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"And he won a hundred louis of me in the train between Cannes and Monte Carlo." "Not bad going, that," observed Denny, in an approving tone. "Is he, then, un grec?" asked Mrs. Hipgrave, who loves a scrap of French. "In both senses, I believe," answered Hamlyn, viciously. "And what's his name?" said I. "Really, I don't recollect," said Hamlyn, rather petulantly.
They are sketches straight from the life of the country, and it is their beauty that makes Geoffry Hamlyn a classic in Australian literature.
Hamlyn, was the chatelaine of the famous Clovelly, in Devonshire, and was Con's sister. She had the spirit of eternal youth and was full of breathless admiration. I hardly ever met any one who derived so much pleasure and surprise out of ordinary life. She was as uncritical and tolerant of those she loved as she was narrow and vehement over those who had unaccountably offended her.
The description of the household pets, and the vermin including a lizard with an uncanny habit of 'unfastening its tail and making off on its stump when pursued' rivals the famous verandah scene in Geoffry Hamlyn. An intimation in the preface that these experiences are a faithful record from the early life of the author herself sufficiently explains their graphic quality.
He stood, hat in hand, ready to depart, and as usual, when he meant mischief, spoke in his sweetest tones. "I am afraid I must be saying good evening, Mr. Thornton. Why, James," he added, "this is something quite new. So you are going to Botany without waiting to be sent there. Ha! ha! Well, I wish you every sort of good luck. My dear friend, Hamlyn, too.
The author replied simply that Henry Kingsley's Geoffry Hamlyn being the best Australian novel that had been, or probably would be, written, 'any attempt to paint the ordinary squatting life of the colonies could not fail to challenge unfavourable comparison with that admirable story. The excuse is just a little too adventitious to have convinced even those to whom it was originally addressed.
Kingsley was more sparing in the use of local colour and incident than Boldrewood and some of the younger writers are, though in his first novel a few passages occur which may be considered unnecessary, including the story told by the hut-keeper to Hamlyn in the presence of the disguised bushrangers, the whisking of Captain Blockstrop and his friends on and off the stage, and the story of the lost child.
There was a roar at this, which Joel treated with sublime indifference, but curiosity prompted Peterson to examine the paper closely when the teacher had set it aside, and he found the following advertisement: 'If this should meet the eye of Joel Hamlyn, second brother of Sir Just Hamlyn, of Darnstable, he is hereby informed of the death of his brother and of his succession to the title and estates.
When Miss Dinah Hamlyn and her reeking steed dashed into the courtyard of her own home, closely clasped by a tall wicked-looking man wrapped in a scarlet cloak, the outcry was doubled. There was nothing to be done, though, but to give the stranger a suit of Mr. Hamlyn's clothes, and some food, and very comely he looked in the long coat, the handsome waistcoat, knee-breeches, and buckled shoes.
'I am Sir Joel Hamlyn now, he said, grinning down at his white moleskins and broken boots. 'Just and I hated each other like brothers. He was eminently respectable, I was eminently otherwise. We parted with mutual satisfaction, but he had two boys when I left England, both of whom have since died, or there would have been no anxious and respectful inquiries for my disreputable self.
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