ou beat
him hollow, my dear boy; yet all London went mad about Prince
Gelbioso, and so did she; and off she bolted with him, bag and
baggage, leaving husband and children and friends and all! and she'd
got ten thousand a year of her own; and when the Duke divorced her
they were married, and lived happily ever after--in Italy; and some
of the best people called upon 'em, by George!... just to spite the
Duke!"

Barty felt it would seem priggish or even insincere if he were to
disclaim any wish to emulate Prince Gelbioso; so he merely said he
thought painting easier on the whole, and not so risky; and the good
Beresford Duff talked of other things--of the divine Julia, and what
a good thing it would be if she and Graham-Reece could make a match
of it.

"Two of the finest fortunes in England, by George! they _ought_ to
come together, if only just for the fun of the thing! Not that she
is a bit in love with him--I'll eat my hat if she is! What a pity
_you_ ain't goin' to be Lord Ironsides, Barty!"

Barty frankly confessed _he_ shouldn't much object, for one.

"But, 'ni l'or ni la grandeur ne nous rendent heureux,' as we used
to be taught at school."

"Ah, that's all gammon; wait till you're _my_ age, my young friend,
and as poor as _I_ am," said Beresford Duff. And so the two friends
talked on, Mentor and Telemachus--and we needn't listen any further.

Part Seventh

"Old winter was gone
In his weakness back to the mountains hoar,
And the spring came down
From the planet that hovers upon the shore
Where the sea of sunlight encroaches
On the limits of wintry night;
If the land, and the air, and the sea
Rejoice not when spring approaches,
We did not rejoice in thee,
Ginevra!"
--Shelley.

Riffrath, besides its natives and its regular English colony of
residents, had a floating population that constantly changed. And
every day new faces were to be found drinking tea with Mr. Beresford
Duff--and all these faces were well known in society at home, you
may be sure; and Barty made capital caricatures of them all, which
were treasured up and carried back to England; one or two of them
turn up now and then at a sale at Christie's and fetch a great
price. I got a little pen-and-ink outline of Captain Reece there,
drawn before he came into the title. I had to give forty-seven
pounds ten for it, not only because it was a sp