The Argosy — page 44: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The Results of a Hunt Week. 31 could claim to be presumptive heir to a barony. The only son of the present Baron, however, being in the prime of life, this fact gave him a poetic rather than a marketable value in the eyes of an ever- prudent society. Between his family and the Seatons the relations had for genera- tions been stormy, from causes that are unconnected with the matter in hand, and though no actual feud existed now, a strained attitude was still maintained. When, therefore, a Montagu and Capulet attachment sprang up between Rick and Amy, it received no favour from Mr. Seaton; and two proposals from Romeo had been refused by him, although accepted by Juliet, with an increasing plainness that did not tempt to a third essay. Young Pontifex, however, was no “limp” suitor, and very much in love, and rash enough to forego the question of settlements, had won a promise from Amy to elope with him at the first opportunity : such as that which offered now. Agatha Ffoulkes did not actually disapprove of the elopement, for Mr. Seaton, though an indulgent father in some respects, had strained his prerogative unjustifiably far in resisting the joint entreaties of the young couple. Rick’s wild oats were fairly done with, and he showed no inclination to renew the crop. No other objection to him could justly be formed. The marriage was to be performed at a little church close to the Keep, the brave-hearted Rector of which, after long remonstrance with Mr. Seaton on his conduct to his daughter, now of age, apparently felt himself justified in performing the ceremony. Perhaps Mr. Seaton scented conspiracy in the air ; but anyhow, he had become suspicious of his own shadow as regarded Amy’s move- ments, and rarely left home without her. But an invitation from Lord Heliotrope was one of the few baits he could not resist, and this absence of a few hours gave the lovers the chance they had long been watching for. No wonder that Agatha had blushed at sight of Rick, so implicated did she feel in the plot ; for as the persecuted couple could rarely get speech of each other, she had been as Ambassadress between them during the Hunt Week; and so much in Rick’s company as to suggest to many, less interested than poor Godfrey, the idea of an attachment between them. Even Mr. Seaton had been caught by the notion, and imperceptibly relaxed his vigilance over Amy ; for Fate is a humourist of the first water, with a distinct relish for making us minister to our own catastrophes. As a preliminary antic she resolved on making him to-night the subject of that impish form of entertainment—a practical joke—and found an instrument to hand in Charley Byce. This youth, in the midst of raising Mrs. Prideaux-Power’s ready laugh by his flowery devotion, had stooped so low as to make her question whether he was going to crown it by kissing the hem of her COniicaao <S (SO) mm