went
mad in consequence.'

'Perhaps,' remarked Logan, 'the chemist was voting at the Comitia, and it
was his boy who made a mistake about the mixture.'

'Very probably, but as a rule, the love philtres _worked_. Now, with all
our boasted progress, the secret is totally lost. Nothing but a love
philtre would be of any use in some cases. There is Lord Methusalem,
eighty if he is a day.'

'Methusalem has been unco "wastefu' in wives"!' said Logan.

'His family have been consulting me--the women in tears. He _will_ marry
his grandchildren's German governess, and there is nothing to be done. In
such cases nothing is ever to be done. You can easily distract an aged
man's volatile affections, and attach them to a new charmer. But she is
just as ineligible as the first; marry he _will_, always a young woman.
Now if a respectable virgin or widow of, say, fifty, could hand him a
love philtre, and gain his heart, appearances would, more or less, be
saved. But, short of philtres, there is nothing to be done. We turn
away a great deal of business of that sort.'

The Society of Disentanglers, then, reluctantly abandoned dealings in
this class of affairs.

In another distressing business, Merton, as a patriot, was obliged to
abandon an attractive enterprise. The Marquis of Seakail was serving his
country as a volunteer, and had been mentioned in despatches. But, to
the misery of his family, he had entangled himself, before his departure,
with a young lady who taught in a high school for girls. Her character
was unimpeachable, her person graceful; still, as her father was a
butcher, the duke and duchess were reluctant to assent to the union. They
consulted Merton, and assured him that they would not flinch from
expense. A great idea flashed across Merton's mind. He might send out a
stalwart band of Disentanglers, who, disguised as the enemy, might
capture Seakail, and carry him off prisoner to some retreat where the
fairest of his female staff (of course with a suitable chaperon), would
await him in the character of a daughter of the hostile race. The result
would probably be to detach Seakail's heart from his love in England. But
on reflection, Merton felt that the scheme was unworthy of a patriot.

Other painful cases occurred. One lady, a mother, of resolute character,
consulted Merton on the case of her son. He was betrothed to an
excitable girl, a neighbour in the country, who wrote long literary
letter