Part 4 (2/2)

'She is a deoman,' said my father, disdainfully They appeared always to be at variance, notwithstanding her absolute devotion to him My father threatened to have her married to somebody immediately if she afflicted hiot the habit of exclai at the end of her remarks, 'No matter; our clock strikes soon!' in a way that co to open unexpectedly in one of the walls, and conduct us, by subterranean passages, into a new country My father'sher anxious nature was to summon his cook, the funniest of Frenchmen, Monsieur Alphonse, and issue orders for a succession of six dinner-parties 'And now, ma'am, you have occupation for your e by the instantaneous composure of her whole appearance, he did produce a teood soul bustled out of the room in attendance upon M Alphonse, and never complained while the dinners lasted, but it hispered that she had fits in the upper part of the house No sooner did my father hear the ru her that he was deterh she should drive him to unlimited expense We had a Ball party and an Aladdin supper, and for a fortnight h London My father backed a horse to run in the races on Epsom Downs named Prince Royal, only for the reason that his name was Prince Royal, and the horse hich was, he said, a proof to me that in our country it was common prudence to stick to Royalty; and he bade e and two, he was coe and four, with postillions, at a glance froed their forelocks, and would like, if he would let them, to kiss his hand 'We will try the scarlet livery on one of our drives, Richie,' said he Mrs Waddy heard him 'It is unlawful, sir,' she said 'For whom, ma'am?' asked , but stopped, for he showed her an awful frown, and she cried so that my heart ached for her My father went out to order the livery on the spot He was very excited Then it was that Mrs

Waddy, e me, said, 'My dear, my own Master Richmond, my little Harry, prepare your poor child's heart for evil days' I construed her unintelligible speech as an attack upon my father, and abused her violently

While I was in this state of wrathful chaht sight of e I was kissed and hugged for I know not how long, until the smell of Riversley took entire possession of me, and my old ho tears on my cheeks, asked me as my cause of sorrow In a ainst Mrs Waddy for vexing my father When she heard of the scarlet livery, my aunt lifted her hands 'The ether,' said Mr Bannerbridge; and she said toHarry will corandpapa soon, won't you, my pet? All is ready for him there as it used to be, except poor mama ”Kiss my boy, my Harry--Harry Richmond” Those were her last words on her death-bed, before she went to God, Harry,Prince, and his lahboy, dick, with the big boots' Much more sweet talk of the saht, and filled rave and my friends

Aunt Dorothy looked at me 'Co seized on h my heart sank as if I had lost ht, h Oh! since the night that Harry went And I am now Harry's mama, he has me'

I looked on her forehead for the wreath of white flowers ht of my father's letter with the prayer written on the black-bordered page I said I would go, but one We were stopped in the doorway by Mrs Waddy Nothing would te with her, and, as he said, put the case, which seeer

He talked ofeducated entle spentso with ious duty and the awfulness of the position Mrs Waddy stood in He certainly subdued , but did not affectof Riversley had done; and when Mrs Waddy, reduced to an apparent submissiveness, addressed me piteously, 'Master Richmond, would you leave papa?' I cried out, 'No, no, never leaveMy father's arrival caused me to be withdrawn, but I heard his offer of his hospitality and all that was his; and subsequently there was loud talking on his part I was kissed by my aunt before she went She whispered, 'Come to us when you are free; think of us when you pray' She was full of tears Mr

Bannerbridge patted ht it was a vision that had passed

But nowwith questions as to the terrible possibility of us two ever being separated In sorandfather so black that I declared earnestly I would rather die than go to Riversley; I would never utter the na of the one I loved dearest 'Do not, my son,' he said solemnly, 'or it parts us two' I repeated after hih to hear that insult and shame had been cast on him at Riversley for hed together, and Ieloquence, for th and said, 'Richie, the notion of training you for a General coood one, but if you have got the winning tongue, the woolsack will do as well for a whisper in the ear of the throne That is our aie our birth, you shall acknowledge our worth' He co a lawyer to our house The sins of Mrs Waddy were forgiven her, owing to her noble resistance to the legal gentleman's seductive speech So I walked up and down stairs with the kings of England looking at me out of the coloured s quietly for a week; and then two uglyh ly kind to the that they were very old retainers of his

But the next day our scarlet livery appeared After exacting particular attention to his commands, e, laughing at her deplorable eyes and prim lips, which he imitated for my amusement 'A load is off ue ht the answer from his face and replied that it did, and that I should like to go right on to Dipwell 'The Burgundy sleeps safe there,' said ht over it We had an extraordinary day People stood fast to gaze at us; in the country some pulled off their hats and set up a cheer The landlords of the inns where we baited re to ravely to persons saluting us along the roads Nor did I seek to know the reason for this excess of respectfulness; I was beginning to take to it naturally At the end of a dusty high-road, where it descends the hill into a toe drew up close by a high red wall, behind which I heard boys shouting at play We went a them, accompanied by their master My father tipped the head boy for the benefit of the school, and following lunch with the ave a kiss at her request, a half-holiday was granted to the boys in ht, and held me at the hileti: that is to say,them like a pliant hodman; for the result of it was that two days later, without seeing ain, or London, I was Julia Rippenger's intiest pupil of the school

My father told hts intervening Meht to my place of imprisonment

CHAPTER V I MAKE A DEAR FRIEND

Heriot was the name of the head boy of the school Boddy was the name of one of the ushers They were both in love with Julia Rippenger It was my fortune to outrun the which ti out my suits of velvet, and had neither visit nor letter from my father, I was in tolerable bliss Julia's kisses were showered onI said or did, but her ad was so fervent that I was in no greater danger of becoirl's clothes She was seventeen, an age bewitching for boys to look up to and men to look down on The puzzle of the school was how to account for her close relationshi+p to old Rippenger Such an apple on such a crab-tree seemed monstrous Heriot said that he hoped Boddy would hter, and, said he, that's birch-twigs I related his sparkling speech to Julia, who laughed, accusing him, however, of impudence She letdark eyelashes, whom she resembled I talked of the portrait to Heriot, and as I had privileges accorded to none of the other boys and could go to her at any hour of the day after lessons, he ht of it She considered awhile, but refused On hearing of the unkind refusal, Heriot stuck his hands into his pockets and gave up cricketing

We saw hiainst a wall in full view of her hile the boys crowded round hiet hi off with a rival acade beaten if she did not relent that Julia handedit back

I promised, of course Heriot went into his favourite corner of the playground, and there looked at it and kissed it, and then buttoned his jacket over it tight, growling when I asked hihtened She sentun,' said Heriot; 'you're a good little fellow, and I like you, but just tell her I believe in nothing but handwriting, and if she writes to me for it huet a copy taken by a first-rate painter'

Julia shed tears at his cruelty, called him cruel, wicked, false to his word She wrote, but the letter did not please hi, it was pitiful to observe her glance of entreaty and her downfallen eyelashes I guessed that in Heriot's letters to her he wanted to , which she would not do 'Norite to hi,' she said, and the consequence of Heriot's ungrateful obstinacy was that we all beheld her, at the ceremony of the consecration of the new church, place her hand on Mr Boddy's arm and allow him to lead her about Heriot kept his eyes on them; his mouth was sharp, and his ar letter to her that evening She tore it to pieces without reading it Next day Heriot walked slowly past Mr Boddy holding the portrait in his hands The usher called to him!

'What have you there, Heriot?'

My hero stared 'Only a fa it safe in his pocket and fixing his gaze on Julia's

'Permit me to look at it,' said Mr Boddy

'Permit me to decline to let you,' said Heriot

'Look at me, sir,' cried Boddy