hum one of the few songs he cared to hear: "Go tell Augusta, gentle
swain," "Revenge, revenge, Timotheus cries," and "She wore a wreath of
roses." This time, however, he did neither of these things, but watched
the reflection of his daughter's face in the carriage window before him.
He had white hair, a dyed moustache and a small imperial--also dyed the
deepest black--just under the lower lip. In appearance he was, spite of
the false touches, good-looking, sensitive, and perhaps too mild. The
cleft in his rounded chin was the sole mark of decision in a countenance
whose features were curved--wherever a curve was possible--to a degree
approaching caricature. Temples, eyebrows, nostrils, and moustache, all
described a series of semi-circles which, accentuated by a livid
complexion and curling hair, presented an effect somewhat commonplace
and a little tiresome. He had spent his existence among beings to whom
nothing seemed natural which did not depart most earnestly from all that
nature is and teaches: he had always endeavoured to maintain the ideal
of a Christian gentleman where, as a matter of fact, Christianity was
understood rather as a good manner than a faith, and ideals were
prejudices of race rather than aspirations of the soul. Well-born,
well-bred, and moderately learned, he was not, and could never be, more
than dull or less than dignified. The second son of his father, he had
spent the customary years of idleness at Eton and Oxford, he had
journeyed through France, Italy, and Spain, contested unsuccessfully a
seat in Mertford, and thought of reading for the Bar. But at
four-and-thirty he became, through the influence of his mother's family,
groom-in-waiting to the Queen--a post which he held till his elder
brother's death, which occurred six months later. At this point his
Court career ceased. A weak heart and a constitutional dislike of
responsibility assisted him in his firm decision to lead the life of a
country nobleman. He retired to his estate, and remained there in
solitude, troubling no one except his agent, till a Russian lady, whom
he had first met and loved during his early travels on the Continent,
happened to come visiting in the neighbourhood. As the daughter of a
Russian Prince and Ambassador, she had considered her rank superior to
Lord Garrow's, and therefore felt justified, as she informed her
relations after he had succeeded to the earldom, in making the first
advance toward their common happi