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diff --git a/13573-h/13573-h.htm b/13573-h/13573-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a8ab1a7 --- /dev/null +++ b/13573-h/13573-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13306 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Elizabeth's Campaign, by Mrs. Humphrey Ward</title> +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- +body {font-size: 100%; } + p { margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%; + text-indent: 1.5em; + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { text-align: center; } + hr { width: 50%; } + hr.short {width: 10%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; + height: 5px; } + p.note { text-indent: 0em; text-align: center; } + p.note2 {text-indent: 0em; margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; margin-bottom: 0em; } + p.noindent { text-indent: 0em } + p.toc { text-indent: 0em; text-align: center; font-size: 90%; } + p.block { text-indent: 1em; margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 15%; + margin-bottom: 0em; text-align: justify; } + p.bni { text-indent: 0em; margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 15%; + text-align: justify; } + p.poem { text-indent: 0em; margin-left: 30%; text-align: left; } + p.ar {margin-top: 0em; text-align: right; margin-right: 20%; } + center { padding: 1em;} + pre {font-size: 9pt; + margin-left: 15%; } + a:link {color: blue; text-decoration: none; } + link {color: blue; text-decoration: none; } + a:visited {color: blue; text-decoration: none; } + a:hover {color: red; } + // --> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13573 ***</div> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook,<br>Elizabeth's Campaign,<br>by Mrs. Humphrey Ward,<br> +Illustrated by C. Allan Gilbert</h1> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<br> +<br> +<a name="image-0001"><!--IMG--></a> +<center> +<img src="images/front.jpg" width="303" height="450" +alt="Elizabeth +"> +</center> +<!--IMAGE END--> +<h5>ELIZABETH</h5> +<hr> +<br> +<h1> ELIZABETH'S</h1> +<h1> CAMPAIGN</h1> +<br> +<h4> + BY +</h4> + +<h2> + MRS. HUMPHRY WARD +</h2> + + <p class="note"><small>AUTHOR OF</small><br> + LADY ROSE'S DAUGHTER, MISSING, E<small>TC.</small> +</p> +<br> + + +<h4><small>FRONTISPIECE IN COLOR BY</small></h4> + <h4> +C. ALLAN GILBERT +</h4> +<br> +<h5>1918</h5> + +<hr> +<br> +<p class="note"> +<small> TO THE DEAR AND GALLANT<br> + MEMORY<br> + OF</small><br><br> + T. S. A.<br><br> +<small>PASSCHENDAELE, OCTOBER 11, 1917</small> +</p> +<br> + +<hr class="short"> + + +<a name="2H_FORE"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h3> + FOREWORD +</h3> +<p class="note2"> + This book was finished in April 1918, and represents + the mood of a supremely critical moment in the war. +</p> +<p class="ar"> + M. A. W. +</p> +<br> + +<hr> + +<p class="toc"><small>CHAPTERS:</small> + <a href="#2HCH0001"> + I</a> , + <a href="#2HCH0002"> + II +</a>, + <a href="#2HCH0003"> + III +</a>, + <a href="#2HCH0004"> + IV +</a>, + <a href="#2HCH0005"> + V +</a>, + <a href="#2HCH0006"> + VI +</a>, + <a href="#2HCH0007"> + VII +</a>, + <a href="#2HCH0008"> + VIII +</a>, + <a href="#2HCH0009"> + IX +</a>, + <a href="#2HCH0010"> + X +</a>, + <a href="#2HCH0011"> + XI +</a>, + <a href="#2HCH0012"> + XII +</a>, + <a href="#2HCH0013"> + XIII +</a>, + <a href="#2HCH0014"> + XIV +</a>, + <a href="#2HCH0015"> + XV +</a>, + <a href="#2HCH0016"> + XVI +</a>, + <a href="#2HCH0017"> + XVII +</a> +<br> + +<hr> +<a name="2H_4_0002"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 2em;"><br><br></div> + +<h2> + ELIZABETH'S CAMPAIGN +</h2> +<a name="2HCH0001"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + CHAPTER I +</h2> +<p> + 'Remember, Slater, if I am detained, that I am expecting the two + gentlemen from the War Agricultural Committee at six, and Captain + Mills of the Red Cross is coming to dine and sleep. Ask Lady + Chicksands to look after him in case I am late—and put those + Tribunal papers in order for me, by the way. I really must go + properly into that Quaker man's case—horrid nuisance! I hope to be + back in a couple of hours, but I can't be sure. Hullo, Beryl! I + thought you were out.' +</p> +<p> + The speaker, Sir Henry Chicksands, already mounted on his cob + outside his own front door, turned from his secretary, to whom he + had been giving these directions, to see his only daughter hurrying + through the inner hall with the evident intention of catching her + father before he rode off. +</p> +<p> + She ran down the steps, but instead of speaking at once she began to + stroke and pat his horse's neck, as though doubtful how to put what + she had to say. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, Beryl, what's the matter?' said her father impatiently. The + girl, who was slender and delicate in build, raised her face to his. +</p> +<p> + 'Are you—are you really going to Mannering, father?' +</p> +<p> + 'I am—worse luck!' +</p> +<p> + 'You'll handle him gently, won't you?' There was anxiety in the + girl's voice. 'But of course you will—I know you will.' +</p> +<p> + Chicksands shrugged his shoulders. +</p> +<p> + 'I shall do my best. But you know as well as I do that he's a queer + customer when it comes to anything connected with the war.' +</p> +<p> + The girl looked behind her to make sure that the old butler of the + house had retired discreetly out of earshot. +</p> +<p> + 'But he can't quarrel with <i>you</i>, father!' +</p> +<p> + 'I hope not—for your sake.' +</p> +<p> + 'Must you really tackle him?' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, I thought I was the person to do it. It's quite certain + nobody else could make anything of it.' +</p> +<p> + Privately Beryl disagreed, but she made no comment. +</p> +<p> + 'Aubrey seems to be pretty worried,' she said, in a depressed tone, + as she turned away. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't wonder. He should have brought up his father better. Well, + good-bye, dear. Don't bother too much.' +</p> +<p> + She waved her hand to him as he made off, and stood watching him + from the steps—a gentle, attaching figure, her fair hair and the + pale oval of her face standing out against the panelled hall behind + her. +</p> +<p> + Her father went his way down a long winding hill beyond his own + grounds, along a country road lined with magnificent oaks, through a + village where his practised eye noted several bad cottages with + disapproval, till presently he slackened his horse's pace, as he + passed an ill-looking farm about half a mile beyond the village. +</p> +<p> + 'Not a decent gate in the whole place!' he said to himself with + disgust. 'And the farm buildings only fit for a bonfire. High time + indeed that we made Mannering sit up!' +</p> +<p> + He paused also to look over the neighbouring hedge at some fields + literally choked with weeds. +</p> +<p> + 'And as for Gregson—lazy, drunken fellow! Why didn't he set some + village women on? Just see what they've done on my place! Hullo, + here he is! Now I'm in for it!' For he saw a slouching man coming + rapidly towards him from the farmyard, with the evident intention + of waylaying him. The man's shabby, untidy dress and blotched + complexion did not escape Sir Henry's quick eye. 'Seems to have + been making a night of it,' was his inward comment. +</p> +<p> + 'Good-day, Sir Henry,' said the farmer, laying a hand on Chicksands' + bridle, 'I wanted a word with you, sir. I give you fair warning, you + and your Committee, you'll not turn me out without a fight! I was + never given no proper notice—and there are plenty as 'll stand by + me.' +</p> +<p> + The voice was thick and angry, and the hand shook. Sir Henry drew + his horse away, and the man's hold dropped. +</p> +<p> + 'Of course you had every notice,' said Sir Henry drily. +</p> +<p> + 'I hadn't,' the man persisted. 'If the letters as they talk of were + sent, I never saw 'em. And when the Committee came I was out—on + business. Can't a man be out on his lawful business, Sir Henry, + instead of dancin' attendance on men as know no better than he? The + way this Government is doing things—you might as well live under + the Czar of Russia as in this country. It's no country this for + free men now, Sir Henry.' +</p> +<p> + 'The Czar of Russia has come to grief, my man, for the same reason + that you have,' said Sir Henry, gathering up the reins, 'for + shirking his duty. All very well before the war, but now we can't + afford this kind of thing.' +</p> +<p> + 'And so you've told the Squire to turn me out?' said the man + fiercely, his hands on his sides. +</p> +<p> + 'You've had no notice from Mr. Mannering yet?' +</p> +<p> + 'Not a word.' +</p> +<p> + 'But you've heard from the Inspection Committee?' +</p> +<p> + The man nodded. +</p> +<p> + 'But it's not they as can turn me out, if the Squire don't agree.' +</p> +<p> + There was a note of surly defiance in his voice. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't know about that,' said Sir Henry, whose horse was getting + restive. 'My advice to you, Gregson, is to take it quietly, pull + yourself together, and get some other work. There's plenty going + nowadays.' +</p> +<p> + 'Thank you for nothing, Sir Henry. I've got plenty to advise + me—people as I set more store by. I've got a wife and children, + sir, and I shan't give in without a fuss—you may be sure of that. + Good-day to you.' +</p> +<p> + Sir Henry nodded to him and rode off. +</p> +<p> + 'He'll go, of course,' reflected the rider. 'Our powers are quite + enough. But if I can't get Mannering to send the notice, it'll be a + deal more trouble. Hullo, here's some one else! This is another pair + of boots!' +</p> +<p> + He had scarcely turned the corner beyond the farm when another man + came running down the sloping field, calling to him. Sir Henry + pulled up his horse again. But his aspect had changed, and his voice + took another note. +</p> +<p> + 'Did you want to speak to me, Adam? A nice day, isn't it?' +</p> +<p> + 'I saw you, Sir Henry, from the top of the field, talking to Gregson + in the road, and I thought perhaps you'd let me have a few words + with you. You know, sir, this is awfully hard lines.' +</p> +<p> + Sir Henry looked impatient, but the man who had spoken to him was a + fine specimen of young manhood—broad-shouldered, clear-eyed, with a + natural dignity of manner, not at all a person to be brushed aside. +</p> +<p> + 'I'm sure you can't defend Gregson, Adam,' said Sir Henry, 'you—one + of the best farmers in the district! I wish they had put you on the + Inspection Committee.' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, they didn't,' said the other, perhaps with a slight emphasis. + 'And there's many of us feel, I can assure you, as I do. Gregson's a + poor creature, but he hasn't had quite fair play, Sir Henry—that's + what we feel. And he's been fifteen years on his place.' The man + spoke hesitatingly, but strongly. There was a queer, suppressed + hostility in his pleasant blue eyes. +</p> +<p> + 'Fifteen years too long,' interrupted Sir Henry. 'I tell you, Adam, + we can't afford now to let men like Gregson spoil good land while + the country's likely to go hungry! The old happy-go-lucky days are + done with. I wonder whether even you recognize that we're fighting + for our lives?' +</p> +<p> + 'I know we are, Sir Henry. But if the war makes slaves of us what + good will it do if we do win it?' +</p> +<p> + Sir Henry laughed. 'Well, Adam, you were always a Radical and I was + always a Conservative. And I don't like being managed any more than + you do. But look at the way I'm managed in my business!—harried up + and down by a parcel of young fellows from the Ministry that often + seem to me fools! But we've all got to come in. And this country's + worth it!' +</p> +<p> + 'You know I'm with you there, sir. But why don't you get at the + Squire himself? What good have he or his agent ever been to anybody? + You're a landlord worth living under; but—' +</p> +<p> + 'Ah! don't be in too great a hurry, Adam, and you'll see what you + will see!' And with a pleasant salute, his handsome face twitching + between frowns and smiles, Sir Henry rode on. 'What trade unionists + we all are—high and low! That man's as good a farmer as Gregson's a + vile one. But he stands by his like, as I stand by mine.' +</p> +<p> + Then his thoughts took a different turn. He was entering a park, + evidently of wide extent, and finely wooded. The road through it had + long fallen out of repair, and was largely grass-grown. A few sheep + were pasturing on it, and a few estate cottages showed here and + there. Sir Henry looked about him with quick eyes. He understood + that the Inspection Sub-Committee, constituted under the Corn + Production Act, and on the look-out for grass-land to put under the + plough, had recommended the ploughing up of all this further end of + Mannering Park. It carried very few sheep under its present + management; and the herd of Jersey cattle that used to graze it had + long since died out. As for the game, it had almost gone—before the + war. No use, either for business or play! +</p> +<p> + Then—on this early autumn day of 1917—Sir Henry fell to musing on + the vast changes coming over England in consequence of the war. 'Who + would ever have believed that we—<i>we</i> should put ourselves to + school as we have done? Military service, rations, food-prices, all + our businesses "controlled," and now our land looked after! How much + of it has come to stay? Well, it won't affect me much! Ah! is that + the Rector?' +</p> +<p> + For a hundred yards ahead of him he perceived a clerical figure, + spare and tall, in a wideawake hat, swinging towards him. The + September sun was westering, and behind the approaching man lay + broad stretches of wood, just showing here and there the first + bronze and purple signs of autumn. +</p> +<p> + The Rector, recognizing the solitary rider, waved his hand in + welcome, and Sir Henry pulled up. The two men, who were evidently + personal friends, exchanged greetings. +</p> +<p> + 'You're going to the Hall, Sir Henry?' said the Rector. +</p> +<p> + Sir Henry described his business. +</p> +<p> + The Rector shook his head reflectively. +</p> +<p> + 'You haven't announced yourself, I hope?' +</p> +<p> + 'No, I took that simple precaution. I suppose he's already pretty + savage?' +</p> +<p> + 'With whom? The Committee? Yes, you won't find him easy to deal + with. But just at present there's a distraction. His new secretary + arrived some weeks ago, and he now spends his whole time, from + morning till night, dictating to her and showing her his things.' +</p> +<p> + 'Secretary? A woman? Good heavens! Who is she?' +</p> +<p> + 'A great swell, I understand. Oxford First Class in Mods, Second in + Greats. I've only just seen her. A striking-looking person.' +</p> +<p> + 'Why isn't she in France, or doing munition work?' growled Sir + Henry. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't know. I suppose she has her reasons. She seems patriotic + enough. But I've only exchanged a few words with her, at a very + hurried luncheon, at which, by the way, there was a great deal too + much to eat. She and Pamela disappeared directly afterwards.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, so Pamela's at home? What's the name of the new woman? I + suppose she's to chaperon Pamela?' +</p> +<p> + 'I shouldn't wonder. Her name is Miss Bremerton.' +</p> +<p> + 'Beryl declares that Pamela is going to be a beauty—and clever + besides. She used to be a jolly child. But then they go to school + and grow up quite different. I've hardly seen her for a year and a + half.' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, you'll judge for yourself. Good luck to you! I don't envy you + your job.' +</p> +<p> + 'Good Lord, no! But you see I'm Chairman of this blessed show, and + they all fixed on me to bell the cat. We want a hundred acres of the + Park, a new agent, notices for three farmers, etcetera!' +</p> +<p> + The Rector whistled. 'I shall wait, on tiptoe, to see what happens! + What are your powers?' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, tremendous!' +</p> +<p> + 'So you have him? Well, good-day.' +</p> +<p> + And the Rector was passing on. But Sir Henry stooped over his + horse's neck—'As you know, perhaps, it would be very inconvenient + to my poor little Beryl if Mannering were to make a quarrel of it + with me.' +</p> +<p> + 'Ah, I gathered that she and Aubrey were engaged,' said the Rector + cordially. 'Best congratulations! Has the Squire behaved well?' +</p> +<p> + 'Moderately. He declares he has no money to give them.' +</p> +<p> + 'And yet he spent eighteen hundred pounds last week at that Christie + sale!' said the Rector with a laugh. 'And now I suppose the new + secretary will add fuel to the flame. I saw Pamela for a minute + alone, and she said Miss Bremerton was "just as much gone on Greek + things as father," and they were like a pair of lunatics when the + new vases came down.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, blow the secretary!' said Sir Henry with exasperation. 'And + meanwhile his daughters can't get a penny out of him for any war + purpose whatever! Well, I must go on.' +</p> +<p> + They parted, and Sir Henry put his cob into a sharp trot which + soon brought him in sight of a distant building—low and + irregular—surrounded by trees, and by the wide undulating slopes + of the park. +</p> +<p> + 'Dreadfully ugly place,' he said to himself, as the house grew + plainer; 'rebuilt at the worst time, by a man with no more taste + than a broomstick. Still, he was the sixteenth owner, from father to + son. That's something.' +</p> +<p> + And he fell to thinking, with that half-ironic depreciation which he + allowed to himself, and would have stood from no one else, of his + own brand-new Georgian house, built from the plans of a famous + American architect, ten years before the war, out of the profits of + an abnormally successful year, and furnished in what he believed to + be faultless taste by the best professional decorator he could find. +</p> +<p> + 'Yet compared to a Mannering, what do I mean to the people here? + You scarcely begin to take root in this blessed country under half a + century. Mannering is exceedingly unpopular; the people think him a + selfish idler; but if he chose he could whistle them back with a + hundredth part of the trouble it would take me! And if Aubrey wanted + to go into Parliament, he'd probably have his pick of the county + divisions. Curious fellow, Aubrey! I wonder exactly what Beryl sees + in him?' +</p> +<p> + His daughter's prospects were not indeed very clear to a mind that + liked everything cut and dried. Aubrey Mannering was the Squire's + eldest son; but the Squire was not rich, and had been for years past + wasting his money on Greek antiquities, which seemed to his + neighbours, including Sir Henry Chicksands, a very dubious + investment. If Aubrey should want to sell, who was going to buy such + things at high prices after the war? No doubt prices at + Christie's—for good stuff—had been keeping up very well. That was + because of war profits. People were throwing money about now. But + when the war industries came to an end? and the national bills had + to be paid? +</p> +<p> + 'The only thing that can't go down is land,' thought Sir Henry, with + the cheerful consciousness of a man who had steadily year by year + increased what had originally been a very modest property to + something like a large estate. +</p> +<p> + Mannering had plenty of that commodity. But how far had he dipped + the estate? It must be heavily mortgaged. By decent management + anybody, no doubt, might still bring it round. 'But Aubrey's not the + man. And since he joined up at the beginning of the war the Squire + won't let him have a voice in anything. And now Desmond—by George, + the twins are nineteen this month!—Desmond'll be off directly. And + then his father will be madder than ever.' +</p> +<p> + By this time the ugly house was near at hand, and the thick woods + which surrounded it had closed about the horse and rider. +</p> +<p> + 'Splendid timber,' thought Sir Henry, as he rode through it, + measuring it with a commercial eye, 'but all past its prime, and + abominably neglected.... Hullo! that looks like Pamela, and the new + woman—the secretary!' +</p> +<p> + For two ladies were coming down the drive towards him, with a big + white and tan collie jumping round them. One of them, very tall and + erect, was dressed in a dark coat and skirt, reasonably short, a + small black toque, and brown boots and leggings. The close-fitting + coat showed a shapely but quite substantial figure. She carried a + stick, and walked with a peculiarly rapid and certain step. The + young girl beside her seemed by comparison a child. She wore a white + dress, in keeping with the warm September day, and with it a dark + blue sports coat, and a shady hat. Her dress only just passed her + knees, and beneath it the slender legs and high heels drew Sir + Henry's disapproving eye. He hated extravagance in anything. Beryl + managed to look fashionable, without looking <i>outré</i>, as Pamela did. + But he reined up to greet her with ready smiles. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, Pamela, jolly to see you at home again! My word, you've + grown! Shall I find your father in?' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, we left him in the library. May I introduce Miss + Bremerton—Sir Henry Chicksands.' The girl spoke with hurried + shyness, the quick colour in her cheeks. The lady beside her bowed, + and Sir Henry took off his hat. Each surveyed the other. 'A + strong-minded female!' thought Sir Henry, who was by no means + advanced in his views of the other sex. +</p> +<p> + 'The strong-minded female,' however, was not, it seemed, of the + talkative kind. She remained quite silent while Pamela and Sir Henry + exchanged some family gossip, with her ungloved hand caressing the + nose of the collie, who was pressing against her with intrusive + friendliness. But her easy self-possession as contrasted with + Pamela's nervousness was all the time making an impression on Sir + Henry, as was also the fact of her general good looks. Not a + beauty—not at all; but, as the Rector had said, 'striking.' +</p> +<p> + As for Pamela, what was the matter with the child? Until Beryl's + name was mentioned, there was not a smile to be got out of her. And + it was a very fleeting one when it came. Desmond's name fared a + little better. At that the girl did at last raise her beautiful + eyes, which till then she had hardly allowed to be seen, and there + was a ray in them. +</p> +<p> + 'He's here on leave,' she said; 'a few days. He's just got his + Commission and been accepted for the artillery. He goes into camp + next week. He thinks he'll be out by January.' +</p> +<p> + 'We must certainly manage to see him before he goes,' said Sir Henry + heartily. Then turning to Miss Bremerton with the slightly + over-emphatic civility of a man who prides himself on his manners in + all contingencies, he asked her if she was already acquainted with + the Mannering neighbourhood. +</p> +<p> + Miss Bremerton replied that it was quite unknown to her. 'You'll + admire our trees,' said Sir Henry. 'They're very fine.' +</p> +<p> + 'Are they?' said the lady rather absently, giving a perfunctory + glance to the woods sloping away on her right towards a little + stream winding in the hollow. Sir Henry felt a slight annoyance. He + was a good fellow, and no more touchy as to personal dignity than + the majority of men of his age and class. But he was accustomed to + be treated with a certain deference, and in Miss Bremerton's manner + there was none whatever. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, good-bye, Pamela. I mustn't miss your father. When are you + coming over to see Beryl?' +</p> +<p> + 'How am I to get there?' said the girl with a sudden laugh. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, I see, you've got no petrol allowance?' +</p> +<p> + 'How should we? Nobody's doing any war work here.' +</p> +<p> + There was an odd note in the speaker's voice. +</p> +<p> + 'Why don't you join Beryl in her canteen work?' said Sir Henry + abruptly. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't know.' +</p> +<p> + 'She wants help badly. She passes your gate on her way to Fallerton. + She could pick you up, and bring you back.' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes,' said Pamela. There was a pause. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, good-bye, dear,' said Sir Henry again, and with a ceremonious + bow to Pamela's companion, he rode on—meditating on many things. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + 'The Squire's in, Sir Henry, but—well, he's very busy.' +</p> +<p> + 'Never mind, Forest. I must see him. Can you find some one to take + my horse round?' +</p> +<p> + The grey-haired butler looked perplexed. +</p> +<p> + 'I've only got my own small boy, Sir Henry. There's two more of our + men gone this morning. I don't know if you'll trust him. He's a good + boy.' +</p> +<p> + 'Send him along, Forest. My beast's a lamb—you know him. But look + here, Forest'—Sir Henry dismounted, bridle in hand. 'Don't give the + Squire notice that I'm here, if you can help it, till you announce + me.' +</p> +<p> + The butler, who, in spite of his grey hair, was a square-set, + vigorous-looking fellow, might be said, in reply, to have given the + Squire's visitor a wink. At any rate a look of understanding passed + between the two. The butler went quickly back into the house, and + re-emerged with a boy, who was the small image of his father, to + whom Sir Henry cheerfully gave up his cob. But as Forest led the way + through the outer hall he stopped to say: +</p> +<p> + 'The Squire's not alone, sir. There was a gentleman arrived just as + Miss Pamela went out. But I don't think he'll stay long.' +</p> +<p> + 'Who is he?' +</p> +<p> + 'Can't say, sir. He's lodging in the village, and comes to see the + Squire's collections sometimes.' +</p> +<p> + They were now in a long passage running along the eastern front of + the house to a large room which had been added to its southern end, + in order to hold the Squire's library and collections. Midway the + butler turned. +</p> +<p> + 'You've heard, Sir Henry, about Mr. Desmond?' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, Miss Pamela told me.' +</p> +<p> + 'Mr. Desmond says he'll be in France by January. He's as pleased as + possible, but it's a deal sooner than Mr. Mannering hoped.' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, we've all got to take our chance in this war,' said Sir Henry + gravely. 'And the artillery is a bit safer than the infantry. You + know my son Arthur's a gunner.' +</p> +<p> + 'I hope he's all right, sir?' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, he's still on light work. He comes home this week for a bit. + He was gassed at Ypres a year and a half ago, and had a bullet taken + out of his chest about two months since. But he is nearly fit + again.' +</p> +<p> + The butler expressed his sympathy with a complete absence of shyness + or servility, then threw open a door at the end of the passage, + announcing, 'Sir Henry Chicksands, sir.' +</p> +<p> + '<i>D-mn</i>!' said a voice loudly within. +</p> +<p> + Sir Henry gave an involuntary start. Another look passed between + him and Forest, amused or interrogative on the visitor's part, + non-committal on the butler's. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + The library of Mannering Hall as Sir Henry Chicksands entered it + presented a curious spectacle. It was a long, barn-like room, + partly lined with books, and partly with glass cases, in which + Greek vases, Tanagra figures, and other Greek and Etruscan + antiquities, all carefully marked and labelled, were displayed. A + few large tables stood at intervals on the shabby carpet, also + laden with books and specimens. They conveyed an impression of + dust and disorder, as though no housemaid had been allowed to + touch them for weeks—with one exception. A table, smaller than + the rest, but arranged with scrupulous neatness, stood at one side + of the room, with a typewriter upon it, certain books, and a rack + for stationery. A folded duster lay at one corner. Pens, pencils, + a box of clips, and a gum-pot stood where a careful hand had + placed them. And at a corner corresponding to the duster was a + small vase of flowers—autumnal roses—the only flowers in the + room. +</p> +<p> + But the various untidy accumulations, most of which seemed to be of + old standing, had been evidently just added to by some recent + arrivals. Four large packing-cases, newly opened, took up much of + what free space was left on the floor. The straw, paper, and + cottonwool, in which their contents had been packed, had been tossed + out with a careless or impatient hand, and littered the carpet. + Among the litter stood here and there some Greek vases of different + sizes; in particular, a superb pair, covered with figures; beside + which stood the owner of Mannering, talking to an apparently young + man with an eye-glass, who was sitting on the floor closely + examining the vases. The Squire turned a furrowed brow towards his + approaching visitor, and putting down a small bronze he had been + holding raised a warning hand. +</p> +<p> + 'How do you do, Chicksands? Very sorry, but I'm much too filthy to + touch. And I'm horribly busy! These things arrived last night, and + Mr. Levasseur has kindly come over to help me unpack them. Don't + know if you've met him. Mr. Levasseur—Sir Henry Chicksands.' +</p> +<p> + The man on the floor looked up carelessly, just acknowledging Sir + Henry's slight inclination. Sir Henry's inner mind decided against + him—at once—instinctively. What was a stout fellow, who at any + rate <i>looked</i> as though he were still of military age, doing with + nonsense of this sort, at four o'clock in the day, when England + wanted every able-bodied man she possessed, either to fight for her + or to work for her? At the same time the reflection passed rapidly + through his mind that neither the man nor the name had come up—so + far as he could remember—before the County Tribunal of which he was + Chairman. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, Chicksands, what do you want with me?' said the Squire + abruptly. 'Will you take a chair?' And he pointed to one from which + he hastily removed a coat. +</p> +<p> + 'I have some confidential business to talk to you about,' said Sir + Henry, with a look at the dusty gentleman among the straw. +</p> +<p> + 'Something you want me to do that I'll be bound I shan't want to do! + Is that it?' said Mannering with vivacity. +</p> +<p> + He stood with his hands on a table behind him, his long spare frame + in a nervous fidget, his eyes bright and hostile, and a spot of red + on either thin cheek. Beside Chicksands, who was of middle height, + solidly built, and moderately stout, with mental and physical + competence written all over him, the Squire of Mannering seemed but + the snippet of a man. He was singularly thin, with a slender neck, + and a small head covered with thick hair, prematurely white, which + tumbled over his forehead and eyes. He had the complexion of a girl, + disproportionately large nose, very sharply and delicately cut as to + bridge and nostril, and a mouth and chin which seemed to be in + perpetual movement. He looked older than Sir Henry, who was verging + on sixty, but he was in fact just over fifty. +</p> +<p> + Sir Henry smiled a little at the tone of the Squire's question, but + he answered good-humouredly. +</p> +<p> + 'I believe, when we've talked it over, you won't think it + unreasonable. But I've come to explain.' +</p> +<p> + 'I know, you want me to give Gregson notice. But I warn you I'm not + the least inclined to do anything of the kind.' And the speaker + crossed his arms, which were very long and thin, over a narrow + chest, while his eyes restlessly countered those of Sir Henry. +</p> +<p> + Chicksands paused a moment before replying. +</p> +<p> + 'I have a good many papers here to show you,' he said at last, + mildly, drawing a large envelope half-way from the inner pocket of + his coat to illustrate his words, and then putting it back again. + 'But I really can't discuss them except with yourself.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire's eyes shot battle. +</p> +<p> + 'It's the war, of course,' he said with emphasis; 'it's all the war. + I'm told to do things I don't want to do, which affect my personal + freedom, and other people's, because of a war I don't believe in, + never asked for, and don't approve of. Here's Levasseur now, a + clever fellow, cleverer than either you or me, Chicksands, and he's + no more patriotic than I am. You talk to him!' +</p> +<p> + 'Thank you, I'm too busy,' said Sir Henry sharply, his face + stiffening. 'Where can you see me, Mannering? I'm rather pressed for + time. Is the smoking-room free?' And with a marked avoidance of any + concern with the gentleman on the floor, who had by now risen to his + feet, Sir Henry made an impatient movement towards a door at the + further end of the library which stood ajar. +</p> +<p> + Levasseur looked amused. He was a strongly-built, smooth-shaven + fellow, with rather long hair, and the sallow look of the + cigarette-smoker. His eyes were sleepy, his expression indolent or + good-natured. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, I'll make myself scarce with the greatest pleasure,' he said + civilly. 'I can stroll about the park till you're ready for me + again,' he added, turning to the Squire. 'Lovely day—I'll take a + book and some cigarettes.' And diving into an open box which stood + near he filled his cigarette-case from it, and then looked round him + for a book. 'Where's that copy of the <i>Anthology</i>? That'll do + nicely.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire burst into a laugh, observing Sir Henry. +</p> +<p> + 'He's over military age, Chicksands.' +</p> +<p> + 'I suppose so,' said Sir Henry stiffly. +</p> +<p> + 'But only by six months, when the Act passed. So he's <i>just</i> escaped + you.' +</p> +<p> + 'I've really no concern whatever with Mr. Levasseur's affairs.' Sir + Henry had flushed angrily. 'Is it to be here, or the smoking-room?' +</p> +<p> + 'Ta-ta! See you again presently,' said Levasseur. 'Ah, there's the + book!' And diving to the floor for a hat and a book lying beside it, + he made off, lighting a cigarette, with a laughing backward glance + towards the Squire and his companion. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, now, what is it?' said Mannering, throwing himself with an + air of resignation into a low arm-chair, and taking out a pipe. + 'Won't you smoke, Chicksands?' +</p> +<p> + 'Thank you, I've had my morning's allowance. Hullo! Who did that? + What an awfully fine thing!' +</p> +<p> + For suddenly, behind the Squire's head, Chicksands had become aware + of an easel, and on it a charcoal sketch, life-size, of a boy, who + seemed about eighteen or nineteen, in cricketing dress. +</p> +<p> + The Squire looked round. +</p> +<p> + 'What, that sketch of Desmond? Haven't you seen it? Yes, it's jolly + good. I got Orpen to do it in July.' +</p> +<p> + Now that Sir Henry had once perceived the drawing it seemed to him + to light up the whole place. The dress was the dress of the Eton + Eleven; there was just a suggestion of pale blue in the sash round + the waist. But the whole impression was Greek in its manly freedom + and beauty; above all in its sacrifice of all useless detail to one + broad and simple effect. Youth, eager, strong, self-confident, with + its innocent parted lips, and its steadfast eyes looking out over + the future—the drawing stood there as the quintessence, the + embodiment, of a whole generation. So might the young Odysseus have + looked when he left his mother on his first journey to hunt the boar + with his kinsfolk on Mount Parnassus. And with such an air had + hundreds of thousands of English boys gone out on a deadlier venture + since the great war began, with a like intensity of will, a like + merry scorn of fate. +</p> +<p> + Sir Henry was conscious of a lump in his throat. He had lost his + youngest son in the retreat from Mons, and two nephews on the Somme. +</p> +<p> + 'It's wonderful,' he said, not very clearly. 'I envy you such a + possession.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire made no reply. He sat with his long body hunched up in + the deep chair, a pair of brooding eyes fixed on his visitor. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, what is it?' he said again, in a voice that was barely civil. +</p> +<a name="2HCH0002"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + CHAPTER II +</h2> +<p> + Sir Henry had been talking some time. The Squire had not interrupted + him much, but the papers which Sir Henry had presented to him from + time to time—Government communications, Committee reports, and the + like—were mostly lying on the floor, where, after a perfunctory + glance at them, he had very quickly dropped them. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, that's our case,' said Sir Henry at last, thrusting his hands + into his pockets and leaning back in his chair, 'and I assure you + we've taken a great deal of trouble about it. We shouldn't ask you + or anybody else to do these things if it wasn't vitally necessary + for the food-supply of the country. But we're going to have a narrow + squeak for it next spring and summer, and we <i>must</i> get more food + out of the land.' +</p> +<p> + Whereupon, in a manner rather provokingly reminiscent of a public + meeting, Sir Henry fell into a discourse on submarines, tonnage, the + food needs of our Allies, and the absolute necessity for undoing and + repairing the havoc of Cobdenism—matters of which the newspapers of + the day were commonly full. That the sound of his own voice was + agreeable to him might have been suspected. +</p> +<p> + Mr. Mannering roughly broke in upon him. +</p> +<p> + 'What was that you said about ploughing up the park?' +</p> +<p> + 'We ask you to break up fifty acres of it near the Fallerton end, + and perhaps some other bits elsewhere. This first bit is so far + from the house you'll never notice it; and the land ought to do very + well if it's properly broken and trampled down.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire sat up and began to tick things off on the fingers of his + left hand. +</p> +<p> + 'Let me understand. You want me to give three of my farmers notice + to quit—Gregson first of all—for bad farming; you ask me to plough + up fifty acres of my park; and you have the goodness to suggest that + I should cut some of my woods.' +</p> +<p> + Sir Henry realized that possibly a strain on his temper was coming, + but he felt sure he could stand it. +</p> +<p> + 'That is what we suggest—for your own advantage and the country's.' +</p> +<p> + 'And pray who are "<i>we</i>"? I don't yet understand that clearly.' +</p> +<p> + '"We,"' said Sir Henry patiently, 'are the County War Agricultural + Committee, formed for the express purpose of getting more food out + of the land, and so making these islands self-supporting.' +</p> +<p> + 'And if I refuse, what can you do?' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, I'm afraid,' said Sir Henry, smiling uncomfortably, 'we can + act without you.' +</p> +<p> + 'You can turn out my farmers, and plough my land, as you please?' +</p> +<p> + 'Our powers are very wide.' +</p> +<p> + 'Under—what do you call the beastly thing?—"Dora"—the Defence of + the Realm Act?' +</p> +<p> + Sir Henry nodded. +</p> +<p> + The Squire rose and began to pace up and down, his hands under his + coat-tails, his long spider legs and small feet picking their way in + and out of the piles and boxes on the floor. At last he turned + impetuously. +</p> +<p> + 'Look here, Chicksands, I shall not give that man warning!' +</p> +<p> + Sir Henry surveyed the lanky figure standing opposite to him. +</p> +<p> + 'I should be very sorry, Mannering, to see you take that course,' he + said, smiling and amiable as before. 'In some ways, of course, I am + no more in love with some of the Government's proceedings than you + are. We landlords may have to defend ourselves. I want, if I may say + so, to keep your influence intact for the things that really matter. + You and I, and all the other Brookshire landlords, may have, at some + point, to act together. But we shall resist unreasonable demands + much more easily if we accept the reasonable ones.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire shook his head. The suave tone of the speaker had clearly + begun to rasp his nerves. +</p> +<p> + 'No! You and I have really nothing in common. You may take it from + me that I shall not give these men notice. What happens then?' +</p> +<p> + 'The Government steps in,' said Sir Henry quietly. +</p> +<p> + 'And turns them out? Very well, let them. And the park?' +</p> +<p> + 'We are, of course, most anxious to consult you.' +</p> +<p> + 'Excuse me, that's nonsense! I refuse—that's flat.' +</p> +<p> + Sir Henry shrugged his shoulders. His tone became a trifle colder. +</p> +<p> + 'I can't believe that you will refuse. You can't deny—no sensible + man could—that we've simply got to grow more food at home. The + submarines have settled that for us.' +</p> +<p> + 'Who brought the submarines upon us? The politicians! No + politicians, no war! If it hadn't been for a pack of idiots called + diplomats making mischief abroad, and a pack of incompetents called + politicians unable to keep their heads at home, there'd have been no + war. It's Russia's war—France's war! Who asked the country whether + it wanted a war? Who asked <i>me</i>?' The Squire, standing opposite to + Sir Henry, tapped his chest vehemently. +</p> +<p> + 'The country is behind the war,' said Chicksands firmly. +</p> +<p> + 'How do we know? How do you know? I've as much right to an opinion + as you, and I tell you the country is sick and tired of the war. We + are all dying of the war! We shall all be paupers because of the + war! What is France to me, or Belgium? We shall have lost men, + money, security—half the things that make life worth living—for + what?' +</p> +<p> + 'Honour!' said Sir Henry sharply, as he got on his feet. +</p> +<p> + '<i>Honour</i>!' sneered Mannering—'what's honour? It means one thing to + me and another to you. Aubrey bangs me over the head with it. But + I'm like the Doctor in the Punch and Judy show—he thinks he's + knocked me flat. He hasn't. I've a new argument every time he comes. + And as for my daughters, they think me a lunatic—a stingy lunatic + besides—because I won't give to their Red Cross shows and bazaars. + I've nothing to give. The income tax gentlemen have taken care of + that.' +</p> +<p> + 'Yet you spend on this kind of thing!' Sir Henry pointed to the + vases. He had grown a little white. +</p> +<p> + 'Of course I can. That's permanent. That's something to mend the + holes that the soldiers and the politicians are making. When the + war's become a nightmare that nobody wants to remember, those little + things'—he pointed to a group of Greek bronzes and terra-cottas on + a table near—'will still be the treasures of the world!' +</p> +<p> + In the yeasty deep of Sir Henry's honest mind emotions were rising + which he knew now he should not long be able to control. He took up + his hat and stick. +</p> +<p> + 'I'm sorry, Mannering, that I have not been able to convince you. + I'm sorry for your point of view—and I'm sorry for your sons.' +</p> +<p> + The words slipped out of his mouth before he knew. +</p> +<p> + The Squire bounded. +</p> +<p> + 'My sons! The one's a fire-eater, with whom you can't argue. The + other's a child—a babe—whom the Government proposes to murder + before he has begun to live.' +</p> +<p> + Sir Henry looked at the speaker, who had been violently flushed a + minute earlier, and was now as pale as himself, and then at the + sketch of Desmond, just behind the Squire. His eyes dropped; the + hurry in his blood subsided. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, good-bye, Mannering. I'll—I'll do what I can to make things + easy for you.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire laughed angrily. +</p> +<p> + 'You'll put on the screws politely? Thank you? But still it will be + <i>you</i> who'll be putting the screw on, who'll be turning out my + farmers, and ploughing up my land, and cutting down my trees. + Doesn't it strike you that—well, that—under the circumstances—it + will be rather difficult for Aubrey and Beryl to keep up their + engagement?' +</p> +<p> + The Squire was sitting on the edge of the table, his thin legs + crossed, his thumbs in his waistcoat pockets. Sir Henry coloured + hotly. +</p> +<p> + 'You gave your consent to their engagement, Mannering.' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, but I propose to withdraw it,' said the Squire coolly. +</p> +<p> + Sir Henry's indignation kept him cool also. +</p> +<p> + 'You can't play ducks and drakes with young people's lives like + that. Even you can't do that.' +</p> +<p> + 'I can. I can withdraw my consent.' +</p> +<p> + 'Because you mean to fight the County War Committee, of which I am + Chairman?' +</p> +<p> + 'Precisely. The situation is too difficult,' said the Squire with + sparkling eyes. 'The young people will no doubt see it for + themselves.' +</p> +<p> + 'Pshaw! Nonsense!' cried Sir Henry, finally losing his temper. + 'Aubrey is long since of age and his own master.' +</p> +<p> + 'Perhaps, but he is an extravagant fellow, who likes money and + spends it. And if he is his own master, I am the master of the + estate; there is no entail.' +</p> +<p> + Chicksands laughed aloud. +</p> +<p> + 'So because I come on a mission to try and save you friction and + trouble, you are going to avenge yourself on your son and my + daughter?' +</p> +<p> + 'I merely point out the properties,' said the Squire provokingly, + his legs dangling. +</p> +<p> + There was a pause. Sir Henry broke it with dignity, as he turned + away. +</p> +<p> + 'I think we had better break off this discussion. I cannot—I do + not—believe you will carry out what you say. But if you do, I shall + stand by the young people.' +</p> +<p> + 'No doubt!' said the Squire, who seemed to bristle from head to + foot. 'Well, good-bye, Sir Henry. Sorry your visit has not been more + agreeable. Forest will look after you.' And ringing the bell + vehemently as he passed the fireplace, the Squire walked rapidly to + the door and threw it open. +</p> +<p> + Chicksands passed through it, speechless with indignation and, if + the truth were told, bewilderment. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + The Squire shut the door upon his adversary, and then, with his + hands on his sides, exploded in a fit of laughter. +</p> +<p> + 'I always knew I must be rude to the old boy some time,' he said, + with the glee of a mischievous child. 'But, ye gods, how his + feathers drooped! He looked like a plucked cockatoo as he went out.' +</p> +<p> + He stood thinking a moment, and then with a look of sudden + determination he went to his writing-table and sat down to it. + Drawing a writing-pad towards him, he wrote as follows: +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'M<small>Y DEAR</small> A<small>UBREY</small>—Your future father-in-law has just been + insulting and harrying me in ways which no civilized State had + ever heard of before the war. He is the Chairman of a + ridiculous body that calls itself the County War Agricultural + Committee, that lays absurd eggs in the shape of sub-Committees + to vex landlords. They have been going about among my farmers + and want me to turn out three of them. I decline, so I suppose + they'll do it for me. And they're going to plough up a lot of + the park—without my leave. And Chicksands is the head and + front of the whole business. He came here to-day to try and + coax me into submission. But I would neither be coaxed nor + bullied. I've broken with him; and if my children stand by me + properly, they'll break with him too. I really don't see how + you're going to marry Beryl after this. At least, I shall + certainly not help you to do it, and if you defy me you must + take the consequences. The whole world's gone mad. My only + consolation is that I have just got some new Greek things, and + that Levasseur's helping me unpack them. However, it's no good + talking to you about them. You wasted all your time at + Cambridge, and I doubt whether you could construe a bit of + Euripides to save your life. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'Of course if you want to talk this over, you had better run + down. I have got a new secretary—came here six weeks ago—a + topping young woman—who reads Greek like a bird. But her + quantities are not always what they should be. Good-bye.—Your + affectionate father, +</p> +<p class="ar"> + 'E<small>DMUND</small> M<small>ANNERING</small>.' +</p> +<p> + Having finished the epistle he read it over with a complacent + countenance, put it up and stamped it. Then he looked at his watch. +</p> +<p> + 'What a long time that young woman's been away! I told her to take + two hours off, but of course I didn't mean it. That was just my + excessive politeness. D-mn my politeness. It's always getting in my + way. I forget that women are naturally lazy. I daresay she was a bit + fagged. But if she's interested in her work, what does that matter? + I wonder whether she's looked out all these references?' +</p> +<p> + And walking over to the one neat table In the room he surveyed it. + There were some sheets lying on it mostly covered with an excellent + Greek script, which he turned over. Suddenly he swooped on one of + them. +</p> +<p> + 'Hullo! That line's wrong. Won't scan. Trusted to her memory, I + suppose. Didn't look it up. And yesterday I caught her out in her + accents. Women play the devil with accents. But she writes a pretty + Greek. Eh? What?' For he had become aware of the re-entry of + Levasseur, who was standing at his elbow. +</p> +<p> + ''Fraid I can't stay now,' said that person. 'I've promised to pick + up some wounded at the station to-night.' +</p> +<p> + 'You—wounded!—what do you mean?' said the Squire, turning upon + him. +</p> +<p> + Levasseur's large, thin-lipped mouth showed what seemed an habitual + grin. +</p> +<p> + 'I'd been getting so unpopular, it was becoming a nuisance. Line of + least resistance, you understand. Now everybody's quite civil again. + And I like chauffing.' +</p> +<p> + 'A mere bit of weakness!' grumbled the Squire. 'Either you keep out + of the war, or you go into it. You'd better go off to a camp now, + and get trained—and shot—as quickly as possible—get done with + it.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh no,' laughed the other. 'I'm all for middle courses. If they'll + let me go on with my book, I don't mind driving a few poor fellows + now and then!' +</p> +<p> + The Squire looked at him critically. +</p> +<p> + 'The fact is you're too well fed, Levasseur, or you look it. That + annoys people. Now I might gorge for a month, and shouldn't put on a + pound.' +</p> +<p> + 'I suppose your household is rationed?' +</p> +<p> + 'Not it! We eat what we want. Just like the labourers. I found an + old labourer eating his dinner under a hedge yesterday. Half a pound + of bread at the very least, and he gets as much for his supper, and + nearly as much for his breakfast. "I shall eat it, Squire, as long + as I can get it. There's nowt else <i>packs</i> ye like bread." And quite + right too. Good word "pack."' +</p> +<p> + 'What'll he do when he can't get it?' laughed Levasseur, taking up + his hat. +</p> +<p> + 'Stuff! This food business is all one big <i>blague</i>. Anyway the + Government got us into the war; they're jolly well bound to feed us + through it. They will, for their own necks' sake. Well, good-night.' +</p> +<p> + Levasseur nodded in response, with the same silent, aimless grin, + and disappeared through the garden door of the library. +</p> +<p> + 'Queer fellow!' thought the Squire. 'But he's useful. I shall get + him to help catalogue these things as he did the others. Ah, there + you are!' +</p> +<p> + He turned with a reproachful air as the door opened. +</p> +<p> + The westerly sun was coming strongly into the library, and shone + full on the face and figure of the Squire's new secretary as she + stood in the door-way. He expected an apology for an absence just + five minutes over the two hours; but she offered none. +</p> +<p> + 'Pamela asked me to tell you, Mr. Mannering, that tea was ready + under the verandah.' +</p> +<p> + 'Afternoon tea is an abominable waste of time!' said the Squire + discontentedly, facing her with a Greek pot under each arm. +</p> +<p> + 'Do you think so? To me it's always the pleasantest meal in the + day.' +</p> +<p> + The voice was musical and attractive, but its complete + self-possession produced a vague irritation in the Squire. With his + two former secretaries, a Cambridge man and a spectacled maiden + with a London University degree, he had been accustomed to play the + tyrant as must as he pleased. Something had told him from the very + beginning that he would not be able to tyrannize over this newcomer. +</p> +<p> + But his quick masterful temper was already trying to devise ways of + putting her down. He beckoned her towards the table where she had + left her work, and she went obediently. +</p> +<p> + 'You've got that line wrong.' He pointed to a quotation from the + <i>Odyssey</i>. 'Read it, please!' +</p> +<p> + She read it. He stopped her triumphantly. +</p> +<p> + 'No, no, you can't make that long!' He pointed to one of the Greek + words. +</p> +<p> + Her fair skin flushed. +</p> +<p> + 'But indeed you can!' she said eagerly. 'Merry quotes three parallel + passages. I have them in one of my notebooks.' And she began to + search her table. Mannering stopped her ungraciously. +</p> +<p> + 'Of course there's always some learned fool behind every bad + reading. Anyway, what do you say to those accents?' He pointed + severely to another line of her Greek. This time Miss Bremerton's + countenance changed. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh dear, what a blunder!' she said in distress, as she bent over + her pages. 'I assure you I don't often do anything as bad as that.' +</p> +<p> + Mannering was secretly delighted. His manner became at once all + politeness. +</p> +<p> + 'Don't worry yourself, please. We all make mistakes.... You have a + beautiful Greek handwriting.' +</p> +<p> + Miss Bremerton took the compliment calmly—did not indeed seem to + hear it. She was already scratching out the offending words with a + sharp penknife, and daintily rewriting them. Then she looked up. +</p> +<p> + 'Pamela asked me to go back to her. And I was to say, will you come, + or shall she send tea here?' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, I'll come, I'll come. I've got something to say to Pamela,' + said the Squire, frowning. And he stalked in front of her along the + library passage, his brilliant white hair gleaming in its shadows. + It was well perhaps that he did not see the amusement which played + round Elizabeth Bremerton's handsome mouth as she pursued him. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + Tea was laid on a flagged walk under a glazed pergola running along + part of the southern wall of the house. Here Pamela was sitting + waiting, with a basket of knitting on her knee which she put out of + sight as soon as she heard her father's step. She had taken off her + hat, and her plentiful brown hair was drawn in a soft wave across + her forehead, and thickly coiled behind a shapely head. She was very + young, and very pretty. Perhaps the impression of youth + predominated, youth uncertain of itself, conscious rather of its own + richness and force than of any definite aims or desires. Her + expression was extremely reserved. A veil seemed to lie over her + deep, heavy-lidded eyes, and over features that had now delicacy and + bloom, but promised much more—something far beyond any mere girlish + prettiness. She was tall and finely made, and for the school + tableaux in which she had frequently helped she had been generally + cast for such parts as 'Nausicaa among her maidens,' 'Athene + lighting the way for Odysseus and Telemachus,' 'Dante's Beatrice,' + or any other personage requiring dignity, even a touch of majesty. + Flowing skirts, indeed, at once made a queen of her. It was evident + that she was not at her ease with her father; nor, as yet, with her + father's new secretary. +</p> +<p> + The contrast between this lady and Pamela Mannering was obvious at + once. If Pamela suggested romance, Elizabeth Bremerton suggested + efficiency, cheerfulness, and the practical life. Her grandmother + had been Dutch, and in Elizabeth the fair skin and yellow-gold hair + (Rembrandt's 'Saskia' shows the type) of many Dutch forebears had + reappeared. She was a trifle plump; her hair curled prettily round + her temples; her firm dimpled chin and the fair complexion of her + face and neck were set off, evidently with intention, by the plain + blouse of black silky stuff, open at the neck, and showing a modest + string of small but real pearls. The Squire, who had a wide + knowledge of jewels, had noticed these pearls at once. It seemed to + him—vaguely—that lady secretaries should not possess real pearls; + or if they did possess them, should carefully keep them to + themselves. +</p> +<p> + He accepted a cup of tea from his daughter, and drank it absently + before he asked: +</p> +<p> + 'Where's Desmond?' +</p> +<p> + 'He went to lunch at Fallerton—at the camp. Captain Byles asked + him. I think afterwards he was going to play in a match.' +</p> +<p> + The same thought passed through the minds of both father and + daughter. 'This day week, Desmond will be gone.' In Pamela it + brought back the dull pain of which she was now habitually + conscious—the pain of expected parting. In her father it aroused an + equally habitual antagonism—the temper, indeed, of ironic + exasperation in which all his thinking and doing were at the moment + steeped. He looked up suddenly. +</p> +<p> + 'Pamela, I have got something disagreeable to say to you.' +</p> +<p> + His daughter turned a startled face. +</p> +<p> + 'I have had a quarrel with Sir Henry Chicksands, and I do not wish + you, or Desmond, or any of my children, to have any communication + henceforth with him, or with any of his family!' +</p> +<p> + 'Father, what <i>do</i> you mean?' +</p> +<p> + The girl's incredulous dismay only increased the Squire's + irritation. +</p> +<p> + 'I mean what I say. Of course your married sisters and Aubrey will + do what they please, though I have warned Aubrey how I shall view it + if he takes sides against me. But you and Desmond are under my + control—you, at any rate. I forbid you to go to Chetworth, and your + friendship with Beryl must be given up.' +</p> +<p> + 'Father!' cried his daughter passionately, 'she is my best friend, + and she is engaged to Aubrey.' +</p> +<p> + 'If they are wise, they will break it off. Family quarrels are + awkward things. And if Aubrey has any feeling for his father, he + will be as angry as I am.' +</p> +<p> + 'What <i>has</i> Sir Henry been doing, father?' +</p> +<p> + 'Taking my own property out of my hands, my dear, giving notice to + my farmers, and proposing to plough up my park, without my consent. + That's all—just a trifle. But it's a trifle I shall fight!' +</p> +<p> + The Squire struck the arm of his chair with a long and bony hand. +</p> +<p> + 'Why, it's only because they <i>must</i>!' said the girl half scornfully, + her breath fluttering. 'Think what other people put up with, + father. And what they do! And we do <i>nothing</i>!' +</p> +<p> + Every word was said with difficulty, torn out of her by the shock of + her father's statement. The Squire stared at her threateningly a + little, then quieted down. He did not want a wrangle with Pamela, to + whom in general he was not unkind, while keeping a strict rule over + her. +</p> +<p> + 'Do nothing? What should we do? As if the war did not bleed us at + every turn already. I warn you all I shan't be able to pay the + income tax next year. Mannering will be sold up.' And thrusting his + hands again into his pockets, he looked gloomily before him, over a + piece of ill-kept garden, to the sloping park and blue interlacing + hills that filled the distance. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth Bremerton put down her teacup, glanced at the father and + daughter, and went discreetly away, back to the library and her + work. +</p> +<p> + Pamela hesitated a little, but at last moved nearer to him, and put + a hand on his arm. +</p> +<p> + 'Father! I dreadfully want you to let me do something!' +</p> +<p> + 'Eh, what?' said Mannering, rousing himself. 'Don't try and coax me, + child. It doesn't answer.' +</p> +<p> + 'I don't want to coax you,' said the girl proudly withdrawing her + hand. 'It's a very simple thing. Will you let me go and do day work + at the new Hospital, just across the park? They want some help in + the housework. There are fifty wounded men there.' +</p> +<p> + 'Certainly not,' said Mannering firmly. 'You are too young. You have + your education to think of. I told you I engaged Miss Bremerton to + give you two hours' classics a day. When we've arranged these pots, + she'll be free. You must also keep up your music. You have no time + for housemaiding. And I don't approve of housemaiding for my + daughter.' +</p> +<p> + 'The nicest girls I know are doing <i>anything</i>—scrubbing, washing + up, polishing bath-taps, making swabs, covering splints,' said + Pamela in a low voice. 'There are two of the Joyce girls at this + hospital, just my age. Of course they don't let you do any + nursing—for months.' +</p> +<p> + 'Lord Entwhistle may do what he likes with his girls. I propose to + do what I think best with mine,' said Mannering as he rose. +</p> +<p> + Then the girl's passion broke out. +</p> +<p> + 'It's <i>horrible</i>, father, that you won't do anything for the war, or + let me do anything. Oh, I'm <i>glad</i>'—she clenched her hands as she + stood opposite him, her beautiful head thrown back—'I'm thankful, + that you can't stop Desmond!' +</p> +<p> + Mannering looked at her, frowned, turned abruptly, and went away + whistling. +</p> +<p> + Pamela was left alone in the September evening. She betook herself + to an old grass-grown walk between yew hedges at the bottom of the + Dutch garden, and paced it in a tumult of revolt and pain. Not to go + to Chetworth again! not to see Beryl, or any of them! How cruel! how + monstrously unjust! +</p> +<p> + 'I shan't obey!—why should I? Beryl and I must manage to see each + other—of course we shall! Girls aren't the slaves they used to be. + If a thing is unjust, we can fight it—we ought to fight + it!—somehow. Poor, poor Beryl! Of course Aubrey will stick to her, + whatever father does. He would be a cur if he didn't. Desmond and I + would never speak to him again!... Beryl'll have Arthur to help + her, directly. Oh, I <i>wish</i> I had a brother like Arthur!' Her face + softened and quivered as she stood still a moment, sending her + ardent look towards the sunset. 'I think I shall ask him to advise + me.... I don't suppose he will.... How provoking he used to be! but + awfully kind too. He'll think I ought to do what father tells me. + How can I! It's wrong—it's abominable! Everybody despises us. And + Desmond's dying to be off—to get away from it all—like Aubrey. He + hates it so—he almost hates coming home! It's <i>humiliating</i>, and + it's not our fault!' +</p> +<p> + Such cries and thoughts ran through her as she walked impetuously up + and down, in rebellion against her father, unhappy for her girl + friend, and smarting under the coercion put upon her patriotism and + her conscience. For she had only two months before left a school + where the influence of a remarkable head-mistress had been directed + towards awakening in a group of elder girls, to which Pamela + belonged, a vivid consciousness of the perils and sufferings of the + war—of the sacredness of the cause for which England was fighting, + of the glory of England, and the joy and privilege of English + citizenship. In these young creatures the elder woman had kindled a + flame of feeling which, when they parted from her and their school + life—so she told them—was to take practical effect in work for + their country, given with a proud and glad devotion. +</p> +<p> + But Pamela, leaving school at the end of July for the last time, + after a surfeit of examinations, had been pronounced 'tired out' by + an old aunt, a certain Lady Cassiobury, who came for long periodical + visits to Mannering, and made a show of looking after her + motherless niece. Accordingly she had been packed off to Scotland + for August to stay with a school friend, one of a large family in a + large country house in the Highlands. And there, roaming amid lochs + and heather, with a band of young people, the majority of the men, + of course, in the Army—young officers on short leave, or + temporarily invalided, or boys of eighteen just starting their cadet + training—she had spent a month full of emotions, not often + expressed. For generally she was shy and rather speechless, though + none the less liked by her companions for that. But many things sank + deep with her; the beauty of mountain and stream; the character + of some of the boys she walked and fished with—unnoticed + sub-lieutenants, who had come home to get cured of one wound, and + were going out again to the immediate chance of another, or worse; + the tales of heroism and death of which the Scotch countryside was + full. Her own mood was tuned thereby to an ever higher and more + tragic key. Nobody indeed of the party was the least tragic. + Everybody walked, fished, flirted, and laughed from morning till + night. Yet every newspaper, every post, brought news of some death + that affected one or other of the large group; and amid all the + sheer physical joy of the long days in the open, bathed in sun and + wind, there was a sense in all of them—or almost all of them—that + no summer now is as the summers of the past, that behind and around + the laughter and the picnicking there lay the Shadow that darkens + the world. +</p> +<p> + One gorgeous evening of gold and purple she was sitting by a + highland stream with a lad of twenty, throwing ducks and drakes into + the water. She was not at all in love with him; but, immature as she + was, she could not help seeing that he was a good deal in love with + her. He had been in uproarious spirits all the afternoon, and then + somehow he had contrived to find this moment alone with her. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, it'll be good-bye to-morrow, or perhaps to-night,' he had + said, as he flung yet another stone into the river, and she clapped + her hands as she counted no less than six skips along the smooth + water. +</p> +<p> + 'And then no leave for a long time?' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, I'd been ten months without any before.' +</p> +<p> + 'Perhaps we'll meet here again—next year.' +</p> +<p> + 'I don't expect it,' he said quietly. +</p> +<p> + Her startled eyes met his full. +</p> +<p> + 'It'll be worse fighting this winter than last—it'll go on getting + worse till the end. I don't look to coming back.' +</p> +<p> + His tone was so cheerful and matter-of-fact that it confused her. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, Basil, don't talk like that!' was all she could find to say. +</p> +<p> + 'Why not? Of course it's better not to talk about it. Nobody does. + But just this afternoon—when it's been so jolly—here with you, I + thought I'd like to say a word. Perhaps you'll remember—' +</p> +<p> + He threw another stone, and on the moor beyond the stream she heard + the grouse calling. +</p> +<p> + 'Remember what?' +</p> +<p> + 'That I was quite willing,' he said simply. 'That's all. It's worth + it.' +</p> +<p> + She could say nothing, but presently her hand dropped its pebble and + found its way into his, and he had held it without saying a word for + a little while. Then after dinner, with no good-bye to her, he had + disappeared by the night train to the south. +</p> +<p> + And that had been the spirit of all of them, those jolly, rampagious + lads, plain or handsome, clever or slow. Two of them were dead + already. But the one who had thrown ducks and drakes was still, so + far as she knew, somewhere in the Ypres salient, unscathed. +</p> +<p> + And after that she had come home to the atmosphere created by her + father's life and character, in this old house where she was born, + and in the estate round about it. It was as though she had only just + realized—begun to realize—her father's strangeness. His + eccentricities and unpopularity had meant little to her before. Her + own real interests had lain elsewhere; and her mind had been too + slow in developing to let her appreciate his fundamental difference + from other people. +</p> +<p> + At any rate her father's unpopularity had been lately acute, and + Pamela herself felt it bitterly, and shrank from her neighbours and + the cottage people. When Desmond came home with a D.S.O., or a + Victoria Cross, as of course he would, she supposed it would be all + right. But meanwhile not a single thing done for the war!—not a + <i>sou</i> to the Red Cross, or to any war funds! And hundreds spent on + antiquities—thousands perhaps—getting them deeper and deeper into + debt. For she was quite aware that they were in debt; and her own + allowance was of the smallest. Two hundred and fifty a year, too, + for Miss Bremerton!—when they could barely afford to keep up the + garden decently, or repair the house. She knew it was two hundred + and fifty pounds. Her father was never reticent about such things, + and had named the figure at once. +</p> +<p> + 'Why wasn't Miss Bremerton doing something for the war? <i>Greek</i> + indeed! when there was this fearful thing going on!' And in the + evening air, as the girl turned her face towards the moonrise, she + seemed to hear the booming of the Flanders guns. +</p> +<p> + And now Miss Bremerton was to do the housekeeping, and to play tutor + and chaperon to her. Pamela resented both. If she was not to be + allowed to scrub in a hospital, she might at least have learnt some + housekeeping at home, for future use. As for the Greek lessons, it + was not easy for her to be positively rude to any one, but she + promised herself a good deal of passive resistance on that side. For + if nothing else was possible, she could always sew and knit for the + soldiers. Pamela was not very good at either, but they did something + to lessen the moral thirst in her. +</p> +<p> + Ah, there was the library door. Miss Bremerton coming out—perhaps + to propose a lesson! Pamela took to flight—noiseless and + rapid—among the bosky corners and walks of the old garden. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth emerged, clearly perceiving a gleam of vanishing white in + the far distance. She sighed, but not at all sentimentally. 'It's + silly how she dislikes me,' she thought. 'I wonder what I can do!' +</p> +<p> + Then her eye was caught by the tea-table still standing out in the + golden dusk, which had now turned damp and chilly. Careless of + Pamela not to have sent it away! Elizabeth examined it. Far too many + cakes—too much sugar, too much butter, too much everything! And all + because the Squire, who seemed to have as great a need of economy as + anybody else, if not more, to judge from what she was beginning to + know about his affairs, was determined to flout the Food + Controller, and public opinion! What about the servants? she + wondered. +</p> +<p> + Perceiving a little silver bell on the table she rang it and waited. + Within a couple of minutes Forest emerged from the house. Elizabeth + hesitated, then plunged. +</p> +<p> + 'Take away the tea, please, Forest. And—and I should like to + consult you. Do you think anybody wants as much tea and cakes in + war-time?' She pointed to the table. +</p> +<p> + Forest paused as he was lifting the silver tray, and put it down + again. He looked at the table; then he looked at the lady opposite. +</p> +<p> + 'We servants, Miss, have never been asked what <i>we</i> think. Mr. + Mannering—that's not his way.' +</p> +<p> + 'But I may ask it, mayn't I, Forest?' +</p> +<p> + Forest's intelligent face flamed. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, if we've really to speak out what we think, Miss—that's Cook + and me—why, of course, the feeding here—well, it's a scandal! + that's what it is. The Master will have it. No change, he says, from + what it used to be. And the waste—well, you ask Cook! <i>She</i> can't + help it!' +</p> +<p> + 'Has she been here long, Forest?' +</p> +<p> + 'Fifteen years.' +</p> +<p> + 'And you?' +</p> +<p> + 'Twenty-two, Miss.' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, Forest,' Miss Bremerton approached him confidingly, 'don't + you think that you, and Cook, and I—you know Mr. Mannering wishes + me to do the housekeeping—well, that between us we could do + something?' +</p> +<p> + Forest considered it. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't see why not, Miss,' he said at last, with caution. 'You can + reckon on me, that's certain, and on Cook, that's certain too. As + for the young uns, we can get round them! They'll eat what they're + given. But you'll have to go careful with the Squire.' +</p> +<p> + Miss Bremerton smiled and nodded. They stood colloguing in the + twilight for ten minutes more. +</p> +<a name="2HCH0003"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + CHAPTER III +</h2> +<p> + 'I say, Pamela, who <i>is</i> this female, and why has she descended on + us?' +</p> +<p> + The speaker was Desmond Mannering. He was sitting on the edge of a + much dilapidated arm-chair in the room which had been the twins' + "den" from their childhood, in which Pamela's governess even, before + the girl's school years, was allowed only on occasional and + precarious footing. Here Pamela dabbed in photography, made + triumphant piles of the socks and mittens she kept from her father's + eye, read history, novels, and poetry, and wrote to her school + friends and the boys she had met in Scotland. Ranged along the + mantelpiece were numbers of snapshots—groups and single + figures—taken by her, with results that showed her no great + performer. +</p> +<p> + At the moment, however, Pamela was engaged in marking Desmond's + socks. She was very jealous of her sisterly prerogative in the + matter of Desmond's kit, and personal affairs generally. Forest was + the only person she would allow to advise her, and one or two + innocent suggestions made that morning by her new chaperon had + produced a good deal of irritation. +</p> +<p> + Pamela looked up with a flushed countenance. +</p> +<p> + 'I believe father did it specially that he might be able to tell + Alice and Margaret that he hadn't a farthing for their war + charities.' +</p> +<p> + 'You mean because she costs so much?' +</p> +<p> + 'Two hundred and fifty,' said Pamela drily. +</p> +<p> + 'My hat!—and her keep! I call that mean of father,' said Desmond + indignantly. 'You can't go tick with a secretary. It means cash. + There'll never be anything for you, Pam, and nothing for the garden. + The two old fellows that were here last week have been turned off, + Forest tells me?' +</p> +<p> + 'Father expects me to do the garden,' said Pamela, with rather + pinched lips. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, jolly good thing,' laughed her brother. 'Do you a lot of + good, Pam. You never get half enough exercise.' +</p> +<p> + 'I wouldn't mind if I were paid wages and could spend the money as I + liked.' +</p> +<p> + 'Poor old Pam! It is hard lines. I heard father tell the Rector he'd + spent eighteen hundred at that sale.' +</p> +<p> + 'And I'm ashamed to face any of the tradesmen,' said Pamela + fiercely. 'Why they go on trusting us I don't know.' +</p> +<p> + Desmond looked out of the window with a puckered brow—a slim figure + in his cadet's uniform. To judge from a picture on the wall behind + his head, an enlarged photograph of the late Mrs. Mannering taken a + year before the birth of the twins—an event which had cost the + mother her life—Desmond resembled her rather than his father. In + both faces there was the same smiling youthfulness, combined—as + indeed also in Pamela—with something that entirely banished any + suggestion of insipidity—something that seemed to say, 'There is a + soul here—and a brain.' It had sometimes occurred, in a dreamy way + to Pamela, to connect that smile on her mother's face with a line in + a poem of Browning's, which she had learnt for recitation at + school: +</p> +<p class="poem"> + This grew; I gave commands;<br> + Then all smiles stopped together. +</p> +<p class="noindent"> + Had her mother been happy? That her children could never know. +</p> +<p> + Desmond's countenance, however, soon cleared. It was impossible for + him to frown for long on any subject. He was very sorry for 'old + Pam.' His father's opinions and behaviour were too queer for words. + He would be jolly worried if he had to stay long at home, like + Pamela. But then he wasn't going to be long at home. He was going + off to his artillery camp in two days, and the thought filled him + with a restless and impatient delight. At the same time he was more + tolerant of his father than Pamela was, though he could not have + told why. +</p> +<p> + 'Desmond, give me your foot,' Pamela presently commanded. +</p> +<p> + The boy bared his foot obediently, and held it out while Pamela + tried on a sock she had just finished knitting on a new pattern. +</p> +<p> + 'I'm not very good at it,' sighed Pamela. 'Are you sure you can wear + them, Dezzy?' +</p> +<p> + 'Wear them? Ripping!' said the boy, surveying his foot at different + angles. 'But you know, Pam, I can't take half the things you want me + to take. What on earth did you get me a Gieve waistcoat for?' +</p> +<p> + 'How do you know you won't be going to Mesopotamia?' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, I don't know; but I don't somehow think it's very likely. + They get their drafts from Egypt, and there's lots of artillery + there.' +</p> +<p> + Pamela remembered with annoyance that Miss Bremerton had gently + hinted the same thing when the Gieve waistcoat had been unpacked in + her presence. It was true, of course, that she had a brother + fighting under General Maude. That, no doubt, did give her a modest + right to speak. +</p> +<p> + 'How old do you think she is?' said Desmond, nodding in the + direction of the library. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, she's over thirty.' +</p> +<p> + 'She doesn't look it.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, Desmond, she does!' +</p> +<p> + 'Let's call her the New Broom—Broomie for short,' said Desmond. + 'Look here, Pam, I wish you'd try and like her. I shall have a + dreadful hump when I get to camp if I think she's going to make you + miserable.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, I'll try,' said the girl with dreary resignation. 'You know I'm + not to see Beryl again?' She looked up. +</p> +<p> + Her brother laughed. +</p> +<p> + 'Don't I see you keeping to that! If Aubrey's any good he'll marry + her straight away. And then how can father boycott her after that?' +</p> +<p> + 'He will,' said Pamela decisively. +</p> +<p> + 'And if father thinks I'm going to give up Arthur, he's jolly well + mistaken,' said the boy with energy. 'Arthur's the best fellow I + know, and he's been just ripping to me.' +</p> +<p> + The young face softened and glowed as though under the stress of + some guarded memory. Pamela, looking up, caught her brother's + expression and glowed too. +</p> +<p> + 'Beryl says he isn't a bit strong yet. But he's moving heaven and + earth to get back to the front.' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, if they don't give him enough to do he'll be pretty sick. + He's no good at loafing.' +</p> +<p> + There was silence a little. Outside a misty sunshine lay on the + garden and the park and in it the changing trees were beginning to + assume the individuality and separateness of autumn after the + levelling promiscuity of the summer. The scene was very English and + peaceful; and between it and the two young creatures looking out + upon it there were a thousand links of memory and association. + Suddenly Desmond said: +</p> +<p> + 'Do you remember that bother I got into at Eton, Pam?' +</p> +<p> + Pamela nodded. Didn't she remember it? A long feud with another + boy—ending in a highly organized fight—absolute defiance of tutor + and housemaster on Desmond's part—and threatened expulsion. The + Squire's irritable pride had made him side ostentatiously with his + son, and Pamela could only be miserable and expect the worst. Then + suddenly the whole convulsion had quieted down, and Desmond's last + year at Eton had been a very happy one. Why? What had happened? + Pamela had never known. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, Arthur heard of it from "my tutor." He and Arthur were at + Trinity together. And Arthur came over from Cambridge and had me out + for a walk, and jawed me, jawed "my tutor," jawed the Head, jawed + everybody. Oh, well no good going into the rotten thing,' said + Desmond, flushing, 'but Arthur was awfully decent anyway.' +</p> +<p> + Pamela assented mutely. She did not want to talk about Arthur + Chicksands. There was in her a queer foreboding sense about him. She + did not in the least expect him to fall in love with her; yet there + was a dim, intermittent fear in her lest he might become too + important to her, together with a sharp shrinking from the news, + which of course might come any day, that he was going to be married. + She had known him from her childhood, had romped and sparred with + him. He was the gayest, most charming companion; yet he carried with + him, quite unconsciously, something that made it delightful to be + smiled at or praised by him, and a distress when you did not get on + with him, and were quite certain that he thought you silly or + selfish. There was a rumour which reached Mannering after the second + battle of Ypres that he had been killed. The Chicksands' household + believed it for twenty-four hours. +</p> +<p> + Then he was discovered—gassed and stunned—in a shell-hole, and + there had been a long illness and convalescence. During the + twenty-four hours when he was believed to be dead, Pamela had spent + the April daylight in the depths of the Mannering woods, in tangled + hiding-places that only she knew. It was in the Easter holidays. She + was alone at Mannering with an old governess, while her father was + in London. The little wrinkled Frenchwoman watched her in silence, + whenever she was allowed to see her. Then when on the second morning + there came a telegram from Chetworth, and Pamela tore it open, + flying with it before she read it to the secrecy of her own room, + the Frenchwoman smiled and sighed. 'Ca, c'est l'amour!' she said to + herself, 'assurément c'est l'amour!' And when Pamela came down + again, radiant as a young seraph, and ready to kiss the apple-red + cheek of the Frenchwoman—the rarest concession!—Madame Guérin did + not need to be told that Arthur Chicksands was safe and likely to be + sound. +</p> +<p> + But the Frenchwoman's inference was premature. During the two years + she had been at school, Pamela had thought very little of Arthur + Chicksands. She was absorbed in one of those devotions to a + woman—her schoolmistress—very common among girls of strong + character, and sometimes disastrous. In her case it had worked well. + And now the period of extravagant devotion was over, and the girl's + mind and heart set free. She thought she had forgotten Arthur + Chicksands, and was certain he must have forgotten her. As it + happened they had never met since his return to the front in the + autumn of 1915—Pamela was then seventeen and a schoolgirl—or, as + she now put it, a baby. She remembered the child who had hidden + herself in the woods as something very far away. +</p> +<p> + And yet she did not want to talk about 'Arthur,' as she had always + called him, and there was a certain tremor and excitement in her + mind about him. The idea of being prevented from seeing him was + absurd—intolerable. She was already devising ways and means of + doing it. It was really not to be expected that filial obedience + should reign at Mannering. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + The twins had long left the subject of the embargo on Chetworth, and + were wrangling and chaffing over the details of Desmond's packing, + when there was a knock at the door. +</p> +<p> + Pamela stiffened at once. +</p> +<p> + 'Come in!' +</p> +<p> + Miss Bremerton entered. +</p> +<p> + 'Are you very busy?' +</p> +<p> + 'Not at all!' said Desmond politely, scurrying with his best Eton + manners to find a chair for the newcomer. 'It's an awful muddle, but + that's Pamela!' +</p> +<p> + Pamela aimed a sponge-bag at him, which he dodged, and Elizabeth + Bremerton sat down. +</p> +<p> + 'I want to hold a council with you,' she said, turning a face just + touched with laughter from one to the other. 'Do you mind?' +</p> +<p> + 'Certainly not,' said Desmond, sitting on the floor with his hands + round his knees. 'What's it about?' And he gave Pamela's right foot + a nudge with his left by way of conveying to her that he thought her + behaviour ungracious. Pamela hurriedly murmured, 'Delighted.' +</p> +<p> + 'I want to tell you about the servants,' said Elizabeth. 'I can't do + anything unless you help me.' +</p> +<p> + 'Help you in what?' said Desmond, wondering. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, you know, it's simply scandalous what you're all eating in + this house!' exclaimed Elizabeth, with sudden energy. 'You ought to + be fined.' She frowned, and her fair Dutch complexion became a + bright pink. +</p> +<p> + 'It's quite true,' said Pamela, startled. 'I told father, and he + laughed at me.' +</p> +<p> + 'But now even the servants are on strike,' said Elizabeth. 'It's + Forest that's been preaching to them. He and Cook have been drawing + up a week's <i>menu</i>, according to the proper scale. But—' +</p> +<p> + 'Father won't have it,' said Pamela decidedly. +</p> +<p> + 'An idea has occurred to me,' was Elizabeth's apologetic reply. + 'Your father doesn't come in to lunch?' +</p> +<p> + 'Happy thought!' cried Desmond. 'Send him in a Ritz luncheon, while + the rest of you starve. Easy enough for me to say as I'm off—and + soldiers aren't rationed! We may be as greedy pigs as we like.' +</p> +<p> + 'What do you say?' Elizabeth looked at Pamela. The girl was + flattered by the deference shown her, and gradually threw herself + into the little plot. How to set up a meatless day for the + household, minus the Squire, and not be found out; how to restrict + the bread and porridge allowance, while apparently outrunning + it—knotty problems! into which the twins plunged with much laughter + and ingenuity. At the end of the discussion, Elizabeth said with + hesitation, 'I don't like not telling Mr. Mannering, but—' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh no, you can't tell him' said Pamela, in her most resolute tone. + 'Besides, it's for the country!' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, it's the country!' echoed Elizabeth. 'Oh, I'm so glad you + agree with me. Forest's splendid!' +</p> +<p> + 'I say, Broomie's not bad,' thought Desmond. Aloud he said, + 'Forest's a regular Turk in the servants' hall—rules them all with + a rod of iron.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth laughed. 'He tells me there was a joint of cold beef last + night for supper, and he carried it away bodily back into the + larder. And they all supped on fried potatoes, cheese, oatcake and + jam! So then I asked him whether anybody minded, and he said the + little kitchen-maid cried a bit, and said she "was used to her + vittles and her mother would be dreadfully put out." "'<i>Mother</i>!' + says I, 'haven't you got <i>a young man</i>!' And then I give her a real + talking to about the war. 'You back your young man,' I said, 'and + there's only one way as females can do it—barring them as is in + munitions. Every bit of bread you don't eat is helping to kill + Boches. And what else is your young man doin'? Where do you say he + is? Wipers? You ask him. He'll tell you!' So then we were all nice + and comfortable—and you needn't bother about us downstairs. <i>We're</i> + all right!"' +</p> +<p> + 'Good old Forest!' laughed Desmond, delighted. 'I always knew he was + the real boss here. Father thinks he is, but he can't do without + Forest, and the old boy knows it.' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, so that's agreed,' said Elizabeth demurely, as she rose. 'I + naturally couldn't do anything without you, but so long as your + father gets everything that he's accustomed to—' +</p> +<p> + 'I don't see quite what you're going to do about dinner—late + dinner, I mean?' said Pamela pensively. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth beamed at her. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, I became a vegetarian last week, except for very occasional + break-outs. Fish is a vegetable!' +</p> +<p> + 'I see,' reflected Pamela. 'We can break out now and then at dinner, + when father's got his eye on us—' +</p> +<p> + 'And be pure patriots at lunch,' laughed Miss Bremerton, as she + opened the door. 'Au revoir! I must go back to work.' +</p> +<p> + She vanished. The brother and sister looked at each other. +</p> +<p> + Desmond gave his opinion. +</p> +<p> + 'I believe she's a good sort!' +</p> +<p> + '"Wait and see,"' said Pamela pompously, and returned to her + packing. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + The preceding conversation took place during a break in Elizabeth's + morning occupations. She had been busily occupied in collecting and + copying out some references from Pausanias, under the Squire's + direction. He meanwhile had been cataloguing and noting his new + possessions, which, thanks to the aid of his henchman Levasseur, had + been already arranged. And they made indeed a marvellous addition to + the Mannering library and its collections. At the end of the room + stood now a huge archaic Nikê, with outstretched peplum and soaring + wings. To her left was the small figure, archaic also, of a + charioteer, from the excavations at Delphi, amazingly full of life + in spite of hieratic and traditional execution. But the most + conspicuous thing of all was a mutilated Erôs, by a late Rhodian + artist—subtle, thievish, lovely, breathing an evil and daemonic + charm. It stood opposite the Nikê, 'on tiptoe for a flight.' And + there was that in it which seemed at moments to disorganize the + room, and lay violent and exclusive hold on the spectator. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth on returning to her table found the library empty. The + Squire had been called away by his agent and one of the new + officials of the county, and had not yet returned. She expected him + to return in a bad—possibly an outrageous temper. For she gathered + that the summons had something to do with the decree of the County + War Agricultural Committee that fifty acres, at least, of Mannering + Park were to be given back to the plough, which, indeed, had only + ceased to possess them some sixty years before. The Squire had gone + out pale with fury, and she looked anxiously at her work, to see + what there might be in it to form an excuse for a hurricane. +</p> +<p> + She could find nothing, however, likely to displease a sane man. And + as she was at a standstill till he came back, she slipped an + unfinished letter out of her notebook, and went on with it. It was + to a person whom she addressed as 'my darling Dick.' +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'I have now been rather more than a month here. You can't + imagine what a queer place it is, nor what a queer employer I + have struck. There might be no war—as far as Mannering is + concerned. The Squire is always engaged in mopping it out, like + Mrs. Partington. He takes no newspaper, except a rag called the + <i>Lanchester Mail</i>, which attacks the Government, the Army—as + far as it dare—and "secret diplomacy." It comes out about once + a week with a black page, because the Censor has been sitting on + it. Desmond Mannering—that's the gunner-son who came on leave a + week ago and is just going off to an artillery camp—and I, + conspire through the butler—who is a dear, and a patriot—to + get the <i>Times</i>; but the Squire never sees it. Desmond reads it + in bed in the morning, I read it in bed in the evening, and + Pamela Mannering, Mr. Desmond's twin, comes in last thing, in + her dressing-gown, and steals it. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'I seem indeed to be living in the heart of a whirlwind, for the + Squire is fighting everybody all round, and as he is the least + reticent of men, and I have to write his letters, I naturally, + even by now, know a good deal about him. Shortly put, he is in a + great mess. The estate is riddled with mortgages, which it would + be quite easy to reduce. For instance, there are masses of + timber, crying to be cut. He consults me often in the naïvest + way. You remember that I trained for six months as an + accountant. I assure you that it comes in extremely useful now! + I can see my way a little where he can't see it at all. He + glories in the fact that he was never any good at arithmetic or + figures of any kind, and never looked at either after "Smalls." + The estate of course used to be looked after in the good + old-fashioned way by the family lawyers. But a few years ago + the Squire quarrelled with these gentlemen, recovered all his + papers, which no doubt went back to King Alfred, and resolved to + deal with things himself. There is an office here, and a small + attorney from Fallerton comes over twice or three times a week. + But the Squire bosses it. And you never saw anything like his + accounts! I have been trying to put some of them straight—just + those that concern the house and garden—after six weeks' + acquaintance! Odd, isn't it? He is like an irritable child with + them. And his agent, who is seventy, and bronchitic, is the + greatest fool I ever saw. He neglects everything. <i>His</i> accounts + too, as far as I have inspected them, are disgraceful. He does + nothing for the farmers, and the farmers do exactly as they + please with the land. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'Or did! For now comes the rub. Government is interfering, + through the County Committee. They are turning out three of Mr. + Mannering's farmers by force, because he won't do it himself, + and ploughing up the park. I believe the steam tractor comes + next week. The Squire has been employing some new lawyers to + find out if he can't stop it somehow. And each time he sees them + he comes home madder than before. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'Of course it all comes from a passionate antagonism to the war. + He is not a pacifist exactly—he is not a conscientious + objector. He is just an individualist gone mad—an egotistical, + hot-tempered man, with all the ideas of the old <i>régime</i>, who + thinks he can fight the world. I am often really sorry for + him—he is so preposterous. But the muddle and waste of it all + drives me crazy—you know I always was a managing creature. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'But one thing is certain—that he is a most excellent scholar. + I knew I had got rusty, but I didn't know how rusty till I came + to work for him. He has a wonderful memory—seems to know every + Greek author by heart—and a most delicate and unerring taste. I + thought I should find a mere dabbler—an amateur. And it takes + all I know to do the drudgery work he gives me. And then he is + always coming down upon me. It delights him to find me out in a + howler—makes him, in fact, quite good-tempered for twenty + minutes. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'As to the rest of the family, there is a charming boy and + girl—twins of nineteen, the boy just off to an artillery camp + after his cadet training; the girl extremely pretty and + distinguished, and so far inclined to think me an intruder and a + nuisance. How to get round her I don't exactly know, but I + daresay I shall manage it somehow. If she would only set up a + love-affair I could soon get the whip-hand of her! +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'Then there is the priceless butler, with whom I have already + made friends. I seem to have a taste for butlers, though I've + never lived with one. He is fifty-two and a volunteer, in stark + opposition to the Squire, who jeers at him perpetually. Forest + takes it calmly, seems even in a queer way to be attached to his + queer master. But he never misses a drill for anybody or any + weather, and when he's out, the under-housemaid "buttles" for + him like a lamb. The fact is, of course, that he's been here for + twenty years, and the Squire couldn't get on for a day without + him, or thinks he couldn't. So that his position is, as you may + say, strongly entrenched, and counter-attacks are useless. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'The married daughters—Mrs. Gaddesden, who, I think, is an + Honourable, and Mrs. Strang—are coming to-morrow to see their + brother before he goes into camp. The Squire doesn't want them + at all. Ah, there he comes! I'll finish later...' + +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + The Squire came in—to use one of the Homeric similes of which he + was so fond—'like a lion fresh from a slain bull, bespattered with + blood and mire.' He had gone out pale, he returned crimson, rubbing + his hands and in great excitement. And it was evident that he had by + now formed the habit of talking freely to his secretary. For he went + up to her at once. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, now they know what to expect!' he said, his eyes glittering, + and all his thick hair on his small peaked head standing up in a + high ridge, like the crest of a battle-helmet. +</p> +<p> + 'Who are "they"?' asked Elizabeth, smiling, as she quietly pushed + her letter a little further under the blotting-paper. +</p> +<p> + 'The County Council idiots—no, the Inspector fellow they're sending + round.' +</p> +<p> + 'And what did you tell him?' +</p> +<p> + 'That I should resist their entry. The gates of the park will be + locked. And my lawyers are already preparing a case for the High + Court. Well—eh!—what?'—the speaker wound up impatiently, as + though waiting for an immediate and applauding response. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth was silent. She bent over the Greek book in front of her, + as though looking for her place. +</p> +<p> + 'You didn't think I was going to take it lying down!' asked the + Squire, in a raised voice. Her silence suggested to him afresh all + the odious and tyrannical forces by which he felt himself + surrounded. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth turned to him with a cheerful countenance. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't quite understand what "it" means,' she said politely. +</p> +<p> + 'Nonsense, you do!' was the angry reply. 'That's so like a woman. + They always want to catch you out; they never see things simply and + broadly. You'd like to make yourself out a fool—<i>νηπια</i>—and + you're not a fool!' +</p> +<p> + And with his hands in his pockets he made two or three long strides + up to the Nikê, at the further end of the room, and back, pulling up + beside her again, as though challenging her reply. +</p> +<p> + 'I assure you, sir, I wasn't trying to catch you out,' Elizabeth + began in her gentlest voice. +</p> +<p> + 'Don't call me "sir." I won't have it!' cried the Squire, almost + stamping. +</p> +<p> + Then Elizabeth laughed outright. +</p> +<p> + 'I'm sorry, but when I was working in the War Trade Department I + always called the head of my room "sir."' +</p> +<p> + 'That's because women <i>like</i> kow-towing—<i>δουλοσυνην ανεχεσθαι</i>!' said the Squire. Then he threw himself into a chair. + 'Now let's talk sense a little.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth's attentive look, and lips quivering with amusement which + she tried in vain to suppress, and he was determined not to see, + showed her more than willing. +</p> +<p> + 'I suppose you think—like that fellow I've just routed—that it's + a uestion of food production. It isn't! It's a question of + <i>liberty</i>—<i>versus</i> bondage. If we can only survive as slaves, then + wipe us out! That's my view.' +</p> +<p> + 'Wasn't there a bishop once who said he would rather have England + free than sober?' asked Elizabeth. +</p> +<p> + 'And a very sensible man,' growled the Squire, 'though in general + I've no use for bishops. Now you understand, I hope? This is going + to be a test case. I'll make England ring.' +</p> +<p> + 'Are you sure they can't settle it at once, under the Defence of the + Realm Act?' +</p> +<p> + 'Not they!' said the Squire triumphantly. 'Of course, I'm not + putting up a frontal defence. I'm outflanking them. I'm proving that + this is the worst land they could possibly choose. I'm offering them + something else that they don't want. Meanwhile the gates shall be + locked, and if any one or anything breaks them down—my lawyers are + ready—we apply for an injunction at once.' +</p> +<p> + 'And you're not—well, nervous?' asked Miss Bremerton, with a + charming air of presenting something that might have been + overlooked. +</p> +<p> + 'Nervous of what?' +</p> +<p> + 'Isn't the law—the new law—rather dreadfully strong?' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, you think I shall end in the county gaol?' said the Squire + abruptly. 'Well, of course'—he took a reflective turn up and + down—'I've no particular wish just now for the county gaol. It + would be an infernal nuisance—in the middle of this book. But I + mean to give them as much trouble as I can. I'm all right so far.' +</p> +<p> + He looked up suddenly, and caught an expression on his secretary's + face which called him to order at once, though he was not meant to + see it. Contempt?—cold contempt? Something like it. +</p> +<p> + The Squire drew himself up. +</p> +<p> + 'You've made the arrangements, I suppose, for to-morrow?' +</p> +<p> + He spoke curtly, as the master of the house to a dependent. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth meekly replied that she had done everything according to + his directions. Mrs. Gaddesden was to have the South rooms. +</p> +<p> + 'I said the East rooms!' +</p> +<p> + 'But I thought—' Elizabeth began, in consternation. +</p> +<p> + 'You thought wrong,' said the Squire cuttingly. 'Do not trouble + yourself. I will tell Forest' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth coloured crimson, and went on with her work. The Squire + rang the bell. But before Forest could answer it, there was a quick + step in the passage, and Desmond came bursting in. +</p> +<p> + 'Pater, I say! it's too fine! You can't frowst all day at this + nonsense. Come out, and let's shoot those roots of Milsom's. He told + me yesterday there were five or six coveys in his big field alone. + Of course everybody's been poaching for all they're worth. But + there's some left. Forest'll get us some sandwiches. He says he'll + come and load for you. His boy and the garden boy'll do for + beaters.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire stood glumly hesitating, but with his eye on his son. +</p> +<p> + 'Look here,' said Desmond, 'I've only got two days!' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth could not help watching the boy—his look at his father, + the physical beauty and perfection of him. The great Victory at the + end of the room with her outstretched wings seemed to be hovering + above him. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, I don't mind,' said the Squire slowly. +</p> +<p> + Desmond gave a laugh of triumph, twined his arm in that of his + father, and dragged him away. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p class="block"> + 'D<small>EAR BELOVED</small> D<small>ICK</small>—I must just finish this before dinner. Oh, + how I like to think of you at Baghdad, with trees and shade, + and civilized quarters again, after all you've gone through. + Have you got my letters, and those gauze things I sent you for + the hot weather? They tell me here they're right. But how's one + to know? Meanwhile, my dear, here are your mother and sister on + their knees to you, just to be told what you want. Try and want + something!—there's a dear. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'Mother's fairly well—I mean as well as we can expect after + such an illness. My salary here enables me to give her a proper + trained nurse, and to send Jean to school. As to the rest, + don't trouble about me, old man. Sometimes I think it was my + pride more than anything else that was hurt a year ago. Anyway + I find in myself a tremendous appetite for work. In spite of + his oddities, Mr. Mannering is a most stimulating critic and + companion. My work is interesting, and I find myself steeped + once more in the most fascinating, the most wonderful of all + literatures! What remains unsatisfied in me is the passion + which you know I have always had for setting things + straight—organizing, tidying up! Not to speak of other + passions—for work directly connected with the war, for + instance—which have had to be scrapped for a time. I can't + bear the muddle and waste of this place. It gets on my nerves. + Perhaps, if I stay, I may get a chance. I have made a small + beginning—with the food. But I won't bother you with it. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'Above all, I must try and make friends with the twins. + Desmond would be easy, but he's going. Pamela will be more + difficult. However, I shall do my best. As I have already said, + if she would only set up a flirtation—a nice one—that I could + aid and abet! +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'What will the married sisters be like? Desmond and Pamela say + very little. All I know is that Alice—that's Mrs. + Gaddesden—is to have a fire in her room all day, though the + weather now is like July. To judge from her photographs, she is + fair, rather pretty, stout and lethargic. Whereas Margaret is + as thin almost as her father, and head-over-ears in war + charities. She lives, says Pamela, on arrowroot and oatcake, to + set an example, and her servants leave her regularly every + month. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'Well, we shall see. I run on like this, because you say you + like to be gossipped to; and I am just a little lonely + here—sometimes. Good-night, and good-bye.—Your devoted + sister, +</p> +<p class="ar"> + 'E<small>LIZABETH</small>.' +</p> +<a name="2HCH0004"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + CHAPTER IV +</h2> +<p> + 'Come in!' said Alice Gaddesden in a languid tone. From the knock, + sharp and loud, on her bedroom door, she guessed that it was her + sister Margaret who wished to see her. She did not wish, however, to + see Margaret at all. Margaret, who was slightly the elder, tired and + coerced her. But she had no choice. +</p> +<p> + Mrs. Strang entered briskly. +</p> +<p> + 'My dear Alice! what a time of day to be in bed! Are you really + ill?' +</p> +<p> + Mrs. Gaddesden grew red with annoyance. +</p> +<p> + 'I thought I had told you, Margaret, that Dr. Crother advised me + more than a year ago not to come down till the middle of the + morning. It rests my heart.' +</p> +<p> + Mrs. Strang, who had come up to the bedside, looked down upon her + sister with amused eyes. She herself was curiously like the Squire, + even as to her hair, which was thick and fair, and already + whitening, though she was not yet thirty. Human thinness could + hardly have been carried further than she and the Squire achieved + it. She had her father's nose also. But the rest of her features + were delicately regular, and her quick blue eyes were those of a + woman who told no falsehoods herself, and had little patience with + other people's. +</p> +<p> + 'My dear Alice, why do you believe doctors? They always tell you + what you want to hear. I am sure you told Dr. Crother exactly what + to say,' said Margaret, laughing, as she placed a chair by the + bedside. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, of course I know you think everybody's a sham who isn't as + strong as yourself!' said Mrs. Gaddesden, sinking back on her + pillows with a soft sigh of resignation. 'Though I think you <i>might</i> + have remembered the horribly hard work I've been doing lately.' +</p> +<p> + 'Have you?' Mrs. Strang wrinkled her brow, as though in an effort to + recollect. 'Oh, yes, I know. I have always been getting notices + lately with your name on them, at the end of a long tail beginning + with a Duchess, and stuffed with Countesses. And I always + think—there's Alice doing the work, and the Countesses getting the + glory. Do you really do the work?' +</p> +<p> + And Margaret, who did not often see her sister, and was of a + genuinely inquiring turn of mind, turned upon her a penetrating + look. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, of course,' said Mrs. Gaddesden, a little confused, 'there + are always the secretaries.' +</p> +<p> + 'Ah-ha!' Mrs. Strang laughed—one might almost say crowed. 'Yes, + indeed, if it weren't for the secretaries! By the way, what do you + think about the specimen here?' +</p> +<p> + Mrs. Gaddesden lost her languid air at once. She sat up among her + pillows, a reasonably pretty woman, not without some likeness to + Pamela, in points that did not matter. +</p> +<p> + 'My dear Margaret,' she said, with emphasis, 'this has got to be + watched!—<i>watched</i>, I tell you.' +</p> +<p> + Mrs. Strang opened her eyes wide. +</p> +<p> + 'What on earth do you mean?' +</p> +<p> + Alice Gaddesden smiled. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, of course, you're much cleverer than I am, but I really do + see further in practical matters than you do. Haven't you noticed,' + she bent forward, looking mysterious and intent, 'how <i>already</i> + father depends upon her, how she's beginning to run the whole + show—and she hasn't been here much more than six weeks? My dear + Margaret, with a secretary like that you <i>never</i> can tell!' +</p> +<p> + 'Well,' said Mrs. Strang coolly, 'and what then?' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, well, of course, if you're prepared to see a person like + that—in our mother's place!' +</p> +<p> + '"A person like that"—how dreadfully old-fashioned you are, Alice! + She's a lady; she's much more highly educated than you or I, and if + she gets her way, she'll perhaps keep father out of some of the + scrapes he seems bent on. You know this business of the park is + perfectly mad!' +</p> +<p> + For the first time in this conversation Margaret Strang's face was + grave. And when it was grave, some people would have called it fine. +</p> +<p> + 'And just think what it'll cost,' said Mrs. Gaddesden despondently, + 'even if he had a case—which he probably hasn't—and if he were to + win it. There'll be no money left for Aubrey or any of us soon.' +</p> +<p> + 'But of course he hasn't a case, and of course he can't win!' cried + Margaret Strang. 'It's not that I care about—or the money—it's the + disgrace!' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes,' murmured Alice doubtfully. +</p> +<p> + 'When you think—' +</p> +<p> + Mrs. Strang paused; her bright blue eyes, alive with thoughts, were + fixed absently on her sister. She seemed to see a number of shabby + streets, where she was accustomed to work, with little shabby shops, + and placards on them—'No butter,' 'No milk,' and apples marked 4d. + each. +</p> +<p> + 'Think what?' said Alice. +</p> +<p> + Mrs. Strang's mind returned to Alice, and Alice's very elaborate and + becoming <i>negligée</i>. +</p> +<p> + 'Only that, in my opinion, it's the duty of every landowner to + produce every ounce of food he can, and to do what he's told! And + father not only sets a shocking example, but he picks this absurd + quarrel with the Chicksands. What on earth is Aubrey to do? Or poor + Beryl?' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, he comes to-night,' said Alice, 'so I suppose we shall hear. + I can't make Aubrey out,' she added reflectively. +</p> +<p> + 'Nobody can. I was talking to a brother-officer of his last week, a + man who's awfully fond of him. He told me Aubrey did his work very + well. He was complimented by Headquarters on his School only last + month. But he's like an automaton. Nobody really knows him, nobody + gets any forwarder with him. He hardly speaks to anybody except on + business. The mess regard him as a wet blanket, and his men don't + care about him, though he's a capital officer. Isn't it strange, + when one thinks of what Aubrey used to be five years ago?' +</p> +<p> + Alice agreed. Perhaps he was still suffering from the effects of his + wound in 1915. +</p> +<p> + 'Anyway he can't give Beryl up,' said Margaret with energy, 'if he's + a man of honour!' +</p> +<p> + Alice shrugged her shoulders. +</p> +<p> + 'Then he'll give up the estate, according to father.' +</p> +<p> + 'Desmond would give it back to him, if there's anything left of it, + or if he wants it.' +</p> +<p> + 'Margaret!' +</p> +<p> + 'You think I don't care about the family—that there should always + be a Mannering of Mannering? Yes, I do care, but there are so many + other things now to care about,' added Mrs. Strang slowly. +</p> +<p> + 'Who's making me late now?' said Alice, looking at her watch. +</p> +<p> + Margaret took the hint and departed. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + That same evening, in the September dusk, a dog-cart arrived at the + Hall, bringing Major Mannering and a Gladstone bag. +</p> +<p> + Pamela and Desmond rushed out to meet him. Their elder sisters were + dressing for dinner, and the Squire was in the library with + Elizabeth. The twins dragged the newcomer into their own den, and + shut the door upon him. There Desmond gave him a breathless survey + of the situation, while Pamela sat on a stool at his feet, and put + in explanatory words at intervals. Their father's extraordinary + preparations for waging war against the County Committee; his + violence on the subject of the Chicksands; Beryl's despairing + letters to Pamela; a letter from Arthur Chicksands to Desmond,—all + these various items were poured out on the newcomer, with an + eagerness and heat which showed the extreme interest which the twins + took in the situation. +</p> +<p> + Meanwhile Aubrey Mannering sat listening almost in silence. He was a + delicately built, distinguished-looking man, who carried a large + scar on his forehead, and had lost a finger of the left hand. The + ribbons on his breast showed that he was both an M.C. and a + D.S.O.—distinctions won at the second battle of Ypres and on the + Somme. While the twins talked, his eyes travelled from one to the + other, attentive, but curiously aloof. +</p> +<p> + He was saying to himself that Pamela was extremely pretty, and + Desmond a splendid fellow. Then—in a moment—while he looked at his + young brother, a vision, insistent, terrible, passed ghost-like + between him and the boy. Again and again he tried to shake it off, + and again and again it interposed. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, Aubrey, what will you do?' said Pamela despairingly, leaning + her head against her brother's knee. +</p> +<p> + Her voice recalled him. He laid his hand upon her beautiful hair. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, dear, there's only one thing, of course, for me to do—to + stick to Beryl and let father do his worst.' +</p> +<p> + 'Hurrah!' said Desmond. 'That's all right. And of course you know, + Aubrey, that if father tries any hankey-pankey with the estate, and + leaves it to me, I shall give it back to you next day.' +</p> +<p> + Aubrey smiled. 'Father'll live another twenty years, old man. Will + there be any England then, or any law, or any estates to leave?' +</p> +<p> + The twins looked at him in amazement. Again he recovered himself + quickly. +</p> +<p> + 'I only meant that, in times like these, it's no good planning + anything twenty years ahead. We've got to win the war, haven't + we?—that's the first thing. Well, now, I must go and clean up. + Who's here?' +</p> +<p> + 'Alice and Margaret,' said Pamela. 'And father's new secretary.' +</p> +<p> + 'You never told me about him,' said Aubrey indifferently, as he + rose. +</p> +<p> + '"Him" indeed!' laughed Desmond. 'Nothing of the sort!' +</p> +<p> + Aubrey turned a puzzled look upon him. +</p> +<p> + 'What! a lady?' +</p> +<p> + Desmond grinned. +</p> +<p> + 'First Class in Mods, and an awful swell. Father can't let her out + of his sight. Says he never had anybody so good.' +</p> +<p> + 'And she'll end by bossing us all,' put in Pamela. 'She's begun it + already. Now you really must go and dress.' +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + When the eldest son of the house entered the drawing-room, he found + everybody gathered there but his father and the Rector, who was + coming to dine. He was at once seized on by his married sisters, who + saw him very rarely. Then Pamela led him up to a tall lady in pale + blue. +</p> +<p> + 'My eldest brother—Miss Bremerton.' +</p> +<p> + He looked at her with curiosity, and was glad when, after the + arrival of his father and the Rector, it fell to him to take the new + secretary in to dinner. His father's greeting to him had been + decidedly cool—the greeting of a man who sees a fight impending and + wishes to give away nothing to his opponent. In fact the two men had + never been on really cordial terms since August 1914, when Aubrey + had thrown up his post in the Foreign Office to apply for one of the + first temporary commissions in the New Army. The news came at a + moment when the Squire was smarting under the breakdown of a + long-cherished scheme of exploration in the Greek islands, which was + to have been realized that very autumn—a scheme towards which his + whole narrow impetuous mind had been turned for years. No more + Hellenic or Asia Minor excavations! no more cosmopolitan + <i>Wissenschaft</i>! On that fatal August 4 a whole world went down + submerged beneath the waves of war, and the Squire cared for no + other. His personal chagrin showed itself in abuse of the bungling + diplomats and 'swashbuckler' politicians who, according to him, had + brought us into war. So that when Aubrey applied for a commission, + the Squire, mainly to relieve his own general irritation, had + quarrelled with him for some months, and was only outwardly + reconciled when his son came home invalided in 1915. +</p> +<p> + During the summer of 1917, Aubrey, after spending three days' leave + at Mannering, had gone on to stay at Chetworth with the Chicksands + for a week. The result of that visit was a letter to his father in + which he announced his engagement to Beryl. The Squire could make + then no open opposition, since he was still on friendly terms with + Sir Henry, who had indeed done him more than one good turn. But in + reply to his son's letter, he stood entirely on the defensive, lest + any claim should be made upon him which might further interfere with + the passion of his life. He was not, he said, in a position to + increase Aubrey's allowance—the Government robbers had seen to + that—and unless Beryl was prepared to be a poor man's wife he + advised them to wait till after the war. Then Sir Henry had ridden + over to Mannering with a statement of what he was prepared to do for + his daughter, and the Squire had given ungracious consent to a + marriage in the spring. Chicksands knew his man too well to take + offence at the Squire's manners, and Beryl was for a time too + timidly and blissfully happy to be troubled by them. +</p> +<p> + 'You have been here a few weeks,' said the newcomer to Elizabeth, + when the party had settled down at table. +</p> +<p> + 'About six weeks. It seems longer!' smiled Elizabeth. +</p> +<p> + 'You are doing some work for my father?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth explained herself. Major Mannering listened attentively. +</p> +<p> + 'So what you do for him is literary—and historical?' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh no—I do accounts, and write letters too.' +</p> +<p> + 'Accounts? I thought there was a housekeeper?' +</p> +<p> + 'She went a month ago to the W.A.A.C.'s. Please!—do you mind?' And + to his amazement, as he was putting out his hand automatically to a + piece of bread lying on his left, Miss Bremerton's hand holding a + fork neatly intercepted him, and moved the bread away. +</p> +<p> + 'It's our "Self-denying Ordinance,"' explained the lady, colouring a + little. 'The bread appears because—because your father doesn't + think rations necessary. But no one touches it, and Forest collects + it afterwards—for breakfast.' +</p> +<p> + A smile broke on Aubrey's grave and pensive face. +</p> +<p> + 'I see. Mayn't I really have any?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth hesitated. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, perhaps, as a guest, and a soldier. Yes, I think you may.' + And she would have restored her prey had not her neighbour stopped + her. +</p> +<p> + 'Not at all. As a soldier I obey orders. My hat! how you've drilled + them all!' For, looking round the table, he saw that not a single + guest had touched the bread lying to their left. +</p> +<p> + 'That's Pamela and Mr. Desmond! They've given everybody a <i>menu</i> for + three days.' +</p> +<p> + 'Good heavens—not my father!' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh no, <i>no</i>! We don't think he suspects anything, and he has + everything he likes.' +</p> +<p> + 'And my married sisters?' Elizabeth hesitated again. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, Mrs. Gaddesden is rather afraid of being starved. Mrs. + Strang, on the other hand, thinks we're wickedly extravagant!' +</p> +<p> + Her neighbour was so much amused that conversation flowed on easily + thenceforward; and Desmond opposite whispered to Pamela: +</p> +<p> + 'Just look at Broomie! She's actually making Aubrey talk.' +</p> +<p> + The Major's rôle, however, was on the whole that of listener. For + Elizabeth meant to talk—meant to explain herself to the son and + heir, and, if she could, to drive him to an interest in the family + affairs. To her trained, practical mind the whole clan seemed by now + criminally careless and happy-go-lucky. The gardens were neglected; + so was the house; so was the estate. The gardens ought to have been + made self-supporting; there were at least a third too many servants + in the house; and as for the estate, instead of being a + profit-making and food-producing concern, as it should have been, it + was a bye-word for bad management and neglected land. She did not + pretend to know much about it yet; but what she did know roused her. + England was at grips with a brutal foe. The only weapon that could + defeat her was famine—the sloth and waste of her own sons. This + woman, able, energetic, a lover of her country, could not conceal + her scorn for such a fatal incompetence. Naturally, in talking to + the eldest son, she made the agent her scapegoat for the sins of the + owner. The Squire's responsibility was carefully masked. But Aubrey + Mannering perfectly understood what she would be at. She was a + clever woman who wanted things improved. Well, let her improve + them. It did not matter to him. +</p> +<p> + But she appeared to him as a somewhat special type of the modern + woman, with her advanced education and her clear brain; and for a + time he observed her curiously. The graceful dress, pale blue with + touches of black, which exactly became her fair skin, the bright + gold of her hair, and the pleasant homeliness of her face—her + general aspect indeed—attracted him greatly. She might know Greek; + at heart, he believed, she was a good housewife; and when she + incidentally mentioned Dutch relations, he seemed to see her with a + background of bright pots and pans, mopping tiled floors. +</p> +<p> + But presently he ceased to pay much attention to her. His dreamy + sense became aware of the scene as a whole; the long table; his + father's fantastic figure at the head of it; Alice Gaddesden + elaborately dressed and much made up on the one side, his sister + Margaret in a high black gown, erect and honest, on the other; + Desmond and Pamela together, chatting and chaffing with the Rector. + It was the room so familiar to his childhood and youth, with the + family pictures, the Gainsborough full-length of his very plain + great-grandmother in white satin at the end, two or three Vandyck + school-portraits of seventeenth-century Mannerings, and the + beautiful Hogarth head—their best possession—that was so like + Pamela. The furniture of the room was of many different + dates—incongruous, shabby, and on the whole ugly. The Mannerings of + the past had not been an artistic lot. +</p> +<p> + Nor had the room—the house indeed—many tender associations for + him. His childhood had not been very happy. He had never got on with + his father, and his mother, who had been the victim of various long + illnesses during his boyhood, had never, unluckily, meant much to + him. He knew that he was of a very old stock, which had played a + long and considerable part in the world; but the fact brought him no + thrill. 'That kind of thing is played out,' he thought. Let his + father disinherit him—he was quite indifferent. +</p> +<p> + Then, as he fell silent beside his father's new secretary, the table + vanished. He saw instead the wide Picardy flats, a group of poplars, + a distant wood, and in front a certain hollow strewn with dead and + dying men—one figure, in front of the rest, lying face downwards. + The queer twisted forms, the blasted trees, the inexorable + horror—the whole vision swept over him again, as it had done in the + schoolroom. His nerves shrank and trembled under it. +</p> +<p> + Beryl—poor little Beryl! What a wretch he had been to propose to + her—in a moment of moral and physical weakness, when it had seemed + a simple thing to accept her affection and to pledge his own! But if + she stood by him, he must stand by her. And he had had the kindest + letter from Sir Henry, and some sweet tremulous words from her. + Suppose she offered to release him? His heart leapt guiltily at the + thought. What, indeed, had a man so haunted and paralysed to give to + a girl like Beryl? It was an outrage—it ought to cease. +</p> +<p> + But as to his father, that was simple enough. +</p> +<p> + The Squire and his eldest son retreated to the library after dinner, + and all the rest of the party waited uneasily to see what would + happen. Elizabeth did her best to keep things going. It might have + been noticed—it was noticed by at least two of the persons + present—that quite unobtrusively, she was already the mistress of + the house. She found a stool and a fire-screen for Mrs. Gaddesden; + she held some wool for Mrs. Strang to wind; and a backgammon board + was made ready for the Squire, in case he returned. +</p> +<p> + But he did not return. Aubrey came back alone, and found them all + hanging on his entrance. Pamela put down her knitting and looked at + him anxiously; so did the elder sisters. He went up absently to the + chimney-piece, and stood leaning against it. +</p> +<p> + 'Well?' said Pamela in a low voice, as she came to sit on a stool + near him. +</p> +<p> + He smiled, but she saw that he was pale. +</p> +<p> + 'Can you take me over to Chetworth to-morrow—early—in the + pony-cart?' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, certainly.' +</p> +<p> + 'Half-past ten?' +</p> +<p> + 'Right you are.' +</p> +<p> + No more was said. Aubrey turned at once to Alice Gaddesden and + proposed a round game. He played it with much more spirit than + usual, and Desmond's antics in 'Animal Grab' put all serious notions + to flight. +</p> +<p> + But when the game was over, and Forest brought in the candles, + Margaret tried to get some information. +</p> +<p> + 'You found the father reasonable?' she said to her brother in an + undertone, as they stood together by the fire. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, yes,' was the indifferent answer, 'from his own point of view.' +</p> +<p> + And when he had lit their candles for his sisters, he excused + himself at once on the ground of being dog-tired after a long day. + The door closed upon him. +</p> +<p> + The family gathered together in a group, while the Rector and + Elizabeth talked about the village at the further end of the room. +</p> +<p> + 'They've quarrelled!' said Margaret decisively. +</p> +<p> + Alice Gaddesden, because it was Margaret's opinion, disagreed. There + was nothing to show it, she said. Aubrey had been quite calm. + Desmond broke out, 'Did you ever see Aubrey anything else?' Pamela + said nothing, but she slipped out to tell Forest about the + pony-cart. +</p> +<p> + Meanwhile the Rector had looked at his watch, and came up to take + his leave. +</p> +<p> + 'Has the Squire gone to bed?' he said cheerfully. 'I daresay. He + works so hard. Give him my fare-wells.' +</p> +<p> + And he went off, quite aware, both from his knowledge of the family + and of the Squire's recent actions, that there were storms brewing + in the old house, but on the whole thinking more of the new + secretary than of his old friends. A charming woman!—most capable! + For the first time he might get some attention paid to the village + people. That child with the shocking bow-legs. Poor little Pamela + had tried to do her best. But this woman would see to it; she knew + how to get things done. +</p> +<p> + Meanwhile, as the rest of the party dispersed, Forest brought a + message to Elizabeth. 'The Squire would be glad if you would spare + him a few minutes, Miss, in the library. He won't keep you long.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth went unwillingly. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + The library was in darkness, except for one small lamp at the + further end, and the Squire was walking up and down. He stopped + abruptly as he saw his secretary. +</p> +<p> + 'I won't keep you, Miss Bremerton, but do you happen to know at all + where my will is?' +</p> +<p> + 'Your will, Mr. Mannering?' said Elizabeth in amazement. 'No, + indeed! I have never seen it.' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, it's somewhere here,' said the Squire impatiently. 'I should + have thought in all your rummagings lately you must have come across + it. I took it away from those robbers, my old solicitors, and I + wasn't going to give it to the new man—don't trust him particularly + not to talk. So I locked it up here—somewhere. And I can't find + it.' And he began restlessly to open drawer after drawer, which + already contained piles of letters and documents, neatly and + systematically arranged, with the proper dockets and sub-headings, + by Elizabeth. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, it can't be there!' cried Elizabeth. 'I know everything in + those drawers. Surely it must be in the office?' By which she meant + the small and hideously untidy room on the ground floor into which + masses of papers of all dates, still unsorted, had been carted down + from London. +</p> +<p> + 'It isn't in the office!' He was, she saw, on the brink of an + outburst. 'I put it somewhere in this room my own self! And I should + have thought by now you knew the geography of this place as well as + I do!' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. The big room indeed + was still full to her of unexplored territory, with <i>caches</i> of all + kinds in it, new and ancient, waiting to be discovered. She looked + round her in perplexity, not knowing where to begin. A large part of + the room was walled with glass cases, holding vases, bronzes, and + other small antiquities, down to about a yard from the floor, and + the space below being filled by cupboards and drawers. Elizabeth + made a vague movement towards a particular set of cupboards which + she knew she had not yet touched, but the Squire irritably stopped + her. +</p> +<p> + 'It's certainly not there. That bit of the room hasn't been + disturbed since the Flood! Now those drawers'—he pointed—'might be + worth looking at.' +</p> +<p> + She hurried towards them. But the Squire, instead of helping her in + her search, resumed his walk up and down, muttering to himself. As + for her, she was on the verge of laughter, the laughter that comes + from nerves and fatigue; for she had had a long day's work and was + really tired. The first drawer she opened was packed with papers, a + few arranged in something like order by her predecessor, the London + University B.A., but the greater part of them in confusion. They + mostly related to a violent controversy between the Squire and + various archæological experts with regard to some finds in the Troad + a year or two before the war, in which the Squire had only just + escaped a serious libel suit, whereof indeed all the preliminaries + were in the drawer. +</p> +<p> + On the very top of the drawer, however, was a conveyance of a small + outlying portion of the Mannering estate, which the Squire had sold + to a neighbour only a year before this date. Hopeless! If that was + there, anything might be anywhere! +</p> +<p> + Was she to spend the night searching for the needle in this bottle + of hay? Elizabeth's face began to twitch with uncomfortable + merriment. Should she go and knock up the housekeeper and instal her + as chaperon, or take a stand, and insist on going to bed like a + reasonable woman? +</p> +<p> + She hunted through three drawers. The Squire meanwhile paced + incessantly, sometimes muttering to himself. Every time he came + within the circle of lamplight his face was visible to Elizabeth, + wrinkled and set, with angry eyes; and she saw him as a person + possessed by a stubborn demon of self-will. Once, as he passed her, + she heard him say to himself, 'Of course I can write another at + once—half a sheet will do.' +</p> +<p> + She replaced the third drawer. Was the Squire to have a monopoly of + stubbornness? She thought not. Waves of indefinite but strong + indignation were beginning to sweep through her. Why was the Squire + hunting for his will? What had he been saying to his son—his son + who bore on his breast and on his body the marks of his country's + service? +</p> +<p> + She rose to her feet. +</p> +<p> + 'I can't find anything, Mr. Mannering. And I think, if you will + allow me, I will go to bed.' +</p> +<p> + He looked at her darkly. +</p> +<p> + 'I see. You are a person who stickles for your hours—you won't do + anything extra for me.' There was a sneer in his tone. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth felt her cheeks suddenly burn. In the dim light she looked + amazingly tall, as she stood straightened to her full height, + confronting this man who really seemed to her to be only half sane. +</p> +<p> + 'I think I have done a great deal for you, Mr. Mannering. But if you + don't think so we had better end my engagement!' +</p> +<p> + His countenance changed at once. He eagerly apologized. He was + perfectly aware of her extraordinary merits, and should be entirely + lost without her help. The fact was he had had a painful scene, and + was overdone. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth received his explanation very coldly, only repeating, 'May + I go to bed?' +</p> +<p> + The Squire drew his hand across his eyes. +</p> +<p> + 'It is not very late—not yet eleven.' He pointed to the grandfather + clock opposite. 'If you will only wait while I write something?'—he + pointed to a chair. 'Just take a book there, and give me a quarter + of an hour, no more—I want your signature, that's all. We won't + look any further for the will. I can do all I want by a fresh + document. I have been thinking it over, and can write it in ten + minutes. I know as much about it as the lawyers—more. Now do oblige + me. I am ashamed of my discourtesy. I need not say that I regard you + as indispensable—and—I think I have been able to do something for + your Greek.' +</p> +<p> + He smiled—a smile that was like a foam-flake on a stormy sea. But + he could put on the grand manner when he chose, and Elizabeth was to + some extent propitiated. After all he and his ways were no longer + strange to her. Very unwillingly she seated herself again, and he + went rapidly to his writing-table. +</p> +<p> + Then silence fell, except for the scratching of the Squire's pen. + Elizabeth sat pretending to read, but in truth becoming every moment + the prey of increasing disquiet. What was he going to ask her to + sign? She knew nothing of his threat to his eldest son—nothing, + that is, clear or direct, either from himself or from the others; + but she guessed a good deal. It was impossible to live even for a + few weeks in close contact with the Squire without guessing at most + things. +</p> +<p> + In the silence she became aware of the soft autumn wind—October + had just begun—playing with a blind on a distant window. And + through the window came another sound—Desmond and Pamela, no doubt, + still laughing and talking in the schoolroom. +</p> +<p> + The Squire rose from his seat. +</p> +<p> + 'I shall be much obliged,' he said formally, 'if you will kindly + come here. We shall want another witness, of course. I will call + Forest.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth approached, but paused a yard or two from him. He saw her + in the light—her gold hair and brilliant dress illuminated against + the dark and splendid background of the Nikê in shadow. +</p> +<p> + She spoke with hesitation. +</p> +<p> + 'I confess I should like to know, Mr. Mannering, what it is you are + asking me to sign.' +</p> +<p> + 'That doesn't matter to a witness. It is nothing which will in any + way compromise you.' +</p> +<p> + 'No—but'—she drew herself up—'I should blame myself if I made it + easier for you to do something you would afterwards regret.' +</p> +<p> + 'What do you mean?' +</p> +<p> + She summoned all her courage. +</p> +<p> + 'Of course I must know something. You have not kept your affairs + very secret. I guess that you are angry with your son, with Major + Mannering. If this thing you ask me to sign is to hurt—to injure + him—if it is—well, then—I refuse to sign it!' +</p> +<p> + And with a sudden movement she threw both her hands behind her back + and clasped them there. +</p> +<p> + 'You refuse?' +</p> +<p> + 'If you admit my description of that paper.' She motioned towards it + as it lay on the writing-table. +</p> +<p> + 'I have no objection whatever to your knowing what it is—as you + seem determined to know,' he said sarcastically. 'It is a codicil + revoking my will in favour of my eldest son, and leaving all the + property of which I die possessed, and which is in my power to + bequeath, to my younger son Desmond. What have you to do with that? + What possible responsibility can you have?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth wavered, but held her ground, though in evident distress. +</p> +<p> + 'Only that—if I don't sign it—you would have time to consider it + again. Mr. Mannering—isn't it—isn't it—very unjust?' +</p> +<p> + The Squire laughed. +</p> +<p> + 'How do you know that in refusing you are not unjust to Desmond?' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh no!' she said fervently. 'Mr. Desmond would never wish to + supplant his brother—and for such a reason. And especially—' she + paused. +</p> +<p> + There were tears rising in her throat. +</p> +<p> + 'Especially—what? Upon my word, you claim a rather remarkable + knowledge of my family—in six weeks!' +</p> +<p> + 'I do know something of Desmond!' Her voice showed her agitation. + 'He is the dearest, the most generous boy. In a few months he will + be going out—he will be saying good-bye to you all.' +</p> +<p> + 'And then?' +</p> +<p> + 'Is this a time to make him unhappy—to send him out with something + on his mind?—something that might even—' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, go on!' +</p> +<p> + 'Might even make him wish'—her voice dropped—'not to come back.' +</p> +<p> + There was silence. Then the Squire violently threw down the pen he + was holding on the table beside him. +</p> +<p> + 'Thank you, Miss Bremerton. That will do. I bid you good-night!' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth did not wait to be told twice. She turned and fled down + the whole length of the library. The door at the further end closed + upon her. +</p> +<p> + 'A masterful young woman!' said the Squire after a moment, drawing a + long breath. Then he took up the codicil, thrust it into a drawer of + his writing-table, lit a cigarette, and walked up and down smoking + it. After which he went to bed and slept remarkably well. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth cried herself to sleep. No comforting sprite whispered to + her that she had won the first round in an arduous campaign. On the + contrary, she fully expected dismissal on the morrow. +</p> +<a name="2HCH0005"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + CHAPTER V +</h2> +<p> + It was a misty but warm October day, and a pleasant veiled light lay + on the pillared front of Chetworth House, designed in the best taste + of a fastidious school. The surroundings of the house, too, were as + perfect as those of Mannering were slatternly and neglected. All the + young men had long since gone from the gardens, but the old + labourers and the girls in overalls who had taken their places, + under the eye of a white-haired gardener, had been wonderfully + efficient so far. Sir Henry supposed he ought to have let the lawns + stand for hay, and the hedges go unclipped; but as a matter of fact + the lawns had never been smoother, or the creepers and yew hedges + more beautifully in order, so that even the greatest patriot fails + somewhere. +</p> +<p> + Beryl Chicksands was walking along a stone-flagged path under a yew + hedge, from which she commanded the drive and a bit of the road + outside. Every now and then she stopped to peer into the sunlit haze + that marked the lower slopes of the park, and the delicate hand that + shaded her eyes shook a little. +</p> +<p> + Aubrey was coming—and she was going seriously to offer to give him + up—to try to persuade him indeed to break it off. Since her first + agitated letter to him begging him not to think of her, but to + decide only what was best for his own future, she had received a few + words from him. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'D<small>EAREST</small> B<small>ERYL</small>—Nothing has happened to interfere with what we + promised each other last summer—nothing at all! My poor father + seems to be half out of his mind under the stress of war. If he + does what he threatens, it will matter very little to me; but + of course <i>you</i> must consider it carefully, for I shall have + uncommonly little in the worldly way to offer you. Your father + has written very kindly, and your dear little note is just like + you. But you must consider. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'I sometimes doubt whether my father <i>will</i> do what he + threatens, but we should have to take the risk. Anyway we shall + meet directly, and I am always, and unalterably, your devoted +</p> +<p class="ar"> + 'A<small>UBREY</small>.' +</p> +<p> + That had been followed by a boyish note from Desmond—dear, jolly + fellow! +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'My father's clean daft! Don't bother, my dear Beryl. If he + tries to leave me this funny old place, instead of Aubrey, + well, there are two can play at that game. I wouldn't touch it + with a barge-pole. You and A. have only got to stick it a + little, and it'll be all right. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'I've given him a bit of my mind about the park and the farm. + He stands it from me and only chaffs. That's because he always + treats me like a baby. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'Very sorry I can't come on Tuesday with Aubrey, but there's + some good-bye calls I must pay. Hope Arthur will be about. I + want awfully to see him. Hard luck his being hit like that, + after all the rest. Snipers are beasts! +</p> +<p class="block"> + '<i>P.S.</i>—You can't think what a brainy young woman father's got + for his new secretary. And she's not half bad either. Pamela's + rather silly about her, but she'll come round.' +</p> +<p> + Beryl paid small attention to the postscript. She had heard a good + deal from Pamela about the newcomer, but it did not concern her. As + to the business aspect of the Squire's behaviour, Beryl was well + aware that she was an heiress. Aubrey would lose nothing financially + by giving up the Mannering estate to marry her. Personally she cared + nothing about Mannering, and she had enough for both. But still + there was the old name and place. How much did he care about it? how + much would he regret it? Supposing his extraordinary father really + cut him off? +</p> +<p> + Beryl felt she did not know. And therewith came the recurrent + pang—how little she really knew about the man to whom she was + engaged! She adored him. Every fibre in her slight sensitive body + still remembered the moment when he first kissed her, when she first + felt his arm about her. But since—how often there had been moments + when she had been conscious of a great distance between them—of + something that did not fit—that jarred! +</p> +<p> + For herself, she could never remember a time since she was seventeen + when Aubrey Mannering had not meant more to her than any one else in + the world. On his first departure to France, she had said good-bye + to him with secret agonies of spirit, which no one guessed but her + mother, a colourless, silent woman, who had a way of knowing + unexpectedly much of the people about her. Then when he was badly + wounded in some fighting near Festubert, in May 1915, and came home + for two months' leave, he seemed like a stranger, and Beryl had not + known what to be at with him. She was told that he had suffered + very much—it had been a severe thigh wound implicating the sciatic + nerve—and that he had been once, at least, very near to death. But + when she tried to express sympathy with what he had gone through, or + timidly to question him about it, her courage fled, her voice died + in her throat. There was something unapproachable in her old + playfellow, something that held her, and indeed every one else, at + bay. +</p> +<p> + He was always courteous, and mostly cheerful. But his face in repose + had an absent, haunted look, the eyes alert but fixed on vacancy, + the brow overcast and frowning. In the old days Aubrey's smile had + been his best natural gift. To win a smile from him in her + childhood, Beryl would have done anything—have gone on her knees up + the drive, or offered up the only doll she cared for, or gone + without jam for a week. Now when he came home invalided, she had the + same craving; but what she craved for came her way very rarely. He + would laugh and talk with her as with other people. But that + exquisite brightness of eye and lip, which seemed to be for one + person only, and, when it came, to lift that person to the seventh + heaven, she waited for in vain. +</p> +<p> + Then he went back to France, and in due course came the Somme. + Aubrey Mannering went through the whole five months without a + scratch. He came back with a D.S.O. and a Staff appointment for a + short Christmas leave, everybody, except his father, turning out to + welcome him as the local hero. Then, for a time, he went to + Aldershot as the head of an Officers' School there, and was able to + come down occasionally to Chetworth or Mannering. +</p> +<p> + During that first Christmas leave he paid several visits to + Chetworth, and evidently felt at home there. To Lady Chicksands, + whom most people regarded as a tiresome nonentity, he was + particularly kind and courteous. It seemed to give him positive + pleasure to listen to her garrulous housekeeping talk, or to hold + her wool for her while she wound it. And as she, poor lady, was not + accustomed to such attention from brilliant young men, his three + days' visit was to her a red-letter time. With Sir Henry also he was + on excellent terms, and made just as good a listener to the details + of country business as to Lady Chicksands' domestic tales. +</p> +<p> + And yet to Beryl he was in some ways more of a riddle than ever. He + talked curiously little about the war—at least to her. He had a way + of finding out, both at Chicksands and Mannering, men who had lost + sons in France, and when he and Beryl took a walk, it seemed to + Beryl as though they were constantly followed by friendly furtive + looks from old labourers who passed them on the road, and nodded as + they went by. But when the daily war news was being discussed he had + a way of sitting quite silent, unless his opinion was definitely + asked. When it was, he would answer, generally in a rather + pessimistic spirit, and escape the conversation as soon as he could. + And the one thing that roused him and put him out of temper was the + easy complacent talk of people who were sure of speedy victory and + talked of 'knock-out' blows. +</p> +<p> + Then six months later, after the capture of the Messines Ridge, in + which he took part, he reappeared, and finding his father, + apparently, almost intolerable, and Pamela and Desmond away, he + migrated to Chetworth. And there he and Beryl were constantly + thrown together. He never talked to her with much intimacy; he + certainly never made love to her. But suddenly she became aware that + she had grown very necessary to him, that he missed her when she was + away, that his eyes lit up when she came back. A special relation + was growing up between them. Her father perceived it; so did her + brother Arthur; and they had both done their best to help it on. + They were both very fond of Aubrey; and nothing could be more + natural than that she should marry one who had been her neighbour + and playmate from childhood. +</p> +<p> + The thing drifted on, and one day, in the depths of a summer + beechwood, some look in the girl's eyes, some note of tremulous and + passionate sweetness, beyond her control, in her deep quiet voice, + touched something irrepressible in him, and he turned to her with a + face of intense, almost hungry yearning, and caught her + hands—'Dear—dearest Beryl, could you—?' +</p> +<p> + The words broke off, but her eyes spoke in reply to his, and her + sudden whiteness. He drew her to him, and folded her close. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't think I ought'—the faltering, broken voice startled + her—'I don't know whether I can make you happy. Dear, dear little + Beryl!' +</p> +<p> + At that she put up her mouth instinctively, only to shrink back + under the energy of his kiss. Then they had walked on together, hand + in hand; but she remembered that, even before they left the wood, + something seemed to have dimmed the extraordinary bliss of the first + moment—some restlessness in him—some touch of absent-mindedness, + as though he grudged himself his own happiness. +</p> +<p> + And so it had been ever since. He had resumed his work at + Aldershot, and owing to certain consequences of the wound in 1915 + was not likely, in spite of desperate efforts on his own part, to be + sent back to the front. His letters varied just as his presence did. + Something always seemed to be kept back from her—was always beyond + her reach. Sometimes she supposed she was not clever enough, that he + found her inadequate and irresponsive. Sometimes, with a sudden, + half-guilty sense of disloyalty to him, she vaguely wondered whether + there was some secret in his life—some past of which she knew + nothing. How could there be? A man of stainless and brilliant + reputation—modest, able, foolhardily brave, of whom all men spoke + warmly; of a sensitive refinement too, which made it impossible to + think of any ordinary vulgar skeleton in the background of his life. +</p> +<p> + Yet her misgivings had grown and grown upon her, till now they were + morbidly strong. She did not satisfy him; she was not making him + happy; it would be better for her to set him free. This action of + his father's offered the opportunity. But as she thought of doing + it—<i>how</i> she would do it, and how he might possibly accept it—she + was torn with misery. +</p> +<p> + She and her girl-friend Pamela were very different. She was the + elder by a couple of years, and much more mature. But Pamela's + undeveloped powers, the flashes of daring, of romance, in the + awkward reserved girl, the suggestion in her of a big and splendid + flowering, fascinated Beryl, and in her humility she never dreamt + that she, with her delicate pensiveness, the mingled subtlety and + purity of her nature, was no less exceptional. She had been brought + up very much alone. Her mother was no companion for her, and the + brother nearest her own age and nearest her heart had been killed at + the opening of the war. Arthur and she were very good friends, but + not altogether congenial. She was rather afraid of him—of his + critical temper, and his abrupt intolerant way, with people or + opinions he disliked. Beryl was quite aware of his effect on Pamela + Mannering, and it made her anxious. For she saw little chance for + Pamela. Before the war, Arthur in London had been very much sought + after, in a world where women are generally good-looking, and + skilled besides in all the arts of pursuit. His standards were + ridiculously high. His women friends were many and of the best. Why + should he be attracted by anything so young and immature as Pamela? +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + At last! A pony-cart coming up from the lodge, with two figures in + it—Aubrey and Pamela. So poor Pam had at last got hold of something + in the nature of an animal! +</p> +<p> + Beryl gripped the balustrading which bordered one side of the path, + and stood watching intently—a slender creature, in a broad purple + hat, shading her small, distinguished face. +</p> +<p> + Presently, as the visitors approached the house, she waved to them, + and they to her. They disappeared from view for a minute. Then a + man's figure emerged alone from a garden door opening on the flagged + path. +</p> +<p> + He came towards her with outstretched hands, looked round him + smiling to see that no one was in sight, and then kissed her. Beryl + knew she ought to have resisted the kiss; she had meant to do it; + but all the same she submitted. +</p> +<p> + 'Your father met us at the door. Arthur has carried Pamela off + somewhere. Very sporting of them, wasn't it? So I've got you alone! + How nice you look! And what a jolly place this is!' +</p> +<p> + He first looked her up and down with admiring eyes, and then made a + gesture towards the beautiful modern house, and the equally + beautiful and modern gardens in which it stood, with their still + unspoilt autumn flowers, their cunning devices in steps and + fountains and pergolas. +</p> +<p> + 'How on earth do you keep it so trim?' He put a hand through her + arm, and drew her on towards the wood-walk which opened beyond the + formal garden and the lawn. +</p> +<p> + 'With two or three old men, and two girls from the village,' said + Beryl. 'Father doesn't mind what he gives up so long as it isn't the + garden.' +</p> +<p> + 'It's his pet vice!' laughed Aubrey—'his public-house, like my + father's Greek pots. I say—you've heard of the secretary?' +</p> +<p> + It seemed to Beryl that he was fencing with her—delaying their real + talk. But she accepted his lead. +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, Desmond seems to like her. I don't gather that Pamela cares + very much about her.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, Pamela takes time. But what do you think the secretary did last + night?' +</p> +<p> + 'What?' They had paused under a group of limes clad in a glory of + yellow leaf, and she was looking up in surprise at the unusual + animation playing over the features of the man beside her. +</p> +<p> + 'She refused to sign a codicil to my father's will, disinheriting + me, and came to tell me so this morning! You should have heard her! + Very formal and ceremonious—very much on her dignity! But such a + brick!' +</p> +<p> + Mannering's deep-set eyes under his lined thinker's brow shone with + amusement. Beryl, with the instinctive jealousy of a girl in love, + was conscious of a sudden annoyance that Miss Bremerton should have + been mixed up in Aubrey's personal affairs. +</p> +<p> + 'What <i>do</i> you mean?' +</p> +<p> + Aubrey put an arm round her shoulder. She knew she ought to shake it + off, but the pressure of it was too welcome. They strolled on. +</p> +<p> + 'I had my talk with father last night. I told him he was absurd, and + I was my own master. That you were perfectly free to give me + up—that I had begged you to consider it—but I didn't think you + would,' he smiled down upon her, but more gravely; 'and failing + dismissal from you, we should be married as soon as it was + reasonably possible. Was that right, darling?' +</p> +<p> + She evaded the question. +</p> +<p> + 'Well—and then?' +</p> +<p> + 'Then he broke out. Sir Henry of course was the <i>bête noire</i>. You + can imagine the kind of things he said, I needn't repeat them. He is + in a mood of perfectly mad opposition to all this war legislation, + and it is not the least good arguing with him. Finally he told me + that my allowance would be stopped, and Mannering would be left to + Desmond, if we married. "All right!" I said, "I daresay, if he and I + survive you, Desmond will let me look round sometimes." Not very + respectful, perhaps, but by that time I was fed up. So then I wished + him good-night, and went back to the drawing-room. In a few minutes + he sent for Miss Bremerton—nobody knew why. I was dog-tired, and + went to bed, and didn't I sleep!—nine good hours. Then this + morning, just after breakfast, when I was strolling in the garden + with a cigarette waiting for Pamela, who should come out but Miss + Bremerton! Have you seen her?' +</p> +<p> + 'Only in the distance.' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, she's really a very fine creature, not pretty exactly—oh, + not pretty at all—but wonderfully well set up, with beautiful hair, + and a general look of—what shall I say?—dignity, refinement, + knowing her own mind. You feel she would set you down in a moment if + you took the smallest liberty. I could not think what she wanted. + But she came up to me—of course we had made acquaintance the night + before—"May I speak to you, Major Mannering? I wish to say + something private. Shall we walk down to the kitchen garden?" So we + walked down to the kitchen garden, and then she told me what had + happened after dinner, when my father sent for her. She told it very + stiffly, rather curtly in fact, as though she were annoyed to have + to bother about such unprofessional things, and hated to waste her + time. "But I don't wish, I don't intend," she said, "to have the + smallest responsibility in the matter. So after thinking it over, I + decided to inform you—and Mr. Desmond too, if you will kindly tell + him—as to what I had done. That is all I have to say," with her + chin very much in the air! "I did it, of course, because I did not + care to be mixed up in <i>any</i> private or family affairs. That is not + my business." I was taken aback, as you can imagine! But, of course, + I thanked her—' +</p> +<p> + 'Why, she couldn't have done anything else!' said Beryl with + vivacity. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't know that. Anybody may witness anything. But she seems to + have guessed. Of course my father never keeps anything to himself. + Anyway she didn't like being thanked at all. She turned back to the + house at once. So then I asked her if she knew what had happened to + the precious codicil. And she flushed up and said, with the manner + of an icicle, "Mr. Mannering sent me to the drawer this morning, + where he had put it away. It was lying on the top, and I saw it." + "Signed?" I said. "No, not signed." Then she began to hurry, and I + thought I had offended her in some way. But it dawned upon me, + presently, that she was really torn between her feeling of chivalry + towards me—she seems to have a kindness for soldiers! her brother + is fighting somewhere—and her professional obligations towards my + father. Wasn't it odd? She hated to be indiscreet, to give him away, + and yet she could not help it! I believe she had been awake half the + night. Her eyes looked like it. I must say I liked her very much. A + woman of a great deal of character! I expect she has a rough time of + it!' +</p> +<p> + 'But of course,' said Beryl, 'it may be all signed and witnessed by + now!' +</p> +<p> + 'Most probably!' The Major laughed. 'But <i>she</i> did her best anyway, + and I shan't ask her any more questions. We had better take it for + granted. My father is as obstinate as they make 'em. Well now, dear + Beryl, have you—have you thought it over?' +</p> +<p> + He pointed to a seat, and sat down by her. The brightness of his + look had passed away. The thin, intellectual face and lined brow had + resumed the expression that was familiar to Beryl. It was an + expression of fatigue—not physical now, for he had clearly + recovered his health, but moral; as though the man behind it were + worn out by some hidden debate with his own mind, into which he fell + perpetually, when left to himself. It was the look which divided him + from her. +</p> +<p> + 'Yes,' she said slowly, 'I've been thinking a great deal.' She + stopped; then lifting her eyes, which were grey and fringed with + dark lashes—beautiful eyes, timid yet passionately honest—she + said, 'You'd better give me up, Aubrey!' +</p> +<p> + He made a restless movement, then took her hands and raised them to + his lips. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't feel like it!' he said, smiling. 'Tell me what you mean.' +</p> +<p> + She looked down, plucking at the fringed belt of her sports coat. + Her lips trembled a little. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't think, Aubrey, I can make you happy! I've been feeling + often—that I don't seem to make much difference to you. And now + this is very serious—giving up Mannering. <i>You</i> may mind it much + more than you think. And if—' +</p> +<p> + 'If what? Go on!' +</p> +<p> + She raised her eyes again and looked at him straight. +</p> +<p> + 'If I can't make up?' +</p> +<p> + The colour flooded into his face, as though, far within, something + stirred 'like a guilty thing surprised.' But he said tenderly: +</p> +<p> + 'I don't care <i>that</i>, Beryl'—he snapped his fingers—'for Mannering + in comparison with you.' +</p> +<p> + Her breath fluttered a little, but she went on resolutely. 'But I + must say it—I must tell you what I feel. It seems the right + opportunity. So often, Aubrey, I don't seem to understand you! I say + the wrong thing. I'm not clever. I haven't any deep thoughts—like + you or Arthur. It would be terrible if you married me, and then—I + felt you were disappointed.' +</p> +<p> + He moved a little away from her and, propping his chin on his hands, + looked gravely through the thinning branches of the wood. +</p> +<p> + 'I wonder why you say that—I wonder what I've done!' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, you've done nothing!' cried Beryl. 'It's only I + feel—sometimes—that—that you don't let me know things—share + things. You seem sometimes so sad—and I can't be any help—you + won't let me! That's what I mind so much—so dreadfully!' +</p> +<p> + He was silent a moment. Then without any attempt at caresses, he + said, 'I wonder, Beryl, whether you—whether you—ever realize—what + we soldiers have <i>seen</i>? No!—thank God!—you don't—you can't.' +</p> +<p> + She pressed her hands to her eyes, and shuddered. +</p> +<p> + 'No, of course I can't—of course I can't!' she said passionately. +</p> +<p> + Then, while her eyes were still hidden, there passed through + his worn features a sharp spasm, as of some uncontrollable + anguish—passed and was gone. +</p> +<p> + He turned towards her, and she looked up. If ever love, all-giving, + self-forgetting, was written on a girl's face, it was written on + Beryl's then. Her wild-rose colour came and went; her eyes were full + of tears. She had honestly made her attempt, but she could not carry + it through, and he saw it. Some vague hope—of which he was + ashamed—died away. Profoundly touched, he put out his arms, and + making nothing of her slight resistance, gathered her close to him. +</p> +<p> + 'Did you ever read <i>Sintram</i>, Beryl?' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, years ago.' +</p> +<p> + 'Do you remember his black fits—how they came upon him + unexpectedly—and only Verena could help him? It's like that with me + sometimes. Things I've seen—horrible sufferings and death—come + back on me. I can't get over it—at least not yet. But I'll never + let it come really between us. And perhaps—some day'—he hesitated + and his voice dropped—'you shall help me—like Verena!' +</p> +<p> + She clung to him, not knowing what he meant, but fascinated by his + deep voice, and the warm shelter of his arms. He bent down to kiss + her, in the most passionate embrace he had ever given her. +</p> +<p> + Then he released her, and they both looked at each other with a new + shyness. +</p> +<p> + 'So that's all right!' he said, smiling. 'You see you can't drop me + as easily as you think. I stick! Well, now, you take me as a + pauper—not exactly a pauper—but still—I've got to settle things + with your father, though!' +</p> +<p> + Beryl proposed that they should go and look for the others. +</p> +<p> + They went hand in hand. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + Sir Henry meanwhile was engaged in the congenial occupation of + inspecting and showing his kitchen gardens. His son Arthur and + Pamela Mannering were following him round the greenhouses, finding + more amusement in the perplexities of Sir Henry's conscience than + interest in the show itself. +</p> +<p> + 'You see they've brought in the chrysanthemums. Just in time! There + was a frost last night,' said Sir Henry, throwing open a door, and + disclosing a greenhouse packed with chrysanthemums in bud. +</p> +<p> + 'My hat—what a show!' said his son. +</p> +<p> + 'Not at all, Arthur, not at all,' said his father, annoyed. 'Not a + third of what we had last year.' +</p> +<p> + Arthur raised his eyebrows, and behind his father's back he and + Pamela exchanged smiles. The next house showed a couple of elderly + men at work pruning roses intended to flower in February and March. +</p> +<p> + 'This is almost my favourite house,' exclaimed Sir Henry. 'Such a + wonderful result for so little labour!' He strolled on complacently. +</p> +<p> + 'How long does this take you, Grimes?' Arthur inquired discreetly of + one of the gardeners. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, a good while, Mr. Arthur—what with the pruning, and the + syringing, and the manuring,' said the man addressed, stopping to + wipe his brow, for the day was mild. +</p> +<p> + Arthur's look darkened a little. He fell into a reverie, while + Pamela was conscious at every step of his tall commanding presence, + of the Military Cross on his khaki breast, and the pleasant, + penetrating eyes under his staff cap. Arthur, she thought, must be + now over thirty. Before his recent wound he had been doing some + special artillery work on the Staff of an Army Corps, and was a very + rising soldier. He was now chafing hotly against the ruling of his + Medical Board, who were insisting that he was not yet fit to go back + to France. +</p> +<p> + Pamela meanwhile was going through moments of disillusion. After + these two years she had looked forward to the meeting with such + eagerness, such hidden emotion! And now—what was there to have been + eager about? They seemed to be talking almost as strangers. The + soreness of it bewildered her. +</p> +<p> + Presently, as they were walking back to the house, leaving Sir + Henry in anxious consultation over the mushroom-house with the + grey-haired head gardener, her companion turned to her abruptly. +</p> +<p> + 'I suppose <i>that's</i> all right!' He pointed to some distant figures + on the fringe of a wood. +</p> +<p> + 'Beryl and Aubrey? Yes—if Aubrey can make her see that she isn't + doing him any harm by letting him go on.' +</p> +<p> + 'Good heavens! how could she do him any harm?' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, there's Mannering. As if that mattered!' said the girl + scornfully. 'And then—Beryl's too dreadfully humble!' +</p> +<p> + 'Humble! About what? No girl ought to be humble—ever!' +</p> +<p> + Pamela's eyes recovered their natural brilliance under his + peremptory look. And he, who had begun the walk with no particular + consciousness at all about his companion, except that she was a + nice, good-looking child, whom he had known from a baby, with equal + suddenness became aware of her in a new way. +</p> +<p> + 'Why shouldn't we be humble, please?' she said, with a laugh. +</p> +<p> + 'Because it's monstrous that you should. Leave that to us!' +</p> +<p> + 'There wouldn't be much of it about, if we did!' The red danced in + her cheek. +</p> +<p> + 'Much humility? Oh, you're quite mistaken. Men are much more humble + than you think. But we're human, of course. If you tempt us, you + soon put the starch into us.' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, you must starch Beryl!' said Pamela, with emphasis. 'She will + think and say that she's not worthy of Aubrey, that she knows + she'll disappoint him, that she wouldn't mind his giving up + Mannering if only she were sure she could make him happy—and heaps + of things like that! I'm sure she's saying them now!' +</p> +<p> + 'I never heard such nonsense in my life!' The masculine face beside + her was all impatience. 'One can't exactly boast about one's sister, + but you and I know very well what Beryl is worth!' +</p> +<p> + Pamela agreed fervently. 'Besides, Desmond would give it back.' +</p> +<p> + 'Hm—' her companion demurred. 'Giving back isn't always easy. As to + pounds, shillings, and pence, if one must talk of them, it's lucky + that Beryl has her "bit." But I shouldn't wonder if your father + thought better of it after all.' +</p> +<p> + Pamela flushed indignantly. +</p> +<p> + 'He all but signed a codicil to his will last night! He's in a + tearing hurry about it. He called in Miss Bremerton and wanted her + to witness it. And she refused. So father threw it into a drawer, + and nobody knows what has happened.' +</p> +<p> + 'Miss Bremerton? The new secretary?' The tone expressed both + amusement and curiosity. 'Ah! I hear all sorts of interesting things + about her.' +</p> +<p> + Pamela straightened her shoulders defiantly. +</p> +<p> + 'Of course she's interesting. She's terribly clever and up to date, + and all the rest of it. She's beginning to boss father, and very + soon she'll boss all the rest of us.' +</p> +<p> + 'Perhaps you wanted it!' said Captain Chicksands, smiling. +</p> +<p> + 'Perhaps we did,' Pamela admitted. 'But one needn't like it all the + same. Well, she's rationed us—that's one good thing—and father + really doesn't guess! And now she's begun to take an interest in + the farms! I believe she's walked over to the Holme Wood farm + to-day, to see for herself what state it's in. Father's in town. And + she's trying hard to keep father out of a horrible row with the + County Committee.' +</p> +<p> + 'About ploughing up the park?' +</p> +<p> + Pamela nodded. +</p> +<p> + 'Plucky woman!' said Arthur Chicksands heartily. 'I'm sure you help + her, Pamela, all you can?' +</p> +<p> + 'I don't like being managed,' said the girl stubbornly, rather + resenting his tone. +</p> +<p> + A slight shade of sternness crossed the soldier's face. +</p> +<p> + 'You know it's no good playing with this war,' he said drily. 'It's + as much to be won here as it is over seas. <i>Food</i>!—that'll be the + last word for everybody. And it's women's work as much as men's.' +</p> +<p> + She saw that she had jarred on him. But an odd jealousy—or perhaps + her hidden disappointment—drove her on. +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, but one doesn't like strangers interfering,' she said + childishly. +</p> +<p> + The soldier threw her a side-glance, while his lip twitched a + little. So this was Pamela—grown-up. She seemed to him rather + foolish—and very lovely. There was no doubt about that! She was + going to be a beauty, and of a remarkable type. He himself was a + strong, high-minded, capable fellow, with an instinctive interest in + women, and a natural aptitude for making friends with them. He was + inclined, always, to try and set them in the right way; to help them + to some of the mental training which men got in a hundred ways, and + women, as it seemed to him, were often so deplorably without. But + this schoolmaster function only attracted him when there was + opposition. He had been quite sincere in denouncing humility in + women. It never failed to warn him off. +</p> +<p> + 'Do you think she really wants to interfere?' he asked, smiling. 'I + expect it's only that she's got a bit of an organizing gift—like + the women who have been doing such fine things in the war.' +</p> +<p> + 'There's no chance for me to do fine things in the war,' said Pamela + bitterly. +</p> +<p> + 'Take up the land, and see! Suppose you and Miss Bremerton could + pull the estate together!' +</p> +<p> + Pamela's eyes scoffed. +</p> +<p> + 'Father would never let me. No, I think sometimes I shall run away!' +</p> +<p> + He lifted his eyebrows, and she was annoyed with him for taking her + remark as mere bluff. +</p> +<p> + 'You'll see,' she insisted. 'I shall do something desperate.' +</p> +<p> + 'I wouldn't,' he said, quietly. 'Make friends with Miss Bremerton + and help her.' +</p> +<p> + 'I don't like her enough,' she said, drawing quick breath. +</p> +<p> + He saw now she was in a mood to quarrel with him outright. But he + didn't mean to let her. With those eyes—in such a fire—she was + really splendid. How she had come on! +</p> +<p> + 'I'm sorry,' he said mildly. 'Because, you know—if you don't mind + my saying so—it'll really take the two of you to keep your father + out of gaol. The Government's absolutely determined about this + thing—they can't afford to be anything else. <i>We're</i> being + hammered, and gassed, and blown to pieces over there'—he pointed + eastward. 'It's the least the people over here can do—to play + up—isn't it?' Then he laughed. 'But I mustn't be setting you + against your father. I didn't mean to.' +</p> +<p> + Pamela shrugged her shoulders, in silence. She really longed to ask + him about his wound, his staff work, a thousand things; but they + didn't seem, somehow, to be intimate enough, to be hitting it off + enough. This meeting, which had been to her a point of romance + in the distance, was turning out to be just nothing—only + disappointment. She was glad to see how quickly the other pair were + coming towards them, and at the same time bitterly vexed that her + <i>tête-à -tête</i> with Arthur was at an end. +</p> +<a name="2HCH0006"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + CHAPTER VI +</h2> +<p> + Meanwhile Elizabeth Bremerton was sitting pensive on a hill-side + about mid-way between Mannering and Chetworth. She had a bunch of + autumn berries in her hands. Her tweed skirt and country boots + showed traces of mud much deeper than anything on the high road; her + dress was covered with bits of bramble, dead leaves, and + thistledown; and her bright gold hair had been pulled here and there + out of its neat coils, as though she had been pushing through hedges + or groping through woods. +</p> +<p> + 'It's perfectly <i>monstrous</i>!' she was thinking. 'It oughtn't to be + allowed. And when we're properly civilized, it won't be allowed. No + one ought to be free to ruin his land as he pleases! It concerns the + <i>State</i>. "Manage your land decently—produce a proper amount of + food—or out you go!" And I wouldn't have waited for war to say it! + Ugh! that place!' +</p> +<p> + And she thought with disgust of the choked and derelict fields, the + ruined gates and fences, the deserted buildings she had just been + wandering through. After the death of an old miser, who, according + to the tale she had heard in a neighbouring village, had lived there + for forty years, with a decrepit wife, both of them horribly + neglected and dirty, and making latterly no attempt to work the + farm, a new tenant had appeared who would have taken the place, if + the Squire would have rebuilt the house and steadings, and allowed a + reasonable sum for the cleansing and recovering of the land. But + the Squire would do nothing of the kind. He 'hadn't a farthing to + spend on expensive repairs,' and if the new tenant wouldn't take the + farm on the old terms, well, he might leave it alone. +</p> +<p> + The place had just been investigated by the County Committee, and a + peremptory order had been issued. What was the Squire going to do? +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth fell to thinking what <i>ought</i> to be done with the Squire's + twelve thousand acres, if the Squire were a reasonable man. It was + exasperating to her practical sense to see a piece of business in + such a muddle. As a child and growing girl she had spent long + summers in the country with a Dorsetshire uncle who farmed his own + land, and there had sprung up in her an instinctive sympathy with + the rich old earth and its kindly powers, with the animals and the + crops, with the labourers and their rural arts, with all the + interwoven country life, and its deep rooting in the soil of history + and poetry. +</p> +<p> + Country life is, above all, steeped in common sense—the old, + ancestral, simple wisdom of primitive men. And Elizabeth, in spite + of her classical degree, and her passion for Greek pots, believed + herself to be, before everything, a person of common sense. She had + always managed her own family's affairs. She had also been the paid + secretary of an important learned society in her twenties not long + after she left college, and knew well that she had been a + conspicuous success. She had a great love, indeed, for any sort of + organizing, large and small, for putting things straight, and + running them. She was burning to put Mannering straight—and run it. + She knew she could. Organizing means not doing things yourself, but + finding the right people to do them. And she had always been good + at finding the right people—putting the round pegs into the round + holes. +</p> +<p> + All very well, however, to talk of running the Squire's estate! What + was to be done with the Squire? +</p> +<p> + Take the codicil business. First thing that morning he had sent her + to that very drawer to look for something, and there lay the + precious document—unsigned and unwitnessed—for any one to see. He + made no comment, nor of course did she. He would probably forget it + till the date of his son's marriage was announced, and then complete + it in a hurry. +</p> +<p> + Take the farms and the park. As to the farms there were two + summonses now pending against him with regard to 'farms in + hand'—Holme Wood and another—besides the action in the case of the + three incompetent men, Gregson at their head, who were being turned + out. With regard to ploughing up the park, all his attempts so far + to put legal difficulties in the way of the County Committee had + been quite futile. The steam plough was coming in a week. Meanwhile + the gates were to be locked, and two old park-keepers, who were + dithering in their shoes, had been told to defend them. +</p> +<p> + At bottom, Elizabeth was tolerably convinced that the Squire would + not land himself in gaol, cut off from his books and his bronzes, + and reduced to the company of people who had never heard of + Pausanias. But she was alarmed lest he should 'try it on' a little + too far, in these days when the needs of war and the revolutionary + currents abroad make the setting down of squires especially + agreeable to the plebeians who sit on juries or county committees. + Of course he must—he certainly would—climb down. +</p> +<p> + But somebody would have to go through the process of persuading + him! That was due to his silly dignity! She supposed that somebody + would be herself. How absurd! She, who had just been six weeks on + the scene! But neither of the married daughters had the smallest + influence with him; Sir Henry Chicksands had been sent about his + business; Major Mannering was out of favour, and Desmond and Pamela + were but babes. +</p> +<p> + Then a recollection flashed across the contriving mind of Elizabeth + which brought a decided flush to her fair skin—a flush which was + half amusement, half wrath. That morning a rather curious incident + had happened. After her talk with Major Mannering, and because the + morning was fine and the Squire was away, she had dragged a small + table out into the garden, in front of the library, and set to work + there on a part of the new catalogue of the collections, which she + and Mr. Levasseur were making. She did not, however, like Mr. + Levasseur. Something in her, indeed, disapproved of him strongly. + She had already managed to dislodge him a good deal from his former + intimacy with the Squire. Luckily she was a much better scholar than + he, though she admitted that his artistic judgment was worth having. +</p> +<p> + As a shelter from a rather cold north wind, she was sitting in full + sun under the protection of a yew hedge of ancient growth, which ran + out at right angles to the library, and made one side of a + quadrangular rose-garden, planted by Mrs. Mannering long ago, and + now, like everything else, in confusion and neglect. +</p> +<p> + Presently she heard voices on the other side of the hedge—Mrs. + Strang, no doubt, and Mrs. Gaddesden. She did not take much to + either lady. Mrs. Strang seemed to her full of good intentions, but + without practical ability to fit them. For Mrs. Gaddesden's type she + had an instinctive contempt, the contempt of the clever woman of + small means who has had to earn her own living, and to watch in + silence the poses and pretences of rich women playing at + philanthropy. But, all the same, she and the servants between them + had made Mrs. Gaddesden extremely comfortable, while at the same + time rationing her strictly. 'I really can be civil to anybody!' + thought Elizabeth complacently. +</p> +<p> + Suddenly, her own name, and a rush of remarks on the other side of + this impenetrable hedge, made her raise her head, startled, from her + work, eyes and mouth wide open. +</p> +<p> + It was Mrs. Gaddesden speaking. +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, she's gone out. I went into the library just now to ask her to + look out a train for me. She's wonderfully good at Bradshaw. Oh, of + course, I admit she's a very clever woman! But she wasn't there. + Forest thinks she's gone over to Holme Wood, to get father some + information he wants. She asked Forest how to get this this morning. + My dear Margaret,' with great emphasis, 'there's no question about + it! If she chooses, she'll be mistress here before long. She's + steadily getting father into her hands. She was never engaged, was + she, to look after accounts and farms? and yet here she is, taking + everything on. He'll grow more and more dependent upon her, and + you'll see!—I believe he's been inclined for some time to marry + again. He wants somebody to look after Pamela, and set him free for + his hobbies. He'll very soon find out that this woman fills the + part, and that, if he marries her, he'll get a classical secretary + besides.' +</p> +<p> + Mrs. Strang's voice—a deep husky voice—interposed. +</p> +<p> + 'Miss Bremerton's not a woman to be married against her will, that + you may be sure of, Alice.' +</p> +<p> + 'No, but, my dear,' said the other impatiently, 'every woman over + thirty wants a home—and a husband. She'd get that here anyway, + however bad father's affairs may be. And, of course, a <i>position</i>.' +</p> +<p> + The voices passed on out of hearing. Elizabeth remained transfixed. + Then with a contemptuous shake of the head, and a bright colour, she + returned to her work. +</p> +<p> + But now, as she sat meditating on the hill-side, this absurd + conversation recurred to her. Absurd, and not absurd! 'Most women of + my sort can do what they have a mind to do,' she thought to herself, + with perfect <i>sang-froid</i>. 'If I thought it worth while to marry + this elderly lunatic—he's an interesting lunatic, though!—I + suppose I could do it. But it isn't worth while—not the least. I've + done with being a woman! What interests me is the bit of + <i>work</i>—national work! Men find that kind of thing enough—a great + many of them. I mean to find it enough. A fig for marrying!' +</p> +<p> + All the same, as she returned to her schemes both for regenerating + the estate and managing the Squire—schemes which were beginning to + fascinate her, both by their difficulty and their scale—she found + her thoughts oddly interfered with, first by recollections of the + past—bitter, ineffaceable memories—and then by reflections on the + recent course of her relations with the Squire. +</p> +<p> + He had greeted her that morning without a single reference to the + incidents of the night before, had seemed in excellent spirits, and + before going up to town had given her in twenty minutes, <i>à propos</i> + of some difficulty in her work, one of the most brilliant lectures + on certain points of Homeric archaeology she had ever heard—and she + was a connoisseur in lectures. +</p> +<p> + Intellectually, as a scholar, she both admired and looked upon + him—with reverence, even with enthusiasm. She was eager for his + praise, distressed by his censure. Practically and morally, + patriotically, above all, she despised him, thought him 'a worm and + no man'! There was the paradox of the situation and as full of + tingling challenge and entertainment as paradoxes generally are. +</p> +<p> + At this point she became aware of a group on the high road far to + her right. A pony-cart—a girl driving it—a man in khaki beside + her; with a second girl-figure and another khaki-clad warrior, + walking near. +</p> +<p> + She presently thought she recognized Pamela's pony and Pamela + herself. Desmond, who was going off that very evening to his + artillery camp, had told her that 'Pam' was driving Aubrey over to + Chetworth, and that he, Desmond, was 'jolly well going to see to it + that neither old Aubrey nor Beryl were bullied out of their lives by + father,' if he could help it. So no doubt the second girl-figure was + that of Beryl Chicksands, and the other gentleman in khaki was + probably Captain Chicksands, for whom Desmond seemed to cherish a + boyish hero-worship. They had been all lunching together at + Chetworth, she supposed. +</p> +<p> + She watched them coming, with a curious mingling of interest in them + and detachment from them. She was to them merely the Squire's paid + secretary. Were they anything to her? A puckish thought crossed her + mind, sending a flash of slightly cynical laughter through her quiet + eyes. If Mrs. Gaddesden's terrors—for she supposed they were + terrors—were suddenly translated into fact, why, all these people + would become in a moment related to her!—their lives would be mixed + up with hers—she and they would matter intimately to each other! +</p> +<p> + She sat smiling and dreaming a few more minutes, the dimples playing + about her firm mouth and chin. Then, as the sound of wheels drew + nearer, she rose and went towards the party. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + The party from Chetworth soon perceived Elizabeth's approach. 'So + this is the learned lady?' said the Captain in Pamela's ear. She had + brought him in her pony-carriage so far, as he was not yet able for + much physical exertion, and he and Beryl were to walk back from + Holme Wood Hill. +</p> +<p> + He put up his eye-glass, and examined the figure as it came nearer. +</p> +<p> + 'She's just come up, I suppose, from the farm,' said Pamela, + pointing to some red roofs among the trees, in the wide hollow below + the hill. +</p> +<p> + '"Athêne Ageleiê"!' murmured the Major, who had been proxime for the + Ireland, and a Balliol man. 'She holds herself well—beautiful + hair!' +</p> +<p> + 'Beryl, this is Miss Bremerton,' said Aubrey Mannering, with a + cordial ring in his voice, as he introduced his fiancée to + Elizabeth. The two shook hands, and Elizabeth thought the girl's + manner a little stand-off, and wondered why. +</p> +<p> + The pony had soon been tied up, and the party spread themselves on + the grass of the hill-side; for Holme Wood Hill was a famous point + of view, and the sunny peace of the afternoon invited loitering. + For miles to the eastward spread an undulating chalk plain, its + pale grey or purplish soil showing in the arable fields where the + stubbles were just in process of ploughing, its monotony broken by a + vast wood of oak and beech into which the hill-side ran down—a wood + of historic fame, which had been there when Senlac was fought, had + furnished ship-timber for the Armada, and sheltered many a cavalier + fugitive of the Civil Wars. +</p> +<p> + The wood indeed, which belonged to the Squire, was a fragment of + things primeval. For generations the trees in it had sprung up, + flourished, and fallen as they pleased. There were corners of it + where the north-west wind sweeping over the bare down above it had + made pathways of death and ruin; sinister places where the fallen or + broken trunks of the great beech trees, as they had crashed + down-hill upon and against each other, had assumed all sorts of + grotesque and phantasmal attitudes, as in a trampled mêlée of + giants; there were other parts where slender plumed trees, rising + branchless to a great height above open spaces, took the shape from + a distance of Italian stone palms, and gave a touch of southern or + romantic grace to the English midland scene; while at their feet, + the tops of the more crowded sections of the wood lay in close, + billowy masses of leaf, the oaks vividly green, the beeches already + aflame. +</p> +<p> + 'Who says there's a war?' said Captain Chicksands, sinking + luxuriously into a sunny bed of dry leaves, conveniently placed in + front of Elizabeth. 'Miss Bremerton, you and I were, I understand, + at the same University?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth assented. +</p> +<p> + 'Is it your opinion that Universities are any good?—that after the + war there are going to be any Universities?' +</p> +<p> + 'Only those that please the Labour Party!' put in Mannering. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, I'm not afraid of the Labour Party—awfully good fellows, many + of them. The sooner they make a Government the better. They've got + to learn their lessons like the rest of us. But I do want to know + whether Miss Bremerton thinks Oxford was any <i>use</i>—before the + war—and is going to be any use after the war? It's all right now, + of course, for the moment, with the Colleges full of cadets and + wounded men. But would you put the old Oxford back if you could?' +</p> +<p> + He lay on his elbows looking up at her. Elizabeth's eyes sparkled a + little. She realized that an able man was experimenting on her, + putting her through her paces. She asked what he meant by 'the old + Oxford,' and an amusing dialogue sprang up between them as to their + respective recollections of the great University—the dons, the + lectures, the games, the Eights, 'Commem.' and the like. The Captain + presently declared that Elizabeth had had a much nicer Oxford than + he, and he wished he had been a female student. +</p> +<p> + 'Didn't you—didn't you,' he said, his keen eyes observing her, 'get + a prize once that somebody had given to the Women's Colleges for + some Greek iambics?' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh,' cried Elizabeth, 'how did you hear of that?' +</p> +<p> + 'I was rather a dab at them myself,' he said lazily, drawing his hat + over his eyes as he lay in the sun, 'and I perfectly remember + hearing of a young lady—yes, I believe it was you!—whose + translation of Browning's "Lost Leader" into Greek iambics was + better than mine. They set it in the Ireland. You admit it? Capital! + As to the superiority of yours, I was, of course, entirely + sceptical, though polite. Remind me, how did you translate "Just for + a ribbon to put on his coat"?' +</p> +<p> + With a laughing mouth, Elizabeth at once quoted the Greek. +</p> +<p> + The Captain made a wry face. +</p> +<p> + 'It sounds plausible, I agree,' he said slowly, 'but I don't believe + a Greek would have understood a word of it. You remember that in the + dim Victorian ages, when one great Latin scholar gave, as he + thought, the neatest possible translation of "The path of glory + leads but to the grave," another great Latin scholar declared that + all a Roman could have understood by it would have been "The path of + a public office leads to the jaws of the hillock"?' +</p> +<p> + The old Oxford joke was new in the ears of this Georgian generation, + and when the laugh subsided, Elizabeth said mildly: +</p> +<p> + 'Now, please, may I have yours?' +</p> +<p> + 'What—my translation? Oh—horribly unfair!' said the Captain, + chewing a piece of grass. 'However, here it is!' +</p> +<p> + He gave it out—with unction. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth fell upon it in a flash, dissected and quarrelled with + every word of it, turned it inside out in fact, while the Captain, + still chewing, followed her with eyes of growing enjoyment. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, I'll take a vote when I get back to the front,' he said, when + she came to an end. 'Several firsts in Mods on our staff. I'll send + you the result.' +</p> +<p> + The talk dropped. The mention of the front reminded every one of the + war, and its bearing on their own personal lot. Desmond was going + into camp that evening. In a few months he would be a full-blown + gunner at the front. Beryl, watching Aubrey's thin face and nervous + frown, proved inwardly that the Aldershot appointment might go on. + And Elizabeth's thoughts had flown to her brother in Mesopotamia. +</p> +<p> + Pamela, sitting apart, and deeply shaded by a great beech with + drooping branches that rose behind the group, was sharply unhappy, + and filled with a burning jealousy of Elizabeth, who queened it + there in the middle of them—so self-possessed, agreeable, and + competent. How well Arthur had been getting on with her! What a + tiresome, tactless idiot she, Pamela, must seem in comparison! The + memory of her talk with him made her cheeks hot. So few chances of + seeing him!—and when they came, she threw them away. She felt for + the moment as though she hated Elizabeth. Why had her father saddled + her upon them? Life was difficult enough before. Passionately she + began to think of her threat to Arthur. It had been the merest 'idle + word.' But why shouldn't she realize it—why not 'run away'? There + was work to be done, and money to be earned, by any able-bodied + girl. And perhaps then, when she was on her own, and had proved that + she was not a child any longer, Arthur would respect her more, take + more interest in her. +</p> +<p> + 'What do you prophesy?' said Elizabeth suddenly, addressing Arthur + Chicksands, who seemed to be asleep in the grass. 'Will it end—by + next summer?' +</p> +<p> + 'What, the war?' he said, waking up. 'Oh dear, no. Next year will be + the worst of any—the test of us all—especially of you civilians at + home. If we stick it, we shall save ourselves and the world. If we + don't—' +</p> +<p> + He shrugged his shoulders. His voice was full and deep. It thrilled + the girl sitting in the shade—partly with fear. In three weeks or + so, the speaker would be back in the full inferno of the front, and + because of her father's behaviour she would probably not be able to + see him in the interval. Perhaps she might never see him again. + Perhaps this was the last time. And he would go away without giving + her a thought. Whereas, if she had played her cards differently, + this one last day, he might at least have asked her to write to him. + Many men did—even with girls they hardly knew at all. +</p> +<p> + Just then she noticed a movement of Beryl's, and saw her friend's + small bare hand creep out and slip itself into Aubrey Mannering's, + as he sat beside her on the grass. The man's hand enfolded the + girl's—he turned round to smile at her in silence. A pang of + passionate envy swept through Pamela. It was just so she wished to + be enfolded—to be loved. +</p> +<p> + It was Elizabeth—as the person who had business to do and hours to + keep—who gave the signal for the break-up of the party. She sprang + to her feet, with a light, decided movement, and all the others fell + into line. Arthur and Beryl still accompanied the Mannering + contingent a short distance, the Captain walking beside Elizabeth in + animated conversation. At last Beryl peremptorily recalled him to + the pony-carriage, and the group halted for good-byes. +</p> +<p> + Pamela stood rather stiffly apart. The Captain went up to her. +</p> +<p> + 'Good-bye, Pamela. Do write to me sometimes! I shall be awfully + interested about the farms!' +</p> +<p> + With vexation she felt the colour rush to her cheeks. +</p> +<p> + 'I shan't have much to say about them,' she said stiffly. +</p> +<p> + 'I'm sure you will! You'll get keen! But write about anything. It's + awfully jolly to get letters at the front!' +</p> +<p> + His friendly, interrogating eyes were on her, as though she puzzled + him in this new phase, and he wanted to understand her. She said + hurriedly, 'If you like,' hating herself for the coolness in her + voice, and shook hands, only to hear him say, as he turned finally + to Elizabeth, 'Mind, you have promised me "The Battle of the + Plough"! I'm afraid you'll hardly have time to put it into iambics!' +</p> +<p> + So he had asked Miss Bremerton to write to him too! Pamela vowed + inwardly that in that case she would not write him a line. And it + seemed to her unseemly that her father's secretary should be making + mock of her father's proceedings with a man who was a complete + stranger to her. She walked impetuously ahead of Aubrey and + Elizabeth. Towards the west the beautiful day was dying, and the + light streamed on the girl's lithe young figure and caught her + golden-brown hair. Clouds of gnats rose in the mild air; and a light + seemed to come back from the bronzed and purple hedgerows, making a + gorgeous atmosphere, in which the quiet hill-top and the thinning + trees swam transfigured. A green woodpecker was pecking + industriously among some hedgerow oaks, and Pamela, who loved birds + and watched them, caught every now and then the glitter of his + flight. The world was dropping towards sleep. But she was burningly + awake and alive. Had she ever been really alive before? +</p> +<p> + Then—suddenly she remembered Desmond. He was to be home from some + farewell visits between five and six. She would be late; he might + want her for a hundred things. His last evening! Her heart smote + her. They had reached the park gates. Waving her hand to the two + behind, with the one word 'Desmond!' she began to run, and was soon + out of their sight. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + Elizabeth and Aubrey were not long behind her. They found the house + indeed pervaded with Desmond, and Desmond's going. Aubrey also was + going up to town, but of him nobody took any notice. Pamela and + Forest were in attendance on the young warrior, who was himself in + the wildest spirits, shouting and whistling up and downstairs, + singing the newest and most shocking of camp songs, chaffing Forest, + and looking with mischievous eyes at the various knitted 'comforts' + to which his married sisters were hastily putting the last stitches. +</p> +<p> + 'I say, Pam—do you see me in mittens?' he said to her in the hall, + thrusting out his two splendid hands with a grin. 'And as for that + jersey of Alice's—why, I should stew to death in it. Oh, I know—I + can give it to my batman. The fellows tell me you can always get rid + of things to your batman. It's like sending your wedding-presents to + the pawn-shop. But where is father?' The boy looked discontentedly + at his watch. 'He vowed he'd be here by five. I must be off by a few + minutes after eight.' +</p> +<p> + 'The train's late. He'll be here directly,' said Pamela confidently; + 'and I say—don't you hurt Alice's feelings, old man.' +</p> +<p> + 'Don't you preach, Pam!' said the boy, laughing. And a few minutes + afterwards Pamela, passing the open door of the drawing-room, heard + him handsomely thanking his elder sisters. He ran into her as he + emerged with his arms full of scarves, mittens, and the famous + jersey which had taken Alice Gaddesden a year to knit. +</p> +<p> + 'Stuff 'em in somewhere, Pam!' he said in her ear. 'They can go up + to London anyway.' And having shovelled them all off on to her, he + raced along the passage to the library in search of Elizabeth. +</p> +<p> + 'I say, Miss Bremerton, I want a book or two.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth looked up smiling from her table. She was already of the + same mind as everybody outside and inside Mannering—that Desmond + did you a kindness when he asked you to do him one. +</p> +<p> + 'What kind of a book?' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, I've got some novels, and some Nat Goulds, and Pamela's given + me some war-books. Don't know if I shall read 'em!—Well, I'd like a + small Horace, if you can find one. "My tutor" was an awfully good + hand at Horace. He really did make me like the old chap! And have + you got such a thing as a Greek Anthology that wouldn't take up much + room?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth went to the shelves to look. Desmond as the possessor of + literary tastes was a novelty to her. But, after all, she understood + that he had been a half in the Sixth at Eton, before his cadet + training began. She found him two small pocket editions, and the boy + thanked her gratefully. He began to turn over the Anthology, as + though searching for something. +</p> +<p> + 'Can I help you to find anything?' she asked him. +</p> +<p> + 'No—it's something I remember,' he said absently, and presently + hit upon it, with a look of pleasure. +</p> +<p> + 'They did know a thing or two, didn't they? That's fine anyway?' He + handed her the book. 'But I forget some of the words. Do you mind + giving me a construe?' he said humbly. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth translated, feeling rather choky. +</p> +<p> + '"On the Spartans at Thermopylæ. +</p> +<p> + '"Him—"' +</p> +<p> + 'That's Xerxes, of course,' put in Desmond. +</p> +<p> + '"Him, who changed the paths of earth and sea, who sailed upon the + mainland, and walked upon the deep—him did Spartan valour hold + back, with just three hundred spears. Shame on you, mountains and + seas!"' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, that's all right, isn't it?' said the boy simply, looking up. + 'Couldn't put it better if you tried, could you?' Then he said, + hesitating a little as he turned down the leaf, and put the book in + his pocket, 'Five of the fellows who were in the Sixth with me this + time last year are dead by now. It makes you think a bit, doesn't + it?—Hullo, there is father!' +</p> +<p> + He turned joyously, his young figure finely caught in the light of + Elizabeth's lamp against the background of the Nikê. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, father you have been a time! I thought you'd forgotten + altogether I was off to-night.' +</p> +<p> + 'The train was abominably late. Travelling is becoming a perfect + nuisance! I gave the station-master a piece of my mind,' said the + Squire angrily. +</p> +<p> + 'And I expect he said that you civilians jolly well have to wait for + the munition trains!' +</p> +<p> + 'He muttered some nonsense of that sort. I didn't listen to him.' + The Squire threw himself down in an arm-chair. Desmond perched on + the corner of a table near. Elizabeth discreetly took up her work + and disappeared. +</p> +<p> + 'How much time have you got?' asked the Squire abruptly. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, a few minutes. Aubrey and I are to have some supper before I + go. But Forest'll come and tell me.' +</p> +<p> + 'Everything ready? Got money enough?' +</p> +<p> + 'Rather! I shan't want anything for an age. Why, I shall be buying + war-loan out of my pay!' +</p> +<p> + He laughed happily. Then his face grew suddenly serious. +</p> +<p> + 'Look here, father—I want awfully to say something. Do you mind?' +</p> +<p> + 'If you want to say it, I suppose you will say it.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire was sitting hunched up, looking old and tired, his thick + white hair piled fantastically above his eyes. +</p> +<p> + Desmond straightened his shoulders with the air of one going over + the parapet. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, it's this, father. I do wish you'd give up that row about the + park!' +</p> +<p> + The Squire sat up impatiently. +</p> +<p> + 'That's not your business, Desmond. It can't matter to you.' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, but it <i>does</i> matter to me!' said the boy with energy. 'It'll + be in all the papers—the fellows will gas about it at mess—it's + awfully hard lines on me. It makes me feel rotten!' +</p> +<p> + The Squire laughed. He was reminded of a Fourth of June years + before, when Desmond had gone through agonies of shame because + his father was not, in his eyes, properly 'got-up' for the + occasion—how he had disappeared in the High Street, and only + joined his people again in the crowd at the fireworks. +</p> +<p> + 'I recommend you to stick it, Desmond. It won't last long. I've got + my part to play, and you've got yours. You fight because they make + you.' +</p> +<p> + 'I <i>don't!</i>' said the boy passionately. 'I fight because—' +</p> +<p> + Then his words broke down. He descended from the table. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, all right, father. I suppose it's no good talking. Only if + you think I shan't mind if you get yourself put in quad, you're + jolly well mistaken. Hullo, Forest! I'm coming!' +</p> +<p> + He hurried off, the Squire moving slowly after him. In the hour + before the boy departed he was the spoilt darling of his sisters and + the servants, who hung round him, and could not do enough for him. + He endured it, on the whole, patiently dashing out at the very end + to say good-bye to an old gardener, once a keeper, with whom he used + to go ferreting in the park. To his father alone his manner was not + quite as usual. It was the manner of one who had been hurt. The + Squire felt it. +</p> +<p> + As to his elder son, he and Aubrey parted without any outward sign + of discord, and on the way to London Aubrey, with the dry detachment + that was natural to him in speaking of himself, told the story of + the preceding twenty-four hours to the eager Desmond's sympathetic + ears. 'Well done, Broomie!' was the boy's exultant comment on the + tale of the codicil. +</p> +<p> + The house after Desmond's departure settled dreamily down. Pamela, + with red eyes, retreated to the schoolroom, and began to clear up + the debris left by the packing; Alice Gaddesden went to sleep in + the drawing-room; Mrs. Strang wrote urgent letters to registry + offices, who now seldom answered her; the Squire was in the library, + and Elizabeth retreated early to her own room. She spent a good deal + of time in writing up a locked diary, and finishing up a letter to + her mother. Then she saw to her astonishment that it was nearly one + o'clock, and began to feel sleepy. +</p> +<p> + The night was warm, and before undressing she put out her light, and + threw up her window. There was a moon nearly at the full outside, + and across the misty stretches of the park the owls were calling. +</p> +<p> + Suddenly she heard a distant footstep, and drew back from the + window. A man was pacing slowly up and down an avenue of pollarded + limes which divided the rose-garden from the park. His figure could + only be intermittently seen; but it was certainly the Squire. +</p> +<p> + She drew the curtains again without shutting the window; and for + long after she was in bed she still heard the footstep. It awakened + many trains of thought in her—of her own position in this household + where she seemed to have become already mistress and indispensable; + of Desmond's last words with her; of the relations between father + and son; of Captain Chicksands and his most agreeable company; of + Pamela's evident dislike of her, and what she could do to mend it. +</p> +<p> + As to Pamela, Elizabeth's thoughts went oddly astray. She was vexed + with the girl for what had seemed to the elder woman her young + rudeness to a gallant and distinguished man. Why, she had scarcely + spoken a word to him during the sitting on the hill! In some way, + Elizabeth supposed, Captain Chicksands had offended her—had not + made enough of her perhaps? But girls must learn now to accept + simpler and blunter manners from their men friends. She guessed that + Pamela was in that self-conscious, <i>exalté</i> mood of first youth + which she remembered so well in herself—fretting too, no doubt, + poor child! over the parting from Desmond. Anyway she seemed to have + no particular interest in Arthur Chicksands, nor he in her, though + his tone in speaking to her had been, naturally, familiar and + intimate. But probably he was one of those able men who have little + to say to the young girl, and keep their real minds for the older + and experienced woman. +</p> +<p> + At any rate, Elizabeth dismissed from her mind whatever vague notion + or curiosity as to a possible love-affair for Pamela in that + direction might have been lurking in it. And that being so, she + promptly, and without <i>arrière pensée</i> of any sort, allowed herself + the pleasant recollection of half an hour's conversation which had + put her intellectually on her mettle, and quickened those infant + ambitions of a practical and patriotic kind which were beginning to + rise in her. +</p> +<p> + But the Squire's coming escapade! How to stop it?—for Desmond's + sake chiefly. +</p> +<p> + Dear boy! It was on a tender, almost maternal thought of him that + she at last turned to sleep. But the footstep pursued her ear. What + was the meaning of this long nocturnal pacing? Had the Squire, after + all, a heart, or some fragment of one? Was it the parting from + Desmond that thus kept him from his bed? She would have liked to + think it—but did not quite succeed! +</p> +<a name="2HCH0007"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + CHAPTER VII +</h2> +<p> + A week or two had passed. +</p> +<p> + The Squire was on his way to inspect his main preparations for the + battle at the park gates, which he expected on the morrow. He had + been out before breakfast that morning, on horseback, with one of + the gardeners, to see that all the gates on the estate, except the + Chetworth gate, were locked and padlocked. For the Chetworth gate, + which adjoined the land to be attacked, more serious defences were + in progress. +</p> +<p> + All his attempts to embarrass the action of the Committee had been + so far vain. The alternatives he had proposed had been refused. + Fifty acres at the Chetworth end of Mannering Park, besides goodly + slices elsewhere, the County Committee meant to have. As the Squire + would not plough them himself, and as the season was advancing, he + had been peremptorily informed that the motor plough belonging to + the County Committee would be sent over on such a day, with so many + men, to do the work; the land had been surveyed; no damage would be + done to the normal state of the property that could be avoided; et + cetera. +</p> +<p> + So the crisis was at hand. The Squire felt battle in his blood. +</p> +<p> + As he walked along through his domain, exhilarated by the bright + frosty morning, and swinging his stick like a boy, he was in the + true Quixotic mood, ready to tilt at any wind-mill in his path. The + state of the country, the state of the war, the state of his own + affairs, had produced in him a final ferment of resentment and + disgust which might explode in any folly. +</p> +<p> + Why not go to prison? He thought he could bear it. A man must stand + by his opinions—even through sacrifice. It would startle the public + into attention. Such outrages on the freedom, on the ancient rights + of Englishmen, must not pass without protest. Yes—he felt it in him + to be a martyr! They would hardly refuse him a pocket Homer in + prison. +</p> +<p> + What, a month? Three weeks, in actual practice. Luckily he cared + nothing at all about food—though he refused to be rationed by a + despotic Government. On a handful of dates and a bit of coarse bread + he had passed many a day of hard work when he was excavating in the + East. One can always starve—for a purpose! The Squire conceived + himself as out for Magna Charta—the root principles of British + liberty. As for those chattering fellows of the Labour Party, let + them conquer England if they could. While the Government ploughed up + his land without leave, the Socialists would strip him of it + altogether. Well, nothing for it but to <i>fight</i>! If one went down, + one went down—but at least honourably. +</p> +<p> + In the <i>Times</i> that morning there was a report of a case in the + north, a landowner fined £100, for letting a farm go to waste for + the game's sake. And Miss Bremerton had been holding up the like + fate to him that morning—because of Holme Wood. A woman of parts + that!—too clever!—a disputatious creature, whom a man would like + to put down. But it wasn't easy; she slipped out of your grip—gave + you unexpected tits for tats. One would have thought after that + business with the will, she would be anxious to make up—to show + docility. In such a relation one expected docility. But not a bit of + it! She grew bolder. The Squire admitted uncomfortably that it was + his own fault—only, in fact, what he deserved for making a + land-agent, accountant, and legal adviser out of a poor lady who had + merely engaged herself to be his private secretary for classical + purposes. +</p> +<p> + All the same he confessed that she had never yet neglected the + classical side of her duties. His thoughts contrasted the library + and the collections as they were now, with what they had been a + couple of months before. Now he knew where books could be found; now + one could see the precious things he possessed. Her taste—her + neatness—her diligence—nothing could beat them. And she moved so + quietly—had so light a foot—and always a pleasant voice and smile. + Oh yes, she had been a great catch—an astonishing catch—no doubt + of that. All the same he was not going to be entirely governed by + her! And again he thought complacently of the weak places in her + scholarship—the very limited extent of her reading—compared to + his. 'By Zeus!—<i>ει ποτ' εστιν</i>—if it weren't for that, I + should never keep the whip-hand of her at all!' +</p> +<p> + She had made a forlorn attempt again, that morning, to dissuade him + from the park adventure. But there he drew the line. For there + really was a line, though he admitted it might be difficult to see, + considering all that he was shovelling upon her. He had been very + short—perhaps she would say, very rude—with her. Well, it couldn't + be helped! When she saw what he was really prepared to face, she + would at least respect him. And if he was shut up, she could get on + with the catalogue, and keep things going. +</p> +<p> + Altogether the Squire was above himself. The tonic air and scents + of the autumn, the crisp leaves underfoot, the slight frost on the + ruts, helped his general intoxication. He, the supposed scholar and + recluse, was about to play a part—a rattling part. The eye of + England would be upon him! He already tasted the prison fare, and + found it quite tolerable. +</p> +<p> + As to Desmond— +</p> +<p> + But the thought of him no sooner crossed the Squire's mind than he + dismissed it. Or rather it survived far within, as a volcanic force, + from which the outer froth and ferment drew half its strength. He + was being forcibly dispossessed of Desmond, just as he was being + forcibly dispossessed of his farms and his park; or of his money, + swallowed up in monstrous income tax. +</p> +<p> + Ah, there were Dodge and Perley, the two park-keepers, one of whom + lived in the White Lodge, now only a hundred yards away. Another man + who was standing by them, near the park wall, looked to the Squire + like Gregson, his ejected farmer. And who was that black-coated + fellow coming through the small wicket-gate beside the big one? What + the devil was he doing in the park? There was a permanent grievance + in the Squire's mind against the various rights-of-way through his + estate. Why shouldn't he be at liberty to shut out that man if he + wanted to? Of course by the mere locking and barricading of the + gates, as they would be locked and barricaded on the morrow, he was + flouting the law. But that was a trifle. The <i>gates</i> were his own + anyway. +</p> +<p> + The black-coated man, however, instead of proceeding along the road, + had now approached the group of men standing under the wall, and + was talking with them. They themselves did not seem to be doing + anything, although a large coil of barbed wire and a number of + hurdles lay near them. +</p> +<p> + 'Hullo, Dodge!' +</p> +<p> + At the Squire's voice the black-coated man withdrew a little + distance to the roadway, where he stood watching. Of the three + others the two old fellows, ex-keepers both of them, stood + sheepishly silent, as the Squire neared them. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, my men, good-morning! What have you done?' said the Squire + peremptorily. +</p> +<p> + Dodge looked up. +</p> +<p> + 'We've put a bit of wire on the gate, Squoire, an' fastened the + latch of it up—and we've put a length or two along the top of the + wall,' said the old man slowly—'an' then—' He paused. +</p> +<p> + 'Then what?—what about the hurdles? I expected to find them all up + by now!' +</p> +<p> + Dodge looked at Perley. And Perley, a gaunt, ugly fellow, who had + been a famous hunter and trapper in his day, took off his hat and + mopped his brow, before he said, in a small, cautious voice, + entirely out of keeping with the rest of him: +</p> +<p> + 'The treuth on it is, Squoire, we don't loike the job. We be afeard + of their havin' the law on us.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, you're afraid, are you?' said the Squire angrily. '<i>You</i> won't + stand up for your rights, anyway!' +</p> +<p> + Perley looked at his employer a little askance. +</p> +<p> + 'They're not <i>our</i> rights, if you please, Muster Mannering. We don't + have nothing to say to 'un.' +</p> +<p> + 'They are your rights, you foolish fellow! If this abominable + Government tramples on me to-day, it'll trample on you to-morrow.' +</p> +<p> + 'Mebbe, Squoire, mebbe,' said Perley mildly. 'But Dodge and I don't + feel loike standing up to 'un. We was engaged to mind the roads an' + the leaves, an' a bit rabbitin', an' sich like. But this sort of job + is somethin' out o' the common, Muster Mannering. We don't hold wi' + it. The County they've got a powerful big road-engine, Squoire. + They'll charge them gates to-morrow—there 'll be a terr'ble to do. + My wife, she's frightened to death. She's got a cart from Laycocks, + and she's takin' all our bit things over to her mother's. She won't + stay, she says, to be blowed up, not for no one. Them Governments is + terr'ble powerful, Squoire. If they was to loose a bit o' gas on + us—or some o' they stuffs they put into shells? Noa, Noa, + Squoire'—Perley shook his head resolutely, imitated exactly by + Dodge—'we'll do our dooty in them things we was engaged to do. But + we're not foightin' men!' +</p> +<p> + 'You needn't tell me that!' said the Squire, exasperated. 'The look + of you's enough. So you refuse to barricade those gates?' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, we do, Squoire,' said Perley, in a tone of forced + cheerfulness. +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, we do,' said Dodge slowly, copying the manner of his leader. +</p> +<p> + All this time Gregson had been standing a little apart from the + rest. His face showed traces of recent drinking, his hands wandered + restlessly from his coat-collar to his pockets, his clothes were + shabby and torn. But when the Squire looked round him, as though + invoking some one or something to aid him against these deserters, + Gregson came forward. +</p> +<p> + 'If you want any help, Mr. Mannering, I'm your man. I suppose these + fellows'll lend a hand with carrying these things up to the gates. + They'll not risk their precious skins much by doing that!' +</p> +<p> + Perley and Dodge replied with alacrity that so far they would gladly + oblige the Squire, and they began to shoulder the hurdles. +</p> +<p> + It was at that moment that the Squire caught the eye of the + black-coated man, who had been observing the whole proceedings from + about ten yards off. The expression of the eye roused in Mannering + an itching desire to lay immediate hands on its possessor. He strode + up to him. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't know, sir, why you stand there, looking on at things that + are no business of yours,' he said angrily. 'If you want to know + your way anywhere, one of my men here will show you.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, thank you,' said the other tranquilly. 'I know my way + perfectly.' He held up an ordnance map, which he carried in his + hand. 'I'm an engineer. I come from London, and I'm bound for a job + at Crewe. But I'm very fond of country walking when the weather's + good. I've walked about a good bit of England, in my time, but this + part is a bit I don't know. So, as I had two days' holiday, I + thought I'd have a look at your place on the road. And as you are + aware, Mr. Mannering'—he pointed to the map—'this is a + right-of-way, and you can't turn me out.' +</p> +<p> + 'All the same, sir, you are on my property,' said the Squire hotly, + 'and a right-of-way only means a right of passing through. I should + be much obliged if you would hurry yourself a little.' +</p> +<p> + The other laughed. He was a slim fellow, apparently about thirty, in + a fresh, well-cut, serge suit. A book was sticking out of one + pocket; he returned the map to the other. He had the sallow look of + one who has spent years in hot workshops, and a slight curvature of + the spine; but his eyes were singularly, audaciously bright, and all + his movements alert and decided. +</p> +<p> + 'It's not often one sees such a typical bit of feudalism as this,' + he said, without the smallest embarrassment, pointing to the old + men, the gates, the hurdles, which Gregson was now placing in + position, and finally the Squire himself. 'I wouldn't have missed it + for worlds. It's as good as a play. You're fighting the County + Agricultural War Committee, I understand from these old fellows, + because they want a bit of your park to grow more food?' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, sir, and how does it matter to you?' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, it matters a great deal,' said the other, smiling. 'I want to + be able to tell my grandchildren—when I get 'em—that I once saw + this kind of thing. They'll never believe me. For in their day, you + see, there'll be no squires, and no parks. The land 'll be the + people's, and all this kind of thing—<i>your</i> gates, <i>your</i> servants, + <i>your</i> fine house, <i>your</i> game-coverts, and all the rest of it—will + be like a bit of history out of Noah's Ark.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire looked at him attentively. +</p> +<p> + 'You're a queer kind of chap,' he said, half contemptuously. 'I + suppose you're one of those revolutionary fellows the papers talk + about?' +</p> +<p> + 'That's it. Only there are a good many of us. When the time comes,' + he nodded pleasantly, 'we shall know how to deal with you.' +</p> +<p> + 'It'll take a good deal longer than you think,' said the Squire + coolly; 'unless indeed you borrow the chap from Russia who's + invented the machine for cutting off five hundred heads at once, by + electricity. That might hasten matters a little!' +</p> +<p> + He had by now entirely recovered his chaffing, reckless temper, and + was half enjoying the encounter. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, not so long,' said the other. 'You're just passing a Franchise + Bill that will astonish you when you see the results! You perhaps + may just live it out—yes, you may die peaceably in that house + yonder. But your son, if you have one—that'll be another pair of + boots!' +</p> +<p> + 'You and your pals would be much better employed in stopping this + accursed war than in talking revolutionary drivel like that,' said + the Squire, with energy. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh ho! so you want to stop the war?' said the other, lifting his + eyebrows. 'I should like to know why.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire went off at once into one of his usual tirades as to + 'slavery' and 'liberty.' 'You're made to work, or fight! + willy-nilly. That man's turned out of his farm—willy-nilly. I'm + made to turn him out—willy-nilly. The common law of England's + trampled under foot. What's worth it? Nothing!' +</p> +<p> + The Squire's thin countenance glowed fanatically. With his arms + akimbo he stood towering over the younger man, his white hair + glistening in the sun. +</p> +<p> + The other smiled, as he looked his assailant up and down. +</p> +<p> + 'Who's the revolutionist now?' he said quietly. 'What's the war cost + <i>you</i>, Mr. Mannering, compared to what it's cost me and my pals? + This is the first holiday I've had for three years. Twice I've + dropped like dead in the shop—strained heart, says the doctor. No + time to eat!—no time to sleep!—come out for an hour, wolf some + brandy down and go back again, and then they tell you you're a + drunken brute! "Shells and guns!" says the Government—"more + shells!—more guns!—deliver the goods!" And we've delivered 'em. My + two brothers are dead in France. I shall be "combed" out directly, + and a "sniper" will get me, perhaps, three days after I get to the + trenches, as he did my young brother. What then? Oh, I know, there's + some of us—the young lads mostly—who've got out of hand, and 'll + give the Government trouble perhaps before they've done. Who can + wonder, when you see the beastly towns they come out of, and the + life they were reared in! And <i>none of us</i> are going to stand + profiteering, and broken pledges, and that kind of thing!'—a sudden + note of passion rushed into the man's voice. 'But after all, when + all's said and done, this is <i>England</i>!' he turned with a fine, + unconscious gesture to the woods and green spaces behind him, and + the blue distances of plain—'and we're <i>Englishmen</i>—and it's touch + and go whether England's going to come out or go under; and if we + can't pay the Huns for what they've done in Belgium—what they've + done in France!—what they've done to our men on the sea!—well, + it's a devil's world!—and I'd sooner be quit of it, it don't matter + how!' +</p> +<p> + The man's slight frame shook under the force of his testimony. His + eyes held the Squire, who was for the moment silenced. Then the + engineer turned on his heel with a laugh: +</p> +<p> + 'Well, good-day to you, Mr. Mannering. Go and fasten up your gates! + If I'm for minding D.O.R.A. and winning the war, I'm a good + Socialist all the same. I shall be for making short work with you, + when our day comes.' And touching his hat, he walked rapidly away. +</p> +<p> + The Squire straightened his shoulders, and looked round to see + whether they had been overheard. But the labourers carrying the + hurdles, and Gregson burdened with the coil of wire, had not been + listening. They stood now in a group close to the main gate waiting + for their leader. The Squire walked up to them, picking his way + among various articles of furniture, a cradle, some bedding, a trunk + or two, which lay scattered in the road in front of the white + casemented lodge. The wife of old Perley, the lodge-keeper, was + standing on her doorstep. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, no offence, Muster Mannering, but Perley and me's going over + to my sister's at Wood End to-night, afore the milingtary come.' The + black-browed elderly woman spoke respectfully but firmly. +</p> +<p> + 'What silly nonsense have you got into your heads?' shouted the + Squire. 'You know very well all that's going to happen is that the + County Council are going to send their motor-plough over, and + they'll have to break down the gates to get in, so that the law can + settle it. What's come to you that you're all scuttling like a pack + of rabbits? It's not your skins that'll pay for it—it's mine!' +</p> +<p> + 'We're told—Perley an' me—as there'll be miling<i>tary</i>,' said Mrs. + Perley, unmoved. 'Leastways, they'll bring a road-engine, Perley + says, as'll make short work o' them gates. And folks do say as they + might even bring a tank along; you know, sir, as there's plenty of + 'em, and not fur off.' She nodded mysteriously towards a quarter, + never mentioned in the neighbourhood, where these Behemoths of war + had a training-ground. 'And Perley and me, we can't have nowt to do + wi' such things. We wasn't brought up to 'em.' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, if you go, you don't come back!' said the Squire, shaking a + threatening hand. +</p> +<p> + 'Thank you, sir. But there's work for all on us nowadays,' said the + woman placidly. +</p> +<p> + Then the Squire, with Gregson's help, set himself fiercely to the + business. In little more than an hour, and with the help of some + pieces of rope, the gate had been firmly barricaded with hurdles and + barbed wire, wicket-gate and all, and the Squire, taking a poster in + large letters from his pocket, affixed it to the outside of the + gate. It signified to all and sundry that the Chetworth gate of + Mannering Park could now only be opened by violence, and that those + offering such violence would be proceeded against according to law. +</p> +<p> + When it was done, the Squire first addressed a few scathing words to + the pair of park-keepers, who smoked imperturbably through them, and + then transferred a pound-note to the ready palm of Gregson, who was, + it seemed, on the point of accepting work as a stock-keeper from + another of the Squire's farmers—a brother culprit, only less + 'hustled' than himself by the formidable County Committee, which was + rapidly putting the fear of God into every bad husbandman throughout + Brookshire. Then the Squire hurried off homewards. +</p> +<p> + His chief thought now was—what would that most opinionated young + woman at home say to him? He was at once burning to have it out with + her, and—though he would have scorned to confess it—nervous as to + how he might get through the encounter. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + Fate, however, ordained that his thoughts about the person who had + now grown so important to his household should be affected, before + he saw her again, from a new quarter. The Rector, Mr. Pennington, + quite unaware of the doughty deeds that had been done at the + Chetworth gate, and coming from his own house which stood within the + park enclosure, ran into the Squire at a cross-road. +</p> +<p> + The Squire looked at him askance, and kept his own counsel. The + Rector was a man of peace, and had once or twice tried to dissuade + the Squire from his proposed acts of war. The Squire, therefore, did + not mean to discuss them with him. But, in general, he and the + Rector were good friends. The Rector was a bit of a man of the + world, and never attempted to put a quart into a pint-pot. He took + the Squire as he found him, and would have missed the hospitalities + of the Hall—or rather the conversation they implied—if he had been + obliged to forgo them. The Squire on his side had observed with + approval that the Rector was a fair scholar, and a bad beggar. He + could take up quotations from Horace, and he was content with such + parish subscriptions as the Squire had given for twenty years, and + was firmly minded not to increase. +</p> +<p> + But here also the arrival of Elizabeth had stirred the waters. For + the Rector was actually on his way to try and get a new subscription + out of the Squire; and it was Elizabeth's doing. +</p> +<p> + 'You remember that child of old Leonard the blacksmith?' said the + Rector eagerly; 'a shocking case of bow-legs, one of the worst I + ever saw. But Miss Bremerton's taken endless trouble. And now we've + got an admission for him to the Orthopaedic hospital. But there's a + few pounds to be raised for his maintenance—it will be a question + of months. I was just coming over to see if you would give me a + little,' he wound up, in a tone of apology. +</p> +<p> + The Squire, with a brow all clouds, observed that when children + were bow-legged it was entirely the fault of their mothers. +</p> +<p> + 'Ah, yes,' said the Rector, with a sigh. 'Mrs. Leonard is a + slatternly woman—no doubt of that. But when you've said that you + haven't cured the child.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire ungraciously said he would consider it; and the Rector, + knowing well that he would get no more at a first assault, let the + child alone, and concentrated on the topic of Elizabeth. +</p> +<p> + 'An extraordinarily capable creature,' he said warmly, 'and a good + heart besides. You were indeed lucky to find her, and you are very + wise to give her her head. The village folk can't say enough about + her.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire felt his mouth twitching. With some horses, is there any + choice—but Hobson's—as to 'giving' them their head? +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, she's clever,' he said grudgingly. +</p> +<p> + 'And it was only to-day,' pursued the Rector, 'that I heard her + story from a lady, a friend of my wife's, who's been spending Sunday + with us. She seems to have met Miss Bremerton and her family at + Richmond a year or so ago, where everybody who knew them had a great + respect for them. The mother was a nice, gentle body, but this elder + daughter had most of the wits—though there's a boy in a Worcester + regiment they're all very fond and proud of—and she always looked + after the others, since the father—who was a Civil servant—died, + six years ago. Then two years since, she engaged herself to a young + Yeomanry officer—' +</p> +<p> + 'Eh—what?—what do you say?—a Yeomanry officer?' said the Squire, + looking round. +</p> +<p> + 'Precisely—a Yeomanry officer. They were engaged and apparently + very happy. He was a handsome, upstanding fellow, very popular with + women. Then he went out to Egypt with his regiment, and it was + intended they should marry when he got his first leave. But + presently his letters began to change. Then they only came at long + intervals. And at last they stopped. He had complained once of an + attack of sunstroke, and she was wretched, thinking he was ill. At + last a letter reached her from a brother officer, who seems to have + behaved very kindly—with the explanation. Her fiance had got into + the clutches—no one exactly knew how—of a Greek family living in + Alexandria, and had compromised himself so badly with one of the + daughters, that the father, a cunning old Greek merchant, had + compelled him to marry her. Threats of exposure, and all the rest! + The brother officer hinted at a plot—that the poor fellow had been + trapped, and was more sinned against than sinning. However, there it + was. He was married to the Greek girl; Miss Bremerton's letters + were returned; and the thing was at an end. Our friend says she + behaved splendidly. She went on with her work in the War Trade + Department—shirked nothing and no one—till suddenly, about six + months ago, she had a bad breakdown—' +</p> +<p> + 'What do you mean?' said the Squire abruptly. 'She was ill?' +</p> +<p> + 'A combination of overwork and influenza, I should think; but no + doubt the tragedy had a good deal to do with it. She went down to + stay for a couple of months with an uncle in Dorsetshire, and got + better. Then the family lost some money, through a solicitor's + mismanagement—enough anyway to make a great deal of difference. The + mother too broke down in health. Miss Bremerton came home at once, + and took everything on her own shoulders. You remember, she heard of + your secretaryship from that Balliol man you wrote to—who had been + a tutor of hers when she was at Somerville? She determined to apply + for it. It was more money than she was getting in London, and she + had to provide for her mother and to educate her young sister. + Plucky woman! All this interested me very much, I confess. I have + formed such a high opinion of her! And I thought it would interest + you.' +</p> +<p> + 'I don't know what we any of us have to do with it,' grumbled the + Squire. +</p> +<p> + The Rector drew himself up a little, resenting the implied rebuke. +</p> +<p> + 'I hope I don't seem to you to be carrying gossip for gossip's + sake,' he said, rather indignantly. 'Nothing was further from my + intention. I like and admire Miss Bremerton a great deal too much.' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, I don't know what we can do,' said the Squire testily. 'We + can't unmarry the man.' +</p> +<p> + The Rector pulled up short, and offered a chilly good-bye. As he + hurried on towards the village—little knowing the obstacles he + would encounter in his path—he said to himself that the Squire's + manners were really past endurance. One could hardly imagine that + Miss Bremerton would be long able to put up with them. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + The Squire meanwhile pursued the rest of his way, wrapped in rather + disagreeable reflections. He was not at all grateful to the Rector + for telling him the story—quite the reverse. It altered his mental + attitude towards his secretary; introduced disturbing ideas, which + he had no use for. He had taken for granted that she was one of + those single women of the present day whose intellectual interests + are enough for them, who have never really felt the call of passion, + and can be trusted to look at life sensibly without taking love and + marriage into account. To think of Miss Bremerton as having suffered + severely from a love-affair—broken her heart, and injured her + health over it—was most distracting. If it had happened once—why, + of course, it might happen again. She was not immune; in spite of + all her gifts, she was susceptible, and it was a horrid nuisance. +</p> +<p> + He went home all on edge, what with the adventure of the gates, the + encounter with the engineer fellow, and now the revelations of the + Rector. +</p> +<p> + As he approached the house, he saw from the old clock in the gable + of the northern front that it was two o'clock. He was half-an-hour + late for lunch. Luncheon, in fact, must be over. And indeed, as he + passed along the library windows, he saw Elizabeth's figure at her + desk. It annoyed him that she should have gone back to work so soon + after her meal. He had constantly made it plain to her that she was + not expected to begin work of an afternoon till four o'clock. She + would overdo it: and then she would break down again as she had done + before. In his selfishness, his growing dependence on her + companionship and her help, he began to dread the mere chance. +</p> +<p> + How agreeable, and how fruitful, their days of work had been lately! + He had been, of course, annoyed sometimes by her preoccupation with + the war news of the morning. Actually, this Caporetto business, the + Italian disaster, had played the mischief with her for a day or + two—and the news from Russia. Any bad news, indeed, seemed to haunt + her; her colour faded away; and if he dictated notes to her, they + would be occasionally inaccurate. But that was seldom. In general, + he felt that he had made great strides during the preceding weeks; + that, thanks to her, the book he was attempting was actually coming + into shape. She had suggested so much—sometimes by her knowledge, + sometimes by her ignorance. And always so modest—so teachable—so + docile. +</p> +<p> + <i>Docile</i>? The word passing through his mind again, as it had in the + morning, roused in him mingled laughter and uneasiness. For outside + their classical work together, nothing indeed could be less docile + than Miss Bremerton. How she had withstood him in the matter of the + codicil! He could see her still, as she stood there with her hands + behind her, defying him. And that morning also, when she had spoken + her mind on the project of the gates. +</p> +<p> + Well, now, he had to go in and tell her that the deed was done, and + the park was closed. +</p> +<p> + He crept round to a side door, nervous lest she should perceive him + from the library, and made Forest get him some lunch. Then he hung + about the hall smoking. It was ridiculous—nonsensical—but he + admitted to himself that he shrank from facing her. +</p> +<p> + At last a third cigarette put the requisite courage into him, and he + walked slowly to the library. As he entered the room, Elizabeth rose + from her chair. +</p> +<p> + She stood there waiting for his orders, or his report—her quiet + eyes upon him. +</p> +<p> + He told himself not to be a fool, and throwing away his cigarette, + he walked up to her, and said in a tone of bravado: +</p> +<p> + 'Well, the barricades are up!' +</p> +<a name="2HCH0008"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + CHAPTER VIII +</h2> +<p> + The Squire having shot his bolt, looked anxiously for the effect of + it. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth, apparently, took it calmly. She was standing with one + hand on the table behind her, and the autumn sun streaming in + through the western windows caught the little golden curls on her + temples, and the one or two small adornments that she habitually + wore, especially a Greek coin—a gold stater—hanging on a slender + chain round her neck. In the Squire's eyes, the stately figure in + plain black, with the brilliant head and hands, had in some way + gathered into itself the significance of the library. All the + background of books, with its pale and yet rich harmony of tone, the + glass cases with their bronzes and terra-cottas, the statues, the + papers on the table, the few flowers that were never wanting to + Elizabeth's corner, the taste with which the furniture had been + re-arranged, the general elegance and refinement of the big room in + fact, since Elizabeth had reduced it from chaos to order, were now + related to her rather than to him. He could not now think of the + room without her. She had become in this short time so markedly its + presiding spirit. 'Let there be order and beauty!' she had said, + instead of dirt and confusion; and the order and beauty were there. +</p> +<p> + But the presiding spirit was now surveying him, with eyes that + seemed to have been watchfully withdrawn, under puckered brows. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't understand,' said Elizabeth. 'You have fastened up the + gates?' +</p> +<p> + 'I have,' said the Squire jocularly. 'Mrs. Perley believes the + Committee will bring a tank! That would be a sight worth seeing.' +</p> +<p> + 'You really want to stop them from ploughing up that land?' +</p> +<p> + 'I do. I have offered them other land.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth hesitated. +</p> +<p> + 'Don't you believe what the Government say, Mr. Mannering?' +</p> +<p> + 'What do they say?' +</p> +<p> + 'That everything depends upon whether we shall have food enough to + hold out? That we can't win the war unless we can grow more food + ourselves?' +</p> +<p> + 'That's the Government's affair.' The Squire sat down at his own + table and began to look out a pen. +</p> +<p> + 'Well now, Miss Bremerton, I don't think we need spend any more time + over this tiresome business. I've already lost the morning. Suppose + we get on with the work we were doing yesterday?' +</p> +<p> + He turned an amicable countenance towards her. She on her side moved + a little towards a window near her table, and looked out of it, as + though reflecting. After a minute or two he asked himself with a + vague anxiety what was wrong with her. Her manner was certainly + unusual. +</p> +<p> + Suddenly she turned, and came half across the room towards him. +</p> +<p> + 'May I speak to you, please, Mr. Mannering?' +</p> +<p> + 'By all means. Is there anything amiss?' +</p> +<p> + 'I think we agreed on a month's notice, on either side. I should be + glad if you would kindly accept my notice as from to-day.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire rose violently, and thrust back his chair. +</p> +<p> + 'So that's what you have been cogitating in my absence?' +</p> +<p> + 'Not at all,' said Elizabeth mildly. 'I have made a complete list of + the passages you asked for.' +</p> +<p> + She pointed to her table. +</p> +<p> + 'Yet all the time you were planning this move—you were making up + your mind what to do?' +</p> +<p> + She hesitated. +</p> +<p> + 'I was often afraid it would have to be done,' she said at last. +</p> +<p> + 'And pray may I ask your reasons?' The Squire's tone was sarcastic. + 'I should like to know in what I have failed to satisfy you. I + suppose you thought I was rude to you this morning?' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, that didn't matter,' she said hastily. 'The fact is, Mr. + Mannering,' she crossed her hands quietly in front of her, 'you put + responsibilities on me that I am not prepared to carry. I feel I + must give them up.' +</p> +<p> + 'I thought you liked responsibility.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth coloured. +</p> +<p> + 'It—it depends what sort. I begin to see now that my + principles—and opinions—are so different from yours that, if we go + further, I shall either be disappointing you or—doing what I think + wrong.' +</p> +<p> + 'You can't conceive ever giving up your opinion to mine?' +</p> +<p> + 'No!' Elizabeth shook her head with decision. 'No! that I really + can't conceive!' +</p> +<p> + 'Upon my word!' said the Squire, fairly taken aback. They confronted + each other. Elizabeth began to look disturbed. Her eyelids flickered + once or twice. +</p> +<p> + 'I think we ought to be quite serious,' she said hurriedly. 'I + don't want you to misunderstand me. If you knew how I valued this + opportunity of doing this classical work with you! It is + <i>wonderful</i>'—her voice wavered a little, or the Squire fancied + it—'what you have taught me even in this short time. I am proud to + have been your secretary—and your pupil. If it were only that'—she + paused—'but you have also been so kind as to—to take me into your + confidence—to let me do things for you, outside of what you engaged + me for. I see plainly that—if I go on with this—I shall become + your secretary—your agent in fact—for a great many things besides + Greek.' +</p> +<p> + Then she made an impetuous step forward. +</p> +<p> + 'Mr. Mannering!—the atmosphere of this house chokes me!' +</p> +<p> + The Squire dropped back into his chair, watching her with eyes in + which he tried—not very successfully—to keep dignity alive. +</p> +<p> + 'Your reasons?' +</p> +<p> + 'I am with the <i>country</i>!' she said, not without signs of agitation; + 'and you seem to me to care nothing about the country!' +</p> +<p> + Disputation was never unwelcome to the Squire. He riposted. +</p> +<p> + 'Of course, we mean entirely different things by the word.' +</p> +<p> + She threw back her head slightly, with a gesture of scorn. +</p> +<p> + 'We might argue that, if it were peace-time. But this is <i>war</i>! Your + country—my country—has the German grip at her throat. A few + months—and we are saved—or broken!—the country that gave us + birth—all we have—all we are!' Her words came short and thick, + and she had turned very white. 'And in this house there is never, in + your presence, a word of the war!—of the men who are dying by land + and sea—<i>dying</i>, that you and I may sit here in peace—that you may + talk to me about Greek poetry, and put spokes in the wheels of those + who are trying to feed us—and defend us—and beat off Germany. + Nothing for the wounded!—nothing for the hospitals! And you won't + let Pamela do anything! Not a farthing for the Red Cross! You made + me write a letter last week refusing a subscription. And then, + when they only ask you to let your land grow food—that the + German pirates and murderers mayn't starve us into a horrible + submission—<i>then</i> you bar your gates—you make endless trouble, + when the country wants every hour of every man's time—you, in your + position, give the lead to every shirker and coward! No! I can't + bear it any more! I must go. I have had happy times here—I love the + work—I am very glad to earn the money, for my people want it. But I + must go. My heart—my conscience won't let me stay!' +</p> +<p> + She turned from him, with an unconscious gesture which seemed to the + Squire to be somewhat mingled with that of the great Victory + towering behind her, and went quickly back to her table, where she + began with trembling hands to put her papers together. +</p> +<p> + The Squire tried to laugh it off. +</p> +<p> + 'And all this,' he said with a sneer, 'because I tied up a few + gates!' +</p> +<p> + She made no reply. He was conscious of mingled dismay and fury. +</p> +<p> + 'You will stay your month?' he inquired at last, coldly. 'You don't + propose, I imagine, to leave me at a moment's notice?' +</p> +<p> + She was bending over her table, and did not look up. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh yes, I will stay my month.' +</p> +<p> + He sat speechless, watching her. She very quickly finished what she + was doing, and taking up her note-book, and some half-written + letters, she left the room. +</p> +<p> + 'A pretty state of things!' said the Squire, and thrusting his long + hands into his pockets he began to pace the library, in the kind of + temper that may be imagined—given the man and the circumstances. +</p> +<p> + The difference, however, between this occasion and others lay in the + fact that the penalties of temper had grown so unjustly heavy. The + Squire felt himself hideously aggrieved. Abominable!—that he should + be hindered in his just rights and opinions by this indirect + pressure from a woman, whom he couldn't wrestle with and floor, as + he would a man, because of her sex. That was always the way with + women. No real equality—no give and take—in spite of all the + suffrage talk. Their weakness was their tyranny. Weakness indeed! + They were much stronger than men. God help England when they got the + vote! The Greeks said it—Euripides said it. But, of course, the + Greeks have said everything! Hecuba to Agamemnon, for instance, when + she is planning the murder of the Thracian King: +</p> +<p> + 'Leave it to me!—and my Trojan women!' +</p> +<p> + And Agamemnon's scoffing reply—poor idiot!—'How can <i>women</i> get + the better of men?' +</p> +<p> + And Hecuba's ghastly low-voiced 'In a <i>crowd</i> we are + terrible!'—<i>δεινον το πληθος</i>—as she and her women turn + upon the Thracian, put out his eyes, and tear his children limb from + limb. +</p> +<p> + But <i>one</i> woman might be quite enough to upset a quiet man's way of + living! The moral pressure of it was so iniquitous! Your convictions + or your life! It was the language of a footpad. +</p> +<p> + To pull down the hurdles, and tamely let in Chicksands and his + minions—how odious! To part with Elizabeth Bremerton and to be + reduced again to the old chaos and helplessness—how still more + odious! As to the war—so like a woman to suppose that any war was + ever fought with unanimity by any country! Look at the Crimea!—the + Boer War!—the Napoleonic Wars themselves, if it came to that! Why + was Fox a patriot, and he a traitor? Let her answer that! +</p> +<p> + And all the time, Elizabeth's light touch upon his will was like the + curb on a stubborn horse. Once as he passed her table angry + curiosity took him to look at some finished work that was lying + there. Perfection! Intelligence, accuracy, the clearest of scripts! + All his hints taken—and bettered in the taking. Beside it lay some + slovenly manuscripts of Levasseur's. He could see the corners of + Miss Bremerton's mouth go up as she looked it through. Well, now he + was to be left to Levasseur's tender mercies—after all he had + taught her! And the accounts, and the estate, and these infernal + rations, that no human being could understand! +</p> +<p> + The Squire's self-pity rose upon him like a flood. Just at the + worst, he heard a knock at the library door. Before he could say + 'Come in,' it was hurriedly opened, and his two married daughters + confronted him—Pamela, too, behind them. +</p> +<p> + 'Father!' cried Mrs. Gaddesden, 'you must please let us come and + speak to you!' +</p> +<p> + What on earth was wrong with them? Alice—for whom her father had + more contempt than affection—looked merely frightened; but + Margaret's eyes were angry, and Pamela's reproachful. The Squire + braced himself to endurance. +</p> +<p> + 'What do you want with me?' +</p> +<p> + '<i>Father</i>!—we never thought you meant it seriously! And now Forest + says all the gates are closed, and that the village is up in arms. + The labourers declare that if the County plough is turned back + to-morrow, they'll break them down themselves. And when we're all + likely to be starving in six months!' +</p> +<p> + 'You really can't expect working-folk to stand quietly by and see + such a thing!' said Margaret in her intensest voice. 'Do, father, + let me send Forest at once to tell the gardeners to open all the + gates.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire defied her to do any such thing. What was all the silly + fuss about? The County people could open the gates in half-an-hour + if they wanted. It was a demonstration—a protest—a case to go to + the Courts on. He had principles—if no one else had. And if they + weren't other people's principles, what did it matter? He was ready + to stand by them, to go to prison for them. He folded his arms + magnificently. +</p> +<p> + Pamela laughed excitedly, and shook her head. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, no, father, you won't be a hero—only a laughing-stock! That's + what Desmond minds so much. They won't send you to prison. Some + tiresome old Judge will give you a talking-to in Court, and you + won't be able to answer him back. And then they'll fine you—and we + shall be a little more boycotted than we were before! That's all + that'll happen!' +</p> +<p> + '"Boycotted"?—what do you mean?' said the Squire haughtily. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, father, can't you <i>feel</i> it?' cried Pamela. +</p> +<p> + 'As if one man could pit himself against a nation!' said Mrs. + Strang, in that manner of controlled emotion which the Squire + detested. He rarely felt emotion, but when he did, he let it go. +</p> +<p> + Peremptorily he turned them all out, giving strict orders that + nothing he had done should be interfered with. Then he attempted to + go on with some work of his own, but he could not bring his mind to + bear. Finally he seized his hat and went out into the park to see if + the populace were really rising. It was a cold October evening, with + a waxing moon, and a wind that was rapidly bringing the dead leaves + to earth. Not a soul was to be seen! Only once the Squire thought he + heard the sound of distant guns; and two aeroplanes crossed rapidly + overhead sailing into the western sky. Everywhere the war!—the + cursed, cursed obsession of it! +</p> +<p> + For the first time there was a breach in the Squire's defences, + which for three years he had kept up almost intact. He had put + literature, and art, and the joys of the connoisseur between himself + and the measureless human ill around him. It had spoilt his personal + life, had interfered with his travels, his diggings, his friendships + with foreign scholars. Well, then, as far as he could he would take + no account of it, would shut it out, and rail at the men and the + forces that made it. He barely looked at the newspapers; he never + touched a book dealing with the war. It seemed to him a triumph of + mind and intelligence when he succeeded in shutting out the + hurly-burly altogether. Only, when in the name of the war his + private freedom and property were interfered with, he had flamed out + into hysterical revolt. Old aristocratic instincts came to the aid + of passionate will, and, perhaps, of an uneasy conscience. +</p> +<p> + And now in the man's vain but not ignoble soul there stirred a first + passing terror of what the war might do with him, if he were + <i>forced</i> to feel it—to let it in. He saw it as a veiled Presence at + the Door—and struggled with it blindly. +</p> +<p> + He was just turning back to the house, when he saw a figure + approaching in the distance which he recognized. It was that of a + man, once a farmer of his, and a decent fellow—oh, that he + confessed!—with whom he had had a long quarrel over a miserable sum + of money, claimed by the tenant when he left his farm, and disputed + by the landlord. +</p> +<p> + The dispute had gone on for two years. The Squire's law-costs had + long since swallowed up the original money in dispute. +</p> +<p> + Then Miss Bremerton, to whom the Squire had dictated some letters in + connection with the squabble, had quietly made a suggestion—had + asked leave to write a letter on approval. For sheer boredom with + the whole business, the Squire had approved and sent the letter. +</p> +<p> + Then, this very morning, a reply from the farmer. Grateful + astonishment! 'Of course I am ready to meet you, sir—I always have + been. I will get my solicitor to put what you proposed in your + letter of this morning into shape immediately, and will leave it + signed at your door to-night. I trust this trouble is now over. It + has been a great grief to me.' +</p> +<p> + And now there was the man bringing the letter. One worry done with! + How many more the same patient hand might have dealt with, if its + exacting owner hadn't thrown up her work—so preposterously! +</p> +<p> + The Squire gave an angry sigh, slipped out of the visitor's way + through a shrubbery, and returned to his library. Fires had begun, + and the glow of the burning logs shone through the room. The return + to this home of his chief studies and pursuits during many + delightful years was always, at any hour of the day or year, a + moment of pleasure to the Squire. Here was shelter, here was + escape—both from the troubles he had brought upon himself, and from + the world tumult outside, the work of crazy politicians and + incompetent diplomats. But if there was any season when the long + crowded room was more attractive than at any other, it was in these + autumn evenings when firelight and twilight mingled, and the natural + 'homing' instinct of the Northerner, accustomed through long ages to + spend long winters mostly indoors, stirred in his blood. +</p> +<p> + His books, too, spoke to him; and the beautiful dim forms of bronzes + and terra-cottas, with all their suggestions of high poetry and + consummate art, breathing from the youth of the world. He + understood—passionately—the jealous and exclusive temper of the + artist. It was his own temper—though he was no practising + artist—and accounted largely for his actions. What are politics—or + social reform—or religion—or morals—compared to <i>art</i>? The true + artist, it has been pleaded again and again, has no country. He + follows Beauty wherever she pitches her tent—'an hourly neighbour.' + Woe to the interests that conflict with this interest! He simply + drives them out of doors, and turns the key upon them! +</p> +<p> + This, in fact, was the Squire's defence of himself, whenever he + troubled to defend himself. As to the pettinesses of a domineering + and irritable temper, cherished through long years, and flying out + on the smallest occasions—the Squire conveniently forgot them, in + those rare moments of self-vision which were all the gods allowed + him. Of course he was master in his own house and estate—why not? + Of course he fought those who would interfere with him, war or no + war—why not? +</p> +<p> + He sat down to his table, very sorry for himself, and hotly + indignant with an unreasonable woman. The absence of her figure from + the table on the further side of the room worked upon his nerves. + She had promised at least to stay her month. These were working + hours. What was she doing? She could hardly be packing already! +</p> +<p> + He tried to give his attention to the notes he had been working at + the day before. Presently he wanted a reference—a line from the + <i>Philoctetes</i>. 'The Lemnian fire'—where on earth was the passage? + He lifted his head instinctively. If only she had been there—it was + <i>monstrous</i> that she wasn't there!—he would just have thrown the + question across the room, and got an answer. Her verbal memory was + astonishing—much better than his. +</p> +<p> + He must, of course, get up and look out the reference for himself. + And the same with others. In an hour's time he had accomplished + scarcely anything, and a settled gloom descended upon him. That was + the worst of accustoming yourself to crutches and helps. When they + were unscrupulously and unjustly taken away, a man was worse off + than if he had never had them. +</p> +<p> + The evening post came in. The Squire looked through it with disgust. + He perceived that several letters were answers to some he had + allowed his secretary to draft and send in his name—generally in + reply to exasperated correspondents who had been kept waiting for + months, and trampled on to boot. +</p> +<p> + <i>Now</i> he supposed she would refuse to have anything to do with this + kind of thing! She would keep to the letter of her bargain, for the + few weeks that remained. Greek he might expect from her—but not + business. +</p> +<p> + He opened one or two. Yes, there was no doubt she was a clever + woman—unpardonably and detestably clever. Affairs which had been + mountains for years had suddenly become mole-hills. In this new + phase he felt himself more helpless than ever to deal with them. + She, on the contrary, might have put everything straight—she might + have done anything with him—almost—that she pleased. He would have + got rid of his old fool of an agent and put in another, that she + approved of, if she had wished. +</p> +<p> + But no!—she must try and dictate to him in public—on a matter of + public action. She must have <i>everything</i> her own way. Opinionated, + self-conceited creature! +</p> +<p> + When tea-time came he rang for Forest, and demanded that a cup of + tea should be brought him to the library. But as the butler was + leaving the room, he recalled him. +</p> +<p> + 'And tell Miss Bremerton that I shall be glad of her company when + she has finished her tea.' +</p> +<p> + Forest hesitated. +</p> +<p> + 'I think, sir, Miss Bremerton is out.' +</p> +<p> + Out!—was she? Her own mistress already! +</p> +<p> + 'Send Miss Pamela here at once,' he commanded. +</p> +<p> + In a minute or two a girl's quick step was heard, and Pamela ran in. +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, father?' +</p> +<p> + 'Where is Miss Bremerton?' The Squire was standing in front of the + fire, angrily erect. He had delivered his question in the tone of an + ultimatum. +</p> +<p> + 'Why, father, you've forgotten! She arranged with you that she was + to go to tea at the Rectory, and I've just got a note from Mrs. + Pennington to ask if they may keep her for the evening. They'll send + her home.' +</p> +<p> + 'I remember no such arrangement,' said the Squire, in a fury. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, father—why, I heard her speak to you! And I'm sure she wanted + a little break. She's been looking dead-tired lately, and she said + she had a headache at lunch.' +</p> +<p> + 'Very well. That'll do,' said the Squire, and Pamela departed, + virtuously conscious of having stood by Elizabeth, though she + disliked her. +</p> +<p> + The Squire felt himself generally cornered. No doubt she was now + telling her story to the Penningtons, who, of course, would + disapprove the gates affair, in any case. The long hours before + dinner passed away. The Squire thought them interminable. Dinner was + a gloomy and embarrassed function. His daughters were afraid of + rousing a fresh whirlwind of temper, if the gates were mentioned; + and nothing else was interesting. The meal was short and spare, and + the Squire noticed for the first time that while meat was offered to + him, the others fed on fish and vegetables. All to put him in the + wrong, of course! +</p> +<p> + After dinner he went back to the library. Work was impossible. He + hung over the fire smoking, or turning over the pages of a fresh + section of the catalogue which Elizabeth had placed—complete—on + his desk that morning. +</p> +<p> + It seemed to him that all the powers of mischief had risen against + him. The recent investigation of his affairs made by Elizabeth at + his express wish, slight and preliminary though it was, had shown + him what he had long and obstinately refused to see—that the estate + had seriously gone down in value during the preceding five years; + that he had a dozen scraps and disputes on his hands, more than + enough to rasp the nerves of any ordinary man—and as far as nerves + were concerned, he knew very well that he was not an ordinary man; + that, in short, he was impoverished and embarrassed; his agent was a + scandal and must be dismissed, and his new lawyers, a grasping, + incompetent crew. For a moment, indeed, he had had a glimpse of a + clear sky. A woman, who seemed to have the same kind of business + faculty that many Frenchwomen possess, had laid hands on his skein + of troubles, and might have unravelled them. But she had thrown him + over. In a little while he would have to let Mannering—for who + would buy an estate in such a pickle?—sell his collections, and go + and live in a flat in West Kensington. Then he hoped his + enemies—Chicksands in particular—would be satisfied. +</p> +<p> + But these, to do him justice, were not the chief thoughts, not the + considerations in his mind that smarted most. Another woman + secretary or woman accountant—for, after all, clever women with + business training are now as thick as blackberries—might have + helped him to put his affairs straight; but she would not have been + a Miss Bremerton, with her scholarship, her taste, her love of the + beautiful things that he loved. He seemed to see her fair skin + flushing with pleasure as they went through a Greek chorus together, + or to watch her tenderly handling a bronze, or holding a Tanagra + figure to the light. +</p> +<p> + Of course some stupid creatures might think he was falling in love + with her—wanting to marry her. He laughed the charge to scorn. No! + but he confessed her comradeship, her friendship, had begun to mean + a good deal to him. For twenty years he had lived in loneliness. + Now, it seemed, he had found a friend, in these days when the new + independence of women opens a thousand fresh possibilities not only + to them, but to men also. +</p> +<p> + Well, well, it was all over! Better make up his mind to it. +</p> +<p> + He went to the window, as it was nearing ten o'clock, and looked + out. It was foggy still, the moon and stars scarcely visible. He + hoped they would have at least the sense at the Rectory to provide + her with a lantern, for under the trees the road was very dark. +</p> +<p> + Oh, far in the distance, a twinkling light! Good! The Squire hastily + shut the window, and resumed his pacing. Presently he thought he + heard the house door open and shut, and a little while after the + library clock struck ten. +</p> +<p> + Now it would be only the natural thing to go and say good-night to + his daughters, and, possibly, to inquire after a headache. +</p> +<p> + The Squire accordingly emerged. In the hall he found his three + daughters engaged in lighting their candles at the Chippendale + table, where for about a hundred and fifty years the ladies of + Mannering had been accustomed to perform that rite. +</p> +<p> + The master of the house inquired coldly whether Miss Bremerton had + returned safely. 'Oh yes,' said his daughter Margaret, 'but she went + up to bed at once. She hasn't got rid of her headache.' +</p> +<p> + Mrs. Strang's stiff manner, and the silence of the others showed the + Squire that he was deep in his daughters' black books. Was he also + charged with Miss Bremerton's headache? Did any of them guess what + had happened? He fancied from the puzzled look in Pamela's eyes as + she said good-night to him that she guessed something. +</p> +<p> + Well, he wasn't going to tell them anything. He went back to the + library, and presently Pamela, in her room upstairs, heard first the + library bell, then the steps of Forest crossing the hall, and + finally a conversation between the Squire and the butler which + seemed to last some time. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + It was in the very early morning—between four and five—that + Elizabeth was wakened, first by vague movements in the house, and + then by what seemed to be cautious voices outside. She drew a + curtain back and looked out—a misty morning, between darkness and + dawn, and trees standing on the grass in dim robes of amethyst and + gold. Two men in the middle distance were going away from the house. + She craned her neck. Yes—no doubt of it! The Squire and Forest. + What could they be about at that hour of the morning? They were + going, no doubt, to inspect the barricades! Yet Forest himself had + told her that nothing would induce <i>him</i> to take a hand in the + 'row.' +</p> +<p> + It was strange; but she was too weary and depressed to give it much + thought. What was she going to do now? The world seemed emptily open + before her once more, chill and lonely as the autumn morning. +</p> +<a name="2HCH0009"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + CHAPTER IX +</h2> +<p> + On the following morning the breakfast at Mannering was a very tame + and silent affair. Forest was not in attendance, and the under + housemaid, who commonly replaced him when absent, could not explain + his non-appearance. He and his wife lived in a cottage beyond the + stables, and all that could be said was that he 'had not come in.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire also was absent. But as his breakfast habits were + erratic, owing to the fact that he slept badly and was often up and + working at strange seasons of the night, neither of his daughters + took any notice. Elizabeth did not feel inclined to say anything of + her own observations in the small hours. If the Squire and Forest + had been working at the barricade together, they were perhaps + sleeping off their exertions. Or the Squire was already on the spot, + waiting for the fray? Meanwhile, out of doors, a thick grey mist + spread over the park. +</p> +<p> + So she sat silent like the other two—(Mrs. Gaddesden was of course + in bed)—wondering from time to time when and how she should + announce her departure. +</p> +<p> + Pamela meanwhile was thinking of the letter she would have to write + to Desmond about the day's proceedings, and was impatient to be off + as soon as possible for the scene of action. Once or twice it + occurred to her to notice that Miss Bremerton was looking rather + pale and depressed. But the fact only made Pamela feel prickly. 'If + father does get into a row, what does it really matter to her. + She's not responsible!—she's not one of us!' +</p> +<p> + Immediately after breakfast, Pamela disappeared. She made her way + quietly through the park, where the dank mist still clung to the + trees from which the leaf was dropping silently, continuously. The + grass was all cobwebs. Every now and then the head of a deer would + emerge from the dripping fern only to be swallowed up again in the + fog. +</p> +<p> + Could a motor-plough work in a fog? +</p> +<p> + Presently, she who knew every inch of the ground and every tree upon + it, became aware that she was close to the Chetworth gate. Suddenly + the rattle of an engine and some men's voices caught her ear. The + plough, sure enough! The sound of it was becoming common in the + country-side. Then as the mist thinned and drifted she saw the thing + plain—the puffing engine, one man driving and another following, + while in their wake ran the black glistening furrow, where the grass + had been. +</p> +<p> + And here was the gate. Pamela stood open-mouthed. Where were the + elaborate defences and barricades of which rumour had been full the + night before? The big gate swung idly on its hinges. And in front of + it stood two men placidly smoking, in company with the village + policeman. Not a trace of any obstruction—no hurdles, no barbed + wire, only a few ends of rope lying in the road. +</p> +<p> + Then, looking round, she perceived old Perley, with a bag of ferrets + in his hand, emerging from the mist, and she ran up to him + breathlessly. +</p> +<p> + 'So they've come, Perley! Was it they forced the gate?' +</p> +<p> + Perley scratched his head with his free hand. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, it's an uncommon queer thing, Miss—but I can't tell yer who + opened them gates! I come along here about seven o'clock this + mornin', and the fog was so thick yo couldn't see nothin' beyond a + yard or two. But when I got up to the gates, there they were open, + just as you see 'em now. At first I thought there was summat + wrong—that my eyes wasn't what they used to was. But they was all + right.' +</p> +<p> + 'And you saw the gates shut last night?' +</p> +<p> + 'Barred up, so as you couldn't move 'em, Miss!—not without a + crowbar or two, an' a couple of men. I thowt it was perhaps some + village chaps larkin' as had done it. But it ain't none o' them. It + beats me!' +</p> +<p> + Pamela looked at the two men smoking by the gate—representatives, + very likely, of the Inspection Sub-Committee. Should she go up and + question them? But some inherited instinct deterred her. She was + glad the country should have the land and the corn. She had no + sympathy with her father. And yet all the same when she actually saw + Demos the outsider forcibly in possession of Mannering land, the + Mannering spirit kicked a little. She would find out what had + happened from some of their own people. +</p> +<p> + So after watching the County Council plough for a while as it clove + its way up and down the park under the struggling sun which was + gradually scattering the fog—her young intelligence quite aware all + the time of the significance of the sight—she turned back towards + the house. And presently, advancing to meet her, she perceived the + figure of Elizabeth Bremerton—coming, no doubt, to get picturesque + details on the spot for the letter she had promised to write to a + certain artillery officer. A quick flame of jealousy ran through + the girl's mind. +</p> +<p> + Miss Bremerton quickened her step. +</p> +<p> + 'So they're open!' she said eagerly, as she and Pamela met. 'And + there's nothing broken, or—or lying about!' +</p> +<p> + She looked in bewilderment at the unlittered road and swinging gate. +</p> +<p> + 'They were open, Perley says, first thing this morning. He came by + about seven.' +</p> +<p> + 'Before the plough arrived?' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes.' +</p> +<p> + They stood still, trying to puzzle it out. Then a sudden laugh + crossed Elizabeth's face. +</p> +<p> + 'Perhaps there were no barricades! Perhaps your father was taking us + all in!' +</p> +<p> + 'Not at all,' said Pamela drily. 'Perley saw the gates firmly barred + with hurdles and barbed wire, and all tied up with rope, when he and + his wife left the Lodge late last night.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth suddenly coloured brightly. Why, Pamela could not imagine. + Her fair skin made it impossible for a flush to pass unnoticed. But + why should she flush? +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth walked on rapidly, her eyes on the ground. When she raised + them it was to look rather steadily at her companion. +</p> +<p> + 'I think perhaps I had better tell you at once—I am very + sorry!—but I shall be leaving you in a month. I told your father so + last night.' +</p> +<p> + Pamela looked the astonishment she felt. For the moment she was + tongue-tied. Was she glad or sorry? She did not know. But the + instinct of good manners came to her aid. +</p> +<p> + 'Can't you stand us?' she said bluntly. 'I expect you can't.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth laughed uncomfortably. +</p> +<p> + 'Why, you've all been so kind to me. But I think perhaps'—she + paused, trying to find her words—'I didn't quite understand—when I + came—how much I still wanted to be doing things for the war—' +</p> +<p> + 'Why, you might do heaps of things!' cried Pamela. 'You have been + doing them. Taking an interest in the farms, I mean—and all that.' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, but—' Elizabeth's brow puckered. +</p> +<p> + Then she broke into a frank laugh—'After all, that wasn't what I + was engaged for, was it?' +</p> +<p> + 'No—but you seemed to like to do it. And it's war-work,' said + Pamela, inexorably. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth was dismally conscious of her own apparent + inconsistencies. It seemed best to be frank. +</p> +<p> + 'The fact is—I think I'd better tell you—I tried yesterday to get + your father to give up his plans about the gates. And when he + wouldn't, and it seemed likely that there might be legal proceedings + and—and a great fuss—in which naturally he would want his + secretary to help him—' +</p> +<p> + 'You just felt you couldn't? Well, of course I understand that,' + said Pamela fervently. 'But then, you see,' she laughed, 'there + isn't going to be a fuss. The plough just walked in, and the fifty + acres will be done in no time.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth looked as she felt—worried. +</p> +<p> + 'It's very puzzling. I wonder what happened? But I am afraid there + will be other things where your father and I shall disagree—if, + that is, he wants me to do so much else for him than the Greek + work—' +</p> +<p> + 'But you might say that you wouldn't do anything else but the Greek + work?' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, I might,' said Elizabeth smiling, 'but once I've begun—' +</p> +<p> + 'You couldn't keep to it?—father couldn't keep to it?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth shook her head decidedly. A little smile played about her + lips, as much as to say, 'I am a managing woman and you must take me + at that. "Il ne faut pas sortir de son caractère."' Pamela, looking + at her, admired her for the first time. And now that there was to be + no more question—apparently—of correspondence with Arthur + Chicksands, her mood changed impulsively. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, I'm very sorry!' she said—and then, sincerely, 'I don't know + how the place will get on.' +</p> +<p> + 'Thank you,' said Elizabeth. Her look twinkled a little. 'But you + don't know what I might be after if I stayed!' +</p> +<p> + Pamela laughed out, and the two walked home, better friends than + they had been yet, Elizabeth asking that the news of her resignation + of her post might be regarded as confidential for a few days. +</p> +<p> + When they reached the house, Pamela went into the morning-room to + tell her sisters of the tame ending to all their alarms, while + Elizabeth hurried to the library. She was due there at half-past + ten, and she was only just in time. Would the Squire be there? She + remembered that she had to apologize for her absence of the day + before. +</p> +<p> + She felt her pulse thumping a little as she opened the library + door. There was undoubtedly something about the Squire—some + queer magnetism—born perhaps of his very restlessness and + unexpectedness—that made life in his neighbourhood seldom less + than interesting. His temper this morning would probably be of the + worst. Something, or some one, had defeated all his schemes for a + magnificent assertion of the rights of man. His park was in the + hands of the invaders. The public plough was impudently at work. + And at the same moment his secretary had given warning, and the + new catalogue—the darling of his heart—would be thrown on his + hands. It would not be surprising to find him rampant. Elizabeth + entered almost on tip-toe, prepared to be all that was meek and + conciliating, so far as was compatible with her month's notice. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + A tall figure rose from the Squire's table and made her a formal + bow. +</p> +<p> + 'Good-morning, Miss Bremerton. I expected your assistance yesterday + afternoon, but you had, I understand, made an engagement?' +</p> +<p> + 'I asked you—a few days ago,' said Elizabeth, mildly confronting + him. 'I am sorry if it inconvenienced you.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, all right—all right,' said the Squire hastily. 'I had + forgotten all about it. Well, anyway, we have lost a great deal of + time.' His voice conveyed reproach. His greenish eyes were fierily + bent upon her. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth sat down at her table without reply, and chose a pen. The + morning's work generally consisted of descriptions of vases and + bronzes in the Mannering collection, dictated by the Squire, and + illustrated often by a number of references to classical writers, + given both in Greek and English. The labour of looking out and + verifying the references was considerable, and the Squire's testy + temper was never more testy than when it was quarrelling with the + difficulties of translation. +</p> +<p> + 'Kindly take down,' he said peremptorily. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth began: +</p> +<p> + '"No. 190. Greek vase, from a tomb excavated at Mitylene in 1902. + Fine work of the fifth century B.C. Subject: Penelope's Web. + Penelope is seated at the loom. Beside her are the figures of a + young man and two females—probably Telemachus and two hand-maidens. + The three male figures in the background may represent the suitors. + Size, 23 inches high; diameter, 11 inches. Perfect, except for a + restoration in one of the handles." +</p> +<p> + 'Have you got that?' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes.' +</p> +<p> + 'Go on please. "This vase is of course an illustration of the + well-known passage in the <i>Odyssey</i>, Book 21. 103. I take Mr. Samuel + Butler's translation, which is lively and modern and much to be + preferred to the heavy archaisms of the other fellows."' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth gave a slight cough. The Squire looked at her sharply. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, you think that's not dignified? Well, have it as you like.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth altered the phrase to 'other translators.' The Squire + resumed. '"Antinous, one of the suitors, is speaking: 'We could see + her working on her great web all day long, but at night she would + unpick the stitches again by torchlight. She fooled us in this way + for three years, and we never found her out, but as time wore on, + and she was now in her fourth year, one of her maids, who knew what + she was doing, told us, and we caught her in the act of undoing her + work, so she had to finish it, whether she would or no....' I tell + you, we never heard of such a woman; we know all about Tyro, + Alcmena, Mycene, and the famous women of old, but they were nothing + to your mother—any one of them."—And yet she was only undoing her + own work!—she was not forcing a grown man to undo his!' said the + Squire, with a sudden rush of voice and speech. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth looked up astonished. +</p> +<p> + 'Am I to put that down?' +</p> +<p> + The Squire threw away the book he was holding. His shining white + hair seemed positively to bristle on his head, his long legs twined + and untwined themselves. +</p> +<p> + 'Don't pretend, please, that you don't know what part you've been + playing in this affair!' he said with sarcasm. 'It took Forest and + me three good hours this morning to take down as fine a barricade as + ever I saw put up. I'm stiff with it still. British liberties have + been thrown to the dogs—<i>γυναικος ούνεκα</i>—all because of a + woman! And there you sit, as though nothing had happened! Yet I + chanced to see you just now, coming back with Pamela!' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth's flush this time dyed her all crimson. She sat, pen in + hand, staring at her employer. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't understand what you mean, Mr. Mannering.' At which her + conscience whispered to her sharply, 'You guessed it already—in the + park!' +</p> +<p> + The Squire jumped to his feet, and came to stand excitedly in front + of her, his hands thrust into the high pockets of his waistcoat. +</p> +<p> + 'I am <i>extremely</i> sorry!' he said, with that <i>grand seigneur</i> + politeness he could put on when he chose—'but I am not able to + credit that statement. You make it honestly, of course, but that a + person of your intelligence, when you saw those gates, failed to put + two and two together, well!'—the Squire shook his head, and + shrugged his shoulders, became, in fact, one protesting gesture—'if + you ask me to believe it,' he continued, witheringly, 'I suppose I + must, but—' +</p> +<p> + 'Mr. Mannering!' said Elizabeth earnestly, 'it would really be kind + of you to explain.' +</p> +<p> + Her blush had died away. She had fallen back in her chair, and was + meeting his attack with the steady, candid look that betrayed her + character. She was now entirely self-possessed—neither nervous nor + angry. +</p> +<p> + The Squire changed his tone. Folding his arms, he leant against a + pedestal which supported a bust of a Roman emperor. +</p> +<p> + 'Very well, then—I <i>will</i> explain. I told you yesterday of a step I + proposed to take by way of testing how far the invasion of personal + freedom had gone in this country. I was perfectly justified in + taking it. I was prepared to suffer for my action. I had thought it + all out. Then <i>you</i> came in—and by <i>force majeure</i> compelled me to + give it all up!' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth could not help laughing. +</p> +<p> + 'I never heard any account of an incident which fitted less with the + facts!' she said with vivacity. +</p> +<p> + 'It exactly fits them!' the Squire insisted. 'When I told you what I + meant to do, instead of sympathy—instead of simple acquiescence, + for how the deuce were you responsible!—you threatened to throw up + the work I cannot now possibly accomplish without you—' +</p> +<p> + 'Mr. Levasseur?' suggested Elizabeth. +</p> +<p> + 'Levasseur be hanged!' said the Squire, taking an angry pace up and + down. 'Don't please interrupt me. I have given you a perfectly free + hand, and you have organized the work—your share of it—as you + please. Nobody else is the least likely to do it in the same way. + When you go, it drops. And when your share drops, mine drops. + That's what comes of employing a woman of ability, and trusting to + her—as I have trusted to you!' +</p> +<p> + Was there ever any attack so grotesque, so unfair? Elizabeth was for + one moment inclined to be angry—and the next, she was conscious of + yieldings and compunctions that were extremely embarrassing. +</p> +<p> + 'You rate my help a great deal too high,' she said after a moment. + 'It is you yourself who have taught me how to work in your way. I + don't think you will have any real difficulty with another + secretary. You are'—she ventured a smile—'you are a born teacher.' +</p> +<p> + Never was any compliment less successful. The Squire looked sombrely + down upon her. +</p> +<p> + 'So you <i>still</i> intend to leave us,' he said slowly, 'after what I + have done?' +</p> +<p> + 'What have you done?' said Elizabeth faintly. +</p> +<p> + 'Made myself a laughing-stock to the whole country-side!—and thrown + all my principles overboard—to content you—and save my book!' The + reply was given with an angry energy that shook her. 'I have humbled + myself to the dust to meet your sentimental ideas—and there you + sit—as stony and inaccessible as this fellow here!'—he brought his + hand down with vehemence on the Roman emperor's shoulder. 'Not a + word of gratitude—or concession—or sympathy! I was indeed a fool + to take any trouble to please you!' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth was silent. They surveyed each other. 'No agitation!' said + Elizabeth's inner mind; 'keep cool!' +</p> +<p> + At last she withdrew her own eyes from the angry tension of + his—dropped them to the table where her right hand was + mechanically drawing nonsense figures on her blotting-paper. +</p> +<p> + 'Did you really yourself take down that barricade?' she said gently. +</p> +<p> + 'I did! And it was an infernal piece of work!' +</p> +<p> + 'I'm awfully glad!' Her voice was very soft. +</p> +<p> + 'I daresay you are. It suits your principles, and your ideas, of + course—not mine! And now, having driven me to it—having publicly + discredited and disgraced me—you can still sit there and talk of + throwing up your work.' +</p> +<p> + The growing passion in the irascible gentleman towering above her + warned her that it was time to bring the scene to an end. +</p> +<p> + 'I am glad,' she repeated steadily, 'very glad—especially—for Mr. + Desmond.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, Desmond!' the Squire threw out impatiently, beginning again to + walk up and down. +</p> +<p> + 'He would have minded so dreadfully,' she said, still in a lower + key. 'It was really him I was thinking of. Of course I had no right + to interfere with your affairs—' +</p> +<p> + The Squire turned, the tyrant in him reviving fast. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, you did interfere—and to some purpose! Now then—yes or + no—is your notice withdrawn?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth hesitated. +</p> +<p> + 'I would willingly stay with you,' she said, 'if—' +</p> +<p> + 'If what?' +</p> +<p> + She looked up with a sudden flash of laughter. +</p> +<p> + 'If we can really get on!' +</p> +<p> + 'Name your terms!' He returned, frowning and excited, to the + neighbourhood of the Roman emperor. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh no—I have no terms,' she said hurriedly. 'Only—if you + ask me to help you with the land, I should want to obey the + Government—and—and do the best for the war.' +</p> +<p> + 'Condition No. 1,' said the Squire grimly, checking it off. 'Go on!' +</p> +<p> + 'And—I should—perhaps—beg you to let Pamela do some V.A.D. work, + if she wants to.' +</p> +<p> + 'Pamela is your affair!' said the Squire impatiently. 'If you stay + here, you are her chaperon, and, for the present, head of the + household.' +</p> +<p> + 'Only just for the present—till Pamela can do it!' put in Elizabeth + hastily. 'But she's nineteen—she ought to take a part.' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, don't bother me about that. You are responsible. I wash my + hands of her. Anything else?' +</p> +<p> + It did not do to think of Pamela's feelings, should she ever become + aware of how she was being handed over. But the mention of her, on a + sudden impulse, had been pure sympathy on Elizabeth's part; a wish + to strike on the girl's behalf while the iron was so very hot. She + looked up quietly. +</p> +<p> + 'No, indeed there is nothing else—except indeed—that you won't + expect me to hide what I feel about the war—and the little we at + home can do to help—' +</p> +<p> + Her voice failed a little. The Squire said nothing. She went on, + with a clearing countenance. +</p> +<p> + 'So—if you really wish it—I will stay, Mr. Mannering—and try to + help you all I can. It was splendid of you—to give up your plans. + I'm sure you won't regret it.' +</p> +<p> + 'I'm not sure at all—but it's done. Now, then, let us understand. + You take over my estate correspondence. You'll want a clerk—I'll + find one. You can appoint a new agent if you like. You can do what + you like, in fact. I was never meant to be a landowner, and I hate + the whole business. You can harry the farmers as you please—I + shan't interfere.' +</p> +<p> + 'Allow me to point out,' said Elizabeth firmly, 'that at college I + was not trained in land-agency—but in Greek!' +</p> +<p> + 'What does that matter? If women can build Dreadnoughts, as they say + they can, they can manage estates. Now, then, as to my conditions. + Do what you like—but my book and the catalogue come <i>first</i>!' He + looked at her with an exacting eye. +</p> +<p> + 'Certainly,' said Elizabeth. +</p> +<p> + 'But I know what you'll do—you'll go and break down! You are <i>not</i> + to break down.' +</p> +<p> + 'Certainly!' said Elizabeth. +</p> +<p> + 'But you have once broken down.' +</p> +<p> + Her start was perceptible, but she answered quietly. +</p> +<p> + 'I was ill a year ago—partly from overwork. But I am normally quite + strong.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire observed her. It was very pleasant to him to see her + sitting there, in her trim serge dress, with its broad white collar + and cuffs—the sheen of her hair against the dark wall—her shapely + hands ready for work upon his table. He felt as if he had with + enormous difficulty captured—recaptured—something of exceptional + value; like one of those women 'skilled in beautiful arts' whom the + Greek slave-raiders used to carry off from a conquered city, and + sell for large sums to the wives of wealthy Greek chieftains. Till + now he had scarcely thought of her as a woman, but rather as a + fine-edged but most serviceable tool which he had had the + extraordinary good luck to find. Now, with his mere selfish feeling + of relief there mingled something rather warmer and more human. If + only she would stay, he would honestly try and make life agreeable + to her. +</p> +<p> + 'Well now, that's settled,' he said, drawing a long + breath—'Oh—except one thing—you will of course want a larger + salary?' +</p> +<p> + 'Not at all,' said Elizabeth decidedly. 'You pay me quite enough.' +</p> +<p> + 'You are not offended with me for asking?' His tone had become + astonishingly deferential. +</p> +<p> + 'Not the least. I am a business woman. If I thought myself entitled + to more I should say so. But it is extremely doubtful whether I can + really be of any use whatever to you.' +</p> +<p> + 'All right,' said the Squire, returning to his own table. 'Now, + then, let us go on with No. 190.' +</p> +<p> + 'Is it necessary now to put in—well, <i>quite</i> so much about + Penelope?' asked Elizabeth, as she took up her pen. +</p> +<p> + 'What do you think?' +</p> +<p> + 'It seems a little long and dragged in.' Elizabeth looked critically + at the paragraph. +</p> +<p> + 'And we have now unravelled the web?—we can do without her? + Yes—let her go!' said the Squire, in a tone of excessive + complaisance. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + When the morning's work was done, and luncheon over, Elizabeth + carried off Pamela to her room. When Pamela emerged, she went in + search of Forest, interviewed him in the gun-room, and then shutting + herself up in the 'den' she wrote to Desmond. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'M<small>Y DEAR</small> D<small>EZZY</small>—There are such queer things going on in this + queer house! Yesterday Broomie gave warning, and father + barricaded the park gates, and was perfectly mad, and + determined not to listen to anybody. In the middle of the night + he and Forest took the barricade down, and to-day, Broomie is + to be not only secretary, but land-agent, and anything else she + pleases—queen, in fact, of all she surveys—including me. But + I am bound to say she had been very decent to me over it all. + She <i>wants</i> me to do some of the housekeeping—and she has + actually made father consent to my helping at the hospital + every afternoon. Of course I am awfully glad about that. I + shall bicycle over. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'But all the same it is very odd, and perhaps you and I had + better consider what it <i>may</i> mean. I know from Broomie herself + that she gave notice yesterday—and now she is going to stay. + And I know from Forest that father called him up when it was + quite dark, between three and four in the morning—Mrs. Forest + thought the Germans had come when she heard the knocking—and + asked him to come with him and undo the gates. Forest told me + that <i>he</i> would have had nothing whatever to do with closing + them, nor with anything 'agin the Government! He's a staunch + old soul, is Forest. So when father told him what he wanted, he + didn't know what to make of it. However, they both groped their + way through the fog, which was thick on the other side of the + park, and set to at the gates. Forest says it was an awful + business to get everything cleared away. Father and Gregson had + made an uncommonly good job of it. If Gregson had put in work + like that on his own hedges and gates, Forest says he mightn't + have been kicked out! It took them ages getting the barbed + wire cleared away, because they hadn't any proper nippers. + Father took off his coat, and worked like a navvy, and Forest + hoisted him up to get at the wire along the wall. Forest says + he was determined to leave nothing! "And I believe, Miss, the + Squire was very glad of the fog—because there couldn't be any + one prying around." +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'For it seems to be really true that the village has been in a + state of ferment, and that they had determined to free the + gates and let in the Council plough. Perley was seen talking to + a lot of men on the green last night. I met him myself this + morning after breakfast near the gates, and he confessed he had + been there already—early. I expect he came to reconnoitre and + take back the news. Rather calm, for one of father's own men! + But that's the new spirit, Dezzy. We're not going to be allowed + to have it all our own way any more. Well, thank goodness, I + don't mind. At least, there is something in me that minds. I + suppose it's one's forbears. But the greater part of me wants a + <i>lot</i> of change—and there are often and often times when I + wish I'd been born in the working-class and was just struggling + upwards with them, and sharing all their hopes and dreams for + "after the war." Well, why shouldn't I? I'm going to set + Broomie on to some of the cottages in the village—not that + she'll want setting on—but after all, it's I who know the + people. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'But that's by the way. The point is why did father give in? + Evidently because Broomie gave notice, and he couldn't bear the + idea of parting with her. Of course Alice—and Margaret too, to + some extent—are convinced it all means that father wants to + marry her. Only Alice thinks that Miss Bremerton has been + intriguing for it since the first week she set foot in the + house; while Margaret is certain that she wouldn't marry father + if he asked her. She thinks that Miss B. is just the new woman, + who wants to <i>do</i> things, and isn't always thinking about + getting married. Well, Dezzy, old boy—<i>I</i> don't know what to + think. I'll keep my eyes open, and report to you. I + <i>don't—altogether—like her</i>. No, I don't—that's flat. I + wish, on the whole, she'd taken her departure! And yet I feel + rather a toad for saying so. She is splendid in some + things—yes, she is! And the Rectory people take the most + rose-coloured view of her—it's too late to tell you why, for + the postman is just coming. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'Good-bye, Dezzy—dear Dezzy! I know how glad you'll be about + the gates. Write to me as often as you can. By the way, Miss + Bremerton has got a brother in the war—with General Maude. + That ought to make me like her. But why did she leave us to + find it out through the Rectory? She never says anything about + herself that she can help. Do you think you'll really get to + France in January? Ever your loving +</p> +<p class="ar"> + 'P<small>AM</small>.' +</p> +<a name="2HCH0010"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + CHAPTER X +</h2> +<p> + It was a bright January day. Lunch was just over at Mannering, and + the luncheon-party had dispersed—attracted to the garden and the + park by the lure of the sunshine after dark days of storm and wind. + Mrs. Gaddesden alone was left sitting by the fire in the hall. There + was a cold wind, and she did not feel equal to facing it. She was + one of those women, rare in these days, who, though still young, + prefer to be prematurely old; in whom their great-grandmothers, and + the 'elegant' lackadaisical ways of a generation that knew nothing + of exercise, thick boots and short skirts, seem to become once more + incarnate. Though Mannering was not ill-warmed, Alice moved about it + in winter wrapped in a picturesque coat of black velvet trimmed with + chinchilla, her head wreathed in white lace. From this rather + pompous setting her fair hair, small person, and pinched pale face + looked out perhaps with greater dignity than they could have + achieved unadorned. Her chilliness, her small self-indulgences, + including an inordinate love of cakes and all sweet things, were the + standing joke of the twins when they discussed the family freely + behind the closed doors of the 'Den.' But no one disliked Alice + Gaddesden, though it was hard to be actively fond of her. She and + her husband were quite good friends; but they were no longer of any + real importance to each other. He was a good deal older than she; + and was often away from London on 'war work' in the Midlands. On + these occasions Alice generally invited herself to Mannering. She + thus got rid of housekeeping, which in these days of rations worried + her to death. Moreover, food at Mannering was much more plentiful + than food in town—especially since the advent of Elizabeth + Bremerton. +</p> +<p> + It was of Elizabeth that Mrs. Gaddesden was thinking as she sat + alone in the hall. From her seat she could perceive a shrubbery walk + in the garden outside, along which two figures were pacing—Miss + Bremerton and the new agent. Beyond, at some distance, she was aware + of another group disappearing among the trees of the park—Pamela + with Captain Chicksands and Beryl. +</p> +<p> + This was the first time that any member of the Chicksands family had + been a guest at Mannering since the quarrel in the autumn. The + Squire had not yet brought himself to shake hands with Sir Henry. + But Beryl on the one side, and Pamela on the other—aided and + abetted always by Elizabeth Bremerton—had been gradually breaking + down the embargo; and when, hearing from Beryl that her brother + Arthur was with them for a few days, Pamela had openly proposed in + her father's presence to ask them both to luncheon, the Squire had + pretended not to hear, but had at any rate raised no objection. And + when the brother and sister arrived, he had received them as though + nothing had happened. His manners were always brusque and + ungracious, except in the case of persons who specially mattered to + his own pursuits, such as archæologists and Greek professors. But + the Chetworth family were almost as well acquainted with his ways as + his own, and his visitors took them philosophically. Arthur + Chicksands had kept the table alive at luncheon with soldier + stories, and the Squire's sulky or sarcastic silence had passed + unnoticed. +</p> +<p> + Mrs. Gaddesden's mind was very full of the Captain's good looks and + distinction. He was now in London, at the War Office, it seemed, for + a short time, on a special mission; hence his occasional weekends + with his family. When the mission was over—so Beryl told Pamela—he + was probably going out to an important appointment in the + Intelligence Department at G.H.Q. 'Arthur's a great swell,' said + Beryl, 'though as to what he's done, or what people think of him, + you have to dig it out of him—if you can!' +</p> +<p> + Mrs. Gaddesden did not very much like him. His brusque sincerity + made people of her sort uncomfortable. But she would have liked very + much to know whether there was anything up between him and Pamela. + Really, Miss Bremerton's discretion about such things was too + tiresome—ridiculous—almost rude! It was no good trying, even, to + discuss them with her. +</p> +<p> + As to the disinheriting of Aubrey, no more had been heard of it. + Miss Bremerton had told Aubrey when he was at home for twenty-four + hours at Christmas that, as far as she knew, the codicil was still + unsigned. But Aubrey didn't seem to care the least whether it was or + no. If Beryl wished him to raise the question again with his father, + of course he would; otherwise he greatly preferred to leave it + alone. And as Beryl had no will or wishes but his, and was, in + Alice's opinion, only too absurdly and dependently in love, the + sleeping dogs were very much asleep; and the secret of Mannering's + future disposal lay hid impenetrably in the Squire's own breast. +</p> +<p> + At the same time, Mrs. Gaddesden was firmly persuaded that whatever + Elizabeth Bremerton wished or advised would ultimately be done. +</p> +<p> + What an extraordinary position that young woman now held among them! + Nearly three months had now elapsed since Mrs. Gaddesden's autumn + visit—since Desmond had gone into training at his artillery + camp—since a third of the park had been ploughed up, and since + Elizabeth Bremerton had thrown up her post only to come back next + day as dictator. +</p> +<p> + Yes—<i>dictator</i>! Mrs. Gaddesden was never tired of thinking about + it, and was excitedly conscious that all the neighbourhood, and all + their friends and kinsfolk were thinking and speculating with her. + At the beginning of November, before she and Margaret Strang went + back to town, the Squire had announced to all of them that Miss + Bremerton had become his 'business secretary,' as well as his + classical assistant. And now, after three months, the meaning of + this notice was becoming very clear. The old agent, Mr. Hull, had + been dismissed, and moderately—very moderately—pensioned. It was + said that Miss Bremerton, on looking into his accounts, saw no + reason at all for any special indulgence. For, in addition to + everything else, she turned out to be a trained accountant!—and + money matters connected with the estate were being probed to the + bottom that had never been probed before. Mrs. Gaddesden's own + allowance—for the Squire had always obstinately declined to settle + any capital on his married daughters—had been, for the first time, + paid at the proper date—by Elizabeth Bremerton! At least, if the + Squire had signed it, she had written the cheque. And she might + perfectly well have signed it. For, as Pamela had long since + reported to her sisters, Elizabeth paid all the house and estate + accounts over her own signature, and seemed to have much more + accurate knowledge than the Squire himself of the state of his bank + balance, and his money affairs generally. +</p> +<p> + Not that she ever paraded these things in the least. But neither did + she make any unnecessary mystery about it with the Squire's family. + And indeed they were quite evident to any one living in the house. + At times she would make little, laughing, apologetic remarks to one + of the daughters—'I hope you don't mind!—the Squire wants me to + get things straight.' But in general, her authority by now had + become a matter of course. +</p> +<p> + Her position in the Mannering household, however, was as nothing to + her position in the estate and the neighbourhood. That was the + amazing thing which had by now begun to set all tongues wagging. Sir + Henry Chicksands, meeting Mrs. Gaddesden at the station, had poured + himself out to her. 'That extraordinary young woman your father has + got hold of, is simply transforming the whole place. The farmers on + the whole like her very much. But if they don't like her, they're + <i>afraid of her</i>! For Heaven's sake don't let her kill herself with + over-work. She'll soon be leading the county.' +</p> +<p> + Yes. Work indeed! How on earth did she get through it? In + the mornings there she was in the library, absorbed in the + catalogue, writing to the Squire's dictation, transcribing or + translating Greek—his docile and obedient slave. Then in the + afternoon—bicycling all over the estate, and from dark onwards, + till late at night, busy with correspondence and office work, except + just for dinner and an hour afterwards. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + The door of the outer hall opened and shut. Elizabeth and a young + man—the new agent—entered the inner hall, where Mrs. Gaddesden was + sitting, Elizabeth acknowledging her presence with a pleasant nod + and smile. But they passed quickly through to the room at the + further end of the hall, which was now an estate office where + Elizabeth spent the latter part of her day. It was connected both + with the main living-rooms of the house, and with a side entrance + from the park, by which visitors on estate matters were admitted. +</p> +<p> + A man was sitting waiting for Miss Bremerton. He was the new tenant + of the derelict farm, on the Holme Wood side of the estate, and he + had come to report on the progress which had been made in clearing + and ploughing the land, and repairing the farm-buildings. He was a + youngish man, a sergeant in a Warwickshire regiment, who had been + twice wounded in the war, and was now discharged. As the son of an + intelligent farmer, he had had a good agricultural training, and it + was evident that his enthusiasms and those of the Squire's new + 'business-secretary' were running in harness. +</p> +<p> + The new agent, Captain Dell, also a discharged Territorial, who had + lost an arm in the war, watched the scene between the incoming + tenant and Elizabeth, with a shrewd pair of eyes, through which + there passed occasional gleams of amusement or surprise. He was + every day making further acquaintance with the lady who was + apparently to be his chief, but he was well aware that he was only + at the beginning of his lesson. Astonishing, to see a woman taking + this kind of lead!—asking these technical questions—as to land, + crops, repairs, food production, and the rest—looking every now and + then at the note-book beside her, full of her own notes made on the + spot, or again, setting down with a quick hand something that was + said to her. And all through he was struck with her tone of quiet + authority—without a touch of boasting or 'side,' but also without a + touch of any mere feminine deference to the male. She was there in + the Squire's place, and she never let it be forgotten. Heavens, + women had come on during this war! Through the young man's mind + there ran a vague and whirling sense of change. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, Mr. Denman, that all sounds splendid!' said Elizabeth, at + last, as she rose from her table. 'The country won't starve, if you + can help it! I shall tell the County Committee all about you on + Tuesday. You don't want another tractor?' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, no, thank you! The two at work are enough. I hope you'll be + over soon. I should like to show you what we've been after.' The + man's tone was one of eager good will. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh yes, I shall be over before long,' said Elizabeth cheerfully. + 'It's so tremendously interesting what you're doing. And if you want + anything I can help you in, you can always telephone.' +</p> +<p> + And she pointed smiling to the instrument on the table—the first + that had ever been allowed within the walls of Mannering. And that + the Squire might not be teased with it, Elizabeth had long since + fitted an extra inner door, covered with green baize, to the door of + the office. +</p> +<p> + The new tenant departed, and Elizabeth turned to the agent. +</p> +<p> + 'I really think we've caught a good man there,' she said, with a + smile. 'Now will you tell me, please, about those timber proposals? + I hope to get a few words with the Squire to-night.' +</p> +<p> + And leaning back in her chair, she listened intently while Captain + Dell, bringing a roll of papers out of his pocket, read her the + draft proposals of a well-known firm of timber merchants, for the + purchase of some of the Squire's outlying woods of oak and beech. + Lights had been brought in, and Elizabeth sat shading her eyes from + the lamp before her,—a strong and yet agreeable figure. Was it the + consciousness of successful work—of opening horizons, and satisfied + ambitions, that had made a physical presence, always attractive, so + much more attractive than before—that had given it a magnetism and + fire it had never yet possessed? Pamela, who was developing fast, + and was acutely conscious of Elizabeth, asked herself the question, + or something like it, about once a week. And during a short + Christmas visit that Elizabeth had paid her own people, her gentle + mother, much puzzled and a little dazzled by her daughter, had + necessarily pondered the why and wherefore of a change she felt, but + could not analyse. One thing the mother's insight had been clear + about. Elizabeth was not in love. On the contrary, the one + love-affair of her life seemed to be at last forgotten and put + aside. Elizabeth was now in love with <i>efficiency</i>; with a great + task given into her hand. As to the Squire, the owner of Mannering, + who had provided her with the task, Mrs. Bremerton could not + imagine him or envisage him at all. Elizabeth's accounts of him + were so reticent and so contradictory.... 'Well, that's very + interesting'—said Elizabeth thoughtfully, when Captain Dell laid + down his papers—'I wonder what Mr. Mannering will say to it? As you + know, I got his express permission for you to make these enquiries. + But he hates cutting down a single tree, and this will mean a wide + clearance!' +</p> +<p> + 'So it will—but the country wants every stick of it. And as to not + cutting, one sees that from the woods—the tragedy of the + woods!'—said the young man with emphasis. 'There has been no decent + forestry on this estate for half a century. I hope you will be able + to persuade him, Miss Bremerton. I expect, indeed, it's Hobson's + choice.' +</p> +<p> + 'You mean the timber will be commandeered?' +</p> +<p> + 'Probably. The Government have just come down on some of Lord + Radley's woods just beyond our borders—with scarcely a week's + warning. No "With your leave" or "By your leave"! The price fixed, + Canadians sent down to cut, and a light railway built from the woods + to the station to carry the timber, before you could say "Jack + Robinson."' +</p> +<p> + 'You think the price these people offer is a fair one?' She pointed + to the draft contract. +</p> +<p> + 'Excellent! The Squire won't get nearly as much from the + Government.' +</p> +<p> + 'What one might do with some of it for the estate!' said Elizabeth, + looking up, her blue eyes dancing in the lamplight. +</p> +<p> + 'Rebuild half the cottages?' said the other, smiling, as he rose. 'A + village club-house, a communal kitchen, a small holdings scheme—all + the things we've talked about? Oh yes, you could do all that and + more. The Squire doesn't know what he possesses.' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, I'll take the papers to him,' said Elizabeth, holding out her + hands for them. 'I may perhaps catch him to-night' +</p> +<p> + A little more business talk, and the agent departed. Then Elizabeth + dreamily—still cogitating a hundred things—touched an electric + bell. A girl typist, who acted as her clerk, came in from an + adjoining room. Elizabeth rapidly dictated a number of letters, + stayed for a little friendly gossip with the girl about her father + in the Army Service Corps, who had been in hospital at Rouen, and + had just finished, when the gong rang for afternoon tea. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + When Elizabeth entered, the hall was crowded. It was the principal + sitting-room of the house, now that for reasons of economy fires + were seldom lit in the drawing-rooms. Before Elizabeth's advent it + had been a dingy, uncomfortable place, but she and Pamela had + entirely transformed it. As in the estate so in the house, the + Squire did not know what he possessed. In all old houses with a + continuous life, there are accumulations of furniture and stores, + discarded by the generation of one day, and brought back by the + fashion of the next. A little routing in attics and forgotten + cupboards and chests had produced astonishing results. Chippendale + chairs and settees had been brought down from the servants' + bedrooms; two fine Dutch cabinets had been discovered amid a mass of + lumber in an outhouse; a tall Japanese screen, dating from the end + of the eighteenth century, and many pairs of linen curtains + embroidered about the same time in branching oriental patterns by + the hands of Mannering ladies, had been unearthed, and Pamela—for + Elizabeth having started the search had interfered very little with + its results—had spent some of her now scanty leisure in making the + best of the finds. The hall was now a charming place, scented, + moreover, on this January evening by the freesias and narcissus that + Elizabeth had managed to rear in the house itself, and Pamela, who + had always been ashamed of her own ill-kept and out-at-elbows home, + as compared with the perfections of Chetworth, had been showing + Arthur and Beryl Chicksands what had been done to renovate the old + house since they were last in it—'and all without spending a + penny!'—with a girlish pleasure which in the Captain's opinion + became her greatly. Pamela needed indeed a good deal of animation to + be as handsome as she deserved to be! A very critical observer took + note that her stock of it was rapidly rising. It was the same with + the letters, too, which for a month or so past, she had condescended + to write him, after treating him most uncivilly in the autumn, and + never answering a long screed—'and a jolly good one!'—which he had + written her from Paris in November. +</p> +<p> + As Elizabeth came in, Pamela was reading aloud a telegram just + received, and Miss Bremerton was greeted with the news—'Desmond's + coming to-night, instead of to-morrow! They've given him forty-eight + hours' leave, and he goes to France on Thursday.' +</p> +<p> + 'That's very short!' said Elizabeth, as she took her place beside + Pamela, who was making tea. 'Does your father know?' +</p> +<p> + Forest, it appeared, had gone to tell him. Meanwhile Captain + Chicksands was watching with a keen eye the relation between Miss + Bremerton and Pamela. He saw that the Squire's secretary was + scrupulously careful to give Pamela her place as daughter of the + house; but Pamela's manner hardly showed any real intimacy between + them. And it was easy to see where the real authority lay. As for + himself he had lately begun to ask himself seriously how much he was + interested in Pamela. For in truth, though he was no coxcomb, he + could not help seeing—all the more because of Pamela's variable + moods towards him—that she was at least incipiently interested in + him. If so, was it fair to her that they should correspond?—and + that he should come to Mannering whenever he was asked and military + duty allowed, now that the Squire's embargo was at least partially + removed? +</p> +<p> + He confessed to himself that he was glad to come, that Pamela + attracted him. At the same time there was in him a stern sense that + the time was no time for love-making. The German hosts were + gathering; the vast breakdown in Russia was freeing more and more of + them for the Western assault. He himself was for the moment doing + some important intelligence work, in close contact with the High + Command. No one outside a very small circle knew better than he what + lay in front of England—the fierce death-struggle over a thousand + miles of front. And were men and women to be kissing and marrying + while these storm-clouds of war—this rain of blood—were gathering + overhead? +</p> +<p> + Involuntarily he moved further from Pamela. His fine face with the + rather high cheek-bones, strong mouth, and lined brow, seemed to put + softness away. He approached Elizabeth. +</p> +<p> + 'What is the Squire doing about his wood, Miss Bremerton? The + Government's desperately in want of ash!' +</p> +<p> + He spoke almost as one official might speak to another—comrade to + comrade. What he had heard about her doings from his father had + filled his soldier's mind with an eager admiration for her. That was + how women should bear themselves in this war—as the practical + helpers of men. +</p> +<p> + He fell into the chair beside her, and Elizabeth was soon deep in + conversation with him, a conversation that any one might overhear + who would. It turned partly on the armies abroad—partly on the + effort at home. There was warmth—even passion—in it, studiously + restrained. But it was the passion of two patriots, conscious + through every pulse of their country's strait. +</p> +<p> + The others listened. Pamela became silent and pale. All the old + jealousy and misery of the autumn were alive in her once more. She + had looked forward for weeks to this meeting with Arthur Chicksands. + And for the first part of his visit she had been happy—before + Elizabeth came on the scene. Why should Elizabeth have all the + homage and the attention? She, too, was doing her best! She was + drudging every day as a V.A.D., washing crockery and scrubbing + floors; and this was the first afternoon off she had had for weeks. + Her limbs were dog-tired. But Arthur Chicksands never talked to + <i>her</i>—Pamela—in this tone of freedom and equality—with the whole + and not the half of his mind. 'I could hold my own,' she thought + bitterly, 'but he never gives me the chance! I suppose he despises + girls.' +</p> +<p> + As the hall clock struck half-past five, however, Elizabeth rose + from her seat, gathering up the papers she had brought in from the + office, and disappeared. +</p> +<p> + Arthur Chicksands looked at his watch. Beryl exclaimed: +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, no, Arthur, not yet! Let's wait for Desmond!' +</p> +<p> + Pamela said perfunctorily—'No, please don't go! He'll be here + directly.' +</p> +<p> + But as they gathered round the fire, expecting the young gunner, she + hardly opened her lips again. Arthur Chicksands was quite conscious + that he had wounded her. She appeared to him, as she sat there in + the firelight, in all the first fairness and freshness of her youth, + as an embodied temptation. Again he said to himself that other men + might love and marry on the threshold of battle; he could not bring + himself to think it justifiable—whether for the woman or the man. + In a few weeks' time he would be back in France and in the very + thick, perhaps, of the final struggle—of its preparatory stages, at + any rate. Could one make love to a beautiful creature like that at + such a moment, and then leave her, with a whole mind?—the mind and + the nerve that were the country's due? +</p> +<p> + All the same he had never been so aware of her before. And + simultaneously his mind was invaded by the mute, haunting certainty + that her life was reaching out towards his, and that he was + repelling and hurting her. +</p> +<p> + Suddenly—into the midst of them, while Mrs. Gaddesden was talking + endlessly in her small plaintive voice about rations and + queues—there dropped the sound of a car passing the windows, and a + boy's clear voice. +</p> +<p> + 'Desmond!' cried Pamela, with almost a sob of relief, and like one + escaping from a nightmare she sprang up and ran to greet her + brother. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + Meanwhile Elizabeth had found the Squire waiting for her, and, as + she saw at once, in a state of tension. +</p> +<p> + 'What was that you were saying to me about timber last week?' he + demanded imperiously as she entered, without giving her time to + speak. 'I hear this intolerable Government are behaving like + madmen, cutting down everything they can lay hands on. They shan't + have my trees—I would burn them first!' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth paused in some dismay. +</p> +<p> + 'You remember—' she began. +</p> +<p> + 'Remember what?' It was long since she had heard so snappish a tone. +</p> +<p> + 'That you authorized me—' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, I daresay, I gave myself away—I'm always doing so. I don't + mean half I say. You're too full of business—you take me up too + quick. What are those papers you've got there?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth's red cheeks showed her taken aback. It was the first time + for weeks that her employer had turned upon her so. She had grown so + accustomed to managing him, to taming the irritable temper that no + one else but she could cope with, and, unconsciously, so proud of + her success, that she was not prepared for this attack. She met it + meekly. +</p> +<p> + 'I have a proposal here to submit to you, from —— & Co.' (she + named a firm of timber-merchants famous throughout the Midlands). + 'There is nothing in it—Captain Dell is certain—that would injure + the estate. You have such masses of timber! And, if you don't sell, + you may find it commandeered. You know what's happened to Lord + Radley?' +</p> +<p> + The Squire sulkily demanded to be informed. Elizabeth told the + story, standing at his desk, like a clerk making a report. It seemed + to enrage her auditor. +</p> +<p> + 'This <i>accursed</i> war!' he broke out, when she had finished—'it + makes slaves and idiots of us all. It must—it shall end!' And + marching tempestuously up and down, he went off into one of the + pessimist and pacifist harangues to which she was more or less + accustomed. Who would rid the country of a Government that could + neither make peace nor make war?—that foresaw nothing—that was + making life unbearable at home, by a network of senseless + restrictions, while it wasted millions abroad, and in the military + camps! The Labour Party were the only people with a grain of sense. + They at least would try to make peace. Only, when they had made it, + to be governed by them would be even worse than to be governed by + Lloyd George. There was no possible life anywhere for decent quiet + people. And as for the ravaging and ruin of the woods that was going + on all over England— +</p> +<p> + 'The submarine return is worse this week,' said Elizabeth in a low + voice. +</p> +<p> + She had gone to her own table and was sitting there till the + hurricane should pass over. There was in her a fresh and chafing + sense of the obstacles laid in her path—the path of the scientific + and successful organizer—by the Squire's perversities. It was not + as though he were a pacifist by conviction, religious or other. She + had seen him rout and trample on not a few genuine professors of the + faith. His whole opposition to the war rested on the limitations + and discomforts inflicted on his own life. It reminded her of + certain fragments of dialogue she had overheard in the winter, where + she had chanced to find herself alone in a railway carriage full of + a group of disaffected workmen returning from a strike meeting at + Leicester. 'If there are many like these, is the country worth + saving?' she was saying to herself all the time, in a dumb passion. +</p> +<p> + Yet, after all, those men had done months and years of labour for + the country. Saying 'I will not go!' they had yet gone. Without a + spark of high feeling or conscious self-sacrifice to ease their + toil, they had yet, week by week, made the guns and the shells which + had saved the armies of England. When this temporary outbreak was + over they would go back and make them again. And they were tired + men—sallow-faced, and bowed before their time. +</p> +<p> + But what had this whimsical, accomplished man before her ever done + for his country that he should rail like this? It was difficult + after a tiring day to keep scorn and dissent concealed. They + probably showed in her expression, for the Squire turned upon her as + she made her remark about the submarines, examining her with a pair + of keen eyes. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, I know very well what you and that fellow Chicksands think + about persons like me who endeavour to see things <i>as they + are</i>!'—he smote a chair before him—'and not as you and our + war-party <i>wish</i> them to be. Well, well—now then to business. Who + wants to cut my woods—and what do they offer for them?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth put the papers in front of him. He turned them over. +</p> +<p> + 'H'm—they want the Cross Wood—one of the most beautiful woods in + England. I have spent days there when I was young drawing the trees. + And who's the idiot'—he pointed to some marginal notes—'who is + always carping and girding? "Good forestry" would have done this and + not done that. "Mismanagement"—"neglect"! Upon my word, who made + this man a judge over me?' +</p> +<p> + And flushed with wrath, the Squire looked angrily at his secretary. + 'Heavens!'—thought Elizabeth—'why didn't I edit the papers before + I showed them?' But aloud she said with her good-tempered smile— +</p> +<p> + 'I am afraid I took all those remarks as applying to Mr. Hull. He + was responsible for the woods, wasn't he? He told me he was.' +</p> +<p> + 'Nothing of the kind! In the end the owner is responsible. This + fellow is attacking <i>me</i>!' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth said nothing. She could only wait in hope to see how the + large sums mentioned in the contract might work. +</p> +<p> + '"Maximum price"! What's this?—"Had Mr. Mannering been willing to + enter into negotiations with us last year,"'—the Squire began to + read a letter accompanying the draft contract—'"when we approached + him, we should probably have been able to offer him a better price. + But under the scale of prices now fixed by the Government—"' +</p> +<p> + The owner of Mannering bounded out of his seat. +</p> +<p> + 'And you actually mean to say that I may not only be forced to sell + my woods—but whether I am forced or not, I can only sell them at + the Government price? Intolerable!—absolutely <i>intolerable</i>! Every + day that Englishmen put up with these tyrannies is a disgrace to the + country!' +</p> +<p> + 'The country must have artillery waggons and aeroplanes,' said + Elizabeth, softly. 'Where are we to get the wood? There are not + ships enough to bring it overseas?' +</p> +<p> + 'And suppose I grant you that—why am I not to get my fair + price—like anybody else? Just tell me that!' +</p> +<p> + 'Why, everybody's "controlled"!' cried Elizabeth. +</p> +<p> + 'Pshaw! I am sorry to be uncivil'—a sarcastic bow in her + direction—'but I really must point out that you talk nonsense. + Look at the money in the banks—look at the shops and the + advertisements—look at the money that people pay for pictures, and + old books, and autographs. <i>Somebody's</i> making profits—that's + clear. But a wretched landowner—with a few woods to sell—it is + easy to victimize him!' +</p> +<p> + 'It comes to a large sum,' said Elizabeth, looking down. At last she + was conscious of a real exasperation with the Squire. For four + months now she had been wrestling with him—for his own good and the + country's, and everything had always to be begun again. Suddenly her + spirits drooped. +</p> +<p> + The Squire observed her furtively out of the corners of his eyes. + Then he turned to the last page of the contract, with its final + figures. His eyebrows went up. +</p> +<p> + 'The man's a <i>fool</i>!' he said vehemently. 'I know the value of my + own timber a great deal better than he. They're not worth a third of + what they put them at.' +</p> +<p> + 'Even at the Government price?' Elizabeth ventured slyly. 'He'll be + very glad to give it!' +</p> +<p> + 'Then it's blackmailing the country,' said the Squire obstinately. + 'I loathe the war, but I'm not a profiteer.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth was silent. If the Squire persisted in rejecting this + deal, which he had himself invited in another mood, half her dreams + for the future, the dreams of a woman just beginning to feel the + intoxication of power, or, to put it better, the creative passion of + the reformer, were undone. She had already saved the Squire much + money. When all reasonable provision had been made for investment, + replanting, and the rest, this sale would still leave enough to + transform the estate and scores of human lives upon it. Her will + chafed hotly under the curb imposed upon it by the caprices of a + master for whom—save only as a Greek scholar—she had little + respect. After a while, as the Squire was still turning over the + contract with occasional grunts and mutterings, she asked— +</p> +<p> + 'Will you please tell me what I am to reply?' +</p> +<p> + Her voice was cold and measured. +</p> +<p> + The Squire threw up his white head. +</p> +<p> + 'What hurry is there?' he said testily. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, none—if you wish it delayed. Only—' she hesitated—'Captain + Dell tells me the Government inspectors are already in the + neighbourhood. He expects them here before long.' +</p> +<p> + 'And if I make a stand—if I oppose you—well—it'll be the gates + over again?' She shrugged her shoulders. +</p> +<p> + 'We must try to find the money some other way. It is badly wanted. I + thought—' +</p> +<p> + 'You thought I had authorized this—and you've given all your work + for nothing? You think I'm an impossible person?' +</p> +<p> + Suddenly she found him sitting beside her. Perforce she looked him + in the face. +</p> +<p> + 'Don't give notice again!' he said, almost with passion. +</p> +<p> + 'It's not so easy now,' she said, with a rather uncertain voice. +</p> +<p> + 'Because you've done so much for me?—because you've slaved and put + your heart into it? That's true. Well now, look here. We'll put that + beastly thing away to-night—perhaps I shall be in a better temper + in a few days.' +</p> +<p> + There was a note in his voice he seemed unable to keep out of it. + Elizabeth looking up caught the fire light on the sketch of Desmond. + Had the Squire's eyes been on it too? Impossible to say—for he had + already turned away. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, yes,—put it away!' she said hurriedly. +</p> +<p> + 'And I'll go over the woods with you on—Friday,' said the Squire + after a pause. 'Oh, I don't deny that the money is tempting. I'm not + such a pauper as I once was, thanks to you. I seem to have some + money in the bank—astonishing situation! And—there's a jolly good + sale at Christie's coming on.' +</p> +<p> + He looked at her half-shamefaced, half-ready to resent it if she + laughed at him. +</p> +<p> + Her eyes laughed. +</p> +<p> + 'I thought you'd forgotten that. I saw you mark the catalogue.' +</p> +<p> + 'Beech and oak between two and three hundred years old—in exchange + for Greek gems, between two and three thousand. Well—I'll consider + it. Now then, are you feeling better?' +</p> +<p> + And to her amazement he approached her with an outstretched hand. + Elizabeth mechanically placed her own in it. +</p> +<p> + 'I know what you want,' he said impetuously. 'You've got a head full + of dreams. They're not my dreams—but you've a right to them—so + long as you're kind to mine.' +</p> +<p> + 'I try to be,' she said with a rather tremulous lip. +</p> +<p> + At that moment the library door opened. Neither perceived it. + Desmond came in softly, lest his father should be at work. A carved + oak screen round the door hid his entrance, and as he emerged into + the light his eyes caught the two distant figures standing hand in + hand. +</p> +<p> + Instinctively he stepped back a few paces and noisily opened the + door. The Squire walked away. +</p> +<p> + 'Why, Desmond!' said his father, as the boy emerged into the light, + 'your train's punctual for once. Thank you, Miss Bremerton—that'll + do. Kindly write to those people and say that I am considering the + matter. I needn't keep you any longer....' +</p> +<p> + That night a demon came to Elizabeth and offered her a Faust-like + bargain. Ambition—noble ambition on the one side—an 'elderly + lunatic' on the other. And she began to consider it! +</p> +<a name="2HCH0011"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + CHAPTER XI +</h2> +<p> + Everybody in Mannering had gone to bed but Desmond and Pamela. It + was not certain indeed that the Squire had gone to bed, but as there + was a staircase beside one of the doors of the library leading + direct to his room, it was not likely that he would cross the hall + again. The twins felt themselves alone. +</p> +<p> + 'I daresay there'll be a raid to-night,' said Desmond, 'it's so + bright and still. Put down that lamp a moment, Pamela.' +</p> +<p> + She obeyed, and he threw away his cigarette, went to one of the + windows, and drew up the blinds. +</p> +<p> + 'Listen!' he said, holding up his hand. Pamela came to his side, and + they both heard through the stillness that sound of distant guns + which no English ear had heard—till now—since the Civil War. +</p> +<p> + 'And there are the searchlights!' +</p> +<p> + For over London, some forty miles away behind a low range of hills, + faint fingers of light were searching the sky. +</p> +<p> + 'At this very moment, perhaps,'—said the boy between his + teeth—'those demons are blowing women and children to pieces—over + there!' +</p> +<p> + Pamela shivered and laid her cheek against his shoulder. But both he + and she were aware of that strange numbness which in the fourth year + of the war has been creeping over all the belligerent nations, so + that horror has lost its first edge, and the minds, whether of + soldiers in the field, or of civilians at home, have become hardened + to facts or ideas which would once have stirred in them wild + ferments of rage and terror. +</p> +<p> + 'Shall we win, this year, Desmond?' said Pamela, as they stood + gazing out into the park, where, above a light silvery mist a young + moon was riding in a clear blue. Not a branch stirred in the great + leafless trees; only an owl's plaintive cry seemed to keep in rhythm + with that sinister murmur on the horizon. +</p> +<p> + 'Win?—this year?' said the boy, with a shrug. 'Don't reckon on it, + Pam. Those Russian fools have dished it all for months!' +</p> +<p> + 'But the Americans will make up?' +</p> +<p> + Desmond assented eagerly. And in the minds of the English boy and + girl there rose a kind of vague vision of an endless procession of + great ships, on a boundless ocean, carrying men, and men, and more + men—guns, and aeroplanes, and shining piles of shells—bringing the + New World to the help of the Old. +</p> +<p> + Desmond turned to his sister. +</p> +<p> + 'Look here, Pam, this time next week I shall be in the line. Well, I + daresay I shan't be at the actual front for a week or two—but it + won't be long. We shall want every battery we've got. Now—suppose I + don't come back?' +</p> +<p> + 'Desmond!' +</p> +<p> + 'For goodness' sake, don't be silly, old girl. We've got to look at + it, you know. The death-rate of men of my age' (<i>men!—Desmond, a + man</i>!) 'has gone up to about four times what it was before the war. + I saw that in one of the papers this morning. I've only got a + precious small chance. And if I don't come back, I want to know what + you're going to do with yourself.' +</p> +<p> + 'I don't care what happens to me if you don't come back!' said the + girl passionately. She was leaning with folded arms against the side + of the window, the moonlight, or something else, blanching the face + and her fair hair. +</p> +<p> + Desmond looked at her with a troubled expression. For two or three + years past he had felt a special responsibility towards this + twin-sister of his. Who was there to look after her but he? He saw + that his father never gave her a serious thought, and as to + Aubrey—well, he too seemed to have no room in his mind for + Pam—poor old Pam! +</p> +<p> + 'How are you getting on with Broomie?' he asked suddenly. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't like her!' said Pamela fiercely. 'I shall never like her!' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, that's awkward,'—said the boy slowly, 'because—' +</p> +<p> + 'Because what?' +</p> +<p> + 'Because I believe she means to marry father!' +</p> +<p> + Pamela laughed angrily. +</p> +<p> + 'Ah, you've found that out too!' +</p> +<p> + Desmond pulled down the blind again, and they went back to the fire, + sitting on the floor beside it, with their arms round each other, as + they had been used to do as children. And then in a low voice, lest + any ears in the sleeping house should be, after all, on the alert, + he told her what he had seen in the library. He was rather ashamed + of telling her; only there was this queer sense of last words—of + responsibility—for his sister, which excused it. +</p> +<p> + Pamela listened despondently. +</p> +<p> + 'Perhaps they're engaged already! Well,—I can tell you this—if + father does marry her, she'll rule him, and me—if I give her the + chance—and everybody on the place, with a rod of iron.' +</p> +<p> + Desmond at first remonstrated. He had been taken aback by the sudden + vision in the library; and Pamela's letters for some time past had + tended to alter his first liking for 'Broomie' into a feeling more + distrustful and uncertain. But, after all, Broomie's record must be + remembered. 'She wouldn't sign that codicil thing—she made father + climb down about the gates—and Sir Henry says she's begun to pull + the estate together like anything, and if father will only let her + alone for a year or two she'll make him a rich man.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, I know,' said Pamela gloomily, 'she's paid most of the bills + already. When I go into Fallerton now—everybody—all the tradesmen + are as sweet as sugar.' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, that's something to the good, isn't it? Don't be unfair!' +</p> +<p> + 'I'm not unfair!' cried Pamela. 'Don't you see how she just swallows + up everybody's attention—how nobody else matters when she's + there! How, can you expect <i>me</i> to like that—if she were an + archangel—which she isn't!' +</p> +<p> + 'But has she done anything nasty—anything to bother you?' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, of course, I'm just a cypher when she's there. I'm afraid I + oughtn't to mind—but I do!' +</p> +<p> + And Pamela, with her hands round her knees, stared into the fire in + bitterness of spirit. She couldn't explain, even to Desmond, that + the inward eye all the time was tormented by two kindred + visions—Arthur in the hall that afternoon, talking war work with + Elizabeth with such warm and eager deference, and Arthur on Holme + Hill, stretched at Elizabeth's feet, and bandying classical chaff + with her. And there was a third, still more poignant, of a future in + which Elizabeth would be always there, the centre of the picture, + mistress of the house, the clever and charming woman, beside whom + girls in their teens had no chance. +</p> +<p> + She was startled out of these reflections by a remark from Desmond. +</p> +<p> + 'You know, Pam, you ought to get married soon.' +</p> +<p> + The boy spoke shyly—but gravely and decidedly. Pam thought with a + sudden anguish—'He would never have said that, unless—' +</p> +<p> + She laid her head on his shoulder, clinging to him. +</p> +<p> + 'I shan't get married, old boy.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, that's nonsense! Look here, Pam—you mustn't mind my poking + my nose into things where I've no business. You see, it's + because—Well, I've sometimes thought—punch my head, if you + like!—that you had a fancy for Arthur Chicksands.' +</p> +<p> + Pamela laughed. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, as he hasn't got any fancy for me, you needn't take that into + your dear old head!' +</p> +<p> + 'Why, he was always very fond of you, Pam.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, yes, he liked ragging me when I was a child. I'm not good + enough for him now.' +</p> +<p> + 'What do you mean—not good enough?' +</p> +<p> + 'Not clever enough, you silly old boy. He'll marry somebody much + older than me.' +</p> +<p> + Desmond ruminated. +</p> +<p> + 'He seemed to be getting on with Broomie this afternoon?' +</p> +<p> + 'Magnificently. He always does. She's his sort. She writes to him.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, does she?' The boy's voice was dry and hostile. He began to + understand, or thought he did. Miss Bremerton was not only plotting + to marry his father—had perhaps been plotting for it from the + beginning—but was besides playing an unfair game with Pam—spoiling + Pam's chances—cutting in where she wasn't wanted—grabbing, in + fact. Anger was mounting in him. Why should his father be mopped up + like this?—and Pamela made unhappy? +</p> +<p> + 'I'd jolly well like to stop it all!' he said, under his breath. +</p> +<p> + 'Stop what? You dear, foolish old man! You can't stop it, Dezzy.' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, if she'll only make him happy—!' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, she'll be quite decent to him,' said Pamela, with a shrug, 'but + she'll despise him!' +</p> +<p> + 'What the deuce do you mean, Pam?' +</p> +<p> + Whereupon, quite conscious that she was obeying an evil and feverish + impulse, but unable to control it, Pamela went into a long and + passionate justification of what she had said. A number of small + incidents—trifling acts and sayings of Elizabeth's—misinterpreted + and twisted by the girl's jealous pain, were poured into Desmond's + ears. +</p> +<p> + 'All the servants know that she treats father like a baby. She and + Forest manage him in little things—in the house—just as she runs + the estate. For instance, she does just what she likes with the + fruit and the flowers—' +</p> +<p> + 'Why, <i>you</i> ought to do all that, Pam!' +</p> +<p> + 'I tried when I came home from school. Father wouldn't let me do a + thing. But <i>she</i> does just what she pleases. You can hear her and + Forest laughing over it. Oh, it's all right, of course. She sends + things to hospitals every week.' +</p> +<p> + 'That was what you used to want.' +</p> +<p> + 'I do want it—but—' +</p> +<p> + 'You ought to have the doing of it?' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, I don't know. I'm away all day. But she might at least + <i>pretend</i> to refer to him—or me—sometimes. It's the same in + everything. She twists father round her little finger; and you can + see all the time what she thinks—that there never was such a bad + landlord, or such a miserable, feckless crew as the rest of us, + before she came to put us straight!' +</p> +<p> + Desmond listened—partly resisting—but finally carried away. By the + time their talk was over he felt that he too hated Elizabeth + Bremerton, and that it was horrid to have to leave Pamela with her. +</p> +<p> + When they said good-night Pamela threw herself on her bed face + downwards, more wretched than she had ever been—wretched because + Desmond was going, and might be killed, wretched, too, because her + conscience told her that she had spoilt his last evening, and made + him exceedingly unhappy, by a lot of exaggerated complaints. She was + degenerating—she knew it. 'I am a little beast, compared to what I + was when I left school,' she confessed to herself with tears, and + did not know how to get rid of this fiery plague that was eating at + her heart. She seemed to look back to a time—only yesterday!—when + poetry and high ideals, friendships and religion filled her mind; + and now nothing—nothing!—was of any importance, but the look, the + voice, the touch of a man. +</p> +<p> + The next day, Desmond's last day at home, for he was due in London + by the evening, was gloomy and embarrassed for all concerned. + Elizabeth, pre-occupied and shrinking from her own thoughts, could + not imagine what had happened. She had put off all her engagements + for the day, that she might help in any last arrangements that might + have to be made for Desmond. +</p> +<p> + But Desmond declined to be helped, not rudely, but with a decision, + which took Elizabeth aback. +</p> +<p> + 'Mayn't I look out some books for you? I have found some more pocket + classics,' she had said to him with a smile, remembering his + application to her in the autumn. +</p> +<p> + 'No, thank you. I shall have no time.' And with that, a prompt + retreat to Pamela and the Den. Elizabeth, indeed, who was all + eagerness to serve him, found herself rebuffed at every turn. +</p> +<p> + Nor were matters any better with Pamela, who had cried off her + hospital work in order to pack for Desmond. Elizabeth, seeing her + come downstairs with an armful of khaki shirts to be marked, offered + assistance—almost timidly. But Pamela's 'Thank you, but I'd rather + not trouble you—I can do it quite well'—was so frosty that + Elizabeth could only retire—bewildered—to the library, where she + and the Squire gave a morning's work to the catalogue, and never + said a word of farm or timber. +</p> +<p> + But the Squire worked irritably, finding fault with a number of + small matters, and often wandering away into the house to see what + Desmond was doing. During these intervals Elizabeth would sit, pen + in hand, staring absently into the dripping garden and the park + beaten by a cold rain. The future began to seem to her big with + events and perplexity. +</p> +<p> + Then with the evening came the boy's leave-taking; full of affection + towards his father and sister, and markedly chilly in the case of + Elizabeth. When the station taxi had driven off, Elizabeth—with + that cold touch of the boy's fingers still tingling on her + hand—turned from the front door to see Pamela disappearing to the + schoolroom, and the Squire fidgeting with an evening paper which the + taxi had brought him from the station. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth suddenly noticed the shaking of the paper, over which only + the crest of white hair showed. Too bad of Pamela to have gone off + without a word to her father! Was it sympathy with the Squire, or + resentment on her own account, that made Elizabeth go up to + him?—though at a respectful distance. +</p> +<p> + 'Shall we finish the bit of translation we began this morning, if + you're not busy?' she said gently. It was very rarely now that she + was able to do any classical work after the mornings. +</p> +<p> + The Squire threw down the newspaper, and strode on before her to the + library without a word. Elizabeth followed. Rain and darkness had + been shut out. The wood fire glowed on the hearth, and its ruddy + light was on the face of the Nikê, and its solemn outstretched + wings. All the apparatus of their common work was ready, the work + that both loved. Elizabeth felt a sudden, passionate drawing towards + this man twenty years older than herself, which seemed to correspond + to the new and smarting sense of alienation from the twins and their + raw, unjust youth. What had been the reason for their behaviour to + her that day?—what had she done? She was conscious of long weeks of + effort, in Pamela's case,—trying to please and win her; and of a + constant tender interest in Desmond, which had never missed an + opportunity of doing or suggesting something he might like—all for + this! She must have offended them she supposed in some way; how, + she could not imagine. But her mood was sore; and, self-controlled + as she was, her pulse raced. +</p> +<p> + Here, however, she was welcome, she was needed; she could distract + and soothe a bitterness of soul best measured by the Squire's most + unusual taciturnity. No railing at the Government or the war, + not a fling even at the 'd——d pedant, Chicksands!' or 'The + Bubbly-jocks,' as he liked to call the members of the County War + Committee. Elizabeth put a text of Aristophanes—the <i>Pax</i>—into his + hands, and drew her table near to him, waiting his pleasure. There + was a lamp behind him which fell on her broad, white brow, her + waiting eyes and hand, and all the friendly intelligence of her + face. The Squire began haltingly, lost his place, almost threw the + book away; but she cheered him on, admired this phrase, delicately + amended that, till the latent passion had gripped him, and he was + soon in full swing, revelling in all the jests and topicalities of + the play, where the strikers and pacifists, the profiteers, the + soldiers and munition workers of two thousand odd years ago, fight + and toil, prate and wrangle and scheme, as eager and as alive as + their descendants of to-day. Soon his high, tempestuous laugh rang + out; Elizabeth's gentler mirth answering. Sometimes there was a + dispute about a word or a rendering; she would put up her own view, + with obstinacy, so that he might have the pleasure of knocking it + down. And all through there was the growing sense of comradeship, of + mutual understanding, which, in their classical work at least, had + been always present for Elizabeth, since her first acquaintance with + her strange employer. +</p> +<p> + When she rose, reluctantly, at the sound of the dressing-bell, the + Squire paced up and down while she put her books and papers away. + Then as she was going, he turned abruptly— +</p> +<p> + 'I told Forest to order the <i>Times</i>—will you see he does it?' +</p> +<p> + 'Certainly.' +</p> +<p> + 'I loathe all newspapers,' he said sombrely. 'If we must go to the + devil, I don't want to know too much about it. But still—' +</p> +<p> + She waited a moment, but as nothing more came she was leaving the + room, when he added— +</p> +<p> + 'And don't forget the timber business to-morrow afternoon. Tell Dell + to meet us in Cross Wood.' +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + When she had gone, the Squire still continued pacing, absorbed + in meeting the attack of new and strange ideas. He had + always been a man with a singularly small reflective gift. + Self-examination—introspection of any sort—were odious to him. He + lived on stimulus from outside, attracted or repelled, amused or + interested, bored or angry, as the succession of events or + impressions might dictate. To collect beautiful things was a passion + with him, and he was proud of the natural taste and instinct, which + generally led him right. But for 'aesthetics'—the philosophy of + art—he had nothing but contempt. The volatile, restless mind + escaped at once from the concentration asked of it; and fell back on + what the Buddhist calls 'Maia,' the gay and changing appearances of + things, which were all he wanted. And it was because the war had + interfered with this pleasant and perpetual challenge to the senses + of the outer world, because it forced a man back on general ideas + that he did not want to consider—God, Country, Citizenship—that + the Squire had hated the war. +</p> +<p> + But this woman who had become an inmate of his house, while she + ministered to all the tastes that the Squire had built up as a + screen between himself and either the tragic facts of contemporary + life, or any troublesome philosophizing about them, was yet + gradually, imperceptibly, drawing the screen aside. Her humanity was + developing the feeble shoots of sympathy and conscience in himself. + What she felt, he was beginning to feel; and when she hated anything + he must at least uncomfortably consider why. +</p> +<p> + But all this she did and achieved through her mere fitness and + delightfulness as a companion. He had never imagined that life would + bring him anybody—least of all a woman—who would both give him so + much, and save him so much. Selfish, exacting, irritable—he knew + very well that he was all three. But it had not prevented this + capable, kind, clever creature from devoting herself to him, from + doing her utmost, not only to save his estate and his income, but to + make his life once more agreeable to him, in spite of the war and + all the rancour and resentments it had stirred up in him. +</p> +<p> + How patient she had been with these last! He was actually beginning + to be ashamed of some of them. And now to-night—what made her come + and give him the extra pleasure of her company these two hours? + Sympathy, he supposed, about Desmond. +</p> +<p> + Well, he was grateful; and for the first time his heart reached out + for pity—almost humbled itself—accepted the human lot. If Desmond + were killed, he would never choose to go on living. Did she know + that? Was it because she guessed at the feelings he had always done + his best to hide that she had been so good to him that evening? +</p> +<p> + What as to that love-story of hers—her family?—her brother in + Mesopotamia? He began to feel a hundred curiosities about her, and a + strong wish to make life easy for her, as she had been making it + easy for him. But she was excessively proud and scrupulous—that he + had long since found out. No use offering to double her salary, now + that she had saved him all this money! His first advance in that + direction had merely offended her. The Squire thought vaguely of the + brother—no doubt a young lieutenant. Could interest be made for + him?—with some of the bigwigs. Then his—very intermittent—sense + of humour asserted itself. He to make interest with anybody—for + anybody—in connection with the war! He, who had broken with every + soldier-friend he ever had, because of his opinions about the + war!—and was anathema throughout the country for the same reason. + Like all members of old families in this country he had a number of + aristocratic and wealthy kinsfolk, the result of Mannering marriages + in the past. But he had never cared for any of them, except to a + mild degree for his sister, Lady Cassiobury, who was ten years older + than himself, and still paid long visits to Mannering, which bored + him hugely. On the last occasion, he was quite aware that he had + behaved badly, and was now in her black-books. +</p> +<p> + No—there was nothing to be done, except to let this wonderful woman + have her own way! If she wanted to cut down the woods, let her!—if + she wanted to amuse herself by rebuilding the village, and could + find the money out of the estate, let her!—it would occupy her, + attach her to the place, and do him no harm. +</p> +<p> + Yes, attach her to the place; bind her! hold her!—that was what he + wanted. Otherwise, how hideously uncertain it all was! She might go + at any time. Her mother might be ill—old ladies have a way of being + ill. Her brother might be wounded—or killed. Either of those events + would carry her off—out of his ken. But if she were engaged deeply + enough in the estate affairs she would surely come back. He knew + her!—she hated to leave things unfinished. He was eager now to heap + all kinds of responsibilities upon her. He would be meek and + pliable; he would put no sort of obstacles in her way. She would + have no excuse for giving him notice again. He would put up with all + her silly Jingoism—if only she would stay! +</p> +<p> + But at this point the Squire suddenly pulled up short in his pacing + and excitedly asked himself the question, which half the people + about him were already beginning to ask. +</p> +<p> + 'Why shouldn't I marry her?' +</p> +<p> + He stood transfixed—the colour rising in his thin cheeks. +</p> +<p> + Hitherto the notion, if it had ever knocked at the outer door of the + brain, had been chased away with mockery. And he had no sooner + admitted it now than he drove it out again. He was simply afraid of + it—in terror lest any suspicion of it should reach Elizabeth. Her + loyalty, her single-mindedness, her freedom from the smallest taint + of intrigue—he would have answered for them with all he possessed. + If, for a moment, she chose to think that he had misinterpreted her + kindness, her services in any vile and vulgar way, why, he might + lose her on the instant! Let him walk warily—do nothing at least to + destroy the friend in her, before he grasped at anything more. +</p> +<p> + Besides, how could she put up with him? 'I am the dried husk of a + man!' thought the Squire, with vehemence. 'I couldn't learn her ways + now, nor she mine. No; let us be as we are—only more so!' +</p> +<p> + But he was shaken through and through; first by that vanishing of + his boy into the furnace of the war, which had brought him at last + within the grip of the common grief, the common fear, and now by + this strange thought which had invaded him. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + After dinner, Elizabeth, who was rather pale, but as cheerful and + self-possessed as usual, put Mrs. Gaddesden's knitting to rights at + least three times, and held the wool for that lady to wind till her + arm ached. Then Mrs. Gaddesden retired to bed; the Squire, who with + only occasional mutterings and mumblings had been deep in + Elizabeth's copy of the <i>Times</i>, which she had at last ventured to + produce in public, went off to the library, and Elizabeth and Pamela + were left in the hall alone. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth lingered over the fire; while Pamela wondered impatiently + why she did not go to her office work as she generally did about + nine o'clock. Pamela's mood was more thorny than ever. Had she not + seen a letter in Elizabeth's handwriting lying that very afternoon + on the hall-table for post—addressed to Captain Chicksands, D.S.O., + War Office, Whitehall? Common sense told her that it probably + contained nothing but an answer to some questions Arthur had put to + the Squire's 'business secretary' as to the amount of ash in the + Squire's woods—Arthur's Intelligence appointment having something + to do with the Air Board. But the mere fact that Elizabeth should be + writing to him stirred intolerable resentment in the girl's + passionate heart. She knew very well that it was foolish, + unreasonable, but could no more help it than a love-smitten maiden + of old Sicily. It was her hour of possession, and she was struggling + with it blindly. +</p> +<p> + And Elizabeth, the shrewd and clever Elizabeth, saw nothing, and + knew nothing. If she had ever for a passing moment suspected the + possibility of 'an affair' between Arthur Chicksands and Pamela, she + had ceased to think of it. The eager projects with which her own + thoughts were teeming, had driven out the ordinary preoccupations of + womankind. Derelict farms, the food-production of the county, + timber, village reconstruction, war-work of various kinds, what time + was there left?—what room?—in a mind wrestling with a hundred new + experiences, for the guessing of a girl's riddle? +</p> +<p> + Yet all the same she remained her just and kindly self. She was + troubled—much troubled—by the twins' behaviour. She must somehow + get to the bottom of it. +</p> +<p> + So that when only she and Pamela were left in the hall she went up + to the girl, not without agitation. +</p> +<p> + 'Pamela—won't you tell me?—have I done anything to offend you and + Desmond?' +</p> +<p> + She spoke very quietly, but her tone showed her wounded. Pamela + started and looked up. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't know what you mean,' she said coldly. 'Did you think we had + been rude to you?' +</p> +<p> + It was the first hostile word they had ever exchanged. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth grew pale. +</p> +<p> + 'I didn't say anything about your being rude. I asked you if you + were cross with me.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh—cross!' said Pamela, suddenly conscious of a suffocating + excitement. 'What's the good of being cross? It's you who are + mistress here.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth fell back a step in dismay. +</p> +<p> + 'I do think you ought to explain,' she said after a moment. 'If I + had done anything you didn't like—anything you thought unkind, I + should be very very sorry.' +</p> +<p> + Pamela rose from her seat. Elizabeth's tone seemed to her pure + hypocrisy. All the bitter, poisonous stuff she had poured out to + Desmond the night before was let loose again. Stammering and + panting, she broke into the vaguest and falsest accusations. +</p> +<p> + She was ignored—she was a nobody in her own home—everybody knew + it and talked of it. She wasn't jealous—oh no!—she was simply + miserable! 'Oh, I daresay you can no more help it than I can. You, + of course, are twenty times more use here than I am. I don't + dispute that. But I am the daughter of the house after all, and it + is a little hard to be so shelved—so absolutely put in the + background!—as I am—' +</p> +<p> + 'Don't I consult you whenever I can? haven't I done my best to—' + interrupted Elizabeth, only to be interrupted in her turn. +</p> +<p> + —'to persuade father to let me do things? Yes, that's just + it!—<i>you</i> persuade father, you manage everything. It's just that + that's intolerable!' +</p> +<p> + And flushed with passion, extraordinarily handsome, Pamela stood + tremulously silent, her eyes fixed on Elizabeth. Elizabeth, too, was + silent for a moment. Then she said with steady emphasis: +</p> +<p> + 'Of course there can only be one end to this. I can't possibly stay + here.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, very well, go!' cried Pamela. 'Go, and tell father that I've + made you. But if you do, neither you nor he will see me again for a + good while.' +</p> +<p> + 'What do you mean?' +</p> +<p> + 'What I say. If you suppose that <i>I'm</i> going to stay on here to bear + the brunt of father's temper after he knows that I've made you throw + up, you're entirely mistaken.' +</p> +<p> + 'Then what do you propose?' +</p> +<p> + 'I don't know what I propose,' said Pamela, shaking from head to + foot, 'but if you say a word to father about it I shall simply + disappear. I shall be able to earn my own living somehow.' +</p> +<p> + The two confronted each other. +</p> +<p> + 'And you really think I can go on after this as if nothing had + happened?' said Elizabeth, in a low voice. +</p> +<p> + Pangs of remorse were seizing on Pamela, but she stifled them. +</p> +<p> + 'There's a way out!' she said presently, her colour coming and + going. 'I'll go and stay with Margaret in town for a bit. Why should + there be any fuss? She's asked me often to help with her + war-workroom and the canteen. Father won't mind. He doesn't care in + the least what I do! And nobody will think it a bit odd—if you and + I don't talk.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth turned away. The touch of scorn in her bearing was not + lost on Pamela. +</p> +<p> + 'And if I refuse to stay on, without saying or doing anything—to + put myself right—you threaten to run away?' +</p> +<p> + 'I do—I mean it,' said Pamela firmly. She had not only hardened + again under the sting of that contempt she detected in Elizabeth, + but there was rising up in her a sudden and rapturous vision of + London:—Arthur at the War Office—herself on open ground—no longer + interfered with and over-shadowed. He would come to see her—take + her out, perhaps, sometimes to an exhibition, or for a walk. The + suggestion of going to Margaret had been made on the spur of the + moment without after-thought. She was now wedded to it, divining in + it a hundred possibilities. +</p> +<p> + At the same moment she became more cautious, and more ashamed of + herself. It would be better to apologize. But before she could speak + Elizabeth said: +</p> +<p> + 'Does Desmond agree with what you have been saying?' +</p> +<p> + Pamela staring at her adversary was a little frightened. She rushed + into a falsehood. +</p> +<p> + 'Desmond knows nothing about it! I don't want him dragged in.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth's eyes, with their bitter, wounded look; seemed to search + the girl's inmost mind. Then she moved away. +</p> +<p> + 'We had better go to bed. We shall both want to think it over. + Good-night.' +</p> +<p> + And from the darkness of the hall, where fire and lamp were dying, + Pamela half spell-bound, watched the tall figure of Elizabeth slowly + mounting the broad staircase at the further end, the candle-light + flickering on her bright hair, and on a bunch of snowdrops in her + breast. +</p> +<p> + Then, for an hour, while the house sank into silence, Pamela sat + crouched and shivering by the only log left in the grate. 'A little + while ago,' she was thinking miserably, 'I had good feelings and + ideas—I never hated anybody. I never told lies. I suppose—I shall + get worse and worse.' +</p> +<p> + And when she had gone wearily to bed, it was to cry herself to + sleep. +</p> +<p> + The following morning, an urgent telegram from her younger sister + recalled Elizabeth Bremerton to London, where her mother's invalid + condition had suddenly taken a disastrous turn for the worse. +</p> +<a name="2HCH0012"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + CHAPTER XII +</h2> +<p> + 'Hullo, Aubrey! what brings you here?' And with the words Arthur + Chicksands, just emerging from the War Office, stopped to greet a + brother officer, who was just entering it. +</p> +<p> + 'Nothing much. I shan't be long. Can you wait a bit?' +</p> +<p> + 'Right you are. I've got to leave a note at the Ministry of + Munitions, but I'll be back in a few minutes.' +</p> +<p> + Arthur Chicksands went his way to Whitehall Gardens, while Major + Mannering disappeared into the inner regions of that vast building + where dwell the men on whom hang the fortunes of an Empire. Arthur + walking fast up Whitehall was very little aware of the scene about + him. His mind was occupied with the details of the interview in + which he had just been engaged. His promotion had lately been rapid, + and his work of extraordinary interest. He had been travelling a + great deal, backwards and forwards between London and Versailles, + charged with several special enquiries in which he had shown both + steadiness and <i>flair</i>. Things were known to him that he could not + share even with a friend so old and 'safe' as Aubrey Mannering. The + grip of the coming crisis was upon him, and he seemed 'to carry the + world in his breast' +</p> +<p> + 'Next year—next February—where shall we all be?' The question was + automatically suggested to him by the sight of the green buds of the + lilac trees In front of Whitehall Terrace. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, my dear Susan!—do look at those trees!' +</p> +<p> + Chicksands, startled from his own meditations, looked up to see two + old ladies gazing with an eager interest at a couple of plane trees, + which had just shed a profusion of bark and stood white and almost + naked in the grey London air. They were dear old ladies from some + distant country-side, with bonnets and fronts, and reticules, as + though they had just walked out of <i>Cranford</i>, and after gazing with + close attention at the plane trees near them they turned and looked + at all the other plane trees in Whitehall, which presented an + equally plucked and peeled appearance. +</p> +<p> + Then the one addressed as Susan laughed out—a happy, chuckling + laugh. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, I see! My dear Ellen, how clever people are now! They're + <i>camouflaged</i>—that's what it is—can't you see?—all the way down, + because of the raids!' +</p> +<p> + The admiring fervour of the voice was too much for Chicksands. He + hurried past them, head down, and ran up the steps of the Ministry + of Munitions. From that point of vantage he turned, shaken with + amusement, to see the pair advancing slowly towards Westminster, + their old-fashioned skirts floating round them, still pointing + eagerly at the barkless trees. Had they come from some piny region + where the plane is not? Anyway the tension of the day was less. +</p> +<p> + He repeated the tale to Aubrey Mannering a few minutes later, when + they had turned together into Birdcage Walk. But Aubrey scarcely + gave it the ghost of a smile. As to his old friend's enquiries about + his own work and plans, he answered them quite readily, but shortly, + without any expansion; with the manner, indeed, of one for whom + talk about himself had no sort of attraction. And as they passed + along the front of the barracks, where a few men were drilling, + Chicksands, struck by his companion's silence, turned a sudden look + upon him. Mannering's eyes were absently and yet intently fixed on + the small squads of drilling men. And it was sharply borne in on + Chicksands that he was walking beside the mere image or phantom of a + man, a man whose mind was far away—'voyaging through strange seas + of thought alone.' Mannering's eyes were wide open; but they made + the weird impression on the spectator of a double seeing—of some + object of vision beyond and behind the actual scene of the barracks + and the recruits, and that an object producing terror or pain. + Chicksands made a remark and it was not answered. +</p> +<p> + It was not the first time that Arthur had observed this trance-like + state in the man who was to be his brother-in-law, and had been his + 'chum' from childhood. Others had noticed it, and he had reason to + think that Beryl was often distressed by it. He had never himself + seen any signs of strangeness or depression in Aubrey before the + Easter of 1915, when they met in Paris, for the first time after the + battle of Neuve Chapelle, in which Mannering had lost his dearest + friend, one Freddy Vivian, of the Worcesters. During the winter they + had met fairly often in the neighbourhood of Ypres, and Aubrey was + then the same eager, impulsive fellow that Chicksands had known at + Eton and Cambridge, bubbling over with the exploits of his + battalion, and adored by his own men. In April, in a raid near + Festubert, Mannering was badly wounded. But the change in him was + already evident when they were in Paris together. Chicksands could + only suppose it represented the mental and nervous depression caused + by Vivian's death, and would pass away. On the contrary, it had + proved to be something permanent. +</p> +<p> + Yet it had never interfered with his efficiency as a soldier, nor + his record for a dare-devil courage. There were many tales current + of his exploits on the Somme, in which again and again he had singed + the beard of Death, with an absolute recklessness of his own + personal life, combined with the most anxious care for that of his + men. Since the battle of Messines he had been the head of a + remarkable Officers' School at Aldershot, mainly organized by + himself. But now, it seemed, he was moving heaven and earth to get + back to France and the front. Chicksands did not think he would + achieve it. He was invaluable where he was, and his superiors, to + Mannering's indignation, were inclined to regard him as a man who + was physically fit rather for home service than the front. +</p> +<p> + When they reached the Buckingham Palace end of the Walk, Mannering + paused. +</p> +<p> + 'Where are you lunching?' +</p> +<p> + 'At Brooks', with my father.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, then I'll walk there with you.' +</p> +<p> + They struck across the park, and talk fell on a recent small + set-back which had happened to a regiment with which they were both + well acquainted. +</p> +<p> + Chicksands shrugged his shoulders. +</p> +<p> + 'I've heard some details at the War Office. Just ten minutes' rot! + The Colonel stopped it with his revolver. Most of them splendid + fellows. Two young subs gave way under a terrific shelling and their + men with them. And in ten minutes they were all rushing forward + again, straight through the barrage—and the two lieutenants were + killed.' +</p> +<p> + 'My God!—lucky fellows!' cried Mannering, under his breath, with a + passion and suddenness that struck astonishment into his companion. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, yes,' said Arthur, 'in a sense—but—nothing would have + happened to them. They had wiped it out.' +</p> +<p> + Mannering shook his head. Then with a great and evident effort he + changed the conversation. +</p> +<p> + 'You know Pamela's in town?' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, with Margaret Strang. I'm going to dine there to-night. How's + the new agent getting on?' +</p> +<p> + Aubrey smiled. +</p> +<p> + 'Which?—the man—or the lady?' +</p> +<p> + 'Miss Bremerton, of course. I got a most interesting letter from her + a fortnight ago. Do you know that she herself has discovered nearly + a thousand ash in the Squire's woods, after that old idiot Hull had + told her she wouldn't find half-a-dozen? A thousand ash is not to be + sneezed at in these days! I happen to know that the Air Board wrote + the Squire a very civil letter.' +</p> +<p> + '"All along of Eliza!"' mused Mannering. 'She's been away from + Mannering just lately. Her invalid mother became very seriously ill + about three weeks ago, and she had to go home for a time. My father, + of course, has been fussing and fuming to get her back.' +</p> +<p> + 'Poor Squire! But how could Pamela be spared too?' +</p> +<p> + Mannering hesitated. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, the fact is she and my father seem to have had a good + old-fashioned row. She tried to fill Miss Bremerton's place, and of + course it didn't answer. She's too young, and my father too + exacting. Then when it broke down, and he took things out of her + hands again, comparing her, of course, enormously to her + disadvantage with Miss Bremerton, Pamela lost her temper and said + foolish things of Miss Bremerton. Whereupon fury on my father's + part—and sudden departure on Pamela's. She actually bicycled off to + the railway station, sent a telegram for her things, and came up to + Margaret. Alice Gaddesden is looking after father. But of course he + and she don't get on a bit.' +</p> +<p> + The Captain looked much concerned. +</p> +<p> + 'It's a pity Pamela takes that line—don't you think? I really don't + see the conspirator in Miss Bremerton. I hoped when I saw her first + she would make just all the difference to Pamela.' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, it's puzzling. I ran down to see my father, who was in a rabid + state of mind, not knowing what to do with all the schemes and + business this clever woman started—perfectly lost without her.' +</p> +<p> + 'Ah, that's the worst of your Indispensable!' laughed Chicksands. +</p> +<p> + Mannering threw him a quick, scrutinizing look. Various items of + information picked up at Mannering, mostly from his sister Alice, + had made him wonder whether some jealousy of a more vital and + intimate kind than appeared might not be at the root of Pamela's + behaviour. He was not observant at this period of his life, except + of things relating to his engagement to Beryl, his work, or those + inner pre-occupations which held him. But it had once or twice + crossed his mind that Pamela might be interested in Arthur; and + there had been certain hints from Beryl, who was, however, he was + certain, scarcely better informed than he was. Pamela was a most + secretive and independent young woman. He doubted whether even + Desmond, whom she adored, knew much about her. +</p> +<p> + Well, supposing she was jealous—jealous of her father's secretary, + and on account of Arthur, was there the smallest cause for it? He + understood that Arthur and Miss Bremerton had met occasionally, and + he had himself heard Chicksands express the warmest admiration for + her as the right sort of new woman, 'as straight as you make + 'em'—and with 'a brain like a man'—which, from one who was always + rather a critical spectator than a courtier of women, was high + praise. But as for any spark of sex in it—Mannering laughed at the + notion. No. If that really was Pamela's delusion, something must be + done to rid his little sister of it if possible. He would talk to + Beryl. +</p> +<p> + But—as always when any new responsibility presented itself to + him—a deep inner weariness rebelled. In small things as in great, + he was mentally like a man walking and working with a broken limb. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + Arthur Chicksands stood some time that evening waiting on the + doorstep of Mrs. Strang's small house, in one of the old streets of + Westminster. 'No servants, I suppose,' he said to himself with + resignation. But it was bitterly cold, and he was relieved to hear + at last the sound of a voice and a girl's laugh inside. Pamela + opened the door to him, pulling down the sleeves of a thin black + dress over her shapely arms. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, come in. Margaret's cooking the dinner, and I've laid the + table. Bernard's just bringing up some coals, and then we're ready.' +</p> +<p> + Mr. Bernard Strang, a distinguished Home Office official, appeared + at that moment in his shirt-sleeves at the head of the kitchen + stairs, bearing a scuttle of coal in each hand. +</p> +<p> + 'Gracious! Give me one of them!' said the Captain, hurrying to the + rescue. +</p> +<p> + But Mr. Strang, putting down the right-hand scuttle, to take breath, + warned him off. +</p> +<p> + 'Thank you, Chicksands—but no brass hats need apply! Many + thanks—but you're too smart!' He pointed, panting, to the red tabs + and to the bit of variegated ribbon on Chicksands' broad chest. 'Go + and help Pamela bring in the dinner.' +</p> +<p> + The Captain obeyed with alacrity. +</p> +<p> + 'All the servants left on Monday,' said Pamela. 'We had a charwoman + this morning, but she's gone to-night, because there's a new moon.' +</p> +<p> + 'What—raids?' +</p> +<p> + Pamela nodded as she gave him the soup, with instructions to carry + it carefully and put it by the fire. She seemed to be in her gayest + mood, and Chicksands' eyes followed her perpetually as she went + backwards and forwards on her household tasks. Presently Mrs. Strang + appeared, crimson from the fire, bearing the fishpie and vegetables + that were to provide the rationed meal. +</p> +<p> + 'To think,' said Mr. Strang, when they were at last at table, 'that + there was a time when we were proud of our "little dinners," and + that I never made myself unpleasant unless Margaret spent more than + five pounds on the food alone. Shall I ever eat a good dinner + again?' +</p> +<p> + He looked wistfully at the bare table. +</p> +<p> + 'Will you ever want to?' said Arthur, quietly. +</p> +<p> + A momentary silence fell upon the little party. Bernard Strang had + lost two brothers in the war, and Chicksands had no sooner spoken + than he reproached himself for a tactless brute. But, suddenly, the + bells of the Abbey rang: out above their heads, playing with every + stroke on the nerves of the listeners. For the voice of England was + in them, speaking to that under-consciousness which the war has + developed in us all. +</p> +<p> + 'Any news?' said Strang, looking at Arthur. +</p> +<p> + 'No. The Eastern business gets a little worse every day.' +</p> +<p> + 'And the "Offensive"? +</p> +<p> + 'Let them! Our men want nothing better.' +</p> +<p> + On which the dinner resolved itself into a device for making the + Captain talk. The War Office crisis, the men gathered in conclave at + Versailles, and that perpetual friction between the politician and + the soldier, which every war, big or little, brings to the front, + and which will only end when war ends—those were the topics of it, + with other talk such as women like to listen to of men about + individual men, shrewd, careless, critical, strangely damning here, + strangely indulgent there, constant only in one quality—that it is + the talk of men and even if one heard it behind a curtain and + strained through distance, could never by any chance be mistaken for + the talk of women. +</p> +<p> + At intervals Pamela got up to change the plates and the dishes, + quieting with a peremptory gesture the two males, who would spring + to their feet. 'Haven't I done parlour-work for six months?—no + amateurs, please!' And again, even while he talked on, Arthur's eyes + would stray after the young full figure, the white neck and throat, + the head with the soft hair folded close around it in wavy bands + that followed all its lines—as it might have been the head of one + of those terra-cottas that her father had stolen from the Greek + tombs in his youth. +</p> +<p> + But unfortunately, after dinner, in a corner of the dark + drawing-room, he must needs try and play the schoolmaster a little, + for her good of course; and then all went to pieces. +</p> +<p> + 'I hear you ran away!' +</p> +<p> + The voice that threw out this sudden challenge was half ironical, + half affectionate; the grey eyes under their strong black brows + looked at her with amusement. +</p> +<p> + Pamela flushed at once. +</p> +<p> + 'Aubrey told you, I suppose? What was the good of staying? I + couldn't do anything right. I was only making things worse.' +</p> +<p> + 'I can hardly believe that! Couldn't you just have kept Miss + Bremerton's work going till she came back?' +</p> +<p> + 'I tried,' said Pamela stiffly, 'and it didn't do.' +</p> +<p> + 'Perhaps she attempts too much. But she seemed to me to be very + sensible and human. And—did you hear about the ash trees?' +</p> +<p> + 'No,' said Pamela shortly, her foot nervously beating the ground. + 'It doesn't matter. Of course I know she's the cleverest person + going. But I can't get on with her—that's all! I'm going to take up + nursing—properly. I'm making enquiries about the London Hospital. I + want to be a real Army nurse.' +</p> +<p> + 'Will your father consent?' +</p> +<p> + 'Fathers can't stop their daughters from doing things—as they used + to do!' said Pamela, with her chin in the air. +</p> +<p> + She had moved away from him; her soft gaiety had disappeared; he + felt her all thorns. Yet some perversity made him try to argue with + her. The war—pray the Lord!—might be over before her training as + an Army nurse was half done. Meanwhile, her V.A.D. work at Mannering + was just what was wanted at the moment from girls of her age—hadn't + she seen the appeals for V.A.D.'s? And also, if by anything she did + at home—or set others free for doing—she could help Captain Dell + and Miss Bremerton to pull the estate round, and get the maximum + amount of food out of it, she would be serving the country in the + best way possible. +</p> +<p> + 'The last ounce of food, mind!—that's what it depends on,' he said, + smiling at her, 'which can stick it longest—they or we. You belong + to the land—ought you desert it?' +</p> +<p> + Pamela sat unmoved. She knew nothing about the land. Her father had + the new agent—and Miss Bremerton. +</p> +<p> + 'Your sister there,' said Chicksands, nodding towards the front + drawing-room, where Strang and his wife were sitting Darby and Joan + over the fire discussing rations and food prices, 'thinks Miss + Bremerton already overdone.' +</p> +<p> + 'I never saw the least sign of it!' +</p> +<p> + 'But think!—your father never slackens his Greek work—and there is + all the rest.' +</p> +<p> + 'I suppose if it's too much for her she'll give it up,' said Pamela + in her most obstinate voice. +</p> +<p> + But even then a normally tactful man still held on. +</p> +<p> + Never was anything more maladroit. It was the stupidity of a clever + fellow, deluding himself with the notion that having refused the + rôle of lover, he could at least play that of guardian and adviser; + whose conscience, moreover, was so absolutely clear on the subject + of Elizabeth Bremerton that he did not even begin to suspect what + was rankling In the girl's morbid sense. +</p> +<p> + The relation between them accordingly went from bad to worse; and + when Pamela rose and sharply put an end to their private + conversation, the evening would have practically ended in a quarrel + but for some final saving instinct on Chicksands' part, which made + him mention Desmond as he bade her good-night. +</p> +<p> + 'I could tell you where he is,' he said gravely. 'Only I mustn't. I + had a note from him yesterday—the dear old boy! He wrote in the + highest spirits. His colonel was "ripping," and his men, of course, + the best in the whole battery.' +</p> +<p> + 'If you get any news—ever—before we do,' said Pamela, suddenly + choking, 'you'll tell us at once?' +</p> +<p> + 'Trust me. He's never out of my mind.' +</p> +<p> + On that her good-night was less cold than it would have been five + minutes before. But he walked home through the moonlit streets both + puzzled and distressed—till he reached his club in Pall Mall, where + the news coming through on the tape quickly drove everything out of + his soldier's mind but the war. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + Mrs. Gaddesden was sitting as usual in the hall at Mannering. A mild + February was nearly out. It would be the first of March on the + morrow. +</p> +<p> + Every moment she expected to hear the Fallerton taxi draw up at the + front door—bringing Elizabeth Bremerton back to Mannering. She had + been away more than a month. Mrs. Gaddesden went back in thought to + the morning when it had been announced to the Squire by his pale and + anxious secretary that she had had bad news of her invalid mother, + and must go home at once. The Squire—his daughter could not deny + it—had behaved abominably. But of all of his fume and fret, his + unreasonable complaints and selfish attempts to make her fix the + very day and hour of her return, Elizabeth had taken no notice. Go + she would, at once; and she would make no promises as to the exact + date of her return. But on the morning before she went she had + worked superhumanly to put things in order, whether for her typist, + or Captain Dell, or Pamela, who must at least take over the + housekeeping. The relations between her and Miss Bremerton that + morning had struck Mrs. Gaddesden as odd—certainly not cordial. But + there was nothing to complain of in Pamela's conduct. She would do + her best, she said, and sat listening while Elizabeth gave her + instructions about food cards, and servants, and the rest. +</p> +<p> + Then, when the taxi had driven away with the Dictator, what temper + on the Squire's part! Mrs. Gaddesden had very nearly gone home to + London—but for the fact of raids, and the fact that two of her most + necessary servants had joined the W.A.A.C.'s. Pamela, on the other + hand, had gone singing about the house. And really the child had + done her best. But how could any one expect her to manage her father + and the house, especially on the scraps of time left her by her + V.A.D. work? The Squire had been like a fractious child over the + compulsory rations. Nobody was less of a glutton—he pecked like a + bird; but the proper food to peck at must be always there, or his + temper was unbearable. Pamela made various blunders; the household + knew hunger for the first time; and the servants began to give + warning. Captain Dell could do nothing with his employer, and the + timber business was hung up. +</p> +<p> + Then came Pamela's outbreak after a tirade from the Squire bitterly + contrasting his lost secretary's performances, in every particular, + with those of his daughter. The child had disappeared, and a message + from the station was all that remained of her. Well, who could + wonder? Mrs. Gaddesden reflected, with some complacency, that even + she had spoken her mind to her father that night, conveniently + forgetting some annoying retorts of his about herself, and the + custom she had developed of sitting for hours over the fire + pretending to knit, but really doing nothing. After her enormous + exertions in the cause of the war—she was accustomed to say—of the + year before, she was in need of a rest. She was certainly taking it. + Since Pamela left, indeed, she had been obliged to do the + housekeeping, and considered it very hard work. She had never yet + been able to calculate the food coupons correctly. +</p> +<p> + So she, like all the rest, was looking eagerly for Elizabeth. +</p> +<p> + Yes!—that was the cracked horn of the village taxi. Mrs. Gaddesden + poked the fire with energy and rang for Forest. But his quick ears + had heard the signal before hers, and he was already hurrying + through the hall to the front door. +</p> +<p> + And there was the library door opening, so her father too had been + on the watch. Voices in the vestibule, and as the outer door of the + hall opened, the Squire appeared at the further end. Alice Gaddesden + had an odd feeling that something important—decisive—was going to + happen. +</p> +<p> + Yet nothing could have been more unassuming than Elizabeth's entry. + It was evident, indeed, that Forest was overjoyed to see her. He + shouldered her modest boxes and bags with a will, and a housemaid, + all smiles, came running half way downstairs to take some of his + burden from him. Elizabeth followed the butler and took Mrs. + Gaddesden's hand. +</p> +<p> + 'My train was late. I hope you've not waited tea?' +</p> +<p> + 'Why, of course we have,' said the Squire's voice. 'Forest!—tea at + once.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth, not having perceived his approach in the dimness of the + February twilight, turned with a start to greet the Squire. He + looked, to her eyes, lankier and thinner and queerer than ever. But + it was a distinguished queerness. Elizabeth had forgotten that the + brow and eyes were so fine, and the hair so glistening white. The + large nose and small captious chin passed unnoticed. She was + astonished at her own throb of pleasure in seeing her employer + again. +</p> +<p> + His pleasure was boisterously evident, though presently he showed it + in his usual way by attacking her. But first Mrs. Gaddesden made the + proper enquiries after Elizabeth's invalid mother. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth, looking extremely tired as she sat by the fire, in the + chair which the Squire—most unwonted attention!—had drawn up for + her, said that her mother was better, and volunteered nothing + further. The Squire, meanwhile, had observed her looks, and was + chafing inwardly against invalid relations who made unjust claims + upon their kith and kin and monstrously insisted on being nursed by + them. But he had the sense to hold his tongue, and even to profess a + decent sympathy. +</p> +<p> + Then, without any further preamble, he plunged into his own affairs. +</p> +<p> + 'Everything's gone to rack and ruin since you left,' he said + vehemently. 'Of course you knew it would!' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth's eyebrows lifted. The look, half tolerant, half amused, + with which she greeted sallies of this kind was one of her + attractions for the Squire. +</p> +<p> + 'What's Captain Dell been doing?' she inquired. +</p> +<p> + 'Marking time!' was the testy reply. 'He's been no good by + himself—I knew he wouldn't be—no more use than old Hull.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth's expression showed her sceptical. +</p> +<p> + 'And the timber?' +</p> +<p> + 'Just where you left it. The rascally fellows want all sorts of + conditions. You may accept them if you like—I won't. But I told + them we'd meet them in the woods to-morrow—you, and Dell and I. And + Chicksands, who likes poking his nose into everything, is coming + too.' +</p> +<p> + 'Sir Henry?' asked Elizabeth in astonishment. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, I thought you might like the old boy's opinion, so I rang him + up on that horrid thing you've put into the office. I don't care + about his opinion in the least!' +</p> +<p> + A treat arranged for her return! Elizabeth felt as if she were being + offered Sir Henry's head on a charger. +</p> +<p> + 'That will be a great help!' she said with rather artificial + enthusiasm, at which the Squire only shrugged his shoulders. 'Has + Sir Henry been over here—' +</p> +<p> + 'While you've been away? Nothing of the sort. He's not crossed the + threshold since I turned him out six months ago. But he's coming all + the same—as mild as milk.' +</p> +<p> + 'Very good of him!' said Elizabeth with spirit. +</p> +<p> + 'That's as you choose to look at it. And as to everything else—' +</p> +<p> + 'The catalogue?' +</p> +<p> + 'Gone to the crows!' said the Squire gloomily. 'Levasseur took some + references to look out last week, and made twenty mistakes in as + many lines. He's off!' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth removed her hat and pressed her hands to her eyes, half + laughing, half aghast. Never had anything been more welcome to the + Squire than the sheen of her hair in the semi-darkness. Mrs. + Gaddesden had once annoyed him by calling it red. +</p> +<p> + 'And the farms?' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, that I leave you to find out. I shovelled all the letters on to + your table, just as Pamela left them.' +</p> +<p> + 'Pamela!' said Elizabeth, looking up. 'But where is she?' +</p> +<p> + The Squire held his peace. Mrs. Gaddesden drily observed that she + was staying with Mrs. Strang in town. A bright colour spread in + Elizabeth's cheeks and she fell silent, staring into the fire. +</p> +<p> + 'Hadn't you better take your things off?' said Mrs. Gaddesden. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth rose. As she passed the Squire, he said gruffly: +</p> +<p> + 'Of course you're not ready for any Greek before dinner?' +</p> +<p> + She smiled. 'But of course I am. I'll be down directly.' +</p> +<p> + In a few more minutes she was standing alone in her room. The + housemaid, of her own accord, had lit a fire, and had gathered some + snowdrops for the dressing table. Elizabeth's bags had been already + unpacked, and all her small possessions had been arranged just as + she liked them. +</p> +<p> + 'They spoil me,' she thought, half pleased, half shrinking. 'But why + am I here? Why have I come back? And what do I mean to do?' +</p> +<a name="2HCH0013"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + CHAPTER XIII +</h2> +<p> + These questions—'Why did I come back?—What am I going to do?' were + still ringing through Elizabeth's mind when, on the evening of her + return, she entered the library to find the Squire eagerly waiting + for her. +</p> +<p> + But the spectacle presented by the room quickly drove out other + matters. She stood aghast at the disorder which three weeks of the + Squire's management had brought about. Books on the floor and piled + on the chairs—a dusty confusion of papers everywhere—drawers open + and untidy—her reign of law seemed to have been wiped out. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, what a <i>dreadful</i> muddle!' +</p> +<p> + The Squire looked about him—abashed. +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, it's awful—it's all that fellow Levasseur. I ought to have + turned him out sooner. He's the most helpless, incompetent idiot. + But it won't take you very long to get straight? I'll do anything + you tell me.' +</p> +<p> + He watched her face appealingly, like a boy in a scrape. Elizabeth + shook her head. +</p> +<p> + 'It'll take me a full day. But never mind; we need not begin + to-night.' +</p> +<p> + 'No, we won't begin to-night!' said the Squire emphatically. + 'There!—I've found a chair for you. Is that fire as you like it?' +</p> +<p> + What astonishing amiability! The attack of nerves which had assailed + Elizabeth upstairs began to disappear. She took the chair the Squire + offered her, cleared a small table, and produced from the + despatch-box she had brought into the room with her a writing-block + and a fountain-pen. +</p> +<p> + 'Do you want to dictate anything?' +</p> +<p> + 'Not at all!' said the Squire. 'I've got nothing ready for + dictating. The work I have done during your absence I shall probably + tear up.' +</p> +<p> + 'But I thought—' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, I daresay—but can't a man change his mind? Greek be hanged!' + thundered the impatient voice. 'I want some conversation with + you—if you will allow me?' +</p> +<p> + The last words slipped awkwardly into another note. It was as though + a man should exchange the trombone for the flute. Elizabeth held her + peace; but her pulse was beginning to quicken. +</p> +<p> + 'The fact is,' said the Squire, 'I have been thinking over a good + many things—in the last hour.' Then he turned upon her abruptly. + 'What was that you were saying to Alice in the hall just now, about + moving your mother into better rooms?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth's parted lips showed her surprise. +</p> +<p> + 'We do want better rooms for her,' she said hesitatingly, after a + moment. 'My sister Joan, who is at home just now, is looking out. + But they are not easy to find.' +</p> +<p> + 'Don't look out!' said the Squire impetuously. 'I have a better plan + to propose to you. In these horrible days people must co-operate and + combine. I know many instances of families sharing a house—and + servants. Beastly, I admit, in the case of a small house. One runs + up against people—and then one hates them. I do! But in the case of + a large house it is different. Now, what do you say to this? Bring + your mother here!' +</p> +<p> + 'Bring—my mother—here?' repeated Elizabeth stupidly. 'I don't + understand.' +</p> +<p> + 'It's very simple.' The Squire stood over her, his thumbs in his + waistcoat pockets, his eyes all vivacity. 'This is a big house—an + old barn, if you like, but big enough. Your mother might have the + whole of the east wing—which looks south—if she pleased; and + neither she nor I need ever come in each other's way, any more than + people who have flats in the same building. I heard you say she had + a nurse. Well, there would be the nurse—and another servant + perhaps. And the housekeeping could be in common. Now do consider + it. Be reasonable! Don't mock at it, because it isn't your own + plan,' said the Squire severely, perceiving the smile, which she + could not repress, spreading over Elizabeth's countenance. +</p> +<p> + 'It's awfully good of you!' she began warmly—'but—' +</p> +<p> + 'But what?' +</p> +<p> + Then Elizabeth's smile vanished, and instead he saw a dimness in the + clear blue eyes. +</p> +<p> + 'My poor little mother is too ill—much too ill—' she said in a low + voice. 'She may live a good while yet; but her mind is no longer + clear.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire was checked. This possible aspect of the case had not + occurred to him. But he was not to be defeated. +</p> +<p> + 'If you can move her from one house to another, surely you could + move her here—in an invalid motor? It would only take an hour and a + half.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth shook her head quietly, but decidedly. +</p> +<p> + 'Thank you, but I am afraid it is impossible. She couldn't take the + journey, and—no, indeed, it is out of the question!' +</p> +<p> + 'Will you ask your doctor?' said the Squire obstinately. +</p> +<p> + 'I know what he would say. Please don't think of it, Mr. Mannering. + It's very, very good of you.' +</p> +<p> + 'It's not the least good,' said the Squire roughly. 'It's sheer, + naked self-interest. If you're not at ease about your mother, you'll + be throwing up your work here again some day, for good, and that'll + be death and damnation!' +</p> +<p> + He turned frowning away, and threw himself into a chair by the fire. +</p> +<p> + So the murder was out. Elizabeth must needs laugh. But this clumsy + way of showing her that she was indispensable not only touched her + feeling, but roused up the swarm of perplexities which had buzzed + around her ever since her summons to her mother's bedside on the + morning after her scene with Pamela. And again she asked herself, + 'Why did I come back? And what am I going to do?' +</p> +<p> + She looked in doubt at the fuming gentleman by the fire, and + suddenly conscience bade her be frank. +</p> +<p> + 'I would like to stay here, Mr. Mannering, and go on with my work. I + have told you so before. I will stay—as long as I can. But I + mustn't burn my boats. I mustn't stay indefinitely. I have come to + see that would not be fair—' +</p> +<p> + 'To whom?' cried the Squire, raising himself—'to whom?' +</p> +<p> + 'To Pamela,' said Elizabeth firmly. +</p> +<p> + 'Pamela!' The Squire leapt from his seat. 'What on earth has Pamela + got to do with it!' +</p> +<p> + 'A very great deal. She is the natural head of your house, + and it would be very difficult for me to go on living + here—after—perhaps—I have just put a few things straight for + you, and catalogued the pots—without getting in her way, and + infringing her rights!' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth was sitting very erect and bright-eyed. It seemed to her + that some subliminal self for which she was hardly responsible had + suddenly got the better of a hair-splitting casuistical self, which + had lately been in command of her, and that the subliminal self had + spoken words of truth and soberness. +</p> +<p> + But instead of storming, the Squire laughed contemptuously. +</p> +<p> + 'Pamela's rights? Well, I'll discuss them when she remembers her + duties! I remonstrated with her one morning when the servants were + all giving warning—and there was nothing to eat—and she had made a + hideous mess of some instructions of mine about a letter to the + County Council—and I pointed out to her that none of these things + would have happened if you had been here.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, poor Pamela!' exclaimed Elizabeth—'but still more, poor me!' +</p> +<p> + '"Poor me"?' said the Squire. 'What does that mean?' +</p> +<p> + 'You see, I have a weakness for being liked!' said Elizabeth after a + moment. 'And how can Pamela like anybody that is being thrown at her + head like that?' She looked at her companion reproachfully. But the + Squire was not to be put down. +</p> +<p> + 'Besides,' he continued, without noticing her interruption, 'Pamela + writes to me this morning that she wants my consent to her training + as an Army nurse.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh no,' cried Elizabeth—'not yet. She is too young!' +</p> +<p> + Her face showed her distress. So she was really driving this poor + child, whom she would so easily have loved had it been allowed her, + out of her home! No doubt Pamela had seized on the pretext of her + 'row' with her father to carry out her threat to Elizabeth of + 'running away,' and before Elizabeth's return to Mannering, so that + neither the Squire nor any one else should guess at the real reason. + But how could Elizabeth acquiesce? +</p> +<p> + Yet if she revealed the story of Pamela's attack upon her to the + Squire, what would happen? Only a widening of the breach between him + and his daughter. Elizabeth, of course, might depart, but Pamela + would be none the more likely to return to face her father's wrath. + And again for the hundredth time Elizabeth said to herself, in + mingled pain and exasperation—'What <i>did</i> she mean?—and what have + I ever done that she should behave so?' +</p> +<p> + Then she raised her eyes. Something impelled her—as it were a + strong telepathic influence. The Squire was gazing at her. His + expression was extraordinarily animated. It seemed to her that words + were already on his lips, and that at all costs she must stop them + there. +</p> +<p> + But fortune favoured her. There was a knock at the library door. The + Squire irritably said, 'Come in!' and Forest announced, 'Captain + Dell.' The Squire, with some muttered remark, walked across to his + own table. +</p> +<p> + The agent entered with a beaming countenance. All that he knew was + that the only competent person in a rather crazy household had + returned to it, and that business was now likely to go forward. He + had brought some important letters, and he laid them nominally + before his employer, but really before Elizabeth. He and she talked; + the Squire smoked and listened, morosely aloof. Yet by the end of + the agent's visit a grudging but definite consent had been given to + the great timber deal; and Elizabeth hurried off as Captain Dell + departed—thankful for the distant sound of the first bell for + dinner. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + Sitting up in bed that night, with her hands behind her head, while + a westerly wind blew about the house, Elizabeth again did her best + to examine both her conscience and her situation. +</p> +<p> + The summons which had taken her home had been a peremptory one. Her + mother, who had been ill for a good many months, had suddenly + suffered some brain injury, which had reduced her to a childish + helplessness. She did not recognize Elizabeth, and though she was + very soon out of physical danger, the mental disaster remained. A + good nurse was now more to her than the daughter to whom she had + been devoted. A good nurse was in charge, and Elizabeth had + persuaded an elderly cousin, living on a small annuity, to come and + share her mother's rooms. Now what was more necessary than ever + was—money! Elizabeth's salary was indispensable. +</p> +<p> + Was she to allow fine feelings about Pamela to drive her out of her + post and her earnings—to the jeopardy not only of her mother's + comfort, but of the good—the national—work open to her at + Mannering? +</p> +<p> + But there was a much more agitating question behind. She had only + trifled with it till now. But on the night of her return it pressed. + And as a reasonable woman, thirty years of age, she proceeded to + look it in the face. +</p> +<p> + When Captain Dell so opportunely—or inconveniently—knocked at the + library door, Mr. Mannering was on the point of asking his secretary + to marry him. Of that Elizabeth was sure. +</p> +<p> + She had just escaped, but the siege would be renewed. How was she + going to meet it? +</p> +<p> + Why shouldn't she marry the Squire? She was poor, but she had + qualities much more valuable to the Squire than money. She could + rescue him from debt, put his estate on a paying footing, restore + Mannering, rebuild the village, and all the time keep him happy by + her sympathy with and understanding of his classical studies and + hobbies. +</p> +<p> + And thereby she would be doing not only a private but a public + service. The Mannering estate and its owner had been an offence to + the patriotism of a whole neighbourhood. Elizabeth could and would + put an end to that. She had already done much to modify it. In her + Greek scholarship, and her ready wits, she possessed all the spells + that were wanted for the taming of the Squire. +</p> +<p> + As to the Squire himself? She examined the matter dispassionately. + He was fifty-two—sound in wind and limb—a gentleman in spite of + all his oddities and tempers—and one of the best Greek scholars of + his day. She could make her own terms. 'I would take his name—give + him my time, my brains, my friendship—in time, no doubt, my + affection.' He would not ask for more. The modern woman, no longer + young, an intellectual, with a man's work to do, can make of + marriage what she pleases. The possibilities of the relations + between men and women in the future are many, and the psychology of + them unexplored. Elizabeth was beginning to think her own case out, + when, suddenly, she felt the tears running over her cheeks. +</p> +<p> + She was back in past days. Mannering had vanished. Oh—for + love!—for youth!—for the broken faith and the wounded trust!—for + the first fresh wine of life that, once dashed from the lips, the + gods offer no more! She found herself sobbing helplessly, not for + her actual lost lover, who had passed out of her life, but for those + beautiful ghosts at whose skirts she seemed to be clutching—youth + itself, love itself. +</p> +<p> + Had she done with them for good and all? That was what marrying the + Squire meant. +</p> +<p> + A business marriage—on her side, for an income, a home, a career; + on his, for a companion, a secretary, an agent. Well, she said to + herself as she calmed down, that she could face; but supposing, + after all, that the Squire was putting more into the scales than + she? A sudden fear grew strong in her—fear lest this man should + have more heart, more romance in him than she had imagined + possible—that while she was thinking of a business partnership, the + Squire was expecting, was about to offer, something quite different. +</p> +<p> + The thought scared and repelled her. If that were indeed the case, + she would bid Mannering a long and final farewell. +</p> +<p> + But no!—she reassured herself; she recalled the Squire's passionate + absorption in his archæological pursuits; how his dependence upon + her, his gratitude to her, his surprising fits of docility, were all + due to the fact that she helped him to pursue them—that his mind + sharpened itself against hers—that her hand and brain were the + slaves of his restless intelligence. +</p> +<p> + That was all—that must, that should be all. She thought vigorously + of the intellectual comradeships of history—beginning with Michael + Angelo and Vittoria Colonna. They were not certainly quite on all + fours with her own situation—but give modern life and the new woman + time! +</p> +<p> + Suppose, then, these anxieties set at rest, and that immediately, + within twenty-four hours, or a week, the Squire were to ask her to + marry him and were ready to understand the matter as she did—what + else stood in the way? +</p> +<p> + Then, slowly, in the darkness of the room, there rose before her the + young figures of the twins, with their arms round each other's + necks, as she had often seen them—Desmond and Pamela. And they + looked at her with hostile eyes! +</p> +<p> + 'Cuckoo!—intriguer!—we don't want you!—we won't accept you!' +</p> +<p> + But after all, as Elizabeth reflected not without a natural + exasperation, she was <i>not</i>—consciously—a cuckoo; she was not an + intriguer; there was nothing of the Becky Sharp about her at all; it + would have been so very much simpler if there had been! To swallow + the Squire and Mannering at one gulp, to turn out the twins, to put + Mrs. Gaddesden—who, as Elizabeth had already discovered, was + constantly making rather greedy demands upon her father—on rations + according to her behaviour, to bring in her own poor mother and all + her needy relations—to reign supreme, in fact, over Mannering and + the county—nothing would be easier. +</p> +<p> + The only thing that stood in the way was that the Squire's secretary + happened to be a nice woman—and not an adventuress. Elizabeth's + sense of humour showed her the kind of lurid drama that Pamela no + doubt was concocting about her—perhaps with the help of Beryl—the + two little innocents! Elizabeth recalled the intriguing French + 'companion' in <i>War and Peace</i> who inveigles the old Squire. And as + for the mean and mercenary stepmothers of fiction, they can be + collected by the score. That, no doubt, was how Pamela thought of + her. So that, after her involuntary tears, Elizabeth ended in a + laughter that was half angry, half affectionate. +</p> +<p> + Poor children! She was not going to turn them out of their home. She + had written to Pamela during her absence with her mother, asking + again for an explanation of the wild and whirling things that Pamela + had said to her that night in the hall, and in return not a single + frank or penitent word!—only a few perfunctory enquiries after Mrs. + Bremerton, and half a page about an air-raid. It left Elizabeth + sorer and more puzzled than before. +</p> +<p> + Desmond too! She had written to him also from London a long chat + about all the things he cared about at Mannering—the animals, + Pamela's pony, the old keeper, the few pheasants still left in the + woods, and what Perley said of the promise of a fair partridge + season. And the boy had replied immediately. Desmond's Eton manners + were rarely caught napping; but the polite little note—stiff and + frosty—might have been written to a complete stranger. +</p> +<p> + What <i>was</i> in their minds? How could she put it right? Well, anyhow, + Desmond could not at that moment be wasting time or thought on home + worries, or her own supposed misdemeanours. Where was the radiant + boy now? In some artillery camp, she supposed, behind the lines, + waiting for his ordeal of blood and fire. Waiting with the whole + Army—the whole Empire—for that leap of the German monster which + must be met and parried and struck down before England could breathe + again. And as she thought of him, her woman's soul, winged by its + passion of patriotism, seemed to pass out into the night across the + sea, till it stood beside the English hosts. +</p> +<p> + 'Forces and Powers of the Universe, be with them!—strengthen the + strong, uphold the weak, comfort the dying!—for in them lies the + hope of the world.' +</p> +<p> + Her life hung on the prayer. The irresponsive quiet of the night + over the Mannering woods and park, with nothing but the wind for + voice, seemed to her unbearable. And it only answered to the apathy + within doors. Why, the Squire had scarcely mentioned the war since + her return! Neither he nor Mrs. Gaddesden had asked her for an + evening paper, though there had been a bad London raid the night + before. She had seen a letter 'on active service,' and addressed, + she thought, in Desmond's handwriting, lying on the library table; + and it seemed to her there was a French ordnance map near it. But in + answer to her enquiries about the boy, the Squire had vouchsafed + only a few irritable words, 'Well—he's not killed yet! The devil's + business over there seems to be working up to a greater hell than + ever!' Nothing more. +</p> +<p> + Well, she would see to that! Mannering should feel the war, if she + were to live in it. She straightened her shoulders, her will + stiffening to its task. +</p> +<p> + Yes, and while that dear boy was out there, in that grim fighting + line, no action of hers, if she could help it, should cause him a + moment's anger or trouble. Her resolution was taken. If the Squire + did mean to ask her to marry him she would try and stop him in + mid-career. If she couldn't stop him, well, then, she would give him + his choice—either to keep her, as secretary and friend, and hold + his peace, or to lose her. She felt certain of her power to contain + the Squire's 'offensive,' if it were really threatened. +</p> +<p> + But, on the other hand, she was not going to give up her post + because the twins had taken some unjust prejudice against her! + Nothing of the kind. She had those ash trees to look after! She was + tolerably sure that a thorough search would comb out a good many + more for the Air Board from the Squire's woods than had yet been + discovered. The Fallerton hospital wanted more accommodation. There + was an empty house belonging to the Squire, which she had already + begun, before her absence, with his grudging permission, to get + ready for the purpose. <i>That</i> had to be finished. The war workroom + in the village, which she had started, must have another + Superintendent, the first having turned out a useless chatterbox. + Elizabeth had her successor already in mind. There were three or + four applications waiting for the two other neglected farms. Captain + Dell was hurrying on the repairs; but there was more money + wanted—she must get it out of the Squire. Then as to labour—German + prisoners?—or women? +</p> +<p> + Her brain began to teem with a score of projects. But after lying + awake another hour, she pulled herself up. 'This won't do. I must + have six hours' sleep.' And she resolutely set herself to repeat one + of the nursery poems of her childhood, till, wooed by its silly + monotony, sleep came. +</p> +<p> + It was a bright March day in the Mannering woods, where the Squire, + Elizabeth, and Captain Dell were hanging about waiting for Sir Henry + Chicksands. The astonishing warmth and sunshine of the month had + brought out a shimmer of spring everywhere, reddened the great heads + of the oaks, and set the sycamore buds shining like jewels in the + pale blue. There was an endless chatter and whirr of wood-pigeons in + the high tree-tops, and underfoot the anemones and violets were busy + pushing their gentle way through the dead leaves of autumn. The + Squire's beechwoods were famous in the neighbourhood, and he was + still proud of them; though for many years past they had gone + unnoticed to decay, and were in some places badly diseased. +</p> +<p> + To Elizabeth, in an artistic mood—the mood which took her in town + to see exhibitions of Brabazon or Steer—the woods were fairyland. + The high slender oak of the middle wood, the spreading oak that + lived on its borders, the tall columnar beech feathering into the + sky, its grey stem shining as though by some magic property in the + beautiful forest twilight—the gleams and the shadows, the sounds + and scents of the woodland world—she could talk or write about + these things as poetically, and as sincerely, as any other educated + person when put to it; but on this occasion, it has to be said + frankly, she was thinking of nothing but aeroplanes and artillery + waggons. And she had by now developed a kind of <i>flair</i> in the + woods, which was the astonishment of Captain Dell, himself no mean + forester. As far as ash was concerned, she was a hunter on the + trail. She could distinguish an ash tree yards ahead through a mixed + or tangled wood, and track it unerringly. The thousand ash that she, + and the old park-keepers set on by her, had already found for the + Government, were nothing to what she meant to find. The Squire's + woods, some of which she had not yet explored at all, were as mines + to her in which she dug for treasure—for the timber that might save + her country. +</p> +<p> + Captain Dell delighted in her. He had already taught her a great + deal, and was now drilling her in the skilled arts of measurement + and valuation. The Squire, in stupefaction, watched her at work with + pole and tape, measuring, noting, comparing. Had it been any one + else he would have been bored and contemptuous. But the novelty of + the thing and the curious fact that the lady who looked up his Greek + references was also the lady who was measuring the trees, kept him a + half-unwilling but still fascinated spectator of her proceedings. +</p> +<p> + In the midst of them Sir Henry Chicksands appeared, making his way + through the thick undergrowth. Elizabeth threw a hasty look at the + Squire. This was the first time the two neighbours had met since the + quarrel. The Squire had actually written first—and to please her. + Very touching, and very embarrassing! She hoped for the best. +</p> +<p> + Sir Henry Chicksands advanced as though nothing had happened—solid, + ruddy, benevolent, and well dressed, as usual. +</p> +<p> + He bowed with marked deference to Elizabeth, and then offered a hand + to the Squire, which was limply accepted. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, Mannering, very glad to see you. Like every one else, you + seem to be selling your woods.' +</p> +<p> + 'Under threat of being shot if I don't!' said the Squire grimly. +</p> +<p> + 'What? They're commandeered?' +</p> +<p> + 'The Government spies are all about. I preferred to anticipate them. + Well, what about your ploughed-up grass-lands, Chicksands? I hear + they are full of wire-worms, and the crops a very poor show.' +</p> +<p> + 'Ah, it was an enemy said that,' laughed Sir Henry, submitting with + a good grace to some more remarks of the same kind, and escaping + from them as soon as he could. +</p> +<p> + 'I heard of your haul of ash,' he said. 'A man in the Air Board told + me. Magnificent!' +</p> +<p> + 'You may thank her.' The Squire indicated his secretary. 'I knew + nothing about it.' +</p> +<p> + 'And you're still hunting?' Sir Henry turned to Elizabeth. 'May I + join your walk if you're going through the woods?' Captain Dell was + introduced. 'You want my opinion on your deal? Well, I'm an old + forester, and I'll give it you with pleasure. I used to shoot here, + year after year, with the Squire, in our young days—isn't that so, + Mannering? I know this bit of country by heart, and I think I could + help you to bag a few more ash.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth's blue eyes appealed with all proper deference to the + Squire. +</p> +<p> + 'Won't you come?' +</p> +<p> + He shook his head. +</p> +<p> + 'I'm tired of timber. Do what you like. I'll sit here and read till + you come back.' +</p> +<p> + Sir Henry's shrug was perceptible, but he held his peace, and the + three walked away. The Squire, finding a seat on a fallen tree, took + a book out of his pocket and pretended to read it. +</p> +<p> + 'Nobody can be as important as Chicksands looks!' he said to himself + angrily. Even the smiling manner which ignored their six months' + quarrel had annoyed him hugely. It was a piece of condescension—an + impertinence. Oh, of course Chicksands was the popular man, the + greatest power in the county, looked up to, and listened to by + everybody. The Squire knew very well that he himself was ostracized, + even hated; that there had been general chuckling in the + neighbourhood over his rough handling by the County Committee, and + that it would please a good many people to see all his woods + commandeered and 'cut clean.' +</p> +<p> + Six months before, his inborn pugnacity would only have amused + itself with the situation. He was a rebel and a litigant by nature. + Smooth waters had never attracted him. +</p> +<p> + Yet now—though he would never have admitted it—he was often + conscious of a flagging will and a depressed spirit. The loneliness + of his life, due entirely to himself, had, during Elizabeth + Bremerton's absence, begun sharply to find him out. He had no true + fatherly relation with any of his children. Desmond loved him—why, + he didn't know. He didn't believe any of the others cared anything + at all about him. Why should they? +</p> +<p> + The Squire's eyes followed the three distant walkers, Elizabeth, + graceful and vigorous, between the other two. And the conviction + gripped him that all the pleasure, the <i>liveableness</i> of life—such + as still remained possible—depended for him on that central figure. + He looked back on his existence before her arrival at Mannering, and + on what it had been since. Why, she had transformed it! +</p> +<p> + How could he cage and keep her?—the clever, gracious creature! For + the first time in his life he was desperately, tremulously humble. + He placed no dependence at all on his name or his possessions. + Elizabeth was not to be bought. +</p> +<p> + But management—power—for the things she believed in—<i>they</i> might + tempt her. He would give them to her with both hands, if only she + would settle down beside him, take a freehold of that chair and + table in the library, for life! +</p> +<p> + He looked back gloomily to his clumsy proposal about her mother, and + to her remarks about Pamela. It would be indeed intolerable if his + children got in his way! The very notion put him in a fever. +</p> +<p> + If that tiresome fellow, Dell, had not interrupted them the night + before, what would have happened? +</p> +<p> + He had all the consciousness of a man still in the prime of life, in + spite of his white hair; for he had married at twenty-one, and had + never—since they grew up—seemed to himself very much older than + his elder children. He had but a very dim memory of his wife. + Sometimes he felt as if, notwithstanding the heat of boyish passion + which had led him to marry her, he had never really known her. There + were moments when he had an uncomfortable suspicion that for some + years before her death she had silently but irrevocably passed + judgment upon him, and had withdrawn her inner life from him. + Friends of hers had written to him after her death of beautiful + traits and qualities in her of which he himself had known nothing. + In any case they were not traits and qualities which appealed in the + long run to a man of his pursuits and temperament. He was told that + Pamela had inherited some of them. +</p> +<p> + A light rustling sound in the wood. He looked up to see Elizabeth + coming back towards him unaccompanied. Captain Dell and Sir Henry + seemed to have left her. +</p> +<p> + A thrill of excitement ran through him. They were alone in the + depths of the spring woodland. What better opportunity would he ever + have? +</p> +<a name="2HCH0014"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + CHAPTER XIV +</h2> +<p> + Elizabeth was coming back in that flushed mood when an able man or + woman who begins to feel the tide of success or power rising beneath + them also begins to remind himself or herself of all the old + commonplaces about Fate or Chance. Elizabeth's Greek reading had + steeped her in them. 'Count no man happy till his death'; 'Count + nothing finished till the end'; tags of this kind were running + through her mind, while she smiled a little over the compliments + that Sir Henry had been paying her. +</p> +<p> + He could not express, he said, the relief with which he had heard of + her return to Mannering. 'Don't, please, go away again!' Everybody + in the county who was at all responsible for its war-work felt the + same. Her example, during the winter, had been invaluable, and the + skill with which she had brought the Squire into line, and set the + Squire's neglected estate on the road to food-production, had + been—in Sir Henry's view—nothing short of a miracle. +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, a miracle, my dear lady!' repeated Sir Henry warmly. 'I know + the prickliness of our good friend there! I speak to you + confidentially, because I realize that you could not possibly have + done what you have done unless you had won the Squire's + confidence—his complete confidence. Well, that's an achievement, I + can tell you—as bad as storming a redoubt. Go on—don't let go! + What you are doing here—the kind of work you are doing—is of + national importance. God only knows what lies before us in the next + few months!' +</p> +<p> + And therewith a sudden sobering of the ruddy countenance and + self-important manner. For a few seconds, from his mind and + Elizabeth's there vanished all consciousness of the English woodland + scene, and they were looking over a flayed and ravaged country where + millions of men stood ranged for battle. +</p> +<p> + Sir Henry sighed. +</p> +<p> + 'Thank God, Arthur is still at home—doing some splendid work, they + tell me, at the War Office, but, of course, pining to be off to + France again. I hear from him that Desmond is somewhere near + Armentières. Well, good-bye—I tied my horse to the gate, and must + get home. Stick to it! Say good-bye to the Squire for me—I shall be + over again before long. If there is anything I can do for you—count + upon me. But <i>we</i> count upon you!' +</p> +<p> + Astonishing effusion!—from an elderly gentleman who, at the + beginning of things, had regarded her as elderly gentlemen of great + local position do regard young women secretaries who are earning + their own living. Sir Henry's tone was now the tone of one potentate + to another; and, as we have seen, it caused Elizabeth to tame her + soul with Greek, as she walked back through the wood to rejoin the + Squire. +</p> +<p> + When she perceived him waiting for her, she wished with some fervour + that she were not alone. She had tried to keep Captain Dell with + her, but he had pleaded an urgent engagement at a village near the + farther end of the wood. And then Sir Henry had deserted her. It was + annoying—and unforeseen. +</p> +<p> + The Squire observed her as she came up—the light, springing step, + the bunch of primroses in her belt. He closed the book, of which he + had not in truth read a word. +</p> +<p> + 'You have been a long time?' +</p> +<p> + 'But I assure you it was well worth while!' She paused in front of + him, a little out of breath, leaning on her measuring-pole. 'We + found ten or twelve more ash—some exactly of the size they want.' +</p> +<p> + 'Who are "they"?' +</p> +<p> + 'The Air Board,' said Elizabeth, smiling. +</p> +<p> + 'The fellows that wrote me that letter? I didn't want their thanks.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth took no notice. She resumed— +</p> +<p> + 'And Sir Henry went into the figures of that contract with Captain + Dell. He thinks the Captain has done very well, and that the prices + are very fair—very good, in fact.' +</p> +<p> + 'All the same, I don't mean to accept their blessed contract.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, but I thought it was settled!' cried Elizabeth in distress. She + sat down on a dry stump a little way off, and the Squire actually + enjoyed the sight of her discomfiture. +</p> +<p> + 'Why on earth should I allow these people, not only to make a + hideous mess of my woods, and murder my trees, but to take three + years—<i>three years</i>—over the disgusting business, before they get + it all done and clear up the mess? One year is the utmost I will + allow.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth looked consternation. +</p> +<p> + 'But think of the labour difficulties,' she pleaded. 'The contractor + can't get the men. Of course, he <i>wants</i> to cut and move the trees + as soon as he can, so as to get his money back.' +</p> +<p> + 'That's his affair,' said the Squire obstinately. 'I want to get my + woods in a decent state again, so that I mayn't be for ever reminded + that I sold them—betrayed them—for filthy lucre.' +</p> +<p> + 'No!' said Elizabeth firmly, her colour rising, 'for the Army!' +</p> +<p> + The Squire shrugged his shoulders. +</p> +<p> + 'So they say. Meanwhile the timber-man makes an unholy profit.' +</p> +<p> + There was silence for a moment, then Elizabeth said, +</p> +<p> + 'Do you really mean to stick to that condition?' +</p> +<p> + 'I should be glad if Dell would see to it.' +</p> +<p> + 'Then'—said Elizabeth slowly—'the contract will drop. I understand + they cannot possibly pledge themselves to removal within the time + named.' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, there are other timber-merchants.' +</p> +<p> + 'The difficulty of labour is the same for everybody. And Captain + Dell thinks no one else would give the price—certainly not the + Government. You will remember that some of the money was to be spent + immediately.' Her tone was cold and restrained, but he thought it + trembled a little. +</p> +<p> + 'I know,' he interrupted, 'on cottages and the hospital. Money oozes + away at every pore! I shall be a bare beggar after the war. Have you + the contract there? Or did Dell take it?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth drew a roll of blue paper out of her pocket. Her + indignation made her speechless. All the endless negotiations, + Captain Dell's work, her work—to go for nothing! What was the use + of trying to serve—to work with such a man? +</p> +<p> + The Squire took the roll from her and searched his pockets for a + fountain-pen. +</p> +<p> + 'I will make some notes on it now for Dell's guidance. I might + forget it to-night.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth said nothing. He turned away, spread out the papers on the + smooth trunk of the fallen tree, and began to write. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth sat very erect, her mouth proudly set, her eyes wandering + into the distance of the wood. What was she to do? The affront to + herself was gross—for the Squire had definitely promised her the + night before that the bargain should go through. And she felt hotly + for the hard-working agent. Should she put up with it? Her + meditations of the night recurred to her—and she seemed to herself + a very foolish woman! +</p> +<p> + 'There you are!' said the Squire, as he handed the roll back to her. +</p> +<p> + She looked at it unwillingly. Then her face changed. She + stooped over the contract. Below the signature of the firm of + timber-merchants stood large and full that of 'Edmund Mannering.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire smiled. +</p> +<p> + 'Now are you satisfied?' +</p> +<p> + She returned the contract to its envelope, and both to her pocket. + Then she looked at him uncertainly. +</p> +<p> + 'May I ask what that meant?' +</p> +<p> + Her voice was still strained, and her eyes by no means meek. +</p> +<p> + 'I am sorry,' said the Squire hurriedly. 'I don't know—it was a + whim. I wanted to have the pleasure—' +</p> +<p> + 'Of seeing how a person looks under a sudden disappointment?' said + Elizabeth, with rather pinched lips. +</p> +<p> + 'Not at all. It was a childish thing—I wanted to see you smile + when I gave you the thing back. There—that's the truth. It was you + disappointed me!' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth's wrath vanished. She hid her face in her hands and + laughed. But there was agitation behind the laughter. These were not + the normal ways of a reasonable man. +</p> +<p> + When she looked up, the Squire had moved to a log close beside her. + The March sun was pouring down upon them, and there was a robin + singing, quite undisturbed by their presence, in a holly-bush near. + The Squire's wilful countenance had never seemed to Elizabeth more + full of an uncanny and even threatening energy. Involuntarily she + withdrew her seat. +</p> +<p> + 'I wish to be allowed to make a very serious proposition to you,' he + said eagerly, 'one that I have been considering for weeks.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth—rather weakly—put up a protesting hand. +</p> +<p> + 'I am afraid I must point out to you, Mr. Mannering, that Mrs. + Gaddesden will be waiting lunch.' +</p> +<p> + 'If I know Alice, she will not wait lunch! And anyway there are + things more important than lunch. May I take it for granted, Miss + Bremerton, that you have not been altogether dissatisfied with your + life here during this six months?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth looked him gravely in the face. It was clear there was to + be no escape. +</p> +<p> + 'How could I have been, Mr. Mannering? You have taught me a great, + great deal—and given me wonderful opportunities.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire nodded, with a look of satisfaction. +</p> +<p> + 'I meant to. Of course Chicksands would say that it was only my + own laziness—that I have given you the work I ought to have done + myself. My reply would be that it was not my work. If a man + happens to be born to a job he is not in the least fitted for, + that's the affair of Providence. Providence bungled it when he, + she, or it—take which pronoun you like—<i>τυχη</i>, as you + and I know, is feminine—made me a landowner. My proper job was to + dig up and decipher what is left of the Greeks. And if any one + says that the two jobs are not <i>tanti</i>, and the landowning job is + more important than the other, I disagree with him entirely, and + it would be impossible for him to prove it. But there was a + vacuum—that I quite admit—and Nature—or Providence—disliked + it. So she sent you along, my dear lady!'—he turned upon her a + glowing countenance—'and you fitted it exactly. You laid hands on + what has proved to be your job, and Chicksands, I expect, has been + telling you how marvellously you're doing it, and begging you + not to let this duffer'—the Squire pointed to his leather + waistcoat—'get hold of it again. Hasn't he?' +</p> +<p> + He smiled triumphantly, as Elizabeth's sudden flush showed that his + shaft had hit. But he would not let her speak. +</p> +<p> + 'No—please don't interrupt me! Of course Chicksands took that view. + Any sensible man would—not that Henry is really a sensible man. + Well, now, then—I want to ask you this. Don't these facts point to + a rather—remarkable—combination? You assist me in the job that I + was born for. I have been fortunate enough to be able to put into + your hands the job that you apparently were born for. And you will + forgive me for saying that it might have been difficult for you to + find it without my aid. Nature—that is—seems to have endowed you + not only with a remarkable head for Greek, but also with the + capacity for dealing with the kind of people who drive me + distracted—agents and timber-merchants, and stuck-up county + officials, whom I want to slay. And you combine your job with an + idealism—just as I do mine. You say "it's for the country" or "for + the army," as you did just now. And I scribble and collect—for + art's sake—for beauty's sake—for the honour of human genius—what + you like! What then could be more reasonable—more natural'—the + Squire drew himself up gravely—'than that you and I should join + forces—permanently? That I should serve your ideas—and you should + serve mine?' +</p> +<p> + The Squire broke off, observing her. Elizabeth had listened to this + extraordinary speech with growing bewilderment. She had dreaded lest + the Squire—in proposing to marry her—should make love to her. But + the coolness of the bargain actually suggested to her, the apparent + absence from it of any touch of sentiment, took her completely + aback. She was asked, in fact, to become his slave—his bailiff and + secretary for life—and the price was offered. +</p> +<p> + Her face spoke for her, before she could express her feeling in + words. The Squire, watching her, hurriedly resumed. +</p> +<p> + 'I put it like an idiot! What I meant was this. If I could induce + you to marry me—and put up with me—I believe both our lives might + be much more interesting and agreeable!' +</p> +<p> + The intensity of the demand expressed in his pale hazel eyes and + frowning brow struck full upon her. +</p> +<p> + But Elizabeth slowly shook her head. +</p> +<p> + 'I am very grateful to you, Mr. Mannering, but'—a rather ironical + smile showed itself—'I think you hardly understand me. We should + never get on.' +</p> +<p> + 'Why?' +</p> +<p> + 'Because our temperaments—our characters—are so different.' +</p> +<p> + 'You can't forgive me about the war?' +</p> +<p> + 'Well, that hurts me,' she said, after a moment, 'but I leave that + to Mr. Desmond. No! I am thinking of myself and you. What you + propose does not attract me at all. Marriage—in my view—wants + something—deeper—to build on than you suggest.' +</p> +<p> + 'Inconsistent woman!' cried the inner voice, but Elizabeth silenced + it. She was not inconsistent. She would have resented love-making, + but <i>feeling</i>—something to gild the chain!—that she had certainly + expected. The absence of it humiliated her. +</p> +<p> + The Squire's countenance fell. +</p> +<p> + 'Deeper?' he said, with a puzzled look. 'I wonder what you mean? I + haven't anything "deeper." There isn't anything "deep" about me.' +</p> +<p> + Was it true? Elizabeth suddenly recalled those midnight steps on the + night of Desmond's departure. +</p> +<p> + 'You know,' he resumed, 'for you have worked with me now for six + months—you know at least what kind of a man I am. I assure you it's + at any rate no worse than that! And if I ever annoyed you too much, + why you could always keep me in order—by the mere threat of going + away! I could have cut my throat any day with pleasure during those + weeks you were absent!' +</p> +<p> + Again Elizabeth hid her face in her hands and laughed—rather + hysterically. There <i>was</i> something in this last appeal that touched + her—some note of 'the imperishable child,' which indeed she had + always recognized in the Squire's strange personality. +</p> +<p> + The Squire waited—frowning. When she looked up at last she spoke in + her natural friendly voice. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't think, Mr. Mannering, we had better go on talking like + this. I can't accept what you offer me—' +</p> +<p> + 'Again I can't think why,' he interrupted vehemently; 'you have + given me no sort of explanation. Why must you refuse?' +</p> +<p> + 'Because I don't feel like it,' she said, smiling. 'That's all I + need say. Please don't think me ungrateful. You've offered me now a + position and a home—and you've given me my head all this time. I + shall never forget it. But I'm afraid—' +</p> +<p> + 'That now I've made such an ass of myself you'll have to go?' +</p> +<p> + She thought a moment. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't know that I need say that—if—if I could be sure—' +</p> +<p> + 'Of what? Name your conditions!' +</p> +<p> + His face suddenly lightened again. And again a quick compunction + struck her. +</p> +<p> + She looked at him gently. +</p> +<p> + 'It's only—that I couldn't stay here—you will see of course that I + couldn't—unless I were quite sure that this was dead and buried + between us—that you would forget it entirely—and let me forget + it!' +</p> +<p> + Was it fancy, or did the long Don Quixotish countenance quiver a + little? +</p> +<p> + 'Very well. I will never speak of it again. Will that do?' There was + a long pause. The Squire's stick attacked a root of primroses + closely, prized it out of the damp ground, and left it there. Then + he turned to his companion with a changed aspect. 'Well, now, + then—we are as we were—and'—with a long half-indignant + breath—'remember I have signed that contract!' +</p> +<p> + He rose from his seat as he spoke. +</p> +<p> + They walked home together through the great wood, and across the + park. They were mostly silent. The Squire's words 'we are as we + were' echoed in the ears of both. And yet both were secretly aware + that something irrevocable had happened. +</p> +<p> + Then, suddenly, beating down all the personal trouble and disquiet + in Elizabeth's mind, there rushed upon her afresh, as she walked + beside the Squire, that which seemed to shame all personal + feeling—the renewed consciousness of England's death-grapple with + her enemy—the horror of its approaching crisis. How could this + strange being at her elbow be still deaf and blind to it! +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + They parted in the hall. +</p> +<p> + 'Shall I expect you at six?' said the Squire formally. 'I have some + geographical notes I should like you to take down.' +</p> +<p> + She assented. He went to his study, and shut himself in. For a long + time he paced up and down, flinging himself finally into a chair in + front of Desmond's portrait. There his thoughts took shape. +</p> +<p> + 'Well, my boy, I thought I'd won some trenches—but the + counter-attack has swept me out. Where are you? Are you still alive? + If not, I shan't be long after you. I'm getting old, my boy—and + this world, as the devil has made it, is not meant for me.' +</p> +<p> + He remained there for some time, his hands on his knees, staring + into the bright face of his son. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth too went to her room. On her table lay the <i>Times</i>. She + took it up and read the telegrams again. Raid and counter-raid all + along the front—and in every letter and telegram the shudder of the + nearing event, ghastly hints of that incredible battlefield to come, + that hideous hurricane of death in which Europe was to see once more + her noblest and her youngest perish. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, why, why am I a woman?' she clasped her hands above her head in + a passion of revolt. 'What does one's own life matter? Why waste a + thought—an hour upon it!' +</p> +<p> + In a second she was at her table putting together the notes she had + made that morning in the wood. About a hundred and fifty more ash + marked in that wood alone!—thanks to Sir Henry. She rang up Captain + Dell, and made sure that they would be offered that night direct to + the Government timber department—the Squire's ash, for greater + haste, having been now expressly exempted from the general contract. + Canadians were coming down to fell them at once. They must be + housed. One of the vacant farms, not yet let, was to be got ready + for them. She made preliminary arrangements by telephone. Then, + after a hasty lunch, at which the Squire did not appear, and Mrs. + Gaddesden was more than usually languid and selfish, Elizabeth + rushed off to the village on her bicycle. The hospital Commandant + was waiting for her, with such workpeople as could be found, and the + preparation of the empty house for fifty more beds was well begun. + Elizabeth was frugal, but resolute, with the Squire's money. She had + leave to spend. But she would not abuse her power; and all through + her work she was conscious of a queer remorseful gratitude towards + the man in whose name she was acting. +</p> +<p> + Then she bicycled to the School, where a group of girls whom she + had captured for the land were waiting to see her. Their uniforms + were lying ready on one of the schoolroom tables. She helped the + girls to put them on, laughing, chatting, admiring—ready besides + with a dozen homely hints on how to keep well—how to fend for + themselves, perhaps in a lonely cottage—how to get on with the + farmer—above all, how to get on with the farmer's wife. Her + sympathy made everything worth while—put colour and pleasure into + this new and strange adventure, of women going out to break up and + plough and sow the ancient land of our fathers, which the fighting + men had handed over to them. Elizabeth decked the task with honour, + so that the girls in their khaki stood round her at last glowing, + though dumb!—and felt themselves—as she bade them feel—the + comrades-in-arms of their sweethearts and their brothers. +</p> +<p> + Then with the March twilight she was again at Mannering. She changed + her bicycling dress, and six o'clock found her at her desk, + obediently writing from the Squire's dictation. +</p> +<p> + He put her through a stiff series of geographical notes, including a + number of quotations from Homer and Herodotus, bearing on the spread + of Greek culture in the Aegean. During the course of them he broke + out once or twice into his characteristic sayings and illustrations, + racy or poetic, as usual, and Elizabeth would lift her blue eyes, + with the responsive look in them, on which he had begun to think all + his real power of work depended. But not a word passed between them + on any other subject; and when it was over she rose, said a quiet + good-night, and went away. After she had gone, the Squire sat over + the fire, brooding and motionless, for most of the evening. +</p> +<p> + One March afternoon, a few days later, the following letter reached + Pamela, who was still with her sister. It was addressed in Desmond + Mannering's large and boyish handwriting. +</p> +<p class="ar"> + 'B.E.F., <i>March</i>. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'M<small>Y DEAR</small> P<small>AMELA</small>—I am kicking my heels here at an engineer's + store, waiting for an engineer officer who is wanted to plan + some new dug-outs for our battery, and as there is no one to + talk to inside except the most inarticulate Hielander I ever + struck, I shall at last make use of one of your little + oddments, my dear, which are mostly too good to use out + here—and write you a letter on a brand new pocket-pad, with a + brand new stylo. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'I expect you know from Arthur about where we are. It's a + pretty nasty bit of the line. The snipers here are the + cleverest beasts out. There isn't a night they don't get some + of us, though our fellows are as sharp as needles too. I went + over a sniping school last week with a jolly fellow who used to + hunt lions in Africa. My hat!—we have learnt a thing or two + from the Huns since we started. But you have to keep a steady + look-out, I can tell you. There was a man here last night in a + sniper's post, shooting through a trench loophole, you + understand, which had an iron panel. Well, he actually went to + sleep with his rifle in his hand, having had a dog's life for + two or three nights. But for a mercy, he had pulled down his + panel—didn't know he had!—and the next thing he knew was a + bullet spattering on it—just where his eye should have been. + He was jolly quick in backing out and into a dug-out, and an + hour later he got the man. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'But there was an awful thing here last night. An officer was + directing one of our snipers—stooping down just behind him, + when a Hun got him—right in the eyes. I was down at the + dressing-station visiting one of our men who had been knocked + over—and I saw him led in. He was quite blind,—and as calm as + anything—telling people what to do, and dictating a post card + to the padre, who was much more cut up than he was. I can tell + you, Pamela, our Army is <i>fine</i>! Well, thank God, I'm in + it—and not a year too late. That's what I keep saying to + myself. And the great show can't be far off now. I wouldn't + miss it for anything, so I don't give the Hun any more chances + of knocking me over than I can help. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'You always want to know what things look like, old Pam, so + I'll try and tell you. In the first place, it's just a glorious + spring day. At the back of the cranky bit of a ruined farm + where we have our diggings (by the way, you may always go back + at night and find half your bedroom shot away—that happened to + me the other night—there was a tunic of mine still hanging on + the door, and when you opened the door, nothing but a hole ten + feet deep full of rubble—jolly luck, it didn't happen at + night-time!) there are actually some lilac trees, and the buds + on them are quite big. And somehow or other the birds manage to + sing in spite of the hell the Huns have made of things. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'I'm looking out now due east. There's a tangled mass of + trenches not far off, where there's been some hot raiding + lately. I see an engineer officer with a fatigue party working + away at them—he's showing the men how to lay down a new + trench with tapes and pegs. Just to my left some men are + filling up a crater. Then there's a lorry full of bits of an + old corduroy road they're going to lay down somewhere over a + marshy place. There are two sausage balloons sitting up aloft, + and some aeroplanes coming and going. Our front line is not + more than a mile away, and the German line is about a mile and + a quarter. Far off to my right I can just see a field with + tanks in it. Ah—there goes a shell on the Hun line—another! + Can't think why we're tuning up at this time of day. We shall + be getting some of their heavy stuff over directly, if we don't + look out. It's rot! +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'And the sun is shining like blazes on it all. As I came up I + saw some of our men resting on the grass by the wayside. They + were going up to the trenches—but it was too early—the sun + was too high—they don't send them in till dusk. Awfully good + fellows they looked! And I passed a company of Bantams, little + Welsh chaps, as fit as mustard. Also a poor mad woman, with a + basket of cakes and chocolate. She used to live in the village + where I'm sitting now—on a few bricks of it, I mean. Then her + farm was shelled to bits and her old husband and her daughter + killed. And nothing will persuade her to go. Our people have + moved her away several times—but she always comes back—and + now they let her alone. Our soldiers indeed are awfully good to + her, and she looks after the graves in the little cemetery. But + when you speak to her, she never seems to understand, and her + eyes—well, they haunt one. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'I'm beginning to get quite used to the life—and lately I have + been doing some observation work with an F.O.O. (that means + Forward Observation Officer), which is awfully exciting. Your + business on these occasions is to get as close to the Germans + as you can, without being seen, and you take a telephonist with + you to send back word to the guns, and, by Jove, we do get + close sometimes! +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'Well, dear old Pam, there's my engineer coming across the + fields, and I must shut up. Mind—if I don't come back to + you—you're just to think, as I told you before, that it's <i>all + right</i>. Nothing matters—<i>nothing</i>—but seeing this thing + through. Any day we may be in the thick of such a fight as I + suppose was never seen in the world before. Or any night—hard + luck! one may be killed in a beastly little raid that nobody + will ever hear of again. But anyway it's all one. It's worth + it. +</p> +<p class="block"> + '<i>Your</i> letters don't sound to me as though you were + particularly enjoying life. Why don't you ever give me news of + Arthur? He writes me awfully jolly letters, and always says + something nice about you. Father has written to me <i>three</i> + times—decent, I call it,—though he always abuses Lloyd + George, and generally puts some Greek in I can't read. I wonder + if we were quite right about Broomie? You never say anything + about her either. But I got a letter from Beryl the other day, + and what Miss B. seems to be doing with Father and the estate + is pretty marvellous. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'All the same I don't hear any gossip as to what you and I were + afraid of. I wonder if I was a brute to answer her as I + did—and after her nice letter to me? Anyway, it's no wonder + she doesn't write to me any more. And she <i>did</i> tell me such a + lot of news. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'Good-bye. Your writing-pad is really ripping. Likewise pen. + Hullo, there go some more shells. I really must get back and + see what's up.—Your loving +</p> +<p class="ar"> + 'D<small>ESMOND</small>.' +</p> +<p> + Meanwhile in the seething world of London, where the war-effort of + an Empire was gathered up into one mighty organism, the hush of + expectancy grew ever deeper. Only a few weeks or days could now + divide us from the German rush on Paris and the coast. Behind the + German lines all was movement and vast preparation. Any day England + might rise to find the last fight begun. +</p> +<p> + Yet morning after morning all the news that came was of raids, + endless raids, on both sides—a perpetual mosquito fight, buzzing + now here, now there, as information was wanted by the different + Commands. Many lives were lost day by day, many deeds of battle + done. But it all seemed as nothing—less than nothing—to those + whose minds were fixed on the clash to come. +</p> +<p> + Then one evening, early in the second week in March, a telegram + reached Aubrey Mannering at Aldershot. He rushed up to town, and + went first to the War Office, where Chicksands was at work. +</p> +<p> + Chicksands sprang up to meet him. +</p> +<p> + 'You've heard? I've just got this. I made his Colonel promise to + wire me if—' +</p> +<p> + He pointed to an open telegram on his table: +</p> +<p> + "Desmond badly hit in raid last night. Tell his people. Authorities + will probably give permission to come. Well looked after." +</p> +<p> + The two men stared at each other. +</p> +<p> + 'I have wired to my father,' said Mannering, 'and am now going to + meet him at King's Cross. Can you go and tell Pamela to get + ready—or Margaret? But he'll want Pamela!' +</p> +<p> + Neither was able to speak for a moment, till Mannering said, 'I'll + bring my father to Margaret's, and then I'll go and see after the + permits.' +</p> +<p> + He lingered a moment. +</p> +<p> + 'I—I think it means the worst.' +</p> +<p> + Chicksands' gesture was one of despair. +</p> +<p> + Then they hurried away from the War Office together. +</p> +<a name="2HCH0015"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + CHAPTER XV +</h2> +<p> + It was afternoon at Mannering. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth was walking home from the village through the park. Still + the same dry east-wind weather—very cold in the wind, very warm in + the sun. If the German offensive began while these fine days held, + they would have the luck of weather as we had never had it. Think of + the drenching rains and winds of the Passchendaele attack! In the + popular mind the notion of 'a German God' was taking actual concrete + shape. A huge and monstrous form, sitting on a German hill, plotting + with the Kaiser, and ordering the weather precisely as the Kaiser + wished—it was thus that English superstition, aided by Imperial + speeches and telegrams, began to be haunted. +</p> +<p> + Yet the world was still beautiful—the silvery stems of the trees, + the flitting of the birds, the violet carpets underfoot. On the + fighting line itself there was probably a new crop of poets, hymning + the Spring with Death for listener, as Julian Grenfell and Rupert + Brooke had hymned it, in that first year of the war that seems now + an eternity behind us. +</p> +<p> + Moving along a path converging on her own, Elizabeth perceived the + Squire. For the first time that morning he had put off their joint + session, and she had not seen him all day. Her mind was now always + uneasily aware of him—aware, too, of some change in him, for which + in some painful way she felt herself responsible. He had grown + strangely tame and placable, and it was generally noticed that he + looked older. Yet he was more absorbed than ever in the details of + Greek research and the labour of his catalogue. Only, of an evening, + he read the <i>Times</i> for a couple of hours, generally in complete + silence, while Elizabeth and Mrs. Gaddesden talked and knitted. +</p> +<p> + An extraordinary softness—an extraordinary compassion—was steadily + invading Elizabeth's mind in regard to him. Something suggested to + her that he had come into life maimed of some essential element of + being, possessed by his fellow-men, and that he was now conscious of + the lack, as a Greek Faun might be conscious of the difference + between his life and that of struggling and suffering men. Nothing, + indeed, could less suggest the blithe nature-life which Greek + imagination embodied in the Faun, than the bizarre and restless + aspect of the Squire. This spare white-haired man, with his tempers + and irritations, was far indeed from Greek joyousness. And yet the + Greek sense of beauty, half intellectual, half sensuous, had always + seemed to her the strongest force in him. Was it now besieged by + something else?—was the Faun in him, at last, after these three + years, beginning to feel the bitter grip of humanity? +</p> +<p> + '"Deeper"? I don't know what you mean. There is nothing "deep" in + me!' She often recalled that saying of his, and the look of + perplexity which had accompanied it. +</p> +<p> + To herself of late he had been always courteous and indulgent; she + had hardly had an uncivil word from him! But it seemed to her that + he had also begun to avoid her, and the suspicion hurt her + amazingly. If indeed it were true, then leave Mannering she must. +</p> +<p> + He came up with her at a cross-road, and threw her a look of + enquiry. +</p> +<p> + 'You have been to the village?' +</p> +<p> + 'To the hospital. Thirty fresh wounded arrived last night.' +</p> +<p> + 'I have just seen Chicksands,' said the Squire abruptly. 'Arthur + tells him the German attack must be launched in a week or two, and + may come any day. A million men, probably, thrown against us.' +</p> +<p> + 'So—the next few months will decide,' said Elizabeth, shuddering. +</p> +<p> + 'My God!—why did we ever go into this war!' cried the man beside + her suddenly, in a low, stifled voice. She glanced at him in + astonishment. The new excuses, the new tenderness for him in her + heart made themselves heard. +</p> +<p> + 'It was for honour,' she breathed—'for freedom!' +</p> +<p> + 'Words—just words. They don't stop bombs!' +</p> +<p> + But there was nothing truculent in the tone. +</p> +<p> + 'You had a line from Mr. Desmond this morning?' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes—a post card. He was all right.' +</p> +<p> + Silence dropped between them. They walked on through the beautiful + wooded park. Carpets of primroses ran beside them, and masses of + wild cherry blossoms were beginning to show amid the beeches. + Elizabeth was vaguely conscious of beauty, of warm air, of heavenly + sun. But the veil upon the face of all nations was upon her eyes + also. +</p> +<p> + When they reached the house, the Squire said, +</p> +<p> + 'I looked up the passage in the <i>Persae</i> that occurred to me + yesterday. Will you come and take it down?' +</p> +<p> + They went into the library together. On a special table in front of + the Squire's desk there stood a magnificent Greek vase of the early + fifth century B.C. A king—Persian, from his dress—was sitting in a + chair of state, and before him stood a small man apparently + delivering a message. <i>Αγγελος</i> was roughly written over his + head. +</p> +<p> + The Squire walked up and down with a text of the <i>Persae</i> in his + hand. +</p> +<p> + '"This vase," he dictated, "may be compared with one signed by + Xenophantos, in the Paris collection, the subject of which is the + Persian king, hunting. Here we have a Persian king, identified by + his dress, apparently receiving a message from his army. We may + illustrate it by the passage in the <i>Persae</i> of Æschylus, where + Atossa receives from a messenger the account of the battle of + Salamis—a passage which contains the famous lines describing the + Greek onslaught on the Persian fleet: +</p> +<p> + '"'Then might you hear a mighty shout arise— +</p> +<p> + '"'Go, ye sons of Hellas!—free your fathers, free your children and + your wives, the temples of your gods, and the tombs of your + ancestors. For now is all at stake!...' +</p> +<p> + '"We may recall also the final summing-up by the <i>αγγελος</i> of + the Persian defeat— +</p> +<p> + '"'<i>Never, on a single day, was there so great a slaying of men.</i>'"' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth took down the words, first in Greek and then in English. + They rang in her ears, long after she had transcribed them. The + Squire moved up and down in silence, absorbed apparently in the play + which he went on reading. +</p> +<p> + Outside the light was failing. It was close on six o'clock, and + summer time had not yet begun. +</p> +<p> + Suddenly the Squire raised his head. +</p> +<p> + 'That, I think, was the telephone?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth rose— +</p> +<p> + 'May I go? It is probably Captain Dell.' +</p> +<p> + She hurried away to her office-room, where the call-bell was + insistently ringing. +</p> +<p> + 'Yes—who is that?' +</p> +<p> + 'A telegram please—for Mr. Mannering—from London.' +</p> +<p> + 'Wait a moment—I will tell Mr. Mannering.' +</p> +<p> + But as she turned to go back to the library she saw the Squire had + followed her, and was standing at the door. He came forward at once + and took up the receiver. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth watched him with a fast beating pulse. He heard the + message, took out a pencil and wrote it down on a piece of paper + lying near, put up the receiver, and turned to her. +</p> +<p> + 'It is from Aubrey. "Desmond is severely wounded. Please come at + once. Permission will be given to you and Pamela to go to France. I + hope to go with you. Will meet you King's Cross 8.40. Aubrey."' +</p> +<p> + He steadied himself a moment by a hand on Elizabeth's table. She + went up to him, and took his other hand, which closed an instant on + hers. +</p> +<p> + 'I thought so,' he said, under his breath. 'I knew it.... Telephone, + please, to Fallerton for the taxi, while I go and speak to Forest.' +</p> +<p> + She gave the order and then hastened into the hall where Mrs. + Gaddesden was busy trimming a hat. The Squire's eldest daughter + sprang up at sight of Elizabeth. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, what is it? I know it's bad news—it's Desmond!' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth repeated the telegram. 'Your father is going off at once. + I have telephoned for the car.' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, but I must go too—of course I must!' said Alice, weeping. + 'Where is my maid?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth pointed out gently that, in speaking of the permits for + France, Major Mannering had only referred to the Squire and Pamela. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, but he must have meant me too—of course he must! Where is my + maid?' She rang the upstairs' bell violently. 'Oh, father, how + <i>awful</i>!'—the Squire had just entered the hall—'of course I'm + going with you?' +</p> +<p> + 'What does she mean?' said the Squire impatiently to Elizabeth. + 'Tell her I'm going alone.' +</p> +<p> + 'But, father, you must take me!' cried Alice, running forward with + clasped hands. 'He is my brother! I must see him again!' +</p> +<p> + 'He asks for Pamela,' said the Squire grimly. 'Aubrey shall wire to + you. You'd better stay here—if Miss Bremerton will look after you.' +</p> +<p> + 'I don't want to be looked after—I want to look after Desmond and + you,' said Alice, with sobs. +</p> +<p> + The Squire's eyes travelled over the soft elaboration of her dress + and hair—all her perfumed and fashionable person. +</p> +<p> + 'It is impossible,' he said sharply. Then turning to Elizabeth he + gave her a few directions about his letters. 'I shall get money in + town. I will wire directly we arrive.' +</p> +<p> + Alice was silenced, and sat half sulky, half sobbing, by the fire, + while the preparations for departure went forward. She offered help + hysterically once or twice, but it was not needed. +</p> +<p> + The little car from the village arrived in half an hour. The Squire + stood at the hall door waiting for it. He had not spoken since the + news arrived except to give the most necessary orders. But as he saw + the car nearing the house, he turned to Elizabeth. +</p> +<p> + 'I expect we shall cross to-night. I shall wire you to-morrow.' Then + to Forest— +</p> +<p> + 'Do your best to help Miss Bremerton. She is in charge of + everything.' +</p> +<p> + 'Aye, sir. You'll give our duty to Mr. Desmond, sir. I trust you'll + bring him home.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire made no reply. He stood motionless till the car arrived, + stepped into it, and was gone. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth went back into the house, and to Alice Gaddesden, still + sobbing by the fire. At sight of Elizabeth she broke out into + complaints of her father's unkindness, mixed presently, to + Elizabeth's dismay, with jealousy of her father's secretary. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't know why father didn't let me help him with his packing, + and it's I who should have been left in charge! I'm his eldest + daughter—it is natural that I should be. I can tell you it's very + hard—to see somebody—who's not a relation—doing—doing everything + for him!—so that he won't let anybody else advise him—or do + anything! It is very—very—wounding for us all. Pamela feels it—I + know she does—and Desmond too.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth, very white and distressed, knelt down by her and tried to + calm her. But the flood of angry self-pity could not be stayed. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, I daresay you don't mean it, but you have—yes, you have a way + of getting everybody's attention. Of course you're awfully + clever—much cleverer than I am—or Pamela. But still it—it isn't + pleasant. I know Pamela felt it dreadfully—being cut out with + people she likes—people she cares about—and who—who might + care for her—like Arthur Chicksands. I believe—yes, I do + believe—though she never told me—that's why she went to London.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth rose from her knees. For a moment she was struck dumb. And + when at last she spoke it was only to repeat the name Mrs. Gaddesden + had mentioned in utter bewilderment. +</p> +<p> + 'Captain Chicksands! What can you mean?' +</p> +<p> + 'Why, of course girls can't hold their own with older women when the + older women are so charming and clever—and all that'—cried Mrs. + Gaddesden, trying desperately to justify herself—'but I've been + awfully sorry for Pamela! Very likely it's not your fault—you + couldn't know, I daresay!' +</p> +<p> + 'No, indeed, I didn't know!' said Elizabeth, in a low voice, 'and I + can't understand now what you mean.' +</p> +<p> + 'Don't you remember the day Arthur Chicksands spent here just before + Desmond went? Don't you remember how he talked to you all the + afternoon about the woods? Well, <i>I</i> saw Pamela's face as she was + sitting behind you.' +</p> +<p> + Mrs. Gaddesden raised a triumphant though tear-stained countenance. + She was avenging not only her father's latest slight, but a long + series of grievances—small and great—connected with Elizabeth's + position in the house. And the Squire's farewell to her had turned + even her grief to gall. +</p> +<p> + 'If Pamela was hurt, I was a most innocent cause!' said Elizabeth at + last, indignantly. 'And if you or any one else had given me the + smallest hint—' +</p> +<p> + 'How could we?' was the rather sulky reply. 'Pamela, of course, + never said a word—to me. But I rather think she did say something + to Desmond.' +</p> +<p> + 'Desmond!' cried Elizabeth under her breath. She turned slowly, and + went away, leaving Mrs. Gaddesden panting and a little scared at + what she had done. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth went back to the library, where there was much to put in + order. She forced herself to tidy the Squire's table, and to write a + business letter or two. But when that was done she dropped her face + in her hands, and shed a few very bitter tears. +</p> +<p> + She seemed to herself to have failed miserably. In truth, her heart + clung to all these people. She soon attached herself to those with + whom she lived, and was but little critical of them. The warm, + maternal temper which went with her shrewd brain seemed to need + perpetually objects on which to spend itself. She could have loved + the twins dearly had they let her, and day by day, in the absence of + the mother, she had been accustomed to nurse, she had even + positively enjoyed 'petting' Mrs. Gaddesden, holding her wool for + her, seeing to her hot-water bottles, and her breakfast in bed. +</p> +<p> + Pamela in love with Arthur Chicksands! And she remembered that a + faint idea of it had once crossed her mind, only to be entirely + dismissed and forgotten. +</p> +<p> + 'But I ought to have seen—I ought to have known! Am I really a + vampire?' +</p> +<p> + And she remembered how she, in her first youth, had suffered from + the dominance and the accomplishment of older women; women who gave + a girl no chance, who must have all the admiration, and all the + opportunities, who would coolly and cruelly snatch a girl's lover + from her. +</p> +<p> + 'And that's how I've appeared to Pamela!' thought Elizabeth between + laughing and crying. 'Yet all I did was to talk about ash for + aeroplanes! Oh, you poor child—you poor child!' +</p> +<p> + She seemed to feel Pamela's pain in her own heart—she who had had + love and lost it. +</p> +<p> + 'Am I just an odious, clever woman?' She sat down and hated herself. + All the passing vanity that had been stirred in her by Sir Henry's + compliments, all the natural pleasure she had taken in the success + of her great adventure as a business woman, in the ease with which + she, the Squire's paid secretary, had lately begun to lead the + patriotic effort of an English county—how petty, how despicable + even, it seemed, in presence of a boy who had given his all!—even + beside a girl in love! +</p> +<p> + And the Squire—'Was I hard to him too?' +</p> +<p> + The night came down. All the strange or beautiful shapes in the + library wavered and flickered under the firelight—the glorious + Nikê—the Erôs—the noble sketch of the boy in his cricketing + dress.... +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + The following morning came a telegram from Aubrey Mannering to Mrs. + Gaddesden. Elizabeth had done her best to propitiate her but she + remained cold and thorny, and when the telegram came she was pleased + that the news came to her first, and—tragic as it was—that + Elizabeth had to ask her for it! +</p> +<p> + 'Terrible wounds. Fear no hope. We shall bring him home as soon as + possible.' +</p> +<p> + But an hour later arrived another—from the Squire to Elizabeth. +</p> +<p> + 'Have a bed got ready in the library. Desmond's wish. Also + accommodation near for surgeon and nurses. May be able to cross + to-morrow. Will wire.' +</p> +<p> + But it was nearly two days before the final message arrived—from + Pamela to her sister. 'Expect us 7.20 to-night.' +</p> +<p> + By that time the ground-floor of the west wing had been transformed + into a temporary ward with its adjuncts, under the direction of a + Fallerton doctor, who had brought Desmond into the world and pulled + him through his childish illnesses. Elizabeth had moved most of the + statues, transferred the Sargent sketch to the drawing-room, and put + all the small archæological litter out of sight. But the Nikê was + too big and heavy to be moved, and Elizabeth remembered that Desmond + had always admired 'the jolly old thing' with its eager outstretched + wings and splendid brow. Doctor Renshaw shook his head over the + library as a hospital ward, and ordered a vast amount of meticulous + cleaning and disinfection. +</p> +<p> + 'No hope?' he said, frowning. 'How do we know? Anyway there shall be + no poison I can help.' But the boy's wish was law. +</p> +<p> + On the afternoon before the arrival, Elizabeth was seized with + restlessness. When there was nothing more to be done in the way of + hospital provision (for which a list of everything needed had been + sent ahead to Doctor Renshaw)—of flowers, of fair linen—and when, + in spite of the spring sun shining in through all the open windows + on the bare spotless boards, she could hardly bear the sight and + meaning of the transformation which had come over the room, she + found herself aimlessly wandering about the big house, filled with a + ghostly sense of past and future. What was to be the real meaning of + her life at Mannering? She could not have deserted the Squire in the + present crisis. She had indeed no false modesty as to what her help + would mean, practically, to this household under the shadow of + death. At least she could run the cook and the servants, wrestle + with the food difficulties, and keep the Squire's most essential + business going. +</p> +<p> + But afterwards? She shivered at the word. Yes, afterwards she would + go! And Pamela should reign. +</p> +<p> + Suddenly, in a back passage, leading from her office to the + housekeeper's room, she came upon a boy of fourteen, Forest's + hall-boy, really a drudge-of-all-work, on whom essential things + depended. He was sitting on a chair beside the luggage lift absorbed + in some work, over which his head was bent, while an eager tip of + tongue showed through his tightened lips. +</p> +<p> + 'What are you doing, Jim?' Elizabeth paused beside the boy, who had + always appeared to her as a simple, docile creature, not very likely + to make much way in a jostling world. +</p> +<p> + 'Please, Miss, I'm knitting,' said Jim, raising a flushed face. +</p> +<p> + 'Knitting! Knitting what?' +</p> +<p> + 'Knitting a sock for my big brother. He's in France, Miss. Mother + learnt me.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth was silent a moment, watching the clumsy fingers as they + struggled with the needles. +</p> +<p> + 'Are you very fond of your brother, Jim?' she asked at last. +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, Miss,' said the boy, stooping a little lower over his work. + Then he added, 'There's only him and me—and mother. Father was + killed last year.' +</p> +<p> + 'Do you know where he is?' +</p> +<p> + 'No, Miss. But Mr. Desmond told me when he was here he might perhaps + see him. And I had a letter from Mr. Desmond ten days ago. He'd come + across Bob, and he wrote me a letter.' +</p> +<p> + And out of his pocket he pulled a grimy envelope, and put it into + Elizabeth's hands. +</p> +<p> + 'Do you want me to read it, Jim?' +</p> +<p> + 'Please, Miss.' But she was hardly able to read the letters for the + dimness in her eyes. Just a boyish letter—from a boy to a boy. But + it had in it, quite unconsciously, the sacred touch that 'makes us + men.' +</p> +<p> + A little later she was in the village, where a woman she knew—one + Mary Wilson—was dying, a woman who had been used to come up to do + charing work at the Hall, before the last illness of a bed-ridden + father kept her at home. Mary was still under fifty, plain, clumsy, + and the hardest worker in the village. She lived at the outbreak of + war with her father and mother. Her brother had been killed at + Passchendaele, and Mary's interest in life had vanished with him. + But all through the winter she had nursed her father night and day + through a horrible illness. Often, as Elizabeth had now discovered, + in the bitterest cold of the winter, she had had no bed but the + flagstones of the kitchen. Not a word of complaint—and a few + shillings for both of them to live upon! +</p> +<p> + At last the father died. And the night he died Mary staggered across + to the wretched cottage of a couple of old-age pensioners opposite. + 'I must rest a bit,' she said, and sitting down in a chair by the + fire she fainted. Influenza had been on her for some days, and now + pneumonia had set in. The old people would not hear of her being + taken back to her deserted cottage. They gave up their own room to + her; they did everything for her their feeble strength allowed. But + the fierce disease beat down her small remaining strength. + Elizabeth, since the story came to her knowledge, had done her best + to help. But it was too late. +</p> +<p> + She went now to kneel at the beside of the dying woman. Mary's weary + eyes lifted, and she smiled faintly at the lady who had been kind to + her. Then unconsciousness returned, and the village nurse gave it as + her opinion that the end was near. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth looked round the room. Thank God the cottage did not + belong to the Squire! The bedroom was about ten feet by seven, with + a sloping thatched roof, supported by beams three centuries old. The + one window was about two feet square. The nurse pointed to it. +</p> +<p> + 'The doctor said no pneumonia case could possibly recover in a room + like this. And there are dozens of them, Miss, in this village. Oh, + Mary is glad to go. She nursed her mother for years, and then her + father for years. She never had a day's pleasure, and she was as + good as gold.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth held the clammy, misshapen hand, pressing her lips to it + when she rose to go, as to the garment of a saint. +</p> +<p> + Then she walked quickly back through the fading spring day, her + heart torn with prayer and remorse—remorse that such a life as Mary + Wilson's should have been possible within reach of her own life and + she not know it; and passionate praying for a better world, through + and after the long anguish of the war. +</p> +<p> + 'Else for what will these boys have given their lives!—what meaning + in the suffering and the agony!—or in the world which permits and + begets them?' +</p> +<p> + Then, at last, it was past seven o'clock. The dusk had fallen, and + the stars were coming out in a pure pale blue, over the leafless + trees. Elizabeth and Alice Gaddesden stood waiting at the open door + of the hall. A motor ambulance was meeting the train. They would + soon be here now. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth turned to Mrs. Gaddesden. +</p> +<p> + 'Won't you give a last look and see if it is all right?' +</p> +<p> + Alice's weak, pretty face cleared, as she went off to give a final + survey to Desmond's room. She admitted that Elizabeth had been + 'nice' that day, and all the days before. Perhaps she had been + hasty. +</p> +<p> + Lights among the distant trees! Elizabeth thought of the boy who had + gone out from that door, two months before, in the charm and beauty + of his young manhood. What wreck was it they were bringing back? +</p> +<p> + Then the remembrance stabbed her of that curt note from France—of + what Mrs. Gaddesden had said. She withdrew into the background. With + all the rest to help, she would not be wanted. Yes, she had been too + masterful, too prominent. +</p> +<p> + Two motors appeared, the ambulance motor behind another. They drew + up at the side door leading direct through a small lobby to the + library, and the Squire, his eldest son, and Captain Chicksands + stepped out—then Pamela. +</p> +<p> + Pamela ran up to her sister. The girl's eyes were red with crying, + but she was composed. +</p> +<p> + 'On the whole, he has borne the journey well. Where is Miss + Bremerton?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth, hearing her name, emerged from the shadow in which she + was standing. To her astonishment Pamela threw an arm round her neck + and kissed her. +</p> +<p> + 'Is everything ready?' +</p> +<p> + 'Everything. Will you come and see?' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes. They won't want us here.' +</p> +<p> + For the lobby was small; and surgeon and nurses were already + standing beside the open door of the ambulance, the surgeon giving + directions to the stretcher-bearers of the estate who had been + waiting. +</p> +<p> + Pamela looked at the bed, the nurses' table, the bare boards, the + flowers. Her face worked pitifully. She turned to Elizabeth, who + caught her in her arms. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, I am glad you have put the picture away!' +</p> +<p> + One deep sob, and she recovered herself. +</p> +<p> + 'He's not much disfigured,' she murmured, 'only a cut on the + forehead. Most of the journey he has been quite cheerful. That was + the morphia. But he's tired now. They're coming in.' +</p> +<p> + But it was the Squire who entered—asking peremptorily for Miss + Bremerton. +</p> +<p> + The well-known voice struck some profound response in Elizabeth. She + turned to him. How changed, how haggard, was the aspect! +</p> +<p> + 'Martin—that's the surgeon we've brought with us—wants something + from Fallerton at once. Renshaw's here, but he can't be spared for + telephoning. Come, please!' +</p> +<p> + But before she could pass through the door, it was filled by a + procession. The stretcher came through, followed by the surgeon and + nurses who had come from France. Elizabeth caught a glimpse of a + white face and closed eyes. It was as though something royal and + sacred entered the hushed room. She could have fallen on her knees, + as in a Breton 'pardon' when the Host goes by. +</p> +<a name="2HCH0016"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + CHAPTER XVI +</h2> +<p> + The bustle of the arrival was over. The doctors had given their + orders, the nurses were at their posts for the night, and, under + morphia, Desmond was sleeping. In the shaded library there were only + hushed voices and movements. By the light of the one lamp, which was + screened from the bed, one saw dimly the fantastic shapes in the + glass cases which lined the walls—the little Tanagra figures with + their sun-hats and flowing dress—bronzes of Apollo or Hermes—a + bronze bull—an ibex—a cup wreathed with acanthus. And in the + shadow at the far end rose the great Nikê. She seemed to be asking + what the white bed and the shrouded figure upon it might + mean—protesting that these were not her symbols, or a language that + she knew. +</p> +<p> + Yet at times, as the light varied, she seemed to take another + aspect. To Aubrey, sitting beside his brother, the Nikê more than + once suggested the recollection of a broken Virgin hanging from a + fragment of a ruined church which he remembered on a bit of road + near Mametz, at which he had seen passing soldiers look stealthily + and long. Her piteous arms, empty of the babe, suggested motherhood + to boys fresh from home; and there were moments when this hovering + Nikê seemed to breathe a mysterious tenderness like hers—became a + proud and splendid angel of consolation—only, indeed, to resume, + with some fresh change in the shadows, its pagan indifference, its + exultant loneliness. +</p> +<p> + The Squire sat by the fire, staring into the redness of the logs. + Occasionally nurse or doctor would come and whisper to him. He + scarcely seemed to hear them. What was the good of talking? He + knew that Desmond was doomed—that his boy's noble body was + shattered—and the end could only be a question of days—possibly + a week. During the first nights of Desmond's sufferings, the + Squire had lived through what had seemed an eternity of torment. + Now there was no more agony. Morphia could be freely given—and + would be given till all was over. The boy's young strength was + resisting splendidly, a vitality so superb was hard to beat; but + beaten it would be, by the brutality of the bullet which had + inflicted an internal injury past repair, against which the energy + of the boy's youth might hold out for a few days—not more. That + was why he had been allowed to bring his son home—to die. If + there had been a ray, a possibility of hope, every resource of + science would have been brought to bear on saving him, there in + that casualty clearing-station, itself a large hospital, where the + Squire had found him. +</p> +<p> + All the scenes, incidents, persons of the preceding days were + flowing in one continuous medley through the Squire's mind—the + great spectacle of the back of the Army, with all its endless + movement, its crowded roads and marching men, the hovering + aeroplanes, the <i>camouflaged</i> guns, the long trains of artillery + waggons and motor-lorries, strange faces of Kaffir boys and Chinese, + grey lines of German prisoners. And then, the hospital. Nothing very + much doing, so he was told. Yet hour after hour the wounded came in, + men shattered by bomb and shell and rifle-bullet, in the daily raids + that went on throughout the line. And scarcely a moan, scarcely a + word of complaint!—men giving up their turn with the surgeon to a + comrade—'Never mind me, sir—he's worse nor me!'—or the elder + cheering the younger—'Stick it, young'un—this'll get you to + Blighty right enough!'—or, in the midst of mortal pain, signing a + field postcard for the people at home, or giving a message to a + <i>padre</i> for mother or wife. Like some monstrous hand, the grip of + the war had finally closed upon the Squire's volatile, recalcitrant + soul. It was now crushing the moral and intellectual energy in + himself, as it had crushed the physical life of his son. For it was + as though he were crouching on some bare space, naked and alone, + like a wounded man left behind in a shell-hole by his comrades' + advance. He was aware, indeed, of a mysterious current of spiritual + force—patriotism, or religion, or both in one—which seemed to be + the support of other men. He had seen incredible, superhuman proofs + of it in those few hospital days. But it was of no use to him. +</p> +<p> + There was only one dim glimmer in his mind—towards which at + intervals he seemed to be reaching out. A woman's face—a woman's + voice—in which there seemed to be some offer of help or comfort. He + had seen her—she was somewhere in the house. But there seemed to be + insuperable barriers—closed doors, impassable spaces—between + himself and her. It was a nightmare, partly the result of fatigue + and want of sleep. +</p> +<p> + When he had first seen his son, Desmond was unconscious, and the end + was hourly expected. He remembered telegraphing to a famous surgeon + at home to come over; he recalled the faces of the consultants round + Desmond's bed, and the bald man with the keen eyes, who had brought + him the final verdict: +</p> +<p> + 'Awfully sorry!—but we can do nothing! He may live a little + while—and he has been begging and praying us to send him home. + Better take him—the authorities will give leave. I'll see to + that—it can't do much harm. The morphia will keep down the + pain—and the poor lad will die happy.' And then there was much talk + of plaster bandages, and some new mechanical appliance to prevent + jolting—of the surgeon going home on leave who would take charge of + the journey—of the nurses to be sent—and other matters of which he + only retained a blurred remembrance. +</p> +<p> + The journey had been one long and bitter endurance. And now Desmond + was here—his son Desmond—lying for a few days in that white + bed—under the old roof. And afterwards a fresh grave in Fallerton + churchyard—a flood of letters which would be burnt unread—and a + world without Desmond. +</p> +<p> + Meanwhile, in a corner of the hall, Chicksands and Pamela were + sitting together—hand in hand. From the moment when he had gone + down to Folkestone to meet them, and had seen Pamela's piteous and + beautiful face, as she followed the stretcher on which Desmond lay, + across the landing-stage of the boat, Chicksands' mind had been + suddenly clear. No words, indeed, except about the journey and + Desmond had passed between them. But she had seen in his dark eyes a + sweetness, a passion of protection and help which had thawed all the + ice in her heart, and freed the waters of life. She was ashamed of + herself, but only for a little while! For in Desmond's presence all + that concerned herself passed clean out of sight and mind. It was + not till she saw Elizabeth that remorse lifted its head again; and + whatever was delicate and sensitive in the girl's nature revived, + like scorched grass after rain. +</p> +<p> + Since the hurried, miserable meal, in which Elizabeth had watched + over them all, Pamela had followed Elizabeth about, humbly trying to + help her in the various household tasks. Then when at last Elizabeth + had gone off to telephone some final orders to Captain Dell at + Fallerton for the morning Pamela and Arthur were left alone. +</p> +<p> + He came over to where she sat, and drew a chair beside her. +</p> +<p> + 'Poor child!' he said, under his breath—'poor child!' +</p> +<p> + She lifted her eyes, swimming in tears. +</p> +<p> + 'Isn't it marvellous, how she's thought of everything—done + everything?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth had not been in his mind, but he understood the <i>amende</i> + offered and was deeply touched. +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, she's a wonderful creature. Let her care for you, Pamela, dear + Pamela!' +</p> +<p> + He lifted her hand to his lips, and put his arm round her. She leant + against him, and he gently kissed her cheek. So Love came to them, + but in its most tragic dress, veiled and dumb, with haggard eyes of + grief. +</p> +<p> + Then Pamela tried to tell him all that she herself had understood of + the gallant deed, the bit of 'observation work' in the course of + which Desmond had received his wound. He had gone out with another + subaltern, a sergeant, and a telephonist, creeping by night over No + Man's Land to a large shell-hole, close upon an old crater where a + German outpost of some thirty men had found shelter. They had + remained there for forty-eight hours—unrelieved—listening and + telephoning. Then having given all necessary information to the + artillery Headquarters which had sent them out, they started on the + return journey. But they were seen and fired on. Desmond might have + escaped but for his determined endeavours to bring in the Sergeant, + who was the first of them to fall. A German sniper hidden in a + fragment of ruin caught the boy just outside the British line; he + fell actually upon the trench. +</p> +<p> + Desmond had been the leader all through, said Pamela; his Colonel + said he was 'the pluckiest, dearest fellow'—he failed 'in nothing + you ever asked him for.' +</p> +<p> + Just such a story as comes home, night after night, and week after + week, from the fighting line! Nothing remarkable in it, except, + perhaps, the personal quality of the boy who had sacrificed his + life. Arthur Chicksands, with three years of the war behind him, + felt that he knew it by heart—could have repeated it, almost in his + sleep, and each time with a different name. +</p> +<p> + 'The other lieutenant who was with him,' said Pamela, 'told us he + was in splendid spirits the day before; and then at night, just + before they started, Desmond was very quiet, and they said to each + other that whatever happened that night they never expected to see + England again; and each promised the other that the one who + survived, if either did, would take messages home. Desmond told him + he was to tell me, if he was killed—that he'd "had a splendid + life"—and lived it "<i>all out</i>." "She's not to think of it as cut + short. I've had it <i>all</i>. One lives here a year in a day." And he'd + only been seven weeks at the front! He said it was the things he'd + seen—not the horrible things—but the glorious things that made + him feel like that. Now he did believe there was a God—and I must + believe it too.' +</p> +<p> + The tears ran down her face. Arthur held the quivering hands close + in his; and through his soldier's mind, alive with the latest and + innermost knowledge of the war, there flashed a terrible pre-vision + of the weeks to come, the weeks of the great offensive, the storm of + which might break any day—was certain, indeed, to break soon, and + would leave behind it, trampled like leaves into a mire of blood, + thousands of lives like Desmond's—Britain's best and rarest. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + An hour later the hall was deserted, except for Elizabeth, who, + after seeing Pamela to bed, came down to write some household + letters by the only fire. Presently the surgeon who was sitting up + with Desmond appeared, looking worried. His countenance brightened + at sight of Elizabeth, with whom he had already had much practical + consultation. +</p> +<p> + 'Could you persuade Mr. Mannering to go to bed?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth rose with some hesitation and followed him into the + library. The great room, once so familiar, now so strange, the + nurses in their white uniforms, moving silently, one standing by the + bed, watch in hand—Major Mannering on the farther side, + motionless—the smell of antiseptics, the table by the bed with all + its paraphernalia of bandages, cups, glasses, medicine bottles—the + stillness of brooding death which held it all—seemed to dash from + her any last, blind, unreasonable hope that she might have + cherished. +</p> +<p> + The Squire standing by the fire, where he had been opposing a + silent but impatient opposition to the attempt of doctor and nurses + to make him take some rest, saw Elizabeth enter. His eyes clung to + her as she approached him. So she <i>was</i> near him—and he was not cut + off from her. +</p> +<p> + Then the surgeon watched with astonishment the sudden docility of a + man who had already seemed to him one of the most unmanageable of + persons. What spell had this woman exercised? At any rate, after a + few whispered words from her, the Squire bowed his white head and + followed her out of the room. +</p> +<p> + In the hall Elizabeth offered him a candle, and begged him to go to + bed. He shook his head, and pointed to a chair by the dying fire. +</p> +<p> + 'That will do. Then I shall hear—' +</p> +<p> + He threw himself into it. She brought him a rug, for the night was + chilly, and he submitted. +</p> +<p> + Then she was going away, for it was past midnight, but something in + his fixed look, his dull suffering, checked her. She took an old + stool and sat down near him. Neither spoke, but his eyes gradually + turned to hers, and a strange communion arose between them. Though + there were no words, he seemed to be saying to her—'My boy!—my + boy!'—over and over again—and then—'Stay there!—for God's sake, + stay!' +</p> +<p> + And she stayed. The failing lamp showed her upturned face, with its + silent intensity of pity, her hands clasped round her knees, and the + brightness of her hair. The long minutes passed. Then suddenly the + Squire's eyelids fell, and he slept the sleep of a man physically + and mentally undone. +</p> +<p> + Aubrey Mannering sat by his brother all night. With the first dawn + Desmond awoke, and there was an awful interval of pain. But a fresh + morphia injection eased it, and Aubrey presently saw a smile—a look + of the old Desmond. The nurse washed the boy's hands and face, + brought him a cup of tea, took pulse and temperature. +</p> +<p> + 'He's no worse,' she said in a whisper to Aubrey, as she passed him. +</p> +<p> + Aubrey went up to the bed. +</p> +<p> + 'Aubrey, old chap!' said the boy, and smiled at him. Then—'It's + daylight. Can't I look out?' +</p> +<p> + The nurse and Mannering wheeled his bed to the window, which opened + to the ground. A white frost was on the grass, and there was a clear + sky through which the sunrise was fast mounting. Along an eastern + wood ran a fiery rose of dawn, the fine leaf-work of the beeches + showing sharply upon it. There was a thrush singing, and a robin + came close to the window, hopped on the ledge, and looked in. +</p> +<p> + 'Ripping!' said Desmond softly. 'There were jolly mornings in France + too.' Then his clear brow contracted. Aubrey stooped to him. +</p> +<p> + 'Any news?' said the blanched lips. +</p> +<p> + 'None yet, old man. We shan't get the papers till eight.' +</p> +<p> + 'What's the date?' +</p> +<p> + 'March 18th.' +</p> +<p> + Desmond gave a long sigh. +</p> +<p> + 'I would have liked to be in it!' +</p> +<p> + 'In the big battle?' Aubrey's lip trembled. 'You have done your bit, + old man.' +</p> +<p> + 'But how is it going to <i>end</i>?' said the boy, moving his head + restlessly. 'Shall we win?—or they? I shall live as long as ever I + can—just to know. I feel quite jolly now—isn't it strange?—and + yet I made the doctors tell me—' +</p> +<p> + He turned a bright look on his brother, and his voice grew + stronger. 'I had such a queer dream last night, Aubrey,—about + you—and that friend of yours—do you remember?—you used to bring + him down—to stay here—when Pam and I were little—Freddy Vivian—' +</p> +<p> + The boy looking out into the woods and the morning did not see the + change—the spasm—in his brother's face. He continued—'We kids + liked him awfully. Well, I saw him! I actually did. He stood + there—by you. He was talking a lot—I didn't understand—but—' +</p> +<p> + A sudden movement. Aubrey fell on his knees beside the bed. His deep + haggard eyes stared at his brother. There was in them an anguish, an + eagerness, scarcely human. +</p> +<p> + 'Desmond!—can't you remember?' +</p> +<p> + The words were just breathed—panted. +</p> +<p> + Desmond, whose eyes had closed again, smiled faintly. +</p> +<p> + 'Why, of course I can't remember. He had his hand on your shoulder. + I just thought he was cheering you up—about something.' +</p> +<p> + 'Desmond!—it was I that killed him—I could have saved him!' +</p> +<p> + The boy opened his eyes. His startled look expressed the question he + had not strength to put. +</p> +<p> + Aubrey bent over the bed, speaking hurriedly—under possession. 'It + was at Neuve Chapelle. I had gone back for help—he and ten or + twelve others who had moved on too fast were waiting in a bit of + shelter till I could get some more men from the Colonel. The Germans + were coming on thick. And I went back. There was a barrage on—and + on the way—I shirked—my nerve went. I sat down for twenty minutes + by my watch—I hid—in a shell-hole. Then I went to the Colonel, and + he gave me the men. And when we got up to the post, I was just a + quarter of an hour too late. Vivian was lying there dead—and the + others had been mopped up—prisoners—by a German bombing party. It + was I who killed Vivian. No one knows.' +</p> +<p> + Aubrey's eyes searched those of the boy. +</p> +<p> + The next moment Mannering was torn with poignant remorse that, under + the sudden shock of that name, he should have spoken at last—after + three years—to this dying lad. Crime added to crime! +</p> +<p> + 'Don't think of it any more, Desmond,' he said hurriedly, raising + himself and laying his hand on his brother's. 'I oughtn't to have + told you.' +</p> +<p> + But Desmond showed no answering agitation. +</p> +<p> + 'I did see him!' he whispered. 'He stood there—' His eyes turned + towards the window. He seemed to be trying to remember—but soon + gave up the effort. 'Poor old Aubrey!' His feeble hand gave a faint + pressure to his brother's. 'Why, it wasn't you, old fellow!—it was + your body.' +</p> +<p> + Aubrey could not reply. He hid his face in his hands. The effort of + his own words had shaken him from top to toe. To no human being had + he ever breathed what he had just told his young brother. Life + seemed broken—disorganized. +</p> +<p> + Desmond was apparently watching the passage of a flock of white + south-westerly clouds across the morning sky. But his brain was + working, and he said presently— +</p> +<p> + 'After I was struck, I hated my body. I'd—I'd like to commit my + spirit to God—but not my body!' +</p> +<p> + Then again—very faintly— +</p> +<p> + 'It was only your body, Aubrey—not your soul. Poor old Aubrey!' + Then he dozed off again, with intervals of pain. +</p> +<p> + At eight o'clock Pamela came in—a vision of girlish beauty in spite + of watching and tears, in her white dressing-gown, the masses of her + hair loosely tied. +</p> +<p> + She sat down by him, and the nurse allowed her to give him milk and + brandy. Paralysis in the lower limbs was increasing, but the brain + was clear, and the suffering less. +</p> +<p> + He smiled at her, after the painful swallowing was over. +</p> +<p> + 'Why!—you're so like mother, Pamela!' +</p> +<p> + He was thinking of the picture in the 'den.' She raised his hand, + and kissed it—determined to be brave, not to break down. +</p> +<p> + 'Where's Broomie?' he whispered. +</p> +<p> + 'She'd like to come and see you, Dezzy. Dezzy, darling!—I was all + wrong. She's been so good—good to father—good to all of us.' +</p> +<p> + The boy's eyes shone. +</p> +<p> + 'I thought so!' he said triumphantly. 'Is she up?' +</p> +<p> + 'Long ago. Shall I tell her? I'll ask Nurse.' +</p> +<p> + And in a few more minutes Elizabeth was there. +</p> +<p> + Desmond had been raised a little on his pillows, and flushed at + sight of her. Timidly, he moved his hand, and she laid hers on it. + Then, stirred by an impulse that seemed outside her will, she + stooped over him, and kissed his forehead. +</p> +<p> + 'That was nice!' he murmured, smiling, and lay for a little with his + eyes shut. When he opened them again, he said— +</p> +<p> + 'May I call you Elizabeth?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth's tender look and gesture answered. He gazed at her in + silence, gathering strength for some effort that was evidently on + his mind. +</p> +<p> + 'Father minds awfully,' he said at last, his look clouding. 'And + there's no one—to—to cheer him up.' +</p> +<p> + 'He loves you so,' said Elizabeth, with difficulty, 'he always has + loved you so.' +</p> +<p> + The furrow on his brow grew a little deeper. +</p> +<p> + 'But that doesn't matter now—nothing matters but—' +</p> +<p> + After a minute he resumed, in a rather stronger voice—'Tell me + about the woods—and the ash trees. I did laugh over that—old Hull + telling you there were none—and you—Why, I could have shown him + scores.' +</p> +<p> + She told him all the story of the woods, holding his hot hand in her + cool ones, damping his brow with the eau-de-cologne the nurses gave + her, and smiling at him. Her voice soothed him. It was so clear and + yet soft, like a song,—not a song of romance or passion, but like + the cheerful crooning songs that mothers sing. And her face reminded + him even more of his mother than Pamela's. She was not the least + like his mother, but there was something in her expression that + first youth cannot have—something comforting, profound, sustaining. +</p> +<p> + He wanted her always to sit there. But his mind wandered from what + she was saying after a little, and returned to his father. +</p> +<p> + 'Is father there?' he asked, trying to turn his head, and failing. +</p> +<p> + 'Not yet.' +</p> +<p> + 'Poor father! Elizabeth!' he spoke the name with a boyish shyness. +</p> +<p> + 'Yes!' She stooped over him. +</p> +<p> + 'You won't go away?' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth hesitated a moment, and he looked distressed. +</p> +<p> + 'From Mannering, I mean. Do stay, Broomie!'—the name slipped out, + and in his weakness he did not notice it—'Pamela knows—that she + was horrid!' +</p> +<p> + 'Dear Desmond, I will do everything I can for Pamela.' +</p> +<p> + 'And for father?' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, indeed—I will be all the help I can,' repeated Elizabeth. +</p> +<p> + Desmond relapsed into silence and apparent sleep. But Elizabeth's + heart smote her. She felt she had not satisfied him. +</p> +<hr class="short"> +<p> + But before long by the mere natural force of her personality, she + seemed to be the leading spirit in the sick-room. Only she could + lead or influence the Squire, whose state of sullen despair + terrified the household. The nurses and doctors depended on her for + all those lesser aids that intelligence and love can bring to + hospital service. The servants of the house would have worked all + night and all day for her and Mr. Desmond. Yet all this was scarcely + seen—it was only felt—'a life, a presence like the air.' Most of + us have known the same experience—how, when human beings come to + the testing, the values of a house change, and how men and women, + who have been in it as those who serve, become naturally and + noiselessly its rulers, and those who once ruled, their dependents. + It was so at Mannering. A tender, unconscious sovereignty + established itself; and both the weak and the strong grouped + themselves round it. +</p> +<p> + Especially did Elizabeth seem to understand the tragic fact that as + death drew nearer the boy struggled more painfully to live, that he + might know what was happening on the battlefield. He would have the + telegrams read to him night and morning. And he would lie brooding + over them for long afterwards. The Rector came to see him, and + Desmond accepted gratefully his readings and his prayers. But they + were scarcely done before he would turn to Elizabeth, and his eager + feverish look would send her to the telephone to ask Arthur + Chicksands at the War Office if Haig's mid-day telegram was in—or + any fresh news. +</p> +<p> + On the 20th of March, Chicksands, who had been obliged to go back to + his work, came down again for the night. Desmond lay waiting for + him, and Arthur saw at once that death was much nearer. But the boy + had himself insisted on strychnine and morphia before the visit, and + talked a great deal. +</p> +<p> + The military news, however, that Chicksands brought him disappointed + him greatly. +</p> +<p> + 'Not <i>yet</i>?'—he said miserably—'<i>not yet</i>?'—breathing his life + into the words, when Chicksands read him a letter from a staff + officer in the Intelligence Department describing the enormous + German preparations for the offensive, but expressing the view—'It + may be some days more before they risk it!' +</p> +<p> + 'I shall be gone before they begin!' he said, and lay sombre and + frowning on his pillows, till Chicksands had beguiled him by some + letters from men in Desmond's own division which he had taken + special trouble to collect for him. +</p> +<p> + And when the boy's mood and look were calmer, Arthur bent over him + and gave him, with a voice that must shake, the news of his Military + Cross—for 'brilliant leadership and conspicuous courage' in the + bit of 'observation work' that had cost him his life. +</p> +<p> + Desmond listened with utter incredulity and astonishment. +</p> +<p> + 'It's not me!'—he protested faintly—'it's a mistake!' +</p> +<p> + Chicksands produced the General's letter—the Cross itself. Desmond + looked at it with unwilling eyes. +</p> +<p> + 'I call it silly—perfectly silly! Why, there were fellows that + deserved it ten times more than I did!' +</p> +<p> + And he asked that it should be put away, and did not speak of it + again. +</p> +<p> + In all his talk with him that night, the elder officer was + tragically struck by the boy's growth in intelligence. Just as death + was claiming it, the young mind had broadened and deepened—had + become the mind of a man. And in the vigil which he kept during part + of that night with Martin, the able young surgeon who had brought + Desmond home, and was spending his own hard-earned leave in easing + the boy's death, Chicksands found that Martin's impression was the + same as his own. +</p> +<p> + 'It's wonderful how he's grown and <i>thought</i> since he's been out + there. But do we ever consider—do we ever realize—enough!—what a + marvellous thing it is that young men—boys—like Desmond—should be + able to live, day after day, face to face with death—consciously + and voluntarily—and get quite used to it? Which of us before + the war had ever been in real physical danger—danger of + violent death?—and that not for a few minutes—but for days, + hours, weeks? It seems to make men over again—to create a + new type—by the hundred thousand. And to some men it is an + extraordinary intoxication—this conscious and deliberate + acceptance—defiance!—of death—for a cause—for their country. It + sets them free from themselves. It matures them, all in a moment—as + though the bud and the flower came together. Oh, of course, there + are those it brutalizes—and there are those it stuns. But Desmond + was one of the chosen.' +</p> +<p> + The night passed. The Squire came in after midnight, and took his + place by the bed. +</p> +<p> + Desmond was then restless and suffering, and the nurse in charge + whispered to the Squire that the pulse was growing weaker. But the + boy opened his eyes on his father, and tried to smile. The Squire + sat bowed and bent beside him, and nurses and doctors withdrew from + them a little—out of sight and hearing. +</p> +<p> + 'Desmond!' said the Squire in a low voice. +</p> +<p> + 'Yes.' +</p> +<p> + 'Is there anything I could do—to please you?' It was a humble and a + piteous prayer. Desmond's eyes travelled over his father's face. +</p> +<p> + 'Only—love me!' he said, with difficulty. The Squire grew very + white. Kneeling down he kissed his son—for the first time since + Desmond was a child. +</p> +<p> + Desmond's beautiful mouth smiled a little. +</p> +<p> + 'Thank you,' he said, so feebly that it could scarcely be heard. + When the light began to come in he moved impatiently, asking for the + newspapers. Elizabeth told him that old Perley had gone to meet them + at the morning train at Fallerton, and would be out with them at the + earliest possible moment. +</p> +<p> + But when they came the boy turned almost angrily from them. 'The + Shipping Problem—Attacks on British Ports—Raids on the French + Front—Bombardment of German Towns—Curfew Regulations'—Pamela's + faltering voice read out the headings. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, what rot!' he said wearily—'what rot!' +</p> +<p> + After that his strength ebbed visibly through the morning. +</p> +<p> + Chicksands, who must return to town in the afternoon, sat with him, + Pamela and Elizabeth opposite—Alice and Margaret not far away. The + two doctors watched their patient, and Martin whispered to Aubrey + Mannering, who had come down by a night train, that the struggle for + life could not last much longer. +</p> +<p> + Presently about one o'clock, Aubrey, who had been called out of the + room, came back and whispered something to Chicksands, who at once + went away. Elizabeth, looking up, saw agitation and expectancy in + the Major's look. But he said nothing. +</p> +<p> + In a few minutes Chicksands reappeared. He went straight to Desmond, + and knelt down by him. +</p> +<p> + 'Desmond!' he said in a clear voice, 'the offensive's begun. The + Chief in my room at the War Office has just been telephoning me. It + began at eight this morning—on a front of fifty miles. Can you hear + me?' The boy opened his eyes—straining them on Arthur. +</p> +<p> + 'It's begun!' he said eagerly—'begun! What have they done?' +</p> +<p> + 'The bombardment opened at dawn—about five—the German infantry + attacked about eight. It's been going on the whole morning—and down + the whole front from Arras to the Scarpe.' +</p> +<p> + 'And we've held?—we've <i>held</i>?' +</p> +<p> + 'So far magnificently. Our outpost troops have been withdrawn to the + battle-zone—that's all. The line has held everywhere. The Germans + have lost heavily.' +</p> +<p> + 'Outpost troops!' whispered the boy—'why, that's nothing! We always + expected—to lose the first line. Good old Army!' +</p> +<p> + A pause, and then—so faintly breathed as to be scarcely audible, + and yet in ecstasy—'England!—England!' +</p> +<p> + His joy was wonderful—heart-breaking—while all those around him + wept. +</p> +<p> + He lay murmuring to himself a little while, his hand in Pamela's. + Then for a last time he looked at his father, but was now too weak + to speak. His eyes, intently fixed on the Squire, kept their + marvellous brightness—no one knew how long. Then gently, as though + an unseen hand put out a light, the brilliance died away—the lids + fell—and with a few breaths Desmond's young life was past. +</p> +<a name="2HCH0017"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + CHAPTER XVII +</h2> +<p> + It was three weeks after Desmond's death. Pamela was sitting in the + 'den' writing a letter to Arthur Chicksands at Versailles. The first + onslaught on Amiens was over. The struggle between Bethune and Ypres + was in full swing. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'D<small>EAREST</small>—This house is so strange—the world is so strange! + Oh, if I hadn't my work to do!—how could one bear it? It seems + wrong and hateful even, to let one's mind dwell on the + wonderful, wonderful thing, that you love me! The British Army + retreating—<i>retreating</i>—after these glorious years—that is + what burns into me hour after hour! Thank God Desmond didn't + know! And if I feel like this, who am just an ignorant, + inexperienced girl, what must it be for you who are working + there, at the very centre, the news streaming in on you all the + time?—you who know how much there is to fear—but also how + much there is to be certain of—to be confident of—that we + can't know. Our splendid, <i>splendid</i> men! Every day I watch for + the names I know in the death list—and some of them seem to be + always there. The boy—the other sub-lieutenant—who was with + Desmond when he was wounded, was in the list yesterday. + Forest's boy is badly wounded. The old gardener has lost + another son. Perley's boy is "missing," and so is the poor + Pennington boy. They are heroic—the Penningtons—but whenever + I see them I want to cry.... Oh, I can't write this any more. + I have been writing letters of sympathy all day. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'Dearest, you would be astonished if you could see me at this + moment. I am to-day a full blown group leader. Do you know what + that means? I have had a long round among some of our farms + to-day—bargaining with the farmers for the land-girls in my + group, and looking after their billets. Yesterday I spent half + the day in "docking" with six or eight village women to give + them a "send off." I don't believe you know what docking means. + It is pretty hard work, and at night I have a nightmare—of + roots that never come to an end, and won't pull out! +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'You were quite right—it <i>is</i> my work. I was born in the + country. I know and love it. The farmers are very nice to + me. They see I don't try to boss them as the Squire's + daughter—that I'm just working as they are. And I can say a + good deal to them about the war, because of Desmond. They all + knew him and loved him. Some of them tell me stories about his + pluck out hunting as a little chap, and though he had been such + a short time out in France he had written to two or three of + them about their sons in the Brookshires. He had a heavenly + disposition—oh, I wish I had! +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'At the present moment I am in knee-breeches, gaiters, and + tunic, and I have just come in. Six o'clock to five, please + sir, with half-an-hour for breakfast and an hour for dinner (I + eat it out of a red handkerchief under a hedge). It was wet and + nasty, and I am pretty tired. But one does not want to + stop—because when one stops one begins to think. And my + thoughts, except for that shining centre where you are, are so + dark and full of sorrow. I miss Desmond every hour, and some + great monstrous demon seems to be clutching at me—at you—at + England—everything one loves and would die for—all day long. + But don't imagine that I ever <i>doubt</i> for one moment. Not + I— +</p> +<p class="poem"> + + For right is right, since God is God,<br> + And right the day must win;<br> + To doubt would be disloyalty,<br> + To falter would be sin. +</p> +<p class="bni"> + I know that's not good poetry. But I just love it—because it's + plain and commonplace, and expresses just what ordinary people + feel and think. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'Oh, why was I such a fool about Elizabeth! Now that you are at + a safe distance—and of course on the understanding that you + never, never say a word to me about it—I positively will and + must confess that I was jealous of her about you—yes, about + you, Arthur—because you talked to her about Greek—and about + ash for aeroplanes—and I couldn't talk about them. There's a + nice nature for you! Hadn't you better get rid of me while you + can? But the thing that torments me is that I can never have it + quite out with Desmond. I told him lies, simply. I didn't know + they were lies, I suppose; but I was too angry and too unjust + to care whether they were or not. On the journey from France I + said a few little words to him—just enough, thank Heaven! He + was so sweet to her in those last days—and she to him. You + know one side of her <i>is</i> the managing woman—and the other + (I've only found it out since Desmond's death)—well, she seems + to be just asking you to creep under her wings and be mothered! + She mothered him, and she has mothered me since he shut his + dear eyes for ever. Oh, why won't she mother us all—for good + and all!—father first and foremost. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'I told you something about him last time I wrote, but there is + a great deal more to tell. The horrible thing is that he seems + not to care any more for any of his old hobbies. He sits there + in the library day after day, or walks about it for hours and + hours, without ever opening a book or looking at a thing. Or + else he walks about the woods—sometimes quite late at night. + Forest believes he sleeps very little. I told you he never came + to Desmond's funeral. All business he hands over to Elizabeth, + and what she asks him he generally does. But we all have vague, + black fears about him. I know Elizabeth has. Yet she is quite + clear she can't stay here much longer. Dear Arthur, I don't + know exactly what happened, but I <i>think</i> father asked her to + marry him, and she said no. And I am tolerably sure that I + counted for a good deal in it—horrid wretch that I am!—that + she thought it would make me unhappy. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'Well, I am properly punished. For if or when she goes + away—and you and I are married—if there is to be any marrying + any more in this awful world!—what will become of my father? + He has been a terrifying mystery to me all my life. Now it is + not that any longer. I know at least that he worshipped + Desmond. But I know also that I mean nothing to him. I don't + honestly think it was much my fault—and it can't be helped. + And nobody else in the family matters. The only person who does + matter is Elizabeth. And I quite see that she can't stay here + indefinitely. She told me she promised Desmond she would stay + as long as she could. Just at present, of course, she is the + mainspring of everything on the estate. And they have actually + made her this last week Vice-Chairman of the County War + Agricultural Committee. She refused, but they <i>made</i> her. Think + of that—a woman—with all those wise men! She asked father's + leave. He just looked at her, and I saw the tears come into her + eyes. +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'As to Beryl and Aubrey, he was here last Sunday, and she spent + the day with us. He seems to lean upon her in a new way—and + she looks different somehow—happier, I think. He told me, the + day after Desmond died, that Dezzy had said something to him + that had given him courage—"courage to go on," I think he + said. I didn't ask him what he meant, and he didn't tell me. + But I am sure he has told Beryl, and either that—or something + else—has made her more confident in herself—and about him. + They are to be married quite soon. Last week father sent him, + without a word, a copy of his will. Aubrey says it is very + fair. Mannering goes to him, of course. You know that Elizabeth + refused to witness the codicil father wrote last October + disinheriting Aubrey, when he was so mad with Sir Henry? It was + the first thing that made father take real notice of her. She + had only been six weeks here! +</p> +<p class="block"> + 'Good-night, my dearest, dearest Arthur! Don't be too much + disappointed in me. I shall grow up some day.' +</p> +<p> + A few days later the Squire came back from Fallerton to find nobody + in the house, apparently, but himself. He went through the empty + hall and the library, and shut himself up there. He carried an + evening paper crumpled in his hand. It contained a detailed report + of the breaking of the Portuguese centre near Richebourg St. Vaast + on April 10, and the consequent retreat, over some seven miles, + since that day of the British line, together with the more recent + news of the capture of Armentières and Merville. Sitting down at his + own table he read the telegrams again, and then in the stop-press + Sir Douglas Haig's Order of the Day— +</p> +<p> + '<i>There is no other course open to us but to fight it out. Every + position must be held to the last man: there must be no retirement. + With our backs to the wall, and believing in the justice of our + cause, each one of us must fight to the end. The safety of our homes + and the freedom of mankind depend alike upon the conduct of each one + of us at this critical moment.</i>' +</p> +<p> + The Squire read and re-read the words. He was sitting close to the + tall French window where through some fine spring days Desmond had + lain, his half-veiled eyes wandering over the woods and green spaces + which had been his childhood's companions. There—submissive for + himself, but, for England's sake, and so that his mind might receive + as long as possible the impress of her fate, an ardent wrestler with + Death through each disputed hour—he had waited; and there, with the + word <i>England</i> on his lips, he had died. The Squire could still see + the marks made on the polished floor by the rolling backward of the + bed at night. And on the wall near there was a brown mark on the + wall-paper. He remembered that it had been made by a splash from a + bowl of disinfectant, and that he had stared at it one morning in a + dumb torment which seemed endless, because Desmond had woke in pain + and the morphia was slow to act. +</p> +<p> + <i>England</i>! His boy was dead—and his country had its back to the + wall. And he—what had he done for England, all these years of her + struggle? His carelessness, his indifference returned upon him—his + mad and selfish refusal, day by day, to give his mind, or his body, + or his goods, to the motherland that bore him. +</p> +<p> + '<i>Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?</i>' +</p> +<p> + No—it had been nothing to him. But Desmond, his boy, had given + everything. And the death-struggle was still going on. '<i>Each one of + us must fight on to the end.</i>' Before his eyes there passed the + spectacle of the Army, as he had actually seen it—a division, for + instance, on the march near the Salient, rank after rank of young + faces, the brown cheeks and smiling eyes, the swing of the lithe + bodies. And while he sat there in the quiet of the April evening, + thousands of boys like Desmond were offering those same lithe bodies + to the Kaiser's guns without murmur or revolt because England asked + it. Now he knew what it meant—<i>now he knew</i>! +</p> +<p> + There was a knock at the door, and the sound of something heavy + descending. The Squire gave a dull 'Come in.' Forest entered, + dragging a large bale behind him. He looked nervously at his master. +</p> +<p> + 'These things have just come from France, sir.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire started. He walked over in silence to look while Forest + opened the case. Desmond's kit, his clothes, his few books, a + stained uniform, a writing-case, with a number of other + miscellaneous things. +</p> +<p> + Forest spread them out on the floor, his lips trembling. On several + nights before the end Desmond had asked for him, and he had shared + the Squire's watch. +</p> +<p> + 'That'll do,' said the Squire presently; 'I'll look over them + myself!' +</p> +<p> + Forest went away. After shutting the door he saw Elizabeth coming + along the library passage, and stopped to speak to her. +</p> +<p> + 'The things have just come from France, Miss,' he said in a low + voice. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth hesitated, and was turning back, when the library door + opened and the Squire called her. +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, Mr. Mannering.' +</p> +<p> + 'Will you come here, please, a moment?' +</p> +<p> + She entered the room, and the Squire closed the door behind her, + pointing mutely to the things on the floor. +</p> +<p> + The tears sprang to her eyes. She knelt down to look at them. +</p> +<p> + 'Do you remember anything about this?' he said, holding out a little + book. It was the pocket Anthology she had found for Desmond on the + day of his going into camp. As she looked through it she saw a + turned-down leaf, and seemed still to hear the boy's voice, as he + hung over her shoulder translating the epigram— +</p> +<p> + '<i>Shame on you, mountains and seas!</i>' +</p> +<p> + With a swelling throat she told the story. The Squire listened, and + when afterwards she offered the book to him again, he put it back + into her hand, with some muttered words which she interpreted as + bidding her keep it. +</p> +<p> + She put it away in the drawer of her writing-table, which had been + brought back to its old place only that morning. The Squire himself + went to his own desk. +</p> +<p> + 'Will you sit there?' He pointed to her chair. 'I want to speak to + you.' +</p> +<p> + Then after a pause he added slowly, 'Will you tell me—what you + think I can now do with my time?' +</p> +<p> + His voice had a curious monotony—unlike its usual tone. But + Elizabeth divined a coming crisis. She went very white. +</p> +<p> + 'Dear Mr. Mannering—I don't know what to say—except that the + country seems to want everything that each one of us can do.' +</p> +<p> + 'Have you read Haig's Order of the Day?' +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, I have just read it.' +</p> +<p> + The Squire's eyes, fixed upon her, had a strange intensity. +</p> +<p> + 'You and I have never known—never dreamt—of anything like this.' +</p> +<p> + 'No—never. But England has had her back to the wall before!' +</p> +<p> + She sat proudly erect, her hands quietly crossed. But he seemed to + hear the beating of her heart. +</p> +<p> + 'You mean when Pitt said, "Roll up the map of Europe"? Yes—that too + was vital. But the people at home scarcely knew it—and it was not a + war of machines.' +</p> +<p> + 'No matter! England will never yield.' +</p> +<p> + 'Till Germany is on her knees?' His long bony face, more lined, more + emaciated than ever, seemed to catch a sombre glow from hers. +</p> +<p> + 'Yes—though it last ten years! But the Americans are hurrying.' +</p> +<p> + 'Are all women like you?' +</p> +<p> + Her mouth trembled into scorn. +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, think of the women whose shoe-strings I am not worthy to + unloose!—the nurses, the French peasant-women, the women who have + given their husbands—their sons.' +</p> +<p> + His look showed his agitation. +</p> +<p> + 'So we are to be saved—by boys like Desmond—and women like you?' +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, I am a cypher—a nothing!' There was a passionate humiliation + in her voice. 'I should be nursing in France—' +</p> +<p> + 'If it weren't for your mother and your sister?' +</p> +<p> + She nodded. There was a pause. Then the Squire said, in a different + tone, +</p> +<p> + 'But you have not answered my question. I should be obliged if you + would answer it. How am I, being I—how is a man of my kind to fill + his time—and live his life? If the country is in deadly peril—if + the ground is shaking beneath our feet—if we are to go on fighting + for years, with "our backs to the wall," even I can't go on + cataloguing Greek vases. I acknowledge that now. So much I grant + you. But what else am I good for?' +</p> +<p> + The colour flushed in her fair skin, and her eyes filled again with + tears. +</p> +<p> + 'Come and help!' she said simply. 'There is so much to do. And for + you—a large landowner—there is everything to do.' +</p> +<p> + His face darkened. +</p> +<p> + 'Yes, if I had the courage for it. But morally I am a weakling—you + know it. Do you remember that I once said to you if Desmond fell, I + should go with him—or after him?' +</p> +<p> + She waited a moment before replying, and then said with energy, + 'That would be just desertion!—<i>he</i> would tell you so.' +</p> +<p> + Their eyes met, and the passion in hers subdued him. It was a + strange dialogue, as though between two souls bared and stripped of + everything but the realities of feeling. +</p> +<p> + 'Would it be? That might be argued. But anyway I should have done + it—the very night Desmond died—but for you!' +</p> +<p> + 'For me?' she said, shading her eyes with a hand that trembled. 'No, + Mr. Mannering, you could not have done such a thing!—for your + honour's sake—for your children's sake.' +</p> +<p> + 'Neither would have restrained me. I was held to life by one + thread—one hope only—' +</p> +<p> + She was silent. +</p> +<p> + '—the hope that if I was to put my whole life to school again—to + burn what I had adored, and adore what I had burned—the one human + being in the world who could teach me such a lesson—who had begun + to teach it me—would stand by me—would put her hand in mine—and + lead me.' +</p> +<p> + His voice broke down. Elizabeth, shaken from head to foot, could + only hide her face and wait. Even the strength to protest—'Not + now!—not yet!' seemed to have gone from her. He went on vehemently: +</p> +<p> + 'Oh, don't imagine that I am making you an ordinary proposal—or + that I am going to repeat to you the things I said to you—like a + fool—in Cross Wood. Then I offered you a bargain—and I see now + that you despised me as a huckster! You were to help my hobby; I was + to help yours. That was all I could find to say. I didn't know how + to tell you that all the happiness of my life depended on your + staying at Mannering. I was unwilling to acknowledge it even to + myself. I have been accustomed to put sentiment aside—to try and + ignore it. To <i>feel</i> as I did was itself so strange a thing to me, + that I struggled to express it as prosaically as possible. Well, + then, you were astonished—and repelled. That I saw—I realized it + indeed more and more. I saw that I had perhaps done a fatal thing, + and I spent much time brooding and thinking. I felt an acute + distress, such as I had never felt in my life before—so much so + that I began even to avoid you, because I used to say to + myself—"She will go away some day—perhaps soon—and I must + accustom myself to it." And yet—' +</p> +<p> + He lifted the hand that shaded his eyes, and gave her a long + touching look. +</p> +<p> + 'Yet I felt sometimes that you knew what was happening in me—and + were sorry for me. Then came the news of Desmond. Of those days + while he lay here—of the days since—I seem to know now hardly + anything in detail. One of the officers at the front said to me that + on the Somme he often lost all count of time, of the days of the + week, of the sequence of things. It seemed to be all one + present—one awful and torturing <i>now</i>. So it is with me. Desmond is + always here'—he pointed to the vacant space by the window—'and you + are always sitting by him. And I know that if you go away—and I am + left alone with my poor boy—though I shall never cease to hear the + things he said to me—the things he asked me to do—I shall have no + strength to do them. I cannot rise and walk—unless you help me.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth could hardly speak. She was in presence of that tremendous + thing in human experience—the emergence of a man's inmost self. + That the Squire could speak so—could feel so—that the man whose + pupil and bond-slave she had been in those early weeks should be + making this piteous claim upon her, throwing upon her the weight of + his whole future life, of his sorrow, of his reaction against + himself, overwhelmed her. It appealed to that instinctive, that + boundless tenderness which lies so deep in the true woman. +</p> +<p> + But her will seemed paralysed. She did not know how to act—she + could find no words that pleased her. The Squire saw it, and began + to speak again in the same low measured voice, as though he groped + his way along, from point to point. He sat with his eyes on the + floor, his hands loosely clasped before him. +</p> +<p> + 'I don't, of course, dare to ask you to say—at once—if you will be + my wife. I dread to ask it—for I am tolerably certain that you + would still say no. But if only now you would say, "I will go on + with my work here—I will help a man who is weak where I am + strong—I will show him new points of view—give him new reasons for + living—"' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth could only just check the sobs in her throat. The sad + humility of the words pierced her heart. +</p> +<p> + The Squire raised himself a little, and spoke more firmly. +</p> +<p> + 'Why should there be any change yet awhile? Only stay with us. Use + my land—use me and all I possess—for the country—for what Desmond + would have helped in—and done. Show me what to do. I shall do it + ill. But what matter? Every little helps. "We have our backs to the + wall." I have the power to give <i>you</i> power. Teach me.' +</p> +<p> + Then reaching out, he took her hand in his. His voice deepened and + strengthened. +</p> +<p> + 'Elizabeth!—be my friend—my children's friend. Bring your poor + mother here—and your sister—till Pamela goes. Then tell me—what + you decide. You shall give me no pledge—no promise. You shall be + absolutely free. But together let us do a bit of work, a bit of + service.' +</p> +<p> + She looked up. The emotion, the sweetness in her face dazzled him. +</p> +<p> + 'Yes,' she said gravely—'I will stay.' +</p> +<p> + He drew a long breath, and stooping over the hands she had given + him, he kissed them. +</p> +<p> + Then he released her and, rising, walked away. The portrait of + Desmond had been brought back, but it stood with its face to the + wall. He went to it and turned it. It shone out into the room, under + the westering sun. He looked at it a little—while Elizabeth with + trembling fingers began to re-arrange her table in the old way. +</p> +<p> + Then he returned to her, speaking in the dry, slightly peremptory + voice she knew well. +</p> +<p> + 'I hear the new buildings at the Holme Hill Farm are nearly ready. + Come and look at them to-morrow. And there are some woods over there + that would be worth examining. The Air Board is still clamouring for + more ash.' +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth agreed. Her smile was a gleam through the mist. +</p> +<p> + 'And, on the way back, Pamela and I must go and talk to the + village—about pigs and potatoes!' +</p> +<p> + 'Do you really know anything about either?' he asked, incredulously. +</p> +<p> + 'Come and hear us!' +</p> +<p> + There was silence. The Squire threw the window open to the April + sunset. The low light was shining through the woods, and on the + reddening tops of the beeches. There was a sparkle of leaf here and + there, and already a 'livelier emerald' showed in the grass. + Suddenly a low booming sound—repeated—and repeated. +</p> +<p> + 'Guns?' said the Squire, listening. +</p> +<p> + Elizabeth reminded him of the new artillery camp beyond Fallerton. +</p> +<p> + But the sounds had transformed the April evening. The woods, the + grass, the wood-pigeons in the park had disappeared. The thoughts of + both the on-lookers had gone across the sea to that hell of smoke + and fire, in which their race—in which England!—stood at bay. A + few days—or weeks—or months, would decide. +</p> +<p> + The vastness of the issue, as it came flooding in upon the soul of + Elizabeth, seemed to strain her very life—to make suspense + unbearable. +</p> +<p> + An anguish seized her, and unconsciously her lips framed the + passionate words of an older patriotism— +</p> +<p> + 'Oh! pray—<i>pray for the peace of Jerusalem! They shall prosper that + love thee!</i>' +</p> + +<br><br><br> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13573 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/13573-h/images/front.jpg b/13573-h/images/front.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bdbe0a6 --- /dev/null +++ b/13573-h/images/front.jpg |
