this unknown savage from Fort Charles was in violent contrast to
such desirable persons as Lady Agnes Martling. Not that the Armours were
zealous for mere money and title, but the thing itself was altogether
a propos, as Mrs. Armour had more naively than correctly put it. The
general, whose knowledge of character and the circumstances of life
was considerable, had worked out the thing with much accuracy. He had
declared to Richard, in their quiet talk upon the subject, that Frank
must have been anything but sober when he did it. He had previously
called it a policy of retaliation; so that now he was very near the
truth. When they arrived at the dock at Liverpool, the Aphrodite was
just making into the harbour.

"Egad," said General Armour to himself, "Sebastopol was easier than
this; for fighting I know, and being peppered I know, by Jews, Greeks,
infidels, and heretics; but to take a savage to my arms and do for her
what her godfathers and godmothers never did, is worse than the devil's
dance at Delhi."

What Mrs. Armour, who was not quite so definite as her husband, thought,
it would be hard to tell; but probably grief for, and indignation at,
her son, were uppermost in her mind. She had quite determined upon
her course. None could better carry that high, neutral look of social
superiority than she.

Please Heaven, she said to herself, no one should see that her
equanimity was shaken. They had brought one servant with them, who had
been gravely and yet conventionally informed that his young master's
wife, an Indian chieftainess, was expected. There are few family
troubles but find their way to servants' hall with an uncomfortable
speed; for, whether or not stone walls have ears, certainly men-servants
and maid-servants have eyes that serve for ears, and ears that do more
than their bounden duty. Boulter, the footman, knew his business. When
informed of the coming of Mrs. Francis Armour, the Indian chieftainess,
his face was absolutely expressionless; his "Yessir" was as mechanical
as usual. On the dock he was marble--indifferent. When the passengers
began to land, he showed no excitement. He was decorously alert. When
the crucial moment came, he was imperturbable. Boulter was an excellent
servant. So said Edward Lambert to himself after the event; so,
likewise, said Mrs. Townley to herself when the thing was over; so
declared General Armour many a time after, and once very emphatically,
just before he raised Boulte