diff options
Diffstat (limited to '3744-8.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 3744-8.txt | 20743 |
1 files changed, 20743 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/3744-8.txt b/3744-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..da62b72 --- /dev/null +++ b/3744-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,20743 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Trial, by Charlotte M. Yonge + +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 Trial + or, More Links of the Daisy Chain + +Author: Charlotte M. Yonge + +Posting Date: July 19, 2009 [EBook #3744] +Release Date: February, 2003 +First Posted: August 15, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRIAL *** + + + + +Produced by Sandra Laythorpe. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + +THE TRIAL + +or + +MORE LINKS OF THE DAISY CHAIN + + +by + +CHARLOTTE M. YONGE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +Quand on veut dessecher un marais, on ne fait pas voter les +grenouilles.--Mme. EMILE. DE GIRADIN + + +'Richard? That's right! Here's a tea-cup waiting for you,' as the +almost thirty-year-old Incumbent of Cocksmoor, still looking like a +young deacon, entered the room with his quiet step, and silent greeting +to its four inmates. + +'Thank you, Ethel. Is papa gone out?' + +'I have not seen him since dinner-time. You said he was gone out with +Dr. Spencer, Aubrey?' + +'Yes, I heard Dr. Spencer's voice--"I say, Dick"--like three notes of +consternation,' said Aubrey; 'and off they went. I fancy there's some +illness about in the Lower Pond Buildings, that Dr. Spencer has been +raging so long to get drained.' + +'The knell has been ringing for a little child there,' added Mary; +'scarlatina, I believe--' + +'But, Richard,' burst forth the merry voice of the youngest, 'you must +see our letters from Edinburgh.' + +'You have heard, then? It was the very thing I came to ask.' + +'Oh yes! there were five notes in one cover,' said Gertrude. 'Papa +says they are to be laid up in the family archives, and labelled "The +Infants' Honeymoon."' + +'Papa is very happy with his own share,' said Ethel. 'It was signed, +"Still his own White Flower," and it had two Calton Hill real daisies +in it. I don't know when I have seen him more pleased.' + +'And Hector's letter--I can say that by heart,' continued Gertrude. +'"My dear Father, This is only to say that she is the darlint, and for +the pleasure of subscribing myself--Your loving SON,"--the son as big +as all the rest put together.' + +'I tell Blanche that he only took her for the pleasure of being my +father's son,' said Aubrey, in his low lazy voice. + +'Well,' said Mary, 'even to the last, I do believe he had as soon drive +papa out as walk with Blanche. Flora was quite scandalized at it.' + +'I should not imagine that George had often driven my father out,' said +Aubrey, again looking lazily up from balancing his spoon. + +Ethel laughed; and even Richard smiled; then recovering herself, she +said, 'Poor Hector, he never could call himself son to any one before.' + +'He has not been much otherwise here,' said Richard. + +'No,' said Ethel; 'it is the peculiar hardship of our weddings to break +us up by pairs, and carry off two instead of one. Did you ever see me +with so shabby a row of tea-cups? When shall I have them come in +riding double again?' + +The recent wedding was the third in the family; the first after a five +years' respite. It ensued upon an attachment that had grown up with +the young people, so that they had been entirely one with each other; +and there had been little of formal demand either of the maiden's +affection or her father's consent; but both had been implied from the +first. The bridegroom was barely of age, the bride not seventeen, and +Dr. May had owned it was very shocking, and told Richard to say nothing +about it! Hector had coaxed and pleaded, pathetically talked of his +great empty house at Maplewood, and declared that till he might take +Blanche away, he would not leave Stoneborough; he would bring down all +sorts of gossip on his courtship, he would worry Ethel, and take care +she finished nobody's education. What did Blanche want with more +education? She knew enough for him. Couldn't Ethel be satisfied with +Aubrey and Gertrude? or he dared say she might have Mary too, if she +was insatiable. If Dr. May was so unnatural as to forbid him to hang +about the house, why, he would take rooms at the Swan. In fact, as Dr. +May observed, he treated him to a modern red-haired Scotch version of +'Make me a willow cabin at your gate;' and as he heartily loved Hector +and entirely trusted him, and Blanche's pretty head was a wise and +prudent one, what was the use of keeping the poor lad unsettled? + +So Mrs. Rivers, the eldest sister and the member's wife, had come to +arrange matters and help Ethel, and a very brilliant wedding it had +been. Blanche was too entirely at home with Hector for flutterings or +agitations, and was too peacefully happy for grief at the separation, +which completed the destiny that she had always seen before her. She +was a picture of a bride; and when she and Hector hung round the +Doctor, insisting that Edinburgh should be the first place they should +visit, and calling forth minute directions for their pilgrimage to the +scenes of his youth, promising to come home and tell him all, no wonder +he felt himself rather gaining a child than losing one. He was very +bright and happy; and no one but Ethel understood how all the time +there was a sensation that the present was but a strange dreamy parody +of that marriage which had been the theme of earlier hopes. + +The wedding had taken place shortly after Easter; and immediately +after, the Rivers family had departed for London, and Tom May had +returned to Cambridge, leaving the home party at the minimum of four, +since, Cocksmoor Parsonage being complete, Richard had become only a +daily visitor instead of a constant inhabitant. + +There he sat, occupying his never idle hands with a net that he kept +for such moments, whilst Ethel sat behind her urn, now giving out its +last sighs, profiting by the leisure to read the county newspaper, +while she continually filled up her cup with tea or milk as occasion +served, indifferent to the increasing pallor of the liquid. + +Mary, a 'fine young woman,' as George Rivers called her, of blooming +face and sweet open expression, had begun, at Gertrude's entreaty, a +game of French billiards. Gertrude had still her childish sunny face +and bright hair, and even at the trying age of twelve was pleasing, +chiefly owing to the caressing freedom of manner belonging to an +unspoilable pet. Her request to Aubrey to join the sport had been +answered with a half petulant shake of the head, and he flung himself +into his father's chair, his long legs hanging over one arm--an +attitude that those who had ever been under Mrs. May's discipline +thought impossible in the drawing-room; but Aubrey was a rival pet, and +with the family characteristics of aquiline features, dark gray eyes, +and beautiful teeth, had an air of fragility and easy languor that +showed his exercise of the immunities of ill-health. He had been +Ethel's pupil till Tom's last year at Eton, when he was sent thither, +and had taken a good place; but his brother's vigilant and tender care +could not save him from an attack on the chest, that settled his +public-school education for ever, to his severe mortification, just +when Tom's shower of honours was displaying to him the sweets of +emulation and success. Ethel regained her pupil, and put forth her +utmost powers for his benefit, causing Tom to examine him at each +vacation, with adjurations to let her know the instant he discovered +that her task of tuition was getting beyond her. In truth, Tom +fraternally held her cheap, and would have enjoyed a triumph over her +scholarship; but to this he had not attained, and in spite of his +desire to keep his brother in a salutary state of humiliation, candour +wrung from him the admission that, even in verses, Aubrey did as well +as other fellows of his standing. + +Conceit was not Aubrey's fault. His father was more guarded than in +the case of his elder sons, and the home atmosphere was not such as to +give the boy a sense of superiority, especially when diligently kept +down by his brother. Even the half year at Eton had not produced +superciliousness, though it had given Eton polish to the home-bred +manners; it had made sisters valuable, and awakened a desire for +masculine companionship. He did not rebel against his sister's rule; +she was nearly a mother to him, and had always been the most active +president of his studies and pursuits; and he was perfectly obedient +and dutiful to her, only asserting his equality, in imitation of Harry +and Tom, by a little of the good-humoured raillery and teasing that +treated Ethel as the family butt, while she was really the family +authority. + +'All gone, Ethel,' he said, with a lazy smile, as Ethel mechanically, +with her eyes on the newspaper, tried all her vessels round, and found +cream-jug, milk-jug, tea-pot, and urn exhausted; 'will you have in the +river next?' + +'What a shame!' said Ethel, awakening and laughing. 'Those are the +tea-maker's snares.' + +'Do send it away then,' said Aubrey, 'the urn oppresses the atmosphere.' + +'Very well, I'll make a fresh brew when papa comes home, and perhaps +you'll have some then. You did not half finish to-night.' + +Aubrey yawned; and after some speculation about their father's absence, +Gertrude went to bed; and Aubrey, calling himself tired, stood up, +stretched every limb portentously, and said he should go off too. +Ethel looked at him anxiously, felt his hand, and asked if he were sure +he had not a cold coming on. 'You are always thinking of colds,' was +all the satisfaction she received. + +'What has he been doing?' said Richard. + +'That is what I was thinking. He was about all yesterday afternoon +with Leonard Ward, and perhaps may have done something imprudent in the +damp. I never know what to do. I can't bear him to be a coddle; yet +he is always catching cold if I let him alone. The question is, +whether it is worse for him to run risks, or to be thinking of himself.' + +'He need not be doing that,' said Richard; 'he may be thinking of your +wishes and papa's.' + +'Very pretty of him and you, Ritchie; but he is not three parts of a +boy or man who thinks of his womankind's wishes when there is anything +spirited before him.' + +'Well, I suppose one may do one's duty without being three parts of a +boy,' said Richard, gravely. + +'I know it is true that some of the most saintly characters have been +the more spiritual because their animal frame was less vigorous; but +still it does not content me.' + +'No, the higher the power, the better, of course, should the service +be. I was only putting you in mind that there is compensation. But I +must be off. I am sorry I cannot wait for papa. Let me know what is +the matter to-morrow, and how Aubrey is.' + +Richard went; and the sisters took up their employments--Ethel writing +to the New Zealand sister-in-law her history of the wedding, Mary +copying parts of a New Zealand letter for her brother, the lieutenant +in command of a gun-boat on the Chinese coast. Those letters, whether +from Norman May or his wife, were very delightful, they were so full of +a cheerful tone of trustful exertion and resolution, though there had +been perhaps more than the natural amount of disappointments. Norman's +powers were not thought of the description calculated for regular +mission work, and some of the chief aspirations of the young couple had +had to be relinquished at the voice of authority without a trial. They +had received the charge of persons as much in need of them as +unreclaimed savages, but to whom there was less apparent glory in +ministering. A widespread district of very colonial colonists, and the +charge of a college for their uncultivated sons, was quite as +troublesome as the most ardent self-devotion could desire; and the +hardships and disagreeables, though severe, made no figure in +history--nay, it required ingenuity to gather their existence from +Meta's bright letters, although, from Mrs. Arnott's accounts, it was +clear that the wife took a quadruple share. Mrs. Rivers had been heard +to say that Norman need not have gone so far, and sacrificed so much, +to obtain an under-bred English congregation; and even the Doctor had +sighed once or twice at having relinquished his favourite son to what +was dull and distasteful; but Ethel could trust that this unmurmuring +acceptance of the less striking career, might be another step in the +discipline of her brother's ardent and ambitious nature. It is a great +thing to sacrifice, but a greater to consent not to sacrifice in one's +own way. + +Ethel sat up for her father, and Mary would not go to bed and leave +her, so the two sisters waited till they heard the latch-key. Ethel +ran out, but her father was already on the stairs, and waved her back. + +'Here is some tea. Are you not coming, papa?--it is all here.' + +'Thank you, I'll just go and take off this coat;' and he passed on to +his room. + +'I don't like that,' said Ethel, returning to the drawing-room, where +Mary was boiling up the kettle, and kneeling down to make some toast. + +'Why, what's the matter?' + +'I have never known him go and change his coat but when some infectious +thing has been about. Besides, he did not wait to let me help him off +with it.' + +In a few seconds the Doctor came down in his dressing-gown, and let +himself be put into his easy-chair; his two daughters waiting on him +with fond assiduity, their eyes questioning his fagged weary face, but +reading there fatigue and concern that made them--rather +awe-struck--bide their time till it should suit him to speak. Mary was +afraid he would wait till she was gone; dear old Mary, who at +twenty-two never dreamt of regarding herself as on the same footing +with her three years' senior, and had her toast been browner, would +have relieved them of her presence at once. However, her father spoke +after his first long draught of tea. + +'Well! How true it is that judgments are upon us while we are marrying +and giving in marriage!' + +'What is it, papa? Not the scarlatina?' + +'Scarlatina, indeed!' he said contemptuously. 'Scarlet fever in the +most aggravated form. Two deaths in one house, and I am much mistaken +if there will not be another before morning.' + +'Who, papa?' asked Mary. + +'Those wretched Martins, in Lower Pond Buildings, are the worst. No +wonder, living in voluntary filth; but it is all over the street--will +be all over the town unless there's some special mercy on the place.' + +'But how has it grown so bad,' said Ethel, 'without our having even +heard of it!' + +'Why--partly I take shame to myself--this business of Hector and +Blanche kept Spencer and me away last dispensary day; and partly it was +that young coxcomb, Henry Ward, thought it not worth while to trouble +me about a simple epidemic. Simple epidemic indeed!' repeated Dr. May, +changing his tone from ironical mimicry to hot indignation. 'I hope he +will be gratified with its simplicity! I wonder how long he would have +gone on if it had not laid hold on him.' + +'You don't mean that he has it?' + +'I do. It will give him a practical lesson in simple epidemics.' + +'And Henry Ward has it!' repeated Mary, looking so much dismayed that +her father laughed, saying-- + +'What, Mary thinks when it comes to fevers being so audacious as to lay +hold of the doctors, it is time that they should be put a stop to.' + +'He seems to have petted it and made much of it,' said Ethel; 'so no +wonder! What could have possessed him?' + +'Just this, Ethel; and it is only human nature after all. This young +lad comes down, as Master Tom will do some day, full of his lectures +and his hospitals, and is nettled and displeased to find his father +content to have Spencer or me called in the instant anything serious is +the matter.' + +'But you are a physician, papa,' said Mary. + +'No matter for that, to Mr. Henry I'm an old fogie, and depend upon it, +if it were only the giving a dose of salts, he would like to have the +case to himself. These poor creatures were parish patients, and I +don't mean that his treatment was amiss. Spencer is right, it was an +atmosphere where there was no saving anyone, but if he had not been so +delighted with his own way, and I had known what was going on, I'd have +got the Guardians and the Town Council and routed out the place. +Seventeen cases, and most of them the worst form!' + +'But what was Mr. Ward about? + + '"Says I to myself, here's a lesson for me; + This man's but a picture of what I shall be," + +'when Master Tom gets the upper hand of me,' returned Dr. May. 'Poor +Ward, who has run to me in all his difficulties these thirty years, +didn't like it at all; but Mr. Henry was so confident with his simple +epidemic, and had got him in such order, that he durst not speak.' + +'And what brought it to light at last?' + +'Everything at once. First the clerics go to see about the family +where the infant died, and report to Spencer; he comes after me, and we +start to reconnoitre. Then I am called in to see Shearman's +daughter--a very ugly case that--and coming out I meet poor Ward +himself, wanting me to see Henry, and there's the other boy sickening +too. Then I went down and saw all those cases in the Lower Ponds, and +have been running about the town ever since to try what can be done, +hunting up nurses, whom I can't get, stirring dishes of skim milk, +trying to get the funerals over to-morrow morning by daybreak. I +declare I have hardly a leg to stand on.' + +'Where was Dr. Spencer?' + +'I've nearly quarrelled with Spencer. Oh! he is in high feather! he +will have it that the fever rose up bodily, like Kuhleborn, out of that +unhappy drain he is always worrying about, when it is a regular case of +scarlet fever, brought in by a girl at home from service; but he will +have it that his theory is proved. Then I meant him to keep clear of +it. He has always been liable to malaria and all that sort of thing, +and has not strength for an illness. I told him to mind the ordinary +practice for me; and what do I find him doing the next thing, but +operating upon one of the worst throats he could find! I told him he +was as bad as young Ward; I hate his irregular practice. I'll tell you +what,' he said, vindictively, as if gratified to have what must obey +him, 'you shall all go off to Cocksmoor to-morrow morning at seven +o'clock.' + +'You forget that we two have had it,' said Mary. + +'Which of you?' + +'All down to Blanche.' + +'Never mind for that. I shall have enough to do without a sick house +at home. You can perform quarantine with Richard, and then go to +Flora, if she will have you. Well, what are you dawdling about? Go +and pack up.' + +'Papa,' said Ethel, who had been abstracted through all the latter part +of the conversation, 'if you please, we had better not settle my going +till to-morrow morning.' + +'Come, Ethel, you have too much sense for panics. Don't take nonsense +into your head. The children can't have been in the way of it.' + +'Stay, papa,' said Ethel, her serious face arresting the momentary +impatience of fatigue and anxiety, 'I am afraid Aubrey was a good while +choosing fishing-tackle at Shearman's yesterday with Leonard Ward; and +it may be nothing, but he did seem heavy and out of order to-night; I +wish you would look at him as you go up.' + +Dr. May stood still for a few moments, then gave one long gasp, made a +few inquiries, and went up to Aubrey's room. The boy was fast asleep; +but there was that about him which softened the weary sharpness of his +father's manner, and caused him to desire Ethel to look from the window +whence she could see whether the lights were out in Dr. Spencer's +house. Yes, they were. + +'Never mind. It will make no real odds, and he has had enough on his +hands to-day. The boy will sleep quietly enough to-night, so let us +all go to bed.' + +'I think I can get a mattress into his room without waking him, if you +will help me, Mary,' said Ethel. + +'Nonsense,' said her father, decidedly. 'Mary is not to go near him +before she takes Gertrude to Cocksmoor; and you, go to your own bed and +get a night's rest while you can.' + +'You won't stay up, papa.' + +'I--why, it is all I can do not to fall asleep on my feet. Good night, +children.' + +'He does not trust himself to think or to fear,' said Ethel. 'Too much +depends on him to let himself be unstrung.' + +'But, Ethel, you will not leave, dear Aubrey.' + +'I shall keep his door open and mine; but papa is right, and it will +not do to waste one's strength. In case I should not see you before +you go--' + +'Oh, but, Ethel, I shall come back! Don't, pray don't tell me to stay +away. Richard will have to keep away for Daisy's sake, and you can't +do all alone--nurse Aubrey and attend to papa. Say that I may come +back.' + +Well, Mary, I think you might,' said Ethel, after a moment's thought. +'If it were only Aubrey, I could manage for him; but I am more anxious +about papa.' + +'You don't think he is going to have it?' + +'Oh no, no,' said Ethel, 'he is what he calls himself, a seasoned +vessel; but he will be terribly overworked, and unhappy, and he must +not come home and find no one to talk to or to look cheerful. So, +Mary, unless he gives any fresh orders, or Richard thinks it will only +make things worse, I shall be very glad of you.' + +Mary had never clung to her so gratefully, nor felt so much honoured. +'Do you think he will have it badly?' she asked timidly. + +'I don't think at all about it,' said Ethel, something in her father's +manner. 'If we are to get through all this, Mary, it must not be by +riding out on perhapses. Now let us put Daisy's things together, for +she must have as little communication with home as possible.' + +Ethel silently and rapidly moved about, dreading to give an interval +for tremblings of heart. Five years of family prosperity had passed, +and there had been that insensible feeling of peace and immunity from +care which is strange to look back upon when one hour has drifted from +smooth water to turbid currents. There was a sort of awe in seeing the +mysterious gates of sorrow again unclosed; yet, darling of her own as +Aubrey was, Ethel's first thoughts and fears were primarily for her +father. Grief and alarm seemed chiefly to touch her through him, and +she found herself praying above all that he might be shielded from +suffering, and might be spared a renewal of the pangs that had before +wrung his heart. + +By early morning every one was astir; and Gertrude, bewildered and +distressed, yet rather enjoying the fun of staying with Richard, was +walking off with Mary. + +Soon after, Dr. Spencer was standing by the bedside of his old patient, +Aubrey, who had been always left to his management. + +'Ah, I see,' he said, with a certain tone of satisfaction, 'for once +there will be a case properly treated. Now, Ethel, you and I will show +what intelligent nursing can do.' + +'I believe you are delighted,' growled Aubrey. + +'So should you be, at the valuable precedent you will afford.' + +'I've no notion of being experimented on to prove your theory,' said +Aubrey, still ready for lazy mischief. + +For be it known that the roving-tempered Dr. Spencer had been on fire +to volunteer to the Crimean hospitals, and had unwillingly sacrificed +the project, not to Dr. May's conviction that it would be fatal in his +present state of health, but to Ethel's private entreaty that he would +not add to her father's distress in the freshness of Margaret's death, +and the parting with Norman. He had never ceased to mourn over the +lost opportunity, and to cast up to his friend the discoveries he might +have made; while Dr. May declared that if by any strange chance he had +come back at all, he would have been so rabid on improved nursing and +sanatory measures, that there would have been no living with him. + +It must be owned that Dr. May was not very sensible to what his friend +called Stoneborough stinks. The place was fairly healthy, and his +'town councillor's conservatism,' and hatred of change, as well as the +amusement of skirmishing, had always made him the champion of things as +they were; and in the present emergency the battle whether the enemy +had travelled by infection, or was the product of the Pond Buildings' +miasma, was the favourite enlivenment of the disagreeing doctors, in +their brief intervals of repose in the stern conflict which they were +waging with the fever--a conflict in which they had soon to strive by +themselves, for the disease not only seized on young Ward, but on his +father; and till medical assistance was sent from London, they had the +whole town on their hands, and for nearly a week lived without a +night's rest. + +The care of the sick was a still greater difficulty. Though Aubrey was +never in danger, and Dr. Spencer's promise of the effects of +'intelligent nursing' was fully realized, Ethel and Mary were so +occupied by him, that it was a fearful thing to guess how it must fare +with those households where the greater number were laid low, and in +want of all the comforts that could do little. + +The clergy worked to the utmost; and a letter of Mr. Wilmot's obtained +the assistance of two ladies from a nursing sisterhood, who not only +worked incredible wonders with their own hands among the poor, but made +efficient nurses of rough girls and stupid old women. Dr. May, who had +at first, in his distrust of innovation, been averse to the +importation--as likely to have no effect but putting nonsense into +girls' heads, and worrying the sick poor--was so entirely conquered, +that he took off his hat to them across the street, importuned them to +drink tea with his daughters, and never came home without dilating on +their merits for the few minutes that intervened between his satisfying +himself about Aubrey and dropping asleep in his chair. The only +counter demonstration he reserved to himself was that he always called +them 'Miss What-d'ye-call-her,' and 'Those gems of women,' instead of +Sister Katherine and Sister Frances. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +Good words are silver, but good deeds are gold.--Cecil and Mary + + +'It has been a very good day, papa; he has enjoyed all his meals, +indeed was quite ravenous. He is asleep now, and looks as comfortable +as possible,' said Ethel, five weeks after Aubrey's illness had begun. + +'Thank God for that, and all His mercy to us, Ethel;' and the long +sigh, the kiss, and dewy eyes, would have told her that there had been +more to exhaust him than his twelve hours' toil, even had she not +partly known what weighed him down. + +'Poor things!' she said. + +'Both gone, Ethel, both! both!' and as he entered the drawing-room, he +threw himself back in his chair, and gasped with the long-restrained +feeling. + +'Both!' she exclaimed. 'You don't mean that Leonard--' + +'No, Ethel, his mother! Poor children, poor children!' + +'Mrs. Ward! I thought she had only been taken ill yesterday evening.' + +'She only then gave way--but she never had any constitution--she was +done up with nursing--nothing to fall back on--sudden collapse and +prostration--and that poor girl, called every way at once, fancied her +asleep, and took no alarm till I came in this morning and found her +pulse all but gone. We have been pouring down stimulants all day, but +there was no rousing her, and she was gone the first.' + +'And Mr. Ward--did he know it?' + +'I thought so from the way he looked at me; but speech had long been +lost, and that throat was dreadful suffering. Well, "In their death +they were not divided."' + +He shaded his eyes with his hand; and Ethel, leaning against his chair, +could not hinder herself from a shudder at the longing those words +seemed to convey. He felt her movement, and put his arm round her, +saying, 'No, Ethel, do not think I envy them. I might have done so +once--I had not then learnt the meaning of the discipline of being +without her--no, nor what you could do for me, my child, my children.' + +Ethel's thrill of bliss was so intense, that it gave her a sense of +selfishness in indulging personal joy at such a moment; and indeed it +was true that her father had over-lived the first pangs of change and +separation, had formed new and congenial habits, saw the future hope +before him; and since poor Margaret had been at rest, had been without +present anxiety, or the sight of decay and disappointment. Her only +answer was a mute smoothing of his bowed shoulders, as she said, 'If I +could be of any use or comfort to poor Averil Ward, I could go +to-night. Mary is enough for Aubrey.' + +'Not now, my dear. She can't stir from the boy, they are giving him +champagne every ten minutes; she has the nurse, and Spencer is +backwards and forwards; I think they will pull him through, but it is a +near, a very near touch. Good, patient, unselfish boy he is too.' + +'He always was a very nice boy,' said Ethel; 'I do hope he will get +well. It would be a terrible grief to Aubrey.' + +'Yes, I got Leonard to open his lips to-day by telling him that Aubrey +had sent him the grapes. I think he will get through. I hope he will. +He is a good friend for Aubrey. So touching it was this morning to +hear him trying to ask pardon for all his faults, poor fellow--fits of +temper, and the like.' + +'That is his fault, I believe,' said Ethel, 'and I always think it a +wholesome one, because it is so visible and unjustifiable, that people +strive against it. And the rest? Was Henry able to see his father or +mother?' + +'No, he can scarcely sit up in bed. It was piteous to see him lying +with his door open, listening. He is full of warm sound feeling, poor +fellow. You would like to have heard the fervour with which he begged +me to tell his father to have no fears for the younger ones, for it +should be the most precious task of his life to do a parent's part by +them.' + +'Let me see, he is just of Harry's age,' said Ethel, thoughtfully, as +if she had not the strongest faith in Harry's power of supplying a +parent's place. + +'Well,' said her father, 'remember, a medical student is an older man +than a lieutenant in the navy. One sees as much of the interior as the +other does of the surface. We must take this young Ward by the hand, +and mind he does not lose his father's practice. Burdon, that young +prig that Spencer got down from London, met me at Gavin's, when I +looked in there on my way home, and came the length of Minster Street +with me, asking what I thought of an opening for a medical +man--partnership with young Ward, &c. I snubbed him so short, that I +fancy I left him thinking whether his nose was on or off his face.' + +'He was rather premature.' + +'I've settled him any way. I shall do my best to keep the town clear +for that lad; there's not much more for him, as things are now, and it +will be only looking close after him for a few years, which Spencer and +I can very well manage.' + +'If he will let you.' + +'There! that's the spitefulness of women! Must you be casting up that +little natural spirit of independence against him after the lesson he +has had? I tell you, he has been promising me to look on me as a +father! Poor old Ward! he was a good friend and fellow-worker. I owe +a great deal to him.' + +Ethel wondered if he forgot how much of the unserviceableness of his +maimed arm had once been attributed to Mr. Ward's dulness, or how many +times he had come home boiling with annoyance at having been called in +too late to remedy the respectable apothecary's half measures. She +believed that the son had been much better educated than the father, +and after the fearful lesson he had received, thought he might realize +Dr. May's hopes, and appreciate his kindness. They discussed the +relations. + +'Ward came as assistant to old Axworthy, and married his daughter; he +had no relations that his son knows of, except the old aunt who left +Averil her £2000.' + +'There are some Axworthys still,' said Ethel, 'but not very creditable +people.' + +'You may say that,' said Dr. May emphatically. 'There was a scapegrace +brother that ran away, and was heard of no more till he turned up, a +wealthy man, ten or fifteen years ago, and bought what they call the +Vintry Mill, some way on this side of Whitford. He has a business on a +large scale; but Ward had as little intercourse with him as possible. +A terrible old heathen.' + +'And the boy that was expelled for bullying Tom is in the business.' + +'I hate the thought of that,' said the Doctor. 'If he had stayed on, +who knows but he might have turned out as well as Ned Anderson.' + +'Has not he?' + +'I'm sure I have no right to say he has not, but he is a flashy slang +style of youth, and I hope the young Wards will keep out of his way.' + +'What will become of them? Is there likely to be any provision for +them?' + +'Not much, I should guess. Poor Ward did as we are all tempted to do +when money goes through our hands, and spent more freely than I was +ever allowed to do. Costly house, garden, greenhouses--he'd better +have stuck to old Axworthy's place in Minster Street--daughter at that +grand school, where she cost more than the whole half-dozen of you put +together.' + +'She was more worth it,' said Ethel; 'her music and drawing are +first-rate. Harry was frantic about her singing last time he was at +home--one evening when Mrs. Anderson abused his good-nature and got him +to a tea-party--I began to be afraid of the consequences.' + +'Pish!' said the Doctor. + +'And really they kept her there to enable her to educate her sisters,' +said Ethel. 'The last time I called on poor Mrs. Ward, she told me all +about it, apologizing in the pretty way mothers do, saying she was +looking forward to Averil's coming home, but that while she profited so +much, they felt it due to her to give her every advantage; and did not +I think--with my experience--that it was all so much for the little +ones' benefit? I assured her, from my personal experience, that +ignorance is a terrible thing in governessing one's sisters. Poor +thing! And Averil had only come home this very Easter.' + +'And with everything to learn, in such a scene as that! The first day, +when only the boys were ill, there sat the girl, dabbling with her +water-colours, and her petticoats reaching half across the room, +looking like a milliner's doll, and neither she nor her poor mother +dreaming of her doing a useful matter.' + +'Who is spiteful now, papa? That's all envy at not having such an +accomplished daughter. When she came out in time of need so grandly, +and showed all a woman's instinct--' + +'Woman's nonsense! Instinct is for irrational brutes, and the more you +cultivate a woman, the less she has of it, unless you work up her +practical common sense too.' + +'Some one said she made a wonderful nurse.' + +'Wonderful? Perhaps so, considering her opportunities, and she does +better with Spencer than with me; I may have called her to order +impatiently, for she is nervous with me, loses her head, and knocks +everything down with her petticoats. Then--not a word to any one, +Ethel--but imagine her perfect blindness to her poor mother's state all +yesterday, and last night, not even calling Burdon to look at her; why, +those ten hours may have made all the difference!' + +'Poor thing, how is she getting on now?' + +'Concentrated upon Leonard, too much stunned to admit another idea--no +tears--hardly full comprehension. One can't take her away, and she +can't bear not to do everything, and yet one can't trust her any more +than a child.' + +'As she is,' said Ethel, 'but as she won't be any longer. And the two +little ones?' + +'It breaks one's heart to see them, just able to sit by their nursery +fire, murmuring in that weary, resigned, sick child's voice, 'I wish +nurse would come.' 'I wish sister would come.' 'I wish mamma would +come.' I went up to them the last thing, and told them how it was, and +let them cry themselves to sleep. That was the worst business of all. +Ethel, are they too big for Mary to dress some dolls for them?' + +'I will try to find out their tastes the first thing to-morrow,' said +Ethel; 'at any rate we can help them, if not poor Averil.' + +Ethel, however, was detained at home to await Dr. Spencer's visit, and +Mary, whose dreams had all night been haunted by the thought of the two +little nursery prisoners, entreated to go with her father, and see what +could be done for them. + +Off they set together, Mary with a basket in her hand, which was +replenished at the toy-shop in Minster Street with two china-faced +dolls, and, a little farther on, parted with a couple of rolls, +interspersed with strata of cold beef and butter, to a household of +convalescents in the stage for kitchen physic. + +Passing the school, still taking its enforced holiday, the father and +daughter traversed the bridge and entered the growing suburb known as +Bankside, where wretched cottages belonging to needy, grasping +proprietors, formed an uncomfortable contrast to the villa residences +interspersed among them. + +One of these, with a well-kept lawn, daintily adorned with the newest +pines and ornamental shrubs, and with sheets of glass glaring in the +sun from the gardens at the back, was the house that poor Mr. and Mrs. +Ward had bought and beautified; 'because it was so much better for the +children to be out of the town.' The tears sprang into Mary's eyes at +the veiled windows, and the unfeeling contrast of the spring glow of +flowering thorn, lilac, laburnum, and, above all, the hard, flashing +brightness of the glass; but tears were so unlike Ethel that Mary +always was ashamed of them, and disposed of them quietly. + +They rang, but in vain. Two of the servants were ill, and all in +confusion; and after waiting a few moments among the azaleas in the +glass porch, Dr. May admitted himself, and led the way up-stairs with +silent footfalls, Mary following with breath held back. A voice from +an open door called, 'Is that Dr. May?' and he paused to look in and +say, 'I'll be with you in one minute, Henry; how is Leonard?' + +'No worse, they tell me; I say, Dr. May--' + +'One moment;' and turning back to Mary, he pointed along a dark +passage. 'Up there, first door to the right. You can't mistake;' then +disappeared, drawing the door after him. + +Much discomfited, Mary nevertheless plunged bravely on, concluding +'there' to be up a narrow, uncarpeted stair, with a nursery wicket at +the top, in undoing which, she was relieved of all doubts and scruples +by a melancholy little duet from within. 'Mary, Mary, we want our +breakfast! We want to get up! Mary, Mary, do come! please come!' + +She was instantly in what might ordinarily have been a light, cheerful +room, but which was in all the dreariness of gray cinders, exhausted +night-light, curtained windows, and fragments of the last meal. In +each of two cane cribs was sitting up a forlorn child, with loose locks +of dishevelled hair, pale thin cheeks glazed with tears, staring eyes, +and mouths rounded with amaze at the apparition. One dropped down and +hid under the bed-clothes; the other remained transfixed, as her +visitor advanced, saying, 'Well, my dear, you called Mary, and here I +am.' + +'Not our own Mary,' said the child, distrustfully. + +'See if I can't be your own Mary.' + +'You can't. You can't give us our breakfast.' + +'Oh, I am so hungry!' from the other crib; and both burst into the +feeble sobs of exhaustion. Recovering from fever, and still fasting at +half-past nine! Mary was aghast, and promised an instant supply. + +'Don't go;' and a bird-like little hand seized her on either side. +'Mary never came to bed, and nobody has been here all the morning, and +we can't bear to be alone.' + +'I was only looking for the bell.' + +'It is of no use; Minna did jump out and ring, but nobody will come.' + +Mary made an ineffectual experiment, and then persuaded the children to +let her go by assurances of a speedy return. She sped down, brimming +over with pity and indignation, to communicate to her father this cruel +neglect, and as she passed Henry Ward's door, and heard several voices, +she ventured on a timid summons of 'papa,' but, finding it unheard, she +perceived that she must act for herself. Going down-stairs, she tried +the sitting-room doors, hoping that breakfast might be laid out there, +but all were locked; and at last she found her way to the lower +regions, guided by voices in eager tones of subdued gossip. + +There, in the glow of the huge red fire, stood a well-covered table, +surrounded by cook, charwoman, and their cavaliers, discussing a pile +of hot-buttered toast, to which the little kitchen-maid was +contributing large rounds, toasted at the fire. + +Mary's eyes absolutely flashed, as she said, 'The children have had no +breakfast.' + +'I beg your pardon, ma'am,' and the cook rose, 'but it is the +nurse-maid that takes up the young ladies' meals.' + +Mary did not listen to the rest; she was desperate, and pouncing on the +bread with one hand, and the butter with the other, ran away with them +to the nursery, set them down, and rushed off for another raid. She +found that the commotion she had excited was resulting in the +preparation of a tray. + +'I am sure, ma'am, I am very sorry,' said the cook, insisting on +carrying the kettle, 'but we are in such confusion; and the nurse-maid, +whose place it is, has been up most of the night with Mr. Leonard, and +must have just dropped asleep somewhere, and I was just giving their +breakfast to the undertaker's young men, but I'll call her directly, +ma'am.' + +'Oh, no, on no account. I am sure she ought to sleep,' said Mary. 'It +was only because I found the little girls quite starving that I came +down. I will take care of them now. Don't wake her, pray. Only I +hope,' and Mary looked beseechingly, 'that they will have something +good for their dinner, poor little things.' + +Cook was entirely pacified, and talked about roast chicken, and +presently the little sisters were sitting up in their beds, each in her +wrapper, being fed by turns with delicately-buttered slices, Mary +standing between like a mother-bird feeding her young, and pleased to +find the eyes grow brighter and less hollow, the cheeks less wan, the +voices less thin and pipy, and a little laugh breaking out when she +mistook Minna for Ella. + +While tidying the room, she was assailed with entreaties to call their +Mary, and let them get up, they were so tired of bed. She undertook to +be still their Mary, and made them direct her to the house-maid's +stores, went down on her knees at the embers, and so dealt with +matches, chips, and coal, that to her own surprise and pride a fire was +evoked. + +'But,' said Ella, 'I thought you were a Miss May.' + +'So I am, my dear.' + +'But ladies don't light fires,' said Minna, in open-eyed perplexity. + +'Oh,' exclaimed the younger sister, 'you know Henry said he did not +think any of the Miss Mays were first-rate, and that our Ave beat them +all to nothing.' + +The elder, Minna, began hushing; and it must be confessed that honest +Mary was not superior to a certain crimson flush of indignation, as she +held her head into the grate, and thought of Ethel, Flora, and Blanche, +criticized by Mr. Henry Ward. Little ungrateful chit! No, it was not +a matter of laughing, but of forgiveness; and the assertion of the +dignity of usefulness was speedily forgotten in the toilette of the +small light skin-and-bone frames, in the course of which she received +sundry compliments--'her hands were so nice and soft,' 'she did not +pull their hair like their own Mary,' 'they wished she always dressed +them.' + +The trying moment was when they asked if they might kneel at her lap +for their prayers. To Mary, the twelve years seemed as nothing since +her first prayers after the day of terror and bereavement, and her eyes +swam with tears as the younger girl unthinkingly rehearsed her wonted +formula, and the elder, clinging to her, whispered gravely, 'Please, +what shall I say?' + +With full heart, and voice almost unmanageable, Mary prompted the few +simple words that had come to her in that hour of sorrow. She looked +up, from stooping to the child's ear, to see her father at the door, +gazing at them with face greatly moved. The children greeted him +fondly, and he sat down with one on each knee, and caressed them as he +looked them well over, drawing out their narration of the wonderful +things 'she' had done, the fingers pointing to designate who she was. +His look at her over his spectacles made Mary's heart bound and feel +compensated for whatever Mr. Henry Ward might say of her. When the +children had finished their story, he beckoned her out of the room, +promising them that he would not keep her long. + +'Well done, Molly,' he said smiling, 'it is well to have daughters good +for something. You had better stay with them till that poor maid has +had her sleep out, and can come to them.' + +'I should like to stay with them all day, only that Ethel must want me.' + +'You had better go home by dinner-time, that Ethel may get some air. +Perhaps I shall want one of you in the evening to be with them at the +time of the funeral.' + +'So soon!' + +'Yes, it must be. Better for all, and Henry is glad it should be so. +He is out on the sofa to-day, but he is terribly cut up.' + +'And Leonard?' + +'I see some improvement--Burdon does not--but I think with Heaven's +good mercy we may drag him through; the pulse is rather better. Now I +must go. You'll not wait dinner for me.' + +Mary spent the next hour in amusing the children by the fabrication of +the dolls' wardrobe, and had made them exceedingly fond of her, so that +there was a very poor welcome when their own Mary at length appeared, +much shocked at the duration of her own slumbers, and greatly obliged +to Miss May. The little girls would scarcely let Mary go, though she +pacified them by an assurance that she or her sister would come in the +evening. + +'Don't let it be your sister. You come, and finish our dolls' frocks!' +and they hung about her, kissing her, and trying to extract a promise. + +After sharing the burthen of depression, it was strange to return home +to so different a tone of spirits when she found Aubrey installed in +Ethel's room as his parlour, very white and weak, but overflowing with +languid fun. There was grief and sympathy for the poor Wards, and +anxious inquiries for Leonard; but it was not sorrow brought visibly +before him, and after the decorous space of commiseration, the smiles +were bright again, and Mary heard how her father had popped in to boast +of his daughter being 'as good as a house-maid, or as Miss +What's-her-name;' and her foray in the kitchen was more diverting to +Aubrey than she was as yet prepared to understand. 'Running away with +the buttered toast from under the nose of a charwoman! let Harry never +talk of taking a Chinese battery after that!' her incapacity of +perceiving that the deed was either valiant or ludicrous, entertaining +him particularly. 'It had evidently hit the medium between the sublime +and ridiculous.' + +When evening came, Mary thought it Ethel's privilege to go, as the most +efficient friend and comforter; but Ethel saw that her sister's soul +was with the Wards, and insisted that she should go on as she had begun. + +'O, Ethel, that was only with the little ones. Now you would be of use +to poor Averil.' + +'And why should not you? and of more use?' + +'You know I am only good for small children; but if you tell me--' + +'You provoking girl,' said Ethel. 'All I tell you is, that you are +twenty-three years old, and I won't tell you anything, nor assist your +unwholesome desire to be second fiddle.' + +'I don't know what you mean, Ethel; of course you always tell me what +to do, and how to do it.' + +Ethel quite laughed now, but gave up the contest, only saying, as she +fondly smoothed back a little refractory lock on Mary's smooth open +brow, 'Very well then, go and do whatever comes to hand at Bankside, +my dear. I do really want to stay at home, both on Aubrey's account, +and because papa says Dr. Spencer is done up, and that I must catch him +and keep him quiet this evening.' + +Mary was satisfied in her obedience, and set off with her father. Just +as they reached Bankside, a gig drove up containing the fattest old man +she had ever beheld; her father whispered that it was old Mr. Axworthy, +and sent her at once to the nursery, where she was welcomed with a +little shriek of delight, each child bounding in her small arm-chair, +and pulling her down between them on the floor for convenience of +double hugging, after which she was required to go on with the +doll-dressing. + +Mary could not bear to do this while the knell was vibrating on her +ear, and the two coffins being borne across the threshold; so she +gathered the orphans within her embrace as she sat on the floor, and +endeavoured to find out how much they understood of what was passing, +and whether they had any of the right thoughts. It was rather +disappointing. The little sisters had evidently been well and +religiously taught, but they were too childish to dwell on thoughts of +awe or grief, and the small minds were chiefly fixed upon the dolls, as +the one bright spot in the dreary day. Mary yielded, and worked and +answered their chatter till twilight came on, and the rival Mary came +up to put them to bed, an operation in which she gave her assistance, +almost questioning if she were not forgotten, but she learnt that her +father was still in the house, the nurse believed looking at papers in +Mr. Henry's room with the other gentlemen. + +'And you will sit by us while we go to sleep. Oh! don't go away!' + +The nurse was thankful to her for so doing, and a somewhat graver mood +had come over Minna as she laid her head on her pillow, for she asked +the difficult question, 'Can mamma see us now?' which Mary could only +answer with a tender 'Perhaps,' and an attempt to direct the child to +the thought of the Heavenly Father; and then Minna asked, 'Who will +take care of us now?' + +'Oh, will you?' cried Ella, sitting up; and both little maids, holding +out their arms, made a proffer of themselves to be her little children. +They would be so good if she would let them be-- + +Mary could only fondle and smile it off, and put them in mind that they +belonged to their brother and sister; but the answer was, 'Ave is not +so nice as you. Oh, do let us--' + +'But I can't, my dears. I am Dr. May's child, you know. What could I +say to him?' + +'Oh! but Dr. May wouldn't mind! I know he wouldn't mind! Mamma says +there was never any one so fond of little children, and he is such a +dear good old gentleman.' + +Mary had not recognized him as an old gentleman at fifty-eight, and did +not like it at all. She argued on the impracticability of taking them +from their natural protectors, and again tried to lead them upwards, +finally betaking herself to the repetition of hymns, which put them to +sleep. She had spent some time in sitting between them in the summer +darkness, when there was a low tap, and opening the door, she saw her +father. Indicating that they slept, she followed him out, and a +whispered conference took place as he stood below her on the stairs, +their heads on a level. + +'Tired, Mary? I have only just got rid of old Axworthy.' + +'The nurse said you were busy with papers in Henry's room.' + +'Ay--the Will. Henry behaves very well; and is full of right feeling, +poor fellow!' + +'What becomes of those dear little girls? They want to make themselves +a present to me, and say they know you would like it.' + +'So I should, the darlings! Well, as things are left, it all goes to +Henry, except the £10,000 Ward had insured his life for, which divides +between the five. He undertakes, most properly, to make them a +home--whether in this house or not is another thing; he and Averil will +look after them; and he made a most right answer when Mr. Axworthy +offered to take Leonard into his office,' proceeded the communicative +Doctor, unable to help pouring himself out, in spite of time and place, +as soon as he had a daughter to himself. 'Settle nothing +now--education not finished; but privately he tells me he believes his +mother would as soon have sent Leonard to the hulks as to that old +rascal, and the scamp, his grand-nephew.' + +Mary's answer to this, as his tones became incautiously emphatic, was a +glance round all the attic doors, lest they should have ears. + +'Now then, do you want to get home?' said the Doctor, a little rebuked. + +'Oh no, not if there is anything I can do.' + +'I want to get this girl away from Leonard. He is just come to the +state when it all turns on getting him off to sleep quietly, and not +disturbing him, and she is too excited and restless to do anything with +her; she has startled him twice already, and then gets upset--tired +out, poor thing! and will end in being hysterical if she does not get +fed and rested, and then we shall be done for! Now I want you to take +charge of her. See, here's her room, and I have ordered up some tea +for her. You must get her quieted down, make her have a tolerable +meal, and when she has worked off her excitement, put her to +bed--undressed, mind--and you might lie down by her. If you can't +manage her, call me. That's Leonard's door, and I shall be there all +night; but don't if you can help it. Can you do this, or must I get +Miss "What-d'ye-call-her" the elder one, if she can leave the Greens in +Randall's Alley? + +Well was it that Mary's heart was stout as well as tender; and instead +of mentally magnifying the task, and diminishing her own capabilities, +she simply felt that she had received a command, and merely asked that +Ethel should be informed. + +'I am going to send up to her.' + +'And shall I give Averil anything to take?' + +'Mutton-chops, if you can.' + +'I meant sal-volatile, or anything to put her to sleep.' + +'Nonsense! I hate healthy girls drugging themselves. You don't do +that at home, Mary!' + +Mary showed her white teeth in a silent laugh at the improbability, +there being nothing Ethel more detested than what she rather rudely +called nervous quackeries. Her father gave her a kiss of grateful +approbation, and was gone. + +There was a light on the table, and preparations for tea; and Mary +looked round the pretty room, where the ornamental paper, the flowery +chintz furniture, the shining brass of the bedstead, the frilled muslin +toilet, and et ceteras, were more luxurious than what she ever saw, +except when visiting with Flora, and so new as to tell a tale of the +mother's fond preparation for the return of the daughter from school. +In a few moments she heard her father saying, in a voice as if speaking +to a sick child, 'Yes, I promise you, my dear. Be good, be reasonable, +and you shall come back in the morning. No, you can't go there. Henry +is going to bed. Here is a friend for you. Now, Mary, don't let me +see her till she has slept.' + +Mary took the other hand, and between them they placed her in an +arm-chair, whose shining fresh white ground and gay rose-pattern +contrasted with her heated, rumpled, over-watched appearance, as she +sank her head on her hand, not noticing either Mary's presence or the +Doctor's departure. Mary stood doubtful for a few seconds, full of +pity and embarrassment, trying to take in the needs of the case. + +Averil Ward was naturally a plump, well-looking girl of eighteen, with +clearly-cut features, healthy highly-coloured complexion, and large +bright hazel eyes, much darker than her profuse and glossy hair, which +was always dressed in the newest and most stylish fashion, which, as +well as the whole air of her dress and person, was, though perfectly +lady like, always regarded by the Stoneborough world as something on +the borders of presumption on the part of the entire Ward family. + +To Mary's surprise, the five weeks' terrible visitation, and these last +fearful five days of sleepless exertion and bereavement, had not faded +the bright red of the cheek, nor were there signs of tears, though the +eyes looked bloodshot. Indeed, there was a purple tint about the +eyelids and lips, a dried-up appearance, and a heated oppressed air, as +if the faculties were deadened and burnt up, though her hand was cold +and trembling. Her hair, still in its elaborate arrangement, hung +loose, untidy, untouched; her collar and sleeves were soiled and +tumbled; her dress, with its inconvenient machinery of inflation, +looked wretched from its incongruity, and the stains on the huge +hanging sleeves. Not a moment could have been given to the care of her +own person, since the sole burthen of nursing had so grievously and +suddenly descended on her. + +Mary's first instinct was to pour out some warm water, and bringing it +with a sponge, to say, 'Would not this refresh you?' + +Averil moved petulantly; but the soft warm stream was so grateful to +her burning brow, that she could not resist; she put her head back, and +submitted like a child to have her face bathed, saying, 'Thank you.' + +Mary then begged to remove her tight heavy dress, and make her +comfortable in her dressing-gown. + +'Oh, I can't! Then I could not go back.' + +'Yes, you could; this is quite a dress; besides, one can move so much +more quietly without crinoline.' + +'I didn't think of that;' and she stood up, and unfastened her hooks. +'Perhaps Dr. May would let me go back now!' as a mountain of mohair and +scarlet petticoat remained on the floor, upborne by an over-grown steel +mouse-trap. + +'Perhaps he will by and by; but he said you must sleep first.' + +'Sleep--I can't sleep. There's no one but me. I couldn't sleep.' + +'Then at least let me try to freshen you up. There. You don't know +what good it used to do my sister Blanche, for me to brush her hair. I +like it.' + +And Mary obtained a dreamy soothed submission, so that she almost +thought she was brushing her victim to sleep in her chair, before the +maid came up with the viands that Dr. May had ordered. + +'I can't eat that,' said Averil, with almost disgust. 'Take it away.' + +'Please don't,' said Mary. 'Is that the way you use me, Miss Ward, +when I come to drink tea with you?' + +'Oh, I beg your pardon,' was the mechanical answer. + +Mary having made the long hair glossy once more, into a huge braid, and +knotted it up, came forth, and insisted that they were to be +comfortable over their grilled chickens' legs. She was obliged to make +her own welcome, and entertain her hostess; and strenuously she worked, +letting the dry lips imbibe a cup of tea, before she attempted the +solids; then coaxing and commanding, she gained her point, and +succeeded in causing a fair amount of provisions to be swallowed; after +which Averil seemed more inclined to linger in enjoyment of the +liquids, as though the feverish restlessness were giving place to a +sense of fatigue and need of repose. + +'This is all wrong,' said she, with a faint bewildered smile, as Mary +filled up her cup for her. 'I ought to be treating you as guest, Miss +May.' + +'Oh, don't call me Miss May! Call me Mary. Think me a sister. You +know I have known something of like trouble, only I was younger, and I +had my sisters.' + +'I do not seem to have felt anything yet,' said Averil, passing her +hands over her face. 'I seem to be made of stone.' + +'You have done: and that is better than feeling.' + +'Done! and how miserably! Oh, the difference it might have made, if I +had been a better nurse!' + +'Papa and Dr. Spencer both say you have been a wonderful nurse, +considering--' the last word came out before Mary was aware. + +'Oh, Dr. May has been so kind and so patient with me, I shall never +forget it. Even when I scalded his fingers with bringing him that +boiling water--but I always do wrong when he is there--and now he won't +let me go back to Leonard.' + +'But, Averil, the best nurse in the world can't hold out for ever. +People must sleep, and make themselves fit to go on.' + +'Not when there is only one:' and she gasped. + +'All the more reason, when there is but one. Perhaps it is because you +are tired out that you get nervous and agitated. You will be quite +different after a rest.' + +'Are you sure?' whispered Averil, with her eyes rounded, 'are you sure +that is all the reason?' + +'What do you mean?' said Mary. + +Averil drew in her breath, and squeezed both hands tight on her chest, +as she spoke very low: 'They sent me away from mamma--they told me papa +wanted me: then they sent me from him; they said I was better with +Leonard; and--and I said to myself, nothing should make me leave +Leonard.' + +'It was not papa--my father--that sent you without telling you,' said +Mary, confidently. + +'No,' said Averil. + +'No; I have heard him say that he would take all risks, rather than +deceive anybody,' said Mary, eagerly. 'I have heard him and Dr. +Spencer argue about what they called pious frauds, and he always said +they were want of faith. You may trust him. He told me Leonard was in +the state when calm sleep was chiefly wanted. I know he would think it +cruel not to call you if there were need; and I do not believe there +will be need.' + +Something like this was reiterated in different forms; and though +Averil never regularly yielded, yet as they sat on, there came pauses +in the conversation, when Mary saw her nodding, and after one or two +vibrations in her chair, she looked up with lustreless glassy eyes. +Mary took one of these semi-wakened moments, and in the tone of +caressing authority that had been already found effectual, said she +must sleep in bed; took no notice of the murmur of refusal, but +completed the undressing, and fairly deposited her in her bed. + +Mary's scrupulous conscience was distressed at having thus led to the +omission of all evening orisons; but if her own simple-hearted loving +supplications at the orphan's bedside could compensate for their +absence, she did her utmost. Then, as both the room-door and that of +the sick-chamber had been left open, she stole into the passage, where +she could see her father, seated at the table, and telegraphed to him a +sign of her success. He durst not move, but he smiled and nodded +satisfaction; and Mary, after tidying the room, and considering with +herself, took off her more cumbrous garments, wrapped herself in a +cloak, and lay down beside Averil, not expecting to sleep, but passing +to thoughts of Harry, and of that 23rd Psalm, which they had agreed to +say at the same hour every night. By how many hours was Harry +beforehand with her? That was a calculation that to Mary was always +like the beads of the chaplain of Norham Castle. Certain it is, that +after she had seen Harry lighting a fire to broil chickens' legs in a +Chinese temple, under the willow-pattern cannon-ball tree, and heard +Henry Ward saying it was not like a lieutenant in the navy, she found +herself replying, 'Use before gentility;' and in the enunciation of +this--her first moral sentiment--discovered that it was broad daylight. + +What o'clock it was she could not guess. Averil was sound asleep, +breathing deeply and regularly, so that it was; a pleasure to listen to +her; and Mary did not fear wakening her by a shoeless voyage of +discovery to the place whence Dr. May was visible. + +He turned at once, and with his noiseless tread came to her. 'Asleep +still? So is he. All right. Here, waken me the moment he stirs.' + +And rather by sign than word, he took Mary into the sickroom, indicated +a chair, and laid himself on a sofa, where he was instantaneously sound +asleep, before his startled daughter had quite taken everything in; but +she had only to glance at his haggard wearied face, to be glad to be +there, so as to afford him even a few moments of vigorous slumber with +all his might. + +In some awe, she looked round, not venturing to stir hand or foot. Her +chair was in the full draught of the dewy morning breeze, so chilly, +that she drew her shawl tightly about her; but she knew that this had +been an instance of her father's care, and if she wished to make the +slightest move, it was only to secure a fuller view of the patient, +from whom she was half cut off by a curtain at the foot of the bed. A +sort of dread, however, made Mary gaze at everything around her before +she brought her eyes upon him--her father's watch on the table, +indicating ten minutes to four, the Minster Tower in the rising +sunlight--nay, the very furniture of the room, and Dr. May's position, +before she durst familiarize herself with Leonard's appearance--he whom +she had last seen as a sturdy, ruddy, healthful boy, looking able to +outweigh two of his friend Aubrey. + +The original disease had long since passed into typhus, and the scarlet +eruption was gone, so that she only saw a yellow whiteness, that, +marked by the blue veins of the bared temples, was to her mind +death-like. Mary had not been sheltered from taking part in scenes of +suffering; she had seen sickness and death in cottages, as well as in +her own home, and she had none of the fanciful alarms, either of +novelty or imagination, to startle her in the strange watch that had so +suddenly been thrust on her but what did fill her with a certain +apprehension, was the new and lofty beauty of expression that sat on +that sleeping countenance. 'A nice boy,' 'rather a handsome lad,' 'a +boy of ingenuous face,' they had always called Leonard Ward, when +animated with health and spirits; and the friendship between him and +Aubrey had been encouraged, but without thinking of him as more than an +ordinary lad of good style. Now, however, to Mary's mind, the broad +brow and wasted features in their rest had assumed a calm nobility that +was like those of Ethel's favourite champions--those who conquered by +'suffering and being strong.' She looked and listened for the low +regular breath, almost doubting at one moment whether it still were +drawn, then only reassured by its freedom and absence from effort, that +it was not soon to pass away. There was something in that look as if +death must set his seal on it, rather than as if it could return to the +flush of health, and the struggle and strife of school-boy life and of +manhood. + +More than an hour had passed, and all within the house was as still as +ever; and through the window there only came such sounds as seem like +audible silence--the twittering of birds, the humming of bees, the +calls of boys in distant fields, the far-away sound of +waggon-wheels--when there was a slight move, and Mary, in the tension +of all her faculties, had well-nigh started, but restrained herself; +and as she saw the half-closed fingers stretch, and the head turn, she +leant forward, and touched her father's hand. + +Dr. May was on his feet even before those brown eyes of Leonard's had +had time to unclose; and as Mary was silently moving to the door, he +made a sign to her to wait. + +She stood behind the curtain. 'You are better for your sleep.' + +'Yes, thank you--much better.' + +The Doctor signed towards a tray, which stood by a spirit-lamp, on a +table in the further corner. Mary silently brought it, and as quietly +obeyed the finger that directed her to cordial and spoon--well knowing +the need--since that unserviceable right arm always made these +operations troublesome to her father. + +'Have you been here all night, Dr. May?' + +'Yes; and very glad to see you sleeping so well.' + +'Thank you.' And there was something that made Mary's eyes dazzle with +tears in the tone of that 'Thank you.' The Doctor held out his hand +for the spoon she had prepared, and there was another 'Thank you;' +then, 'Is Ave there?' + +'No, I made her go to bed. She is quite well; but she wanted sleep +sorely.' + +'Thank you,' again said the boy; then with a moment's pause, 'Dr. May, +tell me now.' + +Mary would have fled as breaking treacherously in upon such tidings; +but a constraining gesture of her father obliged her to remain, and +keep the cordial ready for immediate administration. + +'My dear, I believe you know,' said Dr. May, bending over him--and Mary +well knew what the face must be saying. + +'Both?' the faint tones asked. + +'Recollect the sorrow that they have been spared,' said Dr. May in his +lowest, tenderest tones, putting his hand out behind him, and signing +to Mary for the cordial. + +'She could not have borne it;' and the feebleness of those words made +Mary eager to put the spoon once more into her father's hands. + +'That is right, my boy. Think of their being together;' and Mary heard +tears in her father's voice. + +'Thank you,' again showed that the cordial was swallowed; then a pause, +and in a quiet, sad, low tone, 'Poor Ave!' + +'Your mending is the best thing for her.' + +Then came a long sigh; and then, after a pause, the Doctor knelt down, +and said the Lord's Prayer--the orphan's prayer, as so many have felt +it in the hour of bereavement. + +All was quite still, and both he and Mary knelt on for some short +space; then he arose in guarded stillness, hastily wiped away the tears +that were streaming over his face, and holding back the curtain, showed +Mary the boy, again sunk into that sweet refreshing sleep. 'That is +well over,' he said, with a deep sigh of relief, when they had moved to +a safe distance. 'Poor fellow! he had better become used to the idea +while he is too weak to think.' + +'He is better?' asked Mary, repressing her agitation with difficulty. + +'I believe the danger is over; and you may tell his sister so when she +wakes.' + + + + +CHAPTER III + + And a heart at leisure from itself + To soothe and sympathize.--Miss Waring + + +Recovery had fairly set in, and 'better' was the universal bulletin, +eating and drinking the prevailing remedy. + +Henry Ward had quickly thrown off his illness. The sense that all +depended on him, acted as a stimulus to his energies; he was anxious to +be up and doing, and in a few days was down-stairs, looking over his +father's papers, and making arrangements. He was eager and confident, +declaring that his sisters should never want a home while he lived; +and, when he first entered his brother's room, his effusion of +affection overwhelmed Leonard in his exceeding weakness, and the +thought of which during the rest of the day often brought tears to his +eyes. + +Very grateful to Dr. May, Henry declared himself anxious to abide by +his advice; and discussed with him all his plans. There had been no +will, but the house and land of course were Henry's. The other +property gave about £2000 to each of the family; and Averil had about +as much again from the old aunt, from whom she had taken her peculiar +name. The home of all should, of course, still be their present one; +Averil would teach her sisters, and superintend the house, and Leonard +continue at the school, where he had a fair chance of obtaining the +Randall scholarship in the course of a year or two. 'And if not,' said +Henry, 'he may still not lose his University education. My father was +proud of Leonard; and if he would have sent him there, why should not +I?' + +And when Dr. May thought how his own elder sons had insisted on greater +advantages of education for their juniors than they had themselves +enjoyed, he felt especially fatherly towards the young surgeon. On +only one point was he dissatisfied, and that he could not press. He +thought the establishment at Bankside too expensive, and counselled +Henry to remove into the town, and let the house; but this was rejected +on the argument of the uncertainty of finding a tenant, and the +inexpediency of appearing less prosperous; and considering that Mr. and +Mrs. Ward had themselves made the place, Dr. May thought his proposal +hard-hearted. He went about impressing every one with his confidence +in Henry Ward, and fought successfully at the Board of Guardians to +have him considered as a continuation of his father, instead of +appointing a new union doctor; and he watched with paternal solicitude +that the young man's first return to his practice should be neither too +soon for his own health or his patients' fears; giving him no +exhortation more earnest, nor more thankfully accepted, than that he +was to let no scruple prevent his applying to himself in the slightest +difficulty; calling him in to pauper patients, and privately consulting +in cases which could not be visited gratis. The patronage of Henry +Ward was one of the hobbies that Dr. May specially loved, and he +cantered off upon it with vehemence such as he had hardly displayed for +years. + +Aubrey recovered with the tardiness of a weakly constitution, and was +long in even arriving at a drive in the brougham; for Dr. May had set +up a brougham. As long as Hector Ernescliffe's home was at +Stoneborough, driving the Doctor had been his privilege, and the old +gig had been held together by diligent repairs; but when Maplewood +claimed him, and Adams was laid aside by rheumatism, Flora would no +longer be silenced, and preached respectability and necessity. Dr. May +did not admit the plea, unless Adams were to sit inside and drive out +of window; but then he was told of the impropriety of his daughters +going out to dinner in gigs, and the expense of flies. When Flora +talked of propriety in that voice, the family might protest and +grumble, but were always reduced to obedience; and thus Blanche's +wedding had been the occasion of Ethel being put into a hoop, and the +Doctor into a brougham. He was better off under the tyranny than she +was, in spite of the solitude he had bewailed. Young Adams was not the +companion his father had been, and was no loss; and he owned that he +now got through a great deal of reading, and at times a great deal of +sleep; and mourned for nothing but his moon and stars--so romantic a +regret, that Dr. Spencer advised him not to mention it. + +After Aubrey's first drives, Dr. Spencer declared that the best way of +invigorating him would be to send him for a month to the sea-side, +while the house could be thoroughly purified before Gertrude's return. +Dr. Spencer and Mary would take care of Dr. May; and Ethel had begun to +look forward to a tete-a-tete with Aubrey by the sea, which they had +neither of them ever seen, when her anticipations were somewhat dashed +by her father's exclaiming, that it would be the best thing for Leonard +Ward to go with them. She said something about his not being well +enough to travel so soon. + +'Oh, yes, he will,' said Dr. May; 'he only wants stimulus to get on +fast enough. I declare I'll ask Henry about it; I'm just going to meet +him at the hospital.' + +And before another word could be said, he let himself out at the back +door of the garden, in which they had been meeting Richard, who was now +allowed to come thus far, though both for Daisy's sake and his flock's, +he had hitherto submitted to a rigorous quarantine; and the entire +immunity of Cocksmoor from the malady was constantly adduced by each +doctor as a convincing proof of his own theory. + +'Well, I do hope that will go off!' exclaimed Ethel, as soon as her +father was out of hearing. 'It will be a terrible upset to all one's +peace and comfort with Aubrey!' + +'Indeed--what harm will the poor boy do?' asked Richard. + +'Make Aubrey into the mere shame-faced, sister-hating, commonplace +creature that the collective boy thinks it due to himself to be in +society,' said Ethel, 'and me from an enjoying sister, into an elderly, +care-taking, despised spinster--a burden to myself and the boys.' + +'But why, Ethel, can't you enjoy yourself!' + +'My dear Richard, just imagine turning loose a lot of boys and girls, +with no keeper, to enjoy themselves in some wild sea place! No, no: +the only way to give the arrangement any shade of propriety, will be to +be elderly, infuse as much vinegar as possible into my countenance, +wear my spectacles, and walk at a staid pace up and down the parade, +while my two sons disport themselves on the rocks.' + +'If you really think it would not be proper,' said Richard, rather +alarmed, 'I could run after my father.' + +'Stuff, Richard; papa must have his way; and if it is to do the boy +good, I can sacrifice a crab--I mean myself--not a crustacean. I am +not going to be such a selfish wretch as to make objections.' + +'But if it would not be the correct thing? Or could not you get some +one to stay with you?' + +'I can make it the correct thing. It is only to abstain from the fun I +had hoped for. I meant to have been a girl, and now I must be a woman, +that's all; and I dare say Aubrey will be the happier for it--boys +always are.' + +'If you don't like it, I wish you would let me speak to papa.' + +'Richard, have you these five years been the safety-valve for my +murmurs without knowing what they amount to?' + +'I thought no one complained unless to get a thing remedied.' + +'Exactly so. That is man! And experience never shows man that woman's +growls relieve her soul, and that she dreads nothing more than their +being acted on! All I wish is, that this scheme may die a natural +death; but I should be miserable, and deserved to be so, if I raised a +finger to hinder it. What, must you go? Rule Daisy's lines if she +writes to Meta, please.' + +'I did so. I have been trying to make her write straighter.' + +'Of course you have. I expect I shall find her organ of order grown to +a huge bump when she comes home. Oh! when will our poor remnants be +once more a united family? and when shall I get into Cocksmoor school +again?' + +When Dr. May came home, his plan was in full bloom. Henry had +gratefully accepted it, and answered for his brother being able to +travel by the next Monday; and Dr. May wanted Ethel to walk with him to +Bankside, and propose it there--talking it over with the sister, and +making it her own invitation. Ethel saw her fate, and complied, her +father talking eagerly all the way. + +'You see, Ethel, it is quite as much for his spirits as his health that +I wish it. He is just the age that our Norman was.' + +That was the key to a great deal. Ethel knew that her father had never +admitted any of the many excuses for the neglect of Norman's suffering +for the three months after his mother's death; but though it thrilled +her all over, she was not prepared to believe that any one, far less +any Ward, could be of the same sensitive materials as Norman. To avoid +answering, she went more than half-way, by saying, 'Don't you think I +might ask those poor girls to come with him?' + +'By no manner of means,' said the Doctor, stopping short. 'It is just +what I want, to get him away from his sister. She minds nothing else; +and if it were not for Mary, I don't know what the little ones would +do; and as to Henry, he is very good and patient; but it is the way to +prevent him from forming domestic tastes to have no mistress to his +house. He will get into mischief, or marry, if she does not mind what +she is about.' + +'That must come to an end when Leonard is well, and goes back to +school.' + +'And that won't be till after the holidays. No, some break there must +be. When he is gone, Mary can put her into the way of doing things; +she is anxious to do right; and we shall see them do very well. But +this poor boy--you know he has been always living at home, while the +others were away; he was very fond of his mother, and the first coming +out of his room was more than he could bear. I must have him taken +from home till he is well again, and able to turn to other things.' + +And before Ethel's eyes came a vision of poor Mrs. Ward leaning on her +son's arm, on Saturday afternoon walks, each looking fond and proud of +the other. She felt her own hardness of heart, and warmed to the +desire of giving comfort. + +Bankside was basking in summer sunshine, with small patches of shade +round its young shrubs and trees, and a baking heat on the little porch. + +The maid believed Miss Ward was in the garden. Mr. Leonard had been +taken out to-day; and the Doctor moving on, they found themselves in +the cool pretty drawing-room, rather overcrowded with furniture and +decoration, fresh and tasteful, but too much of it, and a contrast to +the Mays' mixture of the shabby and the curious, in the room that was +so decidedly for use, and not for show. + +What arrested the attention was, however, the very sweetest singing +Ethel had ever heard. The song was low and sad, but so intensely +sweet, that Dr. May held up his hand to silence all sound, and stood +with restrained breath and moistened eyes. Ethel, far less sensitive +to music, was nevertheless touched as she had never before been by +sound; and the more, as she looked through the window and saw in the +shade of a walnut-tree, a sofa, at the foot of which sat Averil Ward in +her deep mourning, her back to the window, so that only her young +figure and the braids of her fair hair were to be seen; and beyond, +something prostrate, covered with wrappers. The sweet notes ended, Dr. +May drew a deep sigh, wiped his spectacles, and went on; Ethel hung +back, not to startle the invalid by the sight of a stranger; but as +Averil rose, she saw him raising himself, with a brightening smile on +his pale face, to hold out his hand to the Doctor. In another minute +Averil had come to her, shaken hands, and seated herself where she +could best command a view of her brother. + +'I am glad to see him out of doors,' said Ethel. + +'Henry was bent on it; but I think the air and the glare of everything +is too much for him; he is so tired and oppressed.' + +'I am sure he must like your singing,' said Ethel. + +'It is almost the only thing that answers,' said Averil, her eyes +wistfully turning to the sofa; 'he can't read, and doesn't like being +read to.' + +'It is very difficult to manage a boy's recovery,' said Ethel. 'They +don't know how to be ill.' + +'It is not that,' replied the sister, as if she fancied censure +implied, 'but his spirits. Every new room he goes into seems to beat +him down; and he lies and broods. If he could only talk!' + +'I know that so well!' said Ethel. But to Averil the May troubles were +of old date, involved in the mists of childhood. And Ethel seeing that +her words were not taken as sympathy, continued, 'Do not the little +girls amuse him?' + +'Oh no! they are too much for him; and I am obliged to keep them in the +nursery. Poor little things! I don't know what we should do if your +sister Mary were not so kind.' + +'Mary is very glad,' began Ethel, confusedly. Then rushing into her +subject: 'Next week, I am to take Aubrey to the seaside; and we thought +if Leonard would join us, the change might be good for him.' + +'Thank you,' Averil answered, playing with her heavy jet watch-guard. +'You are very good; but I am sure he could not move so soon.' + +'Ave,' called Leonard at that moment; and Ethel, perceiving that she +likewise was to advance, came forth in time to hear, 'O, Ave! I am to +go to the sea next week, with Aubrey May and his sister. Won't it--' + +Then becoming aware of the visitor, he stopped short, threw his feet +off the sofa, and stood up to receive her. + +'I can't let you come if you do like that,' she said, shaking his long +thin hand; and he let himself down again, not, however, resuming his +recumbent posture, and giving a slight but effective frown to silence +his sister's entreaties that he would do so. He sat, leaning back as +though exceedingly feeble, scarcely speaking, but his eyes eloquent +with eagerness. And very fine eyes they were! Ethel remembered her +own weariness, some twelve or fourteen years back, of the raptures of +her baby-loving sisters about those eyes; and now in the absence of the +florid colouring of health, she was the more struck by the beauty of +the deep liquid brown, of the blue tinge of the white, and of the +lustrous light that resided in them, but far more by their power of +expression, sometimes so soft and melancholy, at other moments earnest, +pleading, and almost flashing with eagerness. It was a good mouth too, +perhaps a little inclined to sternness of mould about the jaw and chin; +but that might have been partly from the absence of all softening +roundness, aging the countenance for the time, just as illness had +shrunk the usually sturdy figure. + +'Has Ethel told you of our plan?' asked Dr. May of the sister. + +'Yes,' she hesitated, in evident confusion and distress. 'You are all +very kind, but we must see what Henry says.' + +'I have spoken to Henry! He answers for our patching Leonard up for +next week; and I have great faith in Dr. Neptune.' + +Leonard's looks were as bright as Averil's were disturbed. + +'Thank you, thank you very much! but can he possibly be well enough for +the journey?' + +Leonard's eyes said 'I shall.' + +'A week will do great things,' said Dr. May, 'and it is a very easy +journey--only four hours' railway, and a ten miles' drive.' + +Averil's face was full of consternation; and Leonard leant forward with +hope dancing in his eyes. + +'You know the place,' continued Dr. May, 'Coombe Hole. Quite fresh, +and unhackneyed. It is just where Devon and Dorset meet. I am not +sure in which county; but there's a fine beach, and beautiful country. +The Riverses found it out, and have been there every autumn; besides +sending their poor little girl and her governess down when London gets +too hot. Flora has written to the woman of the lodgings she always +has, and will lend them the maid she sends with little Margaret; so +they will be in clover.' + +'Is it not a very long way!' said Averil, thinking how long those ten +yards of lawn had seemed. + +'Not as things go,' said Dr. May. 'You want Dr. Spencer to reproach +you with being a Stoneborough fungus. There are places in Wales nearer +by the map, but without railway privilege; and as to a great gay place, +they would all be sick of it.' + +'Do you feel equal to it? as if you should like it, Leonard?' asked his +sister, in a trembling would-be grateful voice. + +'Of all things,' was the answer. + +Ethel thought the poor girl had suffered constraint enough, and that it +was time to release the boy from his polite durance, so she rose to +take leave, and again Leonard pulled himself upright to shake hands. + +'Indeed,' said Ethel, when Averil had followed them into the +drawing-room, 'I am sorry for you. It would go very hard with me to +make Aubrey over to any one! but if you do trust him with me, I must +come and hear all you wish me to do for him.' + +'I cannot think that he will be able or glad to go when it comes to the +point,' said Averil, with a shaken tone. + +Dr. May was nearer than she thought, and spoke peremptorily. 'Take +care what you are about! You are not to worry him with discussions. If +he can go, he will; if not, he will stay at home; but pros and cons are +prohibited. Do you hear, Averil!' + +'Yes; very well.' + +'Papa you really are very cruel to that poor girl,' were Ethel's first +words outside. + +'Am I? I wouldn't be for worlds, Ethel. But somehow she always puts +me in a rage. I wish I knew she was not worrying her brother at this +moment!' + +No, Averil was on the staircase, struggling, choking with the first +tears she had shed. All this fortnight of unceasing vigilance and +exertion, her eyes had been dry, for want of time to realize, for want +of time to weep, and now she was ashamed that hurt feeling rather than +grief had opened the fountain. She could not believe that it was not a +cruel act of kindness, to carry one so weak as Leonard away from home +to the care of a stranger. She apprehended all manner of ill +consequences; and then nursing him, and regarding his progress as her +own work, had been the sedative to her grief, which would come on her +'like an armed man,' in the dreariness of his absence. Above all, she +felt herself ill requited by his manifest eagerness to leave her who +had nursed him so devotedly--her, his own sister--for the stiff, plain +Miss May whom he hardly knew. The blow from the favourite companion +brother, so passionately watched and tended, seemed to knock her down; +and Dr. May, with medical harshness, forbidding her the one last hope +of persuading him out of the wild fancy, filled up the measure. + +Oh, those tears! How they would swell up at each throb of the wounded +heart, at each dismal foreboding of the desponding spirit. But she had +no time for them! Leonard must not be left alone, with no one to cover +him up with his wrappers. + +The tears were strangled, the eyes indignantly dried. She ran out at +the garden door. The sofa was empty! Had Henry come home and helped +him in? She hurried on to the window; Leonard was alone in the +drawing-room, resting breathlessly on an ottoman within the window. + +'Dear Leonard! Why didn't you wait for me!' + +'I thought I'd try what I could do. You see I am much stronger than we +thought.' And he smiled cheerfully, as he helped himself by the +furniture to another sofa. 'I say, Ave, do just give me the map--the +one in Bradshaw will do. I want to find this place.' + +'I don't think there is a Bradshaw,' said Averil, reluctantly. + +'Oh yes, there is--behind the candlestick, on the study chimney-piece.' + +'Very well--' There were more tears to be gulped down--and perhaps they +kept her from finding the book. + +'Where's the Bradshaw?' + +'I didn't see it.' + +'I tell you I know it was there. The left-hand candlestick, close to +the letter-weight. I'll get it myself.' + +He was heaving himself up, when Averil prevented him by hastening to a +more real search, which speedily produced the book. + +Eagerly Leonard unfolded the map, making her steady it for his shaking +hand, and tracing the black toothed lines. + +'There's Bridport--ten miles from there. Can you see the name, Ave?' + +'No, it is not marked.' + +'Never mind. I see where it is; and I can see it is a capital place; +just in that little jag, with famous bathing. I wonder if they will +stay long enough for me to learn to swim?' + +'You are a good way from that as yet,' said poor Averil, her heart +sinking lower and lower. + +'Oh, I shall be well at once when I get away from here!' + +'I hope so.' + +'Why, Ave!' he cried, now first struck with her tone, 'don't you know I +shall?' + +'I don't know,' she said, from the soreness of her heart; 'but I can't +tell how to trust you with strangers.' + +'Strangers! You ungrateful child!' exclaimed Leonard, indignantly. +'Why, what have they been doing for you all this time?' + +'I am sure Miss May, at least, never came near us till to-day.' + +'I'm very glad of it! I'm sick of everything and everybody I have +seen!' + +Everybody! That was the climax! Averil just held her tongue; but she +rushed to her own room, and wept bitterly and angrily. Sick of her +after all her devotion! Leonard, the being she loved best in the world! + +And Leonard, distressed and hurt at the reception of his natural +expression of the weariness of seven weeks' sickness and sorrow, felt +above all the want of his mother's ever-ready sympathy and soothing, +and as if the whole world, here, there, and everywhere, would be an +equally dreary waste. His moment of bright anticipation passed into +heavy despondency, and turning his head from the light, he dropped +asleep with a tear on his cheek. + +When he awoke it was at the sound of movements in the room, slow and +cautious, out of regard to his slumbers--and voices, likewise low--at +least one was low, the other that whisper of the inaudibility of which +Averil could not be disabused. He lay looking for a few moments +through his eyelashes, before exerting himself to move. Averil, her +face still showing signs of recent tears, sat in a low chair, a book in +her lap, talking to her brother Henry. + +Henry was of less robust frame than Leonard promised to be, and though +on a smaller scale, was more symmetrically made, and had more regular +features than either his brother or sister, but his eyes were merely +quick lively black beads, without anything of the clear depths +possessed by the others. His hair too was jet black, whereas theirs +was a pale nut brown; and his whiskers, long and curling, so nearly met +under his chin, as to betray a strong desire that the hirsute movement +should extend to the medical profession. Always point-device in +apparel, the dust on his boot did not prevent its perfect make from +being apparent; and the entire sit of his black suit would have enabled +a cursory glance to decide that it never came out of the same shop as +Dr. May's. + +'O, Henry!' were the words that he first heard distinctly. + +'It will be much better for every one--himself and you included.' + +'Yes, if--' + +'If--nonsense. I tell you he will be quite well enough. See how well +I am now, how fast I got on as soon as I took to tonics.--Ha, Leonard, +old fellow! what, awake? What do you say to this plan of old May's?' + +'It is very kind of him; and I should be very glad if I am well enough; +but next week is very soon,' said Leonard, waking in the depression in +which he had gone to sleep. + +'Oh, next week! That is as good as next year in a matter like this, as +May agreed with me, here, let us have your pulse. You have let him get +low, Averil. A basin of good soup will put more heart into you, and +you will feel ready for anything.' + +'I have got on to-day, said Leonard, briskly raising himself, as though +the cheerful voice had been cordial in itself. + +'Of course you have, now that you have something to look forward to; +and you will be in excellent hands; the very thing I wanted for you, +though I could not see how to manage it. I am going to dress. I shall +tell them to send in dinner; and if I am not down, I shall be in the +nursery. You won't come in to dinner, Leonard?' + +'No, said Leonard, with a shudder. + +'I shall send you in some gravy soup, that you may thank me for. Ave +never would order anything but boiled chickens for you, and forgets +that other people ever want to eat. There will be a chance of making a +housekeeper of her now.' + +How selfish, thought Averil, to want to get rid of poor Leonard, that I +may attend to his dinners. Yet Henry had spoken in perfect good-humour. + +Henry came down with a little sister in each hand. They were his +especial darlings; and with a touch of fatherly fondness, he tried to +compensate to them for their sequestration from the drawing-room, the +consequence of Averil not having established her authority enough to +keep their spirits from growing too riotous for Leonard's weakness. +Indeed, their chatter was Henry's sole enlivenment, for Averil was +constantly making excursions to ask what her patient would eat, and +watch its success; and but for his pleasure in the little girls popping +about him, he would have had a meal as dull as it was unsettled. As +soon as the strawberries were eaten, he walked out through the window +with them clinging to him, and Averil returned to her post. + +'Some music, Ave,' said Leonard, with an instinctive dread of her +conversation. + +She knew her voice was past singing, and began one of her most renowned +instrumental pieces, which she could play as mechanically as a +musical-box. + +'Not that jingling airified thing!' cried Leonard, 'I want something +quiet and refreshing. There's an evening hymn that the Mays have.' + +'The Mays know nothing of music,' said Averil. + +'Stay, this is it:' and he whistled a few bars. + +'That old thing! Of course I know that. We had it every Sunday at +Brighton.' + +She began it, but her eyes were full of tears, partly because she hated +herself for the irritation she had betrayed. She was a sound, good, +honest-hearted girl; but among all the good things she had learned at +Brighton, had not been numbered the art of ruling her own spirit. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + Griefs hidden in the mind like treasures, + Will turn with time to solemn pleasures. + + +On the Monday morning, the two convalescents shook hands in the +waiting-room at the station, surveying each other rather curiously; +while Ethel, trying to conquer her trepidation, gave manifold promises +to Averil of care and correspondence. + +Dr. Spencer acted escort, being far more serviceable on the railway +than his untravelled friend, whose lame arm, heedless head, and +aptitude for missing trains and mistaking luggage, made him a charge +rather than an assistant. He was always happiest among his patients at +home; and the world was still ill enough to employ him so fully, that +Ethel hoped to be less missed than usual. Indeed, she believed that +her absence would be good in teaching him Mary's full-grown worth, and +Mary would be in the full glory of notability in the purification of +the house. + +The change was likewise for Dr. Spencer's good. He had almost broken +down in the height of the labour, and still looked older and thinner +for it; and after one night at Coombe, he was going to refresh himself +by one of his discursive tours. + +He was in high spirits, and the pink of courtesy; extremely flattered +by the charge of Ethel, and making her the ostensible object of his +attention, to the relief of the boys, who were glad to be spared the +sense of prominent invalidism. The change was delightful to them. +Aubrey was full of life and talk, and sat gazing from the window, as if +the line from Stoneborough to Whitford presented a succession of +novelties. + +'What's that old place on the river there, with crow-stepped gables and +steep roofs, like a Flemish picture?' + +'Don't you know?' said Leonard, 'it is the Vintry mill, where my +relative lives, that wants to make a dusty miller of me.' + +'No fear of that, old fellow,' said Aubrey, regarding him in some +dismay, 'you've got better things to grind at.' + +'Ay, even if I don't get the Randall next time, I shall be sure of it +another.' + +'You'll have it next.' + +'I don't know; here is a quarter clean gone, and the other fellows will +have got before me.' + +'Oh, but most of them have had a spell of fever!' + +'Yes, but they have not had it so thoroughly,' said Leonard. 'My +memory is not properly come back yet; and your father says I must not +try it too soon.' + +'That's always his way,' said Aubrey. 'He would not let Ethel so much +as pack up my little Homer.' + +Leonard's quick, furtive glance at Ethel was as if he suspected her of +having been barely prevented from torturing him. + +'Oh, it was not her doing,' said Aubrey, 'it was I! I thought Tom +would find me gone back; and, you know, we must keep up together, +Leonard, and be entered at St. John's at the same time.' + +For Aubrey devoutly believed in Tom's college at Cambridge, which had +recovered all Dr. May's allegiance. + +The extra brightness was not of long duration. It was a very hot day, +such as exactly suited the salamander nature of Dr. Spencer; but the +carriage became like an oven. Aubrey curled himself up in a corner and +went to sleep, but Leonard's look of oppressed resignation grieved +Ethel, and the blue blinds made him look so livid, that she was always +fancying him fainting, and then his shyness was dreadful--it was +impossible to elicit from him anything but 'No, thank you.' + +He did nearly faint when they left the train; and while Aubrey was +eagerly devouring the produce of the refreshment room, had to lie on a +bench under Dr. Spencer's charge, for Ethel's approach only brought on +a dangerous spasm of politeness. How she should get on with him for a +month, passed her imagination. + +There was a fresher breeze when they drove out of the station, up a +Dorset ridge of hill, steep, high, terraced and bleak; but it was slow +climbing up, and every one was baked and wearied before the summit was +gained, and the descent commenced. Even then, Ethel, sitting +backwards, could only see height develop above height, all green, and +scattered with sheep, or here and there an unfenced turnip-field, the +road stretching behind like a long white ribbon, and now and then +descending between steep chalk cuttings in slopes, down which the +carriage slowly scrooped on its drag, leaving a broad blue-flecked +trail. Dr. Spencer was asleep, hat off, and the wind lifting his snowy +locks, and she wished the others were; but Aubrey lamented on the heat +and the length, and Leonard leant back in his corner, past lamentation. + +Down, down! The cuttings were becoming precipitous cliffs, the drag +made dismal groans; Aubrey, after a great slip forward, looking +injured, anchored himself, with his feet against the seat, by Ethel; +and Dr. Spencer was effectually wakened by an involuntary forward +plunge of his opposite neighbour. 'Can this be safe?' quoth Ethel; +'should not some of us get out?' + +'Much you know of hills, you level landers!' was the answer; and just +then they were met and passed by four horses dragging up a stage coach, +after the fashion of a fly on a window-pane--a stage coach! delightful +to the old-world eyes of Dr. Spencer, recalling a faint memory to +Ethel, and presenting a perfect novelty to Aubrey. + +Then came a sudden turn upon flat ground, and a short cry of wonder +broke from Aubrey. Ethel was sensible of a strange salt weedy smell, +new to her nostrils, but only saw the white-plastered, gray-roofed +houses through which they were driving; but, with another turn, the +buildings were only on one side--on the other there was a wondrous +sense of openness, vastness, freshness--something level, gray, but +dazzling; and before she could look again, the horses stopped, and +close to her, under the beetling, weather-stained white cliff, was a +low fence, and within it a verandah and a door, where stood Flora's +maid, Barbara, in all her respectability. + +Much wit had been expended by Aubrey on being left to the tender mercy +of cruel Barbara Allen, in whom Ethel herself anticipated a tyrant; but +at the moment she was invaluable. Every room was ready and inviting, +and nothing but the low staircase between Leonard and the white bed, +which was the only place fit for him; while for the rest, the table was +speedily covered with tea and chickens; Abbotstoke eggs, inscribed with +yesterday's date; and red mail-clad prawns, to prove to touch and taste +that this was truly sea-side. The other senses knew it well: the open +window let in the indescribable salt, fresh odour, and the entire view +from it was shore and sea, there seemed nothing to hinder the tide from +coming up the ridge of shingle, and rushing straight into the cottage; +and the ear was constantly struck by the regular roll and dash of the +waves. Aubrey, though with the appetite of recovery and sea-air +combined, could not help pausing to listen, and, when his meal was +over, leant back in his chair, listened again, and gave a sigh of +content. 'It is one constant hush, hushaby,' he said; 'it would make +one sleep pleasantly.' + +His companions combined their advice to him so to use it; and in less +than half an hour Ethel went to bid him good night, in the whitest of +beds and cleanest of tiny chambers, where he looked the picture of +sleepy satisfaction, when she opened his window, and admitted the swell +and dash that fascinated his weary senses. + +'My child is all right,' said Ethel, returning to Dr. Spencer; 'can you +say the same of yours?' + +'He must rest himself into the power of sleeping. I must say it was a +bold experiment; but it will do very well, when he has got over the +journey. He was doing no good at home.' + +'I hope he will here.' + +'Depend on it he will. And now what are you intending?' + +'I am thirsting to see those waves near. Would it be against the +manners and customs of sea-places for me to run down to them so late?' + +'Sea-places have no manners and customs.' + +Ethel tossed on her hat with a feeling of delight and freedom. 'Oh, +are you coming, Dr. Spencer? I did not mean to drag you out. You had +rather rest, and smoke.' + +'This is rest,' he answered. + +The next moment, the ridge of the shingle was passed, and Ethel's feet +were sinking in the depth of pebbles, her cheeks freshened by the +breeze, her lips salted by the spray tossed in by the wind from the +wave crests. At the edge of the water she stood--as all others stand +there--watching the heaving from far away come nearer, nearer, curl +over in its pride of green glassy beauty, fall into foam, and draw +back, making the pebbles crash their accompanying 'frsch.' The +repetition, the peaceful majesty, the blue expanse, the straight +horizon, so impressed her spirit as to rivet her eyes and chain her +lips; and she receded step by step before the tide, unheeding anything +else, not even perceiving her companion's eyes fixed on her, half +curiously, half sadly. + +'Well, Ethel,' at last he said. + +'I never guessed it!' she said, with a gasp. 'No wonder Harry cannot +bear to be away from it. Must we leave it?' as he moved back. + +'Only to smooth ground,' said Dr. Spencer; 'it is too dark to stay here +among the stones and crab-pots.' + +The summer twilight was closing in; lights shining in the village under +the cliffs, and looking mysterious on distant points of the coast; +stars were shining forth in the pale blue sky, and the young moon +shedding a silver rippled beam on the water. + +'If papa were but here!' said Ethel, wakening from another gaze, and +recollecting that she was not making herself agreeable. + +'So you like the expedition?' + +'The fit answer to that would be, "It is very pretty," as the Cockney +said to Coleridge at Lodore.' + +'So I have converted a Stoneborough fungus!' + +'What! to say the sea is glorious? A grand conversion!' + +'To find anything superior to Minster Street.' + +'Ah, you are but half reclaimed! You are a living instance that there +is no content unless one has begun life as a fungus.' + +She was startled by his change of tone. 'True, Ethel. Content might +have been won, if there had been resolution to begin without it.' + +'I beg your pardon,' she faltered, 'I ought not to have said it. I +forgot there was such a cause.' + +'Cause--you know nothing about it.' + +She was silent, distressed, dismayed, fearing that she had spoken +wrongly, and had either mistaken or been misunderstood. + +'Tell me, Ethel,' he presently said, 'what can you know of what made me +a wanderer?' + +'Only what papa told me.' + +'He--he was the last person to know.' + +'He told me,' said Ethel, hurrying it out in a fright, 'that you went +away--out of generosity--not to interfere with his happiness.' + +Then she felt as if she had done a shocking thing, and waited +anxiously, while Dr. Spencer deliberately made a deep hole in the +shingle with his stick. 'Well,' at last he said, 'I thought that +matter was unknown to all men--above all to Dick!' + +'It was only after you were gone, that he put things together and made +it out.' + +'Did--she--know?' said Dr. Spencer, with a long breath. + +'I cannot tell,' said Ethel. + +'And how or why did he tell you?' (rather hurt.) + +'It was when first you came. I am sure no one else knows it. But he +told me because he could not help it; he was so sorry for you.' + +They walked the whole length of the parade, and had turned before Dr. +Spencer spoke again; and then he said, 'It is strange! My one vision +was of walking on the sea-shore with her; and that just doing so with +you should have brought up the whole as fresh as five-and-thirty years +ago!' + +'I wish I was more like her,' said Ethel. + +No more was wanting to make him launch into the descriptions, dear to a +daughter's heart, of her mother in her sweet serious bloom of young +womanhood, giving new embellishments to the character already so +closely enshrined in his hearer's heart, the more valuable that the +stream of treasured recollection flowed on in partial oblivion of the +person to whom it was addressed, or, at least, that she was the child +of his rival; for, from the portrait of the quiet bright maiden, he +passed to the sufferings that his own reserved nature had undergone +from his friend's outspoken enthusiasm. The professor's visible +preference for the youth of secure prospects, had not so much +discouraged as stung him; and in a moment of irritation at the +professor's treatment, and the exulting hopes of his unconscious +friend, he had sworn to himself, that the first involuntary token of +regard from the young lady towards one or the other, should decide him +whether to win name and position for her sake, or to carry his slighted +passion to the utmost parts of the earth, and never again see her face. + +'Ethel,' he said, stopping short, 'never threaten Providence--above +all, never keep the threat.' + +Ethel scarcely durst speak, in her anxiety to know what cast the die, +though with all Dr. Spencer's charms, she could not but pity the +delusion that could have made him hope to be preferred to her +father--above all, by her mother. Nor could she clearly understand +from him what had dispelled his hopes. Something it was that took +place at the picnic on Arthur's Seat, of which she had previously heard +as a period of untold bliss. That something, still left in vague +mystery, had sealed the fate of the two friends. + +'And so,' said Dr. Spencer, 'I took the first foreign appointment that +offered. And my poor father, who had spent his utmost on me, and had +been disappointed in all his sons, was most of all disappointed in me. +I held myself bound to abide by my rash vow; loathed tame English life +without her, and I left him to neglect in his age.' + +'You could not have known or expected!' exclaimed Ethel. + +'What right had I to expect anything else? It was only myself that I +thought of. I pacified him by talk of travelling, and extending my +experience, and silenced my conscience by intending to return when +ordinary life should have become tolerable to me--a time that never has +come. At last, in the height of that pestilential season in India, +came a letter, warning me that my brother's widow had got the mastery +over my poor father, and was cruelly abusing it, so that only my return +could deliver him. It was when hundreds were perishing, and I the only +medical man near; when to have left my post would have been both +disgraceful and murderous. Then I was laid low myself; and while I was +conquering the effects of cholera, came tidings that made it nothing to +me whether they or I conquered. This,' and he touched one of his white +curling locks, 'was not done by mere bodily exertion or ailment.' + +'You would have been too late any way,' said Ethel. + +'No, not if I had gone immediately. I might have got him out of that +woman's hands, and made his life happy for years. There was the sting, +but the crime had been long before. You know the rest. I had no +health to remain, no heart to come home; and then came vagrancy indeed. +I drifted wherever restlessness or impulse took me, till all my working +years were over, and till the day when the sight of your father's +wedding-ring showed me that I should not break my mad word by accepting +the only welcome that any creature gave me.' + +'And, oh! surely you have been comforted by him?' + +'Comforted! Cut to the heart would be truer. One moment, I could only +look at him as having borne off my treasure to destroy it; but then +there rose on me his loving, patient, heartbroken humility and +cheerfulness; and I saw such a character, such a course, as showed me +how much better he had deserved her, and filled me with shame at having +ever less esteemed him. And through all, there was the same dear Dick +May, that never, since the day we first met at the pump in the school +court, had I been able to help loving with all my heart--the only being +that was glad to see me again. When he begged me to stay and watch +over your sister, what could I do but remain while she lived?' + +'So he bound you down! Oh, you know how we thank you! no, you can't, +nor what you have been to him, and to all of us, through the worst of +our sad days. And though it was a sacrifice, I do not think it was bad +for you.' + +'No, Ethel. When you implored me to give up my Crimean notion, to +spare your father pain, I did feel for once that you at least thought +me of value to some one.' + +'I cannot bear you to speak so,' cried Ethel. 'You to talk of having +been of no use!' + +'No honest man of principle and education can be utterly useless; but +when, three days ago, I recollected that it was my sixtieth birthday, I +looked back, and saw nothing but desultory broken efforts, and restless +changes. Your father told me, when I thought him unaware of the +meaning of his words, that if I had missed many joys, I had missed many +sorrows; but I had taken the way to make my one sorrow a greater burden +than his many.' + +'But you do not grieve for my mother still?' said Ethel, anxiously. +'Even his grief is a grave joy to him now; and one is always told that +such things, as it was with you, are but a very small part of a man's +life.' + +'I am not one of the five hundred men, whom any one of five hundred +women might have equally pleased,' said Dr. Spencer; 'but it is so far +true, that the positive pain and envy wore out, and would not have +interfered with my after life, but for my own folly. No, Ethel; it was +not the loss of her that embittered and threw away my existence; it was +my own rash vow, and its headstrong fulfilment, which has left me no +right to your father's peaceful spirit.' + +'How little we guessed!' said Ethel. 'So cheerful and ready as you +always are.' + +'I never trouble others, he said abruptly. 'Neither man nor woman ever +heard a word of all this; and you would not have heard it now, but for +that sea; and you have got your mother's voice, and some of her ways, +since you have grown older and more sedate.' + +'Oh, I am so glad!' said Ethel, who had been led to view her likeness +to her father as natural, that to her mother as acquired. + +Those were the last words of the conversation; but Ethel, leaning from +her window to listen to the plash of the waves, suspected that the +slowly moving meteor she beheld, denoted that a cigar was soothing the +emotions excited by their dialogue. She mused long over that +revelation of the motives of the life that had always been noble and +generous in the midst of much that was eccentric and wayward, and +constantly the beat of the waves repeated to her the half-comprehended +words, 'Never threaten Providence.' + +After superintending Aubrey's first bath, and duly installing the +vice-M. D. and her charges, Dr. Spencer departed; and Ethel was +launched on an unknown ocean, as pilot to an untried crew. She had +been told to regard Leonard's bashfulness as a rare grace; but it was +very inconvenient to have the boy wretchedly drooping, and owning +nothing amiss, apparently unacquainted with any English words, except +'Thank you' and 'No, thank you.' Indeed, she doubted whether the +shyness were genuine, for stories were afloat of behaviour at +Stoneborough parties which savoured of audacity, and she vainly +consulted Aubrey whether the cause of his discomfiture were her age or +her youth, her tutorship or her plain face. Even Aubrey could not +elicit any like or dislike, wish or complaint; and shrugging up his +shoulders, decided that it was of no use to bother about it; Leonard +would come to his senses in time. He was passive when taken out +walking, submissive when planted on a three-cornered camp-stool that +expanded from a gouty walking-stick, but seemed so inadequately +perched, and made so forlorn a spectacle, that they were forced to put +him indoors out of the glare of sea and sky, and hoping that he would +condescend to the sofa when Ethel was out of sight. + +Punctilio broke down the next morning; and in the midst of breakfast, +he was forced to lie down, and allow Ethel to bathe his face with +vinegar and water; while she repented of the 'make-the-best-of-it' +letter of the yesterday, and sent Aubrey out on a secret commission of +inquiry about medical men, in case of need. Aubrey was perfectly well, +and in such a state of desultory enjoyment and sea-side active +idleness, that he was quite off her mind, only enlivening her morning +of nursing by his exits and entrances, to tell of fresh discoveries, or +incidents wonderful to the inland mind. + +After dinner, which had driven Leonard to lie on his bed, Aubrey +persuaded his sister to come to see his greatest prize; a quaint old +local naturalist, a seafaring man, with a cottage crammed with pans of +live wonders of the deep in water, and shelves of extinct ones, 'done +up in stane pies,' not a creature, by sea or land, that had haunted +Coombe for a few million of ages, seemed to have escaped him. Such +sea-side sojourns as the present, are the prime moments for coquetries +with the lighter branches of natural science, and the brother and +sister had agreed to avail themselves of the geological facilities of +their position, the fascinations of Hugh Miller's autobiography having +entirely gained them during Aubrey's convalescence. Ethel tore herself +away from the discussion of localities with the old man, who was guide +as well as philosopher, boatman as well as naturalist, and returned to +her patient, whom she found less feverish, though sadly low and languid. + +'I wish I knew what to do for you,' she said, sitting down by him. +'What would your sister do for you?' + +'Nothing,' he wearily said, 'I mean, a great deal too much.' The tone +so recalled Norman's dejected hopelessness, that she could not help +tenderly laying her cold hands on the hot brow, and saying, 'Yes, I +know how little one can do as a sister--and the mockery it is to think +that one place can ever be taken!' + +The brown eyes looked at her with moist earnestness that she could +hardly bear, but closed with a look of relief and soothing, as she held +her hand on his forehead. Presently, however, he said, 'Don't let me +keep you in.' + +'I have been out, thank you. I am so glad to try to do anything for +you.' + +'Thank you. What o'clock is it, please? Ah, then I ought to take that +draught! I forgot it in the morning.' + +He permitted her to fetch it and pour it out, but as she recognized a +powerful tonic, she exclaimed, 'Is this what you are taking? May it +not make you feverish?' + +'No doubt it does,' he said, lying down again; 'it was only Henry--' + +'What! did not my father know of it?' + +'Of course he does not, as it seems to be poison.' + +'Not exactly that,' said Ethel; 'but I was surprised, for it was talked +of for Aubrey; but they said it wanted watching.' + +'Just like Henry,' observed Leonard. + +'Well,' said Ethel, repressing her indignation, 'I am glad, at least, +to find a possible cause for your bad night. We shall see you +refreshed to-morrow, and not wishing yourself at home.' + +'Don't think that I wish that. Home is gone for ever.' + +'Home may be gone higher--up to the real Home,' said Ethel, blushing +with the effort at the hint, and coming down to earthlier consolations, +'but even the fragments will grow into home again here, and you will +feel very differently.' + +Leonard did not answer; but after a pause said, 'Miss May, is not it a +horrid pity girls should go to school?' + +'I am no judge, Leonard.' + +'You see,' said the boy, 'after the little girls were born, my mother +had no time for Ave, and sent her to Brighton, and there she begged to +stay on one half after another, learning all sorts of things; but only +coming home for short holidays, like company, for us to wonder at her +and show her about, thinking herself ever so much in advance of my poor +mother, and now she knows just nothing at all of her!' + +'You cannot tell, Leonard, and I am sure she has been devoted to you.' + +'If she had stayed at home like you, she might have known how to let +one alone. Oh, you can't think what peace it was yesterday!' + +'Was it peace? I feared it was desertion.' + +'It is much better to be by oneself, than always worried. To have them +always at me to get up my spirits when the house is miserable--' + +'Ah,' said Ethel, 'I remember your mother rejoicing that she had not to +send you from home, and saying you were always so kind and gentle to +her.' + +'Did she!' cried the boy, eagerly. 'Oh, but she forgot--' and he hid +his face, the features working with anguish. + +'So pleased and proud she used to look, walking with you on Saturday +afternoons.' + +'Those Saturdays! They were the only walks she ever would take; but +she would always come with me.' + +More followed in the same strain, and Ethel began to gather more +distinct impressions of the Ward family. She saw that her present +charge was warm and sound-hearted, and that the strength of his +affections had been chiefly absorbed by the homely housewifely mother, +comparatively little esteemed by the modernized brother and sister. Of +the loss of his father he seemed to think less; it seemed, indeed, +rather to reconcile him to that of his mother, by the grief it spared +her; and it confirmed Ethel's notion, that Mr. Ward, a busy and dull +man, paid no great attention to his children between the plaything +period and that of full development. The mother was the home; and +Averil, though Leonard showed both love for and pride in her, had +hitherto been a poor substitute, while as to Henry, there was something +in each mention of him which gave Ethel an undefined dread of the +future of the young household, and a doubt of the result of her +father's kind schemes of patronage. + +At any rate, this conversation had the happy effect of banishing +constraint, and satisfying Ethel that the let-alone system was +kindness, not neglect. She was at ease in discussing fossils, though +he contributed no word, and she let him sleep or wake as he best liked; +whilst Aubrey read to her the 'Cruise of the Betsey.' + +Henry's prescription was sent to invigorate the fishes, when its +cessation was found to be followed by the recovery of sleep and +appetite, and in the cool of the evening, by a disposition to stroll on +the beach, and lie under the lee of a rock upon a railway rug, which +Ethel had substituted for the 'three-legged delusion.' + +There he was left, while his companions went fossil-hunting, and stayed +so long as to excite their compunction, and quicken their steps when +they at length detached themselves from the enticing blue lias. + +'What has he got there?' cried Aubrey. 'Hillo, old fellow! have you +fallen a prey to a black cat?' + +'Cat!' returned Leonard, indignantly; 'don't you see it is the jolliest +little dog in the world?' + +'You call that a dog?' said the other boy with redoubled contempt; 'it +is just big enough for little Margaret's Noah's Ark!' + +'It really is a beauty!' said Ethel. 'I have known one of Flora's +guests bring a bigger one in her muff.' + +'It is the most sensible little brute,' added Leonard. 'See; beg, my +man, beg!' + +And the beauteous little black-coated King Charles erected itself on +its hind legs, displaying its rich ruddy tan waistcoat and sleeves, and +beseeching with its black diamond eyes for the biscuit, dropped and +caught in mid-air. It was the first time Leonard had looked bright. + +'So you expect us to sanction your private dog stealing?' said Aubrey. + +'I have been watching for his mistress to come back,' said Leonard; +'but she must have passed an hour ago, and she does not deserve to have +him, for she never looked back for him; and he had run up to me, +frisking and making much of me, as if he had found an old friend.' + +'Perhaps it will run home when we move.' + +No such thing; it trotted close at Leonard's heels, and entered the +house with them. Barbara was consulted, and on Leonard's deposition +that the dog's mistress was in deep mourning, opined that she could be +no other than the widow of an officer, who during his lingering illness +had been often laid upon the beach, and had there played with his +little dogs. This one, evidently very young, had probably, in the +confusion of its puppy memory, taken the invalid for its lost master. + +'Stupid little thing,' said Aubrey; 'just like an undersized lady's +toy.' + +'It knows its friends. These little things have twice the sense of +overgrown dogs as big and as stupid as jackasses.' + +A retort from Leonard was welcome in Ethel's ears, and she quite +developed his conversational powers, in an argument on the sagacity of +all canine varieties. It was too late to send the little animal home; +and he fondled and played with it till bed-time, when he lodged it in +his own room; and the attachment was so strong, that it was with a deep +sigh, that at breakfast he accepted Aubrey's offer of conveying it home. + +'There she is! he exclaimed in the midst, gazing from the window. + +'And see the perfection of the animal!' added Aubrey, pointing to a +broad-backed waddling caricature of the little black fairy. + +'Restitution must be made, little as she deserves you, you little +jewel,' said Leonard, picking up the object of his admiration. 'I'll +take you out.' + +'No, no; I am not so infectious,' said Ethel, tying on her hat; 'I had +better do it.' + +And after Leonard's parting embrace to his favourite, she received it; +and quickly overtaking the pensive steps of the lady, arrested her +progress with, 'I beg your pardon, but I think this is your dog.' + +'Poor little Mab! as the dog struggled to get to her, and danced gladly +round her. 'I missed her last night, and was coming to look for her.' + +'She joined one of our party,' said Ethel; 'and he was not strong +enough to follow you. Indeed, he has had scarlet fever, so perhaps it +was better not. But he has taken great care of the little dog, and +hopes it is not the worse.' + +'Thank you. I wish poor Mab may always meet such kind friends,' said +the lady, sadly. + +'She secured her welcome,' said Ethel. 'We were very grateful to her, +for it was the first thing that has seemed to interest him since his +illness; and he has just lost both his parents.' + +'Ah! Thank you.' + +Ethel wondered at herself for having been so communicative; but the +sweet sad face and look of interest had drawn her words out; and on her +return she made such a touching history of the adventure, that Leonard +listened earnestly, and Aubrey looked subdued. + +When they went out Leonard refused to spread his rug in that only bed +of pulverized shingle; and Ethel respected his avoidance of it as +delicacy to her whose husband had no doubt often occupied that spot. + +'He is a thorough gentleman,' said she, as she walked away with Aubrey. + +'He might be an Eton fellow,' was the significant reply. + +'I wonder what made him so!' said Ethel, musingly. + +'Looking at Tom,' returned Aubrey, not in jest. + +'Even with that advantage, I don't quite see where he learnt that +refined consideration.' + +'Pshaw, Ethel! The light of nature would show that to any one but a +stupex.' + +Ethel was not sorry that such were Aubrey's views of courtesy, but all +thought of that subject was soon lost in the pursuit of ammonites. + +'I wonder what Leonard will have picked up now?' they speculated, as +they turned homewards with their weighty baskets, but what was their +amazement, when Leonard waved his hand, pointing to the little black +dog again at his feet! + +'She is mine!' he exclaimed, 'my own! Mrs. Gisborne has given her to +me; and she is to be the happiest little mite going!' + +'Given!' + +'Yes. She came as soon as you were gone, and sat by me, and talked for +an hour, but she goes to-morrow to live with an old hag of an aunt.' + +'Really, you seem to have been on confidential terms.' + +'I mean that she must be a nuisance, because she doesn't like dogs; so +that Mrs. Gisborne can only take the old one, which she could never +part with. So she wanted to give Mab to some one who would be kind to +her; and she has come to the right shop; hasn't she, my little queen?' + +'I thought she almost wished it this morning,' said Ethel, 'when she +heard how you and Mab had taken to each other: but it is a very choice +present; the creature looks to me to be of a very fine sort.' + +'Now, Miss May, how could you know that?' + +'Why, by her own deportment! Don't you know the aristocratic look that +all high-bred animals have--even bantams?' + +Leonard looked as if this were the most convincing proof of Ethel's +wisdom, and proceeded. 'Well, she is descended from a real King +Charles, that Charles II. brought from France, and gave to Mrs. Jane +Lane; and they have kept up the breed ever since.' + +'So that Mab will have the longest pedigree in Stoneborough; and we +must all respect her!' said Ethel, stroking the black head. + +'I am only surprised at Leonard's forgetting his place,' said Aubrey. +'Walking before her majesty, indeed!' + +'Oh, attendants do come first sometimes.' + +'Then it should be backwards! I have a mind to try lying on the beach +to-morrow, looking interesting, to see what will descend upon me!' + +'A great yellow mongrel,' said Ethel, 'as always befalls imitators in +the path of the hero.' + +'What? You mean that it was all the work of Leonard's beaux yeux?' + +Leonard gave a sort of growl, intimating that Aubrey was exciting his +displeasure; and Ethel was glad to be at home, and break off the +conversation; but in a few minutes Aubrey knocked at her door, and +edging himself in, mysteriously said, 'Such fun! So it was your beaux +yeux, not Leonard's, that made the conquest!' + +'I suppose she was touched with what I said of poor Leonard's +circumstances, and the pleasure the creature gave him.' + +'That is as prosy as Mary, Ethel. At any rate, the woman told Leonard +yours was the most irresistibly attractive countenance she ever saw, +short of beauty; and that's not the best of it, for he is absolutely +angry. + +'No wonder,' laughed Ethel. + +'No, but it's about the beauty! He can't conceive a face more +beautiful than yours.' + +'Except the gargoyle on the church tower,' said Ethel, gaping into as +complete a model of that worthy as flesh and blood could perpetrate. + +'But he means it,' persisted Aubrey, fixing his eyes critically on his +sister's features, but disturbed by the contortions into which she +threw them. 'Now don't, don't. I never saw any fellow with a +hundredth part of your gift for making faces,' he added, between the +unwilling paroxysms of mirth at each fresh grimace; but I want to judge +of you; and--oh! that solemn one is worse than all; it is like Julius +Caesar, if he had ever been photographed!--but really, when one comes +to think about it, you are not so very ugly after all; and are much +better looking than Flora, whom we were taught to believe in.' + +'Poor Flora! You were no judge in her blooming days, before wear and +tear came.' + +'And made her like our Scotch grandfather.' + +'But Blanche! your own Blanche, Aubrey? She might have extended +Leonard's ideas of beauty.' + +'Blanche has a pretty little visage of her own; but it's not so well +worth looking at as yours,' said Aubrey. 'One has seen to the end of +it at once; and it won't light up. Hers is just the May blossom; and +yours the--the--I know--the orchis! I have read of a woman with an +orchidaceous face!' + +Teeth, tongue, lips, eyes, and nose were at once made to serve in +hitting off an indescribable likeness to an orchis blossom, which was +rapturously applauded, till Ethel, relaxing the strain and permitting +herself to laugh triumphantly at her own achievement, said, 'There! I +do pride myself on being of a high order of the grotesque.' + +'It is not the grotesque that he means.' said Aubrey, 'he is very +cracked indeed. He declares that when you came and sat by him the day +before yesterday, you were perfectly lovely.' + +'Oh, then I understand, and it is no matter,' said Ethel. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + They stwons, they stwons, they stwons, they stwons. + --Scouring of the White Horse + + +'So' (wrote Ethel in her daily letter to her father) 'mine is at +present a maternal mission to Leonard, and it is highly gratifying. I +subscribe to all your praise of him, and repent of my ungracious +murmurs at his society. You had the virtue, and I have the reward (the +usual course of this world), for his revival is a very fresh and +pleasant spectacle, burning hot with enthusiasm. Whatever we do, he +overdoes, till I recollect how Wilkes said he had never been a Wilkite. +Three days ago, a portentous-looking ammonite attracted his attention; +and whereas he started from the notion that earth was dirt, and stones +were stones, the same all over the world, he has since so far +outstripped his instructors, that as I write this he is drawing a plan +of the strata, with the inhabitants dramatically arranged, Aubrey +suggesting tragic scenes and uncomplimentary likenesses. His talent +for drawing shows that Averil's was worth culture. If our geology +alarm Richard, tell him that I think it safer to get it over young, and +to face apparent discrepancies with revelation, rather than leave them +to be discovered afterwards as if they had been timidly kept out of +sight. And whether Hugh Miller's theory be right or wrong, his grand +fervid language leaves the conviction that undoubting confidence in +revelation consists with the clearest and most scientific mind.' + + * * * * * + +'June 30th.--I consider my boys as returned to their normal relations. +I descended on them as they were sparring like lion-cubs at play, +Leonard desisted in confusion at my beholding such savage doings, but +cool and easy, not having turned a hair; Aubrey, panting, done up, +railing at him as first cousin to Hercules, all as a delicate boast to +me of his friend's recovered strength. Aubrey's forte is certainly +veneration. His first class of human beings is a large one, though +quizzing is his ordinary form of adoration. For instance, he teases +Mab and her devoted slave some degrees more than the victim can bear, +and then relieves his feelings in my room by asseverations that the +friendship with Leonard will be on the May and Spencer pattern. The +sea is the elixir of life to both; Leonard looks quite himself again, +"only more so," and Aubrey has a glow never seen since his full moon +visage waned, and not all tan, though we are on the high road to be +coffee-berries. Aubrey daily entertains me with heroic tales of diving +and floating, till I tell them they will become enamoured of some "lady +of honour who lives in the sea," grow fishes' tails, and come home no +more. And really, as the time wanes, I feel that such a coast is +Elysium--above all, the boating. The lazy charm, the fresh purity of +air, the sights and sounds, the soft summer wave when one holds one's +hand over the tide, the excitement of sea-weed catching, and the +nonsense we all talk, are so delicious and such new sensations, (except +the nonsense, which loses by your absence, O learned doctor!) that I +fully perceive how pleasures untried cannot even be conceived. But ere +the lotos food has entirely depraved my memory, I give you warning to +come and fetch us home, now that the boys are in full repair. Come +yourself, and be feasted on shrimps and mackerel, and take one sail to +the mouth of the bay. I won't say who shall bring you; it would be fun +to have Daisy, and Mary ought to have a holiday, but then Richard would +take better care of you, and Tom would keep you in the best order. +Could you not all come? only if you don't yourself, I won't promise not +to take up with a merman.' + + * * * * * + +'July 4th.--Very well. If this is to make a strong man of Aubrey, tant +mieux, and even home and Cocksmoor yearnings concern me little in this +Castle of Indolence, so don't flatter yourself that I shall grumble at +having had to take our house on again. Let us keep Leonard; we should +both miss him extremely, and Aubrey would lose half the good without +some one to swim, scramble, and fight with. Indeed, for the poor +fellow's own sake, he should stay, for though he is physically as +strong as a young megalosaur, and in the water or on the rocks all day, +I don't think his head is come to application, nor his health to +bearing depression; and I see he dreads the return, so that he had +better stay away till school begins again.' + + * * * * * + +'July 7th.--Oh! you weak-minded folks! Now I know why you wanted to +keep me away--that you might yield yourselves a prey to Flora. Paper +and chintz forsooth! All I have to say is this, Miss Mary--as to my +room, touch it if you dare! I leave papa to protect his own study, but +for the rest, think, Mary, what your feelings would be if Harry were to +come home, and not know what room he was in! If I am to choose between +the patterns of chintz, I prefer the sea-weed variety, as in character +with things in general, and with the present occasion; and as to the +carpet, I hope that Flora, touched with our submission, will not send +us anything distressing.' + + * * * * * + +'July 17th.--Can you send me any more of the New Zealand letters? I +have copied out the whole provision I brought with me for the blank +book, and by the way have inoculated Leonard with such a missionary +fever as frightens me. To be sure, he is cut out for such work. He is +intended for a clergyman (on grounds of gentility, I fear), and is too +full of physical energy and enterprise to take readily to sober +parochial life. His ardour is a gallant thing, and his home ties not +binding; but it is not fair to take advantage of his present +inflammable state of enthusiasm, and the little we have said has been +taken up so fervently, that I have resolved on caution for the future. +It is foolish to make so much of a boy's eagerness, especially when +circumstances have brought him into an unnatural dreamy mood; and +probably these aspirations will pass away with the sound of the waves, +but they are pretty and endearing while they last in their force and +sincerity. + + '"Just at the age 'twixt boy and youth, + When thought is speech, and speech is truth;" + +'and one's heart beats at the thought of what is possible to creatures +of that age.' + + * * * * * + +'July 21st.--You, who taught us to love our Walter Scott next to our +"Christian Year," and who gave us half-crowns for rehearsing him when +other children were learning the Robin's Petition, what think you of +this poor boy Leonard knowing few of the novels and none of the poems? +No wonder the taste of the day is grovelling lower and lower, when +people do not begin with the pure high air of his world! To take up +one of his works after any of our present school of fiction is like +getting up a mountain side after a feverish drawing-room or an +offensive street. If it were possible to know the right moment for a +book to be really tasted--not thrust aside because crammed down--no, it +would not be desirable, as I was going to say, we should only do double +mischief. We are not sent into the world to mould people, but to let +them mould themselves; and the internal elasticity will soon unmake all +the shapes that just now seem to form under my fingers like clay. + +'At any rate, the introduction of such a congenial spirit to Sir Walter +was a real treat; Leonard has the very nature to be fired by him, and +Aubrey being excessively scandalized at his ignorance, routed a cheap +"Marmion" out of the little bookshop, and we beguiled a wet afternoon +with it; Aubrey snatching it from me at all the critical passages, for +fear I should not do them justice, and thundering out the battle, which +stirred the other boy like a trumpet sound. Indeed, Leonard got Mab +into a corner, and had a very bad cold in the head when De Wilton was +re-knighted; and when "the hand of Douglas was his own," he jumped up +and shouted out, "Well done, old fellow!" Then he took it to himself +and read it all over again, introductions and all, and has raved ever +since. I wish you could see Aubrey singing out some profane couplet of +"midnight and not a nose," or some more horrible original parody, and +then dodging apparently in the extremity of terror, just as Leonard +furiously charges him. + +'But you would have been struck with their discussions over it. Last +night, at tea, they began upon the woeful result of the Wager of +Battle, which seemed to oppress them as if it had really happened. Did +I believe in it? Was I of the Lady Abbess's opinion, that + + '"Perchance some form was unobserved, + Perchance in prayer or faith he swerved"? + + +'This from Aubrey, while Leonard rejoined that even if De Wilton had so +done, it was still injustice that he should be so cruelly ruined, and +Marmion's baseness succeed. It would be like a king wilfully giving +wrong judgment because the right side failed in some respectful +observance. He was sure such a thing could never be. Did I ever know +of a real case where Heaven did not show the right? It was confusing +and alarming, for both those boys sat staring at me as if I could +answer them; and those wonderful searching eyes of Leonard's were +fixed, as if his whole acquiescence in the dealings of Providence were +going to depend on the reply, that could but be unsatisfactory. I +could only try plunging deep. I said it was Job's difficulty, and it +was a new light to Leonard that Job was about anything but patience. +He has been reading the Book all this Sunday evening; and is not De +Wilton a curious introduction to it? But Aubrey knew that I meant the +bewilderment of having yet to discover that Divine Justice is +longer-sighted than human justice, and he cited the perplexities of +high-minded heathen. Thence we came to the Christian certainty that +"to do well and suffer for it is thankworthy;" and that though no +mortal man can be so innocent as to feel any infliction wholly +unmerited and disproportioned, yet human injustice at its worst may be +working for the sufferer an exceeding weight of glory, or preparing him +for some high commission below. Was not Ralph de Wilton far nobler and +purer as the poor palmer, than as Henry the Eighth's courtier! And if +you could but have heard our sequel, arranging his orthodoxy, his +Scripture reading, and his guardianship of distressed monks and nuns, +you would have thought he had travelled to some purpose, only he would +certainly have been burnt by one party, and beheaded by the other. On +the whole, I think Leonard was a little comforted, and I cannot help +hoping that the first apparently cruel wrong that comes before him may +be the less terrible shock to his faith from his having been set to +think out the question by "but half a robber and but half a knight."' + + * * * * * + +'August 1st.--Yesterday afternoon we three were in our private +geological treasury, Leonard making a spread-eagle of himself in an +impossible place on the cliff side, trying to disinter what hope, +springing eternal in the human breast, pronounced to be the paddle of a +saurian; Aubrey, climbing as high as he durst, directing operations and +making discoveries; I, upon a ledge half-way up, guarding Mab and +poking in the debris, when one of the bridal pairs, with whom the place +is infested, was seen questing about as if disposed to invade our +premises. Aubrey, reconnoitring in high dudgeon, sarcastically +observed that all red-haired men are so much alike, that he should have +said yonder was Hec--. The rest ended in a view halloo from above and +below, and three bounds to the beach, whereon I levelled my glass, and +perceived that in very deed it was Mr. and Mrs. Ernescliffe who were +hopping over the shingle. Descending, I was swung off the last rock in +a huge embrace, and Hector's fiery moustache was scrubbing both my +cheeks before my feet touched the ground, and Blanche with both arms +round my waist. They were ready to devour us alive in their famine for +a Stoneborough face; and as Flora and Mary are keeping home +uninhabitable, found themselves obliged to rush away from Maplewood in +the middle of their county welcomes for a little snatch of us, and to +join us in vituperating the new furniture. If Mary could only hear +Hector talk of a new sofa that he can't put his boots upon--he says it +is bad enough at Maplewood, but that he did hope to be still +comfortable at home. They have to get back to dine out to-morrow, but +meantime the fun is more fast and furious than ever, and as soon as the +tide serves, we are to fulfil our long-cherished desire of boating +round to Lyme. I won't answer for the quantity of discretion added to +our freight, but at least there is six feet more of valour, and Mrs. +Blanche for my chaperon. Bonnie Blanche is little changed by her four +months' matrimony, and only looks prettier and more stylish, but she is +painfully meek and younger-sisterish, asking my leave instead of her +husband's, and distressed at her smartness in her pretty shady hat and +undyed silk, because I was in trim for lias-grubbing. Her appearance +ought to be an example to all the brides in the place with skirts in +the water, and nothing on to keep off eyes, sun, or wind from their +faces. I give Flora infinite credit for it. Blanche and Aubrey walk +arm in arm in unceasing talk, and that good fellow, Hector, has +included Leonard in the general fraternity. They are highly +complimentary, saying they should have taken Aubrey for Harry, he is so +much stouter and rosier, and that Leonard is hugely grown. Here come +these three boys shouting that the boat is ready; I really think Hector +is more boyish and noisy than ever. + + + "Five precious souls, and all agog + To dash through thick or thin." + + +I'll take the best care of them in my power. Good-bye.' + + * * * * * + +'August 2nd.--Safe back, without adventure, only a great deal of +enjoyment, for which I am doubly thankful, as I almost fancied we were +fey, one of the many presentiments that come to nothing, but perhaps do +us rather good than harm for all that. I hope I did not show it in my +letter, and communicate it to you. Even when safe landed, I could not +but think of the Cobb and Louisa Musgrove, as I suppose every one does. +We slept at the inn; drove with the Ernescliffes to the station this +morning, and came back to this place an hour ago, after having been +steeped in pleasure. I shall send the description of Lyme to Daisy +to-morrow, having no time for it now, as I want an answer from you +about our going to Maplewood. The "married babies" are bent upon it, +and Hector tries to demonstrate that it is the shortest way home, to +which I can't agree; but as it may save another journey, and it will be +nice to see them in their glory, I told them that if you could spare +us, we would go from the 29th to the 4th of September. This will bring +Leonard home four days before the end of the holidays, for he has been +most warmly invited, Hector adopting him into the brotherhood of papa's +pets. I am glad he is not left out; and Mary had better prove to +Averil that he will be much happier for having no time at home before +the half year begins. He still shrinks from the very name being brought +before him. Let me know, if you please, whether this arrangement will +suit, as I am to write to Blanche. Dear little woman, I hope Hector +won't make a spoilt child of her, they are so very young, and their +means seem so unlimited to them both, Hector wanting to make her and us +presents of whatever we admired, and when she civilly praised Mab, +vehemently declaring that she should have just such another if money +could purchase, or if not, he would find a way. "Thank you, Hector +dear, I had rather not," placidly responds Blanche, making his +vehemence fall so flat, and Leonard's almost exulting alarm glide into +such semi-mortification, that I could have laughed, though I remain in +hopes that her "rather not" may always be as prudent, for I believe it +is the only limit to Hector's gifts.' + + * * * * * + +'29th, 8 A. M.--Farewell to the Coombe of Coombes. I write while +waiting for the fly, and shall post this at Weymouth, where we are to +be met. We have been so happy here, that I could be sentimental, if +Leonard were not tete-a-tete with me, and on the verge of that +predicament. "Never so happy in his life," quoth he, "and never will +be again--wonders when he shall gee this white cliff again." But, +happily, in tumbles Aubrey with the big claw of a crab, which he +insists on Leonard's wearing next his heart as a souvenir of Mrs. +Gisborne; he is requited with an attempt to pinch his nose therewith, +And-- + +2.30. P. M. Weymouth.--The result was the upset of my ink, whereof you +see the remains; and our last moments were spent in reparations and +apologies. My two squires are in different plight from what they were +ten weeks ago, racing up hills that it then half killed them to come +down, and lingering wistfully on the top for last glimpses of our bay. +I am overwhelmed with their courtesies, and though each is lugging +about twenty pounds weight of stones, and Mab besides in Leonard's +pocket, I am seldom allowed to carry my own travelling bag. Hector has +been walking us about while his horses are resting after their twenty +miles, but we think the parade and pier soon seen, and are tantalized +by having no time for Portland Island, only contenting ourselves with +an inspection of shop fossils, which in company with Hector is a sort +of land of the "Three Wishes," or worse; for on my chancing to praise a +beautiful lump of Purbeck stone, stuck as full of paludinae as a +pudding with plums, but as big as my head and much heavier, he brought +out his purse at once; and when I told him he must either enchant it on +to my nose, or give me a negro slave as a means of transport, Leonard +so earnestly volunteered to be the bearer, that I was thankful for my +old rule against collecting curiosities that I do not find and carry +myself. + +'August 30th. Maplewood.--I wonder whether these good children can be +happier, unless it may be when they receive you! How much they do make +of us! and what a goodly sight at their own table they are! They are +capable in themselves of making any place charming, though the man must +have been enterprising who sat down five-and-twenty years ago to +reclaim this park from irreclaimable down. I asked where were the +maples? and where was the wood? and was shown five stunted ones in a +cage to defend them from the sheep, the only things that thrive here, +except little white snails, with purple lines round their shells. +"There now, isn't it awfully bleak?" says Hector, with a certain +comical exultation. "How was a man ever to live here without her?" +And the best of it is, that Blanche thinks it beautiful--delicious free +air, open space, view over five counties, &c. Inside, one traces +Flora's presiding genius, Hector would never have made the concern so +perfect without her help; and Blanche is no child in her own house, but +is older and more at home than Hector, so that one would take her for +the heiress, making him welcome and at ease. Not that it is like the +Grange, Blanche is furious if I remark any little unconscious imitation +or similarity--"As if we could be like Flora and George indeed!" Nor +will they. If Blanche rules, it will be unawares to herself. And +where Hector is, there will always be a genial house, overflowing with +good-humour and good-nature. He has actually kept the 1st of September +clear of shooting parties that he may take these two boys out, and give +them a thorough day's sport in his turnip-fields. "License? Nonsense, +he thought of that before, and now Aubrey may get some shooting out of +George Rivers." After such good-nature my mouth is shut, though, ay di +me, all the world and his wife are coming here on Monday evening, and +unless I borrow of Blanche, Mrs. Ernescliffe's sister will "look like +ane scrub."' + + * * * * * + +'September 2nd.--Train at Stoneborough, 6.30. That's the best news I +have to give. Oh, it has been a weary while to be out of sight of you +all, though it has been pleasant enough, and the finale is perfectly +brilliant. Blanche, as lady of the house, is a sight to make a sister +proud; she looks as if she were born to nothing else, and is a model of +prettiness and elegance. Hector kept coming up to me at every +opportunity to admire her. "Now, old Ethel, look at her? Doesn't she +look like a picture? I chose that gown, you know;" then again after +dinner, "Well, old Ethel, didn't it go off well? Did you ever see +anything like her? There, just watch her among the old ladies. I +can't think where she learnt it all, can you?" And it certainly was +too perfect to have been learnt. It was not the oppression that poor +dear Flora gives one by doing everything so well, as if she had +perfectly balanced what was due to herself and everybody else; it was +just Blanche, simple and ready, pleasing herself by doing what people +liked, and seeing what they did like. It was particularly pretty to see +how careful both she and Hector were not to put Leonard aside--indeed, +they make more of him than of Aubrey, who is quite able to find his own +level. Even his tender feelings as to Mab are respected, and Blanche +always takes care to invite her to a safe seat on a fat scarlet cushion +on the sofa (Mrs. Ledwich's wedding present), when the footmen with the +tea might be in danger of demolishing her. Leonard, and his fine eyes, +and his dog, were rather in fashion yesterday evening. Blanche put out +his Coombe sketches for a company trap, and people talked to him about +them, and he was set to sing with Blanche, and then with some of the +young ladies. He seemed to enjoy it, and his nice, modest, +gentlemanlike manner told. The party was not at all amiss in itself. +I had a very nice clerical neighbour, and it is a very different thing +to see and hear Hector at the bottom of the table from having poor dear +George there. But oh! only one dinner more before we see our own table +again, and Tom at the bottom of it. Hurrah! I trust this is the last +letter you will have for many a day, from + + 'Your loving and dutiful daughter, + 'ETHELDRED MAY.' + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + The XII statute remember to observe + For all the paine thou hast for love and wo + All is too lite her mercie to deserve + Thou musten then thinke wher er thou ride or go + And mortale wounds suffre thou also + All for her sake, and thinke it well besette + Upon thy love, for it maie not be bette. + --Chaucer's 'Court of Love' + + +'Good-bye, Leonard,' said Ethel, as the two families, after mustering +strong at the station, parted at the head of Minster Street; and as she +felt the quivering lingering pressure of his hand, she added with a +smile, 'Remember, any Saturday afternoon. And you will come for the +books.' + +Glad as she was to be anchored on her father's arm, and clustered round +with rejoicing brothers and sisters, she could not be devoid of a shade +of regret for the cessation of the intimate intercourse of the last +nine weeks, and a certain desire for the continuance of the +confidential terms that had arisen. The moment's pang was lost in the +eager interchange of tidings too minute for correspondence, and in +approval of the renovation of the drawing-room, which was so skilful +that her first glance would have detected no alteration in the subdued +tones of paper, carpet, and chintz, so complete was their loyalty to +the spirit of perpetuity. Flora told no one of the pains that, among +her many cares, she had spent upon those tints, not so much to gratify +Ethel, as because her own wearied spirit craved the repose of home +sameness, nor how she had finally sent to Paris for the paper that +looked so quiet, but was so exquisitely finished, that the whole room +had a new air of refinement. + +The most notable novelty was a water-coloured sketch, a labour of love +from the busy hands in New Zealand, which had stolen a few hours from +their many tasks to send Dr. May the presentment of his namesake +grandson. Little Dickie stood before them, a true son of the +humming-bird sprite, delicately limbed and featured, and with elastic +springiness, visible even in the pencilled outline. The dancing dark +eyes were all Meta's, though the sturdy clasp of the hands, and the +curl that hung over the brow, brought back the reflection of Harry's +baby days. + +It would have been a charming picture, even if it had not been by +Meta's pencil, and of Norman's child, and it chained Ethel for more +than one interval of longing loving study. + +Tom interrupted her in one of these contemplations. 'Poor Flora,' he +said, with more feeling than he usually allowed to affect his voice, +'that picture is a hard trial to her. I caught her looking at it for +full ten minutes, and at last she turned away with her eyes full of +tears.' + +'I do not wonder,' said Ethel. 'There is a certain likeness to that +poor little Leonora, and I think Flora misses her more every year.' + +'Such a child as Margaret is just the thing to cause the other to be +missed.' + +'What do you think of Margaret this time?' said Ethel, for Tom alone +ever durst seriously touch on the undefined impression that all +entertained of Flora's only child. + +'If Flora were only silly about her,' said Tom, 'one might have some +hope; but unluckily she is as judicious there as in everything else, +and the child gets more deplorable every year. She has got the look of +deformity, and yet she is not deformed; and the queer sullen ways of +deficiency, but she has more wit than her father already, and more +cunning.' + +'As long as there is a mind to work on, one hopes' said Ethel. + +'I could stand her better if she were foolish!' exclaimed Tom, 'but I +can't endure to see her come into the room to be courted by every one, +and be as cross as she dares before her mother. Behind Flora's back, I +don't know which she uses worst, her father or her grandfather. I came +down upon little Miss at last for her treatment of the Doctor, and +neither he nor Rivers have forgiven me.' + +'Poor child! I don't believe she has ever known a moment's thorough +health or comfort! I always hope that with Flora's patience and +management she may improve.' + +'Pshaw, Ethel! she will always be a misfortune to herself and everybody +else.' + +'I have faith in good coming out of misfortunes.' + +'Illustrated, I suppose, by ravings about your young Ward. Mary is +crazy about his sister, and the Doctor lunatic as to the brother, who +will soon kick at him for his pains.' + +'I own to thinking Leonard capable of great things.' + +Tom made a grimace equal to what Ethel could do in that way, thrust his +hands deep into his pockets, and philosophically observed, 'Behold the +effects of patronage! Blind Cupid is nothing to him.' + +Ethel let it pass, caring too much for Leonard to set him up as a mark +for Tom's satire, which was as different from Aubrey's as quinine from +orange-peel, though properly used, it was a bracing tonic, such as she +often found wholesome. A cynical younger brother is a most valuable +possession to a woman who has taken a certain position in her own world. + +Tom was a sterling character, highly and deeply principled, though not +demonstrative, and showing his Scots descent. None of the brothers had +been extravagant, but Tom, with the income of his lately achieved +fellowship, performed feats of economy, such as attaining to the +purchase of an ultra perfect microscope, and he was consistently +industrious, so exactly measuring his own powers that to undertake was +with him to succeed, and no one suffered anxiety on his account. As Dr. +Spencer said, he was as sure to fall on his legs as a sandy cat, and so +nobody cared for him. At home he was sufficient to himself, properly +behaved to his father, civil to Richard, unmerciful in ridicule, but +merciful in dominion over the rest, except Ethel, whom he treated as an +equal, able to retort in kind, reserving for her his most +highly-flavoured sallies, and his few and distant approaches to such +confidence as showed her how little she knew him. His father esteemed +but did not 'get on with' him, and his chief and devoted adherent was +Aubrey, to whom he was always kind and helpful. In person Tom was tall +and well-made, of intelligent face, of which his spectacles seemed a +natural feature, well-moulded fine-grained hand, and dress the +perfection of correctness, though the precision, and dandyism had been +pruned away. + +Ethel would have preferred that Leonard and Averil should not have +walked in on the Saturday after her return, just when Tom had spread +his microscope apparatus over the table, and claimed Mary's assistance +in setting up objects; and she avoided his eye when Mary and Averil did +what he poetically called rushing into each other's arms, whilst she +bestowed her greetings on Leonard and Mab. + +'Then she may come in?' said Leonard. 'Henry has banished her from the +drawing-room, and we had much ado to get her allowed even in the +schoolroom.' + +'It is so tiresome,' said his sister, 'just one of Henry's fancies.' +Ethel, thinking this disloyal, remarked that those who disliked dogs in +the house could not bear them, and did not wonder that Tom muttered +'Original.' + +'But such a little darling as this!' cried Averil, 'and after Mrs. +Ernescliffe had been so kind. Mary, you must see how clever she is. +Leonard is teaching her to play on the piano.' + +'I congratulate you,' quietly said Tom; and somehow Ethel felt that +those three words were a satire on her 'capable of great things;' while +Leonard drew up, and Averil coloured, deferring the exhibition of Mab's +accomplishments till 'another time,' evidently meaning out of Tom's +presence. + +'Aubrey is gone to the Grange with papa,' Ethel said, glad to lead away +from Mab. + +'He told me he was going,' said Leonard, 'but he said you would be at +home.' + +Ethel knew that the intonation of that 'you' had curled Tom's lip with +mischief, and dreading that Leonard should discover and resent his +mood, she said, 'We think one of your sea eggs has got among ours; will +you come to the schoolroom and see?' + +And leaving Tom to tease and be bored by the young ladies, she led the +way to the schoolroom, where Aubrey's fossils, each in its private +twist of paper, lay in confusion on the floor, whence they were in +course of being transferred to the shelf of a cupboard. + +Leonard looked at the disorder with astonished admiration. + +'Yes,' said Ethel, 'it is a great mess, but they are to have a regular +cabinet, when Richard has time, or Aubrey has money, two equally +unlikely chances.' + +'How much does a cabinet cost?' + +'Jones would make a plain deal one for about five-and-twenty shillings.' + +'I can't unpack mine properly,' said Leonard, disconsolately. 'Ave is +going to make a place for them, but Henry votes them rubbish.' + +'They are dreadful rubbish,' said Ethel. 'It goes against my +conscience to guard them from the house-maid, and if my sister Flora +came in here, I should be annihilated.' + +'Of course one expects that in women.' + +'Oh, Richard would be as much distracted! It is a provision of Nature +that there should be some tidy ones, or what would the world come to?' + +'It would be a great deal less of a bore.' + +'Not at all; we should stifle ourselves at last if we had our own way. +Never mind, Leonard, we make them go through quite as much as they make +us.' + +'I am sure I hope so.' + +'No, no, Leonard,' she said, becoming less playful, 'we must not do it +on purpose. Even unconsciously, we plague the spirits of order quite +enough, and they have the right on their side after all.' + +'I think a lady is the person to say what one may do or not in the +drawing-room; don't you?' said Leonard. + +'That depends.' + +'And you let your brother spread his things all over yours!' + +'So I do; but I would not if papa minded it, or even if this were +Richard's house, and he did not like it. Don't begin with worries +about trifles, pray, Leonard.' + +'It is not I that care about trifles,' returned the boy. 'How was one +to reckon on a man setting up a monomania about dogs' paws in the hall?' + +'I have feared we were rather foolish; I ought to have reminded you to +ask whether Mab would be welcome.' + +'I was not going to ask leave, I have no one whose leave to ask,' said +Leonard, in tones at first proud, then sad. + +'That's a bad beginning,' returned Ethel. 'As master of the house, +your brother has a right to your compliance, and if you do not all give +way to each other, you will have nothing but dissension and misery.' + +'All to each other; yes, that is fair.' + +'He must have given way to you in letting you keep the dog at all in +the house' said Ethel. 'It is a real instance of kindness, and you are +bound to let her be as little in his way as possible.' + +'He does mean well, I suppose,' said Leonard; 'but he is an awful +bother, and poor Ave gets the worst of it. One has no patience with +finikin ways in a man.' + +'There's no telling how much I owe to my finikin brother Richard,' said +Ethel; 'and if you teach Ave to be loyal to the head of your family, +you will do her as much good as you will do harm by chafing against his +ordinances.' + +'Don't you hate such nonsense, Miss May?' + +'I can't love order as much as I honour it. Set tastes aside. The +point is, that if you are to hold together, Leonard, it must be by +bearing and forbearing, and above all, to your elder brother.' + +'Well, it is a blessing that I shall be in school on Monday.' + +'So it is,' said Ethel; 'but, barring these fidgets, Leonard, tell me,' +and she looked kindly at him, 'how is it at home? Better than you +expected, I hope.' + +'Blank enough' said Leonard; 'I didn't think I should have minded the +sound of the surgery door so much.' + +'You will have Sunday to help you.' + +'Yes, Ave and I have been down to the churchyard; Ave does care, poor +girl. She knows better what it is now, and she was glad to have me to +talk to again, though Miss Mary has been so kind to her.' + +'Oh, nobody can be so much to her as you.' + +'Poor Ave!' said Leonard, tenderly. 'And look here, this is my +father's watch, and she made me this chain of my mother's hair. And +they have given me a photograph of my mother's picture; Henry had it +done long ago, but thought it would upset me to give it before I went +away. If he could but have guessed how I lay and wished for one!' + +'Those are the things one never can guess, even when one would give +worlds to do so.' + +'You--O, Miss May, you always know the thing that is comfortable.' + +'Well,' said Ethel, 'what will be comfortable now is that you should be +the man above being affronted by other people's nonsense--the only way +to show we did not all spoil each other at Coombe. Now, here is +Woodstock for you, and tell me if this be not your Cidaris. Oh, and we +have found out the name of your funny spiked shell.' + +Ten minutes of palaeontology ensued; and she was leading the way back +to the drawing-room, when he exclaimed, 'Have you heard about the +match, Miss May?' + +'Match? Oh, the cricket match?' + +'Stoneborough against All England, on St. Matthew's Day, so I shall +have got my hand in.' + +'All England meaning every one that can be scraped up that is not +Stoneborough,' returned Ethel. 'George Larkins has been over here +canvassing Tom and Aubrey. But you can't be going to play, Leonard; +papa does not half like it for Aubrey.' + +'Perhaps not for Aubrey,' said Leonard; 'but I am as well as ever, and +luckily they can't make up a decent eleven without me. You will come +and see us, Miss May? I'll find you the jolliest place between the old +lime and the cloister door.' + +'As if I had not known the meads ages before your time!' said Ethel. + +'I thought you never came to the matches?' + +'Ah! you don't remember my brothers' Stoneborough days, when Norman was +cricket mad, and Harry after him, and my father was the best cricketer +in Stoneborough till his accident. + +'Yes, Dr. May always comes to see the matches,' said Leonard. 'You +will, won't you now, Miss May? I didn't think you knew anything about +cricket, but it will be all the better now.' + +Ethel laughed, and half promised. + +Cocksmoor existed without Ethel on that holiday; and indeed she was +self-reproachful, though pleased, at finding her presence so great a +treat to her father. Leonard might do the honours of the lime-tree +nook, but she spent but little time there, for Dr. May made her walk +about with him as he exchanged greetings with each and all, while +Gertrude led Richard about at her will, and Mary consorted with the +Ward girls. With no one on her mind, Ethel could give free attention +to the smoothly-shaven battle-field, where, within the gray walls +shaded by the overhanging elms, the young champions were throwing all +the ardour and even the chivalry of their nature into the contest. + +The annual game had been delayed by the illness in the spring, and the +school had lost several good players at the end of the half year; but, +on the other hand, the holidays being over, George Larkins had been +unable to collect an eleven either in full practice or with public +school training; and the veteran spectators were mourning the decay of +cricket, and talking of past triumphs. The school had the first +innings, which resulted in the discomfiture of Fielder, one of their +crack champions, and with no great honour to any one except Folliot, +the Dux, and Leonard Ward, who both acquitted themselves so creditably, +that it was allowed that if others had done as well, Stoneborough might +have had a chance. + +But when 'All England' went in, the game seemed to be more equally +balanced. Aubrey May, in spite of devoted practice under Tom's +instructions, was, from nervous eagerness, out almost as soon as in, +and in his misery of shame and despair felt like the betrayer of his +cause. But in due time, with the sun declining, and the score still +low, Tom May came forward, as the last hope of 'All England,' lissom, +active, and skilled, walking up to his wicket with the easy confidence +of one not greatly caring, but willing to show the natives what play +might be. + +And his play was admirable; the fortunes of the day began to tremble in +the balance; every one, spectators and all, were in a state of eager +excitement; and Aubrey, out of tone and unable to watch for the crisis, +fairly fled from the sight, rushed through the cloister door, and threw +himself with his face down upon the grass, shivering with suspense. +There he lay till a sudden burst of voices and cheers showed that the +battle was over. + +The result? He could not believe eyes or ears as he opened the door, +to behold the triumphant gestures of Stoneborough, and the crestfallen +air of his own side, and heard the words, 'Folliot missed two chances +of long-leg--Ward--tremendous rush--caught him out--with only one run +to tie.' + +Dr. May was shaking hands with Leonard in congratulation, not solely +generous, for let his sons be where they would, Stoneborough triumphs +were always the Doctor's, and he was not devoid of gratitude to any one +who would defeat Tom. Noting, however, the flitting colour, fluttering +breath, and trembling limbs, that showed the effect of the day's +fatigue and of the final exertion, he signed back the boys, and thrust +Leonard within the cloister door, bidding Aubrey fetch his coat, and +Ethel keep guard over him, and when he was rested and cooled, to take +him home to the High Street, where his sisters would meet him. + +'But--sir--the--supper!' gasped Leonard, leaning against the door-post, +unable to stand alone. + +'I dare say. Keep him safe, Ethel.' + +And the Doctor shut the door, and offered himself to appease the lads +who were clamouring for the hero of their cause; while Leonard sank +back on the bench, past words or looks for some moments. + +'You have redeemed your pennon with your last gasp,' said Ethel, half +reproachfully. + +'I was determined,' panted the boy. 'I don't know how I did it. I +couldn't fail with you looking on. You did it by coming.' + +Reply was spared by Aubrey's return, with the coat in one hand, and a +glass of ale in the other. 'You are to go home with Ethel at once,' he +pronounced with the utmost zest, 'that is, as soon as you are rested. +My father says you must not think of the supper, unless you +particularly wish to be in bed for a week; but we'll all drink your +health, and I'll return thanks--the worst player for the best.' + +This was the first time Aubrey had been considered in condition for +such festivities, and the gratification of being superior to somebody +might account for his glee in invaliding his friend. + +Cricket suppers were no novelties to Leonard; and either this or his +exhaustion must have made him resign himself to his fate, and walk back +with Ethel as happily as at Coombe. + +The sisters soon followed, and were detained to drink tea. The +cricketers' mirth must have been fast and furious if it exceeded that +at home, for the Doctor thought himself bound to make up for the loss +to Leonard, put forth all his powers of entertainment, and was +comically confidential about 'these Etonians that think so much of +themselves.' + +Averil was lively and at ease, showing herself the pleasant +well-informed girl whom Ethel had hitherto only taken on trust, and +acting in a pretty motherly way towards the little sisters. She was +more visibly triumphant than was Leonard, and had been much gratified +by a request from the Bankside curate that she would entirely undertake +the harmonium at the chapel. She had been playing on it during the +absence of the schoolmaster, and with so much better effect than he +could produce, that it had been agreed that he would be best in his +place among the boys. + +'Ah!' said the Doctor, 'two things in one are apt to be like Aubrey's +compromise between walking-stick and camp-stool--a little of neither.' + +'I don't mean it to be a little of neither with me, Dr. May,' said +Averil. 'I shall have nothing to do with my choir on week-days, till I +have sent these pupils of mine to bed.' + +'Are you going to train the choir too?' asked Leonard. + +'I must practise with them, or we shall not understand one another; +besides, they have such a horrid set of tunes, Mr. Scudamour gave me +leave to change them. He is going to have hymnals, and get rid of Tate +and Brady at once.' + +'Ah! poor Nahum!' sighed the Doctor with such a genuine sigh, that +Averil turned round on him in amazement. + +'Yes,' said Ethel, 'I'm the only one conservative enough to sympathize +with you, papa.' + +'But does any one approve of the New Version?' cried Averil, recovering +from her speechless wonder. + +'Don't come down on me,' said the Doctor, holding up his hands. 'I +know it all; but the singing psalms are the singing psalms to me--and I +can't help my bad taste--I'm too old to change.' + +'Oh! but, papa, you do like those beautiful hymns that we have now?' +cried Gertrude. + +'Oh! yes, yes, Gertrude, I acquiesce. They are a great improvement; +but then, wasn't it a treat when I got over to Woodside Church the +other day, and found them singing, "No change of times shall ever +shock"!' and he began to hum it. + +'That is the Sicilian Mariners' hymn,' said Averil. 'I can sing you +that whenever you please.' + +'Thank you; on condition you sing the old Tate and Brady, not your "O +Sanctissma, O Purissima,"' said the Doctor, a little mischievously. + +'Which is eldest, I wonder?' said Ave, smiling, pleased to comply with +any whim of his; though too young to understand the associations that +entwine closely around all that has assisted or embodied devotion. + +The music went from the sacred to the secular; and Ethel owned that the +perfectly pronounced words and admirable taste made her singing very +different from that which adorned most dinner-parties. Dr. May +intensely enjoyed, and was between tears and bravos at the charge of +the Six Hundred, when the two brothers entered, and stood silently +listening. + +That return brought a change. Aubrey was indeed open and bright, +bursting out with eager communications the moment the song ceased, then +turning round with winning apologies, and hopes that he was not +interrupting; but Tom looked so stiff and polite as to chill every one, +and Averil began to talk of the children's bed-time. + +The Doctor and Aubrey pressed for another song so earnestly that she +consented; but the spirit and animation were gone, and she had no +sooner finished than she made a decided move to depart, and Dr. May +accompanied the party home. + +'Is my father going to put that fellow to bed?' said Tom, yawning, as +if injured by the delay of bed-time thus occasioned. + +'Your courtesy does not equal his,' said Ethel. + +'Nor ever will,' said Tom. + +'Never,' said Ethel, so emphatically that she nettled him into adding, + +'He is a standing warning against spoiling one's patients. I wouldn't +have them and their whole tag-rag and bobtail about my house for +something!' + +'O, Tom, for shame!' cried Mary, bursting out in the wrath he had +intended to excite. + +'Ask him which is tag, which rag, and which bobtail,' suggested Ethel. + +'Mab, I suppose,' said Gertrude, happily closing the discussion, but it +was re-animated by her father's arrival. + +'That's a nice girl,' he said, 'very nice; but we must not have her too +often in the evening, Mary, without Henry. It is not fair to break up +people's home party.' + +'Bobber than bobtail,' murmured Tom, with a gesture only meant for +Ethel. + +'Ave said he would be out till quite late, papa,' said Mary, in +self-defence. + +'She ought to have been back before him,' said Dr. May. 'He didn't +seem best pleased to have found her away, and let me tell you, young +woman, it is hard on a man who has been at work all day to come home +and find a dark house and nobody to speak to.' + +Mary looked melancholy at this approach to reproof, and Tom observed in +an undertone, + +'Never mind, Mary, it is only to give papa the opportunity of improving +his pupil, while you exchange confidence with your bosom friend. I +shall be gone in another month, and there will be nothing to prevent +the perfect fusion of families.' + +No one was sorry that the evening here came to an end. + +'I hope,' said Dr. May at the Sunday's dinner, 'that the cricket match +has not done for that boy; I did not see him among the boys.' + +'No,' said Mary, 'but he has met with some accident, and has the most +terrible bruised face. Ave can't make out how he did it. Do you know, +Aubrey?' + +The Doctor and his two sons burst out laughing. + +'I thought,' said Ethel, rather grieved, 'that those things had gone +out of fashion.' + +'So Ethel's protege, or prodigy, which is it?' said Tom, 'is turning +out a muscular Christian on her hands.' + +'Is a muscular Christian one who has muscles, or one who trusts in +muscles?' asked Ethel. + +'Or a better cricketer than an Etonian?' added the Doctor. + +Tom and Aubrey returned demonstrations that Eton's glory was +untarnished, and the defeat solely owing to 'such a set of sticks.' + +'Aubrey,' said Ethel, in their first private moment, 'was this a fight +in a good cause? for if so, I will come down with you and see him.' + +Aubrey made a face of dissuasion, ending in a whistle. + +'Do at least tell me it is nothing I should be sorry for,' she said +anxiously. + +He screwed his face into an intended likeness of Ethel's imitation of +an orchis, winked one eye, and looked comical. + +'I see it can't be really bad,' said Ethel, 'so I will rest on your +assurance, and ask no indiscreet questions.' + +'You didn't see, then?' said Aubrey, aggrieved at the failure of his +imitation. 'You don't remember the beauty he met at Coombe?' + +'Beauty! None but Mab.' + +'Well, they found it out and chaffed him. Fielder said he would cut +out as good a face out of an old knob of apple wood, and the doctor in +petticoats came up again; he got into one of his rages, and they had no +end of a shindy, better than any, they say, since Lake and Benson +fifteen years ago; but Ward was in too great a passion, or he would +have done for Fielder long before old Hoxton was seen mooning that way. +So you see, if any of the fellows should be about, it would never do +for you to be seen going to bind up his wounds, but I can tell him you +are much obliged, and all that.' + +'Obliged, indeed!' said Ethel. 'What, for making me the laughing-stock +of the school?' + +'No, indeed,' cried Aubrey, distressed. 'He said not a word--they only +found it out--because he found that seat for you, and papa sent him +away with you. They only meant to poke fun, and it was his caring that +made it come home to him. I wonder you don't like to find that such a +fellow stood up for you.' + +'I don't like to be made ridiculous.' + +'Tom does not know it, and shall not,' eagerly interposed Aubrey. + +'Thank you,' said she, with all her heart. + +'Then don't be savage. You know he can't help it if he does think you +so handsome, and it is very hard that you should be affronted with him, +just when he can't see out of one of his eyes.' + +'For that matter,' said Ethel, her voice trembling, 'one likes +generosity in any sort of a cause; but as to this, the only way is to +laugh at it.' + +Aubrey thought this 'only way' hardly taken by the cachinnation with +which she left him, for he was sure that her eyes were full of tears; +and after mature consideration he decided that he should only get into +a fresh scrape by letting Leonard know that she was aware of the combat +and its motive. + +'If I were ten years younger, this might be serious,' meditated Ethel. +'Happily, it is only a droll adventure for me in my old age, and I have +heard say that a little raving for a grown-up woman is a wholesome sort +of delusion, at his time of life. So I need not worry about it, and it +is pretty and touching while it lasts, good fellow!' + +Ethel had, in fact, little occasion to worry herself; for all special +manifestations of Leonard's devotion ceased. Whether it were that Tom +with his grave satirical manner contrived to render the house +disagreeable to both brother and sister, or whether Leonard's boyish +bashfulness had taken alarm, and his admiration expended itself in the +battle for her charms, there was no knowing. All that was certain was, +that the Wards seldom appeared at Dr. May's, although elsewhere Mary +and Aubrey saw a great deal of their respective friends, and through +both, Ethel heard from time to time of Leonard, chiefly as working hard +at school, but finding that his illness had cost him not only the last +half year's learning, but some memory and power of application. He was +merging into the ordinary schoolboy--a very good thing for him no +doubt, though less beautiful than those Coombe fancies. And what were +they worth? + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + Little specks of daily trouble-- + Petty grievance, petty strife-- + Filling up with drops incessant + To the brim the cup of life. + + Deeper import have these trifles + Than we think or care to know: + In the air a feather floating, + Tells from whence the breezes blow.--REV. G. MONSELL + + +The first brightening of the orphaned house of Bankside had been in +Leonard's return. The weeks of his absence had been very sore ones to +Averil, while she commenced the round of duties that were a heavy +burthen for one so young, and became, instead of the petted favourite, +the responsible head of the house. + +She was willing and glad to accept the care of her little +sisters--docile bright children--who were pleased to return to the +orderly habits so long interrupted, and were so intelligent, that her +task of teaching was a pleasant one; and almost motherly love towards +them grew up as she felt their dependence on her, and enjoyed their +caresses. + +With Henry she had less in common. He expected of her what she had not +learnt, and was not willing to acquire. A man interfering in the +woman's province meets little toleration; and Henry was extremely +precise in his requirements of exact order, punctuality, and +excellence, in all the arrangements of his house. While breaking her +in to housekeeping, he made himself appear almost in the light of a +task-master--and what was worse, of a despised task-master. Averil +thought she could not respect a brother whose displeasure was +manifested by petulance, not sternness, and who cared not only about +his dinner, but about the tidy appearance of the drawing-room--nay, who +called that tasty which she thought vulgar, made things stiff where she +meant them to be easy and elegant, and prepared the place to be the +butt of Tom May's satire. + +Henry was not a companion to her. His intellect was lower, his +education had not been of the same order, and he had not the manly +force of character that makes up for everything in a woman's eyes. +Where she had talents, he had pretensions--just enough to make his +judgments both conceited and irritating; and where her deeper thoughts +and higher aspirations were concerned, she met either a blank or a +growing jealousy of the influence of the clergy and of the May family. + +Yet Henry Ward was really a good brother, sacrificing much to his +orphan sisters, and living a moral and religious life--such as gained +for him much credit, and made Mrs. Ledwich congratulate Averil on the +great excellence and kindness of her incomparable brother. + +Averil assented, and felt it a dreary thing to have an incomparable +brother. + +But when Leonard came home, the face of the house was changed. Now she +had something to look forward to. Now there was something to hear that +stirred her deeper feelings--some one who would understand and +respond--some one to make common cause with. Little as she saw of the +schoolboy, there was life in her day, for sympathy and comprehension +had come home with him. + +After all, there were recesses in Leonard's confidence to which Ave did +not penetrate; but there was quite enough to be very happy upon, +especially those visions that had been built on the Melanesian letters. +They were not near enough to terrify her with the thought of +separation, and she was sufficiently imbued with Mary May's sentiments +to regard mission-work as the highest ambition. Leonard's strong will +and manly disposition would have obtained her homage and affection, +even without the lofty sentiments and the lesser graces that made the +brother and sister thoroughly suited to one another; and the bond of +union was unfortunately cemented by equal annoyance at Henry's +peculiarities. + +It certainly was rather hard on a young head of a family to have a +younger brother his superior in every respect, and with an inseparable +sister. That Henry had not found out Leonard's superiority was no +reason that it should not gall him; and his self-assertions were apt to +be extremely irritating. Even in the first flush of welcome, he had +made it plain that he meant to be felt as master of the house, and to +enforce those petty regulations of exact order that might be easily +borne from a mother, or played with in a sister--would be obeyed +grudgingly from a father, but could be intolerable in a brother. + +The reception of Mab and the ammonites was but an earnest of similar +ungracious acts on the one hand, and aggressions on the other, often +unintentional. Averil did, indeed, smooth matters, but she shared +Leonard's resentment, and outward submission was compensated by murmur +and mockery in private. + +Still the household worked on fairly; and Mrs. Ledwich was heard to +declare, with tears in her eyes, that it was beautiful to see such a +happy family of love as those dear young Wards! + +'The happy family--in Trafalgar Square!' muttered Dr. Spencer. + +The confidence of the happy family was on this wise. When Leonard came +home with his unpresentable face, he baffled all Ave's anxious +questions, and she was only enlightened by Henry's lamentations, in his +absence, over the hopelessness of a brother who was so low and vulgar +as to box! Her defence being met by a sneer, she flew to tell Leonard +of the calumny, and was laughed at for her innocence, but extorted that +he had fought with a fellow that talked impudently of some of the +Mays--cause fully sufficient in her eyes; nor did Henry utter any open +reproof, though he contrived to exasperate his brother into fierce +retort and angry gesture by an unnecessary injunction not to show that +ungentlemanly face. + +Full consciousness of the difficulties presented by the characters of +the two brothers would have been far too oppressive; and perhaps it was +better for Averil that she had it not, but had her own engrossing +interests and employments drawing off her attention and enlivening her +spirits. Her church music was her object in life--the dedication of +the talent that had been cultivated at so much time and cost, and the +greatest honour and enjoyment she could imagine, and she had full +participation from Leonard, who had a hearty love for sacred music, +readily threw himself into her plans, and offered voice and taste to +assist her experiments. Nor had her elder brother any objection to her +being thus brought forward: he was proud of her performance, and +gratified with the compliments it elicited; and all went well till the +new hymnals arrived, and books upon books, full of new tunes, anthems, +and chants, were accumulating on the music-stand. + +'What are you about there all the evening, not opening your lips?' + +'Leonard is writing out his verses, and I am copying music.' + +'I wonder you neither of you will remember that that table was never +meant to be littered over with all sorts of rubbish!' + +'I thought tables were to put things on,' returned Leonard coolly. + +'Drawing-room tables were not made to be inked! That cover will be +ruined in a day or two!' + +'Very well--then we'll pay for it!' said Leonard, in the same +aggravating tone. + +'Here are newspapers spread between it and the ink,' said Averil, +displaying them with an air of injured innocence that made Henry +subside; but he presently exclaimed: + +'Is that copying to go on all night? Can't you speak, nor play +anything, to send one off to sleep?' + +With a martyr look, yet a satirical glance, Averil opened the piano; +and Henry settled himself in the master's arm-chair, as one about to +enjoy well-earned rest and entertainment after a hard day's work. + +'I say, what doleful drone have you there!' + +'I am trying a new chant for the "Nunc Dimittis".' + +'Nothing but that day and night! Give us something worth hearing.' + +'I thought you only wanted to go to sleep.' + +'I don't want to dream myself into church, listening to Scudamour's +proses: I've quite enough of that on Sunday.' + +Ave began to play one of her school waltzes; and the touch of her +fingers on the keys had so sharp-edged and petulant a tone, that +Leonard smiled to himself as he ran his fingers through his hair over +his books. Nor was it soothing to Henry, who, instead of going to +sleep, began to survey the room, and get food for annoyance. + +'I say,' said he, looking across at a little brass-barred bookcase of +ornamental volumes on the opposite chiffonniere, 'what book is out +there?' + +'Scott's "Lay",' said Leonard; 'it is up in my room.' + +'I told you, Ave, not to let the drawing-room books be carried about +the house to be spoilt!' said Henry, who seldom reproved his brother +direct, but generally through Ave. + +'You'd better get some made of wood then,' said Leonard. + +'Remember then, Ave, I say I will not have my books taken out, and left +about over the house.' + +Leonard dashed out of the room passionately, and presently came +thundering down again, every step audible the whole way, and threw the +book on the table, bringing in a whirlwind, and a flaring sloping +candle dropping upon the precious cloth. Henry started up and pointed. + +'I'm glad of it!' exclaimed Leonard; 'it will be a little amusement for +you. Good night, Ave! I'm going to finish up-stairs, since one can't +read, write, or touch a book without your being rowed!' + +He was gone, and Averil, though rather frightened, gave him infinite +credit for keeping his temper; and perhaps he deserved it, considering +the annoyance and the nature of the provocation; but she did not +reflect how much might have been prevented by more forethought and less +pre-occupation. She said not a word, but quietly returned to her +copying; and when Henry came with paper and poker to remove the damage, +she only shoved back her chair, and sat waiting, pen in hand, resigned +and ironical. + +'I declare,' grumbled Henry, as he examined the remaining amount of +damage, 'these day-schools are a great inconvenience; there's no +keeping a place fit to be seen with a great uncivilized lad always +hanging about!' + +'Leonard is considered particularly gentlemanlike,' said Ave, with lips +compressed, to keep back something about old bachelors. + +'Now, I should have thought a lady would have some regard to her own +drawing-room, and object to slovenliness--elbows on table, feet +everywhere!' + +'Nothing is in worse taste than constraint,' said Ave from the corners +of her mouth--'at least for those that can trust their manners without +it.' + +'I tell you, Ave, you are spoiling the boy. He is more conceited than +ever since the Mays noticed him.' + +'Leonard conceited!' + +'Yes; he is getting as stuck up as Tom May himself--your model I +believe!' + +'I thought he was yours!' + +'Mine?' + +'Yes; you always seem to aim at a poor imitation of him.' + +There was a blushing angry stammer in reply; and she suppressed her +smile, but felt triumphant in having hit the mark. Unready at retort, +he gathered himself up, and said: 'Well, Ave, I have only this to say, +that if you choose to support that boy in his impertinences, there will +be no bearing it; and I shall see what I shall do.' + +Seeing what shall be done is a threat stimulating to some, but +appalling to others; and Averil was of the latter class, with no desire +for such a spectacle, be it what it might. She did not apologize for +the trifle--possible ink, a spot of wax, a borrowed book, were far +beneath an apology; but she made up her mind to humour Henry's follies +magnanimously, and avoid collisions, like an admirable peace-maker. As +soon as bed-time came, she repaired to Leonard's room; and Henry, as he +went along the passage, heard the two young voices ringing with +laughter! Her retort had been particularly delightful to Leonard. +'That's right, Ave! I'm glad you set him down, for I thought +afterwards whether I ought not to have stood by you, only his way of +pitching into me through you puts me into such a rage: I shall do +something desperate some day!' + +'Never mind it, Leonard; it does not hurt me; and if it did, I should +like to bear a great deal for you.' + +'That's all the wrong way,' said Leonard, smiling affectionately. + +'No; men do and women suffer.' + +'That's trite!' said Leonard, patting her fondly. 'I like you to +do--as you call it--Miss May does, and every one that is worth +anything. I say, Ave, when I go out to the islands, you are coming too?' + +'Oh yes! I know I could do a great deal. If nothing else, I could +sing; and they have a great aptitude for singing, Mary was telling me. +But that reminds me I must finish copying the hymn for next Sunday; +Henry hindered me, and I have six copies more to do.' + +'I'll do some of them,' said Leonard. 'Let us go down now the coast is +clear, if the fire is not out.' + +They went down softly, Mab and all, nursed up the fire that Henry had +raked out; and if Saturnalia could be held over the writing out of a +hymn tune, they did it! At any rate, it had the charm of an assertion +of independence; and to Averil it was something like a midnight meeting +of persecuted Christians--to Leonard it was 'great fun.' + +That evening was not a solitary specimen. + +Averil and Leonard intended to obviate causes of offence; but they were +young and heedless, and did not feel bound to obedience. A very little +temptation made them forget or defy Henry's fancies; and Leonard was +easily lashed into answers really unbecoming and violent, for which he +could not bring himself to be sorry, when he thought over the petty +interference and annoyance that had caused them. + +These small tyrannies and frets made Averil the more devoted to the +music, which was her rest, her delight, and not only exalted her above +cares, but sanctioned her oblivion of them. The occupation grew upon +her, never ending, still beginning, with fresh occasions for practice +and new lessons, but though Bankside boys were willing to be taught, +yet it was chiefly in hope of preferment as choristers at the Minster; +and she soon found that a scholar no sooner proved his voice good for +anything, than he went off to be trained for the choir on the +foundation, which fed, clothed, and apprenticed its young singers. She +found she must betake herself to an elder race if she wanted a reliable +staff of voices; and some young men and women showing themselves +willing, a practice, with Mr. Scudamour to keep order, was organized +for late evenings, twice in the week. This was rather much! Henry +opposed at first, on the ground that the evening would be broken up; to +which she answered that for such a purpose they ought to be willing to +sacrifice a little domestic comfort; and when he muttered a petulant +'Pshaw,' looked at him in reproof for sacrilege. She was not going to +be one of the womankind sitting up in a row till their lords and +masters should be pleased to want them! + +Next, he insisted that he would not have her going about the place +after dark, but she was fortified by the curate's promise to escort her +safely, and reduced him to a semi-imprecation which she again viewed as +extremely wicked. The existence of that meek little helpless Mrs. +Scudamour, always shut up in a warm room with her delicate baby, cut +off Henry from any other possible objection, and he was obliged to +submit. + +Leonard would gladly have been his sister's companion on her +expeditions, but he must remain at home and prepare for the morrow's +school-work, and endure the first hour of dreariness unenlivened by her +smile and greeting, and, what was worse, without the scanty infusion of +peace produced by her presence. Her rapid departure after dinner +always discomposed Henry; and the usual vent for his ill-humour was +either a murmur against the clergy and all their measures, or the +discovery of some of Leonard's transgressions of his code. Fretted and +irritable at the destruction of evening comfort, he in his turn teased +the fiery temper of his brother. If there were nothing worse, his +grumbling remarks interrupted, and too often they were that sort of +censure that is expressively called nagging. Leonard would reply +angrily, and the flashes of his passion generally produced silence. +Neither brother spoke to Averil of these evening interludes, which were +becoming almost habitual, but they kept Leonard in a constant sore +sense of injury, yet of uneasy conscience. He looked to the Randall +scholarship as his best hope of leaving home and its torments, but his +illness had thrown him back: he had not only lost the last quarter, but +the acquirements of the one before it were obscured; and the vexations +themselves so harassed and interrupted his evening studies, that he +knew it was unreasonable to hope for it at the next examination, which, +from various causes, was to come after the Christmas holidays; and it +would be well if he could even succeed in the summer. + +Innocent as the Mays were of the harmonium business, Henry included +them in the annoyance it gave. It was the work of the curate--and was +not Dr. May one in everything with the clergy? had he not been +instrumental in building the chapel? was it not the Mays and the clergy +who had made Ave inconveniently religious and opinionative, to say +nothing of Leonard? The whole town was priest--led and bigoted; and Dr. +May was the despot to whom all bowed down. + +This was an opinion Henry would hardly have originated: it was the +shaft of an abler man than he--no other than Harvey Anderson, who had +lately become known to the world by a book proving King John to have +been the most enlightened and patriotic of English sovereigns, enduring +the Interdict on a pure principle of national independence, and +devising Magna Charta from his own generous brain--in fact, presenting +a magnificent and misunderstood anticipation of the most advanced +theories of the nineteenth century. The book had made so much noise in +the world, that the author had been induced to quit his college +tutorship, and become editor of a popular magazine. He lived in +London, but often came down to spend Sunday with his mother, and had +begun to be looked on as rather the lion of the place. Henry took in +his magazine, and courted his notice, often bringing him into Averil's +way that she might hear her heroes treated with irony more effectual +than home-made satire; but Ave was staunch. She hated the sight of Mr. +Anderson; never cut the leaves of his magazine; and if driven to sing +to him, took as little pains as her musical nature would let her do. +But the very strength of her dislike gave it an air of prejudice, and +it was set down less to principle than to party spirit and May +influence. + +There was another cause for Henry's being soured. He was not of the +nature to be filial with Dr. May; and therefore gratitude oppressed, +and patronage embittered him. The first months of warm feeling at an +end, the old spirit of independence revived, and he avoided consulting +the physician as much as possible. More than once his management of a +case was not approved by Dr. May; and the strong and hasty language, +and the sharp reproofs that ensued, were not taken as the signs of the +warm heart and friendly interest, but as the greatest +offences--sullenly, but not the less bitterly endured. + +Moreover, one of the Whitford surgeons had been called in by a few of +the out-lying families who had hitherto been patients of the Wards; and +worse than all, Mrs. Rivers took her child up to London for three days +in November, and it became known--through a chain of tongues--that it +was for the enlargement of tonsils, on which Mr. Ward had operated a +year before. + +'Old May was playing him false!' was Henry's cry. 'His professions +were humbug. He would endure no one who did not submit to his +dictation; and he would bring in a stranger to ruin them all!' + +Little did Henry know of Dr. May's near approach to untruth in denying +that he had a house to let to the opposition surgeon--of his +attestations to his daughter that young Ward was a skilful operator--or +of his vexation when she professed herself ready to undergo anything +for his pleasure, but said that little Margaret's health was another +thing. + +Yet even this might have been forgiven, but for that worst rub of +all--Tom May's manners. His politeness was intense--most punctilious +and condescending in form--and yet provoking beyond measure to persons +who, like Henry and Averil, had not playfulness enough to detect with +certainty whether they were being made game of or not, nor whether his +smoothly-uttered compliments were not innuendoes. Henry was certain of +being despised, and naturally chafed against the prospect of the future +connection between the two medical men of the town; and though Tom was +gone back to Cambridge, it was the rankling remembrance of his +supercilious looks that, more than any present offence or independence +of spirit, made the young surgeon kick against direction from the +physician. Here, too, Averil was of the same mind. She had heard Tom +May observe that his sister Gertrude would play quite well enough for a +lady; for the mission of a lady's music was to put one to sleep at +home, and cover conversation at a party; as to the +rest--unprofessionals were a mistake! + +After that, the civil speeches with which Tom would approach the piano +only added insult to injury. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + Ne'er readier at alarm-bell's call, + Thy burghers rose to man thy wall, + Than now in danger shall be thine, + Thy dauntless voluntary line.--Marmion + + +'Drive fast, Will,' said Dr. May, hastily stepping into his carriage in +the early darkness of a December evening. 'Five already, and he is to +be there by 5.25.' + +'He' was no other than Harry May, and 'there' was the station. With +the tidings of the terrible fight of Peiho had come a letter from a +messmate of Harry's with an account of his serious wound in the chest, +describing it as just short of immediately dangerous. Another letter +had notified his amendment, and that he was invalided home, a few +cheery words from Harry himself scrawled at the end showing that his +power was far less than his good-will: and after two months' waiting +and suspense, a telegram had come from Plymouth, with the words, +'Stoneborough, 5.25.' + +In ignorance as to the state of the traveller, and expecting to find +him in a condition requiring great care and watching, Dr. May had laid +his injunctions on the eager family not to rush up to the station en +masse to excite and overwhelm, but to leave the meeting there entirely +to himself and his brougham. He had, therefore, been exceedingly +annoyed that one of Henry Ward's pieces of self-assertion had delayed +him unnecessarily at a consultation; and when at last he had escaped, +he spent most of his journey with his body half out of the window, +hurrying Will Adams, and making noises of encouragement to the horse; +or else in a strange tumult of sensation between hope and fear, pain +and pleasure, suspense and thankfulness, the predominant feeling being +vexation at not having provided against this contingency by sending +Richard to the station. + +After all the best efforts of the stout old chestnut, he and the train +were simultaneously at the station, and the passengers were getting out +on the opposite platform. The Doctor made a dash to cross in the rear +of the train, but was caught and held fast by a porter with the angry +exclamation, 'She's backing, sir;' and there he stood in an agony, +feeling all Harry's blank disappointment, and the guilt of it besides, +and straining his eyes through the narrow gaps between the blocks of +carriages. + +The train rushed on, and he was across the line the same instant, but +the blank was his. Up and down the gas-lighted platform he looked in +vain among the crowd, only his eye suddenly lit on a black case close +to his feet, with the three letters MAY, and the next moment a huge +chest appeared out of the darkness, bearing the same letters, and +lifted on a truck by the joint strength of a green porter, and a pair +of broad blue shoulders. Too ill to come on--telegraph, mail +train--rushed through the poor Doctor's brain as he stepped forward as +if to interrogate the chest. The blue shoulders turned, a ruddy +sun-burnt face lighted up, and the inarticulate exclamation on either +side was of the most intense relief and satisfaction. + +'Where are the rest?' said Harry, holding his father's hand in no sick +man's grasp. + +'At home, I told them not to come up; I thought--' + +'Well, we'll walk down together! I've got you all to myself. I +thought you had missed my telegram. Hollo, Will, how d'ye do? what, +this thing to drive down in?' + +'I thought you were an invalid, Harry,' said Dr. May, with a laughing +yet tearful ring in his agitated tone, as he packed himself and his son +in. + +'Ay! I wished I could have let you know sooner how well I had got over +it,' said Harry, in the deep full voice of strong healthy manhood. 'I +am afraid you have been very anxious.' + +'We are used to it, my boy,' said the Doctor huskily, stroking the +great firm fingers that were lying lovingly on his knee, 'and if it +always ends in this way, it ought to do us more good than harm.' + +'It has not done harm, I hope,' said Harry, catching him up quick. 'Not +to old Mary?' + +'No, Mary works things off, good girl. I flatter myself you will find +us all in high preservation.' + +'All--all at home! That's right.' + +'Yes, those infants from Maplewood and all. You are sure you are all +right, Harry?' + +'As sure as my own feelings can make me, and the surgeon of the Dexter +to back them,' said Harry. 'I don't believe my lungs were touched +after all, but you shall all sit upon me when you like--Tom and all. +It was a greater escape than I looked for,' he added, in a lower voice. +'I did not think to have had another Christmas here.' + +The silence lasted for the few moments till the carriage drew up behind +the limes; the doors were thrown open, and the Doctor shouted to the +timid anxious figure that alone was allowed to appear in the hall, +'Come and lift him out, Mary.' + +The drawing-room was a goodly sight that evening; and the Doctor, as he +sat leaning back in weary happiness, might be well satisfied with the +bright garland that still clustered round his hearth, though the age of +almost all forbade their old title of Daisies. The only one who still +asserted her right to that name was perched on the sailor's knee, +insisting on establishing that there was as much room for her there as +there had been three years ago; though, as he had seated himself on a +low foot-stool, her feet were sometimes on the ground, and moreover her +throne was subject to sudden earthquakes, which made her, nothing loth, +cling to his neck, draw his arm closer round her, and lean on his broad +breast, proud that universal consent declared her his likeness in the +family; and the two presenting a pleasant contrasting similarity--the +open honest features, blue eyes, and smile, expressive of hearty +good-will and simple happiness, were so entirely of the same mould in +the plump, white-skinned, rosy-cheeked, golden-haired girl, and in the +large, powerful, bronzed, ruddy sailor, with the thick mass of curls, +at which Tom looked with hostility as fixed, though less declared, than +that of his Eton days. + +Those were the idle members upon the hearth-rug. On the sofa, with a +small table to herself, and a tall embroidery frame before her, nearly +hiding her slight person, sat Mrs. Ernescliffe, her pretty head +occasionally looking out over the top of her work to smile an answer, +and her artistically arranged hair and the crispness of her white dress +and broad blue ribbons marking that there was a step in life between +her and her sisters; her husband sat beside her on the sofa, with a red +volume in his hand, with 'Orders,' the only word visible above the +fingers, one of which was keeping his place. Hector looked very happy +and spirited, though his visage was not greatly ornamented by a +moustache, sandier even than his hair, giving effect to every freckle +on his honest face. A little behind was Mary, winding one of Blanche's +silks over the back of a chair, and so often looking up to revel in the +contemplation of Harry's face, that her skein was in a wild tangle, +which she studiously concealed lest the sight should compel Richard to +come and unravel it with those wonderful fingers of his. + +Richard and Ethel were arranging the 'sick albums' which they had +constructed--one of cheap religious prints, with texts and hymns, to be +lent in cases of lingering illness; the other, commonly called the +'profane,' of such scraps as might please a sick child, pictures from +worn-out books or advertisements, which Ethel was colouring--Aubrey +volunteering aid that was received rather distrustfully, as his love of +effect caused him to array the model school-children in colours gaudy +enough, as Gertrude complained, 'to corrupt a saint.' Nor was his +dilettante help more appreciated at a small stand, well provided with +tiny drawers, and holding a shaded lamp, according to Gertrude, +'burning something horrible ending in gen, that would kill anybody but +Tom, who managed it,' but which threw a beautiful light upon the +various glass dishes, tubes, and slides, and the tall brass microscope +that Tom was said to love better than all his kith and kin, and which +afforded him occupation for his leisure moments. + +'I say, Harry,' he asked, 'did you get my letter?' + +'Your letter--of what date? I got none since Mary's of the second of +May, when every one was down in the fever. Poor old Ward, I never was +more shocked; what is become of the young ones?' + +'Oh! you must ask Mary, Miss Ward is a bosom friend of hers.' + +'What! the girl that sang like the lark? I must hear her again. But +she won't be in tune for singing now, poor thing! What are they doing? +Henry Ward taken to the practice? He used to be the dirtiest little +sneak going, but I hope he is mended now.' + +'Ask my father,' said mischievous Tom; and Dr. May answered not, nor +revealed his day's annoyance with Henry. + +'He is doing his best to make a home for his brother and sisters,' said +Richard. + +'My letter,' said Tom, 'was written in Whitsun week; I wish you had had +it.' + +'Ay, it would have been precious from its rarity,' said Harry. 'What +commission did it contain, may I ask?' + +'You have not by good luck brought me home a Chinese flea?' + +'He has all the fleas in creation,' said Daisy confidentially, 'cats' +and dogs', and hedgehogs', and human; and you would have been twice as +welcome if you had brought one.' + +'I've brought no present to nobody. I'd got my eye on a splendid ivory +junk, for Blanche's wedding present, at Canton, but I couldn't even +speak to send any one after it. You have uncommon bad luck for a +sailor's relatives.' + +'As long as you bring yourself home we don't care,' said Blanche, +treating the loss of the junk with far more resignation than did Tom +that of the flea. + +'If you only had a morsel of river mud sticking anywhere,' added Tom, +'you don't know the value the infusoria might be.' + +'I had a good deal more than a morsel sticking to me once,' said Harry; +'it was owing to my boat's crew that I am not ever so many feet deep in +it now, like many better men. They never lost sight of me, and somehow +hauled me out.' + +Gertrude gave him a hug, and Mary's eyes got so misty, that her skein +fell into worse entanglements than ever. + +'Were you conscious?' asked Ethel. + +'I can't say. I'm clear of nothing but choking and gasping then, and a +good while after. It was a treacherous, unlucky affair, and I'm afraid +I shall miss the licking of rascally John Chinaman. If all I heard at +Plymouth is true, we may have work handy to home.' + +'At home you may say,' said his father, 'Dulce et, &c. is our motto. +Didn't you know what a nest of heroes we have here to receive you? Let +me introduce you to Captain Ernescliffe, of the Dorset Volunteer Rifle +Corps; Private Thomas May, of the Cambridge University Corps; and Mr. +Aubrey Spencer May, for whom I have found a rifle, and am expected to +find a uniform as soon as the wise heads have settled what colour will +be most becoming.' + +'Becoming! No, papa!' indignantly shouted Aubrey: 'it is the colour +that will be most invisible in skirmishing.' + +'Gray, faced with scarlet,' said Hector, decidedly. + +'Yes, that is the colour of the invincible Dorsets,' said Dr. May. +'There you see our great authority with his military instructions in +his hand.' + +'No, sir,' replied Hector, 'it's not military instructions, it is +Crauford's General Orders.' + +'And,' added the Doctor, 'there's his bride working the colours, and +Mary wanting to emulate her.' + +'I don't think George will ever permit us to have colours,' said Ethel; +'he says that Rifles have no business with them, for that they are of +no use to skirmishers.' + +'The matter has been taken out of George's hands,' said Aubrey; 'there +would not have been a volunteer in the country if he had his way.' + +'Yes,' explained Ethel, 'the real soldier can't believe in volunteers, +nor cavalry in infantry; but he is thoroughly in for it now.' + +'Owing to his Roman matron' quoth Tom. 'It was a wonderful opening for +public spirit when Lady Walkinghame insisted on Sir Henry refusing the +use of the park for practice, for fear we should make targets of the +children. So the Spartan mother at Abbotstoke, gallantly setting +Margaret aside, sent for the committee at once to choose the very best +place in the park.' + +'Papa is chairman of the committee,' added Aubrey, 'he is mayor this +year, so we must encourage it.' + +'And Aubrey hit four times at a hundred yards,' triumphantly declared +Gertrude, 'when Edward Anderson and Henry Ward only got a ball in by +accident.' + +'Henry Ward ought to be shot at himself,' was Aubrey's sentiment, 'for +not letting Leonard be in the corps.' + +'The fellow that you brought to Maplewood?' asked Hector. 'I thought +he was at school.' + +'Didn't you know that old Hoxton has given leave to any of the sixth +form to drill and practise? and that trumpery fellow, Henry, says he +can't afford the outfit, though his sister would have given the +uniform.' + +'Let me tell you, young folks,' said the Doctor, 'that you are not to +suppose it always hails crack rifles on all sorts of improved systems, +as it does when Captain Hector is in the house.' + +'They are only on trial, sir,' apologized Hector. + +'Very odd then that they all have an eagle and H. E. on them,' observed +the Doctor dryly. + +'Oh! they'll take them again, or I shall find a use for them,' said +Hector. + +'Well, if Henry can't afford two,' said Aubrey, holding to his point, +'he ought to give up to his brother; he knows no more how to handle a +rifle--' + +'That's the very reason,' muttered Tom. + +'And Flora is going to give a great party,' proceeded Gertrude, 'as +soon as the uniform is settled, and they are enrolled. Blanche and +Hector are to stay for it, and you'll have to wear your lieutenant's +uniform, Harry.' + +'I can't be going to balls till I've been up to report myself fit for +service,' said Harry. + +'It is not to be a ball,' said Blanche's soft, serious voice over her +green silk banner; 'it is to be a breakfast and concert, ending in a +dance, such as we had at Maplewood.' + +'Hollo!' said Harry, starting, 'now I begin to believe in Mrs. +Ernescliffe, when I hear her drawing down herself as an example to +Flora.' + +'Only a precedent,' said Blanche, blushing a little, but still grave. +'We have had some experience, you know. Our corps was one of the +earliest enrolled, and Hector managed it almost entirely. It was the +reason we have not been able to come here sooner, but we thought it +right to be foremost, as the enemy are sure to attempt our coast first.' + +'I believe the enemy are expected on every coast at first,' was Ethel's +aside, but it was not heard; for Harry was declaring, + +'Your coast! they will never get the length of that. I was talking to +an old messmate of mine in the train, who was telling me how we could +burn their whole fleet before it could get out of Cherbourg.' + +'If they should slip by,' began Hector. + +'Slip by!' and Harry had well-nigh dislodged Daisy by his vehemence in +demonstrating that they were welcome to volunteer, but that the Channel +Fleet would prevent the rifles from being seriously put to the proof--a +declaration highly satisfactory to the ladies, and heartily backed up +by the Doctor, though Blanche looked rather discomfited, and Hector +argued loud for the probability of active service. + +'I say, Aubrey,' said Tom, rather tired of the land and sea debate, 'do +just reach me a card, to take up some of this sand upon.' + +Aubrey obeyed, and reading the black-edged card as he handed it, said, +'Mrs. Pug. What? Pug ought to have been calling upon Mab.' + +'Maybe she will, in good earnest,' observed Tom again in Ethel's ear; +while the whole room rang with the laughter that always befalls the +unlucky wight guilty of a blunder in a name. + +'You don't mean that you don't know who she is, Aubrey!' was the cry. + +'I--how should I?' + +'What, not Mrs. Pugh?' exclaimed Daisy. + +'Pew or Pug--I know nothing of either. Is this edge as mourning for +all the old pews that have been demolished in the church?' + +'For shame, Aubrey,' said Mary seriously. 'You must know it is for her +husband.' + +Aubrey set up his eyebrows in utter ignorance. + +'How true it is that one half the world knows nothing of the other!' +exclaimed Ethel. 'Do you really mean you have never found out the +great Mrs. Pugh, Mrs. Ledwich's dear suffering Matilda?' + +'I've seen a black lady sitting with Mrs. Ledwich in church.' + +'Such is life,' said Ethel. 'How little she thought herself living in +such an unimpressible world!' + +'She is a pretty woman enough,' observed Tom. + +'And very desirous of being useful,' added Richard. 'She and Mrs. +Ledwich came over to Cocksmoor this morning, and offered any kind of +assistance.' + +'At Cocksmoor!' cried Ethel, much as if it had been the French. + +'Every district is filled up here, you know,' said Richard, 'and Mrs. +Ledwich begged me as a personal favour to give her some occupation that +would interest her and cheer her spirits, so I asked her to look after +those new cottages at Gould's End, quite out of your beat, Ethel, and +she seemed to be going about energetically.' + +Tom looked unutterable things at Ethel, who replied with a glance +between diversion and dismay. + +'Who is the lady?' said Blanche. 'She assaulted me in the street with +inquiries and congratulations about Harry, declaring she had known me +as a child, a thing I particularly dislike:' and Mrs. Ernescliffe +looked like a ruffled goldfinch. + +'Forgetting her has not been easy to the payers of duty calls,' said +Ethel. 'She was the daughter of Mrs. Ledwich's brother, the Colonel of +Marines, and used in old times to be with her aunt; there used to be +urgent invitations to Flora and me to drink tea there because she was +of our age. She married quite young, something very prosperous and +rather aged, and the glories of dear Matilda's villa at Bristol have +been our staple subject, but Mr. Pugh died in the spring, leaving his +lady five hundred a year absolutely her own, and she is come to stay +with her aunt, and look for a house.' + +'Et cetera,' added Tom. + +'What, in the buxom widow line?' asked Harry. + +'No, no!' said Richard, rather indignantly. + +'No, in the pathetic line,' said Ethel; 'but that requires some +self-denial.' + +'Our tongues don't lose their venom, you see, Harry,' put in the Doctor. + +'No indeed, papa,' said Ethel, really anxious to guard her brothers. 'I +was very sorry for her at first, and perhaps I pity her more now than +even then. I was taken with her pale face and dark eyes, and I believe +she was a good wife, and really concerned for her husband; but I can't +help seeing that she knows her grief is an attraction.' + +'To simple parsons,' muttered Tom along the tube of his microscope. + +'The sound of her voice showed her to be full of pretension,' said +Blanche. 'Besides, Mrs. Ledwich's trumpeting would fix my opinion in a +moment.' + +'Just so,' observed the Doctor. + +'No, papa,' said Ethel, 'I was really pleased and touched in spite of +Mrs. Ledwich's devotion to her, till I found out a certain manoeuvring +to put herself in the foreground, and not let her sorrow hinder her +from any enjoyment or display.' + +'She can't bear any one to do what she does not.' + +'What! Mary's mouth open against her too?' cried Dr. May. + +'Well, papa,' insisted Mary, 'nobody wanted her to insist on taking the +harmonium at Bankside last Sunday, just because Averil had a cold in +her head; and she played so fast, that every one was put out, and then +said she would come to the practice that they might understand one +another. She is not even in the Bankside district, so it is no +business of hers.' + +'There, Richard, her favours are equally distributed,' said Aubrey, +'but if she would take that harmonium altogether, one would not +mind--it makes Henry Ward as sulky as a bear to have his sister going +out all the evening, and he visits it on Leonard. I dare say if she +stayed at home he would not have been such a brute about the rifle.' + +'I should not wonder,' said Dr. May. 'I sometimes doubt if home is +sweetened to my friend Henry.' + +'O, papa!' cried Mary, bristling up, 'Ave is very hard worked, and she +gives up everything in the world but her church music, and that is her +great duty and delight.' + +'Miss Ward's music must be a sore trial to the Pug,' said Tom, 'will it +be at this affair at Abbotstoke?' + +'That's the question,' said Ethel. 'It never goes out, yet is to be +met everywhere, just over-persuaded at the last moment. Now Flora, you +will see, will think it absolutely improper to ask her; and she will be +greatly disappointed not to have the chance of refusing, and then +yielding at the last minute.' + +'Flora must have her,' said Harry. + +'I trust not,' said Blanche, shrinking. + +'Flora will not ask her,' said Tom, 'but she will be there.' + +'And will dance with me,' said Harry. + +'No, with Richard,' said Tom. + +'What!' said Richard, looking up at the sound of his name. All +laughed, but were ashamed to explain, and were relieved that their +father rang the bell. + +'At that unhappy skein still, Mary?' said Mrs. Ernescliffe, as the good +nights were passing. 'What a horrid state it is in!' + +'I shall do it in time,' said Mary, 'when there is nothing to distract +my attention. I only hope I shall not hurt it for you.' + +'Chuck it into the fire at once; it is not worth the trouble,' said +Hector. + +Each had a word of advice, but Mary held her purpose, and persevered +till all had left the room except Richard, who quietly took the crimson +tangle on his wrists, turned and twisted, opened passages for the +winder, and by the magic of his dexterous hands, had found the clue to +the maze, so that all was proceeding well, though slowly, when the +study door opened, and Harry's voice was heard in a last good night to +his father. Mary's eyes looked wistful, and one misdirection of her +winder tightened an obdurate loop once more. + +'Run after Harry,' said Richard, taking possession of the ivory. 'Good +night; I can always do these things best alone. I had rather--yes, +really--good night:' and his kiss had the elder brother's authority of +dismissal. + +His Maimouna was too glad and grateful for more than a summary 'Thank +you,' and flew up-stairs in time to find Harry turning, baffled, from +her empty room. 'What, only just done that interminable yarn?' he said. + +'Richard is doing it. I could not help letting him, this first evening +of you.' + +'Good old Richard! he is not a bit altered since I first went to sea, +when I was so proud of that,' said Harry, taking up his midshipman's +dirk, which formed a trophy on Mary's mantelshelf. + +'Are we altered since you went last?' said Mary. + +'The younger ones, of course. I was in hopes that Aubrey would have +been more like old June, but he'll never be so much of a fellow.' + +'He is a very dear good boy,' said Mary, warmly. + +'Of course he is,' said Harry, 'but, somehow, he will always have a +woman-bred way about him. Can't be helped, of course; but what a pair +of swells Tom and Blanche are come out!' and he laughed good-naturedly. + +'Is not Blanche a beautiful dear darling?' cried Mary, eagerly. 'It is +so nice to have her. They could not come at first because of the +infection, and then because of the rifle corps, and now it is delicious +to have all at home.' + +'Well, Molly, I'm glad it wasn't you that have married. Mind, you +mustn't marry till I do.' + +And Harry was really glad that Mary's laugh was perfectly 'fancy free,' +as she answered, 'I'm sure I hope not, but I won't promise, because +that might be unreasonable, you know.' + +'Oh, you prudent, provident Polly! But,' added Harry, recalled to a +sense of time by a clock striking eleven, 'I came to bring you +something, Mary. You shall have it, if you will give me another.' + +Mary recognized, with some difficulty, a Prayer-Book with limp covers +that Margaret had given him after his first voyage. Not only was it +worn by seven years' use, but it was soiled and stained with dark +brownish red, and a straight round hole perforated it from cover to +cover. + +'Is it too bad to keep?' said Harry. 'Let me just cut out my name in +Margaret's hand, and the verse of the 107th Psalm; luckily the ball +missed that.' + +'The ball?' said Mary, beginning to understand. + +'Yes. Every one of those circles that you see cut out there, was in +here,' said Harry, laying his hand over his chest, 'before the ball, +which I have given to my father.' + +'O, Harry!' was all Mary could say, pointing to her own name in a +pencil scrawl on the fly-leaf. + +'Yes, I set that down because I could not speak to tell what was to be +done with it, when we didn't know that that book had really been the +saving of my life. That hair's-breadth deviation of the bullet made +all the difference.' + +Mary was kissing the blood-stained book, and sobbing. + +'Why, Mary, what is there to cry for? It is all over now, I tell you. +I am as well as man would wish, and there's no more about it but to +thank God, and try to deserve His goodness.' + +'Yes, yes, I know, Harry; but to think how little we knew, or thought, +or felt--going on in our own way when you were in such danger and +suffering!' + +'Wasn't I very glad you were going on in your own way!' said Harry. +'Why, Mary, it was that which did it--it has been always that thought +of you at the Minster every day, that kept me to reading the Psalms, +and so having the book about me. And did not it do one good to lie and +think of the snug room, and my father's spectacles, and all as usual? +When they used to lay me on the deck of the Dexter at night, because I +could not breathe below, I used to watch old Orion, who was my great +friend in the Loyalty Isles, and wish the heathen name had not stuck to +the old fellow, he always seemed so like the Christian warrior, +climbing up with his shield before him and his. A home like this is a +shield to a man in more ways than one, Mary. Hollo, was that the +street door?' + +'Yes; Ritchie going home. Fancy his being at the silk all this time! I +am so sorry!' + +Maugre her sorrow, there were few happier maidens in England than Mary +May, even though her service was distracted by the claims of three +slave-owners at once, bound as she was, to Ethel, by habitual fidelity, +to Harry, by eager adoration, to Blanche, by willing submission. +Luckily, their requisitions (for the most part unconscious) seldom +clashed, or, if they did, the two elders gave way, and the bride +asserted her supremacy in the plenitude of her youthful importance and +prosperity. + +Thus she carried off Mary in her barouche to support her in the return +of bridal calls, while the others were organizing a walk to visit Flora +and the rifle target. Gertrude's enthusiasm was not equal to walking +with a weapon that might be loaded, nor to being ordered out to admire +the practice, so she accompanied the sisters; Tom was reading hard; and +Ethel found herself, Aubrey, and the sailor, the only ones ready to +start. + +This was a decided treat, for Aubrey and she were so nearly one, that +it was almost a tete-a-tete with Harry, though it was not his way to +enter by daylight, and without strong impulse, on what regarded +himself, and there were no such confidences as those to Mary on the +previous night; but in talking over home details, it was easier to +speak without Tom's ironical ears and caustic tongue. + +Among other details, the story of the summer that Ethel and Aubrey had +spent at Coombe was narrated, and Aubrey indulged himself by describing +what he called Ethel's conquest. + +'It is more a conquest of Norman's, and of Melanesia,' said Ethel. 'If +it were not nonsense to build upon people's generous visions at +seventeen, I should sometimes hope a spark had been lit that would +shine some day in your islands, Harry.' + +Going up that hill was not the place for Etheldred May to talk of the +futility of youthful aspirations, but it did not so strike either of +the brothers, to whom Cocksmoor had long been a familiar fact. Harry +laughed to hear the old Ethel so like herself; and Aubrey said, 'By the +bye, what did you do, the day you walked him to Cocksmoor? he was +fuller of those islands than ever after it.' + +'I did not mean it,' said Ethel; 'but the first day of the holidays I +came on him disconsolate in the street, with nothing to do, and very +sore about Henry's refusal to let him volunteer; he walked on with me +till we found ourselves close to Cocksmoor, and I found he had never +seen the church, and would like to stay for evening service, so I put +him into the parsonage while I was busy, and told him to take a book.' + +'I know,' said Aubrey; 'the liveliest literature you can get in +Richard's parlour are the Missionary Reports.' + +'Exactly so; and he got quite saturated with them; and when we walked +home, I was so thankful that the rifle grievance should be a little +displaced, that I led him on to talk and build castles rather more than +according to my resolutions.' + +'Hollo, Ethel!' said Harry. + +'Yes, I think spontaneous castles are admirable, but I mistrust all +timber from other people's woods.' + +'But isn't this a horrid shame of Henry?' said Aubrey. 'Such a little +prig as he is, to take the place of such a fellow as Leonard, a capital +shot already.' + +'I wish Henry had been magnanimous,' said Ethel. + +'I'd as soon talk of a magnanimous weasel, from what I recollect,' said +Harry. + +'And he is worse now, Harry,' continued Aubrey. 'So spruce and silky +out of doors, and such a regular old tyrannical bachelor indoors. He +is jealous of Leonard, any one can see, and that's the reason he won't +give him his due.' + +'You observe,' said Ethel, 'that this boy thinks the youngest brother's +due is always to come first.' + +'So it is, in this family,' said Harry. 'No one comes so last as old +Ritchie.' + +'But of course,' said Aubrey, rather taken aback, 'if I were not +youngest, I should have to knock under to some one.' + +Ethel and Harry both laughed heartily; one congratulating him on not +having carried the principle into the cockpit, the other adding, 'Don't +indoctrinate Leonard with it; there is enough already to breed +bitterness between those brothers! Leonard ought to be kept in mind +that Henry has so much to harass him, that his temper should be borne +patiently with.' + +'He!' + +'I don't think papa's best endeavours have kept all his father's +practice for him, and I am sure their rate of living must make him feel +pinched this Christmas.' + +'Whew! He will be in a sweeter humour than ever!' + +'I have been trying to show Leonard that there's room for magnanimity +on his side at least; and don't you go and upset it all by common-place +abuse of tutors and governors.' + +'I upset it!' cried Aubrey: 'I might as well try to upset the Minster +as a word from you to Leonard.' + +'Nonsense! What's that?' For they were hailed from behind, and +looking round saw two tall figures, weapon in hand, in pursuit. They +proved to be Hector Ernescliffe and Leonard Ward, each bearing one of +what Dr. May called the H. E. rifles; but Leonard looked half shy, half +grim, and so decidedly growled off all Aubrey's attempts at inquiry or +congratulation, that Ethel hazarded none, and Aubrey looked +discomfited, wearing an expression which Harry took to mean that the +weight of his rifle fatigued him, and insisted on carrying it for him, +in, spite of his rather insulted protests and declarations that the +sailor was an invalid; Ethel had walked forwards, and found Leonard at +her side, with a darkening brow as he glanced back at the friendly +contest. + +'Harry spoils Aubrey as much as all the others do,' said Ethel lightly, +deeming it best to draw out the sting of the rankling thought. + +'Ay! None of them would leave him to be pitied and offered favours by +some chance person,' said Leonard. + +'You don't call my brother Hector a chance person?' + +'Did you say anything to him, Miss May?' said Leonard, turning on her a +flushed face, as if he could almost have been angered with her. + +'I said not one word.' + +'Nor Aubrey?' + +'The volunteer politics were discussed last night, and Henry got abused +among us; but papa defended him, and said it did not rain rifles. +That's all--whatever Hector may have done was without a word to either +of us--very likely on the moment's impulse. Did he go to Bankside +after you?' + +'No. I was looking in at Shearman's window,' said Leonard, rather +sheepishly, 'at the locks of the new lot he has got in, and he came and +asked if I were going to choose one, for he had got a couple down from +London, and the man had stupidly put his cipher on both, so he would be +glad if I would take one off his hands. I didn't accept--I made that +clear--but then he begged, as if it was to oblige him, that I would +come out to Abbotstoke and help him try the two, for he didn't know +which he should keep.' + +'Very ingenious of him,' said Ethel laughing. + +'Now, Miss May, do tell me what I ought to do. It is such a beauty, +better than any Shearman ever dreamt of; just look: at the finish of +the lock.' + +'By the time you have shot with it--' + +'Now don't, pray,' said Leonard, 'I haven't any one to trust for advice +but you.' + +'Indeed, Leonard, I can see no objection. It is a great boon to you, +and no loss to Hector, and he is quite enough my father's son for you +to look on him as a friend. I can't but be very glad, for the removal +of this vexation ought to make you get on all the better with your +brother.' + +'Ave would be delighted,' said Leonard; 'but somehow--' + +'Somehow' was silenced by a coalescing of the party at a gate; and +Hector and Harry were found deep in an argument in which the +lieutenant's Indian reminiscences of the Naval Brigade were at issue +with the captain's Southdown practice, and the experiences of the one +meeting the technicalities of the other were so diverting, that Leonard +forgot his scruples till at the entrance of the park he turned off +towards the target with Hector and Aubrey, while the other two walked +up to the house. + +The Grange atmosphere always had a strange weight of tedium in it, such +as was specially perceptible after the joyous ease of the house in the +High Street. No one was in the drawing-room, and Harry gazed round at +the stiff, almost petrified, aspect of the correct and tasteful +arrangement of the tables and furniture, put his hands in his pockets, +and yawned twice, asking Ethel why she did not go in search of Flora. +Ethel shook her head; and in another moment Flora appeared in eager +welcome; she had been dressing for a drive to Stoneborough to see her +brother, little expecting him to be in a state for walking to her. +With her came her little girl, a child whose aspect was always a shock +to those who connected her with the two Margarets whose name she bore. +She had inherited her father's heavy mould of feature and dark +complexion, and the black eyes had neither sparkle in themselves nor +relief from the colour of the sallow cheek; the pouting lips were +fretful, the whole appearance unhealthy, and the dark bullet-shaped +head seemed too large for the thin bony little figure. Worn, fagged, +and aged as Flora looked, she had still so much beauty, and far more of +refinement and elegance, as to be a painful foil and contrast to the +child that clung to her, waywardly refusing all response to her uncle's +advances. + +Flora made a sign to him to discontinue them, and talked of her +husband, who was hunting, and heard the history of Harry's return and +recovery. In the midst, little Margaret took heart of grace, crossed +the room, and stood by the sailor, and holding up a great India-rubber +ball as large as her own head, asked, 'Uncle Harry, were you shot with +a cannon-ball as big as this?' + +Thereupon she was on his knee, and as he had all his father's +fascination for children, he absolutely beguiled her into ten minutes +of genuine childish mirth, a sight so rare and precious to her mother, +that she could not keep up her feint of talking to Ethel. The elderly +dame, part nurse, part nursery governess, presently came to take Miss +Rivers out, but Miss Rivers, with a whine in her voice, insisted on +going nowhere but to see the shooting, and Uncle Harry must come with +her; and come he did, the little bony fingers clasping tight hold of +one of his large ones. + +'Dear Harry!' said Flora, 'he wins every one! It is like a cool +refreshing wind from the sea when he comes in.' + +In Flora's whole air, voice, and manner, there was apparent a +relaxation and absence of constraint such as she never allowed herself +except when alone with Ethel. Then only did she relieve the constant +strain, then only did the veritable woman show herself, and the effort, +the toil, the weariness, the heart-ache of her life become visible; but +close together as the sisters lived, such tete-a-tetes were rare, and +perhaps were rather shunned than sought, as perilous and doubtful +indulgences. Even now, Flora at once fixed a limit by ordering the +carriage to meet her in a quarter of an hour at the nearest point to +the rifle-ground, saying she would walk there, and then take home Ethel +and any brother who might be tired. + +'And see that Margaret does not come to harm,' said Ethel. + +'I am not afraid of that,' said Flora, something in her eye belying +her; 'but she might be troublesome to Harry, and I had rather he did +not see one of her fights with Miss Morton.' + +'How has she been? I thought her looking clearer and better to-day,' +said Ethel, kindly. + +'Yes, she is pretty well just now,' said Flora, allowing herself in one +of her long deep sighs, before descending into the particulars of the +child's anxiously-watched health. If she had been describing them to +her father, there would have been the same minuteness, but the tone +would have implied cheerful hope; whereas to Ethel she took no pains to +mask her dejection. One of the points of anxiety was whether one +shoulder were not outgrowing the other, but it was not easy to discover +whether the appearance were not merely owing to the child's feeble and +ungainly carriage. 'I cannot torment her about that,' said Flora. +'There are enough miseries for her already without making more, and as +long as it does not affect her health, it matters little.' + +'No, certainly not,' said Ethel, who had hardly expected this from +Flora. + +Perhaps her sister guessed her thought, for she said, 'Things are best +as they are, Ethel; I am not fit to have a beautiful admired daughter. +All the past would too easily come over again, and my poor Margaret's +troubles may be the best balance for her.' + +'Yes,' said Ethel, 'it is bad enough to be an heiress, but a beautiful +heiress is in a worse predicament.' + +'Health would improve her looks,' began the maternal instinct of +defence, but then breaking off. 'We met Lord H---- yesterday, and the +uniform is to be like the northern division. Papa will hear it +officially to-morrow.' + +'The northern has gray, and green facings.' + +'You are more up in it than I. All we begged for was, that it might be +inexpensive, for the sake of the townspeople.' + +'I hear of little else,' said Ethel, laughing; 'Dr. Spencer is as hot +on it as all the boys. Now, I suppose, your party is to come off!' + +'Yes, it ought,' said Flora, languidly, 'I waited to see how Harry was, +he is a great element towards making it go off well. I will talk it +over with Blanche, it will give somebody pleasure if she thinks she +manages it.' + +'Will it give George no pleasure?' + +'I don't know; he calls it a great nuisance, but he would not like not +to come forward, and it is quite right that he should.' + +'Quite right,' said Ethel; 'it is every one's duty to try to keep it +up.' + +With these words the sisters came within sight of the targets, and +found Margaret under Harry's charge, much interested, and considerably +in the way. The tidings of the colour of the uniform were highly +appreciated; Aubrey observed that it would choke off the snobs who only +wanted to be like the rifle brigade, and Leonard treated its +inexpensiveness as a personal matter, having apparently cast off his +doubts, under Hector's complimentary tuition. Indeed, before it grew +too dark for taking aim, he and the weapon were so thoroughly united, +that no further difficulty remained but of getting out his thanks to +Mr. Ernescliffe. + +Averil was sitting alone over the fire in the twilight, in a somewhat +forlorn mood, when the door was pushed ajar, and the muzzle of a gun +entered, causing her to start up in alarm, scarcely diminished by the +sight of an exultant visage, though the words were, 'Your money or your +life.' + +'Leonard, don't play with it, pray!' + +'It's not loaded.' + +'Oh! but one never can tell:' then, half ashamed of her terror, 'Pray +put it back, or we shall have an uproar with Henry.' + +'This is none of Henry's. He will never own such a beauty as this.' + +'Whose is it? Not yours? Is it really a rifle! H. E.? What's that?' + +'Hector Ernescliffe! Didn't I tell you he was a princely fellow?' + +'Given it to you? Leonard, dear, I am so happy! Now I don't care for +anything! What a gallant volunteer you will make!' and she kissed him +fondly. We will order the uniform as soon as ever it is settled, and I +hope it will be a very handsome one.' + +'It will be a cheap one, which is more to the purpose. I could get +part myself, only there's the tax for Mab, and the subscription to the +cricket club.' + +'I would not have you get any of it! You are my volunteer, and I'll +not give up my right to any one, except that Minna and Ella want to +give your belt.' + +'Where are those children?' he asked. + +'Henry has taken them to Laburnum Grove, where I am afraid they are +being crammed with cake and all sorts of nonsense.' + +'What could have made him take them there?' + +'Oh! some wish of Mrs. Pugh's to see the poor little dears,' said +Averil, the cloud returning that had been for a moment dispelled. + +'What's the row?' asked Leonard, kindly. 'Has he been bothering you?' + +'He wants me to sound Mary May about an invitation for Mrs. Pugh to +Mrs. Rivers's volunteer entertainment. I am glad I did not say no one +in mourning ought to go, for I must go now you are a volunteer.' + +'But you didn't consent to mention her?' + +'No, indeed! I knew very well you would say it was a most improper use +to make of the Mays' kindness, and I can't see what business she has +there! Then he said, no, she was certain not to go, but the attention +would be gratifying and proper.' + +'That is Mrs. Rivers's look-out.' + +'So I said, but Henry never will hear reason. I did not tell you of +our scene yesterday over the accounts; he says that we must contract +our expenses, or he shall be ruined; so I told him I was ready to give +up the hot-house, or the footman, or the other horse, or anything he +would specify; but he would not hear of it--he says it would be fatal +to alter our style of living, and that it is all my fault for not being +economical! O, Leonard, it is very hard to give up all one cared for +to this housekeeping, and then never to please!' + +Leonard felt his brother a tyrant. 'Never mind, Ave dear,' said he, +'go on doing right, and then you need not care for his +unreasonableness. You are a dear good girl, and I can't think how he +can have the heart to vex you.' + +'I don't care while I have you, Leonard,' she said, clinging to him. + +At that moment the others were heard returning, and an ironical look +passed between the brother and sister at certain injunctions that were +heard passing about the little India-rubber goloshes; but Henry had +returned in high good-humour, was pleased to hear of his brother's good +fortune, pronounced it very handsome in Mr. Ernescliffe, and even +offered to provide the rest of the equipment; but this was proudly +rejected by Averil, with some of the manifestations of exclusive +partiality that naturally wounded the elder brother. He then announced +an engagement that he had made with Mrs. Ledwich for a musical evening +the next week. Averil had her harmonium at her tongue's end, but the +evening was a free one, chosen on purpose to accommodate her; she had +no excuse, and must submit. + +'And practise some of your best pieces, Ave,' said Henry. 'Mrs. Pugh +was kind enough to offer to come and get up some duets with yon.' + +'I am greatly obliged,' said Averil, dryly, 'but I do not play duets.' + +'You would do wisely to accept her kindness, argued Henry. 'It would +be a great advantage to you to be intimate with a lady of her +opportunities.' + +'I do not like patronage,' said Averil. + +'Ave! Ave!' cried the children, who had been trying to attract her +attention, 'if you will let us go to Laburnum Grove by twelve o'clock +to-morrow, Mis. Pugh will show us her book of the pretty devices of +letters, and teach us to make one.' + +'You will have not finished lessons by twelve.' + +'But if we have?' + +'No, certainly not, I can't have you bothering every one about that +nonsensical fashion.' + +'You shall go, my dears,' said Henry. 'I can't think why your sister +should be so ill-natured.' + +Averil felt that this was the way to destroy her authority, and though +she kept silence, the tears were in her eyes, and her champion broke +forth, 'How can you be such a brute, Henry?' + +'Come away, my dears,' said Averil, rising, and holding out her hands +to her sisters, as she recollected how bad the scene was for them, but +it was only Minna who obeyed the call, Ella hung about Henry, declaring +that Leonard was naughty, and Ave was cross. + +'Well,' shouted Leonard, 'I shan't stay to see that child set against +her sister! I wonder what you mean her to come to, Henry!' + +It was no wonder that Minna and Ella squabbled together as to which was +cross, Henry or Averil, and the spirit of party took up its fatal abode +in the house of Bankside. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + Too oft my anxious eye has spied + That secret grief thou fain wouldst hide-- + The passing pang of humbled pride.--SCOTT + + +The winter was gay, between musical evenings, children's parties, +clerical feastings of district visitors, soirees for Sunday-school +teachers, and Christmas-trees for their scholars. Such a universal +favourite as Harry, with so keen a relish for amusement, was sure to +fall an easy prey to invitations; but the rest of the family stood +amazed to see him accompanied everywhere by Tom, to whom the secular +and the religious dissipations of Stoneborough had always hitherto been +equally distasteful. Yet be submitted to a Christmas course of music, +carpet-dances, and jeux de societe on the one hand, and on the other +conferred inestimable obligations on the ecclesiastical staff by +exhibitions of his microscope and of some of the ornamental sports of +chemistry. + +'The truth is,' was the explanation privately dropped out to Ethel, +'that some one really must see that those two don't make fools of +themselves.' + +Ethel stared; then, coming to the perception who 'those two' meant, +burst out laughing, and said, 'My dear Tom, I beg your pardon, but, on +the whole, I think that is more likely to befall some one else.' + +Tom held his head loftily, and would not condescend to understand +anything so foolish. + +He considered Bankside as the most dangerous quarter, for Harry was +enraptured with Miss Ward's music, extolled her dark eyes, and openly +avowed her attraction; but there were far more subtle perils at +Laburnum Grove. The fair widow was really pretty, almost elegant, her +weeds becoming; and her disposition so good, so religious, so +charitable, that, with her activity, intelligence, and curate-worship, +she was a dangerous snare to such of mankind as were not sensible of +her touch of pretension. As to womankind, it needed a great deal of +submissiveness to endure her at all; and this was not Averil Ward's +leading characteristic. + +In fact, the ubiquity of Mrs. Pugh was a sore trial to that young lady, +just so superior herself as to detect the flimsiness of the widow's +attainments. It was vexatious to find that by means of age, +assumption, and position, these shallow accomplishments made a +prodigious show in the world, while her own were entirely overlooked. +She thought she despised the admiration of the second-rate world of +Stoneborough, but it nettled her to see it thus misplaced; and there +was something provoking in the species of semi-homage paid in that +quarter by the youths of the May family. + +As to the sailor, Averil frankly liked him very much; he was the +pleasantest young man, of the most open and agreeable manners, who had +ever fallen in her way. He was worthy to be Mary's brother, for he was +friendly to Leonard, and to herself had a truthfully flattering way +that was delightful. Without any sentiment in the case, she always +felt disappointed and defrauded if she were prevented from having a +conversation with him; and when this happened, it was generally either +from his being seized upon by Mrs. Pugh, or from her being baited by +his brother Tom. + +Averil was hard to please, for she was as much annoyed by seeing Tom +May sitting courteous and deferential by the side of Mrs. Pugh, as by +his attentions to herself. She knew that he was playing the widow off, +and that, when most smooth and bland in look and tone, he was inwardly +chuckling; and to find the identical politeness transferred to herself, +made her feel not only affronted but insulted by being placed on the +same level. Thus, when, at a 'reunion' at Laburnum Grove, she had been +looking on with intense disgust while Tom was admiring Mrs. Pugh's +famous book of devices from letters, translating the mottoes, and +promising contributions, the offence was greatly increased by his +coming up to her (and that too just as Harry was released by the +button-holding Mr. Grey) and saying, + +'Of course you are a collector too, Miss Ward; I can secure some +duplicates for you.' + +She hoard such fooleries? She have Mrs. Pugh's duplicates? No wonder +she coldly answered, 'My little sister has been slightly infected, +thank you, but I do not care for such things.' + +'Indeed! Well, I always preserve as many as I can, as passports to a +lady's favour.' + +'That depends on how much sense the lady has,' said Averil, trusting +that this was a spirited set down. + +'You do not consider. Philosophically treated, they become a perfect +school in historical heraldry, nay, in languages, in mathematical +drawing, in illumination, said Tom, looking across to the album in +which Mrs. Pugh's collection was enshrined, each device appropriately +framed in bright colours. His gravity was intolerable. Was this +mockery or not? However, as answer she must, she said, + +'A very poor purpose for which to learn such things, and a poor way of +learning them.' + +'True,' said Tom, 'one pastime is as good as another; and the less it +pretends to, the better. On the whole, it may be a beneficial outlet +for the revival of illumination.' + +Did this intolerable person know that there was an 'illuminator's +guide' at home, and a great deal of red, blue, and gold paint, with +grand designs for the ornamentation of Bankside chapel? Whether he +knew it or not, she could not help answering, 'Illumination is +desecrated by being used on such subjects.' + +'And is not that better than the subjects being desecrated by +illumination?' + +Mrs. Pugh came to insist on that 'sweet thing of Mendelssohn's' from +her dear Miss Ward; and Averil obeyed, not so glad to escape as +inflamed by vexation at being prevented from fighting it out, and +learning what he really meant; though she was so far used to the +slippery nature of his arguments as to know that it was highly +improbable that she should get at anything in earnest. + +'If his sisters were silly, I should not mind,' said she to Leonard; +'then he might hold all women cheap from knowing no better; but when +they like sensible things, why is every one else to be treated like an +ape?' + +'Never mind,' said Leonard, 'he sneers at everybody all alike! I can't +think how Dr. May came to have such a son, or how Aubrey can run after +him so.' + +'I should like to know whether they really think it irreverent to do +illuminations.' + +'Nonsense, Ave; why should you trouble yourself about what he says to +tease you? bad luck to him!' + +Nevertheless, Averil was not at ease till she had asked Mary's opinion +of illumination, and Mary had referred to Ethel, and brought back word +that all depended on the spirit of the work; that it was a dangerous +thing, for mere fashion, to make playthings of texts of Scripture; but +that no one could tell the blessing there might be in dwelling on them +with loving decoration, or having them placed where the eye and thought +might be won by them. In fact, Ethel always hated fashion, but feared +prejudice. + +The crown of the whole carnival was to be the Abbotstoke entertainment +on the enrolment of the volunteers. Preparations went on with great +spirit, and the drill sergeant had unremitting work, the target little +peace, and Aubrey and Leonard were justly accused of making fetishes of +their rifles. The town was frantic, no clothes but uniforms could be +had, and the tradesmen forgot their customers in the excitement of +electing officers. + +Averil thought it very officious of Mrs. Pugh to collect a romantic +party of banner-working young ladies before the member's wife or the +mayor's family had authorized it; and she refused to join, both on the +plea of want of time, and because she heard that Mr. Elvers, a real +dragoon, declared colours to be inappropriate to riflemen. And so he +did; but his wife said the point was not martial correctness, but +popular feeling; so Mary gratified the party by bringing her needle, +Dr. Spencer took care the blazonry of the arms of the old abbey was +correct, and Flora asked the great lady of the county to present the +banner, and gave the invitation to Mrs. Pugh, who sighed, shook her +head, dried her eyes, and said something about goodness and spirits; +and Mrs. Rivers professed to understand, and hope Mrs. Pugh would do +exactly as best suited her. + +Was this manoeuvring, or only living in the present? + +Mary accompanied Harry for a long day of shopping in London when he +went to report himself, starting and returning in the clouds of night, +and transacting a prodigious amount of business with intense delight +and no fatigue; and she was considered to have fitted out the mayor's +daughters suitably with his municipal dignity, of which Ethel piqued +herself on being proud. + +The entertainment was not easy to arrange at such a season, and +Blanche's 'experience,' being of early autumn, was at fault; but Flora +sent for all that could embellish her conservatories, and by one of the +charities by which she loved to kill two birds with one stone, imported +a young lady who gained her livelihood by singing at private concerts, +and with her for a star, supported by the Minster and Cathedral choirs, +hoped to get up sufficient music to occupy people till it should be +late enough to dance. She still had some diplomacy to exercise, for +Mrs. Ledwich suggested asking dear Ave Ward to sing, her own dearest +Matilda would not object on such an occasion to assist the sweet girl; +and Mrs. Rivers, after her usual prudent fashion, giving neither denial +nor assent, Mrs. Ledwich trotted off, and put Averil into an agony that +raised a needless storm in the Bankside house; Leonard declaring the +request an insult, and Henry insisting that Ave ought to have no +scruples in doing anything Mrs. Pugh thought proper to be done. And +finally, when Ave rushed with her despair to Mary May, it was to be +relieved at finding that Mrs. Rivers had never dreamt of exposing her +to such an ordeal. + +Though it was the year 1860, the sun shone on the great day, and there +were exhilarating tokens of spring, singing birds, opening buds, +sparkling drops, and a general sense of festivity; as the gray and +green began to flit about the streets, and while Mr. Mayor repaired to +the Town Hall to administer the oaths to the corps, his unmartial sons +and his daughters started for the Grange to assist Flora in the +reception of her guests. + +The Lord Lieutenant's wife and daughters, as well as the Ernescliffes, +had slept there, and Ethel found them all with Flora in the great hall, +which looked like a winter garden, interspersed with tables covered +with plate and glass, where eating and drinking might go on all day +long. But Ethel's heart sank within her at the sight of Flora's +haggard face and sunken eyes. 'What is the matter?' she asked Blanche, +an image of contented beauty. + +'Matter? Oh, they have been stupid in marking the ground, and Hector +is gone to see about it. That's all. He is not at all tired.' + +'I never supposed he was,' said Ethel, 'but what makes Flora look so +ill?' + +'Oh, that tiresome child has got another cold, and fretted half the +night. It is all their fault for giving way to her; and she has done +nothing but whine this whole morning because she is not well enough to +go out and see the practice! I am sure it is no misfortune that she is +not to come down and be looked at.' + +Ethel crossed over to Flora, and asked whether she should go up and see +little Margaret. + +'I should be so thankful,' said poor Flora; 'but don't excite her. She +is not at all well, and has had very little sleep.' + +Ethel ran up-stairs, and found herself in the midst of a fight between +the governess and Margaret, who wanted to go to the draughty passage +window, which she fancied had a better view than that of her nursery. +Luckily, Aunt Ethel was almost the only person whom Margaret did not +like to see her naughty; and she subsided into a much less +objectionable lamentation after Uncle Harry and his anchor buttons. +Ethel promised to try whether he could be found, and confident in his +good-nature, ran down, and boldly captured him as he was setting out to +see Hector's operations. He came with a ready smile, and the child was +happy throughout his stay. Flora presently stole a moment's visit, +intending her sister's release as well as his; but Ethel, in pity to +governess as well as pupil, declared the nursery window to be a prime +post of observation, and begged to be there left. + +Margaret began to believe that they were very snug there, and by the +time the bugles were heard, had forgotten her troubles in watching the +arrivals. + +Up came the gray files, and Ethel's heart throbbed and her eye +glistened at their regular tread and military bearing. Quickly +Margaret made out papa; but he was too real a soldier to evince +consciousness of being at his own door, before the eyes of his wife and +daughter; and Aubrey's young face was made up in imitation of his +impassiveness. Other eyes were less under control, and of these were a +brown pair that wandered restlessly, till they were raised to the +nursery window, and there found satisfaction. + +The aunt and niece were too immediately above the terrace to see what +passed upon it, nor could they hear the words; so they only beheld the +approach of the Ensign, and after a brief interval, his return with the +tall green silk colours, with the arms of the old abbey embroidered in +the corner, and heard the enthusiastic cheer that rang out from all the +corps. + +Then the colours led the way to the ground for practice, for manoeuvres +were as yet not ready for exhibition. Almost all the gentlemen +followed; and such ladies as did not object to gunpowder or damp grass, +thither betook themselves, guided by the ardent Mrs. Ernescliffe. +Having disposed of the others in the drawing-rooms and gardens, Flora +and her father came to the nursery, and Ethel was set at liberty to +witness the prowess of her young champions, being assured by Flora that +she would be of more use there in keeping the youthful population out +of danger than in entertaining the more timid in the house. + +She slipped out and hurried down a narrow path towards the scene of +action, presently becoming aware of four figures before her, which her +glass resolved into Harry and Tom, a lady in black, and a child. +Evidently the devoted Tom was keeping guard over one of the +enchantresses, for the figure was that of Averil Ward, though, as Ethel +said, shaking hands, she was hardly to be known with only one sister. + +'We have been delayed,' said Averil; 'poor little Ella was in an agony +about the firing, and we could not leave her till your +brother'--indicating Harry--'was so kind as to take her to Gertrude.' + +'True to the Englishwoman's boast of never having seen the smoke of an +engagement,' said Tom. + +'A practising is not an engagement,' said Ethel. + +'There may be quite as many casualties,' quoth Tom, indulging in some +of the current ready-made wit on the dangers of volunteering, for the +pure purpose of teasing; but he was vigorously fallen upon by Harry and +Ethel, and Averil brightened as she heard him put to the rout. The +shots were already heard, when two more black figures were seen in the +distance, going towards the gate. + +'Is that Richard?' exclaimed Tom. + +'Ay, and I do believe, the widow!' rejoined Harry. + +'Oh, yes,' said Averil. 'I heard her talking about Abbotstoke Church, +and saying how much she wished to see it. She must have got Mr. May to +show it to her.' + +Ethel, who had no real fears for Richard herself, looked on amused to +watch how the guardian spirit was going to act. He exclaimed, 'By the +bye, Miss Ward, would you not like to see it? They have a very nice +brass to old Mr. Rivers, and have been doing up the chancel.' + +'Thank you, said Ave, 'I should prefer going to see how Leonard is +getting on.' + +'Right, Miss Ward,' said Harry; 'the church won't run away.' + +'Well, then,' said Tom, after a moment's hesitation, 'I think I shall +just run down, as the church is open, and see what sort of work they +have made of the chancel.' + +Ethel had the strongest fancy to try what he would do if she were to be +seized with a desire to inspect the chancel; but she did not wish to +let Harry and Averil appear on the ground under no escort but Minna's, +and so permitted Tom to leave them to her keeping, and watched him +hasten to break up the tete-a-tete. + +Coming among the spectators, who, chiefly drawn up on the carriage +drive, were watching from a safe distance the gray figures in turn take +aim and emit from their rifles the flash and cotton-wool-like tuft of +smoke, Ethel's interest was somewhat diminished by hearing that all the +other marksmen had been distanced by the head keepers of Abbotstoke and +Drydale, between whom the contest really lay. + +'The rest is a study of character,' said Dr. Spencer, taking a turn up +and down the road with her. 'I have been watching the various pairs of +brothers; and I doubt if any stand the test as well as the house of +May.' + +'There's only one in the field to-day.' + +'Yes, but I've seen them together before now, and I will say for even +Tom that he has no black looks when his junior shoots better than he +does.' + +'Oh, yes! But then it is Aubrey.' + +Dr. Spencer laughed. 'Lucky household where that "it is" accounts for +all favours to the youngest, instead of for the countenance falling at +his successes.' + +'I am afraid I know whom you mean. But he has no generosity in him.' + +'And his sister helps to make him jealous.' + +'I am afraid she does; but though it is very sad, one can't wonder at +her preference of the great to the small.' + +'Poor girl, I wonder how she will get on when there is a new inmate in +the happy family.' + +'Ha! you shocking old gossip, what have you found out now?' + +'Negotiation for the introduction of a Pug dog from the best +circles--eh?' + +'Well, if he were alone in the world, it would be a capital match.' + +'So she thinks, I fancy; but £600 a year might do better than purchase +so many incumbrances. Depend upon it, the late lamented will remain in +the ascendant till there are no breakers ahead.' + +In process of time, ladies, volunteers, and all, were assembled in the +great music-room for the concert; and Ethel, having worked hard in the +service of the company, thought her present duty lay with the sick +child, and quietly crept away, taking, however, one full view of the +entire scene, partly for her own satisfaction, partly in case Margaret +should be inclined to question her on what every one was doing. + +There was the orchestra, whose erection Richard had superintended; +there was the conductor in his station, and the broad back of the +Cathedral organist at the piano, the jolly red visages of the singing +men in their ranks, the fresh faces of the choristers full of elation, +the star from London, looking quiet and ladylike, courteously led to +her place by George Rivers himself. But, for all his civility, how +bored and sullen he looked! and how weary were poor Flora's smiles, +though her manner was so engaging, and her universal attention so +unremitting! What a contrast to the serene, self-enfolded look of +happiness and prosperity on the pretty youthful face of Blanche, her +rich delicate silk spreading far beyond the sofa where she sat among +the great ladies; and her tall yellow-haired husband leaning against +the wall behind her, in wondering contemplation of his Blanche taking +her place in her own county. + +Farther back, among the more ordinary herd, Ethel perceived Mrs. Pugh, +bridling demurely, with Tom on guard over her on one side, and Henry +Ward looking sulky on the other, with his youngest sister in his +charge. The other was looking very happy upon Leonard's knee, close to +Averil and Mary, who were evidently highly satisfied to have coalesced. +Averil was looking strikingly pretty--the light fell favourably on her +profuse glossy hair, straight features, and brilliant colouring; her +dark eyes were full of animation, and her lips were apart with a smile +as she listened to Leonard's eager narration; and Ethel glanced towards +Harry to see whether he were admiring. No; Harry was bringing in a +hall arm-chair in the background, for a vary large, heavy, +vulgar-looking old man, who seemed too ponderous and infirm for a place +on the benches. Richard made one of a black mass of clergy, and Aubrey +and Gertrude had asserted their independence by perching themselves on +a window-seat, as far as possible from all relations, whence they +nodded a merry saucy greeting to Ethel, and she smiled back again, +thinking her tall boy in his gray tunic and black belt, and her plump +girl in white with green ribbons, were as goodly a pair as the room +contained. + +But where was the Doctor? + +Ethel had a shrewd suspicion where she should find him; and in the +nursery he was, playing at spillekens with his left hand. + +It was not easy to persuade him that the music would be wasted on her, +and that he ought to go down that it might receive justice; but +Margaret settled the question. 'You may go, grandpapa. Aunt Ethel is +best to play at spillekens, for she has not got a left hand.' + +'There's honour for me, who used to have two!' and therewith Ethel +turned him out in time for the overture. + +Margaret respected her aunt sufficiently not to be extra wayward with +her, and between the spillekens, and a long story about Cousin Dickie +in New Zealand, all went well till bed-time. There was something in +the child's nervous temperament that made the first hours of the night +peculiarly painful to her, and the sounds of the distant festivity +added to her excitability. She fretted and tossed, moaned and wailed, +sat up in bed and cried, snapped off attempts at hymns, would not +listen to stories, and received Ethel's attempts at calm grave commands +with bursts of crying, and calls for mamma and papa. The music had +ceased, tuning of violins was heard, and Ethel dreaded the cries being +heard down-stairs. She was at her wits' end, and was thinking who +would most avail, and could be fetched with least sensation, when there +was a soft knock at the door, and Harry's voice said, 'Hollo, what's +the matter here?' In he came with his white glove half on, and +perceiving the state of the case said, 'Can't go to sleep?' + +'Oh, Uncle Harry, take me;' and the arms were stretched out, and the +tear-stained face raised up. + +'We'll put you to sleep as sound as if you were in a hammock just off +middle watch,' said Harry; and the next moment he had her rolled up in +her little blue dressing-gown, nestling on his broad shoulder, while he +walked up and down the room, crooning out a nautical song, not in +first-rate style, but the effect was perfect; the struggles and sobs +were over, and when at the end of a quarter of an hour Harry paused and +looked at the little thin sharp face, it was softened by peaceful sleep. + +Ethel pointed to the door. There stood Flora, her eyes full of tears. + +Harry laid the little sleeper on her bed, and covered her up. Flora +laid her arm on his shoulder and gave him such a kiss as she had not +given even when he had come back as from the dead. Then she signed to +them to come, but sped away before them, not trusting herself to speak. +Ethel tarried with Harry, who was in difficulties with gloves too small +for his broad hand, and was pshawing at himself at having let Tom get +them for him at Whitford. + +'O, Harry,' said Ethel, 'you are the most really like papa of us all! +How did you come to think of it!' + +'I'd have given a good deal if any one would have walked quarter-deck +with me some nights last summer,' said Harry, still intent on the +glove. 'What is to be done, Ethel! that rogue Tom always snaps up all +the beauty. I dare say he has engaged Miss Ward and the widow both.' + +It was no time for sentiment; so Ethel suggested getting half into one +glove, and carrying the other. + +'You'll be quite irresistible enough, Harry! And if all the beauty is +engaged, I'll dance with you myself.' + +'Will you?' cried the lieutenant, with sparkling eyes, 'then you are a +jolly old Ethel! Come along, then;' and he took her on his arm, ran +down-stairs with her, and before she well knew where she was, or what +was going on, she found herself in his great grasp passive as a doll, +dragged off into the midst of a vehement polka that took her breath +away. She trusted to him, and remained in a passive, half-frightened +state, glad he was so happy; but in the first pause heartily wishing he +would let her go, instead of which she only heard, 'Well done, old +Ethel, you'll be a prime dancer yet! you're as light as a feather;' and +before she had recovered her breath, off he led her with 'Go it again!' + +When at length, panting and bewildered, she was safely placed on a +seat, with 'You've had enough, have you? mind, I shan't let you off +another time,' she found that her aberration had excited a good deal of +sensation in her own family. Blanche and Gertrude could not repress +their amusement; and Dr. May, with merry eyes, declared that she was +coming out in a new light. She had only time to confide to him the +reason that she had let Harry do what he pleased with her, before two +volunteers were at her side. + +'Miss May, I did not think you ever danced!' + +'Nor I,' said Ethel; 'but you see what sailors can do with one.' + +'Now, Ethel' said the other over his shoulder, 'now you have danced +with Harry, you must have this waltz with me.' + +'A dangerous precedent, Ethel,' said the Doctor, laughing. + +'I couldn't waltz to save my life, Aubrey,' said Ethel; 'but if you can +bear me through a polka as well as Harry did, you may try the next.' + +'And won't you--will you--for once dance with me? said his companion +imploringly. + +'Very well, Leonard, if I can get through a quadrille;' and therewith +Ethel was seized upon by both boys to hear the story of every hit and +miss, and of each of the difficulties that their unpractised corps had +encountered in getting round the corners between Stoneborough and the +Grange. Then came Leonard's quadrille, which it might be hoped was +gratifying to him; but which he executed with as much solemn deference +as if he had been treading a minuet with a princess, plainly regarding +it as the great event of the day. In due time, he resigned her to +Aubrey; but poor Aubrey had been deluded by the facility with which the +strong and practised sailor had swept his victim along; and Ethel grew +terrified at the danger of collisions, and released herself and pulled +him aside by force, just in time to avoid being borne down by the +ponderous weight of Miss Boulder and her partner. + +'You did not come to grief with Harry!' muttered the discomfited boy. + +'No more did the lamb damage the eagle; but remember the fate of the +jackdaw, Mr. Gray-coat! I deserve some ice for my exertions, so come +into the hall and get some, and tell me if you have had better luck +elsewhere.' + +'I have had no partner but Minna Ward, and she trips as if one was a +dancing-master.' + +'And how has Tom been managing?' + +'Stunningly civil! He began with Ave Ward, in the Lancers, and it was +such fun--he chaffed her in his solemn way, about music I believe it +was, and her harmonium. I could not quite hear, but I could see she +was in a tremendous taking, and she won't recover it all the evening.' + +'What a shame it is of Tom!' + +'Oh! but it is such fun! And since that he has been parading with Pug.' + +'She has not danced!' + +'Oh no! She got an audience into Meta's little sitting-room--Henry +Ward, Harvey Anderson, and some of the curates; they shut the door, and +had some music on their own hook.' + +'Was Richard there!' + +'At first; but either he could not bear to see Meta's piano profaned, +or he thought it too strong when they got to the sacred line, for he +bolted, and is gone home.' + +'There's Harry dancing with Fanny Anderson. He has not got Miss Ward +all this time.' + +'Nor will,' said Aubrey. 'Tom had put her in such a rage that she did +not choose to dance with that cousin of hers, Sam Axworthy, so she was +obliged to refuse every one else; and I had to put up with that child!' + +'Sam Axworthy! He does not belong to our corps. How does he come +here?' + +'Oh! the old man has some houses in the borough, and an omnium gatherum +like this was a good time to do the civil thing to him. There he is; +peep into the card-room, and you'll see his great porpoise back, the +same old man that Harry in his benevolence assisted to a chair. He +shook hands with Leonard, and told him there was a snug desk at the +Vintry Mill for him.' + +'I dare say!' + +'And when Leonard thanked him, and said he hoped to get off to +Cambridge, he laughed that horrid fat laugh, and told him learning +would never put him in good case. Where shall I find you a place to +sit down? Pug and her tail have taken up all the room,' whispered +Aubrey, as by the chief of the glittering tables in the hall, he saw +Mrs. Pugh, drinking tea, surrounded by her attendant gentlemen, and +with her aunt and Ella Ward, like satellites, a little way from her. + +'Here is a coign of vantage,' said Ethel, seating herself on a step a +little way up the staircase. 'How those people have taken possession +of that child all day!' + +'I fancy Leonard is come to reclaim her,' said Aubrey, 'don't you see +him trying to work through and get at her! and Miss Ward told me she +was going home early, to put the children to bed. Ha! what's the row? +There's Leonard flaring up in a regular rage! Only look at his +eyes--and Henry just like Gertrude's Java sparrow in a taking--' + +'It must not be,' cried Ethel, starting up to attempt she knew not +what, as she heard Leonard's words, 'Say it was a mistake, Henry! You +cannot be so base as to persist!' + +There it became evident that Ethel and Aubrey were seen over the +balusters; Leonard's colour deepened, but his eye did not flinch; +though Henry quailed and backed, and the widow gave a disconcerted +laugh; then Leonard pounced on his little sister and carried her off to +the cloak-room. 'What treason could it have been?' muttered Aubrey; +'we shall get it all from Ward;' but when Leonard re-appeared it was +with his sister cloaked and bonneted on his arm, each leading a little +one; he took them to the entrance and was seen no more. + +Nor was the true history of that explosion ever revealed in the May +family, though it had grave consequences at Bankside. + +Rumour had long declared at Stoneborough that the member's little +daughter was carefully secluded on account of some deformity, and Mrs. +Pugh had been one of many ladies who had hoped to satisfy their +curiosity on this head upon the present occasion. She had asked Henry +Ward whether it were so, and he had replied with pique that he had no +means of judging, he had never been called in at the Grange. By way of +salve to his feelings, the sympathizing lady had suggested that the +preference for London advice might be from the desire of secrecy, and +improbable as he knew this to be, his vanity had forbidden him to argue +against it. When no little Miss Rivers appeared, the notion of her +affliction gained ground, and Leonard, whose gray back was +undistinguishable from other gray backs, heard Mrs. Pugh citing his +brother as an authority for the misfortune which Mr. and Mrs. Rivers so +carefully concealed as to employ no surgeon from their own +neighbourhood. + +Falsehood, slander, cruelty, ingratitude, breach of hospitality, were +the imputations that fired the hot brain of Leonard, and writhed his +lips, as he started round, confronted the lady, and assured her it was +a--a--a gross mistake. His father had always attended the child, and +she must have misunderstood his brother. Then, seeing Henry at a +little distance, Leonard summoned him to contradict the allegation; but +at that moment the sudden appearance of the two Mays put the whole +conclave to silence. + +Not aware that Mrs. Pugh had confounded together his intelligence and +her surmise, and made him responsible for both, Henry was shocked and +grieved at his brother's insulting and violent demeanour, and exhausted +himself in apologies and denunciations; while the kind-hearted lady +interceded, for the boy, declaring that she doted on his generous +spirit, but not confessing the piece of female embroidery which had +embroiled the matter; probably not even aware of it, though sincerely +and kindly desirous to avert the brother's anger. Her amiability, +therefore, only strengthened Henry's sense of his brothers outrage, and +his resolve to call him to account. + +It was impossible that night, for Leonard had gone home with the +sisters, and was in bed long before his brother returned. But at +breakfast Henry found the forces drawn up against him, and his first +attempt to remonstrate was retorted by the demand what he could mean by +spreading such an abominable +report--cruel--unfounded--ungrateful--spiteful-- + +Averil indeed divined that it was Mrs. Pugh's invention; but Henry was +not inclined to give up Mrs. Pugh, and continued in the belief that +Leonard's fiery imagination had fabricated the sentence, and then most +improperly charged it on the lady, and on himself. Had it been as +Leonard stated, said Henry, his conduct was shameful and required an +apology, whereupon Leonard burst out in passion at being disbelieved, +and Averil was no less indignant. The storm raged till the business of +the day interrupted it; and in Henry's absence, Averil and her brother +worked up their wrath again, at the atrocity of the assertion regarding +the child of their entertainers, the granddaughter of their truest, +kindest friend. + +Averil would have rushed to Mary with the whole story, but for +Leonard's solemn asseveration that if ever it came to the ears of any +one of the Mays, he should send back his rifle to Mr. Ernescliffe, and +work his way out to one of the colonies rather than again look any of +the family in the face. + +Henry divided his opponents next time, asking Leonard, in his sister's +absence, whether he had come to his senses and would apologize? +Leonard hoped Henry had come to his! On the whole, the dispute had +lost some asperity by the absence of Averil, and though Leonard held +his ground, and maintained that he had every right to deny the +statement, and that it was Henry's duty to make Mrs. Pugh contradict it +everywhere, yet the two approached nearer together, and there was less +misunderstanding, fewer personalities. + +But Averil could not forget or forgive. She persisted in manifesting +her displeasure, and recurred to the subject till her pertinacity wore +out Leonard himself. + +'Nonsense, Ave,' he said at last, 'it was a foolish woman's gossip that +Henry ought to have quashed; but that is no reason you should treat +them like toads.' + +'Would you have me sanction vile slander?' + +'As if you were sanctioning slander by being decently civil! Is not it +an intolerable thing that we three should never sit down to a meal in +peace together?' + +'O, Leonard, don't you think I feel the misery?' + +Put an end to it then, and don't pit those poor children one against +the other. Just fancy Minna's saying to me, "I love you and sister, +but Ella loves Mrs. Pugh and Henry."' + +'Yes, they have set Ella against me. She always appeals to Henry, and +I can do nothing with her.' + +Leonard looked out of the window and whistled, then said, as if he had +made a discovery, 'I'll tell you what, Ave, something must be done to +set things to rights between us, and I believe the best thing will be +to call on Mrs. Pugh.' + +'Not to apologize! O, Leonard!' + +'Stuff and nonsense! Only to show we don't bear malice. Henry had +been at you to call ever so long before this, had he not?' + +'I can't see any reason for intimacy.' + +'I declare, Ave, you are too bad! I only want you just to keep the +peace with your own brother. You have led him the life of a dog these +three days, and now when I want you to be a little obliging, you talk +of intimacy!' + +'Only because I know how it will be. If I give that woman an inch, she +will take an ell.' + +'Let her then. It would be much better than always living at +daggers-drawn with one's brother.' Then, after waiting for her to say +something, he added, 'If you won't go with me, I shall go alone.' + +Averil rose, subdued but not convinced, reverencing her brother, but +afraid of his concessions. + +However, the call turned out well. Mrs. Pugh had a talent for making +herself agreeable, and probably had liked the boy for his outburst. She +would not let Mab be excluded, loaded her with admiration, and was +extremely interested in the volunteer practice, so that both the young +people were subjugated for the time by her pleasant manners, and went +away ashamed of their own rancour against one so friendly and +good-natured, and considerably relieved of their burden of animosity. + +Their greeting to their brother was so cordial that he perceived their +good-will, and was sorry that the dread of an evening of warfare had +induced him to accept an invitation to dine at the Swan with Sam +Axworthy and a party of his friends. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + This night is my departing night, + For here nae longer must I stay; + There's neither friend nor foe of mine + But wishes me away. + What I have done through lack of wit, + I never, never can recall: + I hope ye're all my friends as yet. + Good night, and joy be with you all. + Armstrong's Good Night + + +The storm had blown over, but heavy flakes of cloud still cumbered the +air, and gusts of wind portended that it might gather again. + +Henry Ward took this opportunity of giving his first dinner party. He +said it was a necessary return for the civilities they had received; +and to Averil's representation that it transgressed the system of rigid +economy that so much tormented her, he replied by referring her to Mrs. +Pugh for lessons in the combination of style and inexpensiveness. + +Averil had almost refused, but the lady herself proffered her +instructions, and reluctance was of no avail; nothing but +demonstrations from which her conscience shrank, could have served to +defend her from the officious interference so eagerly and thankfully +encouraged by the master of the house. Vainly did she protest against +pretension, and quote the example of the Grange; she found herself +compelled to sacrifice the children's lessons to learn of Mrs. Pugh to +make the paper flowers that, with bonbons and sweetmeats, were to save +the expense of good food on the dinner-table, and which she feared +would be despised by Miss May, nay, perhaps laughed over with 'Mr. Tom!' + +She hated the whole concern, even the invitation to Dr. and Miss May, +knowing that it was sent in formal vanity, accepted in pure +good-nature, would bring them into society they did not like, and +expose her brother's bad taste. Only one thing could have added to her +dislike, namely--that which all Stoneborough perceived excepting +herself and Leonard--that this dinner was intended as a step in Henry's +courtship, and possibly as an encouragement of Harvey Anderson's liking +for herself. Averil held her head so high, and was so little popular, +that no one of less assurance than Mrs. Ledwich herself would have +dared approach her with personal gossip; and even Mrs. Ledwich was +silent here; so that Averil, too young and innocent to connect second +marriages with recent widowhood, drew no conclusions from Henry's +restless eagerness that his household should present the most imposing +appearance. + +While the bill of fare was worrying Averil, Leonard was told by Aubrey, +that his father had brought home a fossil Tower of Babel, dug up with +some earth out of a new well, three miles off, with tidings of other +unheard-of treasures, and a walk was projected in quest of them, in +which Leonard was invited to join. He gladly came to the early dinner, +where he met reduced numbers--the Ernescliffes being at Maplewood, Tom +at Cambridge, and Harry in the Channel fleet; and as usual, he felt the +difference between the perfect understanding and friendship in the one +home, and the dread of dangerous subjects in the other. The expedition +had all the charms of the Coombe times; and the geological discoveries +were so numerous and precious, that the load became sufficient to break +down the finders, and Ethel engaged a market-woman to bring the baskets +in her cart the next morning. + +That morning a note from Richard begged Ethel to come early to +Cocksmoor to see Granny Hall, who was dying. Thus left to their own +devices, Aubrey and Gertrude conscientiously went through some of their +studies; then proceeded to unpack their treasury of fossils, and +endeavour to sort out Leonard's share, as to which doubts arose. Daisy +proposed to carry the specimens at once to Bankside, where she wanted +to see Leonard's prime echinus; and Aubrey readily agreed, neither of +the young heads having learnt the undesirableness of a morning visit in +a house preparing for a dinner-party too big for it. + +However, Leonard made them extremely welcome. It was too foggy a day +for rifle practice, and all the best plate and china were in the +school-room, his only place of refuge; Ave was fluttering about in +hopes of getting everything done before Mrs. Pugh could take it out of +her hands, and the energies of the household were spent on laying out +the dining-table. It was clearly impossible to take Gertrude anywhere +but into the drawing-room, which was in demi-toilette state, the +lustres released from their veils, the gayer cushions taken out of +their hiding-places, and the brown holland covers half off. This was +the only tranquil spot, and so poor little Mab thought, forbidden +ground though it was. Even in her own home, the school-room, a strange +man had twice trod upon her toes; so no wonder, when she saw her own +master and his friends in the drawing-room, that she ventured in, and +leaping on a velvet cushion she had never seen before, and had never +been ordered off, she there curled herself up and went to sleep, unseen +by Leonard, who was in eager controversy upon the specimens, which +Gertrude, as she unpacked, set down on floor, chair, or ottoman, +unaware of the offence she was committing. So, unmolested, the young +geologists talked, named, and sorted the specimens, till the clock +striking the half-hour, warned the Mays that they must return; and +Leonard let them out at the window, and crossed the lawn to the side +gate with them to save the distance. + +He had just returned, and was kneeling on the floor hastily collecting +the fossils, when the door opened, and Henry Ward, coming home to +inspect the preparations, beheld the drawing-room bestrewn with the +rough stones that he had proscribed, and Mab, not only in the room, but +reposing in the centre of the most magnificent cushion in the house! + +His first movement of indignation was to seize the dog with no gentle +hand. She whined loudly; and Leonard, whom he had not seen, shouted +angrily, 'Let her alone;' then, at another cry from her, finding his +advance to her rescue impeded by a barricade of the crowded and +disarranged furniture, he grew mad with passion, and launched the stone +in his hand, a long sharp-pointed belemnite. It did not strike Henry, +but a sound proclaimed the mischief, as it fell back from the surface +of the mirror, making a huge star of cracks, unmarked by Leonard, who, +pushing sofa and ottoman to the right and left, thundered up to his +brother, and with uplifted hand demanded what he meant by his cruelty. + +'Is--is this defiance?' stammered Henry, pointing to the disordered +room. + +'Look here, Averil,' as she appeared at the sounds, 'do you defend this +boy now he has very nearly killed me?' + +'Killed you!' and Leonard laughed angrily; but when Henry held up the +elf-bolt, and he saw its sharp point, he was shocked, and he saw horror +in Averil's face. + +'I see,' he said gravely. 'It was a mercy I did not!' and he paused. +'I did not know what I was about when you were misusing my dog, Henry. +Shake hands; I am sorry for it.' + +But Henry had been very much frightened as well as angered, and +thought, perhaps, it was a moment to pursue his advantage. + +'You treat things lightly,' he said, not accepting the hand. + +'See what you have done.' + +'I am glad it was not your head,' said Leonard. 'What does it cost? +I'll pay.' + +'More than your keep for a year,' moaned Henry, as he sighed over the +long limbs of the starfish-like fracture. + +'Well, I will give up anything you like, if you will only not be sulky +about it, Henry. It was unlucky, and I'm sorry for it; I can't say +more!' + +'But I can,' said Henry with angry dignity, re-inforced by the sight of +the seamed reflection of his visage in the shivered glass. 'I tell +you, Leonard, there's no having you in the house; you defy my +authority, you insult my friends, you waste and destroy more than you +are worth, and you are absolutely dangerous. I would as soon have a +wild beast about the place. If you don't get the Randall next week, +and get off to the University, to old Axworthy's office you go at once.' + +'Very well, I will,' said Leonard, turning to collect the fossils, as +if he had done with the subject. + +'Henry, Henry, what are you saying?' cried the sister. + +'Not a word, Ave,' said Leonard. 'I had rather break stones on the +road than live where my keep is grudged, and there's not spirit enough +to get over a moment's fright.' + +'It is not any one individual thing,' began Henry, in a tone of +annoyance, 'but your whole course--' + +There he paused, perceiving that Leonard paid no attention to his +words, continuing quietly to replace the furniture and collect the +fossils, as it no one else were in the room, after which he carried the +basket up-stairs. + +Averil hurried after him. 'Leonard! oh, why don't you explain? Why +don't you tell him how the stones came there?' + +Leonard shook his head sternly. + +'Don't you mean to do anything?' + +'Nothing.' + +'But you wanted another year before trying for the scholarship.' + +'Yes; I have no chance there.' + +'He will not do it! He cannot mean it!' + +'I do then. I will get my own living, and not be a burthen, where my +brother cannot forgive a broken glass or a moment's fright,' said +Leonard; and she felt that his calm resentment was worse than his +violence. + +'He will be cooler, and then--' + +'I will have no more said to him. It is plain that we cannot live +together, and there's an end of it. Don't cry, or you won't be fit to +be seen.' + +'I won't come down to dinner.' + +'Yes, you will. Let us have no more about it. Some one wants you.' + +'Please, ma'am, the fish is come.' + +'Sister, sister, come and see how I have done up the macaroons in green +leaves.' + +'Sister, sister, do come and reach me down some calycanthus out of the +greenhouse!' + +'I will,' said Leonard, descending; and for the rest of the day he was +an efficient assistant in the decorations, and the past adventure was +only apparent in the shattered glass, and the stern ceremonious +courtesy of the younger brother towards the elder. + +Averil hurried about, devoid of all her former interest in so doing +things for herself as to save interference; and when Mrs. Ledwich and +Mrs. Pugh walked in, overflowing with suggestions, she let them have +their way, and toiled under them with the sensation of being like 'dumb +driven cattle.' If Leonard were to be an exile, what mattered it to +her who ruled, or what appearance things made? + +Only when she went to her own room to dress, had she a moment to +realize the catastrophe, its consequences, and the means of averting +them. So appalled was she, that she sat with her hair on her shoulders +as if spell-bound, till the first ring at the door aroused her to speed +and consternation, perhaps a little lessened by one of her sisters +rushing in to say that it was Mrs. Ledwich and Mrs. Pugh, and that +Henry was still in the cellar, decanting the wine. + +Long before the hosts were ready, Dr. May and Ethel had likewise +arrived, and became cognizant of the fracture of the mirror, for, +though the nucleus was concealed by a large photograph stuck into the +frame, one long crack extended even to the opposite corner. The two +ladies were not slow to relate all that they knew; and while the aunt +dismayed Ethel by her story, the niece, with much anxiety, asked Dr. +May how it was that these dear, nice, superior young people should have +such unfortunate tempers--was it from any error in management? So +earnest was her manner, so inquiring her look, that Dr. May suspected +that she was feeling for his opinion on personal grounds, and tried to +avert the danger by talking of the excellence of the parents, but he +was recalled from his eulogium on poor Mrs. Ward. + +'Oh yes! one felt for them so very much, and they are so religious, so +well principled, and all that one could wish; but family dissension is +so dreadful. I am very little used to young men or boys, and I never +knew anything like this.' + +'The lads are too nearly of an age,' said the Doctor. + +'And would such things be likely to happen among any brothers?' + +'I should trust not!' said the Doctor emphatically. + +'I should so like to know in confidence which you think likely to be +most to blame.' + +Never was the Doctor more glad that Averil made her appearance! He +carefully avoided getting near Mrs. Pugh for the rest of the evening, +but he could not help observing that she was less gracious than usual +to the master of the house; while she summoned Leonard to her side to +ask about the volunteer proceedings, and formed her immediate court of +Harvey Anderson and Mr. Scudamour. + +The dinner went on fairly, though heavily. Averil, in her one great +trouble, lost the sense of the minor offences that would have +distressed her pride and her taste had she been able to attend to them, +and forgot the dulness of the scene in her anxiety to seek sympathy and +counsel in the only quarter where she cared for it. She went +mechanically through her duties as lady of the house, talking +commonplace subjects dreamily to Dr. May, and scarcely even giving +herself the trouble to be brief with Mr. Anderson, who was on her other +side at dinner. + +In the drawing-room, she left the other ladies to their own devices in +her eagerness to secure a few minutes with Ethel May, and disabuse her +of whatever Mrs. Ledwich or Mrs. Pugh might have said. Ethel had been +more hopeful before she heard the true version; she had hitherto +allowed much for Mrs. Ledwich's embellishments; and she was shocked and +took shame to her own guiltless head for Gertrude's thoughtlessness. + +'Oh no!' said Averil, 'there was nothing that any one need have minded, +if Henry had waited for explanation! And now, will you get Dr. May to +speak to him? If he only knew how people would think of his treating +Leonard so, I am sure he would not do it.' + +'He cannot!' said Ethel. 'Don't you know what he thinks of it himself? +He said to papa last year that your father would as soon have sent +Leonard to the hulks as to the Vintry Mill.' + +'Oh, I am so glad some one heard him. He would care about having that +cast up against him, if he cared for nothing else.' + +'It must have been a mere threat. Leonard surely has only to ask his +pardon.' + +'No, indeed, not again, Miss May!' said Averil. 'Leonard asked once, +and was refused, and cannot ask again. No, the only difficulty is +whether he ought not to keep to his word, and go to the mill if he does +not get the Randall.' + +'Did he say he would?' + +'Of course he did, when Henry threatened him with it, and talked of the +burden of his maintenance! He said, "Very well, I will," and he means +it!' + +'He will not mean it when the spirit of repentance has had time to +waken.' + +'He will take nothing that is grudged him,' said Averil. 'Oh! is it +not hard that I cannot get at my own money, and send him at once to +Cambridge, and never ask Henry for another farthing?' + +'Nay, Averil; I think you can do a better part by trying to make them +forgive one another.' + +Averil had no notion of Leonard's again abasing himself, and though she +might try to bring Henry to reason by reproaches, she would not +persuade. She wished her guest had been the sympathizing Mary rather +than Miss May, who was sure to take the part of the elder and the +authority. Repentance! Forgiveness! If Miss May should work on +Leonard to sue for pardon and toleration, and Mrs. Pugh should +intercede with Henry to take him into favour, she had rather he were at +the Vintry Mill at once in his dignity, and Henry be left to his +disgrace. + +Ethel thought of Dr. Spencer's words on the beach at Coombe, 'Never +threaten Providence!' She longed to repeat them to Leonard, as she +watched his stern determined face, and the elaborately quiet motions +that spoke of a fixed resentful purpose; but to her disappointment and +misgiving, he gave her no opportunity, and for the first time since +their sea-side intercourse, held aloof from her. + +Nor did she see him again during the week that intervened before the +decision of the scholarship, though three days of it were holidays. +Aubrey, whom she desired to bring him in after the rifle drill, +reported that he pronounced himself sorry to refuse, but too busy to +come in, and he seemed to be cramming with fiery vehemence for the mere +chance of success. + +The chance was small. The only hope lay in the possibility of some +hindrance preventing the return of either Forder or Folliot; and in the +meantime the Mays anxiously thought over Leonard's prospects. His +remaining at home was evidently too great a trial for both brothers, +and without a scholarship he could not go to the University. The evils +of the alternative offered by his brother were duly weighed by the +Doctor and Ethel with an attempt to be impartial. + +Mr. Axworthy, though the mill was the centre of his business, was in +fact a corn merchant of considerable wealth, and with opportunities of +extending his connection much farther. Had his personal character been +otherwise, Dr. May thought a young man could not have a better opening +than a seat in his office, and the future power of taking shares in his +trade; there need be no loss of position, and there was great +likelihood both of prosperity and the means of extensive usefulness. + +Ethel sighed at the thought of the higher aspirations that she had +fostered till her own mind was set on them. + +'Nay,' said the Doctor, 'depend upon it, the desk is admirable training +for good soldiers of the Church. See the fearful evil that befalls +great schemes intrusted to people who cannot deal with money matters; +and see, on the other hand, what our merchants and men of business have +done for the Church, and do not scorn "the receipt of custom."' + +'But the man, papa!' + +'Yes, there lies the hitch! If Leonard fails, I can lay things before +Henry, such as perhaps he may be too young to know, and which must +change his purpose.' + +Mr. Axworthy's career during his youth and early manhood was guessed at +rather than known, but even since his return and occupation of the +Vintry Mill, his vicious habits had scandalized the neighbourhood, and +though the more flagrant of these had been discontinued as he advanced +in age, there was no reason to hope that he had so much 'left off his +sins, as that his sins had left him off.' His great-nephew, who lived +with him and assisted in his business, was a dashing sporting young man +of no good character, known to be often intoxicated, and concerned in +much low dissipation, and as dangerous an associate as could be +conceived for a high-spirited lad like Leonard. Dr. May could not +believe that any provocation of temper, any motive of economy, any +desire to be rid of encumbrances to his courtship, could induce a man +with so much good in him, as there certainly was in Henry Ward, to +expose his orphan brother to such temptations; and he only reserved his +remonstrance in the trust that it would not be needed, and the desire +to offer some better alternative of present relief. + +One of the examiners was Norman's old school and college friend, +Charles Cheviot, now a clergyman and an under-master at one of the +great schools recently opened for the middle classes, where he was +meeting with great success, and was considered a capital judge of boys' +characters. He was the guest of the Mays during the examination; and +though his shy formal manner, and convulsive efforts at young lady +talk, greatly affronted Gertrude, the brothers liked him. + +He was in consternation at the decline of Stoneborough school since Mr. +Wilmot had ceased to be an under-master; the whole tone of the school +had degenerated, and it was no wonder that the Government inquiries +were ominously directed in that quarter. Scholarship was at a low ebb, +Dr. Hoxton seemed to have lost what power of teaching he had ever +possessed, and as Dr. May observed, the poor old school was going to +the dogs. But even in the present state of things, Leonard had no +chance of excelling his competitors. His study, like theirs, had been +mere task-work, and though he showed more native power than the rest, +yet perhaps this had made the mere learning by rote even more difficult +to an active mind full of inquiry. He was a whole year younger than +any other who touched the foremost ranks, two years younger than +several; and though he now and then showed a feverish spark of genius, +reminding Mr. Cheviot of Norman in his famous examination, it was not +sustained--there were will and force, but not scholarship--and besides, +there was a wide blurred spot in his memory, as though all the +brain-work of the quarter before his illness had been confused, and had +not yet become clear. There was every likelihood that a few years +would make him superior to the chosen Randall scholar, but at present +his utmost efforts did not even place him among the seven whose names +appeared honourably in the newspaper. It was a failure; but Mr. +Cheviot had become much interested in the boy for his own sake, as well +as from what he heard from the Mays, and he strongly advised that +Leonard should at Easter obtain employment for a couple of years at the +school in which he himself was concerned. He would thus be maintaining +himself, and pursuing his own studies under good direction, so as to +have every probability of success in getting an open scholarship at one +of the Universities. + +Nothing could be better, and there was a perfect jubilee among the Mays +at the proposal. Aubrey was despatched as soon as breakfast was over +to bring Leonard to talk it over, and Dr. May undertook to propound it +to Henry on meeting him at the hospital; but Aubrey came back looking +very blank--Leonard had started of his own accord that morning to +announce to his uncle his acceptance of a clerk's desk at the Vintry +Mill! + +Averil followed upon Aubrey's footsteps, and arrived while the +schoolroom was ringing with notes of vexation and consternation. She +was all upon the defensive. She said that not a word had passed on the +subject since the dinner-party, and there had not been a shadow of a +dispute between the brothers; in fact, she evidently was delighted with +Leonard's dignified position and strength of determination, and thought +this expedition to the Vintry Mill a signal victory. + +When she heard what the Mays had to propose, she was enchanted, she had +no doubt of Henry's willing consent, and felt that Leonard's triumph +and independence were secured without the sacrifice of prospects, which +she had begun to regard as a considerable price for his dignity. + +But Dr. May was not so successful with Henry Ward. He did not want to +disoblige his uncle, who had taken a fancy to Leonard, and might do +much for the family; he thought his father would have changed his views +of the uncle and nephew had he known them better, he would not accept +the opinion of a stranger against people of his own family, and he had +always understood the position of an usher to be most wretched, nor +would he perceive the vast difference between the staff of the middle +school and of the private commercial academy. He evidently was pleased +to stand upon his rights, to disappoint Dr. May, and perhaps to gratify +his jealousy by denying his brother a superior education. + +Yet in spite of this ebullition, which had greatly exasperated Dr. May, +there was every probability that Henry's consent might be wrung out or +dispensed with, and plans of attack were being arranged at the +tea-table, when a new obstacle in the shape of a note from Leonard +himself. + + +'My Dear Aubrey, + +'I am very much obliged to Dr. May and Mr. Cheviot for their kind +intentions; but I have quite settled with Mr. Axworthy, and I enter on +my new duties next week. I am sorry to leave our corps, but it is too +far off, and I must enter the Whitford one. + + 'Yours, + 'L. A. Ward.' + + +'The boy is mad with pride and temper,' said the Doctor. + +'And his sister has made him so,' added Ethel. + +'Shall I run down to Bankside and tell him it is all bosh?' said +Aubrey, jumping up. + +'I don't think that is quite possible under Henry's very nose,' said +Ethel. 'Perhaps they will all be tamer by to-morrow, now they have +blown their trumpets; but I am very much vexed.' + +'And really,' added Mr. Cheviot, 'if he is so wrong-headed, I begin to +doubt if I could recommend him.' + +'You do not know how he has been galled and irritated,' said the +general voice. + +'I wonder what Mrs. Pugh thinks of it,' presently observed the Doctor. + +'Ah!' said Ethel, 'Mrs. Pugh is reading "John of Anjou".' + +'Indeed!' said the Doctor; 'I suspected the wind was getting into that +quarter. Master Henry does not know his own interest: she was sure to +take part with a handsome lad.' + +'Why have you never got Mrs. Pugh to speak for him?' said Mary. 'I am +sure she would.' + +'O, Mary! simple Mary, you to be Ave's friend, and not know that her +interposition is the only thing wanting to complete the frenzy of the +other two!' + +Ethel said little more that evening, she was too much grieved and too +anxious. She was extremely disappointed in Leonard, and almost +hopeless as to his future. She saw but one chance of preventing his +seeking this place of temptation, and that was in the exertion of her +personal influence. His avoidance of her showed that he dreaded it, +but one attempt must be made. All night was spent in broken dreams of +just failing to meet him, or of being unable to utter what was on her +tongue; and in her waking moments she almost reproached herself for the +discovery how near her heart he was, and how much pleasure his devotion +had given her. + +Nothing but resolution on her own part could bring about a meeting, and +she was resolute. She stormed the castle in person, and told Averil +she must speak to Leonard. Ave was on her side now, and answered with +tears in her eyes that she should be most grateful to have Leonard +persuaded out of this dreadful plan, and put in the way of excelling as +he ought to do; she never thought it would come to this. + +'No,' thought Ethel; 'people blow sparks without thinking they may burn +a house down.' + +Ave conducted her to the summer-house, where Leonard was packing up his +fossils. He met them with a face resolutely bent on brightness. 'I am +to take all my household gods,' he said, as he shook hands with Ethel. + +'I see,' said Ethel, gravely; and as Averil was already falling out of +hearing, she added, 'I thought you were entirely breaking with your old +life.' + +'No, indeed,' said Leonard, turning to walk with her in the paths; 'I +am leaving the place where it is most impossible to live in.' + +'This has been a place of great, over-great trial, I know,' said Ethel, +'but I do not ask you to stay in it.' + +'My word is my word,' said Leonard, snapping little boughs off the +laurels as he walked. + +'A hasty word ought not to be kept.' + +His face looked rigid, and he answered not. + +'Leonard,' she said, 'I have been very unhappy about you, for I see you +doing wilfully wrong, and entering a place of temptation in a dangerous +spirit.' + +'I have given my word,' repeated Leonard. + +'O, Leonard, it is pride that is speaking, not the love of truth and +constancy.' + +'I never defend myself,' said Leonard. + +Ethel felt deeply the obduracy and pride of these answers; her eyes +filled with tears, and her hopes failed. + +Perhaps Leonard saw the pain he was giving, for he softened, and said, +'Miss May, I have thought it over, and I cannot go back. I know I was +carried away by passion at the first moment, and I was willing to make +amends. I was rejected, as you know. Was it fit that we should go on +living together?' + +'I do not ask you to live together.' + +'When he reproached me with the cost of my maintenance, and threatened +me with the mill if I lost the scholarship, which he knew I could not +get, I said I would abide by those words. I do abide by them.' + +'There is no reason that you should. Why should you give up all your +best and highest hopes, because you cannot forgive your brother?' + +'Miss May, if I lived with you and the Doctor, I could have such aims. +Henry has taken care to make them sacrilege for me. I shall never be +fit now, and there's an end of it.' + +'You might--' + +'No, no, no! A school, indeed! I should be dismissed for licking the +boys before a week was out! Besides, I want the readiest way to get on +in the world; I must take care of my sisters; I don't trust one moment +to Henry's affection for any of them. This is no home for me, and it +soon may be no home for them!' and the boy's eyes were full of tears, +though his voice struggled for firmness and indifference. + +'I am very sorry for you, Leonard,' said Ethel, much more +affectionately, as she felt herself nearer her friend of Coombe. 'I am +glad you have some better motives, but I do not see how you will be +more able to help them in this way.' + +'I shall be near them,' said Leonard; 'I can watch over them. And +if--if--it is true what they say about Henry and Mrs. Pugh--then they +could have a cottage near the mill, and I could live with them. Don't +you see, Miss May?' + +'Yes; but I question whether, on further acquaintance, you will wish +for your sisters to be with their relations there. The other course +would put you in the way of a better atmosphere for them.' + +'But not for six years,' said Leonard. 'No, Miss May; to show you it +is not what you think in me, I will tell you that I had resolved the +last thing to ask Henry's pardon for my share in this unhappy +half-year; but this is the only resource for me or my sisters, and my +mind is made up.' + +'O, Leonard, are you not deceiving yourself? Are the grapes ever so +sour, or the nightshade below so sweet, as when the fox has leapt too +short, and is too proud to climb?' + +'Nightshade! Why, pray?' + +'My father would tell you; I know he thinks your cousin no safe +companion.' + +'I know that already, but I can keep out of his way.' + +'Then this is the end of it,' said Ethel, feeling only half justified +in going so far, 'the end of all we thought and talked of at Coombe!' + +There was a struggle in the boy's face, and she did not know whether +she had touched or angered him. 'I can't help it,' he said, as if he +would have recalled his former hardness; but then softening, 'No, Miss +May, why should it be? A man can do his duty in any state of life.' + +'In any state of life where God has placed him; but how when it is his +own self-will?' + +'There are times when one must judge for one's self.' + +'Very well, then, I have done, Leonard. If you can conscientiously +feel that you are acting for the best, and not to gratify your pride, +then I can only say I hope you will be helped through the course you +have chosen. Good-bye.' + +'But--Miss May--though I cannot take your advice--' he hesitated, 'this +is not giving me up?' + +'Never, while you let me esteem you.' + +'Thank you,' he said, brightening, 'that is something to keep my head +above water, even if this place were all you think it.' + +'My father thinks,' said Ethel. + +'I am engaged now; I cannot go back,' said Leonard. 'Thank you. Miss +May.' + +'Thank you for listening patiently,' said Ethel. 'Good-bye.' + +'And--and,' he added earnestly, following her back to the house, 'you +do not think the Coombe days cancelled?' + +'If you mean my hopes of you,' said Ethel, with a swelling heart, 'as +long as you do your duty--for--for the highest reason, they will only +take another course, and I will try to think it the right one.' + +Ethel had mentally made this interview the test of her regard for +Leonard. She had failed, and so had her test; her influence had not +succeeded, but it had not snapped; the boy, in all his wilfulness, had +been too much for her, and she could no longer condemn and throw him +off! + +Oh! why will not the rights and wrongs of this world be more clearly +divided! + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + The stream was deeper than I thought + When first I ventured here, + I stood upon its sloping edge + Without a rising fear.--H. BONAR + + +It was a comfort to find that the brothers parted on good terms. The +elder was beholden to the younger for the acquiescence that removed the +odium of tyranny from the expulsion, and when the one great disturbance +had silenced the ephemeral dissensions that had kept both minds in a +constant state of irritation, Henry wanted, by kindness and +consideration, to prove to himself and the world that Leonard's real +interests were his sole object; and Leonard rejoiced in being at peace, +so long as his pride and resolution were not sacrificed. He went off +as though his employment had been the unanimous choice of the family, +carrying with him his dog, his rifle, his fishing-rod, his fossils, and +all his other possessions, but with the understanding that his Sundays +were to be passed at home, by way of safeguard to his religion and +morals, bespeaking the care and consideration of his senior, as Henry +assured himself and Mrs. Pugh, and tried to persuade his sister and Dr. +May. + +But Dr. May was more implacable than all the rest. He called Henry's +action the deed of Joseph's brethren, and viewed the matter as the +responsible head of a family; he had a more vivid contemporaneous +knowledge of the Axworthy antecedents, and he had been a witness to +Henry's original indignant repudiation of such a destiny for his +brother. He was in the mood of a man whose charity had endured long, +and refused to condemn, but whose condemnation, when forced from him, +was therefore doubly strong. The displeasure of a loving charitable +man is indeed a grave misfortune. + +Never had he known a more selfish and unprincipled measure, +deliberately flying in the face of his parents' known wishes before +they had been a year in their graves, exposing his brother to ruinous +temptation with his eyes open. The lad was destroyed body and soul, as +much as if he had been set down in Satan's own clutches; and if they +did not mind what they were about, he would drag Aubrey after him! As +sure as his name was Dick May, he would sooner have cut his hand off +than have sent the boys to Coombe together, could he have guessed that +this was to be the result. + +Such discourses did not tend to make Ethel comfortable. If she had +been silly enough to indulge in a dream of her influence availing to +strengthen Leonard against temptation, she must still have refrained +from exerting it through her wonted medium, since it was her father's +express desire that Aubrey, for his own sake, should be detached from +his friend as much as possible. + +Aubrey was the greatest present difficulty. Long before their illness +the boys had been the resource of each other's leisure, and Coombe had +made their intimacy a friendship of the warmest nature. Aubrey was at +an age peculiarly dependent on equal companionship, and in the absence +of his brothers, the loss of his daily intercourse with Leonard took +away all the zest of life. Even the volunteer practice lost its charm +without the rival with whom he chiefly contended, yet whose success +against others was hotter to him than his own; his other occupations +all wanted partnership, and for the first time in his life he showed +weariness and contempt of his sisters' society and pursuits. He rushed +off on Sunday evenings for a walk with Leonard; and though Dr. May did +not interfere, the daughters saw that the abstinence was an effort of +prudence, and were proportionately disturbed when one day at dinner, in +his father's absence, Aubrey, who had been overlooking his +fishing-flies with some reviving interest, refused all his sisters' +proposals for the afternoon, and when they represented that it was not +a good fishing-day, owned that it was not, but that he was going over +to consult Leonard Ward about some gray hackles. + +'But you mustn't, Aubrey,' cried Gertrude, aghast. + +Aubrey made her a low mocking bow. + +'I am sure papa would be very much vexed,' added she, conclusively. + +'I believe it was luckless Hal that the mill-wheel tore in your nursery +rhymes, eh, Daisy,' said Aubrey. + +'Nursery rhymes, indeed!' returned the offended young lady; 'you know +it is a very wicked place, and papa would be very angry at your going +there.' She looked at Ethel, extremely shocked at her not having +interfered, and disregarding all signs to keep silence. + +'Axworthy--worthy of the axe,' said Aubrey, well pleased to retort a +little teasing by the way; 'young Axworthy baiting the trap, and old +Axworthy sitting up in his den to grind the unwary limb from limb!' + +'Ethel, why don't you tell him not?' exclaimed Gertrude. + +'Because he knows papa's wishes as well as I do,' said Ethel; 'and it +is to them that he must attend, not to you or me.' + +Aubrey muttered something about his father having said nothing to him; +and Ethel succeeded in preventing Daisy from resenting this answer. +She herself hoped to catch him in private, but he easily contrived to +baffle this attempt, and was soon marching out of Stoneborough in a +state of rampant independence, manhood, and resolute friendship, which +nevertheless chose the way where he was least likely to encounter a +little brown brougham. + +Otherwise he might have reckoned three and a half miles of ploughed +field, soppy lane, and water meadow, as more than equivalent to five +miles of good turnpike road. + +Be that as it might, he was extremely glad when, after forcing his way +through a sticky clayey path through a hazel copse, his eye fell on a +wide reach of meadow land, the railroad making a hard line across it at +one end, and in the midst, about half a mile off, the river meandering +like a blue ribbon lying loosely across the green flat, the handsome +buildings of the Vintry Mill lying in its embrace. + +Aubrey knew the outward aspect of the place, for the foreman at the +mill was a frequent patient of his father's, and he had often waited in +the old gig at the cottage door at no great distance; but he looked +with more critical eyes at the home of his friend. + +It was a place with much capacity, built, like the Grange, by the monks +of the convent, which had been the germ of the cathedral, and showing +the grand old monastic style in the solidity of its stone barns and +storehouses, all arranged around a court, whereof the dwelling-house +occupied one side, the lawn behind it with fine old trees, and sloping +down to the water, which was full of bright ripples after its agitation +around the great mill-wheel. The house was of more recent date, having +been built by a wealthy yeoman of Queen Anne's time, and had long +ranges of square-headed sash windows, surmounted by a pediment, carved +with emblems of Ceres and Bacchus, and a very tall front door, also +with a pediment, and with stone stops leading up to it. Of the same +era appeared to be the great gateway, and the turret above it, +containing a clock, the hands of which pointed to 3.40. + +Aubrey had rather it had been four, at which time the office closed. He +looked round the court, which seemed very dean and rather +empty--stables, barns, buildings, and dwelling-house not showing much +sign of life, excepting the ceaseless hum and clack of the mill, and +the dash of the water which propelled it. The windows nearest to him +were so large and low, that he could look in and see that the first two +or three belonged to living rooms, and the next two showed him business +fittings, and a back that he took to be Leonard's; but he paused in +doubt how to present himself, and whether this were a welcome moment, +and he was very glad to see in a doorway of the upper story of the mill +buildings, the honest floury face of his father's old patient--the +foreman. + +Greeting him in the open cordial way common to all Dr. May's children, +Aubrey was at once recognized, and the old man came down a step-ladder +in the interior to welcome him, and answer his question where he should +find Mr. Ward. + +'He is in the office, sir, there, to the left hand as you go in at the +front door, but--' and he looked up at the clock, 'maybe, you would not +mind waiting a bit till it strikes four. I don't know whether master +might be best pleased at young gentlemen coming to see him in office +hours.' + +'Thank you,' said Aubrey. 'I did not mean to be too soon, Hardy, but I +did not know how long the walk would be.' + +Perhaps it would have been more true had he said that he had wanted to +elude his sisters, but he was glad to accept a seat on a bundle of +sacks tremulous with the motion of the mill, and to enter into a +conversation with the old foreman, one of those good old peasants whose +integrity and skill render them privileged persons, worth their weight +in gold long after their bodily strength has given way. + +'Well, Hardy, do you mean to make a thorough good miller of Mr. Ward?' + +'Bless you, Master May, he'll never stay here long enough.' + +'Why not?' + +'No, nor his friends didn't ought to let him stay!' added Hardy. + +'Why?' said Aubrey. 'Do you think so badly of your own trade, Hardy?' + +But he could not get an answer from the oracle on this head. Hardy +continued, 'He's a nice young gentleman, but he'll never put up with +it.' + +'Put up with what?' asked Aubrey, anxiously; but at that instant a +carter appeared at the door with a question for Master Hardy, and +Aubrey was left to his own devices, and the hum and clatter of the +mill, till the clock had struck four; and beginning to think that Hardy +had forgotten him, he was about to set out and reconnoitre, when to his +great joy Leonard himself came hurrying up, and heartily shook him by +the hand. + +'Hardy told me you were here,' he said. 'Well done, old fellow, I +didn't think they would have let you come and see me.' + +'The girls did make a great row about it,' said Aubrey, triumphantly, +'but I was not going to stand any nonsense.' + +Leonard looked a little doubtful; then said, 'Well, will you see the +place, or come and sit in my room? There is the parlour, but we shall +not be so quiet there.' + +Aubrey decided for Leonard's room, and was taken through the front door +into a vestibule paved with white stone, with black lozenges at the +intersections. 'There,' said Leonard, 'the office is here, you see, +and my uncle's rooms beyond, all on the ground floor, he is too infirm +to go up-stairs. This way is the dining-room, and Sam has got a +sitting-room beyond, then there are the servants' rooms. It is a great +place, and horridly empty.' + +Aubrey thought so, as his footsteps echoed up the handsome but ill-kept +stone staircase, with its fanciful balusters half choked with dust, and +followed Leonard along a corridor, with deep windows overlooking the +garden and river, and great panelled doors opposite, neither looking as +if they were often either cleaned or opened, and the passage smelling +very fusty. + +'Pah!' said Aubrey; 'it puts me in mind of the wings of houses in books +that get shut up because somebody has been murdered! Are you sure it +is not haunted, Leonard?' + +'Only by the rats,' he answered, laughing; 'they make such an +intolerable row, that poor little Mab is frightened out of her wits, +and I don't know whether they would not eat her up if she did not creep +up close to me. I'm tired of going at them with the poker, and would +poison every man Jack of them if it were not for the fear of her +getting the dose by mistake.' + +'Is that what Hardy says you will never put up with?' asked Aubrey; but +instead of answering, Leonard turned to one of the great windows, +saying, + +'There now, would not this be a charming place if it were properly +kept?' and Aubrey looked out at the great cedar, spreading out its +straight limbs and flakes of dark foliage over the sloping lawn, one +branch so near the window as to invite adventurous exits, and a little +boat lying moored in the dancing water below. + +'Perfect!' said Aubrey. 'What fish there must lie in the mill tail!' + +'Ay, I mean to have a try at them some of these days, I should like you +to come and help, but perhaps--Ha, little Mab, do you wonder what I'm +after so long? Here's a friend for you: as the little dog danced +delighted round him, and paid Aubrey her affectionate respects. Her +delicate drawing-room beauty did not match with the spacious but +neglected-looking room whence she issued. It had three great +uncurtained windows looking into the court, with deep window-seats, +olive-coloured painted walls, the worse for damp and wear, a small +amount of old-fashioned solid furniture, and all Leonard's individual +goods, chiefly disposed of in a cupboard in the wall, but Averil's +beautiful water-coloured drawings hung over the chimney. To Aubrey's +petted home-bred notions it was very bare and dreary, and he could not +help exclaiming, 'Well, they don't lodge you sumptuously!' + +'I don't fancy many clerks in her Majesty's dominions have so big and +airy an apartment to boast of,' said Leonard. 'Let's see these flies +of yours.' + +Their mysteries occupied the boys for some space; but Aubrey returned +to the charge. 'What is it that Hardy says you'll never put up with, +Leonard?' + +'What did the old fellow say?' asked Leonard, laughing; and as Aubrey +repeated the conversation, ending with the oracular prediction, he +laughed again, but said proudly, 'He'll see himself wrong then. I'll +put up with whatever I've undertaken.' + +'But what does he mean?' + +'Serving one's apprenticeship, I suppose,' said Leonard; 'they all +think me a fine gentleman, and above the work, I know, though I've +never stuck at anything yet. If I take to the business, I suppose it +is capable of being raised up to me--it need not pull me down to it, +eh?' + +'There need be no down in the case,' said Aubrey. 'My father always +says there is no down except in meanness and wrong. But,' as if that +mention brought a recollection to his mind, 'what o'clock is it? I +must not stay much longer.' + +'I'll walk a bit of the way home with you,' said Leonard, 'but I must +be back by five for dinner. I go to rifle practice two days in the +week, and I don't like to miss the others, for Sam's often out, and the +poor old man does not like being left alone at meals.' + +The two boys were at the room door, when Aubrey heard a step, felt the +fustiness enlivened by the odour of a cigar, and saw a figure at the +top of the stairs. + +'I say, Ward,' observed Mr. Sam, in a rude domineering voice, +'Spelman's account must be all looked over to-night; he says that there +is a blunder. D'ye hear?' + +'Very well.' + +'Who have you got there?' + +'It is Aubrey May.' + +'Oh! good morning to you,' making a kind of salutation; 'have you been +looking at the water? We've got some fine fish there, if you like to +throw a line any day.--Well, that account must be done to-night, and if +you can't find the error, you'll only have to do it over again.' + +Leonard's colour had risen a good deal, but he said nothing, and his +cousin ran down-stairs and drove off in his dog-cart. + +'Is it much of a business?' said Aubrey, feeling extremely indignant. + +'Look here,' said Leonard, leading the way down-stairs and into the +office, where he pointed to two huge account books. 'Every page in +that one must I turn over this blessed night; and if he had only told +me three hours ago, I could have done the chief of it, instead of +kicking my heels all the afternoon.' + +'Has he any right to order you about, out of office hours, and without +a civil word either? Why do you stand it?' + +'Because I can stand anything better than being returned on Henry's +hands,' said Leonard, 'and he has spite enough for that. The thing +must be done, and if he won't do it, I must, that's all. Come along.' + +As they went out the unwieldy figure of the elder Mr. Axworthy was +seen, leaning out of his open window, smoking a clay pipe. He spoke in +a much more friendly tone, as he said, 'Going out, eh? Mind the +dinner-time.' + +'Yes, sir,' said Leonard, coming nearer, 'I'm not going far.' + +'Who have you got there?' was again asked. + +'One of the young Mays, sir. I was going to walk part of the way back.' + +Aubrey thought the grunt not very civil; and as the boys and Mab passed +under the gateway, Leonard continued, 'There's not much love lost +between him and your father; he hates the very name.' + +'I should expect he would,' said Aubrey, as if his hatred were an +honour. + +'I fancy there's some old grievance,' said Leonard, 'where he was wrong +of course. Not that that need hinder your coming over, Aubrey; I've a +right to my own friends, but--' + +'And so have I to mine,' said Aubrey eagerly. + +'But you see,' added Leonard, 'I wouldn't have you do it--if--if it +vexes your sister. I can see you every Sunday, you know, and we can +have some fun together on Saturdays when the evenings get longer.' + +Aubrey's face fell; he had a strong inclination for Leonard's company, +and likewise for the trout in the mill tail, and he did not like his +independence to be unappreciated. + +'You see,' said Leonard, laying his hand kindly on his shoulder, 'it is +very jolly of you, but I know they would hate it in the High Street if +you were often here, and it is not worth that. Besides, Aubrey, to +tell the plain truth, Sam's not fit company for any decent fellow.' + +'I can't think how he came to ask me to fish.' + +'Just to show he is master, because he knew the poor old man would not +like it! It is one reason he is so savage with me, because his uncle +took me without his consent.' + +'But, Leonard, it must be worse than the living at home ever was.' + +Leonard laughed. 'It's different being jawed in the way of business +and at one's own home. I'd go through a good deal more than I do here +in the week to have home what it is now on Sunday. Why, Henry really +seems glad to see me, and we have not had the shadow of a row since I +came over here. Don't you tell Ave all this, mind, and you may just as +well not talk about it at home, you know, or they will think I'm going +to cry off.' + +Aubrey was going to ask what he looked to; but Leonard saw, or thought +he saw, a weasel in the hedge, and the consequent charge and pursuit +finished the dialogue, the boys parted, and Aubrey walked home, his +satisfaction in his expedition oozing away at every step, though his +resolve to assert his liberty grew in proportion. + +Of course it had not been possible to conceal from Dr. May where Aubrey +was gone, and his annoyance had burst out vehemently, the whole round +of objurgations against the Wards, the Vintry Mill, and his own folly +in fostering the friendship, were gone through, and Ethel had come in +for more than she could easily bear, for not having prevented the +escapade. Gertrude had hardly ever seen her father so angry, and sat +quaking for her brother; and Ethel meekly avoided answering again, with +the happy trustfulness of experienced love. + +At last, as the tea was nearly over, Aubrey walked in, quite ready for +self-defence. Nobody spoke for a little while, except to supply him +with food; but presently Dr. May said, not at all in the tone in which +he had talked of his son's journey, 'You might as well have told me of +your intentions, Aubrey.' + +'I didn't think they mattered to anybody,' said Aubrey; 'we generally +go our own way in the afternoon.' + +'Oh!' said Dr. May. 'Interference with the liberty of the subject?' + +Aubrey coloured, and felt he had not quite spoken truth. 'I could not +give him up, father,' he said, less defiantly. + +'No, certainly not; but I had rather you only saw him at home. It will +be more for our peace of mind.' + +'Well, father,' said Aubrey, 'I am not going there any more. He told +me not himself:' and then with laughing eyes he added, 'He said you +would not like it, Ethel.' + +'Poor boy!' said Ethel, greatly touched. + +'Very right of him,' said Dr. May, well pleased. 'He is a fine lad, +and full of proper feeling. What sort of a berth has the old rogue +given him, Aubrey?' + +Much relieved that matters had taken this course, Aubrey tried to tell +only as much as his friend would approve, but the medium was not easily +found, and pretty nearly the whole came out. Dr. May was really +delighted to hear how Sam treated him. + +'If that fellow takes the oppressive line, there may be some hope,' he +said. 'His friendship is the worse danger than his enmity.' + +When the sisters had bidden good night, the Doctor detained Aubrey to +say very kindly, 'My boy, I do not like to hear of your running counter +to your sister. + +'I'm not going there again,' said Aubrey, willing to escape. + +'Wait a minute, Aubrey,' said Dr. May; 'I want to tell you that I feel +for you in this matter more than my way of talking may have made it +seem to you. I have a great regard for your friend Leonard, and think +he has been scandalously used, and I don't want to lessen your +attachment to him. Far be it from me to think lightly of a friendship, +especially of one formed at your age. Your very name, my boy, shows +that I am not likely to do that!' + +Aubrey smiled frankly, his offended self-assertion entirely melted. + +'I know it is very hard on you, but you can understand that the very +reasons that made me so averse to Leonard's taking this situation, +would make me anxious to keep you away from his relations there, not +necessarily from him. As long as he is what he is now, I would not +lift a finger to keep you from him. Have I ever done so, Aubrey?' + +'No, papa.' + +'Nor will I, as long as he is what I see him now. After this, Aubrey, +is it too much to ask of you to keep out of the way of the persons with +whom he is thrown?' + +'I will do so, papa. He wishes it himself.' Then with an effort, he +added, 'I am sorry I went to-day; I ought not, but--' and he looked a +little foolish. + +'You did not like taking orders from the girls? No wonder, Aubrey; I +have been very thankful to you for bearing it as you have done. It is +the worst of home education that these spirits of manliness generally +have no vent but mischief. But you are old enough now to be thankful +for such a friend and adviser as Ethel, and I don't imagine that she +orders you.' + +'No,' said Aubrey, smiling and mumbling; 'but Daisy--' + +'Oh, I can quite understand the aggravation of Daisy happening to be +right; but you must really be man enough to mind your own conscience, +even if Daisy is imprudent enough to enforce it.' + +'It was not only that,' said Aubrey, 'but I could not have Ward +thinking I turned up my nose at his having got into business.' + +'No, Aubrey, he need never fancy it is the business that I object to, +but the men. Make that clear to him, and ask him to this house as much +as you please. The more "thorough" he is in his business, the more I +shall respect him.' + +Aubrey smiled, and thanked his father with a cleared brow, wondering at +himself for having gone without consulting him. + +'Good night, my boy. May this friendship of yours be a lifelong stay +and blessing to you both, even though it may cost you some pain and +self-command, as all good things must, Aubrey.' + +That evening Ethel had been writing to Cambridge. Tom had passed his +examination with great credit, and taken an excellent degree, after +which he projected a tour in Germany, for which he had for some time +been economizing, as a well-earned holiday before commencing his course +of hospitals and lectures. Tom was no great correspondent, and had +drilled his sisters into putting nothing but the essential into their +letters, instead, as he said, of concealing it in flummery. This is a +specimen of the way Tom liked to be written to. + + + 'Stoneborough, Feb. 20th. +'My Dear Tom, + +'Dr. Spencer says nothing answers so well as a knapsack. Get one at +----. The price is L. s. d. Order extra fittings as required, +including a knife and fork. Letters from N. Z. of the 1st of November, +all well. I wish Aubrey was going with you; he misses Leonard Ward so +sorely, as to be tempted to follow him to the Vintry Mill. I suspect +your words are coming true, and the days of petticoat government +ending. However, even if he would not be in your way, he could not +afford to lose six months' study before going into residence. + + 'Your affectionate sister, + 'Etheldred May.' + + +Tom wrote that he should spend a night in London and come home. When +he came, the family exclaimed that his microscope, whose handsome case +he carried in his hand, was much grown. 'And improved too, I hope' +said Tom, proceeding to show off various new acquisitions and exchanges +in the way of eye-pieces, lenses, and other appliances of the most +expensive order, till his father exclaimed, + +'Really, Tom, I wish I had the secret of your purse.' + +'The fact is,' said Tom, 'that I thought more would be gained by +staying at home, so I turned my travels into a binocular tube,' &C. + +Aubrey and Gertrude shouted that Tom certainly did love the microscope +better than any earthly thing; and he coolly accepted the inference. + +Somewhat later, he announced that he had decided that he should be +better able to profit by the London lectures and hospitals, if he first +studied for half a year at the one at Stoneborough, under the direction +of his father and Dr. Spencer. + +Dr. May was extremely gratified, and really esteemed this one of the +greatest compliments his science had ever received; Dr. Spencer could +not help observing, 'I did not think it was in him to do such a wise +thing. I never can fathom the rogue. I hope he was not bitten during +his benevolent exertions last winter.' + +Meantime, Tom had observed that he had time to see that Aubrey was +decently prepared for Cambridge, and further promoted the boy to be his +out-of-door companion, removing all the tedium and perplexity of the +last few weeks, though apparently merely indulging his own +inclinations. Ethel recognized the fruit of her letter, and could well +forgive the extra care in housekeeping required for Tom's critical +tastes, nay, the cool expulsion of herself and Gertrude from her twenty +years' home, the schoolroom, and her final severance from Aubrey's +studies, though at the cost of a pang that reminded her of her +girlhood's sorrow at letting Norman shoot ahead of her. She gave no +hint; she knew that implicit reserve was the condition of his strange +silent confidence in her, and that it would be utterly forfeited unless +she allowed his fraternal sacrifice to pass for mere long-headed +prudence. + +Aubrey's Saturday and Sunday meetings with his friend were not yielded, +even to Tom, who endeavoured to interfere with them, and would fain +have cut the connection with the entire family, treating Miss Ward with +the most distant and supercilious bows on the unpleasantly numerous +occasions of meeting her in the street, and contriving to be markedly +scornful in his punctilious civility to Henry Ward when they met at the +hospital. His very look appeared a sarcasm, to the fancy of the Wards; +and he had a fashion of kindly inquiring after Leonard, that seemed to +both a deliberate reproach and insult. + +Disputes had become less frequent at Bankside since Leonard's +departure, and few occasions of actual dissension arose; but the spirit +of party was not extinguished, and the brother and sister had adopted +lines that perhaps clashed less because they diverged more. + +Averil had, in reply to the constant exhortations to economize, +resolved to decline all invitations, and this kept her constantly at +home, or with her harmonium, whereas Henry made such constant +engagements, that their dining together was the exception, not the +rule. After conscientiously teaching her sisters in the morning, she +devoted the rest of her day to their walk, and to usefulness in the +parish. She liked her tasks, and would have been very happy in them, +but for the constant anxiety that hung over her lest her home should +soon cease to be her home. + +Henry's devotion to Mrs. Pugh could no longer be mistaken. The +conviction of his intentions grew upon his sister, first from a mere +absurd notion, banished from her mind with derision, then from a +misgiving angrily silenced, to a fixed expectation, confirmed by the +evident opinion of all around her, and calling for decision and +self-command on her own part. + +Perhaps her feelings were unnecessarily strong, and in some degree +unjust to Mrs. Pugh; but she had the misfortune to be naturally proud +and sensitive, as well as by breeding too refined in tone for most of +those who surrounded her. She had taken a personal dislike to Mrs. +Pugh from the first; she regarded pretension as insincerity, and +officiousness as deliberate insult, and she took the recoil of her +taste for the judgment of principle. To see such a woman ruling in her +mother's, her own, home would be bad enough; but to be ruled by her, +and resign to her the management of the children, would be intolerable +beyond measure. Too unhappy to speak of her anticipations even to +Leonard or to Mary May, she merely endeavoured to throw them off from +day to day, till one evening, when the days had grown so long that she +could linger in the twilight in the garden before her singing practice, +she was joined by Henry, with the long apprehended 'I want to speak to +you, Ave.' + +Was it coming? Her heart beat so fast, that she could hardly hear his +kind commencement about her excellent endeavours, and the house's +unhappy want of a mistress, the children's advantage, and so on. She +knew it could only tend to one point, and longed to have it reached and +passed. Of course she would be prepared to hear who was the object of +his choice, and she could not but murmur 'Yes,' and 'Well.' + +'And, Ave, you will, I hope, be gratified to hear that I am not +entirely rejected. The fact is, that I spoke too soon.' Averil could +have jumped for joy, and was glad it was too dusk for her face to be +seen. 'I do not believe that her late husband could have had any +strong hold on her affections; but she has not recovered the shock of +his loss, and entreated, as a favour granted to her sentiments of +respect for his memory, not to hear the subject mentioned for at least +another year. I am permitted to visit at the house as usual, and no +difference is to be made in the terms on which we stand. Now, Ave, +will you--may I ask of you, to do what you can to remove any impression +that she might not be welcome in the family?' + +'I never meant--' faltered Averil, checked by sincerity. + +'You have always been--so--so cold and backward in cultivating her +acquaintance, that I cannot wonder if she should think it disagreeable +to you; but, Ave, when you consider my happiness, and the immense +advantage to all of you, I am sure you will do what is in your power in +my behalf.' He spoke more affectionately and earnestly than he had +done for months; and Averil was touched, and felt that to hang back +would be unkind. + +'I will try,' she said. 'I do hope it may turn out for your happiness, +Henry.' + +'For all our happiness,' said Henry, walking down to the gate and along +the road with her, proving all the way that he was acting solely for +the good of the others, and that Averil and the children would find +their home infinitely happier. + +A whole year--a year's reprieve--was the one thought in Averil's head, +that made her listen so graciously, and answer so amiably, that Henry +parted with her full of kind, warm feeling. + +As the sage said, who was to be beheaded if he could not in a year +teach the king's ass to speak--what might not happen in a year; the +king might die, the ass might die, or he might die--any way there was +so much gained: and Averil, for the time, felt as light-hearted as if +Mrs. Pugh had vanished into empty air. To be sure, her own life had, +of late, been far from happy; but this extension of it was bailed with +suppressed ecstasy--almost as an answer to her prayers. Ah, Ave, +little did you know what you wished in hoping for anything to prevent +the marriage! + +She did obey her brother so far as to call upon Mrs. Pugh, whom she +found in ordinary mourning, and capless--a sign that dismayed her; but, +on the other hand, the lady, though very good-natured and patronizing, +entertained her with the praises of King John, and showed her a copy of +Magna Charta in process of illumination. Also, during her call, Tom +May walked in with a little book on drops of water; and Averil found +the lady had become inspired with a microscopic furore, and was +thinking of setting up a lens, and preparing objects for herself, under +good tuition. + +Though Averil was very desirous that Mrs. Pugh should refuse her +brother, yet this was the last service she wished the May family to +render her. She was sure Tom May must dislike and despise the widow as +much as she did; and since the whole town was unluckily aware of +Henry's intentions, any interference with them was base and malicious, +if in the way of mere amusement and flirtation. She was resolved to +see what the game was, but only did see that her presence greatly +disconcerted 'Mr. Thomas May.' + +Henry was wretched and irritable in the velvet paws of the widow, who +encouraged him enough to give him hope, and then held him aloof, or was +equally amiable to some one else. Perhaps the real interpretation was, +that she loved attention. She was in all sincerity resolved to observe +a proper period of widowhood, and not determined whether, when, or how, +it should terminate: courtship amused her, and though attracted by +Henry and his good house, the evidences of temper and harshness had +made her unwilling to commit herself; besides that, she was afraid of +Averil, and she was more flattered by the civilities of a lioncel like +Harvey Anderson; or if she could be sure of what Mr. Thomas May's +intentions were, she would have preferred an embryo physician to a +full-grown surgeon--at any rate, it was right by her poor dear Mr. Pugh +to wait. + +She need not have feared having Averil as an inmate. Averil talked it +over with Leonard, and determined that no power on earth should make +her live with Mrs. Pugh. If that were necessary to forward his suit, +she would make it plain that she was ready to depart. + +'Oh, Leonard, if my uncle were but a nice sort of person, how pleasant +it would be for me and the children to live there, and keep his house; +and I could make him so comfortable, and nurse him!' + +'Never, Ave!' cried Leonard; 'don't let the thing be talked of.' + +'Oh no, I know it would not do with Samuel there; but should we be too +young for your old scheme of having a cottage together near?' + +'I did not know what the Axworthys were like,' returned Leonard. + +'But need we see them much?' + +'I'll tell you what, Ave, I've heard them both--yes, the old man the +worst of the two--say things about women that made my blood boil.' +Leonard was quite red as he spoke. 'My father never let my mother see +any of the concern, and now I know why. I'll never let you do so.' + +'Then there is only one other thing to be done,' said Averil; 'and that +is for me to go back to school as a parlour boarder, and take the +children with me. It would be very good for them, and dear Mrs. Wood +would be very glad to have me.' + +'Yes,' said Leonard, 'that is the only right thing, Ave; and the Mays +will say so, too. Have you talked it over with them!' + +'No. I hate talking of this thing.' + +'Well, you had better get their advice. It is the best thing going!' +said Leonard, with a sigh that sounded as if he wished he had taken it. + +But it was not to Averil that he said so. To her he spoke brightly of +serving the time for which he was bound to his uncle; then of making a +fresh engagement, that would open a home to her; or, better still, +suppose Sam did not wish to go on with the business, he might take it, +and make the mill the lovely place it might be. It was to Aubrey May +that the boy's real feelings came out, as, on the Sunday evening, they +slowly wandered along the bank of the river. Aubrey had seen a +specimen of his life at the mill, and had been kept up to the knowledge +of its events, and he well knew that Leonard was heartily sick of it. +That the occupation was uncongenial and tedious in the extreme to a boy +of good ability and superior education--nay, that the drudgery was made +unnecessarily oppressive, was not the point he complained of, though it +was more trying than he had expected, that was the bed that he had +made, and that he must lie upon. It was the suspicion of frauds and +tricks of the trade, and, still worse, the company that he lived in. +Sam Axworthy hated and tyrannized over him too much to make dissipation +alluring; and he was only disgusted by the foul language, coarse +manners, and the remains of intemperance worked on in violent temper. + +The old man, though helpless and past active vice, was even more coarse +in mind and conversation than his nephew; and yet his feebleness, and +Sam's almost savage treatment of him, enlisted Leonard's pity on his +side. In general, the old man was kind to Leonard, but would abuse him +roundly when the evidences of his better principles and training, or +his allegiance to Dr. May, came forward, and Leonard, though greatly +compassionating him, could not always bear his reproaches with +patience, and was held back from more attention to him than common +humanity required, by an unlucky suggestion that he was currying favour +in the hope of supplanting Sam. + +'Old Hardy is the only honest man in the place, I do believe,' said +Leonard. 'I'll tell you what, Aubrey, I have made up my mind, there is +one thing I will not do. If ever they want to make me a party to any +of their cheatings, I'll be off. That window and the cedar-tree stand +very handy. I've been out there to bathe in the early summer mornings, +plenty of times already, so never you be surprised if some fine day you +hear--non est inventus.' + +'And where would you go?' + +'Get up to London, and see if my quarter's salary would take me out in +the steerage to some diggings or other. What would your brother say to +me if I turned up at the Grange--New Zealand?' + +'Say! Mention Ethel, and see what he would not say.' + +And the two boys proceeded to arrange the details of the evasion in +such vivid colouring, that they had nearly forgotten all present +troubles, above all when Leonard proceeded to declare that New Zealand +was too tame and too settled for him, he should certainly find +something to do in the Feejee Isles, where the high spirit of the +natives, their painted visages, and marvellous head-dresses, as +depicted in Captain Erskine's voyage, had greatly fired his fancy, and +they even settled how the gold fields should rebuild the Market Cross. + +'And when I'm gone, Aubrey, mind you see to Mab,' he said, laughing. + +'Oh! I thought Mab was to act Whittington's cat.' + +'I'm afraid they would eat her up; besides, there's the voyage. No, +you must keep her till I come home, even if she is to end like Argus. +Would you die of joy at seeing me, eh, little black neb?' + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + Let us meet, + And question this most bloody piece of work, + To know it farther. Macbeth + + +'If you please, sir, Master Hardy from the Vintry Mill wants to see +you, said a voice at Dr. May's door early in the morning; and the +Doctor completed his dressing in haste, muttering to himself +exclamations of concern that the old man's malady should have returned. + +On entering the study, Hardy's appearance, whiter than even the +proverbial hue of his trade, his agitation of feature, confused eye, +and trembling lip, inspired fears that the case was more alarming than +had been apprehended; but to cheer him, the Doctor began, 'Frightened +about yourself, Master Hardy, eh! You've come out without breakfast, +and that's enough to put any man out of heart.' + +'No, sir,' said the old man, 'it is nothing about myself; I wish it +were no worse; but I've not got the heart to go to tell the poor young +gentleman, and I thought--' + +'What--what has happened to the boy?' exclaimed Dr. May, sharply, +standing as if ready to receive the rifle shot which he already +believed had destroyed Leonard. + +'That's what we can't say, sir,' returned Hardy; 'but he is gone, no +one knows where. And, sir, my poor master was found at five o'clock +this morning, in his chair in his sitting-room, stone dead from a blow +on the head.' + +'Mind what you are saying!' shouted the Doctor passionately. 'You old +scoundrel, you don't mean to tell me that you are accusing the lad!' + +'I accuse nobody, sir,' said the old man, standing his ground, and +speaking steadily, but respectfully, 'I wouldn't say nothing to bring +any one into trouble if I could help it, and I came to ask you what was +to be done.' + +'Yes, yes; I beg your pardon, Hardy, but it sounded enough to overset +one. Your poor master murdered, you say!' + +Hardy nodded assent. + +'And young Ward missing? Why, the burglars must have hurt the poor +fellow in defending his uncle. Have you searched the place?' + +'I never thought of that, sir,' said Hardy, his countenance much +relieved; 'it would be more like such a young gentleman as Mr. Ward.' + +'Then we'll get over to the mill as fast as we can, and see what can be +done,' said Dr. May, snatching up his hat and gloves. 'You come and +walk with me to Bankside, and tell me by the way about this terrible +business. Good heavens! they'll have thrown the boy into the river!' + +And calling out that his carriage should follow to Bankside, the Doctor +dashed up-stairs, and knocked at Ethel's door. 'My dear,' he said, +'there has been a robbery or something at the Vintry Mill. I must go +and see Henry Ward about it. Poor old Axworthy is murdered, and I'm +terribly afraid Leonard has met with some foul play. You or Mary had +better go and see about Ave presently, but don't believe a word of +anything till you see me again.' + +And shutting the door, while Ethel felt as if the room were reeling +round with her, Dr. May was in a few seconds more hastening along by +Hardy's side, extracting from him the little he had to tell. The old +man had been unlocking the door of the mill at five o'clock, when he +was summoned by loud shrieks from the window of Mr. Axworthy's +sitting-room, and found that the little maid had been appalled by the +sight of her master sunk forward from his gouty chair upon the table, +his hair covered with blood. Hardy had been the first to touch him, +and to perceive that he had long been dead. The housekeeper, the only +other servant who slept in the house, had rushed in half-dressed; but +neither nephew appeared. Young Axworthy had gone the previous day to +the county races, leaving the time of his return doubtful, and Leonard +Ward did not answer when called. It was then found that his room was +empty, his bed untouched, and the passage window outside his door left +open. The terrified servants held confused consultation, and while the +groom had hurried off to give the alarm at Whitford, and ride on in +search of Sam Axworthy, Hardy had taken another horse and started to +inform Henry Ward, but his heart failing him, he had come to beg the +Doctor to break the intelligence to the family. + +Dr. May had few doubts that the robbers must have entered by the +passage window, and meeting resistance from Leonard, must have dragged +him out, and perhaps thrown him from it, then having gone on to their +murderous work in the old man's sitting-room. In that great rambling +house, where the maids slept afar off, and the rats held nightly +gambols, strange noises were not likely to be observed; and the thought +of Leonard lying stunned and insensible on the grass, made the Doctor's +pace almost a run, as if he were hastening to the rescue. + +When Mr. Ward sent down word that he was not up, Dr. May replied that +he must see him in bed, and followed upon the very heels of the +messenger, encountering no amiable face, for Henry had armed himself +for defence against any possible reproaches for his treatment of any +patient. Even when Dr. May began, 'Henry, my poor fellow, I have +frightful news for you,' his month was opening to reply, 'I knew we +should lose that case,' let the patient be who he might, when the few +simple words put to flight all petulant jealousy, and restored Henry +Ward to what he had been when in his hour of sickness and affliction he +had leant in full confidence on Dr. May's unfailing kindness. + +He was dressed by the time the brougham was at the door, and would have +hurried off without telling his sister of the alarm; but Dr. May, +knowing that the town must soon be ringing with the news, was sending +him to Averil's room, when both rejoiced to see Mary enter the house. +Charging her to keep Averil quiet, and believe nothing but what came +from themselves, they thrust on her the terrible commission and +hastened away, dwelling on the hope that every moment might be +important. + +Old Hardy had already mounted his cart-horse, and for him farm roads so +shortened the distance, that he received them at the entrance of the +courtyard, which was crowded with excited gazers and important +policemen. + +'Found him?' was the instantaneous question of both; but Hardy shook +his head so sadly, that the Doctor hastily exclaimed, 'What then?' + +'Sir,' said Hardy very low, and with a deprecating look, 'he did go up +by the mail train to London last night--got in at Blewer station at +12.15. They have telegraphed up, sir.' + +'I'll lay my life it is all a mistake,' said Dr. May, grasping Henry's +arm as if to give him support, and looking him in the face as though +resolved that neither should be cast down. + +'That's not all, sir,' added Hardy, still addressing himself to the +elder gentleman. 'There's his rifle, sir.' + +'Why, he was not shot!' sharply cried Dr. May. 'You told me so +yourself.' + +'No, sir; but--You'll see for yourself presently! There's the blood +and gray hairs on the stock, sir.' + +'Never fear, Henry; we shall see,' said Dr. May, pressing on, and +adding as soon as they were out of hearing, 'Nothing those folks, even +the best of them, like so well as laying on horrors thick enough.' + +A policeman stood at the house door to keep off idlers; but Dr. May's +character and profession, as well as his municipal rank, caused way to +be instantly made for them. They found a superintendent within, and he +at once began, 'Most unfortunate business, Mr. Mayor--very mysterious;' +then, as a sign from the Doctor made him aware of Henry Ward's near +concern, he added, 'Shall I inform young Mr. Axworthy that you are +here?' + +'Is he come?' + +'Yes, sir. He had only slept at the Three Goblets, not half a mile +across the fields, you know, Mr. Mayor--came home too late to disturb +the house here, slept there, and was on the spot at the first +intelligence--before I was myself,' added the superintendent a little +jealously. + +'Where is he?' + +'In his room, sir. He was extremely overcome, and retired to his room +as soon as the necessary steps had been taken. Would you wish to see +the room, sir? We are keeping it locked till the inquest takes place; +but--' + +Henry asked, 'When?' his first word since his arrival, and almost +inarticulate. + +He was answered that it would probably be at two that afternoon; the +Whitford coroner had intimated that he was ready, and the down train +would be in by one. A telegram had just arrived, reporting that the +electric message had anticipated the mail train, and that young Mr. +Ward would be brought down in time. + +'Never mind, never heed, Henry,' persisted Dr. May, pressing the young +man's arm as they proceeded to the door of the sitting-room; 'he must +be intensely shocked, but he will explain the whole. Nay, I've no +doubt we shall clear him. His rifle, indeed! I could swear to his +rifle anywhere.' + +The superintendent had by this time opened the door of the +sitting-room, communicating on one side with the office, on the other +with the old man's bed-room. + +Except that the body had been carried to the bed in the inner chamber, +all remained as it had been found. There were no signs of robbery--not +even of a struggle. The cushions of the easy-chair still bore the +impress of the sitter's weight; the footstool was hardly pushed aside; +the massive library table was undisturbed; the silver spoons and +sugar-tongs beside the tumbler and plate on the supper tray; the yellow +light of the lamp still burnt; not a paper was ruffled, not a drawer +pulled out. Only a rifle stood leaning against the window shutter, and +towards it both friend and brother went at once, hoping and trusting +that it would be a stranger to their eyes. + +Alas! alas! only too familiar were the rich brown mottlings of the +stock, the steel mountings, the eagle crest, and twisted H. E. cipher! +and in sickness of heart the Doctor could not hide from himself the +dark clot of gore and the few white hairs adhering to the wood, and +answering to the stain that dyed the leather of the desk. + +Henry could not repress an agonized groan, and averted his face; but +his companion undaunted met the superintendent's eye and query, 'You +know it, sir!' + +'I do. It was my son-in-law's present to him. I wonder where he kept +it, for the ruffians to get hold of it.' + +The superintendent remained civil and impassive, and no one spoke to +break the deathly hush of the silent room, filled with the appliances +of ordinary business life, but tainted with the awful unexplained mark +that there had been the foot of the shedder of blood in silence and at +unawares. + +The man in authority at length continued his piteous exhibition. Dr. +Rankin of Whitford had arrived on the first alarm; but would not the +gentlemen see the body? And he led them on, Dr. May's eyes on the +alert to seize on anything exculpatory, but detecting nothing, seeing +only the unwieldy helpless form and aged feeble countenance of the +deceased, and receiving fresh impressions of the brutality and +cowardice of the hand that could have struck the blow. He looked, +examined, defined the injury, and explained that it must have caused +instant death, thus hoping to divert attention from his pale +horror-stricken companion, whose too apparent despondency almost +provoked him. + +At the Doctor's request they were taken up the staircase into the +corridor, and shown the window, which had been found nearly closed but +not fastened, as though it had been partially shut down from the +outside. The cedar bough almost brushed the glass, and the slope of +turf came so high up the wall, that an active youth could easily swing +himself down to it; and the superintendent significantly remarked that +the punt was on the farther side of the stream, whereas the evening +before it had been on the nearer. Dr. May leant out over the +window-sill, still in the lingering hope of seeing--he knew not what, +but he only became oppressed by the bright still summer beauty of the +trees and grass and sparkling water, insensible of the horror that +brooded over all. He drew back his head; and as the door hard by was +opened, Leonard's little dog sprang from her basket kennel, wagging her +tail in hopes of her master, but in her disappointment greeting one +whom dogs always hailed as a friend, + +'Poor little doggie! good little Mab! If only you could tell us!' and +the creature fondly responded to his gentle hand, though keeping aloof +from Henry, in mindfulness of past passages between them, while Henry +could evidently not bear to look at her. + +They gazed round the room, but it conveyed no elucidation of the +mystery. There were Leonard's books in their range on the drawers, his +fossils in his cupboard, his mother's photograph on his mantel-piece, +his sister's drawings on the wall. His gray uniform lay on the bed as +if recently taken off, his ordinary office coat was folded on a chair, +and he seemed to have dressed and gone in his best clothes. While +anxiously seeking some note of explanation, they heard a step, and Sam +Axworthy entered, speaking fast and low in apology for not having +sooner appeared, but he had been thoroughly upset; as indeed he looked, +his whole appearance betraying the disorder of the evening's +dissipation, followed by the morning's shock. + +Most unfortunate, he said, that he had not returned earlier. His +friend Black--Tom Black, of Edsall Green--had driven him home in his +dog-cart, set him down at the turn to cross the fields--moon as light +as day--no notion, of the lateness till he got in sight of the great +clock, and saw it was half-past twelve; so knowing the early habits of +the place, he had thought it best to turn back, and get a bed at the +Three Goblets. If he had only come home, he might have prevented +mischief! There ensued a few commonplace words on the old man's infirm +state, yet his independent habits, and reluctance to let any servant +assist him, or even sleep near him. Sam spoke as if in a dream, and +was evidently so unwell, that Dr. May thought it charitable to follow +the dictates of his own disgust at breaking bread in that house of +horrors, and refuse offers of breakfast. He said he must go home, but +would return for the inquest, and asked whether Henry would remain to +meet his brother. + +'No, no, thank you,' said Henry huskily, as with the driest of throats, +and a perceptible shudder, he turned to go away; the Doctor pausing to +caress little Mab, and say, 'I had better take home this poor little +thing. She may come to harm here, and may be a comfort to the sister.' + +No objection came from Sam, but Mab herself ran back to her house, and +even snarled at the attempt to detach her from it. 'You are a faithful +little beast,' he said, 'and your master will soon be here to set all +straight, so I will leave you for the present;' and therewith he signed +farewell, and breathed more freely as he gained the outer air. + +'I'll tell you what, Henry,' he said, as they drove out of the +courtyard, 'we'll bring out Bramshaw to watch the case. He will see +through this horrible mystery, and throw the suspicion in the right +quarter, whatever that may be, depend upon it.' + +Henry had thrown himself back in the carriage with averted face, and +only answered by a groan. + +'Come, don't be so downcast,' said Dr. May; 'it is a frightful affair, +no doubt, and Leonard has chosen a most unlucky moment for this +escapade; but he will have a thorough warning against frolics.' + +'Frolics indeed!' said Henry, bitterly. + +'Well, I'll be bound that's all he has attempted, and it has got him +into a horrid scrape; and ten to one but the police have got the real +ruffians in their hands by this time.' + +'I have no hope,' said Henry. + +'More shame for you not to feel a certain confidence that He who sees +all will show the right.' + +'If!' said Henry, breaking off with a sound and look of such intense +misery as almost to stagger the Doctor himself, by reminding him of +Leonard's violent temper, and the cause Henry had to remember his +promptness of hand; but that Ethel's pupil, Aubrey's friend, the boy of +ingenuous face, could under any provocation strike helpless old age, +or, having struck, could abscond without calling aid, actuated by +terror, not by pity or repentance, was more than Dr. May could believe, +and after brief musing, he broke out in indignant refutation. + +'I should have thought so. I wish I still could believe so' sighed +Henry; 'but--' and there they lapsed into silence, till, as they came +near the town, Dr. May offered to set him down at Bankside. + +'No! no, thank you,' he cried in entreaty. 'I cannot see her--Ave.' + +'Then come home with me. You shall see no one, and you will look up +when you are not faint and fasting. You young men don't stand up +against these things like us old stagers.' + +As the carriage stopped, several anxious faces were seen on the watch, +but the Doctor signed them back till he had deposited Henry in his +study, and then came among them. + +Gertrude was the first to speak. 'O, papa, papa, what is it! Mrs. +Pugh has been here to ask, and Ethel won't let me hear, though Tom and +Aubrey know.' + +'I took refuge in your order to believe nothing till you came,' said +Ethel, with hands tightly clasped together. + +'It is true, then?' asked Tom. + +'True that it looks as bad as bad can be,' said the Doctor, sighing +heavily, and proceeding to state the aspect of the case. + +'It is a trick--a plot,' cried Aubrey passionately; 'I know it is! He +always said he would run away if they tried to teach him dishonesty; +and now they have done this and driven him away, and laid the blame on +him. Ethel, why don't you say you are sure of it?' + +'Leonard would be changed indeed if this were so,' said Ethel, +trembling as she stood, and hardly able to speak articulately. + +Aubrey broke out with a furious 'If,' very different from Henry Ward's. + +'It would not be the Leonard we knew at Coombe,' said Ethel. 'He might +be blind with rage, but he would never be cowardly. No. Unless he own +it, nothing shall ever make me believe it.' + +'Own it! For shame, Ethel,' cried Aubrey. And even the Doctor +exclaimed, 'You are as bad as poor Henry himself, who has not got soul +enough to be capable of trusting his brother.' + +'I do trust,' said Ethel, looking up. 'I shall trust his own word,' +and she sat down without speaking, and knitted fast, but her needles +clattered. + +'And how about that poor girl at Bankside?' said the Doctor. + +'I went down there,' said Tom, 'just to caution the servants against +bringing in stories. She found out I was there, and I had to go in and +make the best of it.' + +'And what sort of a best?' said the Doctor. + +'Why, she knew he used to get out in the morning to bathe, and was +persuaded he had been drowned; so I told her I knew he was alive and +well, and she would hear all about it when you came back. I brought +the youngest child away with me, and Gertrude has got her up-stairs; +the other would not come. Poor thing! Mary says she is very good and +patient; and I must say she was wonderfully reasonable when I talked to +her.' + +'Thank you, Tom,' said his father with warmth, 'it was very kind of +you. I wonder if Ave knew anything of this runaway business; it might +be the saving of him!' + +'I did,' said Aubrey eagerly; 'at least, I know he said he would not +stay if they wanted to put him up to their dishonest tricks; and he +talked of that very window!' + +'Yes, you imprudent fellow; and you were telling Mrs. Pugh so, if I +hadn't stopped you,' said Tom. 'You'll be taken up for an accomplice +next, if you don't hold your tongue.' + +'What did he say?' asked the Doctor, impatiently; and then declared +that he must instantly go to Bankside, as soon as both he and Henry had +taken some food; 'for,' he added, 'we are both too much shaken to deal +rationally with her.' + +Ethel started up in shame and dismay at having neglected to order +anything. The Doctor was served in the study alone with Henry, and +after the briefest meal, was on his way to Bankside. + +He found Averil with the crimson cheek and beseeching eye that he knew +so well, as she laid her trembling hand on his, and mutely looked up +like a dumb creature awaiting a blow. + +'Yes, my dear,' he said, tenderly, 'your brother needs prayer such as +when we watched him last year, he is in peril of grave suspicion.' And +as she stood waiting and watching for further explanation, he +continued, 'My dear, he told you everything. You do not know of any +notion of his of going away, or going out without leave?' + +'Why is Leonard to be always suspected of such things?' cried Averil. +'He never did them!' + +'Do you know?' persisted Dr. May. + +'But you are mayor!' cried Averil, indignantly, withdrawing her hand. +'You want me to accuse him!' + +'My dear, if I were ten times mayor, it would make no difference. My +jurisdiction does not even cross the river here; and if it did, this is +a graver case than I deal with. I am come, as his friend, to beg you +to help me to account for his unhappy absence in any harmless way. +Were it ever so foolish or wrong, it would be the best news that ever I +heard.' + +'But--but I can't,' said Averil. 'I never knew he was going out! I +know he used to get out at the passage window to bathe and fish before +the house was astir--and--you know he is safe, Dr. May?' + +Dr. May would almost sooner have known that he was at the bottom of the +deepest pool in the river, than where he was. 'He is safe, my poor +child. He is well, and I trust he will be able to prove his innocence; +but he must so account for his absence as to clear himself. Averil, +there is a charge against him--of being concerned in your uncle's +death.' + +Averil's eyes dilated, and she breathed short and fast, standing like a +statue. Little Minna, whom the Doctor had scarcely perceived, standing +in a dark corner, sprang forward, exclaiming, 'O, Ave, don't be afraid! +Nobody can hurt him for what he did not do!' + +The words roused Averil, and starting forward, she cried, 'Dr. May, Dr. +May, you will save him! He is fatherless and motherless, and his +brother has always been harsh to him; but you will not forsake him; you +said you would be a father to us! Oh, save Leonard!' + +'My dear, as I would try to save my own son, I will do my utmost for +him; but little or nothing depends on me or on any man. By truth and +justice he must stand or fall; and you must depend on the Father of the +fatherless, who seeth the truth! as this dear child tells you,' with +his hand on Minna's head, 'he cannot be really injured while he is +innocent.' + +Awed into calm, Averil let him seat her beside him, and put her in +possession of the main facts of the case, Minna standing by him, her +hand in his, evidently understanding and feeling all that passed. + +Neither could throw light on anything. Leonard had been less +communicative to them than to Aubrey, and had kept his resolution of +uncomplainingly drinking the brewst he had brewed for himself. All +Averil could tell was, that her uncle had once spoken to Henry in +commendation of his steadiness and trustworthiness, though at the same +time abusing him for airs and puppyism. + +'Henry would tell you. Where is Henry?' she added. + +'In my study. He could not bear to bring you these tidings. You must +be ready to comfort him, Ave.' + +'Don't let him come,' she cried. 'He never was kind to Leonard. He +drove him there. I shall always feel that it was his doing.' + +'Averil,' said Dr. May gravely, 'do you forget how much that increases +his suffering? Nothing but mutual charity can help you through this +fiery trial. Do not let anger and recrimination take from you the last +shreds of comfort, and poison your prayers. Promise me to be kind to +Henry, for indeed he needs it.' + +'O, Dr. May,' said Minna, looking up with her eyes full of tears, +'indeed I will. I was cross to Henry because he was cross to Leonard, +but I won't be so any more.' + +Ave drooped her head, as if it were almost impossible to her to speak. + +Dr. May patted Minna's dark head caressingly, and said to the elder +sister, 'I will not urge you more. Perhaps you may have Leonard back, +and then joy will open your hearts; or if not, my poor Ave, the sight +of Henry will do more than my words.' + +Mary looked greatly grieved, but said nothing, only following her +father to take his last words and directions. 'Keep her as quiet as +you can. Do not worry her, but get out this root of bitterness if you +can. Poor, poor things!' + +'That little Minna is a dear child!' said Mary. 'She is grown so much +older than Ella, or than she was last year. She seems to understand +and feel like a grown-up person. I do think she may soften poor Ave +more than I can; but, papa, there is excuse. Mr. Ward must have made +them more miserable than we guessed.' + +'The more reason she must forgive him. O, Mary, I fear a grievous +lesson is coming to them; but I must do all I can. Good-bye, my dear; +do the best you can for them;' and he set forth again with a bleeding +heart. + +At the attorney's office, he found the principal from home, but the +partner, Edward Anderson, on the qui vive for a summons to attend on +behalf of his fellow-townsman, and confident that however bad were the +present aspect of affairs, his professional eye would instantly find a +clue. + +Aubrey was in an agony of excitement, but unable to endure the notion +of approaching the scene of action; and his half-choked surly 'Don't' +was sufficient to deter his brother Thomas, who had never shown himself +so kind, considerate, and free from sneer or assumption. In 'hours of +ease' he might seem selfish and exacting, but a crisis evoked the +latent good in him, and drew him out of himself. + +Nor would Henry return to Bankside. After many vacillations, the +moment for starting found him in a fit of despair about the family +disgrace, only able to beg that 'the unhappy boy' should be assured +that no expense should be spared in his defence; or else, that if he +were cleared and returned home, his welcome should be most joyful. But +there Henry broke off, groaned, said they should never look up again, +and must leave the place. + +Except for Averil's own sake, Dr. May would almost have regretted his +exhortations in favour of her eldest brother. + +In due time the Doctor arrived at the mill, where the inquest was to +take place, as the public-house was small, and inconveniently distant; +and there was ample accommodation in the large rambling building. So +crowded was the court-yard, that the Doctor did not easily make his way +to the steps of the hall door; but there, after one brief question to +the policeman in charge, he waited, though several times invited in. + +Before long, all eyes turned one way, as a closed fly, with a policeman +on the box, drove in at the gateway, stopped, and between the two men +on guard appeared a tall young figure. + +The Doctor's first glance showed him a flushed and weary set of +features, shocked and appalled; but the eyes, looking straight up in +their anxiety, encountered his with an earnest grateful appeal for +sympathy, answered at once by a step forward with outstretched hand. +The grip of the fingers was heated, agitated, convulsive, but not +tremulous; and there was feeling, not fear, in the low husky voice that +said, 'Thank you. Is Henry here?' + +'No, he is too--too much overcome; but he hopes to see you at home +to-night; and here is Edward Anderson, whom he has sent to watch the +proceedings for you.' + +'Thank you,' said Leonard, acknowledging Edward's greeting. 'As far as +I am concerned, I can explain all in a minute; but my poor uncle--I +little thought--' + +There was no opportunity for further speech in private, for the coroner +had already arrived, and the inquiry had been only deferred until +Leonard should have come. The jury had been viewing the body, and the +proceedings were to take place in the large low dining-room, where the +southern windows poured in a flood of light on the faces of the persons +crowded together, and the reflections from the rippling water danced on +the ceiling. Dr. May had a chair given him near the coroner, and +keenly watched the two nephews--one seated next to him, the other at +some distance, nearly opposite. Both young men looked haggard, +shocked, and oppressed: the eye of Axworthy was unceasingly fixed on an +inkstand upon the table, and never lifted, his expression never varied; +and Leonard's glance flashed inquiringly from one speaker to another, +and his countenance altered with every phase of the evidence. + +The first witness was Anne Ellis, the young maid-servant, who told of +her coming down at ten minutes after five that morning, the 6th of +July, and on going in to clean the rooms, finding her master sunk +forward on the table. Supposing him to have had a fit, she had run to +the window and screamed for help, when Master Hardy, the foreman, and +Mrs. Giles, the housekeeper, had come in. + +James Hardy deposed to having heard the girl's cry while he was +unlocking the mill door. Coming in by the low sash-window, which stood +open, he had gone up to his master, and had seen the wound on the head, +and found the body quite cold, Mrs. Giles coming in, they had carried +it to the bed in the next room; and he had gone to call the young +gentlemen, but neither was in his room. He knew that it had been left +uncertain whether Mr. Samuel would return to sleep at home between the +two days of the county races, but he did not expect Mr. Ward to be out; +and had then observed that his bed had not been slept in, and that the +passage window outside his room was partly open. He had then thought +it best to go into Stoneborough to inform the family. + +Rebecca Giles, the housekeeper, an elderly woman, crying violently, +repeated the evidence as to the discovery of the body. The last time +she had seen her master alive, was when she had carried in his supper +at nine o'clock, when he had desired her to send Mr. Ward to him; and +had seemed much vexed to hear that the young man had not returned from +rifle practice, little thinking, poor old gentleman!--but here the +housekeeper was recalled to her subject. The window was then open, as +it was a sultry night, but the blind down. Her master was a good deal +crippled by gout, and could not at that time move actively nor write, +but could dress himself, and close a window. He disliked being +assisted; and the servants were not in the habit of seeing him from the +time his supper was brought in till breakfast next morning. She had +seen Mr. Ward come home at twenty minutes or half after nine, in +uniform, carrying his rifle; she had given the message, and he had gone +into the sitting-room without putting down the rifle. She believed it +to be the one on the table, but could not say so on oath; he never let +any one touch it; and she never looked at such horrid murderous things. +And some remarks highly adverse to the volunteer movement were cut +short. + +William Andrews, groom, had been called by Anne Ellis, had seen the +wound, and the blood on the desk, and had gone to fetch a surgeon and +the police from Whitford. On his return, saw the rifle leaning against +the shutter; believed it to be Mr. Ward's rifle. + +Charles Rankin, surgeon, had been called in to see Mr. Axworthy, and +arrived at seven o'clock A. M. Found him dead, from a fracture of the +skull over the left temple, he should imagine, from a blow from a heavy +blunt instrument, such as the stock of a gun. Death must have been +instantaneous, and had probably taken place seven or eight hours before +he was called in. The marks upon the rifle before him were probably +blood; but he could not say so upon oath, till he had subjected them to +microscopic examination. The hair was human, and corresponded with +that of the deceased. + +Samuel Axworthy had slept at the Three Goblets, in consequence of +finding himself too late for admission at home. He had been wakened at +half-past five, and found all as had been stated by the previous +witnesses; and he corroborated the housekeeper's account of his uncle's +habits. The rifle he believed to belong to his cousin, Leonard Ward. +He could not account for Leonard Ward's absence on that morning. No +permission, as far as he was aware, had been given him to leave home; +and he had never known his uncle give him any commission at that hour. + +The different policemen gave their narrations of the state of +things--the open window, the position of the boat, &c. And the +ticket-clerk at the small Blewer Station stated that at about 12.15 at +night, Mr. Ward had walked in without baggage, and asked for a +second-class ticket to London. + +Leonard here interposed an inquiry whether he had not said a day +ticket, and the clerk recollected that he had done so, and had spoken +of returning by four o'clock; but the train, being reckoned as +belonging to the previous day, no return tickets were issued for it, +and he had therefore taken an ordinary one, and started by the mail +train. + +The London policeman, who had come down with Leonard, stated that, in +consequence of a telegraphic message, he had been at the Paddington +Station at 6.30 that morning; had seen a young gentleman answering to +the description sent to him, asked if his name were Leonard Ward, and +receiving a reply in the affirmative, had informed him of the charge, +and taken him into custody. The bag that he placed on the table he had +found on the young man's person. + +Every one was startled at this unexpected corroboration of the +suspicion. It was a heavy-looking bag, of reddish canvas, marked with +a black circle, containing the letters F. A. Gold; the neck tied with a +string; the contents were sovereigns, and a note or two. + +Dr. May looked piteously, despairingly, at Leonard; but the brow was +still open and unclouded, the eye glanced back reassurance and +confidence. + +The policeman added that he had cautioned the young man to take care +what he said, but that he had declared at once that his uncle had sent +him to lodge the sum in Drummond's Bank, and that he would show a +receipt for it on his return. + +The coroner then proceeded to examine Leonard, but still as a witness. +Edward Anderson spoke to him in an undertone, advising him to be +cautious, and not commit himself, but Leonard, rather impatiently +thanking him, shook him off, and spoke with freedom and openness. + +'I have nothing to keep back,' he said. 'Of course I know nothing of +this frightful murder, nor what villain could have got hold of the +rifle, which, I am sorry to say, is really mine. Last evening I used +it at drill and practice on Blewer Heath, and came home when it grew +dusk, getting in at about half-past nine. I was then told by Mrs. +Giles that my uncle wished to speak to me, and was displeased at my +staying out so late. I went into his room as I was, and put my rifle +down in a corner by the window, when he desired me to sit down and +listen to him. He then told me that he wished to send me to town by +the mail train, to take some cash to Drummond's Bank, and to return by +to-day's four o'clock train. He said he had reasons for wishing no one +to be aware of his opening an account there, and he undertook to +explain my absence. He took the sum from the private drawer of his +desk, and made me count it before him, £124 12s. in sovereigns and +bank-notes. The odd money he gave me for my expenses, the rest I put +in the bag that I fetched out of the office. He could not hold a pen, +and could therefore give me no letter to Messrs. Drummond, but he made +me write a receipt for the amount in his memorandum book. I wished him +good night, and left him still sitting in his easy-chair, with the +window open and the blind down. I found that I had forgotten my rifle, +but I did not go back for it, because he disliked the disturbance of +opening and shutting doors. While I was changing my dress, I saw from +the window that some one was still about in the court, and knowing that +my uncle wished me to avoid notice, I thought it best to let myself out +by the passage window, as I had sometimes done in early mornings to +bathe or fish, and go across the fields to Blewer Station. I got down +into the garden, crossed in the punt, and went slowly by Barnard's +hatch; I believe I stopped a good many times, as it was too soon, and a +beautiful moonlight night, but I came to Blewer soon after twelve, and +took my ticket. At Paddington I met this terrible news.' + +As the boy spoke, his bright eyes turned from one listener to another, +as though expecting to read satisfaction on their faces; but as doubt +and disbelief clouded all, his looks became almost constantly directed +to Dr. May, and his voice unconsciously passed from a sound of +justification to one of pleading. When he ceased, he glanced round as +if feeling his innocence established. + +'You gave a receipt, Mr. Ward,' said the coroner. 'Will you tell us +where it is likely to be?' + +'It must be either on or in my uncle's desk, or in his pocket. Will +some one look for it? I wrote it in his memorandum book--a curious old +black shagreen book, with a silver clasp. I left it open on the desk +to dry.' + +A policeman went to search for it; and the coroner asked what the entry +had been. + +'July 5th, 1860. Received, £120. L. A. Ward,'--was the answer. 'You +will find it about the middle of the book, or rather past it.' + +'At what time did this take place?' + +'It must have been towards ten. I cannot tell exactly, but it was +later than half-past nine when I came in, and he was a good while +bringing out the money.' + +The policeman returned, saying he could not find the book; and Leonard +begging to show where he had left it, the coroner and jury accompanied +him to the room. At the sight of the red stain on the desk, a +shuddering came over the boy, and a whiteness on his heated brow, nor +could he at once recover himself so as to proceed with the search, +which was still in vain; though with a voice lowered by the sickness of +horror, he pointed out the place where he had laid it, and the pen he +had used; and desk, table, drawer, and the dead man's dress were +carefully examined. + +'You must know it, Sam,' said Leonard. 'Don't you remember his putting +in the cheque--old Bilson's cheque for his year's rent--twenty-five +pounds? I brought it in, and he put it away one day last week. You +were sitting there.' + +Sam stammered something of 'Yes, he did recollect something of it.' + +Inquiries were made of the other persons concerned with Mr. Axworthy. +Hardy thought his master used such a book, but had never seen it near; +Mrs. Giles altogether disbelieved its existence; and Sam could not be +positive--his uncle never allowed any one to touch his private +memorandums. + +As, with deepened anxiety, Dr. May returned to the dining-room, he +caught a glimpse of Henry Ward's desponding face, but received a sign +not to disclose his presence. Edward Anderson wrote, and considered; +and the coroner, looking at his notes again, recurred to Leonard's +statement that he had seen some one in the yard. + +'I thought it was one of the men waiting to take my cousin Axworthy's +horse. I did not know whether he had ridden or gone by train; and I +supposed that some one would be looking out for him.' + +Questions were asked whether any of the servants had been in the yard, +but it was denied by all; and on a more particular description of the +person being demanded, Leonard replied that the figure had been in the +dark shade of the stables, and that he only knew that it was a young +man--whether a stranger or not he did not know; he supposed now that it +must have been the--the murderer, but at the time he had thought it one +of the stable-men; and as his uncle had particularly wished that his +journey should be a secret, the sight had only made him hasten to put +out his light, and depart unseen. It was most unfortunate that he had +done so. + +Others ironically whispered, 'Most unfortunate.' + +The coroner asked Mr. Anderson whether he had anything to ask or +observe, and on his reply in the negative, proceeded to sum up the +evidence for the consideration of the jury. + +It seemed as if it were only here that Leonard perceived the real gist +of the evidence. His brow grew hotter, his eyes indignant, his hands +clenched, as if he with difficulty restrained himself from breaking in +on the coroner's speech; and when at length the question was put to the +jury, he stood, the colour fading from his cheek, his eyes set and +glassy, his lip fallen, the dew breaking out on his brow, every limb as +it were petrified by the shock of what was thus first fully revealed to +him. + +So he stood, while the jury deliberated in low gruff sorrowful murmurs, +and after a few minutes, turned round to announce with much sadness +that they could do no otherwise than return a verdict of wilful murder +against Leonard Ward. + +'Mr. Leonard Ward,' said the coroner, a gentleman who had well known +his father, and who spoke with scarcely concealed emotion, 'it becomes +my painful duty to commit you to Whitford Gaol for trial at the next +assizes.' + +Dr. May eagerly offered bail, rather as the readiest form of kindness +than in the hope of its acceptance, and it was of course refused; but +he made his way to the prisoner, and wrung his chill hand with all his +might. The pressure seemed to waken the poor lad from his frozen +rigidity; the warmth came flowing back into his fingers as his friend +held them; he raised his head, shut and re-opened his eyes, and pushed +back his hair, as though trying to shake himself loose from a too +horrible dream. His face softened and quivered as he met the Doctor's +kind eyes; but bracing himself again, he looked up, answered the +coroner's question--that his Christian name was Leonard Axworthy, his +age within a few weeks of eighteen; and asked permission to fetch what +he should want from his room. + +The policeman, in whose charge he was, consented both to this, and to +Dr. May being there alone with him for a short time. + +Then it was that the boy relaxed the strain on his features, and said +in a low and strangled voice, 'O, Dr. May, if you had only let me die +with them last year!' + +'It was not I who saved you. He who sent that ordeal, will bring you +through--this,' said Dr. May, with a great sob in his throat that +belied his words of cheer. + +'I thank Him at least for having taken her,' said Leonard, resting his +head on the mantel-shelf beneath his mother's picture, while his little +dog sat at his foot, looking up at him, cowed and wistful. + +Dr. May strove for words of comfort, but broke utterly down; and could +only cover his face with his hands, and struggle with his emotion, +unable to utter a word. + +Yet perhaps none would have been so comforting as his genuine sympathy, +although it was in a voice of extreme distress that Leonard exclaimed, +'Dr. May, Dr. May, pray don't! you ought not to grieve for me!' + +'I'm a fool,' said Dr. May, after some space, fighting hard with +himself. 'Nonsense! we shall see you out of this! We have only to +keep up a good heart, and we shall see it explained.' + +'I don't know; I can't understand,' said Leonard, passing his hand over +his weary forehead. 'Why could they not believe when I told them just +how it was?' + +At that moment the policeman opened the door, saying, 'Here, sir;' and +Henry hurried in, pale and breathless, not looking in his brother's +face, as he spoke fast and low. + +'Ned Anderson says there's nothing at all to be made of this defence of +yours; it is of no use to try it. The only thing is to own that he +found fault with you, and in one of your rages--you know--' + +'You too, Henry!' said Leonard, in dejected reproach. + +'Why--why, it is impossible it could have been otherwise--open window, +absconding, and all. We all know you never meant it; but your story +won't stand; and the only chance, Anderson says, is to go in for +manslaughter. If you could only tell anything that would give him a +clue to pick up evidence while the people are on the spot.' + +Leonard's face was convulsed for a moment while his brother was +speaking; but he recovered calmness of voice, as he mournfully +answered, 'I have no right to wonder at your suspicion of me.' + +Henry for the first time really looked at him, and instinctively +faltered, 'I beg your pardon.' + +'Indeed,' said Leonard, with the same subdued manner, 'I cannot believe +that any provocation could make me strike a person like that old man; +and here there was none at all. Except that he was vexed at first at +my being late, he had never been so near kindness.' + +'Then is this extraordinary story the truth?' + +'Why should I not tell the truth?' was the answer, too mournful for +indignation. + +Henry again cast down his eyes, Leonard moved about making +preparations, Dr. May leant against the wall--all too much oppressed +for speech; till, as Leonard stooped, poor little Mab, thrusting her +black head into his hand, drew from him the words, 'My doggie, what is +to become of you?' + +A sort of hoarse explosion of 'Ave' from Henry was simultaneous with +the Doctor's 'I tried to get her home with me in the morning, but she +waited your orders.' + +'Miss May would not have her now. After all, prussic acid would be the +truest mercy' said Leonard, holding the little creature up to his face, +and laying his cheek against her silken coat with almost passionate +affection. + +'Not while there are those who trust your word, Leonard; as Ethel said +this morning.' + +He raised the face which he had hidden against the dog, and looked +earnestly at the Doctor as if hardly venturing to understand him; then +a ray of real gladness and comfort darted into his eyes, which so +enlivened Dr. May, that he was able to say cheerfully, 'We will take +good care of her till you come for her.' + +'Then, Henry,' said Leonard, 'it is not unkindness, nor that I remember +things, but indeed I think it will be better for you all, since Dr. May +is so--so--' The word kind was so inadequate, that it stuck in his +throat. 'Take this to Ave,' putting his mother's likeness in his hand, +'and tell her I will write,' + +'Poor Ave!' + +Leonard imploringly shook his head; the mention of his sister shook him +more than he could bear; and he asked the time. + +'Nearly six.' + +'Only six! What an endless day! There, I am ready. There is no use +in delaying. I suppose I must show what I am taking with me.' + +'Wait,' said his brother. 'Cannot you say anything to put us on the +track of the man in the yard?' + +'I did not see him plain.' + +'You've no notion?' said Henry, with a movement of annoyance. + +'No. I only looked for a moment; for I was much more anxious to get +off quietly, than to make any one out. If I had only waited ten +minutes, it might have been the saving of his life, but my commission +was so like fun, and so important too, that I thought of nothing else. +Can it be not twenty-four hours ago?' + +'And why don't you explain why he sent you?' + +'I cannot say it so certainly as to be of the slightest use,' said +Leonard. + +'He never expressed it either; and I have no right to talk of my +suspicions.' + +'Eh! was it to put it out of Sam's way?' + +'So I suppose. Sam used to get all he chose out of the poor old man; +and I believe he thought this the only chance of keeping anything for +himself, but he never told me so. Stay! Bilson's cheque might be +tracked. I took it myself, and gave the receipt; you will find it +entered in the books--paid on either the twenty-third or fourth.' + +'Then there's something to do, at any rate,' cried Henry, invigorated. +'Anderson shall hunt out the balance and Sam's draughts on it. I'll +spare no expense, Leonard, if it is to my last farthing; and you shall +have the best counsel that can be retained.' + +Leonard signed thanks with some heartiness, and was going to the door, +when Henry detained him. 'Tell me, Leonard, have you no suspicion?' + +'It must have been the person I saw in the court, and, like a fool, did +not watch. The window was open, and he could have easily got in and +come out. Can't they see that if it had been me, I should have made +off at once that way?' + +'If you could only tell what the fellow was like!' + +'I told you he was in the dark,' said Leonard, and without giving time +for more, he called in the man outside, showed the clothes and, books +he had selected, put them into his bag, and declared himself ready, +giving his hand to the Doctor, who drew him near and kissed his brow, +as if he had been Harry setting forth on a voyage. + +'Good-bye, my dear fellow; God bless you; I'll soon come to see you.' + +'And I,' said Henry, 'will bring Bramshaw to see what is to be done.' + +Leonard wrung his brother's hand, murmuring something of love to his +sisters; then put Mab into Dr. May's arms, with injunctions that the +little creature understood and obeyed, for though trembling and whining +under her breath, she was not resisting. + +It might be to shorten her distress as well as his own that Leonard +passed quickly down-stairs, and entered the carriage that was to take +him to the county gaol. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + Tears are not always fruitful; their hot drops + Sometimes but scorch the cheek and dim the eye; + Despairing murmurs over blackened hopes, + Not the meek spirit's calm and chastened cry. + Oh, better not to weep, than weep amiss! + For hard it is to learn to weep aright; + To weep wise tears, the tears that heal and bless, + The tears which their own bitterness requite.--H. BONAR + + +To one of the most tender-hearted of human beings had the office of +conveying ill tidings been most often committed, and again Dr. May +found himself compelled to precede Henry Ward into the sister's +presence, and to break to her the result of the inquest. + +He was no believer in the efficacy of broken news, but he could not +refuse when Henry in his wretchedness entreated not to be the first in +the infliction of such agony; so he left the carriage outside, and +walked up to the door; and there stood Averil, with Ethel a few steps +behind her. His presence was enough revelation. Had things gone well, +he would not have been the forerunner; and Averil, meaning perhaps to +speak, gave a hoarse hysterical shriek, so frightful as to drive away +other anxieties, and summon Henry in from his watch outside. + +All day the poor girl had kept up an unnatural strain on her powers, +vehemently talking of other things, and, with burning cheeks and +shining eyes, moving incessantly from one employment to another; now +her needle, now her pencil--roaming round the garden gathering flowers, +or playing rattling polkas that half stunned Ethel in her intense +listening for tidings. Ethel, who had relieved guard and sent Mary +home in the afternoon, had vainly striven to make Ave rest or take +food; the attempt had brought on such choking, that she could only +desist, and wait for the crisis. The attack was worse than any +ordinary hysterics, almost amounting to convulsions; and all that could +be done was to prevent her from hurting herself, and try to believe Dr. +May's assurance that there was no real cause for alarm, and that the +paroxysms would exhaust themselves. + +In time they were spent, and Ave lay on her bed half torpid, feebly +moaning, but with an instinctive dread of being disturbed. Henry +anxiously watched over her, and Dr. May thought it best to leave the +brother and sister to one another. Absolute quiet was best for her, +and he had skill and tenderness enough to deal with her, and was +evidently somewhat relieved by the necessity of waiting on her. It was +the best means, perhaps, of uniting them, that they should be thus left +together; and Dr. May would have taken home little pale frightened +Minna, who had been very helpful all the time. + +'Oh, please not, Dr. May,' she said, earnestly. 'Indeed I will not be +troublesome, and I can give Henry his tea, and carry Ave's cup. Please, +Henry, don't send me:' and she took hold of his hand, and laid it +against her cheek. He bent down over her, and fondled her; and there +were tears that he could not hide as he tried both to thank Dr. May, +and tell her that she need not leave him. + +'No,' said Dr. May; 'it would be cruel to both of you.--Good-bye, +little Minna; I never wanted to carry away a little comforter.' + +'I believe you are right, papa,' said Ethel, as she went out with him +to the carriage; 'but I long to stay, it is like doing something for +that boy.' + +'The best you did for him, poor dear boy! was the saying you trusted +his word. The moment I told him that, he took comfort and energy.' + +Ethel's lips moved into a strange half smile, and she took Mab on her +lap, and fondled her. 'Yes,' she said, 'I believe I stand for a good +deal in his imagination. I was afraid he would have been wrecked upon +that horrid place; but, after all, this may be the saving of him.' + +'Ah! if that story of his would only be more vraisemblable.' + +There was only time briefly to narrate it before coming home, where the +first person they met was Aubrey, exceeding pale, and in great +distress. 'Papa, I must tell you,' he said, drawing him into the +study. 'I have done terrible harm, I am afraid.' And he explained, +that in the morning, when Mrs. Pugh had come down full of inquiries and +conjectures, and had spoken of the possibility of Leonard's having been +drowned while bathing, he had unguardedly answered that it could be no +such thing; Leonard had always meant to run away, and by that very +window, if the Axworthys grew too bad. + +Prudent Tom had silenced him at the time, but had since found that it +had got abroad that the evasion had long been meditated with Aubrey's +privity, and had been asked by one of the constabulary force if his +brother would not be an important witness. Tom had replied that he +knew nothing about it; but Aubrey was in great misery, furious with +Mrs. Pugh, and only wanting his father to set off at once to assure +them it was all nonsense. + +'No, Aubrey, they neither would, nor ought to, take my word.' + +'Just hear, papa, and you would know the chaff it was.' + +'I cannot hear, Aubrey. If we were to discuss it, we might give it an +unconscious colouring. You must calm your mind, and exactly recall +what passed; but do not talk about it to me or to any one else. You +must do nothing to impair the power of perfect truth and accuracy, +which is a thing to be prayed for. If any one--even the lawyer who may +have to get up the case against him--asks you about it, you must refuse +to answer till the trial; and then--why, the issue is in the hands of +Him that judgeth righteously.' + +'I shall never remember nor speak with his eyes on me, seeing me betray +him!' + +'You will be no worse off than I, my boy, for I see I am in for +identifying Hector's rifle; the Mill people can't swear to it, and my +doing it will save his brother something.' + +'No, it is not like me. O! I wish I had stayed at Eton, even if I had +died of it! Tom says it all comes of living with women that I can't +keep my mouth shut; and Leonard will be so hurt that I--' + +'Nay, any tolerable counsel will make a capital defence out of the mere +fact of his rodomontading. What, is that no comfort to you?' + +'What! to be the means of making a fool of him before all the +court--seeing him hear our talk by the river-side sifted by those +horrid lawyers?' + +The Doctor looked even graver, and his eye fixed as on a thought far +away, as the boy's grief brought to his mind the Great Assize, when all +that is spoken in the ear shall indeed be proclaimed on the house-tops. + +There was something almost childish in this despair of Aubrey, for he +had not become alarmed for the result of the trial. His misery was +chiefly shame at his supposed treason to friendship, and failure in +manly reserve; and he could not hold up his head all the evening, but +silently devoted himself to Mab, endeavouring to make her at home, and +meeting with tolerable success. + +Tom was no less devoted to Ella Ward. It was he who had brought her +home, and he considered her therefore as his charge. It was curious to +see the difference that a year had made between her and Minna. They had +the last summer been like one child, and had taken the stroke that had +orphaned them in the same childish manner; but whether the year from +eight to nine had been of especial growth to Minna, or whether there +had been a stimulus in her constant association with Averil, the +present sorrow fell on her as on one able to enter into it, think and +feel, and assume her sweet mission of comfort; whilst Ella, though +neither hard nor insensible, was still child enough to close her mind +to what she dreaded, and flee willingly from the pain and tedium of +affliction. She had willingly accepted 'Mr. Tom's' invitation, and as +willingly responded to his attentions. Gertrude did not like people in +the 'little girl' stage, and the elder sisters had their hands and +hearts full, and could only care for her in essentials; but Tom +undertook her amusement, treated her to an exhibition of his +microscope, and played at French billiards with her the rest of the +evening, till she was carried off to bed in Mary's room, when he +pronounced her a very intelligent child. + +'I think her a very unfeeling little thing,' said Gertrude. 'Very +unbecoming behaviour under the circumstances.' + +'What would you think becoming behaviour?' asked Tom. + +'I won't encourage it,' returned Daisy, with dignified decision, that +gave her father his first approach to a laugh on that day; but nobody +was in spirits to desire Miss Daisy to define from what her important +sanction was withdrawn. + +Mary gave up her Sunday-school class to see how Averil was, and found +Henry much perturbed. He had seen her fast asleep at night, and in the +morning Minna had carried up her breakfast, and he was about to follow +it, as soon as his own was finished, when he found that she had slipped +out of the house, leaving a message that she was gone to practise on +the harmonium. + +He was of the mind that none of the family could or ought to be seen at +church; and though Mary could not agree with him, she willingly +consented to go to the chapel and try what she could do with his +sister. She met Mrs. Ledwich on the way, coming to inquire and see +whether she or dear Matilda could do anything for the 'sweet sufferer.' +Even Mary could not help thinking that this was not the epithet most +befitting poor Ave; and perhaps Mrs. Ledwich's companionship made her +the less regret that Ave had locked herself in, so that there was no +making her hear, though the solemn chants, played with great fervour, +reached them as they waited in the porch. They had their own seats in +the Minster, and therefore could not wait till the sexton should come +to open the church. + +There was no time for another visit till after the second service, and +then Dr. May and Mary, going to Bankside, found that instead of +returning home, Ave had again locked herself up between the services, +and that Minna, who had ventured on a mission of recall, had come home +crying heartily both at the dreary disappointment of knocking in vain, +and at the grand mournful sounds of funeral marches that had fallen on +her ear. Every one who had been at the chapel that day was speaking of +the wonderful music, the force and the melody of the voluntary at the +dismissal of the congregation; no one had believed that such power +resided in the harmonium. Mr. Scudamour had spoken to Miss Ward most +kindly both before and after evening service, but his attempt to take +her home had been unavailing; she had answered that she was going +presently, and he was obliged to leave her. + +Evening was coming on, and she had not come, so the other keys were +fetched from the sexton's, and Dr. May and his daughter set off to +storm her fortress. Like Minna, the Doctor was almost overpowered by +the wonderful plaintive sweetness of the notes that were floating +through the atmosphere, like a wailing voice of supplication. They had +almost unnerved him, as he waited while Mary unlocked the door. + +The sound of its opening hushed the music; Averil turned her head, and +recognizing them, came to them, very pale, and with sunken eyes. 'You +are coming home, dear Ave,' said Mary; and she made no resistance or +objection, only saying, 'Yes. It has been so nice here!' + +'You must come now, though,' said the Doctor. 'Your brother is very +much grieved at your leaving him.' + +'I did not mean to be unkind to him,' said Averil, in a low subdued +voice; 'he was very good to me last night. Only--this is peace--this,' +pointing to her instrument, 'is such a soothing friend. And surely +this is the place to wait in!' + +'The place to wait in indeed, my poor child, if you are not increasing +the distress of others by staying here. Besides, you must not exhaust +yourself, or how are you to go and cheer Leonard!' + +'Oh! there is no fear but that I shall go to-morrow,' said Averil; 'I +mean to do it!' the last words being spoken in a resolute tone, unlike +the weariness of her former replies. + +And with this purpose before her, she consented to be taken back by +Mary to rest on the sofa, and even to try to eat and drink. Her +brother and sister hung over her, and waited on her with a tender +assiduous attention that showed how they had missed her all day; and +she received their kindness gratefully, as far as her broken wearied +state permitted. + +Several inquiries had come throughout the day from the neighbours; and +while Mary was still with Ave, a message was brought in to ask whether +Miss Ward would like to see Mrs. Pugh. + +'Oh no, no, thank her, but indeed I cannot,' said Averil, shivering +uncontrollably as she lay. + +Mary felt herself blushing, in the wonder what would be kindest to do, +and her dread of seeing Henry's face. She was sure that he too shrank, +and she ventured to ask, 'Shall I go and speak to her?' + +'Oh, do, do,' said Averil, shuddering with eagerness. 'Thank you, Miss +Mary,' said Henry slowly. 'She is most kind--but--under the +circumstances--' + +Mary went, finding that he only hesitated. She had little opportunity +for saying anything; Mrs. Pugh was full of interest and eagerness, and +poured out her sympathy and perfect understanding of dear Averil's +feelings; and in the midst Henry came out of the room, with a stronger +version of their gratitude, but in terrible confusion. Mary would fain +have retreated, but could not, and was witness to the lady's urgent +entreaties to take Minna home, and Henry's thankfulness; but he +feared--and retreated to ask the opinion of his sisters, while Mrs. +Pugh told Mary that it was so very bad for the poor child to remain, +and begged to have Ella if she were a moment's inconvenience to the May +family. + +Henry came back with repeated thanks, but Minna could not bear to leave +home; and in fact, he owned, with a half smile that gave sweetness to +his face, she was too great a comfort to be parted with. So Mrs. Pugh +departed, with doubled and trebled offers of service, and entreaties to +be sent for at any hour of the day or night when she could be of use to +Averil. + +Mary could not but be pleased with her, officious as she was. It +looked as if she had more genuine feeling for Henry than had been +suspected, and the kindness was certain, though some of it might be the +busy activity of a not very delicate nature, eager for the importance +conferred by intimacy with the subjects of a great calamity. Probably +she would have been gratified by the eclat of being the beloved of the +brother of the youth whose name was in every mouth, and her real +goodness and benevolent heart would have committed her affections and +interest beyond recall to the Ward family, had Averil leant upon her, +or had Henry exerted himself to take advantage of her advances. + +But Henry's attachment had probably not been love, for it seemed +utterly crushed out of him by his shame and despair. Everything +connected with his past life was hateful to him; he declared that he +could never show his face at Stoneborough again, let the result be what +it might--that he could never visit another patient, and that he should +change his name and leave the country, beginning on that very Sunday +afternoon to write a letter to his principal rival to negotiate the +sale of his practice. + +In fact, his first impression had returned on him, and though he never +disclaimed belief in Leonard's statement, the entire failure of all +confirmation convinced him that the blow had been struck by his brother +in sudden anger, and that, defend him as he might and would, the stain +was on his house, and the guilt would be brought home. + +Resolved, however, to do his utmost, he went with Mr. Bramshaw for a +consultation with Leonard on the Monday. Averil could not go. She +rose and dressed, and remained resolute till nearly the last minute, +when her feverish faint giddiness overpowered her, and she was forced +to submit to lie on the sofa, under Minna's care; and there she lay, +restless and wretched, till wise little Minna sent a message up to the +High Street, which brought down Mary and Dr. Spencer. They found her +in a state of nervous fever, that sentenced her to her bed, where Mary +deposited her and watched over her, till her brother's return, more +desponding than ever. + +Dr. May, with all Henry's patients on his hands as well as his own, had +been forced to devote this entire day to his profession; but on the +next, leaving Henry to watch over Averil, who continued very feeble and +feverish, he went to Whitford, almost infected by Henry's forebodings +and Mr. Bramshaw's misgivings. 'It is a bad case,' the attorney had +said to him, confidentially. 'But that there is always a great +reluctance to convict upon circumstantial evidence, I should have very +little hope, that story of his is so utterly impracticable; and yet he +looks so innocent and earnest all the time, and sticks to it so +consistently, that I don't know what to make of it. I can't do +anything with him, nor can his brother either; but perhaps you might +make him understand that we could bring him clear off for +manslaughter--youth, and character and all. I should not doubt of a +verdict for a moment! It is awkward about the money, but the alarm +would be considered in the sentence.' + +'You don't attend to his account of the person he saw in the +court-yard?' + +'The less said about that the better,' returned Mr. Bramshaw. 'It +would only go for an awkward attempt to shift off the suspicion, unless +he would give any description; and that he can't, or won't do. Or even +if he did, the case would be all the stronger against his +story--setting off, and leaving a stranger to maraud about the place. +No, Dr. May; the only thing for it is to persuade the lad to own to +having struck the old man in a passion; every one knows old Axworthy +could be intolerably abusive, and the boy always was passionate. Don't +you remember his flying out at Mr. Rivers's, the night of the party, +and that affair which was the means of his going to the mill at all? I +don't mind saying so to you in confidence, because I know you won't +repeat it, and I see his brother thinks so too; but nothing is likely +to turn out so well for him as that line of defence; as things stand +now, the present one is good for nothing.' + +Dr. May was almost as much grieved at the notion of the youth's +persistence in denying such a crime, as at the danger in which it +involved him, and felt that if he were to be brought to confession, it +should be from repentance, not expediency. + +In this mood he drove to Whitford Gaol, made application at the gates, +and was conducted up the stairs to the cell. + +The three days of nearly entire solitude and of awful expectation had +told like double the number of years; and there was a stamp of grave +earnest collectedness on the young brow, and a calm resolution of +aspect and movement, free from all excitement or embarrassment, as +Leonard Ward stood up with a warm grateful greeting, so full of +ingenuous reliance, that every doubt vanished at the same moment. + +His first question was for Averil; and Dr. May made the best of her +state. 'She slept a little more last night, and her pulse is lower +this morning; but we keep her in bed, half to hinder her from trying to +come here before she is fit. I believe this ailment is the best thing +for her and Henry both,' added the Doctor, seeing how much pain his +words were giving. 'Henry is a very good nurse; it occupies him, and +it is good for her to feel his kindness! Then Minna has come out in +the prettiest way: she never fails in some sweet little tender word or +caress just when it is wanted.' + +Leonard tried to smile, but only succeeded in keeping back a sob; and +the Doctor discharged his memory of the messages of love of which he +had been the depositary. Leonard recovered his composure during these, +and was able to return a smile on hearing of Ella's conquest of Tom, of +their Bible prints on Sunday, and their unwearied French billiards in +the week. Then he asked after little Mab. + +'She is all a dog should be,' said Dr. May. 'Aubrey is her chief +friend, except when she is lying at her ease on Ethel's dress.' + +The old test of dog-love perhaps occurred to Leonard, for his lips +trembled, and his eyes were dewy, even while they beamed with gladness. + +'She is a great comfort to Aubrey,' the Doctor added. 'I must beg you +to send that poor fellow your forgiveness, for he is exceedingly +unhappy about something he repeated in the first unguarded moment.' + +'Mr. Bramshaw told me,' said Leonard, with brow contracted. + +'I cannot believe,' said Dr. May, 'that it can do you any real harm. I +do not think the prosecution ought to take notice of it; but if they +do, it will be easy to sift it, and make it tell rather in your favour.' + +'Maybe so,' said Leonard, still coldly. + +'Then you will cheer him with some kind message?' + +'To be sure. It is the time for me to be forgiving every one,' he +answered, with a long tightly-drawn breath. + +Much distressed, the Doctor paused, in uncertainty whether Leonard were +actuated by dread of the disclosure or resentment at the breach of +confidence; but ere he spoke, the struggle had been fought out, and a +sweet sad face was turned round to him, with the words, 'Poor old +Aubrey! Tell him not to mind. There will be worse to be told out than +our romancings together, and he will feel it more than I shall! Don't +let him vex himself.' + +'Thank you,' said the father, warmly. 'I call that pardon.' + +'Not that there is anything to forgive,' said Leonard, 'only it is odd +that one cares for it more than--No, no, don't tell him that, but that +I know it does not signify. It must not come between us, if this is to +be the end; and it will make no difference. Nothing can do that but +the finding my receipt. I see that book night and day before my eyes, +with the very blot that I made in the top of my L.' + +'You know they are searching the garden and fields, and advertising a +reward, in case of its having been thrown away when rifled, or found to +contain no valuables.' + +'Yes!' and he rested on the word as though much lay behind. + +'Do you think it contained anything worth keeping?' + +'Only by one person.' + +'Ha!' said the Doctor, with a start. + +Instead of answering, Leonard leant down on the narrow bed on which he +was seated, and shut in his face between his hands. + +The Doctor waited, guessed, and grew impatient. 'You don't mean that +fellow, Sam? Do you think he has it? I should like to throttle him, +as sure as my name's Dick May!' (this in soliloquy between his teeth). +'Speak up, Leonard, if you have any suspicion.' + +The lad lifted himself with grave resolution that gave him dignity. +'Dr. May,' he said, 'I know that what I say is safe with you, and it +seems disrespectful to ask your word and honour beforehand, but I think +it will be better for us both if you will give them not to make use of +what I tell you. It weighs on me so, that I shall be saying it to the +wrong person, unless I have it out with you. You promise me?' + +'To make no use of it without your consent,' repeated the Doctor, with +rising hope, 'but this is no case for scruples--too much is at stake.' + +'You need not tell me that,' Leonard replied, with a shudder; 'but I +have no proof. I have thought again and again and again, but can find +no possible witness. He was always cautious, and drink made him +savage, but not noisy.' + +'Then you believe--' The silence told the rest. + +'If I did not see how easy people find it to believe the same of me on +the mere evidence of circumstances, I should have no doubt,' said +Leonard, deliberately. + +'Then it was he that you saw in the yard?' + +'Remember, all I saw was that a man was there. I concluded it was +Andrews, waiting to take the horse; and as he is a great hanger-on of +Sam, I wished to avoid him, and not keep my candle alight to attract +his attention. That was the whole reason of my getting out of window, +and starting so soon; as unlucky a thing as I could have done.' + +'You are sure it was not Andrews?' + +'Now I am. You see, Sam had sent home his horse from the station, +though I did not know it; and, if you remember, Andrews was shown to +have been at his father's long before. If he had been the man, he +could speak to the time my light was put out.' + +'The putting out of your light must have been the signal for the deed +to be done.' + +'My poor uncle! Well might he stare round as if he thought the walls +would betray him, and start at every chinking of that unhappy gold in +his helpless hands! If we had only known who was near--perhaps behind +the blinds--' and Leonard gasped. + +'But this secrecy, Leonard, I cannot understand it. Do you mean that +the poor old man durst not do what he would with his own?' + +'Just so. Whenever Sam knew that he had a sum of money, he laid hands +on it. Nothing was safe from him that Mr. Axworthy had in the Whitford +Bank.' + +'That can be proved from the accounts?' + +'You recollect the little parlour between the office and my uncle's +sitting-room? There I used to sit in the evening, and to feel, rather +than hear, the way Sam used to bully the poor old man. Once--a +fortnight ago, just after that talk with Aubrey--I knew he had been +drinking, and watched, and came in upon them when there was no bearing +it any longer. I was sworn at for my pains, and almost kicked out +again; but after that Mr. Axworthy made me sit in the room, as if I +were a protection; and I made up my mind to bear it as long as he +lived.' + +'Surely the servants would bear witness to this state of things?' + +'I think not. Their rooms are too far off for overhearing, and my +uncle saw as little of them as possible. Mrs. Giles was Sam's nurse, +and cares for him more than any other creature; she would not say a +word against him even if she knew anything; and my uncle would never +have complained. He was fond of Sam to the last, proud of his +steeple-chases and his cleverness, and desperately afraid of him; in a +sort of bondage, entirely past daring to speak.' + +'I know,' said Dr. May, remembering how his own Tom had been fettered +and tongue-tied by that same tyrant in boyhood. 'But he spoke to you?' + +'No,' said Leonard. 'After that scene much was implied between us, but +nothing mentioned. I cannot even tell whether he trusted me, or only +made me serve as a protector. I believe that row was about this money, +which he had got together in secret, and that Sam suspected, and wanted +to extort; but it was exactly as I said at the inquest, he gave no +reason for sending me up to town with it. He knew that I knew why, and +so said no more than that it was to be private. It was pitiful to see +that man, so fierce and bold as they say he once was, trembling as if +doing something by stealth, and the great hard knotty hands so crumpled +and shaky, that he had to leave all to me. And that they should fancy +I could go and hurt him!' said Leonard, stretching his broad chest and +shoulders in conscious strength. + +'Yes, considering who it was, I do not wonder that you feel the +passion-theory as insulting as the accusation.' + +'I ought not,' said Leonard, reddening. 'Every one knows what my +temper can do. I do not think that a poor old feeble man like that +could have provoked me to be so cowardly, but I see it is no wonder +they think so. Only they might suppose I would not have been a robber, +and go on lying now, when they take good care to tell me that it is +ruinous!' + +'It is an intolerable shame that they can look you in the face and +imagine it for a moment,' said the Doctor, with all his native warmth. + +'After all,' said Leonard, recalled by his sympathy, 'it is my own +fault from beginning to end that I am in this case. I see now that it +was only God's mercy that prevented my brother's blood being on me, and +it was my unrepenting obstinacy that brought me to the mill; so there +will be no real injustice in my dying, and I expect nothing else.' + +'Hush, Leonard, depend upon it, while there is Justice in Heaven, the +true criminal cannot go free,' cried the Doctor, much agitated. + +Leonard shook his head. + +'Boyish hastiness is not murder,' added the Doctor. + +'So I thought. But it might have been, and I never repented. I +brought all this on myself; and while I cannot feel guiltless in God's +sight, I cannot expect it to turn out well.' + +'Turn out well,' repeated the Doctor. 'We want Ethel to tell us that +this very repentance and owning of the sin, is turning out well--better +than going on in it.' + +'I can see that,' said Leonard. 'I do hope that if--if I can take this +patiently, it may show I am sorry for the real thing--and I may be +forgiven. Oh! I am glad prisoners are not cut off from church.' + +Dr. May pressed his hand in much emotion: and there was a silence +before another question--whether there were nothing that could be of +service. + +'One chance there is, that Sam might relent enough to put that receipt +where it could be found without implicating him. He must know what it +would do for me.' + +'You are convinced that he has it?' + +'There must be papers in the book valuable to him; perhaps some that he +had rather were not seen. Most likely he secured it in the morning. +You remember he was there before the police.' + +'Ay! ay! ay! the scoundrel! But, Leonard, what possessed you not to +speak out at the inquest, when we might have searched every soul on the +premises?' + +'I did not see it then. I was stunned by the horror of the thing--the +room where I had been so lately, and that blood on my own rifle too. +It was all I could do at one time not to faint, and I had no notion +they would not take my explanation; then, when I found it rejected, and +everything closing in on me, I was in a complete maze. It was not till +yesterday, when I was alone again, after having gone over my defence +with Mr. Bramshaw, and shown what I could prove, that I saw exactly how +it must have been, as clear as a somnambulist. I sometimes could fancy +I had seen Sam listening at the window, and have to struggle not to +think I knew him under the stable wall.' + +'And you are not such a--such a--so absurd as to sacrifice yourself to +any scruple, and let the earth be cumbered with a rascal who, if he be +withholding the receipt, is committing a second murder! It is not +generosity, it is suicide.' + +'It is not generosity,' said the boy, 'for if there were any hope, that +would not stop me; but no one heard nor saw but myself, and I neither +recognized him--no, I did not--nor heard anything definite from my +uncle. Even if I had, no one--no one but you, believes a word I speak; +nay, even my own case shows what probabilities are worth, and that I +may be doing him the same wrong that I am suffering. I should only +bring on myself the shame and disgrace of accusing another.' + +The steady low voice and unboyish language showed him to be speaking +from reflection, not impulse. The only tremulous moment was when he +spoke of the one friend who trusted him, and whom his words were +filling with a tumult of hope and alarm, admiration, indignation, and +perplexity. + +'Well, well,' the Doctor said, almost stammering, 'I am glad you have +been open with me. It may be a clue. Can there be any excuse for +overhauling his papers? Or can't we pick a hole in that alibi of his? +Now I recollect, he had it very pat, and unnecessarily prominent. I'll +find some way of going to work without compromising you. Yes, you may +trust me! I'll watch, but say not a word without your leave.' + +'Thank you,' said Leonard. 'I am glad it is you--you who would never +think a vague hope of saving me better than disgrace and dishonour.' + +'We will save you,' said the Doctor, becoming eager to escape to that +favourite counsellor, the lining of his brougham, which had inspired +him with the right theory of many a perplexing symptom, and he trusted +would show him how to defend without betraying Leonard. 'I must go and +see about it. Is there anything I can do for you--books, or anything?' + +No, thank you--except--I suppose there would be no objection to my +having a few finer steel pens. 'And to explain his wants, he took up +his Prayer-Book, which his sister had decorated with several small +devotional prints. Copying these minutely line by line in pen and ink, +was the solace of his prison hours; and though the work was hardly +after drawing-masters' rules, the hand was not untaught, and there was +talent and soul enough in the work to strike the Doctor. + +'It suits me best,' said Leonard. 'I should go distracted with nothing +to do; and I can't read much--at least, not common books. And my +sisters may like to have them. Will you let me do one for you?' + +The speaking expression of those hazel eyes almost overcame the Doctor, +and his answer was by bending head and grasping hand. Leonard turned to +the Collects, and mutely opened at the print of the Son of Consolation, +which he had already outlined, looked up at his friend, and turned +away, only saying, 'Two or three of the sort with elastic nibs; they +have them at the post-office.' + +'Yes, I'll take care,' said Dr. May, afraid to trust his self-command +any longer. 'Good-bye, Leonard. Tom says I adopt every one who gets +through a bad enough fever, so what will you be to me after this second +attack?' + +The result of the Doctor's consultation with his brougham was his +stopping it at Mr. Bramshaw's door, to ascertain whether the search for +the receipt had extended to young Axworthy's papers; but he found that +they had been thoroughly examined, every facility having been given by +their owner, who was his uncle's executor, and residuary legatee, by a +will dated five years back, leaving a thousand pounds to the late Mrs. +Ward, and a few other legacies, but the mass of the property to the +nephew. + +Sam's 'facilities' not satisfying the Doctor, it was further explained +that every endeavour was being made to discover what other documents +were likely to have been kept in the missing memorandum-book, so as to +lead to the detection of any person who might present any such at a +bank; and it was made evident that everything was being done, short of +the impracticability of searching an unaccused man, but he could not +but perceive that Mr. Bramshaw's 'ifs' indicated great doubt of the +existence of receipt and of pocket-book. Throwing out a hint that the +time of Sam's return should be investigated, he learnt that this had +been Edward Anderson's first measure, and that it was clear, from the +independent testimony of the ostler at Whitford, the friend who had +driven Sam, and the landlord of the Three Goblets, that there was not +more than time for the return exactly as described at the inquest; and +though the horse was swift and powerful, and might probably have been +driven at drunken speed, this was too entirely conjectural for anything +to be founded on it. Nor had the cheque by Bilson on the Whitford Bank +come in. + +'Something must assuredly happen to exonerate the guiltless, it would +be profane to doubt,' said Dr. May continually to himself and to the +Wards; but Leonard's secret was a painful burthen that he could +scarcely have borne without sharing it with that daughter who was his +other self, and well proved to be a safe repository. + +'That's my Leonard,' said Ethel. 'I know him much better now than any +time since the elf-bolt affair! They have not managed to ruin him +among them.' + +'What do you call this?' said Dr. May, understanding her, indeed, but +willing to hear her thought expressed. + +'Thankworthy,' she answered, with a twitching of the corners of her +mouth. + +'You will suffer for this exaltation,' he said, sadly; 'you know you +have a tender heart, for all your flights.' + +'And you know you have a soul as well as a heart,' said Ethel, as well +as the swelling in her throat would allow. + +'To be sure, this world would be a poor place to live in, if admiration +did not make pity bearable,' said the Doctor; 'but--but don't ask me, +Ethel: you have not had that fine fellow in his manly patience before +your eyes. Talk of your knowing him! You knew a boy! I tell you, +this has made him a man, and one of a thousand--so high-minded and so +simple, so clearheaded and well-balanced, so entirely resigned and free +from bitterness! What could he not be? It would be grievous to see him +cut off by a direct dispensation--sickness, accident, battle; but for +him to come to such an end, for the sake of a double +murderer--Ethel--it would almost stagger one's faith!' + +'Almost!' repeated Ethel, with the smile of a conqueror. + +'I know, I know,' said the Doctor. 'If it be so, it will be right; one +will try to believe it good for him. Nay, there's proof enough in what +it has done for him already. If you could only see him!' + +'I mean to see him, if it should go against him,' said Ethel, 'if you +will let me. I would go to him as I would if he were in a decline, and +with more reverence.' + +'Don't talk of it,' cried her father. 'For truth's sake, for justice's +sake, for the country's sake, I can not, will not, believe it will go +wrong. There is a Providence, after all, Ethel!' + +And the Doctor went away, afraid alike of hope and despondency, and +Ethel thought of the bright young face, of De Wilton, of Job, and of +the martyrs; and when she was not encouraging Aubrey, or soothing +Averil, her heart would sink, and the tears that would not come would +have been very comfortable. + +It was well for all that the assizes were so near that the suspense was +not long protracted; for it told upon all concerned. Leonard, when the +Doctor saw him again, was of the same way of thinking, but his manner +was more agitated; he could not sleep, or if he slept, the +anticipations chased away in the day-time revenged themselves in his +dreams; and he was very unhappy, also, about his sister, whose illness +continued day after day. She was not acutely ill, but in a constant +state of low fever, every faculty in the most painful state of tension, +convinced that she was quite able to get up and go to Leonard, and that +her detention was mere cruelty; and then, on trying to rise, refused by +fainting. Her searching questions and ardent eyes made it impossible +to keep any feature in the case from her knowledge. Sleep was +impossible to her; and once when Henry tried the effect of an anodyne, +it produced a semi-delirium, which made him heartily repent of his +independent measure. At all times she was talking--nothing but the +being left with a very stolid maid-servant ever closed her lips, and +she so greatly resented being thus treated, that the measure was seldom +possible. Henry seldom left her. He was convinced that Leonard's +sentence would be hers likewise, and he watched over her with the +utmost tenderness and patience with her fretfulness and waywardness, +never quitting her except on their brother's behalf, when Ethel or Mary +would take his place. Little Minna was always to be found on her small +chair by the bed-side, or moving about like a mouse, sometimes +whispering her one note, 'They can't hurt him, if he has not done it,' +and still quietly working at the pair of slippers that had been begun +for his birthday present. Mary used to bring Ella, and take them out +walking in the least-frequented path; but though the little sisters +kissed eagerly, and went fondly hand in hand, they never were sorry to +part: Ella's spirits oppressed Minna, and Minna's depression vexed the +more volatile sister; moreover, Minna always dreaded Mary's desire to +carry her away--as, poor child, she looked paler, and her eyes heavier +and darker, every day. + +No one else, except, of course, Dr. May, was admitted. Henry would not +let his sister see Mr. Scudamour or Mr. Wilmot, lest she should be +excited; and Averil's 'No one' was vehement as a defence against Mrs. +Pugh or Mrs. Ledwich, whom she suspected of wanting to see her, though +she never heard of more than their daily inquiries. + +Mrs. Pugh was, in spite of her exclusion, the great authority with the +neighbourhood for all the tidings of 'the poor Wards,' of whom she +talked with the warmest commiseration, relating every touching detail +of their previous and present history, and continually enduring the +great shock of meeting people in shops or in the streets, whom she knew +to be reporters or photographers. In fact, the catastrophe had taken a +strong hold on the public mind; and 'Murder of an Uncle by his Nephew,' +'The Blewer Tragedy,' figured everywhere in the largest type; newsboys +on the railway shouted, 'To-day's paper-account of inquest;' and the +illustrated press sent down artists, whose three-legged cameras stared +in all directions, from the Vintry Mill to Bankside, and who aimed at +the school, the Minster, the volunteers, and Dr. Hoxton himself. Tom +advised Ethel to guard Mab carefully from appearing stuffed in the +chamber of horrors at Madame Tussaud's; and the furniture at the mill +would have commanded any price. Nay, Mrs. Pugh was almost certain she +had seen one of the 'horrid men' bargaining with the local photographer +for her own portrait, in her weeds, and was resolved the interesting +injury should never be forgiven! + +She really had the 'trying scenes' of two interviews with both Mr. +Bramshaw and the attorney from Whitford who was getting up the +prosecution, each having been told that she was in possession of +important intelligence. Mr. Bramshaw was not sanguine as to what he +might obtain from her, but flattered her with the attempt, and ended by +assuring her, like his opponent, that there was no need to expose her +to the unpleasantness of appearing in court. + +Aubrey was not to have the same relief, but was, like his father, +subpoenaed as a witness for the prosecution. He had followed his +father's advice, and took care not to disclose his evidence to the +enemy, as he regarded the Whitford lawyer. He was very miserable, and +it was as much for his sake as that of the immediate family, that Ethel +rejoiced that the suspense was to be short. Counsel of high reputation +had been retained; but as the day came nearer, without bringing any of +the disclosures on which the Doctor had so securely reckoned, more and +more stress was laid on the dislike to convict on circumstantial +evidence, and on the saying that the English law had rather acquit ten +criminals than condemn one innocent man. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + Ah! I mind me now of thronging faces, + Mocking eyed, and eager, as for sport; + Hundreds looking up, and in high places + Men arrayed for judgment and a court. + + And I heard, or seemed to hear, one seeking + Answer back from one he doomed to die, + Pitifully, sadly, sternly speaking + Unto one--and oh! that one, twas I.--Rev. G. E. Monsell + + +The 'Blewer Murder' was the case of the Assize week; and the court was +so crowded that, but for the favour of the sheriff, Mr. and Mrs. +Rivers, with Tom and Gertrude, could hardly have obtained seats. No +others of the family could endure to behold the scene, except from +necessity; and indeed Ethel and Mary had taken charge of the sisters at +home, for Henry could not remain at a distance from his brother, though +unable to bear the sight of the proceedings; he remained in a house at +hand. + +Nearly the whole population of Stoneborough, Whitford, and Blewer was +striving to press into court, but before the day's work began, Edward +Anderson had piloted Mrs. Pugh to a commodious place, under the escort +of his brother Harvey, who was collecting materials for an article on +criminal jurisprudence. + +Some of those who, like the widow and little Gertrude, had been wild to +be present, felt their hearts fail them when the last previous case had +been disposed of; and there was a brief pause of grave and solemn +suspense and silent breathless expectation within the court, unbroken, +except by increased sounds of crowding in all the avenues without. + +Every one, except the mere loungers, who craved nothing but excitement, +looked awed and anxious; and the impression was deepened by the +perception that the same feeling, though restrained, affected the judge +himself, and was visible in the anxious attention with which he looked +at the papers before him, and the stern sadness that had come over the +features naturally full of kindness and benevolence. + +The prisoner appeared in the dock. He had become paler, and perhaps +thinner, for his square determined jaw, and the resolute mould of his +lips, were more than usually remarkable, and were noted in the +physiognomical brain of Harvey Anderson; as well as the keen light of +his full dark hazel eye, the breadth of his brow, with his shining +light brown hair brushed back from it; the strong build of his frame, +and the determined force, apparent even in the perfect quiescence of +his attitude. + +Leonard Axworthy Ward was arraigned for the wilful murder of Francis +Axworthy, and asked whether he pleaded Guilty or Not Guilty. + +His voice was earnest, distinct, and firm, and his eyes were raised +upwards, as though he were making the plea of 'Not Guilty' not to man +alone, but to the Judge of all the earth. + +The officer of the court informed him of his right to challenge any of +the jury, as they were called over by name; and as each came to be +sworn, he looked full and steadily at each face, more than one of which +was known to him by sight, as if he were committing his cause into +their hands. He declined to challenge; and then crossing his arms on +his breast, cast down his eyes, and thus retained them through the +greater part of the trial. + +The jurymen were then sworn in, and charged with the issue; and the +counsel for the prosecution opened the case, speaking more as if in +pity than indignation, as he sketched the history, which it was his +painful duty to establish. He described how Mr. Axworthy, having spent +the more active years of his life in foreign trade, had finally +returned to pass his old age among his relatives; and had taken to +assist him in his business a great-nephew, and latterly another youth +in the same degree of relation, the son of his late niece--the +prisoner, who on leaving school had been taken into his uncle's office, +lodged in the house, and became one of the family. It would, however, +be shown by witnesses that the situation had been extremely irksome to +the young man; and that he had not been in it many months before he had +expressed his intention of absconding, provided he could obtain the +means of making his way in one of the colonies. Then followed a summary +of the deductions resulting from the evidence about to be adduced, and +which carried upon its face the inference that the absence of the +cousin, the remoteness of the room, the sight of a large sum of money, +and the helplessness of the old man, had proved temptations too strong +for a fiery and impatient youth, long fretted by the restraints of his +situation, and had conducted him to violence, robbery, and flight. It +was a case that could not be regarded without great regret and +compassion; but the gentlemen of the jury must bear in mind in their +investigation, that pity must not be permitted to distort the facts, +which he feared were only too obvious. + +The speech was infinitely more telling from its fair and commiserating +tone towards the prisoner; and the impression that it carried, not that +he was to be persecuted by having the crime fastened on him, but that +truth must be sought out at all hazards. + +'Even he is sorry for Leonard! I don't hate him as I thought I +should,' whispered Gertrude May, to her elder sister. The first witness +was, as before, the young maid-servant, Anne Ellis, who described her +first discovery of the body; and on farther interrogation, the +situation of the room, distant from those of the servants, and out of +hearing--also her master's ordinary condition of feebleness. She had +observed nothing in the room, or on the table, but knew the window was +open, since she had run to it, and screamed for help, upon which Master +Hardy had come to her aid. + +Leonard's counsel then elicited from her how low the window was, and +how easily it could be entered from without. + +James Hardy corroborated all this, giving a more minute account of the +state of the room; and telling of his going to call the young +gentlemen, and finding the open passage window and empty bed-room. The +passage window would naturally be closed at night; and there was no +reason to suppose that Mr. Ward would be absent. The bag shown to him +was one that had originally been made for the keeping of cash, but +latterly had been used for samples of grain, and he had last seen it in +the office. + +The counsel for the prisoner inquired what had been on the table at +Hardy's first entrance; but to this the witness could not swear, except +that the lamp was burning, and that there were no signs of disorder, +nor was the dress of the deceased disarranged. He had seen his master +put receipts, and make memorandums, in a large, black, silver-clasped +pocket-book, but had never handled it, and could not swear to it; he +had seen nothing like it since his master's death. He was further asked +how long the prisoner had been at the mill, his duties there, and the +amount of trust reposed in him; to which last the answer was, that +about a month since, Mr. Axworthy had exclaimed that if ever he wanted +a thing to be done, he must set Ward about it. Saving this speech, made +in irritation at some omission on Sam's part, nothing was adduced to +show that Leonard was likely to have been employed without his cousin's +knowledge; though Hardy volunteered the addition that Mr. Ward was +always respectful and attentive, and that his uncle had lately thought +much more of him than at first. + +Rebekah Giles gave her account of the scene in the sitting-room. She +had been in the service of the deceased for the last four years, and +before in that of his sister-in-law, Mr. Samuel's mother. She had +herself closed the passage window at seven o'clock in the evening, as +usual. She had several times previously found it partly open in the +morning, after having thus shut it over-night; but never before, Mr. +Ward's bed unslept in. Her last interview with Mr. Axworthy was then +narrated, with his words--an imprecation against rifle practice, as an +excuse for idle young rascals to be always out of the way. Then +followed her communication to the prisoner at half-past nine, when she +saw him go into the parlour, in his volunteer uniform, rifle in hand, +heard him turn the lock of the sitting-room door, and then herself +retired to bed. + +Cross-examination did not do much with her, only showing that, when she +brought in the supper, one window had been open, and the blinds, common +calico ones, drawn down, thus rendering it possible for a person to +lurk unseen in the court, and enter by the window. Her master had +assigned no reason for sending for Mr. Ward. She did not know whether +Mr. Axworthy had any memorandum-book; she had seen none on the table, +nor found any when she undressed the body, though his purse, watch, and +seals were on his person. + +Mr. Rankin's medical evidence came next, both as to the cause of death, +the probable instrument, and the nature of the stains on the desk and +rifle. + +When cross-examined, he declared that he had looked at the volunteer +uniform without finding any mark of blood, but from the nature of the +injury it was not likely that there would be any. He had attended Mr. +Axworthy for several years, and had been visiting him professionally +during a fit of the gout in the last fortnight of June, when he had +observed that the prisoner was very attentive to his uncle. Mr. +Axworthy was always unwilling to be waited on, but was unusually +tolerant of this nephew's exertions on his behalf, and had seemed of +late to place much reliance on him. + +Doctor Richard May was the next witness called. The sound of that name +caused the first visible change in the prisoner's demeanour, if that +could be called change, which was only a slight relaxation of the firm +closing of the lips, and one sparkle of the dark eyes, ere they were +again bent down as before, though not without a quiver of the lids. + +Dr. May had brought tone, look, and manner to the grave impartiality +which even the most sensitive man is drilled into assuming in public; +but he durst not cast one glance in the direction of the prisoner. + +In answer to the counsel for the prosecution, he stated that he was at +the Vintry Mill at seven o'clock on the morning of the 6th of July, not +professionally, but as taking interest in the Ward family. He had seen +the body of the deceased, and considered death to have been occasioned +by fracture of the skull, from a blow with a blunt heavy instrument. +The superintendent had shown him a rifle, which he considered, from the +marks on it, as well as from the appearance of the body, to have +produced the injury. The rifle was the one shown to him; it was the +property of Leonard Ward. He recognized it by the crest and cipher H. +E. It had belonged to his son-in-law, Hector Ernescliffe, by whom it +had been given to Leonard Ward. + +Poor Doctor! That was a cruel piece of evidence; and his son and +daughters opposite wondered how he could utter it in that steady +matter-of-fact way; but they knew him to be sustained by hopes of the +cross-examination; and he soon had the opportunity of declaring that he +had known Leonard Ward from infancy, without being aware of any +imputation against him; but had always seen him highly principled and +trustworthy, truthful and honourable, kind-hearted and humane--the last +person to injure the infirm or aged. + +Perhaps the good Doctor, less afraid of the sound of his own voice, and +not so much in awe as some of the other witnesses, here in his +eagerness overstepped the bounds of prudence. His words indeed brought +a tremulous flicker of grateful emotion over the prisoner's face; but +by carrying the inquiry into the region of character and opinion, he +opened the door to a dangerous re-examination by the Crown lawyer, who +required the exact meaning of his unqualified commendation, especially +in the matter of humanity, demanding whether he had never known of any +act of violence on the prisoner's part. The colour flushed suddenly +into Leonard's face, though he moved neither eye nor lip; but his +counsel appealed to the judge, and the pursuit of this branch of the +subject was quashed as irrelevant; but the Doctor went down in very low +spirits, feeling that his evidence had been damaging, and his hopes of +any ray of light becoming fainter. + +After this, the village policeman repeated the former statements, as to +the state of the various rooms, the desk, locked and untouched, the +rifle, boat, &c., further explaining that the distance from the mill to +Blewer Station, by the road was an hour and half's walk, by the fields, +not more than half an hour's. + +The station-master proved the prisoner's arrival at midnight, his +demand of a day-ticket, his being without luggage, and in a black suit; +and the London policeman proved the finding of the money on his person, +and repeated his own explanation of it. + +The money was all in sovereigns, except one five and one ten-pound +note, and Edward Hazlitt, the clerk of the Whitford Bank, was called to +prove the having given the latter in change to Mr. Axworthy for a +fifty-pound cheque, on the 10th of May last. + +This same clerk had been at the volunteer drill on the evening of the +5th of July, had there seen the prisoner, had parted with him at dusk, +towards nine o'clock, making an engagement with him to meet on Blewer +Heath for some private practice at seven o'clock on Monday evening. +Thought Mr. Axworthy did sometimes employ young Ward on his +commissions; Mr. Axworthy had once sent him into Whitford to pay in a +large sum, and another time with an order to be cashed. The dates of +these transactions were shown in the books; and Hazlitt added, on +further interrogation, that Samuel Axworthy could not have been aware +of the sum being sent to the bank, since he had shortly after come and +desired to see the account, which had been laid before him as +confidential manager, when he had shown surprise and annoyance at the +recent deposit, asking through whom it had been made. Not ten days +subsequently, an order for nearly the entire amount had been cashed, +signed by the deceased, but filled up in Samuel's handwriting. + +This had taken place in April; and another witness, a baker, proved the +having paid the five-pound note to old Mr. Axworthy himself on the 2nd +of May. + +Samuel Axworthy himself was next called. His florid face wore +something of the puffed, stupefied look it had had at the inquest, but +his words were ready, and always to the point. He identified the bag +in which the money had been found, giving an account of it similar to +Hardy's, and adding that he had last seen it lying by his cousin's +desk. His uncle had no account with any London bank, all transactions +had of late passed through his own hands, and he had never known the +prisoner employed in any business of importance--he could not have been +kept in ignorance of it if it had previously been the case. The +deceased had a black shagreen pocket-book, with a silver clasp, which +he occasionally used, but the witness had never known him give it out +of his own hand, nor take a receipt in it. Had not seen it on the +morning of the 6th, nor subsequently. Could not account for the sum +found on the person of the prisoner, whose salary was £50 per annum, +and who had no private resources, except the interest of £2000, which, +he being a minor, was not in his own hands. Deceased was fond of +amassing sovereigns, and would often keep them for a longtime in the +drawer of his desk, as much as from £50 to £100. There was none there +when the desk was opened on the 6th of July, though there had certainly +been gold there two days previously. It was kept locked. It had a +small Bramah key, which his uncle wore on his watch-chain, in his +waistcoat pocket. The drawer was locked when he saw it on the morning +of the 6th. + +The Doctor, who had joined his children, gave a deep respiration, and +relaxed the clenching of his hand, as this witness went down. + +Then it came to the turn of Aubrey Spencer May. The long waiting, +after his nerves had been wound up, had been a severe ordeal, and his +delicacy of constitution and home breeding had rendered him peculiarly +susceptible. With his resemblance to his father in form and +expression, it was like seeing the Doctor denuded of that shell of +endurance with which he had contrived to conceal his feelings. The boy +was indeed braced to resolution, bat the resolution was equally visible +with the agitation in the awe-stricken brow, varying colour, tightened +breath, and involuntary shiver, as he took the oath. Again Leonard +looked up with one of his clear bright glances, and perhaps a shade of +anxiety; but Aubrey, for his own comfort, was too short-sighted for +meeting of eyes from that distance. + +Seeing his agitation, and reckoning on his evidence, the counsel gave +him time, by minutely asking if his double Christian name were +correctly given, his age, and if he were not the son of Dr. May. + +'You were the prisoner's school-fellow, I believe?' + +'No,' faltered Aubrey. + +'But you live near him?' + +'We are friends,' said Aubrey, with sudden firmness and precision; and +from the utterance of that emphatic _are_, his spirit returned. + +'Did you often see him?' + +'On most Sundays, after church.' + +'Did you ever hear him say he had any thoughts of the means of leaving +the mill privately?' + +'Something like it,' said Aubrey, turning very red. + +'Can you tell me the words?' + +'He said if things went on, that I was not to be surprised if I heard +non est inventus,' said Aubrey, speaking as if rapidity would conceal +the meaning of the words, but taken aback by being made to repeat and +translate them to the jury. + +'And did he mention any way of escaping?' + +'He said the window and cedar-tree were made for it, and that he often +went out that way to bathe,' said Aubrey. + +'When did this conversation take place?' + +'On Sunday, the 22nd of June,' said Aubrey, in despair, as the Crown +lawyer thanked him, and sat down. + +He felt himself betrayed into having made their talk wear the air of +deliberate purpose, and having said not one word of what Mr. Bramshaw +had hailed as hopeful. However, the defending barrister rose up to ask +him what he meant by having answered 'Something like it.' + +'Because,' said Aubrey, promptly, 'though we did make the scheme, we +were neither of us in earnest.' + +'How do you know the prisoner was not in earnest?' + +'We often made plans of what we should like to do.' + +'And had you any reason for thinking this one of such plans!' + +'Yes,' said Aubrey; 'for he talked of getting gold enough to build up +the market-cross, or else of going to see the Feejee Islands. + +'Then you understood the prisoner not to express a deliberate purpose, +so much as a vague design.' + +'Just so,' said Aubrey. 'A design that depended on how things went on +at the mill.' And being desired to explain his words, he added, that +Leonard had said he could not bear the sight of Sam Axworthy's tyranny +over the old man, and was resolved not to stay, if he were made a party +to any of the dishonest tricks of the trade. + +'In that case, did he say where he would have gone?' + +'First to New Zealand, to my brother, the Reverend Norman May.' + +Leonard's counsel was satisfied with the colour the conversation had +now assumed; but the perils of re-examination were not over yet, for +the adverse lawyer requested to know whence the funds were to have come +for this adventurous voyage. + +'We laughed a little about that, and he said he should have to try how +far his quarter's salary would go towards a passage in the steerage.' + +'If your friend expressed so strong a distaste to his employers and +their business, what induced him to enter it?' + +Leonard's counsel again objected to this inquiry, and it was not +permitted. Aubrey was dismissed, and, flushed and giddy, was met by +his brother Tom, who almost took him in his arms as he emerged from the +passage. + +'O, Tom! what have I done?' + +'Famously, provided there's no miller in the jury. Come,' as he felt +the weight on his arm, 'Flora says I am to take you down and make you +take something.' + +'No, no, no, I can't! I must go back.' + +'I tell you there's nothing going on. Every one is breathing and +baiting.' And he got him safe to a pastrycook's, and administered +brandy cherries, which Aubrey bolted whole like pills, only entreating +to return, and wanting to know how he thought the case going. + +'Excellently. Hazlitt's evidence and yours ought to carry him through. +And Anderson says they have made so much out of the witnesses for the +prosecution, that they need call none for the defence; and so the enemy +will be balked of their reply, and we shall have the last word. I vow +I have missed my vocation. I know I was born for a barrister!' + +'Now may we come back?' said the boy, overwhelmed by his brother's +cheeriness; and they squeezed into court again, Tom inserting Aubrey +into his own former seat, and standing behind him on half a foot at the +angle of the passage. They were in time for the opening of the +defence, and to hear Leonard described as a youth of spirit and +promise, of a disposition that had won him general affection and +esteem, and recommended to universal sympathy by the bereavement which +was recent in the memory of his fellow-townsmen; and there was a glance +at the mourning which the boy still wore. + +'They had heard indeed that he was quick-tempered and impulsive; but +the gentlemen of the jury were some of them fathers, and he put it to +them whether a ready and generous spirit of indignation in a lad were +compatible with cowardly designs against helpless old age; whether one +whose recreations were natural science and manly exercise, showed +tokens of vicious tendencies; above all, whether a youth, whose +friendship they had seen so touchingly claimed by a son of one of the +most highly respected gentlemen in the county, were evincing the +propensities that lead to the perpetration of deeds of darkness.' + +Tom patted Aubrey on the shoulder; and Aubrey, though muttering +'humbug,' was by some degrees less wretched. + +'Men did not change their nature on a sudden,' the counsel continued; +'and where was the probability that a youth of character entirely +unblemished, and of a disposition particularly humane and generous, +should at once rush into a crime of the deep and deadly description, to +which a long course of dissipation, leading to perplexity, distress, +and despair, would be the only inducement?' + +He then went on to speak of Leonard's position at the mill, as junior +clerk. He had been there for six months, without a flaw being +detected, either in his integrity, his diligence, or his regularity; +indeed, it was evident that he had been gradually acquiring a greater +degree of esteem and confidence than he had at first enjoyed, and had +been latterly more employed by his uncle. That a young man of superior +education should find the daily drudgery tedious and distasteful, and +that one of sensitive honour should be startled at the ordinary, he +might almost say proverbial, customs of the miller's trade, was +surprising to no one; and that he should unbosom himself to a friend of +his own age, and indulge together with him in romantic visions of +adventure, was, to all who remembered their own boyhood, an +illustration of the freshness and ingenuousness of the character that +thus unfolded itself. Where there were day-dreams, there was no room +for plots of crime. + +Then ensued a species of apology for the necessity of entering into +particulars that did not redound to the credit of a gentleman, who had +appeared before the court under such distressing circumstances as Mr. +Samuel Axworthy; but it was needful that the condition of the family +should be well understood, in order to comprehend the unhappy train of +events which had conducted the prisoner into his present situation. He +then went through what had been traceable through the evidence--that +Samuel Axworthy was a man of expensive habits, and accustomed to drain +his uncle's resources to supply his own needs; showing how the sum, +which had been intrusted to the prisoner, to be paid into the local +bank, had been drawn out by the elder nephew as soon as he became aware +of the deposit; and how, shortly after, the prisoner had expressed to +Aubrey May his indignation at the tyranny exercised on his uncle. + +'By and by, another sum is amassed,' continued Leonard's advocate. 'How +dispose of it? The local bank is evidently no security from the +rapacity of the elder nephew. Once aware of its existence, he knows +how to use means for compelling its surrender; and the feeble old man +can no longer call his hard-earned gains his own except on sufferance. +The only means of guarding it is to lodge it secretly in a distant +bank, without the suspicion of his nephew Samuel; but the invalid is +too infirm to leave his apartment; his fingers, crippled by gout, +refuse even to guide the pen. He can only watch for an opportunity, +and this is at length afforded by the absence of the elder nephew for +two days at the county races. This will afford time for a trustworthy +and intelligent messenger to convey the sum to town, deposit it in +Messrs, Drummond's bank, and return unobserved. When, therefore, supper +is brought in, Mr. Axworthy sends for the lad on whom he has learnt to +depend, and shows much disappointment at his absence. Where is he? Is +he engaged with low companions in the haunts of vice, that are the +declivity towards crime? Is he gaming, or betting, or drinking? No. +He has obeyed the summons of his country; he is a zealous volunteer, +and is eagerly using a weapon presented to him by a highly respected +gentleman of large fortune in a neighbouring county; nay, so far is he +from any sinister purpose, that he is making an appointment with a +fellow-rifleman for the ensuing Monday. On his return at dark, he +receives a pressing summons to his uncle's room, and hastens to obey it +without pausing to lay aside his rifle. The commission is explained, +and well understanding the painfulness of the cause, he discreetly asks +no questions, but prepares to execute it. The sum of £124 12s. is +taken from the drawer of the desk, the odd money assigned to travelling +expenses, the £120 placed in a bag brought in from the office for the +purpose, bearing the initials of the owner, and a receipt in a private +pocket-book was signed by him for the amount, and left open on the +table for the ink to dry. + +'Who that has ever been young, can doubt the zest and elevation of +receiving for the first time a confidential mission? Who can doubt +that even the favourite weapon would be forgotten where it stood, and +that it would only be accordant to accredited rules that the window +should be preferable to the door? Had it not already figured in the +visions of adventure in the Sunday evening's walk? was it not a +favourite mode of exit in the mornings, when bathing and fishing were +more attractive than the pillow! Moreover, the moonlight disclosed +what appeared like a figure in the court-yard, and there was reason at +the time to suppose it a person likely to observe and report upon the +expedition. The opening of the front door might likewise attract +notice; and if the cousin should, as was possible, return that night, +the direct road was the way to meet him. The hour was too early for +the train which was to be met, but a lighted candle would reveal the +vigil, and moonlight on the meadows was attractive at eighteen. +Gentlemen of soberer and maturer years might be incredulous, but surely +it was not so strange or unusual for a lad, who indulged in visions of +adventure, to find a moonlight walk by the river-side more inviting +than a bed-room. + +'Shortly after, perhaps as soon as the light was extinguished, the +murder must have been committed. The very presence of that light had +been guardianship to the helpless old man below. When it was quenched, +nothing remained astir, the way from without was open, the weapon stood +only too ready to hand, the memorandum-book gave promise of booty and +was secured, though nothing else was apparently touched. It was this +very book that contained the signature that would have exonerated the +prisoner, and to which he fearlessly appealed upon his arrest at the +Paddington Station, before, for his additional misfortune, he had time +to discharge himself of his commission, and establish his innocence by +the deposit of the money at the bank. He has thus for a while become +the victim of a web of suspicious circumstances. But look at these +very circumstances more closely, and they will be found perfectly +consistent with the prisoner's statement, never varying, be it +remembered, from the explanation given to the policeman in first +surprise and horror of the tidings of the crime. + +'It might have been perhaps thought that there was another alternative +between entire innocence and a deliberate purpose of robbery and +murder-namely, that reproof from the old man had provoked a blow, and +that the means of flight had been hastily seized upon in the moment of +confusion and alarm. This might have been a plausible line of defence, +and secure of a favourable hearing; but I beg to state that the +prisoner has distinctly refused any such defence, and my instructions +are to contend for his perfect innocence. A nature such as we have +already traced is, as we cannot but perceive, revolted by the bare idea +of violence to the aged and infirm, and recoils as strongly from the +one accusation as from the other. + +'The prisoner made his statement at the first moment, and has adhered +to it in every detail, without confusion or self-contradiction. It +does not attempt to explain all the circumstances, but they all tally +exactly with his story; he is unable to show by whom the crime could +have been committed, nor is he bound in law or justice so to do; nay, +his own story shows the absolute impossibility of his being able to +explain what took place in his absence. But mark how completely the +established facts corroborate his narrative. Observe first the +position in which the body was found, the head on the desk, the stain +of blood corresponding with the wound, the dress undisturbed, all +manifestly untouched since the fatal stroke was dealt. Could this have +been the case, had the key of the drawer of gold been taken from the +waistcoat pocket, the chain from about the neck of the deceased, and +both replaced after the removal of the money and relocking the drawer! +Can any one doubt that the drawer was opened, the money taken out, and +the lock secured, while Mr. Axworthy was alive and consenting? Again, +what robber would convey away the spoil in a bag bearing the initials +of the owner, and that not caught up in haste, but fetched in for the +purpose from the office? Or would so tell-tale a weapon as the rifle +have been left conspicuously close at hand? There was no guilty +precipitation, for the uniform had been taken off and folded up, and +with a whole night before him, it would have been easy to reach a more +distant station, where his person would not have been recognized. Why, +too, if this were the beginning of a flight and exile, should no +preparation have been made for passing a single night from home? why +should a day-ticket have been asked for? No, the prisoner's own +straightforward, unvarnished statement is the only consistent +interpretation of the facts, otherwise conflicting and incomprehensible. + +'That a murder has been committed is unhappily too certain. I make no +attempt to unravel the mystery. I confine myself to the far more +grateful task of demonstrating, that to fasten the imputation on the +accused, would be to overlook a complication of inconsistencies, all +explained by his own account of himself, but utterly inexplicable on +the hypothesis of his guilt. + +'Circumstantial evidence is universally acknowledged to be perilous +ground for a conviction; and I never saw a case in which it was more +manifestly delusive than in the present, bearing at first an imposing +and formidable aspect, but on examination, confuted in every detail. +Most assuredly,' continued the counsel, his voice becoming doubly +earnest, 'while there is even the possibility of innocence, it becomes +incumbent on you, gentlemen of the jury, to consider well the fearful +consequences of a decision in a matter of life or death--a decision for +which there can be no reversal. The facts that have come to light are +manifestly incomplete. Another link in the chain has yet to be added; +and when it shall come forth, how will it be if it should establish the +guiltlessness of the prisoner too late? Too late, when a young life of +high promise, and linked by close family ties, and by bonds of ardent +friendship with so many, has been quenched in shame and disgrace, for a +crime to which he may be an utter stranger. + +'The extinction of the light in that upper window was the sign for +darkness and horror to descend on the mill! Here is the light of life +still burning, but a breath of yours can extinguish it in utter gloom, +and then who may rekindle it! Nay, the revelation of events that would +make the transactions of that fatal night clear as the noonday, would +never avail to rekindle the lamp, that may yet, I trust, shine forth to +the world--the clearer, it may be, from the unmerited imputations, +which it has been my part to combat, and of which his entire life is a +confutation.' + +Mrs. Pugh was sobbing under her veil; Gertrude felt the cause won. Tom +noiselessly clapped the orator behind his brother's back, and nodded +his approval to his father. Even Leonard lifted up his face, and shot +across a look, as if he felt deliverance near after the weary day, that +seemed to have been a lifetime already, though the sunbeams were only +beginning to fall high and yellow on the ceiling, through the heated +stifling atmosphere, heavy with anxiety and suspense. Doctor May was +thinking of the meeting after the acquittal, of the telegram to +Stoneborough, of the sister's revival, and of Ethel's greeting. + +Still the judge had to sum up; and all eyes turned on him, knowing that +the fate of the accused would probably depend on the colouring that the +facts adduced would assume in his hands. Flora, who met him in +society, was struck by the grave and melancholy bracing, as it were, of +the countenance, that she had seen as kindly and bright as her +father's; and the deep, full voice, sad rather than stern, the very +tone of which conveyed to every mind how heavy was the responsibility +of justice and impartiality. In effect, the very force of the +persuasions made for the defence, unanswered by the prosecution, +rendered it needful for him to give full weight to the evidence for the +other side; namely, the prisoner's evident impatience of his position, +and premeditated flight, the coincidence of the times, the being the +last person seen to enter the room, and with the very weapon that had +been the instrument of the crime; the probability that the deceased had +himself opened the drawer, the open window, the flight, and the missing +sum being found on his person, the allegation that the receipt would be +found in the pocket-book, unsupported by any testimony as to the +practice of the deceased; the strangeness of leaving the premises so +much too early for the train, and, by his own account, leaving a person +prowling in the court, close to his uncle's window. No opinion was +given; but there was something that gave a sense that the judge felt it +a crushing weight of evidence. Yet so minutely was every point +examined, so carefully was every indication weighed which could tend to +establish the prisoner's innocence, that to those among his audience +who believed that innocence indubitable, it seemed as if his arguments +proved it, even more triumphantly than the pleading of the counsel, as, +vibrating between hope and fear, anxiety and gratitude, they followed +him from point to point of the unhappy incident, hanging upon every +word, as though each were decisive. + +When at length he ceased, and the jury retired, the breathless +stillness continued. With some, indeed, there was the relaxation of +long-strained attention, eyes unbent, and heads turned, but Flora had +to pass her arm round her little sister, to steady the child's nervous +trembling; Aubrey sat rigid and upright, the throbs of his heart +well-nigh audible; and Dr. May leant forward, and covered his eyes with +his hand; Tom, who alone dared glance to the dock, saw that Leonard too +had retired. Those were the most terrible minutes they had ever spent +in their lives; but they were minutes of hope--of hope of relief from a +burthen, becoming more intolerable with every second's delay ere the +rebound. + +Long as it seemed to them, it was not in reality more than a quarter of +an hour before the jury returned, and with slow grave movements, and +serious countenances, resumed their places. Leonard was already in his; +his cheek paler, his fingers locked together, and his eyes scanning +each as they came forward, and one by one their names were called over. +His head was erect, and his bearing had something undaunted, though +intensely anxious. + +The question was put by the clerk of the court, 'How find you? Guilty +or Not guilty?' + +Firmly, though sadly, the foreman rose, and his answer was, 'We find +the prisoner guilty; but we earnestly recommend him to mercy.' + +Whether Tom felt or not that Aubrey was in a dead faint, and rested +against him as a senseless weight, he paid no visible attention to +aught but one face, on which his eyes were riveted as though nothing +would ever detach them--and that face was not the prisoner's. + +Others saw Leonard's face raised upwards, and a deep red flush spread +over brow and cheek, though neither lip nor eye wavered. + +Then came the question whether the prisoner had anything to say, +wherefore judgment should not be passed upon him. + +Leonard made a step forward, and his clear steady tone did not shake +for a moment as he spoke. 'No. I see that appearances are so much +against me, that man can hardly decide otherwise. I have known from +the first that nothing could show my innocence but the finding of the +receipt. In the absence of that one testimony, I feel that I have had +a fair trial, and that all has been done for me that could be done; and +I thank you for it, my Lord, and you, Gentlemen,' as he bent his head; +then added, 'I should like to say one thing more. My Lord, you would +not let the question be asked, how I brought all this upon myself. I +wish to say it myself, for it is that which makes my sentence just in +the sight of God. It is true that, though I never lifted my hand +against my poor uncle, I did in a moment of passion fling a stone at my +brother, which, but for God's mercy, might indeed have made me a +murderer. It was for this, and other like outbreaks, that I was sent +to the mill; and it may be just that for it I should die--though indeed +I never hurt my uncle.' + +Perhaps there was something in the tone of that one word, indeed, +which, by recalling his extreme youth, touched all hearts more than +even the manly tone of his answer, and his confession. There was a +universal weeping and sobbing throughout the court; Mrs. Pugh was on +the verge of hysterics, and obliged to be supported away; and Gertrude +was choking between the agony of contagious feeling and dread of +Flora's displeasure; and all the time Leonard stood calm, with his +brave head and lofty bearing, wound up for the awful moment of the +sentence. + +The weeping was hushed, when the crier of the court made proclamation, +commanding all persons on pain of imprisonment to be silent. Then the +judge placed on his head the black cap, and it was with trembling hands +that he did so; the blood had entirely left his face, and his lips were +purple with the struggle to contend with and suppress his emotion. He +paused, as though he were girding himself up to the most terrible of +duties, and when he spoke his voice was hollow, as he began: + +'Leonard Axworthy Ward, you have been found guilty of a crime that +would have appeared impossible in one removed from temptation by birth +and education such as yours have been. What the steps may have been +that led to such guilt, must lie between your own conscience and that +God whose justice you have acknowledged. To Him you have evidently +been taught to look; and may you use the short time that still remains +to you, in seeking His forgiveness by sincere repentance. I will +forward the recommendation to mercy, but it is my duty to warn you that +there are no such palliating circumstances in the evidence, as to +warrant any expectation of a remission of the sentence. + +And therewith followed the customary form of sentence, ending with the +solemn 'And may God Almighty have mercy on your soul!' + +Full and open, and never quailing, had the dark eyes been fixed upon +the judge all the time; and at those last words, the head bent low, and +the lips moved for 'Amen.' + +Then Tom, relieved to find instant occupation for his father, drew his +attention to Aubrey's state; and the boy between Tom and George Rivers +was, as best they could, carried through the narrow outlets, and laid +down in a room, opened to them by the sheriff, where his father and +Flora attended him, while Tom flew for remedies; and Gertrude sobbed +and wept as she had never done in her life. + +It was some time before the swoon yielded, or Dr. May could leave his +son, and then he was bent on at once going to the prisoner; but he was +so shaken and tremulous, that Tom insisted on giving him his arm, and +held an umbrella over him in the driving rain. + +'Father,' he said, as soon as they were in the street, 'I can swear who +did it.' + +Dr. May just hindered himself from uttering the name, but Tom answered +as if it had been spoken. + +'Yes. I saw the face of fiendish barbarity that once was over me, when +I was a miserable little school-boy! He did it; and he has the +receipt.' + +Dr. May squeezed his arm. 'I have not betrayed the secret, have I!' + +'You knew that he knew it!' + +'Not knew--suspected--generosity.' + +'I saw him! I saw him cast those imploring earnest eyes of his on the +scoundrel as he spoke of the receipt--and the villain try to make +himself of stone. Well, if I have one wish in life, it is to see that +fellow come to the fate he deserves. I'll never lose sight of him; +I'll dog him like a bloodhound!' + +And what good will that do, when--Tom, Tom, we must move Heaven and +earth for petitions. I'll take them up myself, and get George Rivers +to take me to the Home Secretary. Never fear, while there's justice in +Heaven.' + +'Here's Henry!' exclaimed Tom, withholding his father, who had almost +ran against the brother, as they encountered round a corner. + +He was pale and bewildered, and hardly seemed to hear the Doctor's +hasty asseverations that he would get a reprieve. + +'He sent me to meet you,' said Henry. 'He wants you to go home--to Ave +I mean. He says that is what he wants most--for you to go to her now, +and to come to him to-morrow, or when you can; and he wants to hear how +Aubrey is,' continued Henry, as if dreamily repeating a lesson. + +'He saw then--?' + +'Yes, and that seems to trouble him most.' + +Dr. May was past speaking, and Tom was obliged to answer for him--that +Aubrey was pretty well again, and had desired his dearest, dearest +love; then asked how Leonard was. + +'Calm and firm as ever,' said Henry, half choked. 'Nothing seems to +upset him, but speaking of--of you and Aubrey, Dr. May--and poor Ave. +But--but they'll be together before long.' + +'No such thing,' said Dr. May. 'You will see that certainty cures, +when suspense kills; and for him, I'll never believe but that all will +be right yet. Are you going home?' + +'I shall try to be with--with the dear unhappy boy as long as I can, +and then I'll come home.' + +Dr. May grasped Henry's hand, gave a promise of coming, and a message +of love to the prisoner, tried to say something more, but broke down, +and let Tom lead him away. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + Under the shroud + Of His thunder-cloud + Lie we still when His voice is loud, + And our hearts shall feel + The love notes steal, + As a bird sings after the thunder peal--C. F. A. + + +Not till dusk could Dr. May get back to Stoneborough, and then, in an +evening gleam of that stormy day, he was met at the gate of Bankside by +Richard and Ethel. + +'You need not come in, papa,' said Ethel. 'She is asleep. She knows.' + +Dr. May sighed with unspeakable relief. + +'Mr. Bramshaw telegraphed, and his clerk came down. It was not so very +bad! She saw it in our faces, and she was so worn out with talking and +watching, that--that the very turning her face to the wall with hope +over, became sleep almost directly.' + +'That is well,' murmured the Doctor. 'And can you be spared, my dear? +If you could come I should be glad, for poor Aubrey is quite done up.' + +'I can come. Mary is with her, and Richard will stay to meet Henry, if +he is coming home, or to send up if they want you; but I think she will +not wake for many hours; and then--oh! what can any one do!' + +So Richard turned back to the sorrowful house; and Dr. May, tenderly +drawing Ethel's arm into his own, told her, as they walked back, the +few incidents that she most wanted to hear, as best he could narrate +them. 'You have had a heart-rending day, my dear,' he said; 'you and +Mary, as well as the rest of us.' + +'There was one comfort!' said Ethel, 'and that was his own notes. Ave +has all that he has written to her from Whitford under her pillow, and +she kept spreading them out, and making us read them, and--oh! their +braveness and cheeriness--they did quite seem to hold one up! And then +poor little Minna's constant little robin-chirp of faith, "God will not +let them hurt him." One could not bear to tell the child, that though +indeed they cannot hurt him, it may not be in her sense! Look here! +These are her slippers. She has worked on all day to finish them, that +they might be done and out of sight when he came home this evening. +The last stitch was done as Richard came in; and now I thought I could +only take them out of every one's sight.' + +'Poor things! poor things! And how was it with the child when she +heard?' + +'The old sweet note,' said Ethel, less steadily than she had yet +spoken, '"nothing could hurt him for what he had not done." I don't +know whether she knows what--what is in store. At least she is not +shaken yet, dear child.' + +'And Ave--how did you manage with her through all the day?' + +'Oh! we did as we could. We tried reading the things Mr. Wilmot had +marked, but she was too restless; her hands would wander off to the +letters, caressing them, and she would go back to talk of him--all his +ways from a baby upwards. I hope there was no harm in letting her do +it, for if there is anything to do one good, it is his noble spirit.' + +'If you had only seen his face to-day,' exclaimed the Doctor, half +angrily, 'you would not feel much comfort in the cutting off such a +fellow. No, no, it won't be. We'll petition--petition--petition--and +save him, we will! Minna will be right yet! They shall not hurt him!' + +'Is there really hope in that way?' said Ethel, and a quiver of relief +agitated her whole frame. + +'Every hope! Every one I have seen, or Tom either, says so. We have +only to draw up a strong enough representation of the facts, his +character, and all that; and there's his whole conduct before and since +to speak for itself. Why, when it was all over, George heard every one +saying, either he was a consummate hypocrite, or he must be innocent. +Harvey Anderson declares the press will take it up. We shall certainly +get him off.' + +'You don't mean pardoned!' + +'Commutation of the penalty. Come on,' said the Doctor, hurrying at +his headlong pace, 'there's no time to be lost in getting it drawn up.' + +Ethel was dragged on so fast, that she could not speak; but it was with +willing haste, for this was the sort of suspense in which motion and +purpose were a great relief after the day's weary waiting. Gertrude, +quite spent with excitement and tears, had wisely betaken herself to +bed; and it would have been well had Aubrey followed her example, +instead of wandering up and down the room in his misery, flushed though +wan, impetuously talking treason against trial by jury, and abusing +dignitaries. They let him have it out, in all its fury and violence, +till he had tired out his first vehemence, and could be persuaded to +lie on the sofa while the rough draught of the petition was drawn up, +Tom writing, and every one suggesting or discussing, till the Doctor, +getting thorough mastery over the subject, dictated so fluently and +admirably, that even Tom had not a word to gainsay, but observed to +Ethel, when his father had gone up to bed, and carried Aubrey off, +'What an exceedingly able man my father is!' + +'Is this the first time you have found that out?' said Ethel. + +'Why, you know it is not his nature to make the most of himself! But +studying under him brings it out more; and there's a readiness about +him that I wish was catching. But I say, Ethel, what's this? I no +more doubt who did the deed, than I do who killed Abel; but I had once +seen Cain's face, and I knew it again. Is it true that the boy was +aware, and told my father?' + +'Did he tell you so?' + +'Only asked if he had betrayed the secret. If they both know it--why, +if it be Leonard's taste, I suppose I must say nothing to the contrary, +but he might as well consider his sister.' + +'What do you know, Tom?' said she, perplexed. + +'Only that there's some secret; and if it be as I am given to +understand, then it is a frenzy that no lucid person should permit.' + +'No, Tom,' said Ethel, feeling that the whole must be told, 'it is no +certainty--only unsupported suspicion, which he could not help telling +papa after binding him on honour to make no use of it. Putting things +together, he was sure who the man in the yard was; but it was not +recognition, and he could not have proved it.' + +'What Quixotry moved my father not to put the lawyers on the scent?' + +Ethel explained; and for her pains Tom fell upon her for her folly in +not having told him all, when he could have gone to Blewer and gathered +information as no professional person could do; then lamented that he +had let Aubrey keep him from the inquest, when the fellow's hang-dog +look would have been sure to suggest to him to set Anderson to get him +searched. Even now he would go to the mill, and try to hunt up +something. + +'Tom, remember papa's promise!' + +'Do you think a man can do nothing without committing himself, like +poor Aubrey? No, Ethel, the Doctor may be clever, but that's no use if +a man is soft, and he is uncommonly soft; and you should not encourage +him in it.' + +Ethel was prevented from expressing useless indignation by the arrival +of Mary, asking where papa was. + +'Gone to bed. He said he must go off at six to-morrow, there are so +many patients to see. Ave does not want him, I hope?' + +No, she is still asleep; I was only waiting for Richard, and he had +dreadful work with that poor Henry.' + +'What kind of work?' + +'Oh, I believe it has all come on him now that it was his +fault--driving Leonard to that place; and he was in such misery, that +Richard could not leave him.' + +'I am glad he has the grace to feel it at last,' said Tom. + +'It must be very terrible!' said Mary. 'He says he cannot stay in that +house, for every room reproaches him; and he groaned as if he was in +tremendous bodily pain.' + +'What, you assisted at this scene?' said Tom, looking at her rather +sharply. + +'No; but Richard told me; and I heard the groans as I sat on the +stairs.' + +'Sat on the stairs?' + +'Yes. I could not go back to Ave's room for fear of waking her.' + +'And how long?' + +'Towards an hour, I believe. I did all that piece,' said Mary, +displaying a couple of inches of a stocking leg, 'and I think it was +pretty well in the dark.' + +'Sitting on the stairs for an hour in the dark,' said Tom, as he gave +Mary the candle he had been lighting for her. 'That may be called +unappreciated devotion.' + +'I never can tell what Tom means,' said Mary, as she went up-stairs +with Ethel. 'It was a very comfortable rest. I wish you had had the +same, dear Ethel, you look so tired and worn out. Let me stay and help +you. It has been such a sad long day; and oh! how terrible this is! +And you know him better than any of us, except Aubrey.' + +Mary stopped almost in dismay, for her sister, usually so firm, broke +down entirely, and sitting down on a low chair, threw an arm round her, +and resting her weary brow against her, gave way to long tearless sobs, +or rather catches of breath. 'Oh! Mary! Mary!' she said, between her +gasps, 'to think of last year--and Coombe--and the two bright boys--and +the visions--and the light in those glorious eyes--and that this should +be the end!' + +'Dear, dear Ethel,' said Mary, with fast-flowing tears and tender +caresses, 'you have kept us all up; you have always shown us it was for +the best.' + +'It is! it is!' cried Ethel. 'I do, I _will_ believe it! If I had +only seen his face as papa tells of it, I could keep hold of the glory +of it and the martyr spirit. Now I only see his earnest, shy, +confiding look--and--and I don't know how to bear it.' And Ethel's +grasp of Mary in both arms was tightened, as if to support herself +under her deep labouring sobs of anguish. Ah! he was very fond of you.' + +'There never was any one beyond our own selves that loved me so well. I +always knew it would not last--that it ought not; but oh! it was +endearing; and I did think to have seen him a shining light!' + +'And don't you tell us he is a shining light now?' said Mary, among the +tears that really almost seemed to be a relief, as if her sister +herself had shed them; and as she knelt down, Ethel laid her head on +her shoulder, and spoke more calmly. + +'He is,' she said, 'and I ought to be thankful for it! I think I am +generally--but now--it makes it the more piteous--the hopes--the +spirit--the determination--all to be quenched, and so quenched--and to +have nothing--nothing to do for him. + +'But, Ethel, papa says your messages do him more good than anything; +and papa will let you go and see him, and that will comfort him.' + +Ethel's lips gave a strange sort of smile; she thought it was at simple +Mary's trust in her power, but it would hardly have been there but for +the species of hope thus excited, and the sense of sympathy. Mary was +not one to place any misconstruction on what had passed; she well knew +that Leonard had almost taken a brother's place in Ethel's heart, and +she prized him at the rate of her sister's esteem. Perhaps her +prominent thought was how cruel were those who fancied that Ethel's +lofty faith was unfeeling, and how very good Leonard must be to be thus +mourned. At any rate, she was an excellent comforter, in the sympathy +that was neither too acute nor too obtuse; and purely to oblige her, +Ethel for the first time submitted to her favourite panacea of hair +brushing, and found that in very truth those soft and steady +manipulations were almost mesmeric in soothing away the hard oppressive +excitement, and bringing on a gentle and slumberous resignation. + +The sisters were early astir next morning, to inflict on their father a +cup of cocoa, which he rebelled against, but swallowed, and to receive +his last orders, chiefly consisting of messages to Tom about taking the +petition to be approved of by Dr. Spencer and others, and then having +it properly drawn out. Mary asked if women might sign it, and was +answered with an impatient 'Pshaw!' + +'But ladies do have petitions of their own,' said Mary, with some +diffidence. 'Could not we have one?' + +His lips were compressed for another 'Pshaw,' when he bethought +himself. 'Well, I don't know--the more the better. Only it won't do +for you to set it going. Flora must be the woman for that.' + +'Oh, then,' cried Mary, eagerly, 'might not I walk over to breakfast at +the Grange, and talk to Flora? Ethel, you would not mind going to Ave +instead? Or will you go to Flora?' + +'You had better,' said Ethel. 'I must stay on Aubrey's account; and +this is your doing, Mary,' she added, looking at her warmly. + +'Then put on your hat, Mary, and take a biscuit,' said the Doctor, 'and +you shall have a lift as far as the cross roads.' + +Thus the morning began with action and with hope. Mary found herself +very welcome at the Grange, where there was much anxiety to hear of +Aubrey, as well as the more immediate sufferers. The Riverses had +dined at Drydale, and had met the judges, as well as a good many of the +county gentlemen who had been on the grand jury and attended on the +trial. They had found every one most deeply touched by the conduct of +the prisoner. The judge had talked to Flora about her young brother, +and the friendship so bravely avouched; had asked the particulars of +the action to which Leonard had alluded, and shown himself much +interested in all that she related. + +She said that the universal impression was that the evidence was dead +against Leonard, and taken apart, led to such conviction of his guilt, +that no one could wonder at the verdict; but that his appearance and +manner were such, that it was almost impossible, under their influence, +not to credit his innocence. She had reason to believe that petitions +were already in hand both from the county and the assize town, and she +eagerly caught at Mary's proposal of one from the ladies of +Stoneborough. + +'I'll drive in at once before luncheon, and take you home, Mary,' she +said. 'And, first of all, we will begin with the two widows, and half +the battle will be won.' + +Nay, more than half the battle proved to be already gained in that +quarter. The writing-table was covered with sheets of foolscap, and +Mrs. Pugh was hard at work copying the petition which Mr. Harvey +Anderson had kindly assisted in composing, and which the aunt and niece +had intended to have brought to the Grange for Mrs. Rivers's approval +that very day. Harvey Anderson had spent the evening at Mrs. Ledwich's +in drawing it up, and giving his advice; and Flora, going over it word +for word with Mrs. Pugh, felt that it could hardly have been better +worded. + +'He is a very clever, a very rising young man, and so feeling, said +Mrs. Ledwich to Mary while this was going on. 'In fact, he is a +perfect knight-errant on this subject. He is gone to London this +morning to see what can be done by means of the press. I tell Matilda +it is quite a romance of modern life; and indeed, the sweet girl is +very romantic still--very young, even after all she has gone through.' + +Not understanding this, Mary let it pass in calculations on the number +of possible signatures, which the two ladies undertook to collect. + +'That is well,' said Flora, as they went away. 'It could not be in +better hands. It will thrive the better for our doing nothing but +writing our names.' + +They met Tom on the like errand, but not very sanguine, for he said +there had of late been an outcry against the number of reprieves +granted, and the public had begun to think itself not sufficiently +protected. He thought the best chance was the discovery of some +additional fact that might tell in favour of Leonard, and confident in +his own sagacity, was going to make perquisitions at the mill. Every +one had been visiting of late, and now that he knew more, if he and his +microscope could detect one drop of human blood in an unexpected place, +they would do better service to the prisoner than all the petitions +that could be signed. + +Averil was somewhat better; the feverishness had been removed by her +long sleep of despair, and her energy revived under the bodily relief, +and the fixed purpose of recovering in time to see her brother again; +but the improvement was not yet trusted by Henry, who feared her doing +too much unless he was himself watching over her, and therefore only +paid Leonard a short visit in the forenoon, going and returning by +early trains. + +He reported that Leonard was very pale, and owned to want of sleep, +adding, however, 'It does not matter. Why should I wish to lose any +time?' Calm and brave as ever, he had conversed as cheerfully as +Henry's misery would permit, inquiring into the plans of the family, +which he knew were to depend on his fate, and acquiescing in his +brother's intention of quitting the country; nay, even suggesting that +it might be better for his sisters to be taken away before all was +over, though he, as well as Henry, knew that to this Averil would never +have consented. He had always been a great reader of travels, and he +became absolutely eager in planning their life in the wild, as if where +they were he must be, till the casual mention of the word 'rifle' +brought him to sudden silence, and the consciousness of the condemned +cell; but even then it was only to be urgent in consoling his brother, +and crowding message on message for his sisters; begging Henry not to +stay, not to consider him for a moment, but only whatever might be best +for Ave. + +In this frame Henry had left him, and late in the afternoon, Dr. May +had contrived to despatch his work and make his way to the jail, where, +as he entered, he encountered the chaplain, Mr. Reeve, a very worthy, +but not a very acute man. Pausing to inquire for the prisoner, he was +met by a look of oppression and perplexity. The chaplain had been with +young Ward yesterday evening, and was only just leaving him; but then, +instead of the admiring words the Doctor expected, there only came a +complaint of the difficulty of dealing with him; so well instructed, so +respectful in manner, and yet there was a coldness, a hardness about +him, amounting to sullenness, rejecting all attempts to gain his +confidence, or bring him to confession. + +Dr. May had almost been angry, but he bethought himself in time that +the chaplain was bound to believe the verdict of the court; and +besides, the good man looked so grieved and pitiful, that it was +impossible to be displeased with him, especially when he began to hope +that the poor youth might be less reserved with a person who knew him +better, and to consult Dr. May which of the Stoneborough clergy had +better be written to as likely to be influential with him. Dr. May +recommended Mr. Wilmot, as having visited the boy in his illness, as +well as prepared him for Confirmation; and then, with a heavier load of +sadness on his heart, followed the turnkey on his melancholy way. + +When the door was opened, he saw Leonard sitting listlessly on the side +of his bed, resting his head on his hand, entirely unoccupied; but at +the first perception who his visitor was, he sprang to his feet, and +coming within the arms held out to him, rested his head on the kind +shoulder. + +'My dear boy--my brave fellow,' said Dr. May, 'you got through +yesterday nobly.' + +There was none either of the calmness or the reserve of which Dr. May +had been told, in the hot hands that were wringing his own, nor in the +choking struggling voice that tried to make the words clear--'Thank you +for what you said--And dear Aubrey--how is he?' + +'I came away at six, before he was awake,' said the Doctor; 'but he +will not be the worse for it, never fear! I hope his evidence was less +trying than you and he expected.' + +Leonard half smiled. 'I had forgotten that,' he said, 'it was so long +ago! No, indeed--the dear fellow was--like a bright spot in that +day--only--only it brought back all we were--all that is gone for ever.' + +The tenderness of one whom he did not feel bound to uphold like his +brother had produced the outbreak that could not fail to come to so +warm, open, and sensitive a nature, and at such an age. He was bold +and full of fortitude in the front of the ordeal, and solitude pent up +his feelings, but the fatherly sympathy and perfect confidence drew +forth expression, and a vent once opened, the rush of emotion and +anguish long repressed was utterly overpowering. His youthful manhood +struggled hard, but the strangled sobs only shook his frame the more +convulsively, and the tears burnt like drops of fire, as they fell +among the fingers that he spread over his face in the agony of weeping +for his young vigorous life, his blasted hopes, the wretchedness he +caused, the disgrace of his name. + +'Don't, don't fight against it,' said Dr. May, affectionately drawing +him to his seat on the bed, as, indeed, the violence of the paroxysm +made him scarcely able to stand. 'Let it have its way; you will be all +the better for it. It ought to be so--it must.' + +And in tears himself, the Doctor turned his back, and went as far away +as the cell would permit, turning towards the books that lay on a +narrow ledge that served for a table. 'How long, O Lord, how long?' +were the words that caught his eye in the open Psalms; and, startled as +if at unauthorized prying, he looked up at the dull screened and spiked +window above his head, till he knew by the sounds that the worst of the +uncontrollable passion had spent itself, and then he came back with the +towel dipped in water, and cooled the flushed heated face as a sister +might have done. + +'Oh--thank you--I am ashamed,' gasped the still sobbing boy. + +'Ashamed! No; I like you the better for it,' said the Doctor, +earnestly. 'There is no need that we should not grieve together in +this great affliction, and say out all that is in our hearts.' + +'All!' exclaimed Leonard. 'No--no words can say that! Oh! was it for +such as this that my poor mother made so much of me--and I got through +the fever--and I hoped--and I strove--Why--why should I be cut off--for +a disgrace and a misery to all! and again came the heart-broken sobs, +though less violently. + +'Not to those who look within, and honour you, Leonard.' + +'Within! Why, how bad I have been, since _this_ is the reckoning! I +deserve it, I know--but--' and his voice again sank in tears. + +'Ethel says that your so feeling comforts her the most; to know that +you have not the terrible struggle of faith disturbed by injustice.' + +'If--I have not,' said Leonard, 'it is her doing. In those happy days +when we read Marmion, and could not believe that God would not always +show the right, she showed me how we only see bits and scraps of His +Justice here, and it works round in the end! Nay, if I had not done +that thing to Henry, I should not be here now! It is right! It is +right!' he exclaimed between the heaving sobs that still recurred. 'I +do try to keep before me what she said about Job--when it comes burning +before me, why should that man be at large, and I here? or when I think +how his serpent-eye fell under mine when I tried that one word about +the receipt, that would save my life. Oh! that receipt!' + +'Better to be here than in his place, after all!' + +'I'd rather be a street-sweeper!' bitterly began Leonard.--'Oh, Dr. +May, do let me have that!' he cried, suddenly changing his tone, and +holding out his hand, as he perceived in the Doctor's button-hole a +dove-pink, presented at a cottage door by a grateful patient. For a +space he was entirely occupied with gazing into its crimson depths, +inhaling the fragrance, and caressingly spreading the cool damask +petals against his hot cheeks and eyelids. 'It is so long since I saw +anything but walls!' he said. + +'Three weeks,' sadly replied the Doctor. + +'There was a gleam of sunshine when I got out of the van yesterday. I +never knew before what sunshine was. I hope it will be a sunny day +when I go out for the last time!' + +'My dear boy, I have good hopes of saving you. There's not a creature +in Stoneborough, or round it, that is not going to petition for +you--and at your age--' + +Leonard shook his head in dejection. 'It has all gone against me,' he +said. 'They all say there's no chance. The chaplain says it is of no +use unsettling my mind.' + +'The chaplain is an old--' began Dr. May, catching himself up only just +in time, and asking, 'How do you get on with him!' + +'I can hear him read,' said Leonard, with the look that had been +thought sullen. + +'But you cannot talk to him?' + +'Not while he thinks me guilty.' Then, at a sound of warm sympathy +from his friend, he added, 'I suppose it is his duty; but I wish he +would keep away. I can't stand his aiming at making me confess, and I +don't want to be disrespectful.' + +'I see, I see. It cannot be otherwise. But how would it be if Wilmot +came to you?' + +'Would Mr. May?' said Leonard, with a beseeching look. + +'Richard? He would with all his heart; but I think you would find more +support and comfort in a man of Mr. Wilmot's age and experience, and +that Mr. Reeve would have more trust in him; but it shall be exactly as +will be most comforting to you.' + +'If Mr. Wilmot would be so good, then' said Leonard, meekly. 'Indeed, I +want help to bear it patiently! I don't know how to die; and yet it +seemed not near so hard a year ago, when they thought I did not notice, +and I heard Ave go away crying, and my mother murmuring, again and +again, "Thy will be done!"--the last time I heard her voice. Oh, well +that she has not to say it now!' + +'Well that her son can say it!' + +'I want to be able to say it,' said the boy, fervently; 'but this seems +so hard--life is so sweet.' Then, after a minute's thought: 'Dr. May, +that morning, when I awoke, and asked you for them--papa and mamma--you +knelt down and said the Lord's Prayer. Won't you now?' + +And when those words had been said, and they both stood up again, +Leonard added: 'It always seems to mean more and more! But oh, Dr. +May! that forgiving--I can't ask any one but you if--' and he paused. + +'If you forgive, my poor boy! Nay, are not your very silence and +forbearance signs of practical forgiveness? Besides, I have always +observed that you have never used one of the epithets that I can't +think of him without.' + +'Some feelings are too strong for common words of abuse,' said Leonard, +almost smiling; 'but I hope I may be helped to put away what is +wrong.--Oh, must you go?' + +'I fear I must, my dear; I have a patient to see again, on my way back, +and one that will be the worse for waiting.' + +'Henry has not been able to practise. I want to ask one thing, Dr. +May, before you go. Could not you persuade them, since home is +poisoned to them, at any rate to go at once? It would be better for my +sisters than being here--when--and they would only remember that last +Sunday at home.' + +'Do you shrink from another meeting with Averil?' + +His face was forced into calmness. 'I will do without it, if it would +hurt her.' + +'It may for the time, but to be withheld would give her a worse +heart-ache through life.' + +'Oh, thank you!' cried Leonard, his face lighting up; 'it is something +still to hope for.' + +'Nay, I've not given you up yet,' said the Doctor, trying for a +cheerful smile. 'I've got a prescription that will bring you through +yet--London advice, you know. I've great faith in the consulting +surgeon at the Home Office.' + +By the help of that smile and augury, the Doctor got away, terribly +beaten down, but living on his fragment of hope; though obliged to +perceive that every one who merely saw the newspaper report in black +and white, without coming into personal contact with the prisoner, +could not understand how the slightest question of the justice of the +verdict could arise. Even Mr. Wilmot was so convinced by the papers, +that the Doctor almost repented of the mission to which he had invited +him, and would, if he could, have revoked what had been said. But the +vicar of Stoneborough, painful as was the duty, felt his post to be by +the side of his unhappy young parishioner, equally whether the gaol +chaplain or Dr. May were right, and if he had to bring him to +confession, or to strengthen him to 'endure grief, suffering +wrongfully.' + +And after the first interview, no more doubts on that score were +expressed; but the vicar's tone of pitying reverence in speaking of the +prisoner was like that of his friends in the High Street. + +Tom May spared neither time nor pains in beating up for signatures for +the petition, but he had a more defined hope, namely, that of detecting +something that might throw the suspicion into the right quarter. The +least contradiction of the evidence might raise a doubt that would save +Leonard's life, and bring the true criminal in peril of the fate he so +richly deserved. The Vintry Mill was the lion of the neighbourhood, +and the crowds of visitors had been a reason for its new master's +vacating it, and going into lodgings in Whitford; so that Tom, when he +found it convenient to forget his contempt of the gazers and curiosity +hunters who thronged there, and to march off on a secret expedition of +investigation, found no obstacle in his way, and at the cost of a fee +to Mrs. Giles, who was making a fortune, was free to roam and search +wherever he pleased. Even his careful examination of the cotton blind, +and his scraping of the window-sill with a knife, were not remarked; +for had not the great chair been hacked into fragmentary relics, and +the loose paper of the walls of Leonard's room been made mincemeat of, +as memorials of 'the murderer, Ward'? + +One long white hair picked out of a mat below the window, and these +scrapings of the window-sill, Tom carried off, and also the scrapings +of the top bar of a stile between the mill and the Three Goblets. That +evening, all were submitted to the microscope. Dr. May was waked from +a doze by a very deferential 'I beg your pardon, sir,' and a sudden +tweak, which abstracted a silver thread from his head; and Mab showed +somewhat greater displeasure at a similar act of plunder upon her white +chemisette. But the spying was followed by a sigh; and, in dumb show, +Ethel was made to perceive that the Vintry hair had more affinity with +the canine than the human. As to the scrapings of the window, nothing +but vegetable fibre could there be detected; but on the stile, there +was undoubtedly a mark containing human blood-disks; Tom proved that +both by comparison with his books, and by pricking his own finger, and +kept Ethel to see it after every one else was gone up to bed. But as +one person's blood was like another's, who could tell whether some one +with a cut finger had not been through the stile? Tom shook his head, +there was not yet enough on which to commit himself. 'But I'll have +him!--I'll have him yet!' said he. 'I'll never rest while that villain +walks the earth unpunished!' + +Meantime, Harvey Anderson did yeoman's service by a really powerful +article in a leading paper, written from the very heart of an able man, +who had been strongly affected himself, and was well practised in +feeling in pen and ink. Every word rang home to the soul, and all the +more because there was no defence nor declamation against the justice +of the verdict, which was acknowledged to be unavoidable; it was merely +a pathetic delineation of a terrible mystery, with a little meditative +philosophy upon it, the moral of which was, that nothing is more +delusive than fact, more untrue than truth. However, it was copied +everywhere, and had the great effect of making it the cue of more than +half the press to mourn over, rather than condemn, 'the unfortunate +young gentleman.' + +Mrs. Pugh showed every one the article, and confided to most that she +had absolutely ventured to suggest two or three of the sentences. But a +great deal might be borne from Mrs. Pugh, in consideration of her +indefatigable exertions with the ladies' petition, and it was a decided +success. The last census had rated Market Stoneborough at 7561 +inhabitants, and Mrs. Pugh's petition bore no less than 3024 female +names, in which she fairly beat that of the mayor; but then she had +been less scrupulous as to the age at which people should be asked to +sign; as long as the name could be written at all, she was not +particular whose it was. + +Dr. May made his patients agree to accept as his substitute Dr. Spencer +or Mr. Wright, to whom Henry Ward intended to resign practice and +house. He himself was to go to London for a couple of nights with +George Rivers, who was exceedingly gratified at having the charge of +him all to himself, and considered that the united influence of member +and mayor must prevail. Dr. Spencer, on the contrary, probably by way +of warning, represented Mr. Mayor as ruining everything by his headlong +way of setting about it, declaring that he would abuse everybody all +round, and assure the Home Secretary, that, as sure as his name was +Dick May, it was quite impossible the boy could have hurt a fly; though +a strict sense of truth would lead him to add the next moment, that he +was terribly passionate, and had nearly demolished his brother. + +Dr. May talked of his caution and good behaviour, which, maybe, were +somewhat increased by this caricature, but he ended by very hearty +wishes that these were the times of Jeanie Deans; if the pardon +depended on our own good Queen, he should not doubt of it a moment. +Why, was not the boy just the age of her own son? + +And verily there was no one in the whole world whom poor Averil envied +like Jeanie Deans. + +So member and mayor went to London together, and intense were the +prayers that speeded them and followed them. The case was laid before +the Home Secretary, the petitions presented, and Dr. May said all that +man might say on ground where he felt as if over-partisanship might be +perilous. The matter was to have due consideration: nothing more +definite or hopeful could be obtained; but there could be no doubt that +this meant a real and calm re-weighing of the evidence, with a +consideration of all the circumstances. It was something for the +Doctor that a second dispassionate study should be given to the case, +but his heart sank as he thought of that cold, hard statement of +evidence, without the counter testimony of the honest, tearless eyes +and simple good faith of the voice and tone. + +And when he entered the railway carriage on his road home, the +newspaper that George Rivers attentively pressed upon him bore the +information that Wednesday, the 21st, would be the day, according to +usage, for the execution of the condemned criminal, Leonard Axworthy +Ward. If it had been for the execution of Richard May, the Doctor +could hardly have given a deeper groan. + +He left the train at the county town. He had so arranged, that he +might see the prisoner on his way home; but he had hardly the heart to +go, except that he knew he was expected, and no disappointment that he +could help must add to the pangs of these last days. + +Leonard was alone, but was not, as before, sitting unemployed; he +carefully laid down his etching work ere he came forward to meet his +friend; and there was not the bowed and broken look about him, but a +fixed calmness and resolution, as he claimed the fatherly embrace and +blessing with which the Doctor now always met him. + +'I bring you no certainty, Leonard. It is under consideration.' + +'Thank you. You have done everything,' returned Leonard, quietly; +'and--' then pausing, he added, 'I know the day now--the day after my +birthday.' + +'Let us--let us hope,' said the Doctor, greatly agitated. + +'Thank you,' again said Leonard; and there was a pause, during which +Dr. May anxiously studied the face, which had become as pale and almost +as thin as when the lad had been sent off to Coombe, and infinitely +older in the calm steadfastness of every feature. + +'You do not look well, Leonard.' + +'No; I am not quite well; but it matters very little,' he said, with a +smile. 'I am well enough to make it hard to believe how soon all sense +and motion will be gone out of these fingers!' and he held up his hand, +and studied the minutiae of its movements with a strange grave sort of +curiosity. + +'Don't--don't, Leonard!' exclaimed the Doctor. 'You may be able to +bear it, but I cannot.' + +'I thought you would not mind, you have so often watched death.' + +'Yes; but--' and he covered his face with his hands. + +'I wish it did not pain you all so much,' said Leonard, quietly. 'But +for that, I can feel it to be better than if I had gone in the fever, +when I had no sense to think or repent; or if I had--I hardly knew my +own faults.' + +'You seem much happier now, my boy.' + +'Yes,' said Leonard. 'I am more used to the notion, and Mr. Wilmot has +been so kind. Then I am to see Ave to-morrow, if she is well enough. +Henry has promised to bring her, and leave her alone with me; and I do +hope--that I shall be able to convince her that it is not so very bad +for me--and then she may be able to take comfort. You know she would, +if she were nursing me now in my bed at Bankside; so why should she not +when she sees that I don't think this any worse, but rather better?' + +The Doctor was in no mood to think any comfort possible in thus losing +one like Leonard, and he did not commit himself to an untruth. There +was a silence again, and Leonard opened his book, and took out his +etchings, one which he had already promised the Doctor, another for +Aubrey, and at the third the Doctor exclaimed inarticulately with +surprise and admiration. + +It was a copy of the well-known Cross-bearing Form in the Magdalen +College Chapel Altar-piece, drawn in pen and ink on a half-sheet of +thick note-paper; but somehow, into the entire Face and Figure there +was infused such an expression as now and then comes direct from the +soul of the draughtsman--an inspiration entirely independent of manual +dexterity, and that copies, however exact, fail to render, nay, which +the artist himself fails to renew. The beauty, the meekness, the +hidden Majesty of the Countenance, were conveyed in a marvellous +manner, and were such as would bring a tear to the eye of the gazer, +even had the drawing been there alone to speak for itself. + +'This is your doing, Leonard?' + +'I have just finished it. It has been one of my greatest comforts--' + +'Ah!' + +'Doing those lines;' and he pointed to the thorny Crown, 'I seem to get +ashamed of thinking this hardness. Only think, Dr. May, from the very +first moment the policeman took me in charge, nobody has said a rough +word to me. I have never felt otherwise than that they meant justice +to have its way as far as they knew, but they were all consideration +for me. To think of that, and then go over the scoffs and +scourgings!'--there was a bright glistening tear in Leonard's eye +now--'it seems like child's play to go through such a trial as mine.' + +'Yes! you have found the secret of willingness.' + +'And,' added the boy, hesitating between the words, but feeling that he +must speak them, as the best balm for the sorrow he was causing, 'even +my little touch of the shame and scorn of this does make me know better +what it must have been, and yet--so thankful when I remember why it +was--that I think I could gladly bear a great deal more than this is +likely to be.' + +'Oh! my boy, I have no fears for you now.' + +'Yes, yes--have fears,' cried Leonard, hastily. 'Pray for me! You +don't know what it is to wake up at night, and know something is coming +nearer and nearer--and then this--before one can remember all that +blesses it--or the Night of that Agony--and that He knows what it is--' + +'Do we not pray for you?' said Dr. May, fervently, 'in church and at +home? and is not this an answer? Am I to take this drawing, Leonard, +that speaks so much?' + +'If--if you think Miss May--would let me send it to her? Thank you, it +will be very kind of her. And please tell her, if it had not been for +that time at Coombe, I don't know how I could ever have felt the ground +under my feet. If I have one wish that never can be--' + +'What wish, my dear, dear boy? Don't be afraid to say. Is it to see +her?' + +'It was,' said Leonard, 'but I did not mean to say it. I know it +cannot be.' + +'But, Leonard, she has said that if you wished it, she would come as if +you were lying on your bed at home, and with more reverence.' + +Large tears of gratitude were swelling in Leonard's eyes, and he +pressed the Doctor's hand, but still said, almost inarticulately, +'Ought she?' + +'I will bring her, my boy. It will do her good to see how--how her +pupil, as they have always called you in joke, Leonard, can be willing +to bear the Cross after his Master. She has never let go for a moment +the trust that it was well with you.' + +'Oh! Dr. May, it was the one thing--and when I had gone against all her +wishes. It is so good of her! It is the one thing--' and there was no +doubt from his face that he was indeed happy. + +And Dr. May went home that day softened and almost cheered, well-nigh +as though he had had a promise of Leonard's life, and convinced that in +the region to which the spirits of Ethel and her pupil could mount, +resignation would silence the wailings of grief and sorrow; the things +invisible were more than a remedy for the things visible. + +That Ethel should see Leonard before the last, he was quite resolved; +and Ethel, finding that so it was, left the _when_ in his hands, +knowing the concession to be so great, that it must be met by grateful +patience on her own side, treasuring the drawing meanwhile with +feelings beyond speech. Dr. May did not wish the meeting to take place +till he was really sure that all hope was at an end; he knew it would +be a strong measure, and though he did not greatly care for the world +in general, he did not want to offend Flora unnecessarily; in matters +of propriety she was a little bit of a conscience to him, and though he +would brave her or any one else when a thing was right, especially if +it were to give one last moment of joy to Leonard, she was not to be +set at naught till the utmost extremity. + +And for one day, the sight of Averil would be enough. She had +struggled into something sufficiently like recovery to be able to +maintain her fitness for the exertion; and Henry had recognized that +the unsatisfied pining was so preying on her as to hurt her more than +the meeting and parting could do, since, little as he could understand +how it was, he perceived that Leonard could be depended on for support +and comfort. With him, indeed, Leonard had ever shown himself cheerful +and resolute, speaking of anything rather than of himself and never +grieving him with the sight of those failings of flesh and heart that +would break forth where there was more congenial sympathy, yet where +they were not a reproach. + +So Averil, with many a promise to be 'good,' and strongly impressed +with warnings that the chance of another meeting depended on the +effects of this one, was laid back in the carriage, leaving poor little +Minna to Mary's consolation. Minna was longing to go too, but Henry +had forbidden it, and not even an appeal to Dr. May had prevailed; so +she was taken home by Mary, and with a child's touching patience, was +helped through the weary hours, giving wandering though gentle +attention to Ella's eager display of the curiosities of the place, and +explanations of the curious games and puzzles taught by 'Mr. Tom.' +Ethel, watching the sweet wistful face, and hearing the subdued voice, +felt a reverence towards the child, as though somewhat of the shadow of +her brother's cross had fallen on her. + +The elder brother and sister meanwhile arrived at the building now only +too familiar to one of them, and, under her thick veil, unconscious of +the pitying looks of the officials, Averil was led, leaning on Henry's +arm, along the whitewashed passages, with their slate floors, and up +the iron stairs, the clear, hard, light coldness chilling her heart +with a sense of the stern, relentless, inevitable grasp in which the +victim was held. The narrow iron door flew open at the touch of the +turnkey; a hand was on her arm, but all swam round with her, and she +only knew it was the well-known voice; she did not follow the words +between her brothers and the turnkey about the time she was to be left +there, but she gave a start and shudder when the door sprung fast again +behind her, and at the same instant she felt herself upheld by an arm +round her waist. + +'Take off your bonnet, Ave; let me see you,' he said, himself undoing +the strings, and removing it, then bending his face to hers for a long, +almost insatiable kiss, as they stood strained in one intense embrace, +all in perfect silence on the sister's part. + +'I have been making ready for you,' he said at length, partly releasing +her; 'you are to sit here;' and he deposited her, still perfectly +passive in his hands, upon his bed, her back against the wall. 'Put up +your feet! There!' And having settled her to his satisfaction, he +knelt down on the floor, one arm round her waist, one hand in hers, +looking earnestly up into her face, with his soul in his eyes, her +other hand resting on his shoulder. + +'How are the little ones, Ave?' + +'Very well. Minna so longed to come.' + +'Better not,' said Leonard; 'she is so little, and these white walls +might distress her fancy. They will remember our singing on the last +Sunday evening instead. Do you remember, Ave, how they begged to stay +on and on till it grew so dark that we could not see a word or a note, +and went on from memory?' and he very softly hummed the restful +cadence, dying away into + + 'Till in the ocean of Thy love + We lose ourselves in Heaven above.' + + +'How can you bear to think of those dear happy days!' + +'Because you will be glad of them by and by, said Leonard; 'and I am +very glad of them now, though they might have been so much better, if +only we had known.' + +'They were the only happy days of all my life!' + +'I hope not--I trust not, dearest. You may and ought to have much +better and happier days to come.' + +She shook her head, with a look of inexpressible anguish, almost of +reproach. + +'Indeed I mean it, Ave,' he said; 'I have thought it over many times, +and I see that the discomfort and evil of our home was in the spirit of +pride and rebellion that I helped you to nurse. It was like a wedge, +driving us farther and farther apart; and now that it is gone, and you +will close up again, when you are kind and yielding to Henry--what a +happy peaceful home you may make out in the prairie land!' + +'As if we could ever--' + +'Nay, Averil, could not you recover it if I were dying now of sickness? +I know you would, though you might not think so at the time. Believe +me, then, when I say that I am quite willing to have it as it is--to be +my own man to the last--to meet with such precious inestimable kindness +from so many. Of course I should like to live longer, and do something +worth doing; but if I am to die young, there is so much blessing even +in this way, that nothing really grieves me but the thought of you and +Henry; and if it makes you one together, even that is made up.' + +Awe-struck, and as if dreaming, she did not answer, only smoothing +caressingly the long waves of bright brown hair on his forehead. She +was surprised by his next question. + +'Ave! how has Mrs. Pugh behaved?' + +'Oh! the woman! I have hardly thought of her! She has been very +active about the petition, somebody said; but I don't believe Henry can +bear to hear of her any more than I can. What made you think of her?' + +'Because I wanted to know how it was with Henry, and I could not ask +him. Poor fellow! Well, Ave, you see he will depend on you entirely +for comfort, and you must promise me that shall be your great business +and care.' + +'How you do think of Henry!' she said, half jealously. + +'Of course, Ave. You and I have no past to grieve over together, but +poor Henry will never feel free of having left me to my self-willed +obstinacy, and let me go to that place. Besides, the disgrace in the +sight of the world touches him more, and you can tread that down more +easily than he.' Then, in answer to a wondering look, 'Yes, you can, +when you recollect that it is crime, not the appearance of it, that is +shame. I do not mean that I do not deserve all this--but--but--' and +his eye glistened, 'Ave, dear, if I could only bring out the words to +tell you how much peace and joy there is in knowing that--with that +vast difference--it is like in some degree what was borne to save us, I +really don't think you could go on grieving over me any more; at least +not more than for the loss,' he added, tenderly; 'and you'll not miss +me so much in a new country, you know, with Henry and the children to +take care of. Only promise me to be kind to Henry.' + +And having drawn forth a faint promise, that he knew would have more +force by and by, Leonard went on, in his low quiet voice, into +reminiscences that sounded like random, of the happy days of childhood +and early youth, sometimes almost laughing over them, sometimes linking +his memory as it were to tune or flower, sport or study, but always for +joy, and never for pain; and thus passed the time, with long intervals +of silent thought and recollection on his part, and of a sort of dreamy +stupor on his sister's, during which the strange peaceful hush seemed +to have taken away her power of recalling the bitter complaints of +cruel injustice, and the broken-hearted lamentations she had imagined +herself pouring out in sympathy with her victim brother. Instead of +being wrung with anguish, her heart was lulled and quelled by wondering +reverence; and she seemed to herself scarcely awake, and only dimly +conscious of the pale-cheeked bright-eyed face upturned to her, so calm +and undaunted, yet so full of awe and love, the low steady tender +voice, and the warm upholding arm. + +A great clock struck, and Leonard said, 'There! they were to come at +four, and then the chaplain is coming. He is grown so very kind now! +Ave, if they would let you be with me at my last Communion! Will you? +Could you bear it? I think then you would know all the peace of it!' + +'Oh, yes! make them let me come.' + +'Then it is not good-bye,' he said, as he fetched her bonnet and cloak, +and put them on with tender hands, as if she were a child, in readiness +as steps approached, and her escort reappeared. + +'Here she is, Henry,' he said, with a smile. 'She has been very good; +she may come again.' And then, holding her in his arms once more, he +resigned her to Henry, saying, 'Not good-bye, Ave; we will keep my +birthday together.' + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + The captives went + To their own places, to their separate glooms, + Uncheered by glance, or hand, or hope, to brood + On those impossible glories of the past, + When they might touch the grass, and see the sky, + And do the works of men. But manly work + Is sometimes in a prison.--S. M. Queen Isabel + + +'Commutation of punishment, to penal servitude for life.' + +Such were the tidings that ran through Stoneborough on Sunday morning, +making all feel as if a heavy oppression had been taken from the air. +In gratitude to the merciful authorities, and thankfulness for the +exemption from death, the first impressions were that Justice was at +last speaking, that innocence could not suffer, and that right was +reasserting itself. Even when the more sober and sad remembered that +leniency was not pardon, nor life liberty, they were hastily answered +that life was everything--life was hope, life was time, and time would +show truth. + +Averil's first tears dropped freely, as she laid her head on Mary's +shoulder, and with her hand in Dr. May's, essayed to utter the words, +'It is your doing--you have twice saved him for me,' and Minna stood +calmly glad, but without surprise. 'I knew they could not hurt him; +God would not let them.' + +The joy and relief were so great as to absorb all thought or +realization of what this mercy was to the prisoner himself, until Dr. +May was able to pay him a visit on Monday afternoon. It was at a +moment when the first effects of the tidings of life had subsided, and +there had been time to look forth on the future with a spirit more +steadfast than buoyant. The strain of the previous weeks was reacting +on the bodily frame, and indisposition unhinged the spirits; so that, +when Dr. May entered, beaming with congratulations, he was met with the +same patient glance of endurance, endeavouring at resignation, that he +knew so well, but without the victorious peace that had of late gained +the ascendant expression. There was instead an almost painful +endeavour to manifest gratitude by cheerfulness, and the smile was far +less natural than those of the last interview, as fervently returning +the pressure of the hand, he said, 'You were right, Dr. May, you have +brought me past the crisis.' + +'A sure sign of ultimate recovery, my boy. Remember, dum spiro spero.' + +Leonard attempted a responsive smile, but it was a hopeless business. +From the moment when at the inquest he found himself entangled in the +meshes of circumstance, his mind had braced itself to endure rather +than hope, and his present depressed state, both mental and bodily, +rendered even that endurance almost beyond his powers. He could only +say, 'You have been very good to me.' + +'My dear fellow, you are sadly knocked down; I wish--' and the Doctor +looked at him anxiously. + +'I wish you had been here yesterday,' said Leonard; 'then you would not +have found me so. No, not thankless, indeed!' + +'No, indeed; but--yes, I see it was folly--nay, harshness, to expect +you to be glad of what lies before you, my poor boy.' + +'I am--am thankful,' said Leonard, struggling to make the words truth. +'Wednesday is off my mind--yes, it is more than I deserve--I knew I was +not fit to die, and those at home are spared. But I am as much cut off +from them--perhaps more--than by death. And it is the same disgrace to +them, the same exile. I suppose Henry still goes--' + +'Yes, he does.' + +'Ah! then one thing, Dr. May--if you had a knife or scissors--I do not +know how soon they may cut my hair, and I want to secure a bit for poor +Ave.' + +Dr. May was too handless to have implements of the first order, but a +knife he had, and was rather dismayed at Leonard's reckless hacking at +his bright shining wavy hair, pulling out more than he cut, with +perfect indifference to the pain. The Doctor stroked the chestnut head +as tenderly as if it had been Gertrude's sunny curls, but Leonard +started aside, and dashing away the tears that were overflowing his +eyes under the influence of the gentle action, asked vigorously, 'Have +you heard what they will do with me?' + +'I do not know thoroughly. A year or six months maybe at one of the +great model establishments, then probably you will be sent to some of +the public works,' said the Doctor, sadly. 'Yes, it is a small boon to +give you life, and take away all that makes life happy.' + +'If it were only transportation!' + +'Yes. In a new world you could live it down, and begin afresh. And +even here, Leonard, I look to finding you like Joseph in his prison.' + +'The iron entering into his soul!' said Leonard, with a mournful smile. + +'No; in the trustworthiness that made him honoured and blessed even +there. Leonard, Leonard, conduct _will_ tell. Even there, you can +live this down, and will!' + +'Eighteen to-morrow,' replied the boy. 'Fifty years of it, perhaps! I +know God can help me through with it, but it is a long time to be +patient!' + +By way of answer, the Doctor launched into brilliant auguries of the +impression the prisoner's conduct would produce, uttering assurances, +highly extravagant in his Worship the Mayor, of the charms of the +modern system of prison discipline, but they fell flat; there could be +no disguising that penal servitude for life was penal servitude for +life, and might well be bitterer than death itself. Sympathy might +indeed be balm to the captive, but the good Doctor pierced his own +breast to afford it, so that his heart sank even more than when he had +left the young man under sentence of death. His least unavailing +consolations were his own promises of frequent visits, and Aubrey's of +correspondence, but they produced more of dejected gratitude than of +exhilaration. Yet it was not in the way of murmur or repining, but +rather of 'suffering and being strong,' and only to this one friend was +the suffering permitted to be apparent. To all the officials he was +simply submissive and gravely resolute; impassive if he encountered +sharpness or sternness, but alert and grateful towards kindliness, of +which he met more and more as the difference between dealing with him +and the ordinary prisoners made itself felt. + +To Dr. May alone was the depth of pain betrayed; but another comforter +proved more efficient in cheering the prisoner, namely, Mr. Wilmot, +who, learning from the Doctor the depression of their young friend, +hastened to endeavour at imparting a new spring of life on this +melancholy birthday. Physically, the boy was better, and perhaps the +new day had worn off somewhat of the burthen of anticipation, for Mr. +Wilmot found him already less downcast, and open to consolation. It +might be, too, that the sense that the present was to have been his +last day upon earth, had made him more conscious of the relief from the +immediate shadow of death, for he expressed his thankfulness far more +freely and without the effort of the previous day. + +'And, depend on it,' said Mr. Wilmot, 'you are spared because there is +something for you to do.' + +'To bear,' said Leonard. + +'No, to do. Perhaps not immediately; but try to look on whatever you +have to bear, not only as carrying the cross, as I think you already +feel it--' + +'Or there would be no standing it at all.' + +'True,' said Mr. Wilmot; 'and your so feeling it convinces me the more +that whatever may follow is likewise to be looked upon as discipline to +train you for something beyond. Who knows what work may be in store, +for which this fiery trial may be meant to prepare you?' + +The head was raised, and the eyes brightened with something like hope +in their fixed interrogative glance. + +'Even as things are now, who knows what good may be done by the +presence of a man educated, religious, unstained by crime, yet in the +same case as those around him? I do not mean by quitting your natural +place, but by merely living as you must live. You were willing to have +followed your Master in His death. You now have to follow Him by +living as one under punishment; and be sure it is for some purpose for +others as well as yourself.' + +'If there is any work to be done for Him, it is all right,' said +Leonard, cheerily; and as Mr. Wilmot paused, he added, 'It would be +like working for a friend--if I may dare say so--after the hours when +this place has been made happy to me. I should not mind anything if I +might only feel it working for Him.' + +'Feel it. Be certain of it. As you have realized the support of that +Friend in a way that is hardly granted, save in great troubles, so now +realize that every task is for Him. Do not look on the labour as +hardship inflicted by mistaken authority--' + +'Oh, I only want to get to that! I have been so long with nothing to +do!' + +'And your hearty doing of it, be it what it may, as unto the Lord, can +be as acceptable as Dr. May's labours of love among the poor--as +entirely a note in the great concord in Heaven and earth as the work of +the ministry itself--as completely in unison. Nay, further, such +obedient and hearty work will form you for whatever may yet be awaiting +you, and what that may be will show itself in good time, when you are +ready for it. + +'The right chord was touched, the spirit of energy was roused, and +Leonard was content to be a prisoner of hope, not the restless hope of +liberation, but the restful hope that he might yet render faithful +service even in his present circumstances. + +Not much passed his lips in this interview, but its effect was apparent +when Dr. May again saw him, and this time in company with Aubrey. Most +urgent had been the boy's entreaties to be taken to see his friend, and +Dr. May had only hesitated because Leonard's depression had made +himself so unhappy that he feared its effect on his susceptible son; +whose health had already suffered from the long course of grief and +suspense. But it was plain that if Aubrey were to go at all, it must +be at once, since the day was fixed for the prisoner's removal, and the +still nearer and dearer claims must not clash with those of the friend. +Flora shook her head, and reminded her father that Leonard would not be +out of reach in future, and that the meeting now might seriously damage +Aubrey's already uncertain health. + +'I cannot help it, Flora,' said the Doctor; 'it may do him some +temporary harm, but I had rather see him knocked down for a day or two, +than breed him up to be such a poor creature as to sacrifice his +friendship to his health.' + +And Mrs. Rivers, who knew what the neighbourhood thought of the good +Doctor's infatuation, felt that there was not much use in suggesting +how shocked the world would be at his encouragement of the intimacy +between the convict and his young son. + +People did look surprised when the Doctor asked admission to the cell +for his son as well as himself; and truly Aubrey, who in silence had +worked himself into an agony of nervous agitation, looked far from fit +for anything trying. Dr. May saw that he must not ask to leave the +young friends alone together, but in his reverence for the rights of +their friendship, he withdrew himself as far as the limits of the cell +would allow, turned his back, and endeavoured to read the Thirty-nine +Articles in Leonard's Prayer-Book; but in spite of all his abstraction, +he could not avoid a complete consciousness that the two lads sat on +the bed, clinging with arms round one another like young children, and +that it was Leonard's that was the upright sustaining figure, his own +Aubrey's the prone and leaning one. And of the low whispering murmurs +that reached his would-be deafened ear, the gasping almost sobbing +tones were Aubrey's. The first distinct words that he could not help +hearing were, 'No such thing! There can't be slavery where one works +with a will!' and again, in reply to something unheard, 'Yes, one can! +Why, how did one do one's Greek?'--'Very +different!'--'How?'--'Oh!'--'Yes; but you are a clever chap, and had +her to teach you, but I only liked it because I'd got it to do. Just +the same with the desk-work down at the mill; so it may be the same +now.' + +Then came fragments of what poor Aubrey had expressed more than once at +home--that his interest in life, in study, in sport, was all gone with +his friend. + +'Come, Aubrey, that's stuff. You'd have had to go to Cambridge, you +know, without me, after I doggedly put myself at that place. There's +just as much for you to do as ever there was.' + +'How you keep on with your _do_!' cried Ethel's spoilt child, with a +touch of petulance. + +'Why, what are we come here for--into this world, I mean--but to _do_!' +returned Leonard; 'and I take it, if we do it right, it does not much +matter what or where it is.' + +'I shan't have any heart for it!' sighed Aubrey. + +'Nonsense! Not with all your people at home? and though the voice fell +again, the Doctor's ears distinguished the murmur, 'Why, just the +little things she let drop are the greatest help to me here, and you +always have her--' + +Then ensued much that was quite inaudible, and at last Leonard said, +'No, old fellow; as long as you don't get ashamed of me, thinking about +you, and knowing what you are about, will be one of the best pleasures +I shall have. And look here, Aubrey, if we only consider it right, you +and I will be just as really working together, when you are at your +books, and I am making mats, as if we were both at Cambridge side by +side! It is quite true, is it not, Dr. May?' he added, since the +Doctor, finding it time to depart, had turned round to close the +interview. + +'Quite true, my boy,' said the Doctor; 'and I hope Aubrey will try to +take comfort and spirit from it.' + +'As if I could!' said Aubrey, impatiently, 'when it only makes me more +mad to see what a fellow they have shut up in here!' + +'Not mad, I hope,' said Dr. May; 'but I'll tell you what it should do +for both of us, Aubrey. It should make us very careful to be worthy to +remain his friends.' + +'O, Dr. May!' broke in Leonard, distressed. + +'Yes,' returned Dr. May, 'I mean what I say, however you break in, +Master Leonard. As long as this boy of mine is doing his best for the +right motives, he will care for you as he does now--not quite in the +same despairing way, of course, for holes in one's daily life do close +themselves up with time--but if he slacks off in his respect or +affection for you, then I shall begin to have fears of him. Now come +away, Aubrey, and remember for your comfort it is not the good-bye it +might have been,' he added, as he watched the mute intensity of the +boys' farewell clasp of the hands; but even then had some difficulty in +getting Aubrey away from the friend so much stronger as the consoler +than as the consoled, and unconsciously showing how in the last +twenty-four hours his mind had acted on the topics presented to him by +Mr. Wilmot. + +Changed as he was from the impetuous boyish lad of a few weeks since, a +change even more noticeable when with his contemporary than in +intercourse with elder men, yet the nature was the same. Obstinacy had +softened into constancy, pride into resolution, generosity made pardon +less difficult, and elevation of temper bore him through many a +humiliation that, through him, bitterly galled his brother. + +Whatever he might feel, prison regulations were accepted by him as +matters of course, not worth being treated as separate grievances. He +never showed any shrinking from the assumption of the convict dress, +whilst Henry was fretting and wincing over the very notion of his +wearing it, and trying to arrange that the farewell interview should +precede its adoption. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + Scorn of me recoils on you. + E. B. BROWNING + + +After the first relief, the relaxation of his brother's sentence had by +no means mitigated Henry Ward's sense of disgrace, but had rather +deepened it by keeping poor Leonard a living, not a dead, sorrow. + +He was determined to leave England as soon as possible, that his +sisters might never feel that they were the relative of a convict; and +bringing Ella home, he promulgated a decree that Leonard was never to +be mentioned; hoping that his existence might be forgotten by the +little ones. + +To hurry from old scenes, and sever former connections, was his sole +thought, as if he could thus break the tie of brotherhood. There was a +half-formed link that had more easily snapped. His courtship had been +one of prudence and convenience, and in the overwhelming period of +horror and suspense had been almost forgotten. The lady's attempts at +sympathy had been rejected by Averil without obstruction from him, for +he had no such love as could have prevented her good offices from +becoming oppressive to his wounded spirit, and he had not sufficient +energy or inclination to rouse himself to a response. + +And when the grant of life enabled him to raise his head and look +around him, he felt the failure of his plans an aggravation of his +calamity, though he did not perceive that his impatience to rid himself +of an encumbrance, and clear the way for his marriage, had been the +real origin of the misfortune. Still he was glad that matters had gone +no further, and that there was no involvement beyond what could be +handsomely disposed of by a letter, resigning his pretensions, and +rejoicing that innate delicacy and prudence had prevented what might +have involved the lady's feelings more deeply in the misfortune of his +family: representing himself in all good faith as having retreated from +her proffered sympathy out of devoted consideration for her, and +closing with elaborate thanks for her exertions on behalf of 'his +unhappy brother.' + +The letter had the honour of being infinitely lauded by Mrs. Ledwich, +who dwelt on its nobleness and tenderness in many a tete-a-tete, and +declared her surprise and thankfulness at the immunity of her dear +Matilda's heart. In strict confidence, too, Dr. Spencer (among others) +learnt that--though it was not to be breathed till the year was out, +above all till the poor Wards were gone--the dear romantic girl had +made her hand the guerdon for obtaining Leonard's life. + +'So there's your fate, Dick,' concluded his friend. + +'You forget the influence of the press,' returned Dr. May. 'People +don't propose such guerdons without knowing who is to earn them.' + +'Yes, she has long believed in King John,' said Ethel. + +Meantime Averil Ward was acquiescing in all Henry's projects with calm +desperate passiveness. She told Mary that she had resolved that she +would never again contend with Henry, but would let him do what he +would with herself and her sisters. Nor had his tenderness during her +illness been in vain; it had inspired reliance and affection, such as +to give her the instinct of adherence to him as the one stay left to +her. With Leonard shut up, all places were the same to her, except +that she was in haste to escape from the scenes connected with her lost +brother; and she looked forward with dull despairing acquiescence to +the new life with which Henry hoped to shake off the past. + +A colony was not change enough for Henry's wishes; even there he made +sure of being recognized as the convict's brother, and was resolved to +seek his new home in the wide field of America, disguising his very +name, as Warden, and keeping up no communication with the prisoner +except under cover to Dr. May. + +To this unfailing friend was committed the charge of the brother. He +undertook to watch over the boy, visit him from time to time, take care +of his health, and obtain for him any alleviations permitted by the +prison rules; and as Henry reiterated to Averil, it was absolutely +certain that everything possible from external kindness was thus +secured. What more could they themselves have done, but show him their +faces at the permitted intervals? which would be mere wear and tear of +feeling, very bad for both parties. + +Averil drooped, and disputed not--guessing, though not yet +understanding, the heart hunger she should feel even for such a dreary +glimpse. + +Every hour seemed to be another turn of the wheel that hurried on the +departure. The successor wished to take house and furniture as they +stood, and to enter into possession as soon as possible, as he already +had taken the practice. This coincided with Henry's burning impatience +to be quit of everything, and to try to drown the sense of his own +identity in the crowds of London. He was his sisters' only guardian, +their property was entirely in his hands, and no one had the power of +offering any obstacle, so that no delay could be interposed; and the +vague design passed with startling suddenness to a fixed decision, to +be carried into execution immediately. It came in one burst upon the +May household that Averil and her sisters were coming to spend a last +evening before their absolute packing to go on the Saturday to London, +where they would provide their outfit, and start in a month for America. + +The tidings were brought by Mary, who had, as usual, been spending part +of the morning with Averil. No one seemed to be so much taken by +surprise as Tom, whose first movement was to fall on his sisters for +not having made him aware of such a preposterous scheme. They thought +he knew. He knew that all the five quarters of the world had been +talked of in a wild sort of a way; but how could he suppose that any +man could be crazed enough to prefer to be an American citizen, when he +might remain a British subject? + +Repugnance to America was naturally strong in Tom, and had of late been +enhanced by conversations with an Eton friend, who, while quartered in +Canada, had made excursions into the States, and acquired such +impressions as high-bred young officers were apt to bring home from a +superficial view of them. Thus fortified, he demanded whether any +reasonable person had tried to bring Henry Ward to his senses. + +Ethel believed that papa had advised otherwise. + +'Advised! It should have been enforced! If he is fool enough to alter +his name, and throw up all his certificates what is to become of him? +He will get no practice in any civilized place, and will have to betake +himself to some pestilential swamp, will slave his sisters to death, +spend their money, and destroy them with ague. How can you sit still +and look on, Ethel?' + +'But what could I do?' + +'Stir up my father to interfere.' + +'I thought you always warned us against interfering with Henry Ward.' + +He treated this speech as maliciously designed to enrage him. 'Ethel!' +he stammered, 'in a case like this--where the welfare--the very +life--of one--of your dearest friend--of Mary's, I mean--I did think +you would have been above--' + +'But, Tom, I would do my utmost, and so would papa, if it were possible +to do anything; but it is quite in vain. Henry is resolved against +remaining under British rule, and America seems to be the only field +for him.' + +'Much you know or care!' cried Tom. 'Well, if no one else will, I +must!' + +With which words he departed, leaving his sister surprised at his +solicitude, and dubious of the efficacy of his remonstrance, though she +knew by experience that Tom was very different in a great matter from +what he was in a small one. + +Tom betook himself to Bankside, and the first person he encountered +there was his little friend Ella, who ran up to him at once. + +'Oh, Mr. Tom, we are going to America! Shall you be sorry?' + +'Very sorry,' said Tom, as the little hand was confidingly thrust into +his. + +'I should not mind it, if you were coming too, Mr. Tom!' + +'What, to play at French billiards?' + +'No, indeed! To find objects for the microscope. I shall save all the +objects I meet, and send them home in a letter.' + +'An alligator or two, or a branch of the Mississippi,' said Tom, in a +young man's absent way of half-answering a pet child; but the reply so +struck Ella's fancy, that, springing through the open French window, +she cried, 'Oh, Ave, Ave, here is Mr. Tom saying I am to send him a +branch of the Mississippi in a letter, as an object for his microscope!' + +'I beg your pardon,' said Tom, shocked at Averil's nervous start, and +still more shocked at her appearance. She looked like one shattered by +long and severe illness; her eyes were restless and distressed, her +hair thrust back as if it oppressed her temples, her manner startled +and over-wrought, her hand hot and unsteady--her whole air that of one +totally unequal to the task before her. He apologized for having taken +her by surprise, and asked for her brother. She answered, that he was +busy at Mr. Bramshaw's, and she did not know when he would come in. +But still Tom lingered; he could not bear to leave her to exertions +beyond her strength. 'You are tiring yourself,' he said; 'can I do +nothing to help you?' + +'No, no, thank you; I am only looking over things. Minna is helping +me, and I am making an inventory.' + +'Then you must let me be of use to you. You must be as quiet as +possible. You need rest.' + +'I can't rest; I'm better busy!' she said hastily, with quick, aimless, +bustling movements. + +But Tom had his father's tone, as he gently arrested the trembling hand +that was pulling open a drawer, and with his father's sweet, convincing +smile, said, 'What's that for?' then drew up a large arm-chair, placed +her in it, and, taking pen and list, began to write--sometimes at her +suggestion, sometimes at his own--giving business-like and efficient +aid. + +The work was so grave and regular, that Ella soon found the room +tedious, and crept out, calling Minna to aid in some of their own +personal matters. + +Slowly enumerating the articles they came to the piano. Averil went up +to it, leant fondly against it, and softly touched the keys. 'My own,' +she said, 'bought for a surprise to me when I came home from school! +And oh, how he loved it!' + +'Every one had reason to love it,' said Tom, in a low voice; but she +did not heed or hear. + +'I cannot--cannot part with it! When I sit here, I can almost feel him +leaning over me! You must go--I will pay your expenses myself! I +wonder if we should have such rough roads as would hurt you,' she +added, caressingly toying with the notes, and bringing soft replies +from them, as if she were conversing with a living thing. + +'Ah!' said Tom, coming nearer, 'you will, I hope, take care to what +your brother's impetuosity might expose either this, or yourself.' + +'We shall all fare alike,' she said, carelessly. + +'But how?' said Tom. + +'Henry will take care of that.' + +'Do you know, Miss Ward, I came down here with the purpose of setting +some matters before your brother that might dissuade him from making +the United States his home. You have justly more influence than I. +Will you object to hear them from me?' + +Ave could not imagine why Tom May, of all people in the world, should +thrust himself into the discussion of her plans; but she could only +submit to listen, or more truly to lean back with wandering thoughts +and mechanical signs of assent, as he urged his numerous objections. +Finally, she uttered a meek 'Thank you,' in the trust that it was over. + +'And will you try to make your brother consider these things?' + +Poor Ave could not have stood an examination on 'these things,' and +feeling inadequate to undertake the subject, merely said something of +'very kind, but she feared it would be of no use.' + +'I assure you, if you would persuade him to talk it over with me, that +I could show him that he would involve you all in what would be most +distasteful.' + +'Thank you, but his mind is made up. No other course is open.' + +'Could he not, at least, go and see what he thinks of it, before taking +you and your sisters?' + +'Impossible!' said Averil. 'We must all keep together; we have no one +else.' + +'No, indeed, you must not say that,' cried Tom, with a fire that +startled Averil in the midst of her languid, dreary indifference. + +'I did not mean,' she said, 'to be ungrateful for the kindness of your +family--the Doctor and dear Mary, above all; but you must know-' + +'I know,' he interrupted, 'that I cannot see you exiling yourself with +your brother, because you think you have no one else to turn to--you, +who are so infinitely dear--' + +'This is no time for satire,' she said, drawing aside with offence, but +still wearily, and as if she had not given attention enough to +understand him. + +'You mistake me,' he exclaimed; 'I mean that no words can tell how +strong the feeling is that--that--No, I never knew its force till now; +but, Averil, I cannot part with you--you who are all the world to me.' + +Lifting her heavy eyelids for a moment, she looked bewildered, and +then, moving towards the door, said, 'I don't know whether this is jest +or earnest--any way, it is equally unsuitable.' + +'What do you see in me,' cried Tom, throwing himself before her, 'that +you should suppose me capable of jesting on such a subject, at such a +moment?' + +'I never saw anything but supercilious irony,' she answered, in the +same dreamy, indifferent way, as if hardly aware what she was saying, +and still moving on. + +'I cannot let you go thus. You must hear me,' he cried, and he wheeled +round an easy-chair, with a gesture of entreaty; which she obeyed, +partly because she was hardly alive to understand his drift, partly +because she could scarcely stand; and there she sat, in the same drowsy +resignation with which she had listened to his former expostulation. + +Calm collected Tom was almost beside himself. 'Averil! Averil!' he +cried, as he sat down opposite and bent as close to her as possible, +'if I could only make you listen or believe me! What shall I say? It +is only the honest truth that you are the dearest thing in the whole +world to me! The very things that have given you most offence arose +from my struggles with my own feelings. I tried to crush what would +have its way in spite of me, and now you see its force.' He saw +greater life and comprehension in her eye as he spoke, but the look was +not encouraging; and he continued: 'How can I make you understand! Oh! +if I had but more time!--but--but it was only the misery of those +moments that showed me why it was that I was always irresistibly drawn +to you, and yet made instinctive efforts to break the spell; and now +you will not understand.' + +'I do understand,' said Averil, at length entirely roused, but chiefly +by resentment. 'I understand how much a country surgeon's daughter is +beneath an M. D.'s attention, and how needful it was to preserve the +distance by marks of contempt. As a convict's sister, the distance is +so much widened, that it is well for both that we shall never meet +again.' + +Therewith she had risen, and moved to the door. 'Nay, nay,' he cried; +'it is for that very reason that all my past absurdity is trampled on! +I should glory in a connection with such as Leonard! Yes, Averil,' as +he fancied he saw her touched, 'you have never known me yet; but trust +yourself and him to me, and you will give him a true brother, proud of +his nobleness. You shall see him constantly--you shall keep your +sisters with you. Only put yourself in my hands, and you shall know +what devotion is.' + +He would have said more, but Averil recalled herself, and said: 'This +is mere folly; you would be very sorry, were I to take you at your +word. It would be unworthy in me towards your father, towards Henry, +towards you, for me to listen to you, even if I liked you, and that you +have taken good care to prevent me from doing.' And she opened the +door, and made her way into the hall. + +'But, Averil!--Miss Ward!' he continued, pursuing her, 'if, as I swear +I will, I track out the real offender, bring him to justice, proclaim +Leonard's innocence? Then--' + +She was half-way up the stairs. He had no alternative but to take his +hat and stride off in a tumult of dismay, first of all at the +rejection, and next at his own betrayal of himself. Had he guessed +what it would come to, would he ever have trusted himself in that +drawing-room? This was the meaning of it all, was it? He, the +sensible man of the family, not only to be such an egregious ass, but +to have made such a fool of himself! For he was as furious at having +committed himself to himself, as he was at his avowal to Averil--he, +who had always been certain of loving so wisely and so well, choosing +an example of the true feminine balance of excellence, well born, but +not too grand for the May pretensions; soundly religious, but not +philanthropically pious; of good sense and ability enough for his +comfort, but not of overgrown genius for his discomfort; of good looks +enough for satisfaction, but not for dangerous admiration; of useful, +but not overwhelming wealth; of creditable and not troublesome +kindred--that he should find himself plunged headlong into love by +those brown eyes and straight features, by the musical genius, talents +anything but domestic, ill-regulated enthusiasm, nay, dislike to +himself, in the very girl whose station and family he contemned at the +best, and at the very time when her brother was a convict, and her +sisters dependent! Was he crazed? Was he transformed? What frenzy +had come over him to endear her the more for being the reverse of his +ideal? And, through all, his very heart was bursting at the thought of +the wounds he had given her in his struggles against the net of +fascination. He had never imagined the extent of the provocation he +gave; and in truth, his habitual manner was such, that it was hard to +distinguish between irony and genuine interest. And now it was too +late! What should he be henceforth to her? What would Stoneborough +and his future be to him? He would, he believed, have taught himself +to acquiesce, had he seen any chance of happiness before her; but the +picture he drew of her prospects justified his misery, at being only +able to goad her on, instead of drawing her back. He was absolutely +amazed at himself. He had spoken only the literal truth, when he said +that he had been unconscious of the true nature of the feelings that +always drew him towards her, though only to assert his independence, +and make experiments by teasing in his ironically courteous way. Not +until the desolate indifference of her tone had incited him to show her +that Henry was not all that remained to her, had he arrived at the +perception that, in the late weeks of anxiety, she had grown into his +heart, and that it was of no use to argue the point with himself, or +think what he would do, the fact was accomplished--his first love was a +direct contradiction to his fixed opinions, he had offended her +irrevocably and made a fool of himself, and she was going away to +dreariness! + +At first he had rushed off into the melancholy meadows, among the +sodden hay-cocks still standing among the green growth of grass; but a +shower, increasing the damp forlornness of the ungenial day, made him +turn homewards. When, late in the afternoon, Ethel came into the +schoolroom for some Cocksmoor stores, she found him leaning over his +books on the table. This was his usual place for study; and she did +not at once perceive that the attitude was only assumed on her +entrance, so kneeling in front of her cupboard, she asked, 'What +success?' + +'I have not seen him.' + +'Oh! I thought I saw you going--' + +'Never mind! I mean,' he added with some confusion, 'I wish for a +little peace. I have a horrid headache.' + +'You!' exclaimed Ethel; and turning round, she saw him leaning back in +his chair, a defenceless animal without his spectacles, his eyes small +and purpled ringed, his hair tossed about, his spruceness gone. 'I am +sure you are not well,' she said. + +'Quite well. Nonsense, I only want quiet.' + +'Let me give you some of Aubrey's camphor liniment.' + +'Thank you,' submitting to a burning application to his brow; but as +she lingered in anxiety, 'I really want nothing but quiet.' + +How like Norman he looks! thought Ethel, as she cast her last glance +and departed. Can he be going to be ill? If he would only tell when +anything is the matter! I know papa says that some of us feel with our +bodies, and some with our minds; but then I never knew Tom much +affected any way, and what is all this to him? And a sigh betrayed the +suppressed heartache that underlaid all her sensations. I am afraid it +must be illness; but any way, he will neither tell nor bear to have it +noticed, so I can only watch. + +Enter the two little Wards, with a message that Ave was sorry, but that +she was too much tired to come that evening; and when Mary regretted +not having been able to come and help her, Ella answered that 'Mr. Tom +had come and helped her for a long time.' + +'Yes,' said Minna; 'but I think he must have done it all wrong, for, do +you know, I found the list he had made torn up into little bits. + +Ethel almost visibly started, almost audibly exclaimed. At tea-time +Tom appeared, his trimness restored, but not his usual colouring; and +Ella hailed him with reproaches for having gone away without telling +her. The soft attention of which the child had a monopoly did not +fail, though he bent down, trying to keep her to himself, and prevent +their colloquy from attracting notice; but they were so close behind +Ethel's chair, that she could not help hearing: 'We were only gone to +dig up the violets that you are to have, and if you had only stayed you +would have seen Henry, for he came in by the little gate, and when I +went to tell you, you were gone.' + +Ethel wondered whether the blushes she felt burning all over her face +and neck would be remarked by those before her, or would reveal to Tom, +behind her, that the child was giving her the key to his mystery. +Marvelling at the exemplary gentleness and patience of his replies to +his little coquettish tormentor, she next set herself to relieve him by +a summons to Ella to tea and cherries. Fortunately the fruit suggested +Dr. May's reminiscences of old raids on cherry orchards now a mere +name, and he thus engrossed all the younger audience not entirely +preoccupied. He set himself to make the little guests forget all their +sorrows, as if he could not help warming them for the last time in the +magic of his own sunshine; but Ethel heard and saw little but one +figure in the quietest corner of the room, a figure at which she +scarcely dared to look. + +'And there you are!' so went her thoughts. 'It is true then! Fairly +caught! Your lofty crest vailed at last--and at such a time! O, Tom, +generous and true-hearted, in spite of all your nonsense! How could +she help being touched? In the net and against his will! Oh, triumph +of womanhood! I am so glad! No, I'm not, it is best this way, for +what an awkward mess it would have been! She is dear Leonard's sister, +to be sure, and there is stuff in her, but papa does not take to her, +and I don't know whether she would fit in with Tom himself! But oh! +the fun it would have been to see Flora's horror at finding her one +prudent brother no better than the rest of us! Dear old Tom! The May +heart has been too strong for the old Professor nature! What a +retribution for his high mightiness! Harry and Richard to be guarded +from making fools of themselves! What a nice cloak for jealousy! But +it is no laughing matter! How miserable, how thoroughly upset, he is! +Poor dear Tom! If I could only go and kiss you, and tell you that I +never loved you half so well; but you would rather die than let out one +word, I know! Why, any one of the others would have had it all out +long ago! And I don't know whether it is quite safe to screen the lamp +from those aching eyes that are bearing it like a martyr! There! +Well, maybe he will just stand the knowing that I know, provided I +don't say a word; but I wish people would not be so "self-contained!"' + +Self-contained Tom still continued in the morning, though looking +sallow and wan; but, in a political argument with his father, he was +snappish and overbearing, and in the course of the day gave another +indication of being thrown off his balance, which was even harder for +Ethel to endure. + +Throughout the suspense on Leonard's account, Aubrey had been a source +of anxiety to all, especially to Tom. The boy's sensitive frame had +been so much affected, that tender dealings with him were needful, and +all compulsion had been avoided. His father had caused him to be put on +the sick-list of the volunteers; and as for his studies, though the +books were daily brought out, it was only to prevent the vacuum of +idleness; and Tom had made it his business to nurse his brother's +powers, avoid all strain on the attention, and occupy without exciting, +bearing with his fitful moods of despondence or of hope, whether they +took the form of talking or of dreaming. + +But now that all was over, every one knew that it was time to turn over +a new leaf; and Tom, with his sore heart, did it with a vengeance, and +on the first instance of carelessness, fell on the poor family pet, as +a younger brother and legitimate souffre douleur, with vehemence +proportioned to his own annoyance. It was a fierce lecture upon +general listlessness, want of manliness, spirit, and perseverance, +indifference to duties he had assumed. Nonsense about feelings--a +fellow was not worth the snap of a finger who could not subdue his +feelings--trash. + +The sisters heard the storm from the drawing-room, and Gertrude grew +hotly indignant, and wanted Ethel to rush in to the rescue; but Ethel, +though greatly moved, knew that female interposition only aggravated +such matters, and restrained herself and her sister till she heard Tom +stride off. Then creeping in on tiptoe, she found the boy sitting +stunned and confounded by the novelty of the thing. + +'What can it be all about, Ethel? I never had such a slanging in my +life?' + +'I don't think Tom is quite well. He had a bad headache last night.' + +Then I hope--I mean, I think--he must have made it worse! I know mine +aches, as if I had been next door to the great bell;' and he leant +against his sister. + +'I am afraid you really were inattentive.' + +'No worse than since the heart has gone out of everything. But that +was not all! Ethel, can it really be a disgrace, and desertion, and +all that, if I don't go on with those volunteers, when it makes me sick +to think of touching my rifle?' and his eyes filled with tears. + +'It would be a great effort, I know,' said Ethel, smoothing his hair; +'but after all, you volunteered not for pleasure, but because your +country wanted defence.' + +'The country? I don't care for it, since it condemned him, when he was +serving it.' + +'He would not say that, Aubrey! He would only be vexed to hear that +you gave in, and were fickle to your undertaking. Indeed, if I were +the volunteer, I should think it due to him, not to shrink as if I were +ashamed of what he was connected with.' + +Aubrey tried to answer her sweet high-spirited smile, but he had been +greatly hurt and distressed, and the late reproach to his manhood +embittered his tears without making it easier to repress them; and +pushing away his chair, he darted up-stairs. + +'Poor dear fellow! I've been very hard on him, and only blamed instead +of comforting,' thought Ethel sadly, as she slowly entered the passage, +'what shall I think of, to make a break for both of those two?' + +'So you have been cockering your infant,' said Tom, meeting her. 'You +mean to keep him a baby all his life.' + +'Tom, I want to talk to you,' said she. + +In expectation of her displeasure, he met it half way, setting his back +against the passage wall, and dogmatically declaring, 'You'll be the +ruin of him if you go on in this way! How is he ever to go through the +world if you are to be always wiping his tears with an embroidered +pocket-handkerchief, and cossetting him up like a blessed little +sucking lamb?' + +'Of course he must rough it,' said Ethel, setting her back against the +opposite wall; 'I only want him to be hardened; but after a shock like +this, one cannot go on as if one was a stock or stake. Even a machine +would have its wheels out of order--' + +'Well, well, but it is time that should be over.' + +'So it is;' and as the sudden thought flashed on her, 'Tom, I want you +to reconsider your journey, that you gave up in the spring, and take +him--' + +'I don't want to go anywhere,' he wearily said. + +'Only it would be so good for him,' said Ethel earnestly; 'he really +ought to see something taller than the Minster tower, and you are the +only right person to take him, you are so kind to him.' + +'For instance?' he said, smiling. + +'Accidents will happen in the best regulated families; besides, he did +want shaking up. I dare say he will be the better for it. There's the +dinner-bell.' + +To her surprise, she found his arm round her waist, and a kiss on her +brow. 'I thought I should have caught it,' he said; 'you are not half +a fool of a sister after all.' + +Aubrey was not in the dining-room; and after having carved, Tom, in +some compunction, was going to look for him, when he made his +appearance in his uniform. + +'Oho!' said the Doctor, surprised. + +'There's to be a grand parade with the Whitford division,' he answered; +and no more was said. + +Not till the eight o'clock twilight of the dripping August evening did +the family reassemble. Ethel had been preparing for a journey that +Mary and Gertrude were to make to Maplewood; and she did not come down +till her father had returned, when following him into the drawing-room, +she heard his exclamation, 'Winter again!' + +For the fire was burning, Tom was sitting crumpled over it, with his +feet on the fender, and his elbows on his knees, and Aubrey in his +father's arm-chair, his feet over the side, so fast asleep that neither +entrance nor exclamation roused him; the room was pervaded with an +odour of nutmeg and port wine, and a kettle, a decanter, and empty +tumblers told tales. Now the Doctor was a hardy and abstemious man, of +a water-drinking generation; and his wife's influence had further +tended to make him--indulgent as he was--scornful of whatever savoured +of effeminacy or dissipation, so his look and tone were sharp, and +disregardful of Aubrey's slumbers. + +'We got wet through,' said Tom; 'he was done up, had a shivering fit, +and I tried to prevent mischief.' + +'Hm! said the Doctor, not mollified. 'Cold is always the excuse. But +another time don't teach your brother to make this place like a fast +man's rooms.' + +Ethel was amazed at Tom's bearing this so well. With the slightest +possible wrinkle of the skin of his forehead, he took up the decanter +and carried it off to the cellaret. + +'How that boy sleeps!' said his father, looking at him. + +'He has had such bad nights!' said Ethel. 'Don't be hard on Tom, he is +very good about such things, and would not have done it without need. +He is so careful of Aubrey!' + +'Too careful by half,' said the Doctor, smiling placably as his son +returned. 'You are all in a league to spoil that youngster. He would +be better if you would not try your hand on his ailments, but would +knock him about.' + +'I never do that without repenting it,' said Tom; then, after a pause, +'It is not spirit that is wanting, but you would have been frightened +yourself at his state of exhaustion.' + +'Of collapse, don't you mean?' said the Doctor, with a little lurking +smile. 'However, it is vexatious enough; he had been gaining ground +all the year, and now he is regularly beaten down again.' + +'Suppose I was to take him for a run on the Continent?' + +'What, tired of the hospital?' + +'A run now and then is duty, not pleasure,' replied Tom, quietly; while +Ethel burnt to avert from him these consequences of his peculiar +preference for appearing selfish. + +'So much for railway days! That will be a new doctrine at +Stoneborough. Well, where do you want to go?' + +'I don't want to go anywhere.' + +Ethel would not have wondered to see him more sullen than he looked at +that moment. It was lamentable that those two never could understand +each other, and that either from Tom's childish faults, his resemblance +to his grandfather, or his habitual reserve, Dr. May was never free +from a certain suspicion of ulterior motives on his part. She was +relieved at the influx of the rest of the party, including Richard; and +Aubrey wakening, was hailed with congratulations on the soundness of +his sleep, whilst she looked at Tom with a meaning smile as she saw her +father quietly feel the boy's hand and brow. The whole family were +always nursing the lad, and scolding one another for it. + +Tom had put himself beside Ethel, under the shade of her urn, and she +perceived that he was ill at ease, probably uncertain whether any +confidences had been bestowed on her or Mary from the other side. There +was no hope that the topic would be avoided, for Richard began with +inquiries for Averil. + +'She is working herself to death,' said Mary, sadly; 'but she says it +suits her.' + +'And it does,' said the Doctor; 'she is stronger every day. There is +nothing really the matter with her.' + +'Contrary blasts keep a ship upright,' said Gertrude, 'and she has them +in abundance. We found her in the midst of six people, all giving +diametrically opposite advice.' + +'Dr. Spencer was really helping, and Mr. Wright was there about his own +affairs,' said Ethel, in a tone of repression. + +'And Mrs. Ledwich wanted her to settle on the Ohio to assist the +runaway slaves,' continued Gertrude. + +'It does not tease her as if she heard it,' said Mary. + +'No,' said the Doctor, 'she moves about like one in a dream, and has no +instinct but to obey her brother.' + +'Well, I am glad to be going,' said Daisy; 'it will be flat when all +the excitement is over, and we have not the fun of seeing Tom getting +rises out of Ave Ward.' + +This time Tom could not repress a sudden jerk, and Ethel silenced her +sister by a hint that such references were not nice when people were in +trouble. + +'By the bye,' said Aubrey, 'speaking of going away, what were you +saying while I was asleep? or was it a dream that I was looking through +Tom's microscope at a rifle bullet in the Tyrol?' + +'An inspiration from Tom's brew,' said the Doctor. + +'Weren't you saying anything?' said Aubrey, eagerly. 'I'm sure there +was something about duty and pleasure. Were you really talking of it?' + +'Tom was, and if it is to put some substance into those long useless +legs, I don't care if you do start off.' + +Aubrey flashed into a fresh being. He had just been reading a book +about the Tyrol, and Tom not caring at all where they were to go, this +gave the direction. Aubrey rushed to borrow a continental Bradshaw +from Dr. Spencer, and the plan rapidly took form; with eager +suggestions thrown in by every one, ending with the determination to +start on the next Monday morning. + +'That's settled,' said Tom, wearily, when he and Ethel, as often +happened, had lingered behind the rest; 'only, Ethel, there's one +thing. You must keep your eye on the Vintry Mill, and fire off a +letter to me if the fellow shows any disposition to bolt.' + +'If I can possibly find out--' + +'Keep your eyes open; and then Hazlitt has promised to let me know if +that cheque of Bilson's is cashed. If I am away, telegraph, and +meantime set my father on the scent. It may not hang that dog himself, +but it may save Leonard.' + +'Oh, if it would come!' + +'And meantime--silence, you know--' + +'Very well;' then lingering, 'Tom, I am sure you did the right thing by +Aubrey, and so was papa afterwards.' + +His brow darkened for a moment, but shaking it off he said, 'I'll do my +best for your cosset lamb, and bring him back in condition.' + +'Thank you; I had rather trust him with you than any one.' + +'And how is it that no one proposes a lark for you, old Ethel?' said +Tom, holding her so as to study her face. 'You look awfully elderly +and ragged.' + +'Oh, I'm going to be left alone with the Doctor, and that will be the +greatest holiday I ever had.' + +'I suppose it is to you,' said Tom, with a deep heavy sigh, perhaps +glad to have some ostensible cause for sighing. + +'Dear Tom, when you are living here, and working with him--' + +'Ah--h!' he said almost with disgust, 'don't talk of slavery to me +before my time. How I hate it, and everything else! Good night!' + +'Poor Tom!' thought Ethel. 'I wish papa knew him better and would not +goad him. Will Averil ever wake to see what she has done, and feel for +him? Though I don't know why I should wish two people to be unhappy +instead of one, and there is weight enough already. O, Leonard, I +wonder if your one bitter affliction will shield you from the others +that may be as trying, and more tempting!' + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + All bright hopes and hues of day + Have faded into twilight gray.--Christian Year + + +'No fear of Aubrey's failing,' said Tom; 'he has a better foundation +than nine-tenths of the lads that go up, and he is working like a man.' + +'He always did work heartily,' said Ethel, 'and with pleasure in his +work.' + +'Ay, like a woman.' + +'Like a scholar.' + +'A scholar is a kind of woman. A man, when he's a boy, only works +because he can't help it, and afterwards for what he can get by it.' + +'For what he can do with it would have a worthier sound.' + +'Sound or sense, it is all the same.' + +'Scaffolding granted, what is the building?' + +Tom apparently thought it would be working like a woman to give himself +the trouble of answering; and Ethel went on in her own mind, 'For the +work's own sake--for what can be got by it--for what can be done with +it--because it can't be helped--are--these all the springs of labour +here? Then how is work done in that solitary cell? Is it because it +can't be helped, or is it 'as the Lord's freeman'? And when he can +hear of Aubrey's change, will he take it as out of his love, or grieve +for having been the cause?' + +For the change had been working in Aubrey ever since Leonard had +altered his career. The boy was at a sentimental age, and had the +susceptibility inseparable from home breeding; his desire to become a +clergyman had been closely connected with the bright visions of the +happy days at Coombe, and had begun to wane with the first thwarting of +Leonard's plans; and when the terrible catastrophe of the one friend's +life occurred, the other became alienated from all that they had hoped +to share together. Nor could even Dr. May's household be so wholly +exempt from the spirit of the age, that Aubrey was not aware of the +strivings and trials of faith at the University. He saw what Harvey +Anderson was, and knew what was passing in the world; and while free +from all doubts, shrank boyishly from the investigations that he +fancied might excite them. Or perhaps these fears of possible scruples +were merely his self-justification for gratifying his reluctance. + +At any rate, he came home from his two months' tour, brown, robust, +with revived spirits, but bent on standing an examination for the +academy at Woolwich. He had written about it several times before his +return, and his letters were, as his father said, 'so appallingly +sensible that perhaps he would change his mind.' But it was not +changed when he came home; and Ethel, though sorely disappointed, was +convinced by her own sense as well as by Richard's prudence, that +interference was dangerous. No one in Israel was to go forth to the +wars of the Lord save those who 'willingly offered themselves;' and +though grieved that her own young knight should be one of the many +champions unwilling to come forth in the Church's cause, she remembered +the ordeal to Norman's faith, and felt that the exertion of her +influence was too great a responsibility. + +'You don't like this,' said Tom, after a pause. 'It is not my doing, +you know.' + +'No, I did not suppose it was,' said Ethel. 'You would not withhold +any one in these days of exceeding want of able clergymen.' + +'I told him it would be a grief at home,' added Tom, 'but when a lad +gets into that desperate mood, he always may be a worse grief if you +thwart him; and I give you credit, Ethel, you have not pulled the curb.' + +'Richard told me not.' + +'Richard represents the common sense of the family when I am not at +home.' + +Tom was going the next day to his course of study at the London +hospitals, and this--the late afternoon--was the first time that he and +his sister had been alone together. He had been for some little time +having these short jerks of conversation, beginning and breaking off +rather absently. At last he said, 'Do those people ever write?' + +'Prisoners, do you mean? Not for three months.' + +'No--exiles.' + +'Mary has heard twice.' + +He held out Mary's little leathern writing-case to her. + +'O, Tom!' + +'It is only Mary.' + +Ethel accepted the plea, aware that there could be no treason between +herself and Mary, and moreover that the letters had been read by all +the family. She turned the key, looked them out, and standing by the +window to catch the light, began to read-- + +'You need not be afraid, kind Mary,' wrote Averil, on the first days of +her voyage; 'I am quite well, as well as a thing can be whose heart is +dried up. I am hardened past all feeling, and seem to be made of +India-rubber. Even my colour has returned--how I hate to see it, and +to hear people say my roses will surprise the delicate Americans. +Fancy, in a shop in London I met an old school-fellow, who was +delighted to see me, talked like old times, and insisted on knowing +where we were staying. I used to be very fond of her, but it was as if +I had been dead and was afraid she would find out I was a ghost, yet I +talked quite indifferently, and never faltered in my excuses. When we +embarked, it was no use to know it was the last of England, where _he_ +and you and home and life were left. How I envied the poor girl, who +was crying as if her heart would break!' + +On those very words, broke the announcement of Mr. Cheviot. Tom coolly +held out his hand for the letters, so much as a matter of course, that +Ethel complied with his gesture, and he composedly pocketed them, while +she felt desperately guilty. Mary's own entrance would have excited no +compunction, Ethel would have said that Tom wanted to hear of the +voyage; but in the present case, she could only blush, conscious that +the guest recognized her sister's property, and was wondering what +business she had with it, and she was unwilling to explain, not only on +Tom's account, but because she knew that Mr. Cheviot greatly +disapproved of petitioning against the remission of capital sentences, +and thought her father under a delusion. + +After Tom's departure the next day, she found the letters in her +work-basket, and restored them to Mary, laughing over Mr. Cheviot's +evident resentment at the detection of her doings. + +'I think it looked rather funny,' said Mary. + +'I beg your pardon,' said Ethel, much astonished; 'but I thought, as +every one else had seen them--' + +'Tom always laughed at poor Ave.' + +'He is very different now; but indeed, Mary, I am sorry, since you did +not like it.' + +'Oh!' cried Mary, discomfited by Ethel's apology, 'indeed I did not +mean that, I wish I had not said anything. You know you are welcome to +do what you please with all I have. Only,' she recurred, 'you can't +wonder that Mr. Cheviot thought it funny.' + +'If he had any call to think at all,' said Ethel, who was one of those +who thought that Charles Cheviot had put a liberal interpretation on +Dr. May's welcome to Stoneborough. He had arrived after the summer +holidays as second master of the school, and at Christmas was to +succeed Dr. Hoxton, who had been absolutely frightened from his chair +by the commissions of inquiry that had beset the Whichcote foundation; +and in compensation was at present perched on the highest niche sacred +to conservative martyrdom in Dr. May's loyal heart. + +Charles Cheviot was a very superior man, who had great influence with +young boys, and was admirably fitted to bring about the much required +reformation in the school. He came frequently to discuss his +intentions with Dr. May, and his conversation was well worth being +listened to; but even the Doctor found three evenings in a week a large +allowance for good sense and good behaviour--the evenings treated as +inviolable even by old friends like Dr. Spencer and Mr. Wilmot, the +fast waning evenings of Aubrey's home life. + +The rest were reduced to silence, chess, books, and mischief, except +when a treat of facetious small talk was got up for their benefit. Any +attempt of the ladies to join in the conversation was replied to with a +condescending levity that reduced Ethel to her girlhood's awkward sense +of forwardness and presumption; Mary was less disconcerted, because her +remarks were never so aspiring, and Harry's wristbands sufficed her; +but the never-daunted Daisy rebelled openly, related the day's events +to her papa, fearless of any presence, and when she had grown tired of +the guest's regular formula of expecting to meet Richard, she told him +that the adult school always kept Richard away in the winter evenings; +'But if you want to see him, he is always to be found at Cocksmoor, and +he would be very glad of help.' + +'Did he express any such wish?' said Mr. Cheviot, looking rather +puzzled. + +'Oh dear, no; only I thought you had so much time on your hands.' + +'Oh no--oh no!' exclaimed Mary, in great confusion, 'Gertrude did not +mean--I am sure I don't know what she was thinking of.' + +And at the first opportunity, Mary, for once in her life, administered +to Gertrude a richly-deserved reproof for sauciness and contempt of +improving conversation; but the consequence was a fancy of the idle +younglings to make Mary accountable for the 'infesting of their +evenings,' and as she was always ready to afford sport to the +household, they thus obtained a happy outlet for their drollery and +discontent, and the imputation was the more comical from his apparent +indifference and her serene composure; until one evening when, as the +bell rung, and mutterings passed between Aubrey and Gertrude, of 'Day +set,' and 'Cheviot's mountains lone,' the head of the family, for the +first time, showed cognizance of the joke, and wearily taking down his +slippered feet from their repose, said, 'Lone! yes, there's the rub! I +shall have to fix days of reception if Mary will insist on being so +attractive.' + +Mary, with an instinct that she was blamed, began to be very sorry, but +broke off amid peals of merriment, and blushes that were less easily +extinguished; and which caused Ethel to tell each of the young ones +privately, that their sport was becoming boy and frog work, and she +would have no more of it. The Daisy was inclined to be restive; but +Ethel told her that many people thought this kind of fun could never be +safe or delicate. 'I have always said that it might be quite harmless, +if people knew where to stop--now show me that I am right.' + +And to Aubrey she put the question, whether he would like to encourage +Daisy in being a nineteenth-century young lady without reticence? + +However, as Mary heard no more of their mischievous wit, Ethel was +quite willing to let them impute to herself a delusion that the +schoolmaster was smitten with Mary, and to laugh with them in private +over all the ridiculous things they chose to say. + +At last Flora insisted on Ethel's coming with her to make a distant +call, and, as soon as they were in the carriage, said, 'It was not only +for the sake of Mrs. Copeland, though it is highly necessary you should +go, but it is the only way of ever speaking to you, and I want to know +what all this is about Mary?' + +'The children have not been talking their nonsense to you!' + +'No one ever talks nonsense to me--intentionally, I mean--not even you, +Ethel; I wish you did. But I hear it is all over the town. George has +been congratulated, and so have I, and one does not like contradicting +only to eat it up again.' + +'You always did hear everything before it was true, Flora.' + +'Then is it going to be true?' + +'O, Flora, can it be possible?' said Ethel, with a startled, astonished +look. + +'Possible! Highly obvious and proper, as it seems to me. The only +doubt in my mind was whether it were not too obvious to happen.' + +'He is always coming in,' said Ethel, 'but I never thought it was +really for that mischief! The children only laugh about it as the most +preposterous thing they can think of, for he never speaks to a woman if +he can help it.' + +'That may not prevent him from wanting a good wife.' + +'Wanting a wife--ay, as he would want a housekeeper, just because he +has got to the proper position for it; but is he to go and get our +bonny Mary in that way, just for an appendage to the mastership?' + +'Well done, old Ethel! I'm glad to see you so like yourself. I +remember when we thought Mrs. Hoxton's position very sublime.' + +'I never thought of positions!' + +'Never! I know that very well; and I am not thinking of it now, except +as an adjunct to a very worthy man, whom Mary will admire to the depths +of her honest heart, and who will make her very happy.' + +'Yes, I suppose if she once begins to like him, that he will,' said +Ethel, slowly; 'but I can't bring myself to swallow it yet. She has +never given in to his being a bore, but I thought that was her +universal benevolence; and he says less to her than to any one.' + +'Depend upon it, he thinks he is proceeding selon les regles.' + +'Then he ought to be flogged! Has he any business to think of my Mary, +without falling red-hot in love with her? Why, Hector was regularly +crazy that last half-year; and dear old Polly is worth ever so much +more than Blanche.' + +'I must say you have fulfilled my desire of hearing you talk nonsense, +Ethel. Mary would never think of those transports.' + +'She deserves them all the more.' + +'Well, she is the party most concerned, though she will be a cruel loss +to all of us.' + +'She will not go far, if--' + +'Yes, but she will be the worse loss. You simple Ethel, you don't +think that Charles Cheviot will let her be the dear family fag we have +always made of her?' + +'Oh no--that always was wrong.' + +'And living close by, she will not come on a visit, all festal, to +resume home habits. No, you must make up your mind, Ethel--_if,_ as +you say, _if_--he will be a man for monopolies, and he will resent +anything that he thinks management from you. I suspect it is a real +sign of the love that you deny, that he has ventured on the sister of a +clever woman, living close by, and a good deal looked up to.' + +'Flora, Flora, you should not make one wicked. If she is to be happy, +why can't you let me rejoice freely, and only have her drawn off from +me bit by bit, in the right way of nature?' + +'I did not tell you to make you dislike it--of course not. Only I +thought that a little tact, a little dexterity, might prevent Charles +Cheviot from being so much afraid of you, as if he saw at once how +really the head of the family you are.' + +'Nonsense, Flora, I am no such thing. If I am domineering, the sooner +any one sees it and takes me down the better. If this does come, I +will try to behave as I ought, and not to mind so Mary is happy; but I +can't act, except just as the moment leads me. I hope it will soon be +over, now you have made me begin to believe in it. I am afraid it will +spoil Harry's pleasure at home! Poor dear Harry, what will he do?' + +'When does he come?' + +'Any day now; he could not quite tell when he could get away. + +When they came back, and Dr. May ran out to say, 'Can you come in. +Flora? we want you,' the sisters doubted whether his excitement were +due to the crisis, or to the arrival. He hurried them into the study, +and shut the door, exulting and perplexed. 'You girls leave one no +rest,' he said. 'Here I have had this young Cheviot telling me that +the object of his attentions has been apparent. I'm sure I did not +know if it were Mab or one of you. I thought he avoided all alike; and +poor Mary was so taken by surprise that she will do nothing but cry, +and say, "No, never;" and when I tell her she shall do as she pleases, +she cries the more; or if I ask her if I am to say Yes, she goes into +ecstasies of crying! I wish one of you would go up, and see if you can +do anything with her.' + +'Is he about the house?' asked Flora, preparing to obey. + +'No--I was obliged to tell him that she must have time, and he is gone +home. I am glad he should have a little suspense--he seemed to make so +certain of her. Did he think he was making love all the time he was +boring me with his gas in the dormitories? I hope she will serve him +out!' + +'He will not be the worse for not being a lady's man,' said Flora, at +the door. + +But in ten minutes, Flora returned with the same report of nothing but +tears; and she was obliged to leave the party to their perplexity, and +drive home; while Ethel went in her turn to use all manner of pleas to +her sister to cheer up, know her own mind, and be sure that they only +wished to guess what would make her happiest. To console or to scold +were equally unsuccessful, and after attempting all varieties of +treatment, bracing or tender, Ethel found that the only approach to +calm was produced by the promise that she should be teased no more that +evening, but be left quite alone to recover, and cool her burning eyes +and aching head. So, lighting her fire, shaking up a much-neglected +easy-chair, bathing her eves, desiring her not to come down to tea, and +engaging both that Gertrude should not behold her, and that papa would +not be angry, provided that she tried to know what she really wished, +and be wiser on the morrow, Ethel left her. The present concern was +absolutely more to persuade her to give an answer of some sort, than +what that answer should be. Ethel would not wish; Dr. May had very +little doubt; and Gertrude, from whom there was no concealing the state +of affairs, observed, 'If she cries so much the first time she has to +know her own mind, it shows she can't do without some one to do it for +her.' + +The evening passed in expeditions of Ethel's to look after her patient, +and in desultory talk on all that was probable and improbable between +Dr. May and the younger ones, until just as Ethel was coming down at +nine o'clock with the report that she had persuaded Mary to go to bed, +she was startled by the street door being opened as far as the chain +would allow, and a voice calling, 'I say, is any one there to let me +in?' + +'Harry! O, Harry! I'm coming;' and she had scarcely had time to shut +the door previous to taking down the chain, before the three others +were in the hall, the tumult of greetings breaking forth. + +'But where's Polly?' he asked, as soon as he was free to look round +them all. + +'Going to bed with a bad headache,' was the answer, with which Daisy +had sense enough not to interfere; and the sailor had been brought into +the drawing-room, examined on his journey, and offered supper, before +he returned to the charge. + +'Nothing really the matter with Mary, I hope?' + +'Oh! no--nothing.' + +'Can't I go up and see her?' + +'Not just at present,' said Ethel. 'I will see how she is when she is +in bed, but if she is going to sleep, we had better not disturb her.' + +'Harry thinks she must sleep better for the sight of him,' said the +Doctor; 'but it is a melancholy business.--Harry, your nose is out of +joint.' + +'Who is it?' said Harry, gravely. + +'Ah! you have chosen a bad time to come home. We shall know no comfort +till it is over.' + +'Who?' cried Harry; 'no nonsense, Gertrude, I can't stand guessing.' + +This was directed to Gertrude, who was only offending by pursed lips +and twinkling eyes, because he could not fall foul of his father. Dr. +May took pity, and answered at once. + +'Cheviot!' cried Harry. 'Excellent! He always did know how to get the +best of everything. Polly turning into a Mrs. Hoxton. Ha! ha! Well, +that is a relief to my mind.' + +'You did look rather dismayed, certainly. What were you afraid of?' + +'Why, when that poor young Leonard Ward's business was in the papers, a +messmate of mine was asked if we were not all very much interested, +because of some attachment between some of us. I thought he must mean +me or Tom, for I was tremendously smitten with that sweet pretty girl, +and I used to be awfully jealous of Tom, but when I heard of Mary going +to bed with a headache, and that style of thing, I began to doubt, and +I couldn't stand her taking up with such a dirty little nigger as Henry +Ward was at school.' + +'I think you might have known Mary better!' exclaimed Gertrude. + +'And it's not Tom either?' he asked. + +'Exactly the reverse,' laughed his father. + +'Well, Tom is a sly fellow, and he had a knack of turning up whenever +one wanted to do a civil thing by that poor girl. Where is she now?' + +'At New York.' + +'They'd better take care how they send me to watch the Yankees, then.' + +'Your passion does not alarm me greatly,' laughed the Doctor. 'I don't +think it ever equalled that for the reigning ship. I hope there's a +vacancy in that department for the present, and that we may have you at +home a little.' + +'Indeed, sir, I'm afraid not,' said Harry. 'I saw Captain Gordon at +Portsmouth this morning, and he tells me he is to go out in the Clio to +the Pacific station, and would apply for me as his first lieutenant, if +I liked to look up the islands again. So, if you have any commissions +for Norman, I'm your man. + +'And how soon?' + +'Uncertain--but Cheviot and Mary must settle their affairs in good +time; I've missed all the weddings in the family hitherto, and won't be +balked of Polly's. I say, Ethel, you can't mean me not to go and wish +her joy.' + +'We are by no means come to joy yet,' said Ethel; 'poor Mary is overset +by the suddenness of the thing.' + +'Why, I thought it was all fixed.' + +'Nothing less so,' said the Doctor. 'One would think it was a naiad +that had had an offer from the mountains next, for she has been +shedding a perfect river of tears ever since; and all that the united +discernment of the family has yet gathered is, that she cries rather +more when we tell her she is right to say No than when we tell her she +is right to say Yes.' + +'I declare, Ethel, you must let me go up to her.' + +'But, Harry, I promised she should hear no more about it to-night. You +must say nothing unless she begins.' + +And thinking a quiet night's rest, free from further excitement, the +best chance of a rational day, Ethel was glad that her mission resulted +in the report, 'Far too nearly asleep to be disturbed;' but on the way +up to bed, soft as Harry's foot-falls always were, a voice came down +the stairs, 'That's Harry! Oh, come!' and with a face of triumph +turned back to meet Ethel's glance of discomfited warning, he bounded +up, to be met by Mary in her dressing-gown. 'O, Harry, why didn't you +come?' as she threw her arms round his neck. + +'They wouldn't let me.' + +'I did think I heard you; but when no one came I thought it was only +Richard, till I heard the dear old step, and then I knew. O, Harry!' +and still she gasped, with her head on his shoulder. + +'They said you must be quiet.' + +'O Harry! did you hear?' + +'Yes, indeed,' holding her closer, 'and heartily glad I am; I know him +as well as if I had sailed with him, and I could not wish you in better +hands.' + +'But--O, Harry dear--' and there was a struggle with a sob between each +word, 'indeed--I won't--mind if you had rather not.' + +'Do you mean that you don't like him?' + +'I should see him, you know, and perhaps he would not mind--he could +always come and talk to papa in the evenings.' + +'And is that what you want to put a poor man off with, Mary?' + +'Only--only--if you don't want me to--' + +'I not want you to--? Why, Mary, isn't it the very best thing I could +want for you? What are you thinking about?' + +'Don't you remember, when you came home after your wound, you said I--I +mustn't--' and she fell into such a paroxysm of crying that he had +quite to hold her up in his arms, and though his voice was merry, there +was a moisture on his eyelashes. 'Oh, you Polly! You're a caution +against deluding the infant mind! Was that all? Was that what made +you distract them all? Why not have said so?' + +'Oh, never! They would have said you were foolish.' + +'As I was for not knowing that you wouldn't understand that I only +meant you were to wait till the right one turned up. Why, if I had +been at Auckland, would you have cried till I came home?' + +'Oh, I'm sorry I was silly! But I'm glad you didn't mean it, dear +Harry!' squeezing him convulsively. + +'There! And now you'll sleep sound, and meet them as fresh as a fair +wind to-morrow. Eh?' + +'Only please tell papa I'm sorry I worried him.' + +'And how about somebody else, Mary, whom you've kept on tenter-hooks +ever so long? Are you sure he is not walking up and down under the +limes on the brink of despair?' + +'Oh, do you think--? But he would not be so foolish!' + +'There now, go to sleep. I'll settle it all for you, and I shan't let +any one say you are a goose but myself. Only sleep, and get those +horrid red spots away from under your eyes, or perhaps he'll repent his +bargain, said Harry, kissing each red spot. 'Promise you'll go to bed +the instant I'm gone.' + +'Well,' said Dr. May, looking out of his room, 'I augur that the spirit +of the flood has something to say to the spirit of the fell.' + +'I should think so! Genuine article--no mistake.' + +'Then what was all this about?' + +'All my fault. Some rhodomontade of mine about not letting her marry +had cast anchor in her dear little ridiculous heart, and it is well I +turned up before she had quite dissolved herself away.' + +'Is that really all?' + +'The sum total of the whole, as sure as--' said Harry, pausing for an +asseveration, and ending with 'as sure as your name is Dick May;' +whereat they both fell a-laughing, though they were hardly drops of +laughter that Harry brushed from the weather-marked pucker in the comer +of his eyes; and Dr. May gave a sigh of relief, and said, 'Well, that's +right!' + +'Where's the latch-key? I must run down and put Cheviot out of his +misery.' + +'It is eleven o'clock, he'll be gone to bed.' + +'Then I would forbid the banns. Where does he hang out? Has he got +into old Hoxton's?' + +'No, it is being revivified. He is at Davis's lodgings. But I advise +you not, a little suspense will do him good.' + +'One would think you had never been in love,' said Harry, indignantly. +'At least, I can't sleep till I've shaken hands with the old fellow. +Good night, father. I'll not be long.' + +He kept his word, and the same voice greeted him out of the +dressing-room: 'How was the spirit of the fell? Sleep'st thou, +brother?' + +'Brother, nay,' answered Harry, 'he was only looking over Latin verses! +He always was a cool hand.' + +'The spirit of the Fell--Dr. Fell, with a vengeance,' said Dr. May. 'I +say, Harry, is this going to be a mere business transaction on his +part? Young folks have not a bit of romance in these days, and one +does not know where to have them; but if I thought--' + +'You may be sure of him, sir,' said Harry, speaking the more eagerly +because he suspected the impression his own manner had made; 'he is +thoroughly worthy, and feels Mary's merits pretty nearly as much as I +do. More, perhaps, I ought to say. There's more warmth in him than +shows. I don't know that Norman ever could have gone through that +terrible time after the accident, but for the care he took of him. And +that little brother of his that sailed with me in the Eurydice, and +died at Singapore--I know how he looked to his brother Charles, and I +do assure you, father, you could not put the dear Mary into safer, +sounder hands, or where she could be more prized or happier. He is +coming up to-morrow morning, and you'll see he is in earnest in spite +of all his set speeches. Good night, father; I am glad to be in time +for the last of my Polly.' + +This was almost the only moment at which Harry betrayed a consciousness +that his Polly was less completely his own. And yet it seemed as if it +must have been borne in on him again and again, for Mary awoke the next +morning as thoroughly, foolishly, deeply in love as woman could be, and +went about comporting herself in the most comically commonplace style, +forgetting and neglecting everything, not hearing nor seeing, making +absurd mistakes, restless whenever Mr. Cheviot was not present, and +then perfectly content if he came to sit by her, as he always did; for +his courtship--now it had fairly begun--was equally exclusive and +determined. Every day they walked or rode together, almost every +evening he came and sat by her, and on each holiday they engrossed the +drawing-room, Mary looking prettier than she had ever been seen before; +Aubrey and Gertrude both bored and critical; Harry treating the whole +as a pantomime got up for his special delectation, and never betokening +any sense that Mary was neglecting him. It was the greatest help to +Ethel in keeping up the like spirit, under the same innocent +unconscious neglect from the hitherto devoted Mary, who was only +helpful in an occasional revival of mechanical instinct in lucid +intervals, and then could not be depended on. To laugh good-naturedly +and not bitterly, to think the love-making pretty and not foolish, to +repress Gertrude's saucy scorn, instead of encouraging it, would have +been far harder without the bright face of the brother who generously +surrendered instead of repining. + +She never told herself that there was no proportion between the trials, +not only because her spirits still suffered from the ever-present load +of pity at her heart, nor because the loss would be hourly to her, but +also because Charles Cheviot drew Harry towards him, but kept her at a +distance, or more truly laughed her down. She was used to be laughed +at; her ways had always been a matter of amusement to her brothers, and +perhaps it was the natural assumption of brotherhood to reply to any +suggestion or remark of hers with something intended for drollery, and +followed with a laugh, which, instead of as usual stirring her up to +good-humoured repartee, suppressed her, and made her feel foolish and +awkward. As to Flora's advice, to behave with tact, she could not if +she would, she would not if she could; in principle she tried to +acquiesce in a man's desire to show that he meant to have his wife to +himself, and in practice she accepted his extinguisher because she +could not help it. + +Mr. Cheviot was uneasy about the chances of Aubrey's success in the +examination at Woolwich, and offered assistance in the final +preparation; but though Aubrey willingly accepted the proposal, two or +three violent headaches from over-study and anxiety made Dr. May insist +on his old regimen of entire holiday and absence of work for the last +week; to secure which repose, Aubrey was sent to London with Harry for +a week's idleness and the society of Tom, who professed to be too busy +to come home even for Christmas. Mr. Cheviot's opinion transpired +through Mary, that it was throwing away Aubrey's only chance. + +In due time came the tidings that Aubrey had the second largest number +of marks, and had been highly commended for the thoroughness of his +knowledge, so different from what had been only crammed for the +occasion. He had been asked who had been his tutor, and had answered, +'His brother,' fully meaning to spare Ethel publicity; and she was +genuinely thankful for having been shielded under Tom's six months of +teaching. She heartily wished the same shield would have availed at +home, when Charles Cheviot gave that horrible laugh, and asked her if +she meant to stand for a professor's chair. She faltered something +about Tom and mathematics. 'Ay, ay,' said Charles; 'and these military +examinations are in nothing but foreign languages and trash;' and again +he laughed his laugh, and Mary followed his example. Ethel would fain +have seen the fun. + +'Eh, Cheviot, what two of a trade never agree?' asked Dr. May, in high +glory and glee. + +'Not my trade, papa,' said Ethel, restored by his face and voice, 'only +the peculiarity of examiners, so long ago remarked by Norman, of only +setting questions that one can answer.' + +'Not your trade, but your amateur work!' said Mr. Cheviot, again +exploding, and leaving Ethel to feel demolished. Why, she wondered +presently, had she not held up her knitting, and merrily owned it for +her trade--why, but because those laughs took away all merriment, all +presence of mind, all but the endeavour not to be as cross as she felt. +Was this systematic, or was it only bad taste? + +The wedding was fixed for Whitsuntide; the repairs and drainage +necessitating early and long holidays; and the arrangements gave full +occupation. Mary was the first daughter who had needed a portion, +since Mr. Cheviot was one of a large family, and had little of his own. +Dr. May had inherited a fair private competence, chiefly in land in and +about the town, and his professional gains, under his wife's prudent +management, had been for the most part invested in the like property. +The chief of his accumulation of ready money had been made over to +establish Richard at Cocksmoor; and though living in an inexpensive +style, such as that none of the family knew what it was to find means +lacking for aught that was right or reasonable, there was no large +amount of capital available. The May custom had always been that the +physician should inherit the landed estate; and though this was +disproportionately increased by the Doctor's own acquisitions, yet the +hold it gave over the town was so important, that he was unwilling it +should be broken up at his death, and wished to provide for his other +children by charges on the rents, instead of by sale and division. All +this he caused Richard to write to Tom, for though there was no +absolute need of the young man's concurrence in arranging Mary's +settlements, it was a good opportunity for distinctly stating his +prospects, and a compliment to consult him. + +Feeling that Tom had thus been handsomely dealt with, his letter to his +father was the greater shock, when, after saying that he doubted +whether he could come home for the wedding, he expressed gratitude for +the opening held out to him, but begged that precedents applicable to +very different circumstances might not be regarded as binding. He was +distressed at supplanting Richard, and would greatly prefer the +property taking its natural course. It would be so many years, he +trusted, before there would be room for his services, even as an +assistant, at Stoneborough, that he thought it would be far more +advisable to seek some other field; and his own desire would be at once +to receive a younger son's share, if it were but a few hundreds, and be +free to cut out his own line. + +'What is he driving at, Ethel?' asked the Doctor, much vexed. 'I offer +him what any lad should jump at; and he only says, "Give me the portion +of goods that falleth to me." What does that mean?' + +'Not prodigality,' said Ethel. 'Remember what Sir Matthew Fleet said +to Dr. Spencer--"Dick's ability and common sense besides."' + +'Exactly what makes me suspicious of his coming the disinterested over +me. There's something behind! He is running into debt and destruction +among that precious crew about the hospitals.' + +'Harry saw nothing wrong, and thought his friends in good style.' + +'Every one is in good style with Harry, happy fellow! He is no more a +judge than a child of six years old--carries too much sunshine to see +shades.' + +'A lieutenant in the navy can hardly be the capital officer that our +Harry is without some knowledge of men and discipline.' + +'I grant you, on his own element; but on shore he goes about in his +holiday spectacles, and sees a bird of paradise in every cock-sparrow.' + +'Isn't _there_ a glass house that can sometimes make a swan?' said +Ethel, slyly touching her father's spectacles; 'but with you both, +there's always a something to attract the embellishing process; and +between Harry and Aubrey, Dr. Spencer and Sir Matthew, we could hardly +fail to have heard of anything amiss.' + +'I don't like it.' + +'Then it is hard,' said Ethel, with spirit. 'So steady as he has +always been, he ought to have the benefit of a little trust.' + +'He was never like the others; I don't know what to be at with him! I +should not have minded but for that palaver about elder brothers.' + +Defend as Ethel might, it was still with a misgiving lest +disappointment should have taken a wrong course. It was hard to trust +where correspondence was the merest business scrap, and neither +Christmas nor the sister's marriage availed to call Tom home; and +though she had few fears as to dissipation, she did dread hardening and +ambition, all the more since she had learnt that Sir Matthew Fleet was +affording to him a patronage unprecedented from that quarter. + +No year of Etheldred May's life had been so trying as this last. It +seemed like her first step away from the aspirations of youth, into the +graver fears of womanhood. With all the self-restraint that she had +striven to exercise at Coombe, it had been a time of glorious dreams +over the two young spirits who seemed to be growing up by her side to +be faithful workers, destined to carry out her highest visions; and the +boyish devotion of the one, the fraternal reverence of the other, had +made her very happy. And now? The first disappointment in Leonard had +led--not indeed to less esteem for him, but to that pitying veneration +that could only be yielded by a sharing in spirit of the like +martyrdom; a continued thankfulness and admiration, but a continual +wringing of the heart. And her own child and pupil, Aubrey, had turned +aside from the highest path; and in the unavowed consciousness that he +was failing in the course he had so often traced out with her, and that +all her aid and ready participation in his present interests were but +from her outward not her inward heart, he had never argued the point +with her, never consulted her on his destination. He had talked only +to his father of his alteration of purpose, and had at least paid her +the compliment of not trying to make her profess that she was gratified +by the change. In minor matters, he depended on her as much as ever; +but Harry was naturally his chief companion, and the prime of his full +and perfect confidence had departed, partly in the step from boy to +man, but more from the sense that he was not fulfilling the soldiership +he had dreamt of with her, and that he had once led her to think his +talents otherwise dedicated. She had few fears for his steadiness, but +she had some for his health, and he was something taken away from +her--a brightness had faded from his image. + +And this marriage--with every effort at rejoicing and certainty of +Mary's present bliss and probability of future happiness, it was the +loss of a sister, and not the gain of a brother, and Mr. Cheviot did +his utmost to render the absence of repining a great effort of +unselfishness. And even with her father, her possession of Tom's +half-revealed secret seemed an impairing of absolute confidence; she +could not but hope that her father did her brother injustice, and in +her tenderness towards them both this was a new and painful sensation. +Her manner was bright and quaint as ever, her sayings perhaps less +edged than usual, because the pain at her heart made her guard her +tongue; but she had begun to feel middle-aged, and strangely lonely. +Richard, though always a comfort, would not have entered into her +troubles; Harry, in his atmosphere of sailor on shore, had nothing of +the confidant, and engrossed his father; Mary and Aubrey were both gone +from her, and Gertrude was still a child. She had never so longed after +Margaret or Norman. But at least her corner in the Minster, her table +at home with her Bible and Prayer-Book, were still the same, and +witnessed many an outpouring of her anxiety, many a confession of the +words or gestures that she had felt to have been petulant, whether +others had so viewed them or not. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + Long among them was seen a maiden, who waited and wondered, + Lowly and meek in spirit, and patiently suffering all things; + Fair was she, and young, but alas! before her extended, + Dreary and vast and silent, the desert of life.--Evangeline. + LONGFELLOW + + +'Sister, sister! who is it? Going to be married! Oh, do tell us!' +cried Ella Warden--as she now was called--capering round her elder +sister, who stood beneath a gas-burner, in a well-furnished bed-room, +reading a letter, its enclosure clasped within a very trembling hand. + +'Mary May, dear Mary,' answered Averil, still half absently. + +'And who?' + +'Mr. Cheviot,' said Averil, thoroughly rousing herself, and, with a +quick movement, concealing the enclosure in her bosom. 'I remember +him; he was very good, when--' + +And there she paused; while Ella chattered on: 'Oh, sister, if you were +but at home, you would be a bridesmaid now, and perhaps we should. +Little Miss Rivers was Mrs. Ernescliffe's bridesmaid. Don't you +remember, Minna, how we saw her in her little cashmere cloak?' + +'Oh, don't, Ella!' escaped from Minna, like a cry of pain, as she leant +back in a rocking-chair, and recollected who had held her up in his +arms to watch Blanche May's wedding procession. + +'And how soon will she be married, sister, and where will she live?' +asked the much-excited Ella. + +'She will be married in Whitsun week, and as he is headmaster, they +will live in Dr. Hoxton's house. Dear, good Mary, how glad I am that +she is so full of happiness--her letter quite brims over with it! I +wonder if I may work anything to send her.' + +'I should like to send her some very beautiful thing indeed,' cried +Ella, with emphasis, and eyes dilating at some visionary magnificence. + +'Ah, I have nothing to send her but my love! And I may send _her_ that +still,' said Minna, looking up wistfully at Averil, who bent down and +kissed her. + +'And Ave won't let me send mine to Mr. Tom, though I'm sure I do love +him the best of them all,' said Ella. + +'That wasn't--' half whispered Minna, but turned her head away, with a +sigh of oppression and look of resignation, sad in so young a child, +though, indeed, the infantine form was fast shooting into tall, lank +girlhood. Ella went on: 'I shall send him the objects for his +microscope, when I get into the country; for I promised, so sister +can't prevent me.' + +'Oh, the country!--when shall we go there?' sighed Minna. + +'Your head aches to-night, my dear,' said Averil, looking anxiously at +her listless attitude, half-opened eyes, and the deep hollows above her +collar-bones. + +'It always does after the gas is lighted,' said the child, patiently, +'it is always so hot here.' + +'It is just like being always in the conservatory at the Grange,' added +Ella. 'I do hate this boarding-house. It is very unkind of Henry to +keep us here--fifteen weeks now.' + +'Oh, Ella,' remonstrated Minna, 'you mustn't say that!' + +'But I shall say it,' retorted Ella. 'Rosa Willis says what she +pleases, and so shall I. I don't see the sense of being made a baby +of, when every one else of our age eats all they like, and is consulted +about arrangements, and attends classes. And sister owns she does not +know half so much as Cora!' + +This regular declaration of American independence confounded the two +sisters, and made Averil recall the thoughts that had been wandering: +'No, Ella, in some things I have not learnt so much as Cora; but I +believe I know enough to teach you, and it has been a comfort to me to +keep my two little sisters with me, and not send them to be mixed up +among strange girls. Besides, I have constantly hoped that our present +way of life would soon be over, and that we should have a home of our +own again.' + +'And why can't we!' asked Ella, in a much more humble and subdued voice. + +'Because Henry cannot hear of anything to do. He thought he should +soon find an opening in this new country; but there seem to be so many +medical men everywhere that no one will employ or take into partnership +a man that nothing is known about; and he cannot produce any of his +testimonials, because they are all made out in his old name, except one +letter that Dr. May gave him. It is worse for Henry than for us, Ella, +and all we can do for him is not to vex him with our grievances. + +Poor Averil! her dejected, patient voice, sad soft eyes, and gentle +persuasive manner, were greatly changed from those of the handsome, +accomplished girl, who had come home to be the family pride and pet; +still more, perhaps, from the wilful mistress of the house and the +wayward sufferer of last summer. + +'And shan't we go to live in the dear beautiful forest, as Cora Muller +wishes?' + +There was a tap at the door, and the children's faces brightened, +though a shade passed over Averil's face, as if everything at that +moment were oppressive; but she recovered a smile of greeting for the +pretty creature who flew up to her with a fervent embrace--a girl a few +years her junior, with a fair, delicate face and figure, in a hot-house +rose style of beauty. + +'Father's come!' she cried. + +'How glad you must be!' + +'And now,' whispered the children, 'we shall know about going to +Indiana.' + +'He says Mordaunt is as tall as he is, and that the house is quite +fixed for me; but I told him I must have one more term, and then I will +take you with me. Ah! I am glad to see the children in white. If you +would only change that plain black silk, you would receive so much more +consideration.' + +'I don't want it, Cora, thank you,' said Averil, indifferently; and, +indeed, the simple mourning she still wore was a contrast to her +friend's delicate, expensive silk. + +'But I want it for you,' pleaded Cora. 'I don't want to hear my Averil +censured for English hauteur, and offend my country's feelings, so that +she keeps herself from seeing the best side.' + +'I see a very good, very dear side of one,' said Averil, pressing the +eager hand that was held out to her, 'and that is enough for me. I was +not a favourite in my own town, and I have not spirits to make friends +here.' + +'Ah! you will have spirits in our woods,' she said. 'You shall show me +how you go gipsying in England.' + +'The dear, dear woods! Oh, we must go!' cried the little girls. + +'But it is going to be a town,' said Minna, gravely. + +Cora laughed. 'Ah, there will be plenty of bush this many a day, +Minna! No lack of butternuts and hickories, I promise you, nor of +maples to paint the woods gloriously.' + +'You have never been there?' said Averil, anxiously. + +'No; I have been boarding here these two years, since father and +brothers located there, but we had such a good time when we lived at my +grandfather's farm, in Ohio, while father was off on the railway +business.' + +A gong resounded through the house, and Averil, suppressing a +disappointed sigh, allowed Cora to take possession of her arm, and, +followed by the two children, became parts of a cataract of people who +descended the great staircase, and flowed into a saloon, where the +dinner was prepared. + +Henry, with a tall, thin, wiry-looking gentleman, was entering at the +same time, and Averil found herself shaking hands with her brother's +companion, and hearing him say, 'Good evening, Miss Warden; I'm glad to +meet my daughter's friend. I hope you feel at home in our great +country.' + +It was so exactly the ordinary second-rate American style, that Averil, +who had expected something more in accordance with the refinement of +everything about Cora, except a few of her tones, was a little +disappointed, and responded with difficulty; then, while Mr. Muller +greeted her sisters, she hastily laid her hand on Henry's arm, and +said, under her breath, 'I've a letter from him.' + +'Hush!' Henry looked about with a startled eye and repressing gesture. +Averil drew back, and, one hand on her bosom, pressing the letter, and +almost holding down a sob, she took her accustomed seat at the meal. +Minna, too languid for the rapidity of the movements, hardly made the +exertion of tasting food. Ella, alert and brisk, took care of herself +as effectually as did Rosa Willis, on the opposite side of the table. +Averil, all one throb of agitation, with the unread letter lying at her +heart, directed all her efforts to look, eat, and drink, as usual; +happily, talking was the last thing that was needed. + +Averil had been greatly indebted to Miss Muller, who had taken pity on +the helpless strangers--interested, partly by her own romance about +England, partly by their mourning dresses, dark melancholy eyes, and +retiring, bewildered manner. A beautiful motherless girl, under +seventeen--left, to all intents and purposes, alone in New +York--attending a great educational establishment, far more independent +and irresponsible than a young man at an English University, yet +perfectly trustworthy--never subject to the bevues of the 'unprotected +female,' but self-reliant, modest, and graceful, in the heterogeneous +society of the boarding-house--she was a constant marvel to Averil, and +a warm friendship soon sprang up. The advances were, indeed, all on +one side; for Ave was too sad, and oppressed with too heavy a secret, +to be readily accessible; but there was an attraction to the younger, +fresher, freer nature, even in the mystery of her mournful reserve; and +the two drew nearer together from gratitude, and many congenial +feelings, that rendered Cora the one element of comfort in the +boarding-house life; while Henry in vain sought for occupation. + +Cora had been left under the charge of the lady of the boarding-house, +a distant connection, while her father, who had been engaged in more +various professions than Averil could ever conceive of or remember, had +been founding a new city in Indiana, at once as farmer and land-agent, +and he had stolen a little time, in the dead season, to hurry up to New +York, partly on business, and partly to see his daughter, who had +communicated to him her earnest desire that her new friends might be +induced to settle near their future abode. + +American meals were too serious affairs for conversation; but such as +there was, was political, in all the fervid heat of the first +commencements of disunion and threatenings of civil war. After the +ladies had repaired to their saloon, with its grand ottomans, sofas, +rocking-chairs, and piano, the discussion continued among them; Cora +talking with the utmost eagerness of the tariff and of slavery, and the +other topics of the day, intensely interesting, and of terrible moment, +to her country; but that country Averil had not yet learnt to feel her +own, and to her all was one dreary whirl of words, in which she longed +to escape to her room, and read her letter. Ella had joined Rosa +Willis, and the other children; but Minna, as usual, kept under her +sister's wing, and Averil could not bear to shake herself free of the +gentle child. The ladies of the boarding-house--some resident in order +to avoid the arduous duties of housekeeping, others temporarily brought +thither in an interregnum of servants, others spending a winter in the +city--had grown tired of asking questions that met with the scantiest +response, took melancholy for disdain, and were all neglectful, some +uncivil, to the grave, silent English girl, and she was sitting alone, +with Minna's hand in hers, as she had sat for many a weary evening, +when her brother and Mr. Muller came up together, and, sitting down on +either side of her, began to talk of the rising city of +Massissauga--admirably situated--excellent water privilege, +communicating with Lake Michigan--glorious primeval forest--healthy +situation--fertile land--where a colossal fortune might be realized in +maize, eighties, sections, speculations. It was all addressed to her, +and it was a hard task to give attention, so as to return a rational +answer, while her soul would fain have been clairvoyante, to read the +letter in her breast. She did perceive, at last, though not till long +after the children had gone to bed, that the project was, that the +family should become the purchasers of shares, which would give them a +right to a portion of the soil, excellent at present for growing corn, +and certain hereafter to be multiplied in value for building; that +Henry might, in the meantime, find an opening for practice, but might +speedily be independent of it. It sounded promising, and it was +escape--escape from forced inaction, from an uncongenial life, from +injury to the children, and it would be with Cora, her one friend. +What was the demur, and why were they consulting her, who, as Henry +knew, was ready to follow him wherever he chose to carry her? At last +came a gleam of understanding: 'Then, Doctor, you will talk it over +with your sister, and give me your ultimatum;' and therewith Mr. Muller +walked away to mingle in other conversation, and Henry coming closer to +his sister, she again eagerly said, 'I have it here; you shall see it +to-morrow, when I have read it.' + +'It--' + +'The letter.' + +'How can you be so unguarded? You have not let the children know? Take +care then, I will not have the subject revived with them.' + +'But Minna--' + +'It is this heated stove atmosphere. She will soon forget if you don't +keep it up, and she will be herself when we leave this place, and it +depends on you when we do that, Ave.' + +'On me!' she said, with bewildered face. + +And Henry, marvelling at her slowness of comprehension, made her +understand that the advance of money, for the purchase at Massissauga, +must come from her means. His own had been heavily drained by the +removal, the long period of inaction, and moreover what remained had +been embarked in shares in a company, absolutely certain to succeed, +but where they were not at once available for sale. Averil was now of +age, her property was in her own power, and could not, her brother +assured her, be better invested, than on ground certain to increase in +value. She looked at him, confused and distressed, aware that it was +too important a step to be taken without consideration, yet unable to +compose her thoughts, or recollect objections. + +'Must I answer to-night?' she said. + +'No, there is no need for that. But we must close to-morrow with +Muller, for it is not a chance that will long go begging.' + +'Then let me go, please, Henry,' she said, imploringly. 'I will tell +you to-morrow, but I can't now. I don't seem to understand anything.' + +It was late, and he released her, with a kind good night, though still +with a sign of caution. Cora, however, hastened to join her, and walk +up the stairs with her, eagerly inquiring into the success of the +negotiation, and detailing what she had gathered from her father as to +the improvements he had been making. She would fain have made Averil +come into her bedroom to build castles there; but this was more than +could be borne, and breaking from her at last, Averil reached her own +room, not to think of Mr. Muller's project, but to cast an anxious +glance at each of the little beds, to judge whether the moment had come +when that famishing hunger might be appeased by the crumb which for +these mortal hours had lain upon her craving heart--the very first +since the one on the arrival at Milbank. + +Each brown head was shrouded in the coverings, the long dark fringes +rested safely on the cheeks, and Averil at length drew out the +treasure, and laid it on her hand to dwell on its very sight. The +address needed to be looked at with lingering earnestness, as if it had +indeed been a missive from another world; she looked, and was tardy to +unfold it, as though, now the moment was come, the sense of being in +communication with her brother must be tasted to the utmost, ere +entering on the utterances that must give pain; and when she did open +the envelope, perhaps the first sensation was disappointment--the lines +were not near enough together, the writing not small enough, to satisfy +even the first glance of the yearning eye. It was cheerful, it spoke +of good health, and full occupation, with the use of books, daily +exercise, the chaplain's visits, schooling and attendance at chapel, +and of the great pleasure of having heard from her. 'And that good Dr. +May inclosed your letter in one written to me with his own hand, a +kindness I never dared to think of as possible, but which he promises +to repeat. Your letter and his are the continual food of my thoughts, +and are valued beyond all power of words. I only hope you knew that I +have not been allowed to write sooner, and have not expected letters.' +Then came a few brief comments on her last inquiries, and entreaties +that she would give him full information of all details of their +present life: 'It will carry me along with you, and I shall live with +you, both as I read, and as I dwell on it afterwards. Do not indulge +in a moment's uneasiness about me, for I am well, and busy; every one +is as kind to me as duty permits, and Dr. May is always ready to do all +in his power for me.' There were a few affectionate words for Henry, +and 'I long to send a message to the children, but I know it is better +for them to let me drop from their minds, only you must tell me all +about them; I want to know that the dear little Minna is bright and +happy again.' + +No confidences, only generalities; not even any reference to the one +unbroken bond of union, the one support, except in the three scanty +final words, the simplest of blessings. It was not satisfying; but +Averil recalled, with a start, that no wonder the letter was meagre, +since it was necessarily subject to inspection; and how could the inner +soul be expressed when all must pass under strangers' eyes, who would +think such feelings plausible hypocrisy in a convicted felon. Again she +took it up, to suck to the utmost all that might be conveyed in the +short commonplace sentences, and to gaze at them as if intensity of +study could reveal whether the cheerfulness were real or only assumed. +Be they what they might, the words had only three weeks back been +formed by Leonard's hand, and she pressed her lips upon them in a +fervent agony of affection. + +When she roused herself and turned her head, she perceived on Minna's +pillow two eyes above the bed-clothes, intently fixed on her. Should +she see, or should she not see? She believed that the loving heart was +suffering a cruel wrong, she yearned to share all with the child, but +she was chained by the command of one brother, and by that acquiescence +of the other which to her was more than a command. She would not see, +she turned away, and made her preparations for the night without +betraying that she knew that the little one was awake, resuming the +tedious guard on the expression of her face. But when her long +kneeling had ended, and with it that which was scarcely so much +conscious intercession as the resting an intolerable load on One who +alone knew its weight, just as she darkened the room for the night, the +low voice whispered, 'Ave, is it?'-- + +And Averil crept up to the little bed: 'Yes, Minna; he is well! He +hopes you are bright and happy, but he says it is best you should +forget him.' The brow was cold and clammy, the little frame chill and +trembling, the arms clasped her neck convulsively. She lifted the +child into her own bed, pressed tight to her own bosom, and though no +other word passed between the sisters, that contact seemed to soothe +away the worst bitterness; and Averil slept from the stillness enforced +on her by the heed of not disturbing Minna's sleep. + +Little that night had she recked of the plan needing so much +deliberation! When she awoke it was to the consciousness that besides +the arrival of Leonard's letter, something had happened--there was some +perplexity--what was it? And when it came back she was bewildered. +Her own fortune had always appeared to her something to fall back on in +case of want of success, and to expend it thus was binding the whole +family down at a perilous moment, to judge by the rumours of battle and +resistance. And all she had ever heard at home, much that she daily +heard at New York, inclined her to distrust and dislike of American +speculations. It was Cora's father! Her heart smote her for including +him in English prejudice, when Henry liked and trusted him! And she +had disobeyed and struggled against Henry too long. She had promised +to be submissive and yielding. But was this the time? And the +boarding-house life--proverbially the worst for children--was fast +Americanizing Ella, while Minna drooped like a snowdrop in a hot-house, +and idleness might be mischievous to Henry. + +Oh, for some one to consult! for some one to tell her whether the risk +was a foolish venture, or if the terms were safe! But not a creature +did she know well enough to seek advice from! Even the clergyman, +whose church she attended, was personally unknown to her; Cora Muller +was her sole intimate; there was a mutual repulsion between her and the +other ladies, and still more with the gentlemen. A boarding-house was +not the scene in which to find such as would inspire confidence, and +they had no introductions. There was no one to turn to; and in the +dreary indifference that had grown over her, she did not even feel +capable of exerting her own judgment to the utmost, even if she had +been able to gather certain facts, or to know prudent caution from +blind prejudice--often woman's grievous difficulty. What could a +helpless girl of one-and-twenty, in a land of strangers, do, but try to +think that by laying aside the use of her own judgment she was trusting +all to Providence, and that by leaving all to her brother she was +proving her repentance for her former conduct. + +There, too, were her sisters, clamorous with hopes of the forest life; +and there was Cora, urging the scheme with all the fervour of girlish +friendship, and in herself no small element in its favour, engaging for +everything, adducing precedents for every kind of comfort and success, +and making Ave's consent a test of her love. One question Averil asked +of her--whether they should be utterly out of reach of their Church? +Cora herself had been bred up to liberal religious ways, and was ready +to attend whatever denomination of public worship came first to hand, +though that which had descended from the Pilgrim Fathers came most +naturally. She had been at various Sunday schools, and was a good +conscientious girl, but had never gone through the process of +conversion, so that Rosa Willis had horrified Ella by pronouncing her +'not a Christian.' She had no objection to show her English friends +the way to the favourite Episcopal Church, especially as it was +esteemed fashionable; and her passion for Averil had retained her +there, with growing interest, drawn on by Averil's greater precision of +religious knowledge, and the beauty of the Church system, displayed to +her as the one joy and relief left to one evidently crushed with +suffering. The use of Averil's books, conversations with her, and the +teaching she heard, disposed her more and more to profess herself a +member of the Episcopal Church, and she was unable to enter into +Averil's scruples at leading her to so decided a step without her +father's sanction. 'Father would be satisfied whatever profession she +made. Did people in England try to force their children's +consciences?' Cora, at Averil's desire, ascertained that Massissauga +had as yet no place of worship of its own; but there was a choice of +chapels within a circuit of five miles, and an Episcopal Church seven +miles off, at the chief town of the county. Moreover, her father +declared that the city of Massissauga would soon be considerable enough +to invite every variety of minister to please every denomination of +inhabitant. Averil felt that the seven miles off church was all she +could reasonably hope for, and her mind was clear on that score, when +Henry came to take her out walking for the sake of being able to talk +more freely. + +No longer afraid of being overheard, he gave kind attention to +Leonard's letter; and though he turned away from the subject sooner +than she wished, she was not exacting. Again he laid before her the +advantages of their migration, and assured her that if there were the +slightest risk he would be the last to make the proposal. She asked if +it were safe to invest money in a country apparently on the eve of +civil war? + +He laughed the idea to scorn. How could the rebel states make war, +with a population of negroes sure to rise against their masters? Where +should their forces come from? Faction would soon be put down, and the +union be stronger than ever. It was what Averil had been hearing +morning, noon, and night, so no wonder she believed it, and was ashamed +of a futile girlish fear. + +And was Henry sure it was a healthy place? Had she not heard of +feverish swamps in Indiana? + +Oh yes, in new unsettled places; but there had hardly been an ailment +in the Muller family since they had settled at Massissauga. + +And Averil's last murmur was--Could he find out anything about other +people's opinion of the speculation? did they know enough about Mr. +Muller to trust themselves entirely in his hands? + +Henry was almost angry--Could not his sister trust him to take all +reasonable precaution? It was the old story of prejudice against +whatever he took up. + +Poor Averil was disarmed directly. The combats of will and their +consequences rose up before her, and with them Leonard's charges to +devote herself to Henry. She could but avow herself willing to do +whatever he pleased. She only hoped he would be careful. + +All thenceforth was pleasant anticipation and hope. Averil's property +had to be transferred to America, and invested in shares of the land at +Massissauga; but this was to cause no delay in arranging for the +removal, they were only to wait until the winter had broken up, and the +roads become passable after the melting of the snows; and meantime Mr. +Muller was to have their house prepared. Cora would remain and +accompany them, and in the intervening time promised to assist Averil +with her judgment in making the necessary purchases for 'stepping +westward.' + +When Averil wrote their plans to her English friends, she felt the +difficulty of pleading for them. She was sensible that at Stoneborough +the risking of her property would be regarded as folly on her part, and +something worse on that of her brother; and she therefore wrote with +every effort to make the whole appear her own voluntary act--though the +very effort made her doubly conscious that the sole cause for her +passive acquiescence was, that her past self-will in trifles had left +her no power to contend for her own opinion in greater matters--the +common retribution on an opinionative woman of principle. + +Moreover, it was always with an effort that she wrote to Mary May. A +rejected offer from a brother is a rock in a correspondence with a +sister, and Averil had begun to feel greatly ashamed of the manner of +her own response. Acceptance would have been impossible; but +irritating as had been Tom May's behaviour, insulting as had been his +explanation, and provoking, his pertinacity, she had begun to feel that +the impulse had been too generous and disinterested to deserve such +treatment, and that bitterness and ill-temper had made her lose all +softness and dignity, so that he must think that his pitying affection +had been bestowed on an ungrateful vixen, and be as much disgusted with +the interview as she was herself. She did not wish him to love her; +but she regretted the form of the antidote, above all, since he was of +the few who appreciated Leonard; and the more she heard of Ella's +narrations of his kindness, the more ashamed she grew. Every letter to +or from Mary renewed the uncomfortable sense, and she would have +dropped the correspondence had it not been her sole medium of +communication with her imprisoned brother, since Henry would not permit +letters to be posted with the Milbank address. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + A little hint to solace woe, + A hint, a whisper breathing low, + 'I may not speak of what I know.'--TENNYSON + + +At the pace at which rapid people walk alone, when they wish to devour +both the way and their own sensations, Ethel May was mounting the hill +out of the town in the premature heat assumed by May in compliment to +Whitsun week, when a prolonged shout made her turn. At first she +thought it was her father, but her glass showed her that it was the +brother so like him in figure that the London-made coat, and the hair +partaking of the sand instead of the salt, were often said to be the +chief distinction. Moreover, the dainty steps over the puddles were +little like the strides of the Doctor, and left no doubt that it was +the one wedding guest who had been despaired of. + +'O, Tom, I am glad you are come!' + +'What a rate you were running away at! I thought you had done with +your hurricane pace.' + +'Hurricane because of desperate hurry. I'm afraid I can't turn back +with you.' + +'Where is all the world?' + +'Blanche is helping Mary arrange the Hoxton--I mean her own +drawing-room. Hector has brought a dog-cart to drive papa about in; +Daisy is gone with Harry and Aubrey to the Grange for some camellias.' + +'And Ethel rushing to Cocksmoor!' + +'I can't help it, Tom,' she said, humbly; 'I wish I could.' + +'What's this immense pannier you are carrying?' + +'It is quite light. It is twelve of the hats for the children +tomorrow. Mary was bent on trimming them all as usual, and I was +deluded enough to believe she would, till last evening I found just one +and a half done! I did as many as I could at night, till papa heard me +rustling about and thumped. Those went early this morning; and these +are the rest, which I have just finished.' + +'Was there no one to send?' + +'My dear Tom, is your experience of weddings so slight as to suppose +there is an available being in the family the day before?' + +'I'm sure I don't desire such experience. Why could not they be +content without ferreting me down?' + +'I am very glad you have come. It would have been a great +mortification if you had stayed away. I never quite believed you +would.' + +'I had much rather see the operation I shall miss to-morrow morning. I +shall go back by the two o'clock train.' + +'To study their happiness all the way up to town?' + +'Then by the mail--' + +'I won't torment you to stay; but I think papa will want a talk with +you.' + +'The very thing I don't want. Why can't he dispose of his property +like other people, and give Richard his rights?' + +'You know Richard would only be encumbered.' + +'No such thing; Richard is a reasonable being--he will marry some of +these days--get the living after Wilmot, and--' + +'But you know how papa would be grieved to separate the practice from +the house.' + +'Because he and his fathers were content to bury themselves in a hole, +he expects me to do the same. Why, what should I do? The place is +over-doctored already. Every third person is a pet patient sending for +him for a gnat-bite, gratis, taking the bread out of Wright's mouth. +No wonder Henry Ward kicked! If I came here, I must practise on the +lap-dogs! Here's my father, stronger than any of us, with fifteen good +years' work in him at the least! He would be wretched at giving up to +me a tenth part of his lambs, and that tenth would keep us always in +hot water. His old-world practice would not go down with me, and he +would think everything murder that was fresher than the year 1830.' + +'I thought he was remarkable for having gone on with the world,' said +Ethel, repressing some indignation. + +'So he has in a way, but always against the grain. He has a tough lot +of prejudices; and you may depend upon it, they would be more obstinate +against me than any one else, and I should be looked on as an undutiful +dog for questioning them, besides getting the whole credit of every +case that went wrong.' + +'I think you are unjust,' said Ethel, flushing with displeasure. + +'I wish I were not, Ethel; but when there is one son in a family who +can do nothing that is not taken amiss, it is hard that he should be +the one picked out to be pinned down, and, maybe, goaded into doing +something to be really sorry for.' + +There was truth enough in this to seal Ethel's lips from replying that +it was Tom's own fault, since his whole nature and constitution were +far more the cause than his conduct, and she answered, 'You might get +some appointment for the present, till he really wants you.' + +'To be ordered home just as I am making something of it, and see as +many cases in ten years as I could in a month in town. Things are +altered since his time, if he could only see it. What was the use of +giving me a first-rate education, if he meant to stick me down here?' + +'At least I hope you will think long before you inflict the cruel +disappointment of knowing that not one of his five sons will succeed to +the old practice.' + +'The throne, you mean, Ethel. Pish!' + +The 'Pish' was as injurious to her hereditary love for 'the old +practice,' and for the old town, as to her reverence for her father. +One angry 'Tom!' burst from her lips, and only the experience that +scolding made him worse, restrained her from desiring him to turn back +if this was the best he had to say. Indeed she wondered to find him +still by her side, holding the gate of the plantation open for her. He +peered under her hat as she went through-- + +'How hot you look!' he said, laying hold of the handles of the basket. + +'Thank you; but it is more cumbrous than heavy,' she said, not letting +go; 'it is not _that_--' + +An elision which answered better than words, to show that his speech, +rather than hill or load, had made her cheeks flame; but he only drew +the great basket more decisively from her hand, put his stick into the +handle, and threw it over his shoulder; and no doubt it was a much +greater act of good-nature from him than it would have been from +Richard or Harry. + +'This path always reminds me of this very matter,' he said; 'I talked +it over with Meta here, on the way to lay the foundation-stone at +Cocksmoor, till Norman overtook us and monopolized her for good, poor +little thing. She was all in the high romantic strain, making a sort +of knight hospitaller of my father. I wonder what she is like by this +time, and how much of _that_ she has left.' + +'Of the high romantic strain? I should think it was as much as ever +the salt of life to her. Her last letter described her contrivances to +make a knapsack for Norman on his visitation tour. Oh, fancy old June +a venerable archdeacon!' + +'You don't think a colonial archdeacon is like one of your great portly +swells in a shovel hat.' + +'It must be something remarkable that made Norman portly. But as for +the shovel hat, Mrs. Meta has insisted on having it sent out. I was +going to tell you that she says, "I do like such a good tough bit of +stitchery, to fit my knight out for the cause."' + +'Marriage and distance have not frozen up her effusions.' + +'No; when people carry souls in their pens, they are worth a great deal +more, if they are to go to a distance.' + +Ah! by the bye, I suppose Cheviot has put a fresh lock on Mary's +writing-case.' + +'I suspect some of Mary's correspondence will devolve on me. Harry has +asked me already.' + +'I wished you had mentioned more about the letters of late. Leonard +wanted to know more than I could tell him.' + +'You don't mean that you have seen him? O, Tom, how kind of you! Papa +has been trying hard to get a day now that these first six months are +up; but there are two or three cases that wanted so much watching that +he has not been able to stir.' + +'I know how he lets himself be made a prisoner, and that it was a +chance whether any one saw the poor fellow at all.' + +'I am so glad'--and Ethel turned on him a face still flushed, but now +with gratitude. 'How was he looking?' + +'The costume is not becoming, and he has lost colour and grown +hollow-eyed; but I saw no reason for being uneasy about him; he looked +clear and in health, and has not got to slouch yet. It is shocking to +see such a grand face and head behind a grating.' + +'Could he talk'? + +'Why, the presence of a warder is against conversation, and six months +of shoe-making in a cell does not give much range of ideas. There was +nothing to be done but to talk on right ahead and judge by his eyes if +he liked it.' + +'I suppose you could find out nothing about himself?' + +'He said he got on very well; but one does not know that means. I +asked if he got books; and he said there was a very good library, and +he could get what gave him something to think of; and he says they give +interesting lectures in school.' + +'You could not gather what is thought of him?' + +'No; I saw but a couple of officers of the place, and could only get +out of them "good health and good conduct." I do not expect even his +conduct makes much impression as to his innocence, for I saw it stated +the other day that the worst prisoners are those that are always +getting convicted for petty offences; those that have committed one +great crime are not so depraved, and are much more amenable. However, +he has only three months more at Pentonville, and then he will go to +Portland, Chatham, or Gibraltar.' + +'Oh, I hope it will not be Gibraltar! But at least that terrible +solitude will be over.' + +'At any rate, his spirit is not broken. I could see his eye light up +after I had talked a little while, and he fell into his natural tone +again. He would not try to put out his hand to me when he came down; +but when I went away, he put it through and we had a good hearty shake. +Somehow it made one feel quite small.' + +Ethel could have pledged herself for the soundness of Tom's nature +after those words; but all she did was in an unwonted tone to utter the +unwonted exclamation--'Dear Tom.' + +'If my father does not come up, I shall see him once more before he +leaves Pentonville,' added Tom; 'and so you must mind and let me know +all about his people in America. I found he had no notion of the row +that is beginning there, so I said not a word of it. But what is all +this about going to Indiana?' + +'They are going at the end of April to settle in a place called +Massissauga, where Henry is to farm till practice comes to him. It is +towards the north of the State, in the county of Pulaski.' + +'Ay, in one of the pestilential swamps that run up out of Lake +Michigan. All the fertile ground there breeds as many fevers and agues +as it does stalks of corn.' + +'Indeed! how did you hear that?' + +'I looked up the place after Leonard told me of it. It is as unlucky a +location as the ill luck of that fellow Henry could have pitched on. +Some friend Leonard spoke of--a Yankee, I suppose, meaning to make a +prey of them.' + +'The father of their young lady friend at the boarding-house.' + +'Oh! a Yankee edition of Mrs. Pugh!' + +'And the worst of it is that this is to be done with poor Averil's +fortune. She has written to Mr. Bramshaw to sell out for her, and send +her the amount, and he is terribly vexed; but she is of age, and there +are no trustees nor any one to stop it.' + +'All of a piece,' muttered Tom; then presently he swung the basket +round on the ground with a vehement exclamation--'If any man on this +earth deserved to be among the robbers and murderers, I know who it +is.' Then he shouldered his load again, and walked on in silence by +his sister's side to the school door. + +Richard had been obliged to go to a benefit club entertainment; and +Ethel, knowing the limited literary resources of the parsonage, was +surprised to find Tom still waiting for her, when the distribution and +fitting of the blue-ribboned hats was over, and matters arranged for +the march of the children to see the wedding, and to dine afterwards at +the Grammar-school hall. + +'O, Tom, I did not expect to find you here.' + +'It is not fit for you to be walking about alone on a Whit Monday.' + +'I am very glad to have you, but I am past that.' + +'Don't talk nonsense; girls are girls till long past your age,' said +Tom. + +'It is not so much age, as living past things,' said Ethel. + +'It was not only that, added Tom; 'but I've more to say to you, while +one can be sure of a quiet moment. Have you heard anything about that +place?' and he pointed in the direction of the Vintry Mill. + +'I heard something of an intention to part with it, and have been +watching for an advertisement; but I can see none in the Courant, or on +the walls.' + +'Mind he does not slip off unawares.' + +'I don't know what to do now that old Hardy is cut off from us. I +tried to stir up Dr. Spencer to go and investigate, but I could not +tell him why, and he has not the same interest in going questing about +as he used to have. People never will do the one thing one wants +particularly!' + +Tom's look and gesture made her ask if he knew of anything wrong with +their old friend; and in return, she was told that Dr. Spencer's recent +visit to London had been to consult Sir Matthew Fleet. The foundations +of mortal disease had been laid in India, and though it might long +remain in abeyance, there were from time to time symptoms of activity; +and tedious lingering infirmity was likely to commence long before the +end. + +'And what do you think the strange old fellow charged me as we walked +away from dining at Fleet's?' + +'Secrecy, of course,' returned the much-shocked Ethel. + +'One does keep a secret by telling you. It was to have my eye on some +lodging with a decent landlady, where, when it is coming to that, he +can go up to be alone, out of the way of troubling Dick, and of all of +you.' + +'Tom, how dreadful!' + +'I fancy it is something of the animal instinct of creeping away alone, +and partly his law to himself not to trouble Dick.' + +'An odd idea of what would trouble Dick!' + +'So I told him; but he said, after seeing what it cost my father to +watch dear Margaret's long decay, he would never entail the like on +him. It is queer, and it is beautiful, the tender way he has about my +father, treating him like a pet to be shielded and guarded--a man that +has five times the force and vigour of body and mind that he has now, +whatever they may have been.' + +'Very beautiful, and I cannot help telling you how beautiful,' said +Ethel, greatly moved; 'only remember, it is not to be mentioned.' + +'Ha! did he ever make you an offer? I have sometimes suspected it.' + +'No indeed! It was much--much more beautiful than that!' + +'Our mother then? I had thought of that too, and it accounts for his +having always taken to you the most of us.' + +'Why, I'm the least like her of us all!' + +'So they say, I know, and I can't recollect enough to judge, except +that'--and Tom's voice was less clear for a moment--'there was +something in being with her that I've never found again, except now and +then with you, Ethel. Well, he never got over it, I suppose.' + +And Ethel briefly told of the rash resolution, the unsettled life, the +neglect of the father's wishes, the grievous remorse, the broken +health, and restless aimless wanderings, ending at last in loving +tendance of the bereaved rival. It had been a life never wanting in +generosity or benevolence, yet falling far short of what it might have +been--a gallant voyage made by a wreck--and yet the injury had been +less from the disappointment than from the manner of bearing it. +Suddenly it struck her that Tom might suspect her of intending a +personal application of the history, and she faltered; but he kept her +to it by his warm interest and many questions. + +'And oh, Tom, he must not be allowed to go away in this manner! Nothing +would so cut papa to the heart!' + +'I don't believe he ever will, Ethel. He may go on for years as he is; +and he said in the midst that he meant to live to carry out the +drainage. Besides, if it comes gradually on him, he may feel dependent +and lose the energy to move.' + +'Oh! what a sorrow for papa! But I know that not to watch over him +would make it all the worse.' + +They walked on gravely till, on the top of the hill, Tom exclaimed, +'They've mounted the flag on the Minster steeple already.' + +'It went up yesterday for Harvey Anderson and Mrs. Pugh. There was a +proposal to join forces, and have a double wedding--so interesting, the +two school-fellows and two young friends. The Cheviot girls much +regretted it was not to be.' + +'Cheviot girls! Heavens and earth! At home?' + +'Not sleeping; but we shall have them all day to-morrow, for they +cannot get home the same day by setting off after the wedding. There +will be no one else, for even our own people are going, for Harry is to +go to Maplewood with Blanche, and Aubrey has to be at Woolwich; but we +shall all be at home to-night.' + +'Last time was in the volunteer days, two or three centuries ago.' + +It was strange how, with this naturally least congenial of all the +family, Ethel had a certain understanding and fellow-feeling that gave +her a sense of rest and relief in his company, only impaired by the +dread of rubs between him and his father. None, however, happened; Dr. +May had been too much hurt to press the question of the inheritance, +and took little notice of Tom, being much occupied with the final +business about the wedding, and engrossed by Hector and Harry, who +always absorbed him in their short intervals of his company. Tom went +to see Dr. Spencer, and brought him in, so cheerful and full of life, +that what Ethel had been hearing seemed like a dream, excepting when +she recognized Tom's unobtrusive gentleness and attention towards him. + +She was surprised and touched through all the harass and hurry of that +evening and morning, to find the 'must be dones' that had of late +devolved on her alone, now lightened and aided by Tom, who appeared to +have come for the sole purpose of being always ready to give a helping +hand where she wanted it, with all Richard's manual dexterity, and more +resource and quickness. The refreshment of spirits was the more +valuable as this was a very unexciting wedding. Even Gertrude, not yet +fourteen, had been surfeited with weddings, and replied to Harry's old +wit of 'three times a bridesmaid and never a bride,' that she hoped so, +her experience of married life was extremely flat; and a glance at +Blanche's monotonous dignity, and Flora's worn face, showed what that +experience was. + +Harry was the only one to whom there was the freshness of novelty, and +he was the great element of animation; but as the time came near, +honest Harry had been seized with a mortal dread of the tears he +imagined an indispensable adjunct of the ceremony, and went about +privately consulting every one how much weeping was inevitable. Flora +told him she saw no reason for any tears, and Ethel that when people +felt very much they couldn't cry; but on the other hand, Blanche said +she felt extremely nervous, and knew she should be overcome; Gertrude +assured him that on all former occasions Mary did all the crying +herself; and Aubrey told him that each bridesmaid carried six +handkerchiefs, half for herself and half for the bride. + +The result was, that the last speech made by Harry to his favourite +sister in her maiden days was thus:--'Well, Mary, you do look +uncommonly nice and pretty; but now'--most persuasively--'you'll be a +good girl and not cry, will you?' and as Mary fluttered, tried to +smile, and looked out through very moist eyes, he continued, 'I feel +horribly soft-hearted to-day, and if you howl I must, you know; so +mind, if I see you beginning, I shall come out with my father's old +story of the spirit of the flood and the spirit of the fell, and that +will stop it, if anything can.' + +The comicality of Harry's alarm was nearly enough to 'stop it,' coupled +with the great desire of Daisy that he should be betrayed into tears; +and Mary did behave extremely well, and looked all that a bride should +look. Admirable daughter and sister, she would be still more in her +place as wife; hers was the truly feminine nature that, happily for +mankind, is the most commonplace, and that she was a thoroughly generic +bride is perhaps a testimony to her perfection in the part, as in all +others where quiet unselfish womanhood was the essential. Never had +she been so sweet in every tone, word, and caress; never had Ethel so +fully felt how much she loved her, or how entirely they had been one, +from a time almost too far back for memory. There had not been +intellectual equality; but perhaps it was better, fuller affection, +than if there had been; for Mary had filled up a part that had been in +some measure wanting in Ethel. She had been a sort of wife to her +sister, and thus was the better prepared for her new life, but was all +the sorer loss at home. + +The bridegroom! How many times had Ethel to remind herself of her +esteem, and security of Mary's happiness, besides frowning down +Gertrude's saucy comments, and trying to laugh away Tom's low growl +that good things always fell to the share of poor hearts and narrow +minds. Mr. Cheviot did in fact cut a worse figure than George Rivers +of old, having a great fund of natural bashfulness and +self-consciousness, which did not much damage his dignity, but made his +attempts at gaiety and ease extremely awkward, not to say sheepish. +Perhaps the most trying moment was the last, when hearing a few words +between Ethel and Mary about posting a mere scrap, if only an empty +envelope, from the first resting-place, he turned round, with his +laugh, to object to rash promises, and remind his dear sister Ethel +that post-offices were not always near at hand! After that, when Mary +in her bright tenderness hung round her sister, it was as if that was +the last fond grasp from the substance--as if only the shadow would +come back and live in Minster Street. + +Perhaps it was because Ethel had tried to rule it otherwise, Mr. +Cheviot had insisted that the Cocksmoor children's share in the +festivity should be a dinner in the Whichcote hall, early in the day, +after which they had to be sent home, since no one chose to have the +responsibility of turning them loose to play in the Grammar-school +precincts, even in the absence of the boys. Richard was much afraid of +their getting into mischief, and was off immediately after church to +superintend the dinner, and marshal them home; and the rest of the +world lost the resource that entertaining them generally afforded the +survivors after a marriage, and which was specially needed with the two +Cheviot sisters to be disposed of. By the time the Riverses were gone +home, and the Ernescliffes and Harry off by the train, there were still +four mortal hours of daylight, and oh! for Mary's power of making every +one happy! + +Caroline and Annie Cheviot were ladylike, nice-looking girls; but when +they found no croquet mallets in the garden, they seemed at a loss what +life had to offer at Stoneborough! Gertrude pronounced that 'she +played at it sometimes at Maplewood, where she had nothing better to +do,' and then retreated to her own devices. Ethel's heart sank both +with dread of the afternoon, and with self-reproach at her spoilt +child's discourtesy, whence she knew there would be no rousing her +without an incapacitating discussion; and on she wandered in the garden +with the guests, receiving instruction where the hoops might be +planted, and hearing how nice it would be for her sister to have such +an object, such a pleasant opportunity of meeting one's friends--an +interest for every day. 'No wonder they think I want an object in +life,' thought Ethel; 'how awfully tiresome I must be! Poor things, +what can I say to make it pleasanter?--Do you know this Dielytra? I +think it is the prettiest of modern flowers, but I wish we might call +it Japan fumitory, or by some English name.' + +'I used to garden once, but we have no flower-beds now, they spoilt the +lawn for croquet.' + +'And here comes Tom,' thought Ethel; 'poor Tom, he will certainly be +off to London this evening.' + +Tom, however, joined the listless promenade; and the first time croquet +was again mentioned, observed that he had seen the Andersons knocking +about the balls in the new gardens by the river; and proposed to go +down and try to get up a match. There was an instant brightening, and +Tom stepped into the drawing-room, and told Daisy to come with them. + +'To play at croquet with the Andersons in the tea-gardens!' she +exclaimed. 'No, I thank you, Thomas!' + +He laid his hand on her shoulder--'Gertrude,' he said, 'it is time to +have done being a spoilt baby. If you let Ethel fag herself ill, you +will rue it all your life.' + +Frightened, but without clear comprehension, she turned two scared eyes +on him, and replaced the hat that she had thrown on the table, just as +Ethel and the others came in. + +'Not you, Ethel,' said Tom; 'you don't know the game.' + +'I can learn,' said Ethel, desperately bent on her duty. + +'We would teach you,' volunteered the Cheviots. + +'You would not undertake it if you knew better,' said Tom, smiling. +'Ethel's hands are not her strong point.' + +'Ethel would just have to be croqued all through by her partner,' said +Gertrude. + +'Besides, my father will be coming in and wanting you,' added Tom; 'he +is only at the hospital or somewhere about the town. I'll look after +this child.' + +And the two sisters, delighted that poor little Gertrude should have +such a holiday treat as croquet in the public gardens, away from her +governess elder sister, walked off glorious; while Ethel, breathing +forth a heavy sigh, let herself sink into a chair, feeling as if the +silence were in itself invaluable, and as if Tom could not be enough +thanked for having gained it for her. + +She was first roused by the inquiry, 'Shall I take in this letter, +ma'am? it is charged four shillings over-weight. And it is for Mr. +Thomas, ma'am,' impressively concluded the parlour-maid, as one +penetrated by Mr. Thomas's regard to small economies. + +Ethel beheld a letter bloated beyond the capacities of the two bewigged +Washingtons that kept guard in its corner, and addressed in a cramped +hand unknown to her; but while she hesitated, her eye fell on another +American letter directed to Miss Mary May, in Averil Ward's well-known +writing, and turning both round, she found they had the same post-mark, +and thereupon paid the extra charge, and placed the letter where Tom +was most likely to light naturally on it without public comment. The +other letter renewed the pang at common property being at an end. 'No, +Mab,' she said, taking the little dog into her lap, 'we shall none of +us hear a bit of it! But at least it is a comfort that this business +is over! You needn't creep under sofas now, there's nobody to tread +upon your dainty little paws. What is to be done, Mab, to get out of a +savage humour--except thinking how good-natured poor Tom is!' + +There was not much sign of savage humour in the face that was lifted up +as Dr. May came in from the hospital, and sitting down by his daughter, +put his arm round her. 'So there's another bird flown,' he said. 'We +shall soon have the old nest to ourselves, Ethel.' + +'The Daisy is not going just yet,' said Ethel, stroking back the thin +flying flakes over his temples. 'If we may believe her, never!' + +'Ah! she will be off before we can look round,' said the Doctor; 'when +once the trick of marrying gets among one's girls, there's no end to +it, as long as they last out.' + +'Nor to one's boys going out into the world,' said Ethel: both of them +talking as if she had been his wife, rather than one of these fly-away +younglings herself. + +'Ah! well,' he said, 'it's very pretty while it lasts, and one keeps +the creatures; but after all, one doesn't rear them for one's own +pleasure. That only comes by the way of their chance good-will to one.' + +'For shame, Doctor!' said Ethel, pretending to shake him by the collar. + +'I was thinking,' he added, 'that we must not require too much. People +must have their day, and in their own fashion; and I wish you would +tell Tom--I've no patience to do it myself--that I don't mean to hamper +him. As long as it is a right line, he may take whichever he pleases, +and I'll do my best to set him forward in it; but it is a pity--' + +'Perhaps a few years of travelling, or of a professorship, might give +him time to think differently,' said Ethel. + +'Not he,' said the Doctor; 'the more a man lives in the world, the more +he depends on it. Where is the boy? is he gone without vouchsafing a +good-bye?' + +'Oh no, he has taken pity on Annie and Caroline Cheviot's famine of +croquet, and gone with them to the gardens.' + +'A spice of flirtation never comes amiss to him.' + +'There, that's the way!' said Ethel, half-saucily, half-caressingly; +'that poor fellow never can do right! Isn't it the very thing to keep +him away from home, that we all may steal a horse, and he can't look +over the wall, no, not with a telescope?' + +'I can't help it, Ethel. It may be very wrong and unkind of me--Heaven +forgive me if it is, and prevent me from doing the boy any harm! but I +never can rid myself of a feeling of there being something behind when +he seems the most straightforward. If he had only not got his +grandfather's mouth and nose! And,' smiling after all--'I don't know +what I said to be so scolded; all lads flirt, and you can't deny that +Master Tom divided his attentions pretty freely last year between Mrs. +Pugh and poor Ave Ward.' + +'This time, I believe, it was out of pure kindness to me,' said Ethel, +'so I am bound to his defence. He dragged off poor Daisy to chaperon +them, that I might have a little peace.' + +'Ah! he came down on us this morning,' said the Doctor, 'on Richard and +Flora and me, and gave us a lecture on letting you grow old, +Ethel--said you were getting over-tasked, and no one heeding it; and +looking--let's look'--and he took off his spectacles, put his hand on +her shoulder, and studied her face. + +'Old enough to be a respectable lady of the house, I hope,' said Ethel. + +'Wiry enough for most things,' said the Doctor, patting her shoulder, +reassured; 'but we must take care, Ethel; if you don't fatten yourself +up, we shall have Flora coming and carrying you off to London for a +change, and for Tom to practise on. + +'That is a threat! I expected he had been prescribing for me already, +never to go near Cocksmoor, for that's what people always begin by--' + +'Nothing worse than pale ale.' At which Ethel made one of her faces. +'And to make a Mary of that chit of a Daisy. Well, you may do as you +please--only take care, or Flora will be down upon us.' + +'Tom has been very helpful and kind to me,' said Ethel. 'And, papa, he +has seen Leonard, and he says he looked so noble that to shake hands +with him made him feel quite small.' + +'I never heard anything so much to Tom's credit! Well, and what did he +say of the dear lad?' + +The next step was to mention Averil's letter to Mary, which could not +be sent on till tidings had been permitted by Mr. Cheviot. + +'Let us see it,' said the Doctor. + +'Do you think Charles Cheviot would like it?' + +'Cheviot is a man of sense,' said the open-hearted Doctor, 'and there +may be something to authorize preventing this unlucky transfer of her +fortune.' + +Nothing could be further from it; but it was a long and interesting +letter, written in evidently exhilarated spirits, and with a hopeful +description of the new scenes. Ethel read it to her father, and he +told every one about it when they came in. Tom manifested no +particular interest; but he did not go by the mail train that night, +and was not visible all the morning. He caught Ethel alone however at +noon, and said, 'Ethel, I owe you this,' offering the amount she had +paid for the letter. + +'Thank you,' she said, wondering if this was to be all she should hear +about it. + +'I am going by the afternoon train,' he added; 'I have been over to +Blewer. It is true, Ethel, the fellow can't stand it! he has sent down +a manager, and is always in London! Most likely to dispose of it by +private contract there, they say.' + +'And what has become of old Hardy?' + +'Poor old fellow, he has struck work, looks terribly shaky. He took me +for my father at first sight, and began to apologize most +plaintively--said no one else had ever done him any good. I advised +him to come in and see my father, though he is too far gone to do much +for him.' + +'Poor old man, can he afford to come in now?' + +'Why, I helped him with the cart hire. It is no use any way, he knows +no more than we do, and his case is confirmed; but he thinks he has +offended my father, and he'll die more in peace for having had him +again. Look here, what a place they have got to.' + +And without further explanation of the 'they,' Tom placed a letter in +Ethel's hands. + + +'My Dear Mr. Thomas, + +'I send you the objects I promised for your microscope; I could not get +any before because we were in the city; but if you like these I can get +plenty more at Massissauga, where we are now. We came here last week, +and the journey was very nice, only we went bump bump so often, and +once we stuck in a marsh, and were splashed all over. We are staying +with Mr. Muller and Cora till our own house is quite ready; it was only +begun a fortnight ago, and we are to get in next week. I thought this +would have been a town, it looked so big and so square in the plan; but +it is all trees still, and there are only thirteen houses built yet. +Ours is all by itself in River Street, and all the trees near it have +been killed, and stand up all dead and white, because nobody has time +to cut them down. It looks very dismal, but Ave says it will be very +nice by and by, and, Rufus Muller says it has mammoth privileges. I +send you a bit of rattlesnake skin. They found fifteen of them asleep +under a stone, just where our house is built, and sometimes they come +into the kitchen. I do not know the names of the other things I send; +and I could not ask Ave, for she said you would not want to be bothered +with a little girl's letter, and I was not to ask for an answer. Rosa +Willis says no young lady of my age would ask her sister's permission, +and not even her mother's, unless her mamma was very intellectual and +highly educated, and always saw the justice of her arguments; but Minna +and I do not mean to be like that. I would tell Ave if you did write +to me, but she need not read it unless she liked. + + 'I am, your affectionate little friend, + 'ELLA.' + + +'Well!' said Tom, holding out his hand for more when she had restored +this epistle. 'You have heard all there was in it, except--' + +'Except what I want to see.' + +And Ethel, as she had more or less intended all along, let him have +Averil's letter, since the exception was merely a few tender words of +congratulation to Mary. The worst had been done already by her father; +and it may here be mentioned that though nothing was said in answer to +her explanation of the opening of the letter, the head-master never +recovered the fact, and always attributed it to his dear sister Ethel. + +'For the future,' said Tom, as he gave back the thin sheets, 'they will +all be for the Cheviots' private delectation.' + +'I shall begin on my own score,' said Ethel. 'You know if you answer +this letter, you must not mention that visit of yours, or you will be +prohibited, and one would not wish to excite a domestic secession.' + +'It would serve the unnatural scoundrel right,' said Tom. 'Well, I +must go and put up my things. You'll keep me up to what goes on at +home, and if there's anything out there to tell Leonard--' + +'Wait a moment, Tom!'--and she told him what the Doctor had said about +his plans. + +'Highly educated and intellectual,' was all the answer that Tom +vouchsafed; and whether he were touched or not she could not gather. + +Yet her spirit felt less weary and burdened, and more full of hope than +it had been for a long time past. Averil's letter showed the +exhilaration of the change, and of increasing confidence and comfort in +her friend Cora Muller. Cora's Confirmation had brought the girls into +contact with the New York clergy, and had procured them an introduction +to the clergyman of Winiamac, the nearest church, so that there was +much less sense of loneliness, moreover, the fuller and more systematic +doctrine, and the development of the beauty and daily guidance of the +Church, had softened the bright American girl, so as to render her +infinitely dearer to her English friend, and they were as much united +as they could be, where the great leading event of the life of one +remained a mystery to the other. Yet perhaps it helped to begin a +fresh life, that the intimate companion of that new course should be +entirely disconnected with the past. + +Averil threw herself into the present with as resolute a will as she +could muster. With much spirit she described the arrival at the +Winiamac station, and the unconcealed contempt with which the mass of +luggage was regarded by the Western world, who 'reckoned it would be +fittest to make kindlings with.' Heavy country wagons were to bring +the furniture; the party themselves were provided for by a light wagon +and a large cart, driven by Cora's brother, Mordaunt, and by the +farming-man, Philetus, a gentleman who took every occasion of asserting +his equality, if not his superiority to the new-comers; demanded all +the Christian names, and used them without prefix; and when Henry +impressively mentioned his eldest sister as Miss Warden, stared and +said, 'Why, Doctor, I thought she was not your old woman!'--the Western +epithet of a wife. But as Cora was quite content to leave Miss behind +her in civilized society, and as they were assured that to stand upon +ceremony would leave them without domestic assistance, the sisters had +implored Henry to waive all preference for a polite address. + +The loveliness of the way was enchanting--the roads running straight as +an arrow through glorious forest lands of pine, beech, maple, and oak, +in the full glory of spring, and the perspective before and behind +making a long narrowing green bower of meeting branches; the whole of +the borders of the road covered with lovely flowers--May-wings, a +butterfly-like milkwort, pitcher-plant, convolvulus; new insects danced +in the shade--golden orioles, blue birds, the great American robin, the +field officer, with his orange epaulettes, glanced before them. Cora +was in ecstasy at the return to forest scenery, the Wards at its +novelty, and the escape from town. Too happy were they at first to +care for the shaking and bumping of the road, and the first mud-hole +into which they plunged was almost a joke, under Mordaunt Muller's +assurances that it was easy fording, though the splashes flew far and +wide. Then there was what Philetus called 'a mash with a real handsome +bridge over it,' i. e. a succession of tree trunks laid side by side +for about a quarter of a mile. Here the female passengers insisted on +walking--even Cora, though her brother and Philetus both laughed her to +scorn; and more especially for her foot-gear, delicate kid boots, +without which no city damsel stirred. Averil and her sisters, in the +English boots scorned at New York, had their share in the laugh, while +picking their way from log to log, hand in hand, and exciting +Philetus's further disdain by their rapture with the glorious flowers +of the bog. + +But where was Massissauga? Several settlements had been passed, the +houses looking clean and white in forest openings, with fields where +the lovely spring green of young maize charmed the eye. + +At last the road grew desolate. There were a few patches of corn, a +few squalid-looking log or frame houses, a tract of horrible dreary +blackness; and still more horrible, beyond it was a region of +spectres--trees white and stripped bare, lifting their dead arms like +things blasted. Averil cried out in indignant horror, 'Who has done +this?' + +'We have,' answered Mordaunt. 'This is Maclellan Square, Miss Warden, +and there's River Street,' pointing down an avenue of skeletons. 'If +you could go to sleep for a couple of years, you would wake up to find +yourself in a city such as I would not fear to compare with any in +Europe. Your exhausted civilization is not as energetic as ours, I +calculate.' + +The energetic young colonist turned his horse's head up a slight rising +ground, where something rather more like habitation appeared; a great +brick-built hotel, and some log houses, with windows displaying the +wares needed for daily consumption, and a few farm buildings. It was +backed by corn-fields; and this was the great Maclellan Street, the +chief ornament of Massissauga. Not one house had the semblance of a +garden; the wilderness came up to the very door, except where cattle +rendered some sort of enclosure necessary. + +Cora exclaimed, 'Oh, Mordaunt, I thought you would have had a garden +for me!' + +'I can fix it any time you like,' said he; 'but you'll be the +laughing-stock of the place, and never keep a flower.' + +The Mullers' abode was a sound substantial log house, neatly whitened, +and with green shutters, bearing a festal appearance, full of welcome, +as Mr. Muller, his tall bearded son Rufus, and a thin but +motherly-looking elderly woman, came forth to meet the travellers; and +in the front, full stare, stood a trollopy-looking girl, every bar of +her enormous hoop plainly visible through her washed-out flimsy muslin. +This was Miss Ianthe, who condescended to favour the family with her +assistance till she should have made up dollars enough to buy a new +dress! The elder woman, who went by the name of Cousin Deborah, would +have been a housekeeper in England--here she was one of the +family--welcomed Cora with an exchange of kisses, and received the +strangers with very substantial hospitality, though with pity at their +unfitness for their new home, and utter incredulity as to their success. + +Here the Wards had been since their arrival. Their frame-house, near +the verdant bank of the river, was being finished for them; and a great +brass plate, with Henry's new name and his profession, had already +adorned the door. The furniture was coming; Cousin Deborah had hunted +up a Cleopatra Betsy, who might perhaps stay with them if she were +treated on terms of equality, a field was to be brought into +cultivation as soon as any labour could be had. Minna was looking +infinitely better already, and Averil and Cora were full of designs for +rival housewifery, Averil taking lessons meantime in ironing, dusting, +and the arts of the kitchen, and trusting that in the two years' time, +the skeletons would have given place--if not indeed to houses, to +well-kept fields. Such was her account. + +How much was reserved for fear of causing anxiety? Who could guess? + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + Quanto si fende + La rocca per dar via a chi va suso + N'andai 'nfino ove'l cerchiar si prende + Com'io nel quinto giro fui dischiuso + Vidi gente per esso che piangea + Glacendo a terra tutta volta in giuso + Adhaesit pavimento anima mia + Sentia dir loro con si alti sospiri + Che la parola appena s'intendea. + 'O eletti di Deo, i cui soffriri + E giustizia e speranza fan men duri--' + DANTE. Purgatorio + + +Ah, sir, we have learnt the way to get your company,' said Hector +Ernescliffe, as he welcomed his father-in-law at Maplewood; 'we have +only to get under sentence.' + +'Sick or sorry, Hector; that's the attraction to an old doctor.' + +'And,' added Hector, with the importance of his youthful magisterial +dignity, 'I hope I have arranged matters for you to see him. I wrote +about it; but I am afraid you will not be able to see him alone.' + +Great was the satisfaction with which Hector took the conduct of the +expedition to Portland Island; though he was inclined to encumber it +with more lionizing than the good Doctor's full heart was ready for. +Few words could he obtain, as in the bright August sunshine they +steamed out from the pier at Weymouth, and beheld the gray sides of the +island, scarred with stone quarries, stretching its lengthening +breakwater out on one side, and on the other connected with the land by +the pale dim outline of the Chesill Bank. The water was dancing in +golden light; white-sailed or red-sailed craft plied across it; a ship +of the line lay under the lee of the island, practising gunnery, the +three bounds of her balls marked by white columns of spray each time of +touching the water, pleasure parties crowded the steamer; but to Dr. +May the cheerfulness of the scene made a depressing contrast to the +purpose of his visit, as he fixed his eyes on the squared outline of +the crest of the island, and the precipitous slope from thence to the +breakwater, where trains of loaded trucks rushed forth to the end, +discharged themselves, and hurried back. + +Landing at the quay, in the midst of confusion, Hector smiled at the +Doctor's innocent proposal of walking, and bestowed him in a little +carriage, with a horse whose hard-worked patience was soon called out, +as up and up they went, through the narrow, but lively street, past the +old-fashioned inn, made memorable by a dinner of George III.; past the +fossil tree, clamped against a house like a vine; past heaps of slabs +ready for transport, a church perched up high on the slope, and a +parsonage in a place that looked only accessible to goats. Lines of +fortification began to reveal themselves, and the Doctor thought +himself arrived, but he was to wind further on, and be more struck with +the dreariness and inhospitality of the rugged rock, almost bare of +vegetation, the very trees of stone, and older than our creation; the +melancholy late ripening harvest within stone walls, the whole surface +furrowed by stern rents and crevices riven by nature, or cut into +greater harshness by the quarries hewn by man. The grave strangeness of +the region almost marked it out for a place of expiation, like the +mountain rising desolate from the sea, where Dante placed his prisoners +of hope. + +The walls of a vast enclosure became visible; and over them might be +seen the tops of great cranes, looking like the denuded ribs of +umbrellas. Buildings rose beyond, with deep arched gateways; and a +small town was to be seen further off. Mr. Ernescliffe sent in his +card at the governor's house, and found that the facilities he had +asked for had been granted. They were told that the prisoner they +wished to see was at work at some distance; and while he was summoned, +they were to see the buildings. Dr. May had little heart for making a +sight of them, except so far as to judge of Leonard's situation; and he +was passively conducted across a gravelled court, turfed in the centre, +and containing a few flower-beds, fenced in by Portland's most natural +productions, zamias and ammonites, together with a few stone coffins, +which had once inclosed corpses of soldiers of the Roman garrison. +Large piles of building inclosed the quadrangle; and passing into the +first of these, the Doctor began to realize something of Leonard's +present existence. There lay before him the broad airy passage, and +either side the empty cells of this strange hive, as closely packed, +and as chary of space, as the compartments of the workers of the +honeycomb. + +'Just twice as wide as a coffin,' said Hector, doing the honours of +one, where there was exactly width to stand up between the bed and the +wall of corrugated iron; 'though, happily, there is more liberality of +height.' + +There was a ground glass window opposite to the door, and a shelf, +holding a Bible, Prayer and hymn book, and two others, one religious, +and one secular, from the library. A rust-coloured jacket, with a +black patch marked with white numbers, and a tarpaulin hat, crossed +with two lines of red paint on the crown, hung on the wall. The Doctor +asked for Leonard's cell, but it was in a distant gallery, and he was +told that when he had seen one, he had seen all. He asked if these +were like those that Leonard had previously inhabited at Milbank and +Pentonville, and hearing that they were on the same model, he almost +gasped at the thought of the young enterprising spirit thus caged for +nine weary months, and to whom this bare confined space was still the +only resting-place. He could not look by any means delighted with the +excellence of the arrangements, grant it though he might; and he was +hurried on to the vast kitchens, their ranges of coppers full of +savoury steaming contents, and their racks of loaves looking all that +was substantial and wholesome; but his eyes were wandering after the +figures engaged in cooking, to whom he was told such work was a reward; +he was trying to judge how far they could still enjoy life; but he +turned from their stolid low stamp of face with a sigh, thinking how +little their condition could tell him of that of a cultivated nature. + +He was shown the chapel, unfortunately serving likewise for a +schoolroom; the centre space fitted for the officials and their +families, the rest with plain wooden benches. But it was not an hour +for schooling, and he went restlessly on to the library, to gather all +the consolation he could from seeing that the privation did not extend +to that of sound and interesting literature. He had yet to see the +court, where the prisoners were mustered at half-past five in the +morning, thence to be marched off in their various companies to work. +He stood on the terrace from which the officials marshalled them, and +he was called on to look at the wide and magnificent view of sea and +land; but all he would observe to Hector was, 'That boy's throat has +always been tender since the fever.' He was next conducted to the +great court, the quarry of the stones of the present St. Paul's, and +where the depression of the surface since work began there, was marked +by the present height of what had become a steep conical edifice, +surmounted by a sort of watch-tower. There he grew quite restive, and +hearing a proposal of taking him to the Verne Hill works half a mile +off, he declared that Hector was welcome to go; he should wait for his +boy. + +Just then the guide pointed out at some distance a convict approaching +under charge of a warder; and in a few seconds more, the Doctor had +stepped back to a small room, where, by special favour, he was allowed +to be with the prisoner, instead of seeing him through a grating, but +only in the presence of a warder, who was within hearing, though not +obtrusively so. Looking, to recognize, not to examine, he drew the +young man into his fatherly embrace. + +'You have hurt your hands,' was his first word, at the touch of the +bruised fingers and broken skin. + +'They are getting hardened,' was the answer, in an alert tone, that +gave the Doctor courage to look up and meet an unquenched glance; +though there was the hollow look round the eyes that Tom had noticed, +the face had grown older, the expression more concentrated, the +shoulders had rounded; the coarse blue shirt and heavy boots were dusty +with the morning's toil, and the heat and labour of the day had left +their tokens, but the brow was as open, the mouth as ingenuous as ever, +the complexion had regained a hue of health, and the air of alacrity +and exhilaration surprised as much as it gratified the visitor. + +'What is your work?' he asked. + +'Filling barrows with stones, and wheeling them to the trucks for the +breakwater,' answered Leonard, in a tone like satisfaction. 'But pray, +if you are so kind, tell me,' he continued, with anxiety that he could +not suppress, 'what is this about war in America?' + +'Not near Indiana; no fear of that, I trust. But how did you know, +Leonard?' + +'I saw, for one moment at a time, in great letters on a placard of the +contents of newspapers, at the stations as we came down here, the +words, 'Civil War in America;' and it has seemed to be in the air here +ever since. But Averil has said nothing in her letters. Will it +affect them?' + +The Doctor gave a brief sketch of what was passing, up to the battle of +Bull Run; and his words were listened to with such exceeding avidity, +that he was obliged to spend more minutes than he desired on the +chances of the war, and the Massissauga tidings, which he wished to +make sound more favourable than he could in conscience feel that they +were; but when at last he had detailed all he knew from Averil's +letters, and it had been drunk in with glistening eyes, and manner +growing constantly less constrained, he led back to Leonard himself: +'Ethel will write at once to your sister when I get home; and I think I +may tell her the work agrees with you.' + +'Yes; and this is man's work; and it is for the defences,' he added, +with a sparkle of the eye. + +'Very hard and rough,' returned the Doctor, looking again at the +wounded hands and hard-worked air. + +'Oh, but to put out one's strength again, and have room!' cried the +boy, eagerly. + +'Was it not rather a trying change at first?' + +'To be sure I was stiff, and didn't know how to move in the morning, +but that went off fast enough; and I fill as many barrows a day as any +one in our gang.' + +'Then I may tell your sister you rejoice in the change?' + +'Why, it's work one does not get deadly sick of, as if there was no +making one's self do it,' said Leonard, eagerly; 'it is work! and +besides, here is sunshine and sea. I can get a sight of that every +day; and now and then I can get a look into the bay, and +Weymouth--looking like the old time.' That was his first sorrowful +intonation; but the next had the freshness of his age, 'And there are +thistles!' + +'Thistles?' + +'I thought you cared for thistles; for Miss May showed me one at +Coombe; but it was not like what they are here--the spikes pointing out +and pointing in along the edges of the leaves, and the scales lapping +over so wonderfully in the bud.' + +'Picciola!' said the Doctor to himself; and aloud, 'Then you have time +to enjoy them?' + +'When we are at work at a distance, dinner is brought out, and there is +an hour and a half of rest; and on Sunday we may walk about the yards. +You should have seen one of our gang, when I got him to look at the +chevaux de frise round a bud, how he owned it was a regular patent +invention; it just answered to Paley's illustration.' + +'What, the watch?' said the Doctor, seeing that the argument had been +far from trite to his young friend. 'So you read Paley?' + +'I read all such books as I could get up there,' he answered; 'they +gave one something to think about.' + +'Have you no time for reading here?' + +'Oh, no! I am too sleepy to read except on school days and Sundays,' +he said, as if this were a great achievement. + +'And your acquaintance--is he a reader of Paley too?' + +'I believe the chaplain set him on it. He is a clerk, like me, and not +much older. He is a regular Londoner, and can hardly stand the work; +but he won't give in if he can help it, or we might not be together.' + +Much the Doctor longed to ask what sort of a friend this might be, but +the warder's presence forbade him; and he could only ask what they saw +of each other. + +'We were near one another in school at Pentonville, and knew each +other's faces quite well, so that we were right glad to be put into the +same gang. We may walk about the yard together on Sunday evening too.' + +The Doctor had other questions on his lips that he again restrained, +and only asked whether the Sundays were comfortable days. + +'Oh, yes,' said Leonard, eagerly; but then he too recollected the +official, and merely said something commonplace about excellent +sermons, adding, 'And the singing is admirable. Poor Averil would envy +such a choir as we have! We sing so many of the old Bankside hymns.' + +'To make your resemblance to Dante's hill of penitence complete, as +Ethel says,' returned the Doctor. + +'I should like it to be a hill of purification!' said Leonard, +understanding him better than he had expected. + +'It will, I think,' said the Doctor, 'to one at least. I am comforted +to see you so brave. I longed to come sooner, but--' + +'I am glad you did not.' + +'How?' But he did not pursue the question, catching from look and +gesture, that Leonard could hardly have then met him with +self-possession; and as the first bulletin of recovery is often the +first disclosure of the severity of an illness, so the Doctor was more +impressed by the prisoner's evident satisfaction in his change of +circumstances, than he would have been by mere patient resignation; and +he let the conversation be led away to Aubrey's prospects, in which +Leonard took full and eager interest. + +'Tell Aubrey I am working at fortifications too,' he said, smiling. + +'He could not go to Cambridge without you.' + +'I don't like to believe that,' said Leonard, gravely; 'it is carrying +the damage I have done further: but it can't be. He always was fond of +mathematics, and of soldiering. How is it at the old mill?' he added, +suddenly. + +'It is sold.' + +'Sold?' and his eyes were intently fixed on the Doctor. + +'Yes, he is said to have been much in debt long before; but it was +managed quietly--not advertised in the county papers. He went to +London, and arranged it all. I saw great renovations going on at the +mill, when I went to see old Hardy.' + +'Good old Hardy! how is he?' + +'Much broken. He never got over the shock; and as long as that fellow +stayed at the mill, he would not let me attend him.' + +'Ha!' exclaimed Leonard, but caught himself up. + +A message came that Mr. Ernescliffe feared to miss the boat; and the +Doctor could only give one tender grasp and murmured blessing, and +hurry away, so much agitated that he could hardly join in Hector's +civilities to the officials, and all the evening seemed quite struck +down and overwhelmed by the sight of the bright brave boy, and his +patience in his dreary lot. + +After this, at all the three months' intervals at which Leonard might +be seen, a visit was contrived to him, either by Dr. May or Mr. Wilmot; +and Aubrey devoted his first leave of absence to staying at Maplewood, +that Hector might take him to his friend; but he came home expatiating +so much on the red hair of the infant hope of Maplewood, and the fuss +that Blanche made about this new possession, that Ethel detected an +unavowed shade of disappointment. Light and whitewash, abundant fare, +garments sufficient, but eminently unbecoming, were less impressive +than dungeons, rags, and bread and water; when, moreover, the prisoner +claimed no pity, but rather congratulation on his badge of merit, +improved Sunday dinner, and promotion to the carpenter's shop, so as +absolutely to excite a sense of wasted commiseration and uninteresting +prosperity. Conversation constrained both by the grating and the +presence of the warder, and Aubrey, more tenderly sensitive than his +brother, and devoid of his father's experienced tact, was too much +embarrassed to take the initiative, was afraid of giving pain by +dwelling on his present occupations and future hopes, and confused +Leonard by his embarrassment. Hector Ernescliffe discoursed about +Charleston Harbour and New Orleans; and Aubrey stood with downcast +eyes, afraid to seem to be scanning the convict garb, and thus +rendering Leonard unusually conscious of wearing it. Then when in +parting, Aubrey, a little less embarrassed, began eagerly and in much +emotion to beg Leonard to say if there was anything he could get for +him, anything he could do for him, anything he would like to have sent +him, and began to promise a photograph of his father, Leonard checked +him, by answering that it would be an irregularity--nothing of personal +property was allowed to be retained by a prisoner. + +Aubrey forgot all but the hardship, and began an outburst about the +tyranny. + +'It is quite right,' said Leonard, gravely; 'there is nothing that +might not be used for mischief if one chose.' + +And the warder here interfered, and said he was quite right, and it +always turned out best in the end for a prisoner to conform himself, +and his friends did him no good by any other attempt, as Mr. +Ernescliffe could tell the young gentleman. The man's tone, though +neither insolent nor tyrannical, but rather commendatory of his charge, +contrasting with his natural deference to the two gentlemen, irritated +poor Aubrey beyond measure, so that Hector was really glad to have him +safe away, without his having said anything treasonable to the +authorities. The meeting, so constrained and uncomfortable, had but +made the friends more vividly conscious of the interval between the +cadet and the convict, and, moreover, tended to remove the aureole of +romance with which the unseen captive had been invested by youthful +fancy. + +To make the best of a prolonged misfortune does absolutely lessen +sympathy, by diminishing the interest of the situation; and even the +good Doctor himself was the less concerned at any hindrance to his +visits to Portland, as he uniformly found his prisoner cheerful, +approved by officials, and always making some small advance in the +scale of his own world, and not, as his friends without expected of +him, showing that he felt himself injured instead of elated by such +rewards as improved diet, or increased gratuities to be set to his +account against the time when, after eight years, he might hope for +exportation with a ticket of leave to Western Australia. + +The halo of approaching death no longer lighted him up, and after the +effusion of the first meeting, his inner self had closed up, he was +more ready to talk of American news than of his own feelings, and +seemed to look little beyond the petty encouragements devised to suit +the animal natures of ordinary prisoners, and his visitors sometimes +feared lest his character were not resisting the deadening, hardening +influence of the unvaried round of manual labour among such associates. +He had been soon advanced from the quarry to the carpenter's shop, and +was in favour there from his activity and skill; but his very +promotions were sad--and it was more sad, as some thought, for him to +be gratified by them. But, as Dr. May always ended, what did they know +about him? + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + Oh, Bessie Bell and Mary Grey, + They were twa bonnie lasses; + They bigged a bower on yon burn side, + And theekt it over wi' rashes. + + +The early glory of autumn was painting the woods of Indiana--crimson, +orange, purple, as though a rainbow of intensified tints had been +broken into fragments, and then scattered broadcast upon the forest. +But though ripe nuts hung on many a bough, the gipsyings had not yet +taken place, except at home--when Minna, in her desperate attempts at +making the best of things, observed, 'Now we have to make the fire +ourselves, let us think it is all play, and such fun.' + +But 'such fun' was hard when one or other of the inmates of the house +was lying on the bed shaking with ague, and the others creeping wearily +about, even on their intermediate days. They had been deluded into +imprudent exposure in the lovely evenings of summer, and had never +shaken off the results. + +'Come, Ella,' said Minna, one afternoon, as she descended the bare +rickety stairs, 'Ave is getting better; and if we can get the fire up, +and make some coffee and boil some eggs, it will be comfortable for her +when she comes down and Henry comes in.' + +Ella, with a book in her hand, was curled up in a corner of a sofa +standing awry among various other articles of furniture that seemed to +have tumbled together by chance within the barn-like room. Minna began +moving first one and then the other, daintily wiping off the dust, and +restoring an air of comfort. + +'Oh dear!' said Ella, unfolding herself; 'I am so tired. Where's Hetta +Mary?' + +'Oh, don't you know, Hetta Mary went home this morning because Henry +asked her where his boots were, and she thought he wanted her to clean +them.' + +'Can't Mrs. Shillabeer come in!' + +'Mrs. Shillabeer said she would never come in again, because Averil +asked her not to hold the ham by the bone and cut it with her own knife +when Henry was there! Come, Ella it is of no use. We had better do +things ourselves, like Cora and Ave, and then we shall not hear people +say disagreeable things.' + +The once soft, round, kitten-like Minna, whom Leonard used to roll +about on the floor, had become a lank, sallow girl, much too tall for +her ten years, and with a care-stricken, thoughtful expression on her +face, even more in advance of her age than was her height. She moved +into the kitchen, a room with an iron stove, a rough table, and a few +shelves, looking very desolate. The hands of both little girls had +become expert in filling the stove with wood, and they had not far to +seek before both it and the hearth in the sitting-room were +replenished, and the flame beginning to glow. + +'Where's the coffee-mill?' said Minna, presently, looking round in +blank despair. + +'Oh dear!' said Ella, 'I remember now; that dirty little Polly Mason +came to borrow it this morning. I said we wanted it every day: but she +guessed we could do without it, for they had got a tea-party, and her +little brother had put in a stone and spoilt Cora Muller's; and she +snatched it up and carried it off.' + +'He will serve ours the same, I suppose,' said Minna. 'It is too far +off to go for it; let us make some tea.' + +'There's no tea,' said Ella; 'a week ago or more that great Irene Brown +walked in and reckoned we could lend her 'ma some tea and sugar, 'cause +we had plenty. And we have used up our own since; and if we did ask +her to return the loan, hers is such nasty stuff that nobody could +drink it. What shall we do, Minna?' and she began to cry. + +'We must take some coffee up to the hotel,' said Minna, after a +moment's reflection; 'Black Joe is very good-natured, and he'll grind +it.' + +'But I don't like to go ail by myself,' said Ella; 'into the kitchen +too, and hear them say things about Britishers.' + +'I'll go, dear,' said Minna, gently, 'if you will just keep the fire +up, and boil the eggs, and make the toast, and listen if Ave calls.' + +Poor Minna, her sensitive little heart trembled within her at the rough +contemptuous words that the exclusive, refined tone of the family +always provoked, and bodily languor and weariness made the walk trying; +but she was thinking of Ave's need, and resolutely took down her cloak +and hat. But at that moment the latch was raised, and the bright +graceful figure of Cora stood among them, her feathered hat and +delicate muslin looking as fresh as at New York. + +'What, all alone!' she said; 'I know it is poor Ave's sick day. Is she +better?' + +'Yes, going to get up and come down; but--' and all the troubles were +poured out. + +'True enough, the little wretch did spoil our mill, but Rufus mended +it; and as I thought Polly had been marauding on you, I brought some +down.' + +'Ah! I thought I smelt it most deliciously as you came in, but I was +afraid I only fancied it because I was thinking about it. Dear Cora, +how good you are!' + +'And have you anything for her to eat?' + +'I was going to make some toast.' + +'Of that dry stuff! Come, we'll manage something better:' and off came +the dainty embroidered cambric sleeves, up went the coloured ones, a +white apron came out of a pocket, and the pretty hands were busy among +the flour; the children assisting, learning, laughing a childlike laugh. + +'Ah!' cried Cora, turning round, and making a comic threatening gesture +with her floury fingers; 'you ought not to have come till we were +fixed. Go and sit in your chair by the fire.' + +'Dear Cora!' + +But Cora ran at her, and the wan trembling creature put on a smile, and +was very glad to comply; being totally unequal to resist or even to +stand long enough to own her dread of Henry's finding all desolate and +nothing to eat. + +Presently Cora tripped in, all besleeved and smartened, to set cushions +behind the tired back and head, and caress the long thin fingers. +'I've left Minna, like King Alfred, to watch the cakes,' she said; 'and +Ella is getting the cups. So your fifth girl is gone.' + +'The fifth in five months! And we let her sit at table, and poor dear +Minna has almost worn out her life in trying to hinder her from getting +affronted.' + +'I've thought what to do for you, Ave. There's the Irish woman, Katty +Blake--her husband has been killed. She is rough enough, but tender in +her way; and she must do something for herself and her child.' + +'Her husband killed!' + +'Yes, at Summerville. I thought you had heard it. Mordaunt wrote to +me to tell her; and I shall never forget her wailing at his dying away +from his country. It was not lamentation for herself, but that he +should have died far away from his own people.' + +'She is not long from the old country; I should like to have her if--if +we can afford it. For if the dividends don't come soon from that +building company, Cora, I don't know where to turn--' + +'Oh, they must come. Father has been writing to Rufus about the +arrangements. Besides, those Irish expect less, and understand old +country manners better, if you can put up with their breakages.' + +'I could put up with anything to please Henry, and save Minna's little +hard-worked bones.' + +'I will send her to-morrow. Is it not Minna's day of ague?' + +'Yes, poor dear. That is always the day we get into trouble.' + +'I never saw a child with such an instinct for preventing variance, or +so full of tact and pretty ways; yet I have seen her tremble under her +coaxing smile, that even Mis' Shillabeer can't resist.' + +'See, see!' cried Ella, hurrying in, 'surely our contingent is not +coming home!' + +'No,' said Cora, hastening to the door, 'these must be a reinforcement +marching to take the train at Winiamac.' + +'Marching?' said Ella, looking up archly at her. 'We didn't let our +volunteers march in that way.' + +They were sturdy bearded backwoodsmen, rifle on shoulder, and with +grave earnest faces; but walking rather than marching, irregularly +keeping together, or straggling, as they chose. + +'Your volunteers!' cried Cora, her eyes flashing; 'theirs was toy work! +These are bound for real patriotic war!' and she clasped her hands +together, then waved her handkerchief. + +'It is sad,' said Averil, who had moved to the window, 'to see so many +elderly faces--men who must be the prop of their families.' + +'It is because ours is a fight of men, not of children; not one of your +European wars of paltry ambition, but a war of principle!' cried Cora, +with that intensity of enthusiasm that has shed so much blood in the +break-up of the Great Republic. + +'They do look as Cromwell's Ironsides may have done,' said Averil; 'as +full of stern purpose.' + +And verily Averil noted the difference. Had a number of European +soldiers been passing so near in an equally undisciplined manner, young +women could not have stood forth as Cora was doing, unprotected, yet +perfectly safe from rudeness or remark; making ready answer to the +inquiry for the nearest inn--nay, only wishing she were in her own +house, to evince her patriotism by setting refreshment before the +defenders of her cause. Her ardour had dragged Averil up with her a +little way, so as to feel personally every vicissitude that befell the +North, and to be utterly unaware of any argument in favour of the +Confederates; but still Averil was, in Cora's words, 'too English;' she +could not, for the life of her, feel as she did when equipping her +brother against possible French invasions, and when Mordaunt Muller had +been enrolled in the Federal army, she had almost offended the exultant +sister by condolence instead of congratulation. + +Five months had elapsed since the arrival of Averil in +Massissauga--months of anxiety and disappointment, which had sickened +Henry of plans of farming, and lessened his hopes of practice. The +same causes that affected him at New York told in Indiana; and even if +he had been employed, the fees would have been too small to support the +expense of horses. As to farming, labour was scarce, and could only be +obtained at the cost of a considerable outlay, and, moreover, of +enduring rude self-assertions that were more intolerable to Henry than +even to his sisters. The chief hope of the family lay in the +speculation in which Averil's means had been embarked, which gave them +a right to their present domicile, and to a part of the uncleared waste +around them; and would, when Massissauga should begin to flourish, +place them in affluence. The interest of the portions of the two +younger girls was all that was secure, since these were fortunately +still invested at home. Inhabitants did not come, lots of land were +not taken; and the Mullers evidently profited more by the magnificent +harvest produced by their land than by the adventure of city founding. +Still, plenty and comfort reigned in their house, and Cora had imported +a good deal of refinement and elegance, which she could make respected +where Averil's attempts were only sneered down. Nor had sickness tried +her household. Owing partly to situation--considerably above the level +of River Street--partly to the freer, more cleared and cultivated +surroundings--partly likewise to experience, and Cousin Deborah's +motherly watchfulness--the summer had passed without a visitation of +ague, though it seemed to be regarded as an adjunct of spring, as +inevitable as winter frost. Averil trembled at the thought, but there +was no escape; there were absolutely no means of leaving the spot, or +of finding maintenance elsewhere. Indeed, Cora's constant kindness and +sympathy were too precious to be parted with, even had it been possible +to move. After the boarding-house, Massissauga was a kind of home; and +the more spirits and energy failed, the more she clung to it. + +Mr. Muller had lately left home to arrange for the sale of his corn, +and had announced that he might perhaps pay a visit to his son Mordaunt +in the camp at Lexington. Cora was expecting a letter from him, and +the hope that 'Dr. Warden' might bring one from the post-office at +Winiamac had been one cause of her visit on this afternoon; for the +mammoth privileges of Massissauga did not include a post-office, nor +the sight of letters more than once a week. + +The table had just been covered with preparations for a meal, and the +glow of the fire was beginning to brighten the twilight, when the sound +of a horse's feet came near, and Henry rode past the window, but did +not appear for a considerable space, having of late been reduced to +become his own groom. But even in the noise of the hoofs, even in the +wave of the hand, the girls had detected gratified excitement. + +'Charleston has surrendered! The rebels have submitted!' cried Cora. + +And Averil's heart throbbed with its one desperate hope. No! _That_ +would have brought him in at once. + +After all, both were in a state to feel it a little flat when he came +in presenting a letter to Miss Muller, and announcing, 'I have had a +proposal, ladies; what would you say to seeing me a surgeon to the +Federal forces?--Do you bid me go, Miss Muller?' + +'I bid every one go who can be useful to my country,' said Cora. + +'Don't look alarmed, Averil,' said Henry, affectionately, as he met her +startled eyes; 'there is no danger. A surgeon need never expose +himself.' + +'But how--what has made you think of it?' asked Averil, faintly. + +'A letter from Mr. Muller--a very kind letter. He tells me that +medical men are much wanted, and that an examination by a Board is all +that is required, the remuneration is good, and it will be an +introduction that will avail me after the termination of the war, which +will end with the winter at latest.' + +'And father has accepted an office in the commissariat department!' +exclaimed Cora, from her letter. + +'Yes,' answered Henry; 'he tells me that, pending more progression +here, it is wiser for us both to launch into the current of public +events, and be floated upwards by the stream.' + +'Does he want you to come to him, Cora?' was all that Averil contrived +to say. + +'Oh no, he will be in constant locomotion,' said Cora. 'I shall stay +to keep house for Rufus. And here are some directions for him that I +must carry home. Don't come, Dr. Warden; I shall never cure you of +thinking we cannot stir without an escort. You will want to put a +little public spirit into this dear Ave. That's her one defect; and +when you are one of us, she will be forced to give us her heart.' + +And away ran the bright girl, giving her caresses to each sister as she +went. + +The little ones broke out, 'O, Henry, Henry, you must not go away to +the wars!' and Averil's pleading eyes spoke the same. + +Then Henry sat down and betook himself to argument. It would be folly +to lose the first opening to employment that had presented itself. He +grieved indeed to leave his sisters in this desolate, unhealthy place; +but they were as essentially safe as at Stoneborough; their living +alone for a few weeks, or at most months, would be far less remarkable +here than there; and he would be likely to be able to improve or to +alter their present situation, whereas they were now sinking deeper and +more hopelessly into poverty every day. Then, too, he read aloud +piteous accounts of the want of medical attendance, showing that it was +absolutely a cruelty to detain such assistance from the sick and +wounded. This argument was the one most appreciated by Averil and +Minna. The rest were but questions of prudence; this touched their +hearts. Men lying in close tents, or in crowded holds of ships, with +festering wounds and fevered lips, without a hand to help them--some, +too, whom they had seen at New York, and whose exulting departure they +had witnessed--sufferers among whom their own Cora's favourite brother +might at any moment be numbered--the thought brought a glow of +indignation against themselves for having wished to withhold him. + +'Yes, go, Henry; it is right, and you shall hear not another word of +objection,' said Averil. + +'You can write or telegraph the instant you want me. And it will be +for a short time,' said Henry, half repenting when the opposition had +given way. + +'Oh, we shall get on very well,' said Minna, cheerfully; 'better, +perhaps for you know we don't mind Far West manners; and I'll have +learnt to do all sorts of things as well as Cora when you come home!' + +And Henry, after a year's famine of practice, was in better spirits +than since that fatal summer morning. Averil felt how different a man +is in his vocation, and deprived of it. + +'Oh yes,' she said to herself, 'if I had let ourselves be a drag on him +when he is so much needed, I could never have had the face to write to +our dear sufferer at home in his noble patience. It is better that we +should be desolate than that he should be a wreck, or than that mass of +sickness should be left untended! And the more desolate, the more sure +of One Protector.' + +There was true heroism in the spirit in which this young girl braced +herself to uncomplaining acceptance of desertion in this unwholesome +swamp, with her two little ailing sisters, beside the sluggish stream, +amid the skeleton trees--heroism the greater because there was no +enthusiastic patriotism to uphold her--it was only the land of her +captivity, whence she looked towards home like Judah to Jerusalem. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + Prisoner of hope thou art; look up and sing, + In hope of promised spring. + Christian Year + + +In the summer of 1862, Tom May was to go up for his examination at the +College of Physicians, but only a day or two before it he made his +appearance at home, in as much excitement as it was in him to betray. +Hazlitt, the banker's clerk at Whitford, had written to him tidings of +the presentation of the missing cheque for £25, which Bilson had paid +to old Axworthy shortly before the murder, and which Leonard had +mentioned as in the pocket-book containing his receipt for the sum that +had been found upon him. Tom had made a halt at Whitford, and seen the +cheque, which had been backed by the word Axworthy, with an initial +that, like all such signatures of the nephew, might stand either for S. +or F., and the stiff office hand of both the elder and younger Axworthy +was so much alike, that no one could feel certain whose writing it was. +The long concealment, after the prisoner's pointed reference to it, +was, however, so remarkable, that the home conclave regarded the cause +as won; and the father and son hastened triumphantly to the attorneys' +office. + +Messrs. Bramshaw and Anderson were greatly struck, and owned that their +own minds were satisfied as to the truth of their client's assertion; +but they demurred as to the possibility of further steps. An action for +forgery, Tom's first hope, he saw to be clearly impossible; Samuel +Axworthy appeared to have signed the cheque in his own name, and he had +every right to it as his uncle's heir; and though the long withholding +of it, as well as his own departure, were both suspicious +circumstances, they were not evidence. Where was there any certainty +that the cheque had ever been in the pocket-book or even if it had, how +did it prove the existence of young Ward's acknowledgment? Might it +not have been in some receptacle of papers hitherto not opened? There +was no sufficient case to carry to the police, after a conviction like +Leonard's, to set them on tracing the cheque either to an unknown +robber, or to Sam Axworthy, its rightful owner. + +Mr. Bramshaw likewise dissuaded Dr. May from laying the case before the +Secretary of State, as importunity without due grounds would only tell +against him if any really important discovery should be made: and the +Doctor walked away, with blood boiling at people's coolness to other +folk's tribulations, and greatly annoyed with Tom for having acceded to +the representations of the men of law, and declining all co-operation +in drawing up a representation for the Home Office, on the plea that he +had no time to lose in preparing for his own examination, and must +return to town by the next train, which he did without a syllable of +real converse with any one at home. + +The Doctor set to work with his home helpers, assisted by Dr. Spencer; +but the work of composition seemed to make the ground give way under +their feet, and a few adroit remarks from Dr. Spencer finally showed +him and Ethel that they had not yet attained the prop for the lever +that was to move the world. He gave it up, but still he did not quite +forgive Tom for having been so easily convinced, and ready to be +dismissed to his own affairs. + +However, Dr. May was gratified by the great credit with which his son +passed his examination, and took his degree; and Sir Matthew Fleet +himself wrote in high terms of his talent, diligence, and steadiness, +volunteering hopes of being able to put him forward in town in his own +line, for which Tom had always had a preference; and adding, that it +was in concurrence with his own recommendation that the young man +wished to pursue his studies at Paris--he had given him introductions +that would enable him to do so to the greatest advantage, and he hoped +his father would consent. The letter was followed up by one from Tom +himself, as usual too reasonable and authoritative to be gainsaid, with +the same representation of advantages to be derived from a course of +the Parisian hospitals. + +'Ah, well! he is after old Fleet's own heart,' said Dr. May, between +pride and mortification. 'I should not grudge poor Fleet some one to +take interest in his old age, and I did not look to see him so warm +about anything. He has not forgotten Calton Hill! But the boy must +have done very well! I say, shall we see him Sir Thomas some of these +days, Ethel, and laugh at ourselves for having wanted, to make him go +round in a mill after our old fashion?' + +'You were contented to run round in your mill,' said Ethel, fondly, +'and maybe he will too.' + +'No, no, Ethel, I'll not have him persuaded. Easy-going folk, too lazy +for ambition, have no right to prescribe for others. Ambition turned +sour is a very dangerous dose! Much better let it fly off! I mean to +look out of my mill yet, and see Sir Thomas win the stakes. Only I wish +he would come and see us; tell him he shall not hear a word to bother +him about the old practice. People have lived and died at Stoneborough +without a May to help them, and so they will again, I suppose.' + +Ethel was very glad to see how her father had made up his mind to what +was perhaps the most real disappointment of his life, but she was +grieved that Tom did not respond to the invitation, and next wrote from +Paris. It was one of his hurried notes, great contrasts to such +elaborate performances as his recent letter. 'Thanks, many thanks to +my father,' he said; 'I knew you would make him see reason, and he +always yields generously. I was too much hurried to come home; could +not afford to miss the trail. I had not time to say before that the +Bank that sent the cheque to Whitford had it from a lodging-house in +town. Landlord had a writ served on S. A.; as he was embarking at +Folkestone, he took out the draft and paid. He knew its import, if +Bramshaw did not. I hope my father was not vexed at my not staying. +There are things I cannot stand, namely, discussions and Gertrude.' + +Gertrude was one of the chief cares upon Ethel's mind. She spent many +thoughts upon the child, and even talked her over with Flora. + +'What is it, Flora? is it my bad management? She is a good girl, and a +dear girl; but there is such a want of softness about her.' + +'There is a want of softness about all the young ladies of the day,' +returned Flora. + +'I have heard you say so, but--' + +'We have made girls sensible and clear-headed, till they have grown +hard. They have been taught to despise little fears and illusions, and +it is certainly not becoming.' + +'We had not fears, we were taught to be sensible.' + +'Yes, but it is in the influence of the time! It all tends to make +girls independent.' + +'That's very well for the fine folks you meet in your visits, but it +does not account for my Daisy--always at home, under papa's eye--having +turned nineteenth century--What is it, Flora? She is reverent in great +things, but not respectful except to papa, and that would not have been +respect in one of us--only he likes her sauciness.' + +'That is it, partly.' + +'No, I won't have that said,' exclaimed Ethel. 'Papa is the only +softening influence in the house--the only one that is tender. You see +it is unlucky that Gertrude has so few that she really does love, with +anything either reverend or softening about them. She is always at war +with Charles Cheviot, and he has not fun enough, is too lumbering +altogether, to understand her, or set her down in the right way; and +she domineers over Hector like the rest of us. I did hope the babies +might have found out her heart, but, unluckily, she does not take to +them. She is only bored by the fuss that Mary and Blanche make about +them. + +'You know we are all jealous of both Charles Cheviots, elder and +younger.' + +'I often question whether I should not have taken her down and made her +ashamed of all the quizzing and teasing at the time of Mary's marriage. +But one cannot be always spoiling bright merry mischief, and I am only +elder sister after all. It is a wonder she is as good to me as she is.' + +'She never remembered our mother, poor dear.' + +'Ah! that is the real mischief,' said Ethel. 'Mamma would have given +the atmosphere of gentleness and discretion, and so would Margaret. How +often I have been made, by the merest pained look, to know when what I +said was saucy or in bad taste, and I--I can only look forbidding, or +else blurt out a reproof that _will_ not come softly.' + +'The youngest _must_ be spoilt,' said Flora, 'that's an ordinance of +nature. It ends when a boy goes to school, and when a girl--' + +'When?' + +'When she marries--or when she finds out what trouble is,' said Flora. + +'Is that all you can hold out to my poor Daisy?' + +'Well, it is the way of the world. There is just now a reaction from +sentiment, and it is the less feminine variety. The softness will come +when there is a call for it. Never mind when the foundation is safe.' + +'If I could only see that child heartily admiring and looking up! I +don't mean love--there used to be a higher, nobler reverence!' + +'Such as you and Norman used to bestow on Shakespeare and Scott, +and--the vision of Cocksmoor.' + +'Not only _used_,' said Ethel. + +'Yes, it is your soft side,' said Flora; 'it is what answers the +purpose of sentiment in people like you. It is what I should have +thought living with you would have put into any girl; but Gertrude has +a satirical side, and she follows the age.' + +'I wish you would tell her so--it is what she especially wants not to +do! But the spirit of opposition is not the thing to cause tenderness.' + +'No, you must wait for something to bring it out. She is very kind to +my poor little Margaret, and I won't ask how she talks _of_ her.' + +'Tenderly; oh yes, that she always would do.' + +'There, then, Ethel, if she can talk tenderly of Margaret, there can't +be much amiss at the root.' + +'No; and you don't overwhelm the naughty girl with baby talk.' + +'Like our happy, proud young mothers,' sighed Flora; and then letting +herself out--'but indeed, Ethel, Margaret is very much improved. She +has really begun to wish to be good. I think she is struggling with +herself.' + +'Something to love tenderly, something to reverence highly.' So +meditated Ethel, as she watched her sunny-haired, open-faced Daisy, so +unconquerably gay and joyous that she gave the impression of sunshine +without shade. There are stages of youth that are in themselves +unpleasing, and yet that are nobody's fault, nay, which may have within +them seeds of strength. Tom's satire had fostered Daisy's too +congenial spirit, and he reaped the consequence in the want of repose +and sympathy that were driving him from home, and shutting him up +within himself. Would he ever forgive that flippant saying, which +Ethel had recollected with shame ever since--shame more for herself +than for the child, who probably had forgotten, long ago, her 'shaft at +random sent'? + +Then Ethel would wonder whether, after all, her discontent with +Gertrude's speeches was only from feeling older and graver, and perhaps +from a certain resentment at finding how the course of time was wearing +down the sharp edge of compassion towards Leonard. + +A little more about Leonard was gathered when the time came of release +for his friend the clerk Brown. This young man had an uncle at Paris, +engaged in one of the many departments connected with steam that carry +Englishmen all over the world, and Leonard obtained permission to write +to Dr. Thomas May, begging him to call upon the uncle, and try if he +could be induced to employ the penitent and reformed nephew under his +own eye. It had been wise in Leonard to write direct, for if the +request had been made through any one at home, Tom would have +considered it as impossible; but he could not resist the entreaty, and +his mission was successful. The uncle was ready to be merciful, and +undertook all the necessary arrangements for, and even the +responsibility of, bringing the ticket-of-leave man to Paris, where he +found him a desk in his office. One of Tom's few detailed epistles was +sent to Ethel after this arrival, when the uncle had told him how the +nephew had spoken of his fellow-prisoner. It was to Leonard Ward that +the young man had owed the inclination to open his heart to religious +instruction, hitherto merely endured as a portion of the general +infliction of the penalty, a supposed engine for dealing with the +superstitious, but entirely beneath his attention. The sight of the +educated face had at first attracted him, but when he observed the +reverential manner in chapel, he thought it mere acting the ''umble +prisoner,' till he observed how unobtrusive, unconscious, and retiring +was every token of devotion, and watched the eyes, brightened or +softened in praise or in prayer, till he owned the genuineness and +guessed the depth of both, then perceived in school how far removed his +unknown comrade was from the mere superstitious boor. This was the +beginning. The rest had been worked out by the instruction and +discipline of the place, enforced by the example, and latterly by the +conversation, of his fellow-prisoner, until he had come forth sincerely +repenting, and with the better hope for the future that his sins had +not been against full light. + +He declared himself convinced that Ward far better merited to be at +large than he did, and told of the regard that uniform good conduct was +obtaining at last, though not till after considerable persecution, +almost amounting to personal danger from the worse sort of convicts, +who regarded him as a spy, because he would not connive at the +introduction of forbidden indulgences, and always stood by the +authorities. Once his fearless interposition had saved the life of a +warder, and this had procured him trust, and promotion to a class where +his companions were better conducted, and more susceptible to good +influences, and among them Brown was sure that his ready submission and +constant resolution to do his work were producing an effect. As to his +spirits, Brown had never known him break down but once, and that was +when he had come upon a curious fossil in the stone. Otherwise he was +grave and contented, but never laughed or joked as even some gentlemen +prisoners of more rank and age had been known to do. The music in the +chapel was his greatest pleasure, and he had come to be regarded as an +important element in the singing. + +Very grateful was Dr. May to Tom for having learnt, and still more for +having transmitted, all these details, and Ethel was not the less +touched, because she knew they were to travel beyond Minster Street. +Those words of Mr. Wilmot's seemed to be working out their +accomplishment; and she thought so the more, when in early spring one +of Leonard's severe throat attacks led to his being sent after his +recovery to assist the schoolmaster, instead of returning to the +carpenter's shed; and he was found so valuable in the school that the +master begged to retain his services. + +That spring was a grievous one in Indiana. The war, which eighteen +months previously was to have come to an immediate end, was still +raging, and the successes that had once buoyed up the Northern States +with hope had long since been chequered by terrible reverses. On, on, +still fought either side, as though nothing could close the strife but +exhaustion or extinction; and still ardent, still constant, through +bereavement and privation, were either party to their blood-stained +flag. Mordaunt Muller had fallen in one of the terrible battles on the +Rappahannock; and Cora, while, sobbing in Averil's arms, had still +confessed herself thankful that it had been a glorious death for his +country's cause! And even in her fresh grief, she had not endeavoured +to withhold her other brother, when, at the urgent summons of +Government, he too had gone forth to join the army. + +Cora was advised to return to her friends at New York, but she declared +her intention of remaining to keep house with Cousin Deborah. Unless +Averil would come with her, nothing should induce her to leave +Massissauga, certainly not while Ella and Averil were alternately laid +low by the spring intermittent fever. Perhaps the fact was that, +besides her strong affection for Averil, she felt that in her ignorance +she had assisted her father in unscrupulously involving them in a +hazardous and unsuccessful speculation, and that she was the more +bound, in justice as well as in love and pity, to do her best for their +assistance. At any rate, Rufus had no sooner left home, than she +insisted on the three sisters coming to relieve her loneliness--in +other words, in removing them from the thin ill-built frame house, +gaping in every seam with the effects of weather, and with damp oozing +up between every board of the floor, the pestiferous river-fog, the +close air of the forest, and the view of the phantom trees, now +decaying and falling one against another. + +Cousin Deborah, who had learnt to love and pity the forlorn English +girls, heartily concurred; and Averil consented, knowing that the dry +house and pure air were the best hope of restoring Ella's health. + +Averil and Ella quickly improved, grew stronger in the intervals, and +suffered less during the attacks; but Minna, who in their own house had +been less ill, had waited on both, and supplied the endless +deficiencies of the kindly and faithful, but two-fisted Katty; Minna, +whose wise and simple little head had never failed in sensible +counsels, or tender comfort; Minna, whom the rudest and most +self-important far-wester never disobliged, Minna, the peace-maker, the +comfort and blessing--was laid low by fever, and fever that, as the +experienced eyes of Cousin Deborah at once perceived, 'meant mischief.' +Then it was that the real kindliness of heart of the rough people of +the West showed itself. The five wild young ladies, whose successive +domestic services had been such trouble, and whose answer to a summons +from the parlour had been, 'Did yer holler, Avy? I thort I heerd a +scritch,' each, from Cleopatra Betsy to Hetta Mary, were constantly +rushing in to inquire, or to present questionable dainties and nostrums +from their respective 'Mas'; the charwomen, whom Minna had coaxed in +her blandest manner to save trouble to Averil and disgust to Henry, +were officious in volunteers of nursing and sitting up, the black cook +at the hotel sent choice fabrics of jelly and fragrant ice; and even +Henry's rival, who had been so strong against the insolence of a +practitioner showing no testimonials, no sooner came under the +influence of the yearning, entreating, but ever-patient eyes, than his +attendance became assiduous, his interest in the case ardent. + +Henry himself was in the camp, before Vicksburg, with his hands too +full of piteous cases of wounds and fever to attempt the most hurried +visit. + +'Sister, dear,' said the soft slow voice, one day when Averil had been +hoping her patient was asleep, 'are you writing to Henry?' + +'Yes, my darling. Do you want to say anything?' + +'Oh yes! so much;' and the eyes grew bright, and the breath gasping; +'please beg Henry--tell Henry--that I must--I can't bear it any longer +if I don't--' + +'You must what, dear child? Henry would let you do anything he could.' + +'Oh, then, would he let me speak about dear Leonard?' and the child +grew deadly white when the words were spoken; but her eyes still sought +Averil's face, and grew terrified at the sight of the gush of tears. +'O, Ave, Ave, tell me only--he is not dead!' and as Averil could only +make a sign, 'I do have such dreadful fancies about him, and I think I +could sleep if I only knew what was really true.' + +'You shall, dear child, you shall, without waiting to hear from Henry; +I know he would let you.' + +And only then did Averil know the full misery that Henry's decision had +inflicted on the gentle little heart, in childish ignorance, imagining +fetters and dungeons, even in her sober waking moods, and a prey to +untold horrors in every dream, exaggerated by feverishness and +ailment--horrors that, for aught she knew, might be veritable, and made +more awful by the treatment of his name as that of one dead. + +To hear of him as enjoying the open air and light of day, going to +church, singing their own favourite hymn tunes, and often visited by +Dr. May, was to her almost as great a joy as if she had heard of him at +liberty. And Averil had a more than usually cheerful letter to read to +her, one written in the infirmary during his recovery. His letters to +her were always cheerful, but this one was particularly so, having been +written while exhilarated by the relaxations permitted to +convalescents, and by enjoying an unwonted amount of conversation with +the chaplain and the doctor. + +'So glad, so glad,' Minna was heard murmuring to herself again and +again; her rest was calmer than it had been for weeks, and the doctor +found her so much better that he trusted that a favourable change had +begun. + +But it was only a gleam of hope. The weary fever held its prey, and +many as were the fluctuations, they always resulted in greater +weakness; and the wandering mind was not always able to keep fast hold +of the new comfort. Sometimes she would piteously clasp her sister's +hand, and entreat, 'Tell me again;' and sometimes the haunting +delirious fancies of chains and bars would drop forth from the tongue +that had lost its self-control; yet even at the worst came the dear old +recurring note, 'God will not let them hurt him, for he has not done +it!' Sometimes, more trying to Averil than all, she would live over +again the happy games with him, or sing their favourite hymns and +chants, or she would be heard pleading, 'O, Henry, don't be cross to +Leonard.' + +Cora could not fail to remark the new name that mingled in the +unconscious talk; but she had learnt to respect Averil's reserve, and +she forbore from all questioning, trying even to warn Cousin Deborah, +who, with the experience of an elderly woman, remarked, 'That she had +too much to do to mind what a sick child rambled about. When Cora had +lived to her age, she would know how unaccountably they talked.' + +But Averil felt the more impelled to an outpouring by this delicate +forbearance, and the next time she and Cora were sent out together to +breathe the air, while Cousin Deborah watched the patient, she told the +history, and to a sympathizing listener, without a moment's doubt of +Leonard's innocence, nor that American law would have managed matters +better. + +'And now, Cora, you know why I told you there were bitterer sorrows +than yours.' + +'Ah! Averil, I could have believed you once; but to know that he never +can come again! Now you always have hope.' + +'My hope has all but gone,' said Averil. 'There is only one thing left +to look to. If I only can live till he is sent out to a colony, then +nothing shall keep me back from him!' + +'And what would I give for even such a hope?' + +'We have a better hope, both of us,' murmured Averil. + +'It won't seem so long when it is over.' + +Well was it for Averil that this fresh link of sympathy was riveted, +for day by day she saw the little patient wasting more hopelessly away, +and the fever only burning lower for want of strength to feed on. +Utterly exhausted and half torpid, there was not life or power enough +left in the child for them to know whether she was aware of her +condition. When they read Prayers, her lips always moved for the +Lord's Prayer and Doxology; and when the clergyman came out from +Winiamac, prayed by her and blessed her, she opened her eyes with a +look of comprehension; and if, according to the custom from the +beginning of her illness, the Psalms and Lessons were not read in her +room, she was uneasy, though she could hardly listen. So came Easter +Eve; and towards evening she was a little revived, and asked Averil +what day it was, then answered, 'I thought it would have been nice to +have died yesterday,'--it was the first time she mentioned death. +Averil told her she was better, but half repented, as the child sank +into torpor again; and Averil, no longer the bewildered girl who had +been so easily led from the death scene, knew the fitful breath and +fluttering pulse, and felt the blank dread stealing over her heart. + +Again, however, the child looked up, and murmured, 'You have not read +to-day.' Cora, who had the Bible on her knee, gently obeyed, and read +on, where she was, the morning First Lesson, the same in the American +Church as in our own. Averil, dull with watching and suffering, sat on +dreamily, with the scent of primroses wafted to her, as it were, by the +association of the words, though her power to attend to them was gone. +Before the chapter was over, the doze had overshadowed the little girl +again; and yet, more than once, as the night drew on, they heard her +muttering what seemed like the echo of one of its verses, 'Turn you, +turn you--' + +At last, after hours of watching, and more than one vain endeavour of +good Cousin Deborah to lead away the worn but absorbed nurses, the +dread messenger came. Minna turned suddenly in her sister's arms, with +more strength than Averil had thought was left in her, and eagerly +stretched out her arms, while the words so long trembling on her lips +found utterance. 'Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope! +O, Leonard dear! it does not hurt!' But that last word was almost lost +in the gasp--the last gasp. What 'did not hurt' was death without his +sting. + +'O, Cora! Was he with her? Is he gone too?' was Averil's cry at the +first moment, as she strained the form of her little comforter for the +last time in her arms. + +'And if he is, they are in joy together,' said Cousin Deborah, tenderly +but firmly unloosing Averil's arms, though with the tears running down +her cheeks. 'Take her away, Cora, and both of you sleep. This dear +lamb is in better keeping than yours.' + +Heavy, grievous, was the loss, crushing the grief; but it was such as +to be at its softest and sweetest at Easter, amid the Resurrection +joys, and the budding flowers, though Ella's bitterest fit of weeping +was excited by there being no primroses--the primroses that Minna loved +so much; and her first pleasurable thought was to sit down and write to +her dear 'Mr. Tom' to send her some primrose seed, for Minna's grave. + +Minna's grave! Alas! Massissauga had but an untidy desolate-looking +region, with a rude snake fence, all unconsecrated! Cora wanted to +choose a shaded corner in her father's ground, where they might daily +tend the child's earthly resting-place; but Averil shrank from this +with horror; and finally, on one of the Easter holidays, the little +wasted form in its coffin was reverently driven by Philetus to +Winiamac, while the sisters and Cora slowly followed, thinking--the one +of the nameless blood-stained graves of a battle-field; the other +whether an equally nameless grave-yard, but one looked on with a +shudder unmixed with exultation, had opened for the other being she +loved best. 'The Resurrection and the Life.--Yes, had not He made His +grave with the wicked, and been numbered with the transgressors!' + +Somehow, the present sorrow was more abundant in such comforts as these +than all the pangs which her heart, grown old in sorrow, had yet +endured. + +Yet if her soul had bowed itself to meet sorrow more patiently and +peacefully, it was at the expense of the bodily frame. Already +weakened by the intermittent fever, the long strain of nursing had told +on her; and that hysteric affection that had been so distressing at the +time of her brother's trial recurred, and grew on her with every +occasion for self-restraint. The suspense in which she lived--with one +brother in the camp, in daily peril from battle and disease, the other +in his convict prison--wore her down, and made every passing effect of +climate or fatigue seize on her frame like a serious disorder; and the +more she resigned her spirit, the more her body gave way. Yet she was +infinitely happier. The repentance and submission were bearing fruit, +and the ceasing to struggle had brought a strange calm and acceptance +of all that might be sent; nay, her own decay was perhaps the sweetest +solace and healing of the wearied spirit; and as to Ella, she would +trust, and she did trust, that in some way or other all would be well. + +She felt as if even Leonard's death could be accepted thankfully as the +captive's release. But that sorrow was spared her. + +The account of Leonard came from Mr. Wilmot, who had carried him the +tidings. The prisoner had calmly met him with the words, 'I know what +you are come to tell me;' and he heard all in perfect calmness and +resignation, saying little, but accepting all that the clergyman said, +exactly as could most be desired. + +From the chaplain, likewise, Mr. Wilmot learnt that Leonard, though +still only in the second stage of his penalty, stood morally in a very +different position, and was relied on as a valuable assistant in all +that was good, more effective among his fellow-prisoners than was +possible to any one not in the same situation with themselves, and +fully accepting that position when in contact either with convicts or +officials. 'He has never referred to what brought him here,' said the +chaplain, 'nor would I press him to do so; but his whole tone is of +repentance, and acceptance of the penalty, without, like most of them, +regarding it as expiation. It is this that renders his example so +valuable among the men.' + +After such a report as this, it was disappointing, on Dr. May's next +visit to Portland, at two months' end, to find Leonard drooping and +downcast. The Doctor was dismayed at his pale, dejected, stooping +appearance, and the silence and indifference with which he met their +ordinary topics of conversation, till the Doctor began anxiously-- + +'You are not well?' + +'Quite well, thank you.' + +'You are looking out of condition. Do you sleep?' + +'Some part of the night.' + +'You want more exercise. You should apply to go back to the +carpenter's shop--or shall I speak to the governor?' + +'No, thank you. I believe they want me in school.' + +'And you prefer school work?' + +'I don't know, but it helps the master.' + +'Do you think you make any progress with the men? We heard you were +very effective with them.' + +'I don't see that much can be done any way, certainly not by me.' + +Then the Doctor tried to talk of Henry and the sisters; but soon saw +that Leonard had no power to dwell upon them. The brief answers were +given with a stern compression and contraction of face; as if the +manhood that had grown on him in these three years was no longer +capable of the softening effusion of grief; and Dr. May, with all his +tenderness, felt that it must be respected, and turned the conversation. + +'I have been calling at the Castle,' he said, 'with Ernescliffe, and +the governor showed me a curious thing, a volume of Archbishop Usher, +which had been the Duke of Lauderdale's study after he was taken at +Worcester. He has made a note in the fly-leaf, "I began this book at +Windsor, and finished it during my imprisonment here;" and below are +mottoes in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. I can't construe the Hebrew. The +Greek is oisteon kai elpisteon (one must bear and hope), the Latin is +durate. Will you accept your predecessor's legacy?' + +'I think I read about him in an account of the island,' said Leonard, +with a moment's awakened intelligence; 'was he not the L. of the Cabal, +the persecutor in "Old Mortality?"' + +'I am afraid you are right. Prosperity must have been worse for him +than adversity.' + +'Endure' repeated Leonard, gravely. 'I will think of that, and what he +would mean by hope now.' + +The Doctor came home much distressed; he had been unable to penetrate +the dreary, resolute self-command that covered so much anguish; he had +failed in probing or in healing, and feared that the apathy he had +witnessed was a sign that the sustaining spring of vigour was failing +in the monotonous life. The strong endurance had been a strain that +the additional grief was rendering beyond his power; and the crushed +resignation, and air of extinguished hope, together with the +indications of failing health, filled the Doctor with misgivings. + +'It will not last much longer,' he said. 'I do not mean that he is +ill; but to hold up in this way takes it out of a man, especially at +his age. The first thing that lays hold of him, he will have no +strength nor will to resist, and then--Well, I did hope to live to see +God show the right.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + + We twa hae wandered o'er the braes, + And pu'ed the gowans fine; + I've wandered many a weary foot + Sin auld lang syne. + + +These years had passed quietly at Stoneborough, with little change +since Mary's marriage. She was the happy excellent wife that she was +made to be; and perhaps it was better for Ethel that the first +severance had been so decisive that Mary's attentions to her old home +were received as favours, instead of as the mere scanty relics of her +former attachment. + +Mr. Cheviot, as the family shook down together, became less afraid of +Ethel, and did not think it so needful to snub her either by his +dignity or jocularity; though she still knew that she was only on terms +of sufferance, and had been, more than once, made to repent of +unguarded observations. He was admirable; and the school was so +rapidly improving that Norman had put his father into ecstasies by +proposing to send home little Dickie to begin his education there. +Moreover, the one element wanting, to accomplish the town improvements, +had been supplied by a head-master on the side of progress, and Dr. +Spencer's victory had been won at last. There was a chance that +Stoneborough might yet be clean, thanks to his reiteration of plans for +purification, apropos to everything. Baths and wash-houses were +adroitly carried as a monument to Prince Albert; and on the Prince of +Wales's marriage, his perseverance actually induced the committee to +finish up the drains with all the contributions that were neither eaten +up nor fired away! Never had he been more happy and triumphant; and +Dr. May used to accuse him of perambulating the lower streets snuffing +the deodorized air. + +One autumn evening, contrary to his wont, he allowed himself to be +drawn into the May drawing-room, and there fell into one of the bright +bantering talks in which the two old friends delighted, quizzing each +other, and bringing up stories of their life; while Ethel and Gertrude +listened to and laughed at the traditions of a sunnier, gayer, and more +reckless age than their own; and Ethel thought how insufficient are +those pictures of life that close with the fever-dream of youthful +passion, and leave untold those years of the real burthen of manhood, +and still more the tranquil brightness when toil has been overlived, +and the setting sun gilds the clouds that are drifting away. + +Ethel's first knowledge of outer life the next morning was the sound of +voices in her father's adjoining room, which made her call out, 'Are +you sent for, papa?' + +'Yes,' he answered, and in an agitated tone, 'Spencer; I'll send word.' + +Should she mention what she had two years ago heard from Tom? There +was no time, for the next moment she heard him hurrying down-stairs, +she saw him speeding up the garden. There was nothing for her to do +but to dress as fast as possible, and as she was finishing she heard +his tread slowly mounting, the very footfall warning her what to +expect. She opened the door and met him. 'Thank God,' he said, as he +took her hand into his own, 'it has been very merciful.' + +'Is it--?' + +'Yes. It must have been soon after he lay down at night. As calm as +sleep. The heart. I am very thankful. I had thought he would have +had much to suffer.' + +And then it appeared that his own observations had made him sure of +what Ethel had learnt from Tom; but as long as it was unavowed by his +friend, he had thought himself bound to ignore it, and had so dreaded +the protracted suffering, that the actual stroke was accepted as a +loving dispensation. + +Still, as the close of a life-long friendship, the end of a daily +refreshing and sustaining intimacy, the loss was very great, and would +be increasingly felt after the first stimulus was over. It would make +Tom's defection a daily grievance, since much detail of hospital care, +and, above all, town work, his chief fatigue, would now again fall upon +him. But this was not his present thought. His first care was, that +his friend's remains should rest with those with whom his lot in life +had been cast, in the cloister of the old Grammar-school; but here Mr. +Cheviot looked concerned, and with reluctance, but decision, declared +it to be his duty not to consent, cited the funeral of one of his +scholars at the cemetery, and referred to recent sanatory measures. + +Dr. May quickly exclaimed that he had looked into the matter, and that +the cloister did not come under the Act. + +'Not technically, sir,' said Mr. Cheviot; 'but I am equally convinced +of my duty, however much I may regret it.' And then, with a few words +about Mary's presently coming up, he departed; while 'That is too bad,' +was the general indignant outburst, even from Richard; from all but Dr. +May himself. + +'He is quite right,' he said. 'Dear Spencer would be the first to say +so. Richard, your church is his best monument, and you'll not shut him +out of your churchyard nor me either.' + +'Cheviot could not have meant--' began Richard. + +'Yes, he did, I understood him, and I am glad you should have had it +out now,' said Dr. May, though not without a quivering lip. 'Your +mother has _one_ by her side, and we'll find each other out just as +well as if we were in the cloister. I'll walk over to Cocksmoor with +you, Ritchie, and mark the place.' + +Thus sweetly did he put aside what might have been so severe a shock; +and he took extra pains to show his son-in-law his complete +acquiescence both for the present and the future. Charles Cheviot +expressed to Richard his great satisfaction in finding sentiment thus +surmounted by sense, not perceiving that it was faith and love +surmounting both. + +Dr. Spencer's only surviving relation was a brother's son, who, on his +arrival, proved to be an underbred, shrewd-looking man, evidently with +strong prepossessions against the May family, whose hospitality he did +not accept, consorting chiefly with 'Bramshaw and Anderson.' His +disposition to reverse the arrangement for burying his uncle in 'an +obscure village churchyard,' occasioned a reference to the will, drawn +up two years previously. The executors were Thomas and Etheldred May, +and it was marked on the outside that they were to have the sole +direction of the funeral. Ethel, greatly astonished, but as much +bewildered as touched, was infinitely relieved that this same day had +brought a hurried note from Paris, announcing Tom's intention of coming +to attend the funeral. He would be able to talk to the angry and +suspicious nephew, without, like his father, betraying either +indignation or disgust. + +Another person was extremely anxious for Tom's arrival, namely, Sir +Matthew Fleet, who, not a little to Dr. May's gratification, came to +show his respect to his old fellow-student; and arriving the evening +before Tom, was urgent to know the probabilities of his appearance. An +appointment in London was about to be vacant, so desirable in itself, +and so valuable an introduction, that there was sure to be a great +competition; but Sir Matthew was persuaded that with his own support, +and an early canvass, Tom might be certain of success. Dr. May could +not help being grateful and gratified, declaring that the boy deserved +it, and that dear Spencer would have been very much pleased; and then +he told Ethel that it was wonderful to see the blessing upon Maggie's +children; and went back, as usual, to his dear old Tate and Brady, +with-- + + 'His house the seat of wealth shall be, + An inexhausted treasury; + His justice, free from all decay, + Shall blessings to his heirs convey.' + + +And Ethel, within herself, hoped it was no disrespect to smile at his +having so unconsciously turned away the blessing from the father's to +the mother's side. + +It was his great pride and pleasure that so many of Maggie's children +were round him to do honour to her old friend's burial--three sons, and +four daughters, and three sons-in-law. They all stood round the grave, +as near as might be to the stone that Gertrude, as a child, had laid +under his care, when his silver hair had mingled with her golden locks; +and with them was a concourse that evidently impressed the nephew with +a new idea of the estimation in which his uncle had been held. + +Tom had travelled all night, and had arrived only just in time. Nobody +was able to say a word to him before setting off; and almost +immediately after the return, Sir Matthew Fleet seized upon him to walk +up to the station with him, and, to the infinite disgust of the nephew, +the reading of the will was thus delayed until the executor came back, +extremely grave and thoughtful. + +After all, Mr. Spencer had no available grievance. His uncle's +property was very little altogether, amounting scarcely to a thousand +pounds, but the bulk was bequeathed to the nephew; to Aubrey May was +left his watch, and a piece of plate presented to him on his leaving +India; to Dr. May a few books; to Tom the chief of his library, his +papers, notes, and instruments, and the manuscript of a work upon +diseases connected with climate, on which he had been engaged for many +years, but had never succeeded in polishing to his own fastidious +satisfaction, or in coming to the end of new discoveries. To Etheldred, +his only legacy was his writing-desk, with all its contents. And Mr. +Spencer looked so suspicious of those contents, that Tom made her open +it before him, and show that they were nothing but letters. + +It had been a morning of the mixture of feelings and restless bustle, +so apt to take place where the affection is not explained by +relationship; and when the strangers were gone, and the family were +once again alone, there was a drawing of freer breath, and the Doctor +threw himself back in his chair, and indulged in a long, heavy sigh, +with a weary sound in it. + +'Can I go anywhere for you, father?' said Tom, turning to him with a +kind and respectful manner. + +'Oh no--no, thank you,' he said, rousing himself, and laying his hand +on the bell, 'I must go over to Overfield; but I shall be glad of the +drive. Well, Dr. Tom, what did you say to Fleet's proposal?' + +'I said I would come up to town and settle about it when I had got +through this executor business.' + +'You always were a lucky fellow, Tom,' said Dr. May, trying to be +interested and sympathetic. 'You would not wish for anything better.' + +'I don't know, I have not had time to think about it yet,' said Tom, +pulling off his spectacles and pushing back his hair, with an action of +sadness and fatigue. + +'Ah! it was not the best of times to choose for the communication; but +it was kindly meant. I never expected to see Fleet take so much +trouble for any one. But you are done up, Tom, with your night +journey.' + +'Not at all,' he answered, briskly, 'if I can do anything for you. +Could not I go down to the hospital?' + +'Why, if I were not to be back till five,' began Dr. May, considering, +and calling him into the hall to receive directions, from which he came +back, saying, 'There! now then, Ethel, we had better look over things, +and get them in train.' + +'You are so tired, Tom.' + +'Not too much for that,' he said. But it was a vain boast; he was too +much fatigued to turn his mind to business requiring thought, though +capable of slow, languid reading and sorting of papers. + +Aubrey's legacy was discovered with much difficulty. In fact, it had +never been heard of, nor seen the light, since its presentation, and +was at last found in a lumber closet, in a strong box, in Indian +packing. It was a compromise between an epergne and a candelabrum, +growing out of the howdah of an unfortunate elephant, pinning one tiger +to the ground, and with another hanging on behind, in the midst of a +jungle of palm-trees and cobras; and beneath was an elaborate +inscription, so laudatory of Aubrey Spencer, M. D., that nobody +wondered he had never unpacked it, and that it was yellow with +tarnish--the only marvel was, that he had never disposed of it; but +that it was likely to wait for the days when Aubrey might be a general +and own a side-board. + +The other bequests were far more appreciated. Tom had known of the +book in hand, was certain of its value to the faculty, and was much +gratified by the charge of it, both as a matter of feeling and of +interest. But while he looked over and sorted the mass of curious +notes, his attention was far more set on the desk, that reverently, +almost timidly, Ethel examined, well knowing why she had been selected +as the depositary of these relics. There they were, some embrowned by +a burn in the corner, as though there had been an attempt to destroy +them, in which there had been no heart to persevere. It was but +little, after all, two formal notes in which Professor Norman Mackenzie +asked the honour of Mr. Spencer's company to dinner, but in handwriting +that was none of the professor's--writing better known to Ethel than to +Tom--and a series of their father's letters, from their first +separation till the traveller's own silence had caused their +correspondence to drop. Charming letters they were, such as people +wrote before the penny-post had spoilt the epistolary art--long, +minute, and overflowing with brilliant happiness. Several of them were +urgent invitations to Stoneborough, and one of these was finished in +that other hand--the delicate, well-rounded writing that would not be +inherited--entreating Dr. Spencer to give a few days to Stoneborough, +'it would be such a pleasure to Richard to show him the children.' + +Ethel did not feel sure whether to see these would give pain or +pleasure to her father. He would certainly be grieved to see how much +suffering he must have inflicted in the innocence of his heart, and in +the glory of his happiness; and Tom, with a sort of shudder, advised +her to keep them to herself, he was sure they would give nothing but +pain. + +She had no choice just then, for it was a time of unusual occupation, +and the difference made by their loss told immediately--the more, +perhaps, because it was the beginning of November, and there was much +municipal business to be attended to. + +However it might be for the future, during the ensuing week Dr. May +never came in for a meal with the rest of the family; was too much +fagged for anything but sleep when he came home at night; and on the +Sunday morning, when they all had reckoned on going to Cocksmoor +together, he was obliged to give it up, and only come into the Minster +at the end of the prayers. Every one knew that he was not a good +manager of his time, and this made things worse; and he declared that +he should make arrangements for being less taken up; but it was sad to +see him overburthened, and Tom, as only a casual visitor, could do +little to lessen his toil, though that little was done readily and +attentively. There were no rubs between the two, and scarcely any +conversation. Tom would not discuss his prospects; and it was not +clear whether he meant to avail himself of Sir Matthew's patronage; he +committed himself to nothing but his wish that it were possible to stay +in Paris; and he avoided even talking to his sister. + +Not till a week after he had left home for London came a letter + + +'Dear Ethel, + +'I have told Fleet that I am convinced of my only right course. I +could never get the book finished properly if I got into his line, and +I must have peaceable evenings for it at home. I suppose my father +would not like to let Dr. Spencer's house. If I might have it, and +keep my own hours and habits, I think it would conduce to our working +better together. I am afraid I kept you in needless distress about +him, but I wanted to judge for myself of the necessity, and to think +over the resignation of that quest. I must commit it to Brown. I hope +it is not too great a risk; but it can't be helped. It is a matter of +course that I should come home now the helper is gone; I always knew it +would come to that. Manage it as quietly as you can. I must go to +Paris for a fortnight, to bring home my things, and by that time my +father had better get me appointed to the hospital. + +'Yours ever, + 'TH. MAY.' + + +Ethel was not so much surprised as her father, who thought she must +have been working upon Tom's feelings; but this she disavowed, except +that it had been impossible not to growl at patients sending at +unreasonable hours. Then he hoped that Fleet had not been +disappointing the lad; but this notion was nullified by a remonstrance +from the knight, on the impolicy of burying such talents for the sake +of present help; and even proposing to send a promising young man in +Tom's stead. 'Not too good for poor Stoneborough,' said Dr. May, +smiling. 'No, no, I'm not so decrepit as that, whatever he and Tom may +have thought me; I fancy I could tire out both of them. I can't have +the poor boy giving up all his prospects for my sake, Ethel. I never +looked for it, and I shall write and tell him so! Mind, Ethel, I shall +write, not you! I know you would only stroke him down, and bring him +home to regret it. No, no, I won't always be treated like Karl, in +"Debit and Credit", who the old giant thought could neither write nor +be written to, because his finger was off.' + +And Dr. May's letter was the first which this son had ever had from him. + + +'My Dear Tom, + +'I feel your kind intentions to the heart; it is like all the rest of +your dear mother's children; but the young ought not to be sacrificed +to the old, and I won't have it done. The whole tone of practice has +altered since my time, and I do not want to bind you down to the +routine. I had left off thinking of it since I knew of your distaste. +I have some years of work in me yet, that will see out most of my old +patients; and for the rest, Wright is a great advance on poor Ward, and +I will leave more to him as I grow older. I mean to see you a great +man yet, and I think you will be the greater and happier for the +sacrifice you have been willing to make. His blessing on you. + +'Your loving father, + 'R. M.' + + +What was Tom's answer, but one of his cool 'good letters,' a +demonstration that he was actuated by the calmest motives of +convenience and self-interest, in preferring the certainties of +Stoneborough to the contingencies of London, and that he only wanted +time for study and the completion of Dr. Spencer's book, enforcing his +request for the house. + +His resolution was, as usual, too evident to be combated, and it was +also plain that he chose to keep on the mask of prudent selfishness, +which he wore so naturally that it was hard to give him credit for any +other features; but this time Dr. May was not deceived. He fully +estimated the sacrifice, and would have prevented it if he could; but +he never questioned the sincerity of the motive, as it was not upon the +surface; and the token of dutiful affection, as coming from the least +likely quarter of his family, touched and comforted him. He dwelt on +it with increasing satisfaction, and answered all hurries and worries +with, 'I shall have time when Tome is come;' re-opened old schemes that +had died away when he feared to have no successor, and now and then +showed a certain comical dread of being drilled into conformity with +Tom's orderly habits. + +There was less danger of their clashing, as the son had outgrown the +presumptions of early youth, and a change had passed over his nature +which Ethel had felt, rather than seen, during his fleeting visits at +home, more marked by negatives than positives, and untraced by +confidences. The bitterness and self-assertion had ceased to tinge his +words, the uncomfortable doubt that they were underlaid by satire had +passed away, and methodical and self-possessed as he always was, the +atmosphere of 'number one' was no longer apparent round all his doings. +He could be out of spirits and reserved without being either +ill-tempered or ironical; and Ethel, with this as the upshot of her +week's observations, was reassured as to the hopes of the father and +son working together without collisions. As soon as the die was cast, +and there was no danger of undue persuasion in 'stroking him down,' she +indulged herself by a warmly-grateful letter, and after she had sent +it, was tormented by the fear that it would be a great offence. The +answer was much longer than she had dared to expect, and alarmed her +lest it should be one of his careful ways of making the worst of +himself; but there was a large 'Private,' scored in almost menacing +letters on the top of the first sheet, and so much blotted in the +folding, that it was plain that he had taken alarm at the unreserve of +his own letter. + + +'My Dear Ethel, + +'I have been to Portland. Really my father ought to make a stir and +get Ward's health attended to; he looks very much altered, but will not +own to anything being amiss. They say he has been depressed ever since +he heard of Minna's death. I should say he ought to be doing +out-of-doors work--perhaps at Gibraltar, but then he would be out of +our reach. I could not get much from him, but that patient, contented +look is almost more than one can bear. It laid hold of me when I saw +him the first time, and has haunted me ever since. Verily I believe it +is what is bringing me home! You need not thank me, for it is sober +calculation that convinces me that no success on earth would compensate +for the perpetual sense that my father was wearing himself out, and you +pining over the sight. Except just at first, I always meant to come +and see how the land lay before pledging myself to anything; and +nothing can be clearer than that, in the state of things my father has +allowed to spring up, he must have help. I am glad you have got me the +old house, for I can be at peace there till I have learnt to stand his +unmethodical ways. Don't let him expect too much of me, as I see he is +going to do. It is not in me to be like Norman or Harry, and he must +not look for it, least of all now. If you did not understand, and know +when to hold your tongue, I do not think I could come home at all; as +it is, you are all the comfort I look for. I cross to Paris to-morrow. +That is a page I am very sorry to close. I had a confidence that I +should have hunted down that fellow, and the sight of Portland and the +accounts from Massissauga alike make one long to have one's hands on +his throat; but that hope is ended now, and to loiter about Paris in +search of him, when it it a plain duty to come away, would be one of +the presumptuous acts that come to no good. Let them discuss what they +will, there's nothing so hard to believe in as Divine Justice! And yet +that uncomplaining face accepts it! You need say nothing about this +letter. I will talk about Leonard with my father when I get home. + +'Ever yours, + 'Thomas May.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + + But soon as once the genial plain + Has drunk the life-blood of the slain, + Indelible the spots remain; + And aye for vengeance call, + Till racking pangs of piercing pain + Upon the guilty fall. + AEschylus. (Translated by Professor Anstice.) + + +If Tom May's arrival at home was eagerly anticipated there, it was with +a heavy heart that he prepared for what he had never ceased to look on +as a treadmill life. He had enjoyed Paris, both from the society and +the abstract study, since he still retained that taste for theory +rather than practice, which made him prefer diseases to sick people, +and all sick people to those of Stoneborough. The student life, in the +freedom of a foreign capital, was, even while devoid of license and +irregularity, much pleasanter than what he foresaw at home, even though +he had obtained a separate establishment. His residence at Paris, with +the vague hope it afforded, cost him more in the resignation than his +prospects in London. It was the week when he would have been +canvassing for the appointment, and he was glad to linger abroad out of +reach of Sir Matthew's remonstrances, and his father's compunction, +while he was engaged in arranging for a French translation of Dr. +Spencer's book, and likewise in watching an interesting case, esteemed +a great medical curiosity, at the Hotel Dieu. + +He was waiting in the lecture-room, when one of the house surgeons came +in, saying, 'Ah! I am glad to see you here. A compatriot of yours has +been brought in, mortally injured in a gambling fray. You may perhaps +assist in getting him identified.' + +Tom followed him to the accident ward, and beheld a senseless figure, +with bloated and discoloured features, distorted by the effects of the +injury, a blow upon the temple, which had caused a fall backwards on +the sharp edge of a stove, occasioning fatal injury to the spine. +Albeit well accustomed to gaze critically upon the tokens of mortal +agony, Tom felt an unusual shudder of horror and repugnance as he +glanced on the countenance, so disfigured and contorted that there was +no chance of recognition, and turned his attention to the clothes, +which lay in a heap on the floor. The contents of the pockets had been +taken out, and consisted only of some pawnbroker's duplicates, a +cigar-case, and a memorandum-book, which last he took in his hand, and +began to unfasten, without looking at it, while he took part in the +conversation of the surgeons on the technical nature of the injuries. +Thus he stood for some seconds, before, on the house surgeon asking if +he had found any address, he cast his eyes on the pages which lay open +in his hand. + +'Ha! What have you found?--He does not hear! Is it the portrait of +the beloved object? Is it a brother--an enemy--or a debt? But he is +truly transfixed! It is an effect of the Gorgon's head!' + + +'July 15th, 1860. Received £120. + 'L. A. WARD.' + + +There stood Tom May, like one petrified, deaf to the words around, his +dazzled eyes fixed on the letters, his faculties concentrated in the +endeavour to ascertain whether they were sight or imagination. Yes, +there they were, the very words in the well-known writing, the +school-boy's forming into the clerk's, there was the blot in the top of +the L! Tom's heart gave one wild bound, then all sensation, except the +sight of the writing, ceased, the exclamations of those around him came +surging gradually on his ear, as if from a distance, and he did not yet +hear them distinctly when he replied alertly, almost lightly, 'Here is +a name that surprises me. Let me look at the patient again.' + +'No dear friend?' asked his chief intimate, in a tone ready to become +gaiety or sympathy. + +'No, indeed,' said Tom, shuddering as he stood over the insensible +wretch, and perceived what it had been which had thrilled him with such +unwonted horror, for, fixed by the paralyzing convulsion of the fatal +blow, he saw the scowl and grin of deadly malevolence that had been the +terror of his childhood, and that had fascinated his eyes at the moment +of Leonard's sentence. Changed by debauchery, defaced by violence, +contorted by the injured brain, the features would scarcely have been +recalled to him but for the frightful expression stamped on his memory +by the miseries of his timid boyhood. + +'Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.' The +awful thought, answering his own struggle for faith in Divine Justice, +crossed him, as he heard the injury on the head defined, in almost the +same scientific terms that had so often rung on his ears as the causes +of Francis Axworthy's death; but this was no society where he could +give vent to his feelings, and mastering himself with difficulty he +answered, 'I know Him. He is from my own town.' + +'Has he friends or relations?' + +'Relations, yes,' said Tom, hardly able to restrain a trembling of the +lip, half horror, half irony. 'None here, none near. They shall know.' + +'And means?' + +'Once he had. Probably none now.' + +To Tom's great relief, a new case drew off general attention. There +only remained the surgeon who had called him at first, and with whom he +was particularly intimate. + +'Gaspard,' he said, 'shall you have charge of this case?' + +'Brief charge it will be, apparently! I will volunteer to watch it, if +it is your desire! Is it friendship, or enmity, or simple humanity?' + +'All!' said Tom, hastily. 'It is the clearing up of a horrible +mystery--freedom for an innocent prisoner--I must tell you the rest at +leisure. There is much to be done now in case of his reviving.' + +This was remotely possible, but very doubtful; and Tom impressed on +both Gaspard and the nursing sister the most stringent entreaties to +summon him on the first symptom. He then gave the name of the unhappy +man, and, though unwilling to separate himself from that invaluable +pocket-book, perceived the necessity of leaving it as a deposit with +the authorities of the hospital, after he had fully examined it, +recognizing Leonard's description in each particular, the cipher F. A. +on the tarnished silver clasp, the shagreen cover, and the receipt on a +page a little past the middle. On the other half of the leaf was the +entry of some sums due to the house; and it contained other papers +which the guilty wretch had been evidently eager to secure, yet afraid +to employ, and that, no doubt, were the cause that, like so many other +murderers on record, he had preserved that which was the most fatal +proof against himself. Or could it be with some notion of future +relenting, that he had refrained from its destruction? + +With brain still seeming to reel at the discovery, and limbs actually +trembling with the shock, Tom managed to preserve sufficient coolness +and discretion to bring back to mind the measures he had so often +planned for any such contingency. Calling a cabriolet, he repaired to +the police-station nearest to the scene of the contest, and there +learnt that Axworthy had long been watched as a dangerous subject, full +of turbulence, and with no visible means of maintenance. The officials +had taken charge of the few personal effects in his miserable lodgings, +and were endeavouring to secure the person who had struck the fatal +blow. + +His next measure was to go to the British Embassy, where, through his +sister Flora's introductions, and his own Eton connections, he was +already well known; and telling his story there, without any attempt to +conceal his breathless agitation, he had no difficulty in bringing with +him a companion who would authenticate the discovery of the receipt, +and certify to any confession that might be obtained. + +A confession! That was the one matter of the most intense interest. +Tom considered whether to secure the presence of a clergyman, but +suspected that this would put Axworthy on his guard rather than soften +him, and therefore only wrote to the chaplain, begging him to hold +himself in readiness for a summons to the Hotel Dieu, whither he drove +rapidly back with his diplomatic friend, whom he wrought up well-nigh +to his own pitch of expectation. He had already decided on his own +first address--pitying, but manifesting that nothing, not even +vengeance, could be gained by concealment; and then, according to the +effect, would he try either softening or threatening to extort the +truth. + +Gaspard was eagerly awaiting them. 'I had already sent for you,' he +said. 'The agony is commencing; he has spoken, but he has not his full +consciousness.' + +Tom hurried on, drawing after him the young diplomate, who would have +hung back, questioning if there were any use in his witnessing the +dying struggles of a delirious man. + +'Come, come,' peremptorily repeated Tom, 'there must be some last +words. Every moment is of importance.' + +Yet his trust was shaken by the perception of the progress that death +had made in the miserable frame during his absence. The fixed +expression of malignity had been forced to yield to exhaustion and +anguish, the lips moved, but the murmurs between the moans were +scarcely articulate. + +'He is almost past it,' said Tom, 'but there is the one chance that he +may be roused by my voice.' + +And having placed his friend conveniently, both for listening and +making notes, he came close to the bed, and spoke in a tone of +compassion. 'Axworthy, I say, Axworthy, is there anything I can do for +you?' + +There was a motion of the lid of the fast-glazing eye; but the terrible +face of hatred came back, with the audible words, 'I tell you, you old +fool, none of the Mays are to come prying about my place.' + +Appalled by the deadly malice of the imprecation and the look that +accompanied this partial recognition of his voice, Tom was nerving +himself to speak again, when the dying man, as if roused by the echo of +his own thought, burst out, 'Who? What is it? I say Dr. May shall not +be called in! He never attended the old man! Let him mind his own +business! I was all night at the Three Goblets. Yes, I was! The new +darling will catch it--going off with the money upon him--' and the +laugh made their blood run cold. 'I've got the receipt;' and he made +an attempt at thrusting his hand under the pillow, but failing, swore, +shouted, howled with his last strength, that he had been robbed--the +pocket-book--it would hang him! and with one of the most fearful +shrieks of despair that had perhaps ever rung through that asylum of +pain, woe, and death, the wretched spirit departed. + +Tom May turned aside, made a few steps, and, to the infinite surprise +of every one, fell helplessly down in a swoon. A nature of deep and +real sensibility, though repressed by external reserve and prudence, +could not with entire impunity undergo such a scene. The sudden +discovery, the vehement excitement forced down, the intense strain of +expectation, and finally, the closing horror of such a death, betraying +the crime without repenting of it, passing to the other world with +imprecations on the lips, and hatred in the glare of the eye, all the +frightfulness enhanced by the familiarity of the allusions, and the +ghastly association of the tones that had tempted and tyrannized over +his childhood, altogether crushed and annihilated his faculties, mental +and bodily. + +Oh, when our very hearts burn for justice, how little do we know how +intolerable would be the sight of it! Tom's caution and readiness +returned as soon as--after a somewhat long interval--he began to +distinguish the voices round him, and perceive the amazement he had +created. Before he was able to sit up on the couch, where he had been +laid out of sight of the scene which had affected him so strongly, he +was urging his friend to set down all that had been spoken, and on +Gaspard's writing a separate deposition. The pocket-book, and other +effects, were readily ceded to the British authority, and were carried +away with them. + +How Tom got through the remaining hours of the day and the night he +never recollected, though he knew it must have been in the bustle of +preparation, and that he had imparted the tidings to Leonard's friend +Brown, for when he and his friend had attended that which answered to +an inquest on the body, and had obtained a report of the proceedings, +he was ready to start by the night train, bearing with him the +attestations of the death-bed scene at the Hotel Dieu, and the +long-lost memorandum-book, and was assured that the next mail would +carry an official letter to the Home Office, detailing the +circumstances of Samuel Axworthy's decease. Brown came to bid him +farewell, full of gladness and warm congratulation, which he longed to +send to his friend, but which Tom only received with hasty, +half-comprehending assents. + +Late in the afternoon he reached Stoneborough, found no one come in, +and sat down in the fire-light, where, for all his impatience, fatigue +had made him drop asleep, when he was roused by Gertrude's voice, +exclaiming, 'Here really is Tom come, as you said he would, without +writing. Here are all his goods in the hall.' + +'Is it you, Tom!' cried Ethel. 'Notice or no notice, we are glad of +you. But what is the matter?' + +'Where's my father?' + +'Coming. Charles Cheviot took him down to look at one of the boys. Is +there anything the matter?' she added, after a pause. + +'No, nothing.' + +'You look very odd,' added Gertrude. + +He gave a nervous laugh. 'You would look odd, if you had travelled all +night.' + +They commented, and began to tell home news; but Ethel noted that he +neither spoke nor heard, only listened for his father. Gertrude grew +tired of inattentive answers, and said she should go and dress. Ethel +was turning to follow, when he caught hold of her cloak, and drew her +close to him. 'Ethel,' he said, in a husky, stifled voice, 'do you +know this?' + +On her knees, by the red fire-light, she saw the 'L. A. Ward,' and +looked up. 'Is it?' she said. He bowed his head. + +And then Ethel put her arm round his neck, as he knelt down by her; and +he found that her tears, her rare tears, were streaming down, silent +but irrepressible. She had not spoken, had asked no question, made no +remark, when Dr. Mays entrance was heard, and she loosed her hold on +her brother, out without rising from the floor, looked up from under +the shade of her hat, and said, 'O, papa! it is found, and he has done +it! Look there!' + +Her choked voice, and tokens of emotion, startled the Doctor; but Tom, +in a matter-of-fact tone, took up the word: 'How are you, father?--Yes. +I have only met with this little memorandum.' + +Dr. May recognized it with a burst of incoherent inquiry and +exclamation, wringing Tom's hand, and giving no time for an answer; +and, indeed, his son attempted none--till, calming himself, the Doctor +subsided into his arm-chair, and with a deep sigh, exclaimed, 'Now +then, Tom, let us hear. Where does this come from?' + +'From the casualty ward at the Hotel Dieu.' + +'And from--' + +'He is dead,' said Tom, answering the unspoken question. 'You will +find it all here. Ethel, do I sleep here to-night? My old room?' As +he spoke, he bent to light a spill at the fire, and then the two +candles on the side-table; but his hand shook nervously, and though he +turned away his face, his father and sister saw the paleness of his +cheek, and knew that he must have received a great shock. Neither +spoke, while he put one candle conveniently for his father, took up the +other, and went away with it. With one inquisitive glance at each +other, they turned to the papers, and with eager eyes devoured the +written narratives of Tom himself and of the attache, then, with no +less avidity, the French reports accompanying them. Hardly a word was +spoken while Ethel leant against her father's knee, and he almost +singed his hair in the candle, as they helped one another out in the +difficulties of the crooked foreign writing. + +'Will it be enough?' asked Ethel, at last, holding her breath for the +answer. + +'If there is justice in England!' said Dr. May. 'Heaven forgive me, +Ethel, this business has tried my trust more than anything that ever +befell me; but it will all be right now, and righter than right, if +that boy comes out what I think him.' + +'And oh, how soon?' + +'Not a moment longer than can be helped. I'd go up by the mail train +this very night if it would do any good.' + +Tom, who reappeared as soon as he had spared himself the necessity of +the narration, was willing and eager to set out; but Dr. May, who by +this time had gathered some idea of what he had gone through, and saw +that he was restless, nervous, and unhinged, began to reconsider the +expedience of another night journey, and was, for once in his life, the +person cool enough to see that it would be wisest to call Bramshaw into +their counsels, and only that night to send up a note mentioning that +they would do themselves the honour of calling at the Home Office the +next day, on matters connected with the intelligence received that +morning from the British Embassy at Paris. + +Tom was disappointed; he was in no mood for sitting still, and far less +for talking. As a matter of business, he would elucidate any question, +but conversation on what he had witnessed was impossible to him; and +when Gertrude, with a girl's lightness, lamented over being balked of a +confession and explanation, he gravely answered, that she did not know +what she was talking of; and his father led away from the subject. +Indeed, Dr. May was full of kindness and consideration, being evidently +not only grateful for the discovery, but touched by his entire absence +of exulting triumph, and his strong sense of awe in the retribution. + +That changed and awe-struck manner impressed both the sisters, so that +all the evening Ethel felt subdued as by a strange shock, and even +through the night and morning could hardly realize that it was intense +relief--joy, not sorrow--that made her feel so unlike herself, and that +the burthen was taken away from her heart. Even then, there was a +trembling of anxiety. The prisoner might be set free; but who could +give back to him the sister who had pined away in exile, or the three +years of his youthful brightness? There might be better things in +store; but she knew she must not look again for the boy of ingenuous +countenance, whose chivalrous devotion to herself had had such a charm, +even while she tried to prize it at its lightest worth. It was foolish +to recollect it with a pang, but there was no helping it. In the great +tragedy, she had forgotten that the pretty comedy was over, but she +regretted it, rather as she did the pleasant baby-days of Aubrey and +Gertrude. + +Indeed, during the day of suspense, while the two physicians were gone +to London, taking with them the papers, and a minute detail of the +evidence at the trial, Gertrude's high spirits, triumph over Charles +Cheviot, and desire to trumpet forth the good news, were oppressive. +How many times that day was Mab stroked, and assured that her master +would come back! And how often did the two sisters endeavour to +persuade themselves that she was not grown broader in the back! Mary +was, of course, told early in the day, but Gertrude got less sympathy +from her than answered to that damsel's extortionate expectations, for, +according to her wicked account, Mary's little Charlie had sneezed +three times, and his mamma must regret what sent all the medical +science of Stoneborough away by the early train. + +However, Tom came home at night. The interview had been satisfactory. +The letters received in the morning had prepared the way, and revived +the recollection of the unsatisfactory case of Leonard Axworthy Ward, +and of the representations of the then Mayor of Market Stoneborough. +After all the new lights upon the matter had been looked into, the +father and son had been assured that, as soon as possible, a free +pardon should be issued, so drawn up as to imply a declaration of +innocence--the nearest possible approach to a reversal of the sentence; +and they further were told of a mention of his exemplary conduct in a +late report from Portland, containing a request that he might be +promoted to a post of greater influence and trust before the ordinary +time of probation had passed. Dr. May was eager to be at Portland at +the same time as the pardon, so to give Leonard the first intelligence, +and to bring him home; and he had warmly closed with Tom's offer to +look after the work, while he himself waited till the necessary forms +had been complied with. He had absolutely begged Tom's pardon for +going in his stead. 'It is your right,' he said; 'but, somehow, I +think, as I have been more with him, I might do better.' To which Tom +had assented with all his heart, and had added that he would not go if +he were paid for it. He had further taken care that the Doctor should +take with him a suit of clothes for Leonard to come home in, and had +himself made the selection; then came back with the tidings that filled +the house with the certainty of joy, and the uncertainty of expectation. + +Nobody was, however, in such a fever as Tom himself. He was +marvellously restless all the morning. Gertrude asserted it was +because he was miserable at not venturing to set his father's study to +rights; and to be sure he was seen looking round at the litter with a +face of great disgust, and declaring that he was ashamed to see a +patient in a room in such a mess. But this did not fully account for +his being in and out, backwards and forwards, all the morning, looking +wistfully at Ethel, and then asking some trivial question about +messages left for his father, or matters respecting his own new abode, +where he kept on Dr. Spencer's old housekeeper, and was about to turn +in paperers and painters. He had actually brought a drawing-room paper +from Paris, a most delicate and graceful affair, much too lady-like for +the old house, as Daisy told him, when she pursued him and her sister +down to a consultation. + +Late in the afternoon, as the sisters were coming up the High Street, +they met him setting out in Hector's dog-cart. 'Oh, I say, Ethel,' he +said, drawing up, 'do you like a drive out to Chilford? Here's a note +come to ask my father to see the old lady there, and I want some one to +give me courage to be looked at, like the curate in the pulpit instead +of the crack preacher.' + +It was an offer not to be despised, though Ethel knew what a waiting +there would be, and what a dark drive home. Up she jumped, and Tom +showed his usual thoughtfulness by ordering Gertrude to run home and +fetch her muff and an additional cloak, tucking her up himself with the +carriage rug. That affection of Tom's had been slow in coming, but +always gave her a sense of gratitude and enjoyment. + +They drove all the seven miles to Chilford without twenty words passing +between them; and when there, she sat in the road, and watched one +constellation after another fill up its complement of stars as well as +the moon permitted, wondering whether Tom's near-sighted driving would +be safe in the dark; but her heart was so light, so glad, that she +could not be afraid, she did not care how long she waited, it was only +sitting still to recollect that deliverance had come to the +captive--Leonard was free--'free as heart can think or eye can see,' as +would keep ringing in her ears like a joy-bell; and some better things, +too. 'Until the time came that his cause was known, the Word of the +Lord tried him.' + +Whether she were really too happy to note time, or that gossipry was +deducted from the visit, Tom certainly returned sooner than her +experience had led her to expect, made an exclamation of dismay at +finding the machine was innocent of lamps, and remounted to his seat, +prepared to be extremely careful. + +'I could not get them to take me for my father in a new wig,' he said; +'but it was a very easy-going rheumatic case, and I think I satisfied +her.' + +Then on he drove for a mile, till he was out of the bad cross-country +road, and at last he said, 'Ethel, I have made up my mind. There's no +press of work just now, and I find it is advisable I should go to +America before I get into harness here.' + +'To America!' + +'Yes, about this book of dear old Spencer's. It is a thing that must +be complete, and I find he was in correspondence with some men of +science there. I could satisfy my mind on a few points, which would +make it infinitely more valuable, you see--and get it published there +too. I know my father would wish every justice to be done to it.' + +'I know he would; and,' continued Ethel, as innocently as she could, +'shall you see the Wards?' + +'Why,' said Tom, in his deliberate voice, 'that is just one thing; I +want particularly to see Henry. I had a talk with Wright this morning, +and he tells me that young Baines, at Whitford, is going to the dogs, +and the practice coming in to him. He thinks of having a partner, and +I put out a feeler in case Henry Ward should choose to come back, and +found it might do very well. But the proposal must come from him, and +there's no time to be lost, so I thought of setting out as soon as I +hear my father is on his way back.' + +'Not waiting to see Leonard?' + +'I did see him not a month ago. Besides--' and his voice came to a +sudden end. + +'Yes, the first news,' said Ethel. 'Indeed it is due to you, Tom.' + +Ten minutes more of silence. + +'Ethel, did she ever tell you?' + +'Never,' said Ethel, her heart beating. + +'Then how did you know all about it?' + +'I didn't know. I only saw--' + +'Saw what?' + +'That you were very much distressed.' + +'And very kind and rational you were about it,' said Tom, warmly; 'I +never thought any woman could have guessed so much, without making +mischief. But you must not put any misconstruction on my present +intention. All I mean to do as yet is to induce Henry to remove them +out of that dismal swamp, and bring them home to comfort and +civilization. Then it may be time to--' + +He became silent; and Ethel longed ardently to ask further, but still +she durst not, and he presently began again. + +'Ethel, was I very intolerable that winter of the volunteers, when +Harry was at home?' + +'You are very much improved since,' she answered. + +'That's just like Flora. Answer like yourself.' + +'Well, you were! You were terribly rampant in Eton refinement, and +very anxious to hinder all the others from making fools of themselves.' + +'I remember! I thought you had all got into intimacies that were for +nobody's good, and I still think it was foolish. I know it has done +for me! Well,' hastily catching up this last admission, as if it had +dropped out at unawares, 'you think I made myself disagreeable?' + +'On principle.' + +'Ah! then you would not wonder at what she said--that she had never +seen anything in me but contemptuous irony.' + +'I think, sometimes feeling that you were satirical, she took all your +courtesy for irony--whatever you meant. I have heard other people say +the same. But when--was this on the day--the day you went to +remonstrate?' + +'Yes. I declare to you, Ethel, that I had no conception of what I was +going to do! I never dreamt that I was in for it. I knew she was--was +attractive--and that made me hate to see Harry with her, and I could +not bear her being carried off to this horrible place--but as to +myself, I never thought of it till I saw her--white and broken--' and +then came that old action Ethel knew so well in her father, of clearing +the dew from the glasses, and his voice was half sob, 'and with no +creature but that selfish brother to take care of her. I couldn't help +it, Ethel--no one could--and this--this was her answer. I don't wonder. +I had been a supercilious prig, and I ought to have known better than +to think I could comfort her.' + +'I think the remembrance must have comforted her since.' + +'What--what, has she said anything?' + +'Oh no, she could not, you know. But I am sure, if it did anger her at +the moment, there must have been comfort in recollecting that even such +a terrible trouble had not alienated you. And now--' + +'Now that's just what I don't want! I don't want to stalk in and say +here's the hero of romance that has saved your brother! I want to get +her home, and show her that I can be civil without being satirical, and +then, perhaps, she would forgive me.' + +'Forgive you--' + +'I mean forgiveness won, not purchased. And after all, you know it was +mere accident--Providence if you please--that brought me to that poor +wretch; all my plans of tracking him had come to an end; any one else +could have done what I did.' + +'She will not feel that,' said Ethel; 'but indeed, Tom, I see what you +mean, and like it. It is yourself, and not the conferrer of the +benefit, that you want her to care for.' + +'Exactly,' said Tom. 'And, Ethel, I must have seen her and judged of +my chance before I can be good for anything. I tried to forget it--own +it as a lucky escape--a mere passing matter, like Harry's affairs--but +I could not do it. Perhaps I could if things had gone well; but that +dear face of misery, that I only stung by my attempts to comfort, would +stick fast with me, and to go and see Leonard only brought it more +home. It is a horrid bad speculation, and Flora and Cheviot and +Blanche will scout it; but, Ethel, you'll help me through, and my +father will not mind, I know.' + +'Papa will feel as I do, Tom--that it has been your great blessing, +turn out as it may.' + +'H'm! has it? A blessing on the wrong side of one's mouth--to go about +with a barb one knew one was a fool for, and yet couldn't forget! +Well, I know what you mean, and I believe it was. I would not have had +it annihilated, when the first mood was over.' + +'It was that which made it so hard to you to come home, was it not?' + +'Yes; but it was odd enough, however hard it was to think of coming, +you always sent me away more at peace, Ethel. I can't think how you +did it, knowing nothing.' + +'I think you came at the right time.' + +'You see, I did think that while Spencer lived, I might follow up the +track, and see a little of the world--try if that would put out that +face and voice. But it won't do. If this hadn't happened, I would +have tied myself down, and done my best to get comfort out of you, and +the hospital, and these 'Diseases of Climate'--I suppose one might in +time, if things went well with her; but, as it is, I can't rest till I +have seen if they can be got home again. So, Ethel, don't mind if I go +before my father comes home. I can't stand explanations with him, and +I had rather you did not proclaim this. You see the book, and getting +Henry home, are really the reasons, and I shan't molest her +again--no--not till she has learnt to know what is irony.' + +'I think if you did talk it over with papa, you would feel the comfort, +and know him better.' + +'Well, well, I dare say, but I can't do it, Ethel. Either he shuts me +up at first, with some joke, or--' and Tom stopped; but Ethel knew what +he meant. There was on her father's side an involuntary absence of +perfect trust in this son, and on Tom's there was a character so +sensitive that her father's playfulness grated, and so reserved that +his demonstrative feelings were a still greater trial to one who could +not endure outward emotion. 'Besides,' added Tom, 'there is really +nothing--nothing to tell. I'm not going to commit myself. I don't +know whether I ever shall. I was mad that day, and I want to satisfy +my mind whether I think the same now I am sane, and if I do, I shall +have enough to do to make her forget the winter when I made myself such +an ass. When I have done that, it may be time to speak to my father. +I really am going out about the book. When did you hear last?' + +'That is what makes me anxious. I have not heard for two months, and +that is longer than she ever was before without writing, except when +Minna was ill.' + +'We shall know if Leonard has heard.' + +'No, she always writes under cover to us.' + +The course that the conversation then took did not look much like Tom's +doubt whether his own views would be the same. All the long-repressed +discussion of Averil's merits, her beautiful eyes, her sweet voice, her +refinement, her real worth, the wonder that she and Leonard should be +so superior to the rest of the family, were freely indulged at last, +and Ethel could give far heartier sympathy than if this had come to her +three years ago. Averil had been for two years her correspondent, and +the patient sweetness and cheerfulness of those letters had given a far +higher estimate of her nature than the passing intercourse of the town +life had left. The terrible discipline of these years of exile and +sorrow had, Ethel could well believe, worked out something very +different from the well-intentioned wilful girl whose spirit of +partisanship had been so fatal an element of discord. Distance had, in +truth, made them acquainted, and won their love to one another. + +Tom's last words, as he drew up under the lime-trees before the door, +were, 'Mind, I am only going about the 'Diseases of Climate'.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + + And Bishop Gawain as he rose, + Said, 'Wilton, grieve not for thy woes, + Disgrace and trouble; + For He who honour best bestows, + Can give thee double.'--Marmion + + +Dr. May had written to Portland, entreating that no communication might +be made to Leonard Ward before his arrival; and the good physician's +affection for the prisoner had been so much observed, that no one would +have felt it fair to anticipate him. Indeed, he presented himself at +the prison gates only two hours after the arrival of the documents, +when no one but the governor was aware of their contents. + +Leonard was as usual at his business in the schoolmaster's department; +and thither a summons was sent for him, while Dr. May and the governor +alone awaited his arrival. Tom's visit was still very recent; and +Leonard entered with anxious eyes, brow drawn together, and compressed +lips, as though braced to meet another blow; and the unusual room, the +presence of the governor instead of the warder, and Dr. May's +irrepressible emotion, so confirmed the impression, that his face at +once assumed a resolute look of painful expectation. + +'My boy,' said Dr. May, clasping both his hands in his own, 'you have +borne much of ill. Can you bear to hear good news?' + +'Am I to be sent out to Australia already?' said Leonard--for a +shortening of the eight years before his ticket-of-leave was the sole +hope that had presented itself. + +'Sent out, yes; out to go wherever you please, Leonard. The right is +come round. The truth is out. You are a free man! Do you know what +that is? It is a pardon. Your pardon. All that can be done to right +you, my boy--but it is as good as a reversal of the sentence.' + +The Doctor had spoken this with pauses; going on, as Leonard, instead +of answering, stood like one in a dream, and at last said with +difficulty, 'Who did it then?' + +'It was as you always believed.' + +'Has he told?' said Leonard, drawing his brows together with the effort +to understand. + +'No, Leonard. The vengeance he had brought on himself did not give +space for repentance; but the pocket-book, with your receipt, was upon +him, and your innocence is established.' + +'And let me congratulate you,' added the governor, shaking hands with +him; 'and add, that all I have known of you has been as complete an +exculpation as any discovery can be.' + +Leonard's hand was passive, his cheek had become white, his forehead +still knit. 'Axworthy!' he said, still as in a trance. + +'Yes. Hurt in a brawl at Paris. He was brought to the Hotel Dieu; and +my son Tom was called to see him.' + +'Sam Axworthy! repeated Leonard, putting his hand over his eyes, as if +one sensation overpowered everything else; and thus he stood for some +seconds, to the perplexity of both. + +They showed him the papers: he gazed, but without comprehension; and +then putting the bag, provided by Tom, into his hand, they sent him, +moving in a sort of mechanical obedience, into the room of one of the +officials to change his dress. + +Dr. May poured out to the governor and chaplain, who by this time had +joined them, the history of Leonard's generous behaviour at the time of +the trial, and listened in return to their account of the growing +impression he had created--a belief, almost reluctant, that instead of +being their prime specimen, he could only be in their hands by mistake. +He was too sincere not to have confessed had he been really guilty; and +in the long run, such behaviour as his would have been impossible in +one unrepentant. He had been the more believed from the absence of +complaint, demonstration, or assertion; and the constant endeavour to +avoid notice, coupled with the quiet thorough execution of whatever was +set before him with all his might. + +This was a theme to occupy the Doctor for a long time; but at last he +grew eager for Leonard's return, and went to hasten him. He started +up, still in the convict garb, the bag untouched. + +'I beg your pardon,' he said, when his friend's exclamation had +reminded him of what had been desired of him; and in a few minutes he +reappeared in the ordinary dress of a gentleman, but the change did not +seem to have made him realize his freedom--there was the same +submissive manner, the same conventional gesture of respect in reply to +the chaplain's warm congratulation. + +'Come, Leonard, I am always missing the boat, but I don't want to do so +now. We must get home to-night. Have you anything to take with you?' + +'My Bible and Prayer-Book. They are my own, sir;' as he turned to the +governor. 'May I go to my cell for them?' + +Again they tarried long for him, and became afraid that he had fallen +into another reverie; but going to fetch him, found that the delay was +caused by the farewells of all who had come in his way. The tidings of +his full justification had spread, and each official was eager to wish +him good speed, and thank him for the aid of his example and support. +The schoolmaster, who had of late treated him as a friend, kept close +to him, rejoicing in his liberation, but expecting to miss him sorely; +and such of the convicts as were within reach, were not without their +share in the general exultation. He had never galled them by his +superiority; and though Brown, the clerk, had been his only friend, he +had done many an act of kindness; and when writing letters for the +unlearned, had spoken many a wholesome simple word that had gone home +to the heart. His hand was as ready for a parting grasp from a +fellow-prisoner as from a warder; and his thought and voice were +recalled to leave messages for men out of reach; his eyes moistened at +the kindly felicitations; but when he was past the oft-trodden +precincts of the inner court and long galleries, the passiveness +returned, and he received the last good-byes of the governor and +superior officers, as if only half alive to their import. And thus, +silent, calm, and grave, his composure like that of a man walking in +his sleep, did Leonard Ward pass the arched gateway, enter on the outer +world, and end his three and a half years of penal servitude. + +'I'm less like an angel than he is like St. Peter,' thought Dr. May, as +he watched the fixed dreamy gaze, 'but this is like "yet wist he not +that it was true, but thought he saw a vision." When will he realize +liberty, and enjoy it? I shall do him a greater kindness by leaving +him to himself.' + +And in spite of his impatience, Dr. May refrained from disturbing that +open-eyed trance all the way down the long hill, trusting to the crowd +in the steamer for rousing him to perceive that he was no longer among +russet coats and blue shirts; but he stood motionless, gazing, or at +least his face turned, towards the Dorset coast, uttering no word, +making no movement, save when summoned by his guide--then obeying as +implicitly as though it were his jailor. + +So they came to the pier; and so they walked the length of Weymouth, +paced the platform, and took their places in the train. Just as they +had shot beyond the town, and come into the little wooded valleys +beyond, Leonard turned round, and with the first sparkle in his eye, +exclaimed, 'Trees! Oh, noble trees and hedges!' then turned again to +look in enchantment at the passing groups--far from noble, though +bright with autumn tints--that alternated with the chalk downs. + +Dr. May was pleased at this revival, and entertained at the start and +glance of inquiring alarm from an old gentleman in the other corner. +Presently, in the darkness of a cutting, again Leonard spoke: 'Where +are you taking me, Dr. May?' + +'Home, of course.' + +Whatever the word might imply to the poor lad, he was satisfied, and +again became absorbed in the sight of fields, trees, and hedgerows; +while Dr. May watched the tokens of secret dismay in their +fellow-traveller, who had no doubt understood 'home' to mean his +private asylum. Indeed, though the steady full dark eyes showed no +aberration, there was a strange deep cave between the lid and the +eyebrow, which gave a haggard look; the spare, worn, grave features had +an expression--not indeed weak, nor wandering, but half bewildered, +half absorbed, moreover, in spite of Tom's minute selection of apparel, +it had been too hasty a toilette for the garments to look perfectly +natural; and the cropped head was so suspicious, that it was no wonder +that at the first station, the old gentleman gathered up his umbrella, +with intense courtesy squeezed gingerly to the door, carefully avoiding +any stumble over perilous toes, and made his escape--entering another +carriage, whence he no doubt signed cautions against the lunatic and +his keeper, since no one again invaded their privacy. + +Perhaps this incident most fully revealed to the Doctor, how unlike +other people his charge was, how much changed from the handsome +spirited lad on whom the trouble had fallen; and he looked again and +again at the profile turned to the window, as fixed and set as though +it had been carved. + +'Ah, patience is an exhausting virtue!' said he to himself. 'Verily it +is bearing--bearing up under the full weight; and the long bent spring +is the slower in rebounding in proportion to its inherent strength. +Poor lad, what protracted endurance it has been! There is health and +force in his face; no line of sin, nor sickness, nor worldly care, such +as it makes one's heart ache to see aging young faces; yet how utterly +unlike the face of one and-twenty! I had rather see it sadder than so +strangely settled and sedate! Shall I speak to him again? Not yet: +those green hill-sides, those fields and cattle, must refresh him +better than my clavers, after his grim stony mount of purgatory. I +wish it were a brighter day to greet him, instead of this gray damp +fog.' + +The said fog prevented any semblance of sunset; but through the gray +moonlit haze, Leonard kept his face to the window, pertinaciously +clearing openings in the bedewed glass, as though the varying outline +of the horizon had a fascination for him. At last, after ten minutes +of glaring gas at a junction had by contrast rendered the mist +impenetrable, and reduced the view to brightened clouds of steam, and +to white telegraphic posts, erecting themselves every moment, with +their wires changing their perspective in incessant monotony, he ceased +his gaze, and sat upright in his place, with the same strange rigid +somnambulist air. + +Dr. May resolved to rouse him. + +'Well, Leonard,' he said, 'this has been a very long fever; but we are +well through it at last--with the young doctor from Paris to our aid.' + +Probably Leonard only heard the voice, not the words, for he passed his +hand over his face, and looked up to the Doctor, saying dreamily, 'Let +me see! Is it all true?' and then, with a grave wistful look, 'It was +not I who did that thing, then?' + +'My dear!' exclaimed the Doctor, starting forward, and catching hold of +his hand, 'have they brought you to this?' + +'I always meant to ask you, if I ever saw you alone again,' said +Leonard. + +'But you don't mean that you have imagined it!' + +'Not constantly--not when any one was with me,' said Leonard, roused by +Dr. May's evident dismay; and drawn on by his face of anxious inquiry. +'At Milbank, I generally thought I remembered it just as they described +it in court, and that it was some miserable ruinous delusion that +hindered my confessing; but the odd thing was, that the moment any one +opened my door, I forgot all about it, resolutions and all, and was +myself again.' + +'Then surely--surely you left that horror with the solitude?' + +'Yes, till lately; but when it did come back, I could not be sure what +was recollection of fact, and what of my own fancy;' and he drew his +brows together in painful effort. 'Did I know who did it, or did I +only guess?' + +'You came to a right conclusion, and would not let me act on it.' + +'And I really did write the receipt, and not dream it?' + +'That receipt has been in my hand. It was what has brought you here.' +And now to hearing ears, Dr. May went over the narrative; and Leonard +stood up under the little lamp in the roof of the carriage to read the +papers. + +'I recollect--I understand,' he said, presently, and sat down, grave +and meditative--no longer dreamy, but going over events, which had at +last acquired assurance to his memory from external circumstances. +Presently his fingers were clasped together over his face, his head +bent, and then he looked up, and said, 'Do they know it--my sister and +brother?' + +'No. We would not write till you were free. You must date the first +letter from Stoneborough.' + +The thought had brought a bitter pang. 'One half year sooner--' and he +leant back in his seat, with fingers tightly pressed together, and +trembling with emotion. + +'Nay, Leonard; may not the dear child be the first to rejoice in the +fulfilment of her own sweet note of comfort? They could not harm the +innocent.' + +'Not innocent,' he said, 'not innocent of causing all the discord that +has ended in their exile, and the dear child's death.' + +'Then this is what has preyed on you, and changed you so much more of +late,' said Dr. May. + +'When I knew that I was indeed guilty of _her_ death,' said Leonard, in +a calm full conviction of too long standing to be accompanied with +agitation, though permanently bowing him down. + +'And you never spoke of this: not to the chaplain?' + +'I never could. It would have implied all the rest that he could not +believe. And it would not have changed the fact.' + +'The aspect of it may change, Leonard. You know yourself how many +immediate causes combined, of which you cannot accuse yourself--your +brother's wrongheadedness, and all the rest. And,' added the Doctor, +recovering himself, 'you do see it in other aspects, I know. Think of +the spirit set free to be near you--free from the world that has gone +so hard with you!' + +'I can't keep that thought long; I'm not worthy of it.' + +Again he was silent; but presently said, as with a sudden thought, 'You +would have told me if there were any news of Ave.' + +'No, there has been no letter since her last inclosure for you,' and +then Dr. May gave the details from the papers on the doings of Henry's +division of the army. + +'Will Henry let me be with them?' said Leonard, musingly. + +'They will come home, depend upon it. You must wait till you hear.' + +Leonard thought a little while, then said, 'Where did you say I was to +go, Dr. May?' + +'Where, indeed? Home, Leonard--home. Ethel is waiting for us. To the +High Street.' + +Leonard looked up again with his bewildered face, then said, 'I know +what you do with me will be right, but--' + +'Had you rather not?' said the Doctor, startled. + +'Rather!' and the Doctor, to his exceeding joy, saw the fingers over +his eyes moist with the tears they tried to hide; 'I only meant--' he +added, with an effort, 'you must think and judge--I can't +think--whether I ought.' + +'If you ask me that,' said Dr. May, earnestly, 'all I have to say is, +that I don't know what palace is worthy of you.' + +There was not much said after that; and the Doctor fell asleep, waking +only at the halts at stations to ask where he was. + +At last came 'Blewer!' and as the light shone on the clock, Leonard +said, 'A quarter past twelve! It is the very train I went by! Is it a +dream?' + +Ten minutes more, and 'Stoneborough' was the cry. Hastily springing +out, shuffling the tickets into the porter's hand, and grappling +Leonard's arm as if he feared an escape, Dr. May hurried him into the +empty streets, and strode on in silence. + +The pull at the door-bell was answered instantly by Ethel herself. She +held out her hand, and grasped that which Leonard had almost withheld, +shrinking as from too sudden a vision; and then she ardently exchanged +kisses with her father. + +'Where's Tom? Gone to bed?' said Dr. May, stepping into the bright +drawing-room. + +'No,' said Ethel, demurely; 'he is gone--he is gone to America.' + +The Doctor gave a prodigious start, and looked at her again. + +'He went this afternoon.' she said. 'There is some matter about the +'Diseases of Climate' that he must settle before the book is published; +and he thought he could best be spared now. He has left messages that +I will give you by and by; but you must both be famished.' + +Her looks indicated that all was right, and both turned to welcome the +guest, who stood where the first impulse had left him, in the hall, not +moving forward, till he was invited in to the fire, and the meal +already spread. He then obeyed, and took the place pointed out; while +the Doctor nervously expatiated on the cold, damp, and changes of +train; and Ethel, in the active bashfulness of hidden agitation, made +tea, cut bread, carved chicken, and waited on them with double +assiduity, as Leonard, though eating as a man who had fasted since +early morning, was passive as a little child, merely accepting what was +offered to him, and not even passing his cup till she held out her hand +for it. + +She did not even dare to look at him; she could not bear that he should +see her do so; it was enough to know that he was free--that he was +there--that it was over. She did not want to see how it had changed +him; and, half to set him at ease, half to work off her own excitement, +she talked to her father, and told him of the little events of his +absence till the meal was over; and, at half-past one, good nights were +exchanged with Leonard, and the Doctor saw him to his room, then +returned to his daughter on her own threshold. + +'That's a thing to have lived for,' he said. + +Ethel locked her hands together, and looked up. + +'And now, how about this other denouement? I might have guessed that +the wind sat in that quarter.' + +'But you're not to guess it, papa. It is really and truly about the +'Diseases of Climate'.' + +'Swamp fevers, eh! and agues!' + +The 'if you can help it,' was a great comfort now; Ethel could venture +on saying, 'Of course that has something to do with it; but he really +does make the book his object; and please--please don't give any hint +that you suspect anything else.' + +'I suppose you are in his confidence; and I must ask no questions.' + +'I hated not telling you, and letting you tease him; but he trusted me +just enough not to make me dare to say a word; though I never was sure +there was a word to say. Now do just once own, papa, that Tom is the +romantic one after all, to have done as he did in the height of the +trouble.' + +'Well in his place so should I,' said the Doctor, with the perverseness +of not satisfying expectations of amazement. + +'_You_ would,' said Ethel; 'but Tom! would you have thought it of Tom?' + +'Tom has more in him than shows through his spectacles,' answered Dr. +May. 'So! That's the key to his restless fit. Poor fellow! How did +it go with him? They have not been carrying it on all this time, +surely!' + +'Oh, no, no, papa! She cut him to the heart, poor boy! thought he was +laughing at her--told him it had all been irony. He has no notion +whether she will ever forgive him.' + +'A very good lesson, Master Doctor Thomas,' said Dr. May, with a +twinkle in his eye; 'and turn out as it will, it has done him +good--tided him over a dangerous time of life. Well, you must tell me +all about it to-morrow; I'm too sleepy to know what I'm talking of.' + +The sleepiness that always finished off the Doctor's senses at the +right moment, was a great preservative of his freshness and vigour; but +Ethel was far from sharing it, and was very glad when the clock sounded +a legitimate hour for getting up, and dressing by candle-light, briefly +answering Gertrude's eager questions on the arrival. It was a pouring +wet morning, and she forbade Daisy to go to church--indeed, it would +have been too bad for herself on any morning but this--any but this, as +she repeated, smiling at her own spring of thankfulness, as she +fortified herself with a weight of waterproof, and came forth in the +darkness of 7.45, on a grim November day. + +A few steps before her, pacing on, umbrellaless, was a figure which +made her hurry to overtake him. + +'O, Leonard! after your journey, and in this rain!' + +He made a gesture of courtesy, but moved as if to follow, not join her. +Did he not know whether he were within the pale of humanity? + +'Here is half an umbrella. Won't you hold it for me?' she said; and as +he followed his instinct of obedience, she put it into his hand, and +took his arm, thinking that this familiarity would best restore him to +a sense of his regained position; and, moreover, feeling glad and +triumphant to be thus leaning, and to have that strong arm to contend +with the driving blast that came howling round the corner of Minster +Street, and fighting for their shelter. They were both out of breath +when they paused to recover in the deep porch of the Minster. + +'Is Dr. May come home?' + +'Yes--and--' + +Ethel signed, and Mr. Wilmot held out an earnest hand, with, 'This is +well. I am glad to see you.' + +'Thank you, sir,' said Leonard, heartily; 'and for all--' + +'This is your new beginning of life, Leonard. God bless you in it.' + +As Mr. Wilmot passed on, Ethel for the first time ventured to look up +into the eyes--and saw their hollow setting, their loss of sparkle, but +their added steadfastness and resolution. She could not help repeating +the long-treasured lines: 'And, Leonard, + + + "--grieve not for thy woes, + Disgrace and trouble; + For He who honour best bestows, + Shall give thee double."' + + +'I've never ceased to be glad you read Marmion with me,' he hastily +said, as they turned into church on hearing a clattering of choristers +behind them. + +Clara might have had such sensations when she bound the spurs on her +knight's heels, yet even she could hardly have had so pure, unselfish, +and exquisite a joy as Ethel's, in receiving the pupil who had been in +a far different school from hers. + +The gray dawn through the gloom, the depths of shadow in the twilight +church, softening and rendering all more solemn and mysterious, were +more in accordance than bright and beamy sunshine with her subdued +grave thankfulness; and there was something suitable in the fewness of +the congregation that had gathered in the Lady Chapel--so few, that +there was no room for shyness, either in, or for, him who was again +taking his place there, with steady composed demeanour, its stillness +concealing so much. + +Ethel had reckoned on the verse--'That He might hear the mournings of +such as are in captivity, and deliver the children appointed unto +death.' But she had not reckoned on its falling on her ears in the +deep full-toned melodious bass, that came in, giving body to the young +notes of the choristers--a voice so altered and mellowed since she last +had heard it, that it made her look across in doubt, and recognize in +the uplifted face, that here indeed the freed captive was at home, and +lifted above himself. + +When the clause, in the Litany, for all prisoners and captives brought +to her the thrill that she had only to look up to see the fulfilment of +many and many a prayer for one captive, for once she did not hear the +response, only saw the bent head, as though there were thoughts went +too deep to find voice. And again, there was the special thanksgiving +that Mr. Wilmot could not refrain from introducing for one to whom a +great mercy had been vouchsafed. If Ethel had had to swim home, she +would not but have been there! + +Charles Cheviot addressed them as they came out of church: 'Good +morning--Mr. Ward, I hope to do myself the honour of calling on you--I +shall see you again, Ethel. + +And off he went over the glazy stones to his own house, Ethel knowing +that this cordial salutation and intended call were meant to be +honourable amends for his suspicions; but Leonard, unconscious of the +import, and scarcely knowing indeed that he was addressed, made his +mechanical gesture of respect, and looked up, down, and round, absorbed +in the scene. 'How exactly the same it all looks,' he said; 'the +cloister gate, and the Swan, and the postman in the very same +waterproof cape.' + +'Do you not feel like being just awake?' + +'No; it is more like being a ghost, or somebody else.' + +Then the wind drove them on too fast for speech, till as they crossed +the High Street, Ethel pointed through the plane-trees to two round +black eyes, and a shining black nose, at the dining-room window. + +'My Mab, my poor little Mab!--You have kept her all this time! I was +afraid to ask for her. I could not hope it.' + +'I could not get my spoilt child, Gertrude, to bed without taking Mab, +that she might see the meeting.' + +Perhaps it served Daisy right that the meeting did not answer her +expectations. Mab and her master had both grown older; she smelt round +him long before she was sure of him, and then their content in one +another was less shown by fervent rapture, than by the quiet hand +smoothing her silken coat; and, in return, by her wistful eye, nestling +gesture, gently waving tail. + +And Leonard! How was it with him? It was not easy to tell in his +absolute passiveness. He seemed to have neither will nor impulse to +speak, move, or act, though whatever was desired of him, he did with +the implicit obedience that no one could bear to see. They put books +near him, but he did not voluntarily touch one: they asked if he would +write to his sister, and he took the pen in his hand, but did not +accomplish a commencement. Ethel asked him if he were tired, or had a +headache. + +'Thank you, no,' he said; 'I'll write,' and made a dip in the ink. + +'I did not mean to tease you,' she said; 'the mail is not going just +yet, and there is no need for haste. I was only afraid something was +wrong.' + +'Thank you,' he said, submissively; 'I will--when I can think; but it +is all too strange. I have not seen a lady, nor a room like this, +since July three years.' + +After that Ethel let him alone, satisfied that peace was the best means +of recovering the exhaustion of his long-suffering. + +The difficulty was that this was no house for quiet, especially the day +after the master's return: the door-bell kept on ringing, and each time +he looked startled and nervous, though assured that it was only +patients. But at twelve o'clock in rushed Mr. Cheviot's little +brother, with a note from Mary, lamenting that it was too wet for +herself, but saying that Charles was coming in the afternoon, and that +he intended to have a dinner-party of old Stoneborough scholars to +welcome Leonard back. + +Meanwhile, Martin Cheviot, wanting to see, and not to stare, and to +unite cordiality and unconsciousness, made an awkward mixture of all, +and did not know how to get away; and before he had accomplished it, +Mr. Edward Anderson was announced. He heartily shook hands with +Leonard, eagerly welcomed him, and talked volubly, and his last +communication was, 'If it clears, you will see Matilda this afternoon.' + +'I did not know she was here.' + +'Yes; she and Harvey are come to Mrs. Ledwich's, to stay over Sunday;' +and there was a laugh in the corner of his eye, that convinced Ethel +that the torrents of rain would be no protection. + +'Papa,' said she, darting out to meet her father in the hall, 'you must +take Leonard out in your brougham this afternoon, if you don't want him +driven distracted. If he is in the house, ropes won't hold Mrs. Harvey +Anderson from him!' + +So Dr. May invited his guest to share his drive; and the excitement +began to seem unreal when the Doctor returned alone. + +'I dropped him at Cocksmoor,' he said. 'It was Richard's notion that +he would be quieter there--able to get out, and go to church, without +being stared at.' + +'Did he like it?' asked Gertrude, disappointed. + +'If one told him to chop off his finger, he would do it, and never show +whether he liked it. Richard asked him, and he said, "Thank you." I +never could get an opening to show him that we did not want to suppress +him; I never saw spirit so quenched.' + +Charles Cheviot thought it was a mistake to do what gave the appearance +of suppression--he said that it was due to Leonard to welcome him as +heartily as possible, and not to encourage false shame, where there was +no disgrace; so he set his wife to fill up her cards for his +dinner-party, and included in it Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Anderson, for the +sake of their warm interest in the liberated prisoner. + +'However, Leonard was out of the scrape,' as the Doctor expressed it, +for he had one of his severe sore throats, and was laid up at +Cocksmoor. Richard was dismayed by his passive obedience--a novelty to +the gentle eldest, who had all his life been submitting, and now was +puzzled by his guest's unfailing acquiescence without a token of +preference or independence: and comically amazed at the implicit +fulfilment of his recommendation to keep the throat in bed--a wise +suggestion, but one that the whole house of May, in their own persons, +would have scouted. Nothing short of the highest authority ever kept +them there. + +The semblance of illness was perhaps a good starting-point for a return +to the ways of the world; and on the day week of his going to +Cocksmoor, Ethel found him by the fire, beginning his letters to his +brother and sister, and looking brighter and more cheery, but so devoid +of voice, that speech could not be expected of him. + +She had just looked in again after some parish visiting, when a quick +soldierly step was heard, and in walked Aubrey. + +'No; I'm not come to you, Ethel; I'm only come to this fellow;' and he +ardently grasped his hand. 'I've got leave till Monday, and I shall +stay here and see nobody else.--What, a sore throat? Couldn't you get +wrapped up enough between the two doctors?' + +Leonard's eyes lighted as he muttered his hoarse 'Thank you,' and Ethel +lingered for a little desultory talk to her brother, contrasting the +changes that the three years had made in the two friends. Aubrey, +drilled out of his home scholarly dreaminess by military and practical +discipline, had exchanged his native languor for prompt upright +alertness of bearing and speech; his eye had grown more steady, his +mouth had lost its vague pensive expression, and was rendered sterner +by the dark moustache; definite thought, purpose, and action, had +moulded his whole countenance and person into hopeful manhood, instead +of visionary boyhood. The other face, naturally the most full of fire +and resolution, looked strangely different in its serious unsmiling +gravity, the deeply worn stamp of patient endurance and utter +isolation. There was much of rest and calm, and even of content--but +withal a quenched look, as if the lustre of youth and hope had been +extinguished, and the soul had been so driven in upon itself, that +there was no opening to receive external sympathy--a settled +expression, all the stranger on a face with the clear smoothness of +early youth. One thing at least was unchanged--the firm friendship and +affection--that kept the two constantly casting glances over one +another, to assure themselves of the presence before them. + +Ethel left them together; and her father, who made out that he should +save time by going to Cocksmoor Church on Sunday morning, reported that +the boys seemed very happy together in their own way; but that Richard +reported himself to have been at the sole expense of conversation in +the evening--the only time such an event could ever have occurred! + +Aubrey returned home late on the Sunday evening; and Leonard set off to +walk part of the way with him in the dusk, but ended by coming the +whole distance, for the twilight opened their lips in this renewal of +old habits. + +'It is all right to be walking together again,' said Aubrey, warmly; +'though it is not like those spring days.' + +'I've thought of them every Sunday.' + +'And what are you going to do now, old fellow?' + +'I don't know.' + +'I hear Bramshaw is going to offer you to come into his office. Now, +don't do that, Leonard, whatever you do!' + +'I don't know.' + +'You are to have all your property back, you know, and you could do +much better for yourself than that.' + +'I can't tell till I have heard from my brother.' + +'But, Leonard, promise me now--you'll not go out and make a Yankee of +yourself.' + +'I can't tell; I shall do what he wishes.' + +Aubrey presently found that Leonard seemed to have no capacity to think +or speak of the future or the past. He set Aubrey off on his own +concerns, and listened with interest, asking questions that showed him +perfectly alive to what regarded his friend, but the passive inaction +of will and spirits still continued, and made him almost a +disappointment. + +On Monday morning there was a squabble between the young engineer and +the Daisy, who was a profound believer in the scientific object of +Tom's journey, and greatly resented the far too obvious construction +thereof. + +'You must read lots of bad novels at Chatham, Aubrey; it is like the +fag end of the most trumpery of them all!' + +'You haven't gone far enough in your mathematics, you see, Daisy. You +think one and one--' + +'Make two. So I say.' + +'I've gone into the higher branches.' + +'I didn't think you were so simple and commonplace. It would be so +stupid to think he must--just because he could not help making this +discovery.' + +'All for want of the higher branches of mathematics! One plus +one--equals one.' + +'One minus common sense, plus folly, plus romance, minus anything to +do. Your equation is worthy of Mrs. Harvey Anderson. I gave her a +good dose of the 'Diseases of Climate!'' + +Aubrey was looking at Ethel all the time Gertrude was triumphing; and +finally he said, 'I've no absolute faith in disinterested philanthropy +to a younger brother--whatever I had before I went to the Tyrol.' + +'What has that to do with it?' asked Gertrude. 'Everybody was cut up, +and wanted a change--and you more than all. I do believe the +possibility of a love affair absolutely drives people mad: and now they +must needs saddle it upon poor Tom--just the one of the family who is +not so stupid, but has plenty of other things to think about.' + +'So you think it a stupid pastime?' + +'Of course it is. Why, just look. Hasn't everybody in the family +turned stupid, and of no use, as soon at they went and fell in love! +Only good old Ethel here has too much sense, and that's what makes her +such a dear old gurgoyle. And Harry--he is twice the fun after he +comes home, before he gets his fit of love. And all the story books +that begin pleasantly, the instant that love gets in, they are just +alike--so stupid! And now, if you haven't done it yourself, you want +to lug poor innocent Tom in for it.' + +'When your time comes, may I be there to see!' + +He retreated from her evident designs of clapper-clawing him; and she +turned round to Ethel with, 'Now, isn't it stupid, Ethel!' + +'Very stupid to think all the zest of life resides in one particular +feeling,' said Ethel; 'but more stupid to talk of what you know nothing +about.' + +Aubrey put in his head for a hurried farewell, and, 'Telegraph to me +when Mrs. Thomas May comes home.' + +'If Mrs. Thomas May comes home, I'll--' + +'Give her that chair cover,' said Ethel; and her idle needlewoman, +having been eight months working one corner of it, went off into fits +of laughter, regarding its completion as an equally monstrous feat with +an act of cannibalism on the impossible Mrs. Thomas May. + +How different were these young things, with their rhodomontade and +exuberant animation and spirits, from him in whom all the sparkle and +aspiration of life seemed extinguished! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + + A cup was at my lips: it pass'd + As passes the wild desert blast! + ***** + I woke--around me was a gloom + And silence of the tomb; + But in that awful solitude + That little spirit by me stood-- + But oh, how changed! + --Thoughts in Past Years + + +Under Richard's kind let-alone system, Leonard was slowly recovering +tone. First he took to ruling lines in the Cocksmoor account-books, +then he helped in their audit; and with occupation came the sense of +the power of voluntary exertion. He went and came freely, and began to +take long rambles in the loneliest parts of the heath and plantations, +while Richard left him scrupulously to his own devices, and rejoiced to +see them more defined and vigorous every day. The next stop was to +assist in the night-school where Richard had hitherto toiled +single-handed among very rough subjects. The technical training and +experience derived from Leonard's work under the schoolmaster at +Portland were invaluable; and though taking the lead was the last thing +he would have thought of, he no sooner entered the school than +attention and authority were there, and Richard found that what had to +him been a vain and patient struggle was becoming both effective and +agreeable. Interest in his work was making Leonard cheerful and alert, +though still grave, and shrinking from notice--avoiding the town by +daylight, and only coming to Dr. May's in the dark evenings. + +On the last Sunday in Advent, Richard was engaged to preach at his +original curacy, and that the days before and after it should likewise +be spent away from home was insisted on after the manner of the friends +of hard-working clergy. He had the less dislike to going that he could +leave his school-work to Leonard, who was to be housed at his father's, +and there was soon perceived to have become a much more ordinary member +of society than on his first arrival. + +One evening, there was a loud peal at the door-bell, and the maid--one +of Ethel's experiments of training--came in. + +'Please, sir, a gentleman has brought a cockatoo and a letter and a +little boy from the archdeacon.' + +'Archdeacon!' cried Dr. May, catching sight of the handwriting on the +letter and starting up. 'Archdeacon Norman--' + +'One of Norman's stray missionaries and a Maori newly caught; oh, what +fun!' cried Daisy, in ecstasy. + +At that moment, through the still open door, walking as if he had lived +there all his life, there entered the prettiest little boy that ever +was seen--a little knickerbocker boy, with floating rich dark ringlets, +like a miniature cavalier coming forth from a picture, with a white +cockatoo on his wrist. Not in the least confused, he went straight +towards Dr. May and said, 'Good-morning, grandpapa.' + +'Ha! And who may you be, my elfin prince?' said the Doctor. + +'I'm Dickie--Richard Rivers May--I'm not an elfin prince,' said the +boy, with a moment's hurt feeling. 'Papa sent me.' By that time the +boy was fast in his grandfather's embrace, and was only enough released +to give him space to answer the eager question, 'Papa--papa here?' + +'Oh no; I came with Mr. Seaford.' + +The Doctor hastily turned Dickie over to the two aunts, and hastened +forth to the stranger, whose name he well knew as a colonist's son, a +favourite and devoted clerical pupil of Norman's. + +'Aunt Ethel,' said little Richard, with instant recognition; 'mamma +said you would be like her, but I don't think you will.' + +'Nor I, Dickie, but we'll try. And who's that!' + +'Yes, what am I to be like?' asked Gertrude. + +'You're not Aunt Daisy--Aunt Daisy is a little girl.' + +Gertrude made him the lowest of curtseys; for not to be taken for a +little girl was the compliment she esteemed above all others. Dickie's +next speech was, 'And is that Uncle Aubrey?' + +'No, that's Leonard.' + +Dickie shook hands with him very prettily; but then returning upon +Ethel, observed, 'I thought it was Uncle Aubrey, because soldiers +always cut their hair so close.' + +The other guest was so thoroughly a colonist, and had so little idea of +anything but primitive hospitality, that he had had no notion of +writing beforehand to announce his coming, and accident had delayed the +letters by which Norman and Meta had announced their decision of +sending home their eldest boy under his care. + +'Papa had no time to teach me alone,' said Dickie, who seemed to have +been taken into the family councils; 'and mamma is always busy, and I +wasn't getting any good with some of the boys that come to school to +papa.' + +'Indeed, Mr. Dickie!' said the Doctor, full of suppressed laughter. + +'It is quite true,' said Mr. Seaford; 'there are some boys that the +archdeacon feels bound to educate, but who are not desirable companions +for his son.' + +'It is a great sacrifice,' remarked the young gentleman. + +'Oh, Dickie, Dickie,' cried Gertrude, in fits, 'don't you be a prig--' + +'Mamma said it,' defiantly answered Dickie. + +'Only a parrot,' said Ethel, behind her handkerchief; but Dickie, who +heard whatever he was not meant to hear, answered-- + +'It is not a parrot, it is a white cockatoo, that the chief of +(something unutterable) brought down on his wrist like a hawk to the +mission-ship; and that mamma sent as a present to Uncle George.' + +'I prefer the parrot that has fallen to my share,' observed the Doctor. + +It was by this time perched beside him, looking perfectly at ease and +thoroughly at home. There was something very amusing in the aspect of +the little man; he so completely recalled his mother's humming-bird +title by the perfect look of finished porcelain perfection that even a +journey from the Antipodes with only gentleman nursemaids had not +destroyed. The ringleted rich brown hair shone like glossy silk, the +cheeks were like painting, the trim well-made legs and small hands and +feet looked dainty and fairy-like, yet not at all effeminate; hands and +face were a healthy brown, and contrasted with the little white collar, +the set of which made Ethel exclaim, 'Just look, Daisy, that's what I +always told you about Meta's doings. Only I can't understand +it.--Dickie, have the fairies kept you in repair ever since mamma +dressed you last?' + +'We haven't any fairies in New Zealand,' he replied; 'and mamma never +dressed me since I was a baby!' + +'And what are you now?' said the Doctor. + +'I am eight years old,' said this piece of independence, perfectly well +mannered, and au fait in all the customs of the tea-table; and when the +meal was over, he confidentially said to his aunt, 'Shall I come and +help you wash up? I never break anything.' + +Ethel declined this kind offer; but he hung on her hand and asked if he +might go and see the schoolroom, where papa and Uncle Harry used to +blow soap-bubbles. She lighted a candle, and the little gentleman +showed himself minutely acquainted with the whole geography of the +house, knew all the rooms and the pictures, and where everything had +happened, even to adventures that Ethel had forgotten. + +'It is of no use to say there are no fairies in New Zealand,' said Dr. +May, taking him on his knee, and looking into the blue depths of +Norman's eyes. 'You have been head-waiter to Queen Mab, and +perpetually here when she made you put a girdle round the earth in +forty minutes.' + +'Papa read that to the boys, and they said it was stupid and no use,' +said Dickie; 'but papa said that the electric telegraph would do it.' + +The little cavalier appeared not to know what it was to be at a loss +for an answer, and the joint letter from his parents explained that his +precocious quickness was one of their causes for sending him home. He +was so deft and useful as to be important in the household, and +necessarily always living with his father and mother, he took constant +part in their conversation, and was far more learned in things than in +books. In the place where they were settled, trustworthy boy society +was unattainable, and they had felt their little son, in danger of +being spoilt and made forward from his very goodness and +brightness--wrote Meta, 'If you find him a forward imp, recollect it is +my fault for having depended so much on him.' + +His escort was a specimen of the work Norman had done, not actual +mission-work, but preparation and inspiriting of those who went forth +on the actual task. He was a simple-minded, single-hearted man, one of +the first pupils in Norman's college, and the one who had most fully +imbibed his spirit. He had been for some years a clergyman, and +latterly had each winter joined the mission voyage among the Melanesian +Isles, returning to their homes the lads brought for the summer for +education to the mission college in New Zealand, and spending some time +at a station upon one or other of the islands. He had come back from +the last voyage much out of health, and had been for weeks nursed by +Meta, until a long rest having been declared necessary, he had been +sent to England as the only place where he would not be tempted to +work, and was to visit his only remaining relation, a sister, who had +married an officer and was in Ireland. He was burning to go back again, +and eagerly explained--sagely corroborated by the testimony of the tiny +archdeacon--that his illness was to be laid to the blame of his own +imprudence, not to the climate; and he dwelt upon the delights of the +yearly voyage among the lovely islands, beautiful beyond imagination, +fenced in by coral breakwaters, within which the limpid water displayed +exquisite sea-flowers, shells, and fishes of magical gorgeousness of +hue; of the brilliant white beach, fringing the glorious vegetation, +cocoa-nut, bread-fruit, banana, and banyan, growing on the sloping +sides of volcanic rocks; of mysterious red-glowing volcano lights seen +far out at sea at night, of glades opening to show high-roofed huts +covered with mats: of canoes decorated with the shining white shells +resembling a poached egg; of natives clustering round, eager and +excited, seldom otherwise than friendly; though in hitherto unvisited +places, or in those where the wanton outrages of sandal-wood traders +had excited distrust, caution was necessary, and there was peril enough +to give the voyage a full character of heroism and adventure. Bows and +poisoned arrows were sometimes brought down--and Dickie insisted that +they had been used--but in general the mission was recognized, and an +eager welcome given; presents of fish-hooks, or of braid and +handkerchiefs, established a friendly feeling; and readiness--in which +the Hand of the Maker must be recognized--was manifested to intrust +lads to the mission for the summer's training at the college in New +Zealand--wild lads, innocent of all clothing, except marvellous +adornments of their woolly locks, wigged out sometimes into huge +cauliflowers whitened with coral lime, or arranged quarterly red and +white, and their noses decorated with rings, which were their nearest +approach to a pocket, as they served for the suspension of fish-hooks, +or any small article. A radiate arrangement of skewers from the nose, +in unwitting imitation of a cat's whiskers, had even been known. A few +days taught dressing and eating in a civilized fashion; and time, +example, and the wonderful influence of the head of the mission, +trained these naturally intelligent boys into much that was hopeful. +Dickie, who had been often at the college, had much to tell of +familiarity with the light canoes that some cut out and launched; of +the teaching them English games, of their orderly ways in school and in +hall; of the prayers in their many tongues, and of the baptism of some, +after full probation, and at least one winter's return to their own +isles, as a test of their sincerity and constancy. Much as the May +family had already heard of this wonderful work, it came all the closer +and nearer now. The isle of Alan Ernescliffe's burial-place had now +many Christians in it. Harry's friend, the young chief David, was +dead; but his people were some of them already teachers and examples, +and the whole region was full to overflowing of the harvest, calling +out for labourers to gather it in. + +Silent as usual, Leonard nevertheless was listening with all his heart, +and with parted lips and kindling eyes that gave back somewhat of his +former countenance. Suddenly his face struck Mr. Seaford, and turning +on him with a smile, he said, 'You should be with us yourself, you look +cut out for mission work.' + +Leonard murmured something, blushed up to the ears, and subsided, but +the simple, single-hearted Mr. Seaford, his soul all on one object, his +experience only in one groove, by no means laid aside the thought, and +the moment he was out of Leonard's presence, eagerly asked who that +young man was. + +'Leonard Ward? he is--he is the son of an old friend,' replied Dr. May, +a little perplexed to explain his connection. + +'What is he doing? I never saw any one looking more suited for our +work.' + +'Tell him so again,' said Dr. May; 'I know no one that would be fitter.' + +They were all taken up with the small grandson the next day. He was +ready in his fairy-page trimness to go to the early service at the +Minster; but he was full of the colonial nil admirari principle, and +was quite above being struck by the grand old building, or allowing its +superiority--either to papa's own church or Auckland Cathedral. They +took him to present to Mary on their way back from church, when he was +the occasion of a great commotion by carrying the precious Master +Charlie all across the hall to his mamma, and quietly observing in +resentment at the outcry, that of course he always carried little Ethel +about when mamma and nurse were busy. After breakfast, when he had +finished his investigations of all Dr. May's domains, and much +entertained Gertrude by his knowledge of them, Ethel set him down to +write a letter to his father, and her own to Meta being engrossing, she +did not look much more after him till Dr. May came in, and said, 'I +want you to sketch off a portrait of her dicky-bird for Meta;' and he +put before her a natural history with a figure of that tiny +humming-bird which is endowed with swansdown knickerbockers. + +'By the bye, where is the sprite?' + +He was not to be found; and when dinner-time, and much calling and +searching, failed to produce him, his grandfather declared that he was +gone back to Elf-land; but Leonard recollected certain particular +inquiries about the situation of the Grange and of Cocksmoor, and it +was concluded that he had anticipated the Doctor's intentions of taking +him and Mr. Seaford there in the afternoon. The notion was confirmed +by the cockatoo having likewise disappeared; but there was no great +anxiety, since the little New Zealander appeared as capable of taking +care of himself as any gentleman in Her Majesty's dominions; and a note +had already been sent to his aunt informing her of his arrival. Still, +a summons to the Doctor in an opposite direction was inopportune, the +more so as the guest was to remain at Stoneborough only this one day, +and had letters and messages for Mr. and Mrs. Rivers, while it was also +desirable to see whether the boy had gone to Cocksmoor. + +Leonard proposed to become Mr. Seaford's guide to the Grange, learn +whether Dickie were there, and meet the two ladies at Cocksmoor with +the tidings, leaving Mr. Seaford and the boy to be picked up by the +Doctor on his return. It was his first voluntary offer to go anywhere, +though he had more than once been vainly invited to the Grange with +Richard. + +Much conversation on the mission took place during the walk, and +resulted in Mr. Seaford's asking Leonard if his profession were +settled. 'No,' he said; and not at all aware that his companion did +not know what every other person round him knew, he added, 'I have been +thrown out of everything--I am waiting to hear from my brother.' + +'Then you are not at a University?' + +'Oh no, I was a clerk.' + +'Then if nothing is decided, is it impossible that you should turn your +eyes to our work?' + +'Stay,' said Leonard, standing still; 'I must ask whether you know all +about me. Would it be possible to admit to such work as yours one who, +by a terrible mistake, has been under sentence of death and in +confinement for three years?' + +'I must think! Let us talk of this another time. Is that the Grange?' +hastily exclaimed the missionary, rather breathlessly. Leonard with +perfect composure replied that it was, pointed out the different +matters of interest, and, though a little more silent, showed no other +change of manner. He was asking the servant at the door if Master May +were there, when Mr. Rivers came out and conducted both into the +drawing room, where little Dickie was, sure enough. It appeared that, +cockatoo on wrist, he had put his pretty face up to the glass of Mrs +Rivers's morning-room, and had asked her, 'Is this mamma's room, Aunt +Flora? Where's Margaret?' + +Uncle, aunt, and cousin had all been captivated by him, and he was at +present looking at the display of all Margaret's treasures, keenly +appreciating the useful and ingenious, but condemning the merely +ornamental as only fit for his baby sister. Margaret was wonderfully +gracious and child-like; but perhaps she rather oppressed him; for when +Leonard explained that he must go on to meet Miss May at Cocksmoor, the +little fellow sprang up, declaring that he wanted to go thither; and +though told that his grandfather was coming for him, and that the walk +was long, he insisted that he was not tired; and Mr. Seaford, finding +him not to be dissuaded, broke off his conversation in the midst, and +insisted on accompanying him, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Rivers rather amazed +at colonial breeding. + +The first time Mr. Seaford could accomplish being alone with Dr. May, +he mysteriously shut the door, and began, 'I am afraid Mrs. Rivers +thought me very rude; but though no doubt he is quite harmless, I could +not let the child or the ladies be alone with him.' + +'With whom?' + +'With your patient.' + +'What patient of mine have you been seeing to-day?' asked Dr. May, much +puzzled. + +'Oh, then you consider him as convalescent, and certainly he does seem +rational on every other point; but is this one altogether an +hallucination?' + +'I have not made out either the hallucination or the convalescent. I +beg your pardon,' said the courteous Doctor; 'but I cannot understand +whom you have seen.' + +'Then is not that young Ward a patient of yours? He gave me to +understand to-day that he has been under confinement for three years--' + +'My poor Leonard!' exclaimed the Doctor; 'I wish his hair would grow! +This is the second time! And did you really never hear of the Blewer +murder, and of Leonard Ward?' + +Mr. Seaford had some compound edifice of various murders in his mind, +and required full enlightenment. Having heard the whole, he was ardent +to repair his mistake, both for Leonard's own sake, and that of his +cause. The young man was indeed looking ill and haggard; but there was +something in the steady eyes, hollow though they still were, and in the +determined cast of features, that strangely impressed the missionary +with a sense of his being moulded for the work; and on the first +opportunity a simple straightforward explanation of the error was laid +before Leonard, with an entreaty that if he had no duties to bind him +at home, he would consider the need of labourers in the great harvest +of the Southern Seas. + +Leonard made no answer save 'Thank you' and that he would think. The +grave set features did not light up as they had done unconsciously when +listening without personal thought; he only looked considering, and +accepted Mr. Seaford's address in Ireland, promising to write after +hearing from his brother. + +Next morning, Dr. May gave notice that an old patient was coming to see +him, and must be asked to luncheon. Leonard soon after told Ethel that +he should not be at home till the evening, and she thought he was going +to Cocksmoor, by way of avoiding the stranger. In the twilight, +however, Dr. May, going up to the station to see his patient off, was +astonished to see Leonard emerge from a second-class carriage. + +'You here! the last person I expected.' + +'I have only been to W---- about my teeth.' + +'What, have you been having tooth-ache?' + +'At times, but I have had two out, so I hope there is an end of it.' + +'And you never mentioned it, you Stoic!' + +'It was only at night.' + +'And how long has this been?' + +'Since I had that cold; but it was no matter.' + +'No matter, except that it kept you looking like Count Ugolino, and me +always wondering what was the matter with you. And'--detaining him for +a moment under the lights of the station--'this extraction must have +been a pretty business, to judge by your looks! What did the dentist +do to you?' + +'It is not so much that' said Leonard, low and sadly; 'but I began to +have a hope, and I see it won't do.' + +'What do you mean, my dear boy? what have you been doing?' + +'I have been into my old cell again,' said he, under his breath; and +Dr. May, leaning on his arm, felt his nervous tremor. + +'Prisoner of the Bastille, eh, Leonard!' + +'I had long been thinking that I ought to go and call on Mr. Reeve and +thank him.' + +'But he does not receive calls there.' + +'No,' said Leonard, as if the old impulse to confidence had returned; +'but I have never been so happy since, as I was in that cell, and I +wanted to see it again. Not only for that reason,' he added, 'but +something that Mr. Seaford said brought back a remembrance of what Mr. +Wilmot told me when my life was granted--something about the whole +being preparation for future work--something that made me feel ready +for anything. It had all gone from me--all but the remembrance of the +sense of a blessed Presence and support in that condemned cell, and I +thought perhaps ten minutes in the same place would bring it back to +me.' + +'And did they?' + +'No, indeed. As soon as the door was locked, it all went back to July +1860, and worse. Things that were mercifully kept from me then, mere +abject terror of death, and of that kind of death--the disgrace--the +crowds--all came on me, and with them, the misery all in one of those +nine months; the loathing of those eternal narrow waved white walls, +the sense of their closing in, the sickening of their sameness, the +longing for a voice, the other horror of thinking myself guilty. The +warder said it was ten minutes--I thought it hours! I was quite done +for, and could hardly get down-stairs. I knew the spirit was being +crushed out of me by the solitary period, and it is plain that I must +think of nothing that needs nerve or presence of mind!' he added, in a +tone of quiet dejection. + +'You are hardly in a state to judge of your nerve, after sleepless +nights and the loss of your teeth. Besides, there is a difference +between the real and imaginary, as you have found; you who, in the +terrible time of real anticipation, were a marvel in that very point of +physical resolution.' + +'I could keep thoughts out _then_,' he said; 'I was master of myself.' + +'You mean that the solitude unhinged you? Yet I always found you brave +and cheerful.' + +'The sight of you made me so. Nay, the very sight or sound of any +human being made a difference! And now you all treat me as if I had +borne it well, but I did not. It was all that was left me to do, but +indeed I did not.' + +'What do you mean by bearing it well?' said the Doctor, in the tone in +which he would have questioned a patient. + +'Living--as--as I thought I should when I made up my mind to life +instead of death,' said Leonard; 'but all that went away. I let it +slip, and instead came everything possible of cowardice, and hatred, +and bitterness. I lost my hold of certainty what I had done or what I +had not, and the horror, the malice, the rebellion that used to come on +me in that frightful light white silent place, were unutterable! I +wish you would not have me among you all, when I know there can hardly +be a wicked thought that did not surge over me.' + +'To be conquered.' + +'To conquer me,' he said, in utter lassitude. + +'Stay. Did they ever make you offend wilfully?' + +'There was nothing I could offend in.' + +'Your tasks of work, for instance.' + +'I often had a savage frantic abhorrence of it, but I always brought +myself to do it, and it did me good; it would have done more if it had +been less mechanical. But it often was only the instinct of not +degrading myself like the lowest prisoners.' + +'Well, there was your conduct to the officials.' + +'Oh! one could not help being amenable to them, they were so kind. +Besides, these demons never came over me except when I was alone.' + +'And one thing more, Leonard; did these demons, as you well call them, +invade your devotions?' + +'Never,' he answered readily; then recalling himself--'not at the set +times I mean, though they often made me think the comfort I had there +mere hypocrisy and delusion, and be nearly ready to give over what +depended on myself. Chapel was always joy; it brought change and the +presence of others, if nothing else; and that would in itself have been +enough to banish the hauntings.' + +'And they did not interfere with your own readings?' said the Doctor, +preferring this to the word that he meant. + +'I could not let them,' said Leonard. 'There was always refreshment; +it was only before and after that all would seem mockery, profanation, +or worse still, delusion and superstition--as if my very condition +proved that there was none to hear.' + +'The hobgoblin had all but struck the book out of Christian's hand,' +said Dr. May, pressing his grasp on Leonard's shuddering arm. 'You are +only telling me that you have been in the valley of the shadow of +death; you have not told me that you lost the rod and staff.' + +'No, I must have been helped, or I should not have my senses now.' + +And perhaps it was the repressed tremor of voice and frame rather than +the actual words that induced the Doctor to reply--'That is the very +point, Leonard. It is the temptation to us doctors to ascribe too much +to the physical and too little to the moral; and perhaps you would be +more convinced by Mr. Wilmot than by me; but I do verily believe that +all the anguish you describe could and would have been insanity if +grace had not been given you to conquer it. It was a tottering of the +mind upon its balance; and, humanly speaking, it was the self-control +that enabled you to force yourself to your duties, and find relief in +them, which saved you. I should just as soon call David conquered +because the "deep waters had come in over his soul."' + +'You can never know how true those verses are,' said Leonard, with +another shiver. + +'At least I know to what kind of verses they all lead,' said the +Doctor; 'and I am sure they led you, and that you had more and brighter +hours than you now remember.' + +'Yes, it was not all darkness. I believe there were more spaces than I +can think of now, when I was very fairly happy, even at Pentonville; +and at Portland all did well with me, till last spring, and then the +news from Massissauga brought back all the sense of blood-guiltiness, +and it was worse than ever.' + +'And that sense was just as morbid as your other horrible doubt, about +which you asked me when we were coming home.' + +'I see it was now, but that was the worst time of all--the monotony of +school, and the sense of hypocrisy and delusion in teaching--the +craving to confess, if only for the sake of the excitement, and the +absolute inability to certify myself whether there was any crime to +confess--I can't talk about it. And even chapel was not the same +refreshment, when one was always teaching a class in it, as coming in +fresh only for the service. Even that was failing me, or I thought it +was! No, I do not know how I could have borne it much longer.' + +'No, Leonard, you could not; Tom and I both saw that in your looks, and +quite expected to hear of your being ill; but, you see, we are never +tried above what we can bear!' + +'No,' said Leonard, very low, as if he had been much struck; and then +he added, after an interval, 'It is over now, and there's no need to +recollect it except in the way of thanks. The question is what it has +left me fit for. You know, Dr. May,' and his voice trembled, 'my first +and best design in the happy time of Coombe, the very crown of my life, +was this very thing--to be a missionary. But for myself, I might be in +training now. If I had only conquered my temper, and accepted that +kind offer of Mr. Cheviot's, all this would never have been, and I +should have had my youth, my strength, and spirit, my best, to devote. +I turned aside because of my obstinacy, against warning, and now how +can I offer?--one who has stood at the bar, lived among felons, thought +such thoughts--the released convict with a disgraced name! It would +just be an insult to the ministry! No, I know how prisoners feel. I +can deal with them. Let me go back to what I am trained for. My nerve +and spirit have been crushed out; I am fit for nothing else. The worst +thing that has remained with me is this nervousness--cowardice is its +right name--starting at the sound of a door, or at a fresh face--a +pretty notion that I should land among savages!' + +Dr. May had begun an answer about the remains of the terrible ordeal +that might in itself have been part of Leonard's training, when they +reached the house door. + +These nerves, or whatever they were, did indeed seem disposed to have +no mercy on their owner; for no sooner had he sat down in the warm +drawing-room, than such severe pain attacked his face as surpassed even +his powers of concealment. Dr. May declared it was all retribution for +his unfriendliness in never seeking sympathy or advice, which might +have proved the evil to be neuralgia and saved the teeth, instead of +aggravating the evil by their extraction. + +'I suspect he has been living on nothing,' said Dr. May, when, in a +lull of the pain, Leonard had gone to bed. + +'Papa!' exclaimed Gertrude, 'don't you know what Richard's housekeeping +is? Don't you recollect his taking that widow for a cook because she +was such a good woman?' + +'I don't think it was greatly Richard's fault,' said Ethel. 'I can +hardly get Leonard to make a sparrow's meal here, and most likely his +mouth has been too uncomfortable.' + +'Ay, that never seeking sympathy is to me one of the saddest parts of +all. He has been so long shut within himself, that he can hardly feel +that any one cares for him.' + +'He does so more than at first,' said Ethel. + +'Much more. I have heard things from him to-night that are a +revelation to me. Well, he has come through, and I believe he is +recovering it; but the three threads of our being have all had a +terrible wrench, and if body and mind come out unscathed, it is the +soundness of the spirit that has brought them through.' + +A sleepless night and morning of violent pain ensued; but, at least +thus much had been gained--that there was no refusal of sympathy, but a +grateful acceptance of kindness, so that it almost seemed a recurrence +to the Coombe days; and as the pain lessened, the enjoyment of Ethel's +attendance seemed to grow upon Leonard in the gentle languor of relief; +and when, as she was going out for the afternoon, she came back to see +if he was comfortable in his easy-chair by the drawing-room fire, and +put a screen before his face, he looked up and thanked her with a +smile--the first she had seen. + +When she returned, the winter twilight had closed in, and he was +leaning back in the same attitude, but started up, so that she asked if +he had been asleep. + +'I don't know--I have seen her again.' + +'Seen whom?' + +'Minna, my dear little Minna!' + +'Dreamt of her?' + +'I cannot tell,' he said; 'I only know she was there; and then rising +and standing beside Ethel, he continued--'Miss May, you remember the +night of her death?' + +'Easter Eve?' + +'Well,' continued he, 'that night I saw her.' + +'I remember,' said Ethel, 'that Mr. Wilmot told us you knew at once +what he was come to tell you.' + +'It was soon after I was in bed, the lights were out, and I do not +think I was asleep, when she was by me--not the plump rosy thing she +used to be, but tall and white, her hair short and waving back, her +eyes--oh! so sad and wistful, but glad too--and her hands held out--and +she said, "Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope. O +Leonard, dear, it does not hurt."' + +'It was the last thing she did say.' + +'Yes, so Ave's letter said. And observe, one o'clock in Indiana is +half-past nine with us. Then her hair--I wrote to ask, for you know it +used to be in long curls, but it had been cut short, like what I saw. +Surely, surely, it was the dear loving spirit allowed to show itself to +me before going quite away to her home!' + +'And you have seen her again?' + +'Just now'--his voice was even lower than before--'since it grew dark, +as I sat there. I had left off reading, and had been thinking, when +there she was, all white but not wistful now; "Leonard, dear," she +said, "it has not hurt;" and then, "He brought me forth, He brought me +forth even to a place of liberty, because He had a favour unto me."' + +'O, Leonard, it must have made you very happy.' + +'I am very thankful for it,' he said. Then after a pause, 'You will +not speak of it--you will not tell me to think it the action of my own +mind upon itself.' + +'I can only believe it a great blessing come to comfort you and cheer +you,' said Ethel: 'cheer you as with the robin-note, as papa called it, +that sung all through the worst of times! Leonard, I am afraid you +will think it unkind of me to have withheld it so long, but papa told +me you could not yet bear to hear of Minna. I have her last present +for you in charge--the slippers she was working for that eighteenth +birthday of yours. She would go on, and we never knew whether she +fully understood your danger; it was always "they could not hurt you," +and at last, when they were finished, and I had to make her understand +that you could not have them, she only looked up to me and said, +"Please keep them, and give them to him when he comes home." She never +doubted, first or last.' + +Ethel, who had daily been watching for the moment, took out the parcel +from the drawer, with the address in the childish writing, the date in +her own. + +Large tears came dropping from Leonard's eyes, as he undid the paper, +and looked at the work, then said, 'Last time I saw that pattern, my +mother was working it! Dear child! Yes, Miss May, I am glad you did +not give them to me before. I always felt as if my blow had glanced +aside and fallen on Minna; but somehow I feel more fully how happy she +is!' + +'She was the messenger of comfort throughout to Ave and to Ella,' said +Ethel, 'and well she may be to you still.' + +'I have dreaded to ask,' said Leonard; 'but there was a line in one +letter I was shown that made me believe that climate was not the whole +cause.' + +'No,' said Ethel; 'at least the force to resist it had been lost, as +far as we can see. It was a grievous error of your brother's to think +her a child who could forget. She pined to hear of you, and that one +constant effort of faith and love was too much, and wasted away the +little tender body. But oh, Leonard, how truly she can say that her +captivity is over, and that it has not hurt!' + +'It has not hurt,' musingly repeated Leonard. 'No, she is beyond the +reach of distracting temptations and sorrows; it has only made her +brighter to have suffered what it breaks one's heart to think of. It +has not hurt.' + +'Nothing from without does hurt!' said Ethel, 'unless one lets it.' + +'Hurt what?' he asked. + +'The soul,' returned Ethel. 'Mind and body may be hurt, and it is not +possible to know one's mind from one's soul while one is alive, but as +long as the will and faith are right, to think the soul can be hurt +seems to me like doubting our Protector.' + +'But if the will have been astray?' + +'Then while we repent, we must not doubt our Redeemer.' + +Dickie ran in at the moment, calling for Aunt Ethel. She had dropped +her muff. Leonard picked it up, and as she took it, he wrung her hand +with an earnestness that showed his gratitude. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + + Tender as woman; manliness and meekness + In him were so allied, + That those who judged him by his strength or weakness, + Knew but a single side.--J. WHITTIER + + +It promised to be a brilliant Christmas at Stoneborough, though little +Dickie regarded the feast coming in winter as a perverse English +innovation, and was grand on the superiority of supple jack above +holly. Decorations had been gradually making their way into the +Minster, and had advanced from being just tolerated to being absolutely +delighted in; but Dr. Spencer, with his knack of doing everything, was +sorely missed as a head, and Mr. Wilmot insisted that the May forces +should come down and work the Minster, on the 23rd, leaving the Eve for +the adornment of Cocksmoor, after the return of its incumbent. Mary, +always highly efficient in that line, joined them; and Leonard's +handiness and dexterity in the arts relating to carpentry were as +quietly useful as little Dickie's bright readiness in always handing +whatever was wanting. + +The work was pretty well over, when Aubrey, who had just arrived with +leave for a week, came down, and made it desultory. Dickie, whose +imagination had been a good deal occupied by his soldier uncle, wanted +to study him, and Gertrude was never steady when Aubrey was near. +Presently it was discovered that the door to the tower stair was open. +The ascent of the tower was a feat performed two or three times in a +lifetime at Stoneborough. Harry had once beguiled Ethel and Mary up, +but Gertrude had never gone, and was crazy to go, as was likewise +Dickie. Moreover, Aubrey and Gertrude insisted that it was only proper +that Ethel should pay her respects to her prototype the gurgoyle, they +wanted to compare her with him, and ordered her up; in fact their +spirits were too high for them to be at ease within the church, and +Ethel, maugre her thirty years, partook of the exhilaration enough to +delight in an extraordinary enterprise, and as nothing remained but a +little sweeping up, they left this to the superintendence of Mary and +Mr. Wilmot, and embarked upon the narrow crumbling steps of the spiral +stair, that led up within an unnatural thickening of one of the great +piers that supported the tower, at the intersection of nave and +transepts. After a long period of dust and darkness, and the monotony +of always going with the same leg foremost, came a narrow door, leading +to the ringers' region, with all their ropes hanging down. Ethel was +thankful when she had got her youngsters past without an essay on them; +she doubted if she should have succeeded, but for Leonard's being an +element of soberness. Other little doors ensued, leading out to the +various elevations of roof, which were at all sorts of different +heights, the chancel lower than the nave, and one transept than the +other; besides that the nave had both triforium and clerestory. It was +a sort of labyrinth, and they wondered whether any one, except perhaps +the plumber's foreman knew his way among all the doors. Then there was +one leading inwards to the eight bells--from whose fascinations Ethel +thought Dickie never would be taken away--and still more charming, to +the clock, which clanged a tremendous three, as they were in the act of +looking at it, causing Leonard to make a great start, and then colour +painfully. It was hard to believe, as Daisy said, that the old tower, +that looked so short and squat below, could be so very high when you +came to go up it; but the glimpses of the country, through the little +loop-hole windows, were most inviting. At last, Aubrey, who was +foremost, pushed up the trap-door, and emerged; but, as Dickie followed +him, exclaimed, 'Here we are; but you ladies in crinolines will never +follow! You'll stick fast for ever, and Leonard can't pass, so there +you'll all have to stay.' + +'Aunt Daisy will sail away like a balloon,' added Dickie, roguishly, +looking back at her, and holding on his cap. + +But Gertrude vigorously compressed her hoop, and squeezed through, +followed by Ethel and Leonard. There was a considerable space, square, +leaded and protected by the battlemented parapet, with a deep moulding +round, and a gutter resulting in the pipe smoked by Ethel's likeness, +the gurgoyle. Of course the first thing Dickie and Aubrey did was to +look for the letters that commemorated the ascent of H. M., E. M., M. +M., in 1852; and it was equally needful that R. R. M., if nobody else, +should likewise leave a record on the leads. There was an R. M. of +1820, that made it impossible to gainsay him. The view was not grand +in itself, but there was a considerable charm in looking down on the +rooks in their leafless trees, cawing over their old nests, and in +seeing the roofs of the town; far away, too, the gray Welsh hills, and +between, the country lying like a map, with rivers traced in light +instead of black. Leonard stood still, his face turned towards the +greenest of the meadows, and the river where it dashed over the wheel +of a mill. + +'Have you seen it again?' asked Ethel, as she stood by him, and watched +his eye. + +'No. I am rather glad to see it first from so far off,' he answered, +'I mean to walk over some day.' + +'Ethel,' called Gertrude, 'is this your gurgoyle? His profile, as seen +from above, isn't flattering.' + +'O, Daisy, don't lean over so far.' + +'Quite safe;' but at that instant a gust of wind caught her hat, she +grasped at it, but only saved it from whirling away, and made it fall +short. 'There, Ethel, your image has put on my hat; and henceforth +will appear to the wondering city in a black hat and feather!' + +'I'll get it,' exclaimed the ever ready Dickie; and in another moment +he had mounted the parapet and was reaching for it. Whether it were +Gertrude's shriek, or the natural recoil away from the grasping hand, +or that his hold on the side of the adjoining pinnacle was insecure, he +lost his balance, and with a sudden cry, vanished from their eyes. + +The frightful consternation of that moment none of those four could +ever bear to recall; the next, they remembered that he could only fall +as far as the roof, but it was Ethel and Leonard alone who durst press +to the parapet, and at the same moment a cry came up-- + +'Oh, come! I'm holding on, but it cuts! Oh, come!' + +Ethel saw, some five-and-twenty feet below, the little boy upon the +transept roof, a smooth slope of lead, only broken by a skylight, a bit +of churchwarden's architecture still remaining. The child had gone +crashing against the window, and now lay back clinging to its iron +frame. Behind him was the entire height within to the church floor, +before him a rapid slope, ended by a course of stone, wide enough +indeed to walk on, but too narrow to check the impetus from slipping +down the inclination above. Ethel's brain swam; she just perceived +that both Aubrey and Leonard had disappeared, and then had barely power +to support Gertrude, who reeled against her, giddy with horror. 'Oh +look, look, Ethel,' she cried; 'I can't. Where is he?' + +'There! Yes, hold on, Dickie, they are coming. Look up--not +down--hold on!' + +A door opened, and out dashed Aubrey! Alas! it was on the nave +clerestory; he might as well have been a hundred, miles off. Another +door, and Leonard appeared, and on the right level, but with a giddy +unguarded ridge on which to pass round the angle of the tower. She saw +his head pass safely round, but, even then, the horror was not over. +Could he steady himself sufficiently to reach the child, or might not +Dickie lose hold too soon? It was too close below for sight, the +moulding and gurgoyle impeded her agonized view, but she saw the +child's look of joyful relief, she heard the steady voice, 'Wait, don't +let go yet. There,' and after a few more sounds, came up a shout, 'all +right!' Infinitely relieved, she had to give her whole attention to +poor Gertrude, who, overset by the accident, giddy with the attempt to +look over, horrified by the danger, confused and distressed by the hair +that came wildly flapping about her head and face, and by the puffs of +wind at her hoop, had sunk down in the centre of the little leaden +square, clinging with all her might to the staff of the weathercock, +and feeling as if the whole tower were rocking with her, absolutely +seeing the battlements dance. How was she ever to be safely got down +the rickety ladder leading to the crumbling stone stair? Ethel knelt +by her, twisted up the fluttering hair, bade her shut her eyes and +compose her thoughts, and then called over the battlements to Aubrey, +who, confused by the shock, continued to emerge at wrong doors and lose +himself on the roofs, and was like one in a bad dream, nearly as much +dizzied as his sister, to whose help he came the more readily, as the +way up was the only one plain before him. + +The detention would have been more dreadful to Ethel had she known all +that was passing below, and that when the little boy, at Leonard's +sign, lowered himself towards the out-reaching arms of the young man, +who was steadying himself against the wall of the tower, it was with a +look of great pain, and leaving a trail of blood behind him. When, at +length, he stood at the angle, Leonard calmly said, 'Now go before me, +round that corner, in at the door. Hold by the wall, I'll hold your +shoulder.' The boy implicitly obeyed, the notion of giddiness never +seemed to occur to him, and both safely came to the little door, on the +threshold of which Leonard sat down, and lifting him on his knee, asked +where he was hurt? 'My leg,' said Dickie, 'the glass was running in +all the time, and I could not move; but it does not hurt so much now.' + +Perhaps not; but a large piece of glass had broken into the slender +little calf, and Leonard steadied himself to withdraw it, as, happily, +the fragment was large enough to give a hold for his hand. The sensible +little fellow, without a word, held up the limb across Leonard's knee, +and threw an arm round his neck, to hold himself still, just saying, +'Thank you,' when it was over. + +'Did it hurt much, Dickie?' + +'Not very much,' he answered; 'but how it bleeds! Where's Aunt Ethel?' + +'On the tower. She will come in a moment,' said Leonard, startled by +the exceeding flow of blood, and binding the gash round with his +handkerchief. 'Now, I'll carry you down.' + +The boy did not speak all the weary winding way down the dark stairs; +but Leonard heard gasps of oppression, and felt the head lean on his +shoulder; moreover, a touch convinced him that the handkerchief was +soaking, nay dripping, and when he issued at length into the free air +of the church, the face was deadly white. No one was near, and Leonard +laid him on a bench. He was still conscious, and looked up with +languid eyes. 'Mayn't I go home?' he said, faintly; 'Aunt Ethel!' + +'Let me try to stop this bleeding first,' said Leonard. 'My dear +little man, if you will only be quiet, I think I can.' + +Leonard took the handkerchief from his throat, and wound it to its +tightest just above the hurt, Dickie remonstrating for a moment with, +'That's not the place. It is too tight.' + +'It will cut off the blood from coming,' said Leonard; and in the same +understanding way, the child submitted, feebly asking, 'Shall I bleed +to death? Mamma will be so sorry!' + +'I trust--I hope not,' said Leonard; he durst utter no encouragement, +for the life-blood continued to pour forth unchecked, and the next +murmur was, 'I'm so sick. I can't say my prayers. Papa! Mamma!' +Already, however, Leonard had torn down a holly bough, and twisted off +(he would have given worlds for a knife) a short stout stick, which he +thrust into one of the folds of the ligature, and pulled it much +tighter, so that his answer was, 'Thank God, Dickie, that will do! the +bleeding has stopped. You must not mind if it hurts for a little +while.' + +An ejaculation of 'Poor little dear,' here made him aware of the +presence of the sexton's wife; but in reply to her offer to carry him +in to Mrs. Cheviot's, Dickie faintly answered, 'Please let me go home;' +and Leonard, 'Yes, I will take him home. Tell Miss May it is a cut +from the glass, I am taking him to have it dressed, and will bring him +home. Now, my dear little patient fellow, can you put your arms round +my neck?' + +Sensible, according to both meanings of the word, Dickie clasped his +friend's neck, and laid his head on his shoulder, not speaking again +till he found Leonard was not turning towards the High Street, when he +said, 'That is not the way home.' + +'No, Dickie, but we must get your leg bound up directly, and the +hospital is the only place where we can be sure of finding any one to +do it. I will take you home directly afterwards.' + +'Thank you,' said the courteous little gentleman; and in a few minutes +more Leonard had rung the bell, and begged the house surgeon would come +at once to Dr. May's grandson. A few drops of stimulant much revived +Dickie, and he showed perfect trust and composure, only holding +Leonard's hands, and now and then begging to know what they were doing, +while he was turned over on his face for the dressing of the wound, +bearing all without a sound, except an occasional sobbing gasp, +accompanied by a squeeze of Leonard's finger. Just as this business +had been completed, the surgeon exclaimed, 'There's Dr. May's step,' +and Dickie at once sat up, as his grandfather hurried in, nearly as +pale as the boy himself. 'O, grandpapa, never mind, it is almost well +now; and has Aunt Daisy got her hat?' + +'What is it, my dear? what have you been doing?' said the Doctor, +looking in amazement from the boy to Leonard, who was covered with +blood. 'They told me you had fallen off the Minster tower!' + +'Yes I did,' said Dickie; 'I reached after Aunt Daisy's hat, but I fell +on the roof, and I was sliding, sliding down to the wall, but there was +a window, and the glass broke and cut me, but I got my feet against the +bottom of it, and held on by the iron bar, till Leonard came and took +me down;' and he lay back on the pillow, quiet and exhausted, but +bright-eyed and attentive as ever, listening to Leonard's equally brief +version of the adventure. + +'Didn't he save my life, grandpapa?' said the boy, at the close. + +'Twice over, you may say,' added the surgeon, and his words as to the +nature of the injury manifested that all had depended on the immediate +stoppage of the haemorrhage. With so young a child, delay from +indecision or want of resource would probably have been fatal. + +'There would have been no doing anything, if this little man had not +been so good and sensible,' said Leonard, leaning over him. + +'And I did not cry. You will tell papa I did not cry,' said Dickie, +eagerly, but only half gratified by such girlish treatment as that +agitated kiss of his grandfather, after being a little bit of a hero; +but then Dickie's wondering eyes really beheld such another kiss +bestowed over his head upon Leonard, and quite thought there were tears +on grandpapa's cheeks. Perhaps old gentlemen could do what was +childish in little boys. + +Dickie was to be transported home. He wished to be carried by Leonard, +but the brougham was at the door, and he had to content himself with +being laid on the seat, with his friend to watch over him, the Doctor +pointing out that Leonard was a savage spectacle for the eyes of +Stoneborough, and hurrying home by the short cut. Ethel met him in +extreme alarm. Gertrude's half-restored senses had been totally +scattered by the sight of the crimson traces on the spot of Leonard's +operations, and she had been left to Mary's care; while Ethel and +Aubrey had hastened home, and not finding any one there, the latter had +dashed off to Bankside, whilst Ethel waited, arranging the little +fellow's bed, and trying to trust to Leonard's message, and not let her +mind go back to that fearful day of like waiting, sixteen years ago, +nor on to what she might have to write to Norman and Meta of the charge +they had sent to her. Her father's cheerful face at first was a pang, +and then came the rebound of gladness at the words. 'He is coming. No +fear for him, gallant little man--thanks for God's mercy, and to that +noble fellow, Leonard.' + +At the same moment Aubrey burst in--'No one at Wright's--won't be in no +one knows how long! What is to become of us?' And he sank down on a +chair. + +'Ay, what would become of any of us, if no one had a better pate than +yours, sir?' said Dr. May. 'You have one single perfection, and you +had better make the most of it--that of knowing how to choose your +friends. There's the carriage.' + +After a moment's delay, the cushion was lifted out with the little +wounded cavalier, still like a picture; for, true to his humming-bird +nature, a few scarcely-conscious movements of his hands had done away +with looks of disarray--the rich glossy curls were scarcely disordered, +and no stains of blood had adhered to the upper part of his small +person, whereas Leonard was a ghastly spectacle from head to foot. + +'So, Master Dicky-bird,' said Dr. May, as they rested him a moment on +the hall-table, 'give me that claw of yours. Yes, you'll do very well, +only you must go to bed now; and, mind, whatever you did when you were +in Fairy-land, we don't fly here in Stoneborough--and it does not +answer.' + +'I am not to go to bed for being naughty, am I?' said Dickie, his brave +white lip for the first time quivering; 'indeed, I did not know it was +wrong.' + +The poor little man's spirits were so exhausted, that the reassurance +on this head absolutely brought the much-dreaded tears into his eyes; +and he could only be carried up gently to his bed, and left to be +undressed by his aunt, so great an aggravation to the troubles of this +small fragment of independence, that it had almost overset his courtesy +and self-command. There was no contenting him till he had had all +traces of the disaster washed from face and hands, and the other foot; +and then, over his tea, though his little clear chirrup was weak, he +must needs give a lucid description of Leonard's bandaging, in the +midst of which came a knock at the door, and a gasping voice--'I'll be +quite quiet--indeed I will! Only just let me come in and kiss him, and +see that he is safe.' + +'O, Auntie Daisy, have you got your hat?' + +Wan, tear-stained, dishevelled, Gertrude bit her lip to save an +outburst, gave the stipulated kiss, and retreated to Mary, who stood in +the doorway like a dragon. + +'Auntie Daisy has been crying,' said Dickie, turning his eyes back to +Ethel. 'Please tell her I shall be well very soon, and then I'll go up +again and try to get her hat, if I may have a hook and line--I'll tell +you how.' + +'My dear Dickie, you had better lie down, and settle it as you go to +sleep,' said Ethel, her flesh creeping at the notion of his going up +again. + +'But if I go to sleep now, I shall not know when to say my prayers.' + +'Had you not better do so now, Dickie?' + +Next came the child's scruple about not kneeling; but at last he was +satisfied, if Aunt Ethel would give him his little book out of the +drawer--that little delicately-illuminated book with the pointed +writing and the twisted cipher, Meta's hand in every touch. Presently +he looked up, and said: 'Aunt Ethel, isn't there a verse somewhere +about giving the angels charge? I want you to find it for me, for I +think they helped me to hold on, and helped Leonard upon the narrow +place. You know they are sure to be flying about the church.' + +Ethel read the ninety-first Psalm to him. He listened all through, and +thanked her; but in a few minutes more he was fast asleep. As she left +the room she met Leonard coming down and held out her hands to him with +a mute intensity of thanks, telling him, in a low voice, what Dickie +had said of the angels' care. + +'I am sure it was true,' said Leonard. 'What else could have saved the +brave child from dizziness?' + +Down-stairs Leonard's reception from Dr. May was, 'Pretty well for a +nervous man!' + +'Anybody can do what comes to hand.' + +'I beg your pardon. Some bodies lose their wits, like your friend +Aubrey, who tells me, if he had stood still, he would have fainted +away. As long as nerves can do what comes to hand, they need not be +blamed, even if they play troublesome tricks at other times, as I +suspect they are doing now.' + +'Yes; my face is aching a little.' + +'Not to say a great deal,' said the Doctor. 'Well, I am not going to +pity you; for I think you can feel to-day that most of us would be glad +to be in your place!' + +'I am very glad,' said Leonard. + +'You remember that child's parents? No, you have grown so old, that I +am always forgetting what a boy you ought to be; but if you had ever +seen the tenderness of his father, and that sunbeam of a Meta, you +would know all the more how we bless you for what you have spared them. +Leonard, if anything had been needed to do so, you have won to yourself +such a brother in Norman as you have in Aubrey!' + +Meantime Ethel was soothing Gertrude, to whom the shock had been in +proportion to the triumphal heights of her careless gaiety. Charles +Cheviot had come in while his wife was restoring her; and he had +plainly said what no one else would have intimated to the spoilt +darling--that the whole accident had been owing to her recklessness, +and that he had always expected some fatal consequences to give her a +lesson! + +Gertrude had been fairly cowed by such unwonted treatment; and when he +would only take her home on condition of composure and self-command, +her trembling limbs obliged her to accept his arm, and he subdued her +into meek silence, and repression of all agitation, till she was safe +in her room, when she took a little bit of revenge upon Mary by crying +her heart out, and declaring it was very cruel of Charles, when she did +not mean it. + +And Mary, on her side, varied between assurances that Charles did not +mean it, and that he was quite right--the sister now predominating in +her, and now the wife. + +'Mean what?' said Ethel, sitting down among them before they were aware. + +'That--that it was all my fault!' burst out Gertrude. 'If it was, I +don't see what concern it is of his!' + +'But, Daisy dear, he is your brother!' + +'I've got plenty of brothers of my own! I don't count those +people-in-law--' + +'She's past reasoning with, Mary,' said Ethel. 'Leave her to me; she +will come to her senses by and by!' + +'But indeed, Ethel, you won't be hard on her? I am sure dear Charles +never thought what he said would have been taken in this way.' + +'Why did he say it then?' cried Gertrude, firing up. + +'My dear Mary, do please go down, before we get into the pitiable +last-word condition!' + +That condition was reached already; but in Ethel's own bed-room Mary's +implicit obedience revived, and away she went, carrying off with her +most of what was naughtiness in Gertrude. + +'Ethel--Ethel dear!' cried she at once, 'I know you are coming down on +me. I deserve it all, only Charles had no business to say it. And +wasn't it very cruel and unkind when he saw the state I was in?' + +'I suppose Charles thought it was the only chance of giving a lesson, +and therefore true kindness. Come, Daisy, is this terrible fit of +pride a proper return for such a mercy as we have had to-day?' + +'If I didn't say so to myself a dozen times on the way home!--only Mary +came and made me so intolerably angry, by expecting me to take it as if +it had come from you or papa.' + +'Ah, Daisy, that is the evil! If I had done my duty by you all, this +would not have been!' + +'Now, Ethel, when you want to be worse, and more cutting than anything, +you go and tell me my faults are yours! For pity's sake, don't come to +that!' + +'But I must, Daisy, for it is true. Oh, if you had only been a naughty +little girl!' + +'What--and had it out then?' said Daisy, who was lying across the bed, +and put her golden head caressingly on Ethel's knee. 'If I had plagued +you then, you would have broken me in out of self-defence.' + +'Something like it,' said Ethel. 'But you know, Daisy, the little last +treasure that mamma left did always seem something we could not make +enough of, and it didn't make you fractious or tiresome--at least not +to us--till we thought you could not be spoilt. And then I didn't see +the little faults so soon as I ought; and I'm only an elder sister, +after all, without any authority.' + +'No, you're not to say that, Ethel, I mind your authority, and always +will. You are never a bother.' + +'Ah, that's it, Daisy! If I had only been a bother, you might never +have got ahead of yourself.' + +'Then you really think, like Charles Cheviot, that it was my doing, +Ethel?' + +'What do you think yourself?' + +Great tears gathered in the corners of the blue eyes. Was it weak in +Ethel not to bear the sight? + +'My poor Daisy,' she said, 'yours is not all the burden! I ought not +to have taken up such a giddy company, or else I should have kept the +boy under my hand. But he is so discreet and independent, that it is +more like having a gentleman staying in the house, than a child under +one's charge; and one forgets how little he is; and I was as much off +my balance with spirits as you. It was the flightiness of us all; and +we have only to be thankful, and to be sobered for another time. I am +afraid the pride about being reproved is really the worse fault.' + +'And what do you want me to do?--to go and tell papa all about it? I +mean to do that, of course; it is the only way to get comforted.' + +'Of course it is; but--' + +'You horrid creature, Ethel! I'll never say you aren't a bother again. +You really do want me to go and tell Charles Cheviot that he was quite +right, and Mary that I'm ready to be trampled on by all my +brothers-in-law in a row! Well, there won't be any more. You'll never +give me one--that's one comfort!' said Gertrude, wriggling herself up, +and flinging an arm round Ethel's neck. 'As long as you don't do that, +I'll do anything for you.' + +'Not for me.' + +'Well, you know that, you old thing! only you might take it as a +personal compliment. I really will do it; for, of course, one could +not keep one's Christmas otherwise!' It was rather too business-like; +but elders are often surprised to find what was a hard achievement in +their time a matter of course to their pupils--almost lightly passed +over. + +Dickie slept till morning, when he was found very pale, but lively and +good-humoured as ever. Mr. Wright, coming up to see him, found the +hurt going on well, and told Ethel, that if she could keep him in bed +and undisturbed for the day, it would be better and safer; but that if +he became restless and fretful, there would be no great risk in taking +him to a sofa. Restless and fretful! Mr. Wright little knew the +discretion, or the happy power of accommodation to circumstances, that +had descended to Meta's firstborn. + +He was quite resigned as soon as the explanation had been +made--perhaps, indeed, there was an instinctive sense, that to be +dressed and moved would be fatiguing; but he had plenty of smiles and +animation for his visitors, and, when propped up in bed, was full of +devices for occupation. Moreover he acquired a slave; he made a +regular appropriation of Leonard, whom he quickly perceived to be the +most likely person to assist in his great design of constructing a +model of the clock in the Minster tower, for the edification of his +little brother Harry. Leonard worked away at the table by the bed-side +with interest nearly equal to the child's; and when wire and cardboard +were wanting, he put aside all his dislike to facing the Stoneborough +streets and tradesmen in open day, and, at Dickie's request, sallied +forth in quest of the materials. And when the bookseller made +inquiries after the boy, Leonard, in the fulness of his heart, replied +freely and in detail--nay, he was so happy in the little man's +well-doing, that he was by no means disconcerted even by a full +encounter of Mrs. Harvey Anderson in the street, but answered all her +inquiries, in entire oblivion of all but the general rejoicing in +little Dickie's wonderful escape. + +'Well,' said Aubrey to his sisters, after a visit to his nephew's room, +'Dickie has the best right to him, certainly, to-day. It is an +absolute appropriation! They were talking away with all their might +when I came up, but came to a stop when I went in, and Master Dick sent +me to the right-about.' + +The truth was, that Dickie, who, with eyes and ears all alive, had +gathered up some fragments of Leonard's history, had taken this +opportunity of catechizing him upon it in a manner that it was +impossible to elude, and which the child's pretty tact carried off, as +it did many things which would not have been tolerated if done rudely +and abruptly. Step by step, in the way of question and remark, he led +Leonard to tell him all that had happened; and when once fairly +embarked in the reminiscence, there was in it a kind of peace and +pleasure. The fresh, loving, wondering sympathy of the little boy was +unspeakably comforting; and besides, the bringing the facts in their +simple form to the grasp of the childish mind, restored their +proportion, which their terrible consequences had a good deal +disturbed. They seemed to pass from the present to the historical, and +to assume the balance that they took in the child's mind, coming newly +upon them. It was like bathing in a clear limpid stream, that washed +away the remains of morbid oppression. + +'I wish mamma was here,' said the little friend, at last. + +'Do you want her? Are you missing her, my dear?' + +'I miss her always,' said Dickie. 'But it was not that--only mamma +always makes everybody so happy; and she would be so fond of you, +because you have had so much trouble.' + +'But, Dickie, don't you think I am happy to be with your grandfather +and aunt, and hoping to see my own sisters very soon--your aunt, who +taught me what bore me through it all?' + +'Aunt Ethel?' cried Dickie, considering. 'I like Aunt Ethel very much; +but then she is not like mamma!' + +There could be no doubt that Leonard was much better and happier after +this adventure. Reluctantly, Dickie let him go back to Cocksmoor, +where his services in church-decking and in singing had been too much +depended on to be dispensed with; but he was to come back with Richard +for the family assembly on Christmas evening. + +Moreover, Gertrude, who was quite herself again, having made her peace +with the Cheviots, and endured the reception of her apologies, seized +on him to lay plots for a Christmas-tree, for the delectation of Dickie +on his sofa, and likewise of Margaret Rivers, and of the elite of the +Cocksmoor schools. He gave in to it heartily, and on the appointed day +worked with great spirit at the arrangements in the dining-room, where +Gertrude, favoured by the captive state of the little boy, conducted +her preparations, relegating the family meals to the schoolroom. + +This tree was made the occasion for furnishing Leonard with all the +little appliances of personal property that had been swept away from +him; and, after all, he was the most delighted of the party. The small +Charlie Cheviot had to be carried off shrieking; Margaret Rivers was +critical; even Cocksmoor was experienced in Christmas-trees; and +Dickie, when placed in the best situation, and asked if such trees grew +in New Zealand, made answer that he helped mamma to make one every year +for the Maori children. It was very kind in Aunt Daisy, he added, with +unfailing courtesy; but he was too zealous for his colony to be +dazzled--too utilitarian to be much gratified by any of his gifts, +excepting a knife of perilous excellence, which Aubrey, in contempt of +Stoneborough productions, had sacrificed from his own pocket at the +last moment. + +Leonard and Dickie together were in a state of great delight at the +little packets handed to the former; studs, purse, pencil-case, writing +materials; from Hector Ernescliffe, a watch, with the entreaty that his +gifts might not be regarded as unlucky; from Ethel, a photographic +book, with the cartes of his own family, whose old negatives had been +hunted up for the purpose; also a recent one of Dr. May with his +grandson on his knee, the duplicate of which was gone to New Zealand, +with the Doctor's inscription, 'The modern Cyropaedia, Astyages +confounded.' There was Richard, very good, young and pretty; there was +Ethel, exactly like the Doctor, 'only more so;' there was Gertrude, +like nobody, not even herself, and her brothers much in the same +predicament, there was the latest of Mr. Rivers's many likenesses, with +the cockatoo on his wrist, and there was the least truculent and +witchlike of the numerous attempts on Flora; there was Mrs. Cheviot, +broad-faced and smiling over her son, and Mr. and Mrs. Ernescliffe, +pinioning the limbs of their offspring, as in preparation for a family +holocaust; there was Dickie's mamma, unspoilable in her loveliness even +by photography, and his papa grown very bald and archidiaconal; there +was Ethel's great achievement of influence, Dr. Spencer, beautiful in +his white hair; there were the vicar and the late and present +head-masters. The pleasure excited by all these gifts far exceeded the +anticipations of their donors, it seemed as if they had fallen on the +very moment when they would convey a sense of home, welcome, and +restoration. He did not say much, but looked up with liquid lustrous +eyes, and earnest 'thank you's,' and caressingly handled and examined +the treasures over and over again, as they lay round him on Dickie's +couch. 'I suppose,' said the child to him, 'it is like Job, when all +his friends came to see him, and every one gave him a piece of money.' + +'He could hardly have enjoyed it more,' murmured Leonard, feeling the +restful capacity of happiness in the new possession of the child's +ardent love, and of the kind looks of all around, above all, of the one +presence that still gave him his chief sense of sunshine. The boyish +and romantic touch of passion had, as Ethel had long seen, been burnt +and seared away, and yet there was something left, something that, as +on this evening she felt, made his voice softer, his eye more +deferential, to her than to any one else. Perhaps she had once been +his guiding star; and if in the wild tempests of the night he had +learnt instead to direct his course by the "Brightest and best of the +sons of the morning," still the star would be prized and distinguished, +as the first and most honoured among inferior constellations. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + + Till now the dark was worn, and overhead + The lights of sunset and of sunrise mixed.--TENNYSON + + +At New York, Tom wrote a short letter to announce his safe arrival, and +then pushed on by railway into Indiana. Winter had completely set in; +and when he at length arrived at Winiamac, he found that a sleigh was a +far readier mode of conveyance to Massissauga than the wagons used in +summer. His drive, through the white cathedral-like arcades of forest, +hung with transparent icicles, and with the deep blue sky above, +becoming orange towards the west, was enjoyable; and even Massissauga +itself, when its skeleton trees were like their neighbours, embellished +by the pure snowy covering, looked less forlorn than when their death +contrasted with the exuberant life around. He stopped at the hotel, +left his baggage there, and after undergoing a catechism on his +personal affairs, was directed to Mr. Muller's house, and made his way +up its hard-trodden path of snow, towards the green door, at which he +knocked two or three times before it was opened by a woman, whose hair +and freckled skin were tinted nowhere but in Ireland. + +He made a step forward out of the cutting blast into the narrow entry, +and began to ask, 'Is Miss Ward here? I mean, can I see Miss Warden?' +when, as if at the sound of his voice, there rang from within the door +close by a shriek--one of the hoarse hysterical cries he had heard upon +the day of the inquest. Without a moment's hesitation, he pushed open +the door, and beheld a young lady in speechless terror hanging over the +stiffened figure on the couch--the eyes wide open, the limbs straight +and rigid. He sprang forward, and lifted her into a more favourable +posture, hastily asking for simple remedies likely to be at hand, and +producing a certain amount of revival for a few moments, though the +stiffness was not passing--nor was there evidence of consciousness. + +'Are you Leonard?' said Cora Muller, under her breath, in this brief +interval, gazing into his face with frightened puzzled eyes. + +'No; but I am come to tell her that he is free!' But the words were +cut short by another terrible access, of that most distressing kind +that stimulates convulsion; and again the terrified women instinctively +rendered obedience to the stranger in the measures he rapidly took, and +his words, 'hysteria--a form of hysteria,' were forced from him by the +necessity of lessening Cora's intense alarm, so as to enable her to be +effective. 'We must send for Dr. Laidlaw,' she began in the first +breathing moment, and again he looked up and said, 'I am a physician!' + +'Mr. Tom?' she asked with the faintest shadow of a smile; he bent his +head, and that was their introduction, broken again by another +frightful attack; and when quiescence, if not consciousness, was +regained, Tom knelt by the sofa, gazing with a sense of heart-rending +despair at the wasted features and thin hands, the waxen whiteness of +the cheek, and the tokens in which he clearly read long and consuming +illness as well as the overthrow of the sudden shock. + +'What is this?' he asked, looking up to Cora's beautiful anxious face. + +'Oh, she has been very sick, very sick,' she answered; 'it was an +attack of pleurisy; but she is getting better at last, though she will +not think so, and this news will make all well. Does she hear? Say it +again!' + +Tom shook his head, afraid of the sound of the name as yet, and +scarcely durst even utter the word 'Ella' above his breath. + +'She is gone out with Cousin Deborah to an apple bee,' was the +reassuring answer. 'She wanted change, poor child! Is she getting +better?' + +Averil was roused by a cough, the sound which tore Tom's heart by its +import, but he drew back out of her sight, and let Cora raise her, and +give her drink, in a soothing tender manner, that was evident +restoration. 'Cora dear, is it you?' she said, faintly; 'didn't I hear +some one else's voice? Didn't they say--?' and the shiver that crept +over her was almost a return of the hysteric fit. + +'We said he was free,' said Cora, holding her in her arms. + +'Free--yes, I know what that means--free among the dead,' said Averil, +calmly, smoothing Cora's hair, and looking in her face. 'Don't be +afraid to let me hear. I shall be there with him and Minna soon. +Didn't somebody come to tell me? Please let him in, I'll be quiet now.' + +And as she made gestures of arranging her hair and dress, Tom guardedly +presented himself, saying in a voice that trembled with his endeavour +to render it calm, 'Did you think I should have come if I had nothing +better to tell you?' and as she put out her hand in greeting, he took +it in both his own, and met her eyes looking at him wide open, in the +first dawning of the hope of an impossible gladness. 'Yes,' he said, +'the truth is come out--he is cleared--he is at home--at Stoneborongh!' + +The hot fingers closed convulsively on his own, then she raised +herself, pressed her hands together, and gasped and struggled fearfully +for breath. The joy and effort for self-command were more than the +enfeebled frame could support, and there was a terrible and prolonged +renewal of those agonizing paroxysms, driving away every thought from +the other two except of the immediate needs. At last, when the +violence of the attack had subsided, and left what was either fainting +or stupor, they judged it best to carry her to her bed, and trust that, +reviving without the associations of the other room, the agitation +would be less likely to return, and that she might sleep under the +influence of an anodyne. Poor Tom! it was not the reception he had +figured to himself, and after he had laid her down, and left her to +Cora and to Katty to be undressed, he returned to the parlour, and +stood over the sinking wood-fire in dejection and dreariness of +heart--wrung by the sufferings he had witnessed, with the bitter words +(too late) echoing in his brain, and with the still more cruel +thought--had it been his father or one of his brothers--any one to +whose kindness she could trust, the shock had not been so great, and +there would have been more sense of soothing and comfort! And then he +tried to collect his impressions of her condition, and judge what would +serve for her relief, but all his senses seemed to be scattered; +dismay, compassion, and sympathy, had driven away all power of forming +a conclusion--he was no longer the doctor--he was only the anxious +listener for the faintest sound from the room above, but none reached +him save the creaking of the floor under Katty's heavy tread. + +The gay tinkle of sleigh-bells was the next noise he heard, and +presently the door was opened, and two muffled hooded figures looked +into the room, now only lighted by the red embers of the fire. + +'Where's Cora? where's Ave?' said the bright tone of the lesser. 'It +is all dark!' and she was raising her voice to call, when Tom +instinctively uttered a 'Hush,' and moved forward; 'hush, Ella, your +sister has been ill.' + +The little muffled figure started at the first sound of his voice, but +as he stepped nearer recoiled for a second, then with a low cry, almost +a sob of recognition, exclaimed, 'Mr. Tom! Oh, Mr. Tom! I knew you +would come! Cousin Deborah, it's Mr. Tom!' and she flew into his arms, +and clung with an ecstasy of joy, unknowing the why or how, but with a +sense that light had shone, and that her troubles were over. She asked +no questions, she only leant against him with, 'Mr. Tom! Mr. Tom!' +under her breath. + +'But what is it, stranger? Do tell! Where are the girls? What's this +about Avy's being sick? Do you know the stranger, Ella?' + +'It's Mr. Tom,' she cried, holding his arm round her neck, looking up +in a rapturous restfulness. + +'I brought Miss Ward-en some good news that I fear has been too much +for her,' said he; 'I am--only waiting to--hear how she is.' + +By way of answer, Deborah opened another door which threw more light on +the scene from the cooking stove in the kitchen, and at the same moment +Cora with a candle came down the stairs. + +'O, Dr. May,' she said, 'you have been too long left alone in the dark. +I think she is asleep now. You will stay. We will have tea directly.' + +Tom faltered something about the hotel, and began to look at Cousin +Deborah, and to consider the proprieties of life; but Cousin Deborah, +Cora, and Ella began declaring with one voice that he must remain for +the evening meal, and a bustle of cheerful preparation commenced, while +Ella still hung on his hand. + +'But, Ella, you've never asked my good news.' + +'Oh dear! I was too glad! Are we going home then?' + +'Yes, I trust so, I hope so, my dear; for Leonard's innocence has come +to light, and he is free.' + +'Then Henry won't mind--and we may be called by our proper name +again--and Ave will be well,' cried the child, as the ideas came more +fully on her comprehension. 'O, Cora! O, Cousin Deborah, do you hear? +Does Ave know? May I run up and tell Ave?' + +This of course was checked, but next Ella impetuously tore off her +wraps for the convenience of spinning up and down wildly about the +kitchen and parlour. Leonard himself did not seem to have great part +in her joy; Henry's policy had really nearly rooted out the thought of +him personally, and there was a veil of confusion over the painful +period of his trial, which at the time she had only partially +comprehended. But she did understand that his liberation would be the +term of exile; and though his name was to her connected with a +mysterious shudder that made her shrink from uttering or hearing +details, she had a security that Mr. Tom would set all right, and she +loved him so heartily, that his presence was sunshine enough for her. + +A little discomfited at the trouble he was causing, Tom was obliged to +wait while not only Cousin Deborah, but Cora busied herself in the +kitchen, and Ella in her restless joy came backwards and forwards to +report their preparations, and at times to tarry a short space by his +side, and tell of the recent troubles. Ave had been very ill, she +said, very ill indeed about a month ago, and Henry had come home to see +her, but had been obliged to go away to the siege of Charleston when +she was better. They had all been ill ever since they came there, but +now Mr. Tom was come, should not they all go home to dear Stoneborough, +away from this miserable place? If they could only take Cora with them! + +It was still a childish tongue; but Ella had outgrown all her plump +roundness, and was so tall and pale that Tom would hardly have known +her. Her welcome was relief and comfort, and she almost inspired her +own belief that now all would be well. His English ideas were rather +set at rest by finding that Mrs. Deborah was to preside at the +tea-table, and that he was not to be almost tete-a-tete with Miss +Muller. Deborah having concluded her hospitable cares, catechized him +to her full content, and satisfied herself on the mystery of the +Wardens' life. + +And now what brought himself out? She guessed he could not find an +opening in the old country. Tom smiled, explained his opening at home, +and mentioned his charge of his late friend's book. + +'So you are come out about the book, and just come a few hundred miles +out of the way to bring this bit of news, that you could have +telegraphed,' said the Yankee dame, looking at him with her keen eyes. +'Well, if you were coming, it was a pity you were not sooner. She has +pined away ever since she came here; and to such a worn-down condition +as hers, poor child, I doubt joy's kinder more upsetting than trouble, +when one is used to it. There; I'll fix the things, and go up and sit +with Avy. She'll be less likely to work herself into a flight again if +she sees me than one of you.' + +So Tom--less embarrassed now--found himself sitting by the fire, with +Ella roasting her favourite nuts for him, and Miss Muller opposite. He +was taken by surprise by her beautiful face, elegant figure, and +lady-like manner, and far more by her evidently earnest affection for +Averil. + +She told him that ever since the fatal turn of little Minna's illness, +Averil had been subject to distressing attacks of gasping and rigidity, +often passing into faintness; and though at the moment of emotion she +often showed composure and self-command, yet that nature always thus +revenged herself. Suspense--letters from home or from Henry--even +verses, or times connected with the past, would almost certainly bring +on the affection; and the heat of the summer had relaxed her frame, so +as to render it even more unable to resist. There had been hope in the +bracing of winter, but the first frosts had brought a chill, and a +terrible attack of pleurisy, so dangerous that her brother had been +summoned; she had struggled through, however, and recovered to a +certain point, but there had stopped short, often suffering pain in the +side, and never without panting breath and recurring cough. This had +been a slightly better day, and she had been lying on the sofa, +counting the days to Leonard's next letter, when the well-known voice +fell on her ears, and the one strong effort to control herself had +resulted in the frightful spasms, which had been worse than any Cora +had yet witnessed. + +'But she will get well, and we shall go home,' said Ella, looking up +wistfully into Tom's mournful face. + +'And I shall lose you,' said Cora; 'but indeed I have long seen it was +the only thing. If I had only known, she never should have come here.' + +'No, indeed, I feel that you would have led her to nothing that was not +for her good and comfort.' + +'Ah! but I did not know,' said Cora; 'I had not been here--and I only +thought of my own pleasure in having her. But if there is any way of +freeing her from this unfortunate speculation without a dead loss, I +will make father tell me.' + +This--from Cora's pretty mouth--though only honest and prudent, rather +jarred upon Tom in the midst of his present fears; and he began to +prepare for his departure to the inn, after having sent up Ella to ask +for her sister, and hearing that she still slept soundly under the +influence of the opiate. + +When Averil awoke it was already morning, and Cora was standing by her +bed, with her eyes smiling with congratulation, like veronicas on a +sunny day. + +'Cora, is it true?' she said, looking up. + +Cora bent down and kissed her, and whispered, 'I wish you joy, my dear.' + +'Then it is,' she said; 'it is not all a dream?' + +'No dream, dearest.' + +'Who said it?' she asked. 'O, Cora, that could not be true!' and the +colour rose in her cheek. + +'That! yes, Averil, if you mean that we had a visitor last evening. I +took him for Leonard, do you know! Only I thought his eyes and hair +did not quite answer the description.' + +'He is a very gentleman-like person. Did you not think so?' said +Averil. + +'Ah! Ave, I've heard a great deal. Don't you think you had better tell +me some more?' + +'No, no!' exclaimed Averil; 'you are not to think of folly,' as +coughing cut her short. + +'I'll not think of any more than I can help, except what you tell me.' + +'Never think at all, Cora. Oh! what has brought him here? I don't +know how I can dare to see him again; and yet he is not gone, is he?' + +'Oh no, he is only at the inn. He is coming back again.' + +'I must be up. Let me get up,' said Averil, raising herself, but +pausing from weakness and breathlessness. + +And when they had forced some food upon her, she carried out her +resolution, though twice absolutely fainting in the course of dressing; +and at length crept softly, leaning on Cora's arm, into the parlour. +Though Tom was waiting there, he neither spoke nor came forward till +she was safely placed upon the sofa, and then gathering breath, she +sought him with her eager eyes, shining, large, lustrous, and wistful, +as they looked out of the white thin face, where the once glowing +colour had dwindled to two burning carnation spots. It was so piteous +a change that as he took her hand he was silent, from sheer inability +to speak calmly. + +'You have come to tell me,' she said. 'I am afraid I could not thank +you last night.' How different that soft pleading languid voice from +the old half defiant tone! + +'I did not know you had been so unwell,' he forced himself to say, 'or +I would not have come so suddenly.' + +'I am grown so silly' she said, trying to smile. 'I hardly even +understood last night;' and the voice died away in the intense desire +to hear. + +'I--I was coming on business, and I thought you would not turn from the +good tidings, though I was the bearer,' he said, in a broken, agitated, +apologetic way. + +'Only let me hear it again,' she said. 'Did you say he was free?' + +'Yes, free as you are, or I. At home. My father was gone to fetch +him.' + +She put her hands over her face, and looked up with the sweetest smile +he had ever seen, and whispered, 'Now I can sing my Nunc dimittis.' + +He could not at once speak; and before he had done more than make one +deprecatory gesture, she asked, 'You have seen him?' + +'Not since this--not since September.' + +'I know. You have been very good; and he is at home--ah! not home--but +Dr. May's. Was he well? Was he very glad?' + +'I have not seen him; I have not heard; you will hear soon. I came at +once with the tidings.' + +'Thank you;' and she clasped her hands together. 'Have you seen Henry? +does he know?' + +'Could I? Had not you the first right?' + +'Leonard! Oh, dear Leonard!' She lay back for a few moments, panting +under the gust of exceeding joy; while he was silent, and tried not to +seem to observe her with his anxious eyes. Then she recovered a little +and said, 'The truth come out! Did you say so? What was the truth?' + +'He paused a moment, afraid of the shock, and remembering that the +suspicion had been all unknown to her. She recalled probabilities, and +said, + +'Was it from a confession? Is it known who--who was the real unhappy +person?' + +'Yes. Had you no suspicion?' + +'No--none,' said Averil, shuddering, 'unless it was some robber. Who +was it?' + +'You had never thought of the other nephew?' + +'You don't mean Samuel Axworthy! Oh! no. Why the last thing Leonard +bade me, was always to pray for him.' + +'Ah!' said Tom, with bent head, and colouring cheeks; 'but who are +those for whom such as Leonard would feel bound to pray?' + +There was a moment's silence, and then she said, 'His enemy! Is that +what you mean? But then he would have known it was he.' + +'He was entirely convinced that so it must have been, but there was no +proof, and an unsupported accusation would only have made his own case +worse.' + +'And has he confessed? has he been touched and cleared Leonard at last?' + +'No; he had no space granted him. It was the receipt in your brother's +writing that was found upon him.' + +'The receipt? Yes, Leonard always said the receipt would clear him! +But oh, how dreadful! He must have had it all the time. How could he +be so cruel! Oh! I never felt before that such wickedness could be;' +and she lay, looking appalled and overpowered. + +'Think of your brother knowing it all, and bidding--and giving you that +injunction--' said Tom, feeling the necessity of overcoming evil with +good. + +'Oh! if I had known it, I could not--I could not have been like +Leonard! And where--what has become of him?' she asked, breathlessly. +'You speak as if he was dead.' + +'Yes. He was killed in a fray at a gaming-house!' + +There was a long silence, first of awe, then of thankfulness plainly +beaming in her upraised eyes and transparent countenance, which Tom +watched, filled with sensations, mournful but not wholly wretched. +Shattered as she was, sinking away from her new-found happiness, it was +a precious privilege to be holding to her the longed--for draught of +joy. + +'Tell me about it, please,' she presently said. 'Where--how did the +receipt come to light? Were the police told to watch for it? I want +to know whom I have to thank.' + +His heart beat high, but there was a spirit within him that could not +brook any attempt to recall the promise he had pursued her with, the +promise that he would not rest till he had proved her brother's +innocence. He dreaded her even guessing any allusion to it, or +fancying he had brought the proffered price in his hand; and when he +began with, 'Can you bear to hear of the most shocking scene I ever +witnessed?' he gave no hint of his true motive in residing at Paris, of +the clue that Bilson's draft had given him in thither pursuing +Axworthy, nor of his severe struggle in relinquishing the quest. He +threw over all the completest accidental air, and scarcely made it +evident that it was he who had recognized the writing, and all that +turned on it. Averil listened to the narration, was silent for some +space, then having gone over it in her own mind, looked up and said-- + +'Then all this came of your being at that hospital;' and a burning +blush spread over the pale cheek, and made Tom shrink, start, and feel +guilty of having touched the chord of obligation, connected with that +obtrusive pledge of his. Above all, however, to repress emotion was +his prime object; and he calmly answered, 'It was a good Providence +that brought any one there who knew the circumstances.' + +She was silent; and he was about to rise and relieve her from the sense +of his presuming on her gratitude, when a cough, accompanied with a +pressure of her hand on her side, betrayed an access of suffering, that +drew him on to his other purpose of endeavouring to learn her +condition, and to do what he could for her relief. His manner, +curiously like his father's, and all the home associations connected +with it, easily drew from her what he wanted to ascertain, and she +perfectly understood its purport, and was calm and even bright. + +'I was glad to be better when Henry went away,' she said; 'he had so +much to do, and we thought I was getting well then. You must not +frighten him and hurry him here, if you please,' she said, earnestly, +'for he must not be wasting his time here, and you think it will last a +month or two, don't you?' + +'I want to persuade Henry to bring you all home, and enter into +partnership with Mr. Wright,' said Tom. 'The voyage would--might--it +would be the best thing for you.' + +'Could I ever be well enough again? Oh, don't tell me to think about +it! The one thing I asked for before I die has been given me, and now +I know he is free, I will--will not set my mind on anything else.' + +There was a look so near heaven on her face, as she spoke, that Tom +durst not say any more of home, or earthly schemes; but, quiet, grave, +and awe-stricken, left her to the repose she needed, and betook himself +to the other room, where Ella, of course, flew on him, having been +hardly detained by Cora from breaking in before. His object was to go +to see the medical man who had been attending Averil; and Cora assuring +him the horse had nothing to do in the frost, and telling him the times +of the day when he would be most likely to find Dr. Laidlaw, he set +forth. + +Averil meantime lay on her sofa calmly happy, and thankful, the worn +and wearied spirit full of rest and gladness unspeakable, in the +fulness of gratitude for the answered prayer that she might know her +brother free before her death. If she had ever doubted of her own +state, she had read full confirmation in her physician's saddened eyes, +and the absence of all hopeful auguries, except the single hint that +she might survive a voyage to England; and that she wished unsaid. +Life, for the last five years, had been mournful work; there had been +one year of blind self-will, discord, and bitterness, then a crushing +stroke, and the rest exhausted submission and hopeless bending to +sorrow after sorrow, with self-reproach running through all. Wearied +out, she was glad to lay down the burthen, and accept the evening gleam +as sunset radiance, without energy to believe it as the dawn of a +brighter day. She shrank from being made even to wish to see Leonard. +If once she began to think it possible, it would be a hard sacrifice to +give it up; and on one point her resolution was fixed, that she would +not be made a cause for bringing him to share their wretchedness in +America. Life and things of life were over with her, and she would +only be thankful for the softening blessings that came at its close, +without stirring up vain longings for more. That kindness of Tom May, +for instance, how soothing it was after her long self-reproach for her +petulant and cutting unjust reply to his generous affection--generous +above all at such a moment! + +And after all, it was he--it was he and no other who had cleared +Leonard--he had fulfilled the pledge he had given when he did not know +what he was talking of. How she hated the blush that the sudden +remembrance had called up on her face! It was quite plain that he had +been disgusted by her unkind, undignified, improper tone of rejection; +and though out of humanity he had brought her the tidings, he would not +let her approach to thanking him, she was ashamed that he should have +traced an allusion, the most distant, to the scene he had, doubtless, +loathed in remembrance. He would, no doubt, go away to-day or +to-morrow, and then these foolish thoughts would subside, and she +should be left alone with Cora and her thankfulness, to think again of +the great change before her! + +But Tom was not gone. Indeed Averil was much more ill before the next +morning, partly from hysteria, the reaction of the morning's +excitement, and partly from an aggravation of the more serious +pulmonary affection. It was a temporary matter, and one that made his +remaining the merest act of common humanity, since he had found Dr. +Laidlaw a very third-rate specimen, and her brother was too far off to +have arrived in time to be of use. The fresh science and skill of the +young physician were indeed of the highest value, and under his care +Averil rallied after a few days of prostration and suffering, during +which she had watched and observed a good deal, and especially the good +understanding between her doctor and Cora Muller. When Cousin Deborah +was sitting with her, they always seemed to be talking in the +drawing-room; nay, there were reports of his joining in the fabrication +of some of the delicacies that were triumphantly brought to her room; +and Ella was in a state of impatient pique at being slighted by 'Mr. +Tom,' who, she complained, was always fighting with Cora about their +politics; and Cora herself used to bring what Dr. May had said, as the +choicest entertainment to her sick friend; while to herself he was +merely the physician, kind and gentle to the utmost degree; but keeping +his distance so scrupulously, that the pang awoke that he absolutely +disliked her, and only attended her from common compassion; and, it +might be, found consolation in being thus brought in contact with Cora. +Oh, if it were only possible to own her wrongs, and ask his pardon +without a compromise of maidenliness! Perhaps--perhaps she might, when +she was still nearer death, and when she was supposed to know how it +was between him and Cora. Dear Cora, it would be a beautiful reward +for them both, and they would take care of Ella. Cora would be happier +than ever yet among the Mays--and--Oh! why, why was there so much +unkind selfish jealousy left, that instead of being glad, the notion +left her so very miserable? Why did the prospect of such happiness for +her self-devoted friend and nurse make her feel full of bitterness, and +hardly able to bear it patiently, when she heard her speak the name of +Dr. May? + +Averil had again left her bed, and resumed her place on the sofa before +letters arrived. There was Leonard's from Cocksmoor Parsonage, the +first real letter she had had from him since his term of servitude had +begun. It was a grave and thankful letter, very short, doing little +more than mention every one's kindness, and express a hope of soon +meeting her and Ella, however and wherever Henry should think best. +Brief as it was, it made her more thoroughly realize his liberty, and +feel that the yearning towards him in her heart was growing more and +more ardent, in spite of her strivings not to let it awaken. + +The same post brought Henry's answer to Tom May's representation. It +was decisive. He had broken off his whole connection with England, and +did not wish to return to a neighbourhood so full of painful +recollections. He was making his way rapidly upwards in his present +position, and it would be folly to give up the advantages it offered; +moreover, he had no fears of the future well-doing of the Massissauga +Company. As soon as the weather permitted it, he hoped to remove his +sister to a healthier locality for change of air, but she could not be +fit for a journey in the winter. There were plenty of acknowledgments +to the Mays for their kindness to Leonard, from whom Henry said he had +heard, as well as from Dr. May, and others at Stoneborough. He should +advise Leonard by all means to close with Mr. Bramshaw's offer, for he +saw no opening for him in the United States at present, although the +ultimate triumph over rebellion, &c. &c. &c.--in the most inflated +style of Henry's truly adopted country. No one who had not known the +whole affair would ever enter into Leonard's entire innocence, the +stigma of conviction would cleave to him, and create an impression +against him and his family among strangers, and it was highly desirable +that he should remain among friends. In fact, it was plain that Henry +was still ashamed of him, and wished to be free of a dangerous +appendage. Tom was so savagely angry at this letter that he could only +work off his wrath by a wild expedition in the snow, in the course of +which he lost his way, wandered till the adventure began to grow +perilous, came at last upon a squatter, with great difficulty induced +him to indicate the track sufficiently for his English density, and +arrived at Massissauga at nine o'clock at night. Averil was still on +her sofa, quite calm and quiet, all but her two red spots; but +afterwards, in her own room, she had one of her worst fits of spasms. + +However, she was up and dressed by the middle of the next day, and, +contrary to her wont since the first time, she sent Ella out of the +room when her doctor came to see her. + +'I wanted to speak to you,' she said, 'I have a great favour to ask of +you. You will soon be going home. Would you, could you take Ella with +you? I know it is a great, a too great thing to ask. But I would not +have her in any one's way. I am going to write to Mrs. Wills, at the +school where I was, and Ella's means are quite enough to keep her +there, holidays and all, till Leonard can give her a home. It will be +much better for her, and a relief to Henry; and it will be giving back +one--one to Leonard! It will be one thing more that I shall be happy +about.' + +Tom had let her go on with her short gentle sentences, because he knew +not how to answer; but at last she said, 'Forgive me, and do not think +of it, if I have asked what I ought not, or would be troublesome.' + +Troublesome! no, indeed! I was only thinking--if it might not be +better managed,' he answered, rather by way of giving himself time to +debate whether the utterance of the one thought in his heart would lead +to his being driven away. + +'Pray do not propose Leonard's coming for her! He must come to this +feverish place in spring. And if he came, and I were not here, and +Henry not wanting him! Oh no, no; do not let me think of his coming!' + +'Averil,' he said, kneeling on one knee so as to be nearer, and to be +able to speak lower, 'you are so unearthly in your unselfishness, that +I dare the less to put before you the one way in which I could take +Ella home to him. It is if you would overlook the past, and give me a +brother's right in them both.' + +She turned in amazement to see if she had heard aright. He had removed +his glasses, and the deep blue expressive eyes so seldom plainly +visible were wistfully, pleadingly, fixed on her, brimming over with +the dew of earnestness. Her face of inquiry gave him courage to go on, +'If you would only let me, I think I could bring you home to see him; +and if you would believe it and try, I believe I could make you +happier,' and with an uncontrollable shake in his voice he ceased--and +only looked. + +She sat upright, her hands clasped in her lap, her eyes shut, trying to +collect her thoughts; and the silence lasted for several seconds. At +last she said, opening her eyes, but gazing straight before her, not at +him, 'I do not think I ought. Do you really know what you are saying? +You know I cannot get well.' + +'I know,' he said. 'All I ask is, to tend and watch over you while I +may, to bring you home to Leonard, and to be Ella's brother.' + +His voice was still and low, and he laid his hand on her folded ones +with reverent solemnity; but though it did not tremble, its touch was +cold as marble, and conveyed to Averil an instant sense of the force of +his repressed emotion. She started under it, and exclaimed with the +first agitation she had shown, 'No, no; it would cost you too much. +You, young, beginning life--you must not take a sorrow upon you.' + +'Is it not there already?' he said, almost inaudibly. 'Would it lessen +it to be kept away from you?' + +'Oh, do not go on, do not tempt me,' she cried. 'Think of your father.' + +'Nay, think what he is yourself. Or rather look here,' and he took out +a part of a letter from Ethel, and laid it before her. + +'As to papa not guessing your object,' she said, 'that was a vain +delusion if you ever entertained it, so you must not mind my having +explained. He said if he had been you, it was just what he should have +done himself, and he is quite ready to throw his heart into it if you +will only trust to his kindness. I do so want you really to try what +that is.' + +'And you came for this,' faltered Averil, leaning back, almost overcome. + +'I did not come meaning to hurry the subject on you. I hoped to have +induced Henry to have brought you all home, and then, when I had done +my best to efface the recollection of that unpardonable behaviour, to +have tried whether you could look on me differently.' + +'I don't like you to say that,' said Averil, simply but earnestly; 'I +have felt over and over again how wrong I was--how ungrateful--to have +utterly missed all the nobleness and generosity of your behaviour, and +answered in that unjust, ill-tempered way.' + +'Nothing was ever more deserved,' he answered; 'I have hated myself +ever since, and I hope I am not as obnoxious now.' + +'It was I!' she said; 'I have lived every bit of the winter over again, +and seen that I was always ready to be offended, and somehow I could +not help caring so much for what you said, that lesser things from you +hurt and cut as other people's did not.' + +'Do you know what that proves?' said Tom, with an arch subsmile +lighting on his eyes and mouth; and as a glow awoke on her pale cheek, +he added, 'and won't you believe, too, that my propensity to +"contemptuous irony" was all from my instinctive fear of what you could +do to me!' + +'Oh, don't repeat that! I have been so bitterly ashamed of it!' + +'I am sure I have.' + +'And I have longed so to ask your pardon. I thought I would leave a +letter or message with Ella that you would understand.' + +'You can do better than that now. You can forgive me.' + +'Oh!' said Averil, her hands suddenly joined over her face, 'this is +one joy more! I cannot think why it is all growing so bright just at +last--at last. It is all come now! How good it is!' + +He saw that she could bear no more. He pressed no more for a decisive +answer; he did not return to the subject; but from that time he treated +her as what belonged to him, as if it was his business to think, act, +and judge for her, and to watch over her; and her acquiescence was +absolute. + +There was not much speaking between them; there were chiefly skirmishes +between him and Cora, to which she listened in smiling passive +amusement; and even when alone together they said little--actually +nothing at all about the future. He had written to Ethel on his first +arrival, and on the reply, as well as on Averil's state, all must +depend. Meanwhile such a look of satisfied repose and peace shone upon +Averil's face as was most sweet to look upon; and though extremely +feeble, and not essentially better, she was less suffering, and could +in great languor, but in calm enjoyment, pass through day by day of the +precious present that had come to crown her long trial. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + + Oh, when its flower seems fain to die, + The full heart grudges smile or sigh + To aught beside, though fair and dear; + Like a bruised leaf, at touch of fear, + Its hidden fragrance love gives out.--Lyra Innocentum + + +'The letters at last! One to Ethel, and three to Leonard! Now for it, +Ethel!' + +Ethel opened--read--ran out of the room without a word, and sought her +father in his study, where she laid before him Tom's letter, written +from Massissauga the day after his arrival. + + +'Dear Ethel, + +'I have found my darling, but too late to arrest the disease--the work +of her brother's perverseness and wrong-headedness. I have no hope of +saving her; though it will probably be a matter of several months--that +is, with care, and removal from this vile spot. + +'I am writing to Henry, but I imagine that he is too much charmed with +his present prospects to give them up; and in her angelic +self-sacrifice she insists on Leonard's not coming out. Indeed, there +would be no use in his doing so unless she leaves this place; but +should no unforeseen complication supervene, it is my full persuasion +that she could be removed, safely make the voyage, and even be spared +for this summer among us. Surely my father will not object! It will +be but a short time; and she has suffered so much, so piteously needs +love and cherishing, that it is not in him to refuse. He, who +consented to Margaret's engagement, cannot but feel for us. I would +work for him all my life! I would never cast a thought beyond home, if +only once hallowed by this dear presence for ever so short a time. Only +let the answers be so cordial as to remove all doubts or scruples; and +when they are sent prepare for her. I would bring her as quickly as +her health permits. No time must be lost in taking her from hence; and +I wait only for the letters to obtain her consent to an immediate +marriage. Furnish the house at once; I will repay you on my return. +There is £200 for the first floor, sitting, and bedrooms; for the rest +the old will do. Only regard the making these perfect; colouring +pink--all as cheerful and pleasant as money can accomplish. If Flora +will bear with me, get her to help you; or else Mary, if Cheviot +forgives me. Only don't spare cost. I will make it up some way, if +you find more wanted. I saw an invalid sofa, an improvement on +Margaret's, which I will write to Gaspard to send from Paris. If you +could only see the desolateness of the house where she has wasted away +these three years, you would long to make a bower of bliss for her. I +trust to you. I find I must trust everything to you. I cannot write +to my father; I have made nine beginnings, and must leave it to you. +He has comforted her, he knows her sorrows; he could not see her and +bid me leave her. Only there must be no hesitation. That, or even +remonstrance, would prevent her from consenting; and as to the +objections, I cannot know them better than I do. Indeed, all this may +be in vain; she is so near Heaven, that I dare not talk to her of this; +but I have written to Leonard, dwelling chiefly on the chance of +bringing her to him. Her desire to keep him from attempting to come +out will I trust be an inducement; but if you could only see her, you +would know how irreverent it seems to persecute one so nearly an angel +with such matters. If I may only tend her to the last! I trust to +you. This is for my father. + + 'Ever yours, + 'THOMAS MAY.' + + +The last sentence referred to a brief medical summary of her symptoms, +on a separate paper. + +'Can this be Tom?' was the Doctor's exclamation. 'Poor boy! it is +going very hard with him!' + +'This would soften it more than anything else could,' said Ethel. + +'Oh yes! You write. Yes, and I'll write, and tell him he is free to +take his own way. Poor child! she would have been a good girl if she +had known how. Well, of all my eleven children that Tom should be the +one to go on in this way!' + +'Poor dear Tom! What do you think of his statement of her case? Is +she so very ill?' + +Dr. May screwed up his face. 'A sad variety of mischief,' he said; 'if +all be as he thinks, I doubt his getting her home; but he is young, and +has his heart in it. I have seen her mother in a state like this--only +without the diseased lungs. You can't remember it; but poor Ward never +thought he could be grateful enough after she was pulled through. +However, this is an aggravated case, and looks bad--very bad! It is a +mournful ending for that poor boy's patience--it will sink very deep, +and he will be a sadder man all his days, but I would not hinder his +laying up a treasure that will brighten as he grows older.' + +'Thank you, papa. I shall tell him what you say.' + +'I shall write--to her I think. I owe him something for not proving +that it is all as a study of pneumonia. I say, Ethel, what is become +of the "Diseases of Climate?"' he added, with a twinkle in his eye. + +'In the nine beginnings.' + +'And how about the Massissauga Company?' + +'You heartless old worldly-minded father!' said Ethel. 'When you take +to prudence for Tom, what is the world coming to?' + +'Into order,' said the Doctor, shaking himself into the coat she held +for him. 'Tom surrendered to a pet patient of mine. Now for poor +Leonard! Good-bye, young people! I am off to Cocksmoor!' + +'Please take me, grandpapa,' cried Dickie, hopping into the hall. + +'You, you one-legged manikin! I'm going over all the world; and how +are you to get home?' + +'On Leonard's back,' said the undaunted Dickie. + +'Not so, master: poor Leonard has news here that will take the taste of +nonsense out of his mouth.' + +'I am his friend,' said Dickie, with dignity. + +'Then your friendship must not disturb him over his letters. And can +you sit in the carriage and twirl your thumbs while I am at Fordham?' + +'I shall not twirl my thumbs. I shall make out a problem on my ship +chess-board.' + +'That's the boy who was sent from the Antipodes, that he might not be +spoilt!' quoth Aubrey, as the Doctor followed the child into the +carriage. + +'Granting reasonable wishes is not spoiling,' said Ethel. + +'May the system succeed as well with Dickie as with--' and Aubrey in +one flourish indicated Gertrude and himself. + +'Ay, we shall judge by the reception of Ethel's tidings!' cried +Gertrude. 'Now for it, Ethel. Read us Tom's letter, confute the +engineer, hoist with his own petard.' + +'Now, Ethel, confute the Daisy, the green field daisy--the simple +innocent daisy, deluded by "Diseases of Climate."' + +'Ethel looks as concerned as if it were fatal truth,' added Gertrude. + +'What is it?' asked Aubrey. 'If Henry Ward has gone down in a monitor +at Charleston, I'll forgive him.' + +'Not that,' said Ethel; 'but we little thought how ill poor Ave is.' + +'Dangerously?' said Aubrey, gravely. + +'Not perhaps immediately so; but Tom means to marry at once, that he +may have a chance of bringing her home to see Leonard.' + +'Another shock for Leonard,' said Aubrey, quite subdued, 'why can't he +have a little respite?' + +'May they at least meet once more!' said Ethel; 'there will be some +comfort in looking to that!' + +'And what a fellow Tom is to have thought of it,' added Aubrey. 'Nobody +will ever dare to say again that he is not the best of the kit of us! +I must be off now to the meet: but if you are writing, Ethel, I wish +you would give her my love, or whatever he would like, and tell him he +is a credit to the family. I say, may I tell George Rivers?' + +'Oh yes; it will soon be in the air; and Charles Cheviot will be down +on us!' + +Away went Aubrey to mount the hunter that George Rivers placed at his +service. + +Gertrude, who had been struck dumb, looked up to ask, 'Then it is +really so?' + +'Indeed it is.' + +'Then,' cried Gertrude, vehemently, 'you and he have been deceiving us +all this time!' + +'No, Gertrude, there was nothing to tell. I did not really know, and I +could not gossip about him.' + +'You might have hinted.' + +'I tried, but I was clumsy.' + +'I hate hints!' exclaimed the impetuous young lady; 'one can't +understand them, and gets the credit of neglecting them. If people +have a secret attachment, they ought to let all their family know!' + +'Perhaps they do in Ireland.' + +'You don't feel one grain for me, Ethel,' said Gertrude, with tears in +her eyes. 'Only think how Tom led me on to say horrid things about the +Wards; and now to recollect them, when she is so ill too--and he--' She +burst into sobs. + +'My poor Daisy! I dare say it was half my fault.' + +Gertrude gave an impatient leap. 'There you go again! calling it your +fault is worse than Charles's improving the circumstance. It was my +fault, and it shall be my fault, and nobody else's fault, except Tom's, +and he will hate me, and never let me come near her to show that I am +not a nasty spiteful thing!' + +'I think that if you are quiet and kind, and not flighty, he will +forget all that, and be glad to let you be a sister to her.' + +'A sister to Ave Ward! Pretty preferment!' muttered Gertrude. + +'Poor Ave! After the way she has borne her troubles, we shall feel it +an honour to be sisters to her.' + +'And that chair!' broke out Gertrude. 'O, Ethel, you did out of malice +prepense make me vow it should be for Mrs. Thomas May.' + +'Well, Daisy, if you won't suspect me of improving the circumstance, I +should say that finishing it for her would be capital discipline.' + +'Horrid mockery, I should say,' returned Gertrude, sadly; 'a gaudy +rose-coloured chair, all over white fox-gloves, for a person in that +state--' + +'Poor Tom's great wish is to have her drawing-room made as charming as +possible; and it would be a real welcome to her.' + +'Luckily,' said Gertrude, breaking into laughter again, 'they don't +know when it began; how in a weak moment I admired the pattern, and +Blanche inflicted it and all its appurtenances on me, hoping to convert +me to a fancy-work-woman! Dear me, pride has a fall! I loved to +answer "Three stitches," when Mrs. Blanche asked after my progress.' + +'Ah, Daisy, if you did but respect any one!' + +'If they would not all be tiresome! Seriously, I know I must finish +the thing, because of my word.' + +'Yes, and I believe keeping a light word that has turned out heavy, is +the best help in bridling the tongue.' + +'And, Ethel, I will really try to be seen and not heard while I am +about the work,' said Gertrude, with an earnestness which proved that +she was more sorry than her manner conveyed. + +Her resolution stood the trying test of a visit from the elder married +sisters; for, as Ethel said, the scent of the tidings attracted both +Flora and the Cheviots; and the head-master endeavoured to institute a +kind of family committee, to represent to the Doctor how undesirable +the match would be, entailing inconveniences that would not end with +the poor bride's life, and bringing at once upon Tom a crushing anxiety +and sorrow. Ethel's opinion was of course set aside by Mr. Cheviot, +but he did expect concurrence from Mrs. Rivers and from Richard, and +Flora assented to all his objections, but she was not to be induced to +say she would remonstrate with her father or with Tom; and she +intimated the uselessness thereof so plainly, that she almost hoped +that Charles Cheviot would be less eager to assail the Doctor with his +arguments. + +'No hope of that,' said Ethel, when he had taken leave. 'He will +disburthen his conscience; but then papa is well able to take care of +himself! Flora, I am so thankful you don't object.' + +'No indeed,' said Flora. 'We all know it is a pity; but it would be a +far greater pity to break it off now--and do Tom an infinity of harm. +Now tell me all.' + +And she threw herself into the subject in the homelike manner that had +grown on her, almost in proportion to Mary's guest-like ways and +absorption in her own affairs. + +Six weeks from that time, another hasty note announced that Dr. and +Mrs. Thomas May and Ella were at Liverpool; adding that Averil had been +exceedingly ill throughout the voyage, though on being carried ashore, +she had so far revived, that Tom hoped to bring her home the next day; +but emotion was so dangerous, that he begged not to be met at the +station, and above all, that Leonard would not show himself till +summoned. + +Dr. May being unavoidably absent, Ethel alone repaired to the +newly-furnished house for this strange sad bridal welcome. + +The first person to appear when the carriage door was opened was a +young girl, pale, tall, thin, only to be recognized by her black eyes. +With a rapid kiss and greeting, Ethel handed her on to the further +door, where she might satisfy the eager embrace of the brother who +there awaited her; while Tom almost lifted out the veiled muffled +figure of his bride, and led her up-stairs to the sitting-room, where, +divesting her of hat, cloak, muff, and respirator, he laid her on the +sofa, and looked anxiously for her reassuring smile before he even +seemed to perceive his sister or left room for her greeting. + +The squarely-made, high-complexioned, handsome Averil Ward was entirely +gone. In Averil May, Ethel saw delicately refined and sharpened +features, dark beautiful eyes, enlarged, softened, and beaming with +perilous lustre, a transparently white blue-veined skin, with a lovely +roseate tint, deepening or fading with every word, look, or movement, +and a smile painfully sweet and touching, as first of the three, the +invalid found voice for thanks and inquiries for all. + +'Quite well,' said Ethel. 'But papa has been most unluckily sent for +to Whitford, and can't get home till the last train.' + +'It may be as well,' said Tom: 'we must have perfect quiet till after +the night's rest.' + +'May I see one else to-night?' she wistfully asked. + +'Let us see how you are when you have had some coffee and are rested.' + +'Very well,' she said, with a gentle submission, that was as new a +sight as Tom's tenderness; 'but indeed I am not tired; and it is so +pretty and pleasant. Is this really Dr. Spencer's old house? Can +there be such a charming room in it?' + +'I did not think so,' said Tom, looking in amazement at the effect +produced by the bright modern grate with its cheerful fire, the warm +delicate tints of the furniture, the appliances for comfort and +ornament already giving a home look. + +'I know this is in the main your doing, Ethel; but who was the hand?' + +'All of us were hands,' said Ethel; 'but Flora was the moving spring. +She went to London for a week about it.' + +'Mrs. Rivers! Oh, how good!' said Averil, flushing with surprise; then +raising herself, as her coffee was brought in a dainty little service, +she exclaimed, 'And oh, if it were possible, I should say that was my +dear old piano!' + +'Yes,' said Ethel, 'we thought you would like it; and Hector +Ernescliffe gave Mrs. Wright a new one for it.' + +This was almost too much. Averil's lip trembled, but she looked up +into her husband's face, and made an answer, which would have been odd +had she not been speaking to his thought. + +'Never mind! It is only happiness and the kindness.' And she drank the +coffee with an effort, and smiled at him again, as she asked, 'Where is +Ella?' + +'At our house,' said Ethel; 'we mean her to be there for the present.' + +Knowing with whom Ella must be, and fearing to show discontent with the +mandate of patience, Averil again began to admire. 'What a beautiful +chair! Look, Tom! is it not exquisite? Whose work is it?' + +'Gertrude's.' + +'That is the most fabulous thing of all,' said Tom, walking round it. +'Daisy! Her present, not her work?' + +'Her work, every stitch. It has been a race with time.' The +gratification of Averil's flush and smile was laid up by Ethel for +Gertrude's reward; but it was plain that Tom wanted complete rest for +his wife, and Ethel only waited to install her in the adjoining +bed-room, which was as delightfully fitted up as the first apartment. +Averil clung to her for the instant they were alone together, and +whispered, 'Oh, it is all so sweet! Don't think I don't feel it! But +you see it is all I can do for him to be as quiet as I can! Say so, +please!' + +Ethel felt the throb of the heart, and knew to whom she was to say so; +but Tom's restless approaching step made Averil detach herself, and +sink into an arm-chair. Ethel left her, feeling that the short clasp +of their arms had sealed their sisterhood here and for ever. + +'It is too sad, too beautiful to be talked about,' she said to +Gertrude, who was anxiously on the watch for tidings. + +Obedient as Averil was, she had not understood her husband's desire +that she should seek her pillow at once. She was feeling brisk and +fresh, and by no means ready for captivity, and she presently came +forth again with her soft, feeble, noiseless step; but she had nearly +retreated again, feeling herself mistaken and bewildered, for in the +drawing-room stood neither Tom nor his sisters, but a stranger--a dark, +grave, thoughtful man of a singularly resolute and settled cast of +countenance. The rustle of her dress made him look up as she turned. +'Ave!' he exclaimed; and as their eyes met, the light in those brown +depths restored the whole past. She durst not trust herself to speak, +as her head rested on his shoulder, his arms were round her; only as +her husband came on the scene with a gesture of surprise, she said, +'Indeed, I did not mean it! I did not know he was here.' + +'I might have known you could not be kept apart if I once let Leonard +in,' he said, as he arranged her on the sofa, and satisfied himself +that there were no tokens of the repressed agitation that left such +dangerous effects. 'Will you both be very good if I leave you to be +happy together?' he presently added, after a few indifferent words had +passed. + +Averil looked wistfully after him, as if he were wanted to complete +full felicity even in Leonard's presence. How little would they once +have thought that her first words to her brother would be, 'Oh, was +there ever any one like him?' + +'We owe it all to him,' said Leonard. + +'So kind,' added Averil, 'not to be vexed, though he dreaded our +meeting so much; and you see I could not grieve him by making a fuss. +But this is nice!' she added, with a sigh going far beyond the effect +of the homely word. + +'You are better. Ella said so.' + +'I am feeling well to-night. Come, let me look at you, and learn your +face.' + +He knelt down beside her, and she stroked back the hair, which had +fulfilled his wish that she should find it as long, though much darker +than of old. Posture and action recalled that meeting, when her couch +had been his prison bed, and the cold white prison walls had frowned on +them; yet even in the rosy light of the cheerful room there was on them +the solemnity of an approaching doom. + +'Where is the old face?' Averil said. 'You look as you did in the +fever. Your smile brings back something of yourself. But, oh, those +hollow eyes!' + +'Count Ugolino is Dr. May's name for me: but, indeed, Ave, I have tried +to fatten for your inspection.' + +'It is not thinness,' she said, 'but I had carried about with me the +bright daring open face of my own boy. I shall learn to like this +better now.' + +'Nay, it is you and Ella that are changed. O, Ave, you never let me +know what a place you were in.' + +'There were many things better than you fancy,' she answered; 'and it +is over--it is all gladness now.' + +'I see that in your face,' he said, gazing his fill. 'You do look ill +indeed; but, Ave, I never saw you so content.' + +'I can't help it,' she said, smiling. 'Every moment comes some fresh +kindness from him. The more trouble I give him the kinder he is. Is +it not as if the tempest was over, and we had been driven into the +smoothest little sunshiny bay?' + +'To rest and refit,' he said, thoughtfully. + +'For me, "the last long wave;" and a most gentle smooth one it is,' +said Averil; 'for you to refit for a fresh voyage. Dear Leonard, I +have often guessed what you would do.' + +'What have you guessed?' + +'Only what we used to plan, in the old times after you had been at +Coombe, Leonard.' + +'Dear sister! And you would let me go!' + +'Our parting is near, any way,' she said, her eye turning to the print +from Ary Scheffer's St. Augustine and Monica. 'Whoever gave us that, +divined how we ought to feel in these last days together.' + +'It was Richard May's gift,' said Leonard. 'Ave, there was nothing +wanting but your liking this.' + +'Then so it is?' she asked. + +'Unless the past disqualifies me,' he said. 'I have spoken to no one +yet, except little Dickie. When I thought I ought to find some present +employment, and wanted to take a clerkship at Bramshaw's, Dr. May made +me promise to wait till I had seen you before I fixed on anything; but +my mind is made up, and I shall speak now--with your blessing on it, +Ave.' + +'I knew it!' she said. + +He saw it was safer to quit this subject, and asked for Henry. + +'He sent his love. He met us at New York. He is grown so soldierly, +with such a black beard, that he is more grown out of knowledge than +any of us, but I scarcely saw him, for he was quite overset at my +appearance, and Tom thought it did me harm. I wish our new sister +would have come to see me. + +'Sister!' + +'Oh, did you not know? I thought Tom had written! She is a Virginian +lady, whose first husband was a doctor, who died of camp-fever early in +the war. A Federal, of course. And they are to be married as soon as +Charleston has fallen.' + +Leonard smiled. And Averil expressed her certainty that it had fallen +by that time. + +'And he is quite Americanized?' asked Leonard. 'Does he return to our +own name! No? Then I do not wonder he did not wish for me. Perhaps he +may yet bear to meet me, some day when we are grown old.' + +'At least we can pray to be altogether, where one is gone already' said +Averil. 'That was the one comfort in parting with the dear Cora--my +blessing through all the worst! Leonard, she would not go to live in +the fine house her father has taken at New York, but she is gone to be +one of the nurses in the midst of all the hospital miseries. And, oh, +what comfort she will carry with her!' + +Here Tom returned, but made no objection to her brother's stay, +perceiving that his aspect and voice were like fulness to the hungry +heart that had pined so long--but keeping all the others away; and they +meanwhile were much entertained by Ella, who was in joyous spirits; a +little subdued, indeed, by the unknown brother, but in his absence very +communicative. Gertrude was greatly amused with her account of the +marriage, in the sitting-room at Massissauga, and of Tom's being so +unprepared for the brevity of the American form, that he never knew +where he was in the Service, and completed it with a puzzled 'Is that +all?' + +Averil had, according to Ella, been infinitely more calm and composed. +'She does nothing but watch his eyes,' said Ella; 'and ever since we +parted from Cora, I have had no one to speak to! In the cabin he never +stirred from sitting by her; and if she could speak at all, it was so +low that I could not hear. School will be quite lively.' + +'Are you going to school?' + +'Oh yes! where Ave was. That is quite fixed; and I have had enough of +playing third person,' said Ella, with her precocious Western manner. +'You know I have all my own property, so I shall be on no one's hands! +Oh, and Cora made her father buy all Ave's Massissauga shares--at a +dead loss to us of course.' + +'Well,' said Gertrude, 'I am sorry Tom is not an American share-holder. +It was such fun!' + +'He wanted to have made them all over to Henry; but Cora was +determined; and her father is making heaps of money as a commissary, so +I am sure he could afford it. Some day, when the rebellion is subdued, +I mean to go and see Cora and Henry and his wife,' added Ella, whose +tinge of Americanism formed an amusing contrast with Dickie's colonial +ease--especially when she began to detail the discomforts of +Massissauga, and he made practical suggestions for the remedies of +each--describing how mamma and he himself managed. + +The younger ones had all gone to bed, Richard had returned home, and +Ethel was waiting to let her father in, when Leonard came back with the +new arrivals. + +'I did not think you would be allowed to stay so late,' said Ethel. + +'We did not talk much. I was playing chants most of the time; and +after she went to bed, I stayed with Tom.' + +'What do you think of her?' + +'I cannot think. I can only feel a sort of awe. End as it may, it +will have been a blessed thing to have had her among us like this.' + +'Yes, it ought to do us all good. And I think she is full of +enjoyment.' + +'Perfect enjoyment!' repeated Leonard. 'Thank God for that!' + +After some pause, during which he turned over his pocket-book, as if +seeking for something, he came to her, and said, 'Miss May, Averil has +assented to a purpose that has long been growing up within me--and that +I had rather consult you about than any one, because you first inspired +it.' + +'I think I know the purpose you mean,' said Ethel, her heart beating +high. + +'The first best purpose of my boyhood,' he said. 'If only it may be +given back to me! Will you be kind enough to look over this rough +copy?' + +It was the draught of a letter to the Missionary Bishop, Mr. Seaford's +diocesan, briefly setting forth Leonard's early history, his +conviction, and his pardon, referring to Archdeacon May as a witness to +the truth of his narrative. + +'After this statement,' he proceeded, 'it appears to me little short of +effrontery to offer myself for any share of the sacred labour in which +your Lordship is engaged; and though it had been the wish of the best +days of my youth, I should not have ventured on the thought but for the +encouragement I received from Mr. Seaford, your Lordship's chaplain. I +have a small income of my own, so that I should not be a burthen on the +mission, and understanding that mechanical arts are found useful, I +will mention that I learnt shoemaking at Milbank, and carpentry at +Portland, and I would gladly undertake any manual occupation needed in +a mission. Latterly I was employed in the schoolmaster's department; +and I have some knowledge of music. My education is of course, +imperfect, but I am endeavouring to improve myself. My age is +twenty-one; I have good health, and I believe I can bring power of +endurance and willingness to be employed in any manner that may be +serviceable, whether as artisan or catechist.' + +'I don't think they will make a shoemaker of you,' said Ethel, with her +heart full. + +'Will they have me at all? There will always be a sort of +ticket-of-leave flavour about me,' said Leonard, speaking simply, +straight-forwardly, but without dejection; 'and I might be doubtful +material for a mission.' + +'Your brother put that in your head.' + +'He implied that my case half known would be a discredit to him, and I +am prepared for others thinking so. If so, I can get a situation at +Portland, and I know I can be useful there; but when such a hope as +this was opened to me again, I could not help making an attempt. Do you +think I may show that letter to Dr. May?' + +'O, Leonard, this is one of the best days of one's life!' + +'But what,' he asked, as she looked over the letter, 'what shall I +alter?' + +'I do not know, only you are so business-like; you do not seem to care +enough.' + +'If I let myself out, it would look like unbecoming pressing of myself, +considering what I am; but if you think I ought, I will say more. I +have become so much used to writing letters under constraint, that I +know I am very dry.' + +'Let papa see it first,' said Ethel. 'After all, earnestness is best +out of sight.' + +'Mr. Wilmot and he shall decide whether I may send it,' he said; 'and +in the meantime I would go to St. Augustine's, if they will have me.' + +'I see you have thought it all over.' + +'Yes. I only waited to have spoken with my sister, and she--dear, dear +Ave--had separately thought of such a destination for me. It was more +than acquiescence, more than I dared to hope!' + +'Her spirit will be with you, wherever she is! And,' with a sudden +smile, 'Leonard, was not this the secret between you and Dickie?' + +'Yes,' said Leonard, smiling too; 'the dear little fellow is so fresh +and loving, as well as so wise and discreet, that he draws out all that +is in one's heart. It has been a new life to me ever since he took to +me! Do you know, I believe he has been writing a letter of +recommendation of me on his own account to the Bishop; I told him he +must enclose it to his father if he presumed to send it, though he +claims the Bishop as his intimate friend.' + +'Ah,' said Ethel, 'papa is always telling him that they can't get on in +New Zealand for want of the small archdeacon, and that, I really think, +abashes him more than anything else.' + +'He is not forward, he is only sensible,' said Leonard, on whose heart +Dickie had far too fast a hold for even this slight disparagement not +to be rebutted. 'I had forgotten what a child could be till I was with +him; I felt like a stock or a stone among you all.' + +Ethel smiled. 'I was nearly giving you "Marmion", in remembrance of +old times, on the night of the Christmas-tree,' she said; 'but I did +not then feel as if the "giving double" for all your care and trouble +had begun.' + +'The heart to feel it so was not come,' said Leonard; 'now since I have +grasped this hope of making known to others the way to that Grace that +held me up,'--he paused with excess of feeling--'all has been joy, even +in the recollection of the darkest days. Mr. Wilmot's words come back +now, that it may all have been training for my Master's work. Even the +manual labour may have been my preparation!' His eyes brightened, and +he was indeed more like the eager, hopeful youth she remembered than +she had ever hoped to see him; but this brightness was the flash of +steel, tried, strengthened, and refined in the fire--a brightness that +might well be trusted. + +'One knew it must be so,' was all she could say. + +'Yes, yes,' he said, eagerly. 'You sent me words of greeting that held +up my faith; and, above all, when we read those books at Coombe, you +put the key of comfort in my hand, and I never quite lost it. Miss +May,' he added, as Dr. May's latch-key was heard in the front door, 'if +ever I come to any good, I owe it to you!' + +And that was the result of the boy's romance. The first tidings of the +travellers next morning were brought near the end of breakfast by Tom, +who came in looking thin, worn, and anxious, saying that Averil had +called herself too happy to sleep till morning, when a short doze had +only rendered her feeble, exhausted, and depressed. + +'I shall go and see her,' said Dr. May; 'I like my patients best in +that mood.' + +Nor would the Doctor let his restless, anxious son do more than make +the introduction, but despatched him to the Hospital; whence returning +to find himself still excluded, he could endure nothing but pacing up +and down the lawn in sight of his father's head in the window, and +seeking as usual Ethel's sympathy. + +There was some truth in what Charles Cheviot had said. Wedlock did +enhance the grief and loss, and Tom found the privilege of these months +of tendance more heart-wringing than he had anticipated, though of +course more precious and inestimable. Moreover, Averil's depression +had been a phase of her illness which had not before revealed itself in +such a degree. + +'Generally,' he said, 'she has talked as if what she looks to were all +such pure hope and joy, that though it broke one's heart to hear it, +one saw it made her happy, and could stand it. Fancy, Ethel, not an +hour after we were married, I found her trying the ring on this finger, +and saying I should be able to wear it like my father! It seemed as if +she would regret nothing but my sorrow, and that my keeping it out of +sight was all that was needful to her happiness. But to-day she has +been blaming herself for--for grieving to leave all so soon, just as +her happiness might have been beginning! Think, Ethel! Reproaching +herself for unthankfulness even to tears! It might have been more for +her peace to have remained with her where she had no revival of these +associations, if they are only pain to her.' + +'Oh no, no, Tom. It only proves the pleasure they do give her. You +know, better than I do, that there must be ups and downs, failures of +spirits from fatigue when the will is peaceful and resigned.' + +'I know it. I know it with my understanding, Ethel, but as to +reasoning about her as if she was anybody else, the thing is mere +mockery. What can my father be about?' he added, for the twentieth +time. 'Talking to her in the morning always knocks her up. If he had +only let me warn him; but he hurried me off in his inconsiderate way.' + +At last, however, the head disappeared, and Tom rushed indoors. + +'So, Tom, you have made shorter work of twenty-five patients than I of +one.' + +'I'll go again,' said poor Tom, in the desperation of resolute +meekness, 'only let me see how she is.' + +'Let Ethel go up now. She is very cheery except for a little headache.' + +While Ethel obeyed, Dr. May began a minute interrogation of his son, so +lengthened that Tom could hardly restrain sharp impatient replies to +such apparent trifling with his agony to learn how long his father +thought he could keep his treasure, and how much suffering might be +spared to her. + +At last Dr. May said, 'I may be wrong. Your science is fresher than +mine; but to me there seem indications that the organic disease is in +the way of being arrested. Good health of course she cannot have; but +if she weathers another winter, I think you may look for as many years +of happiness with her as in an ordinary case.' + +It was the first accent of hope since the hysteric scream that had been +his greeting, and all his reserve and dread of emotion: could not +prevent his covering his face with his hands, and sobbing aloud. +'Father, father,' he said, 'you cannot tell what this is to me!' + +'I can in part, my boy,' said the Doctor, sadly. + +'And,' he started up and walked about the room, 'you shall have the +whole treatment. I will only follow your measures. No one at New York +saw the slightest hope of checking it.' + +'They had your account, and you hardly allowed enough for the +hysterical affection. I do not say it is certainty--far less, health.' + +'Any way, any way, if I may only have her to lie and look at me, it is +happiness unlooked for! You don't think I could have treated her +otherwise?' + +'No. Under His blessing you saved her yourself. You would have +perceived the change if she had been an indifferent person.' + +Tom made another turn to the door, and came back still half wild, and +laid his face on his arms upon the table. 'You tell her,' he said, 'I +shall never be able--' + +Knocking at Averil's door, Dr. May was answered by a call of 'Tom.' + +'Not this time, my dear. He is coming, but we have been talking you +over. Ave, you have a very young doctor, and rather too much +interested.' + +'Indeed!' she said, indignantly; 'he has made me much better.' + +'Exactly so, my dear; so much better that he agrees with me that he +expressed a strong opinion prematurely.' + +'They thought the same at New York,' she said, still resolved on his +defence. + +'My dear, unless you are bent on growing worse in order to justify his +first opinion, I think you will prove that which he now holds. And, +Ave, it was, under Providence, skill that we may be proud of by which +he has subdued the really fatal disorder. You may have much to +undergo, and must submit to a sofa life and much nursing, but I think +you will not leave him so soon.' + +There was a long pause; at last she said, 'O, Dr. May, I beg your +pardon. If I had known, I would never--' + +'Never what, my dear?' + +'Never have consented! It is such a grievous thing for a professional +man to have a sick wife.' + +'It is exactly what he wanted, my dear, if you will not fly at me for +saying so. Nothing else could teach him that patients are not cases +but persons; and here he comes to tell you what he thinks of the +trouble of a sick wife.' + +'Well,' said Dr. May, as he and Ethel walked away together, 'poor young +things, they have a chequered time before them. Pretty well for the +doctor who hated sick people, Wards, and Stoneborough; but, after all, +I have liked none of our weddings better. I like people to rub one +another brighter.' + +'And I am proud when the least unselfish nature has from first to last +done the most unselfish things. No one of us has ever given up so much +as Tom, and I am sure he will be happy in it.' + +More can hardly be said without straying into the realms of prediction; +yet such of our readers as are bent on carrying on their knowledge of +the Daisies beyond the last sentence, may be told that, to the best of +our belief, Leonard's shoemaking is not his foremost office in the +mission, where he finds that fulness of hopeful gladness which +experience shows is literally often vouchsafed to those who have given +up home, land, and friends, for the Gospel's sake. His letters are the +delight of more than one at Stoneborough; and his sister, upon her +sofa, is that home member of a mission without whom nothing can be +done--the copier of letters, the depot of gifts, the purveyor of +commissions, the maker of clothes, the collector of books, the keeper +of accounts--so that the house still merits the name of the S. P. G. +office, as it used to be called in the Spenserian era. But Mrs. Thomas +May is a good deal more than this. Her sofa is almost a renewal of the +family centre that once Margaret's was; the region where all tidings +are brought fresh for discussion, all joys and sorrows poured out, the +external influence that above all has tended to soften Gertrude into +the bright grace of womanhood. Mary Cheviot and Blanche Ernescliffe +cannot be cured of a pitying 'poor Tom'--as they speak of 'the +Professor'--in which title the awkward sound of Dr. Tom has been merged +since an appointment subsequent to the appearance of the "Diseases of +Climate". But every one else holds that not his honours as a +scientific physician, his discoveries, and ably-written papers--not +even his father's full and loving confidence and gratitude, give +Professor May as much happiness as that bright-eyed delicate wife, with +whom all his thoughts seem to begin and end. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Trial, by Charlotte M. Yonge + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRIAL *** + +***** This file should be named 3744-8.txt or 3744-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/4/3744/ + +Produced by Sandra Laythorpe. HTML version by Al Haines. + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |