oriety in that, far above the fame of winning "Derbys" or breaking
Roulette Banks; and he pictured to himself how they would journey
through the Continent, admired, worshipped, and envied,--for already he
had invested himself with the qualities of his future wife, and gloried
in the triumphs she was so sure to win.

"By Jove! I'll do it," cried he, at last, as he slapped his hand on the
table. "I don't care what they'll say, I _will_ do it; and if there's
any fellow dares to scoff or sneer at it, Grog shall shoot him. I'll
make that bargain with him; and he 'll like it, for he loves fighting."
He summed up his resolution by imagining that the judgment of the world
would run somehow in this fashion: "Wonderful fellow, that Annesley
Beecher! It's not above a year since his brother lost the title, and
there he is now, married to the most splendid woman in all Europe,
living like a prince,--denying himself nothing, no matter what it
cost,--and all by his own wits! Show me his equal anywhere! Lackington
used to call him a 'flat.' I wonder what he 'd say now!"

CHAPTER XIII. A DARK CONFIDENCE

What a wound would it inflict upon our self-love were we occasionally to
know that the concessions we have extorted from our own hearts by
long effort and persuasion would be deemed matters of very doubtful
acceptance by those in whose favor they were made. With what
astonishment should we learn that there was nothing so very noble in our
forgiveness, nothing so very splendid in our generosity! I have been led
to this reflection by thinking over Annesley Beecher's late resolve, and
wondering what effect it might have had on him could he have overheard
what passed in the very chamber next his own.

Though Lizzy Davis was dressed and ready to come down to breakfast, she
felt so ill and depressed that she lay down again on her bed, telling
the maid to close the shutters and leave her to herself.

"What's this, Lizzy? What's the matter, girl?" said Davis, entering, and
taking a seat at her bedside. "Your hand is on fire."

"I slept badly,--scarcely at all," said she, faintly, "and my head feels
as if it would split with pain."

"Poor child!" said he, as he kissed her burning forehead; "I was the
cause of all this. Yes, Lizzy, I know it, but I had been staving off
this hour for many and many a year. I felt in my heart that you were the
only one in all the world who could console or cheer me, and yet I was
satisfied to forego it