and she had
acknowledged that it was so, that she belonged to him, and could not
be taken away from him. All this was to her a compact so sacred that
nothing could break it but a desire on his part to have it annulled.
No other man had ever whispered a word of love to her, of no other
man had an idea entered her mind that it could be pleasant to join
her lot in life with his. With her it had been all new and all
sacred. Love with her had that religion which nothing but freshness
can give it. That freshness, that bloom, may last through a long
life. But every change impairs it, and after many changes it has
perished for ever. There was no question with her but that she
must bear her father's anger, should he be angry; put up with his
continued opposition, should he resolutely oppose her; bear all that
the countesses of the world might say to her;--for it was thus that
she thought of Lady Cantrip now. Any retrogression was beyond her
power.

She was walking with her father when she first heard of his intended
visit to London. At that time she had received Mrs. Finn's first
letter, but not the second. "I suppose you'll see Silverbridge," she
said. She knew then that Frank Tregear was living with her brother.

"I am going up on purpose to see him. He is causing me much
annoyance."

"Is he extravagant?"

"It is not that--at present." He winced even as he said this, for he
had in truth suffered somewhat from demands made upon him for money,
which had hurt him not so much by their amount as by their nature.
Lord Silverbridge had taken upon himself to "own a horse or two,"
very much to his father's chagrin, and was at this moment part
proprietor of an animal supposed to stand well for the Derby. The
fact was not announced in the papers with his lordship's name, but
his father was aware of it, and did not like it the better because
his son held the horse in partnership with a certain Major Tifto, who
was well known in the sporting world.

"What is it, papa?"

"Of course he ought to go into Parliament."

"I think he wishes it himself."

"Yes, but how? By a piece of extreme good fortune, West Barsetshire
is open to him. The two seats are vacant together. There is hardly
another agricultural county in England that will return a Liberal,
and I fear I am not asserting too much in saying that no other
Liberal could carry the seat but one of our family."

"You used to sit for Silverbridge, papa."

"Yes, I did. In those