Nuclear reactor physics and engineering Lee pdf

download

https://ebookmass.com/product/nuclear-reactor-physics-and-
engineering-lee/

Explore and download more ebooks at ebookmass.com

We have selected some products that you may be interested in
Click the link to download now or visit ebookmass.com
for more options!.

Nuclear Reactor Physics and Engineering John C. Lee

https://ebookmass.com/product/nuclear-reactor-physics-and-engineering-
john-c-lee/

Nuclear Physics 1: Nuclear Deexcitations, Spontaneous

Nuclear Reactions Ibrahima Sakho

https://ebookmass.com/product/nuclear-physics-1-nuclear-deexcitations-
spontaneous-nuclear-reactions-ibrahima-sakho/

Physics of nuclear reactors K. Umasankari

https://ebookmass.com/product/physics-of-nuclear-reactors-k-
umasankari/

Nuclear engineering : a conceptual introduction to nuclear

power Joyce

https://ebookmass.com/product/nuclear-engineering-a-conceptual-
introduction-to-nuclear-power-joyce/
Bioprocess Engineering. Kinetics, Sustainability, and
Reactor Design 2nd Edition Shijie Liu

https://ebookmass.com/product/bioprocess-engineering-kinetics-
sustainability-and-reactor-design-2nd-edition-shijie-liu/

Bioprocess Engineering: Kinetics, Sustainability, and

Reactor Design 3rd Edition Shijie Liu

https://ebookmass.com/product/bioprocess-engineering-kinetics-
sustainability-and-reactor-design-3rd-edition-shijie-liu/

Fundamentals of Nuclear Science and Engineering 3rd

Edition

https://ebookmass.com/product/fundamentals-of-nuclear-science-and-
engineering-3rd-edition/

Physics and Radiobiology of Nuclear Medicine 4th Edition,

(Ebook PDF)

https://ebookmass.com/product/physics-and-radiobiology-of-nuclear-
medicine-4th-edition-ebook-pdf/

A Modern Primer in Particle and Nuclear Physics Francesco

Terranova

https://ebookmass.com/product/a-modern-primer-in-particle-and-nuclear-
physics-francesco-terranova/
NUCLEAR REACTOR
PHYSICS AND
ENGINEERING
NUCLEAR REACTOR
PHYSICS AND
ENGINEERING

John C. Lee
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
This edition first published 2020
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by law. Advice
on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title is available at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

The right of John C. Lee to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with law.

Registered Office
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA

Editorial Office
111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA

For details of our global editorial offices, customer services, and more information about Wiley products visit us at
www.wiley.com.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some content that appears in
standard print versions of this book may not be available in other formats.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty

While the publisher and authors have used their best efforts in preparing this work, they make no representations or
warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all
warranties, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No
warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives, written sales materials or promotional statements for this
work. The fact that an organization, website, or product is referred to in this work as a citation and/or potential source of
further information does not mean that the publisher and authors endorse the information or services the organization,
website, or product may provide or recommendations it may make. This work is sold with the understanding that the
publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be
suitable for your situation. You should consult with a specialist where appropriate. Further, readers should be aware that
websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.
Neither the publisher nor authors shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but
not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data()applied for

ISBN: 9781119582328

Cover design by Wiley

Cover image: © Lana Po/Shutterstock

Set in 9/11pt, NimbusRomNo9L by SPi Global, Chennai, India.

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS

Preface xiv

Permissions and Copyrights xvi

List of Tables xviii

List of Figures xix

1 Nuclear Power Plants 1

1.1 History and Current Status of Nuclear Power Plants . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Basic Features of Nuclear Power Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Pressurized Water Reactor Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4 Boiling Water Reactor Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5 Advanced Reactor Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

2 Neutron-nucleus Reaction and Neutron Cross Section 27

2.1 Neutron-nucleus Reaction Probability and Neutron Cross Section 28
2.2 Mechanisms of Neutron-nucleus Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.3 Nuclear Fission Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.4 Two-body Collision Mechanics and Center-of-mass System . . . 37
2.5 Single-Level Breit-Wigner Formula for Resonance Reaction . . . 42
2.6 Differential Scattering Cross Section and Scattering Kernel . . . . 45
2.6.1 Differential Microscopic Scattering Cross Section . . . . 46
2.6.2 Scattering Kernel for Isotropic Scattering in CM Frame . 47
2.7 Further Remarks on Neutron Cross Section . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

3 Neutron Flux, Reaction Rate, and Effective Cross Section 59

3.1 Neutron Flux and Current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.2 Rate of Neutron-Nucleus Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
v
vi CONTENTS

3.3 Neutron Energy Distribution and Effective Thermal Cross Section 69

3.4 Application to a 1/v-Absorber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

4 Derivation of the Neutron Diffusion Equation 77

4.1 Basic Assumptions for Neutron Balance Statement . . . . . . . . 78
4.2 Neutron Balance Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
4.3 Neutron Source Term . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.4 Fick’s Law of Neutron Current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
4.5 Neutron Transport Equation and P1 Approximation . . . . . . . . 88
4.6 Remarks on Diffusion Coefficient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
4.7 Limitations of Neutron Diffusion Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
4.8 One-Group Neutron Diffusion Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
4.9 Summary Discussion of Diffusion Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

5 Applications of the One-Group Neutron Diffusion Equation 99

5.1 Boundary Conditions for Diffusion Equation . . . . . . . . . . . 100
5.2 Solution of Steady-State Diffusion Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
5.2.1 Flux in Non-multiplying Media with Localized Sources . 104
5.2.2 Flux in Non-multiplying Media with Distributed Sources 112
5.3 Neutron Flux in Multiplying Medium and Criticality Condition . 115
5.3.1 Criticality and Buckling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
5.3.2 Effective Multiplication Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
5.3.3 Eigenfunctions of Diffusion Equation and Buckling . . . 119
5.4 Four- and Six-Factor Formulas for Multiplication Factor . . . . . 124
5.5 Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

6 Numerical Solution of the Neutron Diffusion Equation 131

6.1 Finite Difference Form of Diffusion Equation . . . . . . . . . . . 132
6.2 Flux Solution Algorithm: Inner Iteration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
6.3 Boundary Conditions for Difference Equation . . . . . . . . . . . 138
6.4 Source or Outer Iteration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
6.5 Relative Power Distribution and Overall Flow Chart . . . . . . . 143
6.6 Single-Channel Flux Synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
6.7 Multidimensional Finite Difference Formulation . . . . . . . . . 149
6.7.1 Two-Dimensional Matrix Formulation . . . . . . . . . . 149
6.7.2 Three-Dimensional Formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
6.7.3 Convergence Properties of Matrix Iteration Schemes . . . 154
 CONTENTS vii

6.8 Coarse-Mesh Diffusion Equation Solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

6.8.1 Nodal Expansion Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
6.8.2 Pin-Power Reconstruction Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . 157
6.9 Krylov Subspace Method as a Diffusion Equation Solver . . . . . 158
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

7 Applications of the Two-Group Neutron Diffusion Equation 165

7.1 Derivation of Multi-Group Neutron Diffusion Equation . . . . . . 166
7.2 Steady-State Multi-Group Diffusion Equation . . . . . . . . . . . 170
7.3 Two-Group Form of Effective Multiplication Factor . . . . . . . 172
7.4 General Two-Group Diffusion Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

8 Nuclear Reactor Kinetics 181

8.1 Derivation of Point Kinetics Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
8.1.1 Representation of Delayed Neutron Production . . . . . . 182
8.1.2 Point Kinetics Approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
8.1.3 One-Group Delayed Neutron Model . . . . . . . . . . . 186
8.2 Solution of Point Kinetics Equation without Feedback . . . . . . 187
8.2.1 Step Insertion of Reactivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
8.2.2 Prompt Jump or Zero-Lifetime Approximation . . . . . . 190
8.2.3 Inhour Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
8.2.4 Linearized Kinetics Equation and Transfer Function . . . 195
8.2.5 Infinite Delayed Approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
8.3 State Space Representation of Point Kinetics Equation . . . . . . 198
8.4 Point Kinetics Equation with Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
8.4.1 The Ergen-Weinberg Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
8.4.2 The Nordheim-Fuchs Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
8.5 Reactivity Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
8.6 System Stability Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
8.7 Point Reactor and Space-Dependent Reactor Kinetics . . . . . . . 213
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

9 Fast Neutron Spectrum Calculation 219

9.1 Neutron Balance Equation and Slowing Down Density . . . . . . 221
9.2 Elastic Scattering and Lethargy Variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
9.3 Neutron Slowing Down in Infinite Medium . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
9.3.1 Slowing Down in the First Collision Interval . . . . . . . 227
9.3.2 Slowing Down below the First Collision Interval . . . . . 231
9.4 Resonance Escape Probability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
viii CONTENTS

9.4.1 Effective Resonance Integral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

9.4.2 Energy Self-Shielding Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
9.4.3 Wide Resonance Approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
9.4.4 Probability Table or Subgroup Method . . . . . . . . . . 240
9.5 Doppler Broadening of Resonances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
9.5.1 Qualitative Description of Doppler Broadening . . . . . . 243
9.5.2 Analytical Treatment of Doppler Broadening . . . . . . . 244
9.6 Fermi Age Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
9.7 Comments on Lattice Physics Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

10 Perturbation Theory and Adjoint Flux 255

10.1 Operator Notation for Neutron Diffusion Equation . . . . . . . . 256
10.2 Adjoint Operator and Adjoint Flux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
10.3 First-Order Perturbation Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
10.4 Adjoint Flux for Control Rod Worth Calculation . . . . . . . . . 261
10.5 Adjoint Flux for Variational Formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
10.6 Adjoint Flux for Detector Response Calculation . . . . . . . . . . 264
10.7 Adjoint Formulation for Flux Perturbation Calculation . . . . . . 266
10.8 Concluding Remarks on Adjoint Flux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

11 Lattice Physics Analysis of Heterogeneous Cores 273

11.1 Material Heterogeneity and Flux Distribution in Unit Cell . . . . 275
11.2 Neutronic Advantages of Fuel Lumping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
11.3 Diffusion Theory Model for Thermal Utilization . . . . . . . . . 281
11.4 Improved Method for Thermal Disadvantage Factor . . . . . . . 286
11.4.1 Blackness or Simplified Collision Probability Method . . 287
11.4.2 Amouyal-Benoist-Horowitz Method . . . . . . . . . . . 287
11.5 Resonance Escape Probability for Heterogeneous Cell . . . . . . 291
11.5.1 Spatial Self-Shielding for Heterogeneous Unit Cell . . . . 291
11.5.2 Engineering Approaches for Resonance Integral . . . . . 295
11.5.3 Implementation in the CPM-3 Code . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
11.6 Thermal Spectrum Calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
11.6.1 Wigner-Wilkins Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
11.6.2 Qualitative Behavior of Thermal Neutron Spectrum . . . 301
11.7 Integral Transport Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
11.8 B1 Formulation for Spectrum Calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
11.8.1 Basic Structure of B1 Formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
11.8.2 Numerical Solution of B1 Equations . . . . . . . . . . . 309
11.9 Lattice Physics Methodology for Fast Reactor . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Visit https://ebookmass.com today to explore
a vast collection of ebooks across various
genres, available in popular formats like
PDF, EPUB, and MOBI, fully compatible with
all devices. Enjoy a seamless reading
experience and effortlessly download high-
quality materials in just a few simple steps.
Plus, don’t miss out on exciting offers that
let you access a wealth of knowledge at the
best prices!
 CONTENTS ix

11.9.1 Bondarenko Formulation for Self-Shielding Factor . . . . 312

11.9.2 MC2 -3 Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
11.9.3 ERANOS System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
11.10 Monte Carlo Lattice Physics Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
11.11 Overall Reactor Physics Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

12 Nuclear Fuel Cycle Analysis and Management 323

12.1 Nuclear Fuel Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
12.2 Key Nuclide Chains for Nuclear Fuel Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
12.3 Fuel Depletion Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
12.3.1 Fuel Depletion Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
12.3.2 Solution of Pointwise Depletion Equation . . . . . . . . . 331
12.3.3 Fuel Depletion Equation in Global MGD Calculation . . 333
12.3.4 Simple Model for Fuel Burnup Estimation . . . . . . . . 336
12.4 Equilibrium Cycle and Mass Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
12.4.1 Nuclide Balance Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
12.4.2 Material Flow Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
12.4.3 REBUS Equilibrium Inventory Calculation . . . . . . . . 341
12.5 Simplified Cycling Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
12.5.1 Reactivity-Based Instant Cycling Method . . . . . . . . . 343
12.5.2 Application of Instant Cycling Method . . . . . . . . . . 344
12.6 Fission Product Xenon Buildup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
12.6.1 Mechanism for 135 Xe Production and Balance Equation . 350
12.6.2 Time-Domain Solution of Xe-I Balance Equation . . . . 351
12.6.3 Effect of Samarium Buildup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
12.7 General Incore Management Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
12.7.1 Reactivity Variation over Fuel Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . 355
12.7.2 Thermal-Hydraulic Feedback and Power Distribution . . 356
12.7.3 Control Requirements for Light Water Reactor . . . . . . 357
12.7.4 Power Distribution Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
12.8 Radioactive Waste and Used Nuclear Fuel Management . . . . . 360
12.8.1 Classification of Radioactive Waste . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
12.8.2 Characteristics of Radioactive Waste . . . . . . . . . . . 362
12.8.3 Status of Used Nuclear Fuel Inventory . . . . . . . . . . 364
12.8.4 Partition and Transmutation of Waste . . . . . . . . . . . 365
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

13 Thermal-Hydraulic Analysis of Reactor Systems 373

13.1 Empirical Laws for Energy and Momentum Transport . . . . . . 375
13.1.1 Fourier’s Law of Heat Conduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
x CONTENTS

13.1.2 Newton’s Law of Viscosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

13.1.3 Newton’s Law of Cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
13.2 Derivation of Fluid Conservation Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
13.2.1 Equation of Continuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
13.2.2 Equation of Motion and Navier-Stokes Equation . . . . . 379
13.2.3 Equations of Energy Conservation . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
13.2.4 Comments on Fluid Conservation Equations . . . . . . . 385
13.3 Simple Solutions of Fluid Conservation Equations . . . . . . . . 385
13.3.1 Heat Conduction in Cylindrical Fuel Rod . . . . . . . . . 393
13.3.2 Heat Conduction through Composite Wall . . . . . . . . 395
13.3.3 Forced Convection in Laminar Flow . . . . . . . . . . . 398
13.3.4 Velocity Distribution in Turbulent Flow . . . . . . . . . . 401
13.3.5 Friction Factor and Hydraulic Diameter . . . . . . . . . . 403
13.4 Conservation Equations for Channel Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
13.4.1 Equation of Continuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
13.4.2 Equation of Motion and Pressure Drop . . . . . . . . . . 404
13.4.3 Equation of Energy Conservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
13.5 Axial Temperature Distribution in Reactor Core . . . . . . . . . . 406
13.5.1 Power Distribution and Heat Flux in Reactor Core . . . . 407
13.5.2 Axial Temperature Profile in PWR Core . . . . . . . . . 409
13.5.3 Axial Temperature Profile in BWR Core . . . . . . . . . 411
13.5.4 Hot Channel Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
13.6 Boiling Heat Transfer and Two-Phase Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
13.6.1 Pool Boiling Regimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
13.6.2 Flow Boiling Regimes and Two-Phase Flow Patterns . . . 418
13.6.3 Homogeneous Equilibrium Flow Model . . . . . . . . . 420
13.6.4 Slip Flow Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
13.6.5 Drift Flux Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
13.7 Thermal Hydraulic Limitations and Power Capability . . . . . . . 430
13.7.1 DNB Ratio and Number of Fuel Rods Reaching DNB . . 431
13.7.2 Non-Uniform Heat Flux Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
13.7.3 Iterative Determination of DNB Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . 435
13.7.4 Power Capability Determination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
13.8 Thermal-Hydraulic Models for Nuclear Plant Analysis . . . . . . 438
13.8.1 Light Water Reactor System Modeling Codes . . . . . . . 438
13.8.2 Subchannel Analysis Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
13.8.3 Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . 445
13.8.4 Containment Analysis Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445
13.8.5 Computational Fluid Dynamics Codes . . . . . . . . . . 446
13.9 Comments on Thermal-Hydraulic Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
 CONTENTS xi

14 Power Coefficients of Reactivity 455

14.1 Physical Phenomena Affecting Core Reactivity . . . . . . . . . . 456
14.2 Relationship between Reactivity Coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . 458
14.3 Two-Group Representation of Reactivity Feedback . . . . . . . . 459
14.4 Parametric Dependence of LWR Reactivity Coefficients . . . . . 461
14.5 Reactivity Coefficients in Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor . . . . . . 463
14.6 Reactivity Feedback Model for Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor . . . 466
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469

15 Nuclear Energy Economics 471

15.1 Electrical Energy Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
15.2 Overview of Engineering Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
15.3 Calculation of Nuclear Electricity Generation Cost . . . . . . . . 476
15.3.1 Capital Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476
15.3.2 Fuel Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
15.3.3 Operation and Maintenance Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
15.3.4 Decommissioning Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
15.4 Impact of Increased Capital and O&M Costs . . . . . . . . . . . 483
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486

16 Space-Time Kinetics and Reactor Control 489

16.1 Space-Time Reactor Kinetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
16.1.1 Numerical Solution of Space-Time Kinetics Equation . . 491
16.1.2 Direct Solution of Space-Time Kinetics Equation . . . . . 491
16.1.3 Quasi-static Formulation of Kinetics Equation . . . . . . 492
16.1.4 Reactivity Determination from Multiple Detectors . . . . 495
16.2 Space-Time Power Oscillations due to Xenon Poisoning . . . . . 499
16.2.1 Modal Analysis of Space-Time Xenon-Power Oscillations 500
16.2.2 Stability of Space-Time Xenon-Power Oscillations . . . . 504
16.2.3 Space-Time Xenon-Power Oscillations in X-Y plane . . . 510
16.3 Time-Optimal Reactor Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
16.3.1 Optimal Control of Xenon-Induced Transients . . . . . . 512
16.3.2 Control of Spatial Xenon Oscillations . . . . . . . . . . . 516
16.4 Model-Based Reactor Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
16.4.1 Linear Quadratic Regulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
16.4.2 H2 Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523
16.4.3 H∞ Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525
16.4.4 Augmented Plant Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
16.5 Alternate Reactor Control Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
16.6 Kalman Filtering for Optimal System Estimation . . . . . . . . . 534
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536
xii CONTENTS

Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540

17 Elements of Neutron Transport Theory 543

17.1 Collision Probability Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
17.1.1 Integral Transport Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544
17.1.2 Reciprocity Relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546
17.1.3 Transport Kernel and Collision Probability . . . . . . . . 547
17.2 First-Flight Escape Probability and Dirac Chord Method . . . . . 549
17.3 Flux Depression Calculation and Blackness . . . . . . . . . . . . 554
17.3.1 Escape Probability and Flux Depression Factor . . . . . . 554
17.3.2 Net Escape Probability and Collision Probability . . . . . 556
17.3.3 Dancoff Factor for Fuel Lattice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557
17.4 Numerical Solution of Neutron Transport Equation . . . . . . . . 559
17.4.1 Collision Probability Calculation for Annular Geometry . 560
17.4.2 Discrete Ordinates Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
17.4.3 Method of Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566
17.4.4 Monte Carlo Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572
Appendix A: Key Physical Constants 575
Appendix B: Comparison of Major Reactor Types 577
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578
Appendix C: Special Mathematical Functions 581
C.1 Gamma Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581
C.2 Legendre Polynomial and Spherical Harmonics . . . . . . . . . . 583
C.3 Bessel Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
C.4 Dirac Delta Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588
Appendix D: Integral Transforms 591
D.1 Laplace Transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
D.2 Fourier Transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592
D.3 Jordan’s Lemma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594
Appendix E: Calculus of Variation for Optimal Control Formulation 595
E.1 Euler-Lagrange and Hamilton Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
E.2 Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602
Appendix F: Kalman Filter Algorithm 603
F.1 Linear Kalman Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603
F.2 Unscented Kalman Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606
 CONTENTS xiii

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608

Answers to Selected Problems 609

Index 621
PREFACE

The book has been developed to introduce undergraduate and graduate students in
nuclear engineering, as well as practicing engineers, to basic concepts of nuclear
reactor physics and applications of the concepts to the analysis, design, control,
and operation of nuclear reactors. The basic concepts are discussed and the
associated mathematical formulations presented with the understanding that the
reader has solid background in differential equations and linear algebra. A focus
is placed on the use of neutron diffusion theory, with a minimum use of the
neutron transport equation, for the development of techniques for lattice physics
and global reactor system studies. When the neutron transport equation is used,
effort is made to stay with one-dimensional forms of the Boltzmann equation
and Legendre polynomials, without invoking the full-blown three-dimensional
Boltzmann equation and spherical harmonics. Recent developments in numerical
algorithms, including the Krylov subspace method, and the MATLAB software,
including the Simulink toolbox, are discussed for efficient studies of steady-state
and transient rector configurations. In addition, nuclear fuel cycle and associated
economics analysis are presented, together with the application of modern control
theory to reactor operation. A self-contained derivation of fluid conservation
equations is presented, together with relevant examples, so that the material could

xiv
 PREFACE xv

be used in a sequence of courses in nuclear reactor physics and engineering to

cover thermal-hydraulic analysis of nuclear systems.
The overall structure of the book allows the coverage of fundamental concepts
and tools necessary for nuclear reactor physics studies with the first half of the book
up to Chapter 10, as it is usually done in a one-semester senior nuclear engineering
course at the University of Michigan. Some of the remaining chapters of the book
could be covered in a follow-up semester in the undergraduate curriculum or in
graduate courses; Chapters 16 and 17 could likely be covered in separate courses
dealing with nuclear reactor kinetics and reactor design analysis, respectively, The
author sincerely hopes that the book will augment and update several excellent
textbooks that have been used in the nuclear science and engineering curriculum
in the United States and elsewhere for the first half century of nuclear energy
development.
The material for the book has originated from several reactor physics and engi-
neering courses that the author has taught over the past 45 years at the University
of Michigan and also on a part-time basis at the Korea Advanced Institute of Sci-
ence and Technology and Pohang University of Science and Technology. Some
of the material also reflects industrial experience he gained through his early em-
ployments at Westinghouse Electric Corporation and General Electric Company.
Selection of the topics and presentation of the material have greatly benefited from
discussions with the students in and outside the classroom and the author wishes
to express appreciation to a generation of bright, young students at all of the three
institutions.
In addition, the author acknowledges help and support from a number of current
and former students including Matthew Krupcale and Junjie Guo. He offers thanks
for help and encouragement from his mentors, the late Professors Thomas Pigford,
John King, and William Kerr, as well as his colleagues including William Martin,
Ziya Akcasu, James Duderstadt, the late Professor Glenn Knoll, Thomas Downar,
Won Sik Yang, Volkan Seker, Frederick Buckman, and David Wehe. Special
appreciation is expressed to the late Professor Byung Ho Lee for introducing the
author to the beauty and challenges of nuclear reactor physics and to Professor
Hans M. Mark for providing opportunities for graduate study at Berkeley during
the exciting days of the free speech movement. Finally, he offers thanks to his
wife Theresa and daughter Nina for their loving care and support.

September 2019

John C. Lee
Ann Arbor, Michigan
PERMISSIONS AND COPYRIGHTS

Many figures and tables in this book have been reproduced from copyrighted
sources. Permission from the publishers and authors for the use of the material is
gratefully acknowledged. Some of the sources are directly identified in captions
and footnotes, while many others are cited by alphanumeric references. Citations
for these sources are listed below:
Convective Boiling and Condensation, J.G. Collier
Copyright © 1972 by McGraw-Hill. Figure 13.17.
Nuclear Reactor Kinetics, 2nd edition, M. Ash
Copyright © 1979 by McGraw-Hill. Figure 8.15.
Mathematical Methods for Physicist: A Comprehensive Guide, 7th ed., G.B.
Arfken, J.J. Weber, and F.E. Harris
Copyright © 2013 by Academic Press. Figures C.1, C.2, C.3, C.4.
Nuclear Science and Engineering
Copyright ©1956, 1957, 1980, 1982, 1989, 1993, 2015, by Taylor & Francis
Group, LLC, 530 Walnut Street, Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Figures 9.8,
10.5, 16.5, 16.6, 16.14, 16.15, 16.16, 16.19, 16.20, 16.23.
Nuclear Technology
Copyright ©1978 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, 530 Walnut Street, Suite 850,
Philadelphia, PA 19106. Figures 10.3, 10.4.
xvi
 PERMISSIONS AND COPYRIGHTS xvii

A number of figures and a table were also obtained from publications of various
US government agencies and laboratories and other open-source publications:
Figures 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 1.12, 1.13, 1.14, 1.15, 1.16,
1.17,1.18, 1.19, 11.8, 13.10, 13.26, 14.4, 16.11, Table 12.5.
List of Tables

1.1 Key features of three Generation IV plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

2.1 Fission energy breakdown for 233 U, 235 U, 238 U, 239 Pu, and 241 Pu 33
2.2 Delayed neutron data for U233 , U235 , Pu239 , Pu241 , and U238 . . . 35
2.3 Contents of Evaluated Nuclear Data File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5.1 Thermal diffusion properties of moderators . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
5.2 Flux and geometric buckling for bare reactors . . . . . . . . . . . 122
5.3 Number densities and microscopic cross sections for PWR core . . 122
5.4 Macroscopic cross sections and absorption rates . . . . . . . . . . 122
11.1 Extrapolation distance for a black cylinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
11.2 Comparison of thermal-group lattice parameters . . . . . . . . . . 290
12.1 Comparison of breeding parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
12.2 Evolution of uniform three-batch core . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
12.3 Evolution of non-uniform three-batch core . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
12.4 Components of excess reactivity for LWR . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
12.5 Dose risk factors for used nuclear fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
13.1 Fluid conservation equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386
13.2 Generalized form of fluid transport equations . . . . . . . . . . . 387
13.3 Thermal-hydraulic parameters of AP600 and SBWR . . . . . . . 427
14.1 Representative feedback coefficients and temperature rises . . . . 467
15.1 Capital cost estimate for 1.0 GWe LWR plant . . . . . . . . . . . 476
15.2 Cost estimates for nuclear fuel cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480
16.1 Stability index measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
17.1 Escape probability as a function of mean chord length . . . . . . . 554
A.1 Key physical constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
B.1 Key features of major reactor types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579
C.1 Legendre polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584
C.2 Zeros of the Bessel functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586
D.1 Short table of Laplace transforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593
D.2 Short table of Fourier transforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594
E.1 Phase plane solution for Example E.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600
E.2 Phase plane solution for Example E.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602

xviii
Visit https://ebookmass.com today to explore
a vast collection of ebooks across various
genres, available in popular formats like
PDF, EPUB, and MOBI, fully compatible with
all devices. Enjoy a seamless reading
experience and effortlessly download high-
quality materials in just a few simple steps.
Plus, don’t miss out on exciting offers that
let you access a wealth of knowledge at the
best prices!
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
passed away, with other beautiful things, in the numbing
surroundings of a fashionable life.
At last the carriage stopped at the entrance of a dingy street in a
region where "apartments" looked out from almost every window.
The lady would not suffer her new friends to take her to her own
door, and they possessed sufficient refinement of feeling to refrain
from pressing the point. She seemed even to shrink from the
prospect of any further acquaintance.
"We live in different worlds," she said with a sad smile when Adèle,
in her girlish enthusiasm, pressed her to allow them at least to
inquire after her. For Adèle was almost as much in love as her
cousin, certainly more gushingly so; but there was no possibility of
resisting the quiet firmness with which all efforts after further
intimacy were set aside by the lady they had helped.
With warm thanks she bade them farewell, but they both noticed,
with youth's sympathetic insight, that her eyelids drooped as though
she had been weary, and her lips slightly quivered before she turned
away.
Adèle's eyes filled with tears, and Arthur had to swallow a most
uncomfortable lump that seemed to impede his utterance. Then the
cousins became more sympathetic than they had ever been before
in discussing their adventure and forming theory after theory about
the mysterious stranger.
But Adèle was the talker, Arthur the listener, and perhaps his cousin's
conversation had never before been so much to his mind.

CHAPTER III.

A WOMAN FACE TO FACE WITH THE WORLD.

 How tedious, false, and cold seem all things! I
Have met with much injustice in this world.

Choking back the tears that seemed as if they would well forth from
a fountain that had long been sealed, Margaret Grey turned from her
companions of an hour to go home. To a very desolate home in
truth. Walled in and bricked out from the fair sights and sounds of
Nature, even the sunbeams as they touched it seemed only to reveal
its dinginess.
But four walls cannot make a home, any more than a casket can
enrich its jewelled contents. The most desolate exterior may be
endeared by what it holds. It might be so with Margaret's home, yet
no light came into her pale face as she caught sight of her dwelling.
For a moment she even hesitated—it seemed bitter to meet its dull
blankness—only a moment; then with a half smile at her own
weakness she walked languidly up a few dirty steps and rang the
bell.
It was answered by a servant in keeping with the steps, and passing
her by, Margaret went into her rooms. They consisted of a bed- and
sitting-room, separated by folding doors. The sitting-room was very
much what the exterior of the house had promised—very dull, very
shabby. A cracked mirror was over the chimney-piece, its frame
carefully veiled by yellow muslin that had lost its primal brightness. A
chandelier in the centre of the room was also enveloped with the
same dingy covering. A few shells and gay china ornaments were
scattered about on unsteady stands. On a table beside the window
was a group of dusty-looking paper flowers.
Tea was laid, the one cup and saucer telling their pathetic tale of a
lonely life. Margaret had left her lodgings that morning, desperate
with the feeling that either her eyes and her senses must have some
relief or her mind must give way. When she returned and looked
round her once more, she began to fear that her experiment had
been worse than useless. The force of contrast had increased the
bitterness of her lot.
She sank wearily into a stiff pretence of an arm-chair, and began
again thinking out the problem that beauty and dreariness alike
presented to her mind—the uncertain future. And then came over
her like a flood the vision of days and years without hope, without
joy. Burying her face in her hands, she gave way for a few moments
to unrestrained weeping. It was an unwonted exercise, for Margaret
was brave, and none of the last and deepest bitterness, that of
remorse, cast its shadow on her retrospect of the past. Thoughtless
she might have been, sinning she was not: of this thing the secret
court of her inner consciousness, so pitiless to the true offender, had
freely acquitted her.
It would be a long story to tell what it was that overcame Margaret
Grey till she sobbed out her sadness alone in the stillness of the May
evening. Partly, perhaps, the squalor of her present surroundings, for
the beautiful face and form encased a soul attuned to highest
harmonies; partly the sweet womanly sympathy, which she had
looked upon only and then put resolutely away from her; partly the
daily pinpricks of disappointment and repulse that she had
encountered in prosecuting the business which had led her to
London. For, like a multitude of helpless women, Margaret was on
the look-out for employment.
She had one little girl, a child about six years of age. With such a
sweet tie children-lovers might wonder at her utter desolation.
Strange to say, this tie, so sweet to many, was to her more of a care
than a pleasure. The future of her little one weighed heavily on her
mind.
In the lonely seaside village where she had left her it would be
scarcely possible to educate her to fill the position that might be
hers in the future. Margaret's scanty means did not allow her to
think of a residence in town, or of the expenses of a school
education for her daughter, unless, indeed, she could earn the
necessary money.
Hence her visit to London. She had been well educated herself; of
course her first thought was that by educating others she could pay
for the education of her child. If she had loved her little one very
much, perhaps she would have judged differently. She might have
thought it better to make a home for her child in any spot, however
lonely, feeling that the lack of some accomplishment would be well
compensated by the refining influence of a mother's constant love
and care.
But Margaret did not love her child so deeply as to find her presence
a sweet necessity. There was a cloud over her motherhood, which
robbed it of some of its fair charm. Duty to her child, not pleasure in
her, was her one idea of the tie that alone, at this period of her
history, bound her to life. It was this made her anxiety that,
whatever her own lot might be, Laura should have every advantage
in the way of education and training. And with the anxiety came the
need for exertion. Up to the moment when the child's growth and
development made the mother think of that bugbear of mothers—
her education—Margaret had not been troubled with any money
difficulties. She had lived in her retirement, the one trouble of her
life wrapping her in its gloomy folds, but with no care for the
provision of herself and her child in the future. Suddenly,
inexplicably, one source of income had failed. Margaret had not been
accustomed to trouble herself about money: the sufficient came to
her—that was all she required to know—and this poverty was a new
and dreadful thing which she found it very difficult to realize.
She tried to fathom the mystery, but it eluded her; only this
remained as a hard fact: eighty pounds a year was all she received
or seemed likely to receive, and Laura had to be educated.
The spirit of self-sacrifice is strong in some women; it was very
strong in Margaret. She had loved her solitude by the great sea, and
had succeeded in making it almost pleasant. There she pondered
and wept and hoped; there, if anywhere, she thought that her trial
must end. She would not enter the great world, to be swamped and
lost in its multitude. Hiding her loss where none could know and
none would blame, she would live in the midst of a savage loneliness
which seemed almost sympathetic to her mood.
This suited her, but would it do for Laura? Was she a fit companion
for her child, already dreamy and imaginative beyond her years? No,
Margaret told herself; and, leaving the little one in the care of the
woman from whom she hired their little cottage, she went to London
alone, to try and find some occupation for herself.
She had been directed to Islington as a cheap neighborhood; and
there she had stayed in a wretched lodging-house for about three
weeks—three ages to poor Margaret, filled with dismal memories of
humiliation and disappointment. She was reviewing it all that
evening—the rudeness, the repulses, the cruel cross-examinations;
for with these came the fresher scenes which that day had brought
—the chivalrous admiration that had shone out of Arthur's young
eyes, the gentle, womanly tenderness of Adèle.
Employers—so it seemed to poor Margaret; they were a very new
class to her—were cast in a different mould. It was their duty to ask
disagreeable questions and to probe unhealed wounds; it was their
duty to be stiff and cross, and not at all impressed with the outward
advantages which Margaret knew she possessed. It seemed very
hopeless, but she felt it necessary to persevere, at least for a little
while longer. The thought aroused her. She raised her head, and
became suddenly conscious of the fact of hunger. She had not eaten
a morsel since breakfast. No wonder, she thought, that faintness had
overpowered her. So she went into her bedroom and washed away
the traces of tears, that the dirty maid-of-all-work might not read her
weakness, then rang the bell to order an egg or something a little
more substantial than usual for her tea.
The girl came in, holding out a card that had not been improved, in
point of coloring, by its transit through her fingers. She informed
Margaret that a lady had left it half an hour ago with a message.
The message, not very lucidly delivered, was to the effect that the
lady whose name appeared in minute letters on the card would, in
all probability, call again in the course of the evening.
Poor Margaret! she looked at the card. "Mrs. Augustus Brown." It
had not a very encouraging sound, but it might mean business, and
business meant provision for Laura's needs. But the thought of the
impending interview had robbed her of all appetite; so, after hastily
swallowing a cup of tea with a dry biscuit, she again rang the bell,
had the tea-apparatus cleared away, and then sat by the window
trying to read.
The apparition of a yellow chariot which seemed to fill the narrow
street interrupted her, and before many minutes a thundering rap at
the door made her aware of the fact that the dreaded visitor was at
hand. Margaret's cheek burned. For one moment she longed
desperately for a refuge where she could hide her head from these
intrusions, then she remembered that she had invited them, and
strove to brace her nerves to endurance. When, therefore, the door
was thrown open to its fullest extent by the servant, who, never
having seen so grand a person in her life as Mrs. Augustus Brown,
thought it necessary to give her plenty of room, Margaret was
herself again—the heightened color the struggle had called forth
alone testifying to her recent emotion.
Mrs. Augustus Brown was a little round individual, almost as broad
as she was long, decked out in flounces and laces and ribbons: it
was one of the chief trials of her life that none of these things made
her look important. Mrs. Augustus Brown was governess-hunting, for
she possessed no less than seven small likenesses of herself, who
began to be unruly, and to require, as she would have expressed it,
a stricter hand over them.
And this governess-hunting was by no means an uncongenial
occupation to Mrs. Brown. It could not but be pleasing, especially as
the yellow chariot and its attendant luxuries were of comparatively
recent origin, to dash up to registry-offices and through quiet
streets, and to watch the effect produced on the untutored minds of
inferior persons by her brilliant tout ensemble. But as yet she had
not suited herself. In a governess, as she said, "tong" was essential;
her children would have to be brought up suitably, that they might
adorn the position Providence had evidently prepared for them, and
"tong" seemed to be a rare article in the market of female labor.
On the previous day Mrs. Augustus had dilated very largely upon this
point at a registry-office. She had been directed, in consequence, to
Mrs. Grey—a prize, as she was assured, in point of appearance and
manner. Curiosity was strong in Mrs. Brown. Certain allusions and
hints about Mrs. Grey's antecedents attracted her, and she lost no
time in looking her up; hence the apparition of the yellow chariot.
But Mrs. Augustus Brown has been left in the doorway to introduce
herself to Mrs. Grey. As she entered Margaret rose, with the true
instinct of a lady, and went forward to meet her, with a bow to which
her visitor did not deign to respond.
Mrs. Augustus Brown flattered herself that she had tact enough to
put people in their own places and keep them there—a notable piece
of wisdom, truly; the only difficulty being as to certain doubts about
what is the "own place." Were those rightly solved, perhaps a few
fine ladies would be slightly astonished by finding a level at some
unexpected layer of the social crust.
It was not Mrs. Brown's way to trouble herself with doubts. She
waddled across the room with great satisfaction to herself, but in a
manner that to the uninitiated could hardly have been called
dignified, sank down on a chair which directly faced Margaret, and
began divesting herself quietly of some of her wraps.
Never to appear too eager with any of these people was, in the code
of Mrs. Augustus, an essential point in their management. When this
business had been performed, and she had settled herself as
comfortably as might be in a not very luxurious arm-chair, Mrs.
Brown felt for a pair of gold-rimmed eye-glasses, adjusted them and
looked Margaret over from head to foot. "Bless me, how handsome!"
was her mental ejaculation: "my word for it, she's no good."
It was not wonderful that this coarse mind found it difficult to
understand the strange anomaly, for Margaret was one of those
rarely beautiful beings who seem only made for the tenderest
handling. Her face might have been a poet's ideal, for the traces of
suffering and conflict it only too plainly revealed had removed it far
from the meaningless glory of mere form and coloring; and yet she
was too young perhaps for these to have bereft her of any charm;
they rather endowed her pale fair beauty with a certain refinement,
an appealing pathos, which spoke powerfully to the imagination.
She possessed a form, too, whose every line was perfect, well
developed, yet fragile—womanly, yet full of grace. And the deep
crimson which Mrs. Brown's studied rudeness had called to her face
heightened the effect of her beauty.
She sat before her visitor, her eyes cast down, her hands crossed in
her lap, like a fair Greek slave in the barbarian's market-place,
waiting for the decree of fate.
It was a relief when Mrs. Augustus Brown began to give her
attention to the ponderous carriage-bag in her hand. Some of its
fastenings, being the latest patents and the height of convenience,
were difficult to manage.
"Your name," she said, hunting for a letter—"ah, here it is!—Mrs.
Grey."
Margaret bowed, shivering slightly. That fatal emphasis. This was the
way in which the inquisitions generally began.
Mrs. Augustus here coughed slightly, and looked over her gold-
rimmed spectacles in a way intended to be severe. Alas! how we
deceive ourselves! The look was only comic. "A married woman, I
presume?"
Margaret bowed again.
Here Mrs. Brown consulted a set of ivory tablets: "With one little girl,
I am told, and small income, anxious to make enough for her
education. Is this correct?"
"Perfectly so, madam."
"A very laudable object: then, Mrs. Grey, you are, I presume, a
widow?"
There was a moment's hesitation. Margaret pressed her hand to her
side as if she were in pain, and Mrs. Augustus eyed her suspiciously:
"My question, Mrs. Grey, is a simple one."
"And my answer, madam, can be equally simple. I am not a widow."
"Not a widow!" Mrs. Brown drew back her chair and took another
long look—one that expressed incredulous horror. "Not a widow! And
pray, Mrs. Grey, where is your husband?"
In spite of herself, Margaret smiled feebly, but the smile was a
nervous one. She looked up and shook her head: "I am sorry to say,
madam, that I cannot tell."
"Then," and Mrs. Brown again receded, as if to put as much space
as possible between herself and this naughty person—"then, Mrs.
Grey, you are separated from your husband?"
"I am."
The answer was spoken in a low, clear voice, very calmly, but with a
certain intonation of sadness that would have struck upon a more
sensitive ear. To Mrs. Augustus Brown this very quietness of
demeanor was in the highest degree brazen. She fluttered her fan,
drew herself up to her full height, and looked virtuous as a Roman
matron (in her own opinion, be it said parenthetically).
"You seem strangely forgetful, Mrs. Grey, of the importance of the
position which you seek to fill in my household. With the utmost
coolness you describe yourself as a woman living separated from her
husband. Goodness knows why. For all I can tell, you may have done
something very wrong." Here Mrs. Brown coughed and hid an
imaginary blush behind her fan. "And yet," she continued, when the
blush had been given time to fade, "you wish to take the entire
charge of little innocents, the eldest of whom is only ten, and seven
of them. I had my children so quick." Here Mrs. Brown lost her
thread. To mothers of large families these reminiscences are always
bewildering.
Margaret's eyes were looking very weary; she filled up the pause:
"Perhaps it would be better then to inquire no farther. From what
you say I fear that I shall scarcely suit you." She rose as she spoke.
Mrs. Brown did not take the hint; she remained where she was,
rooted to the place by sheer astonishment. For a young woman to
make so light of such a position as that of governess in her family
was an unheard-of thing. But Mrs. Grey rose in her estimation from
that moment. Then she was curious. "Sit down again, my dear," she
said in a manner that was intended to be gracious. "Mrs. Townley
spoke highly of you, and you certainly look a respectable person. I'm
not one always to blame my own sex. I believe in these affairs the
men are very often in fault. You may not be aware that Mr. Augustus
Brown and myself consider salary no object, and masters for every
branch. Rudiments and style, Mrs. Grey, and of course character
with children, you understand. If it were as my confidential maid,
now, I might not be so particular; but, unfortunately, the young
person I have I brought from Paris, and can't get rid of her under
three months. Not half so handy as I was given to understand."
She fluttered her fan again, and waited for an answer. Margaret
hesitated. Had she consulted her own inclinations she would have
refused decidedly to have anything further to do with this vulgar
woman. Already she felt by anticipation what the yoke of servitude
in such a house as hers would be; but Laura—the high salary. The
servitude, though bitter, might be shortened. It ended in a
compromise. "Will you be kind enough to allow me a day or two's
delay?" she asked. "I have friends who will certainly not refuse to
give me the necessary references; but I have not seen many of
them for some time, and they do not know of my present position."
Mrs. Augustus Brown got up, her dignity gone for the time in her
anxiety to make this striking-looking person one of her household.
"Yes, yes," she said, "that's the best plan; I'm sick of looking up
governesses—one more pasty-looking and unstylish than the other—
and I fancy you'll suit. Let me hear soon, for the children get more
headstrong every day. I'm too gentle with them. And then so much
in society. Why, we have three engagements of an evening
sometimes, turning night into day, I say. And the servants can no
more manage them than fly. I shall lose my health, as I tell Mr.
Brown, if I'm referred to every hour of the day by servants and
children. Too great a strain, Mrs. Grey. Well, good-bye, my dear."
She waddled off to the yellow chariot, and Margaret was left alone—
headstrong children, references, explanations, pictures and
unexpected kindness making one great riot in her brain. She went to
bed early that night, and the events of the day grouped themselves
together into fantastic dreams.
In the brain of Mrs. Augustus Brown one thought was pre-eminent;
it haunted her among the cream-colored cushions of the yellow
chariot, was present in the drawing-room, slightly interfering with
her mild contemplation of the sleeping face of a sandy-haired
individual on the sofa; it followed her even to the marital couch,
mingling with her dreams.
"She's mighty handsome: I hope to goodness Brown won't fall in
love with her."
Brown was calmly unconscious of this want of conjugal trust. Had he
known to what it bore reference, he might have been slightly
excited, for Mr. Augustus, though his hair was sandy and his nose a
decided snub, was an admirer of female beauty, and considered
himself highly irresistible. Mrs. Brown was totally unaware of this
fact.
"After years of life together" they were, on this point at least,
"strangers yet."
Sentimental young ladies, who croon over these pathetic words,
thinking perhaps, with an approach to soft melancholy, of the
desolation reserved for themselves in the future, when, their finest
feelings unappreciated, they must shut themselves up in mystery,
might learn a lesson from Mr. and Mrs. Augustus.
To be "strangers yet" on some points with that nearest and dearest,
the unappreciative husband of the future, may possibly be conducive
to harmony rather than desolation.

CHAPTER IV.

MORNING THOUGHTS—A RESOLVE TAKEN.

Soul of our souls and safeguard of the world,

Sustain—Thou only canst—the sick of heart!
Restore their languid spirits, and recall
Their lost affections unto Thee and Thine.

Margaret awoke early the next morning. It was a sad waking. For
the first moment she could have wished to shut her eyes again,
never to open them more in this world. Life looked so blank. And
what wonder?
However brave the spirit, it must be affected by its surroundings,
and to open one's eyes in a stifling room, with the consciousness
that the raised blind will show nothing but a dingy yard, and beyond
and on every side of it deserts of dingy yards, the yards shut in by
black-looking houses, in all of which the like stifling rooms may
reasonably be expected to be found, is, to say the least of it,
disheartening.
Margaret's troubles in the little cottage by the seaside, of which she
fondly thought as home, had not been less; but there was
something in the wide breadths of sea, in its fresh curling waves and
in the grand expanse of sky to soothe the dull aching of heart and
brain, to give scope to the great doctrine of possibilities, and
freedom to dreams that sometimes appeared wild and unreal.
Here it was different. In the narrowness of wall and enclosure life
itself was narrowed down till it seemed nothing but a dreary blank of
good; in the dull monotony of wood and brick what had been
melancholy became bitterness, what had been prayers for help and
guidance became one passionate outcry against Providence—one
bitter complaint against what the tortured heart too often calls cruel
fate.
Young curates are fond of preaching about resignation, notifying to
their aged friends the desirability of persevering to the end. I think if
ever they come to feel this, that Fate and all her myrmidons are
against them, that life is cruel beyond measure, that even faith itself
can find no standing-point, they will speak less on this strange, sad
theme; but when the victory has been won, when fate and necessity
have taken a true place for them in the economy of nature, what
they say will be worth far more.
The first discouragement gone by, Margaret felt that she must act,
and then came the consciousness that something very disagreeable
was before her. She had promised Mrs. Brown to set herself right
with her as far as character was concerned, and for this it would be
necessary to give references.
A new trouble, and, strange to say, unthought of before. Margaret
was little used to the ways of the world: she had hitherto cherished
a vague notion that to present herself would be sufficient for the
attainment of her object. That she was a lady she imagined (and in
this she was not mistaken) could be seen at a glance.
That a lady's character should be looked into like a servant's had not
entered into her mind as a necessary part of that to which those
who seek for employment must subject themselves. And yet her
common sense told her, as she thought it all over in the gray of early
morning, that this was perfectly right, and only what she ought to
have expected.
The necessity might certainly have been more delicately revealed
than by Mrs. Augustus Brown; but Margaret, in her morning review
of ways and means, thoroughly recognized the justice of the
demand. To answer it was none the less a great difficulty to one of
her nature. The long separation from all her friends, who before and
after her marriage had been very numerous; the solitary nature of
her life during the last four years; above all, that cloud, barely
acknowledged even to herself, which rested on her fair fame (she
could not tell if it had affected her in the opinion of her former
world, if many-tongued Rumor had magnified it),—all these things
made her task a very difficult one, and as she thought she felt
inclined to give up the struggle, to return to her lonely lot and do
her best for her child herself.
She had almost come to this conclusion, even the note refusing Mrs.
Brown's magnanimous offer was written in her mind, when suddenly
an idea flitted across her brain which caused her to hesitate. The
thought was of one who in all probability would stand her friend,
whose word was worth something, and who knew enough of the
circumstances of her history to render it unnecessary for her to
enter into painful details.
The friend was a lawyer, the man who managed her affairs. He was
well known to her, not so much personally as in a business capacity,
and she felt great confidence in his friendliness and judgment. Then
she knew that he held a high position, especially in the religious
world. Before she rose she had decided at least to consult Mr.
Robinson.
If he thought his reference would be sufficient guarantee of
respectability to ensure her an entrance into the carefully guarded
fold of Mrs. Augustus Brown, she would try to obtain the position; if
not, she would make no further effort.

CHAPTER V.
 FOUND—A FRIEND.

Most delicately hour by hour

He canvassed human mysteries,
And trod on silk, as if the winds
Blew his own praises in his eyes,
And stood aloof from other minds
In impotence of fancied power.

Mr. Robinson was a man whom women trusted almost instinctively,

for, in the first place, he was tall and well made, possessing the
advantage of strong, square shoulders and straight, capable-looking
legs.
A rogue, especially in the lawyer world, is apt to be thought of as a
man of small type, with sharp features, sallow complexion and little,
piercing eyes.
Mr. Robinson was florid in complexion, large and muscular in type,
fair and frank in manner. He had a way of speaking about business
as if everything he did might, with no drawback to himself, remain
open for the inspection of men and angels; perhaps best of all, at
least so far as ladies and clergymen were concerned, was the
pleasing habit he possessed of throwing religion into everything:
testamentary dispositions, settlements, conveyancing, chancery
suits, all could be conveniently ticketed with a text, and laid away in
the capacious recesses of Mr. Robinson's memory, to be brought out
on some suitable occasion as notable proofs of his own high position
in the favor of Providence.
Mr. Robinson was married. He had thought it incumbent on him to
leave progeny on the earth when, to use his lightly-spoken phrase,
"himself should be gathered to his fathers." That he possessed, or
had once possessed, a father, was a self-evident fact. With regard to
the plural number some might be tempted to ejaculate, "The
fathers! where are they?" but these were skeptical individuals,
verging no doubt on infidelity, for Mr. Robinson considered faith a
cardinal virtue, and possessed a genealogical tree which threw its
branches far and wide, and traced back to unknown antiquity, or at
least to William the Conqueror and Rollo the Norman, the ancestors
of the Robinson family, and of those who had been so happy as to
form any connection with it.
This famous specimen of art hung up in Mr. Robinson's office, and
was frequently exhibited in all its fulness of detail to lady-clients.
They were often obliging enough to interest themselves specially in
the lowest branch, where Mr. Robinson had written in a small clear
handwriting the names of six boys, happy fruit of wedlock, destined
no doubt to be illustrious, and—not elevate; that would scarcely be
possible, considering their antecedents, but—preserve the character
of the Robinson family and honor its traditions.
"In the mean time," Mr. Robinson would say, opening the account-
book, settlement or will which his lady-client had come to consult,
and laughing out a clear hearty laugh which told of no arrière-
pensée, "I keep the young beggars in good order."
Mr. Robinson was always very busy. If clients, ladies principally, did
not happen to be with him during the whole morning, he had a vast
arrear of letters to finish. He therefore possessed a large gloomy-
looking room, where applicants for the favor of admission to a
private interview generally waited until he could be disengaged.
It was into this room that Margaret was shown when, her
determination having outlasted dressing and breakfast, she
presented herself to ask if she might see Mr. Robinson.
The clerk said that a gentleman was with Mr. Robinson, but no doubt
he would be disengaged presently. He took up her card, and
Margaret sat down in the waiting-room, rather glad of the
opportunity afforded her of collecting her thoughts, and considering
how she could open the subject, for, now that she was actually
bound on the errand of asking a guarantee of respectability from the
man she had hitherto looked upon simply as the person who sent
her money and transacted her business, it seemed rather harder
than she had imagined.
She had a longer time for preparation than she could have desired.
Mr. Robinson, as he afterward informed her, was literally
overwhelmed with work.
He rose when she entered, set a chair for her, then resumed his
own. His manner was nonchalant, even, some might have said,
unpolished in its freedom, as he expressed his pleasure at seeing
Mrs. Grey, and his hope that nothing unpleasant had brought her so
far from home.
Mr. Robinson was much commended for his easy natural manners,
but on this occasion, as on a few others, an acute observer might
have detected something of nervousness underlying his expansive
gestures.
When he had exhausted his vocabulary, Mrs. Grey spoke. Lifting her
veil, she fixed her soft brown eyes on Mr. Robinson's face. "I have
come to consult you," she said.
"Most happy, I am sure," he replied briskly—"any assistance in my
power. It was an unfortunate business. Happily, we secured enough
for maintenance."
"You allude to my losses, Mr. Robinson. I am, unfortunately, no
woman of business, so I have scarcely understood how it comes that
my income is so diminished; but I assure you that I have full
confidence in your judgment. Perhaps, as I have come, you will be
able to explain these matters to me."
"And delighted," he answered with some eagerness; "it is one of my
peculiar crotchets in business to keep all my clients very conversant
with their own affairs. Others act differently, but 'Do unto others,'
you know, is one of my chief rules. I live by rule, Mrs. Grey—the
highest of all rules, I hope. See here, now," and he laid his hand on
a pile of account-books, "this is a case in point. Mrs. Herbert, a
widow, large estates, before consulting me scarcely knew what she
possessed; now looks regularly over the books, spends an hour here
once a month. Danvers, again: young lady about to be married, sent
for me to draw up the settlement. 'You know all about me, Mr.
Robinson,' she said; 'draw it up as you like.' 'Excuse me, Miss
Danvers,' said I. 'I should prefer you to use your own judgment in
the matter.' She has done so, and in the course of conversation on
the subject has made some very sensible suggestions."
Mr. Robinson did not say to how many different interviews the
sensible suggestions had given rise; certainly, however, he had been
no loser by them.
"I could quote hundreds of instances, all tending the same way," he
continued.
Poor Margaret shook her head: "I am afraid I should find it very
difficult to understand."
"Not at all, not at all. Look here, now. What are you anxious to
know? I venture to say I'll make it clear to you before you leave this
room."
Margaret smiled. This man's frankness pleased her. His manner,
though a little unpolished, was, she thought, anything but
displeasing; then he seemed to understand business thoroughly.
Perhaps he would show that, after all, her affairs were not so
desperate as they seemed.
"I am first anxious to know what you mean by writing to me that
one of the mortgages has turned out badly," she said.
"Easy to explain," he answered, with a self-satisfied smile. "Only,
perhaps, by the bye, I shall have to begin with the A B C, as one
may say, and acquaint you with the nature of a mortgage."
"If you please, Mr. Robinson; I am afraid I am ignorant even to that
extent."
"So much the better, Mrs. Grey, so much the better: 'A little
knowledge'—you know the proverb. Ladies take up such ideas when
they know, as they imagine, something of business! I had far rather
deal with total ignorance on these points; but don't be discouraged.
We must begin at the very beginning. Forsaking business terms
altogether for the moment, I will, if you please, put this to you
simply. You take me, Mrs. Grey?" He smiled with a frankness that
was charming to behold. "Do at Rome as Rome does. With ladies
talk of business as they are able to understand."
Mrs. Grey smiled her acquiescence.
"Agreed," cried the lawyer effusively. "Well, then, to work. Say now,
by way of illustration"—he took a pencil as he spoke and drew a line,
writing A at the one end, B at the other and C in the centre—"A
represents a person who has a landed estate, houses, what not; B
has no landed property, but the value of A's estate in money. B
wants to put out his money in some safe way; A, who does not care
to sell his property, wants money; steps in C, the intermediate
person—a lawyer, we shall say—known to both parties. He
negotiates between them, finally arranging for B to lend his money
to A on the security of A's property. A deed of mortgage is then
drawn up, which makes the agreement binding. A has B's money,
pays a half-yearly interest, and if, after a six months' notice, the sum
originally lent is not forthcoming, A's property may be sold to make
good the default. Do you follow me, Mrs. Grey?"
"Perfectly, Mr. Robinson. You have made clear to me what I never
understood before; but under these circumstances I cannot see how
my money was actually lost. The property would always be there."
"True, Mrs. Grey." Mr. Robinson gave a somewhat peculiar smile. "I
am glad to see that you understand me so thoroughly; your
suggestion is in the highest degree practical; there is one
consideration, however, which we have not taken into account. Land,
unfortunately, depreciates in value, so that at times it would be
highly dangerous to the interests of the mortgagee to press a sale.
At other times the title of the mortgagor is not perfectly clear. All
these things should be carefully looked into beforehand. In your
case everything was done, but one cannot be always certain.
However, excuse me for correcting your slight inaccuracy. I think I
never said that this sum of money was lost. I like to be perfectly
certain on these points. Perhaps you can refer to the passage in my
letter in which I announced this unfortunate business."
He looked at her with some anxiety—nervousness perhaps an acute
observer might have said, but Margaret was not an acute observer.
She smiled and shook her head: "Quite impossible, Mr. Robinson. I
never keep my letters, especially business ones. I have been told
that this habit is a bad one; but à quoi bon? It is really too much
trouble."
The lawyer showed his teeth. "A lady's view of matters," he said
briskly; "and, after all, full of common sense. Why should you
trouble yourself? However, to return à nos moutongs, as the French
would say" (Mr. Robinson had spent a year in a French school, and
considered himself a perfect master of the language), "I am happy
to say that your affairs are likely to take a favorable turn. I have a
hold on the fellow for another little matter; indeed, I may say that
he is completely in my power. With your permission I will open
proceedings against him."
Mr. Robinson always spoke the truth—at least, as some one said in
the House of Commons lately, "what he thought the truth." But,
though his affairs were open to the inspection of men and angels, he
did not consider mental reservation a sin, even where it would
seriously affect the character of a truth which he had ingenuously
stated. He guarded himself from telling Mrs. Grey that the other little
business was a large sum owed to himself by Mrs. Grey's debtor, and
that he was fully determined to screw this out of him before another
debt should be paid.
The knowledge of want or of something approaching it—want rather
of the refinements of life than of its necessities—had made Margaret
look with far more interest on money than she had ever done
before. Formerly, it had been a certain something that always came
at the right moment—for Mr. Robinson was as regular as clockwork
in the transaction of his business—and that came in amounts amply
sufficient to meet every need. What wonder that she thought little of
how it came, and was tolerably lavish in its expenditure?
Now, everything was changed. Money meant education for Laura,
the refinements and amenities of life for herself; above all,
independence. The want of it meant servitude, drudgery, perhaps
even the squalor of poverty. But she was not sufficiently acquainted
with business to imagine that some one might be to blame for the
failing mortgage—that it could be possible to call her solicitor to
account.
She trusted Mr. Robinson implicitly. For was he not a good man?
Righteous overmuch, some people said; one who conducted his
business in an open, off-hand kind of way, which savored more of
the harmlessness of the dove than of the wisdom of the serpent?
Did not his frank smile and cheerful greeting speak of a quiet
conscience? Did not worthy people of all denominations consult him
in the management of their affairs?
Margaret could not have suspected Mr. Robinson, and his cheerful
way of suggesting proceedings and their mysterious effect filled her
with new hope. She looked up eagerly: "Oh, Mr. Robinson, then you
really think there is hope?"
"My dear lady," he answered in his peculiarly lively way, "I have not
the smallest doubt of it. Be content, for the time being, with your
small income, and, take my word for it, before six months have
passed over our heads we shall (by the Divine assistance—of course,
we must never forget that, Mrs. Grey) be able to pay back into your
account the larger part, if not all, of the sum in question."
The tears filled Margaret's eyes. Had she grown so very mercenary,
then? I scarcely think so. Her delight was that of the escaped
captive. There would be no necessity now to prosecute her painful
search for employment. The yoke that already, by anticipation, was
galling her might be thrown off with a clear conscience. Mr.
Robinson's word meant more than that of most people, and he gave
six months as the duration of her penury. During that time her little
daughter would scarcely require more instruction than she could
give; they had still sufficient to enable them to live quietly; and even
should she be a loser to some extent, there would no doubt be
sufficient left for Laura's education. If not, it would be time enough
then to think of ways and means.
She gave a sigh of intense relief, then looked up, smiling through a
mist of gathering tears: "I am very foolish, Mr. Robinson, but your
words have taken such a load from my mind! I had come here to-
day to consult you about taking a situation as governess. They
wanted—that is, I mean," she blushed as she spoke, "a reference,
you know, was necessary, so I came to you about it."
"To give you a reference," replied he, with a smile that made
Margaret wince, there was so much assurance in its cordiality. "You
could not have come to a better person. My connection is very large,
and, I may say without unduly boasting (these earthly gifts must all
be looked upon as coming from above), where the name of
Robinson is known it is respected. A curious proof of this occurred
yesterday." Here Mr. Robinson was interrupted by one of his clerks,
who brought up the intimation that Lord —— was waiting to see
him. "Say I am with a lady-client; beg his lordship to wait a few
moments." Then, as the clerk went down with the message, "You
see," he continued, turning to Mrs. Grey, "all my clients stand on the
same footing. If the prince of Wales came here to consult me on
business-matters, I should request him to wait his turn. But as we
need not keep any one unnecessarily in suspense, my little anecdote
must be narrated on another occasion. Remarkable circumstance,
too—fresh proof, if that were needed, of the existence of an
overruling Providence."
Margaret rose from her seat, scarcely perhaps so impressed as she
might have been with the noble impartiality of her solicitor.
"One moment," he said, drawing out his cheque-book. Now, Mr.
Robinson loved his cheque-book. It was his sceptre, the insignia of
his power. He always produced it with a certain consciousness of
superiority, and made over the trifling pieces of paper which his
name had rendered valuable as if they had been princely gifts.
"While this affair is pending," he continued pompously, "you are no
doubt somewhat straitened. I shall be glad to relieve you from
undue embarrassment. I will write out a cheque for twenty pounds.
And you may draw upon me—from time to time—always in
moderation, of course."
A blush dyed Margaret's cheek. For a moment she felt disinclined to
put herself under any obligation to this man, whose style of offering
assistance was not very palatable to her high spirits. Then she
remembered that this was business—a thing, no doubt, done every
day. And his manner—Well, it was simply that of a man not quite
accustomed to polite society. It arose from ignorance, and was a
proof, if any were needed, of his honesty. His worst faults lay
evidently on the surface, covering over, as in many cases, a good
and noble nature.
These, allow me to say, were Margaret's reflections; it does not,
therefore, follow that they were absolutely correct. Women have a
trick of rushing to conclusions. A man weighs and balances, sets this
quality against that, thinks out the effect of one upon the other, and
in many cases comes to a conclusion slowly and with difficulty. It is
well. He is not so often deceived. A woman has generally a
preconceived idea, a prejudice for or against. This being so, it is
more than natural that some expression of countenance, some tone
of voice, some trick of manner, should fall in with her preformed
judgment, and cause, in the shortest time imaginable, a conclusion
which scarcely anything will shake. She believes even against proof
self-evident to the rest of the world. This, no doubt, is partly the
reason why helpless, lonely women are so often cheated and
robbed.
Margaret was in this position. I do not mean to say that she had
been cheated and robbed. Her position was that of full confidence in
the man who transacted her business. She had thought of him as a
friend: she had found him frank and honest, no suspicion of the
legal rogue in his face or manner. Therefore she came to this
conclusion: Mr. Robinson was her friend, he looked after her
interests very carefully, he would set her affairs right if any one
could. This being so, what mattered a little want of polish? She could
very well afford to dispense with it.
"Thank you," she said as Mr. Robinson handed her the cheque; "I
cannot deny that this will be of present assistance to me."
Mr. Robinson then rose in his turn, shook his fair client's hand with
perhaps more than necessary empressement, and escorted her to
the door.

CHAPTER VI.

THE YOUNG HEIR.

But the ground

Of all great thoughts is sadness.

Arthur Forrest was certainly developing a taste for art—not at all a

bad taste, his friends said one to the other, for a young man who
had amply sufficient to live upon. It would fill up his time, keep him
from the dangers of idleness, give him, in fact, something to think
about. For art could easily be pursued in a most gentlemanlike
manner. A person who fills the position, not of an artist indeed, but
of an intelligent patron of the fine arts, is not only a useful member
of society, but one who is held in some estimation by the world.
There were many who took a very close interest in the affairs of
young Arthur Forrest, for he was, or would be in a few weeks—that
was all the period that divided him from his majority—a young man
of property. Then he was an orphan. What more natural than that
tender, sympathetic young ladies and pious, well-conducted matrons
should watch his proceedings with affectionate interest, and strive to
do what lay within their power to save him from the evil influences
which were popularly supposed to be immediately surrounding him?
Unfortunately for the pious matrons and sympathetic young ladies,
Arthur was well taken care of.
Mrs. Churchill was his aunt. She had tended him in his infancy, as
she often said pathetically to a circle of admirers; she had the first
claim on his love and gratitude. The gratitude Mrs. Churchill was
anxious to keep as her inalienable right in Arthur: the love she had
already passed on to her daughter and representative, pretty Adèle.
And hitherto Arthur had shown himself dutifully content with the
arrangement. He did not think much of girls as a class, and certainly
Adèle was as good a specimen of them as he had ever met. Then he
was accustomed to her; she generally knew how to keep him
amused; she was pretty, lively and well dressed. Till Arthur met
Margaret he had never admired a shabby person. In fact, he was
languidly grateful to Aunt Ellen and the Fates for having arranged
matters so comfortably, because matters were actually arranged.
Mrs. Churchill knew the world she lived in too well to allow such a
thing as a tacit understanding between the cousins, which a young
man's whim could break through in a moment. She did not intend
that her daughter's first youth and beauty should be spent in a
devotion which was destined to meet with no adequate return. Adèle
was rich and pretty—she would have no difficulty in meeting with a
suitable partner; only to keep Arthur and his money in the family
was desirable. Besides, he was young; he would make an amenable
son-in-law; then he was already accustomed to the yoke—no small
point this, in Mrs. Churchill's estimation.
When, therefore, Adèle had reached the age of eighteen and Arthur
that of twenty—events which had happened almost simultaneously
shortly before my story opens—Mrs. Churchill, as she fondly hoped
and believed, put the finishing stroke to the edifice she had been
forming. It had been her aim, during the few years that had passed
since Arthur had emerged into young manhood, to make her house
the most agreeable place in the world to him, and in this she had
been eminently successful. Adèle had ably assisted her, for she, poor
child! had always cherished affection for her handsome cousin—an
affection which the dawn of womanhood and her mother's fostering
influence ripened without much difficulty into a tenderer feeling.
She found it not easy, then, when wise eighteen had arrived, to
understand her mother's tactics, for Arthur the welcome guest
began from that date to be less warmly received, and obstacles were
thrown in the way of their meetings, which had been so delightfully
frequent and unembarrassed. They came notably from Mrs.
Churchill, and yet her personal affection for her nephew seemed
only to have increased; there was a tinge of gentle regret in her
manner even while she appeared to be sending him from them.
It was almost more inexplicable to Arthur than to Adèle and at last
he could bear it no longer.
With the love of universal popularity so common to his age, he hated
the idea of being in his relative's bad graces; besides, the charms of
his cousin's society increased tenfold in his imagination as difficulties
cropped up to interfere with his quiet enjoyment of them.
"By Jove!" he said to himself in the course of a cigar-fed meditation,
"I must have it out with Aunt Ellen at once."
That was a memorable moment in his history. With the
impulsiveness of youth he extinguished his cigar and repaired in
haste to Mrs. Churchill's handsome residence. He found her alone in
her drawing-room, pensive but loftily kind, and soon extracted from
her what she would so much rather have kept to herself—that she
was acting in Adèle's interests; the dear girl was impressionable, the
relationship dangerous; much as she loved her nephew, she must
not forget that a mother's first duty was to watch over her child; and
much more of a like nature, to all of which Arthur listened dutifully.
Of course he was no match for his aunt; before the evening of that
day had arrived he occupied the position of an accepted lover,
blessed by a happy parent, and possessed what perhaps, on some
future day, he might possibly be led to imagine the dear-bought
privilege of a free entrée into Aunt Ellen's house. Since then matters
had progressed satisfactorily, as far as Mrs. Churchill was concerned,
though Adèle, who took almost a motherly interest in her lover and
future husband, was inclined to lament the absolute aimlessness of
his life.
Women, generally speaking, have a quicker mental growth than
men. The mind of a girl of eighteen is in many cases more mature
than that of a man of twenty. Arthur had passed his twenty years
without much thought beyond himself. Adèle, with the like luxurious
surroundings, had already begun to look past herself—to feel that
there was a world of which she knew nothing, but with which,
nevertheless, she was very closely connected—a world of want and
suffering, where wrong was too often triumphant.
She was fond of reading. Perhaps some of these thoughts had crept
in through the medium of poet and historian. For Adèle's insight told
her that there were many higher and nobler lives for a man and
woman to lead than that of self-pleasing. She sometimes longed to
be a man, that she might do something worth doing in a world that
wanted the active and the strong. But the little she could do she did,
and had she known how many blessed her for her gentle words and
timely aid, she might have been less desponding about a woman's
ability to take some place in the world.
For the rest she looked to Arthur, the hero of her imagination. Poor
Adèle! Her hero did not quite see as she did the necessity for
exertion. He took life languidly, and could not conceive why people
should excite themselves about what did not concern them; at least
this was what he always said when she tried to instill into him some
of her ideas about human wrongs and human service.
But Adèle did not despair; she had a woman's supreme faith in "the
to-come." Something would arouse Arthur's dormant energies and
bring out the latent fire of his nature.
In the mean time she, with the rest of his world, was pleased to
notice his growing interest in the fine arts, though she, wiser than
they, felt inclined to put down his constant haunting of the picture-
galleries to a growing restlessness that meant uneasiness with the
aimless life of self-gratification he was leading and a stretching-out
after something higher.
And Adèle was partially right. Arthur was changed. Perhaps it was
more the sadness than the beauty of that fair woman's face which
haunted him so strangely, mingling with all his thoughts a certain
self-reproach which he found it very difficult to understand.
It may have been that in the pale, calm face, resolute in endurance,
he saw for one moment what was going on for ever around him; he
read the mystic law of nature—sacrifice of self. For life is glad; where
gladness is not life may be borne, but not loved or rejoiced in, and in
the calm surrender of life's gladness to the call of life's necessity
there is a surrender of life itself, the most beautiful part of life.
Something of this he had seen in Margaret's pale face. A joy put
away, surrendered, a burden taken up and patiently borne. This it
was that filled his mind when the first impression of her loveliness
had in a manner passed. He saw the suffering, and beside the
suffering he saw himself, self-indulgent, careless, free of hand, light
of spirit, with no thought, in a general way, beyond the enjoyment of
the present hour.
Often before Arthur had expressed something of this: lolling in a
luxurious arm-chair with his feet on the fender, while Adèle amused
him by a song or read to him something that had been charming
her, he would say with a comfortable sigh, "What a good-for-nothing
sort of fellow I am, Adèle!"
But then he had scarcely felt it, or if he had it had been only with a
kind of impression that the good-for-nothingness sat elegantly on
the shoulders of a young man of property.
Clever Mrs. Churchill rather encouraged the impression. Young men
with ideas are apt to become unmanageable, and she was earnestly
desirous of keeping Arthur in her invisible leading-strings.
But this time Arthur felt it. There was suffering, sorrow, wrong in the
world; he was doing nothing but vegetate on its surface, keeping his
comforts, his gladness, his fresh young life for his own selfish
gratification. And the worst of it all was that he did not see a way
out of it. In the days of chivalry young knights went out armed to
fight for defenceless women and redress human wrongs. Arthur felt
sure that his mysterious lady had been in some way cruelly
wronged, and he longed to constitute himself her protector and
knight; but in the first place she had persistently denied herself to
him; in the second place her wrongs might prove to be such as he
would find himself utterly unable to redress.
He was bound to Adèle, and if it had not been so he felt instinctively
that he was scarcely a suitable husband for the beautiful widow.
(Arthur had made up his mind that Margaret was a widow.) Under
such circumstances, even if so minor an evil as poverty were her
trouble, there would be a certain incongruity in offering her half his
fortune, and she would probably resent such a step. He could offer it
anonymously, but even in such case it would be quite possible that
she might think it right to decline acceptance, and Mrs. Churchill
would reasonably consider Adèle and any children she might have
wronged by the proceeding. Arthur, in fact, had wandered into a
maze whence there really seemed to be no exit. His only hope was
to see Margaret again. One more glimpse of her fair face might do
more toward unravelling the mystery than hours of lonely pondering.
This, then, it was, rather more than love of art, that led him to haunt
the picture-galleries, and especially the one where he had first seen
her.
But if it were this that led him, something else kept him. Wandering
hither and thither by these trophies of mind, with this new
earnestness in his spirit, he began to feel in them a power
unsuspected in his former languid visits. They represented work,
conflict, triumph. Each picture had its history, into each were
wrought the mingled threads of human experience. In the dim glory
that shone from one or two of these transcripts of Nature Arthur
read the struggle of soul to express itself worthily, and his young
spirit was stirred within him.
In the loving detail, all beautiful of its kind, with which the artist
surrounded the fair queen of his homage, he saw the earnestness of
genius, and bowing his head he worshipped in the great temple of
Humanity.
The young man's thoughts began to run, not on his own elegance
and superiority, but on the great problems of Nature and Art. Self
was removed from its lofty pedestal. What the fair woman's face had
begun human genius carried on. Arthur Forrest was changed.

CHAPTER VII.

A CUNNING TEMPTER.

Thou art woman;

And that is saying the best and worst of thee.

Margaret's business in London was over. The more she thought

about her visit to Mr. Robinson, the more certain she felt that her
affairs were in capable hands, and that her money difficulties would
very soon disappear.
She wrote, therefore, to Mrs. Augustus Brown, declining the honor
of becoming a member of her household.
That lady was considerably annoyed at first. Afterward she consoled
herself by the reflection that her own presence of mind had saved
her sweet innocents from a terrible danger. It was only too evident,
she remarked to the passive Brown, that Mrs. Grey's antecedents
would not bear looking into. It was a fresh instance of the danger to
which the inexperienced were subjected in London. Had she not
Welcome to our website – the perfect destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. We believe that every book holds a new world,
offering opportunities for learning, discovery, and personal growth.
That’s why we are dedicated to bringing you a diverse collection of
books, ranging from classic literature and specialized publications to
self-development guides and children's books.

More than just a book-buying platform, we strive to be a bridge

connecting you with timeless cultural and intellectual values. With an
elegant, user-friendly interface and a smart search system, you can
quickly find the books that best suit your interests. Additionally,
our special promotions and home delivery services help you save time
and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Join us on a journey of knowledge exploration, passion nurturing, and

personal growth every day!

ebookmasss.com