CHAPTER VII.

HARRY ANNESLEY GOES TO TRETTON.


Harry had promised to go down to Tretton, and when the time came
Augustus Scarborough did not allow him to escape from the visit. He
explained to him that in his father's state of health there would be no
company to entertain him; that there was only a maiden sister of his
father's staying in the house, and that he intended to take down into
the country with him one Septimus Jones, who occupied chambers on the
same floor with him in London, and whom Annesley knew to be young
Scarborough's most intimate friend. "There will be a little shooting,"
he said, "and I have bought two or three horses, which you and Jones can
ride. Cannock Chase is one of the prettiest parts of England, and as you
care for scenery you can get some amusement out of that. You'll see my
father, and hear, no doubt, what he has got to say for himself. He is
not in the least reticent in speaking of my brother's affairs." There
was a good deal in this which was not agreeable. Miss Scarborough was
sister to Mrs. Mountjoy as well as to the squire, and had been one of
the family party most anxious to assure the marriage of Florence and the
captain. The late General Mountjoy had been supposed to be a great man
in his way, but had died before Tretton had become as valuable as it was
now. Hence the eldest son had been christened with his name, and much of
the Mountjoy prestige still clung to the family. But Harry did not care
much about the family except so far as Florence was concerned. And then
he had not been on peculiarly friendly terms with Septimus Jones, who
had always been submissive to Augustus; and, now that Augustus was a