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“Now, Bobtail,” said Rag, as we walked along the sober old streets of Malines, discussing the state of Carry’s mind and heart. (He has omitted the streets, but has put us into our very best mediaeval suit.) “Now, Bobtail, what do you think?  Is she in love?  And if so, with whom?”

“She may be, or she may be not,” said Bobtail, with oracular discretion; “but, if she is, it can only be with one of us.  She would not waste her sentiment on a native whilst we were within reach.”

“But which of us is it?” asked Rag, somewhat alarmed.

“I know not; but I hope neither,” answered the oracle thus appealed to; “but the state of her mind, I believe, is this:  If she were to marry you, she would fall in love with me; and if she were to marry me, she would fall in love with you.”

This dictum must have impressed du Maurier, for it started him on a series of drawings, with accompanying text in illustration of it.  There were to be two volumes.  The first, in which I figure as the husband, was rapidly produced; the second, in which he was to be the husband, never saw the light of day.  It was shelved sine die, a proceeding I always thought particularly unfair, as he never gave me a chance of being loved.  I am compensated, however, by the possession of the first volume of the “Noces de Picciola,” or “Cari-catures,” as they are called.  On the title-page Bobtail is made to say:—­

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  “If Carry were to marry one of us,
  I’d give thee any odds she would be safe,
  O Rag, to love the other—­”

      (Shakespere. “Two Swells of Antwerp.”)

“Varium et mutabile semper femina,” he adds, and his story illustrates the truth of the poet’s words.  His points will be so much better understood later on, when some of the problems connected with our matrimonial laws have been solved, that it would be a pity to publish them prematurely.  Suffice it to show how Felix and Georges produced the portrait of Picciola.  “Felix put all his talent and Georges all his good will into it, for, once completed, Picciola was to select a husband from the two suitors.  After much cogitation she decides for Felix, whilst offering her friendship to Georges, who seems but moderately satisfied with this arrangement; and then, when husband and wife leave for distant countries, Georges, who cannot bear the thought of being parted from his dear Picciola, enters the service of the young couple and accompanies them on their honeymoon.”  This mythical journey gives the author opportunities for the subtle psychological analysis of a young lady’s heart, strongly inclined to revolt against some of the conventions laid down by Society for its regulation.

[Illustration:  PORTRAIT OF PICCIOLA.]

We had fondly hoped we might escort and protect her on the thorny path of life, as pertinently shown in the drawing,[3] where we are all three going along, our arms and hands fraternally intertwined and linked together in perfect symmetry, as if therewith to tie the knot of friendship and make it fast for ever and a day.