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Microelectronics
Second Edition

Behzad Razavi
University of California, Los Angeles

International Student Version

Copyright 
c 2015 John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd

Cover image 
c Lepas/Shutterstock

Contributing Subject Matter Experts : Dr. Anil V Nandi, BVB CET Hubli; Dr. Ramesha
C. K., BITS Pilani - K. K. Birla Goa Campus; and Dr. Laxminidhi T., NIT Karnataka
Surathkal

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Preface
The first edition of this book was published in 2008 and has been adopted by numerous
universities around the globe for undergraduate microelectronics education. Following is
a detailed description of each chapter with my teaching and learning recommendations.

Coverage of Chapters The material in each chapter can be decomposed into three
categories: (1) essential concepts that the instructor should cover in the lecture, (2) essential
skills that the students must develop but cannot be covered in the lecture due to the limited
time, and (3) topics that prove useful but may be skipped according to the instructor’s
preference.1 Summarized below are overviews of the chapters showing which topics should
be covered in the classroom.

Chapter 1: Introduction to Microelectronics The objective of this chapter is to pro-

vide the “big picture” and make the students comfortable with analog and digital signals.
I spend about 30 to 45 minutes on Sections 1.1 and 1.2, leaving the remainder of the chapter
(Basic Concepts) for the teaching assistants to cover in a special evening session in the
first week.

Chapter 2: Basic Semiconductor Physics Providing the basics of semiconductor de-

vice physics, this chapter deliberately proceeds at a slow pace, examining concepts from
different angles and allowing the students to digest the material as they read on. A terse
language would shorten the chapter but require that the students reread the material
multiple times in their attempt to decipher the prose.
It is important to note, however, that the instructor’s pace in the classroom need not
be as slow as that of the chapter. The students are expected to read the details and the
examples on their own so as to strengthen their grasp of the material. The principal point
in this chapter is that we must study the physics of devices so as to construct circuit models
for them. In a quarter system, I cover the following concepts in the lecture: electrons
and holes; doping; drift and diffusion; pn junction in equilibrium and under forward and
reverse bias.

Chapter 3: Diode Models and Circuits This chapter serves four purposes: (1) make the
students comfortable with the pn junction as a nonlinear device; (2) introduce the concept
of linearizing a nonlinear model to simplify the analysis; (3) cover basic circuits with which
any electrical engineer must be familiar, e.g., rectifiers and limiters; and (4) develop the
skills necessary to analyze heavily-nonlinear circuits, e.g., where it is difficult to predict
which diode turns on at what input voltage. Of these, the first three are essential and
should be covered in the lecture, whereas the last depends on the instructor’s preference.
(I cover it in my lectures.) In the interest of time, I skip a number of sections in a quarter
system, e.g., voltage doublers and level shifters.

Chapter 4: Physics of Bipolar Transistors Beginning with the use of a voltage-

controlled current source in an amplifier, this chapter introduces the bipolar transistor

1
Such topics are identified in the book by a footnote.

v
vi Preface

as an extension of pn junctions and derives its small-signal model. As with Chapter 2, the
pace is relatively slow, but the lectures need not be. I cover structure and operation of
the bipolar transistor, a very simplified derivation of the exponential characteristic, and
transistor models, mentioning only briefly that saturation is undesirable. Since the T-model
of limited use in analysis and carries little intuition (especially for MOS devices), I have
excluded it in this book.

Chapter 5: Bipolar Amplifiers This is the longest chapter in the book, building the
foundation necessary for all subsequent work in electronics. Following a bottom-up
approach, this chapter establishes critical concepts such as input and output impedances,
biasing, and small-signal analysis.
While writing the book, I contemplated decomposing Chapter 5 into two chapters,
one on the above concepts and another on bipolar amplifier topologies, so that the lat-
ter could be skipped by instructors who prefer to continue with MOS circuits instead.
However, teaching the general concepts does require the use of transistors, making such
a decomposition difficult.
Chapter 5 proceeds slowly, reinforcing, step-by-step, the concept of synthesis and
exploring circuit topologies with the aid of “What if?” examples. As with Chapters 2 and
4, the instructor can move at a faster pace and leave much of the text for the students to
read on their own. In a quarter system, I cover all of the chapter, frequently emphasizing
the concepts illustrated in Figure 5.7 (the impedance seen looking into the base, emit-
ter, or collector). With about two (perhaps two and half) weeks allotted to this chapter,
the lectures must be precisely designed to ensure the main concepts are imparted in the
classroom.

Chapter 6: Physics of MOS Devices This chapter parallels Chapter 4, introducing the
MOSFET as a voltage-controlled current source and deriving its characteristics. Given
the limited time that we generally face in covering topics, I have included only a brief
discussion of the body effect and velocity saturation and neglected these phenomena for
the remainder of the book. I cover all of this chapter in our first course.

Chapter 7: CMOS Amplifiers Drawing extensively upon the foundation established in

Chapter 5, this chapter deals with MOS amplifiers but at a faster pace. I cover all of this
chapter in our first course.

Chapter 8: Operational Amplifier as a Black Box Dealing with op-amp-based cir-

cuits, this chapter is written such that it can be taught in almost any order with respect to
other chapters. My own preference is to cover this chapter after amplifier topologies have
been studied, so that the students have some bare understanding of the internal circuitry of
op amps and its gain limitations. Teaching this chapter near the end of the first course also
places op amps closer to differential amplifiers (Chapter 10), thus allowing the students to
appreciate the relevance of each. I cover all of this chapter in our first course.

Chapter 9: Cascodes and Current Mirrors This chapter serves as an important step
toward integrated circuit design. The study of cascodes and current mirrors here also
provides the necessary background for constructing differential pairs with active loads
or cascodes in Chapter 10. From this chapter on, bipolar and MOS circuits are covered
together and various similarities and contrasts between them are pointed out. In our second
microelectronics course, I cover all of the topics in this chapter in approximately two
weeks.
 Preface vii

Chapter 10: Differential Amplifiers This chapter deals with large-signal and small-
signal behavior of differential amplifiers. The students may wonder why we did not study
the large-signal behavior of various amplifiers in Chapters 5 and 7; so I explain that the
differential pair is a versatile circuit and is utilized in both regimes. I cover all of this chapter
in our second course.

Chapter 11: Frequency Response Beginning with a review of basic concepts such
as Bode’s rules, this chapter introduces the high-frequency model of transistors and ana-
lyzes the frequency response of basic amplifiers. I cover all of this chapter in our second
course.

Chapter 12: Feedback and Stability Most instructors agree the students find feed-
back to be the most difficult topic in undergraduate microelectronics. For this reason,
I have made great effort to create a step-by-step procedure for analyzing feedback cir-
cuits, especially where input and output loading effects must be taken into account. As with
Chapters 2 and 5, this chapter proceeds at a deliberately slow pace, allowing the students to
become comfortable with each concept and appreciate the points taught by each example.
I cover all of this chapter in our second course.

Chapter 13: Oscillators This new chapter deals with both discrete and integrated oscil-
lators. These circuits are both important in real-life applications and helpful in enhancing
the feedback concepts taught previously. This chapter can be comfortably covered in a
semester system.

Chapter 14: Output Stages and Power Amplifiers This chapter studies circuits that
deliver higher power levels than those considered in previous chapters. Topologies such
as push-pull stages and their limitations are analyzed. This chapter can be covered in a
semester system.

Chapter 15: Analog Filters This chapter provides a basic understanding of passive and
active filters, preparing the student for more advanced texts on the subject. This chapter
can also be comfortably covered in a semester system.

Chapter 16: Digital CMOS Circuits This chapter is written for microelectronics
courses that include an introduction to digital circuits as a preparation for subsequent
courses on the subject. Given the time constraints in quarter and semester systems, I have
excluded TTL and ECL circuits here.

Chapter 17: CMOS Amplifiers This chapter is written for courses that cover CMOS
circuits before bipolar circuits. As explained earlier, this chapter follows MOS device
physics and, in essence, is similar to Chapter 5 but deals with MOS counterparts.

Problem Sets In addition to numerous examples, each chapter offers a relatively large
problem set at the end. For each concept covered in the chapter, I begin with simple,
confidence-building problems and gradually raise the level of difficulty. Except for the
device physics chapters, all chapters also provide a set of design problems that encourage
students to work “in reverse” and select the bias and/or component values to satisfy certain
requirements.
viii Preface

SPICE Some basic circuit theory courses may provide exposure to SPICE, but it is in the
first microelectronics course that the students can appreciate the importance of simulation
tools. Appendix A of this book introduces SPICE and teaches circuit simulation with the
aid of numerous examples. The objective is to master only a subset of SPICE commands
that allow simulation of most circuits at this level. Due to the limited lecture time, I ask
the teaching assistants to cover SPICE in a special evening session around the middle of
the quarter—just before I begin to assign SPICE problems.
Most chapters contain SPICE problems, but I prefer to introduce SPICE only in the
second half of the first course (toward the end of Chapter 5). This is for two reasons:
(1) the students must first develop their basic understanding and analytical skills, i.e., the
homeworks must exercise the fundamental concepts; and (2) the students appreciate the
utility of SPICE much better if the circuit contains a relatively large number of devices
(e.g., 5-10).

Homeworks and Exams In a quarter system, I assign four homeworks before the
midterm and four after. Mostly based on the problem sets in the book, the homeworks
contain moderate to difficult problems, thereby requiring that the students first go over
the easier problems in the book on their own.
The exam questions are typically “twisted” versions of the problems in the book. To
encourage the students to solve all of the problems at the end of each chapter, I tell them
that one of the problems in the book is given in the exam verbatim. The exams are open-
book, but I suggest to the students to summarize the important equations on one sheet of
paper.

Behzad Razavi
Contents
1 INTRODUCTION TO 3.3 Additional Examples 59
MICROELECTRONICS 1 3.4 Large-Signal and Small-Signal
1.1 Electronics versus Operation 64
Microelectronics 1 3.5 Applications of Diodes 73
1.2 Examples of Electronic 3.5.1 Half-Wave and Full-Wave
Systems 2 Rectifiers 73
1.2.1 Cellular Telephone 2 3.5.2 Voltage Regulation 86
1.2.2 Digital Camera 5 3.5.3 Limiting Circuits 88
1.2.3 Analog Versus Digital 7 3.5.4 Voltage Doublers 92
3.5.5 Diodes as Level Shifters and
Switches 96
2 BASIC PHYSICS OF Problems 99
SEMICONDUCTORS 9
Spice Problems 106
2.1 Semiconductor Materials and
Their Properties 10
4 PHYSICS OF BIPOLAR
2.1.1 Charge Carriers in
TRANSISTORS 107
Solids 10
2.1.2 Modification of Carrier 4.1 General Considerations 107
Densities 13 4.2 Structure of Bipolar
2.1.3 Transport of Carriers 15 Transistor 109
2.2 pn Junction 23 4.3 Operation of Bipolar Transistor in
2.2.1 pn Junction in Equilibrium 24 Active Mode 110
2.2.2 pn Junction Under Reverse 4.3.1 Collector Current 113
Bias 29 4.3.2 Base and Emitter
2.2.3 pn Junction Under Forward Currents 116
Bias 33 4.4 Bipolar Transistor Models and
2.2.4 I/V Characteristics 36 Characteristics 118
2.3 Reverse Breakdown 41 4.4.1 Large-Signal Model 118
2.3.1 Zener Breakdown 42 4.4.2 I/V Characteristics 120
2.3.2 Avalanche Breakdown 42 4.4.3 Concept of Transconductance
Problems 43 122
Spice Problems 45 4.4.4 Small-Signal Model 124
4.4.5 Early Effect 129
4.5 Operation of Bipolar Transistor
3 DIODE MODELS AND in Saturation Mode 135
CIRCUITS 46
4.6 The PNP Transistor 138
3.1 Ideal Diode 46 4.6.1 Structure and Operation 139
3.1.1 Initial Thoughts 46 4.6.2 Large-Signal Model 139
3.1.2 Ideal Diode 48 4.6.3 Small-Signal Model 142
3.1.3 Application Examples 52 Problems 145
3.2 pn Junction as a Diode 57 Spice Problems 151

xi
xii Contents

5 BIPOLAR AMPLIFIERS 153 Problems 274

5.1 General Considerations 153 Spice Problems 280
5.1.1 Input and Output
Impedances 154 7 CMOS AMPLIFIERS 281
5.1.2 Biasing 158 7.1 General Considerations 281
5.1.3 DC and Small-Signal 7.1.1 MOS Amplifier
Analysis 158 Topologies 281
5.2 Operating Point Analysis and 7.1.2 Biasing 281
Design 160 7.1.3 Realization of Current
5.2.1 Simple Biasing 162 Sources 285
5.2.2 Resistive Divider Biasing 164 7.2 Common-Source Stage 286
5.2.3 Biasing with Emitter 7.2.1 CS Core 286
Degeneration 167 7.2.2 CS Stage with Current-Source
5.2.4 Self-Biased Stage 171 Load 289
5.2.5 Biasing of PNP 7.2.3 CS Stage with
Transistors 174 Diode-Connected Load 290
5.3 Bipolar Amplifier Topologies 178 7.2.4 CS Stage with Degeneration
5.3.1 Common-Emitter 292
Topology 179 7.2.5 CS Core with Biasing 295
5.3.2 Common-Base 7.3 Common-Gate Stage 297
Topology 205 7.3.1 CG Stage with Biasing 302
5.3.3 Emitter Follower 222 7.4 Source Follower 303
Problems 230 7.4.1 Source Follower Core 304
Spice Problems 242 7.4.2 Source Follower with
Biasing 306
6 PHYSICS OF MOS Problems 308
TRANSISTORS 244 Spice Problems 319
6.1 Structure of MOSFET 244
6.2 Operation of MOSFET 247 8 OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER
6.2.1 Qualitative Analysis 247 AS A BLACK BOX 321
6.2.2 Derivation of I-V 8.1 General Considerations 322
Characteristics 253 8.2 Op-Amp-Based Circuits 324
6.2.3 Channel-Length 8.2.1 Noninverting Amplifier 324
Modulation 262 8.2.2 Inverting Amplifier 326
6.2.4 MOS Transconductance 264 8.2.3 Integrator and
6.2.5 Velocity Saturation 266 Differentiator 329
6.2.6 Other Second-Order 8.2.4 Voltage Adder 335
Effects 266 8.3 Nonlinear Functions 336
6.3 MOS Device Models 267 8.3.1 Precision Rectifier 336
6.3.1 Large-Signal Model 267 8.3.2 Logarithmic Amplifier 338
6.3.2 Small-Signal Model 269 8.3.3 Square-Root Amplifier 339
6.4 PMOS Transistor 270 8.4 Op Amp Nonidealities 339
6.5 CMOS Technology 273 8.4.1 DC Offsets 339
6.6 Comparison of Bipolar and MOS 8.4.2 Input Bias Current 342
Devices 273 8.4.3 Speed Limitations 346
 Contents xiii

8.4.4 Finite Input and Output 11 FREQUENCY RESPONSE

Impedances 350 460
8.5 Design Examples 351 11.1 Fundamental Concepts 460
Problems 353 11.1.1 General Considerations 460
Spice Problems 358 11.1.2 Relationship Between
Transfer Function and
9 CASCODE STAGES AND Frequency Response 463
CURRENT MIRRORS 359 11.1.3 Bode’s Rules 466
9.1 Cascode Stage 359 11.1.4 Association of Poles with
9.1.1 Cascode as a Current Nodes 467
Source 359 11.1.5 Miller’s Theorem 469
9.1.2 Cascode as an Amplifier 366 11.1.6 General Frequency
9.2 Current Mirrors 375 Response 472
9.2.1 Initial Thoughts 375 11.2 High-Frequency Models of
9.2.2 Bipolar Current Transistors 475
Mirror 376 11.2.1 High-Frequency Model of
9.2.3 MOS Current Bipolar Transistor 475
Mirror 385 11.2.2 High-Frequency Model of
Problems 388 MOSFET 476
Spice Problems 397 11.2.3 Transit Frequency 478
11.3 Analysis Procedure 480
11.4 Frequency Response of CE and
10 DIFFERENTIAL CS Stages 480
AMPLIFIERS 399 11.4.1 Low-Frequency
10.1 General Considerations 399 Response 480
10.1.1 Initial Thoughts 399 11.4.2 High-Frequency
10.1.2 Differential Signals 401 Response 481
10.1.3 Differential Pair 404 11.4.3 Use of Miller’s Theorem 482
10.2 Bipolar Differential Pair 404 11.4.4 Direct Analysis 484
10.2.1 Qualitative Analysis 404 11.4.5 Input Impedance 487
10.2.2 Large-Signal Analysis 410 11.5 Frequency Response of CB and
10.2.3 Small-Signal CG Stages 488
Analysis 414 11.5.1 Low-Frequency
10.3 MOS Differential Pair 420 Response 488
10.3.1 Qualitative Analysis 421 11.5.2 High-Frequency Response
10.3.2 Large-Signal Analysis 425 489
10.3.3 Small-Signal Analysis 429 11.6 Frequency Response of
10.4 Cascode Differential Followers 491
Amplifiers 433 11.6.1 Input and Output
10.5 Common-Mode Rejection 437 Impedances 495
10.6 Differential Pair with Active 11.7 Frequency Response of Cascode
Load 441 Stage 498
10.6.1 Qualitative Analysis 442 11.7.1 Input and Output
10.6.2 Quantitative Analysis 444 Impedances 502
Problems 449 11.8 Frequency Response of
Spice Problems 459 Differential Pairs 503
xiv Contents

11.8.1 Common-Mode Frequency Problems 577

Response 504 Spice Problems 587
Problems 506
Spice Problems 512 13 OSCILLATORS 588
13.1 General Considerations 588
12 FEEDBACK 513 13.2 Ring Oscillators 591
13.3 LC Oscillators 595
12.1 General Considerations 513
13.3.1 Parallel LC Tanks 595
12.1.1 Loop Gain 516
13.3.2 Cross-Coupled
12.2 Properties of Negative
Oscillator 599
Feedback 518
13.3.3 Colpitts Oscillator 601
12.2.1 Gain Desensitization 518
13.4 Phase Shift Oscillator 604
12.2.2 Bandwidth Extension 519
13.5 Wien-Bridge Oscillator 607
12.2.3 Modification of I/O
13.6 Crystal Oscillators 608
Impedances 521
13.6.1 Crystal Model 608
12.2.4 Linearity Improvement
13.6.2 Negative-Resistance
525
Circuit 610
12.3 Types of Amplifiers 526
13.6.3 Crystal Oscillator
12.3.1 Simple Amplifier Models
Implementation 611
526
Problems 614
12.3.2 Examples of Amplifier
Spice Problems 617
Types 527
12.4 Sense and Return Techniques 529
12.5 Polarity of Feedback 532 14 OUTPUT STAGES AND
12.6 Feedback Topologies 534 POWER AMPLIFIERS 619
12.6.1 Voltage-Voltage 14.1 General Considerations 619
Feedback 534 14.2 Emitter Follower as Power
12.6.2 Voltage-Current Amplifier 620
Feedback 539 14.3 Push-Pull Stage 623
12.6.3 Current-Voltage 14.4 Improved Push-Pull Stage 626
Feedback 542 14.4.1 Reduction of Crossover
12.6.4 Current-Current Distortion 626
Feedback 547 14.4.2 Addition of CE Stage 629
12.7 Effect of Nonideal I/O 14.5 Large-Signal Considerations 633
Impedances 550 14.5.1 Biasing Issues 633
12.7.1 Inclusion of I/O 14.5.2 Omission of PNP Power
Effects 551 Transistor 634
12.8 Stability in Feedback 14.5.3 High-Fidelity Design 637
Systems 563 14.6 Short-Circuit Protection 638
12.8.1 Review of Bode’s Rules 563 14.7 Heat Dissipation 638
12.8.2 Problem of Instability 565 14.7.1 Emitter Follower Power
12.8.3 Stability Condition 568 Rating 639
12.8.4 Phase Margin 571 14.7.2 Push-Pull Stage Power
12.8.5 Frequency Compensation Rating 640
573 14.7.3 Thermal Runaway 641
12.8.6 Miller Compensation 576 14.8 Efficiency 643
 Contents xv

14.8.1 Efficiency of Emitter 16.2.3 Dynamic Characteristics 723

Follower 643 16.2.4 Power Dissipation 728
14.8.2 Efficiency of Push-Pull 16.3 CMOS NOR and NAND
Stage 644 Gates 731
14.9 Power Amplifier Classes 645 16.3.1 NOR Gate 732
Problems 646 16.3.2 NAND Gate 735
Spice Problems 650 Problems 736
Spice Problems 740
15 ANALOG FILTERS 651
17 CMOS AMPLIFIERS 742
15.1 General Considerations 651
15.1.1 Filter Characteristics 652 17.1 General Considerations 742
15.1.2 Classification of Filters 653 17.1.1 Input and Output
15.1.3 Filter Transfer Function 656 Impedances 743
15.1.4 Problem of Sensitivity 660 17.1.2 Biasing 747
15.2 First-Order Filters 661 17.1.3 DC and Small-Signal
15.3 Second-Order Filters 664 Analysis 748
15.3.1 Special Cases 664 17.2 Operating Point Analysis and
15.3.2 RLC Realizations 668 Design 749
15.4 Active Filters 673 17.2.1 Simple Biasing 751
15.4.1 Sallen and Key Filter 673 17.2.2 Biasing with Source
15.4.2 Integrator-Based Degeneration 753
Biquads 679 17.2.3 Self-Biased Stage 756
15.4.3 Biquads Using Simulated 17.2.4 Biasing of PMOS
Inductors 682 Transistors 757
15.5 Approximation of Filter 17.2.5 Realization of Current
Response 687 Sources 758
15.5.1 Butterworth Response 688 17.3 CMOS Amplifier Topologies 759
15.5.2 Chebyshev Response 692 17.4 Common-Source Topology 760
Problems 697 17.4.1 CS Stage with
Spice Problems 701 Current-Source Load 765
17.4.2 CS Stage with
Diode-Connected Load 766
16 DIGITAL CMOS 17.4.3 CS Stage with Source
CIRCUITS 702 Degeneration 767
16.1 General Considerations 702 17.4.4 Common-Gate Topology
16.1.1 Static Characterization of 779
Gates 703 17.4.5 Source Follower 790
16.1.2 Dynamic Characterization of Problems 796
Gates 710 Spice Problems 806
16.1.3 Power-Speed Trade-Off 713
16.2 CMOS Inverter 714
16.2.1 Initial Thoughts 715 Appendix A INTRODUCTION
16.2.2 Voltage Transfer TO SPICE 809
Characteristic 717 Index 829
 Chapter 1
Introduction to Microelectronics

Over the past five decades, microelectronics has revolutionized our lives. While beyond
the realm of possibility a few decades ago, cellphones, digital cameras, laptop computers,
and many other electronic products have now become an integral part of our daily affairs.
Learning microelectronics can be fun. As we learn how each device operates, how
devices comprise circuits that perform interesting and useful functions, and how circuits
form sophisticated systems, we begin to see the beauty of microelectronics and appreciate
the reasons for its explosive growth.
This chapter gives an overview of microelectronics so as to provide a context for the
material presented in this book. We introduce examples of microelectronic systems and
identify important circuit “functions” that they employ. We also provide a review of basic
circuit theory to refresh the reader’s memory.

1.1 ELECTRONICS VERSUS MICROELECTRONICS

The general area of electronics began about a century ago and proved instrumental in
the radio and radar communications used during the two world wars. Early systems in-
corporated “vacuum tubes,” amplifying devices that operated with the flow of electrons
between plates in a vacuum chamber. However, the finite lifetime and the large size of
vacuum tubes motivated researchers to seek an electronic device with better properties.
The first transistor was invented in the 1940s and rapidly displaced vacuum tubes. It
exhibited a very long (in principle, infinite) lifetime and occupied a much smaller volume
(e.g., less than 1 cm3 in packaged form) than vacuum tubes did.
But it was not until 1960s that the field of microelectronics, i.e., the science of integrat-
ing many transistors on one chip, began. Early “integrated circuits” (ICs) contained only
a handful of devices, but advances in the technology soon made it possible to dramatically
increase the complexity of “microchips.”

Example Today’s microprocessors contain about 100 million transistors in a chip area of approx-
1.1 imately 3 cm × 3 cm. (The chip is a few hundred microns thick.) Suppose integrated
circuits were not invented and we attempted to build a processor using 100 million
“discrete” transistors. If each device occupies a volume of 3 mm × 3 mm × 3 mm, de-
termine the minimum volume for the processor. What other issues would arise in such
an implementation?

1
2 Chapter 1 Introduction to Microelectronics

Solution The minimum volume is given by 27 mm3 × 108 , i.e., a cube 1.4 m on each side! Of
course, the wires connecting the transistors would increase the volume substantially.
In addition to occupying a large volume, this discrete processor would be extremely
slow; the signals would need to travel on wires as long as 1.4 m! Furthermore, if each
discrete transistor costs 1 cent and weighs 1 g, each processor unit would be priced at
one million dollars and weigh 100 tons!

Exercise How much power would such a system consume if each transistor dissipates 10 μW?

This book deals mostly with microelectronics while providing sufficient foundation for
general (perhaps discrete) electronic systems as well.

1.2 EXAMPLES OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS

At this point, we introduce two examples of microelectronic systems and identify some of
the important building blocks that we should study in basic electronics.

1.2.1 Cellular Telephone

Cellular telephones were developed in the 1980s and rapidly became popular in the 1990s.
Today’s cellphones contain a great deal of sophisticated analog and digital electronics that
lie well beyond the scope of this book. But our objective here is to see how the concepts
described in this book prove relevant to the operation of a cellphone.
Suppose you are speaking with a friend on your cellphone. Your voice is converted to
an electric signal by a microphone and, after some processing, transmitted by the antenna.
The signal produced by your antenna is picked up by your friend’s receiver and, after some
processing, applied to the speaker [Fig. 1.1(a)]. What goes on in these black boxes? Why
are they needed?

Transmitter (TX) Receiver (RX)

Microphone Speaker

? ?

(a) (b)

Figure 1.1 (a) Simplified view of a cellphone, (b) further simplification of transmit and receive
paths.

Let us attempt to omit the black boxes and construct the simple system shown in
Fig. 1.1(b). How well does this system work? We make two observations. First, our voice
contains frequencies from 20 Hz to 20 kHz (called the “voice band”). Second, for an an-
tenna to operate efficiently, i.e., to convert most of the electrical signal to electromagnetic
 1.2 Examples of Electronic Systems 3

radiation, its dimension must be a significant fraction (e.g., 25%) of the wavelength. Unfor-
tunately, a frequency range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz translates to a wavelength1 of 1.5 × 107 m
to 1.5 × 104 m, requiring gigantic antennas for each cellphone. Conversely, to obtain a rea-
sonable antenna length, e.g., 5 cm, the wavelength must be around 20 cm and the frequency
around 1.5 GHz.
How do we “convert” the voice band to a gigahertz center frequency? One possible
approach is to multiply the voice signal, x(t), by a sinusoid, A cos(2π fc t) [Fig. 1.2(a)]. Since
multiplication in the time domain corresponds to convolution in the frequency domain,
and since the spectrum of the sinusoid consists of two impulses at ±f c , the voice spectrum
is simply shifted (translated) to ±f c [Fig. 1.2(b)]. Thus, if f c = 1 GHz, the output occupies
a bandwidth of 40 kHz centered at 1 GHz. This operation is an example of “amplitude
modulation.”2

Output Waveform
x (t ) A cos(2 π f C t )
Voice
Signal

t t t

(a)

Spectrum of Cosine Output Spectrum

X (f )
Voice
Spectrum

–fC +fC f –fC +fC

+20 kHz

f 0 f
–20 kHz

0 0

(b)

Figure 1.2 (a) Multiplication of a voice signal by a sinusoid, (b) equivalent operation in the
frequency domain.

We therefore postulate that the black box in the transmitter of Fig. 1.1(a) contains
a multiplier,3 as depicted in Fig. 1.3(a). But two other issues arise. First, the cellphone
must deliver a relatively large voltage swing (e.g., 20 Vpp ) to the antenna so that the
radiated power can reach across distances of several kilometers, thereby requiring a “power
amplifier” between the multiplier and the antenna. Second, the sinusoid, A cos 2π fc t, must
be produced by an “oscillator.” We thus arrive at the transmitter architecture shown in
Fig. 1.3(b).

1
Recall that the wavelength is equal to the (light) velocity divided by the frequency.
2
Cellphones in fact use other types of modulation to translate the voice band to higher frequencies.
3
Also called a “mixer” in high-frequency electronics.
4 Chapter 1 Introduction to Microelectronics

Power
Amplifier

A cos(2 π f C t ) Oscillator

(a) (b)

Figure 1.3 (a) Simple transmitter, (b) more complete transmitter.

Let us now turn our attention to the receive path of the cellphone, beginning with the
simple realization illustrated in Fig. 1.1(b). Unfortunately, this topology fails to operate
with the principle of modulation: if the signal received by the antenna resides around a
gigahertz center frequency, the audio speaker cannot produce meaningful information. In
other words, a means of translating the spectrum back to zero center frequency is necessary.
For example, as depicted in Fig. 1.4(a), multiplication by a sinusoid, A cos(2π fc t), translates
the spectrum to left and right by fc , restoring the original voice band. The newly-generated
components at ±2fc can be removed by a low-pass filter. We thus arrive at the receiver
topology shown in Fig. 1.4(b).

Output Spectrum

Received Spectrum Spectrum of Cosine

–fC 0 +fC f –fC 0 +fC f –2 f C 0 +2 f C f

(a)

Low-Noise
Amplifier Amplifier
Low-Pass Low-Pass
Filter Filter

Oscillator Oscillator

(b) (c)

Figure 1.4 (a) Translation of modulated signal to zero center frequency, (b) simple receiver,
(b) more complete receiver.

Our receiver design is still incomplete. The signal received by the antenna can be as
low as a few tens of microvolts whereas the speaker may require swings of several tens
 1.2 Examples of Electronic Systems 5

or hundreds of millivolts. That is, the receiver must provide a great deal of amplification
(“gain”) between the antenna and the speaker. Furthermore, since multipliers typically
suffer from a high “noise” and hence corrupt the received signal, a “low-noise amplifier”
must precede the multiplier. The overall architecture is depicted in Fig. 1.4(c).
Today’s cellphones are much more sophisticated than the topologies developed above.
For example, the voice signal in the transmitter and the receiver is applied to a digital signal
processor (DSP) to improve the quality and efficiency of the communication. Nonetheless,
our study reveals some of the fundamental building blocks of cellphones, e.g., amplifiers,
oscillators, and filters, with the last two also utilizing amplification. We therefore devote a
great deal of effort to the analysis and design of amplifiers.
Having seen the necessity of amplifiers, oscillators, and multipliers in both trans-
mit and receive paths of a cellphone, the reader may wonder if “this is old stuff” and
rather trivial compared to the state of the art. Interestingly, these building blocks still re-
main among the most challenging circuits in communication systems. This is because the
design entails critical trade-offs between speed (gigahertz center frequencies), noise, power
dissipation (i.e., battery lifetime), weight, cost (i.e., price of a cellphone), and many
other parameters. In the competitive world of cellphone manufacturing, a given design is
never “good enough” and the engineers are forced to further push the above trade-offs in
each new generation of the product.

1.2.2 Digital Camera

Another consumer product that, by virtue of “going electronic,” has dramatically changed
our habits and routines is the digital camera. With traditional cameras, we received no
immediate feedback on the quality of the picture that was taken, we were very careful in
selecting and shooting scenes to avoid wasting frames, we needed to carry bulky rolls of
film, and we would obtain the final result only in printed form. With digital cameras, on
the other hand, we have resolved these issues and enjoy many other features that only
electronic processing can provide, e.g., transmission of pictures through cellphones or
ability to retouch or alter pictures by computers. In this section, we study the operation of
the digital camera.
The “front end” of the camera must convert light to electricity, a task performed by an
array (matrix) of “pixels.”4 Each pixel consists of an electronic device (a “photodiode”) that
produces a current proportional to the intensity of the light that it receives. As illustrated
in Fig. 1.5(a), this current flows through a capacitance, CL , for a certain period of time,
thereby developing a proportional voltage across it. Each pixel thus provides a voltage
proportional to the “local” light density.
Now consider a camera with, say, 6.25 million pixels arranged in a 2500 × 2500 array
[Fig. 1.5(b)]. How is the output voltage of each pixel sensed and processed? If each pixel
contains its own electronic circuitry, the overall array occupies a very large area, raising the
cost and the power dissipation considerably. We must therefore “time-share” the signal
processing circuits among pixels. To this end, we follow the circuit of Fig. 1.5(a) with a
simple, compact amplifier and a switch (within the pixel) [Fig. 1.5(c)]. Now, we connect
a wire to the outputs of all 2500 pixels in a “column,” turn on only one switch at a time,
and apply the corresponding voltage to the “signal processing” block outside the column.

4
The term “pixel” is an abbreviation of “picture cell.”
6 Chapter 1 Introduction to Microelectronics

Amplifier
25
00
C
ol
um
ns

2500 Rows
I Diode
Light
CL V out

Signal
Photodiode Processing

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 1.5 (a) Operation of a photodiode, (b) array of pixels in a digital camera, (c) one column of
the array.

The overall array consists of 2500 of such columns, with each column employing a dedicated
signal processing block.

Example A digital camera is focused on a chess board. Sketch the voltage produced by one column
1.2 as a function of time.

Solution The pixels in each column receive light only from the white squares [Fig. 1.6(a)]. Thus,
the column voltage alternates between a maximum for such pixels and zero for those
receiving no light. The resulting waveform is shown in Fig. 1.6(b).

V column
V column
t

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 1.6 (a) Chess board captured by a digital camera, (b) voltage waveform of one column.

Exercise Plot the voltage if the first and second squares in each row have the same color.
 1.2 Examples of Electronic Systems 7

What does each signal processing block do? Since the voltage produced by each pixel
is an analog signal and can assume all values within a range, we must first “digitize” it
by means of an “analog-to-digital converter” (ADC). A 6.25 megapixel array must thus
incorporate 2500 ADCs. Since ADCs are relatively complex circuits, we may time-share
one ADC between every two columns (Fig. 1.7), but requiring that the ADC operate twice
as fast (why?). In the extreme case, we may employ a single, very fast ADC for all 2500
columns. In practice, the optimum choice lies between these two extremes.

ADC

Figure 1.7 Sharing one ADC between two columns of a pixel array.

Once in the digital domain, the “video” signal collected by the camera can be ma-
nipulated extensively. For example, to “zoom in,” the digital signal processor (DSP) sim-
ply considers only a section of the array, discarding the information from the remaining
pixels. Also, to reduce the required memory size, the processor “compresses” the video
signal.
The digital camera exemplifies the extensive use of both analog and digital microelec-
tronics. The analog functions include amplification, switching operations, and analog-to-
digital conversion, and the digital functions consist of subsequent signal processing and
storage.

1.2.3 Analog Versus Digital

Amplifiers and ADCs are examples of analog functions, circuits that must process each
point on a waveform (e.g., a voice signal) with great care to avoid effects such as noise
and “distortion.” By contrast, digital circuits deal with binary levels (ONEs and ZEROs)
and, evidently, contain no analog functions. The reader may then say, “I have no intention
of working for a cellphone or camera manufacturer and, therefore, need not learn about
analog circuits.” In fact, with digital communications, digital signal processors, and every
other function becoming digital, is there any future for analog design?
Well, some of the assumptions in the above statements are incorrect. First, not every
function can be realized digitally. The architectures of Figs. 1.3 and 1.4 must employ low-
noise and low-power amplifiers, oscillators, and multipliers regardless of whether the actual
communication is in analog or digital form. For example, a 20-μV signal (analog or digital)
8 Chapter 1 Introduction to Microelectronics

received by the antenna cannot be directly applied to a digital gate. Similarly, the video
signal collectively captured by the pixels in a digital camera must be processed with low
noise and distortion before it appears in the digital domain.
Second, digital circuits require analog expertise as the speed increases. Figure 1.8
exemplifies this point by illustrating two binary data waveforms, one at 100 Mb/s and
another at 1 Gb/s. The finite risetime and falltime of the latter raises many issues in the
operation of gates, flipflops, and other digital circuits, necessitating great attention to each
point on the waveform.

10 ns

x 1 (t )

t
1 ns

x 2 (t )

Figure 1.8 Data waveforms at 100 Mb/s and 1 Gb/s.

 Chapter 2
Basic Physics of Semiconductors

Microelectronic circuits are based on complex semiconductor structures that have been
under active research for the past six decades. While this book deals with the analysis and
design of circuits, we should emphasize at the outset that a good understanding of devices
is essential to our work. The situation is similar to many other engineering problems, e.g.,
one cannot design a high-performance automobile without a detailed knowledge of the
engine and its limitations.
Nonetheless, we do face a dilemma. Our treatment of device physics must contain
enough depth to provide adequate understanding, but must also be sufficiently brief to
allow quick entry into circuits. This chapter accomplishes this task.
Our ultimate objective in this chapter is to study a fundamentally important and
versatile device called the “diode.” However, just as we need to eat our broccoli before
having dessert, we must develop a basic understanding of “semiconductor” materials and
their current conduction mechanisms before attacking diodes.
In this chapter, we begin with the concept of semiconductors and study the movement
of charge (i.e., the flow of current) in them. Next, we deal with the “pn junction,” which also
serves as diode, and formulate its behavior. Our ultimate goal is to represent the device
by a circuit model (consisting of resistors, voltage or current sources, capacitors, etc.), so
that a circuit using such a device can be analyzed easily. The outline is shown below.

Semiconductors PN Junction
• Charge Carriers • Structure
• Doping ➤ • Reverse and Forward
• Transport of Carriers Bias Conditions
• I/V Characteristics
• Circuit Models

It is important to note that the task of developing accurate models proves critical for
all microelectronic devices. The electronics industry continues to place greater demands

9
10 Chapter 2 Basic Physics of Semiconductors

on circuits, calling for aggressive designs that push semiconductor devices to their limits.
Thus, a good understanding of the internal operation of devices is necessary.1

2.1 SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS AND THEIR PROPERTIES

Since this section introduces a multitude of concepts, it is useful to bear a general outline
in mind:

Charge Carriers Modification of Transport of

in Solids Carrier Densities Carriers

Crystal Structure Intrinsic Semiconductors Diffusion

Bandgap Energy Extrinsic Semiconductors Drift
Holes Doping

Figure 2.1 Outline of this section.

This outline represents a logical thought process: (a) we identify charge carriers in
solids and formulate their role in current flow; (b) we examine means of modifying the
density of charge carriers to create desired current flow properties; (c) we determine cur-
rent flow mechanisms. These steps naturally lead to the computation of the current/voltage
(I/V) characteristics of actual diodes in the next section.

2.1.1 Charge Carriers in Solids

Recall from basic chemistry that the electrons in an atom orbit the nucleus in different
“shells.” The atom’s chemical activity is determined by the electrons in the outermost shell,
called “valence” electrons, and how complete this shell is. For example, neon exhibits
a complete outermost shell (with eight electrons) and hence no tendency for chemical
reactions. On the other hand, sodium has only one valence electron, ready to relinquish
it, and chloride has seven valence electrons, eager to receive one more. Both elements are
therefore highly reactive.
The above principles suggest that atoms having approximately four valence electrons
fall somewhere between inert gases and highly volatile elements, possibly displaying inter-
esting chemical and physical properties. Shown in Fig. 2.2 is a section of the periodic table
containing a number of elements with three to five valence electrons. As the most popular
material in microelectronics, silicon merits a detailed analysis.2

Covalent Bonds A silicon atom residing in isolation contains four valence electrons
[Fig. 2.3(a)], requiring another four to complete its outermost shell. If processed properly,
the silicon material can form a “crystal” wherein each atom is surrounded by exactly four
others [Fig. 2.3(b)]. As a result, each atom shares one valence electron with its neighbors,
thereby completing its own shell and those of the neighbors. The “bond” thus formed
between atoms is called a “covalent bond” to emphasize the sharing of valence electrons.
The uniform crystal depicted in Fig. 2.3(b) plays a crucial role in semiconductor devices.
But, does it carry current in response to a voltage? At temperatures near absolute zero,
the valence electrons are confined to their respective covalent bonds, refusing to move

1
As design managers often say, “If you do not push the devices and circuits to their limit but your
competitor does, then you lose to your competitor.”
2
Silicon is obtained from sand after a great deal of processing.
 2.1 Semiconductor Materials and Their Properties 11

III IV V

Boron Carbon
(B) (C)

Aluminum Silicon Phosphorus

(Al) (Si) (P)

Galium Germanium Arsenic

(Ga) (Ge) (As)

Figure 2.2 Section of the periodic table.

freely. In other words, the silicon crystal behaves as an insulator for T → 0K. However, at
higher temperatures, electrons gain thermal energy, occasionally breaking away from the
bonds and acting as free charge carriers [Fig. 2.3(c)] until they fall into another incomplete
bond. We will hereafter use the term “electrons” to refer to free electrons.
Covalent
Bond
Si Si Si Si

Si Si Si Si Si Si e Si
Si Si Si Si Free
Electron

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 2.3(a) Silicon atom, (b) covalent bonds between atoms, (c) free electron released by
thermal energy.

Holes When freed from a covalent bond, an electron leaves a “void” behind because the
bond is now incomplete. Called a “hole,” such a void can readily absorb a free electron if
one becomes available. Thus, we say an “electron-hole pair” is generated when an electron
is freed, and an “electron-hole recombination” occurs when an electron “falls” into a hole.
Why do we bother with the concept of the hole? After all, it is the free electron that
actually moves in the crystal. To appreciate the usefulness of holes, consider the time
evolution illustrated in Fig. 2.4. Suppose covalent bond number 1 contains a hole after
losing an electron some time before t = t1 . At t = t2 , an electron breaks away from bond

t = t1 t = t2 t = t3

1 Si Si Si Si Si Si 3

Si Si Si Si Si Si Si Si Si
Si Si Si 2 Si Si Si
Hole

Figure 2.4 Movement of electron through crystal.

12 Chapter 2 Basic Physics of Semiconductors

number 2 and recombines with the hole in bond number 1. Similarly, at t = t3 , an electron
leaves bond number 3 and falls into the hole in bond number 2. Looking at the three
“snapshots,” we can say one electron has traveled from right to left, or, alternatively, one
hole has moved from left to right. This view of current flow by holes proves extremely
useful in the analysis of semiconductor devices.

Bandgap Energy We must now answer two important questions. First, does any thermal
energy create free electrons (and holes) in silicon? No, in fact, a minimum energy is
required to dislodge an electron from a covalent bond. Called the “bandgap energy”
and denoted by Eg , this minimum is a fundamental property of the material. For silicon,
Eg = 1.12 eV.3
The second question relates to the conductivity of the material and is as follows. How
many free electrons are created at a given temperature? From our observations thus far, we
postulate that the number of electrons depends on both Eg and T: a greater Eg translates
to fewer electrons, but a higher T yields more electrons. To simplify future derivations, we
consider the density (or concentration) of electrons, i.e., the number of electrons per unit
volume, ni , and write for silicon:
−Eg
ni = 5.2 × 1015 T 3/2 exp electrons/cm3 (2.1)
2kT
where k = 1.38 × 10−23 J/K is called the Boltzmann constant. The derivation can be found
in books on semiconductor physics, e.g., [1]. As expected, materials having a larger Eg
exhibit a smaller ni . Also, as T → 0, so do T 3/2 and exp[−Eg /(2kT)], thereby bringing ni
toward zero.
The exponential dependence of ni upon Eg reveals the effect of the bandgap energy on
the conductivity of the material. Insulators display a high Eg ; for example, Eg = 2.5 eV for
diamond. Conductors, on the other hand, have a small bandgap. Finally, semiconductors
exhibit a moderate Eg , typically ranging from 1 eV to 1.5 eV.

Example Determine the density of electrons in silicon at T = 300 K (room temperature) and
2.1 T = 600 K.

Solution Since Eg = 1.12 eV = 1.792 × 10−19 J, we have

ni (T = 300 K) = 1.08 × 1010 electrons/cm3 (2.2)
ni (T = 600 K) = 1.54 × 1015 electrons/cm3 . (2.3)
Since for each free electron, a hole is left behind, the density of holes is also given by
(2.2) and (2.3).

Exercise Repeat the above exercise for a material having a bandgap of 1.5 eV.

The ni values obtained in the above example may appear quite high, but, noting that
silicon has 5 × 1022 atoms/cm3 , we recognize that only one in 5 × 1012 atoms benefit from a
free electron at room temperature. In other words, silicon still seems a very poor conductor.
But, do not despair! We next introduce a means of making silicon more useful.

3
The unit eV (electron volt) represents the energy necessary to move one electron across a potential
difference of 1 V. Note that 1 eV = 1.6 × 10−19 J.
 2.1 Semiconductor Materials and Their Properties 13

2.1.2 Modification of Carrier Densities

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Semiconductors The “pure” type of silicon studied thus far
is an example of “intrinsic semiconductors,” suffering from a very high resistance. Fortu-
nately, it is possible to modify the resistivity of silicon by replacing some of the atoms in the
crystal with atoms of another material. In an intrinsic semiconductor, the electron density,
n( = ni ), is equal to the hole density, p. Thus,
np = ni2 . (2.4)
We return to this equation later.
Recall from Fig. 2.2 that phosphorus (P) contains five valence electrons. What hap-
pens if some P atoms are introduced in a silicon crystal? As illustrated in Fig. 2.5, each P
atom shares four electrons with the neighboring silicon atoms, leaving the fifth electron
“unattached.” This electron is free to move, serving as a charge carrier. Thus, if N phos-
phorus atoms are uniformly introduced in each cubic centimeter of a silicon crystal, then
the density of free electrons rises by the same amount.

Si Si

Si P e Si
Si Si

Figure 2.5 Loosely-attached electon with phosphorus doping.

The controlled addition of an “impurity” such as phosphorus to an intrinsic semicon-

ductor is called “doping,” and phosphorus itself a “dopant.” Providing many more free
electrons than in the intrinsic state, the doped silicon crystal is now called “extrinsic,” more
specifically, an “n-type” semiconductor to emphasize the abundance of free electrons.
As remarked earlier, the electron and hole densities in an intrinsic semiconductor are
equal. But, how about these densities in a doped material? It can be proved that even in
this case,
np = ni2 , (2.5)
where n and p respectively denote the electron and hole densities in the extrinsic semicon-
ductor. The quantity ni represents the densities in the intrinsic semiconductor (hence the
subscript i) and is therefore independent of the doping level [e.g., Eq. (2.1) for silicon].

Example The above result seems quite strange. How can np remain constant while we add more
2.2 donor atoms and increase n?

Solution Equation (2.5) reveals that p must fall below its intrinsic level as more n-type dopants
are added to the crystal. This occurs because many of the new electrons donated by the
dopant “recombine” with the holes that were created in the intrinsic material.

Exercise Why can we not say that n + p should remain constant?

14 Chapter 2 Basic Physics of Semiconductors

Example A piece of crystalline silicon is doped uniformly with phosphorus atoms. The doping
2.3 density is 1016 atoms/cm3 . Determine the electron and hole densities in this material at
the room temperature.

Solution The addition of 1016 P atoms introduces the same number of free electrons per cubic
centimeter. Since this electron density exceeds that calculated in Example 2.1 by six
orders of magnitude, we can assume
n = 1016 electrons/cm3 . (2.6)
It follows from (2.2) and (2.5) that
ni2
p= (2.7)
n
= 1.17 × 104 holes/cm3 . (2.8)
Note that the hole density has dropped below the intrinsic level by six orders of magni-
tude. Thus, if a voltage is applied across this piece of silicon, the resulting current consists
predominantly of electrons.

Exercise At what doping level does the hole density drop by three orders of magnitude?

This example justifies the reason for calling electrons the “majority carriers” and
holes the “minority carriers” in an n-type semiconductor. We may naturally wonder if it is
possible to construct a “p-type” semiconductor, thereby exchanging the roles of electrons
and holes.
Indeed, if we can dope silicon with an atom that provides an insufficient number of
electrons, then we may obtain many incomplete covalent bonds. For example, the table
in Fig. 2.2 suggests that a boron (B) atom—with three valence electrons—can form only
three complete covalent bonds in a silicon crystal (Fig. 2.6). As a result, the fourth bond
contains a hole, ready to absorb a free electron. In other words, N boron atoms contribute
N boron holes to the conduction of current in silicon. The structure in Fig. 2.6 therefore
exemplifies a p-type semiconductor, providing holes as majority carriers. The boron atom
is called an “acceptor” dopant.

Si Si

Si B Si
Si Si

Figure 2.6 Available hole with boron doping.

Let us formulate our results thus far. If an intrinsic semiconductor is doped with a
density of ND ( ni ) donor atoms per cubic centimeter, then the mobile charge densities
are given by
Majority Carriers: n ≈ ND (2.9)
ni2
Minority Carriers: p ≈ . (2.10)
ND
Other documents randomly have
different content
 How is it possible to deal with a Government who, when called to
account for a series of massacres, apologise in this charmingly naïve
way for what they call “unsuitable occurrences?” How did they
propose to punish the man who had already committed suicide? And
is “simple hatred” likely to produce mental derangement? The
Government was evidently not responsible. The daimio was in no
way to blame. The assassin was temporarily insane, and, though
dead, would be punished. It is true, two English marines were
hacked to pieces, with twenty-five wounds; but the real culprits were
the “wanderers,” who spread a report. That is a specimen of
Japanese logic.
In ordinary criminal offences, however, the Japanese are prompt
to inflict summary punishment. Here is an original sentence,
forwarded to the British Consul in an official letter:—

“To F. Howard Vyse, Esq.

Kihi,

Vagabond in the village of Torocmigawa,

You have, while in the service of the English merchant Telge, stolen 300 rio in his
absence, which were kept in an unlocked box. As this is a great offence, you are
sentenced to be beheaded.”

The execution-ground was close to the gate of the Legation at

Yedo, and gory heads, fresh chopped off and stuck in clay,
occasionally glared with glassy eyes upon the passer-by. Not far from
Kanagawa was a burning-ground, not unlike a threshing-floor; and
English travellers, with a taste for the horrible, used to make it an
object for a ride, to inspect the human ashes which were strewn
there.
But we have looked enough “on this picture” of Japan—it is time to
look “on that.” Those travellers who first saw it in its gala-dress
painted it as they found it, and in some respects have their glowing
descriptions fallen short of the reality. They never heard of “lonins,”
or experienced any “unsuitable occurrences.” They saw a population
nude, peaceable, and contented, a landscape of fairy-like beauty, a
sky unrivalled even in Italy; and they left before they had recovered
from the charming surprise, or had time to appreciate the real value
of attractions so novel and unlooked-for. And yet our author, after a
residence of three years, writes:—

“But for this class of military retainers and Tycoon officials, high and low, both
of which swarm in Yedo, it seems it might be one of the pleasantest places in the
Far East. The climate is superior to that of any other country east of the Cape. The
capital itself, though spreading over a circuit of some twenty miles, with probably a
couple of million of inhabitants, can boast what no capital in Europe can—the most
charming rides, beginning even in its centre, and extending in every direction over
wooded hills, through smiling valleys and shady lanes, fringed with evergreens and
magnificent timber. Even in the city, especially along the ramparts of the official
quarter, and in many roads and avenues leading thence to the country, broad green
slopes and temple gardens or well-timbered parks gladden the eye as it is nowhere
else gladdened within the circle of a city. No sooner is a suburb gained in any
direction, than hedgerows appear which only England can rival either for beauty or
neatness, while over all an Eastern sun through the greater part of the year throws
a flood of light from an unclouded sky, making the deep shadow of the overarching
trees doubly grateful, with its ever-varying pictures of tracery, both above and
below. Such is Yedo and its environs in the long summer-time, and far into a late
autumn.”

Our author’s enthusiasm is not confined to inanimate nature in

Japan. He too, in spite of the disaffection of a particular class, has an
evident weakness for the country people, and gives us many pleasing
traits of national character:—

“Reflections,” he says, “on the government and civilisation of the Japanese press
upon the European every step he takes in this land, so singularly blessed in soil
and climate, so happy in the contented character and simple habits of its people,
yet so strangely governed by unwritten laws and irresponsible rulers.”

Again—

“Much has been heard of the despotic sway of these feudal lords, and the
oppression under which all the labouring classes toil and groan; but it is
impossible to traverse these well-cultivated valleys, and mark the happy,
contented, and well-to-do populations which have their home amid so much
plenty, and believe we see a land entirely tyrant-ridden and impoverished by
exactions. On the contrary, the impression is irresistibly borne in upon the mind
that Europe cannot show a happier or better-fed peasantry, or a climate and soil so
genial and bountiful in their gifts.”

We must agree with our author, that institutions, however

anomalous they may appear to us, must have some merit which can
so satisfactorily secure “the material prosperity of a population
estimated at thirty millions, which has made an Eden of this volcanic
soil, and has grown in numbers and wealth by unaided native
industry, shut out from all intercourse with the rest of the world.” So
that Sir Rutherford, after all, gives quite as favourable a picture of
Japan as any of the “hasty visitors,” the accuracy of whose first
impressions he thus impugns:—

“Those writers,” he exclaims, “who, on the strength of a superficial observation,

or a flying visit to Nagasaki, have led the credulous public in Europe and America
to believe that the triumph of European civilisation in Japan is already secure, and
that the Japanese Government is promoting it, must have been strangely deluded!
As to progress and advance in the path of civilisation, the papers laid before
Parliament at this period, in which I passed in review the progress made in the
previous six months—the first after the opening of the ports under treaties in July
last—must have given a very different impression.”

But this is a gloomy view of affairs not usual with our author; for a
few pages later, remarking on the effect which foreign trade is likely
to produce, he observes:—

“How soon such changes may come it is impossible to say, seeing what
marvellous progress has marked the last seven years. Notwithstanding their long
and resolutely-maintained isolation and exclusivism, carried even into their
political economy, and cherished in the national mind as their ark of safety and the
shibboleth of their independence, the day has arrived when a British Minister can
take up his residence in the capital, and is received by the Tycoon, not as were the
chiefs of the Dutch factory at Decima—long the only representatives of Europe—in
days now long passed, and never, it is to be hoped, to return.”

In another place—
 “They are a well-to-do, flourishing, and advancing people, and for generations
and centuries have maintained a respectable level of intellectual cultivation and
social virtues.”

Sir Rutherford, in his desponding mood, cites, as an instance of

the obstructive and unprogressive policy of the Government, that
they refused to accept an offer made by Europeans to run monthly a
steamer for them between their own ports; but he writes more
sanguinely when he gives us an account of a visit he paid to the
Government steam-factory at Nagasaki:—

“I could not but admire the progress made under every possible difficulty, by the
Japanese and Dutch combined, in their endeavours to create in this remote corner
of the earth all the complicated means and appliances for the repair and
manufacture ultimately of steam machinery.”

There he found them making moderator lamps, and farther on

there was a forge-factory in complete working order, with a
Nasmyth’s hammer.

“And here we saw one of the most extraordinary and crowning testimonies of
Japanese enterprise and ingenuity, which leaves all the Chinese have ever
attempted far behind. I allude to a steam-engine with tubular boilers, made by
themselves before a steam vessel or engine had ever been seen by Japanese—made
solely, therefore, from the plans in a Dutch work.”

After this we do not think that the idea which our author ridicules,
of the possibility of railways and steam communication in Japan, is
so very absurd; considering all that he has undergone, it is not to be
wondered at that he should occasionally take a gloomy view of the
people and the country. Generally he is sanguine and
complimentary, and nobody has had better opportunities of judging.
He has visited the northern island, ascended Fusama, spent some
weeks at a Japanese watering-place, where he found “peace, plenty,
apparent content, and a country more perfectly and carefully
cultivated, and kept with more ornamental timber everywhere, than
can be matched even in England.” He made an overland journey
from Nagasaki to Yedo, which lasted thirty-three days, and the
incidents of which form one of the most interesting features of the
book. There is an admirable description of a Japanese play, which,
judged by the light of the future, seemed to be a rehearsal of the
tragedy about to be perpetrated a fortnight later on Sir Rutherford
himself. Occasionally the party traversed the territory of a hostile
daimio; on these occasions the inhabitants shut themselves up. Thus,
at Nieno, a daimio’s capital—

“As we advanced through the streets we found every house and every side-street
hermetically closed, not a whisper was to be heard, nor the face of a living being to
be seen. The side streets were all barricaded and shut out of view by curtains
spread on high poles. His own house, which we passed, was similarly masked by
curtains. Even in the adjoining villages no women or children were to be seen.”

These daimios are always followed by large bodies of armed

retainers in their journeys through the country, and, as the last
murder of our countryman proves, are not to be met without danger.
On one occasion, says our author,

“Mr De Wit and I were riding abreast, and without any escort, having left them
far behind, when, seeing rather a large cortege filling up the road as we turned an
angle, we drew to one side of the road in single file. No sooner did the leading
officer observe the movement than he instantly began to swagger, and motioned all
the train to spread themselves over the whole road; so that all we gained by our
consideration and courtesy was to run the risk of being pushed into the ditch by an
insolent subordinate.”

Runners always precede these trains, calling upon the people to

prostrate themselves; and the nobles are so accustomed to this act of
homage that a European refusing to perform it incurs a great risk.
Our author enters into great detail in the account he gives us of the
habits and mode of life of the common people, for they alone come
under the observation of the stranger; and we may regard the work
before us as the most exhaustive description of the country and the
people which we could expect from the pen of a foreigner. It is,
moreover, admirably illustrated, and the reader cannot fail to rise
from its perusal more thoroughly enlightened in all that concerns the
singular people of whom it treats, than he could hope to be by all the
previous works which have appeared on the same subject from the
days of the Jesuit fathers. We had marked many passages illustrative
of the everyday life of the Japanese, and some graphic descriptions of
those scenes which are most characteristic and remarkable; but we
have dwelt so long on the political considerations which have been
suggested to us by the remarks of the author, that we can only
commend his social sketches to the notice of the reader. The account
of Sir Rutherford’s audience with the Tycoon is highly entertaining,
and the effect of the actual ceremony must have been ridiculous in
the extreme. The attitude of a Japanese in the presence of a superior
almost amounts to prostration. In one room were “more than a
hundred officers in grand official costume, all kneeling, five and six
deep, in rows, perfectly mute, and immovable as statues, their heads
just raised from the floor.” This attitude, when adopted by a crowd, is
rather striking, perhaps, than ludicrous; but when the crowd begin to
walk, the effect must be eminently absurd:—

“The most singular part of the whole costume, and that which, added to the
head-gear, gave an irresistibly comic air to the whole presentment, was the
immeasurable prolongation of the silk trousers. These, instead of stopping short at
the heels, are unconscionably lengthened, and left to trail two or three feet behind
them, so that their feet, as they advanced, seemed pushed into what should have
been the knees of their garments; besides this, they often shuffle on their hands
and knees.”

The performances of the jugglers, wrestlers, and top-spinners in

Japan have already been constantly alluded to, but our author’s
experiences surpass those of former spectators:—

“One of the most delicate of the performances consisted in making a top spin on
the left hand, run up round the edge of the robe at the back of the neck, and down
the other arm into the palm of the right hand, still spinning. Another, again, was to
toss a spinning-top into the air and catch it on the hem of the sleeve without letting
it fall. A third was to fling it high in the air and catch it on the bowl or the angle of a
Japanese pipe, pass it behind the back, flinging it to the front, and then catch it
again.”
 Certainly an importation of Japanese top-spinners would make the
fortune of any Barnum who could induce them to leave their country
with the certainty of their being obliged to rip themselves up on their
return. Let us hope that the discontinuance of this last trick may be
one of the first-fruits of the introduction of Western civilisation into
Japan.
 MRS CLIFFORD’S MARRIAGE.
PART II.

CHAPTER VI.—THE RESULT.

When the newly married people returned home, after an absence
of about two months, the new rule soon but gradually made itself felt
at Fontanel. Though Mr Summerhayes had for a long time been the
inspiring influence there, there was still all the difference between
his will as interpreted by Mrs Clifford and his will as accomplished
by himself. Of the two, it must be allowed that the retainers of the
family preferred the cordial, kind, inconsistent sway of poor Mary to
the firm and steady government of her new husband; and then
everybody had acknowledged her right to rule, which came by
nature, while every soul secretly rebelled against his, which was a
kind of contradiction to nature. Mr Summerhayes’s path was not
strewn with roses when he came back to Fontanel; then, for the first
time, he had the worst of it. After she was fairly married, and
everything concluded beyond the possibility of change, Mary, like a
true woman, had found it quite possible to forget all her previous
doubts and difficulties, and to conclude, with that simple philosophy
which carries women of her class through so many troubles, that now
everything must come right. It was no embarrassing new affection
now, but acknowledged duty, that bound her to her husband, and she
would not contemplate the possibility of this duty clashing with her
former duties. So she came home, having fully regained the
composure of her mind, very happy to see her children again, and
utterly forgetting that they had not yet become accustomed, as she
had, to look upon “Cousin Tom” as the head of the house. But it was
now that gentleman’s turn to suffer the pains and penalties of the
new position which he had taken upon himself. He was fully
conscious of all the troubled sidelong glances out of Loo’s brown
eyes; and when Charley burst into the house in schoolboy
exuberance at Easter, for his few days of holiday, Mr Summerhayes
noted the gulp in the throat of the Etonian, when he found it
necessary to ask the new master of the house about something
hitherto settled between himself and the old groom, with perhaps a
reference to the indulgent mother, who could never bear to deprive
her boy of any pleasure. Mr Summerhayes let Charley have his will
with the best grace in the world, but still saw and remarked that knot
of discontent in the boy’s throat—that apple of Adam, which Charley
swallowed, consciously, yet, as he himself thought, unobserved by
any man. The younger children were perhaps still more difficult to
deal with; for it was hard to teach them that Mr Summerhayes was
no longer Cousin Tom, to be romped with, but that it was necessary
to be quiet and good, and not to disturb the meditations of the head
of the house. True, it fell to Mary’s lot to impress this fact upon the
rebellious consciousness of Harry and little Alf; but Mr
Summerhayes, who at that particular period of his life was all eyes
and ears, and missed nothing, did not fail to have the benefit. Then
some of the servants were petulant—some were insolent, presuming
on their old favour with their mistress—some resigned altogether
when they knew “how things was agoing to be;” the most part
sneaked and gave in, with secret reflections, every one of which was
guessed and aggravated by the new master. It is easy to see that his
position had its difficulties and disagreeables; but, to do Mr
Summerhayes justice, he behaved with great temper and forbearance
in this troublesome crisis. He made it apparent to everybody that he
was not to be trifled with; but, at the same time, pretended not to see
the little petulancies which were in reality so distinctly apparent to
him, and which galled him so much. He swallowed many a
mortification just then more bitter and stinging than Charley’s soon-
forgotten gulp of boyish pride; and steadily and gradually, without
any one knowing much about it, the new master of Fontanel won the
day.
He was a man whose previous life had, to a considerable extent,
belied his real character. He had lived idly and without any apparent
ambition during these forty years, contenting himself apparently, for
the last ten, with his dreary old manor-house and spare income. But
this was not because he was of a light and easy temper, or satisfied
with his lot. He was active enough in reality, now that he had affairs
in his hands of sufficient magnitude to occupy him—and thoughtful
enough to keep his purposes locked in his own heart, from which
they came forth in act and deed, only when full fledged and ready for
the gaze of the world. The house of Fontanel gradually recognised the
hand of the master. Without any visible coercion upon Mary, the
open, liberal, hospitable house came by imperceptible degrees under
that stern regime which had made life possible at the manor-house
upon the much diminished means of the Summerhayes’. The process
was like nothing so much as the change of a ship’s course in a stormy
sea. The vessel wavered, reeled for a moment as the helm went round
in the new direction, but next minute had righted herself, and was
ploughing steadily on in her new course, leaving the ignorant
passengers below in total unconsciousness of anything that had
happened, except that momentary stagger and uncertainty which it
was so easy to account for. Mary was not cut down, either in her
hospitalities or charities—or at least, if she was, did not know it; but
before a year had elapsed, the expenditure in Fontanel house was
smaller, and the expenditure on Fontanel estate greater than it had
ever been in the memory of man. Mr Summerhayes was an
enterprising and enlightened landlord. He took up the Home Farm
with such energy that every tenant-farmer within twenty miles
learned, or ought to have learned, the salutary lesson; and he gave
loans and bonuses upon improvement, such as suggested to the
unimproving sundry sarcasms as to the facility with which men
parted with other people’s money. If it had been his own, instead of
belonging to his wife and her children, it would have made a
difference, people said; but then it was only the unprogressive, whom
Mr Summerhayes decidedly snubbed and disapproved of, who made
that ill-natured remark. To tell the truth, however, when he set out
upon this active career, which was so unlike his former life, Mr
Summerhayes of Fontanel became much less popular in the county
than the poor squire at the manor had been in old days. Perhaps, in
the change from poverty to wealth, he carried things with too high a
hand. Perhaps he failed to recognise his own position as an
interloper, and acted the master too completely to please the popular
fancy. At all events, nobody was satisfied—not even his sisters in the
old house, which they had all to themselves; certainly not the little
community in his present home, which obeyed and feared and
suspected him—perhaps not even his wife.
Mary had a woman’s usual experience before she married her
second husband and made this complication of affairs. She knew as a
certainty, what all the younger brides have to learn by hard personal
training, that the husband must be different from the lover; that the
habits of ordinary life will return after a while; and that the wife’s
happiness must be of a different kind, if she is happy at all, from that
of the bride, to whose pleasure, for the moment, everything defers by
a tender fallacy and sophism of nature. But somehow, in its own
case, the heart is always incredulous. To marry him had, after all,
cost this soft woman a great many natural pangs, and it was hard to
find so soon all the affectionate conferences and consultations, by
means of which he had at first won her, ceasing altogether, and to
feel that the affairs which she had managed so long were now in
inexorable hands, and ruled by plans which were only communicated
to her when they were ready for execution, if even then. Then poor
Mary, who had always been looked on with indulgent eyes, began to
feel herself under a sterner regard, and to see that her acts and words
were judged solely on their own merits, and not with any softening
glamour of love, making everything beautiful because it was she. It is
impossible to describe how nervous and unsteady this consciousness
made her, and how much more ready she was to make mistakes,
from knowing that her mistakes would not be excused, or looked
upon affectionately as wisdom in disguise. Poor soul! he was very
kind to her at the same time; but his eye was on when she caressed
her children; his quick ear somehow caught the little secrets they
whispered to her in that sacred twilight hour in her dressing-room
before dinner, where Mr Summerhayes had now acquired the habit
of coming in to talk with his wife, and finding the children in the
way. When they were all sent off on such occasions, it was well for
Loo that she generally headed the retreat, before the new master
lighted his wife’s candles, and threw an intrusive glare into the
sacred atmosphere. Loo was a heroine, but she had a temper. But as
for poor Mary, to see her disappointed children trooping away, and
to guess with quick instinct the thoughts that were already rising in
their little angry hearts, and to lose that sweet moment in which her
soul was retrempé and made strong, was very bitter even to her
yielding temper and loving heart. She could have cried but for fear of
her husband; and many a time had bitter drops in her eyes, which
had to be crushed back somehow, and re-absorbed into her breast,
when those tell-tale candles flashed their unwelcome light upon her.
Yet, notwithstanding all this, she had no right nor wish to call herself
an unhappy wife. He was very kind to her—seemed as though he
loved her, which makes up to a woman for a great many things; but
still a sense of having overturned the world somehow, and disturbed
the course of nature—of having introduced bewilderment and
confusion she could not tell how, and a false state of affairs—
combined, with a certain ache of disappointment, of wounded pride,
and unappreciated confidence, to make poor Mary’s musings weary
and troubled, and to plant thorns in her pillow.
Thus it happened that nobody was pleased with the change which
had taken place at Fontanel, except, perhaps, Mr Summerhayes
himself, who seemed sufficiently contented with all that he had done
and was doing. Certainly he devoted himself to the improvement of
the estate. Such crops had never been dreamt of in the county as
those that began to be usual upon the well-tilled acres of the Home
Farm; and, when leases fell in, the lumbering old tenants had no
chance against the thriving agriculturists whom the King-Consort
brought in over their heads at advancing rents, to the benefit of the
rent-roll and the country, though not without some individual misery
at the same time to lessen the advantage. Some old people
emigrated, and got their death by it; some hopeful farmer-families
dispersed and were broken up, and found but a checkered fortune
awaiting them in the cold world, outside of those familiar fields
which they had believed themselves born to cultivate, and almost
thought their own; and Mrs Summerhayes had red eyes after these
occurrences, and took to headaches, which were most unusual to her;
but it was unquestionably the most enlightened policy—it was very
good for the land and the country and things in general; and, in
particular, there could not be any doubt it was good for the rent-roll
of Fontanel.
 CHAPTER VII.—THE NEXT EVENT IN THE
FAMILY.
“I wonder whether Charley Clifford’s coming of age will be kept as
it ought to be,” said Miss Amelia Harwood, meditatively. It was more
than five years since the marriage, but there was still going to be a
bazaar at Summerhayes; and still a large basket stood on the
drawing-room table at Woodbine Cottage, full of embroidered
cushions, babies’ socks, children’s pinafores, and needle-books and
pen-wipers without number, upon which Miss Amelia was stitching
little tickets which told the price. “To give him all his honours will be
ticklish work for Tom Summerhayes, and to withhold them won’t
answer with a boy of spirit like Charley. I am fond of that boy. He
behaves very well to his mother; though really, when a woman makes
a fool of herself, I don’t wonder if her children get disgusted. I should
like to know what she thinks of her exploit now. I always foresaw she
would see her folly as the children grew up.”
“Oh, hush, Amelia,” said her elder sister; “don’t be hard upon poor
dear Mary now. I was surprised at the time—but of course she must
have been in love with him; and it was hard, you know, to be left all
alone at her time of life. She is quite a young woman now.”
“She is——” said Miss Amelia, pausing, with inexorable memory
and a host of dates at her finger-ends, “either forty-two or forty-
three. I don’t quite recollect whether she was born in ‘14 or in ‘15.
Now that I think, it was ‘14, for it was before the Waterloo year,
which we had all such good cause to remember; and as for being left
all alone, she had her children, and I always said she ought to have
had the sense to know when she was well off. However, that is not
the question. I want to know whether they will make any ado over
Charley’s coming of age.”
“Poor boy!—it is sad for him having no father to advise him at such
an important time of his life,” said gentle Miss Harwood, with a sigh.
“Oh, stuff!” said Miss Amelia. “Harry Clifford, poor fellow, never
was wise enough to direct himself, and how could he have guided his
son? I daresay Tom Summerhayes would be a better adviser, if you
come to that. But I am sorry for Charley all the same: he’s the heir,
and yet somehow he doesn’t seem the heir. His mother, after all, is
still a young woman, as you say, and Tom Summerhayes seems to
have got everything so secure in his hands that one can’t help feeling
something is sure to happen to make the estate his in the end. It can’t
be, I suppose; they said the deeds were irrevocable, and that Mary
couldn’t alter them if she wished, which I don’t suppose she does;—
she loves her children, I must say that for her. Still one never feels
sure with a man like Tom Summerhayes; and poor Charley has no
more to do with his own affairs than if he were a little ploughboy on
Mr Summerhayes’s estate.”
“Hush, my dear,” said Miss Harwood, who was in her summer
chair, which commanded, through the openings of the green blind, a
view of the village green and the road before the door,—“here are
Louisa and Lydia coming to call—and out of breath, too; so they must
have some news or something particular to say.”
“About Charley’s coming of age, of course,” said Miss Amelia. “I
daresay Mary and Tom have had a fight over it, and he’s judged it as
well for once to let Mary have her way. He always had a great deal of
sense, had Tom Summerhayes.”
“Oh, I declare, to see how far the Miss Harwoods are on with their
things!” cried Miss Louisa Summerhayes, almost before she had
entered the room; “but you are always in such good time, Miss
Amelia. As for us, we have such a great deal to think about just now,
it drives the bazaar out of our heads; almost as bad as if we had a
family ourselves,” said Miss Lydia, with a breathless outburst. “I
daresay you have heard the news—you who always hear everything
from Fontanel.”
“About Charley’s birthday?” said Miss Amelia.
“Well, upon my word, you are a witch of Endor, or something,”
said Miss Lydia, whose turn it was to begin the duet; “for dear Tom
rode down to tell us only this morning. He is so considerate, dear
Tom; and I am sure there never was such a stepfather,—to think of
all he means to do, just as if Charley was his own son and heir,” cried
Miss Louisa, who was scarcely able to keep in time for want of
breath.
 “His own son and heir, if he had one, need not to make so much
commotion, my dears,” said Miss Amelia, administering with great
goodwill a friendly snub; “there is a difference, you know, between
Fontanel and the manor-house. I suppose there will be a dinner of
the tenantry, and all that. There couldn’t, you know, much as your
family is respected in the county, be much of that sort of thing at
Summerhayes.”
“My dear, you know Amelia always speaks her mind,” said Miss
Harwood; “you don’t mind what she says? I am sure I hope poor
Charley will have a good day for his fête, and that everything will go
off well. I daresay they will all feel a little strange on such a day, to
think of all the changes that have happened. I remember, as if it were
yesterday, the day he was born; and oh how happy poor Mary was!”
“I am sure she ought to be a great deal happier now,” said Miss
Laura, with a toss of her head, “if she were sensible enough to see her
advantages. Dear Tom makes himself a slave to her, and spends all
his strength upon the estate; and then never to get any thanks for it. I
declare, to hear how you speak is enough to make one hate the
world,” said Miss Lydia, with the usual joint disregard of
punctuation. “But, Miss Harwood, you always take Mary’s side.”
“I didn’t know we were come so far as to take sides,” said Miss
Amelia, dryly; “Mary never takes her own side, that’s clear. She tries
to please everybody, poor soul; to make her husband happy by letting
him suppose himself the master of Fontanel,—and to make her son
happy by making believe he’s all right and in his natural place; and
what’s to come of it all after Charley comes of age is more than I can
tell; for Charley’s a boy of spirit, though he’s devoted to his mother,
and it’s hard never to have anything to say in one’s own affairs. A
woman may submit to it, perhaps, but a young man is very different,”
said Miss Amelia, with great gravity, breaking off with an emphatic
jerk the last end of her thread.
Both the sisters were in tears before this speech was finished. “I
am sure it is very hard,” sobbed the elder, as soon as she could speak,
“to be in dear Tom’s position, and to have to manage everything, and
always to hear it brought up against him that he has nothing to do
with the estate, and it belongs to his wife. I wonder how he ever puts
up with it,” cried the other, “dear Tom, that is the head of one of the
oldest families in the county—far better blood than the Cliffords,
whose great-grandfather was in trade; and they would all have been
ruined but for dear Tom,” concluded Miss Louisa; “he has given
himself up to their interests—and this is his reward!”
“Hush, now,” said Miss Harwood, “I am sure nothing was said that
could make you cry; and I see poor dear Mary herself in the pony-
carriage driving down by the green. I daresay she will call here. She
will be quite surprised if she sees you have been crying. Shouldn’t
you like to run up-stairs and set your bonnets straight?”
“I daresay she’ll come in looking as bright as possible,” said Miss
Amelia, “and could not understand, if we were to tell her, why we
should quarrel and cry over her affairs. After all, it’s a shame she
shouldn’t be happy, poor soul; she always makes the best of
everything. There she is, kissing her hand to us already. How d’ye do,
my dear? And I am sure I think she’s as pretty now as when she was
twenty, whatever the men may say.”
“Oh dear, that’s just what the men say,” cried Miss Louisa, with
indignation, unable even at this crisis to resist the temptation; “for
she always was a gentleman’s beauty,” added Miss Lydia, half under
her breath. They were not in the least malignant, and both of them
secretly liked Mary in their hearts; but they could not resist the
opportunity of throwing a little javelin at her, which certainly did her
no harm.
Mary did not reach the door until her sisters-in-law had put
themselves in order by the help of the mirror in the back drawing-
room. All this time Miss Amelia stood by the window making her
comments. “Of course there is a basket to be taken out of the pony-
carriage,” said that mollified observer, who was nodding and smiling
all the time to the new arrivals, “with a quantity of forced things in it,
no doubt; for there’s nothing else to be had at this time of the year. I
think I can see strawberries through the lid, which, considering it is
only March, is flying in the face of nature, I think. And here is Loo.
Well, I am not sure that poor Loo is not as much forced as the
strawberries; she looks a long way older than her mother, it appears
to me. Poor thing! perhaps it’s not wonderful under the
circumstances; and I think Loo would be pretty if she was free in her
mind, or had time for anything but brooding over affairs. She is, let
me see, eighteen at her next birthday——”
 “Hush, Amelia! My dear Mary, it makes me very happy to see you,”
said old Miss Harwood, rising from her comfortable chair, with the
slow motion of an old woman, to meet the kiss of the mistress of
Fontanel. Perhaps it was the contrast of true old age which made
Mary, though convicted of having been born in the year ‘14, appear
then, in ‘57, so blooming and fresh and youthful. She had lived, on
the whole, a quiet life. She had little in her constitution of that rabid
selfishness which people call a sensitive temperament. She bore her
troubles meekly, and got over them; and even the anxieties and
uneasiness of recent years had added but few wrinkles to the fair face
of a woman who always believed that everything would turn out well,
and heartily hoped for the best. She came in, well-dressed, well-
conditioned, sweet to look at and to listen to, in easy matronly
fulness and expansion, into the pretty but strait and limited room
where the two old sisters lived their life; and when she had kissed
them, kissed also the two younger maidens, who were, however, of
Mary’s own standing—no younger than herself. They all looked grey,
and relapsed into the shade in presence of her sweet looks and
natural graciousness. Even Loo, who stood behind her mother’s chair
—a tall girl, still with great brown eyes, which counted for twice as
much as their real size in her pale face—looked, as Miss Amelia said,
old beside Mrs Summerhayes. Hers were the bright but softened
tints, the round outlines, the affectionate, tender, unimpassioned
heart, which confers perpetual youth.
“How nice it is to see you looking so well!” said Mary. “I don’t
think you have grown a bit older, dear Miss Harwood, for twenty
years. Loo and I have come down on purpose to ask you to come to
Fontanel for Charley’s birthday. He comes of age, dear fellow, next
month, you know; and as it is a very very great occasion, we thought
a three weeks’ invitation was not too much. You must come to us the
day before—the carriage will come for you—and stay at least till the
day after, so that you may not be the least fatigued. We are going to
have all sorts of pleasures and rejoicing; and I am sure, though I am
a foolish old mother to say so,” said the smiling, blooming woman, in
whom light and sunshine seemed to have entered Miss Harwood’s
drawing-room, “that nobody has more reason to rejoice over a son
than I—than we have,—he has always been such a dear boy; he has
never given me any anxiety all his life.”
 “Well, he’s only just beginning his life,” said Miss Amelia. “What
anxiety could he give you, except about the measles and so forth? To
be sure he might have been plucked at the university, or rusticated,
or something dreadful; but I allow he’s a good boy, and not too good
a boy either—which is a great comfort. I am glad you are not going to
stint him at his fête: an eldest son has a right to that, I suppose; but I
hope you mean to let him have something to do, my dear, after he
comes of age.”
“To do? Oh, I daresay he will ynd quite enough to do, for a few
fiears, amusing himself,” said Mary, perceptibly growing paler for the
moment. “Of course I am calculating upon both of you, Louisa and
Liddy,” she said, turning round with an air of making her escape. “To
ask such near friends formally would be nonsense, you know; but
you must not forget the twenty-fifth; and I hope you will come early,
too, and see the preparations, and the tenants’ dinner, and all that is
to go on out of doors.”
“Oh, we have got an invitation already,” said Miss Laura. “Not that
we would have come unless you had asked us besides, dear Mary,”
chimed in Miss Lydia; “but dear Tom called this morning to tell us it
was all decided upon,” they both ran on together. “Such a comfort to
our minds; for I am sure Liddy and I cannot bear to hear you ever
have any difference of opinion,” cried Miss Laura, as her solo broke
upon the course of the duet. “And dear Tom is always so glad to do
what will please you, dear Mary,” chimed Miss Lydia, as it came to
her turn.
Mary turned red and then turned pale in spite of herself. Most
people have some specially sensitive spot about them, and this was
Mary’s: she could not endure to think that her husband consulted his
sisters about things that occurred at Fontanel.
“I was not aware we had any difference of opinion,” she said, with
dignity; “things always have to be discussed, and Mr Summerhayes
likes to consider everything well before he takes it in hand; but, of
course, we can have but one mind about Charlie, who really is the
owner of the estate, or at least will be after the twenty-fifth. He is so
popular already,” continued the mother, returning to the Miss
Harwoods. The tears came to poor Mary’s eyes, notwithstanding all
her efforts. She felt they were all watching her, and that to do justice
both to her son and her husband was all but impossible; and,
besides, at that moment she was under the influence of a little
irritation. Mr Summerhayes did not consult his sisters, for whose
judgment he had a much greater contempt than it had ever entered
into the mind of Mary to entertain for any one in the world; but when
he was annoyed or irritated he occasionally took the benefit of their
unreasoning sympathy and partisanship, as he had done this
morning—and there was nothing in all the business which so galled
and exasperated his wife.
“He always was a dear boy,” said kind old Miss Harwood; “and
such a sweet baby as he was, my dear. I remember when he was born
as if it were yesterday. I was just saying so before you came in. I
never saw any people so happy as you, and—hem—it seems foolish,
to be sure, talking of what he was as a baby now he’s a man,” she
concluded, hurriedly stumbling over that unlucky allusion. Mary
again grew a little pale, poor soul. She could not escape from her
troubles anyhow—they hemmed her in on every side.
“And so all those things are for the bazaar,” she said, by way of
making a diversion. “Loo was to have worked you something, Miss
Amelia, but Loo’s fingers are not so useful as they might be. She is a
great deal too fond of dreaming; but I don’t think I was very fond of
work myself when I was her age; and, of course, she has something in
hand for Charley. A birthday would not be a birthday if the girls had
not worked something for their brother; though men are such bears,
as I sometimes tell Loo,” said poor Mary, beaming brightly out again
from behind her cloud, “I don’t think they ever look twice at the
purses and slippers we do for them. I suppose the great pleasure is in
the doing, as it is with most other things.”
“But I am sure you never found it so with dear Tom,” said Miss
Laura; “he was always, from a boy, so pleased with what we made for
him. Oh, do you remember those old braces, Laura?” cried Miss
Lydia; “he always appreciates what is done for him—always,” and
both the sisters chimed in in a breath.
“I was not speaking of Mr Summerhayes,” said Mary, returning
into the cloud; “I was speaking of—men in general. I have never had
any perfect people to deal with in my experience,” said the mistress
of Fontanel, with a sidelong, female blow, which she could not resist
giving. “And now we must say good-bye, dear Miss Harwood; it is so
pleasant to see you, and to come into this sheltered place where
nothing ever seems to change.”
“It is very odd,” said Miss Amelia, as she rose to shake hands with
her visitors, “you people who are living and going through all sorts of
changes, you like to come back to look at us old folks, and to say it is
pleasant to see us immovable. I suppose it has all the effect of a calm
background and bit of still life, as the painters say. Perhaps we don’t
enjoy it so much as you do; we like to have something happen now
and then for a little variety; we are often sadly at a loss, if you did but
know it, for an event.”
“Come back soon, my dear; that will be an event for us,” said Miss
Harwood, whose soft old kiss was balm to Mary’s cheek, which had
flushed and paled so often. Miss Laura and Miss Lydia went out to
the door with their sister-in-law, where they took leave of her. “We
meant to have driven on to the manor-house,” said Mary; “but we
need not go now, since we have seen you; and there is no room in
this stupid little carriage, or I would set you down anywhere. Good-
bye! don’t forget the twenty-fifth!” and so she drove her ponies away.
The sisters went off upon their usual round of calls, discussing her,
while Mrs Summerhayes drove through the village. They were not
exactly spiteful women, and they did like poor Mary in their hearts: if
she had been in trouble they would have rallied to her with all their
little might; but they could not help being a little hard upon her now.
“Did you hear what she said about Charley being the true owner of
the estate?” said Miss Laura. “After all dear Tom has done!” said
Miss Lydia. “Oh, how strangely things do turn out!” cried the elder
sister. “He might have done so much better; and to get himself into
all this trouble and nobody even grateful to him,” said the younger.
“Poor dear Tom!” they both cried together, “he deserved such a
different wife.”
Such was the aspect of affairs on the other side; and though it is
natural to take part with poor Mary rather than with her subtle and
skilful husband, perhaps his sisters were not altogether wrong. If
they had not, all of them, got somehow into conflict with nature,
things might have happened very differently. As it was, a perpetual
false position created mischief on every side.
 CHAPTER VIII.—THE EVE OF THE
BIRTHDAY.
“I have asked old Gateshead to bring over the deeds you executed
before our marriage, Mary,” said Mr Summerhayes, a few days
before Charley came of age; “I want to look over them again.”
“Yes!” said Mary, stopping suddenly in what she was doing, and
giving one furtive glance at him. She asked no farther question, but
waited with an anxious intensity of interest which almost stopped the
breath on her lips.
“I want to look over them again—there are some words in the
duplicates up-stairs I don’t feel quite sure about,” said Mr
Summerhayes.
“But, Tom, you told me they were irrevocable, and never could be
meddled with,” said Mary, with a sudden flush of burning colour,
which passed away immediately, leaving her very pale. It had been
all her comfort for many a day to think that those deeds were beyond
her power—or his—to change. She could not help trembling in this
sudden terror. She had no confidence in her own power to resist him
—and, alas, but a wavering, uncertain confidence in him, that he
would be able to resist the temptation of securing, if a change were
possible, a stronger title to all the authority and power he at present,
in her right, possessed.
“Do you imagine I want them meddled with?” said Mr
Summerhayes. “I don’t think women understand what honesty or
honour means,” he added, in his harshest tone. “I suppose you
believe I am ready to perjure myself, or break my word, or do
anything that’s base, for a bit of your estate.”
“Indeed, Tom, I never thought anything of the kind,” said poor
Mary, faltering; but she had thought something of the kind, though
her thoughts were incapable of such decided expression, and the
tremor in her voice betrayed her.
“That’s how it always is,” said Mr Summerhayes, without any
passion, but with a concentrated sneer in his voice; “a woman who
has anything always suspects her husband of an intention to rob her.
Though she may have lived with him for years, and known his
thoughts and shared his plans, and thought him good enough to be
her companion and protector, the moment she recurs to her money
he becomes a robber, and nothing is too base for him to do. No,” he
went on, breathing out a long breath of indignation apparently, and
offended virtue; “I don’t want to alter the deeds—but I want to read
over one clause with Gateshead, to make sure it’s all right. You would
not like your children to go to law about it after you are dead?”
“No,” said Mary, with a slight shiver; her fears and her imagination
were roused. She, of course, knew nothing about the law, except a
general impression that it was never safe to have anything to do with
it. She had, however, an unreasoning faith in the efficacy of anything
solemnly signed and witnessed, which, notwithstanding, if anybody
threw the least doubt upon that document, changed instantly into a
total scepticism and unbelief of any value in it at all. She jumped at
conclusions, as is the habit of women; and from the most perfect
confidence in the security of Fontanel, instantly plunged into the
wildest uneasiness about it, and already saw herself compelled to
alienate the inheritance from her children;—and all this because Mr
Summerhayes had remarked some expression in one clause which
struck him as of doubtful meaning,—at least that was all the actual
foundation upon which Mary could build her fears.
So it was with feelings of an extremely mingled and doubtful
character that she proceeded with her arrangements for the birthday
fête, which, to tell the truth, Mr Summerhayes had strongly opposed
—he could not very well have told why. Charley was the heir of the
estate—as indisputable as if his father had been still its master; yet
there was a great difference; and perhaps the stepfather did not feel
himself quite equal to the necessary speeches, nor to the cordiality
which would be required of him on such a day. Mr Summerhayes had
managed everything so completely in his own way—he had felt the
house so entirely his own these five years, which yet was not his own,
nor vested in him by any natural right—that the idea of
acknowledging as much virtually, if not in distinct words, by this
public recognition of the heir, galled him strangely. He would rather
have gone out of the way; but as he could not go out of the way, he
adopted, half unconsciously, the only mode that remained of making
himself disagreeable—he found out that possible flaw in the deed.
Probably nothing further was in his thoughts than to express the
discontent in his mind, and throw a little shadow of insecurity upon
the festivities which were sacred to the too-confident heir. Like an ill-
tempered father keeping up his power by a vague threat of altering
his will, Mr Summerhayes waved his threatening flag over the heads
of the family at Fontanel by this faint cloud of suspicion thrown upon
the invincible certainty of the deed. He meant nothing more; but evil
thoughts are suggestive, and have a wonderful power of cumulation.
Perhaps he did mean something more before old Gateshead, whom,
on other occasions, he did not hesitate to call an old fogy, was
disembarked from his old-fashioned chaise at the door, two days
before Charley’s birthday. The firm was Gateshead and Gateshead—
but Europe and Asia are not more unlike than were its two members.
The elder was, as Mr Summerhayes succinctly expressed it, an old
fogy—the other, an acute and tolerably accomplished young man of
the world. Mr Courtenay Gateshead, in ordinary cases, was Mr
Summerhayes’s favourite, and was honoured with his confidence;
but on this special occasion old Mr Gateshead—whose acuteness was
somewhat blunted by age—who was a wonderful gossip and
genealogist, and who had the most profound respect for the superior
legal knowledge of the master of Fontanel, who had once been of the
Inner Temple—was, as an old friend of the family, the selected guest.
Mr Gateshead arrived with a big portmanteau and a little tin box.
He was rather nervous about this little tin box. He carried it into the
drawing-room with him, where he went on his arrival, being a great
deal too early for dinner, as old fogies, who are not much wanted in
the drawing-room, generally are. But Mary was very glad to see him,
as an old friend, and looked at him with a kind of half-conscious
appeal in her eyes, of which Mr Gateshead was totally unaware, and
which he would have been completely bewildered by could he have
seen it. He made some absurd mistakes to be sure. He called her Mrs
Clifford, even in Mr Summerhayes’s presence; and then, instead of
prudently ignoring his mistake, begged her pardon, and laughed and
talked of his bad memory. But the tin box was a heavy burden on the
old man’s mind. Every ten minutes or so, he paused in his talk, which
was voluminous, to say, “Bless my soul, where is that box?” and to
shift it from the table or chair on which he had placed it, to a chair or
table nearer. The box oppressed him even in the midst of the gossip
in which his soul delighted. He took it up to his room with him, but
hesitated, not seeing how he could leave it by itself when he came
down to dinner; and at last gratefully accepted Mr Summerhayes’s
offer to put it in his own study, where all his own papers were, and
which nobody dared go into. It seemed safe under the secure shelter
of Mr Summerhayes, whose absolute monarchy was indisputable,
and with whose personalities nobody in Fontanel ventured to
interfere. There, accordingly, the tin box was deposited, and there,
after dinner, somewhat reluctantly on the part of old Gateshead, who
was fond of the society of ladies, and of Mrs Summerhayes’s in
particular, the two gentlemen adjourned, to talk over that flaw, or
possibility of a flaw, in the deeds which were the safeguard of the
young Cliffords. They sat late discussing that and other affairs,—so
late, that it seemed quite the middle of the night to Mary when her
husband awoke her with a cheerful face, to say that Gateshead was of
opinion—and he agreed with him, after the close examination they
had given it—that the deed was quite unassailable, so that she might
have a perfectly easy mind on the subject. “I thought I might run the
risk of a cross look for breaking your sleep, Mary, when this was what
I had to say. I am very glad myself, for it might have been awkward,
as no power was reserved to you under our settlement of will-
making, or that sort of thing,” said Mr Summerhayes. “However, it’s
all right. I left that old fogy pottering over his tin box in my study. I
hope he’ll not set himself on fire before he gets to bed. He’s getting
old very fast, Mary. Young Courtenay will soon have everything his
own way.” Poor Mary was so pleased, so delighted, so thankful, that
it was a long time before she could get to sleep again. She lay half
dreaming and dozing, with an exquisite compunction and renewal of
love in her heart. Had she perhaps suspected this good husband, who
came so joyfully to tell her that all was safe? She made it up to him by
the fullest, most lavish restoration of confidence, as was natural to a
generous woman; and in the happiest thankful state of mind, though
with an odd half-dreaming fancy that old Gateshead had set fire to
himself, and that she smelt his nightcap smouldering into slow
destruction, fell finally, when it was almost dawn, into a sound sleep.
But Mary could not believe that she had been more than a few
minutes asleep when she was awoke by the horrible clangour of the
alarm-bell, and by the rushing and screaming of all the servants.
Could it be old Gateshead’s nightcap that caused that terrible
significant sniff of burning that pervaded the entire atmosphere?
Before she could wake her husband, who lay in a profound sleep,
Charley had rushed in at the door with the alarming cry of fire. “Fire!
—get up, mother, make haste, but don’t flurry yourself; put
something on; it’s in the west wing. There’s time to escape,” cried
Charley. “I’ll get out the children, and come back for you,” he said, as
he rushed off again. “Fire!” cried Mr Summerhayes, springing up.
“Good heavens! It’s that old fool, old Gateshead How could I be so
mad as to trust him by himself?” and almost before Mary knew he
was awake, he too had rushed out of the room, drawing on his
dressing-gown as he flew out at the door. “Oh Tom, see to the
children; don’t leave me!” cried Mary in her fright, and she too
wrapped herself hastily in the first garment she could find, and
rushed to the door. She could see nothing but a thick volume of
smoke pouring from the west wing through the entire house, into
which her husband’s figure disappeared, while every soul in the place
seemed emerging out of it in different varieties of fright and undress.
“We’ve sent off for the fire-engines; and don’t be alarmed, mother,
it’s entirely in the west wing,” cried Charley, who came towards her
with Alf in one arm and little Mary in the other. Harry and Loo came
crouching close to the big brother behind—all silent, all ready to cry,
all staring with wide-open, suddenly-awakened eyes, and frightened
out of their very lives. “Oh Charley, Mr Summerhayes will be killed!
Where is he going? Is it to look for Mr Gateshead?” cried Mary, who,
when she saw her children safe, fell into a panic about her husband.
He had rushed into the very depths of that black volume of smoke, in
spite of many warning voices. He came staggering back after a few
minutes, half suffocated, to the staircase, where he sat down to
recover himself. “Oh Tom, Mr Gateshead is safe,” cried Mary, who
was shivering in her shawl with cold and terror, and who would not
leave her husband, though the smoke came nearer and nearer. “D—
Mr Gateshead,” cried the excited master of the house. “Charley, fly to
the other side—to the window—my study—the tin box! I’ll take care
of your mother,” he shouted, as Charley appeared coming back.
When he had placed Mary in safety, Mr Summerhayes himself
hurried to the same spot. It was he alone who mounted the ladder,
though everybody else said it was madness. But it would have been
as sane a proceeding to walk into a furnace as into that room, which
was the very centre of the fire. He came down again deadly pale, and
almost fainting, with a hurt on his head from a falling beam, and half
suffocated with the fiery smoke. The tin box was beyond the
possibility of redemption.
But the fire, curiously enough, scarcely penetrated beyond the west
wing, which was an unimportant part of the house—a recent
addition, where nobody slept, and which, indeed, contained little
that was important except Mr Summerhayes’s study, which had been
built after his own design, and contained all his pet and personal
belongings. Mary and the children watched from the gardener’s
cottage the working of the fire-engines; and in the excitement of
seeing how the fire was got under, and how little damage, after all,
was done to Fontanel, forgot the misery of the morning and their
comfortless circumstances. Even Loo felt that her stepfather was to
be regarded as a hero, when he came, pale, black, and begrimed—
after it became apparent that the work of destruction was stopped—
to the cottage to have his head bound up, and to see that his wife and
her children were safe. And perhaps Loo was still better disposed
towards him when she found that he did not take upon himself any
heroic airs, but was in a most savage temper, cursing old Gateshead
as nobody had ever before heard Mr Summerhayes curse any man. “I
was rash not to see him safe to bed,” cried the master of the burning
house; and Mary did all she could, in her generous way, to deprecate
and excuse “the poor old man.” “Nobody is to blame; it must have
been an accident—only an accident,” said Mary; and Mr
Summerhayes, in his rage and vexation, had not even the grace to be
civil to her, but still muttered curses upon old Gateshead.
While, for his part, Mr Gateshead went round and round what had
been the west wing, wringing his hands. “Burned!—lost!—my tin box.
I will never dare look Courtenay in the face again; and, good Lord!
what’s to become of the children?” cried the poor old lawyer. He
could not help hearing some of Mr Summerhayes’s passionate
exclamations, and perceived, by the way everybody hustled past him,
that he was blamed for the sudden calamity. Though he was an old
fogy, he was as sensitive as any man to a personal grievance. Very
soon he began to think about this mysterious business. “Good Lord,
the deed! the poor dear children!” said the old lawyer to himself. He,
too, grew angry and pale with indignation; but he kept silence and
his own counsel. This was the strange and ill-omened event which
happened at Fontanel the day before Charley’s coming of age.
 CHAPTER IX.—THE FIRE AND ITS
CONSEQUENCES.
The idea of a fire—of a fire in one’s own house, darkly raging in the
silence of the night, threatening death to helpless sleepers in their
beds—is too overwhelming at first to allow the minds of the startled
sufferers in ordinary circumstances to enter into details. Mary, for
her part, found so many things to be grateful for,—first, she was so
thankful that all were safe—second, so glad to find that even the
house was not injured to any serious degree,—and, third, so proud of
the energy and zeal of her husband,—that the real loss was a long
time of becoming fairly visible to her. Before it dawned upon his
mother, Charley, worn out as he was by his exertions, had realised
what it was; and had felt, with a strange momentary thrill and shock
through his whole frame, that the foundations of the world were
crumbling under his feet, and that he dared no longer boast of the
morrow. Loo too, who had been almost enthusiastic about her
stepfather in that first hour of his heroism, had fallen back again,
and was paler than ever, and looked more wistfully out of her
background with those great brown eyes. But still Mary continued to
kiss little Alf, who was rather impatient of the process, and rejoice
over her children. “If it had broken out anywhere else,” she said, “we
might all have been burned in our beds. Was it not a wonderful
interposition of Providence, Tom, when there was to be a fire, to
think it should be there? We had not even any associations with the
west wing—except you, dear—I am sure I beg your pardon—but you
rather enjoyed building the study, and you must make another one. I
shall always think it a special Providence the fire was there.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying, Mary,” said her husband; “it
was not Providence, it was that confounded old——Oh, Mr
Gateshead! are you in the least aware how this happened? Did you
drop your candle, or a match, or anything? or were you burning any
of your papers? It is a horrible misfortune to have happened just
now.”
 “But really, Tom, the house is so little injured it won’t matter for
to-morrow,” said Mary; “things can go on just as before.”
“Oh!” said her husband, with a little groan, “don’t talk so lightly;
you don’t know what’s happened. Gateshead, why on earth didn’t you
go at once to bed?”
“Mr Summerhayes, I’ll thank you to leave off that sort of thing,”
said the old lawyer, divided between fear and indignation. “I am not
stupid, sir, as you try to make people believe, though I am older than
you are. It’s a very strange circumstance, but if Providence has not
done it, as you say, neither have I. But I’ll tell you what is your duty,
Mr Summerhayes. Before I leave here, which shall be to-day, I’ll
draw out a draught-deed to correspond with this one that is
unfortunately burnt——”
“What deed do you mean? burnt?” cried Mary, in dismay; “not that
deed——”
“Yes, Mrs Clifford—I beg your pardon, Mrs Summerhayes—exactly
that deed,” said the solicitor; “and you should not lose a moment in
executing it over again—not a moment, especially considering that
Charley is just of age.”
“That deed!” cried Mary; “oh Tom!” She turned to him in simple
distress and lamentation; but he met her eyes with such a strange
defiance, and the colour rose so perceptibly in his cheek, that Mary
stopped short petrified. What did it mean? She turned round
alarmed, and met the curious eyes of old Gateshead, who was
studying her looks, with something like confusion. For the moment
her heart, as she thought, stopped beating in poor Mary’s troubled
breast.
“You should not lose a moment—it ought to be done over again,”
said the old man, “while I am here, to prevent any informality. It
ought at once to be done over again.”
“Mrs Summerhayes unfortunately has no power to do anything,”
said her husband. “No such unfortunate chance was calculated upon
at our marriage. No right was reserved to her of making any
settlement. You know that well enough, Gateshead.”
“That can be obviated by your joining with her,” said the lawyer.
“You could do that, at least, till there’s time to take advice on the
subject; for burning only revokes where there’s an intention of
revoking, as you’re aware, Mr Summerhayes—and so long as we can
prove what was the general purport——”
“In that case, there’s no need for doing anything further,” said the
master of Fontanel.
“But the matter is too important to be left on a chance,” said the
old lawyer, anxiously; “nobody can ever tell what may happen. For
Charley’s sake you ought not to lose an hour. I’ll draw up a draft——”
“Oh, Tom, listen to Mr Gateshead!” cried poor Mary, trying to
smile, though her heart felt as if it were breaking, as she laid a timid,
beseeching hand on his arm.
Her husband threw her hand lightly off, and turned away. “There
is no reason in the world why we should rush into fresh documents,”
he said. “Stuff! we are not going to die to-day; and if we did die to-
day, why, Mary, your heirs are as safe as ever they were. I’ll think it
over, Gateshead, and see Courtenay about it. There is no hurry; and,
upon my word, whatever you may think on the subject, I have had
about enough of excitement for one day.”
“Does your head ache, Tom?” said Mrs Summerhayes.
“Abominably; and look here,” said her husband, exhibiting his
hands, which were considerably burned, “if I am to be made fit for
presentation to-morrow, you’ll have to nurse me, Mary. Come along,
I have a great deal to talk to you about. I beg your pardon,
Gateshead, but now that everything is safe, considering what I have
before me to-morrow, I must get a little rest.”
“Then I am to understand that you refuse to do anything in place
of the deed that has been burned,” said the old lawyer.
“Refuse! certainly not; I’ll think of it, and see Courtenay about it.
We can talk it over at dinner,” said Mr Summerhayes, walking away
calmly towards the house with his wife.
This conversation had taken place at the gardener’s cottage, within
hearing of Loo, who had all this time been standing at the window.
When Mary and her husband went away, the old lawyer uttered a
furious and profane exclamation. “He’ll speak to Courtenay. I’m not
to be trusted, I suppose; confound the upstart!” cried old Gateshead;
“but I shan’t stay here to be insulted by Tom Summerhayes. Lord
bless us! what’s the matter, my dear?”
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