The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-02 00:00:00

Macmillan's Magazine.

Chapter 37 of " Ravenshoe'" furnishes some of
Lord Welter's antecedents. As we predicted some
time ago, it was he who seduced Ellen from Raven-
shoe. Lieutenant Hornby having met her at
Welter's house, where she passed as his wife,
acting as mistress of his establishment, and enter-
tained his guests, fell in love with her, which was
not, of course, checked by the marriage of Welter
with Adelaide. Being rejected in the proposal
which he deemed good enough to make to one in
her situation, he took Charles with him one
night to Welter's house, who, while lying in
the hall, has strange revelations. He sees Lord
Welter and Adelaide quarrel, and sees Hornby
make an honourable proposal to his supposed
sister Ellen. He is, however, again rejected by
her, although she admits that she loves b im, stating
as her reason that she could not disgrace him, and
leaves him. Then Charles rising explains all, and
goes into Welter's room to have an explanation and
quarrel with him, but they do not fight as Hornby
had expected. Welter expresses regret, and
Charles, with his usual good nature believing him,
forgives him. Poor Hornby receives no hope from
brother or sister, and rides moodily home. The
conversation between Charles and Welter is very
good, the quiet mournful tone of the one and the
forced calmness of the bully contrasting admirably.
Charles's opening words with the man whom a few
months before be could have killed were, " Welter,
Welter, why have you been such a villian P "
Lord Welter found that a difficult question to answer.
He let it alone, and said nothing.
"I say nothing about Adelaide. You did not use me
well there ; for, when you persuaded her to go off with y,m,
you had not heard of my ruin."
" On my soul, Charles, there was not much persuasion
wanted there."
" Very likely. Ido not want to speak about that, but
about Ellen, my sister. Was anything ever done more
shamefully than that 2"
Charles expected some furious outbreak when he said
that. None came. What was good in Lord Welter came
to the surface, when he saw his old friend and playmate
there before him, sunk so far below him in all that this
world considers worth having, but rising so far above him
in his fearless honour and manliness. He was humbled,
sorry, and ashamed. Bitter as Charles's words were, he
felt they were true, and had manhood enough left not to
resent them. To the sensation of fear, as I have said be-
fore, Lord Welter was a total stranger, or he might have
been nervous at being locked up in a ro,na alone, with a
desperate man, physically his equal, whom he had so sham-
fully wronged. He rose and leant against the chimney-
piece, looking at Charles.
" I did not know she was your sister, Charles. You must
do me that justice."

" Of course you did not. If—"
" I know what you are going to say—that I should not
have dared. On my soul, Charles, I don't know; I believe
I dare do anything. But I tell you one thing—of all the
men who walk this earth, you are the last I would willingly
wrong. When I went off with Adelaide, I knew she
not care sixpence for you. I knew she would have made
you wretched. I knew better than you, because I never
was in love with her, and you were ; wbat a heartless ambi-
tious jade it was ! She sold herself to me for the title I
gave her, as she tried to sell herself to that solemn prig,
Lord Ilionault, before. And I bought her, because 0. hand-

some, witty, clever wife is a valuable chattel to a man like
me, who has to live by his wits."

" Ellen was as handsome and as clever as she. Why
did you not marry her ?" said Charles bitterly.
" If you will have the real truth, Ellen would have been
Lady Welter now, but----"
Lord Welter hesitated. He was a great rascal, and he
had a brazen front, but he found a difficulty in going on.
It must be, I should fancy, very hard work to tell all the
little ins and outs of a piece of villany one has been engaged
in, and to tell, as Lord Welter did on this occasion, the
exact truth.

" I Am waiting," said Charles, " to hear you tell me why
she was not made Lady Welter."

" What, you will have it then ? Well, she was too
scrupulous. She was too honourable a woman for this line
of business. She wouldn't play, or learn to play--d--n it,
sir, you have got the whole truth now, if that will content
you.,,
" I believe what you say, my lord. Do you know that
Lieutenant Hornby made her an offer of marriage to-night?"
" I supposed he would," said Lord Welter.
"And that she has refused him ?"
"I guessed that she would. She is your own sister.
Shall you try to persuade her ?"
" I would see her in her coffin first."
" So I suppose."
" She must come away from here, Lord Welter. I must
keep her and do what I can for her. We must pull
through it together somehow."
" She had better go from here. She is too good for this
hole. I must make provision for her to live with you."
" Not one halfpenny, my lord. Sho has lived too long
in dependence and disgrace already. W e will pull through
together alone."
William comes out in the new character of a gen-
tleman, in which he acquits himself successfnlly
much to the satisfaction of Lord Saltire, who takes
a great interest in him, chiefly on account of his
past connection with Charles. In fact, William felt
that notwithstanding the grand reception he met
with at Lady Hanault's, it was after all a reflection
of their love for Charles, and he rejoiced at it.
With the exception of a chapter by Herbert F. Hore,
on'the salmon, in which the preservation of that fish
and its peculiarities are minutely described. Lord
Derby once remarked that he never remembered
a session of Parliament without three bills about
salmon ; and a thrilling narrative of a shipwreak at
the Brissons, on the coast of Cornwall by Cecil
Horne, there is nothing of interest this month.
There are three biographies of Hugh Macdonald—
Alexis Toqueville, and the late Herbert Coleridge.
A sketch of a re-visit to Paris, and a chapter on
State Education ; its past and future. Some pleas-
ing verses, entitled " Day by Day," by Miss
Muloch, and last, not least (in length), "The Vic-
tories of Love," by Coventry Patmore ; and certainly
if quantity can compensate for want of quality, this
poem, of which this month's contribution of fourteen
pages form only the second part, and which is to be
continued, it stands a chance of going down to pos-
terity aided by the trunkmaker.

Zhu Cornhill Magazine.

The " Adventures of Philip on his way through
the World" is continued, and although Phillip's
cracked boots are introduced on every posible occa-
sion, his bold and independent character is brought
out in contradistinction to the cringing of his
cousin young Twisden. There are some clever
sketches of official character at the Ambassador's
office in Paris. Likewise, the hyaena mother of
poor little Charlotte (Phillip'sfiuncee) is come out a
well defined type of her race. "A Week's imprison-
ment in Sark" is a long description of that small
dependency of Great Britain, in which all the
attractions of the place are noted, and, seeing that
the writer had wet weather all the time he was
there, and was imprisoned in his hotel the greater
part of the time, not being able to leave,
no boat being able to put to sea, the
island must have great attractions, for a man so
situated to be able to find a good word for it at all.