The midland journal., 1910-01-28
CHAPTER WI.

important every day.
CHAPTER vi.
Lady Car did many things after this
period which she had previously dis.
liked to do; but there was one thing
which she did not for long time
consent to, and that was to open the
house in the North which was called
the Towers, which Tom had ben
used to speak of as my rlace," and
which Beaufort thought it foolish OF
her not to inhabit. He did not know
the ghosts that dwelt there. He did
not consider that it was the house
of her first husband, the house she
was taken to as most wretched bride
after the marriage into which she
had been forced, and that the dread
full time of that bridehood, and the
years she had lived with Torrance,
and the moment of awful agony when
she had heard of his death, all lin
gered there waiting for her. Mr..
Beaufort only thought it was foolish,
when she had a handsome house in
Scotland at her command, that the
family did not go there in the au-
tumn, when it was natural that fam
lilies should go. But he was not
man to bore her by any repetition of
this counsel. He had been little
surprised, and even it must be al
lowed little disconnected, to find
himself SO much more at his own dis
poSal than of old, and now that Carry
was not always at his side his habits,
too, changed imperceptibly. His
beautiful library was still his chief
haunt, but he read the papers there
and all kinds of profane things. And
he went great deal to Cordelton,
where the county club was, and spent
a part almost of every day there. It
was not that he had any great liking
for the gentlemen who found it such
a resource. He kept the position
among them of man who was not
many ways, a writer (though he never
wrote anything), philosopher. No
doubt he was entitled to that last
character. He was very civil to them
all, but regarded them from an alti-
,tude, making notes of what he called
the "humors," and making them the
subject of many satirical descriptions
when he went home. Sometimes he
went up to London for the day, at
first to consult books, but latterly
without alleging any such reason,
and went to many places where were
no books to consult. But it was very
rarely that he did not return home
in the evening. He had no desire
for designations of any kind. He was
far too much philosopher, not to
say a gentleman. Tom, perhaps, de-
scribed 1t best in his schoolboy Ian.
guage when he said that Beau liked
to loaf. So he cd He had no twist
dn his character. Had Lady Car fol-
lowed him in all his excursions she
would have found nothing to object
to, and indeed he would have enjoyed
them much more If she had But ho
had, as matter of fact. no mission
such as she had credited him with:
he had no gospel to preach. nothing
at all to say. II there had been any
thing more than youthful excitement
and ambition in his plans it had all
evaporated in his listless life. He
might have pushed on-many young
men do-and insisted upon marrying
his love, and saved her from Tom
Torrance and the dreadful episode OF
her first marriage. He might have
realized at least some OF his early
promises and anticipations. He
might at least have reused himself
from his sloth, and written that book
upon which her heart was SO set. But,
indeed, that last was doubtful. for he
might only have proved that he could
not write book, which would have
been harder on Lady Car than to
think he would not. The end OF all
things was, however, that he was i'm
mensely relieved, and yet vaguely in
sensible, by the change that had now
come over his life. There was
change. The secret and constant, if
sometimes a little exacting, compan-
ionship Of those early years was one
which gave him vague ache as of
desertion. especially at first. And
Carry was changed. Her questions,
her arguments. her constant persua-
sions and inducements to go on with
that book depressing always a
Doundless trust in his powers which
at panied him to part With. were all
over. On the other hand, he had re-
gained his liberty, was now free to do
as he pleased-an indescribable
boon What he planned to do was
always quite gentlemanlike, CONNIE il
faut There was no reason why he
should be restrained in doing it. He
liked to read, and also to'think, with
out It being supposed to be necessary
that anything should come of his
reading and thinking. He liked to