epsom racecourse on the oaks day. the great event of the day has not yet been run, but the course has been cleared and two or three of the fillies have just come out from the paddock and are making their way at a walk along the broad green track, while their jockeys are chatting together. luncheons have been hastily finished, and the occupants of the carriages and drags are standing up and beginning for the first time to manifest an interest in the proceedings they have nominally come down to witness. the general mass of spectators cluster thickly by the ropes, while a few take advantage of the clearance of the ground beyond to stroll leisurely along the line of carriages. the shouts of the men with cocoanuts, pincushions, and dolls on sticks, and of those with aunt sallys, rifle galleries, and other attractions, are hushed now; their time will not come again until the race is over.

two men, one perhaps thirty, the other some three or four years younger, are among those who pay more attention to the carriages and their occupants than to the approaching race. the younger has a face deeply bronzed by a sun far hotter than that of england.

'how fast they change, danvers. six years ago i knew almost every face in the carriages, now i scarcely know one. who is that very pretty girl standing up on the seat of that barouche?'

'don't you know? look at the man she is talking to on the box. that is her father.'

'by jove! it is mr. hawtrey. you don't mean to say that is little dorothy?'

'not particularly little, but it is certainly dorothy hawtrey.'

'i must go and speak to them, danvers. you know them too, don't you?'

'well, considering i meet them out pretty well every night somewhere i ought to do,' the other said, as with slower steps he followed his companion to the carriage.

'how are you, mr. hawtrey?' the latter exclaimed, looking up at the man on the box.

the gentleman looked down a little puzzled at the warmth with which the words were spoken by one whose face he did not recall.

'don't you remember me, sir? i am edward hampton.'

'why, ned, is it you? you are changed out of all knowledge. you have come back almost as dark as a malay. when did you arrive?'

'i only reached town yesterday evening; looked up danvers, and was lucky enough to find him at home. he said he was coming down here to-day, and as it was of no use calling on people in town on the oaks day i came with him.'

'are you not going to speak to me, captain hampton?'

'i am, indeed, miss hawtrey, though i confess i did not know you until danvers told me who you were; and i do not feel quite sure now, for the miss hawtrey i used to know never called me anything but ned.'

'the miss hawtrey of those days was a little tomboy in short frocks,' the girl laughed, 'but i do not say that if i find that you are not so changed in reality as you are in appearance, i may not, perhaps, some day forget that you are captain hampton, v.c.' she had stepped down from her lofty seat, and was now shaking hands with him heartily. 'it does not seem six years since we said good-bye,' she went on. 'of course you are all that older, but you don't seem so old to me. i used to think you so big and so tall when i was nine, and you were double that age, and during the next three years, when you had joined your regiment and only came down occasionally to us, you had become quite an imposing personage. that was my last impression of you. now, you see, you don't look so old, or so big, or so imposing, as i have been picturing you to myself.'

'i dare say not,' he laughed. 'you see you have grown so much bigger and more imposing yourself.'

suddenly dorothy hawtrey leapt to her seat again and touched her father on the arm.

'father,' she said in a whisper, 'that man who has just turned from the crowd and is coming towards us is the one i was speaking to you about a few minutes ago, who had been staring at you with such an evil look.'

the man, who had the appearance of a shabby bookmaker, and who carried a satchel slung round his neck, and had the name of 'marvel' on a broad ribbon round his hat, was now close to the carriage.

'will you take the odds, mr. hawtrey,' he said in a loud voice, 'against any of the horses? i can give you six to one, bar one, against the field.'

'i do not bet,' mr. hawtrey said coldly, 'and by your looks it would have been better for you if you had never done so either.'

'i have had a bad run lately,' the man said, 'but i fancy it is going to turn. will you lay a few pounds for the sake of old times?'

mr. hawtrey shook his head decidedly.

'i have come down rather in the world,' the man went on insolently, 'but i could pay the bet if i lost it as well as other debts. i have never forgotten how much i owe you.'

hampton took a step forward towards the man, when a policeman stepped out from between their carriage and the next.

'now, move on,' he said, 'or i will make you, sharp; you are not going to annoy people here, and if you don't go at once i will walk you off to the police tent.'

the man hesitated a moment, and then, muttering angrily, moved slowly away to the spot where he had left the dense line of spectators by the ropes.

'who is he, father?' dorothy hawtrey asked; 'does he really know you?'

'yes, my dear, he is the son of an old steward; he was a wild, reckless young scamp, and when his father died, shortly after i came into the property, i naturally refused to appoint him to the position. he used some very strong language at the time, and threatened me with all sorts of evils. i have met him once or twice since, and he never loses an opportunity of showing that he has not forgiven me; but never mind him now, here come the horses for their preliminary canter.'

captain hampton and his friend remained by the carriage until the race was over. the former had been introduced by dorothy to the other three occupants of the carriage—lady linkstone, her daughter mary, and miss nora cranfield.

as soon as it was over the crowd broke up, the shouts of the men with the cocoanuts and aunt sallys rose loudly, and grooms began to lead up the horses to many of the carriages.

'we are going to make a start at once, ned,' mr. hawtrey said; 'i cannot offer you a seat back to town, but if you have no engagement i hope that you will dine with us. will you come too, mr. danvers?'

danvers was disengaged, and he and edward hampton accepted the invitation at once. ned's father had owned an estate adjoining that of the hawtreys' in lincolnshire, and the families had been neighbours for many years. ned, who was the youngest of three sons had been almost as much at the hawtreys' as at his own home, as mr. hawtrey had a nephew living with him who was just about the lad's age, and during the holidays the two boys were always together. they had entered the army just at the same time, but james hawtrey had, a few months after he went out to india, died of fever.

'who was the man who came up and spoke to them five minutes before the race started?' he asked danvers as they strolled away together.

'there were two or three of them.'

'i mean the man who said it was too bad, dorothy not coming down on his drag.'

'that is lord halliburn; he is very attentive there, and the general opinion is that it will be a match.'

'he didn't look as if he had much in him,' hampton said, after a pause.

'he has a title and a very big rent roll, and has, therefore, no great occasion for brains; but in point of fact he is really clever. he is under-secretary for the colonies, and is regarded as a rising young peer. he is not a bad fellow at all, i believe; keeps a few racers but does not bet, and has no vices as far as i have ever heard. that is his drag; he drives a first-rate team.'

'well, i hope he is a good fellow,' captain hampton said shortly. 'you see i never had a sister of my own. that little one and i were quite chums, and i used to look upon her almost in the light of a small sister, and i should not like to think of her marrying anyone who would not make her happy.'

'i should think she has as fair a chance with halliburn as with most men,' danvers said. 'i know a man who was at christ church with him. he said that he was rather a prig—but that a fellow could hardly help being, brought up as he had been—but that, as a whole, he was one of the most popular men of his set. now we may as well be walking for the station—that is, if you have had enough of it.'

'i am quite ready to go. after all, an english racecourse makes but a dull show by the side of an indian one. the horses are better, and, of course, there is no comparison between the turnouts and the dresses of the women, though they manage to make a brave show at the principal stations; but as far as the general appearance of the crowd goes, you are not in it here. the natives in their gay dresses and turbans give a wonderfully light and gay appearance to the course, and though, possibly, among quite the lower class they may not all be estimable characters, at least they do not look such a pack of unmitigated ruffians as the hangers-on of an english racecourse. that was a nice specimen who attacked hawtrey.'

'yes, the fellow had a thoroughly bad face, and would be capable, i should say, of any roguery. it is not the sort of face i should expect to see in the dock on a charge of murder or robbery with violence, but i should put him down as an astute rogue, a crafty scoundrel, who would swindle an old woman out of her savings, rob servant girls or lads from the country by means of specious advertisements, or who in his own line would nobble a horse or act as the agent for wealthier rogues in getting at jockeys and concocting any villainous plan to prevent a favourite from winning. of course, i know nothing of the circumstances under which he lost his place with hawtrey, but there is no doubt that he has cherished a bitter hatred against him, and would spare no pains to take his revenge. if hawtrey owned racehorses i should be very shy of laying a penny upon them after seeing that fellow's face.'

'well, as he does not own racehorses the fellow has no chance of doing him a bad turn; he might forge a cheque and put hawtrey's name to it, but i should say he would have some difficulty in getting any one to cash it.'

there were at dinner that evening only the party who had been in the barouche, danvers, hampton, and sir edward linkstone.

'i wish there had been no one else here this evening,' dorothy hawtrey said to captain hampton before dinner, 'there is so much to talk about. first, i want to hear all you have been doing in india, and next, we must have a long chat over old times; in fact, we want a cozy talk together. of course you will be tremendously engaged just at present, but you must spare me a long morning as soon as you possibly can.'

'i suppose i am not going to take you into dinner?'

'no, sir edward linkstone does that. we cannot ask him to take in his daughter or nora cranfield, who is staying at his house, and besides, it would not be nice. i should not like to be sitting by you, talking the usual dinner talk, when i am so wanting to have a real chat with you. you will take in mary linkstone, she is a very nice girl.'

the dinner was a pleasant one, and the party being so small the conversation was general. it turned, however, a good deal on india, for sir edward linkstone had been judge of the supreme court at calcutta, and had retired just about the time that hampton had gone out there. after the ladies had left the room, danvers remarked to their host:

'that was an unpleasant-looking character who accosted you just before the race started for the oaks, mr. hawtrey.'

'yes; i don't know that i have many enemies, beyond perhaps some fellows, poachers and others, whom i have had to commit for trial, but i do consider that fellow to be a man who would injure me if he could. his father, john truscott was my father's steward, or agent as it is the fashion to call them now, on his estate in lincolnshire. he had been there for over thirty years, and was a thoroughly trustworthy and honourable man, a good agent, and greatly liked by the tenants as well as by my father. as you may know, i came into the estates when i came of age. my father had died two years before. well, i knew that truscott had had a good deal of trouble with his son, who was three or four years older than myself.

'truscott kept a small farm in his own hands, and he made a hobby of breeding blood stock. not to any great extent; i think he had only some five or six brood mares, but they were all good ones. i think he did very well by them; certainly some of the foals turned out uncommonly well. of course he did not race them himself, but sold them as yearlings. as it turned out it was unfortunate, for it gave his son a fancy for the turf. i suppose it began by his laying bets on the horses they had bred, then it went on and he used to attend racecourses and get into bad company, and i know that his father had more than once to pay what were to him heavy sums to enable him to clear up on settlement day. i don't know, though, that it would have made much difference, the fellow might have gone to the bad anyhow. he had always a shifty, sly sort of look. about four years after i came into the estates i was down in lincolnshire at our place, when truscott was taken ill, and i naturally went to see him.

'"i don't think i shall be long here, mr. hawtrey," he said, "and you will have to look out for another steward. i used to hope that when my time came for giving up work my son would step into my shoes. he has plenty of brains, and as far as shrewdness goes he would make a better steward than i have ever done. for the last year, since i began to fail, he has been more at home and has done a good deal of my work, and i expect he reckons on getting my place, but, mr. hawtrey, you must not give it to him. it is a hard thing for a father to say, but you could not trust him."

'i felt that myself, but i did not like to admit it to the old man, and i said:

'"i know he has been a bit wild, truscott, but he may have seen that he was behaving like a fool, and as you say he has been helping you more for the last year, he may have made up his mind to break altogether from the life he has been leading."

'"it is not in him, sir," he said. "i could forgive his being a bit wild, but he is not honest. don't ask me what he has done, but take my word for it. a man who will rob his own father will rob his employer. i have done my best for your father and you; no man can say that john truscott has robbed him, and i should turn in my grave if our name were dishonoured down here. you must not think of it, sir; you would never keep him if you tried him; it would be a pain to me to think that one of my blood should wrong you, as i know, surely, robert would do, and i implore you to make a complete change, and get some man who will do the estate justice."

'of course i assented; indeed, i had heard so much of the fellow's doings that i had quite made up my mind that when his father retired i would look for a steward elsewhere. at the same time i know that if the old man had asked me to try him for a time, i should have done so. a week later john truscott died, and the day after his funeral, which i, of course, attended, his son came up to the house. well, it was a very unpleasant business; he seemed to assume that, as a matter of course, he would succeed his father, and pointed out that for the last year he had, in fact, carried on the estate for him. i said that i did not doubt his ability, but that i had no idea of making a man who was a frequenter of racecourses, and who, i knew, bet so heavily that his father had had to aid him several times, manager of the estate.

'he answered that he had had his fling, and would now settle down steadily. of course, after what his father had said i was obliged to be firm. when he saw that there was no chance of altering my decision he came out in his true colours; broke out in the most violent language, and had i not been a good deal more powerful man than he was i believe he would have struck me. at last i had to ring the bell and order the footman to turn him out. he cooled down suddenly, and deliberately cursed me, swearing that he would some day be revenged upon me for my ingratitude to his father, and the insult i had passed upon him in thus refusing to appoint him after the thirty years' services the old man had rendered me. i have no doubt he thoroughly meant what he said, but naturally, i never troubled myself about the matter.

'the threats of a disappointed man seldom come to anything, and as there was no conceivable way in which he could injure me his menaces really meant nothing. i have come across him four or five times since. i dare say that i should have met him oftener were i a regular attendant on racecourses, but it is years since i have been to one, and only did it to-day because dorothy had set her heart on seeing the oaks for the first time. however, whenever i have met him he has never failed to thrust himself upon me, and to show that his animosity is as bitter as it was on the day that i refused to appoint him steward. he left my neighbourhood at once, turned the stock into money, and as i know that he came into three or four thousand pounds at his father's death he had every chance of doing well. i believe that he did do well on the turf for a time, but the usual end came to that. when i met him last, some seven or eight years ago, i happened to be with a member of the jockey club who knew something of the fellow. he told me that he had been for a time a professional betting man, but had become involved in some extremely shady transactions, and had been warned off the turf, and was now only to be seen at open meetings, and had more than once had a narrow escape of being lynched by the crowd for welshing. from his appearance to-day it is evident that he is still a hanger-on of racecourses. i saw he had the name of marvel on his hat. i should say that probably he appears with a fresh name each time. i think the chance of meeting him has had something to do with my giving up going to races altogether. it is not pleasant being insulted by a disreputable-looking scoundrel, in the midst of a crowd of people.'

'he has never done you any harm, mr. hawtrey?' captain hamilton asked, 'because certainly it seemed to me there was a ring of triumphant malice in his voice.'

'certainly not, to my knowledge,' mr. hawtrey replied. 'once or twice there have been stacks burnt down on the estate, probably the work of some malicious fellow, but i have had no reason for suspecting truscott, and indeed, as the damage fell on the tenant and not on me, it would have been at best a very small gratification of spite, and i can hardly fancy he would have gone to the trouble and expense of travelling down to lincolnshire for so small a gratification of his ill-will to me. besides, had he had a hand in it, it would have been the stables and the house itself that would have been endangered.'

'the same idea struck me that occurred to hampton,' danvers said, 'but i suppose it was fancy. it sounded to me as if he had already paid, to some extent, the debt he spoke of, or as if he had no doubt whatever that he should do so in the future.'

the subject dropped, but when, after leaving, hampton went into the club to which danvers belonged, to smoke a cigar, he returned to it.

'i can't help thinking about that fellow truscott. it is evident, from what hawtrey says, that he has never done him any serious harm, and i don't see how the rascal can possibly do so; but i am positive that the man himself believes that he either has done or shall be able to do so.'

'that was the impression i had too, but there is never any telling with fellows of that class. the rogue, when he is found out, either cringes or threatens. he generally cringes so long as there is a chance of its doing him any good, then, when he sees that the game is altogether up, he threatens; it is only in one case in ten thousand that the threats ever come to anything, and as twenty years have gone by without any result in this case we may safely assume that it is not one of the exceptions.

'do you remember mrs. hawtrey?'

'yes, i remember her well. the first year or two after their marriage, hawtrey had a place near town. i think she had a fancy that lincolnshire was too cold for her. they came down when i was about eight years old. dorothy was about a year old, i fancy. mrs. hawtrey and my mother became great friends. we could go from one house to the other without going outside the grounds, and as i was the youngest of a large family i used to walk across with her, and if dorothy was in the garden she would come toddling to me and insist upon my carrying her upon my shoulder, or digging in her garden, or playing with her in some way or other. i don't know that i was fonder of children in general than most boys were, but i certainly took to her, and, as i said, we became great chums. she came to us two or three months after her mother died; her father went away on the continent, and the poor little girl was heart-broken, as well she might be, having no brothers or sisters. she was a very desolate little maiden, so of course i did what i could to comfort her, and when my father and mother died, within three days of each other, three years later, i think that child's sympathy did me more good than anything. that is the only time i have seen her since i entered the army, and then i was only at home a few days, for the regiment was at edinburgh, and it was a busy season. i suppose i could have got longer leave had i tried, but there was no object in staying at home. i had never got on particularly well with john, who was now master of the house; he was married, and had children, and after they arrived i thought the sooner i was off the better.'

'what became of tom? we were in the sixth together, you know; when you were my fag. you told me, didn't you, that he had gone out to china or something of that sort?'

'yes; there had been an idea that he would go into the church, but he did not take to it; he tried one or two things here and would not stick to them, and my father got him into a tea firm, and he went out for them two years afterwards to hong kong; but that did not suit him either, so he threw it up and went to australia, and knocked about there until he came into ten thousand at my father's death. he went in for sheep-farming then, and i have only heard once of him since, but he said that he was doing very well. i shall perhaps hear more about him when i see john. i must go down to lincolnshire to-morrow, and i suppose i shall have to stay a week or so there; it is the proper thing to do, of course, but i wish that it was over. i have never been in the old place since that bad time. i don't at all care for my brother's wife. i have no doubt that she is a very good woman, but there is nothing sympathetic about her; she is one of those women with a metallic sort of voice that seems to jar upon one as if she were out of tune.'

'and afterwards—have you any plans?'

'none at all. i shall look out for a couple of rooms, somewhere about jermyn street, and stay in town to the end of the season. then i shall hire a yacht for a couple of months, and knock about the coast or go across to norway. i wish you would go with me; i did switzerland and italy the last year before i went away, and i don't care about going there when every place is filled with a crowd. i have only got a year, and i should like to have as pleasant remembrances to take back with me as possible. do you think you will be able to come with me? of course i shall not be able to afford a floating palace. i should say about a thirty-tonner that would carry four comfortably would be the sort of thing. i will try to get two fellows to go to make up the party; some of my old chums if i can come across them. of course i can get any number of men home on leave like myself, but i don't want anyone from india, for in that case we should talk nothing but shop. you saw how we drifted into it at dinner. i should like not to hear india mentioned until i am on board a ship on my way out again.'

'when would you think of going?'

'oh, i should say after ascot—say the second week in july.'

'i can hardly go with you as soon as that; i cannot get away as long as the courts are sitting, or until they have, at any rate, nearly finished work; but i might join you by the end of the month, unless i have the luck to get retained in some important case that would make my fortune, and i need scarcely say that is not likely.

'but you are doing well, ain't you, danvers? i see your name in the papers occasionally.'

'i am doing quite as well as i have any right to expect; better, a good deal, than many men of my own standing, for i have only been called seven years, and ten is about the minimum most solicitors consider necessary before they can feel the slightest confidence in a man. still, it does not do very much more than pay for one's chambers and clerk.'

a week later ned hampton was established in lodgings in jermyn street. he had been down for three days into lincolnshire, but had not cared much for the visit. he had never got on very well with his elder brother, and they had no tastes or opinions in common. mrs. hampton was a woman with but little to say on any subject, while her husband was at this time of year absorbed in his duties as a magistrate and landlord, although in the winter these occupied a secondary position to hunting and shooting. the only son was away at school, the two girls were all day with their governess; and, after three as dull days as he had ever spent in his life, ned pleaded business that required his presence in london, and came back suddenly. he had been a good deal in society during his visits to london in the three years that intervened between his obtaining his commission and sailing for india. he had, therefore, many calls to make upon old acquaintances, and as at his military club he met numbers of men he knew, he soon had his hands full of engagements. he still managed, however, to spend a good deal of time at the hawtreys', where he was always welcome. one morning, when he dropped in, dorothy, after the first greeting, said, 'i have a piece of news to tell you. i should not like you to hear it from anyone else but me.' there was a heightened colour in her cheek, and he at once guessed the truth.

'you have accepted lord halliburn? i guessed it would be so. i suppose i ought to congratulate you, dorothy. at any rate, i hope you will be very happy with him.'

'why should you not congratulate me?'

'only because i do not know lord halliburn sufficiently well to be able to do so. of course, i understand that he is a good match; but that, in my mind, is quite a secondary consideration. the real question is, is he the sort of man who will make you happy?'

'i should not have accepted him unless i thought so,' she said gravely. 'mind,' she added with a laugh, 'i don't mean to say that i am insensible to the advantages of being a peeress, but in itself that would not have decided me. he is pleasant, and has the advantage of being very fond of me, and everyone speaks well of him.'

'all very good reasons, dorothy, if added to the best of all—that you love him.'

the girl nodded.

'of course, ned. i don't think that i have the sort of love one imagines as a young girl; not a wild, unreasoning sort of love; but you don't find that much in our days except in books. i like him very much, and, as i said before, he likes me. that does make such a wonderful difference, you see. when a man begins to show that he likes you, of course one thinks of him a good deal and in quite a different way from what you would otherwise do, and so one comes in time to like him in the same way he likes you. that seems to me the way with most girls i have known married. you don't see any harm in that?'

'oh no; i suppose it is the regular way in society; and, indeed, i don't see how people could get to care more than that for each other when they only meet at balls and flower shows and so on. well, i think i may congratulate you. there is no doubt whatever about its being a good match, and i don't see why you should not be very happy, and no doubt your liking, as you call it, will grow into something more like the love you used to dream about by-and-by.'

the girl pouted.

'you are not half as glad as i expected you to be—and please don't think that i am marrying without love. i only admit that it is not the sort of love one reads of in novels, but i expect it is just as real.'

'if it is good enough to wear well that is all that is necessary,' captain hampton said, more lightly than he had before spoken. 'you know, dorothy, you have my very best wishes. you were my little sister for years, you know, and there is no one whose happiness would give me so much pleasure.'