L I B RARY 
 
 OF THL 
 
 UNIVLR^SITY 
 
 or ILLINOIS 
 
 v.\
 
 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 I pud. 
 
 BY 
 
 AMELIA B. EDWARDS, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "BARBARA'S HISTORY," ETC., ETC. 
 
 ■ O Bella ctii clell' oro ! " — Guarini. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON ; 
 
 TI^^fSLEY BROTHERS, 18, CATHERINE ST., STRAND. 
 
 1866. 
 
 [The RijJd of Translation is rcsa'ved.'\
 
 LONDON : 
 DUADBLKY, EVANS, AND CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.
 
 ?23 
 
 3 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 ^N 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 PROLOGUE, A.D. 1760 .... 
 
 . I. — THE PASSING OF A HUNDRED YEARS 
 
 II. — ANNO D03I1NI, 1860 .... 
 
 III. RESOLVED ...... 
 
 IV. THE CHATEAU ROTZBERG .... 
 
 V. MR. TREFALDEN AND HIS COUSINS EE.JOME 
 
 BETTER ACQUAINTED 
 
 VI. — THE VALUE OF A NAPOLEON . 
 
 VTI. — PASTOR martin's THEOPA' . 
 
 Vin. MR. TREFALDEN MEETS ACQUAINTANCES EY 
 
 THE WAY 
 
 IX. — OLIMPIA COLONNA .... 
 
 X, — MENTOR BEGINS TO TAKE TELEMACHUS IN HAN 
 XI. — UP AT THE CHURCH .... 
 
 Xn. — ON THE TERRACE AT CASTLETOWERS 
 XIII. — THE HOUSE OF CASTLETOV.'ERS . 
 XIV. — MOTHER AND SON .... 
 
 XV. — SAXON DRAWS HIS FIRST CHEQUE 
 
 PAGE 
 1 
 
 2G 
 44 
 54 
 
 72 
 
 85 
 104 
 115 
 
 122 
 1.35 
 146 
 16G 
 
 172 
 ISO 
 192 
 207
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. TAGE 
 
 XVI. — THE EEECTHEUM 218 
 
 XVII. — SAXON AT HOME 233 
 
 XVIII. TIMON ....... 251 
 
 XIX. — Mi:. TilEEALDEN ON THE DOMESTIC MANNERS 
 
 AND CUSTOMS OF LAWYEKS IN GENEEAL . 264 
 
 XX. TWO AND A HALF PER CENT . . .275 
 
 XXI. ME. GREATOEEX WITH THE POLISH OFF . . 288 
 
 XXIT. TELEMACHUS SHOWS THAT HE HAS A WILL OF 
 
 HIS OVvN 294 
 
 XXIIT. THE HOLE IN WILLIAM TEEFALDEN's AEMOUE 301 
 
 XXIV. — AT THE WATERLOO BRIDGE STATION . . . 313
 
 RALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 PROLOGUE. A.D. 1760. 
 
 Jacob Trefaldex, merchant and alderman of 
 Loudon^ lay dying in an upper chamber of his 
 house in Basinghall-street, towards evening on 
 the twenty-second day of March, Anno Domini 
 seventeen hundred and sixty. 
 
 It was growing rapidly dusk. The great house 
 was full of gloom J and silence, and the shadow of 
 death. Two physicians occupied two easy-chairs 
 before the fire in the sick man's chamber. They 
 were both notabilities in their day. The one was 
 Sir John Pringle, Physician Extraordinary to the 
 King — a brave and skilful man who had smelt 
 powder at Dettingen, and won the soldiers' hearts 
 by his indomitable coolness under fire. The 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 U HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 other was Doctor Joshua Ward, commonly called 
 " Spot Ward '^ from his rubicund face, and im- 
 mortalised by Hogarth in that bitter caricature 
 called "The Company of Undertakers/^ 
 
 These gentlemen did little in the way of 
 conversation. When they spoke at all, it was 
 in a whisper. Now and then, they compared 
 their watches with the time-piece on the mantel- 
 shelf. Now and then, they glanced towards the 
 bed, where, propped almost upright with pillows, 
 an old man was sinking gradually out of life. 
 There was something very ghastly in that old 
 man's face, purple-hued, unconscious, and swathed 
 in wet bandages. His eyes were closed. His 
 lips were swollen. His breathing was slow and 
 stertorous. He had been smitten down that day 
 at noon by a stroke of apoplexy; was carried 
 home from ^Change in a dying state; and had 
 not spoken since. His housekeeper crouched by 
 his bed-side, silent and awestruck. His three 
 sons and his lawyer waited in the drawing-room 
 below. They all knew that he had not two more 
 hours to live. 
 
 In the meantime the dusk thickened, and the
 
 PROLOGUE. A.D. 1760. 3 
 
 eyening stillness grew more and more oppressive. 
 A chariot rumbled past from time to time, or a 
 newsvender trudged by^ hawking tlie London 
 Gazette, and proclaiming the progress of Lord 
 George Sackville's trial. Sometimes a neigh- 
 bour's footboT came to the door with a civil 
 inquiry; or a little knot of passengers loitered 
 on the opposite pavement, and glanced up, 
 whisperingly, at the curtained windows. By- 
 and-by, even these ceased to come and go. A 
 few oil-lamps were lighted at intervals along the 
 dingy thoroughfare, and the stars and the watch- 
 men came out together. 
 
 '' In the name of Heaven/^ said Captain 
 Trefalden, "let us have lights!^' — and rang the 
 drawing-room bell. 
 
 Candles were brought, and the heavy damask 
 curtains were drawn. Captain Trefalden took 
 up the Gazette Frederick Trefalden looked at 
 himself in the glass, arranged the folds of his 
 cravat, yawned, took snufi*, and contemplated the 
 symmetry of his legs; William Trefalden drew 
 his chair to the table, and began abstractedly 
 turning over the leaves of the last '' Idler. ^^ There 
 
 E 2
 
 4 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 were otlier papers and books on the table as well 
 — among tbem a little volume called " Rasselas," 
 from the learned pen of Mr. Samuel Johnson (he 
 was not yet LL.D.), and the two first volumes 
 of " Tristram Shandy/^ written by that ingenious 
 gentleman, the Reverend Laurence Sterne. Both 
 works were already popular, though published 
 only a few months before. 
 
 These three brothers were curiously alike, and 
 curiously unlike. They all resembled their father ; 
 they were all fine men ; and they were all good- 
 looking. Old Jacob was a Cornish man, had 
 been fair and stalwart in his youth, and stood five 
 feet eleven without his shoes. Captain Trefalden 
 was not so fair ; Frederick Trefalden was not so 
 tall ; William Trefalden was neither so fair, nor 
 so tall, nor so handsome ; and yet they were all 
 like him, and like each other. 
 
 Captain Jacob was the eldest. His father had 
 intended him for his own business; but, some- 
 how or another, the lad never took kindly to 
 indigo. He preferred scarlet — especially scarlet 
 turned up with buff — and he went into the army. 
 Having led a roving, irregular youth ; sown his
 
 PEOLOGUE. A.D. 17G0. 5 
 
 wild oats in various congenial European soils; 
 and fought gallantly at Dettingen, Fontenoy, 
 Laffeldt, and Minden, lie had now, at forty 
 years of age, committed the unspeakable folly of 
 marrying for neither rank nor money, but only 
 for love. His father had threatened to disinherit 
 Captain Trefalden for this misdeed, and for five 
 months past had forbidden him the house. His 
 brothers were even more indignant than their 
 father — or had seemed to be so. In short, this 
 was the first occasion on which the worthy officer 
 had set foot in Basinghall-street for many a long 
 day; and all three gentlemen were naturally 
 somewhat constrained and silent. 
 
 Frederick, the second son, was thirty-six; 
 "William, thirty. Frederick hated indigo almost 
 as cordially as his brother Jacob; William had 
 scarcely a thought that was not dyed in it. 
 Frederick was an airy, idle, chocolate-drinking, 
 snuff- taking, card-playing, ridotto-haunting man 
 of pleasure. W^illiam was a cool, methodical, 
 ambitious man of business. Neither of the three 
 had ever cared much for the other two. It was 
 not in the nature of thinojs that much affection
 
 b HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 should exist between them. Their temperaments 
 and pursuits were radically unlike. They had 
 lost their mother while they were yet boys. 
 They had never had a sister. The sweet womanly 
 home-links had all been wanting to bind their 
 hearts together. 
 
 And now the brothers were met under their 
 father^s roof, this memorable twenty-second even- 
 ing in March; and in the dark chamber over- 
 headj already beyond all help from human skill, 
 that father lay dying. They were all thinking the 
 same thoughts in the silence of their hearts, and 
 in those thoughts there was neither prayer nor 
 sadness. Poor old man ! He was immensely 
 rich — he was pitiably destitute. No one loved 
 him ; and he was worth Half a Million of Money. 
 
 Mr. Frederick Trefalden took out his watch, 
 swore a fashionable oath, and declared that he 
 was famishing. 
 
 "Have somewhat to eat, brother Fred," sug- 
 gested the captain; and so rang the bell again, 
 and ordered refreshments to be taken into the 
 dining-room. 
 
 The two younger Trefaldens exchanged glances
 
 PROLOGUE. A.D. 1760. 7 
 
 and a covert smile. Their elder brother was 
 already assuming the master, it should seem ! 
 "Well, well, Lawyer Bea\-ington is there, and the 
 will has yet to be read. 
 
 In the meantime Mr. Fred and the captain go 
 down together ; for the latter has ridden up from 
 Hounslow, and will not object to join his brother 
 in " a snack of cold meat and a bumper of claret." 
 Mr. Will, like a sober citizen, has dined at two 
 o'clock, and only desires that a dish of tea may 
 be sent to him in the drawing-room. 
 
 If anything could be more dismal than that 
 gloomy drawing-room it was the still gloomier 
 dining-room below. The walls were panelled 
 with dark oak, richly carved. The chimney- 
 piece was a ponderous cenotaph in black and 
 yellow marble. The hangings were of mulberry- 
 coloured damask. A portrait of the master of the 
 house, painted forty years before by Sir James 
 ThornhiU, hung over the fireplace. Seen by the 
 feeble glimmer of a couple of wax lights, there 
 was an air of sepulchral magnificence about the 
 place which was infinitely depressing. The very 
 viands might have reminded these gentlemen of
 
 8 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 funeral-baked meats — above all, the great veal 
 pasty, which lay in state in the middle of the 
 board. They were both hungry, however, and it 
 did nothing of the kind. 
 
 The captain took his place at the head of the 
 table, and plunged his knife gallantly into the 
 heart of the pasty. 
 
 "If thou hast as good a stomach, Fred, as 
 myself,^' said he, growing cordial under the in- 
 fluence of the good things before him, " I'll war- 
 rant thee we'll sack this fortress handsomely ! '^ 
 
 The fine gentleman shrugged his shoulders 
 somewhat contemptuously. 
 
 " I detest such coarse dishes/' said he. '^ I 
 dined with Sir Harry Fanshawe yesterday at the 
 Hummums. We had a ragout of young chicks 
 not a week out of the shell, and some a-la-mode 
 beef that would have taken thy breath away, 
 brother Jacob.'' 
 
 '' I'd as lieve eat of this pasty as of any ragout 
 in Christendom," said the captain. 
 
 " Mr. Horace Walpole and Mrs. Clive were at 
 dinner all the time in the next room," continued 
 the beau ; '^ and the drollest part of the story is
 
 PROLOGUE. A.D. 1760. 9 
 
 that Sir Harry and I adjourned in the evening to 
 Vauxhall, and there^ by Jove ! found ourselves 
 supping in the very next box to Mr. Horace and 
 Mrs. Kitty again ! ^' 
 
 '' Help yourself to claret, Fred — and pass the 
 bottle," said the captain, who, strange to say, saw 
 no point in the story at all. 
 
 '' iSTot bad wine," observed Mr. Fred, tasting 
 his] claret with the air of a connoisseur. " The 
 old gentleman hath an excellent cellar." 
 
 " Ay, indeed,^' replied the captain, thoughtfully. 
 
 " But he never knew how to enjoy his money.^' 
 
 ''Never." 
 
 " To live in a place like this, for instance,"" said 
 the beau, looking round the room. " Basinghall- 
 street — faugh ! And to keep such a cook ; and 
 never to have set up his chariot ! 'Sdeath, sir, 
 you and I will know better what to do with the 
 guineas ! " 
 
 " I should think so, brother Fred, I should 
 think so," replied the captain, wrth a touch of 
 sadness in his voice, "^Twas a dull life — poor 
 old gentleman ! Methinks you and I might have 
 helped to make it gayer."
 
 10 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 " Curse me, if I know how ! '^ ejaculated Mr. 
 Fred. 
 
 " By sticking to the business — by living at 
 home — by doing like young Will, yonder/^ replied 
 the elder brother. " That boy hath been a better 
 son than you or I, brother Fred.'^ 
 
 Mr. Fred looked very grave indeed. "Will 
 hath an old head on young shoulders/^ said he. 
 " Harkee, Jacob, hast any notion how the old 
 man hath bestowed his money ? " 
 
 " No more than this glass of claret/' replied 
 the captain. 
 
 They were both silent. A footstep went by in 
 the hall. They listened; they looked at each 
 other; they filled their glasses again. The same 
 thought was uppermost in the mind of each. 
 
 " The fairest thing, Fred/' said the honest 
 captain; " would be, if 'twere left to us, share and 
 share alike." 
 
 " Share and share alike ! " echoed Mr. Fred, 
 with a sounding oath. " Nay ; the old man was 
 too proud of his fortune to do that, brother 
 
 Jacob. My own notion of this matter is 
 
 hush ! Any one listening ? "
 
 PROLOGUE. A.D. 1760. 11 
 
 Captain Trefalden rose^ glanced into the hall, 
 closed the door, and resumed his seat. 
 
 '' Xot a soul. Well ? " 
 
 "Well, my own notion is, that we younger 
 sons shall have a matter of sixty or eighty 
 thousand apiece ; while you, as the head of the 
 family, will take the bulk." 
 
 " It may be, Fred," mused the captain, com- 
 placently. 
 
 " And that bulk," continued Mr. Fred, " will 
 be some three hundred and forty thousand 
 pounds." 
 
 " I shall have to ask thee, Fred, how to spend 
 it," said the captain, smiling. 
 
 " Then thou shalt spend it like a prince. Thou 
 shalt buy an estate in Kent, and a town-house 
 in Soho; thou shalt have horses, chariots, 
 lacqueys, liveries, wines, a pack of hounds, a box 
 at the Italian Opera ..." 
 
 " Of which I don't understand a word," in- 
 terrupted the captain. 
 
 "A French cook, a private chaplain, a black 
 footboy, a suite of diamonds for thy wife, and for 
 thyself the prettiest mistress ..."
 
 12 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 " Hold, Fred/' interposed tlie captain again. 
 " None of the last, I beseech thee. My days of 
 gallantry are over/^ 
 
 " Eut, my dear brother, no man of quality ..." 
 
 "I'm not a man of quality," said the other. 
 '^I^m a simple soldier, and the son of a plain 
 City merchant." 
 
 ^' Well, then, no man of parts and fortune ..." 
 
 "The fortune^s not mine yet, Fred," said the 
 captain, dryly. "And as for my parts, why, I 
 think the less said of them the better. I'm no 
 scholar, and that thou knowest as well as mj^self. 
 Hark ! some one taps. Come in." 
 
 The door opened, and a bronzed upright man, 
 with something of a military bearing, came in. 
 He held his hat and cane in his hand, and saluted 
 the brothers courteously. It was Sir John 
 Pringle. 
 
 " Gentlemen," he said, gravely, " I grieve to be 
 the bearer of sad tidings." 
 
 The brothers rose in silence. Captain Trefalden 
 changed colour. 
 
 " Is he — is my father dead ? " he faltered. 
 
 The physician bent his head.
 
 PROLOGUE. A.D. 1760. 13 
 
 Captain Trefalden turned his face away, 
 Frederick Trefalden took out his handkerchief, 
 and ostentatiously wiped away a tear — which was 
 not there. 
 
 "Dr. Ward is gone/^ said Sir John, after a 
 brief pause. " He desired his respects and 
 condolences. Gentlemen, I wish you a good 
 evening.^' 
 
 *' You will take a glass of claret, Sir John?" 
 said Mr. Fred, pressing forward to the table. 
 But almost before he could say the words, the 
 physician had waved a civil negative, and was 
 gone. Mr. Fred shrugged his shoulders, filled 
 the glass all the same, and emptied it. 
 
 " Zounds, brother," said he, " ^tis of no use to 
 be melancholy. Eemember thou'rt now the head 
 of the family. Let us go up-stairs and read the 
 will." 
 
 In the meantime, William Trefalden, like a 
 methodical young man of business, had been up 
 to his father's room to find his father^s keys, and 
 down to the counting-house to fetch his father's 
 deed-box out from the iron-safe. When Mr. Fred
 
 14 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 and the captain came into the room, they 
 found Lawyer Beavington with his spectacles on_, 
 and the box before him. 
 
 " Gentlemen/^ he said, with calm importance, 
 " be pleased to sit/^ 
 
 So the brothers drew their chairs to the table, 
 and sat down ; all silent ; all somewhat agitated. 
 
 The man of law unlocked the box. 
 
 It was full of papers, leases, transfers, deben- 
 tures, agreements, bills of exchange, and so forth. 
 These had all to be taken out, opened, and laid 
 aside before the will turned up. That important 
 document lay at the very bottom, like hope at 
 the bottom of Pandora's casket. 
 
 " 'Tis not a long will," observed Mr. Beaving- 
 ton, with a preparatory cough. 
 
 As he unfolded it, a slip of paper fell out. 
 
 " A memorandum, apparently, in your ex- 
 cellent father's own hand/' said he, glancing 
 through it. '^ Hm — ^ha — refers to the amount of 
 his fortune. Have you, gentlemen, framed any 
 ideas of the extent of the property ? " 
 
 " ^Twas thought my father owned half a million 
 of money," replied Mr. Fred, eagerly.
 
 PEOLOGUE. A.D. 1760. 15 
 
 '• More than that/' said the youngest son, with 
 a shake of the head. 
 
 '' You are right, sir. The memorandum runs 
 thus : ' TJjJon a rough calculation, 1 believe I may 
 estimate my present estate at about five hundred 
 and twenty -five thousand pounds. {Dated) January 
 thefir^t, Anno Domini seventeen hundred and sixty. 
 Jacob Trefalden.^ A goodly fortune, gentlemen 
 — a goodly fortune ! '' 
 
 The three brothers drew a deep breath of satis- 
 faction. . • 
 
 "Five hundred and twenty-five thousand 
 pounds!" repeated the captain. ^' Prythee, Mr. 
 Bea™gton, proceed to the will." 
 
 The lawyer folded up the memorandum very 
 slowly, drew the candles nearer^ wiped his spec- 
 tacles, and began. 
 
 *' ' In the name of God, Amex. I JACOB 
 TEEFALDEX born in the town of Eedruth in 
 the County of Cornwall and now a citizen of 
 London, Merchant (a AYidower) being at present 
 in good health of Body, and of sound and dis- 
 posing Mind and Memory, for which I bless God, 
 Do this eleventh day of January one thousand
 
 16 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 seven hundred and sixty make and ordain this my 
 last Will and Testament in manner and form 
 following (that it is to say) IMPRIMIS I 
 DESIRE to be interred in my Family Vault by 
 the side of my lately deceased wife and with as 
 little Pomp and ceremony as may be. ITEM I 
 give to such of my Executors hereinafter named 
 as shall act under this my Will Five Hundred 
 pounds Sterling each to be paid to or retained 
 by them within six Calendar Months after my 
 decease. I give to my three sons Jacob, 
 Frederick and William Five Thousand pounds 
 Sterling each. I give . . . ^^' 
 
 ^^ Stay ! five thou please to read that 
 
 again, Mr. Beavington/'' interrupted Captain 
 Trefalden. 
 
 ''Five Thousand pounds Sterling each/^ re- 
 peated the lawyer. ^' The amount is quite plain. 
 But have patience, gentlemen. We are but at 
 the preliminaries. This five thousand each hath, 
 doubtless, some special purpose. The main 
 business is to come.'^ 
 
 "Very possibly — very possibly, Mr. Beaving- 
 ton," replied the captain. " I am all attention.""
 
 PROLOGUE. A.D. 1760. 17 
 
 '' ' ITEM I GIVE to my Cashier Edward Pres- 
 cott Five Hundred pounds Sterling. I GIVE 
 to my other clerks One Hundred pounds Sterling 
 each. AND I GIVE to my Household Servants 
 Two Hundred pounds Sterling, to be divided 
 among them in equal shares. All which last 
 mentioned legacies I direct shall be paid within 
 three Calendar Months next after my decease. 
 I GIVE to the Minister for the time being of 
 Redruth aforesaid and to the Minister for the 
 time being of the Parish in which I shall happen 
 to reside immediately previous to my decease One 
 Hundred pounds Sterling each to be paid to them 
 within One Calendar Month after that event shall 
 happen and be by them forthwith distributed in 
 such manner and proportion as they shall think 
 proper among the poor AVidows belonging to 
 their Parishes respectively. ITEM, I do hereby 
 direct and appoint that my Executors shall as 
 soon as possible after my decease set apart out of 
 my Property which consists entirely of Personal 
 Estate, and is chiefly invested in the Government 
 Stocks and Funds of this Kingdom, so much of 
 my Funded property as shall be equal in value to 
 
 VOL. I. C
 
 18 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 the sum of Five Hundred Thousand pounds 
 Sterling . . . ' " 
 
 ^' Ha ! now for it ! ^^ exclaimed Mr. Pred, 
 breathlessly. 
 
 "' the sum of Five Hundred Thousand 
 
 pounds Sterling/ '' continued the lawyer, '' ' which 
 I give to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the 
 City of London for the time being and their 
 successors for ever IN TRUST for the purposes 
 hereinafter expressed, and I desire that as to 
 this Gift they shall be called "TKEFALDEN'S 
 TRUSTEES/' and that the amount of my Funded 
 Property so to be set apart shall immediately 
 afterwards be transferred to them accordingly.^ '' 
 
 The lawyer paused to clear his glasses. The 
 brothers looked blankly in each other's faces. 
 
 " Good God ! Mr. Beavington/' gasped Captain 
 TrefaldeUj " what does this mean ? '^ 
 
 " On my word, sir, I have no more notion than 
 yourself/' replied the lawyer. '' The will is none 
 of my making." 
 
 ''Who drew it up?'' asked Mr. Will, per- 
 emptorily. 
 
 " Not I, sir. Your father hath gone to some
 
 PROLOGUE. A.D. 1760. 19 
 
 stranger for tliis business. But perchance when 
 we know more ^^ 
 
 " Enough, sir, go ou/^ said Mr. Fred and Mr. 
 Will together. 
 
 The lawyer continued : 
 
 " ' AND I hereby declare my Will to be that 
 my said Trustees shall receive the annual Income 
 of the said Trust Fund, and lay out and invest 
 such Income in their names in the Purchase of 
 Government Securities, and repeat such receipts 
 and Investments from time to time in the nature 
 of Compound Interest during the space of One 
 Hundred years from the date of my decease, and 
 that such accumulations shall continue and be 
 increased until the same, with the original Trust 
 Fund, shall amount to, and become in the aggre- 
 gate, one entire clear principal sum of NINE 
 MILLION POUNDS Sterling and upwards, 
 AND I DESIRE that the same entire clear 
 Principal Sum shall thenceforth be, or be con- 
 sidered as, divided into two equal parts, AND I 
 GIVE One equal half part thereof unto the direct 
 Heir Male of the Eldest Son of my Eldest Son, 
 in total exclusion of the younger Branches of my 
 
 c 2
 
 20 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 Pamily and their descendants. AND as to the 
 other equal half part of the said entire Principal 
 Sum, I DIRECT my said Trustees to apply and 
 dispose of the same in manner following (that is 
 to say) IN the first place, in purchasing within 
 the liberties of the City of London a plot of 
 Freehold Ground of sufficient magnitude, and 
 erecting thereon, under the superintendence of 
 some eminent Architect, a Handsome and Sub- 
 stantial Building, with all suitable Offices, to be 
 called "THE LONDON TREFALDEN BE- 
 NEVOLENT INSTITUTION.^^ 
 
 " ' AND in the next place, in affording pecu- 
 niary aid as well permanent as temporary to de- 
 cayed Tradesmen, Mercantile Men, Ship Brokers, 
 Stock Brokers, Poor Clergymen, and Members of 
 the Legal and Medical Professions, and the 
 Widows and Orphans of each of those Classes 
 respectively, and, if thought fit, to advance Loans 
 without Interest to honest but unfortunate Bank- 
 rupts. With full power to receive into the Insti- 
 tution a limited number of poor and deserving 
 Persons being Widows and Orphans of Citizens of 
 London, and to maintain, clothe, and educate
 
 PROLOGUE. A.D. 1760. 21 
 
 tliem so long as the Trustees shall think 
 proper. 
 
 " ' AND in order that such Institution may be 
 properly established and may be managed and 
 supported in a satisfactory manner, I request my 
 said Trustees to prepare a scheme for the per- 
 manent Establishment and support thereof, and 
 to submit the same to the Master of the Rolls 
 for his approval. PROVIDED ALWAYS that in 
 case there shall be no such Male Heir in the 
 direct line from the Eldest Son of my Eldest Son, 
 Then I direct my said Trustees to apply the first 
 mentioned half of the said entire principal sum in 
 founding lesser Institutions of a similar kind to 
 the above in Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol and 
 Birmingham for the benefit of the several classes 
 of persons above enumerated and all which In- 
 stitutions it is my Will shall be governed by the 
 same Laws and Regulations as the original In- 
 stitution or as near thereto as circumstance will 
 permit. ITEM I GIVE all the rest and residue 
 of my Funded Property, Ready Money and Secu- 
 rities for Money, Merchandise, Debts, Pictures 
 Plate, Furniture, and all other my Property net
 
 22 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 otherwise disposed of by this my Will (but subject 
 to the payment of my Debts^ Legacies, Funeral 
 and Testamentary expenses) UNTO my said three 
 Sons in equal shares and in case any dispute shall 
 arise between them as to the division thereof the 
 matter shall be referred to my Executors whose 
 decision shall be final. LASTLY I APPOINT 
 my friends Eichard Morton, Erasmus Brooke, 
 Daniel Shuttleworth, and Arthur Mackenzie all 
 of London, General Merchants, to be the Execu- 
 tors of this my Will. IN WITNESS whereof I 
 the said Jacob Trefalden have hereunto set my 
 hand and seal the day and year first above 
 
 written. 
 
 " ^ Jacob Trefalden. 
 
 " ^ Signed sealed published and declared by the 
 above named Jacob Trefalden as and for his last 
 Will and Testament in the presence of us who at 
 his request and in his presence have subscribed 
 our Names as Witnesses thereunto. 
 
 " ' Signed. " 'Nathaniel Murray. 
 
 " ' Alexander Lloyd.' '' 
 
 Mr. Beavington laid down the will, and took
 
 PROLOGUE. A.D. 1760. 33 
 
 off his glasses. The brothers sat staring at him, 
 like men of stone. William Trefalden was the 
 first to speak. 
 
 "I shall dispute this will/^ he said, looking 
 very pale, but speaking in a firm, low tone. " It 
 is illegal.^^ 
 
 " It is a damned, unnatural,'infamous swindle," 
 stammered Mr. Fred, starting from his seat, and 
 shaking his clenched fist at the open docu- 
 ment. "If I had known what a cursed old 
 fool ..." 
 
 *' Hush, sir, hush, I entreat," interposed the 
 lawyer. "Let us respect the dead." 
 
 " Zounds ! Mr. Beavington, we'll respect the 
 dead," said Captain Trefalden, bringing his hand 
 down heavily upon the table ; " but Fll be hanged 
 if we'll respect the deed ! If it costs me every 
 penny of the paltry five thousand, Fll fight this 
 matter out, and have justice." 
 
 "Patience, brother Jacob — patience, brother 
 Fred," said the youngest Trefalden. " I tell you 
 both, the will is illegal." 
 
 " How so, sir ? " asked the lawyer, briskly, 
 " How so ? "
 
 S4 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 " By tlie Mortmain Act passed but a few years 
 since ..." 
 
 "In seventeen hundred and tliirty-six, being 
 the ninth of his present Majesty King George 
 the Second," interposed Mr. Beavington. 
 
 " — which permits no money or land to be 
 given in trust for the benefit of any charitable 
 uses whatever." 
 
 The lawyer nodded approvingly. 
 
 " Very true^ very true — very well remembered, 
 Mr. Will," he said, rubbing his hands; "but you 
 forget one thing." 
 
 "What do I forget?" 
 
 " That ^ a citizen of London may, by the cus- 
 tom of London, devise Land situate in London 
 in Mortmain ; but he cannot devise Land out of 
 the city in Mortmain,' and for that quotation I 
 can give you chapter and verse, Mr. Will." 
 
 Mr. Will put his hand to his head with a 
 smothered groan. 
 
 " Then, by Heavens ! " said he, tremulously, 
 " 'tis all over." 
 
 It was all over, indeed. Mr. Fred had spoken 
 truly of the pride which Jacob Trefalden took in
 
 PROLOGUE. A.D. 1760. 25 
 
 his fortune. Great as it was, he resolved to 
 build it yet higher, and sink its foundations yet 
 more broadly and deeply. To leave a colossal 
 inheritance to an unborn heir, and to found a 
 charity which should perpetuate his name through 
 all time, were the two projects nearest and dearest 
 to that old man^s heart. He had brooded over 
 them, matured them, exulted in them secretly, 
 for many a past year. The marriage of Captain 
 Trefalden in November, 1759, only hastened 
 matters, and legalised a foregone conclusion. 
 Well was it for Jacob Trefalden's sons that 
 his fortune amounted to that odd twenty-five 
 thousand pounds. The Half Million had slipped 
 through their fingers, and was lost to them for 
 ever.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE PASSING OP A HUNDRED YEARS. 
 
 When the princess in tlie fairy tale went to 
 sleep for a hundred years, everything else in that 
 enchanted palace went to sleep at the same time. 
 The natural course of things was suspended. Not 
 a hair whitened on any head within those walls. 
 Not a spider spun its web over the pictures ; not 
 a worm found its way to the books. The very 
 Burgundy in the cellar grew none the riper for 
 the century that it had lain there. Nothing 
 decayed, in short, and nothing improved. Very 
 different was it with this progressive England of 
 ours during the hundred years that went by be- 
 tween the spring-time of 1760 and that of 1860, 
 one hundred years after. None went to sleep in 
 it. Nothing stood still. All was life, ferment, 
 endeavour. That endeavour, it is true, may not
 
 THE PASSING OF A HUNDRED YEARS. 27 
 
 always Lave been best directed. Some cobwebs 
 were spun ; some worms were at work ; some 
 mistakes were committed ; but, at all events, 
 there was no stagnation. E71 revanche, if, when 
 we remember some of those errors, we cannot 
 help a blush, our hearts beat when we think of 
 the works of love and charity, the triumphs of 
 science, the heroes and victories which that cen- 
 tury brought forth. We lost America, it is true ; 
 but we conquered India, we annexed the Canadas, 
 and we colonised New Zealand and Australia. 
 We fought the French on almost every sea and 
 shore upon the map, except, thank God ! our 
 own. We abolished slavery in our colonies. We 
 established the liberty of the press. We lit our 
 great city from end to end with a light only 
 second to that of day. We invented the steam- 
 engine and the electric telegraph. We learned to 
 decipher those records which have been laid up 
 during countless ages in the heart of the everlast- 
 ing rocks. We discovered an unsuspected science 
 in the very speech we use. We originated a system 
 of coaching at twelve miles the hour, which was 
 unrivalled in Europe; and we superseded it by
 
 28 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 casting a network of iron roads all over tlie face 
 of the country, along whicli tlie traveller has 
 been known to fly at the rate of a mile a minute. 
 Truly a marvellous century ! perhaps the most 
 marvellous which the world has ever known, 
 since that from which all our years are dated ! 
 
 And during the whole of this time, the 
 Trefalden legacy was fattening at interest, 
 assuming overgrown proportions, doubling, trebl- 
 ing, quadrupling itself over and over and over 
 again. 
 
 Not so the Trefalden family. They had in- 
 creased and multiplied but scantily, according to 
 the average of human kind; and had had but 
 little opportunity of fattening, in so far as that 
 term may be applied to the riches of the earth. 
 One branch of it had become extinct. Of the 
 other two branches only three representatives re- 
 mained. We must pause to consider how these 
 things came to pass, but only for a few moments ; 
 for of all the trees that have ever been cultivated 
 by man, the genealogical tree is the driest. It 
 is one, we may be sure, that had no place in the 
 garden of Eden. Its root is in the grave ; its pro-
 
 THE PASSING OF A HUNDRED YEAES. 29 
 
 duce mere Dead Sea fruit — apples of dust and 
 ashes. 
 
 The extinct branch of the Trefaklens was that 
 Trhich began and ended in Mr. Fred. That 
 ornament to society met his death in a tavern 
 row about eighteen months after the reading of 
 the will. He had in the meanwhile spent the 
 Avhole of his five thousand pounds, ruined his 
 tailor, and brought an honest eating-house keeper 
 to the verge of bankruptcy. He also died in 
 debt to the amount of seven thousand pounds; 
 so that, as Mr. Horace Walpole was heard to say, 
 he at least went out of the world with credit. 
 
 T\'illiam, the youngest of the brothers, after a 
 cautious examination of his prospects from every 
 point of view, decided to carry on at least a part 
 of the business. To this end, he entered into 
 partnership with his late father^s managing clerk, 
 an invaluable person who had been in old Jacob's 
 confidence for more than thirty years, and, now 
 that his employer was dead, was thought to 
 know more about indigo than any other man in 
 London. He had also a snug sum in the Funds, 
 and an only daughter who kept house for him
 
 30 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 at Islington. When Mr. Will had ascertained 
 the precise value of this young lady^s attractions, 
 he proposed a second partnership, was accepted, 
 and married her. The fruit of this marriage was 
 a son named Charles, born in 1770, who became 
 in time his father^s partner and successor, and in 
 whose hands the old Trefalden house flourished 
 bravely. This Charles, marrying late in life, 
 took to wife the second daughter of a rich East 
 India Director, with twelve thousand pounds for 
 her fortune. She brought him four sons, the 
 eldest of whom, Edward, born in 1815, was 
 destined to indigo from his cradle. The second 
 and third died in childhood, and the youngest, 
 named William, after his grandfather, was born 
 in 1822, and educated for the law. 
 
 The father of these young men died suddenly 
 in 1844, just as old Jacob Trefalden had died 
 more than eighty years before. He was suc- 
 ceeded in Basinghall-street by his eldest son. 
 The new principal was, however, a stout, apa- 
 thetic bachelor of self-indulgent habits, languid 
 circulation, and indolent physique — a mere Roi 
 Faineant, without a Martel to guide him. He
 
 THE PASSING OF A HUNDRED YEARS. SI 
 
 reigned only six years, and died of a flow of 
 turtle soup to the head in 1850, leaving his 
 affairs hopelessly involved, and his books a mere 
 collection of Sibylline leaves which no accountant 
 in London was Augur enough to decipher. With 
 him expired the mercantile house of Trefalden; 
 and his brother, the lawyer, now became the 
 only remaining representative of the youngest 
 branch of the family. 
 
 For the elder branch we must go back again to 
 1760. 
 
 Honest Captain Jacob, upon whom had now 
 devolved the responsibility of perpetuating the 
 Trefalden name, took his five thousand pounds 
 with a sigh; wisely relinquished all thought of 
 disputing the wiU; sold his commission; emi- 
 grated to a remote corner of Switzerland ; bought 
 land, and herds, and a quaint little mediaeval 
 chateau surmounted by a whole forest of turrets, 
 gable-ends, and fantastic weather-cocks : and 
 embraced the patriarchal life of his adopted 
 country. Switzerland was at that time the most 
 peaceful, the best governed, and the least expen- 
 sive spot in Europe. Captain Jacob, with his five
 
 32 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 thousand pounds^ was a millionnaire in the Canton 
 Grisons. He was entitled to a seat in the Diet, 
 if he chose to take it ; and to a vote if he chose to 
 give it; and he interchanged solemn half-yearly 
 civilities with the stiffest old Kepublican aristo- 
 crats in Chur and Thusis. But it was not for 
 these advantages that he valued his position in 
 that primitive place. He loved ease, and liberty, 
 and the open air. He loved the simple, pastoral, 
 homely life of the people. He loved to be rich 
 enough to help his poorer neighbours — to be 
 able to give the pastor a new cassock, or the 
 church a new font, or the young riflemen of the 
 district a silver watch to shoot for, when the 
 annual Schiitzen Fest came round. He could 
 not have done all this in England, heavily taxed 
 and burthened as England then was, upon two 
 hundred and fifty pounds a year. So the good 
 soldier framed his commission, hung up his sword 
 to rust over the dining-room chimney-piece, and 
 planted and drained, sowed and reaped, shot an 
 occasional chamois, and settled down for life as a 
 Swiss country gentleman. Living thus with the 
 wife of his choice, and enjoying the society of a
 
 THE PASSING OF A HUNDRED YEARS. 33 
 
 few kindly neighbours, he became the happy 
 father of a son and two daughters, between whora, 
 at his death, he divided his little fortune, share 
 and share alike, according to his own simple 
 notions of justice and love. The daughters mar- 
 ried and settled far away, the one in Italy, the 
 other on the borders of Germany. The son, who 
 was called Henry, and born in 1762, inherited 
 his third of the patrimony, became a farmer, and 
 married at twenty years of age. He was neces- 
 sarily a much poorer man than his father. Two 
 thirds of the best land had been sold to pay off 
 his sisters" shares in the property; but he kept 
 the old chateau (though he dwelt in only a corner 
 of it), and was none the less respected by his 
 neighbours. Here he lived frugally and indus- 
 triously, often driving his own plough, and brand- 
 ing his own sheep ; and here he brought up his 
 two sons, Saxon and Martin, the first of whom 
 was born in 1783, and the second in 1786. They 
 were all the family he reared. Other children 
 were born to him from time to time, and played 
 about his hearth, and gladdened the half-deserted 
 little chateau with their baby laughter ; but they 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 all died in earliest infancy, and the violets grew 
 tliickly over their little graves in the churchyard 
 on the hill. 
 
 Now Henry Trefalden knew right well that 
 one of these boys, or a descendant of one of these 
 boys, must inherit the great legacy by-and-by. 
 He knew, too, that it was his duty to fit them for 
 that gigantic trust as well as his poor means 
 would allow, and he devoted himself to the task 
 with a love and courage that never wearied. To 
 make them honest, moderate, charitable, and self- 
 denying; to teach them (theoretically) the true 
 uses of wealth ; to instruct them thoroughly in 
 the history and laws of England ; to bring them 
 up, if possible, with English sympathies ; to keep 
 their English accent pure ; to train them in the 
 fear of God, the love of knowledge, and the desire 
 of excellence — this was Henry Trefalden's life- 
 long task, and he fulfilled it nobly. 
 
 His boys throve alike in body and in mind. 
 The}^ were both fine fellows; brave, simple, and 
 true. Neither of them would have told a lie to 
 save his life. Saxon was fair, as a Saxon should 
 be. Martin was dark- eyed and olive -skinned
 
 THE PASSING OF A HUNDRED YEARS. 35 
 
 like his mother. Saxon was the more active and 
 athletic ; Martin the more studious. As they 
 grew older, Saxon became an expert mountaineer, 
 rifle-shot, and chamois-hunter; Martin declared 
 his wish to enter the Lutheran church. So the 
 elder brother stayed at home, ploughing and 
 planting, sowing and reaping, shooting and fish- 
 ing, like his father and grandfather before him ; 
 and the younger trudged away one morning with 
 his alpenstock in his hand and his wallet on his 
 back, bound for Geneva. 
 
 Time went on. Henry Trefalden died; young 
 Saxon became the head of the family ; and Martin 
 returned from the University to accept a curacy 
 distant about eight miles from home. By-and- 
 by, the good old priest who had been the boys' 
 schoolmaster long years before, also passed away ; 
 and Martin became pastor in his native place. 
 The brothers now lived with their mother in the 
 dilapidated chateau, fulfilling each his little round 
 of duties, and desiring nothing beyond them. 
 They were very happy. That quiet valley was 
 their world. Those Alps bounded all their de- 
 sires. They knew there was a great legacy 
 
 D 2
 
 60 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 accumulating in England, which might ftill to 
 Saxon^s share some day, if he lived long enough ; 
 but the time was so far distant, and the whole 
 story seemed so dim and fabulous, that unless to 
 laugh over it together in the evening, when they 
 sat smoking their long pipes side by side under 
 the trellised vines, the brothers never thought or 
 spoke of the wealth which might yet be theirs. 
 Thus more time went on, and old Madame Tre- 
 falden died, and the bachelor brothers were left 
 alone in the little grey chateau. It was now 
 1830. In thirty more years the great legacy 
 would fall due, and which of them might then be 
 living to inherit it ? Saxon was already a florid 
 bald-headed mountaineer of forty-seven ; Martin, 
 a grey-haired priest of forty-four. AVhat was to 
 be done? 
 
 Sitting by their own warm hearth one bleak 
 winter's evening, the two old bachelors took these 
 questions into grave consideration. On the table 
 between them lay a faded parchment copy of the 
 alderman's last will and testament. It was once 
 the property of worthy Captain Jacob, and had 
 remained in the family ever since. They had
 
 THE PASSING OF A HUXDEED YEAES. 37 
 
 brought this out to aid their deliberations, and 
 had read it through carefully, from beginning to 
 end — without, perhaps, being very much the wiser. 
 
 " It TTould surely go to thee, Martin, if I died 
 first/^ said the elder brother. 
 
 '^ Thou^lt not die first,'^ replied the younger, 
 confidently. ^' Thou'rt as young, Sax, as thou 
 wert twenty years ago/^ 
 
 " But in the course of nature . . . ^' 
 
 '^ In the course of nature the stronger stuff 
 outlasts the weaker. See how much heartier you 
 are than myself? " 
 
 Saxon Trefalden shook his head. 
 
 ^' That^s not the question,^^ said he. '' The 
 real point is, icoiild the money fall to thee ? I 
 think it would. It says here, ^ in total exclusion 
 of the younger branches of my family and their de- 
 scendants.'' Mark that — ' the younger branches,^ 
 -.lartin. Thou^rt not a younger branch. Thou^rt 
 of the elder branch." 
 
 " Ay, brother, but what runs before? Go back 
 a line, and thou ^It see it says ^ to the direct heir 
 male of the eldest son of my eldest son.' Now, 
 thou 'rt the eldest son of the eldest son, and I am
 
 88 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 not thy direct male heir. I am only thy younger 
 brother.^^ 
 
 '^ That 's true/^ replied Saxon. " It seems to 
 read both ways." 
 
 '' All law matters seem to read both Avays, 
 Sax/^ said the priest ; '^ and are intended to read 
 both ways, 'tis my belief, for the confusion of the 
 world. But why puzzle ourselves about the will 
 at all ? We can only understand the plain fact 
 that thou art the direct heir, and that the fortune 
 must be thine, thirty years hence, if thou 'rt alive 
 to claim it.^^ 
 
 Saxon shrugged his broad shoulders, and lit 
 his pipe with a fragment of blazing pine wood 
 picked from the fire. 
 
 " Pish ! at seventy-seven years of age, if I am 
 alive ! " he exclaimed. ^' Of what good would it 
 be to me ? '^ 
 
 Martin made no reply, and they were both 
 silent for several minutes. Then the pastor stole 
 a furtive glance at his brother, coughed, stared 
 steadily at the fire, and said : — 
 
 " There is but one course for it. Sax. Thou 
 must marry .^^
 
 THE PASSING OF A HUNDRED YEARS. 39 
 
 " Marry ! " echoed the stout farmer, all aghast. 
 
 The pastor nodded. 
 
 " :\Iarry ? At my time of life ? At forty- 
 
 sey No, thank you^ brother. Not if I 
 
 know it.^^ 
 
 " Our poor father always desired it/' said 
 Martin. 
 
 Saxon took no notice. 
 
 " And it is in some sense thy duty to provide 
 an heir to this fortune which ..." 
 
 " The fortune be . . . I beg thy pardon, 
 Martin ; but what can it matter to thee or 
 me what becomes of the fortune after we are 
 both dead and gone ? It would go to found 
 charities, and do good somehow and somewhere. 
 Twould be in better hands than mine, I ^11 
 engage.'' 
 
 " I am not so sure of that,'' replied the pastor. 
 '' Public charities do not always do as much good 
 as private ones. Besides, I should like to think 
 that a portion of that great sum might be devoted 
 hereafter to the benefit of our poor brethren in 
 Switzerland. I should like to think that by-and- 
 by there might be a good road made between
 
 40 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 Tamins and Flims ; and that the poor herdsmen 
 at Altfelden might have a chapel of their own, 
 instead of toiling hither eight long miles every 
 Sabbath : and that a bridge might be built over 
 the Hinter Rhine down by Ortenstein, where 
 poor Riitli's children w^ere drowned last winter 
 when crossing by the ferry." 
 
 Saxon smoked on in silence. 
 
 " All this might be done, and more," added the 
 pastor, ^' if thou wouldst marry, and bring up a 
 son to inherit the fortune." 
 
 " Humph ! " ejaculated the farmer, looking 
 very grim. 
 
 ^' Besides," said Martin, timidly, " we w^ant a 
 woman in the house." 
 
 " What for ? " growled Saxon. 
 
 ''To keep us tidy and civilised," replied the 
 pastor. " Things were very different. Sax, when 
 our dear mother was with us. The house does 
 not look like the same place." 
 
 " There 's old Lotsch," muttered Saxon. " He 
 docs as well as any woman. He cooks, makes 
 bread ..." 
 
 *' Cooks ? " remonstrated the younger brother.
 
 THE PASSING OF A HUNDRED YEARS. 41 
 
 ^' AVhy, the kid to-day Tras nearly raw, 
 and the mutton yesterday was baked to a 
 cinder." 
 
 The honest farmer stroked his beard, and 
 sighed. He could not contradict that stubborn 
 statement. ^lartin saw his advantage, and fol- 
 lowed it up. 
 
 " There is but one remedy," he said, " and that 
 a plain one. As I told thee before, Sax, thou 
 must marry. ^Tis thy duty.'' 
 
 " Whom can I marry ? " faltered Saxon, dole- 
 fully. 
 
 "Well, I've thought of that, too," rejoined 
 the pastor, in an encouraging tone. " There ^s 
 the eldest daughter of our neighbour Clauss. 
 She is a good, prudent, housewifely maiden, and 
 would suit thee exactly." 
 
 The elder brother made a wry face. 
 
 " She 's thirty-five, if slie 's an hour," said he, 
 '' and no beauty." 
 
 " Brother Saxon," replied the pastor, "I am 
 ashamed of thee. " What does a sensible man of 
 seven-and-forty want with youth and beauty in a 
 wife ? Besides, Marie Clauss is only thirty-two.
 
 42 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 I made particular inquiry about lier age this 
 morning." 
 
 "Why not marry her yourself^ Martin? " said the 
 farmer. " I 'm sure that would do quite as well." 
 
 " My dear Saxon, only look again at the will, 
 and observe that it is the direct heir male of the 
 eldest son of the eldest son ..." 
 
 Saxon Trefalden pitched his pipe into the fire, 
 and sprang to his feet with an exclamation that 
 sounded very like an oath. 
 
 " Enough, brother, enough ! " he interrupted. 
 " Say no more — put the will away — I '11 go down 
 to the Bergthal to-morrow, and ask her." 
 
 And so Saxon Trefalden put on his Sunday 
 coat the following morning, and went forth like a 
 lamb to the sacrifice. 
 
 " Perhaps she '11 refuse me," thought he, as he 
 knocked at Farmer Clauss^s door, and caught a 
 glimpse of the fair Marie at an upper casement. 
 
 But that inexorable virgin did nothing of the 
 kind. 
 
 She married him. 
 
 There were no ill- cooked dinners after that 
 happy event had taken place. The old house
 
 THE PASSING OF A HUNDRED YEARS. 4o 
 
 became a marvel of cleanliness, and the bride 
 proved herself a very Phoenix of prudence and 
 housewiferv. She reformed everything — in- 
 cluding the hapless brothers themselves. She 
 banished their pipes, condemned old Carlo to his 
 kennel, made stringent by-laws on the subject of 
 boots, changed the hour of every meal, and, in 
 short, made them both miserable. Worst of all, 
 she was childless. This was their bitterest disap- 
 pointment. They had given up their pipes, their 
 peace, and their liberty, for nothing. Poor 
 Martin always looked very guilty if any allusion 
 happened to be made to this subject. 
 
 Matters went on thus for seven years, and 
 then, to the amazement of the village, and the 
 delight of the brothers, Madame Marie made her 
 husband the happy father of a fine boy. Such a 
 glorious baby was never seen ! He had fair hair 
 and blue eyes, and his father^s nose ; and they 
 christened him Saxon ; and the bells were rung ; 
 and the heir to the great fortune was born at 
 last!
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ANNO DOMINI 1860. 
 
 Two persons sat together in a first-floor room 
 overlooking Chancery Lane. The afternoon sky 
 was grey, and cold, and dull ; and the room was 
 greyer, colder, duller than the sky. Every thiug 
 about the place looked sordid and neglected. 
 The rain-channelled smoke of years had crusted 
 on the windows. The deed-boxes on the shelves 
 behind the door, the shabby books in the book- 
 case opposite the fireplace, the yellow map that 
 hung over the mantelpiece, the tape-tied papers 
 on the table, were all thickly coated with white 
 dust. There was nothing fresh or bright within 
 those four walls, except a huge green safe with 
 panelled iron doors and glittering scutcheons, 
 fixed into a recess beside the fireplace. There 
 were only two old-fashioned, horse-hair covered
 
 ANNO DOMINI 1800. 45 
 
 chairs in the room. There was not even a carpet 
 on the floor. A more comfortless phice could 
 scarcely be conceived beyond the walls of a prison ; 
 and jet, perhaps, it was not more comfortless than 
 such places generally are. 
 
 It was the private room of William Trefalden, 
 Esquire, attorney at law, and it opened out from 
 the still drearier office in which his clerks were 
 at work. There was a clock in each room, and 
 an almanack on each mantelshelf. The hands of 
 both clocks pointed to half-past four, and the 
 almanacks both proclaimed that it was the 
 second day of March, a.d. eighteen hundred 
 and sixty. 
 
 The two persons sitting together in the inner 
 chamber were the lawyer and one of his clients. 
 Placed as he was with his back to the window 
 and his face partly shaded by his hand, Mr. Tre- 
 falden^s features were scarcely distinguishable in 
 the gathering gloom of the afternoon. His cUent 
 — a stout, pale man, with a forest of iron-grey 
 hair about his massive temples — sat opposite, 
 with the light full upon his face, and his hands 
 crossed on the knob of his umbrella.
 
 46 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 '' I have come to talk to you, Mr. Trefalden," 
 said he, " about that Castletowers mortgage." 
 
 "The Castletowers mortgage ?" repeated Mr. 
 Trefalden. 
 
 "Yes — I think I could do better with mv 
 money." 
 
 The lawyer shifted round a little farther from 
 the light, and drew his hand a little lower over 
 his eyes. 
 
 " What better do you think you could do with 
 your money, Mr. Behrens ? " he said, after a mo- 
 ment's pause. " It is an excellent investment. 
 The Castletowers estate is burthened with no 
 other incumbrance; and what can you desire 
 better than five per cent, secured on landed 
 property ? " 
 
 " I have nothing to say against it, as an in- 
 vestment,'' replied the client; ^'but— I prefer 
 something else." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden looked up with a keen, inquiring 
 glance. 
 
 "You are too wise a man, I am sure, Mr. 
 Behrens," said he, " to let yourself be tempted 
 by any unsafe rate of interest."
 
 ANNO DOMINI 18G0. 47 
 
 The client smiled grimly. 
 
 '•' You are too wise a man, I should hope, Mr. 
 Trefalden/' rejoined he, "to suspect Oliver 
 Behrens of any such folly ? No, the fact is that 
 five per cent, is no longer of such importance to 
 me as it was seven years ago, and I have a 
 mind to lay out that twenty-five thousand upon 
 land.^^ 
 
 " Upon land ? " echoed the lawyer. " My dear 
 sir, it would scarcely bring you three and a half 
 per cent." 
 
 " I know that," replied the client. '• I can 
 afford it." 
 
 There was another brief silence.] 
 
 " You will not give notice, I suppose," said Mr. 
 Trefalden, quietly, ^' till you have seen something 
 which you think likely to suit you." 
 
 " I have seen something already," replied Mr. 
 Behrens. 
 
 'indeed?" 
 
 '^ Yes j in Worcestershire — one hundred and 
 thirty miles from London." 
 
 " Is that not somewhat far for a man of 
 business, Mr. Behrens ? "
 
 48 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 " No, I have my box in Surrej^, you know, ad- 
 joining the Castletowers grounds." 
 
 ''True. Have you tal^en any steps towards 
 this purchase." 
 
 " I have given your address to the lawyers ia 
 whose care the papers are left, and have desired 
 them to communicate with you upon the subject. 
 I trust to you to see that the title is all as it should 
 be.'^ 
 
 Mr. Trefaiden slightly bent his head. 
 
 " I will give you my best advice upon it,'^ he 
 replied. " In the meantime, I presume, j^ou 
 would wish to give notice of your desire to call 
 in your mone}^" 
 
 "Precisely what I came here to do." 
 
 Mr. Trefaiden took up a pen, and an oblong 
 slip of paper. 
 
 '^ You will allow twelve months, of course ? " 
 said he, interrogatively. 
 
 " Certainly not. Why should I ? Only six 
 are stipulated for in the deed." 
 
 '' True ; but courtesy ..." 
 
 '' Tush ! this is a matter of law, not courtesy," 
 interrupted the client.
 
 ANNO DomNi 1860. 49 
 
 " Still, I fear it would prove a serious incon- 
 venience to Lord Castletowers/^ remonstrated 
 the lawyer. '' Twenty-five thousand pounds is a 
 large sum." 
 
 '• Lord Castletowers' convenience is nothing* to 
 me/'^ replied the other, abruptly. ''Vm. a man of 
 the people, ]\Ir. Trefaldeu. I have no respect for 
 coronets.' 
 
 "Very possible, Mr. Behrens," said Trefalden, 
 in the same subdued tone; "but you may re- 
 member that your interest has been paid with 
 scrupulous regularity, and that it is a very hard 
 matter for a poor nobleman — Lord Castletowers 
 IS poor — to find so heavy a sum as twenty-five 
 thousand pounds at only six months^ notice." 
 
 " He did not think it too short when he gave 
 me the bond/' said Mr. Behrens. 
 
 " He wanted money," replied Mr. Trefalden, 
 with a scarcely perceptible shrug of the shoulders. 
 
 " 'Well, and now I want it. Come, come, Mr. 
 Trefaldeu, Lord Castletowers is your client, and 
 no doubt you would like to oblige him ; but I 
 am your client too — and a better one than he is, 
 ni be bound ! " 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 50 HALF A MILLION OP MONEY. 
 
 " I trusty Mr. Behrens, that I should never 
 seek to oblige one client at the expense of another/^ 
 said the lawyer, stiffly. "If you think that I 
 would, you wrong me greatly/' 
 
 " I think, sir, that, like most other folks, you 
 have more respect for a lord than a woolstapler/' 
 answered the man of the people, with a hard 
 smile; "but I don't blame you for it. You're 
 a professional man, and all professional men have 
 those prejudices." 
 
 "I beg your pardon," said Mr. Trefalden. "I 
 have none. I am the son of a merchant, and my 
 family have all been merchants for generations. 
 But this is idle. Let us proceed with our business. 
 I am to take your instructions, Mr. Behrens, to 
 serve Lord Castletowers with a notice of your 
 determination to foreclose the mortgage in six 
 months' time if your mortgage money is not 
 repaid ? " 
 
 Mr. Behrens nodded, and the lawyer made a 
 note of the matter. 
 
 "I am also to understand that should Lord 
 Castletowers request a further delay of six months 
 you would not be disposed to grant it ? "
 
 ANNO DOMINI ISGO. 51 
 
 " Certainly not/' 
 
 Mr. Trefalden laid his pen aside. 
 
 "If he can't find the money/' said the wool- 
 stapler, "let him sell the old place. Fll buy 
 it.'' 
 
 " Shall I tell his lordship so ? " asked Mr. Tre- 
 falden, -uith a slight touch of sarcasm in his 
 voice. 
 
 " If you like. But it won't come to that, Mr. 
 Trefalden. You're a rich man — aha ! you needn't 
 shake your head — you're a rich man, and you'll 
 lend him the money." 
 
 " Indeed you are quite mistaken, Mr. Behrens,'' 
 replied the lawyer, rising. " I am a very poor man." 
 
 " Ay, you say so, of course ; but I know what 
 the world thinks of your poverty, Mr. Trefalden. 
 Well, good morning. You're looking pale, sir. 
 You work too hard, and think too much. That's 
 the way with you clever saving men. You should 
 take care of yourself." 
 
 "Pshaw ! how can a bachelor take care of hirr- 
 self ? " asked Mr. Trefalden, with a faint smile, 
 
 "True; you should look out for an heiress." 
 
 The lawyer shook his head. 
 
 E 2 
 
 UBRARf ...^ 
 
 iJMSVERSFnW««W»
 
 52 HALF A ]\IILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 ^^No, no/^ said he, ^'I prefer my liberty. Good 
 morning.''^ 
 
 " Good morning/' 
 
 Mr. Trefalden ushered his client through the 
 office, listened for a moment to his heavy footfall 
 going down the stairs, hastened back to his private 
 room, and shut the door. 
 
 " Good God ! '' exclaimed he, in a low agitated 
 tone, " what's to be done now ? This is ruin — 
 ruin ! " 
 
 He took three or four restless turns about the 
 room, then flung himself into his chair, and buried 
 his face in his hands. 
 
 " He might well say that I looked pale," mut- 
 tered he. " I felt pale. It came upon me like 
 a thunderstroke. / a rich man, indeed ! / with 
 twenty-five thousand pounds at command ! Mer- 
 ciful powers ! what can I do ? To whom can I 
 turn for it ? What security have I to give ? Only 
 six months' notice, too. I am lost ! I am lost ! " 
 
 He rose, and went to the great safe beside the 
 fireplace. His hand trembled so that he could 
 scarcely fit the key to the lock. He threw back 
 one of the heavy iron-panelled doors, and brought
 
 AXXO DOMINI 18 CO. 53 
 
 out a folded parchment, with the words " Deed of 
 ^Mortgage between Gervase Leopold Wynnecliffe, 
 Earl of Castletoivers, and Oliver BehrenSj Esq., of 
 Bread Street, London,'' written upon the outer 
 side. Opening this document upon the desk, he 
 resumed his seat, and read it carefully through 
 from beginning to end. As he did so, the trouble 
 deepened and deepened on his face, and his cheek 
 grew still more deathly. When he came to the 
 signature at the end, he pushed it from him with 
 a bitter sigh. 
 
 '^Not a flaw in it ! " he groaned. "No pretext 
 for putting off the evil day for even a week beyond 
 the time ! What a fool I was to think I could 
 ever replace it ! And yet what could I do ? I 
 wanted it. If it were to do again to-morrow, I 
 should do it. Yes, by Heaven ! I should, be the 
 consequences what they might." 
 
 He paused, rose again, took a letter from the 
 table, and stood looking for some moments at the 
 signature. 
 
 " Oliver Behrens ! '^ he mused. " A bold hand, 
 with something of the German character in that 
 little twist at the top of the O , a hand not
 
 54 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 difficult to imitate, either ! If, now, one only 
 dared to frame an endorsement — but then there 
 
 are the witnesses No, no, impossible ! Better 
 
 expatriation than such a risk as that. If the 
 worst comes to the worst, there's always America." 
 And with this he sank down iuto his chair 
 again, rested his chin upon his open palms, and 
 fell into a deep and silent train of thought.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 RESOLVED. 
 
 As William Trefalden sat in his little dismal 
 private room, wearily thinking, the clouds in the 
 sky parted towards the west, and the last gleam 
 of daylight fell upon his face. Such a pale eager 
 face as it was, too, with a kind of strange beauty 
 in it that no merely vulgar eye would have seen 
 at all. To the majority of persons, William Tre- 
 falden was simply a gentlemanly "clever-looking" 
 man. Attracted by the upright wall of forehead, 
 which literally overbalanced the proportions of 
 his face, they scarcely observed the delicacy of 
 his other features. The clear pallor of his com- 
 plexion, the subtle moulding of his mouth and 
 chin, were altogether disregarded by those super- 
 ficial observers. Even his eyes, large, brown, lu- 
 minous as they Averc, lost much of their splendour
 
 56 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 beneath that superincumbent weight of brow. 
 His age was thirty-eight; but he looked older. 
 His hair was thick and dark, and sprinkled lightly 
 here and there with silver. Though slender, he 
 was particularly well made — so well made, that it 
 seemed impossible to him to move ungracefully. 
 His hands were white and supple ; his voice low ; 
 his manner grave and polished. A very keen 
 and practised eye might, perhaps, have detected a 
 singular sub-current of nervous excitability beneath 
 that gravity and polish — a nervous excitability 
 which it had been the business of WilUam Tre- 
 falden's whole life to conquer and conceal, and 
 which none of those around him were Lavaters 
 enough to discover. The ice of a studied reserve 
 had effectually crusted over that fire. His own 
 clerks, who saw him daily for three hundred and 
 thirteen dreary days in every dreary year, had no 
 more notion of their employer's inner life than 
 the veriest strangers who brushed past him along 
 the narrow footway of Chancery Lane. They sav/ 
 him only as others saw him. They thought of 
 him only as others thought of him. They knew 
 that he had a profound and extensive knowledge
 
 EESOLYED. 57 
 
 of his profession, an iron Tyill_, and an inexhaust- 
 ible reserve of energy. They knew that he would 
 sit chained to his desk for twelve and fourteen 
 hours at a time, when there was urgent business 
 to be done. They knew that he wore a shabby 
 coat, lunched every day on a couple of dry bis- 
 cuits, made no friends, accepted no invitations, 
 and kept his private address a dead secret, even 
 from his head clerk. To them he was a grave, 
 plodding, careful, clever man, somewhat parsimo- 
 nious as to his expenditure, provokingly reticent 
 as to his private habits, and evidently bent on the 
 accumulation of riches. They were about as 
 correct in their conclusions, as the conclave of 
 cardinals which elected Pope Sixtus the Fifth for 
 no other merits than his supposed age and infir- 
 mities. 
 
 Lost in anxious thought, William Trefalden sat 
 at his desk in the same attitude till dusk came 
 on, and the lamps were lighted in the thorough- 
 fare below. Once or twice he sighed, or stirred 
 uneasily ; but his eyes never wandered from their 
 fixed stare, and his head was never lifted from his 
 hands. At length he seemed to come to a suddea
 
 58 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 resolution. He rose^ rang the bell, crumpled up 
 the memorandum wliicli he had written according 
 to Mr. Behrens' instructions, and flung it into 
 the fire. 
 
 The door opened, and a red-headed clerk made 
 his appearance. 
 
 "Let my office lamp be brought," said Mr. 
 Trefalden, " and ask Mr. Keckwitch to step this 
 way.'' 
 
 The clerk vanished, and was succeeded by Mr. 
 Keckwitch, who came in with the lighted lamp in 
 his hand. 
 
 " Put the shade over it, Keckwitch," exclaimed 
 Mr. Trefalden, impatiently, as the glare fell full 
 upon his face. '* It's enough to blind one ! " 
 
 The head clerk obeyed slowly, looking at his em- 
 ployer all the while from beneath his eye -lashes. 
 
 " You sent for me, sir ? '' he asked, huskily. 
 
 He was a short, fat, pallid man, with no more 
 neck than a Schiedam bottle. His eyes were 
 small and almost colourless. His ears had held 
 so many generations of pens that they stood out 
 from his head like the handles of a classic vase; 
 and his voice was always husky.
 
 PcESOLVED. 59 
 
 '' Yes. Do YOU know where to lay your band 
 upon that old copy of my great-grandfather^s will? " 
 
 " Jacob Trefalden of Basingball street, seven- 
 teen hundred and sixty ? " 
 
 Mr. Trefalden nodded. 
 
 The head clerk took the subject into placid 
 consideration, and drummed thoughtfully with 
 his fat fingers upon the most prominent portion 
 of his waistcoat. 
 
 " AYell, sir/^ he admitted, after a brief pause, 
 " I wonH say that I may not be able to find it.^' 
 
 " Do so, if you please. "Who is in the office ? ^' 
 
 " Only Mr. Gorkin.^' 
 
 " Desire Gorkin to run out and fetch rne a 
 Continental Bradshaw.'' 
 
 Mr. Keckwitch retired ; despatched the red- 
 headed clerk ; took down a bundle of dusty 
 papers from a still dustier corner cupboard; 
 brought forth the copy for which his employer had 
 just inquired, and slipped the same within the 
 lid of his desk. Having done this, he took another 
 armful of mouldy papers from another shelf of the 
 same cupboard, and littered them all about the 
 desk and floor. Just as he had completed these
 
 60 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 arrangements, Gorkin returned, breathless, with 
 the volume in his hand, and Mr. Keckwitch took 
 it in. 
 
 " And the copy ? ^^ said Mr. Trefalden, without 
 lifting his eyes from an old book of maps over 
 which he was bending. 
 
 '' I am looking for it, sir,'^ replied the head 
 clerk. 
 
 " Very good.'' 
 
 " Gorkin may go, I suppose, sir ? It's more 
 than half-past five.-'' 
 
 " Of course; and you too, when you have 
 found the deed.'' 
 
 Mr. Keckwitch retired again, released the 
 grateful Gorkin, placed himself at his desk, and 
 proceeded with much deliberation to read the 
 will. 
 
 '' What's at the bottom of it ? " muttered he, 
 presently, as he paused with one fat finger on 
 the opening sentence. '^What's wrong? Some- 
 thing. I heard it in his voice. I saw it in his 
 face. And he knew I should see it, too, when 
 he called out about the shade. What is it ? 
 Whaf s he peering into those maps about ? Why
 
 \ 
 
 RESOLVED. 61 
 
 does he want this copy ? He never asked for it 
 before. There ain" t a farthing coming to him, I 
 know. I've read it before. But Til read it 
 again, for all that. A man can never know too 
 much of his employer's private affairs. Not 
 much chance of learning a great deal of his, 
 either. Confounded private he keeps ^em.^^ 
 
 He read on a little farther, and then paused 
 again. 
 
 ^^ Why did he send for that Continental Brad- 
 shaw ? '' he questioned to himself. " Why can I 
 go, too, when there's plenty to be done here, and 
 he knows it ? He wants me gone. Why ? Where^3 
 he goin' himself? What^s he up to? Abel 
 Keckwitch, Abel Keckwitch, my best of friends, 
 keep your weather eye open ! '' 
 
 And with this apostrophe he returned to tlie 
 deed, and proceeded with it sedulously. 
 
 '- Well, Keckwitch,'^ cried Mr. Trefalden, from 
 the inner room, ^' have you found the copy ? ^' 
 
 ''Xot yet, sir,^^ replied the trusty fellow, who 
 was then rather more than half way through it. 
 " But I've turned out a boxful of old papers, and 
 I think I shall be sure ...'''
 
 62 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 '^Enough. Look closely for it, and bring it 
 as soon as it turns up/' 
 
 " It will turn up/' murmured Mr. Keckwitcli, 
 " as soon as I have finished it." 
 
 And so it did, about five minutes after, when 
 Mr. Keckwitch made his appearance with it at 
 his master's door. 
 
 " Pound ? That's right ! " exclaimed the lawyer, 
 putting out his hand eagerly. 
 
 " I won''t be sure, sir, till you've looked at it," 
 replied the head clerk, with becoming modesty. 
 
 Mr. Trefalden's fingers closed on the parch- 
 ment, but his eyes flashed keenly into the lustre- 
 less orbs of Mr. Abel Keckwitch, and rested 
 there a moment before they reverted to the 
 endorsement. 
 
 " Humph ! " said he, in a slightly altered 
 tone. " Yes — it's quite right, thank you. Good 
 night." 
 
 " Good night, sir." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden looked after him suspiciously, 
 and continued to do so, even when the door had 
 been closed between them. 
 
 '' The man's false," said he. " None but spies
 
 RESOLVED. 63 
 
 have so little curiosity. I sliouldn^t wonder if 
 he has read every line.^' 
 
 Then he rose, locked the door, trimmed the 
 lamp, dismissed the subject from his thoughts, 
 and began to read the will. As he read, his 
 brow darkened, and his lip grew stern. Pre- 
 sently he pushed the deed aside, and jotted 
 down row after row of cyphers on a piece of 
 blotting-paper. Then he went back to the deed, 
 and back again to the cyphers, and every moment 
 the frown settled deeper and deeper on his brow. 
 Such a complex train of hopes and doubts, spe- 
 culations and calculations as were traversing the 
 mazes of that busy brain ! Sometimes he pon- 
 dered in silence. Sometimes he muttered through 
 his teeth ; but so inaudibly that had there even 
 been a listener at the door (as perhaps there was) 
 that listener would not have been a syllable the 
 wiser. 
 
 He took up a little almanack printed on a 
 card, and glanced at the number of days inter- 
 vening between the fourth and twenty-second of 
 !March. There were just eighteen. Just eighteen 
 days to the expiration of this long, long century.
 
 64 HALF A MILLION OF IMONEY. 
 
 during wliicli Jacob Trefalden^s half million had 
 been accumulating, interest upon interest — during 
 which whole generations had been born, and lived, 
 and had passed away ! Good Heavens ! to what a 
 sum it had grown. It amounted now to nine 
 million, five hundred and fifty- two thousand, four 
 hundred and odd pounds ! Words — mere words ! 
 Words which no brain can distinctly realise. He 
 might as well have tried to realise the distance 
 between the sun and the earth. And this gigantic 
 bequest was to be divided between a charity and 
 an heir. Half! Even the half baffled him. 
 Even the half amounted to four million, seven 
 hundred and seventy-six thousand, two hundred 
 and odd pounds. Pshaw ! both sums were so 
 immense, that the one produced no more effect 
 upon his imagination than the other. 
 
 He took up his pen, and made a rapid calcu- 
 lation. Supposing it were taken as an income at 
 five per cent. ? Ha ! one could grasp that, at all 
 events. It would produce about two hundred 
 and thirty-eight thousand pounds a year. Two 
 hundred and thirty-eight thousand a year ! A 
 splendid revenue, truly ; yet less than the income
 
 RESOLVED. 65 
 
 enjoyed by many an Englisli nobleman ; and not 
 one penny more tban might be very easily and 
 pleasantly spent by even a poor devil of an 
 attorney like himself ! 
 
 It might have been his own, that princely 
 heritage — nay, would have been, but for the ac- 
 cursed accident of birth ! It might have been 
 his; and now to whom w^ould it fall? To a 
 stranger — an alien — probably to an uncultivated 
 boor, ignorant of the very language of his fore- 
 fathers ! Oh, the bitter injustice of it ! Had 
 not he at least as fair a right to this wealth? 
 Did not he stand in precisely the same degree of 
 relationship to the giver of it ? By what law of 
 natural justice was the descendant of the eldest 
 son to revel in superfluity, while he, the de- 
 scendant of the youngest, stood on the brink of 
 ruin ? Had it even been left for division between 
 the survivors, both might have been rich ; but 
 now 
 
 He rose, pale and agitated, and paced restlessly 
 about the room. 
 
 But now, was it not evident that this heir was 
 his born foe and despoiler, and had he not the
 
 66 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 right to hate him ? Was not the hand of the 
 desperate man against all men, even from the 
 very beginning ; but was it not first raised against 
 those who had wronged him the deepest ? 
 William Trefalden was a desperate man. Had 
 he not appropriated that twenty-five thousand 
 pounds paid over to him by Lord Castletowers 
 two years ago for the liquidation of the mort- 
 gage, and did not ruin and discovery stare him in 
 the face ? 'having hazarded name and safety on 
 one terrible die known only to himself, should he 
 now hesitate to declare war upon his enemy, who 
 was the possessor of millions ? 
 
 He smiled a strange smile of power and defiance, 
 and ran his finger along the black lines on the 
 map. From Dover to Calais — from Calais, by 
 traiu, to Basle — Basle to Zurich — Zurich to 
 Chur. At Chur the railways terminate. It 
 could not be far beyond Chur where these emi- 
 grant Trefaldens dwelt. It would take him three 
 days to get there, perhaps three and a half — 
 perhaps four. He would start to-morrow. 
 
 His decision once taken, William Trefalden 
 became in a moment cool and methodical as ever.
 
 RESOLVED. 67 
 
 All trace of excitement vanished from liis face, 
 as a breath clears from the surface of a mirror. 
 He thrust the Bradshaw in his pocket, scribbled 
 a hasty note to his head clerk, carefully burned 
 the cyphered blotting-paper in the flame of the 
 candle, and watched it expire among the dead 
 ashes in the fireplace ; locked his desk ; tried the 
 fastenings of the safe ; glanced at the clock, and 
 prepared to be gone. 
 
 '' A quarter to seven already ! " exclaimed he, 
 as he unlocked the door. " I shall be late to- 
 night ! " 
 
 He had spoken aloud, believing himself alone, 
 but stopped at the sight of Mr. Keckwitch, busily 
 writing. 
 
 '' You here, Keckwitch ! '' he said, frowning. 
 " I told you you might go.^'' 
 
 " You did, sir,^' replied the scribe, placidly ; 
 "but there was Hey wood and Bennett's deed of 
 partnership to be drawn up, so I would not take 
 advantage of your kindness.^' 
 
 Trefalden bit his lip. 
 
 " I had just written a line to you,'' he said, 
 " to let you know that I am going out of town 
 
 F 2
 
 (58 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. ^ 
 
 for a fortnight. Forward all letters marked 
 private.'^ 
 
 '' Where to, sir ? '' 
 
 " You will find the address here."'^ 
 
 And Mr. Trefalden tossed the note down upon 
 the clerk's desk, and turned towards the door. 
 
 " Glad j^ou're going to allow yourself a little 
 pleasure for once, sir/^ observed Mr. Keck witch, 
 without the faintest gleam of surprise or curiosity 
 on his impassive countenance. " Begging pardon 
 for the liberty/^ 
 
 His employer hesitated for an instant before 
 replying. 
 
 " Thank you," he said, " but pleasure is not 
 my object. I go to visit a relation w^hom I have 
 neglected too long. Good night.'^ 
 
 "With this he passed from the room, and went 
 slowly down the stairs. In the passage he paused 
 to listen; and when in the street, stepped out 
 into the middle of the thoroughfare to look up 
 at the windows. 
 
 *^ Strange ! ^^ muttered he ; " but I never 
 suspected that fellow so strongly as I do to- 
 night ! "
 
 RESOLVED. 69 
 
 He tlien glanced right and left, buttoned his 
 coat across his chest, for the March wind blew 
 keenly, and walked briskly up the lane, in the 
 direction of Holborn. As he neared the top of 
 the street, close to its junction with the great 
 thoroughfare, a thought struck him, and he flung 
 himself back, by a rapid movement, into the 
 recess of an old-fashioned doorway. There was 
 no lamp within several yards. The doorway was 
 dark and deep as a sentry box. There, with 
 eager ear and bated breath, he waited. 
 
 Presently, apart from the deep hum of traffic 
 close by, he heard a footstep coming up — a foot- 
 step so light and swift that at first he thought 
 he must be mistaken. Then his practised ear 
 detected a labouring wheeze in the breath of the 
 runner. 
 
 "The scoundrel !^^ ejaculated he, poised his 
 right arm, set his teeth, and stood ready for a 
 spring. 
 
 The signals of distress grew more distinct. The 
 step slackened — ceased — drew near again — and 
 Mr. Abel Keckwitch, panting and bewildered, 
 made his appearance just opposite the doorway.
 
 70 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 evidently baffled by the disappearance of its 
 occupant. 
 
 He was not long left in doubt. Swift as a 
 panther, William Trefalden swooped down upon 
 his man, and dealt him a short powerful blow that 
 sent him reeling, pale and giddy, against the w^all. 
 It was surprising what muscles of steel and 
 knuckles of iron lay perdu beneath the white 
 superficies of that supple hand. 
 
 '^ Dog !" said he, fiercely, " do you dare to spy 
 at my heels ? This is not the first time Fve 
 suspected you ; but I advise you to let it be the 
 last time I convict you. Ay, you may scowl, but, 
 by the Heaven above me ! if I catch you at this 
 game again, you'll repent it to your dying day. 
 There ! be thankful that I let you off" so cheaply." 
 
 And having said this, William Trefalden walked 
 coolly away without vouchsafing so much as a 
 glance to a couple of delighted boys who stood 
 watching the performance from the opposite side 
 of the street. 
 
 As for Abel Keckwitch, he recovered his breath 
 and his equilibrium as well as he could, though 
 the former was a matter of time, and caused him
 
 RESOLYED. 71 
 
 to sit down, ignominiously, on the nearest door- 
 step. When, at length, he was in a condition to 
 retrace his steps, he rose, shook his fat fist in a 
 passion of impotent rage, and indulged in a volley 
 of curses, not loud but deep. 
 
 '^ ril be even with you/^ gasped he, more 
 huskily than ever. " I'll be even with you, Mr. 
 Trefalden, if I die for it ! You've something to 
 hide, but you shan't hide it from me. I'll know 
 where you live, and what you do with your 
 money. I'll find out the secret of your life 
 before I've done with you, and then let us see 
 which will be master ! '*
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE CHATEAU ROTZBERG. 
 
 Amid the many hundred miles which it tra- 
 verses from its source in the glacier-land to its 
 dispersion among the border flats of the Zuyder 
 Zee, the great Rhine river flows through no dis- 
 trict so full of strange interest, so wild, so pri- 
 mitive, so untrodden, as that deep and lonely 
 valley that lies between Chur and Thusis in the 
 Canton Grisons. The passing traveller hastening 
 on to the Splugen, the wandering artist eager for 
 Italy, alike hurry past with scarce a glance or a 
 thought for the grey peaks above, or the stony 
 river-bed below the beaten highway. They little 
 guess what green delicious valleys, what winding 
 ravines, what legend-haunted ruins, and fragrant 
 uplands jewelled with Alp-roses and purple gen- 
 tian blossoms, lie all unsought among the slopes
 
 THE CHATEAU ROTZBERG. 73 
 
 and passes of the mountains round about. Still 
 less do tliey dream that to some of those crumb- 
 ling towers from which the very ivy has long 
 since withered away^ there cling traditions many 
 centuries older than Christ j or that in yonder scat- 
 tered chalets, some of Avhich cluster like swallows' 
 nests on shelves of granite six or eight hundred 
 feet above the level of the valley, there is yet 
 spoken a language unknown to the rest of Europe. 
 Only the historian and archaeologist care to re- 
 member how there lie embedded in that tongue 
 the last fragments of a forgotten language ; and 
 how in the veins of the simple mountaineers who 
 speak it, there yet linger some drops of the blood 
 of a lost, a mighty, and a mysterious people. 
 
 Thus it happened that William Trefalden, who 
 was neither an archseologist nor an historian, but 
 only a brilliant, unscrupulous man of the world, 
 every fibre of whose active brain was busy just 
 then with a thousand projects, neither knew, nor 
 cared to know any of these things ; but took his 
 way up the valley of Domleschg without bestowing 
 a thought upon its people or traditions. 
 
 It was about three o^clock iu the afternoon of
 
 74 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 the fourth day from that on which he left London. 
 He had been on the road two nights out of the 
 three ; and yet his eye looked none the less 
 bright, and his cheek none the paler. As he 
 strode along in the deep shade, glancing up from 
 time to time at the sunny heights above his head, 
 his step grew freer, and his bearing more assured 
 than usual. There was not a soil of travel on his 
 garments. The shabby office coat so inseparably 
 associated with its wearer in the minds of his 
 clerks, was discarded for a suit of fashionable cut 
 and indefinite hue, such as the British tourist 
 delighteth to honour. His gloves and linen were 
 faultless. Even his boots, although he was on 
 foot, were almost free from dust. He looked, in 
 short, so well dressed, and so unlike his daily 
 self, that it may be doubted whether even Mr. 
 Abel Keckwitch would have recognised his em- 
 ployer at the first glance, if that astute head-clerk 
 could by any possibility have met him on the 
 way. 
 
 Absorbed in thought as he was, however, Mr. 
 Trefalden paused every now and then to recon- 
 noitre the principal features of the valley, and
 
 THE CHATEAU EOTZBERG. /O 
 
 make certain of liis landmarks. The village 
 from whicli he had started was already left two 
 miles behind ; and_, save a ruined "watch-tower on 
 a pedestal of rock some eighty feet above the 
 level of the road,, there was no accessible building 
 in sight. The Hinter Rhine, with its grey waters 
 still dull from the glacier, ran brawling past him 
 all the way. There were pine forests climbing 
 up the spurs of the mountains 3 and flocks of 
 brown goats, with little tinkling bells about 
 their necks, browsing over the slopes lower 
 down. Far above the sound of these little bells, 
 uplifted, as it were, upon gigantic precipices 
 of bare granite, rose, terrace beyond terrace, a 
 whole upper world of pasture lands, cultivated 
 fields, mossy orchards, and tiny hamlets, which, 
 seen from the valley, looked like carved toys 
 scattered over the sward. Higher still came 
 barren plateaus, groups of stunted firs, and 
 rugged crags, still thickly sheeted with snow^; 
 while far away to the right, where another 
 valley seemed to open westward, rose a mountain 
 loftier than all the rest, from the summit of 
 which a vast glacier hung over in icy folds that
 
 76 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 glittered to the sun, like sculptured drapery 
 depending from the shoulder of some colossal 
 statue. 
 
 But William Trefalden had no eyes for this 
 grand scene. To him, at that moment, the 
 mountains were but sign-posts, and the sun a 
 lamp to light him on his way. He was seeking 
 for a certain roadside shrine behind which, he had 
 been told, he should find a path leading to the 
 Chateau Rotzberg. He knew that he had not yet 
 passed the shrine, and that by this time he must 
 be near it. Presently a chapel-bell chimed from 
 the heights, clear, and sweet, and very distant. 
 He paused to glance at his watch, and then 
 pressed forward more rapidly. It w^as already a 
 quarter to three, and he was anxious to reach his 
 destination before the afternoon should grow much 
 later. There was an abrupt curve in the road a 
 few yards further on. He had been looking for- 
 ward to this point for some minutes, and felt so 
 sure that it must bring him in sight of the path, 
 that when it actually did so, he struck up at once 
 through the scattered pines that fringed the waste 
 ground to the left of the road, and trod the beaten
 
 THE CHATEAU EOTZBERG. 77 
 
 track, as confidently as if he were familiar with 
 every foot of the way. 
 
 As he went on, the sound of the hurrying river 
 died away, and the scattered pines became a thick 
 plantation, fragrant and dusky. Then the ground 
 grew hilly, and was broken up here and there by 
 mossy boulders; and then came open dajdight 
 again, and a space of smooth sward, and a steep 
 pathway leading up to another belt of pines. 
 This second plantation was so precipitous that the 
 path had in some places been laid down with 
 blocks of rough stone, and short lengths of pine 
 trunks, so as to form a kind of primitive stair- 
 case up the mountain-side. The ascent, however, 
 was short, though steep, and Mr. Trefalden had 
 not been climbing it for many minutes before he 
 saw a bright shaft of sunlight piercing the fringed 
 boughs some few yards in advance. Then the moss 
 became suddenly golden beneath his feet, and he 
 found himself on the verge of an open plateau, 
 with the valley lying in deep shade some four 
 hundred feet below. There ran the steel- grey 
 river, eddying but inaudible; there opened the 
 broad Rheinthal, leading away mile after mile into
 
 78 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 the dim distance, witli glimpses of wliite Alps on 
 tlie horizon ; while close by, within fifty yards of 
 the spot on which he was standing, rose the ivied 
 walls of the Chateau K/otzberg, 
 
 This, then, was the home to which his great- 
 grandfather's eldest son had emigrated one 
 hundred years before — this, the birthplace of 
 the heir at law! William Trefalden smiled 
 somewhat bitterly as he paused and looked 
 upon it. 
 
 It was a thorough Swiss, mediseval dwelling, 
 utterly irregular, and consisting apparently of a 
 cluster of some five or six square turrets, no two 
 of which were of the same size or height. They 
 were surmounted alike by steep slated roofs and 
 grotesque weathercocks ; and the largest, which 
 had been sufi*ered to fall to ruin, was green with 
 ivy from top to bottom. The rest of the chateau 
 gave signs of only partial habitation. Many of 
 the narrow windows were boarded up, while others 
 showed a scrap of chintz on the inner side, or a 
 flower-pot on the sill. A low wall enclosing a 
 small courtyard lay to the south of the building, 
 and was approached by a quaint old gateway sup-
 
 THE CHATEAU EOTZBERG. 79 
 
 porting a sculptured scutcheon, close above whicli 
 a stork had built his nest. 
 
 None of these details escaped the practised eve 
 of William Trefalden. lie saw all in a moment 
 — poverty, picturesqueness^ and neglect. As he 
 crossed the open sward, and came in sight of a 
 steep road winding up from the valley on the 
 other side, he remarked that there were no tracks 
 of wheels upon it. Passing under the gateway, 
 he observed how the heraldic bearings were ef- 
 faced upon the shield, and how those fractures 
 were such as could only have been dealt by the 
 hand of man. Not even the grass that had 
 sprung up amid the paving in the courtyard, nor 
 the mossy penthouse over the well, nor the empty 
 kennel in the corner, remained unnoticed as he 
 went up to the door of the chateau. 
 
 It was standing partly open — a massy oaken 
 portal, studded with iron stanchions, and pro- 
 tected only by a heavy latch. William Trefalden 
 looked round for a bell, but there was none. Then 
 he knocked with his clenched hand, but no one 
 came. He caUed aloud, but no one answered. 
 At last he went in.
 
 80 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 The door opened into a stone hall of irregular 
 shape, with a cavernous fireplace at one end, and 
 a large modern window at the other. The ceiling 
 v/as low, and the rafters were black with smoke. 
 An old carved press, a screen, some chairs and 
 settles of antique form, a great oak table on 
 which lay a newspaper and a pair of clumsy silver 
 spectacles, a curious Swiss clock with a toy 
 skeleton standing in a little sentry-box just over 
 the dial, a spinning-wheel and a linen-press, were 
 all the furniture that it contained. A couple of 
 heavy Tyrolean rifles, with curved stocks to fit to 
 the shoulder, were standing behind the door, and 
 an old sabre, a pair of antlers, and a yellow parch- 
 ment in a black frame, hung over the mantelpiece. 
 A second door, also partly open, stood nearly op- 
 posite the first, and led into a garden. 
 
 Having surveyed this modest interior from the 
 threshold, and found himself alone there, Mr. 
 Trefalden crossed over to the fireplace and ex- 
 amined the parchment at his leisure. It was 
 Captain Jacob's commission, signed and sealed 
 by His Most Gracious Majesty King George the 
 Second, Anno Domini seventeen hundred and
 
 THE CHATEAU ROTZBERG. 81 
 
 forty-eight. Turning from this to the newspaper 
 on the table, he saw that it was printed in some 
 language with which he was not acquainted — a 
 language that was neither French, nor Italian, 
 nor Spanish, but which seemed to bear a vague 
 resemblance to all three. It was entitled '^ Amity 
 del PieveL'^ Having lingered over this journal with 
 some curiosity, he laid it down again, and passed 
 out through the second door into the garden. 
 
 Here, at least, he had expected to find some 
 one belonging to the place; but it was a mere 
 kitchen garden, and contained nothing higher in 
 the scale of creation than cabbages and potatoes, 
 gooseberry bushes and beds of early salad. Mr. 
 Trefalden began to ask himself whether his Swiss 
 kindred had deserted the Chateau Rotzberg alto- 
 gether. 
 
 Strolling slowly along a side path sheltered by 
 a high privet hedge, and glancing back every now 
 and then at the queer little turretted building 
 with all its weathercocks glittering in the sun, 
 he suddenly became aware of voices not far dis- 
 tant. He stopped — listened — went on a few steps 
 farther — and found that they proceeded from some
 
 82 HALF A IMILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 lower level than that on which he stood. Havin 
 
 to 
 
 once ascertained the direction of the sounds^ he 
 followed them rapidly enough. His quick eye 
 detected a gap in the hedge at the upper end of 
 the garden. From this gap, a flight of rough 
 steps led down to a little orchard some eighteen 
 or twenty feet below — a mere shelf of verdure on 
 the face of the precipice, commanding a glorious 
 view all over the valley, and l3'ing full to the sun- 
 set. It was planted thickly with fruit trees, and 
 protected at the verge of the cliff by a fragile 
 rail. At the farther end, built up in an angle of 
 the rock, stood a rustic summer-house newly 
 thatched with Indian corn-straw. Towards this 
 point William Trefalden made his way through 
 the scant grass, in which as yet no wildflowers 
 were to be seen. 
 
 As he drew nearer, he heard the sounds again. 
 There was but one voice now — a man^s — and he 
 was reading. What was he reading? Not 
 German. Not that strange dialect printed in 
 the ''Amity del Pievel.'' Certainly not Latin. 
 He advanced a little farther. Was it, could it be 
 — Greek ?
 
 THE CHATEAU ROTZBEEG. 83 
 
 Mr. Trefalden^s Greek had grown somewhat 
 rusty these last eighteen years or so ; but there 
 could be no mistake about those sonorous periods. 
 He recognised the very lines as they fell from 
 the lips of the speaker — lines sweet and strong 
 as that god-like wine stored of old in the chamber 
 of Ulysses. It was many and many a year since 
 he had heard them, though at Eton they 
 had been "familiar in his mouth as household 
 words : " 
 
 About our heads elms and tall poplars whispered ; 
 
 While from its rocky cave beside us trickled 
 
 The sacred waters of a limpid fountain. 
 
 The cricket chirped i' the hedge, and the sweet throstle 
 
 Sang loudly from the copse. 
 
 Who should this be but Theocritus of Sicily? 
 William Trefalden could scarcely believe his ears. 
 Theocritus in the valley of Domleschg ! Theo- 
 critus in the mouths of such outer barbarians as 
 the dwellers in the Chateau Rotzberg ? 
 
 Having ended the famous description of the 
 garden of Phrasidamus, the reader paused. 
 WilHam Trefalden hastened up to the front of 
 the summer-house. An old man smoking a 
 German pipe, and a youth bending over a book, 
 
 G 2
 
 84 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 were its only occupants, Botli looked up^ and 
 both, by a simultaneous impulse of courtesy, rose 
 to receive him. 
 
 " I beg your pardon/^ he said, lifting his hat. 
 '^ This is, I fear, an unceremonious intrusion ; but 
 I am not quite a stranger, and . . .'^ 
 
 He checked himself. French was the language 
 which he had found generally understood in the 
 Grisons, and he had inadvertently used his native 
 English. 
 
 But the old man bowed, laid his pipe aside, and 
 replied in English as pure as his own. 
 
 " Whoever you may be, sir, you are welcome." 
 
 " I think I have the pleasure of addressing a 
 relative," observed the lawyer. " My name is 
 WilHam Trefalden." 
 
 The old man stepped forward, took him by both 
 hands, and, somewhat to his surprise, kissed him 
 on each cheek. 
 
 '' Cousin,^^ he said, '' thou art thrice welcome. 
 Saxon, my son, embrace thy kinsman."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MR. TREFALDEN AND HIS COUSINS BECOME BETTER 
 ACQUAINTED. 
 
 Mr. Trefalden took the rustic chair handed 
 to him by his younger kinsman, and placed it 
 just against the entrance to the summer-house. 
 It was his habit, he said, to avoid a strong light, 
 and the sunset dazzled him. The old man re- 
 sumed his seat. The youth remained standing. 
 Both looked at the new comer with a cordial, 
 un dissembled curiosity ; and for a few seconds 
 there was silence. 
 
 ]\Ir. Trefalden's elder kinsman was fragile, 
 pale, white-haired, with brilliant dark eyes, and 
 thin sensitive lips, that trembled when he spoke 
 earnestly. The other was a tall, broad-shouldered, 
 broad-browed, powerful young fellow, with a 
 boyish down upon his upper lip, and a forest of
 
 S6 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 thick golden-brown hair, crisp and curly as the 
 locks of Chaucer's Squire. His eyebrows and 
 eyelashes were some shades darker than his 
 hair ; and his eyes looked out from beneath them 
 with an expression half shy, half fearless, such as 
 we sometimes see in the eyes of children. In 
 short, he was as goodly a specimen of the race 
 of Adam as one might hope to meet with between 
 London and the valley of Domieschg, or even 
 farther; and this Mr. Trefalden could not but 
 admit at the first glance. 
 
 The old man was the first to speak. 
 
 "You did not find your way without a guide, 
 cousin ? '^ said he. 
 
 " It was no very difficult achievement,'^ replied 
 the lawyer. " 1 enjoyed the walk." 
 
 " From Chur ? " 
 
 '^ No — from Reichenau. I have taken up my 
 quarters at the ' Adler.' My landlord described 
 the road to me. It was easy enough to find; 
 not, perhaps, quite so easy to follow.^' 
 
 "Ah, you came by the footpath. It is sadly 
 out of repair, and would seem steep to a stran- 
 ger. Saxon, go bid Kettli prepare supper; and
 
 MR. TEEFALDEN AND HIS COUSINS. 87 
 
 open a bottle of d'Asti wine. Our cousin is 
 weary." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden hastened to excuse himself; but 
 it was of no avail. The old gentleman insisted 
 that he should " at least break bread and drink 
 wine''^ with them; and Mr. Trefalden, seeing 
 that he attached some patriarchal import to this 
 ceremony, yielded the point. 
 
 "You have a son, sir, of whom you may be 
 proud,'"' said he, looking after the youth as he 
 strode away through the trees. 
 
 The old man smiled, and with the smile his 
 whole face grew tender and gracious. 
 
 '' He is my great hope and joy," he replied ; 
 " but he is not my son. He is the only child 
 of my dear brother, who died twelve years 
 ago." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden had already heard this down at 
 K-eichenau, but he said, " Indeed ? " and looked 
 interested. 
 
 "My brother was a farmer," continued the 
 other ; " I entered the Lutheran church. He 
 married late in life ; I have been a bachelor all 
 mv davs."
 
 88 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 "And your brother's wife/' said Mr. Trefalden, 
 " is she still living ? '' 
 
 '^No; she died two years after she became a 
 mother. For twelve years, Saxon has had no 
 parent but myself. He calls me 'father' — I call 
 him ' son.' I could not love him more if he were 
 really my own offspring. I have been his only 
 tutor, also, I have taught him all that I know. 
 Every thought of his heart is open to me. He is 
 what God and my teaching have made him." 
 
 " He is a magnificent fellow, at all events/' 
 said Mr. Trefalden, drily, 
 
 "My brother was almost as tall and handsome 
 at his age," replied the pastor, with a sigh. 
 
 " What is his age ? '' asked the lawyer. 
 
 " He was twenty-two on the thirtieth of last 
 December/-' 
 
 " I should not have taken him to be more than 
 twenty/' 
 
 "Twenty -two — twenty-two years, and four 
 months — a man in age, in stature, in strength, 
 in learning ; but a boy at heart, cousin — a boy at 
 heart!" 
 
 "All the better for him," said Mr. Trefalden,
 
 MPw. TEEFALDEN AND HIS COUSINS. 89 
 
 with his quiet voice, and pleasant smile. '' Many 
 of the greatest men that ever lived were boys to 
 the last/' 
 
 '^ I have no desire to see my Saxon become a 
 great man/' said Martin Trefalden, hastily. " God 
 forbid it ! I have tried to make him a good man. 
 That is enough. ■'' 
 
 " And I have no doubt that you have suc- 
 ceeded/' 
 
 The old man looked troubled. 
 
 ^' I have tried/"' said he; "but I know not 
 whether I have tried in the right way. I have 
 trained him accordinsr to mv own belief, and 
 ideas ; and what I have done has been done for 
 the best. I may have acted wrongly. I may 
 not have done my duty ; but I have striven to do 
 it. I prayed for light — I prayed for God's bless- 
 ing on my work. I believed my prayers were 
 heard ; but I have had heavy misgivings of late 
 — heavy, heavy misgivings ! " 
 
 " I feel sure they must be groundless," said 
 i\Ir. Trefalden. 
 
 The pastor shook his head. He was evidently 
 anxious, and ill at ease.
 
 90 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 "That is because you do not know/' replied 
 he. " I cannot tell you now — another time — 
 when we can be longer alone. In the meanwhile, 
 I thank Heaven for the chance that has brought 
 you hither. Cousin, you are our only surviving 
 kinsman — you are acquainted with the world — 
 you will advise me — you will be good to him ! I 
 am sure you will. I see it in your face." 
 
 " I shall be very glad to receive your confidence, 
 and to give you what counsel I can," replied Mr. 
 Trefalden. 
 
 " God bless you ! " said the pastor, and shook 
 hands with him across the table. 
 
 At this moment there came a sound of voices 
 from the farther end of the terrace. 
 
 "One word more," cried Martin, eagerly. 
 " You know our family history, and the date that 
 is drawing near?" 
 
 " I do." 
 
 " Not a syllable before hwi, till we have again 
 spoken together. Hush ! he is here." 
 
 A giant shadow fell upon the grass, and young 
 Saxon's six feet of substance stood between them 
 and the sun. He held a dish in his hands and a
 
 MR. TKEFALDEN AND HIS COUSINS. 91 
 
 bottle under his arm, and was followed by a 
 stalwart peasant woman, laden with plates and 
 glasses. 
 
 " The evening is so mild," said he, " that I 
 thought our cousin would prefer to stay here ; 
 so Kettli and I have brought the supper with us.^^ 
 
 ^^ Nothing could please me better," replied 
 Mr. Trefalden. "By the way, Saxon, I must 
 compliment you on your Greek. Theocritus is 
 an old friend of mine, and you read him remark- 
 ably well." 
 
 The young man, who had just removed the 
 book from the table, and was assisting to spread 
 the cloth, blushed hke a girl. 
 
 " He and Anacreon were my favourite poets," 
 added the lawyer; "but that was a long time 
 ago. I fear I now remember very little of 
 either." 
 
 "I have not read Anacreon," said Saxon; "but 
 of all those I know, 1 love Homer best." 
 
 "Ay, for the fighting," suggested his uncle, 
 with a smile. 
 
 "Why not, when it's such grand fighting?" 
 
 "Then you prefer the Iliad to the Odyssey,"
 
 92 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 said Mr. Trefalden. "Now, for my part, I 
 always took more pleasure in the adventures of 
 Ulysses. The scenery is so various and romantic ; 
 the fiction so delightful.^' 
 
 " I don't like Ulysses/' said Saxon, bluntly. 
 '' He's so crafty.'' 
 
 " He is therefore all the truer to nature," 
 replied Mr. Trefalden. " All Greeks are crafty ; 
 and Ulysses is the very type of his race." 
 
 " I cannot forgive him on that plea. A hero 
 must be better than his race, or he is no hero 
 at all." 
 
 '^ That is true, my son," said the pastor. 
 
 " I allow that the Homeric heroes are not 
 Bayards ; but they are great men," said Mr. 
 Trefalden, defending his position less for the sake 
 of argument than for the opportunity of studying 
 his cousin's opinions. 
 
 " Ulysses is not a great man," replied Saxon, 
 warmly ; " much less a hero." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden smiled, and shook his head. 
 
 " You have all the world against you," said he. 
 
 " The world lets itself be blinded by tradition," 
 answered Saxon. " Can a man be a hero, and
 
 MR. TREFALDEX AND HIS COUSINS. 93 
 
 steal ? a hero, and tell lies ? a hero, and afraid to 
 give his name ? Tell of Altdorf was not one of 
 that stamp. When Gessler questioned him about 
 the second arrow, lie told the truth, and was 
 ready to die for it."'^ 
 
 " You are an enthusiast on the subject of 
 heroes,'' said Mr. Trefalden, jestingly. 
 
 The young man blushed again, more deeply 
 than before. 
 
 '' I hate Ulysses/"' he said. '' He was a con- 
 temptible fellow ; and I don't believe that Homer 
 wrote the Odyssey at all.' 
 
 AVith this he addressed some observation to 
 Kettli, who answered him, and took her de- 
 parture. 
 
 *^ "\\'hat a strange dialect ! " said Mr. Trefalden, 
 his attention diverted into another channel. 
 " Did I not see a newspaper printed in it, as I 
 passed just now through the house ? '^ 
 
 " You did ; but it is no dialect," replied the 
 pastor, as they took their places round the table. 
 '• It is a language — a genuine language ; copious, 
 majestic, elegant, and more ancient by many 
 centuries than the Latin.*'
 
 94 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 " You surprise me." 
 
 "Its modern name/' continued the old man, 
 "is the E/hseto-Romansch. If you desire to know 
 its ancient name^ I must refer you back to a 
 period earlier, perhaps^ than even the foundation 
 of Alba Longa, and certainly long anterior to 
 Rome. But^ cousin_, you do not eat." 
 
 " I have really no appetite/^ pleaded Mr. 
 Trefalden, who found neither the goat's-milk 
 cheese nor the salad particularly to his taste. 
 "Besides, I am much interested in Avhat you 
 tell you." 
 
 The pastor's face lighted up. 
 
 " I am glad of it," he said, eagerly. " I am 
 very glad of it. It is a subject to which I have 
 devoted the leisure of a long life.'-' 
 
 "But you have not yet told me the ancient 
 name of this Bomansch tongue ? " 
 
 Saxon, who had been looking somewhat un- 
 easy during the last few minutes, was about to 
 speak j but his uncle interposed. 
 
 "No, no, my son," he said, eagerly, "these 
 are matters with which I am more conversant 
 than thou. Leave the explanation to me."
 
 MR. TEEFALDEX AND HIS COUSINS. 95 
 
 The young man bent forward^ and whispered^ 
 '• Briefly^ then, dearest father." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden's quick ear caught the almost 
 inaudible warning. It was his destiny to gain 
 more than one insight into character that 
 evening. 
 
 The pastor nodded somewhat impatiently, and 
 launched into what was evidently a favourite 
 topic. 
 
 " Look round/^ he said, " at these mountains. 
 They have their local names, as the Galanda, the 
 Eingel, the Albula, and so forth ; but they have 
 also a general and classified name. They are the 
 Rhsetian Alps. Among them li^ numerous 
 valleys, of which this, the Hinter-Rhein-Thal, is 
 the chief. Yonder lie the passes of the Splugen 
 and the Stelvio, and beyond them the plains of 
 Lombardy. You probably know this already; 
 but it is important to my explanation that you 
 should have a correct idea of oiir geography here 
 in the Grisons." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden bowed, and begged him to pro- 
 ceed. Saxon ate his supper in silence. 
 
 " Well," continued the pastor, " about two thou-
 
 96 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 sand eight hundred years ago, these Alps were 
 peopled by a hardy aboriginal race, speaking the 
 same language, or the germs of the same lan- 
 guage, which is spoken here to this day by their 
 descendants. These aborigines followed the in- 
 stincts which God would seem to have implanted 
 in the hearts of all mountain races. They wea- 
 ried of their barren fastnesses. They poured 
 down into the southern plains. They expelled 
 the native Umbrians, and settled as conquerors 
 in that part of Italy Avhich lies north of Ancona 
 and the Tiber. There they built cities, cultivated 
 literature and the arts, and reached a high degree 
 of civilization. "^Yhen I tell you that they had 
 attained to this eminence before the era of 
 Romulus ; that they gave religion, language, and 
 arts to Rome herself; that, according to the 
 decreed fate of nations, they fell through their 
 own luxury and were enslaved in their turn ; 
 that, pursued by the Gaul or the Celt, they fled 
 back at last to these same mountains from which 
 they had emigrated long centuries before ; that 
 they erected some of those strongholds, the im- 
 perishable ruins of which yet stand above our
 
 MR. TREFALDEN AND HIS COUSINS. 97 
 
 passes; and that in this Rhseto-Romansch tongue 
 of the Grisons survive the last utterances of their 
 lost poets and historians — when^ cousin, I tell 
 YOU all these things, you will, I think, have 
 guessed already what the name of that ancient 
 people must have been ? '^ 
 
 Now it happened, somewhat unluckily, that 
 -Mr. Trefalden had lately read, somewhere or an- 
 other, a re-view of somebody's book on this very 
 subject; so, when the old man paused, quite 
 warm and flushed with his own eloquence, he 
 found himself prepared with a reply. 
 
 " If," said he, " I had not taken an impres- 
 sion — if, in short, I had had not understood 
 that the Etruscans were originally a Lydian 
 tribe . . .'' 
 
 " You took that impression from Herodotus ! '* 
 interrupted the pastor. 
 
 '^ Not to my knowledge." 
 
 " From Tacitus, then ? '' 
 
 " Possibly from Tacitus." 
 
 " Yes, Tacitus supports that theory, but he is 
 wrong; so does Herodotus, and he is wrong; so 
 do Strabo, Cicero, Seneca, Pliny, Plutarch, 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 Velleius Paterculus, Servius, and a host of others, 
 and they are all vrrong — utterly wrong, every one 
 of them !^^ 
 
 "But where . . :' 
 
 " Livy supposes that the emigration was from 
 the plains to the mountains — folly, mere folly ! 
 Does not every example in history point to the 
 contrary? The dwellers in plains fly to the 
 mountains for refuge ; but emigration flows as 
 naturally from the heights to the flats, as streams 
 flow down from the glaciers to the valleys. 
 Hellanicus of Lesbos would have us believe they 
 were Pelasgians. Dionysius of Halicarnassus 
 asserts that they v/ere the aborigines of the soil. 
 Gorius makes them Phoenician — Bonarota, Egyp- 
 tian — Mafi'ei, Canaanite — Guarnacci . . ." 
 
 " I beg your pardon,^' interrupted Mr. Trefal- 
 den ; " but when I said I had understood that the 
 Etruscans were of Lydian origin . . .^' 
 
 " They were nothing of the kind ! " cried the 
 pastor, trembling with excitement. ^' If they had 
 been his countrymen, would not Xantus of Lydia 
 have chronicled the event ? He never even names 
 them. Can you conceive an English historian omit-
 
 MR. TREFALDEN AND HIS COUSINS. 99 
 
 ting tlie colonisation of America ; or a Spanish his- 
 torian passing over the conquest of Mexico ? No, 
 cousin, you must forgive me for saying that he 
 who embraces the empty theories of Herodotus 
 and Tacitus commits a grievous error ; and I can 
 show you such archseological evidence . . ." 
 
 " I assure you," said Mr. Trefalden, laughingly, 
 ''that I have not the least disposition to do any- 
 thing of the kind. It is a subject upon which I 
 know absolutely nothing." 
 
 "And, father," began Saxon, laying his hand 
 gently on the old man^s arm, " I think you 
 forget . . ." 
 
 "No, no, I forget nothing," interrupted his 
 uncle, too much possessed by his own argument 
 to listen to any one. "I do not forget that 
 Gibbon pronounced the Lydian theory a theme 
 for only poets and romancists. I do not forget 
 that Steub, whatever the tenor of his other 
 opinions, at least admitted the unity of the 
 Etruscan and Rhaetian tongues. Then there was 
 Niebuhr — although he fell under the mistake of 
 supposing the Etruscan to be a mixed race, he 
 believed the Rhsetians of these Alps to have been 
 
 H 2
 
 100 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 the true stock, and maintained that thev reduced 
 the Pelasgi to a state of vassalage. Niebuhr was 
 a great man, a fine historian, an enlightened 
 scholar. I corresponded with him, cousin, for 
 years, on this very subject; but I could never 
 succeed in convincing him of the purely Rhsetian 
 nationality of the Etruscan people. He always 
 would have it that they were amalgamated with 
 the Pelasgians. It was a great pity ! I wish I 
 could have set him right before he died.'^ 
 
 Mr. Trefalden looked at his watch. 
 
 '' I wish you could,^' he said ; ^' but it grows 
 late, and I shall never find my way back before 
 dark, if I do not at once bid you good evening." 
 
 The pastor put his hand to his brow in a be- 
 wildered way. 
 
 "■ I — I fear I have talked too much," he said, 
 shyly. "I have wearied you. Pray forgive me. 
 When I begin upon this subject, I do not know 
 where to stop." 
 
 " That is because you know so much about it," 
 replied the lawyer. "But I have listened with 
 great pleasure, I assure you." 
 
 '' Have you ? Have you, indeed ? "
 
 MR. TREFALDEX AND HIS COUSINS. 101 
 
 " And have learned a great deal that I did not 
 know before.-'^ 
 
 " I will show YOU all Niebuhr's letters, another 
 time, and copies of my replies/^ said the old man, 
 " if you care to read them.^^ 
 
 He was now quite radiant again, and wanted 
 only a word of encouragement to resume the 
 conversation ; but Mr. Trefalden had had more 
 than enough of the Etruscans already. 
 
 '' Thank you,"^ said he; "thank you — another 
 time. And now, good-bye.''^ 
 
 " Xo, no — stay a moment longer. I have so 
 much to say to you — so many questions to ask. 
 How long do you stay in Reichenau ? '^ 
 
 " Some days — perhaps a week.-'^ 
 
 '^ Are you on your way to Italy ? " 
 
 " Xot at all. I wanted change of air, and I 
 have come abroad for a fortnight's holiday. My 
 object in choosing Reichenau for a resting-place, 
 is solely to be near you.'^ 
 
 The old man's eyes filled with tears. 
 
 " How good of you ! '' he said simply. " I 
 should never have seen you if you had not found 
 your way hither — and, after all, we three are
 
 102 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 the last of our name. Cousin, will j^ou come 
 here ? " 
 
 Mr. Trefalden hesitated. 
 
 ^^What do you mean?'-' he said. "I shall 
 come again, of course, to-morrow.'^ 
 
 " I mean, will you come here for the time of 
 your stay ? I hardly like to ask you, for I know 
 the ' Adler ' is far more comfortable than our 
 little desolate eyrie. But still, if you can put up 
 with farmer's fare and mountain habits, you shall 
 have a loving welcome. '^ 
 
 Mr. Trefalden smiled, and shook his head. 
 
 ''' I thank you,^^ said he, ^' as much as if I 
 accepted your hospitality ; but it is impossible. 
 We Londoners lead busy feverish lives, and 
 become enslaved by all kinds of unhealthj^ cus- 
 toms. Your habits and mine differ as widely as 
 the habits of an Esquimaux and a Friendly 
 Islander. Shall I confess the truth? You have 
 just supped — I am now going back to Reichenau 
 to dinner/^ 
 
 '' To dinner ? '' 
 
 " Yes, seven is my hour. I cannot depart 
 from it, even when travelling; so you see I dare
 
 ME. TREFALDEN AND HIS COUSINS. 103 
 
 not. become your guest. However, I shall see 
 you daily, and my young cousin here must do 
 the honours of the neighbourhood to me/^ 
 
 ^' That I will/^ said Saxon, heartily. 
 
 Mr. Trefalden then shook hands with the 
 pastor, and, Saxon having declared his intention 
 of seeing him down the mountain, they went 
 away together.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE VALUE OF A NAPOLEON. 
 
 As the two cousins passed across the grass- 
 grown court-yard, and under the gateway wdth 
 the stork's nest overhead, Mr. Trefalden pointed 
 up to the broken scutcheon. 
 
 "Is that a record of some mediseval fray?^* 
 asked he. 
 
 " Oh dear no ! ^' replied the young man, 
 laughingly. "My great-grandfather smashed 
 that heraldry when he bought the place.'' 
 
 " Then he was a zealous Republican ? " 
 
 " Not he. Quite the contrary, I believe. No 
 —he defaced the shield because the chateau was 
 his, and the arms were not." 
 
 " I see. He did not choose to live in a house 
 with another man's name upon his door. That
 
 THE VALUE OF A NAPOLEON. 105 
 
 was sensible ; but he might have substituted his 
 
 Saxon^s lip curled saucily. 
 
 " Bah ! '^ said he, '' what do we want with 
 arms? We are only farmers. We have no 
 right to them." 
 
 '^ Neither has anyone else, I should fancy, in a 
 republic like this/' observed Mr. Trefalden. 
 
 "Oh, yes — some have. The Eotzbergs, who 
 lived here before us, the Plantas, the Ortensteins, 
 are all noble. They were counts and knights 
 hundreds of years ago, when the feudal system 
 prevailed." 
 
 '^ Nobles who subscribe to a democratic rule 
 forego their nobility, my young cousin,^' said Mr. 
 Trefalden. 
 
 "I have heard that before/' replied Saxon; 
 " but I don't agree with it." 
 
 This young man had a sturdy way of expressing 
 his opinions that somewhat amused and somewhat 
 dismayed Mr. Trefalden. He had also a frightful 
 facility of foot that rendered him a difficult com- 
 panion among such paths as led down from the 
 Chateau Eotzberg to the valley below.
 
 106 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 "My good fellow/^ said the lawyer, coming 
 to a sudden stop, " do you want me to break my 
 ueck ? I'm not a chamois ! " 
 
 Saxon, who had been springing from ledge to 
 ledge of the slippery descent with the light and 
 fearless step of a mountaineer to the manner 
 born, turned back at once, and put out his 
 hand. 
 
 " I beg your pardon,^' he said, apologetically. 
 "I had forgotten. I suppose you have never 
 been among mountains before ? ^' 
 
 " Oh yes, I have — and I can keep my feet here 
 quite well, thank you, if you do not ask me to 
 come down in a coranto. I have been up Snow- 
 don, and Cader Idris, and plenty of smaller 
 heiglits — to say nothing of Holborn Hill.'' 
 
 Saxon laughed merrily. 
 
 "Why, what do you know of Holborn Hill?^' 
 said Mr. Trefalden, surprised to find that small 
 jest appreciated. 
 
 " It is a hill rising westward, on the right bank 
 of the Fleet river .'^ 
 
 "But you have never visited London ?'' 
 
 " I have never been farther than Zurich in my
 
 THE VALUE OF A NAPOLEON. 107 
 
 life; but I have read Stowe carefully^ with a 
 map." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden could not forbear a smile. 
 
 " You must not suppose that you therefore 
 know anything about modern London/' said he. 
 " Stowe would not recognise his own descriptions 
 now. The world has gone round once or twice 
 since his time."' 
 
 ^' So I suppose.''^ 
 
 ^'I should like to take you back with me, 
 Saxon. YouM find me a better guide than the 
 mediaeval surveyor." 
 
 ^•' To London ?^^ 
 
 "Ay, to London.^^ 
 
 Saxon shook his head. 
 
 '^ You do not mean to tell me that you have no 
 curiosity to visit the most wonderful city in the 
 world ? " 
 
 '' 2sot at all ; but there are others which I had 
 rather see first.^^ 
 
 " And which are they V^ 
 
 " Rome, Athens, and Jerusalem.^' 
 
 " Then I have no hesitation in prophesying 
 that you would be greatly disappointed in all
 
 108 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 three. One is always disappointed in places that 
 depend for their interest on remote association.'' 
 
 Saxon made no reply, and for a few moments 
 they were both silent. When they presently left 
 the last belt of pines behind them and emerged 
 upon the level road, Mr. Trefalden paused and 
 said : — 
 
 '^ I ought not to let you go any farther. Mj^ 
 way lies straight before me now, and I cannot 
 miss it." 
 
 "I will go with you as far as the bridge," 
 replied Saxon. 
 
 " But it is growing quite dusk, and you have 
 those mountain paths to climb." 
 
 "I could climb them blindfold. Besides, we 
 have arranged nothing for to-morrow. Would 
 you like to walk over the Galanda to Pfeffers ? '^ 
 
 " How far is it ? '^ asked Mr. Trefalden, with 
 a glance of misgiving towards the mountain in 
 question, which looked loftier than ever in the 
 gloaming, 
 
 " About twenty-three or four miles.'' 
 
 "Each way?" 
 
 " Of course."
 
 THE VALUE OF A XAPOLEON. 109 
 
 " I am much obliged to you," said the lawyer, 
 " but, as I said before, I am not a chamois. No, 
 Saxon; you must come over to the ' Adler' to- 
 moiTow morning to breakfast with me, and after 
 breakfast, if you like, we will walk to Chur. I 
 hear it is a curious old place, and I should like to 
 see it." 
 
 " As you please, cousin. At what hour ? " 
 " I fear if I say half-past eight you will think 
 it terribly late.". 
 
 *' Not at all, since you do not dine till seven at 
 night." 
 
 " Then I may expect you ? " 
 '' Without fail." 
 
 They were now within sight of the covered 
 bridge and the twinkling lights in the village 
 beyond. Mr. Trefalden paused for the second 
 time. 
 
 -' I must insist upon saying good-by now," said 
 he. " And, by the way, before we part, will you 
 be kind enough to explain to me the real value of 
 these coins ?" 
 
 He took out a handful of loose money, and 
 Saxon examined the pieces by the waning light.
 
 110 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 " My charretier to-day would not take French 
 francs/' continued Mr. Trefalden^ ^' but asked for 
 Miintz money. When I offered him these Swiss 
 francs he was satisfied. What is the difference 
 in value between a French and a Swiss franc? 
 What is Miintz money? How many of these 
 pieces should I get for a Napoleon, or an English 
 sovereign ? '' 
 
 Saxon shook his head.^ 
 
 '^I don't know/' said he. ''1 have not the 
 least idea.'' 
 
 Mr. Trefalden thought he had been misunder- 
 stood. 
 
 "I beg your pardon/' said he. "Perhaps I 
 have not explained myself clearly. This Miintz 
 money . . ." 
 
 "Miintz money is Swiss money/' interrupted 
 Saxon. "That is to say, the new uniform 
 coinage voted by the Diet in 1850." 
 
 " Well, what is this Swiss franc worth ? " 
 
 "A hundred rappen." 
 
 "Then a rapp is equivalent to a French 
 centime ? " 
 
 Saxon looked puzzled.
 
 THE VALrE OF A NAPOLEON. Ill 
 
 ''The rappen are issued instead of the old 
 batzen/^ said he. 
 
 Mr. Trefalden smiled. 
 
 " We don^t quite understand each other jet," 
 he said, taking a Napoleon from the num- 
 ber. " What I want to know is simply 
 how many Swiss francs I ought to receive for 
 this?'' 
 
 Saxon took the Napoleon between his finger 
 and thumb, and examined it on both sides with 
 some curiosity. 
 
 " I don't think it is worth anything at all 
 here," he replied, as he gave it back. " What is 
 it?" 
 
 " "VYhat is it ! Why, a Napoleon ! Do you 
 mean to say that you never saw one before ?" 
 
 " I don't think I ever did." 
 
 ^'^But I know they are current here, for I 
 changed one at Chur." 
 
 Saxon looked as if he could not comprehend 
 his cousin's evident surprise. 
 
 '•' You may be right," said he. " I cannot tell ; 
 but I will ask my father when I go home. I 
 daresay he can explain it to you."
 
 112 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 Mr. Trefalden's amazement was so great that 
 he took no pains to conceal it. 
 
 " But, my dear fellow/' he said, " you cannot 
 be unacquainted with the standard value of 
 money — with the relative value of gold and 
 silver ? " 
 
 '^I assure you I know nothing at all about it." 
 
 " But — but it is incomprehensible." 
 
 "Why so? It is a subject which has never 
 come under my observation, and in which I take 
 no interest." 
 
 '•Yet in the ordinary transactions of life — of 
 farming life, for instance, such as your own — in 
 the common buying and selling of every day . . ." 
 
 ''I have nothing to do with that. My father 
 manages all matters connected with the land." 
 
 '' Well, then, if it were only as a guide to the 
 expenditure of your own money, some such 
 knowledge is necessary and valuable." 
 
 " But I have no money," replied Saxon, with 
 the simplicity of a savage. 
 
 " No money ? None whatever ? " 
 
 " None." 
 
 " Do vou never have any ? "
 
 THE VALUE OF A NAPOLEON. 113 
 
 ^' Never." 
 
 " Have you never had any? " 
 
 " Never in my life." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden drew a long breath, and said no 
 more. 
 
 " That seems to surprise you very much/' said 
 Saxon, laughingly. 
 
 "Well— it does." 
 
 "But it need not. What do I want with 
 money ? Of what use would it be to me ? What 
 should I do with it ? What is money ? Nothing. 
 Nothing but a sign, the interpretation of which 
 is food, clothiag, firing, and other comforts and 
 necessaries of life. I have all these, and, having 
 them, need no money. It is sufficiently plain." 
 
 "Ah, yes, it is plain — quite plain," rejoined the 
 lawyer, abstractedly. " I see it all now. You 
 are perfectly right, Saxon. You would not know 
 what to do with it, if you had it. Good night." 
 
 " Good night." 
 
 '' Don't forget half-past eight to-morrow." 
 
 " No, no. Good night." 
 
 And so they shook hands and parted. 
 
 Hastening back to his hotel, Mr. Trefalden 
 
 A'OL. I, I
 
 114 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 then wrote a few letters before post-time, and 
 sat down to his solitary table at seven o^ clock 
 precisely. It was a very recherche little dinner, 
 and Mr. Trefalden was unusually well disposed 
 to enjoy it. Never, surely, was trout more fresh ; 
 never was Mayonnaise better flavoured; never 
 had Lafitte a more delicate aroma. Mr. Tre- 
 falden dined deliberately, praised the cook with 
 the grace of a connoisseur, and lingered luxuri- 
 ously over his dessert. His meditations were 
 pleasant, and the claret was excellent. 
 
 " A simple old pastor with a mania for archae- 
 ology," muttered he, as he sipped his curapoa 
 and watched the smoke of his cigar : " a simple 
 old pastor with a mania for archaeology, and a 
 young barbarian, who reads Theocritus and never 
 saw a Napoleon ! What a delicious combination 
 of circumstances ! What a glorious field for 
 enterprise ! Veril}^, the days of El Dorado have 
 come back again ! ^'
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PASTOR martin's THEORY. 
 
 The pastor had spoken from "his heart of hearts 
 \7hen he told ]\Ir. Trefalden with what solicitude 
 he had educated his brother''s orphan ; but he 
 did not tell him all^ or even half, of the zeal, 
 humility, and devotion with which he had fulfilled 
 that heavy duty. Knowing the full extent of 
 his responsibility, he had accepted it from the 
 very hour of the boy's birth. He had lain awake, 
 night after night, while little Saxon was yet 
 in his cradle, pondering and praying, and ask- 
 ing himself how he should fortify this young 
 soul against the temptations of the world. He 
 had written out full a dozen elaborate schemes 
 of education for him, before the child could 
 babble an articulate word. He spent his leisure 
 in studying the lives of great and virtuous men, 
 
 I 2
 
 116 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 that he might thence gather something of their 
 tutelage ; and, to this end, toiled patiently once 
 again through all PlutarcVs crabbed Greek, and 
 Fuller's still more crabbed English. He com- 
 piled formidable lists of all kinds of instructive 
 books for his pupil's future reading, long before 
 his young ears had ever heard of the penances 
 ending in ^^ology." He filled reams of sermon 
 paper with unobjectionable extracts from the 
 classic poets, and made easy abstracts of Euclid 
 and Aristotle for his sole use and benefit. In 
 short, he laid himself down before the wheels of 
 this baby Juggernaut in a spirit of the uttermost 
 self-devotion and love, giving up to him every 
 moment upon which his pastoral duties held no 
 claim, and sacrificing even the Etruscans for his 
 dear sake. 
 
 The boy's education may almost be said to 
 have dated from the day on which he first began 
 to laugh, and put out his little arms at the sight 
 of those he loved. Uncle Martin, in spite of 
 some maternal opposition, took care of that. 
 He asserted his position at once; and quietly, 
 but firmly maintained it. He it was who taught
 
 PASTOR martin's THEORY. 117 
 
 the child his first utterances — who guided his 
 first feeble steps upon the soft sward out of doors 
 — who trained his tongue to stammer its first 
 prayer. He taught him that God had made the 
 sun, and the stars, and the green trees. He led 
 him to see use and beauty in all created things 
 — even in the most unlovely. He brought him 
 up to fear the darkness no more than the light ; 
 to admire all that was beautiful; to reverence all 
 that was noble ; to love everything that had 
 life. He would not even let him have a toy that 
 was not in some way suggestive of gracefulness or 
 service. 
 
 When little Saxon was but two years old, his 
 mother died; and the good pastor pursued his 
 labour henceforth without even a semblance of 
 opposition. Saxon the elder believed in his 
 brother as of old, and deferred to him in every- 
 thing. Martin did not, perhaps, believe quite so 
 implicitly in himself; but, as he told his cousin, 
 he prayed for light, and only strove to know his 
 duty, that he might perform it. 
 
 As time went on, that duty became daily of 
 more extensive operation. The boy grew por-
 
 118 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 tentously both, in ideas and inclies. He developed 
 an alarming appetite for books, as well as bread 
 and butter. His curiosity became insatiable, and 
 his industry indefatigable. In short, he perplexed 
 his tutor sorely, and unconsciously raised up a 
 host of difficulties which had been left quite un- 
 provided for in the good pastor's theories. 
 
 For Martin Trefalden had theories — very 
 strange, unworldly, eccentric theories, indeed — 
 which looked wonderfully well upon paper, and 
 had been proved by him to his brother over and 
 over again, as they sat smoking together by their 
 fireside o' nights; but which had various dis- 
 agreeable ways of tripping him up and leaving 
 him in the lurch, now that they came to be put 
 into practice. 
 
 Chief and foremost among these was his grand 
 theory about the Trefalden legacy. 
 
 Having persuaded his brother to marry, and 
 having, as it were, compelled Saxon the younger 
 to enter on this stage of mortal life, it obviously 
 behoved him above all other things to arm that 
 little Christian against the peculiar dangers and 
 temptations to which his singular destiny ex-
 
 PASTOR martin's THEORY. 119 
 
 posed him. He must be trained in habits of 
 innocence, frugality, charity, and self-denial. 
 He must be taught to prize only the simplest 
 pleasures. He must be doubly and trebly 
 fortified against pride, avarice, prodigality, self- 
 indulgence, and every other sin of Tvhich Avealtli 
 is fruitful. Above all, argued the pastor, he 
 must not love money. Nay more, he must be 
 wholly indifferent to it. He must regard it as 
 a mere sign — an expedient — a medium of ex- 
 change — a thing valueless in itself, and desirable 
 only because it is convenient. His childish hand 
 must never be sullied by it. His innocent 
 thoughts must never entertain it. He shall be 
 as pure from the taint of gold as the first dwellers 
 in Paradise. 
 
 '•'But when he grows up, brother Martin," 
 suggested the father one evening, while they sat 
 talking it over, as usual, in the chimney corner : 
 " when he grows up, you know, and the money 
 really falls due — what then? " 
 " What do you mean. Sax ? ^^ 
 " He won't know what to do with it.^' 
 " But you wiU,^^ replied the pastor, sharply ;
 
 120 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 " and, after all, ^tis you are tlie heir — not he. 
 You never seem to remember that, brother Sax/^ 
 
 The farmer made no reply. 
 
 " And by that time, too,^^ continued Martin, 
 '' the boy will be old enough to understand the 
 right uses of wealth." 
 
 " You'll teach him those, brother Martin," said 
 the farmer. 
 
 ^^ You and I together.'^ 
 
 Saxon the elder smoked on in silence for a 
 moment or two ; then, laying his hand gently on 
 the pastor^s sleeve, " Brother Martin,^' he said, 
 " thou'rt younger than I, as I have reminded thee 
 once or twice before. I don't believe that I have 
 a very long life before me. I don't feel as if I 
 should ever inherit that fortune, or see my boy 
 with a beard upon his chin," 
 
 He was right. He died, as we know, twelve 
 years before the century expired, and Martin 
 Trefalden continued to bring up his nephew in 
 his own way. He could ride his hobby now at 
 any pace he pleased, without even the interruption 
 of a meek question by the way ; so he ambled on 
 year after year with his eyes shut, and refused to
 
 PASTOR martin's THEORY. 121 
 
 recognise the fact tliat Saxon was no longer a 
 boy. He made himself wilfully blind both to his 
 moustache and his inches. He would not believe 
 that the time was already come for discussing the 
 forbidden subject. He could not endure to tell 
 his young Spartan that he must one day be rich ; 
 and so, as it were^ be the first to raise his hand 
 against that fabric of unworldliness which it had 
 been the labour of his life to erect. 
 
 Of late^ however, he had " had misgivings." 
 He had begun to wonder whether perfect igno- 
 rance of life was really the best preparation for a 
 career of usefulness, and whether the college at 
 Geneva might not have proved a better school 
 for his nephew than the solitude of Domleschg. 
 
 Thus matters stood when William Trefalden, 
 Esquire, of Chancery Lane, London, made his 
 appearance at the Chateau Rotzberg ; and thus it 
 happened that his cousin Saxon, the heir to four 
 millions and a half of funded property, had no 
 notion of the value of a Napoleon.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 MR. TREFALDEN MEETS ACQUAINTANCES BY THE 
 WAY. 
 
 Punctual as the minute hand of the quaint 
 little Swiss timepiece on the mantelshelf, was 
 Saxon to his appointment. The first metallic 
 chime of the half-hour was just striking as he 
 reached the inn door, and the rapid smiting of 
 his iron heel on the paved corridor leading to the 
 salon drowned the vibrations of the second. He 
 found the breakfast-table laid beside a window 
 looking upon the garden and the mountains, and 
 his cousin turning over the leaves of a large book 
 at the farther end of the room. 
 
 '' It is pleasant to find one's self so good a 
 judge of character," said Mr. Trefalden, advancing 
 with outstretched hand. '^ I felt sure you would 
 be true to time, Saxon — so sure^ that I had sent
 
 ^lE. TEEFALDEN MEETS ACQUAINTANCES. 123 
 
 the eggs away to be poached — and here they are ! 
 Come, sit down. I hope you're hungry." 
 
 " Indeed I am," replied Saxon, making a 
 vigorous onslaught upon the loaf. 
 
 " You seem to have brought the mountain air 
 in with you," said Mr. Trefalden, with a half- 
 envious glance at his fresh young cheek and 
 breezy curls. "It is a glorious morning for 
 walking." 
 
 " That it is ; and I have been up to some of 
 the high pastures in search of one of our goats. 
 It was so clear at six o^ clock that I saw the 
 Glarnisch quite plainly." 
 
 "What is the Glarnisch — a mountain ? " 
 
 " Yes — a splendid mountain ; the highest in the 
 Canton Glarus." 
 
 "What wine do you prefer, Saxon? " 
 
 " Oh, either, thank you. I like the one as well 
 as the other." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden raised his eyes from the carte 
 des vins. 
 
 " What ' one ' and what ^ other ' do you mean ? " 
 asked he. 
 
 "The red and the white."
 
 124 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 "You mean vin ordinaire V 
 
 "Certainly. Why not?" 
 
 Mr. Trefalclen shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " I don't drink vinegar myself/' said he, " and 
 I should not choose to place it before you. We 
 will try a bottle of our host's Chateau Margaux. 
 I suppose you like that ?'' 
 
 "I don't know/' replied Saxon. "I never 
 tasted it." 
 
 " Have you ever tasted champagne ?" 
 
 "Never." 
 
 " Would you like to do so ? " 
 
 " Indeed I don't care. I like one thing just 
 as well as another. These cutlets are capital." 
 
 ]\Ir. Trefalden looked at his cousin with an 
 expression of mingled wonder and compassion. 
 
 " My dear boy/' said he, " what have you done, 
 that you should only like one thing as well as 
 another ? " 
 
 Saxon looked puzzled. 
 
 " It is a shocking defect, either of constitution 
 or education," continued Mr. Trefalden, gravely. 
 " You must try to get over it. Don't laugh. I 
 am perfectly serious. Here, taste this pate.
 
 MR. TKEFALDEN MEETS ACQUAINTANCES. 125 
 
 and tell me if you like it only as well as the 
 cutlets/^ 
 
 Saxon tasted it, and made a wry face. 
 
 "What is it made of?" said he. "What are 
 those nasty black things in it ? '' 
 
 " It is a pate de foie gras/' replied Mr. Trefalden^ 
 pathetically, " and those nasty black things are 
 truffles — the greatest delicacies imaginable." 
 
 Saxon laughed heartily, poured some claret 
 into a tumbler, and put out his hand for the 
 water-bottle. 
 
 " You are not going to mix that Chateau 
 Margaux ! ^' cried Mr. Trefalden. 
 
 ^' Why not?" 
 
 ^' Because it is sacrilege to spoil the flavour." 
 
 " But I am thirsty." 
 
 "So much the better. Your palate is all the 
 more susceptible. Try the first glass pure, at all 
 events." 
 
 Saxon submitted, and emptied his glass at a 
 draught. 
 
 '' That is delicious," said he. 
 
 " Y^ou really think so ? " 
 
 " Unquestionably."
 
 126 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 " You prefer it to the vin ordinaire ? " 
 
 " I do, indeed/' 
 
 Mr. Trefalden drew a deep breath of satis- 
 faction. 
 
 " Allons /" said he. " Then there is some httle 
 hope for you, Saxon, after all." 
 
 " But . . . '' 
 
 '^ But what?" 
 
 Saxon hesitated. 
 
 " But I am not sure/' said he, '^ that I prefer 
 it to the vin d'Asti.'' 
 
 Mr. Trefalden leaned back in his chair and 
 groaned aloud. 
 
 "Tm sure I'm very sorry," laughed Saxon, 
 with a comic look, half shy, half penitent. '' But 
 — but it isn't my fault, is it ? " 
 
 Before Mr. Trefalden could reply to this^appeal, 
 there was a rustling of silk, and a sound of voices 
 in the corridor, and a lady and gentleman entered 
 the salon, conversing earnestly. Seeing others in 
 the room, they checked themselves. In the same 
 instant Mr. Trefalden, who sat partly turned 
 towards the door, rose and exclaimed : — 
 
 " Mademoiselle Colonna ! "
 
 ME. TEEFALDEN MEETS ACQUAINTANCES. 127 
 
 The lady put out lier hand. 
 
 '' You here, Mr. Trefalden V said she. " Padre 
 mio, you remember Mr. Trefalden ? '' 
 
 The gentleman, who held his hat in one hand 
 and a bundle of letters and papers in the other, 
 bowed somewhat distantly, and said he believed 
 he had had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Trefalden 
 before. 
 
 " Yes, at Castletowers," replied the lawyer. 
 
 The gentleman's dark face lighted up instantly, 
 and, laying his hat aside, he also advanced to 
 shake hands. 
 
 " Forgive me,^-* he said, " I did not remember 
 that you were a friend of Lord Castletowers. 
 Have you seen him lately ? I hope you are well. 
 This is a charming spot. Have you been here 
 long ? We have only this moment arrived." 
 
 He asked questions without waiting for replies, 
 and spoke hurriedly and abstractedly, as if his 
 thoughts were busy elsewhere all the time. Both 
 his accent and his daughter's were slightly foreign, 
 but his was more foreign than hers. 
 
 " I only came yesterday," replied Mr. Tre- 
 falden, '' and I propose to stay here for a week or
 
 128 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 two. May one venture to hope that you are 
 about to do the same ? ^^ 
 
 The young lady shook her head. Her father 
 had already moved away to the opposite side of 
 the room, and was examining his letters. 
 
 '' We are only waiting to breakfast while our 
 vetturino feeds his horses/' said she; "and w^e 
 hope to reach Chur in time for the midday train." 
 
 " A short sojourn/' said Mr. Trefaldeu. 
 
 " Yes ; I am sorry for it. We have travelled 
 by this road very often, and always in haste. The 
 place, I am sure, would repay investigation. It 
 is very beautiful." 
 
 " You come from Italy, I suppose? " 
 
 " Yes, from Milan." 
 
 '^ And are, of course, as devoted as ever to the 
 good cause ? " 
 
 Her eyes seemed to flash and dilate as she 
 lifted them suddenly upon her interrogator. 
 
 "You know, Mr. Trefalden," said she, "that 
 we live for no other. But why do you call it the 
 ^good' cause? You have never joined us — you 
 have never helped us. I had no idea that you 
 deemed it a good cause."
 
 MR. TBEFALDEN MEETS ACQUAINTANCES. 129 
 
 '^ Then you did me injustice," replied the 
 lawyer, with an unembarrassed smile. " The 
 liberty and unity of a great people must be a 
 good cause. I should blush for my opinions if I 
 did not think so." 
 
 " Then why not give us the support of your 
 name ? " 
 
 '' Because, my dear madam, it would bring no 
 support with it. I am an obscure man. I have 
 neither wealth nor influence." 
 
 " Even if that were so, it would be of little 
 importance," said Mademoiselle Colonna, eagerly. 
 " Every volunteer is precious — even the hum- 
 blest and weakest. But you are neither, Mr.. 
 Trefalden. You are far from being an obscure 
 man. You are a very brilliant man — nay, I 
 mean no compliment. I only repeat what I have 
 often heard. I know that you have talent, and 
 I am sure you are not without influence. You 
 would be a most welcome accession to our staff." 
 
 " Indeed, Mademoiselle Colonna, you over- 
 estimate me in every way." 
 
 " I do not think so." 
 
 "■ I ought also to tell vou that I am a verv
 
 130 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 busy man. My whole life is absorbed by my 
 professional duties."" 
 
 "It is always possible to find time for good 
 deeds/^ replied the lady. 
 
 " I fear, not always." 
 
 " Enfiiiy we are not exacting. To those friends 
 who can give us but their names and their sym- 
 pathies, we are grateful. You will be one of 
 those, I am sure." 
 
 " It is better to give nothing, than to give 
 that which is worthless," said Mr. Trefalden. 
 
 Mademoiselle Colonna met this reply with a 
 slight curl of the lip, and another flash of her 
 magnificent eyes. 
 
 " Those who are not for Italy, are against her, 
 Mr. Trefalden," she said coldly, and turned away. 
 
 The lawyer recovered his position with perfect 
 tact. 
 
 " I cannot allow Mademoiselle Colonna to 
 mistake me a second time," he said. "If she 
 does me the honour to value my poor name at 
 more than its worth, I can but place it at her 
 disposal." 
 
 " Are you sincere ? " she said, quickly.
 
 MR. TREFALDEN MEETS ACQUAINTANCES. 131 
 
 " Undoubtedly.'^ 
 
 " You permit us the use of your name ? ^' 
 
 Mr. Trefalden smiled^ and bent his head. 
 
 " Thanks in the name of the cause.^^ 
 
 " Butj signora ..." 
 
 " But what ? " 
 
 ^' You will forgive me if I desire to know in 
 what manner you propose to make my name 
 serviceable ? " 
 
 ''^I shall enter it on our general committee 
 list." 
 
 " Is that all ? '^ 
 
 '•' All — neither more nor less." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden's face showed neither satisfac- 
 tion nor dissatisfaction. It was perfectly placid 
 and indifferent, like his smile. Mademoiselle 
 Colonna looked at him as if she would read him 
 through ; but she could do nothing of the kind. 
 
 " If you repent of the permission you have 
 granted/' she began, " or object to the publicity 
 of . . .'' 
 
 " No, no," interposed the lawyer, with a little 
 deprecatory raising of the hand, '' not at all. It 
 gives me much pleasure.' ' 
 
 K 2
 
 132 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 " If, then, on the contrary, you choose at any 
 time to favour us with more active aid/' con- 
 tinued she, " you need only write to my father, 
 or Lord Castletowers, or, indeed, to any of the 
 honorary secretaries, and your co-operation will 
 meet with grateful and immediate acceptance. 
 Till then, no demand will be made upon your 
 time or patience." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden bowed. 
 
 " Have you many such drones in your hive, 
 signora ? " asked he. 
 
 " Hundreds." 
 
 " But they only can be incumbrances." 
 
 " Quite the contrary. They are of consider- 
 able value. Their names give weight to our 
 cause in the eyes of the world ; and the printed 
 lists which contain them find their way into eveiy 
 court and cabinet in Europe. For instance, I 
 have here a paper '^ 
 
 She paused, glanced towards Saxon, and drop- 
 ping her voice almost to a whisper, said : — 
 
 " Your guide, I suppose ? Does he under- 
 stand English ? '' 
 
 " Perfectly," replied Mr. Trefalden, answering
 
 MR. TPvEFALDEN MEETS ACQUAINTANCES. 133 
 
 the second question, and taking no notice of tlie 
 first. " As well as you, or myself." 
 
 '' Dio ' Have I said too much ? Is he safe ? " 
 
 '' I would answer for him with my head, if 
 even he had understood the purport of our con- 
 versation — which he has not done.'' 
 
 " How can you be sure of that ? " 
 
 " Because he is a wild mountaineer, and knows 
 no more of politics than you, Signora Colonna, 
 know of the common law of England.'' 
 
 The young lady took a folded paper from her 
 pocket, and placed it in Mr. Trefalden's hand. 
 
 " Read that," she said. " It is from Rome. 
 You are aware, of course, that Sardinia " 
 
 Her voice fell again to a whisper. She drew 
 the lawyer away to her father's table, spread the 
 document before him, and proceeded to comment 
 upon its contents. This she did with great 
 earnestness and animation, but in a tone of voice 
 audible only to her listener. Mr. Trefalden was 
 all attention. Signer Colonna, his thin hands 
 twisted in his hair, and his elbows resting on the 
 table, remained absorbed in his papers. Saxon, 
 who had not presumed to lift his eyes from his
 
 134 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 plate while the lady stood near him, ventured to 
 glance now and then towards the group at the 
 farther end of the room. Having looked once, 
 he looked again, and could not forbear look- 
 ing. It was not at all strange that he should 
 do so. On the contrary, it would have been 
 strange if he had done otherwise ; for Saxon 
 Trefalden was gifted with a profound, almost a 
 religious, sense of beauty, and he had never in 
 his life seen anything so beautiful as Olimpia 
 Coionna.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OLIMPIA COLONNA. 
 
 Saxon Trefalden did not fall in love at first 
 sightj as Palamon fell in love with Emelie^ walk- 
 ing in the garden " full of braunches grene/' His 
 heart beat none the faster^ his cheek grew none 
 the brighter, or the paler, for that stolen con- 
 templation. Nothing of the kind. He only ad- 
 mired her — admired her, and wondered at her, 
 and delighted to look upon her; just as he would 
 have admired, and wondered at, and looked upon 
 a gorgeous sunrise among his own native Alps, 
 or a splendid meteor in a summer sky. He did 
 not attempt to analyse her features. He could 
 not have described her to save his life. He had 
 no idea whether her wondrous eyes were brown 
 or black ; or whether it was to them, or to the 
 perfect mouth beneath, that her smile owed the
 
 136 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 magic of its sweetness. He had not the faintest 
 suspicion that her hair was of the same hue and 
 texture as the world-famed locks of Lucrezia 
 Borgia; he only saw that it was tossed back from 
 her brow like a cloud of burnt gold, crisp and 
 wavy, and gathered into a coronet that a queen 
 might have envied. He knew not how scornfully 
 her lip could curl, and her delicate nostrils 
 quiver ; but he could not help seeing how there 
 was something haughty in the very undulations 
 of her tall and slender form, and something im- 
 perial in the character of her beauty. In short, 
 Saxon was no connoisseur of female loveliness. 
 The women of the Grisons are among the home- 
 liest of their race, and till now he had seen no 
 others. A really graceful, handsome, highly-bred 
 woman was a phenomenon in his eyes ; and he 
 looked upon her with much the same kind of 
 delightful awe that one experiences on first be- 
 holding the sea, or the southern stars. Indeed, 
 had Mademoiselle Colonna been only a fine por- 
 trait by Titian, or a marble divinity by Phidias, 
 he could hardly have admired her with a more 
 dispassionate and simple wonder.
 
 OLLNIPIA COLONNA. 137 
 
 Presently Mr. Tref^ildeD came back to his 
 breakfast, leaving Signor Colouna and his 
 daughter to theirs. He resumed his seat in 
 silence. He looked grave. He pushed his plate 
 aside uith the air of one \\'hose thoughts are too 
 busy for hunger. Then he looked at Saxon ; but 
 Saxon's eyes -n-ere wandering to the farther end 
 of the salon, and he knew nothing of the close 
 and serious scrutiny to which he was being sub- 
 jected. The young man would, perhaps, haye 
 been somewhat startled had he surprised that 
 expression upon his cousin's face ; and even more 
 puzzled than startled by the strange, flitting, 
 cynical smile into which it gradually faded. 
 
 '^ Come, Saxou,"*^ said Mr. Trefalden, " we must 
 finish this bottle of Chateau Margaux before we 
 
 go." 
 
 Saxon shook his head. 
 
 " You haye had only one glass,^' remonstrated 
 
 his cousin. 
 
 ^' Thank you, I do not wish for more.^' 
 
 " Then you don't really like it, after all ? '^ 
 
 " Yes, J do ; but I am no longer thirsty. See 
 
 — I haye almost emptied the water-bottle.''^
 
 138 HALF A jNIILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 Mr. Trefalden shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " We are told/^ said he, " that primseval man 
 passed through three preliminary stages before 
 he reached the era of civilisation — namely, the 
 stone period,, the iron period, and the bronze. 
 You, my dear Saxon, are still in the stone period ; 
 and Pleaven only knows how long you might have 
 stayed there, if I had not come to your aid ! It 
 is my mission to civilise you.-'^ 
 
 Saxon laughed aloud. It was his way to laugh 
 on the smallest provocation^ like a joyous child ; 
 which, in Mr. Trefalden's eyes^ was another proof 
 of barbarianism. 
 
 ^^ Civilise me, as much as you please, cousin 
 William,'^ he said : ^' but don^t ask me to drink 
 without thirst, or eat without hunger.^^ 
 
 Mr. Trefalden glanced uneasily towards the 
 other table, where the father and daughter were 
 breakfasting side by side, and conversing softly 
 in Italian. Perhaps he did not wish them to 
 hear Saxon call him " cousin.^' At all events, he 
 rose abruptly, and said : — 
 
 " Come — shall we smoke a cigar in the garden 
 before starting ? ''
 
 OLIMPIA COLONNA. 139 
 
 But just as they were leaving the room, Made- 
 moiselle Colonna rose and followed them. 
 
 " Mr. Trefalden/^ she said eagerly, " Mr. Tre- 
 falden — we found letters awaiting us at this place, 
 one of which demands an immediate answer. 
 This answer must be conveyed to a certain spot, 
 by a trusty messenger. It may not, for various 
 reasons, be sent through the post. Can you help 
 me ? Do you knovf of any person whom it 
 would be safe to employ ? '■* 
 
 "Indeed I do not,^^ replied the lawyer. "I 
 am as great a stranger in Keichenau as your- 
 self. Perhaps, however, the landlord can tell 
 you . . . " 
 
 " No, no,'^ interrupted she. " It will not be 
 prudent to consult him." 
 
 " Then I fear I am powerless." 
 
 "It — it is not very far," hesitated the lady. 
 " He would only have to go about a mile beyond 
 Thusis, on the Splugen road." 
 
 "If I were not a man of law. Mademoiselle 
 Colonna," said Mr. Trefalden, with his blandest 
 smile, " I would myself volunteer to be your 
 envoy; but ..."
 
 140 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 *' But you have given us your name, Mr. Tre- 
 falden, and can do no more. I understand that. 
 I understood it from the first. I am only sorry 
 to have troubled you.^^ 
 
 '^ And I am sorry that you have not troubled 
 me. I regret that I cannot be of more ser- 
 vice.'" 
 
 Wherewith Mr. Trefalden bowed to Mademoi- 
 selle Colonna, made a sign to his cousin to follow 
 him, and left the room. Bat Saxon lingered, 
 blushing and irresolute, and turned to the lady 
 instead. 
 
 " I can take the letter,^^ he said, shyly. 
 
 Mademoiselle Colonna paused, looked straight 
 into his eyes, and said 
 
 '' It is an important letter. Can I trust you?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Can I rely upon you to give it into no other 
 hands than those of the person whom I shall 
 describe to you ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " If anyone else should try to take it from you, 
 what would you do ? " 
 
 " If a man tried to take it from me bv force,"
 
 OLBIPIA COLONNA. 141 
 
 replied Saxon, laughingly, " I should knock him 
 down." 
 
 " But if he were stronger than you ; or if there 
 "were several? " 
 
 He stopped to consider. 
 
 " I — I think I should take it out, as if I were 
 going to give it up/^ said he, " and I would 
 swallow it." 
 
 '^ Good.^^ 
 
 Mademoiselle Colonna paused again, and again 
 looked at him steadfastly. 
 
 " Did you hear all that I said about this letter 
 just now to Mr. Trefalden? '^ she said. 
 
 " Every word of it/^ 
 
 " You know that you must not repeat it? " 
 
 '^ I suppose so." 
 
 " And you know that to convey this letter may 
 be — though it is very unlikely — a service of some 
 little danger ? " 
 
 " I did not know that ; but I knew it was a 
 service of responsibility.-'^ 
 
 " Well, then, are you equally wilHng to 
 go?" 
 
 "Of course. Why not?"
 
 143 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 Mademoiselle Colonna smiled, but somewhat 
 doubtfully. 
 
 " I do not doubt your courage/^ sbe said ; 
 '^ but bow am I to know that you wdll not betray 
 my confidence ? ^^ 
 
 Saxon coloured up to the roots of his hair, and 
 drew back a step. 
 
 '^You must not give me the letter,^' said he, 
 " if you are afraid to trust me. I can only pro- 
 mise to deliver it, and be silent." 
 
 Signor Colonna rose suddenly, and joined 
 them. He had his purse in his hand. 
 
 " Will you swear this, young man ? '' he asked. 
 " Will you swear this ? " 
 
 " No,^' said Saxon, proudly, " I will not swear 
 it. It is forbidden to take God's name for trifles. 
 I will give you my word of honour, but I will not 
 take an oath.'' 
 
 '' Humph ! what reward do you expect ? " 
 
 " Reward ? What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Will twenty francs satisfy you ? " 
 
 Saxon drew back another step. He looked 
 from Signor Colonna to his daughter, and from 
 the lady's face to the gentleman's.
 
 OLIMPIA COLONXA. 143 
 
 '^ Money !" lie faltered. " You offer me money V 
 
 " Is it not enough ? ^' 
 
 Barbarian as he was, Saxon was quite suffi- 
 ciently civilised to writhe under the sting of this 
 affront. The tears started to his honest eyes. 
 It was the first humiliation he had known in his 
 life, and he felt it bitterly. 
 
 " I did not offer to carry your letter for hire/^ 
 said he, in a hurried, quivering voice. " I would 
 have gone twice the distance to — to please and 
 serve the lady. Good morning.^' 
 
 And, turning abruptly on his heel, the young- 
 man strode out of the room. 
 
 " Oh, stay, monsieur, one moment — one mo- 
 ment only ! " cried Mademoiselle Colonna. 
 
 But he was already gone. 
 
 '' What is this ? Who is he ? What does it 
 all mean ? '^ asked Signor Colonna, impatiently. 
 
 " It means that we have committed a grievous 
 error," replied his daughter. ^' He is a gentle- 
 man — a gentleman, and I took him for a common 
 guide ! But see, there he goes, through the 
 garden gate — go to him; pray go to him, and 
 apologise in my name and your own."
 
 144 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 "But, my child/' said the Itahan, nervousl}^, 
 "how can you be sure . . . ?" 
 
 " I am sure. I see it all now — I ought to 
 have seen it from the first. But look yonder, 
 and convince yourself ! Mr. Trefalden has taken 
 his arm — they go down through the trees ! Pray 
 go — go at once, or you will be too late ! ^^ 
 
 Signor Colonna snatched up his hat and went 
 at once; but he was too late for all that. The 
 garden was a very perplexing place. It belonged, 
 not to the hotel, but to the Chateau Planta close 
 by, and was entered by a large iron gate, some 
 few yards down the road. It was laid out on a 
 little picturesque peninsula just at the junction 
 of the Hinter and Vorder Bhines, and was tra- 
 versed by all kinds of winding walks, some of 
 which led down to the water side, some up to 
 retired nooks, or hidden summer-houses, or open 
 lawns fragrant with violets, and musical with 
 ever-playing fountains. Up and down, in and 
 out of these paths, Signor Colonna wandered for 
 nearly half-an-hour without meeting a living soul, 
 or hearing any sound but the rushing of the 
 rivers and the echoes of his own steps on the
 
 OLIMPIA COLONNA. 145 
 
 gravel. Saxon and his cousin had disappeared 
 as utterly as if the green sward had opened and 
 swallowed them, or the grey Rhine had swept 
 them away in its eddying current. 
 
 VOL. r.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 MENTOR BEGINS TO TAKE TELEMACHUS IN HAND. 
 
 Pastor Martin never closed his eyes in sleep 
 that night after William Trefalden paid his first 
 visit at the Chateau Rotzberg. His anxieties 
 had been increasing and multiplying of late^ and 
 this event brought them en masse to the surface. 
 He scarcely knew whether to feel relieved or 
 embarrassed by the arrival of his London kins- 
 man. Harassed as his mind had been for some 
 time past, he yet dreaded to lay the source of his 
 troubles before an arbiter who might tell him 
 that he had acted unwisely. Yet here was the 
 arbiter, dropped, as it were, from the clouds; 
 and, be his verdict what it might, the story of 
 Saxon^s education could not be withheld from 
 him. The good priest shrunk from this con- 
 fession. It was true that he had done all for the
 
 MENTOR TAKES TELEIMACHUS IN HAND. 147 
 
 best. It ^as also true that lie would liave given 
 his own life to make that boy a good and happy 
 man. And yet — and yet there remained the 
 fatal possibility which had so haunted him during 
 these last few months. His own judgment might 
 all this time have been at fault ; and the fair 
 edifice which he had been building up with such 
 love and devotion for the last twenty years or 
 morCj mighty after all, have its foundations in the 
 sand. This was a terrible thought — a thought so 
 hard to bear that the pastor made up his mind 
 to go down to Reichenau early in the morning, 
 and talk the whole matter over with William 
 Trefalden, before he and Saxon should have 
 started for Chur. When the morning came, 
 however, a goat was missing from the flock. 
 This mischance threw all the farm-work out of 
 its daily course, so that the pastor started a good 
 half-hour too late, quite expecting to find them 
 both gone by the time he reached the Adler. 
 
 In the meanwhile, Saxon had overtaken his 
 cousin in the garden of the Chateau Planta. 
 
 " Well,'' said :Mr. Trefalden, " I began to 
 think you were never coming. Take a cigar ?" 
 
 L 2
 
 148 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 Saxon sliook his head. 
 
 " I doa't smoke, thank you/' said he hurriedly. 
 " This way.'' 
 
 Mr. Trefalden noted the fiu|h upon his cheek, 
 and the agitation of his manner, and followed in 
 silence. 
 
 The young man plunged down a labyrinth of 
 narrow side walks, till they came to one that 
 sloped to the water-side. At the bottom of this 
 slope, only a wire fence and a slip of gravelly 
 bank lay between them and the river. A covered 
 bridge spanned the stream a few yards higher up, 
 and beyond the bridge lay the meadows and the 
 mountains. Saxon, without deigning to touch 
 the wire with his hand, sprang lightly over. 
 Mr. Trefalden, less lightly, and more leisurely, 
 followed his example. In a few minutes more, 
 they had both passed through the gloom of the 
 covered bridge, and emerged into the sunshine 
 beyond. Saxon at once struck across the road, 
 and took the field path opposite. 
 
 ^as this the way to Chur?'' asked Mr. Tre- 
 iklden, somewhat abruptly. 
 
 Saxon started, and stopped.
 
 MENTOR TAKES TELEMACHUS IN HAND. 149 
 
 "No, indeed," he replied. ''1 — I had for- 
 gotten. We must turn back." 
 
 '• Not till I have finished my cigar. See — here 
 is an old pine-trunk, that looks as if it had been 
 felled on purpose. Let us sit and chat quietly for 
 half-an-hour." 
 
 " With all my heart," said Saxon. So they 
 sat down side by side, far enough out of sight or 
 hearing of the garden in which Signor Colonna 
 was searching for them on the opposite side of 
 the river. 
 
 " By the way, Saxon, what kept you so long, 
 just now?'^ said Mr. Trefalden. "Were you 
 flirting with the fair Olimpia ? " 
 
 Saxon's face was scarlet in an instant. 
 
 " I — I offered to carry her letter," he replied, 
 confusedly. 
 
 " The deuce you did ! And she declined?" 
 
 "' She misunderstood me." 
 
 " I am heartily glad of it. I would not have 
 had you mixed up in any of the Colonna intrigues 
 for a trifle. In v/hat way did she misunderstand 
 you ? "' 
 
 Saxon bit his lip, and the colour which
 
 150 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 had nearly faded from his face came back 
 again. 
 
 " She thought I wanted to be paid for going/' 
 he said;, reluctantly. 
 
 '' Offered you money, in short ?" 
 
 " Yes — that is, her father did so.'' 
 
 " And what did you say ? " 
 
 '' I hardly know. I was greatly vexed — more 
 vexed, perhaps, than I ought to have been. I 
 left them, at all events, and here I am." 
 
 " Without the letter, I trust ?" 
 
 " Without the letter." 
 
 There was a brief silence. Mr. Trefalden 
 looked down thoughtfully, and a faint smile 
 flitted over his face. Saxon did not see it. His 
 thoughts were busy elsewhere, and his eyes were 
 also bent upon the ground. 
 
 '' I am sorry you don't join me," said Mr. 
 Trefalden. " Smoking is a social art, and you 
 should acquire it." 
 
 '^The art is easy enough," said Saxon. "It is 
 the taste for it which is difficult of acquisition." 
 
 " Then you have tried it ? " 
 
 " Yes.'^
 
 MENTOR TAKES TELEMACHUS IN HAND. 151 
 
 '^ And it made you giddy ? " 
 
 " Not at all ; but it gave me no pleasure/' 
 
 '' That was because you did not persevere long 
 enough to experience the delicious dreaminess 
 that ..." 
 
 " I have no desire to feel dreamy," interrupted 
 Saxon. ^' I should detest any sensation that left 
 my mind less active than usual. I had as soon 
 put on fetters." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden laughed that low, pleasant laugh 
 of his, and stretched himself at fall length on the 
 grass. 
 
 " There are fetters, and fetters," said he. 
 'Tetters of gold, and fetters of flowers, as well as 
 fetters of vulgar iron." 
 
 ''' Heaven forbid that I should ever know any 
 of the three," observed Saxon, gravely. 
 
 '^ You have this very day been in danger of the 
 two last,'- replied Mr. Trefalden. 
 
 " Cousin, you are jesting." 
 
 " Cousin, I am doing nothing of the kind." 
 
 Saxon's blue eyes opened in amazement. 
 
 " What can you mean ? " said he. 
 
 " I will tell you. But you must promise to
 
 152 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 listen patiently, for my explanation involves some 
 amount of detail." 
 
 Saxon bent his head, and the lawyer, puffing 
 lazily at his cigar from time to time, con- 
 tinued. 
 
 " The Colonna family," said he, '' is, as of 
 course you know already, one of the oldest and 
 noblest of the princely Roman houses. Giulio 
 Colonna, whom you saw just now at the Adler, is 
 a scion of the stock. He has been an enthusiast 
 all his life. In his youth he married for love; 
 and, for the last twenty or thirty years, has 
 devoted himself, heart and soul, to Italian 
 politics. He has written more pamphlets and 
 ripened more plots than any man in Europe. 
 He is at the bottom of every Italian conspiracy. 
 He is at the head of every secret society that has 
 Italian unity for its object. He is, in short, a 
 born agitator; and his daughter is as fanatical 
 as himself. As you saw them just now, so they 
 are always. He with his head full of plots, and 
 his pockets full of pamphlets — she exercising all 
 her woman's wit and energy to enlist or utilise an 
 ally.''
 
 MENTOR TAKES TELEMACHUS IN HAND. 153 
 
 "I understand now what she meant by the 
 ' good cause/ " observed Saxon, thoughtfully. 
 
 " Ay, that's the hackneyed phrase." 
 
 Saxon looked up. 
 
 '' But it is a good cause," said he. " It is the 
 liberty of her country.^^ 
 
 Mr. Trefalden shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 '' Yes, yes, of course it is," he replied ; " but 
 one gets weary of this pamphleteering and plot- 
 ting. Fighting is one thing, Saxon, and in- 
 triguing, another. Besides, I hate a female 
 politician." 
 
 " She is very beautiful," said Saxon. 
 
 " She is beautiful, and brilliant, and very fas- 
 cinating ; and she knows how to employ her 
 power, too. Those eyes of Olimpia Colonna's 
 have raised more volunteers for Italy than all 
 her father's pamphlets. Confess now, would you 
 have been so ready to carry that letter this 
 morning, if the lady had worn blue spectacles 
 and a front ? " 
 
 " I cannot tell, but I fear not," replied the 
 young man, laughingly. ^^ But what has this to 
 do with the fetters ? "
 
 154 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 "Everything. Granted, now, that the fair 
 signora had known you were my cousin . . . '^ 
 
 "I suppose she took me for your servant/' 
 interposed Saxon, somewhat bitterly. 
 
 " and that you had really taken charge of 
 
 that paper grenade/' continued Mr. Trefalden, 
 " can you not guess what the results might have 
 been ? Well, I can. She would not have offered 
 you money — not a sous — but she would have 
 smiled upon you, and given you her hand at 
 parting ; and you would probably have kissed it 
 as if she had been an empress, and worshipped 
 her as if she were a divinity ; and your head, my 
 dear Saxon, would have been as irretrievably 
 turned as the heads of the false prophets in 
 Dante's seventh circle." 
 
 "No, that it would not," said Saxon, hastily ; 
 with his face all on fire again at the supposition. 
 "And besides, the false prophets were in the 
 eighth circle, cousin — the place, you know, called 
 Malebolge.'' 
 
 " True — the eighth. Thank you. Then you 
 would have placed the grenade in whichever 
 pocket lay nearest to the place where your heart
 
 :^IENTOR TAIvES TELEMACHUS IN HAND. 155 
 
 used to be; and you would have gone to tlie 
 world's end as readily as to Thusis ; and have 
 been abjectly happy to wear Mademoiselle 
 Colonna's fetters of flowers for the rest of your 
 natural life." 
 
 " Nay, but indeed . . . '' 
 
 "So much for the flowers," interrupted Mr. 
 Trefalden. "Now for the iron. Once embarked 
 in this 'good cause,' there would have been no 
 hope for you in the future. In less than a 
 month, you would have been affiliated to some 
 secret society. Dwelling as you do, on the high 
 road to Italy, you would have been appointed to 
 all kinds of dangerous services; and the result 
 of the whole aff'air would have been an Austrian 
 dungeon, whence not even Santa Olirapia herself 
 would have power to extricate you." 
 
 "A very pleasant picture, and very well 
 painted," said Saxon, with an angry quiver of the 
 lip; "but an error, cousin, from beginning to 
 end. I should have devoted myself neither to 
 the lady nor the cause ; so your argument falls to 
 the ground, and the fetters along with it.^' 
 
 Mr. Trefalden had too much tact to pursue
 
 156 HALF A IMILLION OP MONEY. 
 
 the conversation further, so he changed the 
 subject. 
 
 '^ Are you fond of music ?" he asked. 
 
 " Passionately." 
 
 " Do you play any instrument ? '^ 
 
 ^' I play a little on our chapel organ, but very 
 badly." 
 
 " By ear, I suppose ? " 
 
 "Not entirely. My father learned music at 
 Geneva, in his youth ; and all that he knows he 
 has taught me." 
 
 " Which, I suppose," said Mr. Trefalden, " is 
 just enough to make you wish it were more?^' 
 
 " Precisely." 
 
 " Have you a good organ at the chapel ? " 
 
 " No, a wretched thing. It is very small, very 
 old, and sadly out of repair. Two of the stops 
 are quite useless, and there are but five alto- 
 gether." 
 
 " A wretched thing, indeed ! Can^t you get a 
 new one ? " 
 
 '^ I fear not. Perhaps when Count Planta 
 comes back from Italy he may give us one. My 
 father means to mention it to him, at all events ;
 
 MENTOE TAKES TELEMACHUS IN HAND. 157 
 
 but then the count is always either in Naples or 
 Paris. He may not come to Reichenau for the 
 next three or four years." 
 
 " And in the meanwhile/"* said Mr. Trefalden, 
 " the organ may die of old age, and become 
 altogether dumb."*^ 
 
 " Quite true," replied Saxon with a sigh. 
 
 Mr. Trefalden glanced at him sharply^ and a 
 silence of some moments ensued. 
 
 ^^ Don't you think, Saxon," said he, at length, 
 " that it must be very pleasant to be rich ? " 
 
 Saxon looked up from his reverie, and smiled. 
 
 " To be rich ? " he repeated. 
 
 "Ay — as Count Planta, for instance." 
 
 '' Are you serious, cousin ? " 
 
 " Quite serious." 
 
 "Then I think it cannot be pleasant at all/^ 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 "Because wealth is power, and power is a 
 frightful temptation." 
 
 "Nonsense ! " said Mr. Trefalden. 
 
 " And a frightful responsibility, too/' 
 
 " Nonsense again ! " 
 
 "All history proves it," said Saxon, earnestly.
 
 158 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 *^Look at Athens and Rome — see how luxury 
 ■undermined the liberty of the one, and how the 
 desire of aggrandisement , , .'' 
 
 Mr. Trefalden laid his hand laughingly upon 
 the young man's mouth. 
 
 " My dear fellow/^ said he, ^^ you talk like a 
 class-hook, or an Exeter Hall lecturer ! Who 
 cares about Rome or Athens now ? One would 
 think you were a thousand years old, at the very 
 least.'' 
 
 "But ..." 
 
 " But your arguments are very true, and classi- 
 cal, and didactic — I grant all that. Nevertheless 
 our daily experience proves money to be a remark- 
 ably agreeable thing. You, I think, are rather 
 proud of your poverty.'' 
 
 " I am not poor." replied Saxon. " I have 
 all that I need. An emperor can have no 
 more." 
 
 " Humph ! Are there no poor in Reichenau ? " 
 
 " None who are very poor. None so poor as 
 the people of Embs." 
 
 "Where is Embs?" 
 
 " About half-way on the road to Chur. It is a
 
 MENTOR TAKES TELEMACHUS IN HAND. 159 
 
 Roman Catholic parish, and the inhabitants are 
 miserably squalid and idle/^ 
 
 "I remember the place. I passed it on my 
 Tvay here yesterday. It looked like a hotbed of 
 fever.^^ 
 
 "And well it might/' replied Saxon, sadly. 
 " They had it terribly last autumn. '^ 
 
 Mr. Trefalden faced round suddenly, leaning 
 on his elbow, and flung away the end of his 
 cigar. 
 
 "And so you think, young man,'' said he, 
 "that because you have all you need, money 
 would be of no use to you ! Pray, did it never 
 occur to you that these fever- stricken wretches 
 wanted food, medicine, and clothing ? '' 
 
 " We— we did what we could, cousin,'' replied 
 Saxon, in a troubled voice. " God knows it was 
 very little, but ..." 
 
 "But if you had been a rich man, you 
 could have done ten times more. Is that not 
 true ? " 
 
 " Too true." 
 
 " Your religion enjoins you to give alms ; but 
 how are you to do this without money ? "
 
 160 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 ^' One may do good works without money/' said 
 Saxon. 
 
 " In a very limited degree. Not one-tenth 
 part as many as if you had plenty of it. Did you 
 never look at that side of the question, Saxon? Did 
 you never wish to be rich for the sake of others ? " 
 
 "I am not sure, but I do not think I ever did. 
 I was so impressed with the belief that money was 
 the root of all evil . . . '' 
 
 " Pshaw ! Things are good or evil according 
 to the use we make of them. A knife is but a 
 knife, whether in the hand of a surgeon or an 
 assassin ; yet the result is considerably difiPerent. 
 You must divest your mind of these fallacies, 
 Saxon. They are unworthy of you ! '^ 
 
 Saxon put his hand to his brow uneasily. 
 
 "What you say sounds like the truth," said 
 he ; " and yet — and yet it is at variance with the 
 precepts upon which I have relied all my life." 
 
 " Very possibly," replied Mr. Trefalden. " Pre- 
 cepts, however, are bad things to depend upon. 
 They are made of india-rubber, and will stretch 
 to cover any proposition. Let us suppose, now, 
 that you were a rich man ..." .
 
 MENTOR TAKES TELEMACHUS IN HAND. IGl 
 
 " How absurd ! " said Saxon, forcing a smile. 
 " What is tlie use of it ? '' 
 
 " We Tf ill see what might have been the use of 
 it. In the first place vou would have had good 
 instruction^ and have become an accomplished 
 musician. You would have enriched yonder little 
 church with a fine organ, and perhaps have re- 
 built the church into the bargain. You would 
 have furnished the poor sufferers of Embs with a 
 staff of doctors and nurses, and have saved, per- 
 haps, some scores of human lives. You would 
 have been able to surround your uncle with com- 
 forts in his old age. You could have gratified 
 your desire of visiting Rome, Athens, and Jeru- 
 salem. You could have lined the old chateau 
 from top to bottom with Greek and Latin poets, 
 and have founded a museum of Etruscan anti- 
 quities for your uncle^s perpetual delight. 
 Finally '' 
 
 He paused. Saxon looked up. 
 
 " W^ell, cousin," said he ; " finally what ? " 
 
 " Finally, rich men do not wear grey blouses 
 and leather gaiters. If you had had a coat like 
 mine on your back tliis morning, Saxon, Made- 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 moiselle Colonna would not have taken you for a 
 common peasant, and Signor Colonna would not 
 have offered you money." 
 
 Saxon sprang to his feet with an impatient 
 gesture. 
 
 " Enough of would be , and might be ! " ex- 
 claimed he. " Of what use are these specula- 
 tions ? I am not rich, and I never shall be rich ; 
 so it is idle to think of it." 
 
 " At all events/' persisted Mr. Trefalden, " you 
 admit the desirableness of wealth ? " 
 
 "I — I am not sure. I cannot relinquish an 
 old belief so hastily.'^ 
 
 '^ Not even in favour of the truth ? " 
 
 " I do not yet know that it is the truth. My 
 mind needs further evidence." 
 
 " Of what, my son ? " said a gentle voice close 
 behind him. 
 
 It was the pastor. There was a field path 
 across those very meadows between Rotzberg and 
 Reichenau, and the pine-trunk where the cousins 
 had stayed to rest lay within a dozen yards of its 
 course. 
 
 Saxon uttered a joyous exclamation.
 
 MENTOR TAICES TELEIMACHUS IN HAND. 163 
 
 " This is fortunate ! '' cried lie. " You come 
 at the right moment, father, to judge our argu- 
 ment/^ 
 
 ""We were talking of riches," said INIr. Trefal- 
 den_, rising, and grasping the old mans out- 
 stretched hand. " !My young kinsman here 
 preaches the language of an Arcadian, and de- 
 claims against the precious metals like a second 
 Timon. I, on the other hand, have been trying 
 to convince him that gold has a very bright side, 
 indeed, and may be made to perform a good many 
 wise offices. What say you ? " 
 
 The pastor looked distressed. 
 
 " The question is a broad one," said he, *' and 
 there is much truth on both sides of it. But we 
 cannot discuss it now. I want to talk to you. 
 Cousin William. I have hastened down from 
 Rotzberg, fearing all the time lest I should miss 
 you. Were you not going to Chur ? " 
 
 "We were going, and are going, by-and-by," 
 replied Mr. Trefalden. 
 
 " Can you spare me half-an-hour before you 
 start ?" 
 
 " The whole day, if you please." 
 
 M 2
 
 164 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 "Nay, an hour will be more than enough. 
 Saxon, that which I have to say to our cousin is 
 not for thy ears. Go up, my son, to Tamins, and 
 inquire about that Indian corn-seed that farmer 
 E/Ctzschel promised us last week." 
 
 Saxon looked surprised ; but prepared to be 
 gone without a word. 
 
 " Shall I come back here afterwards ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 "No. It would be better to await thy cousin 
 at the Adler." 
 
 Saxon hesitated. 
 
 " Could I not wait at the chapel ? '' said he. 
 
 "Ay, at the chapel, if thou wilt." 
 
 So the young man waved a cheery farewell, and 
 started at once upon his uncle's errand. Looking 
 back presently, at the turn of the path, he saw 
 them sitting on the pine-trunk, side by side, 
 already in earnest conversation. He saw Mr. 
 Trefalden shake his head. He fancied there was 
 some kind of trouble in the old man's attitude. 
 What could his uncle have to say to one whom, 
 kinsman though he was, he had never seen till 
 the previous evening ? Why this mystery about
 
 MENTOR TAKES TELEMACHUS IN HAND. 1G5 
 
 their conversation ? It was very strange. Saxon 
 could not help feeling that he must be himself 
 concerued, somehow or another, in the matter ; 
 and this surmise added, vaguely, to his uneasi- 
 ness.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 UP AT THE CHURCH. 
 
 Three hours later, Saxon was sitting alone 
 before the organ in the little chapel on the hill. 
 One hand supported his head, the other rested 
 listlessly upon the keys. A tattered mass of 
 Palestrina^s lay open upon the music desk; but 
 Saxon^s eyes were turned towards the door, and 
 his thoughts were far away. He had been play- 
 ing half an hour or an hour ago, and had fallen 
 since then into a long and anxious train of 
 thought. He had even forgotten the little fair- 
 haired urchin who acted for him as blower, and 
 who had fallen fast asleep in the sunshine that 
 streamed through the window at the back of the 
 organ. 
 
 It was a plain, white- washed, brown-raftered 
 little church, with a row of deal benches on each
 
 UP AT THE CHURCH. 1G7 
 
 side of the aisle^ and a pulpit to match. On a 
 long board suspended from the roof just above 
 the altar was painted, in gaudy characters of gold 
 and scarlet, a German couplet, signifying " Where 
 God is, there is liberty." The organ was of old 
 dark oak, with ebony keys ; and on the top stood 
 a battered angel with a broken trumpet. It was 
 a place of primitive simplicity, and no kind of 
 architectural beauty. The beauty lay all without, 
 among the Alps and pine forests that showed here 
 and there through open doors and windows. 
 
 It yras more than an hour past mid-day when 
 Saxon Trefalden sat thus before the organ, and 
 his cousin had not yet come to claim his company. 
 His thoughts were busy, and his soul was dis- 
 quieted within him. The uneasiness that he had 
 felt on leaving those two to their solitary con- 
 ference had now increased tenfold. Why was he 
 excluded from it ? And why should his uncle, 
 who had never, as he believed, hidden a thought 
 from him before, keep a secret from him now ? 
 
 Then, what of this unknown kinsman, William 
 Trefalden of London? Did Saxon really like 
 him ? The question was a difficult one. He
 
 168 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 scarcely knew liow to answer it, even to himself. 
 He thought he liked his cousin. Nay, he felt 
 sure — almost sure — that he liked him. Not^ 
 perhaps, quite so well to-day as yesterday. Was 
 it that an indefinite sense of mistrust mingled 
 with the liking ? No, that was impossible. His 
 generous nature revolted at the thought. Was 
 it that William Trefalden^s opinions were so new 
 to him, and went so far to unsettle his own pre- 
 conceived notions of good and evil ? Or was it that 
 he was himself somewhat out of humour with the 
 world this morning — somewhat less contented 
 than of old ? The organ, to be sure, had sounded 
 more wheezy and thin than ever to-day, and his 
 own playing had seemed clumsier than usual. 
 Besides, that matter of the twenty francs was 
 hard to forget. Well, well, he certainly liked his 
 cousin ; and as for povert}^ why he must put up 
 with it, and make the best of it, as his father and 
 uncle had done before him ! Then, with regard 
 
 to Olimpia Colonna Pshaw ! were she fair as 
 
 Helen, and patriotic as Camilla, it would make 
 no difference to him. Saxon flattered himself 
 that he was invulnerable.
 
 UP AT THE CHURCH. 109 
 
 At tliis point of liis meditations, a shadow fell 
 upon the threshold, and was followed by the sub- 
 stance of William Trefalden. 
 
 " I am ashamed, Saxon/' said he, " to have 
 kept you waiting for me so long. Your uncle is 
 gone home, and I suppose it is too late to think 
 of Chur to-day. Is this the organ ? " 
 
 Saxon bent his head affirmatively. 
 
 " So ! a lumbering old box of pipes, only lit for 
 firewood ! What say you? Will you present the 
 parish with a new one ? " 
 
 "I hope the parish will not have to wait 
 till I do so,'' replied Saxon, with a faint 
 smile. 
 
 '^ But I am serious. Will you order one from 
 Geneva, or have it brought all the way from 
 Paris?" 
 
 '^ Cousin William, what do you mean?" faltered 
 Saxon, his heart beginning to beat faster, he 
 knew not why. 
 
 Mr. Trefalden laid his two hands on the young 
 man's shoulders, and, looking him steadily in the 
 face, replied : — 
 
 '^ This is what I mean, Saxon. In about a
 
 170 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 fortnight^s time you will be a ricli man — a very 
 rich man — ten times riclier than Count Planta, or 
 any nobleman here/^ 
 
 " I — rich — richer than 1 do not understand 
 
 you ! '' said Saxon^ brokenly. 
 
 " It is the absolute truth." 
 
 " But my uncle ^^ 
 
 " He knows it. He has known it since before 
 you were born. He has desired me to tell you 
 all the story of your inheritance." 
 
 Saxon put his hand to his forehead, and turned 
 his face awaj\ 
 
 "Not just yet — not here," he said_, in an 
 agitated voice. "I — I am so taken by surprise 
 — almost terrified. Will you leave me for a few 
 minutes? I will come out to you presently in 
 the churchyard." 
 
 " Oh, certainly," replied Mr. Trefalden, and 
 turned towards the door. Saxon sprang after 
 him, and grasped him by the arm. 
 
 " One moment," exclaimed he, pointing to a 
 little stone tablet let into the church wall about 
 half way between the organ and the porch. " Did 
 he know, too ? '^
 
 UP AT THE CHUBCH. 171 
 
 The tablet bore the name of Saxon Trefalden, 
 and the date of his death. 
 
 '^ Your father and your uncle both knew it," 
 repKed Mr. Trefalden, gravely. "This fortune 
 would have been his now, instead of yours, if he 
 had lived to claim it." 
 
 Saxon turned away with a deep sob, and his 
 cousin went out into the sunshine. 
 
 Left alone in the little silent church, the young 
 man covered his face with his hands, and burst 
 into tears. 
 
 " God help me ! " murmured he. " What shall 
 I do ? I am so young, so ignorant, so unfit to 
 bear this burden. God help me, and guide me 
 to use these riches rightly ! " 
 
 And then he knelt down beside the little organ, 
 and prayed.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ON THE TERRACE AT CASTLETOWERS. 
 
 A BROAD gravelled terrace lying due east and 
 west, with vases of massive terra-cotta, full of 
 glossy evergreens, placed at regular intervals 
 along the verge of the broad parapet. A mighty 
 old Elizabethan mansion of warm red brick, 
 standing back in a deep angle of shade, with all 
 its topmost gables, carved scutcheons, and gilded 
 vanes glittering to the morning sun. A fore- 
 ground of undulating park traversed by a noisy 
 rivulet, and rich in old gnarled oaks planted at 
 the time of the Restoration. A distance of blue 
 hills and purple common, relieved here and there 
 by stretches of fir plantation jutting out into 
 the hazy heath-land, like wooded promontories 
 sloping to the sea. On the terrace, a peacock 
 with all his gorgeous plumage displayed ; a lady
 
 ON THE TEERACE AT CASTLETOWEES. 17e3 
 
 feeding him from her own white hand ; and two 
 gentlemen standing by. The time, the thirtieth 
 day of March, cool but sunny, and redolent 
 of spring. The county, Surrey. The place, 
 Castletowers. 
 
 "How you flatter that bird, Mademoiselle 
 Colonna ! '^ said one of the gentlemen ; a tall, 
 soldierly man, with a deep sabre-scar across his 
 left temple, and some few grey hairs silvering his 
 thick moustache and beard. " His disposition 
 was always a perfect balance between vanity and 
 ill-nature, but since your advent, the brute has 
 become more insufferable than ever. Take care ! 
 I never see your hand so near his beak without a 
 shudder." 
 
 " Fear nothing on my account. Major Vaugh an," 
 replied the lady ; " and pray do not be unjust to 
 Sardanapalus. He is quite an altered bird ; and 
 as gentle as a dove — with me." 
 
 " You do well to add that clause, my dear lady ; 
 for we can all bear witness to the way in which 
 his majesty ^ takes it out' in viciousness when 
 you are not by. He flew at Gulnare not an hour 
 agOj down by the five oaks yonder ; and I believe,
 
 174 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 if I had not chanced to be within hail, and if the 
 mare were not the most self-possessed beast in 
 creation^ there would have been battle,, murdei*, 
 and sudden death between them/' 
 
 ^' Really ? You make me prouder than ever of 
 my conquest/' 
 
 The soldier shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 *' Pshaw ! '' said he, " what is one bar on the 
 medal, more or less, to the hero of a hundred 
 fields?" 
 
 '' Major Vaughan, you are complimentary.'' 
 
 "Vaughan's pretty speeches always smell of 
 powder," laughed the younger gentleman, who 
 was leaning against the parapet close by. 
 
 "Bah! que veucc-tu, mon cher? A man can 
 no more shake ofi" the associations of twenty 
 years, than he can shake off the bronze from his 
 skin : — 
 
 * You may break, you may ruin the vase if you will, 
 The scent of the larrack will hang round it still.' " 
 
 Mademoiselle Colonna looked up quickly, still 
 feeding the peacock from her open palm. 
 
 "I like your compliment the better. Major 
 Vaughan, for what Lord Castletowers calls its
 
 ox THE TERRACE AT CASTLETOWERS. 175 
 
 smell of powder," said she. "It is a familiar 
 perfume to me, remember." 
 
 "I don't like to remember it/' muttered the 
 soldier^ pulling tbougbtfully at bis moustache. 
 
 "Xor I/' said Lord Castletowers, in a low 
 voice. 
 
 ^' AYby not, pray ? " asked the lady, with a 
 heightened colour. ^' Is it not the incense of 
 Italian liberty ? " 
 
 " Granted ; but it is an incense so powerful 
 that fair ladies do well to smell it from a 
 distance." 
 
 "Not when they can be of service in the 
 temple, Major Vaughan," replied Mademoiselle 
 Colonna, with one of her proud smiles. "But, 
 digressions apart, do you really tell me that 
 Sardanapalus attacked Gulnare without any kind 
 of provocation ? " 
 
 " I do, indeed." 
 
 " It is strange that he should be so savage.*" 
 
 "It is still more strange that he should be so 
 docile ! I believe. Mademoiselle Colonna, that 
 you are in possession of some taming secret 
 known onlv to vourself."
 
 170 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 " Perhaps I am. May I be allowed to cite 
 you as a specimen of my success ? " 
 
 Major Vaughan bowed almost to the ground. 
 
 " Oh ! daughter of the sun and moon/' said he_, 
 '^ the head of thy slave is at thy disposal ! ^' 
 
 Startled either by the Major's profound salaam, 
 or by the sudden pealing of the breakfast bell, 
 Sardanapalus threw up his head, and uttered an 
 angry scream. Mademoiselle Colonna withdrew 
 her hand quickly, and flung away the remainder 
 of the cake with Avhich she had been feeding him. 
 Lord Castletowers saw the gesture, and sprang to 
 her side. 
 
 "The brute has not bitten you?'' he said 
 anxiously. 
 
 She had already wrapped her handkerchief 
 round her hand, and was moving slowly towards 
 the house, as if nothing had happened ; but there 
 was a scarcely perceptible quiver in the smile with 
 which she replied, 
 
 "Very slightly, thank you. Don't be angry 
 with the poor bird. He meant no harm." 
 
 "Meant!" echoed the young man, fiercely. 
 "I'll teach him to know what he means in future.
 
 ON THE TERRACE AT CASTLETOWERS. 177 
 
 "\Till YOU permit me to see the extent of the 
 mischief?^' 
 
 "Nay, it is nothing — a mere peck/^ 
 
 Lord Castletowers uttered an exclamation of 
 dismay, as he stooped to take something from the 
 ground. It was a Httle fragment of cake, all 
 crimson dyed. 
 
 " It is no ' peck ' that has done this ! " he 
 exclaimed. ^^ For pit\"s sake, Olim — made- 
 moiselle, allow me to see your hand ! " 
 
 '^Indeed it is not serious; but lest you should 
 fancy it worse than it is— there ! '' 
 
 The blush with which she began faded quite 
 away as she concluded, and left her somewhat 
 paler than usual. She averted her eyes. She 
 could bear the pain bravely enough, but not the 
 sight. 
 
 " What is the matter ? '' said Major Vaughan, 
 who had turned away on making his salaam, 
 and who had seen nothing of the accident. 
 
 ^^That carrion bird has bitten Mademoiselle 
 Colonna ! " rephed Lord Castletowers, with un- 
 concealed agitation. "Bitten her severely. See 
 this ! "
 
 178 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 The prettj'' little delicate palm was half laid 
 open, but the slender fingers did not even 
 tremble. Major Vaughan examined the wound 
 with the keen glance of one accustomed to such 
 matters. 
 
 " Humph ! an ugly gash ! '^ said he ; " but not 
 so bad as a bayonet thrust, after all. If you will 
 accompany me indoors, Miss Colonna, I will 
 dress it for you in first-rate style. You do not 
 know what a capital surgeon I am. Here, 
 
 Castletowers, something to tie up the young 
 
 lady's hand, in the meanwhile ! " 
 
 Lord Castletowers gave his own handkerchief, 
 and, turning aside, hastily thrust Mademoiselle 
 Colonna' s into his breast-pocket. Her eyes were 
 still averted ; but a dark shadow came upon 
 Major Vaughan' s face. 
 
 "A thousand thanks,^^ said she, smilingly, 
 when the bandage was adjusted. 
 
 ''You must not thank me till it is properly 
 dressed," replied he, ofi'ering her his arm. '' And 
 now, if you please, we will find our way to the 
 housekeeper's room, and procure all that is neces- 
 sary; while you, my dear fellow, had better go
 
 ON THE TERRACE AT CASTLETOWERS. 179 
 
 and explain the cause of this delay to Lady 
 Castletowers. I know she does not like to wait 
 for breakfast." 
 
 " True, it is one of my mother's peculiarities. 
 I will do the work of propitiation. As for 
 Sardanapalus . . . ." 
 
 " Sardanapalus must be pardoned," interposed 
 Mademoiselle Colonna. 
 
 Lord Castletowers shook his head. 
 
 "Nay, I CDtreat." 
 
 But she entreated with the air of an empress. 
 
 The young man lifted his hat. 
 
 " The prisoner at the bar was condemned to 
 death," said he, courteously ; " but since the 
 queen chooses to exercise her prerogative, the 
 court commutes his sentence to solitary confine- 
 ment for life in the great aviary at the end of the 
 Italian garden." 
 
 At this moment the breakfast bell sent forth 
 a second clamorous peal; the imperial convict 
 uttered another dissonant cry, and sailed across 
 the terrace in all his panoply of plumage; and 
 the trio went up to the house. 
 
 N 2
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE HOUSE OF CASTLETOWERS. 
 
 Gervase Leopold Wynneclyiee, Earl of 
 Castletowers, was the fifth peer of his house, 
 and the last of his name. He was not rich ; but 
 ]ie was very good-natured. He had no great 
 expectations: but he was tolerably clever, tole- 
 rably good-looking, and only twenty-seven years 
 of age. His principles were sound; his French 
 accent was perfect ; he had made one successful 
 speech in the House, and he was unmarried. 
 With all these quahfications, and his five feet 
 eleven inches to boot, it is not surprising that 
 Lord Castletowers, despite his very limited means, 
 should have found himself, during several seasons, 
 the object of a fair amount of maternal ma- 
 noeuvring. That he was not yet given over to 
 the spoilers was owing to no wisdom of his own,
 
 THE HOUSE OF CASTLETOWERS. 181 
 
 and to no absence of that susceptibility whicb 
 flesh (especially flesh under thirty years of age) is 
 heir to. On the contrary, he had been smitten, 
 as the phrase goes, twice or thrice ; but on each 
 of these occasions his destiny, and perhaps his 
 lady mother, had interposed to save him. 
 
 The young Earl adored his mother. She was 
 still beautiful; slender, pale, stately, and some- 
 what above the average height of women. In 
 complexion and features she resembled the later 
 portraits of Marie Antoinette ; but it was a like- 
 ness of outline and colouring only. The expres- 
 sion was totally different — so different that it 
 appeared sometimes to obliterate the resemblance 
 altogether. The sorrow, the sweetness, the 
 womanly tenderness of that poor royal face 
 were all missing from the serene countenance of 
 Alethea, Countess of Castletowers. She looked 
 as if she had never known a strong emotion in 
 her life ; as if love and hate, anguish and terror, 
 would have glanced off from her like arrows from 
 a marble statue. Proud as they both were, the 
 very pride of these two faces had nothing in 
 common. That of the queen was passionate.
 
 182 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 upon the lip ; tliat of the countess shone coldly 
 from the eye. Pride was, indeed, the dominant 
 principle of her being — the pivot upon which 
 her every thought, word, and action turned. She 
 had been a great heiress. She was the daughter, 
 wife, and mother of an Earl. She was of the 
 ancient line of Holme-Pierrepoint ; and the blood 
 of the Holme-Pierrepoints had mingled once with 
 that of the Plantagenets, and twice with that 
 of the Tudors. The Countess of Castletowers 
 never forgot these things for a moment. It is 
 doubtful if they were even absent from her 
 dreams. Her dignity, her grace, her suavity of 
 manner were perfect; but they were all based 
 upon her pride, like t^iat royal bower of which 
 the poet dreamed : — 
 
 " A sunny pleasure-dome, with, caves of ice." 
 
 Lady Castletowers had not loved her husband ; 
 but she loved her son as much as it was in her 
 nature to love anything. The husband had 
 squandered her dowry : insulted her hy open 
 neglect ; and died abroad, overwhelmed with 
 debt and discredit, within the fifth year of their
 
 THE HOUSE OF CASTLETOWERS. 183 
 
 marriage. The son had reverenced, admired, 
 idolised her ftom his cradle. He had never given 
 her cause for one moment's anxiety since the 
 day of his birth. As a little child, he thought 
 her the most noble and gracious of God^s crea- 
 tures : as he grew in years, his faith in her 
 remained undiminished, and his love became that 
 beautiful love which mingles the chivalrous re- 
 spect of the man with the tender homage of the 
 son. It was not, therefore, surprising that what- 
 ever waif of human weakness had fallen to her 
 ladyship's portion should have been garnered up 
 for this one object. While he was yet very 
 young, her affection for him was, as it were, 
 invested at compound inl^prest, and left to accu- 
 mulate till he should become of an age to deserve 
 it j but as he arrived at manhood, his life became 
 identified with her own. All her pride and am- 
 bition centred in him. He must marry well — 
 that is to say, richly and nobly. He must make 
 a position in the Upper House. He must some 
 day be a cabinet minister ; and he must get that 
 step in the peerage which the Duke of York had 
 once solicited for his father, but which George
 
 184 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 the Fourth had refused to grant. Lady Castle- 
 towers had set her heart on obtaining these 
 things for her son, but above all else had she 
 set her heart upon the last. She would have 
 sold ten years of her own life to see the marquis's 
 coronet upon his carriage panels. When the 
 clergyman in church put up that prayer, towards 
 the end of the morning service, which implores 
 fulfilment for the desires and petitions of the 
 congregation, " as may be most expedient for 
 them," Lady Castletowers invariably reverted in 
 the silence of her thoughts to the four pearls 
 and the four strawberry leaves ; and never 
 asked herself if there could be profanity in the 
 prayer. 
 
 In the meanwhile, the young Earl accepted all 
 this pride and ambition for the purest maternal 
 affection. He did not care in the least about 
 the marquisate ; he was somewhat indifferent to 
 the attractions of the Upper House ; and he had 
 almost made up his mind that he would not, if 
 he could, be burdened with the toils and respon- 
 sibilities of office. But he would not have grieved 
 his mother by a hint of these heresies, for the
 
 THE HOUSE OF CASTLETOWERS. 185 
 
 universe. He even blamed himself for his own 
 want of ambition, and soothed his troubled con- 
 science every now and then by promising himself 
 that he would very soon '' read up ^' one of the 
 popular financial topics^ and make another speech 
 in the House. 
 
 But that question of the wealthy marriage was 
 to him the least agreeable of all his mother's 
 projects. There was some romance in the youPig 
 man's disposition, and he could not relish the 
 thought of adding to his own scanty acres by 
 means of his wife^s fortune. He would have pre- 
 ferred to marry a village maiden for love, like the 
 Lord of Burleigh ; or, at least, to have felt that 
 he was free to love like the Lord of Burleigh, if 
 he chose. 
 
 It was in somewhat of this same spirit of 
 romance that Lord Castletowers had associated 
 himself with the Italian cause. He had, or fan- 
 cied that he had, a democratic bias. He was 
 fond of quoting the examples of the classic repub- 
 lics ; he had read Rousseau's " Contrat Social,'^ 
 and Godwin's "Political Justice;^' and he had a 
 genuine English hatred of oppression, whatever
 
 186 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 its form or aspect. Surrounded as he had been 
 since the hour of his birth by a triple rampart of 
 conservatism, it is possible that democracy pos- 
 sessed for this young nobleman somewhat of the 
 stimulative charm of a forbidden luxury. He 
 certainly never confided the full extent of his 
 republican sympathies to his lady mother,, and he 
 would have been far from grateful to any ofi&cious 
 friend who had presented her with a verbatim 
 report of certain of his most enthusiastic speeches. 
 Those speeches were delivered at meetings held 
 in obscure lecture-halls and institutes in un- 
 aristocratic parts of London, and were remark- 
 ably good speeches of their kind — vigorously 
 thought, and often felicitously expressed; but 
 their eloquence, nevertheless, was by no means 
 calculated to gratify the Countess of Castle- 
 towers. 
 
 On all questions of English polity, Lord Castle- 
 towers was what is somewhat vaguely called a 
 " liberal conservative ; '^ on all Italian subjects, a 
 thorough-going bonnet rouge. He would no 
 more have advocated universal suffrage in his 
 own country than he would have countenanced
 
 THE HOUSE OF CASTLETOWERS. 187 
 
 slavery in Yeuetia; but lie firmh* believed in tbe 
 possible regeneration of the great Eoman repub- 
 lic, and avowed that belief with unhesitating 
 enthusiasm. Besides, his old college tastes and 
 associations were yet fresh upon him, and he 
 entertained all a young man's admiration for the 
 Latin heroes, poets, and historians. Nor were 
 his sympathies all so classical and remote. He 
 was keenly susceptible to those influences which 
 beset the travelled amateur of books and art. 
 He had loitered^ sketched^ and dreamed away 
 more than one winter among the palaces of 
 Florence and Rome. He had read Petrarch, and 
 Tasso, and the most amusing parts of Dante. 
 He had been in love, though never, perhaps, very 
 deeply, with scores of dark-eyed Giuliettas and 
 Biancas. He had written canzonets in which 
 amove rhymed to core in the orthodox fashion, 
 and had sung them by moonlight under pic- 
 turesque balconies, over and over again, in many 
 a stately old Italian city. Above all, he had 
 known Giulio Colonna from his earliest boyhood, 
 and had been, as it were, inoculated with Italian 
 patriotism ere he knew what patriotism meant.
 
 188 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 Accustomed to regard Sign or Colonna not only 
 as some kind of distant cousin, but also as one 
 of his mother's most frequent guests, he had 
 accepted all his opinions with the unquestioning 
 faith of childhood. He had, indeed, listened to 
 the magic of his eloquence long before he was of 
 an age to understand its force and purport, and 
 had become insensibly educated in the love and 
 reverence of those things which were to Giulio 
 Colonna as the life of his life. It was, therefore, 
 no wonder that the young Earl proved, as he 
 grew to man's estate, a staunch friend to the 
 Italian cause. It was no wonder that he made 
 enthusiastic speeches at obscure meetings, trans- 
 acted a vast amount of really hard work in his 
 capacity of Honorary Secretary to the Central 
 Committee, and believed in Giulio Colonna and 
 the great Italian republic of the future, with all 
 his heart and soul. 
 
 There was, in reality, no blood relationship 
 whatever between the Castletowers family and 
 this branch of the Colonnas. A Miss Holme- 
 Pierrepoint had married a Prince Colonna some 
 sixty-five or seventy years before ; but of this
 
 THE HOUSE OF CASTLETOWERS. 189 
 
 marriage no children had been born. A plea- 
 sant intercourse had subsisted, however, between 
 the two families ever since. The Coionnas, 
 down to tlie third and fourth generation, were 
 royally welcomed at the grand old Surrey man- 
 sion, whenever any of them came to England. 
 Lady Castletowers and her son had once spent 
 six delightful weeks of villegiatura at Prince 
 Colonna's Alban Yilla; and when the young 
 Earl was in Home, he had been the very life and 
 soul of ail the winter entertainments given at 
 that stately palazzo which stands in the Corso at 
 the corner of the Piazza di Santissimi Apostoli. 
 As for Giulio Colonna, he had been Vintime du 
 ma'ison ever since the Honourable Alethea Pierre- 
 point had exchanged her name for that of Castle- 
 tov.ers — ^just as he had been Vintime du maison 
 at the house of her ladyship's father. He was 
 one of the very few whom the countess really 
 valued, and v.hom she condescended to call by 
 the sacred name of friend. Perhaps he was the 
 only person upon earth who could be said to 
 enjoy her ladyship's confidence. It was to him 
 that she had turned for help in her matrimonial
 
 190 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 troubles; for advice respecting the education of 
 her son; for sympathy when any of her ambi- 
 tious projects failed of success. She had known 
 him, indeed, from her girlhood. She admired 
 his great and varied talents; she had perfect 
 reliance on his probity and honour; and she 
 respected his nobility of birth. To a certain 
 extent she respected his patriotic devotion as 
 well; though, it is almost needless to add, she 
 was wholly at issue with him on the subject of 
 republicanism. 
 
 " It is a point," she used to observe, " upon 
 which my good friend, Signor Colonna, is deaf, 
 I grieve to say, alike to reason and good taste. 
 He has so imbued himself with the classical 
 history of his country, that he can no longer 
 discriminate between the necessities of a semi- 
 barbarous race and those of a highly civilised 
 people. He cannot see that the monarchical 
 form of government is precisely that which the 
 age demands. I am very sorry for him. I have 
 represented the matter to him, over and over 
 again, from every conceivable point of view ; but 
 with unvarying ill success. I am weary of trying
 
 THE HOUSE OF CASTLETOWERS. 191 
 
 to convince a man wlio shuts his ears to con- 
 viction." 
 
 And when she had said this, or words to this 
 effect, Lady Castletowers would sigh, and drop 
 the subject with the air of one who had exhausted 
 it utterly.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 MOTHER AND SON. 
 
 " Late, and alone, Gervase ?" said Lady Castle- 
 towers, with cold displeasure. "The breakfast 
 bell rang ten minutes ago. Where are -our 
 guests ? '^ 
 
 '' I am sorry to have kept you waiting, mother," 
 replied the Earl, " and you will be sorry for the 
 cause. Sardanapalas has bitten Miss Colonna in 
 the hand, and Vaughan has gone round with her 
 to Mrs. Walker's room to get it dressed. I 
 always said that confounded bird would do mis- 
 chief some day. Where's Colonna ? " 
 
 " In his room, I suppose, and deaf, as usual, to 
 the bell. Is Olimpia much hurt ? " 
 
 " Painfully ; but of course not dangerously.'" 
 " There is no necessity for my presence ? " 
 "No absolute necessity,^' rejoined the young
 
 MOTHER AND SON. 193 
 
 Earl, Trith some hesitation, and a little em- 
 phasis. 
 
 The Countess seated herself at the breakfast 
 table, and dismissed the servant in attendance. 
 
 ^' I am glad/' said she, '' of a few moments 
 alone with you, Gervase. How long does Major 
 Yaughan propose to remain with us ? " 
 
 ^' I really do not know. He has said nothing 
 about it, and I fancy his time just now is at his 
 own disposal/^ 
 
 ^^ I think we ought to do something to make 
 Castletowers pleasant to him while he is here." 
 
 " I was intending to make the same remark to 
 you, my dear mother," replied the young man. 
 " I have, indeed, asked some men from town, and 
 I rather think Charley Burgoyne and Edward 
 Brandon may be down next week; but, that is 
 not enough. Shall we give a ball? " 
 
 " Or a fete — but perhaps the season is hardly 
 sufficiently advanced for a fete at present." 
 
 " And then a fete is so confoundedly expen- 
 sive ! " groaned the Earl. " It won't be so bad 
 after the half-yearly rents have come in; but I 
 assure you, mother, I was shocked when I looked 
 
 VOL. I. o
 
 194 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 into my banker^s book yesterday. We have 
 barely a couple of bundreds to carry us through 
 up to Midsumraer ! '^ 
 
 The Countess sighed, and tapped impatiently 
 on the edge of the table with her delicate, 
 jewelled fingers. 
 
 " It's a miserable thing to be poor ! ^' ejaculated 
 the Earl. 
 
 " My poor boy, it is indeed ! ^' 
 
 '"'If it hadn't been for selling those two 
 farms ..." 
 
 " In order to pay ofi" the mortgage which your 
 father's extravagance entailed upon us ! ^^ inter- 
 rupted Lady Castletowers, bitterly. 
 
 " If it hadn't been for paying that off," he 
 continued, " our means would now have been so 
 comfortable ! That twenty-five thousand pounds, 
 mother, would have made us rich." 
 
 " Comparatively rich," replied the Countess. 
 
 "Well, it's of no use to be always moaning, 
 like the harbour bar in Kingsley's poem,'' said 
 the young man, with an air of forced gaiety. 
 "We «re poor, dearest mother, and we must 
 make the best of it. In the meanwhile, let us,
 
 MOTHER AND SOX. 105 
 
 by all means^ give some kind of entertainment. 
 You can think the matter over, and whatever 3-OL1 
 decide upon is sure to be best and wisest. I 
 must find the money, somehow. Perhaps Tre- 
 falden could advance me a hundred or two."' 
 
 " Has he not lately come into an enormous 
 fortune ? '' asked the Countess, abstractedly. 
 
 '^ No, not our Trefalden, but some member, I 
 believe, of his family. I don't know the story, 
 but I have heard it is something very romantic. 
 However, Trefalden himself is a rich man — he's 
 too quiet and clever not to be rich. At all events, 
 I can but ask him.^^ 
 
 '^ I don''t like you to borrow money, Gervase/^ 
 said Lady Castletowers. 
 
 " I abhor it, in the ordinary sense of the word/ 
 replied her son. " But a gentleman may draw 
 upon his lawyer for a small sum without scruple. 
 It is not at all the same thing." 
 
 " If I could but see you well married ! " sighed 
 the Countess. 
 
 Lord Castletowers shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 '^ And occupying that position in the country 
 to which your birth and talents entitle you ! I 
 
 o 2
 
 196 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 was talking about you the other day to the Duke 
 of Dorchester. He seems to think there must be 
 a change in the ministry before long; and then, 
 if he, and one or two others of our acquaintance, 
 get into office — nous verrons! " 
 
 "There are always so many ifs," said Lord 
 Castletowers, with a smile. 
 
 " By the way, Miss Hatherton — the rich Miss 
 Hatherton — is staying at Aylsham Park. Of 
 course, if we give a fete, the Walkingshaws will 
 bring her with them. It is said, Gervase, that 
 she has two hundred and fifty thousand pounds.^' 
 
 " Indeed ! '^ said Lord Castletowers, indiffe- 
 rently. 
 
 " And she is handsome." 
 
 *^ Yes — she is handsome." 
 
 The Countess looked at her son. The Earl 
 looked out of the window. 
 
 '^ I fancy," said the Countess, " that Major 
 Vaughan is paying a good deal of attention to 
 Olimpia." 
 
 *' To— to Miss Colonna ! " said the Earl, with 
 an involuntary catching of his breath. ^' Impos- 
 sible ! "
 
 MOTHER AND SOX. 197 
 
 '^ Why impossible ? '^ 
 
 " Because Well, perhaps I scarcely know 
 
 why ; but it seems so unlikely/' 
 
 '• "Why unlikely ? '^ pursued the Countess, coldly 
 and steadily. 
 
 " Well — Yaughan is not a marrying man — and 
 he has no private means, or next to none, besides 
 his pay — and — and then, they are so utterly un- 
 suited — unsuited in every way — in tastes, ages, 
 dispositions, everything ! '^ 
 
 The young man spoke hastily, and with a per- 
 ceptibly heightened colour. His mother, still 
 coldly obser\dng him, went on. 
 
 " I do not agree with you, Gervase,'' said she, 
 '^ in any one of your objections. I believe that 
 Major Yaughan would quite willingly marry, if 
 Olimpia were the lady. He is not more than 
 forty ; and if he has only a few hundreds a year 
 besides his pay, he is, at all events, richer than 
 Olimpia's father. Besides, he is a gallant officer; 
 and if all that Colonna anticipates should come 
 to pass, a gallant officer would be worth more 
 than a mere fortune, just now, to the Italian
 
 198 HALF A TkHLLION OF MONEY. 
 
 The Earl still stood by the window, looking 
 out at the park and the blue hills far away ; but 
 made no reply. 
 
 " He has said nothing to you upon the sub- 
 ject ?'' said Lady Castletowers. 
 
 " Nothing/' 
 
 '^ Perhaps, however, it is hardly likely that he 
 would do so.'' 
 
 " Most unlikely, I should say. But here's the 
 letter-bag — and here come surgeon and patient." 
 
 Lady Castletowers became at once condolent 
 and sympathetic ; Mademoiselle Colonna laughed 
 off the accident with impatient indifference; 
 Major Vaughan bowed over his hostess's fair 
 hand ; and all took their places at table. 
 
 " A budget, as usual, for Colonna,'' said Lord 
 Castletowers, sorting the pile of letters just 
 tumbled out of the bag. '' One, two, three billets, 
 redolent of what might be called the parfum du 
 boudoir, for Vaughan — also, as usual ! Two 
 , letters, my dearest mother, for you ; and only 
 one (a square-shouldered, round-fisted, blue-com- 
 plexioned, obstinate-looking business document) 
 for myself. A pretty thing to lie at the bottom
 
 MOTHER AND SON. 199 
 
 of one's letter bag, like hope at the bottom of 
 Pandora's casket ! " 
 
 *^ It bath a Bond Street aspect, Castletowers, 
 that affects me unpleasantly/' said Major Vaughan, 
 from whose brow the angry flush with which 
 he had received his three letters and swept 
 them carelessly on one side, had not yet quite 
 faded. 
 
 " Say rather a Chancery Lane aspect/^ replied 
 the young Earl, breaking the seal as he spoke ; 
 " and that^s as much worse than Bond Street as 
 Newgate is worse than the Queen's Bench/' 
 
 " Bond Street and Chancery Lane, Newgate 
 and the Queen's Bench ! " repeated Mademoiselle 
 Colonna. " The conversation sounds very awful. 
 What does it all mean ? " 
 
 " I presume," said Lady Castletowers, " that 
 Major Vaughan supposed the letter to be written 
 by a — a tailor, or some person of that descrip- 
 tion ; while it really comes from my son's lawyer^ 
 Mr. Trefalden." 
 
 *^ I met Mr. Trefalden a few weeks ago," said 
 Mademoiselle Colonna, " in Switzerland." 
 
 "In Switzerland?" echoed Lord Castletowers.
 
 200 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 "And he authorised me to add his name to 
 our general committee list/-* 
 
 " A miracle ! a miracle ! ^^ 
 
 "And why a miracle ?^^ asked Lady Castle- 
 towers. " Does Mr. Trefalden disapprove of the 
 Italian cause ? '* 
 
 " Mr. Trefalden, my dear mother, never ap- 
 proves or disapproves of any public movement 
 whatever. Nature seems to have created him 
 without opinions." 
 
 " Then he is either a very superficial or a very 
 ambitious man," said Lady Castletowers. 
 
 " The latter, depend on it. He^s a remarkably 
 clever fellow, and has good interest, no doubt. 
 He will set his politics to the tune of his interest 
 some day, and make his way to the woolsack ^in 
 a galliard.' " 
 
 " I am glad this is but a conjectural estimate 
 of Mr. Trefalden's character," said Olimpia. 
 
 "You like him, then?" said Major Yaughan, 
 hastily. 
 
 " I neither like him nor dislike him ; but if 
 these were proven facts, I could never speak to 
 him again."
 
 MOTPIER AND SON. 201 
 
 Signer Colouna came in and made his morning 
 salutations, his eyes wandering eagerly towards 
 his letters all the time. 
 
 " Good morning — good morning. Late, did 
 you say ? Peccavi ! So I am. I lost myself in 
 the library. Bell ! I heard no bell. Pray for- 
 give me, dear Lady Castletowers. Any news 
 to-day? You were early this morning, Major 
 Vaughan. Saw you in the saddle soon after six. 
 Plenty of letters this morning, I see — plenty of 
 letters ! " 
 
 And with this he slipped into his seat, and 
 became at once immersed in the contents of the 
 documents before him. 
 
 " Trefalden writes from town, mother," said 
 Lord Castletowers. " He excuses his delay 
 on the plea of much business. He has been 
 settling his cousin's affairs — the said cousin 
 having come in for between four and five millions 
 sterling." 
 
 '' A man who comes in for four or five millions 
 sterling has no right to live," said Major 
 Vaughan. " His very being is an insult to his 
 offended species."
 
 202 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 "But if this cousin sliould prove to be a lady?" 
 suggested Mademoiselle Colonna. 
 
 " I would condemn her, of course — to matri- 
 mony." 
 
 " I should think Trefalden would take care of 
 that !" laughed the Earl. 
 
 " But is the cousin a lady ? " asked Lady 
 Castletowers, with seeming indifference. 
 
 " Alas ! no, my dear mother : too surely he 
 belongeth to the genus homo. Trefalden^s words 
 are — ' I have been assisting my cousin in the 
 arrangement of his affairs, he having lately 
 inherited a fortune of between four and five 
 millions sterling.' " 
 
 " I have no doubt that he is fat, ugly, and 
 disagreeable,^^ said Major Yaughan. 
 
 "And plebeian," added Lady Castletowers, 
 with a smile. 
 
 " And illiberal," said Olimpia. 
 
 " And, in short, so rich," said the Earl, " that 
 were he hideous and ignorant as Caliban, society 
 would receive him with open arms, and the 
 beauty of the season would gladly wear orange- 
 blossoms for him at St. George's ! What says
 
 MOTHER AND SON. 203 
 
 this honourable company — shall I invite him 
 down to Castletowers for a week or two, and shall 
 we all fall to worshipping the golden calf?" 
 
 " Not for the world ! '^ exclaimed Olimpia, 
 scornfully; but she was the only one who re- 
 plied. 
 
 The breakfast party then broke up. The Earl 
 went to his stables, Olimpia to her apartments, 
 and Major Vaughan to the billiard-room. Signor 
 Colonna and Lady Castletowers strolled to and 
 fro in the sunshine, outside the breakfast-room 
 windows. 
 
 " But who is this millionaire ? " asked the 
 Italian, eagerly. 
 
 " Caro amico, you know as much as I know," 
 replied Lady Castletowers. " He is a cousin of 
 our solicitor, Mr. Trefalden, who is a very well- 
 bred gentlemanly person. As for this fortune, 
 I think I have heard that it has been accumu- 
 lating for one or two centuries — but that is pro- 
 bably a mere rumour." 
 
 ^^ Between four and five millions!" ejaculated 
 Colonna. "With such a fortune, what might 
 not be done bv a friend to the cause ! "
 
 204 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 Lady Castletowers smiled. 
 
 ^' Sempre Italia J" slie said. 
 
 " Semp7'e Italia/^' replied lie, lifting his hat 
 reverently as he pronounced the words. " While 
 I live, Lady Castletowers. While I live." 
 
 They had come now to the end of the path, 
 and were about to return, when he laid his hand 
 on hers, and said, very earnestly — 
 
 " I wish I could see this man. I wish I knew 
 him. I have won over thousands of recruits in 
 my time, Alethea — thousands, who had only their 
 blood to give, and gave it. Money is as precious 
 as blood in a cause like ours. If we had had but 
 o?ie million, eighteen months ago, Italy would 
 now have been free." 
 
 "Ah, you want me to help you — you want 
 Gervase to bring him here ? Is that so ? " 
 
 " Precisely." 
 
 " Well, I suppose it can be done — somehow." 
 
 " I think it can," replied Colonna. " I am 
 sure it can." 
 
 "And it might lead to great results, eh?" 
 
 " It might, indeed it might.** 
 
 "Your personal influence, I know, is almost
 
 MOTHER AND SON. 205 
 
 magical," mused Lady Castletowers ; ^' and if 
 our millionaire should prove to be young and 
 impressionable. ..." 
 
 She hesitated. He looked up, and their eyes 
 met. 
 
 " Olimpia is very lovely," she said, smiling ; 
 " and very fascinating." 
 
 " I have thought of that," he replied. '^ I 
 have thought of that; and Olimpia would never 
 marry any man who did not devote himself to 
 Italy, body and soul ! ^' 
 
 " And purse,^' added Lady Castletowers, 
 quietly. 
 
 " And purse — of course,^^ said he, with a 
 somewhat heightened colour. 
 
 " Then I will do what I can, dear old friend, 
 for your sake," said Lady Castletowers, affec- 
 tionately. 
 
 '' And I,'' he replied, " will do what I can for 
 the sake of the cause. God knows, Alethea, 
 that I do it for the cause alone — God knows how 
 pure my soul is of any other aim or end ! " 
 
 " I am sure of it," she replied, abstractedly. 
 
 " Had I but the half of four or five millions
 
 M6 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 at commancl, the stake upon whicli I have set 
 my whole life, and my child's life, would be won. 
 Do you hear me, Alethea ? would be, must be 
 won ! " 
 
 '^ And shall be won^ amico, if any help of mine 
 can avail you," said Lady Castletowers. " I will 
 speak to Gervase about it at once. He shall ask 
 both the cousins down." 
 
 "Best friend,^' murmured the Italian, taking 
 the hand which she extended to him, and pressing 
 it gratefully in both his own. 
 
 '^ But beware ! — not a word to him of all this. 
 He has his English notions of hospitality — tu 
 comprends ?'' 
 
 " Yes — it is true." 
 
 '' Adieu, then, till luncheon." 
 
 "Addio." 
 
 And the Countess, with a look of unusual pre- 
 occupation on her fair brow, went slowly back 
 to the house, thinking of many things : chiefly 
 of how her son should some day marry an 
 heiress, and how Olimpia Colonna should be 
 disposed of to Saxon Trefalden.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 SAXON DRAWS HIS FIRST CHEQUE. 
 
 A TALL young man stood at the first floor "^ 
 
 window of a fashionable hotel in Piccadilly, 
 drumming upon the plate-glass panes^ and 
 staring listlessly down upon the crowded street 
 below. It was about two o'clock in the day, and 
 the brilliant thoroughfare was all alive with 
 colour and sunshine: but his face took no 
 joyousness from the busy scene. It wore, on 
 the contrary, as gloomy and discontented an ex- 
 pression as such a bright young face could well 
 put on. The ceaseless ebb and flow of gorgeous 
 equipages ; the fair pedestrians in their fashion- 
 able toilettes, even the little band of household 
 troops riding by in helm and cuirass, failed 
 apparently to interest that weary spectator. 
 He yawned, looked at his watch, took an im-
 
 208 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 patient turn or two about the room, and then 
 went back to the window, and drummed again 
 upon the panes. Some books, an opera glass, 
 and one or two newspapers lay on the table; 
 but the leaves of the books were uncut, and 
 only one of the newspapers had been unfolded. 
 Too ennuye to read, and too restless to sit still, 
 this young man evidently found his time hang 
 heavily upon his hands. 
 
 Presently a cab drove up to the hotel, and two 
 gentlemen jumped out. The first of these was 
 "William Trefalden; the second. Lord Castle- 
 towers. "William Trefalden looked up and 
 nodded, as he came up the broad stone steps, 
 and the watcher at the window ran joyously to 
 meet him on the stairs. 
 
 " I'm so glad you'*re come ! '' was his eager 
 exclamation. " I've been watching for you, and 
 the time has seemed so long ! " 
 
 *' I am only twenty minutes late,^^ replied 
 Mr. Trefalden, smiling. 
 
 " But it's so dreary here ! " 
 
 " And I bring you a visitor,^^ continued the 
 other. " Lord Castletowers, allow me to present
 
 SAXON DRAWS HIS FIEST CHEQUE. 209 
 
 my cousin, Mr. Saxon Trefalden. Saxon, Lord 
 Castletowers is so kind as to desire your ac- 
 quaintance.^^ 
 
 Saxon put out his Land, and gave the Earl's a 
 hearty shake. He would as soon have thought 
 of greeting his guest with a bow as of flinging 
 him over the balcony into the street below. 
 
 " Thank you,'^ said he. " I'm very much 
 obliged to you.^^ 
 
 '• I am surprised that you find this situation 
 ' dreary,^ Mr. Trefalden/' said Lord Castletowers, 
 with a glance towards the window. 
 
 ^"^I find all London dreary/' replied Saxon, 
 bluntly. 
 
 "May I ask how long you have been here V 
 
 "About a week.'' 
 
 " Then you have really had no time to form an 
 opinion." 
 
 "I have had time to be very miserable," said 
 Saxon. " I never was so miserable in my life. 
 The noise and hurry of London bewilder me. I 
 can settle to nothing. I can think of nothing. 
 I can do nothing. I find it impossible to read ; 
 and if I go out alone in the streets, I lose mvself.
 
 210 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 Then there seems to be no air. I have inhaled 
 smoke and dust, but I have not breathed since I 
 came into the place." 
 
 ^' Your first impressions of our Babel are cer- 
 tainly not couleur de rose^^ said the Earl laugh- 
 ingly. 
 
 " They are couleur de Lothbury, and couleur de 
 Chancery Lane," interposed William Trefalden. 
 ^' My cousin. Lord Castletowers, has for the last 
 ten days been the victim of the law. We have 
 been putting him in possession of his property, 
 and he has seen nothing of town save the gold 
 regions East of Temple Bar." 
 
 " An excellent beginning," said the Earl. ^' The 
 finest pass into Belgravia is through Thread- 
 needle Street." 
 
 ^^ And the noblest prospect in London is the 
 Bank of England," added the lawyer. 
 
 " I thought it very ugly and dirty," said Saxon 
 innocently. 
 
 " I hope this law business is all over now," said 
 Lord Castletowers. 
 
 " Yes, for the present ; and Saxon has nothing 
 to do but to amuse himself."
 
 SAXON DEA\YS HIS FIEST CHEQUE. 211 
 
 "Amuse myself!" echoed Saxon. "I must 
 go home to do that." 
 
 " Because Keichenau is so gay^ or because you 
 find London so uninviting ? " asked the Earl, with 
 a smile. 
 
 "Because I am a born mountaineer, and be- 
 cause to me this place is a prison. I must have 
 air to breathe, hills to climb, and a gun on my 
 shoulder. That is what I call amusement." 
 
 "That is what I call amusement also," said 
 Lord Castletowers ; " and if you will come dovr^n 
 to Surrey, I can give you plenty of it — a fishing- 
 rod, and a hunter included. But in the mean- 
 while, you must let us prove to you that London 
 is not so barren of entertainment as you seem to 
 think." 
 
 " Let this help to prove it," said Mr. Trefalden, 
 taking from his pocket a little oblong book in a 
 green paper cover. " There's magic in these 
 pages, my dear fellow. They contain all the wit, 
 wisdom, and beauty of the world we live in. 
 While you have this in your pocket, you will 
 never want for amusement — or friends ; and 
 when you have come to the end of the present 
 
 p 2
 
 212 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 volume, the publishers will furnish you with 
 another." 
 
 '^What is it?" said Saxon, turning it over 
 somewhat doubtfully. 
 
 "A cheque-book." 
 
 " Pshaw ! money again — always money ! " 
 
 " Don't speak of it disrespectfully. You have 
 more than you can count, and as yet you neither 
 know what it is worth, nor what to do with it." 
 
 " Pray enlighten me, then," said Saxon, with a 
 touch of impatience in his voice. " Tell me, in 
 the first place, what it is worth ? " 
 
 " That is a matter of individual opinion," re- 
 plied Mr. Trefalden, with one of his quiet smiles. 
 " If you ask Lord Castletowers, he will probably 
 tell you that it is worth less than noble blood, 
 bright eyes, or Italian liberty. If you ask a plod- 
 ding fellow like myself, he will probably value it 
 above all three." 
 
 " Well then, in the second place, what am I to 
 do with it ? " 
 
 "Spend it." 
 
 Saxon shrugged his shoulders; and Lord 
 Castletowers, who had coloured up somewhat
 
 SAXON DRAWS HIS FIRST CHEQUE. 218 
 
 angrily the minute before^ laughed^ and said that 
 it was good advice. 
 
 " Spend it," repeated the lawyer. " You never 
 will know how to employ your money till you 
 acquire the art of getting rid of it. You have yet 
 to learn that instead of turning every thing into 
 gold, like Midas, you can turn gold into every- 
 thing. It is the true secret of the transmutation 
 of metal." 
 
 " Shall I be any the wiser or happier for this 
 knowledge ? " asked Saxon, with a sigh. 
 
 ^^You cannot help being the wiser," laughed 
 his cousin ; " nor, I should think, the happier. 
 You will cease to be ^ dreary ' in the first place. 
 He who has plenty of money, and knows how to 
 spend it, is never in want of entertainment." 
 
 " Ay, ^ and knows hoio ' ! There is my diffi- 
 culty." 
 
 " If you had read Moliere," replied Mr. Tre- 
 falden, " you would be aware that a rich man has 
 discernment in his purse." 
 
 " Cousin, you are laughing at me." 
 
 It was said with perfect good humour, but 
 with such directness that even Mr. Trefalden^s
 
 214 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 practised self-possession was momentarily trou- 
 bled. 
 
 ^^But I suppose you think a rich fellow can 
 afford to be laughed at/' added Saxon, " and I 
 am quite of your opinion. It will help to civilise 
 me, and that, you know, is your mission. And 
 now for a lesson in alchemy. What shall I trans- 
 mute my gold into first ? " 
 
 " Nay, into whatever seems to you to be best 
 worth the trouble,"' replied Mr. Trefalden. "First 
 of all, I should say, into a certain amount of 
 superfine Saxony and other cloths ; into a large 
 stock of French kid and French cambric — and a 
 valet. After that — well, after that, suppose you 
 ask Lord Castletowers' opinion." 
 
 " I vote for a tall horse, a short tiger, and a 
 cab," said the young Earl. 
 
 " And chambers in St. James's Street," sug- 
 gested the lawyer. 
 
 "And a stall at Gye's." 
 
 "And all the flowers, pictures, Baskerville 
 editions, Delphin classics, organs, and Etruscan 
 antiquities you take it into your head to desire ! 
 That's the way to transmute your metal, you
 
 SAXON DRAWS HIS FIRST CHEQUE. 215 
 
 happy fellow ! Taken as a philosophical experi- 
 ment, I know nothing more beautiful, simple, and 
 satisfactory." 
 
 '' You bewilder me," said poor Saxon. " You 
 speak a language which is partly jest and partly 
 earnest, and I know not where the earnestness 
 ends, or where the jest begins. What is it that 
 you really mean ? I am quite v/illing to do what 
 you conceive a man in my position should do ; 
 but you must show me how to set about it." 
 
 '* I am here to-day for no other purpose." 
 
 " And more than this, you must give me leave 
 to reject your system, if I dislike, or grow weary 
 of it." 
 
 " What ! return to roots and woad after Kiihn 
 and Stultz ? " 
 
 " Certainly, if I find the roots more palatable, 
 and the woad more becoming." 
 
 '' Agreed. Then we begin at once. You shall 
 put yourself under my guidance, and that of Lord 
 Castletowers. You shall obey us implicitly for 
 the next six or eight hours, and you shall begin 
 by writing a cheque for five hundred, which we 
 can cash at Druramond's as we go along."
 
 SI 6 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 "With all my heart," said Saxon; and so, 
 aided by his cousin's instructions, sat down and 
 wrote his first cheque. 
 
 " He^s a capital fellow," said Lord Castletowers 
 to Mr. Trefalden, as they went down the hotel 
 stairs ; " a splendid fellow, and I like him tho- 
 roughly. Shall I propose him at the Erectheum ? 
 He ought to belong to a club, and I know some 
 men there who would be delighted to do what 
 they could for any member of my introduction." 
 
 "By all means. It is the very thing for him," 
 replied Mr. Trefalden. " He must have acquaint- 
 ances, you know; and it is out of the question 
 that a busy man like myself should do the 
 honours of town to him, or anyone. Were he my 
 own brother, I would not undertake it." 
 
 " And I am never here myself for many days at 
 a time," said the Earl. " London is an expensive 
 luxury, and I am obliged to make a little of it go 
 a long way. However, while I am here, and 
 whenever I am here, it will give me a great deal 
 of pleasure to show Mr. Saxon Trefalden any 
 attention in my power." 
 
 " You are very kind. Saxon, my dear fellow,
 
 SAXON DEAWS HIS FIEST CHEQUE. 217 
 
 Lord Castletowers is so good as to offer to get you 
 into the Erectheum." 
 
 ''The Erectheum of Athens?" exclaimed 
 Saxon, opening his blue eyes in laughing asto- 
 nishment. 
 
 ''Nonsense — of Pall !Mall. It is a fashionable 
 club." 
 
 " I am much obliged to Lord Castletowers/' 
 replied Saxon, vaguely. But he had no more 
 notion of the nature, objects, or aims of a fashion- 
 able club than a Bedouin Arab.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE ERECTHEUM. 
 
 " No, by Jove, Brandon, not a bit of a snob ! 
 As green as an Arcadian, but no more of a snob 
 than '' 
 
 Sir Charles Burgoyne was going to say, " than 
 you are;^' but he changed bis mind, and said, 
 instead : — 
 
 " — than Castletowers himself.'^ 
 
 " I call any man a snob who quotes Bion and 
 Mosclius in his familiar talli," replied the other, 
 all unconscious of his friend's hesitation. " How 
 the deuce is one to remember anything about 
 Bion and Moschus ? and what right has he to 
 make a fellow look like a fool ? " 
 
 " Unfeeling, I admit," replied Sir Charles, 
 languidly. 
 
 "I hate your learned peox^le," said Brandon,
 
 THE ERECTHEUM. 219 
 
 irritably. " And I liate parvenus. Ignorant 
 parvenus are bad enougli ; but learned parvenus 
 are the worst of all. He ^s both — hang him ! " 
 
 ^' Hang him, by all means ! " said another 
 young man, approaching the window at which 
 the two were standing. " May I ask who he is, 
 and what he has done ? " 
 
 It was in one of the princely reading-rooms of 
 the Erectheum Club, Pall Mall. The two first 
 speakers were the Honourable Edward Brandon, 
 third and youngest son of Hardicanute, four- 
 teenth Earl of Ipswich, and Sir Charles Bur- 
 goyne. Baronet, of the Second Life Guards. 
 
 There are men whom nature seems to have run 
 up by contract, and the Honourable Edward 
 Brandon was one of them. He was just like one 
 of those sHght, unsubstantial, fashionable houses 
 that spring up every day like mushrooms about 
 Bayswater and South Kensington, and are hired 
 under the express condition of never being 
 danced in. He was very young, very tall, and 
 as economically supplied with brain and muscle 
 as a man could well be. The very smallest appre- 
 ciable weight of knowledge would have broken
 
 320 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 down his understanding at any moment ; and his 
 little ornaments of manner were all in the flim- 
 siest modern taste, and of the merest stucco. He 
 " dipped ^^ occasionally into " Bell's Life '' and 
 the ^^ Court Circular .^^ He had read half of the 
 first volume of " Mr. Soapey Sponge's Sporting 
 Tour." He played croquet pretty well, and bil- 
 liards very badly, and was saturated through and 
 through with smoke, like a FiDuan haddock. 
 
 Sir Charles Burgoyne was a man of a very 
 dififerent stamp. He was essentially one of a 
 class ; but then, ethnologically speaking, his class 
 was many degrees higher than that of Mr. Bran- 
 don. He was better built, and better furnished. 
 He rode well ; was a good shot ; played a first- 
 rate game at billiards ; was gifted with a certain 
 lazy impertinence of speech and manner that 
 passed for wit; and was so effeminately fair of 
 complexion and regular of feature, that he was 
 popularly known among his brother officers as 
 " The Beauty.'' 
 
 The last comer — short, sallow, keen-eyed, 
 somewhat flippant in his address, and showy in 
 his attire — was Laurence Greatorex, Esquire,
 
 THE ERECTHEUM. 221 
 
 only son, heir, and partner of Sir Samuel Great- 
 orexj Knight, the well-known banker and alder- 
 man of Lombard Street, City. 
 
 " Hang him, by all means ! " said this gentle- 
 man, with charming impartiality. " Who is he ? 
 and what has he done I " 
 
 '•'We were speaking of the new member/' 
 replied Brandon. 
 
 "What, Croesus Trefalden ? Pshaw! The 
 man's an outer barbarian. What social enor- 
 mity has he been committing now ? '* 
 
 " He ^s been offending Brandon^s delicate sense 
 of propriety by quoting Greek," said The Beauty. 
 
 '' Greek ! Unpardonable offence ! What shall 
 we do to him ? Muzzle him ? " 
 
 " Condemn him to feed on Greek roots for the 
 term of his natural life, like Timon of Athens," 
 suggested the Beauty, lazily. 
 
 " He ^s little better than a savage as it is," 
 said Mr. Greatorex, with a contemptuous shrug 
 of the shoulders. " He knows nothing of life, 
 and cares nothing for it, either. Last Tuesday, 
 when all the fellows were wild about the great 
 fidit down at Barney's Croft, he sat and read
 
 222 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 Homer, as if it were the news of the day. He ^s 
 an animated anachronism — that 's what he is, Sir 
 Charles." 
 
 "Who the deuce is he?" ejaculated Brandon. 
 " Where does he come from ? " 
 
 " Heaven knows ! His father was a black 
 letter folio, I believe, and his mother a palimp- 
 sest." 
 
 " You ^'e too witty to-day, Mr. Greatorex," 
 sneered Burgoyne. 
 
 " Then he 's so offensively rich ! Why, he put 
 down a thousand yesterday for Willises subscrip- 
 tion ! There 's his name at the head of the list ! 
 Makes us look rather small — eh ? " 
 
 " Confound his assurance ! " broke out Bran- 
 don. " He 's not been here much more than a 
 week ! What 's Willis to him, that he should 
 give more than the oldest members of the 
 club?" 
 
 "Well, it's a munificent donation," said the 
 Guardsman, good-naturedly. 
 
 " Munificent ? Hang his munificence ! I 
 suppose the members of the Erectheum can 
 pension off a secretary, who has served them for
 
 THE EEECTHEUM. 223 
 
 fifteen years, without the help of a thousand 
 pounds from a puppy like that ! " 
 
 " Your virtuous indignation, Brandon, is quite 
 refreshing,^' said Burgoyne. " How long have 
 you been here, for instance ? Half a year ? '^ 
 
 " It was in bad taste, anyhow," said Great- 
 orex ; " deuced bad taste. It 's always the way 
 with yoiu' nouveanx riches. A man who had 
 been wealthy all his life would have known 
 better." 
 
 " Yourself, par exempJe'' retorted the Guards- 
 man, insolently. 
 
 " Just so. Sir Charles ; but then I 'm to the 
 money-market born, so hardly a case in point." 
 
 " Where did this Trefalden get his fortune ? " 
 asked Brandon. " I 've heard that some fellow- 
 left it to him a hundred years ago, and that it 
 has been accumulating ever since ; but that 's 
 nonsense, of com'se." 
 
 " Sounds like a pecuniary version of the 
 ' Sleeping Beauty,' " observed the baronet, paren- 
 thetically. 
 
 ^' I know no more than yon da Mr. Brandon," 
 replied Greatorex. '^ I /lAfe heard only the
 
 224 HALF A BULLION OF MONEY. 
 
 common story of how this money has been lying 
 at compound interest for a century or more, and 
 has devolved to our pre-Adamite friend at last, 
 bringing him as many millions as he has fingers. 
 Some say double that sum ; but ten are enough 
 for my credulity." 
 
 " Does he bank with Sir Samuel ? " asked 
 Brandon. 
 
 "No. Our shop lies too far east for him, I 
 suspect. He has opened an account at Drum- 
 mond^s. By the way, Sir Charles, what have 
 you decided upon doing with that brown mare of 
 yours ? You seemed half inclined to part from 
 her a few days ago." 
 
 " You mean the Lady of Lyons ? " 
 
 " I do." 
 
 " Sold her, Mr. Greatorex." 
 
 " Sold her. Sir Charles ? " 
 
 " Yes— cab and all." 
 
 The banker turned very red, and bit his 
 
 lip. 
 
 " AVould it be a liberty to ask the name of the 
 purchaser ? " said he. 
 
 "Perhaps it would," replied the Guardsman.
 
 THE ERECTHE U:\I. 225 
 
 "But I don't mind telling you. It's Mr. Trc- 
 falden/' 
 
 " Trefalden ! Then, upon my soul. Sir Charles, 
 it's too bad ! I^m sorry to hear it. I am, 
 indeed. I had hoped — in fact, I had expected — 
 upon my soul, I had expected, Sir Charles, 
 that you would have given me the opportunity. 
 Money would have been no object. I would 
 have given a fancy price for that mare with 
 pleasure."" 
 
 '' Thank you, I did not want a fancy price,^' 
 replied the Guardsman, haughtily. 
 
 '' Besides, if you 11 excuse me. Sir Charles, I 
 must say I don't think it was quite fair, either." 
 
 "Fair?'" echoed Burgoyne. ^'Really, Mr. 
 Greatorex, I do not apprehend your meaning." 
 
 '' \\e\\, you know, Sir Charles, I spoke first ; 
 and as for Croesus Trefalden, who scarcely knows 
 a horse from a buffalo " 
 
 " Mr. Saxon Trefalden is the friend of Lord 
 Castletowers," interrupted Burgoyne, still more 
 haughtily, " and I was very happy to oblige 
 him." 
 
 If Sir Charles Burgoyne had not been a
 
 226 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 baronet, a Guardsman, and a member of the 
 Erectheum club, it is possible that Mr. Greatorex 
 of Lombard Street would have given him the re- 
 tort uncourteous ; but as matters stood, he only 
 grew a little redder; looked at his watch in 
 some confusion; and prudentlj^ swallowed his 
 annoyance. 
 
 " Oh, of course — in that case," stammered he, 
 " Lord Castletowers being your friend, I have 
 nothing more to say. Do 3^ou go down to his 
 place in Surrey next week, by-the-by ? " 
 
 "Do you?'' said Burgoyne, smoothing his 
 flaxen moustache, and looking down at the small 
 city man with half-closed eyes. 
 
 " I hope so, since his lordship has been kind 
 enough to invite me ; but we are so deucedly 
 busy in Lombard Street just now that .... 
 pshaw ! twelve o'clock already, and I am due in 
 the city at twenty minutes past. Not a moment 
 to lose. ' I know a bank,' et ccetera — but there's 
 no wild time there for anybody between twelve 
 and three! Good morning, Mr. Brandon. Good 
 morning, Sir Charles." 
 
 The baronet bent his head about a quarter of
 
 THE EKECTHEUM. 237 
 
 an inch, and almost before the other was out of 
 hearing, said : — 
 
 " That man is bourgeois to the tips of his 
 fingers, and insufi'erably familiar. Why do you 
 tolerate him, Brandon ? " 
 
 '^Oh, he's not a bad fellow/' replied Brandon. 
 
 " He's a snob, pur et simple — a snob, with the 
 wardrobe of a tailor's assistant, and the manners 
 of a valet. You called young Trefalden a snob 
 just now, and I told you it was a mistake. 
 Apply the title to this little money -jobber, and I 
 won't contradict you. The fact is, Brandon, I 
 abominate him. I wish it was possible to black- 
 ball him out of the club. If I'd been in town 
 when he was proposed, I'll be hanged if he should 
 have ever got in. I can't think what you fellows 
 were about, to admit him ! " 
 
 Charley Burgoyne was a lazy man, and for him 
 this, was a very long and energetic speech. But 
 the Honourable Edward Brandon only shook his 
 head in a helpless, irritable way, and repeated his 
 former assertion. 
 
 '•I tell you, Burgoyne," he said, ^^Greatorex 
 isn't a bad fellow." 
 
 Q2
 
 228 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 Sir Charles Burgoyne shrugged his shoulders, 
 and yawned. 
 
 "Oh, very well/' he replied. "Have it your 
 own way. I hate argument." 
 
 " Castletowers likes him," said the young man. 
 " Castletowers asks him down to Surrey, you 
 see." 
 
 "Castletowers is too good-natured by half." 
 
 " And Vaughan. . . ." 
 
 " Vaughan owes him money, and just endures 
 him." 
 
 The Honourable Edward Brandon rubbed his 
 head all over, looking more helpless and more 
 irritable than before. It was a very small head, 
 and there was very little in it. 
 
 " Confound him ! " groaned he. " He has 
 taken up paper of mine, too. I must be civil to 
 liim." 
 
 Sii' Charles Burgoyne gave utterance to a 
 dismal whistle; thrust his hands deep down into 
 his pockets ; and said nothing. 
 
 " What else can I do ? " said Brandon. 
 
 "Pay him." 
 
 " You might as well tell me to eat him.'*
 
 THE ERECTHEUM. 229 
 
 ''Nonsense. Borrow the money from some- 
 body else." 
 
 " I wish I could. I wish I knew whom to ask. 
 I should be so very grateful, you know. It's 
 only two hundred and fifty." 
 
 And the young fellow stared hard at the 
 Guardsman, who stared just as hard at the Duke 
 of York's column over the way. 
 
 " You can't suggest any one ? " he continued, 
 after a moment. 
 
 " I, my dear fellow ? Diable ! I haven't an 
 idea.^' 
 
 *^You — couldn't manage it for me yourself, I 
 suppose V 
 
 Sir Charles Burgoyne took his hands from his 
 pockets, and his hat from a neighbouring peg. 
 
 " Edward Brandon," he said, impressively, 
 •^ I'm as poor as Saint Simeon Stylites." 
 
 " Never heard of the fellow in my life," said 
 Brandon, peevishly. " Who is he ?" 
 
 '^My dear boy, your religious education has 
 been neglected. Look for him in your catechism, 
 and, ' when found, make a note of.^ " 
 
 " I'll tell you what it is, Burgoyne," said
 
 230 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 Brandon^ suspicious of " chaff," ^^^^} like all weak 
 people when they are out of temper, slightly- 
 spiteful — " poor, or not poor, you're a clever 
 fellow at a bargain. Talk of you're not wanting 
 a fancy price, indeed ! What^s five hundred 
 guineas if it's not a fancy price, I should like to 
 know ? ^' 
 
 '^ Mon enfant, you know nothing about it," 
 said the Guardsman placidly. 
 
 " I know it was an awful lot too much for that 
 mare and cab." 
 
 " The mare and cab were dirt cheap at the 
 money." 
 
 " Cheap ! cheap — when to my certain know- 
 ledge you only gave a hundred and twenty for 
 the Lady of Lyons, and have had the best part of 
 two seasons out of her since ! " 
 
 The Beauty listened with an imperturbable 
 smile, drew on his gloves, buttoned them, ad- 
 justed his hat, and, having done all these things 
 with studied deliberation, replied : — 
 
 "My dear Brandon, I really envy your me- 
 mory. Cultivate it, my good fellow, and it will 
 be a credit to vou. Au revoir.^^
 
 THE EKECTHEUM. 2-U 
 
 With this he went over to the nearest glass, 
 corrected the tie of his cravat, and sauntered to- 
 wards the door. He had not reached it, however, 
 when he paused, turned, and came back again. 
 
 "By-the-bv," said he, ^^ if you're in any present 
 difficulty, and actually want that two hundred and 
 fifty . . . ^0 you want it ? " 
 
 '' Oh, by Jove, don't I ! Never wanted it so 
 much in my life.'' 
 
 " Well, then, there's Trefalden. He's as rich 
 as the Bank of England, and flings his money 
 about like water. Ask him, Brandon. He'll be 
 sure to lend it to you. ValeJ' 
 
 And the baronet once more turned on his heel, 
 leaving his irritable young friend to swear off his 
 indignation as hest he could. Whereupon the 
 Honourable Edward Brandon, addressing himself 
 apparently to the Duke of York upon his column, 
 did swear with '^ bated breath " and remarkable 
 fluency; rubbed his head frantically, till he looked 
 like an electrical doll ; and finally betook himself 
 to the billiard-room. 
 
 When they were both gone, a gentleman who 
 had been sitting in the adjoining window, en-
 
 232 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 trenched behind, and apparently absorbed in, 
 the " Times " of the day, laid his paper aside ; 
 entered a couple of names in his pocket-book, 
 smiling quietly the while ; and then left the 
 room. He paused on his way out, to speak to 
 the hall porter. 
 
 '^I liave waited for Mr. Trefalden," he said, 
 '^ till I can wait no longer. You are sure he has 
 not gone up-stairs? " 
 
 " Quite sure, sir.^' 
 
 " Be so good, then, as to give him this card, 
 and say, if you please, that I will call upon him 
 at his chambers to-morrow.^' 
 
 The porter laid the card aside with the new 
 member's letters, of which there were several. 
 It bore the name of William Trefalden.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 saxon at home. 
 
 " Mr. Trefalden." 
 
 Thus announced by a stately valet, who received 
 liim with marked condescension in the ante- 
 chamber, and even deigned to open the door of 
 the reception-room beyond, Mr. Trefalden passed 
 into his cousin's presence. He was not alone. 
 Lord Castletowers and Sir Charles Burgoyne 
 were there ; Lord Castletowers leaning familiarly 
 over the back of Saxon's chair, dictating the 
 words of a letter which Saxon was writing ; Sir 
 Charles Burgoyne extended at full length on a 
 sofa, smoking a cigarette with his eyes closed. 
 Both visitors were obviously as much at home as 
 if in their own chambers. They had been break- 
 fasting with Saxon, and the table was vet loaded
 
 234 HALF A MHiLION OF MONEY. 
 
 with pates, coffee, liqueurs, and all tlie luxurious 
 et cseteras of a second dejeuner. 
 
 Saxon flung away his pen, sprang forward, 
 seized his cousin by both hands, and poured forth 
 a torrent of greetings. 
 
 " How good of you to come," he exclaimed, 
 " after having taken the trouble to go yesterday 
 to the club ! I was so sorry to miss you ! I 
 meant to hunt you up this very afternoon in 
 Chancery Lane. I have been an ungrateful fellow 
 not to do so a week ago, and Fm sure I don't 
 know how to excuse myself. I've thought of you. 
 Cousin William, every day." 
 
 " I should have been sorry to bring you into 
 the dingy atmosphere of the City," said Mr. Tre- 
 falden, pleasantly. " I had far rather see you 
 thus, enjoying the good things which the gods 
 have provided for you." 
 
 And with this, Mr. Trefalden shook hands with 
 Lord Castletowers, hoped Lady Castletowers was 
 well, bowed to Sir Charles Burgoyne, and dropped 
 into an easy chair. 
 
 " You were writing," he said, " when I came 
 in. Pray go on,"
 
 SAXON AT HOME. 235 
 
 Saxon sliook his head. 
 
 " Oh, no/^ he said, shyly, " the letters can 
 wait." 
 
 " So can I — and smoke a cigar in the mean- 
 while.^^ 
 
 " They — that is. Lord Castletowers was helping 
 me to write them — telling me what to say, 
 in fact. He calls me 'The Impolite Letter 
 Writer,' and says I must learn to turn fine 
 phrases, and say the elegant things that nobody 
 means." 
 
 " The things that nobody means are the things 
 that everybody likes," said the Earl. 
 
 "I have often wished," said Burgoyne, from 
 the sofa, '^ that some clever person would write a 
 handbook of civil speeches — a sort of ^Keady 
 Liar,^ you know, or ' Perjuror's Companion.' It 
 would save a fellow so much trouble ! " 
 
 '' I wish there were such a book, if only to 
 teach you better manners,' retorted Castle- 
 towers. 
 
 "I don't pretend to have the manners of a 
 lord," said the Beauty, languidly. 
 
 " If vou were the lord of mv manors, you
 
 2'SQ HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 "wouldn't liave many to boast of/^ replied Castle- 
 towers, with a light-hearted laugh. 
 
 Burgoyne opened his eyes, and took the 
 cigarette from his mouth. 
 
 " Listen to this fellow ! " said he, '^ this bloated 
 capitalist, Avho talks like a Diogenes turned out 
 of his tub ! Castletowers, I am ashamed of you." 
 
 *' Compare me to Diogenes, if you like," rephed 
 the Earl ; " but to a Diogenes who has a dear old 
 Elizabethan tub still left, thank Heaven ! and a 
 few old oaks to shelter it. Few enough, and old 
 enough, morels the pity ! '^ 
 
 '^And I," said Burgoyne, with a yawn, 
 '^haven't a stick of timber left, barring my genea- 
 logical tree. My last oaks vanished in the last 
 Derby." 
 
 The Earl looked at his watch. 
 
 " If this note is to be delivered by two o'clock," 
 said he, '' it must be finished at once ; and since 
 Mr. Trefalden gives us leave . . . ." 
 
 '' I not only give leave," said Mr. Trefalden, 
 " I entreat." 
 
 Saxon took up his pen, and pointing to a heap 
 of notes on the mantelshelf, said : —
 
 SAXON AT HOME. 237 
 
 *^ You will find one there for yourself, Cousin 
 William; and you must be sure to come. " 
 
 '* Invitations, young man? " 
 
 "Yes, to a dinner at Richmond, next Satur- 
 day." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden put the note in his pocket un- 
 opened; smoked away with a quiet, meditative 
 smile ; and took a leisurely survey of the room 
 as the dictation proceeded. Not one of its mul- 
 titudinous details escaped him — not one but told 
 him some anecdote of the last ten days of Saxon's 
 new life. There were several pictures standing 
 about on chairs, or leaning against the walls. 
 Some were painted in oils and some in water 
 colours, and nearly all were views in Switzerland. 
 There were piles of new music ; stacks of costly 
 books in rich bindings ; boxes of cigars and 
 gloves; a bust of Shakespeare in marble; a har- 
 monium; a cabinet of Florentine mosaic-work; a 
 marvellous Etruscan vase on a pedestal of verdc 
 antico ; a couple of silver-mounted rifles ; a side- 
 board loaded with knickknacks in carved ivory, 
 crystal, silver filagree, and egg-shell china; and a 
 sofa-table heaped with notes, visiting cards, loose
 
 238 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 silver, and tradesmen's bills. On the chimney- 
 piece stood a pair of bronze tazzas, a silver ink- 
 stand with a little Cupid perched upon the lid, 
 and a giallo model of the Parthenon. A gold- 
 headed riding whip, and a pair of foils lay on the 
 top of the harmonium ; and a faded bouquet in a 
 tumbler occupied a bracket, from which a French 
 pendule had been ignominiously displaced. Wil- 
 liam Trefalden was an observant man, and drew 
 his inferences from these trifles. He found out 
 that his young Arcadian was learning to ride, 
 fence, make acquaintances, and spend his money 
 royally. Above all, he took note of the bouquet 
 on the bracket. There was nothing remarkable 
 about it. It was just like five hundred other 
 bouquets that one sees in the course of a season ; 
 and yet Mr. Trefalden looked at it more than 
 once, and smiled under cover of a cloud of smoke 
 each time that he did so. 
 
 " — and that you will permit me to have the great 
 pleasure of driving you down in the after noon^^ 
 said Lord Castletowers, dictating over Saxon^s 
 shoulder. 
 
 '* Drive her down ! " echoed the scribe, in
 
 SAXON AT HOME. 239 
 
 dismay. "I drive her from London to Rich- 
 mond ?^^ 
 
 ^' Of course. Why not?" 
 
 ^' I cant. I don't drive "vvell enough. I have 
 never driven anything but an old bhnd mare in a 
 rickety Swiss charette, in my life. I should 
 break her neck and my own too ! ' 
 
 " Oh, never mind. You can give the reins to 
 Burgoyne, or to me. It doesn't matter." 
 
 " Then how shall I put it ? Shall I say ' and 
 that you will permit Lord Castletoivers to have the 
 pleasure of . . . .'" 
 
 " Nonsense ! Write what I told you at first, 
 and leave me to arrange it, when it comes to the 
 point." 
 
 Saxon shook his head. 
 
 "No, no," said he. "I must not ask to be 
 allowed the pleasure of driving her down, when 
 I know all the time I am not going to do any- 
 thing of the sort. It wouldn't be true." 
 
 A faint blush mounted to the Earl's honest 
 brow ; but Sir Charles Burgoyne smiled compas- 
 sionately. 
 
 " Suppose, now," said Saxou, " that I te]l her
 
 S40 . HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 I've bought a new pliaeton, and hope she will 
 accept a seat in it on Saturday — will that do ? " 
 
 " Famously. She'll of course conclude that 
 you drive, and the rest is easily managed when 
 the time comes. Let's see how it reads .... 
 hum . . . . ' which I trust you will honou?' with 
 your presence; also that you will permit me to 
 offer you a seat in my phaeton, if the day be fine 
 enough for my friends to drive down in open car- 
 riages.' " 
 
 " Open carriayes,^^ repeated Saxon, as his pen 
 travelled to the end of the sentence. '^ Anything 
 more ? " 
 
 " No; I think that is enough.'' 
 
 " Then I only add — ' yours very truly, Saxon 
 Trefalden," I suppose? " 
 
 '^ Heaven forbid!'' 
 
 " Isn't it polite enough? " asked Saxon, laugh- 
 ing. 
 
 " Polite enough ? Didn't I tell you half an 
 hour ago that to be commonly polite is nothing 
 in a case like this ? You must approach her on 
 your knees, my dear fellow, and offer up your 
 little Richmond dinner as if it were a burnt sacri-
 
 SAXON AT HOME. 241 
 
 fice to the immortal gods ! Say — ' Condescend, 
 madam, to accept my respectful homage, and allow 
 mc to suhsci'ibe myself, with the prof oimdest admi- 
 ration, your obedient and faithful servant, Saxon 
 Trefalden.' That's the way to put it^ Burgoyne?" 
 
 " Oh, unquestionably/^ yawned that gentleman. 
 " You can^t crowd too much sail.^^ 
 
 ^^ May I inquire to which Princess of the Blood 
 Royal this letter is addressed ? " asked Mr. Tre- 
 falden. 
 
 " To a far greater She than any princess/' re- 
 plied Castletowers. " To the prima donna of the 
 season — to the Graziana herself ! '^ 
 
 Mr. Trefalden slightly elevated his eyebrows 
 ou receiving this tremendous information, but 
 said nothing. 
 
 " And she's the grandest creature ! '" ejaculated 
 Saxon, now folding and sealing his note. "Bur- 
 goyne introduced me to her last night, behind 
 the scenes. You can't think what a gracious 
 manner she has, Cousin "William ! " 
 
 "Really?'' 
 
 " She gave me that bouquet up there — it had 
 just been thrown to her." 
 
 VOL. I. • R
 
 242 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 " How condescendiiig ! " 
 
 " Vv^asn't it ? — and I such an utter stranger — a 
 nobody, you know ! I felt, I assure you, as if I 
 were in the presence of Juno herself. There, the 
 note's quite ready." 
 
 And Saxon, ail unconscious of the faint touch 
 of sarcasm in his cousin's voice, lifted up his 
 bright young face with a smile of boyish exulta- 
 tion, and rang the bell. 
 
 " Gillingwater, send Curtis at once with this 
 note, and tell him to wait for an answer. Any- 
 body here? " 
 
 " Young man from Facet and Carat's, sir, with 
 case of Jules. Young man from Cartridge and 
 Trigger's, with harms. Passle from Colnaggy's ; 
 passle from Breidenback's ; passle from Fortnum 
 and Mason's; passle from Crammer and Beale's," 
 replied Saxon's magnificent valet. 
 
 " The parcels can wait. The messengers may 
 come in." 
 
 Mr. Gillingwater retired, and the "young 
 men'' were immediately ushered in; one with 
 a small mahogany box under his arm; the 
 other carrying a still smaller morocco case.
 
 SAXON AT HOME. 243 
 
 The first contained a brace of costly inlaid 
 pistols; the second, three bracelets of different 
 designs. 
 
 ^^ By Jove, what pistols ! " exclaimed Castle- 
 towers. " Look here, Burgoyne, did you ever 
 see such finish ? " 
 
 " Never. They might be worn by the sultan." 
 
 " They are exact facsimiles of those made for 
 His Highness the Maharajah of Jubblepore," ob- 
 served the messenger. 
 
 Sir Charles examined the weapons with the 
 interest of a connoisseur. 
 
 " What a Bashaw you are, Trefalden ! ^' he 
 said. "We shall have you cantering down 
 Eotten-row on a white elephant before long. 
 These are really the most gorgeous pistols I 
 have seen. Who are the bangles for? The 
 Graziana?" 
 
 "One of them, if . . . ." 
 
 "If what?" 
 
 " If you think she would not be ofl^ended? " 
 
 " Offended, my dear fellow ! Is pussy offended 
 if you offer her a cup of milk ? or Carlo, if you 
 present him with a bone ? '' 
 
 R 2
 
 244 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 '^What do you mean?" said Saxon, quite 
 shocked at the levity of these comparisons. 
 
 " I mean that every vroman would sell her 
 soul for a handful of diamonds, and an ounce of 
 wrought gold, and that our fair friend is no ex- 
 ception to the rule. What put it into your head^ 
 Trefalden, to give her a bracelet ? " 
 
 " It was Mr. Greatorex's idea." 
 
 '^ Humph ! Just like him. Greatorex has such 
 generous impulses — at other people^s expense ! " 
 
 " I was very much obliged to him for thinking 
 of it,^' said Saxon, somewhat warmly. " As I am 
 to any friend who is kind enough to tell me what 
 the customs of society are," he added, more 
 gently. 
 
 '' They are verj^ beautiful bracelets, all three of 
 them," said Lord Castletowers. 
 
 " That's right. Which shall I take ? '' 
 
 '^ The garter set with rubies," said Sir Charles 
 Eurgoyne. 
 
 " The snake with the diamond head," said the 
 Earl. 
 
 " The opals and diamonds," said William Tre- 
 falden.
 
 SAXON AT HOME. 245 
 
 Saxon laughed^ and shook his head. 
 
 '' If YOU each give me different advice/^ said 
 he^ ^' what am I to do ? " 
 
 " Choose for yourself," replied his cousin. 
 
 And so Saxon, very diffidently and hesitatingly, 
 chose for himself, and took the one his cousin 
 had preferred. 
 
 " And pray what may be the cost of this mag- 
 nificent trifle?" asked Mr. Trefalden, when the 
 choice was made, and the messengers had made 
 their bows and vanished. 
 
 " I have no idea," replied Saxon. 
 
 " Do you mean that you have bought it with- 
 out having made any inquiry as to its price ? " 
 
 '' Of course." 
 
 " Pray do you never inquire before you pur- 
 chase ? " 
 
 " Never. Why do you smile ? '' 
 
 '' Because I fear your tradesmen will charge 
 you at any fabulous rate they please." 
 
 " Why, so they could in any case ! What do 
 I know, for instance, of opals and diamonds, 
 except that the opal is a hydrate of silica, and that 
 the diamond consists of pure carbon in a crystal-
 
 246 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 line state ? They miglit ask me what price they 
 pleased for this bracelet, and I, in my ignorance 
 of its value, should buy it, just the same." 
 
 '' It is well for you, Trefalden, that you have 
 the purse of Fortunatus to dip your hand into," 
 said Sir Charles Burgoyne. 
 
 " But even Fortunatus must take care that his 
 purse has no hole in the bottom of it," added 
 Mr. Trefalden. '^ You are a bad financier, my 
 dear Saxon; and joii and I must have a little 
 practical conversation some day on these matters. 
 By the way, I have really some business points 
 to discuss with you. When can you give up an 
 hour or two to pure and unmixed boredom ? " 
 " When you please, cousin William." 
 *' Well — this evening? " 
 
 " This evening, unfortunately, I have promised 
 to dine at the club with Greatorex, and two or 
 three others, and we are going afterwards to the 
 opera." 
 
 ^' To-morrow evening, then ? " 
 " And to-morrow my new phaeton is coming 
 home, and we are going in it to Blackwall — Lord 
 Castletowers and Sir Charles Burgoyne, I mean."
 
 SAXON AT HOME. 247 
 
 " Then, on Saturday ..." 
 
 '* On Saturday, I liope you will join us at 
 Richmond. Don't forget it, cousin William. You 
 have the note, you know, in your pocket." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden smiled somewhat gravely. 
 
 " Are you akeady such an Epicurean that you 
 want the traditional skeleton at your feast ? " said 
 he. " No, no, Saxon. I am a man of business, 
 and have no leisure for such symposia. You 
 must dispense with my grim presence — and I, 
 apparently, must dispense with yours. I had no 
 notion that you were such a man of fashion 
 as to have all your evenings engaged in this 
 manner." 
 
 " I can't think how it is," replied Saxon, in 
 some confusion. " I certainly have made more 
 appointments than I was aware of. My friends 
 are so kind to me, and plan so many things tO 
 give me pleasure, that — will Sunday do, cousin 
 William? You might come up here and dine 
 with me; or we might . . . " 
 
 '' I am always engaged on Sundays," said Mr. 
 Trefalden, drily. 
 
 " Then on Monday ? "
 
 248 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 " Yes, I can see you on Monday, if you will 
 really be at leisure." 
 
 " Of course, I will be at leisure." 
 
 " But you must come to me. I shall be very 
 busy, and can only see you after office hours." 
 
 '^ I will come to you, cousin, at any time you 
 please," said Saxon, earnestly. 
 
 " At eight in the evening ? " 
 
 '' At eight." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden entered the hour and date in his 
 pocket-book, and rose to take his leave. 
 
 " I had hoped that you would spare me a day 
 or two next week, Mr. Trefalden," said Lord 
 Castletowers, as they shook hands at parting. 
 " Your cousin has promised to come down, and 
 we have a meet and some parties coming off; and 
 a breath of country air w^ould do you good before 
 the summer sets in." 
 
 But Mr. Trefalden shook his head. 
 
 "I thank you, Lord Castletowers," he replied; 
 " but it is impossible. I am as firmly chained to 
 Chancery Lane for the next five months as any 
 galley-slave to his oar." 
 
 ^•' But, my dear sir, is it worth any man's while
 
 SAXON AT HOME, 249 
 
 to be a galley-slave, if he can help it? " asked the 
 Earl. 
 
 " Perhaps. It depends on the motive ; and 
 self-imposed chains are never very heavy to the 
 wearer."' 
 
 And with this, Mr. Trefalden bowed to both 
 gentlemen, and left the room, followed by his 
 cousin. 
 
 " That's a quiet, deep fellow/' said Burgoyne. 
 
 " He is a very gentlemanly, pleasant, clever 
 man,'' replied the Earl, ^' and has been our soli- 
 citor for years." 
 
 '' I don't like him.'' 
 
 " You don't know him." 
 
 " True — do you ? ' 
 
 Lord Castletowers hesitated. 
 
 " Well, upon my soul," laughed he, '' I cannot 
 say that I do. But, as I tell you, he is my 
 solicitor, and I like him. I only speak from 
 my impressions." 
 
 " And I from mine. He is not my solicitor, 
 and I don't like him. He thinks too much, and 
 says too little." 
 
 In the meanwhile, Saxon was warmly wringing
 
 SdO HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 his cousin's hand at the door of the ante-room, 
 and saying, in a low, earnest tone : — 
 
 " Indeed you must not suppose I have become 
 a man of fashion, or an Epicurean, cousin Wilham; 
 or that I would not rather — far rather — spend an 
 evening with you than at any of these fine places. 
 I am so very sorry I cannot come to you before 
 Monday." 
 
 " Monday will be quite soon enough, my dear 
 Saxon," replied Mr. Trefalden, kindly; "and I 
 am glad to see you so well amused. At eight 
 o'clock, then ? " 
 
 "Yes, at eight. You will see how punctual I 
 shall be. And you must give me some good 
 advice, cousin William, and always tell me of my 
 faults — won't you ? " 
 
 " Humph ! That will depend on circumstances, 
 and yourself. In the meanwhile, don't buy any 
 more diamond bracelets without first inquiring 
 the price.^'
 
 CHAPTEU XVIII. 
 
 TIMON. 
 
 '^ It is good to be merry and "wise/^ saith an 
 old song ; but every man cannot be a laughing 
 philosopher, and though it is comparatively easy 
 to be either merry or wise " upon occasion/^ it is 
 supremely difficult to be both at the same time. 
 The two conditions mix almost as reluctantly as 
 oil and water^ and youth seldom makes even an 
 effort to combine them. Happy youth^ whose 
 best wisdom it is^ after all, to be merry while it 
 may ! Which of us would not gladly barter this 
 bitter wisdom of later years for but a single 
 season — nay, a single day — of that happy thought- 
 less time when the simplest jest provoked a 
 laugh, and the commonest wayside flower had a 
 beauty long since faded, and all life was a plea- 
 sant carnival? What would we not give to
 
 253 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 believe once more in tlie eternity of college friend- 
 ships, and the immortality of prize poems? — to 
 feel our hearts beat high over the pages of 
 Plutarch and Livy ? — to weep delicious tears for 
 the woes of Mrs. Haller, and to devour the old 
 romances with the old omnivorous relish ? 
 
 Alas ! the college friend and the prize poem 
 are alike forgotten ; Sir George Cornewall Lewis 
 has laid his ruthless hand upon our favourite 
 heroes ; our souls abhor the very name of Kotze- 
 bue ; and we could no more revive our interest 
 in those two mounted cavaliers Avho might have 
 been seen spurring by twilight across a lonely 
 heath in the west of England some two hundred 
 and odd years ago, than we could undertake to 
 enjoy the thirteen thousand pages of Mademoi- 
 selle Scudery's Grand Cyras. Aye, that pleasant 
 dream is indeed over; but its joys are *Modg'd 
 beyond the reach of fate," and of the remem- 
 brance of them no man can disinherit us. Have 
 we not all lived in Arcadia ? 
 
 Wisdom apart, however, what more commend- 
 able merriment may there be than a dinner at 
 Richmond when the year and the guests are
 
 TIMOX. 253 
 
 young, and tlie broad landscape lies steeped in 
 sunshine,, and the afternoon air is sweet with 
 new-mown hay, and the laugh follows the jest 
 as quickly and gaily as the frothing champagne 
 follows the popping of the corks ? Xow and 
 then a tiny skiff with one white sail skims down 
 the molten gold of the broad river. The plumy 
 islands and the wooded flats look hazy in the 
 tender mist of sunset. A pleasant sound of gay 
 voices and chinking glasses finds its way now 
 and then from the open window below, or the 
 adjoining balcony; and, perhaps, the music of a 
 brass band comes to us from the lower town, 
 harmonised by distance. 
 
 Thus bright and propitious was it on the 
 eventful day of Saxon's ^' little dinner ; " and 
 care had been taken by his. friends that every 
 detail of the entertainment should be as faultless 
 as the weather itself. The guests had all been 
 driven down in open carriages; the costliest 
 dinner that money could ensure, or taste devise, 
 was placed before them; and the best room in 
 the famous hotel was pre-engaged for the occa- 
 sion. It had seldom held a more joyous party.
 
 254 HALF A MILLION OP MONEY. 
 
 Lord Castletowers and Major Vaughan were 
 there of course, having run up from Surrey for 
 the day; Sir Charles Burgoyne, serenely inso- 
 lent; the Hon. Edward Brandon, with his hair 
 standing up like the wig of an electrified doll, 
 from inward excitement and outward rubbing ; 
 Mr. Lawrence Greatorex, looking, perhaps, some- 
 what abstracted from time to time, but talking 
 fluently; two other Erectheum men, both very 
 young and prone to laughter, and both highly 
 creditable to their tailors and bootmakers ; and 
 last, though not least, the Graziana and her 
 party. For actresses, like misfortunes, never 
 come alone. Like Scottish chieftains, they travel 
 with a ^^tail," and have an embarrassing apti- 
 tude for bringing their uninvited ''^tail" on all 
 kinds of inconvenierjt occasions. In the present 
 instance, the heroine of the day had contented 
 herself with only two sisters and a brother ; and 
 her young host not only welcomed them with all 
 his honest heart, but thought it very kind and 
 condescending on her part to bring them at all. 
 The brother was a gloomy youth, who said little, 
 ate a great deal, and watched the company in a
 
 TIMON. 255 
 
 furtive manner over the rim of his wine-glass. 
 Tlie sisters were fat, black-eved little souls, who 
 chattered, flirted, and drank champagne inces- 
 santly. As for the prima donna herself, she was 
 a fine, buxom, laughter-loving creature of about 
 twenty years of age, as little like a Juno, and as 
 much like a grown-up child as it is only possible 
 for a Neapolitan woman to be. She could be 
 majestic enough upon the stage, or in the green- 
 room ; but she never carried her dignity beyond 
 the precincts .of the opera house. She put it on 
 with her rouge, and left it in her dressing-room 
 with the rest of her theatrical wardrobe, when the 
 evening^s work was over. She laughed at every- 
 thing that was said, whether she understood it 
 or not ; and she was delighted with everything 
 — with the drive, with the horses, with the mail 
 phaeton, with the weather, with the dinner, with 
 the guests, and with her host; and when the 
 ice was brought to table — a magnificent, many- 
 coloured triumph of art — she clapped her hands, 
 like a child at sight of a twelfthcake. 
 
 "Now^s the time for the bracelet, Saxon,^^ 
 whispered Lord Castietowers, when the wreck
 
 256 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 of this triumpli was removed, and the sidecloths 
 were rolled away for dessert. 
 
 Saxon looked aghast. 
 
 " What shall I say ?" said he. 
 
 " Oh^ I don^t know — something graceful, and 
 not too long.'' 
 
 " But I can't. I haven't an idea." 
 
 " Never mind ; she wouldn't understand it if 
 you had. Say anything." 
 
 " Can't you say it for me ? " 
 
 " Impossible, my dear fellow ! You might as 
 well ask me to kiss her for you." 
 
 Which was such a tremendous supposition,, 
 that Saxon blushed scarlet, and had not a word 
 to say in reply. 
 
 "Ah, traditor ! Why do you speak secrets?'^ 
 said the prima donna, with a pout. 
 
 " Because he is a conspirator, signora," replied 
 the Earl. 
 
 " A conspirator ? Cielo ! " 
 
 ''It is quite true," said Burgoyne, promptly^ 
 '•'There's a deadly mine of cracker bonbons in 
 the room below, and Trefalden's presently going 
 to say something so sparkling that it will fire the
 
 TIMON. 257 
 
 train, and we shall all be blown into the middle 
 of the next century." 
 
 The prima donna sang a roulade expressive of 
 terror. 
 
 " But the worst is vet to come. This plot, 
 signora, is entirely against yourself/^ said Castle- 
 towers. Then, dropping his voice, '^out with it, 
 man," he added. '"' You couldn't have a better 
 opening." 
 
 So Saxon pulled the morocco case out of his 
 pocket, and presented it with as much confusion 
 and incoherence as if it had been a warrant. 
 
 The signora screamed with rapture, invoked 
 her brother and sisters, flew to the window with 
 her treasure, flashed it to and fro in every pos- 
 sible light, and for the first five minutes could 
 talk nothing but her native patois. 
 
 "But, signore, you must be a great prince!" 
 she exclaimed, when at length she returned to 
 her place at the dinner-table. 
 
 " Indeed, I am nothing of the sort," replied 
 Saxon, laughing. 
 
 " E beUissimo, questo braccioletto ! But why 
 do you give him to me ?"
 
 258 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 "From no other reason than my desire to 
 please you, bella donna," replied Saxon. " The 
 Greeks believed that the opal had power to 
 confer popularity on its wearer ; but I do not 
 offer you these opals wdth any such motive. 
 Your talisman is your voice.^^ 
 
 " Bravo, Trefalden ! " laughed the Earl. " That 
 was very well said. Comme V esprit vient aux 
 fils!- 
 
 '^^ A neat thing spoilt," muttered Greatorex to 
 his next neighbour. " He should have praised 
 her eyes. She knows all about her voice." 
 
 "And do you suppose she doesn't know all 
 about her eyes, too?" asked his neighbour, who 
 chanced to be Major Vaughan. 
 
 " No doubt 'j but then a woman is never tired 
 of being admired for her beauty. The smallest 
 pastille of praise is as acceptable to her, in its 
 ■way, as a holocaust of incense. But as to her 
 voice, &est autre chose. What is one compliment 
 more or less after the nightly applauses of the 
 finest audience in Europe ?" 
 
 In the meanwhile, the two Erectheum j^oung 
 men, oppressed apparently by the consciousness
 
 TBiox. 25d 
 
 of how mucli they owed to their boots and waist- 
 coats, took refuge in each other's society, and 
 talked about a horse. Neither of them kept a 
 horse, or hoped to keep a horse; and yet the 
 subject seemed bound up, in some occult way, 
 with the inner consciousness of both. They dis- 
 cussed this mysterious animal in solemn whispers, 
 all the way down from London to Richmond ; 
 alluded to him despondingly during dinner; and 
 exchanged bets upon him in a moody and por- 
 tentous manner at dessert. Apart from this 
 overwhelming topic, they were light-hearted 
 young fellows enough; but the horse was their 
 Nemesis, and rode them down continually. 
 
 As for the "tail," it went to work as vigorously 
 upon the dessert as upon the twelve preceding 
 courses. The plump sisters evidently looked 
 upon Moet as pure Pierian, and had taken Pope's 
 advice to heart; while the gloomy brother, inac- 
 cessible as fort Gibraltar, seemed only intent on 
 provisioning himself against a long blockade. 
 But even the best of dinners must end, and 
 coflfee came at last. Then one of the Erectheum 
 young men, emboldened by sparkling drinks, 
 
 s 2
 
 260 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 asked the prima donna for a song. She laughed 
 and shook her head ; but the assembled company 
 looked aghast. 
 
 " I cannot/' said she. " My voice is a bird in 
 one little cage, and my Impressario guards the 
 key." 
 
 Sir Charles Burgoyne darted a dreadful glance 
 at the oflPender. 
 
 " My dear lady," he said, " pray do not say a 
 word. We all know, or ought to know, that 
 your operatic contract forbids anything of the 
 kind; and even if it were not so, we should not 
 presume to ask so great a favour. It is entirely 
 a mistake — a great mistake — on the part of this 
 young gentleman.'' 
 
 ^' I — I am very sorry," stammered the unlucky 
 neophyte. 
 
 "And I am sorry," said the songstress, good- 
 naturedly. " I should sing for you if I dared." 
 
 "Thou must not think of it, sorellina,'' inter- 
 posed her brother, in his rapid Neapolitan. 
 " E-emember the penalty." 
 
 " The Signora Graziana must do nothing to 
 offend the manager," said Lord Castletowers^
 
 TENION. 261 
 
 'who was familiar with every dialect of the 
 Italian. 
 
 " Certainly not/^ exclaimed Saxon. " Not for 
 the world. ^^ 
 
 Then, turning to Burgoyne, he whispered — 
 " What is it all about ? Why should he be 
 offended because she sang for us ?^^ 
 
 '^ He would have me pay him one hundred 
 pounds/^ said the prima donna, whose ears were 
 quick. 
 
 ^' A hundred pounds fine, you know/^ explained 
 Burgoyne. " 'Tis in his bond, and the man^s a 
 very Shylock with his ducats." 
 
 Saxon laughed aloud. 
 
 " Is that all ? " said he. '^ Oh, never mind, bella 
 donna — I'll pay him his hundred pounds, and 
 welcome." 
 
 And so a piano was brought in from another 
 room, and the Graziana sang to them divinely, 
 not one song, but a dozen. 
 
 *' Perhaps our friend the Impressario may not 
 hear of it, after all," said Mr. Greatorex, when 
 the music was over, and they were preparing to 
 return to town.
 
 262 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 " Let us all take a solemn oath of secresy," 
 suggested Sir Charles Burgoyne. 
 
 But Saxon would not hear of it. 
 
 "No, no," said he. ^"'The fine has been fairly 
 forfeited, and shall be fairly paid. Let no 
 man^s soul be burthened with a secret on my 
 account, I will send Shylock his cheque to-mor- 
 row morning. Ladies, the carriages are at the 
 door." 
 
 " I had heard that our Amphitryon did not 
 know the value of money," said Mr. Greatorex, 
 as they went down-stairs, " and now I believe it. 
 Why, this little affair, my lord, take it from first 
 to last, must have been set to the tune of some- 
 thing like five hundred pounds !" 
 
 "Well, I suppose it has," replied Castletowers, 
 "including the bracelet." 
 
 " A modern Timon — eh ? " 
 
 " Nay, I hope not. A modern Msscenas, if 
 you like. It is a name of better augury." 
 
 '•I fear he dispenses his gold more after the 
 fashion of Timon than of M^cenas/' replied the 
 banker, drily. 
 
 " He is a splendid fellow," said the Enrl, with
 
 TIMON. 263 
 
 enthusiasm ; " and his lavish generosity is by no 
 means the noblest part of his character." 
 
 " But he behaved like a fool about that hun- 
 dred pounds. Of course, we should all have kept 
 the secret, and . . . . " 
 
 " I beg your pardon, Mr. Greatorex," in- 
 terrupted the Earl, somewhat stiffly. '' In my 
 opinion, Mr. Trefalden simply behaved like a 
 man of honour.'^
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 MR. TREFALDEN ON THE DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 
 CUSTOMS OF LAWYERS IN GENERA.L. 
 
 " So, my young cousiu, 3^011 have not yet lost 
 all your primitive virtues/^ said Mr. Trefalden, 
 as Saxon, heralded by Mr. Keckwitch, made his 
 appearance on the threshold of the lawyer's pri- 
 vate room at eight o'clock precisely on Monday 
 evening. 
 
 " I hope I have parted from none that I ever 
 possessed/' replied Saxon ; " but to what parti- 
 cular virtue do j'ou allude ? " 
 
 " To your punctuality, young man. You are 
 as true to time as on that memorable morning 
 when we breakfasted together at Reichenau, and 
 you tasted Lafitte for the first time. You have 
 become tolerably familiar with the flavour, since 
 then.''
 
 MR. TREFALDEN ON LAWYERS IN GENERAL. 265 
 
 "Indeed I have/^ replied Saxon, with a smile 
 and a sigh. 
 
 "And with a good many other flavours as 
 well, I imagine. Why, let me see, that was on 
 the seventh of March, and here is the beginning 
 of the third week in April — scarcely five weeks 
 ago, Saxon ! " 
 
 " It seems like five centuries.^' 
 
 " I dare say it does. You have crowded a vast 
 number of impressions into a very short space of 
 time. But then you are rich in the happy adap- 
 tability of youth and can bear the shock of revo- 
 lution." 
 
 " I try to bear it as well I can,^^ replied Saxon, 
 laughingly. " It isn^t very difficult." 
 
 " No — the lessons of pleasure and power are 
 soon learnt ; and, by the way, the art of dress 
 also. You are quite a swell, Saxon." 
 
 The young fellow's face crimsoned. 
 
 He could not get over that awkward habit of 
 blushing, do what he would. 
 
 " I hope not," he said. " I am what fate and 
 my tailor have made me. Castletowers took me to 
 his own man, and he has done as he liked with me."
 
 266 HALF A MILLION OP MONEY. 
 
 " So that, to paraphrase the kinglj^ state, your 
 virtues are your own, and your shortcomings are 
 your tailor's ? Nay, don't look uncomfortable. 
 You are well dressed; but not too well dressed 
 — which, to my thinking, is precisely as a gentle- 
 man should be.^' 
 
 "I don't wish to be a ''swell,"' said Saxon. 
 
 "Nor are j^ou one. And now tell me some- 
 thing about yourself. How do jon like this new 
 life?" 
 
 " It bewilders me/' said Saxon. " It dazzles 
 me. It takes my breath away. I feel as if 
 London were a huge circus, all dust, and roar, 
 and glitter, and I being carried round it, in a 
 great chariot race. It frightens me sometimes, 
 — and yet I enjoy it. There is so much to 
 enjoy ! '' 
 
 " But you thought it a ^ dreary ' place at first," 
 said Mr. Trefaldeu, with his quiet smile. 
 
 " Because I was a stranger, and knew no one 
 — because the very roar and flow of life along the 
 streets only made my solitude the heavier. But 
 that's all changed now, thanks to you.'' 
 
 "Thanks to me, Saxon?''
 
 MR. TREFALDEX ON LAWYERS IN GENERAL. 267 
 
 " Of course. Don't I owe that dear fellow 
 Castletowers' acquaintance to you? And if I 
 hadnt known him, how should I have got into 
 the Erectheum ? How should I have known 
 Burgoyne, and Greatorex, and Brandon, and 
 Fitz-Hugh, and Dalton, and all the other fellows? 
 And they are so kind to me — it^s perfectly in- 
 credible how kind they are, and what trouble 
 they take to oblige and please me ! " 
 
 "Indeed? " said the lawyer, drily. 
 
 "Yes, that they do; and I should be worse 
 than ungrateful if I did not like a place where I 
 have so many friends. Then, again, I have so 
 much to do — so much to think of — so much to 
 learn. Why, it would take half a life-time only 
 to see all the picture galleries in London, and 
 study the Etruscan vases in the British Mu- 
 seum ! ^^ 
 
 ^ir. Trefalden could not help laughing. 
 
 " You droll boy ! " said he. "Do you mean to 
 tell me that you divide your attentions between 
 pretty prima donnas and cinerary urns ? '' 
 
 " I mean that I was in the Etruscan room for 
 three hours this mornins:, and that we have a
 
 268 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 tazza at Rotzberg of a kind of which you have 
 not a single specimen in the collection — red, with 
 red bassi rilievi. What do you say to that ? '' 
 
 "That I would not give five farthings for all 
 the old pottery in Europe/^ 
 
 '' Yes, you would, if you once learned to look 
 upon it as history. Now the pottery of Etru- 
 ria . . ." 
 
 " My dear Saxon/' interposed Mr. Trefalden, 
 "as you are great, be merciful. Spare me the 
 pottery of Etruria, and tell me a little more 
 about yourself. You are learning to ride, are 
 you not?^' 
 
 " Yes, I can ride pretty well already ; and I 
 have a fencing lesson every other morning, and I 
 am learning to drive. But I don't get on quite 
 so well with the whip as with the foils. I have 
 an awkward habit of locking my wheels with 
 other people''s, and getting to the wrong side of 
 the road/^ 
 
 "Awkward habits, indeed," said Mr. Trefalden; 
 " especially in Rotten Row.'' 
 
 " And — and I am learning to dance, also," said 
 Saxon, with a shy laugh.
 
 MR. TREFALDEN ON LAWYERS IN GENERAL. 269 
 
 '^ In short, Avhat with finishing your education, 
 giving suburban dinners, and cultivating the fine 
 arts, your time is tolerably well occupied/' 
 
 " It is, indeed. I never seem to have a mo- 
 ment to spare/' 
 
 " Humph ! And pray may I ask how much 
 money you have spent during these last three 
 weeks ? " 
 
 " I haven't the least idea." 
 
 "^ I suspected as much. Kept no accounts, I 
 suppose ? " 
 
 "None whatever/' 
 
 Mr. Trefalden smiled significantly, but said 
 nothing. 
 
 " I suppose it's very wrong," said Saxon. " I 
 suppose I ought to have put it all down in a book ? '^ 
 
 " Undoubtedly." 
 
 ''But then I know nothing of book-keeping; 
 indeed, I scarcely yet know the real value of 
 money. But if you will tell me what I ought to 
 do, I will try. Gillingwater, can help me, too. 
 He knows." 
 
 " Gillingwater is your valet, is he not? Where 
 did you hear of him ? "
 
 270 HALF A MILLION OP MONEY. 
 
 '' Greatorex recommended him to me. He is 
 a most invaluable fellow. I don^t know what I 
 should do without him." 
 
 " And you have a groom, I suppose ? " 
 
 " I have two grooms. ^^ 
 
 ^^Two? My dear boy, what can you want with 
 more than one ? '' 
 
 ^' I donH know. Burgoyne said I couldn^t do 
 with less — but then, you know, I keep five 
 horses/^ 
 
 "Indeed?'' 
 
 " Yes ; one for the cab, two for riding, and 
 two for the mail phaeton." 
 
 " And you keep them at livery, of course ? " 
 
 " Yes ; Burgoyne said it was the best way ; 
 and that the beasts were sure to be ill-fed if I 
 hired stabling and left it to the men. He knows 
 so much about horses.'' 
 
 " Evidently. It was he who sold you that 
 mare and cab, was it not ? " 
 
 '^ To be sure it was ; and then I have bought 
 all the rest under his advice. I assure you, cousin 
 William, I don't believe any fellow ever had such 
 friends ! "
 
 MK. TREFALDEX ON LAWYERS IN GENERAL. S71 
 
 Mr. Trefalden couglied, and looked at his 
 watch. 
 
 " Well/^ he said, '' we must not forget that I 
 have brought you down here to-night, Saxon, 
 for a serious conference. Shall we have some 
 coffee first, to filter the dust from our 
 brains?" 
 
 Whereupon, Saxon assenting, the lawyer rang 
 the bell and coffee was brought. In the mean- 
 while, the young man had made the tour of the 
 room, inspected the law books on the shelves, 
 examined the door of the safe, peeped out of the 
 window, and ascertained the date of the map 
 hanging over the fireplace. This done, he re- 
 sumed his chair, and said, with more frankness 
 than politeness : — 
 
 " I'd as soon live in a family vault as in this 
 dismal place ! Is it possible, cousin William, that 
 you have no other home ? '' 
 
 " The greater part of my life is passed here," 
 replied Mr. Trefalden, sipping his coffee. "I 
 admit that the decorations are not in the highest 
 style of art ; but they answer the purpose well 
 enough."
 
 272 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 "And you actually live here, day and night, 
 summer and winter? " 
 
 "Why no — not altogether. I have a den — a 
 mere den — a few miles from town, in which I hide 
 myself at night, like a beast of prey." 
 
 " It is a relief to my mind to know that/' said 
 Saxon. *' I should like to see your den. Why 
 didn't you let me come to you there to-night ? " 
 
 " Because you are not fat enough." 
 
 " Not fat enough ? " repeated Saxon, laughing. 
 
 " I admit no man, unless to devour him. 
 Lawyers are ogres, my dear fellow — and that den 
 of mine is paved with the bones of slaughtered 
 clients." 
 
 Saying which, Mr. Trefalden put an end to the 
 subject by ringing the bell, and sending for Mr. 
 Keckwitch. 
 
 " You may close the office and go, Keckwitch,' ' 
 said he. "I do not want you any more this 
 evening.'^ 
 
 Mr. Keckwitch looked at his employer with 
 eyes that had no more speculation iu them than 
 if they had been boiled. 
 
 "I beg your pardon, sir," he replied with husky
 
 MR. TREFALDEN OX LAWYERS IN GENERAL. 273 
 
 placidity, " but perhaps you forget Rogers's 
 case. I am bound to go through the papers to- 
 night." 
 
 " Then you can take them home with you. I 
 have private business with this gentleman, and 
 wish to be alone — you understand ? Alone." 
 
 A pale light flashed into Mr. KeckwitcVs eyes 
 — flashed and vanished. But it did not impart 
 an agreeable expression to his countenance. 
 
 "And when you have put all straight, and 
 turned ofi" the gas, please to let me know, that 
 I may lock the office door on the inside.^^ 
 
 The head clerk retired without a word, followed 
 by the keen eye of his employer. 
 
 " If I were to become a rich man to-morrow,'^ 
 said he, with a bitter smile, " the first elegant 
 superfluity in which I should indulge, would be 
 the kickiog of that fellow all the way along Chan- 
 cery Lane. It is a luxury that would be cheap at 
 any price the Court might award." 
 
 " If you have so bad an opinion of him, why do 
 you keep him ? " asked Saxon. 
 
 " For the reason that one often keeps an aching 
 tooth. He is a useful grinder, and helps me to 
 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 polish off the bones that I was telling you about 
 just now." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden then saw his head clerk off the 
 premises, locked the outer door, made up the 
 fire, put the shade on the lamp (he always liked, 
 he said, to spare his eyes), and drew his chair to 
 the table.
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 TWO AND A HALF PER CENT. 
 
 Mr. Keckwitch banished^ and the coffee-cups 
 pushed aside, William Trefalden uttered a little 
 preliminary cough, and said, 
 
 " Now, Saxon, to business.^^ 
 
 Saxon was all attention. 
 
 " In the first place,^^ he began, " you have a 
 large fortune in money; and it is highly important 
 that so weighty a sum should be advantageously 
 placed. By advantageously placed, I mean laid 
 out in the purchase of land, lent on mortgage, 
 or otherwise employed in such a manner as to 
 bring you large returns. And I assure you I 
 have not ceased, since your affairs have been in 
 my hands, to make inquiry in every quarter 
 where inquiry was likely to lead to anything 
 useful.^' 
 
 T 2
 
 276 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 "Fm sure it's very kind of you/' murmured 
 Saxon, vaguely. 
 
 "The great difficulty/' continued Mr. Tre- 
 falden, "is the largeness of the sum. It is 
 comparatively easy to dispose of fifty, or a 
 hundred, or even of five hundred thousand 
 pounds; but nobody either wants to borrow, or 
 could give security, for such a sum as four mil- 
 lions. Not that I should wish to see your all 
 placed upon a single venture. Far from it. I 
 would not advise such a step, though the Russian 
 government were the borrower. But neither do 
 I wish to spread your property over too large a 
 surface. It is a course attended with great in- 
 convenience and great expense. Do you quite 
 follow me?'' 
 
 "Not in the least," said Saxon, to whom the 
 language of the money market was about as in- 
 telligible as a cuneiform inscription. 
 
 " Well, you understand that your money ought 
 to be invested ? " 
 
 ''I thought it was invested. It's in Drum- 
 mond's bank." 
 
 " Not so. The bulk of vour fortune consists
 
 TWO AND A HALF PER CENT. 277 
 
 of Government stock ; but a very considerable 
 sum which I had expected to invest for you before 
 now^ and which, if vou remember, we sold out of 
 the funds when you first came to London, is 
 temporarily deposited at Drummond^s, where at 
 present it brings you no interest. My object, 
 however, is to do with this what I hope to do in 
 time with the whole of your money — namely, 
 invest it safely at a high I'ate of interest. By 
 these means you will enjoy an ample income, but 
 leave your capital untouched/^ 
 
 "Shall I, indeed?'' said Saxon, struggling to 
 conceal a yawn. '' That is very curious.'' 
 
 '' Not curious at all, if one but understands the 
 first principles of banking. Have you no idea of 
 what interest is ? " 
 
 " Oh dear yes," replied Saxon, briskly, " I 
 know all about that. Greatorex explained it to 
 me. Interest means two and a half per cent." 
 
 ^Ir. Trefalden shifted the position of his chair,, 
 and turned the lamp in such a manner that the 
 light fell more fully on Saxon's face, and left his 
 own in shadow. 
 
 '^ Two and a half per cent ! " he repeated.
 
 378 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 " That was a very limited statement on the part 
 of Mr. Greatorex. Interest may mean anything, 
 from one per cent, up to a hundred, or a hundred 
 thousand. He cannot have offered that assertion 
 as an explanation of general facts. Do you re- 
 member the conversation that led to it ? " 
 
 ^' Not clearly ; but he was talking very much 
 as you have just been talking, and he said they 
 would give me two and a half per cent, at their 
 bank, if I liked to put my money in it." 
 
 " Humph ! and your reply ? " 
 
 " I said 3^ou managed everything of that sort 
 for me, and that I would ask you to see to it." 
 
 ^^ Meaning that you would ask me to transfer 
 your money from Drummond's to Greatorex^s ? '' 
 
 " If you please." 
 
 " Then I certainly do not please ; and as long 
 as you continue to attach the slightest value to my 
 opinion, you will not place a penny in their hands." 
 
 Saxon looked aghast. 
 
 '•' Oh, but — but I promised," said he. 
 
 "Precisely what I expected to hear you say. 
 I felt sure you had been trapped into a promise 
 of some kind."
 
 TWO AND A HALF PER CENT. 270 
 
 ^'I can't break my word," said Saxon, reso- 
 lutely. 
 
 Mr. Trefalden shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " I can^t let you ruin yourself," he replied. 
 " Greatorex and Greatorex are on the verge of 
 bankruptcy; and I have private information which 
 leads me to believe they must stop payment before 
 the week is out." 
 
 The young man stared at him in silence. He 
 neither knew what to say, nor what to think. 
 
 " And now," said his cousin, '' tell me all that 
 took place, as nearly as you can remember it. 
 First of all, I suppose, Mr. Laurence Greatorex 
 kindly volunteered to explain to you the system 
 under which money can be made to produce 
 interest ; and, having shown you how it was part 
 of the business of a banker to pay interest on 
 deposits, he proposed to take your money, and 
 allow you two and a half per cent ? '" 
 
 Saxon nodded. 
 
 " You referred the proposition to me, and Mr. 
 Greatorex was not best pleased to find that you 
 relied so much upon my judgment." 
 
 " How do you know that ? '' exclaimed Saxon.
 
 280 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 " He then enlarged on the dangers of high in- 
 terest, and the troublesome nature of investments 
 in-land; pointed out the advantages of the de- 
 posit system ; and ended by extracting your 
 promise for . . . how much ? '' 
 
 ^' Who can have told you all this ? " 
 
 '' Tell me first whether I am correct ? ^' 
 
 "Word for word." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden leaned back in his chair and 
 laughed — a little soft, satisfied laugh, like an 
 audible smile. 
 
 " I have a familiar demon, Saxon/^ said he. 
 '^ His name is Experience ; and he tells me a 
 great many more things than are dreamt of in 
 your philosophy. But you have not yet answered 
 my first question — how much ? " 
 
 " He said it was a very bad plan to lock up 
 one's money — ' lock up ■* was the phrase, I am sure 
 — and that I should find it so convenient to 
 be able to draw mine out whenever I chose. 
 And then . . . ." 
 
 " And then you agreed with him, of course. 
 Go on.^' 
 
 " And then he said he supposed I would not
 
 TWO AND A HALF PER CENT. 281 
 
 mind o:oing:.to the extent of five Imndred thousand 
 with their house, and . . . /^ 
 
 " Five hundred thousand ! Had he the in- 
 credible impudence to ask you for five hundred 
 thousand ? ^^ 
 
 " Indeed, Cousin William, it seemed to me, from 
 the way in which he put it, that ^Ir. Greatorex 
 had only my interest in view." 
 
 '' How probable ! " 
 
 " He said that it could make no difference to 
 them ; and that one person's thousands were no 
 more to them, in the way of business, than 
 another's." 
 
 " And you believed him ? " 
 
 ^' Of course T believed him." 
 
 ^^ And promised him the five hundred thousand ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Then it's a promise that will have to be 
 broken, young man, that is all. Nay, don't look 
 so unhappy. I will take all the burden from 
 TOur shoulders. A lawver can do these things 
 easily enough, and offend no one. Besides, no 
 man is bound to fling his money away with his 
 eyes open. If you were to pay in that five hun-
 
 282 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 dred thousand pounds to-morrow morning, it would 
 all be in the pockets of Sir SamueFs creditors 
 before night. It would help the firm to stave off 
 the evil day, and you would most likely get your 
 two and a half per cent.; but I k7iow that you 
 would never see one farthing of the principal 
 again — and Laurence Greatorex knows that I 
 know it." 
 
 " But — but I have not told you quite all yet," 
 stammered Saxon, whose face had been getting 
 graver and graver with every word that ^Ir. 
 Trefalden uttered. " I have given him a cheque 
 for half." 
 
 It was well for Mr. Trefalden that the shade 
 fell on him where he sat, and concealed the storm 
 that swept across his features at this announce- 
 ment. It came and went like a swift shadow ; 
 but, practised master of himself as he was, he 
 could no more have controlled the expression of 
 his face at that moment than he could have con- 
 trolled a thunder-cloud up in the heavens. 
 
 " You have given Mr. Greatorex a cheque for 
 two hundred and fifty thousand pounds?" he 
 said, after a momentary pause.
 
 TWO AND A HALF PEE, CENT. 283 
 
 " I know it was very wrong — I know I ought to 
 have consulted you first !'' exclaimed Saxon, quite 
 overwhelmed by the magnitude of his error. 
 
 "Never mind that at present/' replied the 
 lawyer, coldly. " The mischief is done, and we 
 have only to try if any of the money is recover- 
 able. A¥hen did you give it to him ? '■' 
 
 " Just now — after dinner." 
 
 '' To-day ? After three o'clock ?'' 
 
 " Not an hour ago. We met at the club ; he 
 asked me to dine with him ....'' 
 
 " And when you told him you v»'ere to see me 
 this evening, he got you to sign the cheque out 
 of hand ! '' interposed Mr. Trefalden, eagerly. 
 " Clever — very clever ; but not quite clever 
 enough, for all that ! " 
 
 Saying which, the lawyer seized paper and pen, 
 and began writing rapidly. Having scribbled 
 three or four lines, he pushed them across the 
 table, and said : — 
 
 " Read that, and sign it.-'^ 
 
 It was an order upon the Drummond's firm to 
 refuse payment of all cheques signed by Mr. 
 Saxon Trefalden, until further notice.
 
 284 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 '' But suppose/^ said Saxon, " that he has 
 cashed it ah-eady ? " 
 
 " He cau^t cash it, you foolish boj^, till the 
 bank opens to-morrow morning ; and by that 
 time it will be too late. I shall instantly take a 
 cao, and go down with this paper to the private 
 house of the chief cashier ; and, to make assur- 
 ance doubly sure, Keckwitch shall be at the bank 
 to-morrow morning when the doors open. Lucky 
 for you, my fine fellow, that you committed this 
 little folly after three o'clock in the day ! '' 
 
 Saxon signed the paper somewhat reluctantly, 
 and Mr. Trefalden put it into his pocket- 
 book. 
 
 " Our business conference must wait,^' said he, 
 " till this affair is settled. Shall you be at home 
 and alone to-morrow at twelve, if I come up for 
 an hour's talk ? " 
 
 " I will be at home and alone, of course,'' re- 
 plied Saxon ; " but I am going down into Surrey 
 by the three-o'clock express." 
 
 "To Castletowers?" 
 
 *•' Yes — for a week or ten days." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden hesitated.
 
 TWO AND A HALF PER CENT. 285 
 
 '^What I have to say to you must be said 
 quietly and thoroughly/' observed he, musingly. 
 *' And if you are very stupid indeed, and want a 
 great deal of explanation ....■" 
 
 " AVhich is quite certain ! " interrupted Saxon, 
 laughing. 
 
 " Which I am afraid is quite certain — an hour 
 "will not be enough.^' 
 
 " Will you come at eleven ? '^ 
 
 Mr. Trefalden took up a manuscript book, and 
 examined one or two consecutive pages before 
 replying. 
 
 " I will not come at all," he said, closing it 
 decisively, and taking up his hat. '' I will run 
 down to you at Castletowers instead, on Thursday 
 morning. The entries in my engagement-book 
 show nothing of great importance for that day, 
 and I know the Earl will be pleased to receive 
 me. I believe I can even manage to dine there, 
 and return by the last train at ten.'' 
 
 '' That is good ! '' exclaimed Saxon, heartily ; 
 '^ and a day out of town will invigorate you for a 
 month." 
 
 So it was settled ; and Mr. Trefalden turned
 
 286 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 off the last of the gas, and let his cousin out in 
 the dark. 
 
 " I will send you a line in the morning just to 
 say that all's well at Drummond^s/' said the 
 lawyer, as they shook hands in the street below ; 
 " but you must give me your word of honour 
 to sign no more cheques till after Wednesday ; 
 and, above all, never again to transact any 
 important business without first taking my 
 advice/^ 
 
 "Indeed, Cousin AVilliam, I never will," re- 
 plied Saxon, penitently. 
 
 "And if your disinterested friend comes to 
 you in his wrath to-morrow morning, refer him 
 to me. My nerves are strong, and I can bear any 
 amount of vituperation." 
 
 " I suppose he will be very much annoyed," 
 said Saxon. 
 
 " Annoyed ? He will go raging up and down, 
 seeking whom he may devour. But what does 
 that matter ? His anger will not fall upon you, 
 but upon your legal adviser. And I am not 
 afraid that he will eat me. Lawyers are indi- 
 gestible."
 
 TWO AND A HALF PER CENT. 287 
 
 Whereupon they again shook hands, and went 
 their separate ways; Mr. Trefalden's way being 
 to Bayswater, where dwelt the chief cashier in 
 the bosom of his family, and Saxon's to his stall 
 at the opera.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 MR. GREATOREX WITH THE POLISH OFF. 
 
 " Mr. Greatorex wishes to know_, sir, if you 
 can give him five minutes' private conversation.^' 
 
 It was not quite a quarter past ten, and Saxon, 
 who had taken a riding lesson before breakfast, 
 was loitering over a book, with the breakfast 
 service still upon the table. He laid the volume 
 hastily down, and desired that Mr. Greatorex 
 might be shown in. He was no moral coward ; 
 but he felt decidedly uncomfortable when he 
 heard the quick ring of the banker's high-heeled 
 boots on the polished floor of the antechamber. 
 
 Mr. Greatorex came in, shut the door in 
 Gillingwater's face, flung a crumpled slip of paper 
 on the table, and said in a voice that quivered 
 with suppressed passion : — 
 
 "You have thought fit, Mr. Trefalden, to stop
 
 MR. GEEATOHEX WITH THE POLISH OFF. 289 
 
 the payment of this cheque. IMay I inquire with 
 what motive ? " 
 
 He kept his hat on, and the face beneath it 
 was at a white heat, even to the hps. 
 
 ^^ I am really very sorry, Greatorex," said 
 Saxon, nervously ; " but I ought never to have 
 given it to you. My cousin manages all my 
 affairs, and I had no business to interfere with 
 his arrangements. He objects to your offer, and 
 — and I am obhged to decline it. But why won^t 
 you shake hands with me ? " 
 
 Mr. Greatorex put his hands behind his back. 
 
 " You have insulted me,'' he said, '^ and . . . ." 
 
 " Not intentionally ! '' interrupted Saxon. 
 '' Upon my honour, not intentionally/' 
 
 The banker heard him with a bitter smile. 
 
 " Pshaw ! '' he said, scornfully. " We all know 
 what intentions are worth. Yours were certainly 
 not very friendly when you exposed me just now 
 to the grins and sneers of every petty clerk in 
 Drummond's office. Pray did it not occur to 
 you that the position might be the reverse of 
 agreeable ; or that it might affect my credit some- 
 Y,hat unpleasantly among my brother bankers? " 
 
 VOL. I, u
 
 390 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 " I feared, indeed, that I might be so unfortu- 
 nate as to inconvenience you, Mr. Greatorex/^ 
 replied Saxon, with dignity; ''and I tell you 
 again that I am sorry for it. But I had no 
 thought of insulting you." 
 
 " Inconvenience ! '^ echoed Greatorex, fiercely. 
 " Good God, man, you have ruined me ! '^ 
 
 " Ruined 3^ou?'' 
 
 "Ay, ruined me — me and mine — my father, 
 who is an old man of sixty-eight — my sisters, 
 who are both unmarried. Curse you ! how do 
 you like that ? " 
 
 And with this he flung himself into a chair, 
 and sat drumming on the table with his clenched 
 hands. 
 
 Saxon was inexpressibly shocked. 
 
 *'You must explain this to me,-" he faltered. 
 " I do not understand — indeed I do not ! '' 
 
 Greatorex glared up at him vindictively, but 
 made no reply. 
 
 " I would not willingly injure my worst enemy, 
 if I had one," continued the young fellow, with 
 tears in his voice, if not in his eyes ; " much less 
 one Avhom I have eaten and drunk with, and
 
 MR. GREATOREX WITH THE POLISH OFF. 291 
 
 looked upon as my friend. What do you mean 
 when you say that I have ruined you ? '^ 
 
 '' Simply that we shall be in the Gazette 
 to-morrow. You understand that, I sup- 
 pose V 
 
 The coarse nature of the man had all come to 
 the surface under this powerful test, and he took 
 no pains to hide it. He was literally drunk with 
 rage. Saxon, however, saw his condition, and, 
 ignorant as he was of human nature, by some 
 fine instinct, understood and pitied it. 
 
 "But why need the withdrawal of this sum 
 ■uork you so much evil ? " he said, gently. " You 
 are surely no worse off without it to-day than you 
 were yesterday." 
 
 " This is why — since you ivill have it ! We 
 wanted money — money and time — for we have 
 met with some ugly losses that we didn^t choose 
 to tell the world about ; and we knew we could 
 pull through, if we had the chance." 
 
 ^•'Well?" 
 
 " Well, there are three or four firms that 
 have heavv' claims upon us, and are getting 
 troublesome. Relying on your cheque, I 
 
 TJ 2
 
 "292 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 wrote to them last niglit, and desired them 
 to draw upon us any time after one o'clock to- 
 day. They will draw — and the bank will stop 
 payment." 
 
 Saxon sprang to his feet, and seized the cheque, 
 w^hich was still lying where the banker had thrown 
 it. 
 
 " No, no," he cried, " not through my act, 
 <jrreatorex — Heaven forbid ! How much do you 
 w^ant, to meet these claims to-day ? " 
 
 ^^ There's one of twenty-two thousand, six hun- 
 dred and forty-five pounds," said the other, still 
 sullenly, but in an altered tone. " That's the 
 heaviest. Another of eighteen thousand, tv/o 
 hundred and three fifteen ; one of ten thou- 
 sand; and one of seven thousand, nine hun- 
 dred and eleven. Fifty-eight thousand, seven 
 hundred and fifty-nine pounds fifteen shillings, 
 in all." 
 
 Saxon flew to the bell, and rang it furiously. 
 
 '^A Hansom from the stand, Gillingwater," 
 said he, '^ and choose the best horse among 
 them." Then, snatching up his hat — "Greato- 
 a'ex," he added, " I would drive you to Drum-
 
 MP.. GREATOREX WITH THE POLISH OFF. 293 
 
 nioud's this inst^int, if I could ; but I won't break 
 my word. I gave William my solemn promise 
 last night to do nothing without consulting him, 
 and I must go down to Chancery Lane first. But 
 you shall have the money long enough before one 
 — nay, don't shake your head. It still wants 
 twenty minutes to eleven, and Til be back in 
 three-quarters of an hour ! ^' 
 
 " Pooh ! '^ said the banker, impatiently. ^^ I 
 dare say you mean it ; but he won't let you do it. 
 I know him.'' 
 
 Saxon's eyes flashed. 
 
 "Then you don't know we," said he. ''The 
 money is my own, and I swear you shall have it. 
 How much do you say it is ? " 
 
 " Fifty-eight thousand, seven hundred and . . ." 
 
 "Then fifty-nine thousand will do, and that's 
 easier to remember. Come, old fellow, jump into 
 my cab with me. I can take you as far as 
 Chanceiy Lane, and you'll see me back in Lom- 
 bard Street before one o'clock.'^
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 TELEMACHUS SHOWS THAT HE HAS A WILL OF 
 HIS OWN. 
 
 Unlike the great ocean which, however 
 racked by hurricane and storm, sleeps in eternal 
 calm but a little way beneath the tossing waves, 
 Mr. Trefalden kept all his tempests down below, 
 and presented to the world a surface of unvarying 
 equanimity. No man ever knew what went 
 on under that '^ glassy cool " exterior. Cyclones 
 might rage in the far depths of his nature, and 
 those who were looking in his face saw no ripple, 
 heard no echo, of the strife within. It was just 
 thus when Saxon burst in upon him at about 
 eleven o^ clock that Tuesday morning, brimful of 
 compassion for the perplexities of the house of 
 Greatorex, and burning to relieve them at the 
 moderate cost of fifty-nine thousand pounds 
 sterling.
 
 TELEilACHUS HAS A Y>ILL OF HIS OWN. 295 
 
 Mr. Trefalden was furious ; but he smiled, 
 nevertheless, and heard Saxon quite patiently 
 from beginning to end of his story. 
 
 " But this is pure nonsense and Quixotism/' 
 said he, when the young man came to a pause for 
 want of breath. "What's Greatorex to you, or 
 you to Greatorex ? Vv'hy should you recklessly 
 sacrifice a sum which is in itself a handsome 
 fortune, to oblige a man who has no claim what- 
 ever on your sympathies, or your purse ? " 
 
 '' I can't let him be ruined ! " cried Saxon, 
 impetuously. 
 
 "Why not? He would not have hesitated 
 to ruin you. He would have swept your whole 
 property into his rotten bank, and have allowed 
 YOU one per cent, less than the current rate of 
 interest.''^ 
 
 " I can't tell how that may be,'' said Saxon ; 
 " but I gave him my cheque, and he acted 
 on the faith of it. I must not let him 
 suffer." 
 
 " But he would have suffered, sooner or later. 
 Did I not tell you last night that the Greatorexes 
 were on the verge of bankruptcy, and that I
 
 296 HALF A MILLION OF MO^'EY. 
 
 believed tliey must stop payment before the week 
 was out? DonH you remember that ? " 
 
 *' Yes — I remember it/' 
 
 *' Then you must surely see that your cheque 
 can be in no sense the cause of their ruin ? At 
 the worst, it but hastens the event by a few days/' 
 
 "I see that I have no right, and. Heaven 
 knows ! no wish to hasten it by a single hour." 
 
 " But, my dear Saxon . . ." 
 
 "But, my dear cousin William, Laurence 
 Greatorex has an old father and two sisters, and 
 he and I have been on terms of good fellowship 
 together for this month past, and Tm determined 
 to stand by him." 
 
 " Oh, if you are determined, Saxon, that puts 
 an end to the matter,'' said Mr. Trefalden, coldly. 
 " But in this case, why consult me at all ? '" 
 
 '^ I didn't come to consult you, cousin ; but I 
 had given you my word not to sign away any 
 more money till after Thursday, and I felt bound 
 to let you know what I was about to do." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden looked very grave. 
 
 " I confess that I am disappointed," he said. 
 *' I had hoped to find my opinion more valued by
 
 TELEMACHUS HAS A WILL OF HIS O^YN. 207 
 
 Tou, Saxon. I had also hoped that you would 
 look upon me as something more than your 
 lawyer — as your friend, adviser, guide." 
 
 " Why, so I do ! " cried the young man, 
 eagerly. 
 
 " Pardon me ; I do not think so.'' 
 
 " Then you do me injustice ; for I put a price- 
 less value on your opinion and your friendship. '^ 
 
 " Your present wilfulness disproves your words, 
 Saxon," said his cousin. 
 
 '^ I know it does ; but then I also know that I 
 am acting upon impulse, and not according to 
 the laws of worldly wisdom. I have no doubt 
 that you are perfectly right, and that I am 
 utterly wrong — but still I cannot be happy if I 
 do not, for once, indulge my folly." 
 
 Seeing that it was useless to push the argument 
 further, Mr. Trefalclen smiled in his pleasantest 
 manner. 
 
 '• I do think,'' said he, '' that you are the most 
 foolish fellow in the world. If I don't make haste 
 to tie your money up, you will ruin yourself, rich 
 as you are ! " 
 
 " But what's the use of beinir rich if I may
 
 S98 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 not enjoy my wealth in my own way ? " laughed 
 Saxon, delighted to have carried his point. 
 
 " Your way is a very irrational way/^ replied 
 the lawyer, taking a slip of paper from his desk 
 and writing upon it in a clear engrossing hand ; 
 " almost as irrational as that of the poor sailors 
 who make sandwiches of their bank notes and 
 bread-and-butter. But I suppose I must forgive 
 you for this once ; and, after all, the loss of fifty- 
 nine thousand is better than the loss of a quarter 
 of a million. There, put that in your purse, and 
 see that your devoted friend signs it on the blank 
 line at the bottom." 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 '^A promissory note for the money. He will 
 perhaps offer you an ordinary receipt on the part 
 of the firm ; but this, if signed in the name of 
 the firm, will answer the purpose much better. 
 What — going already ? " 
 
 Saxon explained that Greatorex wanted the 
 cash before one o'clock. 
 
 " You have removed the ^ stop ' from Drum- 
 mond's, I suppose ? " 
 
 " Not yet. I will call there as I go home."
 
 TELEMACHUS HAS A WILL OF HIS OWN. 299 
 
 " And Mr. Greatorex has given you back your 
 first cheque?" 
 
 ''I don't know. I think we left it on the 
 breakfast-table." 
 
 Mr. Trefalden bit his lip. 
 
 " Upon my soul, Saxon," he said, " you de- 
 serve to be fleeced by every sharper who can get 
 his hand within reach of a feather of you ! Go 
 home and find that cheque before you dream of 
 removing your injunction ; and if you can^t find 
 it, give them a note of the number and amount, 
 in case of its being presented for payment." 
 
 Saxon laughed, and promised obedience ; but 
 declared there was no danger. 
 
 ^' And you will still keep your promise of sign- 
 ing away no more money without consulting me ? " 
 
 •' Implicitly." 
 
 " Then good-bye till Thursday." 
 
 Saxon sprang down the stairs whistling a 
 shrill Swiss air, and was gone in a moment ; and 
 Mr. Trefalden^s face, as he listened, grew dark, 
 and hard, and cold, as if it were changing into 
 
 granite. 
 
 Fool ! " he muttered, fiercely. " As eager to
 
 300 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 ruin himself as are otliers to ruin him ! I should 
 be mad to hold back now. I have waited, and 
 Tvatched, and let him go his own way long 
 enough; but my turn has come at last, and I 
 mean to seize it.''^ 
 
 '^ If you please, sir/^ said Mr. Keckwitch, 
 putting his head suddenly in at the door, " Mr. 
 Behrens called about ten minutes ago, and said 
 he'd come again at two." 
 
 " Very well,^^ replied the lawyer, wearily. 
 " Bring me Mr. Behrens' deed-box.^^ 
 
 And then he sat for a long time with the box 
 unopened before him, and his head resting on his 
 hands.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE HOLE IN ^YILLIAM TREFALDEN's ARMOUR. 
 
 The man ^vho has a purpose to achieve, or a 
 secret to hide, should never make an enemy. It 
 is his obvious pohcy to shun that disaster as 
 sedulously as an expectant bridegroom shuns the 
 conscription, a debutante the small-pox, or a 
 railway director the possible horrors of an ex- 
 cursion train. But the wisest cannot always be 
 wise ; and the wariest are apt now and then to 
 omit some little precaution whereby the dread 
 catastrophe against which they have so long been 
 building up their defences, might have been 
 averted after all. Thetis, when she dipped Achilles 
 in the seven-fold river, forgot the heel by which 
 she held him, and left it vulnerable for the fatal 
 arrow. Imperial Cccsar put aside for future read- 
 ing the paper that would have saved him from
 
 302 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 assassination. Henri Quatre — he of the valiant 
 heart, to whom nothing seemed impossible — ne- 
 glected alike his own presentiments, and the 
 prayers of those who loved him, when he went 
 forth to his doom in the Rue de la Ferroniere. 
 These things are common. We read of them in 
 the records of almost every famous crime, or 
 sudden catastrophe. The "complete steel ^' has 
 some weak point of junction which the foeman's 
 blade finds out. The conspirator drops a paper, 
 and the plot which was to subvert a dynasty 
 recoils on the heads of the plotters. The cleverest 
 alibi breaks down in some minute particular 
 which no one had the wit to foresee. A little 
 more prudence was alone needed to ensure quite 
 opposite results — a little better closing of the 
 rivets of the gorget, or the seams of the pocket, 
 or the incidents of the story ; but the precaution 
 that would have made all safe, was precisely that 
 precaution which happened to be neglected. 
 
 William Trefalden had both a purpose to achieve, 
 and a secret to hide, and he was not insensible to 
 the inconveniences that might arise from the ill- 
 will of his fellow-men; but he had made two
 
 THE HOLE IN ^YILLIAM TEEFALDEN^S AEMOUR. 303 
 
 enemiesj and those two enemies were the two 
 greatest errors of his life. He had never at- 
 tempted to be what is called " a popular man/' 
 He had none of that apparent frankness and 
 buoyancy of manner necessary to the j)art ; but 
 he especially desired to be well spoken of. He 
 was well spoken of, and had acquired that sort of 
 reputation which is, above all others, the most 
 valuable to a professional man — a reputation for 
 sagacity, and prosperity; and prosperity, be it 
 remembered, is the seal of merit. Eut, having 
 achieved so much, and being on the high road to 
 certain other achievements, the nature of which 
 was as yet known only to himself, he ought to 
 have abstained at any cost from awaking the 
 enmity of two such men as Abel Keckwitch and 
 Laurence Greatorex. It would have been better 
 for him if he had denied himself the satisfaction 
 of punishing his head clerk that memorable even- 
 ing in March, and been content only to dodge him 
 in the shade of the doorway. It would have been 
 better if, knowing himself to be the destined 
 Jason, he had even suffered Laurence Greatorex 
 to carry off thnt noble slice from the Golden
 
 304 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 Fleece, whicli was represented by Saxon's first 
 cheque. But lie had followed neither of these 
 prudent courses. He despised the clerk, he was 
 irritated against the banker, and he never even 
 asked himself how they were disposed towards 
 him in return. They both hated him ; but had he 
 known this, it is probable that he would have been 
 equally indifferent to the fact. Not to know it — 
 not even to have given it a thought, one way or 
 the other — was a great oversight ; and that over- 
 sight was the one hole in William Trefalden's 
 armour. 
 
 Mr. Abel Keckwitch was a very respectable 
 man. He lodged in the house of a gaunt widow 
 who lived in a small back street at Pentonville ; 
 and his windows commanded a thriving church- 
 yard. He paid his rent with scrupulous regu- 
 larity; he went to church every Sunday morning ; 
 he took in the Weekly Observer ; he kept a cat ; 
 and he played the violoncello. He had done all 
 these things for the last thirty years, and he did 
 them advisedly ; for Mr. Keckwitch was of a me- 
 thodical temperament, and loved to carry on the 
 unprofessional half of his existence in a groove of
 
 THE HOLE IN WILLIAM TREFALDEN^S ARMOUR. 305 
 
 the strictest routine. Having started in life witli 
 the determination of being eminently respectable, 
 lie had modelled himself after his own matter-of- 
 fact ideal, and cut his tastes according to his 
 judgment. His cat and his violoncello were cases 
 in point. He would have preferred a dog ; but 
 he made choice of the cat, because puss looked 
 more domestic, and reflected the quiet habits of 
 her master. In like manner, Mr. Keckwitch en- 
 tertained a secret leaning towards the concertina; 
 but he yielded this point in favour of the superior 
 respectability of the violoncello. And it cannot 
 be denied that Mr. Keckwitch was right. A 
 more respectable possession than a violoncello for 
 a single man, can hardly be conceived. It is the 
 very antithesis to all that is light and frivolous. 
 It leads to no conviviality. It neither inclines 
 its owner to quadrille parties, like the cornet-a- 
 pistons, nor to cold gin-and-water, like the flute ; 
 and it lends itself to amateur psalmody after a 
 manner unequalled in dreariness by any other 
 instrument. It was Mr. Keckwitch's custom to 
 practise for an hour every evening after tea ; and 
 in the summer he did it with the windows open> 
 
 VOL. L X
 
 306 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 wliich afflicted the neiglibourliood with an universal 
 melancholy. At these times his landlady would 
 shed tears for her departed husband, and declare 
 that "it was beautiful, and she felt all the better 
 for it/^ and the photographer next door, who 
 was a low-spirited young man, and read Byron, 
 would shut himself up in his dark room, and 
 indulge in thoughts of suicide. 
 
 Such was the placid and irreproachable tenor 
 of Mr. Abel KeckwitcVs home life. It suited 
 his temperament, and it gratified his ambition. 
 He knew that he inspired the lodging-house 
 bosom with confidence, and the parochial autho- 
 rities with esteem. The pew-opener curtsied to 
 him, and the churchwardens nodded to him af- 
 fably in the street. In short, Pentonville regarded 
 him as a thoroughly respectable man. 
 
 Scarcely less methodical was the other — the 
 professional — half of this respectable man^s career. 
 He was punctuality itself, and hung his hat up in 
 William Trefalden's office every morning at nine 
 with as much exactitude as the clock announced 
 the hour. At one, he repaired to an eating- 
 house in High Holborn, where he had dined at
 
 THE lluLi: IX V.'ILLIAM TP.EFALDEN'S AEMOUR. 307 
 
 the same cost, and from tlie same dishes, for the 
 last two-aud-twenty years. Don Quixote's diet 
 before he took to knight-errantry was not more 
 monotonous ; but instead of the " pigeon extra- 
 ordinary on Sundays/^ Mr. Keckwitch dined on 
 that day at his landlady's table, and stipulated 
 for pudding. At two, he resumed his seat at the 
 office desk; and, when there was no particular 
 pressure of work, went home to his cat and his 
 violoncello at half-past six. At certain seasons, 
 however, Mr. Keckwitch and his fellow-clerks 
 were almost habitually detained for an hour or 
 an hour and a half over-time, and thereby grew 
 the richer ; for William Trefalden was a pro- 
 sperous man, and paid his labourers fairly. 
 
 So sober, so steady, so plodding was the head 
 clerk's daily round of occupation. He fattened 
 upon it, and grew asthmatic as the years went 
 by. Xo one would have dreamed, to look into 
 his dull eyes and stolid face, that he could be 
 other than the veriest machine that ever drove a 
 quill ; but he was nothing of the kind. He was 
 an invaluable clerk ; and William Trefalden 
 knew his worth precisely. His head was as clear 
 
 X 2
 
 308 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 as his voice was liusky ; liis memory was pro- 
 digious ; and for all merely technical purposes 
 he was as good a lawyer as Trefalden himself. 
 He entertained certain views, however, with 
 regard to his own field of action, which by no 
 means accorded with those of his employer. He 
 liked to know everything ; and he conceived that 
 it Vas his right, as Mr. Trefalden's head clerk, 
 to establish a general supervision of the whole 
 of that gentleman^s professional and private 
 affairs. He also deemed it to be in some sort 
 his duty to find out that which was withheld from 
 him, and regarded every reservation as a per- 
 sonal affront. That Mr. Trefalden should keep 
 certain papers for his own reading ; should 
 answer certain letters with his own hand; and 
 should sometimes remain in his private room for 
 long hours after he and the others were dis- 
 missed, preparing unknown documents, and even 
 holding conferences with strangers upon sub- 
 jects that never filtered through to the outer 
 ofi&ce, were offences which it was not in Mr. 
 Keckwitch's nature to forgive. Nor were these 
 all the wrongs of which he had to complain. It
 
 THE HOLE IX WILLIAM TEEFALDEX^S ARMOUR. 809 
 
 Tras ATilliam Trefalden's pleasure to keep his 
 private life and Lis private affairs strictly to him- 
 self. No man knew whether he was married or 
 single. No man knew how or where he lived. 
 His practice was large and increasing, and the 
 proceeds thereof were highly lucrative. Mr. 
 Keckwitch had calculated them many a time, and 
 could give a shrewd guess at the amount of his 
 master^s annual income. But what did he do 
 with this money ? How did he invest it ? Did 
 he invest it at all ? AVas it lent out at usurious 
 interest, in quarters not to be named indiscreetly? 
 Or launched in speculations that would not bear 
 the light of day ? Or gambled away at the tables 
 of some secret hell, in the purlieus of the Hay- 
 market or Leicester Square ? Or was the lawyer 
 a mere vulgar miser, after all, hoarding his good 
 gold ia the cracks and crevices of some ruinous 
 old house, the address of which he guarded as 
 jealously as if it were the key to his wealth ? 
 
 Here was the mystery of mysteries ; here was 
 the ark of William Trefalden^s secret ; here was 
 the one thing which Abel Keckwitch^s whole soul 
 was bent on discovering.
 
 310 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 Possessed by that innate curiosity which acted 
 as the leaven to his phlegmatic temperament, the 
 head clerk had for years pondered over this 
 mystery; lain in wait for it; scented round it 
 from all sides ; and, in a certain dogged way, re- 
 sented it. But since that evening of the second 
 of March, he had fixed upon it with a vindictive 
 tenacity as deadly as the coil of the boa. He 
 saw, or believed he saw, in this thing a weapon 
 wherewith to chastise the man who had dared to 
 find him out, and call him spy; and upon this 
 one object he concentrated the whole force of 
 his sluggish but powerful will. For Abel Keck- 
 witch was a hater after Byron^s own heart, and 
 loved to nurse his wrath, and brood upon it, and 
 keep it warm. He never passed that doorway 
 in Chancery Lane without rehearsing the whole 
 scene in his mind. He remembered every insult- 
 ing word that William Trefalden had hurled at 
 him in those three or four moments. He still 
 felt the iron blow — the breathless shock — the 
 bin-ning sense of rage and humiliation ; and. these 
 things rankled day by day in the respectable 
 bosom of Abel KeckAvitch, and were each day
 
 THE HOLE IN WILLIAM TREFALDEN'S AEMOUR. 311 
 
 farther and farther from being forgiven and 
 forgotten. 
 
 The secret, however, remained as dark as ever. 
 He had fancied once or twice of late that he was 
 on the verge of some discovery ; but he had each 
 time found himself misled by his suspicions, and 
 as far off as ever from the goal. 
 
 Hope deferred and wrath long cherished be- 
 gan at length to tell upon Mr. Keckwitch^s health 
 and spirits. He became morose and abstracted. 
 He gave up practising the violoncello. He lost 
 his appetite for the diurnal meats of High Hol- 
 born, and his relish for the leaders that he was 
 wont to devour with his cheese. And he forgot 
 to take notice of his cat. His landlady and his 
 fellow-clerks saw and marvelled at the change, 
 and the soul of the one-eyed waiter who re- 
 ceived Mr. Keckwitch's daily obolus, was per- 
 plexed within him; but none dared to question 
 him. They observed him from afar off, as the 
 Greeks looked upon Achilles sitting sullenly 
 beside his ships, and canvassed his mood " with 
 bated breath and whispering humbleness." 
 
 This went on for weeks ; and then, all at once,
 
 312 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 the tide turned^ and Mr. Keckwitch became him- 
 self again. An idea had occurred to him — a 
 bright idea, by the light of which he distinctly 
 saw the path to success opening out before him. 
 He only wondered that he had not thought of it 
 sooner.
 
 CHAPTER XXIY. 
 
 AT THE WATERLOO-BRIDGE STATION. 
 
 Saxox Trefaldex was in buoyant spirits that 
 afternoon as he wandered to and fro among the 
 intricate platforms of the Waterloo-Bridge sta- 
 tion, and watched the coming and going of the 
 trains. He had plenty of time ; for he was a 
 very inexperienced traveller, and, in his anxiety 
 to be punctual, had come half an hour too soon. 
 But his mind was full of pleasant thoughts, and 
 he enjoyed the life and bustle of the place with 
 as much zest as if the whole scene were a comedy 
 played for his amusement. 
 
 He was very happy. He thought, as he went 
 strolling up and down, that he had scarcely ever 
 felt so happy in his life. 
 
 In the first place, he had that day received a 
 letter from Pastor Martin — a long, loving, pious
 
 314 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 letter, filled with sweet home news, and benevo- 
 lent projects about good things to be done in 
 the valley of Domleschg. The remittance which 
 he had dispatched the very day after he drew 
 his first cheque had been distributed among the 
 poor of the neighbouring parishes : the organ 
 that he had sent out a fortnight since had 
 arrived, and the workmen were busy with it 
 daily : the farm buildings at Rotzberg were being 
 repaired, and the three meadows dow^n by the 
 river-side, that had been so long for sale, were 
 now bought in Saxon^s name, and added to the 
 little demesne. The pigeons, too, had a new 
 pigeon-house ; and the spotted cow had calved ; 
 and the thrushes that built last year in the great 
 laurel down at the end of the garden, had again 
 made their nest in the branches of the same tree. 
 These were trifles ; but to Saxon, wdio loved his 
 far-away home, his native valley, and all the 
 surroundings of his boyhood with the passionate 
 enthusiasm of a mountaineer, they were trifles 
 infinitely precious and delightful. And besides 
 all this, the letter ended with a tender blessing 
 that had rested upon his heart ever since he read
 
 AT THE WATERLOO-BRIDGE STATION. 315 
 
 it^ and seemed to Lallow all the sunshine of the 
 April day. 
 
 Then, in the second place, he had that morn- 
 ing enjoyed the supreme luxury of doing good. 
 William Trefaldeu had, it is true, affirmed that 
 the hours of Greatorex and Greatorex were 
 numbered, and that Saxon^s fifty-nine thousands 
 could only interpose a brief delay between the 
 bankers and their ruin ; but Laurence Greatorex, 
 with the crisp bank-notes in his hand, had as- 
 sured him that this sum, by renewing their credit 
 and tiding them over the present emergency, 
 was certain salvation to the firm. Taking it on 
 the whole, this matter of the cheque had been 
 sufficiently disagreeable. It had ■ shown the 
 banker's disposition from an unfav^ourable point 
 of view, and to withdraw from even a part of 
 his rash promise had been a source of humilia- 
 tion to Saxon. Perhaps, too^ the young man 
 could not help liking his friend somewhat less 
 than before; and this is at all times a painful 
 feeling. Himself one of nature's own gentle- 
 men, he shrank instinctively from all that was 
 coarse and mercenary ; and he could not shut his
 
 316 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 eyes to the fact tliat Greatorex had shown himself 
 to be both. However, it had ended pleasantly. 
 Saxon had saved his friend, and the banker had 
 not only overwhelmed him with professions of 
 gratitude, but given him a proper acknowledg- 
 ment for the money, so that William Trefalden^s 
 promissory note (which Saxon knew he should 
 never have produced, though he had lost every 
 penny by the omission) was happity not needed 
 after all. 
 
 And in the third place, he was going into the 
 country for a week or ten days. That was the 
 last and best of all ! After five weeks of feverish 
 London life — five long, dazzling, breathless, won- 
 derful weeks — he felt his heart leap at the 
 thought of the free, fresh air, and open sky. He 
 longed to be up and out again at grey dawn, 
 scenting the morning air. He longed to feel 
 the turf under his feet. Above all, he longed 
 to practise the art of horsemanship in some 
 more favourable locality than the yard of the 
 riding-school, or the crowded manege of Kotten 
 Row. To this end, he had a couple of thorough- 
 breds and a groom with him, and had just seen
 
 AT THE WATERLOO -BRIDGE STATION. 317 
 
 the animals safely disposed of in a horse-box^ 
 ready to join the train as soon as it was backed 
 into the station. 
 
 So Saxon Avas in great spirits, and went round 
 and about, looking at the book-stalls and the 
 hurrying passengers, and thinking what a charm- 
 ing thing it was to have youth, riches, friends, 
 and all the world of books and art before one ! 
 There were, in truth, a great many half-formed 
 projects floating about his brain just now — vague 
 pictures of a yachting tour in the Mediterranean ; 
 visions of Rome, and Naples, and the isles of 
 Greece ; glimpses of the Nile, and the Pyramids, 
 and even of the white domes of Jerusalem. For 
 some of these schemes Lord Castletowers was 
 answerable ; but, let the foreground be what it 
 might, the familiar snow peaks of the Kh^etian 
 Alps closed in the distance of every wondrous 
 landscape that Saxon's vivid imagination bodied 
 forth. He had no thought of wandering into 
 Italy without first re-visiting the valley of 
 Domleschg ; and still less did he ever dream of 
 making his permanent home away from that still, 
 primitive, untrodden place. But he had projects
 
 818 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 about th-at also, and meant some day to build 
 a beautiful commodious chateau (not so large, 
 but much more beautiful than the Count 
 Planta's), and to rebuild the church, and throw 
 a new bridge over the Rhine^ and erect model 
 cottages, and make every one happy around 
 him. 
 
 " Well, what is it ? ^^ said an authoritative voice. 
 ^' Anything the matter ? '^ 
 
 Saxon was looking at the red-and-gold backs 
 of a long row of Traveller's Guides on a book- 
 stand close by, and the voice broke in abruptly 
 on the pleasant reverie which their titles had 
 suggested. He turned, and saw a lady, a railway 
 guard, and a burly-looking official with a pen 
 behind his ear, standing at the door of an empty 
 second-class carriage of the up-train which had 
 discharged its freight of passengers three or four 
 minutes ago. 
 
 The guard touched his cap. 
 
 " Lady's lost her ticket, sir,^^ he replied, with a 
 knowing twinkle of the eye. 
 
 " I know I had it when the train stopped at 
 Weybridge,^^ said the lady. " I took it out from
 
 AT THE WATEELOO-BiUDGE STATION. 319 
 
 my purse, because I thouglit the guard was going 
 to ask to see it/' 
 
 Her voice trembled a little as she said this, 
 stooping forward into the carriage all the while, 
 in search of the missing ticket. 
 
 The burly official drew his hand across his 
 mouth, and coughed doubtfully. 
 
 " Where did you take it from, miss ? '^ he 
 asked. 
 
 ^•'From Sedgebrook station." 
 
 The name came familiarly to Saxon's ear, for 
 it happened that Sedgebrook was precisely the 
 point to which Lord Castletowers had directed 
 him to take his own ticket. 
 
 " Humph ! Well, Salter, I suppose youVe 
 searched the carriage thoroughly ? ^^ 
 
 " Quite thoroughly, sir," replied the guard. 
 
 The official went through the form of peering 
 into it himself, and said : — 
 
 ^' Then, miss, I'm afraid there's no help for it." 
 
 " Shall I have to pay the fare a second time ? ■'^ 
 asked the lady, nervously. 
 
 " You'll have to pay it from Exeter — the point 
 where the train started from.^'
 
 320 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 " From Exeter ? But I only came from 
 Sedgebrook ! " 
 
 " Can't help that, miss. Those are our regu- 
 lations. Any passenger, unable to produce his 
 ticket on alighting, must pay his full fare from 
 the point of departure. This train comes from 
 Exeter, and from Exeter you must pay. There 
 hangs our table of by-laws. You can see it for 
 yourself." 
 
 Her face was turned towards Saxon now, as 
 she stood by the carriage door looking from the 
 one man to the other. It was a very young face, 
 quite childlike in its appealing timidity, and as 
 pale as a lily. 
 
 " Thank you,^' she said, hurriedly, " I don't 
 w^ant to see it. I am quite satisfied with what 
 you say. How much will it be ? " 
 
 " One pound five." 
 
 The pale face became scarlet, and the childlike 
 eyes filled with sudden tears. 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " she said, tremulously, " what 
 shall I do ? I have not nearly so much money 
 as that ! " 
 
 Saxon had seen that she was poorly dressed.
 
 AT THE WATERLOO-BRIDGE STATION. 321 
 
 and he knew, as well as if he had looked into it, 
 that her slender purse could ill spare even the 
 paltry three shillings and sixpence from Sedge- 
 brook to London. His hand had been in his 
 waistcoat pocket half-a-dozen times already, and 
 was only withdrawn empty because he felt that 
 it would be a simple impertinence to interpose. 
 But now he could bear it no longer. 
 
 " May I be permitted, madam," he said, bowing 
 to the young girl as profoundly as if she were a 
 princess of the blood royal, "to arrange this 
 matter for you ? " 
 
 And he slipped her fare into the hand of the 
 guard. 
 
 The blush deepened painfully upon her cheek. 
 
 " I — I thank you, sir," she faltered. " I thank 
 you very much. Will you be good enough to 
 give me your card, that I may know where to 
 send the money ? " 
 
 Saxon felt in his pockets, looked in his purse, 
 and found that he had not the vestige of a card 
 about him. At this moment a bell rang on the 
 opposite platform, and a porter whom he had 
 entrusted with his railway rug and the task 
 
 VOL. I. T
 
 822 HALF A MILLION OF MONEY. 
 
 of securing him a seat^ came running breath- 
 lessly up. 
 
 "Train's just a going, sir/^ said he. "You've 
 not a minute to lose." 
 
 So Saxon bowed again, stammered something 
 about being " very sorry/' and vanished from the 
 scene. 
 
 Just as he had taken his seat, however, and 
 the train had begun to move, the guard appeared 
 at the window, tossed in a card, said something 
 w liich was lost in the shrill shriek of the driver's 
 wiiistle, and dropped out of sight. 
 
 Saxon picked up the card, which was rather 
 small for a lady's use, and read : — 
 
 3Iiss Riviere^ 
 
 Photographic Colourist, 
 
 6, Bruclcnell Terrace, Camhericdl. 
 
 " Poor little thing ! " he said to himself, with a 
 pitying smile, " does she suppose that I will send 
 to her for the trumpery money ! " 
 
 And then he was about to throw it out of the
 
 AT THE WATERLOO-BRIDGE STATION. 323 
 
 Miudo\T ; but checked himself, looked at it agaiu, 
 and put it in his waistcoat pocket instead. 
 
 " She was very pretty/' thought he ; " and her 
 voice was very sweet. How glad I am that I had 
 no card about me ! " 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 BEADBrRY, EVANS, ANTJ CO., PRINTERS, WHIT H FRIARS.
 
 
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