He found it very hard to tell; much harder than he had beforehand fancied. "I have got into terrible trouble," he began by saying. Then he told how he had fallen suddenly in love with Lily, how he had been rash and imprudent, how nice she was-"infinitely too good for such a man as I am," he said-how she had accepted him, and then how he had repented. "I should have told you beforehand," he then said, "that I was already half-engaged to Lady Alexandrina De Courcy." The read er, however, will understand that this half-engagement was a fiction. "And now you mean that you are altogether engaged to her?" "Exactly so." "And that Miss Dale must be told that, on second thoughts, you have changed your mind?" "I know that I have behaved very badly," said Crosbie. "Indeed you have," said his friend. "It is one of those troubles in which a man finds himself involved almost before he knows | meet the old squire on pleasant terms-or, at where he is." "Well, I can't look at it exactly in that light. A man may amuse himself with a girl, and I can understand his disappointing her and not offering to marry her-though even that sort of thing isn't much to my taste. But, by George, to make an offer of marriage to such a girl as that in September, to live for a month in her family as her affianced husband, and then coolly go away to another house in October, and make an offer to another girl of higher rank-" "You know very well that that has had nothing to do with it." "It looks very like it. And how are you going to communicate these tidings to Miss Dale?" "I don't know," said Crosbie, who was beginning to be very sore. "And you have quite made up your mind that you'll stick to the earl's daughter?" The idea of jilting Alexandrina instead of Lily had never as yet presented itself to Crosbie; and now, as he thought of it, he could not perceive that it was feasible. "Yes," he said, "I shall marry Lady Alexandrina-that is, if I do not cut the whole concern and my own throat into the bargain." "If I were in your shoes I think I should cut the whole concern. I could not stand it. What do you mean to say to Miss Dale's uncle ?" "I don't care a for Miss Dale's uncle," said Crosbie. "If he were to walk in at that door this moment I would tell him the whole story, without-" any rate, not on terms of defiance-pleaded more strongly in Lily's favor than had any other argument since Crosbie had first made up his mind to abandon her. He did not fear personal ill-usage; he was not afraid lest he should be kicked or beaten; but he did not dare to face the just anger of the angry man. "If I were you," said Pratt, "I would not go down to that man at the present moment for a trifle." "But what can I do?" "Shirk away out of the club. Only, if you do that, it seems to me that you'll have to go on shirking for the rest of your life." "Pratt, I must say that I expected something more like friendship from you." "What can I do for you? There are positions in which it is impossible to help a man. I tell you plainly that you have behaved very badly. I do not see that I can help you." "Would you see him?" "Certainly not, if I am to be expected to take your part." "Take any part you like-only tell him the truth." "And what is the truth ?" "I was part engaged to that other girl before; and then, when I came to think of it, I knew that I was not fit to marry Miss Dale. I know I have behaved badly; but, Pratt, thousands have done the same thing before." "I can only say that I have not been so unfortunate as to reckon any of those thousands among my friends." bie. "You mean to tell me, then, that you are As he was yet speaking one of the club serv-going to turn your back on me?" said Crosants opened the door of the smoking-room, and, seeing Crosbie seated in a lounging chair near the fire, went up to him with a gentleman's card. Crosbie took the card and read the name. "Mr. Dale, Allington." "I haven't said any thing of the kind. I certainly won't undertake to defend you, for I don't see that your conduct admits of defense. I will see this gentleman if you wish it, and "The gentleman is in the waiting-room," tell him any thing that you may desire me to said the servant. Crosbie for the moment was struck dumb. He had declared that very moment that he should feel no personal disinclination to meet Mr. Dale, and now that gentleman was within the walls of the club waiting to see him. whistled Pratt. tell him." At this moment the servant returned with a note for Crosbie. Mr. Dale had called for paper and envelope, and sent up to him the following missive: "Do you intend to come down to me? I know that you are in the house." "Who's that?" asked Pratt. And then Cros-For Heaven's sake go to him," said Crosbie. bie handed him the card. "Whew-w-w-hew," ," "He is well aware that I was deceived about his niece-that I thought he was to give her He knows all about that, and that when I learned from him that she was to have nothing-" "Did you tell the gentleman I was here?" some fortune. asked Crosbie. "Now, "I said I thought you were up stairs, Sir." "That will do," said Pratt. "The gentleman will no doubt wait for a minute." And then the servant went out of the room. Crosbie, you must make up your mind. By one of these women and all her friends you will ever be regarded as a rascal, and they, of course, will look out to punish you with such punishment as may come to their hands. You must now choose which shall be the sufferer." The man was a coward at heart. The reflection that he might, even now, at this moment, VOL. XXVII.-No. 158.-Q "Upon my word, Crosbie, I wish you could find another messenger." "Ah! you do not understand," said Crosbie, in his agony. "You think that I am inventing this plea about her fortune now. It isn't so. He will understand. We have talked all this over before, and he knew how terribly I was disappointed. Shall I wait for you here, or will you come to my lodgings? Or I will go down to the Beaufort, and will wait for you there." And it was finally arranged that he should get himself out of this club and wait at the other for Pratt's report of the interview. "Do you go down first," said Crosbie. "Yes; I had better," said Pratt. "Otherwise you may be seen. Mr. Dale would have his eye upon you, and there would be a row in the house." There was a smile of sarcasm on Pratt's face as he spoke which angered Crosbie even in his misery, and made him long to tell his friend that he would not trouble him with this mission that he would manage his own affairs himself; but he was weakened and mentally humiliated by the sense of his own rascality, and had already lost the power of asserting himself, and of maintaining his ascendency. He was beginning to recognize the fact that he had done that for which he must endure to be kicked-to be kicked morally if not materially; and that it was no longer possible for him to hold his head up without shame. Pratt took Mr. Dale's note in his hand and went down into the strangers' room. There he found the squire standing so that he could see through the open door of the room to the foot of the stairs down which Crosbie must descend before he could leave the club. As a measure of first precaution the embassador closed the door; then he bowed to Mr. Dale, and asked him if he would take a chair. that poor girl was with him on the morning of his going as his betrothed bride. Not a fortnight since! And now I've had a letter from an old family friend telling me that he is going to marry one of Lord De Courcy's daughters! I went instantly off to Courcy, and found that he had started for London. Now I have followed him here; and you tell me it's all true." "I am afraid it is, Mr. Dale; too true." "I don't understand it; I don't, indeed. I can not bring myself to believe that the man who was sitting the other day at my table should be so great a scoundrel. Did he mean it all the time that he was there?" "No; certainly not. Lady Alexandrina De Courcy was, I believe, an old friend of his, with whom, perhaps, he had had some lover's quarrel. On his going to Courcy they made it up; and this is the result." "And that is to be sufficient for my poor girl?" "You will, of course, understand that I am not defending Mr. Crosbie. The whole affair is very sad-very sad, indeed. I can only say, in his excuse, that he is not the first man who has behaved badly to a lady." "And this is his message to me, is it? And that is what I am to tell my niece? You have been deceived by a scoundrel. But what then? "I wanted to see Mr. Crosbie," said the You are not the first! Mr. Pratt, I give you squire. my word as a gentleman I do not understand it. I have lived a good deal out of the world, and am, therefore, perhaps, more astonished than I ought to be." "I have your note to that gentleman in my hand," said he. "He has thought it better that you should have this interview with me; and under all the circumstances perhaps it is better." "Is he such a coward that he dare not see me?" "There are some actions, Mr. Dale, that will make a coward of any man. My friend Crosbie is, I take it, brave enough in the ordinary sense of the word, but he has injured you." "It is all true, then ?" "Yes, Mr. Dale; I fear it is all true." "And you call that man your friend! Mr.-; I don't know what your name is." "Pratt-Fowler Pratt. I have known Crosbie for fourteen years-ever since he was a boy; and it is not my way, Mr. Dale, to throw over an old friend under any circumstances." "Not if he committed a murder." "No; not though he committed a murder." "If what I hear is true, this man is worse than a murderer." "Of course, Mr. Dale, I can not know what you have heard. I believe that Mr. Crosbie has behaved very badly to your niece, Miss Dale; I believe that he was engaged to marry her, or, at any rate, that some such proposition had been made." "Proposition! Why, Sir, it was a thing so completely understood that every body knew it in the county. It was so positively fixed that there was no secret about it. Upon my honor, Mr. Pratt, I can't as yet understand it. If I remember right, it's not a fortnight since he left my house at Allington-not a fortnight. And "Mr. Dale, I feel for you-" "Feel for me! What is to become of my girl? And do you suppose that I will let this other marriage go on? that I will not tell the De Courcys, and all the world at large, what sort of a man this is? that I will not get at him to punish him? Does he think that I will put up with this?" "I do not know what he thinks; I must only beg that you will not mix me up in the matter, as though I were a participator in his offense." 'Will you tell him from me that I desire to see him?" "I do not think that that would do any good." "Never mind, Sir; you have brought me his message; will you have the goodness now to take back mine to him?" "Do you mean at once- -this evening-now?" "Yes, at once-this evening-now-this minute." "Ah; he has left the club; he is not here now; he went when I came to you." "Then he is a coward as well as a scoundrel." In answer to which assertion Mr. Fowler Pratt merely shrugged his shoulders. "He is a coward as well as a scoundrel. Will you have the kindness to tell your friend from me that he is a coward and a scoundrel—and a liar, Sir?" "If it be so, Miss Dale is well quit of her engagement." "That is your consolation, is it? That may be all very well nowadays; but when I was a young man I would sooner have burnt out my tongue than have spoken in such a way on such a subject. I would, indeed. Good-night, Mr. Pratt! Pray make your friend understand that he has not yet seen the last of the Dales; although, as you hint, the ladies of that family will no doubt have learned that he is not fit to associate with them." Then, taking up his hat, the squire made his way out of the club. "I would not have done it," said Pratt to himself, for all the beauty, and all the wealth, and all the rank that ever were owned by a woman." FAMILY. "I don't say that it is true; but I think we should look to it. I will go to Courcy Castle and learn the truth." The squire at last decided that he would go. He went to Courcy Castle, and found that Crosbie had started two hours before his arrival. He asked for Lady Julia, and learned from her that Crosbie had actually left the house as the betrothed husband of Lady Alexandrina. "The countess, I am sure, will not contradict it, if you will see her," said Lady Julia. But this the squire was unwilling to do. He would not proclaim the wretched condition of his niece more loudly than was necessary, and therefore he started on his pursuit of Crosbie. What was his success on that evening we have already learned. Both Lady Alexandrina and her mother heard of Mr. Dale's arrival at the castle, but nothing was said between them on the subject. Lady LADY JULIA DE GUEST had not during her Amelia Gazebee heard of it also, and she venlife written many letters to Mr. Dale of Alling-tured to discuss the matter with her sister. "You don't know exactly how far it went, ton, nor had she ever been very fond of him. do you?" But when she felt certain how things were going on at Courcy-or rather, as we may say, how they had already gone-she took pen in hand, and sat herself to work, doing, as she conceived, her duty by her neighbor: "MY DEAR MR. DALE"-she said "I believe I need make no secret of having known that your niece Lilian is engaged to Mr. Crosbie, of London. I think it proper to "COURCY CASTLE, Thursday" "No; yes;-not exactly, that is," said Alexandrina. "I suppose he did say something about marriage to the girl?" "Yes, I'm afraid he did." "Dear, dear! It's very unfortunate. What sort of people are those Dales? I suppose he talked to you about them." "No, he didn't; not very much. I dare say she is an artful, sly thing! It's a great pity men should go on in such a way." "Yes, it is," said Lady Amelia. "And I do suppose that in this case the blame has been more with him than with her. It's only right I should tell you that." "But what can I do?" "I don't say you can do any thing; but it's as well you should know." "But I don't know, and you don't know; and I can't see that there is any use talking about it now. I knew him a long while before she did, and if she has allowed him to make a fool of her, it isn't my fault." "Nobody says it is, my dear." "But you seem to preach to me about it. What can I do for the girl? The fact is, he don't care for her a bit, and never did." The squire had never been very fond of any of the De Guest family, and had, perhaps, liked Lady Julia the least of them all. He was wont to call her a meddling old woman-remembering her bitterness and pride in those now long bygone days in which the gallant major had run off with Lady Fanny. When he first received this letter he did not, on the first reading of it, believe a word of its contents. "Cross-grained old harridan," he said out loud to his nephew. "That's all very well, Amelia; but people "Look what that aunt of yours has written to don't always do exactly all that they ought to me." Bernard read the letter twice, and as he do. I suppose Mr. Crosbie isn't the first man did so his face became hard and angry. that has proposed to two ladies. I dare say it "You don't mean to say you believe it?" said was wrong, but I can't help it. As to Mr. Dale the squire. "I don't think it will be safe to disregard it." "What! you think it possible that your friend is doing as she says? s?" "Then he shouldn't have told her that he did." coming here with a tale of his niece's wrongs, I think it very absurd-very absurd indeed. It makes it look as though there had been a scheme to catch Mr. Crosbie, and it's my belief that there "It is certainly possible. He was angry when was such a scheme.' he found that Lily had no fortune." "Heavens, Bernard! And you can speak of it in that way?" "I only hope that there'll be no quarrel." did to Mr. Moffatt when he behaved so badly to poor Augusta ?" "Mr. Crosbie isn't afraid of that kind of thing. And I always thought that Frank was very wrong-very wrong indeed. What's the good of two men beating each other in the street?" "Well; I'm sure I hope there'll be no quarrel. But I own I don't like the look of it. You see the uncle must have known all about it, and have consented to the marriage, or he would not have come here." "I don't see that it can make any difference to me, Amelia." "No, my dear, I don't see that it can. We shall be up in town soon, and I will see as much as possible of Mr. Crosbie. The marriage, I hope, will take place soon." "He talks of February." "Dear Lady Dumbello, what will you think of us?" said the countess, turning round to another guest, who was also just about to depart. "Did any one ever know such a woman before?" "I think she's very nice," said Lady Dumbello, smiling. "I can't quite agree with you there," said Lady Clandidlem. "But I do believe she means to do her best. She is very charitable, and all that sort of thing." "I "I'm sure I don't know," said Rosina. asked her for a subscription to the mission for putting down the Papists in the west of Ireland, and she refused me point-blank." "Now, my dear, if you're quite ready," said Lord Dumbello, coming into the room. Then there was another departure; but on this occasion the countess waited till the doors were shut, and the retreating footsteps were no longer heard. "Have you observed," said she to Lady Clan "Don't put it off, Alley, whatever you do. There are so many slips, you know, in these things." "I'm not a bit afraid of that," said Alexan- didlem, "that she has not held her head up drina, sticking up her head. "I dare say not; and you may be sure that we will keep an eye on him. Mortimer will get him up to dine with us as often as possible, and as his leave of absence is all over he can't get out of town. He's to be here at Christmas, isn't he?" "Of course he is." "Mind you keep him to that. And as to these Dales, I would be very careful, if I were you, not to say any thing unkind of them to any one. It sounds badly in your position." And with this last piece of advice Lady Amelia Gazebee allowed the subject to drop. On that day Lady Julia returned to her own home. Her adieux to the whole family at Courcy Castle were very cold, but about Mr. Crosbie and his lady-love at Allington she said no further word to any of them. Alexandrina did not show herself at all on the occasion, and indeed had not spoken to her enemy since that evening on which she had felt herself constrained to retreat from the drawing-room. "Good-by," said the countess. "You have been so good to come, and we have enjoyed it so much." "I thank you very much. Good-morning," said Lady Julia, with a stately courtesy. "Pray remember me to your brother. I wish we could have seen him; I hope he has not been hurt by the the bull." And then Lady Julia went her way. "What a fool I have been to have that woman in the house!" said the countess, before the door was closed behind her guest's back. "Indeed you have," said Lady Julia, screaming back through the passage. Then there was a long silence, then a suppressed titter, and after that a loud laugh. since Mr. Palliser went away?" "Indeed I have," said Lady Clandidlem. "As for poor Dumbello, he's the blindest creature I ever saw in my life." "We shall hear of something before next May," said Lady De Courcy, shaking her head; "but for all that she'll never be Duchess of Omnium." "I wonder what your mamma will say of me when I go away to-morrow," said Lady Clandidlem to Margaretta, as they walked across the hall together. "She won't say that you are going to run away with any gentleman," said Margaretta. "At any rate not with the earl," said Lady Clandidlem. "Ha, ha, ha! Well, we are all very good-natured, are we not? The best is that it means nothing." Thus by degrees all the guests went, and the family of the De Courcys was left to the bliss of their own domestic circle. This, we may presume, was not without its charms, seeing that there were so many feelings in common between the mother and her children. There were drawbacks to it, no doubt, arising perhaps chiefly from the earl's bodily infirmities. "When your father speaks to me," said Mrs. George to her husband, "he puts me in such a shiver that I can not open my mouth to answer him." "You should stand up to him," said George. "He can't hurt you, you know. Your money's your own; and if I'm ever to be the heir, it won't be by his doing." "But he gnashes his teeth at me. "You shouldn't care for that, if he don't bite. He used to gnash them at me; and when I had to ask him for money I didn't like it; but now I don't mind him a bit. He threw didn't go "Oh, mamma, what shall we do?" said Lady the peerage at me one day, but it Amelia. within a yard of my head." "Do!" said Margaretta; "why should we do any thing? She has heard the truth for once in her life." "If he throws any thing at me, George, I shall drop upon the spot." But the countess had a worse time with the |