She  educated  him  as  well  as  she  could  with  the  limited
means  at  her  disposal,  for  the  allowance  had  never  been
increased,  Lady  Caroline,  or  the  Marchioness  of  Stone-
henge as  she  now  was,  seeming  by  degrees  to  care  little
123


A  GROUP  OF  NOBLE  DAMES

what  had  become  of  them.  Milly  became  extremely
ambitious  on  the  boy's  account;  she  pinched  herself
almost  of  necessaries  to  send  him  to  the  Grammar  School
in  the  town  to  which  they  retired,  and  at  twenty  he
enlisted  in  a  cavalry  regiment,  joining  it  with  a  deliberate
intent  of  making  the  Army  his  profession,  and  not  in  a
freak  of  idleness.  His  exceptional  attainments,  his  manly
bearing,  his  steady  conduct,  speedily  won  him  promotion,
which  was  furthered  by  the  serious  war  in  which  this
country  was  at  that  time  engaged.  On  his  return  to
England  after  the  peace  he  had  risen  to  the  rank  of
riding-master,  and  was  soon  after  advanced  another
stage,  and  made  quartermaster,  though  still  a  young
man.
His  mother — his  corporeal  mother,  that  is,  the  Mar-
chioness of  Stonehenge — heard  tidings  of  this  unaided
progress ;  it  reawakened  her  maternal  instincts,  and  filled
her  with  pride.  She  became  keenly  interested  in  her
successful  soldier -son;  and  as  she  grew  older  much
wished  to  see  him  again,  particularly  when,  the  Marquis
dying,  she  was  left  a  solitary  and  childless  widow.
