For instance, I'm trying to learn
Russian. Father says he made the attempt long ago, but was beaten. I
don't think I shall give in."
"Your father knew Herzen and Bakounine, in the old days. Well, don't
overdo it; don't neglect the body. We must have another talk before
long."
Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his
countenance betrayed a troublous mood.
"How you remind me of my old friend, forty years ago--forty years
ago!"
CHAPTER III
A little apart from the village of Ewell, within sight of the noble
trees and broad herbage of Nonsuch Park, and looking southward to
the tilth and pasture of the Downs, stood the house occupied by Mr.
Lee Hannaford. It was just too large to be called a cottage; not
quite old enough to be picturesque; a pleasant enough dwelling, amid
its green garden plot, sheltered on the north side by a dark hedge
of yew, and shut from the quiet road by privet topped with lilac and
laburnum. This day of early summer, fresh after rains, with a clear
sky and the sun wide-gleaming over young leaf and bright blossom,
with Nature's perfume wafted along every alley, about every field
and lane, showed the spot at its best. But it was with no eye to
natural beauty that Mr. Hannaford had chosen this abode; such
considerations left him untouched. He wanted a cheap house not far
from London, where his wife's uncertain health might receive
benefit, and where the simplicity of the surroundings would offer no
temptations to casual expense.
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