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diff --git a/22943.txt b/22943.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..90e0f14 --- /dev/null +++ b/22943.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11932 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Nebuly Coat, by John Meade Falkner + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Nebuly Coat + +Author: John Meade Falkner + +Release Date: October 11, 2007 [EBook #22943] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NEBULY COAT *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +The Nebuly Coat, by John Meade Falkner. + +________________________________________________________________________ +This extraordinary book was acclaimed on its publication in 1903 as one +of the very best books ever written in the English language. We have +worked for this transcription from the first edition, which was given +two printings, of which we used the second. + +There are not so many actors in the story that the reader is baffled, +and each of them is beautifully drawn, so that their characters stand +out clearly and consistently. It appears that the action of the story +was set in the 1860s. + +There is a sudden death. Was it a murder? It was recorded as an +accidental death in the inquest. If it was a murder then who did it? +There is one possibility, but it is unthinkable. + +Through a very minor accident the whole situation becomes clear: the +mystery is unravelled; the reasons for various earlier actions become +known to us. + +From the very beginning of the book there is sustained tension, and our +interest is kept with ever increasing intensity until we reach the +extraordinary climax in the last words of the book. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +THE NEBULY COAT, BY JOHN MEADE FALKNER. + + +PROLOGUE. + +Sir George Farquhar, Baronet, builder of railway-stations, and +institutes, and churches, author, antiquarian, and senior partner of +Farquhar and Farquhar, leant back in his office chair and turned it +sideways to give more point to his remarks. Before him stood an +understudy, whom he was sending to superintend the restoration work at +Cullerne Minster. + +"Well, good-bye, Westray; keep your eyes open, and don't forget that you +have an important job before you. The church is too big to hide +its light under a bushel, and this +Society-for-the-Conservation-of-National-Inheritances has made up its +mind to advertise itself at our expense. Ignoramuses who don't know an +aumbry from an abacus, charlatans, amateur faddists, they _will_ abuse +our work. Good, bad, or indifferent, it's all one to them; they are +pledged to abuse it." + +His voice rang with a fine professional contempt, but he sobered himself +and came back to business. + +"The south transept roof and the choir vaulting will want careful +watching. There is some old trouble, too, in the central tower; and I +should like later on to underpin the main crossing piers, but there is +no money. For the moment I have said nothing about the tower; it is no +use raising doubts that one can't set at rest; and I don't know how we +are going to make ends meet, even with the little that it is proposed to +do now. If funds come in, we must tackle the tower; but transept and +choir-vaults are more pressing, and there is no risk from the bells, +because the cage is so rotten that they haven't been rung for years. + +"You must do your best. It isn't a very profitable stewardship, so try +to give as good an account of it as you can. We shan't make a penny out +of it, but the church is too well known to play fast-and-loose with. I +have written to the parson--a foolish old fellow, who is no more fit +than a lady's-maid to be trusted with such a church as Cullerne--to say +you are coming to-morrow, and will put in an appearance at the church in +the afternoon, in case he wishes to see you. The man is an ass, but he +is legal guardian of the place, and has not done badly in collecting +money for the restoration; so we must bear with him." + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +Cullerne Wharf of the Ordnance maps, or plain Cullerne as known to the +countryside, lies two miles from the coast to-day; but it was once much +nearer, and figures in history as a seaport of repute, having sent six +ships to fight the Armada, and four to withstand the Dutch a century +later. But in fulness of time the estuary of the Cull silted up, and a +bar formed at the harbour mouth; so that sea-borne commerce was driven +to seek other havens. Then the Cull narrowed its channel, and instead +of spreading itself out prodigally as heretofore on this side or on +that, shrunk to the limits of a well-ordered stream, and this none of +the greatest. The burghers, seeing that their livelihood in the port +was gone, reflected that they might yet save something by reclaiming the +salt-marshes, and built a stone dyke to keep the sea from getting in, +with a sluice in the midst of it to let the Cull out. Thus were formed +the low-lying meadows called Cullerne Flat, where the Freemen have a +right to pasture sheep, and where as good-tasting mutton is bred as on +any _pre-sale_ on the other side of the Channel. But the sea has not +given up its rights without a struggle, for with a south-east wind and +spring-tide the waves beat sometimes over the top of the dyke; and +sometimes the Cull forgets its good behaviour, and after heavy rainfalls +inland breaks all bonds, as in the days of yore. Then anyone looking +out from upper windows in Cullerne town would think the little place had +moved back once more to the seaboard; for the meadows are under water, +and the line of the dyke is scarcely broad enough to make a division in +the view, between the inland lake and the open sea beyond. + +The main line of the Great Southern Railway passes seven miles to the +north of this derelict port, and converse with the outer world was kept +up for many years by carriers' carts, which journeyed to and fro between +the town and the wayside station of Cullerne Road. But by-and-by +deputations of the Corporation of Cullerne, properly introduced by Sir +Joseph Carew, the talented and widely-respected member for that ancient +borough, persuaded the railway company that better communication was +needed, and a branch-line was made, on which the service was scarcely +less primitive than that of the carriers in the past. + +The novelty of the railway had not altogether worn off at the time when +the restorations of the church were entrusted to Messrs. Farquhar and +Farquhar; and the arrival of the trains was still attended by Cullerne +loungers as a daily ceremonial. But the afternoon on which Westray +came, was so very wet that there were no spectators. He had taken a +third-class ticket from London to Cullerne Road to spare his pocket, and +a first-class ticket from the junction to Cullerne to support the +dignity of his firm. But this forethought was wasted, for, except +certain broken-down railway officials, who were drafted to Cullerne as +to an asylum, there were no witnesses of his advent. + +He was glad to learn that the enterprise of the Blandamer Arms led that +family and commercial hotel to send an omnibus to meet all trains, and +he availed himself the more willingly of this conveyance because he +found that it would set him down at the very door of the church itself. +So he put himself and his modest luggage inside--and there was ample +room to do this, for he was the only passenger--plunged his feet into +the straw which covered the floor, and endured for ten minutes such a +shaking and rattling as only an omnibus moving over cobble-stones can +produce. + +With the plans of Cullerne Minster Mr Westray was thoroughly familiar, +but the reality was as yet unknown to him; and when the omnibus lumbered +into the market-place, he could not suppress an exclamation as he first +caught sight of the great church of Saint Sepulchre shutting in the +whole south side of the square. The drenching rain had cleared the +streets of passengers, and save for some peeping-Toms who looked over +the low green blinds as the omnibus passed, the place might indeed have +been waiting for Lady Godiva's progress, all was so deserted. + +The heavy sheets of rain in the air, the misty water-dust raised by the +drops as they struck the roofs, and the vapour steaming from the earth, +drew over everything a veil invisible yet visible, which softened +outlines like the gauze curtain in a theatre. Through it loomed the +Minster, larger and far more mysteriously impressive than Westray had in +any moods imagined. A moment later the omnibus drew up before an iron +gate, from which a flagged pathway led through the churchyard to the +north porch. + +The conductor opened the carriage-door. + +"This is the church, sir," he said, somewhat superfluously. "If you get +out here, I will drive your bag to the hotel." + +Westray fixed his hat firmly on his head, turned up the collar of his +coat, and made a dash through the rain for the door. Deep puddles had +formed in the worn places of the gravestones that paved the alley, and +he splashed himself in his hurry before he reached the shelter of the +porch. He pulled aside the hanging leather mattress that covered a +wicket in the great door, and found himself inside the church. + +It was not yet four o'clock, but the day was so overcast that dusk was +already falling in the building. A little group of men who had been +talking in the choir turned round at the sound of the opening door, and +made towards the architect. The protagonist was a clergyman past middle +age, who wore a stock, and stepped forward to greet the young architect. + +"Sir George Farquhar's assistant, I presume. One of Sir George +Farquhar's assistants I should perhaps say, for no doubt Sir George has +more than one assistant in carrying out his many and varied professional +duties." + +Westray made a motion of assent, and the clergyman went on: "Let me +introduce myself as Canon Parkyn. You will no doubt have heard of me +from Sir George, with whom I, as rector of this church, have had +exceptional opportunities of associating. On one occasion, indeed, Sir +George spent the night under my own roof, and I must say that I think +any young man should be proud of studying under an architect of such +distinguished ability. I shall be able to explain to you very briefly +the main views which Sir George has conceived with regard to the +restoration; but in the meantime let me make you known to my worthy +parishioners--and friends," he added in a tone which implied some doubt +as to whether condescension was not being stretched too far, in +qualifying as friends persons so manifestly inferior. + +"This is Mr Sharnall, the organist, who under my direction presides +over the musical portion of our services; and this is Dr Ennefer, our +excellent local practitioner; and this is Mr Joliffe, who, though +engaged in trade, finds time as churchwarden to assist me in the +supervision of the sacred edifice." + +The doctor and the organist gave effect to the presentation by a nod, +and something like a shrug of the shoulders, which deprecated the +Rector's conceited pomposity, and implied that if such an exceedingly +unlikely contingency as their making friends with Mr Westray should +ever happen, it would certainly not be due to any introduction of Canon +Parkyn. Mr Joliffe, on the other hand, seemed fully to recognise the +dignity to which he was called by being numbered among the Rector's +friends, and with a gracious bow, and a polite "Your servant, sir," made +it plain that he understood how to condescend in his turn, and was +prepared to extend his full protection to a young and struggling +architect. + +Beside these leading actors, there were present the clerk, and a handful +of walking-gentlemen in the shape of idlers who had strolled in from the +street, and who were glad enough to find shelter from the rain, and an +afternoon's entertainment gratuitously provided. + +"I thought you would like to meet me here," said the Rector, "so that I +might point out to you at once the more salient features of the +building. Sir George Farquhar, on the occasion of his last visit, was +pleased to compliment me on the lucidity of the explanations which I +ventured to offer." + +There seemed to be no immediate way of escape, so Westray resigned +himself to the inevitable, and the little group moved up the nave, +enveloped in an atmosphere of its own, of which wet overcoats and +umbrellas were resolvable constituents. The air in the church was raw +and cold, and a smell of sodden matting drew Westray's attention to the +fact that the roofs were not water-tight, and that there were pools of +rain-water on the floor in many places. + +"The nave is the oldest part," said the cicerone, "built about 1135 by +Walter Le Bec." + +"I am very much afraid our friend is too young and inexperienced for the +work here. What do _you_ think?" he put in as a rapid aside to the +doctor. + +"Oh, I dare say if you take him in hand and coach him a little he will +do all right," replied the doctor, raising his eyebrows for the +organist's delectation. + +"Yes, this is all Le Bec's work," the Rector went on, turning back to +Westray. "So sublime the simplicity of the Norman style, is it not? +The nave arcades will repay your close attention; and look at these +wonderful arches in the crossing. Norman, of course, but how light; and +yet strong as a rock to bear the enormous weight of the tower which +later builders reared on them. Wonderful, wonderful!" + +Westray recalled his Chief's doubts about the tower, and looking up into +the lantern saw on the north side a seam of old brick filling; and on +the south a thin jagged fissure, that ran down from the sill of the +lantern-window like the impress of a lightning-flash. There came into +his head an old architectural saw, "The arch never sleeps"; and as he +looked up at the four wide and finely-drawn semicircles they seemed to +say: + +"The arch never sleeps, never sleeps. They have bound on us a burden +too heavy to be borne. We are shifting it. The arch never sleeps." + +"Wonderful, wonderful!" the Rector still murmured. "Daring fellows, +these Norman builders." + +"Yes, yes," Westray was constrained to say; "but they never reckoned +that the present tower would be piled upon their arches." + +"What, _you_ think them a little shaky?" put in the organist. "Well, I +have fancied so, many a time, myself." + +"Oh, I don't know. I dare say they will last our time," Westray +answered in a nonchalant and reassuring tone; for he remembered that, as +regards the tower, he had been specially cautioned to let sleeping dogs +lie, but he thought of the Ossa heaped on Pelion above their heads, and +conceived a mistrust of the wide crossing-arches which he never was able +entirely to shake off. + +"No, no, my young friend," said the Rector with a smile of forbearance +for so mistaken an idea, "do not alarm yourself about these arches. +`Mr Rector,' said Sir George to me the very first time we were here +together, `you have been at Cullerne forty years; have you ever observed +any signs of movement in the tower?' `Sir George,' I said, `will you +wait for your fees until my tower tumbles down?' Ha, ha, ha! He saw +the joke, and we never heard anything more about the tower. Sir George +has, no doubt, given you all proper instructions; but as I had the +privilege of personally showing him the church, you must forgive me if I +ask you to step into the south transept for a moment, while I point out +to you what Sir George considered the most pressing matter." + +They moved into the transept, but the doctor managed to buttonhole +Westray for a moment _en route_. + +"You will be bored to death," he said, "with this man's ignorance and +conceit. Don't pay the least attention to him, but there _is_ one thing +I want to take the first opportunity of pressing on you. Whatever is +done or not done, however limited the funds may be, let us at least have +a sanitary floor. You must have all these stones up, and put a foot or +two of concrete under them. Can anything be more monstrous than that +the dead should be allowed to poison the living? There must be hundreds +of burials close under the floor, and look at the pools of water +standing about. Can anything, I say, be more insanitary?" + +They were in the south transept, and the Rector had duly pointed out the +dilapidations of the roof, which, in truth, wanted but little showing. + +"Some call this the Blandamer aisle," he said, "from a noble family of +that name who have for many years been buried here." + +"_Their_ vaults are, no doubt, in a most insanitary condition," +interpolated the doctor. + +"These Blandamers ought to restore the whole place," the organist said +bitterly. "They would, if they had any sense of decency. They are as +rich as Croesus, and would miss pounds less than most people would miss +pennies. Not that I believe in any of this sanitary talk--things have +gone on well enough as they are; and if you go digging up the floors you +will only dig up pestilences. Keep the fabric together, make the roofs +water-tight, and spend a hundred or two on the organ. That is all we +want, and these Blandamers would do it, if they weren't curmudgeons and +skinflints." + +"You will forgive me, Mr Sharnall," said the Rector, "if I remark that +an hereditary peerage is so important an institution, that we should be +very careful how we criticise any members of it. At the same time," he +went on, turning apologetically to Westray, "there is perhaps a modicum +of reason in our friend's remarks. I had hoped that Lord Blandamer +would have contributed handsomely to the restoration fund, but he has +not hitherto done so, though I dare say that his continued absence +abroad accounts for some delay. He only succeeded his grandfather last +year, and the late lord never showed much interest in this place, and +was indeed in many ways a very strange character. But it's no use +raking up these stories; the old man is gone, and we must hope for +better things from the young one." + +"I don't know why you call him young," said the doctor. "He's young, +maybe, compared to his grandfather, who died at eighty-five; but he must +be forty, if he's a day." + +"Oh, impossible; and yet I don't know. It was in my first year at +Cullerne that his father and mother were drowned. You remember that, +Mr Sharnall--when the _Corisande_ upset in Pallion Bay?" + +"Ay, I mind that well enough," struck in the clerk; "and I mind their +being married, becos' we wor ringing of the bells, when old Mason +Parmiter run into the church, and says: `Do'ant-'ee, boys--do'ant-'ee +ring 'em any more. These yere old tower'll never stand it. I see him +rock,' he says, `and the dust a-running out of the cracks like rain.' +So out we come, and glad enough to stop it, too, because there wos a +feast down in the meadows by the London Road, and drinks and dancing, +and we wanted to be there. That were two-and-forty years ago come Lady +Day, and there was some shook their heads, and said we never ought to +have stopped the ring, for a broken peal broke life or happiness. But +what was we to do?" + +"Did they strengthen the tower afterwards?" Westray asked. "Do you +find any excessive motion when the peal is rung now?" + +"Lor' bless you, sir; them bells was never rung for thirty years afore +that, and wouldn't a been rung then, only Tom Leech, he says: `The ropes +is there, boys; let's have a ring out of these yere tower. He ain't +been rung for thirty year. None on us don't recollect the last time he +_was_ rung, and if 'er were weak then, 'ers had plenty of time to get +strong again, and there'll be half a crown a man for ringing of a peal.' +So up we got to it, till old Parmiter come in to stop us. And you take +my word for it, they never have been rung since. There's only that rope +there"--and he pointed to a bell-rope that came down from the lantern +far above, and was fastened back against the wall--"wot we tolls the +bell with for service, and that ain't the big bell neither." + +"Did Sir George Farquhar know all this?" Westray asked the Rector. + +"No, sir; Sir George did not know it," said the Rector, with some +tartness in his voice, "because it was not material that he should know +it; and Sir George's time, when he was here, was taken up with more +pressing matters. I never heard this old wife's tale myself till the +present moment, and although it is true that we do not ring the bells, +this is on account of the supposed weakness of the cage in which they +swing, and has nothing whatever to do with the tower itself. You may +take my word for that. `Sir George,' I said, when Sir George asked +me--`Sir George, I have been here forty years, and if you will agree not +to ask for your fees till my tower tumbles down, why, I shall be very +glad.' Ha, ha, ha! how Sir George enjoyed that joke! Ha, ha, ha!" + +Westray turned away with a firm resolve to report to headquarters the +story of the interrupted peal, and to make an early examination of the +tower on his own behalf. + +The clerk was nettled that the Rector should treat his story with such +scant respect, but he saw that the others were listening with interest, +and he went on: + +"Well, 'taint for I to say the old tower's a-going to fall, and I hope +Sir Jarge won't ever live to larf the wrong side o' his mouth; but +stopping of a ring never brought luck with it yet, and it brought no +luck to my lord. First he lost his dear son and his son's wife in +Cullerne Bay, and I remember as if 'twas yesterday how we grappled for +'em all night, and found their bodies lying close together on the sand +in three fathoms, when the tide set inshore in the morning. And then he +fell out wi' my lady, and she never spoke to him again--no, not to the +day of her death. They lived at Fording--that's the great hall over +there," he said to Westray, jerking his thumb towards the east--"for +twenty years in separate wings, like you mi'd say each in a house to +themselves. And then he fell out wi' Mr Fynes, his grandson, and +turned him out of house and lands, though he couldn't leave them +anywhere else when he died. 'Tis Mr Fynes as is the young lord now, +and half his life he's bin a wandrer in foreign parts, and isn't come +home yet. Maybe he never will come back. It's like enough he's got +killed out there, or he'd be tied to answer parson's letters. Wouldn't +he, Mr Sharnall?" he said, turning abruptly to the organist with a +wink, which was meant to retaliate for the slight that the Rector had +put on his stories. + +"Come, come; we've had enough of these tales," said the Rector. "Your +listeners are getting tired." + +"The man's in love with his own voice," he added in a lower tone, as he +took Westray by the arm; "when he's once set off there's no stopping +him. There are still a good many points which Sir George and I +discussed, and on which I shall hope to give you our conclusions; but we +shall have to finish our inspection to-morrow, for this talkative fellow +has sadly interrupted us. It is a great pity the light is failing so +fast just now; there is some good painted glass in this end window of +the transept." + +Westray looked up and saw the great window at the end of the transept +shimmering with a dull lustre; light only in comparison with the shadows +that were falling inside the church. It was an insertion of +Perpendicular date, reaching from wall to wall, and almost from floor to +roof. Its vast breadth, parcelled out into eleven lights, and the +infinite division of the stonework in the head, impressed the +imagination; while mullions and tracery stood out in such inky contrast +against the daylight yet lingering outside, that the architect read the +scheme of subarcuation and the tracery as easily as if he had been +studying a plan. Sundown had brought no gleam to lift the pall of the +dying day, but the monotonous grey of the sky was still sufficiently +light to enable a practised eye to make out that the head of the window +was filled with a broken medley of ancient glass, where translucent +blues and yellows and reds mingled like the harmony of an old patchwork +quilt. Of the lower divisions of the window, those at the sides had no +colour to clothe their nakedness, and remained in ghostly whiteness; but +the three middle lights were filled with strong browns and purples of +the seventeenth century. Here and there in the rich colour were +introduced medallions, representing apparently scriptural scenes, and at +the top of each light, under the cusping, was a coat of arms. The head +of the middle division formed the centre of the whole scheme, and seemed +to represent a shield of silver-white crossed by waving sea-green bars. +Westray's attention was attracted by the unusual colouring, and by the +transparency of the glass, which shone as with some innate radiance +where all was dim. He turned almost unconsciously to ask whose arms +were thus represented, but the Rector had left him for a minute, and he +heard an irritating "Ha, ha, ha!" at some distance down the nave, that +convinced him that the story of Sir George Farquhar and the postponed +fees was being retold in the dusk to a new victim. + +Someone, however, had evidently read the architect's thoughts, for a +sharp voice said: + +"That is the coat of the Blandamers--barry nebuly of six, argent and +vert." It was the organist who stood near him in the deepening shadows. +"I forgot that such jargon probably conveys no meaning to you, and, +indeed, I know no heraldry myself excepting only this one coat of arms, +and sometimes wish," he said with a sigh, "that I knew nothing of that +either. There have been queer tales told of that shield, and maybe +there are queerer yet to be told. It has been stamped for good or evil +on this church, and on this town, for centuries, and every tavern loafer +will talk to you about the `nebuly coat' as if it was a thing he wore. +You will be familiar enough with it before you have been a week at +Cullerne." + +There was in the voice something of melancholy, and an earnestness that +the occasion scarcely warranted. It produced a curious effect on +Westray, and led him to look closely at the organist; but it was too +dark to read any emotion in his companion's face, and at this moment the +Rector rejoined them. + +"Eh, what? Ah, yes; the nebuly coat. Nebuly, you know, from the Latin +_nebulum, nebulus_ I should say, a cloud, referring to the wavy outline +of the bars, which are supposed to represent cumulus clouds. Well, +well, it is too dark to pursue our studies further this evening, but +to-morrow I can accompany you the whole day, and shall be able to tell +you much that will interest you." + +Westray was not sorry that the darkness had put a stop to further +investigations. The air in the church grew every moment more clammy and +chill, and he was tired, hungry, and very cold. He was anxious, if +possible, to find lodgings at once, and so avoid the expense of an +hotel, for his salary was modest, and Farquhar and Farquhar were not +more liberal than other firms in the travelling allowances which they +granted their subordinates. + +He asked if anyone could tell him of suitable rooms. + +"I am sorry," the Rector said, "not to be able to offer you the +hospitality of my own house, but the indisposition of my wife +unfortunately makes that impossible. I have naturally but a very slight +acquaintance with lodging-houses or lodging-house keepers; but Mr +Sharnall, I dare say, may be able to give you some advice. Perhaps +there may be a spare room in the house where Mr Sharnall lodges. I +think your landlady is a relation of our worthy friend Joliffe, is she +not, Mr Sharnall? And no doubt herself a most worthy woman." + +"Pardon, Mr Rector," said the churchwarden, in as offended a tone as he +dared to employ in addressing so superior a dignitary--"pardon, no +relation at all, I assure you. A namesake, or, at the nearest, a very +distant connection of whom--I speak with all Christian forbearance--my +branch of the family have no cause to be proud." + +The organist had scowled when the Rector was proposing Westray as a +fellow-lodger, but Joliffe's disclaimer of the landlady seemed to pique +him. + +"If no branch of your family brings you more discredit than my landlady, +you may hold your head high enough. And if all the pork you sell is as +good as her lodgings, your business will thrive. Come along," he said, +taking Westray by the arm; "I have no wife to be indisposed, so I can +offer you the hospitality of my house; and we will stop at Mr Joliffe's +shop on our way, and buy a pound of sausages for tea." + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +There was a rush of outer air into the building as they opened the door. +The rain still fell heavily, but the wind was rising, and had in it a +clean salt smell, that contrasted with the close and mouldering +atmosphere of the church. + +The organist drew a deep breath. + +"Ah," he said, "what a blessed thing to be in the open air again--to be +quit of all their niggling and naggling, to be quit of that pompous old +fool the Rector, and of that hypocrite Joliffe, and of that pedant of a +doctor! Why does he want to waste money on cementing the vaults? It's +only digging up pestilences; and they won't spend a farthing on the +organ. Not a penny on the _Father Smith_, clear and sweet-voiced as a +mountain brook. Oh," he cried, "it's too bad! The naturals are worn +down to the quick, you can see the wood in the gutters of the keys, and +the pedal-board's too short and all to pieces. Ah well! the organ's +like me--old, neglected, worn-out. I wish I was dead." He had been +talking half to himself, but he turned to Westray and said: "Forgive me +for being peevish; you'll be peevish, too, when you come to my age--at +least, if you're as poor then as I am, and as lonely, and have nothing +to look forward to. Come along." + +They stepped out into the dark--for night had fallen--and plashed along +the flagged path which glimmered like a white streamlet between the dark +turves. + +"I will take you a short-cut, if you don't mind some badly-lighted +lanes," said the organist, as they left the churchyard; "it's quicker, +and we shall get more shelter." He turned sharply to the left, and +plunged into an alley so narrow and dark that Westray could not keep up +with him, and fumbled anxiously in the obscurity. The little man +reached up, and took him by the arm. "Let me pilot you," he said; "I +know the way. You can walk straight on; there are no steps." + +There was no sign of life, nor any light in the houses, but it was not +till they reached a corner where an isolated lamp cast a wan and +uncertain light that Westray saw that there was no glass in the windows, +and that the houses were deserted. + +"It's the old part of the town," said the organist; "there isn't one +house in ten with anyone in it now. All we fashionables have moved +further up. Airs from the river are damp, you know, and wharves so very +vulgar." + +They left the narrow street, and came on to what Westray made out to be +a long wharf skirting the river. On the right stood abandoned +warehouses, square-fronted, and huddled together like a row of gigantic +packing-cases; on the left they could hear the gurgle of the current +among the mooring-posts, and the flapping of the water against the quay +wall, where the east wind drove the wavelets up the river. The lines of +what had once been a horse-tramway still ran along the quay, and the +pair had some ado to thread their way without tripping, till a low +building on the right broke the line of lofty warehouses. It seemed to +be a church or chapel, having mullioned windows with stone tracery, and +a bell-turret at the west end; but its most marked feature was a row of +heavy buttresses which shored up the side facing the road. They were +built of brick, and formed triangles with the ground and the wall which +they supported. The shadows hung heavy under the building, but where +all else was black the recesses between the buttresses were blackest. +Westray felt his companion's hand tighten on his arm. + +"You will think me as great a coward as I am," said the organist, "if I +tell you that I never come this way after dark, and should not have come +here to-night if I had not had you with me. I was always frightened as +a boy at the very darkness in the spaces between the buttresses, and I +have never got over it. I used to think that devils and hobgoblins +lurked in those cavernous depths, and now I fancy evil men may be hiding +in the blackness, all ready to spring out and strangle one. It is a +lonely place, this old wharf, and after nightfall--" He broke off, and +clutched Westray's arm. "Look," he said; "do you see nothing in the +last recess?" + +His abruptness made Westray shiver involuntarily, and for a moment the +architect fancied that he discerned the figure of a man standing in the +shadow of the end buttress. But, as he took a few steps nearer, he saw +that he had been deceived by a shadow, and that the space was empty. + +"Your nerves are sadly overstrung," he said to the organist. "There is +no one there; it is only some trick of light and shade. What is the +building?" + +"It was once a chantry of the Grey Friars," Mr Sharnall answered, "and +afterwards was used for excise purposes when Cullerne was a real port. +It is still called the Bonding-House, but it has been shut up as long as +I remember it. Do you believe in certain things or places being bound +up with certain men's destinies? because I have a presentiment that this +broken-down old chapel will be connected somehow or other with a crisis +of my life." + +Westray remembered the organist's manner in the church, and began to +suspect that his mind was turned. The other read his thoughts, and said +rather reproachfully: + +"Oh no, I am not mad--only weak and foolish and very cowardly." + +They had reached the end of the wharf, and were evidently returning to +civilisation, for a sound of music reached them. It came from a little +beer-house, and as they passed they heard a woman singing inside. It +was a rich contralto, and the organist stopped for a moment to listen. + +"She has a fine voice," he said, "and would sing well if she had been +taught. I wonder how she comes here." + +The blind was pulled down, but did not quite reach the bottom of the +window, and they looked in. The rain blurred the pains on the outside, +and the moisture had condensed within, so that it was not easy to see +clearly; but they made out that a Creole woman was singing to a group of +topers who sat by the fire in a corner of the room. She was +middle-aged, but sang sweetly, and was accompanied on the harp by an old +man: + + "Oh, take me back to those I love! + Or bring them here to me! + I have no heart to rove, to rove + Across the rolling sea." + +"Poor thing!" said the organist; "she has fallen on bad days to have so +scurvy a company to sing to. Let us move on." + +They turned to the right, and came in a few minutes to the highroad. +Facing them stood a house which had once been of some pretensions, for +it had a porch carried on pillars, under which a semicircular flight of +steps led up to the double door. A street-lamp which stood before it +had been washed so clean in the rain that the light was shed with +unusual brilliance, and showed even at night that the house was fallen +from its high estate. It was not ruinous, but _Ichabod_ was written on +the paintless window-frames and on the rough-cast front, from which the +plaster had fallen away in more than one place. The pillars of the +porch had been painted to imitate marble, but they were marked with +scabrous patches, where the brick core showed through the broken stucco. + +The organist opened the door, and they found themselves in a +stone-floored hall, out of which dingy doors opened on both sides. A +broad stone staircase, with shallow steps and iron balustrades, led from +the hall to the next story, and there was a little pathway of worn +matting that threaded its way across the flags, and finally ascended the +stairs. + +"Here is my town house," said Mr Sharnall. "It used to be a coaching +inn called The Hand of God, but you must never breathe a word of that, +because it is now a private mansion, and Miss Joliffe has christened it +Bellevue Lodge." + +A door opened while he was speaking, and a girl stepped into the hall. +She was about nineteen, and had a tall and graceful figure. Her warm +brown hair was parted in the middle, and its profusion was gathered +loosely up behind in the half-formal, half-natural style of a preceding +generation. Her face had lost neither the rounded outline nor the +delicate bloom of girlhood, but there was something in it that negatived +any impression of inexperience, and suggested that her life had not been +free from trouble. She wore a close-fitting dress of black, and had a +string of pale corals round her neck. + +"Good-evening, Mr Sharnall," she said. "I hope you are not very wet"-- +and gave a quick glance of inquiry at Westray. + +The organist did not appear pleased at seeing her. He grunted testily, +and, saying "Where is your aunt? Tell her I want to speak to her," led +Westray into one of the rooms opening out of the hall. + +It was a large room, with an upright piano in one corner, and a great +litter of books and manuscript music. A table in the middle was set for +tea; a bright fire was burning in the grate, and on either side of it +stood a rush-bottomed armchair. + +"Sit down," he said to Westray; "this is my reception-room, and we will +see in a minute what Miss Joliffe can do for _you_." He glanced at his +companion, and added, "That was her niece we met in the passage," in so +unconcerned a tone as to produce an effect opposite to that intended, +and to lead Westray to wonder whether there was any reason for his +wishing to keep the girl in the background. + +In a few moments the landlady appeared. She was a woman of sixty, tall +and spare, with a sweet and even distinguished face. She, too, was +dressed in black, well-worn and shabby, but her appearance suggested +that her thinness might be attributed to privation or self-denial, +rather than to natural habit. + +Preliminaries were easily arranged; indeed, the only point of discussion +was raised by Westray, who was disturbed by scruples lest the terms +which Miss Joliffe offered were too low to be fair to herself. He said +so openly, and suggested a slight increase, which, after some demur, was +gratefully accepted. + +"You are too poor to have so fine a conscience," said the organist +snappishly. "If you are so scrupulous now, you will be quite unbearable +when you get rich with battening and fattening on this restoration." +But he was evidently pleased with Westray's consideration for Miss +Joliffe, and added with more cordiality: "You had better come down and +share my meal; your rooms will be like an ice-house such a night as +this. Don't be long, or the turtle will be cold, and the ortolans baked +to a cinder. I will excuse evening dress, unless you happen to have +your court suit with you." + +Westray accepted the invitation with some willingness, and an hour later +he and the organist were sitting in the rush-bottomed armchairs at +either side of the fireplace. Miss Joliffe had herself cleared the +table, and brought two tumblers, wine-glasses, sugar, and a jug of +water, as if they were natural properties of the organist's +sitting-room. + +"I did Churchwarden Joliffe an injustice," said Mr Sharnall, with the +reflective mood that succeeds a hearty meal; "his sausages are good. +Put on some more coal, Mr Westray; it is a sinful luxury, a fire in +September, and coal at twenty-five shillings a ton; but we must have +_some_ festivity to inaugurate the restoration and your advent. Fill a +pipe yourself, and then pass me the tobacco." + +"Thank you, I do not smoke," Westray said; and, indeed, he did not look +like a smoker. He had something of the thin, unsympathetic traits of +the professional water-drinker in his face, and spoke as if he regarded +smoking as a crime for himself, and an offence for those of less lofty +principles than his own. + +The organist lighted his pipe, and went on: + +"This is an airy house--sanitary enough to suit our friend the doctor; +every window carefully ventilated on the crack-and-crevice principle. +It was an old inn once, when there were more people hereabouts; and if +the rain beats on the front, you can still read the name through the +colouring--the Hand of God. There used to be a market held outside, and +a century or more ago an apple-woman sold some pippins to a customer +just before this very door. He said he had paid for them, and she said +he had not; they came to wrangling, and she called Heaven to justify +her. `God strike me dead if I have ever touched your money!' She was +taken at her word, and fell dead on the cobbles. They found clenched in +her hand the two coppers for which she had lost her soul, and it was +recognised at once that nothing less than an inn could properly +commemorate such an exhibition of Divine justice. So the Hand of God +was built, and flourished while Cullerne flourished, and fell when +Cullerne fell. It stood empty ever since I can remember it, till Miss +Joliffe took it fifteen years ago. She elevated it into Bellevue Lodge, +a select boarding-house, and spent what little money that niggardly +landlord old Blandamer would give for repairs, in painting out the Hand +of God on the front. It was to be a house of resort for Americans who +came to Cullerne. They say in our guide-book that Americans come to see +Cullerne Church because some of the Pilgrim Fathers' fathers are buried +in it; but I've never seen any Americans about. They never come to me; +I have been here boy and man for sixty years, and never knew an American +do a pennyworth of good to Cullerne Church; and they never did a +pennyworth of good for Miss Joliffe, for none of them ever came to +Bellevue Lodge, and the select boarding-house is so select that you and +I are the only boarders." He paused for a minute and went on: +"Americans--no, I don't think much of Americans; they're too hard for +me--spend a lot of money on their own pleasure, and sometimes cut a dash +with a big donation, where they think it will be properly trumpeted. +But they haven't got warm hearts. I don't care for Americans. Still, +if you know any about, you can say I am quite venal; and if any one of +them restores my organ, I am prepared to admire the whole lot. Only +they must give a little water-engine for blowing it into the bargain. +Shutter, the organist of Carisbury Cathedral, has just had a +water-engine put in, and, now we've got our own new waterworks at +Cullerne, we could manage it very well here too." + +The subject did not interest Westray, and he flung back: + +"Is Miss Joliffe very badly off?" he asked; "she looks like one of those +people who have seen better days." + +"She is worse than badly off--I believe she is half starved. I don't +know how she lives at all. I wish I could help her, but I haven't a +copper myself to jingle on a tombstone, and she is too proud to take it +if I had." + +He went to a cupboard in a recess at the back of the room, and took out +a squat black bottle. + +"Poverty's a chilly theme," he said; "let's take something to warm us +before we go on with the variations." + +He pushed the bottle towards his friend, but, though Westray felt +inclined to give way, the principles of severe moderation which he had +recently adopted restrained him, and he courteously waved away the +temptation. + +"You're hopeless," said the organist. "What are we to do for you, who +neither smoke nor drink, and yet want to talk about poverty? This is +some _eau-de-vie_ old Martelet the solicitor gave me for playing the +Wedding March at his daughter's marriage. `The Wedding March was +magnificently rendered by the organist, Mr John Sharnall,' you know, as +if it was the Fourth Organ-Sonata. I misdoubt this ever having paid +duty; he's not the man to give away six bottles of anything he'd paid +the excise upon." + +He poured out a portion of spirit far larger than Westray had expected, +and then, becoming intuitively aware of his companion's surprise, said +rather sharply: "If you despise good stuff, I must do duty for us both. +Up to the top of the church windows is a good maxim." And he poured in +yet more, till the spirit rose to the top of the cuts, which ran higher +than half-way up the sides of the tumbler. There was silence for a few +minutes, while the organist puffed testily at his pipe; but a copious +draught from the tumbler melted his chagrin, and he spoke again: + +"I've had a precious hard life, but Miss Joliffe's had a harder; and +I've got myself to thank for my bad luck, while hers is due to other +people. First, her father died. He had a farm at Wydcombe, and people +thought he was well off; but when they came to reckon up, he only left +just enough to go round among his creditors; so Miss Euphemia gave up +the house, and came into Cullerne. She took this rambling great place +because it was cheap at twenty pounds a year, and lived, or half lived, +from hand to mouth, giving her niece (the girl you saw) all the grains, +and keeping the husks for herself. Then a year ago turned up her +brother Martin, penniless and broken, with paralysis upon him. He was a +harum-scarum ne'er-do-well. Don't stare at me with that +Saul-among-the-prophets look; _he_ never drank; he would have been a +better man if he had." And the organist made a further call on the +squat bottle. "He would have given her less bother if he had drunk, but +he was always getting into debt and trouble, and then used to come back +to his sister, as to a refuge, because he knew she loved him. He was +clever enough--brilliant they call it now--but unstable as water, with +no lasting power. I don't believe he meant to sponge on his sister; I +don't think he knew he did sponge, only he sponged. He would go off on +his travels, no one knew where, though they knew well what he was +seeking. Sometimes he was away two months, and sometimes he was away +two years; and then, when Miss Joliffe had kept Anastasia--I mean her +niece--all the time, and perhaps got a summer lodger, and seemed to be +turning the corner, back would come Martin again to beg money for debts, +and eat them out of house and home. I've seen that many a time, and +many a time my heart has ached for them; but what could I do to help? I +haven't a farthing. Last he came back a year ago, with death written on +his face. I was glad enough to read it there, and think he was come for +the last time to worry them; but it was paralysis, and he a strong man, +so that it took that fool Ennefer a long time to kill him. He only died +two months ago; here's better luck to him where he's gone." + +The organist drank as deeply as the occasion warranted. + +"Don't look so glum, man," he said; "I'm not always as bad as this, +because I haven't always the means. Old Martelet doesn't give me brandy +every day." + +Westray smoothed away the deprecating expression with which he had felt +constrained to discountenance such excesses, and set Mr Sharnall's +tongue going again with a question: + +"What did you say Joliffe used to go away for?" + +"Oh, it's a long story; it's the nebuly coat again. I spoke of it in +the church--the silver and sea-green that turned his head. He would +have it he wasn't a Joliffe at all, but a Blandamer, and rightful heir +to Fording. As a boy, he went to Cullerne Grammar School, and did well, +and got a scholarship at Oxford. He did still better there, and just +when he seemed starting strong in the race of life, this nebuly coat +craze seized him and crept over his mind, like the paralysis that crept +over his body later on." + +"I don't quite follow you," Westray said. "Why did he think he was a +Blandamer? Did he not know who his father was?" + +"He was brought up as a son of old Michael Joliffe, a yeoman who died +fifteen years ago. But Michael married a woman who called herself a +widow, and brought a three-year-old son ready-made to his wedding; and +that son was Martin. Old Michael made the boy his own, was proud of his +cleverness, would have him go to college, and left him all he had. +There was no talk of Martin being anything but a Joliffe till Oxford +puffed him up, and then he got this crank, and spent the rest of his +life trying to find out who his father was. It was a forty-years' +wandering in the wilderness; he found this clue and that, and thought at +last he had climbed Pisgah and could see the promised land. But he had +to be content with the sight, or mirage I suppose it was, and died +before he tasted the milk and honey." + +"What was his connection with the nebuly coat? What made him think he +was a Blandamer?" + +"Oh, I can't go into that now," the organist said; "I have told you too +much, perhaps, already. You won't let Miss Joliffe guess I have said +anything, will you? She is Michael Joliffe's own child--his only +child--but she loved her half-brother dearly, and doesn't like his +cranks being talked about. Of course, the Cullerne wags had many a tale +to tell of him, and when he came back, greyer each time and +wilder-looking, from his wanderings, they called him `Old Nebuly,' and +the boys would make their bow in the streets, and say `Good-morning, +Lord Blandamer.' You'll hear stories enough about him, and it was a +bitter thing for his poor sister to bear, to see her brother a butt and +laughing-stock, all the time that he was frittering away her savings. +But it's all over now, and Martin's gone where they don't wear nebuly +coats." + +"There was nothing in his fancies, I suppose?" Westray asked. + +"You must put that to wiser folk than me," said the organist lightly; +"ask the Rector, or the doctor, or some really clever man." + +He had fallen back into his sneering tone, but there was something in +his words that recalled a previous doubt, and led Westray to wonder +whether Mr Sharnall had not lived so long with the Joliffes as to have +become himself infected with Martin's delusions. + +His companion was pouring out more brandy, and the architect wished him +good-night. + +Mr Westray's apartment was on the floor above, and he went at once to +his bedroom; for he was very tired with his journey, and with standing +so long in the church during the afternoon. He was pleased to find that +his portmanteau had been unpacked, and that his clothes were carefully +arranged in the drawers. This was a luxury to which he was little +accustomed; there was, moreover, a fire to fling cheerful flickerings on +spotlessly white curtains and bedlinen. + +Miss Joliffe and Anastasia had between them carried the portmanteau up +the great well-staircase of stone, which ran from top to bottom of the +house. It was a task of some difficulty, and there were frequent pauses +to take breath, and settings-down of the portmanteau to rest aching +arms. But they got it up at last, and when the straps were undone Miss +Euphemia dismissed her niece. + +"No, my dear," she said; "let _me_ set the things in order. It is not +seemly that a young girl should arrange men's clothes. There was a time +when I should not have liked to do so myself, but now I am so old it +does not very much matter." + +She gave a glance at the mirror as she spoke, adjusted a little bit of +grizzled hair which had strayed from under her cap, and tried to arrange +the bow of ribbon round her neck so that the frayed part should be as +far as possible concealed. Anastasia Joliffe thought, as she left the +room, that there were fewer wrinkles and a sweeter look than usual in +the old face, and wondered that her aunt had never married. Youth +looking at an old maid traces spinsterhood to man's neglect. It is so +hard to read in sixty's plainness the beauty of sixteen--to think that +underneath the placidity of advancing years may lie buried, yet +unforgotten, the memory of suits urged ardently, and quenched long ago +in tears. + +Miss Euphemia put everything carefully away. The architect's wardrobe +was of the most modest proportions, but to her it seemed well furnished, +and even costly. She noted, however, with the eye of a sportsman +marking down a covey, sundry holes, rents, and missing buttons, and +resolved to devote her first leisure to their rectification. Such +mending, in anticipation and accomplishment, forms, indeed, a +well-defined and important pleasure of all properly constituted women +above a certain age. + +"Poor young man!" she said to herself. "I am afraid he has had no one +to look after his clothes for a long time." And in her pity she rushed +into the extravagance of lighting the bedroom fire. + +After things were arranged upstairs, she went down to see that all was +in order in Mr Westray's sitting-room, and, as she moved about there, +she heard the organist talking to the architect in the room below. His +voice was so deep and raucous that it seemed to jar the soles of her +feet. She dusted lightly a certain structure which, resting in tiers +above the chimney-piece, served to surround a looking-glass with +meaningless little shelves and niches. Miss Joliffe had purchased this +piece-of-resistance when Mrs Cazel, the widow of the ironmonger, had +sold her household effects preparatory to leaving Cullerne. + +"It is an overmantel, my dear," she had said to dubious Anastasia, when +it was brought home. "I did not really mean to buy it, but I had not +bought anything the whole morning, and the auctioneer looked so fiercely +at me that I felt I must make a bid. Then no one else said anything, so +here it is; but I dare say it will serve to smarten the room a little, +and perhaps attract lodgers." + +Since then it had been brightened with a coat of blue enamel paint, and +a strip of Brusa silk which Martin had brought back from one of his +wanderings was festooned at the side, so as to hide a patch where the +quicksilver showed signs of peeling off. Miss Joliffe pulled the +festoon a little forward, and adjusted in one of the side niches a +present-for-a-good-girl cup and saucer which had been bought for herself +at Beacon Hill Fair half a century ago. She wiped the glass dome that +covered the basket of artificial fruit, she screwed up the +"banner-screen" that projected from the mantelpiece, she straightened +out the bead mat on which the stereoscope stood, and at last surveyed +the room with an expression of complete satisfaction on her kindly face. + +An hour later Westray was asleep, and Miss Joliffe was saying her +prayers. She added a special thanksgiving for the providential +direction to her house of so suitable and gentlemanly a lodger, and a +special request that he might be happy whilst he should be under her +roof. But her devotions were disturbed by the sound of Mr Sharnall's +piano. + +"He plays most beautifully," she said to her niece, as she put out the +candle; "but I wish he would not play so late. I am afraid I have not +thought so earnestly as I should at my prayers." + +Anastasia Joliffe said nothing. She was grieved because the organist +was thumping out old waltzes, and she knew by his playing that he had +been drinking. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +The Hand of God stood on the highest point in all the borough, and Mr +Westray's apartments were in the third story. From the window of his +sitting-room he could look out over the houses on to Cullerne Flat, the +great tract of salt-meadows that separated the town from the sea. In +the foreground was a broad expanse of red-tiled roofs; in the middle +distance Saint Sepulchre's Church, with its tower and soaring ridges, +stood out so enormous that it seemed as if every house in the place +could have been packed within its walls; in the background was the blue +sea. + +In summer the purple haze hangs over the mouth of the estuary, and +through the shimmer of the heat off the marsh, can be seen the silver +windings of the Cull as it makes its way out to sea, and snow-white +flocks of geese, and here and there the gleaming sail of a +pleasure-boat. But in autumn, as Westray saw it for the first time, the +rank grass is of a deeper green, and the face of the salt-meadows is +seamed with irregular clay-brown channels, which at high-tide show out +like crows'-feet on an ancient countenance, but at the ebb dwindle to +little gullies with greasy-looking banks and a dribble of iridescent +water in the bottom. It is in the autumn that the moles heap up +meanders of miniature barrows, built of the softest brown loam; and in +the turbaries the turf-cutters pile larger and darker stacks of peat. + +Once upon a time there was another feature in the view, for there could +have been seen the masts and yards of many stately ships, of timber +vessels in the Baltic trade, of tea-clippers, and Indiamen, and emigrant +ships, and now and then the raking spars of a privateer owned by +Cullerne adventurers. All these had long since sailed for their last +port, and of ships nothing more imposing met the eye than the mast of +Dr Ennefer's centre-board laid up for the winter in a backwater. Yet +the scene was striking enough, and those who knew best said that nowhere +in the town was there so fine an outlook as from the upper windows of +the Hand of God. + +Many had looked out from those windows upon that scene: the skipper's +wife as her eyes followed her husband's barque warping down the river +for the voyage from which he never came back; honeymoon couples who +broke the posting journey from the West at Cullerne, and sat hand in +hand in summer twilight, gazing seaward till the white mists rose over +the meadows and Venus hung brightening in the violet sky; old Captain +Frobisher, who raised the Cullerne Yeomanry, and watched with his +spy-glass for the French vanguard to appear; and, lastly, Martin +Joliffe, as he sat dying day by day in his easy-chair, and scheming how +he would spend the money when he should come into the inheritance of all +the Blandamers. + +Westray had finished breakfast, and stood for a time at the open window. +The morning was soft and fine, and there was that brilliant clearness +in the air that so often follows heavy autumn rain. His full enjoyment +of the scene was, however, marred by an obstruction which impeded free +access to the window. It was a case of ferns, which seemed to be formed +of an aquarium turned upside down, and supported by a plain wooden +table. Westray took a dislike to the dank-looking plants, and to the +moisture beaded on the glass inside, and made up his mind that the ferns +must be banished. He would ask Miss Joliffe if she could take them +away, and this determination prompted him to consider whether there were +any other articles of furniture with which it would be advisable to +dispense. + +He made a mental inventory of his surroundings. There were several +pieces of good mahogany furniture, including some open-backed chairs, +and a glass-fronted book-case, which were survivals from the yeoman's +equipment at Wydcombe Farm. They had been put up for auction with the +rest of Michael Joliffe's effects, but Cullerne taste considered them +old-fashioned, and no bidders were found for them. Many things, on the +other hand, such as bead mats, and wool-work mats, and fluff mats, a +case of wax fruit, a basket of shell flowers, chairs with worsted-work +backs, sofa-cushions with worsted-work fronts, two cheap vases full of +pampas-grass, and two candlesticks with dangling prisms, grated sadly on +Westray's taste, which he had long since been convinced was of all +tastes the most impeccable. There were a few pictures on the walls--a +coloured representation of young Martin Joliffe in Black Forest costume, +a faded photograph of a boating crew, and another of a group in front of +some ruins, which was taken when the Carisbury Field Club made an +expedition to Wydcombe Abbey. Besides these, there were conventional +copies in oils of a shipwreck, and an avalanche, and a painting of +still-life representing a bowl full of flowers. + +This last picture weighed on Westray's mind by reason of its size, its +faulty drawing, and vulgar, flashy colours. It hung full in front of +him while he sat at breakfast, and though its details amused him for the +time, he felt it would become an eyesore if he should continue to occupy +the room. In it was represented the polished top of a mahogany table on +which stood a blue and white china bowl filled with impossible flowers. +The bowl occupied one side of the picture, and the other side was given +up to a meaningless expanse of table-top. The artist had perceived, but +apparently too late, the bad balance of the composition, and had +endeavoured to redress this by a few more flowers thrown loose upon the +table. Towards these flowers a bulbous green caterpillar was wriggling, +at the very edge of the table, and of the picture. + +The result of Westray's meditations was that the fern-case and the +flower-picture stood entirely condemned. He would approach Miss Joliffe +at the earliest opportunity about their removal. He anticipated little +trouble in modifying by degrees many other smaller details, but previous +experience in lodgings had taught him that the removal of pictures is +sometimes a difficult and delicate problem. + +He opened his rolls of plans, and selecting those which he required, +prepared to start for the church, where he had to arrange with the +builder for the erection of scaffolding. He wished to order dinner +before he left, and pulled a broad worsted-work bell-pull to summon his +landlady. For some little time he had been aware of the sound of a +fiddle, and as he listened, waiting for the bell to be answered, the +intermittance and reiteration of the music convinced him that the +organist was giving a violin lesson. His first summons remained +unanswered, and when a second attempt met with no better success, he +gave several testy pulls in quick succession. This time he heard the +music cease, and made no doubt that his indignant ringing had attracted +the notice of the musicians, and that the organist had gone to tell Miss +Joliffe that she was wanted. + +He was ruffled by such want of attention, and when there came at last a +knock at his door, was quite prepared to expostulate with his landlady +on her remissness. As she entered the room, he began, without turning +from his drawings: + +"Never knock, please, when you answer the bell; but I do wish you--" + +Here he broke off, for on looking up he found he was speaking, not to +the elder Miss Joliffe, but to her niece Anastasia. The girl was +graceful, as he had seen the evening before, and again he noticed the +peculiar fineness of her waving brown hair. His annoyance had +instantaneously vanished, and he experienced to the full the +embarrassment natural to a sensitive mind on finding a servant's role +played by a lady, for that Anastasia Joliffe was a lady he had no doubt +at all. Instead of blaming her, he seemed to be himself in fault for +having somehow brought about an anomalous position. + +She stood with downcast eyes, but his chiding tone had brought a slight +flush to her cheeks, and this flush began a discomfiture for Westray, +that was turned into a rout when she spoke. + +"I am very sorry, I am afraid I have kept you waiting. I did not hear +your bell at first, because I was busy in another part of the house, and +then I thought my aunt had answered it. I did not know she was out." + +It was a low, sweet voice, with more of weariness in it than of +humility. If he chose to blame her, she was ready to take the blame; +but it was Westray who now stammered some incoherent apologies. Would +she kindly tell Miss Joliffe that he would be in for dinner at one +o'clock, and that he was quite indifferent as to what was provided for +him. The girl showed some relief at his blundering courtesy, and it was +not till she had left the room that Westray recollected that he had +heard that Cullerne was celebrated for its red mullet; he had meant to +order red mullet for dinner. Now that he was mortifying the flesh by +drinking only water, he was proportionately particular to please his +appetite in eating. Yet he was not sorry that he had forgotten the +fish; it would surely have been a bathos to discuss the properties and +application of red mullet with a young lady who found herself in so +tragically lowly a position. + +After Westray had set out for the church, Anastasia Joliffe went back to +Mr Sharnall's room, for it was she who had been playing the violin. +The organist sat at the piano, drumming chords in an impatient and +irritated way. + +"Well," he said, without looking at her as she came in--"well, what does +my lord want with my lady? What has he made you run up to the top of +the house for now? I wish I could wring his neck for him. Here we are +out of breath, as usual, and our hands shaking; we shan't be able to +play even as well as we did before, and that isn't saying much. Why," +he cried, as he looked at her, "you're as red as a turkey-cock. I +believe he's been making love to you." + +"Mr Sharnall," she retorted quickly, "if you say those things I will +never come to your room again. I hate you when you speak like that, and +fancy you are not yourself." + +She took her violin, and putting it under her arm, plucked arpeggi +sharply. + +"There," he said, "don't take all I say so seriously; it is only because +I am out of health and out of temper. Forgive me, child; I know well +enough that there'll be no lovemaking with you till the right man comes, +and I hope he never will come, Anastasia--I hope he never will." + +She did not accept or refuse his excuses, but tuned a string that had +gone down. + +"Good heavens!" he said, as she walked to the music-stand to play; +"can't you hear the A's as flat as a pancake?" + +She tightened the string again without speaking, and began the movement +in which they had been interrupted. But her thoughts were not with the +music, and mistake followed mistake. + +"What _are_ you doing?" said the organist. "You're worse than you were +when we began five years ago. It's mere waste of time for you to go on, +and for me, too." + +Then he saw that she was crying in the bitterness of vexation, and swung +round on his music-stool without getting up. + +"Anstice, I didn't mean it, dear. I didn't mean to be such a brute. +You are getting on well--well; and as for wasting my time, why, I +haven't got anything to do, nor anyone to teach except you, and you know +I would slave all day and all night, too, if I could give you any +pleasure by it. Don't cry. Why are you crying?" + +She laid the violin on the table, and sitting down in that rush-bottomed +chair in which Westray had sat the night before, put her head between +her hands and burst into tears. + +"Oh," she said between her sobs in a strange and uncontrolled +voice--"oh, I am so miserable--_everything_ is so miserable. There are +father's debts not paid, not even the undertaker's bill paid for his +funeral, and no money for anything, and poor Aunt Euphemia working +herself to death. And now she says she will have to sell the little +things we have in the house, and then when there is a chance of a decent +lodger, a quiet, gentlemanly man, you go and abuse him, and say these +rude things to me, because he rings the bell. How does he know aunt is +out? how does he know she won't let me answer the bell when she's in? +Of course, he thinks we have a servant, and then _you_ make me so sad. +I couldn't sleep last night, because I knew you were drinking. I heard +you when we went to bed playing trashy things that you hate except when +you are not yourself. It makes me ill to think that you have been with +us all these years, and been so kind to me, and now are come to this. +Oh, do not do it! Surely we all are wretched enough, without your +adding this to our wretchedness." + +He got up from the stool and took her hand. + +"Don't, Anstice--don't! I broke myself of it before, and I will break +myself again. It was a woman drove me to it then, and sent me down the +hill, and now I didn't know there was a living soul would care whether +old Sharnall drank himself to death or not. If I could only think there +was someone who cared; if I could only think you cared." + +"Of course I care"--and as she felt his hand tighten she drew her own +lightly away--"of course we care--poor aunt and I--or she would care, if +she knew, only she is so good she doesn't guess. I hate to see those +horrid glasses taken in after your supper. It used to be so different, +and I loved to hear the `Pastoral' and `Les Adieux' going when the house +was still." + +It is sad when man's unhappiness veils from him the smiling face of +nature. The promise of the early morning was maintained. The sky was +of a translucent blue, broken with islands and continents of clouds, +dazzling white like cotton-wool. A soft, warm breeze blew from the +west, the birds sang merrily in every garden bush, and Cullerne was a +town of gardens, where men could sit each under his own vine and +fig-tree. The bees issued forth from their hives, and hummed with +cheery droning chorus in the ivy-berries that covered the wall-tops with +deep purple. The old vanes on the corner pinnacles of Saint Sepulchre's +tower shone as if they had been regilt. Great flocks of plovers flew +wheeling over Cullerne marsh, and flashed with a blinking silver gleam +as they changed their course suddenly. Even through the open window of +the organist's room fell a shaft of golden sunlight that lit up the +peonies of the faded, threadbare carpet. + +But inside beat two poor human hearts, one unhappy and one hopeless, and +saw nothing of the gold vanes, or the purple ivy-berries, or the +plovers, or the sunlight, and heard nothing of the birds or the bees. + +"Yes, I will give it up," said the organist, though not quite so +enthusiastically as before; and as he moved closer to Anastasia Joliffe, +she got up and left the room, laughing as she went out. + +"I must get the potatoes peeled, or you will have none for dinner." + +Mr Westray, being afflicted neither with poverty nor age, but having a +good digestion and entire confidence both in himself and in his +prospects, could fully enjoy the beauty of the day. He walked this +morning as a child of the light, forsaking the devious back-ways through +which the organist had led him on the previous night, and choosing the +main streets on his road to the church. He received this time a +different impression of the town. The heavy rain had washed the +pavements and roadway, and as he entered the Market Square he was struck +with the cheerfulness of the prospect, and with the air of quiet +prosperity which pervaded the place. + +On two sides of the square the houses overhung the pavement, and formed +an arcade supported on squat pillars of wood. Here were situated some +of the best "establishments," as their owners delighted to call them. +Custance, the grocer; Rose and Storey, the drapers, who occupied the +fronts of no less than three houses, and had besides a "department" +round the corner "exclusively devoted to tailoring"; Lucy, the +bookseller, who printed the _Cullerne Examiner_, and had published +several of Canon Parkyn's sermons, as well as a tractate by Dr Ennefer +on the means adopted in Cullerne for the suppression of cholera during +the recent outbreak; Calvin, the saddler; Miss Adcutt, of the toy-shop; +and Prior, the chemist, who was also postmaster. In the middle of the +third side stood the Blandamer Arms, with a long front of buff, low +green blinds, and window-sashes grained to imitate oak. At the edge of +the pavement before the inn were some stone mounting steps, and by them +stood a tall white pole, on which swung the green and silver of the +nebuly coat itself. On either side of the Blandamer Arms clustered a +few more modern shops, which, possessing no arcade, had to be content +with awnings of brown stuff with red stripes. One of these places of +business was occupied by Mr Joliffe, the pork-butcher. He greeted +Westray through the open window. + +"Good-morning. About your work betimes, I see," pointing to the roll of +drawings which the architect carried under his arm. "It is a great +privilege, this restoration to which you are called," and here he +shifted a chop into a more attractive position on the show-board--"and I +trust blessing will attend your efforts. I often manage to snatch a few +minutes from the whirl of business about mid-day myself, and seek a +little quiet meditation in the church. If you are there then, I shall +be glad to give you any help in my power. Meanwhile, we must both be +busy with our own duties." + +He began to turn the handle of a sausage-machine, and Westray was glad +to be quit of his pious words, and still more of his insufferable +patronage. + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +The north side of Cullerne Church, which faced the square, was still in +shadow, but, as Westray stepped inside, he found the sunshine pouring +through the south windows, and the whole building bathed in a flood of +most mellow light. There are in England many churches larger than that +of Saint Sepulchre, and fault has been found with its proportions, +because the roof is lower than in some other conventual buildings of its +size. Yet, for all this, it is doubtful whether architecture has ever +produced a composition more truly dignified and imposing. + +The nave was begun by Walter Le Bec in 1135, and has on either side an +arcade of low, round-headed arches. These arches are divided from one +another by cylindrical pillars, which have no incised ornamentation, as +at Durham or Waltham or Lindisfarne, nor are masked with Perpendicular +work, as in the nave of Winchester or in the choir of Gloucester, but +rely for effect on severe plainness and great diameter. Above them is +seen the dark and cavernous depth of the triforium, and higher yet the +clerestory with minute and infrequent openings. Over all broods a stone +vault, divided across and diagonally by the chevron-mouldings of heavy +vaulting-ribs. + +Westray sat down near the door, and was so engrossed in the study of the +building and in the strange play of the shafts of sunlight across the +massive stonework, that half an hour passed before he rose to walk up +the church. + +A solid stone screen separates the choir from the nave, making, as it +were, two churches out of one; but as Westray opened the doors between +them, he heard four voices calling to him, and, looking up, saw above +his head the four tower arches. "The arch never sleeps," cried one. +"They have bound on us a burden too heavy to be borne," answered +another. "We never sleep," said the third; and the fourth returned to +the old refrain, "The arch never sleeps, never sleeps." + +As he considered them in the daylight, he wondered still more at their +breadth and slenderness, and was still more surprised that his Chief had +made so light of the settlement and of the ominous crack in the south +wall. + +The choir is a hundred and forty years later than the nave, ornate Early +English, with a multiplication of lancet-windows which rich +hood-mouldings group into twos and threes, and at the east end into +seven. Here are innumerable shafts of dark-grey purbeck marble, +elaborate capitals, deeply undercut foliage, and broad-winged angels +bearing up the vaulting shafts on which rests the sharply-pointed roof. + +The spiritual needs of Cullerne were amply served by this portion of the +church alone, and, except at confirmations or on Militia Sunday, the +congregation never overflowed into the nave. All who came to the +minster found there full accommodation, and could indeed worship in much +comfort; for in front of the canopied stalls erected by Abbot Vinnicomb +in 1530 were ranged long rows of pews, in which green baize and brass +nails, cushions and hassocks, and Prayer-Book boxes ministered to the +devotion of the occupants. Anybody who aspired to social status in +Cullerne rented one of these pews, but for as many as could not afford +such luxury in their religion there were provided other seats of deal, +which had, indeed, no baize or hassocks, nor any numbers on the doors, +but were, for all that, exceedingly appropriate and commodious. + +The clerk was dusting the stalls as the architect entered the choir, and +made for him at once as the hawk swoops on its quarry. Westray did not +attempt to escape his fate, and hoped, indeed, that from the old man's +garrulity he might glean some facts of interest about the building, +which was to be the scene of his work for many months to come. But the +clerk preferred to talk of people rather than of things, and the +conversation drifted by easy stages to the family with whom Westray had +taken up his abode. + +The doubt as to the Joliffe ancestry, in the discussion of which Mr +Sharnall had shown such commendable reticence, was not so sacred to the +clerk. He rushed in where the organist had feared to tread, nor did +Westray feel constrained to check him, but rather led the talk to Martin +Joliffe and his imaginary claims. + +"Lor' bless you!" said the clerk, "I was a little boy myself when +Martin's mother runned away with the soldier, yet mind well how it was +in everybody's mouth. But folks in Cullerne like novelties; it's all +old-world talk now, and there ain't one perhaps, beside me and Rector, +could tell you _that_ tale. Sophia Flannery her name was when Farmer +Joliffe married her, and where he found her no one knew. He lived up at +Wydcombe Farm, did Michael Joliffe, where his father lived afore him, +and a gay one he was, and dressed in yellow breeches and a blue +waistcoat all his time. Well, one day he gave out he was to be married, +and came into Cullerne, and there was Sophia waiting for him at the +Blandamer Arms, and they were married in this very church. She had a +three-year-old boy with her then, and put about she was a widow, though +there were many who thought she couldn't show her marriage lines if +she'd been asked for them. But p'raps Farmer Joliffe never asked to see +'em, or p'raps he knew all about it. A fine upstanding woman she was, +with a word and a laugh for everyone, as my father told me many a time; +and she had a bit of money beside. Every quarter, up she'd go to London +town to collect her rents, so she said, and every time she'd come back +with terrible grand new clothes. She dressed that fine, and had such a +way with her, the people called her Queen of Wydcombe. Wherever she +come from, she had a boarding-school education, and could play and sing +beautiful. Many a time of a summer evening we lads would walk up to +Wydcombe, and sit on the fence near the farm, to hear Sophy a-singing +through the open window. She'd a pianoforty, too, and would sing +powerful long songs about captains and moustachers and broken hearts, +till people was nearly fit to cry over it. And when she wasn't singing +she was painting. My old missis had a picture of flowers what she +painted, and there was a lot more sold when they had to give up the +farm. But Miss Joliffe wouldn't part with the biggest of 'em, though +there was many would ha' liked to buy it. No, she kep' that one, and +has it by her to this day--a picture so big as a signboard, all covered +with flowers most beautiful." + +"Yes, I've seen that," Westray put in; "it's in my room at Miss +Joliffe's." + +He said nothing about its ugliness, or that he meant to banish it, not +wishing to wound the narrator's artistic susceptibilities, or to +interrupt a story which began to interest him in spite of himself. + +"Well, to be sure!" said the clerk, "it used to hang in the best parlour +at Wydcombe over the sideboard; I seed'n there when I was a boy, and my +mother was helping spring-clean up at the farm. `Look, Tom,' my mother +said to me, `did 'ee ever see such flowers? and such a pritty +caterpillar a-going to eat them!' You mind, a green caterpillar down in +the corner." + +Westray nodded, and the clerk went on: + +"`Well, Mrs Joliffe,' says my mother to Sophia, `I never want for to +see a more beautiful picture than that.' And Sophia laughed, and said +my mother know'd a good picture when she saw one. Some folks 'ud stand +her out, she said, that 'tweren't worth much, but she knew she could get +fifty or a hundred pound or more for't any day she liked to sell, if she +took it to the right people. _Then_ she'd soon have the laugh of those +that said it were only a daub; and with that she laughed herself, for +she were always laughing and always jolly. + +"Michael were well pleased with his strapping wife, and used to like to +see the people stare when he drove her into Cullerne Market in the high +cart, and hear her crack jokes with the farmers what they passed on the +way. Very proud he was of her, and prouder still when one Saturday he +stood all comers glasses round at the Blandamer, and bid 'em drink to a +pritty little lass what his wife had given him. Now he'd got a brace of +'em, he said; for he'd kep' that other little boy what Sophia brought +when she married him, and treated the child for all the world as if he +was his very son. + +"So 'twas for a year or two, till the practice-camp was put up on +Wydcombe Down. I mind that summer well, for 'twere a fearful hot one, +and Joey Garland and me taught ourselves to swim in the sheep-wash down +in Mayo's Meads. And there was the white tents all up the hillside, and +the brass band a-playing in the evenings before the officers' +dinner-tent. And sometimes they would play Sunday afternoons too; and +Parson were terrible put about, and wrote to the Colonel to say as how +the music took the folk away from church, and likened it to the worship +of the golden calf, when `the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose +up again to play.' But Colonel never took no notice of it, and when +'twas a fine evening there was a mort of people trapesing over the +Downs, and some poor lasses wished afterwards they'd never heard no +music sweeter than the clar'net and bassoon up in the gallery of +Wydcombe Church. + +"Sophia was there, too, a good few times, walking round first on her +husband's arm, and afterwards on other people's; and some of the boys +said they had seen her sitting with a redcoat up among the +juniper-bushes. 'Twas Michaelmas Eve before they moved the camp, and +'twas a sorry goose was eat that Michaelmas Day at Wydcombe Farm; for +when the soldiers went, Sophia went too, and left Michael and the farm +and the children, and never said good-bye to anyone, not even to the +baby in the cot. 'Twas said she ran off with a sergeant, but no one +rightly knew; and if Farmer Joliffe made any search and found out, he +never told a soul; and she never come back to Wydcombe. + +"She never come back to Wydcombe," he said under his breath, with +something that sounded like a sigh. Perhaps the long-forgotten break-up +of Farmer Joliffe's home had touched him, but perhaps he was only +thinking of his own loss, for he went on: "Ay, many's the time she would +give a poor fellow an ounce of baccy, and many's the pound of tea she +sent to a labourer's cottage. If she bought herself fine clothes, she'd +give away the old ones; my missis has a fur tippet yet that her mother +got from Sophy Joliffe. She was free with her money, whatever else she +mid have been. There wasn't a labourer on the farm but what had a good +word for her; there wasn't one was glad to see her back turned. + +"Poor Michael took on dreadful at the first, though he wasn't the man to +say much. He wore his yellow breeches and blue waistcoat just the same, +but lost heart for business, and didn't go to market so reg'lar as he +should. Only he seemed to stick closer by the children--by Martin that +never know'd his father, and little Phemie that never know'd her mother. +Sophy never come back to visit 'em by what I could learn; but once I +seed her myself twenty years later, when I took the hosses over to sell +at Beacon Hill Fair. + +"That was a black day, too, for 'twas the first time Michael had to +raise the wind by selling aught of his'n. He'd got powerful thin then, +had poor master, and couldn't fill the blue waistcoat and yellow +breeches like he used to, and _they_ weren't nothing so gay by then +themselves neither. + +"`Tom,' he said--that's me, you know--`take these here hosses over to +Beacon Hill, and sell 'em for as much as 'ee can get, for I want the +money.' + +"`What, sell the best team, dad!' says Miss Phemie--for she was standing +by--`you'll never sell the best team with White-face and old +Strike-a-light!' And the hosses looked up, for they know'd their names +very well when she said 'em. + +"`Don't 'ee take on, lass,' he said; `we'll buy 'em back again come Lady +Day.' + +"And so I took 'em over, and knew very well why he wanted the money; for +Mr Martin had come back from Oxford, wi' a nice bit of debt about his +neck, and couldn't turn his hand to the farm, but went about saying he +was a Blandamer, and Fording and all the lands belonged to he by right. +'Quiries he was making, he said, and gadded about here and there, +spending a mort of time and money in making 'quiries that never came to +nothing. 'Twas a black day, that day, and a thick rain falling at +Beacon Hill, and all the turf cut up terrible. The poor beasts was wet +through, too, and couldn't look their best, because they knowed they was +going to be sold; and so the afternoon came, and never a bid for one of +'em. `Poor old master!' says I to the horses, `what'll 'ee say when we +get back again?' And yet I was glad-like to think me and they weren't +going to part. + +"Well, there we was a-standing in the rain, and the farmers and the +dealers just give us a glimpse, and passed by without a word, till I see +someone come along, and that was Sophia Joliffe. She didn't look a year +older nor when I met her last, and her face was the only cheerful thing +we saw that afternoon, as fresh and jolly as ever. She wore a yellow +mackintosh with big buttons, and everybody turned to measure her up as +she passed. There was a horse-dealer walking with her, and when the +people stared, he looked at her just so proud as Michael used to look +when he drove her in to Cullerne Market. She didn't take any heed of +the hosses, but she looked hard at me, and when she was passed turned +her head to have another look, and then she come back. + +"`Bain't you Tom Janaway,' says she, `what used to work up to Wydcombe +Farm?' + +"`Ay, that I be,' says I, but stiff-like, for it galled me to think what +she'd a-done for master, and yet could look so jolly with it all. + +"She took no note that I were glum, but `Whose hosses is these?' she +asked. + +"`Your husband's, mum,' I made bold to say, thinking to take her down a +peg. But, lor'! she didn't care a rush for that, but `Which o' my +husbands?' says she, and laughed fit to bust, and poked the horse-dealer +in the side. He looked as if he'd like to throttle her, but she didn't +mind that neither. `What for does Michael want to sell his hosses?' + +"And then I lost my pluck, and didn't think to humble her any more, but +just told her how things was, and how I'd stood the blessed day, and +never got a bid. She never asked no questions, but I see her eyes +twinkle when I spoke of Master Martin and Miss Phemie; and then she +turned sharp to the horse-dealer and said: + +"`John, these is fine horses; you buy these cheap-like, and we can sell +'em again to-morrow.' + +"Then he cursed and swore, and said the hosses was old scraws, and he'd +be damned afore he'd buy such hounds'-meat. + +"`John,' says she, quite quiet, `'tain't polite to swear afore ladies. +These here is good hosses, and I want you to buy 'em.' + +"Then he swore again, but she'd got his measure, and there was a mighty +firm look in her face, for all she laughed so; and by degrees he quieted +down and let her talk. + +"`How much do you want for the four of 'em, young man?' she says; and I +had a mind to say eighty pounds, thinking maybe she'd rise to that for +old times' sake, but didn't like to say so much for fear of spoiling the +bargain. `Come,' she says, `how much? Art thou dumb? Well, if thou +won't fix the price, I'll do it for 'ee. Here, John, you bid a hundred +for this lot.' + +"He stared stupid-like, but didn't speak. + +"Then she look at him hard. + +"`You've got to do it,' she says, speaking low, but very firm; and out +he comes with, `Here, I'll give 'ee a hundred.' But before I had time +to say `Done,' she went on: `No--this young man says no; I can see it in +his face; he don't think 'tis enough; you try him with a hundred and +twenty.' + +"'Twas as if he were overlooked, for he says quite mild, `Well, I'll +give 'ee a hundred and twenty.' + +"`Ay, that's better,' says she; `he says that's better.' And she takes +out a little leather wallet from her bosom, holding it under the flap of +her waterproof so that the rain shouldn't get in, and counts out two +dozen clean banknotes, and puts 'em into my hand. There was many more +where they come from, for I could see the book was full of 'em; and when +she saw my eyes on them, she takes out another, and gives it me, with, +`There's one for thee, and good luck to 'ee; take that, and buy a +fairing for thy sweetheart, Tom Janaway, and never say Sophy Flannery +forgot an old friend.' + +"`Thank 'ee kindly, mum,' says I; `thank 'ee kindly, and may you never +miss it! I hope your rents do still come in reg'lar, mum.' + +"She laughed out loud, and said there was no fear of that; and then she +called a lad, and he led off White-face and Strike-a-light and Jenny and +the Cutler, and they was all gone, and the horse-dealer and Sophia, +afore I had time to say good-night. She never come into these parts +again--at least, I never seed her; but I heard tell she lived a score of +years more after that, and died of a broken blood-vessel at Beriton +Races." + +He moved a little further down the choir, and went on with his dusting; +but Westray followed, and started him again. + +"What happened when you got back? You haven't told me what Farmer +Joliffe said, nor how you came to leave farming and turn clerk." + +The old man wiped his forehead. + +"I wasn't going to tell 'ee that," he said, "for it do fair make I sweat +still to think o' it; but you can have it if you like. Well, when they +was gone, I was nigh dazed with such a stroke o' luck, and said the +Lord's Prayer to see I wasn't dreaming. But 'twas no such thing, and so +I cut a slit in the lining of my waistcoat, and dropped the notes in, +all except the one she give me for myself, and that I put in my +fob-pocket. 'Twas getting dark, and I felt numb with cold and wet, what +with standing so long in the rain and not having bite nor sup all day. + +"'Tis a bleak place, Beacon Hill, and 'twas so soft underfoot that day +the water'd got inside my boots, till they fair bubbled if I took a +step. The rain was falling steady, and sputtered in the naphtha-lamps +that they was beginning to light up outside the booths. There was one +powerful flare outside a long tent, and from inside there come a smell +of fried onions that made my belly cry `Please, master, please!' + +"`Yes, my lad,' I said to un, `I'm darned if I don't humour 'ee; thou +shan't go back to Wydcombe empty.' So in I step, and found the tent +mighty warm and well lit, with men smoking and women laughing, and a +great smell of cooking. There were long tables set on trestles down the +tent, and long benches beside 'em, and folks eating and drinking, and a +counter cross the head of the room, and great tin dishes simmering a-top +of it--trotters and sausages and tripe, bacon and beef and colliflowers, +cabbage and onions, blood-puddings and plum-duff. It seemed like a +chance to change my banknote, and see whether 'twere good and not +elf-money that folks have found turn to leaves in their pocket. So up I +walks, and bids 'em gie me a plate of beef and jack-pudding, and holds +out my note for't. The maid--for 'twas a maid behind the counter--took +it, and then she looks at it and then at me, for I were very wet and +muddy; and then she carries it to the gaffer, and he shows it to his +wife, who holds it up to the light, and then they all fall to talking, +and showed it to a 'cise-man what was there marking down the casks. + +"The people sitting nigh saw what was up, and fell to staring at me till +I felt hot enough, and lief to leave my note where 'twas, and get out +and back to Wydcombe. But the 'cise-man must have said 'twere all +right, for the gaffer comes back with four gold sovereigns and nineteen +shillings, and makes a bow and says: + +"`Your servant, sir; can I give you summat to drink?' + +"I looked round to see what liquor there was, being main glad all the +while to find the note were good; and he says: + +"`Rum and milk is very helping, sir; try the rum and milk hot.' + +"So I took a pint of rum and milk, and sat down at the nighest table, +and the people as were waiting to see me took up, made room now, and +stared as if I'd been a lord. I had another plate o' beef, and another +rum-and-milk, and then smoked a pipe, knowing they wouldn't make no +bother of my being late that night at Wydcombe, when I brought back two +dozen banknotes. + +"The meat and drink heartened me, and the pipe and the warmth of the +tent seemed to dry my clothes and take away the damp, and I didn't feel +the water any longer in my boots. The company was pleasant, too, and +some very genteel dealers sitting near. + +"`My respec's to you, sir,' says one, holding up his glass to me--`best +respec's. These pore folk isn't used to the flimsies, and was a bit +surprised at your paper-money; but directly I see you, I says to my +friends, "Mates, that gentleman's one of us; that's a monied man, if +ever I see one." I knew you for a gentleman the minute you come in.' + +"So I was flattered like, and thought if they made so much o' one +banknote, what'd they say to know I'd got a pocket full of them? But +didn't speak nothing, only chuckled a bit to think I could buy up half +the tent if I had a mind to. After that I stood 'em drinks, and they +stood me, and we passed a very pleasant evening--the more so because +when we got confidential, and I knew they were men of honour, I proved +that I was worthy to mix with such by showing 'em I had a packet of +banknotes handy. They drank more respec's, and one of them said as how +the liquor we were swallowing weren't fit for such a gentleman as me; so +he took a flask out o' his pocket, and filled me a glass of his own tap, +what his father 'ud bought in the same year as Waterloo. 'Twas powerful +strong stuff that, and made me blink to get it down; but I took it with +a good face, not liking to show I didn't know old liquor when it come my +way. + +"So we sat till the tent was very close, and them hissing naphtha-lamps +burnt dim with tobacco-smoke. 'Twas still raining outside, for you +could hear the patter heavy on the roof; and where there was a belly in +the canvas, the water began to come through and drip inside. There was +some rough talking and wrangling among folk who had been drinking; and I +knew I'd had as much as I could carry myself, 'cause my voice sounded +like someone's else, and I had to think a good bit before I could get +out the words. 'Twas then a bell rang, and the 'size-man called out, +`Closing time,' and the gaffer behind the counter said, `Now, my lads, +good-night to 'ee; hope the fleas won't bite 'ee. God save the Queen, +and give us a merry meeting to-morrow.' So all got up, and pulled their +coats over their ears to go out, except half a dozen what was too heavy, +and was let lie for the night on the grass under the trestles. + +"I couldn't walk very firm myself, but my friends took me one under each +arm; and very kind of them it was, for when we got into the open air, I +turned sleepy and giddy-like. I told 'em where I lived to, and they +said never fear, they'd see me home, and knew a cut through the fields +what'd take us to Wydcombe much shorter. We started off, and went a bit +into the dark; and then the very next thing I know'd was something +blowing in my face, and woke up and found a white heifer snuffing at me. +'Twas broad daylight, and me lying under a hedge in among the +cuckoo-pints. I was wet through, and muddy (for 'twas a loamy ditch), +and a bit dazed still, and sore ashamed; but when I thought of the +bargain I'd made for master, and of the money I'd got in my waistcoat, I +took heart, and reached in my hand to take out the notes, and see they +weren't wasted with the wet. + +"But there was no notes there--no, not a bit of paper, for all I turned +my waistcoat inside out, and ripped up the lining. 'Twas only half a +mile from Beacon Hill that I was lying, and I soon made my way back to +the fair-ground, but couldn't find my friends of the evening before, and +the gaffer in the drinking-tent said he couldn't remember as he'd ever +seen any such. I spent the livelong day searching here and there, till +the folks laughed at me, because I looked so wild with drinking the +night before, and with sleeping out, and with having nothing to eat; for +every penny was took from me. I told the constable, and he took it all +down, but I see him looking at me the while, and at the torn lining +hanging out under my waistcoat, and knew he thought 'twas only a light +tale, and that I had the drink still in me. 'Twas dark afore I give it +up, and turned to go back. + +"'Tis seven mile good by the nigh way from Beacon Hill to Wydcombe; and +I was dog-tired, and hungry, and that shamed I stopped a half-hour on +the bridge over Proud's mill-head, wishing to throw myself in and ha' +done with it, but couldn't bring my mind to that, and so went on, and +got to Wydcombe just as they was going to bed. They stared at me, +Farmer Michael, and Master Martin, and Miss Phemie, as if I was a +spirit, while I told my tale; but I never said as how 'twas Sophia +Joliffe as had bought the horses. Old Michael, he said nothing, but had +a very blank look on his face, and Miss Phemie was crying; but Master +Martin broke out saying 'twas all make-up, and I'd stole the money, and +they must send for a constable. + +"`'Tis lies,' he said. `This fellow's a rogue, and too great a fool +even to make up a tale that'll hang together. Who's going to believe a +woman 'ud buy the team, and give a hundred and twenty pounds in notes +for hosses that 'ud be dear at seventy pounds? Who was the woman? Did +'ee know her? There must be many in the fair 'ud know such a woman. +They ain't so common as go about with their pockets full of banknotes, +and pay double price for hosses what they buy.' + +"I knew well enough who'd bought 'em, but didn't want to give her name +for fear of grieving Farmer Joliffe more nor he was grieved already, so +said nothing, but held my peace. + +"Then the farmer says: `Tom, I believe 'ee; I've know'd 'ee thirty year, +and never know'd 'ee tell a lie, and I believe 'ee now. But if thou +knows her name, tell it us, and if thou doesn't know, tell us what she +looked like, and maybe some of us 'll guess her.' + +"But still I didn't say aught till Master Martin goes on: + +"`Out with her name. He must know her name right enough, if there ever +was a woman as did buy the hosses; and don't you be so soft, father, as +to trust such fool's tales. We'll get a constable for 'ee. Out with +her name, I say.' + +"Then I was nettled like, at his speaking so rough, when the man that +suffered had forgiven me, and said: + +"`Yes, I know her name right enough, if 'ee will have it. 'Twas the +missis.' + +"`Missis?' he says; `what missis?' + +"`Your mother,' says I. `She was with a man, but he weren't the man she +runned away from here with, and she made he buy the team.' + +"Master Martin didn't say any more, and Miss Phemie went on crying; but +there was a blanker look come on old master's face, and he said very +quiet: + +"`There, that'll do, lad. I believe 'ee, and forgive thee. Don't +matter much to I now if I have lost a hundred pound. 'Tis only my luck, +and if 'tweren't lost there, 'twould just as like be lost somewhere +else. Go in and wash thyself, and get summat to eat; and if I forgive +'ee this time, don't 'ee ever touch the drink again.' + +"`Master,' I says, `I thank 'ee, and if I ever get a bit o' money I'll +pay thee back what I can; and there's my sacred word I'll never touch +the drink again.' + +"I held him out my hand, and he took it, for all 'twas so dirty. + +"`That's right, lad; and to-morrow we'll put the p'leece on to trace +them fellows down.' + +"I kep' my promise, Mr--Mr--Mr--" + +"Westray," the architect suggested. + +"I didn't know your name, you see, because Rector never introduced _me_ +yesterday. I kep' my promise, Mr Westray, and bin teetotal ever since; +but he never put the p'leece on the track, for he was took with a stroke +next morning early, and died a fortnight later. They laid him up to +Wydcombe nigh his father and his grandfather, what have green rails +round their graves; and give his yellow breeches and blue waistcoat to +Timothy Foord the shepherd, and he wore them o' Sundays for many a year +after that. I left farming the same day as old master was put +underground, and come into Cullerne, and took odd jobs till the sexton +fell sick, and then I helped dig graves; and when he died they made I +sexton, and that were forty years ago come Whitsun." + +"Did Martin Joliffe keep on the farm after his father's death?" Westray +asked, after an interval of silence. + +They had wandered along the length of the stalls as they talked, and +were passing through the stone screen which divides the minster into two +parts. The floor of the choir at Cullerne is higher by some feet than +that of the rest of the church, and when they stood on the steps which +led down into the nave, the great length of the transepts opened before +them on either side. The end of the north transept, on the outside of +which once stood the chapter-house and dormitories of the monastery, has +only three small lancet-windows high up in the wall, but at the south +end of the cross-piece there is no wall at all, for the whole space is +occupied by Abbot Vinnicomb's window, with its double transoms and +infinite subdivisions of tracery. Thus is produced a curious contrast, +for, while the light in the rest of the church is subdued to sadness by +the smallness of the windows, and while the north transept is the most +sombre part of all the building, the south transept, or Blandamer aisle, +is constantly in clear daylight. Moreover, while the nave is of the +Norman style, and the transepts and choir of the Early English, this +window is of the latest Perpendicular, complicated in its scheme, and +meretricious in the elaboration of its detail. The difference is so +great as to force itself upon the attention even of those entirely +unacquainted with architecture, and it has naturally more significance +for the professional eye. Westray stood a moment on the steps as he +repeated his question: + +"Did Martin keep on the farm?" + +"Ay, he kep' it on, but he never had his heart in it. Miss Phemie did +the work, and would have been a better farmer than her father, if Martin +had let her be; but he spent a penny for every ha'penny she made, till +all came to the hammer. Oxford puffed him up, and there was no one to +check him; so he must needs be a gentleman, and give himself all kinds +of airs, till people called him `Gentleman Joliffe,' and later on `Old +Neb'ly' when his mind was weaker. 'Twas that turned his brain," said +the sexton, pointing to the great window; "'twas the silver and green +what done it." + +Westray looked up, and in the head of the centre light saw the nebuly +coat shining among the darker painted glass with a luminosity which was +even more striking in daylight than in the dusk of the previous evening. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +After a week's trial, Westray made up his mind that Miss Joliffe's +lodgings would suit him. It was true that the Hand of God was somewhat +distant from the church, but, then, it stood higher than the rest of the +town, and the architect's fads were not confined to matters of eating +and drinking, but attached exaggerated importance to bracing air and the +avoidance of low-lying situations. He was pleased also by the +scrupulous cleanliness pervading the place, and by Miss Joliffe's +cooking, which a long experience had brought to some perfection, so far +as plain dishes were concerned. + +He found that no servant was kept, and that Miss Joliffe never allowed +her niece to wait at table, so long as she herself was in the house. +This occasioned him some little inconvenience, for his naturally +considerate disposition made him careful of overtaxing a landlady no +longer young. He rang his bell with reluctance, and when he did so, +often went out on to the landing and shouted directions down the +well-staircase, in the hopes of sparing any unnecessary climbing of the +great nights of stone steps. This consideration was not lost upon Miss +Joliffe, and Westray was flattered by an evident anxiety which she +displayed to retain him as a lodger. + +It was, then, with a proper appreciation of the favour which he was +conferring, that he summoned her one evening near teatime, to +communicate to her his intention of remaining at Bellevue Lodge. As an +outward and visible sign of more permanent tenure, he decided to ask for +the removal of some of those articles which did not meet his taste, and +especially of the great flower-picture that hung over the sideboard. + +Miss Joliffe was sitting in what she called her study. It was a little +apartment at the back of the house (once the still-room of the old inn), +to which she retreated when any financial problem had to be grappled. +Such problems had presented themselves with unpleasant frequency for +many years past, and now her brother's long illness and death brought +about something like a crisis in the weary struggle to make two and two +into five. She had spared him no luxury that illness is supposed to +justify, nor was Martin himself a man to be over-scrupulous in such +matters. Bedroom fires, beef-tea, champagne, the thousand and one +little matters which scarcely come within the cognisance of the rich, +but tax so heavily the devotion of the poor, had all left their mark on +the score. That such items should figure in her domestic accounts, +seemed to Miss Joliffe so great a violation of the rules which govern +prudent housekeeping, that all the urgency of the situation was needed +to free her conscience from the guilt of extravagance--from that +_luxuria_ or wantonness, which leads the van among the seven deadly +sins. + +Philpotts the butcher had half smiled, half sighed to see sweetbreads +entered in Miss Joliffe's book, and had, indeed, forgotten to keep +record of many a similar purchase; using that kindly, quiet charity +which the recipient is none the less aware of, and values the more from +its very unostentation. So, too, did Custance the grocer tremble in +executing champagne orders for the thin and wayworn old lady, and gave +her full measure pressed down and running over in teas and sugars, to +make up for the price which he was compelled to charge for such +refinements in the way of wine. Yet the total had mounted up in spite +of all forbearance, and Miss Joliffe was at this moment reminded of +its gravity by the gold-foil necks of three bottles of the +universally-appreciated Duc de Bentivoglio brand, which still projected +from a shelf above her head. Of Dr Ennefer's account she scarcely +dared even to think; and there was perhaps less need of her doing so, +for he never sent it in, knowing very well that she would pay it as she +could, and being quite prepared to remit it entirely if she could never +pay it at all. + +She appreciated his consideration, and overlooked with rare tolerance a +peculiarly irritating breach of propriety of which he was constantly +guilty. This was nothing less than addressing medicines to her house as +if it were still an inn. Before Miss Joliffe moved into the Hand of +God, she had spent much of the little allowed her for repairs, in +covering up the name of the inn painted on the front. But after heavy +rains the great black letters stared perversely through their veil, and +the organist made small jokes about it being a difficult thing to thwart +the Hand of God. Silly and indecorous, Miss Joliffe termed such +witticisms, and had Bellevue House painted in gold upon the fanlight +over the door. But the Cullerne painter wrote Bellevue too small, and +had to fill up the space by writing House too large; and the organist +sneered again at the disproportion, saying it should have been the other +way, for everyone knew it was a house, but none knew it was Bellevue. + +And then Dr Ennefer addressed his medicine to "Mr Joliffe, The Hand"-- +not even to The Hand of God, but simply The Hand; and Miss Joliffe eyed +the bottles askance as they lay on the table in the dreary hall, and +tore the wrappers off them quickly, holding her breath the while that no +exclamation of impatience might escape her. Thus, the kindly doctor, in +the hurry of his workaday life, vexed, without knowing it, the heart of +the kindly lady, till she was constrained to retire to her study, and +read the precepts about turning the other cheek to the smiters, before +she could quite recover her serenity. + +Miss Joliffe sat in her study considering how Martin's accounts were to +be met. Her brother, throughout his disorderly and unbusinesslike life, +had prided himself on orderly and business habits. It was true that +these were only manifested in the neat and methodical arrangement of his +bills, but there he certainly excelled. He never paid a bill; it was +believed it never occurred to him to pay one; but he folded each account +to exactly the same breadth, using the cover of an old glove-box as a +gauge, wrote very neatly on the outside the date, the name of the +creditor, and the amount of the debt, and with an indiarubber band +enrolled it in a company of its fellows. Miss Joliffe found drawers +full of such disheartening packets after his death, for Martin had a +talent for distributing his favours, and of planting small debts far and +wide, which by-and-by grew up into a very upas forest. + +Miss Joliffe's difficulties were increased a thousandfold by a letter +which had reached her some days before, and which raised a case of +conscience. It lay open on the little table before her: + + "139, New Bond Street. + + "Madam, + + "We are entrusted with a commission to purchase several pictures of + still-life, and believe that you have a large painting of flowers for + the acquiring of which we should be glad to treat. The picture to + which we refer was formerly in the possession of the late Michael + Joliffe, Esquire, and consists of a basket of flowers on a mahogany + table, with a caterpillar in the left-hand corner. We are so sure of + our client's taste and of the excellence of the painting that we are + prepared to offer for it a sum of fifty pounds, and to dispense with + any previous inspection. + + "We shall be glad to receive a reply at your early convenience, and in + the meantime + + "We remain, madam, + + "Your most obedient servants, + + "Baunton and Lutterworth." + +Miss Joliffe read this letter for the hundredth time, and dwelt with +unabated complacency on the "formerly in the possession of the late +Michael Joliffe, Esquire." There was about the phrase something of +ancestral dignity and importance that gratified her, and dulled the +sordid bitterness of her surroundings. "The late Michael Joliffe, +Esquire"--it read like a banker's will; and she was once more Euphemia +Joliffe, a romantic girl sitting in Wydcombe church of a summer Sunday +morning, proud of a new sprigged muslin, and proud of many tablets to +older Joliffes on the walls about her; for yeomen in Southavonshire have +pedigrees as well as Dukes. + +At first sight it seemed as if Providence had offered her in this letter +a special solution of her difficulties, but afterwards scruples had +arisen that barred the way of escape. "A large painting of flowers"-- +her father had been proud of it--proud of his worthless wife's work; and +when she herself was a little child, had often held her up in his arms +to see the shining table-top and touch the caterpillar. The wound his +wife had given him must still have been raw, for that was only a year +after Sophia had left him and the children; yet he was proud of her +cleverness, and perhaps not without hope of her coming back. And when +he died he left to poor Euphemia, then half-way through the dark gorge +of middle age, an old writing-desk full of little tokens of her mother-- +the pair of gloves she wore at her wedding, a flashy brooch, a pair of +flashy earrings, and many other unconsidered trifles that he had +cherished. He left her, too, Sophia's long wood paint-box, with its +little bottles of coloured powders for mixing oil-paints, and this same +"basket of flowers on a mahogany table, with a caterpillar in the +left-hand corner." + +There had always been a tradition as to the value of this picture. Her +father had spoken little of his wife to the children, and it was only +piecemeal, as she grew into womanhood, that Miss Euphemia learnt from +hints and half-told truths the story of her mother's shame. But Michael +Joliffe was known to have considered this painting his wife's +masterpiece, and old Mrs Janaway reported that Sophia had told her many +a time it would fetch a hundred pounds. Miss Euphemia herself never had +any doubt as to its worth, and so the offer in this letter occasioned +her no surprise. She thought, in fact, that the sum named was +considerably less than its market value, but sell it she could not. It +was a sacred trust, and the last link (except the silver spoons marked +"J.") that bound the squalid present to the comfortable past. It was an +heirloom, and she could never bring herself to part with it. + +Then the bell rang, and she slipped the letter into her pocket, smoothed +the front of her dress, and climbed the stone stairs to see what Mr +Westray wanted. The architect told her that he hoped to remain as her +lodger during his stay in Cullerne, and he was pleased at his own +magnanimity when he saw what pleasure the announcement gave Miss +Joliffe. She felt it as a great relief, and consented readily enough to +take away the ferns, and the mats, and the shell flowers, and the wax +fruit, and to make sundry small alterations of the furniture which he +desired. It seemed to her, indeed, that, considering he was an +architect, Mr Westray's taste was strangely at fault; but she extended +to him all possible forbearance, in view of his kindly manner and of his +intention to remain with her. Then the architect approached the removal +of the flower-painting. He hinted delicately that it was perhaps rather +too large for the room, and that he should be glad of the space to hang +a plan of Cullerne Church, to which he would have constantly to refer. +The rays of the setting sun fell full on the picture at the time, and, +lighting up its vulgar showiness, strengthened him in his resolution to +be free of it at any cost. But the courage of his attack flagged a +little, as he saw the look of dismay which overspread Miss Joliffe's +face. + +"I think, you know, it is a little too bright and distracting for this +room, which will really be my workshop." + +Miss Joliffe was now convinced that her lodger was devoid of all +appreciation, and she could not altogether conceal her surprise and +sadness in replying: + +"I am sure I want to oblige you in every way, sir, and to make you +comfortable, for I always hope to have gentlefolk for my lodgers, and +could never bring myself to letting the rooms down by taking anyone who +was not a gentleman; but I hope you will not ask me to move the picture. +It has hung here ever since I took the house, and my brother, `the late +Martin Joliffe'"--she was unconsciously influenced by the letter which +she had in her pocket, and almost said "the late Martin Joliffe, +Esquire"--"thought very highly of it, and used to sit here for hours in +his last illness studying it. I hope you will not ask me to move the +picture. You may not be aware, perhaps, that, besides being painted by +my mother, it is in itself a very valuable work of art." + +There was a suggestion, however faint, in her words, of condescension +for her lodger's bad taste, and a desire to enlighten his ignorance +which nettled Westray; and he contrived in his turn to throw a tone of +superciliousness into his reply. + +"Oh, of course, if you wish it to remain from sentimental reasons, I +have nothing more to say, and I must not criticise your mother's work; +but--" And he broke off, seeing that the old lady took the matter so +much to heart, and being sorry that he had been ruffled at a trifle. + +Miss Joliffe gulped down her chagrin. It was the first time she had +heard the picture openly disparaged, though she had thought that on more +than one occasion it had not been appreciated so much as it deserved. +But she carried a guarantee of its value in her pocket, and could afford +to be magnanimous. + +"It has always been considered very valuable," she went on, "though I +daresay I do not myself understand all its beauties, because I have not +been sufficiently trained in art. But I am quite sure that it could be +sold for a great deal of money, if I could only bring myself to part +with it." + +Westray was irritated by the hint that he knew little of art, and his +sympathy for his landlady in her family attachment to the picture was +much discounted by what he knew must be wilful exaggeration as to its +selling value. + +Miss Joliffe read his thoughts, and took a piece of paper from her +pocket. + +"I have here," she said, "an offer of fifty pounds for the picture from +some gentlemen in London. Please read it, that you may see it is not I +who am mistaken." + +She held him out the dealers' letter, and Westray took it to humour her. +He read it carefully, and wondered more and more as he went on. What +could be the explanation? Could the offer refer to some other picture? +for he knew Baunton and Lutterworth as being most reputable among London +picture-dealers; and the idea of the letter being a hoax was precluded +by the headed paper and general style of the communication. He glanced +at the picture. The sunlight was still on it, and it stood out more +hideous than ever; but his tone was altered as he spoke again to Miss +Joliffe. + +"Do you think," he said, "that this is the picture mentioned? Have you +no other pictures?" + +"No, nothing of this sort. It is certainly this one; you see, they +speak of the caterpillar in the corner." And she pointed to the bulbous +green animal that wriggled on the table-top. + +"So they do," he said; "but how did they know anything about it?"--quite +forgetting the question of its removal in the new problem that was +presented. + +"Oh, I fancy that most really good paintings are well-known to dealers. +This is not the first inquiry we have had, for the very day of my dear +brother's death a gentleman called here about it. None of us were at +home except my brother, so I did not see him; but I believe he wanted to +buy it, only my dear brother would never have consented to its being +sold." + +"It seems to me a handsome offer," Westray said; "I should think very +seriously before I refused it." + +"Yes, it is very serious to me in my position," answered Miss Joliffe; +"for I am not rich; but I could not sell this picture. You see, I have +known it ever since I was a little girl, and my father set such store by +it. I hope, Mr Westray, you will not want it moved. I think, if you +let it stop a little, you will get to like it very much yourself." + +Westray did not press the matter further; he saw it was a sore point +with his landlady, and reflected that he might hang a plan in front of +the painting, if need be, as a temporary measure. So a concordat was +established, and Miss Joliffe put Baunton and Lutterworth's letter back +into her pocket, and returned to her accounts with equanimity at least +partially restored. + +After she had left the room, Westray examined the picture once more, and +more than ever was he convinced of its worthlessness. It had all the +crude colouring and hard outlines of the worst amateur work, and gave +the impression of being painted with no other object than to cover a +given space. This view was, moreover, supported by the fact that the +gilt frame was exceptionally elaborate and well made, and he came to the +conclusion that Sophia must somehow have come into possession of the +frame, and had painted the flower-piece to fill it. + +The sun was a red ball on the horizon as he flung up the window and +looked out over the roofs towards the sea. The evening was very still, +and the town lay steeped in deep repose. The smoke hung blue above it +in long, level strata, and there was perceptible in the air a faint +smell of burning weeds. The belfry story of the centre tower glowed +with a pink flush in the sunset, and a cloud of jackdaws wheeled round +the golden vanes, chattering and fluttering before they went to bed. + +"It is a striking scene, is it not?" said a voice at his elbow; "there +is a curious aromatic scent in this autumn air that makes one catch +one's breath." It was the organist who had slipped in unawares. "I +feel down on my luck," he said. "Take your supper in my room to-night, +and let us have a talk." + +Westray had not seen much of him for the last few days, and agreed +gladly enough that they should spend the evening together; only the +venue was changed, and supper taken in the architect's room. They +talked over many things that night, and Westray let his companion ramble +on to his heart's content about Cullerne men and manners; for he was of +a receptive mind, and anxious to learn what he could about those among +whom he had taken up his abode. + +He told Mr Sharnall of his conversation with Miss Joliffe, and of the +unsuccessful attempt to get the picture removed. The organist knew all +about Baunton and Lutterworth's letter. + +"The poor thing has made the question a matter of conscience for the +last fortnight," he said, "and worried herself into many a sleepless +night over that picture. `Shall I sell it, or shall I not?' `Yes,' +says poverty--`sell it, and show a brave front to your creditors.' +`Yes,' say Martin's debts, clamouring about her with open mouths, like a +nest of young starlings, `sell it, and satisfy us.' `No,' says pride, +`don't sell it; it is a patent of respectability to have an oil-painting +in the house.' `No,' says family affection, and the queer little piping +voice of her own childhood--`don't sell it. Don't you remember how fond +poor daddy was of it, and how dear Martin treasured it?' `Dear +Martin'--psh! Martin never did her anything but evil turns all his +threescore years, but women canonise their own folk when they die. +Haven't you seen what they call a religious woman damn the whole world +for evil-doers? and then her husband or her brother dies, and may have +lived as ill a life as any other upon earth, but she don't damn him. +Love bids her penal code halt; she makes a way of escape for her own, +and speaks of dear Dick and dear Tom for all the world as if they had +been double Baxter-saints. No, blood is thicker than water; damnation +doesn't hold good for her own. Love is stronger than hell-fire, and +works a miracle for Dick and Tom; only _she_ has to make up the balance +by giving other folks an extra dose of brimstone. + +"Lastly, worldly wisdom, or what Miss Joliffe thinks wisdom, says, `No, +don't sell it; you should get more than fifty pounds for such a gem.' +So she is tossed about, and if she'd lived when there were monks in +Cullerne Church, she would have asked her father confessor, and he would +have taken down his `Summa Angelica,' and looked it out under +V.--`_Vendetur? utrum vendetur an non_?'--and set her mind at rest. You +didn't know I could chaffer Latin with the best of 'em, did you? Ah, +but I can, even with the Rector, for all the _nebulus_ and _nebulum_; +only I don't trot it out too often. I'll show you a copy of the `Summa' +when you come down to my room; but there aren't any confessors now, and +dear Protestant Parkyn couldn't read the `Summa' if he had it; so there +is no one to settle the case for her." + +The little man had worked himself into a state of exaltation, and his +eyes twinkled as he spoke of his scholastic attainments. "Latin," he +said--"damn it! I can talk Latin against anyone--yes, with Beza +himself--and could tell you tales in it which would make you stop your +ears. Ah, well, more fool I--more fool I. `_Contentus esto, Paule mi, +lasciva, Paule, pagina_,'" he muttered to himself, and drummed nervously +with his fingers on the table. + +Westray was apprehensive of these fits of excitement, and led the +conversation back to the old theme. + +"It baffles me to understand how _anyone_ with eyes at all could think a +daub like this was valuable--that is strange enough; but how come these +London people to have made an offer for it? I know the firm quite well; +they are first-rate dealers." + +"There are some people," said the organist, "who can't tell `Pop goes +the weasel' from the `Hallelujah Chorus,' and others are as bad with +pictures. I'm very much that way myself. No doubt all you say is +right, and this picture an eyesore to any respectable person, but I've +been used to it so long I've got to like it, and should be sorry to see +her sell it. And as for these London buyers, I suppose some other +ignoramus has taken a fancy to it, and wants to buy. You see, there +_have_ been chance visitors staying in this room a night or two between +whiles--perhaps even Americans, for all I said about them--and you can +never reckon what _they'll_ do. The very day Martin Joliffe died there +was a story of someone coming to buy the picture of him. I was at +church in the afternoon, and Miss Joliffe at the Dorcas meeting, and +Anastasia gone out to the chemist. When I got back, I came up to see +Martin in this same room, and found him full of a tale that he had heard +the bell ring, and after that someone walking in the house, and last his +door opened, and in walked a stranger. Martin was sitting in the chair +I'm using now, and was too weak then to move out of it; so he was forced +to sit until this man came in. The stranger talked kindly to him, so he +said, and wanted to buy the picture of the flowers, bidding as high as +twenty pounds for it; but Martin wouldn't hear him, and said he wouldn't +let him have it for ten times that, and then the man went away. That +was the story, and I thought at the time 'twas all a cock-and-bull tale, +and that Martin's mind was wandering; for he was very weak, and seemed +flushed too, like one just waken from a dream. But he had a cunning +look in his eye when he told me, and said if he lived another week he +would be Lord Blandamer himself, and wouldn't want then to sell any +pictures. He spoke of it again when his sister came back, but couldn't +say what the man was like, except that his hair reminded him of +Anastasia's. + +"But Martin's time was come; he died that very night, and Miss Joliffe +was terribly cast down, because she feared she had given him an overdose +of sleeping-draught; for Ennefer told her he had taken too much, and she +didn't see where he had got it from unless she gave it him by mistake. +Ennefer wrote the death certificate, and so there was no inquest; but +that put the stranger out of our thoughts until it was too late to find +him, if, indeed, he ever was anything more than the phantom of a sick +man's brain. No one beside had seen him, and all we had to ask for was +a man with wavy hair, because he reminded Martin of Anastasia. But if +'twas true, then there was someone else who had a fancy for the +painting, and poor old Michael must have thought a lot of it to frame it +in such handsome style." + +"I don't know," Westray said; "it looks to me as if the picture was +painted to fill the frame." + +"Perhaps so, perhaps so," answered the organist dryly. "What made +Martin Joliffe think he was so near success?" + +"Ah, that I can't tell you. He was always thinking he had squared the +circle, or found the missing bit to fit into the puzzle; but he kept his +schemes very dark. He left boxes full of papers behind him when he +died, and Miss Joliffe handed them to me to look over, instead of +burning them. I shall go through them some day; but no doubt the whole +thing is moonshine, and if he ever had a clue it died with him." + +There was a little pause; the chimes of Saint Sepulchre's played "Mount +Ephraim," and the great bell tolled out midnight over Cullerne Flat. + +"It's time to be turning in. You haven't a drop of whisky, I suppose?" +he said, with a glance at the kettle which stood on a trivet in front of +the fire; "I have talked myself thirsty." + +There was a pathos in his appeal that would have melted many a stony +heart, but Westray's principles were unassailable, and he remained +obdurate. + +"No, I am afraid I have not," he said; "you see, I never take spirits +myself. Will you not join me in a cup of cocoa? The kettle boils." + +Mr Sharnall's face fell. + +"You ought to have been an old woman," he said; "only old women drink +cocoa. Well, I don't mind if I do; any port in a storm." + +The organist went to bed that night in a state of exemplary sobriety, +for when he got down to his own room he could find no spirit in the +cupboard, and remembered that he had finished the last bottle of old +Martelet's _eau-de-vie_ at his tea, and that he had no money to buy +another. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +A month later the restoration work at Saint Sepulchre's was fairly +begun, and in the south transept a wooden platform had been raised on +scaffold-poles to such a height as allowed the masons to work at the +vault from the inside. This roof was no doubt the portion of the fabric +that called most urgently for repair, but Westray could not disguise +from himself that delay might prove dangerous in other directions, and +he drew Sir George Farquhar's attention to more than one weak spot which +had escaped the great architect's cursory inspection. + +But behind all Westray's anxieties lurked that dark misgiving as to the +tower arches, and in his fancy the enormous weight of the central tower +brooded like the incubus over the whole building. Sir George Farquhar +paid sufficient attention to his deputy's representations to visit +Cullerne with a special view to examining the tower. He spent an autumn +day in making measurements and calculations, he listened to the story of +the interrupted peal, and probed the cracks in the walls, but saw no +reason to reconsider his former verdict or to impugn the stability of +the tower. He gently rallied Westray on his nervousness, and, whilst he +agreed that in other places repair was certainly needed, he pointed out +that lack of funds must unfortunately limit for the present both the +scope of operations and the rate of progress. + +Cullerne Abbey was dissolved with the larger religious houses in 1539, +when Nicholas Vinnicomb, the last abbot, being recalcitrant, and +refusing to surrender his house, was hanged as a traitor in front of the +great West Gate-house. The general revenues were impropriated by the +King's Court of Augmentations, and the abbey lands in the immediate +vicinity were given to Shearman, the King's Physician. Spellman, in his +book on sacrilege, cites Cullerne as an instance where church lands +brought ruin to their new owner's family; for Shearman had a spendthrift +son who squandered his patrimony, and then, caballing with Spanish +intriguants, came to the block in Queen Elizabeth's days. + + "For evil hands have abbey lands, + Such evil fate in store; + Such is the heritage that waits + Church-robbers evermore." + +Thus, in the next generation the name of Shearman was clean put away; +but Sir John Fynes, purchasing the property, founded the Grammar School +and almshouses as a sin-offering for the misdoings of his predecessors. +This measure of atonement succeeded admirably, for Horatio Fynes was +ennobled by James the First, and his family, with the title of +Blandamer, endures to this present. + +On the day before the formal dissolution of their house the monks sung +the last service in the abbey church. It was held late in the evening, +partly because this time seemed to befit such a farewell, and partly +that less public attention might be attracted; for there was a doubt +whether the King's servants would permit any further ceremonies. Six +tall candles burnt upon the altar, and the usual sconces lit the +service-books that lay before the brothers in the choir-stalls. It was +a sad service, as every good and amiable thing is sad when done for the +last time. There were agonising hearts among the brothers, especially +among the older monks, who knew not whither to go on the morrow; and the +voice of the sub-prior was broken with grief, and failed him as he read +the lesson. + +The nave was in darkness except for the warming-braziers, which here and +there cast a ruddy glow on the vast Norman pillars. In the obscurity +were gathered little groups of townsmen. The nave had always been open +for their devotions in happier days, and at the altars of its various +chapels they were accustomed to seek the means of grace. That night +they met for the last time--some few as curious spectators, but most in +bitterness of heart and profound sorrow, that the great church with its +splendid services was lost to them for ever. They clustered between the +pillars of the arcades; and, the doors that separated the nave from the +choir being open, they could look through the stone screen, and see the +serges twinking far away on the high altar. + +Among all the sad hearts in the abbey church, there was none sadder than +that of Richard Vinnicomb, merchant and wool-stapler. He was the +abbot's elder brother, and to all the bitterness naturally incident to +the occasion was added in his case the grief that his brother was a +prisoner in London, and would certainly be tried for his life. + +He stood in the deep shadow of the pier that supported the north-west +corner of the tower, weighed down with sorrow for the abbot and for the +fall of the abbey, and uncertain whether his brother's condemnation +would not involve his own ruin. It was December 6, Saint Nicholas' Day, +the day of the abbot's patron saint. He was near enough to the choir to +hear the collect being read on the other side of the screen: + +"_Deus qui beatum Nicolaum pontificem innumeris decorasti miraculis: +tribue quaesumus ut ejus mentis, et precibus, a gehennae incendiis +liberemur, per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum. Amen_." + +"Amen," he said in the shadow of his pillar. "Blessed Nicholas, save +me; blessed Nicholas, save us all; blessed Nicholas, save my brother, +and, if he must lose this temporal life, pray to our Lord Christ that He +will shortly accomplish the number of His elect, and reunite us in His +eternal Paradise." + +He clenched his hands in his distress, and, as a flicker from the +brazier fell upon him, those standing near saw the tears run down his +cheeks. + +"_Nicholas qui omnem terram doctrina replevisti, intercede pro peccatis +nostris_," said the officiant; and the monks gave the antiphon: + +"_Iste est qui contempsit vitam mundi et pervenit ad coelestia regna_." + +One by one a server put out the altar-lights, and as the last was +extinguished the monks rose in their places, and walked out in +procession, while the organ played a dirge as sad as the wind in a +ruined window. + +The abbot was hanged before his abbey gate, but Richard Vinnicomb's +goods escaped confiscation; and when the great church was sold, as it +stood, for building material, he bought it for three hundred pounds, and +gave it to the parish. One part of his prayer was granted, for within a +year death reunited him to his brother; and in his pious will he +bequeathed his "sowle to Allmyhtie God his Maker and Redemer, to have +the fruition of the Deitie with Our Blessed Ladie and all Saints and the +Abbey Churche of Saint Sepulchre with the implements thereof, to the +Paryshe of Cullerne, so that the said Parishioners shall not sell, +alter, or alienate the said Churche, or Implements or anye part or +parcell thereof for ever." Thus it was that the church which Westray +had to restore was preserved at a critical period of its history. + +Richard Vinnicomb's generosity extended beyond the mere purchase of the +building, for he left in addition a sum to support the dignity of a +daily service, with a complement of three chaplains, an organist, ten +singing-men, and sixteen choristers. But the negligence of trustees and +the zeal of more religious-minded men than poor superstitious Richard +had sadly diminished these funds. Successive rectors of Cullerne became +convinced that the spiritual interests of the town would be better +served by placing a larger income at their own disposal for good works, +and by devoting less to the mere lip-service of much daily singing. +Thus, the stipend of the Rector was gradually augmented, and Canon +Parkyn found an opportunity soon after his installation to increase the +income of the living to a round two thousand by curtailing extravagance +in the payment of an organist, and by reducing the emoluments of that +office from two hundred to eighty pounds a year. + +It was true that this scheme of economy included the abolition of the +week-day morning-service, but at three o'clock in the afternoon evensong +was still rehearsed in Cullerne Church. It was the thin and vanishing +shadow of a cathedral service, and Canon Parkyn hoped that it might +gradually dwindle away until it was dispersed to nought. Such formalism +must certainly throttle any real devotion, and it was regrettable that +many of the prayers in which his own fine voice and personal magnetism +must have had a moving effect upon his hearers should be constantly +obscured by vain intonations. It was only by doing violence to his own +high principles that he constrained himself to accept the emoluments +which poor Richard Vinnicomb had provided for a singing foundation, and +he was scrupulous in showing his disapproval of such vanities by +punctilious absence from the week-day service. This ceremony was +therefore entrusted to white-haired Mr Noot, whose zeal in his Master's +cause had left him so little opportunity for pushing his own interests +that at sixty he was stranded as an underpaid curate in the backwater of +Cullerne. + +At four o'clock, therefore, on a week-day afternoon, anyone who happened +to be in Saint Sepulchre's Church might see a little surpliced +procession issue from the vestries in the south transept, and wind its +way towards the choir. It was headed by clerk Janaway, who carried a +silver-headed mace; then followed eight choristers (for the number fixed +by Richard Vinnicomb had been diminished by half); then five +singing-men, of whom the youngest was fifty, and the rear was brought up +by Mr Noot. The procession having once entered the choir, the clerk +shut the doors of the screen behind it, that the minds of the officiants +might be properly removed from contemplation of the outer world, and +that devotion might not be interrupted by any intrusion of profane +persons from the nave. These outside Profane existed rather in theory +than fact, for, except in the height of summer, visitors were rarely +seen in the nave or any other part of the building. Cullerne lay remote +from large centres, and archaeologic interest was at this time in so +languishing a condition that few, except professed antiquaries, were +aware of the grandeur of the abbey church. If strangers troubled little +about Cullerne, the interest of the inhabitants in the week-day service +was still more lukewarm, and the pews in front of the canopied stalls +remained constantly empty. + +Thus, Mr Noot read, and Mr Sharnall the organist played, and the +choir-men and choristers sang, day by day, entirely for clerk Janaway's +benefit, because there was no one else to listen to them. Yet, if a +stranger given to music ever entered the church at such times, he was +struck with the service; for, like the Homeric housewife who did the +best with what she had by her, Mr Sharnall made the most of his +defective organ and inadequate choir. He was a man if much taste and +resource, and, as the echoes of the singing rolled round the vaulted +roofs, a generous critic thought little of cracked voices and leaky +bellows and rattling trackers, but took away with him an harmonious +memory of sunlight and coloured glass and eighteenth-century music; and +perhaps of some clear treble voice, for Mr Sharnall was famed for +training boys and discovering the gift of song. + +Saint Luke's little summer, in the October that followed the +commencement of the restoration, amply justified its name. In the +middle of the month there were several days of such unusual beauty as to +recall the real summer, and the air was so still and the sunshine so +warm that anyone looking at the soft haze on Cullerne Flat might well +have thought that August had returned. + +Cullerne Minster was, as a rule, refreshingly cool in the warmth of +summer, but something of the heat and oppressiveness of the outside air +seemed to have filtered into the church on these unseasonably warm +autumn days. On a certain Saturday a more than usual drowsiness marked +the afternoon service. The choir plumped down into their places when +the Psalms were finished, and abandoned themselves to slumber with +little attempt at concealment, as Mr Noot began the first lesson. +There were, indeed, honourable exceptions to the general somnolence. On +the cantoris side the worn-out alto held an animated conversation with +the cracked tenor. They were comparing some specially fine onions under +the desk, for both were gardeners and the autumn leek-show was near at +hand. On the decani side Patrick Ovens, a red-haired little treble, was +kept awake by the necessity for altering _Magnificat_ into _Magnified +Cat_ in his copy of Aldrich in G. + +The lesson was a long one. Mr Noot, mildest and most beneficent of +men, believed that he was at his best in denunciatory passages of +Scripture. The Prayer-Book, it was true, had appointed a portion of the +Book of Wisdom for the afternoon lesson, but Mr Noot made light of +authorities, and read instead a chapter from Isaiah. If he had been +questioned as to this proceeding, he would have excused himself by +saying that he disapproved of the Apocrypha, even for instruction of +manners (and there was no one at Cullerne at all likely to question this +right of private judgment), but his real, though perhaps unconscious, +motive was to find a suitable passage for declamation. He thundered +forth judgments in a manner which combined, he believed, the terrors of +supreme justice with an infinite commiseration for the blindness of +errant, but long-forgotten peoples. He had, in fact, that "Bible voice" +which seeks to communicate additional solemnity to the Scriptures by +reciting them in a tone never employed in ordinary life, as the +fledgling curate adds gravity to the Litany by whispering "the hour of +death and Day of Judgment." + +Mr Noot, being short-sighted, did not see how lightly the punishments +of these ancient races passed over the heads of his dozing audience, and +was bringing the long lesson to a properly dramatic close when the +unexpected happened: the screen-door opened and a stranger entered. As +the blowing of a horn by the paladin broke the repose of a century, and +called back to life the spellbound princess and her court, so these +slumbering churchmen were startled from their dreams by the intruder. +The choir-boys fell to giggling, the choir-men stared, clerk Janaway +grasped his mace as if he would brain so rash an adventurer, and the +general movement made Mr Sharnall glance nervously at his stops; for he +thought that he had overslept himself, and that the choir had stood up +for the _Magnificat_. + +The stranger seemed unconscious of the attention which his appearance +provoked. He was no doubt some casual sightseer, and had possibly been +unaware that any service was in progress until he opened the +screen-door. But once there, he made up his mind to join in the +devotions, and was walking to the steps which led up to the stalls when +clerk Janaway popped out of his place and accosted him, quoting the +official regulations in something louder than a stage whisper: + +"Ye cannot enter the choir during the hours of Divine service. Ye +cannot come in." + +The stranger was amused at the old man's officiousness. + +"I am in," he whispered back, "and, being in, will take a seat, if you +please, until the service is over." + +The clerk looked at him doubtfully for a moment, but if there was +amusement to be read in the other's countenance, there was also a +decision that did not encourage opposition. So he thought better of the +matter, and opened the door of one of the pews that run below the stalls +in Cullerne Church. + +But the stranger did not appear to notice that a place was being shown +him, and walked past the pew and up the little steps that led to the +stalls on the cantoris side. Directly behind the singing-men were five +stalls, which had canopies richer and more elaborate than those of the +others, with heraldic escutcheons painted on the backs. From these +seats the vulgar herd was excluded by a faded crimson cord, but the +stranger lifted the cord from its hook, and sat down in the first +reserved seat, as if the place belonged to him. + +Clerk Janaway was outraged, and bustled up the steps after him like an +angry turkey-cock. + +"Come, come!" he said, touching the intruder on the shoulder; "you +cannot sit here; these are the Fording seats, and kep' for Lord +Blandamer's family." + +"I will make room if Lord Blandamer brings his family," the stranger +said; and, seeing that the old man was returning to the attack, added, +"Hush! that is enough." + +The clerk looked at him again, and then turned back to his own place, +routed. + +"_And in that day they shall roar against thee like the roaring of the +sea, and if one look unto the land behold darkness and sorrow, and the +light is darkened in the heavens thereof_," said Mr Noot, and shut the +book, with a glance of general fulmination through his great round +spectacles. + +The choir, who had been interested spectators of this conflict of +lawlessness as personified in the intruder, and authority as in the +clerk, rose to their feet as the organ began the _Magnificat_. + +The singing-men exchanged glances of amusement, for they were not +altogether averse to seeing the clerk worsted. He was an autocrat in +his own church, and ruffled them now and again with what they called his +bumptiousness. Perhaps he did assume a little as he led the procession, +for he forgot at times that he was a peaceable servant of the sanctuary, +and fancied, as he marched mace in hand to the music of the organ, that +he was a daring officer leading a forlorn hope. That very afternoon he +had had a heated discussion in the vestry with Mr Milligan, the bass, +on a question of gardening, and the singer, who still smarted under the +clerk's overbearing tongue, was glad to emphasise his adversary's defeat +by paying attention to the intruder. + +The tenor on the cantoris side was taking holiday that day, and Mr +Milligan availed himself of the opportunity to offer the absentee's copy +of the service to the intruder, who was sitting immediately behind him. +He turned round, and placed the book, open at the _Magnificat_, before +the stranger with much deference, casting as he faced round again a look +of misprision at Janaway, of which the latter was quick to appreciate, +the meaning. + +This by-play was lost upon the stranger, who nodded his acknowledgment +of the civility, and turned to the study of the score which had been +offered him. + +Mr Sharnall's resources in the way of men's voices were so limited that +he was by no means unused to finding himself short of a voice-part on +the one side or the other. He had done his best to remedy the +deficiency in the Psalms by supplying the missing part with his left +hand, but as he began the _Magnificat_ he was amazed to hear a mellow +and fairly strong tenor taking part in the service with feeling and +precision. It was the stranger who stood in the gap, and when the first +surprise was past, the choir welcomed him as being versed in their own +arts, and Clerk Janaway forgot the presumption of his entrance and even +the rebellious conduct of Mr Milligan. The men and boys sang with new +life; they wished, in fact, that so knowledgeable a person should be +favourably impressed, and the service was rendered in a more creditable +way than Cullerne Church had known for many a long day. Only the +stranger was perfectly unmoved. He sang as if he had been a lay-vicar +all his life, and when the _Magnificat_ was ended, and Mr Sharnall +could look through the curtains of the organ-loft, the organist saw him +with a Bible devoutly following Mr Noot in the second lesson. + +He was a man of forty, rather above the middle height, with dark +eyebrows and dark hair, that was beginning to turn grey. His hair, +indeed, at once attracted the observer's attention by its thick +profusion and natural wavy curl. He was clean-shaven, his features were +sharply cut without being thin, and there was something contemptuous +about the firm mouth. His nose was straight, and a powerful face gave +the impression of a man who was accustomed to be obeyed. To anyone +looking at him from the other side of the choir, he presented a +remarkable picture, for which the black oak of Abbot Vinnicomb's stalls +supplied a frame. Above his head the canopy went soaring up into +crockets and finials, and on the woodwork at the back was painted a +shield which nearer inspection would have shown to be the Blandamer +cognisance, with its nebuly bars of green and silver. It was, perhaps, +so commanding an appearance that made red-haired Patrick Ovens take out +an Australian postage-stamp which he had acquired that very day, and +point out to the boy next to him the effigy of Queen Victoria sitting +crowned in a gothic chair. + +The stranger seemed to enter thoroughly into the spirit of the +performance; he bore his part in the service bravely, and, being +furnished with another book, lent effective aid with the anthem. He +stood up decorously as the choir filed out after the Grace, and then sat +down again in his seat to listen to the voluntary. Mr Sharnall +determined to play something of quality as a tribute to the unknown +tenor, and gave as good a rendering of the Saint Anne's fugue as the +state of the organ would permit. It was true that the trackers rattled +terribly, and that a cipher marred the effect of the second subject; but +when he got to the bottom of the little winding stairs that led down +from the loft, he found the stranger waiting with a compliment. + +"Thank you very much," he said; "it is very kind of you to give us so +fine a fugue. It is many years since I was last in this church, and I +am fortunate to have chosen so sunny an afternoon, and to have been in +time for your service." + +"Not at all, not at all," said the organist; "it is we who are fortunate +in having you to help us. You read well, and have a useful voice, +though I caught you tripping a little in the lead of the _Nunc Dimittis_ +Gloria." And he sung it over by way of reminder. "You understand +church music, and have sung many a service before, I am sure, though you +don't look much given that way," he added, scanning him up and down. + +The stranger was amused rather than offended at these blunt criticisms, +and the catechising went on. + +"Are you stopping in Cullerne?" + +"No," the other replied courteously; "I am only here for the day, but I +hope I may find other occasions to visit the place and to hear your +service. You will have your full complement of voices next time I come, +no doubt, and I shall be able to listen more at my ease than to-day?" + +"Oh no, you won't. It's ten to one you will find us still worse off. +We are a poverty-stricken lot, and no one to come over into Macedonia to +help us. These cursed priests eat up our substance like canker-worms, +and grow sleek on the money that was left to keep the music going. I +don't mean the old woman that read this afternoon; he's got _his_ nose +on the grindstone like the rest of us--poor Noot! He has to put brown +paper in his boots because he can't afford to have them resoled. No, +it's the Barabbas in the rectory-house, that buys his stocks and shares, +and starves the service." + +This tirade fell lightly on the stranger's ears. He looked as if his +thoughts were a thousand miles away, and the organist broke off: + +"Do you play the organ? Do you understand an organ?" he asked quickly. + +"Alas! I do not play," the stranger said, bringing his mind back with a +jerk for the answer, "and understand little about the instrument." + +"Well, next time you are here come up into the loft, and I will show you +what a chest of rattletraps I have to work with. We are lucky to get +through a service without a breakdown; the pedal-board is too short and +past its work, and now the bellows are worn-out." + +"Surely you can get that altered," the stranger said; "the bellows +shouldn't cost so much to mend." + +"They are patched already past mending. Those who would like to pay for +new ones haven't got the money, and those who have the money won't pay. +Why, that very stall you sat in belongs to a man who could give us new +bellows, and a new organ, and a new church, if we wanted it. Blandamer, +that's his name--Lord Blandamer. If you had looked, you could have seen +his great coat of arms on the back of the seat; and he won't spend a +halfpenny to keep the roofs from falling on our heads." + +"Ah," said the stranger, "it seems a very sad case." They had reached +the north door, and, as they stepped out, he repeated meditatively: "It +seems a very sad case; you must tell me more about it next time we +meet." + +The organist took the hint, and wished his companion good-afternoon, +turning down towards the wharves for a constitutional on the riverside. +The stranger raised his hat with something of foreign courtesy, and +walked back into the town. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +Miss Euphemia Joliffe devoted Saturday afternoons to Saint Sepulchre's +Dorcas Society. The meetings were held in a class-room of the Girls' +National School, and there a band of devoted females gathered week by +week to make garments for the poor. If there was in Cullerne some +threadbare gentility, and a great deal of middle-class struggling, there +was happily little actual poverty, as it is understood in great towns. +Thus the poor, to whom the clothes made by the Dorcas Society were +ultimately distributed, could sometimes afford to look the gift-horse in +the mouth, and to lament that good material had been marred in the +making. "They wept," the organist said, "when they showed the coats and +garments that Dorcas made, because they were so badly cut;" but this was +a libel, for there were many excellent needlewomen in the society, and +among the very best was Miss Euphemia Joliffe. + +She was a staunch supporter of the church, and, had her circumstances +permitted, would have been a Scripture-reader or at least a district +visitor. But the world was so much with her, in the shape of domestic +necessities at Bellevue Lodge, as to render parish work impossible, and +so the Dorcas meeting was the only systematic philanthropy in which she +could venture to indulge. But in the discharge of this duty she was +regularity personified; neither wind nor rain, snow nor heat, sickness +nor amusement, stopped her, and she was to be found each and every +Saturday afternoon, from three to five, in the National School. + +If the Dorcas Society was a duty for the little old lady, it was also a +pleasure--one of her few pleasures, and perhaps the greatest. She liked +the meetings, because on such occasions she felt herself to be the equal +of her more prosperous neighbours. It is the same feeling that makes +the half-witted attend funerals and church services. At such times they +feel themselves to be for once on an equal footing with their +fellow-men: all are reduced to the same level; there are no speeches to +be made, no accounts to be added up, no counsels to be given, no +decisions to be taken; all are as fools in the sight of God. + +At the Dorcas meeting Miss Joliffe wore her "best things" with the +exception only of head-gear, for the wearing of her best bonnet was a +crowning grace reserved exclusively for the Sabbath. Her wardrobe was +too straightened to allow her "best" to follow the shifting seasons +closely. If it was bought as best for winter, it might have to play the +same role also in summer, and thus it fell sometimes to her lot to wear +alpaca in December, or, as on this day, to be adorned with a fur necklet +when the weather asked for muslin. Yet "in her best" she always felt +"fit to be seen"; and when it came to cutting out, or sewing, there were +none that excelled her. + +Most of the members greeted her with a kind word, for even in a place +where envy, hatred and malice walked the streets arm in arm from sunrise +to sunset, Miss Euphemia had few enemies. Lying and slandering, and +speaking evil of their fellows, formed a staple occupation of the ladies +of Cullerne, as of many another small town; and to Miss Joliffe, who was +foolish and old-fashioned enough to think evil of no one, it had seemed +at first the only drawback of these delightful meetings that a great +deal of such highly-spiced talk was to be heard at them. But even this +fly was afterwards removed from the amber; for Mrs Bulteel--the +brewer's lady--who wore London dresses, and was much the most +fashionable person in Cullerne, proposed that some edifying book should +be read aloud on Dorcas afternoons to the assembled workers. It was +true that Mrs Flint said she only did so because she thought she had a +fine voice; but however that might be, she proposed it, and no one cared +to run counter to her. So Mrs Bulteel read properly religious stories, +of so touching a nature that an afternoon seldom passed without her +being herself dissolved in tears, and evoking sympathetic sniffs and +sobs from such as wished to stand in her good books. If Miss Joliffe +was not herself so easily moved by imaginary sorrow, she set it down to +some lack of loving-kindness in her own disposition, and mentally +congratulated the others on their superior sensitiveness. + +Miss Joliffe was at the Dorcas meeting, Mr Sharnall was walking by the +riverside, Mr Westray was with the masons on the roof of the transept; +only Anastasia Joliffe was at Bellevue Lodge when the front-door-bell +rang. When her aunt was at home, Anastasia was not allowed to "wait on +the gentlemen," nor to answer the bell; but her aunt being absent, and +there being no one else in the house, she duly opened one leaf of the +great front-door, and found a gentleman standing on the semicircular +flight of steps outside. That he was a gentleman she knew at a glance, +for she had a _flair_ for such useless distinctions, though the genus +was not sufficiently common at Cullerne to allow her much practice in +its identification near home. It was, in fact, the stranger of the +tenor voice, and such is the quickness of woman's wit, that she learnt +in a moment as much concerning his outward appearance as the organist +and the choir-men and the clerk had learnt in an hour; and more besides, +for she saw that he was well dressed. There was about him a complete +absence of personal adornment. He wore no rings and no scarf-pin, even +his watch-chain was only of leather. His clothes were of so dark a grey +as to be almost black, but Miss Anastasia Joliffe knew that the cloth +was good, and the cut of the best. She had thrust a pencil into the +pages of "Northanger Abbey" to keep the place while she answered the +bell, and as the stranger stood before her, it seemed to her he might be +a Henry Tilney, and she was prepared, like a Catherine Morland, for some +momentous announcement when he opened his lips. Yet there came nothing +very weighty from them; he did not even inquire for lodgings, as she +half hoped that he would. + +"Does the architect in charge of the works at the church lodge here? Is +Mr Westray at home?" was all he said. + +"He does live here," she answered, "but is out just now, and we do not +expect him back till six. I think you will probably find him at the +church if you desire to see him." + +"I have just come from the minster, but could see nothing of him there." + +It served the stranger right that he should have missed the architect, +and been put to the trouble of walking as far as Bellevue Lodge, for his +inquiries must have been very perfunctory. If he had taken the trouble +to ask either organist or clerk, he would have learnt at once where Mr +Westray was. + +"I wonder if you would allow me to write a note. If you could give me a +sheet of paper I should be glad to leave a message for him." + +Anastasia gave him a glance from head to foot, rapid as an instantaneous +exposure. "Tramps" were a permanent bugbear to the ladies of Cullerne, +and a proper dread of such miscreants had been instilled into Anastasia +Joliffe by her aunt. It was, moreover, a standing rule of the house +that no strange men were to be admitted on any pretence, unless there +was some man-lodger at home, to grapple with them if occasion arose. +But the glance was sufficient to confirm her first verdict--he _was_ a +gentleman; there surely could not be such things as gentlemen-tramps. +So she answered "Oh, certainly," and showed him into Mr Sharnall's +room, because that was on the ground-floor. + +The visitor gave a quick look round the room. If he had ever been in +the house before, Anastasia would have thought he was trying to identify +something that he remembered; but there was little to be seen except an +open piano, and the usual litter of music-books and manuscript paper. + +"Thank you," he said; "can I write here? Is this Mr Westray's room?" + +"No, another gentleman lodges here, but you can use this room to write +in. He is out, and would not mind in any case; he is a friend of Mr +Westray." + +"I had rather write in Mr Westray's room if I may. You see I have +nothing to do with this other gentleman, and it might be awkward if he +came in and found me in his apartment." + +It seemed to Anastasia that the information that the room in which they +stood was not Mr Westray's had in some way or other removed an anxiety +from the stranger's mind. There was a faint and indefinable indication +of relief in his manner, however much he professed to be embarrassed at +the discovery. It might have been, she thought, that he was a great +friend of Mr Westray, and had been sorry to think that his room should +be littered and untidy as Mr Sharnall's certainly was, and so was glad +when he found out his mistake. + +"Mr Westray's room is at the top of the house," she said deprecatingly. + +"It is no trouble to me, I assure you, to go up," he answered. + +Anastasia hesitated again for an instant. If there were no +gentlemen-tramps, perhaps there were gentlemen-burglars, and she hastily +made a mental inventory of Mr Westray's belongings, but could think of +nothing among them likely to act as an incentive to crime. Still she +would not venture to show a strange man to the top of the house, when +there was no one at home but herself. The stranger ought not to have +asked her. He could not be a gentleman after all, or he would have seen +how irregular was such a request, unless he had indeed some particular +motive for wishing to see Mr Westray's room. + +The stranger perceived her hesitation, and read her thoughts easily +enough. + +"I beg your pardon," he said. "I ought, of course, to have explained +who it is who has the honour of speaking to you. I am Lord Blandamer, +and wish to write a few words to Mr Westray on questions connected with +the restoration of the church. Here is my card." + +There was probably no lady in the town that would have received this +information with as great composure as did Anastasia Joliffe. Since the +death of his grandfather, the new Lord Blandamer had been a constant +theme of local gossip and surmise. He was a territorial magnate, he +owned the whole of the town, and the whole of the surrounding country. +His stately house of Fording could be seen on a clear day from the +minster tower. He was reputed to be a man of great talents and +distinguished appearance; he was not more than forty, and he was +unmarried. Yet no one had seen him since he came to man's estate; it +was said he had not been in Cullerne for twenty years. + +There was a tale of some mysterious quarrel with his grandfather, which +had banished the young man from his home, and there had been no one to +take his part, for both his father and mother were drowned when he was a +baby. For a quarter of a century he had been a wanderer abroad: in +France and Germany, in Russia and Greece, in Italy and Spain. He was +believed to have visited the East, to have fought in Egypt, to have run +blockades in South America, to have found priceless diamonds in South +Africa. He had suffered the awful penances of the Fakirs, he had fasted +with the monks of Mount Athos; he had endured the silence of La Trappe; +men said that the Sheik-ul-Islam had himself bound the green turban +round Lord Blandamer's head. He could shoot, he could hunt, he could +fish, he could fight, he could sing, he could play all instruments; he +could speak all languages as fluently as his own; he was the very wisest +and the very handsomest, and--some hinted--the very wickedest man that +ever lived, yet no one had ever seen him. Here was indeed a conjunction +of romance for Anastasia, to find so mysterious and distinguished a +stranger face to face with her alone under the same roof; yet she showed +none of those hesitations, tremblings, or faintings that the situation +certainly demanded. + +Martin Joliffe, her father, had been a handsome man all his life, and +had known it. In youth he prided himself on his good looks, and in old +age he was careful of his personal appearance. Even when his +circumstances were at their worst he had managed to obtain well-cut +clothes. They were not always of the newest, but they sat well on his +tall and upright figure; "Gentleman Joliffe" people called him, and +laughed, though perhaps something less ill-naturedly than was often the +case in Cullerne, and wondered whence a farmer's son had gotten such +manners. To Martin himself an aristocratic bearing was less an +affectation than a duty; his position demanded it, for he was in his own +eyes a Blandamer kept out of his rights. + +It was his good appearance, even at five-and-forty, which induced Miss +Hunter of the Grove to run away with him, though Colonel Hunter had +promised to disown her if she ever married so far beneath her. She did +not, it is true, live long to endure her father's displeasure, but died +in giving birth to her first child. Even this sad result had failed to +melt the Colonel's heart. Contrary to all precedents of fiction, he +would have nothing to do with his little granddaughter, and sought +refuge from so untenable a position in removing from Cullerne. Nor was +Martin himself a man to feel a parent's obligations too acutely; so the +child was left to be brought up by Miss Joliffe, and to become an +addition to her cares, but much more to her joys. Martin Joliffe +considered that he had amply fulfilled his responsibilities in +christening his daughter Anastasia, a name which Debrett shows to have +been borne for generations by ladies of the Blandamer family; and, +having given so striking a proof of affection, he started off on one of +those periodic wanderings which were connected with his genealogical +researches, and was not seen again in Cullerne for a lustre. + +For many years afterwards Martin showed but little interest in the +child. He came back to Cullerne at intervals; but was always absorbed +in his efforts to establish a right to the nebuly coat, and content to +leave the education and support of Anastasia entirely to his sister. It +was not till his daughter was fifteen that he exercised any paternal +authority; but, on his return from a long absence about that period, he +pointed out to Miss Joliffe, senior, that she had shamefully neglected +her niece's education, and that so lamentable a state of affairs must be +remedied at once. Miss Joliffe most sorrowfully admitted her +shortcomings, and asked Martin's forgiveness for her remissness. Nor +did it ever occur to her to plead in excuse that the duties of a +lodging-house, and the necessity of providing sustenance for herself and +Anastasia, made serious inroads on the time that ought, no doubt, to +have been devoted to education; or that the lack of means prevented her +from engaging teachers to supplement her own too limited instruction. +She had, in fact, been able to impart to Anastasia little except +reading, writing and arithmetic, some geography, a slight knowledge of +Miss Magnall's questions, a wonderful proficiency with the needle, an +unquenchable love of poetry and fiction, a charity for her neighbours +which was rare enough in Cullerne, and a fear of God which was sadly +inconsistent with the best Blandamer traditions. + +The girl was not being brought up as became a Blandamer, Martin had +said; how was she to fill her position when she became the Honourable +Anastasia? She must learn French, not such rudiments as Miss Joliffe +had taught her, and he travestied his sister's "Doo, dellah, +derlapostrof, day" with a laugh that flushed her withered cheeks with +crimson, and made Anastasia cry as she held her aunt's hand under the +table; not _that_ kind of French, but something that would really pass +muster in society. And music, she _must_ study that; and Miss Joliffe +blushed again as she thought very humbly of some elementary duets in +which she had played a bass for Anastasia till household work and gout +conspired to rob her knotty fingers of all pliancy. It had been a great +pleasure to her, the playing of these duets with her niece; but they +must, of course, be very poor things, and quite out of date now, for she +had played them when she was a child herself, and on the very same piano +in the parlour at Wydcombe. + +So she listened with attention while Martin revealed his scheme of +reform, and this was nothing less than the sending of Anastasia to Mrs +Howard's boarding-school at the county town of Carisbury. The project +took away his sister's breath, for Mrs Howard's was a finishing school +of repute, to which only Mrs Bulteel among Cullerne ladies could afford +to send her daughters. But Martin's high-minded generosity knew no +limits. "It was no use making two bites at a cherry; what had to be +done had better be done quickly." And he clinched the argument by +taking a canvas bag from his pocket, and pouring out a little heap of +sovereigns on to the table. Miss Joliffe's wonder as to how her brother +had become possessed of such wealth was lost in admiration of his +magnanimity, and if for an instant she thought wistfully of the relief +that a small portion of these riches would bring to the poverty-stricken +menage at Bellevue Lodge, she silenced such murmurings in a burst of +gratitude for the means of improvement that Providence had vouchsafed to +Anastasia. Martin counted out the sovereigns on the table; it was +better to pay in advance, and so make an impression in Anastasia's +favour, and to this Miss Joliffe agreed with much relief, for she had +feared that before the end of the term Martin would be off on his +travels again, and that she herself would be left to pay. + +So Anastasia went to Carisbury, and Miss Joliffe broke her own rules, +and herself incurred a number of small debts because she could not bear +to think of her niece going to school with so meagre an equipment as she +then possessed, and yet had no ready money to buy better. Anastasia +remained for two half-years at Carisbury. She made such progress with +her music that after much wearisome and lifeless practising she could +stumble through Thalberg's variations on the air of "Home, Sweet Home"; +but in French she never acquired the true Parisian accent, and would +revert at times to the "Doo, dellah, derlapostrof, day," of her earlier +teaching, though there is no record that these shortcomings were ever a +serious drawback to her in after-life. Besides such opportunities of +improvement, she enjoyed the privilege of association with thirty girls +of the upper middle-classes, and ate of the tree of knowledge of good +and evil, the fruits of which had hitherto escaped her notice. At the +end of her second term, however, she was forced to forego these +advantages, for Martin had left Cullerne without making any permanent +provision for his daughter's schooling; and there was in Mrs Howard's +prospectus a law, inexorable as that of gravity, that no pupil shall be +permitted to return to the academy whose account for the previous term +remains unsettled. + +Thus Anastasia's schooling came to an end. There was some excuse put +forward that the air of Carisbury did not agree with her; and she never +knew the real reason till nearly two years later, by which time Miss +Joliffe's industry and self-denial had discharged the greater part of +Martin's obligation to Mrs Howard. The girl was glad to remain at +Cullerne, for she was deeply attached to Miss Joliffe; but she came back +much older in experience; her horizon had widened, and she was beginning +to take a more perspective view of life. These enlarged ideas bore +fruit both pleasant and unpleasant, for she was led to form a juster +estimate of her father's character, and when he next returned she found +it difficult to tolerate his selfishness and abuse of his sister's +devotion. + +That this should be so was a cause of great grief to Miss Joliffe. +Though she herself felt for her niece a love which had in it something +of adoration, she was at the same time conscientious enough to remember +that a child's first duty should be towards its parents. Thus she +forced herself to lament that Anastasia should be more closely attached +to her than to Martin, and if there were times when she could not feel +properly dissatisfied that she possessed the first place in her niece's +affections, she tried to atone for this frailty by sacrificing +opportunities of being with the girl herself, and using every +opportunity of bringing her into her father's company. It was a +fruitless endeavour, as every endeavour to cultivate affection where no +real basis for it exists, must eternally remain fruitless. Martin was +wearied by his daughter's society, for he preferred to be alone, and set +no store by her except as a cooking, house-cleaning, and clothes-mending +machine; and Anastasia resented this attitude, and could find, moreover, +no interest in the torn peerage which was her father's Bible, or in the +genealogical research and jargon about the nebuly coat which formed the +staple of his conversation. Later on, when he came back for the last +time, her sense of duty enabled her to tend and nurse him with exemplary +patience, and to fulfil all those offices of affection which even the +most tender filial devotion could have suggested. She tried to believe +that his death brought her sorrow and not relief, and succeeded so well +that her aunt had no doubts at all upon the subject. + +Martin Joliffe's illness and death had added to Anastasia's experience +of life by bringing her into contact with doctors and clergymen; and it +was no doubt this training, and the association with the superior +classes afforded by Mrs Howard's academy, that enabled her to stand the +shock of Lord Blandamer's announcement without giving any more +perceptible token of embarrassment than a very slight blush. + +"Oh, of course there is no objection," she said, "to your writing in Mr +Westray's room. I will show you the way to it." + +She accompanied him to the room, and having provided writing materials, +left him comfortably ensconced in Mr Westray's chair. As she pulled +the door to behind her in going out, something prompted her to look +round--perhaps it was merely a girl's light fancy, perhaps it was that +indefinite fascination which the consciousness that we are being looked +at sometimes exercises over us; but as she looked back her eyes met +those of Lord Blandamer, and she shut the door sharply, being annoyed at +her own foolishness. + +She went back to the kitchen, for the kitchen of the Hand of God was so +large that Miss Joliffe and Anastasia used part of it for their +sitting-room, took the pencil out of "Northanger Abbey," and tried to +transport herself to Bath. Five minutes ago she had been in the Grand +Pump Room herself, and knew exactly where Mrs Allen and Isabella Thorpe +and Edward Morland were sitting; where Catherine was standing, and what +John Thorpe was saying to her when Tilney walked up. But alas! +Anastasia found no re-admission; the lights were put out, the Pump Room +was in darkness. A sad change to have happened in five minutes; but no +doubt the charmed circle had dispersed in a huff on finding that they no +longer occupied the first place in Miss Anastasia Joliffe's interest. +And, indeed, she missed them the less because she had discovered that +she herself possessed a wonderful talent for romance, and had already +begun the first chapter of a thrilling story. + +Nearly half an hour passed before her aunt returned, and in the interval +Miss Austen's knights and dames had retired still farther into the +background, and Miss Anastasia's hero had entirely monopolised the +stage. It was twenty minutes past five when Miss Joliffe, senior, +returned from the Dorcas meeting; "precisely twenty minutes past five," +as she remarked many times subsequently, with that factitious importance +which the ordinary mind attaches to the exact moment of any epoch-making +event. + +"Is the water boiling, my dear?" she asked, sitting down at the kitchen +table. "I should like to have tea to-day before the gentlemen come in, +if you do not mind. The weather is quite oppressive, and the schoolroom +was very close because we only had one window open. Poor Mrs Bulteel +is so subject to take cold from draughts, and I very nearly fell asleep +while she was reading." + +"I will get tea at once," Anastasia said; and then added, in a tone of +fine unconcern: "There is a gentleman waiting upstairs to see Mr +Westray." + +"My dear," Miss Joliffe exclaimed deprecatingly, "how could you let +anyone in when I was not at home? It is exceedingly dangerous with so +many doubtful characters about. There is Mr Westray's presentation +inkstand, and the flower-picture for which I have been offered so much +money. Valuable paintings are often cut out of their frames; one never +has an idea what thieves may do." + +There was the faintest trace of a smile about Anastasia's lips. + +"I do not think we need trouble about that, dear Aunt Phemie, because I +am sure he is a gentleman. Here is his card. Look!" She handed Miss +Joliffe the insignificant little piece of white cardboard that held so +momentous a secret, and watched her aunt put on her spectacles to read +it. + +Miss Joliffe focussed the card. There were only two words printed on +it, only "Lord Blandamer" in the most unpretending and simple +characters, but their effect was magical. Doubt and suspicion melted +suddenly away, and a look of radiant surprise overspread her +countenance, such as would have become a Constantine at the vision of +the Labarum. She was a thoroughly unworldly woman, thinking little of +the things of this life in general, and keeping her affections on that +which is to come, with the constancy and realisation that is so often +denied to those possessed of larger temporal means. Her views as to +right and wrong were defined and inflexible; she would have gone to the +stake most cheerfully rather than violate them, and unconsciously +lamented perhaps that civilisation has robbed the faithful of the luxury +of burning. Yet with all this were inextricably bound up certain little +weaknesses among which figured a fondness for great names, and a +somewhat exaggerated consideration for the lofty ones of this earth. +Had she been privileged to be within the same four walls as a peer at a +bazaar or missionary meeting, she would have revelled in a great +opportunity; but to find Lord Blandamer under her own roof was a grace +so wondrous and surprising as almost to overwhelm her. + +"Lord Blandamer!" she faltered, as soon as she had collected herself a +little. "I hope Mr Westray's room was tidy. I dusted it thoroughly +this morning, but I wish he had given some notice of his intention to +call. I should be so vexed if he found anything dusty. What is he +doing, Anastasia? Did he say he would wait till Mr Westray came back?" + +"He said he would write a note for Mr Westray. I found him writing +things." + +"I hope you gave his lordship Mr Westray's presentation inkstand." + +"No, I did not think of that; but there was the little black inkstand, +and plenty of ink in it." + +"Dear me, dear me!" Miss Joliffe said, ruminating on so extraordinary a +position, "to think that Lord Blandamer, whom no one has ever seen, +should have come to Cullerne at last, and is now in this very house. I +will just change this bonnet for my Sunday one," she added, looking at +herself in the glass, "and then tell his lordship how very welcome he +is, and ask him if I can get anything for him. He will see at once, +from my bonnet, that I have only just returned, otherwise it would +appear to him very remiss of me not to have paid him my respects before. +Yes, I think it is undoubtedly more fitting to appear in a bonnet." + +Anastasia was a little perturbed at the idea of her aunt's interview +with Lord Blandamer. She pictured to herself Miss Joliffe's excess of +zeal, the compliments which she would think it necessary to shower upon +him the marked attention and homage which he might interpret as +servility, though it was only intended as a proper deference to exalted +rank. Anastasia was quite unaccountably anxious that the family should +appear to the distinguished visitor in as favourable a light as +possible, and thought for a moment of trying to persuade Miss Joliffe +that there was no need for her to see Lord Blandamer at all, unless he +summoned her. But she was of a philosophic temperament, and in a moment +had rebuked her own folly. What could any impression of Lord +Blandamer's matter to her? she would probably never see him again unless +she opened the door when he went out. Why should he think anything at +all about a commonplace lodging-house, and its inmates? And if such +trivial matters did ever enter his thoughts, a man so clever as he would +make allowance for those of a different station to himself, and would +see what a good woman her aunt was in spite of any little mannerisms. + +So she made no remonstrance, but sat heroically quiet in her chair, and +re-opened "Northanger Abbey" with a determination to entirely forget +Lord Blandamer, and the foolish excitement which his visit had created. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +Miss Joliffe must have had a protracted conversation with Lord +Blandamer. To Anastasia, waiting in the kitchen, it seemed as if her +aunt would never come down. She devoted herself to "Northanger Abbey" +with fierce resolution, but though her eyes followed the lines of type, +she had no idea what she was reading, and found herself at last turning +the pages so frequently and with so much rustling as to disturb her own +reverie. Then she shut the book with a bang, got up from her chair, and +paced the kitchen till her aunt came back. + +Miss Joliffe was full of the visitor's affability. + +"It is _always_ the way with these really great people, my dear," she +said with effusion. "I have _always_ noticed that the nobility are +condescending; they adapt themselves so entirely to their surroundings." +Miss Joliffe fell into a common hyperbole in qualifying an isolated +action as a habit. She had never before been brought face to face with +a peer, yet she represented her first impression of Lord Blandamer's +manner as if it were a mature judgment based upon long experience of +those of his rank and position. + +"I insisted on his using the presentation inkstand, and took away that +shabby little black thing; and I could see at once that the silver one +was far more like what he had been accustomed to use. He seemed to know +something about us, and even asked if the young lady who had shown him +in was my niece. That was you; he meant you, Anastasia; he asked if it +was _you_. I think he must have met dear Martin somewhere, but I really +was so agitated by such a very unexpected visit that I scarcely took in +all he said. Yet he was so careful all the time to put me at my ease +that at last I ventured to ask him if he would take some light +refreshment. `My lord,' I said, `may I be so bold as to offer your +lordship a cup of tea? It would be a great honour if you would partake +of our humble hospitality.' And what _do_ you think he answered, my +dear? `Miss Joliffe'--and he had such a winning look--`there is nothing +I should like better. I am very tired with walking about in the church, +and have still some little time to wait, for I am going to London by the +evening train.' Poor young man! (for Lord Blandamer was still young in +Cullerne, which had only known his octogenarian predecessor) he is no +doubt called to London on some public business--the House of Lords, or +the Court, or something like that. I wish he would take as much care of +himself as he seems to take for others. He looks so very tired, and a +sad face too, Anastasia, and yet is most considerate. `I should like a +cup of tea very much'--those were his exact words--`but you must not +trouble to come all the way upstairs again to bring it to me. Let me +come down and take it with you.' + +"`Forgive me, my lord,' was my answer, `but I could not permit that. +Our establishment is much too homely, and I shall feel it a privilege to +wait on you, if you will kindly excuse my walking-clothes, as I have +just come back from an afternoon meeting. My niece often wishes to +relieve me, but I tell her my old legs are more active than her young +ones even still.'" + +Anastasia's cheeks were red, but she said nothing, and her aunt went on: +"So I will take him some tea at once. You can make it, my dear, if you +like, but put a great deal more in than we use ourselves. The upper +classes have no call to practise economy in such matters, and he is no +doubt used to take his tea very strong. I think Mr Sharnall's teapot +is the best, and I will get out the silver sugar-tongs and one of the +spoons with the `J' on them." + +As Miss Joliffe was taking up the tea, she met Westray in the hall. He +had just come back from the church, and was not a little concerned at +his landlady's greeting. She put down her tray, and, with a fateful +gesture and an "Oh, Mr Westray, what do you think?" beckoned him aside +into Mr Sharnall's room. His first impression was that some grave +accident had happened, that the organist was dead, or that Anastasia +Joliffe had sprained an ankle; and he was relieved to hear the true +state of affairs. He waited a few minutes while Miss Joliffe took the +visitor his tea, and then went upstairs himself. + +Lord Blandamer rose. + +"I must apologise," he said, "for making myself at home in your room; +but I hope your landlady may have explained who I am, and how I come to +take so great a liberty. I am naturally interested in Cullerne and all +that concerns it, and hope ere long to get better acquainted with the +place--and the people," he added as an after-thought. "At present I +know disgracefully little about it, but that is due to my having been +abroad for many years; I only came back a few months ago. But I need +not bother you with all this; what I really wanted was to ask you if you +would give me some idea of the scheme of restoration which it is +proposed to undertake at the minster. Until last week I had not heard +that anything of the kind was in contemplation." + +His tone was measured, and a clear, deep, voice gave weight and +sincerity to his words. His clean-shaven face and olive complexion, his +regular features and dark eyebrows, suggested a Spaniard to Westray as +he spoke, and the impression was strengthened by the decorous and grave +courtesy of his manner. + +"I shall be delighted to explain anything I can," said the architect, +and took down a bundle of plans and papers from a shelf. + +"I fear I shall not be able to do much this evening," Lord Blandamer +said; "for I have to catch the train to London in a short time; but, if +you will allow me, I will take an early opportunity of coming over +again. We might then, perhaps, go to the church together. The building +has a great fascination for me, not only on account of its own +magnificence, but also from old associations. When I was a boy, and +sometimes a very unhappy boy, I used often to come over from Fording, +and spend hours rambling about the minster. Its winding staircases, its +dark wall-passages, its mysterious screens and stalls, brought me +romantic dreams, from which I think I have never entirely wakened. I am +told the building stands in need of extensive restoration, though to the +outsider it looks much the same as ever. It always had a dilapidated +air." + +Westray gave a short outline of what it was considered should ultimately +be done, and of what it was proposed to attack for the present. + +"You see, we have our work cut out for us," he said. "The transept roof +is undoubtedly the most urgent matter, but there are lots of other +things that cannot be left to themselves for long. I have grave doubts +about the stability of the tower, though my Chief doesn't share them to +anything like the same extent: and perhaps that is just as well, for we +are hampered on every side by lack of funds. They are going to have a +bazaar next week to try to give the thing a lift, but a hundred bazaars +would not produce half that is wanted." + +"I gathered that there were difficulties of this kind," the visitor said +reflectively. "As I came out of the church after service to-day I met +the organist. He had no idea who I was, but gave his views very +strongly as to Lord Blandamer's responsibilities for things in general, +and for the organ in particular. We are, I suppose, under some sort of +moral obligation for the north transept, from having annexed it as a +burying-place. It used to be called, I fancy, the Blandamer Aisle." + +"Yes, it is called so still," Westray answered. He was glad to see the +turn the conversation had taken, and hoped that a _deus ex machina_ had +appeared. Lord Blandamer's next question was still more encouraging. + +"At what do you estimate the cost of the transept repairs?" + +Westray ran through his papers till he found a printed leaflet with a +view of Cullerne Minster on the outside. + +"Here are Sir George Farquhar's figures," he said. "This was a circular +that was sent everywhere to invite subscriptions, but it scarcely paid +the cost of printing. No one will give a penny to these things +nowadays. Here it is, you see--seven thousand eight hundred pounds for +the north transept." + +There was a little pause. Westray did not look up, being awkwardly +conscious that the sum was larger than Lord Blandamer had anticipated, +and fearing that such an abrupt disclosure might have damped the +generosity of an intended contributor. + +Lord Blandamer changed the subject. + +"Who is the organist? I rather liked his manner, for all he took me so +sharply, if impersonally, to task. He seems a clever musician, but his +instrument is in a shocking state." + +"He _is_ a very clever organist," Westray answered. It was evident that +Lord Blandamer was in a subscribing frame of mind, and if his generosity +did not extend to undertaking the cost of the transept, he might at +least give something towards the organ. The architect tried to do his +friend Mr Sharnall a service. "He is a very clever organist," he +repeated; "his name is Sharnall, and he lodges in this house. Shall I +call him? Would you like to ask him about the organ?" + +"Oh no, not now; I have so little time; another day we can have a chat. +Surely a very little money--comparatively little money, I mean--would +put the organ in proper repair. Did they never approach my grandfather, +the late Lord Blandamer, on the question of funds for these +restorations?" + +Westray's hopes of a contribution were again dashed, and he felt a +little contemptuous at such evasions. They came with an ill grace after +Lord Blandamer's needlessly affectionate panegyric of the church. + +"Yes," he said; "Canon Parkyn, the Rector here, wrote to the late Lord +Blandamer begging for a subscription to the restoration fund for the +church, but never got any answer." + +Westray flung something like a sneer into his tone, and was already +sorry for his ungracious words before he had finished speaking. But the +other seemed to take no offence, where some would have been offended. + +"Ah," he said, "my grandfather was no doubt a very sad old man indeed. +I must go now, or I shall miss my train. You shall introduce me to Mr +Sharnall the next time I come to Cullerne; I have your promise, +remember, to take me over the church. Is it not so?" + +"Yes--oh yes, certainly," Westray said, though with less cordiality +perhaps than he had used on the previous occasion. He was disappointed +that Lord Blandamer had promised no subscription, and accompanied him to +the foot of the stairs with much the same feelings as a shop-assistant +entertains for the lady who, having turned over goods for half an hour, +retreats with the promise that she will consider the matter and call +again. + +Miss Joliffe had been waiting on the kitchen stairs, and so was able to +meet Lord Blandamer in the hall quite accidentally. She showed him out +of the front-door with renewed professions of respect, for she knew +nothing of his niggardly evasions of a subscription, and in her eyes a +lord was still a lord. He added the comble to all his graces and +courtesies by shaking her hand as he left the house, and expressing a +hope that she would be so kind as to give him another cup of tea, the +very next time he was in Cullerne. + +The light was failing as Lord Blandamer descended the flight of steps +outside the door of Bellevue Lodge. The evening must have closed in +earlier than usual, for very soon after the visitor had gone upstairs +Anastasia found it too dark to read in the kitchen; so she took her +book, and sat in the window-seat of Mr Sharnall's room. + +It was a favourite resort of hers, both when Mr Sharnall was out, and +also when he was at home; for he had known her from childhood, and liked +to watch the graceful girlish form as she read quietly while he worked +at his music. The deep window-seat was panelled in painted deal, and +along the side of it hung a faded cushion, which could be turned over on +to the sill when the sash was thrown up, so as to form a rest for the +arms of anyone who desired to look out on a summer evening. + +The window was still open, though it was dusk; but Anastasia's head, +which just appeared above the sill, was screened from observation by a +low blind. This blind was formed of a number of little green wooden +slats, faded and blistered by the suns of many summers, and so arranged +that, by the turning of a brass, urn-shaped knob, they could be made to +open and afford a prospect of the outer world to anyone sitting inside. + +It had been for some time too dark for Anastasia to read, but she still +sat in the window-seat; and as she heard Lord Blandamer come down the +stairs, she turned the brass urn so as to command a view of the street. +She felt herself blushing in the dusk, at the reiterated and voluminous +compliments which her aunt was paying in the hall. She blushed because +Westray's tone was too off-handed and easy towards so important a +personage to please her critical mood; and then she blushed again at her +own folly in blushing. The front-door shut at last, and the gaslight +fell on Lord Blandamer's active figure and straight, square shoulders as +he went down the steps. Three thousand years before, another maiden had +looked between the doorpost and the door, at the straight broad back of +another great stranger as he left her father's palace; but Anastasia was +more fortunate than Nausicaa, for there is no record that Ulysses cast +any backward glance as he walked down to the Phaeacian ship, and Lord +Blandamer did turn and look back. + +He turned and looked back; he seemed to Anastasia to look between the +little blistered slats into her very eyes. Of course, he could not have +guessed that a very foolish girl, the niece of a very foolish landlady +in a very commonplace lodging-house, in a very commonplace country town, +was watching him behind a shutter; but he turned and looked, and +Anastasia stayed for half an hour after he had gone, thinking of the +hard and clean-cut face that she had seen for an instant in the +flickering gaslight. + +It was a hard face, and as she sat in the dark with closed eyes, and saw +that face again and again in her mind, she knew that it was hard. It +was hard--it was almost cruel. No, it was not cruel, but only +recklessly resolved, with a resolution that would not swerve from +cruelty, if cruelty were needed to accomplish its purpose. Thus she +reasoned in the approved manner of fiction. She knew that such +reasonings were demanded of heroines. A heroine must be sadly unworthy +of her lofty role if she could not with a glance unmask even the most +enigmatic countenance, and trace the passions writ in it, clearly as a +page of "Reading without Tears." And was she, Anastasia, to fall short +in such a simple craft? No, she had measured the man's face in a +moment; it was resolved, even to cruelty. It was hard, but ah! how +handsome! and she remembered how the grey eyes had met hers and blinded +them with power, when she first saw him on the doorstep. Wondrous +musings, wondrous thought-reading, by a countrified young lady in her +teens; but is it not out of the mouths of babes and sucklings that +strength has been eternally ordained? + +She was awakened from her reverie by the door being flung open, and she +leapt from her perch as Mr Sharnall entered the room. + +"Heyday! heyday!" he said, "what have we here? Fire out, and window +open; missy dreaming of Sir Arthur Bedevere, and catching a cold--a very +poetic cold in the head." + +His words jarred on her mood like the sharpening of a slate-pencil. She +said nothing, but brushed by him, shut the door behind her, and left him +muttering in the dark. + +The excitement of Lord Blandamer's visit had overtaxed Miss Joliffe. +She took the gentlemen their supper--and Mr Westray was supping in Mr +Sharnall's room that evening--and assured Anastasia that she was not in +the least tired. But ere long she was forced to give up this pretence, +and to take refuge in a certain high-backed chair with ears, which stood +in a corner of the kitchen, and was only brought into use in illness or +other emergency. The bell rang for supper to be taken away, but Miss +Joliffe was fast asleep, and did not hear it. Anastasia was not allowed +to "wait" under ordinary circumstances, but her aunt must not be +disturbed when she was so tired, and she took the tray herself and went +upstairs. + +"He is a striking-looking man enough," Westray was saying as she entered +the room; "but I must say he did not impress me favourably in other +respects. He spoke too enthusiastically about the church. It would +have sat on him with a very good grace if he had afterwards come down +with five hundred pounds, but ecstasies are out of place when a man +won't give a halfpenny to turn them into reality." + +"He is a chip of the old block," said the organist. + + "`_Leap year's February twenty-nine days, + And on the thirtieth Blandamer pays_.' + +"That's a saw about here. Well, I rubbed it into him this afternoon, +and all the harder because I hadn't the least idea who he was." + +There was a fierce colour in Anastasia's cheeks as she packed the dirty +plates and supper debris into the tray, and a fiercer feeling in her +heart. She tried hard to conceal her confusion, and grew more confused +in the effort. The organist watched her closely, without ever turning +his eyes in her direction. He was a cunning little man, and before the +table was cleared had guessed who was the hero of those dreams, from +which he had roused her an hour earlier. + +Westray waved away with his hand a puff of smoke which drifted into his +face from Mr Sharnall's pipe. + +"He asked me whether anyone had ever approached the old lord about the +restoration, and I said the Rector had written, and never got an +answer." + +"It wasn't to the _old_ lord he wrote," Mr Sharnall cut in; "it was to +this very man. Didn't you know it was to this very man? No one ever +thought it worth ink and paper to write to _old_ Blandamer. I was the +only one, fool enough to do that. I had an appeal for the organ printed +once upon a time, and sent him a copy, and asked him to head the list. +After a bit he sent me a cheque for ten shillings and sixpence; and then +I wrote and thanked him, and said it would do very nicely to put a new +leg on the organ-stool if one should ever break. But he had the last +word, for when I went to the bank to cash the cheque, I found it +stopped." + +Westray laughed with a thin and tinkling merriment that irritated +Anastasia more than an honest guffaw. + +"When he stuck at seven thousand eight hundred pounds for the church, I +tried to give _you_ a helping hand with the organ. I told him you lived +in the house; would he not like to see you? `Oh no, not _now_,' he +said; `some other day.'" + +"He is a chip of the old block," the organist said again bitterly. +"Gather figs of thistles, if you will, but don't expect money from +Blandamers." + +Anastasia's thumb went into the curry as she lifted the dish, but she +did not notice it. She was only eager to get away, to place herself +outside the reach of these slanderous tongues, to hide herself where she +could unburden her heart of its bitterness. Mr Sharnall fired one more +shaft at her as she left the room. + +"He takes after his grandfather in other ways besides close-fistedness. +The old man had a bad enough name with women, and this man has a worse. +They are a poor lot--lock, stock, and barrel." + +Lord Blandamer had certainly been unhappy in the impression which he +created at Bellevue Lodge; a young lady had diagnosed his countenance as +hard and cruel, an architect had detected niggardliness in his +disposition, and an organist was resolved to regard him at all hazards +as a personal foe. It was fortunate indeed for his peace of mind that +he was completely unaware of this, but, then, he might not perhaps have +troubled much even if he had known all about it. The only person who +had a good word for him was Miss Euphemia Joliffe. She woke up flushed, +but refreshed, after her nap, and found the supper-things washed and put +away in their places. + +"My dear, my dear," she said deprecatingly, "I am afraid I have been +asleep, and left all the work to you. You should not have done this, +Anastasia. You ought to have awakened me." The flesh was weak, and she +was forced to hold her hand before her mouth for a moment to conceal a +yawn; but her mind reverted instinctively to the great doings of the +day, and she said with serene reflection: "A very remarkable man, so +dignified and yet so affable, and _very_ handsome too, my dear." + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +Among the letters which the postman brought to Bellevue Lodge on the +morning following these remarkable events was an envelope which +possessed a dreadful fascination. It bore a little coronet stamped in +black upon the flap, and "Edward Westray, Esquire, Bellevue Lodge, +Cullerne," written on the front in a bold and clear hand. But this was +not all, for low in the left corner was the inscription "Blandamer." A +single word, yet fraught with so mystical an import that it set +Anastasia's heart beating fast as she gave it to her aunt, to be taken +upstairs with the architect's breakfast. + +"There is a letter for you, sir, from Lord Blandamer," Miss Joliffe +said, as she put down the tray on the table. + +But the architect only grunted, and went on with ruler and compass at +the plan with which he was busy. Miss Joliffe would have been more than +woman had she not felt a burning curiosity to know the contents of so +important a missive; and to leave a nobleman's letter neglected on the +table seemed to her little short of sacrilege. + +Never had breakfast taken longer to lay, and still there was the letter +lying by the tin cover, which (so near is grandeur to our dust) +concealed a simple bloater. Poor Miss Joliffe made a last effort ere +she left the room to bring Westray to a proper appreciation of the +situation. + +"There is a letter for you, sir; I think it is from Lord Blandamer." + +"Yes, yes," the architect said sharply; "I will attend to it presently." + +And so she retired, routed. + +Westray's nonchalance had been in part assumed. He was anxious to show +that he, at any rate, could rise superior to artificial distinctions of +rank, and was no more to be impressed by peers than peasants. He kept +up this philosophic indifference even after Miss Joliffe left the room; +for he took life very seriously, and felt his duty towards himself to be +at least as important as that towards his neighbours. Resolution lasted +till the second cup of tea, and then he opened the letter. + + "Dear Sir" (it began), + + "I understood from you yesterday that the repairs to the north + transept of Cullerne Minster are estimated to cost 7,800 pounds. This + charge I should like to bear myself, and thus release for other + purposes of restoration the sum already collected. I am also prepared + to undertake whatever additional outlay is required to put the whole + building in a state of substantial repair. Will you kindly inform Sir + George Farquhar of this, and ask him to review the scheme of + restoration as modified by these considerations? I shall be in + Cullerne on Saturday next, and hope I may find you at home if I call + about five in the afternoon, and that you may then have time to show + me the church. + + "I am, dear sir, + + "Very truly yours, + + "Blandamer." + +Westray had scanned the letter so rapidly that he knew its contents by +intuition rather than by the more prosaic method of reading. Nor did he +re-read it several times, as is generally postulated by important +communications in fiction; he simply held it in his hand, and crumpled +it unconsciously, while he thought. He was surprised, and he was +pleased--pleased at the wider vista of activity that Lord Blandamer's +offer opened, and pleased that he should be chosen as the channel +through which an announcement of such gravity was to be made. He felt, +in short, that pleasurable and confused excitement, that mental +inebriation, which unexpected good fortune is apt to produce in any +except the strongest minds, and went down to Mr Sharnall's room still +crumpling the letter in his hand. The bloater was left to waste its +sweetness on the morning air. + +"I have just received some extraordinary news," he said, as he opened +the door. + +Mr Sharnall was not altogether unprepared, for Miss Joliffe had already +informed him that a letter from Lord Blandamer had arrived for Mr +Westray; so he only said "Ah!" in a tone that implied compassion for the +lack of mental balance which allowed Westray to be so easily astonished, +and added "Ah, yes?" as a manifesto that no sublunary catastrophe could +possibly astonish him, Mr Sharnall. But Westray's excitement was +cold-waterproof, and he read the letter aloud with much jubilation. + +"Well," said the organist, "I don't see much in it; seven thousand +pounds is nothing to him. When we have done all that we ought to do, we +are unprofitable servants." + +"It isn't only seven thousand pounds; don't you see he gives +carte-blanche for repairs in general? Why, it may be thirty or forty +thousand, or even more." + +"Don't you wish you may get it?" the organist said, raising his eyebrows +and shutting his eyelids. + +Westray was nettled. + +"Oh, I think it's mean to sneer at everything the man does. We abused +him yesterday as a niggard; let us have the grace to-day to say we were +mistaken." He was afflicted with the over-scrupulosity of a refined, +but strictly limited mind, and his conscience smote him. "I, at any +rate, was quite mistaken," he went on; "I quite misinterpreted his +hesitation when I mentioned the cost of the transept repairs." + +"Your chivalrous sentiments do you the greatest credit," the organist +said, "and I congratulate you on being able to change your ideas so +quickly. As for me, I prefer to stick to my first opinion. It is all +humbug; either he doesn't mean to pay, or else he has some plan of his +own to push. _I_ wouldn't touch his money with a barge-pole." + +"Oh no, of course not," Westray said, with the exaggerated sarcasm of a +schoolboy in his tone. "If he was to offer a thousand pounds to restore +the organ, you wouldn't take a penny of it." + +"He hasn't offered a thousand yet," rejoined the organist; "and when he +does, I'll send him away with a flea in his ear." + +"That's a very encouraging announcement for would-be contributors," +Westray sneered; "they ought to come forward very strongly after that." + +"Well, I must get on with some copying," the organist said dryly; and +Westray went back to the bloater. + +If Mr Sharnall was thus pitiably wanting in appreciation of a +munificent offer, the rest of Cullerne made no pretence of imitating his +example. Westray was too elated to keep the good news to himself, nor +did there appear, indeed, to be any reason for making a secret of it. +So he told the foreman-mason, and Mr Janaway the clerk, and Mr Noot +the curate, and lastly Canon Parkyn the rector, whom he certainly ought +to have told the first of all. Thus, before the carillon of Saint +Sepulchre's played "New sabbath" [See Appendix at the end of the volume] +at three o'clock that afternoon, the whole town was aware that the new +Lord Blandamer had been among them, and had promised to bear the cost of +restoring the great minster of which they were all so proud--so very +much more proud when their pride entailed no sordid considerations of +personal subscription. + +Canon Parkyn was ruffled. Mrs Parkyn perceived it when he came in to +dinner at one o'clock, but, being a prudent woman, she did not allude +directly to his ill-humour, though she tried to dispel it by leading the +conversation to topics which experience had shown her were soothing to +him. Among such the historic visit of Sir George Farquhar, and the +deference which he had paid to the Rector's suggestions, occupied a +leading position: but the mention of the great architect's name, was a +signal for a fresh exhibition of vexation on her husband's part. + +"I wish," he said, "that Sir George would pay a little more personal +attention to the work at the minster. His representative, this Mr-- +er--er--this Mr Westray, besides being, I fear, very inexperienced and +deficient in architectural knowledge, is a most conceited young man, and +constantly putting himself forward in an unbecoming way. He came to me +this morning with an exceedingly strange communication--a letter from +Lord Blandamer." + +Mrs Parkyn laid down her knife and fork. + +"A letter from Lord Blandamer?" she said in unconcealed amazement--"a +letter from Lord Blandamer to Mr Westray!" + +"Yes," the Rector went on, losing some of his annoyance in the +pleasurable consciousness that his words created a profound +sensation--"a letter in which his lordship offers to bear in the first +place the cost of the repairs of the north transept, and afterwards to +make good any deficiency in the funds required for the restoration of +the rest of the fabric. Of course, I am very loth to question any +action taken by a member of the Upper House, but at the same time I am +compelled to characterise the proceeding as most irregular. That such a +communication should be made to a mere clerk of the works, instead of to +the Rector and duly appointed guardian of the sacred edifice, is so +grave a breach of propriety that I am tempted to veto the matter +entirely, and to refuse to accept this offer." + +His face wore a look of sublime dignity, and he addressed his wife as if +she were a public meeting. _Ruat coelum_, Canon Parkyn was not to be +moved a hair's-breadth from the line traced by propriety and rectitude. +He knew in his inmost heart that under no possible circumstances would +he have refused any gift that was offered him, yet his own words had +about them so heroic a ring that for a moment he saw himself dashing +Lord Blandamer's money on the floor, as early Christians had flung to +the wind that pinch of incense that would have saved them from the +lions. + +"I think I _must_ refuse this offer," he repeated. + +Mrs Parkyn knew her husband intimately--more intimately, perhaps, than +he knew himself--and had an additional guarantee that the discussion was +merely academic in the certainty that, even were he really purposed to +refuse the offer, she would not _allow_ him to do so. Yet she played +the game, and feigned to take him seriously. + +"I quite appreciate your scruples, my dear; they are just what anyone +who knew you would expect. It is a positive affront that you should be +told of such a proposal by this impertinent young man; and Lord +Blandamer has so strange a reputation himself that one scarcely knows +how far it is right to accept anything from him for sacred purposes. I +honour your reluctance. Perhaps it _would_ be right for you to decline +this proposal, or, at any rate, to take time for consideration." + +The Rector looked furtively at his wife. He was a little alarmed at her +taking him so readily at his word. He had hoped that she would be +dismayed--that she could have brought proper arguments to bear to shake +his high resolve. + +"Ah, your words have unwittingly reminded me of my chief difficulty in +refusing. It is the sacred purpose which makes me doubt my own +judgment. It would be a painful reflection to think that the temple +should suffer by my refusing this gift. Maybe I should be yielding to +my own petulance or personal motives if I were to decline. I must not +let my pride stand in the way of higher obligations." + +He concluded in his best pulpit manner, and the farce was soon at an +end. It was agreed that the gift must be accepted, that proper measures +should be taken to rebuke Mr Westray's presumption, as _he_ had no +doubt induced Lord Blandamer to select so improper a channel of +communication, and that the Rector should himself write direct to thank +the noble donor. So, after dinner, Canon Parkyn retired to his "study," +and composed a properly fulsome letter, in which he attributed all the +noblest possible motives and qualities to Lord Blandamer, and invoked +all the most unctuously conceived blessings upon his head. And at +teatime the letter was perused and revised by Mrs Parkyn, who added +some finishing touches of her own, especially a preamble which stated +that Canon Parkyn had been informed by the clerk of the works that Lord +Blandamer had expressed a desire to write to Canon Parkyn to make a +certain offer, but had asked the clerk of the works to find out first +whether such an offer would be acceptable to Canon Parkyn, and a +peroration which hoped that Lord Blandamer would accept the hospitality +of the Rectory on the occasion of his next visit to Cullerne. + +The letter reached Lord Blandamer at Fording the next morning as he sat +over a late breakfast, with a Virgil open on the table by his +coffee-cup. He read the Rector's stilted periods without a smile, and +made a mental note that he would at once send a specially civil +acknowledgment. Then he put it carefully into his pocket, and turned +back to the _Di patrii indigetes et Romule Vestaque Mater_ of the First +Georgic, which he was committing to memory, and banished the invitation +so completely from his mind that he never thought of it again till he +was in Cullerne a week later. + +Lord Blandamer's visit, and the offer which he had made for the +restoration of the church, formed the staple of Cullerne conversation +for a week. All those who had been fortunate enough to see or to speak +to him discussed him with one another, and compared notes. Scarcely a +detail of his personal appearance, of his voice or manner escaped them; +and so infectious was this interest that some who had never seen him at +all were misled by their excitement into narrating how he had stopped +them in the street to ask the way to the architect's lodgings, and how +he had made so many striking and authentic remarks that it was wonderful +that he had ever reached Bellevue Lodge at all that night. Clerk +Janaway, who was sorely chagrined to think that he should have missed an +opportunity of distinguished converse, declared that he had felt the +stranger's grey eyes go through and through him like a knife, and had +only made believe to stop him entering the choir, in order to convince +himself by the other's masterful insistence that his own intuition was +correct. He had known all the time, he said, that he was speaking to +none other than Lord Blandamer. + +Westray thought the matter important enough to justify him in going to +London to consult Sir George Farquhar, as to the changes in the scheme +of restoration which Lord Blandamer's munificence made possible; but Mr +Sharnall, at any rate, was left to listen to Miss Joliffe's +recollections, surmises, and panegyrics. + +In spite of all the indifference which the organist had affected when he +first heard the news, he showed a surprising readiness to discuss the +affair with all comers, and exhibited no trace of his usual impatience +with Miss Joliffe, so long as she was talking of Lord Blandamer. To +Anastasia it seemed as if he could talk of nothing else, and the more +she tried to check him by her silence or by change of subject, the more +bitterly did he return to the attack. + +The only person to exhibit no interest in this unhappy nobleman, who had +outraged propriety by offering to contribute to the restoration of the +minster, was Anastasia herself; and even tolerant Miss Joliffe was moved +to chide her niece's apathy in this particular. + +"I do not think it becomes us, love, young or old, to take so little +notice of great and good deeds. Mr Sharnall is, I fear, discontented +with the station of life to which it has pleased Providence to call him, +and I am less surprised at _his_ not always giving praise where praise +should be given; but with the young it is different. I am sure if +anyone had offered to restore Wydcombe Church when I was a girl--and +specially a nobleman--I should have been as delighted, or nearly as +delighted, as if he--as if I had been given a new frock." She altered +the "as if he had given me" which was upon her tongue because the +proposition, even for purposes of illustration, that a nobleman could +ever have offered her a new frock seemed to have in itself something of +the scandalous and unfitting. + +"I should have been delighted, but, dear me! in those days people were +so blind as never to think of restorations. We used to sit in quite +_comfortable_ seats every Sunday, with cushions and hassocks, and the +aisles were paved with flagstones--simple worn flagstones, and none of +the caustic tiles which look so much more handsome; though I am always +afraid I am going to slip, and glad to be off them, they are so hard and +shiny. Church matters were very behindhand then. All round the walls +were tablets that people had put up to their relations, white caskets on +black marble slates, and urns and cherubs' heads, and just opposite +where I used to sit a poor lady, whose name I have forgotten, weeping +under a willow-tree. No doubt they were very much out of place in the +sanctuary, as the young gentleman said in his lecture on `How to make +our Churches Beautiful' in the Town Hall last winter. He called them +`mural blisters,' my dear, but there was no talk of removing them in my +young days, and that was, I dare say, because there was no one to give +the money for it. But now, here is this good young nobleman, Lord +Blandamer, come forward so handsomely, and I have no doubt at Cullerne +all will be much improved ere long. We are not meant to _loll_ at our +devotions, as the lecturer told us. That was his word, to `_loll_'; and +they will be sure to take away the baize and hassocks, though I do hope +there will be a little strip of _something_ on the seats; the bare wood +is apt to make one ache sometimes. I should not say it to anyone else +in the world but you, but it _does_ make me ache a little sometimes; and +when the caustic is put down in the aisle, I shall take your arm, my +dear, to save me from slipping. Here is Lord Blandamer going to do all +this for us, and you do not show yourself in the least grateful. It is +not becoming in a young girl." + +"Dear aunt, what would you have me do? I cannot go and thank him +publicly in the name of the town. That would be still more unbecoming; +and I am sure I hope they will not do all the dreadful things in the +church that you speak of. I love the old monuments, and like _lolling_ +much better than bare forms." + +So she would laugh the matter off; but if she could not be induced to +talk of Lord Blandamer, she thought of him the more, and rehearsed again +and again in day-dreams and in night-dreams every incident of that +momentous Saturday afternoon, from the first bars of the overture, when +he had revealed in so easy and simple a way that he was none other than +Lord Blandamer, to the ringing down of the curtain, when he turned to +look back--to that glance when his eyes had seemed to meet hers, +although she was hidden behind a blind, and he could not have guessed +that she was there. + +Westray came back from London with the scheme of restoration +reconsidered and amplified in the light of altered circumstances, and +with a letter for Lord Blandamer in which Sir George Farquhar hoped that +the munificent donor would fix a day on which Sir George might come down +to Cullerne to offer his respects, and to discuss the matter in person. +Westray had looked forward all the week to the appointment which he had +with Lord Blandamer for five o'clock on the Saturday afternoon, and had +carefully thought out the route which he would pursue in taking him +round the church. He returned to Bellevue Lodge at a quarter to five, +and found his visitor already awaiting him. Miss Joliffe was, as usual, +at her Saturday meeting, but Anastasia told Westray that Lord Blandamer +had been waiting more than half an hour. + +"I must apologise, my lord, for keeping you waiting," Westray said, as +he went in. "I feared I had made some mistake in the time of our +meeting, but I see it _was_ five that your note named." And he held out +the open letter which he had taken from his pocket. + +"The mistake is entirely mine," Lord Blandamer admitted with a smile, as +he glanced at his own instructions; "I fancied I had said four o'clock; +but I have been very glad of a few minutes to write one or two letters." + +"We can post them on our way to the church; they will just catch the +mail." + +"Ah, then I must wait till to-morrow; there are some enclosures which I +have not ready at this moment." + +They set out together for the minster, and Lord Blandamer looked back as +they crossed the street. + +"The house has a good deal of character," he said, "and might be made +comfortable enough with a little repair. I must ask my agent to see +what can be arranged; it does not do me much credit as landlord in its +present state." + +"Yes, it has a good many interesting features," Westray answered; "you +know its history, of course--I mean that it was an old inn." + +He had turned round as his companion turned, and for an instant thought +he saw something moving behind the blind in Mr Sharnall's room. But he +must have been mistaken; only Anastasia was in the house, and she was in +the kitchen, for he had called to her as they went out to say that he +might be late for tea. + +Westray thoroughly enjoyed the hour and a half which the light allowed +him for showing and explaining the church. Lord Blandamer exhibited +what is called, so often by euphemism, an intelligent interest in all +that he saw, and was at no pains either to conceal or display a very +adequate architectural knowledge. Westray wondered where he had +acquired it, though he asked no questions; but before the inspection was +ended he found himself unconsciously talking to his companion of +technical points, as to a professional equal and not to an amateur. +They stopped for a moment under the central tower. + +"I feel especially grateful," Westray said, "for your generosity in +giving us a free hand for all fabric work, because we shall now be able +to tackle the tower. Nothing will ever induce me to believe that all is +right up there. The arches are extraordinarily wide and thin for their +date. You will laugh when I tell you that I sometimes think I hear them +crying for repair, and especially that one on the south with the jagged +crack in the wall above it. Now and then, when I am alone in the church +or the tower, I seem to catch their very words. `The arch never +sleeps,' they say; `we never sleep.'" + +"It is a romantic idea," Lord Blandamer said. "Architecture is poetry +turned into stone, according to the old aphorism, and you, no doubt, +have something of the poet in you." + +He glanced at the thin and rather bloodless face, and at the high +cheekbones of the water-drinker as he spoke. Lord Blandamer never made +jokes, and very seldom was known to laugh, yet if anyone but Westray had +been with him, they might have fancied that there was a whimsical tone +in his words, and a trace of amusement in the corners of his eyes. But +the architect did not see it, and coloured slightly as he went on: + +"Well, perhaps you are right; I suppose architecture does inspire one. +The first verses I ever wrote, or the first, at least, that I ever had +printed, were on the Apse of Tewkesbury Abbey. They came out in the +_Gloucester Herald_, and I dare say I shall scribble something about +these arches some day." + +"Do," said Lord Blandamer, "and send me a copy. This place ought to +have its poet, and it is much safer to write verses to arches than to +arched eyebrows." + +Westray coloured again, and put his hand in his breast-pocket. Could he +have been so foolish as to leave those half-finished lines on his desk +for Lord Blandamer or anyone else to see? No, they were quite safe; he +could feel the sharp edge of the paper folded lengthways, which +differentiated them from ordinary letters. + +"We shall just have time to go up to the roof-space, if you care to do +so," he suggested, changing the subject. "I should like to show you the +top of the transept groining, and explain what we are busy with at +present. It is always more or less dark up there, but we shall find +lanterns." + +"Certainly, with much pleasure." And they climbed the newel staircase +that was carried in the north-east pier. + +Clerk Janaway had been hovering within a safe distance of them as they +went their round. He was nominally busy in "putting things straight" +for the Sunday, before the church was shut up; and had kept as much out +of sight as was possible, remembering how he had withstood Lord +Blandamer to the face a week before. Yet he was anxious to meet him, as +it were, by accident, and explain that he had acted in ignorance of the +real state of affairs; but no favourable opportunity for such an +explanation presented itself. The pair had gone up to the roof, and the +clerk was preparing to lock up--for Westray had a key of his own--when +he heard someone coming up the nave. + +It was Mr Sharnall, who carried a pile of music-books under his arm. + +"Hallo!" he said to the clerk, "what makes _you_ so late? I expected to +have to let myself in. I thought you would have been off an hour ago." + +"Well, things took a bit longer to-night than usual to put away." He +broke off, for there was a little noise somewhere above them in the +scaffolding, and went on in what was meant for a whisper: "Mr Westray's +taking his lordship round; they're up in the roof now. D'ye hear 'em?" + +"Lordship! What lordship? D'you mean that fellow Blandamer?" + +"Yes, that's just who I do mean. But I don't know as how he's a fellow, +and he _is_ a lordship; so that's why I call him a lordship and not a +fellow. And mid I ask what he's been doing to set _your_ back up? Why +don't you wait here for him, and talk to him about the organ? Maybe, +now he's in the giving mood, he'd set it right for 'ee, or anyways give +'ee that little blowin'-engine you talk so much about. Why do 'ee +always go about showin' your teeth?--metaforally, I mean, for you +haven't that many real ones left to make much show--why ain't you like +other folk sometimes? Shall I tell 'ee? 'Cause you wants to be young +when you be old, and rich when you be poor. That's why. That makes 'ee +miserable, and then you drinks to drown it. Take my advice, and act +like other folk. I'm nigh a score of years older than you, and take a +vast more pleasure in my life than when I was twenty. The neighbours +and their ways tickle me now, and my pipe's sweeter; and there's many a +foolish thing a young man does that age don't give an old one the chanst +to. You've spoke straight to me, and now I've spoke straight to you, +'cause I'm a straight-speaking man, and have no call to be afraid of +anyone--lord or fellow or organist. So take an old man's word: cheer +up, and wait on my lord, and get him to give 'ee a new organ." + +"Bah!" said Mr Sharnall, who was far too used to Janaway's manner to +take umbrage or pay attention to it. "Bah! I hate all Blandamers. I +wish they were as dead and buried as dodos; and I'm not at all sure they +aren't. I'm not at all sure, mind you, that this strutting peacock has +any more right to the name of Blandamer than you or I have. I'm sick of +all this wealth. No one's thought anything of to-day, who can't build a +church or a museum or a hospital. `So long as thou doest well unto +_thyself_, men will speak good of thee.' If you've got the money, +you're everything that's wonderful, and if you haven't, you may go rot. +I wish all Blandamers were in their graves," he said, raising his thin +and strident voice till it rang again in the vault above, "and wrapped +up in their nebuly coat for a shroud. I should like to fling a stone +through their damned badge." And he pointed to the sea-green and silver +shield high up in the transept window. "Sunlight and moonlight, it is +always there. I used to like to come down and play here to the bats of +a full moon, till I saw _that_ would always look into the loft and haunt +me." + +He thumped his pile of books down on a seat, and flung out of the +church. He had evidently been drinking, and the clerk made his escape +at the same time, being anxious not to be identified with sentiments +which had been so loudly enunciated that he feared those in the roof +might have overheard them. + +Lord Blandamer wished Westray good-night at the church-door, excusing +himself from an invitation to tea on the ground of business which +necessitated his return to Fording. + +"We must spend another afternoon in the minster," he said. "I hope you +will allow me to write to make an appointment. I am afraid that it may +possibly be for a Saturday again, for I am much occupied at present +during the week." + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Clerk Janaway lived not far from the church, in Governor's Lane. No one +knew whence its name was derived, though Dr Ennefer thought that the +Military Governour might have had his quarters thereabouts when Cullerne +was held for the Parliament. Serving as a means of communication +between two quiet back-streets, it was itself more quiet than either, +and yet; for all this, had about it a certain air of comfort and +well-being. The passage of vehicles was barred at either end by old +cannon. Their breeches were buried in the ground, and their muzzles +stood up as sturdy iron posts, while the brown cobbles of the roadway +sloped to a shallow stone gutter which ran down the middle of the lane. +Custom ordained that the houses should be coloured with a pink wash; and +the shutters, which were a feature of the place, shone in such bright +colours as to recall a Dutch town. + +Shutter-painting was indeed an event of some importance in Governour's +Lane. Not a few of its inhabitants had followed the sea as fishermen or +smack-owners, and when fortune so smiled on them that they could retire, +and there were no more boats to be painted, shutters and doors and +window-frames came in to fill the gap. So, on a fine morning, when the +turpentine oozing from cracks, and the warm smell of blistering varnish +brought to Governour's Lane the first tokens of returning summer, might +have been seen sexagenarians and septuagenarians, and some so strong +that they had come to fourscore years, standing paint-pot and +paint-brush in hand, while they gave a new coat to the woodwork of their +homes. + +They were a kindly folk, open of face, and fresh-complexioned, broad in +the beam, and vested as to their bodies in dark blue, brass-buttoned +pilot coats. Insuperable smokers, inexhaustible yarn-spinners, they had +long welcomed Janaway as a kindred spirit--the more so that in their +view a clerk and grave-digger was in some measure an expert in things +unseen, who might anon assist in piloting them on that last cruise for +which some had already the Blue Peter at the fore. + +A myrtle-bush which grew out of a hole in the cobbles was carefully +trained against the front of a cottage in the middle of the row, and a +brass plate on the door informed the wayfarer and ignorant man that "T. +Janaway, Sexton," dwelt within. About eight o'clock on the Saturday +evening, some two hours after Lord Blandamer and Westray had parted, the +door of the myrtle-fronted cottage was open, and the clerk stood on the +threshold smoking his pipe, while from within came a cheerful, ruddy +light and a well-defined smell of cooking; for Mrs Janaway was +preparing supper. + +"Tom," she called, "shut the door, and come to thy victuals." + +"Ay," he answered, "I'll be with 'ee directly; but gi'e me a minute. I +want to see who this is coming up the lane." + +Someone that the clerk knew at once for a stranger had entered the +little street at the bottom. There was half a moon, and light enough to +see that he was in search of some particular house; for he crossed from +one side of the lane to the other, and peered at the numbers on the +doors. As he came nearer, the clerk saw that he was of spare build, and +wore a loose overcoat or cape, which fluttered in the breeze that blew +at evening from the sea. A moment later Janaway knew that the stranger +was Lord Blandamer, and stepped back instinctively to let him pass. But +the open door had caught the attention of the passer-by; he stopped, and +greeted the householder cheerily. + +"A beautiful night, but with a cold touch in the air that makes your +warm room look very cheerful." He recognised the clerk's face as he +spoke, and went on: "Ah, ha! we are old friends already; we met in the +minster a week ago, did we not?" + +Mr Janaway was a little disconcerted at the unexpectedness of the +meeting, and returned the salutation in a confused way. The attempt +which he had made to prevent Lord Blandamer from entering the choir was +fresh in his memory, and he stammered some unready excuses. + +Lord Blandamer smiled with much courtesy. + +"You were quite right to stop me; you would have been neglecting your +duty if you had not done so. I had no idea that service was going on, +or I should not have come in; you may make your mind quite easy on that +score. I hope you will have many more opportunities of finding a place +for me in Cullerne Church." + +"No need to find any place for _you_, my Lord. You have your own seat +appointed and fixed, as sure as Canon Parkyn, and your own arms painted +up clear on the back of it. Don't you trouble for that. It is all laid +down in the statutes, and I shall make the very same obeisance for your +lordship when you take your seat as for my Lord Bishop. `Two +inclinations of the body, the mace being held in the right hand, and +supported on the left arm.' I cannot say more fair than that, for only +royalties have three inclinations, and none of them has ever been to +church in my time--no, nor yet a Lord Blandamer neither, since the day +that your dear father and mother, what you never knew, was buried." + +Mrs Janaway drummed with her knuckles on the supper-table, in amazement +that her husband should dare to stand chattering at the door when she +had told him that the meal was ready. But, as the conversation revealed +by degrees the stranger's identity, curiosity to see the man whose name +was in all Cullerne mouths got the better of her, and she came +curtseying to the door. + +Lord Blandamer flung the flapping cape of his overcoat over the left +shoulder in a way that made the clerk think of foreigners, and of +woodcuts of Italian opera in a bound volume of the _Illustrated London +News_ which he studied on Sunday evenings. + +"I must be moving on," said the visitor, with a shiver. "I must not +keep you standing here; there is a very chill air this evening." + +Then Mrs Janaway was seized with a sudden temerity. + +"Will your lordship not step in and warm yourself for a moment?" she +interposed. "We have a clear fire burning, if you will overlook the +smell of cooking." + +The clerk trembled for a moment at his wife's boldness, but Lord +Blandamer accepted the invitation with alacrity. + +"Thank you very much," said he; "I should be very glad to rest a few +minutes before my train leaves. Pray make no apology for the smell of +cookery; it is very appetising, especially at supper-time." + +He spoke as if he took supper every evening, and had never heard of a +late dinner in his life; and five minutes later he sat at table with Mr +and Mrs Janaway. The cloth was of roughest homespun, but clean; the +knives and forks handled in old green horn, and the piece-of-resistance +tripe; but the guest made an excellent meal. + +"Some folk think highly of squash tripe or ribband tripe," the clerk +said meditatively, looking at the empty dish; "but they don't compare, +according to my taste, with cushion tripe." He was emboldened to make +these culinary remarks by that moral elevation which comes to every +properly-constituted host, when a guest has eaten heartily of the viands +set before him. + +"No," Lord Blandamer said, "there can be no doubt that cushion tripe is +the best." + +"Quite as much depends upon the cooking as upon the tripe itself," +remarked Mrs Janaway, bridling at the thought that her art had been +left out of the reckoning; "a bad cook will spoil the best tripe. There +are many ways of doing it, but a little milk and a leek is the best for +me." + +"You cannot beat it," Lord Blandamer assented--"you cannot beat it"--and +then went on suggestively: "Have you ever tried a sprig of mace with +it?" + +No, Mrs Janaway had never heard of that; nor, indeed, had Lord +Blandamer either, if the point had been pushed; but she promised to use +it the very next time, and hoped that the august visitor would honour +them again when it was to be tasted. + +"'Tis only Saturday nights that we can get the cushion," she went on; +"and it's well it don't come oftener, for we couldn't afford it. No +woman ever had a call to have a better husband nor Thomas, who spends +little enough on hisself. He don't touch nothing but tea, sir, but +Saturday nights we treat ourselves to a little tripe, which is all the +more convenient in that it is very strengthening, and my husband's +duties on Sunday being that urgent-like. So, if your lordship is fond +of tripe, and passing another Saturday night, and will do us the honour, +you will always find something ready." + +"Thank you very much for your kind invitation," Lord Blandamer said; "I +shall certainly take you at your word, the more so that Saturday is the +day on which I am oftenest in Cullerne, or, I should say, have happened +to be lately." + +"There's poor and poor," said the clerk reflectively; "and _we're_ poor, +but we're happy; but there's Mr Sharnall poor and unhappy. `Mr +Sharnall,' says I to him, `many a time have I heard my father say over a +pot of tenpenny, "Here's to poverty in a plug-hole, and a man with a +wooden leg to trample it down;" but you never puts your poverty in a +plug-hole, much less tramples it down. You always has it out and airs +it, and makes yourself sad with thinking of it. 'Tisn't because you're +poor that you're sad; 'tis because you _think_ you're poor, and talk so +much about it. You're not so poor as we, only you have so many +grievances.'" + +"Ah, you are speaking of the organist?" Lord Blandamer asked. "I fancy +it was he who was talking with you in the minster this afternoon, was it +not?" + +The clerk felt embarrassed once more, for he remembered Mr Sharnall's +violent talk, and how his anathema of all Blandamers had rang out in the +church. + +"Yes," he said; "poor organist was talking a little wild; he gets took +that way sometimes, what with his grievances, and a little drop of the +swanky what he takes to drown them. Then he talks loud; but I hope your +lordship didn't hear all his foolishness." + +"Oh dear no; I was engaged at the time with the architect," Lord +Blandamer said; but his tone made Janaway think that Mr Sharnall's +voice had carried further than was convenient. "I did not hear what he +said, but he seemed to be much put out. I chatted with him in the +church some days ago; he did not know who I was, but I gathered that he +bore no very good will to my family." + +Mrs Janaway saw it was a moment for prudent words. "Don't pay no +manner of attention to him, if I may make so bold as to advise your +lordship," she said; "he talks against my husband just as well. He is +crazy about his organ, and thinks he ought to have a new one, or, at +least, a waterworks to blow it, like what they have at Carisbury. Don't +pay no attention to him; no one minds what Sharnall says in Cullerne." + +The clerk was astonished at his wife's wisdom, yet apprehensive as to +how it might be taken. But Lord Blandamer bowed his head graciously by +way of thanks for sage counsel, and went on: + +"Was there not some queer man at Cullerne who thought he was kept out of +his rights, and should be in my place--who thought, I mean, he ought to +be Lord Blandamer?" + +The question was full of indifference, and there was a little smile of +pity on his face; but the clerk remembered how Mr Sharnall had said +something about a strutting peacock, and that there were no real +Blandamers left, and was particularly ill at ease. + +"Oh yes," he answered after a moment's pause, "there was a poor doited +body who, saving your presence, had some cranks of that kind; and, more +by token, Mr Sharnall lived in the same house with him, and so I dare +say he has got touched with the same craze." + +Lord Blandamer took out a cigar instinctively, and then, remembering +that there was a lady present, put it back into his case and went on: + +"Oh, he lived in the same house with Mr Sharnall, did he? I should +like to hear more of this story; it naturally interests me. What was +his name?" + +"His name was Martin Joliffe," said the clerk quickly, being surprised +into eagerness by the chance of telling a story; and then the whole tale +of Martin, and Martin's father and mother and daughter, as he had told +it to Westray, was repeated for Lord Blandamer. + +The night was far advanced before the history came to an end, and the +local policeman walked several times up and down Governour's Lane, and +made pauses before Mr Janaway's house, being surprised to see a window +lighted so late. Lord Blandamer must have changed his intention of +going by train, for the gates of Cullerne station had been locked for +hours, and the boiler of the decrepit branch-line engine was cooling in +its shed. + +"It is an interesting tale, and you tell tales well," he said, as he got +up and put on his coat. "All good things must have an end, but I hope +to see you again ere long." He shook hands with hostess and host, +drained the pot of beer that had been fetched from a public-house, with +a "Here's to poverty in a plug-hole, and a man with a wooden leg to +trample it down," and was gone. + +A minute later the policeman, coming back for yet another inspection of +the lighted window, passed a man of middle height, who wore a loose +overcoat, with the cape tossed lightly over the left shoulder. The +stranger walked briskly, and hummed an air as he went, turning his face +up to the stars and the wind-swept sky, as if entirely oblivious of all +sublunary things. A midnight stranger in Governour's Lane was even more +surprising than a lighted window, and the policeman had it in his mind +to stop him and ask his business. But before he could decide on so +vigorous a course of action, the moment was past, and the footsteps were +dying away in the distance. + +The clerk was pleased with himself, and proud of his success as a +story-teller. + +"That's a clever, understanding sort of chap," he said to his wife, as +they went to bed; "he knows a good tale when he hears one." + +"Don't you be too proud of yourself, my man," answered she; "there's +more in that tale than your telling, I warrant you, for my lord to think +about." + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +The extension of the scheme of restoration which Lord Blandamer's +liberality involved, made it necessary that Westray should more than +once consult Sir George Farquhar in London. On coming back to Cullerne +from one of these visits on a Saturday night, he found his meal laid in +Mr Sharnall's room. + +"I thought you would not mind our having supper together," Mr Sharnall +said. "I don't know how it is, I always feel gloomy just when the +winter begins, and the dark sets in so soon. It is all right later on; +I rather enjoy the long evenings and a good fire, when I can afford a +good one, but at first it is a little gloomy. So come and have supper +with me. There _is_ a good fire to-night, and a bit of driftwood that I +got specially for your benefit." + +They talked of indifferent subjects during the meal, though once or +twice it seemed to Westray that the organist gave inconsequential +replies, as though he were thinking of something else. This was no +doubt the case, for, after they had settled before the fire, and the +lambent blue flames of the driftwood had been properly admired, Mr +Sharnall began with a hesitating cough: + +"A rather curious thing happened this afternoon. When I got back here +after evening-service, who should I find waiting in my room but that +Blandamer fellow. There was no light and no fire, for I had thought if +we lit the fire late we could afford a better one. He was sitting at +one end of the window-seat, damn him!"--(the expletive was caused by Mr +Sharnall remembering that this was Anastasia's favourite seat, and his +desire to reprobate the use of it by anyone else)--"but got up, of +course, as I came in, and made a vast lot of soft speeches. He must +really apologise for such an intrusion. He had come to see Mr Westray, +but found that Mr Westray had unfortunately been called away. He had +taken the liberty of waiting a few minutes in Mr Sharnall's room. He +was anxious to have a few moments' conversation with Mr Sharnall, and +so on, and so on. You know how I hate palaver, and how I disliked--how +I dislike" (he corrected himself)--"the man; but he took me at a +disadvantage, you see, for here he was actually in my room, and one +cannot be so rude in one's own room as one can in other people's. I +felt responsible, too, to some extent for his having had to wait without +fire or light, though why he shouldn't have lit the gas himself I'm sure +I don't know. So I talked more civilly than I meant to, and then, just +at the moment that I was hoping to get rid of him, Anastasia, who it +seems was the only person at home, must needs come in to ask if I was +ready for my tea. You may imagine my disgust, but there was nothing for +it but to ask him if he would like a cup of tea. I never dreamt of his +taking it, but he did; and so, behold! there we were hobnobbing over the +tea-table as if we were cronies." + +Westray was astonished. Mr Sharnall had rebuked him so short a time +before for not having repulsed Lord Blandamer's advances that he could +scarcely understand such a serious falling away from all the higher +principles of hatred and malice as were implied in this tea-drinking. +His experience of life had been as yet too limited to convince him that +most enmities and antipathies, being theoretical rather than actual, are +apt to become mitigated, or to disappear altogether on personal +contact--that it is, in fact, exceedingly hard to keep hatred at +concert-pitch, or to be consistently rude to a person face to face who +has a pleasant manner and a desire to conciliate. + +Perhaps Mr Sharnall read Westray's surprise in his face, for he went on +with a still more apologetic manner: + +"That is not the worst of it; he has put me in a most awkward position. +I must admit that I found his conversation amusing enough. We spoke a +good deal of music, and he showed a surprising knowledge of the subject, +and a correct taste; I do not know where he has got it from." + +"I found exactly the same thing with his architecture," Westray said. +"We started to go round the minster as master and pupil, but before we +finished I had an uncomfortable impression that he knew more about it +than I did--at least, from the archaeologic point of view." + +"Ah!" said the organist, with that indifference with which a person who +wishes to recount his own experiences listens to those of someone else, +however thrilling they may be. "Well, his taste was singularly refined. +He showed a good acquaintance with the contrapuntists of the last +century, and knew several of my own works. A very curious thing this. +He said he had been in some cathedral--I forget which--heard the +service, and been so struck with it that he went afterwards to look it +up on the bill, and found it was Sharnall in D flat. He hadn't the +least idea that it was mine till we began to talk. I haven't had that +service by me for years; I wrote it at Oxford for the Gibbons' prize; it +has a fugal movement in the _Gloria_, ending with a tonic pedal-point +that you would like. I must look it up." + +"Yes, I should like to hear it," Westray said, more to fill the interval +while the speaker took breath than from any great interest in the +matter. + +"So you shall--so you shall," went on the organist; "you will find the +pedal-point adds immensely to the effect. Well, by degrees we came to +talking of the organ. It so happens that we had spoken of it the very +first day I met him in the church, though you know I _never_ talk about +my instrument, do I? At that time it didn't strike me that he was so +well up in the matter, but now he seemed to know all about it, and so I +gave him my ideas as to what ought to be done. Then, before I knew +where I was, he cut in with, `Mr Sharnall, what you say interests me +immensely; you put things in such a lucid way that even an outsider like +myself can understand them. It would be a thousand pities if neglect +were permanently to injure this sweet-toned instrument that Father Smith +made so long ago. It is no use restoring the church without the organ, +so you must draw up a specification of the repairs and additions +required, and understand that anything you suggest shall be done. In +the meantime pray order at once the water-engine and new pedal-board of +which you speak, and inform me as to the cost.' He took me quite aback, +and was gone before I had time to say anything. It puts me in a very +equivocal position; I have such an antipathy to the man. I shall refuse +his offer point-blank. I will not put myself under any obligation to +such a man. You would refuse in my position? You would write a strong +letter of refusal at once, would you not?" + +Westray was of a guileless disposition, and apt to assume that people +meant what they said. It seemed to him a matter for much regret that +Mr Sharnall's independence, however lofty, should stand in the way of +so handsome a benefaction, and he was at pains to elaborate and press +home all the arguments that he could muster to shake the organist's +resolve. The offer was kindly-meant; he was sure that Mr Sharnall took +a wrong view of Lord Blandamer's character--that Mr Sharnall was wrong +in imputing motives to Lord Blandamer. What motives could he have +except the best? and however much Mr Sharnall might personally refuse, +how was a man to be stopped eventually from repairing an organ which +stood so manifestly in need of repair? + +Westray spoke earnestly, and was gratified to see the effect which his +eloquence produced on Mr Sharnall. It is so rarely that argument +prevails to change opinion that the young man was flattered to see that +the considerations which he was able to marshal were strong enough, at +any rate, to influence Mr Sharnall's determination. + +Well, perhaps there was something in what Mr Westray said. Mr +Sharnall would think it over. He would not write the letter of refusal +that night; he could write to refuse the next day quite as well. In the +meantime he _would_ see to the new pedal-board, and order the +water-engine. Ever since he had seen the water-engine at Carisbury, he +had been convinced that sooner or later they must have one at Cullerne. +It _must_ be ordered; they could decide later on whether it should be +paid for by Lord Blandamer, or should be charged to the general +restoration fund. + +This conclusion, however inconclusive, was certainly a triumph for +Westray's persuasive oratory, but his satisfaction was chastened by some +doubts as to how far he was justified in assailing the scrupulous +independence which had originally prompted Mr Sharnall to refuse to +have anything to do with Lord Blandamer's offer. If Mr Sharnall had +scruples in the matter, ought not he, Westray, to have respected those +scruples? Was it not tampering with rectitude to have overcome them by +a too persuasive rhetoric? + +His doubts were not allayed by the observation that Mr Sharnall himself +had severely felt the strain of this mental quandary, for the organist +said that he was upset by so difficult a question, and filled himself a +bumper of whisky to steady his nerves. At the same time he took down +from a shelf two or three notebooks and a mass of loose papers, which he +spread open upon the table before him. Westray looked at them with a +glance of unconscious inquiry. + +"I must really get to work at these things again," said the organist; "I +have been dreadfully negligent of late. They are a lot of papers and +notes that Martin Joliffe left behind him. Poor Miss Euphemia never had +the heart to go through them. She was going to burn them just as they +were, but I said, `Oh, you mustn't do that; turn them over to me. I +will look into them, and see whether there is anything worth keeping.' +So I took them, but haven't done nearly as much as I ought, what with +one interruption and another. It's always sad going through a dead +man's papers, but sadder when they're all that's left of a life's +labour--lost labour, so far as Martin was concerned, for he was taken +away just when he began to see daylight. `We brought nothing into this +world, and it is certain that we shall carry nothing out.' When that +comes into my mind, I think rather of the _little_ things than of gold +or lands. Intimate letters that a man treasured more than money; little +tokens of which the clue has died with him; the unfinished work to which +he was coming back, and never came; even the unpaid bills that worried +him; for death transfigures all, and makes the commonplace pathetic." + +He stopped for a moment. Westray said nothing, being surprised at this +momentary softening of the other's mood. + +"Yes, it's sad enough," the organist resumed; "all these papers are +nebuly coat--the sea-green and silver." + +"He was quite mad, I suppose?" Westray said. + +"Everyone except me will tell you so," replied the organist; "but I'm +not so very sure after all that there wasn't a good deal more in it than +madness. That's all that I can say just now, but those of us who live +will see. There is a queer tradition hereabout. I don't know how long +ago it started, but people say that there _is_ some mystery about the +Blandamer descent, and that those in possession have no right to what +they hold. But there is something else. Many have tried to solve the +riddle, and some, you may depend, have been very hot on the track. But +just as they come to the touch, something takes them off; that's what +happened to Martin. I saw him the very day he died. `Sharnall,' he +said to me, `if I can last out forty-eight hours more, you may take off +your hat to me, and say "My lord."' + +"But the nebuly coat was too much for him; he had to die. So don't you +be surprised if I pop off the hooks some of these fine days; if I don't, +I'm going to get to the bottom, and you will see some changes here +before so very long." + +He sat down at the table, and made a show for a minute of looking at the +papers. + +"Poor Martin!" he said, and got up again, opened the cupboard, and took +out the bottle. "You'll have a drop," he asked Westray, "won't you?" + +"No, thanks, not I," Westray said, with something as near contempt as +his thin voice was capable of expressing. + +"Just a drop--do! I must have just a drop myself; I find it a great +strain working at these papers; there may be more at stake in the +reading than I care to think of." + +He poured out half a tumbler of spirit. Westray hesitated for a moment, +and then his conscience and an early puritan training forced him to +speak. + +"Sharnall," he said, "put it away. That bottle is your evil angel. +Play the man, and put it away. You force me to speak. I cannot sit by +with hands folded and see you going down the hill." + +The organist gave him a quick glance; then he filled up the tumbler to +the brim with neat spirit. + +"Look you," he said: "I was going to drink half a glass; now I'm going +to drink a whole one. That much for your advice! Going down the hill +indeed! Go to the devil with your impertinence! If you can't keep a +civil tongue in your head, you had better get your supper in someone +else's room." + +A momentary irritation dragged Westray down from the high podium of +judicial reproof into the arena of retort. + +"Don't worry yourself," he said sharply; "you may rely on my not +troubling you with my company again." And he got up and opened the +door. As he turned to go out, Anastasia Joliffe passed through the +passage on her way to bed. + +The glimpse of her as she went by seemed still further to aggravate Mr +Sharnall. He signed to Westray to stay where he was, and to shut the +door again. + +"Damn you!" he said; "that's what I called you back to say. Damn you! +Damn Blandamer! Damn everybody! Damn poverty! Damn wealth! I will +not touch a farthing of his money for the organ. Now you can go." + +Westray had been cleanly bred. He had been used neither to the +vulgarity of ill-temper nor to the coarser insolence of personal abuse. +He shrank by natural habit even from gross adjectives, from the +"beastly" and the "filthy" which modern manners too often condone, and +still more from the abomination of swearing. So Mr Sharnall's obloquy +wounded him to the quick. He went to bed in a flutter of agitation, and +lay awake half the night mourning over a friendship so irreparably +broken, bitter with the resentment of an unjustified attack, yet +reproaching himself lest through his unwittingness he might have brought +it all upon himself. + +The morning found him unrefreshed and dejected, but, whilst he sat at +breakfast, the sun came out brightly, and he began to take a less +despondent view of the situation. It was possible that Mr Sharnall's +friendship might not after all be lost beyond repair; he would be sorry +if it were, for he had grown fond of the old man, in spite of all his +faults of life and manner. It was he, Westray, who had been entirely to +blame. In another man's room he had lectured the other man. He, a +young man, had lectured the other, who was an old man. It was true that +he had done so with the best motives; he had only spoken from a painful +sense of duty. But he had shown no tact, he had spoken much too +strongly; he had imperilled his own good cause by the injudicious manner +in which he had put it forward. At the risk of all rebuffs, he would +express his regret; he would go down and apologise to Mr Sharnall, and +offer, if need be, the other cheek to the smiter. + +Good resolves, if formed with the earnest intention of carrying them +into effect, seldom fail to restore a measure of peace to the troubled +mind. It is only when a regular and ghastly see-saw of wrong-doing and +repentance has been established, and when the mind can no longer deceive +even itself as to the possibility of permanent uprightness of life, that +good resolves cease to tranquillise. Such a see-saw must gradually lose +its regularity; the set towards evil grows more and more preponderant; +the return to virtue rarer and more brief. Despair of any continuity of +godliness follows, and then it is that good resolves, becoming a mere +reflex action of the mind, fail in their gracious influence, and cease +to bring quiet. These conditions can scarcely occur before middle age, +and Westray, being young and eminently conscientious, was feeling the +full peacefulness of his high-minded intention steal over him, when the +door opened, and the organist entered. + +An outbreak of temper and a night of hard drinking had left their tokens +on Mr Sharnall's face. He looked haggard, and the rings that a weak +heart had drawn under his eyes were darker and more puffed. He came in +awkwardly, and walked quickly to the architect, holding out his hand. + +"Forgive me, Westray," he said; "I behaved last night like a fool and a +cad. You were quite right to speak to me as you did; I honour you for +it. I wish to God there had been someone to speak to me like that years +ago." + +His outstretched hand was not so white as it should have been, the nails +were not so well trimmed as a more fastidious mood might have demanded; +but Westray did not notice these things. He took the shaky old hand, +and gripped it warmly, not saying anything, because he could not speak. + +"We _must_ be friends," the organist went on, after a moment's pause; +"we must be friends, because I can't afford to lose you. I haven't +known you long, but you are the only friend I have in the world. Is it +not an awful thing to confess?" he said, with a tremulous little laugh. +"I have no other friend in the world. Say those things you said last +night whenever you like; the oftener you say them the better." + +He sat down, and, the situation being too strained to remain longer at +so high a pitch, the conversation drifted, however awkwardly, to less +personal topics. + +"There is a thing I wanted to speak about last night," the organist +said. "Poor old Miss Joliffe is very hard up. She hasn't said a word +to me about it--she never would to anyone--but I happen to know it for a +fact: she _is_ hard up. She is in a chronic state of hard-up-ishness +always, and that we all are; but this is an acute attack--she has her +back against the wall. It is the fag-end of Martin's debts that bother +her; these blood-sucking tradesmen are dunning her, and she hasn't the +pluck to tell them go hang, though they know well enough she isn't +responsible for a farthing. She has got it into her head that she +hasn't a right to keep that flower-and-caterpillar picture so long as +Martin's debts are unpaid, because she could raise money on it. You +remember those people, Baunton and Lutterworth, offered her fifty pounds +for it." + +"Yes, I remember," Westray said; "more fools they." + +"More fools, by all means," rejoined the organist; "but still they offer +it, and I believe our poor old landlady will come to selling it. `All +the better for her,' you will say, and anyone with an ounce of +common-sense would have sold it long ago for fifty pounds or fifty +pence. But, then, she has no common-sense, and I do believe it would +break her pride and worry her into a fever to part with it. Well, I +have been at the pains to find out what sum of money would pull her +through, and I fancy something like twenty pounds would tide over the +crisis." + +He paused a moment, as if he half expected Westray to speak; but the +architect making no suggestion, he went on. + +"I didn't know," he said timidly; "I wasn't quite sure whether you had +been here long enough to take much interest in the matter. I had an +idea of buying the picture myself, so that we could still keep it here. +It would be no good offering Miss Euphemia money as a _gift_; she +wouldn't accept it on any condition. I know her quite well enough to be +sure of that. But if I was to offer her twenty pounds for it, and tell +her it must always stop here, and that she could buy it back from me +when she was able, I think she would feel such an offer to be a godsend, +and accept it readily." + +"Yes," Westray said dubitatively; "I suppose it couldn't be construed +into attempting to outwit her, could it? It seems rather funny at first +sight to get her to sell a picture for twenty pounds for which others +have offered fifty pounds." + +"No, I don't think so," replied the organist. "It wouldn't be a real +sale at all, you know, but only just a colour for helping her." + +"Well, as you have been kind enough to ask my advice, I see no further +objection, and think it very good of you to show such thoughtfulness for +poor Miss Joliffe." + +"Thank you," said the organist hesitatingly--"thank you; I had hoped you +would take that view of the matter. There is a further little +difficulty: I am as poor as a church mouse. I live like an old screw, +and never spend a penny, but, then, I haven't got a penny to spend, and +so can't save." + +Westray had already wondered how Mr Sharnall could command so large a +sum as twenty pounds, but thought it more prudent to make no comments. + +Then the organist took the bull by the horns. + +"I didn't know," he said, "whether you would feel inclined to join me in +the purchase. I have got ten pounds in the savings' bank; if you could +find the other ten pounds, we could go shares in the picture; and, after +all, that wouldn't much matter, for Miss Euphemia is quite sure to buy +it back from us before very long." + +He stopped and looked at Westray. The architect was taken aback. He +was of a cautious and calculating disposition, and a natural inclination +to save had been reinforced by the conviction that any unnecessary +expenditure was in itself to be severely reprobated. As the Bible was +to him the foundation of the world to come, so the keeping of meticulous +accounts and the putting by of however trifling sums, were the +foundation of the world that is. He had so carefully governed his life +as to have been already able, out of a scanty salary, to invest more +than a hundred pounds in Railway Debentures. He set much store by the +half-yearly receipt of an exiguous interest cheque, and derived a +certain dignity and feeling of commercial stability from envelopes +headed the "Great Southern Railway," which brought him from time to time +a proxy form or a notice of shareholders' meetings. A recent +examination of his bankbook had filled him with the hope of being able +ere long to invest a second hundred pounds, and he had been turning over +in his mind for some days the question of the stocks to be selected; it +seemed financially unsound to put so large a sum in any single security. + +This suddenly presented proposal that he should make a serious inroad on +his capital filled him with dismay; it was equivalent to granting a loan +of ten pounds without any tangible security. No one in their senses +could regard this miserable picture as a security; and the bulbous green +caterpillar seemed to give a wriggle of derision as he looked at it +across the breakfast-table. He had it on his tongue to refuse Mr +Sharnall's request, with the sympathetic but judicial firmness with +which all high-minded persons refuse to lend. There is a tone of sad +resolution particularly applicable to such occasions, which should +convey to the borrower that only motives of great moral altitude +constrain us for the moment to override an earnest desire to part with +our money. If it had not been for considerations of the public weal, we +would most readily have given him ten times as much as was asked. + +Westray was about to express sentiments of this nature when he glanced +at the organist's face, and saw written in its folds and wrinkles so +paramount and pathetic an anxiety that his resolution was shaken. He +remembered the quarrel of the night before, and how Mr Sharnall, in +coming to beg his pardon that morning, had humbled himself before a +younger man. He remembered how they had made up their differences; +surely an hour ago he would willingly have paid ten pounds to know that +their differences could be made up. Perhaps, after all, he might agree +to make this loan as a thank-offering for friendship restored. Perhaps, +after all, the picture _was_ a security: someone _had_ offered fifty +pounds for it. + +The organist had not followed the change of Westray's mind; he retained +only the first impression of reluctance, and was very anxious--curiously +anxious, it might have seemed, if his only motive in the acquiring of +the picture was to do a kindness to Miss Euphemia. + +"It _is_ a large sum, I know," he said in a low voice. "I am very sorry +to ask you to do this. It is not for myself; I never asked a penny for +myself in my life, and never will, till I go to the workhouse. Don't +answer at once, if you don't see your way. Think it over. Take time to +think it over; but do try, Westray, to help in the matter, if you can. +It would be a sad pity to let the picture go out of the house just now." + +The eagerness with which he spoke surprised Westray. Could it be that +Mr Sharnall had motives other than mere kindness? Could it be that the +picture _was_ valuable after all? He walked across the room to look +closer at the tawdry flowers and the caterpillar. No, it could not be +that; the painting was absolutely worthless. Mr Sharnall had followed +him, and they stood side by side looking out of the window. Westray was +passing through a very brief interval of indecision. His emotional and +perhaps better feelings told him that he ought to accede to Mr +Sharnall's request; caution and the hoarding instinct reminded him that +ten pounds was a large proportion of his whole available capital. + +Bright sunshine had succeeded the rain. The puddles flashed on the +pavements; the long rows of raindrops glistened on the ledges which +overhung the shop-windows, and a warm steam rose from the sandy roadway +as it dried in the sun. The front-door of Bellevue Lodge closed below +them, and Anastasia, in a broad straw hat and a pink print dress, went +lightly down the steps. On that bright morning she looked the brightest +thing of all, as she walked briskly to the market with a basket on her +arm, unconscious that two men were watching her from an upper window. + +It was at that minute that thrift was finally elbowed by sentiment out +of Westray's mind. + +"Yes," he said, "by all means let us buy the picture. You negotiate the +matter with Miss Joliffe, and I will give you two five-pound notes this +evening." + +"Thank you--thank you," said the organist, with much relief. "I will +tell Miss Euphemia that she can buy it back from us whenever it suits +her to do so; and if she should not buy it back before one of us dies, +then it shall remain the sole property of the survivor." + +So that very day the purchase of a rare work of art was concluded by +private treaty between Miss Euphemia Joliffe of the one part, and +Messrs. Nicholas Sharnall and Edward Westray of the other. The hammer +never fell upon the showy flowers with the green caterpillar wriggling +in the corner; and Messrs. Baunton and Lutterworth received a polite +note from Miss Joliffe to say that the painting late in the possession +of Martin Joliffe, Esquire, deceased, was not for sale. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +The old Bishop of Carisbury was dead, and a new Bishop of Carisbury +reigned in his stead. The appointment had caused some chagrin in +Low-Church circles, for Dr Willis, the new Bishop, was a High Churchman +of pronounced views. But he had a reputation for deep personal piety, +and a very short experience sufficed to show that he was full of +Christian tolerance and tactful loving-kindness. + +One day, as Mr Sharnall was playing a voluntary after the Sunday +morning-service, a chorister stole up the little winding steps, and +appeared in the organ-loft just as his master had pulled out a handful +of stops and dashed into the _stretto_. The organist had not heard the +boy on the stairs, and gave a violent start as he suddenly caught sight +of the white surplice. Hands and feet for an instant lost their place, +and the music came perilously near breaking down. It was only for an +instant; he pulled himself together, and played the fugue to its logical +conclusion. + +Then the boy began, "Canon Parkyn's compliments," but broke off; for the +organist greeted him with a sound cuff and a "How many times have I told +you, sir, not to come creeping up those stairs when I am in the middle +of a voluntary? You startle me out of my senses, coming round the +corner like a ghost." + +"I'm very sorry, sir," the boy said, whimpering. "I'm sure I never +meant--I never thought--" + +"You never _do_ think," Mr Sharnall said. "Well, well, don't go on +whining. Old heads don't grow on young shoulders; don't do it again, +and there's a sixpence for you. And now let's hear what you have to +say." + +Sixpences were rare things among Cullerne boys, and the gift consoled +more speedily than any balm in Gilead. + +"Canon Parkyn's compliments to you, sir, and he would be glad to have a +word with you in the clergy-vestry." + +"All in good time. Tell him I'll be down as soon as I've put my books +away." + +Mr Sharnall did not hurry. There were the Psalter and the chant-book +to be put open on the desk for the afternoon; there were the +morning-service and anthem-book to be put away, and the evening-service +and anthem-book to be got out. + +The establishment had once been able to afford good music-books, and in +the attenuated list of subscribers to the first-edition Boyce you may +see to this day, "The Rector and Foundation of Cullerne Minster (6 +copies)." Mr Sharnall loved the great Boyce, with its parchment paper +and largest of large margins. He loved the crisp sound of the leaves as +he turned them, and he loved the old-world clefs that he could read nine +staves at a time as easily as a short score. He looked at the weekly +list to check his memory--"Awake up my Glory" (_Wise_). No, it was in + + +Volume Three instead of Two; he had taken down the wrong volume--a +stupid mistake for one who knew the copy so well. How the rough calf +backs were crumbling away! The rusty red-leather dust had come off on +his coat-sleeves; he really was not fit to be seen, and he took some +minutes more to brush it all off. So it was that Canon Parkyn chafed at +being kept waiting in the clergy-vestry, and greeted Mr Sharnall on his +appearance with a certain tartness: + +"I wish you could be a little quicker when you are sent for. I am +particularly busy just now, and you have kept me waiting a quarter of an +hour at least." + +As this was precisely what Mr Sharnall had intended to do, he took no +umbrage at the Rector's remarks, but merely said: + +"Pardon me; scarcely so long as a quarter of an hour, I think." + +"Well, do not let us waste words. What I wanted to tell you was that it +has been arranged for the Lord Bishop of Carisbury to hold a +confirmation in the minster on the eighteenth of next month, at three +o'clock in the afternoon. We must have a full musical service, and I +shall be glad if you will submit a sketch of what you propose for my +approval. There is one point to which I must call your attention +particularly. As his lordship walks up the nave, we must have a +becoming march on the organ--not any of this old-fashioned stuff of +which I have had so often to complain, but something really dignified +and with tune in it." + +"Oh yes, we can easily arrange that," Mr Sharnall said +obsequiously--"`See the Conquering Hero comes,' by Handel, would be very +appropriate; or there is an air out of one of Offenbach's Operas that I +think I could adapt to the purpose. It is a very sweet thing if +rendered with proper feeling; or I could play a `Danse Maccabre' slowly +on the full organ." + +"Ah, that is from the `Judas Maccabaeus,' I conclude," said the Rector, +a little mollified at this unexpected acquiescence in his views. "Well, +I see that you understand my wishes, so I hope I may leave that matter +in your hands. By the way," he said, turning back as he left the +vestry, "what _was_ the piece which you played after the service just +now?" + +"Oh, only a fugal movement--just a fugue of Kirnberger's." + +"I _wish_ you would not give us so much of this fugal style. No doubt +it is all very fine from a scholastic point of view, but to most it +seems merely confused. So far from assisting me and the choir to go out +with dignity, it really fetters our movements. We want something with +pathos and dignity, such as befits the end of a solemn service, yet with +a marked rhythm, so that it may time our footsteps as we leave the +choir. Forgive these suggestions; the _practical_ utility of the organ +is so much overlooked in these days. When Mr Noot is taking the +service it does not so much matter, but when I am here myself I beg that +there may be no more fugue." + +The visit of the Bishop of Carisbury to Cullerne was an important +matter, and necessitated some forethought and arrangement. + +"The Bishop must, of course, lunch with us," Mrs Parkyn said to her +husband; "you will ask him, of course, to lunch, my dear." + +"Oh yes, certainly," replied the Canon; "I wrote yesterday to ask him to +lunch." + +He assumed an unconcerned air, but with only indifferent success, for +his heart misgave him that he had been guilty of an unpardonable breach +of etiquette in writing on so important a subject without reference to +his wife. + +"Really, my dear!" she rejoined--"really! I hope at least that your +note was couched in proper terms." + +"Psha!" he said, a little nettled in his turn, "do you suppose I have +never written to a Bishop before?" + +"That is not the point; _any_ invitation of this kind should always be +given by me. The Bishop, if he has any _breeding_, will be very much +astonished to receive an invitation to lunch that is not given by the +lady of the house. This, at least, is the usage that prevails among +persons of _breeding_." There was just enough emphasis in the +repetition of the last formidable word to have afforded a _casus belli_, +if the Rector had been minded for the fray; but he was a man of peace. + +"You are quite right, my dear," was the soft answer; "it was a slip of +mine, which we must hope the Bishop will overlook. I wrote in a hurry +yesterday afternoon, as soon as I received the official information of +his coming. You were out calling, if you recollect, and I had to catch +the post. One never knows what tuft-hunting may not lead people to do; +and if I had not caught the post, some pushing person or other might +quite possibly have asked him sooner. I meant, of course, to have +reported the matter to you, but it slipped my memory." + +"Really," she said, with fine deprecation, being only half pacified, "I +do not see who there _could_ be to ask the Bishop except ourselves. +Where should the Bishop of Carisbury lunch in Cullerne except at the +Rectory?" In this unanswerable conundrum she quenched the smouldering +embers of her wrath. "I have no doubt, dear, that you did it all for +the best, and I hate these vulgar pushing nobodies, who try to get hold +of everyone of the least position quite as much as you do. So let us +consider whom we _ought_ to ask to meet him. A small party, I think it +should be; he would take it as a greater compliment if the party were +small." + +She had that shallow and ungenerous mind which shrinks instinctively +from admitting any beauty or intellect in others, and which grudges any +participation in benefits, however amply sufficient they may be for all. +Thus, few must be asked to meet the Bishop, that it might the better +appear that few indeed, beside the Rector and Mrs Parkyn, were fit to +associate with so distinguished a man. + +"I quite agree with you," said the Rector, considerably relieved to find +that his own temerity in asking the Bishop might now be considered as +condoned. "Our party must above all things be select; indeed, I do not +know how we could make it anything but very small; there are so few +people whom we _could_ ask to meet the Bishop." + +"Let me see," his wife said, making a show of reckoning Cullerne +respectability with the fingers of one hand on the fingers of the other. +"There is--" She broke off as a sudden idea seized her. "Why, of +course, we must ask Lord Blandamer. He has shown such marked interest +in ecclesiastical matters that he is sure to wish to meet the Bishop." + +"A most fortunate suggestion--admirable in every way. It may strengthen +his interest in the church; and it must certainly be beneficial to him +to associate with correct society after his wandering and Bohemian life. +I hear all kinds of strange tales of his hobnobbing with this Mr +Westray, the clerk of the works, and with other persons entirely out of +his own rank. Mrs Flint, who happened to be visiting a poor woman in a +back lane, assures me that she has every reason to believe that he spent +an hour or more in the clerk's house, and even ate there. They say he +positively ate tripe." + +"Well, it will certainly do him good to meet the Bishop," the lady said. +"That would make four with ourselves; and we can ask Mrs Bulteel. We +need not ask her husband; he is painfully rough, and the Bishop might +not like to meet a brewer. It will not be at all strange to ask her +alone; there is always the excuse of not liking to take a businessman +away from his work in the middle of the day." + +"That would be five; we ought to make it up to six. I suppose it would +not do to ask this architect-fellow or Mr Sharnall." + +"My dear! what can you be thinking of? On no account whatever. Such +guests would be _most_ inappropriate." + +The Rector looked so properly humble and cast down at this reproof that +his wife relented a little. + +"Not that there is any _harm_ in asking them, but they would be so very +ill at ease themselves, I fear, in such surroundings. If you think the +number should be even, we might perhaps ask old Noot. He _is_ a +gentleman, and would pass as your chaplain, and say grace." + +Thus the party was made up, and Lord Blandamer accepted, and Mrs +Bulteel accepted; and there was no need to trouble about the curate's +acceptance--he was merely ordered to come to lunch. But, after all had +gone so well up to this point, the unexpected happened--the Bishop could +not come. He regretted that he could not accept the hospitality so +kindly offered him by Canon Parkyn; he had an engagement which would +occupy him for any spare time that he would have in Cullerne; he had +made other arrangements for lunch; he would call at the Rectory half an +hour before the service. + +The Rector and his wife sat in the "study," a dark room on the north +side of the rectory-house, made sinister from without by dank +laurestinus, and from within by glass cases of badly-stuffed birds. A +Bradshaw lay on the table before them. + +"He cannot be _driving_ from Carisbury," Mrs Parkyn said. "Dr Willis +does not keep at all the same sort of stables that his predecessor kept. +Mrs Flint, when she was attending the annual Christian Endeavour +meeting at Carisbury, was told that Dr Willis thinks it wrong that a +Bishop should do more in the way of keeping carriages than is absolutely +necessary for church purposes. She said she had passed the Bishop's +carriage herself, and that the coachman was a most unkempt creature, and +the horses two wretched screws." + +"I heard much the same thing," assented the Rector. "They say he would +not have his own coat of arms painted on the carriage, for what was +there already was quite good enough for him. He cannot possibly be +driving here from Carisbury; it is a good twenty miles." + +"Well, if he does not drive, he must come by the 12:15 train; that would +give him two hours and a quarter before the service. What business can +he have in Cullerne? Where can he be lunching? What can he be doing +with himself for two mortal hours and a quarter?" + +Here was another conundrum to which probably only one person in Cullerne +town could have supplied an answer, and that was Mr Sharnall. A letter +had come for the organist that very day: + + "The Palace, + + "Carisbury. + + "My dear Sharnall, + + "(I had almost written `My dear Nick'; forty years have made my pen a + little stiff, but you must give me your official permission to write + `My dear Nick' the very next time.) You may have forgotten my hand, + but you will not have forgotten me. Do you know, it is I, Willis, who + am your new Bishop? It is only a fortnight since I learnt that you + were so near me-- + + "`Quam dulce amicitias, + Redintegrare nitidas' - + + "and the very first point of it is that I am going to sponge on you, + and ask myself to lunch. I am coming to Cullerne at 12:45 to-day + fortnight for the Confirmation, and have to be at the Rectory at 2:30, + but till then an old friend, Nicholas Sharnall, will give me food and + shelter, will he not? Make no excuses, for I shall not accept them; + but send me word to say that in this you will not fail of your duty, + and believe me always to be + + "Yours, + + "John Carum." + +There was something that moved strangely inside Mr Sharnall's battered +body as he read the letter--an upheaval of emotion; the child's heart +within the man's; his young hopeful self calling to his old hopeless +self. He sat back in his armchair, and shut his eyes, and the +organ-loft in a little college chapel came back to him, and long, long +practisings, and Willis content to stand by and listen as long as he +should play. How it pleased Willis to stand by, and pull the stops, and +fancy he knew something of music! No, Willis never knew any music, and +yet he had a good taste, and loved a fugue. + +There came to him country rambles and country churches and Willis with +an "A.B.C. of Gothic Architecture," trying to tell an Early English from +a Decorated moulding. There came to him inimitably long summer +evenings, with the sky clearest yellow in the north, hours after sunset; +dusty white roads, with broad galloping-paths at the side, drenched with +heavy dew; the dark, mysterious boskage of Stow Wood; the scent of the +syringa in the lane at Beckley; the white mist sheeting the Cherwell +vale. And supper when they got home--for memory is so powerful an +alchemist as to transmute suppers as well as sunsets. What suppers! +Cider-cup with borage floating in it, cold lamb and mint sauce, +watercress, and a triangular commons of Stilton. Why, he had not tasted +Stilton for forty years! + +No, Willis never knew any music, but he loved a fugue. Ah, the fugues +they had! And then a voice crossed Mr Sharnall's memory, saying, "When +I am here myself, I beg that there may be no more fugue." "No more +fugue"--there was a finality in the phrase uncompromising as the "no +more sea" of the Apocalyptic vision. It made Mr Sharnall smile +bitterly; he woke from his daydream, and was back in the present. + +Oh yes, he knew very well that it was his old friend when he first saw +on whom the choice had fallen for the Bishopric. He was glad Willis was +coming to see him. Willis knew all about the row, and how it was that +Sharnall had to leave Oxford. Ay, but the Bishop was too generous and +broad-minded to remember that now. Willis must know very well that he +was only a poor, out-at-elbows old fellow, and yet he was coming to +lunch with him; but did Willis know that he still--He did not follow the +thought further, but glanced in a mirror, adjusted his tie, fastened the +top button of his coat, and with his uncertain hands brushed the hair +back on either side of his head. No, Willis did not know that; he never +should know; it was _never_ too late to mend. + +He went to the cupboard, and took out a bottle and a tumbler. Only very +little spirit was left, and he poured it all into the glass. There was +a moment's hesitation, a moment while enfeebled will-power was nerving +itself for the effort. He was apparently engaged in making sure that +not one minim of this most costly liquor was wasted. He held the bottle +carefully inverted, and watched the very last and smallest drop detach +itself and fall into the glass. No, his will-power was not yet +altogether paralysed--not yet; and he dashed the contents of the glass +into the fire. There was a great blaze of light-blue flame, and a puff +in the air that made the window-panes rattle; but the heroic deed was +done, and he heard a mental blast of trumpets, and the acclaiming voice +of the _Victor Sui_. Willis should never know that he still--because he +never would again. + +He rang the bell, and when Miss Euphemia answered it she found him +walking briskly, almost tripping, to and fro in the room. He stopped as +she entered, drew his heels together, and made her a profound bow. + +"Hail, most fair chastelaine! Bid the varlets lower the draw-bridge and +raise the portcullis. Order pasties and souse-fish and a butt of +malmsey; see the great hall is properly decored for my Lord Bishop of +Carisbury, who will take his _ambigue_ and bait his steeds at this +castle." + +Miss Joliffe stared; she saw a bottle and an empty tumbler on the table, +and smelt a strong smell of whisky; and the mirth faded from Mr +Sharnall's face as he read her thoughts. + +"No, wrong," he said--"wrong this once; I am as sober as a judge, but +excited. A Bishop is coming to lunch with me. _You_ are excited when +Lord Blandamer takes tea with you--a mere trashy temporal peer; am I not +to be excited when a real spiritual lord pays me a visit? Hear, O +woman! The Bishop of Carisbury has written to ask, not me to lunch with +him, but him to lunch with me. You will have a Bishop lunching at +Bellevue Lodge." + +"Oh, Mr Sharnall! pray, sir, speak plainly. I am so old and stupid, I +can never tell whether you are joking or in earnest." + +So he put off his exaltation, and told her the actual facts. + +"I am sure I don't know, sir, what you will give him for lunch," Miss +Joliffe said. She was always careful to put in a proper number of +"sirs," for, though she was proud of her descent, and considered that so +far as birth went she need not fear comparison with other Cullerne +dames, she thought it a Christian duty to accept fully the position of +landlady to which circumstances had led her. "I am sure I don't know +what you will give him for lunch; it is always so difficult to arrange +meals for the clergy. If one provides _too_ much of the good things of +this world, it seems as if one was not considering sufficiently their +sacred calling; it seems like Martha, too cumbered with much serving, +too careful and troubled, to gain all the spiritual advantage that must +come from clergymen's society. But, of course, even the most +spiritually-minded must nourish their _bodies_, or they would not be +able to do so much good. But when less provision has been made, I have +sometimes seen clergymen eat it all up, and become quite wearied, poor +things! for want of food. It was so, I remember, when Mrs Sharp +invited the parishioners to meet the deputation after the Church +Missionary Meeting. All the patties were eaten before the deputation +came, and he was so tired, poor man! with his long speech that when he +found there was nothing to eat he got quite annoyed. It was only for a +moment, of course, but I heard him say to someone, whose name I forget, +that he had much better have trusted to a ham-sandwich in the station +refreshment-room. + +"And if it is difficult with the food, it is worse still with what they +are to drink. Some clergymen do so dislike wine, and others feel they +need it before the exertion of speaking. Only last year, when Mrs +Bulteel gave a drawing-room meeting, and champagne with biscuits was +served before it, Dr Stimey said quite openly that though he did not +consider all who drank to be _reprobate_, yet he must regard alcohol as +the Mark of the Beast, and that people did not come to drawing-room +meetings to drink themselves sleepy before the speaking. With Bishops +it must be much worse; so I don't know what we shall give him." + +"Don't distress yourself too much," the organist said, having at last +spied a gap in the serried ranks of words; "I have found out what +Bishops eat; it is all in a little book. We must give him cold lamb-- +cold ribs of lamb--and mint sauce, boiled potatoes, and after that +Stilton cheese." + +"Stilton?" Miss Joliffe asked with some trepidation. "I am afraid it +will be very expensive." + +As a drowning man in one moment passes in review the events of a +lifetime, so her mind took an instantaneous conspectus of all cheeses +that had ever stood in the cheese-cradle in the palmy days of Wydcombe, +when hams and plum-puddings hung in bags from the rafters, when there +was cream in the dairy and beer in the cellar. Blue Vinny, little +Gloucesters, double Besants, even sometimes a cream-cheese with rushes +on the bottom, but Stilton never! + +"I am afraid it is a _very_ expensive cheese; I do not think anyone in +Cullerne keeps it." + +"It is a pity," Mr Sharnall said; "but we cannot help ourselves, for +Bishops _must_ have Stilton for lunch; the book says so. You must ask +Mr Custance to get you a piece, and I will tell you later how it is to +be cut, for there are rules about that too." + +He laughed to himself with a queer little chuckle. Cold lamb and mint +sauce, with a piece of Stilton afterwards--they would have an Oxford +lunch; they would be young again, and undefiled. + +The stimulus that the Bishop's letter had brought Mr Sharnall soon wore +off. He was a man of moods, and in his nervous temperament depression +walked close at the heels of exaltation. Westray felt sure in those +days that followed that his friend was drinking to excess, and feared +something more serious than a mere nervous breakdown, from the agitation +and strangeness that he could not fail to observe in the organist's +manner. + +The door of the architect's room opened one night, as he sat late over +his work, and Mr Sharnall entered. His face was pale, and there was a +startled, wide-open look in his eyes that Westray did not like. + +"I wish you would come down to my room for a minute," the organist said; +"I want to change the place of my piano, and can't move it by myself." + +"Isn't it rather late to-night?" Westray said, pulling at his watch, +while the deep and slow melodious chimes of Saint Sepulchre told the +dreaming town and the silent sea-marshes that it lacked but a quarter of +an hour to midnight. "Wouldn't it be better to do it to-morrow +morning?" + +"Couldn't you come down to-night?" the organist asked; "it wouldn't take +you a minute." + +Westray caught the disappointment in the tone. + +"Very well," he said, putting his drawing-board aside. "I've worked at +this quite long enough; let us shift your piano." + +They went down to the ground-floor. + +"I want to turn the piano right-about-face," the organist said, "with +its back to the room and the keyboard to the wall--the keyboard quite +close to the wall, with just room for me to sit." + +"It seems a curious arrangement," Westray criticised; "is it better +acoustically?" + +"Oh, I don't know; but, if I want to rest a bit, I can put my back +against the wall, you see." + +The change was soon accomplished, and they sat down for a moment before +the fire. + +"You keep a good fire," Westray said, "considering it is bed-time." +And, indeed, the coals were piled high, and burning fiercely. + +The organist gave them a poke, and looked round as if to make sure that +they were alone. + +"You'll think me a fool," he said; "and I am. You'll think I've been +drinking, and I have. You'll think I'm drunk, but I'm not. Listen to +me: I'm not drunk; I'm only a coward. Do you remember the very first +night you and I walked home to this house together? Do you remember the +darkness and the driving rain, and how scared I was when we passed the +Old Bonding-house? Well, it was beginning then, but it's much worse +now. I had a horrible idea even then that there was something always +following me--following me close. I didn't know what it was--I only +knew there was _something_ close behind me." + +His manner and appearance alarmed Westray. The organist's face was very +pale, and a curious raising of the eyelids, which showed the whites of +the eyes above the pupils, gave him the staring appearance of one +confronted suddenly with some ghastly spectacle. Westray remembered +that the hallucination of pursuant enemies is one of the most common +symptoms of incipient madness, and put his hand gently on the organist's +arm. + +"Don't excite yourself," he said; "this is all nonsense. Don't get +excited so late at night." + +Mr Sharnall brushed the hand aside. + +"I only used to have that feeling when I was out of doors, but now I +have it often indoors--even in this very room. Before I never knew what +it was following me--I only knew it was something. But now I know what +it is: it is a man--a man with a hammer. Don't laugh. You don't _want_ +to laugh; you only laugh because you think it will quiet me, but it +won't. I think it is a man with a hammer. I have never seen his face +yet, but I shall some day. Only I know it is an evil face--not hideous, +like pictures of devils or anything of that kind, but worse--a dreadful, +disguised face, looking all right, but wearing a mask. He walks +constantly behind me, and I feel every moment that the hammer may brain +me." + +"Come, come!" Westray said in what is commonly supposed to be a +soothing tone, "let us change this subject, or go to bed. I wonder how +you will find the new position of your piano answer." + +The organist smiled. + +"Do you know why I really put it like that?" he said. "It is because I +am such a coward. I like to have my back against the wall, and then I +know there can be no one behind me. There are many nights, when it gets +late, that it is only with a great effort I can sit here. I grow so +nervous that I should go to bed at once, only I say to myself, `Nick'-- +that's what they used to call me at home, you know, when I was a +boy--`Nick, you're not going to be beat; you're not going to be scared +out of your own room by ghosts, surely.' And then I sit tight, and play +on, but very often don't think much of what I'm playing. It is a sad +state for a man to get into, is it not?" And Westray could not traverse +the statement. + +"Even in the church," Mr Sharnall went on, "I don't care to practise +much in the evening by myself. It used to be all right when Cutlow was +there to blow for me. He is a daft fellow, but still was some sort of +company; but now the water-engine is put in, I feel lonely there, and +don't care to go as often as I used. Something made me tell Lord +Blandamer how his water-engine contrived to make me frightened, and he +said he should have to come up to the loft himself sometimes to keep me +company." + +"Well, let me know the first evening you want to practise," Westray +said, "and I will come, too, and sit in the loft. Take care of +yourself, and you will soon grow out of all these fancies, and laugh at +them as much as I do." And he feigned a smile. But it was late at +night; he was high-strung and nervous himself, and the fact that Mr +Sharnall should have been brought to such a pitiable state of mental +instability depressed him. + +The report that the Bishop was going to lunch with Mr Sharnall on the +day of the Confirmation soon spread in Cullerne. Miss Joliffe had told +Mr Joliffe the pork-butcher, as her cousin, and Mr Joliffe, as +churchwarden, had told Canon Parkyn. It was the second time within a +few weeks that a piece of important news had reached the Rector at +second-hand. But on this occasion he experienced little of the chagrin +that had possessed him when Lord Blandamer made the great offer to the +restoration fund through Westray. He did not feel resentment against +Mr Sharnall; the affair was of too solemn an importance for any such +personal and petty sentiments to find a place. Any act of any Bishop +was vicariously an act of God, and to chafe at this dispensation would +have been as out of place as to be incensed at a shipwreck or an +earthquake. The fact of being selected as the entertainer of the Bishop +of Carisbury invested Mr Sharnall in the Rector's eyes with a +distinction which could not have been possibly attained by mere +intellect or technical skill or devoted drudgery. The organist became +_ipso facto_ a person to be taken into account. + +The Rectory had divined and discussed, and discussed and divined, how it +was, could, would, should, have been that the Bishop could be lunching +with Mr Sharnall. Could it be that the Bishop had thought that Mr +Sharnall kept an eating-house, or that the Bishop took some special diet +which only Mr Sharnall knew how to prepare? Could it be that the +Bishop had some idea of making Mr Sharnall organist in his private +chapel, for there was no vacancy in the Cathedral? Conjecture charged +the blank wall of mystery full tilt, and retired broken from the +assault. After talking of nothing else for many hours, Mrs Parkyn +declared that the matter had no interest at all for her. + +"For my part, I cannot profess to understand such goings-on," she said +in that convincing and convicting tone which implies that the speaker +knows far more than he cares to state, and that the solution of the +mystery must in any case be discreditable to all concerned. + +"I wonder, my dear," the Rector said to his wife, "whether Mr Sharnall +has the means to entertain the Bishop properly." + +"Properly!" said Mrs Parkyn--"properly! I think the whole proceeding +entirely improper. Do you mean has Mr Sharnall money enough to +purchase a proper repast? I should say certainly not. Or has he proper +plates or forks or spoons, or a proper room in which to eat? Of course +he has not. Or do you mean can he get things properly cooked? Who is +to do it? There is only feckless old Miss Joliffe and her stuck-up +niece." + +The Canon was much perturbed by the vision of discomfort which his wife +had called up. + +"The Bishop ought to be spared as much as _possible_," he said; "we +ought to do all we _can_ to save him annoyance. What do you think? +Should we not put up with a little inconvenience, and ask Sharnall to +bring the Bishop here, and lunch himself? He must know perfectly well +that entertaining a Bishop in a lodging-house is an unheard-of thing, +and he would do to make up the sixth instead of old Noot. We could +easily tell Noot he was not wanted." + +"Sharnall is such a disreputable creature," Mrs Parkyn answered; "he is +quite as likely as not to come tipsy; and, if he does not, he has no +_breeding_ or education, and would scarcely understand polite +conversation." + +"You forget, my dear, that the Bishop is already pledged to lunch with +Mr Sharnall, so that we should not be held responsible for introducing +him. And Sharnall has managed to pick up some sort of an education--I +can't imagine where; but I found on one occasion that he could +understand a little Latin. It was the Blandamer motto, `_Aut Fynes, aut +finis_.' He may have been told what it meant, but he certainly seemed +to know. Of course, no real knowledge of Latin can be obtained without +a _University_ education"--and the Rector pulled up his tie and +collar--"but still chemists and persons of that sort do manage to get a +smattering of it." + +"Well, well, I don't suppose we are going to talk Latin all through +lunch," interrupted his wife. "You can do precisely as you please about +asking him." + +The Rector contented himself with the permission, however ungraciously +accorded, and found himself a little later in Mr Sharnall's room. + +"Mrs Parkyn was hoping that she might have prevailed on you to lunch +with us on the day of the Confirmation. She was only waiting for the +Bishop's acceptance to send you an invitation; but we hear now," he said +in a dubitative and tentative way--"we hear now that it is possible that +the Bishop may be lunching with you." + +There was a twitch about the corners of Canon Parkyn's mouth. The +position that a Bishop should be lunching with Mr Sharnall in a common +lodging-house was so exquisitely funny that he could only restrain his +laughter with difficulty. + +Mr Sharnall gave an assenting nod. + +"Mrs Parkyn was not quite sure whether you might have in your lodgings +exactly everything that might be necessary for entertaining his +lordship." + +"Oh dear, yes," Mr Sharnall said. "It looks a little dowdy just this +minute, because the chairs are at the upholsterers to have the gilt +touched up; we are putting up new curtains, of _course_, and the +housekeeper has already begun to polish the best silver." + +"It occurred to Mrs Parkyn," the Rector continued, being too bent on +saying what he had to say to pay much attention to the organist's +remarks--"it occurred to Mrs Parkyn that it might perhaps be more +convenient to you to bring the Bishop to lunch at the Rectory. It would +spare you all trouble in preparation, and you would of course lunch with +us yourself. It would be putting us to no inconvenience; Mrs Parkyn +would be glad that you should lunch with us yourself." + +Mr Sharnall nodded, this time deprecatingly. + +"You are very kind. Mrs Parkyn is very considerate, but the Bishop has +signified his intention of lunching in _this_ house; I could scarcely +venture to contravene his lordship's wishes." + +"The Bishop is a friend of yours?" the Rector asked. + +"You can scarcely say that; I do not think I have set eyes on the man +for forty years." + +The Rector was puzzled. + +"Perhaps the Bishop is under some misconception; perhaps he thinks that +this house is still an inn--the Hand of God, you know." + +"Perhaps," said the organist; and there was a little pause. + +"I hope you will consider the matter. May I not tell Mrs Parkyn that +you will urge the Bishop to lunch at the Rectory--that you both"--and he +brought out the word bravely, though it cost him a pang to yoke the +Bishop with so unworthy a mate, and to fling the door of select +hospitality open to Mr Sharnall--"that you both will lunch with us?" + +"I fear not," the organist said; "I fear I must say no. I shall be very +busy preparing for the extra service, and if I am to play `See the +Conquering Hero' as the Bishop enters the church, I shall need time for +practice. A piece like that takes some playing, you know." + +"I hope you will endeavour to render it in the very best manner," the +Rector said, and withdrew his forces _re infecta_. + +The story of Mr Sharnall's mental illusions, and particularly of the +hallucination as to someone following him, had left an unpleasant +impression on Westray's mind. He was anxious about his fellow-lodger, +and endeavoured to keep a kindly supervision over him, as he felt it to +be possible that a person in such a state might do himself a mischief. +On most evenings he either went down to Mr Sharnall's room, or asked +the organist to come upstairs to his, considering that the solitude +incident to bachelor life in advancing years was doubtless to blame to a +large extent for these wandering fancies. Mr Sharnall occupied himself +at night in sorting and reading the documents which had once belonged to +Martin Joliffe. There was a vast number of them, representing the +accumulation of a lifetime, and consisting of loose memoranda, of +extracts from registers, of manuscript-books full of pedigrees and +similar material. When he had first begun to examine them, with a view +to their classification or destruction, he showed that the task was +distinctly uncongenial to him; he was glad enough to make any excuse for +interruption or for invoking Westray's aid. The architect, on the other +hand, was by nature inclined to archaeologic and genealogic studies, and +would not have been displeased if Mr Sharnall had handed over to him +the perusal of these papers entirely. He was curious to trace the +origin of that chimera which had wasted a whole life--to discover what +had led Martin originally to believe that he had a claim to the +Blandamer peerage. He found, perhaps, an additional incentive in an +interest which he was beginning unconsciously to take in Anastasia +Joliffe, whose fortunes might be supposed to be affected by these +investigations. + +But in a little while Westray noticed a change in the organist's +attitude as touching the papers. Mr Sharnall evinced a dislike to the +architect examining them further; he began himself to devote a good deal +more time and attention to their study, and he kept them jealously under +lock and key. Westray's nature led him to resent anything that +suggested suspicion; he at once ceased to concern himself with the +matter, and took care to show Mr Sharnall that he had no wish whatever +to see more of the documents. + +As for Anastasia, she laughed at the idea of there being any foundation +underlying these fancies; she laughed at Mr Sharnall, and rallied +Westray, saying she believed that they both were going to embark on the +quest of the nebuly coat. To Miss Euphemia it was no laughing matter. + +"I think, my dear," she said to her niece, "that all these searchings +after wealth and fortune are not of God. I believe that trying to +discover things"--and she used "things" with the majestic +comprehensiveness of the female mind--"is generally bad for man. If it +is good for us to be noblemen and rich, then Providence will bring us to +that station; but to try to prove one's self a nobleman is like +star-gazing and fortune-telling. Idolatry is as the sin of witchcraft. +There can be no _blessing_ on it, and I reproach myself for ever having +given dear Martin's papers to Mr Sharnall at all. I only did so +because I could not bear to go through them myself, and thought perhaps +that there might be cheques or something valuable among them. I wish I +had burnt everything at first, and now Mr Sharnall says he will not +have the papers destroyed till he has been through them. I am sure they +were no blessing at all to dear Martin. I hope they may not bewitch +these two gentlemen as well." + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +The scheme of restoration had been duly revised in the light of Lord +Blandamer's generosity, and the work had now entered on such a +methodical progress that Westray was able on occasion to relax something +of that close personal supervision which had been at first so exacting. +Mr Sharnall often played for half an hour or more after the +evening-service, and on such occasions Westray found time, now and then, +to make his way to the organ-loft. The organist liked to have him +there; he was grateful for the token of interest, however slight, that +was implied in such visits; and Westray, though without technical +knowledge, found much to interest him in the unfamiliar surroundings of +the loft. It was a curious little kingdom of itself, situate over the +great stone screen, which at Cullerne divides the choir from the nave, +but as remote and cut off from the outside world as a desert island. +Access was gained to it by a narrow, round, stone staircase, which led +up from the nave at the south end of the screen. After the bottom door +of this windowless staircase was opened and shut, anyone ascending was +left for a moment in bewildering darkness. He had to grope the way by +his feet feeling the stairs, and by his hand laid on the central stone +shaft which had been polished to the smoothness of marble by countless +other hands of past times. + +But, after half a dozen steps, the darkness resolved; there was first +the dusk of dawn, and soon a burst of mellow light, when he reached the +stairhead and stepped out into the loft. Then there were two things +which he noticed before any other--the bow of that vast Norman arch +which spanned the opening into the south transept, with its lofty and +over-delicate roll and cavetto mouldings; and behind it the head of the +Blandamer window, where in the centre of the infinite multiplication of +the tracery shone the sea-green and silver of the nebuly coat. +Afterwards he might remark the long-drawn roof of the nave, and the +chevroned ribs of the Norman vault, delimiting bay and bay with a +saltire as they crossed; or his eyes might be led up to the lantern of +the central tower, and follow the lighter ascending lines of Abbot +Vinnicomb's Perpendicular panelling, till they vanished in the windows +far above. + +Inside the loft there was room and to spare. It was formed on ample +lines, and had space for a stool or two beside the performer's seat, +while at the sides ran low bookcases which held the music library. In +these shelves rested the great folios of Boyce, and Croft, and Arnold, +Page and Greene, Battishill and Crotch--all those splendid and +ungrudging tomes for which the "Rectors and Foundation of Cullerne" had +subscribed in older and richer days. Yet these were but the children of +a later birth. Round about them stood elder brethren, for Cullerne +Minster was still left in possession of its seventeenth-century +music-books. A famous set they were, a hundred or more bound in their +old black polished calf, with a great gold medallion, and "Tenor: +Decani," or "Contra-tenor: Cantoris", "Basso," or "Sopra," stamped in +the middle of every cover. And inside was parchment with red-ruled +margins, and on the parchment were inscribed services and +"verse-anthems" and "ffull-anthems," all in engrossing hand and the most +uncompromising of black ink. Therein was a generous table of contents-- +Mr Batten and Mr Gibbons, Mr Mundy and Mr Tomkins, Doctor Bull and +Doctor Giles, all neatly filed and paged; and Mr Bird would incite +singers long since turned to churchyard mould to "bring forthe ye +timbrell, ye pleasant harp and ye violl," and reinsist with six parts, +and a red capital letter, "ye pleasant harp and ye violl." + +It was a great place for dust, the organ-loft--dust that fell, and dust +that rose; dust of wormy wood, dust of crumbling leather, dust of +tattered mothy curtains that were dropping to pieces, dust of primeval +green baize; but Mr Sharnall had breathed the dust for forty years, and +felt more at home in that place than anywhere else. If it was Crusoe's +island, he was Crusoe, monarch of all he surveyed. + +"Here, you can take this key," he said one day to Westray; "it unlocks +the staircase-door; but either tell me when to expect you, or make a +noise as you come up the steps. I don't like being startled. Be sure +you push the door to after you; it fastens itself. I am always +particular about keeping the door locked, otherwise one doesn't know +what stranger may take it into his head to walk up. I can't bear being +startled." And he glanced behind him with a strange look in his eyes. + +A few days before the Bishop's visit Westray was with Mr Sharnall in +the organ-loft. He had been there through most of the service, and, as +he sat on his stool in the corner, had watched the curious diamond +pattern of light and dark that the clerestory windows made with the +vaulting-ribs. Anyone outside would have seen islands of white cloud +drifting across the blue sky, and each cloud as it passed threw the +heavy chevroned diagonals inside into bold relief, and picked out that +rebus of a carding-comb encircled by a wreath of vine-leaves which +Nicholas Vinnicomb had inserted for a vaulting-boss. + +The architect had learned to regard the beetling roof with an almost +superstitious awe, and was this day so fascinated with the strange +effect as to be scarcely aware that the service was over till Mr +Sharnall spoke. + +"You said you would like to hear my service in D flat--`Sharnall in D +flat,' did you not? I will play it through to you now, if you care to +listen. Of course, I can only give you the general effect, without +voices, though, after all, I don't know that you won't get quite as good +an idea of it as you could with any voices that we have here." + +Westray woke up from his dreams and put himself into an attitude of +proper attention, while Mr Sharnall played the service from a faded +manuscript. + +"Now," he said, as he came towards the end--"now listen. This is the +best part of it--a fugal _Gloria_, ending with a pedal-point. Here you +are, you see--a tonic pedal-point, this D flat, the very last raised +note in my new pedal-board, held down right through." And he set his +left foot on the pedal. "What do you think of _that_ for a +_Magnificat_?" he said, when it was finished; and Westray was ready with +all the conventional expressions of admiration. "It is not bad, is it?" +Mr Sharnall asked; "but the gem of it is the _Gloria_--not real fugue, +but fugal, with a pedal-point. Did you catch the effect of that point? +I will keep the note down by itself for a second, so that you may get +thoroughly hold of it, and then play the _Gloria_ again." + +He held down the D flat, and the open pipe went booming and throbbing +through the long nave arcades, and in the dark recesses of the +triforium, and under the beetling vaulting, and quavered away high up in +the lantern, till it seemed like the death-groan of a giant. + +"Take it up," Westray said; "I can't bear the throbbing." + +"Very well; now listen while I give you the _Gloria_. No, I really +think I had better go through the whole service again; you see, it leads +up more naturally to the finale." + +He began the service again, and played it with all the conscientious +attention and sympathy that the creative artist must necessarily give to +his own work. He enjoyed, too, that pleasurable surprise which awaits +the discovery that a composition laid aside for many years and half +forgotten is better and stronger than had been imagined, even as a +disused dress brought out of the wardrobe sometimes astonishes us with +its freshness and value. + +Westray stood on a foot-pace at the end of the loft which allowed him to +look over the curtain into the church. His eyes roamed through the +building as he listened, but he did not appreciate the music the less. +Nay, rather, he appreciated it the more, as some writers find literary +perception and power of expression quickened at the influence of music +itself. The great church was empty. Janaway had left for his tea; the +doors were locked, no strangers could intrude; there was no sound, no +murmur, no voice, save only the voices of the organ-pipes. So Westray +listened. Stay, were there no other voices? was there nothing he +heard--nothing that spoke within him? At first he was only conscious of +_something_--something that drew his attention away from the music, and +then the disturbing influence was resolved into another voice, small, +but rising very clear even above "Sharnall in D flat." "The arch never +sleeps," said that still and ominous voice. "The arch never sleeps; +they have bound on us a burden too heavy to be borne. We are shifting +it; we never sleep." And his eyes turned to the cross arches under the +tower. There, above the bow of the south transept, showed the great +crack, black and writhen as a lightning-flash, just as it had showed any +time for a century--just the same to the ordinary observer, but not to +the architect. He looked at it fixedly for a moment, and then, +forgetting Mr Sharnall and the music, left the loft, and made his way +to the wooden platform that the masons had built up under the roof. + +Mr Sharnall did not even perceive that he had gone down, and dashed +_con furore_ into the _Gloria_. "Give me the full great," he called to +the architect, who he thought was behind him; "give me the full great, +all but the reed," and snatched the stops out himself when there was no +response. "It went better that time--distinctly better," he said, as +the last note ceased to sound, and then turned round for Westray's +comment; but the loft was empty--he was alone. + +"Curse the fellow!" he said; "he might at least have let me know that he +was going away. Ah, well, it's all poor stuff, no doubt." And he shut +up the manuscript with a lingering and affectionate touch, that +contrasted with so severe a criticism. "It's poor stuff; why should I +expect anyone to listen to it?" + +It was full two hours later that Westray came quickly into the +organist's room at Bellevue Lodge. + +"I beg your pardon, Sharnall," he said, "for leaving you so cavalierly. +You must have thought me rude and inappreciative; but the fact is I was +so startled that I forgot to tell you why I went. While you were +playing I happened to look up at that great crack over the south +transept arch, and saw something very like recent movement. I went up +at once to the scaffolding, and have been there ever since. I don't +like it at all; it seems to me that the crack is opening, and extending. +It may mean very serious mischief, and I have made up my mind to go up +to London by the last train to-night. I must get Sir George Farquhar's +opinion at once." + +The organist grunted. The wound inflicted on his susceptibility had +rankled deeply, and indignation had been tenderly nursed. A piece of +his mind was to have been given to Westray, and he regretted the very +reasonableness of the explanation that robbed him of his opportunity. + +"Pray don't apologise," he said; "I never noticed that you had gone. I +really quite forgot that you had been there." + +Westray was too full of his discovery to take note of the other's +annoyance. He was one of those excitable persons who mistake hurry for +decision of action. + +"Yes," he said, "I must be off to London in half an hour. The matter is +far too serious to play fast-and-loose with. It is quite possible that +we shall have to stop the organ, or even to forbid the use of the church +altogether, till we can shore and strut the arch. I must go and put my +things together." + +So, with heroic promptness and determination, he flung himself into the +last train, and spent the greater part of the night in stopping at every +wayside station, when his purpose would have been equally served by a +letter or by taking the express at Cullerne Road the next morning. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +The organ was not silenced, nor was the service suspended. Sir George +came down to Cullerne, inspected the arch, and rallied his subordinate +for an anxiety which was considered to be unjustifiable. Yes, the wall +above the arch _had_ moved a little, but not more than was to be +expected from the repairs which were being undertaken with the vaulting. +It was only the old wall coming to its proper bearings--he would have +been surprised, in fact, if no movement had taken place; it was much +safer as it was. + +Canon Parkyn was in high good-humour. He rejoiced in seeing the pert +and officious young clerk of the works put in his proper place; and Sir +George had lunched at the Rectory. There was a repetition of the +facetious proposal that Sir George should wait for payment of his fees +until the tower should fall, which acquired fresh point from the +circumstance that all payments were now provided for by Lord Blandamer. +The ha-ha-ing which accompanied this witticism palled at length even +upon the robust Sir George, and he winced under a dig in the ribs, which +an extra glass of port had emboldened the Canon to administer. + +"Well, well, Mr Rector," he said, "we cannot put old heads on young +shoulders. Mr Westray was quite justified in referring the matter to +me. It _has_ an ugly look; one needs _experience_ to be able to see +through things like this." And he pulled up his collar, and adjusted +his tie. + +Westray was content to accept his Chief's decision as a matter of faith, +though not of conviction. The black lightning-flash was impressed on +his mental retina, the restless cry of the arches was continually in his +ear; he seldom passed the transept-crossing without hearing it. But he +bore his rebuke with exemplary resignation--the more so that he was much +interested in some visits which Lord Blandamer paid him at this period. +Lord Blandamer called more than once at Bellevue Lodge in the evenings, +even as late as nine o'clock, and would sit with Westray for two hours +together, turning over plans and discussing the restoration. The +architect learnt to appreciate the charm of his manner, and was +continually astonished at the architectural knowledge and critical power +which he displayed. Mr Sharnall would sometimes join them for a few +minutes, but Lord Blandamer never appeared quite at his ease when the +organist was present; and Westray could not help thinking that Mr +Sharnall was sometimes tactless, and even rude, considering that he was +beholden to Lord Blandamer for new pedals and new bellows and a +water-engine _in esse_, and for the entire repair of the organ _in +posse_. + +"I can't help being `beholden to him,' as you genteelly put it," Mr +Sharnall said one evening, when Lord Blandamer had gone. "I can't +_stop_ his giving new bellows or a new pedal-board. And we do want the +new board and the additional pipes. As it is, I can't play German +music, can't touch a good deal of Bach's organ work. Who is to say this +man nay, if he chooses to alter the organ? But I'm not going to truckle +to anyone, and least of all to him. Do you want me to fall flat on my +face because he is a lord? Pooh! we could all be lords like him. Give +me another week with Martin's papers, and I'll open your eyes. Ay, you +may stare and sniff if you please, but you'll open your eyes then. _Ex +oriente lux_--that's where the light's coming from, out of Martin's +papers. Once this Confirmation over, and you'll see. I can't settle to +the papers till that's done with. What do people want to confirm these +boys and girls for? It only makes hypocrites of wholesome children. I +hate the whole business. If people want to make their views public, let +them do it at five-and-twenty; then we should believe that they knew +something of what they were about." + +The day of the Bishop's visit had arrived; the Bishop had arrived +himself; he had entered the door of Bellevue Lodge; he had been received +by Miss Euphemia Joliffe as one who receives an angel awares; he had +lunched in Mr Sharnall's room, and had partaken of the cold lamb, and +the Stilton, and even of the cider-cup, to just such an extent as became +a healthy and good-hearted and host-considering bishop. + +"You have given me a regular Oxford lunch," he said. "Your landlady has +been brought up in the good tradition." And he smiled, never doubting +that he was partaking of the ordinary provision of the house, and that +Mr Sharnall fared thus sumptuously every day. He knew not that the +meal was as much a set piece as a dinner on the stage, and that cold +lamb and Stilton and cider-cup were more often represented by the bottom +of a tin of potted meat and--a gill of cheap whisky. + +"A regular Oxford lunch." And then they fell to talking of old days, +and the Bishop called Mr Sharnall "Nick," and Mr Sharnall called the +Bishop of Carum "John"; and they walked round the room looking at +pictures of college groups and college eights, and the Bishop examined +very tenderly the little water-colour sketch that Mr Sharnall had once +made of the inner quad; and they identified in it their own old rooms, +and the rooms of several other men of their acquaintance. + +The talk did Mr Sharnall good; he felt the better for it every moment. +He had meant to be very proud and reserved with the Bishop--to be most +dignified and coldly courteous. He had meant to show that, though John +Willis might wear the gaiters, Nicholas Sharnall could retain his sturdy +independence, and was not going to fawn or to admit himself to be the +mental inferior of any man. He had meant to _give_ a tirade against +Confirmation, against the neglect of music, against rectors, with +perhaps a back-thrust at the Bench of Bishops itself. But he had done +none of these things, because neither pride nor reserve nor +assertiveness were possible in John Willis's company. He had merely +eaten a good lunch, and talked with a kindly, broad-minded gentleman, +long enough to warm his withered heart, and make him feel that there +were still possibilities in life. + +There is a bell that rings for a few strokes three-quarters of an hour +before every service at Cullerne. It is called the Burgess Bell--some +say because it was meant to warn such burgesses as dwelt at a distance +that it was time to start for church; whilst others will have it that +Burgess is but a broken-down form of _expergiscere_--"Awake! awake!"-- +that those who dozed might rise for prayer. The still air of the +afternoon was yet vibrating with the Burgess Bell, and the Bishop rose +to take his leave. + +If it was the organist of Cullerne who had been ill at ease when their +interview began, it was the Bishop of Carisbury who was embarrassed at +the end of it. He had asked himself to lunch with Mr Sharnall with a +definite object, and towards the attainment of that object nothing had +been done. He had learnt that his old friend had fallen upon evil +times, and, worse, had fallen into evil courses--that the failing which +had ruined his Oxford career had broken out again with a fresh fire in +advancing age, that Nicholas Sharnall was in danger of a drunkard's +judgment. + +There had been lucid intervals in the organist's life; the plague would +lie dormant for years, and then break out, to cancel all the progress +that had been made. It was like a "race-game" where the little leaden +horse is moved steadily forward, till at last the die falls on the fatal +number, and the racer must lose a turn, or go back six, or, even in the +worst issue, begin his whole course again. It was in the forlorn hope +of doing something, however little, to arrest a man on the downward +slope that the Bishop had come to Bellevue Lodge; he hoped to speak the +word in season that should avail. Yet nothing had been said. He felt +like a clerk who has sought an interview with his principal to ask for +an increase of salary, and then, fearing to broach the subject, pretends +to have come on other business. He felt like a son longing to ask his +father's counsel in some grievous scrape, or like an extravagant wife +waiting her opportunity to confess some heavy debt. + +"A quarter past two," the Bishop said; "I must be going. It has been a +great pleasure to recall the old times. I hope we shall meet again +soon; but remember it is your turn now to come and see me. Carisbury is +not so very far off, so do come. There is always a bed ready for you. +Will you walk up the street with me now? I have to go to the Rectory, +and I suppose you will be going to the church, will you not?" + +"Yes," said Mr Sharnall; "I'll come with you if you wait one minute. I +think I'll take just a drop of something before I go, if you'll excuse +me. I feel rather run down, and the service is a long one. You won't +join me, of course?" And he went to the cupboard. + +The Bishop's opportunity was come. + +"Don't, Sharnall. Don't, Nick," he said; "don't take that stuff. +Forgive me for speaking openly, the time is so short. I am not speaking +professionally or from the religious standpoint, but only just as one +man of the world to another, just as one friend to another, because I +cannot bear to see you going on like this without trying to stop you. +Don't take offence, Nick," he added, as he saw the change of the other's +countenance; "our old friendship gives me a right to speak; the story +you are writing on your own face gives me a right to speak. Give it up. +There is time yet to turn; give it up. Let me help you; is there +nothing I can do to help?" + +The angry look that crossed Mr Sharnall's face had given way to +sadness. + +"It is all very easy for you," he said; "you've done everything in life, +and have a long row of milestones behind you to show how you've moved +on. I have done nothing, only gone back, and have all the milestones in +front to show how I've failed. It's easy to twit me when you've got +everything you want--position, reputation, fortune, a living faith to +keep you up to it. I am nobody, miserably poor, have no friends, and +don't believe half we say in church. What am I to do? No one cares a +fig about me; what have I got to live for? To drink is the only chance +I have of feeling a little pleasure in life; of losing for a few moments +the dreadful consciousness of being an outcast; of losing for a moment +the remembrance of happy days long ago: that's the greatest torment of +all, Willis. Don't blame me if I drink; it's the _elixir vitae_ for me +just as much as for Paracelsus." And he turned the handle of the +cupboard. + +"Don't," the Bishop said again, putting his hand on the organist's arm; +"don't do it; don't touch it. Don't make success any criterion of life; +don't talk about `getting on.' We shan't be judged by how we have got +on. Come along with me; show you've got your old resolution, your old +will-power." + +"I _haven't_ got the power," Mr Sharnall said; "I can't help it." But +he took his hand from the cupboard-door. + +"Then let me help it for you," said the Bishop; and he opened the +cupboard, found a half-used bottle of whisky, drove the cork firmly into +it, and put it under his arm inside the lappet of his coat. "Come +along." + +So the Bishop of Carisbury walked up the High Street of Cullerne with a +bottle of whisky under his left arm. But no one could see that, because +it was hid under his coat; they only saw that he had his right arm +inside Mr Sharnall's. Some thought this an act of Christian +condescension, but others praised the times that were past; bishops were +losing caste, they said, and it was a sad day for the Church when they +were found associating openly with persons so manifestly their +inferiors. + +"We must see more of each other," the Bishop said, as they walked under +the arcade in front of the shops. "You must get out of this quag +somehow. You can't expect to do it all at once, but we must make a +beginning. I have taken away your temptation under my coat, and you +must make a start from this minute; you must make me a promise _now_. I +have to be in Cullerne again in six days' time, and will come and see +you. You must promise me not to touch anything for these six days, and +you must drive back with me to Carisbury when I go back then, and spend +a few days with me. Promise me this, Nick; the time is pressing, and I +must leave you, but you must promise me this first." + +The organist hesitated for a moment, but the Bishop gripped his arm. + +"Promise me this; I will not go till you promise." + +"Yes, I promise." + +And lying-and-mischief-making Mrs Flint, who was passing, told +afterwards how she had overheard the Bishop discussing with Mr Sharnall +the best means for introducing ritualism into the minster, and how the +organist had promised to do his very best to help him so far as the +musical part of the sendee was concerned. + +The Confirmation was concluded without any contretemps, save that two of +the Grammar School boys incurred an open and well-merited rebuke from +the master for appearing in gloves of a much lighter slate colour than +was in any way decorous, and that this circumstance reduced the youngest +Miss Bulteel to such a state of hysteric giggling that her mother was +forced to remove her from the church, and thus deprive her of spiritual +privileges for another year. + +Mr Sharnall bore his probation bravely. Three days had passed, and he +had not broken his vow--no, not in one jot or tittle. They had been +days of fine weather, brilliantly clear autumn days of blue sky and +exhilarating air. They had been bright days for Mr Sharnall; he was +himself exhilarated; he felt a new life coursing in his veins. The +Bishop's talk had done him good; from his heart he thanked the Bishop +for it. Giving up drinking had done him no harm; he felt all the better +for his abstinence. It had not depressed him at all; on the contrary, +he was more cheerful than he had been for years. Scales had fallen from +his eyes since that talk; he had regained his true bearings; he began to +see the verities of life. How he had wasted his time! Why _had_ he +been so sour? why _had_ he indulged his spleen? why _had_ he taken such +a jaundiced view of life? He would put aside all jealousies; he would +have no enmities; he would be broader-minded--oh, so much +broader-minded; he would embrace all mankind--yes, even Canon Parkyn. +Above all, he would recognise that he was well advanced in life; he +would be more sober-thinking, would leave childish things, would +resolutely renounce his absurd infatuation for Anastasia. What a +ridiculous idea--a crabbed old sexagenarian harbouring affection for a +young girl! Henceforth she should be nothing to him--absolutely +nothing. No, that would be foolish; it would not be fair to her to cut +her off from all friendship; he could feel for her a fatherly +affection--it should be paternal and nothing more. He would bid adieu +to all that folly, and his life should not be a whit the emptier for the +loss. He would fill it with interests--all kinds of interests, and his +music should be the first. He would take up again, and carry out to the +end, that oratorio which he had turned over in his mind for years--the +"Absalom." He had several numbers at his fingers' ends; he would work +out the bass solo, "Oh, Absalom, my son, my son!" and the double chorus +that followed it, "Make ready, ye mighty; up and bare your swords!" + +So he discoursed joyfully with his own heart, and felt above measure +elated at the great and sudden change that was wrought in him, not +recognising that the clouds return after the rain, and that the leopard +may change his spots as easily as man may change his habits. To change +a habit at fifty-five or forty-five or thirty-five; to ordain that +rivers shall flow uphill; to divert the relentless sequence of cause and +effect--how often dare we say this happens? _Nemo repente_--no man ever +suddenly became good. A moment's spiritual agony may blunt our +instincts and paralyse the evil in us--for a while, even as chloroform +may dull our bodily sense; but for permanence there is no sudden turning +of the mind; sudden repentances in life or death are equally impossible. + +Three halcyon days were followed by one of those dark and lowering +mornings when the blank life seems blanker, and when the gloom of nature +is too accurately reflected in the nervous temperament of man. On +healthy youth climatic influences have no effect, and robust middle age, +if it perceive them, goes on its way steadfast or stolid, with a _cela +passera, tout passera_. But on the feeble and the failing such times +fall with a weight of fretful despondency; and so they fell on Mr +Sharnall. + +He was very restless about the time of the mid-day meal. There came up +a thick, dark fog from the sea, which went rolling in great masses over +Cullerne Flat, till its fringe caught the outskirts of the town. After +that, it settled in the streets, and took up its special abode in +Bellevue Lodge; till Miss Euphemia coughed so that she had to take two +ipecacuanha lozenges, and Mr Sharnall was forced to ring for a lamp to +see his victuals. He went up to Westray's room to ask if he might eat +his dinner upstairs, but he found that the architect had gone to London, +and would not be back till the evening train; so he was thrown upon his +own resources. + +He ate little, and by the end of the meal depression had so far got the +better of him, that he found himself standing before a well-known +cupboard. Perhaps the abstemiousness of the last three days had told +upon him, and drove him for refuge to his usual comforter. It was by +instinct that he went to the cupboard; he was not even conscious of +doing so till he had the open door in his hand. Then resolution +returned to him, aided, it may be, by the reflection that the cupboard +was bare (for the Bishop had taken away the whisky), and he shut the +door sharply. Was it possible that he had so soon forgotten his +promise--had come so perilously near falling back into the mire, after +the bright prospects of the last days, after so lucid an interval? He +went to his bureau and buried himself in Martin Joliffe's papers, till +the Burgess Bell gave warning of the afternoon service. + +The gloom and fog made way by degrees for a drizzling rain, which +resolved itself into a steady downpour as the afternoon wore on. It was +so heavy that Mr Sharnall could hear the indistinct murmur of millions +of raindrops on the long lead roofs, and their more noisy splash and +spatter as they struck the windows in the lantern and north transept. +He was in a bad humour as he came down from the loft. The boys had sung +sleepily and flat; Jaques had murdered the tenor solo with his strained +and raucous voice; and old Janaway remembered afterwards that Mr +Sharnall had never vouchsafed a good-afternoon as he strode angrily down +the aisle. + +Things were no better when he reached Bellevue Lodge. He was wet and +chilled, and there was no fire in the grate, because it was too early in +the year for such luxuries to be afforded. He would go to the kitchen, +and take his tea there. It was Saturday afternoon. Miss Joliffe would +be at the Dorcas meeting, but Anastasia would be in; and this reflection +came to him as a ray of sunlight in a dark and lowering time. Anastasia +would be in, and alone; he would sit by the fire and drink a cup of hot +tea, while Anastasia should talk to him and gladden his heart. He +tapped lightly at the kitchen-door, and as he opened it a gusty buffet +of damp air smote him on the face; the room was empty. Through a +half-open sash the wet had driven in, and darkened the top of the deal +table which stood against the window; the fire was but a smouldering +ash. He shut the window instinctively while he reflected. Where could +Anastasia be? She must have left the kitchen some time, otherwise the +fire would not be so low, and she would have seen that the rain was +beating in. She must be upstairs; she had no doubt taken advantage of +Westray's absence to set his room in order. He would go up to her; +perhaps there was a fire in Westray's room. + +He went up the circular stone staircase, that ran like a wide well from +top to bottom of the old Hand of God. The stone steps and the stone +floor of the hall, the stuccoed walls, and the coved stucco roof which +held the skylight at the top, made a whispering-gallery of that gaunt +staircase; and before Mr Sharnall had climbed half-way up he heard +voices. + +They were voices in conversation; Anastasia had company. And then he +heard that one was a man's voice. What right had any man to be in +Westray's room? What man had any right to be talking to Anastasia? A +wild suspicion passed through his mind--no, that was quite impossible. +He would not play the eavesdropper or creep near them to listen; but, as +he reflected, he had mounted a step or two higher, and the voices were +now more distinct. Anastasia had finished speaking, and the man began +again. There was one second of uncertainty in Mr Sharnall's mind, +while the hope that it was not, balanced the fear that it was; and then +doubt vanished, and he knew the voice to be Lord Blandamer's. + +The organist sprang up two or three steps very quickly. He would go +straight to them--straight into Westray's room; he would--And then he +paused; he would do, what? What right had he to go there at all? What +had he to do with them? What was there for anyone to do? He paused, +then turned and went downstairs again, telling himself that he was a +fool--that he was making mountains of molehills, that there did not +exist, in fact, even a molehill; yet having all the while a sickening +feeling within him, as if some gripping hand had got hold of his poor +physical and material heart, and was squeezing it. His room looked more +gloomy than ever when he got back to it, but it did not matter now, +because he was not going to remain there. He only stopped for a minute +to sweep back into the bureau all those loose papers of Martin Joliffe's +that were lying in a tumble on the open desk-flap. He smiled grimly as +he put them back and locked them in. _Le jour viendra qui tout paiera_. +These papers held a vengeance that would atone for all wrongs. + +He took down his heavy and wet-sodden overcoat from the peg in the hall, +and reflected with some satisfaction that the bad weather could not +seriously damage it, for it had turned green with wear, and must be +replaced as soon as he got his next quarter's salary. The rain still +fell heavily, but he _must_ go out. Four walls were too narrow to hold +his chafing mood, and the sadness of outward nature accorded well with a +gloomy spirit. So he shut the street-door noiselessly, and went down +the semicircular flight of stone steps in front of the Hand of God, just +as Lord Blandamer had gone down them on that historic evening when +Anastasia first saw him. He turned back to look at the house, just as +Lord Blandamer had turned back then; but was not so fortunate as his +illustrious predecessor, for Westray's window was tight shut, and there +was no one to be seen. + +"I wish I may never look upon the place again," he said to himself, half +in earnest, and half with that cynicism which men affect because they +know Fate seldom takes them at their word. + +For an hour or more he wandered aimlessly, and found himself, as night +fell, on the western outskirts of the town, where a small tannery +carries on the last pretence of commercial activity in Cullerne. It is +here that the Cull, which has run for miles under willow and alder, +through deep pastures golden with marsh marigolds or scented with +meadow-sweet, past cuckoo-flower and pitcher-plant and iris and nodding +bulrush, forsakes better traditions, and becomes a common town-sluice +before it deepens at the wharves, and meets the sandy churn of the +tideway. Mr Sharnall had become aware that he was tired, and he stood +and leant over the iron paling that divides the roadway from the stream. +He did not know how tired he was till he stopped walking, nor how the +rain had wetted him till he bent his head a little forward, and a +cascade of water fell from the brim of his worn-out hat. + +It was a forlorn and dismal stream at which he looked. The low tannery +buildings of wood projected in part over the water, and were supported +on iron props, to which were attached water-whitened skins and repulsive +portions of entrails, that swung slowly from side to side as the river +took them. The water here is little more than three feet deep, and +beneath its soiled current can be seen a sandy bottom on which grow +patches of coarse duck-weed. To Mr Sharnall these patches of a green +so dark and drain-soiled as to be almost black in the failing light, +seemed tresses of drowned hair, and he weaved stories about them for +himself as the stream now swayed them to and fro, and now carried them +out at length. + +He observed things with that vacant observation which the body at times +insists on maintaining, when the mind is busy with some overmastering +preoccupation. He observed the most trivial details; he made an +inventory of the things which he could see lying on the dirty bed of the +river underneath the dirty water. There was a tin bucket with a hole in +the bottom; there was a brown teapot without a spout; there was an +earthenware blacking-bottle too strong to be broken; there were other +shattered glass bottles and shards of crockery; there was a rim of a +silk hat, and more than one toeless boot. He turned away, and looked +down the road towards the town. They were beginning to light the lamps, +and the reflections showed a criss-cross of white lines on the muddy +road, where the water stood in the wheel-tracks. There was a dark +vehicle coming down the road now, making a fresh track in the mud, and +leaving two shimmering lines behind it as it went. He gave a little +start when it came nearer, and he saw that it was the undertaker's cart +carrying out a coffin for some pauper at the Union Workhouse. + +He gave a start and a shiver; the wet had come through his overcoat; he +could feel it on his arms; he could feel the cold and clinging wet +striking at his knees. He was stiff with standing so long, and a +rheumatic pain checked him suddenly as he tried to straighten himself. +He would walk quickly to warm himself--would go home at once. Home-- +what _home_ had he? That great, gaunt Hand of God. He detested it and +all that were within its walls. That was no home. Yet he was walking +briskly towards it, having no other whither to go. + +He was in the mean little streets, he was within five minutes of his +goal, when he heard singing. He was passing the same little inn which +he had passed the first night that Westray came. The same voice was +singing inside which had sung the night that Westray came. Westray had +brought discomfort; Westray had brought Lord Blandamer. Things had +never been the same since; he wished Westray had never come at all; he +wished--oh, how he wished!--that all might be as it was before--that all +might jog along quietly as it had for a generation before. She +certainly had a fine voice, this woman. It really would be worth while +seeing who she was; he wished he could just look inside the door. Stay, +he could easily make an excuse for looking in: he would order a little +hot whisky-and-water. He was so wet, it was prudent to take something +to drink. It might ward off a bad chill. He would only take a very +little, and only as a medicine, of course; there could be no harm in +_that_--it was mere prudence. + +He took off his hat, shook the rain from it, turned the handle of the +door very gently, with the consideration of a musician who will do +nothing to interrupt another who is making music, and went in. + +He found himself in that sanded parlour which he had seen once before +through the window. It was a long, low room, with heavy beams crossing +the roof, and at the end was an open fireplace, where a kettle hung +above a smouldering fire. In a corner sat an old man playing on a +fiddle, and near him the Creole woman stood singing; there were some +tables round the room, and behind them benches on which a dozen men were +sitting. There was no young man among them, and most had long +passed the meridian of life. Their faces were sun-tanned and +mahogany-coloured; some wore earrings in their ears, and strange curls +of grey hair at the side of their heads. They looked as if they might +have been sitting there for years--as if they might be the crew of some +long-foundered vessel to whom has been accorded a Nirvana of endless +tavern-fellowship. None of them took any notice of Mr Sharnall, for +music was exercising its transporting power, and their thoughts were far +away. Some were with old Cullerne whalers, with the harpoon and the +ice-floe; some dreamt of square-stemmed timber-brigs, of the Baltic and +the white Memel-logs, of wild nights at sea and wilder nights ashore; +and some, remembering violet skies and moonlight through the +mango-groves, looked on the Creole woman, and tried to recall in her +faded features, sweet, swart faces that had kindled youthful fires a +generation since. + + "Then the grog, boys--the grog, boys, bring hither," + +sang the Creole. + + "Fill it up true to the brim. + May the mem'ry of Nelson ne'er wither + Nor the star of his glory grow dim." + +There were rummers standing on the tables, and now and then a +drinking-brother would break the sugar-knobs in his liquor with a glass +stirrer, or take a deep draught of the brown jorum that steamed before +him. No one spoke to Mr Sharnall; only the landlord, without asking +what he would take, set before him a glass filled with the same hot +spirit as the other guests were drinking. + +The organist accepted his fate with less reluctance than he ought +perhaps to have displayed, and a few minutes later was drinking and +smoking with the rest. He found the liquor to his liking, and soon +experienced the restoring influences of the warm room and of the spirit. +He hung his coat up on a peg, and in its dripping condition, and in the +wet which had penetrated to his skin, found ample justification for +accepting without demur a second bumper with which the landlord replaced +his empty glass. Rummer followed rummer, and still the Creole woman +sang at intervals, and still the company smoked and drank. + +Mr Sharnall drank too, but by-and-by saw things less clearly, as the +room grew hotter and more clouded with tobacco-smoke. Then he found the +Creole woman standing before him, and holding out a shell for +contributions. He had in his pocket only one single coin--a half-crown +that was meant to be a fortnight's pocket-money; but he was excited, and +had no hesitation. + +"There," he said, with an air of one who gives a kingdom--"there, take +that: you deserve it; but sing me a song that I heard you sing once +before, something about the rolling sea." + +She nodded that she understood, and after the collection was finished, +gave the money to the blind man, and bade him play for her. + +It was a long ballad, with many verses and a refrain of: + + "Oh, take me back to those I love, + Or bring them here to me; + I have no heart to rove, to rove + Across the rolling sea." + +At the end she came back, and sat down on the bench by Mr Sharnall. + +"Will you not give me something to drink?" she said, speaking in very +good English. "You all drink; why should not I?" + +He beckoned to the landlord to bring her a glass, and she drank of it, +pledging the organist. + +"You sing well," he said, "and with a little training should sing very +well indeed. How do you come to be here? You ought to do better than +this; if I were you, I would not sing in such company." + +She looked at him angrily. + +"How do _I_ come to be here? How do _you_ come to be here? If I had a +little training, I should sing better, and if I had your training, Mr +Sharnall"--and she brought out his name with a sneering emphasis--"I +should not be here at all, drinking myself silly in a place like this." + +She got up, and went back to the old fiddler, but her words had a +sobering influence on the organist, and cut him to the quick. So all +his good resolutions had vanished. His promise to the Bishop was +broken; the Bishop would be back again on Monday, and find him as bad as +ever--would find him worse; for the devil had returned, and was making +riot in the garnished house. He turned to pay his reckoning, but his +half-crown had gone to the Creole; he had no money, he was forced to +explain to the landlord, to humiliate himself, to tell his name and +address. The man grumbled and made demur. Gentlemen who drank in good +company, he said, should be prepared to pay their shot like gentlemen. +Mr Sharnall had drunk enough to make it a serious thing for a poor man +not to get paid. Mr Sharnall's story might be true, but it was a funny +thing for an organist to come and drink at the Merrymouth, and have no +money in his pocket. It had stopped raining; he could leave his +overcoat as a pledge of good faith, and come back and fetch it later. +So Mr Sharnall was constrained to leave this part of his equipment, and +was severed from a well-worn overcoat, which had been the companion of +years. He smiled sadly to himself as he turned at the open door, and +saw his coat still hang dripping on the peg. If it were put up to +auction, would it ever fetch enough to pay for what he had drunk? + +It was true that it had stopped raining, and though the sky was still +overcast, there was a lightness diffused behind the clouds that spoke of +a rising moon. What should he do? Whither should he turn? He could +not go back to the Hand of God; there were some there who did not want +him--whom he did not want. Westray would not be home, or, if he were, +Westray would know that he had been drinking; he could not bear that +they should see that he had been drinking again. + +And then there came into his mind another thought: he would go to the +church, the water-engine should blow for him, and he would play himself +sober. Stay, _should_ he go to the church--the great church of Saint +Sepulchre alone? Would he be alone there? If he thought that he would +be alone, he would feel more secure; but might there not be someone else +there, or something else? He gave a little shiver, but the drink was in +his veins; he laughed pot-valiantly, and turned up an alley towards the +centre tower, that loomed dark in the wet, misty whiteness of the cloud +screened moon. + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +Westray returned to Cullerne by the evening train. It was near ten +o'clock, and he was finishing his supper, when someone tapped at the +door, and Miss Euphemia Joliffe came in. + +"I beg your pardon for interrupting you, sir," she said; "I am a little +anxious about Mr Sharnall. He was not in at teatime, and has not come +back since. I thought you might know perhaps where he was. It is years +since he has been out so late in the evening." + +"I haven't the least idea where he is," Westray said rather testily, for +he was tired with a long day's work. "I suppose he has gone out +somewhere to supper." + +"No one ever asks Mr Sharnall out. I do not think he can be gone out +to supper." + +"Oh, well, I dare say he will turn up in due course; let me hear before +you go to bed if he has come back;" and he poured himself out another +cup of tea, for he was one of those thin-blooded and old-womanly men who +elevate the drinking of tea instead of other liquids into a special +merit. "He could not understand," he said, "why everybody did not drink +tea. It was so much more refreshing--one could work so much better +after drinking tea." + +He turned to some calculations for the section of a tie-rod, with which +Sir George Farquhar had at last consented to strengthen the south side +of the tower, and did not notice how time passed till there came another +irritating tap, and his landlady reappeared. + +"It is nearly twelve o'clock," she said, "and we have seen nothing of +Mr Sharnall. I am so alarmed! I am sure I am very sorry to trouble +you, Mr Westray, but my niece and I are so alarmed." + +"I don't quite see what I am to do," Westray said, looking up. "Could +he have gone out with Lord Blandamer? Do you think Lord Blandamer could +have asked him to Fording?" + +"Lord Blandamer was here this afternoon," Miss Joliffe answered, "but he +never saw Mr Sharnall, because Mr Sharnall was not at home." + +"Oh, Lord Blandamer was here, was he?" asked Westray. "Did he leave no +message for me?" + +"He asked if you were in, but he left no message for you. He drank a +cup of tea with us. I think he came in merely as a friendly visitor," +Miss Joliffe said with some dignity. "I think he came in to drink a cup +of tea with me. I was unfortunately at the Dorcas meeting when he first +arrived, but on my return he drank tea with me." + +"It is curious; he seems generally to come on Saturday afternoons," said +Westray. "Are you _always_ at the Dorcas meeting on Saturday +afternoons?" + +"Yes," Miss Joliffe said, "I am always at the meeting on Saturday +afternoons." + +There was a minute's pause--Westray and Miss Joliffe were both thinking. + +"Well, well," Westray said, "I shall be working for some time yet, and +will _let_ Mr Sharnall in if he comes; but I suspect that he has been +invited to spend the night at Fording. Anyhow, you can go to bed with a +clear conscience, Miss Joliffe; you have waited up far beyond your usual +time." + +So Miss Euphemia went to bed, and left Westray alone; and a few minutes +later the four quarter-chimes rang, and the tenor struck twelve, and +then the bells fell to playing a tune, as they did every three hours day +and night. Those who dwell near Saint Sepulchre's take no note of the +bells. The ear grows so accustomed to them, that quarter by quarter and +hour by hour strike unperceived. If strangers come to stop under the +shadow of the church the clangour disturbs their sleep for the first +night, and after that they, too, hear nothing. So Westray would sit +working late night by night, and could not say whether the bells had +rung or not. It was only when attention was too wide awake that he +heard them, but he heard them this night, and listened while they played +the sober melody of "Mount Ephraim." [See Appendix at end for tune.] + +He got up, flung his window open, and looked out. The storm had passed; +the moon, which was within a few hours of the full, rode serenely in the +blue heaven with a long bank of dappled white cloud below, whose edge +shone with an amber iridescence. He looked over the clustered roofs and +chimneys of the town; the upward glow from the market-place showed that +the lamps were still burning, though he could not see them. Then, as +the glow lessened gradually and finally became extinct, he knew that the +lights were being put out because midnight was past. The moonlight +glittered on the roofs, which were still wet, and above all towered in +gigantic sable mass the centre tower of Saint Sepulchre's. + +Westray felt a curious physical tension. He was excited, he could not +tell why; he knew that sleep would be impossible if he were to go to +bed. It _was_ an odd thing that Sharnall had not come home; Sharnall +_must_ have gone to Fording. He had spoken vaguely of an invitation to +Fording that he had received; but if he had gone there he must have +taken some things with him for the night, and he had not taken anything, +or Miss Euphemia would have said so. Stay, he would go down to +Sharnall's room and see if he could find any trace of his taking +luggage; perhaps he had left some message to explain his absence. He +lit a candle and went down, down the great well-staircase where the +stone steps echoed under his feet. A patch of bright moonshine fell on +the stairs from the skylight at the top, and a noise of someone moving +in the attics told him that Miss Joliffe was not yet asleep. There was +nothing in the organist's room to give any explanation of his absence. +The light of the candle was reflected on the front of the piano, and +Westray shuddered involuntarily as he remembered the conversation which +he had a few weeks before with this friend, and Mr Sharnall's strange +hallucinations as to the man that walked behind him with a hammer. He +looked into the bedroom with a momentary apprehension that his friend +might have been seized with illness, and be lying all this time +unconscious; but there was no one there--the bed was undisturbed. So he +went back to his own room upstairs, but the night had turned so chill +that he could no longer bear the open window. He stood with his hand +upon the sash looking out for a moment before he pulled it down, and +noticed how the centre tower dominated and prevailed over all the town. +It was impossible, surely, that this rock-like mass could be insecure; +how puny and insufficient to uphold such a tottering giant seemed the +tie-rods whose section he was working out. And then he thought of the +crack above the south transept arch that he had seen from the +organ-loft, and remembered how "Sharnall in D flat" had been interrupted +by the discovery. Why, Mr Sharnall might be in the church; perhaps he +had gone down to practise and been shut in. Perhaps his key had broken, +and he could not get out; he wondered that he had not thought of the +church before. + +In a minute he had made up his mind to go to the minster. As resident +architect he possessed a master key which opened all the doors; he would +walk round, and see if he could find anything of the missing organist +before going to bed. He strode quickly through the deserted streets. +The lamps were all put out, for Cullerne economised gas at times of full +moon. There was nothing moving, his footsteps rang on the pavement, and +echoed from wall to wall. He took the short-cut by the wharves, and in +a few minutes came to the old Bonding-house. + +The shadows hung like black velvet in the spaces between the brick +buttresses that shored up the wall towards the quay. He smiled to +himself as he thought of the organist's nervousness, of those strange +fancies as to someone lurking in the black hiding-holes, and as to +buildings being in some way connected with man's fate. Yet he knew that +his smile was assumed, for he felt all the while the oppression of the +loneliness, of the sadness of a half-ruined building, of the gurgling +mutter of the river, and instinctively quickened his pace. He was glad +when he had passed the spot, and again that night, as he looked back, he +saw the strange effect of light and darkness which produced the +impression of someone standing in the shadow of the last buttress space. +The illusion was so perfect that he thought he could make out the +figure of a man, in a long loose cape that napped in the wind. + +He had passed the wrought-iron gates now--he was in the churchyard, and +it was then that he first became aware of a soft, low, droning, sound +which seemed to fill the air all about him. He stopped for a moment to +listen; what was it? Where was the noise? It grew more distinct as he +passed along the flagged stone path which led to the north door. Yes, +it certainly came from inside the church. What could it be? What could +anyone be doing in the church at this hour of night? + +He was in the north porch now, and then he knew what it was. It was a +low note of the organ--a pedal-note; he was almost sure it was that very +pedal-point which the organist had explained to him with such pride. +The sound reassured him nothing had happened to Mr Sharnall--he was +practising in the church; it was only some mad freak of his to be +playing so late; he was practising that service "Sharnall in D flat." + +He took out his key to unlock the wicket, and was surprised to find it +already open, because he knew that it was the organist's habit to lock +himself in. He passed into the great church. It was strange, there was +no sound of music; there was no one playing; there was only the +intolerably monotonous booming of a single pedal-note, with an +occasional muffled thud when the water-engine turned spasmodically to +replenish the emptying bellows. + +"Sharnall!" he shouted--"Sharnall, what are you doing? Don't you know +how late it is?" + +He paused, and thought at first that someone was answering him--he +thought that he heard people muttering in the choir; but it was only the +echo of his own voice, his own voice tossed from pillar to pillar and +arch to arch, till it faded into a wail of "Sharnall, Sharnall!" in the +lantern. + +It was the first time that he had been in the church at night, and he +stood for a moment overcome with the mystery of the place, while he +gazed at the columns of the nave standing white in the moonlight like a +row of vast shrouded figures. He called again to Mr Sharnall, and +again received no answer, and then he made his way up the nave to the +little doorway that leads to the organ-loft stairs. + +This door also was open, and he felt sure now that Mr Sharnall was not +in the organ-loft at all, for had he been he would certainly have locked +himself in. The pedal-note must be merely ciphering, or something, +perhaps a book, might have fallen upon it, and was holding it down. He +need not go up to the loft now; he would not go up. The throbbing of +the low note had on him the same unpleasant effect as on a previous +occasion. He tried to reassure himself, yet felt all the while a +growing premonition that something might be wrong, something might be +terribly wrong. The lateness of the hour, the isolation from all things +living, the spectral moonlight which made the darkness darker--this +combination of utter silence, with the distressing vibration of the +pedal-note, filled him with something akin to panic. It seemed to him +as if the place was full of phantoms, as if the monks of Saint +Sepulchre's were risen from under their gravestones, as if there were +other dire faces among them such as wait continually on deeds of evil. +He checked his alarm before it mastered him. Come what might, he would +go up to the organ-loft, and he plunged into the staircase that leads up +out of the nave. + +It is a circular stair, twisted round a central pillar, of which mention +has already been made, and though short, is very dark even in bright +daylight. But at night the blackness is inky and impenetrable, and +Westray fumbled for an appreciable time before he had climbed +sufficiently far up to perceive the glimmer of moonlight at the top. He +stepped out at last into the loft, and saw that the organ seat was +empty. The great window at the end of the south transept shone full in +front of him; it seemed as if it must be day and not night--the light +from the window was so strong in comparison with the darkness which he +had left. There was a subdued shimmer in the tracery where the stained +glass gleamed diaphanous--amethyst and topaz, chrysoprase and jasper, a +dozen jewels as in the foundations of the city of God. And in the +midst, in the head of the centre light, shone out brighter than all, +with an inherent radiance of its own, the cognisance of the Blandamers, +the sea-green and silver of the nebuly coat. + +Westray gave a step forward into the loft, and then his foot struck +against something, and he nearly fell. It was something soft and +yielding that he had struck, something of which the mere touch filled +him with horrible surmise. He bent down to see what it was, and a white +object met his eyes. It was the white face of a man turned up towards +the vaulting; he had stumbled over the body of Mr Sharnall, who lay on +the floor with the back of his head on the pedal-note. Westray had bent +low down, and he looked full in the eyes of the organist, but they were +fixed and glazing. + +The moonlight that shone on the dead face seemed to fall on it through +that brighter spot in the head of the middle light; it was as if the +nebuly coat had blighted the very life out of the man who lay so still +upon the floor. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +No evidence of any importance was given at the inquest except Westray's +and the doctor's, and no other evidence was, in fact, required. Dr +Ennefer had made an autopsy, and found that the immediate cause of death +was a blow on the back of the head. But the organs showed traces of +alcoholic habit, and the heart was distinctly diseased. It was probable +that Mr Sharnall had been seized with a fainting fit as he left the +organ-stool, and had fallen backwards with his head on the pedal-board. +He must have fallen with much violence, and the pedal-note had made a +bad wound, such as would be produced by a blunt instrument. + +The inquest was nearly finished when, without any warning, Westray found +himself, as by intuition, asking: + +"The wound was such a one, you mean, as might have been produced by the +blow of a hammer?" + +The doctor seemed surprised, the jury and the little audience stared, +but most surprised of all was Westray at his own question. + +"You have no _locus standi_, sir," the coroner said severely; "such an +interrogation is irregular. You are to esteem it an act of grace if I +allow the medical man to reply." + +"Yes," said Dr Ennefer, with a reserve in his voice that implied that +he was not there to answer every irrelevant question that it might +please foolish people to put to him--"yes, such a wound as might have +been caused by a hammer, or by any other blunt instrument used with +violence." + +"Even by a heavy stick?" Westray suggested. + +The doctor maintained a dignified silence, and the coroner struck in: + +"I must say I think you are wasting our time, Mr Westray. I am the +last person to stifle legitimate inquiry, but no inquiry is really +needed here; it is quite certain that this poor man came to his end by +falling heavily, and dashing his head against this wooden note in the +pedals." + +"_Is_ it quite certain?" Westray asked. "Is Dr Ennefer quite sure +that the wound _could_ have been caused by a mere fall; I only want to +know that Dr Ennefer is quite sure." + +The coroner looked at the doctor with a deprecating glance, which +implied apologies that so much unnecessary trouble should be given, and +a hope that he would be graciously pleased to put an end to it by an +authoritative statement. + +"Oh, I am quite sure," the doctor responded. "Yes"--and he hesitated +for the fraction of a second--"oh yes, there is no doubt such a wound +could be caused by a fall." + +"I merely wish to point out," said Westray, "that the pedal-note on +which he fell is to a certain extent a yielding substance; it would +yield, you must remember, at the first impact." + +"That is quite true," the doctor said; "I had taken that into account, +and admit that one would scarcely expect so serious an injury to have +been caused. But, of course, it _was_ so caused, because there is no +other explanation; you don't suggest, I presume, that there was any foul +play. It is certainly a case of accident or foul play." + +"Oh no, I don't suggest anything." + +The coroner raised his eyebrows; he was tired, and could not understand +such waste of time. But the doctor, curiously enough, seemed to have +grown more tolerant of interruption. + +"I have examined the injury very carefully," he said, "and have come to +the deliberate conclusion that it must have been caused by the wooden +key. We must also recollect that the effect of any blow would be +intensified by a weak state of health. I don't wish to rake up anything +against the poor fellow's memory, or to say any word that may cause you +pain, Mr Westray, as his friend; but an examination of the body +revealed traces of chronic alcoholism. We must recollect that." + +"The man was, in fact, a confirmed drunkard," the coroner said. He +lived at Carisbury, and, being a stranger both to Cullerne and its +inhabitants, had no scruple in speaking plainly; and, besides this, he +was nettled at the architect's interference. "You mean the man was a +confirmed drunkard," he repeated. + +"He was nothing of the kind," Westray said hotly. "I do not say that he +never took more than was good for him, but he was in no sense an +habitual drunkard." + +"I did not ask _your_ opinion," retorted the coroner; "we do not want +any lay conjectures. What do you say, Mr Ennefer?" + +The surgeon was vexed in his turn at not receiving the conventional +title of doctor, the more so because he knew that he had no legal right +to it. To be called "Mr" demeaned him, he considered, in the eyes of +present or prospective patients, and he passed at once into an attitude +of opposition. + +"Oh no, you quite mistake me, Mr Coroner. I did not mean that our poor +friend was an habitual drunkard. I never remember to have actually seen +him the worse for liquor." + +"Well, what do you mean? You say the body shows traces of alcoholism, +but that he was not a drunkard." + +"Have we any evidence as to Mr Sharnall's state on the evening of his +death?" a juror asked, with a pleasant consciousness that he was taking +a dispassionate view, and making a point of importance. + +"Yes, we have considerable evidence," said the coroner. "Call Charles +White." + +There stepped forward a little man with a red face and blinking eyes. +His name was Charles White; he was landlord of the Merrymouth Inn. The +deceased visited his inn on the evening in question. He did not know +deceased by sight, but found out afterwards who he was. It was a bad +night, deceased was very wet, and took something to drink; he drank a +fairish amount, but not _that_ much, not more than a gentleman should +drink. Deceased was not drunk when he went away. + +"He was drunk enough to leave his top-coat behind him, was he not?" the +coroner asked. "Did you not find this coat after he was gone?" and he +pointed to a poor masterless garment, that looked greener and more +outworn than ever as it hung over the back of a chair. + +"Yes, deceased had certainly left his coat behind him, but he was not +drunk." + +"There are different standards of drunkenness, gentlemen," said the +coroner, imitating as well as he might the facetious cogency of a real +judge, "and I imagine that the standard of the Merrymouth may be more +advanced than in some other places. I don't think"--and he looked +sarcastically at Westray--"I do _not_ think we need carry this inquiry +farther. We have a man who drinks, not an habitual drunkard, Mr +Ennefer says, but one who drinks enough to bring himself into a +thoroughly diseased state. This man sits fuddling in a low public-house +all the evening, and is so far overtaken by liquor when he goes away, +that he leaves his overcoat behind him. He actually leaves his coat +behind him, though we have it that it was a pouring wet night. He goes +to the organ-loft in a tipsy state, slips as he is getting on to his +stool, falls heavily with the back of his head on a piece of wood, and +is found dead some hours later by an unimpeachable and careful +witness"--and he gave a little sniff--"with his head still on this piece +of wood. Take note of that--when he was found his head was still on +this very pedal which had caused the fatal injury. Gentlemen, I do not +think we need any further evidence; I think your course is pretty +clear." + +All was, indeed, very clear. The jury with a unanimous verdict of +accidental death put the colophon to the sad history of Mr Sharnall, +and ruled that the same failing which had blighted his life, had brought +him at last to a drunkard's end. + +Westray walked back to the Hand of God with the forlorn old top-coat +over his arm. The coroner had formally handed it over to him. He was +evidently a close friend of the deceased, he would perhaps take charge +of his wearing apparel. The architect's thoughts were too preoccupied +to allow him to resent the sneer which accompanied these remarks; he +went off full of sorrow and gloomy forebodings. + +Death in so strange a shape formed a topic of tavern discussion in +Cullerne, second only to a murder itself. Not since Mr Leveritt, the +timber-merchant, shot a barmaid at the Blandamer Arms, a generation +since, had any such dramatic action taken place on Cullerne boards. The +loafers swore over it in all its bearings as they spat upon the pavement +at the corner of the market square. Mr Smiles, the shop-walker in Rose +and Storey's general drapery mart, discussed it genteelly with the +ladies who sat before the counter on the high wicker-seated chairs. + +Dr Ennefer was betrayed into ill-advised conversation while being +shaved, and got his chin cut. Mr Joliffe gave away a packet of moral +reflections gratis with every pound of sausage, and turned up the whites +of his eyes over the sin of intemperance, which had called away his poor +friend in so terrible a state of unpreparedness. Quite a crowd followed +the coffin to its last resting-place, and the church was unusually full +on the Sunday morning which followed the catastrophe. People expected a +"pulpit reference" from Canon Parkyn, and there were the additional, +though subordinate, attractions of the playing of the Dead March, and +the possibility of an amateur organist breaking down in the anthem. + +Church-going, which sprung from such unworthy motives, was very properly +disappointed. Canon Parkyn would not, he said, pander to sensationalism +by any allusion in his discourse, nor could the Dead March, he +conceived, be played with propriety under such very unpleasant +circumstances. The new organist got through the service with +provokingly colourless mediocrity, and the congregation came out of +Saint Sepulchre's in a disappointed mood, as people who had been +defrauded of their rights. + +Then the nine days' wonder ceased, and Mr Sharnall passed into the +great oblivion of middle-class dead. His successor was not immediately +appointed. Canon Parkyn arranged that the second master at the National +School, who had a pretty notion of music, and was a pupil of Mr +Sharnall, should be spared to fill the gap. As Queen Elizabeth, of +pious memory, recruited the privy purse by keeping in her own hand +vacant bishoprics, so the rector farmed the post of organist at Cullerne +Minster. He thus managed to effect so important a reduction in the +sordid emoluments of that office, that he was five pounds in pocket +before a year was ended. + +But if the public had forgotten Mr Sharnall, Westray had not. The +architect was a man of gregarious instinct. As there is a tradition and +bonding of common interest about the Universities, and in a less degree +about army, navy, public schools, and professions, which draws together +and marks with its impress those who are attached to them, so there is a +certain cabala and membership among lodgers which none can understand +except those who are free of that guild. + +The lodging-house life, call it squalid, mean, dreary if you will, is +not without its alleviations and counterpoises. It is a life of youth +for the most part, for lodgers of Mr Sharnall's age are comparatively +rare; it is a life of simple needs and simple tastes, for lodgings are +not artistic, nor favourable to the development of any undue refinement; +it is not a rich life, for men as a rule set up their own houses as soon +as they are able to do so; it is a life of work and buoyant +anticipation, where men are equipping for the struggle, and laying the +foundations of fortune, or digging the pit of indigence. Such +conditions beget and foster good fellowship, and those who have spent +time in lodgings can look back to whole-hearted and disinterested +friendships, when all were equal before high heaven, hail-fellows well +met, who knew no artificial distinctions of rank--when all were +travelling the first stage of life's journey in happy chorus together, +and had not reached that point where the high road bifurcates, and the +diverging branches of success and failure lead old comrades so very far +apart. Ah, what a camaraderie and fellowship, knit close by the urgency +of making both ends meet, strengthened by the necessity of withstanding +rapacious, or negligent, or tyrannous landladies, sweetened by +kindnesses and courtesies which cost the giver little, but mean much to +the receiver! Did sickness of a transitory sort (for grievous illness +is little known in lodgings) fall on the ground-floor tenant, then did +not the first-floor come down to comfort him in the evenings? +First-floor might be tired after a long day's work, and note when his +frugal meal was done that 'twas a fine evening, or that a good company +was billed for the local theatre; yet he would grudge not his leisure, +but go down to sit with ground-floor, and tell him the news of the day, +perhaps even would take him a few oranges or a tin of sardines. And +ground-floor, who had chafed all the day at being shut in, and had read +himself stupid for want of anything else to do, how glad he was to see +first-floor, and how the chat did him more good than all the doctor's +stuff! + +And later on, when some ladies came to lunch with first-floor on the day +of the flower-show, did not ground-floor go out and place his +sitting-room completely at his fellow-lodger's disposal, so that the +company might find greater convenience and change of air after meat? +They were fearful joys, these feminine visits, when ladies who were kind +enough to ask a young man to spend a Sunday with them, still further +added to their kindness, by accepting with all possible effusion the +invitation which he one day ventured to give. It was a fearful joy, and +cost the host more anxious preparation than a state funeral brings to +Earl-marshal. As brave a face as might be must be put on everything; so +many details were to be thought out, so many little insufficiencies were +to be masked. But did not the result recompense all? Was not the young +man conscious that, though his rooms might be small, there was about +them a delicate touch which made up for much, that everything breathed +of refinement from the photographs and silver toddy-spoon upon the +mantelpiece to Rossetti's poems and "Marius the Epicurean," which +covered negligently a stain on the green tablecloth? And these kindly +ladies came in riant mood, well knowing all his little anxieties and +preparations, yet showing they knew none of them; resolved to praise his +rooms, his puny treasures, even his cookery and perilous wine, and +skilful to turn little contretemps into interesting novelties. +Householders, yours is a noble lot, ye are the men, and wisdom shall die +with you. Yet pity not too profoundly him that inhabiteth lodgings, +lest he turn and rend you, pitying you in turn that have bound on your +shoulders heavy burdens of which he knows nothing; saying to you that +seed time is more profitable than harvest, and the wandering years than +the practice of the master. Refrain from too much pity, and believe +that loneliness is not always lonely. + +Westray was of a gregarious temperament, and missed his fellow-lodger. +The cranky little man, with all his soured outlook, must still have had +some power of evoking sympathy, some attractive element in his +composition. He concealed it under sharp words and moody bitterness, +but it must still have been there, for Westray felt his loss more than +he had thought possible. The organist and he had met twice and thrice a +day for a year past. They had discussed the minster that both loved so +well, within whose walls both were occupied; they had discussed the +nebuly coat, and the Blandamers, and Miss Euphemia. There was only one +subject which they did not discuss--namely, Miss Anastasia Joliffe, +though she was very often in the thoughts of both. + +It was all over now, yet every day Westray found himself making a mental +note to tell this to Mr Sharnall, to ask Mr Sharnall's advice on that, +and then remembering that there is no knowledge in the grave. The gaunt +Hand of God was ten times gaunter now that there was no lodger on the +ground-floor. Footfalls sounded more hollow at night on the stone steps +of the staircase, and Miss Joliffe and Anastasia went early to bed. + +"Let us go upstairs, my dear," Miss Euphemia would say when the chimes +sounded a quarter to ten. "These long evenings are so lonely, are they +not? and be sure you see that the windows are properly hasped." And +then they hurried through the hall, and went up the staircase together +side by side, as if they were afraid to be separated by a single step. +Even Westray knew something of the same feeling when he returned late at +night to the cavernous great house. He tried to put his hand as quickly +as he might upon the matchbox, which lay ready for him on the +marble-topped sideboard in the dark hall; and sometimes when he had lit +the candle would instinctively glance at the door of Mr Sharnall's +room, half expecting to see it open, and the old face look out that had +so often greeted him on such occasions. Miss Joliffe had made no +attempt to find a new lodger. No "Apartments to Let" was put in the +window, and such chattels as Mr Sharnall possessed remained exactly as +he left them. Only one thing was moved--the collection of Martin +Joliffe's papers, and these Westray had taken upstairs to his own room. + +When they opened the dead man's bureau with the keys found in his pocket +to see whether he had left any will or instructions, there was +discovered in one of the drawers a note addressed to Westray. It was +dated a fortnight before his death, and was very short: + +"_If I go away and am not heard of, or if anything happens to me, get +hold of Martin Joliffe's papers at once. Take them up to your own room, +lock them up, and don't let them out of your hands. Tell Miss Joliffe +it is my wish, and she will hand them over to you. Be very careful +there isn't a fire, or lest they should be destroyed in any other way. +Read them carefully, and draw your own conclusions; you will find some +notes of mine in the little red pocket-book_." + +The architect had read these words many times. They were no doubt the +outcome of the delusions of which Mr Sharnall had more than once +spoken--of that dread of some enemy pursuing him, which had darkened the +organist's latter days. Yet to read these things set out in black and +white, after what had happened, might well give rise to curious +thoughts. The coincidence was so strange, so terribly strange. A man +following with a hammer--that had been the organist's hallucination; the +vision of an assailant creeping up behind, and doing him to death with +an awful, stealthy blow. And the reality--an end sudden and unexpected, +a blow on the back of the head, which had been caused by a heavy fall. +Was it mere coincidence, was it some inexplicable presentiment, or was +it more than either? Had there, in fact, existed a reason why the +organist should think that someone had a grudge against him, that he was +likely to be attacked? Had some dreadful scene been really enacted in +the loneliness of the great church that night? Had the organist been +taken unawares, or heard some movement in the silence, and, turning +round, found himself alone with his murderer? And if a murderer, whose +was the face into which the victim looked? And as Westray thought he +shuddered; it seemed it might have been no human face at all, but some +fearful presence, some visible presentment of the evil that walketh in +darkness. + +Then the architect would brush such follies away like cobwebs, and, +turning back, consider who could have found his interest in such a deed. +Against whom did the dead man urge him to be on guard lest Martin's +papers should be spirited away? Was there some other claimant of that +ill-omened peerage of whom he knew nothing, or was it--And Westray +resolutely quenched the thought that had risen a hundred times before +his mind, and cast it aside as a malign and baseless suspicion. + +If there was any clue it must lie in those same papers, and he followed +the instruction given him, and took them to his own room. He did not +show Miss Joliffe the note; to do so could only have shaken her further, +and she had felt the shock too severely already. He only told her of +Mr Sharnall's wishes for the temporary disposal of her brother's +papers. She begged him not to take them. + +"Dear Mr Westray," she said, "do not touch them, do not let us have +anything to do with them. I wanted poor dear Mr Sharnall not to go +meddling with them, and now see what has happened. Perhaps it is a +judgment"--and she uttered the word under her breath, having a medieval +faith in the vengeful irritability of Providence, and seeing +manifestations of it in any untoward event, from the overturning of an +inkstand to the death of a lodger. "Perhaps it is a judgment, and he +might have been alive now if he had refrained. What good would it do us +if all dear Martin hoped should turn out true? He always said, poor +fellow, that he would be `my lord' some day; but now he is gone there is +no one except Anastasia, and she would never wish to be `my lady,' I am +sure, poor girl. You would not, darling, wish to be `my lady' even if +you could, would you?" + +Anastasia looked up from her book with a deprecating smile, which lost +itself in an air of vexation, when she found that the architect's eyes +were fixed steadfastly upon her, and that a responsive smile spread over +his face. She flushed very slightly, and turned back abruptly to her +book, feeling quite unjustifiably annoyed at the interest in her doings +which the young man's gaze was meant to imply. What right had he to +express concern, even with a look, in matters which affected _her_? She +almost wished she _was_ indeed a peeress, and could slay him with her +noble birth, as did one Lady Clara of old times. It was only lately +that she had become conscious of this interested, would-be interesting, +look, which Westray assumed in her presence. Was it possible that _he_ +was falling in love with her? And at the thought there rose before her +fancy the features of someone else, haughty, hard, perhaps malign, but +oh, so powerful, and quite eclipsed and blotted out the lifeless +amiability of this young man who hung upon her lips. + +Could Mr Westray be thinking of falling in love with her? It was +impossible, and yet this following her with his eyes, and the mellific +manner which he adopted when speaking to her, insisted on its +possibility. She ran over hastily in her mind, as she had done several +times of late, the course of their relations. Was she to blame? Could +anything that she had ever done be wrested into predilection or even +into appreciation? Could natural kindness or courtesy have been so +utterly misunderstood? She was victoriously acquitted by this +commission of mental inquiry, and left the court without a stain upon +her character. She certainly had never given him the very least +encouragement. At the risk of rudeness she _must_ check these +attentions in their beginning. Short of actual discourtesy, she must +show him that this warm interest in her doings, these sympathetic +glances, were exceedingly distasteful. She never would look near him +again, she would keep her eyes rigorously cast down whenever he was +present, and as she made this prudent resolution she quite +unintentionally looked up, and found his patient gaze again fixed upon +her. + +"Oh, you are too severe, Miss Joliffe," the architect said; "we should +all be delighted to see a title come to Miss Anastasia, and," he added +softly, "I am sure no one would become it better." + +He longed to drop the formal prefix of Miss, and to speak of her simply +as Anastasia. A few months before he would have done so naturally and +without reflection, but there was something in the girl's manner which +led him more recently to forego this pleasure. + +Then the potential peeress got up and left the room. + +"I am just going to look after the bread," she said; "I think it ought +to be baked by this time." + +Miss Joliffe's scruples were at last overborne, and Westray retained the +papers, partly because it was represented to her that if he did not +examine them it would be a flagrant neglect of the wishes of a dead +man--wishes that are held sacred above all others in the circles to +which Miss Joliffe belonged--and partly because possession is nine +points of the law, and the architect already had them safe under lock +and key in his own room. But he was not able to devote any immediate +attention to them, for a crisis in his life was approaching, which +tended for the present to engross his thoughts. + +He had entertained for some time an attachment to Anastasia Joliffe. +When he originally became aware of this feeling he battled vigorously +against it, and his efforts were at first attended with some success. +He was profoundly conscious that any connection with the Joliffes would +be derogatory to his dignity; he feared that the discrepancy between +their relative positions was sufficiently marked to attract attention, +if not to provoke hostile criticism. People would certainly say that an +architect was marrying strangely below him, in choosing a landlady's +niece. If he were to do such a thing, he would no doubt be throwing +himself away socially. His father, who was dead, had been a Wesleyan +pastor; and his mother, who survived, entertained so great a respect for +the high position of that ministry that she had impressed upon Westray +from boyhood the privileges and responsibilities of his birth. But +apart from this objection, there was the further drawback that an early +marriage might unduly burden him with domestic cares, and so arrest his +professional progress. Such considerations had due weight with an +equally-balanced mind, and Westray was soon able to congratulate himself +on having effectually extinguished any dangerous inclinations by sheer +strength of reason. + +This happy and philosophic state of things was not of long duration. +His admiration smouldered only, and was not quenched, but it was a +totally extraneous influence, rather than the constant contemplation of +Anastasia's beauty and excellencies, which fanned the flame into renewed +activity. This extraneous factor was the entrance of Lord Blandamer +into the little circle of Bellevue Lodge. Westray had lately become +doubtful as to the real object of Lord Blandamer's visits, and nursed a +latent idea that he was using the church, and the restoration, and +Westray himself, to gain a _pied-a-terre_ at Bellevue Lodge for the +prosecution of other plans. The long conversations in which the +architect and the munificent donor still indulged, the examination of +plans, the discussion of details, had lost something of their old +savour. Westray had done his best to convince himself that his own +suspicions were groundless; he had continually pointed out to himself, +and insisted to himself, that the mere fact of Lord Blandamer +contributing such sums to the restoration as he either had contributed, +or had promised to contribute, showed that the church was indeed his +primary concern. It was impossible to conceive that any man, however +wealthy, should spend many thousand pounds to obtain an entree to +Bellevue Lodge; moreover, it was impossible to conceive that Lord +Blandamer should ever marry Anastasia--the disparity in such a match +would, Westray admitted, be still greater than in his own. Yet he was +convinced that Anastasia was often in Lord Blandamer's thoughts. It was +true that the Master of Fording gave no definite outward sign of any +predilection when Westray was present. He never singled Anastasia out +either for regard or conversation on such occasions as chance brought +her into his company. At times he even made a show of turning away from +her, of studiously neglecting her presence. + +But Westray felt that the fact was there. + +There is some subtle effluence of love which hovers about one who +entertains a strong affection for another. Looks may be carefully +guarded, speech may be framed to mislead, yet that pervading ambient of +affection is strong to betray where perception is sharpened by jealousy. + +Now and then the architect would persuade himself that he was mistaken; +he would reproach himself with his own suspicious disposition, with his +own lack of generosity. But then some little episode would occur, some +wholly undemonstrable trifle, which swept his cooler judgment to the +winds, and gave him a quite incommensurate heartburn. He would recall, +for instance, the fact that for their interviews Lord Blandamer had +commonly selected a Saturday afternoon. Lord Blandamer had explained +this by saying that he was busy through the week; but then a lord was +not like a schoolboy with a Saturday half-holiday. What business could +he have to occupy him all the week, and leave him free on Saturdays? It +was strange enough, and stranger from the fact that Miss Euphemia +Joliffe was invariably occupied on that particular afternoon at the +Dorcas meeting; stranger from the fact that there had been some +unaccountable misunderstandings between Lord Blandamer and Westray as to +the exact hour fixed for their interviews, and that more than once when +the architect had returned at five, he had found that Lord Blandamer had +taken four as the time of their meeting, and had been already waiting an +hour at Bellevue Lodge. + +Poor Mr Sharnall also must have noticed that something was going on, +for he had hinted as much to Westray a fortnight or so before he died. +Westray was uncertain as to Lord Blandamer's feelings; he gave the +architect the idea of a man who had some definite object to pursue in +making himself interesting to Anastasia, while his own affections were +not compromised. That object could certainly not be marriage, and if it +was not marriage, what was it? In ordinary cases an answer might have +been easy, yet Westray hesitated to give it. It was hard to think that +this grave man, of great wealth and great position, who had roamed the +world, and known men and manners, should stoop to common lures. Yet +Westray came to think it, and his own feelings towards Anastasia were +elevated by the resolve to be her knightly champion against all base +attempts. + +Can man's deepest love be deepened? Then it must surely be by the +knowledge that he is protector as well as lover, by the knowledge that +he is rescuing innocence, and rescuing it for--himself. Thoughts such +as these bring exaltation to the humblest-minded, and they quickened the +slow-flowing and thin fluid that filled the architect's veins. + +He came back one evening from the church weary with a long day's work, +and was sitting by the fire immersed in a medley of sleepy and +half-conscious consideration, now of the crack in the centre tower, now +of the tragedy of the organ-loft, now of Anastasia, when the elder Miss +Joliffe entered. + +"Dear me, sir," she said, "I did not know you were in! I only came to +see your fire was burning. Are you ready for your tea? Would you like +anything special to-night? You do look so very tired. I am sure you +are working too hard; all the running about on ladders and scaffolds +must be very trying. I think indeed, sir, if I may make so bold, that +you should take a holiday; you have not had a holiday since you came to +live with us." + +"It is not impossible, Miss Joliffe, that I may take your advice before +very long. It is not impossible that I may before long go for a +holiday." + +He spoke with that preternatural gravity which people are accustomed to +throw into their reply, if asked a trivial question when their own +thoughts are secretly occupied with some matter that they consider of +deep importance. How could this commonplace woman guess that he was +thinking of death and love? He must be gentle with her and forgive her +interruption. Yes, fate might, indeed, drive him to take a holiday. He +had nearly made up his mind to propose to Anastasia. It was scarcely to +be doubted that she would at once accept him, but there must be no +half-measures, he would brook no shilly-shallying, he would not be +played fast and loose with. She must either accept him fully and +freely, and at once, or he would withdraw his offer, and in that case, +or still more in the entirely improbable case of refusal, he would leave +Bellevue Lodge forthwith. + +"Yes, indeed, I may ere long have to go away for a holiday." + +The conscious forbearance of replying at all gave a quiet dignity to his +tone, and an involuntary sigh that accompanied his words was not lost +upon Miss Joliffe. To her this speech seemed oracular and ominous; +there was a sepulchral mystery in so vague an expression. He might +_have_ to take a holiday. What could this mean? Was this poor young +man completely broken by the loss of his friend Mr Sharnall, or was he +conscious of the seeds of some fell disease that others knew nothing of? +He might _have to_ take a holiday. Ah, it was not a mere holiday of +which he spoke--he meant something more serious than that; his grave, +sad manner could only mean some long absence. Perhaps he was going to +leave Cullerne. + +To lose him would be a very serious matter to Miss Joliffe from the +material point of view; he was her sheet-anchor, the last anchor that +kept Bellevue Lodge from drifting into bankruptcy. Mr Sharnall was +dead, and with him had died the tiny pittance which he contributed to +the upkeep of the place, and lodgers were few and far between in +Cullerne. Miss Joliffe might well have remembered these things, but she +did not. The only thought that crossed her mind was that if Mr Westray +went away she would lose yet another friend. She did not approach the +matter from the material point of view, she looked on him only as a +friend; she viewed him as no money-making machine, but only as that most +precious of all treasures--a last friend. + +"I may have to leave you for awhile," he said again, with the same +portentous solemnity. + +"I hope not, sir," she interrupted, as though by her very eagerness she +might avert threatened evil--"I hope not; we should miss you terribly, +Mr Westray, with dear Mr Sharnall gone too. I do not know what we +should do having no man in the house. It is so very lonely if you are +away even for a night. I am an old woman now, and it does not matter +much for me, but Anastasia is so nervous at night since the dreadful +accident." + +Westray's face brightened a little at the mention of Anastasia's name. +Yes, his must certainly be a very deep affection, that the naming of her +very name should bring him such pleasure. It was on _his_ protection, +then, that she leant; she looked on _him_ as her defender. The muscles +of his not gigantic arms seemed to swell and leap to bursting in his +coat-sleeves. Those arms should screen his loved one from all evil. +Visions of Perseus, and Sir Galahad, and Cophetua, swept before his +eyes; he had almost cried to Miss Euphemia, "You need have no fear, I +love your niece. I shall bow down and raise her to my throne. They +that would touch her shall only do so over my dead body," when +hesitating common-sense plucked him by the sleeve; he must consult his +mother before taking this grave step. + +It was well that reason thus restrained him, for such a declaration +might have brought Miss Joliffe to a swoon. As it was, she noticed the +cloud lifting on his face, and was pleased to think that her +conversation cheered him. A little company was no doubt good for him, +and she sought in her mind for some further topic of interest. Yes, of +course, she had it. + +"Lord Blandamer was here this afternoon. He came just like anyone else +might have come, in such a very kind and condescending way to ask after +me. He feared that dear Mr Sharnall's death might have been too severe +a shock for us both, and, indeed, it has been a terrible blow. He was +so considerate, and sat for nearly an hour--for forty-seven minutes I +should say by the clock, and took tea with us in the kitchen as if he +were one of the family. I never could have expected such condescension, +and when he went away he left a most polite message for you, sir, to say +that he was sorry that you were not in, but he hoped to call again +before long." + +The cloud had returned to Westray's face. If he had been the hero of a +novel his brow would have been black as night; as it was he only looked +rather sulky. + +"I shall have to go to London to-night," he said stiffly, without +acknowledging Miss Joliffe's remarks; "I shall not be back to-morrow, +and may be away a few days. I will write to let you know when I shall +be back." + +Miss Joliffe started as if she had received an electric shock. + +"To London to-night," she began--"this very night?" + +"Yes," Westray said, with a dryness that would have suggested of itself +that the interview was to be terminated, even if he had not added: "I +shall be glad to be left alone now; I have several letters to write +before I can get away." + +So Miss Euphemia went to impart this strange matter to the maiden who +was _ex hypothesi_ leaning on the architect's strong arm. + +"What _do_ you think, Anastasia?" she said. "Mr Westray is going to +London to-night, perhaps for some days." + +"Is he?" was all her niece's comment; but there was a languor and +indifference in the voice, that might have sent the thermometer of the +architect's affection from boiling-point to below blood-heat, if he +could have heard her speak. + +Westray sat moodily for a few moments after his landlady had gone. For +the first time in his life he wished he was a smoker. He wished he had +a pipe in his mouth, and could pull in and puff out smoke as he had seen +Sharnall do when _he_ was moody. He wanted some work for his restless +body while his restless mind was turning things over. It was the news +of Lord Blandamer's visit, as on this very afternoon, that fanned +smouldering thoughts into flame. This was the first time, so far as +Westray knew, that Lord Blandamer had come to Bellevue Lodge without at +least a formal excuse of business. With that painful effort which we +use to convince ourselves of things of which we wish to be convinced in +the face of all difficulties; with that blind, stumbling hope against +hope with which we try to reconcile things irreconcilable, if only by so +doing we can conjure away a haunting spectre, or lull to sleep a bitter +suspicion; the architect had hitherto resolved to believe that if Lord +Blandamer came with some frequency to Bellevue Lodge, he was only +prompted to do so by a desire to keep in touch with the restoration, to +follow with intelligence the expenditure of money which he was so +lavishly providing. It had been the easier for Westray to persuade +himself that Lord Blandamer's motives were legitimate, because he felt +that the other must find a natural attraction in the society of a +talented young professional man. An occasional conversation with a +clever architect on things architectural, or on other affairs of common +interest (for Westray was careful to avoid harping unduly on any single +topic) must undoubtedly prove a relief to Lord Blandamer from the +monotony of bachelor life in the country; and in such considerations +Westray found a subsidiary, and sometimes he was inclined to imagine +primary, interest for these visits to Bellevue Lodge. + +If various circumstances had conspired of late to impugn the sufficiency +of these motives, Westray had not admitted as much in his own mind; if +he had been disquieted, he had constantly assured himself that +disquietude was unreasonable. But now disillusion had befallen him. +Lord Blandamer had visited Bellevue Lodge as it were in his own right; +he had definitely abandoned the pretence of coming to see Westray; he +had been drinking tea with Miss Joliffe; he had spent an hour in the +kitchen with Miss Joliffe and--Anastasia. It could only mean one thing, +and Westray's resolution was taken. + +An object which had seemed at best but mildly desirable, became of +singular value when he believed that another was trying to possess +himself of it; jealousy had quickened love, duty and conscience insisted +that he should save the girl from the snare that was being set for her. +The great renunciation must be made; he, Westray, must marry beneath +him, but before doing so he would take his mother into his confidence, +though there is no record of Perseus doing as much before he cut loose +Andromeda. + +Meanwhile, no time must be lost; he would start this very night. The +last train for London had already left, but he would walk to Cullerne +Road Station and catch the night-mail from thence. He liked walking, +and need take no luggage, for there were things that he could use at his +mother's house. It was seven o'clock when he came to this resolve, and +an hour later he had left the last house in Cullerne behind him, and +entered upon his night excursion. + +The line of the Roman way which connected Carauna (Carisbury) with its +port Culurnum (Cullerne) is still followed by the modern road, and runs +as nearly straight as may be for the sixteen miles which separate those +places. About half-way between them the Great Southern main line +crosses the highway at right angles, and here is Cullerne Road Station. +The first half of the way runs across a flat sandy tract called Mallory +Heath, where the short greensward encroaches on the road, and where the +eye roaming east or west or north can discern nothing except a limitless +expanse of heather, broken here and there by patches of gorse and +bracken, or by clumps of touselled and wind-thinned pines and Scotch +firs. The tawny-coloured, sandy, track is difficult to follow in the +dark, and there are posts set up at intervals on the skirts of the way +for travellers' guidance. These posts show out white against a starless +night, and dark against the snow which sometimes covers the heath with a +silvery sheet. + +On a clear night the traveller can see the far-off lamps of the station +at Cullerne Road a mile after he has left the old seaport town. They +stand out like a thin line of light in the distant darkness, a line +continuous at first, but afterwards resolvable into individual units of +lamps as he walks further along the straight road. Many a weary +wayfarer has watched those lamps hang changeless in the distance, and +chafed at their immobility. They seem to come no nearer to him for all +the milestones, with the distance from Hyde Park Corner graven in old +figures on their lichened faces, that he has passed. Only the +increasing sound of the trains tells him that he is nearing his goal, +and by degrees the dull rumble becomes a clanking roar as the expresses +rush headlong by. On a crisp winter day they leave behind them a trail +of whitest wool, and in the night-time a fiery serpent follows them when +the open furnace-door flings on the cloud a splendid radiance. But in +the dead heats of midsummer the sun dries up the steam, and they speed +along, the more wonderful because there is no trace to tell what power +it is that drives them. + +Of all these things Westray saw nothing. A soft white fog had fallen +upon everything. It drifted by in delicate whirling wreaths, that +seemed to have an innate motion of their own where all had been still +but a minute before. It covered his clothes with a film of the finest +powdery moisture that ran at a touch into heavy drops, it hung in +dripping dew on his moustache, and hair, and eyebrows, it blinded him, +and made him catch his breath. It had come rolling in from the sea as +on that night when Mr Sharnall was taken, and Westray could hear the +distant groaning of fog-horns in the Channel; and looking backwards +towards Cullerne, knew from a blurred glare, now green, now red, that a +vessel in the offing was signalling for a coastwise pilot. He plodded +steadily forward, stopping now and then when he found his feet on the +grass sward to recover the road, and rejoicing when one of the white +posts assured him that he was still keeping the right direction. The +blinding fog isolated him in a strange manner; it cut him off from +Nature, for he could see nothing of her; it cut him off from man, for he +could not have seen even a legion of soldiers had they surrounded him. +This removal of outside influences threw him back upon himself, and +delivered him to introspection; he began for the hundredth time to weigh +his position, to consider whether the momentous step that he was taking +was necessary to his ease of mind, was right, was prudent. + +To make a proposal of marriage is a matter that may give the +strongest-minded pause, and Westray's mind was not of the strongest. He +was clever, imaginative, obstinate, scrupulous to a fault; but had not +that broad outlook on life which comes of experience, nor the power and +resolution to readily take a decision under difficult circumstances, and +to abide by it once taken. So it was that reason made a shuttlecock of +his present resolve, and half a dozen times he stopped in the road +meaning to abandon his purpose, and turn back to Cullerne. Yet half a +dozen times he went on, though with slow feet, thinking always, Was he +right in what he was doing, was he right? And the fog grew thicker; it +seemed almost to be stifling him; he could not see his hand if he held +it at arm's length before his face. Was he right, was there any right +or any wrong, was anything real, was not everything subjective--the +creation of his own brain? Did he exist, was he himself, was he in the +body or out of the body? And then a wild dismay, a horror of the +darkness and the fog, seized hold of him. He stretched out his arms, +and groped in the mist as if he hoped to lay hold of someone, or +something, to reassure him as to his own identity, and at last a +mind-panic got the better of him; he turned and started back to +Cullerne. + +It was only for a moment, and then reason began to recover her sway; he +stopped, and sat down on the heather at the side of the road, careless +that every spray was wet and dripping, and collected his thoughts. His +heart was beating madly as in one that wakes from a nightmare, but he +was now ashamed of his weakness and of the mental _debacle_, though +there had been none to see it. What could have possessed him, what +madness was this? After a few minutes he was able to turn round once +more, and resumed his walk towards the railway with a firm, quick step, +which should prove to his own satisfaction that he was master of +himself. + +For the rest of his journey he dismissed bewildering questions of right +and wrong, of prudence and imprudence, laying it down as an axiom that +his emprise was both right and prudent, and busied himself with the more +material and homely considerations of ways and means. He amused himself +in attempting to fix the sum for which it would be possible for him and +Anastasia to keep house, and by mentally straining to the utmost the +resources at his command managed to make them approach his estimate. +Another man in similar circumstances might perhaps have given himself to +reviewing the chances of success in his proposal, but Westray did not +trouble himself with any doubts on this point. It was a foregone +conclusion that if he once offered himself Anastasia would accept him; +she could not be so oblivious to the advantages which such a marriage +would offer, both in material considerations and in the connection with +a superior family. He only regarded the matter from his own standpoint; +once he was convinced that _he_ cared enough for Anastasia to make her +an offer, then he was sure that she would accept him. + +It was true that he could not, on the spur of the moment, recollect many +instances in which she had openly evinced a predilection for him, but he +was conscious that she thought well of him, and she was no doubt too +modest to make manifest, feelings which she could never under ordinary +circumstances hope to see returned. Yet he certainly _had_ received +encouragement of a quiet and unobtrusive kind, quite sufficient to +warrant the most favourable conclusions. He remembered how many, many +times their eyes had met when they were in one another's company; she +must certainly have read the tenderness which had inspired his glances, +and by answering them she had given perhaps the greatest encouragement +that true modesty would permit. How delicate and infinitely gracious +her acknowledgment had been, how often had she looked at him as it were +furtively, and then, finding his passionate gaze upon her, had at once +cast her own eyes shyly to the ground! And in his reveries he took not +into reckoning, the fact that through these later weeks he had scarcely +ever taken his gaze off her, so long as she was in the same room with +him. It would have been strange if their eyes had not sometimes met, +because she must needs now and then obey that impulse which forces us to +look at those who are looking at us. Certainly, he meditated, her eyes +had given him encouragement, and then she had accepted gratefully a +bunch of lilies of the valley which he said lightly had been given him, +but which he had really bought _ad hoc_ at Carisbury. But, again, he +ought perhaps to have reflected that it would have been difficult for +her to refuse them. How could she have refused them? How could any +girl under the circumstances do less than take with thanks a few lilies +of the valley? To decline them would be affectation; by declining she +might attach a false and ridiculous significance to a kindly act. Yes, +she had encouraged him in the matter of the lilies, and if she had not +worn some of them in her bosom, as he had hoped she might, that, no +doubt, was because she feared to show her preference too markedly. He +had noticed particularly the interest she had shown when a bad cold had +confined him for a few days to the house, and this very evening had he +not heard that she missed him when he was absent even for a night? He +smiled at this thought, invisibly in the fog; and has not a man a right +to some complacence, on whose presence in the house hang a fair maiden's +peace and security? Miss Joliffe had said that Anastasia felt nervous +whenever he, Westray, was away; it was very possible that Anastasia had +given her aunt a hint that she would like him to be told this, and he +smiled again in the fog; he certainly need have no fear of any rejection +of his suit. + +He had been so deeply immersed in these reassuring considerations that +he walked steadily on unconscious of all exterior objects and conditions +until he saw the misty lights of the station, and knew that his goal was +reached. His misgivings and tergiversations had so much delayed him by +the way, that it was past midnight, and the train was already due. +There were no other travellers on the platform, or in the little +waiting-room where a paraffin-lamp with blackened chimney struggled +feebly with the fog. It was not a cheery room, and he was glad to be +called back from a contemplation of a roll of texts hanging on the wall, +and a bottle of stale water on the table, to human things by the entry +of a drowsy official who was discharging the duties of station-master, +booking-clerk, and porter all at once. + +"Are you waiting for the London train, sir?" he asked in a surprised +tone, that showed that the night-mail found few passengers at Cullerne +Road. "She will be in now in a few minutes; have you your ticket?" + +They went together to the booking-office. The station-master handed him +a third-class ticket, without even asking how he wished to travel. + +"Ah, thank you," Westray said, "but I think I will go first-class +to-night. I shall be more likely to have a compartment to myself, and +shall be less disturbed by people getting in and out." + +"Certainly, sir," said the station-master, with the marked increase of +respect due to a first-class passenger--"certainly, sir; please give me +back the other ticket. I shall have to write you one--we do not keep +them ready; we are so very seldom asked for first-class at this +station." + +"No, I suppose not," Westray said. + +"Things happen funny," the station-master remarked while he _got_ his +pen. "I wrote one by this same train a month ago, and before that I +don't think we have ever sold one since the station was opened." + +"Ah," Westray said, paying little attention, for he was engaged in a new +mental disputation as to whether he was really justified in travelling +first-class. He had just settled that at such a life-crisis as he had +now reached, it was necessary that the body should be spared fatigue in +order that the mind might be as vigorous as possible for dealing with a +difficult situation, and that the extra expense was therefore justified; +when the station-master went on: + +"Yes, I wrote a ticket, just as I might for you, for Lord Blandamer not +a month ago. Perhaps you know Lord Blandamer?" he added venturously; +yet with a suggestion that even the sodality of first-class travelling +was not in itself a passport to so distinguished an acquaintance. The +mention of Lord Blandamer's name gave a galvanic shock to Westray's +flagging attention. + +"Oh yes," he said, "I know Lord Blandamer." + +"Do you, indeed, sir"--and respect had risen by a skip greater than any +allowed in counterpoint. "Well, I wrote a ticket for his lordship by +this very train not a month ago; no, it was not a month ago, for 'twas +the very night the poor organist at Cullerne was took." + +"Yes," said the would-be indifferent Westray; "where did Lord Blandamer +come from?" + +"I do not know," the station-master replied--"I do _not_ know, sir," he +repeated, with the unnecessary emphasis common to the uneducated or +unintelligent. + +"Was he driving?" + +"No, he walked up to this station just as you might yourself. Excuse +me, sir," he broke off; "here she comes." + +They heard the distant thunder of the approaching train, and were in +time to see the gates of the level-crossing at the end of the platform +swing silently open as if by ghostly hands, till their red lanterns +blocked the Cullerne Road. + +No one got out, and no one but Westray got in; there was some +interchanging of post-office bags in the fog, and then the +station-master-booking-clerk-porter waved a lamp, and the train steamed +away. Westray found himself in a cavernous carriage, of which the cloth +seats were cold and damp as the lining of a coffin. He turned up the +collar of his coat, folded his arms in a Napoleonic attitude, and threw +himself back into a corner to think. It was curious--it was very +curious. He had been under the impression that Lord Blandamer had left +Cullerne early on the night of poor Sharnall's accident; Lord Blandamer +had told them at Bellevue Lodge that he was going away by the afternoon +train when he left them. Yet here he was at Cullerne Road at midnight, +and if he had not come from Cullerne, whence had he come? He could not +have come from Fording, for from Fording he would certainly have taken +the train at Lytchett. It was curious, and while he was so thinking he +fell asleep. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +A day or two later Miss Joliffe said to Anastasia: + +"I think you had a letter from Mr Westray this morning, my dear, had +you not? Did he say anything about his return? Did he say when he was +coming back?" + +"No, dear aunt, he said nothing about coming back. He only wrote a few +lines on a matter of business." + +"Oh yes, just so," Miss Joliffe said dryly, feeling a little hurt at +what seemed like any lack of confidence on her niece's part. + +Miss Joliffe would have said that she knew Anastasia's mind so well that +no secrets were hid from her. Anastasia would have said that her aunt +knew everything except a few _little_ secrets, and, as a matter of fact, +the one perhaps knew as much of the other as it is expedient that age +should know of youth. "The mind is its own place, and in itself can +make a hell of heaven, a heaven of hell." Of all earthly consolations +this is the greatest, that the mind is its own place. The mind is an +impregnable fortress which can be held against all comers, the mind is a +sanctuary open day or night to the pursued, the mind is a flowery +pleasance where shade refreshes even in summer droughts. To some +trusted friend we try to give the clue of the labyrinth, but the ball of +silk is too short to guide any but ourselves along all the way. There +are sunny mountain-tops, there are innocent green arbours, or closes of +too highly-perfumed flowers, or dank dungeons of despair, or guilty +_mycethmi_ black as night, where we walk alone, whither we may lead no +one with us by the hand. + +Miss Euphemia Joliffe would have liked to ignore altogether the matter +of Westray's letter, and to have made no further remarks thereon; but +curiosity is in woman a stronger influence than pride, and curiosity +drove her to recur to the letter. + +"Thank you, my dear, for explaining about it. I am sure you will tell +me if there are any messages for me in it." + +"No, there was no message at all for you, I think," said Anastasia. "I +will get it for you by-and-by, and you shall see all he says;" and with +that she left the room as if to fetch the letter. It was only a +subterfuge, for she felt Westray's correspondence burning a hole in her +pocket all the while; but she was anxious that her aunt should not see +the letter until an answer to it had been posted; and hoped that if she +once escaped from the room, the matter would drop out of memory. Miss +Joliffe fired a parting shot to try to bring her niece to her bearings +as she was going out: + +"I do not know, my dear, that I should encourage any correspondence from +Mr Westray, if I were you. It would be more seemly, perhaps, that he +should write to me on any little matter of business than to you." But +Anastasia feigned not to hear her, and held on her course. + +She betook herself to the room that had once been Mr Sharnall's, but +was now distressingly empty and forlorn, and there finding writing +materials, sat down to compose an answer to Westray's letter. She knew +its contents thoroughly well, she knew its expressions almost by heart, +yet she spread it out on the table before her, and read and re-read it +as many times as if it were the most difficult of cryptograms. + +"Dearest Anastasia," it began, and she found a grievance in the very +first word, "Dearest." What right had he to call her "Dearest"? She +was one of those unintelligible females who do not shower superlatives +on every chance acquaintance. She must, no doubt, have been callous as +judged by modern standards, or at least, singularly unimaginative, for +among her few correspondents she had not one whom she addressed as +"dearest." No, not even her aunt, for at such rare times of absence +from home as she had occasion to write to Miss Joliffe, "My dear Aunt +Euphemia" was the invocation. + +It was curious that this same word "Dearest" had occasioned Westray also +considerable thought and dubiety. Should he call her "Dearest +Anastasia," or "Dear Miss Joliffe"? The first sounded too forward, the +second too formal. He had discussed this and other details with his +mother, and the die had at last fallen on "Dearest." At the worst such +an address could only be criticised as proleptic, since it must be +justified almost immediately by Anastasia's acceptance of his proposal. + + "Dearest Anastasia--for dearest you are and ever will be to me--I feel + sure that your heart will go out to meet my heart in what I am saying; + that your kindness will support me in the important step which has now + to be taken." + +Anastasia shook her head, though there was no one to see her. There was +a suggestion of fate overbearing prudence in Westray's words, a +suggestion that he needed sympathy in an unpleasant predicament, that +jarred on her intolerably. + + "I have known you now a year, and know that my happiness is centred in + you; you too have known me a year, and I trust that I have read aright + the message that your eyes have been sending to me. + + "`For I shall happiest be to-night, + Or saddest in the town; + Heaven send I read their message right, + Those eyes of hazel brown.'" + +Anastasia found space in the press of her annoyance to laugh. It was +more than a smile, it was a laugh, a quiet little laugh to herself, +which in a man would have been called a buckle. Her eyes were not hazel +brown, they were no brown at all; but then brown rhymed with town, and +after all the verse might perhaps be a quotation, and must so be taken +only to apply to the situation in general. She read the sentence again, +"I have known you now a year; you too have known me a year." Westray +had thought this poetic insistence gave a touch of romance, and balanced +the sentence; but to Anastasia it seemed the reiteration of a platitude. +If he had known her a year, then she had known him a year, and to a +female mind the sequitur was complete. + + "Have I read the message right, dearest? Is your heart my own?" + +Message? What message did he speak of? What message did he imagine she +had wished to give _him_ with her eyes? He had stared at her +persistently for weeks past, and if her eyes sometimes caught his, that +was only because she could not help it; except when between whiles she +glanced at him of set purpose, because it amused her to see how silly a +man in love may look. + + "Say that it is; tell me that your heart is my own" (and the request + seemed to her too preposterous to admit even of comment). + + "I watch your present, dear Anastasia, with solicitude. Sometimes I + think that you are even now exposed to dangers of whose very existence + you know nothing; and sometimes I look forward with anxiety to the + future, so undecipherable, if misfortune or death should overtake your + aunt. Let me help you to decipher this riddle. Let me be your shield + now, and your support in the days to come. Be my wife, and give me + the right to be your protector. I am detained in London by business + for some days more; but I shall await your answer here with + overwhelming eagerness, yet, may I say it? not without hope. + + "Your most loving and devoted + + "Edward Westray." + +She folded the letter up with much deliberation, and put it back into +its envelope. If Westray had sought far and wide for means of damaging +his own cause, he could scarcely have found anything better calculated +for that purpose than these last paragraphs. They took away much of +that desire to spare, to make unpleasantness as little unpleasant as may +be, which generally accompanies a refusal. His sententiousness was +unbearable. What right had he to advise before he knew whether she +would listen to him? What were these dangers to which she was even now +exposed, and from which Mr Westray was to shield her? She asked +herself the question formally, though she knew the answer all the while. +Her own heart had told her enough of late, to remove all difficulty in +reading between Mr Westray's lines. A jealous man is, if possible, +more contemptible than a jealous woman. Man's greater strength +postulates a broader mind and wider outlook; and if he fail in these, +his failure is more conspicuous than woman's. Anastasia had traced to +jealousy the origin of Westray's enigmatic remarks; but if she was +strong enough to hold him ridiculous for his pains, she was also weak +enough to take a woman's pleasure in having excited the interest of the +man she ridiculed. + +She laughed again at the proposal that she should join him in +deciphering any riddles, still more such as were undecipherable; and the +air of patronage involved in his anxiety to provide for her future was +the more distasteful in that she had great ideas of providing for it +herself. She had told herself a hundred times that it was only +affection for her aunt that kept her at home. Were "anything to happen" +to Miss Joliffe, she would at once seek her own living. She had often +reckoned up the accomplishments which would aid her in such an +endeavour. She had received her education--even if it were somewhat +desultory and discontinuous--at good schools. She had always been a +voracious reader, and possessed an extensive knowledge of English +literature, particularly of the masters of fiction; she could play the +piano and the violin tolerably, though Mr Sharnall would have qualified +her estimate. She had an easy touch in oils and water-colour, which her +father said she must have inherited from his mother--from that Sophia +Joliffe who painted the great picture of the flowers and caterpillar, +and her spirited caricatures had afforded much merriment to her +schoolfellows. She made her own clothes, and was sure that she had a +taste in matters of dress design and manufacture that would bring her +distinction if she were only given the opportunity of employing it; she +believed that she had an affection for children, and a natural talent +for training them, though she never saw any at Cullerne. With gifts +such as these, which must be patent to others as well as herself, there +would surely be no difficulty in obtaining an excellent place as +governess if she should ever determine to adopt that walk of life; and +she was sometimes inclined to gird at Fate, which for the present led +her to deprive the world of these benefits. + +In her inmost heart, however, she doubted whether she would be really +justified in devoting herself to teaching; for she was conscious that +she might be called to fill a higher mission, and to instruct by the pen +rather than by word of mouth. As every soldier carries in his knapsack +the baton of the Field Marshal, so every girl in her teens knows that +there lie hidden in the recesses of her _armoire_, the robes and coronet +and full insignia of a first-rate novelist. She may not choose to take +them out and air them, the crown may tarnish by disuse, the moth of +indolence may corrupt, but there lies the panoply in which she may on +any day appear fully dight, for the astonishment of an awakening world. +Jane Austen and Maria Edgworth are heroines, whose aureoles shine in the +painted windows of such airy castles; Charlotte Bronte wrote her +masterpieces in a seclusion as deep as that of Bellevue Lodge; and +Anastasia Joliffe thought many a time of that day when, afar off from +her watch-tower in quiet Cullerne, she would follow the triumphant +progress of an epoch-making romance. + +It would be published under a _nom de plume_, of course, she would not +use her own name till she had felt her feet; and the choice of the +pseudonym was the only definite step towards this venture that she had +yet made. The period was still uncertain. Sometimes the action was to +be placed in the eighteenth century, with tall silver urns and +spindled-legged tables, and breast-waisted dresses; sometimes in the +struggle of the Roses, when barons swam rivers in full armour after a +bloody bout; sometimes in the Civil War, when Vandyke drew the arched +eyebrow and taper hand, and when the shadow of death was over all. + +It was to the Civil War that her fancy turned oftenest, and now and +again, as she sat before her looking-glass, she fancied that she had a +Vandyke face herself. And so it was indeed; and if the mirror was +fogged and dull and outworn, and if the dress that it reflected was not +of plum or amber velvet, one still might fancy that she was a loyalist +daughter whose fortunes were fallen with her master's. The Limner of +the King would have rejoiced to paint the sweet, young, oval face and +little mouth; he would have found the space between the eyebrow and the +eyelid to his liking. + +If the plot were still shadowy, her characters were always with her, in +armour or sprigged prints; and, the mind being its own place, she took +about a little court of her own, where dreadful tragedies were enacted, +and valorous deeds done; where passionate young love suffered and wept, +and where a mere girl of eighteen, by consummate resolution, daring, +beauty, genius, and physical strength, always righted the situation, and +brought peace at the last. + +With resources such as these, the future did not present itself in dark +colours to Anastasia; nor did its riddle appear to her nearly so +undecipherable as Mr Westray had supposed. She would have resented, +with all the confidence of inexperience, _any_ attempt to furnish her +with prospects; and she resented Westray's offer all the more vigorously +because it seemed to carry with it a suggestion of her own forlorn +position, to insist unduly on her own good fortune in receiving such a +proposal, and on his condescension in making it. + +There are women who put marriage in the forefront of life, whose +thoughts revolve constantly about it as a centre, and with whom an +advantageous match, or, failing that, a match of some sort, is the +primary object. There are others who regard marriage as an eventuality, +to be contemplated without either eagerness or avoidance, to be accepted +or declined according as its circumstances may be favourable or +unfavourable. Again, there are some who seem, even from youth, to +resolutely eliminate wedlock from their thoughts, to permit themselves +no mental discussion upon this subject. Though a man profess that he +will never marry, experience has shown that his resolve is often subject +to reconsideration. But with unmarrying women the case is different, +and unmarried for the most part they remain, for man is often so +weak-kneed a creature in matters of the heart, that he refrains from +pursuing where an unsympathetic attitude discourages pursuit. It may be +that some of these women, also, would wish to reconsider their verdict, +but find that they have reached an age when there is no place for +repentance; yet, for the most part, woman's resolve upon such matters is +more stable than man's, and that because the interests at stake in +marriage are for her more vital than can ever be the case with man. + +It was to the class of indifferentists that Anastasia belonged; she +neither sought nor shunned a change of state, but regarded marriage as +an accident that, in befalling her, might substantially change the +outlook. It would render a life of teaching, no doubt, impossible; +domestic or maternal cares might to some extent trammel even literary +activity (for, married or not married, she was determined to fulfil her +mission of writing), but in no case was she inclined to regard marriage +as an escape from difficulties, as the solution of so trivial a problem +as that of existence. + +She read Westray's letter once more from beginning to end. It was +duller than ever. It reflected its writer; she had always thought him +unromantic, and now he seemed to her intolerably prosaic, conceited, +pettifogging, utilitarian. To be his wife! She had rather slave as a +nursery-governess all her life! And how could she write fiction with +such a one for mentor and company? He would expect her to be methodic, +to see that eggs were fresh, and beds well aired. So, by thinking, she +reasoned herself into such a theoretic reprobation of this attempt upon +her, that his offer became a heinous crime. If she answered him +shortly, brusquely, nay rudely, it would be but what he deserved for +making her ridiculous to herself by so absurd a proposal, and she opened +her writing-case with much firmness and resolution. + +It was a little wooden case covered in imitation leather, with +_Papeterie_ stamped in gold upon the top. She had no exaggerated +notions as to its intrinsic worth, but it was valuable in her eyes as +being a present from her father. It was, in fact, the only gift he ever +had bestowed upon her; but on this he had expended at least half a +crown, in a fit of unusual generosity when he sent her with a great +flourish of trumpets to Mrs Howard's school at Carisbury. She +remembered his very words. "Take this, child," he said; "you are now +going to a first-class place of education, and it is right that you +should have a proper equipment," and so gave her the _papeterie_. It +had to cover a multitude of deficiencies, and poor Anastasia +lamented that it had not been a new hair-brush, half a dozen +pocket-handkerchiefs, or even a sound pair of shoes. + +Still it had stood in good stead, for with it she had written all her +letters ever since, and being the only receptacle with lock and key to +which she had access, she had made it a little ark and coffer for +certain girlish treasures. With such it was stuffed so full that they +came crowding out as she opened it. There were several letters to which +romance attached, relics of that delightful but far too short +school-time at Carisbury; there was her programme, with rudely-scribbled +names of partners, for the splendid dance at the term's end, to which a +selection of other girls' brothers were invited; a pressed rose given +her by someone which she had worn in her bosom on that historic +occasion, and many other equally priceless mementoes. Somehow these +things seemed now neither so romantic nor so precious as on former +occasions; she was even inclined to smile, and to make light of them, +and then a little bit of paper fluttered off the table on to the floor. +She stooped and picked up the flap of an envelope with the coronet and +"Fording" stamped in black upon it which she had found one day when +Westray's waste-paper basket was emptied. It was a simple device +enough, but it must have furnished her food for thought, for it lay +under her eyes on the table for at least ten minutes before she put it +carefully back into the _papeterie_, and began her letter to Westray. + +She found no difficulty in answering, but the interval of reflection had +soothed her irritation, and blunted her animosity. Her reply was +neither brusque nor rude, it leant rather to conventionalism than to +originality, and she used, after all, those phrases which have been +commonplaces in such circumstances, since man first asked and woman +first refused. She thanked Mr Westray for the kind interest which he +had taken in her, she was deeply conscious of the consideration which he +had shown her. She was grieved--sincerely grieved--to tell him that +things could not be as he wished. She was so afraid that her letter +would seem unkind; she did not mean it to be unkind. However difficult +it was to say it now, she thought it was the truest kindness not to +disguise from him that things _never_ could be as he wished. She paused +a little to review this last sentiment, but she allowed it to remain, +for she was anxious to avoid any recrudescence of the suppliant's +passion, and to show that her decision was final. She should always +feel the greatest esteem for Mr Westray; she trusted that the present +circumstances would not interrupt their friendship in any way. She +hoped that their relations might continue as in the past, and in this +hope she remained very truly his. + +She gave a sigh of relief when the letter was finished, and read it +through carefully, putting in commas and semicolons and colons at what +she thought appropriate places. Such punctilio pleased her; it was, she +considered, due from one who aspired to a literary style, and aimed at +making a living by the pen. Though this was the first answer to a +proposal that she had written on her own account, she was not altogether +without practice in such matters, as she had composed others for her +heroines who had found themselves in like position. Her manner, also, +was perhaps unconsciously influenced by a perusal of "The Young Person's +Compleat Correspondent, and Guide to Answers to be given in the Various +Circumstances of Life," which, in a tattered calf covering, formed an +item in Miss Euphemia's library. + +It was not till the missive was duly sealed up and posted that she told +her aunt of what had happened. "There is Mr Westray's letter," she +said, "if you would care to read it," and passed over to Miss Joliffe +the piece of white paper on which a man had staked his fate. + +Miss Joliffe took the letter with an attempt to assume an indifferent +manner, which was unsuccessful, because an offer of marriage has about +it a certain exhalation and atmosphere that betrays its importance even +to the most unsuspicious. She was a slow reader, and, after wiping and +adjusting her spectacles, sat down for a steady and patient +consideration of the matter before her. + +But the first word that she deciphered, "Dearest," startled her +composure, and she pressed on through the letter with a haste that was +foreign to her disposition. Her mouth grew rounder as she read, and she +sighed out "Dear's" and "Dear Anastasia's" and "Dear Child's" at +intervals as a relief to her feelings. + +Anastasia stood by her, following the lines of writing that she knew by +heart, with all the impatience of one who is reading ten times faster +than another who turns the page. + +Miss Joliffe's mind was filled with conflicting emotions; she was glad +at the prospect of a more assured future that was opening before her +niece, she was hurt at not having been taken sooner into confidence, for +Anastasia must certainly have known that he was going to propose; she +was chagrined at not having noticed a courtship which had been carried +on under her very eyes; she was troubled at the thought that the +marriage would entail the separation from one who was to her as a child. + +How weary she would find it to walk alone down the long paths of old +age! how hard it was to be deprived of a dear arm on whose support she +had reckoned for when "the slow dark hours begin"! But she thrust this +reflection away from her as selfish, and contrition for having harboured +it found expression in a hand wrinkled and roughened by hard wear, which +stole into Anastasia's. + +"My dear," she said, "I am very glad at your good fortune; this is a +great thing that has befallen you." A general content that Anastasia +should have received a proposal silenced her misgivings. + +To the recipient, an offer of marriage, be it good, bad, or indifferent, +to be accepted or to be refused, brings a certain complacent +satisfaction. She may pretend to make light of it, to be displeased at +it, to resent it, as did Anastasia; but in her heart of hearts there +lurks the self-appreciating reflection that she has won the completest +admiration of a man. If he be a man that she would not marry under any +conditions, if he be a fool, or a spendthrift, or an evil-liver, he is +still a man, and she has captured him. Her relations share in the same +pleasurable reflections. If the offer is accepted, then a future has +been provided for one whose future, maybe, was not too certain; if it is +declined, then they congratulate themselves on the high morale or strong +common-sense of a kinswoman who refuses to be won by gold, or to link +her destiny with an unsuitable partner. + +"It is a great thing, my dear, that has befallen you," Miss Joliffe +repeated. "I wish you all happiness, dear Anastasia, and may all +blessings wait upon you in this engagement." + +"Aunt," interrupted her niece, "please don't say that. I have refused +him, _of course_; how could you think that I should marry Mr Westray? +I never have thought of any such thing with him. I never had the least +idea of his writing like this." + +"You have refused him?" said the elder lady with a startled emphasis. +Again a selfish reflection crossed her mind--they were not to be parted +after all--and again she put it resolutely away. She ran over in her +mind all the possible objections that could have influenced her niece in +arriving at such a conclusion. Religion was the keynote of Miss +Joliffe's life; to religion her thought reverted as the needle to the +pole, and to it she turned for an explanation now. It must be some +religious consideration that had proved an obstacle to Anastasia. + +"I do not think you need find any difficulty in his having been brought +up as a Wesleyan," she said, with a profound conviction that she had put +her finger on the matter, and with some consciousness of her own +perspicacity. "His father has been dead some time, and though his +mother is still alive, you would not have to live with her. I do not +think, dear, she would at all wish you to become a Methodist. As for +our Mr Westray, your Mr Westray, I should say now," and she assumed +that expression of archness which is considered appropriate to such +occasions, "I am sure he is a sound Churchman. He goes regularly to the +minster on Sundays, and I dare say, being an architect, and often in +church on week-days, he has found out that the order of the Church of +England is more satisfactory than that of any other sect. Though I am +sure I do not wish to say one word against Wesleyans; they are no doubt +true Protestants, and a bulwark against more serious errors. I rejoice +that your lover's early training will have saved him from any +inclination to ritualism." + +"My dear aunt," Anastasia broke in, with a stress of earnest deprecation +on the "dear" that startled her aunt, "please do _not_ go on like that. +Do not call Mr Westray my lover; I have told you that I will have +nothing to do with him." + +Miss Joliffe's thoughts had moved through a wide arc. Now that this +offer of marriage was about to be refused, now that this engagement was +not to be, the advantages that it offered stood out in high relief. It +seemed too sad that the curtain should be rung down just as the action +of a drama of intense interest was beginning, that the good should slip +through their fingers just as they were grasping it. She gave no +thought now to that fear of a lonely old age which had troubled her a +few minutes before; she only saw the provision for the future which +Anastasia was wilfully sacrificing. Her hand tightened automatically, +and crumpled a long piece of paper that she was holding. It was only a +milkman's bill, and yet it might perhaps have unconsciously given a +materialistic colour to her thoughts. + +"We should not reject any good thing that is put before us," she said a +little stiffly, "without being very certain that we are right to do so. +I do not know what would become of you, Anastasia, if anything were to +happen to me." + +"That is exactly what he says, that is the very argument which he uses. +Why should you take such a gloomy view of things? Why should something +_happening_ always mean something bad. Let us hope something good will +happen, that someone else will make me a better offer." She laughed, +and went on reflectively: "I wonder whether Mr Westray will come back +here to lodge; I hope he won't." + +Hardly were the words out of her mouth when she was sorry for uttering +them, for she saw the look of sadness which overspread Miss Joliffe's +face. + +"Dear aunt," she cried, "I am so sorry; I didn't mean to say that. I +know what a difference it would make; we cannot afford to lose our last +lodger. I hope he _will_ come back, and I will do everything I can to +make things comfortable, short of marrying him. I will earn some money +myself. I will _write_." + +"How will you write? Who is there to write to?" Miss Joliffe said, and +then the blank look on her face grew blanker, and she took out her +handkerchief. "There is no one to help us. Anyone who ever cared for +us is dead long ago; there is no one to write to now." + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +Westray played the role of rejected lover most conscientiously; he +treated the episode of his refusal on strictly conventional lines. He +assured himself and his mother that the light of his life was +extinguished, that he was the most unhappy of mortals. It was at this +time that he wrote some verses called "Autumn," with a refrain of-- + + "For all my hopes are cold and dead, + And fallen like the fallen leaves," + +which were published in the _Clapton Methodist_, and afterwards set to +music by a young lady who wished to bind up another wounded heart. He +attempted to lie awake of nights with indifferent success, and hinted in +conversation at the depressing influence which insomnia exerts over its +victims. For several meals in succession he refused to eat heartily of +such dishes as he did not like, and his mother felt serious anxiety as +to his general state of health. She inveighed intemperately against +Anastasia for having refused her son, but then she would have inveighed +still more intemperately had Anastasia accepted him. She wearied him +with the portentous gloom which she affected in his presence, and quoted +Lady Clara Vere de Vere's cruelty in turning honest hearts to gall, till +even the rejected one was forced to smile bitterly at so inapposite a +parallel. + +Though Mrs Westray senior poured out the vials of her wrath on +Anastasia for having refused to become Mrs Westray junior, she was at +heart devoutly glad at the turn events had taken. At heart Westray +could not have said whether he was glad or sorry. He told himself that +he was deeply in love with Anastasia, and that this love was further +ennobled by a chivalrous desire to shield her from evil; but he could +not altogether forget that the unfortunate event had at least saved him +from the unconventionality of marrying his landlady's niece. He told +himself that his grief was sincere and profound, but it was possible +that chagrin and wounded pride were after all his predominant feelings. +There were other reflections which he thrust aside as indecorous at this +acute stage of the tragedy, but which, nevertheless, were able to +exercise a mildly consoling influence in the background. He would be +spared the anxieties of early and impecunious marriage, his professional +career would not be weighted by family cares, the whole world was once +more open before him, and the slate clean. These were considerations +which could not prudently be overlooked, though it would be unseemly to +emphasise them too strongly when the poignancy of regret should dominate +every other feeling. + +He wrote to Sir George Farquhar, and obtained ten days' leave of absence +on the score of indisposition; and he wrote to Miss Euphemia Joliffe to +tell her that he intended to seek other rooms. From the first he had +decided that this latter step was inevitable. He could not bear the +daily renewal of regret, the daily opening of the wound that would be +caused by the sight of Anastasia, or by such chance intercourse with her +as further residence at Bellevue Lodge must entail. There is no need to +speculate whether his decision was influenced in part by a concession to +humiliated pride; men do not take pleasure in revisiting the scenes of a +disastrous rout, and it must be admitted that the possibility of +summoning a lost love to his presence when he rang for boiling water, +had in it something of the grotesque. He had no difficulty in finding +other lodgings by correspondence, and he spared himself the necessity of +returning at all to his former abode by writing to ask Clerk Janaway to +move his belongings. + +One morning, a month later, Miss Joliffe sat in that room which had been +occupied by the late Mr Sharnall. She was alone, for Anastasia had +gone to the office of the _Cullerne Advertiser_ with an announcement in +which one A.J. intimated that she was willing to take a post as +nursery-governess. It was a bright morning but cold, and Miss Joliffe +drew an old white knitted shawl closer about her, for there was no fire +in the grate. There was no fire because she could not afford it, yet +the sun pouring in through the windows made the room warmer than the +kitchen, where the embers had been allowed to die out since breakfast. +She and Anastasia did without fire on these bright autumn days to save +coals; they ate a cold dinner, and went early to bed for the same +reason, yet the stock in the cellar grew gradually less. Miss Joliffe +had examined it that very morning, and found it terribly small; nor was +there any money nor any credit left with which to replenish it. + +On the table before her was a pile of papers, some yellow, some pink, +some white, some blue, but all neatly folded. They were folded +lengthways and to the same breadth, for they were Martin Joliffe's +bills, and he had been scrupulously neat and orderly in his habits. It +is true that there were among them some few that she had herself +contracted, but then she had always been careful to follow exactly her +brother's method both of folding and also of docketing them on the +exterior. Yes, no doubt she was immediately responsible for some, and +she knew just which they were from the outside without any need to open +them. She took up one of them: "Rose and Storey, importers of French +millinery, flowers, feathers, ribbons, etcetera. Mantle and jacket +show-rooms." Alas, alas! how frail is human nature! Even in the midst +of her misfortunes, even in the eclipse of old age, such words stirred +Miss Joliffe's interest--flowers, feathers, ribbons, mantles, and +jackets; she saw the delightful show-room 19, 20, 21, and 22, Market +Place, Cullerne--saw it in the dignified solitude of a summer morning +when a dress was to be tried on, saw it in the crush and glorious +scramble of a remnant sale. "Family and complimentary mourning, +costumes, skirts, etcetera; foreign and British silks, guaranteed +makes." After that the written entry seemed mere bathos: "Material and +trimming one bonnet, 11 shillings and 9 pence; one hat, 13 shillings 6 +pence. Total, 1 pound 5 shillings 3 pence." It really was not worth +while making a fuss about, and the bunch of cherries and bit of spangled +net were well worth the 1 shilling 9 pence, that Anastasia's had cost +more than hers. + +Hole, pharmaceutical chemist: "Drops, 1 shilling 6 pence; liniment, 1 +shilling; mixture, 1 shilling 9 pence," repeated many times. "Cod-liver +oil, 1 shilling 3 pence, and 2 shillings 6 pence, and 1 shilling 3 pence +again. 2 pounds 13 shillings 2 pence, with 4 shillings 8 pence +interest," for the bill was four years old. That was for Anastasia at a +critical time when nothing seemed to suit her, and Dr Ennefer feared a +decline; but all the medicine for poor Martin was entered in Dr +Ennefer's own account. + +Pilkington, the shoemaker, had his tale to tell: "Miss Joliffe: +Semi-pold. lace boots, treble soles, 1 pound 1 shilling 0 pence. Miss +A. Jol.: Semi-pold. lace boots, treble soles, 1 pound 1 shilling 0 +pence. 6 pair mohair laces, 9 pence. 3 ditto, silk, 1 shilling." Yes, +she was indeed a guilty woman. It was she that had "run up" _these_ +accounts, and she grew red to think that her own hand should have helped +to build so dismal a pile. + +Debt, like every other habit that runs counter to the common good, +brings with it its own punishment, because society protects itself by +making unpleasant the ways of such as inconvenience their neighbours. +It is true that some are born with a special talent and capacity for +debt--they live on it, and live merrily withal, but most debtors feel +the weight of their chains, and suffer greater pangs than those which +they inflict on any defrauded creditor. If the millstone grinds slowly +it grinds small, and undischarged accounts bring more pain than the +goods to which they relate ever brought pleasure. Among such +bitternesses surely most bitter are the bills for things of which the +fruition has ceased--for worn-out finery, for withered flowers, for +drunk wine. Pilkington's boots, were they never so treble soled, could +not endure for ever, and Miss Joliffe's eyes followed unconsciously +under the table to where a vertical fissure showed the lining white at +the side of either boot. Where were new boots to come from now, whence +was to come clothing to wear, and bread to eat? + +Nay, more, the day of passive endurance was past; action had begun. The +Cullerne Water Company threatened to cut off the water, the Cullerne Gas +Company threatened to cut off the gas. Eaves, the milkman, threatened a +summons unless that long, long bill of his (all built up of pitiful +little pints) was paid forthwith. The Thing had come to the _Triarii_, +Miss Joliffe's front was routed, the last rank was wavering. What was +she to do, whither was she to turn? She must sell some of the +furniture, but who would buy such old stuff? And if she sold furniture, +what lodger would take half-empty rooms? She looked wildly round, she +thrust her hands into the pile of papers, she turned them over with a +feverish action, till she seemed to be turning hay once more as a little +girl in the meadows at Wydcombe. Then she heard footsteps on the +pavement outside, and thought for a moment that it was Anastasia +returned before she was expected, till a heavy tread told her that a man +was coming, and she saw that it was Mr Joliffe, her cousin, +churchwarden and pork-butcher. His bulky and unwieldy form moved +levelly past the windows; he paused and looked up at the house as if to +make sure that he was not mistaken, and then he slowly mounted the +semicircular flight of stone steps and rang the bell. + +In person he was tall, but disproportionately stout for his height. His +face was broad, and his loose double chin gave it a flabby appearance. +A pallid complexion and black-grey hair, brushed straightly down where +he was not bald, produced an impression of sanctimoniousness which was +increased by a fawning manner of speech. Mr Sharnall was used to call +him a hypocrite, but the aspersion was false, as such an aspersion +commonly is. + +Hypocrites, in the pure and undiluted sense, rarely exist outside the +pages of fiction. Except in the lower classes, where deceit thrives +under the incentive of clerical patronage, men seldom assume +deliberately the garb of religion to obtain temporal advantages or to +further their own ends. It is probable that in nine cases out of ten, +where practice does not accord sufficiently with profession to please +the censorious, the discrepancy is due to inherent weakness of purpose, +to the duality of our nature, and not to any conscious deception. If a +man leading the lower life should find himself in religious, or +high-minded, or pure society, and speak or behave as if he were +religious, or high-minded, or pure, he does so in nine cases out of ten +not with any definite wish to deceive, but because he is temporarily +influenced by better company. For the time he believes what he says, or +has persuaded himself that he believes it. If he is froward with the +froward, so he is just with the just, and the more sympathetic and +susceptible his nature, the more amenable is he to temporary influences. +It is this chameleon adaptability that passes for hypocrisy. + +Cousin Joliffe was no hypocrite, he acted up to his light; and even if +the light be a badly-trimmed, greasy, evil-smelling paraffin-lamp, the +man who acts up to it is only the more to be pitied. Cousin Joliffe was +one of those amateur ecclesiastics whose talk is of things religious, +whom Church questions interest, and who seem to have missed their +vocation in not having taken Orders. If Canon Parkyn had been a High +Churchman, Cousin Joliffe would have been High Church; but the Canon +being Low-Church, Cousin Joliffe was an earnest evangelical, as he +delighted to describe himself. He was rector's churchwarden, took a +leading part in prayer-meetings, with a keen interest in school-treats, +ham teas, and magic lanterns, and was particularly proud of having been +asked more than once to assist in the Mission Room at Carisbury, where +the Vicar of Christ Church carried on revival work among the somnolent +surroundings of a great cathedral. He was without any sense of humour +or any refinement of feeling--self-important, full of the dignity of his +office, thrifty to meanness, but he acted up to his light, and was no +hypocrite. + +In that petty middle-class, narrow-minded and penuriously pretentious, +which was the main factor of Cullerne life, he possessed considerable +influence and authority. Among his immediate surroundings a word from +Churchwarden Joliffe carried more weight than an outsider would have +imagined, and long usage had credited him with the delicate position of +_censor morum_ to the community. Did the wife of a parishioner venture +into such a place of temptation as the theatre at Carisbury, was she +seen being sculled by young Bulteel in his new skiff of a summer +evening, the churchwarden was charged to interview her husband, to point +out to him privately the scandal that was being caused, and to show him +how his duty lay in keeping his belongings in better order. Was a man +trying to carry fire in his bosom by dalliance at the bar of the +Blandamer Arms, then a hint was given to his spouse that she should use +such influence as would ensure evenings being spent at home. Did a +young man waste the Sabbath afternoon in walking with his dog on +Cullerne Flat, he would receive "The Tishbite's Warning, a Discourse +showing the Necessity of a Proper Observance of the Lord's Day." Did a +pig-tailed hoyden giggle at the Grammar School boys from her pew in the +minster, the impropriety was reported by the churchwarden to her mother. + +On such occasions he was scrupulous in assuming a frock-coat and a silk +hat. Both were well-worn, and designed in the fashion of another day; +but they were in his eyes insignia of office, and as he felt the tails +of the coat about his knees they seemed to him as it were the skirts of +Aaron's garment. Miss Joliffe was not slow to notice that he was thus +equipped this morning; she knew that he had come to pay her a visit of +circumstance, and swept her papers hurriedly into a drawer. She felt as +if they were guilty things these bills, as if she had been engaged in a +guilty action in even "going through" them, as if she had been detected +in doing that which she should not do, and guiltiest of all seemed the +very hurry of concealment with which she hid such compromising papers. + +She tried to perform that feat of mental gymnastics called retaining +one's composure, the desperate and forced composure which the coiner +assumes when opening the door to the police, the composure which a woman +assumes in returning to her husband with the kisses of a lover tingling +on her lips. It _is_ a feat to change the current of the mind, to let +the burning thought that is dearest or bitterest to us go by the board, +to answer coherently to the banalities of conversation, to check the +throbbing pulse. The feat was beyond Miss Joliffe's powers; she was but +a poor actress, and the churchwarden saw that she was ill at ease as she +opened the door. + +"Good-morning, cousin," he said with one of those interrogative glances +which are often more irritating and more difficult to parry than a +direct question; "you are not looking at all the thing this morning. I +hope you are not feeling unwell; I hope I do not intrude." + +"Oh no," she said, making as good an attempt at continuous speech as the +quick beating of her heart allowed; "it is only that your visit is a +little surprise. I am a little flurried; I am not quite so young as I +was." + +"Ay," he said, as she showed him into Mr Sharnall's room, "we are all +of us growing older; it behoves us to walk circumspectly, for we never +know when we may be taken." He looked at her so closely and +compassionately that she felt very old indeed; it really seemed as if +she ought to be "taken" at once, as if she was neglecting her duty in +not dying away incontinently. She drew the knitted shawl more tightly +round her spare and shivering body. + +"I am afraid you will find this room a little cold," she said; "we are +having the kitchen chimney cleaned, so I was sitting here." She gave a +hurried glance at the bureau, feeling a suspicion that she might not +have shut the drawer tight, or that one of the bills might have somehow +got left out. No, all was safe, but her excuse had not deceived the +churchwarden. + +"Phemie," he said, not unkindly, though the word brought tears to her +eyes, for it was the first time that anyone had called her by the old +childhood name since the night that Martin died--"Phemie, you should not +stint yourself in fires. It is a false economy; you must let me send +you a coal ticket." + +"Oh no, thank you very much; we have plenty," she cried, speaking +quickly, for she would rather have starved outright, than that it should +be said a member of the Dorcas Society had taken a parish coal ticket. +He urged her no more, but took the chair that she offered him, feeling a +little uncomfortable withal, as a well-clothed and overfed man should, +in the presence of penury. It was true he had not been to see her for +some time; but, then, Bellevue Lodge was so far off, and he had been so +pressed with the cares of the parish and of his business. Besides that, +their walks of life were so different, and there was naturally a strong +objection to any kinswoman of his keeping a lodging-house. He felt +sorry now that compassion had betrayed him into calling her "cousin" and +"Phemie"; she certainly _was_ a distant kinswoman, but _not_, he +repeated to himself, a cousin; he hoped she had not noticed his +familiarity. He wiped his face with a pocket-handkerchief that had seen +some service, and gave an introductory cough. + +"There is a little matter on which I should like to have a few words +with you," he said, and Miss Joliffe's heart was in her mouth; he _had_ +heard, then, of these terrible debts and of the threatened summons. + +"Forgive me if I go direct to business. I am a business man and a plain +man, and like plain speaking." + +It is wonderful to what rude remarks, and unkind remarks and untrue +remarks such words as these commonly form the prelude, and how very few +of these plain speakers enjoy being plainly spoken to in turn. + +"We were talking just now," he went on, "of the duty of walking +circumspectly, but it is our duty, Miss Joliffe, to see that those over +whom we are set in authority walk circumspectly as well. I mean no +reproach to you, but others beside me think it would be well that you +should keep closer watch over your niece. There is a nobleman of high +station that visits much too often at this house. I will _not_ name any +names"--and this with a tone of magnanimous forbearance--"but you will +guess who I mean, because the nobility is not that frequent hereabout. +I am sorry to have to speak of such things which ladies generally see +quick enough for themselves, but as churchwarden I can't shut my ears to +what is matter of town talk; and more by token when a namesake of my own +is concerned." + +The composure which Miss Joliffe had been seeking in vain, came back to +her at the pork-butcher's words, partly in the relief that he had not +broached the subject of debts which had been foremost in her mind, +partly in the surprise and indignation occasioned by his talk of +Anastasia. Her manner and very appearance changed, and none would have +recognised the dispirited and broken-down old lady in the sharpness of +her rejoinder. + +"Mr Joliffe," she apostrophised with tart dignity, "you must forgive me +for thinking that I know a good deal more about the nobleman in question +than you do, and I can assure you _he_ is a perfect gentleman. If he +has visited this house, it has been to see Mr Westray about the +restoration of the minster. I should have thought one that was +churchwarden would have known better than to go bandying scandals about +his betters; it is small encouragement for a nobleman to take an +interest in the church if the churchwarden is to backbite him for it." + +She saw that her cousin was a little taken aback, and she carried the +war into the enemy's country, and gave another thrust. + +"Not but what Lord Blandamer has called upon me too, apart from Mr +Westray. And what have you to say to _that_? If his lordship has +thought fit to honour me by drinking a cup of tea under my roof, there +are many in Cullerne would have been glad to get out their best china if +he had only asked himself to _their_ houses. And there are some might +well follow his example, and show themselves a little oftener to their +friends and relations." + +The churchwarden wiped his face again, and puffed a little. + +"Far be it from me," he said, dwelling on the expression with all the +pleasure that a man of slight education takes in a book phrase that he +has got by heart--"far be it from me to set scandals afloat--'twas _you_ +that used the word scandal--but I have daughters of my own to consider. +I have nothing to say against Anastasia, who, I believe, is a good girl +enough"--and his patronising manner grated terribly on Miss +Joliffe--"though I wish I could see her take more interest in the +Sunday-school, but I won't hide from you that she has a way of carrying +herself and mincing her words which does _not_ befit her station. It +makes people take notice, and 'twould be more becoming she should drop +it, seeing she will have to earn her own living in service. I don't +want to say anything against Lord Blandamer either--he seems to be +well-intentioned to the church--but if tales are true the _old_ lord was +no better than he should be, and things have happened before now on your +side of the family, Miss Joliffe, that make connections feel +uncomfortable about Anastasia. We are told that the sins of the fathers +will be visited to the third and fourth generation." + +"Well," Miss Joliffe said, and made a formidable pause on this adverb, +"if it is the manners of your side of the family to come and insult +people in their own houses, I am glad I belong to the other side." + +She was alive to the profound gravity of such a sentiment, yet was +prepared to take her stand upon it, and awaited another charge from the +churchwarden with a dignity and confidence that would have become the +Old Guard. But no fierce passage of arms followed; there was a pause, +and if a dignified ending were desired the interview should here have +ended. But to ordinary mortals the sound of their own voices is so +musical as to deaden any sense of anticlimax; talking is continued for +talking's sake, and heroics tail off into desultory conversation. Both +sides were conscious that they had overstated their sentiments, and were +content to leave main issues undecided. + +Miss Joliffe did not take the bills out of their drawer again after the +churchwarden had left her. The current of her ideas had been changed, +and for the moment she had no thought for anything except the innuendoes +of her visitor. She rehearsed to herself without difficulty the +occasions of Lord Blandamer's visits, and although she was fully +persuaded that any suspicions as to his motives were altogether without +foundation, she was forced to admit that he _had_ been at Bellevue Lodge +more than once when she had been absent. This was no doubt a pure +coincidence, but we were enjoined to be wise as serpents as well as +innocent as doves, and she would take care that no further occasion was +given for idle talk. + +Anastasia on her return found her aunt unusually reserved and taciturn. +Miss Joliffe had determined to behave exactly as usual to Anastasia +because her niece was entirely free from fault; but she was vexed at +what the churchwarden had said, and her manner was so mysterious and +coldly dignified as to convince Anastasia that some cause for serious +annoyance had occurred. Did Anastasia remark that it was a close +morning, her aunt looked frowningly abstracted and gave no reply; did +Anastasia declare that she had not been able to get any 14 +knitting-needles, they were quite out of them, her aunt said, "Oh!" in a +tone of rebuke and resignation which implied that there were far more +serious matters in the world than knitting-needles. + +This dispensation lasted a full half-hour, but beyond that the kindly +old heart was quite unequal to supporting a proper hauteur. The sweet +warmth of her nature thawed the chilly exterior; she was ashamed of her +moodiness, and tried to "make up" for it to Anastasia by manifestation +of special affection. But she evaded her niece's attempts at probing +the matter, and was resolved that the girl should know nothing of Cousin +Joliffe's suggestions or even of the fact of his visit. + +But if Anastasia knew nothing of these things, she was like to be +singular in her ignorance. All Cullerne knew; it was in the air. The +churchwarden had taken a few of the elders into his confidence, and +asked their advice as to the propriety of his visit of remonstrance. +The elders, male and female, heartily approved of his action, and had in +their turn taken into confidence a few of their intimate and +specially-to-be-trusted friends. Then ill-natured and tale-bearing Miss +Sharp told lying and mischief-making Mrs Flint, and lying and +mischief-making Mrs Flint talked the matter over at great length with +the Rector, who loved all kinds of gossip, especially of the +highly-spiced order. It was speedily matter of common knowledge that +Lord Blandamer was at the Hand of God (so ridiculous of a lodging-house +keeper christening a public-house Bellevue Lodge!) at _all_ hours of the +day _and_ night, and that Miss Joliffe was content to look at the +ceiling on such occasions; and worse, to go to meetings so as to leave +the field undisturbed (what intolerable hypocrisy making an excuse of +the Dorcas meetings!); that Lord Blandamer loaded--simply loaded--that +pert and good-for-nothing girl with presents; that even the young +architect was forced to change his lodgings by such disreputable +goings-on. People wondered how Miss Joliffe and her niece had the +effrontery to show themselves at church on Sundays; the younger +creature, at least, must have _some_ sense of shame left, for she never +ventured to exhibit in _public_ either the fine dresses or the jewellery +that her lover gave her. + +Such stories came to Westray's ears, and stirred in him the modicum of +chivalry which leavens the lump of most men's being. He was still +smarting under his repulse, but he would have felt himself disgraced if +he had allowed the scandal to pass unchallenged, and he rebutted it with +such ardour that people shrugged their shoulders, and hinted that there +had been something between _him_, too, and Anastasia. + +Clerk Janaway was inclined to take a distressingly opportunist and +matter-of-fact view of the question. He neither reprobated nor +defended. In his mind the Divine right of peers was firmly established. +So long as they were rich and spent their money freely, we should not +be too particular. They were to be judged by standards other than those +of common men; for his part, he was glad they had got in place of an old +curmudgeon a man who would take an interest in the Church, and spend +money on the place and the people. If he took a fancy to a pretty face, +where was the harm? 'Twas nothing to the likes of them, best let well +alone; and then he would cut short the churchwarden's wailings and godly +lamentations by "decanting" on the glories of Fording, and the boon it +was to the countryside to have the place kept up once more. + +"Clerk Janaway, your sentiments do you no credit," said the pork-butcher +on one such occasion, for he was given to gossip with the sexton on +terms of condescending equality. "I have seen Fording myself, having +driven there with the Carisbury Field Club, and felt sure it must be a +source of temptation if not guarded against. That one man should live +in such a house is an impiety; he is led to go about like +Nebuchadnezzar, saying: `Is not this great Babylon that I have +builded?'" + +"_He_ never builded it," said the clerk with some inconsequence; "'twere +builded centuries ago. I've heard 'tis that old no one don't know _who_ +builded it. Your parents was Dissenters, Mr Joliffe, and never taught +you the Catechism when you was young; but as for me, I order myself to +my betters as I should, so long as they orders themselves to me. 'Taint +no use to say as how we're all level; you've only got to go to Mothers' +Meetings, my old missus says, to see that. 'Tis no use looking for too +much, nor eating salt with red herrings." + +"Well, well," the other deprecated, "I'm not blaming his lordship so +much as them that lead him on." + +"Don't go for to blame the girl, neither, too hardly; there's faults on +both sides. His grandfather didn't always toe the line, and there were +some on her side didn't set too good an example, neither. I've seen +many a queer thing in my time, and have got to think blood's blood, and +forerunners more to blame than children. If there's drink in fathers, +there'll be drink in sons and grandsons till 'tis worked out; and if +there's wild love in the mothers, daughters 'll likely sell their apples +too. No, no, God-amighty never made us equal, and don't expect us all +to be churchwardens. Some on us comes of virtuous forerunners, and are +born with wings at the back of our shoulders like you"--and he gave a +whimsical look at his listener's heavy figure--"to lift us up to the +vaulting; and some on us our fathers fits out with lead soles to the +bottom of our boots to keep us on the floor." + +Saturday afternoon was Lord Blandamer's hour, and for three Saturdays +running Miss Joliffe deserted the Dorcas meeting in order to keep guard +at home. It rejoiced the moral hearts of ill-natured and tale-bearing +Miss Sharp and of lying and mischief-making Mrs Flint that the +disreputable old woman had at least the decency not to show herself +among her betters, but such defection was a sore trial to Miss Joliffe. +She told herself on each occasion that she _could_ not make such a +sacrifice again, and yet the love of Anastasia constrained her. To her +niece she offered the patent excuse of being unwell, but the girl +watched her with wonder and dismay chafe feverishly through the two +hours, which had been immemorially consecrated to these meetings. The +recurrence of a weekly pleasure, which seems so limitless in youth and +middle age, becomes less inexhaustible as life turns towards sunset. +Thirty takes lightly enough the foregoing of a Saturday reunion, the +uncongenial spending of a Sunday; but seventy can see the end of the +series, and grudges every unit of the total that remains. + +For three Saturdays Miss Joliffe watched, and for three Saturdays no +suspicious visitor appeared. + +"We have seen nothing of Lord Blandamer lately," she would remark at +frequent intervals with as much indifference as the subject would allow. + +"There is nothing to bring him here now that Mr Westray has gone. Why +should he come?" + +Why, indeed, and what difference would it make to her if he never came +again? These were questions that Anastasia had discussed with herself, +at every hour of every day of those blank three weeks. She had ample +time for such foolish discussions, for such vain imaginings, for she was +left much to herself, having no mind-companions either of her own age or +of any other. She was one of those unfortunate persons whose education +and instincts' unfit them for their position. The diversions of youth +had been denied her, the pleasures of dress or company had never been +within her reach. For pastime she was turned back continually to her +own thoughts, and an active imagination and much desultory reading had +educated her in a school of romance, which found no counterpart in the +life of Cullerne. She was proud at heart (and it is curious that those +are often the proudest who in their neighbours' estimation have least +cause for pride), but not conceited in manner in spite of Mr Joliffe's +animadversion on the mincing of her words. Yet it was not her pride +that had kept her from making friends, but merely the incompatibility of +mental temperament, which builds the barrier not so much between +education and ignorance, as between refinement and materialism, between +romance and commonplace. + +That barrier is so insurmountable that any attempt upon it must end in +failure that is often pathetic from its very hopelessness; even the +warmth of ardent affection has never yet succeeded in evolving a mental +companionship from such discordant material. By kindly dispensation of +nature the breadth of the gulf, indeed, is hidden from those who cannot +cross it. They know it is there, they have some inkling of the +difference of view, but they think that love may build a bridge across, +or that in time they may find some other access to the further side. +Sometimes they fancy that they are nearer to the goal, that they walk +step and step with those they love; but this, alas! is not to be, +because the mental sympathy, the touch of illumination that welds minds +together, is wanting. + +It was so with Miss Joliffe the elder--she longed to be near her niece, +and was so very far away; she thought that they went hand in hand, when +all the while a different mental outlook set them poles asunder. With +all her thousand good honest qualities, she was absolutely alien to the +girl; and Anastasia felt as if she was living among people of another +nation, among people who did not understand her language, and she took +refuge in silence. + +The dulness of Cullerne had grown more oppressive to her in the last +year. She longed for a life something wider, she longed for sympathy. +She longed for what a tall and well-favoured maiden of her years most +naturally desires, however much she may be ignorant of her desire; she +longed for someone to admire her and to love her; she longed for someone +about whom she could weave a romance. + +The junior partner in Rose and Storey perhaps discerned her need, and +tried to supply it. He paid her such odious compliments on the "hang of +her things," that she would never have entered the shop again, were it +not that Bellevue Lodge was bound hand and foot to Rose and Storey, for +they were undertakers as well as milliners; and, besides, the little +affair of the bonnets, the expenses of Martin's funeral, were still +unsatisfied. There was a young dairy farmer, with a face like a red +harvest moon, who stopped at her aunt's door on his way to market. He +would sell Miss Joliffe eggs and butter at wholesale prices, and grinned +in a most tiresome way whenever he caught sight of Anastasia. The +Rector patronised her insufferably; and though old Mr Noot was kind, he +treated her like a small child, and sometimes patted her cheek, which +she felt to be disconcerting at eighteen. + +And then the Prince of Romance appeared in Lord Blandamer. The moment +that she first saw him on the doorstep that windy autumn afternoon, when +yellow leaves were flying, she recognised him for a prince. The moment +that he spoke to her she knew that he recognised her for a lady, and for +this she felt unspeakably glad and grateful. Since then the wonder had +grown. It grew all the faster from the hero's restraint. He had seen +Anastasia but little, he spoke but little to her, he never gave her even +a glance of interest, still less such glances as Westray launched at her +so lavishly. And yet the wonder grew. He was so different from other +men she had seen, so different from all the other people she had ever +met. She could not have told how she knew this, and yet she knew. It +must have been an atmosphere which followed him wherever he went--that +penumbra with which the gods wrap heroes--which told her he was +different. + +The gambits of the great game of love are strangely limited, and there +is little variation in the after-play. If it were not for the personal +share we take, such doings would lack interest by reason of their +monotony, by their too close resemblance to the primeval type. This is +why the game seems dull enough to onlookers; they shock us with the +callousness with which they are apt to regard our ecstasies. This is +why the straightforward game palls sometimes on the players themselves +after a while; and why they are led to take refuge from dulness in +solving problems, in the tangled irregularities of the knight's move. + +Anastasia would have smiled if she had been told that she had fallen in +love; it might have been a thin smile, pale as winter's sunshine, but +she would have smiled. It was _impossible_ for her to fall in love, +because she knew that kings no longer marry beggar-maids, and she was +far too well brought up to fall in love, except as a preliminary to +marriage. No heroine of Miss Austen would permit herself even to feel +attraction to a quarter from which no offer of marriage was possible; +therefore Anastasia could not have fallen in love. She certainly was +not in the least in love, but it was true Lord Blandamer interested her. +He interested her so much, in fact, as to be in her thoughts at all +hours of the day; it was strange that no matter with what things her +mind was occupied, his image should continually present itself. She +wondered why this was; perhaps it was his power--she thought it was the +feeling of his power, a very insolence of power that dominated all these +little folk, and yet was most powerful in its restraint. She liked to +think of the compact, close-knit body, of the curling, crisp, iron-grey +hair, of the grey eyes, and of the hard, clear-cut face. Yes, she liked +the face because it _was_ hard, because it had a resolute look in it +that said he meant to go whither he wished to go. + +There was no doubt she must have taken considerable interest in him, for +she found herself dreading to pronounce his name even in the most +ordinary conversation, because she felt it difficult to keep her voice +at the dead level of indifference. She dreaded when others spoke of +him, and yet there was no other subject that occupied her so much. And +sometimes when they talked of him she had a curious feeling of jealousy, +a feeling that no one had a right even to talk of him except herself; +and she would smile to herself with a little scornful smile, because she +thought that she knew more about him, could understand him better than +them all. It was fortunate, perhaps, that the arbitrament of Cullerne +conversation did not rest with Anastasia, or there would have been but +little talking at this time; for if it seemed preposterous that others +should dare to discuss Lord Blandamer, it seemed equally preposterous +that they should take an interest in discussing anything else. + +She certainly was _not_ in love; it was only the natural interest, she +told herself, that anyone--anyone with education and refinement--must +take in a strange and powerful character. Every detail about him +interested her. There was a fascination in his voice, there was a +melody in his low, clear voice that charmed, and made even trifling +remarks seem important. Did he but say it was a rainy afternoon, did he +but ask if Mr Westray were at home, there was such mystery in his tone +that no rabbinical cabalist ever read more between the lines than did +Miss Anastasia Joliffe. Even in her devotions thought wandered far from +the pew where she and her aunt sat in Cullerne Church; she found her +eyes looking for the sea-green and silver, for the nebuly coat in Abbot +Vinnicomb's window; and from the clear light yellow of the aureole round +John Baptist's head, fancy called up a whirl of faded lemon-coloured +acacia leaves, that were in the air that day the hero first appeared. + +Yet, if heart wavered, head stood firm. He should never know her +interest in him; no word, no changing colour should ever betray her; he +should never guess that agitation sometimes scarcely left her breath to +make so short a rejoinder as "Good-night." + +For three Saturdays, then, Miss Joliffe the elder sat on guard at +Bellevue Lodge; for three Saturday afternoons in succession, she sat and +chafed as the hours of the Dorcas meeting came and went. But nothing +happened; the heavens remained in their accustomed place, the minster +tower stood firm, and then she knew that the churchwarden had been +duped, that her own judgment had been right, that Lord Blandamer's only +motive for coming to her house had been to see Mr Westray, and that now +Mr Westray was gone Lord Blandamer would come no more. The fourth +Saturday arrived; Miss Joliffe was brighter than her niece had seen her +for a calendar month. + +"I feel a good deal better, my dear, this afternoon," she said; "I think +I shall be able to go to the Dorcas meeting. The room gets so close +that I have avoided going of late, but I think I shall not feel it too +much to-day. I will just change, and put on my bonnet; you will not +mind staying at home while I am away, will you?" And so she went. + +Anastasia sat in the window-seat of the lower room. The sash was open, +for the spring days were lengthening, and a soft, sweet air was moving +about sundown. She told herself that she was making a bodice; an open +workbox stood beside her, and there was spread around just such a medley +of patterns, linings, scissors, cotton-reels, and buttons as is required +for the proper and ceremonious carrying on of "work." But she was not +working. The bodice itself, the very cause and spring of all these +preparations, lay on her lap, and there, too, had fallen her hands. She +half sat, half lay back on the window-seat, roaming in fancy far away, +while she drank in the breath of the spring, and watched a little patch +of transparent yellow sky between the houses grow pinker and more +golden, as the sunset went on. + +Then a man came down the street and mounted the steps in front of +Bellevue Lodge; but she did not see him, because he was walking in from +the country, and so did not pass her window. It was the door-bell that +first broke her dreams. She slid down from her perch, and hastened to +let her aunt in, for she had no doubt that it was Miss Joliffe who had +come back from the meeting. The opening of the front-door was not a +thing to be hurried through, for though there was little indeed in +Bellevue Lodge to attract burglars, and though if burglars came they +would surely select some approach other than the main entrance, yet Miss +Joliffe insisted that when she was from home the door should be secured +as if to stand a siege. So Anastasia drew the top bolt, and slipped the +chain, and unlocked the lock. There was a little difficulty with the +bottom bolt, and she had to cry out: "I am sorry for keeping you +waiting; this fastening _will_ stick." But it gave at last; she swung +the heavy door back, and found herself face to face with Lord Blandamer. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +They stood face to face, and looked at one another for a second. Anyone +seeing those two figures silhouetted against the yellow sunset sky might +have taken them for cousins, or even for brother and sister. They were +both dressed in black, were both dark, and of nearly the same height, +for though the man was not short, the girl was very tall. + +The pause that Anastasia made was due to surprise. A little while ago +it would have been a natural thing enough to open the door and find Lord +Blandamer, but the month that had elapsed since last he came to Bellevue +Lodge had changed the position. It seemed to her that she stood before +him confessed, that he must know that all these weeks she had been +thinking of him, had been wondering why he did not come, had been +longing for him to come, that he must know the pleasure which filled her +now because he was come back again. And if he knew all this, she, too, +had learnt to know something, had learnt to know how great a portion of +her thoughts he filled. This eating of the tree of knowledge had +abashed her, for now her soul stood before her naked. Did it so stand +naked before him too? She was shocked that she should feel this +attraction where there could be no thought of marriage; she thought that +she should die if he should ever guess that one so lowly had gazed upon +the sun and been dazzled. + +The pause that Lord Blandamer made was not due to surprise, for he knew +quite well that it would be Anastasia who opened the door. It was +rather that pause which a man makes who has undertaken a difficult +business, and hesitates for a moment when it comes to the touch. She +cast her eyes down to the ground; he looked full at her, looked at her +from head to foot, and knew that his resolution was strong enough to +carry to a conclusion the affair on which he had come. She spoke first. + +"I am sorry my aunt is not at home," and kept her right hand on the edge +of the open door, feeling grateful for any support. As the words came +out she was relieved to find that it was indeed she herself who was +speaking, that it was her own voice, and that her voice sounded much as +usual. + +"I am sorry she is not in," he said, and he, too, spoke after all in +just those same low, clear tones to which she was accustomed--"I am +sorry she is not in, but it was _you_ that I came to see." + +She said nothing; her heart beat so fast that she could not have spoken +even in monosyllables. She did not move, but kept her hand still on the +edge of the door, feeling afraid lest she should fall if she let it go. + +"I have something I should like to say to you; may I come in?" + +She hesitated for a moment, as he knew that she would hesitate, and then +let him in, as he knew that she would let him in. He shut the heavy +front-door behind them, and there was no talk now of turning locks or +shooting bolts; the house was left at the mercy of any burglars who +might happen to be thereabout. + +Anastasia led the way. She did not take him into Mr Sharnall's old +room, partly because she had left half-finished clothes lying there, and +partly from the more romantic reflection that it was in Westray's room +that they had met before. They walked through the hall and up the +stairs, she going first and he following, and she was glad of the +temporary respite which the long flights secured her. They entered the +room, and again he shut the door behind them. There was no fire, and +the window was open, but she felt as if she were in a fiery furnace. He +saw her distress, but made as if he saw nothing, and pitied her for the +agitation which he caused. For the past six months Anastasia had +concealed her feelings so very well that he had read them like a book. +He had watched the development of the plot without pride, or pleasure of +success, without sardonic amusement, without remorse; with some dislike +for a role which force of circumstances imposed on him, but with an +unwavering resolve to walk the way which he had set before him. He knew +the exact point which the action of the play had reached, he knew that +Anastasia would grant whatever he asked of her. + +They were standing face to face again. To the girl it all seemed a +dream; she did not know whether she was waking or sleeping; she did not +know whether she was in the body or out of the body. It was all a +dream, but it was a delightful dream; there was no bitterness of +reflection now, no anxiety, no regard for past or future, only utter +absorption in the present moment. She was with the man who had +possessed her thoughts for a month past; he had come back to her. She +had not to consider whether she should ever see him again; he was with +her now. She had not to think whether he was there for good or evil, +she had lost all volition in the will of the man who stood before her; +she was the slave of his ring, rejoicing in her slavery, and ready to do +his bidding as all the other slaves of that ring. + +He was sorry for the feelings which he had aroused, sorry for the +affection he had stirred, sorry for the very love of himself that he saw +written in her face. He took her hand in his, and his touch filled her +with an exquisite content; her hand lay in his neither lifelessly nor +entirely passively, yet only lightly returning the light pressure of his +fingers. To her the situation was the supreme moment of a life; to him +it was passionless as the betrothal piece in a Flemish window. + +"Anastasia," he said, "you guess what it is I have to tell you; you +guess what it is that I have to ask you." + +She heard him speaking, and his voice was as delightful music in her +delightful dream; she knew that he was going to ask something of her, +and she knew that she would give him anything and all that he asked. + +"I know that you love me," he went on, with an inversion of the due +order of the proposition, and an assumption that would have been +intolerable in anyone else, "and you know that I love you dearly." It +was a proper compliment to her perspicuity that she should know already +that he loved her, but his mind smiled as he thought how insufficient +sometimes are the bases of knowledge. "I love you dearly, and am come +to ask you to be my wife." + +She heard what he said, and understood it; she had been prepared for his +asking anything save this one thing that he had asked. The surprise of +it overwhelmed her, the joy of it stunned her; she could neither speak +nor move. He saw that she was powerless and speechless, and drew her +closer to him. There was none of the impetuous eagerness of a lover in +the action; he drew her gently towards him because it seemed appropriate +to the occasion that he should do so. She lay for a minute in his arms, +her head bent down, and her face hidden, while he looked not so much at +her as above her. His eyes wandered over the mass of her dark-brown +wavy hair that Mrs Flint said was not wavy by nature, but crimped to +make her look like a Blandamer, and so bolster up her father's +nonsensical pretensions. His eyes took full account of that wave and +the silken fineness of her dark-brown hair, and then looked vaguely out +beyond till they fell on the great flower-picture that hung on the +opposite wall. + +The painting had devolved upon Westray on Mr Sharnall's death, but he +had not yet removed it, and Lord Blandamer's eyes rested on it now so +fixedly, that he seemed to be thinking more of the trashy flowers and of +the wriggling caterpillar, than of the girl in his arms. His mind came +back to the exigencies of the situation. + +"Will you marry me, Anastasia--will you marry me, dear Anstice?" The +home name seemed to add a touch of endearment, and he used it advisedly. +"Anstice, will you let me make you my wife?" + +She said nothing, but threw her arms about his neck, and raised her face +a little for the first time. It was an assent that would have contented +any man, and to Lord Blandamer it came as a matter of course; he had +never for a moment doubted her acceptance of his offer. If she had +raised her face to be kissed, her expectation was gratified; he kissed +her indeed, but only lightly on the brow, as actor may kiss actress on +the stage. If anyone had been there to see, they would have known from +his eyes that his thoughts were far from his body, that they were busied +with somebody or something, that seemed to him of more importance than +the particular action in which he was now engaged. But Anastasia saw +nothing; she only knew that he had asked her to marry him, and that she +was in his arms. + +He waited a moment, as if wondering how long the present position would +continue, and what was the next step to take; but the girl was the first +to relieve the tension. The wildest intoxication of the first surprise +was passing off, and with returning capacity for reflection a doubt had +arisen that flung a shadow like a cloud upon her joy. She disengaged +herself from his arms that strove in orthodox manner to retain her. + +"Don't," she said--"don't. We have been too rash. I know what you have +asked me. I shall remember it always, and love you for it to my dying +day, but it cannot be. There are things you must know before you ask +me. I do not think you would ask me if you knew all." + +For the first time he seemed a little more in earnest, a little more +like a man living life, a little less like a man rehearsing a part that +he had got by heart. This was an unexpected piece of action, an episode +that was not in his acting edition, that put him for the moment at a +loss; though he knew it could not in any way affect the main issues of +the play. He expostulated, he tried to take her hand again. + +"Tell me what it is, child, that is troubling you," he said; "there can +be nothing, nothing under heaven that could make me wish to unsay what I +have said, nothing that could make us wish to undo what we have done. +Nothing can rob me now of the knowledge that you love me. Tell me what +it is." + +"I cannot tell you," she answered him. "It is something I cannot tell; +don't ask me. I will write it. Leave me now--please leave me; no one +shall know that you have been here, no one must know what has passed +between us." + +Miss Joliffe came back from the Dorcas meeting a little downhearted and +out of humour. Things had not gone so smoothly as usual. No one had +inquired after her health, though she had missed three meetings in +succession; people had received her little compliments and cheery +small-talk with the driest of negatives or affirmatives; she had an +uncomfortable feeling that she was being cold-shouldered. That high +moralist, Mrs Flint, edged her chair away from the poor lady of set +purpose, and Miss Joliffe found herself at last left isolated from all, +except Mrs Purlin, the builder's wife, who was far too fat and +lethargic to be anything but ignorantly good-natured. Then, in a fit of +pained abstraction, Miss Joliffe had made such a bad calculation as +entirely to spoil a flannel petticoat with a rheumatic belt and camphor +pockets, which she had looked upon as something of a _chef d'oeuvre_. + +But when she got back to Bellevue Lodge her vexation vanished, and was +entirely absorbed in solicitude for her niece. + +Anstice was unwell, Anstice was quite ill, quite flushed, and +complaining of headache. If Miss Joliffe had feigned indisposition for +three Saturdays as an excuse for not leaving the house, Anastasia had +little need for simulation on this the fourth Saturday. She was, in +effect, so dazed by the event which had happened, and so preoccupied by +her own thoughts, that she could scarcely return coherent replies to her +aunt's questions. Miss Joliffe had rung and received no answer, had +discovered that the front-door was unlocked, and had at last found +Anastasia sitting forlorn in Mr Westray's room with the window open. A +chill was indicated, and Miss Joliffe put her to bed at once. + +Bed is a first aid that even ambulance classes have not entirely taught +us to dispense with; it is, moreover, a poor man's remedy, being +exceedingly cheap, if, indeed, the poor man is rich enough to have a bed +at all. Had Anastasia been Miss Bulteel, or even Mrs Parkyn, or lying +and mischief-making Mrs Flint, Dr Ennefer would have been summoned +forthwith; but being only Anastasia, and having the vision of debt +before her eyes, she prevailed on her aunt to wait to see what the night +brought forth, before sending for the doctor. Meanwhile Dr Bed, +infinitely cleverest and infinitely safest of physicians, was called in, +and with him was associated that excellent general practitioner Dr +Wait. Hot flannels, hot bottles, hot possets, and a bedroom fire were +exhibited, and when at nine o'clock Miss Joliffe kissed her niece and +retired for the night, she by no means despaired of the patient's speedy +recovery from so sudden and unaccountable an attack. + +Anastasia was alone; what a relief to be alone again, though she felt +that such a thought was treasonable and unkind to the warm old heart +that had just left her, to that warm old heart which yearned so deeply +to her, but with which she had not shared her story! She was alone, and +she lay a little while in quiet content looking at the fire through the +iron bars at the foot of her bedstead. It was the first bedroom fire +she had had for two years, and she enjoyed the luxury with a pleasure +proportionate to its rarity. She was not sleepy, but grew gradually +more composed, and was able to reflect on the letter which she had +promised to write. It would be difficult, and she assured herself with +much vigour that it must raise insurmountable obstacles, that they were +obstacles which one in Lord Blandamer's position must admit to be quite +insurmountable. Yes, in this letter she would write the colophon of so +wondrous a romance, the epilogue of so amazing a tragedy. But it was +her conscience that demanded the sacrifice, and she took the more +pleasure in making it, because she felt at heart that the pound of flesh +might never really after all be cut. + +How thoroughly do we enjoy these sacrifices to conscience, these +followings of honour's code severe, when we know that none will be mean +enough to take us at our word! To what easily-gained heights of +morality does it raise us to protest that we never could accept the gift +that will eventually be forced into our reluctant hands, to insist that +we regard as the shortest of loans the money which we never shall be +called upon to repay. It was something of the same sort with Anastasia. +She told herself that by her letter she would give the death-blow to +her love, and perhaps believed what she told, yet all the while kept +hope hidden at the bottom of the box, even as in the most real perils of +a dream we sometimes are supported by the sub-waking sense that we _are_ +dreaming. + +A little later Anastasia was sitting before her bedroom fire writing. +It has a magic of its own--the bedroom fire. Not such a one as night by +night warms hothouse bedrooms of the rich, but that which burns but once +or twice a year. How the coals glow between the bars, how the red light +shimmers on the black-lead bricks, how the posset steams upon the hob! +Milk or tea, cocoa or coffee, poor commonplace liquids, are they not +transmuted in the alembic of a bedroom fire, till they become nepenthe +for a heartache or a philtre for romance? Ah, the romance of it, when +youth forestalls to-morrow's conquest, when middle life forgets that +yesterday is past for ever, when even querulous old age thinks it may +still have its "honour and its toil"! + +An old blue cloak, which served the turn of dressing-gown, had fallen +apart in the exigencies of composition, and showed underlying tracts of +white nightgown. Below, the firelight fell on bare feet resting on the +edge of the brass fender till the heat made her curl up her toes, and +above, the firelight contoured certain generous curves. The roundness +and the bloom of maidenhood was upon her, that bloom so transient, so +irreplaceable, that renders any attempt to simulate it so +profoundly ludicrous. The mass of dark hair, which turned +lying-and-mischief-making Mrs Flint so envious, was gathered behind +with a bow of black ribbon, and hung loosely over the back of her chair. +She sat there writing and rewriting, erasing, blotting, tearing up, +till the night was far spent, till she feared that the modest resources +of the _papeterie_ would be exhausted before toil came to fruition. + +It was finished at last, and if it was a little formal or high-flown, or +stilted, is not a certain formality postulated on momentous occasions? +Who would write that he was "delighted" to accept a bishopric? Who +would go to a levee in a straw hat? + + "Dear Lord Blandamer" (the letter ran), + + "I do not know how I ought to write to you, for I have little + experience of life to guide me. I thank you with all my heart for + what you have told me. I am glad to think of it, and I always shall + be. I believe there must be many strong reasons why you should not + think of marrying me, yet if there are, you must know them far better + than I, and you have disregarded them. But there is one reason that + you cannot know, for it is known to very few; I hope it is known only + to some of our own relations. Perhaps I ought not to write of it at + all, but I have no one to advise me. I mean what is right, and if I + am doing wrong you will forgive me, will you not? and burn this letter + when you have read it. + + "I have no right to the name I am called by; my cousins in the Market + Place think we should use some other, but we do not even know what our + real name would be. When my grandmother married old Mr Joliffe, she + had already a son two or three years old. This son was my father, and + Mr Joliffe adopted him; but my grandmother had no right to any but + her maiden name. We never knew what that was, though my father tried + all his life to find it out, and thought he was very near finding out + when he fell into his last illness. We think his head must have been + affected, for he used to say strange things about his parentage. + Perhaps the thought of this disgrace troubled him, as it has often + troubled me, though I never thought it would trouble me so much as + now. + + "I have not told my aunt about what you have said to me, and no one + else shall ever know it, but it will be the sweetest memory to me of + all my life. + + "Your very sincere friend, + + "Anastasia Joliffe." + +It was finished at last; she had slain all her hopes, she had slain her +love. He would never marry her, he would never come near her again; but +she had unburdened herself of her secret, and she could not have married +him with that secret untold. It was three o'clock when she crept back +again to bed. The fire had gone out, she was very cold, and she was +glad to get back to her bed. Then Nature came to her aid and sent her +kindly sleep, and if her sleep was not dreamless, she dreamt of dresses, +and horses, and carriages, of men-servants, and maid-servants, of Lady +Blandamer's great house of Fording, and of Lady Blandamer's husband. + +Lord Blandamer also sat up very late that night. As he read before +another bedroom fire he turned the pages of his book with the utmost +regularity; his cigar never once went out. There was nothing to show +that his thoughts wandered, nothing to show that his mind was in any way +preoccupied. He was reading Eugenid's "Aristeia" of the pagans martyred +under Honorius; and weighed the pros and cons of the argument as +dispassionately as if the events of the afternoon had never taken place, +as if there had been no such person as Anastasia Joliffe in the world. + +Anastasia's letter reached him the next day at lunch, but he finished +his meal before opening it. Yet he must have known whence it came, for +there was a bold "Bellevue Lodge" embossed in red on the flap of the +envelope. Martin Joliffe had ordered stamped paper and envelopes years +ago, because he said that people of whom he made genealogical inquiries +paid more attention to stamped than to plain paper--it was a credential +of respectability. In Cullerne this had been looked upon as a gross +instance of his extravagance; Mrs Bulteel and Canon Parkyn alone could +use headed paper with propriety, and even the rectory only printed, and +did not emboss. Martin had exhausted his supply years ago, and never +ordered a second batch, because the first was still unpaid for; but +Anastasia kept by her half a dozen of these fateful envelopes. She had +purloined them when she was a girl at school, and to her they were still +a cherished remnant of gentility, that pallium under which so many of us +would fain hide our rags. She had used one on this momentous occasion; +it seemed a fitting cover for despatches to Fording, and might divert +attention from the straw paper on which her letter was written. + +Lord Blandamer had seen the Bellevue Lodge, had divined the genesis of +the embossed inscription, had unravelled all Anastasia's thoughts in +using it, yet let the letter lie till he had finished lunch. When he +read it afterwards he criticised it as he might the composition of a +stranger, as a document with which he had no very close concern. Yet he +appreciated the effort which it must have cost the girl to write it, was +touched by her words, and felt a certain grave compassion for her. But +it was the strange juggle of circumstance, the Sophoclean irony of a +position of which he alone held the key, that most impressed themselves +upon his mood. + +He ordered his horse, and took the road to Cullerne, but his agent met +him before he had passed the first lodge, and asked some further +instructions for the planting at the top of the park. So he turned and +rode up to the great belt of beeches which was then being planted, and +was so long engaged there that dusk forced him to abandon his journey to +the town. He rode back to Fording at a foot-pace, choosing devious +paths, and enjoying the sunset in the autumn woods. He would write to +Anastasia, and put off his visit till the next day. + +With him there was no such wholesale destruction of writing-paper as had +attended Anastasia's efforts on the previous night. One single sheet +saw his letter begun and ended, a quarter of an hour sufficed for +committing his sentiments very neatly to writing; he flung off his +sentences easily, as easily as Odysseus tossed his heavy stone beyond +all the marks of the Phaeacians: + + "My dearest Child, + + "I need not speak now of the weary hours of suspense which I passed in + waiting for your letter. They are over, and all is sunshine after the + clouds. I need not tell you how my heart beat when I saw an envelope + with your address, nor how eagerly my fingers tore it open, for now + all is happiness. Thank you, a thousand times thank you for your + letter; it is like you, all candour, all kindness, and all truth. Put + aside your scruples; everything that you say is not a featherweight in + the balance; do not trouble about your name in the past, for you will + have a new name in the future. It is not I, but you, who overlook + obstacles, for have you not overlooked all the years that lie between + your age and mine? I have but a moment to scribble these lines; you + must forgive their weakness, and take for said all that should be + said. I shall be with you to-morrow morning, and till then am, in all + love and devotion, + + "Yours, + + "Blandamer." + +He did not even read it through before he sealed it up, for he was in a +hurry to get back to Eugenid and to the "Aristeia" of the heathens +martyred under Honorius. + +Two days later, Miss Joliffe put on her Sunday mantle and bonnet in the +middle of the week, and went down to the Market Place to call on her +cousin the pork-butcher. Her attire at once attracted attention. The +only justification for such extravagance would be some parish function +or festivity, and nothing of that sort could be going on without the +knowledge of the churchwarden's family. Nor was it only the things +which she wore, but the manner in which she wore them, that was so +remarkable. As she entered the parlour at the back of the shop, where +the pork-butcher's lady and daughters were sitting, they thought that +they had never seen their cousin look so well dressed. She had lost the +pinched, perplexed, down-trodden air which had overcast her later years; +there was in her face a serenity and content which communicated itself +in some mysterious way even to her apparel. + +"Cousin Euphemia looks quite respectable this morning," whispered the +younger to the elder daughter; and they had to examine her closely +before they convinced themselves that only a piece of mauve ribbon in +her bonnet was new, and that the coat and dress were just the same as +they had seen every Sunday for two years past. + +With "nods and becks and wreathed smiles" Miss Euphemia seated herself. +"I have just popped in," she began, and the very phrase had something in +it so light and flippant that her listeners started--"I have just popped +in for a minute to tell you some news. You have always been particular, +my dears, that no one except your branch had a right to the name of +Joliffe in this town. You can't deny, Maria," she said deprecatingly to +the churchwarden's wife, "that you have always held out that you were +the real Joliffes, and been a little sore with me and Anstice for +calling ourselves by what we thought we had a right to. Well, now there +will be one less outside your family to use the name of Joliffe, for +Anstice is going to give it up. Somebody has offered to find another +name for her." + +The real Joliffes exchanged glances, and thought of the junior partner +in the drapery shop, who had affirmed with an oath that Anastasia +Joliffe did as much justice to his goods as any girl in Cullerne; and +thought again of the young farmer who was known for certain to let Miss +Euphemia have eggs at a penny cheaper than anyone else. + +"Yes, Anstice is going to change her name, so that will be one grievance +the less. And another thing that will make matters straighter between +us, Maria: I can promise the little bit of silver shall never go out of +the family. You know what I mean--the teapot and the spoons marked with +`J' that you've always claimed for yours by right. I shall leave them +all back to you when my time comes; Anstice will never want such odds +and ends in the station to which she's called now." + +The real Joliffes looked at each other again, and thought of young +Bulteel, who had helped Anastasia with the gas-standards when the +minster was decorated at Christmas. Or was it possible that her +affected voice and fine lady airs had after all caught Mr Westray, that +rather good-looking and interesting young man, on whom both the +churchwarden's daughters were not without hopes of making an impression? + +Miss Joliffe enjoyed their curiosity; she was in a teasing and +mischievous mood, to which she had been a stranger for thirty years. + +"Yes," she said, "I am one that like to own up to it when I make a +mistake, and I will state I _have_ made a mistake. I suppose I must +take to spectacles; it seems I cannot see things that are going on under +my very eyes--no, not even when they are pointed out to me. I've come +round to tell you, Maria, one and all, that I was completely mistaken +when I told the churchwarden that it was not on Anstice's account that +Lord Blandamer has been visiting at Bellevue Lodge. It seems it was +just for that he came, and the proof of it is he's going to marry her. +In three weeks' time she will be Lady Blandamer, and if you want to say +goodbye to her you'd better come back and have tea with me now, for +she's packed her box, and is off to London to-morrow. Mrs Howard, who +keeps the school in Carisbury where Anstice went in dear Martin's +lifetime, will meet her and take charge of her, and get her trousseau. +Lord Blandamer has arranged it all, and he is going to marry Anstice and +take her for a long tour on the Continent, and I'm sure I don't know +where else." + +It was all true. Lord Blandamer made no secret of the matter, and his +engagement to Anastasia, only child of the late Martin Joliffe, Esquire, +of Cullerne, was duly announced in the London papers. It was natural +that Westray should have known vacillation and misgiving before he made +up his mind to offer marriage. It is with a man whose family or +position are not strong enough to bear any extra strain, that public +opinion plays so large a part in such circumstances. If he marries +beneath him he falls to the wife's level, because he has no margin of +resource to raise her to his own. With Lord Blandamer it was different: +his reliance upon himself was so great, that he seemed to enjoy rather +than not, the flinging down of a gauntlet to the public in this +marriage. + +Bellevue Lodge became a centre of attraction. The ladies who had +contemned a lodging-house keeper's daughter courted the betrothed of a +peer. From themselves they did not disguise the motive for this change, +they did not even attempt to find an excuse in public. They simply +executed their _volte face_ simultaneously and with most commendable +regularity, and felt no more reluctance or shame in the process than a +cat feels in following the man who carries its meat. If they were +disappointed in not seeing Anastasia herself (for she left for London +almost immediately after the engagement was made public), they were in +some measure compensated by the extreme readiness of Miss Euphemia to +discuss the matter in all its bearings. Each and every detail was +conscientiously considered and enlarged upon, from the buttons on Lord +Blandamer's boots to the engagement-ring on Anastasia's finger; and Miss +Joliffe was never tired of explaining that this last had an emerald--"A +very large emerald, my dear, surrounded by diamonds, green and white +being the colours of his lordship's shield, what they call the nebuly +coat, you know." + +A variety of wedding gifts found their way to Bellevue Lodge. "Great +events, such as marriages and deaths, certainly do call forth the +sympathy of our neighbours in a wonderful way," Miss Joliffe said, with +all the seriousness of an innocent belief in the general goodness of +mankind. "Till Anstice was engaged, I never knew, I am sure, how many +friends I had in Cullerne." She showed "the presents" to successive +callers, who examined them with the more interest because they had +already seen most of them in the shop-windows of Cullerne, and so were +able to appreciate the exact monetary outlay with which their +acquaintances thought it prudent to conciliate the Fording interest. +Every form of useless ugliness was amply represented among them-- +vulgarity masqueraded as taste, niggardliness figured as generosity--and +if Miss Joliffe was proud of them as she forwarded them from Cullerne, +Anastasia was heartily ashamed of them when they reached her in London. + +"We must let bygones be bygones," said Mrs Parkyn to her husband with +truly Christian forbearance, "and if this young man's choice has not +fallen exactly where we could have wished, we must remember, after all, +that he _is_ Lord Blandamer, and make the best of the lady for his sake. +We must give her a present; in your position as Rector you could not +afford to be left out. Everyone, I hear, is giving something." + +"Well, don't let it be anything extravagant," he said, laying down his +paper, for his interest was aroused by any question of expense. "A too +costly gift would be quite out of place under the circumstances. It +should be rather an expression of goodwill to Lord Blandamer than +anything of much intrinsic value." + +"Of course, of course. You may trust me not to do anything foolish. I +have my eye on just the thing. There is a beautiful set of four +salt-cellars with their spoons at Laverick's, in a case lined with +puffed satin. They only cost thirty-three shillings, and look worth at +least three pounds." + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +The wedding was quiet, and there being no newspapers at that time to +take such matters for their province, Cullerne curiosity had to be +contented with the bare announcement: "At Saint Agatha's-at-Bow, Horatio +Sebastian Fynes, Lord Blandamer, to Anastasia, only child of the late +Michael Joliffe, of Cullerne Wharfe." Mrs Bulteel had been heard to +say that she could not allow dear Lord Blandamer to be married without +her being there. Canon Parkyn and Mrs Parkyn felt that their presence +also was required _ex-officio_, and Clerk Janaway averred with some +redundancies of expletive that he, too, "must see 'em turned off." He +hadn't been to London for twenty year. If 'twere to cost a sovereign, +why, 'twas a poor heart that never made merry, and he would never live +to see another Lord Blandamer married. Yet none of them went, for time +and place were not revealed. + +But Miss Joliffe was there, and on her return to Cullerne she held +several receptions at Bellevue Lodge, at which only the wedding and the +events connected with it were discussed. She was vested for these +functions in a new dress of coffee-coloured silk, and what with a +tea-urn hissing in Mr Sharnall's room, and muffins, toast, and +sweet-cakes, there were such goings-on in the house, as had not been +seen since the last coach rolled away from the old Hand of God thirty +years before. The company were very gracious and even affectionate, and +Miss Joliffe, in the exhilaration of the occasion, forgot all those +cold-shoulderings and askance looks which had grieved her at a certain +Dorcas meeting only a few weeks before. + +At these reunions many important particulars transpired. The wedding +had been celebrated early in the morning at the special instance of the +bride; only Mrs Howard and Miss Euphemia herself were present. Anstice +had worn a travelling dress of dark-green cloth, so that she might go +straight from the church to the station. "And, my dears," she said, +with a glance of all-embracing benevolence, "she looked a perfect young +peeress." + +The kind and appreciative audience, who had all been expecting and +hoping for the past six weeks, that some bolt might fall from the blue +to rob Anastasia of her triumph, were so astonished at the wedding +having finally taken place that they could not muster a sneer among +them. Only lying-and-mischief-making Mrs Flint found courage for a +sniff, and muttered something to her next neighbour about there being +such things as mock marriages. + +The honeymoon was much extended. Lord and Lady Blandamer went first to +the Italian lakes, and thence, working their way home by Munich, +Nuremburg, and the Rhine, travelled by such easy stages that autumn had +set in when they reached Paris. There they wintered, and there in the +spring was born a son and heir to all the Blandamer estates. The news +caused much rejoicing in the domain; and when it was announced that the +family were returning to Cullerne, it was decided to celebrate the event +by ringing a peal from the tower of Saint Sepulchre's. The proposal +originated with Canon Parkyn. + +"It is a graceful compliment," he said, "to the nobleman to whose +munificence the restoration is so largely due. We must show him how +much stronger we have made our old tower, eh, Mr Westray? We must get +the Carisbury ringers over to teach Cullerne people how such things +should be done. Sir George will have to stand out of his fees longer +than ever, if he is to wait till the tower tumbles down now. Eh, eh?" + +"Ah, I do so dote on these old customs," assented his wife. "It is so +delightful, a merry peal. I do think these good old customs should +always be kept up." It was the cheapness of the entertainment that +particularly appealed to her. "But is it necessary, my dear," she +demurred, "to bring the ringers over from Carisbury? They are a sad +drunken lot. I am sure there must be plenty of young men in Cullerne, +who would delight to help ring the bells on such an occasion." + +But Westray would have none of it. It was true, he said, that the +tie-rods were fixed, and the tower that much the stronger; but he could +countenance no ringing till the great south-east pier had been properly +under-pinned. + +His remonstrances found little favour. Lord Blandamer would think it so +ungracious. Lady Blandamer, to be sure, counted for very little; it was +ridiculous, in fact, to think of ringing the minster bells for a +landlady's niece, but Lord Blandamer would certainly be offended. + +"I call that clerk of the works a vain young upstart," Mrs Parkyn said +to her husband. "I cannot think how you keep your temper with such a +popinjay. I hope you will not allow yourself to be put upon again. You +are so sweet-tempered and forbearing, that _everyone_ takes advantage of +you." + +So she stirred him up till he assured her with considerable boldness +that he was _not_ a man to be dictated to; the bells _should_ be rung, +and he would get Sir George's views to fortify his own. Then Sir George +wrote one of those cheery little notes for which he was famous, with a +proper admixture of indifferent puns and a classic conceit: that when +Gratitude was climbing the temple steps to lay an offering on Hymen's +altar, Prudence must wait silent at the base till she came down. + +Sir George should have been a doctor, his friends said; his manner was +always so genial and reassuring. So having turned these happy phrases, +and being overwhelmed with the grinding pressure of a great practice, he +dismissed the tower of Saint Sepulchre from his mind, and left Rector +and ringers to their own devices. + +Thus on an autumn afternoon there was a sound in Cullerne that few of +the inhabitants had ever heard, and the little town stopped its business +to listen to the sweetest peal in all the West Country. How they swung +and rung and sung together, the little bells and the great bells, from +Beata Maria, the sweet, silver-voiced treble, to Taylor John, the +deep-voiced tenor, that the Guild of Merchant Taylors had given three +hundred years ago. There was a charm in the air like the singing of +innumerable birds; people flung up their windows to listen, people stood +in the shop-doors to listen, and the melody went floating away over the +salt-marshes, till the fishermen taking up their lobster-pots paused in +sheer wonder at a music that they had never heard before. + +It seemed as if the very bells were glad to break their long repose; +they sang together like the morning stars, they shouted together like +the sons of God for joy. They remembered the times that were gone, and +how they had rung when Abbot Harpingdon was given his red hat, and rung +again when Henry defended the Faith by suppressing the Abbey, and again +when Mary defended the Faith by restoring the Mass, and again when Queen +Bess was given a pair of embroidered gloves as she passed through the +Market Place on her way to Fording. They remembered the long +counter-change of life and death that had passed under the red roofs at +their feet, they remembered innumerable births and marriages and +funerals of old time; they sang together like the morning stars, they +shouted together like the sons of God for joy, they shouted for joy. + +The Carisbury ringers came over after all; and Mrs Parkyn bore their +advent with less misgiving, in the hope that directly Lord Blandamer +heard of the honour that was done him, he would send a handsome donation +for the ringers as he had already sent to the workhouse, and the old +folk, and the school-children of Cullerne. The ropes and the cage, and +the pins and the wheels, had all been carefully overhauled; and when the +day came, the ringers stood to their work like men, and rang a full peal +of grandsire triples in two hours and fifty-nine minutes. + +There was a little cask of Bulteel's brightest tenpenny that some +magician's arm had conjured up through the well-hole in the belfry +floor: and Clerk Janaway, for all he was teetotaler, eyed the foaming +pots wistfully as he passed them round after the work was done. + +"Well," he said, "there weren't no int'rupted peal this time, were +there? These here old bells never had a finer set of ringing-men under +them, and I lay you never had a finer set of bells above your heads, my +lads; now did 'ee? I've heard the bells swung many a time in Carisbury +tower, and heard 'em when the Queen was set upon her throne, but, lor'! +they arn't so deep-like nor yet so sweet as this here old ring. Perhaps +they've grow'd the sweeter for lying by a bit, like port in the cellars +of the Blandamer Arms, though I've heard Dr Ennefer say some of it was +turned so like sherry, that no man living couldn't tell the difference." + +Westray had bowed like loyal subaltern to the verdict of his Chief. Sir +George's decision that the bells might safely be rung lifted the +responsibility from the young man's shoulders, but not the anxiety from +his mind. He never left the church while the peal was ringing. First +he was in the bell-chamber steadying himself by the beams of the cage, +while he marked the wide-mouthed bells now open heavenwards, now turn +back with a rush into the darkness below. Then he crept deafened with +the clangour down the stairs into the belfry, and sat on the sill of a +window watching the ringers rise and fall at their work. He felt the +tower sway restlessly under the stress of the swinging metal, but there +was nothing unusual in the motion; there was no falling of mortar, +nothing to attract any special attention. Then he went down into the +church, and up again into the organ-loft, whence he could see the wide +bow of that late Norman arch which spanned the south transept. + +Above the arch ran up into the lantern the old fissure, zigzag like a +baleful lightning-flash, that had given him so much anxiety. The day +was overcast, and heavy masses of cloud drifting across the sky darkened +the church. But where the shadows hung heaviest, under a stone gallery +passage that ran round the inside of the lantern, could be traced one of +those heavy tie-rods with which the tower had recently been +strengthened. Westray was glad to think that the ties were there; he +hoped that they might indeed support the strain which this bell-ringing +was bringing on the tower; he hoped that Sir George was right, and that +he, Westray, was wrong. Yet he had pasted a strip of paper across the +crack, so that by tearing it might give warning if any serious movement +were taking place. + +As he leant over the screen of the organ-loft, he thought of that +afternoon when he had first seen signs of the arch moving, of that +afternoon when the organist was playing "Sharnall in D flat." How much +had happened since then! He thought of that scene which had happened in +this very loft, of Sharnall's end, of the strange accident that had +terminated a sad life on that wild night. What a strange accident it +was, what a strange thing that Sharnall should have been haunted by that +wandering fancy of a man following him with a hammer, and then have been +found in this very loft, with the desperate wound on him that the +pedal-note had dealt! How much had happened--his own proposal to +Anastasia, his refusal, and now that event for which the bells were +ringing! How quickly the scenes changed! What a creature of an hour +was he, was every man, in face of these grim walls that had stood +enduring, immutable, for generation after generation, for age after age! +And then he smiled as he thought that these eternal realities of stone +were all created by ephemeral man; that he, ephemeral man, was even now +busied with schemes for their support, with anxieties lest they should +fall and grind to powder all below. + +The bells sounded fainter and far off inside the church. As they +reached his ears through the heavy stone roof they were more harmonious, +all harshness was softened; the _sordino_ of the vaulting produced the +effect of a muffled peal. He could hear deep-voiced Taylor John go +striding through his singing comrades in the intricacies of the Treble +Bob Triples, and yet there was another voice in Westray's ears that made +itself heard even above the booming of the tenor bell. It was the cry +of the tower arches, the small still voice that had haunted him ever +since he had been at Cullerne. "The arch never sleeps," they said--"the +arch never sleeps;" and again, "They have bound on us a burden too heavy +to be borne; but we are shifting it. The arch never sleeps." + +The ringers were approaching the end; they had been at their work for +near three hours, the 5,040 changes were almost finished. Westray went +down from the organ-loft, and as he walked through the church the very +last change was rung. Before the hum and mutter had died out of the +air, and while the red-faced ringers in the belfry were quaffing their +tankards, the architect had made his way to the scaffolding, and stood +face to face with the zigzag crack. He looked at it carefully, as a +doctor might examine a wound; he thrust his hand like Thomas into the +dark fissure. No, there was no change; the paper strip was unbroken, +the tie-rods had done their work nobly. Sir George had been quite right +after all. + +And as he looked there was the very faintest noise heard--a whisper, a +mutter, a noise so slight that it might have passed a hundred times +unnoticed. But to the architect's ear it spoke as loudly as a +thunderclap. He knew exactly what it was and whence it came; and +looking at the crack, saw that the broad paper strip was torn half-way +across. It was a small affair; the paper strip was not quite parted, it +was only torn half-way through. Though Westray watched for an hour, no +further change took place. The ringers had left the tower, the little +town had resumed its business. Clerk Janaway was walking across the +church, when he saw the architect leaning against a cross-pole of the +scaffolding, on the platform high up under the arch of the south +transept. + +"I'm just a-locking up," he called out. "You've got your own key, sir, +no doubt?" + +Westray gave an almost imperceptible nod. + +"Well, we haven't brought the tower down this time," the clerk went on. +But Westray made no answer; his eyes were fixed on the little half-torn +strip of paper, and he had no thought for anything else. A minute later +the old man stood beside him on the platform, puffing after the ladders +that he had climbed. "No int'rupted peal this time," he said; "we've +fair beat the neb'ly coat at last. Lord Blandamer back, and an heir to +keep the family going. Looks as if the neb'ly coat was losing a bit of +his sting, don't it?" But Westray was moody, and said nothing. "Why +what's the matter? You bain't took bad, be you?" + +"Don't bother me now," the architect said sharply. "I wish to Heaven +the peal _had_ been interrupted. I wish your bells had never been rung. +Look there"--and he pointed at the strip of paper. + +The clerk went closer to the crack, and looked hard at the silent +witness. "Lor' bless you! that ain't nothing," he said; "'tis only just +the jarring of the bells done that. You don't expect a mushet of paper +to stand as firm as an anvil-stone, when Taylor John's a-swinging up +aloft." + +"Look you," Westray said; "you were in church this morning. Do you +remember the lesson about the prophet sending his servant up to the top +of a hill, to look at the sea? The man went up ever so many times and +saw nothing. Last he saw a little cloud like a man's hand rising out of +the sea, and after that the heaven grew black, and the storm broke. I'm +not sure that bit of torn paper isn't the man's hand for this tower." + +"Don't bother yourself," rejoined the clerk; "the man's hand showed the +rain was a-coming, and the rain was just what they wanted. I never can +make out why folks twist the Scripture round and make the man's hand +into something bad. 'Twas a _good_ thing, so take heart and get home to +your victuals; you can't mend that bit of paper for all your staring at +it." + +Westray paid no attention to his remarks, and the old man wished him +good-night rather stiffly. "Well," he said, as he turned down the +ladder, "I'm off. I've got to be in my garden afore dark, for they're +going to seal the leek leaves to-night against the leek-show next week. +My grandson took first prize last year, and his old grandad had to put +up with eleventh; but I've got half a dozen leeks this season as'll beat +any plant that's growed in Cullerne." + +By the next morning the paper strip was entirely parted. Westray wrote +to Sir George, but history only repeated itself; for his Chief again +made light of the matter, and gave the young man a strong hint that he +was making mountains of molehills, that he was unduly nervous, that his +place was to diligently carry out the instructions he had received. +Another strip of paper was pasted across the crack, and remained intact. +It seemed as if the tower had come to rest again, but Westray's +scruples were not so easily allayed this time, and he took measures for +pushing forward the under-pinning of the south-east pier with all +possible despatch. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +That inclination or predilection of Westray's for Anastasia, which he +had been able to persuade himself was love, had passed away. His peace +of mind was now completely restored, and he discounted the humiliation +of refusal, by reflecting that the girl's affections must have been +already engaged at the time of his proposal. He was ready to admit that +Lord Blandamer would in any case have been a formidable competitor, but +if they had started for the race at the same time he would have been +quite prepared to back his own chances. Against his rival's position +and wealth, might surely have been set his own youth, regularity of +life, and professional skill; but it was a mere tilting against +windmills to try to win a heart that was already another's. Thus +disturbing influences were gradually composed, and he was able to devote +an undivided attention to his professional work. + +As the winter evenings set in, he found congenial occupation in an +attempt to elucidate the heraldry of the great window at the end of the +south transept. He made sketches of the various shields blazoned in it, +and with the aid of a county history, and a manual which Dr Ennefer had +lent him, succeeded in tracing most of the alliances represented by the +various quarterings. These all related to marriages of the Blandamer +family, for Van Linge had filled the window with glass to the order of +the third Lord Blandamer, and the sea-green and silver of the nebuly +coat was many times repeated, beside figuring in chief at the head of +the window. In these studies Westray was glad to have Martin Joliffe's +papers by him. There was in them a mass of information which bore on +the subject of the architect's inquiries, for Martin had taken the +published genealogy of the Blandamer family, and elaborated and +corrected it by all kinds of investigation as to marriages and +collaterals. + +The story of Martin's delusion, the idea of the doited grey-beard whom +the boys called "Old Nebuly," had been so firmly impressed on Westray's +mind, that when he first turned over the papers he expected to find in +them little more than the hallucinations of a madman. But by degrees he +became aware that however disconnected many of Martin's notes might +appear, they possessed a good deal of interest, and the coherence which +results from a particular object being kept more or less continuously in +view. Besides endless genealogies and bits of family history extracted +from books, there were recorded all kinds of personal impressions and +experiences, which Martin had met with in his journeyings. But in all +his researches and expeditions he professed to have but one object--the +discovery of his father's name; though what record he hoped to find, or +where or how he hoped to find it, whether in document or register or +inscription, was nowhere set out. + +It was evident that the old fancy that he was the rightful owner of +Fording, which had been suggested to him in his Oxford days, had taken +such hold of his mind that no subsequent experience had been able to +dislodge it. Of half his parentage there was no doubt. His mother was +that Sophia Flannery who had married Yeoman Joliffe, had painted the +famous picture of the flowers and caterpillar, and done many other +things less reputable; but over his father hung a veil of obscurity +which Martin had tried all his life to lift. Westray had heard those +early stories from Clerk Janaway a dozen times, how that when Yeoman +Joliffe took Sophia to church she brought him a four-year-old son by a +former marriage. By a former _marriage_ Martin had always stoutly +maintained, as in duty bound, for any other theory would have +dishonoured himself. With his mother's honour he had little concern, +for where was the use of defending the memory of a mother who had made +shipwreck of her own reputation with soldiers and horse-copers? It was +this previous marriage that Martin had tried so hard to establish, tried +all the harder because other folk had wagged their heads and said there +was no marriage to discover, that Sophia was neither wife nor widow. + +Towards the end of his notes it seemed as if he had found some clue--had +found some clue, or thought that he had found it. In this game of hunt +the slipper he had imagined that he was growing "hotter" and "hotter" +till death balked him at the finish. Westray recollected Mr Sharnall +saying more than once that Martin had been on the brink of solving the +riddle when the end overtook him. And Sharnall, too, had he not almost +grasped the Will-of-the-wisp when fate tripped _him_ on that windy +night? Many thoughts came to Westray's mind as he turned these papers, +many memories of others who had turned them before him. He thought of +clever, worthless Martin, who had wasted his days on their writing, who +had neglected home and family for their sake; he thought of the little +organist who had held them in his feverish hands, who had hoped by some +dramatic discovery to illumine the dark setting of his own life. And as +Westray read, the interest grew with him too, till it absorbed the +heraldry of the Blandamer window from which the whole matter had +started. He began to comprehend the vision that had possessed Martin, +that had so stirred the organist's feelings; he began to think that it +was reserved for himself to make the long-sought discovery, and that he +had in his own hand the clue to the strangest of romances. + +One evening as he sat by the fire, with a plan in his hands and a litter +of Martin's papers lying on a table at his side, there was a tap at the +door, and Miss Joliffe entered. They were still close friends in spite +of his leaving Bellevue Lodge. However sorry she had been at the time +to lose her lodger, she recognised that the course he had taken was +correct, and, indeed, obligatory. She was glad that he had seen his +duty in this matter; it would have been quite impossible for any man of +ordinary human feelings, to continue to live on in the same house under +such circumstances. To have made a bid for Anstice's hand, and to have +been refused, was a blow that moved her deepest pity, and she +endeavoured in many ways to show her consideration for the victim. +Providence had no doubt overruled everything for the best in ordaining +that Anstice should refuse Mr Westray, but Miss Joliffe had favoured +his suit, and had been sorry at the time that it was not successful. So +there existed between them that curious sympathy, which generally exists +between a rejected lover and a woman who has done her best to further +his proposal. They had since met not unfrequently, and the year which +had elapsed had sufficiently blunted the edge of Westray's +disappointment, to enable him to talk of the matter with equanimity. He +took a sad pleasure in discussing with Miss Joliffe the motives which +might have conduced to so inexplicable a refusal, and in considering +whether his offer would have been accepted if it had been made a little +sooner or in another manner. Nor was the subject in any way distasteful +to her, for she felt a reflected glory in the fact of her niece having +first refused a thoroughly eligible proposal, and having afterwards +accepted one transcendently better. + +"Forgive me, sir--forgive me, Mr Westray," she corrected herself, +remembering that their relation was no longer one of landlady and +lodger. "I am sorry to intrude on you so late, but it is difficult to +find you in during the day. There is a matter that has been weighing +lately on my mind. You have never taken away the picture of the +flowers, which you and dear Mr Sharnall purchased of me. I have not +hurried in the matter, feeling I should like to see you nicely settled +in before it was moved, but now it is time all was set right, so I have +brought it over to-night." + +If her dress was no longer threadbare, it was still of the neatest +black, and if she had taken to wearing every day the moss-agate brooch +which had formerly been reserved for Sundays, she was still the very +same old sweet-tempered, spontaneous, Miss Joliffe as in time past. +Westray looked at her with something like affection. + +"Sit down," he said, offering her a chair; "did you say you had brought +the picture with you?" and he scanned her as if he expected to see it +produced from her pocket. + +"Yes," she said; "my maid is bringing it upstairs"--and there was just a +suspicion of hesitation on the word "maid," that showed that she was +still unaccustomed to the luxury of being waited on. + +It was with great difficulty that she had been persuaded to accept such +an allowance at Anastasia's hands, as would enable her to live on at +Bellevue Lodge and keep a single servant; and if it brought her infinite +relief to find that Lord Blandamer had paid all Martin's bills within a +week of his engagement, such generosity filled her at the same time with +a multitude of scruples. Lord Blandamer had wished her to live with +them at Fording, but he was far too considerate and appreciative of the +situation to insist on this proposal when he saw that such a change +would be uncongenial to her. So she remained at Cullerne, and spent her +time in receiving with dignity visits from the innumerable friends that +she found she now possessed, and in the fullest enjoyment of church +services, meetings, parish work, and other privileges. + +"It is very good of you, Miss Joliffe," Westray said; "it is very kind +of you to think of the picture. But," he went on, with a too vivid +recollection of the painting, "I know how much you have always prized +it, and I could not bear to take it away from Bellevue Lodge. You see, +Mr Sharnall, who was part owner with me, is dead; I am only making you +a present of half of it, so you must accept that from me as a little +token of gratitude for all the kindness you have shown me. You _have_ +been very kind to me, you know," he said with a sigh, which was meant to +recall Miss Joliffe's friendliness, and his own grief, in the affair of +the proposal. + +Miss Joliffe was quick to take the cue, and her voice was full of +sympathy. "Dear Mr Westray, you know how glad I should have been if +all could have happened as you wished. Yet we should try to recognise +the ordering of Providence in these things, and bear sorrow with +meekness. But about the picture, you must let me have my own way this +once. There may come a time, and that before very long, when I shall be +able to buy it back from you just as we arranged, and then I am sure you +will let me have it. But for the present it must be with you, and if +anything should happen to me I should wish you to keep it altogether." + +Westray had meant to insist on her retaining the picture; he would not +for a second time submit to be haunted with the gaudy flowers and the +green caterpillar. But while she spoke, there fell upon him one of +those gusty changes of purpose to which he was peculiarly liable. There +came into his mind that strange insistence with which Sharnall had +begged him at all hazards to retain possession of the picture. It +seemed as if there might be some mysterious influence which had brought +Miss Joliffe with it just now, and that he might be playing false to his +trust with Sharnall if he sent it back again. So he did not remain +obdurate, but said: "Well, if you really wish it, I will keep the +picture for a time, and whenever you want it you can take it back +again." While he was speaking there was a sound of stumbling on the +stairs outside, and a bang as if something heavy had been let drop. + +"It is that stupid girl again," Miss Joliffe said; "she is always +tumbling about. I am sure she has broken more china in the six months +she has been with me than was broken before in six years." + +They went to the door, and as Westray opened it great red-faced and +smiling Anne Janaway walked in, bearing the glorious picture of the +flowers and caterpillar. + +"What have you been doing now?" her mistress asked sharply. + +"Very sorry, mum," said the maid, mingling some indignation with her +apology, "this here gurt paint tripped I up. I'm sure I hope I haven't +hurt un"--and she planted the picture on the floor against the table. + +Miss Joliffe scanned the picture with an eye which was trained to detect +the very flakiest chip on a saucer, the very faintest scratch upon a +teapot. + +"Dear me, dear me!" she said, "the beautiful frame is ruined; the bottom +piece is broken almost clean off." + +"Oh, come," Westray said in a pacifying tone, while he lifted the +picture and laid it flat on the table, "things are not so bad as all +that." + +He saw that the piece which formed the bottom of the frame was indeed +detached at both corners and ready to fall away, but he pushed it back +into position with his hand till it stuck in its place, and left little +damage apparent to a casual observer. + +"See," he said, "it looks nearly all right. A little glue will quite +repair the mischief to-morrow I am sure I wonder how your servant +managed to get it up here at all--it is such a weight and size." + +As a matter of fact, Miss Joliffe herself had helped Ann to carry the +picture as far as the Grands Mulets of the last landing. The final +ascent she thought could be accomplished in safety by the girl alone, +while it would have been derogatory to her new position of an +independent lady to appear before Westray carrying the picture herself. + +"Do not vex yourself," Westray begged; "look, there is a nail in the +wall here under the ceiling which will do capitally for hanging it till +I can find a better place; the old cord is just the right length." He +climbed on a chair and adjusted the picture, standing back as if to +admire it, till Miss Joliffe's complacency was fairly restored. + +Westray was busied that night long after Miss Joliffe had left him, and +the hands of the loud-ticking clock on the mantelpiece showed that +midnight was near before he had finished his work. Then he sat a little +while before the dying fire, thinking much of Mr Sharnall, whom the +picture had recalled to his mind, until the blackening embers warned him +that it was time to go to bed. He was rising from his chair, when he +heard behind him a noise as of something falling, and looking round, saw +that the bottom of the picture-frame, which he had temporarily pushed +into position, had broken away again of its own weight, and was fallen +on the floor. The frame was handsomely wrought with a peculiar +interlacing fillet, as he had noticed many times before. It was curious +that so poor a picture should have obtained a rich setting, and +sometimes he thought that Sophia Flannery must have bought the frame at +a sale, and had afterwards daubed the flower-piece to fill it. + +The room had grown suddenly cold with the chill which dogs the heels of +a dying fire on an early winter's night. An icy breath blew in under +the door, and made something flutter that lay on the floor close to the +broken frame. Westray stooped to pick it up, and found that he had in +his hand a piece of folded paper. + +He felt a curious reluctance in handling it. Those fantastic scruples +to which he was so often a prey assailed him. He asked himself had he +any right to examine this piece of paper? It might be a letter; he did +not know whence it had come, nor whose it was, and he certainly did not +wish to be guilty of opening someone else's letter. He even went so far +as to put it solemnly on the table, like a skipper on whose deck the +phantom whale-boat of the _Flying Dutchman_ has deposited a packet of +mails. After a few minutes, however, he appreciated the absurdity of +the situation, and with an effort unfolded the mysterious missive. + +It was a long narrow piece of paper, yellowed with years, and lined with +the creases of a generation; and had on it both printed and written +characters. He recognised it instantly for a certificate of marriage-- +those "marriage lines" on which so often hang both the law and the +prophets. There it was with all the little pigeon-holes duly filled in, +and set forth how that on "March 15, 1800, at the Church of Saint Medard +Within, one Horatio Sebastian Fynes, bachelor, aged twenty-one, son of +Horatio Sebastian Fynes, gentleman, was married to one Sophia Flannery, +spinster, aged twenty-one, daughter of James Flannery, merchant," with +witnesses duly attesting. And underneath an ill-formed straggling hand +had added a superscription in ink that was now brown and wasted: "Martin +born January 2, 1801, at ten minutes past twelve, night." He laid it on +the table and folded it out flat, and knew that he had under his eyes +that certificate of the first marriage (of the only true marriage) of +Martin's mother, which Martin had longed all his life to see, and had +not seen; that patent of legitimacy which Martin thought he had within +his grasp when death overtook him, that clue which Sharnall thought that +he had within his grasp when death overtook him also. + +On March 15, 1800, Sophia Flannery was married by special licence to +Horatio Sebastian Fynes, gentleman, and on January 2, 1801, at ten +minutes past twelve, night, Martin was born. Horatio Sebastian--the +names were familiar enough to Westray. Who was this Horatio Sebastian +Fynes, son of Horatio Sebastian Fynes, gentleman? It was only a formal +question that he asked himself, for he knew the answer very well. This +document that he had before him might be no legal proof, but not all the +lawyers in Christendom could change his conviction, his intuition, that +the "gentleman" Sophia Flannery had married was none other than the +octogenarian Lord Blandamer deceased three years ago. There was to his +eyes an air of authenticity about that yellowed strip of paper that +nothing could upset, and the date of Martin's birth given in the +straggling hand at the bottom coincided exactly with his own +information. He sat down again in the cold with his elbows on the table +and his head between his hands while he took in some of the corollaries +of the position. If the old Lord Blandamer had married Sophia Flannery +on March 15, 1800, then his second marriage was no marriage at all, for +Sophia was living long after that, and there had been no divorce. But +if his second marriage was no marriage, then his son, Lord Blandamer, +who was drowned in Cullerne Bay, had been illegitimate, and his +grandson, Lord Blandamer, who now sat on the throne of Fording, was +illegitimate too. And Martin's dream had been true. Selfish, +thriftless, idle Martin, whom the boys called "Old Nebuly," had not been +mad after all, but had been Lord Blandamer. + +It all hung on this strip of paper, this bolt fallen from the blue, this +message that had come from no one knew where. Whence _had_ it come? +Could Miss Joliffe have dropped it? No, that was impossible; she would +certainly have told him if she had any information of this kind, for she +knew that he had been trying for months to unravel the tangle of +Martin's papers. It must have been hidden behind the picture, and have +fallen out when the bottom piece of the frame fell. + +He went to the picture. There was the vase of flaunting, ill-drawn +flowers, there was the green caterpillar wriggling on the table-top, but +at the bottom was something that he had never seen before. A long +narrow margin of another painting was now visible where the frame was +broken away; it seemed as if the flower-piece had been painted over some +other subject, as if Sophia Flannery had not even been at the pains to +take the canvas out, and had only carried her daub up to the edge of the +frame. There was no question that the flowers masked some better +painting, some portrait, no doubt, for enough was shown at the bottom to +enable him to make out a strip of a brown velvet coat, and even one +mother-of-pearl button of a brown velvet waistcoat. He stared at the +flowers, he held a candle close to them in the hope of being able to +trace some outline, to discover something of what lay behind. But the +colour had been laid on with no sparing hand, the veil was impenetrable. +Even the green caterpillar seemed to mock him, for as he looked at it +closely, he saw that Sophia in her wantonness had put some minute +touches of colour, which gave its head two eyes and a grinning mouth. + +He sat down again at the table where the certificate still lay open +before him. That entry of Martin's birth must be in the handwriting of +Sophia Flannery, of faithless, irresponsible Sophia Flannery, flaunting +as her own flowers, mocking as the face of her own caterpillar. + +There was a dead silence over all, the utter blank silence that falls +upon a country town in the early morning hours. Only the loud-ticking +clock on the mantelpiece kept telling of time's passage till the +carillon of Saint Sepulchre's woke the silence with New Sabbath. It was +three o'clock, and the room was deadly cold, but that chill was nothing +to the chill that was rising to his own heart. He knew it all now, he +said to himself--he knew the secret of Anastasia's marriage, and of +Sharnall's death, and of Martin's death. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +The foreman of the masons at work in the under-pinning of the south-east +pier came to see Westray at nine o'clock the next morning. He was +anxious that the architect should go down to the church at once, for the +workmen, on reaching the tower shortly after daybreak, found traces of a +fresh movement which had taken place during the night. But Westray was +from home, having left Cullerne for London by the first train. + +About ten of the same forenoon, the architect was in the shop of a small +picture-dealer in Westminster. The canvas of the flowers and +caterpillar picture lay on the counter, for the man had just taken it +out of the frame. + +"No," said the dealer, "there is no paper or any kind of lining in the +frame--just a simple wood backing, you see. It is unusual to back at +all, but it _is_ done now and again"--and he tapped the loose frame all +round. "It is an expensive frame, well made, and with good gilding. I +shouldn't be surprised if the painting underneath this daub turned out +to be quite respectable; they would never put a frame like this on +anything that wasn't pretty good." + +"Do you think you can clean off the top part without damaging the +painting underneath?" + +"Oh dear, yes," the man said; "I've had many harder jobs. You leave it +with me for a couple of days, and we'll see what we can make of it." + +"Couldn't it be done quicker than that?" Westray said. "I'm in rather +a hurry. It is difficult for me to get up to London, and I should +rather like to be by, when you begin to clean it." + +"Don't make yourself anxious," the other said; "you can leave it in my +hands with perfect confidence. We're quite used to this business." + +Westray still looked unsatisfied. The dealer gave a glance round the +shop. "Well," he said, "things don't seem very busy this morning; if +you're in such a hurry, I don't mind just trying a little bit of it now. +We'll put it on the table in the back-room. I can see if anyone comes +into the shop." + +"Begin where the face ought to be," Westray said; "let us see whose +portrait it is." + +"No, no," said the dealer; "we won't risk the face yet. Let us try +something that doesn't matter much. We shall see how this stuff peels +off; that'll give us a guide for the more important part. Here, I'll +start with the table-top and caterpillar. There's something queer about +that caterpillar, beside the face some joker's fitted it up with. I'm +rather shy about the caterpillar. Looks to me as if it was a bit of the +real picture left showing through, though I don't very well see how a +caterpillar would fit in with a portrait." The dealer passed the nail +of his forefinger lightly over the surface of the picture. "It seems as +if 'twas sunk. You can feel the edges of this heavy daubing rough all +round it." + +It was as he pointed out; the green caterpillar certainly appeared to +form some part of the underlying picture. The man took out a bottle, +and with a brush laid some solution on the painting. "You must wait for +it to dry. It will blister and frizzle up the surface, then we can rub +off the top gently with a cloth, and you'll see what you will see." + +"The fellow who painted this table-top didn't spare his colours," said +the dealer half an hour later, "and that's all the better for us. See, +it comes off like a skin"--and he worked away tenderly with a soft +flannel. "Well, I'm jiggered," he went on, "if here isn't another +caterpillar higher up! No, it ain't a caterpillar; but if it ain't a +caterpillar, what is it?" + +There was indeed another wavy green line, but Westray knew what it was +directly he saw it. "Be careful," he said; "they aren't caterpillars at +all, but just part of a coat of arms--a kind of bars in an heraldic +shield, you know. There will be another shorter green line lower down." + +It was as he said, and in a minute more there shone out the silver field +and the three sea-green bars of the nebuly coat, and below it the motto +_Aut Fynes aut finis_, just as it shone in the top light of the +Blandamer window. It was the middle bar that Sophia had turned into a +caterpillar, and in pure wantonness left showing through, when for her +own purposes she had painted out the rest of the picture. Westray's +excitement was getting the better of him--he could not keep still; he +stood first on one leg and then on another, and drummed on the table +with his fingers. + +The dealer put his hand on the architect's arm. "For God's sake keep +quiet!" he said; "don't excite yourself. You needn't think you have +found a gold mine. It ain't a ten thousand-guinea Vandyke. We can't +see enough yet to say what it is, but I'll bet my life you never get a +twenty-pound note for it." + +But for all Westray's impatience, the afternoon was well advanced before +the head of the portrait was approached. There had been so few +interruptions, that the dealer felt called upon to extenuate the absence +of custom by explaining more than once that it was a very dull season. +He was evidently interested in his task, for he worked with a will till +the light began to fail. "Never mind," he said; "I will get a lamp; now +we have got so far we may as well go a bit further." + +It was a full-face picture, as they saw a few minutes afterwards. +Westray held the lamp, and felt a strange thrill go through him, as he +began to make out the youthful and unwrinkled brow. Surely he knew that +high forehead--it was Anastasia's, and there was Anastasia's dark wavy +hair above it. "Why, it's a woman after all," the dealer said. "No, it +isn't; of course, how could it be with a brown velvet coat and +waistcoat? It's a young man with curly hair." + +Westray said nothing; he was too much excited, too much interested to +say a word, for two eyes were peering at him through the mist. Then the +mist lifted under the dealer's cloth, and the eyes gleamed with a +startling brightness. They were light-grey eyes, clear and piercing, +that transfixed him and read the very thoughts that he was thinking. +Anastasia had vanished. It was Lord Blandamer that looked at him out of +the picture. + +They were Lord Blandamer's eyes, impenetrable and observant as to-day, +but with the brightness of youth still in them; and the face, +untarnished by middle age, showed that the picture had been painted some +years ago. Westray put his elbows on the table and his head between his +hands, while he gazed at the face which had thus come back to life. The +eyes pursued him, he could not escape from them, he could scarcely spare +a glance even for the nebuly coat that was blazoned in the corner. +There were questions revolving in his mind for which he found as yet no +answer. There was some mystery to which this portrait might be the +clue. He was on the eve of some terrible explanation; he remembered all +kinds of incidents that seemed connected with this picture, and yet +could find no thread on which to string them. Of course, this head must +have been painted when Lord Blandamer was young, but how could Sophia +Flannery have ever seen it? The picture had only been the flowers and +the table-top and caterpillar all through Miss Euphemia's memory, and +that covered sixty years. But Lord Blandamer was not more than forty; +and as Westray looked at the face he found little differences for which +no change from youth to middle age could altogether account. Then he +guessed that this was not the Lord Blandamer whom he knew, but an older +one--that octogenarian who had died three years ago, that Horatio +Sebastian Fynes, gentleman, who had married Sophia Flannery. + +"It ain't a real first-rater," the dealer said, "but it ain't bad. I +shouldn't be surprised if 'twas a Lawrence, and, anyway, it's a sight +better than the flowers. Beats me to know how anyone ever came to paint +such stuff as them on top of this respectable young man." + +Westray was back in Cullerne the next evening. In the press of many +thoughts he had forgotten to tell his landlady that he was coming, and +he stood charing while a maid-of-all-work tried to light the +recalcitrant fire. The sticks were few and damp, the newspaper below +them was damp, and the damp coal weighed heavily down on top of all, +till the thick yellow smoke shied at the chimney, and came curling out +under the worsted fringe of the mantelpiece into the chilly room. +Westray took this discomfort the more impatiently, in that it was due to +his own forgetfulness in having sent no word of his return. + +"Why in the world isn't the fire lit?" he said sharply. "You must have +known I couldn't sit without a fire on a cold evening like this;" and +the wind sang dismally in the joints of the windows to emphasise the +dreariness of the situation. + +"It ain't nothing to do with me," answered the red-armed, coal-besmeared +hoyden, looking up from her knees; "it's the missus. `He was put out +with the coal bill last time,' she says, `and I ain't going to risk +lighting up his fire with coal at sixpence a scuttle, and me not knowing +whether he's coming back to-night.'" + +"Well, you might see at any rate that the fire was properly laid," the +architect said, as the lighting process gave evident indications of +failing for the third time. + +"I do my best," she said in a larmoyant tone, "but I can't do +everything, what with having to cook, and clean, and run up and down +stairs with notes, and answer the bell every other minute to lords." + +"Has Lord Blandamer been here?" asked Westray. + +"Yes, he came yesterday and twice to-day to see you," she said, "and +then he left a note. There 'tis"--and she pointed to the end of the +mantelpiece. + +Westray looked round, and saw an envelope edged in black. He knew the +strong, bold hand of the superscription well enough, and in his present +mood it sent something like a thrill of horror through him. + +"You needn't wait," he said quickly to the servant; "it isn't your fault +at all about the fire. I'm sure it's going to burn now." + +The girl rose quickly to her feet, gave an astonished glance at the +grate, which was once more enveloped in impotent blackness, and left the +room. + +An hour later, when the light outside was failing, Westray sat in the +cold and darkening room. On the table lay open before him Lord +Blandamer's letter: + + "Dear Mr Westray, + + "I called to see you yesterday, but was unfortunate in finding you + absent from home, and so write these lines. There used to hang in + your sitting-room at Bellevue Lodge an old picture of flowers which + has some interest for my wife. Her affection for it is based on early + associations, and not, of course, on any merits of the painting + itself. I thought that it belonged to Miss Joliffe, but I find on + inquiry from her that she sold it to you some little time ago, and + that it is with you now. I do not suppose that you can attach any + great value to it, and, indeed, I suspect that you bought it of Miss + Joliffe as an act of charity. If this is so, I should be obliged if + you would let me know if you are disposed to part with it again, as my + wife would like to have it here. + + "I am sorry to hear of fresh movement in the tower. It would be a + bitter thought to me, if the peal that welcomed us back were found to + have caused damage to the structure, but I am sure you will know that + no expense should be spared to make all really secure as soon as + possible. + + "Very faithfully yours, + + "Blandamer." + +Westray was eager, impressionable, still subject to all the exaltations +and depressions of youth. Thoughts crowded into his mind with +bewildering rapidity; they trod so close upon each other's heels that +there was no time to marshal them in order; excitement had dizzied him. +Was he called to be the minister of justice? Was he chosen for the +scourge of God? Was his the hand that must launch the bolt against the +guilty? Discovery had come directly to him. What a piece of +circumstantial evidence were these very lines that lay open on the +table, dim and illegible in the darkness that filled the room! Yet +clear and damning to one who had the clue. + +This man that ruled at Fording was a pretender, enjoying goods that +belonged to others, a shameless evil-doer, who had not stuck at marrying +innocent Anastasia Joliffe, if by so stooping he might cover up the +traces of his imposture. There was no Lord Blandamer, there was no +title; with a breath he could sweep it all away like a house of cards. +And was that all? Was there nothing else? + +Night had fallen. Westray sat alone in the dark, his elbows on the +table, his head still between his hands. There was no fire, there was +no light, only the faint shimmer of a far-off street lamp brought a +perception of the darkness. It was that pale uncertain luminosity that +recalled to his mind another night, when the misty moon shone through +the clerestory windows of Saint Sepulchre's. He seemed once more to be +making his way up the ghostly nave, on past the pillars that stood like +gigantic figures in white winding-sheets, on under the great tower +arches. Once more he was groping in the utter darkness of the newel +stair, once more he came out into the organ-loft, and saw the baleful +silver and sea-green of the nebuly coat gleaming in the transept window. +And in the corners of the room lurked presences of evil, and a thin +pale shadow of Sharnall wrung its hands, and cried to be saved from the +man with the hammer. Then the horrible suspicion that had haunted him +these last days stared out of the darkness as a fact, and he sprung to +his feet in a shiver of cold and lit a candle. + +An hour, two hours, three hours passed before he had written an answer +to the letter that lay before him, and in the interval a fresh +vicissitude of mind had befallen him. He, Westray, had been singled out +as the instrument of vengeance; the clue was in his hands; his was the +mouth that must condemn. Yet he would do nothing underhand, he would +take no man unawares; he would tell Lord Blandamer of his discovery, and +give him warning before he took any further steps. So he wrote: + +"My lord," and of the many sheets that were begun and flung away before +the letter was finished, two were spoiled because the familiar address +"Dear Lord Blandamer" came as it were automatically from Westray's pen. +He could no longer bring himself to use those words now, even as a +formality, and so he began: + + "My Lord, + + "I have just received your note about the picture bought by me of Miss + Joliffe. I cannot say whether I should have been willing to part with + it under ordinary circumstances. It had no apparent intrinsic value, + but for me it was associated with my friend the late Mr Sharnall, + organist of Saint Sepulchre's. We shared in its purchase, and it was + only on his death that I came into sole possession of it. You will + not have forgotten the strange circumstances of his end, and I have + not forgotten them either. My friend Mr Sharnall was well-known + among his acquaintances to be much interested in this picture. He + believed it to be of more importance than appeared, and he expressed + himself strongly to that effect in my presence, and once also, I + remember, in yours. + + "But for his untimely death I think he would have long ago made the + discovery to which chance has now led me. The flowers prove to be a + mere surface painting which concealed what is undoubtedly a portrait + of the late Lord Blandamer, and at the back of the canvas were found + copies of certain entries in parish registers relating to him. I most + earnestly wish that I could end here by making over these things to + you, but they seem to me to throw so strange a light on certain past + events that I must hold myself responsible for them, and can give them + up to no private person. At the same time, I do not feel justified in + refusing to let you see picture and papers, if you should wish to do + so, and to judge yourself of their importance. I am at the above + address, and shall be ready to make an appointment at any time before + Monday next, after which date I shall feel compelled to take further + steps in this matter." + +Westray's letter reached Lord Blandamer the next morning. It lay at the +bottom of a little heap of correspondence on the breakfast-table, like +the last evil lot to leap out of the shaken urn, an Ephedrus, like that +Adulterer who at the finish tripped the Conqueror of Troy. He read it +at a glance, catching its import rather by intuition than by any slavish +following of the written characters. If earth was darkness at the core, +and dust and ashes all that is, there was no trace of it in his face. +He talked gaily, he fulfilled the duties of a host with all his charm of +manner, he sped two guests who were leaving that morning with all his +usual courtesy. After that he ordered his horse, and telling Lady +Blandamer that he might not be back to lunch, he set out for one of +those slow solitary rides on the estate that often seemed congenial to +his mood. He rode along by narrow lanes and bridle-paths, not +forgetting a kindly greeting to men who touched their hats, or women who +dropped a curtsey, but all the while he thought. + +The letter had sent his memory back to another black day, more than +twenty years before, when he had quarrelled with his grandfather. It +was in his second year at Oxford, when as an undergraduate he first felt +it his duty to set the whole world in order. He held strong views as to +the mismanagement of the Fording estates; and as a scholar and man of +the world, had thought it weakness to shirk the expression of them. The +timber was being neglected, there was no thinning and no planting. The +old-fashioned farmhouses were being let fall into disrepair, and then +replaced by parsimonious eaveless buildings; the very grazing in the +park was let, and fallow-deer and red-deer were jostled by sheep and +common mongrel cows. The question of the cows had galled him till he +was driven to remonstrate strongly with his grandfather. There had +never been much love lost between the pair, and on this occasion the +young man found the old man strangely out of sympathy with suggestions +of reform. + +"Thank you," old Lord Blandamer had said; "I have heard all you have to +say. You have eased your mind, and now you can go back to Oxford in +peace. I have managed Fording for forty years, and feel myself +perfectly competent to manage it for forty years more. I don't quite +see what concern you have in the matter. What business is it of yours?" + +"You don't see what concern I have in it," said the reformer +impetuously; "you don't know what business it is of mine? Why, damage +is being done here that will take a lifetime to repair." + +A man must be on good terms with his heir not to dislike the idea of +making way for him, and the old lord flew into one of those paroxysms of +rage which fell upon him more frequently in his later years. + +"Now, look you," he said; "you need not trouble yourself any more about +Fording, nor think you will be so great a sufferer by my mismanagement. +It is by no means certain that I shall ever burden you with the place at +all." + +Then the young man was angry in his turn. "Don't threaten me, sir," he +said sharply; "I am not a boy any longer to be cowed by rough words, so +keep your threats for others. You would disgrace the family and +disgrace yourself, if you left the property away from the title." + +"Make your mind easy," said the other; "the property shall follow the +title. Get away, and let me hear no more, or you may find both left +away from you." + +The words were lightly spoken, perhaps in mere petulance at being taken +to task by a boy, perhaps in the exasperating pangs of gout; but they +had a bitter sound, and sank deep into the heart of youth. The threat +of the other possible heirs was new, and yet was not new to him. It +seemed as if he had heard something of this before, though he could not +remember where; it seemed as if there had always been some ill-defined, +intangible suspicion in the air of Fording to make him doubt, since he +came to thinking years, whether the title ever really would be his. + +Lord Blandamer remembered these things well, as he walked his horse +through the beech-leaves with Westray's letter in his breast-pocket. He +remembered how his grandfather's words had sent him about with a sad +face, and how his grandmother had guessed the reason. He wondered how +she had guessed it; but she too, perhaps, had heard these threats +before, and so came at the cause more easily. Yet when she had forced +his confidence she had little comfort to give. + +He could see her now, a stately woman with cold blue eyes, still +handsome, though she was near sixty. + +"Since we are speaking of this matter," she said with chilling +composure, "let us speak openly. I will tell you everything I know, +which is nothing. Your grandfather threatened me once, many years ago, +as he has threatened you now, and we have never forgotten nor forgiven." +She moved herself in her chair, and there came a little flush of red to +her cheek. "It was about the time of your father's birth; we had +quarrelled before, but this was our first serious quarrel, and the last. +Your father was different from me, you know, and from you; he never +quarrelled, and he never knew this story. So far as I was concerned I +took the responsibility of silence, and it was wisest so." She looked +sterner than ever as she went on. "I have never heard or discovered +anything more. I am not afraid of your grandfather's intentions. He +has a regard for the name, and he means to leave all to you, who have +every right, unless, indeed, it may be, a legal right. There is one +more thing about which I was anxious long ago. You have heard about a +portrait of your grandfather that was stolen from the gallery soon after +your father's birth? Suspicion fell upon no one in particular. Of +course, the stable door was locked after the horse was gone, and we had +a night-watchman at Fording for some time; but little stir was made, and +I do not believe your grandfather ever put the matter in the hands of +the police. It was a spiteful trick, he said; he would not pay whoever +had done it the compliment of taking any trouble to recover the +portrait. The picture was of himself; he could have another painted any +day. + +"By whatever means that picture was removed, I have little doubt that +your grandfather guessed what had become of it. Does it still exist? +Was it stolen? Or did he have it taken away to prevent its being +stolen? We must remember that, though we are quite in the dark about +these people, there is nothing to prevent their being shown over the +house like any other strangers." Then she drew herself up, and folded +her hands in her lap, and he saw the great rings flashing on her white +fingers. "That is all I know," she finished, "and now let us agree not +to mention the subject again, unless one of us should discover anything +more. The claim may have lapsed, or may have been compounded, or may +never have existed; I think, anyhow, we may feel sure now that no move +will be made in your grandfather's lifetime. My advice to you is not to +quarrel with him; you had better spend your long vacations away from +Fording, and when you leave Oxford you can travel." + +So the young man went out from Fording, for a wandering that was to +prove half as long as that of Israel in the wilderness. He came home +for a flying visit at wide intervals, but he kept up a steady +correspondence with his grandmother as long as she lived. Only once, +and that in the last letter which he ever received from her, did she +allude to the old distasteful discussion. "Up to this very day," she +wrote, "I have found out nothing; we may still hope that there is +nothing to find out." + +In all those long years he consoled himself by the thought that he was +bearing expatriation for the honour of the family, that he was absenting +himself so that his grandfather might find the less temptation to drag +the nebuly coat in the mire. To make a fetish of family was a tradition +with Blandamers, and the heir as he set out on his travels, with the +romance of early youth about him, dedicated himself to the nebuly coat, +with a vow to "serve and preserve" as faithfully as any ever taken by +Templar. + +Last of all the old lord passed away. He never carried out his threat +of disinheritance, but died intestate, and thus the grandson came to his +own. The new Lord Blandamer was no longer young when he returned; years +of wild travel had hardened his face, and made his heart self-reliant, +but he came back as romantic as he went away. For Nature, if she once +endows man or woman with romance, gives them so rich a store of it as +shall last them, life through, unto the end. In sickness or health, in +poverty or riches, through middle age and old age, through loss of hair +and loss of teeth, under wrinkled face and gouty limbs, under +crow's-feet and double chins, under all the least romantic and most +sordid malaisances of life, romance endures to the end. Its price is +altogether above rubies; it can never be taken away from those that have +it, and those that have it not, can never acquire it for money, nor by +the most utter toil--no, nor ever arrive at the very faintest +comprehension of it. + +The new lord had come back to Fording full of splendid purpose. He was +tired of wandering; he would marry; he would settle down and enjoy his +own; he would seek the good of the people, and make his great estates an +example among landowners. And then within three weeks he had learned +that there was a pretender to the throne, that in Cullerne there was a +visionary who claimed to be the very Lord Blandamer. He had had this +wretched man pointed out to him once in the street--a broken-down fellow +who was trailing the cognisance of all the Blandamers in the mud, till +the very boys called him Old Nebuly. Was he to fight for land, and +house, and title, to fight for everything, with a man like that? And +yet it might come to fighting, for within a little time he knew that +this was the heir who had been the intangible shadow of his +grandmother's life and of his own; and that Martin might stumble any day +upon the proof that was lacking. And then death set a term to Martin's +hopes, and Lord Blandamer was free again. + +But not for long, for in a little while he heard of an old organist who +had taken up Martin's role--a meddlesome busybody who fished in troubled +waters, for the trouble's sake. What had such a mean man as this to do +with lands, and titles, and coats of arms? And yet this man was talking +under his breath in Cullerne of crimes, and clues, and retribution near +at hand. And then death put a term to Sharnall's talk, and Lord +Blandamer was free again. + +Free for a longer space, free this time finally for ever; and he +married, and marriage set the seal on his security, and the heir was +born, and the nebuly coat was safe. But now a new confuter had risen to +balk him. Was he fighting with dragon's spawn? Were fresh enemies to +spring up from the--The simile did not suit his mood, and he truncated +it. Was this young architect, whose very food and wages in Cullerne +were being paid for by the money that he, Lord Blandamer, saw fit to +spend upon the church, indeed to be the avenger? Was his own creature +to turn and rend him? He smiled at the very irony of the thing, and +then he brushed aside reflections on the past, and stifled even the +beginnings of regret, if, indeed, any existed. He would look at the +present, he would understand exactly how matters stood. + +Lord Blandamer came back to Fording at nightfall, and spent the hour +before dinner in his library. He wrote some business letters which +could not be postponed, but after dinner read aloud to his wife. He had +a pleasant and well-trained voice, and amused Lady Blandamer by reading +from the "Ingoldsby Legends," a new series of which had recently +appeared. + +Whilst he read Anastasia worked at some hangings, which had been left +unfinished by the last Lady Blandamer. The old lord's wife had gone out +very little, but passed her time for the most part with her gardens, and +with curious needlework. For years she had been copying some moth-eaten +fragments of Stuart tapestry, and at her death left the work still +uncompleted. The housekeeper had shown these half-finished things and +explained what they were, and Anastasia had asked Lord Blandamer whether +it would be agreeable to him that she should go on with them. The idea +pleased him, and so she plodded away evening by evening, very carefully +and slowly, thinking often of the lonely old lady whose hands had last +been busied with the same task. This grandmother of her husband seemed +to have been the only relation with whom he had ever been on intimate +terms, and Anastasia's interest was quickened by an excellent portrait +of her as a young girl by Lawrence, which hung in the long gallery. +Could the old lady have revisited for once the scene of her labours, she +would have had no reason to be dissatisfied with her successor. +Anastasia looked distinguished enough as she sat at her work-frame, with +the skeins of coloured silks in her lap and the dark-brown hair waved on +her high forehead; and a dress of a rich yellow velvet might have +supported the illusion that a portrait of some bygone lady of the +Blandamers had stepped down out of its frame. + +That evening her instinct told her that something was amiss, in spite of +all her husband's self-command. Something very annoying must have +happened among the grooms, gardeners, gamekeepers, or other dependents; +he had been riding about to set the matter straight, and it was no doubt +of a nature that he did not care to mention to her. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +Westray passed a day of painful restlessness. He had laid his hand to a +repugnant business, and the burden of it was too heavy for him to bear. +He felt the same gnawing anxiety, that is experienced by one whom +doctors have sentenced to a lethal operation. One man may bear himself +more bravely in such circumstances than another, but by nature every man +is a coward; and the knowledge that the hour is approaching, when the +surgeon's knife shall introduce him to a final struggle of life and +death cannot be done away. So it was with Westray; he had undertaken a +task for which he was not strong enough, and only high principle, and a +sense of moral responsibility, kept him from panic and flight. He went +to the church in the morning, and endeavoured to concentrate attention +on his work, but the consciousness of what was before him would not be +thrust aside. The foreman-mason saw that his master's thoughts were +wandering, and noticed the drawn expression on his face. + +In the afternoon his restlessness increased, and he wandered listlessly +through the streets and narrow entries of the town, till he found +himself near nightfall at that place by the banks of the Cull, where the +organist had halted on the last evening of his life. He stood leaning +over the iron railing, and looked at the soiled river, just as Mr +Sharnall had looked. There were the dark-green tresses of duck-weed +swaying to and fro in the shallow eddies, there was the sordid +collection of broken and worthless objects that lay on the bottom, and +he stared at them till the darkness covered them one by one, and only +the whiteness of a broken dish still flickered under the water. + +Then he crept back to his room as if he were a felon, and though he went +early to bed, sleep refused to visit him till the day began to break. +With daylight he fell into a troubled doze, and dreamt that he was in a +witness-box before a crowded court. In the dock stood Lord Blandamer +dressed in full peer's robes, and with a coronet on his head. The eyes +of all were turned upon him, Westray, with fierce enmity and contempt, +and it was he, Westray, that a stern-faced judge was sentencing, as a +traducer and lying informer. Then the people in the galleries stamped +with their feet and howled against him in their rage; and waking with a +start, he knew that it was the postman's sharp knock on the street-door, +that had broken his slumber. + +The letter which he dreaded lay on the table when he came down. He felt +an intense reluctance in opening it. He almost wondered that the +handwriting was still the same; it was as if he had expected that the +characters should be tremulous, or the ink itself blood-red. Lord +Blandamer acknowledged Mr Westray's letter with thanks. He should +certainly like to see the picture and the family papers of which Mr +Westray spoke; would Mr Westray do him the favour of bringing the +picture to Fording? He apologised for putting him to so much trouble, +but there was another picture in the gallery at Fording, with which it +might be interesting to compare the one recently discovered. He would +send a carriage to meet any train; Mr Westray would no doubt find it +more convenient to spend the night at Fording. + +There was no expression of surprise, curiosity, indignation or alarm; +nothing, in fact, except the utmost courtesy, a little more distant +perhaps than usual, but not markedly so. + +Westray had been unable to conjecture what would be the nature of Lord +Blandamer's answer. He had thought of many possibilities, of the +impostor's flight, of lavish offers of hush-money, of passionate appeals +for mercy, of scornful and indignant denial. But in all his imaginings +he had never imagined this. Ever since he had sent his own letter, he +had been doubtful of its wisdom, and yet he had not been able to think +of any other course that he would have preferred. He knew that the step +he had taken in warning the criminal was quixotic, and yet it seemed to +him that Lord Blandamer had a certain right to see his own family +portrait and papers, before they were used against him. He could not +feel sorry that he had given the opportunity, though he had certainly +hoped that Lord Blandamer would not avail himself of it. + +But go to Fording he would not. That, at any rate, no fantastic +refinement of fair play could demand of him. He knew his mind at least +on this point; he would answer at once, and he got out a sheet of paper +for his refusal. It was easy to write the number of his house, and the +street, and Cullerne, and the formal "My lord," which he used again for +the address. But what then? What reason was he to give for his +refusal? He could allege no business appointment or other serious +engagement as an obstacle, for he himself had said that he was free for +a week, and had offered Lord Blandamer to make an appointment on any +day. He himself had offered an interview; to draw back now would be +mean and paltry in the extreme. It was true that the more he thought of +this meeting the more he shrank from it. But it could not be evaded +now. It was, after all, only the easiest part of the task that he had +set before him, only a prolusion to the tragedy that he would have to +play to a finish. Lord Blandamer deserved, no doubt, all the evil that +was to fall on him; but in the meanwhile he, Westray, was incapable of +refusing this small favour, asked by a man who was entirely at his +mercy. + +Then he wrote with a shrinking heart, but with yet another fixed +purpose, that he would bring the picture to Fording the next day. He +preferred not to be met at the station; he would arrive some time during +the afternoon, but could only stay an hour at the most, as he had +business which would take him on to London the same evening. + +It was a fine Autumn day on the morrow, and when the morning mists had +cleared away, the sun came out with surprising warmth, and dried the dew +on the lawns of many-gardened Cullerne. Towards mid-day Westray set +forth from his lodgings to go to the station, carrying under his arm the +picture, lightly packed in lath, and having in his pocket those papers +which had fallen out from the frame. He chose a route through +back-streets, and walked quickly, but as he passed Quandrill's, the +local maker of guns and fishing-rods, a thought struck him. He stopped +and entered the shop. + +"Good-morning," he said to the gunsmith, who stood behind the counter; +"have you any pistols? I want one small enough to carry in the pocket, +but yet something more powerful than a toy." + +Mr Quandrill took off his spectacles. + +"Ah," he said, tapping the counter with them meditatively. "Let me see. +Mr Westray, is it not, the architect at the minster?" + +"Yes," Westray answered. "I require a pistol for some experiments. It +should carry a fairly heavy bullet." + +"Oh, just so," the man said, with an air of some relief, as Westray's +coolness convinced him that he was not contemplating suicide. "Just so, +I see; some experiments. Well, in that case, I suppose, you would not +require any special facilities for loading again quickly, otherwise I +should have recommended one of these," and he took up a weapon from the +counter. "They are new-fangled things from America, revolving pistols +they call them. You can fire them four times running, you see, as quick +as you like," and he snapped the piece to show how well it worked. + +Westray handled the pistol, and looked at the barrels. + +"Yes," he said, "that will suit my purpose very well, though it is +rather large to carry in the pocket." + +"Oh, you want it for the pocket," the gunmaker said with renewed +surprise in his tone. + +"Yes; I told you that already. I may have to carry it about with me. +Still, I think this will do. Could you kindly load it for me now?" + +"You are sure it's quite safe," said the gunmaker. + +"I ought to ask _you_ that," Westray rejoined with a smile. "Do you +mean it may go off accidentally in my pocket?" + +"Oh no, it's safe enough that way," said the gunmaker. "It won't go off +unless you pull the trigger." And he loaded the four barrels, measuring +out the powder and shot carefully, and ramming in the wads. "You'll be +wanting more powder and shot than this, I suppose," he said. + +"Very likely," rejoined the architect, "but I can call for that later." + +He found a heavy country fly waiting for him at Lytchett, the little +wayside station which was sometimes used by people going to Fording. It +is a seven-mile drive from the station to the house, but he was so +occupied in his own reflections, that he was conscious of nothing till +the carriage pulled up at the entrance of the park. Here he stopped for +a moment while the lodge-keeper was unfastening the bolt, and remembered +afterwards that he had noticed the elaborate iron-work, and the nebuly +coat which was set over the great gates. He was in the long avenue now, +and he wished it had been longer, he wished that it might never end; and +then the fly stopped again, and Lord Blandamer on horseback was speaking +to him through the carriage window. + +There was a second's pause, while the two men looked each other directly +in the eyes, and in that look all doubt on either side was ended. +Westray felt as if he had received a staggering blow as he came face to +face with naked truth, and Lord Blandamer read Westray's thoughts, and +knew the extent of his discovery. + +Lord Blandamer was the first to speak. + +"I am glad to see you again," he said with perfect courtesy, "and am +very much obliged to you for taking this trouble in bringing the +picture." And he glanced at the crate that Westray was steadying with +his hand on the opposite seat. "I only regret that you would not let me +send a carriage to Lytchett." + +"Thank you," said the architect; "on the present occasion I preferred to +be entirely independent." His words were cold, and were meant to be +cold, and yet as he looked at the other's gentle bearing, and the grave +face in which sadness was a charm; he felt constrained to abate in part +the effect of his own remark, and added somewhat awkwardly: "You see, I +was uncertain about the trains." + +"I am riding back across the grass," Lord Blandamer said, "but shall be +at the house before you;" and as he galloped off, Westray knew that he +rode exceedingly well. + +This meeting, he guessed, had been contrived to avoid the embarrassment +of a more formal beginning. It was obvious that their terms of former +friendship could no longer be maintained. Nothing would have induced +him to have shaken hands, and this Lord Blandamer must have known. + +As Westray stepped into the hall through Inigo Jones' Ionic portico, +Lord Blandamer entered from a side-door. + +"You must be cold after your long drive. Will you not take a biscuit +and a glass of wine?" + +Westray motioned away the refreshment which a footman offered him. + +"No, thank you," he said; "I will not take anything." It was impossible +for him to eat or drink in this house, and yet again he softened his +words by adding: "I had something to eat on the way." + +The architect's refusal was not lost upon Lord Blandamer. He had known +before he spoke that his offer would not be accepted. + +"I am afraid it is useless to ask you to stop the night with us," he +said; and Westray had his rejoinder ready: + +"No; I must leave Lytchett by the seven five train. I have ordered the +fly to wait." + +He had named the last train available for London, and Lord Blandamer saw +that his visitor had so arranged matters, that the interview could not +be prolonged for more than an hour. + +"Of course, you _could_ catch the night-mail at Cullerne Road," he said. +"It is a very long drive, but I sometimes go that way to London +myself." + +His words called suddenly to Westray's recollection that night walk when +the station lights of Cullerne Road were seen dimly through the fog, and +the station-master's story that Lord Blandamer had travelled by the mail +on the night of poor Sharnall's death. He said nothing, but felt his +resolution strengthened. + +"The gallery will be the most convenient place, perhaps, to unpack the +picture," Lord Blandamer said; and Westray at once assented, gathering +from the other's manner that this would be a spot where no interruption +need be feared. + +They went up some wide and shallow stairs, preceded by a footman, who +carried the picture. + +"You need not wait," Lord Blandamer said to the man; "we can unpack it +ourselves." + +When the wrappings were taken off, they stood the painting on the narrow +shelf formed by the top of the wainscot which lined the gallery, and +from the canvas the old lord surveyed them with penetrating light-grey +eyes, exactly like the eyes of the grandson who stood before him. + +Lord Blandamer stepped back a little, and took a long look at the face +of this man, who had been the terror of his childhood, who had darkened +his middle life, who seemed now to have returned from the grave to ruin +him. He knew himself to be in a desperate pass. Here he must make the +last stand, for the issue lay between him and Westray. No one else had +learned the secret. He understood and relied implicitly on Westray's +fantastic sense of honour. Westray had written that he would "take no +steps" till the ensuing Monday, and Lord Blandamer was sure that no one +would be told before that day, and that no one had been told yet. If +Westray could be silenced all was saved; if Westray spoke, all was lost. +If it had been a question of weapons, or of bodily strength, there was +no doubt which way the struggle would have ended. Westray knew this +well now, and felt heartily ashamed of the pistol that was bulging the +breast-pocket on the inside of his coat. If it had been a question of +physical attack, he knew now that he would have never been given time, +or opportunity for making use of his weapon. + +Lord Blandamer had travelled north and south, east and west; he had seen +and done strange things; he had stood for his life in struggles whence +only one could come out alive; but here was no question of flesh and +blood--he had to face principles, those very principles on which he +relied for respite; he had to face that integrity of Westray which made +persuasion or bribery alike impossible. He had never seen this picture +before, and he looked at it intently for some minutes; but his attention +was all the while concentrated on the man who stood beside him. This +was his last chance--he could afford to make no mistake; and his soul, +or whatever that thing may be called which is certainly not the body, +was closing with Westray's soul in a desperate struggle for mastery. + +Westray was not seeing the picture for the first time, and after one +glance he stood aloof. The interview was becoming even more painful +than he had expected. He avoided looking Lord Blandamer in the face, +yet presently, at a slight movement, turned and met his eye. + +"Yes, it is my grandfather," said the other. + +There was nothing in the words, and yet it seemed to Westray as if some +terrible confidence was being thrust upon him against his will; as if +Lord Blandamer had abandoned any attempt to mislead, and was tacitly +avowing all that might be charged against him. The architect began to +feel that he was now regarded as a personal enemy, though he had never +so considered himself. It was true that picture and papers had fallen +into his hands, but he knew that a sense of duty was the only motive of +any action that he might be taking. + +"You promised, I think, to show me some papers," Lord Blandamer said. + +Most painfully Westray handed them over; his knowledge of their contents +made it seem that he was offering a deliberate insult. He wished +fervently that he never had made any proposal for this meeting; he ought +to have given everything to the proper authorities, and have let the +blow fall as it would. Such an interview could only end in bitterness: +its present result was that here in Lord Blandamer's own house, he, +Westray, was presenting him with proofs of his father's illegitimacy, +with proofs that he had no right to this house--no, nor to anything +else. + +It was a bitter moment for Lord Blandamer to find such information in +the possession of a younger man; but, if there was more colour in his +face than usual, his self-command stood the test, and he thrust +resentment aside. There was no time to say or do useless things, there +was no time for feeling; all his attention must be concentrated on the +man before him. He stood still, seeming to examine the papers closely, +and, as a matter of fact, he did take note of the name, the place, and +the date, that so many careful searchings had failed ever to find. But +all the while he was resolutely considering the next move, and giving +Westray time to think and feel. When he looked up, their eyes met +again, and this time it was Westray that coloured. + +"I suppose you have verified these certificates?" Lord Blandamer asked +very quietly. + +"Yes," Westray said, and Lord Blandamer gave them back to him without a +word, and walked slowly away down the gallery. + +Westray crushed the papers into his pocket where most of the room was +taken up by the pistol; he was glad to get them out of his sight; he +could not bear to hold them. It was as if a beaten fighter had given up +his sword. With these papers Lord Blandamer seemed to resign into his +adversary's hands everything of which he stood possessed, his lands, his +life, the honour of his house. He made no defence, no denial, no +resistance, least of all any appeal. Westray was left master of the +situation, and must do whatever he thought fit. This fact was clearer +to him now than it had ever been before, the secret was his alone; with +him rested the responsibility of making it public. He stood dumb before +the picture, from which the old lord looked at him with penetrating +eyes. He had nothing to say; he could not go after Lord Blandamer; he +wondered whether this was indeed to be the end of the interview, and +turned sick at the thought of the next step that must be taken. + +At the distance of a few yards Lord Blandamer paused, and looked round, +and Westray understood that he was being invited, or commanded, to +follow. They stopped opposite the portrait of a lady, but it was the +frame to which Lord Blandamer called attention by laying his hand on it. + +"This was my grandmother," he said; "they were companion pictures. They +are the same size, the moulding on the frame is the same, an interlacing +fillet, and the coat of arms is in the same place. You see?" he added, +finding Westray still silent. + +Westray was obliged to meet his look once more. + +"I see," he said, most reluctantly. He knew now, that the unusual +moulding and the size of the picture that hung in Miss Joliffe's house, +must have revealed its identity long ago to the man who stood before +him; that during all those visits in which plans for the church had been +examined and discussed, Lord Blandamer must have known what lay hid +under the flowers, must have known that the green wriggling caterpillar +was but a bar of the nebuly coat. Confidences were being forced upon +Westray that he could not forget, and could not reveal. He longed to +cry out, "For God's sake, do not tell me these things; do not give me +this evidence against yourself!" + +There was another short pause, and then Lord Blandamer turned. He +seemed to expect Westray to turn with him, and they walked back over the +soft carpet down the gallery in a silence that might be heard. The air +was thick with doom; Westray felt as if he were stifling. He had lost +mental control, his thoughts were swallowed up in a terrible chaos. +Only one reflection stood out, the sense of undivided responsibility. +It was not as if he were adding a link, as in duty bound, to a long +chain of other evidence: the whole matter was at rest; to set it in +motion again would be his sole act, his act alone. There was a refrain +ringing in his ears, a verse that he had heard read a few Sundays before +in Cullerne Church, "Am I God, to kill and make alive? Am I God, to +kill and make alive?" Yet duty commanded him to go forward, and go +forward he must, though the result was certain: he would be playing the +part of executioner. + +The man whose fate he must seal was keeping pace with him quietly, step +by step. If he could only have a few moments to himself, he might clear +his distracted thoughts. He paused before some other picture, feigning +to examine it, but Lord Blandamer paused also, and looked at him. He +knew Lord Blandamer's eye was upon him, though he refused to return the +look. It seemed a mere act of courtesy on Lord Blandamer's part to +stop. Mr Westray might be specially interested in some of the +pictures, and, if any information was required, it was the part of the +host to see that it was forthcoming. Westray stopped again once or +twice, but always with the same result. He did not know whether he was +looking at portraits or landscapes, though he was vaguely aware that +half-way down the gallery, there stood on the floor what seemed to be an +unfinished picture, with its face turned to the wall. + +Except when Westray stopped, Lord Blandamer looked neither to the right +nor to the left; he walked with his hands folded lightly behind him, and +with his eyes upon the ground, yet did not feign to have his thoughts +disengaged. His companion shrank from any attempt to understand or +fathom what those thoughts could be, but admired, against his will, the +contained and resolute bearing. Westray felt as a child beside a giant, +yet had no doubt as to his own duty, or that he was going to do it. But +how hard it was! Why had he been so foolish as to meddle with the +picture? Why had he read papers that did not belong to him? Why, above +all, had he come down to Fording to have his suspicions confirmed? What +business was it of his to ferret out these things? He felt all the +unutterable aversion of an upright mind for playing the part of a +detective; all the sovereign contempt even for such petty meanness as +allows one person to examine the handwriting or postmark of letters +addressed to another. Yet he knew this thing, and he alone; he could +not do away with this horrible knowledge. + +The end of the gallery was reached; they turned with one accord and +paced slowly, silently back, and the time was slipping away fast. It +was impossible for Westray to consider anything _now_, but he had taken +his decision before he came to Fording; he must go through with it; +there was no escape for _him_ any more than for Lord Blandamer. He +would keep his word. On Monday, the day he had mentioned, he would +speak, and once begun, the matter would pass out of his hands. But how +was he to tell this to the man who was walking beside him, and silently +waiting for his sentence? He could not leave him in suspense; to do so +would be cowardice and cruelty. He must make his intention clear, but +how? in what form of words? There was no time to think; already they +were repassing that canvas which stood with its face to the wall. + +The suspense, the impenetrable silence, was telling upon Westray; he +tried again to rearrange his thoughts, but they were centred only on +Lord Blandamer. How calm he seemed, with his hands folded behind him, +and never a finger twitching! What did _he_ mean to do--to fly, or kill +himself, or stand his ground and take his trial on a last chance? It +would be a celebrated trial. Hateful and inevitable details occurred to +Westray's imagination: the crowded, curious court as he saw it in his +dream, with Lord Blandamer in the dock, and this last thought sickened +him. His own place would be in the witness-box. Incidents that he +wished to forget would be recalled, discussed, dwelt on; he would have +to search his memory for them, narrate them, swear to them. But this +was not all. He would have to give an account of this very afternoon's +work. It could not be hushed up. Every servant in the house would know +how he had come to Fording with a picture. He heard himself +cross-examined as to "this very remarkable interview." What account was +he to give of it? What a betrayal of confidence it would be to give +_any_ account. Yet he must, and his evidence would be given under the +eyes of Lord Blandamer in the dock. Lord Blandamer would be in the dock +watching him. It was unbearable, impossible; rather than this he would +fly himself, he would use the pistol that bulged his pocket against his +own life. + +Lord Blandamer had noted Westray's nervous movements, his glances to +right and left, as though seeking some way of escape; he saw the +clenched hands, and the look of distress as they paced to and fro. He +knew that each pause before a picture was an attempt to shake him off, +but he would not be shaken off; Westray was feeling the grip, and must +not have a moment's breathing space. He could tell exactly how the +minutes were passing, he knew what to listen for, and could catch the +distant sound of the stable clock striking the quarters. They were back +at the end of the gallery. There was no time to pace it again; Westray +must go now if he was to catch his train. + +They stopped opposite the old lord's portrait; the silence wrapped +Westray round, as the white fog had wrapped him round that night on his +way to Cullerne Road. He wanted to speak, but his brain was confused, +his throat was dry; he dreaded the sound of his own voice. + +Lord Blandamer took out his watch. + +"I have no wish to hurry you, Mr Westray," he said, "but your train +leaves Lytchett in little over an hour. It will take you nearly that +time to drive to the station. May I help you to repack this picture?" + +His voice was clear, level, and courteous, as on the day when Westray +had first met him at Bellevue Lodge. The silence was broken, and +Westray found himself speaking quickly in answer: + +"You invited me to stay here for the night. I have changed my mind, and +will accept your offer, if I may." He hesitated for a moment, and then +went on: "I shall be thankful if you will keep the picture and these +documents. I see now that I have no business with them." + +He took the crumpled papers from his pocket, and held them out without +looking up. + +Then silence fell on them again, and Westray's heart stood still; till +after a second that seemed an eternity Lord Blandamer took the papers +with a short "I thank you," and walked a little way further, to the end +of the gallery. The architect leant against the side of a window +opposite which he found himself, and, looking out without seeing +anything, presently heard Lord Blandamer tell a servant that Mr Westray +would stop the night, and that wine was to be brought them in the +gallery. In a few minutes the man came back with a decanter on a +salver, and Lord Blandamer filled glasses for Westray, and himself. He +felt probably that both needed something of the kind, but to the other +more was implied. Westray remembered that an hour ago he had refused to +eat or drink under this roof. An hour ago--how his mood had changed in +that short time! How he had flung duty and principle to the winds! +Surely this glass of red wine was a very sacrament of the devil, which +made him a partner of iniquity. + +As he raised the glass to his lips a slanting sunbeam shot through the +window, and made the wine glow red as blood. The drinkers paused glass +in hand, and glancing up saw the red sun setting behind the trees in the +park. Then the old lord's picture caught the evening light, the green +bars of the nebuly coat danced before Westray's eyes, till they seemed +to live, to be again three wriggling caterpillars, and the penetrating +grey eyes looked out from the canvas as if they were watching the +enactment of this final scene. Lord Blandamer pledged him in a bumper, +and Westray answered without hesitation, for he had given his +allegiance, and would have drunk poison in token that there was to be no +turning back now. + +An engagement kept Lady Blandamer from home that evening. Lord +Blandamer had intended to accompany her, but afterwards told her that +Mr Westray was coming on important business, and so she went alone. +Only Lord Blandamer and Westray sat down to dinner, and some subtle +change of manner made the architect conscious that for the first time +since their acquaintance, his host was treating him as a real equal. +Lord Blandamer maintained a flow of easy and interesting conversation, +yet never approached the subject of architecture even near enough to +seem to be avoiding it. After dinner he took Westray to the library, +where he showed him some old books, and used all his art to entertain +him and set him at his ease. Westray was soothed for a moment by the +other's manner, and did his best to respond to the courtesy shown him; +but everything had lost its savour, and he knew that black Care was only +waiting for him to be alone, to make herself once more mistress of his +being. + +A wind which had risen after sunset began to blow near bed-time with +unusual violence. The sudden gusts struck the library windows till they +rattled again, and puffs of smoke came out from the fireplace into the +room. + +"I shall sit up for Lady Blandamer," said the host, "but I dare say you +will not be sorry to turn in;" and Westray, looking at his watch, saw +that it wanted but ten minutes of midnight. + +In the hall, and on the staircase, as they went up, the wind blowing +with cold rushes made itself felt still more strongly. + +"It is a wild night," Lord Blandamer said, as he stopped for a moment +before a barometer, "but I suspect that there is yet worse to come; the +glass has fallen in an extraordinary way. I hope you have left all snug +with the tower at Cullerne; this wind will not spare any weak places." + +"I don't think it should do any mischief at Saint Sepulchre's," Westray +answered, half unconsciously. It seemed as though he could not +concentrate his thought even upon his work. + +His bedroom was large, and chilly in spite of a bright fire. He locked +the door, and drawing an easy-chair before the hearth, sat a long while +in thought. It was the first time in his life that he had with +deliberation acted against his convictions, and there followed the +reaction and remorse inseparable from such conditions. + +Is there any depression so deep as this? is there any night so dark as +this first eclipse of the soul, this _first_ conscious stilling of the +instinct for right? He had conspired to obscure truth, he had made +himself partaker in another man's wrong-doing, and, as the result, he +had lost his moral foothold, his self-respect, his self-reliance. It +was true that, even if he could, he would not have changed his decision +now, yet the weight of a guilty secret, that he must keep all his life +long, pressed heavily upon him. Something must be done to lighten this +weight; he must take some action that would ease the galling of his +thoughts. He was in that broken mood for which the Middle Ages offered +the cloister as a remedy; he felt the urgent need of sacrifice and +abnegation to purge him. And then he knew the sacrifice that he must +make: he must give up his work at Cullerne. He was thankful to find +that there was still enough of conscience left to him to tell him this. +He could not any longer be occupied on work for which the money was +being found by this man. He would give up his post at Cullerne, even if +it meant giving up his connection with his employers, even if it meant +the giving up of his livelihood. He felt as if England itself were not +large enough to hold him and Lord Blandamer. He must never more see the +associate of his guilt; he dreaded meeting his eyes again, lest the +other's will should constrain his will to further wrong. He would write +to resign his work the very next day; that would be an active sacrifice, +a definite mark from which he might begin a painful retracing of the +way, a turning-point from which he might hope in time to recover some +measure of self-respect and peace of mind. He would resign his work at +Cullerne the very next day; and then a wilder gust of wind buffeted the +windows of his room, and he thought of the scaffolding on Saint +Sepulchre's tower. What a terrible night it was! Would the thin bows +of the tower arches live through such a night, with the weight of the +great tower rocking over them? No, he could not resign to-morrow. It +would be deserting his post. He must stand by till the tower was safe, +_that_ was his first duty. After that he would give up his post at +once. + +Later on he went to bed, and in those dark watches of the night, that +are not kept by reason, there swept over him thoughts wilder than the +wind outside. He had made himself sponsor for Lord Blandamer, he had +assumed the burden of the other's crime. It was he that was branded +with the mark of Cain, and he must hide it in silence from the eyes of +all men. He must fly from Cullerne, and walk alone with his burden for +the rest of his life, a scapegoat in the isolation of the wilderness. + +In sleep the terror that walketh in darkness brooded heavily on him. He +was in the church of Saint Sepulchre, and blood dripped on him from the +organ-loft. Then as he looked up to find out whence it came he saw the +four tower arches falling to grind him to powder, and leapt up in his +bed, and struck a light to make sure that there were no red patches on +him. With daylight he grew calmer. The wild visions vanished, but the +cold facts remained: he was sunk in his own esteem, he had forced +himself into an evil secret which was no concern of his, and now he must +keep it for ever. + +Westray found Lady Blandamer in the breakfast-room. Lord Blandamer had +met her in the hall on her return the night before, and though he was +pale, she knew before he had spoken half a dozen words, that the cloud +of anxiety which had hung heavily on him for the last few days was past. +He told her that Mr Westray had come over on business, and, in view of +the storm that was raging, had been persuaded to remain for the night. +The architect had brought with him a picture which he had accidentally +come across, a portrait of the old Lord Blandamer which had been missing +for many years from Fording. It was very satisfactory that it had been +recovered; they were under a great obligation to Mr Westray for the +trouble which he had taken in the matter. + +In the events of the preceding days Westray had almost forgotten Lady +Blandamer's existence, and since the discovery of the picture, if her +image presented itself to his mind, it had been as that of a deeply +wronged and suffering woman. But this morning she appeared with a look +of radiant content that amazed him, and made him shudder as he thought +how near he had been only a day before to plunging her into the abyss. +The more careful nurture of the year that had passed since her marriage, +had added softness to her face and figure, without detracting from the +refinement of expression that had always marked her. He knew that she +was in her own place, and wondered now that the distinction of her +manner had not led him sooner to the truth of her birth. She looked +pleased to meet him, and shook hands with a frank smile that +acknowledged their former relations, without any trace of embarrassment. +It seemed incredible that she should ever have brought him up his meals +and letters. + +She made a polite reference to his having restored to them an +interesting family picture, and finding him unexpectedly embarrassed, +changed the subject by asking him what he thought of her own portrait. + +"I think you must have seen it yesterday," she went on, as he appeared +not to understand. "It has only just come home, and is standing on the +floor in the long gallery." + +Lord Blandamer glanced at the architect, and answered for him that Mr +Westray had not seen it. Then he explained with a composure that shed a +calm through the room: + +"It was turned to the wall. It is a pity to show it unhung, and without +a frame. We must get it framed at once, and decide on a position for +it. I think we shall have to shift several paintings in the gallery." + +He talked of Snyders and Wouverman, and Westray made some show of +attention, but could only think of the unframed picture standing on the +ground, which had helped to measure the passing of time in the terrible +interview of yesterday. He guessed now that Lord Blandamer had himself +turned the picture with its face to the wall, and in doing so had +deliberately abandoned a weapon that might have served him well in the +struggle. Lord Blandamer must have deliberately foregone the aid of +recollections such as Anastasia's portrait would have called up in his +antagonist's mind. "Non tali auxilio nec defensoribus istis." + +Westray's haggard air had not escaped his host's notice. The architect +looked as if he had spent the night in a haunted room, and Lord +Blandamer was not surprised, knowing that the other's scruples had died +hard, and were not likely to lie quiet in their graves. He thought it +better that the short time which remained before Westray's departure +should be spent out of the house, and proposed a stroll in the grounds. +The gardener reported, he said, that last night's gale had done +considerable damage to the trees. The top of the cedar on the south +lawn had been broken short off. Lady Blandamer begged that she might +accompany them, and as they walked down the terrace steps into the +garden a nurse brought to her the baby heir. + +"The gale must have been a cyclone," Lord Blandamer said. "It has +passed away as suddenly as it arose." + +The morning was indeed still and sunshiny, and seemed more beautiful by +contrast with the turmoil of the previous night. The air was clear and +cold after the rain, but paths and lawns were strewn with broken sticks +and boughs, and carpeted with prematurely fallen leaves. + +Lord Blandamer described the improvements that he was making or +projecting, and pointed out the old fishponds which were to be +restocked, the bowling-green and the ladies' garden arranged on an +old-world plan by his grandmother, and maintained unchanged since her +death. He had received an immense service from Westray, and he would +not accept it ungraciously or make little of it. In taking the +architect round the place, in showing this place that his ancestors had +possessed for so many generations, in talking of his plans for a future +that had only so recently become assured, he was in a manner conveying +his thanks, and Westray knew it. + +Lady Blandamer was concerned for Westray. She saw that he was downcast, +and ill at ease, and in her happiness that the cloud had passed from her +husband, she wanted everyone to be happy with her. So, as they were +returning to the house, she began, in the kindness of her heart, to talk +of Cullerne Minster. She had a great longing, she said, to see the old +church again. She should so much enjoy it if Mr Westray would some day +show her over it. Would he take much longer in the restorations? + +They were in an alley too narrow for three to walk abreast. Lord +Blandamer had fallen behind, but was within earshot. + +Westray answered quickly, without knowing what he was going to say. He +was not sure about the restorations--that was, they certainly were not +finished; in fact, they would take some time longer, but he would not be +there, he believed, to superintend them. That was to say, he was giving +up his present appointment. + +He broke off, and Lady Blandamer knew that she had again selected an +unfortunate subject. She dropped it, and hoped he would let them know +when he was next at leisure, and come for a longer visit. + +"I am afraid it will not be in my power to do so," Westray said; and +then, feeling that he had given a curt and ungracious answer to a +kindly-meant invitation, turned to her and explained with unmistakable +sincerity that he was giving up his connection with Farquhar and +Farquhar. This subject also was not to be pursued, so she only said +that she was sorry, and her eyes confirmed her words. + +Lord Blandamer was pained at what he had heard. He knew Farquhar and +Farquhar, and knew something of Westray's position and prospects--that +he had a reasonable income, and a promising future with the firm. This +resolve must be quite sudden, a result of yesterday's interview. +Westray was being driven out into the wilderness like a scapegoat with +another man's guilt on his head. The architect was young and +inexperienced. Lord Blandamer wished he could talk with him quietly. +He understood that Westray might find it impossible to go on with the +restoration at Cullerne, where all was being done at Lord Blandamer's +expense. But why sever his connection with a leading firm? Why not +plead ill-health, nervous breakdown, those doctor's orders which have +opened a way of escape from impasses of the mind as well as of the body? +An archaeologic tour in Spain, a yachting cruise in the Mediterranean, +a winter in Egypt--all these things would be to Westray's taste; the +blameless herb nepenthe might anywhere be found growing by the wayside. +He must amuse himself, and forget. He wished he could _assure_ Westray +that he would forget, or grow used to remembering; that time heals +wounds of conscience as surely as it heals heart-wounds and +flesh-wounds; that remorse is the least permanent of sentiments. But +then Westray might not yet wish to forget. He had run full counter to +his principles. It might be that he was resolved to take the +consequences, and wear them like a hair-shirt, as the only means of +recovering his self-esteem. No; whatever penance, voluntary or +involuntary, Westray might undergo, Lord Blandamer could only look on in +silence. His object had been gained. If Westray felt it necessary to +pay the price, he must be let pay it. Lord Blandamer could neither +inquire nor remonstrate. He could offer no compensation, because no +compensation would be accepted. + +The little party were nearing the house when a servant met them. + +"There is a man come over from Cullerne, my lord," he said. "He is +anxious to see Mr Westray at once on important business." + +"Show him into my sitting-room, and say that Mr Westray will be with +him immediately." + +Westray met Lord Blandamer in the hall a few minutes later. + +"I am sorry to say there is bad news from Cullerne," the architect said +hurriedly. "Last night's gale has strained and shaken the tower +severely. A very serious movement is taking place. I must get back at +once." + +"Do, by all means. A carriage is at the door. You can catch the train +at Lytchett, and be in Cullerne by mid-day." + +The episode was a relief to Lord Blandamer. The architect's attention +was evidently absorbed in the tower. It might be that he had already +found the blameless herb growing by the wayside. + +The nebuly coat shone on the panel of the carriage-door. Lady Blandamer +had noticed that her husband had been paying Westray special attention. +He was invariably courteous, but he had treated this guest as he treated +few others. Yet now, at the last moment, he had fallen silent; he was +standing, she fancied, aloof. He held his hands behind him, and the +attitude seemed to her to have some significance. But on Lord +Blandamer's part it was a mark of consideration. There had been no +shaking of hands up to the present; he was anxious not to force Westray +to take his hand by offering it before his wife and the servants. + +Lady Blandamer felt that there was something going on which she did not +understand, but she took leave of Westray with special kindness. She +did not directly mention the picture, but said how much they were +obliged to him, and glanced for confirmation at Lord Blandamer. He +looked at Westray, and said with deliberation: + +"I trust Mr Westray knows how fully I appreciate his generosity and +courtesy." + +There was a moment's pause, and then Westray offered his hand. Lord +Blandamer shook it cordially, and their eyes met for the last time. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +On the afternoon of the same day Lord Blandamer was himself in Cullerne. +He went to the office of Mr Martelet, solicitor by prescriptive right +to the family at Fording, and spent an hour closeted with the principal. + +The house which the solicitor used for offices, was a derelict residence +at the bottom of the town. It still had in front of it an extinguisher +for links, and a lamp-bracket over the door of wasted iron scroll-work. +It was a dingy place, but Mr Martelet had a famous county connection, +and rumour said that more important family business was done here even +than in Carisbury itself. Lord Blandamer sat behind the dusty windows. + +"I think I quite understand the nature of the codicil," the solicitor +said. "I will have a draft forwarded to your lordship to-morrow." + +"No, no; it is short enough. Let us finish with it now," said his +client. "There is no time like the present. It can be witnessed here. +Your head clerk is discreet, is he not?" + +"Mr Simpkin has been with me thirty years," the solicitor said +deprecatingly, "and I have had no reason to doubt his discretion +hitherto." + +The sun was low when Lord Blandamer left Mr Martelet's office. He +walked down the winding street that led to the market-place, with his +long shadow going before him on the pavement. Above the houses in the +near distance stood up the great tower of Saint Sepulchre's, pink-red in +the sunset rays. What a dying place was Cullerne! How empty were the +streets! The streets were certainly strangely empty. He had never seen +them so deserted. There was a silence of the grave over all. He took +out his watch. The little place is gone to tea, he thought, and walked +on with a light heart, and more at his ease than he had ever felt before +in his life. + +He came round a bend in the street, and suddenly saw a great crowd +before him, between him and the market-place over which the minster +church watched, and knew that something must be happening, that had +drawn the people from the other parts of the town. As he came nearer it +seemed as if the whole population was there collected. Conspicuous was +pompous Canon Parkyn, and by him stood Mrs Parkyn, and tall and +sloping-shouldered Mr Noot. The sleek dissenting minister was there, +and the jovial, round-faced Catholic priest. There stood Joliffe, the +pork-butcher, in shirt-sleeves and white apron in the middle of the +road; and there stood Joliffe's wife and daughters, piled up on the +steps of the shop, and craning their necks towards the market-place. +The postmaster and his clerk and two letter-carriers had come out from +the post-office. All the young ladies and young gentlemen from Rose and +Storey's establishment were herded in front of their great glittering +shop-window, and among them shone the fair curls of Mr Storey, the +junior partner, himself. A little lower down was a group of masons and +men employed on the restorations, and near them Clerk Janaway leant on +his stick. + +Many of these people Lord Blandamer knew well by sight, and there was +beside a great throng of common folk, but none took any notice of him. + +There was something very strange about the crowd. Everyone was looking +towards the market-place, and everyone's face was upturned as if they +were watching a flight of birds. The square was empty, and no one +attempted to advance further into it; nay, most stood in an alert +attitude, as if prepared to run the other way. Yet all remained +spellbound, looking up, with their heads turned towards the +market-place, over which watched the minster church. There was no +shouting, nor laughter, nor chatter; only the agitated murmur of a +multitude of people speaking under their breath. + +The single person that moved was a waggoner. He was trying to get his +team and cart up the street, away from the market-place, but made slow +progress, for the crowd was too absorbed to give him room. Lord +Blandamer spoke to the man, and asked him what was happening. The +waggoner stared for a moment as if dazed; then recognised his +questioner, and said quickly: + +"Don't go on, my lord! For God's sake, don't go on; the tower's coming +down." + +Then the spell that bound all the others fell on Lord Blandamer too. +His eyes were drawn by an awful attraction to the great tower that +watched over the market-place. The buttresses with their broad +set-offs, the double belfry windows with their pierced screens and +stately Perpendicular tracery, the open battlemented parapet, and +clustered groups of soaring pinnacles, shone pink and mellow in the +evening sun. They were as fair and wonderful as on that day when Abbot +Vinnicomb first looked upon his finished work, and praised God that it +was good. + +But on this still autumn evening there was something terribly amiss with +the tower, in spite of all brave appearances. The jackdaws knew it, and +whirled in a mad chattering cloud round their old home, with wings +flashing and changing in the low sunlight. And on the west side, the +side nearest the market-place, there oozed out from a hundred joints a +thin white dust that fell down into the churchyard like the spray of +some lofty Swiss cascade. It was the very death-sweat of a giant in his +agony, the mortar that was being ground out in powder from the courses +of collapsing masonry. To Lord Blandamer it seemed like the sand +running through an hour-glass. + +Then the crowd gave a groan like a single man. One of the gargoyles at +the corner, under the parapet, a demon figure that had jutted grinning +over the churchyard for three centuries, broke loose and fell crashing +on to the gravestones below. There was silence for a minute, and then +the murmurings of the onlookers began again. Everyone spoke in short, +breathless sentences, as though they feared the final crash might come +before they could finish. Churchwarden Joliffe, with pauses of +expectation, muttered about a "judgment in our midst." The Rector, in +Joliffe's pauses, seemed trying to confute him by some reference to +"those thirteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and slew them." An +old charwoman whom Miss Joliffe sometimes employed wrung her hands with +an "Ah! poor dear--poor dear!" The Catholic priest was reciting +something in a low tone, and crossing himself at intervals. Lord +Blandamer, who stood near, caught a word or two of the commendatory +prayer for the dying, the "_Proficiscere_," and "_liliata rutilantium_," +that showed how Abbot Vinnicomb's tower lived in the hearts of those +that abode under its shadow. + +And all the while the white dust kept pouring out of the side of the +wounded fabric; the sands of the hour-glass were running down apace. + +The foreman of the masons saw Lord Blandamer, and made his way to him. + +"Last night's gale did it, my lord," he said; "we knew 'twas touch and +go when we came this morning. Mr Westray's been up the tower since +mid-day to see if there was anything that could be done, but twenty +minutes ago he came sharp into the belfry and called to us, `Get out of +it, lads--get out quick for your lives; it's all over now.' It's +widening out at bottom; you can see how the base wall's moved and forced +up the graves on the north side." And he pointed to a shapeless heap of +turf and gravestones and churchyard mould against the base of the tower. + +"Where is Mr Westray?" Lord Blandamer said. "Ask him to speak to me +for a minute." + +He looked round about for the architect; he wondered now that he had not +seen him among the crowd. The people standing near had listened to Lord +Blandamer's words. They of Cullerne looked on the master of Fording as +being almost omnipotent. If he could not command the tower, like +Joshua's sun in Ajalon, to stand still forthwith and not fall down, yet +he had no doubt some sage scheme to suggest to the architect whereby the +great disaster might be averted. Where was the architect? they +questioned impatiently. Why was he not at hand when Lord Blandamer +wanted him? Where was he? And in a moment Westray's name was on all +lips. + +And just then was heard a voice from the tower, calling out through the +louvres of the belfry windows, very clear and distinct for all it was so +high up, and for all the chatter of the jackdaws. It was Westray's +voice: + +"I am shut up in the belfry," it called; "the door is jammed. For God's +sake! someone bring a crowbar, and break in the door!" + +There was despair in the words, that sent a thrill of horror through +those that heard them. The crowd stared at one another. The +foreman-mason wiped the sweat off his brow; he was thinking of his wife +and children. Then the Catholic priest stepped out. + +"I will go," he said; "I have no one depending on me." + +Lord Blandamer's thoughts had been elsewhere; he woke from his reverie +at the priest's words. + +"Nonsense!" said he; "I am younger than you, and know the staircase. +Give me a lever." One of the builder's men handed him a lever with a +sheepish air. Lord Blandamer took it, and ran quickly towards the +minster. + +The foreman-mason called after him: + +"There is only one door open, my lord--a little door by the organ." + +"Yes, I know the door," Lord Blandamer shouted, as he disappeared round +the church. + +A few minutes later he had forced open the belfry door. He pulled it +back towards him, and stood behind it on the steps higher up, leaving +the staircase below clear for Westray's escape. The eyes of the two men +did not meet, for Lord Blandamer was hidden by the door; but Westray was +much overcome as he thanked the other for rescuing him. + +"Run for your life!" was all Lord Blandamer said; "you are not saved +yet." + +The younger man dashed headlong down the steps, and then Lord Blandamer +pushed the door to, and followed with as little haste or excitement as +if he had been coming down from one of his many inspections of the +restoration work. + +As Westray ran through the great church, he had to make his way through +a heap of mortar and debris that lay upon the pavement. The face of the +wall over the south transept arch had come away, and in its fall had +broken through the floor into the vaults below. Above his head that +baleful old crack, like a black lightning-flash, had widened into a +cavernous fissure. The church was full of dread voices, of strange +moanings and groanings, as if the spirits of all the monks departed were +wailing for the destruction of Abbot Vinnicomb's tower. There was a +dull rumbling of rending stone and crashing timbers, but over all the +architect heard the cry of the crossing-arches: "The arch never sleeps, +never sleeps. They have bound upon us a burden too heavy to be borne; +we are shifting it. The arch never sleeps." + +Outside, the people in the market-place held their breath, and the +stream of white dust still poured out of the side of the wounded tower. +It was six o'clock; the four quarters sounded, and the hour struck. +Before the last stroke had died away Westray ran out across the square, +but the people waited to cheer until Lord Blandamer should be safe too. +The chimes began "Bermondsey" as clearly and cheerfully as on a thousand +other bright and sunny evenings. + +And then the melody was broken. There was a jangle of sound, a deep +groan from Taylor John, and a shrill cry from Beata Maria, a roar as of +cannon, a shock as of an earthquake, and a cloud of white dust hid from +the spectators the ruin of the fallen tower: + + + +EPILOGUE. + +On the same evening Lieutenant Ennefer, R.N., sailed down Channel in the +corvette _Solebay_, bound for the China Station. He was engaged to the +second Miss Bulteel, and turned his glass on the old town where his lady +dwelt as he passed by. It was then he logged that Cullerne Tower was +not to be seen, though the air was clear and the ship but six miles from +shore. He rubbed his glass, and called some other officers to verify +the absence of the ancient seamark, but all they could make out was a +white cloud, that might be smoke or dust or mist hanging over the town. +It must be mist, they said; some unusual atmospheric condition must have +rendered the tower invisible. + +It was not for many months afterwards that Lieutenant Ennefer heard of +the catastrophe, and when he came up Channel again on his return four +years later, there was the old seamark clear once more, whiter a little, +but still the same old tower. It had been rebuilt at the sole charge of +Lady Blandamer, and in the basement of it was a brass plate to the +memory of Horatio Sebastian Fynes, Lord Blandamer, who had lost his own +life in that place whilst engaged in the rescue of others. + +The rebuilding was entrusted to Mr Edward Westray, whom Lord Blandamer, +by codicil dictated only a few hours before his death, had left +co-trustee with Lady Blandamer, and guardian of the infant heir. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Nebuly Coat, by John Meade Falkner + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NEBULY COAT *** + +***** This file should be named 22943.txt or 22943.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/9/4/22943/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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