CHAPTER YIIL 



A BREAKFAST, AND — BROKEN BONES. 



It falls not within mj department to describe the 

 thoughts of people — whereas I am neither Judge Ed- 

 monds, nor Mesdames Fish and Eox, nor myself a 

 medium, nor the owner of a medium through whom to 

 converse with Benjamin Franklin, or Beelzebub, or 

 any other of the omniscients — I shall not therefore 

 attempt to look through the windows of his bosom into 

 the secrets of Colonel Fairfax's heart ; but as I was 

 present at Melton Mowbray in those days, and myself 

 a follower of the Quorndon, and moreover Percy's sole 

 confidant in this matter, I can tell you, fair reader, 

 what he said and did, and from that I doubt not you 

 will be able to form, if you desire to do so, some idea 

 of his thoughts also — for although to many men lan- 

 guage is given to conceal and acts to contradict their 

 thoughts, it was not so with Fairfax. 



First, then, after handing Mary Merton into her 

 carriage, he wrapped his cloak around him, lighted 

 his cigar, and walked homeward without returning in- 

 to the ball room, or giWng any hint to the count of 

 his proceedings. Secondly as soon as he got home he 

 sent for his groom, ordered " Thunderbolt" to be sent 

 as his first, and the strawberry roan mare by Sher- 

 wood out of Emma for his second horse, to Merton 

 hall-door at half-past eleven, and " Crazy Jane" to be 

 at his own door at half-past nine — for he had ascer- 

 tained that Merton was some twelve miles distant — in 

 the capacity of covert-hack. Thirdly, he went to bed. 

 So that when Matuschevitz came home, having dis- 

 (140) 



