into coxcombry. Mr. Biscoe, the rector of
the parish, a big, broad-shouldered, bull-
headed man, with clean-cut features, wholesome
complexion, and breezy whiskers:
excellent parson as well as good cross-
country man, and as kind of heart as keen
at sport, stood by her ladyship's side, and
threw an occasional remark into the
conversation. Joyce could not see Lady Caroline
Mansergh, but he heard her voice
coming from a recess on the far-side of the
fireplace, and mingled with its bright, ringing
Irish accent came the deep, growling
bass of Captain Frampton, adjutant of the
depot battalion, and a noted amateur
singer. The two gentlemen chatting with
Lord Hetherington on the rug were
magnates of the neighbourhood, representatives
of old county families. Mr. Boyd, a
very good-looking young gentleman, with
crisp wavy hair and pink-and-white
complexion, was staring hard at nothing
through his eye-glass, and wondering
whether he could fasten one of his studs,
which had come undone, without any one
noticing him; and Mr. Biscoe was in
conversation with a foxy-looking gentleman,
with sunken eyes, sharp nose, and keen
gleaming teeth, in whom Joyce recognised
Mr. Gould, Lord Hetherington' s London
agent, who was in the habit of frequently
running down on business matters, and
whose room was always kept ready for
him.

Dinner announced and general movement
of the company. At the table Joyce
found himself seated by Lady Caroline
Mansergh, her neighbour on the other side
being Captain Frampton. After bowing and
smiling at Mr. Joyce, Lady Caroline said:

"Now, Captain Frampton, continue, if
you please!"

"Let me see!" said the captain, a good
soldier and a good singer, but not
overburdened with more brains than are necessary
for these professions—- " let me see!
Gad—shamed to say, Lady Car'line, forgot
what we were talkin' of!"

"Mr. Chennery—you remember now?"

"Yas, yas, 'course, thousand pardons!
Well, several people heard him at Carabas
House, think him wonderful!"

"A tenor, you say?"

"Pure tenor, one of the richest, purest
tenor voices ever heard! Man's fortune's
made—- if he only behaves himself!"

"How do you mean, 'behaves himself,'
Captain Frampton?" asked Lady Caroline,
raising her eyebrows.

Well, I mean sassiety, and all that kind
of thing, Lady Caroline! Man not accustomed
to sassiety might, as they say, put
his foot in it!"

"I see," said Lady Caroline, with an
assumption of gravity. "Exactly! and
that would indeed be dreadful. But is this
gentleman not accustomed to society?"

"Not in the least; and in point of fact—-
not a gentleman, so far as I'm led to understand.
Father's a shepherd; outdoor labouring
something down at Lord Westonhanger's
place in Wiltshire; boy was apprenticed
to a stonemason, but people staying
at the house heard of his singing, sent
for him, and Lord Westonhanger was so
charmed with his voice, had him sent to
Italy and taught. That's the story!"

"Surely one that reflects great credit on
all concerned," said Lady Caroline. "But
I yet fail to see why Mr. Chennery should
not behave himself!"

"Well, you see, Lady Caroline, Carabas
House, and that sort of thing—people he'll
meet there, you know, different from
anything he's ever seen before."

"But he can but be a gentleman,
Captain Frampton. If he were a prince; he
could be no more!"

"No, exactly, course not; but pardon me,
that's just it, don't you see, the difficulty is
for the man to be a gentleman."

"Not at all; not the slightest difficulty!"
And here Lady Caroline almost
imperceptibly turned a little toward Joyce. "If
Mr. Chennery is thrown into different
society from that to which he has been
hitherto accustomed, and is at all nervous
about his reception or his conduct in it, he
has merely to be natural and just as he
always has been, to avoid any affectation,
and he cannot fail to please. The art which
he possesses, and the education he has
received, are humanising influences, and he
certainly contributes more than the average
quota toward the enjoyment of what people
call society."

Whether Captain Frampton was
unconvinced by the argument, whether he
found a difficulty in pursuing it, or whether
he had by this time realised the fact that
the soup was of superior quality, and worth
paying attention to, are moot points; at all
events, the one thing certain was, that he
bowed and slightly shrugged his shoulders,
and relapsed into silence, while Lady Caroline,
with a half smile of victory, which somehow
seemed to include Walter Joyce in its
expanding ripple, replied across the table
to a polite query of Mr. Biscoe's in
reference to their recent ride.