," said Wheeler, " it is not so very uncommon 
 for a dark child to be born of fair parents, or i>ice versa. 
 I once saw an urchin that was like neither father nor 
 mother, but the image of his father's grandfather, that 
 died eighty years before he was born. They used to 
 hold him up to the portrait." 
 
 Said Bassett, " Will you admit that it is uncommon ? " 
 
 " Not so uncommon as for a high-bred lady, living in 
 the country, and adored by her husband, to trifle with 
 her marriage vow ; for that is what you are driving at." 
 
 "Then we have to decide between two improbabili- 
 ties ; will you grant me that, Mr. Wheeler ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Then suppose I can prove fact upon fact, and coinci- 
 dence upon coincidence, all tending one way ? Are you 
 so prejudiced that nothing will convince you ? " 
 
 " No. But it will take a great deal ; that lady's face 
 is full of purity, and she fought us like one who loved 
 her husband." 
 
 " Fronti nulla fides ; and, as for her fighting, her infi- 
 delity was the weapon she defeated us with. Will you 
 hear me ? " 
 
A TBEKIBLE TEMPTATIOK. 335 
 
 " Yes, yes ; but pray stick to facts and not conjectures." 
 
 " Then don't interrupt me with childish arguments. 
 
 "Fact 1. Both reputed parents fair; the boy as 
 black as the ace of spades. 
 
 " Fact 2. A handsome young fellow was always buzz- 
 ing about her ladyship, and he was a parson, and ladies 
 are remarkably fond of parsons. 
 
 " Fact 3. This parson wa,s of Italian breed, dark, like 
 the boy. 
 
 " Fact 4. This dark young man left Huntercombe one^ 
 week and my lady left it the next, and they were both in 
 the city of Bath at one time. 
 
 " Fact 6. The lady went from Bath to London. The 
 dark young man went from Bath to London." 
 
 "None of this is new to me," said Wheeler quietly. 
 
 "No; but it is the rule, in estimating coincidences, 
 that each fresh one multiplies the valvie of the others. 
 Now the boy looking so Italian is a new coincidence, and 
 so is what I am going to tell you. At last I have found 
 the medical man who attended Lady Bassett in London." 
 
 " Ah ! " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; and I have learned Fact 6. Her ladyship 
 rented a house, but hired no servants, and engaged no 
 nurse. She had no attendant but a lady's-maid, no ser- 
 vant but a sort of charwoman. 
 
 " Fact 7. She dismissed this doctor unusually soon, 
 and gave him a very large fee. 
 
 "Fact 8. She concealed her address from her hus- 
 band." 
 
 « Oh ! Can you prove that ? " 
 
 " Certainly. Sir Charles came up to town, and had to 
 hunt for her, and came to this very medical man, and 
 asked for the address his wife had not given him ; but, 
 lo, when he got there the bird was flown. 
 
 "Fact 9. Following the same system of concealment, 
 
336 A TBEEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 my lady levanted from London within ten days of her 
 confinement. 
 
 "Now, put all these coincidences together. Don't you 
 see that she had a lover, and that he was about her in 
 London, and other places ? Stop ! Fact 10. Those two 
 were married for years, and had no child but this equivo- 
 cal one ; and now four years and a half have passed, 
 during all which time they have had none, and the young 
 parson has been abroad during that period." 
 
 Wheeler was staggered and perplexed by this artful 
 array of coincidences. 
 
 " Now advise me," said Bassett. 
 
 " It is not so easy. Of course if Sir Charles was to 
 die, you could claim the estate, and give them a great 
 deal of pain and annoyance, but the burden of proof 
 would always rest on you. My advice is not to breathe 
 a syllable of this, but get a good detective, and push 
 your inquiries a little further, among house-agents and 
 the women they put into houses ; find that charwoman, 
 and see if you can pick up anything more." 
 
 " Do you know such a thing as an able detective ? " 
 
 " I know one that will work if I instruct him." 
 
 " Instruct him then." 
 
 « I will." 
 
A TBBBIBIiE TEMPTATION. 337 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXV. 
 
 Lady Bassett, as her time of trial drew near, became 
 despondent.. 
 
 She spoke of the future, and tried to pierce it ; and in 
 all these little loving speculations and anxieties there 
 was no longer any mention of herself. 
 
 This meant that she feared her husband was about to 
 lose her. I put the fear in the very form it took in that 
 gentle breast. 
 
 Possessed with this dread, so natural to her situation, 
 she set her house in order, and left her little legacies of 
 clothes, and jewels, without the help of a lawyer; for 
 Sir Charles, she knew, would respect her lightest wish. 
 
 To him she left her all, except these trifles, and above 
 all, a manuscript book. It was the history of her wed- 
 ded life ; not the bare outward history, but such a record 
 of a sensitive woman's heart as no male writer's pen can 
 approach. 
 
 It was the nature of her face and her tongue to con- 
 ceal ; but here, on this paper, she laid bare her heart : 
 here her very subtlety operated, not to hide, but to dis- 
 sect herself and her motives. 
 
 But, oh, what it cost her to pen this faithful record 
 of her love, her trials, her doubts, her perplexities, her 
 agonies, her temptations, and her crime ! Often she 
 laid down the pen, and hid her face in her hands. Often 
 the scalding tears ran down that scarlet face. Often she 
 writhed at her desk, and wrote on, sighing and moaning. 
 Yet she persevered to the end. It was the grave that 
 gave her the power. " When he reads this," she said, 
 22 
 
338 A TEBKIBLB TEMPTATIOK. 
 
 "I shall be in my tomb. Men make excuses for the 
 dead. My Charles will forgive me when I am gone. He 
 will know I loved him to desperation." 
 
 It took her many days to write : it was quite a thick 
 quarto ; so much may a woman feel in a year or two. 
 And need I say that, to the reader of that volume, the 
 mystery of her conduct was all made clear as daylight ? 
 clearer far, as regards the revelation of mind and feeling, 
 than I, dealer in broad facts, shall ever make it, for want 
 of a woman's mental microscope and delicate brush. 
 
 And when this record was finished, she wrapped it 
 in paper, and sealed it with many seals, and wrote on 
 it: — 
 
 " Only for my husband's eye. 
 
 From her who loved him not wisely 
 
 but too well." 
 
 And she took other means that even the superscription 
 should never be seen of any other eye but his. It was 
 some little comfort to her when the book was written. 
 
 She never prayed to live. But she used to pray fer- 
 vently, piteously, that her child might live, and be a 
 comfort and joy to his father. 
 
 The person employed by Wheeler discovered the 
 house-agent, and the woman he had employed. 
 
 But these added nothing to the evidence Bassett had 
 collected. 
 
 At last, however, this woman, under the influence of 
 a promised reward, discovered a person who was likely 
 to know more about the matter ; viz., the woman who 
 was in the house with Lady Bassett at the very time. 
 
 But this woman scented gold directly. So she held 
 mysterious language, declined to say a word to the officer, 
 but intimated that she knew a great deal ; and that the 
 mattei was in truth well worth looking iftto, and she 
 
A TBBBIBLB TEMPTATION, 339 
 
 could tell some strange tales, if it was worth her 
 while. 
 
 This information was sent to Bassett. He replied that 
 the woman only wanted money for her intelligence, and 
 he did not blame her ; he would see her next time he 
 went to town, and felt sure she would complete his chain 
 of evidence. This put Richard Bassett into extravagant 
 spirits. He danced his little boy on his knee, and said, 
 " I'll run this little horse against the parson's brat ; five 
 to one, and no takers." 
 
 Indeed, his exultation was so loud and extravagant, 
 that it jarred on gentle Mrs. Bassett. As for Jessie, the 
 Scotch servant, she shook her head, and said the master 
 was fey. 
 
 In the morning he started for London, still so exuber- 
 ant and excited that the Scotchwoman implored her 
 mistress not to let him go ; there would be an accident 
 on the railway, or something. But Mrs. Bassett knew 
 her husband too well to interfere with his journeys. 
 
 Before he drove off he demanded his little boy. 
 
 " He must kiss me," said he, " for I'm going to work 
 for him. D'ye hear that, Jane ? This day makes him 
 heir of Huntercombe and Bassett." 
 
 The nurse brought word that Master Bassett was not 
 very well this morning. 
 
 " Let us look at him," said Bassett. 
 
 He got out of his gig, and went to the nursery. He 
 found his little boy had a dry cough, with a little flush- 
 ing. 
 
 " It is not much," said he ; "but I'll send the doctor 
 over from the town." 
 
 He did so, and himself proceeded up to London. 
 
 The doctor came, and, finding the boy labored in 
 breathing, administered a full dose of ipecacuanha. This 
 relieved the child for the time ; but, about four in the 
 
340 A TEKKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 afternoon, he was distressed again, and began to cough 
 with a peculiar grating sound. 
 
 Then there was a cry of dismay : " The croup ! " The 
 doctor was gone for, and a letter posted to Richard 
 Bassett, urging him to come hack directly. 
 
 The doctor tried everything, eyen mercury, but could 
 not check the fatal discharge : it stiffened into a still 
 more fatal membrane. 
 
 When Bassett returned next afterooon in great alarm, 
 he found the poor child thrusting its fingers into its 
 mouth, in a vain attempt to free the deadly obstruction. 
 
 A warm bath and strong emetics were now adminis- 
 tered, and great relief obtained. The patient even ate 
 and drank, and asked leave to get up and play with a 
 new toy he had. But, as often happens in this disorder, 
 a severe relapse soon came, with a spasm of the glottis 
 so violent and prolonged that the patient at last resigned 
 the struggle. Then pain ceased forever ; the heavenly 
 smile came ; the breath went ; and nothing was left in 
 the little white bed but a fair piece of tinted clay, that 
 must return to the dust, and carry thither all the pride, 
 the hopes, the boasts, of the stricken father, who had 
 schemed, and planned, and counted without Him in 
 whose hands are the issues of life and death. 
 
 As for the child himself, his lot was a happy one, if 
 we could but see what the world is really worth. He 
 was always a bright child, that never cried, nor com- 
 plained : his first trouble was his last ; one day's pain, 
 then bliss eternal : he never got poisoned by his father's 
 spirit of hate, but loved and was beloved during his little 
 lifetime ; and, dying, he passed from his Noah's ark to 
 an inheritance a thousand times richer than Hunter- 
 combe, Bassett, and all his cousin's lands. 
 
 The little grave was dug, the bell tolled, and a man 
 bowed double with grief saw his child and his ambition 
 laid in the dust. 
 
A TBRRIBLB TEMPTATION. 341 
 
 Lady Bassett heard the bell tolled, and spoke but two 
 words : " Poor woman. ! " 
 
 She might well say so. Mrs. Bassett was in the same 
 condition as herself, yet this heavy blovr must fall on 
 her. 
 
 As for Eichard Bassett, he sat at home, bowed down 
 and stupid with grief. 
 
 Wheeler came one day to console him; but, at the 
 sight of him refrained from idle words. He sat down 
 by him for an hour, in silence. Then he got up and said 
 " Good-by." 
 
 " Thank you, old friend, for not insulting me," said 
 Bassett, in a broken voice. 
 
 Wheeler took his hand, and turned away his head, and 
 so went away, with a tear in his eye. 
 
 A fortnight after this he came again, and found Bas- 
 sett in the same attitude, but not in the same leaden 
 stupor. On the contrary, he was in a state of tremor ; 
 he had lost under the late blow the sanguine mind that 
 used to carry him through everything. 
 
 The doctor was up-stairs, and his wife's fate trembled 
 in the balance. 
 
 " Stay by me," said he, " for all my nerve is gone. I'm 
 afraid I shall lose her ; for I have just begun to value 
 her ; and that is how God deals with His creatures, — 
 the merciful God as they call Him." 
 
 Wheeler thought it rather hard God Almighty should 
 be blamed because Dick Bassett had taken eight years 
 to find out his wife's merit ; but he forbore to say so. 
 He said kindly that he would stay. 
 
 Now, while they sat in trying suspense, the church 
 bells struck up a merry peal. 
 
 Bassett started violently, and his eyes gave a strange 
 glare. 
 
 " That's the other ! " said he ; for he had heard about 
 Lady Bassett by this time. 
 
342 A TERKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Then lie turned pale. " They ring for him : then they 
 are sure to toll for me." 
 
 This foreboding was natural enough in a man so blinded 
 by egotism as to fancy that all creation, and the Creator 
 himself, must take a side in Bassett v. Bassett. 
 
 Nevertheless events did not justify that foreboding. 
 The bells had scarcely done ringing for the happy event 
 at Huntercombe, when joyful feet were heard running 
 on the stairs ; joyful voices clashed together in the pass- 
 sage, and in came a female servant, with joyful tidings. 
 Mrs. Bassett was safe, and the child in the world. " The 
 loveliest little girl you ever saw ! " 
 
 " A girl ! " cried Eiehard Bassett, with contemptuous 
 amazement. Even his melancholy forebodings had not 
 gone that length. "And what have they got at Hunter- 
 combe ? " 
 
 " Oh, it is a boy, sir, there." 
 
 " Of course." 
 
 The ringers heard, and sent one of their number to ask 
 him if they should ring. 
 
 " What for ? " asked Bassett, with a nasty glittering 
 eye ; and then, with sudden fury, he seized a large piece 
 of wood from the basket to fling at his insulter. " I'll 
 teach you to come and mock me." 
 
 The ringer vanished ducking. 
 
 " Gently," said Wheeler, « gently." 
 
 Bassett chucked the wood back into the basket, and 
 sat down gloomily, saying, " Then how dare he come 
 and talk about ringing bells for a girl ? To think that 
 I should have aU this fright, and my wife all this trouble 
 — for a girl ! " 
 
 It was no time to talk of business then ; but about a 
 fortnight afterwards, Wheeler said, " I took the detective 
 off, to save you expense." 
 
 " Quite right," said Bassett, wearily. 
 
A TEEKIBLB TEMPTATION. 343 
 
 " I gave you the woman's address ; so the matter is in 
 your hands now, I consider." 
 
 " Yes," said Bassett, wearily. " Move no farther in it." 
 
 " Certainly not ; and, frankly, I should be glad to see 
 you abandon it." 
 
 " I have abandoned it. Why should I stir the mud 
 now ? I and mine are thrown out forever ; the only 
 question is, shall a son of Sir Charles or the parson's son 
 inherit? I'm for the wrongful heir. Ay," he cried, 
 starting up, and beating the air with his fists in sudden 
 fury, " since the right Bassetts are never to have it, let 
 the wrong Bassetts be thrown out, at all events ; I'm on 
 my back, but Sir Charles is no better off ; a bastard will 
 succeed him, thanks to that cursed woman who defeated 
 me." 
 
 This turn took Wheeler by surprise. It also gave 
 him real pain. " Bassett," said he, " I pity you. What 
 sort of a life has yours been for the last eight years ? 
 Yet, when there's no fuel left for war and hatred, you 
 blow the embers. You are incurable." 
 
 "I am," said Eichard. "I'll hate those two with my 
 last breath, and curse them in my last prayer." 
 
344 A TBBEIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXVI. 
 
 Lady Bassbtt's forebodings, like most of our insights 
 into tlie future, were confuted by the event. 
 
 She became the happy mother of a flaxen-haired boy. 
 She insisted on nursing him herself; and the experienced 
 persons who attended her raised no objection. 
 
 In connection with this, she gave Sir Charles a peck, 
 not very severe, but sudden, and remarkable as the only 
 one on record. 
 
 He was contemplating her and her nursling with the 
 deepest affection, and happened to say, " My own Bella, 
 what delight it gives me to see you ! " 
 
 " Yes," said she, " we will have only one mother this 
 time, will we, my darling ? and it shall be me." Then 
 suddenly, turning her head like a snake, " Oh, I saw the 
 look you gave that woman ! " 
 
 This was the famous peck, administered in return for 
 a look that he had bestowed on Mary Gosport, not more 
 than five years ago. 
 
 Sir Charles would, doubtless, have bled to death on the 
 spot, but, either he had never been aware how he looked, 
 or time and business had obliterated the impression, for 
 he was unaffectedly puzzled, and said, " What woman do 
 you mean, dear ? " 
 
 "Ko matter, darling," said Lady Bassett, who had 
 already repented her dire severity : " all I say is, that a 
 nurse is a rival I could not endure now; and, another 
 thing, I do believe those wet-nurses give their disposi- 
 tions to the child: it is dreadful to think of." 
 
 "Well, if so, baby is safe. He will be the most 
 amiable boy in England." 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 345 
 
 "He shall be more amiable than I am — scolding my 
 husband of husbands," and she leaned towards him, 
 baby and all, for a kiss from his lips. 
 
 We say at school, " Seniores priores," let favor go 
 by seniority; but where babies adorn the scene, it is 
 "juniores priores," with that sex to which the very 
 young are confided. 
 
 To this rule, as might be expected. Lady Bassett fur- 
 nished no exception; she was absorbed in baby, and 
 trusted Mr. Bassett a good deal to his attendant, who 
 bore an excellent character for care and attention. 
 
 Now Mr. Bassett was strong on his pins and in his 
 will, and his nurse-maid, after all, was young; so he 
 used to take his walks, nearly every dayj to Mrs. 
 Meyrick's : she petted him enough, and spoiled him in 
 every way, while the nurse-maid was flirting with her 
 farm-servants out of sight. 
 
 Sir Charles Bassett was devoted to the boy, and used 
 always to have him to his study in the morning, and to 
 the drawing-room after dinner, when the party was 
 small, and that happened much oftener now than hereto- 
 fore: but, at other hours, he did not look after him, 
 being a business man, and considering him at that age 
 to be under his mother's care. 
 
 One day the only guest was Mr. Rolf e ; he was stay- 
 ing in the house for three days, upon a condition sug- 
 gested by himself, that he might enjoy his friend's 
 society in peace and comfort, and not be set to roll the 
 stone of conversation up some young lady's back, and 
 obtain monosyllables in reply, faintly lisped amidst a 
 clatter of fourteen knives and forks. As he would not 
 leave his writing-table on any milder terms, they took 
 him on these. 
 
 After dinner, in came Mr. Bassett, erect, and a proud 
 nurse with little Compton, just able to hold his nurse's 
 gown and toddle. 
 
346 A TEEKrBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Eolfe did not care for small children ; he just glanced 
 at the angelic fair-haired infant, but his admiring gaze 
 rested on the elder boy. 
 
 "Why, what is here ? an Oriental Prince ? " 
 
 The boy ran to him directly. " Who are you ? " 
 
 "Eolfe the writer. Who are you? The Gypsy 
 King ? " 
 
 " No ; but I am very fond of gypsies. I'm Mister 
 Bassett, and when papa dies, I shall be Sir Charles 
 Bassett." 
 
 Sir Charles laughed at this with paternal fatuity, 
 especially as the boy's name happened to be Eeginald 
 Francis, after his grandfather. 
 
 Eolfe smiled satirically, for these little speeches from 
 children did much to reconcile him to his lot. 
 
 " Meantime," said he, " let us feed off him ; for it may 
 be forty years before we can dance over his grave. First 
 let us see what is the unwholesomest thing on' the 
 table." 
 
 He rose, and, to the infinite delight of Mr. Bassett, 
 and even of Master Compton, who pointed and crowed 
 from his mother's lap, he got up on his chair, and put on 
 a pair of spectacles to look. 
 
 "Eureka!" said he; "behold that dish by Lady 
 Bassett, those are marrons gilacSs : fetch them here, and 
 let us go in for a fit of the gout at once." 
 
 " Gout ! what's that ? " inquired Mr. Bassett. 
 
 " Don't ask me." 
 
 "You don't know." 
 
 " Not knbw ! What, didn't I tell you I was Eolfe the 
 writer ? Writers know everything. That is what makes 
 them so modest." 
 
 Mr. Bassett was now unnaturally silent, for five min- 
 utes, munching chestnuts: this enabled his guests to 
 converse; but, as soon as he had cleared his plate, he 
 
A TEEEIBLE TEMPTATION. 347 
 
 cut right across the conversation, with that savage con- 
 tempt for all topics but his own, which characterizes 
 gentlemen of his age, and says he to Eolfe, " You know 
 everything ? then what's a parson's brat ? " 
 
 " Well, that's the one thing I don't know," said RoLEe ; 
 " but a brat I take to be a boy who interrupts ladies and 
 gentlemen with nonsense when they are talking sense." 
 
 "I am very much obliged to you, Mr. Rolfe," said 
 Lady Bassett. " That remark was very much needed." 
 
 Then she called Reginald to her, and lectured him 
 sotto voce, to the same tune. 
 
 " You old bachelors are rather hard," said Sir Charles, 
 not very well pleased. 
 
 "We are obliged to be; you parents are so soft. 
 After all it is no wonder : what a superb boy it is ! — 
 Ah, here is nurse. I'm so sorry. Now we shall be 
 cabined, cribbed, confined to rational conversation, and 
 I shall not be expected to — good-night, little flaxen 
 angel; good-by, handsome and loquacious demon; kiss 
 and be friends — expected to know, all in a minute, 
 what is a parson's brat. By-the-by, talking of parsons, 
 what has become of Angelo ? " 
 
 " He has been away a good many years. Consump- 
 tion, I hear." 
 
 "He was a fine-built fellow, too; was he not, Lady 
 Bassett ? " 
 
 "I don't know; but he was beautifully strong. I 
 think I see him now, carrying dear Charles in his arms 
 aU down the garden." 
 
 " Ah, you see he was raised in an university that does 
 not do things by halves, but trains both body and mind, 
 as they did at Athens; for the union of study and 
 athletic sports is spoken of as a novelty, but it is only a 
 return to antiquity." 
 
 Here letters were brought by the second post. Sir 
 
348 A TERKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Charles glanced at his, and sent them to his study. Lady 
 Bassett had but one. She said, "May I ? " to both gentle- 
 men, and then opened. 
 
 " How strange ! " said she. " It is from Mr. Angelo, 
 just a line to say he is coming home quite cured." 
 
 She began this composedly, but blushed afterwards — 
 blushed quite red. 
 
 "May I ? " said she, and tossed it delicately half-way 
 to Eolfe. He handed it to Sir Charles. 
 
 Some remarks were then made about the coincidence, 
 and nothing further passed worth recording at that 
 time. 
 
 Kext day Lady Bassett, with instinctive curiosity, 
 asked Master Eeginald how he came to put such a ques- 
 tion as that to Mr. Eolfe. 
 
 "Because I wanted to know." 
 
 " But what put such words into your head ? I never 
 heard a gentleman say such words ; and you must never 
 say them again, Eeginald." 
 
 " Tell me what it means, and I won't," said he. 
 
 " Oh," said Lady Bassett, " since you bargain with me, 
 sir, I must bargain with you. Tell me first where you 
 ever heard such words." 
 
 "When I was staying at nurse's. Ah, that was 
 jolly!" 
 
 " You liked that better than being here ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " I am sorry for that. Well, dear, did nurse say that ? 
 Surely not ? " 
 
 "Oh, no; it was the man." 
 
 "Whatman?" 
 
 " Why, the man that came to the gate one morning, 
 and talked to me, and I talked to him, and that nasty 
 nurse ran out, and caught us, and carried me in, and 
 gave me such a hiding, and all for nothing." 
 
A TEKBIBLB TEMPTATION. 349 
 
 "A hiding! What words the poor child picks up! 
 But I don't understand why nurse should beat yow." 
 
 "For speaking to the man. She said he was a bad 
 man, and she would kill me if ever I spoke to him 
 again." 
 
 "Oh, it was a bad man, and said bad words — to some- 
 body he was quarrelling with ? " 
 
 "No, he said them to nurse, because she took me 
 away." 
 
 "What did he say, Eeginald?" asked Lady Bassett, 
 becoming very grave and thoughtful all at once. 
 
 "He said, 'That's too late. I've seen the parson's 
 brat.'" 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 " And I've asked nurse again and again what it meant, 
 but she won't tell me. She only says the man is a liar, 
 and I am not to say it again ; and so I never did say it 
 again — for a long time; but, last night, when Eolfe the 
 writer said he knew everything, it struck my head — 
 What is the matter, mamma ? " 
 
 "Nothing, nothing." 
 
 " You look so white. Are you ill, mamma ? " and he 
 went to put his arms round her, which was a mighty 
 rare thing with him. 
 
 She trembled a good deal, and did not either embrace 
 him or repel him. She only trembled. 
 
 After some time she recovered herself enough to say, 
 in a voice and with a manner that impressed itself at 
 once on this sharp boy, " Eeginald, your nurse was quite 
 right. Understand this : the man was your enemy, and 
 mine ; the words he said you must not say again. It 
 would be like taking up dirt and flinging some on your 
 own face and some on mine." 
 
 "I won't do that," said the boy, firmly, "Are you 
 afraid of the man, that you look so white ? " 
 
350 A TBREIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " A man with a -woman's tongue — who can help fear- 
 ing ? " 
 
 "Don't you be afraid; as soon as I'm big enough, I'll 
 kill Mm." 
 
 Lady Bassett looked with surprise at the child; he 
 uttered this resolve with such a steady resolution. 
 
 She drew him to her, and kissed him on the forehead. 
 
 " No, Eeginald," said she ; " we must not shed blood 
 — it is as wicked to kiU our enemies as to kill any one 
 else. But never speak to him, never even listen to him ; 
 if he tries to speak to you, run away from him and don't 
 let him — he is our enemy." 
 
 That same day she went to Mrs. Meyrick, to examine 
 her. But she found the boy had told her all there was 
 to tell. 
 
 Mrs. Meyrick, whose affection for her was not dimin- 
 ished, was downright vexed. " Dear me ! " said she, " I 
 did think I had kept that from vexing of you. To think 
 of the dear child hiding it for nigh two years, and then 
 to blurt it out like that ! Nobody heard him, I hope ? " 
 
 " Others heard ; but " — 
 
 " Didn't heed ; the Lord be praised for that." 
 
 " Mary," said Lady Bassett, solemnly, " I am not equal 
 to another battle with Mr. Eichard Bassett — and such a 
 battle ! Better tell all, and die." 
 
 "Don't think of it," said Mary. "You're safe from 
 Eichard Bassett, now. Times are changed since he came 
 spying to my gate. His own boy is gone. You have 
 got two. He'll lie quiet, if you do. But, if you tell 
 your tale, he must hear on't, and he'll tell his. For 
 God's sake, my lady, keep close. It is the curse of 
 women, that they can't just hold their tongues, and see 
 how things turn. And is this a time to spill good 
 liquor ? Look at Sir Charles ! why, he is another man ; 
 he have got flesh on his bones now, and color into his 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 361 
 
 cheeks, and 'twas you and I made a man of him. It is 
 my belief you'd never have had this other little angel, 
 but for us having sense and courage to see what must be 
 done. Knock down our own work, and send him wild 
 again, and give that Richard Bassett a handle ? You'U 
 never be so mad." 
 
 Lady Bassett replied. The other answered; and so 
 powerfully, that Lady Bassett yielded, and went home 
 sick at heart, but helpless, and in a sea of doubt. 
 
 Mr. Augelo did not call. Sir Charles asked Lady 
 Bassett if he had called on her. 
 
 She said, "No." 
 
 "That is odd," said Sir Charles. "Perhaps he thinks 
 we ought to welcome him home. Write and ask him to 
 dinner." 
 
 " Yes, dear. Or you can write." 
 
 « Very well, I wiU. No, I will calL" 
 
 Sir Charles called, and welcomed him home, and asked 
 him to dinner. Angelo received him rather stifiy at 
 first, but accepted his invitation. 
 
 He came, looking a good deal older and graver, but 
 almost as handsome as ever ; only somewhat changed in 
 mind. He had become a zealous clergyman; and his 
 soul appeared to be in his work. He was distant and 
 very respectful to Lady Bassett ; I might say obsequious. 
 Seemed almost afraid of her at first. 
 
 That wore off in a few months; but he was never 
 quite so much at his ease with her as he had been before 
 he left some years ago. 
 
 And so did tune roU on. 
 
 Every morning and every night, Lady Bassett used to 
 look wistfully at Sir Charles and say, " Are you happy, 
 dear ? Are you sure you are happy ? " 
 
 And he used always to say, and with truth, that he 
 was the happiest man in England^ thanks to her> 
 
352 A TBEBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Then she used to relax the wild and wistful look with 
 which she asked the question, and gave a sort of. sigh, 
 half content, half resignation. 
 
 In due course another fine boy came, and filled the 
 royal office of baby in his turn. But my story does not 
 follow him. 
 
 Eeginald was over ten years old, and Compton nearly 
 six. They were as different in character as complexion, 
 both remarkable boys. 
 
 Eeginald, Sir Charles's favorite, was a wonderful boy 
 for riding, running, talking ; and had a downright genius 
 for melody ; he whistled to the admiration of the village, 
 and latterly he practised the fiddle in woods, and under 
 hedges, being aided and abetted therein by a gypsy boy, 
 whom he loved, and who, indeed, provided the instru- 
 ment. 
 
 He rode with Sir Charles, and rather liked him ; his 
 brother he never noticed, except to tease him. Lady 
 Bassett he admired, and almost loved her while she was 
 in the act of playing him undeniable melodies. But he 
 liked his nurse Meyrick better on the whole; she flat- 
 tered him more, and was more uniformly subservient. 
 
 With these two exceptions he despised the whole race 
 of women, and affected male society only, especially of 
 grooms, stable-boys, and gypsies; these last welcomed 
 him to their tents, and almost prostrated themselves 
 before him, so dazzled were they by his beauty and his 
 color. It is believed they suspected him of having 
 gypsy blood in his veins. They let him into their tents, 
 and even into some of their secrets, and he promised 
 them they should have it all their own way as soon as 
 he was Sir Eeginald; he had outgrown his original 
 theory that he was to be Sir Charles on his father's 
 death. « 
 
A TEBKIBLE TEMPTATION. 363 
 
 He hated in-doors; when fixed, by command, to a 
 book, would beg hard to be allowed to take it into the 
 sun ; and, at night, would open his window and poke his 
 black head out to wash in the moonshine, as he said. 
 
 He despised ladies and gentlemen, said they were all 
 affected fools, and gave unitations of all his father's 
 guests, to prove it ; and so keen was this child of nature's 
 eye for affectation, that very often his disapproving 
 parents were obliged to confess the imp had seen with 
 his fresh eye defects custom had made them overlook, 
 or the solid good qualities that lay beneath had over- 
 balanced. 
 
 Now all this may appear amusing and eccentric, and 
 so on, to strangers ; but, after the first hundred laughs 
 or so with which paternal indulgence dismisses the 
 faults of childhood, Sir Charles became very grave. 
 
 The boy was his darling and his pride. He was ambi- 
 tious for him. He earnestly desired to solve for him a 
 problem, which is as impossible as squaring the circle, 
 viz., how to transmit our experience to our children. 
 The years and the health he had wasted before he knew 
 Bella Bruce, these he resolved his successor should not 
 waste. He looked higher for this beautiful boy than 
 for himself. He had fully resolved to be member for 
 the county, one day; but he did not care about it for 
 himself ; it was only to pave the way for his successor ; 
 that Sir Eeginald, after a long career in the Commons, 
 might find his way into the House of Peers, and so 
 obtain dignity in exchange for antiquity ; for, to tell the 
 truth, the ancestors of four-fifths of the British House 
 of Peers had been hewers of wood and drawers of 
 water, at a time when these Bassetts had already been 
 gentlemen of distinction for centuries. 
 
 AH this love and this vicarious ambition were now 
 mortified daily. Some fathers could do wonders for a 
 23 
 
354 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 brilliant boy, and with Mm. Tbey expect him, and a 
 dull boy appears; that is a bitter pill, but this was 
 worse. Eeginald was a sharp boy. He could do any- 
 thing. Fasten him to a book for twenty minutes, he 
 would learn as much as most boys in an hour ; but there 
 was no keeping him to it, unless you strapped him or 
 nailed him ; for he had the will of a mule, and the sup- 
 pleness of an eel to carry out his will. And then his 
 tastes — low, as his features were refined. He was a 
 sort of moral dung-fork ; picked up all the slang of the 
 stable, and scattered it in the dining-room and drawing- 
 room ; and once or twice he stole out of his comfortable 
 room at night, and slept in a gypsy's tent, with his arm 
 round a gypsy boy unsullied from his cradle by soap. 
 
 At last Sir Charles could no longer reply to his wife 
 at night, as he had done for this ten years past : he was 
 obliged to confess that there was one cloud upon his 
 happiness. " Dear Reginald grieves me, and makes me 
 dread the future ; for, if the child is father to the man, 
 there is a bitter disappointment in store for us. He is 
 like no other boy ; he is like no human creature I ever 
 saw ; at his age, and long after, I was a fool ; I was a 
 fool till I knew you ; but surely I was a gentleman. I 
 cannot see myself again, in my first-born." 
 
A TEERIBLB TEMPTATION. 355 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 Lady Bassett was paxal3rzecl for a minute or two by 
 this speech. At last she replied by asking a question — 
 rather a curious one. "Who nursed you, Charles ? " 
 
 " What, when I was a baby ? How can I tell ? Yes, 
 by-the-by, it was my mother nursed me — so I was told." 
 
 "And your mother was a Le Compton. This poor boy 
 was nursed by a servant Oh, she has some good quali- 
 ties, and certainly devoted to us — to this day her face 
 brightens at sight of me — but she is essentially vulgar ; 
 and do you remember, Charles, I wished to wean him 
 early : but I was overruled, and the poor child drew his 
 nature from that woman for nearly eighteen months ; it 
 is a thing unheard of nowadays." 
 
 " Well, but surely it is from our parents we draw our 
 nature." 
 
 " No ; I think it is from our nurses. If Compton or 
 Alec ever turn out like Eeginald, blame nobody but their 
 nurse, and that is me." 
 
 Six Charles smiled faintly at this piece of feminine 
 logic, and asked her what he should do. 
 
 She said she was quite unable to advise. Mr. Rolfe 
 was coming to see them soon, perhaps he might be^ble 
 to suggest something. 
 
 Sir Charles said he would consult him; but he was 
 clear on one thing, the boy must be sent &om Hunter- 
 combe, and so separated from all his present acquaint- 
 anoes. 
 
 Mr. Rolfe came, and the distressed father opened his 
 heart to him in strict ooofideuce respecting Reginald. 
 
356 A TBEKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 Eolfe listened and sympathized, and knit his brow, 
 and asked time to consider what he had heard, and also 
 to study the boy for himself. 
 
 He angled for him next day accordingly. A little 
 table was taken out on the lawn, and presently Mr. 
 Eolfe issued forth in a uniform suit of dark blue flannel 
 and a sombrero hat, and set to work writing a novel in 
 the sun. 
 
 Eeginald in due course descried this figure, and it" 
 smacked so of that Bohemia to which his own soul be- 
 longed, that he was attracted thereby, but made his 
 approaches stealthily like a little cat. 
 
 Presently a fiddle went off behind a tree, so close that 
 the novelist leaped out of his seat with an eldrich 
 screech; for he had long ago forgotten all about Mr. 
 Eeginald, and, when he got heated in this kind of com- 
 position, any sudden sound seemed to his tense nerves 
 and boiling brain about ten times as loud as it really was. 
 
 Having relieved himself by a yell, he sat down with 
 the mien of a martyr expecting tortures ; but he was 
 most agreeably disappointed ; the little monster played 
 an English melody, and played it in tune. This done, 
 he whistled a quick tune and played a slow second to it 
 in perfect harmony; this done, he whistled the second 
 part and played the quick treble ; a very simple feat, but 
 still ingenious for a boy, and new to his hearer. 
 
 " Bravo ! bravo ! " cried Eolfe with all his heart. 
 
 Mr. Eeginald emerged, radiant with vanity. "You 
 are like me, Mr. Writer," said he ; " you don't like to be 
 cooped up in-doors." 
 
 "I wish I could play the fiddle like you, my fine 
 fellow." 
 
 " Ah, you can't do that all in a minute ; see the time 
 I have been at it." 
 
 " Ah, to be sure, I forgot your antiquity." 
 
A TEKRIBLB TEMPTATION. 357 
 
 " And it isn't the time only ; it's giving your mind to 
 it, old chap." 
 
 " What, you don't give your mind to your books then, 
 as you do to your fiddle, young gentle/man." 
 
 " Not such a flat. Why, lookee here, governor, if you 
 go and give your mind to a thing you don't like, it's 
 always time wasted, because some other chap that does 
 like it, will beat you, and what's the use working for to 
 be beat ? " 
 
 " ' For ' is redundant," objected Eolfe. 
 
 " But if you stick hard to the things you like, you do 
 'em downright well. But old people are such fools, they 
 always di-ive you the wrong way. They make the gals 
 play music six hours a day, and you might as well set 
 the hen bullfinches to pipe. Look at the gals as come 
 here, how they rattle up and down the piano, and can't 
 make it sing a morsel. Why, they couldn't rattle like 
 
 that, if they'd music in their skins, d ^n 'em ; and 
 
 they drive me to those stupid books, because I'm all for 
 music and moonshine. Can you keep a secret ? " . 
 
 "As the tomb." 
 
 " Well, then, I can do plenty of things well, besides 
 fiddling ; I can set a wire with any poacher in the 
 parish, I have caught plenty of our old man's hares, in 
 my time ; and it takes a workman to set a wire as 
 should be. Show me a wire, and I'll tell you whether 
 it was Hudson, or Whitbeck, or Squinting Jack, or who 
 it was that set it. I know all their work that walks by 
 moonlight hereabouts." 
 
 " This is criticism ; a science : I prefer art ; play me 
 another tune, my bold Bohemian." 
 
 "Ah, I thought I should catch you with my fiddle. 
 You're not such a muff as the others, old un, not by a 
 long chalk. Hang me, if I won't give ye 'Ireland's 
 Music,' and I've sworn never to waste that on a fool." 
 
358 A TEEBIBLB TBMPTATIOK. 
 
 He played the old Irish air so simply and tunably, 
 that Eolfe leaned back in his chair, with half-closed 
 eyes, in soft voluptuous ecstasy. 
 
 The youngster watched him, with his coal-black eye. 
 
 "I like you," said he, "better than I thought I should, 
 a precious sight." 
 
 "Highly flattered." 
 
 " Come with me and hear my nurse sing it." 
 
 "What, and leave my novel ? " 
 
 " Oh, bother your novel ! " 
 
 "And so I will. That will be tit for tat; it has 
 bothered me. Lead on, Bohemian bold." 
 
 The boy took him over hedge and ditch, the short cut 
 to Meyrick's farm ; and caught Mrs. Meyrick, and said 
 she must sing " Ireland's Music " to Eolfe the writer. 
 
 Mrs. Meyrick apologized for her dress, and affected 
 shyness about singing ; Mr. Reginald stared at first, 
 then let her know that if she was going to be affected, 
 like the girls that came to the Hall, he should hate her, 
 as he did them, and this he confirmed with a naughty 
 word. 
 
 Thus threatened, she came to book, and sang Ireland's 
 melody in a low, rich, sonorous voice ; Reginald played 
 a second : the harmony was so perfect and strong, that 
 certain glass candelabra on the mantelpiece rang loudly, 
 and the drops vibrated. Then he made her. sing the 
 second, and he took the treble with his violin ; and he 
 wound up by throwing in a third part himself, a sort of 
 counter-tenor, his own voice being much higher than the 
 woman's. 
 
 The tears stood in Rolfe's eyes. "Well," said he, 
 "you have got the soul of music, you two, I could 
 listen to you ' From morn till noon, from noon till dewy 
 eve.' " 
 
 As they returned to Huntercombe, this mercurial 
 
A TEKKIBLE TEMPTATION. 359 
 
 youth went off at a tangent, and Eolfe saw him no more. 
 He wrote in peace, and walked about between the 
 heats. 
 
 Just before dinner-time, the screams of women were 
 heard hard by, and the writer hurried to the place, in 
 time to see Mr. Bassett hanging by the shoulder from 
 the branch of a tree, about twenty feet from the ground. 
 
 Eolfe halloed, as he ran, to the women to fetch 
 blankets to catch him, and got under the tree, deter- 
 mined to try and catch him in his arms, if necessary ; 
 but he encouraged the boy to hold on. 
 
 "All right, governor," said the boy, in a quavering 
 voice. 
 
 It was very near the kitchen ; maids and men poured 
 out with blankets ; four people held one, under Eolfe's 
 direction, and down came Mr. Bassett in a semicircle, 
 and bounded up again off the blanket like an India- 
 rubber ball. 
 
 His quick mind recovered courage the moment he 
 touched wool. 
 
 " Crikey ! that's jolly," said he ; " give me another 
 toss or two." 
 
 " Oh, no ! no ! " said a good-natured maid. " Take an' 
 put him to bed right off, poor dear." 
 
 "Hold your tongue, ye bitch," said young hopeful; 
 " if ye don't toss me, I'll turn ye all off as soon as ever 
 the old un kicks the bucket." 
 
 Thus menaced, they thought it prudent to toss him ; 
 but, at the third toss, he yelled out : 
 
 « Oh ! oh ! oh ! I'm all wet ; it's blood. I'm dead." 
 
 Then they examined, and found his arm was severely 
 lacerated by an old nail that had been driven into the 
 tree, and it had torn the flesh in his fall ; he was covered 
 with blood, the sight of which quenched his manly spirit, 
 and he began to howl. 
 
360 A TEERIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 "Old linen rag, warm water, and a bottle of port," 
 shouted Eolfe ; the servants flew. 
 
 Eolfe dressed and bandaged the wound for him, and 
 then he felt faint; the port soon set that right; and 
 then, he wanted to get drunk — alleging, as a reason, 
 that he had not been drunk for this two months. 
 
 Sir Charles was told of the accident, and was dis- 
 tressed by it, and also by the cause. 
 
 "Eolfe," said he sorrowfully, "there is a ring-dove's 
 nest on that tree ; she and hers have built there in peace 
 and safety for a hundred years, and cooed about the 
 place. My unhappy boy was climbing the tree to take 
 the young, after solemnly promising me that he never 
 would : that is the bitter truth. What shall I do with 
 the young barbarian ? " 
 
 He sighed, and Lady Bassett echoed the sigh. 
 
 Said Eolfe, "The young barbarian, as you call him, 
 has disarmed me; he plays the fiddle like a civilized 
 angel." 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Eolfe ! " 
 
 " What, you his mother, and not found that out yet ? 
 Oh, yes, he has a heaven-born genius for music." 
 
 Eolfe then related the musical feats of the urchin. 
 
 Sir Charles begged to observe that this talent would 
 go a very little way towards fitting him to succeed his 
 father and keep up the credit of an ancient family. 
 
 " Dear Charles, Mr. Eolfe knows that ; but it is like 
 him to make the best of things to encourage us. But 
 what do you think of him on the whole, Mr. Eolfe? 
 Has Sir Charles more to hope or to fear ? " 
 
 "Give me another day or two to study him,' said 
 Eolfe. 
 
 That night there was a loud alarm. Mr. Bassett was 
 running about the veranda in his night-dress. 
 
 They caught him, and got him to bed, and Eolfe said 
 
A TEKEIBLE TEMPTATION. 361 
 
 it was fever ; and, with the assistance of Sir Charles and 
 a footman, laid him between two towels steeped in tepid 
 water, then drew blankets tight over him, and, in short, 
 packed him. 
 
 "Ah!" said he complacently: "I say, give me a drink 
 of moonshine, old chap." 
 
 " I'll give you a bucketful," said Rolf e ; then with the 
 servant's help, took his little bed and put it close to the 
 window ; the moonlight streamed in on the boy's face ; 
 his great black eyes glittered in it. He was diabolically 
 beautifuL "Kiss me, moonshine," said he; "I like to 
 wash in you." 
 
 Next day he was apparently quite well, and certainly 
 ripe for fresh mischief. Rolf e studied him, and the even- 
 ing before he went, gave Sir Charles and Lady Bassett his 
 opinion, but not with his usual alacrity ; a weight seemed 
 to hang on him, and, more than once, his voice trembled. 
 
 " I shall tell you,^' said he, "what I see — what I fore- 
 see — and then, with great diffidence, what I advise. 
 
 " I see what naturalists call a reversion in race ; a boy 
 who resembles in color and features neither of his par- 
 ents, and, indeed, bears little resemblance to any of the 
 races that have inhabited England since history was 
 written. He suggests, rather, some Oriental type." 
 
 Sir Charles turned round in his chair with a sigh, and 
 said, "We are to have a romance, it seems." 
 
 Lady Bassett stared with all her eyes, and began to 
 change color. 
 
 The theorist continued, with perfect composure: "I 
 don't undertake to account for it, with any precision. 
 How can I ? Perhaps there is Moorish blood in your 
 family, and here it has revived : you look incredulous, 
 but there are plenty of examples, ay, and stronger than 
 iMs ; every child that is bom resembles some progen- 
 itor: how then do you account for Julia Pastrana, a 
 
362 A TBBKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 young lady who dined witli me last week, and sang me 
 ' Ah, perdona,' rather feebly, in the evening. Bust and 
 figure like any other lady, hands exquisite, arms neatly 
 turned, but with long silky hair from the elbow to the 
 wrist. Face, ugh ! forehead made of black leather, eyes 
 all pupil, nose an excrescence, chin pure monkey, face all 
 covered with hair ; briefly, a type extinct ten thousand 
 years before Adam, yet it could revive at this time of 
 day. Compared with La Pastrana, and many much 
 weaker examples of antiquity revived, that I have seen, 
 youi' Mauritanian son is no great marvel after all." 
 
 " This is a little too far-fetched," said Sir Charles satir- 
 ically; "Bella's father was a very dark man, and it is a 
 tradition in our family that all the Bassetts were as 
 black as ink, till they married with you Rolfes, in the 
 year 1684." 
 
 "Oho !" said Eolfe, "is it so? See how discussion 
 brings out things." 
 
 " And then," said Lady Bassett, " Charles dear, teU 
 Mr. Rolfe what /think." 
 
 "Ay, do," said Eolfe; "that will be a new form of 
 circumlocution." 
 
 Sir Charles complied with a smile. "Lady Bassett's 
 theory is, that children derive their nature quite as much 
 from their wet-nurses as from their parents, and she 
 thinks the faults we deplore in Reginald are to be traced 
 to his nurse ; by-the-by, she is a dark woman too." 
 
 "Well," said Eolfe, "there's a good deal of truth in 
 that, as far as regards the disposition. But I never 
 heard color so accounted for; yet why not? It has 
 been proved that the very bones of young animals can 
 be colored pink, by feeding them on milk so colored." 
 
 "There!" said Lady Bassett. 
 
 " But no nurse could give your son a color which is 
 not her own. I have seen the woman: she is only a 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 363 
 
 dark Englishwoman. Her arms were embrowned by 
 exposure, but her forehead was not brown. Mr. Eegi- 
 nald is quite another thing. The skin of his body, the 
 white of his eye, the pupil, all look like a reversion to 
 some Oriental type ; and, mark the coincidence ; he has 
 mental peculiarities that point towards the East." 
 
 Sir Charles lost patience. " On the contrary," said he, 
 " he talks and feels just like an English snob, and makes 
 me miserable." 
 
 " Oh, as to that, he has picked up vulgar phrases at 
 that farm, and in your stables ; but he has never picked 
 up his musical genius in stables and farms, far less his 
 poetry." ^ 
 
 "What poetry?" 
 
 ""What poetry ? Why, did not you hear him ? Was it 
 not poetical of a wounded, fevered boy to beg to be laid by 
 the window and to say, 'Let me drink the moonshine' ? 
 Take down your Homer, and read a thousand lines hap- 
 hazard, and see whether you stumble over a thought 
 more poetical than that. But criticism does not exist ; 
 whatever the dead said was good; whatever the living 
 say is little ; as if the dead were a race apart, and had 
 never been the living, and the living would never be the 
 dead." 
 
 Heaven knows where he was running to now, but Sir 
 Charles stopped him, by conceding that point. " Well, 
 you are right: poor child, it was poetical," and the 
 father's pride predominated, for a moment, over every 
 other sentiment. 
 
 "Yes; but where did it come from? That looks to 
 me a typical idea ; I mean an idea derived, not from his 
 luxurious parents, dwellers in curtained mansions, but 
 from some out-door and remote ancestor ; perhaps from 
 the Oriental tribe that first colonized Britain; they wor- 
 shipped the sun and the moon, no doubt; or, perhaps, 
 
364 A TBKEIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 after all, it only came from some wandering tribe that 
 passed their lives between the two lights of heaven, and 
 never set foot in a human dwelling." 
 
 "This," said Sir Charles, "is a flattering speculation, 
 but so wild and romantic, that I fear it will lead us to 
 no practical result. I thought you undertook to advise 
 me. What advice can you build on these cobwebs of 
 your busy brain ? " 
 
 "Excuse me, my practical friend," said Kolfe. "I 
 opened my discourse in three heads. What I see — 
 what I foresee — and what, with diffidence, I advise. 
 Pray don't disturb my methodus, or I am done for; 
 never disturb an artist's form. I have told you what I 
 see. What I foresee is this : you will have to cut off 
 the entail, with Reginald's consent, when he is of age, 
 and make the Saxon boy Compton your successor. Cut- 
 ting off entails runs in families, like everything else; 
 your grandfather did it, and so will you. You should 
 put by a few thousands every year, that you may be 
 able to do this without injustice either to your Oriental 
 or your Saxon son." 
 
 " Never ! " shouted Sir Charles : then, in a broken 
 voice, "He is my first-born, and my idol; his coming 
 into the world rescued me out of a morbid condition : he 
 healed my one great grief. Bar the entail, and put his 
 younger brother in his place — never ! " 
 
 Mr. Rolfe bowed his head politely, and left the sub- 
 ject, which indeed could be carried no further without 
 serious offence. 
 
 "And now for my advice. The question is, how to 
 educate this strange boy. One thing is clear ; it is no 
 use trying the humdrum plan any longer ; it has been 
 tried and failed. I should adapt his education to his 
 nature. Education is made as stiff and unyielding as a 
 board, but it need not be. I should abolish that spec- 
 
A TEBKIBLE TEMPTATION. 365 
 
 tacled tutor of yours at once, and get a tutor, young, 
 enterprising, manly, and supple, who would obey orders ; 
 and the order should be to observe the boy's nature, and 
 teach accordingly. Why need men teach in a chair, and 
 boys leam in a chair ? The Athenians studied not in 
 chairs. The Peripatetics, as their name imports, hunted 
 knowledge afoot ; those who sought truth in the groves 
 of Academus, were not seated at that work. Then let 
 the tutor walk with him, and talk with him by sunlight 
 and moonlight, relating old history, and commenting on 
 each new thing that is done, or word spoken, and im- 
 prove every occasion. Why, I myself would give a 
 g^uinea a day to walk with William White about the 
 kindly aspects and wooded slopes of Selborne, or with 
 Karr about his garden. Cut Latin and Greek clean out 
 of the scheme. They are mere cancers to those who can 
 never excel in them. Teach him not dead languages, but 
 living facts. Have him in your justice-room for half an 
 hour a day, and give him your own comments on what 
 he has heard there. Let his tutor take him to all quar- 
 ter sessions and assizes, and stick to him like diachylum, 
 especially out of doors : order him never to be admitted 
 to the stable-yard ; dismiss every biped there that lets 
 him come. Don't let him visit his nurse so often, and 
 never without his tutor : it was she who taught him to 
 look forward to your decease ; that is just like these 
 common women. Such a tutor as I have described will 
 deserve five hundred pounds a year. Give it him : and 
 dismiss him if he plays humdrum, and doesn't earn it. 
 Dismiss half a dozen, if necessary, till you get a fellow 
 with a grain or two of genius for tuition. When the boy 
 is seventeen, what with his Oriental precocity, and this 
 system of education, he will know the world as well as 
 a Saxon boy of twenty-one, and that is not saying much. 
 Then, if Ms nature is stiU as wild, get him a large tract 
 
366 A TEBBIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 in Australia ; cattle to breed, kangaroos to shoot, swift 
 horses to thread the bush and gallop mighty tracts ; he, 
 will not shirk business if it avoids the repulsive form 
 of sitting down in-doors, and offers itself in combination 
 with riding, hunting, galloping, cracking of rifles, and of 
 colonial whips as loud as rifles, and drinking sunshine 
 and moonshine in that mellow clime, beneath the South- 
 ern Cross and the spangled firmament of stars unknown 
 to us." 
 
 His own eyes sparkled like hot coals at this Bohemian 
 picture. 
 
 Then he sighed, and returned to civilization. " But," 
 said he, " be ready with eighty thousand pounds for him, 
 that he may enjoy his own way, and join you in barring 
 the entail. I forgot, I must say no more on that subject. 
 I see it is as offensive as it is inevitable. Cassandra has 
 spoken wisely, and, I see, in vain. God bless you both ! 
 Good-night." 
 
 And he rolled out of the room with a certain clumsy 
 importance. 
 
 Sir Charles treated all this advice with a polite for- 
 bearance, while he was in the room, but, on his departure, 
 delivered a sage reflection. 
 
 " Strange," said he, " that a man so valuable in any 
 great emergency should be so extravagant and eccentric 
 in the ordinary affairs of life. I might as well drive to 
 Bellevue House, and consult the first gentleman I met 
 there." 
 
 Lady Bassett did not reply immediately, and Sir 
 Charles observed that her face was very red, and her 
 hands trembled. 
 
 "Why, Bella," said he, "has all that rhodomontade 
 upset you ? " 
 
 Lady Bassett looked frightened at his noticing her 
 agitation, and said that Mr. EoLfe always overpowered 
 
A TEREIBLB TEMPTATION. 367 
 
 her. " He is so large, and so confident, and throws such 
 new light on things." 
 
 "New light ! Wild eccentricity always does that ; but 
 it is the light of Jack-o'-lantern. On a great question, 
 so near my heart as this, give me the steady light of 
 common-sense, not the wayward coruscations of a fiery 
 imagination. Bella, dear, I shall send the boy to a good 
 school, and so cut off at one blow all the low associations 
 that have caused the mischief." 
 
 "You know what is best, dear," said Lady Bassett; 
 " you are wiser than any of us." 
 
 In the morning she got hold of Mr. Eolfe, and asked 
 him if he could put her in the way of getting more than 
 three per cent for her money without risk. 
 
 " Only one," said Rolf e. " London freeholds in rising 
 situations, let to substantial tenants. I can get you five 
 per cent that way, if you are always ready to buy. The 
 thing does not offer every day." 
 
 " I have twenty thousand pounds to dispose of so," 
 said Lady Bassett. 
 
 " Very well," said Eolfe, " I'll look out for you ; but 
 Oldfield must examine titles, and do the actual business. 
 The best of that investment is, it is always improving ; 
 no ups and downs." ( " Come," thought he, " Cassandra 
 has not spoken quite in vain." ) 
 
 Sir Charles acted on his judgment, and, in due course, 
 sent Mr. Bassett to a school at some distance, kept by a 
 clergyman, who had the credit in that county of exercis- 
 ing sharp supervision and strict discipline. 
 
 Sir Charles made no secret of the boy's eccentricities. 
 Mr. Beecher said he had one or two steady boys who 
 assisted him in such cases. 
 
 Sir Charles thought that a very good idea; it waS 
 like putting a wild colt into the break with a steady 
 horse, 
 
368 A TBEBIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 He missed the boy sadly at first, but comforted him- 
 self with the conviction that he had parted with him for 
 his good : that consoled him somewhat. 
 
 The younger children of Sir Charles and Lady Bassett 
 were educated entirely by their mother, and taught as 
 none but a loving lady can teach. 
 
 Compton, with whom we have to do, never knew the 
 thorns with which the path of letters is apt to be strewn. 
 A mistress of the great art of pleasing made knowledge 
 from the first a primrose path to him. Sparkling all over 
 with intelligence, she impregnated her boy with it. She 
 made herself his favorite companion ; she would not keep 
 her distance. She stole and coaxed knowledge and good- 
 ness into his heart and mind v/ith rare and loving cunning. 
 
 She taught him English and French and Latin on the 
 Hamiltonian plan, and stored his young mind with 
 history and biography, and read to him, and conversed 
 with him on everything as they read it. 
 
 She taught him to speak the truth, and to be honorable 
 and just. 
 
 She taught him to be polite, and even formal, rather 
 than free and easy and rude. She taught him to be a 
 man. He must not be what brave boys called a molly- 
 coddle. Like most womanly women, she had a venera- 
 tion for man, and she gave him her own high idea of the 
 manly character. 
 
 Natural ability and habitual contact with a mind so 
 attractive and so rich gave this intelligent boy many 
 good ideas beyond his age. 
 
 When he was six years old, Lady Bassett made him 
 pass his word of honor that he would never go into the 
 stable-yard ; and even then he was far enough advanced 
 to keep his word religiously. 
 
 In return for this she let him taste some sweets of 
 liberty, and was not always after him. Shte was profound 
 
A TEEBIBIiE TEMPTATION. 369 
 
 enongli to see that without liberty a noble chaiacter 
 cannot be formed ; and she husbanded the curb. 
 
 One day he represented to her that in the meadow 
 next their lawn were great stripes of yellow, which were 
 possibly cowslips ; of course, they might be only butter- 
 cups ; but he hoped better things of them. He further 
 reported that there was an iron gate between him and 
 this paradise. He could get over it, if not objectionable, 
 but he thought it safest to ask her what she thought of 
 the matter — was that iron gate intended to keep little 
 boys from the cowslips? because, if so, it was a mis- 
 fortune to which he must resign himself. Still, it was a 
 misfortune. All this, of course, in the simple language 
 of boyhood. 
 
 Then Lady Bassett smiled, and said^ " Suppose I were 
 to lend you a key of that iron gate ? " 
 
 "O mamma!" 
 
 "I have a great mind to." 
 
 " TJien you will, you will ! " 
 
 "Does that follow?" 
 
 "Yes; whenever you say you think you'll do some- 
 thing kind, or you have a gp-eat mind to do it, you know 
 you always do it ; and that is one thing I do like you 
 for, mamma. You are better than your word." 
 
 " Better than my word ? Where does the child learn 
 these things ? " 
 
 "La, mamma, papa says that often." 
 
 "Oh, that accounts for it! I like the phrase very 
 much. I wish I could think I deserved it. At any rate, 
 I win be as good as my word for once : you shall have a 
 key of the gate." 
 
 The boy clapped his hands with delight. 
 
 The key was sent for, and, meantime, she told him 
 one reason she had trusted him with it was because he 
 had been as good as his word about the stable. 
 24 
 
370 a" tereible temptation. 
 
 The key was brought, and she held it up half-playf uUy, 
 and said, — 
 
 " There, sir, I deliver you this upon conditions : you 
 must only use it when the weather is quite dry, because 
 the grass in the meadow is longer, and will be wet. Do 
 you promise ? " 
 
 " Yes, mamma." 
 
 " And you must always lock the gate when you come 
 back, and bring the key to one place. Let me see, the 
 drawer in the hall-table — the one with marble on it ; 
 for you know a place for everything is our rule. On 
 these conditions, I hereby deliver you this magic key, 
 with the right of egress and ingress." 
 
 " Egress and ingress ? " 
 
 " Egress and ingress." 
 
 "Is that foreign for cowslips, mamma — and oxlips ? " 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! the child's head is full of cowslips. There 
 is the dictionary ; look out egress, and afterwards look 
 out ingress." 
 
 When he had added these two words to his little 
 vocabulary, his mother asked him if he would be good 
 enough to tell her why he did not care much for all the 
 beautiful flowers in the garden, and was so excited about 
 cowslips, which appeared to her a flower of no great 
 beauty, and the smell rather sickly — begging his pardon. 
 
 This question posed him dreadfully ; he looked at her 
 in a sort of comic distress, and then sat gravely down all 
 in a heap, about a yard off, to think. 
 
 Einally he turned to her with a wry face, and said, 
 " Why do I, mamma ? " 
 
 She smiled deliciously. "No, no, sir," said she, "how 
 can I get inside your little head and tell what is there ? 
 There must be a reason, I suppose ; and you know you 
 and I are never satisfied till we get at the reason of a 
 thing. But there is no hurry, dear ; I give you a week 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 371 
 
 to find it out. Now run and open the gate. Stay ; are 
 there any cows in that field ? " 
 
 "Sometimes, mamma; but they have no horns, you 
 know." 
 
 " Upon your word ? " 
 
 " Upon my honor. I am not fond of them with horns, 
 myself." 
 
 "Then run away, darling. But you must come and 
 hunt me up, and tell me how you enjoyed yourself, be- 
 cause that makes me happy, you know." 
 
 This is mawkish, but it will serve to show on what 
 terms the woman and boy were. 
 
 On second thoughts I recall that apology and defy 
 creation. " The Mawkish " is a branch of literature — a 
 great and popular one — and I have neglected it savagely. 
 
 Master Compton opened the iron gate, and the world 
 was aU before him where to choose. 
 
 He chose one of those yellow stripes that had so 
 attracted him. Horror! it was all buttercups, and deil 
 a cowslip. 
 
 Nevertheless, pursuing his researches, he found plenty 
 of that delightful flower scattered about the meadow in 
 thinner patches, and he gathered a double handful and 
 dirtied his knees. 
 
 Returning, thus laden, from his first excursion, he was 
 accosted by a fluty voice. 
 
 "Little boy!" 
 
 He looked up and saw a girl standing on the lower bar 
 of a little wooden gate, painted white, looking over. 
 
 " Please bring me my ball," said she pathetically. 
 
 Compton looked about, and saw a soft ball of many 
 colors lying near. 
 
 He put down his cowslips gravely, and brought her 
 the ball. He gave it her with a blush, because she was 
 a strange girl ; and she blushed a little because he did. 
 
372 A TERBIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 He returned to Ms cowslips. 
 
 "Little boy!" said the voice, "please bring me my 
 ball again." 
 
 He brought it to her with undisturbed politeness. She 
 was giggling ; he laughed too at that. 
 
 "You did it on purpose that time," said he solemnly. 
 
 " La ! you don't think I'd be so wicked," said she. 
 
 Compton shook his head doubtfully, and considering 
 the interview at an end, turned to go, when instantly the 
 ball knocked his hat off, and nothing of the malefactress 
 was visible, but a black eye sparkling with fun and mis- 
 chief, and a bit of forehead wedged against the angle of 
 the wall. 
 
 This being a challenge, Compton said, "Now you come 
 out after that, and stand a shot like a man." 
 
 The invitation to be masculine did not tempt her a bit. 
 The only thing she put out was her hand, and that she 
 drew in with a laugh the moment he threw at it. 
 
 At this juncture a voice cried, "Kuperta! what are you 
 doing there ? " 
 
 Euperta made a rapid signal with her hand to Compton, 
 implying that he was to run away ; and she herself walked 
 demurely towards the person who had called her. 
 
 It was three days before Compton saw her again, and 
 then she beckoned him royally to her. 
 
 " Little boy," said she, " talk to me." 
 
 Compton looked at her a little confounded, and did not 
 reply. 
 
 " Stand on this gate like me, and talk," said she. 
 
 He obeyed the first part of this mandate, and stood on 
 the lower bar of the little gate ; so their two figures made 
 a V when they hung back, and a tenpenny nail when they 
 came forward and met, and this motion they continued 
 through the dialogue ; and it was a pity the little wretches 
 could not keep still, and send for my friend the English 
 
A TEERIBLE TEMPTATION. 373 
 
 Titian: for, when their heads were in position, it was 
 indeed a pretty picture of childish and flower-like beauty 
 and contrast, the boy fair, blue-eyed, and with exquisite 
 golden hair ; the girl black-eyed, black-browed, and with 
 eyelashes of incredible length and beauty, and a cheek 
 brownish but tinted, and so glowing with health and 
 vigor that, pricked with a needle, it seemed ready to 
 squirt carnation right into your eye. 
 
 She dazzled Master Compton so that he could do 
 nothing but look at her. 
 
 " Well ? " said she, smiling. 
 
 "Well," replied he, pretending her "well" was not an 
 interrogatory, but a concise statement, and that he had 
 discharged the whole duty of man by according a prompt 
 and cheerful consent. 
 
 "You begin," said the lady. 
 
 "No, you." 
 
 "What for?" 
 
 "Because — I think — you are the cleverest." 
 
 "Good little boy. Well then, I will. Who are you?" 
 
 " I am Compton. Who are you, please ? " 
 
 "I'mEuperta." 
 
 " I never heard that name before." 
 
 "No more did I; I think they measured me for it. 
 You live in the great house there, don't you ? " 
 
 "Yes, Euperta." 
 
 " Well, then, I live in the little house. It is not very 
 little either. It's Highmore. I saw you in church one 
 day ; is that lady with the hair your mamma ? " 
 
 "Yes, Euperta." 
 
 « She is beautiful." 
 
 "Isn't she?" 
 
 " But mine is so good." 
 
 " Mine is very good too, Euperta, wonderfully 
 good." 
 
374 A TEKRIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 "I like you, Compton — a little." 
 
 " I like you a good deal, Ruperta." 
 
 " La, do you ? I wonder at that ; you are like a cherub, 
 and I am such a black thing." 
 
 " But that is why I like you ; Eeginald is darker than, 
 you, and oh, so beautiful ! " 
 
 « Hum ! — he is a very bad boy." 
 
 "No, he is not." 
 
 "Don't tell stories, child; he is. I know all about 
 him. A wicked, vulgar, bad boy." 
 
 " He is not," cried Compton, almost snivelling ; but he 
 altered his mind, and fired up. "You are a naughty, 
 story-telling girl, to say that." 
 
 "Bless me," said Euperta, coloring high, and tossing 
 her head haughtily. 
 
 "I don't like you now, Euperta," said Compton, with 
 all the decent calmness of a settled conviction. 
 
 " You don't ? " screamed Euperta, "then go about your 
 business directly, and don't never come here again ! 
 Scolding me! How dare you? oh! oh! oh!" and the 
 little lady went off slowly, with her finger in her eye ; 
 and Master Compton looked rather rueful, as we aU do 
 when this charming sex has recourse to what may be 
 called "liquid reasoning." I have known the most solid 
 reasons unable to resist it. 
 
 However, viens conscia recti, and above all, the cow- 
 slips, enabled Compton to resist, and he troubled his 
 head no more about her that day. 
 
 But he looked out for her the next day, and she did 
 not come ; and that rather disappointed him. 
 
 The next day was wet, and he did not go into the 
 meadow, being on honor not to do so. 
 
 The fourth day was lovely, and he spent a long time 
 in the meadow, in hopes ; he saw her for a moment at 
 the gate, but she speedily retired. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 375 
 
 He was disappointed. 
 
 However, he collected a good store of cowslips, and 
 then came home. 
 
 As he passed the door, out popped Euperta from some 
 secret ambush, and said, "Well ? " 
 
376 A TEERIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXVIII. 
 
 "Well," replied Compton. 
 
 "Are you better, dear ? " 
 
 " I'm very well, thank you," said the boy. 
 
 "In your mind, I mean. You were cross last time, 
 you know." 
 
 Compton remembered his mother's lessons about manly 
 behavior, and said, in a jaunty way, "Well, I s'pose I 
 was a little cross." 
 
 Now the other cunning little thing had come to 
 apologize, if there was no other way to recover her 
 admirer. But, on this confession, she said, "Oh, if 
 you are sorry for it, I forgive you. You may come and 
 talk." 
 
 Then Compton came and stood on the gate, and 
 they held a long conversation; and, having quarrelled 
 last time, parted now with rather violent expressions of 
 attachment. 
 
 After that they made friends, and laid their little 
 hearts bare to each other; and it soon appeared that 
 Compton had learned more, but Euperta had thought 
 more for herself, and was sorely puzzled about many 
 things, and of a vastly inquisitive mind. " Why," said 
 she, " is good things so hard, and bad things so nice and 
 easy ? It would be much better if good things was 
 nice, and bad ones nasty. That is the way I'd have it, 
 if I could make things." 
 
 Mr. Compton shook his head, and said many things 
 were very hard to understand, and even his mamma 
 sometimes could not make out all the things. 
 
A TEREIBLB TEMPTATION. 377 
 
 "if or mine neither; I puzzle her dreadful. I can't 
 help that; things shouldn't come and puzzle me, and 
 then I shouldn't puzzle her. Shall I tell you my puzzles, 
 and perhaps you can answer them, because you are a boy. 
 I can't think why it is wicked for me to dig in my little 
 garden on a Sunday, and isn't wicked for Jessie to cook, 
 and Sarah to make the beds. .Can't think why mamma 
 told papa not to be cross, and, when I told her not to be 
 cross, she put me in a dark cupboard all among the 
 dreadful mice, till I screamed so, she took me out and 
 kissed me and gave me pie. Can't think why papa 
 called Sally 'something' for spilling the ink over his 
 papers, and when I called the gardener the very same for 
 robbing my flowers, all their hands and eyes went up, 
 and' they said I was a shocking girl. Can't think why 
 papa giggled the next moment, if I was a shocking girl : 
 it is all puzzle — puzzle — puzzle." 
 
 One day she said, " Can you tell me where all the bad 
 people are buried ? for that puzzles me dreadful." 
 
 Compton was posed at first, but said at last he thought 
 they were buried in the churchyard, along with the 
 good ones. 
 
 "Oh, indeed!" said she, with an air of pity. "Pray 
 have you ever been in the churchyard, and read the 
 writings on the stones ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Then I have. I have read every single word, and 
 there are none but good people buried there ; not one." 
 She added, rather pathetically, " You should not answer 
 me without thinking, as if things was easy, instead of 
 so hard. Well, one comfort, there are not many wicked 
 people hereabouts; they live in towns; so I suppose 
 they are buried in the garden, poor things, or put in the 
 water with a stone." 
 
 Compton had no more plausible theory ready, and de- 
 
378 A TEERIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 clined to commit himself to Euperta's, so that topic fell 
 to the ground. 
 
 One day he found her perched as usual, but with her 
 bright little face overclouded. 
 
 By this time the intelligent boy was fond enough of 
 her to notice her face. 
 
 "What's the matter, Perta? " 
 
 " Euperta. The matter ? Puzzled again ! It is very 
 serious this time." 
 
 "Tell me, Euperta." 
 
 "No, dear." 
 
 "Please." 
 
 The young lady fixed her eyes on him, and said, with 
 a pretty solemnity, " Let us play at catechism." 
 
 " I don't know that game." 
 
 " The governess asks questions, and the good little boy 
 answers. That's catechism. I'm the governess." 
 
 "Then Pm the good little boy." 
 
 " Yes, dear ; and so now look me full in the face." 
 
 " There, you're very pretty, Euperta." 
 
 " Don't be giddy ; I'm hideous : so behave, and answer 
 all my questions. Oh, I'm so unhappy. Answer me, is 
 young people, or old people, goodest ? " 
 
 "You should say best, dear. Good, better, best. 
 Why, old people, to be sure — much." 
 
 "So I thought; and that is why I am so puzzled. 
 Then your papa and mine are much betterer — will that 
 do ? — than we are ? " 
 
 " Of course they are." 
 
 " There he goes ! Such a child for answering slap 
 bang, I never." 
 
 " I'm not a child. I'm older than you are, Euperta." 
 
 "That's a story." 
 
 " Well, then, I'm as old ; for Mary says we were born 
 the same day — the same hour — the same minute." 
 
A TERKIBLE TEMPTATION. 379 
 
 " La ! we are twins." 
 
 She paused, however, on this discovery, and soon found 
 reason to doubt her hasty conclusion. 
 
 " No such thing," said she ; " they tell me the bells 
 were ringing for you being found, and then I was found 
 — to catechism you." 
 
 "There, then, you see I am older than you, Euperta." 
 
 "Yes, dear," said Euperta, very gravely, "I'm younger 
 in my body, but older in my head." 
 
 This matter being settled, so that neither party could 
 complain, since antiquity was evenly distributed, the 
 catechising recommenced. 
 
 "Do you believe in 'Let dogs delight' ?" 
 
 "I don't know." 
 
 " What ! " screamed Euperta. " Oh, you wicked boy ! 
 Why, it comes next after Bible." 
 
 " Then T do believe it," said Compton, who, to tell the 
 truth, had been merely puzzled with the verb, and was 
 not afflicted with any doubt that the composition referred 
 to was a divine oracle. 
 
 " Good boy," said Euperta patronizingly. " Well, then, 
 this is what puzzles me; your papa and mine don't 
 believe in 'Dogs delight.' They have been quarrelling 
 this twelve years and more, and mean to go on in spite 
 of mamma. She is good. Didn't you know that your 
 papa and mine are great enemies ? " 
 
 "No, Euperta. Oh, what a pity ! " 
 
 "Don't, Compton, don't; there, you have made me 
 cry." 
 
 He set himself to console her. 
 
 She consented to be consoled. 
 
 But she said, with a sigh, "What becomes of old peo- 
 ple being better than young ones now ? Are you and I 
 bears and lions ? Do we scratch out each other's eyes ? 
 It is all puzzle, puzzle, puzzle. I wish I was dead! 
 
380 A TBRRrBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Nurse says wlien I am dead I shall understand it all. 
 But I don't know ; I saw a dead cat once, and she didn't 
 seem to know as much as before : puzzle, puzzle. Comp- 
 ton, do you think they are puzzled in heaven ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Then the sooner we both go there, the better." 
 
 " Yes, but not just now." 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 "Because of the cowslips." 
 
 "Here's a boy! What, would you rather be among 
 the cowslips than the angels ? and think of the diamonds 
 and pearls that heaven is paved with ! " 
 
 " But ymi mightn't be there." 
 
 "What! Am I a wicked girl, then — wickeder than 
 you, that is a boy ? " 
 
 "Oh, no, no, no: but see how big it is up there" 
 (they cast their eyes up, and taking the blue vault for 
 creation, were impressed with its immensity). " I know 
 where to find you here, but up there you might be ever 
 so far ofE me." 
 
 "La! so I might. Well, then, we had better keep 
 quiet. I suppose we shall get wiser as we get older. 
 But oh, Compton, I'm so sorry your papa and mine are 
 bears and lions. Why doesn't the clergyman scold 
 them?" 
 
 "Nobody dare scold my papa," said Compton proudly. 
 Then, after reflection, " Perhaps, when we are older, we 
 may persuade them to make friends. I think it is very 
 stupid to quarrel ; don't you ? " 
 
 "As stupid as an owl." 
 
 " You and I had a quarrel once, Euperta." 
 
 " Yes, you misbehaved." 
 
 "No, no; you were cross." 
 
 " Story ! Well, never mind : we did quarrel. And you 
 were miserable directly." 
 
A TEBKIBLE TEMPTATION. 381 
 
 " Not SO veiy," said Compton, tossing his head. 
 
 "I was, then," said Euperta, with unguarded candor. 
 
 "So was I." 
 
 "Good boy ! Kiss me, dear." 
 
 " There — and there — and there — and " — 
 
 « That will do. Oh, I want to talk, Compton." 
 
 "Yes, dear." 
 
 "I'm not very sure, but I rather think I'm in love 
 with you — a little, little bit, you know." 
 
 "And I'm sure I'm in love with you, Euperta." 
 
 " Over head an' ears ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Then I love you to distraction. Bother the gate. If 
 it wasn't for that, I could run in the meadow with you : 
 and marry you perhaps, and so gather cowslips together 
 for ever and ever." 
 
 "Let us open it." 
 
 "You can't" 
 
 "Let us try." 
 
 " I have. It won't be open." 
 
 "Let me try. Some gates want to be lifted up a 
 little, and then they will open. There, I told you so." 
 
 The gate came open. 
 
 Euperta uttered an exclamation of delight, and then 
 drew back. 
 
 "I'm afraid, Compton," said she; "papa would be 
 angry." 
 
 She wanted Compton to tempt her; but that young 
 gentleman, having a strong sense of filial duty, omitted 
 to do so. 
 
 "When she saw he would not persuade her, she dis- 
 pensed. " Come along," said she, " if it is only for five 
 minutes." 
 
 She took his hand, and away they scampered. He 
 showed her the cowslips, the violets, and all the treas- 
 
382 A TERKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 ures of the meadow ; but it was all hurry, and scurry, 
 and excitement ; no time to look at anything above 
 half a minute, for fear of being found out ; and so, at 
 last, back to the gate, beaming with stolen pleasure, 
 glowing and sparkling with heat and excitement. 
 
 The cunning thing made him replace the gate, and 
 then, after saying she must go for about an hour, 
 marched demurely back to the house. 
 
 After one or two of these hasty trips, immunity gave 
 her a sense of security, and, the weather getting warm, 
 she used to sit in the meadow with her beau, and weave 
 wreaths of cowslips, and place them in her black hair, 
 and for Compton she made coronets of bluebells, and 
 adorned his golden head. 
 
 And sometimes, for a little while, she would nestle 
 close to him, and lean her head, with all the feminine 
 grace of a mature woman, on his shoulder. 
 
 Said she, " A boy's shoulder does very nice for a girl 
 to put her nose on." 
 
 One day the aspiring girl asked him what was that 
 forest. 
 
 "That is Bassett's wood." 
 
 " I will go there with you some day when papa is out." 
 
 "I'm afraid that is too far for you," said Compton. 
 
 " Nothing is too far for me," replied the ardent girl. 
 « Why, how far is it ? " 
 
 " More than half a mile." 
 
 "Is it very big?" 
 
 "Immense." - 
 
 "Belong to the Queen ? " 
 
 " No, to papa." 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 And here my reader may well ask what was Lady 
 Bassett about ; or did Compton, with all his excellent 
 teaching, conceal all this from his mother and his friend ? 
 
A TEKRIBLE TEMPTATION. 383 
 
 On the contrary, lie went open-mouthed to her, and 
 told her he had seen such a pretty little girl ; and gave 
 her a brief account of their conversation. 
 
 Lady Bassett was startled at first, and greatly per- 
 plexed. She told him he must on no account go to her ; 
 if he spoke to her it must he on papa's ground. She 
 even made him pledge his honor to that. 
 
 More than that she did not like to say. She thought 
 it unnecessary and undesirable to transmit to another 
 generation the unhappy feud, by which she had suffered 
 so much, and was even then suffering. Moreover, she 
 was as much afraid of Eichard Bassett as ever. If he 
 chose to tell his girl not to speak to Compton, he might. 
 She was resolved not to go out of her way to affront him, 
 through his daughter. Besides, that might wound Mrs. 
 Bassett, if it got round to her ears ; and, although she 
 had never spoken to Mrs. Bassett, yet their eyes had 
 met in church, and always with a pacific expression. 
 Indeed, Lady Bassett felt sure she had read in that 
 meek woman's face a regret that they were not friends, 
 and could not be friends, because of their husbands. 
 Lady Bassett then for these reasons would not forbid 
 Compton to be kind to Euperta in moderation. 
 
 Whether she would have remained as neutral, had she 
 known how far these young things were going, is quite 
 another matter: but Compton's narratives -to her were, 
 naturally enough, very tame compared with the reality, 
 and she never dreamed that two seven-year-olds could 
 form an attachment so warm as these little plagues were 
 doing. 
 
 And, to conclude, about the time when Mr. Compton 
 first opened the gate for his inamorata. Lady Bassett's 
 mind was diverted in some degree, even from her be- 
 loved boy Compton, by a new trouble, and a host of 
 passions it excited in her own heart. 
 
384 A TBBEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 A thunder-clap fell on Sir Charles Bassett, in the form 
 of a letter from Eeginald's tutor, informing him that 
 Eeginald and another lad had been caught wiring hares 
 in a wood at some distance, and were now in custody. 
 
 Sir Charles mounted his horse, and rode to the place, 
 leaving Lady Bassett a prey to great anxiety and bitter 
 remorse. 
 
 Sir Charles came back in two days with the galling 
 news that his son and heir was in prison for a month, 
 all his exertions having only prevailed to get the case 
 summarily dealt with. 
 
 Eeginald's companion, a' young gypsy aged seventeen, 
 had got three months, it being assumed that he was the 
 tempter ; the reverse was the case though. 
 
 When Sir Charles told Lady Bassett all this, with a 
 face of agony and a broken voice, her heart almost 
 burst ; she threw every other consideration to the winds. 
 
 " Charles," she cried, " I can't bear it ; I can't see your 
 heart wrung any more, and your affections blighted. 
 Tear that young viper out of your breast ; don't go on 
 wasting your heart's blood on a stranger: he is not 
 TOUK son." 
 
A TEEREBLE TEMPTATION. 385 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 At this monstrous declaration, from the very lips of 
 the man's wife, there was a dead silence, Sir Charles 
 being struck dumb, and Lady Bassett herself terrified at 
 the sound of the words she had uttered. 
 
 After a terrible pause. Sir Charles fixed his eyes on 
 her with an awful look, and said, very slowly, " Will — 
 you — have — the goodness — to — say that again? but 
 first think what you are saying." 
 
 This made Lady Bassett shake in every limb ; indeed 
 the very flesh of her body quivered. Yet she persisted, 
 but in a tone that of itself showed how fast her courage 
 was oozing. She faltered out, almost inaudibly, "I say 
 you must waste no more love on him — he is not your 
 son ! " 
 
 Sir Charles looked at her to see if she was in her 
 senses ; it was not the first time he had suspected her of 
 being deranged on this one subject. But no: she was 
 pale as death, she was cringing, wincing, quivering, and 
 her eyes roving to and fro — a picture not of frenzy, but 
 of guilt unhardened. 
 
 He began to tremble in his turn, and was so horror- 
 stricken and agitated that he could hardly speak. " Am 
 I dreaming ? " he gasped. 
 
 Lady Bassett saw the storm she had raised, and would 
 have given the world to recall her words. 
 
 " Whose is he, then ? " asked Sir Charles, in a voice 
 scarcely human. 
 
 " I do not know," said Lady Bassett doggedly. 
 
 " Then how dare you say that he isn't mine ? " 
 25 
 
386 A TEEEIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 "Kill me, Charles," cried she passionately ; "but don't 
 look at me so, and speak to me so. Why, I say he is not 
 yours ; is he like you either in face or mind ? " 
 
 "And he is like — whom ? " 
 
 Lady Bassett had lost all her courage by this time ; 
 she whimpered out, " Like nobody — except the gypsies." 
 
 "Bella, this is a subject which will part you and me 
 for life, unless we can agree upon it." 
 
 No reply in words from Lady Bassett. 
 
 " So please let us understand each other. Your Son is 
 not my son. Is that what you look me in the face and 
 tell me ? " 
 
 "Charles, I never said that. How could he be my 
 son and not be yours ? " 
 
 And she raised her eyes and looked him full in the 
 face ; no fear nor cringing now ; the woman was majestic. 
 
 Sir Charles was a little alarmed in his turn, for his 
 wife's soft eyes flamed battle for the first time in her 
 life. 
 
 ^•' Kow you talk sense," said he ; " if he is yours he is 
 mine ; and, as he is certainly yours, this is a very foolish 
 conversation, which must not be renewed, otherwise " — 
 
 " I shall be insulted by my own husband ? " 
 
 "I think it very probable. And, as I do not choose 
 you to be insulted, nor to think yourself insulted, I 
 forbid you ever to recur to this subject." 
 
 " I will obey, Charles ; but let me say one word first. 
 When I was alone in London, and hardly sensible, might 
 not this child have been imposed upon me and you? 
 I'm sure he was." 
 
 "By whom?" 
 
 " How can I tell ? — I was alone — that woman in the 
 house had a bad face — the gypsies do these things, I've 
 heard." 
 
 " The gypsies ! And why not the fairies ? " said Sir 
 
A TEEEIBLB TEMPTATION. 387 
 
 Charles, contemptuously. " Is that all you liave to sug- 
 gest — before we close the subject forever ? " 
 
 "Yes," said Lady Bassett sorrowfully. "I see you 
 take me for a madwoman ; but time will show. Oh that 
 I could persuade you to detach your affections from that 
 boy — he will break your heart else — and rest them on 
 the children that resemble us in mind and features ! " 
 
 "These partialities are allowed to mothers, but a 
 father must be just. Reginald is my first-born ; he came 
 to m^ from Heaven at a time when I was under a bitter 
 trial, and from the day he was born till this day I have 
 been a happy man. It is not often a father owes so 
 much to a son as I do to my darling boy. He is dear to 
 my heart in spite of his faults ; and now I pity him as 
 well as love him, since it seems he has only one parent, 
 poor little fellow." 
 
 Lady Bassett opened her mouth to reply, but could 
 not. She raised her hands in mute despair, then quietly 
 covered her face with them, and soon the tears trickled 
 through her white fingers. 
 
 Sir Charles looked at her, and was touched at her silent 
 grief. 
 
 " My darling wife," said he, " I think this is the only 
 thing you and I cannot agree upon. Why not be wise, 
 as well as loving, and avoid it ? " 
 
 "I will never seek it again," sobbed Lady Bassett. 
 "But, oh," she cried, with sudden wildness, "something 
 tells me it will meet me, and follow me, and rob me of 
 my husband. Well, when that day comes, I shall know 
 how to die." 
 
 And with this she burst away from him, like some 
 creature who has been stung past endurance. 
 
 Sir Charles often meditated on this strange scene ; turn 
 it how he could, he came back to the same conclusion," 
 that she must have an hallucination on this subject. He 
 
388 A TEBKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 said to himself, " If Bella really believed the boy was a 
 changeling, she would act upon her conviction; she 
 would urge me to take some steps to recover our trae 
 child, whom the gypsies or the fairies have taken, and 
 given us poor dear Reginald instead." 
 
 But still the conversation, and her strange looks of 
 terror, lay dormant in his mind ; both were too remarkar 
 ble to be ever forgotten. Such things lie like certain 
 seed, awaiting only fresh accidents to spring into life. 
 
 The month rolled away, and the day came for Eegi- 
 nald's liberation. A dog-cart was sent for him, and the 
 heir of the Bassetts emerged from a county jail, and 
 uttered a whoop of delight : he insisted on driving, and 
 went home at a rattling pace. 
 
 He was in high spirits till he got in sight of Hunter- 
 combe Hall ; and then it suddenly occurred to his mer- 
 curial mind that he should probably not be received with 
 an ovation, petty larceny being a novelty in that ancient 
 house whose representative he was. 
 
 When he did get there he found the whole family in 
 such a state of commotion that his return was hardly 
 noticed at all. 
 
 Master Compton's dinner-hour was two p.m., and yet 
 at three o'clock of this day he had not come in. 
 
 This was reported to Lady Bassett, and it gave her 
 some little anxiety, for she suspected he might possibly 
 be in the company of Ruperta Bassett ; and, although 
 she did not herself much object to that, she objected 
 very much to have it talked about and made a fuss. So 
 she went herself to the end of the lawn, and out in the 
 meadow, that a servant might not find the young people 
 together, if her suspicion was correct. 
 
 She went into the meadow, and called "Compton — 
 Compton ! " as loud as she could, but there was no 
 reply. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION, 389 
 
 Then she came in, and began to be alarmed, and sent 
 servants about in all directions. 
 
 But two hours elapsed, and there were no tidings. The 
 thing looked serious. 
 
 She sent out grooms well-mounted, to scour the country. 
 One of these fell in with Sir Charles, who thereupon 
 came home, and found his wife in a pitiable state. 
 She was sitting in an arm-chair, trembling, and crying 
 hysterically. 
 
 She caught his hand directly, and grasped it like a 
 Tise. 
 
 " It is Eichard Bassett ! " she cried. " He knows how 
 to wound and kill me. He has stolen our child." 
 
 Sir Charles hurried out, and soon after that Eeginald 
 arrived, and stood awe-struck at her deplorable condition. 
 
 Sir Charles came back heated and anxious, kissed 
 Eeginald, told him in three words his brother was miss- 
 ing, and then informed Lady Bassett that he had learned 
 something very extraordinary ; Richard Bassett's little 
 girl had also disappeared, and his people were out, look- 
 ing after her. 
 
 " Ah ! they are together," cried Lady Bassett. 
 
 " Together ? a son of mine consorting with that viper's 
 brood ! " 
 
 " What does that poor child know ? Oh, find him for 
 me, if you love that dear child's mother !-" 
 
 Sir Charles hurried out directly, but was met at the 
 door by a servant, who blurted out: "The men have 
 dragged the fish-ponds. Sir Charles, and they want to 
 know if they shall drag the brook." 
 
 "Hold your tongue, idiot!" cried Sir Charles, and 
 thrust him out ; but the wiseacre had not spoken in vain. 
 Lady Bassett moaned, and went into worse hysterics, 
 with nobody near her but Eeginald. 
 
 That worthy, never having seen a lady in hysterics, 
 
390 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 and not being hardened at all points, uttered a sympa- 
 thetic howl, and flung his arms round her neck. " Oh, 
 oh, oh ! Don't cry, mamma." 
 
 Lady Bassett shuddered at his touch, but did not repel 
 him. 
 
 " I'll find him for you," said the boy, " if you will leave 
 off crying." 
 
 She stared in his face a moment, and then went on as 
 before. 
 
 " Mamma ! " said he, getting impatient, " do listen to 
 me. I'll find him easy enough, if you will only listen." 
 
 " You ! — you ! " and she stared wildly at him. 
 
 " Ay, I know a sight more than the fools about here. 
 I'm a poacher. Just you put me on to his track. I'll 
 soon run into him, if he is above ground." 
 
 " A child like you ! " cried Lady Bassett ; " how can 
 you do that ? " and she began to wring her hands again. 
 
 " I'll show you," said the boy, getting very impatient, 
 " if you will just leave off crying like a great baby, and 
 come to any place you like where he has been to-day and 
 left a -mark." 
 
 " Ai ! " cried Lady Bassett. 
 
 " I'm a poacher ! " repeated Eeginald, quite proudly ; 
 "you forget that." 
 
 " Come with me," cried Lady Bassett, starting ujJ. 
 
 She whipped on her bonnet, and ran with him down 
 the lawn. 
 
 "There, Eeginald," said she, panting, "I think my 
 darling was here this afternoon ; yes, yes, he must ; for 
 he had a key of the door, and it is open." 
 
 "All right," said Eeginald, "come into the field." 
 
 He ran about, like a dog hunting, and soon found 
 marks among the cowslips. 
 
 " Somebody has been gathering a nosegay here to-day," 
 said he; "now, mamma, there's only two ways out of 
 
A TEREIBLE TEMPTATION. 391 
 
 this field : let us go straight to that gate ; that is the 
 likeliest." 
 
 Near the gate was some clay, and Eeginald showed 
 her several prints of small feet. 
 
 "Look," said he, "here's the track of two — one's a 
 gal ; how I know, here's a sole to this shoe no wider nor 
 a knife. Come on ! " 
 
 In the next field he was baffled for a long time ; but, 
 at last, he found a place in a dead hedge, where they 
 had gone through. 
 
 "See, said he, "these twigs are fresh broken, and 
 here's a bit of the gal's frock. Oh, won't she catch 
 it!" 
 
 " Oh, you brave, clever boy ! " cried Lady Bassett. 
 
 " Come on ! " shouted the urchin. 
 
 He hunted like a beagle, and saw like a bird, with his 
 savage glittering eye. He was on fire with the ardor of 
 the chase : and, not to dwell too long on what has been 
 so often and so well written by others, in about an hour 
 and a half he brought the anxious, palpitating, but now 
 hopeful mother, to the neighborhood of Bassett's wood. 
 Here he trusted to his own instinct. 
 
 " They have gone into the wood," said he, " and I don't 
 blame 'em. I found my way here, long before his age. 
 I say, don't you tell ; I've snared plenty of the governor's 
 hares in that wood." 
 
 He got to the edge of the wood, and ran down the side. 
 At last he found the marks of small feet on a low bank, 
 and darting over it, discovered the fainter traces on some 
 decaying leaves inside the wood. 
 
 "There," said he; "now it is just as if you had got 
 them in your pocket, for theyll never find their way out 
 of this wood. Bless your heart, why, J used to get lost 
 in it, at first." 
 
 " Lost in the wood ! " cried Lady Bassett, "but he will 
 
392 A TBREIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 die of fear, or be eaten by wild beasts ; and it is getting 
 so dark." 
 
 " What about that ? Night or day is all one to me. 
 What -will you give me, if I find him before midnight ? " 
 
 "Anything I've got in the -world." 
 
 " Give me a sovereign ? " 
 
 "A thousand!" 
 
 " Give me a kiss ? " 
 
 "A hundred!" 
 
 « Then I'll tell you what I'll do — I don't mind a little 
 trouble, to stop your crying, mamma, because you are the 
 right sort — I'll get ,the village out, and we will tread 
 the wood with torches an' all for them as can't see by 
 night ; I can see all one ; and you shall have your kid 
 home to supper. You see there's a heavy dew, and he 
 is not like me that would rather sleep in this wood than 
 the best bed in London City ; a night in a wood would 
 about settle his hash. So here goes. I can run a mile 
 in six minutes and a half." 
 
 With these words the strange bby was off like an 
 arrow from a bow. 
 
 Lady Bassett, exhausted by anxiety and excitement, 
 was glad to sit down ; her trembling heart would not let 
 her leave the place that she now began to hope contained 
 her child. She sat down and waited patiently. 
 
 The sun set, the moon rose, the stars glittered; the 
 infinite leaves stood out dark and solid as if cut out of 
 black marble : all was dismal silence and dread suspense 
 to the solitary watcher. 
 
 Yet the la'dy of Huntercombe Hall sat on, sick at 
 heart, but patient, beneath that solemn sky. 
 
 She shuddered a little as the cold dews gathered on 
 her, for she was a woman nursed in luxury's lap, but 
 she never moved. 
 
 The silence was dismal. Had that wild boy forgotten 
 
A TBEEIBLE TEMPTATION. 393 
 
 his promise, or were there no parents in the village that 
 their feet lagged so ? 
 
 It was nearly ten o'clock when her keen ears, strained 
 to the Titmost, discovered a faint buzzing of voices, but 
 where she could not tell. 
 
 The sounds increased and increased, and then there 
 was a temporary silence, and after that a faint halloing 
 in the wood to her right. The wood was five hundred 
 acres, and the bulk of it lay in front and to her left. 
 
 The halloing got louder and louder, the whole wood 
 seemed to echo ; her heart beat high ; lights glimmered 
 nearer and nearer; hares and rabbits pattered by and 
 startled her, and pheasants thundered off their roosts 
 with an incredible noise, owls flitted, and bats innumer- 
 able, disturbed and terrified by the glaring lights and 
 loud-resounding hallos. 
 
 Nearer, nearer came the sounds, till at last a line of 
 men and boys, full fifty, carrying torches and lanterns, 
 came up and lighted up the dew-spangled leaves, and 
 made the mother's heart leap with joyful hope at succor 
 so powerful. 
 
 Oh, she could have kissed the stout village blacksmith, 
 whose deep, sonorous lungs rang close to her. Never 
 had any man's voice sounded to her so like a god's, as 
 this stout blacksmith's "hilloop ! hilloop !" close and loud 
 in her ear, and those at the end of the line halloed 
 " hillo-op ! hillo-op ! " like an echo ; and so they passed 
 on, through bush and brier, till their voices died away in 
 the distance. 
 
 A boy detached himself from the line, and ran 
 to Lady Bassett with a travelling-rug. It was Eegi- 
 nald. 
 
 "You put on this," said he. He shook it, and, stand- 
 ing on tiptoe, put it over her shoulders. 
 
 " Thank you, dear," said she. " Where is papa ? " 
 
394 A TEEBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " Oh, he is in line, and the Highmore swell and all." 
 
 "Mr. Richard Bassett ? " 
 
 " Ay, his kid is out on the loose as well as ours." 
 
 " Oh, Eeginald, if they should quarrel ! " 
 
 " Why, our governor can lick him, can't he ? " 
 
A TEBK3LE TEMPTATION. 395 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 " Oh, don't talk so. I wouldn't for all the world they 
 should quarrel." 
 
 "Well, we have got enough fellows to part them if 
 they do." 
 
 " Dear Eeginald, you have been so good to me, and you 
 are so clever ; speak to some of the men, and let there 
 be no more quarrelling between papa and that man," 
 
 " All right," said the boy. 
 
 "On second thoughts, take me to papa: I'll be by his 
 side, and then they cannot." 
 
 " You want to walk through the wood ? that is a good 
 joke. Why, it is like walking through a river, and the 
 young wood slapping your eyes, for you can't see every 
 twig by this light, and the leaves sponging your face and 
 shoulders; and the briers would soon strip your gown 
 into ribbons, and make your little ankles bleed. No, you 
 are a lady ; you stay where you are, and let us men work 
 it. We shan't find him yet awhile. I must get near the 
 governor. When we find my lord, I'll give a whistle you 
 could hear a mile off." 
 
 " Oh, Reginald, are you sure he is in the wood ? " 
 
 " I'd bet my head to a chany orange. You might as 
 well ask me, when I track a badger to his hole, and no 
 signs of his going out again, whether old long-claws is 
 there. I wish I was as sure of never going back to 
 school as I am of finding that little lot. The only thing 
 I don't like is the young muffs not giving us a hallo 
 back. But, any way, I'll find 'em, alive or dead." 
 
 And, with this pleasing assurance, the little imp 
 
396 A TBKEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 scudded off, leaving the mother glued to the spot with 
 terror. 
 
 For fuU an hour more the torches gleamed, though 
 fainter and fainter ; and so full was the wood of echoes 
 that the voices, though distant, seemed to hallo all 
 round the agonized mother. 
 
 But presently there was a continuous yell, quite dif- 
 ferent from the isolated shouts, — a distant but unmis- 
 takable howl of victory, — that made a bolt of ice shoot 
 down her back, and then her heart to glow like fire. 
 
 It was followed by a keen whistle. 
 
 She fell on her knees, and thanked God for her boy. 
 
 In the middle of this wood was a shallow excavation, 
 an old chalk-pit, unused for many years. It was never 
 deep, and had been half filled up with dead leaves; 
 these once blown into the hollow or drooped from the 
 trees had accumulated. 
 
 The very middle of the line struck on this place, and 
 Moss, the old keeper, who was near the centre, had no 
 sooner cast his eyes into it than he halted, and uttered 
 a stentorian hallo, well known to sportsmen, — " See — 
 
 HO!" 
 
 A dead halt, a low murmur, and, in a very few seconds 
 the line was a circle, and all the torches that had not 
 expired held high in a flaming ring over the prettiest 
 little sight that wood had ever presented. 
 
 The old keeper had not given tongue on conjecture, 
 like some youthful hound ; in a little hollow of leaves, 
 which the boy had scraped out, lay Master Compton and 
 Miss Euperta, on their little backs, each with an arm 
 round the other's neck, enjoying the sweet sound sleep 
 of infancy, which neither the horror of their situation, — 
 Babes in the Wood, — nor the shouts of fifty people, had 
 in the smallest degree disturbed ; to be sure they had 
 undergone great fatigue. 
 
A TEBKIBLE TEMPTATION. 397 
 
 Young master wore a coronet of bluebells on his 
 golden head ; young miss, a wreath of cowslips on her 
 ebon locks. The pair were flowers, cherubs, children, 
 everything that stands for young, tender, and lovely. 
 
 The honest villagers gaped and roared in chorus, and 
 held high their torches, and gazed with reverential de- 
 light. Not for them was it to finger the little gentle- 
 folks, but only to devour them with admiring eyes. 
 
 Indeed, the picture was carried home to many a hum- 
 ble heart, and is spoken of to this day in Huntercombe 
 village. 
 
 But the pale and anxious fathers were in no state to 
 see pictures : they only saw their children. Sir Charles 
 and Bichard Bassett came round with the general rush, 
 saw, and dashed into the pit. 
 
 Strange to say, neither knew the other was there: 
 each seized his chUd and tore it away from the contact 
 of the other child, as if from a viper, in which natural 
 but harsh act they saw each other for the first time, and 
 their eyes gleamed in a moment with hate and defiance 
 over their loving children. 
 
 Here was a picture of a different kind; and if the 
 melancholy Jacques, or any other gentleman with a 
 foible for thinking ia a wood, had been there, methinks 
 he had moralized very prettily on the hideousness of 
 hate, and the beauty of the sentiment it had iaterrupted 
 so fiercely. But it escaped this sort of comment for 
 about eight years. Well, all this woke up the bairns : 
 the lights dazzled them, the people scared them. Each 
 hid a little face on the paternal shoulder. 
 
 The fathers, like wild beasts, each carrying off a lamb, 
 withdrew, glaring at each other; but the very next 
 moment the stronger and better sentiment prevailed, and 
 they kissed and blessed their restored treasures, and 
 forgot their enemies for a time. 
 
398 A TBEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Sir Charles's party followed him, and supped at Hun- 
 tercombe, every man Jack of them. 
 
 Eeginald, who had delivered a terrific cat-call, now ran 
 off to Lady Bassett. There she was, still on her knees. 
 " Found ! found ! " he shouted. 
 
 She clasped him in her arms, and wept for joy. 
 
 " My eyes ! " said he, " what a one you are to cry ! 
 You come home : you'll catch your death o' cold." 
 
 " No, no ; take me to my child at once." 
 
 "Can't be done; the governor has carried him off 
 through the wood, and I ain't a-going to let you travel the 
 wood. You come with me ; we'll go the short cut, and 
 be home as soon as them." 
 
 She complied, though trembling all over. 
 
 On the way he told her where the children had been 
 discovered, and in what attitude. 
 
 " Little darlings ! " said she. " But he has frightened 
 his poor mother, and nearly broken her heart. Oh ! " 
 
 "If you cry any more, mamma — Shut up, I tell 
 you." 
 
 "Must I? Oh!" 
 
 " Yes, or you'll catch pepper." 
 
 Then he pulled her along, gabbling all the time. 
 " Those two swells didn't quarrel after all, you see." 
 
 "Thank Heaven!" 
 
 "But they looked at each other like hobelixes, and 
 pulled the kids away like pison. Ha ! I say, the young 
 uns ain't of the same mind as the old uns. T say, 
 though, our Compton is not a bad sort ; I'm blowed if 
 he hadn't taken off his tippet, to put round his gal. 
 I say, don't you think that little chap has begun rather 
 early ? Why, I didn't trouble my head about the gals 
 till I was eleven years old." 
 
 Lady Bassett was too much agitated to discuss these 
 delicate little questions just then. 
 
A TEEEIBLB TEMPTATION. 399 
 
 She replied as irrelevantly as ever a lady did. " Oh, 
 you good, brave, clever boy ! " said she. 
 
 Then she stopped a moment, to kiss him heartily. " I 
 shall never forget this night, dear. I shall always make 
 excuses for you. Oh, shall we never get home ? " 
 
 " We shall be home as soon as they will," said Eegi- 
 nald. " Come on." 
 
 He gabbled to her the whole way ; but the reader has 
 probably had enough of his mill-clack. 
 
 Lady Bassett reached home, and had just ordered a 
 large fire in Compton's bedroom, when Sir Charles came 
 in, bringing the boy. 
 
 The lady ran out screaming, and went down on her 
 knees, with her arms out, as only a mother can stretch 
 them to her child. 
 
 There was not a word of scolding that night. He had 
 made her suffer, but what of that ? She had no egotism ; 
 she was a true mother. Her boy had been lost, and was 
 found, and she was the happiest soul in creation. 
 
 But the fathers of these babes in the wood were both 
 intensely mortified, and took measures to keep those 
 little lovers apart in future. Eichard Bassett locked up 
 his gate ; Sir Charles padlocked his ; and they both told 
 their wives they really must be more vigilant. 
 
 The poor children, being in disgrace, did not venture 
 to remonstrate; but they used often to think of each 
 other, and took a liking to the British Sunday, for then 
 they saw each other in church. 
 
 By and by, even that consolation ceased. Kuperta was 
 sent to school, and passed her holidays at the seaside. 
 
 To return to Reginald. He was compelled to change 
 his clothes that evening, but was allowed to sit up, and 
 when the heads of the house were a little calmer, became 
 the hero of the night. 
 
 Sir Charles, gazing on him with parental pride, said, 
 
400 A TEKKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 " Eeginald, you have begun a new life to-day, and begun 
 it well. Let us forget the past, and start fresh to-day, 
 with the love and gratitude of both your parents." 
 
 The boy hung his head, and said nothing in reply. 
 
 Lady Bassett came to his assistance. "He will, he 
 will ! Don't say a word about the past. He is a good, 
 brave, beautiful boy, and I adore him." 
 
 " And I like you, mamma," said Eeginald, graciously. 
 
 From that day the boy had a champion in Lady Bas- 
 sett, and Heaven knows she had no sinecure. Poor 
 Eeginald's virtues were too eccentric to balance his 
 faults for long together. His parents could not have a 
 child lost in a wood every day ; but good taste and pro- 
 priety can be offended every hour, when one is so young, 
 active, and savage as Master Eeginald. 
 
 He was up at five, and doing wrong all day. 
 
 Hours in the stables, learning to talk horsey and smell 
 dunghilly. 
 
 Hours in the village, gossiping and romping. 
 
 In good company, an owl. 
 
 In bad or low company, a cricket, a nightingale, a 
 magpie. 
 
 He was seen at a neighboring fair, playing the fiddle 
 in a booth to dancing yokels, and receiving their pence. 
 
 He was caught by Moss wiring hares in Bassett's 
 wood, within twenty yards of the place where he had 
 found the babes in the wood so nobly. 
 
 Eemonstrated with tenderly and solemnly, he informed 
 Sir Charles that poaching was a thing he could not live 
 without, and he modestly asked to have Bassett's wood 
 given him to poach in, offering, as a consideration, to 
 keep all other poachers out ; as a greater inducement, he 
 represented that he should not require a house, but only 
 a coarse sheet to stretch across an old sawpit, and a pair 
 of blankets for winter use — one under, one over. 
 
A TERKIBLB TEMPTATION. 401 
 
 Sir Charles was often sad, sometimes indignant. 
 
 Lady Bassett excused each enormity with pathetic 
 ingenuity ; excused, hut suffered, and, indeed, pined 
 visibly, for all this time he was tormenting her as few 
 women in her position have been tormented. Her life 
 was a struggle of contesting emotions ; she was wounded, 
 harassed, perplexed, and so miserable, she would have 
 welcomed death, that her husband might read that manu- 
 script, and cease to suffer, and she escape the shame of 
 confessing, and of living after it. 
 
 In one word, she was expiating. 
 
 Neither the excuses she made, nor the misery she 
 suffered, escaped Sir Charles. 
 
 He said to her at last, " My own Bella, this unhappy 
 boy is killing you. Dear as he is to me, you are dearer. 
 I must send him away again." 
 
 "He saved our darling," said she, faintly; but she 
 could say no more. He had exhausted excuse. 
 
 Sir Charles made inquiries everywhere, and at last his 
 attention was drawn to the following advertisement in 
 the Times: 
 
 Unmanageable, backward, or other bots, carefully tkained 
 and EDUCATED, by a married rector. Home comforts. Mode- 
 rate terms. Address Dr. Beecher, Fennymore, Cambridge- 
 shire. 
 
 He wrote to this gentleman, and the correspondence 
 was encouraging. "These scapegraces," said the artist 
 in tuition, "are like crabtrees — abominable till you 
 graft them, and then they bear the best fruit." 
 
 While the letters were passing came a climax. Eeck- 
 less Reginald could keep no bounds intact; his inward 
 definition of a boundary was " a thing you should go a 
 good way out of your way rather than not overleap." 
 
 Accordingly, he was often on Highmore farm at night, 
 26 
 
402 A TEREIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 and even in Highmore garden, the boundary wall tempted 
 him so. 
 
 One light, but windy night, when everybody that 
 could put his head under cover, and keep it there, did, 
 reckless Eeginald was out enjoying the fresh breezes; 
 he mounted the boundary wall of Highmore like a cat, 
 to see what amusement might offer. Thus perched, he 
 speedily discovered a bright light in Highmore dining- 
 room. 
 
 He dropped from the wall directly, and stole softly 
 over the grass, and peered in at the window. 
 
 He saw a table with a powerful lamp on it. On that 
 table, and gleaming in that light, were several silver 
 vessels of rare size and workmanship ; and Mr. Bassett, 
 with his coat off and a green baize apron on, was clean- 
 ing one of these with brush and leather. He had already 
 cleaned the others, for they glittered prodigiously. 
 
 Reginald's black eye gloated and glittered at this 
 unexpected display of wealth in so dazzling a form. 
 
 But this was nothing to the revelation in store. When 
 Mr. Bassett had done with that piece of plate, he went 
 to the panelled wall, and opened a door so nicely adapted 
 to the panels that a stranger would hardly have discov- 
 ered it. Yet it was aii enormous door, and being opened 
 revealed a still larger closet, lined with green velvet, and 
 fitted with shelves from floor to ceiling. 
 
 Here shone in all their glory the old plate of two good 
 families — that is to say, half the old plate of the Bas- 
 setts, and all the old plate of the Goodwyns, from whom 
 came Highmore to Richard Bassett, through his mother, 
 Ruperta Goodwyn, so named after her grandmother ; so 
 named after her aunt; so named after her godmother; 
 so named after her father, Prince Rupert, cavalier, 
 chemist, glass-blower, etc., etc. 
 
 The wall seemed ablaze with suns and moons, for many 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 403 
 
 of the chased goblets, plates, and dishes were silver-gilt ; 
 none of your filmy electro-plate, but gold laid on thick 
 by the old mercurial process, in days when they that 
 wrought in precious metals were honest — for want of 
 knowing how to cheat. 
 
 Glued to the pane, gloating on this constellation of 
 gold suns and silver moons, and trembling with Bohe- 
 mian excitement, reckless Eeginald heard not a stealthy 
 step upon the grass behind him. 
 
 He had trusted to a fact in optics, forgetting the doc- 
 trine of shadows. 
 
 The Scotch servant saw from the pantry window the 
 shadow of a cap projected on the grass, with a face and 
 part of a body. She stepped out, and got upon the 
 grass. 
 
 Finding it was only a boy, she was brave as well as 
 cunning, and, owing to the wind and his absorption, 
 stole on him unheard, and pinned him with her strong 
 hands by both his shoulders. 
 
 Young Hopeful uttered a screech of dismay, and 
 administered a back-kick that made Jessie limp for two 
 days, and scream very lustily for the present. 
 
 Mr. Bassett, at this dialogue of yells, dropped a coffee- 
 pot with a crash and a tinkle, and ran out directly and 
 secured young hopeful, who thereupon began to quake 
 and remonstrate. 
 
 "I was only taking a look," said he; "where's the 
 harm of that ? " 
 
 " You were trespassing, sir," said Eichard Bassett. 
 
 "What's the harm of that, governor ? You can come 
 over all our place for what I care." ' 
 
 " Thank you. I prefer to keep to my own place." 
 
 " Well, I don't. I say, old chap, don't hit me. 'Twasi 
 I put 'em all on the scent of your kid, you know.'" 
 
 " So I have heard. Well, then, this makes us 'quits." 
 
404 A TEEBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 "Don't it ? You ain't such a bad sort after all." 
 
 "Only mind, Mr. Bassett, if I catch you prying here 
 again, that -will be a fresh account, and I shall open it 
 with a horse-whip." 
 
 He then gave him a little push, and the boy fled like 
 the wind. When he was gone Eichard Bassett became 
 rather uiieasy. He had hitherto concealed, even from 
 his own family, the great wealth his humble home con- 
 tained. His secret was now public. Eeginald had no 
 end of low companions. If burglars got scent of this it 
 might be very awkward. At last he hit upon a defence. 
 He got one of those hooks ending in a screw, which are 
 used for pictures, and screwed it into the inside of the 
 cupboard door near the top. To this he fastened a long 
 piece of catgut, and carried it through the floor. His 
 bed was just above the cupboard door, and he attached 
 the gut to a bell by his bedside. By this means no- 
 body could open that cupboard without ringing in his 
 ears. 
 
 Jessie told Tom ; Tom told Maria and Harriet ; 
 Harriet and Maria told everybody; somebody told Sir 
 Charles. He was deeply mortified. 
 
 " You young idiot ! " said he, " would nothing less 
 than this serve your turn ? Must you go and lower me 
 and yourself by giving just offence to my one enemy ? 
 the man I hate and despise, and who is always on the 
 watch to injure or affront me. Oh! who would be a 
 father ! There, pack up your things ; you will go to 
 school next morning at eight o'clock." 
 
 Mr. Reginald packed accordingly ; but that did not 
 occupy long ; so he sallied forth, and, taking for granted 
 that it was Eichard Bassett who had been so mean as to 
 tell, he purchased some paint and brushes, and a rope ; 
 and languished until midnight. But, when that magic 
 hour came, he was brisk as a bee ; let himself down from 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 405 
 
 his veranda, and stole to Eicliard Bassett's front door, 
 and inscribed thereon, in lajge and glaring letters : 
 
 "Jerry Sneak, Esq., 
 Tell-tale TU.'" 
 
 He then returned home, much calmed and comforted, 
 climbed up his rope, and into his room, and there slept 
 sweetly, as one who had discharged his duty to his 
 neighbor and society in general. 
 
 In the morning, however, he was very active, hurried 
 the grooms, and was off before the appointed time. 
 
 Sir Charles came down to breakfast, and lo ! young 
 hopeful gone, without the awkward ceremony of leave- 
 taking. 
 
 Six Charles found, as usual, many delicacies on his 
 table, and amongst them, one rarer to him than ortolan, 
 pin-tail, or wild turkey (in which last my soul delights), 
 for he found a letter from Eichard Bassett, Esq. 
 
 Sir, — Some nights since we caught your successor, that is 
 to be, at my dining-room window, prying into my private 
 affairs. Having the honor of our family at heart, I was about 
 to administer a little wholesome correction when he reminded 
 me he had been instrumental in tracking Miss Bassett, and 
 thereby rescuing her ; upon this, I was naturally mollified, 
 and sent him about his business, hoping to have seen the last 
 of him at Highmore. 
 
 This morning my door is covered with opprobrious epithets, 
 and as Mr. Bassett bought paint and brushes at the shop yes- 
 terday afternoon, it is doubtless to him I am indebted for them. 
 
 I make no comments ; I simply record the facts, and put 
 them down to your credit, and your son's. 
 Tour obedient servant, 
 
 Richard Bassett. 
 
 Lady Bassett did not come down to breakfast that 
 morning, so Sir Charles digested this dish in solitude. 
 
406 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 He was furious with Eeginald ; but, as Richard Bas- 
 sett's remonstrance was intended to insult him, he wrote 
 back as follows : 
 
 Sir, — I am deeply grieYed that a son of mine should 
 descend to look in at your windows, or to write anything what- 
 ever upon your door ; and I will take care it shall never recur. 
 Yours obediently, 
 
 Chakles Dyke Bassett. 
 
 This little correspondence was salutary ; it fanned the 
 coals of hatred between the cousins. 
 
 Reckless Eeginald soon found he had caught a Tartar 
 in his new master. 
 
 That gentleman punished him severely for every 
 breach of discipline. The study was a cool dark room, 
 with one window looking north, and that window barred. 
 Here he locked up the erratic youth for hours at a time, 
 upon the slightest escapade. 
 
 Reginald wrote a honeyed letter to Sir Charles, bewail- 
 ing his lot, and praying to be removed. 
 
 Sir Charles replied sternly, and sent him a copy of 
 Mr. Richard Bassett's letter. He wrote to Mr. Beecher 
 at the same time, expressing his full approval. 
 
 Thus disciplined, the boy began to change. He be- 
 came moody, sullen, silent, and even sleepy — this was 
 the- less wonderful, that he generally escaped at night 
 to a gypsy camp and courted a gypsy girl, who was nearly 
 as handsome as himself, besides being older, and far 
 more knowing. 
 
 His tongue went like a mill, and the whole tribe soon 
 knew all about him and his parents. 
 
 One morning the servants got up supernaturally early 
 to wash. Mr. Reginald was detected stealing back to 
 his roost, and reported to the master. 
 
 Mr. Beecher had him up directly, locked him into the 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 407 
 
 study alone; put the other students into the drawing- 
 room ; and erected bars to his bedroom window. 
 
 A few days of this, and he pined like a bird in a 
 cage. 
 
 A few more, and his gypsy girl came fortune-telling to 
 the servants, and wormed out the truth. 
 
 Then she came at night under his window, and made 
 him a signal. He told her his hard case, and told her 
 also a resolution he had come to. She informed the 
 tribe. The tribe consulted. A keen saw was flung up 
 to him ; in two nights he was through the bars ; the 
 third he was free, and joined his sable friends. 
 
 They struck their tents, and decamped with horses, 
 asses, tents, and baggage, and were many miles away by 
 daybreak, without troubling turnpikes. 
 
 The boy left not a line behind him, and Mr. Beecher 
 half hoped he might come back; still he sent to the 
 nearest station, and telegraphed to Huntercombe. 
 
 Sir Charles mounted a fleet horse, and rode off at once 
 into Cambridgeshire. He set inquiries on foot, and 
 learned that the boy had been seen consorting with a 
 tribe of gypsies. He heard, also, that these were rather 
 high gypsies, many of them foreigners ; and that they 
 dealt in horses, and had a farrier ; and that one or two 
 of the girls were handsome, and also singers. 
 
 Sir Charles telegraphed for detectives from London ; 
 wrote to the mayors of towns; advertised, with full 
 description and large reward, and brought such pressure 
 to bear upon the Egyptians that the band began to fear ; 
 they consulted, and took measures for their own se- 
 curity : none too soon, for they being encamped on 
 Grey's Common, -in Oxfordshire, Sir Charles and the 
 rural police rode into the camp, and demanded young 
 hopeful. 
 
 They were equal to the occasion ; at first they knew 
 
408 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 nothing of the matter, and, with injured innocence, in- 
 vited a full inspection. 
 
 The invitation was accepted. 
 
 Then, all of a sudden, one of the women affected to be 
 struck with an idea. " It is the young gentleman who 
 wanted to join us in Cambridgeshire." 
 
 Then all their throats opened at once. " Yes, gentle- 
 men, there was a lovely young gentleman wanted to 
 come with us ; but we wouldn't have him. What could 
 we do with him ? " 
 
 Sir Charles left them under surveillance, and con- 
 tinued his researches, telegraphing Lady Bassett twice 
 every day. 
 
 A dark stranger came into Huntercombe village, no 
 longer young, but still a striking figure ; had once, no 
 doubt, been superlatively handsome. Even now, his 
 long hair was black, and his eye could glitter ; but his 
 life had impregnated his noble features with hardness 
 and meanness ; his large black eye was restless, keen, 
 and servile ; an excellent figure for a painter though ; 
 born in Spain, he was not afraid of color, had a red cap 
 on his snaky black hair, and a striped waistcoat. 
 
 He inquired for Mr. Meyrick's farm. 
 
 He soon found his way thither, and asked for Mrs. 
 Meyrick. 
 
 The female servant, who opened the door, ran her eye 
 up and down him, and said brusquely, "What do you 
 want with her, my man, because she is busy ? " 
 
 " Oh, she will see me, miss." 
 
 Softened by the "mis§," the girl laughed and said, 
 " What makes you think that, my man ? " 
 
 " Give her this, miss," said the gypsy, " and she will 
 come to me." 
 
 He held her out a dirty, crumpled piece of paper. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 409 
 
 Sally, whose hands were wet from the tub, whipped 
 her hand under the corner of her checkered apron, and 
 so took the note with a finger and thumb operating 
 through the linen. By this means she avoided two evils, 
 her fingers did not wet the letter, and the letter did not 
 dirty her fingers. 
 
 She took it into the kitchen to her mistress, whose 
 arms were deep in a washtub. 
 
 Mrs. Meyrick had played the fine lady at first starting, 
 and for six months would not put her hand to anything. 
 But those twin cajolers of the female heart, dignity and 
 laziness, made her so utterly wretched that she returned 
 to her old habits of work, only she combined with it the 
 sweets of domination. 
 
 Sally came in, and said, "It's an old gypsy, which he 
 have brought you this." 
 
 Mrs. Meyrick instantly wiped the soapsuds from her 
 brown but shapely arms, and, whipping a wet hand under 
 her apron, took the note just as Sally had. It contained 
 these words only : 
 
 Ndbse, — The old Romanee will tell you all about me. 
 
 Reginau). 
 
 She had no sooner read it than she took her sleeves 
 down, and whipped her shawl off a peg, and put it on, 
 and took off her apron — and all for an old gypsy. No 
 stranger must take her for anything but a lady. 
 
 Thus embellished in a turn of the hand, she went 
 hastily to the door. 
 
 She and the gypsy both started at sight of each other, 
 and Mrs. Meyrick screamed. 
 
 "Why, what brings you here, old man?" said she, 
 pantiug. 
 
 The gypsy answered with oily sweetness, — 
 
 " The little gentleman sent me, my dear. Why, yon 
 look like a queen." 
 
410 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " Hush ! " said Mrs. Meyrick. " Come in here." 
 
 She made the old gypsy sit down, and she sat close to 
 him. 
 
 " Speak low, daddy," said she, " and tell me all about 
 my boy, my beautiful boy." 
 
 The old gypsy told Mrs. Meyrick the wrongs of Regi- 
 nald that had driven him to this ; and she fell to crying 
 and lamenting, and inveighing against all concerned, 
 schoolmaster. Sir Charles, Lady Bassett, and the gypsies. 
 Them the old man defended, and assured her the young 
 gentleman was in good hands, and would be made a little 
 king of, all the more that Keturah had told them there 
 was gypsy blood in him. 
 
 Mrs. Meyrick resented this loudly, and then returned 
 to her grief. 
 
 When she had indulged that grief for a long time, she 
 felt a natural desire to quarrel with somebody, and she 
 actually put on her bonnet, and was going to the Hall to 
 give Lady Bassett a bit of her mind, for she said that 
 lady had never shown the feelings of a woman for the 
 lamb. 
 
 But she thought better of it, and postponed the visit. 
 " I shall be sure to say something I shall be sorry for 
 after," said she ; so she sat down again, and returned to 
 her grief. 
 
 'Nov could she ever shake it off as thoroughly as she 
 had done any other trouble in her life. 
 
 Months after this, she said to Sally, with a burst of 
 tears, " I never nursed but one, and I shall never nurse 
 another : and now he is across the seas." 
 
 She kept the old gypsy at the farm ; or, to speak more 
 correctly, she made the farm his headquarters. She 
 assigned him the only bedroom he would accept ; viz., a 
 cattle-shed, open on one side. She used often to have 
 him into her room, when she was alone. She gave him 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 411 
 
 some of her husband's clothes, and made him wear a 
 decent hat ; by these means she effaced, in some degree, 
 his nationality, and then she compelled her servants to 
 call him « The Foreign Gent." 
 
 The foreign gent was very apt to disappear in fine 
 weather, but rain soon drove him back to her fireside, 
 and hunger to her flesh-pots. 
 
 On the very day the foreign gent came to Meyrick's 
 farm, Lady Bassett had a letter by post from Reginald : 
 
 Dear Mamma., — I am gone with the gypsies, across the 
 water. I am sorry to leave you. You are the right sort; but 
 they tormented me so with their' books and their dark rooms. 
 It is very unfortunate to be a boy. When I am a man, I 
 shall be too old to be tormented, and then I will come back. 
 Your dutiful son, 
 
 Reginald. 
 
 Lady Bassett telegraphed Sir Charles, and he returned 
 to Huntercombe, looking old, sad, and worn. 
 
 Lady Bassett set herself to comfort and cheer him, 
 and this was her gentle office for many a long month. 
 
 She was the more fit for it thai her own health and 
 spirits revived the moment Reginald left the country 
 with his friends, the gypsies. The color crept back to 
 her cheek, ^er spirits revived, and she looked as hand- 
 some and almost as young as when she married. She 
 tasted tranquillity^ Year after year went by, without 
 any news of Reginald, and the hope grew that he would 
 never cross her threshold again, and Compton be Sir 
 Charles's heir, without any more trouble. 
 
412 A TEERIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTEE XLI. 
 
 OuB story now makes a bold skip. Compton Bassett 
 was fourteen years old, a youth highly cultivated in 
 mind, and trained in body, but not very tall, and rather 
 effeminate looking, because he was so fair and his skin 
 so white. 
 
 For all that, he was one of the bowlers in the Wolcombe 
 eleven, whose cricket-ground was the very meadow in 
 which he had erst gathered cowslips with Euperta 
 Bassett ; and he had a canoe, which he carried to adjacent 
 streams, however narrow, and paddled it with singular 
 skill and vigor. A neighboring miller, suffering under 
 drought, was heard to say, " There ain't water enough to 
 float a duck ; nought can swim but the dab-chicks and 
 Muster Bassett." 
 
 He was also a pedestrian, and got his father to take 
 long walks with him, and leave the horses to eat their 
 oats in peace. 
 
 In these walks young master botanized and geologized 
 his own father, and Sir Charles gave him a little politics, 
 history, and English poetry in return. He had a tutor 
 fresh from Oxford for the classics. 
 
 One day, returning with his father from a walk, they 
 met a young lady walking towards them from the village. 
 She was tall, and a superb brunette. 
 
 Now, it was rather a rare thing to see a lady walking 
 through that village, so both Sir Charles and his son 
 looked keenly at her as she came towards them. 
 
 Compton turned crimson, and raised his hat to her 
 rather awkwardly. ' 
 
A TBBBIBLE TEMPTATION. 413 
 
 Sir Charles, who did not know the lady from Eve, 
 saluted her, nevertheless, and with infinite grace, for Sir 
 Charles, in his youth, had lived with some of the elite of 
 French society, and those gentlemen bow to the person 
 whom their companion hows to. Sir Charles had imported 
 this excellent trait of politeness, and always practised it, 
 though not the custom in England, the more the pity. 
 
 As soon as the young lady had passed, and was out of 
 hearing, Sir Charles said to Compton, "Who is that 
 lovely girl ? Why, how the boy is blushing ! " 
 
 "Opapa!" 
 
 "Well, what is the matter ? " 
 
 " Don't you see ? It is herself, come backirom school." 
 
 " I have no doubt it is herself, and not her sister ; but 
 who is herself ? " 
 
 " Euperta Bassett." 
 
 " Eichard Bassett's daughter ? impossible ! That young 
 lady looks seventeen or eighteen years of age." 
 
 " Yes ; but it is Euperta. There's nobody like her. 
 Papa!" 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " I suppose I may speak to her now ? " 
 
 " What for ? " 
 
 " She is so beautiful." 
 
 "That she really is, and, therefore, I advise you to 
 have nothing to say to her. You are not children now, 
 you know. Were you to renew that intimacy, you might 
 be tempted to fall in love with her. I don't say you 
 would be so mad, for you are a sensible boy ; but, still, 
 after that little business in the wood " — 
 
 " But suppose I did fall in love with her ? " 
 
 " Then, that would be a great misfortune. Don't you 
 know that her father is my enemy? If you were to 
 make any advances to that young lady, he would seize 
 the opportunity to affront you, and me through you." 
 
414 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 This silenced Compton, for he was an obedient youth. 
 
 But in the evening he got to his mother, and coaxed 
 her to take his part. 
 
 Now Lady Bassett felt the truth of all her husband 
 had said ; but she had a positive wish the young people 
 should be on friendly terms, at all events. She wanted 
 the family feud to die with the generation it had aflicted. 
 She promised, therefore, to speak to Sir Charles ; and so 
 great was her influence that she actually obtained terms 
 for Compton: he might speak to Miss Bassett, if he 
 would realize the whol^ situation, and be very discreet, 
 and not revive that absurd familiarity into which their 
 childhood had been betrayed. 
 
 She communicated this to him, and warned him at the 
 same time that even this concession had been granted 
 somewhat reluctantly, and in consideration of his invari- 
 able good conduct ; it would be immediately withdrawn 
 upon the slightest indiscretion. 
 
 " Oh, I will be discretion itself ! " said Compton ; but 
 the warmth with which he kissed his mother gave her 
 some doubts. However, she was prepared to risk some- 
 thing. She had her own views in this matter. 
 
 When he had got this limited permission, Master 
 Compton was not much nearer the mark ; for he was not 
 to call on the young lady, and she did not often walk in 
 the village. 
 
 But he often thought of her — her loving, sprightly 
 ways seven years ago, and the blaze of beauty with which 
 she had returned. 
 
 At last, one Sunday afternoon, she came to church 
 alone. When the congregation dispersed, he followed 
 her, and came up with her, but his heart beat violently. 
 
 " Miss Bassett ! " said he timidly. 
 
 She stopped and turned her eyes on him ; he blushed 
 up to the temples. She blushed too, but not quite so 
 much. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. - 415 
 
 " I am afraid you don't remember me ? " said the boy 
 sadly. 
 
 " Yes, I do, sir," said Euperta shyly, 
 
 " How you are grown ! " 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "You are taller than I am — and more beautiful than 
 ever." 
 
 No answer, but a blush. 
 
 " You are not angry with me for speaking ta you ? " 
 
 "No, sir." 
 
 " I wouldn't offend you." 
 
 " I am not offended. Only " — 
 
 "Oh, Miss Bassett, of course I know you will never 
 be — we shall never be — like we used ! " 
 
 A very deep blush, and dead silence. 
 
 " You are a grown-up young lady, and I am only a boy 
 stO, somehow. But it would have been hard if I might 
 not even speak to you. Would it not ? " 
 
 "Yes," said the young lady, but after some hesitation 
 and only in a whisper. 
 
 " I wonder where you walk to. I have never seen you 
 out but once." 
 
 No reply to this little feeler. 
 
 Then at last Compton was discouraged, partly by her 
 beauty and size, partly by her taciturnity. 
 
 He was silent in return ; and so, in a state of mutual 
 restraint, they reached the gate of Highmore. 
 
 " Good-by," said Compton reluctaaitly. 
 
 " Good-by." 
 
 " Won't you shake hands ? " 
 
 She blushed, and put out her hand half-way. He took 
 it, and shook it, and so they parted. 
 
 Compton said to his mother, disconsolately, " Mamma, 
 it is aU over. I have seen her, and spoken to her, but 
 she has gone off dreadfully." 
 
416 A TBKBIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 " Why, what is the matter ? " 
 
 " She is all changed. She is so stupid and dignified, 
 got to be. She has not a word to say to a fellow." 
 
 "Perhaps she is more reserved; that is natural. She 
 is a young lady now.". 
 
 " Then it is a great pity she did not stay as she was. 
 Oh, the bright little darling! Who'd think she could 
 ever turn into a great, stupid, dignified thing? She is 
 as tall as you, mamma." 
 
 " Indeed ! She has made use of her time. Well, dear, 
 don't take too much notice of her, and then you will 
 find she will not be nearly so shy." 
 
 " Too much notice ? I shall never speak to her again 
 — perhaps." 
 
 " I would not be violent, one way or the other. Why 
 not treat her like any other acquaintance ? " 
 
 Next Sunday afternoon she came to church alone. 
 
 In spite of his resolution, Mr. Compton tried her a 
 second time. Horror! she was all monosyllables and 
 blushes again. 
 
 Compton began to find it too uphill. At last, when 
 they reached Highmore gate, he Ibst his patience, and 
 said, " I see how it is. I have lost my sweet playmate 
 forever. Good-by, Euperta; I won't trouble you any 
 more." And he held out his hand to the young lady for 
 a final farewell. 
 
 Euperta whipped both her hands behind her back like 
 a school-girl, and then, recovering her dignity, cast one 
 swift glance of gentle reproach, then suddenly assuming 
 vast stateliness, marched into Highmore like the mother 
 of a family. These three changes of manner she effected 
 all in less than two seconds. 
 
 Poor Compton went away sorely puzzled by this female 
 kaleidoscope, but not a little alarmed and concerned at 
 having mortally ofEended so much feminine dignity. 
 
A TEKBIBLE TEMPTATION. 417 
 
 After that he did not ventuie to accost her for some 
 time, but he cast a few sheep's-eyes at her in church. 
 
 Now Euperta had told her mother all ; and her mother 
 had not forbidden her to speak to Gompton, but had 
 insisted on reserve and discretion. 
 
 She now told her mother she thought he would not 
 speak to her any more, she had snubbed him so. 
 
 "Dear me!" said Mrs. Bassett, "why did you do that? 
 Can you not be polite, and nothing more ? " 
 
 "No, mamma." 
 
 "Why not ? He is very amiable. Everybody says so." 
 
 "He is. But I keep remembering what a forward girl 
 I was, BJid I am afraid he has not forgotten it either, and 
 that makes me hate the poor little fellow ; no, not hate 
 him, but keep him off. I dare say he thinks me a cross 
 ill-tempered thing ; and I am very unkind to him, but I 
 can't help it." 
 
 ••Never mind," said Mrs. Bassett; "that is much better 
 than to be too forward. Papa would never forgive 
 that." 
 
 By and by there was a cricket-match in the farmer's 
 meadow, Highcombe and Huntercombe eleven against 
 the town of Staveleigh. All clubs liked to pbiy at 
 Huntercombe, because Sir Charles found the tents and 
 the dinner, and the young farmers drank his champagne 
 to their heart's content. 
 
 Buperta took her maid, and went to see the match. 
 They found it going against Huntercombe. The score 
 as follows : — 
 
 Staveleigh. First innings, a hundred and forty-eight 
 runs. 
 
 Huntercombe eighty-eight. 
 
 Staveleigh. Second innings, sixty runs, and only one 
 wicket down; and Johnson and Wright, two of their 
 best men, well in, and masters of the bowling. 
 27 
 
418 A TERKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 TMs being communicated to Euperta, she became 
 excited, and her soul was in the game. 
 
 The batters went on knocking the balls about, and 
 scored thirteen more, before the young lady's eyes. 
 
 "Oh, dear ! " said she, "what is that boy about ? Why 
 doesn't he bowl ? They pretend he is a capital bowler." 
 
 At this time Compton was standing long-field on, only 
 farther from the wicket than usual. 
 
 Johnson at the wicket bowled to, being a hard but not 
 very scientific hitter, lifted a ialf-voUey ball right over 
 the bowler's head, a hit for four, but a sky-scraper. 
 Compton started the moment he hit, and, running with 
 prodigious velocity, caught the ball descending, within a 
 few yards of Ruperta ; but, to get at it, he was obliged 
 to throw himself forward in the air ; he rolled upon the 
 grass, but held the ball in sight all the while. 
 
 Mr. Johnson was out, and loud acclamations rent the 
 sky. 
 
 Compton rose, and saw Euperta clapping her hands 
 close by. 
 
 She left off and blushed, directly he saw her. He 
 blushed too, and touched his cap to her, with an air half 
 manly, half sheepish ; but did not speak to her. 
 
 This was the lEist ball of the over, and, as the ball was 
 now to be delivered from the other wicket, Compton took 
 the place of long-leg. 
 
 The third ball was overpitched to leg, and Wright, who, 
 like most country players, hit freely to leg, turned half, 
 and caught this ball exactly right, and sent it whizzing 
 for five. 
 
 But the very force of the stroke was fatal to him ; the 
 ball went at first bound right into Compton's hands, 
 who instantly flung it back, like a catapult, at Wright's 
 wicket. 
 
 Wright, having hit for five, and being unable to see 
 
A TEERIBLE TEMPTATION. 419 
 
 what had become of the ball, stai-ted to run, as a matter 
 of course. 
 
 But the other batsman, seeing the ball go into long- 
 leg's hands like a buUet, cried "Back ! " 
 
 Wright turned, and would have got back to his wicket 
 if the ball had required handling by the wicket-keeper ; 
 but, by a mixture of skiU with luck, it came right at the 
 wicket. Seeing which, the wicket-keeper very judiciously 
 let it alone, and it carried off the bails just haJf a second 
 before Mr. Wright grounded his bat. 
 
 " How's that, umpire ? " cried the wicket-keeper. 
 
 "Out!" said the Staveleigh umpire, who judged at 
 that end. 
 
 Up went the ball into the air, amidst great excitement 
 of the natives. 
 
 Buperta, carried away by the general enthusiasm, 
 nodded all sparkling to Compton, and that made his 
 heart beat, and his soul aspire. So next over he claimed 
 his rights, and took the balL Luck still befriended him; 
 he bowled four wickets in twelve overs; the wicket- 
 keeper stumped a fifth; the rest were the "tail," and 
 disposed of for a few runs, and the total was no more 
 than Huntereombe's first innings. 
 
 Our hero then took the bat, and made forty-seven runs 
 before he was disposed of, five wickets down for a hun- 
 dred and ten runs. The match was not won yet, nor 
 sure to be ; but the situation was reversed. 
 
 On going out he was loudly applauded ; and Ruperta 
 naturally felt proud of her admirer. 
 
 Being now free, he came to her irresolutely with some 
 iced champagne. 
 
 Iluperta declined, with thanks ; but he looked so im- 
 ploringly that she sipped a little, and said, warmly, " I 
 hope we shaU win ; and if we do, I know whom we shall 
 have to thank." 
 
420 A TEKKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 "And so do I; you, Miss Bassett." 
 
 " Me ? Why, what have I done in the matter ? " 
 
 " You brought us luck, for one thing. You put us on 
 our mettle. Staveleigh shall never beat me, with you 
 looking on." 
 
 Ruperta blushed a little, for the boy's eyes beamed 
 with fire. 
 
 " If I believed that," said she, " I should hire myself 
 out at the next match, and charge twelve pairs of gloves." 
 
 " You may believe it, then ; ask anybody whether our 
 luck did not change the moment you came." 
 
 " Then I am afraid it will go now, for I am going." 
 
 " You will lose us the match if you do," said Compton. 
 
 " I can't help it : now you are out, it is rather insipid. 
 There, you see I can pay compliments as well as you." 
 
 Then she made a graceful inclination and moved away. 
 
 Compton felt his heart ache at parting. He took a 
 thought and ran quickly to a certain part of the field. 
 
 Euperta and her attendant walked very slowly home- 
 ward. 
 
 Compton caught them just at their own gate. " Cous- 
 in ! " said he imploringly, and held her out a nosegay of 
 cowslips only. 
 
 At that the memories rushed back on her, and the girl 
 seemed literally to melt. She gave him one look full of 
 womanly sensibility and winning tenderness, and said 
 softly, " Thank you, cousin." 
 
 Compton went away on wings ; the ice was broken. 
 
 But the next time he met her it had frozen again, 
 apparently. To be sure, she was alone, and young ladies 
 will be bolder when they have another person of their 
 own sex with them. 
 
 Mr. Angelo called on Sir Charles Bassett to complain 
 of a serious grievance. 
 
A TBRKIBLE TEMPTATION. 421 
 
 Mr. Angelo had become zealous and eloquent; but 
 ■what are eloquence and zeal against sex ? A handsome 
 woman had preached for ten minutes upon a little mound 
 outside the village, and had announced she should say a 
 few parting words next Sunday evening at six o'clock. 
 
 Mr. Angelo complained of this to Lady Bassett. 
 
 Lady Bassett referred him to Sir Charles. 
 
 Mr. Angelo asked that magistrate to enforce the law 
 against conventicles. 
 
 Sir Charles said he thought the Act did not apply. 
 
 "Well, but," said Angelo, " it is on your ground she is 
 going to preach." 
 
 " I am the proprietor, but the tenant is the owner in 
 law. He could warn me off his ground ; I have no power." 
 
 " I fear you have no inclination," said Angelo, nettled. 
 
 " Not much, to tell the truth," replied Sir Charles coolly. 
 " Does it matter so very much who sows the good seed, 
 or whether it is flung abroad from a pulpit or a grassy 
 knoU?" 
 
 "That is begging the question, Sir Charles. Why 
 assume that it is good seed ? It is more likely to be 
 tares than wheat in this case." 
 
 "And is not that begging the question ? Well, I will 
 make it my business to know; and if she preaches 
 sedition or heresy or bad morals, I will strain my power 
 a little to silence her. More than that I really cannot 
 promise you. The day is gone by for intolerance." 
 
 "Intolerance is a bad thing, but the absence of all 
 conviction is worse, and that is what we are coming to." 
 
 "-Not quite that ; but the nation has tasted liberty, 
 and now every man assumes to do what is right in his 
 own eyes." 
 
 " That means what is wrong in his neighbors'." 
 
 Sir Charles thought this neat, and laughed good- 
 humoredly; he asked the rector to dine on Sunday at 
 
422 A TERKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 half-past seven. " I shall know more about it by that 
 time," said he. 
 
 They dined early on Sunday at Highmore, and Ruperta 
 took her maid for a walk in the afternoon, and came 
 back in time to hear the female preacher. 
 
 Half the village was there already, and presently the 
 preacher walked to her station. 
 
 To Euperta's surprise, she was a lady richly dressed, 
 tall and handsome, but with features rather too command- 
 ing. She had a glove on her left hand, and a little Bible 
 in her right hand, which was large, but white, and finely 
 formed. 
 
 She delivered a short prayer and opened her text : — 
 
 " Walk honestly ; not in strife and envying." 
 
 Just as the text was given out, Ruperta's maid pinched 
 her, and the young lady, looking up, saw her father 
 coming to see what was the matter. Maid was for 
 hiding; but Ruperta made a wry face, blushed, and 
 stood her ground. "How can he scold me, when he comes 
 himself ? " she whispered. 
 
 During the sermon — of which, short as it was, I can 
 only afford to give the outline — in crept Compton Bas- 
 sett, and got within three or four of Ruperta. 
 
 Finally, Sir Charles Bassett came up, in accordance 
 with his promise to Angelo. 
 
 The perfect preacher deals in generalities, but strikes 
 them home with a few personalities. 
 
 Most clerical preachers deal only in generalities ; and 
 that is ineffective, especially to uncultivated minds. 
 
 Mrs. Marsh, as might be expected from her sex, went 
 a little too much the other way. 
 
 After a few sensible words, pointing out the misery in 
 houses and the harm done to the soul by a quarrelsome 
 spirit, she lamented there was too much of it in Hunter- 
 combe. With this opening she went into personalities ; 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 423 
 
 reminded them of the fight between two farm-servants 
 last week, one of whom was laid up at that moment in 
 consequence. "And," said she, "even when it does not 
 come to fighting, it poisons your lives and offends your 
 Eedeemer." 
 
 Then she went into the causes, and she said drunken- 
 ness and detraction were the chief causes of strife and 
 contention. 
 
 She dealt briefly, but dramatically, with drunkenness, 
 and then lashed detraction, as follows : — 
 
 " Every class has its vices, and detraction is the vice 
 of the poor. You are ever so much vainer than your 
 betters ; you are eaten up with vanity, and never give 
 your neighbor a good word. I have been in thirty 
 houses, and in not one of those houses has any poor 
 man or poor woman spoken one honest word in praise 
 of a neighbor. So do not flatter yourselves this is a 
 Christian village, for it is not. The only excuse to be 
 made for you — and I fear it is not one that G-od will 
 accept on His judgment-day — is that your betters set 
 you a bad example instead of a good one. The two 
 principal people in this village are kinsfolk, yet enemies, 
 and have been enemies for twenty years. That's a nice 
 example for two Christian gentlemen to set to poor peo- 
 ple, who, they may be sure, will copy their sins, if they 
 copy nothing else. 
 
 "They go to church regularly, and believe in the 
 Bible, and yet they defy both church and Bible. 
 
 " Now I should like to ask those gentlemen a question. 
 How do they mean to manage in heaven ? When the 
 baronet comes to that happy place, where all is love, will 
 the squire walk out ? Or do they think to quarrel there, 
 and so get turned out, both of them ? I don't wonder 
 at your smiling ; but it is a serious consideration, for all 
 that. The soul of man is immortal; and what is the 
 
424 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 soul ? it is not a substantial thing like the body : it is a 
 bundle of thoughts and feelings : the thoughts we die 
 with in this world, we shall wake up with them in the 
 next. Yet here are two Christians loading their im- 
 mortal souls with immortal hate. What a waste of feel- 
 ing, if it must all be flung off together with the body, 
 lest it drag the souls of both down to bottomless per- 
 dition. 
 
 "And what do they gain in this world? Irritation, 
 ill-health, and misery. It is a fact, that no man ever 
 reached a great old age who hated his neighbor, still less 
 a good old age ; for if men would look honestly into their 
 own hearts, they would own that to hate is to be misera- 
 ble. 
 
 " I believe no men commit a sin for many years with- 
 out some special warnings, and to neglect these is one 
 sin more added to their account. Such a warning, or 
 rather, I should say, such a pleading of Divine love, 
 those two gentlemen have had. Do you remember, about 
 eight years ago, two children were lost on one day, out 
 of different houses in this village ? (A murmur from 
 the crowd.) 
 
 " Perhaps some of you here present were instrumental, 
 under God, in finding that pretty pair ? " (A louder 
 murmur.) 
 
 " Oh, don't be afraid to answer me. Preaching is only 
 a way of speaking ; and I'm only a woman that is speak- 
 ing to you for your good. TeU me — we are not in 
 church, tied up by strait-laced rules to keep men and 
 women from' getting within arm's length of one another's 
 souls — tell me, who saw those two lost children ? " 
 
 " I ! I ! I ! I ! I ! " roared several voices in reply. 
 
 " Is it true, as a good woman tells me, that the innocent 
 darlings had each an arm round the other's neck ? " 
 
 "Ay I" 
 
A TERKIBLE TEMPTATION. 425 
 
 " And little coronets of flowers to matcli their hair ? " 
 (That was the girl's doing.) 
 
 "Ay!" 
 
 " And the little boy had played the man, and taken off 
 his tippet to put round the little lady ?" 
 
 " Ay ! " with a burst of enthusiasm from the assem- 
 bled rustics. 
 
 "I think I see them myself; and the torches lighting 
 up the dewy leaves overhead, and that divine picture of 
 innocent love. Well, which was the prettiest sight, and 
 the fittest for heaven — the hatred of the parents, or the 
 affection of the children ? 
 
 "And now mark what a weapon hatred is in the 
 devil's hands. There are only two people in this parish 
 on whom that sight was wasted, and those two, being 
 gentlemen and men of education, would have been more 
 affected by it than humble folk, if hell had not been in 
 their hearts ; for hate comes from hell, and takes men 
 down to the place it comes from. 
 
 " Do you, then, shun, in that one thing, the example of 
 your betters ; and I hope those children will shun it too. 
 A father is to be treated with great veneration, but above 
 all is our Heavenly Father and His law, and that law, 
 what is it? — what has it been this eighteen hundred 
 years and more ? — why, Love. 
 
 "Would you be happy in this world, and fit your 
 souls to dwell hereafter even in the meanest of the 
 many mansions prepared above, you must, above all 
 things, be charitable. You must not run your neighbor 
 down iDehind his back, or God will hate you : you must 
 not wound him to his face, or God will hate you. You 
 must overlook a fault or two, and see a man's bright side, 
 and then God will love you. If you won't do that much 
 for your neighbor, why, in heaven's name, should God 
 overlook a multitude of sins in you ? 
 
426 A TERRIBLE TBMPTATIOH. 
 
 "Nothing goes to heaven surer than charity, and 
 nothing is so fit to sit in heaven. St. Paul had many- 
 things to be proud of, and to praise in himself, things 
 that the world is more apt to admire than Christian 
 charity, the sweetest, but humblest of all the Christian 
 graces : St. Paul, I say, was a bulwark of learning, an 
 anchor of faith, a rock of constancy, a thunderbolt of 
 zeal: yet see how he bestows the palm: 
 
 " ' Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. Though 
 I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and 
 have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or 
 a tinkling cymbal. And, though I have the gift of 
 prophecy, and understand- all mysteries, and all knowl- 
 edge ; and though I have all faith, so that I could 
 remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 
 And though 1 bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and 
 though I give my body to be burned, and have not 
 charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long 
 and is kind ; charity envieth not ; charity vaunteth not 
 itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, 
 seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no 
 evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the 
 truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth 
 all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth : 
 but prophecies — they shall fail; tongues — they shall 
 cease; knowledge — it shall vanish away. And now 
 abideth faith, hope, and charity, these three, but the 
 greatest of these is charity.' " 
 
 The fair orator delivered these words with such fire, 
 such feeling, such trumpet-toned and heart-felt eloquence, 
 that for the first time, those immortal words sounded in 
 these village ears true oracles of God. 
 
 Then, without pause, she went on : " So let us lift our 
 hearts in earnest prayer to God, that, in this world of 
 thorns, and tempers, and trials, and troubles, and cares, 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 427 
 
 He will give us the best cure for all — the great sweet- 
 ener of this mortal life, the sure forerunner of heaven — 
 His most excellent gift of charity." Then, in one 
 generous burst, she prayed for love divine, and there 
 was many a sigh, and many a tear, and, at the close, an 
 " Amen " — such as, alas ! we shall never, I fear, hear — 
 burst from a hundred bosoms, where men repeat beauti- 
 ful but stale words, and call it prayer. 
 
 The preacher retired, biit the people still lingered spell- 
 bound, and then arose that buzz which shows that the* 
 words have gone home. 
 
 As for Richard Bassett, he had turned on his heel, 
 indignant, as soon as the preacher's admonitions came 
 his way. 
 
 Sir Charles Bassett stood his ground rather longer, 
 being steeled by the conviction that the quarrel was 
 none of his seeking. Moreover, he was not aware what 
 a good friend this woman had been to him, nor what a 
 good wife she had been to Marsh this seventeen years. 
 His mind, therefore, made a clear leap from Bhoda 
 Somerset, the vixen of Hyde Park and Mayfair, to this 
 preacher, and he could not help smiling ; than which a 
 worse frame for receiving unpalatable truths can hardly 
 be conceived. And so the elders were obdurate. But 
 Compton and Ruperta had no armor of old age, egotism, 
 or prejudice, to turn the darts of honest eloquence. 
 They listened, as to the voice of an angel ; they gazed, 
 as on the face of an angel ; and when those silvery 
 accents ceased, they turned towards each other, and 
 came towards each other with the sweet enthusiasm that 
 became their years. 
 
 "Oh, Cousin Ruperta!" quavered Compton. "Oh, 
 Cousin Compton ! " cried Ruperta, the tears trickling 
 down her lovely cheeks. 
 They could not say any more for ever so long. 
 
428 A TEBRTBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 Ruperta spoke first. She gave a filial gulp, and said, 
 "I will go and speak to her, and thank her." 
 
 "Oh, Miss Euperta, we shall be too late for tea," 
 suggested the maid. 
 
 "Tea!" said Euperta. "Our souls are before our 
 tea ! I must speak to her, or else my heart will choke 
 me, and kill me. I will go — and so will Compton." 
 
 " Oh, yes ! " said Compton. 
 
 And they hurried after the preacher. 
 
 They came up with her, flushed and panting; and now 
 it was Compton's turn to be shy ; the lady was so tall 
 and stately too. 
 
 But Euperta was not much afraid of anything in 
 petticoats. " Oh, madam," said she, " if you please, may 
 we speak to you ? " 
 
 Mrs. Marsh turned round, and her somewhat aquiline 
 features softened instantly at the two specimens of 
 beauty and innocence that had run after her. 
 
 " Certainly, my young friends," and she smiled mater- 
 nally on them. She had children of her own. 
 
 " Who do you think we are ? We are the two naughty 
 children you preached about so beautifully." 
 
 " What, you the babes in the wood ? " 
 
 "Yes, madam. It was a long, long while ago, and we 
 are fifteen now ; are we not. Cousin Compton ? " 
 
 "Yes, madam." 
 
 " And we are both so unhappy at our parents quarrel- 
 ling. At least I am." 
 
 " And so am I." 
 
 "And we came to thank you. Didn't we, Compton ? " 
 
 "Yes, Euperta." 
 
 " And to ask your advice. How are we to make our 
 parents be friends ? Old- people will not be advised by 
 young ones. They look dewn on us so ; it is dreadful." 
 
 "My dear young lady," said Mrs. Marsh, "I will try 
 
A TBERIBLE TEMPTATION. 429 
 
 and answer you: but let me sit down a minute ; for after 
 preaching, I am apt to feel a little exhausted. Now sit 
 beside me, and give me each a hand, if you please. 
 
 " Well, my dears, I have been teaching you a lesson ; 
 and now you teach me one; and that is, how much 
 easier it is to preach reconciliation and charity, than it 
 is to practise it under certain circumstances. However, 
 my advice to you is first to pray to God for wisdom in 
 this thing : and then to watch every opportunity. Dis- 
 suade your parents from every unkind act: don't be 
 afraid to speak — with the word of God at your back. 
 I know that you have no easy task before you. Sir 
 Charles Bassett and Mr. Bassett were both among my 
 hearers, and both turned their backs on me, and went 
 away unsoftened; they would not give me a chance; 
 would not hear me to an end, and I am not a worthy 
 preacher neither." 
 
 Here an interruption occurred. Euperta, so shy and 
 cold with Compton, flung her arms round Mrs. Marsh's 
 neck, with the tears in her eyes, and kissed her eagerly. 
 
 " Yes, my dear," said Mrs. Marsh, after kissing her in 
 turn, " I was a little mortified. But that was very weak 
 and foolish. I am sorry, for their own sakes, they would 
 stay; it was the word of God; but they saw only the 
 unworthy instrument. "Well, then, my dears, you have a 
 hard task ; but you must work upon your mothers, and 
 win them to charity." 
 
 " Ah ! that will be easy enough. My mother has never 
 approved this unhappy quarrel." 
 
 " No more has mine." 
 
 " Is it so ? Then you must try and get the two ladies 
 to speak to each other. But something tells me that a 
 way will be opened. Have patience. Have faith : and 
 do not mind a check or two; but persevere, remember- 
 ing that 'blessed are the peacemakers.' " 
 
430 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 She then rose, and they took leave of her. 
 
 " Give me a kiss, children," said she. " You have done 
 me a world of good. My own heart often flags on the 
 road, and you have warmed and comforted it. God bless 
 you ! " 
 
 And so they parted. 
 
 Compton and Euperta walked homewards. Ruperta 
 was very thoughtful, and Compton could only get mono- 
 syllables out of her. This discouraged, and at last 
 vexed him. 
 
 " What have I done," said he, " that you will speak to 
 anybody but me ? " 
 
 " Don't be cross, child," said she ; " but answer me a 
 question. Did you put your tippet round me in that 
 wood ? " 
 
 "I suppose so." 
 
 " Oh, then you don't remember doing it, eh ? " 
 
 "No; that I don't." 
 
 " Then what makes you think you did ? " 
 
 "Because they say so. Because I must have been 
 such an awful cad if I didn't. And I was always much 
 fonder of you than you were of me. My tippet ! I'd 
 give my head sooner than any harm should come to you, 
 Euperta." 
 
 Euperta made no reply, but, being now at Highmore, 
 she put out her hand to him, and turned her head away. 
 He kissed her hand devotedly, and so they parted. 
 
 Compton told Lady Bassett all that had happened, and 
 Euperta told Mrs. Bassett. 
 
 Those ladies readily promised to be on the side of 
 peace, but they feared it could only be the work of time, 
 and said so. 
 
 By and by Compton got impatient, and told Euperta 
 he had thought of a way to compel their fathers to be 
 friends. " I am afraid you won't like the idea at first" 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATIOK. 431 
 
 said he; "but the more you think of it the more you 
 will see it is the surest way of all." 
 
 "WeU, but what is it?" 
 
 " You must let me marry you." 
 
 Ruperta stared, and began to blush crimson. 
 
 "Will you, cousin ? " 
 
 " Of course not, child. The idea ! " 
 
 "Oh, Ruperta," cried the boy in dismay, "surely you 
 don't mean to marry anybody else but me ! " 
 
 " Would that make you very unhappy, then ? " 
 
 " You know it would ; wretched for my life." 
 
 " I should not like to do that. But I disapprove of 
 early marriages. I mean to wait till I'm nineteen, and 
 that is three years nearly." 
 
 "It is a fearful time; but if you will promise not to 
 marry anybody else, I suppose I shall live through it." 
 
 Ruperta, though she made light of Compton's offer, 
 was very proud of it (it was her first). She told her 
 mother directly. 
 
 Mrs. Bassett sighed, and said that was too blessed a 
 thing ever to happen. 
 
 "Why not ? " said Ruperta. 
 
 "How could it," said Mrs. Bassett, "with everybody 
 against it but poor little me ? " 
 
 " Compton assures me that Lady Bassett wishes it." 
 
 "Indeed ! But Sir Charles and papa, Ruperta ? " 
 
 " Oh, Compton must talk Sir Charles over, and I wiU 
 persuade papa. I'll begin this evening, when he comes 
 home from London." 
 
 Accordingly as he was sitting alone in the dining- 
 room, sipping his glass of port, Ruperta slipped away 
 from her mother's side and found him. 
 
 His face brightened at the sight of her ; for he was 
 extremely fond and proud of this girl, for whom he 
 would not have the bells rung when she was born. 
 
432 A TBRKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 She came and hung round his neck a little, and kissed 
 him, and said softly, " Dear papa, I have something to 
 tell you. I have had a proposal." 
 
 Eichard Bassett stared. 
 
 " What, of marriage ? " 
 
 Euperta nodded archly. 
 
 " To a child like you ? Scandalous ! No, for after 
 all, you look nineteen or twenty. And who is the high- 
 wayman that thinks to rob me of my precious girl ? " 
 
 " Well, papa, whoever he is, he will have to wait three 
 years, and so I told him. It is my cousin Compton." 
 
 " What ! " cried Richard Bassett, so loudly, that the 
 girl started back dismayed. " That little monkey have 
 the impudence to offer marriage to my daughter ? 
 Surely, Euperta, you have offered him no encourage- 
 ment ? " 
 
 "IST— no." 
 
 "Your mother promised me nothing but common 
 civility should pass between you and that young gentle- 
 man." 
 
 " She promised for me, but she could not promise for 
 him : poor little fellow." 
 
 " Marry a son of the man who has robbed and insulted 
 your father ? " 
 
 "Oh, papa! is it so.'' Aie you sure you did not 
 begin ? " 
 
 " If you can think that, it is useless to say more. I 
 thought ill-fortune had done its worst; but no: blow 
 upon blow, and wound upon wound. Don't spare me, 
 child : nobody else has ; and why should you ? Marry 
 my enemy's son, his younger son, and break your father's 
 heart." 
 
 At this, what could a sensitive girl of sixteen do, but 
 burst out crying, and promise, round her father's neck, 
 never to marry any one whom he disliked? 
 
A TEBKIBLB TEMPTATION. 433 
 
 When she had made this promise, her father fondled 
 and petted her, and his tenderness consoled her, for she 
 was not passionately in love with her cousin. 
 
 Yet she cried a good deal over the letter in which she 
 communicated this to Compton. 
 
 He lay in wait for her ; but she bafQed him for three 
 weeks."~ 
 
 After that, she relaxed her vigilance, for she had no 
 real wish to avoid him, and was curious to see whether 
 she had cured him. 
 
 He met her : and his conduct took her by surprise. 
 He was pale, and looked very wretched. 
 
 He said, solemnly, "Were you jesting with me, when 
 you promised to marry no one but me ? " 
 
 "K"o, Compton. But you know I could never marry 
 you without papa's consent." 
 
 " Of course not ; but what I fear, he might wish you 
 to marry somebody else." 
 
 " Then I should refuse. I will never break my word 
 to you, cousin. I am not in love with you, you are too 
 young for that — but somehow I feel I could not make 
 you unhappy. Can't you trust my word ? You might. 
 I come of the same people as you. Why do you look so 
 pale ? — we are very unhappy." 
 
 Then the tears began to steal down her cheeks ; and 
 Compton's soon followed. 
 
 Compton consulted his mother. She told him, with a 
 sigh, she was powerless. Sir Charles might yield to her, 
 but she had no power to influence Mr. Bassett at present. 
 " The time may come," said she. She could not take a 
 very serious view of this amour, except with regard to 
 its pacific results; so Mr. Bassett's opposition chilled 
 her in the matter. 
 
 While things were so, something occurred that drove 
 all these minor things out of her distracted heart. 
 28 
 
434 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 One summer evening, as she and Sir Ciiarles and 
 Compton sat at dinner, a servant came in to say there 
 "was a stranger at the door, and he called himself Bassett. 
 
 " What is he like ? " said Lady Bassett, turning pale. 
 
 " He looks like a foreigner, my lady. He says he is 
 Mr. Bassett," repeated the man, with a scandalized air. 
 
 Sir Charles got up directly, and hurried to the hall 
 door. Compton followed Lady Bassett to the door only, 
 and looked. 
 
 Sure enough it was Reginald, full grown, and bold, as 
 handsome as ever, and darker than ever. 
 
 In that moment, his misconduct in running away never 
 occurred either to Sir Charles or Compton, all was eager 
 and tremulous welcome. The hall rang with joy. They 
 almost carried him into the dining-room. 
 
 The first thing they saw was a train of violet-colored 
 velvet half hidden by the table. 
 
 Compton ran forward, with a cry of dismay. 
 
 It was Lady Bassett, in a dead swoon, her face as 
 white as her neck and arms, and these as white and 
 smooth as satin. 
 
A TEKKIBLE TEMPTATION. 435 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 Lady Bassett was carried to her room, and did not 
 reappear. She kept her own apartments, and her health 
 declined so rapidly, that Sir Charles sent for Dr. Willis. 
 He prescribed for the body, but the disease lay in the 
 mind. Martyr to an inward struggle, she pined visibly, 
 and her beautiful eyes began to shine, like stars, preter- 
 naturally large. She was in a frightful condition : she 
 longed to tell the truth, and end it all ; but then she 
 must lose her adored husband's respect, and perhaps his 
 love ; and she had not the courage. She saw no way out 
 of it but to die, and leave her confession; and, as she 
 felt that the agony of her soul was killing her by 
 degrees, she drew a sombre resignation from that. 
 
 She declined to see Reginald. She could not bear the 
 sight of him. 
 
 Compton came to her many times a day, with a face 
 full of concern, and even terror. But she would not 
 talk to him of herself. 
 
 He brought her all the news he heard, having no other 
 way to cheer her. . 
 
 One day he told her there were robbers about. Two 
 farm-houses had been robbed, — a thing not known in 
 these parts for many years. 
 
 Lady Bassett shuddered, but said nothing. 
 
 But by and by her beloved son came to her in distress 
 with a grief of his own. 
 
 Ruperta Bassett was now the beauty of the county, 
 and it seems Mr. Rutland had danced with her, at her 
 first ball, and been violently smitten with her : he had 
 
436 A TEBEIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 called more than once at Highmore, and his attentions 
 were directly encouraged by Mr. Bassett. Now Mr. 
 Eutland was heir to a peerage, and also to considerable 
 estates in the county. 
 
 Compton was sick at heart, and, being young, saw his 
 life about to be blighted ; so now he was pale and woe- 
 begone, and told her the sad news with such deep sighs, 
 and imploring, tearful eyes, that all the mother rose in 
 arms. "Ah! " said she, "they say to themselves that I 
 am down, and cannot fight for my child ; but I would 
 fight for him on the edge of the grave. Let me think 
 all by myself, dear. Come back to me in an hour. I 
 shall do something. Your mother is a very cunning 
 woman — for those she loves." 
 
 Compton kissed her gown, a favorite action of his, — 
 for he worshipped her, — and went away. 
 
 The invalid laid her hollow cheek upon her wasted 
 hand, and thought with all her might. By degrees her 
 extraordinary brain developed a twofold plan of action, 
 and she proceeded to execute the first part, being the 
 least difficult, tkough even that was not easy, and brought 
 a vivid blush to her wasted cheek. 
 
 She wrote to Mrs. Bassett : 
 
 Madam, — I am very ill, and life is uncertain. Something 
 tells me you, like me, regret the unhappy feud between our 
 houses. If this is so, it would be a consolation to me to take 
 you by the hand, and exchange a few words, as we already 
 have a few kind looks. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 Bella Bassett. 
 
 She showed this letter to Compton, and told him he 
 might send a servant with it to Highmore at once, 
 
 " Oh, mamma ! " said he, " I never thought you would 
 do that : how good you are ! You couldn't ask Euperta, 
 could you ? just in a little postscript, you know." 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 437 
 
 Lady Bassett shook her head. 
 
 "That would not be wise, my dear. Let me hook 
 that fish for you, not frighten her away." 
 
 Great was the astonishment at Highmore, when a blaz- 
 ing footman knocked at the door, and handed Jessie the 
 letter with assumed nonchalance, then stalked away, 
 concealing with professional art his own astonishment 
 at what he had done. 
 
 It was no business of Jessie's to take letters into the 
 drawing-room : she would have deposited any other 
 letter on the hall-table; but she brought this one in, 
 and, standing at the door, exclaimed, " Here a letter fr' 
 Huntercombe ! " 
 
 Eichard Bassett, Mrs. Bassett, and Buperta all turned 
 upon her with one accord. 
 
 " From where ? " 
 
 "IV Huntercombe itsel'. Et isna for you, nor for 
 you, missy : et's for the mesterress." 
 
 She marched proudly up to Mrs. Bassett, and laid the 
 letter down on the table ; then drew back a step or two, 
 and, being Scotch, coolly waited to hear the contents. 
 Richard Bassett, being English, told her she need not stay. 
 
 Mrs. Bassett cast a bewildered look at her husband 
 and daughter, then opened the letter quietly, read it 
 quietly, and, having read it, took out her handkerchief 
 and began to cry quietly. 
 
 Ruperta cried, " Oh, mamma ! " and in a moment had 
 one long arm round her mother's neck, while the other 
 hand seized the letter, and she read it aloud, cheek to 
 cheek ; but, before she got to an end her mother's tears 
 infected her, and she must whimper too. 
 
 " Here are a couple of geese," said Richard Bassett. 
 " Can't you write a civil reply to a civil letter, without 
 snivelling ? I'll answer the letter for you." 
 
 "No," said Mrs. Bassett. 
 
438 A TEEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Eichard was amazed : Euperta ditto. 
 
 The little woman had never dealt in " Noes," least of 
 all to her husband ; and besides, this was such a plump 
 " No." It came out of her mouth like a marble. 
 
 I think the sound surprised even herself a little, for 
 she proceeded to justify it at once. "I have been a 
 better wife than a Christian this many years ; but there's 
 a limit. And, Eichard, I should never have married you, 
 if you had told me we were to be at war all our lives 
 with our next neighbor, that everybody respects. To 
 live in the country, and not speak to our only neighbor, 
 that is a life I never would have left my father's house 
 for. Not that I complain : if you have been bitter to 
 them, you have always been good and kind to me ; and I 
 hope I have done my best to deserve it ; but, when a sick 
 lady, and perhaps dying, holds out her hand to me — 
 write her one of your cold-blooded letters ! That I 
 won't. Eeply ? my reply will be just putting on my 
 bonnet, and going to her this afternoon. It is Passion- 
 week too ; and that's not a week to play the heathen. 
 Poor lady ! I've seen in her sweet eyes this many 
 years, that she would gladly be friends with me ; and she 
 never passed me close, but she bowed to me, in church 
 or out, even when we were at daggers-drawn. She is a 
 lady, a real lady, every inch. But it is not that alto- 
 gether : no, if a sick woman called me to her bedside 
 this week, I'd go, whether she wrote from Huntercombe 
 Hall, or the poorest house in the place ; else how could 
 I hope my Saviour would come to my bedside, at my 
 last hour ? " 
 
 This honest burst from a meek lady, who never talked 
 nonsense to be sure, but seldom went into eloquence, 
 staggered Eichard Bassett, and enraptured Euperta so, 
 that she flung both arms round her mother's neck, and 
 cried, " Oh, mamma, I always thought you were the best 
 woman in England : and now I know it." 
 
A TEREIBLE TEMPTATION. 439 
 
 " "Well, well, well," said Richaxd, kindly enough : then 
 to Ruperta, " Did I ever say she was not the best woman 
 in England ? So you need not set up your throats neck 
 and neck at me, like two geese at a fox. Unfortunately, 
 she is the simplest woman in England, as well as the 
 best; and she is going to visit the cunningest. That 
 Lady Bassett will turn your mother inside out in no time. 
 I wish you would go with her : you are a shrewd girl." 
 
 "My daughter will not go till she is asked," said 
 Mrs. Bassett firmly. 
 
 " In that case," said Richard dryly, " let us hope the 
 Lord will protect you, since it is for love of Him you 
 go into a she-fox's den." 
 
 No reply was vouchsafed to this aspiration, the words 
 being the words of faith, but the voice the voice of 
 scepticism. 
 
 Mrs. Bassett put on her bonnet and went to Hunter- 
 combe HalL 
 
 After a very short delay she was ushered up-stairs to 
 the room where Lady Bassett was lying on a sofa. 
 
 Lady Bassett heard her coming, and rose to receive her. 
 
 She made Mrs. Bassett a court courtesy so graceful 
 and profound that it rather frightened the little woman. 
 Seeing which, Lady Bassett changed her style, and came 
 forward, extending both hands with admirable grace, and 
 gentle amity, not overdone. 
 
 ' Mrs. Bassett gave her both hands, and they looked full 
 at each other in silence, till the eyes of both ladies 
 began to fill. 
 
 " You would have come — like this — years ago — at 
 a word ? " faltered Lady Bassett. 
 
 " Yes," gulped Mrs. Bassett. 
 
 Then there was another loi^ pause. 
 
 "Oh, Lady Bassett, what a life! It is a wonder it 
 has not killed us both." 
 
440 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 "It will kill one of us." 
 
 " Not if I can help it." 
 
 " God bless you for saying so ! Dear madam, sit by 
 me, and let me hold the hand I might have had years 
 ago, if I had had the courage." 
 
 " Why should you take the blame ? " said Mrs. Bas- 
 sett. " We have both been good wives : too obedient, 
 perhaps. But to have to choose between a husband's 
 commands and God's law, that is a terrible thing for any 
 poor woman." 
 
 "It is indeed." 
 
 Then there was another silence, and an awkward pause. 
 Mrs. Bassett broke it with some hesitation. "I hope. 
 Lady Bassett, your present illness is not in any way — 
 I hope you do not fear anything more from my husband ? " 
 
 " Oh, Mrs. Bassett ! how can I help fearing it, espe- 
 cially if we provoke him ? Mr. Eeginald Bassett has 
 returned, and you know he once gave your husband 
 cause for just resentment." 
 
 " Well, but he is older now, and has more sense. Even 
 if he should, Euperta and I must try and keep the peace." 
 
 " Ruperta ! I wish I had asked you to bring her with 
 you. But I feared to ask too much at once." 
 
 "I'll send her to you to-morrow. Lady Bassett." 
 
 "No, bring her." 
 
 " Then tell me your hour." 
 
 " Yes, and I will send somebody out of the way. I 
 want you both to myself." 
 
 While this conversation was going on at Huntercombe, 
 Eichard Bassett, being left alone with his daughter, pro- 
 ceeded to work with his usual skill upon her young 
 mind. 
 
 He reminded her of Mr. Rutland's prospects, and said 
 he hoped to see her a countess, and the loveliest jewel of 
 the peerage. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 441 
 
 He then told her Mr. Eutland was coming to stay a 
 day or two next week, and requested her to receive him 
 graciously. 
 
 She promised that at once. 
 
 "That," said he, "will be a much better match for 
 you than the younger son of Sir Charles Bassett. How- 
 ever, my girl is too proud to go into a family where she 
 is not welcome." 
 
 " Much too proud for that," said Euperta. 
 
 He left her smarting under that suggestion. 
 
 Whilst he was smoking his cigar in the garden, Mrs. 
 Bassett came home ; she was in raptures with Lady 
 Bassett, and told her daughter all that had passed ; and, 
 in conclusion, that she had promised Lady Bassett to 
 take her to Huntercombe to-morrow. 
 
 " Me, dear ! " cried Euperta ; " why, what can she want 
 of me ? " 
 
 " All I know is, her ladyship wishes very much to see 
 you. In my opinion you will be very welcome to poor 
 Lady Bassett." 
 
 " Is she very ill ? " 
 
 Mrs. Bassett shook her head. " She is much changed. 
 She says she should be better if we were all at pea,ce : 
 but I don't know." 
 
 " Oh, mamma, I wish it was to-morrow." 
 
 They went to Huntercombe next day ; and, iU as she 
 was. Lady Bassett received them charmingly. She was 
 startled by Euperta's beauty and womanly appearance, 
 but too well-bred to show it, or say it, all in a moment. 
 
 She spoke to the mother first; but presently took 
 occasion to turn to the daughter, and to say, "May I 
 hope, Miss Bassett, that you are on the side of peace, 
 like your dear mother and myself ? " 
 
 "I am," said Euperta firmly; "I always was — espe- 
 cially after that beautiful sermon, you know, mamma." 
 
442 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATIOU. 
 
 Says the proud mother, " You might tell Lady Bassett 
 you think it is your mission to reunite your father and 
 Sir Charles." 
 
 " Mamma ! " said Euperta reproachfully. That was to 
 stop her mouth. " If you tell all the wild things I say 
 to you, her ladyship will think me very presumptuous." 
 
 " No, no," said Lady Bassett, " enthusiasm is not pre- 
 sumption. Enthusiasm is beautiful, and the brightest 
 flower of youth." 
 
 "I am glad you think so. Lady Bassett; for people 
 who have no enthusiasm seem very hard and mean to 
 me." 
 
 " And so they are," said Lady Bassett warmly. 
 
 But I have no time to record the full details of the 
 conversation. I can only present the general result. 
 Lady Bassett thought Euperta a beautiful and noble 
 girl, that any house might be proud to adopt ; and Eu- 
 perta was charmed by Lady Bassett's exquisite manners, 
 and touched and interested by her pale yet still beauti- 
 ful face and eyes. They made friends : but it was not 
 till the third visit, when many kind things had passed 
 between them, that Lady Bassett ventured on the subject 
 she had at heart. "My dear," said she to Euperta, 
 "when I first saw you, I wondered at- my son Compton's 
 audacity in loving a young lady so much more advanced 
 than himself; but now I must be frank with you; I 
 think the poor boy's audacity was only a proper courage. 
 He has all my sympathy, and, if he is not quite indiffer- 
 ent to you, let me just put in my word, and say there 
 is not a young lady in the world I could bear for my 
 daughter-in-law, now I have seen and talked with you, 
 my dear." 
 
 " Thank you. Lady Bassett," said Mrs. Bassett ; " and, 
 since you have said so much, let me speak my mind. So 
 long as your son is attached to my daughter, I could 
 
A TEBEIBLE TEMPTATION. 443 
 
 never welcome any other son-in-law. I have got the 
 
 TIPPET." 
 
 Lady Bassett looked. at Euperta for an explanation. 
 Ruperta only blushed, and looked uncomfortable. She 
 hated all allusion to the feats of her childhood. 
 
 Mrs. Bassett saw Lady Bassett's look of perplexity, 
 and said, eagerly, "You never missed it? All ther.bet- 
 ter. I thought I would keep it, for a peacemaker partly." 
 
 "My dear friend," said Lady Bassett, "you are speak- 
 ing riddles to me. What tippet ? " 
 
 " The tippet your son took off his own shoulders, and 
 put it round my girl that terrible night they were lost 
 in the wood. Forgive me keeping it. Lady Bassett — I 
 know I was little better than a thief — but it was only a 
 tippet to you, and to me it was much more. Ah ! Lady 
 Bassett, I have loved your darling boy ever since — you 
 can't wonder — you are a mother; and," turning sud- 
 denly on Euperta, "why do you keep saying he is only 
 a boy ? If he was man enough to do that at seven years 
 of age, he must have a manly heart. No, I couldn't bear 
 the sight of any other son-in-law ; and when you are a 
 mother, you'll understand many things, and for one you'll 
 under — stand — why I'm so fool — ish: seeing the sweet 
 boy's mother ready — to cry — too — oh ! oh ! oh ! " 
 
 Lady Bassett held out her arms to her, and the mothers 
 had a sweet cry together in each other's arms. 
 
 Euperta's eyes were wet at this, but she told her 
 mother she ought not to agitate Lady Bassett, and she 
 so ill. 
 
 " And that is true, my good, sensible girl, "said Mrs. 
 Bassett; "but it has lain in my heart this nine years, and 
 I could not keep it to myseK any longer. But you are 
 a beauty, and a spoiled child, and so I suppose you think 
 nothing of his giving you his tippet to keep you warm ? " 
 
 " Don't say that, mamma," said Euperta reproachfully. 
 
444 A TEBEIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 " I spoke to dear Compton about it not long ago. He 
 had forgotten all about it even." 
 
 "All the more to his credit, but don't you ever forget 
 it, my own girl." 
 
 " I never will, mamma." 
 
 By degrees, the three became so unreserved that Ru- 
 perta was gently urged to declare her real sentiments. 
 
 By this time the young beauty was quite cured of her 
 fear lest she should be an unwelcome daughter-in-law ; 
 but there was an obstacle in her own mind. She was a 
 frank, courageous girl, but this appeal tried her hard. 
 
 She blushed, fixed her eyes steadily on the ground, 
 and said pretty firmly, and very slowly — "I had always 
 a great affection for my cousin Compton, and so I have 
 now ; but I am not in love with him. He is but a boy ; 
 now I " — 
 
 A glance at the large mirror, and a superb smile of 
 beauty and conscious womanhood, completed the sentence. 
 
 " He will get older every day," said Mrs. Bassett. 
 
 "And so shall I." 
 
 "But you will not look older, and he will. You have 
 come to your full growth. He hasn't." 
 
 " I agree with the dear girl," said Lady Bassett adroitly. 
 " Compton, with his fair hair, looks so young it would be 
 ridiculous at present. But it is possible to be engaged, 
 and wait a proper time for marriage ; what I fear is lest 
 you should be tempted by some other offer. To speak 
 plainly, I hear that Mr. Rutland pays his addresses to 
 you, and visits at Highmore." 
 
 " Yes, he has been there twice." 
 
 " He is welcome to your father, and his prospects are 
 dazzling, and he is not a boy, for he has long mustaches." 
 
 " I am not dazzled by his mustaches, and still less by 
 his prospects," said the fair young beauty. 
 
 "You are an extraordinary girl." 
 
A TEBRIBLE TEMPTATION. 445 
 
 "That she is," said Mrs. Bassett. "Her father has 
 no more power over her than I have." 
 
 "Oh, mamma ! am I a disobedient girl then ? " 
 
 "No, no. Only in this one thing I see you will go 
 your own way." 
 
 Lady Bassett put in her word. "Well, but this one 
 thing is the happiness or misery of her whole life. I 
 cannot blame her for looking well before she leaps." 
 
 A grateful look from Kuperta's glorious eyes repaid 
 the speaker. 
 
 " But," said Lady Bassett tenderly, " it is something 
 to have two mothers when you marry, instead of one ; 
 and you would have two, my love ; I would try and live 
 for you." 
 
 This touched Euperta to the heart ; she curled round 
 Lady Bassett's neck, and they kissed each other like 
 mother and daughter. 
 
 "This is too great a temptation," said Ruperta. "Yes, 
 I will engage myself to Cousin Compton, if papa's con- 
 sent can be obtained. Without his consent I could not 
 marry any one." 
 
 "Nobody can obtain it if you cannot," said Mrs. Bas- 
 sett. 
 
 Euperta shook her head. "Mark my words, mamma, 
 it will take me years to gain it. Papa is as obstinate as 
 a mule. To be sure, I am as obstinate as fifty." 
 
 " It shall not take years, nor yet months," said Lady 
 Bassett. "I know Mr. Bassett's objection, and I will 
 remove it, cost me what it may." 
 
 This speech surprised the other two ladies, so they 
 made no reply. 
 
 Said Lady Bassett firmly, " Do you pledge yourself to 
 me if I can obtain Mr. Bassetf s consent ? " 
 
 "I do," said Ruperta, "but"— 
 
 "You think my power with your father must be 
 
446 A TEEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 smaller than yours. I hope to show you you are mis- 
 taken." 
 
 The ladies rose to go; Lady Bassett took leave of 
 them thus : " Good-by, my most valued friend, and sister 
 in sorrow — good-by, my dear daughter." 
 
 At the gate of Huntercombe whom should they meet 
 but Compton Bassett, looking very pale and unhappy ! 
 
 He was upon honor not to speak to Ruperta, but he 
 gazed on her with a wistful and terrified look that was 
 very touching. She gave him a soft pitying smile in 
 return, that drove him almost wild with hope. 
 
 That night Richard Bassett sat in his chair, gloomy. 
 
 When his wife and daughter spoke to him in their 
 soft accents, he returned short, surly answers. Evidently 
 a storm was brewing. 
 
 At last it burst. He had heard of Ruperta's repeated 
 visits to Huntercombe Hall. " You are not dealing fairly 
 with me, you two," said he. " I allowed you to go once 
 to see a woman that says she is very ill, but I warned 
 you she was the cunningest woman in creation, and 
 would make a fool of you both ; and now I find you are 
 always going. This will not do. She is netting two 
 simple birds that I have the care of. Now, listen to me. 
 I forbid you two ever to set foot in that house again. 
 Do you hear me ? " 
 
 "We hear you, papa," said Mrs. Bassett, quietly; 
 " we must be deaf if we did not." 
 
 Ruperta kept her countenance with difficulty. 
 
 " It is not a request, it is a command." 
 
 Mrs. Bassett for once in her life fired up. "And a 
 most tyrannical one," said she. 
 
 Ruperta put her hand before her mother's mouth, 
 then turned to her father. 
 
 "There was no need to express your wish so harshly, 
 papa. We shall obey." 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 447 
 
 Then she whispered her mother, "And Mr. Rutland 
 shall pay for it." 
 
 Mrs. Bassett commtmioated this behest to Lady Bas- 
 sett in a letter. 
 
 Then Lady Bassett summoned all her courage, and 
 sent for her son Compton. 
 
 "Compton," said she, "I must speak to Eeginald. 
 Can you find him ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, I can find him. I am sorry to say anybody 
 can find him at this time of- day." 
 
 " Why, where is he ? " 
 
 " I hardly like to tell you." 
 
 " Do you think his peculiarities have escaped me ? " 
 
 "At the public-house." 
 
 "Ask him to come to me." 
 
 Compton went to the public-house, and there, to his 
 no small disgusl, found Mr. Eeginald Bassett playing 
 the fiddle, and foiu- people, men and women, dancing to 
 the sound, whilst one or two more smoked and looked on. 
 
 Compton restrained himself till the end of that 
 dance, and then stepped up to Reginald, and whispered 
 him, "Mamma wants to see you directly." 
 
 "Tell herT:'m busy." 
 
 " I shall tell her nothing of the kind. You know she 
 is very ill, and has not seen you yet, and now she wants 
 to. So come along at once, like a good fellow." 
 
 "Youngster," said Eeginald, "it is a rule with me 
 never to leave a young woman for an old one." 
 
 "Not for your mother ? " 
 
 "No, nor my grandmother either." 
 
 "Then you were born without a heart. But you shall 
 come, whether you like it or not, though I have to dra^ 
 you there by the throat." 
 
 "Learn to spell 'able' first." 
 
 "I'll spell it on your head if ydu don't come." 
 
448 A TBBRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " Oh, that is the game, young un, is it ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Well, don't let us have a shindy on the bricks ; there 
 is a nice little paddock outside. Come out there, and 
 I'll give you a lesson." 
 
 " Thank you ; I don't feel inclined to assist you in 
 degrading our family." 
 
 "Chaps that are afraid to fight shouldn't threaten. 
 Come now, the first knock-down blow shall settle it. If 
 I win, you stay here and dance with us. If you win, I 
 go to the old woman." 
 
 Compton consented, somewhat reluctantly ; but, to do 
 him justice, his reluctance arose entirely from his sense 
 of relationship, and not from any fear of his senior. 
 
 The young gentlemen took off their coats, and pro- 
 ceeded to spar without any further ceremony. 
 
 Eeginald, whose agility was greater than his courage, 
 danced about on the tips of his toes, and succeeded in 
 planting a tap or two on Compton's cheek. 
 
 Compton smarted under these, and presently, in fol- 
 lowing his antagonist, who fought like a shadow, he saw 
 Ruperta and her mother looking horror-stricken over the 
 palings. 
 
 Infuriated with Reginald for this exposure, he rushed 
 in at him, received a severe cut over the eye, but dealt 
 him with his mighty Anglo-Saxon arm a full straight- 
 forward smasher on the forehead, which knocked him 
 head over heels like a ninepin. 
 
 That active young man picked himself up wondrous 
 slowly. Rheumatism seemed to have suddenly seized 
 his well-oiled joints. He then addressed his antagonist 
 in his most ingratiating tones : " All right, sir," said he. 
 "You are the best man. I'll go to the old lady this 
 minute." 
 
 " I'll see you go," said Compton, stetnly ; " and mind. 
 
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 449 
 
 I can run as well as hit, so none of your gypsy tricks 
 with me." 
 
 Then he came sheepishly to the palings and said, " It 
 is not my fault, Miss Bassett; he would not come to 
 mamma without, and she wants to speak to him." 
 
 "Oh! he is hurt! he is wounded!" cried Ruperta. 
 " Come here to me." 
 
 He came to her, and she pressed her white handker- 
 chief tenderly on his eyebrow ; it was bleeding a little. 
 
 "Well, are you coming?" said Reginald, ironically; 
 " or do you like young women better than old ones ? " 
 
 Compton instantly drew back a little, made two steps, 
 laid his hand on the palings, vaulted over, and followed 
 Reginald. 
 
 " That's your hoy" said Mrs. Bassett. 
 
 -Ruperta made no reply, but began to gulp. 
 
 " What is the matter, darling ? " 
 
 " The fighting, the blood," said Ruperta, sobbing. 
 
 Mrs. Bassett drew her on one side, and soon soothed 
 her. 
 
 When their gentle bosoms got over their agitation, 
 they rather enjoyed the thing, especially Ruperta ; she 
 detested Reginald for his character, and for having 
 insulted her father. 
 
 All of a sudden she cried out, "He has taken my 
 handkerchief. How dare he ? " And she affected anger. 
 
 "Never mind, dear," said Mrs. Bassett, coolly, "we 
 have got his tippet." 
 
450 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 Could any one have looked through the keyhole at 
 Lady Bassett waiting for Eeginald, he would have seen, 
 by the very movements of her body, the terrible agita- 
 tion of her mind. She rose, she sat down, she walked 
 about with wild energy, she dropped on the sofa, and 
 appeared to give it up as impossible ; but, ere long, that 
 deadly languor gave way to impatient restlessness again. 
 
 At last, her quick ear heard a footstep in the corridor, 
 accompanied by no rustle of petticoats; and yet the 
 footstep was not Compton's. 
 
 Instantly she glanced with momentary terror towards 
 the door. 
 
 There was a tap. 
 
 She sat down, and said with a tone from which all 
 agitation was instantly banished, " Come in." 
 
 The door opened, an'd the swarthy Reginald, diaboli- 
 cally handsome, with his black snaky curls, entered the 
 room. She rose from her chair, and fixed her great eyes 
 on him, as if she would read him soul and body, before 
 she ventured to speak. 
 
 "Here I am, mamma; sorry to see you look so ill." 
 
 "Thank you, my dear," said Lady Bassett, without 
 relaxing for a moment that searching gaze. 
 
 She said, still covering him with her eye, "Would you 
 cure me, if you could ? " 
 
 To appreciate this opening, and Lady Bassett's sweet 
 engaging manner, you must understand that this young 
 man was in her eyes a sort of black snake. Her flesh 
 crept, with fear and repugnance, at the sight of him. 
 
A TBRKIBLB TEMPTATION. 451 
 
 Yet that is how she received him, being a mother defend- 
 ing her favorite son. 
 
 " Of course I would," said Eeginald. " Just you tell 
 me how." 
 
 Excellent words. But the lady's calm infallible eye 
 saw a cunning twinkle in those black twinkling orbs. 
 Young as he was, he was on his guard, and waiting for 
 her. Nor was this surprising. Eeginald, naturally 
 intelligent, had accumulated a large stock of low cun- 
 ning in his travels and adventures with the gypsies, a 
 smooth and cunning people. Lady Bassett's fainting 
 upon his return, his exclusion from her room, and one 
 or two minor circumstances, had set him thinking. 
 
 The moment she saw that look. Lady Bassett, with 
 swift tact, glided away from the line she had intended 
 to open, and, after merely thanking him, and ' saying, " I 
 believe you, dear," though she did not believe him, she 
 resumed, in a very impressive tone, " you see me worse 
 than ever to-day, because my mind is in great trouble. 
 The time is come when I must tell you a secret, which 
 will cause you a bitter disappointment. Why I send for 
 you is to see whether I cannot do something for you to 
 make you happy, in spite of that cruel disappointment." 
 
 Not a word from Eeginald. 
 
 "Mr. Bassett, forgive me, if you can, for I am the 
 most miserable woman in England ; you are not the heir 
 to this place ; you are not Sir Charles Bassett's son." 
 
 "What ! " shouted the young man. 
 
 Her fortitude gave way for a moment. She shook her 
 head in confirmation of what she had said, and hid her 
 burning face and scalding tears in her white and wasted 
 hands. 
 
 There was a long silence. 
 
 Eeginald was asking himself if this could be true ; or 
 was it a manoeuvre to put her favorite Compton over his 
 head? 
 
452 A TBBBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Lady Bassett looked up, and saw this paltry suspicion 
 in Ms face. She dried her tears directly, and went to a 
 bureau, unlocked it, and produced the manuscript confes- 
 sion she had prepared for her husband. 
 
 She bade Reginald observe the superscription and the 
 date. 
 
 When he had done so, she took her scissors, and opened 
 it for him. 
 
 " Eead what I wrote to my beloved husband, at a time 
 when I expected soon to appear before my Judge." 
 
 She then sank upon the sofa, and lay there like a log ; 
 only, from time to time, during the long reading, tears 
 trickled from her eyes. 
 
 Eeginald read thft whole story, and saw the facts must 
 be true ; more than that, being young, and a man, he 
 coidd not entirely resist the charm of a narrative in 
 which a lady told at full the love, the grief, the terror, 
 the sufferings of her heart, and the terrible temptation 
 under which she had gone astray. 
 
 He laid it down at last, and drew a long breath. 
 
 " It's a devil of a job for me," said he ; " but I can't 
 blame you. You sold that Dick Bassett, and I hate him. 
 But what is to become of me? " 
 
 "What I offer you is a life in which you will be 
 happier than you ever could be at Huntercombe. I 
 mean to buy you vast pasture fields in Australia, and 
 cattle to feed. Those noble pastures will be bounded 
 only by wild forests and hills. You will have swift 
 horses to ride over your own domain, or to gallop hun- 
 dreds of miles at a stretch, if yoa like. No confinement 
 there ; no fences and boundaries ; all as free as air. No 
 monotony : one week you can dig for gold, another you 
 can ride amongst your flocks, another you can hunt. All 
 this in a climate so delightful that you can lie all night 
 in the open air, without a blanket, under a new firma- 
 
A TBERIBLB TEMPTATION. 453 
 
 ment of stars, not one of which illumines the dull nights 
 of Europe." 
 
 The bait was too tempting. " Well, you are the right 
 sort ! " cried Eeginald. 
 
 But presently he began to doubt. "But all that will 
 cost a lot of money." 
 
 " It will ; but I haye a great deal of money." 
 
 Eeginald thought, and said suspiciously, "I don't 
 know why you should do all this for me." 
 
 " Do you not ? What, when I have brought you into 
 this family, and encouraged you in such vast expectar 
 tions, could I, in honor and common humanity, let you 
 fall into poverty and neglect ? No. I have many thou- 
 sand pounds, all my own, and you will have them all, 
 and, perhaps, waste them all ; but it will take you some 
 time, because, whilst you are wasting, I shall be saving 
 more for you." 
 
 Then there was a pause, each waiting for the other. 
 
 Then Lady Bassett said quietly, and with great appar- 
 ent composure, " Of course there is a condition attached 
 to all this." 
 
 "What is that ? " 
 
 " I must receive from you a written paper, signed by 
 yourself and by Mrs. Meyrick, acknowledging that you 
 are not Sir Charles's son, but distinctly pledging your- 
 self to keep the secret so long as I continue to furnish you 
 with the means of living. You hesitate. Is it not fair ? " 
 
 " Well, it looks fair ; but it is an awkward thing, sign- 
 ing a paper of that sort." 
 
 " You doubt me, sir : you think that because I have 
 told one great falsehood, from good but erring motives, 
 I may break faith with you. Do not insult me with 
 these doubts, sir. Try and understand that there are 
 ladies and gentlemen in the world, though you prefer 
 gypsies. Have you forgotten that night, when you laid 
 
454 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 me under so deep a debt, and I told you I never would 
 forget it ? From that day was I not always your friend ? 
 was I not always the one to make excuses for you ? " 
 
 Eeginald assented to that. 
 
 " Then trust me. I pledge you my honor that I am 
 this day the best friend you ever had, or ever can have. 
 Eefuse to sign that paper, and I shall soon be in my 
 grave, leaving behind me my confession, and other evi- 
 dence, on which you will be dismissed from this house 
 with ignominy and without a farthing; for your best 
 friend will be dead, and you will have killed her." 
 
 He looked at her full ; he said, with a shade of com- 
 punction, " I am not a gentleman, but you are a lady. 
 I'll trust you. I'll sign anything you like." 
 
 " That confidence becomes you," said Lady Bassett ; 
 " and now I have no objection to show you I deserve it. 
 Here is a letter to Mr. Eolfe, by which you may learn I 
 have already placed three thousand pounds to his account, 
 to be laid out by him for your benefit in Australia, where 
 he has many confidential friends ; and this is a check for 
 five hundred pounds I drew in your favor yesterday. 
 Do me the favor to take it." 
 
 He did her that favor, with sparkling eyes. 
 
 " Now, here is the paper I wish you to sign ; but your 
 signature will be of little value to me, without Mary 
 Meyrick's." 
 
 " Oh, she will sign it directly : I have only to tell her." 
 
 " Are you sure ? Men can be brought to take a dis- 
 passionate view of their own interest ; but women are 
 not so wise. Take it, and try her. If she refuses, bring 
 her to me directly. Do you understand ? Otherwise, in 
 one fatal hour, her tongue will ruin you, and destroy me." 
 
 Impressed with these words, Eeginald hurried to Mrs. 
 Meyrick, and told her, in an off-hand way, she must sign 
 that paper directly. 
 
A TBERIBLB TEMPTATION. 455 
 
 She looked at it, and turned very wliite ; but went on 
 her guard directly. 
 
 " Sign such a wicked lie as that ? " said she. " That 
 I never wilL You are his son, and Huntercombe shall 
 be yours. She is an unnatural mother." 
 
 " Gammon ! " said Reginald. " You might as well 
 say a fox is the son of a gander. Come, now ; I am not 
 going to let you cut my throat with your tongue. Sign 
 at once, or else come to her this moment, and tell her so," 
 
 "That I will," said Mary Meyrick, "and give her my 
 mind." 
 
 This doughty resolution was a little shaken when she 
 cast eyes upon Lady Bassett, and saw how wan and worn 
 she looked. 
 
 She moderated her violence, and said sullenly, " Sorry 
 to gainsay you, my lady, and you so ill ; but this is a 
 paper I never can sign. It would rob him of Hunter- 
 combe. I'd sooner cut my hand ofE at the wrist." 
 
 "Nonsense, Mary ! " said Lady Bassett contemptuously. 
 
 She then proceeded to reason with her ; but it was no 
 use. Mary would not listen to reason, and defied her at 
 last in a loud voice. 
 
 "Very well," said Lady Bassett. "Then, since you 
 wiU not do it my way, it shall be done another way. I 
 shall put my confession in Sir Charles's hands, and insist 
 on his dismissing him from the house, and you from your 
 farm. It will kill me, and the money I intended for 
 Reginald I shall leave to Compton." 
 
 " These are idle words, my lady ; you daren't." 
 
 " I dare anything, when once I make up my mind to die." 
 
 She rang the belL 
 
 Meyrick affected contempt. 
 
 A servant came to the door. 
 
 "Bequest Sir Charles to come to me immediately." 
 
456 A TEERIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 </ 
 Don't you be a fool," said Reginald to his nurse. 
 
 " Sir Charles will send you to prison for it," said Lady 
 Bassett. 
 
 " For -what I done along with you ? " 
 
 " Oh, he will not punish his wife ! He will look out 
 for some other victim." 
 
 " Sign, you d d old fool ! " cried Reginald, seizing 
 
 Mary Meyriek roughly by the arm. 
 
 Strange to say. Lady Bassett interfered, with a sort of 
 majestic horror. She held up her hand, and said, — 
 
 " Do not dare to lay a finger on her ! " 
 
 Then Mary burst into tears, and said she would sign 
 the paper. 
 
 Whilst she was signing it, Sir Charles's step was heard 
 in the corridor. 
 
 He knocked at the door just as she signed it. Reginald 
 had signed already. 
 
 Lady Bassett put the paper into the manuscript book, 
 and the book into the bureau, and said, " Come in," with 
 an appearance of composure belied by her beating heart. 
 
 "Here is Mrs. Meyriek, my dear." 
 
 In those few seconds, so perfect a liar as Mary Mey- 
 riek had quite recovered herself. 
 
 "If you please, sir," said she, "I be come to ast if you 
 will give us a new lease, for ourn it is run out." 
 
 " You had better talk to the steward about that." 
 
 " Very well, sir," and she made her courtesy. 
 
 Reginald remained, not knowing exactly what to do. 
 
 " My dear," said Lady Bassett, " Reginald has come to 
 
A TEEKIBLE TEMPTATION. 457 
 
 bid me good-by. He is going to visit Mr. Bolfe, and 
 take his advice, if you have no objection." 
 
 "None whatever; and I hope he will treat it with 
 more respect than he does mine." 
 
 Reginald shrugged his shoulders, and was going out, 
 when Lady Bassett said, — 
 
 "Won't you kiss me, Reginald, as you are going away ? " 
 
 He came to her : she kissed him, and whispered in his 
 ear, " Be true to me, as I will be to you." 
 
 Then he left her, and she felt like a dead thing, with 
 exhaustion. She lay on the sofa, and Sir Charles sat 
 beside her, and made her drink a glass of wine. 
 
 She lay very still that afternoon; but at night she 
 slept : a load was off her mind for the present. 
 
 Next day she was so much better, she came down to 
 dinner. 
 
 "What she now hoped was that entire separation, coupled 
 with the memory of the boy's misdeeds, would cure Sir 
 Charles entirely of his affection for Reginald; and so 
 that, after about twenty years more of conjugal fidelity, 
 she might find courage to reveal to her husband the fault 
 of her youth, at a time when all its good results remained 
 to help excuse it, and all its bad results had vanished. 
 
 Such was the plan this extraordinary woman con- 
 ceived, and its success so far had a wonderful effect on 
 her.health. 
 
 But a couple of days passed, and she did not hear 
 either from Reginald or Mr. Rolfe. That made her a 
 little anxious. 
 
 On the third day Compton asked her, with an angry 
 flush on his brow, whether she had not sent Reginald 
 up to London. 
 
 "Yes, dear," said Lady Bassett. 
 
 "Well, he is not gone then," 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
458 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " He is living at his nurse's. I saw him talking to an 
 old gypsy that lives on the farm." 
 
 Lady Bassett groaned, but said nothing. 
 
 "Never mind, mamma," said Compton. "Your other 
 children must love you all the more." 
 
 This news caused Lady Bassett both anxiety and terror. 
 She divined bad faith, and all manner of treachery, none 
 the less terrible for being vague. 
 
 Down went her health again, and her short-lived repose. 
 
 Meantime Reginald, in reality, was staying at the farm 
 on a little business of his own. 
 
 He had concerted an expedition with the foreign gent, 
 and was waiting for a dark and gusty night. 
 
 He had undertaken this expedition with mixed motives, 
 spite and greed, especially the latter. He would never 
 have undertaken it with a five-hundred-pound check in 
 his pocket ; but some minds are so constituted, they can- 
 not forego a bad design once formed, so Mr. Reginald 
 persisted, though one great motive existed no longer. 
 
 On this expedition it is now ouj lot to accompany him. 
 
 The night was favorable, and at about two o'clock 
 Reginald and the foreign gent stood under Richard 
 Bassett's dining-room window, with crape over their eyes, 
 noses, and mouths, and all manner of unlawful imple- 
 ments in their pockets. 
 
 The foreign gent prized the shutters open with a little 
 crowbar ; he then, with a glazier's diamond, soon cut out 
 a small pane, inserted a cunning hand, and opened the 
 window. 
 
 Then Reginald gave him a leg, and he got into the 
 room. 
 
 The agile youth followed him without assistance. 
 
 They lighted a sort of bull's-eye, and poured the con- 
 centrated light on the cupboard door, behind which lay 
 the treasure of glorious old plate. 
 
A TERKIBLE TEMPTATION. 459 
 
 Then the foreign gent produced his skeleton keys, and 
 after several ineffective trials opened the door softly, 
 and revealed the glittering booty. 
 
 At the sight of it, the foreign gent could not suppress 
 an ejaculation; but the younger one clapped his hand 
 before his mouth hurriedly. 
 
 The foreign gent unrolled a sort of green-baize apron 
 he had around him ; it was, in reality, a bag. 
 
 Into this receptacle the pair conveyed one piece of 
 plate after another, with surprising dexterity, rapidity, 
 and noiselessness. When it was full, they began to fill 
 the deep pockets of their shooting-jackets. 
 
 "While thus employed, they heard a rapid footstep, and 
 Eichard Bassett opened the door. He was in his trousers 
 and shirt, and had a pistol in his hand. 
 
 At sight of him Reginald uttered a cry of dismay; the 
 foreign gent blew out the light. 
 
 Richard Bassett, among whose faults want of personal 
 courage was not one, rushed forward, and coUai'ed 
 Reginald. 
 
 But the foreign gent had raised the crowbar to defend 
 himself, and struck him a blow on the head that made 
 him sfaigger back. 
 
 The foreign gent seized this opportunity, and i-an at 
 once at the window, and jumped at it. 
 
 If Reginald had been fij:st, he would have gone through 
 like a cat, but the foreign gent, older, and obstructed by 
 the contents of his pockets, higgled, and stuck a few 
 seconds in the window. 
 
 That brief delay was fatal ; Richard Bassett levelled 
 his pistol deliberately at him, fired, and sent a ball 
 through his shoulder ; he fell, like a log, upon the ground 
 outside. 
 
 Richard then levelled another barrel at Reginald, but 
 he howled out for quarter, and was immediately captured, 
 
460 A TERBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 and, with the assistance of the brave Jessie, who now 
 came boldly to her master's aid, his hands were tied 
 behind him, and he was made prisoner, with the stolen 
 articles in his pocket. 
 
 "When they were tying him, he whimpered, and said 
 it was only a lark; he never meant to keep anything. 
 He offered a hundred pounds down if they would let 
 him off. 
 
 But there was no mercy for him. 
 
 Eichard Bassett had a candle lighted, and inspected 
 the prisoner. He lifted his crape veil, and said, "Oho !" 
 
 "You see it was only a lark," said Eeginald, and shook 
 in every limb. 
 
 Richard Bassett smiled grimly, and said nothing. He 
 gave Jessie strict orders to hold her tongue, and she and 
 he between them took Reginald and locked him up in a 
 small room adjoining the kitchen. 
 
 Then they went to look for the other burglar. 
 
 He had emptied his pockets of all the plate and 
 crawled away. It is supposed he threw away the plate, 
 either to soften Reginald's offence, or in the belief that ' 
 he had received his death-wound, and should not require 
 silver vessels where he was going. 
 
 Bassett picked up the articles and brought them in, 
 and told Jessie to light the fire and make him a cup of 
 coffee. 
 
 He replaced all the plate except the articles left in 
 Reginald's pocket. 
 
 Then he went up-stairs and told his wife that burglars 
 had broken into the house, but had taken nothing ; she 
 was to give herself no anxiety. He told her no more 
 than this, for his dark and cruel nature had already con- 
 ceived an idea he did not care to communicate to her, on 
 account of the strong opposition he foresaw from so good 
 a Christian; besides, of late, since her daughter came 
 
A TEREIBLE TEMPTATION. 461 
 
 home to back her, she had spoken her mind more than 
 once. 
 
 He kept them in the dark, and went down-stairs again 
 to his coffee. 
 
 He sat and sipped it, and, with it, his coming vengeance. 
 
 All the defeats and mortifications he had endured from 
 Huntercombe returned to his mind ; and now, with one 
 master-stroke, he would balance them all. 
 
 Yet he felt a little compunction. 
 
 Active hostilities had ceased for many years. 
 
 Lady Bassett, at all events, had held out the hand to 
 his wife. The blow he meditated was very cruel ; would 
 not his wife and daughter say it was barbarous ? Would 
 not his own heart, the heart of a father, reproach him 
 afterwards ? 
 
 These misgivings, that would have restrained a less 
 obstinate man, irritated Eichard Bassett ; he went in a 
 rage, and said, aloud, " I must do it ; I will do it, come 
 what may." 
 
 He told Jessie he valued her much ; she should have 
 a black silk gown for her courage and fidelity ; but she 
 must not be faithful by halves; she must not breathe 
 one word to any soul in the house that the burglar was 
 there under lock and key ; if she did, he should turn her 
 out of the house that moment. 
 
 " Hets ! " said the woman, "dey ye think I canna hand 
 my whisht, when the maister bids me ? I'm nae great 
 dasher at ony time for my pairt." 
 
 At seven o'clock in the morning he sent a note to Sir 
 Charles Bassett, to say that his house had been attacked 
 last night by two armed burglars ; he and his people had 
 captured one, and wished to take him before a magistrate 
 at once, since his house was not a fit place to hold him 
 secure. He concluded Sir Charles would not refuse him 
 the benefit of the law, however obnoxious he might be. 
 
462 A TBEEIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Sir Charles's lip curled with contempt at the man who 
 was not ashamed to put such a doubt on paper. 
 
 However, he wrote back a civil line, to say that of 
 course he was at Mr. Bassett's service, and would be in 
 his justice-room at nine o'clock. 
 
 Meantime Mr. Richard Bassett went for the constable 
 and an assistant ; but, even to them, he would not say 
 precisely what he wanted them for. 
 
 His plan was to march an unknown burglar, with his 
 crape on his face, into Sir Charles's study, give his evi- 
 dence, and then reveal the son to the father. 
 
 Jessie managed to hold her tongue for an hour or two, 
 and nothing occurred at Highmore, or in Huntercombe, 
 to interfere with Eichard Bassett's barbarous revenge. 
 
 Meantime, however, something remarkable had oc- 
 curred, at the distance of a mile and a quarter. 
 
 Mrs. Meyrick breakfasted habitually at eight o'clock. 
 
 Reginald did not appear. 
 
 Mrs. Meyrick went to his room and satisfied herself 
 he had not passed the night there. 
 
 Then she went to the foreign gent's shed. 
 
 He was not there. 
 
 Then she went out and called loudly to them both. 
 
 No answer. 
 
 Then she went into the nearest meadow to see if they 
 were in sight. 
 
 The first thing she saw was the foreign gent stagger- 
 ing towards her. 
 
 " Drunk ! " said she, and went to scold him ; but, when 
 she got nearer, she saw at once that something very 
 serious had happened. His dark face was bloodless and 
 awful, and he could hardly drag his limbs along; indeed, 
 they had failed him a score of times between Highmore 
 and that place. 
 
 Just as she came up with him, he sank once more to 
 
A TEKKIBLB TEMPTATION. 463 
 
 the ground, and turned up two despairing eyes towards 
 her. 
 
 "Oh, daddy! what is it? Where's Eeginald ? What- 
 ever have they done to you ? " 
 
 " Brandy ! " groaned the wounded man. 
 
 She flew into the house, and returned in a moment 
 with a bottle. She put it to his lips. 
 
 He revived, and told her all, in a few words. 
 
 " The young bloke and I went to crack a crib. I'm 
 shot with a bullet. Hide me in that loose hay there ; 
 leave me the bottle, and let nobody come nigh me. The 
 beak will be after me very soon." 
 
 Then Mrs. Meyrick, being a very strong woman, 
 dragged him to the haystack, and covered him with 
 loose hay. 
 
 "Now," said she, trembling, " where's my boy ?" 
 
 "He's nabbed." 
 
 « Oh ! " 
 
 " And he'll be lagged, unless you can beg him off." 
 
 Mary Meyrick uttered a piercing scream. 
 
 " You wretch ! to tempt my boy to this. And him 
 with five hundred pounds in his pocket and my lady's 
 favor. Oh, why did we not keep our word with her ? 
 She was the wisest and our best friend. But it is all 
 your doing; you are the devil that tempted him, you 
 old villain ! " 
 
 " Don't miscall me," said the gypsy. 
 
 "Not miscall you, when you have run away and left 
 them to take my boy to jail. No word is bad enough 
 for you, you villain ! " 
 
 " I'm your father — and a dying man" said the old 
 gypsy calmly, and folded his hands upon his breast with 
 Oriental composure and decency. 
 
 The woman threw herself on her knees. "Forgive 
 me, father — tell me, where is he ? " 
 
464 A TBRKIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 "Highmore House." 
 
 At that simple word her eyes dilated with wild hor- 
 ror ; she uttered a loud scream, and flew into the house. 
 
 In five minutes she was on her way to Highmore. 
 
 She reached that house, knocked hastily at the door, 
 and said she must see Mr. Richard Bassett that moment. 
 
 "He is just gone out," said the maid. 
 
 "Whereto?" 
 
 The girl knew her, and began to gossip. " Why, to 
 Huntercombe Hall. "What, haven't you heard, Mrs. 
 Meyrick? Master caught a robber last night. Laws, 
 you should have seen him — he have got crape all over 
 his face ; and master, and the constable, and Mr. Mus- 
 ters, they be all gone with him to Sir Charles, for to 
 
 have him committed — the villain Why, what ails 
 
 the woman ? " 
 
 For Mary Meyrick turned her back on the speaker, 
 and rushed away in a moment. 
 
 She went through the kitchen at Huntercombe; she 
 was so well known there, nobody objected. She flew 
 up the stairs and into Lady Bassett's bedroom. 
 
 " Oh, my lady ! my lady ! " 
 
 Lady Bassett screamed at her sudden entrance, and 
 wild appearance. 
 
 Mary Meyrick told her all in a few wild words. She 
 wrung her hands with a great fear. 
 
 " It's no time for that," cried Mary fiercely. " Come 
 down this moment and save him." 
 
 "How can I?" 
 
 " You must. You shall ! " cried the other. " Don't 
 ask me how. Don't sit wringing your hands, woman. 
 If you are not there in five minutes, to save him, I'll 
 tell all." 
 
 " Have mercy on me," cried Lady Bassett. " I gave 
 him money, I sent him away. It's not my fault." 
 
A TBRKIBLB TEMPTATION. 465 
 
 "No matter; he must be saved, or I'll ruin you. I 
 can't stay here ; I must he there, and so must you." 
 
 She rushed down the stairs, and tried to get into the 
 justice-room ; but admission was refused her. 
 
 Then she gave a sort of wild snarl, and ran round to 
 the small room adjoining the justice-room. Through 
 this she penetrated, and entered the justice-room. 
 
 But not in time to prevent the evidence from being 
 laid before Sir Charles. 
 
 What took place in the meantime was briefly this. 
 The prisoner, handcuffed now instead of tied, was intro- 
 duced between the constable and his assistant ; the door 
 was locked, and Sir Charles received Mr. Bassett with a 
 ceremonious bow, seated himself, and begged Mr. Bas- 
 sett to be seated. 
 
 " Thank you," said Mr. Bassett : but did not seat him- 
 self. He stood before the prisoner, and gave his evi- 
 dence ; during which the prisoner's knees were seen to 
 knock together with terror ; he was a young man fit for 
 folly, but not for felony. 
 
 Said Eichard Bassett, " I have a cupboard containing 
 family plate. It is valuable, and some years ago I 
 passed a piece of catgut from the door, through the 
 ceiling to a bell at my bedside. 
 
 "Very late last night the bell sounded. I flung on my 
 trousers, and went down with a pistol. I caught two 
 burglars in the act of rifling the cupboard. I went to 
 collar one ; he struck me on the head with a crowbar — 
 constable, show the crowbar — I staggered, but recov- 
 ered myself, and fired at one of the burglars — he was 
 just struggling through the window. He fell, and I 
 thought he was dead : but he got away. I secured the 
 other, and here he is — just as he was when I took him. 
 Constable, search his pockets." 
 
 The constable did so, and produced therefrom sev- 
 30 
 
466 A TEEBIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 eral pieces of silver plate stamped with the Bassett 
 arms. 
 
 "My servant here can confirm this," added Mr. Bassett. 
 
 " It is not necessary here," said Sir Charles. Then to 
 the criminal, " Have you anything to say ? " 
 
 " It was only a lark," quavered the poor wretch, 
 
 " I would not advise you to say that, where you are 
 going." 
 
 He then, while writing out the warrant, said as a mat- 
 ter of course, " Eemove his mask." 
 
 The constable lifted it, and started back, with a shout 
 of dismay and surprise ; Jessie screamed. 
 
 Sir Charles looked up, and saw in the burglar he was 
 committing for trial, his first-bom, the heir to his house 
 and his lands. 
 
 The pen fell from Sir Charles's fingers, and he stared 
 at the wan face, and wild imploring eyes that stared at 
 him. 
 
 He stared at the lad, and then put his hand to his 
 heart, and that heart seemed to die within him. 
 
 There was a silence, and a horror fell on all. Even 
 Richard Bassett quailed at what he had done. 
 
 " Ah ! cruel man ! cruel man ! " moaned the broken 
 father. " God judge you for this — as now I must judge 
 my unhappy son. Mr. Bassett, it matters little to you 
 what magistrate commits you, and I must keep my oath. 
 I am — going — to set you an — example, by signing a 
 warrant " 
 
 "No, no, no !" cried a woman's voice, and Mary Mey- 
 rick rushed into the room. 
 
 Every person there thought he knew Mary Meyrick ; 
 yet she was like a stranger to them now. There was 
 that in her heart, at that awful moment, which trans- 
 figured a handsome but vulgar woman into a superior 
 being. Her cheek was pale, her black eyes laige, and 
 
A TEEBIBIiB TEMPTATION. 467 
 
 her mellow voice had a magic power. " You don't know 
 what you are doing," she cried. " Go no farther, or you 
 will all curse the hand that harmed a hair of his head ; 
 you, most of all, Eichard Bassett." 
 
 Sir Charles, in any other case, would have sent her 
 out of the room; but, in his misery, he caught at the 
 straw. 
 
 " Speak out, woman," he said, " and save the wretched 
 boy, if you can. I see no way." 
 
 " There are things it is not fit to speak before all the 
 world. Bid those men go, and I'll open your eyes that 
 stay." 
 
 Then Eichard Bassett foresaw another triumph; so he 
 told the constable and his man they had better retire for 
 a few minutes, " while," said he, with a sneer, " these 
 wonderful revelations are being made." 
 
 When they were gone, Mary turned to Eichard Bassett, 
 and said, " Why do you want him sent to prison ? to 
 spite Sir Charles here, to stab his heart through his 
 son." 
 
 Sir Charles groaned aloud. 
 
 The woman heard, and thought of many things. She 
 flung herself on her knees, and seized his hand. "Don't 
 you cry, my dear old master, mine is the only heart shall 
 bleed. He is not toub son." 
 
 "What ! " cried Sir Charles, in a terrible voice. 
 
 "That is no news to me," said Eichard. "He is more 
 like the parson than Sir Charles Bassett." 
 
 " Eor shame ! for shame ! " cried Mary Meyrick. " Oh, 
 it becomes you to give fathers to children — when you 
 don't know your own flesh and blood. He is toue son, 
 EicHAED Bassett." 
 
 "My son ! " roared Bassett in utter amazement. 
 
 "Ay. I should know, roK I am his motheb." 
 
 This astonishing statement was uttered with all the 
 
468 A TBRBIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 majesty of truth; and when she said "I am his mother," 
 the voice turned tender all in a moment. 
 
 They -were all paralyzed, and, absorbed in this strange 
 revelation, did not hear a tottering footstep : a woman 
 pale as a corpse, and with eyes glaring large, stood 
 amongst them, all in a moment, as if a ghost had risen 
 from the earth. 
 
 It was Lady Bassett. 
 
 At sight of her, Sir Charles awoke from the confusion 
 and amazement into which Mary had thrown him, and 
 said, " Ah ! — Bella, do you hear what she says — that he 
 is not our son ? What, then, have you agreed with your 
 servant to deceive your husband ? " 
 
 Lady Bassett gasped and tried to speak ; but, before 
 the words would come, the sight of her corpse-like face 
 and miserable agony moved Mary Wells, and she snatched 
 the words out of her mouth. 
 
 "What is the use questioning her? She knows no 
 more than you do. I done it all: and done it for 
 the best. My lady's child died; I hid that from her, 
 for I knew it would kill her and keep you in a mad- 
 house. I done for the best ; I put my live child by her 
 side, and she knew no better. As time went on, and the 
 boy so dark, she suspected; but know it she couldn't 
 till now. My lady, I am his mother, and there stands 
 his cruel father — cruel to me and cruel to him. But 
 don't you dare to harm him ! I've got all your letters, 
 promising me marriage. I'll take them to your wife and 
 daughter, and they shall know it is your own flesh and 
 blood you are sending to prison. Oh, I am mad to 
 threaten him ! My darling, speak him fair ; he is your 
 father ; he may have a bit of nature in his heart some- 
 where, though I could never find it." 
 
 The young man put his hands together, like an Orien- 
 tal, and said. "Forgive me;" then sank at Eichard 
 Bassett's kueeis. 
 
A TERKIBLE TEMPTATION. 469 
 
 Then Sir Charles, himself much shaken, took his wife's 
 arm, and led her, trembling like an aspen leaf, from the 
 room. 
 
 Perhaps the prayers of Reginald, and the tears of his 
 mother, would alone have sufficed to soften Eichard 
 Bassett; but the threat of exposure to his wife and 
 daughter did no harm. The three soon came to terms. 
 
 Reginald to be liberated, on condition of going to 
 London by the next train, and never setting his foot in 
 that parish again. His mother to go with him, and see 
 him off to Australia. She solemnly pledged herself not 
 to reveal the boy's real parentage to any other soul in the 
 world. 
 
 This being settled, Eichard Bassett called the consta- 
 ble in, and said the young gentleman had satisfied him 
 that it was a practical joke, though a very dangerous one, 
 and he withdrew the charge of felony. 
 
 The constable said he must have Sir Charles's authority 
 for that. 
 
 A message was sent to Sir Charles. He came. The 
 prisoner was released ; and Mary Meyrick took his arm 
 sharply, as much as to say, "Out of my hands you go no 
 more." 
 
 Before they left the room. Sir Charles, who was now 
 master of himself, said, with deep feeling, — 
 
 "My poor boy, you can never be a stranger to me. 
 The affection of years cannot be untied in a moment. 
 You see now how folly glides into crime, and crime into 
 punishment. Take this to heart, and never again stray 
 from the paths of honor. Lead an honorable life ; and, 
 if you do, write to me as if I was still your father." 
 
 They retired, but Eichard Bassett lingered and hung 
 his head. 
 
 Sir Charles wondered what this inveterate foe could 
 have to say now. 
 
470 A TERKIBIiB TEMPTATION. 
 
 At last Richard said, lialf sullenly, yet with a touch 
 of compunction : " Sir Charles, you have been more gen- 
 erous than I was. You have laid me under an obliga- 
 tion." 
 
 Sir Charles bowed loftily. 
 
 " You would double that obligation, if you would pre- 
 vail on Lady Bassett to keep that old folly of mine 
 secret from my wife and daughter. I am truly ashamed 
 of it ; and, whatever my own faults may have been, they 
 love and respect me." 
 
 "Mr. Bassett," said Sir Charles, "my son Compton 
 must be told that he is my heir ; but no details injurious 
 to you shall transpire. You may count on absolute 
 secrecy from Lady Bassett and myself." 
 
 "Sir Charles," said Eichard Bassett, faltering for a 
 moment, " I am very much obliged to you, and I begin 
 to be sorry we are enemies. Good-morning." 
 
 The agitation and terror of this scene nearly killed 
 Lady Bassett on the spot. She lay all that day in a state 
 of utter prostration. 
 
 Meantime, Sir Charles put this and that together, but 
 said nothing. He spoke cheerfully and philosophically 
 to his wife — said it had been a fearful blow, terrible 
 wrench ; but it was all for the best. Such a son as that 
 would have broken his heart before long. 
 
 " Ah ! but your wasted affections ! " groaned Lady 
 Bassett, and her tears streamed at the thought. 
 
 Sir Charles sighed; but said, after a while : "Is affec- 
 tion ever entirely wasted ? My love for that young fool 
 enlarged my heart. There was a time he did me a deal 
 of good." 
 
 But next day, having only herself to think of now, 
 Lady Bassett could live no longer under the load of 
 deceit. She told Sir Charles, Mary Meyrick had de- 
 ceived him. " Eead this," she said, " and see what your 
 
A TEBKIBLE TEMPTATION. 471 
 
 miserable wife tas done, who loved you to madness and 
 crime." 
 
 Sir Charles looked at her, and saw, in her wasted 
 form and her face, that if he did read it he should kill 
 her ; so he played the man : he restrained himself by a 
 mighty effort, and said : " My dear, excuse me ; but on 
 this matter I have more faith in Mary Meyrick's exact- 
 ness than in yours. Besides, I know your heart, and 
 don't care to be told of your errors in judgment — no, 
 not even by yourself. Sorry to ofEend an authoress, but 
 I decline to read your book; and, more than that, I 
 forbid you the subject entirely for the next thirty years, 
 at least. Let bygones be bygones." 
 
 That eventful evening, Mr. Rutland called, and pro- 
 posed to Euperta. She declined politely but firmly. 
 
 She told Mrs. Bassett, and Mrs. Bassett told Eichard 
 in a nervous way; but his answer surprised her. He 
 said he was very glad of it ; Euperta could do better. 
 
 Mrs. Bassett could not resist the pleasure of telling 
 Lady Bassett. She went over on purpose, with her 
 husband's consent. 
 
 Lady Bassett asked to see Euperta. 
 
 " By all means," said Eichard Bassett graciously. 
 
 On her return to Highmore, Euperta asked leave to go 
 to the Hall every day, and nurse Lady Bassett. " They 
 will let her die else," said she. 
 
 Eichard Bassett assented to that too. 
 
 Euperta, for some weeks, almost lived at the Hall, and, 
 in this emergency, revealed great qualities. As the 
 malevolent small-pox, passing through the gentle cow, 
 comes out the sovereign cow-pox, so, in this gracious 
 nature, her father's vices turned to their kindred vir- 
 tues : his obstinacy of purpose shone here a noble con- 
 stancy; his audacity became candor, and his cunning 
 wisdom. Her intelligence saw at once that Lady Bassett 
 
472 A TEERIBLB TEMPTATION. 
 
 was pining to death, and a weak-minded nurse would be 
 fatal. She was all smiles and brightness, and neglected 
 no means to encourage her patient. 
 
 With this view, she promised to plight her faith to 
 Compton the moment Lady Bassett should be restored 
 to health; and so, with hopes and smiles, and the 
 novelty of a daughter's love, she fought with death 
 for Lady Bassett, and, at last, she won the desperate 
 battle. 
 
 This did Eichard Bassett's daughter, for her father's 
 late enemy. 
 
 The grateful husband wrote to Bassett, and now 
 acknowledged his obligation. 
 
 A civil, mock-modest reply from Eichajd Bassett. 
 
 From this things went on step by step, till, at last, 
 Compton and Euperta, at eighteen years of age, were 
 formally betrothed. 
 
 Thus the children's love wore out the fathers' hate. 
 
 That love, so troubled at the outset, left, by degrees, 
 the region of romance, and rippled smoothly througfi 
 green, flowery meadows. 
 
 Euperta showed her lover one more phase of girlhood. 
 She who had been a precocious and forward child, and 
 then a shy and silent girl, came out now a bright 
 and witty young woman, full of vivacity, modesty, and 
 sensibility. 
 
 Time cured Compton of his one defect. Euperta 
 stopped growing at fifteen, but Compton went slowly on, 
 caught her at seventeen, and at nineteen had passed her 
 by a head. He won a scholarship at Oxford, he rowed 
 in college races, and, at last, in the University race on 
 the Thames. 
 
 Euperta stood in peerless beauty, dark blue from 
 throat to feet, and saw his boat astern of his rival, 
 saw it come up with, and creep ahead, amidst the roars 
 
A TEKKIBLE TEMPTATION. 473 
 
 of the multitude. "When she saw her lover with bare 
 corded arms as brown as a berry, and set teeth, filling 
 his glorious part in that manly struggle within eight 
 yards of her, she confessed he was not a boy now. 
 
 But Lady Bassett accepted no such evidence. Being 
 pes*«red to let them marry at twenty years of age, she 
 clogged her consent with one condition. They must live 
 three years at Huntercombe as man and wife. 
 
 "No boy of twenty," said she, "can understand a 
 young woman of that age. I must be in the house to 
 prevent a single misunderstanding between my beloved 
 children." 
 
 The young people, who both adored her, voted the con- 
 dition reasonable. They were married, and a wing of 
 the spacious building allotted to them. 
 
 For their sakes let us hope that their wedded life, 
 now happily commenced, will furnish me no materials 
 for another tale : the happiest lives are uneventful. 
 
 The foreign gent recovered his wound, but acquired 
 rheumatism, and a dislike for midnight expeditions. 
 ' Eeginald galloped a year or two over seven hundred 
 miles of colony, sowing his wild oats as he flew, but is 
 now a prosperous squatter, very fond of sleeping in the 
 open air. England was not big enough for the bold 
 Bohemian. He does very well where he is. 
 
 Old Meyrick died, and left his wife a little estate in 
 the next county. Drake asked her hand at the funeral. 
 She married him in six months, and migrated to the 
 estate in question ; for Sir Charles refused her a lease 
 of his farm, not choosing to have her near him. 
 
 Her new abode was in the next parish to her sister's. 
 
 La Marsh set herself to convert Mary, and often 
 exhorted her to penitence. She bore this pretty well for 
 some time, being overawed by old reminiscences of 
 sisterly superiority, but at last her vanity rebelled. 
 
474 A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 
 
 " Eepent ! and repent ! " cried she. " Why, you be like 
 a cuckoo, all in one song. One would think I had been 
 and robbed a church. 'Tis all very well for you to 
 repent, as led a f astish life at starting ; but I never done 
 nothing as I'm ashamed on." 
 
 Eichard Bassett said one day to Wheeler, " Old fel- 
 low, there is not a worse poison than Hate. It has 
 made me old before my time. And what does it all 
 come to ? We might just as well have kept quiet, for 
 my grandson will inherit Huntercombe and Bassett after 
 all." 
 
 " Thanks to the girl you would not ring the bells for." 
 
 Sir Charles and Lady Bassett lead a peaceful life after 
 all their troubles, and renew their youth in their chil- 
 dren, of whom Euperta is one, and as dear as any. 
 
 Yet their is a pensive and humble air about Lady 
 Bassett, which shows she still expiates her fault, though 
 she knows it will always be ignored by him for whose 
 sake she sinned. 
 
 In summing her up, it may be as well to compare this 
 with the unmixed self-complacency of Mrs. Drake. 
 
 You men and women who judge this Bella Bassett, be 
 firm — and do not let her amiable qualities or her good 
 intentions blind you in a plain matter of right and 
 wrong. Be charitable — and ask yourselves how often 
 in your lives you have seen yourselves, or any other 
 human being, resist a terrible temptation. 
 
 My experience is that we resist other people's tempta- 
 tions nobly, and succumb to our own. 
 
 So let me end with a line of England's gentlest 
 satirist : 
 
 " Heaven be merciful to us all, sinners as we be." 
 
A TEKKIBLE TEMPTATION. 475 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 When- this book was first published., some vague 
 though offensive strictures were passed on it, which I 
 hardly understood, not being a foolometer. However, 
 I am now informed that there are human creatures 
 who can read every page of this book, yet conclude 
 that the "terrible temptation" to Lady Bassett was — 
 to break the Seventh Commandment. 
 
 Now, that may be a temptation to many of my fair 
 readers, and to many heroines of novels ; but it is not 
 a temptation at all to a chaste woman passionately in 
 love with her husband. Such a woman is Lady Bassett 
 in every line of this book ; and, of course, the strange 
 and rare temptation she long resists, but finally suc- 
 cumbs under, is her "terrible temptation." And a 
 vulgar commonplace temptation she does not yield to, 
 but spurns with easy contempt, is not my "terrible 
 temptation," nor hers. 
 
 Should the business of reading my works ever be 
 conducted with one-thousandth part of the attention 
 I bestow on writing them, my readers will discover 
 that there is more real invention in " A Terrible Tempta- 
 tion " than in most of my stories, and that it deserves 
 a high place amongst them at all events.