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 Table of Contents

Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
About the Authors
Preface to the Second Edition
Acknowledgements
CHAPTER 1 - Introduction

1.1 History and Pre-History of the Web

1.2 From Web Pages to Web Sites
1.3 From Web Sites to Web Applications
1.4 Web 2.0: On-line Communities and Collaboration
1.5 The Brave New World of AJAX
1.6 Focus of This Book
1.7 What Is Covered in This Book
1.8 Bibliography

CHAPTER 2 - Core Internet Protocols

2.1 Historical Perspective

2.2 TCP/IP Architecture
2.3 TCP/IP Application Services
2.4 And Then Came the Web ...
2.5 Bibliography

CHAPTER 3 - Birth of the Web: HTTP

3.1 Historical Perspective

3.2 Uniform Resource Locator
3.3 Fundamentals of HTTP
3.4 Better Information Through Headers
 3.5 Evolution of the HTTP Protocol
3.6 Summary
3.7 Bibliography

CHAPTER 4 - HTML and Its Roots

4.1 Standard Generalized Markup Language

4.2 HTML
4.3 HTML Rendering
4.4 Summary
4.5 Bibliography

CHAPTER 5 - XML Languages and Applications

5.1 Core XML

5.2 XHTML
5.3 Web Services
5.4 XSL
5.5 Summary
5.6 Bibliography
5.7 Web Links
5.8 Endnotes

CHAPTER 6 - Web Servers

6.1 Basic Operation

6.2 Mechanisms for Dynamic Content Delivery
6.3 Advanced Functionality
6.4 Server Configuration
6.5 Server Security
6.6 Summary
6.7 Bibliography

CHAPTER 7 - Web Browsers

7.1 Overview of Browser Functionality

 7.2 Architectural Considerations
7.3 Overview of Processing Flow in a Browser
7.4 Processing HTTP Requests
7.5 Processing HTTP Responses
7.6 Cookie Coordination
7.7 Privacy and P3P
7.8 Complex HTTP Interactions
7.9 Summary
7.10 Bibliography
7.11 Web Links
7.12 Endnotes

CHAPTER 8 - Active Browser Pages: From JavaScript to AJAX

8.1 Pre-History
8.2 JavaScript
8.3 Cascading Style Sheets
8.4 DHTML
8.5 AJAX
8.6 Case Study: 5-Star Rating
8.7 Summary
8.8 Bibliography
8.9 Web Links
8.10 Endnotes

CHAPTER 9 - Approaches to Web Application Development

9.1 Taxonomy of Web Application Approaches and Frameworks

9.2 Comparative Survey of Web Application Approaches and
Frameworks
9.3 Summary
9.4 Bibliography

CHAPTER 10 - Web Application Primer 1: Struts and JSTL

10.1 Case Study: Virtual Realty Listing Services

 10.2 Application Requirements
10.3 Technology Choices
10.4 Overview of Struts
10.5 Structure of the VRLS Application
10.6 Design Decisions
10.7 Suggested Enhancements
10.8 Summary
10.9 Bibliography

CHAPTER 11 - Web Application Primer 2: Ruby on Rails

11.1 Comparing Rails with Java EE

11.2 Application Requirements
11.3 Building the Administrative Interface as a Rails Application
11.4 Benefits and Drawbacks of Using Rails
11.5 Whither Enterprise Java?
11.6 Summary
11.7 Bibliography
11.8 Web Links
11.9 Endnotes

CHAPTER 12 - Search Technologies

12.1 Overview of Algorithms

12.2 Searching the Web
12.3 Site Search Applications
12.4 Search Engine Optimization
12.5 Summary
12.6 Bibliography
12.7 Web Links
12.8 Endnotes

CHAPTER 13 - Trends and Directions

13.1 XML Query Language

13.2 Semantic Web
 13.3 Future of Web Application Frameworks
13.4 Current Trends
13.5 Summary
13.6 Bibliography
13.7 Web Links
13.8 Endnotes

CHAPTER 14 - Conclusions

Index
This book delivers a thorough and rigorous introduction to
fundamental architectural elements of the web; this knowledge is a
critical foundation for any development engineer working on our
advanced web applications. Just as important, this book provides a
challenging, non-trivial example application demonstrating current
best practices which the reader can work through to connect theory
to practice. For our engineers coming from other backgrounds to
advanced web development, this book has been a very efficient,
effective learning tool and I would recommend it highly to others
who desire a deep understanding of web architecture and
applications.

Chris Corti, Ph.D.

Cisco Systems, Inc.
 Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern
Gate, Chichester,
West Sussex PO19 8SQ, England
Telephone (+44) 1243 779777
Email (for orders and customer service enquiries): cs-
[email protected]
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Shklar, Leon
Web application architecture : principles, protocols, and practices /
Leon Shklar and Rich Rosen. - 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-470-51860-1 (pbk.)
1. Web site development. 2. Application software-Development. 3.
Web sites-Design. 4. Software architecture.
I. Rosen, Rich. II. Title.
TK5105.888.S492 2009
005.1’2-dc22
2008052051

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-0-470-51860-1
Typeset in 10/12.5 Times by Laserwords Private Limited, Chennai,
India
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Bell and Bain, Glasgow
 To my beautiful girls: my wife Rita and daughter Victoria.
To the memory of my parents, Hasya and Arcady Shklar, and my
grandparents, Tasya and Boris
Korkin.
Leon Shklar

To my parents, Arthur and Toby, and to Celia. Also, to the memory of

my high school maths teacher, Jack Garfunkel, who instilled in his
students the value of thinking things through logically, and the value
of writing not for those who already know what you’re talking about,
but for those who don’t.
Rich Rosen
 About the Authors

Leon Shklar currently works for Thomson Reuters where he is the

head of technology for Reuters Media. Previously, Leon headed up
the development team for the online edition of the Wall Street
Journal at Dow Jones. Prior to joining Dow Jones, he spent six years
at Bell Communications Research and almost as long in the world of
dot-coms and Internet software. Leon holds a Ph.D. in Computer
Science from Rutgers University.

Rich Rosen is a senior developer in the Fixed Income Systems Group

at Interactive Data Corporation. Previously, he was an Application
Architect at Dow Jones. Rich began his career at Bell Labs, where his
work with relational databases and the Internet prepared him for the
world of Web application development. He is a co-author of Mac OS X
for Unix Geeks, 4th Edition (O’Reilly). Rich holds an M.S. in Computer
Science from Stevens Institute of Technology.
 Preface to the Second Edition

The expression “web time” connotes a world in which rapid change is

the norm, where time is exponentially condensed. Technological
advances that once upon a time might have taken years to transpire
now occur in a matter of months or even days. What’s more, these
advances often result in radical paradigm shifts that change the way
we interact with our technology, and with the world at large.
The first edition of this book was published in 2003. Since then,
there have been many technological advances and paradigm shifts,
causing some of what we wrote to become dated. New frameworks
such as Ruby on Rails have arisen as a reaction to increasing
complexity in the application development process. AJAX has taken
client-side interactivity to a new level, blazing new frontiers in web
application functionality. Search has become a fundamental part of
our everyday web experience. Even the core protocols and markup
languages representing the foundation of web technology have
evolved since we first wrote about them over five years ago. Back
then, who could have imagined the ascendance of today’s most
popular web applications, such as YouTube, Facebook, eBay, and
Wikipedia, or the advances in real-time interactivity that are now
commonplace?
For the second edition of this book, we provide new material
covering these changes in the web technology landscape, while
striving to bring existing content up-to-date. We have included new
chapters on search technology and client-side interactivity
(JavaScript, DHTML, and AJAX). We have added a second sample
application implemented using Ruby on Rails as a complement to the
original Struts application, which has been updated for the new
edition. The chapters on Internet protocols, markup languages,
server and browser architecture, and application development
approaches have all been revised and enhanced. It is our hope that
this updated edition will provide readers with deeper insights into the
principles, protocols, and practices associated with the design and
development of web applications.

Leon Shklar
Rich Rosen
October 31, 2008
 Acknowledgments

I am grateful to my wife Rita for inspiration and music, and for still
being around after all the work that went into the two editions of this
book. My special thanks to our daughter Victoria for her insightful
ideas throughout the project.
Leon Shklar

Ongoing and everlasting thanks to my wife, Celia, for the joy her
singing brings into my life, and for enduring the continued insanity
associated with the writing process. Thanks also to my parents and to
Celia’s parents for their love and support.
Rich Rosen

We would both like to thank the following people for their help:
• our editor, Jonathan Shipley, and his assistants, Georgia King
and Claire Jardine, for their professionalism and flexibility
throughout the project;
• our technical reviewers, Sue Fitzgerald, Ciara n O’Leary, Ilmi
Yoon, Roger Beresford, Yuanzhu Peter Chen, Ray Cheung and
Wei Ding, for taking the time to examine the text and provide
us with valuable insights and advice;
• our colleagues, Otis Gospodnetich and Keith Kim, for their
comments and suggestions for the search chapter, and Heow
Eide-Goodman for his comments and suggestions for the
chapters on development approaches and Rails application
development.
 CHAPTER 1

Introduction

IN THIS CHAPTER
• History and pre-history of the web
• From web pages to web sites to web applications
• Web 2.0 and AJAX
• Summary of what is covered in the book

OBJECTIVES
• Offer a historical overview of web technology.
• Introduce the concept of “web applications.”
• Explain the focus and purpose of the book.
• Provide a chapter-by-chapter outline.
 1.1 History and Pre-History of the Web

Back in 1989, at CERN (the scientific research laboratory near

Geneva, Switzerland), Tim Berners-Lee presented a proposal for an
information management system that would enable the sharing of
knowledge and resources over a computer network. We now know
this system as the worldwide web (the web). Building on the
foundation of existing Internet protocols and services, it lives up to
its name as a ubiquitous network providing information and
communication services to hundreds of millions of people around the
world.
From the very beginnings of Internet technology, many people
shared the dream of using the Internet as a universal medium for
exchanging information over computer networks. Internet file-
sharing services (such as FTP and Gopher) and message forum
services (such as Netnews) provided increasingly powerful
mechanisms for information exchange and brought us closer to
fulfilling those goals.
Ted Nelson’s Xanadu project aspired to make that dream a reality,
but the goals were lofty and never fully realized. Nelson coined the
term “hypertext” as a way of describing “non-sequential writing -
text that branches and allows choice to the reader.” Unlike the static
text of print media, hypertext was intended for use with an
interactive computer screen. It is open, fluid and mutable, and can
be connected to other pieces of hypertext by “links”.
It took Tim Berners-Lee to “marry together” (in his words) the
notion of hypertext with the power of the Internet, bringing those
initial dreams to fruition in a way that the earliest developers of both
hypertext and Internet technology might never have imagined. His
vision was to connect literally everything, in a uniform and universal
way. Berners-Lee originally promoted the web as a virtual library, a
document control system for sharing information resources among
researchers. On-line documents could be accessed via a unique
document address, a universal resource locator (URL). These
documents could be cross-referenced via hypertext links.
From its humble beginnings, the web has expanded exponentially
to serve a wide variety of purposes for a wide variety of people:
• Given its origins, it seems natural that educational institutions
and research laboratories were among the very first users of
the web, employing it to share documents and other
resources across the Internet.
• Popular adoption of the web by individuals followed gradually,
originally through on-line services, such as America On-line
(now AOL) that slowly but surely integrated with the web and
the Internet. Initially, personal usage of the web was limited
to e-mail and web surfing. Eventually, people began building
their own web sites where they posted everything from on-
line photo albums to personal journals that would become
known as “blogs.”
• Over time, businesses saw the potential of the web and began
to employ it for e-commerce, providing an on-line medium for
buying and selling goods interactively. As more and more
people were connected to the web, the draw of a new source
of revenue and the fear that competitors would get there first
and undercut traditional revenue streams made e-commerce
increasingly important to business. E-commerce applications
are now being used for everything - from displaying catalogs
of available merchandise to providing the means for
customers to purchase goods and services securely on-line.
• As the impact of e-commerce grew, the back-end applications
supporting e-commerce became increasingly important to the
companies using it. The front-end, customer-facing web sites
needed to be up to date, synchronized with inventory systems
so that customers would know what items were or weren’t
immediately available. Automated fulfillment systems
connected to the on-line ordering mechanisms became
commonplace. With that, secure login and registration,
including collection of credit card information and payment
 processing, became an absolute requirement for viable e-
commerce sites.
• With the maturing of the web, a tug of war arose between
sites offering free and paid content. Google was successful in
tilting the balance in favor of free content supported by ads.
Even the Wall Street Journal, which pioneered the notion of
paid subscriptions for on-line content, has been opening up
more and more of its content to non-subscribers. Critical
technological challenges for free sites include tracking visitor
behavior, providing adaptive personalization, and offering
advanced community-building tools.
The web did not come into existence in a vacuum. It was built on
top of core Internet protocols that had been in existence for many
years prior to the inception of the web. Understanding the
relationship between web technology and the underlying Internet
protocols is fundamental to the design and implementation of true
web applications. In fact, it is the exploitation of that relationship
that distinguishes a web page or web site from a web application.
 1.2 From Web Pages to Web Sites

The explosive growth of the web at least partially can be attributed

to its grass-roots proliferation as a tool for personal publishing. The
fundamental technology behind the web is relatively simple. A
computer connected to the Internet running a web server was all
that was necessary to serve documents. Both CERN and the National
Center for Supercomputer Applications (NCSA) at the University of
Illinois had developed freely available web server software. A small
amount of HTML knowledge (and the proper computing resources)
got you something that could be called a web site. Early web sites
were just loosely connected sets of pages, branching hierarchically
from a home page; now, a web site is much more than just a
conglomeration of web pages.
When the web was in its infancy, academic institutions and
technology companies owned the only computers that were
connected to the Internet and could run server software. In those
days, personal computers sitting on people’s desks were still a rarity.
If you wanted access to any sort of computing power, you used a
terminal that let you “log in” to a large server or mainframe over a
direct connection or dial-up phone line.
Still, creating and posting web pages quickly became popular
among people that had access to scarce computing power. The
original HTML language was simple enough that, even without the
more sophisticated tools we have at our disposal today, it was an
easy task for someone to create a web page. (Some would say too
easy.) In the end, all that was needed to create first generation web
pages was a simple text editor.
There is a big difference between a bunch of web pages and a
web site. A web site is more than just a group of web pages that
happen to be connected to each other through hypertext links:
• First, there are content-related concerns. Maintaining thematic
consistency of content is important in giving a site some
 degree of identity.
• There are also aesthetic concerns. In addition to having
thematically related content, a web site should also have a
common look and feel across all of its pages, so that site
visitors know what they are looking at. This means utilizing a
common style: page layout, graphic design, and typographical
elements.
• Then there are architectural concerns. As a site grows in size
and becomes more complex, it is critically important to
organize its content. This includes not just the layout of
content on individual pages, but also the interconnections
between the pages (site navigation). If the site becomes so
complex that visitors cannot navigate their way through, even
with the help of site maps and navigation bars, then it needs
to be reorganized and restructured.
 1.3 From Web Sites to Web Applications

Initially, what people shared over the Internet consisted mostly of

static information found in files. They might edit those files, but
there were few truly dynamic information services.
Granted, there were a few exceptions: search applications for
finding files in on-line archives and services that provided
information about the current weather, or the availability of cans
from a soda-dispensing machine. (One of the first web applications
that Tim Berners-Lee demonstrated at CERN was designed to look
up numbers in an on-line phone book using a web browser.)
However, for the most part, the information resources on the web
were static documents.
The advent of the dynamic web, which resulted from the
proliferation of dynamic information services, changed all that. The
new services ranged from CGI scripts to search engines to packages
that connected web applications to relational databases. No longer
was it sufficient to build a web site (as opposed to a motley
collection of web pages). It became necessary to design a web
application.
What is a “web application?” It is a client-server application that
uses a web browser as its client program. It delivers interactive
services through web servers distributed over the Internet (or an
intranet). A web site simply delivers content from static files. A web
application can present dynamically tailored content based on
request parameters, tracked user behaviors, and security
considerations.
Web applications power information portals, retail sites, and
corporate intranets. They not only provide information and interact
with site visitors, but also collect and update information, maintain
access controls, and support on-line transactions.
A prime example of a dynamic web application is an on-line
shopping site. Site visitors browse on-line catalogs, search for items
they want to purchase, add those items to an on-line shopping cart,
and place their orders through a secure interface that encrypts
personal information. To enable this functionality, the web
application communicates with warehouses that maintain catalog
and inventory information, storing this information in a database.
Users can search the on-line database to obtain information about
products. The application provides a way for users to select items to
be added to their shopping carts, maintains shopping cart contents
for the duration of the browser session, and records order
information in the database. It communicates with outside financial
institutions to verify credit card and address information, fulfills the
order by directing warehouses to ship the purchased items, and
sends confirmation e-mails to purchasers allowing them to track
shipment of their orders.
 1.4 Web 2.0: On-line Communities and Collaboration

Since 2000, another major trend has arisen in the on-line world,
incorporating applications that support user-generated content, on-
line communities, and collaborative mechanisms for updating on-line
content. This trend is often referred to as Web 2.0, because it is
closely tied to advances in web technology that herald a new
generation of web applications.
In many respects, Web 2.0 is a harking back to the web as a
network for presenting personal hyperlinked information.
Information flow on the web is no longer one way, from the web site
to the surfer. Site visitors contribute information of their own,
ranging from reviews and ratings for movies, music, and books to
personal journals, how-to information, and news for popular
consumption. These journals go by the name blogs (short for “web
logs”) and the whole blogging movement has resurrected the idea of
the personal web page and elevated its status.
Personal blogs and community web sites encouraging user input
may bear a resemblance to the more personal web of old, but the
technology behind them does not. Whereas individual owners could
easily maintain the simple static web sites of old, this has become
impractical given the enormous volume and increasingly malleable
nature of content out there today. Blogs, user forums, and
collaborative community sites may look like the simpler web sites of
the past, but the underlying functionality supporting them is based
on sophisticated web application technology incorporating user
authentication, access control, and content management services.
 1.5 The Brave New World of AJAX

Another radical change in the web application landscape was the

advent of AJAX (an acronym that stands for Asynchronous JavaScript
and XmlHttpRequest). While the technology advances behind it
accumulated gradually, AJAX represents a paradigm shift that has
changed the way web applications are conceived and developed.
Tim Berners-Lee’s original concept of HTTP was that of a simple
stateless request - response protocol. Such a protocol allows for
independent processing of requests and responses, without requiring
a persistent connection. This simplicity fostered wide acceptance of
the HTTP protocol but imposed significant limitations. The only
method available for updating page content was to replace the
entire page. This limitation was unsatisfying to those who were used
to client-server applications that communicated with their associated
servers directly and continuously. For instance, in such an
application, a server-side change to a value in a spreadsheet cell
could immediately be reflected on the screen without refreshing the
whole spreadsheet.
HTTP, and the web experience in general, have evolved in a
number of ways since their inception, introducing elements that
allow web transactions to transcend the limitations of a stateless
request-response protocol (e.g., cookies and JavaScript). AJAX is the
latest such element, essentially allowing what amounts to an “end-
run” to communicate with a web server indirectly: instead of
submitting a direct request to see a new page from the server, a
subordinate background request is submitted (usually through a
JavaScript object called XmlHttpRequest) and the response to that
request is used to dynamically modify the content of the current
page in lieu of replacing its content entirely.
The main impact of AJAX is that the web experience is brought
closer to that of client-server applications, allowing for a more
immediate dynamic interaction between the user and the web
application.
 1.6 Focus of This Book

The purpose of this book is to provide a guide for learning the

underlying principles, protocols, and practices associated with
designing flexible and efficient web applications. Our target audience
is senior undergraduate or graduate students who have already
learned the basics of web development and professional developers
who have had some exposure to web application development and
want to expand their knowledge.
We expect our readers to have some familiarity with HTML and
JavaScript - not at the level of experienced web designers but
enough to create web pages and embed simple JavaScript code to
submit forms to a web server. We recommend at least some
exposure to Internet protocols, such as Telnet, FTP, SMTP, HTTP and
SSL. We appreciate that many of our readers may not be familiar
with Linux or Unix operating systems. However, it is helpful to have
some understanding of the command-line interfaces provided by
interactive shells, as some of our examples employ such an
interface.
As we have said, there is a major difference between web pages,
web sites, and web applications. There are excellent resources
dedicated to web page and web site design, and the References
section at the end of this chapter lists some of the best that we
know. When we examined the current literature available on the
subject of web application development, we found there were three
main categories of book currently available.
• technical overviews
• reference books
• focused tutorials.
Technical overviews are usually very high level, describing
technology and terminology in broad terms. They do not go into
enough detail to enable the reader to design and build serious web
applications. They are most often intended for managers who want a
surface understanding of concepts and terminology without going
too deeply into specific application development issues. Frequently,
such overviews attempt to cover technology in broad brushstrokes;
their subject may be Java, XML, e-commerce, or Web 2.0. Such
books approach the spectrum of technology so broadly that the
coverage of any specific area is too shallow for serious application
developers.
Reference books are useful, naturally, as references, but not for
the purpose of learning about the technology. They are great to
keep on your desk to look things up once you are already deeply
familiar with the technology, but they are not oriented toward
elucidation and explanation.
The focused tutorials concentrate on the usage of specific
platforms and products to develop web applications. Books in this
category provide in-depth coverage of very narrow areas,
concentrating on how to use a particular language or platform
without necessarily explaining the underlying principles. Such books
may be useful in teaching programmers to develop applications for a
specific platform, but they do not provide enough information about
the enabling technologies, focusing instead on the platform-specific
implementation. Should a developer be called upon to rewrite an
application for another platform, the knowledge acquired from these
books is rarely transferable to the new platform.
Given the rate of change of the web technologies, today’s platform
of choice is tomorrow’s outdated legacy system. When new
development platforms emerge, developers without a fundamental
understanding of the inner workings of web applications have to
learn the new platforms from the ground up. The challenge is their
lack of understanding of what the systems they implemented using
specialized application programming interfaces (APIs) did behind the
API calls. What is missing is the ability to use fundamental
technological knowledge across platforms.
What was needed was a book that covered the basic principles of
good application design, the underlying protocols associated with
web technology, and the best practices for creating scalable,
extensible, maintainable applications. With this in mind, we
endeavored to write such a book.
The need for such a book is particularly apparent when
interviewing job candidates for web application development
positions. Too many programmers have detailed knowledge of
particular languages and interfaces but they are lost when asked
questions about the underlying technologies and how they relate to
real problems (e.g., why is it necessary for a server to add a trailing
slash to a URL and redirect the request back to itself?). Such
knowledge is not purely academic - it is critical when designing and
debugging complex systems.
Too often, developers with proficiency only within a specific
application development platform (such as Active Server Pages, Cold
Fusion, PHP, or Perl CGI scripting) are not capable of transferring
that proficiency directly to another platform. The fundamental
understanding of core technologies is critical to enable developers to
grow with the rapid technological advances in web application
development.
What do we have in mind when we refer to the general principles
that need to be understood in order to properly design and develop
web applications? We mean the core protocols and languages
associated with web applications. This includes HyperText Transfer
Protocol (HTTP) and HyperText Markup Language (HTML), which are
fundamental to the creation and transmission of web pages, but it
also includes older Internet protocols such as Telnet and FTP, and
the protocols used for message transfer such as SMTP and IMAP. A
web application architect must also be familiar with JavaScript, XML,
relational databases, graphic design and multimedia. Web
application architects must be well-versed in application server
technology and have a strong background in information
architecture.
If you find people with all these qualifications, please let us know:
we would love to hire them! Rare is the person who can not only
design a web site but can also perform all the other tasks associated
with web application development: working with graphic designers,
creating database schemas, producing interactive multimedia
programs, and configuring e-commerce transactions. More
realistically, we can seek someone who is an expert in one particular
area (e.g., e-commerce transactions or browser programming) but
who also understands the wider issues associated with designing
web applications.
We hope that, by reading this book, you can acquire the skills
needed to design and build complex applications for the web. There
is no “one easy lesson” for learning the ins and outs of application
design. Hopefully, this book will enhance your ability to design and
build sophisticated web applications that are scaleable, maintainable,
and extensible.
We examine various approaches to the process of web application
development, covering both client-side presentation technology and
server-side application technology. On the client side, we look at
both markup languages and programming languages, from HTML
and XML to CSS and JavaScript. On the server side, we look at the
full range of approaches, starting with Server Side Includes (SSI)
and CGI, covering template languages such as Cold Fusion and ASP,
examining the intricacies of Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java
EE), and finally looking at newer “rapid development” approaches
such as Ruby on Rails. At each level, we concentrate not only on the
particular development platform, but also on the underlying
principles that span multiple platforms.
 1.7 What Is Covered in This Book

The organization of this book is as follows:

• Chapter 2: Core Internet Protocols - This chapter offers
an examination of the underlying Internet protocols that form
the foundation of the web. It offers some perspectives on the
history of TCP/IP, as well as some details about using several
of these protocols in web applications.
• Chapter 3: Birth of the Web: HTTP - The HTTP protocol is
covered in detail in this chapter, with explanations of how
requests and responses are transmitted and processed.
• Chapter 4: HTML and Its Roots - In the first of two
chapters about markup languages, we go back to SGML to
learn more about the roots of HTML (and of XML). Rather
than providing a tutorial on web design with HTML, the focus
is on HTML as a markup language and its place in web
application development.
• Chapter 5: XML Languages and Applications - This
chapter covers XML and related specifications, including XML
Schema, XPath, XSLT, and XSL FO, as well as XML applications
such as XHTML and WML.
• Chapter 6: Web Servers - The operational intricacies of web
servers is the topic of this chapter, with in-depth discussion of
what web servers must do to support interactions with clients
such as web browsers and HTTP proxies.
• Chapter 7: Web Browsers - As the previous chapter dug
deep into the inner workings of web servers, this chapter
provides similar coverage of the inner workings of web
browsers.
• Chapter 8: Active Browser Pages: From JavaScript to
AJAX - Here we cover the mechanisms for providing dynamic
interactivity in web pages, including JavaScript, DHTML, and
AJAX.
• Chapter 9: Approaches to Web Application
Development - This chapter contains a survey of available
web application approaches, including CGI, Servlets, PHP,
Cold Fusion, ASP, JSP, and frameworks such as Struts. It
classifies and compares these approaches to help readers
make informed decisions when choosing an approach for their
project, emphasizing the benefits of using the Model-View-
Controller (MVC) design pattern in implementing applications.
• Chapter 10: Web Application Primer: Virtual Realty
Listing Services - Having examined the landscape of
available application development approaches, we decide on
Struts along with the Java Standard Tag Library (JSTL). We
give the reasons for our decisions and build a sample
employing the principles we have been discussing in previous
chapters. We then suggest enhancements to the application
as exercises to be performed by the reader, including the
introduction of an administrative interface component, using
Hibernate for object-relational mapping, and using Java
Server Faces for presentation.
• Chapter 11: Web Application Primer: Ruby on Rails - In
this chapter, we revisit the Virtual Realty Listing Services
application and implement its administrative interface using
the Ruby on Rails framework. We describe the general
structure of a Rails application, walk through the process of
building an application in Rails, and compare the Java EE -
Struts approach with Rails in terms of both ease of
development and flexibility of deployment.
• Chapter 12: Search Technologies - Here we describe not
only the process of indexing site content for internal search
functionality, but also the mechanisms for structuring a site’s
content for optimal indexing by external search engines.
Jakarta’s Lucene and other tools are covered.
• Chapter 13: Trends and Directions - Finally, we look to
the future, providing coverage of the most promising
developments in web technology, as well as speculating about
the evolution of web application frameworks.
 Chapter 2 starts us off with a study of the core protocols
supporting Internet technology, in general, and the web in particular.
Although some might see this as review, it is a subject worth going
over to gain both a historical and a technological perspective.
 1.8 Bibliography

Berners-Lee, Tim, 2000. Weaving the Web: The Original Design and
Ultimate Destiny of the World Wide Web. New York: HarperBusiness.

Gehtland, Justin, Galbraith, Ben and Almaer, Dion, 2006. Pragmatic

AJAX: A Web 2.0 Primer. Raleigh (NC): Pragmatic Bookshelf.

Hadlock, Kris, 2007. AJAX for Web Application Developers.

Indianapolis (IN): SAMS Publishing (Developer’s Library).

Nelson, Theodor Holm, 1982. Literary Machines 931 . Sausalito (CA):

Mindful Press.

Rosenfeld, Louis and Morville, Peter, 2006. Information Architecture

for the World Wide Web, 3rd Edition. Sebastopol (CA): O’Reilly &
Associates.

Williams, Robin and Tollett, John, 2005. The Non-Designer’s Web

Book, 3rd Edition. Berkeley (CA): Peachpit Press.
 CHAPTER 2

Core Internet Protocols

IN THIS CHAPTER
• TCP/IP
• Telnet
• Electronic mail
• Messaging
• Security and encryption
• FTP and file server protocols
• And then came the web ...

OBJECTIVES
• Offer a historical perspective on TCP/IP.
• Explain the client-server paradigm.
• Provide an overview of key Internet protocols
and application services that predate the web.
• Show how these protocols and services provided
the foundation for HTTP and the web.

As we mentioned in the previous chapter, Tim Berners-Lee did not

come up with the worldwide web in a vacuum. The web as we know
it was built on top of core Internet protocols that had been in
existence for many years. Understanding the ideas behind those
underlying protocols is important for the discipline of building robust
web applications.
In this chapter, we examine the core Internet protocols that make
up the TCP/IP protocol suite, which is the foundation for the web
protocols that are discussed in Chapter 3. We begin with a brief
historical overview of the forces that led to the creation of TCP/IP. We
then go over the layers of the TCP/IP stack, and show where various
protocols fit into it. Our description of the client-server paradigm used
by TCP/IP applications is followed by discussion of the various TCP/IP
application services, including Telnet, electronic mail (e-mail),
message forums, live messaging, and file servers. While some of
these protocols and services may be deprecated, if not obsolete,
knowledge of how they work and what they do provides critical
insights into the present and future of web protocols and web
applications.
 2.1 Historical Perspective

The roots of web technology can be found in the original Internet

protocols (known collectively as TCP/IP) developed in the 1980s.
These protocols were an outgrowth of work to design a network
called the ARPANET.
The ARPANET was named for the Advanced Research Projects
Agency (ARPA) of the US Department of Defense (DoD). It came
into being as a result of efforts in the 1970s to develop an open,
common, distributed, and decentralized computer networking
architecture. The DoD’s goal was to resolve numerous problems with
existing network architectures.
First and foremost among these problems was that the typical
network topology was centralized. A computer network had a single
point of control directing communication between all the systems
belonging to that network. From a military perspective, such a
topology had a critical flaw: destroy that central point of control and
all possibility of communication was lost.
Another issue was the proprietary nature of existing network
architectures. Most of them were developed and controlled by
private corporations, who had a vested interest both in pushing their
own products and in keeping their technology to themselves.
Furthermore, the proprietary nature of the technology limited the
interoperability between different systems. It was important, even
then, to ensure that the mechanisms for communicating across
computer networks were not proprietary or controlled in any way by
private interests, lest the entire network become dependent on the
whims of a single corporation.
Thus, the DoD funded an endeavor to design the protocols for the
next generation of computer communications networking
architectures. Establishing a decentralized, distributed network
topology was foremost among the design goals for the new
networking architecture. Such a topology would allow
communications to continue without disruption, even if any one
system was damaged or destroyed. In such a topology, the network
“intelligence” would not reside in a single point of control. Instead, it
would be distributed among many systems throughout the network.
To facilitate this (and to accommodate other network reliability
considerations), ARPANET employed a packet-switching technology,
whereby a network “message” could be split up into packets, each of
which might take a different route over the network, arrive in
completely mixed-up order, and still be reassembled and understood
by the intended recipient.
To promote interoperability, the protocols needed to be open:
readily available to anyone who wanted to connect their system to
the network. An infrastructure was needed to design the set of
agreed-upon protocols, and to formulate new protocols for new
technologies that might be added to the network in the future. An
Internet Working Group (INWG) was formed to examine the issues
associated with connecting heterogeneous networks in an open,
uniform manner. This group provided an open platform for
proposing, debating, and approving protocols.
The Internet Working Group evolved over time into other bodies,
such as the Internet Activities Board (IAB), later renamed the
Internet Architecture Board, the Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority (IANA), the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the
Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). These bodies defined
the standards that “govern” the Internet. They established the
formal processes for proposing new protocols, discussing and
debating the merits of these proposals, and ultimately approving
them as accepted Internet standards.
Proposals for new protocols (or updated versions of existing
protocols) are provided in the form of Requests for Comments, also
known as RFCs. Once approved, the RFCs are treated as the
standard documentation for the new or updated protocol.
 2.2 TCP/IP Architecture

The original ARPANET was the first fruit borne of the DoD endeavor.
The protocols behind the ARPANET evolved over time into the
TCP/IP Suite, a layered taxonomy of data communications protocols.
The name TCP/IP refers to two of the most important protocols
within the suite, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet
Protocol (IP), but the suite is comprised of many other significant
protocols and services.
 2.2.1 Protocol layers

The protocol layers (above the “layer” of physical interconnection)

associated with TCP/IP are:
• the Network Interface layer
• the Internet layer
• the Transport layer
• the Application layer.
Because this taxonomy contains layers, implementations of these
protocols are often known as a protocol stack.
The Network Interface layer is responsible for the lowest level of
data transmission within TCP/IP, facilitating communication with the
underlying physical network.
The Internet layer provides the mechanisms for intersystem
communications, controlling message routing, validity checking, and
composition and decomposition of message headers. The protocol
known as IP (which stands, oddly enough, for Internet Protocol)
operates on this layer, as does the Internet Control Message Protocol
(ICMP), which handles the transmission of control and error
messages between systems. Ping is an Internet service that
operates through ICMP.
The Transport layer provides message transport services between
applications running on remote systems. This is the layer in which
the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) operates. TCP provides
reliable, connection-oriented message transport. Most of the well-
known Internet services make use of TCP as their foundation.
However, some services that do not require the reliability (and
overhead) associated with TCP make use of User Datagram Protocol
(UDP). For instance, streaming audio and video services would
gladly sacrifice a few lost packets to get faster performance out of
their data streams, so these services often operate over UDP, which
trades reliability for performance.
 The Application layer is the highest level within the TCP/IP
protocol stack. It is within this layer that most of the services we
associate with the Internet operate.
 2.2.2 Comparison with OSI model

During the period that TCP/IP was being developed, the

International Standards Organization (ISO) was working on its own
layered protocol scheme, called Open Systems Interconnection
(OSI). While the TCP/IP taxonomy consists of five layers (if you
include the physical connectivity medium as a layer), OSI had seven
layers: Physical, Data Link, Network, Transport, Session,
Presentation, and Application.
There is some parallelism between the two models. TCP/IP’s
Network Interface layer is sometimes called the Data Link layer to
mimic the OSI reference model, while the Internet layer corresponds
to OSI’s Network layer. Both models share the notion of a Transport
layer, which serves roughly the same functions in each model. The
Application layer in TCP/IP combines the functions of the Session,
Presentation, and Application layers of OSI.
OSI never caught on and, while some people waited patiently for
its adoption and propagation, it was TCP/IP that became the
ubiquitous foundation of the Internet as we know it today.
 2.2.3 The client - server paradigm

TCP/IP applications tend to operate according to the client-server

paradigm. This simply means that, in these applications, servers
(also called services and daemons, depending on the lingo of the
underlying operating system) execute by waiting for requests from
client programs to arrive and processing those requests.
Client programs can be applications used by human beings, or
they could be servers that need to make their own requests that can
only be fulfilled by other servers. More often than not, the client and
the server run on separate machines, and communicate via a
connection across a network.

Command line vs GUI

Over the years, user interfaces to client programs have evolved from
command-line interfaces (CLI) to graphical user interfaces (GUI).
Command-line programs have their origins in the limitations of the
oldest human interface to computer systems: the teletype keyboard.
In the earliest days of computing, even simple text-based CRT
terminals were not available - let alone today’s monitors with
advanced graphics capabilities. The only way to enter data
interactively was through a teletypewriter interface, one character at
a time. A command-line interface (CLI) prompts the user for the
entry of a “command” (the name of a program) and its “arguments”
(the parameters passed to the program). The original PC-DOS
operating system and Unix shells use command-line interfaces.
Screen-mode programs allow users to manipulate the data on an
entire CRT screen, rather than on one line. This means that arrow
keys can be used to move a cursor around the screen or to scroll
through pages of a text document. Screen-mode programs are still
restricted to character-based interfaces.
 GUI programs make use of a visual paradigm that offers users a
plethora of choices. For most, this is a welcome alternative to
manually typing in the names of files, programs, and command
options. The graphics are not limited to just textual characters, as in
screen-mode programs. The GUI paradigm relies on windows, icons,
mouse, pointers, and scrollbars (WIMPS) to display graphically the
set of available files and applications.
Whether command-line or GUI-based, client programs provide the
interface by which end users communicate with servers to make use
of TCP/IP services. Although debates rage as to whether GUIs or
CLIs are “better”, each has advantages and disadvantages for
different types of users.

Client - server communications

Under the hood, communications between client and server

programs take the form of request- response interactions. The
imposition of this constraint on Internet communication protocols
means that even the most primitive command-line interface can
make use of TCP/IP services. More sophisticated GUI-based client
programs often hide their command-line details from their users,
employing point-and-click and drag-and-drop functionality to support
underlying command-line directives.
After the server acknowledges the success of the connection, the
client sends commands on a line-by-line basis. There are single-line
and block commands. A single-line command, as the name implies,
includes an atomic command directive on a single line. A block
command begins with a line indicating the start of the command and
terminates with a line indicating its end. For example, in the Simple
Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), a line beginning with the word HELO
initiates an SMTP session, while a line containing just the word DATA
begins a block that ends with a line containing only a period. The
server then responds to each command, usually beginning with a
line containing a response code.
 A stateful protocol allows a client to support a sequence of
commands. The server is required to maintain the “state” of the
connection throughout the transmission of successive commands,
until the connection is terminated. The sequence of transmitted and
executed commands is often called a session. Most Internet services
(including SMTP) are session-based and make use of stateful
protocols.
HTTP

HTTP is a stateless protocol (see Chapter 3). An HTTP request

usually consists of a single command and a single response.
There is no built-in ability to maintain state between
transmitted commands.
Early implementations of client - server architectures did not make
use of open protocols. This meant that client programs had to be as
“heavy” as the server programs. A “lightweight” client (also called a
thin client) could only exist in a framework where common protocols
and application controls were associated with the client machine’s
operating system. Without such a framework, many of the
connectivity features had to be included directly in the client
program, adding to its “weight”. One advantage of using TCP/IP for
client-server applications was that the protocol stack was installed on
the client machine as part of the operating system and the client
program itself could be more of a thin client.
Web applications are a prime example of thin clients. Rather than
building a custom program to perform desired application tasks, web
applications use the web browser, a program that is already installed
on most end-user systems. You cannot create a client much thinner
than a program that users already have on their desktops!
How Do TCP/IP Clients and Servers Communicate
with Each Other?

TCP/IP client programs open a socket, which is simply a TCP

connection between the client machine and the server
machine. Servers listen for connection requests that come in
through specific ports. A port is not a physical interface
between the computer and the network, but is simply a
numeric reference within a request that indicates which server
program is its intended recipient.
There are established conventions for matching port
numbers with specific TCP/IP services. For example, Telnet
services listen for connection requests on port 23, SMTP
servers listen to port 25, and web servers (by default) listen
to port 80.
 2.3 TCP/IP Application Services

In this section, we discuss some of the common TCP/IP application

services, including Telnet, e-mail, message forums, live messaging,
and file servers. Where appropriate, we compare the original TCP/IP
services with modern counterparts.
 2.3.1 Telnet

The Telnet protocol operates within the Application layer. It was

developed to support Network Virtual Terminal functionality, which
means the ability to “log in” to a remote machine over the Internet.
The latest specification for the Telnet protocol is defined in Internet
RFC 854.
Before the advent of personal computers, access to computing
power was limited to those who could connect to a larger server or
mainframe computer, either through a dial-up phone line or through
a direct local connection. Whether you phoned in remotely or sat
down at a terminal connected directly to the server, you used a
command-line interface to log in. You connected to a single system
and your interactions were limited to that system.
With the arrival of Internet services, you could use the Telnet
protocol to log in remotely to systems that were accessible over the
Internet. As we mentioned earlier, Telnet clients are configured by
default to connect to port 23 on the server machine, but the target
port number can be overridden in most client programs. This means
you can use a Telnet client program to connect and “talk” to another
TCP-based service if you know its address and its port number, have
proper authentication credentials, and understand the format of its
transactions with the server.
Secure Shell

The Telnet protocol is now considered a poor mechanism for

connecting to remote systems, because Telnet servers and
clients transmit all their data (including passwords)
unencrypted. Secure Shell (SSH) establishes connections and
transfers data over secure channels, encrypting transmitted
data and promoting security (see Section 2.3.5).
Other documents randomly have
different content
prompting of an affectionate heart, she had flattered herself that all
was well—and Mabel rejoiced that it was so. To say that the latter
was indifferent when she allowed herself to think, would have been
untrue; but now, with Amy, had gone, all restless doubts of the
future. A steady mind, a firm and trusting heart, and an humble, but
courageous, self-reliance, were sufficient, she felt, for her own
provision, though she would have trembled to have entrusted one so
dear, and so helpless, to such support as the brave man, sometimes,
when called on, to protect those he loves, has been seen to lose
nerve through dangers which, had he met them alone, would
scarcely have excited a thought of fear.
At length, Mrs. Lesly slowly opened her eyes, and gazed round her
for a few moments, as if to bring back the reality, and to separate it
from her dreaming fancy. Mabel shrunk slightly back; but her
mother, as if divining her motive, herself drew aside the curtain, and
taking her hand, said, gently—
"My sweet child, why should I fear to look upon these sad signs of
your grief? I have little cause to regret that she has gone a few days
before me. No, dear, I, who have seen so much of this cold world,
could scarcely wish to leave my darling to its stinted kindness—so
young—so helpless—and so unfriended."
"Ah," thought Mabel, as tears rushed to her eyes, "to have begged
for her her daily bread, would have been joy to losing her."
"I see," continued Mrs. Lesly, "that you can, with difficulty, perceive
why I speak so now; but, my Mabel, will remember, with gratitude,
should she ever suffer the unkindness of the world, that her sister
shares it not, and her noble heart will rejoice that she alone will
have to bear the trials, from which a dying mother cannot protect
her."
"Ah, Mamma, that word alone is dreadful; you must not—cannot
leave me."
"My child knows that there is a must, which cannot be resisted—and
I have mistaken my Mabel if she does not bow before this, with as
much courage and submission, as before every other trial.
Remember your dear father's words in his last illness—'Mabel, life is
but a short campaign after all, and you must fight to the end; who
would be so cowardly as to lay down his sword for a wound'?"
"I will remember, dearest mamma," said Mabel, more firmly, for the
words of her father always had influence with her; "and, oh, forgive
my selfishness."
Tears were in her mother's eyes, though her voice had been firm;
and Mabel, fearing to continue the conversation, returned to the
window, and looked out again upon the night, which was fast closing
around; but scarcely did she now heed the flitting clouds, and the
coming darkness, or the wind as it rocked the old trees, or their
branches, which, by their fantastic motion, appeared beckoning her
attention; they seemed, an hour ago, to echo back the light laugh,
whose gay music she would hear no more; but now the hour of
fancy was over, and oppressed by the real presence of grief, she
bowed her head, and chastened her heart to silence.
 CHAPTER IV.
There is one
Must be mine inmate, for I
may not choose,
But love him.

Southe
y
.

On the Saturday evening of the week which had been so eventful at

Aston, the Villars family were assembled in their showily furnished
drawing-room, in Sydney Place, Bath, each engaged in different
occupations; but all eagerly expecting the promised arrival of their
rich cousin, Colonel Hargrave. The drawing-room had been
studiously arranged, and had not failed to become what it was
intended to be—tempting morning and evening lounge, where every
single, and eligible man, obtained an easy chair, an amusing chat,
and a welcome, which flattered his vanity.
On the present occasion, the ladies of the family were all as finely
and as tastefully dressed in the newest mode, as an evening at
home could allow—and certainly, taken together, they might have
been regarded as a singularly fine family.
Mrs. Villars we have already had occasion to describe; yet, en
passant, it is necessary to say that herself at Aston, (swayed by the
conflicting feelings of conscience, and her sister's straightforward
reasoning, exercised with a candour, known to their girlhood before
either had chalked out her path in life,) was a very different
personage, indeed, to Mrs. Villars in Bath. The stately importance, or
smiling dignity, with which she received her levy of morning callers,
or evening guests, showed no wavering conscience, or doubtful
heart. A certain degree of intrigue many might have detected; but in
the mother of so large and fair a family that was easily forgiven;
and, while the gaiety of her conversation rendered her ever a
welcome and popular guest, the size of her rooms, and brilliancy of
her parties rendered her a valuable hostess. She was now moving
about the room to adjust something or other, or taking a peep at the
dining-table, to secure herself against anything which might give a
bad impression to the expected guest.
Next, if not first, in dignity, stood her daughter Caroline. She was
certainly beautiful, though rather fine than engaging, and her
expression was haughty and severe—yet beautiful she certainly was,
if the most perfect outline of feature is beauty. In figure she was
above the middle height; but this was modified by a well rounded
person, and a certain academical grace of movement. Her person
did not belie her character; she did not rate herself below her real
value, and might, indeed, often have erred on the wrong side. In her
manners, she was overbearing, but seldom unlady-like. She was
talented, yet wanted solidity—haughty and ill-tempered, yet seldom
mean, unless greatly tempted. In her own family she rivalled her
mother's influence—being a sort of person over whom it was very
difficult to have authority. Her age was something beyond thirty, and
the remembrance that, with all her beauty, she was still unmarried,
gave her mind a sourness which greatly embittered the comfort of
the circle of which she formed so prominent a part. On the present
occasion, however, she was in one of her best moods, for, slow to
take warning from the past, she looked on future conquest as
certain. The expected arrival of Colonel Hargrave, about whom, for
the last few months, she had been incessantly rallied by her mother
and sisters, gave a brilliancy to her color, and a radiancy to her large
black eyes—and as she leant over her harp, rambling over a few
airs, which might form a romantic greeting to him, Mrs. Villars
looked upon her with satisfied triumph. To tell the truth, she was
very much afraid of her on account of the haughty and imperious
temper, which, in childhood, she had forgotten to guide, and looked
upon no scheme for the benefit of her family, with more interest
than on the one which might secure Caroline a settlement, which
would satisfy her temper, bring honor on herself, and, not least,
remove her from all rivalry with her younger sisters. She had,
therefore, on the present occasion, been spared nothing which could
coax her wayward humour into rendering itself as fascinating as
possible—for well did Mrs. Villars know that by a little ill-timed
opposition, her anger might be roused, and thus all hopes of her
settling be lost. Her expensive taste had, therefore, been for the last
few weeks fully gratified, though Mrs. Villars trembled at every
request which she feared to refuse. Selina, her second sister, was
lounging about the room, sometimes taking up an old album, or a
piece of knitting, and wondering where the Colonel could be. She
was a very fair-skinned, fair-haired girl, with very light blue eyes—
bearing an expression of indolent, good nature. Her prevailing taste
was dancing, of which she was passionately fond. Less talented than
her elder sister, she yet understood better how to render herself
acceptable in society. The pretty lisp with which she often declined
attempting a difficult song, was by many deemed more pleasing
than her sister's perfect execution of it; and the many pretty
nothings about nothing, with which she entertained her partner in
the dance, or the smile which meant anything he liked to interpret
from it, was often preferred to Caroline's more sensible conversation.
She was not, however, so silly as she sometimes chose to appear; a
quiet sense of self-preservation usually befriended her, and rendered
her sufficiently alive to her own interest. But though very generally
liked, she was not often seriously admired.
Our friend Lucy was seated on a stool near the fire, seemingly
anxious to catch the fitful light as it fell upon a picture of Finella,
(her intended character for the fancy ball,) which she held in her
hand. It might have been that she remembered something of the
time when Captain Clair had so earnestly dissuaded her from going
to that very ball, for the color came and went upon her cheeks as if
her thoughts were far from the present scene, and as if they so
much occupied her as to prevent her feeling the tedium of
expectation.
Maria, the youngest of the sisters, was standing by her, trying, at
times, to rally her by remarks which dyed her cheek still deeper,
though she remained determinately inattentive to them.
Over Maria her mother had spent many a desponding hour; to her,
beauty was everything, and the beauty so lavishly given to her other
daughters, was in Maria singularly wanting. Maria, however,
possessed more energy than the others, and was not disposed to
weep over a deficiency, which she very justly considered to be no
fault of hers. Her mouth indeed was very misshapen, and her nose
anything but Grecian—but the irregularity of these features was very
much redeemed by a pair of handsome eyes, which, though they
sometimes sparkled with satire, as often sparkled with fun, in which
she peculiarly delighted, though, unfortunately, it occasionally
degenerated into vulgarity. She had sufficient common sense to
know that if she remained inactive, comparisons, which in most
cases are odious, would be doubly so between herself and her
sisters, and she seldom allowed her tongue to be sufficiently silent
to lead any one to take the trouble to scan her countenance; and,
perhaps, the knowledge of her own deficiency did much to
compensate for its existence.
One of the first exclamations a stranger would feel inclined to make,
on an introduction to this family circle, would be—Why are all these
girls unmarried? but no satisfactory answer could be given. Maria
suggested, when the subject was discussed in private, that luck was
against them. They were sought for, invited out, admired, flirted with
by a host of young men, who professed they would have died to
serve them, but somehow forgot to make those bona fide proposals,
which would probably have been of more service to them than their
deaths.
In leaving the description of Mr. Villars to the last, we are only
following a fashion which was too prevalent in his household. There
was little that was striking in his first appearance; he was only very
thoughtful, very gentle, and very gentlemanly. He was the younger
son of a wealthy merchant, and had been placed, much against his
inclinations, in a firm of some consequence in London. His natural
tastes led him to prefer rather classical studies, than the active part
in the world of business for which his father designed him. Respect
for parental authority, however, prevented his choosing his own
profession, in opposition to it; and, being a man of high principle, he
resolved that the dislike he entertained for his employment, should
not prevent his vigorously exerting himself in the state of life in
which he found himself. His prudence was rewarded, and during the
thirty years which he had unrepiningly given to his business, he was
fortunate enough to realize a fortune which enabled him to retire
from it, and having amply provided for his family, by insurances
effected on his own life, he was enabled, during his lifetime, to
gratify both himself and them in every reasonable way. Having
ceased to take any active share in the business, he removed to Bath,
where he hoped to find gaiety sufficient to satisfy their wishes, while
he indulged his dearly prized leisure in literary pursuits. This plan,
however, failed to answer his expectations; his former occupations
had given him little time to inspect personally the rising characters of
his children, who had been left entirely to their mother's guidance,
and he now found, when too late, that they were little calculated to
form that domestic circle towards which, through so many long
years, he had looked, as the haven of his rest. His tastes were not
theirs, and the self denying love which can atone for such
deficiencies, had, in their education, been forgotten. They were fond
of him in their own way, but this did not prevent their finding the
time spent in his study, in hunting for a lost passage, in a favorite
author, or listening to some of his own elegant compositions, very
dull indeed—though many efforts did he make to overcome this
difficulty, and to find one, at least, amongst his four daughters, who
might make a pleasant companion; but he had not the heart to
command the attentions which he well knew love alone could supply,
and with a sigh, he retired, not only companionless, but with a lower
idea of his own merits than they deserved. The greater part of his
time was now spent alone, in a way which little suited his gentle and
domestic disposition; and, contented with holding the reins of
domestic government, in serious matters, he let smaller
arrangements take their course, without troubling or interesting
himself in them. Such was the family group assembled to welcome
Colonel Hargrave. The hour appointed, had, however, long passed;
Mr. Villars had taken out his watch for the twentieth time, and now
stood with it in his hand. Mrs. Villars wearied of her repeated
messages to the kitchen to put off the dinner, and Caroline looked
lowering for a storm. But nothing availed; quarter followed quarter,
counted by impatient minutes. Yet, still, Mrs. Villars referred to the
Colonel's note, which she carefully carried in her bag, and again and
again read his promise to be with them at the time mentioned, in
order that he might accompany them to the ball on the Monday. She
had boasted of this, in no unsparing language, and, should he fail
her now, her mortification would be complete. Still, concealing her
own fears, she glanced, every now and then, entreatingly, at her
daughter.
At length, Mr. Villars declared he would wait no longer. This
resolution being at length carried, they adjourned, in no very
agreeable mood, to the dining-room, to partake of a fine dinner,
completely spoilt. Mr. Villars, feeling annoyed at the disrespect which
a neglected appointment often implies, was not in the best possible
humour, and his wife, eager to support the popularity of her
unknown favorite, was obliged to exercise no small rhetoric to make
all smooth. But when she looked at Caroline, and saw the cloud of
ill-humour gathering fast, and, as quickly shading her beauty, she as
fervently wished he would stay away for that night, at least, as she
had before been eager for his arrival. This last wish was fully
gratified, for the evening wore away, and yet no Hargrave made his
appearance.
 CHAPTER V.
At me you smiled, but
unbeguiled,
I saw the snare and I
retired.

Tennys
o
n
.

The Monday appointed for the fancy ball arrived, and still nothing
had been heard of Hargrave. Mrs. Villars fretted, and Caroline
assumed a haughty and sulky indifference. During the day, every
knock and ring brought disappointment, till the lateness of the hour
warned them to prepare for the ball. It was then that Caroline, for
the first time, announced her intention of remaining at home. In vain
did Mrs. Villars remonstrate that her fancy Sultana's dress had cost
more than twice as much as her sisters', and it was of as little use to
flatter her vanity by representing that she would be the most
elegantly dressed in the whole ball-room; Caroline's temper was not
to be conquered in a single night. Tired of persuasion, her mother
stormed, and changing entreaties for threats, commanded her to go;
but Caroline was obstinate, and nothing but bodily force could have
moved her from the arm-chair, in which she had settled herself for
the evening, with a candle close to her elbow, and a new novel in
her lap. She would not go, she declared, with a haughtiness which
would have suited a more unworthy proposal. Nor would she move
from her chair, even to give the assistance of her advice at her
sisters' toilet, or, in any other way betray the slightest interest in an
amusement for which they had all been so long and so busily
preparing.
Extremely chagrined, Mrs. Villars was compelled to submit, and, as
she gave a last glance at the beautiful velvet dress which taste and
money had alike been expended to prepare, the bitterness of her
disappointment was not a little increased by remembering that this
fruitless purchase had been made with part of the loan so hardly
wrung from her sister; and it was with an uneasy sensation of
annoyance, that she led her fair daughters that night into the
crowded ball-room.
Lucy, with a heart upon the rebound, and flushed with the
determination of piquing Clair, if possible, had never looked more
lovely than she did that night. A white dress of the greatest
simplicity distinguished her character, as Finella, while her long light
curls fell in careless tresses over her neck and shoulders, forming a
veil, which enhanced the beauty they seemed bent upon concealing.
How wildly beat the heart in that illregulated bosom? Her simply
going to the ball would, she imagined, shew herself free from any
deference to Arthur Clair's opinion, and if any thoughts of Amy Lesly
came unbidden amongst the revelry, she banished the remembrance
by a lighter laugh or a bolder sally. She could not fail to attract
attention, and many strangers were anxious to be introduced to the
fairy Villars, as she was that night called; but one only attracted, and
soon absorbed her attention, he was a young man of a
prepossessing appearance, with large melting eyes and a low
persuasive voice. Evidently attracted by her appearance, he had
obtained an introduction, under the name of Beauclerc. He waltzed
to perfection, and the implied compliments he every now and then
offered, in a tone and voice of great sweetness, Lucy took for deeper
homage than he perhaps intended, and the ready blush deepened
on her cheek, and her eye sparkled when she suffered herself to be
led to a seat apart from the dancers, where his witty remarks
afforded her ample amusement. So readily, indeed, flowed his
language, that the absent Clair sunk into nothing, a mere every-day
flirt, compared with this fascinating new acquaintance. Besides, he
possessed the power of drawing her out, and made her feel quite
clever, by leading her to display herself in a new light. He listened to
her remarks with the most flattering attention, and resigned her to
the gentleman who next claimed her hand for the dance, with
apparent reluctance. She was then surprised to find that she had as
little to say as formerly, and that her new partner's observations on
the fashionable news of the day had become quite uninteresting.
She was not, therefore, sorry to find Mr. Beauclerc again by her side,
when the dance was over, and she had taken a seat by her mamma.
"Can you tell me?" she said, turning to him, with a smile, "why, just
now, I had plenty to say, but immediately I began to dance with that
gentleman, I felt so dull I could not say any thing at all. I have been
labouring at conversation, I assure you, with as much industry and
dulness as the noted donkey at Carrisbrooke Castle employs in his
task, but with far less success, for he succeeds in fetching up some
water—I am afraid I cannot say the same, of a single idea. Would
you believe that I twice observed on the band, once on the room,
and three times on the lights. Can you tell me why, since you seem
to have the genius of explaining every thing?"
A well pleased smile passed over his lips as he replied, only, by
taking out a small hunting watch which he quietly opened, and then
handing it to her, he presented her at the same time with the key of
his escritoir.
"Will you," said he "oblige me by winding this watch."
"Oblige you," replied Lucy, laughing, "by breaking the spring, I
suppose—that key belongs to your desk."
"You give me the very answer I desired. You cannot wind my watch,
because I have not given you the right key. This illustrates what I
am going to say.
"There are some minds suited to other minds, as this watch is to its
key. This beautiful piece of mechanism," said he, playing with the
watch in his hand, "would be to me, or to any one else, perfectly
useless without the key, which, however simple in its construction, is
yet so necessary to the watch, that it alone can render it of any
service. It is so with the human mind, we may live for years without
being fortunate enough to meet with one answering mind which can
unlock the treasures of our heart, and the secret springs of feeling,
and of thought, and bring them into exercise. It is the sympathy of
those around us which we need, the power which others possess of
understanding us; to place ourselves in a true light—do you
understand me?"
"Partly," replied Lucy, hesitating, and looking down.
"Partly, but not entirely," returned Mr. Beauclerc, repeating her
words, with an emphasis, which argued a slight degree of
superiority, to which Lucy readily bowed. "Yet I would say you were
made to enjoy these things as well as understand them. Nay, you
must not think me rude if I say I read as much when first introduced
to you; and that I felt I should be understood if I ventured to speak
in a way which the world too often ridicules, because it does not
comprehend it. It is only the simple language of truth; yet, because
it is not exactly the same as the hacknied language of the world, it is
regarded as nonsense."
Lucy did not quite understand all he said, but she felt that she was
receiving an admiration more flattering, because paid to her
understanding; and she only broke up the conversation after
repeated invitations to the dance, and her pulse fluttered quickly as
she heard, or fancied she heard, a sigh from the accomplished
Beauclerc, as she gracefully resigned herself to a young officer, upon
whose arm she was soon whirled past him in the giddy round.
Mrs. Villars smiled with secret pride, when some of her friends rallied
her on her daughter's conquest, and she took an early opportunity
of asking a friend who he might be.
"Have you not heard?" was the reply, "that he has brought his own
carriage, and two hunters, to the Castle, and Ball—and, besides, his
person speaks for itself, it is so distingué."
Mrs. Villars sought for Lucy, to impart these particulars, but was not
sorry to find her waltzing with Mr. Beauclerc.
"What a handsome couple they would make," thought she; "and, oh,
if Caroline and Hargrave were but here, I should be quite happy."
But she little dreamt of the pleasure yet in store for that evening.
Mr. Villars soon beginning to feel impatient, she was compelled to
draw her party together. Beauclerc accompanied them to the door;
and as he handed Lucy into the carriage, she fancied his hand
trembled. With this pleasing impression, she leant back in the fly
which conveyed them home, and gave herself up to pleasant reverie,
and castle building. She ran over every word which had passed in
their long conversations, and thought they were an easy beginning
to a more pleasing acquaintance than they often met with—she
began then to feel quite surprised that she ever had given a tear to
Captain Clair.
"Willingly," she said to herself; "will I resign him to Mabel, if she will
have him; yet there was something in him I liked, though I cannot
well remember what it was now. Why, he never talked in six weeks,
half the sense which Mr. Beauclerc has thrown into one
conversation. I feel quite grateful to him for deserting me, since,
otherwise, I never should have met this very superior man, who, as
he himself observed, though not in plain words exactly, possesses
the key to my mind—and does not that seem like affection?"
These pleasing considerations were interrupted by their stopping at
their own door, paying the driver, and running gaily up stairs.
"Hark," said Mrs. Villars, "there are voices in the drawing-room, I am
certain. There are, I do believe."
"Why mamma," said Maria, who, with more courage, had applied her
eye to the key-hole; it is only Caroline talking to somebody. When,
upon this information, they opened the door, Caroline was
discovered tête-à-tête, with a strange gentleman, with as much ease
and nonchalance as if at the regular calling hour.
There was a slight tone of triumph in her voice as she said:—
"Colonel Hargrave, papa?"
"Oh, Colonel," said Mrs. Villars, taking the words out of her
husband's mouth; "I can scarcely forgive you for obliging us to go to
the ball without you."
"He has excused himself most ably," said Caroline; "the death of a
friend detained him."
"I assure you," said he, with the greatest courtesy, "that nothing but
so serious a reason would have prevented my keeping my
appointment; and I trust, my dear sir, that you will excuse my
keeping your dinner waiting on Saturday; but, as I said, just now,
some very sad circumstances detained me on my road."
"Pray, say not another word," said Mrs. Villars; "we are very sorry for
you, I am sure."
"I suppose," said Maria, "you did not arrive in time to join us?"
"Do you think," said Caroline, "that he could go to a fancy ball after
attending the death-bed of a friend?"
"No, truly," said he, "I was in no humor for such gaiety, and was
more pleased by the quiet welcome I have already received."
"Caroline has only expressed the feelings we should all entertain,"
said Mrs. Villars, smiling benignly, "and, indeed, I am most happy to
see my truant nephew, at last."
Hargrave slightly started at the word nephew, not being able to
divine how his distant connection with the family could be twisted
into so close a relationship.
"I trust," continued Mrs. Villars, "that Caroline has taken every care
of you, and that you have had some refreshment."
"Indeed she has been most kind," replied he politely. "She would not
allow me to persuade her to retire to rest, when I had once
announced my intention of remaining up to introduce myself. I will,
however, no longer tax your patience; but will go to my own room, if
you will allow me."
They accordingly separated, the Colonel lingering to say a few words
to his host, and the ladies retiring to a kind of mutual dressing-room.
"Well, my love," said Mrs. Villars to her eldest daughter, "I will never
blame you again, for I see you know how to manage without my
interference. Nothing could have turned out better."
She felt, indeed, half inclined to idolise her, for the very ill-temper,
which, in the early part of the evening, she had more justly blamed.
Caroline, in her turn, looked upon them all with an air of superiority,
as if the accident had been the result of her prudence.
"Indeed," she said, "he is a most sensible and entertaining man,
and, I dare say, if the truth were known, my evening was the most
pleasant after all."
"Not quite," replied Lucy, "for I also met with a most sensible and
entertaining man."
"Yes," echoed Maria, "such a handsome man too—Hargrave is
nothing to him. Every one was wondering who he was, and
remarking on his attentions to Lucy."
"What, is Lucy taken in again?" said Caroline, with jealous bitterness.
"I thought once in a season was sufficient."
Lucy coloured deeply and angrily, for it was not the first wound she
had received.
"Well," said she to herself, "I will be closer this time—I will have no
one to abuse my confidence by taunting speeches."
"Come, come," interposed Mrs. Villars, "do not let us quarrel with
fortune; for my part, I feel inclined to be on good terms with all the
world. Nothing could have been more propitious than your meeting
in such a romantic manner. What were you doing when he came in?
—at your harp, I hope. Well, how do you like him?"
"Why, Mamma, I think you believe in love at first sight. I am not so
easily won."
"Nor the Colonel either, I dare say," said Maria.
"I will thank you, Miss Maria, to remember what you say, and to
whom you say it."
"That I very seldom forget," retorted Maria, as she laid down her
Swiss hat and ribbons, with a sigh, to think that she might not
display them again.
"Come, come," again urged Mrs. Villars, "surely, Caroline, you can
give us your opinion of him. You are so quick at reading character."
"That may be," replied Caroline, "but I scarcely think the right
advantage to take of discrimination is to retail a private
conversation, for the sake of subjecting a friend to everybody's
quizzing observations."
Here she glanced angrily at Maria.
"Well," returned the latter, perfectly undisturbed, "is it come to friend
and private, already, that, at least, sounds like something, and if you
will conquer the good nabob in your own way, I suppose we must
excuse being kept in the dark, as the cat politely observed to the
mouse, when he was introduced to him in the cupboard."
"I think he is very handsome," said Selina.
"Yes," said Maria, "well enough since he possesses good eyes, good
teeth, good forehead, nose and eyes—all tolerably well put together.
Yes, I suppose he might be called handsome. I will ask Miss Foster,
she is such a judge of masculine beauty."
"I beg you will do no such thing," said Caroline; "he must be
considered as one of our own family, and I do not see what right
Miss Foster has to pass her observations on us."
"I am afraid you are not quite so rigid with regard to Miss Lovelace,"
retorted Maria.
Mrs. Villars saw that much bitter remark was rising, and knowing
that nothing could be obtained from Caroline, dismissed the
conclave, which had assembled at so late an hour, only in
consequence of the importance of affairs under deliberation; and she
retired to rest satisfied with the course events had taken, and fully
impressed with respect for Caroline's judgment. She, meanwhile, in
the retirement of her own room, condescended to give Selina an
account of the evening's conversation, by which means Mrs. Villars
heard the whole the next day from Selina, whose more gentle
temper rendered her the general recipient of her mother's schemes.
 CHAPTER VI.
He walked he
knew not
whither;
Doubt was on his daily
path; and duties
shewed not certain.

Tupper.

Colonel Hargrave was a little past the age when hearts are easily
won—and the ready courtesy with which he had performed his part
of the evening tête-à-tête, might have shown a less prejudiced
judge, that he was too accustomed to beauty, grace, and all the
endless charms so bewitching to a younger man, to make him very
easily fall into the snare which had been laid for him.
However, he had but very lately landed in England, after some years
spent in the East; and though like most English travellers, he had
been, at first, delighted with the marvels and records of ancient
days, which that quarter of the globe so lavishly affords, as well as
with the customs and habits of a people with whom he had
delighted to mingle, he was not sorry to find himself once again in
merry, busy England—one of a people whose interests are more of
the present than of the past, where the rapid march of improvement
and discovery, form a striking contrast to the splendid dreams of
past Eastern glory. Then the comfort of social society—home with all
its thousand associations of comfort and tranquillity were not
indifferent to him, and he was not sorry to find a gayer welcome
than the lonely halls of his own beautiful Aston might have offered
him. His sleeping apartment had been arranged with a care that
made it seem luxurious after the cabin fare to which he had lately
been accustomed, and he paid more attention to the trifles which
surrounded him than he had ever before done, for of such trifles he,
for the first time, perceived the importance, since all combined gave
a feeling of homely comfort which he felt he had scarcely missed till
now, when once more in the enjoyment of it. Opening from this
room was another, arranged with the most studious attention to
ease and appearance. A fire blazed a warm welcome, after his day's
journey, and everything conspired to make his little sitting-room one
suited to a gentleman's fancy—and by affording him a place of
retreat, he perceived that he would be allowed to enjoy the
company of his cousins only when he was inclined. In all this there
was such an evident desire to please, that he could not help feeling
a little flattered, though, perhaps, as representative of the family
credit and opulence, he might, at the same time, have felt it to be
his due, and a necessary appendage to the invitation.
Tempted by the blazing fire, he threw himself upon the horse-hair
sofa, which was near it, and fixed his eyes upon its flickering and
varying light, but as he did so, his countenance soon lost the air of
courteous pleasantry, which had a short while before possessed it,
and he appeared lost in deep and even bitter thought.
The grave accusations of old Giles, and the lighter description of
Clair, were both true; and yet a few words more of his mental history
is needed fully to unravel his character.
During the life of his mother, he had been the pride of her existence,
and keenly sensible of the quicksands which await the young man
on his entrance into life—she had watched his opening manhood
with the most tender solicitude. Her death, however, left him entirely
to the care of his father—and he, thinking the hot-house system of
preservation no longer befitting a youth of talent and ability, sent
him abroad, first with a tutor, and afterwards alone, in order that he
might acquire a knowledge of the world, and the ease, conversation,
and polish, which foreign travel is calculated to give. In this he was
fully successful. A short residence in the gayest city in Europe, so
called forth young Hargrave's natural refinement of taste, that few
could find fault with the manners of the finished gentleman whom
Paris sent back from its school. But in Paris he had been thrown with
those of professed Infidel principles—and amongst them he found
men of superior talent and great intellect, who, while they extorted
his own secret admiration, rendered him a homage to his youthful
talent of the most flattering kind. By them he was rashly led to
argue on the tenets of natural and revealed religion, and to discuss
points, which are rather matter for faith than comprehension—and
he entered on these questions with a spirit of which older men have
not been innocent, rather seeking to display his own powers in the
argument, than to do honor to the truth. The contest was eagerly
courted by those who only kept their hearts at ease by engaging in
the excitement of perpetual warfare. They were subtle reasoners,
and Hargrave found himself coping with them, only with the greatest
difficulty.
But, who can unlock the secret mysteries of the human mind, or
give a clue to its strange inconsistencies? Even while he argued, the
dreadful doubt passed into his own mind, and, wondering and
amazed, he found himself an unbeliever in the faith he had so
warmly defended! Too often have those who have become the most
devoted christians at an after period of their life, had to mourn such
infidelity, though, for a time only; and had Hargrave resorted to the
simple means used by his old tenant, whom his thoughtless words
had led astray, he, like old Giles, might have been restored to
comfort—but he only rushed deeper and deeper into argument, and
the more confirmed in error—he, at length, ended by declaring
himself vanquished, and thanking his new friends for having opened
his eyes to his own superstition. Thus eagerly received by a brilliant
coterie, adorned by wit, genius, and learning, he learnt to boast of
the sentiments he at first deplored, and to wonder that he should
have been weak enough to recognise any other.
Where then was the reward for a mother's untiring self-devoted love
to her son, through the years of infancy and youth? Despair not,
fond mothers—"cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it
after many days"—after many days, remember, and be patient.
One result, was, however, evident in this wild fit of recklessness—
under the pretence of keeping his intellect pure and unclouded, he
preserved the same rigid principles she had recommended, and in
this he was firm, spite of the ribaldry of his companions. "No one,"
he said, proudly, "should be able to affirm that he had abandoned
his religion because too weak to obey its laws." His friends,
therefore, left off their jests and boasted that no professor of
revealed religion could be a better moralist, or a more virtuous man.
But such virtue must ever be but an unsteady light, which is founded
on no firmer basis than self-opinion, and Hargrave might have
started when in foreign lands, he had lavished the most profuse
charity on those around him, had he remembered how blind he was
to the wants and sufferings of those who at home called him master.
Too late his father's death summoned him to Aston, to take
possession of the immense wealth which he thus inherited. After but
a brief stay, events induced him to leave his native country, and
entering the Indian army, he sought employment for his restless
energies on the banks of the Indus. There his military career had not
been without honor, and why he had returned to England, scarcely
himself could tell.
There he sat, an older, if not a wiser and better man. Dark thoughts,
like heavy clouds, seemed to pass over his mind, as with his hand
supporting his head, he gazed fixedly, but vacantly on the fire.
Perhaps he was thinking of his early days, and of the mother who
had taught him to hallow them. Perhaps he was remembering how
unable he had been to build the fabric even of human and short
lived earthly happiness, on so weak and failing a foundation as his
own unassisted virtue. For, to his heart, common joys had been
tainted. The sabbath chaunt had brought no melody to his ear,
reminding him of the rest which its Maker had hallowed. "The gentle
flowers that stooping o'er the wilderness—speak of joy, and faith,
and love," had seemed to him only a difficult clause in the argument
of an adversary. Such might have been the dark remembrances of
the hour, for he swayed himself to and fro, as if in an agony of spirit,
nor did he retire to rest till the grey dawn warned him of the
necessity of seeking repose.
 CHAPTER VII.
Wisdom revenges,
said
The world; is quick and
deadly of
resentment;
Thrusts at the very shadow
of affront,
And hastes by death to
wipe its honor clean.

Polloc
k
.

The next morning Lucy was down stairs by eight o'clock, appearing
scarcely to feel any fatigue from the gaieties of the last evening. The
servants, taking advantage of their mistress's slumbers, had not
been very careful to rouse themselves early; and as Lucy wandered
about the house, she found nothing but rooms half closed, and
maids with sweeping brushes, dusters, and open windows, forming
no tempting welcome on a cold morning. Yet, chill as was prospect
both within and without, she felt nothing cheerless that morning,
and, putting on her bonnet and cloak, she went out, saying she
would be back by breakfast time. She found the atmosphere thick
and humid, and cold drops quickly gathered on her veil. The streets,
under the influence of a slight thaw, were wet with black mud; but
she quickly threaded her way through them, till reaching Milsom
Street, she took her way towards the higher parts of the town. Few
people were stirring, shops were only just open, and the occupiers
engaged in filling their empty windows with a display for the day.
The light-hearted girl scarcely giving a thought to any thing around
her, soon reached the Circus, a fine but gloomy part of the town.
Time and the weather have cast a black shade over its formerly
clean white stone, which gives it an appearance of sadness, which is
shared by the sombre hue of the evergreens, which ornament its
garden. To one of its houses Lucy hurried, and after a short pause,
was ushered into it by an old man, apparently butler in the
establishment. The room into which she was shown, was upon the
ground floor, and shared in no very slight degree, the appearance of
the outside of the buildings. Its furniture was dark green, and the
curtains, with their many heavy folds had been suffered to trespass
too much upon the windows. There was an oak wainscoting round
the room, and here and there some old portrait frowned down from
the walls. The room was rather long than wide, and lighted by
windows only on the one side, looking on the street; this often made
it appear dark, but, in contrast to every thing about the place, a
bright fire blazed upon the hearth, and a small table, with a snowy
cloth, supported the hissing urn, and a frugal but snug breakfast.
Seated beside it was rather a young looking lady. There was a
certain air of unmistakeable dignity over her whole appearance; her
features, though irregular, were intellectual and commanding, and
the sparkling eye wandered with restless energy. Her hair was black
as an Indian's, and she might have been called beautiful, but for the
melancholy, which, as a veil, seemed thrown round her, stilling every
quicker impulse into chill composure. She held the Times in her
hand, folded at the leading article, but she laid it down and rose, on
Lucy's entrance, with a look of surprise and pleasure.
"Why love," said she, "I thought you would be sleeping for an hour
or two yet, after the fatigues of last night. I am sure no common
event would bring you out this foggy morning, but sit down and I
will give you some breakfast, for I am sure you have had none; let
me take off your shawl, and then you shall have some of your
favorite chocolate, and tell me your news as you drink it."
"I could not sleep," said Lucy, "and as no one was up I thought I
would come and see why you were not at the ball as you promised
last night."
"My poor uncle was so bad with his gout, that I had not the
resolution to leave him, and you know how little will tempt me to
stay away from such things," said Miss Foster, with a sigh.
"Ah," said Lucy, smiling, "clever people like you do not need such
frivolities; but what would my poor vacant brain do without them."
"Why is it vacant? But you have not, like me, given up the phantom
happiness, or you would prefer seeking something more
substantial."
Lucy glanced at the leading article, and gave a slight shrug.
"You may come to that at last," replied her friend, with a moonlight
smile, which passed almost immediately away, "really you do not
know what a pleasure the morning papers give me—they make me
remember that I am a denizen of the world, and besides, a daughter
of England, and then I forget how lonely I am as an individual."
"But why lonely," returned Lucy, "the slightest effort on your part
would surround you with friends, and you might have a host of
acquaintances instead of my poor self, whom alone you admit, and I
enjoy that privilege, merely from accident."
"You do not quite know me yet," said Miss Foster, "such society is no
longer tolerable. And I might never have known even you, had not
your horse thrown you at our very door, and forced me to open it.
There was, indeed, something so pleasing in being able to nurse you
for a few days, that I became insensibly attached to you. But such
accidents seldom occur, and I care not to go through the common
ordeal of acquiring acquaintances."
"Well," said Lucy, "when I am inclined to turn anchorite, Millie, you
must let me in, and I will come and live with you; but I am rather of
opinion that the world is a mirror which reflects back our smiles and
our frowns."
"Is that sentiment your own?" enquired her companion, quickly.
"No—second hand from a delightful partner that I met last night.
Such a very nice man—quite beyond my poor powers of description;
everything he said was so clever, and so new, it seemed as if he had
read more of the human heart than any one I ever met. He talked to
me nearly all the evening."
"Imprudent girl!" exclaimed Miss Foster.
"Oh, if you take everything I say so seriously," said Lucy, poutingly,
"I will not tell you anything."
"What kind of looking man was he?" said Miss Foster, without
heeding her remark.
"He must be thirty, at least," said Lucy—"with light brown hair, deep
blue eyes, rather tall, and very nice looking—not quite so handsome
as Captain Clair; but then his talking was the fascinating part."
"And what did he talk about?"
"Oh, nothing in particular," said Lucy, coloring.
"And did you hear his name?" enquired Miss Foster, almost
restraining her breath.
"Beauclerc," said Lucy; "is it not a pretty name?"
"You must have nothing more to say to him, if he talks such in a way
that you blush already. Will you promise me?" said she, most
violently.
"You must give me some reason."
"Imprudent girl, you must take my warning."
"If he were making love, I might consider," said Lucy; "but, as a
common acquaintance, and a delightful dancer, you must give me
some reason for cutting him."
"You are rash," repeated Miss Foster; "do not have anything to say
to him, or you will repent it."
"I am not to be led blind-folded," said Lucy; "and you must prove
me in danger before I can think such advice needed. Pray let us talk
of something else—my poor beaux always tease you."
There was a very palpable tinge of vanity in this last remark, which
caused Miss Foster to bite her lips, as if suppressing violent emotion,
and to remain silent, though the uneasy flash of her dark eye
betrayed something of the violence of her temper.
At this inopportune moment, a knock at the hall door announced
another early visitor.
The door of their sitting-room was, after an interval of some
minutes, cautiously opened by the venerable butler, who, with some
embarrassment, presented a card to his mistress on a silver salver.
Lucy almost trembled as she saw that the storm which had been
gathering on her friend's countenance was now ready to burst forth.
Her cheeks, which had a moment before been brightly flushed,
turned to a livid white, as she brushed the card from the salver
without touching it, and then stamped upon it with impotent
violence.
Lucy's eyes fell upon the name—it was that of "Beauclerc"—and,
unperceived, she took it up, and concealed it in the folds of her
dress from further indignity.
"I am not at home," said Miss Foster, in a decisive tone to the aged
butler, who regarded the scene with more concern than surprise,
and left the room slowly and sadly. The front door was presently
heard to close. As if ashamed of the passion into which she had
been betrayed, Miss Foster seated herself, at once, and tried to
resume her usual coldness of demeanor.
"See," said she, "the way in which I dare to treat him, and judge for
yourself if he is worthy to be received as an admirer of yours."
"I think," said Lucy, recovering her animation, "you have shewn
yourself very little my friend to treat a man with indignity, when I
had expressed a contrary opinion of him."
Miss Foster regarded her rising spleen with an indifferent coldness,
which made her still more angry.
"I say," she reiterated, "that it is a most unkind and ungrateful way
of returning my confidence."
"Wilful child!" exclaimed Miss Foster, "will you never be guided for
your own advantage?"
"I am no child!" exclaimed Lucy; "and if I do choose a guide, it shall
be one who can rule her own temper."
"You should allow for the emotion you cannot understand," said Miss
Foster, gravely; "but leave me now, Lucy, and do not be angry—we
are both excited—and may say things we do not mean."
"Leave you," exclaimed her offended friend, starting up, and putting
on her shawl with trembling hands—"I will not stay another moment
where I am not wanted."
Miss Foster's head had sunk upon her hand, perhaps she was too
deeply absorbed in her own feelings to notice Lucy's anger, till
suddenly raising her eyes, in which thick tears were gathering—she
watched her movements with a curious interest—but Lucy was
already at the door—and gasping a "good morning," she hurried
away, leaving her friend to the unpleasant thoughts she was
indulging.
It was not anger alone which led Lucy to leave the house so hastily,
for she was curious to see her pleasing companion of the night
before, if but for a moment. She was not disappointed, for, as she
opened the door, she perceived him standing on the other side of
the way.
Could he have seen her enter the house? and, might not his having
done so, been the reason of his early call on Miss Foster. Vanity is a
ready prompter; and she had not proceeded many steps before she
believed the delusive argument, and attributed her friend's warnings
to jealousy. She had scarcely arrived at this conclusion, before she
perceived Mr. Beauclerc crossing to her side of the way, and she
gave a bow and a smile, which proved a ready inducement for him
to join her. He looked so dejected, that she had not the heart to
check his intention of lounging by her side, and he was far too
courtly and ready in his manners to give such a meeting the least
appearance of awkwardness.
"You are acquainted with the lady of that house then?" he enquired,
after a slight pause in the conversation.
"Yes," said Lucy, smiling and looking at him, "and I suspect you
know her also."
"Do you know her well?" he said, slightly colouring.
"Oh, very intimately—she is a great friend of mine."
"You know all her secrets then?"
"Well, I dare say I do," she replied, smiling importantly; for, to
confess that she had a friend, and did not know all her secrets,
seemed a derogation from her own dignity; "but, I fear I shall not
know many more, for we have parted in anger."
"Indeed! can that be true—you in anger."
"Yes, yes," said Lucy, looking archly at him; "and what do you think
it could be about?"
"I have, indeed, no means of guessing," he replied, with an interest
which Lucy attributed rather to herself than her subject.
"About yourself, it was then?" said she, looking slightly aside.
"Impossible!" he exclaimed, delightedly; "have you then been
speaking of me?—and what did she say of me?"
"Nothing you would, perhaps, like to hear," she said, with the same
archness as before.
"And what part did you take?" said he, eagerly.
"Oh," she replied, laughing carelessly, "I never do things by halves—
so I defended you through thick and thin."
"Excellent girl," cried he, enthusiastically, taking her hand, and
pressing it warmly, "how can I ever thank you enough for this
kindness?"
"Prenez garde," said she, "gossippers are abroad, and there, I
declare, is Miss Lovelace's youngest sister going for her music lesson
—all Bath will say we are flirting."
"You know how to contradict such scandal by a word," said he; "but
that word, for my sake, you will not speak."
Lucy did not quite understand this last speech; but she did not like
to say so, and, therefore, murmured a rapid "Yes."
A slight pause followed; and then he resumed the conversation with
such a sudden flow of spirits, that Lucy very soon forgot everything
in the pleasure of listening to him, and even suffered him to
lengthen the walk by taking a longer route. At the entrance to
Sydney Place, he took leave of her, and she returned home, thinking
over everything he had said. They had only talked on general topics
after all; but then he spoke with a deference to her opinion which
was very pleasing. She was in very good humour with herself, and
resolved that, after leaving Miss Foster to cool for a week or so, she
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