The Beautiful Wretch; The Pupil of Aurelius; and The Four Macnicols — John Shaqi
The Beautiful Wretch; The Pupil of Aurelius; and The Four MacnicolsBlack, William
General
The Beautiful Wretch; The Pupil of Aurelius; and The Four Macnicols
Black, William
Great Britain -- Fiction
A hare ran by some dozen yards off: he did not fire.
'I see I am in your way. Good-bye for the present.'
'Good-bye. If you do mean to go up to the Hill Farm, you had better
keep to the road. Or else,' he added, laughing, 'Mr. Ferrers will have
something to say to you.'
'Well,' said pretty Mary Coventry to herself, as she passed on and into
the road, 'he did not even thank me for all my trouble. And I always
thought sailors were supposed to be nice. But perhaps he is lamenting
some blackamoor sweetheart in Patagonia, and won't take any notice of
anybody.'
It was about a week after this that Captain Frank, having run up to
town, met a young gentleman in Piccadilly whom he seemed to recognise.
He looked again--yes, it could be no other than Tom Beresford. But it
was Tom Beresford transformed. Mr. Tom was now of age; he had his
club, which he much frequented; he had assumed the air and manner of a
man about town. That is to say, although he was clever enough and had
a sufficient touch of humour, he cultivated a languid stare, and was
chary of speech; and although he was a well-built young fellow, he
walked with his elbows out and his knees in, as if the tightness of his
trousers and his boots made it nigh impossible for him to walk at all.
Moreover, his dress was more rigidly correct than ever; and of course
he carried the inevitable cane--inevitable as the walking-stick of the
Athenian.
Frank King went up to him eagerly.
'Hallo, Beresford, how are you?'
'How are you?' was the answer, as a slight boyish blush somewhat
interfered with the dignity of Mr. Tom. 'How are you? I heard you
were at home again. I heard of you through the Strathernes.'
'And I heard of you in the same way,' said Captain King, who seemed
greatly pleased to meet an old friend. 'I'll turn and walk with you.
I've nothing particular to do.'
'Will you come and lunch with me?' said Mr. Tom (he had recovered
himself after the inadvertent blush). 'We can walk along to the club.'
'Yes, I will; said Frank King, heartily. 'Which is your club?'
'The Waterloo. They call it that because it isn't in Waterloo Place.
It's in Regent Street.'
'All right,' said the other; but instantly he began to pursue his
inquiries. 'Yes, I heard of you and your family from the Strathernes.
There have been great changes since I left England. Your eldest sister
is married, is she not?'
'You mean Moll: yes. They live in town--a small house back there in
Mayfair. He used to be a richer man,' observed Mr. Tom,
contemplatively, 'before he took silk.'
'But they are going to make him a judge, I hear.'
'Faith, then, I hope he'll never have to try me,' said Mr. Tom, with an
air of conviction. 'He and I never could hit it off. I hate pompous
people, and people who give themselves airs. Now, I took a liking to
you the first five minutes I saw you.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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