Bruce, and the suit of armour borne by
Dunblane of Dunblane at the battle of
Bannockburn. He dilated on the glories
of his house with more animation than I
had yet observed: then suddenly the cloud
came over him. "And to think," he said,
"that all this must pass into another line—
into hands that have been debased by trade"
(which was not polite to me; but he entirely
forgot my presence for the moment, I am
sure); "to think that people who have
hardly a drop of old blood in their veins,
who have intermarried for generations with
Smiths and Browns, and plebeian names
of that kind, should come to inherit this,
which they have no feeling for, no pride
in—by G—d, it is enough to wring one's
heart!"

And this was the way he went on, from
time to time, bursting out in imprecations
on his fate in having no heir, and upon the
evil star which had risen over his house.
It was in vain that I pointed out that he
was young still, and in good health, and
must not abandon hope. He shook his
head gloomily. "The prophecy is against
me: it is no use.

When five Dunblanes have had no son,
Then shall the line direct be run.

It is clear enough, is it not? I am doomed.
I should have known it. When did such a
prophecy ever come wrong? What a cursed
fool I was to marry!"

So I thought; to marry, that is to say,
as he had done; but I abstained from
saying so. By-and-by his lordship took Mr.
Pilson to his study, where they were
engaged for some hours over business; and I
was left alone to ramble about the castle,
inside and out, as I would.

Remembering the story I had heard of a
secret room, I counted all the windows
outside, and then, returning to the castle,
traversed every passage, mounted every
turret, and opened every door I could, to see
if the number of windows corresponded.
With the help of the serving man whom I
met on the stairs, and who knew all the
rooms in the castle, he said, I accounted
for each window satisfactorily. And after
two hours' diligent endeavour to solve
this mystery, I arrived at the conclusion
that there could be no room—it was all
humbug. I was at a time of life, you see,
when over-confidence in one's own powers
is apt to lead one to very false conclusions.

At luncheon Lady Dunblane appeared,
and an incident, which left a painful
impression on my mind, took place on that
occasion. Dunblane had a peculiar aversion
to her ladyship's spaniel. Strict
orders were given that he was to be
confined to her ladyship's own suite of rooms,
and on no account to be allowed beyond
them. But some door had inadvertently
been left open, and, while we were at
luncheon, the spaniel ran barking into the
room, round and round the table, and
finally straight between his lordship's legs,
who was at that moment smarting under
one of his wife's sallies. He roared out
in a voice of thunder:

"How often have I told you, ma'am, to
keep that infernal little beast in your own
room?" and he kicked out so viciously,
that he sent the poor animal spinning along
the oak floor to the further end of the
room, where he lay howling. His mistress
ran up, and seized him in her arms; the
creature's leg was broken. Her ladyship
shrieked, and stamped, and my lord swore;
and, thoroughly sickened with the whole
scene, I rose and left the room. Pilson
joined me in the hall.

"What is to be the end of all this?" I
said to him.

His answer was, "I am afraid to think."

"Lord Dunblane," I said, "seems to me
to be losing all self-restraint. If he goes
on thus, what will become of him?"

Pilson looked round him, then leaned
forward and whispered, "He will end his
days in a madhouse." Dunblane shut
himself into his room for the rest of the
afternoon. By-and-by her ladyship drove out
in her coach and four, and carried her dog in
her arms to a veterinary surgeon some miles
off. At dinner she appeared in as brilliant
spirits as ever. How much of this was
real I cannot say; nor, supposing her
hilarity to be assumed, whether it was
done for the purpose of aggravating her
lord. It certainly succeeded, if so. His
moroseness was enlivened by several ferocious
sallies. The conversation turned upon
France, I remember, and on the probabilities
of the First Consul's being made
emperor, a subject that engrossed all minds
just then.

"How I admire that little man!"
exclaimed her ladyship. "How much greater
to found a dynasty, as he is doing, than to
inherit all the crowns in Europe! I begin
to wish I was a Frenchwoman!"

"I begin to wish you were!" cried my
lord. "There is not another British peeress
who would disgrace herself by uttering
such a sentiment."

She laughed aloud, and replied, "Oh!
because they are less frank than I am.
All women admire Le Petit Caporal in their
hearts. What fun it will be if he comes