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Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203
 Brief Contents
Preface xxi

PART ONE Elements of Law and the Judicial Process 1

CHAPTER 1 Today’s Business Environment: Law and Ethics 2
CHAPTER 2 The Court Systems 22
CHAPTER 3 Trials and Resolving Disputes 44
CHAPTER 4 The Constitution: Focus on Application to Business 69
CHAPTER 5 Criminal Law and Business 94

PART TWO Elements of Traditional Business Law 119

CHAPTER 6 Elements of Torts 120
CHAPTER 7 Business Torts and Product Liability 143
CHAPTER 8 Real and Personal Property 166
CHAPTER 9 Intellectual Property 191
CHAPTER 10 Contracts 212
CHAPTER 11 Domestic and International Sales 240
CHAPTER 12 Business Organizations 268
CHAPTER 13 Negotiable Instruments, Credit, and Bankruptcy 295

PART THREE The Employment Relationship 327

CHAPTER 14 Agency and the Employment Relationship 328
CHAPTER 15 Employment and Labor Regulations 352
CHAPTER 16 Employment Discrimination 382

PART FOUR The Regulatory Environment of Business 409

CHAPTER 17 The Regulatory Process 410
CHAPTER 18 Securities Regulation 430
CHAPTER 19 Consumer Protection 454
CHAPTER 20 Antitrust Law 481
CHAPTER 21 Environmental Law 504
CHAPTER 22 The International Legal Environment of Business 531
Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203
vii
viii Brief Contents

Appendix A Legal Research and the Internet 557

Appendix B Case Analysis and Legal Sources 560
Appendix C The Constitution of the United States of America 567
Appendix D The Uniform Commercial Code (Excerpts) 580
Appendix E National Labor Relations Act (Excerpts) 598
Appendix F Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Excerpts) 603
Appendix G Americans with Disabilities Act (Excerpts) 606
Appendix H The Antitrust Statutes (Excerpts) 609
Appendix I Securities Statutes (Excerpts) 613
Glossary 617
Index 649

Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203
 Contents
Preface xxi

PART ONE Elements of Law and the Judicial Process 1

CHAPTER 1
Today’s Business Environment: Law and Ethics.........................................2
Law and the Key Functions of the Legal System 3
International Perspective: Corrupt Nations and the Law 4
Sources of Law in the United States 5
Lighter? Side of the Law: Creative Claim 8
International Perspective: Civil Law Systems 12
Classifications of Law 12
Business Ethics and Social Responsibility 15
Issue Spotter: OK to Grease Palms? 16
Lighter? Side of the Law: Legal Ethics? 16
International Perspective: Does Regulation Improve Business Ethics? 17
Issue Spotter: Putting Ethics into Practice 18

CHAPTER 2
The Court Systems......................................................................................22
The Court Systems 23
The Federal Courts 25
The State Courts 28
International Perspective: The French Court System 29
Lighter? Side of the Law: In-the-Courtroom Training 30
Jurisdiction 30
Lighter? Side of the Law: Do as I Say, Not as I Do 31
International Perspective: London’s Commercial Court 32
Relations between the Court Systems 35
Issue Spotter: Can Your Firm Be Reached? 36
Venue 40
Lighter? Side of the Law: The Law Applies to Me? 40

CHAPTER 3
Trials and Resolving Disputes ...................................................................44
Basic Trial Procedures 45
Lighter? Side of the Law: Come to the Judge’s Party! 49
International Perspective: British Courtroom Procedure 52
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ix
x Contents

Lighter? Side of the Law: The Dog Ate My Summons 53

Lighter? Side of the Law: You Got Me There, Counselor!55
Lighter? Side of the Law: Wait a Minute—I Thought We Were in This Together! 60
International Perspective: German Trial Procedure 60
Alternate Dispute Resolution 61
Issue Spotter: Are There Limits on the Terms of Arbitration? 62
International Perspective: Arbitration and Cotton Contracts 65

CHAPTER 4
The Constitution: Focus on Application to Business...............................69
The Commerce Clause 70
Lighter? Side of the Law: I Am My Own Sovereign 73
The Taxing Power 75
Issue Spotter: Unconstitutional Business Activity? 77
Business and Free Speech 77
International Perspective: Freedom of Speech 78
Lighter? Side of the Law: Freedom of Bark but Not Burn in Ohio 82
Other Key Parts of the Bill of Rights 82
International Perspective: The (Partially) Unwritten Constitution of the United Kingdom 83
Fourteenth Amendment 87
Lighter? Side of the Law: Drop That Fry! Hands over Your Head! 88

CHAPTER 5
Criminal Law and Business........................................................................94
Crime 95
Crime Categories 95
Lighter? Side of the Law: They Think Big in Chicago 96
Crimes and Elements of Crime 96
Defenses 99
Prosecution Process 99
White-Collar Crime 102
Lighter? Side of the Law: That Wasn’t Me! 103
Lighter? Side of the Law: Who Profits from Crime? 104
International Perspective: Multinational Employers and Criminal Charges Abroad 105
Issue Spotter: Internal Fraud 106
International Perspective: White-Collar Crime in France 111
Sentencing Guidelines and Compliance 112

PART TWO Elements of Traditional Business Law 119

CHAPTER 6
Elements of Torts......................................................................................120
Torts and the Legal System 121
Negligence-Based Torts 121
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 Contents xi

International Perspective: No Tort Litigation Jackpots in New Zealand 122

Lighter? Side of the Law: Extending the Concept of Negligence 124
Issue Spotter: Effective Liability Releases 127
Intentional Torts against Persons 129
Issue Spotter: Dealing with Drunks 133
Lighter? Side of the Law: Battered at the Show 133
Issue Spotter: Dealing with the Elderly and Their Heirs136
Lighter? Side of the Law: How Dare You List My Phone Calls! 138
Issue Spotter: Say Good Things about a Good Employee? 138
International Perspective: Libel in Foreign Courts 139

CHAPTER 7
Business Torts and Product Liability ......................................................143
Tort Law and Business 144
Issue Spotter: Hiring Employees from Competitors 148
Product Liability 148
International Perspective: Is Japan Really Different? 150
Lighter? Side of the Law: You Can’t Be Too Careful 151
Issue Spotter: Understanding Product Problems 151
Lighter? Side of the Law: Hot Stuff 154
Lighter? Side of the Law: Reason #4 Why West Virginia Is Considered a Litigation Hellhole 159
Issue Spotter: Cheaper Can Be More Expensive 160
International Perspective: Asbestos Litigation in the United States and United Kingdom 161
Lighter? Side of the Law: Busted! 162

CHAPTER 8
Real and Personal Property......................................................................166
Real Property 167
Lighter? Side of the Law: Is It Real Property or Personal Property? 168
International Perspective: Insecure Property Rights 171
Lighter? Side of the Law: The Tenants Who Would Not Go Away 175
International Perspective: Americans Crossing into Mexico for Land 176
Public Control of Real Property 178
Issue Spotter: Would Tighter Leases Help? 179
Torts against Property 180
Issue Spotter: Protecting Company Property 184
Lighter? Side of the Law: The FBI Negligent? No, Just Doing Law Enforcement 184
Torts against Property Owners 184
Issue Spotter: Duties to Elderly Customers 185
Lighter? Side of the Law: Pesky Surveillance Cameras 186
Issue Spotter: Protecting Customers’ Kids 188

CHAPTER 9
Intellectual Property .................................................................................191
Trademarks 192
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xii Contents

Issue Spotter: Establishing Your Name 192

Lighter? Side of the Law: Discrimination against Men? 193
International Perspective: Costs of Counterfeiting 198
Issue Spotter: Knock Off the Knock-Offs? 199
Copyright 200
Lighter? Side of the Law: You Owe Us the World and More! 200
Issue Spotter: Fair Sharing of Educational Information? 201
Patents 203
Lighter? Side of the Law: Why Many Patents Are Overturned When Challenged 203
Trade Secrets 205
International Perspective: Patent Differences 205
Lighter? Side of the Law: It’s Secret How We Spend Your Money 206
Issue Spotter: Protecting Valuable Information 208

CHAPTER 10
Contracts ...................................................................................................212
Contract Law 213
Elements of a Contract 213
Lighter? Side of the Law: No Extra Charge for the Smell 215
Lighter? Side of the Law: You Can’t Trust Anyone These Days 221
International Perspective: Problems Enforcing Contracts 223
Issue Spotter: Liars’ Contest? 225
Performance, Discharge, and Breach of Contracts 227
Issue Spotter: Do You Have to Eat the Loss? 230
Remedies 230
International Perspective: Contracting with the Japanese 233
Lighter? Side of the Law: Me, Read the Rules? 234

CHAPTER 11
Domestic and International Sales............................................................240
Introduction to the UCC 241
Forming a Sales Contract 244
Lighter? Side of the Law: Be Honest, Not Necessarily Kind 244
Issue Spotter: Gouge the Wholesaler 250
Performance and Obligations 251
International Perspective: How to Assure Foreign Buyers of Product Quality 251
Sales Warranties 252
Issue Spotter: How Much Advice Should Retailers Give? 254
Remedies and Damages 255
Lighter? Side of the Law: Suckers on a Global Scale 256
International Sales 259
International Perspective: Contracts in China
260
Issue Spotter: What Law Applies, and Where, to Your Contract? 262

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 Contents xiii

CHAPTER 12
Business Organizations ............................................................................268
Sole Proprietorships 269
Partnerships 269
International Perspective: Small Is Not So Beautiful in Japan 272
Limited Partnership 272
Issue Spotter: Sisterly Love? 274
Corporations 275
Lighter? Side of the Law: Your Honor, I’ll Turn Rocks into Gold 277
Limited Liability Companies 280
Lighter? Side of the Law: Mad at Each Other? Sue the Insurance Company 281
International Perspective: Offshore Businesses 282
Key Organizational Features 284
Issue Spotter: Keeping Things in Order 286
Lighter? Side of the Law: I Own the World! 287
Franchises 287
Issue Spotter: The Road to Riches? 290

CHAPTER 13
Negotiable Instruments, Credit, and Bankruptcy ..................................295
Negotiable Instruments 296
International Perspective: Mixing Religion and Finance 297
Lighter? Side of the Law: How to Enforce a Judgment 301
Credit 301
Credit with Security 303
Issue Spotter: Helping a Dream? 304
Lighter? Side of the Law: Don’t You Know Who I Am? 305
Issue Spotter: Lean on a Lien? 310
Bankruptcy 312
Issue Spotter: Credit for the Bankrupt? 315
International Perspective: International Business Bankruptcy Complexities 316
Lighter? Side of the Law: Home Sweet Home 317

PART THREE The Employment Relationship 327

CHAPTER 14
Agency and the Employment Relationship .............................................328
Agency Relationships 329
Lighter? Side of the Law: Is Slavery an Employment Relationship? 331
The Essential Employment Relationship 338
Lighter? Side of the Law: The Ultimate Employment Gig 344
Issue Spotter: Can You Be Too Encouraging to Employees? 345
Lighter? Side of the Law: Who, Him? Must Be an Independent Contractor 346
Tort Liability for Employers and Principals 346
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xiv Contents

International Perspective: Workplace Data Privacy in the European Union 346

Issue Spotter: Use of Company Cars 347

CHAPTER 15
Employment and Labor Regulations .......................................................352
Public Policy Limits to At-Will Employment 353
Lighter? Side of the Law: Grounds for Termination? 355
Substance Abuse 356
Issue Spotter: What Stance Should Be Taken toward Drinking and the Office?
357
Issue Spotter: How Does an Employer Handle an Employee Who Flunks a Drug Test? 358
Worker Health and Safety 359
Lighter? Side of the Law: I Just Wanted My Candy Bar! 361
Workers’ Compensation 362
Lighter? Side of the Law: Rules Are Rules! 362
Issue Spotter: Reducing Risks and Improving Looks 363
Family and Medical Leave 365
General Regulation of Labor Markets 367
Issue Spotter: Adapting to Modern Ways of Working 368
International Perspective: Flexibility in Labor Markets
369
Issue Spotter: Hiring Documentation and Discrimination 370
Major Labor Relations Acts 370
Lighter? Side of the Law: Do What We Say, Not What We Do 371
The National Labor Relations Board 372
Unionization 373
International Perspective: Labor Law in China 375
Issue Spotter: Moves to Help Keep Unions Out 376
Collective Bargaining 376

CHAPTER 16
Employment Discrimination ...................................................................382
Origins of Discrimination Law 383
Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act 383
International Perspective: EEOC Impact on Global Operations 385
Lighter? Side of the Law: A New Protected Class? 386
Bringing a Discrimination Charge 389
Lighter? Side of the Law: Love Only Goes So Far 391
Issue Spotter: Effective Sexual Harassment Policy 394
Issue Spotter: Inadvertent Discrimination? 397
Affirmative Action 398
Disability Discrimination 399
International Perspective: Employment Discrimination in Europe and Japan 400
Lighter? Side of the Law: Wicked Witch of the East? 401
Issue Spotter: Accommodating Disabilities 404
Lighter?
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Learning. I Have May
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All Rights the not
Right to Harass
be copied, scanned,Women
or duplicated, 405
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 Contents xv

PART FOUR The Regulatory Environment of Business 409

CHAPTER 17
The Regulatory Process ............................................................................410
Administrative Agencies 411
Lighter? Side of the Law: Keep Pumping Out the Red Tape 412
Administrative Law 412
Enforcing Rules 416
Issue Spotter: Contest a Regulatory Order? 420
Judicial Review 420
International Perspective: Administrative Agencies in Japan 422
Lighter? Side of the Law: Regulators Protecting Consumers? 422
Controls on Agencies 426
Lighter? Side of the Law: We Will Teach You Not to Ask Questions 427

CHAPTER 18
Securities Regulation ................................................................................430
The Elements of Securities 431
What Is a Security? 432
Offering Securities to Investors 433
Issue Spotter: What Are You Selling? 436
Issue Spotter: Can New Start-Up Firms Issue Securities? 438
Regulation of Securities Trading 438
Lighter? Side of the Law: Never Too Old to Withdraw Large Sums 439
Securities Fraud 439
Lighter? Side of the Law: Try, Try Again 443
Insider Trading 443
International Perspective: London, New York, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 444
Issue Spotter: Can You Exploit the Gossip? 446
The Investment Company Act 446
International Perspective: European Approaches to Insider Trading 447
The Investment Advisers Act 447
Lighter? Side of the Law: The Fall of a Blood Brother 448
Stock Market Regulation 450

CHAPTER 19
Consumer Protection................................................................................454
The FDA: Food and Drug Regulation 455
Lighter? Side of the Law: Maybe Get a New Laptop 456
International Perspective: Global Drug Controls 457
Issue Spotter: How Much Can You Hype Health Supplements? 459
The FTC and Consumer Protection 460
Lighter? Side of the Law: Protect Me from Myself! 460
Issue All
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xvi Contents

Lighter? Side of the Law: Wild Claims about Water in Europe 467
Consumer Credit Protection 468
International Perspective: Credit around the World473
Issue Spotter: Dealing with Customer Records 474
Lighter? Side of the Law: Watch Who You Nickel and Dime 475
Issue Spotter: How Should You Handle Unpaid Accounts? 477

CHAPTER 20
Antitrust Law ............................................................................................481
Antitrust Statutes 482
Monopolization 486
Lighter? Side of the Law: Milk Monopoly 488
International Perspective: The European Union and Antitrust Law 489
Horizontal Restraints of Trade 489
Lighter? Side of the Law: We’re Lawyers, and We’re Here to Help You 492
Issue Spotter: Share and Share Alike 493
Vertical Restraint of Trade 493
Lighter? Side of the Law: I Am Going to Take My Bull and Go Home! 497
International Perspective: China’s Anti-Monopoly Law 498
The Robinson-Patman Act 498
Issue Spotter: Who Do You Sell What to, and for How Much? 499

CHAPTER 21
Environmental Law...................................................................................504
Environmental Regulation 505
Pollution and the Common Law 505
Clean Air Act 507
Lighter? Side of the Law: Save the Environment: Burn Coal 509
Clean Water Act 512
International Perspective: Industrialization Brings Environmental Problems to China 513
Issue Spotter: Does Obeying EPA Regulations Eliminate Litigation? 516
Land Pollution 518
Lighter? Side of the Law: Thanks for the Housing 520
Species Protection 522
Lighter? Side of the Law: Protect Truly Rare Species 522
Global Environmental Issues 523
Issue Spotter: Picking a Sweet Spot 525
International Perspective: CITES: Global Species Concerns May Conflict with
Local Interests 527

CHAPTER 22
The International Legal Environment of Business.................................531
International Law and Business 532
U.S. Import Policy 534
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 Contents xvii

Issue Spotter: Starting an Import Business 536

Lighter? Side of the Law: I’m a Diplomat, So I Can Do Anything! 537
Issue Spotter: Making the Deal Stick 538
Lighter? Side of the Law I Make Sure Other People Obey the Law 539
Business Structures in Foreign Markets 539
International Perspective: Put the Shoe on the Other Foot 540
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 541
International Contracts 543
Lighter? Side of the Law: All Corruption Is Not Created Equal 544
Issue Spotter: Where to Produce? 549
International Dispute Resolution 549
International Perspective: Migrating to Australia 552

Appendix A Legal Research and the Internet ............................................................................ 557

Appendix B Case Analysis and Legal Sources........................................................................... 560
Appendix C The Constitution of the United States of America............................................ 567
Appendix D The Uniform Commercial Code (Excerpts) ....................................................... 580
Appendix E National Labor Relations Act (Excerpts)............................................................. 598
Appendix F Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Excerpts) ................................................ 603
Appendix G Americans with Disabilities Act (Excerpts) ........................................................ 606
Appendix H The Antitrust Statutes (Excerpts).......................................................................... 609
Appendix I Securities Statutes (Excerpts) ................................................................................. 613

Glossary 617
Index 649

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 Table of Cases

The principal cases are in bold type. Cases cited or discussed in the text are roman type. References are to
pages. Cases cited in principal cases and within other quoted materials are not included.

A Chambers v. Travelers Companies, INC. 139

ACAP Financial, Inc. v. United States Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources
Securities and Exchange Commission 449 Defense Council, Inc. 415
Anderson v. Mandalay Corporation 348 Chuway v. National Action
Financial Service 476
Audi AG v. D’Amato 195
City of Livonia Employees Retirement
B System v. Boeing Company 441
Ballalatak v. All Iowa Agriculture Consolidated Edison Company v.
Association 354 Public Service Commission of New York 78

Barabin v. AstenJohnson, Inc. 50 Contractors Source, Inc. v. Amegy

Bank National Association 299
Bearden v. Wardley Corp. 335
Cove Management v. AFLAC, Inc. 332
Black Beauty Coal Company v.
Federal Mine Safety and Health Crest Ridge Construction v. Newcourt 245
Review Commission 418
D
Blimka v. My Web Wholesalers, LLC 34
Davis v. Baugh Industrial Contractors,
Bohnsack v. Varco, L.P. 206 Inc. 10
Bowman v. Monsanto Co. 204 Decker v. Northwest Environmental
Bridge v. Phoenix Bond & Indemnity Co. 107 Defense Center 515
Burlington Industries v. Ellerth 393 DeRosier v. Utility Systems of
America, Inc. 232

C Deschamps v. Treasure State

Trailer Court, Ltd. 226
Caley v. Gulfstream Aerospace Corp 219
Dunkin’ Donuts Franchised
Cash & Henderson Drugs. Inc. v. Restaurants LLC v. Sandip, Inc. 291
Johnson & Johnson 500
Central Hudson Gas and Electric E
Corporation v. Public Service Eagles Landing Development, L.L.C. v.
Commission of New York 80 Eagles Landing Apartments, L.P. 273

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xviii
 Table of Cases xix

Elonis v. United States 97 In re 1545 Ocean Avenue, LLC 283

Equal Employment Opportunity In the Matter of Kmart Corporation 318
Comm. v. Dial Corporation 395
Erichsen v. No-Frills Supermarkets K
of Omaha 187
Katz v. Google Inc. 202
Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins 38
Katzenbach v. McClung 71
F Keith v. County of Oakland 402
Federal Trade Commission v. Wyndham Kim v. Toyota Motor Corporation 158
Worldwide Corp. 462
Fordyce Bank and Trust v. Bean L
Timberland 308
Labrayere v. Bohr Farms, LLC 89
France v. Southern Equipment Co. 339
Lamson v. Crater Lake Motors 18
Fuerschbach v. Southwest Airlines 131
Latta v. Rainey 434

G Lawler v. Montblanc North

America, LLC 135
Geczi v. Lifetime Fitness 128
Lee v. R & K Marine 255
General Electric Business Financial
Services v. Silverman 305 Leegin Creative Leather
Products v. PSKS 495
Greenman v. Yuba Power Products 152
Lewis v. Heartland Inns of
Griffith v. Clear Lakes Trout 249 America, L.L.C. 391
Group Against Smog and Pollution, Lone Mountain Processing, Inc.
Inc. v. Shenango Inc. 511 v. Secretary of Labor 425
Guz v. Bechtel National 342 Long v. Superior Senior Care, Inc. 363

H Lost Tree Village Corporation v.

United States 517
Hamby v. Health Management
Associates, Inc. 147
M
Harder v. Edwards 134
Macpherson v. Buick Motor
Harris v. Forklift Systems 387 Company 149
Hartsoe v. Christopher 24 Massachusetts v. Environmental
Hasenwinkel v. Mosaic 366 Protection Agency 526

Hinson v. N&W Construction Company 220 Moran v. Sims 172

Horne v. Department of Agriculture 86 Morrissey v. Krystopowicz 285

Hughes v. Oklahoma 74
N
I Naples v. Keystone Building and
Development Corp. 57
In Re Polar Bear Endangered Species
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Act Listing 524 Nielsen v. Gold’s Gym 177
Discovering Diverse Content Through
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of
Cartouche
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
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you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Cartouche

Author: Frances Mary Peard

Release date: July 8, 2013 [eBook #43151]

Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CARTOUCHE ***

Frances Peard
"Cartouche"
 Chapter One.
Love Me, Love My Dog.

“Cartouche! Cartouche!”

The call came from a young Englishman, who, having just

walked through the streets of Florence on his way from the
station, now found himself before a small house which
stood not far from the Cascine in an open space, pleasantly
planted with trees, and within view of the Arno. The house
itself was white, if so cold a colour may be taken to
represent that mellow and golden effect which quickly
enriches the plaster of Italy; and it was gay with green
shutters and striped awnings, for it was yet early autumn,
and the City of Flowers had not long cooled down from the
extreme heats which make it unbearable in summer. There
was still a hot and languid glow lying on the violet-tinted
hills which on either side surround the plain; still the Lung’
Arno was avoided, and people kept close under the shadows
of the narrow streets; or, if they must needs cross the river,
crossed it by the Ponte Vecchio, under the shelter of its
quaint old shops.

The door of the house at which the young man had arrived
was open, but his call having produced no effect, instead of
entering he stood still and repeated it. “Cartouche!”

This time there was a dull thud on the ground to his right; a
great black poodle had jumped from an upper window, and
recovering himself in a moment, broke into the most
extravagant demonstrations of welcome, leaping upon the
new-comer, barking and rushing about with every hair flying
out from his body. The young man, who was fair and curly-
haired, and tall, though inclined to stoop, looked at the
window and then at the dog, and gave a whistle of surprise.

“Let me advise you not to try that too often, my friend,” he

said seriously. “It is just as well for you that the house is
not a trifle higher, as I presume you would not have taken
the difference into your calculations. And a nice time your
mistress must be having, if these are the ways in which you
indulge.”

The dog’s answer was a vigorous bound, which almost upset

the young man’s balance; then rushing wildly round and
round the open place under the plane trees, his black hair
streaming in the wind, he suddenly pulled himself up and
stood watching his friend, his head on one side, his small
eyes gleaming from a dishevelled tangle, and his long
tongue hanging out of his mouth.

“Yes,” said the tall Englishman, still regarding him

meditatively, “I understand what all that means, old fellow.
You have a good supply of animal spirits, and a difficulty in
working off the steam under present circumstances. I don’t
know that I feel as sympathetic as you have a right to
expect, but, at any rate, I shall be able to do something for
you, and if you could contrive to make over a little of what
is really inconveniencing you, I have not the slightest
objection to be troubled with it. Where is your mistress?”

As he spoke he turned towards the door and went in. The

house seemed to have fallen by accident among all the
great buildings of Florence: it had no porter, no staircase
with flats going on and on; it had been built or altered by
some Englishman, who had a fancy for a home that should
be like England, although the beautiful Italian skies were
overhead; and Jack Ibbetson, when he came out with his
aunt, Miss Cartwright, to look for a house, fell upon this
place, and did not rest until he got hold of it for her. Inside
the door there were flowers; a few steps led into a passage
which turned off at right angles, and then Ibbetson opened
the door of a small salon, and walked through it towards the
window, while his eye took in certain evidences that
Cartouche had been holding high revel there to the
detriment of cushions and covers.

“So you still go on the rampage, old fellow?” he said to the

dog, who kept close to his heels in a state of suppressed
excitement. “If I were you I would leave off this style of
thing, I really would. It is nothing short of tyranny on your
part. Hallo! what’s up now?”

For with a wild swoop Cartouche pounced into a corner,

dragged out a basket, rushed to the window, and in a
moment more was careering round and round the little
garden in which the proprietor had indulged his English
tastes. It was an odd little garden, with a wall round it, and
a poor pretence at English grass, but the wall had capers
and pretty hanging things growing out of it, and lizards
darting up and down; and the beauty of the garden lay in
its great flowering shrubs, in the magnolias, just beginning
to show scarlet flames of seed among their glossy leaves, in
the bright green of an orange tree and the broad ribbed
foliage of Japanese medlars. That some one was sitting
there became evident in another moment, when there were
uttered a series of appeals in a feminine voice—

“Cartouche, Cartouche! Oh, Cartouche, how can you! Come

here, you naughty, naughty dog! I shall be obliged to beat
you, you know I shall! Come, now, like a good dog.
Cartouche, Cartouche, come here!”

The young Englishman, standing back at the window, smiled

at the little scene, at the pretty soft little lady who had got
up anxiously and left her work on the chair, at the dog’s
evident enjoyment, his pretence of remorse and
abandonment, the slow wag of his tail as he waited for his
mistress to approach, the swift rush with which he made his
escape. At last, when he had drawn her to the limit of the
garden, he suddenly dropped the basket, raced back to her
chair, and seizing a loose tassel which she had been about
to sew on to a cushion, pranced up to the young man with
an air of infinite triumph. Miss Cartwright turned round and
saw her nephew emerging.

“Jack, is it you?” she cried. And then she hurried towards

him with both her kind hands outstretched. “My dear, dear
boy, I can hardly believe it; this is delightful, this is why I
have had no letter! Have you just come? Have you had
nothing to eat? Angela shall send up something at once,
and Winter shall go to Franconi’s. My dear, it is so good to
see you, and I was thinking of nothing but that naughty
dog. What is that you are taking out of his mouth?”

“I’m afraid it’s a tassel,” said Jack gravely. “Shall I flog

him?”

Miss Cartwright was one of those kind gentle people whose

conscience and soft-heartedness are always falling foul of
each other.

“Perhaps it does not so much matter,” she said hurriedly; “it

is only the same tassel which he has torn off so often
before, that I daresay he fancies he has a sort of right to it.”

“I’m very much afraid he is giving you no end of trouble,”

said Jack remorsefully.

“Oh, my dear, no! He is wonderfully good, and so

affectionate that sometimes it quite brings the tears into my
eyes. But of course he is young, and one can’t expect him
to understand everything at once, can one?”

“That is the old story, Aunt Mary,” said Jack, smiling kindly;
“I have got too much good out of the excuse myself to
begrudge it to Cartouche.”

But Miss Cartwright hardly heard his words; she was looking
at him, her face full of that sweet warm happiness which
often brightens lives which seem to us on-lookers grey and
commonplace. What do we know, after all? The passionate
thrills, the great tides of emotion, which we call happiness,
are often more nearly allied to pain; true bliss creeps out
from strange, unlooked-for crannies, from the unselfishness
which has seemed to set it aside. Jack was struck and
touched by the gladness in her face, by the peace of the
little garden, its vines and its roses. He had a feeling as if it
could not last, as if he himself were bringing in the element
of unrest. He stopped his aunt when she was beginning to
question him.

“You have not heard how Cartouche got at me.”

“No—did he know your step? Oh, my dear,” she said,

pausing blankly.

“Well?”

“I have just remembered I had shut him into an upstairs

room, and the key is in my pocket.”

“It’s quite safe, you need not feel for it,” said Jack gravely.
“The fact is, he jumped out of the window.”

“Oh, but I hope, I do hope you are mistaken,” said Miss

Cartwright in great perturbation. “I have always felt so safe
when we have got him upstairs; it really will be serious if
this is no restraint. Because, even if the windows were
closed”—she stopped and looked doubtfully at Cartouche,
who presented an aspect of complete indifference.

“He would go through them—not a doubt of it.”

“My dear boy, don’t say such dreadful things! But then,
what can we do? Never mind, I dare say he will not be
naughty again,” she went on, bringing her unlimited
hopefulness to bear; “besides, it was owing to your coming
so unexpectedly, and you have explained nothing as yet. I
shall just go and see Winter, and tell her to get everything
ready for you, and then I shall come back, and hear all that
you have been doing.”

Left to himself, Ibbetson sat down on a garden bench, and

with his head sunk between his shoulders, his long legs
stretched stiffly out, and his hands disposed of in his
pockets, fell into a reverie, which, to judge from his looks,
was not of an altogether agreeable nature. So absorbed by
it was he, that Cartouche, tired of a short-lived goodness,
went off to relieve his spirits by bullying the cat of the
household, an animal which, having been always
distinguished for a singularly placid disposition, was now
rapidly acquiring the characteristics of a vixen, goaded
thereto by a good-humoured but unceasing persecution.
What with barks and spittings, there was noise enough to
disturb a less profound meditation, but when Miss
Cartwright at length came hurrying out, her nephew kept
the same attitude, and was unaware of her approach.
Thinking that he was asleep, she stood looking at him with
a tender wistfulness in her soft eyes; for now that his face
was in repose she noticed a tired and grave expression
which she fancied should not have been there. It was not a
handsome face, for there was a greater squareness than is
considered consistent with good looks, and the mouth was
large. But his eyes were grey and honest, and all the
features gave you a pleasant impression of openness and
health which in itself was a strong attraction to less partial
observers than his aunt. Nor was the partiality itself
wonderful, when it was considered that she had acted as
mother to Jack since the time when his own mother had
died, a time so long ago that he was too small to know
anything about it—or so they decided. When it happened,
Miss Cartwright went to live with her brother-in-law, and to
bring up Jack.

She did this—the more loyally and creditably that she and
her brother-in-law never got on well together. It was not
that they quarrelled, but that they had little in common. Sir
John Ibbetson was a poor squire who farmed his own land,
and never seemed to grow any the richer for it; perhaps the
truth was, that being haunted by the impression that ill-luck
dogged his footsteps, he could scarcely be induced to take
any but a gloomy view of whatever concerned him. That
Jack’s early life was not coloured by such grim
presentiments was owing to Miss Cartwright’s persistent
cheerfulness, which, while a perpetual trial to Sir John,
made the home atmosphere healthy for the boy. Few people
could have retained their sweet temper and interest in
minor matters so thoroughly as she retained them, in spite
of constant rebuffs; nor could she ever be talked into taking
despairing views of Jack’s juvenile naughtinesses, or into
foreshadowing future disgrace from his inability or
unwillingness to master the intricacies of the Latin
grammar. But perhaps her best service both to father and
son was in keeping well before the boy his father’s actual
affection, and thus preventing Sir John’s over-anxiety from
alienating his son, which might have been a not unnatural
result. As it was, the lad grew up high-spirited and perhaps
a little wilful, but generous in his impulses, and with a
sweet temper which it was difficult to ruffle. He was
universally liked at Harrow and Oxford, and, like other men,
got both good and bad out of his popularity; but being too
lazy for hard work, only scrambled through what had to be
done, and grievously disappointed his father, although the
latter had never professed to look forward to better things.
It might have been owing to this disappointment that Sir
John took a step which caused the most lively amazement
to Jack, Miss Cartwright, his servants, and, in a lesser
degree, to the whole circle of his acquaintances. He
announced his engagement to a rich widow.

When the first astonishment had been got over, nobody had
a word to say against it except Jack. He disliked it so
vehemently as even to surprise his aunt, who, with all her
knowledge of him, was unaware how tenderly he cherished
the idea—for remembrance it could scarcely be called—of
his lost mother, or how much he resented a step of his
father’s which seemed to prove her to be forgotten.
However, though the sore remained, his nature was too
sweet not to suffer it to be mollified, although he entirely
refused to benefit by the substantial kindnesses which his
stepmother—to her credit be it spoken—would willingly
have heaped upon him. It seemed, indeed, as if the
necessary spur had at last touched his life. He studied for
the bar more closely than he had ever done before, was
constant in his attendance at the courts, and in his letters
to his aunt expressed such an eager desire for her briefs,
that if her disposition had not been absolutely peaceful, she
might have returned to England on purpose to seek for a
lawsuit. As it was, she began to develop what seemed like a
sanguinary thirst for crime, reading the police reports in her
English papers with less horror at the wickedness there
brought to light, than anxiety that something should turn up
for Jack.
Sir John’s marriage had taken place nearly a year ago, and
Miss Cartwright, uprooted from what had been her home for
a long series of years, had, partly from old associations,
partly to please Jack, and partly because an old maiden
friend was bent upon the scheme, determined to make
Florence her home for a time. It was the last thing anyone
expected from her, but those are just the things which
people do. She and Miss Preston had moved to Siena for the
summer, and now had come back to the pretty homelike
little house on which they had fallen. Miss Preston was the
part of the arrangement against which Jack protested in
vain. She was tall, hook-nosed, commanding: she did not
believe in him; she set her face against weaknesses of all
kinds, and considered it her mission to protect Miss
Cartwright. When people’s worth takes this sort of
disagreeable shape, it is astonishing how much more
indignation it raises amongst their neighbours than falls to
the share of real sinners; and perhaps this was the tie
which kept these two—unlike as they were—together. Miss
Cartwright, who looked up to her friend with all her heart,
was really filled with a vague and tender pity which Miss
Preston never knew. It was she who was the actual
protector—smoothing down, explaining, thinking no evil,
and making people ashamed of their own.

Then there was Cartouche. Jack had picked him up as a

puppy in the South of France, and insisted upon his aunt
taking charge of him.

“He will have plenty of room here to run about and get
himself tamed down a little,” he explained, “whereas in
London he would be miserable. You need not trouble
yourself about him, he is clever enough to take care of
himself and you into the bargain. If you don’t really like him
I can send him to my fathers, only it struck me he would be
just what you want here; what do you say about it?”
He put the question, but would perhaps have been
surprised had a third person pointed out how little doubt he
felt about the answer. Miss Cartwright would have looked
upon herself as a barbarian if she had refused any gift
offered her by Jack, and immediately set herself to apply to
Cartouche the same hopefulness which she had brought to
bear upon her nephew’s education. Miss Preston’s wrath
was great, but there was another power in the house—
Winter, Miss Cartwright’s maid, and Winter hated Miss
Preston. Opposition, therefore, carried Winter to the side of
Cartouche, and opposition forms as strong a bond as
anything else.
 Chapter Two.
An Agreement.

Jack’s slumbers were far too sacred in the eyes of his aunt
for her to think of disturbing them; she was preparing to
retreat carefully, when he looked up and began to laugh.

“I was not asleep, I give you my word.”

“Oh, well, my dear,” she said, happy again now that the
shade on his face was gone, “I am sure it would not have
been wonderful if you had dozed off after your journey,
though I really don’t know where you have dropped from;
and I shall be quite glad to sit down and have a long talk,
for you know there is a great deal to be told.”

“Well, yes, I suppose there is.”

But he did not seem inclined to begin, though Miss

Cartwright looked wistfully at him. She said presently, with
rather a quavering voice, “There is no bad news?”

Just enough of a pause followed her question to make her

heart sink, then he said quickly—

“Certainly not. What has come to you, Aunt Mary? You

never used to indulge in these sort of fancies. If Cartouche
makes you nervous I shall take him away. But I know what
it is, Miss Preston has been scolding you for all the
wickedness of the world. Even in Florence that woman is as
bad as three fogs and an east wind.”

And he rattled on with more nonsense of the sort, but it was

so evident that he was making talk to avoid some subject
closer to each of them, that Miss Cartwright almost grew
vexed.

“My dear,” she said, “do leave poor Miss Preston alone.”

“She won’t leave you alone, that is what I complain of.

Come now, hasn’t she got some unhappy clergyman of
whom she falls foul?”

“Well, she did say she thought the new chaplain had too
much self-possession for so young a man, and I said I did
not think he was so very self-possessed, because when he
makes a mistake he always coughs, which obliges one to
notice it the more.”

“Worse and worse,” said Jack gravely; “she’s making you as

severe as she is herself.”

“My dear, you don’t really think I was unkind? I am sure I

only thought what I could say for the poor young man, she
seemed so annoyed about it. You don’t really mean it, you
are only laughing, and after all there is so much to say.”

He jumped up suddenly, and walked a few steps away from

his chair. The pretty quiet little garden was full of light and
colour and keenly-edged shade; the beautiful glossy leaves
stood up against the blue sky. Over the wall they could see
other houses and other trees, and catch here and there a
little glimpse of the opposite hill with its occasional
cypresses. The great bell of the Duomo was clanging, all the
glory of the day changing softly into another glory, deeper
and more mysterious. Was it of all this of which Jack was
thinking? Miss Cartwright followed him and laid her hand
gently on his arm.

“My dear boy!” she said imploringly.

He looked round at once and laughed at her pleading face.

“Well, it’s all—right, if that’s what you want to know.”

“You—”

“I’m engaged, yes, hard and fast. Why,” he said, with a

quick anxiety in his voice, “what’s the matter? Sit down, sit
down,” he went on, dragging over a chair, and putting her
into it very tenderly, for the delicate colour had quite faded
out of her face. But she smiled at him the next moment.

“It is very silly of me, but I have been thinking so much

about it; and somehow I fancied from your manner that
things were not going straight, and I was foolishly anxious.”

“You shouldn’t care so much about me,” said the young man
with real remorse; “nobody else in the world would trouble
themselves as you do. I should have told you directly, if it
had entered my head that you were taking it to heart like
this. Let me go and get you a glass of water or sal-volatile
or something, you are as shaky as possible.”

But Miss Cartwright sat up cheerfully.

“It is nothing at all, Jack; I am quite well again, and your

news is the best thing for me, if I really wanted anything. Is
it all settled?”

“Yes,” he said with a little restraint again, and pulling a

magnolia leaf as he spoke. “Phillis is at Bologna with the
Leytons, we all came out together. Yes, it is true; I expected
it to astonish you.”

“Don’t tell me anything more for a minute or two,” said his

aunt gently, putting up her hands; “it is one thing on
another. Phillis at Bologna? I don’t quite understand.”
“But you like the news, don’t you?” said Jack, turning
suddenly on her.

“Like it! how could I fail? Such a good girl, and all that
money, and your uncle wishing it so much. Nothing could be
so desirable, only, my dear boy—”

“What?” sharply.

“Sometimes you get odd touches of perversity, and the very

fact of a thing being quite unexceptional sets you against it.
I remember it so well when you were a boy. It would have
been a sad misfortune in this case, though, of course, it is
too momentous a matter for me to have said much about it
beforehand. I suppose that is the reason you did not know
how anxious I felt, but I assure you I have scarcely thought
of anything else. And Phillis is at Bologna! When do they
come on?”

“To-morrow—Saturday. I don’t exactly remember. I suppose

you know the terms of the agreement?” said Jack, looking
at her.

“My dear!”

“Well, it is an agreement,” he said perversely; “what else

would you call it? I, Peter Thornton, of Hetherton Grange, in
the county of Surrey, Esquire, do hereby declare you, John
Francis Ibbetson, barrister—how shall I put the London
lodgings, second floor, to best advantage?—to be the heir of
all my estates and properties—excluding, let us hope, his
gout and his temper—on condition that you take as your
wife my step-niece, Mary Phillis Grey, to have and to hold
with the timber, freeholds, messuages, and other etceteras
of the said estate. If that is not an agreement, I don’t know
the meaning of the word.”
Miss Cartwright, leaning forward, tried to look into her
nephew’s face.

“My dear,” she said slowly, “of course you are in joke, but I
don’t think I like to hear you talk in such a way. I should be
miserable if I did not feel sure you were quite happy.”

Jack turned round and took her soft hand very kindly in his
own.

“Well, then, don’t be miserable,” he said lightly; “why, you

know it stands to reason that every one must be perfectly
happy directly he or she is engaged to be married. What
shall I do to prove my load of bliss?”

But she shook her head.

“I sometimes fancy it would be better if money were not

mixed up with marriages at all. I don’t think it was so much
thought about in old days.”

“It is a stronger necessity now.”

“Your father would willingly increase your allowance.”

“I don’t choose to live on that woman’s fortune. Aunt Mary,

I thought you would be the first to congratulate me on the
splendour of my prospects!”

“My dear, and so I do,” she said quickly, laying her hand on
his shoulder; “I do, with all my heart. If I ask these
questions it is only that I care so very, very much, that I
was afraid, Jack, whether you might have rushed into this
without quite thinking enough beforehand. But I dare say
that was only my foolish fancy. Tell me one thing: if you had
not married Phillis would your uncle have left the estates to
her?”
“Not he,” said the young man, flinging a stone into the
bushes where Cartouche was still annoying the cat. “He told
me in so many words, that unless I married her she would
be penniless, and the money would go to some tenth cousin
or so.”

“I hope the poor girl did not know this,” said Miss Cartwright
uneasily.

“He is not the man to keep that sort of pressure to himself.”

“Jack, you liked her before there was any talk of these
estates?”

“Of course I did.”

He spoke impatiently, as if the subject were already

exhausted, whereas Miss Cartwright, longing for fuller
details, felt as if it were only beginning.

“I wish I had known Phillis before,” she said sighing, and at

the sigh the young fellow’s heart reproached him again.

“She said the same,” he said, turning towards her and

speaking gravely; “I fancy you’ll get on with her—everybody
doesn’t, you know. She’s—but there’s no good in attempting
to describe her, I was never good at that sort of thing; the
only thing I could say about you was that you weren’t tall or
black.”

Miss Cartwright brightened. She had a warm corner ready in

her kind heart for the girl who was to be Jack’s wife; no
jealousy made the prospect bitter, she was already
planning, welcoming, sympathising. Jack himself jumped
up; he said he would go to the hotel where he was putting
up and come back to dinner. It was a concession, for he
would encounter Miss Preston, but he had not the heart to
disappoint his aunt that first evening, and afterwards he
acknowledged that it had not been so bad. The window was
open, the moon was sailing through blue, profound skies,
her light fell like silver on the glossy leaves, and there was a
sort of happy hum in the air, distant talk and gay laughter.
Miss Preston fell asleep, Jack and his aunt sat near the
window, sometimes silent, sometimes chatting. As for
Cartouche, he pleased himself in his own way, rushing every
now and then into the garden in pursuit of a foe who he was
quite conscious did not exist, and returning with the proud
air of one who has discomfited his enemy.

As Ibbetson strolled home that night he was thinking of

many things, half against the grain, as it were, for he would
willingly have put them aside. There were enough outer
things to interest him if once he could have got them
uppermost, but we cannot do that always, try as we will.
The Arno was running along, bright with the moonshine,
lights were twinkling across the bridges, clambering up the
hill opposite; black shadows stood out strongly, and as you
looked, all sorts of strange memories seemed to rush
towards you. But they took no real hold on Jack, who was
only conscious of them in a vague, dreamy way. The people
were strolling in all directions, enjoying the evening, as they
do in Italy, chatting, whispering, half-a-dozen, perhaps,
linked together, taking the whole breadth of the pathway, or
coming mysteriously out of the dark shadowy streets. In
front of the Ognissanti a little lamp threw its dim radiance
upon the beautiful blue and white Luca della Robbia over
the door; the grave and sweet figures in their perpetual
adoration seemed nearer and yet more delicate than by
day. Jack noted this as he passed, but all the while it was
not really Florence in which he was living, but a more
homely and pastoral country. He was provoked with
himself; he had not wanted to go over the old ground; he
had said to himself a dozen times, that having taken a
certain step, there was no need for mentally retracing it.

Only something seemed always to be carrying him back.

Would he have had it different? He said No, resolutely, when

the question took so keen a shape. He had always felt a
quiet liking for Phillis Grey, and it moved him deeply when
he heard Mr Thornton’s rough declaration that if he, Jack,
did not marry her she would be left with no more than a
miserable pittance. His uncle, after all, showed some
knowledge of the character of the man with whom he had to
deal, for the personal advantages did not really affect Jack
half so much, although he took pains to assure himself that
they did. He used to go over them to himself with a half-
comic, half-serious air of business, as if he were quite
convinced of their value—independence, position, idleness—
the worst of it was that, try as he would, he found each
carrying a sort of contradiction with it, which prevented him
from enjoying it comfortably. But poor Phillis, how could she
bear the loss of everything? Why should he not marry her?
He liked no one better, or so well. It was the course which
gave the least trouble to everyone. It offered palpable good,
and there was no drawback on which he could exactly lay
his finger. Jack Ibbetson’s mind wandered away, up and
down, this way and that, but all the time it was tending
slowly in one direction, so that on the evening of the day
when his uncle had made his announcement, a walk round
the shrubberies and a couple of cigars brought him to the
window where Phillis was sitting in her white dress, and
when he had asked her to come out, it was not difficult,
especially on that quiet tender evening, to ask her to marry
him. It was not difficult, it was almost pleasant. There was a
tremulous happiness in the girl’s answer, and yet all the
time Jack was conscious, and hating the consciousness, of
what he was saving her from. If it had not been for that, he
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