United States or Maldives ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
"He was truly a great creature," ruminated Mr. Rolles. "He knew the world as I know Paley's Evidences. There was nothing that he could not carry to a termination with his own hand, and against the largest odds. Heavens!" he broke out suddenly, "is not this the lesson? Must I not learn to cut diamonds for myself?"
Lady Camper surprised him by answering his thoughts. 'No; it's for my own pleasure. Presently she said, 'Here they are. General Ople beheld his daughter by the river-side at the end of the lane, under escort of Mr. Reginald Rolles. It was another picture, and a pleasing one.
His Majesty in consequence of this request, promised him the reversion of an office, which was the place of Master of the Rolles, if he out-lived Sir Julius Cæsar, who then possessed it, and was grown so old, that he was said to be kept alive beyond nature's course, by the prayers of the many people who daily lived upon his bounty.
Rolles arrived, punctual to the minute; he looked like a man upon his guard, and spoke low and sparingly.
The Dictator made no reply; but as the Prince turned his back upon him in the lamplight he made a gesture full of menace and insane fury; and the next moment, slipping round a corner, he was running at full speed for the nearest cab-stand. Prince Florizel walked with Mr. Rolles to the door of a small hotel where the latter resided.
My brother is here in Paris; the police are on the alert; and if you persist in wearying me with your caterwauling, I will arrange a little astonishment for you, Mr. Rolles. But mine shall be once and for all. Do you understand, or would you prefer me to tell it you in Hebrew? There is an end to all things, and you have come to the end of my patience.
I am positively not prepared for little incidents like this. But set my mind at rest upon one point: do my eyes deceive me, or are you indeed a parson?" "I am in holy orders," answered Mr. Rolles. "Well," cried the other, "as long as I live I will never hear another word against the cloth!" "You flatter me," said Mr. Rolles. "Pardon me," replied Vandeleur; "pardon me, young man.
"Know them!" cried his friend; "why, the Prince is the finest gentleman in Europe, the only living creature who looks like a king; and as for Jack Vandeleur, if you can imagine Ulysses at seventy years of age, and with a sabre-cut across his face, you have the man before you! Know them, indeed! Why, you could pick either of them out of a Derby day!" Rolles eagerly hurried to the dining-room.
His essay "On the Christian Doctrine of the Social Obligations" obtained for him, at the moment of its production, a certain celebrity in the University of Oxford; and it was understood in clerical and learned circles that young Mr. Rolles had in contemplation a considerable work a folio, it was said on the authority of the Fathers of the Church.
"I take a particular interest in diamonds," replied Mr. Rolles, with an air of perfect self-possession. "Two connoisseurs should be acquainted. I have here a trifle of my own which may perhaps serve for an introduction." And so saying, he quietly took the case from his pocket, showed the Rajah's Diamond to the Dictator for an instant, and replaced it in security.
Word Of The Day