Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1860-02-17
(OLDSTRFAM.

are two peers, three members Of the lower
house, some GuardSnen, some undergraduates,
a clergyman. and a lieutenant in the navy
But our hero Is not representative man; yet
be belongs II a class which, called into exist
ence by the accumulated wealth of the nine
teenth century. is ever on the increase.
Frederick Tyrawley resembles Sir Charles
Cnldstream. inasmuch as he has been every
where and done everything; but he is by no
means used M, and can still take an interest
N whatever his hand finds to do. Nor is his
everything everybody else's everything. Tits
not bounded by Jerusalem and the Pyramids.
Mr. Iyrawley has fought in more than one
state of South America. and has wandered for
more than two years from isle TO isle of the
Pacific. A mysterious reputation hOyers round
hun. He is supposed to have done many
things, but no One.is very clear what they are;
md II is not likely that much Information on
the point will be obtained from him, for he
-eldOm talks much. and never speaks of him
self His present mission appears to be to kill
partridges, play cricket, and dress himself.
%ot that 1t must be supposed that be has ever
been III the habit Of wearing less clothing than
he custom of the country in which he may
have been located required but only that at
the present time he devoted much attention to
buff waIstcOats and gau1e neck braided
coat. and curled mustaches.
-I.h as he is, however, he Is an object of in
teresl 70 the feminine portion Of the party at
EaypIstOke Hall; for ne is rich and handsome,
as we'll as mysterious, and he cannot be more
than tWo-a and thirty. And the ladies at Ravel
stoke outnumber the men; for although it is
.iIl rare for the fair to participate actively
~ the saturnalia of the partridge god, they
giIl always be found lowering In considerable
numbers on the outskirts of the feast; and the
varieties IF the British lady are fairly repre-
santed
There are some mammas with daughters to
marry and there are some daughters with
mamma 10 prevent marry again, which Is, per-
haps. the most difficult thing Of the two. as she
has an income in her own right. There are
blondes and brunetteS, and pretty, brown
haired, brown-eyed girls who hover between
the two ORDERS and combine the most danger
ous characteristics of both, who can wear both
pink and blue, and who look pret;ier in the
color than they do in the other; but who
always command your suffrage In favor of
that which they are wearing when you look at
them.
And there is Constance Baynton with grey
eyes and black hair. And the incest critic of
feminine appearance might be deied to state
what she had worn, half an hour after he left
her; for no one can ever look ut anything ex-
cept her face.
Yet Constance is thrse-and- d-twenty, and still
unmarried. Alas, what towards men are. The
fact Is that Constance is very clever; but as
Mrs. Mellish (the widow says, mot clever
enough to hide it -
is she vexej at her present condition! Ger
tainiy she does not exhibit any tendency TO
carry out Mrs. MelliSh'S suggestion, if it has
ever been repeated to her. The young men
are more afraid of her than ever; and certain
ly she does say very sharp things, sometimes.
Especially she Ia severe upon idlers, the but
terHies of fashionable existence. She appears
10 consider that she has Il special mission to
arouse them; hut they do not appear to like
q mo- lppen rod Iol. H.
q great fayorite, for she is very affectionate;
aud though 80 beautiful and distinguished, she
has proved herself to be not 50 dangerous
IiVal as might have been expected Indeed
1t has happened, more than once, that male
admiration, rebOunding from the hard surface
OF her manner, has found more yielding metal
In the bOSnms of her particular friends. Be
sides, she is always ready to lead the van in
the general attack'upOn the male sex, when
the ladies retire to the drawing room.
Not that she ever says anything behind their
backs she would not be ready to repeat to their
faces; but in that course probably she would
not meot with such general support
In Mr.. Tyrawley She affected to disbeieve
She stated as her opinion to her intimate
friends, that she did not believe he ever had
done, or ever would do, anything worth doing;
but that he piumed himself on a cheap reputa.
ton, which, as all wore ignorant Of its founda-
ton, no one could possibly impugn.
stince Miss Constance was not as conscientious
as usual; but that che really entertained a
higher opinion of the gentleman than she
chose TO confess. He certainly was not afraid
OF her, and hal even dared to contradict her
ffvorite theory Of the general worthlessness of
English gentlemen of the nineteenth century
Ii was one wet morning when she had been
reading Scott TO three or four of her particular
friend>-and it must be confessed that she
read remarkably well-that she began to la
Tient the decline of chiyalry. Tyrawley was
sitting half in and half out of range. Perhaps
she talked little at him. At any rate he
chose to accept the challenge.
cannot agree with You. Miss Baynton,
he said. 1t Is true We no longer wear ladies
gloves IN our helmets, nor do e compel hsrm-
less individuals, who possibly may have sweet-
hearts OF their own, to admit the superiority
"t our lady love at the point of the lance but
of all that was good in chivalry, of courage
truth, honor, enterprise, self-Sacrihce you will
nhu as much In the nineteenth century as in
the twelfth -
lie frightened up as he spoke. and it was
quite evident that he believed what he said. a
circumstance which always gives an advantage
10 q disputant
More than one pair Of bright eyes smiled
approval, and Miss Constance saw probabil-
lty Of detection from her ranks She changed
her tactics.
your contemporaries, Mr. Tyrawley If / re-
member right. modesty has always been con-
sldered qualification of true knight
- L am not ashamed to speak the truth" he
replied your theory would have been more
tenable before the days of the Crimean war
and the Indian mutiny; but the men who lit
their cigars in the trenches of the Redan, and
who carried the gate of Delhi, may bear com
parison with Bsyard, or Ceur de Lion
oh do not allude to cur soldiers" said
sac; of course, know they are brave; but
here she hesitated u moment till possibly
p;qued because her usual success had not a.
tended her in her passage of arms she conclu-
dcd-''but to our idle gentlemen, who seem to
have no heart for anything"
Tyrawiey smiled. Possibly you may Judge
70 much by the outside" he SAID am il
cilned to fancy that some Of those whom YOU
are Plessed TO call idle gentlemen would be
found to have heart enough for anything that
honor or duty, or even chivalry, could find for
them 10 do "
hope you are right, said Miss Constance
With ghtly-perceptible curl of her upper lip,
which implied that she did not think so
1yrawley bowed, and the conversation ter
minated soon afterwards. When he had left
the room, the conversation of the young ladies