Broken Ideals. A novel

Front matter

BROKEN IDEALS: a i&obcl. IN THREE VOLUMES. BY J. BOWLES DALY, LL.D. I'm kissing thee, nor weary grow, And shall I weary? No. Now, darling maiden, answer me. What bliss a kiss doth give to thee Thou lovest it as well as I, Say wherein does its pleasure lie? I ask now—asked thee lately— this. And got for answer kiss on kiss. VOL. I. l>n_cm : REMINGTON AND CO., New Bond Street, W, 1884. [AU Rights Reserved.] In jj&emottam. To her whose tender love and devoted affection cannot be replaced and shall never be forgotten, I dedicate this, a first poor flower on a new made grave. CONTENTS. CHAP. pAGE I. Love at First Sight ... ... ... 1 U. Can we Trust Him? 24 III. A Student-at-Law ... ... ... 43 IV. A Second Lover ... ... ... 51 V. Diplomacy ... ... ... ... 69 VI. A Luncheon at Park House ... 80 VII.

A Picture Gallery in Bond Street... 94 VIII. Reflections ... ... ... ... Ill IX. An Old Man's History 119 X. I Love You! 140 XI. Seeing Papa 15« XII. An "At Home" in the East ... 173 XIII. The Widow's Scheme 194 XIV. A New Acquaintance 208 XV. Clara Hartman 220 XVI. A False Friend 239 XVII. A Stormy Interview ... ... ...

Chapter I. Love At First Sight

It was about five o'clock in the afternoon of one of those short dreary winter days which seem to come forward slowly and reluctantly and then melt into night with imperceptible rapidity. The newspapers informed the public that the sun had only put in six hours' appearance that week ; the idlers about town discussed this fact with a querulous grumble, as an abstract scandal incapable of beiag brought home to any responsible individual. In absence of the above functionary, King Gas ruled in his stead. Three young men, after partaking of au informal meal which combined breakfast and luncheon, descended to the smoking-room of the Halcyon Club, and there proceeded to ensconce themselves in luxurious chairs, VOL. I. B. drawn close together for the purpose of con fidential discourse. Fred Ormsby, the host, touched a bell which occupied the centre of a marble-slab table in company with a china match-stand, and whispered some instruction to the obse quious waiter in livery, who responded ; his two companions lit their cigars and smoked in silence.

" Where have you spent the summer, Dalton ?" inquired Ormsby in a hearty voice, which seemed to expel the gloom of the half lighted, spacious apartment, while he imi tated the example ofhis companions. The person addressed was short in stature, broad shouldered, clear complexioned ; if he had said his prayers and gone to bed at eight o'clock every night of the year he could not have looked fresher or more comely, and yet it oftener happened to him to sit up all night with some choice companions who reverse the habit of the birds by singing at night and sleeping by day. He had droll grey eyes, which had an habitual sleepy expression under their half-closed lids ; when up to any fun he had a habit of rubbing one hand cheerfully within the palm of the other, and a spirit of mischief sprang into those grey depths, which stirred your blood, and brought back the magic of boyhood's enthusiasm like a flash.

His voice was low and soft as a woman's, and on ordinary occasions he had a perfect gravity and composure which would have done honour to a colonial bishop; this serenity of manner effectually concealed the mad, reckless, ex travagant devil which occasionally betrayed itself when looking out of those grey depths beneath the light curtains of the half-white eyelashes. " I went down to Dampshire," he replied, slowly removing the cigar from his lips and contemplating it curiously and half sadly. " There, don't you see he is constructing a tale already ? " commented the third gentle man in a hard, stiff voice from the embrasure of a deep easy-chair. Looked at from this point of view his figure might be anything, but when standing he showed himself to be slight and rickety, hard in feature, negative in colour.

His outward appearance was not in his favour. He was tall, narrow about the back ; his shoulder-blades stuck out awry ; his feet were large and flat ; his legs might have been turned in a lathe, by an amateur ; his hands were red and marked by swollen veins, and had hard, stiff fingers tipped with nails of a pale-blue colour; his face was covered with wrinkles, the work of indiges tion, not years ; his cheeks were hollow and he had a high mouth with pursed-up lips ; his teeth were irregular and discoloured from tobacco, and when he laughed his appearance was not pleasant. He was a young man and your first impression of him was, that neither the world nor its diet acted on him as it did on other people. When he spoke his words implied strength of grasp and clearness of perception. " You're quite wrong, Dick, I wasn't con structing anything, for I have no adventure to recount.

The country was beautiful, as far as scenery went, but a little of the country goes a long way ; I assure you when I found myself back in Paddington, I could fain have embraced the policeman, and kissed the old apple woman, who had the same five apples on her stall which I saw there three months ago, bless her old heart." " The fact is," said Fred, " life loses some thing spent out of London ; it is the fashion to abuse it, to point to its mud, its fogs and its dingy buildings ; for my part I can't help seeing what can be easily remedied, but why should any of the four millions who strain heaven and earth to come into it, be the first to abuse it, because a Cook's excursion ticket shows them Paris in her holiday smiles or any of the other continental cities, which are not without faults, besides those of which the nose takes cognizance.

Why don't people stand up for their own city ? I love London and I am not ashamed to say so ; its honest smoke is welcome, and if only the squares were thrown open, with bands to play there, for rich and poor, it could easily be made the finest city in the world, as it is at present the wealthiest and the most intellectual.'' " You should go a little further," said Elston, " and apply the co-operative principle to open-air amusements. Every man after the business of the day should have some re creation that he could get at a moment's notice, without obliging him to walk from one end of town to the other in order to procure it." " You are quite right, Dick," said Dalton, lolling back in his chair. " The rich have their hunting in Leicestershire, their Scotch moors, their salmon rivers in Ireland and Norway, and the poor have the music hall, the gin palace and the penny gaff."

" Recreation is an untouched subject ; the legislator who would take up that question and successfully dispose of it, would win not only the thanks but the blessings of the nation," repeated Elston, not heeding the above rejoinder. " Did you bring home many sketches ? " in quired Elston turning with languid interest to the artist. " Yes, several." " Rustic cottages, mill streams, cows cross ing a stream and lashing the flies with their tails — anything of that sort, eh ? " Dalton gave a laugh, he always accepted Elston's comments with good humour, deducting the sarcasm. "When you come up to my rooms you will see. Fred, I think if you were in my place, you would certainly have lost your heart." " Hum ! I knew it was coming," said Elston laying down his cigar. " How is that ? " inquired Ormsby looking up.

" She was a stunner and no mistake." " Pray to whom does the pronoun refer ? " Elston asked, with revived interest. " Lady Helena D' Kyncourt, the daughter of an old Earl that lived there," and here the artist launched into a discourse on beauty which included the house, grounds, and above all the fair occupant of the stately mansion. Jack Dalton had a rare gift of narrative, which made his company invariably iuterest ing when describing persons or places, he made you see them with his eyes, and when he had done, both his hearers had before them the old elm avenue with its gently sway ing green arms ; the antique building with its ivy-clad towers and quaint old-fashioned nooks and corners ; the hoarse stream flow ing softly through the long grass, under its many wooden bridges, or as he called them triumphal arches; while the fairest picture of all was the young mistress of the place seated on a bank, examining the delio-hted artist's sketch-book, with large wondering eyes full of dreams.

Jack de scribed her thick black ringlets, which the good-natured wind blew over his fingers and into his face, as he knelt beside her to turn over the leaves ; the pink cheeks that bent down near his ; the frank straight look of admiration which made his heart beat and his brain dizzy, not omitting the briar scratch on the small round wrist, and the spotless white robe which clothed this divinity. The young men became so interested, that they forgot the presence of old Busby, snor ing in an arm-chair before them, seated comfortably on the Times, which some dis consolate member was looking for. An hour afterwards Ormsby was walking in Holborn, with his thoughts far from the scene which surrounded him, wandering through the green woods of D'Eyncourt aud dwelling on the picture of beauty which the artist put before him ; so complex is man's nature, liable to be moved by fancies and carried about by the casual words of a chance conversation.

The bright blaze of a thousand shop windows with their varied treasures ; the bustle of the foot passengers hurrying to and fro ; the jaunty driver swinging on his perch behind the Hansom cab, exchanging friendly greeting with the red-faced coach men, all passed before him unheeded though not unnoticed, only imagination reversed the position of outward objects ; the impalpable had become the real " for dreams are true while they last," and the substantial was relegated to the world of shadows. Fred walked through the crowd with that luxury of inward composure which only the true lover of towns can understand. While indulging in this reverie, a bright face with a Titian shade of hair falling low on the forehead and again seen below the back of the bonnet, swam before his eyes. It was a face utterly unlike any he had ever seen or imagined, beautiful in its imploring expression, childlike and yet wickedly, humanly mirthful.

For a moment he stood transfixed ; then instinct brought fresh vigour to his steps, new activity to his frame; his whole nature was roused to press forward lest he mio-ht lose this vision of loveliness, which floated by him in the human stream, as a bright meteor shoots down the darkened sky. Somebody pressed him behind, he turned with an angry ejaculation in his look which had not time to ripen into words, then hastily glancing before him he found she had disappeared. He made a few hasty strides forward looking into every face as he passed ; she was gone ! Next he retraced his steps thinking she might have stepped iuto a shop. He thought the policeman who stood near examined him narrowly, as he observed him casting furtive glances all round. This cir cumstance added to his irritation, besides not a glimpse could he see of the face which flashed upon him.

Where could she have gone ? it was only for an instant that he had let her out of his sight, yet every trace of her presence seemed as lost, as if she never had been in existence. The thought crossed his mind that it might have been a fancy after all, a face so enchanting; could have no bodily existence; he remem bered the many times he had walked those streets and never did its many occupants afford him such a vision. Once more he walked on till he reached Kino's plate-glass window, but he did not stop to examine the gentlemen's apparel which lay temptingly inside. He turned away in disgust and en countered the inexorable face of the police man regarding him with watchful eyes, brushing past he took one turn more. Just then an omnibus stopped before the kerb, the conductor with outstretched hand was announcing his route — "Marble Arch, Bayswater, Notting Hill," and lo ! there beside him stood the lady with the wondrous face.

The conductor gallantly assisted her in ; how Fred envied him that office. Now the omnibus was moving, it was but the work of a moment, lifting his hand he signalled to stop, " Room for one inside, sir." " Yes." " All right." And he was seated before her, wedged in between four women who had spread them selves out to monopolise the space. For a minute or two he did not look at his fair companion ; it occurred to him that after all, his imagination might have deceived him, that a closer inspection might dispel the illusion. He had a guilty sense that he was taking an unfair advantage of one so unprotected, a thousand vague fears passed through his mind before he could find the courage to look up, and when he did, the identical features met his glance ; her eyes were turned away, or else a tell-tale blush would have betrayed his secret ; as it was a sigh of thankfulness escaped his lips, which the jolting of the vehicle rendered inaudible.

If a man cannot describe the features of a young girl seated within five inches of his knees, in the heart of an omnibus, it is not for want of an opportunity ; but there are objections — grave objections — which the esteemed reader may have felt, when the blandishments and attractions of his own Emily or Jane sent him home to a sleepless pillow, and his male friend next day asked him to say what she was like. He also who follows the description of this man's emotions may form a tolerable conjec ture as to his character if I state that he was tall and shapely in person ; that his well fitting black coat was fastened over his breast with four buttons, the fifth, according to the fashion of the week, remaining un fastened ; a watch chain with the usual trinkets dangled in front, a horseshoe pin was inserted in his scarf, and, to complete his costume, he wore gaiters under his grey trousers.

Having said so much, it is doubtful whether I have put him and the reader on any better terms. Perhaps if a little more patience is vouchsafed I may remedy this defect. In the meantime the lady has made signs to the conductor who has drawn up while she alights. For a moment Fred is uncertain what to do next ; kind Fortune gives him a lift, for here the voice of the conductor broke on his ear, causing various heads, besides his, to stoop forward towards the window. " My eye, here's a go." " What is it ? " cried several voices at the same time. " No, miss, you ain't going to do me in that way," continued the conductor too intent on his business to give a reply. In a moment Fred was on the pavement ; the insolent tone of the man roused his anger before even he had ascertained the cause ; his first impulse was to bundle the fellow into a mud-heap which lay temptingly at hand, but fearing that this might attract a crowd, he contented himself by saying in as calm a voice as he could command — " What are you saying to this young lady ?

" The man turned round ; something in Fred's voice taught him to alter his tone. " She says she has lost her purse and hain't got any money to pay her fare.'' " Will you take mine and satisfy this good fellow's demand?" said the young man, gallantly lifting his hat as he produced his purse. The anxious troubled expression on her face gave way to a lcok of relief at this speedy solution of her difficulty. " Thanky, miss, in course if you'd said the gent inside would pay, nothink would have been said," and muttering under his teeth, " the little stooped," the conductor swung on his perch and the omnibus rolled on. All this time the young girl stood holding Fred's purse in her hand, surveying her com panion and looking spell-bound. " I am glad I have been of some service to you," began Ormsby, opening a conversation and feeling that he was the sole object of her scrutiny as there happened to be no passers by.

He expected a display of modesty and profuse obligations, but what was his surprise when his ears were greeted with the maddest, merriest, frolicsome laugh that he ever heard. " Oh ! this is too good," exclaimed the girl. " What will Mrs. Nugent say ? Taken for an impostor — attempting to rob the General Omnibus Company. Oh, oh, oh, oh ? " and another peal of silvery laughter followed in which the young man could not help join ing. At this juncture the approach of some one had the effect of checking her merri ment, and she stopped to look up in her rescuer's face with a pleasant confidence which indicated anything but timidity. 77 Really you must excuse me," she ex plained. " A situation like this occurs only once in a lifetime, it would be a pity to mar its effect." Fred assented, feeling that the embarrass ment of the situation lay all on his side, and not a little provoked with himself for his want of nerve.

" I'm only going into the Square," and she pointed with her parasol to the place, " it is a few minutes' walk ; if you care to go so far I may be able to thank you," and her eyes danced with laughter. No proposition could have been more agreeable, and his assent was immediately given. " But perhaps I'm taking you out of your way," she said, stopping suddenly, and look ing at him with provoking gravity. " Why, of course I am, you came out to help me, and there, I declare, your omnibus has gone; really it is too bad." But the memory of the adventure brought the laughter to her eyes notwithstanding her solicitude. " No, no, I assure you I wasn't going any further," said Fred, wishing to quiet her fears, and speaking at random. " If you ran I think you might catch it," she went on not heeding what he said.

"I wasn't going any further," he again repeated, his vanity piqued by her indif ference. " Why, you did not surely expect this adventure ? Where were you going ? " " I was going — that is, I was about to go," and here the young man stammered and looked confused. 77 Oh, it doesn't matter, I should not have asked," she said, turning away her face this time with perfect gravity. If Fred could have boxed his own ears he would have done so ; as it was, he had to bear the mortification of looking like a bashful rustic in the presence of a mere girl, whose perfect indifference towards himself was most transparent. " How am I to repay this debt?" she said, breaking the silence. " Your society so far, and the opportunity of witnessing the hearty pleasure the adven ture has given you, is ample compensation," said Fred, recovering himself.

" That's all very well ; but how am I to return the money ? " she said practically, but with a smile which showed that the words were not altogether disagreeable. VOL. I. o "If it must be so, drop it in the next charity box." " How are you to know that I did it ? " " I'll take your word for it." " No, that would never do." " Well, suggest some plan yourself ? " " Couldn't I send it to you ? " " Yes, if you like. Here is my card." By this time the girl remembered that she was walking with a perfect stranger, carrying on an easy and frank conversation. Perhaps if he had been ill-favoured and out at elbows instead of being well dressed and presentable, it might have made a difference ; but no matter. " Really I am very much obliged." " If I am not impertinent, may I ask to whom have I had the happiness of rendering this trifling service ?

" The girl paused for a moment, giving him one or two shy glances from the corners of her eyes. How Fred's heart beat during that interval. " Are you anxious to know ? " she asked twirling his card in her fingers. Fred noticed that she did not yet look at it, and small a,s was this act of neglect it gave him a pang. " Very," he replied sincerely. " Really ; you never saw me before ? " " Never." " You want to know my name ? " " Above all things." " How long will you remember it if I tell you ? " " All my life," was the solemn reply, " Oh ! well, that will do," she said with a laugh, which made Fred feel awkward. Nobody says the right word at the right time, so this young man was not exceptionally ridiculous, only at the time he was not com forted with this knowledge. There was all the joyous merriment of a bird in her laugh which he remembered for many a day after in connection with the small dazzling teeth and smooth rounded cheeks which were turned towards him.

" My name is Lena Cavendish, and here is the house I am going to, so I'll not take you any further," and she held out to him one small gloved hand, which he pressed for a moment in his, sorry that the parting came so soon. " All your life, remember," she said, giving him another laughing glance as she ran up the steps. He waited for a moment till she disap peared. Then he mentally went over every item of the incident. The luxury of recollec tion in its freshness is almost greater than the reality with abrupt blanks, and infelicitous actions. Fred stood for a moment loath to depart, then with one more look at the windows, he walked slowly out of the square, crossed the road and turned his steps homeward through the park. Working men with their blackened tea-cans in their hands, and straw tool-bags slung over their shoulders, hurried home from their day's work.

They met him with that look of toil on their faces which is a mute reminder of the unevenness of life. On the bridge of the Serpentine he stood and whispered the word " Lena." Millions of stars were shining above ; lamps were gleaming through the distant trees ; a fringe of mingled light and shade surrounded him, and the distant murmur of the streets flowed in on his mind telling him that the world was alive, and, the brisk well-appointed hum of a brougham, with its occupants in even ing dress, hurrying off to dinner, told him that it was enjoying itself. It was with a light step and still lighter heart that he trod the well-known pavements of Piccadilly. That patrician thoroughfare never looked fairer, never brimmed with more joyous sounds than it did this evening, all because of that lucky omnibus incident.

Were it not for that Lena would, in all pro bability, have been lost to him. She would be only a face without a name ; a memory with out any identity ; a dream, passing fair, yet only a dream. Her face shone before him like a sun-bathed cloud ; he saw it in the air, in the stars ; he was alternately happy and sad. In the Strand he encountered Dalton, who was slowly sauntering along with his hands in his pockets, and his round deep-brimmed hat so far back on his head that it seemed to rest on his shoulders. < • . " You seem in capital spirits, Fred," he said, opening his sleepy eyes, when both were seated in Fred's snug chambers. " Yes, I never was happier," and Fred's beaming face confirmed his words, though he did not confide in his friend. " A piece of good fortune — only at present I must not mention it."

" Oh, I'm not curious, if you are happy that's enough." " Have you tasted that port I got lately ? " asked Fred, rising and producing from a cupboard a decanter and some wine glasses. Jack smiled approval of this movement ; the wine he pronounced excellent. Perhaps a candid admission at the outset will save further explanation. Wine was his weakness. He had invented a certain brew known as Dalton's mixture, wherein absinthe, curacoa and brandy formed equal parts. Still he was never known to carry this passion to excess. " They say great joy never lasts. Now, Jack, if what makes me happy turns out a failure I shall never again know the meaning* of happiness." " That, to be sure, is a strong way of putting it ; for my part, I see men outlive everything, love, fame, fortune and still hold on to the ropes."

He held down his head, and when he looked up it was at the red liquor which he held to his lips. " Perhaps there is something in this which makes every good fellow love it, anyhow, here is to your success," and he drained the glass as he spoke. Fred went to dress for dinner ; he was to dine in the Hall this evening. He had no appetite ; for a young man who has fallen hopelessly, idiotically in love cannot be sup posed to trouble himself about the meaner adjuncts of life ; so dazzled was he with the vision of Lena, that the regulation claret tasted as nectar, and he ate glorified food not to be found in the bill of fare.

Chapter II. Can We Trust

HIM? Clifford's Inn is an old ramshackle set of buildings lying behind St. Dunstan's Church, where the decorative hand of the builder never finds its way. The rough wooden balusters have become blacker, and the wainscot along the walls is more worm-eaten ; this is the only change that has taken place within the last fifty years. Each set of chambers has the name of its owner painted on the doors, and lest there should be any mistake the lintel of the lower doorway has the same words in parallel columns indicating the floor. One of these bore the name of F. Ormsby. It was about eleven o'clock in the day when a double knock at the outward door made Fred start. A pleasant surprise was in store for him. "Is Mr. Ormsby at home?" inquired a hale old gentleman, examining him narrowly. It was a good honest face with a voice to match.

" That is my name," said Fred. " " Won't you come in." " Mine is Miles Cavendish," rejoined the visitor, accepting the invitation. Fred knew it already through that subtle magnetism which the Princes of Science have not yet explained. " I am very pleased," answered the young man, muttering the remainder of the sentence usual on those occasions. " You remind me of some one I knew thirty years ago, Mr. Ormsby. He was just like you, but somewhat fuller about the shoulders," said the visitor while he removed his second glove. Fred remained respectfully silent. The father of Lena had acquired a certain awe in his estimation. " I am speaking of your father, Mr. Ormsby. He was my dear friend — my bene factor — and to-day I am come to make his son's acquaintance." The young man involuntarily held out his hand, which was taken with a firm grasp.

It was the ratification of a friendship. " I never saw my father," said Fred, sadly. " Ah, my poor boy, I'm sorry for you ; for his equal you could not find," and Miles looked grieved for having touched a painful chord. " Well, well," he continued, " I did not come to remind you of your loss, but to tell you that you had found a friend. When my little girl showed me your card last night I can't tell you the surprise it gave me, so I have come to-day to thank you for the service you have rendered, and to know whether you can dine with us at six this evening. I have a great deal to tell you, and, mind, my house will be always open to you." A ready assent was given. After Fred had seen his visitor depart he flung himself into a chair and indulged in one of those long pleasurable reveries which are among the un numbered blessings of this life.

Here it may not be out of place to state a few particulars concerning his family. His mother had died in giving him birth ; his father only survived her by a few months, indeed his health had been failing for some time previously, and it only wanted this sharp shock to break the slight thread which bound ? 27 him to life. A long period of commercial prosperity was followed by a succession of failures which coming one after another, completed his ruin. But as this story is not the chronicle of the ups and downs of com mercial life, I do not intend to tax the reader's patience by thrusting on him the details ; enough to say that the rapacity of one of the partners of the firm, goaded on by an ex travagant wife, caused its downfall. One morning the papers announced that the house of Ormsby, Eldred and Co. was unable to meet its liabilities.