Computational river dynamics 1st Edition Weiming

Wu pdf download

https://ebookname.com/product/computational-river-dynamics-1st-
edition-weiming-wu-2/

Get Instant Ebook Downloads – Browse at https://ebookname.com

Instant digital products (PDF, ePub, MOBI) available
Download now and explore formats that suit you...

Computational river dynamics 1st Edition Weiming Wu

https://ebookname.com/product/computational-river-dynamics-1st-
edition-weiming-wu-2/

Computational Biology and Genome Informatics 1st

Edition Cathy H. Wu

https://ebookname.com/product/computational-biology-and-genome-
informatics-1st-edition-cathy-h-wu/

Essential Computational Fluid Dynamics 1st Edition Oleg

Zikanov

https://ebookname.com/product/essential-computational-fluid-
dynamics-1st-edition-oleg-zikanov/

Virology Molecular Biology and Pathogenesis 1st Edition

Leonard Norkin

https://ebookname.com/product/virology-molecular-biology-and-
pathogenesis-1st-edition-leonard-norkin/
Making Realism Work Realist Social Theory and Empirical
Research Critical Realism Interventions 1st Edition
Caroline New

https://ebookname.com/product/making-realism-work-realist-social-
theory-and-empirical-research-critical-realism-interventions-1st-
edition-caroline-new/

Safe Drinking Water Lessons from Recent Outbreaks in

Affluent Nations 1st Edition Steve E. Hrudey

https://ebookname.com/product/safe-drinking-water-lessons-from-
recent-outbreaks-in-affluent-nations-1st-edition-steve-e-hrudey/

Insects of Stored Grain A Pocket Reference 2nd Edition

David Rees

https://ebookname.com/product/insects-of-stored-grain-a-pocket-
reference-2nd-edition-david-rees/

Developing Your Portfolio Enhancing Your Learning and

Showing Your Stuff A Guide for the Early Childhood
Student Or Professional 2nd Edition Marianne Jones

https://ebookname.com/product/developing-your-portfolio-
enhancing-your-learning-and-showing-your-stuff-a-guide-for-the-
early-childhood-student-or-professional-2nd-edition-marianne-
jones/

Mastering Solaris 8 1st Edition Barry Sosinsky

https://ebookname.com/product/mastering-solaris-8-1st-edition-
barry-sosinsky/
Beowulf A Prose Translation Norton Critical Edition E.
Talbot Donaldson

https://ebookname.com/product/beowulf-a-prose-translation-norton-
critical-edition-e-talbot-donaldson/
Computational River Dynamics
Computational River Dynamics

Weiming Wu
National Center for Computational Hydroscience and Engineering,
University of Mississippi, MS, USA

LONDON / LEIDEN / NEW YORK / PHILADELPHIA / SINGAPORE

 Cover Illustration Credit:
Sediment laden drainage, Betsiboka River, Madagascar (2002)
Courtesy of NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Houston, TX 77058, USA

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007.

“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Taylor & Francis is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2008 Taylor & Francis Group, London, UK

All rights reserved. No part of this publication or the information contained herein
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, by photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without written prior permission from the publishers.
Although all care is taken to ensure integrity and the quality of this publication
and the information herein, no responsibility is assumed by the publishers nor
the author for any damage to the property or persons as a result of operation
or use of this publication and/or the information contained herein.
Published by: Taylor & Francis/Balkema
P.O. Box 447, 2300 AK Leiden, The Netherlands
e-mail: Pub.NL@tandf.co.uk
www.balkema.nl, www.taylorandfrancis.co.uk, www.crcpress.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wu, Weiming.
Computational river dynamics / Weiming Wu.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-415-44961-8 (hardcover : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-0-415-44960-1
(pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Sediment transport. I. Title.
TC175.2 .W82 2007
627’.042–dc22 2007040342

ISBN 0-203-93848-8 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN: 978-0-415-44961-8 (hardback)

ISBN: 978-0-415-44960-1 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-0-203-93848-5 (e-book)
Contents

Preface ix
Notations xi

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Overview of river engineering 1

1.2 Role of computational simulation in river engineering
analysis 3
1.3 Scope, problems, and strategies of computational river
dynamics 4
1.4 Classification of flow and sediment transport models 7
1.5 Coverage and features of this book 9

2 Mathematical description of f low and sediment

transport 11

2.1 Properties of water and sediment 11

2.2 Governing equations of water and sediment two-phase flow 20
2.3 Time-averaged models of turbulent flow and sediment
transport 23
2.4 Derivation of 1-D and 2-D flow and sediment transport
equations 29
2.5 Net exchange flux of suspended load near bed 44
2.6 Equilibrium and non-equilibrium sediment transport models 49
2.7 Transport and sorting of non-uniform sediment mixtures 53
vi Contents

3 Fundamentals of sediment transport 59

3.1 Settling of sediment particles 59

3.2 Incipient motion of sediment 67
3.3 Movable bed roughness in alluvial rivers 75
3.4 Bed-load transport 81
3.5 Suspended-load transport 91
3.6 Bed-material load transport 99
3.7 Sediment transport over steep slopes 107
3.8 Temporal lags between flow and sediment transport 110

4 Numerical methods 113

4.1 Concepts of numerical solution 113

4.2 Finite difference method 118
4.3 Finite volume method 141
4.4 Numerical solution of Navier-Stokes equations 156
4.5 Solution of algebraic equations 168

5 1-D numerical models 175

5.1 Formulation of 1-D decoupled flow and sediment

transport model 175
5.2 1-D calculation of open-channel flow 188
5.3 1-D calculation of sediment transport 208
5.4 1-D coupled calculation of flow and sediment transport 225
5.5 Data requirements of 1-D model 232
5.6 Model sensitivity to input parameters 234

6 2-D numerical models 241

6.1 Depth-averaged 2-D simulation of flow in nearly

straight channels 241
6.2 Depth-averaged 2-D simulation of sediment transport
in nearly straight channels 257
 Contents vii

6.3 Depth-averaged 2-D simulation of flow and sediment

transport in curved and meandering channels 269
6.4 Width-averaged 2-D model of flow and sediment transport 280

7 3-D numerical models 289

7.1 Full 3-D hydrodynamic model 289

7.2 3-D flow model with hydrostatic pressure assumption 296
7.3 3-D sediment transport model 302
7.4 3-D simulation of local scour around in-stream structures 312

8 Domain decomposition and model integration 323

8.1 Multiblock method 323

8.2 Coupling of 1-D, 2-D, and 3-D models 333
8.3 Integration of channel and watershed models 339

9 Simulation of dam-break f luvial processes 347

9.1 Simulation of dam-break flow over fixed beds 347

9.2 Simulation of dam-break flow over movable beds 363
9.3 Simulation of dam surface erosion due to overtopping flow 370

10 Simulation of f low and sediment transport

in vegetated channels 375

10.1 Effects of vegetation on flow and sediment transport 375

10.2 Simulation of flow in vegetated channels 389
10.3 Simulation of sediment transport in vegetated channels 397

11 Cohesive sediment transport modeling 403

11.1 Cohesive sediment transport processes 403

11.2 Multiple-floc-size model of cohesive sediment transport 417
11.3 Single-floc-size model of cohesive sediment transport 419
11.4 Simulation of transport of cohesive and non-cohesive
sediment mixtures 426
viii Contents

12 Contaminant transport modeling 429

12.1 Heat and salinity transport model 429

12.2 Water quality model 439
12.3 Simulation of sediment-borne contaminant transport 455

References 465
Index 489
Preface

Rivers, as part of the nature, have been a focus of human activities since the beginning
of civilization. Through engineering practices, such as flood control, water supply,
irrigation, drainage, channel design, river regulation, navigation improvement, power
generation, environment enhancement, and aquatic habitat protection, humans have
come to understand more about rivers and established basic principles and analytical
methodologies for river engineering. With the help of computation and information
techniques, numerical modeling of flow and sediment transport in rivers has improved
greatly in recent decades and been applied widely as a major research tool in solving
river engineering problems. These advances motivated me to write this book on the
physical principles, numerical methods, and engineering applications of computational
river dynamics.
Most of the topics included in this book have been the central theme of my research
work. I developed a simple 1-D quasi-steady sediment transport model for my bach-
elor’s degree in 1986, a width-averaged 2-D unsteady open-channel flow model in
my master’s thesis in 1988, and an integrated 1-D and depth-averaged 2-D sediment
transport model under quasi-steady flow conditions in my Ph.D. dissertation in 1991
at the Department of River Engineering, Wuhan University of Hydraulic and Electric
Engineering, China. In 1995–1997, I established a 3-D sediment transport model at
the Institute for Hydromechanics, University of Karlsruhe, supported by the Alexander
von Humboldt Foundation, Germany. Since 1997, I have revisited 1-D and 2-D mod-
els and developed a 1-D channel network model and a depth-averaged 2-D model for
unsteady flow and non-uniform sediment transport at the National Center for Com-
putational Hydroscience and Engineering, University of Mississippi, USA, through a
Specific Research Agreement between the USDA Agricultural Research Service and the
University of Mississippi. I have also reviewed sediment transport theories, established
several sediment transport formulas, and developed models for dam-break fluvial pro-
cesses, vegetation effects, cohesive sediment transport, and contaminant transport. All
these model developments and studies contributed to this book.
This book is intended primarily as a reference book for river scientists and engineers.
It is also useful for professionals in hydraulic, environmental, agricultural, and geo-
logical engineering. It can be used as a textbook for civil engineering students at the
graduate level.
My fascination with river engineering and computational river dynamics began
with my first supervisor, Prof. Jianheng Xie. Later I learned a great deal about tur-
bulence models and computational techniques in CFD from Prof. Wolfgang Rodi.
x Preface

I also would like to acknowledge Prof. Sam S.Y. Wang for his long-term support and
encouragement. I am greatly indebted to these three scientists.
I sincerely thank Drs. Mustafa S. Altinakar, Xiaobo Chao, George S. Con-
stantinescu, Blair Greimann, Eddy J. Langendoen, Wolfgang Rodi, Steve H. Scott,
F. Douglas Shields, Jr., Pravi Shrestha, Dalmo A. Vieira, Thomas Wenka, Keh-Chia
Yeh, Xinya Ying, and Tingting Zhu for reviewing this book. I also thank my colleagues
in Wuhan, Karlsruhe, and Ole Miss and my friends all over the world for their care
and encouragement.
I would like to thank Taylor & Francis for publishing this book. In particular, many
thanks are due to Dr. Germaine Seijger and Mr. Lukas Goosen for their professional
handling of this project, Ms. Maartje Kuipers for designing the cover, Mrs. Shyamala
Ravishankar and her team for carefully typesetting the manuscript, and the Anthony
Rowe Ltd for printing it. I also thank my assistants Dr. Zhiguo He and Miss Podjanee
Inthasaro for their help in proofreading of this book.
Special thanks go to my wife Ling and daughter Siyuan who gave me tremendous
support during this endeavor.

Weiming Wu
Ole Miss, October 2007
Notations

Symbol Meaning

A Cross-sectional area of flow in 1-D model

Ab Bed area at the cross-section
B Channel width at the water surface
b Flow width at height z in width-averaged 2-D model
C Depth-, width- or section-averaged suspended-load concentration
Contaminant concentration
Cd Drag coefficient of sediment particle or vegetation
Cd , Cs , Ct Concentrations of dissolved, sorbed, and total contaminants
Ch Chezy coefficient
Ct Depth- or cross-section-averaged concentration of total load
C∗ Depth- or cross-section-averaged equilibrium suspended-load concentration
c Local sediment concentration
cb , cb∗ Actual and equilibrium near-bed suspended-load concentrations
cv0 , cv local and depth-averaged concentrations of vegetation
D Diameter of vegetation stem
Db , Eb Near-bed deposition and entrainment fluxes of sediment
Dsx , Dsy Dispersion fluxes of suspended load
Dxx , Dxy , Dyx , Dyy Dispersion transports of momentum
d Sediment diameter
d50 Median diameter of sediment mixture
dk Sediment diameter of size class k
dm Arithmetic mean diameter of sediment
Fd , fd Drag forces on vegetation
Fw , Fs , Fb , . . . Fluxes across cell faces
Fi External force per unit volume
fc Coriolis coefficient
g Gravitational acceleration
h Flow depth
hv Vegetation height
J Jacobian determinant
K Conveyance of channel
k Turbulent kinetic energy
xii Notations

Symbol Meaning

ks Equivalent (effective) roughness height

Subscript k Sediment size class index
Associated with turbulent kinetic energy
L, Lt Adaptation length of sediment
lm Mixing length
Na Vegetation density
n Manning roughness coefficient
Pk Production of turbulence by shear
p Pressure
p Pressure correction
pbk Bed-material gradation in mixing layer
pm Porosity of sediment deposit
Q Flow discharge
Qb , Qb∗ Actual and equilibrium bed-load transport rates
Qt , Qt∗ Actual and equilibrium total-load transport rates
q Unit flow discharge
qb , qb∗ Actual and equilibrium unit bed-load transport rates
q1 , qblk , qslk , qtlk Side discharges of flow and sediment
R Hydraulic radius of channel
Rb Hydraulic radius of channel bed
Rs Hydraulic radius of vegetated bed
S Source term
Sf Energy slope, friction slope
T Temperature or transport stage number
Txx , Txy , Tyx , Tyy Depth-averaged stresses
t Time
U(Û) Depth- or section-averaged flow velocity
Ux , Uy Depth-averaged flow velocities in x- and y-directions
Ux , Uz (U
x , U
z ) Width-averaged flow velocities in x- and z-directions
Uc Critical average velocity for incipient motion
U∗ bed shear velocity
ub , Ub Bed-load velocities
ui (ux , uy , uz ) Flow velocities in xi (x, y, z) directions
ûm (ûξ , ûη , ûζ ) Flow velocities in ξm (ξ , η, ζ ) directions
x, y Horizontal Cartesian coordinates
xi i-coordinate in the Cartesian coordinate system
z Vertical coordinate above a datum (or bed)
zb Bed surface elevation
zs Water surface elevation
α Adaptation coefficient of sediment
αbx , αby Direction cosines of bed-load movement
β Correction factor for momentum
βs , βt Correction factors for suspended and total loads
χ Wetted perimeter at the cross-section
 Sand dune height
AP Area of the control volume centered at P
t Time step
x, y Grid spacings
zb , Ab Changes in bed elevation and area
δ Thickness of bed-load layer
δij Kronecker delta
 Notations xiii

Symbol Meaning

δm Mixing layer thickness

δh, δQ Increments of water stage and flow discharge
ε Dissipation rate of turbulent energy
εs Turbulent diffusivity of sediment
φr Repose angle of sediment
γ Specific weight of water and sediment mixture
γf , γs Specific weights of water and sediment
κ Von Karman constant
λ Darcy-Weisbach friction factor
µ, ν Dynamic and kinematic viscosities of water
νt Turbulent or eddy viscosity
π Circumference-diameter ratio ≈ 3.14159
 Shields number
c Critical Shields number
θ, ψ Temporal, spatial weighting factors
ρ Density of water and sediment mixture
ρ0 Density of flow density at water surface
ρb Density of water and sediment mixture at bed surface layer
ρd Dry density of sediment deposit
ρf , ρs Densities of water and sediment
σs Schmidt number
τ , τij Shear stresses
τb , τb Bed shear stress, grain shear stress
τc Critical shear tress for incipient motion
τce Critical shear stress for erosion
τs Wind driving force at the water surface
ωs Sediment settling velocity
ωsf Floc settling velocity
ξ , η, ζ Logical or curvilinear coordinates
Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 OVERVIEW OF RIVER ENGINEERING

The origin of river engineering dates back to ancient times. According to historical
records, the Chinese began building levees along the Yellow River about six thou-
sand years ago. Approximately around the same period, irrigation systems and flood
control structures were constructed in Mesopotamia, and also some ten centuries
later in Egypt. During the Renaissance period, the observation of water flow and
sediment transport was carried out by the Italian artist and engineer Leonardo da
Vinci (1452–1519). Since then, scientists and engineers have performed a great num-
ber of studies on rivers, and constructed dams, levees, dikes, bridges, river training
works, navigation facilities, and water supply facilities along rivers. This section briefly
highlights the key issues in river engineering.

River dynamics
The study on the flow, sediment transport, and channel evolution processes in rivers
began centuries ago, but river dynamics emerged as a distinct discipline of science
and technology only after M. P. DuBoys established a bed-load formula in 1879 and
H. Rouse proposed a function for the vertical distribution of suspended sediment in
1937. River dynamics deals with river flow and sediment problems, such as turbu-
lent flow in alluvial channels, movable bed roughness, sediment settling, incipient
motion, transport, deposition, and erosion. River dynamics also incorporates the
study of fluvial processes, including river pattern classification, channel evolution
laws, and regime theory. It provides physical principles and analysis methods for river
engineering.

Flood control and mitigation

Flood is one of the biggest disasters rivers can cause. A river system is usually in
balance – to a certain degree – with the hydrological and geological conditions of its
basin. When the amount of runoff generated from uplands due to overwhelming rain-
fall exceeds the transport and storage capacity of the river system, the flow will overtop
or break banks and flood neighboring areas. Owing to thousands of years’ struggling
against flood threats, humans have developed many flood control technologies, such
as levees, river training works, storage areas, and diversion structures. Levees are one
2 Computational River Dynamics

of the major measures used to control flood in many rivers. River training works, such
as spur-dikes, weirs, and bank revetments, are often constructed to control the flow
and protect banks and levees. Flood storage areas, such as reservoirs, lakes, deten-
tion ponds, and floodplains, help detain the flood propagation speed and reduce the
peak of the flood. Diversion areas or channels are usually designated for emergency
purposes when flood threatens the safety of backbone structures and key areas. As a
new technology, flood forecasting and warning systems have been established in many
regions to mitigate the flood disaster.

Reservoir sedimentation
Sediment deposition reduces the storage capacity and life span of reservoirs. With
time, the deposition will extend upstream and submerge more land, while sediments,
especially coarse particles, will be detained by reservoirs, causing erosion in down-
stream channels. The deposition and erosion processes and the ultimate equilibrium
profiles in reservoirs and downstream channels are topics of concern. After reservoirs
reach equilibrium states, their efficiency in terms of flood control, power genera-
tion, and sediment detention may be significantly reduced, and then problems with
dam decommission and rehabilitation and their impacts on the environment become
important.

Sediment control in low-head hydro-projects

Low-head hydro-projects include low dams, sluice gates, spillways, power generation
facilities, water diversion structures, water intake structures, and navigation facili-
ties. Because the reservoirs formed by low dams are small, sediment transport and
morphological evolution in the reservoirs and downstream channels reach new equi-
librium states relatively quickly. The appropriate design of sluice gates, spillways, and
power generators can prevent coarse sediments from entering into turbines. In princi-
ple, navigation and water intake structures should be placed at locations such as the
outer bank of the channel bend where less sediment deposition occurs. Flows around
hydro-projects should be controlled with certain river training works. Sometimes it
may be necessary to dredge and flush the deposits.

River restoration
Because of the impact of human activities or the variation of natural environment con-
ditions, river systems change their forms through bed aggradation, degradation, and
bank migration. These changes may be undesirable. For example, channel meander-
ing and main flow displacement may cause land loss, bridge failure, levee breach, and
difficulty in water intake. Serious erosion and deposition may impair aquatic habi-
tats. Once adverse impacts occur, training, mitigation, and restoration are needed to
change river systems to more favorable stable states.

Protection of structure foundations

In-stream structures, such as bridge piers, abutments, spur-dikes, and weirs, change the
flow significantly and may induce considerable erosion. Erosion also occurs due to jet
 Introduction 3

impingement at the downstream of sluice gates, spillways, and overfalls. Local erosion
is the major reason for the failures of many structures. Because of the complexity of the
processes involved, the prediction and prevention of local erosion around structures
are very challenging.

Sediment problems in estuaries

Morphodynamic processes under the actions of river runoff, tidal flow, and wave
currents in estuaries are extremely complex. A large amount of fine-grained cohesive
sediments coming from rivers are deposited in estuarine regions, forming mouth bars
and reducing the flow depth in navigation channels. Salinity intrusion intensifies the
deposition of cohesive sediments and affects the water quality. Fine-grained sediments
also enter harbors and cause significant deposition there. Training works and dredging
are necessary to maintain the navigation channels.

Watershed management
Water bodies, such as rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, receive water runoff and sediment
load from uplands. Serious erosion in the uplands increases the downstream sediment
load, causing sedimentation and reducing the storage and transport capacities of down-
stream river systems. Conversely, a reduction in the erosion of uplands decreases the
downstream sediment supply, causing channel degradation, headcutting, and bank
instability. Rational watershed management is essential for both uplands and river
systems.

Sediment-related environmental problems

Environmental quality is an important global issue. Wastes from industry and agricul-
ture impair not only the water quality, but also the sediment quality in the receiving
river systems. Sediments, especially clay and silt, are associated with the transport of
many pollutants. The impaired sediments also accumulate on the channel bed with
time, and later become a major source of pollution through resuspension.

1.2 ROLE OF COMPUTATIONAL SIMULATION

IN RIVER ENGINEERING ANALYSIS

River flow and sediment transport are among the most complex and least understood
processes or phenomena in nature. It is very difficult to find analytical solutions for
most problems in river engineering, and it is very tedious to obtain numerical solutions
without the help of high-speed computers. Therefore, before the 1970s, many river
engineering problems had to be solved through field investigations and laboratory
physical models (also called scale models). With the recent advancements in computer
technology, computational models have been greatly improved and widely applied to
solve real-life problems. One-dimensional (1-D) models have been used in short- and
long-term simulations of flow and sediment transport processes in rivers, reservoirs,
and estuaries. Two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) models have been
used to predict in more detail the morphodynamic processes under complex flow
4 Computational River Dynamics

conditions in curved and braided channels and around river training works, bridge
piers, spur-dikes, and water intake structures.
Physical modeling and computational simulation are the two major tools used in
river engineering analysis. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Physical
modeling can provide directly visible results, but it is expensive and time-consuming.
Because the flow, sediment transport, and bed change processes in rivers are very
complicated, it is difficult to ensure similarity between a physical model and its proto-
type. Errors may arise due to distortions of model scale and variations in experimental
environments such as temperature. Computational simulation gives direct, real-scale
predictions without any scale distortion and is cost-effective. However, the reliability
of computational simulation relies on how well the physical processes are mathemat-
ically described through governing equations, boundary conditions, and empirical
formulas; how accurately the differential governing equations are discretized using
numerical schemes; how effectively the discretized algebraic equations are solved using
direct or iterative solution methods; and whether the numerical solution procedures
are correctly coded using computer languages. If the mathematical description is unrea-
sonable, the numerical discretization incorrect, the solution method ineffective, or if
the computed code has bugs, the results from a numerical model cannot be trusted.
Because many empirical formulas are used to close the mathematical problems, the
applicability of computational simulation is still somehow limited. Before a numerical
model can be applied to a real-life project, it needs to be verified and validated using
analytical solutions and data measured in laboratories and fields.
To solve a real-life engineering problem correctly and effectively, the integration of
field investigation, physical modeling, and computational simulation is needed. Field
investigation is the first thing to do for a comprehensive understanding of the problem.
It provides the necessary hydrologic and sediment information on the study domain
and boundary conditions, which are required in both physical modeling and com-
putational simulation. It also provides data to calibrate physical and computational
models. If the study reach is not long, either physical modeling or computational sim-
ulation can be chosen to analyze the problem. The most cost-effective method is to use
physical models to study a few scenarios and collect enough data to calibrate compu-
tational models, and then use the calibrated computational models to analyze more
scenarios. If the study reach is too long, 1-D numerical models are often used in the
entire reach; they provide boundary conditions for 2-D and 3-D numerical models as
well as physical models for detailed analyses in important subreaches.

1.3 SCOPE, PROBLEMS, AND STRATEGIES

OF COMPUTATIONAL RIVER DYNAMICS

Computational river dynamics is a branch of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). It

solves river engineering problems using numerical methods. River flow is an incom-
pressible flow; therefore, many successful numerical methods developed in CFD can
be applied here. However, river flow has a free surface and movable bed, which make
computational river dynamics relatively complicated and difficult. Many assumptions
and empirical formulas must be used to close the mathematical systems, and the
approximate solutions sought may not be unique. Thus, computational river dynamics
 Introduction 5

is an engineering science rather than applied mathematics. Not only must a successful
numerical modeler possess knowledge about numerical techniques, but he or she must
also have enough experience in river engineering.
In computational river dynamics, the flow, sediment transport, and morphological
change processes in rivers are described by a set of coupled, non-linear algebraic and
differential equations that usually cannot be solved in closed form. The analysis of
river morphodynamic phenomena thus requires an approximation process, the end
result of which is a field of discrete property values at a finite number of locations
(“points” or “nodes”) distributed over the study domain. The general procedure for
developing a computational model consists, essentially, of the following steps:

(1) Conceptualize the complicated physical phenomena of study, with the necessary
simplifications and assumptions that express our understanding of the nature
of the system and its behavior (e.g., dimensionality; steady, quasi-steady, or
unsteady; laminar or turbulent; subcritical, supercritical, or mixed; gradually
or rapidly varied flow; fixed or movable bed; bed load, suspended load, or total
load; low or high sediment concentration; uniform or multiple sediment sizes;
equilibrium or non-equilibrium transport; cohesive or non-cohesive; bank ero-
sion; channel meandering; contaminants; solution domain; initial and boundary
conditions);
(2) Describe the physical phenomena of study using a set of algebraic and differential
equations that are subject to the conservation laws of mass, momentum, and
energy;
(3) Divide the study domain into a mesh of points, finite volumes, or finite elements
corresponding to the used numerical methods;
(4) Discretize the differential equations to equivalent algebraic equations by introduc-
ing ‘trial functions’, held to approximate the exact solution locally;
(5) Solve the coupled algebraic equations, which are subject to case-specific boundary
conditions, using an iteration or elimination algorithm to find the property values
at the grid points, and
(6) Code the established solution procedures using computer languages, such as
FORTRAN, C, or C++, and package the model with a graphical user interface for
pre- and post-processing, if possible.

The major problems in computational river dynamics include:

(1) Adequacy of the (simplified) conceptual models representing the complicated real
system and its behavior;
(2) Realism of the mathematical models describing the complex hydrodynamic and
morphodynamic processes that cannot be represented exactly (e.g., turbulence,
bed roughness, and the interaction between flow and sediment), and reliability of
the empirical formulas used to close the mathematical systems;
(3) Ability to generate adequate meshes over complex domains;
(4) Accuracy and consistency of numerical approximations;
(5) Numerical stability and computational efficiency of solution methods;
(6) Correctness of computer coding, and
6 Computational River Dynamics

(7) Reliability of numerical solutions and applicability of computational models in

different situations.

To insure the quality of the simulation results, a computational model of flow and
sediment transport should be verified and validated before application in solving real-
life problems. Model verification and validation usually follow three steps (Wang and
Wu, 2005):

(1) Verification by Analytic Solutions. The agreement between analytic and numeri-
cal solutions certifies the correctness of the mathematical formulation, numerical
methods, and computer programming. It can also determine errors of numerical
solution quantitatively.
(2) Validation by Laboratory Experiments. Because laboratory experiments con-
ducted in controlled environments can eliminate many unnecessary complications,
the numerical model should be able to reproduce the same physical phenomena
measured in laboratories.
(3) Validation by Field Measurements. One portion of the field data should be used
to calibrate the physical parameters in the model, and the remaining data can
be used to determine whether the computational model can simulate the real-life
problem. Researchers must realize that the numerical results may only approx-
imately agree with the measured data, because the computational model only
represents a simplified version of the physical processes in natural rivers. How-
ever, the realistic trend of spatial and temporal variations should be predicted
correctly.

The application of a computational model to the solution of a real-life problem

involves the following five major tasks:

(1) Data Preparation. Data should be collected and analyzed to understand the phys-
ical processes of study, determine initial and boundary conditions, estimate model
parameters, and calibrate the model. The required data should include, but are
not limited to, geomorphic, hydrological, hydraulic, and sediment information,
largely depending on the model used and the study case. They can be obtained via
in-situ field survey and from historical records.
(2) Estimation of Model Parameters. Model parameters can be classified as numerical
and physical. Numerical parameters, such as time step, grid spacing, number of
size classes, and relaxation coefficient, result from numerical discretization and
solution methods. They should be determined by considering the accuracy the
study problem requires and the stability of the numerical schemes used. Phys-
ical parameters can be subdivided into two groups. One group represents the
physical properties of water and sediment, such as water density, viscosity, sedi-
ment density, particle size, particle shape factor, and bed-material porosity. These
physical properties can be measured. The other group results from the concep-
tualization of physical processes and represents the characteristics of flow and
sediment transport, including channel roughness coefficient, sediment transport
capacity, sediment adaptation length, and mixing layer thickness. These physical
 Introduction 7

process parameters are often calibrated using measured data or determined using
empirical formulas.
(3) Model Calibration. The computational model should be calibrated using the avail-
able data measured in the study reach to insure that the aforementioned parameters
are estimated correctly, that the empirical formulas are chosen appropriately, and
that the observed physical processes are generally well reproduced by the model.
The calibrated model can then be applied to predict the physical processes in
various scenarios.
(4) Interpretation of Simulation Results. Because sediment transport models are
highly empirical and the model development and application processes are not
infallible, engineering judgment should be used in the interpretation of simu-
lation results. Consulting with model developers, senior scientists, and local
engineers who are familiar with the study channel can enhance confidence in
the end results. In addition, efficiently grouping important results using attrac-
tive graphs and tables permits an easy understanding and communication among
model developers, users, and report readers.
(5) Analysis of Uncertainties. Sources of uncertainties include model conceptualiza-
tion, boundary conditions, model parameters, and data. Uncertainties may be
reduced by using a more adequate model, selecting appropriate boundary condi-
tions, calibrating model parameters carefully, and collecting more reliable data.
Sensitivity analysis and stochastic modeling may also be conducted to resolve
uncertainties.

As described above, the development and application of a computational model

is a long process consisting of many steps. The accuracy and reliability of the end
results rely on manipulations at every step. The developer should approximate the
physical processes reasonably via the mathematical model, derive and code the numer-
ical discretization and solution methods correctly, and verify and validate the model
thoroughly. The user should prepare the data carefully, estimate model parameters
correctly, necessarily calibrate the model, reasonably interpret results, and consider
possible uncertainties.

1.4 CLASSIFICATION OF FLOW AND SEDIMENT

TRANSPORT MODELS

Flow and sediment transport models can be classified in various ways, as described
below.
According to their dimensionality, flow and sediment transport models are classified
as 1-D, vertical 2-D, horizontal 2-D, and 3-D. Flow and sediment transport in natural
rivers are usually 3-D phenomena, which should be more realistically simulated using
3-D models. However, 3-D models are more time-consuming. Therefore, 1-D and
2-D models have been established via simplifications, such as section-, depth-, and
width-averaging, to achieve feasible solutions in engineering practices. 1-D models
study the longitudinal profiles of the cross-section-averaged properties of flow and
sediment transport in rivers. The vertical 2-D models, which may be idealized or
width-averaged, study the (width-averaged) properties of flow and sediment transport
8 Computational River Dynamics

in the longitudinal section. Because of the complexity of channel geometries, the width-
averaged 2-D models are preferable to the idealized vertical 2-D models in natural
situations. The horizontal 2-D models, which also are often called depth-averaged
2-D models, study the horizontal distributions of the depth-averaged quantities of
flow and sediment. 1-D models are widely applied in the simulation of long-term
sedimentation processes in long channels, 3-D models are often used in local fields
with strong 3-D features, and 2-D models are in between them.
Based on flow states, flow and sediment transport models are often categorized as
steady, quasi-steady, or unsteady. Steady models do not include the time-derivative
terms in flow and sediment transport equations, but consider temporal changes in
bed elevation and bed-material gradation. Quasi-steady models divide an unsteady
hydrograph into many time intervals, each of which is represented by a steady flow
discharge. Quasi-steady models are often used in the simulation of long-term fluvial
processes in rivers, but they cannot be used in cases with strong unsteadiness, such as
tidal flow in estuaries and flash floods in small watersheds. Unsteady models are more
general and can be used to simulate unsteady fluvial processes as well as steady and
quasi-steady processes.
As for the number of sediment size classes simulated, sediment transport models can
be uniform (single-sized) or non-uniform (multiple-sized). Uniform sediment models
represent the entire sediment mixture using a single-sized class, whereas non-uniform
sediment models divide the sediment mixture into a number of size classes and study
the behavior of each size class. Because sediments in natural rivers are usually non-
uniform in size and experience interaction among different size classes, non-uniform
sediment models are more realistic.
In accordance with sediment transport modes, sediment transport models are often
grouped as bed-load, suspended-load, and total-load models. Many early developed
models considered only bed-load or suspended-load transport. Because sediment may
change from bed load to suspended load or vice versa depending on flow conditions,
total-load models are more preferable.
Based upon sediment transport states, sediment transport models are classified as
equilibrium (saturated) and non-equilibrium (unsaturated). In many of the early mod-
els, it is assumed that the actual sediment transport rate is equal to the capacity of
flow carrying sediment at equilibrium conditions at each computational point (cross-
section or vertical line). The models based on this local equilibrium assumption are
called equilibrium transport models. However, alluvial river systems always change in
time and space due to many reasons; therefore, absolute equilibrium states rarely exist
in natural conditions. The local equilibrium assumption is not realistic, particularly
in cases of strong erosion and deposition. Non-equilibrium sediment transport mod-
els renounce this assumption and adopt transport equations to determine the actual
bed-load and suspended-load transport rates. Non-equilibrium transport models are
being more widely applied in river engineering these days.
In terms of numerical methods, flow and sediment transport models are categorized
as finite difference, finite volume, finite element, finite analytic, or efficient element
models. Since each of these numerical methods has its advantages and disadvantages,
numerical models based on all them exist in the literature. The choice of a specific
model depends on the nature of the problem, the experience of the modeler, and the
capacity of the computer being used.
 Introduction 9

Depending on the calculation procedure, flow and sediment transport models can be
classified as fully decoupled, semi-coupled, or fully coupled. Fully decoupled models
ignore the influence of sediment transport and bed change on the flow field by assuming
a low sediment concentration and a small bed change, and calculate the flow and
sediment transport separately at each time step. Fully coupled models compute all
the flow and sediment quantities simultaneously. Semi-coupled models calculate some
quantities in coupled form and the others separately. For example, flow and sediment
modules may be decoupled, whereas sediment transport, bed change, and bed material
sorting in the sediment module may be coupled. Because flow, sediment, and bed
material always interact with each other in an alluvial river system, fully coupled
models are more general and physically reasonable, whereas the applicability of fully
decoupled and semi-coupled models is limited. However, coupled models are more
sophisticated and may require more computational effort than decoupled models. In
addition, the results from decoupled models may be justified due to the difference in
time scales of flow and sediment transport and the use of empirical formulas for bed
roughness and sediment transport capacity. Fully decoupled and semi-coupled models
are still used by many investigators.
Depending on how to conceptualize sediment, sediment transport models can be
discerned as particulate and continuous-medium models. Particulate models treat sed-
iment as a group of particulate entities and describe the movement of single particles,
whereas continuous-medium models assume sediment as a kind of pseudo-continuous
medium. The assumption of continuous-medium models is only valid when the char-
acteristic size of the sediment particles is much shorter than the characteristic length
of the processes of study and the volume under consideration has enough sediment
particles. Apparently, particulate models are not limited in this way. From a strictly
theoretical point of view, particulate models should be preferred. However, because of
the limitations of computer capacity, considerable difficulties are encountered in the
simulation of the behavior of millions or even billions of irregularly shaped particles
that may collide randomly. In reality, particulate models are only feasible when the
sediment concentration is extremely low. Therefore, continuous-medium models are
more widely applied in the study of sediment transport in rivers. A typical continuous-
medium model is the diffusion model that is most often used for suspended-load
transport.

1.5 COVERAGE AND FEATURES OF THIS BOOK

The subjects of this book include physical principles, numerical methods, model clo-
sures, and application examples in computational river dynamics. It is organized into
twelve chapters.
Chapter 1 provides a general overview of computational river dynamics and the
arrangement of this book. Chapter 2 introduces the mathematical descriptions of
flow, sediment transport, and morphological change processes in rivers. Chapter 3
presents the fundamentals of sediment transport. Chapter 4 introduces the numerical
techniques widely used to solve open-channel flows with sediment transport, such as
the finite difference method and the finite volume method. These methods are applied
and extended in the remaining chapters of this book. Chapter 5 describes the 1-D
10 Computational River Dynamics

modeling approaches that are widely used in computational river dynamics. Chapter 6
explains the depth-averaged and width-averaged 2-D models for flow and sediment
transport. It also includes a discussion of the enhancement of the depth-averaged 2-D
model in order to take the effects of secondary flows in curved channels into account.
Chapter 7 illustrates the 3-D modeling approaches for turbulent flow, general sediment
transport in rivers, and local scour around in-stream hydraulic structures. Chapter 8
covers the general techniques used to integrate and couple various models, such as
domain decomposition; the coupling of 1-D, 2-D, and 3-D channel models; and the
integration of channel and watershed models. Chapters 9−12 introduce several special
topics related to river engineering, such as dam-break fluvial processes, vegetation
effects on fluvial processes, cohesive sediment transport, and contaminant transport.
This book is one of the first to present a complete picture of the physical principles
and numerical methods used in computational river dynamics. It covers the funda-
mentals of flow and sediment transport in rivers, including many newly developed
non-uniform sediment transport formulas. It is unique in presenting multidimen-
sional numerical models, including 1-D, depth-averaged 2-D, width-averaged 2-D, and
3-D models, as well as integration and coupling of these models. It introduces many
recently developed numerical methods for solving open-channel flows, such as the
SIMPLE(C) algorithms with Rhie and Chow’s momentum interpolation method on
non-staggered grids, the projection method, and the extended stream function and
vorticity method. It presents state-of-the-art sediment transport modeling approaches,
such as non-equilibrium transport models, non-uniform total-load transport mod-
els, and semi-coupled and coupled procedures for flow and sediment calculations.
It includes many engineering applications, such as reservoir sedimentation, channel
erosion (due to dam construction), channel widening and meandering, local scour
around in-stream hydraulic structures, vegetation effects on channel morphodynamic
processes, and cohesive sediment transport.
 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
She knew, now, just how far she had wandered from the one true
Light; just how poor had been her response to the eternal love
which brought the Lord of glory to the manger of Bethlehem; to the
village home at Nazareth; to the cross of Calvary. The love of Christ
had not constrained her. She had lived for self. Her heart had grown
hard and unresponsive.
And now, in tenderest, reverent melody, the precious gifts were
being offered—gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But, what had she to
offer? Her gold could hardly be accepted while she withheld herself.
Yet how could love awaken in a heart so dead, so filled with worldly
scorn and unbelief?
The music had changed. It no longer came from unseen skies, or
ranged back into past scenes, and ancient history. It centred in
David, and the piano.
He was playing a theme so simple and so restful, that it stole into
Diana's heart, bringing untold hope and comfort. At length, she lifted
her head.
"What are you playing, now, Cousin David?" She asked, gently.
David hushed the air into a whisper, as he answered: "A very simple
setting, of my own, to those wonderful words, 'At even, e'er the sun
was set.' You know them? The old tune never contented me. It was
so apt to drag, and did not lend itself to the crescendo of hope and
thankfulness required by the glad certainty that the need of each
waiting heart would be fully met, nor to the diminuendo of perfect
peace, enfolding each one as they went away. So I composed this
simple melody, and I sing it, by myself, out in the African forests
most nights, when my day's work is over. But it is a treat to be able
to play it here, with full harmonies."
"Sing it to me," said Diana, gently.
And at once David began to sing, to his own setting, the tender
words of the old evening hymn. And this was what he sang:
Holy Star
"At even ere the sun was set"
1. At even ere the sun was set,
The sick, O Lord, around Thee lay;
Oh, in what divers pains they met!
Oh, with what joy they went away!

2. Once more 'tis eventide, and we

Oppressed with various ills draw near;
What if Thy Form we cannot see?
We know and feel that Thou art here.

3. O Saviour Christ, our woes dispel;

For some are sick, and some are sad;
And some have never loved Thee well,
And some have lost the love they had;

4. And some have found the world is vain,

Yet from the world they break not free;
And some have friends who give them pain,
Yet have not sought a friend in Thee.

5. And none, O Lord, have perfect rest,

For none are wholly free from sin;
And they who fain would serve Thee best,
Are conscious most of sin within.

6. O Saviour Christ, Thou too art Man;

Thou hast been troubled, tempted, tried;
Thy kind but searching glance can scan
The very wounds that shame would hide.

7. Thy touch has still its ancient power;

No word from Thee can fruitless fall;
Hear in this solemn evening hour,
And in Thy mercy heal us all;
O heal us all!
The pure tenor voice rose and fell, giving full value to each line. As
he reached the words: "And some have never loved Thee well, And
some have lost the love they had," Diana's tears fell, silently. It was
so true—so true. She had never loved Him well; and she had lost
what little faith, what little hope, she had.
Presently David's voice arose in glad tones of certainty:

"Thy touch has still its ancient power;

No word from Thee can fruitless fall;
Hear, in this solemn evening hour,
And, in Thy mercy, heal us all;
Oh, heal us all."

The last notes of the quiet Amen, died away.

David closed the piano softly; rose, and walked over to the fireplace.
He did not look at Diana; he did not speak to her. He knew,
instinctively, that a soul in travail was beside him. He left her to his
Lord.
After a while she whispered: "If only one were worthy. If only one's
faith were strong enough to realise, and to believe."
"Our worthiness has nothing to do with it," said David, without
looking round. "And we need not worry about our faith, so long as—
like the tiny mustard seed—it is, however small, a living, growing
thing. The whole point lies in the fact of the power of His touch; the
changeless truth of His unfailing word; the fathomless ocean of His
love and mercy. Look away from self; fix your eyes on Him; and
healing comes."
A long silence followed David's words. He stood with his back to her,
watching the great logs as the flames played round them, and they
sank slowly, one by one, into the hot ashes.
At last he heard Diana's voice.
"Cousin David," she said, "will you give me your blessing?"
David Rivers turned. He was young; he was humble; he was very
simple in his faith; but he realised the value and responsibility of his
priestly office. He knew it had been given him as "a service of gift."
He lifted his hands, and as Diana sank to her knees, he laid them
reverently upon the golden corona of her hair.
One moment of silence. Then David's voice, vibrant with emotion,
yet deep, tender, and unfaltering, pronounced the great Triune
blessing, granted to desert wanderers of old.

"The Lord bless thee and keep thee;

The Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious
unto thee;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee
peace."

And the touch of power which Diana felt upon her heart and life,
from that moment onward, was not the touch of David Rivers.
 CHAPTER VIII
THE TEST OF THE TRUE HERALD
As David sped back through the starry darkness, he was filled with
an exultation such as he had never before experienced.
He had always held that every immortal soul was of equal value in
the sight of God; and that the bringing into the kingdom of an
untutored African savage, was of as much importance, in the Divine
estimation, as the conversion of the proudest potentate ruling upon
any European throne.
But, somehow, he realised now the greatness of the victory which
grace had won, in this surrender of Diana to the constraining touch
of his Lord and hers.
It was one thing to see light dawn, where all had hitherto been
darkness; but quite another to see the dispersion of clouds of cynical
unbelief, and the surrender of a strong personality to the faith which
requires the simple loving obedience of a little child: for, "whosoever
shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not
enter therein."
David leaned back in the motor, totally unconscious of his
surroundings, as he realised how great a conquest for his King was
this winning of Diana. Her immense wealth, her influence, her
position in the county, her undoubted personal charm, would all now
be consecrated, and become a power on the side of right.
He foresaw a beautiful future before her. The very fact that he
himself was so soon leaving England, and would have no personal
share in that future, made his joy all the purer because of its
absolute selflessness. Like the Baptist of old, standing on the banks
of Jordan, he had pointed to the passing Christ, saying: "Behold!"
She had beheld; she had followed; she had found Him; and the
messenger, who had brought about this meeting, might depart. He
was needed no longer. The Voice had done its work. All true heralds
of the King rejoice when the souls they have striven to win turn and
say: "Now we believe, not because of thy saying; for we have heard
Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour
of the world." This test was now David's; and being a true herald, he
did not fail before it.
When Diana had risen from her knees, she had turned to him and
said, gently: "Cousin David, do you mind if I order the motor now? I
could not speak or think to-night of other things; and I just feel I
want to be alone."
During the few moments which intervened before the car was
announced, they sat in silence, one on either side of the fireplace.
There was a radiance of joy on both young faces, which anyone,
entering unexpectedly, would doubtless have put down to a very
different cause. Diana was not thinking at all of David; and David
was thinking less of Diana than of the Lord Whose presence with
them, in that evening hour, had made of it a time of healing and of
power.
As he rose to go, she put her hand in his.
"Cousin David," she said, "more than ever now, I need your counsel
and your help. If I send over, just before one o'clock, can you come
to luncheon to-morrow, and afterwards we might have the talk
which I cannot manage to-night?"
David agreed. The weddings at which he had to officiate were at
eleven o'clock. "I will be ready," he said, "and I will come. I am
afraid my advice is not worth much; but, such as it is, it is altogether
at your service."
"Good-night, Cousin David," she said, "and God bless you! Doesn't it
say somewhere in the Bible: 'They that turn many to righteousness
shall shine as the stars for ever and ever'?"
David now remembered this farewell remark of Diana's, as he stood
for a moment at the Rectory gate, looking upward to the clear frosty
sky. But the idea did not suit his mood.
"Ah, no, my Lord," he said. "Thou art the bright and morning Star.
Why should I want, for myself, any glory or shining? I am content
forever to be but a follower of the Star."
 CHAPTER IX
Uncle Falcon's Will
Luncheon would have been an awkward affair, owing to David's
nervous awe of Mrs. Marmaduke Vane and his extreme trepidation in
her presence, had it not been for Diana's tact and vivacity.
She took the bull by the horns, explaining David's mistake, and how
it was entirely her own fault for being so ambiguous and
inconsequent in her speech—"as you have told me from my infancy,
dear Chappie"; and she laughed so infectiously over the
misunderstanding and over the picture she drew of poor David's
dismay and horror, that Mrs. Marmaduke Vane laughed also, and
forgave David.
"And to add to poor Cousin David's confusion, he had made sure, at
first sight, that you were at least a duchess," added Diana tactfully;
"and they don't have them in Central Africa; so Cousin David felt
very shy. Didn't you, Cousin David?"
David admitted that he did; and Mrs. Vane began to like "Diana's
missionary."
"I have often noticed," pursued Miss Rivers, "that the very people
who are the most brazen in the pulpit, who lean over the side and
read your thoughts; who make you lift your unwilling eyes to theirs,
responsive; who direct the flow of their eloquence full upon any
unfortunate person who is venturing at all obviously to disagree—are
the very people who are most apt to be shy in private life. You
should see my Cousin David fling challenge and proof positive at a
narrow-minded lady, with an indignant rustle, and a red feather in
her bonnet. I believe her husband is a tenant-farmer of mine. I
intend to call, in order to discuss Cousin David's sermons with her. I
shall insist upon her showing me the passage in her Bible where it
says that there were three Wise Men."
Then Diana drew David on to tell of his African congregations, of the
weird experiences in those wild regions; of the perils of the jungle,
and the deep mystery of the forest. And he made it all sound so
fascinating and delightful, that Mrs. Marmaduke Vane became quite
expansive, announcing, as she helped herself liberally to pâté-de-
foie-gras, that she did not wonder people enjoyed being
missionaries.
"You should volunteer, Chappie dear," said Diana. "I daresay the
society sends out ladies. Only—fancy, if you came back as thin as
Cousin David!"
In the drawing-room, she sent him to the piano; and Mrs. Vane
allowed her coffee to grow cold while she listened to David's music,
and did not ask Diana to send for more, until David left the music
stool.
Then Diana reminded her chaperon of an engagement she had at
Eversleigh. "The motor is ordered at half-past two, dear; and be sure
you stay to tea. Never mind if they don't ask you. Just remain until
tea appears. They can but say: 'Must you stay? Can't you go?' And
they won't do that, because they are inordinately proud of your
presence in their abode."
Mrs. Vane rose reluctantly, expressing regret that she had
unwittingly made this engagement, and murmuring something about
an easy postponement by telegram.
But Diana was firm. Such a disappointment must not be inflicted
upon any family on Boxing-day. It could not be contemplated for a
moment.
Mrs. Marmaduke Vane took David's hand in both her plump ones,
and patted it, kindly.
"Good-bye, my dear Mr. Rivers," she said with empressement. "And I
hope you will have a quite delightful time in Central Africa. And
mind," she added archly, "if Diana decides to come out and see you
there, I shall accompany her."
Honest dismay leapt into David's eyes.
"It is no place for women," he said, helplessly. Then looked at Diana.
"I assure you, Miss Rivers, it is no place for women."
"Never fear, Cousin David," laughed Diana. "You have fired Mrs.
Vane with a desire to rough it; but I do not share her ardour, and
she could not start without me. Could you, Chappie dear? Good-bye.
Have a good time."
She turned to the fire, with an air of dismissal, and pushed a log into
place with her toe.
David opened the door, waited patiently while Mrs. Vane hoarsely
whispered final farewell pleasantries; then closed it behind her portly
back.
When he returned to the hearthrug, Diana was still standing gazing
thoughtfully into the fire, one arm on the mantel-piece.
"Oh, the irony of it!" she said, without looking up. "She hopes you
will have a quite delightful time; and, as a matter of fact, you are
going out to die! Cousin David, do you really expect never to
return?"
"In all probability," said David, "I shall never see England again.
They tell me I cannot possibly live through another five years out
there. They think two, or at most three, will see me through. Who
can tell? I shall be grateful for three."
"Do you consider it right, deliberately to sacrifice a young life, and a
useful life, by returning to a place which you know must cost that
life? Why not seek another sphere?"
"Because," said David, quietly, "my call is there. Some one must go;
and who better than one who has absolutely no home-ties; none to
miss or mourn him, but the people for whom he gives his life? It is
all I have to give. I give it gladly."
"Let us sit down," said Diana, "just as we sat last night, in those
quiet moments before the motor came round. Only now, I can talk—
and, oh, Cousin David, I have so much to say! But first I want you to
tell me, if you will, all about yourself. Begin at the beginning. Never
mind how long it takes. We have the whole afternoon before us,
unless you have anything to take you away early."
She motioned him to an easy chair, and herself sat on the couch,
leaning forward in her favourite attitude, her elbow on her knee, her
chin resting in the palm of her hand. Her grey eyes searched his
face. The firelight played on her soft hair.
"Begin at the beginning, Cousin David," she said.
"There is not much to tell of my beginnings," said David, simply. "My
parents married late in life. I was their only child—the son of their
old age. My home was always a little heaven upon earth. They were
not well off; we only had what my father earned by his practice, and
village people are apt to be slack about paying a doctor's bills. But
they made great efforts to give me the best possible education; and,
a generous friend coming to their assistance, I was able to go to
Oxford." His eyes glowed. "I wish you could know all that that
means," he said; "being able to go to Oxford."
"I can imagine what it would mean—to you," said Diana.
"While I was at Oxford, I decided to be ordained; and, almost
immediately after that decision, the call came. I held a London
curacy for one year, but, as soon as I was priested, by special leave
from my Bishop, and arrangement with my Vicar, I went out to
Africa. During the year I was working in London, I lost both my
father and my mother."
"Ah, poor boy!" murmured Diana. "Then you had no one."
David hesitated. "There was Amy," he said.
Diana's eyelids flickered. "Oh, there was 'Amy.' That might mean a
good deal. Did 'Amy' want to go out to Central Africa?"
"No," said David; "nor would I have dreamed of taking her there.
Amy and I had lived in the same village all our lives. We had been
babies together. Our mothers had wheeled us out in a double pram.
We were just brother and sister, until I went to college; and then we
thought we were going to be—more. But, when the call came, I
knew it must mean celibacy. No man could take a woman to such
places. I knew, if I accepted, I must give up Amy. I dreaded telling
her. But, when at last I plucked up courage and told her, Amy did not
mind very much, because a gentleman-farmer in the neighbourhood
was wanting to marry her. Amy was very pretty. They were married
just before I sailed. Amy wanted me to marry them. But I could not
do that."
Diana looked at the thin sensitive face.
"No," she said; "you could not do that."
"I thought it best not to correspond during the five years," continued
David, "considering what we had been to one another. But when I
was invalided home, I looked forward, in the eager sort of way you
do when you are very weak, to seeing Amy again. I had no one else.
As soon as I could manage the journey, I went down—home; and—
and called at Amy's house. I asked for Mrs. Robert Carsdale—Amy's
married name. A very masculine noisy lady, whom I had never seen
before, walked into the room where I stood awaiting Amy. She had
just come in from hunting, and flicked her boot with her hunting-
crop as she asked me what I wanted. I said: "I have called to see
Mrs. Robert Carsdale." She said: "Well? I am Mrs. Robert Carsdale,"
and stared at me, in astonishment.
"So I asked for Amy. She told me where to—to find Amy, and
opened the hall door. Amy had been dead three years. Robert
Carsdale had married again. I found Amy's grave, in our little
churchyard, quite near my own parents'. Also the grave of her baby
boy. It was all that was left of Amy; and, do you know, she had
named her little son 'David.'"
"Oh, you poor boy!" said Diana. "You poor, poor boy! But, do you
know, I think Amy in heaven was better for you, than Amy on earth.
I don't hold with marriage. Had you cared very much?"
"Yes, I had cared a good deal," replied David, in a low voice; "but as
a boy cares, I think. Not as I should imagine a man would care. A
man who really cared could not have left her to another man, could
he?"
"I don't hold with matrimony," said Diana again; and she said it with
forceful emphasis.
"Nor do I," said David; "and my people out in Africa are all the
family I shall ever know. I faced that out, when I accepted the call.
No man has a right to allow a woman to face nameless horrors and
hardships, or to make a home in a climate where little children
cannot live."
"Ah, I do so agree with you!" cried Diana. "I once attended a
missionary meeting where a returned missionary from India told us
how she and her husband had had to send their little daughter home
to England when she was seven years old, and had not seen her
again until she was sixteen. 'When we returned to England,' she told
the meeting, 'I should not have known my daughter had I passed
her in the street!' And every one thought it so pathetic, and so
devoted. But it seemed to me false pathos, and unpardonable
neglect of primary duties. Who could take that mother's place to that
little child of seven years old? And, from the age of seven to sixteen,
how a girl needs her own mother. What call could come before that
first call—her own little child's need of her? And what do you think
that missionary-lady's work had been? Managing a school for
heathen children! All the time she was giving an account of these
children of other people and her work among them, I felt like calling
out: 'How about your own?' Cousin David, I didn't put a halfpenny in
the plate; and I have hated missionaries ever since!"
"That is not quite just," said David. "But I do most certainly agree
with you, that first claims should come first. And therefore, a man
who feels called to labour where wife and children could not live,
must forego these tender ties, and consider himself pledged to
celibacy."
"It is the better part," said Diana.
David made no answer. It had not struck him in that light before. He
had always thought he was foregoing an unknown but an undoubted
joy.
A silence fell between them. He was pondering her last remark; she
was considering him, and trying to fathom how much sincerity of
conviction, strength of will, and tenacity of purpose, lay behind that
gentle manner, and straightforward simplicity of character.
Diana was a fearless cross-country rider. She never funked a fence,
nor walked a disappointed horse along, in search of a gap or a gate.
But before taking a high jump she liked to know what was on the
other side. So, while David pondered Diana's last remark, Diana
studied David.
At length she said: "Do you remember my first appearance at
Brambledene church, on a Sunday evening, about five weeks ago?"
Yes; David remembered.
"I arrived late," said Diana. "I walked up the church to blasts of
psalmody from that noisy choir."
David smiled. "You were never late again," he said.
"Mercy, no!" laughed Diana. "You gave one the impression of being
the sort of person who might hold up the entire service, while one
unfortunate late-comer hurried abashed into her pew. Are many
parsons so acutely conscious of the exact deportment of each
member of their congregations?"
"I don't know," answered David. "I suppose the keen look-out one
has to keep for unexpected and sometimes dangerous happenings,
at all gatherings of our poor wild people, has trained one to it. I
admit, I would sooner see the glitter of an African spear poised in
my direction from behind a tree trunk, than see Mrs. Smith nudge
her husband, in obvious disagreement with the most important point
in my sermon."
"Well," continued Diana, "I came. And what do you think brought
me?"
David had no suggestion to make as to what had brought Diana.
"Why, after you had come down for an interview with my god-father
and spent a night at the Rectory, I motored over to see him, just
before he went for his cure. He told me all about you; and, among
other things, that you were going back knowing that the climate out
there could only mean for you a very few years of life; and I came to
church because I wanted to see a man whose religion meant more
to him than even life itself—I, who rated life and health as highest of
all good; most valuable of all possessions.
"I came to see—wondering, doubting, incredulous. I stayed to listen
—troubled, conscience-stricken, perplexed. First, I believed in you,
Cousin David. Then I saw the Christ-life in you. Then I longed to
have what you had—to find Him myself. Yesterday, He found me. To-
day, I can humbly, trustfully say: 'I know Whom I have believed, and
am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed
unto Him against that day.' I am far from being what I ought to be;
my life just now is one tangle of perplexities; but the darkness is
over, and the true light now shineth. I hope, from this time onward,
to be a follower of the Star."
"I thank God," said David Rivers.
"And now," continued Diana, after a few moments of happy silence,
"I am going to burden you, Cousin David, with a recital of my
difficulties; and I am going to ask your advice. Let me tell you my
past history, as shortly as possible.
"This dear old place is my childhood's home. My earliest recollection
is of living here with my mother and my grandfather. My father,
Captain Rivers, who was heir to the whole property, died when I was
three years old. I barely remember him. The property was entailed
on male heirs, and failing my father, it came to a younger brother of
my grandfather, a great-uncle of mine, a certain Falcon Rivers, who
had fallen out with most of his relations, gone to live in America, and
made a large fortune out there. My grandfather and my mother
never spoke of Uncle Falcon, and I remember, as a child, having the
instinctive feeling that even to think of Uncle Falcon was an insidious
form of sin. It therefore had its attractions. I quite often thought of
Uncle Falcon!
"Toward the close of his life, my grandfather became involved in
money difficulties. Much of the estate was mortgaged. I was too
young and heedless to understand details, but it all resulted in this:
that when my grandfather died, he was unable to leave much
provision for my mother, or for me. We had to turn out of
Riverscourt; Uncle Falcon was returning to take possession. So we
went to live in town, on the merest pittance, and in what, after the
luxuries to which I had always been accustomed, appeared to me
abject poverty. I was then nineteen. My mother, who had been older
than my father, was over fifty.
"Then followed two very hard years. Uncle Falcon wrote to my
mother; but she refused to see him, or to have any communication
with him. She would not show me his letter. We were absolutely cut
off from the old home, and all our former surroundings. Once or
twice we heard, in roundabout ways, how much Uncle Falcon's
wealth was doing for the old place. Mortgages were all paid off;
tumbled-down cottages were being rebuilt; the farms were put into
proper order, and let to good tenants. American money has a way of
being useful, even in proud old England.
"Any mention of all this, filled my mother with an extreme bitterness,
to which I had not then the key, and which I completely failed to
understand.
"One morning, at breakfast, she received an envelope, merely
containing a thin slip of paper. Her beautiful face—my mother was a
very lovely woman—went, as they say in story-books, whiter than
the table-cloth. She tore the paper across, and across again, and
flung the fragments into the fire. They missed the flames, and
fluttered down into the fender. I picked them up, and, right before
her, pieced them together. It was a cheque from Uncle Falcon for a
thousand pounds. 'Oh, Mamma dear!' I said. I was so tired of
running after omnibuses, and pretending we liked potted meat
lunches.
"She snatched the fragments out of my fingers, and dropped them
into the heart of the fire.
"'Anyway, it was kind of Uncle Falcon,' I said.
"'Do not mention his name,' cried my mother, with white lips; and I
experienced once more the fascination of the belief, which had been
mine in childhood, that Uncle Falcon, and the Prince of Darkness,
were somehow akin.
"To cut a long story short, at the end of those two hard years, my
mother died. A close friend of ours was matron in the Hospital of the
Holy Star—ah, yes, how curious! I had forgotten the name—a
beautiful little hospital in the Euston Road, supported by private
contributions. She accepted me for training. I found the work
interesting, and soon got on. You may have difficulty in believing it,
Cousin David, but I make a quite excellent nurse. I studied every
branch, passed various exams., looked quite professional in my
uniform, and should have been a ward Sister before long—when the
letter came, which again changed my whole life.
"It was from Uncle Falcon! He had kept himself informed of my
movements through our old family lawyer, Mr. Inglestry, who, during
those years, had never lost sight of poor mamma, nor of me. I can
remember Uncle Falcon's letter, word for word.
"'My Dear Niece,' he wrote, 'I am told you are by now a duly
qualified hospital nurse. My body is in excellent health, but my brain
—which I suppose I have worked pretty strenuously—has partially
given way; with the result that my otherwise healthy body is more or
less helpless on the right side. My doctor tells me I must have a
trained nurse; not in constant attendance—Heaven protect the poor
woman, if that were necessary!—but somewhere handy in the
house, in case of need.
"'Now why should I be tended in my declining years, by a stranger,
when my own kith and kin is competent to do it? And why should I
bring a stray young woman to this beautiful place, when the girl
whose rightful home it is, might feel inclined to return to it?
"'I hear from old What's-his-name, that you bear no resemblance
whatever to your father, but are the image of what your mother was,
at your age. That being the case, if you like to come home, my child,
I will make your life as pleasant as I can, for her sake.
"'Your affectionate unknown uncle,
"'Falcon Rivers.'
"Well—I went.
"I arrived in uniform, not sure what my standing was to be in the
house, but thankful to be back there, on any terms, and irresistibly
attracted by the spell of Uncle Falcon.
"Our own old butler opened the door to me. I nearly fell upon his
neck. The housekeeper, who had known me from infancy, took me
up to my room. They wept and laughed, and seemed to look upon
my uniform as one of Miss Diana's pranks—half funny, half naughty.
Truth to tell, I did feel dressed up, when I found myself inside the
old hall again.
"In twenty-four hours, Cousin David, I was installed as the daughter
of the house.
"Of Uncle Falcon's remarkable personality, there is not time to tell
you now. We took to each other at once, and, before long, he felt it
right to put away, at my request, the one possible cause of
misunderstanding there might have been between us, by telling me
the true reason of his alienation from home, and his breach with my
grandfather and my parents.
"Uncle Falcon was ten years younger than my grandfather. My
mother, then a very lovely woman, in the perfection of her beauty,
was ten years older than my father, a young subaltern just entering
the army. My mother was engaged to Uncle Falcon, who loved her
with an intensity of devotion, such as only a nature strong, fiery,
rugged as his, could bestow.
"During a visit to Riverscourt, shortly before the time appointed for
her marriage to Uncle Falcon, then a comparatively poor man with
no prospects—my mother met my father. My father fell in love with
her, and my mother jilted Uncle Falcon in order to marry the young
heir to the house and lands of Riverscourt. Poor mamma! How well I
could understand it, remembering her love of luxury, and of all those
things which go with an old country place and large estates. Uncle
Falcon never spoke to her again, after receiving the letter in which
she put an end to their engagement; but he had a furious scene
with my grandfather, who had connived at the treachery toward his
younger brother; and then horsewhipped the young subaltern, in his
father's presence.
"Shortly afterwards, he sailed for America, and never returned.
"Then—oh, irony of fate! After three years of married life, the young
heir died, without a son, and Uncle Falcon stood to inherit
Riverscourt, as the last in the entail.
"Meanwhile everything he touched had turned to gold, and he only
waited my grandfather's decease to return as master to the old
home, with the large fortune which would soon restore it to its
pristine beauty and grandeur.
"How well I could now understand my grandfather's silent fury, and
my mother's remorseful bitterness! By her own infidelity, she had
made herself the niece of the man whose wife she might have been,
and whose wealth, position, and power would all have been laid at
her feet. Also, I am inclined to think she had not been long in
realising and regretting the treasure she had lost, in the love of the
older man. I always knew mamma had few ideals, and no illusions.
Many of my own pronounced views on the vital things in life are the
product of her disillusionising philosophy. Poor mamma! Oh, Cousin
David, I see it hurts you each time I say 'poor mamma'! Yet you
cannot know what it means, when one's kindest thoughts of one's
mother must needs be prefixed by the adjective 'poor.' Yes, I know it
is a sad state of things when pity must be called in to soften filial
judgment. But then life is full of these sad things, isn't it? Anyway I
have found it so. Had my mother left me one single illusion
regarding men and marriage, I might not now find myself in the
difficult position in which I am placed to-day.
"However, for one thing I have always been thankful—one hour
when I can remember my mother with admiration and respect: that
morning at breakfast, in our humble suburban villa, when she tore
up and flung to the flames Uncle Falcon's cheque for a thousand
pounds.
"A close intimacy, and a deep, though undemonstrative, affection,
soon arose between Uncle Falcon and myself. His life-long fidelity to
his love for my mother seemed to transfer itself to me, and to be at
last content in having found an object. My every wish was met and
gratified. He insisted upon allowing me a thousand a year, merely as
pocket-money, while still defraying all large expenses for me,
himself. Hunters, dogs, everything I could wish, were secured and
put at my disposal. His last gift to me was the motor-car which
brought you here to-day.
"His sense of humour was delightful; his shrewd keen judgment of
men and things, instructive and entertaining. But—he had one
peculiarity. So sure was he of his own discernment, and so
accustomed to bend others to his iron will, that if one held a
different view from his and ventured to say so, he could never rest
until he had won in the argument and brought one round to his way
of thinking. He was never irritable over the point; he kept his
temper, and controlled his tongue. But he never rested until he had
convinced and defeated a mental opponent.
"He and I agreed upon most subjects, but there was one on which
we differed; and Uncle Falcon could never bring himself to let it be.
In spite of his own hard experience and consequent bachelorhood,—
perhaps because of it,—he was an ardent believer in marriage. He
held that a woman was not meant to stand alone; that she missed
her proper vocation in life if she refused matrimony; and that she
attained her full perfection only when the marriage tie had brought
her to depend, for her completion and for her happiness, upon her
rightful master—man.
"On the other hand, I, as you may have discovered, Cousin David,
regard the whole idea of marriage with abhorrence. I hold that, as
things now stand in this civilization of ours, a woman's one absolute
right is her right to herself. She is her own inalienable possession.
Why should she give herself up to a man; becoming his chattel, to
do with as he pleases? Why should she lose all right over her own
person, her own property, her own liberty of action and regulation of
circumstance? Why should she change her very name for his? If the
two could stand on a platform of absolute independence and
equality, the thing might be bearable—for some. It would still be
intolerable to me! But, as the law and social usage now stand,
marriage is—to the woman—practically slavery; and, therefore, an
unspeakable degradation!"
Diana's eyes flashed; her colour rose; her firm chin seemed more
than ever to be moulded in marble.
David, sole representative of the tyrant man, quailed beneath the
lash of her indictment. He knew Diana was wrong. He felt he ought
to say that marriage was scriptural; and that woman was intended,
from the first, to be in subjection to man. But he had not the
courage of his convictions; nor could he brook the thought of any
man attempting to subjugate this glorious specimen of womanhood,
invading her privacy, or in any way presuming to dispute her
absolute right over herself. So he shrank into his large armchair, and
took refuge in silence.
"When I proclaimed my views to Uncle Falcon," continued Diana, "he
would hear me to the end, and then say: 'My dear girl, after the
manner of most women orators, you mount the platform of your
own ignorance, and lay down the law from the depths—or, perhaps I
should say, shallows—of your own absolute inexperience. Get
married, child, and you will tell a different story.'
"Then Uncle Falcon set himself to compass this result, but without
success. However profound might be my inexperience, I knew how
to keep men at arm's length, thank goodness! But, as the happy
years went by, we periodically reverted to our one point of
difference. At the close of each discussion, Uncle Falcon used to say:
'I shall win, Diana! Some day you will have to admit that I have
won.' His eyes used to gleam beneath his shaggy brows, and I
would turn the subject; because I could not give in, yet I felt it was
becoming almost a mania with Uncle Falcon.
"It was the only thing in which I failed to please him. His pride in my
riding, and in anything else I could do, was touching beyond words.
He remodelled the kennels, and financed the hunt in our
neighbourhood, on condition that I was Master.
"One day his speech suddenly became thick and difficult. He sent for
Mr. Inglestry, our old family friend and adviser, and was closeted
with him for over an hour.
"When Mr. Inglestry came out of the library, his face was grave; his
manner, worried.
"'Go to your uncle, Miss Rivers,' he said. 'He has been exciting
himself a good deal, over a matter about which I felt bound to
expostulate, and I think he needs attention.'
"I went into the library.
"Uncle Falcon's eyes were brighter than ever, though his lips
twitched. 'I shall win, Diana,' he said. 'Some day you will have to
admit that I have won. You will have to say: "Uncle Falcon, you have
won."'
"I knelt down in front of him. 'No other man will ever win me, dear.
So I can say it at once. Uncle Falcon, you have won.'
"'Foolish girl!' he said; then looked at me with inexpressible
affection. 'I w-want you to be happy,' he said. 'I w-want you to be as
h-happy as I would have made Geraldine.'
"Geraldine was my mother.
"On the following day, Uncle Falcon sent for another lawyer, a young
man just opening a practice in Riversmead. He arrived with his clerk,
but only spent a very few minutes in the library, and as we have
never heard from him since, no transaction of importance can have
taken place. Mr. Inglestry had the will and the codicil.
"A few nights later, I was summoned to my uncle's room. He neither
spoke nor moved again; but his eyes were still bright beneath the
bushy eyebrows. He knew me to the end. Those living eyes, in the
already dead body, seemed to say: 'Diana, I shall win.'
"At dawn, the brave, dauntless soul left the body, which had long
clogged it, and launched out into the Unknown. My first conscious
prayer was: that he might not there meet either my father or my
mother, but some noble kindred spirit, worthy of him. Cousin David,
you would have liked Uncle Falcon."
"I am sure I should have," said David Rivers.
"Go into the library," commanded Diana, "the door opposite the
dining-room, and study the portrait of him hanging over the mantel-
piece, painted by a famous artist, two years ago."
David went.
Diana rang, and sent for a glass of water; went to the window, and
looked out; crossed to a mirror, and nervously smoothed her
abundant hair. Hitherto she had been cantering smoothly over open
country. Now she was approaching the leap. She must keep her
nerve—or she would find herself riding for a fall.
"Did you notice his eyes?" she asked, as David sat down again.
"Yes," he answered; "wonderful eyes; bright, as golden amber. You
must not be offended—you would not be, if you could know how
beautiful they were—but the only eyes I ever saw at all like them,
belonged to a Macacus Cynomolgus, a little African monkey—who
was a great pet of mine."
"I quite understand," said Diana. "I know the eyes of that species of
monkey. Now, tell me? Did Uncle Falcon's amber eyes say anything
to you?"
"Yes," said David. "It must have been simply owing to all you have
told me. But, the longer I looked at them—the more clearly they
said: 'I shall win.'"
"Well, now listen," said Diana, "if my history does not weary you.
When Mr. Inglestry produced Uncle Falcon's will, he had left
everything to me: Riverscourt, the whole estate, the four livings of
which he held the patronage, and—his immense fortune. Cousin
David, I am so rich that I have not yet learned how to spend my
money. I want you to help me. I have indeed the gift of gold to offer
to the King. I wish you to have, at once, all you require for the
church, the schools, the printing-press, and the boat, of which you
spoke. And then, I wish you to have a thousand a year—two, if you
need them—for the current expenses of your work, and to enable
you to have a colleague. Will you accept this, Cousin David, from a
grateful heart, guided by you, led by the Star, and able to-day to
offer it to the King?"
At first David made no reply. He sat quite silent, his head thrown
back, his hands clasping his knee; and Diana knew, as she watched
the working of the thin white face, that he was striving to master an
emotion such as a man hates to show before a woman.
Then he sat up, loosing his knee, and answered very simply:
"I accept—for the King and for His work, Miss Rivers; and I accept
on behalf of my poor eager waiting people out there. Ah, if you
could know how much it means——!" His voice broke.
Diana felt the happy tears welling up into her own eyes.
"And we will call the church," said David, presently, "the Church of
the Holy Star."
"Very well," said Diana. "Then that is settled. You have helped me
with my first gift, Cousin David. Now you must advise and help me
about the second. And, indeed, the possibility of offering the first
depends almost entirely upon the advice you give me about the
second. You know you said the frankincense meant our ideals—the
high and holy things in our lives? Well, my ideals are in sore peril. I
want you to advise me as to how to keep them. Listen! There was a
codicil to Uncle Falcon's will—a private codicil known only to Mr.
Inglestry and myself, and only to be made known a year after his
death, to those whom, if I failed to fulfil its conditions, it might then
concern. Riverscourt, and all this wealth, are mine, only on condition
that I am married, within twelve months of Uncle Falcon's death. He
has been dead, eleven."
Diana paused.
"Good God!" said David Rivers; and it was not a careless
exclamation. It was a cry of protest from his very soul. "On condition
that you are married!" he said. "And to whom?"
"No stipulation was made as to that," replied Diana. "But Uncle
Falcon had three men in his mind, all of whom he liked, and each of
whom considers himself in love with me: a famous doctor in London,
a distinguished cleric in our cathedral town, and a distant cousin,
Rupert Rivers, to whom the whole property is to go, if I fail to fulfil
the condition."
David sat forward, with his elbows on his knees, and rumpled his
hair with his hands. Horror and dismay were in his honest eyes.
"It is unbelievable!" he said. "That he should really care for you, and
wish your happiness, and yet lay this burden upon you after his
death. His mind must have been affected when he made that
codicil."
"So Mr. Inglestry says; but not sufficiently affected to enable us to
dispute it. The idea of bending me to matrimony, and of forcing me
to admit that it was the better part, had become a monomania with
Uncle Falcon."
David sat with his head in his hands, his look bent upon the floor.
Now that he knew of this cruel condition imposed upon the beautiful
girl sitting opposite to him, he could not bring himself to lift his eyes
to hers. She should be looked at only with admiration and wonder;
and now a depth of pity would be in his eyes. Therefore he kept
them lowered.
"So," said Diana, "you see how I am placed. If I refuse to fulfil the
condition, on the anniversary of Uncle Falcon's death we must tell
Rupert Rivers of the codicil; I shall have to hand over everything to
him; leave my dear home, and go back to the life of running after
omnibuses, and pretending to enjoy potted meat lunches! On the
other hand, if—in order to keep my home, my income, all the
luxuries I love, my position in the county, and the influence which I
now for the first time begin to value for the true reason—I marry
one of these men, or one of half a dozen others who would require
only the slightest encouragement to propose to me at once, I fail to
keep true to my own ideals; I practically barter myself and my
liberty, in order to keep the place which is rightfully my own; I sink
to the level of the women I have long despised, who marry for
money."
"You must not do that," said David. "Nay, more; you could not do
that. But is not your Cousin Rupert a man whom you might learn to
love; a man you could marry for the real reasons?"
Diana laughed, bitterly.
"Cousin David," she said, "shortly before grandpapa died, I was
engaged to Rupert Rivers for a fortnight. At the end of that time I
loathed my own body. Young as I was, and scornfully opposed by
my mother, I took matters into my own hands, and broke off the
engagement."
David looked perplexed.
"It should not have had that effect upon you," he said, slowly. "I
don't know much about it, but it seems to me that a man's love and
worship should tend to make a woman reverence her own body, and
regard her beauty in a new light, because of his delight in it. I
remember—" a sudden flush suffused David's pale cheeks, but he
brought forth his reminiscence bravely, for Diana's sake: "I
remember kissing Amy's hand the evening before I first went to
college, and she wrote and told me that for days afterwards that
hand had seemed unlike the other, and whenever she looked at it
she remembered that I had kissed it."
Diana's laughter was in her eyes. She did not admit it to her voice.
She felt very much older, at that moment, than David Rivers.
"Oh, you dear boy!" she said. "What can you, with your Amy and
your Africans, know of such men as Rupert, or the doctor, or even—
even the church dignitary? You would love a woman's soul, and
cherish her body because it contained it. They make one feel that
nothing else matters much, so long as one is beautiful. And after
having been looked at by them for a little while, one feels inclined to
smash one's mirror."
David lifted quiet eyes to hers. They seemed deep wells of childlike
purity; yet there was fire in their calm depths.
"When you are so beautiful," he said, simply, "you can't blame a
man for thinking so, when he looks at you."
Diana laughed, blushing. She was surfeited with compliments; yet
this of David's, so unpremeditated, so impersonal, pleased her more
than any compliment had ever pleased her.
But, in an instant, she was grave again. Momentous issues lay
before her. Uncle Falcon had been dead eleven months.
"Then would you advise me to marry, and thus retain the property?"
she suggested.
"God forbid!" cried David. "That you should be compelled to leave
here, seems intolerable; but it would be infinitely more intolerable
that you should make a loveless marriage. Give up all, if needs must,
but—keep your ideals."
Diana glanced at him, from beneath half-lifted lids.
"That will mean, Cousin David, that you cannot have the money for
your church, your school, your printing-press, and your steam-
launch; nor the yearly income for current expenses."
Now, curiously enough, David had not thought of this. His mind had
been completely taken up with the idea of Diana running after
omnibuses and lunching cheaply on potted meat.
The great disappointment now struck him with full force; but he did
not waver for an instant.
"How could I build the Church of the Holy Star on the proceeds of
your lost ideals?" he said. "If my church is to be built, the money will
be found in some other way."
"There is another way," said Diana, suddenly.
David looked up, surprised at the forceful decision of her tone.
"What other way is there?" he asked.
Diana rose; walked over to the window and stood looking across the
spacious park, at the pale gold of the wintry sunset.
She was in full view, at last, of her high fence, and did not yet know
what lay beyond it. She headed straight for it; but she rode on the
curb.
She walked back to the fireplace, and stood confronting him; her
superb young figure drawn up to its full height.
Her voice was very quiet; her manner, very deliberate, as she
answered his question.
"I want you to marry me, Cousin David," she said, "on the morning
of the day on which you start for Central Africa."
 CHAPTER X
DIANA'S HIGH FENCE
David Rivers sprang to his feet, and faced Diana.
"I cannot do that," he said.
Diana had expected this. She waited a moment, silently; while the
atmosphere palpitated with David's intense surprise.
Then: "Why not, Cousin David?" she asked quietly.
And, as he still stood before her, speechless, "Sit down," she
commanded, "and tell me. Why not?"
But David stood his ground, and Diana realised, for the first time,
that he was slightly taller than herself.
"Why not?" he said. "Why not! Why because, even if I wished—I
mean, even if you wished—even if we both wished for each other—
in that way—Central Africa is no place for a woman. I would never
take a woman there!"
Diana's face flushed. Her white teeth bit sharply into her lower lip.
Her hands clenched themselves suddenly at her sides. The fury of
her eyes flashed full into the blank dismay of his.
Then, with a mighty effort, she mastered her imperious temper.
"My dear Cousin David," she said—and she spoke slowly, seating
herself upon the sofa, and carefully arranging the silken cushions to
her liking: "You totally mistake my meaning. I gave you credit for
more perspicacity. I have not the smallest intention of going to
Central Africa, or of ever inflicting my presence, or my
companionship, upon you. Surely you and I have made it pretty clear
to one another that we are each avowed celibates. But, just because
of this—just because we both have everything to gain, and nothing
to lose by such an arrangement—just because we so completely
understand one another—I can say to you—as frankly as I would
say: 'Cousin David, will you oblige me by witnessing my signature to
this document?'—'Cousin David, will you oblige me by marrying me
on the morning of the day upon which you return to Central Africa?'
Do you not see that by doing so, you take no burden upon yourself,
yet you free me at once from the desperate plight in which I am
placed by Uncle Falcon's codicil? You enable me to give the gold and
the frankincense, and you yourself have told me over and over, that
you never expect to return to England."
David's young face paled and hardened.
"I see," he said. "So I am to provide the myrrh! I could not promise
to die, for certain, you know. I might pull through, and live, after all;
which would be awkward for you."
This was the most human remark she had, as yet, heard from David;
but the bitterness of his tone brought the tears to Diana's eyes. She
had not realised how much her proposal would hurt him.
"Dear Cousin David," she said, with extreme gentleness; "God grant
indeed that you may live, and spend many years in doing your great
work. But you told me you had nothing to bring you back to
England, and that you felt you were leaving it now, never to return.
It was not my suggestion. And don't you see, that if you help me
thus, you will also be helping your poor African people; because it
will mean that you can have your church, and your schools, and all
the other things you need, and a yearly income for current
expenses?"
"So these were all bribes," cried David, and his eyes flamed down
into hers—"bribes to make me do this thing! And you called them
gifts for the King!"
Diana flushed. The injustice of this was hard to bear. But the
indignant pain in his voice helped her to reply with quiet self-control.
"Cousin David, I am sorry you think that of me. It is quite unjust.
Had there been no codicil to my uncle's will, every penny I hope to
offer for your work would have been gladly, freely, offered. Since I
knew that my gold could be useful in helping you to bring light into
that darkness, the thought has been one of pure joy. Oh, Cousin
David, say 'no' to my request, if you like, but don't wrong me by
misjudging the true desire of my heart to bring my gifts, all
unworthy though they be. Remember you stand for the Christ to me,
Cousin David; and He was never unjust to a woman."
David's face softened; but instantly hardened again, as a fresh
thought struck him.
"Was this plan—this idea—in your mind," he demanded, "on that
Sunday night when you first came to Brambledene Church?" Then,
as Diana did not answer: "Oh, good heavens!" he cried, vehemently;
"say it wasn't! My Lady of Mystery! Say you came to worship, and
that all this was an after-thought!"
Diana's clear eyes met his. They did not flinch, though her lips
trembled.
"I cannot lie to you, Cousin David," she said, bravely. "I had heard
you were never coming back—it seemed a possible way out—it
seemed my last hope. I—I came—to see if you were a man I could
trust."
David groaned; looked wildly round the room, as if for a way of
escape; then sank into a chair, and buried his face in his hands.
"I cannot do it, Miss Rivers," he said. "It would be making a mockery
of God's most holy ordinance of matrimony—to wed you in the
morning, knowing I should leave you forever in the afternoon. How
could I promise, in the presence of God, to love, comfort, honour
and keep you? The whole thing would be a sacrilege."
He lifted a haggard face, looking at her with despairing eyes.
Diana smiled softly into them. A moment before, she had expected
to see him leave the room and the house, forever. That he should sit
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

ebookname.com