in to Darrock
Hall, and made excursions from time to time in the lake district,
some miles off. On one of these trips Mrs. Norcross met with some old
friends, who introduced her to a gentleman of their party bearing the
very common and very uninteresting name of Mr. James Smith.

He was a tall, fine young man enough, with black hair, which grew very
long, and the biggest, bushiest pair of black whiskers I ever saw.
Altogether he had a rakish, unsettled look, and a bounceable way of
talking which made him the prominent person in company. He was poor
enough himself, as I heard from his servant, but well connected--a
gentleman by birth and education, though his manners were so free. What
my mistress saw to like in him I don't know; but when she asked her
friends to stay with her at Darrock, she included Mr. James Smith in
the invitation. We had a fine, gay, noisy time of it at the Hall, the
strange gentleman, in particular, making himself as much at home as if
the place belonged to him. I was surprised at Mrs. Norcross putting
up with him as she did, but I was fairly thunderstruck some months
afterward when I heard that she and her free-and-easy visitor were
actually going to be married! She had refused offers by dozens abroad,
from higher, and richer, and better-behaved men. It seemed next to
impossible that she could seriously think of throwing herself away upon
such a hare-brained, headlong, penniless young gentleman as Mr. James
Smith.

Married, nevertheless, they were, in due course of time; and, after
spending the honeymoon abroad, they came back to Darrock Hall.

I soon found that my new master had a very variable temper. There were
some days when he was as easy, and familiar, and pleasant with his
servants as any gentleman need be. At other times some devil within
him seemed to get possession of his whole nature. He flew into violent
passions, and took wrong ideas into his head, which no reasoning or
remonstrance could remove. It rather amazed me, considering how gay
he was in his tastes, and how restless his habits were, that he should
consent to live at such a quiet, dull place as Darrock. The reason
for this, however, soon came out. Mr. James Smith was not much of a
sportsman; he cared nothing for indoor amusements, such as reading,
music, and so forth; and he had no ambition for representing the county
in parliament. The one pursuit that he was really fond of was yachting.
Darrock was within sixteen miles of