should be young men; that control over their
own property was not an unreasonable
demand; that, in short, young men, being young
men, should be allowed to come and to go
(strong emphasis on "go"), without restriction
or restraint. For myself, puzzled and
astonished as I was, I made no remark; but
very quietly went through the necessary
formalities, and stood up a responsible being—
the bona fide proprietor of actual and
negotiable Bank of England notes.

On considering, in the course of the morning,
the possible reasons which could have
induced my guardian so suddenly to change
his resolution, it occurred to me that he
had been ruled in the matter by his wife.
For what object? Possibly by satisfying my
demands, to put a termination to my visit.
Such a thing was certainly conceivable,
especially as I had already made a stay of several
weeks; and the sting of the sharp tone of his
violently accentuated " go" still tingled in my
ears. It would not, perhaps, be very delicate
to take a precipitate flight immediately
on the settlement of my affairs; still I
preferred that alternative, to the possibility of
interfering with any domestic arrangements;
so I resolved to " go," at all hazards, on the
following day. Unexpected and important
business is of course speedily improvised in
such cases. It was evident that, for some
reason of their own, they wanted to get rid
of me. I did not want to go; but I went.

Not quite soon enough, however; for I
was not destined to depart without hearing
more of the mysterious movements of the
servants. The next morning, at breakfast,
I noticed that the habitual Charles did
not make his appearance, and that we were
attended by a female domestic. Waiting until
she had disappeared from the apartment, Mrs.
de Musherewin explained the phenomenon.

"You see, it is very annoying; I don't
know what to do for a few days. There has
been a slight disagreement, and all of our
men-servants have left us—left us last night."

"All!—surprising and inconvenient
unanimity!"

"Yes; it is a fact. They had arranged to go
upon that day; their term was up; but
I had certainly expected as a piece of
common civility that they would have waited
until the family were provided with others".

"Certainly; it would be only a piece of ordinary
courtesy", I said, for the sake of
saying something.

But the fact was, they had all arranged
to be married that morning, and would not
put off the day.

Impenetrable mystery! It was the first
time I had ever heard of such a proceeding.
But I had no time to think about such
matters now.

It happened that, after breakfast, I was
taking a farewell of some of my favourite
haunts where I had been accustomed to
ramble; when, passing the village church, I
saw some gaily-attired persons issuing forth.
I remembered that there were no end of
persons to be married that morning, and I
planted myself accordingly among the mob
of rustics who were gaping about, to see them
pass.

To my astonishment, there was only one
couple; that is to say, one married couple. I
recognised the bride at once—my pretty friend,
who seemed so generally sought after. But
the bridegroom puzzled me. He was dressed
in what—in contradistinction to livery—we
call " plain clothes;" though, I must say, that
they could not be so designated in any other
acceptation of the term. There was a
mulberry-coloured coat, a brimstone waistcoat,
and a nosegay, uncommonly large, and
dazzlingly variegated. The Berlin gloves (too
long in the fingers) sparkled in the sun with
whiteness. I knew that all the De Musherewin
domestics were to be married that morning,
and I knew that this fine gentleman was one
of them. There could be no mistake—that
singular command of feature, and that curious
and varying twist of the mouth, belonged to
Charles, and to nobody but Charles. But,
whether the gamekeeper had been made a
happy man, and the coachman, footman, and
gardener were blighted in the flower of their
several affections; or whether any other one
out of the four had been made happy, and any
other three been blighted as aforesaid, I have
never been able to determine. I had never
seen any of the servants in " plain " clothes,
and the test was most embarrassing. Now,
I felt convinced that the gardener was the
Benedict; then, an expression came over his
face which convinced me that it was the
coachman; but, no sooner was this satisfactorily
settled, than a reminiscence of the
gamekeeper made me again a sceptic: in
like manner, a sudden gesture of the footman,
would set me wandering once more. The
bridegroom was as difficult of recognition as
the late Charles Mathews, in one of his
monopolylogues.

In my anxiety to clear up the mystery, I
even felt inclined to prolong my stay; but
that could not be. I accordingly adhered to
my original arrangements; and could not
help thinking, as Mrs. de Musherewin mingled
her regrets with her adieux, that she was not
disinclined to part with me.

I had not entirely forgotten this domestic
mystery, in my renewal of town habits and
town enjoyments, when one day, at breakfast,
glancing over the advertising columns of a
morning paper, my eye fell upon the following
advertisement:

"WANTED, in a family of distinction,
residing in the country, a young man, of good
education and address. He must be able to
drive, and attend to a pair of horses; wait at
table; take charge of a kitchen and
flowergarden; and act as gamekeeper when
required. Address, by letter (post-paid), to