ing was to be done for the young
man; as money almost without stint was to be placed at his command; as
hunting, parliament, and a house in London were offered to him;--as
the treatment due to a dear and only son was shown to him, he ought to
give something in return; but she herself, could say no more than she
had said, and she knew already that in those few matters in which her
husband had a decided will, he was not to be turned from it.

It was arranged, therefore, that Fred Neville should join his regiment
at Limerick in October, and that he should come home to Scroope for a
fortnight or three weeks at Christmas. Sophia Mellerby was to be Lady
Scroope's guest at that time, and at last it was decided that Mrs.
Neville, who had never been seen by the Earl, should be asked to
come and bring with her her younger son, John Neville, who had been
successful in obtaining a commission in the Engineers. Other guests
should be invited, and an attempt should be made to remove the mantle
of gloom from Scroope Manor,--with the sole object of ingratiating the
heir.

Early in October Fred went to Limerick, and from thence with a detached
troop of his regiment he was sent to the cavalry barracks at Ennis, the
assize town of the neighbouring County Clare. This was at first held to
be a misfortune by him, as Limerick is in all respects a better town
than Ennis, and in County Limerick the hunting is far from being bad,
whereas Clare is hardly a country for a Nimrod. But a young man, with
money at command, need not regard distances; and the Limerick balls and
the Limerick coverts were found to be equally within reach. From Ennis
also he could attend some of the Galway meets,--and then with no other
superior than a captain hardly older than himself to interfere with
his movements, he could indulge in that wild district the spirit of
adventure which was strong within him. When young men are anxious to
indulge the spirit of adventure, they generally do so by falling in love
with young women of whom their fathers and mothers would not approve. In
these days a spirit of adventure hardly goes further than this, unless
it take a young man to a German gambling table.

When Fred left Scroope it was understood that he was to correspond
with his aunt. The Earl would have been utterly lost had he attempted
to write a letter to his nephew without having something special to
communicate to him. But Lady Scroope was more facile with her pen,
and it