Magnetic Skyrmions and Their

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Christos Panagopoulos
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Magnetic Skyrmions and Their
Applications
Woodhead Publishing Series in Electronic
and Optical Materials

Magnetic Skyrmions and

Their Applications

Edited by

Giovanni Finocchio
Christos Panagopoulos

An imprint of Elsevier
Woodhead Publishing is an imprint of Elsevier
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Contributors

Gabriele Bonanno Department of Engineering, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

uttner Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, Berlin, Germany

Felix B€

Mario Carpentieri Department of Electrical and Information Engineering,

Politecnico of Bari, Bari, Italy

Xing Chen Fert Beijing Research Institute, BDBC, and School of Microelectronics,
Beihang University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

Oksana Chubykalo-Fesenko Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, CSIC,

Madrid, Spain

Giuseppina D’Aguı̀ Department of Engineering, University of Messina, Messina,

Italy

Konstantin Denisov Ioffe Institute, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

Motohiko Ezawa Department of Applied Physics, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo,

Japan

Peter Fischer Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States

Hans J. Hug Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science

and Technology, D€
ubendorf; Department of Physics, University of Basel, Basel,
Switzerland

Wang Kang Fert Beijing Research Institute, BDBC, and School of Microelectronics,
Beihang University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

Mathias Kl€
aui Institute of Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz,
Germany

William Legrand Unite Mixte de Physique, CNRS, Thales, Universite Paris-Saclay,

Palaiseau, France
x Contributors

Na Lei Fert Beijing Research Institute, BDBC, and School of Microelectronics,

Beihang University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

Andrey O. Leonov Chirality Research Center, Hiroshima University; Department of

Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Hiroshima University Kagamiyama, Higashi-
Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan; IFW Dresden, Dresden, Germany

Sai Li Fert Beijing Research Institute, BDBC, and School of Microelectronics,

Beihang University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

Kai Litzius Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Materials Science

and Engineering, Cambridge, MA, United States

Xiaoxi Liu Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Shinshu University,

Nagano, Japan

Jacques Miltat Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, Universite Paris-Saclay, CNRS,

Orsay, France

Catherine Pappas Faculty of Applied Sciences, Delft University of Technology,

Delft, The Netherlands

Stanislas Rohart Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, Universite Paris-Saclay,

CNRS, Orsay, France

Sujoy Roy Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States

Igor Rozhansky Ioffe Institute, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

Luis Sánchez-Tejerina Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences,

Physical Sciences and Earth Sciences; Department of Biomedical, Dental,
Morphological and Functional Imaging Sciences, University of Messina, Messina,
Italy

Laichuan Shen School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong
Kong, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China

Andre Thiaville Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, Universite Paris-Saclay,

CNRS, Orsay, France

Riccardo Tomasello Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics,

Heraklion-Crete, Greece

Oleg A. Tretiakov School of Physics, The University of New South Wales, Sydney,
NSW, Australia
Contributors xi

Seonghoon Woo IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY,
United States

Jing Xia School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong,
Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China

Xichao Zhang School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of

Hong Kong, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China

Xueying Zhang Fert Beijing Research Institute, BDBC, and School of

Microelectronics, Beihang University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

Weisheng Zhao Fert Beijing Research Institute, BDBC, and School of

Microelectronics, Beihang University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

Yan Zhou School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of

Hong Kong, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China

Daoqian Zhu Fert Beijing Research Institute, BDBC, and School of

Microelectronics, Beihang University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

Roberto Zivieri Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, Physical

Sciences and Earth Sciences, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
Preface

This book discusses fundamental concepts and research activities in the rapidly grow-
ing field of magnetic skyrmions. These are particle-like objects that are topologically
stable, highly mobile, and have the smallest magnetic configurations, making them
promising for technological applications, including spintronics and neuromorphic
computing.
Paradoxically, skyrmions were expected to be short-time excitations, quickly col-
lapsing into point or linear singularities. However, the seminal work of A.N.
Bogdanov and D.N. Yablonsky in 1989 indicated skyrmions may exist as long-living
metastable configurations in low-symmetry condensed matter systems with broken
mirror symmetry. For example, in noncentrosymmetric magnetic materials, the under-
lying crystallographic handedness imposes a unique stabilization mechanism
(Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction) for two- and three-dimensional localized states.
Hence, material classes expected to host skyrmions may include noncentrosymmetric
ferro- and antiferromagnets and multiferroics where the topological field is the mag-
netization. A similar stabilization mechanism for chiral skyrmions may apply in liquid
crystals and ferroelectrics.
Expectedly, the scientific and technological relevance of chiral skyrmions is fuel-
ling research in novel classes of materials. Magnetic skyrmions have been reported in
a plethora of materials, including bulk ferromagnets, ferrimagnets, and multiferroics.
Furthermore, one can engineer a structure that cannot be inverted. For example, by
breaking symmetry through the interface between two different materials. An inter-
face between a ferromagnet and a strong spin-orbit metal gives rise to the necessary
Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, even if both metals have inversion-symmetric
lattices.
This book discusses the relevant fundamental concepts and results in this exciting
field of research. Equal weight is dedicated on the realm of technological applications.
The chapters start with a description of topologically stable structures in one-, two-,
and three-dimensional space. The Thiele equation is derived from a fundamental
micromagnetic description of statics and dynamics. A pure mathematical description
of topology is included later for a rigorous definition of topological and metric spaces
and compactness.
Realization of magnetic skyrmions in condensed matter physics propelled the
development of numerous materials architectures and advances in experimental
methods of characterization. Materials hosting magnetic skyrmions now range from
bulk single crystals to synthetic architectures. High-resolution magnetic imaging has
been at the center of skyrmion research and development. A comprehensive
xiv Preface

description provided in this book helps the reader appreciate techniques that continue
to make pioneering contributions in this field of research.
Intelligent device configurations employed to engineer skyrmion states in mate-
rials that would otherwise not accommodate such spin structures are discussed. In
addition, exotic structures characterized by anisotropic Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya inter-
action and Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interaction to host antiskyrmions and
synthetic antiferromagnetic skyrmions are discussed. For instance, skyrmion stabili-
zation and detection in antiferromagnets is at an early stage, facing many challenges
ahead. Theoretical foundations however encourage further material development and
characterization for the stabilization of skyrmions in antiferromagnetic structures. The
community is increasingly active in this direction. Ferrimagnets represent another
promising material platform for skyrmionics. Recent advances in imaging, writing,
deleting, and electrical detection of ferrimagnetic skyrmions demonstrate their prom-
ising impact toward device technology.
An account on the statics and dynamics of magnetic skyrmions gives a glimpse in
the key attributes of their technological potential. A detailed description of dynamics
in the presence of thermal fluctuations is discussed in the light of recent proof of con-
cept of skyrmion-based devices for probabilistic computing. Attention is given to the
definition of the skyrmion configurational entropy based on the concept of Boltzmann
order function, useful for the theoretical understanding of phase transitions in mate-
rials hosting skyrmions.
A direction highly relevant for applications is electrical manipulation. A strategy to
nucleate skyrmions with electric currents is discussed, considering nucleation via spa-
tial inhomogeneity, local injection of spin-transfer torque, and voltage-controlled
magnetic anisotropy. Although the goal is the integration of magnetic tunnel junctions
in multilayers hosting skyrmions, the topological Hall effect has proven an effective
approach for electrical detection. Analysis of the topological Hall effect in the pres-
ence of magnetic skyrmions provides an up to date account of research and discusses
pressing challenges. The discussion on the dynamics of skyrmions addresses also the
so-called skyrmion Hall angle. Oblique trajectories followed by the skyrmion when
moved by spin-orbit torques is a limiting factor in applications such as the racetrack
memory. This has motivated the research community further to explore ferrimagnetic
and antiferromagnetic materials as energy-efficient skyrmion hosts.
Skyrmion-based devices have the potential to store and process information at
unprecedentedly small sizes and levels of energy consumption. The presence/absence
of a skyrmion could serve as 1/0 in a data bit and multiple skyrmions can aggregate
toward multivalued storage devices. The states of such devices can be modulated by
an electric current, driving skyrmions in and out of devices in analogy to biological
synapses. Researchers have already engineered interfacial skyrmions up to room tem-
perature in magnetic multilayers, making their promise for future technologies more
realistic. This offers an opportunity to bring topology into consumer-friendly, low-
energy nanoscale electronics. The ability we have gained to engineer skyrmion-host
platforms is propelling new technological opportunities. For example, conventional
applications of skyrmions for the realization of memories, logic gates, transistors,
and radio frequency circuits such as oscillators. The application of magnetic
Preface xv

skyrmions in unconventional computing is a tantalizing possibility including pro-

posals for the realization of skyrmion-based memristors. One may also envisage ener-
getically efficient neurons and synapses at device level toward low-power
neuromorphics hardware.
It has been a pleasure to work with the co-authors and the Elsevier team. Their con-
tributions have made possible the delivery of an inclusive description of the rapidly
growing research field of magnetic skyrmions.
Giovanni Finocchio
Christos Panagopoulos
Acknowledgments

G.F. acknowledges project ThunderSKY, funded by the Hellenic Foundation for

Research and Innovation (HFRI) and the General Secretariat for Research and
Technology (GSRT), under Grant No. 871 and PETASPIN Association. C.P.
acknowledges support from the Singapore National Research Foundation (NRF)
NRF-Investigatorship (No. NRFNRFI2015-04) and Singapore MOE Academic
Research Fund Tier 3 Grant MOE2018-T3-1-002.
Magnetism and topology
Andr

a
e Thiavillea, Jacques Miltata, and Stanislas Roharta
Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, Universit
e Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Orsay, France
1
1.1 Introduction
The application of topology to describe real-space structures in condensed matter has
developed over the years, in fact as topology itself was being rigorously constructed.
The first structures treated by this approach were the defects, like dislocation lines in
crystal lattices, or the lines observed in liquid crystals, at the beginning of the 20th
century. The methodology was then extended to structures that contain no defect.
We shall keep this historical order for the first half of this chapter, dealing with the
static description of magnetic structures (also called magnetic textures). The second
half discusses the dynamics of the magnetic structures.
In this chapter, mathematical formalism is kept to a minimum. The reader
completely unaware of this field of mathematics should refer to textbooks [1, 2] or
review papers [3] and, if a deeper mathematical view is desired, to the last chapter
of this book.
Defects can appear only when there is an underlying order. In condensed matter
physics, there are many cases where phases with different types or degree of order
appear in sequence, for example, when temperature or pressure is changed. In the Lan-
dau theory of phase transitions, order is characterized by the existence of a certain
physical quantity called order parameter, which can be a scalar, a complex number,
a vector, a tensor, etc. This order parameter is also endowed with a certain number of
degrees of freedom, defining a space V called the manifold of internal states. To be
specific, let us enumerate the cases for magnetism. The order parameter is the mag-
netic moment. Depending on the type of magnetism (localized or itinerant), magnetic
order (ferromagnetic, ferrimagnetica), and also atomic structure (single crystal, poly-
crystal, amorphous), the distribution of the magnetic moment on the atomic scale will
be very different. However, on the mesoscopic lengthscale where micromagnetics [4,
5] reigns, these atomic subtleties are polished out, leaving only a magnetic moment
that is a continuous function of space and time. This moment has a zero thermodynam-
ical average above the Curie temperature, and nonzero one below this temperature,
leading to a spontaneous magnetization Ms(T) a sole function of temperature
T. The degrees of freedom correspond to the orientation of this moment, and they
! ! !
are described by a unit vector m ð r , tÞ, a function of position r , and time t. Our world
being three dimensional (3D), three cases are considered.

a
Note that we do not consider in this chapter the antiferromagnets, for which the order parameter is different.
Magnetic Skyrmions and Their Applications. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-820815-1.00012-2
Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 Magnetic Skyrmions and Their Applications

!
l
Heisenberg model: Magnetization has n ¼ 3 components as m can take any orientation in 3D,
the manifold of internal states is V ¼ 2 , and the unit sphere in three dimensions is described
by two variables (e.g., the polar angle θ and the azimuthal angle ϕ), hence the exponent 2.
Physically this should be the only case, in general. It is, however, sometimes interesting to
consider the two other limiting cases.
l
XY model: This case corresponds to an easy plane, magnetization has n ¼ 2 components, the
out-of-plane anisotropy energy being (mathematically) infinite. Physically, it means that
other energy terms are much smaller. This can be a description of a soft magnetic thin film,
or of a weak ferromagnet (e.g., the orthoferrites) where the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interac-
tion confines the ferromagnetic moment to the plane normal to its vector. The manifold of
internal states is V ¼ 1 , and the unit circle in the (easy) plane, is described by just one
variable (the angle).
l
Ising model: The last case is complementary to the preceding one, with an easy axis of (math-
ematically) infinite anisotropy, so that magnetization has just n ¼ 1 component. The manifold
of internal states is V ¼ 0 , this notation meaning just the two points +1 and 1.
The internal space V plays a capital role in the topological formalism.

1.2 Topological defects in magnetism

In a medium with order, a defect is a point or a collection of points where the order
parameter is not defined; one can have a point-like defect, or a defective line, or a
defective surface, and so on for space dimensions d that would be larger than 3.
The defect is said to be topological when, whatever the continuous modifications
exerted on the order parameter distribution over space, it cannot be removed. In short,
this defect cannot be cured.
The defect dimensionality is called d0 ; its value is d0 ¼ 0 for a point, d0 ¼ 1 for a line,
and d0 ¼ 2 for a surface. The dimension of the physical space being denoted d, one has
d0 < d. Note that the defect, in this idealization of the order parameter as a continuous
function, has no width, it is just a discontinuity of the order parameter. But how can the
presence or not of a defect with no size be detected? This can be done with topology.
The method is inspired by the Burgers circuit used to detect the presence of dislocation
lines in atomic arrangements [6]. The generalization of this method is to consider a
closed contour of dimension r in the physical space (i.e., the sphere r , or any con-
tinuous deformation of it). To look for a defect of dimension d0 in a space of dimension
d, the contour dimension r has to satisfy [7, 8]
0
d + r + 1 ¼ d: (1.1)

The case of a dislocation line (d0 ¼ 1) in the usual space with d ¼ 3 corresponds to a
closed loop r ¼ 1. Similarly, to look for a point defect d0 ¼ 0 in the 3D space (d ¼ 3)
requires a sphere-like surface hence r ¼ 2 (Fig. 1.1).
Every magnetization texture, by the orientation of the magnetization vector, gives
rise to an image of the r-dimensional closed contour on the parameter space V. In
mathematical terminology, this is called a mapping. A continuous deformation of
Magnetism and topology 3

(A) (B) (C)

Fig. 1.1 Contours to look for topological defects in d ¼ 3 space. The contour dimensionality
r is adapted to the defect dimensionality d0 according to Eq. (1.1), as illustrated here for
(A) d0 ¼ 2, (B) d0 ¼ 1, and (C) d0 ¼ 0. The defects are drawn in red, and the associated contours
in gray.

the magnetization texture leads to a continuous deformation of the image on the

parameter space V. The branch of topology called homotopy precisely deals with that.
Two images are said to be equivalent (belonging to the same homotopy class) if they
can be continuously transformed one into the other. For every space V, there exists an
object called the rth homotopy group, denoted π r(V), and each element of the group is
a homotopy class. The group has an obvious “zero” (it is called neutral) element,
which is the class of the contours whose image can be continuously shrunk to a point.
The group is said to be trivial if it consists only of the neutral element. This means that
all contours can be continuously contracted to a point. In that case, there can be no
topological defect of dimension d0 ¼ d  r  1. Indeed, there will be no obstacle
in shrinking, in the physical space, the r-dimensional contour, magnetization will
be always defined on the contour and will finally converge to the magnetization vector
at the center of the contour when its size reaches zero. The topologically interesting case
is the nontrivial one, when the homotopy group has more than one element. In that case,
for a contour that has an image on V which belongs to a nonneutral homotopy class,
when shrinking it in physical space, at some moment the magnetization orientation
has to be undefined: the defect will be met.
For the case of magnetism, where V ¼ n1 , with n the number of magnetization
components (see Section 1.1), the nontrivial homotopy groups with r < 3 are
l
π 0 ð0 Þ ¼ 2 ≡ f0, 1g: for Ising spins, there exist topological defective surfaces in 3D, topo-
logical line defects in two-dimensional (2D), and topological point defects in one-
dimensional space (1D);
l
π 1 ð1 Þ ¼  ≡ f0, + 1,  1, + 2,  2, …g: for XY spins, there exist topological linear defects
in 3D space, and topological point defects in 2D;
l
π 2 ð2 Þ ¼ : for Heisenberg spins, there are topological defects in the form of points in
3D space.
The well-known examples of the second case are the Kosterlitz-Thouless vortices and
antivortices (Fig. 1.3), whereas in the third case, it is the Bloch point (Fig. 1.2).
4 Magnetic Skyrmions and Their Applications

(A) (B)

(C) (D)
Fig. 1.2 Bloch points for the Heisenberg model. The orientations of the magnetization on a
sphere surrounding the Bloch point are schematically drawn. (A) So-called hedgehog Bloch
point, with radial magnetization everywhere, covering the unit sphere + 1 time. The variant with
opposite magnetization everywhere covers the unit sphere  1 time, so is topologically
different. (B) So-called combed Bloch point, with a lower magnetostatic energy [10], which is
found in most structures (see Section 1.5). This structure can be derived from (A) by a π/2
rotation of the magnetizations around the vertical axis, hence is topologically equivalent.
(C) structure derived from (A) by a π rotation around the vertical axis, so again topologically
equivalent to it. (D) Structure which has a S ¼ 1 winding number on the equator, with a p ¼ 1
axial magnetization on the poles, hence also covering + 1 time the sphere. It is also the same as
(C), rotating the whole sample by π/2 around a horizontal axis.

Therefore, given that the XY and Ising models are only approximations, the only true
topological defect in ferromagnetism is the Bloch point.

1.2.1 The Bloch point

The structure and the name were invented by Ernst Feldtkeller in Ref. [9], a pioneering
paper for the application of topology to magnetism. It is the first topological magnetic
structure studied; it has the defining property that around it every magnetization ori-
entation appears once exactly. Some schematic structures of the magnetization around
it are drawn in Fig. 1.2.
A surprising property of the Bloch point is that it has a finite energy. In the frame of
micromagnetics, even if the exchange energy density diverges with distance r to the
center like A/r2 around the Bloch point,b the integral of this density is finite,
amounting to 8πAR, R being the radius up to which the Bloch point profile holds.
On the other hand, going back to the atomic scale, having a Bloch point amounts
to forcing to zero the magnetization in a volume of the size of an atom. Thus, if
J is the exchange energy per nearest-neighbor bond, and Z is the number of nearest

b
A is the micromagnetic exchange constant, proportional to the exchange energy J and inversely propor-
tional to the lattice constant [5].
Magnetism and topology 5

neighbors, the cost of a Bloch point is about ZJ. For a simple cubic lattice, the two
formulae are close for R ¼ a/2. This is the “core” cost of a BP, consisting of
exchange only.
The magnetostatic cost of a Bloch point was evaluated by D€oring [10]. It was found
that the hedgehog Bloch point (Fig. 1.2A), being a monopole, has the highest energy.
Conversely, the “combed” Bloch point (Fig. 1.2B) carries much less energy. There is
also an anisotropy cost of a Bloch point. Altogether, the insertion energy of a Bloch
point in a material with anisotropy (K) dominating magnetostatics is given by a
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
micromagnetic radius R  A=K [11].
In the framework of atomic micromagnetics, the exchange energy cost as a function
of the position of the mathematical center of the Bloch point (in between the atoms) was
studied by Reinhardt, who found the best interstitial positions for the Bloch point as well
as its saddle point when moving from an atomic cell to another [12]. The friction linked
to these saddle points was shown theoretically to be detectable in the motion of so-called
Bloch point walls in nanowires [13].

1.2.2 The singular vortex

As is apparent from Fig. 1.3, a vortex topological point defect for the XY model
(therefore in 2D) can be seen as a cut through the center of a Bloch point, the point
topological defect for the Heisenberg model, so in 3D.
Regarding the vortex energy, the exchange energy density in the continuous micro-
magnetic formulation diverges again as A/r2, but now the radial integral also diverges
logarithmically [14]. The divergence at small size is removed, in the theory papers, by
introducing a finite lower bound for the integration over the radius. This indeed cor-
responds to the atomic micromagnetic calculation, which gives a finite result.

(A) (B)
Fig. 1.3 Vortices for the XY model. The orientations of the magnetization around the vortex
core, located at the origin, are figured by arrows. (A) Vortex, here in the radial variant. This
structure can be continuously converted into the circulating variants (like the velocity field of a
vortex in fluid dynamics), with both circulation directions. All these variants are described by
the constant C in the relation ϕ ¼ φ + C, with φ the angle of the position vector, and ϕ the angle
of the magnetization. (B) Antivortex, described by ϕ ¼ φ (any additional constant can be
absorbed by a rotation of the coordinate axes).
6 Magnetic Skyrmions and Their Applications

1.3 Topologically stable structures (topological solitons)

in magnetism
In the same pioneering paper by Feldtkeller [9], another topological effect relative to
the magnetic structures was introduced. Consider a regular magnetic structure, that is,
without any defect, as well as another structure, also without defect. The question is
whether or not it is possible to continuously transform one structure into the other
(a property called accessibility). This is again a topological question. It is not at all
academic, as Feldtkeller was considering the possible obstacles to the magnetization
reversal in ferromagnetic rings, used as bits in the ferrite core memory.
When it is not possible to transform continuously one structure into another, the
structures are said to be topologically stable or, equivalently, they are called topological
solitons [15]. The idea behind the latter name is that, similarly to a soliton that keeps its
shape while moving, a topological soliton keeps its topology while deforming (moving
being one way of deforming).
In order to apply homotopy arguments to this situation, we need to realize map-
pings from r-dimensional spheres r to the order parameter space V. A perfect case
is therefore when the sample itself is a sphere, like a film grown on a sphere realizing
2 , or a nanoring realizing 1 . The first case is rare presently, and it could be realized
by core-shell magnetic particles with large diameter. The second case has been studied
in detail [16], but the magnetic structures (domain walls) are the same as when the
nanoring is not closed; they are discussed in Section 1.3.2.3.

1.3.1 Uniform boundary conditions

If the physical space is the infinite Euclidian space d , we cannot directly apply
homotopy arguments as d is not equivalent to d , even if they have the same number
of dimensions. But if, in addition, it is known that magnetization is uniform at infinity,
then by a transformation similar to the stereographic projection of the sphere onto the
plane, one can transform d to d .
In such a situation, we see that all magnetic structures realize mappings of d to the
order parameter space V. So they can be classified by the homotopy group π d(V). Let
us be more explicit by specifying d, for V ¼ n1 (except the case corresponding to
π 0 ð0 Þ ¼ 2 , that is not interesting).

1.3.1.1 Two-dimensional physical space (d52)

This case is nontrivial as π 2 ð2 Þ ¼ . This means that the physical space is bi-
dimensional (one can think of a film where nothing changes along the thickness,
for example, an ultrathin film with a thickness not much above the magnetic exchange
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
length Λ ¼ 2A=μ0 Ms2 ). So topology tells us that for 3D moments (n  1 ¼ 2) on a
plane, which are uniform at infinity (i.e., the structures considered are of finite extent),
Magnetism and topology 7

there exists an infinity of topologically different structures, labeled by the signed inte-
gers (called the topological index). Two structures with different index are mutually
inaccessible by continuous deformation. Among these structures, only those with
index zero can be continuously transformed to the uniform state. The simplest struc-
tures are drawn in Fig. 1.4. The structure with index +1 is called a skyrmion, which
with index 1 is an antiskyrmion, and the others are higher-order skyrmions.
The topological index is easy to calculate in this situation, as it is simply the num-
ber of times that the sphere 2 is covered by the mapping. If the plane 2 is described
by (x, y) coordinates, we see from geometry that the differential surface covered on the
sphere reads

(A) (B)

(C) (D)
Fig. 1.4 Skyrmions in a film. The in-plane components of the magnetization are depicted by
black arrows, whereas the out-of-plane component is coded in color (blue – down, red – up,
white – in-plane). (A) Antiskyrmion with an in-plane winding number S ¼ 1.
(B) Nontopological structure with an in-plane winding number S ¼ 0. This structure can be
continuously destroyed by a magnetization rotation around the vertical in-plane axis, the angle
of rotation being π at the center, π/2 at the wall, and 0 at infinity. (C) A N
eel skyrmion with
positive chirality. Note that, by π rotation of the moments around the perpendicular axis, this
structure can be continuously transformed into a N
eel skyrmion with negative chirality, as well
as into Bloch skyrmions with positive or negative chirality by π/2 rotation. (D) A higher-order
skyrmion with an in-plane winding number S ¼ +2.
8 Magnetic Skyrmions and Their Applications

! !
!
∂m ∂m !
dΩ ¼   m dxdy: (1.2)
∂x ∂y

! !
Indeed, m is the local normal to the sphere, both partial derivatives of m belong to the
local tangent plane to the sphere, and the modulus of their vector product is the sine of
their angle, which gives the surface of the associated parallelogram. Note that the cov-
ered surface can be positive or negative. Altogether, the topological index is the inte-
gral of dΩ, divided by 4π which is the surface of the sphere. It is notable that, here, the
topological index can be obtained by the space integral of a “topological density.”
!
In the case of cylindrical symmetry, namely m ¼ ð sin θ cos ϕ, sin θ sin ϕ, cos θÞ with
the spherical angles θ and ϕ (relative to the magnetization at infinity) being sole func-
tions of the radius r and the in-plane angle φ, respectively, one obtains the useful
relation
Z Z
dθ dϕ
Ω¼ sin θ dr dφ ¼ 4πSp: (1.3)
dr dφ

The two quantities involved are p ¼ ½ cos θð0Þ  cos θð∞Þ=2, the polarity of the core
R 2π
of the structure, and S ¼ 0 dϕdφ dφ=ð2πÞ, the winding number of the planar magneti-
zation component. Note that, if the structure considered does not possess cylindrical
symmetry, it can be continuously deformed so as to show it. This formula is therefore
general.

1.3.1.2 One-dimensional physical space (d51)

This is another nontrivial case, due to the fact that π 1 ð1 Þ ¼ . The physical space is
now 1D (a nanowire), the moments are XY (n  1 ¼ 1), and they are identical at both
ends, so that the wire can be thought as a closed loop. A physical realization of this
situation could be, for example, a nanowire where the moments are constrained to lie
in the transverse plane, the magnetic structure being locally a helix. In this case, the
topological index is simply the algebraic number of turns of the helix. Another real-
ization of this situation could be an ultrathin film (normal to z) where the moments
vary only along one direction x (e.g., a series of parallel domain walls). Then again
we could have helices (moments in the (y, z) plane), or also cycloids (moments in
the (x, z) plane), these planes being fixed by a strong Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya energy
term. The topology is the same for both realizations.

1.3.1.3 Three-dimensional physical space (d53)

There exists also π 3 ð2 Þ ¼ . Whereas the previous homotopy groups were rather
intuitive, this one is not. It was only reported in 1931 by the mathematician Heinz
Hopf [17]. A mapping of 3 to 2 is called a Hopf fibration, the name fiber coming
Magnetism and topology 9

Fig. 1.5 A hopfion in a vertically

magnetized medium.
(A) Perspective view. The gray
torus figures the locus of the in-
plane oriented moments (the “wall”
of the hopfion). The orientation of
magnetization on this surface is
depicted by arrows, the loops with
the same color drawing the fibers of
the structure, i.e., the loci of the
(A) points with the same magnetization.
These loops are all linked once, this
being the topological index of the
structure. (B) Cut view through a
vertical plane, with the cut of the
torus superposed, allowing to see
the magnetization inside the torus,
which is akin to a reverse domain.

(B)

from the fact that each point on 2 is the image of a line of points in 3 , a fiber. By the
same argument as before, 3 is 3 , when moments are identical at infinity, that is, we
discuss finite 3D magnetic structures within a uniform background.
The structures with index 1 are now called hopfions; they have been observed in
hybrid magnetic liquid crystals [18] and predicted in nanostructures of non-
centrosymmetric magnets [19] (Fig. 1.5). The topological index was described by
Hopf, it is the linking number between any two fibers. It can also be calculated by
integration of a density, albeit nonlocal [19a], which is related to the presently much
studied Berry curvature [19b].

1.3.2 Nonuniform boundary conditions

Nonuniform boundary conditions are frequent. The obvious case is the domain wall,
where on both sides magnetization goes to different limits at infinity. Finite samples
(like patterned microstructures) are another case, the boundary conditions being
imposed by the energetically preferred magnetization orientations at the edges.
Two emblematic cases of this are the disk, and the nanostrip.
When additional constrains on the order parameter exist at the edge, other math-
ematical objects exist, called the relative homotopy groups. However, as the emphasis
of this chapter is physics rather than mathematics, we shall directly describe the con-
sequences of the boundary conditions, case by case.
10 Magnetic Skyrmions and Their Applications

1.3.2.1 The domain walls

! !
If it is enforced that magnetization goes to m1 at x !∞ and to a different m2 at
x ! +∞, then a domain wall has to exist. In topological terms, it means that all paths
! !
in physical space connecting x ¼ ∞ to x ¼ +∞ have to go through m1 and m2 , so that
they cannot be contracted to a point: a domain wall has indeed to exist. But we learn
nothing by this tautology.
The more interesting question is whether all walls satisfying this condition can be
continuously transformed one into the other. This depends on the nature of the first
homotopy group of the order parameter space π 1(V): if it is trivial then all these walls
are topologically equivalent, but if it is not then topologically different walls exist. The
latter case occurs for the XY model only (Fig. 1.6).

1.3.2.2 The vortex in a soft magnetic film

In a soft magnetic film, the demagnetizing energy dominates the anisotropy term, so
that magnetization is confined to the plane of the film. A perfect confinement would
mean the XY model, for which we have seen that topological defects (the vortices,
antivortices, etc.) exist for d ¼ 2, the present case. As confinement is not perfect in
usual samples (finite magnetization, nonzero exchange), these topological defects
are regularized by having the core magnetization “escape” in the third dimension, over
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
a size proportional to the micromagnetic exchange length Λ ¼ 2A=ðμ0 Ms2 Þ (see Ref.
[5, 20] for an analytic calculation of the vortex core profile in the limit of vanishing
sample thickness). The question then is: are these structures topologically stable?
The answer is Yes, if the magnetization is assumed to stay perfectly in the plane at
infinity. In such a case, similar to the plane-to-sphere transformation in Section 1.3,
the situation is the same as a finite disk with magnetization assumed to belong to the
plane at the disk edge.
Let us look at the edge structure first. It realizes a mapping of 1 (the edge) to 1
(the equator on the unit sphere, the locus of the in-plane magnetic moments). So this

(A) (B)
Fig. 1.6 Topologically stable domain walls in a sample with XY moments. (A) Two N
eel walls
with opposite rotation sense, between the same domains, cannot be converted continuously one
into the other, if the magnetization in the domains is assumed to be fixed, as the moments are XY.
(B) Corresponding paths on the unit circle 1 . For Heisenberg moments, path a2 can be
transformed to path a1 by going over a pole, either above or below the plane of the drawing.
Another random document with
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antagonistic to our side of the case, if you would wish us to consider
—well, a compromise.”
He glanced at them. They were all regarding him earnestly; one or
two, it seemed, almost anxiously.
“Compromise!” he repeated, with incredulous scorn. “Compromise?
Make some sort of deal, a half-way trade, with Elisha Cook’s crew?
Is that what you mean? When they get one red cent from me they’ll
have to take it by main strength. Compromise be hanged! You fight,
do you hear? Fight—and lick ’em!”
It was half past eleven when he left the room. He had planned to
dine at the Ostable House, and drive home afterward, but dinner
would not be ready until twelve. He walked over to the hotel and,
because idling and thinking were not cheerful or amusing just then,
he decided to fill in the half hour by writing his reply to Seymour
Covell’s letter. He did write it, expressing some doubt as to his ability
to find a satisfactory position for his friend’s son immediately, but
extending a hearty invitation to the latter to visit him at Harniss. He
did not, however, follow Esther’s suggestion that that visit be delayed
until after her European trip had begun. He saw no reason for such
delay. Let the young fellow come at once, if he wanted to. What
difference did it make when he came?
“Send the boy along,” he wrote. “The sooner the better. And tell him
for me that he can stay as long as he likes. There’s room enough,
goodness knows. And the longer he stays the better chance I shall
have to look him over and decide what sort of job he will fit into,
when he gets ready to take it. Why don’t you come, yourself? A
month or so down here in the sand will blow some of that Chicago
soot out of your head. I always told you this was the healthiest place
on God’s earth. You come and I’ll prove it.”
After dinner, as he brought the span abreast the Ostable post office,
he pulled the horses to a halt and handed the letter to a citizen who
was standing on the platform.
“Here, mail that for me, will you?” he said. The citizen received the
letter as he might have received a commission from the governor.
“Yes, sir; yes, indeed, Cap’n Townsend,” he replied, with unction.
“Much obliged. And mail it right away. Don’t put it in your pocket and
forget it.”
“Forget it! I wouldn’t forget it for nothin’. No, sir!”
“Well, it is more than nothing, so I don’t want it forgotten.”
He waited until he saw the letter deposited in the mail slot in the
post-office door. Then he clucked to the span and drove on.
It was not yet four o’clock when he reached Harniss. It occurred to
him that Esther would not be at home when he got there; she would
have gone to that Welfare Society meeting, or whatever it was. He
did not feel inclined to sit alone in the library and think; memories of
that confounded Boston attorney’s “if” were still too clear to make
thinking pleasant. They angered him. What was the matter with the
crowd over there in Ostable? What had become of all the assured
complacency with which they had greeted him at similar
consultations of but a year ago? Losing their grit, were they? Letting
appeals and delays and all that sort of legal drivel get on their
nerves? The case was as surely his now as it was then. Flock of old
hens! With what delight would he, when the long-drawn-out mess
was ended and the decision his, pay them off and send them
packing. Bah!
He shook his head to drive away these symptoms of what he would
have called the “doldrums,” looked up and saw that he was nearly
opposite the Clark cottage. He would drop in on Reliance now, this
minute. She was always a first-class antidote for doldrums.
He hitched the span to the gnawed post before the post office and
walked around the buildings to the door of the millinery shop.
Reliance was in the shop, making tucks in a yard of ribbon.
“Hello, there!” he hailed, striding in and closing the door behind him.
“Well, how are things in the hat line? Thought I’d stop and see if you
could make Varunas a sunbonnet. He’s getting to be more of an old
woman every day he lives.”
Reliance looked up and smiled. “Hello, Foster,” she said. “You’re a
stranger. It’s been a long while since you honored us this way. I hope
a lot of folks saw you come in. It will be good for business. Sit down,
won’t you?”
He had not waited for the invitation. He sat in the chair usually
occupied by Miss Makepeace, which squeaked a protest, and tossed
his hat upon the top of the sewing machine.
“All alone?” he queried. “Where’s your first mate?”
“Abbie? Oh, she’s at home with a cold. She has been barkin’ and
sneezin’ around here for three days, so I told her to stay at home
and sneeze it through with a hot brick at her feet and a linseed
poultice on her chest. She’ll be over it pretty soon. How are you?”
“All right. Where’s the town superintendent?”
“Who?... Oh, I suppose you mean Millard. He is out, too. He won’t be
back for an hour.”
“How do you know he won’t?”
“Because he ought to be back now. Well, Foster, how do you like the
prospect of being alone again in that big house of yours? Be a
harder pull than ever for you, won’t it?”
“You bet!... But, say,” leaning back in the chair and thrusting his
hands into his pockets, “how did you know I was going to be alone?
Isn’t there such a thing as privacy in this town?”
“Not much. I should think you would have learned that by this time.
There, there! don’t get mad. I don’t believe it is generally known yet.
Esther told me herself, but she told me not to tell. She said you
asked her not to talk about it much yet.”
“Um-hum. Yes, I did. However, she can talk about it now as much as
she wants to. She will be sailing in ten days or so. I only wish I was
booked for the same ship.”
Reliance held up the ribbon, measured the latest tuck and then
folded another.
“I was a little surprised when she said you wasn’t,” she observed.
“The lawsuit is keepin’ you here, she told me.”
“Yes, blast the thing! There, don’t talk about that. I’ve just come from
a lawyers’ meeting and I have had enough for the present.... Yes,
Esther is going across the water. She’ll stay there, too—until I figure
it is good judgment to bring her home.”
Miss Clark looked up, then down. She nodded.
“I see,” she said. “You had to come to it, after all, didn’t you. I
suppose likely I was the one who put the idea in your head, so I
ought to take the responsibility.”
“No, you needn’t. I’ll take it myself. I should have thought of some
such thing, sooner or later, without your help. But I’m much obliged
for the reminder, just the same.”
Again she looked up.
“Too much company up your way, wasn’t there?” she suggested.
“Too darned much, of the kind. That young Griffin has got as much
cheek as his whole family together. And that doesn’t mean a little
bit.... Humph! I’m a long sea mile from being sure that I ought to
have let him come there in the first place. You were responsible for
that, too, Reliance. Remember?”
“Of course I remember. But you must remember that I told you
unless he and Esther were different from most any young couple I
ever heard of they would find ways to see each other anyhow, and it
might be best to let them meet where you were within hailin’
distance. I think I was right—even yet.”
“What do you mean by ‘even yet’?”
“Nothing. Nothing now, at any rate. Foster, how far has this affair of
theirs gone? Are they—well, do you think they are any more than
just good friends?”
“Eh,” sharply. “Any more? Now why do you ask that. If I thought—”
“Ssh! What do you think?... Careful of that chair! That’s Abbie’s pet
rocker.”
He had thrown himself back in it with a violence which threatened
wreck and ruin.
“How should I know what to think?” he growled, moodily. “He comes
three times a week and stays till eleven o’clock. And they sit alone in
the sitting-room and talk, talk, talk about— Oh, I don’t know what
they talk about! The price of quahaugs, maybe.”
“Maybe.” She glanced at him and smiled. “You go away and leave
them there together, then, do you, Foster?” she said. “Well, that is
pretty nice of you, I must say. And, perhaps, kind of hard to do, too.”
He stirred uneasily and scowled. “Did you think I was likely to hang
around and listen at the keyhole?” he demanded.
“Not the least little bit. I know you.... Well, let me ask you a plain
question. Suppose she and Bob Griffin did get to be something more
than friends; what would you do then?”
His big body straightened. “Do!” he repeated. “If you mean what
would I do if she proposed to marry that scamp. I’ll tell you without
any if, and, or but. I’ve told you before. I wouldn’t let her do it.”
“She might do it without your lettin’.”
“Then, by the Almighty, she could do without me, too. If she left my
house to marry him she should stay out and never come back.... But
she wouldn’t. She isn’t that kind.... Here! what the devil are you
shaking your head about?”
“Oh—well, I was just thinkin’.”
“Stop thinking, then! Don’t be a fool, Reliance! Why, that girl has told
me fifty times that she thinks as much of me as if I was her own
father. She talks about how kind I’ve been to her and how she never
can pay me back and all that. Do you suppose that is all lies? Do you
think she’d throw me over for that—that Cook calf? Don’t be a fool, I
tell you. Look here! What is this all about? Do you want her to marry
him?”
A slow shake of the head prefaced Reliance’s answer. And that
answer was gravely spoken.
“No, Foster,” she said. “I don’t.”
“Of course you don’t, unless you are a fool. And, if every fool in
creation wanted it, she shouldn’t do it.”
Reliance paid no attention to this declaration. She had dropped the
ribbon in her lap and now she spoke earnestly and deliberately.
“No, Foster,” she repeated. “I don’t want her to marry Bob Griffin. He
seems to be a fine young man and a good one, but the reason why I
don’t want that marriage isn’t on account of what he is, but who he
is. This whole matter has worried me a lot. It worries me now. I can’t
see anything but trouble ahead for everybody if it goes on.”
“Humph! You don’t need a spyglass to see that. Well, it isn’t going
on. It will stop inside of two weeks. Once get the Atlantic Ocean
between them and it will stay between them until they both forget—
until she does, anyhow. He can remember until he is gray-headed if
he likes, it won’t do him any good.”
She had picked up her sewing again, but now she looked up from it
with, or so he thought, an odd expression. Since the beginning of
their conversation he had been conscious of something unusual in
her manner. Now there was a peculiar questioning scrutiny in her
look; she seemed to be wondering, to be not quite sure—almost as if
she were expecting him to say something, he could not imagine
what.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” he demanded, irritably. “What
is it?”
She did not reply to his question, but asked one of her own, one
quite irrelevant and trivial, so far as he could see.
“Have you heard any news lately?” she inquired.
“News? What kind of news?”
“Oh, any news about—well, about any one we know?”
“No.... See here, what do you mean? Have you heard something?”
Again she did not answer. “Foster,” she said, sewing steadily, “I don’t
want you to get the idea from what I just told you about my feelin’s
that I think Esther’s marryin’ Bob Griffin would be the very worst
thing that could happen.... Wait! let me finish. I don’t think it would be
a wise thing, considerin’ the way you and Mr. Cook hate each other
and the way you both would be likely to act if those young folks took
the bit in their teeth and decided to marry, anyhow. And if Esther and
he can forget I should say it was best they did, best for all hands. But
if they care enough for each other so that they can’t forget and will
be miserable and sorry all their days, then I honestly believe they
should go through with it. After all, they are young, they have got
their lives to live. It is for them, and nobody else, to really decide how
they shall live ’em. That is the way I feel and I guess you ought to
know it.”
He rose from the rocker. He was angry, so angry that he could
scarcely trust himself to speak.
“Yes,” he growled, with savage sarcasm, “you are right in that.
Mighty well right! I guess it is high time I knew it. So you have been
putting her up to—”
“Stop! I haven’t put her up to anything. She and I have hardly
mentioned Bob Griffin’s name for a month. If she had asked me what
I thought about it I should have told her what I just told you, that the
less she saw of him the better. And when she told me you were
sendin’ her abroad I knew why you were doin’ it and I was glad. It, or
somethin’ like it, was what I hoped you would do. In fact, you just
now hinted that I was the one who put doin’ it into your head. Don’t
make silly speeches that you know ain’t true, Foster Townsend.”
This appeal to common sense and justice had some effect. He took
a stride or two up and down the room and when he spoke his tone
was a trifle less fierce although just as determined.
“You have said enough, anyhow,” he declared. “Now you hear me
say this: She isn’t going to marry that cub. She isn’t. If taking her to
Paris and keeping him out of her sight doesn’t cure her then I’ll try
something that will. I’ll—by the Lord Almighty, if worst comes to worst
I’ll—I’ll kill him before I let one of his gang take her away from me.”
She laughed a little. “Killin’ him would be a fine way to keep her with
you, wouldn’t it?” she observed. “If you will only behave like a
sensible man, and talk like one, I’ll tell you something else,
something you will know soon but that perhaps you’d better know
now.”
He was paying no attention. Now he turned to her, his face drawn
with emotion and his voice shaking.
“Reliance,” he cried, “you don’t know—by the Lord, you don’t know
what that girl has come to be to me. I—I love her as much as I did—
as I did Bella, my own wife, when she was living. I swear I believe
that’s so. She’ll marry somebody some day; I am reconciled to that—
or I try to be. It’s natural. It is what is bound to happen. But I’ll have
something to say about who her husband shall be. I know men and
it’s got to be a mighty fine man who can satisfy me he’s the right
husband for her. A good-for-nothing who wastes his time painting
chromos—a boy without any business sense—”
“How do you know he hasn’t got any business sense?”
“Would he be a picture painter if he had? And a Cook! Good Lord!
think of it! a Cook!... There! What’s the use talking to you? You are a
sentimental old maid and all that counts with you is the mush you
read in the fool books you get out of the library. If you loved that girl
the way I do—”
She had risen now and she broke in upon him sharply.
“I do,” she vowed. “I love her as much as you do and more, perhaps.
She lived with me years longer than she has with you and I love her
as much as you ever dreamed of doin’. Yes, and a whole lot more
unselfishly—that I know, too.”
“But, Reliance, to give her up to—”
“Oh, be still! I gave her up to you, didn’t I? Do you think that wasn’t a
wrench?”
He could not deny it, for he knew it to be true. He shrugged and
picked up his hat.
“Good-by,” he said.
She called his name.
“Foster—wait!” she ordered. “Now I am goin’ to tell you somethin’ it
is plain you haven’t heard. I wonder Esther hasn’t told you. She must
know it. Probably she will tell you soon, she certainly ought to. There
was a man here this mornin’ from Denboro. His name is Pratt, he
peddles fish, probably you know him. Well, he told me he heard last
night at the Denboro post office that Bob Griffin was plannin’ to go to
Paris to study paintin’. His grandfather had said he might and he was
leavin’ almost right away, inside of three weeks, anyhow.... Perhaps
you see what that is likely to mean, so far as keepin’ him and Esther
apart is concerned.”
He stared at her incredulously; he could not credit the story.
“Bosh!” he snorted. “I don’t believe it. It’s all a lie. They’ve got it
mixed up. Somebody has heard that Esther is going, and of course
some of them know he has been coming to the house, and so
they’ve pieced together a gaff tops’l out of two rags and a rope’s
end, same as they generally do.”
“No. That is what I thought at first, but it isn’t that. Pratt heard about it
again from the Cooks’ hired girl and she heard Bob and his
grandfather talkin’ it over at the dinner table. It is true, he is goin’.
And of course it is perfectly plain why he is goin’.... Now, Foster,
what will you do about it?”
He did not answer immediately. He stood before her, his florid face
growing steadily redder. Then he struck his right fist into the palm of
his left hand.
“That is why she was so full of good humor this morning,” he
muttered. “He told her last night and— That was it!... Good-by.”
“Wait! Wait, Foster! What are you goin’ to do?”
“Do! I don’t know yet, but you can bet your life something will be
done.”
“Oh, Foster, you must be awfully careful. If you aren’t—”
“Careful! I tell you one thing I’ll be mighty careful of. I’ll be careful to
call off this Paris business. That is over and done with, so far as she
is concerned. She stays here with me. As for him—well, I’ll attend to
him.”
“But, Foster, you must take care what you do. If you’ll only listen to
me—”
He was at the door.
“No!” he shouted. “I’ve listened too long already. Listen to you! Why,
it was you that put me up to sending her away. Humph! And a fine
mess that has got us all into, hasn’t it! No! From now on, I’m handlin’
this affair myself and I don’t want any orders or advice from anybody.
You keep your hands off the reins. We’ll see who wins this case. The
rascal!”
She followed him to the step and stood looking after him, but he did
not look back. She saw him climb to the carriage seat, crack the
whip over the backs of the span—the horses were astonished and
indignant, for they were not used to such treatment—and move
rapidly off up the road. Then she went back to her sewing, but her
mind was not upon her work; she foresaw nothing ahead but trouble,
trouble for those in the world for; whose happiness she cared most.
 CHAPTER XIV
FOSTER TOWNSEND drove straight home, turned the horses and
carriage over to the care of Varunas and went into the house. There,
in the library, with the portières drawn and the hall door tightly
closed, he sprawled in the big chair and, chewing an unlighted cigar,
set himself to the task of facing this entirely unforeseen setback. His
carefully laid plan had gone to smash; that fact could not be dodged.
Paris with Esther in Jane Carter’s company, three thousand miles
away from young Griffin, was one thing. Paris, with those two
together, and he, Townsend, on this side of the water, was quite
another. No, if it was true that Griffin was going there, then Esther
was not. So much was certain.
It was a galling conclusion, his pride winced under it. To think that a
boy in his twenties had forced a wily, shrewd veteran of his years
and experience to back water was almost too much to bear. It was
humiliating and the more he pondered over it the angrier he became.
The plan had been a good one. He had given it careful consideration
before he adopted it. He had tried to think of every possible
objection, but such a one as this he would have considered beyond
the bounds of possibility. And yet it was so simple. How that Griffin
cub must be chuckling in his sleeve. Of course he had seen through
the strategy behind the move and with one move of his own had
checkmated it. Esther was being sent to Paris to get her away from
him, was she? All right, he would go there, too. Easy enough!
Foster Townsend’s big body squirmed in the leather chair. He was
tempted, almost resolved, to go straight to Bob Griffin, wherever he
might be, even in his grandfather’s house, and have it out between
them, man to man—or man to boy. The prospect of an open battle
was appealing. And he was practically sure that Elisha Cook would,
for once, be fighting on his side. Elisha would, he was willing to bet,
be as firmly set against a marriage between a Cook and a Townsend
as he was, although their objections would be based upon exactly
opposite grounds. It would be amusing, at least, to watch his former
partner’s face when he learned why his grandson proposed to leave
him—and for whom. For Bob had not told, of course. Humph!
Between them they could give that smart young rooster a happy half
hour.
It would not do, though; no, it would not do. Mistakes enough had
been made and he, Townsend, must not make another. Whatever
was done now must be right and he could not afford to be too hasty.
At any rate, the first thing to be done was to think of good excuses
for canceling Esther’s European trip. He had little time for that and
he must act quickly.
So, setting his teeth, he endeavored to forget anger, hurt pride, and
all the rest of the non-essentials. The checkmating was partly his
own fault. He had taken a woman’s advice, instead of depending
upon his own judgment, and was paying for it. It was Reliance Clark
who had put into his head the fool notion of sending his niece away.
Neither she, nor any one else, should put another there.
Henceforward he would, as he had told her, handle the reins. And
the race was by no means lost.
He was in his room on the second floor, writing a letter, when he
heard Esther’s voice in the library.
“Uncle,” she was calling. “Uncle Foster, where are you?”
“Here I am,” he answered, “I’ll be down in a minute.”
He signed the letter he had written and addressed the envelope to
Mrs. Jane Carter in Boston. He had given her orders, short, sharp
and compelling. She was not to waste time asking questions. She
was to write what he told her to write and do it at once. And when he
saw her he would tell her why. He was as sorry as she could be that
the affair had turned out as it had.
Esther’s good humor at supper time was as pronounced as it had
been in the morning. She was nervous, however; he could see that.
He did his best to appear good-humored also. When they were in the
library together the cause for her nervousness was disclosed. She
told him at once about Bob Griffin’s going to Paris to study art. His
reception of the news was far different from what she feared it might
be. He appeared to regard it as a good thing for Bob to do.
“Why, Uncle Foster!” she exclaimed. “Aren’t you awfully surprised? I
was, when Bob told me, last evening. I had no idea he even thought
of such a thing—for the present, at least.”
Her uncle rubbed his beard. “He is studying to paint pictures, just as
you are studying to sing,” he observed. “According to what I hear,
they teach both those things better over yonder than they do here. I
don’t wonder he wants to go. Good idea, I should say. When is he
going?”
“Very soon. In a few weeks, he says. His grandfather has said that
he might.”
“Has, eh? Humph! Elisha must have more money than I thought he
had. Paying lawyers can’t be as expensive for him as it is for me.
Or,” with a twist of his mouth, “perhaps he doesn’t pay ’em.”
Esther hastened to explain. “Bob has some money of his own,” she
said. “His grandfather won’t have to pay any of his expenses.”
“Oh!... Oh, yes, yes! He’s rich, then, as well as handsome—and
smart?”
He had not meant to emphasize the “smart,” but he did, a little. She
noticed it.
“Bob is smart,” she declared. “Every one says he is.”
“And I suppose he lets ’em say it. Well, maybe he is as smart as he
thinks he is. We’ll see how it turns out.”
“What turns out? His painting, do you mean? Oh, I am sure he is
going to be a wonderful artist. Just look at that portrait he did of me,
with scarcely any study at all.”
He did not look at the portrait and he talked very little during the
evening. Esther did not mind. She was relieved that he had not
shown resentment when told that Griffin was to be in Paris during
her own stay there. Well, at all events, this proved that Nabby
Gifford’s insinuation had not a word of truth behind it.
Nothing of moment happened in the Townsend household until
Tuesday morning. Then, when breakfast was over, her uncle called
her into the library. He had a letter in his hand and there was a
serious expression on his face. He asked her to sit down, but he did
not sit. Instead he paced up and down the floor, a sure sign that he
was much disturbed in mind.
“Esther,” he said, turning toward her, “I’ve got some bad news for
you. I’m afraid you will think it is pretty bad, when I tell you what it is.
I got a letter yesterday. I didn’t say anything about it then. I always
think the morning is the time to face bad news; you have all day to
get used to it in and consequently you can sleep better when
bedtime comes.... Well, we might as well get it over. Esther, it looks
as if you wasn’t going abroad, after all—now, I mean.”
She caught her breath. She had been trying to surmise what the bad
news might be, but she had not thought of this.
“Not going abroad!” she repeated, aghast. “You mean I am not going
to Paris?”
He nodded. “That is just about what I do mean, I guess,” he affirmed.
“It looks as if you couldn’t go—for the present, anyhow. Of course, by
and by, later on, you and I will go together, same as we used to plan;
but your cruise with Mrs. Carter is off, I’m afraid.... It is a big
disappointment for you, isn’t it? Yes, I can see that it is.”
Any one could have seen it. The expression upon her face was
sufficient indication of the shock of that disappointment. He, himself,
was anything but happy. This thing he was doing was for her good;
some of those days she would realize that and be grateful to him, but
now—well, now the doing of it made him feel meanly guilty. He put
his hand on her shoulder.
“Sorry, Esther,” he said, with a shake in his voice. “I’m sorry enough
things have turned out as they have, but—well, it is for the best, I
guess. Yes,” with a nod of stubborn determination, “I know it is. Now,
don’t feel too bad, my girl. Try and brace up. Come!”
She was trying, but it was hard work. If he had told her this before
Bob had told her of his going she would not have minded so much.
Since then—and particularly since the time when she had told him of
Bob’s proposed trip and he had received the tidings with such
complacency—she had thought of little else but the wonderful days
to come.
He patted her shoulder.
“Brace up, Esther,” he said. “It isn’t off for good, remember. You and I
will go over there together by and by, just as sure as I live. It is just
put off for the present, that’s all.”
“But why, Uncle Foster?” she faltered. “Why? What has happened?”
He told her Mrs. Carter had written saying she could not go. Various
things had turned up—he was not specific concerning the nature of
these things—which made it impossible for her to leave her Boston
house for some months at least.
“It’s too late to get any one else,” he explained, gently. “And,
besides, I don’t know of any one else I could trust to pilot a cruise
like that with you aboard. We must face it as it is. There are lots of
disappointments in life; I have had my share of them. And pretty
generally,” with another dogged nod, “they turn out to be for the best
in the end. You just try and believe this one will turn out that way.”
She told him that she would try, but her tone was so forlorn that his
feeling of meanness and guilt increased. And her next speech
strengthened them still more.
“I won’t be a baby, Uncle Foster,” she bravely answered him. “I know
you are as sorry as I am. It isn’t your fault at all, of course. And,” with
an attempt at a smile, “I know, too, that I ought to be glad for your
sake. I have never felt right about leaving you.”
He shifted uneasily and gave the “cricket” before the easy-chair a
kick which sent it sliding across the floor.
“Don’t talk that way,” he growled. “I—Humph! Well, I’ll make this all
up to you before we finish, I’ll swear to that.... Say,” with a sudden
inspiration, “I tell you one thing we’ll do! I shall have to go to
Washington one of these days and I’ll take you with me. We’ll have a
regular spree along with the President and the rest of the big-bugs.
That will be something to look forward to, anyhow.”
Perhaps, but, compared to that toward which she had been looking,
it was a very poor substitute. And all the rest of that day her
disappointment increased rather than diminished. She dreaded
Bob’s call that evening. Poor fellow! he would be as disappointed as
she was. But he must go, just the same. He must not sacrifice his
opportunity for travel and study because hers was postponed. He
must go as he had planned. She should insist upon that.
There were other thoughts, too, but she tried not to think them. It had
seemed to her that her uncle’s reasons—or Mrs. Carter’s reasons—
for canceling the trip had been rather vague and not altogether
sufficient to warrant upsetting the plans of so many people. And the
decision was so sudden. Her last letter from the lady had contained
not a hint of change. It was full of enthusiastic anticipation. Her uncle
—
She resolutely refused to think along that line. Her uncle had felt so
badly when he broke the news to her. She remembered the tremble
in his voice. No, she would not be so disloyal or ungrateful as to
suspect.... Never mind Nabby’s suggestion. Nabby was what her
employer sometimes called her, a clucking old hen.
She would have gone to her Aunt Reliance and sought consolation
there, but the Welfare Society met again that afternoon and she felt
bound to attend the meeting.
Bob Griffin, when he came that evening, was in such a glow of high
spirits that he could scarcely wait for Foster Townsend to leave the
library before voicing his feelings. Townsend appeared to notice his
condition.
“You look fit as a fiddle to-night, seems to me,” he observed.
“Counting the days till you get to Paris, I suppose; eh? Well, I don’t
wonder. Pretty big thing for a young fellow.”
Bob was a little surprised.
“Oh, then Esther has told you about it?” he asked.
“Um-hum. She told me.”
“What do you think of the idea, sir? Of my going there to study, I
mean?”
“Think it is just what you should do. If you’ve made up your mind to
paint for a living then the better painter you learn to be the better
living you’ll make—if you can live at all at that job.... Oh, yes, yes!”
he added, before either of the pair could reply. “I suppose likely you
think you can. And you may be right. I don’t know about such things.”
The moment the hall door had closed behind him Bob turned to
Esther and seized her hands.
“Only a few more weeks,” he announced, triumphantly. “In less than
a month you and I will be sauntering down the Champs Elysées or
the ‘Boul Mich’ or somewhere. I have engaged my passage. I am
going on the Lavornia. She sails from New York just eight days after
your ship leaves. We shan’t be separated long, shall we?”
She withdrew her hands from his and shook her head.
“Bob,” she said, “I have dreaded seeing you to-night. I have
something to tell you that you won’t like at all. I don’t like it either, but
it can’t be helped. All our plans are changed. I am not going to
Paris.”
He stared. “Not going to Paris?” he repeated. “Where are you
going?”
“Nowhere, for the present. I am going to stay here in Harniss.... Wait!
Please wait, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
She told him of the letter from Mrs. Carter and her uncle’s decision
that the European trip must be postponed. He would have
interrupted a half dozen times, but she begged him not to.
“So you see, Bob,” she said, in conclusion, “you and I won’t meet
over there as soon as we expected. I can’t go now, although perhaps
some day I shall. I am glad you are going. I am awfully glad of that.”
He had risen and was standing before her. His lips were set and he
was frowning. Now he laughed scornfully.
“Esther,” he protested, “don’t! Don’t be silly. You can’t really think I
would go if you didn’t.”
“Why, of course I do. You must go. Certainly you are going.”
“Certainly I am not. Huh! I should say not! If you don’t go neither do I.
If they make you wait I’ll wait, too.”
“Bob! Oh, please, Bob, be reasonable. Think of what it means to
you. Your chance to study, to go on with your painting, to get ahead
in the world! Do you suppose I shall let you give up your opportunity
just because mine is postponed for a while? Did you think me as
selfish as that?”
He shook his head. “You bet I don’t go!” he muttered. “Indeed I don’t!
They don’t get me away from you as easily as that comes to.”
“Bob!... What do you mean by that? No one is trying to get you away
from me.”
Again he laughed. “Oh, Esther,” he said, impatiently, “don’t let’s
pretend. You know what this means as well as I do. It is as plain as
print. Captain Townsend—”
“It isn’t his fault. It is Mrs. Carter who can’t go. That is the reason.”
“Esther! Can’t you see? Oh, but of course you do! This Mrs. Carter is
doing what your uncle has told her to do. She has called it off,
trumped up the excuse, because he ordered her to do it.”
“Bob!” sharply. “Stop! You mustn’t say such things. You know they
aren’t true. Why, it was Uncle Foster who persuaded Mrs. Carter to
go, in the first place.”
“Yes, and now he has ordered her not to. Bah!” with an angry wave
of the hand, “it is as plain as if it was painted on the wall. He doesn’t
want me coming here to see you; he never did.”
“Then why did he let you come at all?”
“I don’t know—unless it was because he thought we might be seeing
each other somewhere else anyhow, and he could keep an eye on
us as long as we were in his house.”
“Bob! If you say another word like that I shall go away and leave you.
Uncle Foster knows that he doesn’t need to keep an eye on me. He
trusts me absolutely.”
She was indignant, but he was angry and sure of the correctness of
his suspicions.
“He doesn’t trust me, then,” he declared, stubbornly. “He hates me,
because I am a Cook. He was sending you to Europe to get you
where I couldn’t see you. Well, I guessed that little trick right away
and played a better one on him. I decided to go to Paris myself. He
had not thought of that, I guess. It must have jolted him when you
told him.”
“Bob, I won’t listen to such things.”
“And then, when you did tell him, he saw his little game was up and
so he has made up his mind to keep you here. Well, all right, then he
can keep me here, too. He isn’t the only one who can change their
mind. I’d like to tell him so.”
He strode to the hall door and stood there almost as if determined to
follow Foster Townsend to his room and tell him there and then. She
was silent for a moment. The things he had said were in exact
confirmation of the suspicion voiced by Nabby Gifford and which she
had not permitted herself to consider.
“The sly old rat!” he muttered between his teeth. She caught her
breath.
“No!” she cried. “No, I don’t believe a word of it.... And even if it were
true—which it isn’t—it mustn’t make any difference in your going.
You must sail on the Lavornia just as you planned.”
He spoke over his shoulder. “I shan’t,” he vowed, determinedly. “I
stay right here.”
“No, you mustn’t do any such thing. I shan’t let you.”
“You can’t stop me.... No, and he can’t either. The scheming old
hypocrite!”
She walked to the door now and opened it.
“You had better go home,” she said. “I don’t care to hear you speak
in this way any longer. When you are ready to talk and behave like a
sensible person you may come back and perhaps I will listen to you.
But not until you beg my pardon for saying such things about Uncle
Foster.”
He swung about to face her. “But, Esther,” he cried, “you know they
are true.”
“I know you ought to be ashamed of yourself for saying them, for
calling him a hypocrite and all the rest.”
“Well, what else is he? Making believe to you that—”
“Stop! Will you go now, please?”
“Of course I shan’t! I have only just come. Esther, dear, I am sorry if I
said more than I should. I am mad clear through. Oh, we must not
quarrel because—because he—”
“Will you stop talking about him? And will you go this minute?”
He jammed his hands into his pockets. His face was flushed and
hers white, but the fire in his eyes was dying. He tried to take her
hand, but she drew it away.
“Do you really want me to go—now?” he asked, incredulously. “You
can’t mean it, dear.”
“I do mean it. I think it is very much better that you should. You have
said enough to-night, more than enough. I don’t want to hear more
and I don’t feel like talking, myself. Please go.”
He hesitated, then he surrendered.
“Perhaps you are right,” he admitted. “I guess I am not very good
company; shan’t be until I get over this. When I come again I’ll try to
behave more like a Christian. I am awfully sorry, dear. You will make
allowances and forgive me, won’t you? Good heavens, think what a
disappointment this has been for me. All my plans—”
“They were my plans, too.”