Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PDF A Cason Contract 7Th Edition A S Burrows Ebook Full Chapter
PDF A Cason Contract 7Th Edition A S Burrows Ebook Full Chapter
Burrows
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://textbookfull.com/product/a-casebook-on-contract-7th-edition-a-s-burrows/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...
https://textbookfull.com/product/casebook-on-contract-law-13th-
edition-jill-poole/
https://textbookfull.com/product/a-restatement-of-the-english-
law-of-contract-first-edition-andrew-burrows/
https://textbookfull.com/product/multinational-management-a-
casebook-on-asia-s-global-market-leaders-1st-edition-rien-t-
segers-eds/
https://textbookfull.com/product/a-writer-s-resource-7th-edition-
maimon/
Hypoparathyroidism A Clinical Casebook Natalie E.
Cusano
https://textbookfull.com/product/hypoparathyroidism-a-clinical-
casebook-natalie-e-cusano/
https://textbookfull.com/product/obesity-management-a-clinical-
casebook-louis-j-aronne/
https://textbookfull.com/product/the-ethical-practice-of-
forensic-psychology-a-casebook-1st-edition-beattey/
https://textbookfull.com/product/adolescent-gynecology-a-
clinical-casebook-1st-edition-hina-j-talib-eds/
https://textbookfull.com/product/the-british-cinema-
boom-1909-1914-a-commercial-history-1st-edition-jon-burrows-auth/
Andrew Burrows
A Casebook on Contract
ii
A Casebook
on Contract
Seventh Edition
ANDREW BURROWS
MA, BCL, LLM (Harvard), QC (Hon), FBA, DCL, Honorary Bencher of Middle
Temple, Professor of the Law of England in the University of Oxford and a Fellow
of All Souls College, Oxford; a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
(from 2 June 2020)
HART PUBLISHING
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Kemp House, Chawley Park, Cumnor Hill, Oxford, OX2 9PH, UK
1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA
HART PUBLISHING, the Hart/Stag logo, BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are
trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published in Great Britain 2020
Copyright © Andrew Burrows, 2020
1st edition 2007, 2nd edition 2009, 3rd edition 2011, 4th edition 2013, 5th edition 2016, 6th edition 2018.
Andrew Burrows has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988 to be identified as Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system,
without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
While every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of this work, no responsibility for loss or damage
occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of any statement in it can be
accepted by the authors, editors or publishers.
All UK Government legislation and other public sector information used in the work is Crown Copyright ©.
All House of Lords and House of Commons information used in the work is Parliamentary Copyright ©.
This information is reused under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 (http://www.
nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3) except where otherwise stated.
All Eur-lex material used in the work is © European Union,
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/, 1998–2020.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data
Names: Burrows, A. S. (Andrew S.), author.
Title: A casebook on contract / Andrew Burrows, MA, BCL, LLM (Harvard), QC (Hon), FBA, DCL,
Honorary Bencher of Middle Temple, Professor of the Law of England in the University of Oxford
and a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford; Supreme Court Justice-Elect.
Description: Seventh edition. | Oxford, UK ; New York, NY : Hart Publishing, an imprint
of Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020009697 (print) | LCCN 2020009698 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781509936144 | ISBN 9781509936168 (ePDF) | ISBN 9781509936151 (Epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Contracts—England. | LCGFT: Casebooks (Law)
Classification: LCC KD1554 .B87 2020 (print) | LCC KD1554 (ebook) | DDC 346.4202/2—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020009697
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020009698
ISBN: PB: 978-1-50993-614-4
ePDF: 978-1-50993-616-8
ePub: 978-1-50993-615-1
Typeset by Compuscript Ltd, Shannon
To find out more about our authors and books visit www.hartpublishing.co.uk.
Here you will find extracts, author information, details of forthcoming events
and the option to sign up for our newsletters.
IN MEMORY OF MY PARENTS
vi
Acknowledgements
The author and publisher gratefully acknowledge the authors and publishers of extracted
material which appears in this book, and in particular the following for permission to
reprint from the sources indicated:
Justis and the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales—the Law
Reports, the Weekly Law Reports and the Industrial Cases Reports.
LexisNexis Butterworths—extracts from the All England Law Reports, the All England
Reports Commercial Cases, Family Court Reports and Law Times Reports.
Informa UK Ltd—extracts from Lloyd’s Law Reports and Building Law Reports.
Sweet & Maxwell Ltd (Westlaw)—for an extract from the Fleet Street Reports, an
extract from Commercial Law Cases, and an extract from the Property, Planning and
Compensation Reports.
viii
Preface
In my view, the best way for students to understand and enjoy the law of contract is by
careful analysis of what the judges have said in the leading cases. It is with that in mind
that I have written this book. It aims to make the cases readily accessible through a clear
structure, by a succinct introductory commentary to the various sections, and by notes
and questions that will enable a student to appreciate the significance of a particular case
and the interesting issues raised by it. Novel features include the treatment of legislation,
where I have tried to give a principled overview of the central provisions, and the sum-
maries of academic writings either as part of the notes on a particular case or in the addi-
tional reading at the end of each chapter. Above all it is hoped that the book will convey
the fascination and excitement of this central subject.
This is a casebook in the traditional sense that it is designed to be used alongside,
rather than as a replacement for, a textbook. There are several excellent textbooks on
contract. I have given references throughout to the four that I consider the best. As an
introductory book, most usefully read at the start of a topic, I would recommend Ewan
McKendrick, Contract Law. Students may also find helpful in giving them an overview
A Restatement of the English Law of Contract. If the student is going to buy any other
books I would recommend, as a more detailed textbook, Anson’s Law of Contract and,
as a more theoretical work, Atiyah’s Introduction to the Law of Contract. But obviously
teachers and students have their own favourites and this casebook can be used just as
easily with any other textbook.
This book is aimed at all those studying contract, in particular undergraduates on law
courses. The contents seek to reflect the scope of most modern university courses so that
the law on illegality and incapacity is not included.
Three further particular features of the contents should be noted. The first is the prom-
inence given to remedies. Both theoretically and in practice this topic is, arguably, the
most important in contract law and yet often it is pushed to the end of a course where it is
not given the attention it merits. It is to be found in the centre of this book as Part Three.
The second is the recognition of the interplay between contract law and the drafting of
contract terms. Lawyers need a detailed knowledge of contract law not only to advise
when things go wrong but also in order to be able to draft contracts effectively. Proper
attention is therefore paid at various stages of this book to interpretation and to various
types of contract term. The third is the use made of the outstanding comparative work
of the Commission on European Contract Law (led by Olé Lando and Hugh Beale). Their
Principles of European Contract Law (PECL), published in 2000, merits greater atten-
tion by students than has traditionally been the case. What I have done here, therefore,
is to set out the relevant parts of PECL at the ends of chapters (along with the page
references to the detailed commentary) so that students can compare PECL with English
law once they have mastered a particular topic. My own square-bracketed comments are
then designed to help a student to see, and to think about, the differences. I have chosen
PECL rather than the relevant sections of the 2009 Draft Common Frame of Reference
(prepared by the Study Group on a European Civil Code and the Research Group on
x Preface
EC Private Law (Acquis Group)) because the DCFR is, in my view, a more difficult
draft and commentary for students to understand and use. It is primarily for reasons of
space that I have referred just to PECL and not also to the equally impressive Unidroit
Principles of International Commercial Contracts.
The extracts from the statutes are reproduced in the most recent form with all
amendments being incorporated within square brackets.
By the time a student has worked his or her way through this book, he or she will have
favourite judges who can be relied on for rational and clear exposition of contractual
principles. I anticipate that most will derive the greatest illumination from the judgments
of Lord Denning, Lord Wilberforce, Lord Steyn, Lord Nicholls and Lord Bingham. It is
striking how much more sophisticated judicial reasoning on contract has become albeit
that this coincides with ever longer judgments.
I would like to thank the team at Hart Publishing, especially Sinead Moloney and Tom
Adams, for being both efficient and a great pleasure to work with.
New cases covered in this edition include (in the order in which they appear): Devani
v Wells; Astor Management AG v Atalaya Mining plc; Bates v Post Office; Persimmon
Homes Ltd v Ove Arup & Partners Ltd; Dera Commercial Estate v Derya Inc, The Sur;
African Export–Import Bank v Shebah Exploration and Production Co Ltd; Goodlife
Foods Ltd v Hall Fire Protection Ltd; Perry v Raleys Solicitors; Chudley v Clydesdale
Bank plc; First Tower Trustees Ltd v CDS (Superstores International) Ltd; British Red
Cross v Werry; FSHC Group Holdings Limited v GLAS Trust Corporation Limited;
Canary Wharf (BP4) T1 Ltd v European Medicines Agency; Times Travel (UK) Ltd
v Pakistan International Airlines Corp. New articles referred to include those by
Hoffmann and Rowan.
Andrew Burrows
1 March 2020
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Preface ix
Table of Cases xxv
Table of Legislation lv
7. TERMINATION 353
1. The Meaning of Termination for Breach 354
Photo Production Ltd v Securicor Transport Ltd 354
2. Conditions, Warranties and Innominate Terms 356
Sale of Goods Act 1979, sections 12–15 356
Hong Kong Fir Shipping Co Ltd v Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd 357
Maredelanto Compania Naviera SA v Bergbau – Handel GmbH,
The Mihalis Angelos 361
L Schuler AG v Wickman Machine Tool Sales Ltd 363
Cehave NV v Bremer Handelsgesellschaft mbH, The Hansa Nord 366
Bunge Corporation v Tradax Export SA 369
Sale of Goods Act 1979, section 15A 372
3. Termination Clauses 373
Lombard North Central plc v Butterworth 373
Rice v Great Yarmouth Borough Council 376
4. Anticipatory Breach 380
Hochster v De La Tour 380
5. Restitution after Termination for Breach 382
6. Consumer Contracts for Goods (or Digital Content) 383
Additional Reading 384
8. DAMAGES 387
1. Compensatory Damages 387
(1) Basic Issues in Applying the Compensatory Aim 388
(a) The Precise Aim of Contractual Compensation: Protecting the
Expectation Interest 388
Robinson v Harman 388
Contents xvii
Index 881
Astor Management AG v Atalaya Mining plc [2018] EWCA Civ 2407, [2019]
1 All ER (Comm) 885 ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������x, 75
Atkins International HA v Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines
(The APJ Priti) [1987] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 37, CA ����������������������������������������������������213, 214
Atlantic Baron (The), see North Ocean Shipping Co Ltd v Hyundai
Construction Co Ltd
Atlas Express Ltd v Kafco (Importers and Distributors) Ltd [1989]
QB 833, QBD������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������809, 810
Attica Sea Carriers Corporation v Ferrostaal Poseidon Bulk Reederei GmbH
(The Puerto Buitrago) [1976] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 250, CA��������������������������������513–514, 515
Attorney-General v Blake [2001] 1 AC 268, HL; [1998] Ch 439, CA �������382, 473–477,
478, 479, 480, 481, 505
Attorney-General of Belize v Belize Telecom Ltd [2009] UKPC 10,
[2009] 1 WLR 1988������������������������������������208–211, 212, 214, 215, 216, 217, 220, 264
Attorney-General of Hong Kong v Humphreys Estate (Queen’s Gardens) Ltd
[1987] AC 114, PC (HK)��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������140
Attwood v Small (1838) 6 Cl & F 232, HL ������������������������������������������������������������636, 637
Avery v Bowden (1855) 5 Ex B 714, QB������������������������������������������������������������������������381
Avon Finance Co Ltd v Bridger [1985] 2 All ER 281, CA����������������������������������������������715
Avraamides v Colwill [2006] EWCA Civ 1533, [2007] BLR 76������������������������������������608
Axa Sun Life Services plc v Campbell Martin Ltd [2011] EWCA Civ 133,
[2011] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 1������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������676
Aziz v Caixa d’Estalvis de Catalunya, Tarragona i Manresa (Catalunyacaixa)
(Case C-415/11) [2013] All ER (EC) 770, CJEU ����������������������342, 343, 345, 346, 347
Aziz v Caixa d’Estalvis de Catalunya, Tarragona i Manresa (Catalunyacaixa)
(Case C-415/11) Ad-Gen’s Opinion ECLI:EU:C:2012:700 (2012)��������������������343, 346
B & S Contracts & Design Ltd v Victor Green Publications Ltd [1984]
ICR 419, CA�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������806–808
Babcock v Lawson (1880) 5 QBD 284, CA��������������������������������������������������������������������705
Backhouse v Backhouse [1978] 1 WLR 243, FD������������������������������������������������������������864
Bagot v Stevens Scanlan & Co Ltd [1966] 1 QB 197, QBD ������������������������������������������658
Bailey v Bullock [1950] 2 All ER 1167, KBD����������������������������������������������������������������460
Bain v Fothergill (1874) LR 7 HL 158, HL ��������������������������������������������������������������������389
Bainbrigge v Browne (1881) 18 Ch D 188, ChD������������������������������������������������������������835
Baird Textiles Holdings Ltd v Marks & Spencer plc [2001] EWCA Civ 274,
[2002] 1 All ER (Comm) 737���������������������������������������������������������64, 90, 144–147, 149
Bairstow Eves London Central Ltd v Smith [2004] EWHC 263 (QB),
[2004] 2 EGLR 25������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������341
Balfour v Balfour [1919] 2 KB 571, CA���������������������������������������������15 84–85, 86, 88, 91
Balmoral Group Ltd v Borealis (UK) Ltd [2006] EWHC 1900 (Comm),
[2006] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 629��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������323
Banco de Portugal v Waterlow & Sons Ltd [1932] AC 452, HL ������������������������������������451
Bank Line Ltd v Arthur Capel & Co [1919] AC 435, HL ��������������������������������������724, 763
Bank of Australasia v Palmer [1897] AC 540, PC (Aus)������������������������������������������������707
Bank of Credit and Commerce International SA v Aboody [1990] 1 QB 923, CA�������834,
835, 837, 843
xxviii Table of Cases
Bank of Credit & Commerce International SA v Ali [2002] 1 AC 251, HL ���������220, 256,
258, 263, 270, 734, 735
Bank of Montreal v Stuart [1911] AC 120, PC (Can)������������������������������������������������������835
Bank of Nova Scotia v Hellenic Mutual War Risks Association (Bermuda) Ltd,
Good Luck (The) [1990] 1 QB 818, CA ��������������������������������������������������������������������456
Banque Bruxelles Lambert SA v Eagle Star Insurance Co Ltd, see South Australia
Asset Management Corp v York Montague Ltd (SAAMCO)
Banque Financière de la Cité SA v Westgage Insurance Co Ltd, sub nom
Banque Keyser Ullmann SA v Skandia (UK) Insurance Co Ltd [1991]
2 AC 249, HL; affirming [1990] 1 QB 665, CA ��������������������������������������������������������634
Barclays Bank plc v Fairclough Building Ltd [1995] QB 214, CA������������455–457, 458
Barclays Bank plc v O’Brien [1994] 1 AC 180, HL�������������639, 834–836, 837, 846, 847,
848, 849, 850, 851, 852, 854, 867, 868
Barry v Davies [2000] 1 WLR 1962, CA ������������������������������������������������������������������15–18
Barton v Armstrong [1976] AC 104, PC (Aus) �����������796–798, 799, 801, 804, 805, 811,
812, 813, 815, 821
Bates v Post Office Ltd (No 3: Common Issues) [2019] EWHC 606 (QB),
[2019] All ER (D) 100 (Mar) ������������������������������������������������������������������������x, 229–230
Bell v Lever Bros Ltd [1932] AC 161, HL�����������722–725, 727, 728, 729, 730, 732, 733,
735, 736, 737, 738, 739, 740, 743, 750
Bentsen v Taylor, Sons & Co (No 2) [1893] 2 QB 274, CA��������������������������������������������366
Berkeley Community Villages Ltd v Pullen [2007] EWHC 1330 (Ch), [2007]
3 EGLR 101����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������221
Berry v Berry [1929] 2 KB 316, KBD����������������������������������������������������������������������������126
Beswick v Beswick [1966] Ch 538, CA������������������������������������������������������������������560–561
Beswick v Beswick [1968] AC 58, HL ���������474, 521, 522, 556–560, 561, 569, 571, 572,
574, 575, 595, 622
Bettini v Gye (1876) 1 QBD 183, QBD��������������������������������������������������������������������������364
BICC plc v Burndy Corpn [1985] Ch 232, CA ������������������������������������������������������486, 494
Birch v Paramount Estates Ltd (1956) 167 EG 196, CA ����������������������������������������167, 168
Birmingham and District Land Co v London & North Western Railway Co
(1888) 40 Ch D 268, CA ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������126, 130
Bisset v Wilkinson [1927] AC 177, PC (NZ)������������������������������������������173, 630–631, 659
Blackburn Bobbin & Co v TW Allen & Sons [1918] 2 KB 467, CA������������������������������768
Blackpool and Fylde Aeroclub Ltd v Blackpool Borough Council [1990]
1 WLR 1195, CA����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������22–25, 90
Blakeley v Muller & Co (1903) 19 TLR 186������������������������������������������������������������������731
Bliss v South East Thames Regional Health Authority [1987] ICR 700, CA������������������461
Blue v Ashley [2017] EWHC 1928 (Comm), [2017] All ER (D) 198 (Jul)������79–83, 116
Bobux Marketing Ltd v Raynor Marketing Ltd [2002] 1 NZLR 506������������������������������220
Borrelli v Ting [2010] UKPC 21, [2010] Bus LR 1718, PC (Bermuda) ������������������������817
Boston Deep Sea Fishing and Ice Co v Ansell (1888) 39 Ch D 339, CA������������������������277
Bourne v Mason (1699) 1 Ventr 6������������������������������������������������������������������������������������550
Boustany v Pigott (1995) 69 P & CR 298, PC (Antigua and Barbuda) ��������864–865, 866
Bowdell v Parsons (1808) 10 East 359, Ct of KB������������������������������������������������������������380
Bowes v Shand (1877) 2 App Cas 455, HL ��������������������������������������������������������������������370
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
With all his popularity, he was the last man with whom any of them
would have taken a liberty. He would have been bold indeed who
would have asked him why he left the Fifth Hussars, not to speak of
a fine country place, magnificent shooting, and ten thousand a-year,
to lead a dull monotonous life on the scorching plains of India? He
would have been bolder still who would have inquired about the fair
and exceedingly pretty girl, that Captain Vaughan had seen sitting
next him at dinner the day of embarkation. Who was she? Was she
his sister or his sweetheart? Someone said he had a vague idea that
Fairfax was a married man; but he was silenced and crushed by
general consent.
Fairfax was a bachelor—crossed in love, if you will—but a
bachelor pur et simple. Look at his bungalow—rigid simplicity. Look
at his room—not a bit of woman’s work, not a photo, not an
ornament. A perilously narrow camp-bed, a few chairs, a portable kit,
a writing-table, and a squadron of boots, and that was all. There
were a few books, chiefly on cavalry tactics and military history,
leavened with half-a-dozen sporting novels; not a French one among
them. Anything but like the accepted idea of a smart young cavalry
officer’s lair. If, as they say, a man’s room is a type of himself, Fairfax
was a soldier, a rigid moralist, and above all a bachelor, and one who
would no doubt develop into an old bachelor into the bargain.
Captain Campbell and Lieutenant Harvey were sitting in their
mutual verandah, in long chairs, clad in costumes more conspicuous
for ease than elegance, smoking, taking away the characters of their
neighbours’ horses, and minutely discussing the approaching big
races. From horses they came to riders, and finally to Fairfax.
“He is one of the best fellows going, but I cannot make him out; he
looks like a man with a story.”
“He does; and he has one you may be sure,” replied Captain
Campbell with conviction, languidly puffing at his cheroot.
“If he was the life and soul of the Fifth, as we have heard, their
ideas of mirth and jollity are more moderate than I could have
imagined. Sometimes, I grant you, he is in fairish spirits, and he can
say very amusing things; but, as a rule, he is silent and distrait. It is
certainly in field sports and on parade that he shines most; brilliant
sociability is not his forte.”
“No, decidedly not; and yet how all the fellows like him, from the
latest youngster from home upwards; although he is down upon the
boys at times, and has the art of being more politely and
unpleasantly sarcastic than anyone I know. One would think he was
forty to hear him talk, he is so circumspect and staid; and he can’t be
more than six or seven and twenty at the very outside. The
youngsters respect him as if he was the Commander-in-Chief
himself; and the remarks at his end of the table are never so free as
elsewhere. There must be some reason for his premature gravity.
There’s a woman in the case, depend upon it,” said Captain
Campbell, tossing away the end of his cigar with an emphatic
gesture. “Cherchez la femme, say I.”
“I should not wonder. Probably he has been crossed in love—jilted
perhaps,” suggested Mr. Harvey.
“She must be uncommonly hard to please, whoever she is, for he
is one of the best-looking fellows you could see—well-born and rich.”
Captain Campbell paused for a moment to reflect on these
advantages, and then continued: “It is a curious thing that he never
mentions a woman’s name, and is altogether very close about
himself and his family. Do you remark that he takes tremendously
long solitary rides, and gives his horses the most work of any man in
the station, for he gallops often, he gallops far, and he gallops fast.”
“He never seems to care to ride with anyone, don’t you know.” (Mr.
Harvey put in “don’t you know,” on an average, every three words.) “I
offered my agreeable society at various times, but he always put me
off in that quiet way of his, don’t you know; so I thought: ‘My dear
fellow, saint as we think you, you have some little game up, and I’ll
see what it is, don’t you know.’”
“That will do, my dear fellow; that’s the eleventh ‘don’t you know.’
Stick to Fairfax,” exclaimed his companion impatiently.
“Well, last Saturday evening, about five o’clock, I saw him going
out of his compound on that new black Australian of his; and as I
was just going for a ride myself, I nipped up on ‘Agag,’ and struck out
after him, on the sly naturally; and a nice chase he led me—for
nothing too. He went easy enough till he got well out of sight of the
cantonment, and then, by Jove, didn’t he put the pace on! Oculus
meus! how he took it out of the Waler. He rode slap across country
as if he was mad, clean over every nullah, big or little, that came in
his way. I had a hideous conviction that, if I followed him, especially
on ‘Agag,’ I should come to a violent end, so I stayed in a mango
tope, and kept my ‘cold gray’ on him in the distance. When he had
galloped his fill, and exorcised whatever demon possessed him, he
came back after a ring of seven or eight miles, with the black all in a
lather, but looking as cool as a cucumber himself. I joined him—quite
promiscuously of course—but I fancy that he twigged he had been
followed; there was a look in those keen eyes of his that made me
feel deuced uncomfortable. I’m certain that he has something on his
mind. A woman for choice. Maybe he threw her over, and she went
mad, or drowned herself, or something, don’t you know, and the
pangs of remorse are preying on his soul, eh?” cried Mr. Harvey,
having talked himself breathless.
“A lively and cheerful idea truly,” said Captain Campbell, sitting
erect in his chair. “In my opinion it’s far more likely that the girl of his
affections has been faithless. He never talks of a woman, never gets
a letter from one; his correspondents are all of the sterner sex—vide
the letter-rack—and he keeps his own concerns religiously sealed
from every eye, and never talks of himself in connection with any
belongings. He is a mystery, and a most interesting one. Why did he
come out here? Why did he leave his old regiment, where he was so
popular? What makes him so reserved and self-contained? I have
watched him at mess, when all of you were listening open-mouthed
to one of the doctor’s stories. I have seen Fairfax, when he thought
no one was observing him, lean back in his chair, with a sombre
weary look, as if he were sick and tired of life. And that time when
Vaughan had fever so badly, and he nursed him, I sat up with him
part of a night. Vaughan was sleeping, and he remained in the
verandah. I fell asleep too, and when I woke up a couple of hours
later there was Fairfax in the very same attitude as I had left him, still
gazing at the stars, and still apparently thinking profoundly. I watched
him for a good while before I spoke, and there was something
indescribable in his face and attitude that made me feel very sorry
for him, and I seemed nearer to knowing him that night than I had
ever done before. Presently I said, ‘A penny for your thoughts,
Fairfax,’ and he gave such a start as he turned round and said, ‘They
are not worth it; they are merely about myself, and not very pleasant
ones either,’ and then he got up and went back to Vaughan and
stayed beside him the remainder of the night. He is one of the best
fellows and most gentlemanly men I ever knew. But as to following
him as you have done”—flourishing a fresh cheroot in the direction of
his friend—“or ever trying to force myself into his confidence, I would
as soon think of cutting my throat.”
“Did you remark him on Christmas Day?” asked Mr. Harvey
eagerly, as if struck by a sudden thought. “After dinner, when we all
drank ‘Sweethearts and wives,’ how taken aback he looked. I was
sitting opposite him, and he turned as pale as a sheet. He set down
his glass untasted at first, but I remarked that he drank it off
afterwards. There is a woman in the case, that’s certain.—Chokra!
bring me a brandy-and-soda.”
This conversation took place nearly a year after Sir Reginald had
joined the Seventeenth, and during that year two events of
importance had occurred. I will relate them as they came. He had
been several months at Camelabad, and had quite settled down to
Indian military life, and was beginning to look upon the short time he
had spent at home as a sort of fevered vision. He never heard from
Alice. His only correspondents were Mark Mayhew and Geoffrey,
with an occasional note from Helen. He heard from her that his wife
had shut herself up at Monkswood and declined all society, that her
answers to their letters were rare and brief, and that her aunt, Miss
Saville, had been laid up in Ireland with rheumatic fever, and would
not be able to join her niece for some time.
This was all that he had gleaned about Alice since he had left
home; consequently, when carelessly glancing through the Home
News one mail-day his eye was caught by the following, “Fairfax—
On the 10th inst., at Monkswood, Lady Fairfax, of a son,” he was
simply thunderstruck. He took the paper over to his own bungalow
adjoining the mess and read the paragraph over and over again—it
had an absolute fascination for him—but read as he would, it came
to the same thing. It could not be her, it was some other Lady
Fairfax; but scarcely of Monkswood also, his common sense urged.
He felt a conviction that it was true, and yet he could not realise it.
He a father—Alice a mother! Well, at any rate, he was glad it was a
boy. There was an heir to Looton now, whatever happened to him.
His father would hardly have rested in his grave if the Fairfax money
and acres had gone to the Serles and the good old name become
extinct. Yes, he was glad that there was no chance of that now; but
as for Alice, he thought worse of her than ever. That he should know
of their child’s birth through the medium of a newspaper showed the
contempt in which she held him. His dark cheek reddened as he
angrily flung the paper from him and began to pace the room rapidly
from one end to the other. He would take no notice whatever of the
event, as far as Alice was concerned. No, he certainly would not
write to her. This was the resolution he came to, as he proceeded
hastily to dress for mess, where he was, if anything, more silent and
preoccupied than usual.
As he was going to bed that night he called his servant Cox into
his room—a most exceptional proceeding. Cox was an old retainer,
who had followed him from the Fifth, and believed implicitly that the
sun rose and set entirely and exclusively in the person of his master
the major. He alone was in Sir Reginald’s confidence, and naturally a
silent and taciturn man; touching his master’s private affairs, he was
mute as the grave.
“Here, Cox, I thought I would show you this,” said Sir Reginald,
holding out the paper and pointing to the announcement.
Cox saluted, slowly read the paragraph, and stared blankly at his
master; then recovering his manners and his presence of mind, said
concisely:
“I give you joy, sir.”
“Thank you,” said Sir Reginald, pouring out a tumbler of
champagne; “you are to drink his health and keep the news to
yourself.”
“Health and happiness and a long life,” said Cox, quaffing off the
toast as if it was spring water and wiping his mouth with the back of
his hand. After staring expectantly at his master for some seconds,
and finding him evidently buried in his own thoughts, he added
gruffly: “I suppose I may go now, sir.” An eager nod of assent was his
only answer, and he lost no time in backing himself out into the
verandah, and hurrying off to his barrack-room in time to report
himself before the bugles sounded the last post.
The following mail brought a letter from Mrs. Mayhew. She
generally enclosed a little note in her husband’s epistles, but this
was a long effusion for a wonder.
“Monkswood.
“My dear Reginald,
“You will have already seen the birth of your son and heir in
the paper, and no doubt were as much astonished as
everyone else. For the last six months Alice has lived in the
greatest retirement, seeing no one. Two or three times we
have asked her to come up to us, and she always excused
herself with one ridiculous plea after another. A telegram from
the housekeeper last Tuesday brought me down here the
same evening, and I found Alice very, very ill—so ill that for
several days the doctors were afraid to hold out any hopes of
her recovery. I dared not write and tell you this last mail, but
waited till this one, in hopes of sending you better news. Her
youth and a wonderful constitution have pulled her through,
and I may say that she is out of danger, though still extremely
weak, and subject to prolonged fainting fits.
“The life that she has led for the last few months has been
the chief cause of her illness. Morris tells me that she used to
walk for hours through the woods in all weathers, and took so
little food that it is a wonder she did not die of simple inanition.
She never dined, but simply went through the farce of sitting
at table breaking up breadcrumbs, sending away the most
tempting delicacies untasted. Poor motherless girl, angry as I
am with her, I cannot help being sorry for her; she is so
innocent, so utterly inexperienced, and so alone in the world
—thanks to herself of course. If she had been a trusting wife,
how happy and proud you would both be now! She is so good
and patient I cannot help loving her, in spite of myself. Her
pride in her baby is simply ridiculous, and very touching to
see. To hear her, you would think it was the first of its species,
or at any rate that nothing so beautiful and so remarkable in
every way had ever been born. A mother at eighteen, and
looking even younger, I tell her that no one will ever believe
the child is hers. She has about as much experience of
babies as my Hilda—a baby with a baby. He is a splendid boy,
a real Fairfax. If I were to declare that he is like you, you
would say, ‘Rubbish, all babies are exactly alike!’ But he is
very like you all the same. He is to be called Maurice, after
her father, and Mark and I are to be sponsors. I have just
asked Alice if she has any message for you, and she has
replied in a very low and subdued voice—none. I have no
patience with her. I should like to take her baby out of her
arms and give her such a shaking, only she looks so
dreadfully frail and delicate—I really would. I need not tell you
that now, more than ever, it behoves you to trace the false
certificate. It is too provoking that you have not been able to
get leave to go to Cheetapore and search personally. It is
really a dreadful misfortune the register being lost, and the
clergyman and clerk both dead; but money can do a great
deal, and you are the last man in the world to spare it. I will
write again very shortly, and hope to have good news from
you before long.
“Your affectionate Cousin,
“Helen Mayhew.”
Helen kept her promise, and during her stay at Monkswood
Reginald heard from her regularly; but neither line nor message was
ever enclosed from his wife, so neither line nor message was ever
sent by him. He did not even mention her name in his letters—letters
which Helen could not refuse to Alice’s wistful eyes—letters which
Alice read with pale face and trembling lips, and returned without a
single observation.
Two months later a bad attack of jungle fever procured Sir
Reginald leave of absence. For months he had been like a bird
beating against the bars of his cage to get away to Cheetapore, as
letters, telegrams, and inquiries of all kinds had been utterly useless
in throwing any light on the mysterious certificate. But the colonel of
the Seventeenth Hussars was rather short of officers, and could not
spare his smart young major, who had no claim whatever to leave,
having so recently arrived from England; besides, his particular
motto was, “No leave,” and as an Irish sub once angrily expressed it,
“No leave, and as little of that as possible.”
At last Sir Reginald reached Cheetapore, very much knocked up
by the long journey, and a mere shadow of the man who had left it
two years previously. The Twenty-ninth Dragoons, who had replaced
his old regiment, hospitably took him in and “put him up.” For two or
three days he was prostrated by a recurrence of the fever, and fit for
nothing. The first evening he was able to go out he went and called
on the chaplain. He was not at home. Leaving a note to make an
appointment, he went on to the band with one of his entertainers. As
they drove round the circle, Miss Mason—still Miss Mason—lolling
back in her carriage, could scarcely believe her eyes, and Mrs.
Chambers, her once firm ally and now implacable enemy, could
hardly trust hers either. She said to one of the Twenty-ninth, who
lounged up to her barouche: “Who is that in the dog-cart with
Captain Fox? He looks frightfully ill.”
“Oh, that’s Fairfax of the Seventeenth Hussars. He has come
down here on some mysterious errand or other. He would be much
better on his way to Europe instead. Looks as if he was going off the
hooks, doesn’t he?”
“He looks very ill indeed. What on earth brings him here?”
“Well, if you won’t repeat it, I’ll tell you,” coming closer and
speaking confidentially. “Strictly private, you understand. Mum’s the
word.”
“Oh, of course!”
“Well, I believe it’s about a marriage certificate which someone
posted home from here, and has caused the most frightful
unpleasantness in his family. He has a wife in England, so you may
fancy there was rather a scrimmage. He was only just married, and
to a most awfully pretty girl too, when this particular missive dropped
in. She left him at once, and he came out here with the Seventeenth.
He has left no stone unturned to get the affair cleared up, but he has
only managed to come down and see after it himself now—leave
stopped. I fancy he will make it pretty hot for the forger if he finds
him! It’s ten years’ penal servitude, is it not?”
“I am sure I don’t know,” replied the fair culprit faintly, looking very
white. “But oh! if she could only be the means of getting Charlotte
Mason transferred to Australia at Government expense! How too
delightful it would be!” ignoring her own little share in the transaction.
“Did you say that his wife had left him?” she asked, looking intently
at Sir Reginald, whose dog-cart was drawn up close by.
“So he told me.”
“How ill and worn he looks,” she thought, gazing at him.
“Supposing he should die!—he looked as if he had death in his face.
If he did, she would never know a moment’s peace—never! She
would make full confession and trust to his mercy. He would not be
hard upon her, it was not her fault; it was Charlotte Mason’s scheme,
and Charlotte ought to be shown up, unmasked, and transported.”
Being a person who almost always acted on impulse, she beckoned
to Captain Fox as soon as her former cavalier had sauntered away,
and asked him to tell Sir Reginald Fairfax that she wished to speak
to him particularly. Much bewildered and with great reluctance he
slowly followed the messenger to the carriage, where Mrs.
Chambers, with a rather frightened white face, accosted him:
“I see you do not remember me, Captain Fairfax? It quite shocks
me to see you looking so ill.”
He bowed and muttered inaudibly.
“Won’t you get into my carriage for a little, and we can talk over old
times?” Seeing him hesitate, she bent over the side of the carriage
and whispered in his ear: “It’s about the certificate.”
With an alacrity she was quite unprepared for from his languid and
delicate appearance, he accepted her invitation and took a seat
opposite her, and turning his clear dark eyes upon her, looked as if
he would read her very soul.
Meanwhile Captain Fox sauntered off to join a promenading
dandy, muttering to himself: “That Mrs. Chambers sticks at nothing;
she is becoming faster and more foolish than ever! The idea of her
tackling a strange fellow like that! I had no idea he was such an ass!
A regular case of ‘“Walk into my parlour,” said the spider to the fly.’”
“Sir Reginald,” said the spider to the supposed fly, “I have
something to tell you,” and forthwith she unfolded her tale from
beginning to end. When she came to the part where she mentioned
it as a joke his eyes literally blazed, and he seemed with difficulty to
refrain from some exclamation; but till she concluded he was
perfectly silent. When she stopped to take breath after her hurried
confession, he asked, with pardonable vehemence:
“What have I ever done to Miss Mason or you that you should do
me such a deadly injury? Do you know that the happiness of my life
has been utterly destroyed by your ‘joke,’ as you are pleased to call
it? I must say that your and Miss Mason’s reading of the word is very
different to mine. The least you can do, and shall do,” he said,
looking at her sternly, “will be to make out a written confession of
everything, and send it up to my quarters (Captain Fox’s) to-morrow.
I can hardly believe that you can have been the credulous tool you
would appear. Good evening,” he said, springing out of the carriage
and walking over towards that of her confederate, who had been
watching the conference with the liveliest dismay.
“Miss Mason,” he exclaimed abruptly, perfectly heedless of two of
Miss Mason’s satellites, who, with elbows on the carriage, and got-
up with enormous care, had been regaling the fair Charlotte with
scraps of the latest gossip—“Miss Mason,” he reiterated, “I know all!”
There was an indignant tone in his voice and an angry light in his
eyes that absolutely cowed her and astounded her companions.
“You have forged an infamous lie, you have tampered with a church
register, you have caused the greatest misery to a man who never
wronged you, and to a girl whom you have never even seen! You are
a forger,” he continued, almost choked between the two emotions
which were struggling in his breast—joy and rage. “Unless by to-
morrow morning you have made a full and explicit written statement
of the whole affair, duly signed and witnessed, I shall submit the
case to the cantonment magistrate, and you will be prepared to take
the consequences. Penal servitude is what you deserve,” he added
with bitter emphasis, as with a parting look of unspeakable
indignation he turned and made his way through the crowd.
His face was livid, his eyes burned like two coals. Captain Fox
gazed at him in undisguised astonishment. “Jove!” he thought, “what
a temper the fellow must have! He looks ready to jump down the
throat of all Cheetapore this instant. He is not a man I should care to
trifle with. The fair Chambers has evidently put him out, to say the
least of it.”
Sir Reginald hurriedly took him aside, and in as few words as
possible told him the story; and then Captain Fox’s face was a study.
His indignation knew no bounds. His expressions in connection with
Miss Mason’s name were startlingly strong and vehement, and he
laid the whip about his unlucky harness hack as if he had the fair
culprit herself between the shafts.
Mrs. Chambers’ “letter” arrived the following morning, and
although somewhat more pressure had to be brought to bear on
Miss Mason, her confession was received in due time. Both were
enclosed to Mr. Mayhew, who was to read them and forward them to
Monkswood.
“Now she will, she must give in,” thought her husband. “In two
months her letter will be out here, and in three, please goodness, I
shall be in England.”
It is hardly necessary to state that the whole story of the practical
joke was all over Cheetapore in less than two days. Captain Fox was
by no means reticent on the subject, which was soon known to all
the Dragoons, and from them filtered to the cantonment in general.
Sir Reginald was the object of universal sympathy, and interest was
considerably augmented by the rumoured youth and beauty of his
wife. The whole incident had a romantic flavour about it that gratified
the jaded palates of the Cheetapore monde, and it afforded them an
universally interesting nine-days’ wonder. As to Miss Mason, the
place was literally too hot to hold her. She and her colleague were
put into “Coventry” forthwith. Finding such a position unbearable, she
took the earliest opportunity of leaving the station and going on a
long visit “up country.” But wherever she went the story was
whispered with various additions, cela va sans dire; and to the end of
her life she will have good reason to regret her practical joke.
END OF VOL. I.
TINSLEY’S MAGAZINE.
CONTENTS.
A GLEAM OF SUNSHINE. By MABEL COLLINS, Author of
“Too Red a Dawn,” “An Innocent Sinner,” &c.
FLAT REBELLION. A Jersey Story. By BYRON WEBBER,
Author of “In Luck’s Way,” “Pigskin and Willow,” &c.
AFRICAN AND IRISH TIGERS. By JESSIE SALE LLOYD,
Author of “We Costelions,” “The Silent Shadow,” &c.
THE WRECK OF THE DINGLE. By JAMES
O’DONOGHUE.
HILDA’S VICTORY. By ANNABLE GRAY, Author of “Twixt
Shade and Shine,” “Margaret Dunbar,” &c.
ON THE COAST OF CLARE. By RICHARD DOWLING,
Author of “The Duke’s Sweetheart,” “A Sapphire Ring,” &c.
A DOUBLE KNOCK AND A BLOW. By W. W. FENN,
Author of “Blindman’s Holiday,” “After Sundown,” &c.
MR. WALKER’S LUGGAGE. By EDMUND DOWNEY.
HOW HE DISCOVERED IT. By Mrs. ALFRED PHILLIPS,
Author of “Benedicta,” &c.
A PAIR OF —— By ALBANY DE FONBLANQUE, Author of
“Pious Frauds,” &c.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also
govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most
countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside
the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to
the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying,
displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works
based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The
Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright
status of any work in any country other than the United States.