74 SKETCHES IN THE HUNTING FIEID. 



descendant of that lady whose character is intimated 

 by the vivid colour of her garments. 



It is Tourneymeade's appearance, his bearing, his 

 behaviour, his manner of speaking, and his tone of 

 voice, which necessitate the application of the word 

 " swell ; " though I dislike slang, and should be glad to 

 find an appropriate term in purer Saxon. 



Your first impression with regard to Tourneymeade, 

 if you did not know him, would be that he was not 

 quite awake. 



His hair is light, his eyes blue, his moustache scant 

 and downy, although he is now, J suppose, some seven- 

 and-twenty years of age. His nose is delicately aqui- 

 line, and his peculiarity of expression is that his 

 eyes never seem entirely open : if a gun were suddenly 

 fired off close to his ear it would probably have no more 

 effect than to produce a mild inquiry as to what was the 

 row. On the whole he is rather good-looking, and ex- 

 tremely agreeable ; and this idea of him is not weakened 

 by the knowledge that he has an unencumbered income 

 of some ^45,000 a year, with expectations. 



The first Lord was a distinguished politician, and 

 revived the extinct title of an ancestor on retiring from 

 an active j^osition in public life. His son also had a 

 reputation for talent ; and between them they appear to 

 have got through the allowance of intellect which had 

 been apportioned to last the family for some genera- 

 tions ; for the present bearer of the title has little wit, 

 and only shows occasional glimmerings of mental power 



