The curate, on the other hand, passed from Richard's mind as soon as he lost sight of him, and was replaced by even a more attractive object. A tall and shapely figure, with hazel eyes and a profusion of nutbrown hair: he could not meet her at the Crystal Palace, to which she had promised to persuade her mother to take her on the ensuing day, but on Wednesday at latest she would be down at Durnton. The autumn holidays were not in general the pleasantest, since they afforded neither shooting nor hunting; though on this occasion, as it happened, he had a certain invitation in prospect, which promised amusement, since it included the society of his friend Greene; but he had never looked forward to a vacation with such pleasure. What he felt to be one of the chief charms of this first love was that it was secret. Lucy alone shared with him the knowledge of its sweet existence. Nobody guessed, nobody dreamt of it, but themselves. His foster-mother, indeed, was aware that they loved one another, but

96 LESS BLACK THAN WE'RE PAINTED.

only as they had always done; and even Aunt Edie knew that he did not forget his playmate. But no one had the least suspicion of the real state of the case, or would think of putting any obstacle in the way of his happiness. He had probably notwithstanding some very serious surroundings-never entertained a really serious thought in his life, prior to that which now possessed his mind, namely, to make Lucy Lindon his lawful wife at the earliest opportunity.

CHAPTER VI.

THE MASTER OF THE TOWER.

THERE is much talk of the different degrees of fortune among mankind: the heaped-up wealth and idleness of the few are compared (and with effect indeed, for it is terrible) with the constant toil that is not even yet sufficient to keep poverty from the door of the many. But sharp as is the contrast, it is not greater than that which exists between the inward thoughts of men, often of the same condition and even lineage. Between my lady in the boudoir and the wench that she has scarcely set eyes on in her kitchen, there is, it is true, a great gulf fixed; but it is neither so great nor so impassable as that perchance which

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separates my lady's mind from that of her lord, or, it may be, from that of the child

of her bosom.

On paramount occasions—when standing in the presence of our dead, for examplethe common tie of humanity may assert itself to the very depths of us; but in. ordinary life it often happens that, even with those nearest to us, we have nothing save goodwill, and sometimes, alas! not even that, in common. It was not to be expected that Richard Talbot, fresh from school, and in the dawn of manhood, with his mind, as we have seen, fixed (although so naturally) upon a mésalliance that was in the world's view impossible, could have much within him in unison with a man of fifty, a recluse, and, as was whispered, a fanatic and a visionary, albeit he was his own father; and the gulf between them was even wider than it seemed. That it was a natural one, induced by the idiosyncrasy of each, and not a breach caused by quarrel and which could be healed by reconciliation, only made it the more insuper

able. And yet there was a bond on both sides; on the one indeed but the instinctive filial affection which without sympathy is little more than a mechanical force; on the other a strong parental love; only unfortunately there was small demonstration of this last. Dick could have remembered a time, had he taxed his volatile mind to do so, when his father welcomed him in the morning and dismissed him at night with a warm, nay, even a passionate embrace; when he would emerge from his own sombre thoughts, though not without a visible effort, to enter into his recreations, and when his childish prattle always met with an attentive ear. It seemed that this reserved and melancholy man, having so little interest in the affairs of this world, and no other object but his son to love, then lavished on him all his pent-up affections. But a time came-Dick knew not why, nor even precisely at what datewhen the current of his father's love had ceased to flow.. It was visible still, but instead of the warm glow and motion it