Burgo's Romance

by T. W. Speight

"Ah, here comes my aunt," said Clara with a sigh of relief.

Burgo stood up as Mrs. Mordaunt drew near. Her face became charged with thunder the moment she recognised him. But that in no wise discomposed our friend. "Delighted to see you again, Mrs. Mordaunt," he said, as he raised his hat. "It seems ages since I parted from you last. I have just been felicitating Miss Leslie upon a certain event which, I hear on good authority, is to take place very shortly. I suppose, if it would not be considered presumptuous on my part, that I ought also to congratulate you, Mrs. Mordaunt, for affairs of this sort, to be successfully carried through, necessitate delicate manipulation and diplomatic talent of a very special kind. Yes, I am quite sure you ought to be congratulated. Penwhistle's a decent little chap enough, though they did blackball him at the Corinthian. Still, I don't think it can be true that the reason they 'chucked' him was because his grandfather is said to have been a marine-store dealer in Auld Reekie. No man can help his grandfather, can he? And when a fellow is worth thirty thousand a year, it would not matter a button even if one of his ancestors was hanged for sheep-stealing."

[CHAPTER VII.]

BURGO IN A NEW CHARACTER.

Burgo Brabazon had made up his mind beforehand that if he should be successful in meeting Miss Leslie at Twysden Court, and should find an opportunity of unburdening his mind to her of that which he wanted to say, he would take therewith his farewell of the pomps and vanities of London society. Well, he had succeeded in seeing her, and in having his say into the bargain, and as he passed out of the gates of Twysden Court he murmured to himself with a bitter smile: "Good-bye, proud world. From this day forth you and I are strangers. I choose to cut you, rather than afford you the chance of cutting me."

For, indeed, it was high time for him to think seriously of putting his hand to the plough, only, at present, he was not quite sure in which direction to look for that useful implement, or rather, for its latter-day equivalent.

He had been going into the question of his finances, and had found that in hard cash he was worth a matter of between forty and fifty pounds, that sum representing the balance of his last quarter's allowance. He had a tolerable stock of jewellery and trinkets, which would always fetch something should the worst come to the worst. His uncle had discharged all his liabilities, so that his calculations were not disturbed by any question of what he owed to others. It was true that in the interim he had run up various little accounts with his tailor, his bootmaker, and so on. But such trifles were not worth a second thought. He had always accustomed his tradespeople to waiting, and he had no wish to hurt their feelings by offering them ready money. It was with a clear conscience that he said to himself, "When a fellow finds himself in a fix such as I'm in now, there's really a sort of sweet satisfaction in knowing that he doesn't owe a shilling to a soul."

But fifty pounds, even if doled out with the most cheeseparing economy, will not last for ever, and when the end of it should be reached, what then? He had not forgotten "old Garden's" offer to be his banker till brighter days should dawn; but he was by no means inclined to accept it. "As he said, a spell of hard work will do me good, and I'll work my fingers to the bone before I'll apply to him."

Evidently the first thing to be done was to get rid of his rooms, which were within fifty yards of New Bond Street, and move into lodgings which would accord better with the exiguity of his resources. But it was requisite that he should either find a fresh tenant or give a month's notice. Fortunately he knew a fellow who was dissatisfied with his own "diggings," and would jump at the chance of securing his.

In the interval between his last interview with Mr. Garden and his afternoon at Twysden Court he had had ample time to turn over a score of different projects in his mind, each of which, however, when he came to consider it in detail, proved to be either more or less impracticable, or else to have certain features in connection with it against which his somewhat fastidious taste revolted. He had spoken to the lawyer about enlisting, but when he came to reckon up all that he had seen and been told about life in barracks (several of his acquaintances were military men), and to call to mind the class of persons from whom three-fourths of the British army is recruited, the prospect seemed to him the reverse of alluring. Could he have made sure of being at once despatched on active service, where there would have been a chance of promotion, he would have enlisted without hesitation; but the thought of a dull, inglorious life in barracks and all that was implied thereby, appalled him.