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 EXAM CRAM

CompTIA® Linux+®
XK0-005
Exam Cram

William “Bo” Rothwell

CompTIA® Linux+® XK0-005 Exam Cram
Copyright © 2023 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved. This publication is protected by copyright, and
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assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information
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ISBN-13: 978-0-13-789855-8
ISBN-10: 0-13-789855-X
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Contents at a Glance
Part I: System Management
CHAPTER 1: Linux Fundamentals
CHAPTER 2: Manage Files and Directories
CHAPTER 3: Configure and Manage Storage Using the
Appropriate Tools
CHAPTER 4: Configure and Use the Appropriate Processes and
Services
CHAPTER 5: Use the Appropriate Networking Tools or
Configuration Files
CHAPTER 6: Build and Install Software

Part II: Security

CHAPTER 7: Manage Software Configurations
CHAPTER 8: Security Best Practices in a Linux Environment
CHAPTER 9: Implement Identity Management
CHAPTER 10: Implement and Configure Firewalls
CHAPTER 11: Configure and Execute Remote Connectivity for
System Management
CHAPTER 12: Apply the Appropriate Access Controls
Part III: Scripting, Containers, and
Automation
CHAPTER 13: Create Simple Shell Scripts to Automate Common
Tasks
CHAPTER 14: Perform Basic Container Operations
CHAPTER 15: Perform Basic Version Control Using Git
CHAPTER 16: Common Infrastructure as Code Technologies
CHAPTER 17: Container, Cloud, and Orchestration Concepts

Part IV: Troubleshooting

CHAPTER 18: Analyze and Troubleshoot Storage Issues
CHAPTER 19: Analyze and Troubleshoot Network Resource
Issues
CHAPTER 20: Analyze and Troubleshoot Central Processing Unit
(CPU) and Memory Issues
CHAPTER 21: Analyze and Troubleshoot User Access and File
Permissions
CHAPTER 22: Use systemd to Diagnose and Resolve Common
Problems with a Linux System
Index
Table of Contents
Introduction

Part I: System Management

CHAPTER 1:
Linux Fundamentals
Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS)
Basic Boot Process
Basic Input/Output System (BIOS)/Unified Extensible
Firmware Interface (UEFI)
Commands
initrd.img
vmlinuz
Grand Unified Bootloader Version 2 (GRUB2)
Boot Sources
Kernel Panic
Device Types in /dev
Block Devices
Character Devices
Special Character Devices
Basic Package Compilation from Source
./configure
make
make install
Storage Concepts
 File Storage
Block Storage
Object Storage
Partition Type
Filesystem in Userspace (FUSE)
Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks
(RAID) Levels
Listing Hardware Information
lspci
lsusb
dmidecode

CHAPTER 2:
Manage Files and Directories
File Editing
sed
awk
printf
nano
vi
File Compression, Archiving, and Backup
gzip
bzip2
zip
tar
xz
cpio
dd
File Metadata
 stat
file
Soft and Hard Links
Symbolic (Soft) Links
Hard Links
Copying Files Between Systems
rsync
scp
nc
File and Directory Operations
mv
cp
mkdir
rmdir
ls
pwd
rm
cd
. (Current Directory)
.. (Level Above the Current Directory)
~ (User’s Home Directory)
tree
cat
touch

CHAPTER 3:
Configure and Manage Storage Using the Appropriate Tools
Disk Partitioning
fdisk
 parted
partprobe
Mounting Local and Remote Devices
systemd.mount
/etc/fstab
mount
Linux Unified Key Setup (LUKS)
Filesystem Management
XFS Tools
ext4 Tools
Btrfs Tools
Monitoring Storage Space and Disk Usage
df
du
Creating and Modifying Volumes Using Logical Volume
Manager (LVM)
pvs
vgs
lvs
lvchange
lvcreate
vgcreate
lvresize
pvcreate
vgextend
Inspecting RAID Implementations
mdadm
/proc/mdstat
Storage Area Network (SAN)/Network-Attached Storage (NAS)
 multipathd
Network Filesystems
Storage Hardware
lsscsi
lsblk
blkid
fcstat

CHAPTER 4:
Configure and Use the Appropriate Processes and Services
System Services
systemctl
stop
start
restart
status
enable
disable
mask
Scheduling Services
cron
crontab
at
Process Management
Kill Signals
Listing Processes and Open Files
Setting Priorities
Process States
Job Control
 pgrep
pkill
pidof

CHAPTER 5:
Use the Appropriate Networking Tools or Configuration Files
Interface Management
iproute2 Tools
NetworkManager
net-tools
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/
Name Resolution
nsswitch
/etc/resolv.conf
systemd
Bind-utils
WHOIS
Network Monitoring
tcpdump
Wireshark/tshark
netstat
traceroute
ping
mtr
Remote Networking Tools
Secure Shell (SSH)
cURL
wget
nc
 rsync
Secure Copy Protocol (SCP)
SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP)

CHAPTER 6:
Build and Install Software
Package Management
DNF
YUM
APT
RPM
dpkg
ZYpp
Sandboxed Applications
snapd
Flatpak
AppImage
System Updates
Kernel Updates
Package Updates

Part II: Security

CHAPTER 7:Manage Software Configurations
Updating Configuration Files
Procedures
.rpmnew
.rpmsave
Repository Configuration Files
 Configure Kernel Options
Parameters
Modules
Configure Common System Services
SSH
Network Time Protocol (NTP)
Syslog
chrony
Localization
timedatectl
localectl

CHAPTER 8:
Security Best Practices in a Linux Environment
Managing Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Certificates
Public Key
Private Key
Self-Signed Certificate
Digital Signature
Wildcard Certificate
Hashing
Certificate Authorities
Certificate Use Cases
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security
(TLS)
Certificate Authentication
Encryption
Authentication
Tokens
 Multifactor Authentication (MFA)
Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM)
System Security Services Daemon (SSSD)
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)
Single Sign-on (SSO)
Linux Hardening
Security Scanning
Secure Boot (UEFI)
System Logging Configurations
Setting Default umask
Disabling/Removing Insecure Services
Enforcing Password Strength
Removing Unused Packages
Tuning Kernel Parameters
Securing Service Accounts
Configuring the Host Firewall

CHAPTER 9:
Implement Identity Management
Account Creation and Deletion
useradd
groupadd
userdel
groupdel
usermod
groupmod
id
who
w
 Default Shell
/etc/passwd
/etc/group
/etc/shadow
/etc/profile
/etc/skel
.bash_profile
.bashrc
Account Management
passwd
chage
pam_tally2
faillock
/etc/login.defs

CHAPTER 10:
Implement and Configure Firewalls
Firewall Use Cases
Open and Close Ports
Check Current Configuration
Enable/Disable Internet Protocol (IP) Forwarding
Common Firewall Technologies
firewalld
iptables
nftables
Uncomplicated Firewall (UFW)
Key Firewall Features
Zones
Services
 Stateful/Stateless

CHAPTER 11:
Configure and Execute Remote Connectivity for System
Management
SSH
~/.ssh/known_hosts
~/.ssh/authorized_keys
/etc/ssh/sshd_config
/etc/ssh/ssh_config
~/.ssh/config
ssh-keygen
ssh-copy-id
ssh-add
Tunneling
Executing Commands as Another User
/etc/sudoers
PolicyKit Rules
sudo
visudo
su -
pkexec

CHAPTER 12:
Apply the Appropriate Access Controls
File Permissions
Access Control List (ACL)
Set User ID (SUID), Set Group ID (SGID), and Sticky Bit
Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux)
Context Permissions
 Labels
Autorelabel
System Booleans
States
Policy Types
AppArmor
Command-Line Utilities
chmod
umask
chown
setfacl/getfacl
ls
setenforce
getenforce
chattr/lsattr
chgrp
setsebool
getsebool
chcon
restorecon
semanage
audit2allow

Part III: Scripting, Containers, and

Automation
CHAPTER 13:
Create Simple Shell Scripts to Automate Common Tasks
Shell Script Elements
 Loops
while
for
until
Conditionals
if
switch/case
Shell Parameter Expansion
Comparisons
Variables
Search and Replace
Regular Expressions
Standard Stream Redirection
&&
Here Documents
Exit Codes
Shell Built-in Commands
Common Script Utilities
awk
Sed
find
xargs
grep
egrep
tee
wc
cut
tr
head
 tail
Environment Variables
$PATH
$SHELL
$?
Relative and Absolute Paths

CHAPTER 14:
Perform Basic Container Operations
Container Management
Starting/Stopping
Inspecting
Listing
Deploying Existing Images
Connecting to Containers
Logging
Exposing Ports
Container Image Operations
build
push
pull
list
rmi

CHAPTER 15:
Perform Basic Version Control Using Git
Introduction to Version Control and Git
The Third Generation
clone
push
 pull
commit
add
branch/checkout
tag
gitignore

CHAPTER 16:
Common Infrastructure as Code Technologies
File Formats
JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)
YAML Ain’t Markup Language (YAML)
Utilities
Ansible
Puppet
Chef
SaltStack
Terraform
Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)
Advanced Git Topics
merge
rebase
Pull Requests

CHAPTER 17:
Container, Cloud, and Orchestration Concepts
Kubernetes Benefits and Application Use Cases
Pods
Sidecars
Ambassador Containers
 Single-Node, Multicontainer Use Cases
Compose
Container Persistent Storage
Container Networks
Overlay Networks
Bridging
Network Address Translation (NAT)
Host
Service Mesh
Bootstrapping
Cloud-init
Container Registries

Part IV: Troubleshooting

CHAPTER 18:
Analyze and Troubleshoot Storage Issues
High Latency
Input/Output (I/O) Wait
Input/Output Operations per Second (IOPS) Scenarios
Low IOPS
Capacity Issues
Low Disk Space
Inode Exhaustion
Filesystem Issues
Corruption
Mismatch
I/O Scheduler
Device Issues
 Non-volatile Memory Express (NVMe)
Solid-State Drive (SSD)
SSD Trim
RAID
LVM
I/O Errors
Mount Option Problems

CHAPTER 19:
Analyze and Troubleshoot Network Resource Issues
Network Configuration Issues
Subnet
Routing
Firewall Issues
Interface Errors
Dropped Packets
Collisions
Link Status
Bandwidth Limitations
High Latency
Name Resolution Issues
Domain Name System (DNS)
Testing Remote Systems
nmap
openssl s_client

CHAPTER 20:
Analyze and Troubleshoot Central Processing Unit (CPU) and
Memory Issues
Runaway Processes
 Zombie Processes
High CPU Utilization
High Load Average
High Run Queues
CPU Times
CPU Process Priorities
nice
renice
Memory Exhaustion
Free Memory vs. File Cache
Out of Memory (OOM)
Memory Leaks
Process Killer
Swapping
Hardware
lscpu
lsmem
/proc/cpuinfo
/proc/meminfo

CHAPTER 21:
Analyze and Troubleshoot User Access and File Permissions
User Login Issues
Local
User File Access Issues
Group
Context
Permission
ACL
 Attribute
Password Issues
Privilege Elevation
Quota Issues

CHAPTER 22:
Use systemd to Diagnose and Resolve Common Problems
with a Linux System
Unit Files
Service
Timer
Mount
Target
Common Problems
Name Resolution Failure
Application Crash
Time-zone Configuration
Boot Issues
Journal Issues
Services Not Starting on Time

Index
Figure Credits
Figure Credit
Figures 1.3, 1.4, 2.2 GNU Project
Figures 2.3, 4.2, 5.2, 6.2, 14.1–14.8, 19.1, Linux Kernel
19.2, 20.1, 20.2 Organization, Inc
Figure 5.1 Wireshark
Figure 11.1 Mozilla.org
About the Author
At the impressionable age of 14, William “Bo” Rothwell crossed
paths with a TRS-80 Micro Computer System (affectionately known
as a “Trash 80”). Soon after the adults responsible for Bo made the
mistake of leaving him alone with the TSR-80, he dismantled it and
held his first computer class, showing his friends what made this
“computer thing” work.
Since that experience, Bo’s passion for understanding how
computers work and sharing this knowledge with others has resulted
in a rewarding career in IT training. His experience includes Linux,
Unix, IT security, DevOps, cloud technologies, and programming
languages such as Perl, Python, Tcl, and BASH. He is the founder
and lead instructor of One Course Source, an IT training
organization.
Dedication
As I close out what will become my 14th book in print (and my 10th
with Pearson Publishing), I find myself writing YAD (yet another
dedication).
I honestly didn’t know who I was going to dedicate this book to until
just yesterday,
when my family had to make one of the most difficult decisions of
my life. We
needed to end the suffering of our amazing, faithful, and lovable
dog,
Midnight, a black lab/golden retriever mix.
I was reminded, in a very emotionally painful way, how our furry
family members
mean so much to us. Midnight brought so much joy and happiness
to our family and
asked only simple things in return: affection, the opportunity to be
close to the members
of his pack, and, of course, treats.
He made my world a bit brighter, and while the world is a bit dimmer
today, I know
that my memory of him will forever enrich my life.
I will miss you, Midnight.
Acknowledgments
To everyone at Pearson who helped make this book come to life, I
thank you. I know that this is a team effort, and I appreciate
everyone’s hard work.
Special thanks go to Nancy, Chris, and Casey for helping me
complete this book ahead of schedule!
About the Technical Reviewer
Casey Boyles started working in the IT field more than 30 years
ago and quickly moved into systems automation, distributed
applications, and database development. Casey later moved into
technical training and course development, where he specializes in
Layer 0–7 software development, database architecture, systems
security, telecommunications, and cloud computing. Casey typically
spends his time smoking cigars while “reading stuff and writing
stuff.”
We Want to Hear from You!
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Introduction
Welcome to CompTIA Linux+ XK0-005 Exam Cram. This book
prepares you for the CompTIA Linux+ XK0-005 certification exam.
Imagine that you are at a testing center and have just been handed
the passing scores for this exam. The goal of this book is to make
that scenario a reality. My name is Bo Rothwell, and I am happy to
have the opportunity to help you in this endeavor. Together, we can
accomplish your goal to attain the CompTIA Linux+ certification.

Target Audience
The CompTIA Linux+ exam measures the necessary competencies
for an entry-level Linux professional with the equivalent knowledge
of at least 12 months of hands-on experience in the lab or field.
This book is for persons who have experience working with Linux
operating systems and want to cram for the CompTIA Linux+
certification exam—cram being the key word.
Linux can be a challenging topic for individuals who are not used to
command-line environments. If you don’t already have a lot of
experience running commands in Linux, I highly recommend trying
out the commands presented in this book. Install Linux on a virtual
machine and get to practicing!
This book focuses very specifically on the CompTIA Linux+
certification exam objectives. I point this out because you might
consider exploring other topics if you want to become proficient. I
avoided any non-testable topics because I didn’t want to add any
confusion as to what you need to study to pass the exam. You might
find that some topics that are not exam-testable, like installing Linux
and using man pages (to view documentation), will be useful for
your understanding of the Linux operating system.
About the CompTIA Linux+
Certification
This book covers the CompTIA Linux+ XK0-005 exam, which you will
need to pass to obtain the CompTIA Linux+ certification. This exam
is administered by Pearson Vue and can be taken at a local test
center or online.
Passing the certification exam proves that you have a solid
understanding of the essentials of the Linux operating system, as
well as associated Linux topics.
Before doing anything else, I recommend that you download the
official CompTIA Linux+ objectives from CompTIA’s website. The
objectives are a comprehensive bulleted list of the concepts you
should know for the exams. This book directly aligns with those
objectives, and each chapter specifies the objective it covers.
For more information about how the Linux+ certification can help
you in your career or to download the latest objectives, access
CompTIA’s Linux+ web page at
https://www.comptia.org/certifications/linux.

About This Book

This book covers what you need to know to pass the CompTIA
Linux+ exam. It does so in a concise way that allows you to
memorize the facts quickly and efficiently.
We organized this book into four parts comprising 22 chapters, each
chapter pertaining to a particular objective covered on the exams.
Each part of the book matches up exactly with one of the four
Linux+ exam domains.
A note about studying for the exam: The chapters in this book are in
exactly the same order as the corresponding objectives on the
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
equanimity. It then occurred to me that he would assuredly soon find us out;
but he did not. I sat there in vain. The people never before seemed so dull
and stupid. The rooms never were so hot. I longed for mama to fetch us
away.

"At last he did condescend to approach us and ask us some trivial

questions, which irritated me so much that I hardly deigned to answer him.
He did not seem in the least surprised by my behaviour; and that made me
angrier. It was quite a relief to me when he turned round to speak to some
one and went away.

"I don't understand it at all. I suppose I have been making a little fool of
myself; yet, in spite of his rudeness—no, not rudeness, but—what shall I
call it?—I should like to see him again. His mother has purchased the
Grange, so when we are at Wyton, we shall perhaps see a good deal of him,
and I shall then be able to understand him."

CHAPTER VIII.

MRS. LANGLEY TURNER, AND HER FRIENDS.

While Rose was writing the foregoing letter, Mr. and Mrs. Meredith
Vyner were driving towards Eaton-square, on a visit to the well-known and
well-worth-knowing lively widow, Mrs. Langley Turner.

London society abounds in subjects curious to the observer; and, in

spite of its general uniformity, is so split up into opposite and opposing
sections, that a painter of manners, whose observation had been confined to
a few of those sections, would be accused of ignorance or of caricature by
nine-tenths of the English public. This is the reason of the numerous
failures in the attempt to describe English society, both by natives and
foreigners. To foreigners, indeed, the task must be hopeless. How should
they avoid taking their standard of the whole from the circle in which they
move? They see the interior of houses where wealth, talent, political
influence, and sounding names meet together in habitual and familiar
intercourse: how can they imagine that what they see there are not the
acknowledged manners of the "upper classes?" Yet nothing can be more
erroneous. Portland-place differs as much from Belgravia, as Regent-street
does from Bond-street. What a world is that of Belgravia, and what a
variety of worlds within it! Things are there done, and accepted as matters
of course, which would make the rest of England incredulously stare; and
we may safely affirm that any sketch of English society taken from the
pleasant circles of Belgravia, would seem quite as preposterous as any
Frenchman's "impressions" of England taken from Leicester-square.

These few remarks were necessary to prevent the reader's indignant

rejection of the description of Mrs. Langley Turner as a caricature,—as
opposed to the whole constitution of English society. And we beg him
therefore, if he have not travelled so far as Pimlico, to retire into his
ignorance, and, while staring as much as he pleases, to believe it.

Mrs. Langley Turner's set was one of the small orbs within the greater
sphere of Belgravia, and her house was one of the gayest, if not the most
exemplary, in it. Her Sunday evenings were celebrated. Her picnics, her
breakfasts, her snug dinners, and multitudinous parties, were each and all
agreeable enough; but the Sunday evening was her cheval de bataille—
therein she distanced all competitors.

There was something piquant in the audacity of the thing in puritanical

England, where, unlike all other Protestant countries, the Sunday is a day on
which all amusement, except plethoric dinners, is supposed to be a sin; and,
in 1839, such a thing was more unusual than it has since become. This
saucy defiance thrown in the face of Puritanism, was joyfully accepted by
all those whose residence abroad had made it familiar, as well as by those
whose opinions were in favour of a less rigid adherence to a code which
other Protestant nations repugned. And though many women went to Mrs.
Langley Turner's Sunday evenings, and enjoyed them greatly, yet very few
had the courage to imitate her.
 Never were pleasanter parties than hers. The rooms were always
crowded with pretty women and somebodies. Foreigners abounded; literary
men and artists of celebrity, Italian singers, travellers, diners out,
guardsmen, wits, and roués, formed the heterogeneous and amusing society.
People with "slurs" upon their reputation were to be met there; and they
were not the least amusing of the set. I know not whether it is that the
women whose virtue is not absolutely intact, and the men whose conduct is
of the same easy class, are really more amusing and better natured than the
incorruptibly virtuous and the sternly conscientious; or that public envy
more readily pounces upon any slips made by the clever, amusing, good-
natured people; but the social fact is indisputable, that the pleasantest
companions are not always the most "respectable."

Mrs. Langley Turner had a sneaking regard for those black sheep; and
Cecil Chamberlayne once laughingly declared, that she never took any
notice of a person until his or her reputation had been damaged. "In her
paradise," he said, "all the angels will be fallen angels."

With all due allowance for the exaggeration here, certain it is that the
truth of the bon-mot gave it its success. Everybody said it was "so good!"
And she did not disown it.

"I like people for themselves," she would say; "and, as their virtue does
not affect me, so long as I like them and see nothing dishonourable in them,
I will open my doors to them."

This un-Britannic audacity of thinking for herself, without reference to

the opinion of Mrs. Grundy, and of actually "receiving" women about
whom scandal had been busy, very naturally gave scandal a sort of licence
with her; but it never rose above whispers. Mrs. Langley Turner herself was
a prodigious favourite with all classes of men. The wits liked her, she was
so lively; the guardsmen, she was "so larky;" the talkers, she was so chatty;
the authors, she was so clever, without ink on her thumb, and knew so much
of the world; and everybody, because she was so quiet and good-natured. A
genuine woman; frank, hearty, gossipy, flirty, kind, forgiving—in a word,
loveable.
 It was to her house that the Vyners were driving, Sunday afternoon
being a sort of levée with her. When the Vyners arrived the little drawing-
room was tolerably full. First on the sofa, by Mrs. Langley Turner, sat a
dowager-countess with her young, handsome, and uninteresting daughter.
Opposite them, in an easy chair, sat the broken, gouty, but still charming Sir
Frederick Winter; a name celebrated in the annals of gallantry, and one of
the now almost extinct species of roués, in whom exquisite manner and
courtly elegance made vice the very chivalry of vice, so that, in losing all its
grossness, it did really seem to lose half its deformity. By his side sat Cecil
Chamberlayne, and next to him the pedantic and bony Miss Harridale and
her mother; the former seemed to have absorbed the dregs of her ancient
family for several generations, so cruelly vulgar was every look and
movement. She was talking atrocious French to a bearded dandy, whom
Cecil called "some very foreign count;" occasionally entrapping young
Lord Boodle into the conversation by an appeal to his judgment, which,
after smoothing his blonde moustache with the ivory handle of his riding-
cane, he reluctantly drawled out.

Mrs. Meredith Vyner, in her very affectionate and sprightly greeting of

Mrs. Langley Turner, had time to perceive that Marmaduke, for whom she
came, was not there. It was her first appearance in Eaton-square on a
Sunday, for Mrs. Meredith Vyner never missed afternoon service, and
nothing but the hope of seeing Marmaduke, whom she was told was a
constant visitor, would have induced her to break in thus upon her habits.
She comforted herself with the expectation that he might still come.

"Mr. Chamberlayne," said Mrs. Langley Turner, when they were seated,
"is giving us an enthusiastic account of a new tragic actress, whom, he says,
the Duchesnois, the Dorval, and the Mars—three single ladies rolled into
one—would not equal."

"Who is that?" said Mrs. Meredith Vyner, restlessly turning upon Cecil.

"A little Jewess they call Rachel, quite a girl, picked up from the streets,
but an empress on the stage. Till I had seen her, I did not believe the human
voice capable, in mere speech, of expressing such unutterable sadness, such
sobs of woe."
 "And you have seen Edmund Kean?"

"Yes, Edmund Kean; but Rachel is something quite incomparable."

"That is true," said the very foreign count; "her acting is not acting."

"No," replied Cecil, "it is suffering."

The bony Miss Harridale nodded approval of the epigram, and then
informed the company that for her part she saw nothing in French tragedy.

"Surely," said Cecil, "Racine is an exquisite writer."

"No," replied the confident young lady, "he has no ideas!"

There was something so vague yet so crushing in this dictum, which

was delivered with amazing aplomb, that no one replied for a few seconds.

"I fancy," said Sir Frederick Winter, "we are scarcely inclined to do
justice to French tragedy, because we always compare it with that which it
least resembles—our own."

"For my part, I never presume to have an opinion on so delicate a

subject," said Mrs. Vyner, who hated Miss Harridale, and never lost an
opportunity of saying something disagreeable; "because I feel we English
do not understand the language sufficiently to judge of that which depends
upon the grace and beauty of language. I do not, of course, mean to imply
Miss Harridale in that observation—she is such a Frenchwoman!"

Miss Harridale looked daggers, and said, "I do not pretend to feel the
graces of Racine, about which they talk so much. I dare say they are all very
well. I only speak of the substance: he has no ideas; and what is a poet
without profound ideas? I am for ideas above everything."

"But how Racine understood the heart—especially woman's heart!" said

the count. "What insight into the passions! what tenderness! what subtlety!
what sublimity!"

"I never saw them," dogmatically pronounced Miss Harridale.

 "Then Corneille," added the count; "le grand Corneille, there is a
genius! Has he not painted Romans?"

"Not to my apprehension," said Cecil. "His Romans are Gascons. The

old Horace, for example, who is so much admired, seems to me to have
more rhodomontade than grandeur. He is not a man, but a figment!"

Miss Harridale smiled her approbation of this, and declared that the
celebrated qu'il mourût was not an "idea."

The count failing to understand that profound objection, asked if she did
not regard the qu'il mourût as sublime?

"Not at all."

"Well, I suppose I am a heretic," said Meredith Vyner; "but to speak the

honest truth, French sublimity always seems to me to fall very wide of the
mark."

"Surely, not very," said Cecil; "only a step."

A general laugh greeted this sally, which made Mrs. Vyner remark
Cecil, whom she now remembered as the young man Marmaduke spoke to
at Dr. Winston's. She resolved to invite him.

"Is this Rachel—I think you call her—handsome?" asked Lord Boodle,
tapping his lips with his cane.

"Yes, and no—the beauty of mind."

"The only beauty worthy of the name," said Miss Harridale,

sententiously.

It was the only style of beauty to which she could lay claim.

"She is beautiful enough," continued Cecil, "for the parts she plays—
you never feel any contradiction between the poet's idea and her
representation of it. You should see her in Phèdre. I think I never can forget
the desolation in her utterance of the four grand opening lines; or the fine
horror of her 'C'est Vénus tout entière à sa proie attachée;' which by the
way," he added, turning to Vyner, "is only a magnificent paraphrase of what
your favourite Horace says in his ode to Glycera—

"In me tota ruens Venus

Cyprum deseruit."

Meredith Vyner, who had a high opinion of any man who could quote
Horace appositely, suspended a pinch of snuff which he had for some
minutes been heaping up between his thumb and forefinger, to assure Cecil
that he was perfectly correct in his conjecture, and as no commentator had
noticed it, he should certainly do so in his forthcoming edition—"the work
of twenty years' labour, sir!" Vyner added, clenching the observation with a
sonorous pinch.

In a few seconds, Cecil and Vyner were engaged together upon the
nullity of commentators in general, and those on Horace in particular. Talk
of contempt! there is no scorn like the scorn of one commentator for
another.

Vyner wound up a tirade against Burmann, Dacier, Sanadon, and

Bentley, by saying, "If you will do me the pleasure of calling, Mr.
Chamberlayne, I will show you my edition, together with some of my
marginal corrections. Bentley boasted that he had made eight hundred
corrections of the text,—sir, I have made more than a thousand in Bentley's
edition. You shall see it: it will delight you."

Cecil thought that few things would delight him less, but he was glad to
have an invitation to the Vyners upon any pretext.

During this talk, Miss Harridale was harassing Lord Boodle with her
criticisms on modern English literature, which she found deplorably
deficient in "ideas."

Mrs. Vyner was paying great court to the old roué, Sir Frederick—his
opinion being a verdict.
 A knock at the door made her heart beat a little faster. To her
disappointment, however, it was only Julius St. John's name she heard
announced. She shortly overheard Julius informing Mrs. Langley Turner,
that he had left Mr. Ashley stretched on his sofa, devouring Ruy Blas, just
received.

"And I am to be neglected for Victor Hugo, I presume!" said Mrs.

Langley Turner.

Julius shrugged his shoulders significantly.

"I shall scold him well for it."

"Not when you hear his excuse. He told me that no attraction could drag
him from Ruy Blas till he had finished it; it was such a splendid tale of
vengeance."

A cold shiver ran over Mrs. Meredith Vyner, as she heard St. John
carelessly and laughingly let fall those words full of terrible significance to
her.

"But he will be here this evening, I hope?" inquired Mrs. Langley

Turner.

"Yes."

Finding it was useless waiting any longer, Mrs. Vyner rose to withdraw.

"Do come round this evening, dear," said Mrs. Langley Turner; "only a
few friends, and Pellegrini is to give us some recitations from Alfieri—will
you?"

"With pleasure."

"That's a dear little woman, I'm so glad."

Meredith Vyner handed Cecil his card, and repeated how glad he should
be to show him all his notes on Horace.
 "A very clever fellow, that young Mr. Chamberlayne," said Meredith to
his wife, as they got into their carriage, "with remarkably sound ideas on
the subject of commentators."

"Charming person—so witty. I am glad you gave him your card. By the
way, I have said we would go to Mrs. Turner's this evening, to hear
Pellegrini recite from Alfieri."

"Very well, my dear," said the astonished Vyner, not venturing to make
any further remark on so singular a communication.

It was indeed enough to make him silent. It was something so

enormous, so unexpected, that it sounded like a mystification. She had
always pretended to be very strict on religious subjects; without affecting
fanaticism, she was as rigid as was compatible with her being a woman of
the world. This relaxation from her usual rigidity, therefore, was the more
surprising, because it seemed motiveless.

Her husband at last thought that the temptation was Pellegrini's

recitations. He knew she was a great student of poetry, which she always
declared he knew very little about, and had the naïveté to believe, that to
hear poetry well recited would be as great a temptation to her, as a new
edition of Horace would be to him.

Her motive really was an anxiety to come to an "explanation" with

Marmaduke, whose threats terrified her the longer she thought of them. She
wished at least to know his game, if she could not look over his cards; and
as the sooner she knew that the better for her own defence, she was restless
till she had seen him.

CHAPTER IX.

TWO PORTRAITS.
 "Look on this picture, and on that."
SHAKSPEARE.

It was no small gratification to Mrs. Meredith Vyner, as, leaning on the

arm of her ponderous husband, she glided into Mrs. Langley Turner's rooms
that evening, to distinguish amongst the first group that met her eye,
Marmaduke Ashley, resting against the doorway of the second salon,
talking to Cecil Chamberlayne and Julius St. John. He was, indeed, a figure
not to escape even an indifferent eye. There was lion-like grace about him;
a certain indefinable something in his attitudes and movements, which, in
their oriental laisser aller, were in sharp contrast to the stiffness and
artificiality of even the least awkward of our northern dandies. When our
young men are careless, they have a slouching, sprawling manner, which is
more offensive to the eye than stiffness. It is only the children of warmer
climates who can afford to let their limbs fall naturally, and be graceful.
Marmaduke, whose prodigious chest and back betokened the strength of a
bull, seemed to have united with it the agility of a deer, and was the very
model of manly grace.

He was well dressed, without overdress; but he had committed one error
in taste, which might, perhaps, be set down to coxcombry, in wearing a
white waistcoat, somewhat larger than the fashion permitted. His chest was
so expansive, and he was so tall, that this vast expanse of staring white,
while it fixed all eyes upon him, made them remark how much too large the
chest was for symmetry. It was trop voyant, to adopt the jargon of the
French dandies. The effect was further increased by his wearing a white
cravat, which at that time had only just began to replace the black,
introduced by that puffy potentate, so wittily characterized by Douglas
Jerrold as the "most finished gent. in Europe."

How many women sighed for him on that evening, I cannot tell; but
certain it is, that a shadow of regret fell on Mary's heart as she remarked the
beauty of her former lover, and silently compared him with her heavy,
snuffy husband. Nor did he gaze on her unmoved. She was a striking figure,
and would have been so even in an assembly of beauties. Perhaps the most
striking part about her was her neck and bosom, with the whiteness and
firmness of marble,—with its coldness too; beautiful it was, and yet
repulsive; hard, cold, immodest, unvoluptuous; no blood seemed to beat in
its delicate, blue veins—no heart seemed to move its rise and fall; this, the
most womanly beauty of a woman, was in her unwomanly; it arrested the
eye, without charming it. There was something about her whole appearance
which was singularly fantastic: her golden hair, drooping in ringlets to her
waist, and her dazzling skin and tiny figure gave her the appearance of a
little fairy; nor did her deformity destroy this impression. She was so pretty,
or rather so piquante, and unlike other women, that her crooked shoulder
only gave a piquancy the more by the sort of compassionate feeling it
raised. "What a pity such a sweet creature should be deformed!" was the
universal exclamation; and this very exclamation made people think more
of the charms which redeemed that deformity.

In truth, the great deformity was not in the back—it never is—but in the
eyes and mouth. Theoretically, we may all declaim against faults of
proportion and of outline, but, practically, it is the eyes and mouth that carry
the day: according as they look and they smile, do we feel that people are
beautiful or ugly; because in them lies the expression of the heart and soul.
This I take to be the secret of those astounding differences in taste upon a
subject of which there is a distinct standard—beauty. True, there is a
standard of form and colour. We are all agreed upon the face that would
make the handsomest picture; but the best part of beauty is that which the
painter can never express, because he is condemned to one expression; and
the beauty of the loving heart and noble soul is visible in the changing
lustre of a thousand smiles and glances. Now, although we might all agree
that a certain face has exquisite purity of outline, and gratifies the æsthetical
sense of proportion, yet we should feel and say that some less perfect face
has charmed us more. Why?—because we are indifferent to perfection? No:
but because in some less harmoniously proportioned face, we have read a
more loveable soul—a soul with which we can better enter into
communion. Thus it is that men get distractedly enamoured of women,
whose beauty is more than problematical, because without having had many
opportunities of knowing their characters, but mostly from what the faces
express, they read there the signs of unalterable goodness and lovingness, of
high nobility of soul, or, perhaps, only of some voluptuous and passionate
tendencies; and all these are qualities more fascinating than purity of
outline. In support of my argument, let me mention the fact, that the women
most celebrated as beauties have seldom, if ever, been picture-beauties. It is
impossible from any picture of Mary Queen of Scots, for example, to
imagine wherein lay the enchantment of her beauty.

Therefore, my ill-favoured reader, take courage; if your mind is honest,

and your heart loving, you will have true beauty—yes, the positive effect of
beauty on all those who can read the signs of honesty and loveliness.

These signs were not legible in the eyes and mouth of Mrs. Meredith
Vyner; and there, as I said, lay her real deformity, though people did not call
it so. Those light, grey eyes, so destitute of voluptuousness, but so full of
light—so cunning, so cruel, so uncomfortable to look upon; and that small
mouth, with its thin, irritable, selfish lips, which a perpetual smile
endeavoured to make amiable, created a far more repulsive impression,
when first you saw her, than any hump could have created: and yet she
fancied that her hump was her only deformity.

She was, as I said, repulsive at first sight; but most people got over that
impression after a while, as they generally do when familiarity has blunted
their perceptions. It was not necessary to be a great physiognomist to see at
once the nature of the soul her eyes expressed; and yet, when people heard
her amiable sentiments, and noticed the meekness of her manner, they
yielded to the popular sophism of its being "unjust to judge from first
impressions," and they believed in her professions rather than in her
expressions—that is, in her calculated utterances rather than her instinctive
and unconquerable emotions.

"But," objects the reader, "first impressions are so often false, that it
would be madness to rely on them." I answer: first impressions—at least
those of a broad and simple kind—are rarely, if ever, false; though often
incomplete. The observer should not rely on them; but he should never
absolutely reject them. They may be modified—greatly modified—but not
contradicted. Human character is marvellously complex, and this very
complexity serves to confound the observer, if he have not a clue; and that
clue is best attained on a first interview, because then the perceptions are
least biassed by the opinions. If he understand human nature, he will soon
be able to modify his first impressions, and complete the general outline of
a character.

Physiognomy is very fallacious, I know, in its details; but in its broad

principles, which almost all human beings instinctively employ, there is no
more infallible guide. The mistake physiognomists commit, is in not
leaving sufficient margin for education. A man may have cruelty or bad
temper very legible in his face, and yet not in his acts be cruel or bad-
tempered; but if you interrogate his boyhood, you will find that, however he
may have subdued the demon within him, he once had the quality which his
face expresses, and, in the depths of his nature, he has it still: the wild beast
lies chained within him, but may at any time break loose.

If physiognomy betrays us into rash judgments, far more erroneous are

those into which we are betrayed by an observation of conduct or of speech,
if we have not previously a clue to the character: because it is a tendency in
us all to attribute importance only to important acts—only to great
occasions, when as we say, a man's true nature is called forth. Nothing can
be more false. Trifles are the things by which men are to be judged. If we
would know them as they are, we should observe them in their unguarded
moments, in the routine of daily and familiar life, when no man's eyes, as it
were, are on them. If we would know them as they wish to be considered,
then we may observe them when the importance of the occasion turns men's
eyes upon them. Taking the most liberal view of the question, one can only
say that great occasions show what men are capable of in extraordinary
circumstances, not what the men are.

I am tempted to quote the remarkable words of a remarkable writer on

this very point: "In our judgment of men," says Henry Taylor, "we are to
beware of giving any importance to occasional acts. By acts of occasional
virtue weak men endeavour to redeem themselves in their own estimation,
vain men endeavour to exalt themselves in that of mankind. It may be
observed, that there are no men more worthless and selfish, in the general
tenor of their lives, than some who from time to time perform feats of
generosity. Sentimental selfishness will commonly vary its indulgences in
this way, and vain-glorious selfishness will break out into acts of
munificence. But self-government and self-denial are not to be relied on for
any real strength, except in so far as they are found to be exercised in
detail."*

* "The Statesman."

The first impression Mrs. Meredith Vyner made, was that of a cold,
cunning, cruel woman; with plenty of nervous energy and sensibility, but no
affection. If you disregarded that, and attended only to her conduct, and to
the sentiments she generally expressed, you thought her an enthusiastic,
affectionate, child-like creature, whose very faults sprang from an excess of
warmth and impulsiveness; and so good an actress was she, that it required
a keen observer, or a long intimacy with her, to detect her real character.

It has been remarked that deformed people are singularly noble,

delicate, and generous in their natures; or singularly mean, cunning, and
malicious. The scorn of the world so powerfully influences them, that it
brings out into greater relief the features of that moral physiognomy with
which nature has endowed them, making them much better or much worse
than their fellows. Mrs. Meredith Vyner belonged to the latter class; but so
cunning was she, that most people were entirely deceived by her; and if
they were occasionally startled by some great contradiction, they got over it
with the usual remark, "Oh, she is such a very strange woman!"

CHAPTER X.

DECLARATION OF WAR.

Mrs. Meredith Vyner had not long been in the room before she had
spoken to Marmaduke, who, perfectly on his guard, replied with respectful
politeness to the observations she from time to time addressed to him. It
was impossible for the acutest observer to have suspected there was any
arrière pensée in her slightly flurried manner (she was always restless), or
in his dignified ease. Two gladiators in the arena never faced each other
with greater watchfulness, than this tiny, lively woman—confident in her
skill—and this self-possessed magnificent Brazilian.

Pellegrini placed himself with his back to the fire and coughed as he
thrust one hand into his breast, previously to beginning his recitations. The
guests crowded from the other rooms, and disposed themselves to listen, as
if they were to understand and greatly relish Alfieri. Mrs. Vyner, taking
advantage of this movement, beckoned Marmaduke to follow her, and
seating herself at a small table in the inner room, began turning over the
leaves of the Keepsake, and then addressing him in an under tone, said:—

"So you wanted to cut me the other night?"

"I did. Surely it was the best thing I could do." As he said this, he sat
down on an ottoman opposite her.

"What! before any explanation?" she inquired, endeavouring to throw a

tenderness into her tone, which she could not throw into her eyes.

"All explanation is useless when the facts are so eloquent. I neither ask
for explanation, nor would I accept one."

"And you think me——" She could not proceed.

"A woman," he said, gravely.

"And what motives do you attribute?"

"Very natural and powerful motives, or they would not have influenced
you. I know not what they were. I do not desire to know. Either you love me
——"

"Mr. Ashley, remember I am a married woman, and this language——"

 "I was only putting an hypothetical case: your conduct and the present
interruption convince me it was unnecessary to put such a case."

He rose, but she motioned to him to be reseated. She sighed, and

continued hurriedly turning over the leaves of the book she held. Expecting
every moment that she was going to speak, he watched her in silence. This
was exactly what she wished; confident in the influence of her beauty over
him, she thought it more effective than any argument; besides, it did not
inculpate her in any way.

She miscalculated. The contemplation only served to irritate him the

more. If his temples throbbed at the mere recollection of her having jilted
him, the sight of her called up bygone scenes of tenderness, which made her
inconstancy the more odious.

"Do you not hate me?" she said at last, keeping her eyes fixed on the
book, not daring to look at him.

"I do," he replied, in a whisper, like the hiss of a serpent.

She started at the sound, and raised her terrified head to see if his face
contradicted or confirmed the words. But she could read nothing there. The
light which for a moment had flashed from his dark eyes had passed away,
like the flush which had burnt his cheek. He had been unable to repress that
movement of anger; but no sooner were the words escaped than he repented
them, and endeavoured to do away with their effect, by adding,—

"That is, I did; now hate has given place to contempt. When I hated you,
it was because I still felt a lingering of that love which you had outraged;
but I soon overcame that weakness, and now I think only of you as one who
sold herself for money."

At this very bitter speech, made the more galling from the tone of
superb contempt in which it was uttered, she shook back her golden
ringlets, and bent on him her tiger eyes with an expression which would
have made most men tremble, but which to Marmaduke had a savage
fascination, stirring strange feelings within him, and making him almost
clutch her in a fierce embrace. She looked perfectly lovely in his eyes at
that moment; and it is impossible to say what might have been the result of
this scene, had not her husband appeared. He had just missed her, and
astonished at not finding her listening to Pellegrini's recitations, for which
alone he supposed her to have come there, he began fidgeting about, till he
espied her in earnest conversation with the handsome Marmaduke.

"My dear," said he, preparing a pinch with slow dignity, "won't you
come into the next room, to hear Alfieri?"

"No; I came away, unable to listen to Pellegrini's affected declamation."

Meredith Vyner stood there somewhat puzzled what to say. He flattered

his nose with a series of gentle taps, and in his abstraction, let fall more of
the snuff than usual. Not even his pinch, however, could clear his ideas. He
felt something like jealousy, though the handsome young man was a perfect
stranger to him; and wished to get his wife away, without exactly knowing
how it was to be done.

He was relieved from his perplexity by an influx of the company from

the other room at the conclusion of the recitation. The tête-à-tête was
broken up. Mrs. Vyner took her husband's arm, and moved away, not
without a parting smile at Marmaduke, who received it with supreme
indifference.

CHAPTER XI.

ONE OF OUR HEROES.

On the following morning, Cecil Chamberlayne was busy over his

edition of Horace, "cramming" for his interview with Meredith Vyner,
whose acquaintance he was the more anxious to cultivate, now he knew that
he had three marriageable daughters.
 Cecil has been introduced once or twice before, but I have not yet had
an opportunity of sketching his portrait, so let me attempt it now.

He was a social favourite. He had considerable vivacity, which

sometimes amounted to wit, and always passed for it. He drew well,
composed well, sang well, dressed well, rode well, wrote charming verses
and agreeable prose, played the piano and the guitar, and waltzed to
perfection: in a word, was a cavalier accompli.

But with all these accomplishments there was no genius. He could do

many things well, but nothing like a master. He painted better than an
amateur, but not well enough for a professed artist.

Indeed, there was in him, both physically and morally, a sort of faltering
greatness which arrested the attention of the observer. The head and bust
were those of a large man, but the body and legs were small and neatly
made. In his face there was the same contradiction: a boldness of outline,
with a delicacy amounting to weakness in the details. His brow was broad
and high, without being massive. His eyes were blue and gentle. His nose
aquiline, and handsomely cut. The mouth would have been pretty had it not
been too small. In appearance he was somewhat over neat—dapper.

At school, the boys called him "Fanny."

It is not often that the physical corresponds so well with the moral, as in
Cecil Chamberlayne; but in him the accordance was perfect. You could not
look at his white hand without at once divining, from its conical fingers,
and the absence of strongly marked knuckles, that it belonged to one in
whom the emotions predominated, and in whom the intellect tended
naturally to art; it was, in truth, an artistic hand, the largeness of which
showed a love of details, as the broad palm and small thumb showed an
energetic sensuality and a wavering will.

Lively, good-natured, and accomplished, he was a great favourite with

most people, and, indeed, the very attractiveness of his manners had been
the obstacle to his advancement in life. His time and talents, instead of
being devoted to any honourable or useful pursuit, were frittered away in
the endless nothings which society demanded, and he had reached the age
of seven and twenty, without fortune and without a profession. He flattered
himself that he should be made consul somewhere, by one among his
powerful friends, or that some sinecure would fall in his way; and on this
hope he refrained from applying himself to the study of any profession, and
only thought of sustaining his reputation as an amusing fellow. Meanwhile
his small patrimony had dwindled down to the interest of four thousand
pounds, which was preserved only because he could not touch the capital: a
misfortune which he had frequently declaimed against, and to which he
now owed the means of keeping a decent coat on his back.

He went to Vyner, listened to his remarks on Horace, sympathized with

his hatred of editors, wondered at the beauty and rarity of his editions,
expressed strong and lively interest in his commentary, and, in short, so
ingratiated himself with the old pedant, that he was invited down to Wytton
Hall, whither the family was about to go.
 BOOK II.

CHAPTER I.

CECIL CHAMBERLAYNE TO FRANK

FORRESTER.

MY DEAR FRANK,

I am alone in the house; everybody is gone somewhere, except that

prosy, respectable gentleman, Captain Heath, who is in the library, reading
Seneca or Hannah More, I dare say; and in consequence of this solitude I
obey the call of friendship, and devote my unoccupied time to you.

I have been here three days without a yawn. That is enough to tell you
how different the place is from what I expected. On the other hand, I must
confide to you my suspicions, that I shall return to town perfectly heart-
whole. There are only the two elder girls at home; and, though very pretty,
they are not at all my style. Rose, the eldest, is satirical, and far too lively to
get up any sentiment with. She makes the place ring with her merry,
musical laugh; but I never get on with laughing women. Her sister Blanche
is better; but she is shy, and, I suspect, stupid. Violet, the youngest, is
expected home in a few days; but both her father and stepmother give
fearful accounts of her temper; and, without making any positive charge,
Mrs. Vyner has, from time to time, said things which convey a very
unfavourable impression of the girl's disposition.

As this is the case, I must look at Wytton Hall from a totally different
point of view. It is now only a country house to me, and I must criticize its
attractions accordingly.
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