T was the title that, for some fifteen years, had been tacked to the name of Percy Marfleet whenever he was mentioned in the local newspapers. Not undeservedly, for in his knowledge of books he much surpassed the leading men of the town, and his life was entirely devoted to study. Miss Cloud, the borough member's daughter, who had been at Girton, herself the marvel of womanhood in this not altogether benighted region, spoke of Mr. Marfleet with respect; indeed, for the last twelvemonth or so it had been generally surmised that the friendship between these distinguished persons would end in closer alliance—a most interesting and delightful prospect. The lady had entered upon her twenty-seventh year; Marfleet drew towards forty, but preserved the complexion and the carriage of youth. For him, such a union would in every way be advantageous, as, from his way of living, he evidently possessed but a modest competence, while Miss Cloud shone as the sole heiress of her father's fortune.
For a man of parts and ambition, raised above the necessity of exerting himself to earn a livelihood, it is dangerous, after academic success, to return to his native country-town and settle there with the purpose of productive study. As a rule, men have no such temptation; Percy Marfleet, whose bent of mind was all towards homeliness, and who shrank from the tumult of the great world, even while crediting himself with power to win distinction, decided after a very brief trial of London that he could not do better than go back to the scenes of his youth, where kindly notice would inspire him, where his health would be at its best, and where a modest income would, he imagined, assure him a much better status than among strangers. His family had a good name in the town; since the death of his parents and the marriage of his sister, upon him alone lay the duty of keeping the name in honourable prominence. Moreover, he owned the house in which he had been born, where the days of his boyhood had been passed. With infinite contentment he read the newspaper paragraph which made known that "Mr. Percy Marfleet, the son of our late honoured townsman, having completed a distinguished career at the University of Cambridge," had returned to the town, and intended to make it his permanent abode.
From his earliest school-prize to the final honours at Cambridge, each step of Percy's progress had been chronicled by the local paper. No special brilliance appeared in the successive achievements: he had done well, nothing more; but local pride made much of his academic record. He was understood to be great in "history"; to historic study his life would be dedicated; if he ran up to London or to Cambridge, the newspaper announced that he was gone for the purpose of "consulting original documents." At first, he declined to take any part in the affairs of the town, for which he had absolutely no leisure; but little by little certain honours were thrust upon him, and the satisfaction of making little speeches, carefully prepared and no less carefully reported, lured his mind from exclusive occupation with the past. At length he could be depended upon for an annual lecture at the Literary Society, for an address here or there, for the active patronage of any enlightened movement—unconnected with politics. From strictly municipal business he succeeded in holding aloof, his true reason being fear of expense; but, this prudence notwithstanding, the esteem he enjoyed necessarily cost him something in coin of the realm, and such demands upon his pocket grew heavier and more frequent with the progress of time. The day came when Percy had seriously to consider his financial position. Seeing no immediate way out of the difficulty, and feeling so comfortable in his daily life that a complete change could hardly be thought of, he insensibly drifted into carelessness of the future. And so it came about that, in his thirty-eighth year, having long lived upon capital, with steady growth of expenditure from Christmas to Christmas, he saw before him an inevitable crisis. Income he no longer possessed; merely a sum of money which, even with parsimonious management, could last him only a short time, and at the present rate of living would dissolve with awful rapidity.