208 THE FIRST DAY OF THE SEASON 



that was the name of the irascible little gentleman 

 whose hatred of hunting, hounds, and horses had 

 caused my suffering — until my wounded limb was 

 well again, the worthy old major doing all in his 

 power to make amends for the catastrophe his 

 absurd violence had brought about. 



At the expiration of six weeks I was able to 

 move about on crutches ; at the termination of twice 

 that period, I was well again, and had, moreover, 

 fallen irretrievably in love with the bright eyes and 

 pretty face of Belinda Pipeclay, one of the major's 

 handsome daughters. Thinking, in my ignorance 

 of the fair sex, that the child of so irascible a papa 

 • — having been in her juvenile days well tutored 

 under the Solomonian code of " sparing the rod, and 

 spoiling the child" — must therefore, of necessity, 

 make a submissive and obedient wife, I proposed, 

 was accepted, obtained the major's consent, and 

 became a Benedict. 



Dear reader, I am really ashamed to confess the 

 truth : I have been severely henpecked ever since. 

 Whether Belinda possesses the same antipathy to 

 hounds, horses, and hunting men as her progenitor, 

 I cannot possibly tell ; for returning to India soon 

 after my marriage, I had no opportunity of there 

 testing her feelings in that respect. Now the in- 

 creasing number of mouths in our nursery compels 



