THE ROBERTSES ON THEIR TRAVELS.

BY MRS. TROLLOPE.

CHAP. XXXIV.

YET, notwithstanding all these favourable appearances, there were some things that did not go quite well with the Robertses. In the first place, Edward, though for some time fortune ebbed and flowed with him so regularly, that the result was not more against him than the half dozen Napoleons he occasionally got out of Lord Lynberry sufficed to cover, at last seemed to become the especial mark of the fickle goddess's illhumour; for, night after night, the red and the black, and the black and the red, invariably changed sides as he changed his bets, and for ever voted against him. After staking his last piece and losing it, he was compelled to whisper to the fair friend (who still faithfully adhered to his side, and failed not to share his luck, whenever, as in days past, it had occasionally brought him in a few pieces, taking care, at the same time, to make him understand that her "odious husband" would kill her, if she ever staked a franc of his money) to her sympathising ear he was compelled to whisper that he could play no more at present, as he had really lost all his ready money.

"Borrow of the croupier," she whispered in return.

"Of the croupier, sweet love!" he murmured in reply, for they were now upon very affectionate terms together; "of the croupier, Louisa? He would see me at the devil first."

"Try him, mon ami," she returned; "we have been such constant attendants here, that for once, at least, I am quite sure that you will succeed." "I have no more money about me," said Edward, in his best French, addressing the man with a degree of cool assurance that did infinite honour to his rapidly improving strength of mind, "lend me a few pieces, will you ?"

"How much?" was the man's equally cool reply, stretching out his hand to one of the little mountains of silver money that stood piled before him.

"Oh! five hundred francs," said Madame de Marquemont, carelessly. "Yes, five hundred francs," repeated Edward, "I certainly do not intend to lose more than that to-night."

And five hundred francs the croupier handed to him, and five hundred francs the croupier raked back again, within a marvellously short space of time, for once only during the process of thus returning it whence it came did any bet return to him.

Five hundred francs at the gaming-table of Baden-Baden is a very small sum, but every thing is comparative, and to Edward, at that moment, the loss seemed to involve absolute destruction, for where was he to find money to acquit him of the debt he had thus contracted? And to delay the doing so beyond the following morning, was, in gaming-table language, impossible. He felt exceedingly sick, but rallied his powers sufficiently to say, as he mechanically presented his arm to the charming Madame de Marquemont, "I shall be here again to-morrow."

The croupier nodded his head, without suspending for an instant, the “Faites votre jeu,” by the uttering of which he so perseveringly gains his own subsistence, and destroys that of other people."

The ill-pleased pair walked away in rather gloomy silence, and though madame speedily recovered herself, and invited her companion, when they arrived at her lodgings, to enter with her, as she knew "the brute," her husband, was not at home; he declined it, declaring that he had a devilish headache.

The hour was already too late to give him any chance of seeing Lord Lynberry that night, and the decidedly very uncomfortable young gentleman went home and crept to bed, as he had often done before, without any member of the family being aware of the hour of his return. But, late as it was when he went to bed, he was up early enough in the morning to catch Lord Lynberry, as he was in the act of leaving his hotel to take his first morning lounge to the library. The audacity of Edward Roberts was certainly increasing every day; he, nevertheless, felt a disagreeable dryness in his throat, as he prepared himself for the fourth time within three weeks, to ask his noble friend to lend him money. But it must be done, and, making a strong effort to speak in his usual tone of voice, he said,

"A propos, my dear lord, will you have the kindness to lend me five hundred francs more? which I shall be able to pay, with the seven hundred and fifty I have had already, in a day or two, when my father expects to receive money from London."

Lord Lynberry was as generous, thoughtless, good-natured a young fellow as ever lived, and really felt as much positive pleasure in doing a kindness, as to render the act of refusing very distasteful, nay, even difficult to him; but, to say truth, he was beginning to get very tired of the Roberts' concern altogether. The naughty, boylike fun, of watching the progressive vehemence of Miss Maria's admiration, love, esteem, and devotion, was beginning to pall; and, to do him justice, he was also beginning to feel that he ought to be ashamed of himself for suffering her to display such egregious folly. These thoughts had been working within him for three whole days, and for three whole days he had been meditating how best to confess to Vincent that he was getting sick of Baden-Baden, though there still remained a multitude of projected excursions unperformed.

The first compliance with Edward Roberts's request for a loan of money was part and parcel of the foolish frolic for amusing himself with the family, of which he was now repenting, and the repetitions of it arose from want of firmness enough to enable him to say "No," where he had before said "Yes;" but now his mood was changed, and he almost felt as if he were atoning for some of the folly he had committed before, when he replied to the above demand by saying,

"You must excuse me, Mr. Roberts, I really cannot do any more for you in that way-it would be inconvenient to me. Good morning to you." However little right the unlucky Edward had to count upon continued supplies from his young lordship, he felt exceedingly offended at receiving this rebuff, and turned abruptly away, with an air of as much lofty indignation, as if he had been refused assistance in some great and glorious enterprise to which he had devoted himself. Something else, however, must be done, and done immediately, and the sort of desperate conviction of this which rushed upon his mind, gave him the necessary energy for seeking his father and mother, whom he was determined to attack together, with the assurance, unmitigated by any vain ceremony in the manner, that he must have a pretty considerable sum of money, and that directly.

"The thing may as well be done at once," soliloquised the young man, as he directed his steps towards the Balcony House; "I know perfectly well that I shall have to pay for all the things Louisa has bought, when she has made me go with her to the different shops-the poor, dear creature, in fact, never attempted to conceal it, and a man must be a brute as great as her husband to refuse her-so I had better ask for the whole together I must ask for two hundred pounds, less would be no use to me. Having thus screwed his courage to the necessary pitch, he ran up the stairs with rather a more rapid and decided step than usual, and, throwing open the door of the room where the family were assembled to breakfast, he felt comforted at being addressed by Agatha with a reproach for being so late.

"We have all quite finished breakfast," she added, "and I don't believe there is any coffee left."

"Never mind the coffee, I don't want-I mean I have had my breakfast already, and if you girls have finished, I wish you would all bundle away, I want to speak to the governor and my mother."

"A very polite style of sending us out of the room," said Maria; "but have the goodness, before we obey, to tell me if you have seen Lord Lynberry this morning?"

"Yes, Maria, I have; and now begone, or I will beg him never to dance with you again."

The young lady then departed, with a glance and a nod, sufficiently indicative of the degree of value which attached, in her estimation, to any attempt of separating from her the devoted Lynberry. The two other girls had preceded her in silence.

The anticipations of the father and mother respecting the nature of the communication they were about to receive differed widely. The mother had no doubt whatever that her accomplished son was about to make a bold demand for "ways and means to carry on the war," as he was wont facetiously to describe his wants; while the father, greatly less enlightened as to the real state of affairs, confidently anticipated some interesting intelligence concerning the progress of his matrimonial alliance. This idea put the good gentleman into such high spirits that, contrary to the usual family custom, it was he who spoke first when the door was shut and the conclave opened.

"You are quite right, Edward, to let us know how things go on from time to time, and I hope, my dear boy, from your lively manner, that you have now got something pleasant to tell us. Miss Bertha is a shy sort of a girl, I fancy, and not so easily brought to say 'YES' as some might be, but I don't think when all's said and done, she will have much of a chance against you, Edward, eh ?"

"Bertha Harrington is queer-tempered enough, sir," replied the young man, with a sneer, "but, like all the other girls in the world, she will find her master, sooner or later. It is not about her, sir, however, that I now want to talk to you; once for all, I am ready to pledge my word to you that she shall be my wife, and that at no very distant time. And that there is no joking or folly meant when I say this, my mother can tell you as well as I, for she knows more about it than most people." "And very right and she should, Edward. She is the very proper best of mothers, and the very best of managers, and a son that would not confide in her would be altogether undeserving of the name," said the worthy gentleman.

"All true, sir. And now, if you please, we will come to what I have to say at present. I must have money, sir, and that directly-I must have money, sir, and what I dare say you will consider as a pretty considerable sum, but if I do not get it all the fat will be in the fire, I promise you; and there will be an end of my marriage, which is as certain as if we had been before the parson already; ask my mother else; but there will be an end, once and for ever, to that, and for all hopes about the girls into the bargain."

Poor Mr. Roberts became very red in the face, and looked at his wife, who knew as well as he did (excellent manager as she was) that he had drawn his account for interest with the bank in London as dry as his draughts could make it, and that the last five-franc piece he had in his pocket had gone the day before to pay for the mending of a pair of boots. There was a silence of about a minute, which at last was broken by Edward, who, finding his courage rather increase than diminish at sight of his father's dismay, said, rather ster nly than humbly, "Well sir, will you please to give me an answer? Is my name and character to be blown from one end of Baden to the other, or will you advance me two hundred pounds?"

Mrs. Roberts started when she heard this sum named, for it exceeded, at least tenfold the amount of the demand she had expected. But Mrs. Roberts was too good a manager not to have long ago decided in her own mind what must be done if any particular circumstance—the marriage of either of her three children for instance-or, the unexpectedly finding that she had longer bills against her at the different shops than she anticipated-rendered it absolutely necessary for them to get hold of something beyond their income in order to get on. She started, certainly, at hearing Edward say so coolly that he must immediately have two hundred pounds, but it instantly occurred to her, nevertheless, that it would be a monstrous good thing to have the first difficulty got over respecting this first drawing upon capital-by far the greatest objection to it in her mind being the difficulty of making Mr. Roberts perceive the necessity, without leading him to suspect any deficiency of good management on her part. She knew well and practically, that "c'est le premier pas qui coute," and, the system once begun, she felt as confidently assured that success would attend all her schemes, as Napoleon did when he decided upon his invasion of Russia. That things had gone differently from what she had anticipated when she represented the great economy of living abroad, as the principal reason for deciding upon it, she was quite ready to avow. But had she anticipated such a magnificent revolution in the affairs of the whole family as that which she now contemplated as too certain to be impeded by any thing, save some abominably bad management on their own part? The marriage of Edward with Bertha she had her own private reasons for believing as certain (to use her own phrase) as any thing on this side eternity could be. That of Maria and Lord Lynberry, her common sense (she said) told her was little less so; and as for that of Agatha with Mr. Montgomery, whom they had lately had the indescribable satisfaction of discovering was the Honourable Mr. Montgomery, and of whose engagement to his cousin, Lady Charlotte, Agatha had not thought it either necessary or proper to say any thing, as to that very splendid connexion, Mrs. Roberts, from a feeling of justice to the admirable judgment of her eldest daughter, could not permit herself to doubt. Agatha, she knew, had not that

almost childish expansiveness of heart which distinguished her lovely Maria from every girl she had ever known, but then her very silence was, from the peculiarity of her very superior character, the strongest possible proof that she knew what she was about, and that every thing in that quarter was exactly as it should be. Could she then-could Mrs. Roberts, blessed as she was with a strength of mind not to be shaken by trifles-could she permit herself to be terrified and driven to abandon such glorious hopes, because a little extra money would be wanted to carry them through?

She waited for the first emotion which the words of Edward had produced on the mind of his father to subside; but, when at length she heard him draw a long breath, and utter the words "God bless my heart and soul!" she addressed him thus: "My dear Mr. Roberts, you look as frightened as if Edward had told you that the house was on fire, or that his sisters had eloped with two tinkers! I am sure I shall be as sorry as you can be if the dear boy has been guilty of any imprudent extravagance, though, mixed up as he is at present with the first rank of European aristocracy, it must be very, very difficult indeed, poor fellow, to keep perfectly within bounds. But it is quite time, my dear Roberts, that we should have a little serious conversation together on the unexpected situation in which we find ourselves, and I am very well pleased that Edward should be present at it, because, in fact, the subject concerns him even more than it does us. You must be aware, my dear Roberts, that our situation is at this moment vastly higher, an immense deal higher, you know, as to our rank in society, than ever it was before, or to say the honest truth, than we any of us ever dreamed it would be. Now this is not to be done for nothing. I never pretended to be a fairy, and nobody that was not like Cinderella's godmother could be expected to transmogrify a banker and his family, who were just ruining themselves by straining and striving to live in Baker-street, into people of first-rate distinction at the most fashionable watering-place in Europe, and that without paying for it. Such things may be done easy enough in a fairy tale, but not out of it, and I should be sorry to think that you were so behind-hand in intellect as to expect it."

"No, no, my dear, no, no," said Mr. Roberts, "I never did expect it, I do assure you; but only you know my not expecting it will not make me one penny the richer, nor one bit the more able to let Edward have the two hundred pounds he talks about."

"This is no time for joking, sir," returned his wife, knitting her brows into a very awful frown; we are now talking of business, and of the future destiny of the family, and I must beg that you will not talk nonsense if you can help it."

Mrs. Roberts really was, in her own particular line, a very good manager. She knew that her husband could sometimes resist pretty toughly, on points of finance, when he was in a courageous mood, but she knew also that a little sharp brow-beating was very apt to disable him, leaving him pretty much at her disposal, to goad or to lead, as she might find most convenient. And such was the case now, for this injunction not to talk nonsense, if he could help it, made him look as meek as a lamb.

"In short, my dear," she resumed, "with an encouraging kindness of manner which showed that she did not intend to scold him if he behaved well, "in short there is but one way. At the present moment poor dear Edward must see what he can do in the way either of borrow