affectations this was the underlying thought. True, he was heir of
Hallam, and as the heir had an allowance quite equal to his position.
But he constantly reflected that his father might live many years,
and that in the probable order of things he must wait until he was
a middle-aged man for his inheritance; and for a young man who felt
himself quite competent to turn the axle of the universe, it seemed
a contemptible lot to grind in his own little mill at Hallam. He had
not as yet voiced these thoughts, but they lay in his heart, and
communicated unknown to himself an atmosphere of unrest and
unreliability to all his words and actions.

It was soon evident that there would be little sympathy between Richard
and Antony. Richard Fontaine was calm, dignified, reticent; never
tempted to give his confidence to any one; and averse to receive the
confidences of others; therefore, though he listened with polite
attention to Antony's aspirations and aims, they made very little
impression upon him. Both he and Phyllis glided without effort into
the life which must have been so new to them; and in less than a week,
Hallam had settled happily down to its fresh conditions. But nothing
had been just as Antony expected. Phyllis was very lovely, but not
lovely specially for him, which was disappointing; and he could not
help soon seeing that, though Richard was attentive, he was also
unresponsive.

There is one charming thing about English hospitality, it leaves its
guests perfect freedom. In a very few days Phyllis found this out;
and she wandered, unnoticed and undisturbed, through the long
galleries, and examined, with particular interest, the upper rooms,
into which from generation to generation unwelcomed pictures and
unfashionable furniture had been placed. There was one room in the