The road grew heavier with every turn of the wheels, the horses wheezed
dismally, and Roger groaned inwardly. He kept his head out of the coach
door most of the time, looking for trouble, and found it before his
journey's end. Noah lighted the great lanthorn and hung it in front of
the dashboard, his only cause of anxiety being the horses, until a
greater arose.




CHAPTER III

IT IS HARD TO BE GOOD


There is an infernal charm about sin which should have been given to
virtue, but unluckily got shifted in very early human days. And so it was
that George Hamilton had troubles of his own in this respect. When he
left Frances Jennings at Sundridge, he was aglow with good resolutions,
all of which were to be put into immediate practice, and many of which he
carried out in part by strong though spasmodic effort when he returned
to court.

His attempts to be decent at first filled his friends with surprise, then
disgust, then raillery. The untoward thing had never been tried at
Charles II's Whitehall, and it furnished a deal of talk between routine
scandals. In fact, it was looked upon as a scandal in itself.

This new phase in one of the king's own subdevils soon fell under the
notice of his Majesty, who asked George one day if he would like to have