4 14 THE MASTER OF THE HOUNDS. 



a large party from Bampton, now augmented by the arrival of 

 Lady Malcolm and Mrs. Fortescue. Mr. and Mrs. Harcourt 

 were invited also ; and, although with a bad grace, they deemed 

 it a good opportunity for renewing that intimacy with their 

 neighbours which the revelations made at the late trial had 

 somewhat discomposed. 



Having left their cards at Bampton since their ward's 

 return, the meeting between aunt and aunt was less cat-like 

 than heretofore ; and that between aunt and niece, apparently, 

 rather affectionate. Mr. Harcourt, perhaps more sinned against 

 than sinning in the Marston Castle plot, and devoid of the 

 acrimonious feeling still entertained by his wife against Lord 

 Beauchamp, shook him most cordially by the hand, congratu- 

 lating him upon Blanche's improved looks and more cheerful 

 manner. In fact, the change in Lady Beauchamp struck every 

 one of her old acquaintance as most extraordinary. But was 

 there not a cause 1 She had exchanged the harassing anxieties 

 of the last twelve months for peace and security of mind, and, 

 when leaning on her husband's arm, looked the personification 

 of happiness and contentment ; and the soft, confiding smile 

 directed to Beauchamp's face said, in plain language, "With 

 him I have found a haven and a rest." Lord Mervyn had, long 

 before the trial, left Marston Castle for Paris, where he was to 

 be joined by his son-in-law, Vernon, and his young wife, to pass 

 the winter. The shock inflicted on Vernon's frame (never 

 very strong) caused great misgivings in his physician's mind 

 as to his entire re-establishment in health ever again ; and 

 a warmer climate being recommended, he was to pass the 

 intermediate time in Italy, before joining his father-in-law at 

 Paris. 



The marriage ceremony between the Captain and Miss 

 Honoria was, by the particular desire of Mrs. Winterbottom, 

 solemnised at St. George's Chapel, followed by a long account 

 of the loveliness of the bride and her bridesmaids, &c, the 

 next day, in the Morning Post; and a dejeuner provided on 

 a large scale from Gunter's, for their London friends and con- 

 nections, at their own house in Bryanston Square, which had 

 undergone new decorations for the brewer and his wife, who 

 both, after a fair trial, found a country life not at all to their 

 xaste, and the reverse of what they expected — the lady complain- 

 ing of being shut up, during the winter months, like an owl in 

 a barn, without a neighbour dropping in once a month. In 

 short, Mr. Winterbottom had committed an egregious mistake 

 by purchasing landed property in a locality surrounded by old, 



