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He still occupied chambers in the Temple; he still called himself a barrister; but he had no longer any desire to succeed at the bar. His brother Lionel had become rector of Hallgrove, a village in Dorsetshire, where there was a very fine old church and a very small congregation. It was one of those fat livings which seem only to fall to the lot of rich men.
There he found the unfortunate rector's hat, as he had hoped he might find it, and having carried it back, he placed it on the brink of the river, and then once more mounted him, and rode, not at any remarkable speed, in the opposite direction to that in which Hallgrove lay. His reflections were of a satisfactory kind. He had succeeded, and he cared for nothing but success.
Larkspur went away, after having arranged with a small boy, who did odd jobs for the gardener at Hallgrove, that if the body was brought home in the morning, he should go over to Frimley, on consideration of half-a-crown, and inquire at the inn for Mr. Bennett. "It's no good thinking about what's to be done, till the body's found, and the inquest settled," thought Mr. Larkspur.
There was only one lady besides Lydia Graham who intended to accompany the huntsmen, and this lady was the dashing young wife of a cavalry officer, who was spending a month's leave of absence with his relatives at Hallgrove. The hunting-party rode out of the rectory gates in twos and threes. All had passed out into the high road before the rector himself, who was mounted on his new hunter.
The guests at Hallgrove Rectory this Christmas-time were Douglas Dale, Sir Reginald Eversleigh, a lady and gentleman called Mordaunt, and their two pretty, fair-faced daughters, and two other old friends of the rector's, one of whom is very familiar to us.
"Enough! You have made your decision. Henceforward let me hear no repinings, no hypocritical regrets. And now, order your horse, gallop back as fast as you can to the neighbourhood of Hallgrove, and show yourself foremost amongst those who seek for Lionel Dale." "Yes, yes; I will obey you I will shake off this miserable hesitation. I will make my nature iron, as you have made yours."
He went down stairs, after breakfasting in his own room, saw the landlord, and hired a good strong horse, commonly used by the proprietor of the "Cross Keys" on all his journeys to and from the market-town and outlying villages. Victor Carrington mounted this horse, and rode across the Common to the village of Hallgrove.
At thirty years of age a woman of Miss Graham's character is apt to be studiously careful of her beauty; and Lydia felt that she needed much repose after the fever and excitement of her visit to Hallgrove Rectory. Sir Reginald Eversleigh played his part well during the few days in which he remained at the rectory.
She grew even paler than she had been before, and there was a nervous working of the lips that betrayed her agitation. "Were there ladies amongst the guests at Hallgrove?" he asked. "Yes, Madame Durski, there were ladies. Did you not know that it was to be so?" "No," replied Paulina. "Sir Reginald told me it was to be a bachelors' party."
Miss Graham looked her best in one of those forgotten headdresses; the rich velvet, the drooping feathers, set off her showy face, and Laura and Ellen Mordaunt, in their fresh young beauty and simple costume, lost by contrast with the aristocratic belle. The poor of Hallgrove parish looked forward eagerly to the coming of Christmas.
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