The Two Dunmores: a sporting love story of to-day

Front matter

N J h i- • A Sporting Love Story of To-Day BY BLAKE LAMOND REMINGTON & COMPANY, LIMITED LONDON : 15, KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN AND SYDNEY I895 All Rights Reserved CONTENTS. Chap. Page i. Men and Women. - ' i ii. Retrospective — The Fight - - 14 in. Retrospective (continued) Major Dunmore's Death - - - 26 iv. Retrospective (continued) Ivan's Married Life. 34 v. In Search of a Hunter. - 45 vi. Guests at The Beeches. - - 52 vn. Speculation, Marriage and " Free Trade." - 59 vhi. A Burst of Twenty Five Minutes- 70 ix. " Cruelty to Animals." - - 82 x. Domestic. - - - - - 91 xi. A Hard Frost. - 96 xii. Obstetric. - - - - - 102 xiii. The Steeplechase. - - - 1 1 1 xiv. Village Curiosities. - - - 120 xv. Gallic Amenities. - - contents. xvi. The Duel. - - - - - 137 xvii. The " New Woman." - - 148 xviii.

In Scotland. - - - 154 xix. Match-Making. - - - 164 xx. Found ! - - - - -171 xxi. Magnetism. - - - - 177 xxii. Courtship. - - - - - 189 xxm. A Black Conspiracy. - - 198 xxiv. " Murder !"---- 205 xxv. Deserted. - - - - 211 xxvi. At the Antipodes. - - - 221 xxvii. At the Opera. - 227 xxvm. Kisses. ----- 237 xxix. Conclusion. -

Chapter I. Men And Women

" I certainly think the word ' obey ' ought to be banished from the marriage service," said Miss Robinson, a maiden of some thirty winters, who aspired to be considered one of the "new women," taking her seat at the dinner-table, and unfolding her serviette She was addressing her neighbour, Percy Grafton — commonly called "Toby" — of the Civil Service, in continuation of a discussion which had been commenced between them in the draw ing-room. " I quite agwee with you," he drawled, in reply, " same time 'twould be a vewy good idea to take out what man says about 'worldly goods thee endow,' dontcherknow." " Ah, there I can't go with you at all." " No ? Then how would it be to make 'em change? Woman endow — man obey — might please 'em both. Seems to me vewy good idea. Should be vewy glad to obey myself, then."

The occasion was a dinner of the house party B assembled for the shooting at The Warren, the seat of Mr. James Lawson, member for that division of Broadshire, earry in the month of October. " Do you think women ought to be made to say 'obey,' Sir Thomas ? " enquired Miss Robinson, after an interval, turning to the neighbour on her right, who had taken in a very important, but very deaf old lady, to whom he had found it impossible to make himself audible. Sir Thomas Henry was an agreeable-looking, rather spare man of be tween forty-five and fist)-, and a widower. " I think it would be better to take the word out of the marriage service altogether," he replied. " Oh ! I am delighted to hear you say so." "At present it is practically a dead letter for any useful purpose. So far as my observation goes, there are very few wives who do regularly obey their husbands, and out of the number, I doubt if there is one in twenty who does so because she promised.

In fact, the majority don't intend to obey when they say the words." " No, because it is not right that they should." " The ladies seem now to have settled it so. On the other hand, the promise does harm, because the husband naturally considers that his wife, having made the vow, ought to keep it. But I fancy there are as many men who practically obey their wives, as women who defer to their husbands. There are a number of men who give way for the sake of a quiet life, whereas the number of women who do so for the same reason, is comparatively small. I believe half the unhappy marriages are caused by the wives' self-will. " Why, Sir Thomas, you are quite a woman hater ! " " By no means. There is no greater admirer of the fair sex than myself, but one cannot shut one's eyes to facts which come under one's own observa tion.

Perhaps I speak dogmatically, but the sub ject of the relations between men and women is one that has always interested me, and I am merely expressing my candid opinions. I know ladies now, generally like to discuss these matters in the abstract on equal terms." "Yes, / much prefer it." " It is certain that in most marriages either the husband or the wife must habitually give way to the other." " Oh, I don't see the necessity of that." I will tell you a short anecdote, which I know to be true, to illustrate my argument. There were a certain husband and wife, each of whom had a most determined will. They had married for love, and had originally been very fond of one another. They had the usual conjugal differences of opinion, in which neither would give way, and their relations gradually became somewhat strained.

They managed, however, to scrape along for some two or three years, when an incident happened which led to their separation. The wife was anxious to attend a certain ball, but the husband was unable to accompany her, and objected to her going without him. She, nevertheless, ordered anew gown for the occasion, at a costof some fifty pounds, the bill for which would in due course be sent in to the husband. On the day of the dance, finding she was determined to go, he possessed himself of the dress, and having made up a good fire in his study, burnt it to ashes. When the wife discovered what he had done, she took a penknife, and going to one of his favourite oil-paintings, a picture worth perhaps two hundred guineas, she slit the canvas from top to bottom, and across. She did not care to go to the ball in an old dress, so rebmained away.

Now, to whom would you award the laurels ? " " Oh, I think the wife had the best of it, she made her husband pay so heavily." " Yes, she caused the destruction of valuable property that did not belong to her, and he carried his point ; but whoever may be considered to have won, it was rather a barren victory. Their lives were ruined solely because they each preferred their own way, to their mutual happiness." " Then, how would you propose to deal with a case like that, Sir Thomas ? " " I think very little can be done in such a case, except by the couple themselves. If the men were rather less selfish, and the women less self-willed, the number of unhappy marriages would be comparatively small." "What we are striving for, is perfect equality between the two sexes," remarked Miss Robinson. " Well, I, for one, am quite willing to concede it, but I rather doubt if the ladies will find their position very much improved, if you are suc cessful."

" Oh yes, they must. Until lately, women were debarred from most of the employments open to men, and there are still many from which they are excluded. Surely they have an equal right to exist ! and, if so, I think it follows that the men must either remove all restrictions, and allow women to obtain their living in the best way they can, or else they must support them." " Yes, that appears to be the logical conclusion, and I am quite of your opinion." •' Then, I think we ought to claim you as one of our allies. But have you considered what absolute equality really involves, Sir Thomas ? Not only throwing open all the professions and employments to women, but also the Universities, the franchise, and seats in Parliament." " Well, I have no objection, except as regards the Universities. I should oppose girls going to the same as the men, but they might have others founded for them.

But I think absolute equality involves a good deal more. It means that women who possess anything, or are in employment, shall be as liable to maintain their mankind who may not be equally fortunate, as men are at present to support their womankind ; also that they shall serve on juries, and no longer have any social precedence. One might deplore it, but it is ex ceedingly unlikely that, when men are engaged with women in a hand-to-hand struggle for exis tence, they will concede them the priority to which they have always been accustomed. We need not consider the question of military service, be cause at present the army and navy are only recruited from volunteers, but were conscription adopted, it would, of course, be different." " Oh, we should be quite ready to go as soldiers and sailors."

"You would require to be drilled and officered by women." " I don't quite see that." "Otherwise you would not have perfect equality ; but I think you will be wise to rest satisfied with less than that. It seems to me that, theoretically, the best solution of this question might be to pass some kind of ' permissive ' legislation, by which those who are desirous of being in everything on an equality with men, might have their wish, and those who prefer to retain their present exemp tions and privileges, and who are, perhaps, in the majority, might also do so, but I fear it is not practicable." " Oh no, that would not satisfy our party, and I do not think it would answer at all." At the opposite side of the table, the Honour able Mumford Styles incautiously remarked to Angelica, Countess of Putney, " I am sorry to hear your son didn't get in for the Southern Division."

"Don't talk to me about Bobby," replied her ladyship, abruptly. " Champagne." A few minutes afterwards, she turned to her neighbour with a smile, and said, " Now I can talk to you about Bobby." " I hear you gave him valuable assistance, Countess." " I believe I was of some use. One must do what one can in these levelling days to propitiate the democracy, but they don't show much gratitude. A few days before the election, I was at a meeting of voters and their wives, and I said to one of the latter, who was standing near a fire in the room — she was the wife of a local brewer, or something of that sort — ' You'd better move, woman, or your dress will be in flames,' and, do you know, instead of thanking me, she looked as though she would have liked to make some rude remark, if she had dared."

" What extremely bad behaviour ! " On Mr. Styles' left, Mrs. Montford Hope, who had been one of the shooters, was expatiating to her partner on the extent of her bag, and the merits of her new hammerless ejector gun. " But," she wound up by saying, " I have an idea that it would fit me even better if it had a trifle more cast-off, and I intend to see Holland about it the next time I am in town." She was not unknown to fame, having been looked upon as one of the lionesses of the previous vear. Was she not the heroine of the cause celebre Montford Hope v. Montford Hope, Ferrers, Colquhoun, and Williamson 1 Her friends maintained that her " brute " of a husband had bought the evidence adduced against her, and had righteously failed in accomplishing his purpose, whilst her detractors averred that her escape was due to the accepted code of honour in such cases, and to the effect of her appearance on a singularly credulous and sympathetic jury.

She had not seen her spouse since the trial, and her left-hand neigh bour at the dinner-table, though an atrocious shot, had been specially invited to join the party, in order to meet her. To her intimates, she re ferred to him as her cavaliere servcnte, and thought the Italian custom, " such a delightfully con venient and innocent one." After dessert, cigars and cigarettes were in dulged in by both sexes, and the ladies showed little inclination to leave the dining-room. At length they retired, and the men then took closer order, and sat for a little while longer, discussing the day's sport. Amongst them were two cousins, named Gerald and Ivan Dunmore, the former of whom had only arrived the same day. He appeared to be between thirty-five and forty years of age, was somewhat below the middle height, and slightly formed ; and had medium brown hair, hazel eyes, and a heavy moustache.

The other was several inches taller, and some seven or eight years younger, of a more robust frame, and had a rather darker complexion, grey eyes, and a small moustache. After a few minutes, Ivan moved to a chair next his cousin, and said, " You didn't bring Bessie ? " " No," replied Gerald ; " she wasn't very well ; besides, she never cares about a shooting party, and," he added, in a lower tone, " I wasn't sorry to leave her at home." " No, I can understand that. How long are you staying ? " " Not more than a couple of days." " I am leaving to-morrow morning." " So soon ! They're moving now, so I'll come up to your room for a few minutes to-night." When the men left the dining-room, the majority of the party, of both sexes, proceeded to a new range of rooms that had lately been built on the ground floor at the other side of the house, communicating with the latter by means of a covered passage.

Here were billiard, smoke, and card rooms, the last-mentioned having tables prepared for various games of chance and skill. Several of the party sat down to baccarat ; others engaged in billiards. Mumford Styles, Percy Grafton, and the two Dunmores, who were all, with the exception of Ivan, old acquaint ances, strolled into the smoke-room, and found comfortable lounging chairs near the fire. " Don't you play now ? " enquired Gerald Dun more of Styles and Grafton. "Was wegulawly cleaned out last night," replied the latter. " I find the turf as much as I can manage," answered Styles. " Don't you play yourself ? " " No, the Stock Exchange is enough for me ; besides, my ideas are rather old-fashioned, and I have a prejudice against seeing women — and especially girls — gamble." "I don't wonder at it," returned the other, "but it's my belief that the girls are adopting masculine dress, manners, and all the rest of it, with a view to obtaining the same latitude as we have in regard to morals."

" Haven't much maw to go for," remarked Grafton, lighting a havannah. They smoke, dwink, ca-wy latch keys, and tell whisky (Mr. Grafton's auditors believed he meant risque') sto-wies ; and as to mawwals, don't b'lieve there's such thing as vir tuous girl in London. Tell you what happened to fwiend of mine lately, staying in house few miles out of town." Mr. Grafton here related a story, not very creditable to either of the parties concerned, and ended by saying — "And the girl was in smart set, and vewy nice-looking." " I can quite believe that," said Styles, "and I don't see that the fellow could be blamed." Ivan Dunmore, who was not smoking, here rose and wished the others " Good-night," saying he was leaving earl}' the following morning, and had some letters to write and packing to do. "There's a wonderful difference in women," Styles remarked, after a pause.

" I will tell you a story of a different kind. I won't give the name of the people, but I can vouch for its truth, as I had it from an unimpeachable source. A chap married a girl. He was about thirty, and she twenty-five. They were a good-looking couple, well connected, and had a smart wedding. Within a fortnight afterwards, the wife informed her husband that she found she had insuperable objections to matrimony, though she was good enough to add that they were in no way connected with any personal dislike to him." "What did he do?" enquired Gerald Dunmore. " He made her a low bow, and said, ' I thank you for your candour, Madam, but is it not a little unfortunate that you did not discover your objections before we were married ? ' ' How could I?' she replied, 'when I had no experience.' ' Perhaps you can inform me why you married me ? ' he said.

No, she couldn't, except that she had been flattered, and had been persuaded into it by her family. Naturally, after that, he con sidered himself at liberty to spend his time as he chose, without reference to her, and he is very seldom at home. I suppose he has debarred himself from any legal remedy, but I question if he ever had any." "Jack Wilton said rather a neat thing last night," continued Styles. " You know what a quiet fellow he is, and how Belle Morton follows him about and chaffs him. I believe she's really fond of him, and his indifference piques her. Well, they were sitting opposite to one another at dinner, she very de'collete'e, as usual. She had made one or two chaffing remarks across the table, and during dessert she picked up a fresh fig from a dish before her, and handed it over to him saying, ' A fig for you, sir !' 'And a figleaf for you, madam,' he replied, taking one up and gravely holding it out to her."

" Ha ! ha ! very good. Soon have the hunting season here now," remarked Gerald Dun more. "Yes," said Styles, "you don't happen to know of a good hunter to be had cheap, do you ? " " I'm afraid I don't. I always buy by auction myself." " Isn't it very risky ? " " Well, it is in a way ; that is, you may go, metaphorically speaking, to buy a coat, and come away with a pair of breeches, but they are generally pretty good breeches. In other words, if your purchase won't do for the purpose you bought him for, he'll probably be a good horse for something else. I don't think I ever bought one by auction that proved really useless, or developed any unexpected unsoundness, but, of course, I only attend the best sales. It goes without saying that one ought to be able to judge fairly well of an animal's soundness to buy in this way, or else take a vet. ; but when people send horses to Albert Gate or Leicester, they know they'll be subjected to the criticism and remarks of a lot of good judges, so there is not much inducement for them to enter regular crocks there.

They reserve those for the private advertisements and inferior auctions. But the chief advantage of buying under the hammer is, that you get a horse for probably about half the price you would have had to pay by private contract. Then, if he doesn't suit, you can sell him in the same way, without much loss, and buy another, and so on till you are suited." " But that must be an awful lot of trouble." " Yes, that's the principal drawback ; but sup pose you buy a horse privately, and give a hun dred and fifty guineas for him, and then for some reason you want to dispose of him, how much of your money do you think you'll ever see back, unless he's a real clinker and some one happens to want him who knows him ? " " Not very much, I daresay. I've generally bought through a dealer." " Yes, that's very well, if you go to a good man, but he's sure to charge you the full value of the animal, and even then perhaps he may not suit you."

" But he's always willing to change him." " Oh yes, and you pay a few pounds more, and then find you've not got so good a horse as you had at first, and so on. Then again, you can hardly meet with such a thing as a sound six-yearold in the hands of a dealer ; they are all five year-olds — ' Irish ' or ' Yorkshire ' fives — that is to say, they have a full mouth, but are only four off, or rising five. At the auctions you can find six and seven-year-olds by the bushel, and you will know as well as I, that if a horse is sound at that age, he is much more likely to remain so than a four-year-old, which may develope any thing. Well, as those people in the next room don't seem inclined to move, I'm off to bed. Good-night." When Gerald entered his cousin's bed-room, Ivan said, " Such is now English society, which a few years ago thanked God it was not as those publicans, the Continental nations.

It seems as if certain classes in this country had become ashamed of their reputation for prudery or virtue, and so began to ape the vices of the Continent, and truly they have bettered their masters." " And yet, side by side with the party of license," returned Gerald, "we have the puritan party, and each seems to vie with the other as to which can commit the greater extravagances. Free lovers on the one hand ; and on the other, a set of people who want to take away our liberty, and compel us all to be so extremely pure, that we shall have no nature left ; who seem to con sider nudity a crime, even in marble, and that children ought to have been born with their clothes on. We certainly are an extraordinary nation. No wonder they used to say on the Con tinent, ' as mad as an Englishman.' And I think it must have been the same in William's time, for, if you remember, he makes the first grave digger, who was a very shrewd fellow, say, in speaking of Hamlet's madness, and his having gone to England, ' 'Twill not be seen in him there ; there the men are as mad as he.' " "They certainly do some amusing things," said Ivan, " and the more one lives abroad, the more one sees it."

" Down in our neighbourhood they have all gone crazy about golf," continued his cousin. To hear them talk, one would suppose it was some thing quite new, instead of having been played in Scotland for centuries ; and you never saw such ridiculous links — to dignify them by the title — in your life as some of them have, rather than not be known to play at all. Before golf it was tennis, and before that, croquet. Now they speak of tennis with bated breath, and the name of croquet might be pestilential, it is so avoided. From a logical point of view it is really very droll." " Yes, but that's the case with all fashions, you know. They always work them to death." "Well, I'm keeping you up, old chap. Good night. Don't forget you're to come to us next month." "All right, old man, I shall be there. Give my love to Bessie and the youngsters."

Chapter II. Retrospective The Fight

Gerald and Ivan Dunmore were descended from the Highland clan of that name, which, for centuries, had had its home in the north-west of Scotland. Their paternal grandfather had held a commission in the 93rd^the regiment usually affected by the cadets of the house — which he had resigned, while yet a comparatively young man, on succeeding, by the accidental death of two members of his mother's family, to the estate of Rippledale, in Midlandshire. Rippledale had been rather unfortunate in its squires, and the new one was well fitted to carry on its traditions, for, even in a day of hard riding, drinking, swear ing, and gambling, he had been noted for his pro ficiency — in a gentlemanly way — in each and all of those accomplishments. He had married an Irish lady, of good family but small fortune, by whom he had three sons, Gerald, Kenneth, and Ivar ; there had also been two daughters, only one of whom — Janet — survived, the other having died in infancy.

The eldest son, Gerald, had married, and for some time he lived in the neighbourhood of the Hall, in a house lent him by his father. Kenneth and Ivar, who both held commissions in the 93 rd, accompanied that regiment to the Crimea, and afterwards to India, during the Mutiny. They were with Sir Colin at his first storming of Luck now, where they were amongst the foremost to enter the Sikandar Bagh, and where the younger, Ivar, was killed, and Kenneth obtained his majority. At the final storming of the same place, Major Dunmore received a bullet in the chest, from the effects of which the surgeon thought it unlikely he would ever entirely recover, and, at the first opportunity, he was sent home invalided. About a year after his return, when his wound had ceased to trouble him, he married the daughter of a Liverpool engineer, whom he had met in London, and went to reside with his wife at Fairheath, a village a few miles from Market Redford, in Long shire, where they had one child — a boy.

At the death of the squire's wife, which took place when he was verging on sixty, his eldest son, Gerald, who had been left a widower a }rear or two pre viously, went to live with his father at the Hall, taking with him his three children. There had been several others, but they had died in infancy, victims to an epidemic of scarlet fever. Gerald had been aware for some time that the squire's affairs were considerably involved, but he was, nevertheless, considerably surprised when, at his death — intestate — some five years later, it was found that the property was so deeply mortgaged, and his debts were so numerous and heavy, that it was hopeless to think of retaining the landed estate. It was, therefore, sold, and after all engagements had been met, there remained a sum of only about six thousand pounds, barely sufficient to provide an income of three hundred a year.

Major Dunmore and his sister withdrew all claim to any portion of this, the former having a small income from property brought him by his wife, in addition to his pension, whilst Janet was married to a Scotch gentleman, named Maxwell, who had a good income, which, as they had no family, was more than adequate to their wants. The money was, therefore, invested for the benefit of Gerald — who thus found himself reduced to a bare pittance, instead of succeeding to a considerable rent-roll, as he had once reasonably expected to do — and his children. A situation was obtained for the eldest of these — named Gerald, after his father, who had shortly before left Harton school, and was then about nineteen 3 'ears of age — with a banking firm in the City, and for a time the family all lived together in a small house at Maida Vale.

The father, however, could not, with his reduced means, reconcile himself to a town life, and pined for the fields and the pursuits to which he had been accustomed. At the end of twelve months he took a cottage, with a garden and paddock attached, close to Market Redford, and removed thither with his younger son, Robert, and only surviving daughter, Mary, aged respectively twelve and ten, leaving the elder son behind him in London. Gerald was attracted to the neighbourhood of the town named, partly by the fact that it contained several schools, both for boys and girls, and also because it was not many miles distant from Fairheath, where his brother, Major Dun more, resided. The younger Gerald was naturally a high spirited lad, with a generous, impressionable dis position, but, unfortunately for him, he lost his mother when he was barely twelve years old.

His father held that the proper way to bring up a boy was to allow him to follow his own natural impulses, and to run as wild as he pleased, so long as he did nothing dishonourable or " un worthy of a gentleman," and that everyone with anything in him, sowed his " wild oats " sooner or later. In fact, he rather encouraged his son in his youthful peccadilloes, and as the lad was also the old squire's favourite grandson, and was rarely denied anything, if he had not been naturally good-hearted, he would in all probability have become both thoroughly selfish and depraved before he was out of his teens. As it was, he was not as steady as he might have been, and was ripe for any opportunity that might arise of kicking over the traces. At irregular intervals, from the age of six upwards, he had fancied himself in love, with one girl or another, but his grandc passion, as he always considered it, came to him at about eighteen, when he met a pretty young girl, with tender blue e3'es and soft brown hair, who had gone on a visit to the Vicar of Ripple dale.