The Brown Mask | Page 8

high one.
Born and bred in the country, and with an amount of learning which her
uncle considered unnecessary, she had prejudices, no doubt, and
possibly had a standard of female beauty in her mind which her own
reflection did not satisfy. That she was mistaken in her own estimate of
herself was certain, or the men would not have been so assiduous in
their attentions. Perhaps she admired dark women, and the reflection
which smiled at her out of the depths of the mirror was fair. The eyes
were blue--that blue which the sky shows in the early morning of a
cloudless day, and there was a suggestion of tears in them--the tears
which may come from much laughter rather than those which speak of
sorrow. There was a touch of gold in the fair hair, which was inclined
to be rebellious and curl into little lovelocks about her neck and
forehead. The skin was fair, with the bloom of perfect health upon it,
and the little mouth was firm, the lips fresh as from the kiss of a rose.
There was grace in all her movements, that unstudied grace which tells
of life in the open air and freedom from restraint; and in thought and
word and deed conventionality had small interest for her. It was hardly
wonderful that Lord Rosmore should pronounce her adorable, or that
Judge Marriott should forget that his youth was a thing of the past.
Indeed, she had come as a revelation to the men whose lives were made
up of Court intrigue and artificiality.
Perhaps another reason why Barbara Lanison found it difficult to
understand the sensation she created lay in the fact that her heart and
affections remained entirely untouched. Those blue eyes, underneath
their long lashes, saw very keenly, and gave her a quick insight into
character. She was not to be easily led, and if she did a good many

things in her aunt's house, where she was a guest, which did not come
naturally to her and which did not please her, there was a point beyond
which no persuasion on Lady Bolsover's part could make her go. Much
against her will she had been taken to the trial of the highwayman, and
that she was ashamed of being there was shown by her eager desire to
explain her presence to the man who had come to her rescue in the
crowd. It would probably have annoyed Lady Bolsover considerably
had she known that her niece thought more of this man during the next
few days than of all the eligible gallants who had been brought to her
notice.
If in one sense Lady Bolsover had to admit failure with regard to her
plans concerning her niece, in another direction she had achieved
considerable success, for since the advent of Barbara Lanison her own
favour had been courted on all sides, and her house in St. James's
Square had become a little Court in itself. To half a dozen men who
had flattered her sufficiently as a first step towards her good graces, she
had promised to do her best with her niece on their behalf, and at
intervals she dispensed encouragements for which no action or private
word of Barbara's gave any foundation. Lady Bolsover found her
present entourage very pleasant, and was not inclined to spoil it by
being too definitely honest. It was therefore with considerable chagrin
that, a few days after the trial, she received a message from her brother
that Barbara was to return to Aylingford Abbey without delay; and
since Judge Marriott was about to pay him a visit, nothing could be
better than that Barbara should travel in his company.
Barbara was quite ready to return to the Abbey, but she did not relish
Judge Marriott as a travelling companion. He was old enough to be her
father, and foolish enough to attempt to make love to her. She had
disliked him from the first; she had come near to hating him since she
had seen and heard him at that dreadful trial. The self-satisfied judge,
on the other hand, hoped to make capital out of the trial. He had been
instrumental in ridding the world of a notorious highwayman, one who
had made himself unpleasantly known to not a few of those who were
Sir John's guests from time to time. The trial would be much talked of
at Aylingford, and Marriott could not fail to be a centre of attraction.

His acumen must also have appealed to the woman whose escort he
was to be. His conduct of the case must have impressed her with his
importance. She was the most beautiful woman with whom he had ever
been brought into contact, and his ambition took to itself wings. Why
should