‘Did you ever see such trousers?’ said Julia to her mother.  ’I would not believe him on his oath.’

‘Certainly not,’ said Mr. Smirkie, who of the three was by far the most vehement in his adherence to the verdict.  ’The man is a notorious drunkard.  And he has that look of wildness which bad characters always bring with them from the colonies.’

‘He didn’t drink anything but water at lunch,’ said one of the younger girls.

‘They never do when they’re eating,’ said Mr. Smirkie.  For the great teetotal triumph had not as yet been made known to the family at Babington.  ’These regular drunkards take it at all times by themselves in their own rooms.  He has delirium tremens in his face.  I don’t believe a word that he says.’

‘He certainly does wear the oddest trousers I ever saw,’ said Aunt Polly.

At the same time Dick himself was closeted with the Squire, and was convincing him that there had been no Australian marriage at all.  ’They didn’t jump over a broomstick, or anything of that kind?’ asked the Squire, intending to be jocose.

‘They did nothing at all,’ said Dick, who had worked himself up to a state of great earnestness.  ’Caldigate wouldn’t as much as look at her at that time;—­and then to come home here and find him in prison because he had married her!  How any one should have believed it!’

‘They did believe it.  The women here believe it now, as you perceive.’

’It’s an awful shame, Mr. Babington.  Think of her, Mr. Babington.  It’s harder on her even than him, for he was,—­well, fond of the woman once.’

’It is hard.  But we must do what we can to get him out.  I’ll write to our member.  Sir George supports the Government, and I’ll get him to see the Secretary.  It is hard upon a young fellow just when he has got married and come into a nice property.’

‘And her, Mr. Babington!’

’Very bad, indeed.  I’ll see Sir George myself.  The odd part of it is, the Boltons are all against him.  Old Bolton never quite liked the marriage, and his wife is a regular Tartar.’

Thus the Squire was gained, and the younger daughter.  But Mr. Smirkie was as obdurate as ever.  Something of his ground was cut from under his feet when Dick’s new and peculiar habits were observed at dinner.  Mr. Smirkie did indeed cling to his doctrine that your real drunkard never drinks at his meals; but when Dick, on being pressed in regard to wine, apologised by saying that he had become so used to tea in the colonies as not to be able to take anything else at dinner, the peculiarity was discussed till he was driven to own that he had drank nothing stronger for the last two years.  Then it became plain that delirium tremens was not written on his face quite so plainly as Mr. Smirkie had at first thought, and there was nothing left but his trousers to condemn him.  But Mr. Smirkie was still confident.  ’I don’t think you can go beyond the verdict,’