THE FAIR HORSE-BBEAKER. 19 



parent bird anxious for her young ones to leave the nest, 

 being conscious of their complete ability to take care of 

 themselves ; while they in return were equally ready to spread 

 their pinions and fly to other latitudes, where in well-feathered 

 nests they would be willing to settle down with the mates of 

 their choice. 



There was usually another occupant of a seat at the 

 Lambton Lodge dinner-table, Mr. William Styles, the head 

 of the house, and the father of the two young ladies I have 

 already introduced to my readers. Mr. William Styles had 

 formerly been a soap-boiler, but, having amassed a tidy for- 

 tune, he fell a victim to the somewhat neglected charms of 

 Lady Muriel Devenport, the seventh and youngest daughter 

 of the impecunious Earl of Stonehenge. After their marriage 

 Lady Muriel had induced her spouse to convert the soap- 

 boiling business into a limited liability company, of which he 

 remained a director for some time, and finally persuaded him 

 to retire from it altogether. 



" The dear girls will never find husbands while you are 

 mixed up in that horrid soap business," she said to her 

 husband. ''No one will come near them after a Avhile; even 

 now the men seem to sheer off as if the poor things smelt of 

 soap. You must give it up, William," she continued. 

 *' Buy an estate in the country, get into Parliament, and 

 make a position for yourself, and then you may make sure 

 that some men who are not merely vulgar tradesmen will 

 pay some attention to your daughters." 



William protested. He did not see how the fact of his 

 retiring from a lucrative business would advance matters. 

 Once a soap-boiler, always a soap-boiler, he said. Let the 

 men come for the sake of the girls themselves : if not, let 

 them stay away. However, William had to give in, so he 

 bought a small estate in a fairly fashionable hunting country, 

 subscribed liberally to the hounds and other local objects, 



