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Digital Signal Processing using MATLAB 3rd Edition
Robert J. Schilling Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Robert J. Schilling, Sandra L Harris
ISBN(s): 9781305635197, 1305635191
Edition: 3
File Details: PDF, 19.15 MB
Year: 2016
Language: english
Digital Signal Processing
Using MATLAB®
Third Edition

Robert J. Schilling and Sandra L. Harris


Clarkson University
Potsdam, NY

Australia ● Brazil ● Mexico ● Singapore ● United Kingdom ● United States

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Digital Signal Processing Using MATLAB®, © 2017, 2012 Cengage Learning®
Third Edition WCN: 02-200-203
Robert J. Schilling and Sandra L. Harris
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright
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To our mothers
for all they have done for us

Bette Rose Schilling

and

Florence E. Harris

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Preface
Digital signal processing, more commonly known as DSP, is a
field of study with increasingly widespread applications in our
technological world. This book focuses on the development, im-
plementation, and application of modern DSP techniques. The
textbook structure consists of three major parts as summarized
in Table 1.

Audience and Prerequisites


This book is targeted primarily toward second-semester juniors,
seniors, and beginning graduate students in electrical and com-
puter engineering and related fields that rely on digital signal
processing. It is assumed that the students have taken a circuits
course, or a signals and systems course, or a mathematics course
that includes an introduction to both the Laplace transform and
the Fourier transform. There is enough material, and sufficient
flexibility in the way it can be covered, to provide for courses
of different lengths without adding supplementary material.
Exposure to MATLAB programming is useful, but it is not

Table 1: Textbook Part Name and Chapters


Structure I Signal and System Analysis
1. Signal Processing
2. Discrete-time Systems in the Time Domain
3. Discrete-time Systems in the Frequency Domain
4. Fourier Transforms and Signal Spectra
II Filter Design
5. Filter Types and Characteristics
6. FIR Filter Design
7. IIR Filter Design
III Advanced Signal Processing
8. Multirate Signal Processing
9. Adaptive Signal Processing
v

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
vi Preface

essential. Graphical user interface (GUI) modules are included at the end of each chapter
that allow students to interactively explore signal processing concepts and techniques
without any need for programming. MATLAB computation problems are supplied for
those users who are familiar with MATLAB and are interested in developing their own
DSP programs.
This book is written in an engaging informal style that endeavors to provide motiva-
tion for each new topic and features a careful transition between topics. Significant terms
are set apart for convenient reference using Margin Notes and Definitions. Important
results are stated as Propositions in order to highlight their significance, and Algorithms
are included to summarize the steps used to implement design procedures. In order to
motivate students with examples that are of direct interest, many of the examples feature
the processing of speech and music. This theme is also a focus of the DSP Companion
course software, which includes a facility for recording and playing back speech and
sound. This way, students can experience directly the effects of various signal processing
techniques.

Chapter Structure
All of the chapters follow the template shown in Figure 1. Each chapter starts with a
brief list of the topics covered. This is followed by a motivation section that introduces
one or more examples of practical problems that can be solved using techniques covered
in the chapter. The main body of each chapter is used to introduce a series of analysis
tools and signal processing techniques. Within these sections, the analysis methods and
processing techniques evolve from simple to more complex. Sections near the end of the
chapter marked with a * denote more advanced or more specialized material that can be

Figure 1: Chapter
Structure
Topics

Motivation

Concepts,
techniques,
examples

GUI software,
case studies

Chapter summary

Problems

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Preface vii

skipped without loss of continuity. Numerous examples are used throughout to illustrate
the principles involved.
Near the end of each chapter is a GUI software and Case Studies section that intro-
duces GUI Modules designed to allow the student to interactively explore the chapter
concepts and techniques without any need for programming. The GUI Modules fea-
ture a common user interface that is simple to use and easy to learn. Results exported
from one module can be imported into other modules. This section also includes Case
Study examples that present complete solutions to practical problems in the form of
MATLAB programs. The Chapter Summary concisely reviews important concepts and
includes a table of student learning outcomes for each section. The chapter concludes
with an extensive set of homework problems separated into three categories and cross-
referenced to the sections. The Analysis and Design problems can be done by hand or
with a calculator. They are designed to test (and in some cases extend) student under-
standing of the chapter material. The GUI Simulation problems allow the student to
interactively explore processing and design techniques using the chapter GUI modules.
No programming is required for these problems. MATLAB Computation problems are
provided that require students to write programs that apply the signal processing tech-
niques covered in the chapter. Complete solutions to selected problems, marked with the
symbol, are available using the DSP Companion software.

DSP Companion Software


One of the unique features of this textbook is a highly integrated collection of course
software called the DSP Companion. It is available on the publisher’s companion web
site, and it features a menu-based graphical user interface driver program called g_dsp.
The DSP Companion runs under MATLAB and features supplementary course material
that can be used both inside the classroom by the instructor and outside the classroom
by the student. The DSP Companion provides direct access to the textbook material as
well as additional features that allow for class demonstrations and interactive student
exploration of analysis and design concepts. The DSP Companion is self-contained in
the sense that only MATLAB itself is required; there is no need for access to optional
MATLAB toolboxes.
The menu options of the DSP Companion are listed in Table 2. The Settings
option allows the user to configure the DSP Companion by selecting operating
modes and default folders for exporting, importing, and printing results. The GUI
Modules option is used to run the chapter graphical user interface modules. In the
Examples option, MATLAB code for all of the examples appearing in the text can
be viewed and executed. The Figures and the Tables options are used to display pdf
files of all of the figures and tables that appear in the text. Similarly, the Definitions
option displays definitions, propositions, and algorithms from the text. The next two
menu options are only available with the Instructor version of DSP Companion. The
Presentations option displays PowerPoint lectures, with each presentation covering a
section of a chapter, while the Solutions option displays solutions to all of the end
of chapter problems. For the Student version of DSP Companion, there is a Marked
Problems option that display solutions to selected end of chapter problems. The Doc-
umentation option provides user help for the DSP Companion functions and the
GUI modules. Finally, the Web option allows the user to download the latest version
of the DSP Companion from the publisher web site.

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
viii Preface

Table 2: DSP Option Description Type Links


Companion Menu
Settings Adjust default settings
Options
GUI Modules Graphical user interface modules .m, .mat 11
Examples View and run MATLAB examples .m, .mat 120
Figures View all figures .pdf 431
Tables View all tables .pdf 75
Definitions View definitions, propositions, algorithms .pdf 58
Presentations Display PowerPoint lectures (instructor) .pptx 91
Solutions Solutions to all problems (instructor) .pdf 487
Marked Problems Solutions to selected problems (student) .pdf 54
Documentation Help for DSP Companion functions .m 124
Web Software updates url 6
Exit Exit DSP Companion

Acknowledgments
This project has been several years in the making, and many individuals have contributed
to its completion. The reviewers commissioned by Brooks/Cole and Cengage Learning
made numerous thoughtful and insightful suggestions that were incorporated into the
final draft. Thanks to graduate students Joe Tari, Rui Guo, and Lingyun Bai for helping
review the initial DSP Companion software. Special thanks to Bill Stenquist of Brooks/
Cole who worked closely with us to bring the first edition to completion. We thank the re-
viewers for this edition for their helpful comments: Selim Awad, University of Michigan-
Dearborn; Frederick Harris, San Diego State University; Thomas Hebert, University of
Houston; Vishal Monga, Penn State; and Tokunbo Ogunfunmi, Santa Clara University.
The latest edition has a number of important improvements.
We wish to acknowledge and thank our Global Engineering team at Cengage
Learning for their dedication to this new edition: Timothy Anderson, Product Director;
Mona Zeftel, Senior Content Developer; Jana Lewis, Content Project Manager; Kristin
Stine, Marketing Manager; Elizabeth Murphy, Engagement Specialist; Ashley Kaupert,
Associate Media Content Developer; Teresa Versaggi and Alexander Sham, Product
Assistants; and Rose Kernan of RPK Editorial Services, Inc. They have skillfully guided
every aspect of this text’s development and production to successful completion.
Robert J. Schilling
Sandra L. Harris
Potsdam, NY

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Contents
Margin Contents xix
Part I: Signal and System Analysis 1
1. Signal Processing 3
1.1 Motivation 3
1.1.1 Digital and Analog Processing 4
1.1.2 Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) 6
1.1.3 A Notch Filter 7
1.1.4 Active Noise Control 7
1.1.5 Video Aliasing 9
1.2 Signals and Systems 11
1.2.1 Signal Classification 11
1.2.2 System Classification 16
1.3 Sampling of Continuous-time Signals 21
1.3.1 Sampling as Modulation 21
1.3.2 Aliasing 23
1.4 Reconstruction of Continuous-time Signals 27
1.4.1 Reconstruction Formula 27
1.4.2 Zero-order Hold 29
1.4.3 Delayed First-order Hold 32
1.5 Prefilters and Postfilters 35
1.5.1 Anti-aliasing Filter 35
1.5.2 Anti-imaging Filter 39
*1.6 DAC and ADC Circuits 41
1.6.1 Digital-to-analog Converter (DAC) 41
1.6.2 Analog-to-digital Converter (ADC) 43

*Sections marked with a * contain more advanced or specialized material that can be skipped without
loss of continuity.

ix

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
x Contents

1.7 DSP Companion 48


1.7.1 Installation 48
1.7.2 Menu Options 48
1.7.3 GUI Modules 50
1.7.4 Functions 50
1.8 GUI Modules and Case Studies 51
1.9 Chapter Summary 59
1.10 Problems 61
1.10.1 Analysis and Design 61
1.10.2 GUI Simulation 66
1.10.3 MATLAB Computation 68
2. Discrete-time Systems in the Time Domain 70
2.1 Motivation 70
2.1.1 Home Mortgage 71
2.1.2 Range Measurement with Radar 72
2.2 Discrete-time Signals 74
2.2.1 Signal Classification 74
2.2.2 Common Signals 79
2.3 Discrete-time Systems 82
2.4 Difference Equations 86
2.4.1 Zero-input Response 87
2.4.2 Zero-state Response 90
2.5 Block Diagrams 95
2.6 The Impulse Response 97
2.6.1 FIR Systems 97
2.6.2 IIR Systems 99
2.7 Convolution 102
2.7.1 Linear Convolution 102
2.7.2 Circular Convolution 105
2.7.3 Zero Padding 107
2.7.4 Deconvolution 110
2.7.5 Polynomial Arithmetic 111
2.8 Correlation 113
2.8.1 Linear Cross-correlation 113
2.8.2 Circular Cross-correlation 116
2.9 Stability in the Time Domain 119
2.10 GUI Modules and Case Studies 121
2.11 Chapter Summary 130

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Contents xi

2.12 Problems 133


2.12.1 Analysis and Design 134
2.12.2 GUI Simulation 141
2.12.3 MATLAB Computation 143
3. Discrete-time Systems in the Frequency Domain 147
3.1 Motivation 147
3.1.1 Satellite Attitude Control 148
3.1.2 Modeling the Vocal Tract 149
3.2 Z-transform Pairs 151
3.2.1 Region of Convergence 152
3.2.2 Common Z-transform Pairs 154
3.3 Z-transform Properties 159
3.3.1 General Properties 159
3.3.2 Causal Properties 164
3.4 Inverse Z-transform 166
3.4.1 Noncausal Signals 166
3.4.2 Synthetic Division 167
3.4.3 Partial Fractions 169
3.4.4 Residue Method 174
3.5 Transfer Functions 177
3.5.1 The Transfer Function 177
3.5.2 Zero-state Response 179
3.5.3 Poles, Zeros, and Modes 181
3.5.4 DC Gain 183
3.6 Signal Flow Graphs 185
3.7 Stability in the Frequency Domain 188
3.7.1 Input-output Representations 188
3.7.2 BIBO Stability 189
3.7.3 The Jury Test 192
3.8 Frequency Response 195
3.8.1 Frequency Response 195
3.8.2 Sinusoidal Inputs 197
3.8.3 Periodic Inputs 200
*3.9 System Identification 203
3.9.1 Least-squares Fit 204
3.9.2 Persistently Exciting Inputs 207
3.10 GUI Modules and Case Studies 209
3.11 Chapter Summary 217

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
xii Contents

3.12 Problems 220


3.12.1 Analysis and Design 220
3.12.2 GUI Simulation 231
3.12.3 MATLAB Computation 232
4. Fourier Transforms and Spectral Analysis 234
4.1 Motivation 234
4.1.1 Fourier Series 235
4.1.2 DC Wall Transformer 236
4.1.3 Frequency Response 238
4.2 Discrete-time Fourier Transform (DTFT) 239
4.2.1 DTFT 239
4.2.2 Properties of the DTFT 243
4.3 Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) 247
4.3.1 DFT 247
4.3.2 Matrix Formulation 250
4.3.3 Fourier Series and Discrete Spectra 252
4.3.4 DFT Properties 255
4.4 Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) 262
4.4.1 Decimation in Time FFT 262
4.4.2 FFT Computational Effort 266
4.4.3 Alternative FFT Implementations 268
4.5 Fast Convolution and Correlation 269
4.5.1 Fast Convolution 269
*4.5.2 Fast Block Convolution 273
4.5.3 Fast Correlation 276
4.6 White Noise 281
4.6.1 Uniform White Noise 281
4.6.2 Gaussian White Noise 285
4.7 Auto-correlation 289
4.7.1 Auto-correlation of White Noise 289
4.7.2 Power Density Spectrum 291
4.7.3 Extracting Periodic Signals from Noise 292
4.8 Zero Padding and Spectral Resolution 298
4.8.1 Frequency Response Using the DFT 298
4.8.2 Zero Padding 302
4.8.3 Spectral Resolution 303
4.9 The Spectrogram 307
4.9.1 Data Windows 307
4.9.2 Spectrogram 308

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Contents xiii

*4.10 Power Density Spectrum Estimation 312


4.10.1 Bartlett’s Method 312
4.10.2 Welch’s Method 316
4.11 GUI Modules and Case Studies 320
4.12 Chapter Summary 326
4.13 Problems 329
4.13.1 Analysis and Design 329
4.13.2 GUI Simulation 336
4.13.3 MATLAB Computation 338
Part II: Filter Design 343
5. Filter Types and Characteristics 345
5.1 Motivation 345
5.1.1 Filter Design Specifications 346
5.1.2 Filter Realization Structures 348
5.2 Frequency-selective Filters 351
5.2.1 Linear Design Specifications 352
5.2.2 Logarithmic Design Specifications (dB) 357
5.3 Linear-phase and Zero-phase Filters 359
5.3.1 Linear Phase 359
5.3.2 Amplitude Response 360
5.3.3 Linear-phase Zeros 363
5.3.4 Zero-phase Filters 365
5.4 Minimum-phase and Allpass Filters 368
5.4.1 Minimum-phase Filters 368
5.4.2 Allpass Filters 372
5.4.3 Inverse Systems and Equalization 376
5.5 Quadrature Filters 377
5.5.1 Differentiator 377
5.5.2 Hilbert Transformer 378
5.5.3 Digital Oscillator 381
5.6 Notch Filters and Resonators 384
5.6.1 Notch Filters 384
5.6.2 Resonators 387
5.7 Narrowband Filters and Filter Banks 389
5.7.1 Narrowband Filters 389
5.7.2 Filter Banks 391
5.8 Adaptive Filters 394
5.8.1 Transversal Filters 394
5.8.2 Pseudo-filters 396

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
xiv Contents

5.9 GUI Modules and Case Studies 397


5.10 Chapter Summary 402
5.11 Problems 405
5.11.1 Analysis and Design 405
5.11.2 GUI Simulation 413
5.11.3 MATLAB Computation 415
6. FIR Filter Design 417
6.1 Motivation 417
6.1.1 Numerical Differentiators 418
6.1.2 Signal-to-noise Ratio 420
6.2 Windowing Method 422
6.2.1 Truncated Impulse Response 423
6.2.2 Windowing 426
6.3 Frequency-sampling Method 434
6.3.1 Frequency Sampling 434
6.3.2 Transition-band Optimization 437
6.4 Least-squares Method 441
6.5 Optimal Equiripple Filter Design 445
6.5.1 Minimax Error Criterion 445
6.5.2 Parks-McClellan Algorithm 447
6.6 Differentiators and Hilbert Transformers 454
6.6.1 Differentiator Design 454
6.6.2 Hilbert Transformer Design 457
6.7 Quadrature Filter Design 460
6.7.1 Generation of a Quadrature Pair 460
6.7.2 Quadrature Filter Design 462
6.7.3 Equalizer Design 466
6.8 Filter Realization Structures 470
6.8.1 Direct Forms 470
6.8.2 Cascade Form 472
6.8.3 Lattice Form 474
*6.9 Finite Word Length Effects 477
6.9.1 Binary Number Representation 478
6.9.2 Input Quantization Error 479
6.9.3 Coefficient Quantization Error 482
6.9.4 Roundoff Error, Overflow, and Scaling 486
6.10 GUI Modules and Case Studies 489
6.11 Chapter Summary 495

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Contents xv

6.12 Problems 499


6.12.1 Analysis and Design 499
6.12.2 GUI Simulation 504
6.12.3 MATLAB Computation 506
7. IIR Filter Design 511
7.1 Motivation 511
7.1.1 Tunable Plucked-string Filter 512
7.1.2 Colored Noise 514
7.2 Filter Design by Pole-zero Placement 516
7.2.1 Resonator 516
7.2.2 Notch Filter 519
7.2.3 Comb Filters 522
7.3 Filter Design Parameters 526
7.4 Classical Analog Filters 528
7.4.1 Butterworth Filters 529
7.4.2 Chebyshev-I Filters 533
7.4.3 Chebyshev-II Filters 536
7.4.4 Elliptic Filters 538
7.5 Bilinear Transformation Method 540
7.6 Frequency Transformations 547
7.6.1 Analog Frequency Transformations 547
7.6.2 Digital Frequency Transformations 550
7.7 Filter Realization Structures 553
7.7.1 Direct Forms 553
7.7.2 Parallel Form 556
7.7.3 Cascade Form 559
*7.8 Finite Word Length Effects 562
7.8.1 Coefficient Quantization Error 563
7.8.2 Roundoff Error, Overflow, and Scaling 566
7.8.3 Limit Cycles 570
7.9 GUI Modules and Case Studies 572
7.10 Chapter Summary 579
7.11 Problems 582
7.11.1 Analysis and Design 582
7.11.2 GUI Simulation 587
7.11.3 MATLAB Computation 590
Part III: Advanced Signal Processing 593
8. Multirate Signal Processing 595
8.1 Motivation 595

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xvi Contents

8.1.1 Narrowband Filters 596


8.1.2 Intersample Delay Systems 598
8.2 Integer Sampling Rate Converters 599
8.2.1 Sampling Rate Decimator 599
8.2.2 Sampling Rate Interpolator 600
8.3 Rational Sampling Rate Converters 603
8.3.1 Single-stage Converters 603
8.3.2 Multistage Converters 606
8.4 Polyphase Filters 608
8.4.1 Polyphase Decimator 608
8.4.2 Polyphase Interpolator 612
8.5 Narrowband Filters 614
8.6 Filter Banks 616
8.6.1 Analysis and Synthesis Banks 616
8.6.2 Subfilter Design 620
8.6.3 Polyphase Representation 621
8.7 Perfect Reconstruction Filter Banks 624
8.7.1 Time-division Multiplexing 624
8.7.2 Perfect Reconstruction 626
8.8 Transmultiplexors 630
*8.9 Oversampled A-to-D Converters 634
8.9.1 Anti-aliasing Filters 634
8.9.2 A Sigma-delta ADC 638
*8.10 Oversampled D-to-A Converters 642
8.10.1 Anti-imaging Filters 642
8.10.2 Passband Equalization 644
8.11 GUI Modules and Case Studies 646
8.12 Chapter Summary 652
8.13 Problems 655
8.13.1 Analysis and Design 655
8.13.2 GUI Simulation 663
8.13.3 MATLAB Computation 664
9. Adaptive Signal Processing 667
9.1 Motivation 667
9.1.1 System Identification 668
9.1.2 Channel Equalization 669
9.1.3 Signal Prediction 670
9.1.4 Noise Cancellation 670

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Contents xvii

9.2 Mean Square Error 671


9.2.1 Adaptive Transversal Filters 671
9.2.2 Cross-correlation Revisited 672
9.2.3 Mean Square Error 673
9.3 Least Mean Square (LMS) Method 678
9.4 Performance Analysis of LMS Method 682
9.4.1 Step Size 682
9.4.2 Convergence Rate 686
9.4.3 Excess Mean Square Error 689
9.5 Modified LMS Methods 692
9.5.1 Normalized LMS Method 692
9.5.2 Correlation LMS Method 694
9.5.3 Leaky LMS Method 698
9.6 Adaptive Filter Design with Pseudo-filters 701
9.6.1 Pseudo-filters 701
9.6.2 Adaptive Filter Design 703
9.6.3 Linear-phase Adaptive Filters 705
9.7 Recursive Least Squares (RLS) Method 708
9.7.1 Performance Criterion 708
9.7.2 Recursive Formulation 709
*9.8 Active Noise Control 714
9.8.1 The Filtered-x LMS Method 714
9.8.2 Secondary-path Identification 716
9.8.3 Signal-synthesis Method 719
*9.9 Adaptive Function Approximation 723
9.9.1 Nonlinear Functions 724
9.9.2 Radial Basis Functions (RBFs) 726
9.9.3 Raised-cosine RBF Networks 728
*9.10 Nonlinear System Identification (NLMS) 734
9.11 GUI Modules and Case Studies 740
9.12 Chapter Summary 744
9.13 Problems 748
9.13.1 Analysis and Design 748
9.13.2 GUI Simulation 753
9.13.3 MATLAB Computation 754

References and Further Reading 761


Appendix 1 Transform Tables 765
Appendix 2 Mathematical Identities 774
Index 777

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Margin Contents

Table I: Definitions Number Term Symbol Page

1.1 Causal signal xa(t) 14


1.2 Linear system S 16
1.3 Time-invariant system S 17
1.4 Stable system S 18
1.5 Frequency response Ha(f) 19
1.6 Impulse response ha(t) 19
1.7 Bandlimited signal xa(t) 24
1.8 Transfer function Ha(S) 29
2.1 Impulse response h(k) 97
2.2 FIR and IIR systems S 98
2.3 Linear convolution h(k) * x(k) 103
2.4 Circular convolution h(k) o x(k) 106
2.5 Linear cross-correlation ryx(k) 113
2.6 Circular cross-correlation cyz(k) 116
2.7 BIBO stability uuhuu1 , ` 120
3.1 Z-transform X(z) 151
3.2 Transfer function H(z) 178
3.3 Frequency response H(f) 195
4.1 Discrete-time Fourier transform (DTFT) X(f) 239
4.2 Discrete Fourier transform (DFT) X(i) 249
4.3 Expected value E [fx(k)] 282
4.4 Circular auto-correlation cxx(k) 289
4.5 Spectrogram G(m, i) 308
5.1 Group delay D(f) 359
5.2 Linear-phase filter H(z) 360
5.3 Minimum-phase filter H(z) 369
5.4 Allpass Filter H(z) 372
6.1 Signal-to-noise ratio SNR(y) 420
6.2 Quantization operator QN(x) 479
9.1 Random cross-correlation ryx(i) 672

xix

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xx Margin Contents

Table II: Propositions Number Description Page

1.1 Signal Sampling 25


1.2 Signal Reconstruction 28
2.1 Stability in the Time Domain 120
3.1 Stability in the Frequency Domain 190
3.2 Frequency Response 198
4.1 Parseval’s Identity: DTFT 244
4.2 Parseval’s Identity: DFT 260
5.1 Paley-Wiener Theorem 352
5.2 Linear-phase Filter 362
5.3 Minimum-phase Allpass Decomposition 373
6.1 Alternation Theorem 447
6.2 Flow Graph Reversal Theorem 471
8.1 Perfect Reconstruction Filter Bank 627
8.2 Perfect Reconstruction Frequency Domain 628
9.1 Least Mean Square (LMS) Convergence 684
9.2 Raised-cosine RBF Network 731

Table III: Algorithms Number Description Page

1.1 Successive Approximation 45


3.1 Residue Method 175
4.1 Bit Reversal 265
4.2 FFT 266
4.3 Problem Domain 267
4.4 IFFT 268
4.5 Fast Block Convolution 274
5.1 Zero-phase Filter 366
5.2 Minimum-phase Allpass Decomposition 373
6.1 Windowed FIR Filter 431
6.2 Ripple Size 449
6.3 Equiripple FIR Filter 451
6.4 Lattice-form Realization 475
7.1 Bilinear Transformation Method 544
9.1 RLS Method 711
9.2 Raised-cosine RBF Network Evaluation 731

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PART

Signal and System Analysis


1
1

Signal Processing

2 3

Discrete-time Discrete-time
Systems in the Systems in the
Time Domain Frequency Domain

Fourier Transforms
and Signal Spectra

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Signal Processing
CHAPTER 1
CHAPT ER ToPiC S
1.1Motivation 1.1 Motivation
1.2Signals and Systems
A signal is a physical variable whose value varies with time or
1.3Sampling of Continuous-
space. When the value of the signal is available over a continuum
time Signals of times, it is referred to as a continuous-time signal. Continuous-
time signals whose amplitudes also vary over a continuous range
1.4 Reconstruction of
are called analog signals. Everyday examples of analog signals
Continuous-time Signals include temperature, pressure, liquid level, chemical concentra-
tion, voltage and current, position, velocity, acceleration, force
1.5 Prefilters and Postfilters
and torque. If the value of the signal is available only at discrete
*1.6 DAC and ADC Circuits instants of time, it is called a discrete-time signal. Although some
signals, for example economic data, are inherently discrete-time
1.7 DSP Companion
signals, a more common way to produce a discrete-time signal,
1.8 GUI Modules and Case x(k), is to take samples of an underlying analog signal, xa(t).
Studies x(k) 5 xa(kT ), uku 5 0, 1, 2, Á
D

1.9 Chapter Summary Here T denotes the sampling interval or time between samples,
D
1.10 Problems and 5 means equals by definition. When finite precision is used
to represent the value of x(k), the sequence of quantized val-
Continuous-time signal
ues is then called a digital signal. A system or algorithm which
processes one digital signal x(k) as its input and produces a sec-
Analog signal ond digital signal y(k) as its output is a digital signal proces-
Discrete-time signal sor. Digital signal processing (DSP) techniques have widespread
applications, and they play an increasingly important role in the
Sampling interval
modern world. Application areas include speech recognition,
Digital signal detection of targets with radar and sonar, processing of music
and video, seismic exploration for oil and gas deposits, medical

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4 Chapter 1 Signal Processing

signal processing including EEG, EKG, and ultrasound, communication channel equal-
ization, and satellite image processing. The focus of this book is the development, imple-
mentation, and application of modern DSP techniques.
We begin this introductory chapter with a comparison of digital and analog sig-
nal processing. Next, some practical problems are posed that can be solved using DSP
techniques. This is followed by characterization and classification of signals. The funda-
mental notion of the spectrum of a signal is then presented including the concepts of
bandlimited and white noise signals. This leads naturally to the sampling process which
takes a continuous-time signal and produces a corresponding discrete-time signal. Sim-
ple conditions are presented that ensure that an analog signal can be reconstructed from
its samples. When these conditions are violated, a phenomenon called aliasing occurs.
The use of guard filters to reduce the effects of aliasing is discussed. Next DSP hard-
ware in the form of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and digital-to-analog converters
(DACs) is examined. The hardware discussion includes ways to model the quantization
error associated with finite precision converters. A menu-based graphical user interface
DSP Companion (GUI) program called the DSP Companion is introduced that provides direct access to
an extensive set of supplementary course materials. The DSP Companion allows the stu-
dent and the instructor to run and view chapter GUI modules, PowerPoint lecture slides,
examples, figures, tables, definitions, propositions, algorithms, and selected problem solu-
GUI modules tions that appear throughout the text. The GUI modules can be used to interactively
explore the digital signal processing techniques covered in each chapter without any need
for programming. For example, in this chapter GUI module g_sample allows the user to
investigate the sampling of continuous-time signals including aliasing and quantization
effects. The module g_reconstruct then allows the user to explore the reconstruction of
continuous-time signals from their samples. The chapter concludes with a case study
example, and a summary of signal sampling and reconstruction.

1.1.1 Digital and Analog Processing


For many years, almost all signal processing was done with analog circuits as shown in
Figure 1.1. For example, operational amplifiers, resistors, and capacitors are used to real-
ize frequency-selective filters.
With the advent of specialized microprocessors with built-in data conversion circuits
(Papamichalis, 1990), it is now commonplace to perform signal processing digitally as
shown in Figure 1.2. Digital processing of analog signals is more complex because it typ-
ically requires the three components shown in Figure 1.2. The analog-to-digital converter
or ADC at the front end converts the analog input xa(t) into an equivalent digital signal

Figure 1.1: Analog


Signal Processing Analog
xa(t) processing ya(t)
circuit

Figure 1.2: Digital


Signal Processing x(k) Digital y(k)
xa(t) ADC processing DAC ya (t)
program

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1.1 Motivation 5

Table 1.1: Comparison Feature Analog Processing Digital Processing


of Analog and Digital Speed Fast Moderate
Signal Processing
Cost Low to moderate Moderate
Flexibility Low High
Performance Moderate High
Self-calibration No Yes
Data logging capability No Yes
Adaptive capability Limited Yes

x(k). The processing of x(k) is then achieved with an algorithm that is implemented in
software. For a filtering operation, the DSP algorithm consists of a difference equation,
but other types of processing are also possible and are often used. The digital output sig-
nal y(k) is then converted back to an equivalent analog signal ya(t) by the digital-to-analog
converter or DAC.
Although the DSP approach requires more steps than analog signal processing, there
are many important benefits to working with signals in digital form. A comparison of the
relative advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches is summarized in Table 1.1.
The primary advantages of analog signal processing are speed and cost. Digital sig-
nal processing is not as fast due to the limits on the sampling rates of the converter
circuits. In addition, if substantial computations are to be performed between samples,
then the clock rate of the processor also can be a limiting factor. Speed can be an issue
Real time in real-time applications where the kth output sample y(k) must be computed and sent to
the DAC as soon as possible after the kth input sample x(k) is available from the ADC.
Latency The delay is sometimes referred to as latency. However, there are also applications where
the entire input signal is available ahead of time for processing off-line. For this batch
mode type of processing, speed is less critical.
DSP hardware is often somewhat more expensive than analog hardware because
analog hardware can consist of as little as a few discrete components on a stand-alone
printed circuit board. The cost of DSP hardware varies depending on the performance
characteristics required. In some cases, a PC may already be available to perform other
functions for a given application, and in these instances the marginal expense of adding
DSP hardware is not large.
In spite of these limitations, there are great benefits to using DSP techniques. Indeed,
DSP is superior to analog processing with respect to virtually all of the remaining fea-
tures listed in Table 1.1. One of the most important advantages is the inherent flexibility
available with a software implementation. Whereas an analog circuit might be tuned with
a potentiometer to vary its performance over a limited range, a DSP algorithm can be
completely replaced, on the fly, when circumstance warrant. DSP also offers considerably
higher performance than analog signal processing. For example, digital filters with arbi-
trary magnitude responses and linear phase responses can be designed easily whereas this
is not feasible with analog filters.
A common problem that plagues analog systems is the fact that the component val-
ues tend to drift with age and with changes in environmental conditions such as temper-
ature. This leads to a need for periodic calibration or tuning. With DSP there is no drift
problem and therefore no need to manually recalibrate.
Since data are already available in digital form in a DSP system, with little or no addi-
tional expense one can log the data associated with the operation of the system so that its
performance can be monitored, either locally or remotely over a network connection. If
an unusual operating condition is detected, its exact time and nature can be determined,

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6 Chapter 1 Signal Processing

and a higher-level control system can be alerted. Although strip chart recorders can be
added to an analog system, this substantially increases the expense thereby negating one
of its potential advantages.
The flexibility inherent in software can be exploited by having the parameters of the
DSP algorithm vary with time and adapt as the characteristics of the input signal or the
processing task change. Applications, like system identification and active noise control,
exploit adaptive signal processing, a topic that is addressed in Chapter 9.

1.1.2 Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)


With the widespread use of digital computers, DSP applications are now commonplace.
As a simple initial example, consider the problem of designing an audio amplifier to
boost signal strength without distorting the shape of the input signal. For the amplifier
shown in Figure 1.3, suppose the input signal xa(t) is a pure sinusoidal tone of amplitude
a and frequency F0 Hz.
xa(t) 5 a cos(2F0t) (1.1.1)
An ideal amplifier will produce a desired output signal yd (t) that is a scaled and delayed
Gain version of the input signal. For example, if the scale factor or amplifier gain is K and the
delay is , then the desired output is
yd (t) 5 Kxa(t 2 )
5 Ka cos f2F0(t 2 )g (1.1.2)
In a practical amplifier, the relationship between the input and the output is only approx-
imately linear, so some additional terms are present in the actual output ya.
ya(t) 5 Afxa(t)g
d0 M21
< 1
2 i51
o
di cos(2iF0t 1 i) (1.1.3)

The presence of the additional harmonics indicates that there is distortion in the amplified
signal due to nonlinearities within the amplifier. For example, if the amplifier is driven
with an input whose amplitude a is too large, then the amplifier will saturate with the
result that the output is a clipped sine wave that sounds distorted when played through
a speaker. To quantify the amount of distortion, the average power contained in the ith
Average power harmonic is d 2i y2 for i $ 1 and d 2i y4 for i 5 0. Thus the average power of the signal ya(t) is
d 20 1 M21 2
Py 5
4
1
2 i51
di o (1.1.4)

Total harmonic The total harmonic distortion or THD of the output signal ya(t) is defined as the
distortion power in the spurious harmonic components, expressed as a percentage of the total
power. Thus the following can be used to measure the quality of the amplifier output.
D 100(Py 2 d12y2)
THD 5 % (1.1.5)
Py

Figure 1.3: An
Audio Amplifier
xa(t) K ya(t)

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1.1 Motivation 7

For an ideal amplifier di 5 0 for i Þ 1 and

d1 5 Ka (1.1.6a)
1 5 22F0 (1.1.6b)

Consequently, for a high-quality amplifier, the THD is small, and when no distortion
is present THD 5 0. Suppose the amplifier output is sampled to produce the following
digital signal of length N 5 2M.
y(k) 5 ya(kT ), 0 # k , N (1.1.7)
If the sampling interval is set to T 5 1y(NF0), then this corresponds to one period of
ya(t). By processing the digital signal x(k) with something called the discrete Fourier
transform or DFT, it is possible to determine di and i for 0 # i , M. In this way the total
harmonic distortion can be measured. The DFT is a key analytic tool that is introduced
in Chapter 4.

1.1.3 A Notch Filter


As a second example of a DSP application, suppose one is performing sensitive acous-
tic measurements in a laboratory setting using a microphone. Here, any ambient back-
ground sounds in the range of frequencies of interest have the potential to corrupt the
measurements with unwanted noise. Preliminary measurements reveal that the overhead
fluorescent lights are emitting a 120 Hz hum, which corresponds to the second harmonic
of the 60 Hz commercial AC power. The problem then is to remove the 120 Hz frequency
component while affecting the other nearby frequency components as little as possible.
Notch filter Consequently, you want to process the acoustic data samples with a notch filter designed
to remove the effects of the fluorescent lights. After some calculations, you arrive at the
following digital filter to process the measurements x(k) to produce a filtered signal y(k).

y(k) 5 1.6466y(k 2 1) 2 .9805y(k 2 2) 1 .9905x(k)


2 1.6471x(k 2 1) 1 .9905x(k 2 2) (1.1.8)

The filter in (1.1.8) is a notch filter with a bandwidth of 4 Hz, a notch frequency of
Fn 5 120 Hz, and a sampling frequency of fs 5 1280 Hz. A plot of the frequency response
of this filter is shown in Figure 1.4 where a sharp notch at 120 Hz is apparent. Notice
that except for frequencies very close to Fn, all other frequency components of x(k) are
passed through the filter without attenuation. The design of notch filters is discussed in
Chapter 7.

1.1.4 Active Noise Control


An application area of DSP that makes use of adaptive signal processing is active con-
trol of acoustic noise (Kuo and Morgan, 1996). Examples include industrial noise from
rotating machines, propeller and jet engine noise, road noise in an automobile, and noise
caused by air flow in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. As an illustration
of the latter, consider the active noise control system shown in Figure 1.5, which consists
of an air duct with two microphones and a speaker. The basic principle of active noise
control is to inject a secondary sound into the environment so as to cancel the primary
sound using destructive interference.

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8 Chapter 1 Signal Processing

Figure 1.4: 1.4


Magnitude
Response of a 1.2
Notch Filter with
Fn 5 120 Hz 1

0.8
A(f )

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
f (Hz)

The purpose of the reference microphone in Figure 1.5 is to detect the primary noise
x(k) generated by the noise source or blower. The primary noise signal is then passed
through a digital filter of the following form.
m
y(k) 5 o w (k)x(k 2 i )
i50
i (1.1.9)

The output of the filter y(k) drives a speaker that creates the secondary sound, some-
Antisound times called antisound. The error microphone, located downstream of the speaker,
detects the sum of the primary and secondary sounds and produces an error signal e(k).
The objective of the adaptive algorithm is to take x(k) and e(k) as inputs and adjust the
filter weights w(k) so as to drive e2(k) to zero. If zero error can be achieved, then silence
is observed at the error microphone. In practical systems, the error or residual sound is
significantly reduced by active noise control.
To illustrate the operation of this adaptive DSP system, suppose the blower noise is
modeled as a periodic signal with fundamental frequency F0 and r harmonics plus some
random white noise v(k).
r
x(k) 5 o a cos(2ikF T 1  ) 1 v(k), 0 # k , p
i51
i 0 i (1.1.10)

Figure 1.5: Active


Control of Acoustic
Noise in an Air Blower Reference Error
Duct microphone Speaker microphone

y(k)

x(k) e(k)
Controller

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1.1 Motivation 9

Figure 1.6: 100


Squared Error 90
Signal with Active
Noise Control 80
Activated at 70
Noise reduction 5 32.1 dB
k 5 512 60

e2(k) 50
40
30
20
10
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000
k

For example, suppose F0 5 100 Hz and there are r 5 4 harmonics with amplitudes
ai 5 1yi and random phase angles. Suppose the random white noise term is distributed
uniformly over the interval f2.5, .5g. Let p 5 2048 samples, and suppose the sampling
interval is T 5 1y1600 s and the filter order is m 5 40. The adaptive algorithm used to
adjust the filter weights is called the FXLMS method, and it is discussed in detail in
Chapter 9. The results of applying this algorithm are shown in Figure 1.6.
Initially the filter weights are set to w(0) 5 0, which corresponds to no noise control
at all. The adaptive algorithm is not activated until sample k 5 512, so the first quarter
of the plot in Figure 1.6 represents the ambient or primary noise detected at the error
microphone. When adaptation is activated, the error begins to decrease rapidly, and after
a short transient period it reaches a steady-state level that is more than an order of mag-
nitude quieter than the primary noise itself. We can quantify the noise reduction by using
the following measure of overall noise cancellation.

1o 2 1 o e (i)2
py421 p21
E 5 10 log10 e2(i) 2 10 log10 2
dB (1.1.11)
i50 i53py4

The overall noise cancellation E is the log of the ratio of the average power of the noise
during the first quarter of the samples divided by the average power of the noise during
the last quarter of the samples, expressed in units of decibels. Using this measure, the
noise cancellation observed in Figure 1.6 is E 5 32.1 dB.

1.1.5 Video Aliasing


Later in Chapter 1 we focus on the problem of sampling a continuous-time signal xa(t)
to produce the following discrete-time signal, where T . 0 is the sampling interval and
fs 5 1yT is the sampling frequency.

x(k) 5 xa(kT ), uku 5 0, 1, 2, Á (1.1.12)

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10 Chapter 1 Signal Processing

An important theoretical and practical question that arises in connection with the
sampling process is this. Under what conditions do the samples x(k) contain all the
information needed to reconstruct the signal xa(t)? The Shannon sampling theorem
says that if the signal xa(t) is bandlimited and the sampling rate fs is greater than twice
the bandwidth or highest frequency present, then it is possible to interpolate between
the x(k) to precisely reconstruct xa(t). However, if the sampling frequency is too low,
Aliasing then the samples become corrupted, a process known as aliasing. An interesting way
to illustrate aliasing is to examine a video signal in the form of an M 3 N image Ia(t)
that varies with time. Here Ia(t) consists of an M 3 N array of picture elements or
Pixels pixels, where the number of rows M and columns N depends on the video format
used. If Ia(t) is sampled with a sampling interval of T then the resulting discrete-time
signal is

I(k) 5 Ia(kT ), uku 5 0, 1, 2, Á (1.1.13)

Here fs 5 1yT is the sampling rate in frames per second. Depending on the content of the
image, the sampling rate fs may or may not be sufficiently high to avoid aliasing.
As a simple illustration, suppose the image consists of a rotating disk with a dark line
on it to indicate orientation as shown in Figure 1.7. A casual look at the sequence of frames
in Figure 1.7 suggests that the disk appears to be rotating counterclockwise at a rate of
45 degrees per frame. However, this is not the only interpretation possible. For exam-
ple, an alternative explanation is that the disk is actually rotating clockwise at a rate of
315 degrees/frame. Both interpretations are plausible. Is the motion captured by the
snapshots a fast clockwise rotation or a slow counter clockwise rotation? If the disk
is in fact rotating clockwise at F0 revolutions/s but the sampling rate is fs # 2F0, then
aliasing occurs in which case the disk can appear to turn backwards at a slow rate.
Interestingly, this manifestation of aliasing was quite common in older western films
that featured wagon trains heading west. The spokes on the wagon wheels sometimes
appeared to move backwards because of the slow frame rate used to shoot the film and
display it on older TVs.

Figure 1.7: Four k51 k52


5 5
Video Frames of a
Rotating Disk. Is
the disk rotating 0 0
slowly counter-
clockwise at 45
degrees per frame 25 25
25 0 5 25 0 5
or is it rotating
clockwise at k53 k54
5 5
315 degrees per
frame?
0 0

25 25
25 0 5 25 0 5

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1.2 Signals and Systems 11

1.2 Signals and Systems

1.2.1 Signal Classification


Recall that a signal is a physical variable whose value varies with respect to time or space.
To simplify the notation and terminology, we will assume that, unless noted otherwise,
the independent variable denotes time. If the value of the signal, the dependent vari-
able, is available over a continuum of times, t [ R, then the signal is referred to as a
Continuous-time signal continuous-time signal. An example of a continuous-time signal, xa(t), is shown in Figure 1.8.
In many cases of practical interest, the value of the signal is only available at discrete
Discrete-time signal instants of time in which case it is referred to as a discrete-time signal. That is, signals can
be classified as continuous-time or discrete-time depending on whether the independent
variable is continuous or discrete, respectively. Common everyday examples of discrete-
time signals include economic statistics such as the monthly unemployment rate. In DSP
applications, a more common way to produce a discrete-time signal, x(k), is to sample an
underlying continuous-time signal, xa(t), as follows.
x(k) 5 xa(kT ), uku 5 0, 1, 2, Á (1.2.1)
Sampling interval Here T . 0 is the time between samples or sampling interval in seconds. The sample spac-
ing also can be specified using the reciprocal of the sampling interval, which is called the
Sampling frequency sampling frequency, fs.
D 1
fs 5 Hz (1.2.2)
T
Here the unit of Hz is understood to mean samples/s. Notice that the integer k in (1.2.1)
Discrete-time index denotes discrete time or, more specifically, the sample number. The sampling interval T is
left implicit on the left-hand side of (1.2.1) because this simplifies subsequent notation. In
those instances where the value of T is important, it will be stated explicitly. An example
of a discrete-time signal generated by sampling the continuous-time signal in Figure 1.8
using T 5 .25 seconds is shown in Figure 1.9.

Figure 1.8: A xa(t) 5 10t exp(2t)


Continuous-time 4
Signal xa(t)
3.5

2.5
xa(t)

1.5

0.5

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
t (sec)

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12 Chapter 1 Signal Processing

Figure 1.9: A x(k) 5 10kT exp(2kT)


Discrete-time 4
Signal x(k) with 3.5
T 5 .25
3

2.5
x(k)

1.5 T 5 .25

0.5

0
0 .5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
kT (sec)
Just as the independent variable can be continuous or discrete, so can the dependent vari-
able or amplitude of the signal be continuous or discrete. If the number of bits of precision
Quantized signal used to represent the value of x(k) is finite, then we say that x(k) is a quantized or discrete-am-
plitude signal. For example, if N bits are used to represent the value of x(k), then there are
2N distinct values that x(k) can assume. Suppose the value of x(k) ranges over the interval
Quantization level fxm, xMg. Then the quantization level, or spacing between adjacent discrete values of x(k), is
xM 2 xm
q5 (1.2.3)
2N
The quantization process can be thought of as passing a signal through a piecewise-
constant staircase type function. For example, if the quantization is based on rounding to the
Quantization operator nearest N bits, then the process can be represented with the following quantization operator.

1q2
D x
QN (x) 5 q ? round (1.2.4)

A graph of QN(x) for x ranging over the interval f21, 1g using N 5 5 bits is shown in
Digital signal Figure 1.10. A quantized discrete-time signal is called a digital signal. That is, a digital
signal, xq(k), is discrete in both time and amplitude with
xq(k) 5 QN fxa(kT )g (1.2.5)
Analog signal By contrast, a signal that is continuous in both time and amplitude is called an analog
signal. An example of a digital signal obtained by quantizing the amplitude of the dis-
crete-time signal in Figure 1.9 is shown in Figure 1.11. In this case, the 5-bit quantizer
in Figure 1.10 is used to produce xq(k). Careful inspection of Figure 1.11 reveals that at
some of the samples there are noticeable differences between xq(k) and xa(kT). If round-
ing is used, then the magnitude of the error is, at most, qy2.
Most of the analysis in this book will be based on discrete-time signals rather than
digital signals. That is, infinite precision is used to represent the value of the dependent
variable. Finite precision, or finite word length effects, are examined in Chapters 6 and 7
in the context of digital filter design. When digital filters are implemented in MATLAB
using the default double-precision arithmetic, this corresponds to 64 bits of precision

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
1.2 Signals and Systems 13

Figure 1.10: 1
Quantization over 0.8
fxm, xMg 5 f21,1g
Using N 5 5 Bits 0.6
q 5 .0625
0.4
0.2

Q(x) 0
20.2
20.4
20.6
20.8
21
21 20.8 20.6 20.420.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
x

(16 decimal digits). In most instances this is sufficiently high precision to yield insignifi-
cant finite word length effects.
A digital signal xq(k) can be modeled as a discrete-time signal x(k) plus random
Quantization noise quantization noise, v(k), as follows.

xq(k) 5 x(k) 1 v(k) (1.2.6)

An effective way to measure the size or strength of the quantization noise is to use aver-
Expected value age power defined as the mean, or expected value, of v2(k). Typically, v(k) is modeled as
a random variable uniformly distributed over the interval f2qy2, qy2g with probability

Figure 1.11: A xq(k) 5 QN[xa (kT )]


Digital Signal xq(k) 4

3.5

2.5
xq(k)

2
T 5 .25
1.5 q 5 .125
N 5 5 bits
1

0.5

0
0 .5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
kT (sec)

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
14 Chapter 1 Signal Processing

density p(x) 5 1yq. In this case, the expected value of v2(k) is


qy2
E fv2g 5 # 2qy2
p(x)x2dx

qy2
1
5
q #2qy2
x2dx (1.2.7)

Thus the average power of the quantization noise is proportional to the square of the
quantization level with
q2
E fv2g 5 (1.2.8)
12

E X AM P LE 1. 1 Quantization Noise

Suppose the value of a discrete-time signal x(k) is constrained to lie in the interval
f210, 10g. Let xq(k) denote a digital version of x(k) using quantization level q,
and consider the following problem. Suppose the average power of the quantiza-
tion noise, v(k), is to be less than .001. What is the minimum number of bits that
are needed to represent the value of xq(k)? The constraint on the average power
of the quantization noise is
E fv2g , .001
Thus from (1.2.3) and (1.2.8) we have
(xM 2 xm)2
, .001
12(2N)2
Recall that the signal range is xm 5 210 and xM 5 10. Multiplying both sides by
12, taking the square root of both sides, and then solving for 2N yields
20
2N .
Ï.012
Finally, taking the natural log of both sides and solving for N we have
ln (182.5742)
N. 5 7.5123
ln (2)
Since N must be an integer, the minimum number of bits needed to ensure that
the average power of the quantization noise is less than .001 is N 5 8 bits.

The relationship between the four basic signal types is summarized in Table 1.2.
Signals can be further classified depending on whether or not they are nonzero for nega-
tive values of the independent variable, time.

DEFiNiTioN A signal xa(t) defined for t [ R is causal if and only if it is zero for negative t. Other-
wise, the signal is noncausal.
1.1 Causal Signal
xa(t) 5 0 for t , 0

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1.2 Signals and Systems 15

Table 1.2: Basic Signal Continuous-time, T 5 0 Discrete-time, T . 0


Types Continuous analog signal, xa (t) discrete-time signal, x(k)
amplitude,
q50
Discrete quantized signal, xq (t) digital signal, xq(k)
amplitude,
q.0

Most of the signals that we work with will be causal signals. A simple, but important,
Unit step example of a causal signal is the unit step, which is denoted a(t) and defined

a(t) 5
D
50,1, t,0
t$0
(1.2.9)

Note that any signal can be made into a causal signal by multiplying by the unit step. For
example, xa(t) 5 exp(2ty)a(t) is a causal decaying exponential with time constant .
Unit impulse Another important example of a causal signal is the unit impulse, which is denoted a(t).
Strictly speaking, the unit impulse is not a function, because it is not defined at t 5 0.
However, the unit impulse can be defined implicitly by the equation
t

#2`
a()d 5 a(t) (1.2.10)

That is, the unit impulse a(t) is a signal that, when integrated, produces the unit step a(t).
Consequently, we can loosely think of the unit impulse as the derivative of the unit step
function, keeping in mind that the derivative of the unit step is not defined at t 5 0. The
two essential characteristics of the unit impulse that follow from (1.2.10) are
a(t) 5 0, t Þ 0 (1.2.11a)
`

# 2`
a(t)dt 5 1 (1.2.11b)

A more informal way to view the unit impulse is to consider a narrow pulse of width
 and height 1y starting at t 5 0. The unit impulse can be thought of as the limit of a
sequence of pulses as the pulse width  goes to zero. By convention, we graph the unit
impulse as a vertical arrow with the height of the arrow equal to the strength, or area, of
the impulse, as shown in Figure 1.12.
The unit impulse has an important property that is a direct consequence of (1.2.11).
If xa(t) is a continuous function, then
` `

# 2`
xa()a( 2 t0)d 5 #2`
xa(t0)a( 2 t0)d
`
5 xa(t0) # 2`
a( 2 t0)d
`
5 xa(t0) # 2`
a()d (1.2.12)

Sifting property Since the area under the unit impulse is one, we then have the following sifting property
of the unit impulse
`

# 2`
xa (t)a (t 2 t0)dt 5 xa (t0) (1.2.13)

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16 Chapter 1 Signal Processing

Figure 1.12: Unit 1.5


Impulse, a(t),
and Unit Step,
a(t) a(t)
1
xa(t)

0.5 a(t)

20.5
22 21.5 21 20.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
t (sec)

From (1.2.13) we see that when a continuous function of time is multiplied by an impulse
and then integrated, the effect is to sift out or sample the value of the function at the time
the impulse occurs.

1.2.2 System Classification


Just as signals can be classified, so can the systems that process those signals. Consider a
system S with input x and output y as shown in Figure 1.13. In some cases, for example
biomedical systems, the input is referred to as the stimulus, and the output is referred to
as the response. We can think of the system in Figure 1.13 as an operator S that acts on
the input signal x to produce the output signal y.
y 5 Sx (1.2.14)
Continuous, discrete If the input and output are continuous-time signals, then the system S is called a continuous-
systems time system. A discrete-time system is a system S that processes a discrete-time input x(k)
to produce a discrete-time output y(k). There are also examples of systems that contain
both continuous-time signals and discrete-time signals. These systems are referred to as
sampled-data systems.
Almost all of the examples of systems in this book belong to an important class of
systems called linear systems.

DEFiNiTioN Let x1 and x2 be arbitrary inputs and let a and b be arbitrary scalars. A system S is
linear if and only if the following holds; otherwise it is a nonlinear system.
1.2 Linear System
S(ax1 1 bx2) 5 aSx1 1 bSx2

Figure 1.13: A
System S with
Input x and x S y
Output y

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1.2 Signals and Systems 17

Thus a linear system has two distinct characteristics. When a 5 b 5 1, we see that the
response to a sum of inputs is just the sum of the responses to the individual inputs. Sim-
ilarly, when b 5 0, we see that the response to a scaled input is just the scaled response
to the original input. Examples of linear discrete-time systems include the notch filter in
(1.1.8) and the adaptive filter in (1.1.9). On the other hand, if the analog audio amplifier
in Figure 1.3 is overdriven and its output saturates to produce harmonics as in (1.1.3),
then this is an example of a nonlinear continuous-time system. Another important class
of systems is time-invariant systems.

DEFiNiTioN A system S with input xa(t) and output ya(t) is time-invariant if and only if whenever
the input is translated in time by , the output is also translated in time by . Other-
1.3 Time-invariant System
wise the system is a time-varying system.
Sxa(t 2 ) 5 ya(t 2 )

For a time-invariant system, delaying or advancing the input delays or advances the
output by the same amount, but it does not otherwise affect the shape of the output.
Therefore the results of an input-output experiment do not depend on when the experi-
ment is performed. Time-invariant systems described by differential or difference equa-
tions have constant coefficients. More generally, physical time-invariant systems have
constant parameters. The notch filter in (1.1.8) is an example of a discrete-time system
that is both linear and time-invariant. On the other hand, the adaptive digital filter in
(1.1.9) is a time-varying system, because the weights w(k) are coefficients that change
with time as the system adapts. The following example shows that the concepts of linear-
ity and time-invariance can sometimes depend on how the system is characterized.

E X AM PL E 1. 2 System Classification

Consider the operational amplifier circuit shown in Figure 1.14. Here input resistor
R1 is fixed, but feedback resistor R2 represents a sensor or transducer whose resis-
tance changes with respect to a sensed environmental variable such as temperature
or pressure. For this inverting amplifier configuration, the output voltage ya(t) is

3 R 4 x (t)
R2(t)
ya(t) 5 2 1
1

Figure 1.14: An R2(t)


Inverting Amplifier with
a Feedback Transducer R1
2
1
x1 1
1
ya
2 2

(Continued )

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18 Chapter 1 Signal Processing

This is an example of a linear continuous-time system that is time-varying because


parameter R2(t) varies as the temperature or pressure changes. However, another
way to model this system is to consider the variable resistance of the sensor as a
second input x2(t) 5 R2(t). Viewing the system in this way, the system output is
x1(t)x2(t)
ya(t) 5 2
R1
This formulation of the model is a nonlinear time-invariant system, but with two
inputs. Thus, by introducing a second input we have converted a single-input
time-varying linear system to a two-input time-invariant nonlinear system.

Another important classification of systems focuses on the question of what happens


Bounded signal to the signals as time increases. We say that a signal xa(t) is bounded if and only if there
Bound exists a Bx . 0 called a bound such that
uxa(t)u # Bx for t [ R (1.2.15)

DEFiNiTioN A system S is with input xa(t) and output ya(t) is stable, in a bounded input bounded
output (BIBO) sense, if and only if every bounded input produces a bounded output.
1.4 Stable System
Otherwise it is an unstable system.

Thus an unstable system is a system for which the magnitude of the output grows arbi-
trarily large with time for a least one bounded input.

E X AM P LE 1. 3 Stability

As a simple example of a system that can be stable or unstable depending on its


parameter values, consider the following first-order linear continuous-time sys-
tem where a Þ 0.
dya (t)
1 aya (t) 5 xa (t)
dt
Suppose the input is the unit step xa(t) 5 a(t) which is bounded with a bound
of Bx 5 1. Direct substitution can be used to verify that for t $ 0, the solution is
1
f1 2 exp(2at)g
ya(t) 5 ya(0) exp(2at) 1
a
If a . 0, then the exponential terms grow without bound, which means that the
bounded input ua(t) produces an unbounded output ya(t). Thus this system is
unstable, in a BIBO sense, when a . 0.

Just as light can be decomposed into a spectrum of colors, signals also contain energy
that is distributed over a range of frequencies. To decompose a continuous-time signal
Fourier transform xa(t) into its spectral components, we use the Fourier transform.
`
Xa( f ) 5 FT hxa(t)j 5
D
# 2`
xa(t) exp(2j2ft)dt (1.2.16)

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"spake upon that hint," she rebelled, and was impatient at such an advantage
being taken of her "unguarded language."

Meanwhile, the dressing-bell had rung, and no one was in the drawing-
room except Marmaduke and Mrs. Meredith Vyner, who were in the midst of
a somewhat bitter and mutually reproachful conversation respecting the
honesty and constancy of the two sexes.

"Men are so brutal," she said; "they always demand undying constancy
from us—"

"And never get it——"

"And even when perhaps jealousy, anger, or despair have driven us into
seeking elsewhere for relief from our outraged affections, they sneer and talk
of our frivolity and incapacity for an enduring passion."

"Well, well, it is easy to talk of jealousy driving a woman to extremity,


but there must be shown some cause for that jealousy. Mere absence, mere
inferiority in position, is sometimes enough to suggest ample cause for
jealousy. An absent lover thinks incessantly of his mistress; a rich old lover
makes his appearance; whereupon the engaged lady suddenly becomes
jealous of her absent swain, and, driven to desperation, marries the rich old
lover!"

Nothing could better please Mrs. Vyner than the turn taken by the
conversation, which, in its generality of expression and covert significance,
best answered her purpose of justification, without seeming to justify herself.

"I agree with you. There must be ampler cause shown. But if the absent
lover suddenly ceases to write, and reports arise that he is very assiduous in
his attentions elsewhere, if to this silence, confirmed by these reports—if to
the jealous rage, which those who love ardently must feel when they are
betrayed, be added the temptation of vengeance in the shape of a brilliant
match, then, I think, we should not blame a woman's inconstancy, so much
as we should pity her fate. Were she to marry a young and handsome man,
she might be supposed to love him; but if, as in the case supposed by you,
the new lover be old, then it is a proof that whatever wild motives may have
prompted her wild act, inconstancy in her affections had nothing to do with
it."

Marmaduke was a good deal shaken by this artful speech, but he rather
felt than saw its falsehood. A shrug of the shoulders, and a slight incredulous
laugh was all the answer he vouchsafed.

"There is this further difference," she pursued, "between the sexes. When
a man has quarrelled with a woman—when he has deserted her or been
deserted by her, he tramples down in his heart all former love, and replaces
adoration with hate, or, at the least, with indifference."

"Very right too."

"Yes, you men think so. But how differently a woman feels! Under the
same circumstances, whatever may have been prompted by her rage or her
despair, the act upon which she had resolved once performed, her love
returns with all its former force—returns and lives in her heart throughout
the rest of her life. This is what I mean by our superiority in constancy.
When once we love, it is for ever. No neglect, no ill-usage, no inconstancy
can kill it. Weak and wayward, reckless and passionate as we are, we rush
into wretched extremes, we do rash things when blinded by our tears, but do
what we will, we cannot stifle the love that is in our hearts."

The little creature had risen and thrown back her golden locks with the
graceful fury of a Pythoness, her eyes sparkled with an unwonted light, her
nostrils were dilated, her whole frame seemed animated with passion, as she
declaimed, rather than spoke, that vindication of herself in her sex.

I have said before that she had the nature of an actress. The present
scene, therefore, was not only adapted to her histrionic display, but gave her
such keen delight, that she could have pursued it for a long while, quite
independent of any ulterior purpose, had not Marmaduke suddenly arrested
her eloquence, by asking in a tone of subdued irony,—

"And am I expected to believe all this?"

She paused to fix a passionate look at him. Then, slowly drawing from
her bosom a small locket, held it up to him, and said scornfully,—
"Do you recognise this?"

Before he had recovered from his astonishment, she had left the room.

"Good God!" he exclaimed. "It is my hair!"

It was her father's.

CHAPTER VIII.

WOMAN'S CAPRICE.
Quelque raison qu'on trouve à l'amour qui nous dompte,
On trouve à 1'avouer toujours un peu de honte.
On s'en defend d'abord; mais de l'air qu'on s'y prend
On fait connoitre assez que notre cœur se rend.
MOLIERE.—Tartuffe.

We left Rose pondering over her lover's letter, and her own uneasiness at
having by her hints called forth a delightful declaration. We return to her
after the lapse of half an hour, and find her in the same state. At length the
dinner-bell rings.

The volume of Leopardi lies on the table: will she take it down with her?

There is a fact in human nature which will be familiar to many, but


which I am unable to explain, and that is the occasional impulse which
forces us to act diametrically opposite to our wishes. It is a sudden spasm of
wilfulness, wholly irrational, but wholly irresistible. I know that, in my own
case, I have refused advantageous offers—declined invitations to pleasant
excursions—entirely in obedience to this impulse of wilfulness—which I
have regretted the instant afterwards, when either circumstances or my pride
made the regret unavailing. No reason, no gratification of any vanity,
indolence, or temper has been at the bottom of this. The impulse has been
purely wilful and irrational—motiveless, were not the motive enveloped in
the very impulse.

I call attention to this fact, as a fact, because it helps me to explain Rose's


sudden resolution not to take down the volume of Leopardi. Perhaps, in her
case, there may have been some acknowledged influence derived from her
annoyance at that passage in Julius's letter, which threw the onus of the
situation upon her. Perhaps she might have been secretly anxious to show
him that she was not so ready to throw herself into his arms as he might
suppose. I know not how it may be; all I know is, that with a sudden effort
she walked down stairs, came into the drawing-room, saw the death-like
paleness of her miserable lover, whose hopes had been thus scattered by a
blow, seated herself upon a vis-à-vis, and joined in the conversation as if
nothing had occurred.

It is easy to say that Julius was prepared for this, that his own diffidence
had perpetually taught him to expect it; he had thought so, too, and yet he
was not prepared. We sophisticate with ourselves quite as much as with
others. We say we are prepared for an event which, if it occurs, takes us with
the suddenness of a blow to a blind man. And Julius, when he saw Rose
enter without the token, felt as if a grave had suddenly yawned at his feet.
"Marmaduke was right!" he said, and instantly turned over the leaves of the
"Book of Beauty," which was on the table.

Marmaduke, whom we left bewildered at the discovery of Mrs. Meredith


Vyner's long-cherished affection, had not yet recovered from the agitation
into which it had thrown him. The announcement that Mrs. Vyner was too
unwell to descend to dinner—having been seized with one of her singular
hysterical fits—added to the tumult of his thoughts; for he readily divined
the cause of that fit, and her wish also not again to meet him that evening.

It is needless to say, how gratified he was. In his own eyes he had been
rehabilitated. From the position of a jilted lover, he was raised to that of one
loved, "not wisely, but too well;" and the keen delight it gave to his self-love
was something quite indescribable.
From a sort of instinctive feeling of delicacy, he kept away from Violet's
side. Rose occupied him entirely.

Julius was, therefore, enabled to hand Violet to dinner without any


embarrassment. He was cold, grave, and dignified; speaking little, but that
little without bitterness, without covert allusions. You only noticed that he
was grave—not that he was hurt.

Rose was somewhat piqued. She knew that she had done wrong, was
sorry that she had done it, but yet could not without impatience see the
dignified reproof which there was in Julius's manner. Willing enough to
repair by a word the error she had committed, she expected, indeed required,
that he at least should show sufficient concern to induce her to repair it.

This is not very amiable, perhaps, but it is human nature. In a moment of


capriciousness, she had rejected his proffered love; not that she meant to
reject it, but simply because she chose to indulge her wilfulness. She
intended to release him from despair, as soon as her rejection had produced
it; she had never thought of his leaving the house that evening, without a full
assurance of her love. But now all her plans were overthrown. He exhibited
no despair. His cold, grave manner was more like a stern reproof of her
capriciousness, than the despair of a lover. Her rejection had been accepted;
and she was angry with him for taking her at a word.

Violet was puzzled at the little attention Marmaduke paid her, and more
puzzled at his eyes never meeting hers as they were wont, to mingle their
lustre with each other; and observing also the change in Julius, she began to
speculate on the probable cause. Was Marmaduke suddenly smitten with
Rose, and was Julius jealous of him?

It was a solemn, tedious dinner. Fortunately, Meredith Vyner had begun


upon the inexhaustible subject of English etymologies, and talked enough
not to observe the silence of the others. When the ladies withdrew, he
entered into a discussion with Marmaduke, on the comparative merits of
ancient and modern poetry, while Julius carefully cut some apple peel into
minute slips.
They remained much longer than usual over their wine; and when they
returned to the drawing-room, Julius missed the sweet glad smile of
welcome with which Rose greeted him, by studiously looking another way.

The change of feeling in a loving heart is very rapid from anger to


sorrow, and Rose had long since lost all sense of pique, for one of sorrowful
alarm. During the time the gentlemen had remained over their wine, she had
reflected on the whole affair, and penitently avowed her folly. Her only
course was to undo what she had done; and the smile with which she greeted
him was meant as the first intimation of her changed opinion.

But Julius neither saw that smile, nor afforded her the slightest
opportunity of speaking to him; and—strange contradiction in human
impulses!—the more he wrapped himself in his reserve, the more abject was
her humility in endeavouring to draw him out of it.

At length she fled to her own room, resolved to bring down the Leopardi,
and hand it to him, saying,—

"There is the book you ought to have had before dinner."

But when she reached her room, she was forced to vent her pent-up
feelings in a flood of tears—and bitter-sweet those tears were: bitter in
remembrance of the past, sweet in anticipation of the future. Having calmed
herself by "a good cry," she had then to wash her face and eyes, to remove
all traces of her grief. This took some little time.

When perfectly satisfied with her appearance, she took up the volume,
kissed it fervently, and tripped down stairs. She found Violet alone leaning
her magnificent arm upon the table in an attitude of profound meditation.

"Where... where are .... they?" Rose faltered out.

"The St. Johns? Gone this quarter of an hour."

"Gone!" exclaimed Rose in an agonized voice, and sank into a chair,


with a terrible presentiment of some tragic results from her absurd caprice.
CHAPTER IX.

CONSEQUENCES.
Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean—
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy autumn fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more.
TENNYSON.—The Princess.

A restless, agitated night was it for the four lovers. Julius sat up packing.
He had informed his mother of his rejection; and she, doating as she did on
her son, was highly indignant at Rose's "unfeeling coquetry, which she never
could have believed her guilty of." Espousing his cause with a vehemence
which somewhat hurt him, she readily agreed to his proposal of their both
leaving the Grange forthwith, and spending the winter in Italy.

Marmaduke also packed up that night. He had quarrelled with Julius, and
was determined to quit the Grange early in the morning. The subject of their
quarrel had been the two girls, whom Marmaduke accused of being heartless
coquettes, which Julius angrily denied. High words passed; for both were in
a state of extraordinary agitation, from the events of the night.

Having completed his arrangements, he threw himself upon his bed, but
not to sleep. Strange visions came to him—phantasmagoria, in which the
image of the imperial Violet was ever and anon floating before the
passionate figure of the sylph-like Mrs. Vyner, as she last appeared to him,
proclaiming woman's undying love. Gradually his thoughts settled more and
more upon the latter. He began to consider the various parts of her story, and
to compare it with the facts. Then a new light broke in upon him. It is one of
the effects of oratory, that your ears are charmed, your mind borne away
along the stream of eloquence or argument, without having time to pause
and examine; but subsequent reflection often suffices to break the spell, and
the enthusiastic applauder votes against the very sentiments he has
applauded. So Marmaduke had been carried away by the skilfully
constructed tale which Mrs. Vyner had improvised; and the plausibility of
the non-receipt of letters, and reports of his attentions to another, had been so
great as really to have made him doubt the justness of his old convictions.
But, on reflection, that plausibility vanished. He remembered that his letters
had been received and acknowledged until within a very short time of the
announcement of her marriage. He also remembered that he had been so
occupied with affairs as to have had no time even for ordinary society in
Brazil; so that no innocent flirtation with any girl there could at that time, by
any possibility, have given rise to the reports by which she pretended to have
been made jealous.

It was evident, therefore, that she was deceiving him again. For some
purpose or other, she was playing with him.

"I will get to the bottom of this mystery," he said. "One of two things it
must be: either she really loves me, in spite of all—and, in that case, I will
profit by it,—or else she is again coquetting with me for some purpose, or
out of mere love of coquetry; and, in that case, I will avenge the past. She is
as cunning as the devil! To dupe her, I must feign the dupe."

He turned upon his pillow with a chuckle of triumph.

Mrs. Meredith Vyner slept soundly that night. A smile was on her lips as
she sank asleep—a smile of gratulation at the success of her experiment on
Marmaduke. She was sure that he was in her power.

Rose could only stay her grief by the recollection that to-morrow would
explain away all that was now doubt and misgiving. She intended to call
early at the Grange, and frankly tell Julius that she loved him. Nevertheless,
in spite of this resolution, a dark presentiment overshadowed her soul, and
drove away the thoughts of happiness. She wept abundantly; sometimes at
her own folly, sometimes in anger at Julius, for having so brutally taken her
at her word, as if a woman's negative was ever to be taken, when looks and
words had so often affirmed what was then denied. He ought to have known
she was only teazing him; that it was only a spurt of caprice. He must have
known it. But he did not choose to see it. He wanted to make her unhappy! A
fresh flood of tears closed this tirade. And so on, throughout the long and
weary night.

Violet having heard from Rose the real state of the case, was relieved
from jealousy only to be plunged into fresh doubt. What could be the
meaning of Marmaduke's conduct? They had not quarrelled. She had said
nothing to offend him; nor did he seem offended; and yet....

For the first time, Violet now became distinctly conscious that she loved
Marmaduke. His fearlessness, manliness, and frankness had early captivated
her,—to say nothing of his handsome person. Increased intimacy had shown
her, as she thought, a heart and mind every way worthy of her love. But a
certain mistrust—perhaps a recollection of her inclination towards Cecil,
perhaps a vague sense of imperfect sympathy with Marmaduke—had kept
her more reserved than was her wont; and this reserve was attributed to
haughtiness. The chance of losing him, however, awakened her to a
conviction of what the loss would be.

Day dawned; and with the dawn Julius set out for London. Marmaduke
followed, at about nine o'clock. At eleven, Rose and Violet called in the
carriage at the Grange.

"Mrs. St. John is gone to Walton," said the butler.

"Is Mr. Julius at home?"

"Mr. Julius is gone to London."

"To London?"

"Yes, miss; he went early this morning."

Rose sank back in the carriage, too overcome to weep.

"Is Mr. Ashley within?" asked Violet.


"He's also gone to London, miss."

It was evident that they were both deserted by their lovers. They drove
back in horrible silence.

After luncheon, they again called at the Grange—Mrs. St. John had gone
out for the day. The next day they called—Mrs. St. John had gone to
London.

It would be painful to dwell on the sufferings of these two girls.


Wounded pride, wounded love, baffled hope, and wearing doubt were the
vultures consuming their hearts.

The next morning's post relieved some of Violet's fears, by bringing her
father a letter from Marmaduke, apologizing for not having called to take
leave of a family from whom he had received so much kindness, and with
whom he had spent such happy hours; but being forced, by his quarrel with
Julius, to quit the house at the very earliest, he trusted the omission of a
farewell visit would be excused; the more so, as the Vyners were themselves
very shortly to come to London, when he hoped to do himself the pleasure of
paying them his respects in person, and in person to thank them for their
hospitable kindness.

This proved that he at least had not departed in anger. Mrs. Vyner
secretly rejoiced at the event, attributing his flight to a sudden resolution to
quit her dangerous presence, and attributing the letter to an uncontrollable
desire to be with her again.

To Rose this brought no consolation. She had none, except that she must
see or meet Mrs. St. John in London, and that she could then explain to her
the whole affair.

How eagerly these three women longed to be in London, and with what
feverish impatience they set out, when the day at length arrived.
BOOK IV.

CHAPTER I.

THE BOARDING-HOUSE.
Mathew. Now trust me you have an exceeding fine lodging here, very neat and private.

Boladil. Ay, sir: sit down, I pray you. Master Mathew, in any case possess no gentlemen
of our acquaintance with notice of my lodging. Not that I need to care who know it, for the
cabin is convenient; but in regard I would not be too popular and generally visited as some
are.

BEN JONSON.—Every Man in his Humour.

Returned from their honeymoon, Blanche and Cecil began to look about
them, and examine the state of their prospects. Her father had refused, as we
have seen, to countenance the match; so that from him neither patronage nor
money could be expected. Cecil called upon several of his influential
friends, to see if any "gentlemanly situation" was open to his acceptance. I
need not say how fruitless were those applications.

Yet "something must be done," he constantly observed. A wife was a


responsibility which made him serious; and despairing of—for the present at
least—obtaining any consul-ship or government office suitable to his
pretensions, he determined to make a name in literature or art. That name
would either be the means of enriching him, as an admiring public enriches a
favourite, or else would give him a greater "claim" on patrons.
Cecil was vain and ambitious, and from his boyhood upwards had been
desirous of creating for himself a reputation equal if not surpassing those
whose names he heard sounded in every society. But, although he was very
clever and unusually accomplished, he had as yet taken no serious steps
towards that lofty object. He wanted that energetic will which must nerve
every man who attempts to do great things; "to scorn delights and live
laborious days." He was unequal to the perpetually-renewing sacrifice which
lies at the bottom of all great achievements in art, literature, or science; the
sacrifice, not of one temptation, not of one advantage, but of constant
temptations. The artist is as one who, spending day after day in a luxuriant
garden, must resist the temptation of culling the flowers that grow to his
hand, of fruits that glisten before his eyes, and subduing the natural desire of
man for instant fruition, consent to pass by these temptations, and, with
spade and hoe, proceed to that work which, after much stedfast labour, much
watchful care, will in due season produce fruits and flowers equal to those
around him. The delight of seeing his labour crowned with such results; of
watching the nursling of his care thus growing up into matchless beauty, is a
delight more rapturous than the enjoyment of all the other fruit could have
given him. But, nevertheless, that delight is purchased by a sacrifice of
present small enjoyments for future pleasures of a higher kind; and the
sacrifice of the present to the future is that which ordinary men are perhaps
least able to accomplish.

Cecil wanted the animal energy and resolution necessary for empire over
himself. Much as he wished for reputation, he could not nerve himself to the
labour of creating it. He was conscious of a certain power, and flattered
himself that he could at any time succeed, whenever he chose to make an
effort. But he could not make the effort. Parties of pleasure could not be
refused; pleasant books could not be left unread; concerts and musical
societies could not be declined. In short, one way and another, he "never
found time" to devote himself to any work. There were so many "calls upon
his time;" he had so many engagements; his days were so broken in upon.

Thus had he gone on idling and dreaming; coveting reputation, but


shrinking from the means; dissipating his talent in album sketches, fancy
portraits, album verses, and drawing-room ballads. His sketches were greatly
admired; his verses were in request; his music was sung; and everybody
said, "How amazingly clever he is! What he might do, if he chose!"
But now poverty came as a stimulus to exertion. It was now a matter of
necessity that he should work; and with cheerful confidence he sketched out
the plan of his career.

His first step was to advertise in the Times for board and lodging on
moderate terms, as their income was too small for an establishment of their
own; and Blanche had never been initiated into the mysteries of
housekeeping. To judge from the number of answers he received, one would
imagine that a certain class of the English people were bitten with a singular
mania—that of taking houses "too large for them," and the consequent desire
"to part with the upper portion" to a genteel married couple, or a quiet
bachelor. Why will people thus shirk the truth? Why not say at once that they
are poor, and want their rent and taxes paid?

Well, among these answers there was one which particularly struck
Cecil. It was from a widow living at Notting Hill. Omnibuses passing the
door every ten minutes; the quiet, unpretending comforts of a home; strictest
attention to the respectability of the inmates, and sixty pounds a year for a
married couple's board and lodging, were the inestimable advantages offered
to the advertiser. The situation and the terms so well suited Cecil's present
position, that he determined to look at the place.

The boarding-houses of London are of every possible description; from


splendour to pinching, almost squalid poverty. That kept by Mrs. Tring was a
type of its class, and merits a fuller description than I shall be able to give of
it. The first aspect of it produced a chill upon Cecil. He had taken Blanche
with him; and on arriving they were shown into the front parlour, with the
information that Mrs. Tring would be "down directly."

It must be a beautiful room, indeed, which can be agreeable in such


moments. I know few things more unsatisfactory than that of waiting for a
stranger in a strange house. But the cold, cheerless, rigid, poverty-stricken
appearance of Mrs. Tring's parlour, would at all times have made Cecil
uncomfortable: how much more so now that he was contemplating living
there! The drab who officiated as maid, with flaunting cap-ribands, slip-shod
feet, and fiery hands,—a synthesis of rags and dirt,—came in to light the
fire; a proceeding which only made the room colder and more uncomfortable
than before, besides the addition of smoke.
The parlour had a desolate appearance. All the chairs were ranged in
order against the wainscot, as if no one had sat in them for months. Not a
book, not a bit of needlework, not even a cat betrayed habitation. The settled
gloom seemed to have driven away all animated beings from its prosaic
solitude. The furniture was old, dingy, scrupulously clean, invalided,
melancholy; it did not seem as if it had been worn to its present dinginess,
but as if it had darkened under years of silence and neglect.

The Kidderminster carpet was of a plain, dark pattern, selected for its
non-betrayal of stains and dirt; it was faded indeed, but in nowise worn. The
hearth rug was rolled up before the fender. In the centre of the room was a
square table, covered with a dark-green cloth, on which some ancient ink
spots told of days when it had been used. Six black horse-hair chairs with
mahogany backs, and one footstool retiring into a corner—a portrait of a
gentleman, executed in a style of stern art, dark red curtains, and two large
shells upon the mantelpiece, complete the inventory of this parlour, which in
Mrs. Tring's establishment was set apart for the reception of visitors, and
those who came to treat with her for board and lodging.

The want of comfort of this room did not arise from its appearance of
poverty so much as from its cold pinched look. It was a poverty which had
no poetry in it—nothing picturesque, nor careless and hearty. Between it and
the parlour of poor people in general, there was just the difference between a
woman dressed in a silk dress which has been dyed, then has faded, and is
now worn with a bonnet which was once new, and a woman dressed in plain,
common, but fresh wholesome-looking gingham, which she wears with as
much ease as if it were of the costliest material. It had the musty smell of an
uninhabited room, and the melancholy aspect of a room that was
uninhabitable. A sordid meanness was plainly marked upon it, together with
an attempt at "appearances," which showed that it was as ostentatious as the
means allowed. It was genteel and desolate.

Cecil looked at Blanche to see what impression it had made upon her;
but the mild eyes of his beloved seemed to have noticed nothing but his
presence, which was sufficient for her happiness. It suddenly occurred to
him, that the more wretched the appearance of his home, the more likely
would Vyner be to relent when he heard of it; and this thought dissipated his
objections to the place.
Mrs. Tring shortly entered, with very evident marks of having just attired
herself to receive them. Her presence was necessary to complete the picture;
or rather, the room formed a fitting frame for the portrait of the mistress.

Mrs. Tring was the widow of a curate, who, astounding and paradoxical
as the fact may appear, had not left her with an indefinite number of destitute
children. No: for the benefit of the Statistical Society the fact shall be
recorded. Mrs. Tring, though a curate's wife, had never borne a child; she
had been left penniless but childless. When I say penniless, I use, of course,
merely a well-sounding word. The literal truth is, that although he left her no
money, he had left her the means of earning a subsistence, by opening her
house as one in which single ladies, single gentlemen, and married people
could be lodged and boarded at a very moderate sum. The furniture was her
own. Her boarders paid her rent, taxes, dress, and little expenses; and thus
Mrs. Tring contrived to live, but not without a hard struggle! It was barely a
subsistence, and even that was precarious.

Her personal appearance was not pleasantly prepossessing. She was


horribly thin: with a yellow withered face, which seemed to have been
sharpened by constant struggles to gain farthings, and constant sorrows at
disbursing pence. She wore a black net cap, and a black silk dress, white at
the seams from age, the shape of which had outlived a thousand fashions,
and taxed the most retentive memory to specify when it had been the mode.
It was a low dress, and a piece of net fastened by a large brooch served to
conceal her yellow shoulders.

In manner she was stiff, uneasy, and yet servile. She spoke with a sort of
retention of her breath, and an intensity of mildness, as if she feared, that
unless a strong restraint were exercised, she should burst forth into
vehemence; she agreed, unreservedly, to everything said, as if, had she
ventured to contradict a word, it would have infallibly betrayed her temper.

To her visitors she displayed all her amiability, and acceded to every
proposition with such good-humoured alacrity, that terms were soon agreed
upon. For the sum of sixty pounds per annum, payable monthly in advance,
they were to have the back bed-room on the second floor, unfurnished, and
their meals with the family: these meals to consist of a breakfast at nine,
luncheon at one, dinner at five, and tea at eight.
"We live plainly," said Mrs. Tring, "but wholesomely; luxuries are, of
course, out of the question, yet my inmates have always been satisfied."

"As I have not the slightest doubt we shall be," replied Cecil; "I like
simple food. What other inmates are there, pray?"

"The front bed-room on the second floor is occupied by an old


gentleman who was in a government office, and is now living on his
pension: a charming person, though a little deaf. The room next to his
belongs to an Irish widow, a Mrs. Merryweather—I don't know whether you
are acquainted with her, sir?"

Cecil smilingly replied, that he had not that honour.

"I thought you might, sir; she has seen a great deal of society, and is a
very lively lady. In the room above hers, we have a Miss Bachelor, a maiden
lady—very gifted, sir. She teaches music in some of the best families. The
third back is let to a Mr. Roberts, a young gentleman in the city, who only
breakfasts with us."

Cecil bowed on receiving this information, which promised him that the
fellow-boarders would, at least, afford some amusement to make up for the
dreariness of the house. He announced his intention of taking up his abode
there on the morrow. Accordingly, having moved what furniture he
possessed, with some necessary additions, into the room he was now to call
his own, and having hired in town a painting-room, which he fitted up for
writing as well as painting, and moved his piano into it, he took his young
bride to Mrs. Tring's house, and there they installed themselves, with some
merriment at the shifts to which the want of space forced them.

It was late in the evening when they took possession, and they preferred
not presenting themselves to their fellow boarders until the morning.

"This is a sorry home to bring you to, dearest," he said, as the servant,
having lighted his candles and asked if he had any orders to give, left the
room.

Blanche twined her arms round his neck, and said tenderly to him: "Can
that be a sorry home where love resides?"
"No, Blanche, no," he replied, kissing her forehead, "I was wrong. Love
creates its own palaces; and we shall be as happy here, as if we had a
splendid seat. We are starting anew in the world—it is well to start from low
ground, because the smallest ascent has then its proper value. Here will I
build myself a name that shall make you an envied wife."

"I am already enviable—ought I to wish for more?"

What a delightful evening they spent, arranging their property in the


most convenient places, and then sitting over the fire discussing future plans
radiant in the far-off sunshine of Hope. That little room—what a world it
was! In the corner stood their bed,—in the centre a round table,—in another
corner a small bookcase—by the window a toilet table. Nothing could be
more cozy, they said.

O, 'tis a paradise the heaven of earth;


Didst thou but know the comfort of two hearts
In one delicious harmony united,
As to joy one joy, and think both one thought,
Live both one life, and therein double life;
To see their souls meet at an interview
In their bright eyes, at parley in their lips,
Their language kisses.*

* Chapman.--All Fools.

CHAPTER II.

INMATES OF A SUBURBAN BOARDING-HOUSE.

Next morning at breakfast Mrs. Tring's inmates assembled, and the new
comers were duly introduced to their future companions. The breakfast was
plain, and passed off rather uncomfortably, a feeling of restraint checking
merriment. As the boarders descended one by one, and were presented to
Cecil and his wife, an unanimity in commonplaces formed the staple of
remark, and every one seemed unwilling to unbend before having closely
scrutinized the new comers. Small communications respecting the state of
the health, and of the good or bad night's rest, were confidentially whispered
in corners; while daring prophecies on the subject of the weather were more
audibly pronounced.

Mr. Revell, the ex-official, ate in solemn silence; Mrs. Merryweather, the
lively Irish lady, was patronizing and polite; Miss Bachelor, as demure as a
well-fed cat; Mr. Roberts, a dapper clerk with a rosy face and well-oiled hair,
was the only person apparently undaunted by the presence of strangers, and
rattled on with more confidence than wit, until the half hour warned him of
the approach of his omnibus, when he buttoned his single-breasted frock-
coat up to the neck, passed on to his red fingers a close-fitting pair of doe-
skin gloves, rolled the silk of his umbrella into the smallest possible
compass, and departed with the indelible conviction of being "about the
neatest dressed man to be met in a day's walk."

Breakfast did not last long. Mr. Revell then engaged himself in assiduous
study of the second day's Times, the only vestige of a paper which found its
way into that forlorn place. Mrs. Tring departed to look after her household
concerns, leaving her boarders to their usual chat in the back parlour, until
their bed-rooms were ready for their reception.

Mrs. Merryweather began to unbend, and Cecil feared that her liveliness
might prove more tiresome than her reserve. She was a great talker of
inconceivable small talk; launched upon the endless sea of personal
reminiscence, she told stories with all the minute detail of a professed
conteur, excited attention by the ample paraphernalia of an anecdote, and
baulked it by ending without a point. Of all bores, this species is the worst: it
is the bore obtrusive and inevitable. Other bores can, with some adroitness,
be managed, they do not unchain your attention; but the story-teller fastens
upon your attention by artful preparations, and though you have been
disappointed a hundred times, experience is of no use, for your interest is
involuntarily accorded on every succeeding occasion.
To escape from the torrent of talk which was thus loosened upon him,
Cecil sat down to the piano, and ran his fingers over the keys, after which he
begged Miss Bachelor to favour the company with a taste of her quality.
After the necessary hesitation and apologies, she sat down. From a teacher of
music he anticipated a sort of railway rattle; but Miss Bachelor agreeably
disappointed him by the modest execution of a sonata by Dussek: it was a
mild, feeble, performance, unpretending as the performer, and infinitely
preferable to Mrs. Merryweather's stories. He then sang a duet with Blanche,
then a solo, and then another duet. This concluded, he observed that Mrs.
Merryweather had retired, and he followed her example.

"I can't say much for our society," he said to his wife, as they went out
for a stroll.

"We shall not see much of it, you know. We have our own room," replied
Blanche.

"True; but while I am at work?"

"I can think of you!"

There was no reply to this, but to press the arm that leaned on his, closer
to his side, and to look fondly in her loving face.

During their walk, they discussed their plans again with that
inexhaustible interest which the future always has to the young and
struggling; and they returned to dinner with a good appetite.

A significant smile was exchanged between Mrs. Merryweather and Miss


Bachelor, and then between the ladies and Mr. Revell, as a handsome piece
of ribs of beef was placed upon the table. Cecil noticed it, but failed to
comprehend its meaning. He observed also that the hostess carved, and
would by no means consent to his relieving her of the trouble; a procedure
which the exiguity of the single slice placed upon each plate fully explained.

"May I trouble you for a little horse-radish?" he suddenly asked.

Mrs. Merryweather and Miss Bachelor—astonishment snatching up their


eyebrows—simultaneously ceased eating. Mr. Revell, whose deafness
prevented his astonishment, ate on. Ask for horse-radish! There was
something bewildering in the very extravagance of the expectation.

In silence, they awaited Mrs. Tring's reply.

"Horse-radish!" said that lady, with intense suavity. "Dear me! how very
forgetful of me. But we never eat it ourselves; and it never occurred to me
that you might like it. Very forgetful; very forgetful, indeed."

"Pray, do not say a word about it. I care very little for it—only a matter
of habit."

Emboldened by this audacity in the newcomer, Miss Bachelor ventured


to think she could eat another cut of beef. Mrs. Tring, scowlingly, and in the
most repressed tone, suggested the propriety of keeping a corner for the
second course; to which Miss Bachelor assented, now fairly unable to
conceive the immensity of the revolution which the appearance of the
Chamberlaynes had created. A second course! Visions of pheasants—
perhaps even grouse—darkened her bewildered brain.

Mr. Revell, as usual, had heard nothing, but sent up his plate for a second
help; to all Mrs. Tring's shouts about "keeping a corner," imperturbably
answering, "Yes, rather well done; and a bit of fat."

Mrs. Merryweather remembered how on one occasion she was dining at


Colonel James's who had married an old schoolfellow of hers, the daughter
of the man who for so many years kept the What's-the-name hotel in Jermyn
Street, where the Polish count stayed so many weeks, and was so like
Thaddeus of Warsaw, only his name was Winsky, and he came from Cracow,
and about whom there was that tragical story; how one night as he was
walking down Regent Street, when he was suddenly felled by a blow on the
head, and was taken senseless to his hotel. It was a most extraordinary
occurrence, and excited a great deal of talk at the time; but Mrs.
Merryweather could not at that instant remember the exact circumstances.
But, however, that was neither here nor there. What she was going to say
was, that her old school-fellow had married Colonel James—quite the
gentleman—and often invited her to dinner; very good dinners they were
too; plenty of wine and delicacies of the season—peas when they first came
in, and all that sort of thing; well, one day—she never could forget it, live as
long as she might—she had eaten so plentifully of the first course, a
delicious saddle of mutton, that when the game arrived—she had not
anticipated game—she was scarcely able to touch it; and Colonel James,
with his usual affability, observed, "Ah, Mrs. Merryweather, you should
have kept a corner for the second course."

This thrilling anecdote being ended, the beef was removed. Cecil was not
a little amused when he saw that an apple pudding constituted this famous
second course. But as, in the memory of man and boarder, no precedent for
such an extravagance as pudding with hot meat had been known at Mrs.
Tring's, the ladies were quite satisfied that such a second course should
appear at all. The only misgiving in their minds, was whether such cheer was
to become habitual; or was it simply an illusive and treacherous display for
that occasion only?

A Dutch cheese followed the pudding, and there the dinner terminated.

Accustomed as Blanche and Cecil had been to the luxuries and


refinements of their station, it may be supposed that this ignoble boarding-
house was very repugnant to them, and that they suffered bitterly from the
change. It was not so, however. Change is so pleasant to every human being,
that, provided it be abrupt and striking enough to produce a vivid sense of
contrast, it is eminently agreeable. The man who most enjoys a well-
appointed table, whose pride it is to have his dinners served with the care
and splendour bestowed upon banquets, will also enjoy "roughing it," and
picking the leg of a fowl with no fork but his fingers, no plate but a hunch of
bread. We like from time to time to feel ourselves superior to conveniences,
superior to our wealth and its advantages.

The change was quite abrupt enough to make Cecil and his wife enjoy it;
and on retiring to rest that night, they were as happy as affection could make
them.
CHAPTER III.

HAPPY LABOUR, HAPPY LIFE.


Si modo dignum aliquid elaborare et efficere velint, relinquenda conversatio amicorum
et jucunditas urbis, deserenda cetera officia, utque ipsi dicunt, in nemora et lucos, id est, in
solitudinem recedendum est.

TACITUS.—De Oratoribus.

The splendours of the first day were never renewed. Exhausted


munificence sank quietly back into ancient close-fistedness. Mrs. Tring had
given one banquet, but every day was not to be a holiday, as Mrs.
Merryweather and Miss Bachelor mournfully confessed, when, on the
succeeding morning, they found themselves returned to the salt butter,
drenched tea, and implacable coffee, from which they had been one morning
released. Still more dolorous was the aspect of the dinner. A return was made
to the primitive allowance of one potato for each person, and the bread was
as stale as before.

Cecil was of course chary of making complaints, but as he could not eat
salt butter, quietly contented himself with dry toast: a proceeding which
gained him the respect of Mrs. Tring, as it saved just so much butter. It was
an ill-advised act, however, as it gave her the courage to make several other
petty retrenchments—too petty for him to speak about—yet, nevertheless,
annoying. He had not been there a fortnight before he determined on not
staying beyond the three months for which he had taken his room. Having
thus made up his mind that the annoyances were but temporary, he was
enabled to bear them with tolerable stoicism.

Mrs. Tring had to make a living out of her boarders, and as she accepted
such very low terms, the reader may imagine what nice calculations and
minute economies were necessary. The house was, indeed, a field of battle,
wherein, by adroit generalship, she every day gained a victory. The living
was pitiable, and Cecil was forced, in self-defence, to keep a small provision
in a store closet, from which he and his wife satisfied the appetite which
Mrs. Tring's fare had stimulated, not appeased. It sometimes went so far as
his sending out for a chop, which he cooked in his little room, over his dwarf
fire. Nevertheless, with all the extra expenses into which scanty fare forced
him, the place was remarkably convenient from its cheapness; and they both
supported the little discomforts with happy light-heartedness.

Cecil was full of projects. He had begun a picture of considerable


pretensions, the conception of which was not without grandeur: it was Nero
playing while he gazed upon the blazing city of Rome. He had also sketched
the libretto of a comic opera, of which he was to write both words and
music. Gay and lighthearted as the hopeful and employed always are, the
best qualities of his nature were brought out, and Blanche adored him, if
possible, more than ever. Work—which was given to man that he might
learn to know his excellence, and to know the pleasure which attends the full
development of every faculty—work crowded the hours with significance,
and gave to life a purpose; and Love illumined with its sunshine the difficult
path which stretched itself before him. Never, no never, had Cecil known
happiness till that time. He had squandered the riches of his nature as he had
squandered the heritage of his parents; and now he came to know the value
of what he had lost. A serious ambition occupied him, a happy affection
blessed him.

Oh! who shall paint the luminous picture of their quiet life, which, to
ordinary eyes, was so prosaic and insignificant! In that miserable house,
where meanness hourly struggled with adversity, there was a small room,
which was parlour, bed-room, and sometimes kitchen, all in one; and from
the contemplation of which, when you were told that in it lived a pair who
had been reared in luxury and refinement, you would have turned away with
painful pity. Yet were the secret history of that seemingly unfortunate pair
known, your pity would change into envy, as those four miserable walls
changed into a temple of Love, Youth, and Hope.

Poverty—a word of terror—is only terrible to the rich. The poor are not
really the unhappy, for happiness is wholly independent of our worldly
goods and chattels. If poverty has its hardships, wealth has its annoyances. If
wealth can satisfy caprices, when satisfied they do not give the same delight
as the cheap enjoyments from time to time indulged in by the poor. All
things are precious in proportion to the difficulty of obtaining them, and the
very facilities of wealth take from enjoyments their zest.

What makes poverty terrible is its proximity to want. And as want itself
is often a thing of degree, the rich imagine that any deprivation of their
accustomed indulgences must necessarily be a serious evil. But, in truth, the
human mind is so constituted as to adapt itself to every condition, and to
draw from its own health the requisites of happiness.

Blanche and Cecil were poor, but they had visions of future wealth and
prosperity; meanwhile they had the glorious certainty of mutual affection,
which irradiated their humble home, and made each hour of their lives worth
more than all Peru could purchase.

CHAPTER IV.

HOW MRS. VYNER WAS BENEFICENT.

One morning while Cecil was in his studio, smoking a cigar and
contemplating the sketch of his picture on the easel, with the air of a man
who profoundly meditates on the details of a great conception, Blanche was
in her room at Notting-hill, making the essence of coffee with a French
machine, which they had purchased (unable to drink the incomprehensible
mixture Mrs. Tring set before them) when a carriage drove up to the door.
Blanche did not hear it, as her room was situated at the back. It was with
great surprise, therefore, that she saw her mother and Rose rush into the
room, and bound into her arms.

After the first hearty embraces and inquiries were over, Blanche became
aware of the condition in which she was found, and blushed. It was not that
she herself felt ashamed of her poverty, but she was hurt at the reflections
which must necessarily arise in their minds respecting the folly of her
marriage; so she hastened, in rather a precipitate and clumsy manner, to
assure them how exquisitely happy she was.

"Thank God for that!" exclaimed Mrs. Meredith Vyner. "Then I have
nothing to reproach myself with for not having interfered—for not putting a
stop to Cecil's attentions—which I very early noticed, let me tell you. The
only thing I now desire is to bring your papa round; but he is so obstinate! I
do my utmost—but I almost begin to fear that my intercession only makes
him more resolved; and I suspect if we were never to mention the subject to
him, he would relent very speedily. But depend upon me, my dear, for
looking after your interests."

"Dearest mama!" said Blanche, gratefully kissing her.

"As soon as I see him relenting, I will contrive to throw him in your way
—and you can then manage him yourself—but do not attempt to see him till
I give you the word."

"I will be guided by you."

Rose was unusually grave and silent. Blanche noticed it, and noticed also
that she looked ill.

"I have been unwell," Rose said; "but I am getting better now. A slight
fever, that is all."

"And how is Marmaduke Ashley?" asked Blanche.

"Very well; we saw him yesterday; in fact we see him very often now,"
Mrs. Vyner answered; "somehow or other he has always some commission
to execute for one of us, and as he is an agreeable companion, we make
much of him."

"And how gets on the flirtation with Violet?"

"Why—pretty much as usual. I suspect it is only a flirtation just yet; or


else he is kept at a respectful distance, for you know dear Violet is not the
most affable of beauties."
"And Julius, Rose, how is he?"

"Indeed, I cannot tell you," quietly answered Rose.

"You can't! What! do you mean to say, Rose, that——."

"He is in Italy, I believe," she said, interrupting her sister, but showing no
more emotion on her face than if she were speaking of the most indifferent
person.

Blanche was not deceived, however; she knew her sister's love for Julius,
and divined a quarrel.

"That is the slight fever!" she mentally exclaimed; and then comparing
her lot with that of her two sisters, felt it was infinitely preferable.

After a two hours' chat, they rose to depart. The real purpose of Mrs.
Vyner's visit was to give Blanche fifty pounds, which her father had sent her,
in accordance with the arranged plan that she was to suppose it came from
her mother.

"And now before I go, dear Blanche," said Mrs. Vyner, "I have to give
you an earnest of your not being forgotten by me, however your father may
act. Money from him, he vows, is out of the question; he will not give a
sixpence. But out of my own privy purse, I shall from time to time take care
of you. There, dear girl, take that;

The gift is sma', but love is a'.

I have set aside this fifty pounds——"

She was interrupted by Blanche throwing her arms round her neck, and
hugging her tightly, while tears of gratitude stood in her eyes, and she
murmured "Dearest, kindest, mama!"

Rose, who was equally taken by surprise at this coup-de-theatre, also


sprang up and kissed her mother, exclaiming,—

"Oh! I wish Violet were here!"


Mrs. Vyner understood the wish, and looked delighted.

"One day," she said, with the meekness of a martyr, "she will learn to
know me."

It was an exciting scene. Blanche and Rose were affected, as kind hearts
always are at any action which bears the stamp of kindness; and Mrs. Vyner
was affected, as most people are when they have done a generous action,
with a certain inward glow of noble pleasure.

For do not suppose that she remembered at this moment whence the
money actually came. Not she. In her excitable mind, the means were lost in
the end. She had given the money, she had aroused the gratitude of the two
girls, and as far as her feeling of the matter went, she felt just as if the money
had been hers. Indeed, so truly was she possessed with this idea, so actually
generous did she feel in that moment of excitement, that on opening her
purse to take out the notes, she found another ten-pound note beside it, really
her own, and taking it also out she said as she presented it,—

"There, you may as well have that too—you will find plenty of use for it
—and I shall not miss it. There. Only be happy, and trust in me."

The sudden impulse which led her to do this—to complete as it were the
action which she had begun with such applause—to redouble the effect of
what had already been created—will be understood by all who have known,
and knowing have analyzed, such characters as Mrs. Vyner; to others it will
appear a gross inconsistency.

CHAPTER V.

THE CURSE OF IDLENESS.


Or fia dunque giammai, che tu, Ozio, possi esser grato veramente, se non quando
succedi a degne occupazioni. L'ozio vile et inerte voglio, che ad un animo generoso sia la
maggior fatica, che aver egli possa, se non gli rappresenta dopo lodabile esercizio e lavoro.

GIORDANO BRUNO.—Spaccio.

The consequences of this little scene were manifold.

"Papa," said Violet to her father on the following day, "you have done
what I knew you would do, and what I accept as a presage for the future."

"And what is that, my dear?"

"Sent Blanche some money."

"Who told you so?" exclaimed he, greatly surprised.

"I divined it," she answered, with a quiet smile.

"You ... you are mistaken, Violet, ... I send ... I have renounced her."

"Yes, but your heart speaks for her in secret, and in secret you send
money. Though I question whether sixty pounds..."

"Fifty," interrupted her father.

"Oh, then, you did know of it?" she said, archly.

Meredith Vyner bit his lip.

"Sixty was the sum Mama gave, at any rate, because Rose, who was
present, told me so."

"Kind, generous creature!" ejaculated Vyner. "She must have added the
other ten from her own purse. Violet, you have guessed aright, but keep the
secret, unless you wish me to withhold even my underhand charity from
your wretched sister."
Violet promised to do so; but how great was her scorn of her mother's
hypocrisy, when she thus found her suspicions verified! From her knowledge
of her father and mother, she had at once guessed the real state of the case,
and confusedly, but strongly, suspected the motive of the latter.

This was the way in which their mutual hatred was nourished. Violet was
not a dupe, and her mother saw that she was not.

On Cecil, the influence of this gift was fatal.

"This comes most fortunately," he said; "for not only do I now begin to
see that our income is barely sufficient to meet our scanty expenditure, but
the more I advance in my 'Nero,' the more am I impressed with the necessity
for not hurrying it. All great works demand time and labour. Were I to hurry
the execution I should spoil it, and too much depends upon success for me to
be precipitate."

He was sincere in saying so; he was his own dupe in asserting that what
he most needed was ample leisure in which to elaborate his conception. He
caught at the excuse offered to his idleness, and like all men, covered his
weakness in the imposing folds of an aphorism. The brain is singularly
fertile in inventing plausible reasons to excuse weaknesses.

Labour is a sublime necessity: it is beneficence under a rude aspect. But


although so beneficent to man, it is radically antipathetic to his nature. All
men are constrained to work. Poverty or ambition are the invariable
taskmasters, and it is only by dint of the strong stimulus of want, or the
stronger dictates of indomitable will, that human nature, vagabond as are its
tendencies, can be made to persevere in the tasks set before it.

What wonder, then, if men under all conditions avidly seize upon every
occasion which enables them for a moment to escape from the tyranny of
work? What wonder if this weak, wayward, susceptible Cecil, who had
laboured cheerily under the impulsion of necessity, now forgot the sweet
delights of his daily task, and relapsed into his old habits of dreaming
idleness?
There was no longer any remarkable hurry. His daily existence did not
depend upon the immediate accomplishment of his task. He could wait, he
could mature his plans, he could work only when the inspiration came to
him; there was no need to harass an unwilling; brain, he could bide his time.
To any one who knew him, it would be easy to foresee that from the moment
he was released from the immediate necessity of labour, his time would be
frittered away in sterile efforts. It is only genius, which, goaded by an
irresistible inward impulse to transmute into art all that it has felt, labours
with courageous love, and sings because it cannot choose but sing. Talent of
every kind needs an external stimulus, and Cecil was a man of talent, not a
man of genius.

Blanche confirmed him in his opinions; partly, perhaps, out of sincere


belief in him and in all he said, which made her think he could not be in
error; partly, also, out of a little egotism of love which made her rejoice in
every hour that he could snatch from labour to spend at her side. He was so
loveable, that she would deserve pardon, even if her sex's ignorance of life
had not concealed from her the enormity of her fault. There was something
so caressing in his manner, that few people withstood it; and to her he was
the perfection of tenderness, delicacy and amiability. Persons of his lively,
susceptible organization, are usually fascinating in their manners—there is a
laisser aller (which in him was tempered with perfect good breeding), a
frankness, a gaiety, and a general consideration for the feelings and opinions
of others, founded on a desire of universal approbation, which create more
regard than great qualities in a less agreeable exterior. If he was charming to
others, what was he to the wife he loved!

She wished to have him with her, and he was but too glad to gratify her
wish. A little excursion to Richmond occupied one day; a visit to some
Exhibition broke in upon another. There were always pleasant walks and
satisfactory excuses. He was not idle, he said; his brain was working, his
ideas were gradually becoming clearer; the details stood out more distinctly
in his imagination; and 'Nero' would benefit by this delay.

The effect of alms is always enervating, however it may relieve a present


want; and the contributions of Mrs. Vyner were a species of alms. This was
the case with Cecil. His sense of independence—his healthy confidence in
his own powers—becomes destroyed. Had Vyner made a distinct allowance
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