CHAPTER XXXII—'AN OLD MAN'S DARLING.'

Waikato Times, Volume V, Issue 272, 7 February 1874, Page 3

CHAPTER XXX lI— A N OLD MAN'S DARLING.'

How lias time dealt with Mr St Quentin since thntremaik a'llv well -preset re J gentleman lias been in possession of the f) choicest bl^ssingd of existence — a large fortune, freedom to en]ov it accord n% to hi!> own ta*te*, perfect leisure, and a brauhful jcung wife? It is a little more than five years since lie returned to England, and be has no cause to complain of any undue havoc in his well-cared for personal ap earanee. Perhaps no one would be likely to guess his present cge so far shoit. of the truth aa almost everyone hud gue«j< J it prpviouslj. But he was not, oven vet, irrevocably n the cntpgory of ' old men.' Partial friends and toadies might still designate him an 'elderly gentlemnn,' and strangers be introduced to him and Miriam without having their sense of incongruity quickened into actual disgust, flu figure was still upright and active, and hu hair plentiful tl ougt' grizzled llw correct, tuteful, appropiiato style of dress., entirely free from affectation of youth fulnesn, was also as free from carlessne^s, find he was altogether a 'pprbp"»M" ' mnn. Vf-rr rlono observer*, faintlinr with Mr Sfc Qii <»itm'« appearance at the neriod of hm rphirn from Tndw, mn'ht } \*p noticed t'mt he did not look so amiable, so ready aim tasy to dh pleased, a« in those dnys ; that he was more silent and seemed at tiuieslohave ' noiuething on iiis mind,' of a rxuure tncouiikLC-nt with the general prosperity of his Ihcii; WHJ not the least suspicion afloat among the society in Jiu'uin and her lmnband lived, that t^eir mai-riace vr as not a happy one; happy, that is to say, in modern Horu- v'n j en 9c-V it woid. They wero not juppoiod co be romr ltically attacicd, but that kind of thing was never thought of among « ell-bred people, even when no rliaerepsn r ri rg»- ajt^ted. Mvrv rul^ar hoiest lovo did vory well to cheer the existence of peop'e of the lower classes ; bur it Hid not count in the fine, gay, luxurious, great world, in which there ii no( the le Ist occasion for people to bore eaoh other, if th«y hppr^n t 0 disagree, or tn htve had enough of W ono mioiuer, or keverallv to prel'er Homebody else, and where *11 these contingencies may bo provided for with perfect det-orain. It was allowed, on the other hand, that the demeanour of Mr and Mrs St Quentin to each other was 1 simp' / f<er eec On his »ido, alurtneas, attention, wtJl brod ga"t' ;ry ; <n hfi-s, consideration, f.unk Liudhu-s. 1 , with jint the slightest touch of that delightful daferenoe to his ag«, which waf 10 very charming. The aplomb, and the perfect freedom of a wife, combined with something genMy