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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/39857-8.txt b/39857-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4eee9ee --- /dev/null +++ b/39857-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9511 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Marmaduke, by Flora Annie Steel + +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/license + + +Title: Marmaduke + +Author: Flora Annie Steel + +Release Date: May 29, 2012 [EBook #39857] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARMADUKE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by +Google Books (University of California) + + + + + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + 1. Page scan source: + http://books.google.com/books?id=RWkpAQAAIAAJ + (University of California) + + 2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. + + + + + + + Marmaduke + + + + + + + Marmaduke + + + + By + + Flora Annie Steel + + Author of + "On the Face of the Waters," "A Sovereign Remedy," + "King-Errant," etc. + + + + + New York + Frederick A. Stokes Company + Publishers + 1917 + + + + + + + _Printed in Great Britain_ + + + + + + BOOK I. + + + + + CHAPTER I + + +"Hello, Davie! Is that you, Davie Sim?" cried a joyous young voice; +then it changed suddenly, with a verve which showed pure delight in +the unfamiliar yet familiar dialect, from correct English to the +broadest Aberdeenshire accent. "Eh, mon, ye're joost the same ow'd tod +o' a pease-bogle wi' yer bonnet ajee, an' a crookit mou'; yen hauf +given tae psaulm singin' and tither tae pipe-blawing!" The voice +paused a bit breathlessly as if it had exhausted itself over the +unwonted exercise, then went on in slightly less aggressive Doric. +"Well, I'm blythe to see you lookin' sae weel. An' is that tall lass +Marrion?" + +An easy gallantry came to his tones as the speaker, a fine young +fellow of obviously military bearing, turned to a girl who stood very +still by the window. + +"By gad," the young man went on with the same easy condescension, "you +have grown into a pretty girl! Give us a kiss, my dear; you know you +used to be fond of 'Mr. Duke' in the----" + +Then suddenly silence fell between the two young people. Something in +the tall still figure by the window seemed to abash the tall figure +making its way easily towards it, and left them looking at each other +critically. + +They were as fine a couple physically as God ever made to come +together as man and woman. They were almost alike in stature and +strength--she slightly the smaller--and both seemed equal in abounding +health, though he was florid and she somewhat pale with the pallor of +the thick creamy skin that goes with red-bronze hair. + +She spoke at last, the thin curves of her mouth clipping her words +sharply. + +"There's mony to tell me yon and crave kisses since you an' me was +hafflins together, Mr. Duke," she said coolly. "I beg yer pardon, +Captain Marmaduke!" + +The Honourable Captain Marmaduke Muir, second son of the sixteenth +Baron Drummuir of Drummuir, home on leave after an absence of ten +years on foreign service, looked at the grand-daughter of his father's +head piper and general majordomo as if considering anger. He was too +good looking to be accustomed to such rebuffs from pretty girls, +especially when they were manifestly beneath him in station. Then +suddenly he laughed. The years had fled, and he was a boy again in +fast fellowship with a small hoyden of a girl; a girl four years his +junior, but infinitely his superior in common sense; a girl who had +kept him out of many a scrape and who hadn't scrupled on occasion to +box his ears, young master though he was. With a sudden flash of +memory the occasion came back to him, and he saw himself, a strong lad +of fourteen, wading a swollen stream with the ten-year-old girlie on +his back, a string of handsome trouties he had been catching hanging +like a tail from his hands clasped behind his burden. He heard the +agonised cry in mid-stream, "They're slippin', Maister Duke, they're +slippin'! Let me down till I hoosen them up!" He heard the stiff +reply: "Let 'em slip; I'll no let ye down tae soak ye through!" And +then the woeful battle of wills that ensued, while the trouties +slipped from the string one by one. A battle which ended in a sobbing +girlie ankle deep in water, an empty string, and a defiant lad with +young crimson ears. He felt his mature ones tingle with amusement at +the recollection, and at the recognition that the girlie was as ready +of resentment as ever. + +"Ods bobs, Marmie!" he cried, his face full of mischief. "It seems +you've no forgotten the whaur-aboots of my lugs," and his hands went +up to his face as if to protect them. + +The girl crimsoned. + +"I begged your pardon then, Captain Marmaduke, and I beg it again if +I've offended----" she began defiantly. + +He interrupted her with an absolutely charming smile, a deference that +was unanswerable. + +"And I beg yours for remembering what I should have forgotten. So we +are quits and can surely shake hands on it like the good friends we +always were, and"--here his voice took on additional charm--"always +will be. Of that I am sure." + +His bold blue eyes were on hers frankly, and she gave him back his +look steadily. So they stood, shapely hand in shapely hand, for a +second. Then his left fingers caught at hers and felt the first one +inquisitively. + +"Hullo, seamstress, that's new?" he queried, evidently pleased with +his own cleverness in detection. + +Marrion Paul drew her hand away sharply. + +"I've been at the dressmaking in Edinbro' these six years since +grandfather married," she replied coldly. + +Marmaduke looked at Davie Sim incredulously. + +"What, Davie! You old reprobate, who the deuce did you get to marry +you?" + +There was no answer. Possibly Davie did not hear, for he was rootling +round the kitchen fire with the poker--a most unnecessary task that +sweltering June day. Perhaps, also, it was flame-reflection which made +his face show red under the wide Tam o' Shanter bonnet he invariably +wore in his own house; why it would be difficult to say, except that +outside the precincts of home he was for ever doffing it before +somebody or another. For Davie Sims had been born hereditary servitor +to the Drummuir family, and had every intention of dying in the same +position. + +"He married Penelope from the castle," came Marrion's voice +relentlessly, "and his lordship gave her away." + +"The devil he did," remarked the young man helplessly to both pieces +of information, after a moment's pause due evidently to mingled +outrage and amusement. "Well," he added, in male defiance of the +woman's point of view, "I expect she makes him an excellent wife." + +"Most excellent!" assented Marrion, with a curl of her lip. "So, as +she happens to be gone on a visit, I have come back to stay a while--a +little while--with grandfather." + +Her diction, bar the one slight slip, was as free from provincialism +as his own, and Marmaduke Muir looked at her appreciatively. She was +different from the hoyden he had left. Perhaps in Edinburgh she had +gone in for classes. And she was better looking too, though much too +tall for a woman. Then her mouth, though passable in its thin decided +curves, was far too wide for beauty. + +Still, she was altogether sufficiently pleasant to look upon for +Marmaduke to feel it necessary for him to charm. Not that either by +nature or art he was a lady-killer. To do him justice, he would have +felt just the same had the attraction been male or neuter. Simply he +always desired to please what was pleasant to himself, and his tastes +were catholic. + +So he said almost sentimentally: + +"Well, I am very glad you're here. We shall be able to spend our +birthdays together as we used to in the old times. Eighteenth of June! +Waterloo day! Good heavens, I can scarcely believe that I shall be +thirty tomorrow, and you?" He positively blushed, for in the year 1848 +it was almost indecent for an unmarried woman to be six-and-twenty. +Marrion, however, had no such qualms. + +"Twenty-six," she said calmly; perhaps she knew she did not look it. + +"Anyhow," he went on hastily, as if to escape from an unwelcome fact, +"I have brought you a present from foreign parts." He had not even +thought of one; in fact, he had only given his old playmate a passing +remembrance, wondering whom she had married; but he knew his boxes +contained enough trifles for the home folk to enable him to spare one, +and he could no more help trying to charm than he could help +breathing. "And now," he added, "I must be off. Tell me, Davie, like a +good soul, where I am likely to find his lordship this time of day. +I'm cursed early," he continued a bit ruefully, "but that's the worst +of me. I'm always in such a devil of a hurry." + +"You came across the ferry?" asked Marrion sympathetically. + +He turned to her at once. + +"Yes. It was the first coach. I wouldn't wait for the later one. And +then when I got to the Cross Keys and saw the old place over the +water, I wouldn't wait to go round by the bridges. So Andrew--you +remember Andrew Fraser, of course?--'pon my soul, he's been a +first-class orderly ever since he joined, and I don't know what I +should have done without him; nursed me like a mother when I'd fever +and all that sort of thing--a real honest good chap. Well, he got out +the valise and carried it down the ferry road. I didn't know, you see, +that the ferry was disused; but we luckily found someone's boat--and +here I am--too soon!" + +"I'm thinkin'," said Davie Sim, with caution, "that his lordship at +this hour will, mayhap, be inspec'in' the pigstyes." + +"Pigstyes!" echoed Marmaduke theatrically. "Say not so! Dash it all, I +can't do prodigal in a pigstye! I demand a byre and a fatted calf. +Well, I suppose I had better ring at the front door and ask the butler +if my Lord Drummuir is at home like any orra' stranger. So--ta, ta, +for the present!" + +He waved an easy hand to Marrion as he passed out. She hesitated a +second, then followed him into the sunlit courtyard and called-- + +"Captain Duke!" + +He turned, looking so handsome and débonnaire that her purpose almost +wavered. Why should she pour gall and wormwood into his cup of life +before circumstances made the bitter inevitable? Still, since it had +to come, and that shortly, it was as well he should be prepared for +it. So much depended on the relations between him and his father that +it was better he should not be taken unawares. + +"If you are wanting to see his lordship the now," she said, her +phrasing astray once more under pressure of other thoughts, "you wad +find him in the south avenue. He was there when I came frae the town +the now, cutting away at yen of the big beech trees." + +"Cutting at a big beech tree! What the deuce do you mean?" queried +Marmaduke incredulously. + +She replied calmly, conclusively. + +"Just that he must hae gotten a letter from your brother the Master. +It aye angers him so that he orders out the men with the hatchets. +It's as well you should know." + +He stood staring at her. It was no news to him, of course, even though +mails had been infrequent during those ten years, that there was an +open breach between his father and the heir, nor was he unaware of his +father's savage temper; that, and the impossibility of getting a +decent allowance to enable him to live in England being responsible +for those same ten years of foreign service. But distance softens +shadows; besides, the very idea that a man could go and cut down +historical trees just to spite another man was foreign to Marmaduke's +nature. + +"Oh, curse the whole lot!" he broke out at last. "Upon my soul I'll go +back to the East--it isn't half a bad place--or wouldn't be if one +only had a little tin--besides, I must get the money for my majority." + +His words, following his impulsive thoughts, made Marrion smile +indulgently. + +"I wouldn't if I was you, Mr.--I mean Captain Duke," she remarked, +with a twinkle in her eye. "Mayhap, my lord will bury the hatchet now +you're home, if ye don't anger him." She looked pretty with that +half-mischievous smile, and the sight cheered Marmaduke instantly. + +"What a wise lassie you always were, Marmie," he said, with wilful +charm, "and what a lot of scrapes you've gotten me out of, and what a +lot you'd get me out of, if you were only bound up with me like the +Shorter Catechism was by mistake with Tristram Shandy--d'you remember? +Good lord, I've forgotten my duty to my neighbour! However, here goes, +and I'll do my best not to anger the baron! You see, I must get the +money for my majority," he added, half to himself, as he spun round on +his heel rather dramatically. + +In fact, there was no denying it, the Honourable Marmaduke Muir was a +trifle flamboyant as he swaggered across the courtyard which led from +the old keep of Drummuir Castle to the southern and modern portion of +the building. Marrion Paul watched the figure with a certain distaste. +Perhaps, she thought, it was only the ultrafashionable dress, the all +too palpable fit-out of a smart military tailor, eager for a bill, +that clashed with the grim old walls. Inside he had seemed much the +same as she remembered him. Kindly, affectionate, not over wise, but +charming, absolutely charming. And, after all, who was she to judge a +gentleman born? That question was a hard one to answer. Her mother had +undoubtedly been Maggie Sim, old Sim's daughter, who had been maid to +the first Lady Drummuir. But her father had been Paul, the foreign +valet, whom Lord Drummuir's younger brother had brought over with him +when he was invalided from the diplomatic service. A very decent, +respectable sort of chap, as old Sim admitted even while he objected +strongly to his daughter's marriage. Not without reason it turned out, +since Paul, after tending his sick master with unremitting care and +resource until his death, disappeared the day of the funeral, leaving +his young wife expecting her first child. And he had never been heard +of since. That Mrs. Paul should pine away and die early was, the folk +about said, only to be expected, for Paul, despite his foreign birth, +had been a man to be regretted--a man who had a way with him which his +daughter had inherited. She, however, would never hear a word in his +favour, and nothing made her more angry than to find in herself little +traits of character unaccountable to her sturdy Scots upbringing. + +So she told herself that she was no judge of what a gentleman's dress +or deportment should be, and turned at the sound of a footstep coming +through the archway of the keep behind her to greet the newcomer with +a more effusive welcome than she would otherwise have given the young +man who came towards her carrying a valise on his shoulder. He set +down his burden and grasped her outstretched hand in a sort of +transport. + +"Ah, Marrion--Marrion, my lass!" he cried. "God, but it's gude to see +you once mair!" + +The words summed him up from the crown of his head to the tips of his +toes. You might have spent long hours in analysing Andrew Fraser's +mind and body at that particular moment, and you would have got no +nearer the mark, since for the time being existence was sheer gladness +because of the sight of a woman. + +"And I've brocht him safe home as ye bade me when I joined. Ye'll have +seen him yerself. He's fine, isn't he?" + +There was a world of pride in his tone; the pride of the +soldier-servant who is responsible for the smartness of his master's +outturn. + +"Aye!" assented Marrion, grimly recognising that the figure before her +was more to her mind in some ways than the other which had gone +swaggering through the quadrangle. This one was broader in the chest, +simpler in its ugly angular face and small pathetic-looking blue eyes, +and simple--oh, so irritatingly simple!--in the devotion writ large in +its every look, its every intonation. + +"Well, I'm glad you're both home safe," she said, putting the barrier +of refined speech between them. Then a resentment, of which she was +innately ashamed even while she yielded to it, made her add: "And I +suppose you've brought home a wife on the strength of the regiment?" + +Andrew Fraser stared for a second, then shouldered his valise again +deftly-- + +"Ye ken fine, Marrion Paul," he said sternly, as he went on, "that +there never was but ae woman in the wurrld for me, an' never will be." + +And so he left her feeling small and mean. + +She watched him across the courtyard following on his master's steps. +A fine figure of a man. No swagger there, nothing to clash with the +grey old walls. + +But that made no difference, no difference at all. That was the worst +of it. + + + + + CHAPTER II + + +Marmaduke Muir had meanwhile found his familiar way through the low +arch which, piercing the extreme corner of the eastern side of the +quadrangle, formed the connecting link between the older part of +Drummuir Castle and the new. For the rest, this eastern wall showed +blank save for a loophole or two. It was, in effect, simply the back +wall of what in Scotland is called the square; that is, the +continuation of stables, cow-houses and woodsheds which appertain +to a country mansion in the north. It had evidently been built as a +wind-screen to the western wing, which, overlooking the river, had +been the residential portion of the house before the southern wing had +been added to close in the quadrangle. Altogether it was a fine old +place, magnificently situated in the slight hollow which dipped +between the high old red sandstone cliffs of the Aberdeenshire coast, +and the lower yet still high old red sandstone cliffs which for a mile +or two formed the eastward bank of the river Drum. Standing still on +the grass-plot in the centre of the courtyard a quick ear could detect +two water sounds--the rhythmic roll of the waves of the North Sea on +the one hand, and the incessant rush of the running river on the +other. + +Marmaduke did not pause to listen. He only felt a thrill of pride in +the beauty of the stern old place before he passed through the arch +into totally different surroundings. Here were wide well-kept lawns, +beds of rhododendrons, then somewhat of a novelty, and in those +northern climes ablaze with blossom this middle June. Further afield +lay a typical East Aberdeenshire landscape of rolling arable land set +with square plantations of wood and dotted at sparse intervals with +solid grey granite farm-houses. Behind him, despite its wide portico +and Grecian balustrade, the new wing of the old castle looked stern +and stubborn as the rest. + +He stood for a moment on the curving flight of massive steps and drew +in a long breath of satisfaction; for right in front of him stretched +something that once seen could never be forgotten. People came from +far for a sight of the great beech avenue of Drummuir. And what they +went out for to see was worth the seeing. + +A cathedral aisle, not made by hand, solemn, serene. Soft sunlight +filtering through a vaulted roof of leaves, wide spandrils of brown +branches sweeping to wide arch from the pillars of the mighty tree +trunks--a tessellated pavement of shade and shine. + +He had seen the sight a thousand times, yet it brought now, as it had +always brought, a vague wonder as to the long years since those giant +beeches had sent their first feeler into Mother Earth's bosom. But, as +ever, after the manner of such idle human wonders when confronted with +the permanence of what men class as lower life, it passed, contentedly +unsatisfied, to a flood of remembrance. How frightened he had been as +a little chap when his nurse had dragged him home to bed--dark, lonely +bed!--through those solemn shadows in the gloaming. He had changed, +but the avenue had not. It was just the same. No, hardly! There was +more shafted sunlight in the distance surely? And that rasping sound +in the air--what was it? + +Surely a cross-cut saw at work! Then Marmie had as usual told the +truth. His father must be cutting down one of the historic beech +trees, and there was no need to ring and ask for Lord Drummuir--no +need at all! He was to be found as usual ungovernable, insensate, +intolerant. A whole youth of rebellion stormed through Marmaduke +Muir's mind as, at quick march, he fumed down to where the shameful +deed was being done. + +From far he could see it was in full swing. The team of horses ready +to give the final pull, the stays to other trees, the whole +paraphernalia of destruction including the cluster of workmen busy +round the doomed tree. And see! Safe to windward--aye, you bet, safe, +jolly safe!--the knot of spectators gathered round a bath-chair. That +held his father, of course. And the others? They would not be the old +sycophants possibly, but they would be of the same kidney. A woman, +too! Not his half-sisters--they, poor souls, would be weeping in the +dower house over the injury to their brother the heir and to the +heirloom beech! And it would not be Penelope--she had been handed over +to Davie Sim. By Jupiter, it was too bad! He quickened his pace, +fretted by the rush of bitter resentment; then paused suddenly-- + +Hist! The melodious whistle of a blackbird overhead ceased, and a +little rustling sound asserted itself above the constant burring of +the saw. The squirrels were leaping from branch to branch. + +"Look to yersels--look to yersels! She's yieldin'! Stan' clear for +your life. Stan' clear! She yieldin'!" + +The cry rose none too soon. There was an instant's hurry, then an +instant's intense silence, on which came a sharp crack like a +pistol-shot, as the fine old tree, less tough than men had reckoned +it, tilted slowly as if uncertain which way to seek its grave. So +while men held their breath it stood arrested, defiant; then with a +roar and a rush, a swish of sweeping branches, a surging of green +leaves, it sank like the tumultuous onrush of some mighty wave, to +fall a confused tumbling heap of shade and shine upon the kindly earth +exactly where the wit of man had destined it to lie. + +A noisy clapping of hands and a high-pitched feminine laugh rose from +about the bath-chair; but, ere the applause ceased, a young accusing +figure positively flaming with wrath had sprung forward, leaped upon +the sawn root of the fallen tree, and so framed as with a halo by the +new-cut bole--which measured over seven feet in diameter--bawled out +in a voice quivering with sheer passion: + +"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, sir! Go home to bed, you +miserable old gouty cripple; you've done enough mischief for one day!" + +Marmaduke was given to being dramatic, but he had never been more +effective than at that moment. He stood his ground like a young +avenging angel, secretly elated at having done the business thoroughly +well and defied his father, despite Marrion Paul's advice. He almost +smiled at the thought of her dismay. Meanwhile, the face of the old +man in the bath-chair had grown positively purple with anger, and the +colour did not improve the heavy contours of chin, double chin, treble +chin, which melted over the high white stock. Yet, barring this +exuberant fleshiness, the face was not a bad face. It had indeed its +measure of good looks, being not unlike Marmaduke's own. The bald +head, if a trifle small, was well shaped, the blue eyes clear, if a +trifle cold, and the lips, cruel enough in their heavy curves, had +evidently done a deal of laughing in their day to judge by the lines +about them. Altogether a strong, sensible face; but arrogant, +intolerant to a degree, especially now when its owner was listening to +the defiance of his son--a son dependent on him for every farthing +beyond his miserable pay as a captain in His Majesty's forces--a son +who---- + +For a moment Baron Drummuir looked as if he must have a fit; then he +laughed--a great rude, rough guffaw. + +"'Pon my soul," he chuckled, "it's as good as a play! So it's you, is +it, you young fool? How the deuce did you get here at this time of +day? We didn't expect you for another two hours, so I decided business +first"--he waved carelessly to the fallen tree--"and pleasure--that's +you, jackanapes--afterwards. Eh, what! Hey!" + +This calm reception of his insults completely took the starch out of +them and poor Marmaduke, who, standing on his pedestal, could think of +nothing further to say save to mumble something about the short cut by +the old ferry road. + +The baron, as he loved to be called, chuckled again. + +"Good boy--anxious as all that to see his poor old dad. And came in +the nick of time to see me kill my fatted calf"--he waved to the +fallen tree again. "I've killed it nicely, haven't I? And"--here a +flicker of pure hatred passed across the fleshy face--"the devil take +the man who made me do it!" + +His father's expression re-aroused Marmaduke's anger. + +"You curse yourself by saying that, sir," he burst out; "for God knows +you always do what you want--nobody makes you." + +Once again the old man took the starch out of the young one. + +"Smart!" he said coolly. "Demned smart, my dear boy! I wonder you +don't get on better in life than you do, judging by your constant but +fruitless appeals to my cash-box. But get down off your high horse, +there's a good lad--you look like some damned play-acting fool up +there--and give your old dad a paw; the left one, young ass, the left! +Can't you see my right is all bandaged up with the most infernal fit +of my old enemy I've had since last Christmas? All that Périgord-pie +old Hare sent me. I'll baste his fat liver for him when he comes +to-morrow. Lordy lord! Puts me in mind, Marmaduke, of the old days +when your mother--she was the best of the three--used to say to you, a +little lad, 'The right hand, my dearie. The right hand, my lovie.' And +you never could remember. You were a bit of a dullard, but fine and +strong and handsome. Not like that cursed skunk, Master Pitt--but +there, don't let's mar the harmony of the occasion, eh, Jack?" He +turned to a small man with somewhat of a weasel face who stood beside +him listening devoutly, as were all the group. "You remember Jack +Jardine, don't you, Duke?" + +"Slightly," smiled the young man, grasping the other's hand and +shaking it violently. "One of the few pleasant reminiscences, sir, I +have of Drummuir Castle." He echoed his father's reckless disregard of +other folks' feelings with superb indifference and gave back the old +man's critical look coolly. + +The latter laughed. + +"Just what I was at his age--eh, what? Lordy lord, Jack, how we +smashed all the lamp-posts in Dodston and told the provost to send the +policeman with the bill! Ha, ha! and old cat Carnegie sitting in the +hearse with her skirts up to her knees going to the Hunt ball when +we'd commandeered every other conveyance in the town. Ha, ha! how the +pretty little lassies showed their sandalled ankles, bless 'em, trying +to keep their dresses clear of coffins. But I am forgetting. Sandalled +ankles reminds me--eh, Fantine? Come here, my dear. I must present you +to my second son, Captain--he wants to be a major, I'm told--Marmaduke +Muir. Marmaduke, make your due respects to Mdlle. Fantine Le Grand, +your future stepmother!" + +The dainty little figure, which till then had been standing with one +tiny, much-beringed hand resting on the back of the bath-chair, its +inquisitive, almost colourless grey eyes taking in the minutest detail +of the scene, took a step forward and prepared to make a full-flounced +curtsey. But Marmaduke was too quick, too prompt in his perceptions. +He grasped the situation and the little lady in a second. The general +pinkness of complexion and furbelows, the jimpness of the long trim +waist, the uncompromising bands of black velvet, the showers of fair +ringlets. His hat was off with a flourish, he also took a step forward +to meet the curtsey, but, bending with a "grand air" that did him +infinite credit, gave the powdered face a resounding kiss. + +The recipient let loose a decorous shriek outwardly; within it was +easy to see amused acquiescence. Once again old Lord Drummuir looked +as though he would have a fit. + +"You dashed young scoundrel," he spluttered. + +Marmaduke held his head very high. + +"Excuse me, sir," he said, "if I've done wrong; but you said she--I +beg pardon, Mdlle. Fantine Le Grand"--his eyes flashed into hers +boldly and met a smile--"was to be my stepmamma, so I thought----" + +"Oh, the devil take your thoughts," growled his father, but his lips +twitched suspiciously. Then suddenly he burst out once again into +one of his rude, rough guffaws. "Regular chip of the old block, hey, +Jack? Well, Fan, I dare say you don't mind. Haven't too long, you +know, of such gay young sparks, for as soon as I'm about again he +shall dance at your wedding. Now, for heaven's sake, don't let's +stop chattering here! I've got to see my daughters and I want to talk +to my son. No, no, you jackanapes, keep away just now! My gout's +cursed, the road is cursed, and my temper will be cursed too; so I +should likely disinherit you before we got on to the lawn. Fan shall +stop by me. I won't have you gallivanting with my son, d'ye hear? He's +a good-looking chap, confound him, but you've got to pay for the +title, my lady! Have a care, blockhead! Didn't you see that stone? +Don't let it hurt your pretty little feet, Fan." + +Marmaduke, dropping behind with Jack Jardine, gave a fierce sigh as he +watched the little cavalcade move off amid this running fire of curses +and kindliness. + +"Is it all just as it used to be, Jack?" he asked helplessly. + +The little man cleared his throat. + +"A little worse perhaps. Your father is a very remarkable man, +Marmaduke--a very remarkable man!" + + + + + CHAPTER III + + +Anyone who had seen Lord Drummuir ten minutes after Jack Jardine's +remark must have echoed it, for a more complete _volte face_ of +manner, speech, and apparently temperament than that which overtook +the baron in the dower house could not be imagined. Still in his +bath-chair, which Marmaduke had dutifully pushed in through the French +windows on to the green-grounded, cabbage-rosed drawing-room carpet, +he beamed round on his daughters and their chaperon with a paternal +affection which was almost pathetic. The Honourable Miss Muirs were +three in number and they had all greeted their younger half-brother +with reserved kisses. But then everything they did was reserved. Miss +Mary, the eldest, was reserved even about her tendency to grow stout, +which, all things considered, was the strongest interest in her life. +Miss Elizabeth, the second, a very elegant looking woman, was equally +reserved about her undoubted intellect, while Miss Margaret, a great +tall, strapping figure with all her father's force of character and +all his soundness of constitution, held both in check, except when she +managed a lonely walk with her dogs in the woods. Then her voice would +ring out deep and true, and at the crack of her whip every puppy +within miles would come in contentedly to heel. + +Her father liked her the least, probably because of the contrast +between her and his ricketty male heir, so in the shabby Victorian +drawing-room she generally sat mumchance, showing up badly against her +sisters' exquisite manners. For no one knew better than Lord Drummuir +what a gentlewoman should be, and therefore he had been extremely +particular about his daughters' education. To what end, heaven alone +knew, since they lived on, year after year, in the dower house, +occasionally visiting in stately fashion the late minister's wife +(though this distraction was no longer theirs owing to the State +appointment of a bachelor to the living), and, very occasionally, +seeing some of their father's older and more respectable friends. In +regard to this, however, and to kindred matters no grand Turk could +have been more autocratic than was Lord Drummuir. So he sat and +discoursed on Shakespeare and the musical glasses, on his delight at +seeing his dearest boy again, leading the latter on to detail some of +the more instructive portions of his foreign life, until the full +half-hour which he daily bestowed on his daughters was up. Then with +the utmost punctuality he took out his watch, said he feared he must +be off, and congratulated himself and the three young ladies on a +charming conversation. + +"You are too good, papa," replied the young ladies, as they deposited +a decorous kiss on his bald head. So they stood and watched the +bath-chair roll along the lawn till it reached the turn by the +rhododendrons which hid it from view, and then they waved their +handkerchiefs. And the baron waved his in return, thereinafter using +it to mop his forehead relievedly, while he ejaculated, "Thank God, +that's over!" + +Whereat Marmaduke smiling, the old man went on serenely. + +"Never forget, my boy, how to treat women of good character. The other +comes naturally, but I'm damned if I ever forgot my manners with a +really good woman. And you will find it pays, Duke, it pays. So now +have not you got some bit of spice, or an _on dit_ to amuse the old +man with? Curse me, but I lead a miserable life here, tied down by +this infernal complaint; but I am paying now for the follies and +indiscretions of youth. Confound you, Marmaduke, you might think of +your poor old father's joints and not rush your fences in that way!" + +"I beg your pardon, sir," replied Marmaduke, meekly glad of the turn +he had given the conversation by deploying the bath-chair into the +gravel walk; for, in good truth, he had no great relish for spicy +stories. Not that he was a prig, but that he had been born a +sportsman, to whom indoor life was dull and irksome. So he welcomed +another interruption in the shape of a young man who came hastily down +the path to meet them. + +"Why, I believe it's Peter!" he cried joyously, and the next minute +was shaking hands with his young half-brother, the fruit of Lord +Drummuir's third but not last marriage; for his wives never lived +long, except the first, who had lingered for years, only giving him +useless daughters. "Why, Peter, how you've grown!" remarked Marmaduke +unnecessarily, seeing he had been away ten years. + +"So've you--you're a giant beside the rest of us, except Meg! Pitt and +I----" The lad pulled himself up sharp. "Well, I say, sir, we must +have a rousin' night to celebrate Duke's return!" + +Marmaduke, looking at the slender, fair-haired youth with a weak mouth +and an excited manner, thought he had probably roused too much. +Instinctively, therefore, since he had often been drunk himself--it +was the fashion of the time--he changed the subject again to one that +had come uppermost in the old familiar surroundings. + +"I say, how about the grouse? Is it to be a good year?" + +His eyes as he spoke almost yearned over a swelling purpled horizon +curve which told where the best moors in that part of Aberdeenshire +were to be found. + +Five minutes after the old lord, still in his bath-chair, was +discoursing in the most animated and amiable fashion about sport past +and present and to come, while his two sons, one of them sprawling on +the lawn, joined in amicably. + +So amicably that Mdlle. Fantine Le Grand, watching them from her +boudoir windows, turned to a man who was lounging in a chair reading +the papers, and said-- + +"This sort of thing won't do, Compton. That young man is too +charming." + +The man to whom she spoke did not look up. He went on reading, as he +said-- + +"You don't often find them too charming, Fan!" + +"Don't be a fool, Tom," she replied curtly, coming to sit beside him. +"You know quite well what I mean. Young men of that sort always are in +debt; besides, I've heard the old man say something about money for a +majority. Now the estate's entailed, so payments of that sort must +come out of what I mean to be mine--and I won't have it!" + +"Sound common sense, Fan," said her companion, yawning; "but you are +always in such a hurry to begin. Wait a few days and see how the land +lies first. You've always the best of weapons in your hand." + +"What's that?" + +"Jealousy. The old man is as jealous as old boots. Once make him fancy +young Marmaduke is sweet on you, and he goes to the right-about." + +Fantine sat back and laughed. + +"You are always so comforting, Tom." + +He rose and put down his paper. + +"Always ready to help, my dear; but you remember our compact--half +shares when the old man dies." + +"He'll be good for another ten years if I marry him," she called after +her late companion, as he strolled out of the room. + +Then she sat down and faced facts. In truth she was getting tired of +her _rôle_ of _première danseuse_ at a London theatre. Perhaps, she +even admitted, she was a trifle too old for the agile cutting of +capers. She felt vaguely that she would like to draw in her horns and +let her waist out, and she was quite ready to take Lord Drummuir as a +means of satisfying both ambitions. In her way she was neither bad nor +unkind, simply egotistic to a degree. In this last episode of an +eventful career which seldom outlasts the age of forty, she had +deliberately played for semi-respectability, and had only come down to +stay at Drummuir Castle under the wing of an impeccable _duenna_. Not +that the fact had in the least imposed on the old lord. He was shrewd +enough to know Miss Fanny Biggs, or, as she chose to style herself, +Mdlle. Fantine Le Grand, down to the ground. But it was something to +have someone to dance for him (as she did to distraction), when he had +a fit of the gout and look quite deucedly pretty at all times. So the +bargain was made. A title in exchange for amusements. But Fantine Le +Grand looked beyond the old man's life; she looked for comfortable +widowhood. So she wandered again to the window and watched the family +trio on the lawn. It was far too filial for her tastes. Tom Compton, +so-called Colonel of Irregulars, one of her oldest friends, had been +right. Jealousy would be a good card to play. And then she laughed +suddenly at the recollection of Marmaduke's filial salute. He was +better-looking than his father must have been at his age, but, +according to the latter, he was "a chip of the old block." So he would +be easy prey. + +Meanwhile, Colonel Compton having joined the group on the lawn, the +conversation had drifted round to politics, and the old lord, being an +ardent Whig, had waxed fast and furious on the enormities of the +Tories. A perfectly innocent subject, but one which did not interest +Marmaduke, who thereupon drifted away to find Jack Jardine, from whom +he hoped to hear the truth as to his father's present relations with +the heir, the Master, and also--though this interested him less, since +it was to a certain degree patent--with Mdlle. Le Grand. So, as they +sat smoking Fubaurg's tobacco out of long clay pipes after the fashion +of the times, they discussed the situation. + +"You ask how the breach has widened," said Jack Jardine. "Well, I +don't think it has done so abnormally. It has been going on ever since +poor Pitt turned out such a weakling. You know the family history. +After he married Lady Helen, whom he shouldn't have married because +she too, poor soul, was, as it were, doomed to disease, though she was +a duke's daughter and so, satisfied his lordship's pride--a miserable +story, Duke, a miserable story. Well, there was one disappointment +about an heir after another, as you know, Duke, and it hit home into +the peer--for he is no fool. Put it briefly, though he is quite ready +to tell you he is suffering from the indiscretions of youth while he +is in torments with the gout, and at the same time supping every night +on broiled foxes' tongues and mulled claret, he can't bear to see the +results in Pitt. He hates him because he hasn't the physique to carry +on the name. He is a very remarkable man, Duke, is your father." + +"Very," assented the young man grimly. "I wish the devil he wasn't." + +"That's why I, and all the rest of us who have Drummuir interests at +heart, are so glad you've come home. You're presumptive heir now, and +to all intents and purposes you're 'apparent.' And you're straight and +strong, thanks to your poor mother. So we look to you to keep up the +honour of the name. I believe if you play your cards well, you might +easily oust Miss Fanny Biggs, or Mdlle. Fantine----" + +Marmaduke burst into a laugh. + +"Thank you," he said; "that is most succinct! I needn't ask any more. +But does the old man really mean to marry her?" + +Jack Jardine nodded. + +"Would have done it three months ago but for the gout. And she isn't +really so bad, but devilish sly; and that man Compton, whom the peer +has taken up with over the railway business, is in with her." He gave +a sigh and knocked the ashes out of his pipe. "I've my work cut out +for me, Duke, I can tell you." + +There was a slight pause, and then Marmaduke said curiously-- + +"I've often wondered, Jack, why you, who by your brains could have +made your own way, have been contented to stick on in this cursed old +place among us cursed people, letting us youngsters call you Jack and +borrow money from you. By the way, I shouldn't have been able to come +home if you hadn't sent me that last hundred pounds." + +Jack Jardine said nothing; then he walked to the window. + +"You may as well know, Duke, it may help you to steer your way. It is +because I, a poor lawyer, loved your mother--not before, but after she +became Lady Drummuir! Of course she never guessed; but I helped her to +try and keep your father straight. She led an awful life----" + +"You needn't tell me that!" broke in Marmaduke, fiercely. + +"Yet your father didn't mean ill to her. Anyhow, I tried to help her, +and so I suppose it became a habit. Love is a queer thing, Duke!" + +"I believe it is," said Marmaduke, magisterially, "but it has not come +my way yet," and he added joyously, "I hope it won't for some years to +come, for I like enjoying myself." + +Apparently he did; for as the summer evening began to close in on +Drummuir Castle and the menkind, with only Mdlle. Fantine and her +_duenna_ to represent the opposite sex, gathered in the huge +dining-room to attack a heavy dinner which would have sufficed for a +regiment, he was the life and soul of the party, and ate through the +_menu_ with a relish which aroused regret and admiration in the old +lord. + +"Dash it all," he bawled, "why can't I eat soup, fish, top and bottom +and four sides through five courses like that dashed youngster of +mine, who puts it on to his shoulders instead of his waist like I do?" + +And when the claret began to circle round faster and faster Marmaduke +never let it pass; so that when, with sweet decorum, Mdlle. Fantine +and her _duenna_ prepared to withdraw, he nearly killed the Skye +terrier in his flamboyant haste to open the door. Nay, more! He +followed them into the corridor for an instant. What passed there none +saw, but he returned to his seat with flushed cheeks and throbbing +veins, feeling vaguely that the battle of wits had begun. + +Of what followed his memory was confused. He remembered that outside +the windows the summer twilight was still flooding the green lawns, +while humanity inside, after guzzling itself stupid with rich food, +was trying to grow witty over the boozing of mulled claret and +whisky-toddy. They began, of course, with the young queen's health, +and went on methodically till they came to the good old Scotch toast: +"Here's to oorsels. Wha' better? Damn few!" After this, which seemed +to afford general satisfaction, they proceeded to particularise, and +Marmaduke had a dim recollection of someone proposing "The future +Commander-in-Chief, coupled with the name of Captain Marmaduke Muir." + +But whether he replied, or whether the effort to rise and do so was +too much for him and he rolled under the table, he could not say. + +Certain it is that on that first night of his return to the home of +his fathers Marmaduke Muir was hopelessly drunk. + +Certain also that he erred in company, the only sober man being Jack +Jardine, who invariably sought the shelter of the table at an early +period and lay there comfortably, his head on a buffet, listening to +the commiserations on his weak head until he fell asleep, to wake when +the carouse was over, and see that the gentlemen's gentlemen sorted +their respective masters to their respective beds. + + + + + CHAPTER IV + + +Marrion Paul sat in the semi-darkness of the summer night waiting for +her grandfather to return from his duties at the Castle. She did not +generally do so, for he was apt to be late; but on this, the first day +of Captain Duke's return, sleep would have been out of the question +until she heard something of the evening. For she did not mince +matters with herself; those six years of independent life in Edinburgh +had opened her eyes to the world, and the first sight of Marmaduke +Muir had told her that the long ten years had not changed her at all; +that he was as much the sun in her heaven as he had been in the old +childish days. The sun in her heaven, and something more superadded to +those olden times. + +Then the day had been disturbing. Everyone had come to her praising +the Captain's looks and ways and general charm; to all of which she +had replied coolly, feeling the while in a perfect quiver of gladness. +Miss Margaret had been the hardest to damp when she had appeared in +the afternoon with the sporting dogs and a stout crop in her hand on +her way to take them a scramble over the rocks and round by the lower +bay. + +"Oh, Marrion!" she cried enthusiastically. "Saw you ever the like? +Elizabeth says he's like the Apollo Belvidere!" + +"I am not knowing the gentleman," protested Marrion distantly. "But +Captain Duke has grown to a fine figure. But has Miss Muir seen Andrew +Fraser? He's twice the man he was when he went away." + +It was a false move on Marrion's part, for it brought on her instantly +the hearty reply-- + +"I'm glad to hear it, Marmie; so I suppose we will be having you cried +in the kirk before long. Duke says he has been most faithful." + +Whereupon the speaker called to her dogs in a stentorian voice worthy +her father's, cracked her whip scientifically, and strode away for an +hour or two's freedom. For the atmosphere of the dower house was +stifling, and there was always a chance of meeting the Rev. Patrick +Bryce on the sands below the rocks, where he went always to compose +his sermons, with which the reverend gentleman had no little +difficulty. Not because he was stupid, but because he found it +laborious to reconcile his own views with those of his flock; they, +however, being inclined to be lenient with one who had earned for +himself the nickname of "the bonny parson," and who was known to be +the best shot and fisherman in the district. For this reason he would +have been welcome at the Castle, but for his unswerving outspoken +protest against its general behaviour. + +Marrion, meanwhile, finding more peace as the day died down, took +to wandering at the far side of the quadrangle listening to the +distant sounds of revelry; her hands, as she walked, busy with her +knitting-pins--after the fashion of Scotchwomen in those days--going +faster and faster as her thoughts grew hotter over what she knew was +happening at the other side of the blank wall. Guzzling and boozing! +First the masters, then the men-servants, while away in the back +premises the scullerymaids and kitchenmaids were working hard. It was +a shame, a burning shame; but if ever she had a son she would see to +it that he was different. + +But she never would have a son; anyhow, not Andrew Fraser's, be he +ever so sober, so upright. That was the worst of it. With an impatient +sigh she hurried outside the keep door to stand and watch the last +faintly flushed clouds of sunset in the nor'-west fade over the +darkling stretches of moorland. + +It must be nigh twelve of the clock, for eastwards, over the darkling +stretches of the sea, a faint lightening of the horizon, which held +such a hint of restlessness even in its shadow, told where the sun +would soon rise again. For in those high northern latitudes there is a +bare two hours' darkness in a summer night. + +Twelve o' the clock, and after that would be their birthday. +Well, good luck to him wherever he went! Some day he must be the +laird--Baron Drummuir. Nothing to hinder that must come into his +life--nothing! + +The faithfulness of inherited service was in her blood. She recognised +this and sometimes wondered if her own devotion to the honour and +welfare of the House of Drummuir was not stronger even than her +grandfather's; possibly because her father, by all repute, had been a +faithful servant, too; such things are not to be escaped. + +She was aroused from her thoughts by a wavering step in the +quadrangle, and returned to meet her grandfather in the expansive +stage of intoxication. + +"Aye, my lass," he went on, when he had wept a few easy tears over her +goodness in sitting up for him, "it was just a gran' nicht. The pipes +seemed fey and I blawed at them till we was baith like to burst. An' +my lord, he was for havin' oot the biggest bottle o' pickled foxes' +tongues, an' he devilled them himsel' in a chaffin' dish afore them +all, an' they a' drunk wi' mirth an' guid claret. Jock, the butler, +was tellin' me--there was twal o' them--that they were drinkin' thirty +bottles o' the best, forbye sixteen tum'lers of hot whisky-toddy, the +Sheriff and the Lord Provost had, honest gentlemen, to their lane--an' +there wud be no 'hoot-toots' where the Shirra was concerned! Then the +laird o' Balbuggo--he has a weak head, yon man, was for ridin' hame +and was no to be hindered frae it; sae Captain Duke an' anither young +spark jest perched his saddle to the loupin'-on-stane and pit the guid +man to it. An' there he sat tittuping away his lane for an hour or sae +quite blythe, till they tell't him he was at Balbuggo, and he just aff +an' awa tae his bed like a lammie." + +"And Captain Duke?" asked the girl, with scorn in her voice, pity in +her heart, despite the irrepressible smile in her eyes. "Was he drunk, +too?" + +Old Davie winked solemnly. + +"Aye, that was he--he was fair fou--but," he added carefully; "he took +his cups real well! Not like Mr. Peter, that syne gets tae sickness +and----" + +"Gran'father," cried the girl passionately, interrupting him, "it's +gettin' late! You must away to your bed, or you'll no be up the morn +to pipe 'Hey! Johnnie Cope, are ye waukin' yet?' I'll see to the +doors." + +"No be up?" contended the old man. "I tell ye if the arkaungel +Gabbriel was tae soun' his trump any day at half-after seven, he'd +find Davie Sims--aye, and his forbears an' descendants--skirling awa' +at that same tune up an' dune a' the passages in Drummuir Castle tae +wake the gentlefolk! Aye, that wad he"--here he began stumbling up the +stair with his candle held at an angle of forty-five--"though it's +hard on a body that's had tae pipe to the deil ower nicht to think o' +his duty tae the sluggard." + +Here his maunderings became unintelligible, and the girl he left +turned to the closing of the house, her heart hot as fire with +indignation, chill as ice with scorn. + +What else was there to expect? Like father, like son! When she had +drawn the bolts she went up to her own room and flung its little +window wide. The full moon shone round like a shield, and by its light +she could see the whole wild coast stretching northwards from Drumkirk +Point to Rattray Head. And after that? The North Pole, of course! Dear +inaccessible region to all but the strong, the single of heart, the +men who could command others--and themselves. + +She scarcely knew what it was that she raged against as slowly, +methodically, she began to undress. The little brilliant or paste +brooch, she knew not which, formed of two crossed p's which was the +only relic she possessed of her dead father, arrested her for a +second. What sort of a man had he been really, she wondered, and what +sort of a son would hers be when she had one? + +She flung the tiny bauble from her impatiently, so stood for a second +drawn up to her full height, her bare arms crossed, her shapely hands +clasping their smooth roundness; then, with a sudden sob, she realised +what had come to her, and, throwing herself face downwards on her bed, +lay for a minute or two still as the dead. Then as suddenly she sat up +again with a world of puzzled wonder in her strained eyes. + +"I canna think," she murmured, "what gars' me love him so, but I do, +and there's an end o' it." + +Possibly; but such knowledge as that which had just burst over her +like a storm does not make for quiet sleep. She told herself a +thousand and one wise things, but the hours slipped by, bringing at +last a conviction of hopelessness. She would be better up than +pretending to rest, so she went to stand at the window once more. + +The flush of coming day was clear now in the northeast, the flood-tide +of the full moon lay mysterious in the embrace of the rocks. Ere long +the rising sun would send battalions on battalions of shining golden +ripples to storm the estuary and climb the shadowy cliff on which the +castle stood--where he lay drunk! + +Ah, well! That would not spoil the beauty of it all, which she had so +often seen, and the nip of the salt North Sea might check her silly +desire for him. The room felt stifling; she would be better outside. + +So, slipping on her swimming-dress of coarse white flannel blanketing +(for ever since those childish days when she and Duke had done +everything in common she had been an expert swimmer), she threw a +plaid round her, and made her way through the keep gateway to the +rocks below. There was no breeze, the tide must be at its height +almost, and there was the spent moon, pale with its long night-watch, +hanging on the grey sky of dawn. Ah, these were the things worth +having--the others could be set aside with joy! + +Ere five minutes were over, breathless from her fierce driving strokes +through the water, she had turned over on her back, and, face to the +skies, was trying to imagine she was floating thitherwards. The gulls, +wakened by the coming light, skimmed over her in their quest for food. +The little pointed wavelets that rose and fell, marking the course of +the river stream, made a fine, sobbing, tinkling noise in her ears. + +Full flood-tide! + +She laughed aloud in the joy of it; then, rolling over again, struck +out for the opposite shore. Higher up the estuary there was a little +sheltered bay whence she could watch the panorama of dawn. When she +drew herself out of the water on to a convenient rock the air struck +warm, and the stone beneath her had scarce lost yester-sun's heat. It +would be a perfect day--if anything over hot, for a faint opalescence +already lay on sea and sky. + +As she sat waiting for the first rays of the sun to "skim the sea with +flying feet of gold," she unplaited her russet hair, which had become +loosened, and, combing out its long length with her fingers, prepared +to plait it up again. + +Suddenly a voice startled her. + +"A beauteous mermaid, by Jove! Fair lady----" + +The theatrical intonation did not deceive her. She slipped like any +seal into the water, and so protected looked back to see Marmaduke +Muir. He was still in his over-night's dress-clothes, but their utter +disarray made them more consonant with his occupation, for he held a +salmon-rod in his hand, a creel had unfastened his ruffled shirt at +the neck, and he had evidently torn off his stiff stock for more ease, +and kicked away his pumps for firmer foothold on the rocks. His face +showed no sign of last night's carouse, and Marrion, looking at it, +could not but confess that some sins leave no mark on a man. Ere she +could utter a word, his surprise found speech. + +"Why, Marmie!" Then in a half-awed tone he added: "What beautiful hair +you've got, my dear!" + +"Aye," she replied imperturbably, feigning perfect calm, "it's fine! +Folk is aye tellin' me o' 't. The hairdresser in Edinbro' was offering +me a lot for it." + +He sat down on the rocks above where she lay swaying with the long +roll of the distant waves outside the bar, her hands holding to the +seaweed. + +"Goth and Vandal! But you didn't let him have it. Wise Marmie, but +then you always were wisdom itself! I remember----" + +He was becoming vaguely sentimental, so she brought him back to earth +with a round turn. + +"You'll no have been gettin' any fish the morn?" she queried. + +"No fish!" he echoed loftily. "What do you call that?" + +He pulled out of his creel a seven-inch burnie and laid it with pomp +on the rocks. Then their young laughter echoed out into the dawn. + +"But I got a hold on another," he went on, keen as a boy. "A real good +one--as big as any I ever got in the castle pool--perhaps bigger. You +see they were talking of the fishing yesterday and they all said it +was no good. Not enough water. So I didn't intend to try; but--well, +you see, my dear, I got drunk last night--I did--and I woke up about +half an hour ago with a beastly headache. So then I thought I'd go out +and see if the fish weren't moving, and as they'd put me to bed in my +clothes--I must have been horrid drunk, and Andrew, you see, was away +with his people--I just took one of Peter's rods and ferried myself +over in the boat. It's up yonder. I'll take you back in it, if you +like." + +The idea was preposterous. Marrion imagined herself arriving at the +castle, where the servants were ever early astir, in her bathing dress +with the Captain! So she hastily drew a red herring across the trail. + +"And was the fish real big, Captain Duke?" she asked. + +"Big! I tell you it was the biggest I, or, for the matter of that, +anyone else ever caught in the castle pool." + +"Fish are aye big when they are in the water, I'm thinking," she cast +back at him, as, loosing her seaweed hold, she struck out. + +He sprang up. + +"You're not going to try and cross now!" he cried, pointing to where +in mid-stream a wide oily streak told that tide and river were flowing +out fast. "The ebb is at its strongest. Marmie, don't be a fool!" + +She gave a quick glance forward, then looked back to smile farewell. + +"Aye, it's strong, but I've done it before now. There's no fear for +me, Captain Duke." + +So saying she turned her head upstream, seeing indeed that she would +have to be careful not to be swept past her bearings when she got to +mid-channel; so she did not see Marmaduke tear off his creel, his +coat, and waistcoat, and, in thin ruffled shirt and kersey breeches, +launch himself into the water. But his tremendous underwater strokes +soon brought him up almost beside her to shake his curly head like a +retriever. She looked at him startled and quickened her strokes, +whereupon he changed to overhand and ranged up beside her without +effort. + +"Where did you learn yon?" she asked, more for something to break a +silence which made her heart beat than from curiosity. "You usen't to +swim that way." + +"In the Indies," he replied, laughing. "I must teach it to you; but it +isn't much good in currents. By Jove, how jolly this is. Why the deuce +did I take the boat? I say--look out! I feel the trend of the stream." + +Small doubt of that. They were through the backwater and in another +minute would be in the full of outgoing river and outgoing tide. The +opposite bank seemed slipping past them rapidly. Duke changed his +stroke instantly and ranged up beside Marrion. + +"It will be easier together," he said, passing his hand over her +shoulder, and obediently she passed hers over his. + +"Now then, together!" he cried. "And if you tire you know what to do; +and keep time, there's a good girl." + +So they struck off, the forward lunge of his long legs aiding hers, +that were so far behind in strength. Thus they battled the stream +shoulder to shoulder, almost cheek to cheek, her long loose hair +sweeping across him, until the worst of it was over and the girl would +fain have loosed her grip and turned shorewards definitely. + +"Not yet!" he laughed. "Let's swim out to sea a bit! Look--isn't it +worth it?" + +Aye, worth everything else in the world. Far out in the east over that +restless horizon the first ray of the sun had tipped, sending a +widening, radiant path of pure gold to meet them. It shone on her +red-brown hair, turning it to bronze; it shone in their blue eyes, +turning them to sapphires; and it shone on their wholesome, happy +faces, transfiguring them out of all semblance to beings of dingy +earth and purifying them from all mortal taint. They were freed souls +swimming in the vasty ether, all around them the dawn of a new day. + +So they went on and on, till suddenly Duke veered their course +shorewards with one guiding stroke. + +"I shall tire you out," he said softly, and his freed hand, as he +disentangled her hair from his neck, lifted the shiny strands to his +lips for a second. "You have got such jolly hair, Marmie! I wonder you +don't wear it down your back. None of the fellows could resist you +then." + +Their faces were away from the dawn now and hers already had a cloud +on it. + +"I'm going to the big rock. I left my shawl there," she said, +directing her course towards it. + +Duke followed suit in silence. Suddenly he said-- + +"I can't think how I was such a fool as to get drunk last night. It +shan't occur again; but, you know, I shouldn't have had this perfectly +stunning time if I hadn't, should I? We must repeat it every morning, +Marmie, mustn't we?" + +"Weather permitting," she replied, almost bitterly. "But it's no often +sae comfortable to be in the water as it is this morning, Mr. Duke." + +"Ah, you should have been with me in the Indies! You could stop in all +day. You're not feeling cold, I hope?" + +Cold! With every pulse in her body clamouring for sheer joy in his +presence. + +"I'll no be cold when I get my shawl," she said calmly; then, seeing +him turn, called quickly-- + +"You're no going across again, Mr. Duke, it isn't safe!" + +"Didn't I tell you so from the beginning, eh? No; of course I'm not. +I'm going to swim up the side to the steps and send the ghillie for +the boat." + +She watched the rhythmic spluttering of his overhand stroke past the +point. He would be home before her, she thought, as somewhat wearily +she climbed the rocks to the keep. It had been a real joy. In all her +life, long or short, she would never forget it. + +That was the pity of it, for the memory might become a pain. + + + + + CHAPTER V + + +Marmaduke Muir's repentances, like many of his virtues and vices, were +apt to be evanescent. So the next week, it is to be feared, saw many a +lapse from his intention that drunkenness should not occur again. In +truth it needed a strong will to be sober in Drummuir Castle. The old +lord himself had a head which nothing could upset, and though he went +to his bed groaning with gout, no one could have said his wits were in +the least astray. Now Marmaduke had to a certain extent inherited this +toleration of alcohol, a fact which at once gratified his father and +set the old sinner to the graceless task of inciting his son to more +and more glasses of good claret, champagne, and port in order to see +how far the inheritance went. And Marmaduke, partly because he was +anxious to ingratiate himself with his irascible parent and partly +from sheer _joie de vivre_, fell in with the old man's whim. In +reality it meant much to him that he should get to the right side of +his father. He had a chance of his majority if only fifteen hundred +pounds odd could be found over and above the regulation purchase +money. It was a big price; but the vacancy was in a crack Highland +regiment and the majority would give him almost the certainty of +commanding in the future. + +"The peer has never done anything for me in his life," he said angrily +to Jack Jardine. "I've gone into a West India regiment. I've lived on +my pay--and your allowance, old chap. By the way, I do wish you'd make +up accounts between us. We three brothers must owe you a lot already, +and though we've all given our _post obits_ on the property when the +old man dies, I myself don't like it. Worries me when I have a +headache, you know!" + +Jack Jardine smiled. The proposition for a clear account had been made +many times in the past ten years, sometimes by one brother, sometimes +by another--but generally by Marmaduke--without in any way altering +the relative positions of creditor and debtor. So he set the point +aside. + +"Why should you have a headache, Duke?" he began as a prelude to a +sermon on sobriety he had been meditating for some days; but +Marmaduke's candour took the words out of his mouth. + +"Not the least reason in life, Jack, except that I want and will +have my majority, and I _must_ keep straight with the peer till I get +the money. Look here, I'll tackle the old man to-morrow, and if I +succeed I'll cut and run. I don't drink anywhere else, Jack, I don't +indeed--not, I mean to say, _drink_." + +Looking at the speaker's clear, almost boyish, face his hearer could +well believe it. + +"Your father is suffering a lot from the gout just now," he said, +dubiously. + +"And he'll go on suffering as long as I'm here, and he wants to make +me drunk," retorted Marmaduke, whose perceptions were by no means +dense, "so the sooner it's over the better for both of us!" + +Accordingly the very next day when, in accordance with his usual +custom, he wheeled his parent to the paternal visit to the dower +house, Marmaduke broached the subject of finance on the way back. It +was not a very auspicious moment, for the old gentleman had been made +at once irritable and pious by an unwary allusion on the part of his +youngest daughter, Margaret, to the new minister of the parish, the +Reverend Patrick Bryce. Now the reverend gentleman in question was at +the time Lord Drummuir's _bête noire_. To begin with, he had been +presented to the living by the Crown, and the Barons of Drummuir had +for generations claimed the right themselves. Evil thinking people, +indeed, said that it was this fact which made the old man so +wholehearted an advocate of that disruption in the Church of Scotland +which was then rending the country in twain. People talked of little +else, except railways, and on that point Lord Drummuir held the most +conservative of views. They would, he said, not without truth, play +the devil with country society and make it impossible for a nobleman +to travel in comfort. But no one who knew his lordship ever asked for +consistency in his opinions. He simply held them with a tenacity that +was perfectly appalling. So the mere mention of the Reverend Patrick +Bryce's name, with the addition of a fine blush on his daughter's face +when she discovered her slip of the tongue, had put him into a white +heat of politeness and piety. + +"I am surprised at you, Margaret," he said. "I should prefer your +having nothing to do even with the school feasts of a man who, denying +the headship of the church to the Almighty, continues to batten on the +loaves and fishes of--of--and has the cursed impudence to find fault +with other people's meat and drink, too," he added, fiercely. + +Despite this, Marmaduke, who had inherited no little of his father's +obstinacy, took the opportunity of the bath-chair reaching the finest +point of the view to say with a great show of courage-- + +"By the way, sir, don't you think it's about time to send that money +for my majority? Pringle is rather in a hurry to retire, and the price +may run up if we don't act soon." + +His lordship rather admired this home thrust without warning, but he +was on his guard at once and cleared his throat for a speech. + +"It's a positive disgrace to our army, and so I told poor Brougham the +last time I saw him, that promotion should not only go by purchase but +that private individuals should have power to fill their pockets with +the proceeds of further extortion. It is a kind of simony; it is the +sale of valour, of one's country's good!" + +Lord Drummuir was a noted orator when he chose, even in those days +when everyone could string words together into high-sounding phrases, +and when Edmund Burke's foaming fulminations were held up to the young +as models of eloquence; but Marmaduke was obdurate. + +"Possibly, sir," he interrupted, "but I want to do it. You see, sir," +he warmed with his subject, "I'll be dashed if I've troubled you much +in the last ten years--now have I? You've made me an allowance on +which I couldn't live in a gentlemanly way at home. So I've exchanged +again and again for foreign service, going down and down till I've +landed in the West Indies. And now I have this chance of getting back +to my old regiment, to a soldier's life that is worth having----" + +"No soldier's life is worth having. If you will be kind enough to +remember, I objected from the first to the army," interrupted the old +man, with icy politeness. + +Marmaduke groaned aloud. + +"Oh, don't let us go back so far as that, sir. The thing's done, and +practically you have to decide now whether you're going to wreck my +fortune or make it." + +Lord Drummuir took out his pocket-handkerchief solemnly. + +"And this is what I am asked to do, when my physicians insist on +absolute rest of body and mind. I am asked to consider, to take all +the responsibility. No, Marmaduke, you are old enough to decide for +yourself!" + +"Then you wish me to go back to that miserable hole?" began the young +man vehemently. + +"I am informed on the best authority that the climate of the West +Indies has sensibly improved of late years," remarked his lordship, +imperturbably. "The discovery of the cinchona plant----" + +"Damn the cinchona plant!" burst out Marmaduke. But at that instant a +silvery artificial little laugh rose behind them and Mdlle. Fantine Le +Grand appeared tripping over the grass with the daintiest of sandalled +feet. + +She had again been watching father and son from her window, and after +a week's hesitation she had suddenly decided that something must be +done to stop what seemed to be growing confidence. She had hitherto +played with the plan of arousing the old man's jealousy, confining +herself to half-hearted flirtations with Marmaduke, who, also on the +watch, had fallen in with the amusement quite pleasantly. But that +morning Colonel Compton had spoken out his fears. + +"You'll have to look to your p's and q's, Fan, or that youngster will +be running away with some of the peer's loose cash. And as the estate +is strictly entailed that won't suit us. I overheard that weasel, Jack +Jardine, talking to the captain about the purchase of his majority, so +you had better look sharp." + +The words echoed in her brain as she had stood watching father and son +in an apparently amicable conversation which clinched her decision. +The result being her appearance before the two conspirators, +provocative to the very tilt of her carefully held pink parasol. + +"Oh, pardon," she began, in the stage French accent she affected in +society, "but I mean not to disturb! Only the filial picture of milor +and his too charming son was irresistible to poor me--so _sans +famille_." + +She did not look in the least forlorn, and Lord Drummuir's clear, +wicked old eyes, that had seen to the bottom of so many evil things, +took her in from head to foot, and his clear wicked old brain +considered what she would be at. Then he chuckled softly, thinking he +had found out. + +"No apologies needed, dear little Fan," he said affectionately; "you +are almost one of the family already, so we've no secrets. Marmaduke +and I were just discussing the purchase of his majority. It will take +more than two thousand five hundred pounds, I'm afraid, won't it, dear +boy?--what with the regulation and non-regulation figures. A big sum, +my dear, a big sum. It will make a hole in what's available for +wedding presents, eh, little woman?" + +He looked at her with amused malevolence, thinking he had settled her +hash; for little Fan was not the woman to flirt with a man who was to +do her out of a farthing. And Fantine's eyes were steel as she made a +little curtsey. + +"Who, my lord," she warbled tenderly, "could regret money spent in +such a good cause? Pardon," she added, remembering her accent, "was +that not right said? I mean that Marmaduke"--her voice cooed the +name--"is welcome to all zat I could give to him." + +The baron burst into a huge rough guffaw. + +"Come, that is a real good 'un!" he cried, highly amused. "I declare +you're as good as a play. But it's not settled yet." Here he glanced +at his son, keen to tantalise him too, and with reckless devilry +sowing the seeds of evil broadcast. "I shall have to choose between +diamonds for my wife and promotion for my son. Meanwhile, my lady, +don't get your pretty little feet damp on the grass. Remember you have +to dance to us to-night. Ogilvie and all the good fellows for miles +round are coming to see you, and you mustn't be a failure." + +When the bath-chair and its wheezy occupant had been handed over to +the valet, Fantine Le Grand and Marmaduke lingered on the steps +together in silence. + +"You have not yet seen me dance?" she said, suddenly. "Well, you shall +see me this evening! I will dance for you alone, monsieur." + +His eyes laughed into hers boldly. + +"It is a bargain, mademoiselle; but I shall ask for more, I warn you." + +"_Dieu merci_," she said, with a tiny shrug of her shoulders, "you +must not ask too much!" + +So with provocative laughter she fled up the steps with the prettiest +of little glissades and disappeared, leaving Marmaduke gratified at +the impression he had evidently made, and with a certain new +admiration for the demure daintiness of Mademoiselle Fantine. His +father, devil take him, hadn't a bad taste. + +He said nothing of all this, however, to Jack Jardine when he raged +for a full hour over his father's absolute lack of human sympathy. + +"Why only yesterday," he stormed, "he signed a cheque for one thousand +pounds because he wanted to pose as the patron of these dispossessed +parsons. It isn't moral, it isn't Christian. He doesn't care if he +ruins me body and soul. Anyhow, I've done with him for ever." + +"Then you will leave at once?" suggested Jack Jardine. + +In truth he was anxious to get the young man away from temptation as +soon as possible, and he knew well that in the end he himself would +have somehow or another to negotiate the money for the majority. + +"No," replied Marmaduke. "I'm going to stop on for a bit." + +And he set his nether lip hard. He was not going to give a cheek to +the enemy. He meant to hit back if he could. If his father couldn't +spare two thousand pounds because he wanted to spend it on a dancing +woman, he might find himself in the position of not having the dancing +woman on whom to spend it. He, Marmaduke, would have a try at it, +anyhow. It was mean and horrible, of course, but so was the old man. +He began it. + +Peter Muir, coming in yawning, exclaimed at his brother's face. + +"What's up, Duke?" he asked. "You look in the devil of a temper." + +"So I am," retorted Duke. "And so would you be if you had the spunk to +ask anything of the baron. But you haven't, you see." + +"Phew!" said Peter. "So you've been attacking the money bags. I could +have told you it was no go. That's why I learnt picquet of that +Italian count the governor got hold of last year and sent about his +business when he had rooked him of a thou! Now I can get a guinea or +two off everybody who comes in to the house--except you, Jack. You +never will play." + +"I don't wish to add to your pocket-money, Peter; you've too much +already," replied Jack Jardine sternly. "Ah, I've heard of your +beguiling that wretched girl!" + +"Not for the first time, old man," put in Peter. "You shouldn't talk +about things you don't understand; and a fellow must have some +amusement in this cursed hole, especially when the river is low. But +for the life of me, Duke, I can't see why you shouldn't go on half pay +and stop at home a bit. We should have some fine fun together, and I'd +teach you picquet, if you like." + +Marmaduke stood gazing at his young brother for a second or two +angrily. Then his face softened, he went over to him and laid his +hands on his shoulders, and so remained looking down on the weak +effeminate face. + +"You're talking what they call 'bosh' at school, Peter. You're not a +bit content here. How could you be? Give it up and come along with me +when I go. The old man doesn't deserve to have a son." + +Peter wriggled himself away from his brother's hold. + +"I don't really see why you should go." + +"Don't you? Well, I'll tell you. Because I'm a soldier born and bred. +I don't suppose I shall die on the field of glory, but I shall have a +try at it. And I mean to have my majority in my old regiment if I have +to forge the old man's name to get it." + +With that he gloomed away and loafed about, irritated at all things +and everything, even at the preparations that were being made for the +festivities of the evening, for these necessitated his being turned +out of his comfortable room in order to accommodate some of the +guests. + +"Where are they putting me?" he asked angrily of Andrew Fraser, whom +he found, very long and lank in consequence of repeated attacks of +malarial fever, busy packing up his dressing things. + +"It will be tae whatten they used to ca' the 'Agäpemoan' in the old +lord's young days, sir," replied Andrew. "Jest yon big room wi' the +outside stair in the west wing close to the keep, sir. 'Tis a bonny +eneuch room with a fire to it, an' Marrion Paul has ben reddin' it up +a' day." + +Marrion Paul! The name came as a relief and a regret, for he had not +seen her--not anyhow for speech--since their dawn-tide swim together. +Now the mere memory of it in its coolness and freshness and beauty +calmed his irritation, and half aimlessly he strolled across the +quadrangle to inspect his new quarters. She might be there still. +Apparently she was, for a sound of determined sweeping came down the +stairway. + +"Hullo, Marmie, is that you?" he cried joyously, bounding up the steps +two at a time. + +"Aye, Mr. Duke, it's me," replied the figure with the broom +laconically. + +Certainly it was a nice comfortable room with the fire blazing and the +casement window, still somewhat hung with cobwebs, set wide to the +summer sunshine. Marmaduke passed to it and looked out. Beneath him, +far down the slanting red cliffs dotted here and there with sombre +pines, lay the castle pool, and over yonder to the right were the +rocks on the other side where he had found Marmie combing her hair +like any mermaid. It was hidden now under a most unbecoming dust +kerchief; still the memory was pleasant. + +"I say, Marmie," he remarked, "that swim of ours was stunning, wasn't +it?" + +"It's aye nice in the dawning," replied Marrion comfortably. "I've +been out twice since then, and I'm no saying which I enjoyed the +maist." + +Marmaduke made a wry face. + +"You look as if I were interrupting your work," he said tenderly. + +"So you are, Captain Duke," she assented calmly. He clapped his hands +to his ears in mock alarm, and with a laugh raced headlong downstairs, +calling back half-way that 'Andry' would have his work cut out for him +getting his master to bed if so be the latter had had a glass too +much. + +When he had gone Marrion ceased sweeping and rested her cheek on the +broom handle for a bit. + +He--there was but one he in her life and she faced the fact +quietly--did not look so well as he did at first, but of that Andrew +Fraser had warned her. He had, in fact, told her of many things which +otherwise she would not have known, for she had seen much of him in +the last week. The racket of the noisy servants' hall, the whole +dissolute life of masters and men up at the castle had not been to his +taste, and he had taken to going over to the keep-house for quiet, if +not for peace. But even that was coming to him by degrees as he +realised the utter hopelessness of his love for Marrion. But he +realised also that if she was not for him neither was she for any +other man--except one; and that was impossible. So, indeed, he had +told her plainly but a day or two before, when half-dazed with fever +and ague which had attacked him suddenly, in the keep-house. + +She had insisted on his lying down in her grandfather's room, and when +she went in to bring him a cup of hot tea he had slipped his feet to +the ground apologetically, and sitting up, a lank figure among the +blankets, his small pathetic eyes full of fever, had laid a hot hand +on hers and said-- + +"I'll no be troubling you again, Marrion. I canna help loving you and +you canna help loving him. It's no oorsels, ye see. It's just +Providence; sae we must just both thole it." + +She had stood silent, startled by the sudden attack for a second; then +she had said gravely-- + +"Aye, Andry, we must just thole it." + +Since then a strange confidence as to Marmaduke's sayings and doings +had sprung up between the two, and even at dinner-time that very day +he had told of his master's irritability. + +"Things have gone ajee," he remarked, "an' I'm thinkin' it's the money +for the majority. But what's filthy lucre to health?--and sure as +death the captain is no what he was. Gin' it wad make him quit yon bad +auld man an' the whore-woman he is takin' to wife, I'd be heart glad." + +For Andrew Fraser, being acquainted with his Bible, did not mince +words. Neither did Marrion; but having more wits than Andrew she +appraised the evils more reasonably, yet with more prejudice. Lord +Drummuir was Lord Drummuir, and therefore in a way must be accepted; +but the woman was different. + +Marrion Paul's eyebrows levelled themselves to a straight bar as she +went on with her work. + + + + + CHAPTER VI + + +The company had roared over a broad farce; for Lord Drummuir, when he +entertained his neighbours, did so with a lavish hand, and thought +nothing of importing a theatrical company from the nearest big town. A +coach and four went for them and took them back, full up with supper +and good wine. This particular one was not up to much, but they did +well enough, as his lordship said, for the country bumpkins; and the +real entertainment was yet to come. + +It was a pretty little miniature, this theatre which Lord Drummuir had +fitted up in the days of his youth, though Marmaduke, as he sat in the +sham Royal box into which his father's armchair had been wheeled, +thought it smelt a little musty and fusty. + +But even his laughter had been long and loud. And now there was a +pause during which the noisy band of four--a cornet, a fiddle, a +'cello, and an oboe--hustled up their instruments and music and +disappeared. Marmaduke, with the fine instincts for art he had +inherited from his father, and which still made the latter a gourmet +and not a gourmand of all good things, felt relieved. Then suddenly a +thin thread of sound, vibrant, musical--just a whing like the whing of +a mosquito on a hot Indian night--made itself more felt than heard. It +seemed to thrill the air, to go further and thrill the heart-strings. +Marmaduke leant forward expectantly as the curtains drew up slowly on +a background of pale pink velvet hanging in loose folds to a pale pink +velvet floor. And the musty fustiness had gone! That was attar of +roses, pale pink roses like the pale pink _mise-en-scène_. And hark, +the thread of sound changed to two! It became rhythmic, louder! A +guitar? No; it must be a Hungarian zither. Marmaduke, thoroughly +roused, thrilled through to the marrow of his bones as he waited. Bent +on conquest, he had dressed with the greatest care; from head to foot +he was perfection. Expectant as he was, he was yet prepared to be +critical; but one glance at the figure which, after peeping with +roguish face between the velvet folds, stole out on tiptoe to the very +footlights, then stood, finger on lip, as if imploring silence for an +escapade, told him he was in the presence of a past mistress in her +art, and he sat back prepared for enjoyment. + +And La Fantine, as she had been called, had brought pleasure to many +men. She was looking her best, dainty to a degree. The footlights, +with the larger possibilities of powder and paint, had restored her +youth, and her dress was entrancing. Short clouds of pale pink tulle +scarcely veiled with gossamer black lace, all set and sparkling with +dewdrops of paste diamonds. How they glittered and disappeared, +twinkling one moment like stars amid the diaphanous black lace wings +she wore on her head, then sinking to shadow again as she moved. + +And heavens, how she moved! The zither thrilled louder and Marmaduke +sat entranced, for their eyes had met and he realised that she was +keeping her promise--she was dancing for him, for him alone. Like most +young and vital creatures dancing was sheer delight to him, and the +very precision of the black lace-shod, sandalled feet was pure joy to +him. And now the rhythm grew faster and faster; she was like a mad +butterfly drunk with honey from the waiting flowers. + +The desire of the eyes does not take long to flame up and flare, and +Marmaduke felt quite dizzy as he joined in the burst of applause when, +with a final pirouette, the _danseuse_ kissed her hand to the +audience. Or was it to him? + +"Never saw La Fantine dance better, Drum," remarked a thin old man, a +relic of the past youth when he and the bridegroom expectant had +roystered about together, "except, perhaps, that time, you remember, +when she danced the _fandango_ with that South American fellow +she----" + +He paused, remembering that this incident in Mdlle. Le Grand's career +had best not be mentioned under present circumstances. + +"The _fandango?_" put in Marmaduke, afire. "I should like to see her +dance that. It's the finest dance in the world. I learnt it in Cuba." + +"Hullo, Drum," said the old buck, "here's a chance! Your son says he +can dance the _fandango_. Here's a chance. Let's have it. They'd make +a handsome couple." + +Marmaduke blushed up to the ears; why, he knew not. Then he said +stiffly-- + +"I'd rather not, Sir John." + +The refusal was opportune for the _fandango_; it roused the old man's +arrogance. + +"Why not, sir?" he asked angrily. "You'd never get a better partner. +Here, Fantine, my dear," he added, raising his voice, "this oaf of a +boy of mine says he can dance the _fandango!_ Show him he can't, +there's a good girl!" + +"I will do my leetle best, milor," she replied, with a maliciously +provocative smile that would have incited anyone of spirit to action. + +"I am at mademoiselle's command for tuition," said Marmaduke, with a +fine bow. + +His head was ringing, his pulses bounding. He was divided between +anger and delight, between a desire to teach the little devil and his +father a lesson, and keen pleasure at the thought of the coming dance. + +A minute after he stood making his bow beside La Fantine. + +"Do you really know it?" she had whispered. + +"Better than you do," he had whispered back brutally. "I've danced it +in the pot-houses of Habana." + +Then it would be a trial of skill between them! She nodded to the +zither player to begin, striking the strings with loud full-blooded +notes that vibrated and thrilled through the little theatre and came +back to aid the growing clamour of the music. It was grace and grace, +suppleness and suppleness at first; then by degrees something fiercely +beautiful, profoundly, almost overwhelmingly, appealing to the senses. +The audience sat spellbound, while to those two there grew an +absorbing forgetfulness of all save that they two, man and woman, were +playing each with the other. Suddenly, when that reckless +forgetfulness seemed to have reached its climax, the woman faltered +for a second, turned to her companion. + +"Don't you know the rest?" he whispered softly. "Come on, I'll teach +it you." + +Half-hypnotised by his look, his manner, she followed his lead. +The music, bewildered, ignorant, failed, came to a full stop. +But it was not needed. Those two danced to the music of the spheres. +The coarse sensuality of this earth had passed. This was the +refined super-sensuality of a world of art, of sentiment. It was +self-renunciation divorced from its real meaning, and when finally, +with La Fantine's heart pressed to his, he laid his burning lips to +hers, a great silence like a sigh came to the whole audience. It was +broken by Lord Drummuir's stentorian voice-- + +"You--you d----d young scoundrel! This is too much----" + +Marmaduke looked up jubilant. + +"It's in the original dance, isn't it, Mademoiselle Le Grand?" + +"I--I believe it is," she faltered uncertainly. She had met with her +match, and that she knew. + +"A most remarkable performance," said Sir John, with unction. "I'll +tell you what it is, young man. You two would be the talk of London if +you could persuade Mdlle. Fantine----" he paused again, coughed, and +added precipitately, "Really, my dear Drum, you are to be +congratulated on such a son, and such a future wife! Inimitable, quite +inimitable! You'll never feel the least dull in the long winter +evenings. Ah, Mdlle. Fantine, _mes compliments!_ I have not seen you +for years; not since----" here once more he pulled himself up short, +and Lord Drummuir, beguiled from wrath by his ever-ready sense of +humour, burst in a loud guffaw. + +"Look here, Johnnie," he cried, "hold your tongue and don't splay that +old foot of yours about any more. Winter evenings be dashed! Marmaduke +is going back to his Cuban partners, and little Fanny here is going to +make my gruel, aren't you, Fan? Meanwhile, let's come and have some +supper." + +So they supped outrageously, and the noise of their laughter echoed +out over the quadrangle, where Marrion Paul sat at her door listening +for Marmaduke's step. She had promised to call Andrew Fraser the +moment she heard it; Andrew, who for two hours had been shivering and +shaking with ague under the spare-room blankets, and had now +apparently fallen asleep, secure in Marrion's promise to rouse him on +his master's appearance. + +She had been up twice to see that the captain's room was in order, and +like any valet had laid out everything that would be required for the +night. So, leaving the candles alight, she had come down to stand at +the door of the keep-house again and watch the slow whirling stars +almost stupidly, and wonder what had best be done at once to keep Duke +friends with his father, and at the same time to get him away from the +godless crew up at the castle. + +A staggering step and Marmaduke's voice joyously thick saying-- + +"All right, James, you needn't come any further. I can find my way +now. Good-night. Andrew--where the deuce are you, Andrew? Why weren't +you waiting?" sent her in haste to fulfil her promise. But the hot fit +had this time had a firmer grip on Andrew than either she or he had +expected, and she found him lying with closed eyes half-unconscious. +And though he roused at her touch it was only to mutter: "Let me be, +mother! I'm no goin' to the schule the day. I wunna; let me be, I +say!" + +Marrion, seeing he was useless, laid a wet cloth on his head and +returned to her station by the door. It was a dark night and she could +see nothing. Neither could she hear anything. + +What had happened? Had Marmaduke managed the stairs by himself? If so, +well and good. He could be left to his own devices, and serve him very +well right! The candles were in a safe place. But if he had fallen by +the way, he would be out all night. Serve him right also! Her lips +curled with scorn, and she was about to go in and close the door when +she remembered that the kitchen girls shaking their mats in the +quadrangle in the early morning would see him if he were lying there. +If it were men it would not have mattered, but that girls should see +and snigger was unbearable. She must go and make sure this would not +happen. Taking the lantern--for it was pitch dark--she made her way to +the foot of the stair. He was lying with his head on the lowest step, +as he had fallen, sleeping peacefully. The cool night air had +completed the work of wine, and so doubtless he would sleep for hours. +But he must not; that disgrace must be avoided. Kneeling beside him +she shook him violently by the shoulder; he roused a little, but not +much, and as he sank back to renewed slumber she looked helpless for a +moment, then angry. It was too bad! He must be roused somehow. She +lifted her hand and gave him a good smart blow on the cheek. + +The effect was magical. + +"Marmie," he murmured dazedly, then sat up and said confusedly, "What +is it, my dear?" + +"You've got to get up and go to your bed, Mr. Duke," she replied. +"Come, be quick about it." + +He stumbled to his feet obediently. + +"Certainly, certainly! No objection whatever," he said thickly; but +when by the light of the lantern he saw the stairs he gave a silly +laugh, and said amiably: "Quite impossible, I 'sure you. Where's +Andrew?" + +"Andrew is not here, Mr. Duke," she replied firmly. "I'll help you up. +Hold on to the rail with your right hand; I'll see to you." + +He delivered himself into her strong grip, body and soul, and so, with +a few stumbles, they reached the top of the stairs. Here she hesitated +a moment, then led him on. + +"Sit you down on your bed, Duke. I'll help you off with your coat. +Ye'll sleep better without it. An' now kick off yer pumps," she went +on calmly, a sort of fierce motherhood possessing her, "an' I'd better +loosen yer stock; 'tis tight enough to suffocate ye." + +He acquiesced in all, sinking to sleep without a word almost before +she had finished her ministrations. Then, taking a plaid that hung +over a chair, she covered him over and prepared to go. But regret, +anger, outraged affection were too strong for her. She flung herself +on her knees beside the bed and buried her face on his unconscious +breast. + +"Ah, Duke, Duke," she moaned, "how can ye! Ah, Duke, Duke, you +mustn't, you shall not spoil your life--you shall not, you shall not!" + +After a time calm came to her, and, drawing a chair to the side of the +bed, she sat down on it and, clasping her hands tight together, forced +herself to think of the future. But again and again she caught herself +comparing those two unconscious faces--Andrew's all flushed with +fever, Duke's all flushed with wine. Yet comparisons were useless +before Fate. She stood up at last, crossed the room, blew out the +candles, shut the door, and went downstairs, certain but of one thing, +that somehow she was bound by the very greatness of her love to stand +between Duke and danger. + +Her grandfather was home, and snoring. Andrew she found better and +beginning to fret over his inability to serve his master. + +"Dinna fash yersel," she said kindly. "I heard James bring him over a +while back, and he'll have seen to him." + +So, absolutely outwearied, she went to her bed, to sleep at once and +dream that Duke had thanked her and gone away from the godless +household never to return. But Duke, meanwhile, was dreaming about +wonderful white arms that had left powder on his coat and wonderful +red lips that he had kissed boldly, defying the world. + + + + + CHAPTER VII + + +It was not only Marrion Paul whose night had been disturbed. Lord +Drummuir, brought thereto by many days' indiscretions, Périgord pie at +supper, and perchance his hot though transient anger at the finale to +the _fandango_, fell a victim to the sharpest attack of gout he had +had since Christmas and kept his side of the house awake with his +curses on things in general, and his valet in particular. + +And, on the other side of the south wing, Fantine Le Grand, _alias_ +Fanny Biggs, sat till dawn, staring at herself in the looking-glass +and ciphering out the effect of something, new yet old, which had +unexpectedly come into her life. She had sent her maid to bed, but +felt no inclination for her own, until the disturbing element had been +thoroughly reckoned with; for she was eminently practical and shrewd. + +So she sat, her elbows on the dressing-table, her fingers cramped in +her loosened hair, taking stock of the pretty painted face which had +been the loadstar of her life. It was beginning to show age. She had +admitted that to herself for some time past, and had told herself it +was time for her to draw in her horns. But now had come this +disturbing factor. Only that morning she had remorselessly plotted to +turn Marmaduke out of the house by fair means or foul. Now she was +clear-sighted enough to admit that she would much rather keep him +beside her. + +Strange that one dance, one delicious abandonment of herself to his +directions should have revived her youth--made her think of the gouty +old man with positive loathing. + +"You are a fool," she murmured to her reflection in the glass; but the +reflection answered back--"It is your last chance. Why miss it?" + +She thought and thought, only one thing coming to her with certainty. +To play with Marmaduke, as she had proposed to do, would be to play +with fire. Was she prepared for this? + +At last, wearied out, she rose, poured out a double dose of sleeping +drops, and put off further considerations for the morning, since no +matter at what decision she arrived, she could not afford to be +haggard. She woke, late as usual, to feel, with the usual buoyancy +of perfect health and practically no conscience, that she had been +making a mountain out of a molehill; but the first glance at the +breakfast-table laid in her little boudoir sent a thrill through her +which reminded her that there were indeed pitfalls ahead. For on it +lay a huge bunch of red, red roses, tied together somewhat clumsily +with a red silk officer's scarf, and in it was tucked away a boyish +note: "Excuse tie, I hadn't any other ribbon. Hope you aren't tired +after our wonderful dance. My love to you." + +So it was real, tangible; and something must be settled one way or the +other. She frowned over her breakfast and then, untying the bouquet, +disposed the roses about the room, since Lord Drummuir, of whose +illness she had not yet heard, might come in at any moment. The tie +she set aside, its fate being not yet decided. + +After a while Colonel Compton, as usual, lounged in, a cigar in his +mouth. + +"By George, Fan," he said admiringly, "that was a treat you gave us +last night! Upon my soul, if I'd known you had so much spunk left in +you, I'd never have advised your going on the shelf! If you could only +get that young fellow as a co, you'd take the town by storm." + +"Should I?" she answered, with a half yawn; but her mind seized +instantly on a new idea. + +"Of course you would," he went on, "and I've done a bit of +_impresario_ work in my time. Marks, if he'd seen it, would have +offered you fifty sovs a night on the spot. The old man is no mean +judge, and you saw how it angered him." + +She burst into a little laugh. + +"But he soon got over it. You see he has a sense of humour; if he +hadn't, I could not stand him, I really couldn't!" + +"Don't know about getting over it. He's down to-day with a real bad +fit of the gout----" + +"Is he?" she remarked coolly. "Then I shall have a holiday." As she +said the words her mind travelled over the possibilities of even a few +days. "Compton," she said suddenly, "I never quite understand the +position of affairs in regard to Drummuir's sons. The estate's +entailed, isn't it?" + +"Heir male of the body," replied the colonel. "That is why I warned +you to look out lest Marmaduke should worm money out of his father. So +long as the old man lives you're all right; but when he dies you will +only have the cash and the savings--and the title. The rest all goes +to Pitt--after him, as he has no children, and isn't likely to have +any--to Marmaduke as heir presumptive. After him to Peter, but +Marmaduke is sure to marry; he's really a very good-looking +fellow----" + +She interrupted him curtly; she did not need to be told that. + +"Thanks. I quite understand, only I wished to be sure." + +She passed to the window and looked out. Peter, as usual surrounded +by a perfect pack of silly, silky spaniels--they suited him exactly +with his wide weak mouth, long fair hair, and general exuberance of +dress--was on the lawn talking to Marmaduke. The latter looked up, saw +her, and bowed. She kissed her hand to him and returned to her seat, +her mind still confused, but her will steady. + +"Well," she said lightly, "I suppose by and by I shall have to go in +and cheer up my fiancé, but I shan't be sorry for a few days' +holiday." + +She told Marmaduke so also when she appeared, exquisite and dainty, +declaring that, as she was useless at home, since his father, poor +dear, could not even bear the sight of her for more than five minutes, +she thought it would be a fine opportunity to see a little more of the +place than she had hitherto been able to; and would Marmaduke tell her +where to go. + +The result of which innocent interrogatory being that in the full +glory of a summer afternoon, the sea calm as a mill pond, Marmaduke +found himself sitting in a boat as it drifted idly beneath the old red +sandstone cliffs facing the North Sea with his arm round La Fantine's +waist and a curious mixture of desire and disdain in his heart. + +"You see, my dear boy," she was saying, "I dare say you think ill of +me." + +"I don't, I don't indeed!" he protested. + +"Well, you did think ill of me," she continued, with a heavenly smile; +"but I really have all the Christian virtues. That is the worst of it. +I hate giving pain, or seeing people suffer. And I like doing my best +for people, if I can. Now my proposition sounds rather impossible, +but it really is quite feasible. I'm not going to talk about our +feelings, Duke. We both of us remember last night, so we will leave +them out of the question. But you are a young man, you have a future +before you--that is to say, if you play your cards properly. You want +to be a soldier----" + +"I don't mean to be anything else," interrupted Marmaduke decidedly, +"so your plan of my making money by dancing with you is out of the +question." + +"Not on six months' sick leave, under an assumed name? Now, Duke, +listen and don't interrupt. If you and I join forces and run away from +here, I will engage to get the money for your majority. I tell you any +manager would advance two thousand on the _fandango_ alone--or Jack +Jardine could finance one half--as he always does, and I the other. +Then you could join, get leave, disappear, have a real stunning six +months with me--London, Paris, Vienna perhaps. You don't know what the +life is like, Duke--and I'm not jealous or exacting. I like to amuse +myself, and so should you." + +He looked at her admiringly. + +"What an imagination you have!" he said. "And you settle everything so +quickly. You remind me----" And here the thought of Marrion Paul made +him suddenly shift back to the thwart and begin to scull once more. +"We are nearing the current," he said apologetically, "and she needs +steering--and so do I!" he added, with a charming smile, "so go on, +please, with your imaginations." + +She gave him a sharp look, saw he had still some fight left in him, +and like a good fisherman let him have his head a bit. + +"Of course it is all imagination," she assented, "and it depends on +whether you think it worth while to pay the price I ask for all this. +I am five years older than you are, Duke" (in reality she was fifteen, +but under a rose-lined sun hat years disappear), "but I am still +attractive." + +She said the word so cunningly that he laid on his oars and bent +forward till his burning eyes were close to hers. + +"Attractive!" he echoed. "You're more than that, and you know it--at +any rate, I do!" + +"I am glad of it," she assented, "for it makes it easier for both of +us; but, as I said, I don't want to dwell on our feelings, they are +too recent to be--er--reliable. It is purely as business that I put it +to you. I want to get back to the old life, if I can do it with any +chance of success. Last night showed me I could. But I also want to be +Lady Drummuir. You want to get your majority, and also--there is no +use in mincing words--to spite your father for not giving you the +money. Now all these desires can be combined----" + +The grating of the keel on a shingly shore interrupted her, and +Marmaduke stood up, shipped his oars, and held out both his hands. + +"Let's leave it for the time, little lady, or you'll persuade me out +of my persuasion that you're right. There's the most ideal spot for +lovers just round that rock. Let's go there and forget everything and +everybody except that I am the most delightful man in the world, and +you are the most delightful--and attractive--woman!" + +The hint of artificiality in his tone made her frown, but there was +frank sensual admiration in his look as he set her down after lifting +her from the boat. + +"I think," he said softly, as he held out a finger bleeding from the +prick of a pin, "you are the daintiest, thorniest thing I ever +touched. You're like the roses I gave you this morning, all colour, +sweetness and scent, and--thorns." + +Whereat they both laughed as they made their way to the ideal spot for +lovers. To their surprise and discomfiture they found it already +occupied by Margaret Muir, who was looking sentimentally out to sea +with the Reverend Patrick Bryce's arm round her waist. + +"Meg!" cried Marmaduke, aghast. + +"Oh, Marmaduke! Why? How did you come?" wailed his sister, jumping up +and looking round as if for escape. + +The Reverend Patrick Bryce, however, stood his ground. He was a small +spare man of about fifty, dapper and spruce, his curling grey hair +having the appearance of a wig under his low crowned hat, his clear, +starched clerical bands natty to a degree. + +"Captain Marmaduke Muir, I presume," he said, with a bow of a marquis. +"I regret much exposing my dear Miss Margaret Muir to this +unpleasantness, but I beg you to believe that, as my affianced wife, I +am ready to defend her to the uttermost." + +Marmaduke looked from one to the other of the delinquents. + +"You don't mean to say, Meg," he said at last, "that you wish to marry +the minister?" + +The very idea seemed to him preposterous, absurd; he almost laughed at +it. + +The Reverend Patrick Bryce gave her no time for reply. + +"She not only desires to marry me, sir, but she is going to do so, +please God, before long. Yes, sir, I propose to take her away from a +demoralising atmosphere, and give her, to the utmost of my power, the +love and affection she deserves." + +He looked very gallant as he made his little speech, and Marmaduke +acknowledged to himself that he played the gentleman well. Still, he +turned again to his sister in incredulity. + +"You can't do it, Meg. To begin with, if the Baron----" + +"Baron Drummuir, sir, will have nothing to say to it," interrupted the +little minister once more. "The Honourable Margaret Muir is of age, +and if she chooses to marry a man of birth equal to her own--I do not +care to boast of my ancestry, sir, but Bryce and Bruce are the same, +and my family tree shows Robert of Scotland to be my immediate +ancestor--she is at liberty to do so." + +"That is for Lord Drummuir to decide," said Marmaduke grimly. "Of +course, I shall tell him, Meg, what I've seen." + +Margaret clasped her hands in entreaty. + +"Oh, please, don't, Duke--please, please!" + +"Margaret," interrupted the minister sharply, "oblige me by not +entreating your brother to silence. Let him speak if he chooses. We +are not ashamed of ourselves." + +All this time Mdlle. Le Grand had been watching the scene with her +sharp eyes, and her acute little brain had been working out any +advantage to herself. Now she saw her way and slipped forward with a +smile. + +"My dear Marmaduke," she said, as the two men stood glaring at each +other, "live and let live is a valuable motto. You must remember that +Margaret can also tell on us. Silence on both sides is the best way +out of the difficulty. Don't you think so, Miss Muir?" + +Margaret gave a frightened look at her brother. + +"Ah, Duke," she cried, "you don't mean to say you----" + +Fantine Le Grand interrupted her with perfect aplomb. + +"That has nothing to do with it, my dear young lady; but you know as +well as I do what would happen if your father got wind of this +excursion of ours. So, as I said, silence is wise. Don't you agree +with me, sir?" + +The Reverend Patrick Bryce once more made the bow of a marquis. + +"I reserve the right to speak if I choose----" + +"And so do I," she retorted sweetly, "only we won't choose. Come, +Marmaduke, it is time we were going back. Had we not better take your +sister with us? It will look better--for both sides." + +And here she gave a delightful tinkle of a laugh. + +She kept up the rôle so well on the return journey that simple +Margaret Muir was quite fascinated, and when, artfully, the suggestion +was made that Marmaduke should see his sister home to the Dower House, +the latter took the occasion to remark, as the former had hoped she +would, on her surprise at finding Mdlle. Le Grand so agreeable and so +well mannered. + +"She is very charming," replied Marmaduke, a trifle gloomily, "and +very clever." + +He felt vaguely that he had been played with, and that he had had no +more responsibility in the game than a pawn at chess. He felt also +that the compact of silence with his sister brought imaginings nearer +to reality. + +And the idea of that six months on the Continent was a temptation; +anyhow, he would have another go at the old man first. + +If he still refused--well, on his head be it! + + + + + CHAPTER VIII + + +Days are long to a man and a woman when one of them passionately +desires the other, for every instant counts, every moment spells +success or failure. And Fantine Le Grand, with her almost lifelong +experience of intrigue, was not one to let the grass grow under her +feet. So when, two days later, Marmaduke ran over the quadrangle to +beg a favour of Marrion Paul, most of his scruples had disappeared, +and, for the time, at any rate, he was an admiring lover, eager to do +anything and everything for the woman of the moment. + +"You can, quite well, if you like, Marrion," he pleaded. "It would +only be for a day or two, till Josephine could put her foot to the +ground again. And Mdlle. Le Grand--she has been very much maligned, +Marmie--is perfectly charming. Now do. It isn't often I ask you to do +anything for me, is it?" + +Marrion Paul had opened her eyes at the proposition, which was briefly +that, during the temporary disablement of Mdlle. Le Grand's French +maid, she should go over and take her place. She had been on the point +of refusal when that "for me" startled her. Was it possible that he +could count that woman's convenience his own? She hesitated, but only +for a second. + +"I will do what I can for you, Captain Duke," she said. + +In an instant all the old charm, all the old _camaraderie_ came to his +voice-- + +"I knew you would, Marmie. I told her so. You're a real friend, you do +such a lot of things for me." Then he in his turn hesitated, looked +confused, and finally spoke: "I had such odd dreams that night--the +night we danced, you know. I dreamt that you helped me up the stairs +and--and put me to bed like a baby." He paused. "Did you, really, +Marmie?" + +The colour rushed to her face. + +"Aye, Captain Duke, I did. Andrew was ill and you were drunk." + +Her straightforward candour abashed him beyond words. + +"I'm sorry," he said at last, so humbly that her heart melted within +her. Then he added, with a sudden influx of joyousness, "But I'm +really going to turn over a new leaf. I'm going to cut and run before +long and let my father stew in his own juice." + +She caught him up instantly. + +"Your father's your father, Mr. Duke, and you're the heir to the old +barony. You mustn't forget that. It's laid on you, and it's not to be +put aside." + +He paused as he was going, vexedly. + +"I'm not going to put it aside, Marmie. I am only going to make the +best of a bad bargain. If the old lord won't give me the money for my +majority, I'm not going to stick on here getting drunk to please him." + +There was distinct virtue in the last phrase, and Marmie smiled. And +as she looked in the old clothes drawer for some black silk-frilled +aprons which her mother had worn when she was maid to the first Lady +Drummuir, she told herself that Duke was nothing but--as he had +said--a big baby, and that, no matter what the dancing-woman might be +like, she, Marrion, was glad to be in a position where she could see +for herself what was going on. + +She looked very demure, very uncompromising and upright, therefore, +when that same afternoon, attired after a little coloured sketch of +her mother as maid, she stood waiting for Fantine Le Grand to come up +and dress for dinner. Yet, even so, the latter's instant and quite +unpremeditated remark was-- + +"Captain Muir did not tell me you were so good-looking." + +It was a revelation to Marrion's quick wits, but she was ready in +reply. + +"Maybe he never looked to see, ma'am," she said demurely, "having his +eyes busy with prettier things." + +Fantine Le Grand laughed easily and her manner changed to more +familiarity at once. + +"You know which side your bread is buttered, my girl. So much the +better. Now I wonder how much use you will be?" + +"I was six years at the dressmaking, madam," replied Marrion, "and the +forewoman gave me all the touching-up work; she said I had a good hand +for folds." + +Fantine gave a relieved sigh. + +"Then you're not quite a bumpkin, but I suppose you can't do hair?" + +"I can, a little," said Marrion; "I learnt just a wee while in +Perragier's shop in Edinburgh. The foreman wanted me to stop, but I +don't care for the business." + +All of which was absolutely true; for the hairdresser who had offered +her gold for her russet hair had afterwards offered her his heart and +hand. What is more he had hardly yet withdrawn his offer, and only +that morning the post had brought her a long and friendly letter +enclosing a sachet and a most particular account of how he had dressed +the hair of all the Edinburgh celebrities in the latest fashion for +the last big ball. + +"I'm thinking," she went on deftly, "that the new Sevigné style would +just suit madam, if she will allow me to try. There will be time to +change if it doesn't please." + +Five minutes later Fantine Le Grand, in pink wrapper, was watching in +the glass Marrion's fingers curling and twisting and combing and +puffing. And Marrion was watching the glass also, a half inherited, +half acquired perception of what was beautiful and becoming aiding her +lack of practice. + +"My dear girl," said Fantine delighted, when Marrion stepped back, her +task completed, "you're an artist! It makes me look ten years younger. +You must come with me." She paused and gave a little conscious laugh. +"Anyhow, you are much better than Josephine, and so I shall tell +Captain Muir." + +Apparently she did, for Marrion, meeting him by chance that evening on +the stairs, had to draw back from his outstretched hand. + +"Hang it all," he said, almost boisterously, "I forgot you were a +servant here! Do you ever forget your p's and q's, I wonder? I wish +you would sometimes. Anyhow, you have made her look quite divine, and +she says she means to ask you to take the place permanently." + +"It is very kind of _her_," replied Marrion, accenting the pronoun; +but Marmaduke was too absorbed to notice it. Only that afternoon he +had had his final attack on his father's purse-strings, and had come +down to the library where Jack Jardine and Peter were smoking, white +with rage. + +"It's all up!" he said. "The old man--I'll never call him father +again--insulted me beyond bearing." + +"I warned you, Duke," began Peter; "he isn't half recovered yet." + +"And do you think I've got time to waste until my precious parent +takes enough colchicum and nitre to kill a horse, all because he +guzzles and swills? No. As I told him, Pringle won't wait over the +week, so--so I'm making other arrangements. I shall have to ask you, +Jack, to raise two hundred pounds to clinch the bargain when I meet +Pringle. I don't know how the devil you do it, but you always do." + +"Yes, I always do," assented Jardine a trifle wearily; "but you know, +Duke, it would be wiser to raise the two thousand pounds at once and +have done with it. If Pitt and Peter here were to join in a _post +obit_, and I were to back it----" + +"Thanks!" said Marmaduke curtly. "I only asked for two hundred pounds, +and you can put that in the bill, can't you?" + +"Yes," assented Jardine again wearily, "I can put it in the bill" + +When Marmaduke had gone out of the room Peter crossed over to the fire +and knocked the ashes out of his pipe. + +"I wonder what he has got in his head," he remarked thoughtfully. +"It's something to do with Fantine, _alias_ Fanny Biggs, I'm sure." + +"Fantine?" echoed Jack Jardine. "Why, of course, anyone can see that +Marmaduke has been trying to get to the right side of her. I advised +him to do so. And she, of course--by that scoundrel Compton's advice, +I expect--has been trying to make the peer jealous in order to get rid +of Marmaduke!" + +Peter burst out laughing. + +"Look here, Jack, you're excellent as a man of business, but you're a +mole with women, you old bachelor! I could tell you a thing or two, +but I won't--it's too amusing." And he strolled out of the room +chuckling to himself. + +Over in the keep-house, Marrion Paul felt that she, also, could tell a +thing or two, even after the brief experience of being maid to Fantine +Le Grand; but she did not find it amusing. On the contrary, it sent +her about her new work with a frown in her eyes that were keen for +every sign. + +The day had been a troublous one. The old peer, up for the first time, +had been so irritable that the whole household was upset. Fantine Le +Grand, indeed, coming up for her usual late afternoon rest, had +professed herself so outwearied by a protracted penance in milord's +private room that she bade Marrion give her a double dose of her +sleeping draught and tell the butler she was not coming down to +dinner. She would have a dainty little supper in her boudoir at ten +o'clock, and till then did not wish to be disturbed. Being thus set +free, Marrion was going home when, as she passed the stairway leading +to the room which Marmaduke had occupied and where Andrew Fraser still +kept some of his master's spare things, she heard a noise as of +someone shifting boxes. Running up to see what it was, she found +Andrew busy packing up. + +"Aye, we're awa' the morn's morn," he replied cheerfully to her query, +"and blythe am I that the finest gentleman in the Queen's army will +run no more danger o' bein' ruined by a whore-woman and an auld, auld +man, as s'ould be thinkin' o' his grave an' the Last Day." + +Despite a sudden catch at her heart, his hearer acquiesced calmly. + +"Aye, it's well he's goin! But where is it to?" + +"To Edinbro'. He's an appointment tae meet Major Pringle the morrow's +morn aboot the exchange." + +"An' when he's comin' back?" asked Marrion sharply. + +"I heard no tell o' returnin', and I'm thinkin' not. Ye see the +exchange he tell't me was settled into the auld regiment." + +"Then his father----" she interrupted. + +Andrew shook his head. + +"It's no the auld lord. They had just a fearfu' stramash aboot it. It +will be Jack Jardine again, puir fallow! He always manages it somehow. +Well, he'll hae his reward at the Judgment, though I'm thinkin' he'll +hae to wait till then for a reckoning." + +"Maist o' us have to do that, Andry," said Marrion grimly, and then +her face, looking into the hard, honest, homely face before her, +softened; "an' you, abune all, abune all, my lad," she added, as she +went on her way. + +Andrew Fraser hesitated for a second, then followed fast. + +"Thank ye for that, my dear," he said hoarsely at the foot of the +stairway, "it makes it easier. An' I'll wait--aye, I'll wait till +then, never fear, Marrion!" + +His outstretched hand was in hers as they stood gazing into each +other's eyes, his very love forgot in the flood of friendship which +surged through their hearts and brains, when Miss Margaret Muir, fresh +from an afternoon among the rocks with her gallant little parson, came +whistling and calling to her dogs through the keep-gate. She had spent +so many long years of her life without one touch of glamour and +romance that, now it had come to her at last, the whole world seemed +transfigured into a place full to the brim of lovers and their lasses. +So in an instant the sight of those two set her becking and smiling. + +"Good luck to you both!" she called. "Good luck, good luck! After all, +Marrion, you see you will be asking Mr. Bryce to get you cried." + +Andrew, shamefaced and confused, escaped up the stairs, but Marrion +stood her ground boldly. + +"There'll be scant time, Miss Marg'ret," she said, not without some +scorn, "for Andrew is away with his master the morn, and Captain Duke +says he will not be coming back." + +Her hearer turned visibly pale. Ever since the rencontre on the rocks +Margaret had been haunted by a fear lest Marmaduke should break the +half-formulated compact of mutual silence. And now this news of his +unexpected departure sent a thousand wild conjectures to her mind. +Had he quarrelled with his father over the woman? Had he in revenge +told---- + +"Going away!" she gasped. "I didn't know. Surely it's very sudden! +Why? Can my father have found out about Mdlle. Le Grand----" Then +realising her slip, she went on hurriedly, "But it is all nonsense +about Duke's saying he will not come back. The boys always say that +when there is a quarrel; but father forgets, and so do they, as you +know quite well, Marrion. And it's only right that it should be so, +for after all he is their father, isn't he?" + +"Aye, Miss Marg'ret," replied Marrion gravely, "my Lord Drummuir is +the present holder o' the barony, an' Captain Marmaduke is the heir to +it if the Master has no son; so that settles it outright." + +Margaret Muir looked at her with a sort of wistful surprise. + +"You put things very plain, Marrion," she said, "but you always were a +sensible girl; and, being what you are, your grandfather's +granddaughter--you--you belong to Drummuir, as it were." + +When she had passed on whistling and calling to her dogs, Marrion Paul +stood echoing those last words in her heart. Yes, she belonged to +Drummuir; but over and above that inherited loyalty there was a +passion of protection for Duke himself. He must not be harmed in any +way. + +Was there indeed anything between him and the painted woman she was +serving? + +Before she wakened her for the dainty supper at ten o'clock that +evening Marrion stood looking at the sleeping face, all its charm of +_espièglerie_ gone, the mouth cruel, the lines about the eyes hard and +set. + +No, whatever came, that woman should not have the spoiling of Duke's +life! Not that there could be much fear since he was leaving the next +day. + + + + + CHAPTER IX + + +No danger! + +The thought--such an ill-considered thought, it seemed--recurred to +Marrion Paul as she held a slip of crumpled paper in her hand and read +its slight contents over and over again. + +She had found it on the floor of the room where Andrew Fraser had +packed up his master's spare things. There had been heaps of other +papers on the floor, when, during the time that Fantine Le Grand was +on duty with the old lord, Marrion, more to still thought than from +necessity, had set herself the task of clearing up and making tidy; +but this one showed her Duke's handwriting, and, half mechanically, +she had reached down to pick it up. And then? Women, as a rule, have +not nearly so hard and fast a rule of conventional honour as men on +such points, so she had smoothed it out and read-- + +Evidently a memorandum made to help out a memory excellent in its way, +but random, careless. + +"Write for rooms at Cross-keys. Order trap from Crow; 9.30, copse by +avenue gate." + +She drew in her breath and considered, her thoughts punctuated by the +rapid beating of her heart. + +The Cross-keys? That was the inn where the south coach stopped, and +where the ferry road branched off; she could almost see it from her +window across the estuary on the edge of the moorland. What did +Marmaduke want with rooms there? And the trap from the Crow? That was +the little inn down in the back purlieus of the town. For whom was +that trap wanted? And why not order from the big posting hotel as +usual? + +Then in an instant a solution flashed upon her. Marmaduke had not +really gone by the afternoon coach; or, if he had, so far, was to +return that night to the Cross-keys, and the trap was to take Fantine +Le Grand to him by the bridge road! + +The beating of her heart steadied itself. She folded up the paper and +put it in her pocket, her vehement determination, somehow or another, +to frustrate this plan almost forgotten for the time in wonder at the +chance which had brought to her this knowledge. + +The paper must have fallen out of the pocket of some coat Andrew had +been packing up--how easily it might not so have fallen! How easily +she might not have noticed it! A facile wonder obscured real thought, +and, as usual in such sudden crises, concrete determination hid itself +under one general determination to frustrate the machinations of the +enemy, if possible. She did not even ask herself how this was to be +done; all she told herself was that it _must_ be done. + +So, rousing to a sense that afternoon was passing to evening, and that +it was time for her to be in attendance at the castle, she went +thither, feeling vaguely that if it was necessary to kill the woman, +even that must be done, sooner than she should be allowed to hamper +Marmaduke's young life. + +Fantine Le Grand had not yet come up from her daily duty of amusing +Lord Drummuir, so Marrion mechanically began, as usual, to prepare for +the evening's toilette, She found all the valuables gone from the +jewel-case, and, after a hasty search, discovered them in a tiny +valise, ready packed hidden away behind laces and ribbons in a drawer. + +So she had been right. Fantine Le Grand meant to give them the slip. +Ere she had time to consider a fretful voice came from the boudoir. + +"Marrion, Marrion! I do hope the girl's there. Just like 'em if she +isn't. Ah," as Marrion appeared at the door, "for heaven's sake, girl, +take off my shoes and bring me my dressing-gown! That wretched old man +has worn me out. I shall be fit for nothing! Oh, lord, it was too +bad--nothing would please him! What o'clock is it? Six o'clock! Good +gracious, I shall hardly have time before dinner! I won't go down; +there's no one to go down for now Marmaduke's gone. Lord, what a +relief it will be! Tell them to bring dinner up here at eight and give +me my sleeping drops. Not too much, as I don't want to sleep too long; +but I have such a headache, I shan't be fit for anything without a +rest." + +Fantine Le Grand did not see her attendant's face. Had she done so, +she would have been startled. The colour had left it, every feature +was set and hard. For she had found the clue. Even if an overdose +killed the woman, she must be made to sleep sound. + +"Yes, madam," she replied, "but a rest will take your headache away, I +hope." + +She poured out the narcotic without a tremble, doubling the double +dose. It was a risk, of course; but risks must be run. + +"That is very strong--how much did you give me?" asked Fantine, as, +with a sigh of content, she snuggled down under the _duvet_. + +"Only as much as was necessary," replied Marrion steadily. + +Her heart was hard as the nether millstone. She waited in the boudoir +till the soft regular breathing told her Fantine was asleep, then, +giving orders in passing that her mistress did not wish to be +disturbed, she made her way back to her own room at the keep-house in +order to mature further plans. In this she was hampered by ignorance +as to what she had to frustrate. It would have been easy to walk down +to the Crow and countermand the trap, but for aught she knew to the +contrary, Marmaduke might be awaiting Mdlle. Le Grand there; so she +judged it better to adhere as far as possible to what she did know, +and this pointed to someone taking the trap, as ordered--whether to +the Cross-keys or not, mattered little--and meeting Marmaduke. The +very idea stirred her blood! Of course she must do it. She must go and +beg him--nay, force him to reconsider an action which would for ever +ruin him with his father. + +The colour came back to her face, the light to her eyes, with this +decision, and her mind was busy at once with precautions. + +The Cross-keys, she knew, was held by new people who would not be +likely to know her; still she must do her best to avoid recognition. +To begin with she must secure retreat. She looked down the estuary, +then at low tide, and little more than a still pool with a faint +stream in it, and saw no boat at the further side. That, however, +could easily be remedied. The castle boat lay this side, and it would +not take her half an hour to row it over and swim back. + +By this time it was full seven o'clock, the shadows were lengthening +and everyone at the castle would be busy with dinner. Now was her +opportunity. Ten minutes afterwards in her bathing suit, but wrapped +in her plaid, and with a lighted lantern at the bottom of the boat, +for she remembered it would be dark on the return journey, she was +pulling with long vigorous strokes to the little pier of seaweed-grown +slippery rocks. To fasten the boat to the outermost ring on the shore, +so that she could get at it at all tides, and hang the lantern over +the bows as a guide to the whereabouts, did not take her long. That +done, she folded the plaid away, placed it in the stern sheets, and +slipped over the side like a seal. + +So much, then, was done. She must now go and carry up Fantine Le +Grand's supper and then prepare herself to take the latter's place. + +She was relieved to find all well. Fantine lay comfortably snuggled +up, very dead asleep it is true, but breathing quietly and regularly, +and Marrion, with a lighter heart, for all it was still hard as the +nether millstone, closed the door on her, secure that no interruption +was likely to come from that side. + +And now to disguise herself so as to pass muster with the driver of +the coach, should he happen to be an acquaintance. This was easy +enough. High heels, silk stockings, a little lace, a furbelow or two, +and a big black silk cloak go far in semi-darkness, and all these were +to be found in her mother's wardrobe. + +Having time to spare, indeed, Marrion spent it, half-eagerly, +half-reluctantly, in seeing how near she could bring herself to the +daintinesses of modern fashion. And she so far succeeded that, as she +went away from the looking-glass, her face showed radiant, as of a +girl going to her first ball. Unconfessed, the thought was there that +Marmaduke would see her so, possibly in the discarded brocades worn by +his own mother in her youth; anyhow, in the garments of his own class. + +So, with the ample cloak round her, its hood drawn over the shining +hair piled in the latest fashion, she made her way to the copse by the +avenue gate. The chariot with two horses was in waiting; the driver, +touching his hat, asked if there was no luggage. She answered no, +stepped in, and they were off. Evidently the man had his orders, for +they skirted the town and crossed the river by the lower and older +bridge. This lengthened the journey by some two miles; so much the +better. It would be quite dark by the time they arrived at the +Cross-keys. Hitherto Marrion's mind had been fully occupied with action. +Now, in this hour's drive, she had time to think of what would happen +when she met Marmaduke, and her heart sank a little. Not that she was +afraid of him or of herself, but it was all so strange, so unlike real +life. Then in a flash came the memory of that dawn-tide swim of +theirs! That was not common, trivial, everyday life either. They two +had somehow the trick of escaping from that sometimes. Why not now? + +The day had been brilliantly fine and warm, but with the sun setting, +clouds had gathered and lay dark and threatening on the horizon, +though the moon rode unobscured high in the heavens. A few spots of +heavy rain fell in great splashes, and the bustling landlady of the +Cross-keys, as she came to the door, was full of congratulations that +madam had escaped the thunderstorm which was evidently brewing. +Meantime, Captain Muir, who had not expected his lady quite so soon, +was away in the kennels to see if some medicine which he--kindly +gentleman--had prescribed for a puppy ill of distemper had bettered +the poor beastie; but he would be back syne and the rooms were ready. + +This was a relief to Marrion as it ensured that their meeting would be +private; so she followed the landlady upstairs, the latter asking if +Mrs. Muir would rather a cup of tea, or to go to bed at once, since +she would have to be up so early to catch the first coach south. + +Marrion, as she refused both suggestions, felt startled at the Mrs. +Muir. Was it possible that there was to be more than a mere intrigue? +In Scotland one did not pose so easily as married--unless indeed +Marmaduke was reckless--he was so, often---- + +She glanced round the bedroom into which she was shown, recognising +that some of the luggage in it must be a woman's, then passed into the +sitting-room adjoining. The fire had lately been lit, doubtless with a +view to a sudden chilliness foretelling the coming storm, and the +flames of its crackling wood danced on the walls, making the two +lighted candles on the table unnecessary. Half mechanically she blew +them out, and with a sombre, almost stern face, stood watching the +blazing sticks. + +Suddenly a cheerful well-known voice rose below. + +"The puppy's much better, Mrs. McTavish. What, my wife has come? +That's all right." + +My wife! For an instant Marrion's head whirled. Was she too late? No. +Confused memories of what in Scotland constituted an irregular +marriage sent a flood of crimson to her face as she realised that Duke +had all unwittingly acknowledged her as his "wife" before witnesses. +His footsteps coming up the stairs two steps at a time steadied her; +but what followed shook her to her very foundations. Unheeding of her +feeble "Duke" as he opened the door, he was across the room holding +her in his arms and passionately kissing her averted face, her neck, +her hair. + +"This is good," he whispered. "Now for a splendid honeymoon!" + +For a second she yielded; then she wrenched herself from him and faced +him fairly. + +"You're making a mistake, Captain Muir," she said sharply, "I am only +Marrion Paul." + +She would have liked to add "your friend"; but she dared not. At the +moment she knew she was far more than that. + +"Marmie!" he echoed stupidly. "Marmie!" + +At first he was too surprised for more; then he drew himself up and +stared at her angrily. + +"What the deuce are you doing here?" he said at last, adding hastily, +as possibilities struck him, "Did she send you? Is she ill?" + +In her long drive the girl had gone over and over the coming +interview, settling what she would say, but the sudden solicitude of +his tone swept all her preparations away. Did he then really care? If +so, nothing but the naked truth would be any use. + +"No," she replied calmly, only her tightly interlaced fingers showing +the tension of her mind and body. "She is quite well. I gave her a +double dose of her sleeping drops to prevent her coming. I came +instead because I wanted to speak to you." + +The flickering firelight showed sheer anger on the young man's +face--sheer brutal anger. + +"Because you wanted to take her place, eh?" + +She gave a little sort of sob. What would she not have given to take +it? The very intensity of her desire made her pass the insult by. + +"It is no use being angry," she said quietly. "I came to try and make +you hear reason. You may as well listen. She can't come to-night, and +surely, meanwhile, we can sit down and talk it over--as friends!" + +"We used to be friends, I admit," he replied coldly; "but if you are +going to presume on friendship as you appear to have done, the sooner +the farce ends the better." + +For all that he sat down, his bold eyes taking in every detail of her +altered appearance. + +"Your dress suits you," he jibed. "I suppose you put it on to----" + +"I had to put it on," she interrupted; "I had to pass muster. I didn't +want to set the town talking. You know, as well as I, that it wasn't +easy--it wasn't pleasant." + +"No one asked you to do it," he replied, "and I wonder how you had +the--the cheek!" Then suddenly he laughed; he could not help it. The +whole business tickled him and his eyes took on a certain admiration. +"It beats cock-fighting, my dear," he went on. "No one but you would +have dared to do it. But it won't do, Marmie. You don't understand. +That old man--I won't call him my father, Marmie--won't give me the +two thousand pounds for my majority. Fantine Le Grand has shown me how +to get it, and I----" He paused; in sober truth now he came to think +of the plan for so getting it, the less it appealed to him. + +Marrion waited a second, then said-- + +"How?" + +There was no reason why he should have answered her categorically, but +he did; perhaps at the back of his mind was a desire to know what she +thought of it. He gave a forced laugh. + +"We are to dance for it. Oh, I know all the stuff that's talked about +dancing men and women, but we would go abroad! I should get leave of +absence for six months on urgent private affairs, and no one would be +a bit the worse." + +"_You_ would!" commented Marrion briefly. + +There was a world of scornful criticism in the words. + +"Oh, dash it all," cried Marmaduke, "a man can't always ride the high +horse! And you've put me in the deuce of a hole, though I suppose you +meant well. You see, I can't wait for her now, as I must see Pringle +tomorrow; but I can come back again," he added complacently, "and I +will." + +"Then you mean to--to marry--that woman?" put in Marrion. + +He rose angrily and began to pace up and down the room. In sober truth +once more, now that he was away from Fantine Le Grand's allurements, +he had begun to wonder if he were not paying rather dearly for his two +thousand pounds. + +"Of course I do; it's in the bond, and I'm a man of my word. And +you've no right to call her that woman. She is far better than you +think, and I am very fond of her, very fond of her indeed!" He stopped +opposite Marrion with a certain defiance. The blaze of the fire had +died down; it was almost dark, save for a red glow on their faces. "Of +course," he went on, "I ought to be deucedly angry with you, Marmie; +but somehow I'm not, and if you will only take her a note from me----" + +She started to her feet passionately. + +"A note!" she echoed, her voice vibrating with scorn. "Oh, Duke, Duke, +sometimes I wonder if you can understand?--if any man ever +understands? I came here, risking all, everything for you; you've been +the sun in my heaven ever since I can remember; you've always been +something very bright and very far away that is not to be touched or +harmed. Yes, I come here to beg you not to ruin yourself body and +soul, and you ask me to take a note!" + +A sudden flash of lightning from the storm, now nigh at hand, lit up +the room for a second, and showed her to him standing white and rigid +like some accusing angel. + +"You say you're fond of her, but you're not. I tell ye you're no fond +of her, Duke; ye ken na what love is--an' I do--for I love the verra +ground you tread on, the verra things you've touched----" + +Her voice, which in the extremity of her passion had forgotten its +acquired accent, failed; she sank back to her seat, and, throwing her +arms out over the table, buried her face in them. + +And a great silence fell between them, man and woman. + +At last he laid his hand on her shoulder, and spoke humbly. + +"I beg your pardon, Marmie; I did not understand, But I'm not worth +it, child. Let me go my way----" + +She pulled herself together. + +"It's time I was going home," she said, unsteadily. + +"You can't go in this storm," he put in relieved, as all men are, that +the mental storm was over, "you'd better stop here for the night. +I"--he went to the fire and deliberately lit the candles, as if, with +their light, to bring things back to normal again--"I--I'll find a bed +somewhere, and you can stop----" + +Marrion interrupted him hastily. + +"No, no, I must go! Folk will wonder. The boat is on this shore. I can +easily slip over." + +He walked to the window and looked out. + +"It's raining cats and dogs; you can't go!" he said masterfully. "You +stop here like a good girl, and I'll go and settle up something for +myself." + +He left the room and for one second she stood irresolute. Should she +stop? He had called her his wife, would doubtless call her so again to +the landlady, and if she stopped--if she stopped---- + +Then, with a little sob, she caught up her cloak and ran downstairs. +The night was dark, but the moon shone fitfully between rifts in the +clouds. The rain, coming in gusts with the wind, had ceased for a +moment. She drew the hood of her cloak over her head and ran swiftly +past the lighted windows of the bar, thinking she had escaped; but a +moment after she heard swift steps following her own and, turning to +look, saw Marmaduke, hatless, coatless, in pursuit. + +The instinct of the chase awoke in her in a second; she doubled off +the white road behind the shelter of a low beech copse. + +"Marmie, Marmie, stop, I tell you! Don't be a little fool!" + +Easy to say that. But it was he was the fool, not she. If she kept in +such cover as there was she might reach the boat before him--she must! +In the old days she had run as quick as he; and she knew where the +boat was and he didn't. + +She tucked her petticoats high above the knee like any Leezie Lindsay +and ran as for dear life. If she had failed in her mission--and had +she?--she would not fail here. That last double had been successful. +His cry of "Marmie, Marmie, don't be so foolish, dear!" sounded quite +far off--like the wail of a plover. + +Now it came nearer. Perhaps he had seen the lantern she had left to +guide her own steps to the boat. If so, she had no time to lose, as he +would make straight for it, and so must she, forsaking the bend to +avoid a peat bog, and braving the moss hags even in the dark. Anyhow, +she was lighter than he, and would not sink so deep; though, after the +long spell of fine weather, the bog could not be very bad. And this +was the worst part of it. With the ease of long practice she jumped +lightly from hag to hag, sparing no time to look round for the figure +behind her, though she knew it must be perilously near; for that +instinct of the chase was as strong in him, perhaps stronger, than it +was in her. Her cheeks were flushed, her eye was bright, her heart +beat high, despite her breathlessness, and she knew that his did so +also. Briefly they had both forgotten everything save their +determination to have their own way. + +"Marmie, you little devil, stop, I tell you!" came his voice close +behind her. Then a splash, a loud "damnation," told her that he had +missed his hag. + +That would give her time. She redoubled her speed, raced to the shore, +and, not pausing to unfasten the boat, waded through the water, almost +swimming the last bit, to where it rode at anchor on the outgoing +tide. Clambering over the side she set to work at once to unknot the +rope from the bow-ring. Not a second too soon, for Marmaduke, after a +minute's delay, due to his flounder and an unavailing search for the +shore ring, had found it. + +"Got you!" he cried joyfully, but he spoke too soon. The rope, undone, +gave easy way to his strong pull, and the boat, with Marrion laughing +in the bows, drifted slowly out from the shore. + +He stood looking at her, the useless rope in his hand. By the light of +the moon, now riding serene overhead (for the brief summer storm had +passed the zenith and now lay to the south, a dense bank of black +quivering every now and again with throbs of summer lightning), he +could see her tall and white, for her cloak had long since been flung +aside, and heart-whole admiration possessed him. + +"Marmie," he cried, "hold up--or, by God, I'll swim after you. I want +to speak to you." + +She took an oar, stopped her way by holding on to one of the submerged +seaweed-covered rocks of the boat-pier and waited. + +"Why did you run away? Why wouldn't you stop?" + +She gave him the truth squarely and fairly. + +"Because I should have passed as your wife, and if I had chosen I +might----" She hesitated, and he relieved her by a low whistle. + +"By Jove!" he said slowly, almost absently. "I didn't think of that, +but"--he hesitated, in his turn--"but I thought, Marmie, you said +you--you loved me!" + +His voice lingered and lowered in altogether distracting fashion. + +She turned hastily to the other oar, and let the blade drop into the +water with a splash. + +"Aye," she said, "that's why! For see, you--you've got to be Lord +Drummuir!" + +Her words silenced him. He watched her scull away, a dark shadow in +the darkling water. Then his voice rang out to her as it were from +very far off. + +"Flash the light to me, Marmie, dear, when you get to the other side. +I'll wait till I see you're safe." + + + + + CHAPTER X + + +Broad sunlight showed through the chinks of the drawn curtains when +Fantine Le Grand awoke. She lay yawning for a minute or two, content +to be still drowsy. Then memory returned, and she was out of bed in a +second and at the window. The lawns lay dewy, a late blackbird was +tugging away at an inadvertent worm, and shrill on the morning air +rose the sound of Davie Sim's pipes playing "Hey! Johnnie Cope, are ye +waukin' yet?" as he came up from the keep to strut through the +corridors of the castle. It must be eight o'clock! And--what had +happened? How had she come to sleep so long? She passed swiftly, being +quick of thought, to the dressing-table and took up the bottle of +sleeping drops. It was half empty. + +Almost before she had time to realise this, and what it might possibly +mean, a knock came to the door, and Marrion Paul, opening it, came +into the room with a can of hot water. + +She had been there at the earliest possible moment to satisfy herself +that all was right, so she was not surprised to see Fantine Le Grand +on foot. The look on the latter's face, however, the bottle in her +hand, gave warning of what was to come, and it came instantly short +and sharp, for Fantine had plenty of wit. + +"Why did you give me what you did?" she asked imperiously. + +Marrion Paul set down the water-can and faced her. + +"Because I wanted to prevent you from joining Captain Muir at the +Cross-keys," she replied quietly. It was waste of time, she felt, to +beat about the bush with this woman, the solid truth was her best +weapon. + +It proved so for the moment. Fantine utterly taken aback retired into +personal injury. + +"You might have killed me," she began, almost whimperingly. + +"Maybe," interrupted Marrion, "but I had to risk it--an' it's no hurt +you----" + +A sense of outrage came to her victim. + +"Not hurt me, indeed! And why had you to risk it? Are you Captain +Muir's keeper? His mistress you are, of course; but if you think +you've succeeded you're very much mistaken. I shall join him by the +coach to-morrow instead of to-day. And you may thank your stars that, +as I don't want any fuss just now, you'll get scot free of your +attempt to murder me. Now go! I never want to see your face again. +Josephine will manage somehow, I've no doubt." + +She pointed to the door, and Marrion, going down the wide stairs, felt +relieved that that, at least, was over. The interview also had given +her a clue as to what must be her next step. Mdlle. Le Grand had said +that fuss would be inconvenient; for that reason, therefore, a fuss +must be made. Hitherto she had hesitated between taking a further and +still more active part in stopping the intrigue, or leaving the matter +to Marmaduke's own good sense, which, removed from Fantine's personal +influence, might surely be trusted. He could not want to marry the +woman. It was the two thousand pounds he wanted. Marrion on her way to +the keep-house made up her mind to risk everything by an appeal to the +old lord; it would, at any rate, put a spoke in the woman's wheel for +a time, and prevent her getting away to Marmaduke at once; it would, +at any rate, make a fuss. + +As a matter of fact, more fuss was facing Marrion than she had +bargained for, since the first thing she saw on entering the +keep-house was her step-grandmother seated at the table sipping a cup +of tea she had just made for herself. + +It was an unpleasant surprise, as she had not been expected home so +soon, and Marrion bit her lip with vexation at the sight of her. After +laying elaborate plans to avoid even the sight of one she despised and +detested, it was bitter to find her established as mistress in the +house. So anger kept her silent and Mrs. Sim, whilom Penelope of the +castle, said no word either. She simply rose theatrically and +stretched a dramatic finger across the table. So standing she showed +like a wide extinguisher, the knob of which was formed by her head. +This was still small and, so far as the upper part of the face was +concerned, unmarred by fat, but obesity began on the double chin and +went on increasing from shoulder to waist, from waist to hip, till the +flounce of a wide petticoat completed the base of the triangle. Her +hair of bright orange-red was untouched by grey, and the china-blue of +her hard eyes startled you by the intensity of their colour in a face +otherwise somewhat tallowy. + +"Ye hizzie!" she said at last, in a deep contralto voice. "I wonder ye +have the face to stan' there disgracin' the honest hearth o' an honest +man! Awa wi' you, ye baggage, afore yer faither comes to beat you frae +the door." + +Marrion had stood with open mouth before this sudden onslaught; now +she recovered herself and said haughtily-- + +"I do not understand." In her heart of hearts, however, she told +herself that this woman knew of last night's happenings. + +Penelope Sim gave a snort and sat down again to sipping her tea. + +"Div' ye no understand?" she asked scornfully. "Then I'll tell ye. A +lassie that goes tae spend the night wi' a man in a strange hottle is +no ane to share an honest woman's home. An' so I'll tell yer faither. +Shame upon ye, Marrion Paul!" + +"Perhaps you'll oblige me, Mrs. Sim, by holding your tongue," retorted +Marrion superbly. "I did not spend the night with any man, and if you +say I did, you lie!" + +"My certy!" cried Penelope, her face flaming. "So I'm a liar, am I? I +tell you I saw you wi' my own eyes at the Cross-keys----" + +"And what might you be doing there?" put in Marrion. "No good, +likely." + +Mrs. Penelope's voice began to rise. + +"I'm no goin' to bandy words wi' you, Marrion Paul, ye're no worth it. +But here comes your gran'faither; give your lip to him, if ye like. Ye +sall no give it to me, a decent, married woman!" + +"Decent!" echoed Marrion scornfully, and would have gone on to heaven +knows what of indignant criticism had not the entry of her grandfather +tied her tongue for she was fond of him, with all his faults, and he +represented to her the only family life she had ever known. + +So she stood defiant as Penelope of the castle, gloating over her own +newly acquired propriety, held forth on what she had seen from the +bar-parlour of the Cross-keys. + +"Grandfather," she said at last, "you know me better than she does. Do +you think I would do such a thing?" + +"Ask her," broke in the shrilled contralto voice, "ask her, gudeman, +if she was at the Cross-keys last night. I tell you she was, dressed +up fine like a lady--an' the things lyin' yet in her room, for I went +to see. Aye, ask her if she was there wi' a young spark--they tell't +me it was Captain Duke, but that I'll never believe----" + +"You may believe what you like!" put in Marrion fiercely. "But I'll +tell you the truth, grandfather. I was at the Cross-keys last night, +and I did see Captain Duke, but it was no harm I was after." + +"Hark to her!" shrilled Penelope. "She was there, and for no harm! Out +o' the house with her, Davie Sim, or your wedded wife will find her +way out hersel'." + +Here Davie who, man-like, had looked from one to the other of the two +women, uncertain of approbation or reprobation, shook his head and +began mumblingly-- + +"I never thocht, Marrion, to praise God your poor mother is in her +grave, but if she'd lived to see this day----" + +"Leave my mother alone, please grandfather," said Marrion, passion in +voice and manner. "If you choose to judge me by that cast-off +creature, do so! But there's no need to quarrel about it. You know I +would not sleep under the same roof with her----" + +"Hark to her, hark to her, an' me as gude a wife as ever stepped. Are +ye goin' tae put up wi' that, Davie Sim?" whimpered Penelope. + +Once more the master of the house looked as though he would speak, but +a wave of Marrion's hand stopped him. + +"So I shall leave this evening, and if what I've done is a disgrace to +you, you have the remedy in your own hands--you can hold your tongues. +So that ends it!" + +She made her way past them and up the stairs, feeling a trifle dazed. +This unlooked-for recognition complicated matters for herself; but did +not alter her determination to risk all in order to get Marmaduke out +of the hands of Fantine Le Grand. + +So she packed up her things, leaving all the treasures of her +childhood and her mother's, unlocked in drawers and cupboards, and +sitting down on her bed by the window took her last look out over the +rugged coast she had watched so often by storm and shine, by night and +by day. And as she looked with lack-lustre, preoccupied eyes her +thoughts were busy, not with the past but with the new life that was +opening out before her; since, come what might, she realised that +never again would she be simple Marrion Paul, old Davie Sim's +granddaughter. To begin with, if she knew aught of Penelope, +reputation was gone. Women of that sort were pitiless, and, in +addition, her grandfather's wife desired nothing more than to +make Drummuir and all belonging to it an impossibility for her +step-granddaughter. Then she, Marrion, had definitely set herself the +task of defending Marmaduke, and heaven only knew how far that might +take her. For one thing, in view of Penelope's curiosity, she must +make sure that Marmaduke had not left anything incriminating behind +him at the Cross-keys. It would be so like him to write Captain the +Honourable Marmaduke Muir and Mrs. Muir in the visitor's book! + +The idea made her smile tenderly, even while she took a mental note +that it must be seen to. + +So, going down, while it was yet early, to order a handcart to +take her slight luggage to the coach office, she came upon a castle +stable-boy, who was a distant admirer of hers, riding to the +Cross-keys with a note. + +"It's frae the dancin' woman," said the lad, with a broad grin, "an' +she guve me a golden soverin' to take it quick; an' I've to leave +anither at the Crow." + +"I can deliver that one," said Marrion cheerfully, "for I'm goin' yon +way." + +So, note in hand, she made her way to the Crow, and by a dexterous +question or two elicited the fact that, as on the previous night, a +carriage was ordered to be in waiting at half-past nine. If all went +well, therefore, she might hope to avail herself of it. She did not, +however, anticipate exactly what she meant to do--her plans were +fluid, so much depending on the success of her next step. It was an +overwhelmingly bold one, and she shivered visibly as she sat waiting +for an answer to her request to be allowed an interview with his +lordship. + +"I'm right sure his lordship wad see me," she pleaded with Dewar, the +valet, who in common with all the men-servants at the castle, had an +approving eye on her good looks, "did he ken what I cam' about; +and"--she added, with a laugh that was a challenge--"I'm no sae +ill-looking but he might be blythe to see me forbye business." + +"An' that's God's truth, my dear," replied Dewar gallantly, "sae I'll +see what I can do." + +Fortune favoured him, for Fantine Le Grand being in an evil, reckless +temper had just sent to say she had a headache and could not come to +amuse his lordship, who, up and dressed to receive her as usual, was +cursing and swearing at womankind in the abstract, and therefore, not +unwilling to have a concrete specimen on which to vent his ill-humour. + +Marrion Paul, consequently, found herself without delay facing the +heavy figure in the big padded chair. One foot swathed in flannels lay +on a leg-rest, and the large hand that clasped the lion-head knobs of +the armchair showed swollen and disfigured by gout; still there was +something dignified, almost regal, in the pose of the man; while his +face--Marrion, despite her thumping heart, as she looked above the +treble chin to the open forehead, felt that here, when all was said +and done, was kinship with Marmaduke. + +And she for her part pleased the old man's eye also. She had not +dressed herself for the occasion, but stood in her usual striped +petticoat and bed-gown with a green tartan shoulder shawl of the Muir +tartan and a snood of tartan ribbon to match in the red bronze coils +of hair. + +"So you're Marrion Paul?" he said, his keen clear blue eyes taking in +every point of her person. "I haven't seen you to speak to since you +were so high. You're a devilish good-looking girl. Come and give me a +kiss, my lass." + +To his surprise, amusement, and approval she stepped forward instantly +and obeyed. The touch of her cool lips on his seemed to stagger him. + +"Don't object to kisses--hey?" he said, as she remained standing close +beside him. + +"Why should I, Drummuir," she replied quietly, "when you've kenned me +since I was a baby in arms." + +He burst into one of his guffaws of rough laughter. + +"Hey? What? One for the old reprobate! Sit down, my dear, and tell me +what you want." + +"It's about Mr. Marmaduke, sir," she began, her voice shaking a +little. + +"Hey? What? Has that young devil been--no, I beg your pardon, my dear, +you're not that sort. Trust a man who's kicked over the traces a bit +to know an honest horse when he sees one. You take my word for it; the +best judge of a good woman is a bad man. Well, what of Duke?" + +The mere abbreviation of the name was encouraging. She felt that to +attempt a bargain, even to beg for patience, would be a mistake. She +simply took her courage in both hands and told him all she knew. He +sat, his unwieldy body impassive as some carven image, one strong +emotion after another sweeping over the mobile face that held so much +laughter in every line that Time had graven on it. Only once or twice +he interrupted her when, fearing she was too lengthy, she began to cut +out details. Then his quick "Let's have it all; don't you know, you're +as good as a play. Beat the immortal wizard all to bits! Don't +skip"--brought her back to the accessories of her tale. When she had +finished he sat and looked at her for a second. + +"And you say Duke let you go as you came? Well, he was a d----d young +fool; that's all I've got to say! I wouldn't in his place. Even +now--my God, what a Lady Drummuir you'd make, if it wasn't for the +curse of class! I'll turn Socialist before I die." He paused, and his +blue eyes narrowed. "Now, why have you come and told me all this?" + +She had her answer ready, and all fear of the old man having vanished +she gave him the truth boldly. + +"Because I want payment. I've put it into your power to stop Mdlle. +Fantine----" + +His whole face changed in a second, an expression of sheer devilish +anger took possession of it. + +"You leave that alone!" he thundered. "I can settle that business for +myself." + +It was the first mistake she had made, and she became more wary. + +"I want payment," she went on, "because I've risked everything +for--for Duke. My father's turned me out of his house and +Penelope----" + +"Damn Penelope!" broke in his lordship complacently. "Having no virtue +of her own, she's deuced careful about other people's. And so Duke +really contemplated marrying Fantine in order to make two thousand +pounds by dancing. Confound the boy! He can dance, I'll allow; but it +was a big price to pay. And the idea of my son dancing for money! He +must have been hard put to it, even to entertain the idea." He bent +those blue eyes of his suddenly on her. "And so you want me to give +Duke the two thousand pounds myself, do you? Of course you do! Trust a +woman who is in love asking for the moon." He paused a moment and gave +a little laugh. "Heaps of women have asked me to be a saint, my dear, +but I never could compass virtue. However, you've given me as good a +morning's entertainment as ever I had in my life; and what's more +you've given me an opportunity of as fine an afternoon's amusement." +Here he chuckled wickedly, then added, "Shall I give you the cheque or +send it direct?" + +She felt staggered at his indifference. She had expected to brave his +anger and have perchance to threaten him with what she knew of +Fantine's plans for the evening; but, here, with scarce an argument, +she found herself successful. In truth she had not gauged accurately +the phenomenal malice as well as the almost incredible good nature of +the man. + +"You must send it, my lord," she said swiftly. "There is no need to +say anything about all this." + +He frowned in a second. + +"Do you mean to dictate to me, my good girl?" he asked fiercely. +"You'd better leave the business in my hands. I'll settle it to my own +satisfaction. Come back at six o'clock and you shall be made +acquainted with my decision." + +He rang the hand-bell on the table beside him and when Dewar entered, +said carelessly: + +"Show the young woman out; and, Dewar, tell Penelope to come and +see me at two o'clock. And, Dewar, send a message to the Manse and +tell that jackanapes of a parson Bryce that I want to confess my +sins or something of that sort. Tell him I'm ill--dying, if you +like--anything--and I want him as soon as he can come. Do you +understand?" + +"Yes, my lord," replied Dewar discreetly, though he was considerably +mystified; but everyone in the castle knew there was but one way of +receiving Lord Drummuir's orders, acquiescence and obedience. + + + + + CHAPTER XI + + +An hour or so afterwards Fantine Le Grand coming in from a ramble on +the rocks, whither she had gone despite her pretended headache, in +order to quiet her nerves for what she foresaw was to be a stand-up +fight between her and Marrion, found old Lord Drummuir in possession +of her boudoir. He was in his wheeled-chair, but was looking +remarkably spruce in a blue coat with brass buttons, an immaculate +white stock and frill, and his gouty foot was swathed in kersey to +match the breeches he wore. His ruddy face was all smiles, but there +was a vicious look in the blue eyes that reminded her of a horse about +to kick. + +And kick he did with a force that left her breathless. + +"I've come to tell you," he said, "that we are going to be married +this evening." + +She recoiled as if from a blow. + +"Now, don't be foolish and make a fuss," he continued, as she gave a +little cry, "or you won't look well in your wedding-dress!" So far he +had gone lightly; but now he settled down to a decision of voice and +manner that was positively terrifying to the woman in its intensity. +"I tell you I won't have any fuss, and I know everything. Marrion Paul +told it me from start to finish, and I don't want to hear any more +about it, if you please!" + +The mock politeness of the last finished her. She was ill-bred, not +over brave, and reverting to her early upbringing she burst into a +torrent of abuse of the viper, the hussy who was no better than she +should be, who, if Penelope at the keep-house was to be believed--and +she had seen her but now--had---- + +So far Lord Drummuir had let her storm; now he stopped her +impatiently. + +"I know what Penelope says," he snarled, "and I shall be sorry for her +when she hears what I have to say. And I know you, Fanny, down to the +ground. You're not a bad sort, but you are getting old. Look in the +glass, you foolish woman, and you'll see I'm right. But you suit me +and I mean to have you. There's an end of it." + +She summoned up a little courage. + +"And supposing I won't! I am a free woman." + +He lowered his brows and his words cut like a knife. + +"Don't tell lies! You're not free. You think I paid your debts. I +wasn't such a fool till I had you fast. Look here, when I heard all +about this midsummer madness with Marmaduke--the d----d impertinence +of trying to inveigle my son into posturing at the Courts of Europe +for pennies almost made me give you your _congé_, miss, I can tell +you--I sent for Compton. You think I don't know what he is to you; but +I do. If he'd known of this business, I'd have kicked you both out. +But he didn't, poor devil; he was flabbergasted. So I saw it was all +your fault and I determined to punish you, and I'm going to do it my +own way. Now, don't look like a frightened hare; I never touched a +woman save in the way of kindness all my life, and we'll get on all +right once we're married; so the sooner the better." + +She sat and looked at him, dabbing her eyes with her handkerchief. The +bald truth of it all took words from her, and her one feeling was that +she could cheerfully have strangled Marrion Paul for her courage and +straightforwardness. + +"My wedding-dress isn't ready," she sobbed at last futilely, and the +old man leant back in his chair and roared with laughter. + +"By Gad, Fan," he bawled, "you're a woman, and no mistake; so don't +make those eyes of yours too red with crying. Remember, you're not so +young as you were. And as for this little _penchant_ of yours for +Marmaduke, why, God bless my soul, my dear, you've had dozens such +episodes, and so have I, by Gad, so we'll suit each other down to the +ground. Now, if you will please ring the bell for Dewar, I'll leave +you to prepare--six o'clock sharp. I've told the gardeners to send you +some orange blossoms from the houses and to decorate the hall. My +daughters will be your bridesmaids." + +When his wheeled-chair had gone the effect of his brutal +determination, his colossal masterfulness, did not pass with it. That +remained, and Fantine Le Grand gave in to it helplessly. The old man +had said very little; on the whole he had been wonderfully polite, but +she knew she was trapped, and that she might as well try to fly as to +escape from his watchful eye, his unscrupulous power. + +And, after all, it was but a return to the old plans; so after a while +she followed Lord Drummuir's advice and dried her eyes. + +"You ought to think yourself deuced lucky," growled Colonel Compton, +when he came in, after a time full of alarm and recriminations. "If +anyone had told me the old man would take it so quietly I wouldn't +have believed it. I expected he would have kicked us both out into the +gutter, and then where should we be? And such a mad idea, too! The +Honourable Marmaduke Muir as a public dancer--preposterous!" + +"It would only have been for six months and under an assumed name," +interrupted Fantine defiantly; but all initiative was passing from +her. She felt like clay in the hands of the potter. + +"Twaddle!" insisted Colonel Compton. "I can only think you were +insane. The fact is, my dear Fanny, you're getting old and your ankles +wouldn't stand the hacking about of a dancer's life. That is why we +agreed on your becoming Lady Drummuir, and you ought to be very much +obliged to the old man for letting you off so easily." + +This, combined with the reiterated allusions to her age, was too much +for patience. Fantine jumped up and stamped her foot in impotent +anger. + +"Easily?" she echoed. "Can't you see the malice of the man? He is +making us all feel fools. He is doing all the harm he can. I tell you +he is enjoying himself thoroughly." + +She was perfectly right. Lord Drummuir had not felt so young for +years. At that moment, after disposing of Penelope in a way that +reached the very marrow of the unseen bones hidden under that +extinguisher of fat, he was facing, with a special licence in his +hand, the dapper little figure of the Reverend Patrick Bryce, who, +called on some pretext of illness, found himself confronted with an +order to solemnise a marriage that same evening. + +The countenance of the small divine was a study in outraged dignity; +that of Lord Drummuir one of supercilious toleration--the toleration +of a cat for the unavailing efforts of a mouse to escape its +paralysing captor. + +"Am I to understand, sir, that you refuse to carry out this special +licence at a perfectly appropriate time and place?" said the latter, +his voice even but deliberate. "If so, I must ask you for your reasons +in writing, that I may forward them with my complaint." He waited a +moment, then went on: "You were appointed by the Crown to this charge. +A parishioner of yours in possession of a legal licence calls upon you +to perform the duties of your office. You refuse, and I refuse to +accept your refusal. That, I think, summarises the position between +us. But let me remind you, my good sir, that nothing short of reliable +information of cause or just impediment can justify a minister of the +Church of Scotland in refusing to do the duty for which he is paid by +the State. And if, sir, the licence of this house shocks you--as I am +told it does--I think this endeavour of a man and a woman to keep +within the bounds of so-called respectability should meet your +approval. Briefly, my dear sir, you have not a leg to stand upon, and +I demand your services at six o'clock this evening." + +The little minister rose and made him a courtly bow. + +"It shall be as your lordship wishes; but I reserve to myself the +right of showing to your lordship that special licences can be used +for, as well as against, the Church." + +"Wonder where he gets his manners from," commented Lord Drummuir to +himself, as the trim figure bowed itself out. "Father must have been +someone's valet, I suppose; and that reminds me of Marmaduke's girl. +She's true blue, somehow." + +So he sat down, filled from top to toe with a wicked elation at his +own success in upsetting everybody's plans, and indited the following +epistle to his son, as a sort of top note to his man[oe]uvres: + + +"Dear Boy,--You will be glad to hear that Fantine Le Grand becomes +Lady Drummuir this evening at six o'clock. We have agreed that this is +better than hunting two thousand pounds through the capitals of +Europe, even in company with you. So that is settled. For the rest, I +enclose a cheque for two thousand pounds on my bankers. You owe this +to Marrion Paul, who is worth the whole batch of you put together. I +cannot conceive how you were such a confounded ass as not to see this, +but to let her slip through your fingers and leave the poor girl to +face the insults of the neighbours, as she is doing; for, of course, +her escapade is the talk of the town. My dear Marmaduke, I am ashamed +of you!--Your affectionate father, DRUMMUIR. + +"Your step-mamma sends you her duty." + + +He chuckled over the production which he calculated told enough to +rouse anger and not enough to satisfy curiosity, and which, while +being a regular facer, left the relations between them much as they +were. + +After which he had himself wheeled to the big hall where the ceremony +was to take place, and amused himself vastly by superintending +decorations and mystifying Peter, who came in from a day after wild +duck, to find the house upside down. It was the sort of situation in +which his lordship revelled, and he became almost lachrymose over +reminiscences of the past with Jack Jardine, who never moved a muscle, +but took the ceremony as a matter of course. Only when Peter, less +experienced, asked him what the deuce the old man meant by playing the +goat at a moment's notice, he shook his head solemnly, and replied-- + +"Your father is a very remarkable man, Peter, a very remarkable man +indeed." + +So at the appointed hour the wheeled-chair took its place, its +occupant duly bedecked with the white flower of a blameless life in +his buttonhole, before the improvised sort of altar which bore on it a +beautiful bunch of late roses; and the Reverend Patrick Bryce with a +colour in his usually pale cheeks sailed in very stiff in his starched +bands and rustling academical black robes and took his place before +it. The bride, composed and cheerful, looking quite virginal in white +and orange blossoms, appeared on the arm of Colonel Compton and +followed by her bridesmaids, also in white. There were, however, but +two of them, for Margaret Muir boldly stalked in separately, attired +in a fine new purple gown, and took a place sedately beside Jack +Jardine, who stared at her incredulously; for her father's eyes were +upon her and scowling disapproval at her disobedience to his commands. +She seemed quite indifferent to this, and nodded an encouraging smile +to her sisters, who, poor souls, were the only people who showed by +their red eyes and general emotion that the occasion was serious and +not a mere farce. + +So curtly, baldly, shorn of every unnecessary word, every touch of +sentiment, the simple formula binding those two sinners in the most +holy of bonds went swiftly on, until the Reverend Patrick Bryce closed +the register in which Peter, as his father's best man, and Jack +Jardine, as family friend, had duly attested the marriage, and stepped +down to where Lord Drummuir's chair stood with the new-made Lady +Drummuir beside it. + +"My part in this pitiable travesty being ended, sir," he said, with a +dignified bow, "I take my leave. Before I do so, however, I wish to +introduce my wife to you and acquaint you with my marriage--also by +special licence--to your daughter. Margaret, my dear!" he added, +raising his voice, "oblige me by saying farewell to your father. It is +the last time you are likely to see him." + +For a second the figure in the purple gown hesitated and gave an +agonised glance at her sisters in white; then with her eyes fixed on +the small dignified figure of the man to whom she had unreservedly +given her whole large heart, her courage returned, she walked forward, +her head held high, and faced her father. He was purple with rage, and +looked as if he would have a fit. + +"Do you mean to tell me," he stuttered, "that you have married +that--that jackanapes?" + +Her face flushed, her temper was up in a second, and matched his own. + +"No, sir; I have married an honourable gentleman of birth equal to my +own! It is more than you can say of your bride's----" + +"Margaret, Margaret!" came the little parson's warning voice; for, be +Lord Drummuir's faults what they may, he was still her father. + +But she would have none of it, she was going to have her say for the +first and last time of her life; so she went on while the old lord +listened, a sort of wicked approval in his eyes. He had not known she +was so much his daughter. + +"And I married him without asking your consent, because I knew you +never would have given it, and I am of age----" + +"Yes, my dear, a bit long in the tooth!" broke in the old man +viciously. + +"Very," she replied; "but not so old a bride as you are a groom. I'm +thirty-six, and, as you said yourself, if I choose to get married by +special licence, provided there's no cause or just impediment, no +one--not even the nearest and dearest--have a right to object. Isn't +that what he said?" she added, in appeal. + +The Reverend Patrick Bryce looked at his lordship and his lordship +looked at him. Then suddenly came one of the rough, rude gaffaws. + +"You've caught a tartar, parson!" chuckled the old man. "Take her, and +be d----d to you both for a couple of fools. I'll leave you to be +angry, if you like; this is my wedding-day and I want to be jolly. +Here, Davie--Davie Sim, where the devil are you with your pipes? Skirl +up 'Muir's Matching.' Now, my lady." + +And as the wheeled-chair moved off accompanied by white satin and +orange blossoms he looked round to the purple robe with almost boyish +malice in his eye. + +"Take the parson's arm and come along, Meg. You may as well get a good +send off from the castle and have your share of the family wedding +march, since it is little else you'll be getting from the Muirs of +Drummuir." + +That evening, after the newly made Lady Drummuir had been dismissed to +her own rooms with the injunction to remember her new honours, and not +to stand any cursed nonsense from any one, and the old man, regardless +of gout, sat drinking one glass of port after another on the ground +that, having got royally drunk at his three previous weddings, he was +not going to treat his fourth with less consideration--Jack Jardine, +somewhat breathless after all the disturbing and inexplicable events +of the day, shook his head and said once more-- + +"Your father is a remarkable man--a very remarkable man!" + +"Very," assented Peter. "Now I wonder what Marrion Paul had to do with +it all!" + + + + + CHAPTER XII + + +Marrion Paul herself failed to answer that question. When she had +returned at six o'clock to the castle--having spent the intervening +time down by the seashore in order to avoid Penelope--she had been +completely taken aback by the sudden development of affairs, wondering +if she were in any way responsible for what had happened. + +But a single look at the old lord's face, as he was wheeled in to take +his place at the marriage ceremony, made her realise that the unwieldy +body, instinct with malice and controlled by autocratic unassailable +will, held every inmate of Drummuir Castle, herself included, as +puppets in the hollow of its gouty hand. + +A sudden unreasoning desire to get away from that influence, an +extreme distaste at the part she had played in the serio-comic tragedy +filled her. She envied the Reverend Patrick Bryce his independence, +and it was with real relief that, according to her plan, she found +herself once more rumbling to the Cross-keys in the chaise from the +Crow. + +This should be her last departure from the conventional. Now that +Duke's safety from the dancing woman's wiles had been secured, she had +time to blame for his supineness; and he, of course, when he heard of +the marriage, was not likely to forgive her. Thus they were quits! + +So be it. She could return to her dressmaking and never see him again. +He had his majority, and, born soldier as he was, had his chance. + +Not knowing, for certain, under what name Fantine Le Grand had +engaged her room for the night, she was wary with the landlady of the +Cross-keys and felt relieved when she was shown into a less +pretentious room than the one she had been in the night before. Her +vigil--and she knew it would be a long one ere the house was quiet +enough to allow of her slipping down to the office to see if Marmaduke +had written anything in the visitors' book--would have been harder in +surroundings so full of keen memory. What a fool she had been! Why had +she been so frank with him? The hot blood mounted to her very temples +at the thought of it even while she felt angry with herself that it +should be so. After all, she was not quite as the other douce country +folk; there was something in her blood that was different; something +that rebelled against the tyranny of that bloated old man, sitting +like a spider in his web, imposing his wicked will upon all by sheer +force of character. + +Yet he had behaved well to her, and he was terribly, horribly like +Duke. + +So she sat raging, her head aching, till it was time to do the last +bit of trickery, as it seemed to her now. Yet it must be done; for if +Marmaduke had been indiscreet, Penelope, in her pryings, which were +certain, would be sure to find it out. It was not, however, till +between two and three--that time when even the ostlers at an inn +sleep--that it was safe for her to steal downstairs to the visitors' +book. Even so, Boots lay snoring on a sofa in the office. But her task +did not take long. There, as she had foreseen, was Marmaduke's +unmistakable writing in the words "Captain the Honourable and Mrs. +Marmaduke Muir." Below, as if as witnesses, two commercial travellers +had written their name and address. She had brought a sharp penknife +with her, so, in less than a minute, the page was removed, the +corresponding one in the quire pulled out, and the book closed again +without trace of any removal. She gave a sigh of relief when she +reached her bedroom again, and, folding up the written sheet, placed +it in her purse. Then, after burning the other, she lay down and tried +to sleep. But unsuccessfully, though she felt outwearied to an +altogether unusual degree. The arrival of the early coach was a +relief. She took her seat in it, hoping the fresh air would drive away +her _malaise_; but it did not. + +"You're no feelin' just the thing, miss," said a sympathetic bagman as +he got out to stretch his legs at a change of horses. "Try just a wee +sup of whisky; its awful inspirin'." + +Marrion, smiling, shook her head. By this time she was beginning to +wonder if, despite her usual hardiness, she had got a chill the night +before. + +It was past eight in the evening ere Edinburgh was reached, and, +anxious to be housed as soon as possible, she left her box at the +coach office and made her way giddily to her old lodgings where the +landlady had agreed to keep her belongings until her return from her +holiday. They were up a common stair that echoed and re-echoed to the +slam of the street door and her own wavering steps. The rooms were +high up and more than once Marrion had to pause for breath, and when +at last she rang she had to lean against the door, to recover herself. +There was no answer. She rang again and waited--waited an interminable +time, until someone coming down the common stair said briefly-- + +"Ye're wastin' yer time, mum. Mistress McGillivray's deid." + +"Dead!" she echoed feebly. + +"Aye, last week, and the polis hae lockit up the place till the heirs +be known," replied the man, as he passed on, rousing the echoes again. + +Marrion followed him, realising that she must seek another lodging. +Easy in a way, yet difficult, since in that quarter of the old town +many of the houses were not over-respectable. Still it was only for a +night, and bed she must have as soon as possible. So she closed with +an exorbitant offer in cash of a fairly clean attic made by a +loose-lipped lady who smelt rather of whisky, and five minutes later, +having locked herself in, threw herself, still half-dressed, on the +truckle bed. + +There the landlady next morning, having placidly unlocked the +door with a master key, found her, flushed, breathless and +delirious--briefly, down with a sharp attack of pneumonia. Infirmaries +and district nurses being not as yet, Mother Gilchrist, as her +_clientèle_ called her, coolly took possession of her lodger's purse, +sent for an apothecary doctor from round the corner, and thereinafter +treated the patient with a certain amount of rough kindness, sending +some of her other lodgers, girls with haggard faces and loose hair, to +sit with her, and going up occasionally with water-gruel and still +more watery beef-tea. But Marrion Paul was strong, and so, after a +fortnight's struggle in the valley, she came out of it wan and +emaciated, and lay looking at a bit of torn paper on the wall, that +all through her fever dreams had flapped like a sail in a boat in +which she and Duke were drifting out to sea, and wondering how much of +what she remembered was true and how much dreams. + +"I must get up," she said suddenly, when Mother Gilchrist appeared in +company with water-gruel. "And will you give me my purse, please? I +put it under my pillow, I think, but it isn't there." + +Mother Gilchrist laughed a loose-lipped laugh and produced the purse +from her pocket. + +"Yon's the purse, my dearie; but there's naethin' in it the now. What +wi' rent an' doctors an' physic, forby nursin', what else is to be +expectit?" + +Marmie stared aghast. + +"But there was nigh ten pun' in till't," she protested. + +"It's just awfie expensive bein' ill," replied Mother Gilchrist +calmly. "Ye can hae the reckonin' later on. Meanwhile, tak yer +nourishment like a good lammie." + +"What's ten pun' to you one way or another," continued the exemplar of +youth, when Marmie, up for the first time, returned to the charge. +"You've gotten a paper in yon purse that's worth a guid deal tae +you, my lass, if it's written in the man's own write--an' if ye can +prove----" + +Marrion interrupted her in an angry flash. + +"You're making a mistake. It has nothing to do wi' me. An' I wouldn't +prove if I could." + +She paused, feeling she was contradicting herself. + +"Lord sakes," retorted Mother Gilchrist, "ye needna loup down a body's +throat! An', anyhow, a lassie wi' such hair as you've gotten needna +look for ten pounds." + +Marrion, still weakened body and soul by her illness, thought almost +regretfully of her hairdresser. + +"Aye," she assented languidly, "they'd give me that for it; but I +should feel bad if it were cut off, shouldn't I?" + +Mother Gilchrist burst into a cackling laugh. + +"There's more ways, my lammie, o' makin' money by hair than by +shearin' it off like a sheep's fleece," she said meaningly. + +But the meaning did not come home to Marmie until one of the rather +bedraggled girls in cheap finery let her into the secret of the house. +They paid Mother Gilchrist a certain sum for board and lodging, and on +the whole she was kind to them. Anyhow, they had to lump it, as most +of them were in debt to her. However, there was always the chance of a +stroke of luck, especially when one was new to the business and had +such hair as Marrion had. + +That same afternoon Marrion managed to creep round to the coach +office. She intended to get her box and pawn some of her things--even +the little brilliant brooch of her father's--so as to keep her in +decent lodgings till she could find employment in some dressmaking +concern. She would not go back to her old employers, for her address +there was known and she wanted to lose herself; for a while at any +rate. + +But Fate was against her. Failing a claimant the box had been sent +back whence it came, as the only address to be found on it was +Drummuir Castle, Drum. Nor was her call at her old landlady's more +successful. The flat was still locked up; so she came back utterly +wearied and disheartened, to be met by a demand for more money from +Mother Gilchrist, who looked at her as one looks at a rat caught in a +trap. She had miscalculated with Marrion, however; and in an instant +the latter made up her mind. She must get out of the present quagmire +without delay. Yet she did not wish to make herself known to the +friends she had in Edinburgh, because during the past fortnight her +desire to lose herself--to get away once and for all from Drummuir and +all that Drummuir entailed--aye, even Duke---had been strengthening. +But she could sell her hair. Mother Gilchrist, arguing from other +girls, was calculating she would not; but she would find she was +mistaken. She might think it safe enough to let a girl without a penny +in her pocket go out alone, but she would find herself wrong. + +That night Marrion slept the sleep of the just, and it was one +o'clock--for the gun had just fired from the castle--next day when, +with a curiously light heart, she walked out of the most fashionable +hairdresser's shop in Prince's Street. She had eschewed her old +admirer's for obvious reasons, but she had found no difficulty in her +bargain; and if her heart was light, her purse was heavy. She was +free, at any rate, of Mother Gilchrist and her kind; she was free also +of any necessity for recalling the past. She would make her own future +in life. + +As she passed through the shop heavily veiled, for she would run no +risk of recognition, a group of fashionably dressed young men were +daffing over _pommade hongroise_ with an attractive young person +behind the counter, but they took no notice of the somewhat shabbily +dressed figure which passed out and went westward. With money in her +pocket Marrion's plans began to formulate rapidly. She would not stop +in Edinburgh; she would go to some place where the fear of recognition +would not constantly be with her. So she would go--whither? + +She pondered the question idly, heedless of Fate behind her in the +shape of one of those fashionably dressed young men, who, two minutes +after Marrion had passed through the shop, had burst out after her, +leaving his companions still looking with admiration at a great pile +of red-brown hair which the proprietor of the shop, hugely delighted +with his bargain, had brought in for these privileged customers to +see. + +So she had not long for freedom. Ere she had reached Frederick Street +a detaining hand was on her arm and a joyous voice in her ears-- + +"Marmie! I knew it must be you! I have been looking for you +everywhere." + +"Duke," she said feebly as she looked round. And as she did so, the +distant Calton Hill blocking the blue slopes of Arthur's Seat, the +wonderful blending of town and country which makes Edinburgh seem an +epitome of human life, was lost to her eyes; she only saw his face, +_insouciant_, smiling, yet full of affection. The douce commonsensical +world in which she had resolved to live was gone; she was among the +stars again, in a different existence, herself a different being. Yet +even as she realised this she realised that she was alone. He had not +found his wings to follow her. + +Yet he was prompt; without pause he hailed a passing cab, put her into +it unresisting, gave the order Pentland Hotel, and as he seated +himself beside her reached out a hand with glad delight in the clasp +of its warm fingers to find her own. + +"Where are we going, Duke?" she asked, with a sort of sob in her +effort to keep herself to normal. + +"To have lunch, my dear!" he replied joyously. "You look as if you +wanted it. And we haven't much time to spare, for the train starts for +Glasgow at 2.30 and we must go by it, for my leave is up and I have to +get back to Ayr by to-morrow. I'm in command of the detachment there." + +The certitude of his words roused instant resentment. + +"I must ask you to excuse me," she said peremptorily. "Will you stop +the cab, Captain Muir?" + +"But, my dear," he replied, quite pathetically, "I must speak to you +somehow, and this is my only chance. Do come, Marmie, at any rate, to +lunch." + +The simplicity of his plea disarmed her again, and the hotel being +reached at that moment she allowed him to take her on his arm up +the steps after the fashion of the day. But once in the private +sitting-room, which, with lunch for two as quick as possible, he had +commanded in a lordly voice as he entered, his manner changed again. + +"Take off that veil and bonnet, will you, please," he said abruptly. +"I want to see what that brute has dared to do." + +Marrion looked at him startled. + +"Oh, yes," he continued, "I know! That's how I found you. When the man +brought in that pile of hair to show those young cubs--faugh! it makes +me sick to think of them fingering it--I knew it must be yours; no one +else has hair like it. Marmie! Marmie! why did you let him do it--the +grovelling, money-grubbing beast!" + +Once again his anger appeased her, and she replied: "I wanted the +money." + +He groaned. + +"And you got me the two thousand pounds! Oh! yes, the old man--curse +him!--told me all about it, and how that harridan Penelope---- But +never mind that now, though, you see, we have plenty to talk about. +When----" + +She had removed her bonnet and now stood a trifle defiant. + +"It will grow again!" + +But he had passed from his vexation. + +"Why, Marmie, surely you've been ill? You are so thin, so pale, +child--what has been the matter?" he exclaimed, all his innate +kindness coming uppermost. "Here, sit down; you look as if you were +going to faint"--he rang the bell violently. "I don't believe you've +had anything to eat! Here! Tell the housekeeper to send up a cup of +soup--beef-tea, if she has got it--at once, and--and some toast," he +called out loudly, after the retreating waiter. Then he came to stand +by Marrion and say in an almost tragic voice, "I owe you a lot, +Marrion Paul, and I'm going to pay it back, by gad! I am!" + +She tried to laugh and failed, feeling she would cry if she spoke. So +she took her soup when it came and afterwards, as he eat his lunch, +they talked and argued. + +"Now look here, my dear," he said at last in his old, rather +flamboyant, most masterful manner, "you tell me you don't want to stop +in Edinburgh, and you tell me you have plenty of money in your purse. +But one thing you haven't got at present--strength to work. I can see +you haven't, and you have done an immense amount for me, and--well, +I'm dashed if I am going to leave you as you are to face things alone. +So that settles it. I must get back to Glasgow now. You come with me +so far. I promise you, Marmie, I will not--well, annoy you in any +way. See a doctor, and--and do as you like. Only I swear to you, my +dear, if you won't be reasonable I'll break my leave and stop here, +and--and----" + +His boyish face broke into mischief; he came towards her with hands +outstretched, frank, absolutely devoid of all save pure affection. + +In a way, it cut her to the heart as she acquiesced. + +The ride to Glasgow, first-class, with all the alacrity of guards and +porters consequent on Marmaduke's lordly ways and tips, was rather an +agreeable novelty; so also was the obsequiousness of the hotel where +he left her, saying he would be round to see her ere he started for +Ayr next morning. + +Before he came, however, a rather well-known doctor arrived somewhat +to her annoyance, the more so because his verdict was startling. A +sharp attack of pneumonia, which mercifully had not killed her, had +left both lungs enfeebled. At least six weeks' complete rest, care, +and good food, and, if possible, sea air would be necessary to make +them normal; but given these desiderata perfect recovery was assured. + +Six weeks! Marrion, despite her full purse, was aghast, and Marmaduke, +coming in with his usual breezy vitality, found her depressed. He was +in uniform, and it was the first time she had seen him so, with all +the accessories, as it were, of his young manhood about him, from the +glitter of his plaid brooch to the pipe-clay on his white gaiters, for +Andrew Fraser would have scorned to have aught astray in his master's +kit. + +"I have had rather bad news," she began dolefully; but he checked her +with a comprehending smile. + +"I know," he replied, "I was waiting for the pill-doc's verdict +downstairs. But it's perfectly easy, my dear. The sea is simply +splendid at Ayr. I'm off there in quarter of an hour; but I'm going to +leave Andrew Fraser here to bring you down later on. If I can't find +you a suitable lodging before you come you can get one for yourself +next day. And if you do run short of money, you can always come to me, +can't you?" + +She shook her head, but the tears were in her eyes. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII + + +Andrew Fraser stood at attention watching a couple of figures, a man +and a woman, who for the last hour had been dredging a sea-pool with a +landing net as if they were boy and girl. He had watched them at it +often in the last six weeks, and, honest, straight-forward fellow as +he was, had wondered how they managed to treat each other with such +perfect unconsciousness that they were man and woman. So far as his +master was concerned, that might be, for Andrew was shrewd enough to +see the difference between friendship and passion; but, if anyone was +ever heart-wholly in love, Marrion Paul was that person. You could see +it in her face; yet it never seemed to influence her actions. The +perception of this made Andrew vaguely afraid of her; it put a sort of +damper on his own passion for her, since such self-control was not +natural; it was barely human. + +Hour after hour, the simple soul would tell himself, those two would +play themselves like a couple of weans. Three or four times a week the +major would, after the morning parades were over, drive out in his +tilbury--Andrew perched in the tiny back seat--and spend his afternoon +at the little inn which was also the ferry-house over the Doon river +where Marrion lodged. Sometimes the two would go out sailing together, +but more often they amused themselves on the shore, as they were doing +now, dredging for sea things or catching miller's thumbs. It was +childish, but--Andrew's lean, anxious face puckered with confused +thought as he turned to a sound which he knew would bring with it a +more commonsensical outlook on the situation than he, with his +passionate love for the woman concerned, his passionate affection for +the man, could bring to bear on it. It was the click of busy knitting +needles, and they belonged to the landlady of the "Plough." She was a +thoroughly good, kindly, healthy woman, whose views were strictly +conventional on all subjects appertaining to the relations between +the sexes; and as these in those days--and even now, for the most +part--were that sex was the only possible tie between two spirits if +they happened to be living for the time being, one in a male body, the +other in a female--they were not likely to approve of the dredgers of +sea-treasures. + +"When are yon two gaun to be marriet?" she asked firmly. She was a +just woman, and having seen no signs of wrong-doing was willing to +believe the best. + +Andrew hesitated. + +"I'm thinkin'," he replied slowly, "that they are no considering +marriage." + +"Then they aught tae think shame tae themsels," retorted the landlandy +severely. "Her week's up the morrow's morn, an' I'll just tell her she +canna stop in my house. It's just clean redeeklus." + +Andrew flushed up. + +"There's no need for you to say aught, ma'am," he protested eagerly. +"She's leavin', anyhow. Ye ken she only came for her health and that's +re-established. It would only hurt the lassie--and--and do harm, +mayhap." + +The landlady looked at him and sniffed. + +"The lassie, as you ca' her--will take no hairm from what I sall say +to her, an' she'd be the better to give up moithering about wi' +majors, and tak' up wi' a gude, God-fearin' man like yersel'." + +And with that she carried the click of her knitting-pins back into the +inn, leaving Andrew Fraser battling with his own heart. Aye, surely, +surely, it would be better, more seemly, more discreet. + +But there they were coming up from the beach like happy children. + +"Then I'll bring a boat along at one to-morrow," said the major, as he +climbed into the tilbury. "I can't get away before, and we'll try and +get to the Craig. It's eighteen miles south, so if this north-west +wind holds good we shall have plenty of time, shan't we?" + +"Plenty of time!" echoed Marrion happily. + +But she had been happy every day of those six weeks, and even now, +though the hair money was running short, and she knew she must be up +and doing in a few days, she would not, could not, think of the +future. Sufficient to the day was the evil and the good thereof. + +Half an hour after Marmaduke's departure, however, she came out of the +inn-parlour with a heightened colour. It had been no use attempting to +explain the position to the landlady, it was foolish to mind what she +had said; the more so as, automatically, that position must end in a +day or two; still it was disturbing! + +In this early September the twilights were long and the sky was still +golden high up to the zenith. She threw a shawl over her head and, +taking a boat, sculled herself across the ferry for a calming walk +down the coast-line. + + + "The banks and braes of bonny Doon!" + + +The song kept echoing in her head. How pinchbeck it all was, that love +of which men sung-- + + + "But my false lover stole the rose, + But, ah, he left the thorn wi' me!" + + +That was a man's view of it. He came, he saw, he conquered. Then he +could ride away leaving a thorn behind him. But why? She laughed aloud +as she thought of her own passionate love for Duke, a love nothing +could touch, a love that was unsoilable, unassailable, untouchable! + +It was dark ere she returned and then someone tall and soldierly rose +out of the shadows of the little sitting-room of the inn which she +used as her own. For an instant her heart leapt. Then she saw it was +Andrew Fraser. + +"There's nothing wrong, is there?" she asked hastily. + +"I'm no that sure," he replied unsteadily, and then his outstretched +hands found hers, warm almost compelling in their fierce yet tender +clasp. + +"Marrion, Marrion, my dear," he said hoarsely, "ye're bringing wae +into yure life! Oh, dinna draw away frae me, I'm not come to tell ye I +love you; _that's_ sure! You know that, Marrion, if you know anything. +But listen! You cou'dna marry me. That's sure, too; d'ye think I can't +feel that, too, Marrion? Right through to the very cauld core o' my +heart, an' it's cauld, Marrion--it's deathly cauld!" He paused, and +the girl in his passionate hold shivered. + +"It makes me cauld, too, Andry," she half-sobbed, "deathly cauld. +You're meybe worth more than he is, but--but I canna help myself." + +Andrew's voice grew firmer. + +"An' I canna help it either, my dear. But if ye canna marry me, why +sou'd you not marry him?" + +She shook her head. "I willna tie him down," she interrupted hoarsely. +"I willna do him harm!" + +"It's no harm!" he urged. "See you, lassie; would ye rather hae a Lord +Drummuir wi' a wife like yersel', or a Lord Drummuir like to the auld +man at the Castle now? I'm no sayin', mind you, that he wad be just as +his father, but--well, I hae lived wi' the major these eight years, +and I ken fine he needs a guide--why, my dear, since ye cam here, he's +away to his bed like a lad to sleep like a child; an' there's a +play-actin' woman at the theaytre in Glasgi' that had laid hands on +him and thocht she'd got him; but he's just escapit the snare like a +bird from a fowler. Sae ye might do good, not harm." There was a +pause. + +"Ye mean well, Andry," she said softly, "but--but he hasn't really +asked me to--to marry him." + +Andrew turned aside wearily. + +"Has he no?" he replied. "Weel, that may be your fault, lassie; ye can +keep a man at arm's length wi' a smilin' face, as I know tae my cost." + +A sudden realisation of the man's self-sacrificing devotion came to +her. + +"An' ye've come to tell me this," she almost whispered, "to tell me to +your cost! Oh, Andry, Andry, yere love is greater than mine!" + +A sort of half sob came from the darkness. + +"God bless ye for that, Marrion--God bless ye for that, my dear!" + +The scalding tears were in her eyes as she raised them from her hiding +hands to look for him; but he had gone. The shadows were empty. + +The morning rose still and serene save for the puffing of the westerly +wind that ruffled the blue sea with tiny white-crested waves. The +Ayrshire coast stretching south lay green and yellow with ripe corn in +little bays and promontories--far away like a faint cloud the cliffs +of Ailsa Craig showed almost translucent. + +An ideal day indeed for a sail! + +Marrion, her mind still disturbed by her landlady's half-threatening +remonstrances and by Andrew's pathetic appeal to the same conventional +outlook, turned with relief to the prospect of her afternoon's +holiday; probably the last one she would have, since she had made up +her mind to leave for work next day. + +It was a good deal past one when Marmaduke, in rather an evil temper, +ran the pleasure-boat into the little pier where she was ready +waiting. He looked less buoyant than usual and apologised for being +late. All the fishing fleet were out, he said, and he had waited in +vain to get a man. + +"Not that that matters!" he added, recovering himself, as he helped +her in. "You are as good as a man any day, Marmie." + +And yet, when, after a three hours' sail before the wind, they +reached the Craig, and, mooring the boat, climbed to the westering +cliffs beneath which the waves set a frill of white lace, he fairly +startled her by saying suddenly: + +"Marmie, I've made up my mind; I am going to marry you. I've thought +over everything from start to finish, and I'm certain it is the best +thing for both of us. Now, my dear girl, let me have my say for once; +you shall have yours by-and-by. I'm not going to talk of what you did +for me with my father. I'm not sure yet, you see, whether I am vexed +or grateful. A man doesn't like to be exactly--well--herded; but you +did it; and that intolerable vixen Penelope--but I won't talk about +her either. Then there's the hair business," he eyed her ruefully, +though in truth, now that the ends began to curl, the shearing was no +such dis-sight, "that also was my fault; and now"--he paused, and a +red flush of anger rose to his brow--"the goody-goodies in Ayr +apparently won't let you alone, and one of the youngsters this morning +tried to cut a joke; but I won't talk of that either. The long and +short of it is, Marmie, that you and I have got to get married. +And"--his voice changed to almost affection--"you know, dear, what you +stand for with me--for everything that I know to be really worth +having--everything that--well--I ought to be and am not. For it's the +old story, Marmie, I'm Tristram Shandy and you are the Shorter +Catechism, so--so come and help me, won't you?" + +With his voice in her ears she sat for a moment looking out westwards. +A low bank of cloud had obscured the horizon, the sun just thinking of +sinking behind it shone with unearthly brilliance over the sea, over +him, over herself. Then she disengaged her hand from his gently, and, +rising, stood on the extreme verge of the cliff, looking down into the +dazzling, shifting green of the waves. Would it, after all, be so +great a plunge downwards? She had often imagined the choice coming to +her. Suddenly she spoke: + +"There is no need for--for Tristram Shandy to be--to be bound up with +the Shorter Catechism, is there? The two could help each other without +the binding, couldn't they? And then"--her voice had the break of +half-tears, half-laughter in it--"you see Tristram Shandy would be +free--free to marry." She had been so intent on her own words, her +eyes looking out far beyond that dark horizon that she had not +realised he had risen to stand beside her; but now his arm about +her waist, his face bent caressingly to hers, quite overset her +self-control, she turned with a sob and buried her face on his breast. +"Oh, Duke, Duke!" she cried. "I mustn't, I daren't harm you!" + +He held her to him and kissed her again and again. + +"You won't harm me," he said exultantly. "Of course I shan't be able +to noise our marriage abroad just now, so you will have plenty of time +to prepare for your future position." + +All the glamour, all the glitter seemed gone from the world; she drew +herself away from him and smiled at him tenderly, feeling glad that he +had failed apparently to realise the magnitude of her offer. + +"You must give me time to think, Duke," she said. + +He looked a little offended. + +"Oh, take it, by all means; only if you won't marry me we must give up +being friends, for I'm not such a cad as to let a girl like you lose +her character over me--but I expect I shall go to the devil, all the +same." + +They were very silent when they set sail once more. They had intended +to tack along the coast to a village where Andrew had been told to +await them with the tilbury; but after one or two attempts to make way +against a momentarily increasing wind, Marmaduke, with a rapid glance +at that arc of black cloud which had by now overcast the zenith, +remarked briefly:-- + +"We are in for it, I fear, and had better run for Girvan. Wait till I +am ready, Marmie, then take her round sharp." + +Even as he spoke the gust of a coming squall struck them, the boat +heeled over, and but for skill both at tiller and sheet, might have +overset. + +"It's a mercy you can steer," he said, a minute or two later, as by a +deft giving way the boat over-rode a following seventh wave; "but if +you keep your head there's no harm done." + +So they flew before the rapidly rising gale, which, as it rose, +shifted from north-west to nor'-nor'-by-west and threatened to drive +them down the coast. + +"We shall have to tack to make Girvan," he said sharply, "and it's +best to do it before the full fury of the storm touches us. It looks +ugly out there." + +Marmie nodded. + +"I'll take my time from you," she replied, "but don't hurry; we shall +get into a slacker bit in a minute or two." + +"Now!" came his voice. + +The helm went round with all her young strength, but the boat hung for +a second, a following wave took her broadside on, there was a crash, +and Marmaduke was overboard. For one dreadful second Marrion's heart +stood still; the next she realised he had still the sheet-rope in his +hand, and, bringing the boat up sideways to him, he had his hand on +the gunwale and was clambering in. + +"That was a narrow shave," he said, with a brilliant smile. "Now, +Marmie, as the yard has gone, there's nothing for it but let the sail +fill as it can or can't. It will steady us, anyhow. So I'll tie the +sheet and take the tiller. You'd better sit at my feet--see, here's my +coat--rubbish, put it on, I tell you! I don't think we shall make +Girvan, but I--I think I can run her ashore further down. If not----" +He stooped and kissed her. + +That was all; but whether the next hour was a nightmare or a heavenly +dream Marrion Paul in after years never could decide. The great waves +rushing past the little boat, the half-dismasted sail bellying out +over the uplifted bows, scarce seen in the gathering darkness, their +figures in the stern, close--ah! so close together, she resting +against his knees, with upturned face on his, one arm round his waist, +the other, round his feet sheltering him as best she could with the +coat he had insisted on her taking. And he? He seemed to her as the +archangel Michael might have seemed, as he sat courageous, alert, +bending down once or twice, after a stiffer struggle, to touch her +hair with his lips, and almost laugh his confidence. + +"Getting along nicely, Marmie. We may have to swim for it--but it has +got to be done!" + +At last there came a roar ahead of breakers on a beach. + +"It's sand, I think, so off with your boots and everything else you +can!" he called above the roar. "No, don't--ah, thank you, now I can +kick them off! Be ready, child, and hold on to me. We sink or swim +together!" + +So she stood beside him for a minute or two, her skirts thrown aside, +her bare arms ready for a forward drive. Then came a faint grating, a +shock as the boat, heeled round by his strong arm, struck broadside on +on the sand and pitched them forward nearer the land into the +breakers. There was a terrific back draw, and Marrion felt as if her +arms would be torn out of the sockets; but Marmaduke's grip upon her +was as iron; then he was on his feet, then, with a cry-- + +"Run--run for all you're worth!" He half-dragged her beyond the whole +awful onslaught of the sea. Another wild struggle, another forward +run, and they were safe on the sandy shore, with low moorland around +them. Then for the first time he began, manlike, to fuss over +discomfort. + +"You must get out of this as soon as may be," he exclaimed, as they +stood in the full blast of the biting wind. "I see a light over +yonder. Let's run for it, it will keep you warm." + +He held out his hand and together they ran, the bruised leaves of the +bog myrtle as they sped over the moor sending their clean aromatic +odour into the night air. + +"Better than last time," he said, with a laugh. "By Jove, I did get +deep into the bog that time! It's better in couples." + +So, once again those two, caught by the glamour of pure life, raced on +almost forgetful of past danger and present discomfort. + +The light proved to be from a shepherd's hut, where they found warmth +and shelter, a sup of porridge, and some milk. It was four good miles +to Girvan by a bad road, and that made a retreat thither impossible in +the teeth of such a furious gale as was now raging; so the old +shepherd, after providing Marrion with a petticoat of his dead wife's +and a plaid of his own, proposed to retreat to an outhouse and leave +the cottage to his uninvited guests. Marmaduke, however, negatived the +proposal. His wife, he said, would be the better of a good sleep, +while he must be off at daybreak to Girvan in order to get a +conveyance; so she could lie down in the bed-place and he and the +shepherd could just snoozle by the fire. Which they did. + +Marrion, wide awake at first, her nerves all athrill, listened to +their even voices for a time, then watched them asleep in their +chairs, the firelight on their placid faces, and finally fell asleep +herself, to wake with bright sunlight streaming into the little +cottage. + +A scribbled note in pencil awaited her from Marmaduke. He might be +away some time; she was not to expect him till she saw him. + +It was early afternoon when he did return in an open chaise and four +with postillions. + +"The road is very bad," he explained airily, "and I've brought you +some clothes. You'd better go and put them on, as we ought to start at +once." + +"You ought not----" she began hastily at her first glance at the +milliner's box. "You really----" + +"My dear girl," he replied, with a charming smile, "mayn't I see you +dressed for once as you ought to be dressed!" + +There was no alternative with the postillions waiting, and as she put +on the things he had brought she was forced into admitting he had good +taste. + +"You do look nice!" he cried, joyous as a child, as he handed her into +the chaise. + +The next instant they were off, the grey horses with their red-coated +postillions lending quite a bridal appearance to the couple behind +them, for Marmaduke was also very spruce, though he was wearing his +left hand tucked into the roll collar of his coat. Something in the +look of the arm, now she had time for observation, made Marrion say +suddenly-- + +"You hurt yourself?" + +He nodded. + +"Dislocated my wrist--you see that first wave was an awful jerk. So I +had to get back to the regimental surgeon to get it sorted and get my +three days' leave." + +She looked at him startled. + +"What for?" she asked quickly. + +"For our honeymoon, dear," he replied, his kindly, handsome +affectionate face bent close to hers. "Don't look so alarmed, Marmie, +it had to be after what you and I went through together yesterday; we +can't get away from each other, even if we would." + +"But----" she began. + +At that instant the cross road on which they had been merged into a +turnpike, and with a swerve the grey horses turned to the right. + +"But me no buts!" he cried gaily. "We are on the south road, not the +north." Then he suddenly grew grave. "And God bless you, dear, for all +you've done for me and will do for me in the years to come!" + +That turn south had brought them face to face with the glorious line +of coast fading away into a golden mist. Far out on the wide expanse +of sea the same soft September mist lay like a veil, hiding--what? + +Marrion Paul, sitting hand-in-hand with the one love of her life, did +not even ask the question; for all things, everything, seemed +swallowed up in a golden glory. + +Marmaduke's voice roused her, joyous, confident. + +"And I've got a wedding present for you. I wouldn't give it you +before. You see you are such a wilful customer, I was afraid you +mightn't get into the chaise." + +Half-mechanically she opened the case he laid on her lap. It contained +two very long, very thick plaits of red-brown hair, each held together +by an entwined monogram of M's in brilliants. She looked at him and he +looked at her in affectionate raillery. + +"Now!" he cried joyously. "You'll be fit to be seen. You didn't think, +did you, I was going to let your hair be appraised by those young +fools? So that day we left Edinburgh--you remember I nearly missed the +train--I raced back to that beast of a hairdresser. I didn't know till +then, Marmie, it was so valuable; but it was well worth it. Then I had +it set." He paused, aware of some jarring note, and added, "You do +like it, dear, don't you?" + +Marrion, sitting with her long coils of hair in her lap, felt somehow +that the glamour had gone from the gold of earth and sky. + +"Of course I like it," she said, making an effort, "but--but why the +diamonds?" + +He laughed. + +"Because I like diamonds and I like you to look well. I--I suppose you +couldn't twist 'em up somehow now, could you? The postillions won't +see." + +She removed her bonnet and deftly coiled the long plaits about her +shapely head. + +"I'm afraid it's not very neat," she said solidly. + +But he was more than satisfied. + +"You look divine!" he cried exultantly. "More like other people, you +know; and I dare say it is mean of me, but your close crop always made +me feel bad, because you know I was really the cause of it. So now we +start fair, don't we?" + +"Quite fair," she answered, with a smile. He was such a child. Yet +some of the glamour had gone. + + + + END OF BOOK I. + + + + + + BOOK II + + + + + CHAPTER I + + +"Mr. Peter Muir wishes to know if he can see you, ma'am," said the +servant. + +The woman seated at a table by the window in the small drawing-room of +a tiny house in one of the back streets of Belgravia laid down her +work and rose. It was Marrion Paul; but she was seven years older and +neither face nor figure had quite the same buoyant youthfulness. +Indeed, as she crossed to the fireplace a distinct limp was apparent. +Still her face had gained in beauty, and the masses of her red bronze +hair glinted bright as ever. Those seven years of life had been hard +in some ways; but they had been happy in others--happy most of all in +that Marmaduke Muir was well and content. + +Marrion drew an easy-chair to the fire and closed the window, knowing +her visitor to be chilly. She did the latter with reluctance, for the +late November sunshine shone golden in the narrow street, and the +somewhat mews-laden atmosphere of those back purlieus of fashionable +houses was sweetened as it filtered through the wide boxes of trailing +musk which made the little house with the brass plate bearing its +legend, + + + MRS. MARSDEN + _Layettes_ + + +look quite countrified and summerlike. + +Peter Muir, coming in languidly, complaining of the cold, slipped into +the easy-chair as one accustomed to it. He also was older, his weak +face showed signs of recent ill-health; but he was otherwise the loose +knit, errant, yet dandified figure he had been. Dressed in the height +of the fashion, his blue-and-white bird's eye bow and stiff stand up +collar seemed the most striking parts of his personality. + +"This place is the only peaceful spot in all the town," he sighed. "I +often wish I were back in the little room upstairs where you nursed me +so patiently." + +"And your brother, Major Marmaduke," she put in kindly, "don't forget +him, Mr. Peter. If it hadn't been for him, I don't believe you would +have lived." + +Peter Muir fingered his nails nervously. + +"No, I don't suppose I should. You see, it was all Vienna. It's the +devil of a place for a young fellow, especially if he has got no +money--and we never have any, have we? But that is really the reason +why I've dropped in to have a quiet talk with you, so I thought I +would come in the morning, in case Marmaduke----" + +"I haven't seen your brother for ten days," she interrupted quietly. +"I believe he has been away hunting in Hampshire, hasn't he?" + +Peter Muir went on fingering his nails. + +"Yes," he said at last, "part of the time." Then he suddenly burst +out--"I don't know why we should beat about the bush, you and I. You +were a perfect Providence to me, Marmie; I used to call you that, you +know, when I was so ill and the doctors swore that D.T. must end in an +asylum. Duke means a lot to both of us, doesn't he? And it's about him +I want to speak. You've noticed, of course, that he is hipped and out +of spirits, haven't you?" + +"No one could help noticing that," she replied coldly. + +"And he says it is because the old man of the sea at the Castle won't +give him the money to purchase the colonel's step, I suppose?" asked +the young man tentatively. + +"That is the case, I believe," she replied, even more coldly. "There +was the same difficulty about the majority." + +Peter Muir laughed and looked at her quizzically. + +"I've often wondered how that was done," he said. "But this time it +isn't quite fair on the baron. To give the devil his due, I believe he +is quite ready to fork out the money if Marmaduke will only promise to +marry within the year. You see the question of succession is becoming +acute. There is no chance of an heir to the barony from Pitt. And +I--I--well, let's out with it! I've dished myself with the peer as +well as with Providence. It's my damned own fault, of course, but +there it is. And it isn't as if there was not a real picture man in +the family whose sons should do credit to the Castle." + +He had run on rapidly, and now paused to look at his companion. + +"And does the Major refuse to accept the conditions?" she asked +quietly. "I wonder why?" + +Peter Muir felt distinctly injured by her calm. + +"So do I, and I was wondering if----" + +She stopped him with a gesture of her hand, which sent all his +conventional decorum to the right-about, and left him, a man, before +her a woman--left him, instead of an elaborate detective, a reluctant +admirer. + +"Mr. Peter," she said, smiling, "don't wonder! It is very kind of you +to come and tell me the truth--kind also to try and find me out; but, +believe me, I do not stand in your brother's way. It is two years +since Major Muir first brought you here to me, a milliner living by +her work only. All that while he and I have been good friends--nothing +more. I had no claim to be anything else. Does that satisfy you?" + +Peter Muir held out a hot, damp, but enthusiastic hand to meet her +cool, wholesome one. + +"I'm not quite sure if it does," he said, in a manner suddenly and to +her painfully reminiscent of Marmaduke. "You've been a good sight more +to him than any friend has been to me, worse luck! Perhaps if I had +had someone like you in a peaceful little room like this--but +Marmaduke always had the devil's own luck. However, you are not +angry, are you? Only I thought it right to put you up to the ropes in +case----" + +"There is no in case about it," she interrupted quickly. "I--I make no +claim." She rose, passed to the window, and looked out. "Has Lord +Drummuir any--any special selection for his future daughter-in-law?" +she asked, and the young man at the fireplace jiggled the seals in his +pocket amusedly. + +He knew a thing or two, he imagined, about women. + +"Not so far as I am aware of, at _present_," he replied, negligently; +"but the consent is a trifle urgent, for the colonelcy will be going +ere long. He ought to make up his mind soon and come with me to a +roaring New Year at the Castle--it's always a bachelor party--and it +may be his last chance. So, if you could say a word or two--you have +more influence over Marmaduke----" + +She flashed round suddenly. + +"I used to have some," she corrected. "However, thanks very many. Now +let us talk of something else." + +After her visitor had gone Marrion Paul, who called herself Mrs. +Marsden on the door-plate, threw the window wide with an air of relief +and sat down once more to her work. It was an infant's cap of almost +incredibly fine stitchings and embroideries; the kind of cap which, +perched on slender, white, much-beringed hands would give tremors of +delightful anticipation to rich young wives awaiting motherhood. On +the table were strewn other tiny habiliments dainty and delicate +beyond compare; for Mrs. Marsden's layettes were renowned. Nothing +crude, nothing out of place came from her skilful hands; all things +bore the indefinable stamp of absorbing care and almost divine hope +that the little unknown atom of life to come should have garments +worthy of its mission. + +The truth being that, as she worked, her mind always held at the back +of it the memory of a certain box upstairs in which lay the first baby +clothes she had ever made--clothes laboured at day by day in a perfect +heaven of happiness for her child and Duke's, the poor little dear +which had lost its life in the effort to save hers after that terrible +accident. + +It had not been Duke's fault, though he had reproached himself +bitterly at first; but that had been more because of her consequent +lameness. For to a man a dead baby does not count for much--not even +if no other follows it--at least not to a man like Marmaduke, so +light-hearted, so affectionate, so free from all carping cares and +thoughts. + +No, it had been her fault from the beginning. She should have held her +own as she had done for his good in so many other ways before and +since. And now, after these years of freedom, was the tie between +them--the unreal tie which ought never to have existed--to hold him +back from taking his rightful place in life? + +Suddenly she folded up the tiny cap, putting it by with a wistful +little smile and a pat against happier thoughts, went upstairs, put on +her bonnet, and, leaving word she would not be back till late, passed +out into the street. One thing was certain, she must avoid seeing +Marmaduke until her mind was indelibly fixed, and there was always a +chance he might drop in to see her. + +London in those days was a dreary spot for anyone requiring a quiet +place wherein to look Fate in the face; but Marrion knew her way to +two places where she could secure peace and quiet--the National +Gallery and the reading-room of the British Museum. She had often +spent long hours in the former, not moving from place to place, but +seated before some masterpiece, scarce seeing it, yet vaguely learning +something from it which had been missing in her life; but to-day she +chose the latter, as being farther away, and it was time she wished to +kill--time in which it was possible to hear the familiar step on the +stairs, perhaps to be greeted by some affectionate jest that stockings +were not mended or that new handkerchiefs required marking. She smiled +as she thought of those seven long years during which she had kept +this man as comfortable and as tidy as she could, during which she had +managed for him as well as any woman could have managed, and tried to +imagine the estimation in which such devotion would be held by the +wives and mothers for whose infants she worked. She was a constant +reader at the Museum, having, when she came to London, set herself +deliberately to gain what she had perforce missed in her life, so she +found a place, sent in her slip for a book, and was soon apparently +studying it. But she was not even thinking. In the great crises of +life one does not weigh pros and cons; decision comes from outside to +those who recognise that there is something beyond one's own +individual life. It is those who do not see, who fail to recognise the +spiritual plane, who cannot distinguish good from evil, evil from +good, who err past forgiveness. And from the moment Marrion Paul had +heard of the condition on which old Lord Drummuir would buy the +colonelcy she had known she must face him again. The only question was +when, and how. + +The sooner the better. She would inquire about the journey on her way +home. + +It was dark ere she arrived there with a long list of startings and +arrivals in her hand, and a new sense of elation in her heart--the +elation of the born fighter at yet another chance of battle. + +"The Major was here asking for you, ma'am, about five o'clock," said +the maidservant, "and he said if you could let him have two or three +white ties to-night he would be obliged, as he is going into the +country early to-morrow." + +Marrion laughed. So much the better for her plans. + +"Take a hot iron to the dining-room," she said, "and set the +lace-board. You can take the ties round to his lodgings after supper." + + + + + CHAPTER II + + +Seven years had not improved old Lord Drummuir's temper, neither had +it softened the arrogance of his sway over the household. Marrion +realised this in a second, as, entering the study under the name of +Mrs. Marsden--a lady who, according to the footman, was--"Oh, yes, +sir, quite young, and yes, sir, quite good-looking!" and who had +private business with his lordship, she found herself instantly +recognised by three pairs of eyes. One the occupant of the familiar +wheel-chair, the others those of my lady and Penelope. The sight of +the latter was unexpected, for though Marrion knew her grandfather had +died the previous year she had not heard of Penelope's reinstallation +as confidential attendant to my lady. It was not an arrangement likely +to occur to anyone out of Drummuir Castle; but there all things were +possible. + +In the instant's pause which followed on her entrance Marrion had time +to note that the old man had changed but little. His face had lost +somewhat of its colour, but the look of absolute domineering power was +strong as ever. My lady had grown stout--the very idea of a _fandango_ +was far from her now--and the colour had come to her face in +unbecoming fashion. Penelope, on the other hand, had grown thinner, +and in her black dress looked prim propriety. + +"Well, young woman?" began his lordship. + +It was a signal for indignant protest from those two. + +"Drummuir," shrilled the lady, "if you speak to that creature I must +leave the room!" + +Penelope's answering assent was audible in a snort. + +The old man fixed them with a stony stare. + +"I was just about to ask you to do so, my dear," he said, with suave +politeness. "Penelope, open the door for your mistress." + +Marrion, as mechanically she stepped aside towards the window to let +them pass out, felt that nothing was altered. The spider was master of +his web still, every stick and stone of the old place existed by this +old man's wicked will. And it was this heritage she had set herself to +gain for the man she loved! A spasm of repugnance shot through her. + +Yet surely the place itself was glorious. Her glance speeding +northwards took in the same old familiar view that had been visible +from her window in the keep-house; the grey northern sea trending +away, round promontory and point, the cliffs looking so strangely red +compared with the white hills, the white moors--for snow lay thick +everywhere. In those long years of London life she seemed to have +forgotten that snow could be so white. "Though your sins be as +scarlet, they shall be white as snow." The words recurred to her +irrelevantly. + +The old man's voice roused her. + +"You are not so good-looking as you were; and you limp. How's that?" + +"I had an accident," she replied briefly. + +"And why do you call yourself Mrs. Marsden?" + +"Because it is the name I have gone by for some years." + +"Ever since I last saw you--eh?" + +"Ever since you last saw me--nearly," she corrected. Then there was +silence. + +"Well," he said at length, "what is it all about? You have come for +money, I suppose--women always do. Tell the truth solidly please, I've +no time to waste." + +The sneer in his words was intolerable. + +"Yes, I have come for money," she replied, "because your son, Major +Marmaduke Muir, married me six years ago. I've brought proofs with +me." + +If he wanted the truth he had got it. Bitter as she was, however, the +sudden whiteness of the old man's face made her sorry for him. There +was something more than anger here. That turned him purple; yet his +words were resentful, nothing more. + +"Then he is a damned fool!" + +"You didn't write so to him seven years ago, Lord Drummuir," she +began. + +"H'm, so he showed you the letter, did he? No, you behaved well +then--and, by God, I made them dance!" The recollection seemed to +please; then a sudden thought evidently struck him. "Any children?" he +asked. + +She shook her head. + +"One--a boy--died. Major Muir had an accident in the tilbury. The +child," she paused, her eyes on the far stretches of dazzling white +snow, "it--it ransomed my life. I shall never have another." Then with +a rush all she had come to say sprang to mind and lips, she held out +her hands appealingly. "Lord Drummuir, I wish you would let me tell my +story!" + +"Eh, what?" he replied peevishly. "Well, curse it all, I've been +plagued by the gout and those two virtuous frumps for seven months, +for Jack Jardine has the jaundice, and you were deuced amusing last +time. But, don't stop over there--makes me cold to think of you. Sit +there, by the fire, and take off your bonnet; you look better without +it. Women with good hair shouldn't wear bonnets." + +She sat down as he bade her, feeling inclined to cry, he reminded her +so much of Marmaduke. + +He would not spare her any details; it seemed an amusement to him to +hear of her doubts, her scruples, and he laughed aloud when she told +him how two years ago she had dismissed her lover. + +"Why?" he sneered. "Come, out with it!" + +His hard clear eyes peered into hers. + +"Because I didn't want to injure him, and I don't want to injure him +now," she replied. "I haven't come to claim my rights as his wife." + +"Then what the devil do you want, my lady?" + +"I want you to do as you did before and give him the money to buy his +colonelcy. If you will do this I will never claim to be his wife. He +shall be as free, as far as I am concerned, to marry whom you choose." + +Lord Drummuir sat looking at her with hard clear eyes. + +"And if I don't," he said at last, "are you going to threaten me with +this bogus marriage, for it may be bogus for all I know--eh, what?" + +Marrion felt that the supreme moment had come; she must stake her all. + +"No," she answered quietly. "To show you I threaten nothing, there are +my marriage lines. Burn them if you will!" + +She sat quite still while the old man, with fingers that trembled +visibly, unfolded the paper she gave him. There was no mistaking its +worth. In Marmaduke's bold black writing were the words-- + +"I, Marmaduke Muir, second son of Baron Drummuir, of Drummuir Castle, +hereby acknowledge Marrion Paul as my lawful wife." Underneath in her +finer writing was her own acknowledgment of her tie to Marmaduke. + +The old man, for all he had had no hopes of escape, was wary. + +"You give this up because you know he, my fool of a son, has a +counterpart, eh? That's about it, I expect?" + +Marrion flushed to the very roots of her hair, but she spoke calmly. + +"Yes, your son has the counterpart----" she began. + +The old man burst into one of his sudden rude guffaws. + +"Ha, ha, ha! And you thought you'd take in the old fox, my fine +madam!" he said, then paused before the passion of her face. + +"If you will listen you will believe me. I could claim to be his wife +now if I chose. I do not choose. I prefer that he should lead the life +he loved, that he should marry and bring you the heir for which--for +which you would sell your soul, you poor old man! But Marmaduke is a +soldier born; if he misses this chance he will be a disappointed man. +As like as not he will never marry, even though he knows I've set him +free. But send him this money, and I swear to you the counterpart +shall be destroyed. What shall I swear by? I swear by the poor dead +baby!" She paused. "Marmaduke said he was so like you. I never saw +him. I was too near death." + +Her voice trailed away to monotony. The old man sat staring at her, an +odd tremor in his face. + +"I swear it shall be destroyed," she continued. "I--I have very great +influence over your son; he--he will do what I ask." + +"Then why the devil are you giving him up, and your prospects here? +They're not to be sneezed at by a woman like you!" + +The phrase nettled her. She rose and stood beside him strong and +steady. + +"Lord Drummuir," she said sarcastically, "I know you to be clever and +I thought, being a gentleman, that you might have seen the truth and +spared me the pain of that question. I will answer it, however. It is +cause your son never loved me. He is very, very fond of me. He has +been so ever since we were boy and girl together. And I have been of +great use to him. But I could not bring love into his life, and I +could not bring him a child. So it did not seem worth while; I could +only stand aside." + +There was a pause. The old man's face had grown sharp and paler; there +was uncertainty even in the cruel lines about the mouth. + +"You're rather an extraordinary young woman," he remarked coolly; +"might have made your fortune on the stage. Wish I'd met you there!" +He grinned. "But now to business. You have the whip hand, of course--I +admit that. Now, if I give you--or that fool, my son, it's the same +thing--the money for this paper, you promise to make him destroy his +counterpart." + +"I promise," she replied eagerly. "I can make him do most things----" + +"Except love you," interrupted the old man, with a horrible sneer; but +the next instant his gouty hand, trembling a little, was outstretched +to her in deprecation. "Excuse me, that should not have been said. +Well, you know as well as I do that this game is a real confidence +trick. You must have heaps of evidence up your sleeve if you chose to +bring it forward. But I'll chance that. I haven't seen many of your +sort in my life. If I had, I mightn't have been the cursed cripple I +am; but I've had a rattlin' good life of it and I don't regret +anything--except having begot Pitt. So we will come to terms. I will +send the colonelcy money to Marmaduke on condition that he consents to +marry within the year. Is that agreed?" + +"Agreed," she said firmly. + +"In that case perhaps you'll oblige me by ringing the bell." + +She did so, but when the valet appeared, instead of the curt order to +show her out Marrion had expected, the old man commanded the instant +production of cake and wine. + +"Nonsense!" he growled decisively to her protestations. "It is +devilish cold. You haven't on warm enough clothes, and you don't leave +this house without bite or sup, if only because your father Paul was a +deuced good servant to my poor brother. Good fellow was Paul--always +suspicioned he was a gentleman--think now he must have been. +Here"--the valet had come and gone, leaving the tray on the +table--"pour yourself out a glass of port. Won't get better anywhere, +I'll go bail. Only half a binn left, so I shall finish that before I +die, thank God! Now," he eyed her narrowly, "drink to the health of +Marmaduke Muir's son, the heir to Drummuir!" + +The room seemed to spin round for a moment. Then without a quiver she +drank the health, put down her glass and turned to the door. Just as +she reached it the old man said-- + +"Good-bye. I'm damned sorry that little chap of yours died; he would +have been game, anyhow." + +She gave back one sudden grateful look, and the memory of what she saw +remained with her till the day of her death. The pearly whiteness of +the snow outside showing behind the mountain of diseased flesh swathed +in scarlet flannel, the gouty hands in the act of tearing up the paper +they had been holding, a cruel smile in the old grey eyes, despite the +words which had just fallen from the cruel lips. + +"Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow." + +The phrase recurred and recurred as she tramped her way down the beech +avenue. There were many gaps in it now. How many trees would be left +when Marmaduke's heir came to his own? + + + + + CHAPTER III + + +The swing doors leading to the smoking-room of the fashionable club in +London fell back with a slightly louder thud than usual, and more than +one occupant of the room looked up--looked up, however, to smile, for +the newcomer was a universal favourite. It was Marmaduke Muir, fresh +from one of his many disappearances, for he was quartered at the new +camp of Aldershot and his London visits were generally but a passing +flash on his way to find sport in the counties. At seven-and-thirty he +showed almost more youthful than he had done at seven-and-twenty, for +he was thinner, more alert, and the laughter in his face seemed to +belong to him more absolutely. For the rest he was handsome beyond +compare, and dressed faultlessly in a taste that had sobered itself +from those early days in England when Marrion Paul had found him +_flamboyant_. There was still a slight exuberance in the carnation in +his buttonhole and the immense size of the cigar he drew out of his +case; but the case itself was simple, and there was a simplicity about +his whole bearing which disarmed criticism. + +"What you b'in after, old chap?" said an occupant of an armchair, +laying down the "Illustrated London News," in which he had been +reading the pros and cons of beard and moustachios as against clean +shaving. He felt his own chin doubtfully as he looked at Marmaduke's +upper lip; but then he, of course, was a soldier. + +"Killin' somethin', I bet," yawned another. "What was it, Duke?" + +"Not ladies, anyhow," put in a third. "Our Adonis is a regular +misogynist; and yet, just look at his letters--faugh! they make the +place smell like Truefitt's." + +"Better than your fags, anyhow, Mac!" laughed Marmaduke, as he took +the pile of notes and letters which the attendant had brought in on a +salver. Then, as he threw himself into the most comfortable chair +vacant, he held up half the bundle with a gay--"Anyone like them? +They're all invitations, I expect, and I have to go back to-night!" + +"And moneylenders, Muir! Don't forget Moses!" put in the man he had +called Mac. + +"Not so many of them either," retorted Marmaduke, "as you know Jack +Jardine keeps us going. God bless him!" he added cheerfully. + +"Here, hand us over a few, Major!" said a callow youth who lived to +envy the more fashionable habitués. + +"No go, Smithers!" remarked another youth less sallow; "even Nathan +couldn't make you up to his form." + +But Marmaduke, after a hasty glance at the superscriptions, had +dexterously flung a dozen or so of letters into the applicant's tall +hat, which was obstructing the way between his chair and the next. One +smaller than the rest which Marmaduke had overlooked flew over it and +lay on the carpet. It was directed in an uneducated hand. + +"Hullo, pretty milliner, eh, Duke?" said Mac, taking it up and opening +it. "No, no, fair play, you gave it----" + +Marmaduke, standing over him, blushed like a girl as he glanced at the +writing. + +"It's nothing, Mac," he began. + +But Mac was not to be put off in a moment. + +"'Respekted and Honerd Sir'--can't spell, anyhow," he read out. "'The +money as you scent save my wife an' children from blank +starvayshion"'--he turned round and looked at Marmaduke reproachfully. +"And you owe me five pounds, you d----d Christian philanthropist." + +Marmaduke Muir gave an apologetic laugh. + +"The poor devil was in my regiment once--and as for the five pounds, +here you are. I had a stroke of luck down in Norfolk at loo----" + +"Save you from 'blank starvayshion,' eh, Mac?" growled a man who also +owed money in the same quarter, whereat there was a general laugh, for +Major Macdonald was known to be near. + +Marmaduke, opening his letters rapidly, put most of them into the +waste-paper basket. Invitations from people he scarcely knew to balls +and dances, others to festivities past and gone. Some few he put in +his pocket, and one he sat and stared at as he smoked his cigar. +Luncheon--one o'clock--there was plenty of time; and Louisa +Marchioness of Broadway was the most amusing old lady in town. An old +friend of his father's, too, though that wasn't in her favour. Still +she was interested in the family, and had always been particularly +kind to him. + +An hour later, therefore, he sat waiting his hostess' appearance in +the tiny drawing-room of one of that row of tiny houses which, till a +very few years ago, stood back from Knightsbridge Road, separated from +it by a tiny secluded carriage-drive of their own and opening out with +little narrow strips of back gardens to the park. He was seated at the +window, but it seemed to him as if he were close to the roaring fire; +indeed, all things were close to each other in the small room where +the big, central, mid-Victorian table, with its broidered tablecloth, +solitary vase of flowers, and besprinkling books of beauty seemed to +monopolise all space. One of these same books of beauty lay open at a +simpering bottlenecked portrait subscribed in a fine feminine hand, +"Louisa Broadway." It always did; the servant had orders to that +effect. + +"_À la bonheur, monsieur!_" came a voice from the door. It was the +most ancient thing about Louisa Marchioness of Broadway. All else was +open to manipulation and the manipulation was good. She did not, +however, dye her hair. Spiteful folk said it was because powder had +been the fashion when she was in the heyday of her beauty; but she was +a very clever lady, and doubtless she realised how much more real a +make-up seems when toned to white hair than to dark. As it was, the +effect was still charming, and her figure was that of a girl of +eighteen. + +"_A moi l'honneur_," quoth Marmaduke gallantly, as he advanced to kiss +the old lady's outstretched hand and lead her to a chair. + +In a certain set at that time there was a fashion for interpolating +French into English--one of the signs of the coming war which was +darkening the horizon of Europe. + +So they sat and talked lightly of it, and of the Prince Consort's +unpopularity, and the coming opening of the King's new Royal Palace of +Westminster, which are now, forgetfully and conveniently, called the +Houses of Parliament, until luncheon was announced, and Marmaduke had +to pilot his hostess down the narrow stairs--a difficult task which he +felt would have been far easier had he carried her. And with the +thought came in a rush that delight in freedom, that fresh enjoyment +of the unconventional, which always made him remember Marrion Paul. It +sobered him a little and he talked with more effort. Not that it +mattered, since his hostess was all sparkle and wit. And the luncheon +itself was everything that could be desired. Marmaduke, a bit of an +epicure in personal matters, found the snug little horse-shoe table, +with its curve to the fire so that you could feel the warmth while you +looked out of the window, very conducive to comfort, for you sat +undisturbed by servings behind you. All that went on in front, and you +could see what was handed to you without fear of ricking your neck or +getting the gravy spilt over your clothes. The _menu_, too, if sparse, +was super-excellent. In her youth Louisa Broadway had been +Ambassadress at various European Courts; she was a _gourmet_ of +distinction, so it was quite a complacent Marmaduke who at her +invitation, after the servant left the room, turned his chair to the +fire and joined his hostess in a glass of Madeira. + +"And now for business," she said, while her face took on a new +expression which obscured the paint and the prettiness, and left it +wise yet kindly--wise with the wisdom of a worldly old age. "Now, you +don't suppose, do you, young man, that I asked you here to give you a +good lunch--you'll admit you have had one, I presume--and talk to you +about things that don't really matter a brass farthing to either of +us? For what do you care about the Houses of Parliament, and what do I +care about scandals--I have had plenty--_de trop_, in fact! No, I +brought you here to introduce you to my grand-niece--Sibthorpe's +youngest daughter. She will be here immediately, and I want you to +marry her." + +"Really, Lady Broadway!" flustered Marmaduke. + +"Rather crude, I admit," continued his hostess, "but I object to +beating about the bush, especially when I want to get inside. The fact +is, Marmaduke, I have heard from your father----" + +"It is good of you to read his letters; they are not----" began the +son stiffly. + +"Don't be silly, my dear lad," went on the old woman, "your father has +his faults, but he was quite as good-looking as a young man as you +are--at any rate, I thought so. Now, he wants you to marry, and he has +every reason to wish it. It is the only chance of an heir to the +title, for Peter's last escapade has about finished his hopes in that +quarter." + +"I can't discuss----" began Marmaduke very stiff. + +"Oh, yes, you can!" went on the old lady imperturbably. "We +are _en petit comité_, and I'll confess to being old, very +old, old enough to be your great-grandmother. Now, Marmaduke, +a great-great-grandmother--did I put in the two greats the +first time?--can talk over things more sensibly than even a +great-great-grandfather. You see, my dear, she has passed through it +all and left it all behind her. And so, my dear child--I nursed you as +a baby, remember--why don't you marry? Or perhaps you are married +already?" + +There was an exquisite lightness of raillery in the suggestion which +absolutely barred offence, and there was kindness in the keen old +eyes. Nevertheless, Marmaduke was uncomfortably aware that they took +in his sudden flush. She gave him no time for interruption, however, +and went on airily-- + +"For all I know the heir may already be in existence!" Here Marmaduke +asserted himself with great dignity. "My dear madam, if I had any +children I should acknowledge them!" + +Louisa Lady Broadway smiled gently. She had gained one piece of +knowledge, anyhow. The obstruction, if there was one, was a childless +wife. + +"I am glad to hear it, my dear, but I knew you had a good heart, or I +wouldn't have risked speaking to you. I wouldn't do as much for one in +a thousand. Now, my dear, I am nearly eighty years old, and I +understand things as perhaps few women do understand them. I don't +expect many men have lived to be your age without forming ties of some +kind, especially if they live in Scotland, Marmaduke"--the thrust went +home again, she thought--"but money does a lot, especially when there +are no children. A good round annuity means much when a man is not +well off, as you are, and has probably to wait for many years ere he +falls into money--as you have, for Pitt is the heir, of course. But +your father would find the cash----" + +"If he would find the money to pay for my colonelcy," burst in +Marmaduke, "it would be better than setting people to find out mare's +nests! I don't mean to be rude, Lady Broadway; you are very kind, but +I really can't discuss----" + +"I think you can," interrupted Louisa Broadway in her turn, +"especially if it is not a question of mere money, and money is, I +believe, a very small matter to some people--to you, for instance, +Marmaduke! You never think of it, do you, so long as you've got +it?--ha, ha! But there are other considerations. To begin with, I +believe that when there are no children a marriage should +automatically become null and void. And apart from that I don't +believe that any woman who really loves a man would ever stand in his +light or prevent him from doing his duty. I am sure if I had had no +children, and Broadway----" The illustration, however, was beyond even +her powers of fiction, and the opening of the door brought relief. +"Oh, here is the young lady! Amabel, let me introduce Major Marmaduke +Muir. Major Muir, Lady Amabel Sibthorpe. I expect you are kindred +spirits, as you are both such outdoor people." + +The girl, who had rushed in somewhat unceremoniously, looked up +frankly into Marmaduke's blue eyes. There was undisguised admiration +in her glance. + +"Oh, yes," she said, "I've always wanted to know Major Muir since I +saw him punish a horrid little boy in the park for bullying his dog!" + +Marmaduke, as he made his bow, felt that the clever old lady with the +painted face was very clever indeed. She had gauged her man +completely. Most people on the task would have supplied him with a +befrilled fashionable beauty; the sort of woman with whom he flirted, +who amused him, attracted him, tempted him. But this joyous, buoyant +girl, with good-breeding in every line and feature---- + +No, Louisa Lady Broadway had made a mistake; she had reminded him of +Marrion Paul. + +So, after the shortest interval compatible with his rôle of charming +young man, he took his leave and went fuming back to his lodgings in +Duke Street, which he kept as a _pied-à-terre_ for himself and Peter. +The latter was out, so Marmaduke went straight up to his bedroom to +change his London things for his uniform, since he had to report +himself on arrival at Aldershot. There was plenty of time, but he +meant to go round by Marrion's first. He had not seen her for over ten +days, and---- + +Despite an anger at interference which had grown instead of +diminishing, old Lady Broadway's words, "a woman who loves a man will +never stand in his light or prevent him from doing his duty," would +keep recurring to his mind. It was exactly what Marrion had said to +him scores and scores of times. Curious, two such different women +having precisely the same views. Not that they mattered. He had his +own. Still, half-mechanically when he was dressed he took out of his +despatch-box a small packet of papers, and, opening one of the +envelopes, began to read the contents. One sheet was the excerpt from +the visitors' book at the Cross-keys Inn where he had written "Captain +the Honourable Marmaduke and Mrs. Muir." He smiled at it bitterly, +wondering whether, if he had relied on that, as Marrion had begged +him, he should have felt as bound as he did now. With a shrug of his +shoulders he folded it again and thrust it back into the envelope. The +other sheet was a counterpart of the paper which Marrion Paul had, +unknown to him, given to his father. He sat staring at it almost +stupidly until a knock came to the door, when he hastily replaced it +and put the bundle in his breast-pocket. The new-comer was Andrew +Fraser, and he carried a letter. + +"I was roond tae the club, sir," he said, with a salute, "as I thocht +it might be o' importance seein' it was frae the castle; but you was +awa." + +The man's face was as ever, full of devotion and duty. The past seven +years had brought him many an anxiety, many an agony, but he had stuck +by the two beings he loved best on earth with a steadfastness beyond +all praise. + +"All right, Andrew," replied his master cheerily, "pack up, will you, +and take the things to the station. I'm going round by Mrs. +Marsden's." + +"Very well, sir," replied the servant quietly. + +He had been discretion itself all these years, ever since Marrion had +come to him one day and told him the truth, that she was married. If +she had not so told him, what would he have done? His simple soul +could never answer the question. + +Meanwhile, Marmaduke in a cab was reading his father's epistle, which +ran thus-- + + +"MY DEAR MARMADUKE,--I believe you are my son, so I expect you to give +this letter your earnest consideration. As you are aware there is no +heir to the title or estate. I had the misfortune to beget a creature +who calls himself the Master of Drummuir and is not the master of +anything. Then there is Peter, a promising boy whom you have ruined by +providing him with an attachéship at Vienna, a place which did for his +uncle whom he greatly resembles. The accounts of the physician +concerning his health are simply disastrous. He has narrowly escaped +an asylum for life. This being so, it is imperative that you shall +marry and produce an heir for the estate. I see by various letters of +yours (unanswered) that you are again in want of money to purchase +your promotion to colonel. It is a nefarious, a reprehensible swindle +which should be abolished, and to which I should never yield were it +not that I wish to strike a bargain with you--namely, I will purchase +your colonelcy, if you will consent at once to seek out a suitable +wife and marry her within the year. If you accede to this most +reasonable request I will send a cheque to your bankers and I shall +expect to see you--and Peter also if he is really sane--here for +Christmas. + + "Yours truly, + + "DRUMMUIR. + +"P.S.--Let me tell you, sir, that it is deuced dull here with those +two virtuous frumps, my Lady and Penelope. They were more amusing when +they were young. But if you come--and why shouldn't you?--we'll have a +regular rouser." + + +Marmaduke read this letter over twice. It was the kindest, most +reasonable one he had ever had from his father. And the postscript +touched him. Its very frankness made him realise what life must now be +to one who in his youth had been "quite as good-looking as you are." + +Old Lady Broadway's words recurred to him as he stood at the little +door with its brass name-plate waiting for admission. And if he got +his colonelcy and the command of the regiment? If there was going to +be war? + +But was there going to be war? He felt a little as if he had to face +an enemy as he ran upstairs two steps at a time. + + + + + CHAPTER IV + + +But upstairs all was peace, and Marrion, the light of the lamp on her +bronze hair, beautiful as ever, looked up from her work, her face +bright with pleasure. + +"Ah, there you are! I was expecting you, for Andrew was round this +afternoon and told me you were in town." + +He did not go up to her or greet her; only smiled content and sank +into the easy-chair placed between where she sat and the fire. The big +table wheeled cosily into the corner was littered with lace and +muslin. He took up a small pinafore and looked at it distastefully. + +"I wish you wouldn't work so hard," he said suddenly, "and I hate to +see you busy over those things; it reminds me----" he broke off. + +She laid down the little frock she was embroidering on the instant, +and went to kneel beside him; for her insight into this man's moods +was complete, and she felt what was coming. + +"And it reminds me too, Duke. That is why I love it. I have told you +so often it was nobody's fault; if anybody's, mine." + +He shook his head. + +"You can't make me believe that." + +"But it is true. See here, Duke, I ought never to have allowed you to +bind yourself. It put me in a false position. I was too anxious to +please, too anxious to pay you back the gift, as it were, so I did +what I ought not to have done. I thought of you, not of the child. But +what is the use of going over it all again? It is past and done with." + +He sat with his hands between his knees for a minute, looking at the +fire. + +"Well, I am sorry the poor little chap died." + +It gave her the opening she needed. + +"That is what your father said when I told him," she said quietly. + +He stared at her. + +"My father!" + +"Yes, Duke, I have been to see him again. He was quite kind. Sit still +and I will tell you everything." + +And she told him though she saw his face grow stern and angry. + +"You had no business to do it," he said, when she finished. "Can't you +even leave me to manage my own affairs? I didn't interfere with yours +when you broke away and set up on your own, did I?" + +"You have been very good to me, Marmaduke," she replied, with a catch +in her voice, "and I've tried to be as good to you." + +The memory of many a helping hand, of long years in which this woman's +companionship had been an anchor to him, came to appease his easy +nature. + +"Well, it is no use being angry," he said at last; "the thing's done. +And you really destroyed your lines?" + +"Your father tore them up. He quite agreed with me that as I had no +children, and there was no chance of one--at any rate, of a living +one--that I was bound to release you. And I am bound. I refuse to be +your wife." + +"And if I claim you?" he said swiftly, resentment in his voice. She +smiled. + +"I shall still refuse you, then in three years we shall be +automatically divorced." + +"In Scotland only. You are very clever, my dear, but you forget some +things." + +His deft diversion, however, had done its work, the subject was no +longer personal. + +"It is impossible," he continued. "I can't leave you in the lurch." + +"You don't. Look at it clearly, please. Since we agreed to +separate----" + +"I never agreed," he put in angrily. "I was quite ready to fulfil----" + +"The bond," she interrupted a trifle bitterly, "and I wasn't or +couldn't. But ever since then--and before then, too--before you came +home, I kept myself. And I'm quite rich, Duke. I have money in the +bank. There is no fear for me." + +"Is it all money?" he said tragically, gloomily. + +She laid her hand lightly on his knee; the touch thrilled her through +and through, but he sat unmoved, looking at the fire. + +"You can give me all you have ever given me still, dear," she said; +"there is no reason why we should not continue to be friends." + +There was a long pause. Then she began again-- + +"I promised your father you would destroy the counterpart. Duke, it is +far better done. You will feel free, and you don't, somehow, now, +though I hoped you would. And I shall be glad. A woman who loves a man +cannot bear to stand in the way of his doing his duty--and this is +your duty----" + +He turned to her. + +"Just what that old harridan said. Curious you two should agree--and +you're so different!" + +"What old harridan?" + +"Lady Broadway. She has been at me, too. Why can't you women leave a +man alone? She wants me to marry her niece, Lady Amabel." + +Marrion felt a sudden spasm of elemental jealousy. Self-sacrifice was +exhilarating in the abstract, in the concrete it was painful. + +"Did--did you see her?" she asked. + +"Yes--nice little girl. But--but if this is to be, how will you manage +about Andrew? You had to tell him, if you remember." + +She remembered right well; remembered how even the man's fidelity to +his master, his devotion to her, would not stand the strain of what he +thought wrong-doing. The difficulty had occurred to her before, but +she set it aside now as of small importance in comparison with the +destruction of the paper. + +"Ill manage Andrew," she replied, "if you will only----" + +He stood up tall and strong and curiously antagonistic. + +"You are always managing, Marmie. Some day you'll find you've made a +mistake. But if you will have it so, I happen to have the paper with +me." He took out his pocket-book and handed her an envelope. "You can +do as you like with it. Oh, it is the right one!" he added +impatiently. "I was looking at it just now. I am not always a fool!" + +She paused in a half-unconscious search induced by her knowledge of +Marmaduke's careless habits. The contents of the envelope, half-pulled +out, showed her the printed heading "Cross-keys Inn." She thrust them +back hurriedly and dropped the whole into the fire. It flamed up +showing his face full of irritation, hers of decision. They watched it +flame, fade, sparkle out. Then he turned away. + +"You've made me feel a scoundrel somehow," he said, "but I suppose I +shall get over it in time." + +"You've no right to say that," she flared out. "You've no right to put +that thought into my life. We have done our duty." + +"Well, don't let's part in anger, anyhow," he said kindly. "I shan't +see you for some time. I'm on duty, and then I shall go north for +Christmas, and then----" + +"And you will get your colonelcy," she added. + +He smiled. + +"Yes, I shall get it, thanks to you again. Ah, Marmie, Marmie, it's no +use your trying to unbind Tristram Shandy and the Shorter Catechism! +We were mixed up together right away in the beginning of things, and +we shall be mixed up in the end, you'll see. Now I must be off. +Good-bye!" + +He held out his hand. She took it and gripped it fast, every fibre of +her athrill with the dear touch. Her whole soul seemed for the second +to crave for him, for his presence always. And he was going away, out +of her life for ever. For she was wiser than he was. She knew that her +talk of continued friendship was a sham; one of the many baits she +laid so often to get her own way. Ah, how weary she was of cutting and +contriving Dame Nature's plain, honest web! Well, she would have to do +it no longer; it would be another's task. But there was one thing he +had said which was not to be endured, which could not be allowed to +pass. + +"Good-bye," she said, "and don't please feel like a scoundrel. You +never did a better deed in your life. You have done your duty like an +honest gentleman, and--and I'm proud of you!" + +"That's something, anyhow," he said, and was gone. + +She sat down and began stitching away at a little gown she was making. +It had to be finished that night, for the christening of the infant +for whom it had been bespoken was on the morrow. And the task soothed +her. For the more ordinary parts she had apprentices during the day +who worked downstairs, but all the distinctive features of the +marvellously delicate little garments came from her own clever +fingers. That evening, as she worked away at a tiny wreath of +snowdrops for another woman's child, every atom of her went out in +unavailing regret for the little life that had gone to save her own. +She was not worth it--nothing was worth it. Those men--father and +son--might say "I am sorry the little chap died!" but did they, could +they, would they, realise what it meant to a woman that something very +precious, something which she was bound to protect, for which she +ought to have given her heart's blood, had given her its own instead? + +Well, she had paid for it since to the uttermost farthing. She had no +illusions. Marmaduke had gone out of her life for ever. + +Not entirely, however, for at Christmas time one of his long breezy +letters came to her--for Marmaduke was a great letter-writer--telling +her about all her old friends in the neighbourhood; a charming, +cheerful epistle, full of awed wonder at the extreme stoutness and +sanctity of "stepmamma" and the rigorous respectability of Penelope. + +"For the first time in my life," he wrote, "I feel sorry for the old +man, and I begin to think we did right, Marmie. In fact, I'm sure we +did." + +Her lip hardened as she read. Undoubtedly they had done right, but---- + +She sewed harder than ever, wishing that the whole thing was settled +and done with. Then there would be no more letters to bring pain. + +Fate, however, had other things in store for her, for just after the +New Year Andrew Fraser appeared in her small drawing-room. He came in, +tall, gaunt, hard-featured as ever, stood at the door and saluted, as +he had done ever since Marrion in self-defence had told him that she +and his master were fast married. + +"Back so soon!" she cried. "I thought the major was to be longer at +the castle." + +"He is the colonel now," returned Andrew gloomily, "an' we are awa tae +Portsmouth the day. But I cam', Marrion, tae tell ye that the domed +fowk in the ha' at Drummuir were sayin' 'he was tae get marriet tae +Lady Amabel.' An' that canna be.' + +"Lady Amabel," echoed Marrion, glad in a way of a surprise which +enabled her to make a diversion, at any rate, for a time. "He didn't +say anything. I thought it was to be a bachelor party." + +Andrew snorted a vexed denial. + +"Sma' count o' that! The auld peer had gotten Lady Penrigg, the +railway man's wife, tae gi' him countenance wi' the gentry, and +there was the Marchioness o' Broadway and the young leddy--a nice, +straight-speakin' girlie. An' it was a' decent and God-fearin' with +curlin' and skatin' and sleighin' an' songs an' forfeits in the +evenin'. Dewar, my lord's valet, tell't me he had never heard the +Baron swear sae awfie as he did when he got tae his own room o' +nichts. It jest turned him cauld. But it was lying on the poor falla's +stummick a' day. Hoo'ever I didna come for that." + +"And the major--I mean the colonel," interrupted Marrion hastily, "did +he enjoy himself?" + +It was an unwise remark, for it hastened what she wished to avoid. + +"Ower much, mayhap," put in Andrew, taking a step nearer her, his +little grey eyes looking at her with pathetic earnestness. "Marrion, +my dear," he went on, "I've helt ma tongue a' these years, relying on +your word that ye had your lines safe. Not that they matter sae much, +since I can swear to yer bein' man and wife--aye, and mayhap bring +ithers tae swear it, too. But I'm no satisfied, an' that's God's +truth. Ye ken fine that by a' the laws o' God and man ye're bound +together, an' surely ye're no seekin' to get past the responsibility +that ye took upon yersels?" + +There was something merciless in the stern solid figure before her; +but Marrion had courage, and faced her task. + +"Sit down, Andrew, and let me explain," she began, but he stood to +attention more rigidly, and with a forecast of failure in her mind she +went through the whole set of arguments she had used with success on +Marmaduke. But here she had different metal to weld. + +"Ye took it upon yersels," he reiterated. "It was the Lord's doin' +that the poor wee bairnie didna live. It's ill tryin' tae get the +better o' Providence." + +The hopelessness of influencing him made her at last try an appeal to +his personal devotion to her; but his reply sent her crimson to her +very heart-strings. + +"That's neither here nor there, Marrion. If ye was twenty times free +by yere ain makin', I wadna take yer love at a gift." + +The most she could get out of him was a promise to wait and say +nothing till there was more than mere servants'-hall gossip to go by. +He left her wearied and vexed, sorry that she had not been able to get +him to hear reason, yet knowing that she was sure of her own ground, +since, if she and Duke both refused to acknowledge marriage there +could be no possible claim by anyone else. Only to take up this ground +would, she foresaw, make Andrew into an enemy. Besides, it would be a +confession of failure on her part, and the years had brought so much +success to her in all her managements that the idea of defeat, even in +a small thing, was irksome. + +So for a day or two more she sat and worked while all the noise of +London was deadened by the snow which defied man's effort to remove. +In her quiet little street she felt as if she were wrapped away in a +white winding sheet from all the interests of the world--waiting, +waiting, waiting. It would come at last, of course. The _Court +Journal_ would have the announcement of an impending marriage in high +life. Then, if Andrew were still inflexible, she must tell him he had +no power. And then--and then--and then? + +Her mind busied itself in plans, in conjectures, more from habit than +from any hope of action; for in her heart of hearts she knew, and she +was always telling herself, that she had said good-bye to Duke for +ever. + +Yet, as has been said, Fate had willed otherwise. Less than a week +after Andrew's visit, she stood up, her heart beating, at a well-known +step coming up two stairs at a time, and there was Duke! A Duke such +as she had always dreamt he should be--radiant, rejoicing--a perfect +specimen of manly beauty. He was in the full-dress uniform of his +Highland regiment, and he flung his bonnet in among the laces and +muslins, as if the whole world were his. + +"We're off to Constantinople to-morrow," he said joyously, "and I +had to come and say good-bye. Oh, my dear, my dear, what a relief it +is--every way!" + +She gasped. + +"But war--war hasn't been declared yet!" + +"And won't be for another two months," he interrupted, "but for all +that we are sending our troops. It's kept secret, of course, but my +regiment is in it. It seems too good to be true!" + +"And--and Lady Amabel?" asked Marrion, a grip at her heart. + +He laughed joyously. + +"No harm done. You see the War Office told me when I got the colonelcy +this was up, and it wouldn't have been fair. So we were very good +friends. She is a dear little girl, and if I come home--but that's to +be seen. Now, ah, how glad I am to be free!" + +The words cut deep, spoiling the relief at Marrion's heart; but, after +all, why should he not be glad? He was going to do a man's work. + +"I'm glad you have the colonelcy," she said soberly; it was the only +consolation she could find for herself. + +"Glad!" he echoed. "I should think I was! It's been the dream of my +life. And do you know the old man was really quite reasonable about +it. We talked the thing over, and I told him what we had done, and +were prepared to do--or rather not to do. Of course he was in a fury +about the foreign service, but he saw I couldn't shirk, so I've +promised and vowed everything he wanted. And now"--his eyes shone, +content seemed to radiate from him--"I feel, Marmie, as if I were +beginning a new life. I've only had to obey orders hitherto, and +deuced stupid many of them have seemed to me; but now I am head and +the men are splendid--they'd follow me anywhere. So--so we are going +to do something, I expect." + +The light in his eyes had steadied, he took up his bonnet, then stood +for a moment looking at her, the embodiment of a soldier of fortune +going out, careless, to seek adventure. + +"And you, my dear," he said doubtfully, "are you sure you can manage?" + +"Quite sure," she replied cheerfully. "Perhaps I shan't stop here. I +may want to see the world, too." + +He laughed. + +"I believe you'd like to don boy's clothes like Rosalind and follow me +to the wars! By Jove, what a Rosalind you'd make!" + +His happy carelessness hurt. + +"You forget I am lame," she said, a trifle bitterly. + +His face fell. + +"That isn't kind," he protested, "not at the last! Don't send me away +feeling that I have been a ruffian to you." + +Her composure gave way then. With a little cry she put her arms round +his neck and kissed him. + +"You have nothing to reproach yourself with, my dear, my dear! +Go!--forget all about women! Go! You've done your best, so fight your +best!" + +He gave her back her kiss as he might have given it to his sister. + +"Yes, Marmie," he said, "I'm beginning to think we really did the +right thing, for we can be friends all the same; for the present, at +any rate." + +His mixture of wisdom and foolishness made her smile at him, as some +mothers might smile at a high-spirited boy, and she watched his +martial figure go swinging down the street, its flamboyance +admissible, admirable, and told herself it was good that he was free +both of herself and Lady Amabel. + + + + + CHAPTER V + + +He sent her a letter from Malta, a very long letter crossed and +recrossed. Evidently time had hung heavy on hand once the wonders of +being on a steamship had passed. "It will revolutionise war," he +wrote, "if we can rely on getting reinforcements regularly. It was +different when we had to count on hurricanes and doldrums." And he had +a quick eye for weak points in the armour. "Here we are after eleven +days' hard steam, and here, so far as any one knows, we are likely to +remain. Nothing seems to have been arranged for a forward movement; +neither has any provision been made for the hunger of fifteen thousand +troops plumped down on a practically desert island. However, they say +a cattle transport is immediately expected from Alexandria, so we +should have enough beef. Meanwhile, the recent order that neither +officers nor men should appear out of uniform gives colour and variety +to the streets of Valetta; notably when they are tramped by Yours +affectionately." + +It was not till late in April that he could send her his impressions +of Gallipoli. + +"Take the dilapidated out-houses of a real old English farmyard, add +to them every seedy, cracked, ricketty, wooden structure to be found +in our slums, with a sprinkling of Thames-side huts, and tumble them +all down higgledy-piggledy on a bare round hill sloping to the sea, +scatter about a few slender white minarets, and you have the town--a +place without shade, without water, without food. We can, of course, +do the Kilkenny cat trick, but is it not astounding, is it not +incredible, that such mistakes should be made? However, an +enterprising entrepreneur from Smyrna (Jew, of course) is transforming +a battered old ruin into a 'Restaurant de l'Armée Auxiliare' as the +legend runs, done with a thumb in lamp-black!" + +Already "considerable difference of opinion" existed as to the choice +of Gallipoli as the headquarters of the army, and the mere watering +"of thirty-five thousand troops" presented difficulty. + +And always and always came the same refrain of chafed patience at +being enmeshed in the mistakes of others. "The stores sent for the +commissariat are beneath contempt. I let out at the quartermaster for +the filthy stuff he was serving out, and he assured me it was the best +he could get. Conningsby of the Hussars tells me half the bales of hay +sent out as forage have centres of wood shavings. Why isn't someone +hanged?" + +Marrion Paul, as she read these two effusions, felt vaguely that the +gilt was wearing off the gingerbread. The man's buoyant hopes were +being dashed by the ineptitude of those above him. It was a pity, for +she knew, none better, that underneath all his boyish lightheartedness +Marmaduke Muir had the knack of making men obey him and follow him. +She pictured him leading his regiment into fight and she could see it, +mastered, dominated, held in hand by that cheerful voice, that merry +face. + +She waited some time for the next bulletin and when it came it was +short. "The devil's own snowstorm greeted our arrival here--Scutari. +I've seldom seen it worse in Aberdeenshire. The north wind blew big +guns, we were unable to disembark, and half of us--including yours +truly--were sea-sick. Doing nothing, even without enough to eat, +doesn't suit Marmaduke Muir. The barracks here are huge; they will +hold eighteen thousand troops, they say. I know one unit of a +thousand--only about seven hundred and fifty I fear now--that would be +right glad to go anywhere else; anywhere where there was something to +be done. Nigh four months since we left Portsmouth, and, for all the +use I've been, I might as well have enjoyed the trout-fishing on the +Don." + +That was the third of the slender envelopes marked "From the British +Army in the East" which reached her. + +The next was sealed with a black seal and was full of pious +reflections upon death; for the news of his elder brother Pitt's +demise had just reached Marmaduke and roused his sense of +responsibilities. "In times like these," he wrote, "one feels the +impotence of man--and woman also," he added, "though you, my dear +Marrion, had a wonderful knack of clarifying the muddles. Andrew does +not darn my stockings half so well as you did." + +But the beauties of Varna got the better of his reflections and he +drew a picture of it that filled Marrion with doubts and delight. "It +is as beautiful as Scotland--the lakes stretching away into the +scarped woody hills, the sea--so calm that the clouds reflected seem +to sail on it--almost motionless on the shore. The green sward down to +the very edge of the lakes, carpeted with flowers, especially with +irises. They call it the flower of death in India, and I noticed an +evening mist, thick enough almost to be called a fog, rising at sunset +from the low levels and enveloping the town. It did not augur well for +health. As for the town itself, words fail. It is Gallipoli over again +with fewer drains and more filth. Yet to look at it in the clear +sunlight, it is the new Jerusalem. And there are angels in it, Marmie; +the sort of angels you love. I really think these little Turks and +Turkesses are the prettiest children I ever saw. Their little yellow +faces and big brown eyes make one think of Rubens' cherubs seen +through smoked glasses like an eclipse! And an eclipse of most things +it is often for the poor little beggars. At Kustendji, the other day, +Hyde Parker found a couple of pure babies on the battlefield where the +Russians had been bombarding. They're the pets of his frigate now; but +there are dozens of them who have no such luck, and dozens more, I +expect, who die of sheer hunger because we locusts of war eat up +everything. There will be ninety thousand of us here before long, and +for how long? God knows! Five months and nothing done! I wonder how +you would stand it? But it wouldn't happen if you were at the head of +affairs. You'd manage somehow. I feel it in my bones. And, joking +apart, women would be very useful out here. We are going to have a lot +of sick to begin with, and then the misery of the poor folk in town +and village is appalling. However, I suppose England must have time to +turn round and yawn before she wakes up to anything." + +Marrion Paul got that letter early one June morning. She laid it down +among the muslins and laces and went to the window. The street was +empty, but she saw, as clearly as if he had really been there, +Marmaduke Muir's buoyant figure going forth to war, full of hope and +confidence. + +She never took long making up her mind; and, absolutely without ties +as she was, there were few factors to be considered. Her business was +such a personal one that she had only herself to consult. She had +money and to spare in the bank. Finally, within her heart was the same +spirit of adventure, the same disregard of conventionalities which had +always attracted her in Marmaduke. + +Last of all his stockings were not adequately mended. + +She laughed aloud at the whimsical thought, for she had no intention +of thrusting herself upon him. But she could be near at hand, and she, +at any rate, need not turn round and yawn before she realised that +women could help. + +So quietly, methodically, she set matters in train to get all the work +she had in hand speedily finished. She wrote declining a few orders +that had come in, and then set off with one of her daintiest little +creations to see the wife of the Turkish ambassador, who happened to +be one of her customers. + +But, indeed, as Mrs. Marsden, of the "_Layettes_," she could command +plenty of backstairs influence. + +The result being that in less than a week she was stepping into the +Dover boat on her way to Marseilles, that being the quickest route to +Constantinople. She carried with her credentials from the ambassador's +family, which she meant to use, if necessary, though she hoped to be +able to do without them, as anything in the nature of publicity might +prevent her carrying out her plan of reaching Varna without Marmaduke +being aware of the fact. As a precaution she wrote to him the day she +left, telling him not to expect further news from her for a few weeks +as she had decided on attempting a cure for her lameness, which a +clever young hospital doctor had advised, but which involved a long +rest. + +She had engaged her passage to Constantinople by a small Turkish +mailboat which sailed between Marseilles and the Black Sea. She did +this partly from desire to avoid her fellow-countrymen and the +possibility of recognition or notice, but more because the voyage +would give her an opportunity of learning a few words of Turkish and +of becoming acquainted at least with the husk of Turkish ways. She had +brought a grammar with her, and was laboriously learning perfectly +useless phrases, when something occurred which sent books to the +right-about and plunged her at once into the work she had hoped almost +beyond hope to be able to reach. Cholera, at that time sweeping +erratically through Europe, broke out among the steerage passengers. A +mother died, leaving her month-old baby to be cared for as best it +could. Marrion claimed it, thus became acquainted with the ship's +surgeon and was his right hand in the sharp, decisive epidemic that +followed. It was one of those shipboard epidemics when every hour +brings a new case, until suddenly, with some change of wind or course, +the sickness ceases as it came, mysteriously. They were off the coast +of Candia when the little Turk doctor, who had passed at a French +medical school, made an elaborate bow, laid his hand on his heart, and +said, "Madame, _je suis votre serviteur_." The few convalescents lying +about in the scuppers murmured the same thing in Turkish, making +Marrion realise that what she had set herself to do was possible, if +only she could get footing amongst the people. She decided finally on +consulting her new friend, the little surgeon. + +"Varna!" he echoed. "So madame desires Varna! That is strange, since, +being in quarantine, we shall not be allowed to stop at +Constantinople. We must go on straight to Varna, where the disease +already is." + +She caught in her breath. + +"Not bad, I hope?" + +"Of the troops I know little," he said, "but the townsfolk have +suffered terribly. It is semi-starvation. Hein!" lie interrupted +himself hastily, and slapped his baggy trousers, "there is an old man +there--a cripple--one of the old school of medicine that knows +nothing. He has a sort of hospital where folk die decently. If I were +to tell him the use you were, and that you had your own stores of +Europe medicines"--for Marrion had spent a considerable sum in fitting +herself out for the part she hoped to play--"he might like your help. +You have plenty of money?" + +His little sharp eyes were alight with interest. + +"I have plenty of money," replied Marrion promptly, "and I mean to +spend it." + +"Then you may consider it settled," said the surgeon. "Old Achmet is a +sort of relation of mine. I come of a physician family; but I warn you +the presence of an English lady in Varna will not pass unnoticed." + +"I shall dress as a Turkish lady," remarked Marrion, with a smile. "I +had thought of that. The _yashmak_ is very convenient." + +The little Turk laughed in high good humour. + +"The dress will become madame. She will have many admirers; but I will +be the first." + +So it was settled lightly, but, as the little steamer puffed and +panted over the blue Archipelago where the blue islands lay scattered +like so many shadows, Marrion Paul felt somehow as if the net of Fate +were closing in on her. There was the scent of Death in the air. + +She felt it almost overwhelmingly when, on the first night of her +arrival at Varna, she stood on the ricketty wooden verandah of the +half-ruined house which had been found for her, looking out over the +long line of inland lakes that in the past month had gained from the +intruders whose white tents showed everywhere the dismal name of "Lake +of Death." A white miasma rose from it, hiding the level green fields +which in the sunset had glowed purple-red with the meadow saffron. +Everything had gone smoothly. The old _hakim_ Achmet had gripped on +the hope of money, and Marrion Paul, who had remained on board the +steamer until all negotiations had been made, had simply stepped into +the dinghy in her Turkish dress and been carried with due privacy to +the house chosen for her. Mercifully, the ship's surgeon--who was +delighted at his importance as entrepreneur--had been impressed by +Marrion's appearance, and, arguing therefrom the length of her purse, +had fixed on a villa which had once belonged to a pasha of some sort. +It stood high among cypresses on the Devna road, but, by a steep +descent, was close to the worse slums of the town. + +So, as Marrion stood, trying to realise her position, it seemed +impossible, unreal that she should be within touch of Marmaduke--if he +were still there--if he were not dead. An indefinable sense of tragedy +impending--tragedy that was not all grief, but which, by very excess +of joy, of glory, of intensity, transcended the normal and so became +almost fearful, seemed to hang round her. She ate the Turkish supper +provided for her by the large fat shrill-voiced woman she found in +charge; she lay down in the Turkish quilt arranged for her on a wooden +bed and tried to leave all questionings for the morrow; but she could +not sleep. The cry of the _muezzin_ from a minaret hard by divided the +night into set portions. She lay and listened to it. + +"_Al-sul-lah to khair un mun nun nu_." + +She knew what it meant--"Prayer is better than sleep." But she seemed +unable to do either the one or the other. + +Mercifully, again, the night was not long. Far away over the sea in +the east the dawn began to break golden. It lit up the scarped hills +above the woody slopes and slowly, like a white curtain, the mists of +the valley lifted, showing the shiny levels of the inland lakes. Below +her, at her feet, beyond the vine pergola set with purpling bunches of +grapes that jutted against the blue distance, lay the town, a packed +mass of red-tiled roofs and shingled outhouses, incoherent, barely +cognisable. There lay her work; not over yonder where, like little +heaps of lime, the white bell-tents outlined every hill. + +Hark, the world was waking! From every side sounded the réveillé, +echoing and re-echoing among the hills. + +How many men had died that night whose ears would never more hear the +call to duty! Was Marmaduke one of them? + +Yes, the shadow of death lay on everything; but at least they were +together in it. + + + + + CHAPTER VI + + +But even that poignant question as to whether Marmaduke lived or did +not live lost its arresting power before what she saw when, guided by +the _hakim_ Achmet, she threaded the maze of lanes and alleys which +still formed the real Varna. The quays, it is true, had been widened +and glorified. Along them gay restaurants and _cafés chantants_ were +to be found, filled with reckless soldiers and still more reckless +courtesans. A wide street had been hacked through tenement houses and +lined with tawdry shops which catered for all and every luxury that +can give a moment's pleasure to idle men. And there were plenty of +them here, waiting, waiting still for that expedition of one hundred +thousand soldiers to the Crimea, of which for months past the English +papers had been full. Outwardly, therefore, so far as a fringe of +welcome and a passage through it to the hills beyond went, Varna was +what folk boasted it had become, a cosmopolitan town; but within, down +by the back wharves and the sodden sea-alleys, round by the crushed-in +closes and stifling courts, it was old, rotten, kept from utter +putrefaction by the hot sun which, while it bred flies, dried up the +muck of many men. The _hakim's_ hospital was in the wide courtyard of +a mosque, one of the few air-holes left to the seething city; and +Marrion Paul never forgot her first sight of the sunlit square set +round with the dead and dying. The stench was unspeakable, and as she +stooped over the first patient she saw that the sheet which covered +him was alive with vermin. Achmet himself, a hunchback with a +high-featured, intolerant face, seemed to think that sitting in the +middle of the courtyard reciting his beads and exhorting the inmates +to have patience and trust in God, was the best treatment he could +offer. Mayhap it was, since half the forms that lay moaning on the +stones were doomed to death. That night, when Marrion returned to her +cypress-set villa, the first thing she did was to cut off her +beautiful hair close to her head, and as she laid the great tresses +away she thought once more of Marmaduke. She must find out about him +when she had time, but that day and the next she had her work cut out +for her. "Maryam Effendi" they had already learnt to call her, and old +Achmet, with a daily stipend of so many piastres, was content to let +her have her way. But there were other places besides the mosque +hospital where some fifty men groaned and died, or groaned and got +better, that were surcharged with misery and death. Hovels where +babies tugged vainly at their dead mother's breasts and old women sat +starving silently. It was among these that after a day or two Maryam +Effendi was busiest. She settled to her work bravely, increasing her +stock of Turkish rapidly and gaining for herself sufficient friends +and aid to enable her to enlarge her sphere of usefulness. One of +these was big fat "Heart's Darling," as her solitary servant was +called, who, transferring domestic duties to an unspeakable drudge she +produced, took up the duties of interpreter on the strength of some +slight knowledge of French. + +And Fate was so far kind to Marrion that she had little trouble in +finding out the news she desired to hear. A sort of local rag in +French and English was published in which, for equivalent of a penny, +she learnt that Marmaduke's regiment was still camped six miles out +among the hills and that he was still in command. From her verandah +she could actually see the very place where he must be. Once, indeed, +as she was hurrying along the quay in the ordinary dress of the +Turkish gad-about woman she caught a sight of Andrew Fraser, tall, +gaunt, serious as usual, looking on distastefully at one of the many +drunken rows that occurred every day. The temptation to go up and +speak to him was great, but she stuck to her plan and passed on. +When she had really done something she would write and tell Marmaduke +she was at hand, but not till then. Possibly, had she seen him instead +of Andrew Fraser she might not have been so firm; for a glance would +have shown her that she could have been of use. In truth, the +inaction, the constant fret of feeling that all initiative is +of no avail, was beginning to tell on Marmaduke Muir. He also +looked down of an evening on the white pall that covered the Lake of +Death, and wondered--without one shadow of fear, but from simple +curiosity--whether the levels of life would meet his eyes again. And +they seemed such low levels now! Yes, he had missed something in his +life! What was it? These, however, were very secret thoughts. To the +little coterie of careless men of which he was the centre, he was, as +ever, the mainspring of everything. Even the divisional commander +sought his sympathy as day after day the orders for the front tarried, +and day after day the regimental chaplain grew busier and busier. For +cholera was rampant in the camps as in the town, and every evening the +"Dead March in Saul" echoed out through the hills and over the purple +crocuses. + +"Nothing will stop it, sir," said the young colonel quietly, "except +orders for Sebastopol. The men are dead sick of waiting and so am I; +that is the truth." + +And still the orders lingered on the way. The waiting army did its +best to pass the time. Marmaduke took to tying flies, and thereinafter +thrashed the hill streams with ill success. And he played cricket with +the men, though it was ill finding a proper pitch on the steep +hill-side where they were encamped; and he had to keep his men from +those low levels as much as he could, being rewarded for his care by +the fact that his battalion suffered less from the scourge than any +other. Though this was not to be wondered at, seeing that it was +commanded by one whose cheery youth and strength seemed to defy Fate. + +"The Cornel's face is mair tae the purpose nor your pills, doctor," +said a young recruit fighting his best for life. "I'll just tak a sup +o' it, if ye please, and leave tither alane for fowk as likes them." + +Yet that same face often showed a touch of weariness in it when, after +his wont, Marmaduke would climb the hill behind his hut in order to +smoke his solitary after-breakfast cigar at the foot of a scarp whence +the most astounding view of God's world was to be had. Hills and still +more hills. Seas and still more seas; lakes and still more lakes. +Flowers and still more flowers. + +"It is the inaction, Mac," he said to his old friend of the regimental +club one day after mess dinner. They had been perforce laughing at the +plight of a braw Hielandman who had been brought up to orderly-rooms +that day from the general guard, clad in Zouave trousers and jacket, +kepi and all complete; only the chequered hose of his own uniform +remaining to betray the drunken bout on which he had been engaged. + +"I noo 'im by 'is legs, sir," said the sergeant solemnly, "so I +brought 'im along." + +"Ton my soul, I can't help sympathising with the poor beggars," he +went on. "Why the devil can't they give the men something to do +besides getting drunk? Here is the tenth of August and, so far as I +can see, I might be off grouse-shooting on the twelfth. Good Lord, +what wouldn't I give to be on Braemore with my dogs! They're the +best----" + +And he began, in true sportsman style, over the virtues of his +setters; whereat others joined in with tales of their own. So, +heartened up, they all repaired to Marmaduke's favourite vantage +ground to finish their cigars. + +It was a perfect evening. The day had been hot, but with the sun +setting a little cool sea-breeze had sprung up which seemed to freshen +even the very flowers that had flagged with the sun's heat. They sat, +growing more and more silent as the day died down; and, indeed, what +lay before their eyes was sufficient to make most men hold their +peace; for it was beautiful exceedingly. The far Euxine fading grey +into a pearl-grey sky. Overhead and behind them the rose-pink pennons +of the departing sun floating on the unfathomable clearness of space. +Within the bay great ships of war showed, half-hidden in the evening +haze which turned the squalid city into dreamland. + +Close at hand lay innumerable little hills and ravines thrown in sharp +shade and shine that trended away on all sides to the long line of +lakes over whose purpling levels a fine veil of vapour was rising +softly, swiftly. + +Truly a dream-picture, unreal in its absolute beauty, its perfect +peace. + +"That's the _Agamemnon_, I expect," said one pointing with his cigar +to a big vessel that, rounding the promontory to the south, began to +cross the bay, leaving a great trail of smoke behind her. "I wonder if +she is coming in?" + +"Looks like it," said another, "only they weren't sure. Anyhow, we've +company to-night. Look down there by the second wharf. There's another +trail--some steamer is making fast!" + +All eyes turned to where a thin column of smoke showed, rising high +then drifting westwards over the town. + +"Burning bad coal whatever," assented Mac. "Why, it's getting bigger!" + +Marmaduke, watching intently, suddenly started up. + +"By George, it is odd! I believe--by heavens, gentlemen, it is a +fire!" + +They all followed his example. And now there could be no doubt. With +amazing rapidity the cloud darkened, deepened, then in the departing +daylight showed dusky red. And there--flashing up suddenly came a +great fork of flame. Marmaduke looked round on the others. + +"The town is tinder," he said briefly, "and the magazines---- We had +best be off!" + +There was no need for more. In truth there was danger. The wind blew +westwards. There were no fire-engines, so every man might be wanted. + +And now the sound of fire alarms on the men-of-war echoed out +stridently, and boatload after boatload of blue-jackets, armed with +pumps and pipes, shot from every ship. Almost before Marmaduke was on +his horse, after ordering fatigue parties to come on at the double, +streams of water were pouring on the burning houses. To no purpose. +The fire had originated in a wine and oil shop and both burnt +fiercely. By the time he reached the town but one word was on the lips +of every responsible officer--"The magazines!" They were full up. On +them depended the possibility of the attack on Sebastopol; on them +therefore hung the fortunes of war. They stood still far from the +blazing town, but it burnt like the matchwood it was, and between them +and it lay, as it were, nothing but fresh tinder ready to take fire at +a spark. + +"Those houses should come down, sir," suggested Marmaduke to a +general, and almost before assent answered him, had sprung to organise +the work. But ramshackle, tumbledown though the wooden piers and +pilasters seemed, they were curiously strong, needing time for +destruction. Hawsers were brought ashore to facilitate the job and +parties told off to each house. Three hundred soldiers--mostly +French--lay to manfully on one of the ropes, pulling for all they were +worth, when just as the house they were tackling began to totter a +loud explosion came from within. And, lo! the only two men left on +that rope were Marmaduke and a young French officer who clicked his +heels together and stood to the salute with a merry "_Mes compliments, +mon Colonel!_" + +"_À vous, Monsieur le Capitaine!_" returned Marmaduke laughing, as he +rallied the men. + +"It's not the magazines, boys!" he called. "We've to save that yet. +Yo-ho--heave ahoy!" + +They set to again with a will; but the flames gained ground every +instant and the densely dark cloud of smoke drifting over the +magazines showed alive with ominous shoals of sparks. + +"Mac!" shouted Marmaduke, as he worked like a demon, when his major +came hurrying past with another fatigue party. "Get hold of someone +and suggest the commissariat blankets; there are bales and bales of +them somewhere. Put them on the magazine roofs, soak 'em with water. +Tell the blue-jackets----" + +"All right, sir!" shouted back the major. + +And thereon came blankets, bales on bales of them, and blue-jackets +swarming up and over everything, and jets of water turned from their +useless work on houses that would burn, to keep those blankets sodden. + +The din was deafening. The inhabitants, swept out of their houses, +stood huddled in the streets and kept up a constant wail. The bugle +calls rang out here, there, and everywhere, and above the roar and +crackle could be heard voices in urgent exhortation--"All together, +men! The blue-jackets are laughing at you!" "Heave away, I say, boys, +show the land-lubbers how to do it!" Or shriller, more passionate--"_A +moi, mes enfants! Les Anglais nous regardent!_" + +Once there came a sudden pause. The red flare of the conflagration +changed to brilliant blue. + +"_Milles tonnerres!_" cried the French soldiers sadly, as they +recommenced work. "_Ahé, le bon eau-de-vie!_" Their commissariat +canteen store had gone. + +So through the long night they worked, fighting the flames with their +hands for the most part. Fatigue party after fatigue party poured into +the town and one strong man after another lay down exhausted on the +quays and begged someone to cool him with water. + +It was just as a faint lightening over the sea in the east showed dawn +was nigh that Marmaduke, wiping the sweat from his blackened forehead, +said-- + +"I think that's done with. The magazines are safe now!" + +"Yes," said a man near him, "up here it's almost over. But they've got +it still down there, by the dock wharves, poor devils!" + +Marmaduke, whose every thought and look had hitherto been for the +magazines, turned to the lower part of the town. + +"By Jove, they have!" he cried. "Here, men, follow me!" + +"Let me go, sir," put in a subaltern. "You must be done--and they +should all be out of their houses by now." + +He might as well have saved his breath. Marmaduke, careless of +fatigue, was racing to danger again. And here it was greater. The two +or three story ramshackle houses almost closed in upon each other, and +in one burnt-out street he had to pass through, a charred beam almost +finished him. But he raced on; and here there was evidence that the +fire had been faced with some method. Houses had been pulled down, the +inhabitants ordered to certain open spaces, and as he neared the spot +where the tenements almost overhung the water's edge, a double line of +men were passing buckets. There were only two houses left in the +street; one was in flames, the other, overhanging the water, must soon +go. Seeing the hopelessness of saving it, or indeed the use, since +evidently those were the occupants who, with shrill cries and excited +gestures, were watching the destruction of their property, he was +about to seek work elsewhere when a big fat woman almost overset him +in her eagerness to find his feet. To these she clung, shrieking at +the top of her voice-- + +"Maryam Effendi! Maryam Effendi! _Elle est là, elle est là! Sauvez +le--Sauvez le_----" + +He would have been at a loss even to grasp the last words had not a +figure shown at that moment on the roof of the burning house. It was +the figure of a tall woman in white and the flare of the flames showed +that she carried a baby in her arms. + +"My God!" he muttered under his breath, for there seemed no +possibility of escape. + +"Maryam Effendi! Maryam Effendi!" wailed the crowd, adding in mixed +French and Turkish--"She has the child! Ah, the brave woman! She has +the child!" + +Aye, she had it, and she meant to hold it, too! A brave woman indeed! +Pausing for a second in her perilous effort to pass from one roof to +the other, she pulled off her veil, wrapped it round the child, and +knotted it high above her shoulders. Then, hands and knees, set +herself to her task. But the flames were almost too quick for her. And +forked tongues licked at her feet; the next instant she was beyond +them and, straightening herself, walked rapidly over a level strip. +And now from below, where even Marmaduke stood arrested, helpless, +watching another's fight for life, came a soft wail of horror. The +last house had caught fire from below, the flames were surging +upwards, the thin shingle roof might be gone any moment. + +"Jump, for God's sake, jump!" cried Marmaduke, his voice vibrant with +awful dread. "Jump, we'll catch you, somehow!" + +Even as he spoke he felt the uselessness of his appeal to one who +could not understand. + +"Tell her to jump--we'll catch her!" he added dully, knowing there was +no time, for already ominous crackings rose from the flames that +mounted higher and higher. + +But that familiar voice had reached the ears of the woman clinging her +way for dear life, and tightened her hold upon the ridge-pole that was +her only hope. No, she would not die yet! She would not die with that +voice in her ears! + +A faint shudder came from the crowd below as, with a crash, the roof +fell in. A fainter moan of relief followed, as the woman with her pack +still showed standing on the crossway beam of a balcony that overhung +the water. A great tongue of flame shot out at her, but at the instant +she raised her joined hands above her head and dived--a flash of white +lit up by the red flare--into deep water. + +"By heaven, what pluck!" muttered Marmaduke as, without a second's +delay, he plunged from the wharf and swam, with quick overhand +strokes, to where the woman had disappeared. He was just preparing to +dive after her when she came up close beside him. + +One look was sufficient. + +"Marmie!" he cried. "God in heaven, am I dreaming? Marmie!" + +"Yes--yes," she gasped impatiently, for owing to the weight she +carried her dive had been prolonged. "The child's head--see that it is +out of water!" + +In a second he was cool, self-reliant. + +"Your hands on my shoulders, please. That will raise you--I must swim +round--the burning wood." + +In truth every instant a fierce hiss, a cloud of steam close to them +showed where some blazing fragment had fallen to be extinguished. + +"Are you all right?" he called over his shoulder, as with powerful +strokes he made for a further wharf. + +"All right; but please be quick--the child----" + +How like Marmie--always the child--the child. He swam on, feeling +bewildered but, he knew not why, desperately happy. + +"I don't understand," he began, when at last they stood dripping side +by side, and the baby, being unloosed from its wrappings, was found to +be none the worse. + +"I will tell you directly," she said. "I must just give the child back +to its mother; it is quite a tiny thing. Then you can walk up to my +house over yonder and get your clothes dried." + +But the stifling air of the streets soon scorched up the moisture, and +Marmaduke protested against anything but a cup of hot coffee--which +fat "Heart's Delight" bustled away to prepare--while those two stood +and talked on the verandah. Below them lay the town, still smoking; +still--as a puff of dawn wind blew the embers to redness--sending out +a shower of sparks, or even a forked tongue of flame. The smell of +burning filled their nostrils, the memory of a great escape filled +their minds. And beyond that, under and deeper than that, stretched +the atmosphere of death and disease, of constant danger, in which they +had both been living for so long. It is an atmosphere which invariably +brings with it, to the wholesome mind and body, a feeling of revolt +against such limitations, a distaste of all things that pertain to +decay: a keen appetite for those that belong to life. + +And the dawn-light grew as they stood talking. She had bidden him +begone, had urged as a reason that he must remember his health. +Cholera might be bad on the hills, but it was deadly in the city. And +he had laughed back that caution was a bit late to a man who had seen +six strong men die that very morning. The poor devils seemed to like +his being there. Now he---- + +"I should only want _you_, Marmie," he said. And she had looked at him +in sudden wonder. + +"I must go now if I'm to be in time for parade," he admitted at last. +"Good-night--no, good-morrow, my heart's delight!" + +For an instant she held he was joking with the fat coffee-bringer's +name; then she gave a quick tremulous cry-- + +"Duke! what--what do you mean?" + +He laughed a little low, happy laugh, sank on his knees beside her, +and clasped her tight in his arms. + +"Only that I love you--only that I've found you--no, I've found myself +for ever and ever and ever!" + +He buried his face in the loose folds of her dress and so they +remained for a second. Then she slipped through his hold to her knees +also, and they knelt looking into each other's eyes. + +The sun rising slowly, majestically, out of the sea shone upon their +shining faces. Vaguely, as in a glass, darkly the twain had passed to +one; they were nearer the Great Unity. + +"Duke," whispered Marmie, with a faint shiver, "I think I'm afraid!" + +"And I," he said joyously, finding her lips, "feel as if I never could +be afraid again--never--never--never!" + + + + + CHAPTER VII + + +"Duke," she said, for at least the twentieth time, "I keep wondering +how it came about." + +He spent all his spare time now--it was not much--in the vine pergola, +and he was picking out the ripe grapes from a bunch as he answered +her. + +"I don't. I had been thinking about you a lot; and then I was +tired--really done!" + +"What an excuse for falling in love," she protested half-vexedly; "but +I should like to know." + +He came over to her and put his arm round her waist. + +"How can I tell, sweetest? I had been thinking, as I said, a lot about +you--and missing a lot--stockings, and all that"--his smile was charm +itself; "then, when I saw your dear old head bob up all shaven and +shorn!" he kissed it deliberately, and she laughed. + +"For all that," she persisted, "I should like to understand." + +"My dearest dear," he replied, "you are such a beggar for wanting to +know and understand. Now I, my dear Marmie--I'm too happy to want to +know anything! I'm content with what I have--and you are content, too, +you know you are!" + +There was no denying the fact. Content, indeed, was no word for the +feeling that you were rapt away from the very possibility of care. +There, in the very shadow of the grave, overlooking the Lake of Death, +those two lovers found their joy enhanced by the uncertainty of life. + +"I was chief mourner at six funerals this morning," Marmaduke would +say sadly. "As fine fellows as ever stepped. Sometimes I wonder, +darlingest, if I ought to come to you----" + +"You can bring no more harm to me than I am in already," she would +reply. "I am in the thick of it here. Indeed, I was wondering if I +ought to let you come." + +"Let me!" he would echo derisively. "As if you could stop me." + +And in truth there was no gainsaying him, for Marmaduke, easy-going as +a friend, was an imperious lover. + +After he left her in the dawnings Marrion would take out the pocket +Shakespeare she had brought with her and, sitting out under the +purpling vines, read how the immortal lovers parted. + +"I am content so thou wouldst have it so." + +She had never before realised that so lay the very essence of love. No +plannings, no cuttings, no contrivings. All things simplified, +clarified. + +It was a wonderful fortnight. The fire, after a brief recrudescence, +died down, leaving the slums of the city in ruins, but purified. So +cholera, most mysterious of diseases, abated, disappeared from the +town; and even in the camps, exposed to the miasma of the Lake of +Death, was shorn of half its terrors. And there was a stir as of +coming life in the military backwaters. Marmaduke, his face alight, +would say that the one thing needful to perfect happiness must be +close at hand; for that was the curious thing about finding yourself +in love--you wanted to be up and doing all the time. + +And so one day when, instead of Marmaduke, Andrew Fraser--long since +let into the secret of Maryam Effendi--appeared with a note, Marrion +tried to echo Romeo's words without any reservations, and to be +content if he would have it so. For the note ran as follows: + + +"HEART'S DELIGHT, + +"The news has come! We are off to the Crimea. I feel that for the +first time in my life I am going to have my chance--or, rather, we are +going to have our chance, for I shall take you with me, never fear. I +wish, dear, your real body were, small enough to go into my knapsack, +but the heart that beats under this uniform coat is large enough to +hold your love. I must be very busy, but I will find time in a day or +two for perfect happiness. + + "Yours ever, + + "MARMADUKE. + +"P.S.--I must get you to box my ears before I go. It will keep me +straight and make me what England expects.--M. M. + +"P.P.S.--Andrew says he is taking my stockings for you to mend. +Forgive us poor men bodies.--M." + + +So she sat darning the stockings and trying to prevent a sinking at +the heart. + +From her verandah she could see the bustle and stir in the camp. The +next day one of the meadow stretches lay bare of tents. So the work of +embarkation must be close at hand. Aye, the bay was thronged with +transports! There was a sound of drums and fifes in the air. What room +for love and peace when war and strife were afoot? But any moment now +might bring Marmaduke, and that was enough for the present. + +It was on the fourth day, when she was beginning to wonder if possibly +he had not found time, that an orderly appeared with a note. It was +not from Duke; it was from Andrew. + + +"DEAR MADAM, + +"Please come. I have sent the Colonel's charger. He will carry a lady. +He is very ill." + + +She turned soul-sick as she read. + +"Is he--is the Colonel very ill?" she asked. + +"Verra ill indeed, m'm. It's the co-lira, and they're sayin' he's like +to dee--God forbid it!" + +"Like to die!" + +Well, it was best to know the truth. She put on her European dress and +started, remembering as she rode through the flower-set meadows how +they had planned this visit to his hut. How she should spend the day +there and be introduced to his friends. For though they never spoke of +the future or the past, living only in the present heaven, Marmaduke +had evidently never considered the possibility of separation and she +had been content to let such possibilities slide. + +And now? She bit her lip to keep it from quivering as Andrew met her. + +"He's lying in the arbour, m'm. And he's no worse, anyway." + +Yes, there he was, lying--such a long length--on his camp-bed covered +with his plaid. Lying under the arbour of Jonah's gourd, about which +he had chattered so gaily as being a laughing-stock to the other +officers, though they dearly loved to sit in its shade. The ripe fruit +hung scarlet amid the yellowing leaves. It seemed to throw the blue +pallor of his face into louder warning that Death was in grips with +Life. + +She knelt beside the bed and took his hand without one word. She had +seen too many cholera cases to hope for speech, but the eyelids +quivered and the fingers closed on hers. + +"How long?" she asked. + +"Since yesterday morning. He would not give in--we were to move +to-night, ye see----" + +"Why didn't you----?" Words failed her for reproach. + +"He wouldna let me send. I'm thinking he was afraid for ye." + +There was a long pause. Her heart was full of regret, of bitterness. +Afraid for her--oh, Duke, Duke! + +"And he has everything?" + +"Aye, everything! The doctor will be here again the now." + +He came and found his patient better. He opened his eyes and smiled. +Collapse had gone, the following fever had laid hold on him. Would his +heart stand it? All that day he lay in something like sleep--quiet, so +long as his hand could find that other hand. Once or twice she caught +a whispered word of command and once, urgent, came a call for +reinforcements. His mind was at battle--far, far from her. About an +hour before sunset he turned his head and looked at her. + +"I've done it," he said faintly; "I've done it!" + +The doctor came in many a time and oft. The orderlies were always +doing something; but her part was to hold his hand until the last. She +saw it coming clearly; she knew that it must be so. + +Someone in the arbour suggested a clergyman, and they sent to fetch +one. + +"He will be too late," half-whispered a voice. + +Was it hers? Too late! As if it mattered? As if He who made---- + +Hark! A bird singing. It had come in after the fruit--perhaps he had +fed it, for he loved God's creatures--and now not five yards from +where he lay it was giving its heart out in full-throated song. + +Hush! Listen! Listen!--it seemed to say. + +The still figure was growing more still. + +The slow breathing grew slower. + +The touch of these cold fingers on hers grew colder. + +Then their feeble clasp had gone, but the bird sang on. + +She rose unsteadily, drew the plaid over his face, and left the tent. +She did not seem to realise the presence of others. + +Andrew ran after her. + +"Marrion, Marrion, whaur are ye gaun? Ye poor, poor thing!" he +whispered hoarsely in the extremity of his bewildered grief. "Bide a +wee, and I'll see ye haim." + +"I am going to walk home," she said dully. "It will do me good. I +must--I must do something--and I must be alone." + +So she walked over the meadows, crushing the drifts of purple +colchicum under her feet. What had he called the flower of death? Ah, +the iris! That would come in the spring. It would flower on his grave +perhaps. And all the time she felt his cold hand on hers, she heard +the bird's full song. How he would have loved to hear it! Perhaps he +had. + +It was dark ere she reached the vine pergola where they had been so +happy, and she started when a tall officer in Highland costume came +towards her. Was it all a bad dream? Was she waking to find him still +her own? But he was only the bearer of a kindly message from the +regiment to say that the colonel was to be buried at dawn, and that if +Mrs. Marsden---- + +"Who told you I was Mrs. Marsden?" she asked sharply. "Andrew Fraser?" + +The officer bowed and went on. + +"As one of the colonel's oldest friends, would care----" + +She shook her head. She was grateful. It was a kind thought. But +Colonel Muir was Colonel Muir and everybody loved him--he would have +enough friends. + +"Madam," said the young officer, with a break in his voice, "when we +lower him into his solitary grave--he is to be buried on the hill +above his tent where he sat so often--we shall all know that the +finest fellow in the regiment, nay, in the whole army, has gone from +us." + +She lay that night, her face crushed into the pillow without a sob. +Only once or twice she whispered to herself. + +"Ah, Duke, Duke, I'm glad I made you happy--so glad--so glad!" + +She was up betimes to take her stand on a neighbouring hill, where, +unobserved, she could watch him laid to his rest. Not a tent was to be +seen; the battalion had shifted quarters during the night; the forward +march to which he had looked with such longing had begun, and he---- + +Close by the belt of forest trees she could see his dismantled hut; a +heap of packed baggage piled close by with a sentry on guard beside +it. But the arbour hid what it held. So, as the sun rose, the leaden +beat of the Dead March rose, as the regiment, followed by detachments +from all and every regiment in Varna, drew up in a lane to let the +artillery with a gun-carriage draped with the colours pass up. + +Just his coat, his plaid, his sword, his bonnet, that was all. And +after him his grey Arab--the one she had ridden--fully dressed. That +was Andrew on the one side, and the other three? Generals, she +supposed, by their uniforms. + +What a crowd of officers! And the men, marching so slowly to the +muffled beat! Would they never reach the grave? + +At last. Now there were some words of command--heard vaguely as +inarticulate cries--the long procession formed up, massed itself into +a hollow square. + +They must be reading the service now. + +"Being dead yet liveth--yet liveth--yet liveth----" + +She held fast to that, as her eyes travelled where his had so often +rested in content--thank God for that--in sheer content. + +So, as she looked at the wide expanse of hill and valley, lake and +sea, those half-heard words of his came back to memory--"I've done +it--I have done it!" + +What had he done? + +The sharp rattle of musketry roused her. Again, again! The Last Post +had been set. The last honour paid. + +A minute's pause. Then the bands struck up their regimental marches, +orders followed sharp and incisive. So with a swing the men stepped +out, only a little knot of officers remaining to see the grave filled +in. She must wait till they had gone. Shifting her position to one of +greater ease, she rested her aching head upon a tussock of sweet thyme +that was shaded by a rugged scarp of rock. + +And so, wearied out with her sleepless night, with utter despair and +misery she dozed off, sinking deeper and deeper into slumber, all +grief forgotten, peaceful as a child. The long hours passed, yet still +she slept. + +When she awoke it was almost sun-setting. Over the far sea, shadowy +outlines and still more shadowy trails of smoke told that the argosy +of an army had started for the Crimea. Not a tent was to be seen. They +had folded their white wings and gone. Already the populace had +cleared away all that had been left behind. The hill-sides showed bare +without a trace of humanity. His very hut had disappeared, the arbour +was broken down, its scarlet fruits rifled. Only on the mossy plateau +below the scarp at her feet lay a heap of stones. + +Her heart gave a great throb. She had not thought of that, but a cairn +was meet and fitting. And how many men of his regiment had gone there, +even amid their busy-ness, to throw one stone for the sake of their +love and respect! + +She must throw one, too; at least, she could do that! + +Her composure was almost terrible. She picked up a little moss-grown +quartz pebble, and, going down, laid it where she judged those folded +hands of his must rest. + +"That's my heart, Duke!" she said. "It's cold--cold as a stone." + +Steps behind her made her turn. It was Andrew Fraser, his lean face +all blistered with the tears he had shed. + +"My puir lammie!" he said. "I thocht I might find you here when you +werna at the hoose, and the woman was wae to know what had become o' +you." + +The very warmth of his sympathy roused antagonism. + +"I was just going back. Do you want me?" + +He looked at her almost pitifully. + +"It'll be no comfort tae you to ken that I'm as fu o' grief as you, +Marrion. But I had tae see ye before we left. I got leave till the +last. Oh, my lassie, is there naethin' I can do for you?" + +She shook her head. + +"Nothing, Andrew, except hold your tongue. The past is gone for ever!" + +And as she walked down the hill with him her clasped hands bit into +each other with bitter strength. Was it for this she had planned and +protected? But, thank God, she had made him happy at the last! + + + + + CHAPTER VIII + + +In after years the next four days appeared to Marrion as a blank. She +went on with her work, she shed no tears except when she was asleep. +She did not even think. In the late evenings, when work was over, she +would ride or drive to where the Highlanders' camp had stood and sit +silent for an hour or two on the cairn about Marmaduke's grave, doing +nothing. She brought no flowers, the sight of his grave gave her no +more poignant grief. Indeed, often as she looked out eastwards over +the sea, with all the glorious trending of sunlit, sun-shadowed hills +and dales towards it, she would feel calmly that he would have admired +it as much as she did. + +Yet underneath all her calm lurked a regret that grew with the days. + +He had been left behind, and he had been so eager to go. Even those +last words of his--"I have done it"--were poor comfort. + +So, confusedly, out of this regret and the memory of those other words +of his--"I have found you, or rather I have found myself, for ever and +ever and ever"--arose the idea of getting to the Crimea herself, if +she could. She could at least follow the fortunes of the regiment of +which he had been so fond, so proud. Besides, home had no call for +her. She had no ties there and the prospect of a long life without +them was appalling. Far better to die out here as he had died. But the +interest of Varna had passed. The tragedy of the fire had ousted the +tragedy of disease and starvation. The cholera had ceased, the city +was almost depopulated, so the problem of many mouths and no food had +disappeared. + +Once the idea of following the regiment presented itself to her it +became an obsession. She made up her mind that if it could be +compassed she would do what she could for its brave men; then if death +did not intervene--which she hoped it might--she could come back to +where Duke lay and tell him she had carried him in her heart all the +way. So she set to work to think out the means. Her shaven and shorn +head--as he had called it--might facilitate matters; for she might +pose as a youth of one of the many uncouth peoples gathered round by +greed of gain. Varna was a polyglot place, and she knew enough Turkish +now to render English unnecessary. + +While still nebulous, however, her plans were suddenly settled for her +by the arrival in port of the very Turkish mail steamer in which she +had sailed from Marseilles. The little doctor naturally enough called +on his _protégée_, full of the fine reports he had heard of her from +old Achmet. The ship had been requisitioned and he was on his way to +Eupatoria with medical stores for the Turkish contingent, which +expected to land there. The opportunity seemed too good to be lost. +She begged him to arrange for her to go so far, pointing out that she +had proved her capacity for usefulness. After a few demurs he +consented. She left everything standing in Varna and three days +afterwards found herself surveying the beach at Kalamita Bay, a few +miles south of Eupatoria, which had been taken the night before by the +expedition without the exchange of a shot. It was a shingly beach or +bar but a few feet wide, behind which lay a long, narrow, sedge-set +lake of salt water. From this rose, with deafening clamour, thousands +upon thousands of wild fowl alarmed by the unaccustomed presence of +man, their wailing cries almost drowning the long surge of the sea +upon the shingly beach and the oaths and confusion inseparable from +the disembarkation of so many troops. Beyond this salt lake rose a +high bank of red clay serrated by many small ravines, while over this +again the wide plain, dotted with cattle, corn-ricks, and farmhouses, +showed a land where supplies should be plentiful. In the far distance +could be seen, dimly blue, the hills behind Sebastopol, which lay some +seven and twenty miles to the south. In deference to the little +doctor's recommendation she remained on board and was thus free to +watch the humour and difficulties of the disembarkation. Both were +numerous. The heavy surf made the passage of boats to the shore +dangerous, but the blue-jackets were over the sides almost before they +could foot bottom, and, aided by those landed before--who, naked as +the day they were born, rushed into the sea to help--generally +succeeded in beaching their cargo high and dry. To little purpose, so +far as the men were concerned, since it was "off uniform" in a second, +and into the water to help the next arrivals. Luckily the day was +sultry and warm. The landing of the cavalry horses presented the +greatest difficulty, for even after confinement on shipboard the dry +shingle was not sufficient bait to induce them to walk the plank +alone; so that they had to be ridden, and as three out of six went +souse into the sea it was provocative of much merriment--for even in +those days the British soldier was light-hearted. The men, therefore, +wrung their wet clothes out cheerfully, and the horses dried +themselves by rolling in the patches of sun-baked sand, for the day +was glorious. Yet the discomfort was hard, the work harder; but, +despite it all, Thomas Atkins found time to nickname the Crim-Tartar +population who came down, curious but friendly, to view the scene, by +the strangely inappropriate and colourless appellation of "Joey," one +which nevertheless stuck firm all through the Crimean War. + +So the day passed; but the afternoon promised a storm, and Marrion was +anxious to get on shore and make arrangements, if she could, for +stopping there. As she was watching she saw a gig going ashore to the +Old Fort with a woman in it--a woman who was received with plaudits by +the whole army. At the time she could not conceive who it could be, +though she afterwards found out it was the Countess of Erroll. The +incident, however, gave her courage; she persuaded the little doctor +to allow her to land, and, accompanied by him and in her Turkish +dress, she found a night's lodging in one of the nearest farm-houses. +Nor had she to pay for it overmuch, for the Crim-Tartarians were +kindly, honest folk ready to welcome brothers and sisters of Islam. +Indeed, they looked upon the new-comers as a possible deliverance from +Russian rule. It was lucky this was so, thought Marrion, as with the +sinking of day a violent storm of wind and rain swept the beach, +drenching the fifty thousand men who were without tents. They dug +holes for themselves in the shingle, spread their greatcoats atop, and +joked away discomfort even though death stalked among them and the +terrible scourge, cholera, they hoped they had left behind them, +claimed not a few victims before morning. + +They were cheerful as ever, nevertheless, next day while the work of +disembarkation went on. Marrion watched it from afar, finding a Varna +friend or two in the Turkish contingent, but sheering off from the +regiment for fear of recognition--especially by Andrew Fraser. She was +not ready for that yet. So three days passed and it was not till the +nineteenth that the army of some fifty thousand men moved on towards +Sebastopol. About a third of the way thither the enemy was said to be +strongly entrenched on the banks of the Alma river. Why he had not +attacked during the confusion of disembarkation was a subject of much +comment, and all agreed it must be because the position they held on +the river was supposed to be impregnable. Why, therefore, leave it? + +"We shall see," said Lord Raglan succinctly. + +He was an old man, as indeed were almost all the leaders in the +Crimean War, but he was full of the fire of youth. + +The march was a gay one despite the fact that it was over stony barren +steppes; but the hares that started up so often seemed made to be +chivied, when, confused, they got between the men's legs, and many a +warrior strung one secretly under his knapsack against a savoury +supper. And songs were sung, the "Tipperary" of the time, and jokes +made with "Joey" who, all along the line, came out affably, ready to +trade. + +But the sight of the red Alma cliffs that had to be stormed on the +morrow sobered some, and Marrion, from another farmhouse where she had +obtained shelter, watched the evening sun redden them still more, and +thought of the blood that would be shed on them tomorrow with sick +loathing. + +It was grey dawn when she rose, slipped on a youth's dress she had +brought with her, and, packing a few necessaries in a small bundle, +waited for the réveillé. But none came. On that fateful morning of the +20th September, 1854, the whole force of twenty thousand British +bayonets and sabres assembled in silence. For a watchful enemy awaited +them beyond the sluggish tortuous river that wound its way to the sea +amid sparse vineyards. Far away to the right the horizon of open sea +showed a massing of grey hulks and twinkling lights. That was the +Fleet ready to aid as it could. Further afield, beyond the debouching +of the cliffs, seven thousand Turkish troops prevented a flank attack. +Then came the French twenty thousand face to face with the most +formidable part of the cliff nearest the sea. After that the British. +Marrion, through her spy-glass, could see the Highlanders standing, +their faces set and determined. This was to be their first brush with +the enemy, and many of them had waited for it so long. Eight months +since Duke had brought her news of battle in the little London house! +And now he lay in his solitary grave while his men fought. + +Still silence. It was past nine o'clock now, and the troops stood +motionless as if on parade. Here and there, in low scrub on the +opposite bank, an enemy's battery showed, ready no doubt for instant +action on the firing of the first shot. And, every now and then, +bayonet-points and the heads of men seen for a second or two against +the sky-line, told of infantry ready to receive attack. But there were +no skirmishers, no attempt to force on strife. + +"No possible advance there," said the Chief of the Staff at the war +council that was being held in the open, as he pointed on the map to +the cliffs facing the sea. "I wish there were, for, so far as I can +see, Menschikoff has left it unguarded." + +A Colonel of the Zouaves looked critically at the contours, then +turned to the Marquis St. Arnaud-- + +"My children are good climbers, sir; may we not try?" + +"They shall," replied the French Commander-in-Chief. So the attack was +ordered. On the extreme right, the French were to throw out +skirmishers, tackle the cliff, charge over the first narrow plateau, +and so, up the next bank, reach the plain above. Then, when the attack +in flank had really commenced, the British would deliver a frontal +one. + +As he rode back to his own lines the Marquis St. Arnaud paused to +take the British salute with the words, "I hope you will fight well +to-day." To which came rapid reply in a voice from the 56th +Regiment--"Don't you know we will?" + +Whereat in long rolling reverberations from company to company, from +battalion to battalion, rose a deafening cheer. It was the first sound +of the battle of the Alma. + +And hark! A disconnected rattle of rifle shots! The skirmishers are +out among the rocks; and now, like goats up invisible paths, their +full red pantaloons redder than the red clay, the Zouaves show in +single file--here, there, everywhere like streamlets of blood. +Incredible pluck! Astounding agility! But they are up. The first +vantage ground is gained; they pause to collect the skirmishers and +sound the _pas de charge_--that muffled pulse beat that, throbbing +destruction, grows louder and louder and louder, drowning all but +sheer lust of blood. + +On they go, only to receive the fire from a Russian battery posted +above. + +So the advance goes on, but it goes slower. That salvo on the Zouaves +opened the ball, and now, trundling among the ranks of the British, +come round shot and shrapnel, dealing death and disablement. + +The _pas de charge_ continues, but it is perforce slow. "Pass the +order to lie down," says Lord Raglan; and, obedient, though straining +at the leash, the British troops lie down while the enemy's shot fall +among them still dealing death and disablement at every round. + +"How goes the French attack?" he queries hastily, as an aide-de-camp +dashes up at 1.50 p.m. + +"They are across and up, sir, but not sufficiently established to +warrant our starting." + +Lord Raglan fumes. His blood was up, his men were being shot at +without reply. + +"Give the order for general advance," he said, staking all, rashly +enough, on the hazard of brave troops; but if he staked rashly he +staked wisely. The serried masses of men rose with ringing cheers, +dashing on through a belt of fire from the opposite heights, +floundered somehow through the river, and paused for a second to take +breath in the vineyards below the steeps. But formation had been lost. +It was sheer onslaught. At the head of the advance rode Lord Raglan +himself, regardless of the gaps in his Staff. Sir George Brown, +leading the Light Division, goes down in a cloud of dust before a +Russian battery. "Go on, 23rd," he shouts; "I'm all right, but be sure +I'll remember this day, boys!" + +Further to the left Colin Campbell in front of the Highlanders calls +back to them: "Keep yere fingers frae the triggers, men, till ye're +within a yaird o' them." And they did. Colin Campbell's horse is down +under him, but he is up again charging a battery on foot and calling +to the Guards who came up in support, "We want nane but Hie'land +bonnets here." But the Guards were firm. Steady, in even line, without +a waver in the black bearskins, they came on resistless, making one +man in the Light Division mutter under his breath, "D---- them, +wasting time in dressing up as if they were on a parade ground!" For +all that they had stormed the right end of the most powerful battery +almost before the Highlanders had got in on the left. A few minutes +later the 1st and 2nd divisions crowned the crest. The French, finding +their objective, turned their own guns upon the flying enemy. There +were a few faint struggles by the infantry, a few more rounds of +artillery, and the Russians were in full flight, leaving over four +thousand dead and wounded on the battlefield. So Alma's heights were +won, but at a cost which saddened the victory; for out of a total of +fourteen thousand British troops employed, one thousand four hundred, +or one in ten, were dead or wounded. The French had suffered as much, +so General Canrobert's face was grave as he rode up at the close of +the day to exclaim: "I ask of Fortune but this! May I command an +English corps for three short weeks, then could I die happy." And the +English commander's voice was graver still as he replied: "I could not +command a French corps. They would outpace me." And in truth the +Zouaves' rapid, flame-like spread from crag to crag, their ceaseless +fusillade meanwhile, had been all-astonishing and had paralysed the +foe completely. But now the laurel wreath of victory was fading, the +cypress garland of death was taking its place. It had been a three +hours' hand to hand infantry battle, and the late September sun was +sinking when the living turned to look after their fallen comrades, +for in those days ambulance corps were in their infancy and Red Cross +was not. The wounded soldier lay as he fell, dying, mayhap for want of +care, even for a drink of water. There were hundreds such upon the +heights they had won, as Marrion Paul, taking advantage of the fast +coming darkness, began her round. She was provided with water, brandy, +a few simple ligaments and bandages. At Varna she had had not a few +wounded Turkish soldiers from the Danube in old Achmet's hospital; but +this was different. There the wounds seemed a disease; here you felt +the keen horror of cold steel and rifle bullet close at hand; you +realised the futility, the wickedness of it. She avoided the salients +where the dead and wounded lay thickest, for there help was already +being given, and men were going to and fro with stretchers; but in one +or two of the little gullies she found someone to tend until, darkness +closing, she became more brave, and lighting the little lamp with +which she had provided herself, she ventured more into the open. Here +it was pitiful; the dead lay in clusters, their faces as a rule +upturned to the stars. The stretcher-bearers had come and gone, +leaving behind those to whom they were useless--as yet. She knelt +beside one dead man and wiped away a blood stain from his forehead. He +had been orderly once to Duke. Poor soul! Some woman would doubtless +wish she had been in her, Marrion's, place. And now the whole hillside +was lit up by wandering lights, the lights of men searching for their +bosom friends, for their officers. But there were other lights, too, +though she did not think of them as different--the lights of the +pilferers, the carrion crows, who crept about to rifle dead men's +pockets. There were more of them here on the level where the dead and +wounded Russians lay in heaps; some, supported by the bodies of +others, remained still in the attitude of firing, their rifles still +in their hands, their faces curiously peaceful. Well, they had died +doing their duty. + +A faint call came from a man who lay, his head half-resting on the +breast of a dead comrade. She turned to him at once, throwing her +lamp-light on his face. Extraordinarily good-looking, so young, so +near death. She saw these things at a glance, guessing he was +shot through the lungs as his breath came in soft pitiful gasps. +She knelt to offer him a drink, but he shook his head. Evidently +his eyes were already dim, for he whispered in broken English: +"Good--gentlemens--take--take--my heart." She leaned closer to catch +his words, thinking bitterly as she did so that he took her for his +enemy--his enemy--while her whole heart was going out in pity for such +as he. + +"I don't understand," she said tenderly. "Your heart--what do you +mean?" + +"My heart," he gasped painfully--"here!" And his limp arm, lying +helplessly beside him, crooked itself in supreme effort, and the hand +fell on his breast. + +A sudden comprehension came to her. + +"You want me to take something from your heart?" + +His dim eyes smiled faintly. + +"Yes--good gentlemens," he whispered; it was almost a sigh, but it +held content. "Take--give!" + +She understood now, though a faint shiver through the young body told +her that the speaking soul had gone. Here again was Love transcending +Death! Quietly she laid down the head she had been supporting, closed +the eyes, and opening the grey tunic began her search, her mind rapt +away from her surroundings by thoughts of Duke. Her hand had just +found a thin chain, when a rough clutch was laid on her shoulder and +she was wrenched to her feet with such force that the chain giving way +left her standing with something hanging from her hand. + +"Caught in the act!" said a rough voice. "Shoot the young devil, +sergeant!" + +Something cold touched her forehead. Her heart gave a great bound. Was +this death--oh, Duke--Duke! + +The flash of a bull's-eye lantern turned full on her showed her face +deadly pale but firm. + +"Hold hard!" cried another voice hastily. "The fellow carries a +water-bottle--of our pattern, too! Give the devil his due, Mac." + +She could see faintly now. They were Highlanders; a search party +evidently, and the blood rushed back to heart and face. + +"I'm doing no harm!" she cried hotly. "He asked me--to take and +give--his heart." + +At her first word the cold nozzle of the revolver had left her +forehead. + +"By God!" came in a murmur; but for the most part the little group of +men were startled out of speech and stood staring at the figure before +them, holding out in apology what it held. + +It was only a pinchbeck locket with a woman's face in it--a pinchbeck +locket in the form of a heart. + +"What the devil are you doing here in that kit, you young oaf?" said +an angry voice at last. "I as nearly shot you as a carrion crow as +ever----" It paused; something in the situation seemed to bring +silence. The stars overhead, the dead lover at their feet, the tall, +slim mysterious figure holding out the symbol of something that had +survived death. + +"You had better go on, Mac," said the voice that had advised caution, +finally breaking the stillness. "I will use this young fool's lantern +and that will make two search parties. We have little time to spare. +I'll see him safe. You'd better take the orderlies with you. They have +appliances and will know what to do. I can manage." + +"As you please, doctor," came the reply. + +When they had gone the man they had called doctor took up Marrion's +lantern and seemed to examine its light, turning it finally full on +his face; and suddenly he spoke. + +"Mrs. Marsden----" Marrion could not avoid a start. + +"Mrs. Marsden!" she echoed faintly. + +"Yes. You don't recognise me evidently. Indeed, I doubt if you ever +saw me, but I was with poor Muir when he died. Andrew Fraser had to +tell me--something--before I would let you come, and your face and +hair aren't easily forgotten. I guess why you are here; but it isn't +safe--in fact, it's impossible; but if you will go back now and come +to my hospital--Dr. Forsyth--in English dress, please--I think I can +settle you to work--something that will prevent your being taken for a +Crim-Tartar thief," he added grimly. "It's lucky I have a good memory +for faces." + +"I don't think I should have cared," said Marrion, but he took no +notice of her defiance. + +"As for this poor chap," he knelt down beside the Russian and laid his +hand over the heart. "Dead as a door nail, ceased to beat--wonder +where he wanted to send it. Is there a name at the back?" + +Marrion bent to the light. + +"A name and an address." + +The doctor jumped up lightly. + +"Being dead he yet speaketh," he remarked cheerfully. "Now if you will +please go back I will go on. We have to find poor Grant; he was last +seen on the crest leading his men, with Andrew Fraser--the colonel's +servant, you remember--just behind him." + +"Andrew!" exclaimed Marrion, with a sort of sob. "Is he killed, too?" + +"Killed or missing," called Dr. Forsyth, as he turned away to rejoin +his party. + + + + + CHAPTER IX + + +The scene which met Marrion's eyes when soon after daybreak she went +over to the hospital tents beggars description. The wounded, many of +them as yet untended, lay almost in heaps, stretcher-bearers were +hurrying along, slipping on the clotted blood from many wounds, +carrying those who had been seen to and could be moved to the boats +for removal to Scutari. There was a low inarticulate wail of moaning +in the air, broken by sudden screams of pain. Two or three women were +busy giving water, trying to soothe pain, and now and again a doctor +with bare arms incarnadined with blood passed hurriedly to more work. + +"It is worse than I expected," said Dr. Forsyth over his shoulder to +Marrion. "Do what you can, will you?" + +And she did, wondering vaguely that she had not noticed that curious +face when she had first seen it; the eyes alone were so unlike any she +had ever seen before--greeny gold, with a dark rim round the iris. A +hawk's eye, surely! + +"Mrs. Marsden, I want you," came an imperative voice half an hour +later, "follow me." + +He was there again, and she followed him blindly into a small tent. + +"The ambulance and stores have been left behind somewhere," he said +bitterly. "God damn them! We have no chloroform left--they only served +us out a thimbleful, though Simpson demonstrated its absolute +necessity seven years ago--curse the lot--and now a case has just come +in. It's life or death and the others won't touch it, but I will. See +here, I was with Esdaile in India and I know it can be done. If only I +haven't the seats of the scornful by me--I think you'll believe--you +haven't your face for nothing, and I must have help. Give it me?" + +He held out his thin nervous hands, so strangely full of grip, as he +spoke; his eyes found hers and held them. + +"I will give you what I can," she said at once. + +"That's right!" he replied, his buoyancy back in an instant. "But you +will need all your nerve, I tell you. Now help me to get the poor +fellow into position." + +"Let me die, doctor," moaned the patient, who lay on the doctor's +truckle bed. "It is agony to move." + +"No, it isn't!" replied Dr. Forsyth firmly. "You are making a mistake. +You have no pain, at least not much, and you are going to lose it +altogether soon. There! That's more comfortable, isn't it?" + +He was busy now arranging knives and instruments on a clean towel. + +"I've put them in the order I shall want them," he whispered, "and +don't be in a hurry--I shall want time. Now I'm going to mesmerise +him. You'll see he will pass into a deep sleep and feel no pain--none +at all." + +It was almost as if he were assuring himself that it would be so. An +atmosphere of quiet confidence seemed to emanate from him. + +Marrion found herself watching his passes with absolute faith, +listening to the quiet monotonous voice with absolute belief. + +"Now you are really feeling better--you are inclined to sleep--if you +close your eyes you will go to sleep." + +On and on went the voice insistently. The breathing grew slower, less +convulsive; the eyelids closed, and all the time the doctor's face was +as the face of the Angel of Death--kind, but relentless. + +"Now we can begin," he said at last, resuming his quick decision. "You +won't faint, will you?" he added doubtfully, with a glance at +Marrion's pale cheek. + +"I don't think so," she replied; "but _that_ seemed to hurt here." She +swept her hand across her forehead. + +He scanned her narrowly. + +"Umph!" he said, half to himself. "You'll make an excellent _aide_, I +expect. So now to business." + +It was an awful operation. One impossible while consciousness +remained; but possible enough with the absolute stillness and lack of +hurry that unconsciousness brings. + +And so far it was successful. + +"He will sleep for some hours yet," said Dr. Forsyth, as he sorted his +implements. "You needn't stay with him all the time. Make yourself +useful elsewhere, but look in and bring me word when he wakes." + +There was not one word of thanks; only as he left the tent he paused +to say-- + +"The lad was a great favourite of the colonel's. I'm glad we saved +him." + +All that day Marrion lived in a dream of death; but those words went +with her. Yes, she was glad she had helped to save the lad, but how +much had she helped? + +Three full days passed before she could get an answer to that +question. Days of grim determination to keep her head--not to give way +as some, even of the men, gave way. It was like living in a shambles. +She thought, amazed at the poverty of her own imagination, on the +dread with which she had first viewed the heights of Alma. But +this--this was inconceivable, unutterably beastly! Vaguely she felt +glad that Duke had been spared it, and with the thought of the singing +bird that had sung its little heart out in joy as he lay dying, the +first tears she had shed for him came to her eyes. And she worked on +with a lighter heart, until the first press and rush was over, till +the dead had been buried, the less severe cases shipped off, and tents +found for the others. + +Then Dr. Forsyth sent for her. She found him in his tent. The lad whom +they had saved had been removed to a larger one and was doing well. +Though the flap was open, the tent was shadowy and the doctor's eyes +looked curiously light as he sat on the bed and motioned her to a seat +beside him. + +"You have done very well, Mrs. Marsden," he said shortly, "and I think +you will do better. Now I am going to teach you some of the tricks of +the trade, and in the next action you will be able to work on your +own. Only don't talk about it. I believe all the doctors and most of +the men would rather die than be mesmerised; but then they never saw +Esdaile's hospital. I have." + +"But perhaps I shan't be able," began Marrion. + +"Yes, you will," he interrupted steadily, "and to begin with I am +going to call you by your right name, please. Marrion Paul." + +She flushed. + +"Did Andrew----" + +"Nothing of the sort. My dear woman, I'm an Aberdeenshire man. Long +years ago, when I was a lad, I was at Drummuir and I saw your +father--possibly you also. No?--His was a face and figure you can't +easily forget. And I know the story. I heard Andrew, the Drummuir's +henchman, call you Marrion; your extraordinary likeness to your +father supplied the cues. And I was right, you see." His face was all +smiles at his own perspicacity. "Now, my mother was a Pole and I +believe your father was one. And that admixture seems favourable to a +certain force of character. You've always managed people--at least, I +guess so--and it is just that trick of suggestion that you require for +management--at least, so I think--that I want. Anyhow, we will try. +For the present the tyranny is overpast. We have wormed our way +through _sans_ everything; but the next action will be as bad, perhaps +worse. I think the letters we have written home about the scandalous +state of affairs may have had some effect--God knows! We British sleep +through a lot of bad dreams, but help can't be here in time. And the +stores they are landing! My God, if you could see them! Rotten +biscuits, putrid meat, drugs unusable! How the devils in hell will +kow-tow to the contractors when they get them as past-masters of +damnation. Anyhow, in the immediate future we have to depend on +ourselves, and if I can depend on you----" he looked at her and once +more stretched out those thin capable hands of his. "Come, is it a +bargain?" + +She could not but say "Yes," and from that day he treated her as a +professor might treat his pupil--kindly, but autocratically. + +"You are the only person who ever made me obey orders," she said, +half-resentfully one afternoon when he had driven her to rest in his +tent. + +"Better for you if it had happened before," he replied curtly. "You +strike me as a woman who has managed too much. Do you know how old I +am?" he asked suddenly. + +Seated as he was just outside the hut so that he could talk to her +within, he looked strangely young, but the grey hair and bronzed +wrinkles about his clean shaven face made her venture rather against +her own judgment-- + +"Fifty." + +"Sixty-five," he replied. + +"You don't look forty-five," she put in. + +"No. That is because I never look ahead. I take what comes. If you +believe, as I do, in a Divinity that shapes our ends, it's waste of +time to hew. I learnt that early in life. You haven't learnt it yet. +Well, now I've got to go and cut a man's leg off." + +And he went, leaving her wondering if he was right. All her life had +been spent in keeping Duke for the heirship of Drummuir, and now he +lay in his solitary grave at Varna. The pity of it was coming home to +her. + +So after a few days, with a tent provided for her, she rode in a +baggage waggon towards Sebastopol. Cholera had begun again badly. The +fillip which the idea of campaigning and free fighting had given to +men jaded by hot weather and the discomforts of Varna was passing off. +As they neared the Russian town supplies were less easily obtainable, +and the commissariat was conspicuous by its inefficiency. The army, +meanwhile, starting on the 23rd, had found itself brought up seriously +at the next river. The enemy had established a work at the entrance +which made it impossible to use the bay, as had been hoped, for a +base. There was nothing for it but to change plans and act promptly. +And here, mercifully, was no delay, no mistakes. Forsaking the +seacoast the whole force plunged boldly into the mountains, marching +by compass, without road, without guides. Much of the way lay through +dense forest--there was no water; but, heartened up by a small brush +with a wandering division of the enemy, the men struggled on cheerful +as ever, up hill, down dale, during a long and toilsome march from +dawn till after nightfall on the 25th. But then came solace. On the +sea-coast below them--secure, unprepared--lay the town and harbour of +Balaklava, seven miles to the east of Sebastopol. They had +circumvented the enemy, they had taken him round the corner! But there +must be no cheering. Quiet as mice they lay among the barberry scrub, +waiting for the dawn of the 26th. And then there was nothing to be +done save to walk down and take possession--take possession of both +sea and land, for, punctual to the moment, her Majesty's ship +_Agamemnon_ sailed into the harbour, decks clear, guns ready for +action--a stroke of luck due to young Maxse who, arriving at the +Commander-in-Chief's with despatches the evening before, volunteered +to brave the forest again by night and tell his Admiral to come round +as sharp as he could. + +So when the hospital tents and such medical stores as there were +arrived from Kalamita Beach they found the troops elated and pleased +with their new quarters. As is generally the way after a move, cholera +abated, almost disappeared, and for a time the weather was good. + +Trench work began at once, yet progressed but slowly. Whether, as some +say, from lack of implements or from slackness in command, the French +had placed thirty-three siege guns before the English had finished +their fifteenth; and the doctor, coming in from a long round, would +shake his head and say that the business would be a longer one than +people thought. + +And what was to be done with winter coming on--blankets wearing out, a +shortage of drugs, and the very ambulance-waggons still lying +forgotten on Kalamita Beach? + +He used to watch the ships sailing in so gaily to the harbour and say +calmly, "I wonder what filth, what fraud, they bring?" + +Still, even he grunted satisfaction over the news that Britain was +beginning to discover that all was not well with the Crimean +expedition--that there was talk of sending out nurses and more +doctors. So for nigh three weeks comparative peace reigned. There were +no shambles, and Marrion had time to pick up many wrinkles of nursing +from her patron; he taught her how to bring sleep for one thing, the +first duty of those who tend the sick. She had time also for regret. +Nothing had been heard of Andrew Fraser, though Captain Grant's body +had been duly found. It seemed to her as if the last link with the old +life had gone, and one day in sudden confidence she said as much to +the doctor. Again he shook his head. + +"My dear good woman," he remarked, "no one ever gets away from their +past. It is what the Easterns call '_karma_.' You have to dree your +weird for it always." + +"Even if it is not bad?" asked Marrion, feeling hurt at the very idea +that a life in which she was conscious of no self-seeking should be a +curse to her. + +"I don't know," he replied, half-closing his strange eyes, "you may +have done something shocking. It is quite possible." + +She wondered, afterwards, what had induced her to tell him what she +had done; but these strange fits of confidence are one of the +psychological puzzles of humanity. Tell him she did, however, while he +sat looking out over the sea with his veiled eyes, for they were +sitting on the heights and the whole panorama of Sebastopol, the +Allied Fleets, and the investing forces lay before them. + +"What would you have done if Colonel Muir had lived?" he asked briefly +when she had finished. + +She blushed a little. + +"I have often wondered," she began. + +"People who play Providence ought not to wonder. Well, I am glad he +died happy. That, at any rate, is to your credit." So he rose and left +her. + +The days passed rapidly, full to the brim of work, and every day +brought her more and more admiration for the courage and cheeriness of +the men, more and more resentment at the ghastly way in which they +were treated by the authorities at home. Boots had already given out, +none were available in store, and in a whole officers' mess only one +subaltern had a holeless pair. And he was the son of a widow who had +half-ruined herself by sending her darling the two separate boots of a +pair by letter post. She would have held it worth more, could she have +seen his face of pride among his comrades. + +On the night of the 18th of October a diversion arose which, when it +was over, caused much amusement. + +A party of sappers and miners, losing their way, fell into a Russian +picket, which, possessed by the idea of a general assault, +incontinently skedaddled into the town and raised the alarm, thereby +causing much beating of drums and bugle calls. The Allied armies, +alarmed in their turn, instantly stood to arms, while gun after gun +boomed from the city forts, echoing and re-echoing among the +reverberating rocks. After an hour or two, however, the gunners seemed +to recognise that they were only, so to speak, shooting at their own +shadows or echoes, and gradually peace reigned, broken by roars of +laughter round many a camp fire. + +But on the 25th something serious happened which brought the shambles +close once more. To the Turkish contingent had been assigned the +redoubts which protected the heights behind the entrenchments. On the +morning of the 25th the Russians, numbering some twenty thousand +troops, after following the same route by which the Allies had reached +Balaklava, appeared unexpectedly before these redoubts. The Turks +abandoned them without striking a blow and fled down the valley to the +plain in sheer panic. Nor did a volley from the 93rd Highlanders, +hastily formed up, stop them. For a short while confusion and courage +were conspicuous. The British, taken unawares, fought like heroes. +Finally there followed the famous Light Cavalry Charge of which the +French general, watching it, said "_C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est +pas la guerre_." By whose fault the order was given for a deed which +will stir the blood at every English heart even at the day of doom, +Heaven only knows. The man who brought it was the first to fall. +Briefly told--it needs no grand words--it amounted to this. Six +hundred men and horses charged uselessly, desperately, defiantly, +_because they were told to do so_, down an open valley exposed to a +cross fire from guns posted on either side of them, and to a frontal +fire from the evacuated and abandoned forts. The charge commenced at +11.10. It was barely 11.35 when a hundred and sixty men, many of them +wounded, rode back, having done what they were told to do. The rest +lay on the held. + +But it was a victory for all that, and when night came, bringing an +hour or two of rest to Marrion, she spent it in going round with a +revolver she borrowed from Dr. Forsyth and putting wounded horses out +of their pain. + +"Don't forget to give them their password," he said, as he gave the +weapon to her. + +She looked at him uncomprehending. "I forgot you hadn't lived in the +East," he went on, with a smile. "Say 'In the name of the Most +Merciful God' before you shoot." + +Once again there were tears in her eyes. She was learning much of this +strange man who looked on death so lightly, yet spent himself in +striving to evade it. + +It was a busy time again after Balaklava; she had barely time to +think, scarcely time to rest. Yet ever and always, when her mind +travelled beyond the immediate present, those words with which Dr. +Forsyth had replied to her story came back to remembrance-- + +"People who play Providence ought not to wonder." + +Was he right, she wondered, and then was ashamed of her own wondering. + +"You will have to rest a little more," said the doctor to her one day +when she had been helping him. "You were quite wobbly just now. You +will be of no use, you know, unless you pull yourself together." And +he narrowed his eyes perplexedly. "You are not living in the present +somehow--you're reaching out to the future. Why?" + +She laughed. + +"Why should I--what can the future hold for me! I will take a blue +pill." + +He grunted dissatisfaction, but was too busy to say more. Yet what he +said was true. She began to catch herself wondering, wondering. The +present was all-engrossing, of course; how could it be anything else +when she could do what she could do for the poor lads?--his poor lads, +who were so brave, so cheery. And then her mind would become vagrant, +and she would wake up from dreams with a start. + +It was one day just before Inkerman, the 10th of November, that Dr. +Forsyth came to her and said: + +"I want you. It's over at the cavalry hospital." + +His eyes seemed to her stranger than ever, and when she came out of +her tent to join him he glanced at her, then said brusquely: + +"You've forgotten to put on that diamond brooch of yours--the P.P. +one. Don't you remember when the sun glints on it, it's useful?" + +It was true. Often and often the eyes that had been asked to fix their +gaze on it had become full of dreams, and then slept. + +"Stupid of me," she replied lightly. "I'll put it on!" + + + + + CHAPTER X + + +The Cavalry Hospital was a little way out of the town, a quaint old +place with oleanders and orange trees set in tubs outside its white +verandahs. As they drove thither Dr. Forsyth told her something of the +case in which he wanted her help. It was a prisoner, presumably an +officer, but he refused name or rank. He had been found two days after +the battle, lying, with one leg smashed to bits, under his dead horse +in a little ravine. How he had lived was a marvel, for he was quite an +old man; but, not only had he done so, he had also retained +consciousness, and had addressed those who found him in perfect +English, congratulating them courteously on their marvellous exploit, +and saying he was proud to have crossed swords with them. + +A game old fellow, worthy of his hospital nickname "The General." He +had actually begged, before they moved him, that someone would be good +enough to search in the holster of the dead horse beside him for a +gold snuffbox which he had been unable to reach, and the lack of which +had, he asserted, been his greatest discomfort. + +"He has been snuffing away ever since," added the doctor, "so perhaps +he was right, for his leg was almost too crushed to belong to him. We +took it off at once; but now gangrene is setting in and if he is to be +saved we must have it off higher up. And the others won't risk it. He +is old--heart weak--and they say won't stand chloroform. I am going to +try. I've told him and he will take the risk. A good old chap, worth +saving. I don't believe he is a Russian. I think he is a Pole, and +blood is thicker than water." + +Marrion's first look at the patient as he lay propped up by pillows in +the small room whither he had been carried made her agree with the +doctor. + +It was a fine old face, curiously reminiscent of someone she had seen +somewhere, with its hint of ruddiness beneath the grey of the hair and +its bold bright daring look. And he was very tall; his long length +almost outstretched the trestle bed. + +"Good morning, doctor!" he said, with a courteous salute which +included Marrion, and with a perfect English accent. "You have brought +your nurse, I see. Are we to begin at once?" + +There was no anxiety in his voice; only gentle raillery. + +"Not quite yet, General," replied Dr. Forsyth. "I want you to have a +rest and sleep first. You are looking a bit tired; and your pulse"--he +stopped to feel it--"is tired, too. So I've brought Nurse Paul to sit +with you. She is a curiously soporific person. I shall be back before +very long," he added, more to her than to the patient. + +Left alone, Marrion went up to the bed, smoothed the rough pillows, +straightened the coarse blanket, which was all the bedding Balaklava +could produce, and said quietly-- + +"Now, if you will close your eyes I believe you would sleep." + +But those sea-blue eyes--whose did they resemble?--someone she had +seen somewhere--remained wide, and watched her narrowly as she +returned to seat herself in the only chair. It was set full in the +sunlight, which showed her tall, slender, yet strong in her dark stuff +dress, a white handkerchief almost hiding her bright hair and pinned +to place by the little brilliant brooch beneath her chin. Truly those +keen eyes were over-watchful, and she was about again to suggest sleep +when his voice, full of insistent command, startled her. + +"Where did you get that brooch?" + +She replied at once with the truth. + +"It belonged to my father." + +"Indeed--who was he?" + +"He was a valet; but if you would only close your eyes I think you +would go to sleep." + +"Do you think so? I don't." + +His eyes showed more awake than ever; there was a hint of a smile on +the handsome old face. + +Still there was silence for full five minutes, and Marrion was just +about to make further suggestion of sleep when once more the voice +rose-- + +"Will you please give me my snuff-box?--it is under my pillow +somewhere." + +She drew it out. A plain gold box with--her startled eyes caught the +old face-- + +"Yes!" he said, and his voice had a jeer in it. "'P.P.,' as you see. +That is my name. So you are Marrion Sim's child--and I suppose mine. +Queer, isn't it, how these old stories crop up when one had almost +forgotten them?" He scanned her face narrowly. "Now you are angry. +Why should you be? Your mother was my wife, I suppose. At least, I +hadn't any other then. I have sons now"--his voice softened as he +spoke--"yes, sons to come after me when I am gone, as I shall be soon, +for that gay doctor of yours can't conquer Fate; and it is Fate that +has brought me here!" + +He lay looking at her with a certain kindly curiosity, while she, +startled out of herself, tried to realise that this was her +father--the father she had condemned and despised all her life. + +It seemed almost as if he saw into her thoughts, for his next words +touched them. + +"Perhaps it was cruel to leave her as I did; but I had no choice. If +you have anything belonging to us in you, you'll understand what the +call of the master means. And young Muir was never my master. He +befriended me, helped me to escape Siberia; but the other---- There's +a perfect passion of loyalty in our family which you may or may not +understand." He paused and a shiver of assent ran through Marrion. + +"I--I think I do understand," she said, in a low voice. + +Yes, from the very beginning, as a small child, this passion of +protection, of loyalty, had been hers. Strange legacy from an unknown +father! He smiled content. + +"Glad to hear it. You're not a bit like your mother--you're like me, +and your brothers--half-brothers, I mean. So I had to go. It was just +after the break up of Europe and Napoleon, when half the political +refugees came to their own again--and he did amongst others. So I had +to go." Again he paused, and for the first time Marrion felt the touch +of kinship between them. He had to go; that was just it! She had had +to be loyal to Duke. "You are not in the least like your mother," he +said again suddenly, "you are like us." Yet again he paused. "Have you +anything you can give me to drink?" he asked. "I have something to say +to you, and I feel--limp." + +She gave him a restorative and he brisked up. Time was passing, but +she had learnt many things during the last month and knew that +physical rest would be impossible until the mental rest was assured. + +"Don't talk too much," she said. "I think I shall understand--what is +it?" + +"This box," he said. "It holds--my credentials. There is a false +top--see, you press this spring--so." + +As he spoke the lid appeared to part in two, disclosing a folded piece +of paper. + +"Don't read it now--but it will tell you everything. I was on secret +service and it was of importance no one should know. It is of +importance still. If I hadn't met you I should have said nothing. But +now--you'll do me this good turn, I expect--for, after all, I am your +father." + +A cynical smile curved his lips, his blue eyes met hers in a +challenge. + +Almost staggered by the strangeness of what was happening, Marrion was +yet aware of something deep down in her which gave instant response to +this claim upon her. + +"Yes," she said quietly, "I will do what you wish--father." + +"I am obliged--daughter," he replied lightly. "Of course it is for +your eye alone. And now for heaven's sake give me some more of that +drink. I feel quite exhausted." He lay back smiling at her. "It is +better here," he remarked, "than in the north of Scotland." Then after +a pause, "I suppose I ought not to have married your mother; but she +was charming and it was very dull." After that he closed his eyes and +slept. The doctor, coming in after an hour, found him still sleeping, +while Marrion sat beside the bed holding the gold snuffbox in her +hand. + +He bent over the slumbering face. + +"I don't think there will be any operation," he said quietly. "The +others were right. His mind has ceased to insist upon his body +surviving and so there is rest. It is well." + +Marrion looked up into his wise face. + +"How did you guess?" she asked. + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"There was no guess," he replied; "you remember I had seen your +father. Then your extraordinary likeness. When by chance I saw the +famous snuff-box yesterday it became a certainty. For a day I decided +to say nothing. Then I saw the old chap was fighting death--putting a +strain on himself about something, and I thought you had better have +your innings." + +He did not ask any questions and she was grateful. + +"Perhaps you would like to stay," he added gently. "I don't think he +will wake again." + +And he did not. As the sunlight faded from the room the old man's +breathing became slower and ceased. + +Marrion stood looking down on him for a moment before she called for +aid. All the time she had been watching she had been thinking, +thinking; but she had arrived at nothing. Only deep down in her was a +glad feeling of inheritance--a consciousness that the dead man had +given her something, something that she held in trust. + +Was it only the gold snuff-box, she wondered vaguely, as, back in her +own tent, she touched the spring. + +"The bearer of this, Prince Paul Pauloffski----" She sat staring at +the words. + +Prince Paul Pauloffski was her father. Then she was gentle born. Then +she need not-- + +With a rush all the things she need not have done crushed in on her. +She buried her face in the pillow as she sat on the edge of her bed +and muttered-- + +"People who play Providence!" + +Of a truth the wise man with the strange eyes was right. Your past was +_karma_. You could not escape from it. + +After a time she sat up and began to decipher the rest. It was in +French, the _lingua franca_ of Eastern diplomacy. Noble-born, poor, +devoted, daring. That was the essence of the credentials. The other +paper simply gave the address of the ancestral home and that of two +sons in the army. A memorandum as to keys and papers filled up the +back of the latter. She replaced them, shut down the spring again, +then, remembering she could show no right to the snuff-box for which +inquiry was sure to be made, took them out again. Nothing, somehow, +seemed to matter now. She had made her mistake, she must suffer. + +"You have all you want?" asked Doctor Forsyth, as she handed him +the box, and she flushed scarlet. Sometimes he seemed to her too +clever--he found out everything, everything! + +"Thank you," she replied frigidly. + +"Because--well, if you would like to possess it, I could buy it in for +you at the auction. The poor old general is--is unidentified, +remember." + +"Yes, he is unidentified," she assented, remembering her father's +wishes, "but I should like to have it all the same." + +He brought it to her a day or two after. "That's your fee," he said +lightly, "you've earned it well." + +And he would take no refusal; so she replaced the papers in the secret +compartment and put the box away in her satchel against--what? That +future which was now always filling her mind. The present seemed +hardly to touch her at all. The doctor looked at her critically more +than once, but he said nothing. + +Then came Inkerman. It was on the 5th of November--almost three +months, Marrion told herself, since that wonderful day when Duke's +love had come to her amid flame and fire. + +It had been a disturbed night. A noise as of tumbrils had been heard +about the city. Was it possible that the enemy was taking advantage of +the dense night fog to run in commissariat or even ammunition? Nothing +could be done, however, save wait. So as the laggard day broke, the +advanced pickets looked keenly ahead. To no purpose. An impenetrable +wall of grey mist shut out all beyond a yard or two. Their very +comrades looked like shadows of men. + +"London partickler," remarked one sentry, stamping his feet to keep +out the chill, for it had been raining all night. + +"Not yeller enough, save down Chelsea way. My Gawd! I wish I was +ther," replied the next. + +"I wish I wurr anywhere but eight thousand strong on the heights of +Inkerman," put in an Irishman. "Begorra, I've bin dhrier in a bog!" + +"An' I've been wetter in the watter after the trooties on Don side," +evened an Aberdeenshire man sturdily. "Mush me, it's weary wark!" + +"An' thim ringing joy-bells for to spite us!" joked the Irishman, as +on the cold night air a carillon from every church in the city rang +out, echoing amongst the little scrub and wood-set ravines that went +to make up the valley of Inkerman. "Will it be a weddin', likely? +Begorra, I'd loose off me rifle as a salute if the powdther was dry!" + +So through the early dawn the pickets, outwearied, wet through, +beguiled the time. And though the dawn brought light, the mist lay +thicker than ever. Thick and grey the colour of a Russian's coat. + +"Dods, mon!" cried the Aberdeenshire man suddenly, "what's yon?" + +Yon was indeed a Russian coat, not one but many, emerging out of the +fog not ten yards away. + +A sharp volley of musketry followed on the instant. The pickets may +have been sodden, but they were no cowards. They fought desperately, +retreating inch by inch, the alarm of their rifles telling that sixty +thousand Russians were on them surging through the newly awakened camp +of eight thousand. It was everyone to the rescue. Not one regiment or +two, but every available man. Then followed eight long hours of such +desperate fighting as, till then, had never been seen. It was not a +battle--it was a hundred battles in one; for every little ravine had +its opposing armies, cut off from the rest by the enveloping mist. +Again and again the grey line would advance a yard or two, covered by +its superior fire; again and again a ringing British cheer and the +point of the bayonet would drive it back a yard or two. Sometimes the +fight became a _mêlée_ in which the British officers, dealing havoc +with their revolvers or swords, cut their way through the dense masses +of the enemy. No generalship was possible, each man fought for +himself, his Queen, his country, and wrote on the page of history a +record of undying pluck and almost incredible personal courage. But +the battle of Inkerman is, truly, beyond description. It was a day of +countless deeds of daring, of despairing rallies and desperate +assaults in the glens, the brushwood glades, the torrent beds of the +valley of the Tchernaya river. None knew how the balance swayed and +shifted. But a few were aware of the aid given in the nick of time by +the six thousand French troops who arrived at the double. None knew +whose was the victory till from the Russian ranks came the bugles of +retreat. And then, as the mist lifted, the whole hillside showed +strewn with corpses. But the eight thousand had kept at bay the sixty +thousand. Round Sandbag battery, from which the Guards were driven, +and which they retook four separate times, lay fifteen thousand +Russian dead, mute evidence of the hand to hand, back to back, +relentless tenacity with which the Household Brigade eventually fought +their way out of the surrounding masses of the foe. A little further, +where a single regiment held at bay over nine thousand Russians, the +broken stocks of the rifles showed how, when ammunition was gone, the +fight still continued. + +"Will anyone be kind enough to lift me off my horse?" said old General +Strangways, when riding to an exposed position in the hope of being +able to see something of what his men were doing, a shell literally +blew off his leg. And someone lifted him down doubtless; but there +were eight generals to be seen to, and close on a hundred and fifty +officers. + +As the official despatches read-- + +"It does not do to dwell upon the aspect of the battlefield." True, +indeed, when out of the eight thousand some two thousand six hundred +lay dead or wounded among the fourteen thousand Russians for whom they +had accounted. + +Even Doctor Forsyth's pale, composed face grew paler, less composed, +and Marrion acting as his _aide_ could scarcely get through the awful +days. She could not work as she wished to work, but neither could she +rest. Her whole being seemed to go out in one vast pity for the world, +a vast desire to protect, to recreate. + +"I am sorry my hand shook," she said, almost pitifully to the doctor, +when she held she had failed to give him all the help she should have +done over a young lad who had been brought in badly hurt. "But he +seemed so very young. It made me think of the time when all these poor +boys were babies in their mothers' arms, warm, secure, sheltered." + +He looked at her gravely. + +"You did very well," he said. "Not quite so well as usual, perhaps; +but better than others. For all that, I am going to send you for a +rest--only a week or two," he added hastily, seeing her face set +in denial. "And it's as useful as anything else. You know there are +quite a lot of soldiers' wives down in the town. There ought not +to be, of course, but there are---- Why, there is one, at least, +in the camp! And one, an Irishwoman, has just died with her third +baby--shock--husband killed. And there is no one to see to them and +others. You'd better go--you--you like children." + +To tell the truth Marrion felt a strange gladness at the thought of +them, and the very idea of holding the newborn scrap of humanity in +her arms was enthralling. + +"For a week," she demurred. "You see I haven't been sleeping well." + +So down by the sea in a house built on the very rocks of the harbour +she went back to woman's normal life and rested for a while. + +For the first time she had leisure to notice the beauties of the +cliff-set coast, of which the bay was a mere shallow curve. The +vessels lying at the roads bobbed and swayed when the wind ruffled the +water, almost as if they had been at sea. But it was fine to see them +there; ships of the line, merchantmen, gun-boats, mail-steamers, all +coming and going. When the two elder children were asleep, Marrion +would wrap the infant in a blanket and go and sit on the rocks in the +sunshine, watching the boats go backwards and forwards to the shore, +and thinking of the far-off Aberdeenshire days when she could pull an +oar with any man. The harbour itself, a mere inlet, was crammed with +vessels of all descriptions; you could scarcely distinguish one from +the other, but the thirty outside showed bravely. + +"They say the anchorage is very treacherous," remarked Doctor Forsyth, +when he came to see how she was getting on, one evening. "I hear that +a captain of one of the transports has reported it dangerous; and has +been reprimanded for his trouble. He may have a chance of proving +himself right, for the barometer is going down steadily, I'm told; and +there is an uncanny feel in the air." + +That was about six o'clock in the evening. But the night was calm, +warm for the time of the year. It was in the small hours of the 14th +that someone relieving watch on one of the ships looked again at the +barometer. + +"My God!" he exclaimed, "it has fallen two inches in the watch." + +Something was astir and the something came with appalling suddenness, +almost before the light spars could be shipped and things made taut. +And then? What was it? No storm ever seen equalled this boiling +cauldron of a sea, this furious blast of bitter wind that lashed the +waves of foam and sent them in driving clouds far over the heights. +The hawsers, the anchor chains, the cables strained and wrenched and +strained, while brave men, looking at the wicked rocks seen dimly by +the breaking dawn, knew that their only chance of life lay in the +holding of their anchors. An American ship was the first to go. She +drifted swiftly to the cliffs and disappeared, timbers and crew. The +next to follow was the ship whose captain had given the warning. It +made a brief fight for life. The port anchor held--masts, rigging, +were cut away. To no purpose. The cable parted, she drifted broadside +to the cliff, crashed against it once, twice. A few men were carried +by the breakers up the rocks, bruised, mangled. The captain himself +was crushed between the rocks and the ship, as he hung from a +life-line thrown by those on shore. Another and another and another +ship followed in quick succession. The roar of the tempest, the +crashing of timbers, the howling of the wind, the noise of the engines +straining full speed ahead to hold their anchorage against the storm, +drowned all outcry; the terror, the dismay, the despair of it passed +as it were in silence. Within the inlet harbour one vessel crashed +against the next and so, huddled in heaps, they drifted to pile +themselves in shivered hulks upon the shore. Helpless to help, +powerless to save, the spectators clinging like limpets to stone walls +and stanchions looked on while one after another the brave ships which +but the day before had seemed to spurn the waves in their pride were +beaten, buffeted, engulfed, submerged in the seething cauldron of surf +and spray and mad, infuriated billows, answering to the challenge of +the wind. The _Prince_, the finest vessel in the bay, new built, +powerfully engined, held out the longest. There were hopes for her, +but the sea willed otherwise. Slowly, slowly the anchor dragged, and +five minutes after she struck not a vestige of the good ship remained. +Meanwhile on shore the hurricane had brought disaster untold. Houses +were roofless, tents swept bodily into the deep ravines with their +occupants. It was noon ere the wind abated somewhat, allowing stock to +be taken of the damage. Far out at sea could be seen the hulls of the +vessels that had weathered the storm, mostly disabled, mastless; but +it was known that five-and-twenty vessels had gone down with +practically all on board. + +As the tempest subsided the bodies of the drowned were dashed by the +breakers against the rocks or cast up in tiny creeks upon the beach. + +Marrion had taken her charges to a place of safety, the house she was +in being too exposed; and then, thinking she might help, went down to +the harbour. The waves still ran dangerously high, and over on the +farther side Englishmen were busy with lifeboats, rescuing some of the +crews of the smaller ships which, having held their anchors so far, +were still in imminent danger of going down. As she passed a knot of +local fishermen on her way to where apparently help might be required, +her eyes followed theirs and she realised to her horror that they were +calmly looking at a man--a mere boy--who about sixty yards from the +shore was clinging to a stationary spar, part doubtless of some +submerged craft. His face was clearly visible, the agonised appeal +vitalising its exhaustion, its pallor. Only for a few minutes more +could that grip hold! She was alert in an instant. + +"Go!" she cried vehemently in Russian. "Quick! A boat is there! +Quick--save--for Christ's sake, save!" + +Urged more by her actions than her words, the men fell in with them. +Ready hands, besides her practised ones, ran down the boat. + +But then, no one stirred! It was not an impossible task, it was only +dangerous. That, however, was enough. Why should they risk their lives +to save an unknown lad--a mere boy? But it was that very youth which +appealed to the woman, who stood for an instant with bitter anger at +her heart. + +"Curse you for cowards!" she cried as she sprang in and seized the +oars. The boat, already afloat, shot out from the shore by her weight. +The next instant she had the oars in and was fighting for her +life--and his. For his--yes, fighting, fighting, fighting for life to +something unknown. She set her teeth and dreamed with the appalling +swiftness of dreams of the far Northern sea. Yes, she was afloat on it +with Duke--no! it was Duke she had to save. It was Duke, or someone +belonging to Duke, who clung to that spar now so close, so close---- + +On shore, a man passing along a quay hard by saw her, and ran down +with an oath. + +Almost there--almost! She glanced behind her, saw the young face; but +only for a second. The hold of the clenched hands relaxed, the head +fell back, the body slid into the water. Too late! + +No, not too late! Without one instant's hesitation Marrion was over +the side, keeping the oar in her left hand as she leapt. + +Now she had gripped something floating for a second and was on the +surface again, rising within arm's grip of the oar. + +In her ears a thousand voices seemed whispering--Safe, safe, safe! You +are the saviour, the creator, the protectress.--She struck out boldly. +Then a huge breaker took her to its breast and held her fast. + +When she came to herself she was lying on a bed and looking round she +realised that she was in the very room of the cavalry hospital where +her father had died. It had been the nearest place, she supposed. The +sunlight was streaming in. She was quite alone. Doubtless everyone was +busy--they always were. + +Then on a table within reach she saw a cup of milk and a glass. A +paper lay beside them. Scrawled on it, very large, was this advice-- + +"Take these and go to sleep again!" + +It was Doctor Forsyth's writing and with a sense of safety she obeyed. + +When she roused again it was evening; the room was almost dark, but a +figure stood at the window. In an instant remembrance came back to her +and raised a curiosity which had doubtless been lying dormant, as she +had been, for nigh six-and-thirty-hours. + +"Did I save the boy?" she asked suddenly in a loud strong voice. + +Doctor Forsyth, for it was he, smiled as he walked up to the bed. + +"I really cannot say, my dear lady, whether you saved him or not. You +did your best, anyhow, and the same wave washed you both ashore." He +had been feeling her pulse as he spoke. "All right," he continued, "I +fancy you can get up if you choose. And you will be a bit busy, for +the mail steamer goes to-morrow and you should take the first +opportunity of getting home." + +She stared at him. + +"Home!" she echoed. "I am not going home. I want to work--and I should +like to die out here. What is there for me to do at home?" + +Doctor Forsyth hesitated a moment. He was ciphering out conclusions. +The reason he had to give her was one which must, despite its joy, +give pain. Better therefore to speak out while her mind was still too +confused to grasp the immensity of either. + +"My dear lady," he said, and his voice was gentleness itself, "I must +deny all your statements. You are going home. You do not want to die +out here, and you will have plenty to do at home looking after"--he +paused--"the colonel's child." + +He turned and left her voiceless, but athrill to her finger-tips, +wondering why she had not guessed it before. + +Then with a rush came remembrance. "People who play Providence----" + +She gave a moan and turned her face to the wall. + + + + + CHAPTER XI + + +When Marrion arrived in England just before Christmas she found a +white world of snow. But it seemed to her not so white, so pure, so +chill as that soft pall which had lain on Marmaduke Muir's grave on +the Balkan heights, when, stopping at Varna on her way home on purpose +to visit it, she had found it unrecognisable under the heavy snow. For +the winter of '54-'55 was the severest on record, even in those +southern mountains. + +There had seemed no room there for her tears, her remorse, her pitiful +plaint to be forgiven for trying to play Providence. So she had come +away more stunned than ever. + +After all her long years of self-sacrifice to find that every step she +had taken was a mistake was bitter indeed; but to realise that if the +child lived--and this time she meant to ensure that there should be no +ransom of her life--she would have deprived Marmaduke's child of its +birthright was agony. + +Yet there was no escape. Even if Andrew Fraser had been +forthcoming--and no news of him had come since Alma's heights were +won--she still would not have made a claim. That was over and done +with. She had promised the old man none should be made, she had +persuaded Duke to do the same, and they must stand by their word. + +She brooded and brooded over this until once more self-sacrifice +became an obsession with her. Not even for the sake of his child +should Duke's honour be smirched. Besides it might be a girl, and then +it would not matter so much. Besides, and this clinched the question, +even with Andrew it would be hard to prove a marriage; for during +those few short years she had not troubled to act as a wife. The +knowledge that she was married had been enough for both her and Duke; +she had always been known as Mrs. Marsden. A lawsuit would be +dreadful--was unthinkable. + +No, she could do nothing to rectify her past mistakes. She must dree +her weird--she could not get away from her past. In that, as in all +things else, the doctor had been right. When the time came nearer she +would follow his advice and go to Edinburgh to the man who had +invented chloroform. Doctor Forsyth had said he was kind. She would +tell him her story and beg him to let her die and save the child. + +Meanwhile, there was the gold snuff-box, and it meant more to her now +than when it was given. It meant that there would be someone kin to +the child--someone who, perhaps, if her life was taken as toll, would +look after it. She must try while there was yet time; that was her +first charge. + +She set to work at once, therefore, to arrange for a visit to Poland. +The extraordinary likeness to her father of which he himself had +spoken, which Doctor Forsyth had noticed, and which she also had seen, +was too valuable an asset to be wasted. Yes, she would go over to the +ancestral house, give the gold snuff-box into safe keeping, and ask, +even beg, for recognition. Even if her father had been a widower, one +of the sons might be married, there might be a woman with a pitiful +heart to listen and sympathise. But ere she went she must write to +Peter Muir. To begin with, she could assure him that his brother had +been well looked after. And then she had nothing, positively nothing, +of Marmaduke's; and Peter, knowing the care she had lavished on him +all those years, might give her something. The ring he had always worn +was what she craved most. In those long ago days, though there was not +so very much difference in their heights, what he wore on his little +finger had fitted her second. It had been too large for her third when +he had wanted her to wear it in place of a plain gold band; so she had +bidden him wear it instead--little tender memory which seemed so +precious now. + +So she wrote in the fine slanting caligraphy of the day a somewhat +stilted little letter asking for what she wanted as a favour, not a +demand, since "though I have a claim, I have no right." + +In reply she received a friendly note. + + +"DEAR MARRION, + +"If you will come and see me I will give you the ring, _and something +else_." + + +She had sent her letter to Peter's club, but this was dated from a +house in Palace Yard. So she went there. It was a fine old house. A +footman opened the door, a butler advanced to meet her, a majordomo +out of livery stood half-way up the stairs. Very different this from +the old days when the two brothers had been more or less out at elbows +all the time; but now, of course, Peter was heir to the estates. + +She found him, looking wretchedly ill, in a most luxurious study, and +his weak face lit up at the sight of her in the friendliest of +fashions. + +"Sit down in a comfortable chair," he said, and there was a querulous +note in his voice. "Really, in times like these, when, as the +paraphrase runs, 'days are dark and friends are few,' and 'gathering +clouds' are the normal outlook, it is a duty to be comfortable and +bring up the average. When Marmaduke was--was here--he was for ever at +me for extravagance. Hated the Jews and used to borrow from old Jack +Jardine instead. Paid off something, but not all, I'm afraid; and +Pitt, the virtuous Pitt--he owed him thousands. However, as I was +saying, it's a duty nowadays to be comfortable, so I've any amount of +_post-obits_ out--to say nothing of kites. They're always coming back +wanting a longer string or a new tail. But I don't care. The old man +may outlast me, and anyhow I can't live long; so it's a short life and +a merry one." + +Looking at his hectic flush and with a damp cold of his hands fresh on +the touch of hers Marrion did not feel inclined to combat his easy +philosophy. + +"And your father?" she asked. + +Peter shrugged his shoulders. + +"As usual, only more so." He paused and spoke more seriously. "Of +course Marmaduke's death cut him to the quick. But I won't speak of +that--I can't. He was the only one--and I believe it was the same with +the Baron. He showed it in anger. Won't see or hear of me, yet I'd do +my best for him. 'Pon my soul, that old man has been the curse of all +our lives." + +Marrion sat silent. In a way it was true. The old spider had enticed +more flies than he knew of into his net. But for her desire that +Marmaduke should not fall foul of his father---- + +But that way lay madness. She was beginning to learn that she could +scarcely trust her own judgment. The whole thing was so pitiful that +reason seemed impossible. + +"And may I have the ring?" she asked, in order to change the _venue_. + +"You can have that, and a good deal more besides," replied Peter Muir, +giving her a queer look as he rose to go to a despatch-box that lay on +the table and which Marrion recognised as Marmaduke's. + +"When this thing came home," he continued, searching in it. "Oh, +here is the ring!" (He handed it to her, and she thrilled at the +touch of it, as she would have thrilled to the touch of the man who +had worn it.) "I did not look over the papers very carefully--I +hadn't the heart; but when I was looking for that ring yesterday, I +found--something--which interests you." + +He held out an envelope and she took it indifferently; few things +really interested her nowadays. It was addressed to Major Muir at his +club, and a vague wonder as to what it could contain crossed her mind +as she took out the paper it contained. + +Then she sat silent staring at it helplessly, for it was Duke's +counterpart of their marriage bond which she thought she had seen +burnt to ashes on that night when Marmaduke had said, "You have made +me feel like a scoundrel!" + +How idle, how unreal this world was! Could one be sure of anything? +Could one be certain that everything was not a dream? + +Peter's voice roused her. + +"Of course it doesn't make much difference to us now. Marmaduke left a +very few pounds, and your third as wife wouldn't amount to anything. +But there is his portion when the peer dies, and I can't see why my +young oaf of a cousin who will come in eventually should have it; for +even if I outlive my father I shall have enough for my time. And you +were--well, you were a brick to Marmaduke--and to me, too. You always +denied this marriage: but I had a notion it was only denial. There is +no reason, therefore, why you shouldn't use this--it is proof positive +of marriage, and if I were you I would. You are the only survivor and +therefore have the action; besides, it would annoy the old man +extremely, and, upon my soul, he deserves all he can get." + +He had struck the wrong chord. To Marrion, absorbed in the one +enthralling question as to whether Marmaduke had known of this +survival or whether he had not, the suggestion that she was the sole +arbiter came as a shock. + +"We agreed," she said slowly, "to annul the marriage. He thought--I +know he thought--this paper had been burnt; and it doesn't make any +difference to our intention that it wasn't. And then we promised, we +both promised your father no claim should ever be made. Because Duke +is dead is that any reason----" + +She rose suddenly, walked to the fireplace, and threw the envelope and +its contents on the fire. + +"That is what Duke meant," she muttered to herself helplessly. + +Peter Muir watched her with a half-cynical, half-admiring smile. + +"Well, you know best, my dear. And, of course, I personally would +never let you come to want." The capable woman looked at him, the +incapable man, with wondering tolerance. "Still, I must say I am +disappointed. I should like to have seen the governor's face when you +sprang it upon him. Remember he is the villain of the piece and, as I +said, deserves everything he can get." + +"That may be," replied Marrion, "but can't you see we were all at +fault? And we have to pay for it. We must--you can't get rid of the +past." + +She said the words over and over to herself, and it was not till she +reached her lodgings that she realised fully that the past had claimed +the future. Yet what else could she have done? If she had only known +what Duke would have said! Had he found out the paper, or had he not? +Was that the reason why in those short ten days of heaven he had +never, never, never alluded to the past? And yet that heavenly present +had become the past too, and had stretched out into the future. Had +she been taken by surprise? Had she made another mistake? + +She threw herself on her bed and cried quite foolishly, until +perforce, being physically unable to cry any more, her mind reasserted +itself and thought came again. + +One thing seemed clear. She could not possibly tell what Duke knew or +did not know; she could not be sure what he would have thought; and +she would have no more of trying to impose her views on him. + +That being so, the only person who had any say in the matter was Lord +Drummuir. For the sake of the heir he might absolve her of the +promise. But the child might be a girl, it might not live. Finally she +began to cry again softly, silently; the tears that count for utter +soul-weariness. And in truth she was weary--the one thing that seemed +clear being that she had failed; that she had mismanaged everything, +that everything seemed in a hopeless tangle. She was, in sober truth, +very near the limit of perfect sanity when, with a passport secured +through Peter Muir's Vienna influence, she started for Krakowitz, the +village on the Russian side of the Carpathians, near which the +Pauloffski estates lay. It was a difficult journey--one which she had +judged rightly had better be undertaken at once; but the change did +her good, and she was almost herself again before it came to a +conclusion; yet as the sledge with its tinkling bells and four horses +toiled up the last hill or two she felt depression come upon her +again. The outlook, supremely beautiful, was still melancholy to a +degree. Snow, snow everywhere. The towering peaks, the valleys, the +pine forests all burdened with it, like Marmaduke's grave had been. A +light burden, but so cold--so deathly cold! + +As the sledge dashed up the steep narrow drive and the pine trees that +swept their snow layered branches overhead some of their burden fell +in soft masses on Marrion's furs. + +The driver turned round with a smile and said in Russian: + +"That is absolution from sin, Excellency." + +Curious answer to her thoughts, and with the answer came a +remembrance, "Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white +as snow." + +And the remembrance brought confidence. Perhaps, after all, the tangle +consequent on her playing Providence might be going to be straightened +out. + +The front door of the unpretentious tower, with a building like a barn +built on to it, that stood magnificently on a little plateau +overlooking the valley with a faint glimpse of plain beyond, was wide +open, and at it, standing against, but not leaning upon the pilaster, +was the most striking figure of a woman Marrion thought she had ever +seen. Extreme old age had set its mark on the lined face, with thin +white hair drawn under a lace lappet; but the figure was that of a +girl of twenty. Extraordinarily tall, massive in proportion, but +upright as a dart and with activity in every curve and line. + +The lady gave a dignified bow as Marrion, still closely veiled as +protection from the bitter cold, came up the steps. + +"Princess Pauloffski?" she asked tentatively in French, for it was +impossible to think the figure that of a servant. + +"I am Princess Pauloffski," was the dignified reply in slightly +guttural French. + +"Might I speak with you for a few minutes?" continued Marrion +nervously. + +The Princess smiled. + +"Ah, you are English! My son Paul was a long time in England or +Scotland," she replied in better English than her French. "You must be +cold; come in and take off your wraps." + +A few rapid words in the country dialect sent driver and sledge round +to the stables while Marrion, with an unforeseen thrill of pleasure, +recognised that this beautiful old princess must be her grandmother. + +"I was looking for my sons and daughters who are dead," said her +hostess quietly as she led the way into the house. "The dead always +come back with the snow--and I have so many." + +Despite the warmth of the wide passage heated by a huge stove Marrion +felt a slight shiver run through her. How had her grandmother learnt +to speak of the dead as if they were alive? + +As she passed on to a sitting-room where a great fire of pine logs was +burning on an open hearth Marrion removed her veil and threw off her +heavy fur cloak. + +So, as she came out of the dark passage into the sunlight that +streamed through the sitting-room windows, she stood revealed. The +effect was not nearly as startling as she had anticipated, but it was +far more overwhelming. + +The old face lit up with sudden pleasure, the thin old hands were +stretched out-- + +"Sacha!" she said. "Darling, after all these years! And you never came +before. Paul did--and he was your twin--though he has only just gone, +Sacha! I have wanted you so often." + +The tears sprang to Marrion's eyes. + +"Dear lady," she said, taking the outstretched hands and holding their +chilliness of age in her warm clasp, "I am not Sacha. I am Paul's +daughter!" + +Princess Pauloffski drew back and passed her hand over her eyes. + +"Excuse me. I forget. I live so much alone and my dead come to see me +so often when there is snow. But if you are not Sacha----" She took a +step forward and scanned her visitor narrowly. "You say you are Paul's +daughter--an English daughter--did he then marry over there? For it is +true you are his daughter--even his twin was not more like. Come, sit +down, child, and tell me how you come by Paul Pauloffski's face?" + +It was almost incredible! Marrion as she obeyed her grandmother's +gesture felt inexpressible relief. Here there was no haggling, no +questioning. She was taken literally on her face value. It was a haven +of rest. + +Together they sat on the quaint old settle as if they had known each +other for years, while Marrion told her tale. She produced the golden +snuff-box, with its glittering monogram, and laid it in the old +Princess's lap; but she merely glanced at it. Her chilly old hands +were busy detaining the hand that had laid it there--the hand that was +still alive. + +"Yes, Paul is dead," she murmured, half to herself. "Sacha died first +when she was so beautiful, like you. And Paul's wife died, and now his +two sons are gone; there is none left but me, and I am very old. And +now you come--tell me more, child!" + +And Marrion went on with the story. It was like a dream to be sitting +there in the streaming sunlight heart to heart as it were with someone +of whose very existence she had been unaware but one short half-hour +before. + +"Was he a commoner or noble?" asked the old princess quickly, when +Marrion mentioned her marriage. + +"He had no title then," began the latter. + +The old fingers tightened their curiously protecting clasp. + +"Then you are still Princess Pauloffski! I am glad," was interrupted +with satisfaction. "We of this house do not change our names when we +marry beneath us, as I did; for, my dear, this, the soil"--she +waved her other hand in an all-embracing gesture--"was my father's, +and my father's father's. My husband was a good kind man. I loved +him--but---- Go on, child." + +And Marrion went on. + +"Now, God be praised!--God in His High Heaven be praised!" cried the +old Princess exultantly. "And you here--braving the cold, spending +your life!" She seized a little brazen bell that lay on the table +beside her and rang it violently. A very old maid-servant appeared, +and was addressed volubly in patois. But that many orders were given +Marrion judged by the frequent bob curtsey of the domestic who finally +trotted out in great haste. + +"Not one word more, darling!" cried the old woman, forgetful of +everything save abounding sympathy. "Quick, to the fire! Toast your +feet--so! Lean back on the cushions! Make yourself quite comfortable. +Remember you have to think of someone besides yourself." She dragged +an armchair closer to the hearth with all the strength of youth. She +bustled the cushions to shape; she removed Marrion's hat and finally +kissed her softly on the forehead with a murmured, "God bless you +both!" + +It was too much. Marrion dissolved into slow quiet tears. For the +first time since Doctor Forsyth had told her why she must go home she +felt really that she was blessed amongst women--yea, amongst women +like this one! + +"But you don't know!" she half sobbed. "You haven't looked to see. I +may be an impostor." + +"Not with that face, dearie," beamed the old Princess. "Cry on! The +tears will warm your heart. It has been cold, I expect, and little +ones don't thrive when the heart above them is cold. Ah, here comes +Magda with the posset!" + +And Marrion drank something hot and spicy and delicious while the +mistress discoursed to the old serving-maid and the old serving-maid +finally fell at Marrion's feet and positively worshipped her. + +It was all so bewildering, so unexpected, that Marrion just lay back +and let the slow tears trickle down her cheeks in quiet orderly +fashion. The puzzledom, the regrets of the last few months, seemed to +vanish. For a while, in stress of these new emotions, she forgot even +her grief for Duke. + +But as the two women, the old and the young one, sat and talked after +the sledge had been sent away, and Marrion had been simply commanded +to remain for at least a week to rest, there was enough of grief and +to spare in their conversation, besides Marmaduke's death--over which +the Princess was vaguely sympathetic--since, though he had been a +British soldier, he had, by the decree of Providence, not drawn his +sword as an enemy. And Marrion had been as an angel of mercy healing +Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics without distinction. Had she not +closed the eyes of her own father? + +"I knew that he was dead," said the firm old voice, "though he was +only reported as missing; for he came back as the children of this old +house always do come back to see it once more. Alexis and Danish both +came also--they were fine young fellows, and I wept when the news +came; but they died as Pauloffskis should die, fighting for the +master. And I have wept--dear heart! how I have wept to think that +never again would a real son of the real race rule over the barren +acres; for, see you, there are no near collaterals. The Pauloffski men +die young, fighting, as my sons and grandsons died. But now"--she +clasped her hands ecstatically--"now there will be an heir." + +"Supposing it is a girl," suggested Marrion, half laughing, half +crying. + +The old woman swept her hands out in an indignant unconcern. + +"What matters it? A child is ever a child! Ever a chip of the old +block, ever a fresh root of an old race. We have no Salic law here in +Russia. A princess is as a prince; mayhap better for the old acres, as +she does not spend so much money!" + +Marrion, accustomed to the rigid rules made by men, listened amazed +and interested; but indeed every word that fell from Princess +Pauloffski's lips seemed to tighten the bond between them. + +She had often wondered when she found herself--as she had done so +often--at loggerheads with her _milieu_ whether she was like her +father. Now she knew that she had inherited even her faults from this +strange weird old woman who lived a lonely life amongst the pine +forests, who saw dead people and yet ruled her domains with absolute +despotism. Marrion had never had a really intimate woman friend +before. She found one here, and, as if by magic, all her doubts and +fears vanished. There was but one thing she kept to herself, and that +was the possible difficulty which might arise in proving the future +little Prince or Princess Pauloffski's title, if legal proof of his or +her parents' marriage was not forthcoming. But it was only a possible +difficulty. For all she knew in this land where women seemed to stand +equal with men, a right coming to a child through its mother might be +inalienable. She did not know. She did not care to ask. For the time +being, she was happy as never before in all her life she had been +happy. The ten days' paradise with Duke had not been of this world. +But even so it had been restless. The happiness had been felt. Here +one did not think, did not feel. One was content. + +So she wandered with the old Princess, her grandmother--who, though +she was past eighty, still walked like a girl--through the pine woods. +She visited the peasants' cottages where, after voluble discoursings, +the women always fell at her feet and worshipped her. She came back to +frugal meals and quiet evenings, when the Princess would discourse +over every subject under the sun; for she was a great reader and +brought a shrewd feminine wit to bear on most problems. And the most +startling thing about it was that never for one instant did she admit +the slightest inferiority due to her sex. + +"Men think so," she would say, "but they are wrong. By nature they are +hunters and fighters and thinkers. It is the women who manage the +affairs. It will be better for the world when this is recognised." + +In those days this was rank heresy, and even Marrion hesitated to +admit its truth. But the most remarkable thing about her grandmother +was the stable youthfulness of her outlook. Nothing seemed to affect +it. Death itself made way for her strong personality. + +So the days passed to weeks, the weeks to more than a month, and +Marrion still lingered. A very different heritage this from the +storm-set cliffs, the rich fields of Aberdeenshire. And a different +ancestress this from the wild, wicked old man, spinning his +spider's-web round his very children. + +Should she, after all, go and ask him to let her break her promise for +the sake of the heir? Would it not be better to let the heirship of +evil slip, and choose the heirship of good? + +The question was still undecided when, after many delays, she set foot +on English ground again. And then the first thing to meet her eyes in +the newspaper was the death of Marmaduke, sixteenth Baron Drummuir. +There was a whole column about his many virtues; a vague reference to +"sprightly youth" summing up his vices. The article ended thus: "The +title descends to the late peer's third son Peter, who, we regret to +learn, is in a very delicate state of health. None of the late lord's +sons having any issue, the heir presumptive is a distant cousin, etc." + +Marrion felt vaguely relieved. Unless Andrew Fraser turned up--and he, +she knew, if he saw Marmaduke's child, would move heaven and earth to +establish his claim to the title--she was quit of Drummuir. But had +she any right to be quit of it? The old arguments for and against came +back; she began to worry over them once more, especially when the +verdict of the Edinburgh specialist to whom she told her tale with +passionate assurances that a child's life was always more valuable +than a woman's, came succinctly and to the point. + +"In this case, my dear lady, the question does not appear to me to +enter. With care I see no reason why both should not survive." + +It was something of a shock, for it materialised many doubts, many +difficulties. + + + + + CHAPTER XII + + +The spring had passed to early summer when Marrion, with her little +son in her arms, sat in a sheltered nook among the cliffs on the +Aberdeenshire coast, looking northwards over the curved sea-line +towards the promontory some fifteen miles away, on which she knew the +old castle of Drummuir stood as it had stood for centuries. But she +could not see it with her physical eyes, and even in her mental ones +it bulked but little. + +For the great protective possession of motherhood had overwhelmed her, +and her very regret and remembrance of Marmaduke only made her hug her +child closer--as his, and hers. + +At first when she realised that life spread before both her and the +little Marmaduke she had agonised over the thought that by her own act +she had deprived him of his birthright; but by degrees she became more +content as she persuaded herself that that fateful envelope could +scarcely have remained in Marmaduke's despatch-box without his +knowledge. Yet he had never mentioned it. If he had repented of the +action which at the time he had said made him feel like a scoundrel he +could have amended it. And he had not done so. Never, never had he +breathed one word to show that he held her, whom he had so tardily +learnt to love, as his wife. + +And here in her chain of reasoning she always stopped; for she knew--how +could she help knowing?--that if he had lived--if--if---- Always that +if, and if life had to be lived, it must be set aside. And life had to +be lived. + +This brought her back to the child in her arms, and she dreamt happily +enough of the future. + +It was not as if the boy had no home. As long as Princess Pauloffski +ruled over the pine woods, the quaint homely farmhouses, and the +devoted peasants, little Marmaduke would have more than welcome; for +every week brought ecstatic letters from that entrancing personality +which had already made such a mark on Marrion's character. In a way +she felt that she had never understood her own womanhood until she had +met with the all-embracing femininity of the brave, wise, old mind +which seemed to hold a grip of the whole world in its very isolation +and solitude. + +Yes, the child could have no better home; and even when the +commanding, lovable figure passed, it might be that he would remain as +heir. + +So Marrion was in a fever to have the child there, yet at the back of +her mind was a vague regret; and she had chosen the little +Aberdeenshire fishing village as the place for her convalescence +because from it she could see the view of her childhood and +girlhood--see right away to Rattray Head and beyond it----? The North +Pole! + +She was not afraid of being recognised. Fifteen miles in the country +effaces all familiarity, and she kept much to herself, taking the +child down with her day after day, to some sheltered sandy nook, where +in the hot June weather she could sit and dream--rather idly, it must +be confessed, for the sheer delight of living to have a living child +had absorbed her mind. So the days passed, until for the last time she +carried it down to her favourite beach. + +The dry warm sand was a perfect cradle for the child. She scraped a +little hollow in it at her feet, laid her treasure down, and sat on a +boulder beside it, in absolute worship. The waves, always restless on +the North Sea, tinkled a lullaby on the rocks hard by. + +She was roused by the sound of a footstep. So few folk ever passed +that she looked up surprised. Then she gave a glad cry and stood up +holding out both hands; for it was Andrew Fraser. He also held out a +hand, for one empty sleeve of his coat was pinned to his breast. He +came rapidly towards her, seemingly unobservant of the child, till +within a few feet of her. Then he stopped dead and stared at what lay +at her feet. + +"I didna know," he said, brokenly at last. "They didna say---- God, +but I'm glad, Marrion! Oh, Marrion, I'm glad!" + +Then without waiting to greet her he knelt down for a closer look. +"He's a real Drummuir," he went on ecstatically, "and he is Drummuir! +Ah," he added, a trifle irrationally, "that the colonel could ha' +lived to see little Lord Drummuir!" + +Something gripped at Marrion's heart. + +"Don't let us speak of that now, Andrew," she said hastily. "I want to +know--everything--your poor arm----" + +But Andrew for the time being was entranced. + +"It's me," he said, "is wanting to know! And how old will he be? And +why did the doctor fellow no tell me when he tauld me aboot you?" + +It was not easy to beguile him from the subject, but bit by bit +Marrion got from him a sparse account of how, he had been a Russian +prisoner, how he had lost his arm, had been exchanged as disabled, and +in Balaklava had come across Doctor Forsyth, who had given him an +address in Edinburgh where he would be sure to hear of Marrion. How it +was a doctor fellow who had been too busy to do more than supply him +with the name of the village, whither he had come to find---- + +Here Marrion, recognising that all roads must lead to the one point, +took heart of grace and said gently-- + +"Me and my child. It has made me very happy, Andrew. And I am so glad +you found me to-day, for I am going away to-morrow." + +Andrew stood up. + +"Goin' whaur?" he asked sharply. "Tae Drummuir? An' why are ye not +there the now?" + +"Because I have no right there, Andrew," she replied, feeling herself +tremble, despite the boldness of her words. + +"Ye may have nane, woman," he broke in sternly, "but your child has +the right to all! Are ye gain' tae steal it frae him? An' it's +foolishness tae talk your way; ye ken fine that before God and man +ye're the colonel's wife!" + +"That may be," she retorted, "but as I told you long ago there is no +legal proof of it--and I do not choose--I have settled what I think +right, and I can have no interference." + +"An' is it what _you_ wish that is tae take the birthright from an +innocent wean that canna speak for himself?" burst in Andrew +passionately. "I tell ye, Marrion, that neither you nor the +colonel--God rest him for a brave gentleman--have any right tae order +yon poor scrap o' God's makin'. I tell ye he was born to be Drummuir +o' Drummuir, an' Drummuir o' Drummuir he'll be till the last trump!" + +He paused, breathless with anger and resentment while Marrion stood +speechless, the babe between them lying placidly asleep. + +"But Andrew----" she began helplessly. + +"But I'll no thole it," he continued, his whole ugly face aflame +with an emotion which made it almost beautiful. "See here, Marrion +Muir--for that you are--I've lived my life thinkin' ye were abune me, +but ye'll be beneath me if ye steal the very name from that poor +bairn. But ye sall not do it. I'll awa to Peter Muir and tell him----" + +The threat roused her and she turned on him. + +"You can do as you like, Andrew; but it will be no use. You can't do +anything without me. I wish you would be reasonable and listen! We +promised--the colonel and I promised--we both promised--and we +promised each other----" + +"Ye had na the right tae promise!" he interrupted fiercely. "An' I'll +hear nae mair o' your woman's clatter. Yon babe's my master's son an' +Lord Drummuir, sae I doff ma cap to him." + +Which he did in the stateliest fashion, and then stalked away without +another word, leaving Marrion confronted with a host of new +difficulties. + +She lifted the child up and carried him back to her lodgings, feeling +she could do nothing to save the situation. There was little hope of +getting Andrew to listen to--no, not to reason, that had long ceased +to have any part in the strange catalogue of mistakes--but to listen +to what she had to say. + +And what had she to say? Her mind began laboriously on the past, +counting her own mistakes. Why had she done this? Why had she done +that? It was fear that had made her do everything--fear of the old man +who sat like a spider in his web, the old man whom his own son had +wished her to anger, because he had been throughout the villain of the +piece! But would he have been so if she had given him the chance? + +"I am sorry the little chap died; he would have been game." + +The memory of those parting words stung her to the quick. What a fool +she had been I Why had she not gone at once to Lord Drummuir and told +him the truth? She had meant to do so, but she had been too late--too +late! Well, there was no use crying over spilt milk. + +So she sat going over and over the whole thing again, and yet again, +until late in the evening the little lassie of the lodgings brought +her a message that a man who was lying at Mistress McMurdo's was +feelin' ill and would like to see her just for a little. The child +being asleep she slipped over to the cottage to find Andrew Fraser +once more a prey to his old enemy, tropical fever--a quaint, insistent +enemy which, after lying low for years, will seize advantage of any +disturbance of mind or body to reassert itself. + +So there he was, as she had seen him before, trembling and shaking, +with a glitter in his eyes and a flush on his face, lying huddled up +under his military cloak on the sofa. Once again he slipped his feet +apologetically to the ground as he saw her and essayed to stand +straight--a pathetic sight, his body weak, his mind strong--so strong! + +"I'm sorry, ma'am," he said, with studied ceremony, "if I, was +over-heated the day, for you're my master's wife. But it's no oorsels, +ye see. It's just Providence, an' we daurna play Providence. It's +dangerous work. Sae I couldna help it, ma'am. The wean's Drummuir o' +Drummuir----" + +And there he was going over the old ground again and again. + +She could but try to soothe him and leave him, knowing in her +heart of hearts that nothing she could say would ever move him one +hair's-breadth from what he thought right. + +She spent a restless night; she could scarcely do otherwise. + +"Are you gaun to steal the very name frae the puir bairn?" was +sufficient to keep her awake. Once more she found herself in a +maelstrom of doubt. Wearied out, the first blink of dawn rising clear +and lucent over the dark sea seemed to her a godsend. She crept out of +her bed leaving the child asleep, and, dressing herself, wrapped a +cloak about her, and so seating herself on a rock at the very edge of +the cliff within earshot of the cottage where she lodged, set herself +once more to watch the peaceful coming of light, which had so often +brought her wisdom. + +So had it looked that dawning when she and Duke--ah! always, always +she and Duke! How curiously Fate had joined them. Yet she had +disregarded Fate's handiwork even while she had told herself she had +been aiding it. + +Far over in the east the light was growing. So it had grown that +morning when she and Duke swam---- + +She seemed to feel his arm on her shoulders, the touch of her arm on +his neck, the cold kiss of the bitter sea stinging soul and body to +new joyous life. She saw his happy face alight with laughter. + +"Look! Isn't it worth it?" + +Yes, it had been worth it, well worth it! And even as on that distant +June morning while she looked, the restless dark horizon of the sea +seemed to melt and soften, and the path of radiant gold sent by the +first ray of the rising sun seemed to touch her feet and bring her +answer-- + +Yes, life was well worth it indeed! + +Who was she to cavil at what Fate had done? Who was she to worry over +what she thought she had done? Comprehension came to her, she saw a +clear and ordered sequence in which even her mistakes bore their +fitting fruit. Life seemed to hold no cares, no errors, no +animosities. + +What was it Duke had said about taking too much wine that night? + +"I shan't do it again, but I shouldn't have had this perfectly +stunning time if I hadn't, should I?" + +So it was in her life. She had had joy through her mistakes. She and +her Love had been alone in the Great Sea of Time battling with the +waves as best they could. + +Nothing else mattered. They might be waifs on that sea, but they were +together. + +She slipped to her knees and watched the sun rise. Over how many +mistakes, how many wasted minutes and opportunities and lives! + +Wasted? No--not wasted. Even mistakes had their appointed place. Even +the old man who had made the castle over yonder a spider's-web of evil +was part of the Great Plan. + +Slowly the light grew. The cottages below in the tiny fishing village +began to send up thin blue threads of smoke. The figure of a man or a +woman began to pass along the narrow causeway. And someone came up the +steps towards her cottage, then paused, seeing her. + +"Ye'll be Mistress Marsden likely," he said, "for I've no seen ye +before. There's a saxpence tae pay, but ye can gie it to the lassie +for me till I come back." + +The postman handed her a letter as he spoke and went on his way, for +his round was a long one. + +She looked at the envelope curiously. The original address was almost +undecipherable, being defaced with innumerable new ones, or brief +notices, "Gone away;" "Try so and so." + +Still the name was hers. A bill likely, sent to her old London address +and forwarded to the Crimea and back again. Twice, so it seemed to her +as she tried to decipher the postmarks. + +Then she opened it, noting with a vague spasm of memory that a curious +embossed presentment of foxhounds in full cry ran right across the +flap. Where had she seen that device before? + +Surely on some envelope that Marmaduke-- + +The writing too was vaguely familiar. The writing of a person with +brains, but strangely shaky and irregular: + + +"DEAR MADAM, + +"Since my son Marmaduke has chosen to deprive me of the possibility of +an heir by dying--not even on the field of battle--out at Varna, I +return the enclosed. I don't know why I kept it. To have a hold over +the young man at bottom, I expect. Perhaps for other reasons. One +doesn't often meet women of your description. Anyhow, I haven't. + +"You can now claim your position and dowry, which my d----d cousin can +very well afford to pay. + +"Besides, you are worth providing for; more, at any rate than my Lady +and Penelope, and I have done that. So I die quits; except for my son +Peter. Why didn't he get cholera instead of Marmaduke? I could have +spared him. + + "Yours, + + "DRUMMUIR." + + +The enclosure was the copy of the marriage lines which she thought she +had seen the old lord in the act of destroying as she had left the +room. + +Yes, across the middle fold the beginning of a tear slit the paper. + +She sat with the letter in her hand until the cry of a child made her +rise hastily and go to her task of motherhood. + + + + + L'ENVOI + + +"And you mean to say," said Peter Muir, when he had heard her tale, +"that knowing this imp," he looked at the child she carried, "who is +to turn me out, was on the way you burnt that paper found in +Marmaduke's despatch-box? I give up. Thank God one does not often meet +women of your description!" + +But as he spoke he was looking in the child's face. + +"He will be the image of his father," he remarked at last, "and, dash +it all! but I am glad, yes, glad he's here!" Then, with a shrug of his +shoulders, he turned away. "It will be a sell for the Jews, I'm +afraid, though it serves the horse-leeches very well right!" + +"It need not be a sell at all," replied Marrion. "The child shall have +the title--he must have that--but not one penny of the money shall he +take till the debts are paid, Mr. Peter! I know the law. I have +studied it to find out where I stand; and you are the boy's natural +guardian. I"--she spoke bitterly--"am only the mother. I have no +say. But I am going to buy freedom from you. Live here--promise me +that--use the monies as your own. Keep the old place up for the child; +but I will take him for myself. I will bring him up away from the evil +traditions of this old house, and when he comes back to it, a man +grown, he will be different--even from his father--even, I hope, from +me!" + +So she said then, but as the years passed little Lord Drummuir came +more than once to visit his invalid uncle, for Peter, away from the +excitements of town life, defied the doctors for a time. And from the +Carpathian pine woods the little lad travelled more than once to a +solitary cairn on the Balkan hills by the side of which Andrew +Fraser--who never ceased rejoicing that his plain speaking had shown +Marrion the wickedness of stealing the bairn's name--would tell him +marvellous tales of the dead colonel, his father, and of his prowess +in every way. + +The honest fellow had but one care. The double title was the fly in +the honey-pot, and when the old Princess would ask, "Where is Prince +Pauloffski?" Andrew would invariably reply: "Lord Drummuir is waiting +on his mother." + +Thus the game of life went on and it was well worth it. + +But perhaps, as Marrion often told herself, the honours lay with one +who in that life had been the curse of his family. + + + + + + * * * * * + BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD ENGLAND + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Marmaduke, by Flora Annie Steel + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARMADUKE *** + +***** This file should be named 39857-8.txt or 39857-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/8/5/39857/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by +Google Books (University of California) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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/license + + +Title: Marmaduke + +Author: Flora Annie Steel + +Release Date: May 29, 2012 [EBook #39857] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARMADUKE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by +Google Books (University of California) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p class="hang1">Transcriber's Notes:<br> +<br> +1. Page scan source:<br> +<br> +http://books.google.com/books?id=RWkpAQAAIAAJ<br> +(University of California)</p> + + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p class="right" style="font-size:150%"><b>Marmaduke</b></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>Marmaduke</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h5>By</h5> + +<h2>Flora Annie Steel</h2> + +<h5>Author of<br> +"On the Face of the Waters," "A Sovereign Remedy,"<br> +"King-Errant," etc.</h5> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>New York<br> +Frederick A. Stokes Company<br> +Publishers<br> +1917</h3> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h5><i>Printed in Great Britain</i></h5> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +<br> +<h3><a name="div1Ref_01.0" href="#div1_01.0">BOOK I.</a></h3> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_01.1" href="#div1_01.1">CHAPTER I</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_01.2" href="#div1_01.2">CHAPTER II</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_01.3" href="#div1_01.3">CHAPTER III</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_01.4" href="#div1_01.4">CHAPTER IV</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_01.5" href="#div1_01.5">CHAPTER V</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_01.6" href="#div1_01.6">CHAPTER VI</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_01.7" href="#div1_01.7">CHAPTER VII</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_01.8" href="#div1_01.8">CHAPTER VIII</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_01.9" href="#div1_01.9">CHAPTER IX</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_01.10" href="#div1_01.10">CHAPTER X</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_01.11" href="#div1_01.11">CHAPTER XI</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_01.12" href="#div1_01.12">CHAPTER XII</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_01.13" href="#div1_01.13">CHAPTER XIII</a></h4> +<br> +<h3><a name="div1Ref_02.0" href="#div1_02.0">BOOK II.</a></h3> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_02.1" href="#div1_02.1">CHAPTER I</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_02.2" href="#div1_02.2">CHAPTER II</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_02.3" href="#div1_02.3">CHAPTER III</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_02.4" href="#div1_02.4">CHAPTER IV</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_02.5" href="#div1_02.5">CHAPTER V</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_02.6" href="#div1_02.6">CHAPTER VI</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_02.7" href="#div1_02.7">CHAPTER VII</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_02.8" href="#div1_02.8">CHAPTER VIII</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_02.9" href="#div1_02.9">CHAPTER IX</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_02.10" href="#div1_02.10">CHAPTER X</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_02.11" href="#div1_02.11">CHAPTER XI</a></h4> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_02.12" href="#div1_02.12">CHAPTER XII</a></h4> +<br> +<h4><a name="div1Ref_02.13" href="#div1_02.13">L'ENVOI</a></h4> + + + + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_01.0" href="#div1Ref_01.0">BOOK I.</a></h2> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_01.1" href="#div1Ref_01.1">CHAPTER I</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"Hello, Davie! Is that you, Davie Sim?" cried a joyous young voice; +then it changed suddenly, with a verve which showed pure delight in +the unfamiliar yet familiar dialect, from correct English to the +broadest Aberdeenshire accent. "Eh, mon, ye're joost the same ow'd tod +o' a pease-bogle wi' yer bonnet ajee, an' a crookit mou'; yen hauf +given tae psaulm singin' and tither tae pipe-blawing!" The voice +paused a bit breathlessly as if it had exhausted itself over the +unwonted exercise, then went on in slightly less aggressive Doric. +"Well, I'm blythe to see you lookin' sae weel. An' is that tall lass +Marrion?"</p> + +<p class="normal">An easy gallantry came to his tones as the speaker, a fine young +fellow of obviously military bearing, turned to a girl who stood very +still by the window.</p> + +<p class="normal">"By gad," the young man went on with the same easy condescension, "you +have grown into a pretty girl! Give us a kiss, my dear; you know you +used to be fond of 'Mr. Duke' in the----"</p> + +<p class="normal">Then suddenly silence fell between the two young people. Something in +the tall still figure by the window seemed to abash the tall figure +making its way easily towards it, and left them looking at each other +critically.</p> + +<p class="normal">They were as fine a couple physically as God ever made to come +together as man and woman. They were almost alike in stature and +strength--she slightly the smaller--and both seemed equal in abounding +health, though he was florid and she somewhat pale with the pallor of +the thick creamy skin that goes with red-bronze hair.</p> + +<p class="normal">She spoke at last, the thin curves of her mouth clipping her words +sharply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's mony to tell me yon and crave kisses since you an' me was +hafflins together, Mr. Duke," she said coolly. "I beg yer pardon, +Captain Marmaduke!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The Honourable Captain Marmaduke Muir, second son of the sixteenth +Baron Drummuir of Drummuir, home on leave after an absence of ten +years on foreign service, looked at the grand-daughter of his father's +head piper and general majordomo as if considering anger. He was too +good looking to be accustomed to such rebuffs from pretty girls, +especially when they were manifestly beneath him in station. Then +suddenly he laughed. The years had fled, and he was a boy again in +fast fellowship with a small hoyden of a girl; a girl four years his +junior, but infinitely his superior in common sense; a girl who had +kept him out of many a scrape and who hadn't scrupled on occasion to +box his ears, young master though he was. With a sudden flash of +memory the occasion came back to him, and he saw himself, a strong lad +of fourteen, wading a swollen stream with the ten-year-old girlie on +his back, a string of handsome trouties he had been catching hanging +like a tail from his hands clasped behind his burden. He heard the +agonised cry in mid-stream, "They're slippin', Maister Duke, they're +slippin'! Let me down till I hoosen them up!" He heard the stiff +reply: "Let 'em slip; I'll no let ye down tae soak ye through!" And +then the woeful battle of wills that ensued, while the trouties +slipped from the string one by one. A battle which ended in a sobbing +girlie ankle deep in water, an empty string, and a defiant lad with +young crimson ears. He felt his mature ones tingle with amusement at +the recollection, and at the recognition that the girlie was as ready +of resentment as ever.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ods bobs, Marmie!" he cried, his face full of mischief. "It seems +you've no forgotten the whaur-aboots of my lugs," and his hands went +up to his face as if to protect them.</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl crimsoned.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I begged your pardon then, Captain Marmaduke, and I beg it again if +I've offended----" she began defiantly.</p> + +<p class="normal">He interrupted her with an absolutely charming smile, a deference that +was unanswerable.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And I beg yours for remembering what I should have forgotten. So we +are quits and can surely shake hands on it like the good friends we +always were, and"--here his voice took on additional charm--"always +will be. Of that I am sure."</p> + +<p class="normal">His bold blue eyes were on hers frankly, and she gave him back his +look steadily. So they stood, shapely hand in shapely hand, for a +second. Then his left fingers caught at hers and felt the first one +inquisitively.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hullo, seamstress, that's new?" he queried, evidently pleased with +his own cleverness in detection.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion Paul drew her hand away sharply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've been at the dressmaking in Edinbro' these six years since +grandfather married," she replied coldly.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke looked at Davie Sim incredulously.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What, Davie! You old reprobate, who the deuce did you get to marry +you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">There was no answer. Possibly Davie did not hear, for he was rootling +round the kitchen fire with the poker--a most unnecessary task that +sweltering June day. Perhaps, also, it was flame-reflection which made +his face show red under the wide Tam o' Shanter bonnet he invariably +wore in his own house; why it would be difficult to say, except that +outside the precincts of home he was for ever doffing it before +somebody or another. For Davie Sims had been born hereditary servitor +to the Drummuir family, and had every intention of dying in the same +position.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He married Penelope from the castle," came Marrion's voice +relentlessly, "and his lordship gave her away."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The devil he did," remarked the young man helplessly to both pieces +of information, after a moment's pause due evidently to mingled +outrage and amusement. "Well," he added, in male defiance of the +woman's point of view, "I expect she makes him an excellent wife."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Most excellent!" assented Marrion, with a curl of her lip. "So, as +she happens to be gone on a visit, I have come back to stay a while--a +little while--with grandfather."</p> + +<p class="normal">Her diction, bar the one slight slip, was as free from provincialism +as his own, and Marmaduke Muir looked at her appreciatively. She was +different from the hoyden he had left. Perhaps in Edinburgh she had +gone in for classes. And she was better looking too, though much too +tall for a woman. Then her mouth, though passable in its thin decided +curves, was far too wide for beauty.</p> + +<p class="normal">Still, she was altogether sufficiently pleasant to look upon for +Marmaduke to feel it necessary for him to charm. Not that either by +nature or art he was a lady-killer. To do him justice, he would have +felt just the same had the attraction been male or neuter. Simply he +always desired to please what was pleasant to himself, and his tastes +were catholic.</p> + +<p class="normal">So he said almost sentimentally:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, I am very glad you're here. We shall be able to spend our +birthdays together as we used to in the old times. Eighteenth of June! +Waterloo day! Good heavens, I can scarcely believe that I shall be +thirty tomorrow, and you?" He positively blushed, for in the year 1848 +it was almost indecent for an unmarried woman to be six-and-twenty. +Marrion, however, had no such qualms.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Twenty-six," she said calmly; perhaps she knew she did not look it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Anyhow," he went on hastily, as if to escape from an unwelcome fact, +"I have brought you a present from foreign parts." He had not even +thought of one; in fact, he had only given his old playmate a passing +remembrance, wondering whom she had married; but he knew his boxes +contained enough trifles for the home folk to enable him to spare one, +and he could no more help trying to charm than he could help +breathing. "And now," he added, "I must be off. Tell me, Davie, like a +good soul, where I am likely to find his lordship this time of day. +I'm cursed early," he continued a bit ruefully, "but that's the worst +of me. I'm always in such a devil of a hurry."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You came across the ferry?" asked Marrion sympathetically.</p> + +<p class="normal">He turned to her at once.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes. It was the first coach. I wouldn't wait for the later one. And +then when I got to the Cross Keys and saw the old place over the +water, I wouldn't wait to go round by the bridges. So Andrew--you +remember Andrew Fraser, of course?--'pon my soul, he's been a +first-class orderly ever since he joined, and I don't know what I +should have done without him; nursed me like a mother when I'd fever +and all that sort of thing--a real honest good chap. Well, he got out +the valise and carried it down the ferry road. I didn't know, you see, +that the ferry was disused; but we luckily found someone's boat--and +here I am--too soon!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm thinkin'," said Davie Sim, with caution, "that his lordship at +this hour will, mayhap, be inspec'in' the pigstyes."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pigstyes!" echoed Marmaduke theatrically. "Say not so! Dash it all, I +can't do prodigal in a pigstye! I demand a byre and a fatted calf. +Well, I suppose I had better ring at the front door and ask the butler +if my Lord Drummuir is at home like any orra' stranger. So--ta, ta, +for the present!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He waved an easy hand to Marrion as he passed out. She hesitated a +second, then followed him into the sunlit courtyard and called--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Captain Duke!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He turned, looking so handsome and débonnaire that her purpose almost +wavered. Why should she pour gall and wormwood into his cup of life +before circumstances made the bitter inevitable? Still, since it had +to come, and that shortly, it was as well he should be prepared for +it. So much depended on the relations between him and his father that +it was better he should not be taken unawares.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you are wanting to see his lordship the now," she said, her +phrasing astray once more under pressure of other thoughts, "you wad +find him in the south avenue. He was there when I came frae the town +the now, cutting away at yen of the big beech trees."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Cutting at a big beech tree! What the deuce do you mean?" queried +Marmaduke incredulously.</p> + +<p class="normal">She replied calmly, conclusively.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Just that he must hae gotten a letter from your brother the Master. +It aye angers him so that he orders out the men with the hatchets. +It's as well you should know."</p> + +<p class="normal">He stood staring at her. It was no news to him, of course, even though +mails had been infrequent during those ten years, that there was an +open breach between his father and the heir, nor was he unaware of his +father's savage temper; that, and the impossibility of getting a +decent allowance to enable him to live in England being responsible +for those same ten years of foreign service. But distance softens +shadows; besides, the very idea that a man could go and cut down +historical trees just to spite another man was foreign to Marmaduke's +nature.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, curse the whole lot!" he broke out at last. "Upon my soul I'll go +back to the East--it isn't half a bad place--or wouldn't be if one +only had a little tin--besides, I must get the money for my majority."</p> + +<p class="normal">His words, following his impulsive thoughts, made Marrion smile +indulgently.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wouldn't if I was you, Mr.--I mean Captain Duke," she remarked, +with a twinkle in her eye. "Mayhap, my lord will bury the hatchet now +you're home, if ye don't anger him." She looked pretty with that +half-mischievous smile, and the sight cheered Marmaduke instantly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What a wise lassie you always were, Marmie," he said, with wilful +charm, "and what a lot of scrapes you've gotten me out of, and what a +lot you'd get me out of, if you were only bound up with me like the +Shorter Catechism was by mistake with Tristram Shandy--d'you remember? +Good lord, I've forgotten my duty to my neighbour! However, here goes, +and I'll do my best not to anger the baron! You see, I must get the +money for my majority," he added, half to himself, as he spun round on +his heel rather dramatically.</p> + +<p class="normal">In fact, there was no denying it, the Honourable Marmaduke Muir was a +trifle flamboyant as he swaggered across the courtyard which led from +the old keep of Drummuir Castle to the southern and modern portion of +the building. Marrion Paul watched the figure with a certain distaste. +Perhaps, she thought, it was only the ultrafashionable dress, the all +too palpable fit-out of a smart military tailor, eager for a bill, +that clashed with the grim old walls. Inside he had seemed much the +same as she remembered him. Kindly, affectionate, not over wise, but +charming, absolutely charming. And, after all, who was she to judge a +gentleman born? That question was a hard one to answer. Her mother had +undoubtedly been Maggie Sim, old Sim's daughter, who had been maid to +the first Lady Drummuir. But her father had been Paul, the foreign +valet, whom Lord Drummuir's younger brother had brought over with him +when he was invalided from the diplomatic service. A very decent, +respectable sort of chap, as old Sim admitted even while he objected +strongly to his daughter's marriage. Not without reason it turned out, +since Paul, after tending his sick master with unremitting care and +resource until his death, disappeared the day of the funeral, leaving +his young wife expecting her first child. And he had never been heard +of since. That Mrs. Paul should pine away and die early was, the folk +about said, only to be expected, for Paul, despite his foreign birth, +had been a man to be regretted--a man who had a way with him which his +daughter had inherited. She, however, would never hear a word in his +favour, and nothing made her more angry than to find in herself little +traits of character unaccountable to her sturdy Scots upbringing.</p> + +<p class="normal">So she told herself that she was no judge of what a gentleman's dress +or deportment should be, and turned at the sound of a footstep coming +through the archway of the keep behind her to greet the newcomer with +a more effusive welcome than she would otherwise have given the young +man who came towards her carrying a valise on his shoulder. He set +down his burden and grasped her outstretched hand in a sort of +transport.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, Marrion--Marrion, my lass!" he cried. "God, but it's gude to see +you once mair!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The words summed him up from the crown of his head to the tips of his +toes. You might have spent long hours in analysing Andrew Fraser's +mind and body at that particular moment, and you would have got no +nearer the mark, since for the time being existence was sheer gladness +because of the sight of a woman.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And I've brocht him safe home as ye bade me when I joined. Ye'll have +seen him yerself. He's fine, isn't he?"</p> + +<p class="normal">There was a world of pride in his tone; the pride of the +soldier-servant who is responsible for the smartness of his master's +outturn.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aye!" assented Marrion, grimly recognising that the figure before her +was more to her mind in some ways than the other which had gone +swaggering through the quadrangle. This one was broader in the chest, +simpler in its ugly angular face and small pathetic-looking blue eyes, +and simple--oh, so irritatingly simple!--in the devotion writ large in +its every look, its every intonation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, I'm glad you're both home safe," she said, putting the barrier +of refined speech between them. Then a resentment, of which she was +innately ashamed even while she yielded to it, made her add: "And I +suppose you've brought home a wife on the strength of the regiment?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Andrew Fraser stared for a second, then shouldered his valise again +deftly--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ye ken fine, Marrion Paul," he said sternly, as he went on, "that +there never was but ae woman in the wurrld for me, an' never will be."</p> + +<p class="normal">And so he left her feeling small and mean.</p> + +<p class="normal">She watched him across the courtyard following on his master's steps. +A fine figure of a man. No swagger there, nothing to clash with the +grey old walls.</p> + +<p class="normal">But that made no difference, no difference at all. That was the worst +of it.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_01.2" href="#div1Ref_01.2">CHAPTER II</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke Muir had meanwhile found his familiar way through the low +arch which, piercing the extreme corner of the eastern side of the +quadrangle, formed the connecting link between the older part of +Drummuir Castle and the new. For the rest, this eastern wall showed +blank save for a loophole or two. It was, in effect, simply the back +wall of what in Scotland is called the square; that is, the +continuation of stables, cow-houses and woodsheds which appertain +to a country mansion in the north. It had evidently been built as a +wind-screen to the western wing, which, overlooking the river, had +been the residential portion of the house before the southern wing had +been added to close in the quadrangle. Altogether it was a fine old +place, magnificently situated in the slight hollow which dipped +between the high old red sandstone cliffs of the Aberdeenshire coast, +and the lower yet still high old red sandstone cliffs which for a mile +or two formed the eastward bank of the river Drum. Standing still on +the grass-plot in the centre of the courtyard a quick ear could detect +two water sounds--the rhythmic roll of the waves of the North Sea on +the one hand, and the incessant rush of the running river on the +other.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke did not pause to listen. He only felt a thrill of pride in +the beauty of the stern old place before he passed through the arch +into totally different surroundings. Here were wide well-kept lawns, +beds of rhododendrons, then somewhat of a novelty, and in those +northern climes ablaze with blossom this middle June. Further afield +lay a typical East Aberdeenshire landscape of rolling arable land set +with square plantations of wood and dotted at sparse intervals with +solid grey granite farm-houses. Behind him, despite its wide portico +and Grecian balustrade, the new wing of the old castle looked stern +and stubborn as the rest.</p> + +<p class="normal">He stood for a moment on the curving flight of massive steps and drew +in a long breath of satisfaction; for right in front of him stretched +something that once seen could never be forgotten. People came from +far for a sight of the great beech avenue of Drummuir. And what they +went out for to see was worth the seeing.</p> + +<p class="normal">A cathedral aisle, not made by hand, solemn, serene. Soft sunlight +filtering through a vaulted roof of leaves, wide spandrils of brown +branches sweeping to wide arch from the pillars of the mighty tree +trunks--a tessellated pavement of shade and shine.</p> + +<p class="normal">He had seen the sight a thousand times, yet it brought now, as it had +always brought, a vague wonder as to the long years since those giant +beeches had sent their first feeler into Mother Earth's bosom. But, as +ever, after the manner of such idle human wonders when confronted with +the permanence of what men class as lower life, it passed, contentedly +unsatisfied, to a flood of remembrance. How frightened he had been as +a little chap when his nurse had dragged him home to bed--dark, lonely +bed!--through those solemn shadows in the gloaming. He had changed, +but the avenue had not. It was just the same. No, hardly! There was +more shafted sunlight in the distance surely? And that rasping sound +in the air--what was it?</p> + +<p class="normal">Surely a cross-cut saw at work! Then Marmie had as usual told the +truth. His father must be cutting down one of the historic beech +trees, and there was no need to ring and ask for Lord Drummuir--no +need at all! He was to be found as usual ungovernable, insensate, +intolerant. A whole youth of rebellion stormed through Marmaduke +Muir's mind as, at quick march, he fumed down to where the shameful +deed was being done.</p> + +<p class="normal">From far he could see it was in full swing. The team of horses ready +to give the final pull, the stays to other trees, the whole +paraphernalia of destruction including the cluster of workmen busy +round the doomed tree. And see! Safe to windward--aye, you bet, safe, +jolly safe!--the knot of spectators gathered round a bath-chair. That +held his father, of course. And the others? They would not be the old +sycophants possibly, but they would be of the same kidney. A woman, +too! Not his half-sisters--they, poor souls, would be weeping in the +dower house over the injury to their brother the heir and to the +heirloom beech! And it would not be Penelope--she had been handed over +to Davie Sim. By Jupiter, it was too bad! He quickened his pace, +fretted by the rush of bitter resentment; then paused suddenly--</p> + +<p class="normal">Hist! The melodious whistle of a blackbird overhead ceased, and a +little rustling sound asserted itself above the constant burring of +the saw. The squirrels were leaping from branch to branch.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Look to yersels--look to yersels! She's yieldin'! Stan' clear for +your life. Stan' clear! She yieldin'!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The cry rose none too soon. There was an instant's hurry, then an +instant's intense silence, on which came a sharp crack like a +pistol-shot, as the fine old tree, less tough than men had reckoned +it, tilted slowly as if uncertain which way to seek its grave. So +while men held their breath it stood arrested, defiant; then with a +roar and a rush, a swish of sweeping branches, a surging of green +leaves, it sank like the tumultuous onrush of some mighty wave, to +fall a confused tumbling heap of shade and shine upon the kindly earth +exactly where the wit of man had destined it to lie.</p> + +<p class="normal">A noisy clapping of hands and a high-pitched feminine laugh rose from +about the bath-chair; but, ere the applause ceased, a young accusing +figure positively flaming with wrath had sprung forward, leaped upon +the sawn root of the fallen tree, and so framed as with a halo by the +new-cut bole--which measured over seven feet in diameter--bawled out +in a voice quivering with sheer passion:</p> + +<p class="normal">"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, sir! Go home to bed, you +miserable old gouty cripple; you've done enough mischief for one day!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke was given to being dramatic, but he had never been more +effective than at that moment. He stood his ground like a young +avenging angel, secretly elated at having done the business thoroughly +well and defied his father, despite Marrion Paul's advice. He almost +smiled at the thought of her dismay. Meanwhile, the face of the old +man in the bath-chair had grown positively purple with anger, and the +colour did not improve the heavy contours of chin, double chin, treble +chin, which melted over the high white stock. Yet, barring this +exuberant fleshiness, the face was not a bad face. It had indeed its +measure of good looks, being not unlike Marmaduke's own. The bald +head, if a trifle small, was well shaped, the blue eyes clear, if a +trifle cold, and the lips, cruel enough in their heavy curves, had +evidently done a deal of laughing in their day to judge by the lines +about them. Altogether a strong, sensible face; but arrogant, +intolerant to a degree, especially now when its owner was listening to +the defiance of his son--a son dependent on him for every farthing +beyond his miserable pay as a captain in His Majesty's forces--a son +who----</p> + +<p class="normal">For a moment Baron Drummuir looked as if he must have a fit; then he +laughed--a great rude, rough guffaw.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Pon my soul," he chuckled, "it's as good as a play! So it's you, is +it, you young fool? How the deuce did you get here at this time of +day? We didn't expect you for another two hours, so I decided business +first"--he waved carelessly to the fallen tree--"and pleasure--that's +you, jackanapes--afterwards. Eh, what! Hey!"</p> + +<p class="normal">This calm reception of his insults completely took the starch out of +them and poor Marmaduke, who, standing on his pedestal, could think of +nothing further to say save to mumble something about the short cut by +the old ferry road.</p> + +<p class="normal">The baron, as he loved to be called, chuckled again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good boy--anxious as all that to see his poor old dad. And came in +the nick of time to see me kill my fatted calf"--he waved to the +fallen tree again. "I've killed it nicely, haven't I? And"--here a +flicker of pure hatred passed across the fleshy face--"the devil take +the man who made me do it!"</p> + +<p class="normal">His father's expression re-aroused Marmaduke's anger.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You curse yourself by saying that, sir," he burst out; "for God knows +you always do what you want--nobody makes you."</p> + +<p class="normal">Once again the old man took the starch out of the young one.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Smart!" he said coolly. "Demned smart, my dear boy! I wonder you +don't get on better in life than you do, judging by your constant but +fruitless appeals to my cash-box. But get down off your high horse, +there's a good lad--you look like some damned play-acting fool up +there--and give your old dad a paw; the left one, young ass, the left! +Can't you see my right is all bandaged up with the most infernal fit +of my old enemy I've had since last Christmas? All that Périgord-pie +old Hare sent me. I'll baste his fat liver for him when he comes +to-morrow. Lordy lord! Puts me in mind, Marmaduke, of the old days +when your mother--she was the best of the three--used to say to you, a +little lad, 'The right hand, my dearie. The right hand, my lovie.' And +you never could remember. You were a bit of a dullard, but fine and +strong and handsome. Not like that cursed skunk, Master Pitt--but +there, don't let's mar the harmony of the occasion, eh, Jack?" He +turned to a small man with somewhat of a weasel face who stood beside +him listening devoutly, as were all the group. "You remember Jack +Jardine, don't you, Duke?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Slightly," smiled the young man, grasping the other's hand and +shaking it violently. "One of the few pleasant reminiscences, sir, I +have of Drummuir Castle." He echoed his father's reckless disregard of +other folks' feelings with superb indifference and gave back the old +man's critical look coolly.</p> + +<p class="normal">The latter laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Just what I was at his age--eh, what? Lordy lord, Jack, how we +smashed all the lamp-posts in Dodston and told the provost to send the +policeman with the bill! Ha, ha! and old cat Carnegie sitting in the +hearse with her skirts up to her knees going to the Hunt ball when +we'd commandeered every other conveyance in the town. Ha, ha! how the +pretty little lassies showed their sandalled ankles, bless 'em, trying +to keep their dresses clear of coffins. But I am forgetting. Sandalled +ankles reminds me--eh, Fantine? Come here, my dear. I must present you +to my second son, Captain--he wants to be a major, I'm told--Marmaduke +Muir. Marmaduke, make your due respects to Mdlle. Fantine Le Grand, +your future stepmother!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The dainty little figure, which till then had been standing with one +tiny, much-beringed hand resting on the back of the bath-chair, its +inquisitive, almost colourless grey eyes taking in the minutest detail +of the scene, took a step forward and prepared to make a full-flounced +curtsey. But Marmaduke was too quick, too prompt in his perceptions. +He grasped the situation and the little lady in a second. The general +pinkness of complexion and furbelows, the jimpness of the long trim +waist, the uncompromising bands of black velvet, the showers of fair +ringlets. His hat was off with a flourish, he also took a step forward +to meet the curtsey, but, bending with a "grand air" that did him +infinite credit, gave the powdered face a resounding kiss.</p> + +<p class="normal">The recipient let loose a decorous shriek outwardly; within it was +easy to see amused acquiescence. Once again old Lord Drummuir looked +as though he would have a fit.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You dashed young scoundrel," he spluttered.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke held his head very high.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Excuse me, sir," he said, "if I've done wrong; but you said she--I +beg pardon, Mdlle. Fantine Le Grand"--his eyes flashed into hers +boldly and met a smile--"was to be my stepmamma, so I thought----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, the devil take your thoughts," growled his father, but his lips +twitched suspiciously. Then suddenly he burst out once again into +one of his rude, rough guffaws. "Regular chip of the old block, hey, +Jack? Well, Fan, I dare say you don't mind. Haven't too long, you +know, of such gay young sparks, for as soon as I'm about again he +shall dance at your wedding. Now, for heaven's sake, don't let's +stop chattering here! I've got to see my daughters and I want to talk +to my son. No, no, you jackanapes, keep away just now! My gout's +cursed, the road is cursed, and my temper will be cursed too; so I +should likely disinherit you before we got on to the lawn. Fan shall +stop by me. I won't have you gallivanting with my son, d'ye hear? He's +a good-looking chap, confound him, but you've got to pay for the +title, my lady! Have a care, blockhead! Didn't you see that stone? +Don't let it hurt your pretty little feet, Fan."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke, dropping behind with Jack Jardine, gave a fierce sigh as he +watched the little cavalcade move off amid this running fire of curses +and kindliness.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it all just as it used to be, Jack?" he asked helplessly.</p> + +<p class="normal">The little man cleared his throat.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A little worse perhaps. Your father is a very remarkable man, +Marmaduke--a very remarkable man!"</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_01.3" href="#div1Ref_01.3">CHAPTER III</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">Anyone who had seen Lord Drummuir ten minutes after Jack Jardine's +remark must have echoed it, for a more complete <i>volte face</i> of +manner, speech, and apparently temperament than that which overtook +the baron in the dower house could not be imagined. Still in his +bath-chair, which Marmaduke had dutifully pushed in through the French +windows on to the green-grounded, cabbage-rosed drawing-room carpet, +he beamed round on his daughters and their chaperon with a paternal +affection which was almost pathetic. The Honourable Miss Muirs were +three in number and they had all greeted their younger half-brother +with reserved kisses. But then everything they did was reserved. Miss +Mary, the eldest, was reserved even about her tendency to grow stout, +which, all things considered, was the strongest interest in her life. +Miss Elizabeth, the second, a very elegant looking woman, was equally +reserved about her undoubted intellect, while Miss Margaret, a great +tall, strapping figure with all her father's force of character and +all his soundness of constitution, held both in check, except when she +managed a lonely walk with her dogs in the woods. Then her voice would +ring out deep and true, and at the crack of her whip every puppy +within miles would come in contentedly to heel.</p> + +<p class="normal">Her father liked her the least, probably because of the contrast +between her and his ricketty male heir, so in the shabby Victorian +drawing-room she generally sat mumchance, showing up badly against her +sisters' exquisite manners. For no one knew better than Lord Drummuir +what a gentlewoman should be, and therefore he had been extremely +particular about his daughters' education. To what end, heaven alone +knew, since they lived on, year after year, in the dower house, +occasionally visiting in stately fashion the late minister's wife +(though this distraction was no longer theirs owing to the State +appointment of a bachelor to the living), and, very occasionally, +seeing some of their father's older and more respectable friends. In +regard to this, however, and to kindred matters no grand Turk could +have been more autocratic than was Lord Drummuir. So he sat and +discoursed on Shakespeare and the musical glasses, on his delight at +seeing his dearest boy again, leading the latter on to detail some of +the more instructive portions of his foreign life, until the full +half-hour which he daily bestowed on his daughters was up. Then with +the utmost punctuality he took out his watch, said he feared he must +be off, and congratulated himself and the three young ladies on a +charming conversation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are too good, papa," replied the young ladies, as they deposited +a decorous kiss on his bald head. So they stood and watched the +bath-chair roll along the lawn till it reached the turn by the +rhododendrons which hid it from view, and then they waved their +handkerchiefs. And the baron waved his in return, thereinafter using +it to mop his forehead relievedly, while he ejaculated, "Thank God, +that's over!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Whereat Marmaduke smiling, the old man went on serenely.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Never forget, my boy, how to treat women of good character. The other +comes naturally, but I'm damned if I ever forgot my manners with a +really good woman. And you will find it pays, Duke, it pays. So now +have not you got some bit of spice, or an <i>on dit</i> to amuse the old +man with? Curse me, but I lead a miserable life here, tied down by +this infernal complaint; but I am paying now for the follies and +indiscretions of youth. Confound you, Marmaduke, you might think of +your poor old father's joints and not rush your fences in that way!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I beg your pardon, sir," replied Marmaduke, meekly glad of the turn +he had given the conversation by deploying the bath-chair into the +gravel walk; for, in good truth, he had no great relish for spicy +stories. Not that he was a prig, but that he had been born a +sportsman, to whom indoor life was dull and irksome. So he welcomed +another interruption in the shape of a young man who came hastily down +the path to meet them.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, I believe it's Peter!" he cried joyously, and the next minute +was shaking hands with his young half-brother, the fruit of Lord +Drummuir's third but not last marriage; for his wives never lived +long, except the first, who had lingered for years, only giving him +useless daughters. "Why, Peter, how you've grown!" remarked Marmaduke +unnecessarily, seeing he had been away ten years.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So've you--you're a giant beside the rest of us, except Meg! Pitt and +I----" The lad pulled himself up sharp. "Well, I say, sir, we must +have a rousin' night to celebrate Duke's return!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke, looking at the slender, fair-haired youth with a weak mouth +and an excited manner, thought he had probably roused too much. +Instinctively, therefore, since he had often been drunk himself--it +was the fashion of the time--he changed the subject again to one that +had come uppermost in the old familiar surroundings.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I say, how about the grouse? Is it to be a good year?"</p> + +<p class="normal">His eyes as he spoke almost yearned over a swelling purpled horizon +curve which told where the best moors in that part of Aberdeenshire +were to be found.</p> + +<p class="normal">Five minutes after the old lord, still in his bath-chair, was +discoursing in the most animated and amiable fashion about sport past +and present and to come, while his two sons, one of them sprawling on +the lawn, joined in amicably.</p> + +<p class="normal">So amicably that Mdlle. Fantine Le Grand, watching them from her +boudoir windows, turned to a man who was lounging in a chair reading +the papers, and said--</p> + +<p class="normal">"This sort of thing won't do, Compton. That young man is too +charming."</p> + +<p class="normal">The man to whom she spoke did not look up. He went on reading, as he +said--</p> + +<p class="normal">"You don't often find them too charming, Fan!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't be a fool, Tom," she replied curtly, coming to sit beside him. +"You know quite well what I mean. Young men of that sort always are in +debt; besides, I've heard the old man say something about money for a +majority. Now the estate's entailed, so payments of that sort must +come out of what I mean to be mine--and I won't have it!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sound common sense, Fan," said her companion, yawning; "but you are +always in such a hurry to begin. Wait a few days and see how the land +lies first. You've always the best of weapons in your hand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Jealousy. The old man is as jealous as old boots. Once make him fancy +young Marmaduke is sweet on you, and he goes to the right-about."</p> + +<p class="normal">Fantine sat back and laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are always so comforting, Tom."</p> + +<p class="normal">He rose and put down his paper.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Always ready to help, my dear; but you remember our compact--half +shares when the old man dies."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He'll be good for another ten years if I marry him," she called after +her late companion, as he strolled out of the room.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then she sat down and faced facts. In truth she was getting tired of +her <i>rôle</i> of <i>première danseuse</i> at a London theatre. Perhaps, she +even admitted, she was a trifle too old for the agile cutting of +capers. She felt vaguely that she would like to draw in her horns and +let her waist out, and she was quite ready to take Lord Drummuir as a +means of satisfying both ambitions. In her way she was neither bad nor +unkind, simply egotistic to a degree. In this last episode of an +eventful career which seldom outlasts the age of forty, she had +deliberately played for semi-respectability, and had only come down to +stay at Drummuir Castle under the wing of an impeccable <i>duenna</i>. Not +that the fact had in the least imposed on the old lord. He was shrewd +enough to know Miss Fanny Biggs, or, as she chose to style herself, +Mdlle. Fantine Le Grand, down to the ground. But it was something to +have someone to dance for him (as she did to distraction), when he had +a fit of the gout and look quite deucedly pretty at all times. So the +bargain was made. A title in exchange for amusements. But Fantine Le +Grand looked beyond the old man's life; she looked for comfortable +widowhood. So she wandered again to the window and watched the family +trio on the lawn. It was far too filial for her tastes. Tom Compton, +so-called Colonel of Irregulars, one of her oldest friends, had been +right. Jealousy would be a good card to play. And then she laughed +suddenly at the recollection of Marmaduke's filial salute. He was +better-looking than his father must have been at his age, but, +according to the latter, he was "a chip of the old block." So he would +be easy prey.</p> + +<p class="normal">Meanwhile, Colonel Compton having joined the group on the lawn, the +conversation had drifted round to politics, and the old lord, being an +ardent Whig, had waxed fast and furious on the enormities of the +Tories. A perfectly innocent subject, but one which did not interest +Marmaduke, who thereupon drifted away to find Jack Jardine, from whom +he hoped to hear the truth as to his father's present relations with +the heir, the Master, and also--though this interested him less, since +it was to a certain degree patent--with Mdlle. Le Grand. So, as they +sat smoking Fubaurg's tobacco out of long clay pipes after the fashion +of the times, they discussed the situation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You ask how the breach has widened," said Jack Jardine. "Well, I +don't think it has done so abnormally. It has been going on ever since +poor Pitt turned out such a weakling. You know the family history. +After he married Lady Helen, whom he shouldn't have married because +she too, poor soul, was, as it were, doomed to disease, though she was +a duke's daughter and so, satisfied his lordship's pride--a miserable +story, Duke, a miserable story. Well, there was one disappointment +about an heir after another, as you know, Duke, and it hit home into +the peer--for he is no fool. Put it briefly, though he is quite ready +to tell you he is suffering from the indiscretions of youth while he +is in torments with the gout, and at the same time supping every night +on broiled foxes' tongues and mulled claret, he can't bear to see the +results in Pitt. He hates him because he hasn't the physique to carry +on the name. He is a very remarkable man, Duke, is your father."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very," assented the young man grimly. "I wish the devil he wasn't."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's why I, and all the rest of us who have Drummuir interests at +heart, are so glad you've come home. You're presumptive heir now, and +to all intents and purposes you're 'apparent.' And you're straight and +strong, thanks to your poor mother. So we look to you to keep up the +honour of the name. I believe if you play your cards well, you might +easily oust Miss Fanny Biggs, or Mdlle. Fantine----"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke burst into a laugh.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you," he said; "that is most succinct! I needn't ask any more. +But does the old man really mean to marry her?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Jack Jardine nodded.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Would have done it three months ago but for the gout. And she isn't +really so bad, but devilish sly; and that man Compton, whom the peer +has taken up with over the railway business, is in with her." He gave +a sigh and knocked the ashes out of his pipe. "I've my work cut out +for me, Duke, I can tell you."</p> + +<p class="normal">There was a slight pause, and then Marmaduke said curiously--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've often wondered, Jack, why you, who by your brains could have +made your own way, have been contented to stick on in this cursed old +place among us cursed people, letting us youngsters call you Jack and +borrow money from you. By the way, I shouldn't have been able to come +home if you hadn't sent me that last hundred pounds."</p> + +<p class="normal">Jack Jardine said nothing; then he walked to the window.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You may as well know, Duke, it may help you to steer your way. It is +because I, a poor lawyer, loved your mother--not before, but after she +became Lady Drummuir! Of course she never guessed; but I helped her to +try and keep your father straight. She led an awful life----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You needn't tell me that!" broke in Marmaduke, fiercely.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yet your father didn't mean ill to her. Anyhow, I tried to help her, +and so I suppose it became a habit. Love is a queer thing, Duke!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I believe it is," said Marmaduke, magisterially, "but it has not come +my way yet," and he added joyously, "I hope it won't for some years to +come, for I like enjoying myself."</p> + +<p class="normal">Apparently he did; for as the summer evening began to close in on +Drummuir Castle and the menkind, with only Mdlle. Fantine and her +<i>duenna</i> to represent the opposite sex, gathered in the huge +dining-room to attack a heavy dinner which would have sufficed for a +regiment, he was the life and soul of the party, and ate through the +<i>menu</i> with a relish which aroused regret and admiration in the old +lord.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dash it all," he bawled, "why can't I eat soup, fish, top and bottom +and four sides through five courses like that dashed youngster of +mine, who puts it on to his shoulders instead of his waist like I do?"</p> + +<p class="normal">And when the claret began to circle round faster and faster Marmaduke +never let it pass; so that when, with sweet decorum, Mdlle. Fantine +and her <i>duenna</i> prepared to withdraw, he nearly killed the Skye +terrier in his flamboyant haste to open the door. Nay, more! He +followed them into the corridor for an instant. What passed there none +saw, but he returned to his seat with flushed cheeks and throbbing +veins, feeling vaguely that the battle of wits had begun.</p> + +<p class="normal">Of what followed his memory was confused. He remembered that outside +the windows the summer twilight was still flooding the green lawns, +while humanity inside, after guzzling itself stupid with rich food, +was trying to grow witty over the boozing of mulled claret and +whisky-toddy. They began, of course, with the young queen's health, +and went on methodically till they came to the good old Scotch toast: +"Here's to oorsels. Wha' better? Damn few!" After this, which seemed +to afford general satisfaction, they proceeded to particularise, and +Marmaduke had a dim recollection of someone proposing "The future +Commander-in-Chief, coupled with the name of Captain Marmaduke Muir."</p> + +<p class="normal">But whether he replied, or whether the effort to rise and do so was +too much for him and he rolled under the table, he could not say.</p> + +<p class="normal">Certain it is that on that first night of his return to the home of +his fathers Marmaduke Muir was hopelessly drunk.</p> + +<p class="normal">Certain also that he erred in company, the only sober man being Jack +Jardine, who invariably sought the shelter of the table at an early +period and lay there comfortably, his head on a buffet, listening to +the commiserations on his weak head until he fell asleep, to wake when +the carouse was over, and see that the gentlemen's gentlemen sorted +their respective masters to their respective beds.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_01.4" href="#div1Ref_01.4">CHAPTER IV</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">Marrion Paul sat in the semi-darkness of the summer night waiting for +her grandfather to return from his duties at the Castle. She did not +generally do so, for he was apt to be late; but on this, the first day +of Captain Duke's return, sleep would have been out of the question +until she heard something of the evening. For she did not mince +matters with herself; those six years of independent life in Edinburgh +had opened her eyes to the world, and the first sight of Marmaduke +Muir had told her that the long ten years had not changed her at all; +that he was as much the sun in her heaven as he had been in the old +childish days. The sun in her heaven, and something more superadded to +those olden times.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then the day had been disturbing. Everyone had come to her praising +the Captain's looks and ways and general charm; to all of which she +had replied coolly, feeling the while in a perfect quiver of gladness. +Miss Margaret had been the hardest to damp when she had appeared in +the afternoon with the sporting dogs and a stout crop in her hand on +her way to take them a scramble over the rocks and round by the lower +bay.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, Marrion!" she cried enthusiastically. "Saw you ever the like? +Elizabeth says he's like the Apollo Belvidere!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am not knowing the gentleman," protested Marrion distantly. "But +Captain Duke has grown to a fine figure. But has Miss Muir seen Andrew +Fraser? He's twice the man he was when he went away."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a false move on Marrion's part, for it brought on her instantly +the hearty reply--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm glad to hear it, Marmie; so I suppose we will be having you cried +in the kirk before long. Duke says he has been most faithful."</p> + +<p class="normal">Whereupon the speaker called to her dogs in a stentorian voice worthy +her father's, cracked her whip scientifically, and strode away for an +hour or two's freedom. For the atmosphere of the dower house was +stifling, and there was always a chance of meeting the Rev. Patrick +Bryce on the sands below the rocks, where he went always to compose +his sermons, with which the reverend gentleman had no little +difficulty. Not because he was stupid, but because he found it +laborious to reconcile his own views with those of his flock; they, +however, being inclined to be lenient with one who had earned for +himself the nickname of "the bonny parson," and who was known to be +the best shot and fisherman in the district. For this reason he would +have been welcome at the Castle, but for his unswerving outspoken +protest against its general behaviour.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion, meanwhile, finding more peace as the day died down, took +to wandering at the far side of the quadrangle listening to the +distant sounds of revelry; her hands, as she walked, busy with her +knitting-pins--after the fashion of Scotchwomen in those days--going +faster and faster as her thoughts grew hotter over what she knew was +happening at the other side of the blank wall. Guzzling and boozing! +First the masters, then the men-servants, while away in the back +premises the scullerymaids and kitchenmaids were working hard. It was +a shame, a burning shame; but if ever she had a son she would see to +it that he was different.</p> + +<p class="normal">But she never would have a son; anyhow, not Andrew Fraser's, be he +ever so sober, so upright. That was the worst of it. With an impatient +sigh she hurried outside the keep door to stand and watch the last +faintly flushed clouds of sunset in the nor'-west fade over the +darkling stretches of moorland.</p> + +<p class="normal">It must be nigh twelve of the clock, for eastwards, over the darkling +stretches of the sea, a faint lightening of the horizon, which held +such a hint of restlessness even in its shadow, told where the sun +would soon rise again. For in those high northern latitudes there is a +bare two hours' darkness in a summer night.</p> + +<p class="normal">Twelve o' the clock, and after that would be their birthday. +Well, good luck to him wherever he went! Some day he must be the +laird--Baron Drummuir. Nothing to hinder that must come into his +life--nothing!</p> + +<p class="normal">The faithfulness of inherited service was in her blood. She recognised +this and sometimes wondered if her own devotion to the honour and +welfare of the House of Drummuir was not stronger even than her +grandfather's; possibly because her father, by all repute, had been a +faithful servant, too; such things are not to be escaped.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was aroused from her thoughts by a wavering step in the +quadrangle, and returned to meet her grandfather in the expansive +stage of intoxication.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aye, my lass," he went on, when he had wept a few easy tears over her +goodness in sitting up for him, "it was just a gran' nicht. The pipes +seemed fey and I blawed at them till we was baith like to burst. An' +my lord, he was for havin' oot the biggest bottle o' pickled foxes' +tongues, an' he devilled them himsel' in a chaffin' dish afore them +all, an' they a' drunk wi' mirth an' guid claret. Jock, the butler, +was tellin' me--there was twal o' them--that they were drinkin' thirty +bottles o' the best, forbye sixteen tum'lers of hot whisky-toddy, the +Sheriff and the Lord Provost had, honest gentlemen, to their lane--an' +there wud be no 'hoot-toots' where the Shirra was concerned! Then the +laird o' Balbuggo--he has a weak head, yon man, was for ridin' hame +and was no to be hindered frae it; sae Captain Duke an' anither young +spark jest perched his saddle to the loupin'-on-stane and pit the guid +man to it. An' there he sat tittuping away his lane for an hour or sae +quite blythe, till they tell't him he was at Balbuggo, and he just aff +an' awa tae his bed like a lammie."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And Captain Duke?" asked the girl, with scorn in her voice, pity in +her heart, despite the irrepressible smile in her eyes. "Was he drunk, +too?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Old Davie winked solemnly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aye, that was he--he was fair fou--but," he added carefully; "he took +his cups real well! Not like Mr. Peter, that syne gets tae sickness +and----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gran'father," cried the girl passionately, interrupting him, "it's +gettin' late! You must away to your bed, or you'll no be up the morn +to pipe 'Hey! Johnnie Cope, are ye waukin' yet?' I'll see to the +doors."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No be up?" contended the old man. "I tell ye if the arkaungel +Gabbriel was tae soun' his trump any day at half-after seven, he'd +find Davie Sims--aye, and his forbears an' descendants--skirling awa' +at that same tune up an' dune a' the passages in Drummuir Castle tae +wake the gentlefolk! Aye, that wad he"--here he began stumbling up the +stair with his candle held at an angle of forty-five--"though it's +hard on a body that's had tae pipe to the deil ower nicht to think o' +his duty tae the sluggard."</p> + +<p class="normal">Here his maunderings became unintelligible, and the girl he left +turned to the closing of the house, her heart hot as fire with +indignation, chill as ice with scorn.</p> + +<p class="normal">What else was there to expect? Like father, like son! When she had +drawn the bolts she went up to her own room and flung its little +window wide. The full moon shone round like a shield, and by its light +she could see the whole wild coast stretching northwards from Drumkirk +Point to Rattray Head. And after that? The North Pole, of course! Dear +inaccessible region to all but the strong, the single of heart, the +men who could command others--and themselves.</p> + +<p class="normal">She scarcely knew what it was that she raged against as slowly, +methodically, she began to undress. The little brilliant or paste +brooch, she knew not which, formed of two crossed p's which was the +only relic she possessed of her dead father, arrested her for a +second. What sort of a man had he been really, she wondered, and what +sort of a son would hers be when she had one?</p> + +<p class="normal">She flung the tiny bauble from her impatiently, so stood for a second +drawn up to her full height, her bare arms crossed, her shapely hands +clasping their smooth roundness; then, with a sudden sob, she realised +what had come to her, and, throwing herself face downwards on her bed, +lay for a minute or two still as the dead. Then as suddenly she sat up +again with a world of puzzled wonder in her strained eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I canna think," she murmured, "what gars' me love him so, but I do, +and there's an end o' it."</p> + +<p class="normal">Possibly; but such knowledge as that which had just burst over her +like a storm does not make for quiet sleep. She told herself a +thousand and one wise things, but the hours slipped by, bringing at +last a conviction of hopelessness. She would be better up than +pretending to rest, so she went to stand at the window once more.</p> + +<p class="normal">The flush of coming day was clear now in the northeast, the flood-tide +of the full moon lay mysterious in the embrace of the rocks. Ere long +the rising sun would send battalions on battalions of shining golden +ripples to storm the estuary and climb the shadowy cliff on which the +castle stood--where he lay drunk!</p> + +<p class="normal">Ah, well! That would not spoil the beauty of it all, which she had so +often seen, and the nip of the salt North Sea might check her silly +desire for him. The room felt stifling; she would be better outside.</p> + +<p class="normal">So, slipping on her swimming-dress of coarse white flannel blanketing +(for ever since those childish days when she and Duke had done +everything in common she had been an expert swimmer), she threw a +plaid round her, and made her way through the keep gateway to the +rocks below. There was no breeze, the tide must be at its height +almost, and there was the spent moon, pale with its long night-watch, +hanging on the grey sky of dawn. Ah, these were the things worth +having--the others could be set aside with joy!</p> + +<p class="normal">Ere five minutes were over, breathless from her fierce driving strokes +through the water, she had turned over on her back, and, face to the +skies, was trying to imagine she was floating thitherwards. The gulls, +wakened by the coming light, skimmed over her in their quest for food. +The little pointed wavelets that rose and fell, marking the course of +the river stream, made a fine, sobbing, tinkling noise in her ears.</p> + +<p class="normal">Full flood-tide!</p> + +<p class="normal">She laughed aloud in the joy of it; then, rolling over again, struck +out for the opposite shore. Higher up the estuary there was a little +sheltered bay whence she could watch the panorama of dawn. When she +drew herself out of the water on to a convenient rock the air struck +warm, and the stone beneath her had scarce lost yester-sun's heat. It +would be a perfect day--if anything over hot, for a faint opalescence +already lay on sea and sky.</p> + +<p class="normal">As she sat waiting for the first rays of the sun to "skim the sea with +flying feet of gold," she unplaited her russet hair, which had become +loosened, and, combing out its long length with her fingers, prepared +to plait it up again.</p> + +<p class="normal">Suddenly a voice startled her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A beauteous mermaid, by Jove! Fair lady----"</p> + +<p class="normal">The theatrical intonation did not deceive her. She slipped like any +seal into the water, and so protected looked back to see Marmaduke +Muir. He was still in his over-night's dress-clothes, but their utter +disarray made them more consonant with his occupation, for he held a +salmon-rod in his hand, a creel had unfastened his ruffled shirt at +the neck, and he had evidently torn off his stiff stock for more ease, +and kicked away his pumps for firmer foothold on the rocks. His face +showed no sign of last night's carouse, and Marrion, looking at it, +could not but confess that some sins leave no mark on a man. Ere she +could utter a word, his surprise found speech.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, Marmie!" Then in a half-awed tone he added: "What beautiful hair +you've got, my dear!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aye," she replied imperturbably, feigning perfect calm, "it's fine! +Folk is aye tellin' me o' 't. The hairdresser in Edinbro' was offering +me a lot for it."</p> + +<p class="normal">He sat down on the rocks above where she lay swaying with the long +roll of the distant waves outside the bar, her hands holding to the +seaweed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Goth and Vandal! But you didn't let him have it. Wise Marmie, but +then you always were wisdom itself! I remember----"</p> + +<p class="normal">He was becoming vaguely sentimental, so she brought him back to earth +with a round turn.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You'll no have been gettin' any fish the morn?" she queried.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No fish!" he echoed loftily. "What do you call that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He pulled out of his creel a seven-inch burnie and laid it with pomp +on the rocks. Then their young laughter echoed out into the dawn.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I got a hold on another," he went on, keen as a boy. "A real good +one--as big as any I ever got in the castle pool--perhaps bigger. You +see they were talking of the fishing yesterday and they all said it +was no good. Not enough water. So I didn't intend to try; but--well, +you see, my dear, I got drunk last night--I did--and I woke up about +half an hour ago with a beastly headache. So then I thought I'd go out +and see if the fish weren't moving, and as they'd put me to bed in my +clothes--I must have been horrid drunk, and Andrew, you see, was away +with his people--I just took one of Peter's rods and ferried myself +over in the boat. It's up yonder. I'll take you back in it, if you +like."</p> + +<p class="normal">The idea was preposterous. Marrion imagined herself arriving at the +castle, where the servants were ever early astir, in her bathing dress +with the Captain! So she hastily drew a red herring across the trail.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And was the fish real big, Captain Duke?" she asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Big! I tell you it was the biggest I, or, for the matter of that, +anyone else ever caught in the castle pool."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Fish are aye big when they are in the water, I'm thinking," she cast +back at him, as, loosing her seaweed hold, she struck out.</p> + +<p class="normal">He sprang up.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're not going to try and cross now!" he cried, pointing to where +in mid-stream a wide oily streak told that tide and river were flowing +out fast. "The ebb is at its strongest. Marmie, don't be a fool!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She gave a quick glance forward, then looked back to smile farewell.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aye, it's strong, but I've done it before now. There's no fear for +me, Captain Duke."</p> + +<p class="normal">So saying she turned her head upstream, seeing indeed that she would +have to be careful not to be swept past her bearings when she got to +mid-channel; so she did not see Marmaduke tear off his creel, his +coat, and waistcoat, and, in thin ruffled shirt and kersey breeches, +launch himself into the water. But his tremendous underwater strokes +soon brought him up almost beside her to shake his curly head like a +retriever. She looked at him startled and quickened her strokes, +whereupon he changed to overhand and ranged up beside her without +effort.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where did you learn yon?" she asked, more for something to break a +silence which made her heart beat than from curiosity. "You usen't to +swim that way."</p> + +<p class="normal">"In the Indies," he replied, laughing. "I must teach it to you; but it +isn't much good in currents. By Jove, how jolly this is. Why the deuce +did I take the boat? I say--look out! I feel the trend of the stream."</p> + +<p class="normal">Small doubt of that. They were through the backwater and in another +minute would be in the full of outgoing river and outgoing tide. The +opposite bank seemed slipping past them rapidly. Duke changed his +stroke instantly and ranged up beside Marrion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It will be easier together," he said, passing his hand over her +shoulder, and obediently she passed hers over his.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now then, together!" he cried. "And if you tire you know what to do; +and keep time, there's a good girl."</p> + +<p class="normal">So they struck off, the forward lunge of his long legs aiding hers, +that were so far behind in strength. Thus they battled the stream +shoulder to shoulder, almost cheek to cheek, her long loose hair +sweeping across him, until the worst of it was over and the girl would +fain have loosed her grip and turned shorewards definitely.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not yet!" he laughed. "Let's swim out to sea a bit! Look--isn't it +worth it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Aye, worth everything else in the world. Far out in the east over that +restless horizon the first ray of the sun had tipped, sending a +widening, radiant path of pure gold to meet them. It shone on her +red-brown hair, turning it to bronze; it shone in their blue eyes, +turning them to sapphires; and it shone on their wholesome, happy +faces, transfiguring them out of all semblance to beings of dingy +earth and purifying them from all mortal taint. They were freed souls +swimming in the vasty ether, all around them the dawn of a new day.</p> + +<p class="normal">So they went on and on, till suddenly Duke veered their course +shorewards with one guiding stroke.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall tire you out," he said softly, and his freed hand, as he +disentangled her hair from his neck, lifted the shiny strands to his +lips for a second. "You have got such jolly hair, Marmie! I wonder you +don't wear it down your back. None of the fellows could resist you +then."</p> + +<p class="normal">Their faces were away from the dawn now and hers already had a cloud +on it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm going to the big rock. I left my shawl there," she said, +directing her course towards it.</p> + +<p class="normal">Duke followed suit in silence. Suddenly he said--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can't think how I was such a fool as to get drunk last night. It +shan't occur again; but, you know, I shouldn't have had this perfectly +stunning time if I hadn't, should I? We must repeat it every morning, +Marmie, mustn't we?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Weather permitting," she replied, almost bitterly. "But it's no often +sae comfortable to be in the water as it is this morning, Mr. Duke."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, you should have been with me in the Indies! You could stop in all +day. You're not feeling cold, I hope?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Cold! With every pulse in her body clamouring for sheer joy in his +presence.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll no be cold when I get my shawl," she said calmly; then, seeing +him turn, called quickly--</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're no going across again, Mr. Duke, it isn't safe!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Didn't I tell you so from the beginning, eh? No; of course I'm not. +I'm going to swim up the side to the steps and send the ghillie for +the boat."</p> + +<p class="normal">She watched the rhythmic spluttering of his overhand stroke past the +point. He would be home before her, she thought, as somewhat wearily +she climbed the rocks to the keep. It had been a real joy. In all her +life, long or short, she would never forget it.</p> + +<p class="normal">That was the pity of it, for the memory might become a pain.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_01.5" href="#div1Ref_01.5">CHAPTER V</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke Muir's repentances, like many of his virtues and vices, were +apt to be evanescent. So the next week, it is to be feared, saw many a +lapse from his intention that drunkenness should not occur again. In +truth it needed a strong will to be sober in Drummuir Castle. The old +lord himself had a head which nothing could upset, and though he went +to his bed groaning with gout, no one could have said his wits were in +the least astray. Now Marmaduke had to a certain extent inherited this +toleration of alcohol, a fact which at once gratified his father and +set the old sinner to the graceless task of inciting his son to more +and more glasses of good claret, champagne, and port in order to see +how far the inheritance went. And Marmaduke, partly because he was +anxious to ingratiate himself with his irascible parent and partly +from sheer <i>joie de vivre</i>, fell in with the old man's whim. In +reality it meant much to him that he should get to the right side of +his father. He had a chance of his majority if only fifteen hundred +pounds odd could be found over and above the regulation purchase +money. It was a big price; but the vacancy was in a crack Highland +regiment and the majority would give him almost the certainty of +commanding in the future.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The peer has never done anything for me in his life," he said angrily +to Jack Jardine. "I've gone into a West India regiment. I've lived on +my pay--and your allowance, old chap. By the way, I do wish you'd make +up accounts between us. We three brothers must owe you a lot already, +and though we've all given our <i>post obits</i> on the property when the +old man dies, I myself don't like it. Worries me when I have a +headache, you know!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Jack Jardine smiled. The proposition for a clear account had been made +many times in the past ten years, sometimes by one brother, sometimes +by another--but generally by Marmaduke--without in any way altering +the relative positions of creditor and debtor. So he set the point +aside.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why should you have a headache, Duke?" he began as a prelude to a +sermon on sobriety he had been meditating for some days; but +Marmaduke's candour took the words out of his mouth.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not the least reason in life, Jack, except that I want and will +have my majority, and I <i>must</i> keep straight with the peer till I get +the money. Look here, I'll tackle the old man to-morrow, and if I +succeed I'll cut and run. I don't drink anywhere else, Jack, I don't +indeed--not, I mean to say, <i>drink</i>."</p> + +<p class="normal">Looking at the speaker's clear, almost boyish, face his hearer could +well believe it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your father is suffering a lot from the gout just now," he said, +dubiously.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And he'll go on suffering as long as I'm here, and he wants to make +me drunk," retorted Marmaduke, whose perceptions were by no means +dense, "so the sooner it's over the better for both of us!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Accordingly the very next day when, in accordance with his usual +custom, he wheeled his parent to the paternal visit to the dower +house, Marmaduke broached the subject of finance on the way back. It +was not a very auspicious moment, for the old gentleman had been made +at once irritable and pious by an unwary allusion on the part of his +youngest daughter, Margaret, to the new minister of the parish, the +Reverend Patrick Bryce. Now the reverend gentleman in question was at +the time Lord Drummuir's <i>bête noire</i>. To begin with, he had been +presented to the living by the Crown, and the Barons of Drummuir had +for generations claimed the right themselves. Evil thinking people, +indeed, said that it was this fact which made the old man so +wholehearted an advocate of that disruption in the Church of Scotland +which was then rending the country in twain. People talked of little +else, except railways, and on that point Lord Drummuir held the most +conservative of views. They would, he said, not without truth, play +the devil with country society and make it impossible for a nobleman +to travel in comfort. But no one who knew his lordship ever asked for +consistency in his opinions. He simply held them with a tenacity that +was perfectly appalling. So the mere mention of the Reverend Patrick +Bryce's name, with the addition of a fine blush on his daughter's face +when she discovered her slip of the tongue, had put him into a white +heat of politeness and piety.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am surprised at you, Margaret," he said. "I should prefer your +having nothing to do even with the school feasts of a man who, denying +the headship of the church to the Almighty, continues to batten on the +loaves and fishes of--of--and has the cursed impudence to find fault +with other people's meat and drink, too," he added, fiercely.</p> + +<p class="normal">Despite this, Marmaduke, who had inherited no little of his father's +obstinacy, took the opportunity of the bath-chair reaching the finest +point of the view to say with a great show of courage--</p> + +<p class="normal">"By the way, sir, don't you think it's about time to send that money +for my majority? Pringle is rather in a hurry to retire, and the price +may run up if we don't act soon."</p> + +<p class="normal">His lordship rather admired this home thrust without warning, but he +was on his guard at once and cleared his throat for a speech.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's a positive disgrace to our army, and so I told poor Brougham the +last time I saw him, that promotion should not only go by purchase but +that private individuals should have power to fill their pockets with +the proceeds of further extortion. It is a kind of simony; it is the +sale of valour, of one's country's good!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Lord Drummuir was a noted orator when he chose, even in those days +when everyone could string words together into high-sounding phrases, +and when Edmund Burke's foaming fulminations were held up to the young +as models of eloquence; but Marmaduke was obdurate.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Possibly, sir," he interrupted, "but I want to do it. You see, sir," +he warmed with his subject, "I'll be dashed if I've troubled you much +in the last ten years--now have I? You've made me an allowance on +which I couldn't live in a gentlemanly way at home. So I've exchanged +again and again for foreign service, going down and down till I've +landed in the West Indies. And now I have this chance of getting back +to my old regiment, to a soldier's life that is worth having----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No soldier's life is worth having. If you will be kind enough to +remember, I objected from the first to the army," interrupted the old +man, with icy politeness.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke groaned aloud.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, don't let us go back so far as that, sir. The thing's done, and +practically you have to decide now whether you're going to wreck my +fortune or make it."</p> + +<p class="normal">Lord Drummuir took out his pocket-handkerchief solemnly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And this is what I am asked to do, when my physicians insist on +absolute rest of body and mind. I am asked to consider, to take all +the responsibility. No, Marmaduke, you are old enough to decide for +yourself!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then you wish me to go back to that miserable hole?" began the young +man vehemently.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am informed on the best authority that the climate of the West +Indies has sensibly improved of late years," remarked his lordship, +imperturbably. "The discovery of the cinchona plant----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Damn the cinchona plant!" burst out Marmaduke. But at that instant a +silvery artificial little laugh rose behind them and Mdlle. Fantine Le +Grand appeared tripping over the grass with the daintiest of sandalled +feet.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had again been watching father and son from her window, and after +a week's hesitation she had suddenly decided that something must be +done to stop what seemed to be growing confidence. She had hitherto +played with the plan of arousing the old man's jealousy, confining +herself to half-hearted flirtations with Marmaduke, who, also on the +watch, had fallen in with the amusement quite pleasantly. But that +morning Colonel Compton had spoken out his fears.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You'll have to look to your p's and q's, Fan, or that youngster will +be running away with some of the peer's loose cash. And as the estate +is strictly entailed that won't suit us. I overheard that weasel, Jack +Jardine, talking to the captain about the purchase of his majority, so +you had better look sharp."</p> + +<p class="normal">The words echoed in her brain as she had stood watching father and son +in an apparently amicable conversation which clinched her decision. +The result being her appearance before the two conspirators, +provocative to the very tilt of her carefully held pink parasol.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, pardon," she began, in the stage French accent she affected in +society, "but I mean not to disturb! Only the filial picture of milor +and his too charming son was irresistible to poor me--so <i>sans +famille</i>."</p> + +<p class="normal">She did not look in the least forlorn, and Lord Drummuir's clear, +wicked old eyes, that had seen to the bottom of so many evil things, +took her in from head to foot, and his clear wicked old brain +considered what she would be at. Then he chuckled softly, thinking he +had found out.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No apologies needed, dear little Fan," he said affectionately; "you +are almost one of the family already, so we've no secrets. Marmaduke +and I were just discussing the purchase of his majority. It will take +more than two thousand five hundred pounds, I'm afraid, won't it, dear +boy?--what with the regulation and non-regulation figures. A big sum, +my dear, a big sum. It will make a hole in what's available for +wedding presents, eh, little woman?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He looked at her with amused malevolence, thinking he had settled her +hash; for little Fan was not the woman to flirt with a man who was to +do her out of a farthing. And Fantine's eyes were steel as she made a +little curtsey.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who, my lord," she warbled tenderly, "could regret money spent in +such a good cause? Pardon," she added, remembering her accent, "was +that not right said? I mean that Marmaduke"--her voice cooed the +name--"is welcome to all zat I could give to him."</p> + +<p class="normal">The baron burst into a huge rough guffaw.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come, that is a real good 'un!" he cried, highly amused. "I declare +you're as good as a play. But it's not settled yet." Here he glanced +at his son, keen to tantalise him too, and with reckless devilry +sowing the seeds of evil broadcast. "I shall have to choose between +diamonds for my wife and promotion for my son. Meanwhile, my lady, +don't get your pretty little feet damp on the grass. Remember you have +to dance to us to-night. Ogilvie and all the good fellows for miles +round are coming to see you, and you mustn't be a failure."</p> + +<p class="normal">When the bath-chair and its wheezy occupant had been handed over to +the valet, Fantine Le Grand and Marmaduke lingered on the steps +together in silence.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have not yet seen me dance?" she said, suddenly. "Well, you shall +see me this evening! I will dance for you alone, monsieur."</p> + +<p class="normal">His eyes laughed into hers boldly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is a bargain, mademoiselle; but I shall ask for more, I warn you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>Dieu merci</i>," she said, with a tiny shrug of her shoulders, "you +must not ask too much!"</p> + +<p class="normal">So with provocative laughter she fled up the steps with the prettiest +of little glissades and disappeared, leaving Marmaduke gratified at +the impression he had evidently made, and with a certain new +admiration for the demure daintiness of Mademoiselle Fantine. His +father, devil take him, hadn't a bad taste.</p> + +<p class="normal">He said nothing of all this, however, to Jack Jardine when he raged +for a full hour over his father's absolute lack of human sympathy.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why only yesterday," he stormed, "he signed a cheque for one thousand +pounds because he wanted to pose as the patron of these dispossessed +parsons. It isn't moral, it isn't Christian. He doesn't care if he +ruins me body and soul. Anyhow, I've done with him for ever."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then you will leave at once?" suggested Jack Jardine.</p> + +<p class="normal">In truth he was anxious to get the young man away from temptation as +soon as possible, and he knew well that in the end he himself would +have somehow or another to negotiate the money for the majority.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No," replied Marmaduke. "I'm going to stop on for a bit."</p> + +<p class="normal">And he set his nether lip hard. He was not going to give a cheek to +the enemy. He meant to hit back if he could. If his father couldn't +spare two thousand pounds because he wanted to spend it on a dancing +woman, he might find himself in the position of not having the dancing +woman on whom to spend it. He, Marmaduke, would have a try at it, +anyhow. It was mean and horrible, of course, but so was the old man. +He began it.</p> + +<p class="normal">Peter Muir, coming in yawning, exclaimed at his brother's face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's up, Duke?" he asked. "You look in the devil of a temper."</p> + +<p class="normal">"So I am," retorted Duke. "And so would you be if you had the spunk to +ask anything of the baron. But you haven't, you see."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Phew!" said Peter. "So you've been attacking the money bags. I could +have told you it was no go. That's why I learnt picquet of that +Italian count the governor got hold of last year and sent about his +business when he had rooked him of a thou! Now I can get a guinea or +two off everybody who comes in to the house--except you, Jack. You +never will play."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't wish to add to your pocket-money, Peter; you've too much +already," replied Jack Jardine sternly. "Ah, I've heard of your +beguiling that wretched girl!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not for the first time, old man," put in Peter. "You shouldn't talk +about things you don't understand; and a fellow must have some +amusement in this cursed hole, especially when the river is low. But +for the life of me, Duke, I can't see why you shouldn't go on half pay +and stop at home a bit. We should have some fine fun together, and I'd +teach you picquet, if you like."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke stood gazing at his young brother for a second or two +angrily. Then his face softened, he went over to him and laid his +hands on his shoulders, and so remained looking down on the weak +effeminate face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're talking what they call 'bosh' at school, Peter. You're not a +bit content here. How could you be? Give it up and come along with me +when I go. The old man doesn't deserve to have a son."</p> + +<p class="normal">Peter wriggled himself away from his brother's hold.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't really see why you should go."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you? Well, I'll tell you. Because I'm a soldier born and bred. +I don't suppose I shall die on the field of glory, but I shall have a +try at it. And I mean to have my majority in my old regiment if I have +to forge the old man's name to get it."</p> + +<p class="normal">With that he gloomed away and loafed about, irritated at all things +and everything, even at the preparations that were being made for the +festivities of the evening, for these necessitated his being turned +out of his comfortable room in order to accommodate some of the +guests.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where are they putting me?" he asked angrily of Andrew Fraser, whom +he found, very long and lank in consequence of repeated attacks of +malarial fever, busy packing up his dressing things.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It will be tae whatten they used to ca' the 'Agäpemoan' in the old +lord's young days, sir," replied Andrew. "Jest yon big room wi' the +outside stair in the west wing close to the keep, sir. 'Tis a bonny +eneuch room with a fire to it, an' Marrion Paul has ben reddin' it up +a' day."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion Paul! The name came as a relief and a regret, for he had not +seen her--not anyhow for speech--since their dawn-tide swim together. +Now the mere memory of it in its coolness and freshness and beauty +calmed his irritation, and half aimlessly he strolled across the +quadrangle to inspect his new quarters. She might be there still. +Apparently she was, for a sound of determined sweeping came down the +stairway.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hullo, Marmie, is that you?" he cried joyously, bounding up the steps +two at a time.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aye, Mr. Duke, it's me," replied the figure with the broom +laconically.</p> + +<p class="normal">Certainly it was a nice comfortable room with the fire blazing and the +casement window, still somewhat hung with cobwebs, set wide to the +summer sunshine. Marmaduke passed to it and looked out. Beneath him, +far down the slanting red cliffs dotted here and there with sombre +pines, lay the castle pool, and over yonder to the right were the +rocks on the other side where he had found Marmie combing her hair +like any mermaid. It was hidden now under a most unbecoming dust +kerchief; still the memory was pleasant.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I say, Marmie," he remarked, "that swim of ours was stunning, wasn't +it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's aye nice in the dawning," replied Marrion comfortably. "I've +been out twice since then, and I'm no saying which I enjoyed the +maist."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke made a wry face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You look as if I were interrupting your work," he said tenderly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So you are, Captain Duke," she assented calmly. He clapped his hands +to his ears in mock alarm, and with a laugh raced headlong downstairs, +calling back half-way that 'Andry' would have his work cut out for him +getting his master to bed if so be the latter had had a glass too +much.</p> + +<p class="normal">When he had gone Marrion ceased sweeping and rested her cheek on the +broom handle for a bit.</p> + +<p class="normal">He--there was but one he in her life and she faced the fact +quietly--did not look so well as he did at first, but of that Andrew +Fraser had warned her. He had, in fact, told her of many things which +otherwise she would not have known, for she had seen much of him in +the last week. The racket of the noisy servants' hall, the whole +dissolute life of masters and men up at the castle had not been to his +taste, and he had taken to going over to the keep-house for quiet, if +not for peace. But even that was coming to him by degrees as he +realised the utter hopelessness of his love for Marrion. But he +realised also that if she was not for him neither was she for any +other man--except one; and that was impossible. So, indeed, he had +told her plainly but a day or two before, when half-dazed with fever +and ague which had attacked him suddenly, in the keep-house.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had insisted on his lying down in her grandfather's room, and when +she went in to bring him a cup of hot tea he had slipped his feet to +the ground apologetically, and sitting up, a lank figure among the +blankets, his small pathetic eyes full of fever, had laid a hot hand +on hers and said--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll no be troubling you again, Marrion. I canna help loving you and +you canna help loving him. It's no oorsels, ye see. It's just +Providence; sae we must just both thole it."</p> + +<p class="normal">She had stood silent, startled by the sudden attack for a second; then +she had said gravely--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aye, Andry, we must just thole it."</p> + +<p class="normal">Since then a strange confidence as to Marmaduke's sayings and doings +had sprung up between the two, and even at dinner-time that very day +he had told of his master's irritability.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Things have gone ajee," he remarked, "an' I'm thinkin' it's the money +for the majority. But what's filthy lucre to health?--and sure as +death the captain is no what he was. Gin' it wad make him quit yon bad +auld man an' the whore-woman he is takin' to wife, I'd be heart glad."</p> + +<p class="normal">For Andrew Fraser, being acquainted with his Bible, did not mince +words. Neither did Marrion; but having more wits than Andrew she +appraised the evils more reasonably, yet with more prejudice. Lord +Drummuir was Lord Drummuir, and therefore in a way must be accepted; +but the woman was different.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion Paul's eyebrows levelled themselves to a straight bar as she +went on with her work.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_01.6" href="#div1Ref_01.6">CHAPTER VI</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">The company had roared over a broad farce; for Lord Drummuir, when he +entertained his neighbours, did so with a lavish hand, and thought +nothing of importing a theatrical company from the nearest big town. A +coach and four went for them and took them back, full up with supper +and good wine. This particular one was not up to much, but they did +well enough, as his lordship said, for the country bumpkins; and the +real entertainment was yet to come.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a pretty little miniature, this theatre which Lord Drummuir had +fitted up in the days of his youth, though Marmaduke, as he sat in the +sham Royal box into which his father's armchair had been wheeled, +thought it smelt a little musty and fusty.</p> + +<p class="normal">But even his laughter had been long and loud. And now there was a +pause during which the noisy band of four--a cornet, a fiddle, a +'cello, and an oboe--hustled up their instruments and music and +disappeared. Marmaduke, with the fine instincts for art he had +inherited from his father, and which still made the latter a gourmet +and not a gourmand of all good things, felt relieved. Then suddenly a +thin thread of sound, vibrant, musical--just a whing like the whing of +a mosquito on a hot Indian night--made itself more felt than heard. It +seemed to thrill the air, to go further and thrill the heart-strings. +Marmaduke leant forward expectantly as the curtains drew up slowly on +a background of pale pink velvet hanging in loose folds to a pale pink +velvet floor. And the musty fustiness had gone! That was attar of +roses, pale pink roses like the pale pink <i>mise-en-scène</i>. And hark, +the thread of sound changed to two! It became rhythmic, louder! A +guitar? No; it must be a Hungarian zither. Marmaduke, thoroughly +roused, thrilled through to the marrow of his bones as he waited. Bent +on conquest, he had dressed with the greatest care; from head to foot +he was perfection. Expectant as he was, he was yet prepared to be +critical; but one glance at the figure which, after peeping with +roguish face between the velvet folds, stole out on tiptoe to the very +footlights, then stood, finger on lip, as if imploring silence for an +escapade, told him he was in the presence of a past mistress in her +art, and he sat back prepared for enjoyment.</p> + +<p class="normal">And La Fantine, as she had been called, had brought pleasure to many +men. She was looking her best, dainty to a degree. The footlights, +with the larger possibilities of powder and paint, had restored her +youth, and her dress was entrancing. Short clouds of pale pink tulle +scarcely veiled with gossamer black lace, all set and sparkling with +dewdrops of paste diamonds. How they glittered and disappeared, +twinkling one moment like stars amid the diaphanous black lace wings +she wore on her head, then sinking to shadow again as she moved.</p> + +<p class="normal">And heavens, how she moved! The zither thrilled louder and Marmaduke +sat entranced, for their eyes had met and he realised that she was +keeping her promise--she was dancing for him, for him alone. Like most +young and vital creatures dancing was sheer delight to him, and the +very precision of the black lace-shod, sandalled feet was pure joy to +him. And now the rhythm grew faster and faster; she was like a mad +butterfly drunk with honey from the waiting flowers.</p> + +<p class="normal">The desire of the eyes does not take long to flame up and flare, and +Marmaduke felt quite dizzy as he joined in the burst of applause when, +with a final pirouette, the <i>danseuse</i> kissed her hand to the +audience. Or was it to him?</p> + +<p class="normal">"Never saw La Fantine dance better, Drum," remarked a thin old man, a +relic of the past youth when he and the bridegroom expectant had +roystered about together, "except, perhaps, that time, you remember, +when she danced the <i>fandango</i> with that South American fellow +she----"</p> + +<p class="normal">He paused, remembering that this incident in Mdlle. Le Grand's career +had best not be mentioned under present circumstances.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The <i>fandango?</i>" put in Marmaduke, afire. "I should like to see her +dance that. It's the finest dance in the world. I learnt it in Cuba."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hullo, Drum," said the old buck, "here's a chance! Your son says he +can dance the <i>fandango</i>. Here's a chance. Let's have it. They'd make +a handsome couple."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke blushed up to the ears; why, he knew not. Then he said +stiffly--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'd rather not, Sir John."</p> + +<p class="normal">The refusal was opportune for the <i>fandango</i>; it roused the old man's +arrogance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why not, sir?" he asked angrily. "You'd never get a better partner. +Here, Fantine, my dear," he added, raising his voice, "this oaf of a +boy of mine says he can dance the <i>fandango!</i> Show him he can't, +there's a good girl!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will do my leetle best, milor," she replied, with a maliciously +provocative smile that would have incited anyone of spirit to action.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am at mademoiselle's command for tuition," said Marmaduke, with a +fine bow.</p> + +<p class="normal">His head was ringing, his pulses bounding. He was divided between +anger and delight, between a desire to teach the little devil and his +father a lesson, and keen pleasure at the thought of the coming dance.</p> + +<p class="normal">A minute after he stood making his bow beside La Fantine.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you really know it?" she had whispered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Better than you do," he had whispered back brutally. "I've danced it +in the pot-houses of Habana."</p> + +<p class="normal">Then it would be a trial of skill between them! She nodded to the +zither player to begin, striking the strings with loud full-blooded +notes that vibrated and thrilled through the little theatre and came +back to aid the growing clamour of the music. It was grace and grace, +suppleness and suppleness at first; then by degrees something fiercely +beautiful, profoundly, almost overwhelmingly, appealing to the senses. +The audience sat spellbound, while to those two there grew an +absorbing forgetfulness of all save that they two, man and woman, were +playing each with the other. Suddenly, when that reckless +forgetfulness seemed to have reached its climax, the woman faltered +for a second, turned to her companion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you know the rest?" he whispered softly. "Come on, I'll teach +it you."</p> + +<p class="normal">Half-hypnotised by his look, his manner, she followed his lead. +The music, bewildered, ignorant, failed, came to a full stop. +But it was not needed. Those two danced to the music of the spheres. +The coarse sensuality of this earth had passed. This was the +refined super-sensuality of a world of art, of sentiment. It was +self-renunciation divorced from its real meaning, and when finally, +with La Fantine's heart pressed to his, he laid his burning lips to +hers, a great silence like a sigh came to the whole audience. It was +broken by Lord Drummuir's stentorian voice--</p> + +<p class="normal">"You--you d----d young scoundrel! This is too much----"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke looked up jubilant.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's in the original dance, isn't it, Mademoiselle Le Grand?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I--I believe it is," she faltered uncertainly. She had met with her +match, and that she knew.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A most remarkable performance," said Sir John, with unction. "I'll +tell you what it is, young man. You two would be the talk of London if +you could persuade Mdlle. Fantine----" he paused again, coughed, and +added precipitately, "Really, my dear Drum, you are to be +congratulated on such a son, and such a future wife! Inimitable, quite +inimitable! You'll never feel the least dull in the long winter +evenings. Ah, Mdlle. Fantine, <i>mes compliments!</i> I have not seen you +for years; not since----" here once more he pulled himself up short, +and Lord Drummuir, beguiled from wrath by his ever-ready sense of +humour, burst in a loud guffaw.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Look here, Johnnie," he cried, "hold your tongue and don't splay that +old foot of yours about any more. Winter evenings be dashed! Marmaduke +is going back to his Cuban partners, and little Fanny here is going to +make my gruel, aren't you, Fan? Meanwhile, let's come and have some +supper."</p> + +<p class="normal">So they supped outrageously, and the noise of their laughter echoed +out over the quadrangle, where Marrion Paul sat at her door listening +for Marmaduke's step. She had promised to call Andrew Fraser the +moment she heard it; Andrew, who for two hours had been shivering and +shaking with ague under the spare-room blankets, and had now +apparently fallen asleep, secure in Marrion's promise to rouse him on +his master's appearance.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had been up twice to see that the captain's room was in order, and +like any valet had laid out everything that would be required for the +night. So, leaving the candles alight, she had come down to stand at +the door of the keep-house again and watch the slow whirling stars +almost stupidly, and wonder what had best be done at once to keep Duke +friends with his father, and at the same time to get him away from the +godless crew up at the castle.</p> + +<p class="normal">A staggering step and Marmaduke's voice joyously thick saying--</p> + +<p class="normal">"All right, James, you needn't come any further. I can find my way +now. Good-night. Andrew--where the deuce are you, Andrew? Why weren't +you waiting?" sent her in haste to fulfil her promise. But the hot fit +had this time had a firmer grip on Andrew than either she or he had +expected, and she found him lying with closed eyes half-unconscious. +And though he roused at her touch it was only to mutter: "Let me be, +mother! I'm no goin' to the schule the day. I wunna; let me be, I +say!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion, seeing he was useless, laid a wet cloth on his head and +returned to her station by the door. It was a dark night and she could +see nothing. Neither could she hear anything.</p> + +<p class="normal">What had happened? Had Marmaduke managed the stairs by himself? If so, +well and good. He could be left to his own devices, and serve him very +well right! The candles were in a safe place. But if he had fallen by +the way, he would be out all night. Serve him right also! Her lips +curled with scorn, and she was about to go in and close the door when +she remembered that the kitchen girls shaking their mats in the +quadrangle in the early morning would see him if he were lying there. +If it were men it would not have mattered, but that girls should see +and snigger was unbearable. She must go and make sure this would not +happen. Taking the lantern--for it was pitch dark--she made her way to +the foot of the stair. He was lying with his head on the lowest step, +as he had fallen, sleeping peacefully. The cool night air had +completed the work of wine, and so doubtless he would sleep for hours. +But he must not; that disgrace must be avoided. Kneeling beside him +she shook him violently by the shoulder; he roused a little, but not +much, and as he sank back to renewed slumber she looked helpless for a +moment, then angry. It was too bad! He must be roused somehow. She +lifted her hand and gave him a good smart blow on the cheek.</p> + +<p class="normal">The effect was magical.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Marmie," he murmured dazedly, then sat up and said confusedly, "What +is it, my dear?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You've got to get up and go to your bed, Mr. Duke," she replied. +"Come, be quick about it."</p> + +<p class="normal">He stumbled to his feet obediently.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Certainly, certainly! No objection whatever," he said thickly; but +when by the light of the lantern he saw the stairs he gave a silly +laugh, and said amiably: "Quite impossible, I 'sure you. Where's +Andrew?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Andrew is not here, Mr. Duke," she replied firmly. "I'll help you up. +Hold on to the rail with your right hand; I'll see to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">He delivered himself into her strong grip, body and soul, and so, with +a few stumbles, they reached the top of the stairs. Here she hesitated +a moment, then led him on.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sit you down on your bed, Duke. I'll help you off with your coat. +Ye'll sleep better without it. An' now kick off yer pumps," she went +on calmly, a sort of fierce motherhood possessing her, "an' I'd better +loosen yer stock; 'tis tight enough to suffocate ye."</p> + +<p class="normal">He acquiesced in all, sinking to sleep without a word almost before +she had finished her ministrations. Then, taking a plaid that hung +over a chair, she covered him over and prepared to go. But regret, +anger, outraged affection were too strong for her. She flung herself +on her knees beside the bed and buried her face on his unconscious +breast.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, Duke, Duke," she moaned, "how can ye! Ah, Duke, Duke, you +mustn't, you shall not spoil your life--you shall not, you shall not!"</p> + +<p class="normal">After a time calm came to her, and, drawing a chair to the side of the +bed, she sat down on it and, clasping her hands tight together, forced +herself to think of the future. But again and again she caught herself +comparing those two unconscious faces--Andrew's all flushed with +fever, Duke's all flushed with wine. Yet comparisons were useless +before Fate. She stood up at last, crossed the room, blew out the +candles, shut the door, and went downstairs, certain but of one thing, +that somehow she was bound by the very greatness of her love to stand +between Duke and danger.</p> + +<p class="normal">Her grandfather was home, and snoring. Andrew she found better and +beginning to fret over his inability to serve his master.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dinna fash yersel," she said kindly. "I heard James bring him over a +while back, and he'll have seen to him."</p> + +<p class="normal">So, absolutely outwearied, she went to her bed, to sleep at once and +dream that Duke had thanked her and gone away from the godless +household never to return. But Duke, meanwhile, was dreaming about +wonderful white arms that had left powder on his coat and wonderful +red lips that he had kissed boldly, defying the world.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_01.7" href="#div1Ref_01.7">CHAPTER VII</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">It was not only Marrion Paul whose night had been disturbed. Lord +Drummuir, brought thereto by many days' indiscretions, Périgord pie at +supper, and perchance his hot though transient anger at the finale to +the <i>fandango</i>, fell a victim to the sharpest attack of gout he had +had since Christmas and kept his side of the house awake with his +curses on things in general, and his valet in particular.</p> + +<p class="normal">And, on the other side of the south wing, Fantine Le Grand, <i>alias</i> +Fanny Biggs, sat till dawn, staring at herself in the looking-glass +and ciphering out the effect of something, new yet old, which had +unexpectedly come into her life. She had sent her maid to bed, but +felt no inclination for her own, until the disturbing element had been +thoroughly reckoned with; for she was eminently practical and shrewd.</p> + +<p class="normal">So she sat, her elbows on the dressing-table, her fingers cramped in +her loosened hair, taking stock of the pretty painted face which had +been the loadstar of her life. It was beginning to show age. She had +admitted that to herself for some time past, and had told herself it +was time for her to draw in her horns. But now had come this +disturbing factor. Only that morning she had remorselessly plotted to +turn Marmaduke out of the house by fair means or foul. Now she was +clear-sighted enough to admit that she would much rather keep him +beside her.</p> + +<p class="normal">Strange that one dance, one delicious abandonment of herself to his +directions should have revived her youth--made her think of the gouty +old man with positive loathing.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are a fool," she murmured to her reflection in the glass; but the +reflection answered back--"It is your last chance. Why miss it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She thought and thought, only one thing coming to her with certainty. +To play with Marmaduke, as she had proposed to do, would be to play +with fire. Was she prepared for this?</p> + +<p class="normal">At last, wearied out, she rose, poured out a double dose of sleeping +drops, and put off further considerations for the morning, since no +matter at what decision she arrived, she could not afford to be +haggard. She woke, late as usual, to feel, with the usual buoyancy +of perfect health and practically no conscience, that she had been +making a mountain out of a molehill; but the first glance at the +breakfast-table laid in her little boudoir sent a thrill through her +which reminded her that there were indeed pitfalls ahead. For on it +lay a huge bunch of red, red roses, tied together somewhat clumsily +with a red silk officer's scarf, and in it was tucked away a boyish +note: "Excuse tie, I hadn't any other ribbon. Hope you aren't tired +after our wonderful dance. My love to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">So it was real, tangible; and something must be settled one way or the +other. She frowned over her breakfast and then, untying the bouquet, +disposed the roses about the room, since Lord Drummuir, of whose +illness she had not yet heard, might come in at any moment. The tie +she set aside, its fate being not yet decided.</p> + +<p class="normal">After a while Colonel Compton, as usual, lounged in, a cigar in his +mouth.</p> + +<p class="normal">"By George, Fan," he said admiringly, "that was a treat you gave us +last night! Upon my soul, if I'd known you had so much spunk left in +you, I'd never have advised your going on the shelf! If you could only +get that young fellow as a co, you'd take the town by storm."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Should I?" she answered, with a half yawn; but her mind seized +instantly on a new idea.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course you would," he went on, "and I've done a bit of +<i>impresario</i> work in my time. Marks, if he'd seen it, would have +offered you fifty sovs a night on the spot. The old man is no mean +judge, and you saw how it angered him."</p> + +<p class="normal">She burst into a little laugh.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But he soon got over it. You see he has a sense of humour; if he +hadn't, I could not stand him, I really couldn't!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't know about getting over it. He's down to-day with a real bad +fit of the gout----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is he?" she remarked coolly. "Then I shall have a holiday." As she +said the words her mind travelled over the possibilities of even a few +days. "Compton," she said suddenly, "I never quite understand the +position of affairs in regard to Drummuir's sons. The estate's +entailed, isn't it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Heir male of the body," replied the colonel. "That is why I warned +you to look out lest Marmaduke should worm money out of his father. So +long as the old man lives you're all right; but when he dies you will +only have the cash and the savings--and the title. The rest all goes +to Pitt--after him, as he has no children, and isn't likely to have +any--to Marmaduke as heir presumptive. After him to Peter, but +Marmaduke is sure to marry; he's really a very good-looking +fellow----"</p> + +<p class="normal">She interrupted him curtly; she did not need to be told that.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thanks. I quite understand, only I wished to be sure."</p> + +<p class="normal">She passed to the window and looked out. Peter, as usual surrounded +by a perfect pack of silly, silky spaniels--they suited him exactly +with his wide weak mouth, long fair hair, and general exuberance of +dress--was on the lawn talking to Marmaduke. The latter looked up, saw +her, and bowed. She kissed her hand to him and returned to her seat, +her mind still confused, but her will steady.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well," she said lightly, "I suppose by and by I shall have to go in +and cheer up my fiancé, but I shan't be sorry for a few days' +holiday."</p> + +<p class="normal">She told Marmaduke so also when she appeared, exquisite and dainty, +declaring that, as she was useless at home, since his father, poor +dear, could not even bear the sight of her for more than five minutes, +she thought it would be a fine opportunity to see a little more of the +place than she had hitherto been able to; and would Marmaduke tell her +where to go.</p> + +<p class="normal">The result of which innocent interrogatory being that in the full +glory of a summer afternoon, the sea calm as a mill pond, Marmaduke +found himself sitting in a boat as it drifted idly beneath the old red +sandstone cliffs facing the North Sea with his arm round La Fantine's +waist and a curious mixture of desire and disdain in his heart.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You see, my dear boy," she was saying, "I dare say you think ill of +me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't, I don't indeed!" he protested.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, you did think ill of me," she continued, with a heavenly smile; +"but I really have all the Christian virtues. That is the worst of it. +I hate giving pain, or seeing people suffer. And I like doing my best +for people, if I can. Now my proposition sounds rather impossible, +but it really is quite feasible. I'm not going to talk about our +feelings, Duke. We both of us remember last night, so we will leave +them out of the question. But you are a young man, you have a future +before you--that is to say, if you play your cards properly. You want +to be a soldier----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't mean to be anything else," interrupted Marmaduke decidedly, +"so your plan of my making money by dancing with you is out of the +question."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not on six months' sick leave, under an assumed name? Now, Duke, +listen and don't interrupt. If you and I join forces and run away from +here, I will engage to get the money for your majority. I tell you any +manager would advance two thousand on the <i>fandango</i> alone--or Jack +Jardine could finance one half--as he always does, and I the other. +Then you could join, get leave, disappear, have a real stunning six +months with me--London, Paris, Vienna perhaps. You don't know what the +life is like, Duke--and I'm not jealous or exacting. I like to amuse +myself, and so should you."</p> + +<p class="normal">He looked at her admiringly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What an imagination you have!" he said. "And you settle everything so +quickly. You remind me----" And here the thought of Marrion Paul made +him suddenly shift back to the thwart and begin to scull once more. +"We are nearing the current," he said apologetically, "and she needs +steering--and so do I!" he added, with a charming smile, "so go on, +please, with your imaginations."</p> + +<p class="normal">She gave him a sharp look, saw he had still some fight left in him, +and like a good fisherman let him have his head a bit.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course it is all imagination," she assented, "and it depends on +whether you think it worth while to pay the price I ask for all this. +I am five years older than you are, Duke" (in reality she was fifteen, +but under a rose-lined sun hat years disappear), "but I am still +attractive."</p> + +<p class="normal">She said the word so cunningly that he laid on his oars and bent +forward till his burning eyes were close to hers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Attractive!" he echoed. "You're more than that, and you know it--at +any rate, I do!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am glad of it," she assented, "for it makes it easier for both of +us; but, as I said, I don't want to dwell on our feelings, they are +too recent to be--er--reliable. It is purely as business that I put it +to you. I want to get back to the old life, if I can do it with any +chance of success. Last night showed me I could. But I also want to be +Lady Drummuir. You want to get your majority, and also--there is no +use in mincing words--to spite your father for not giving you the +money. Now all these desires can be combined----"</p> + +<p class="normal">The grating of the keel on a shingly shore interrupted her, and +Marmaduke stood up, shipped his oars, and held out both his hands.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let's leave it for the time, little lady, or you'll persuade me out +of my persuasion that you're right. There's the most ideal spot for +lovers just round that rock. Let's go there and forget everything and +everybody except that I am the most delightful man in the world, and +you are the most delightful--and attractive--woman!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The hint of artificiality in his tone made her frown, but there was +frank sensual admiration in his look as he set her down after lifting +her from the boat.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think," he said softly, as he held out a finger bleeding from the +prick of a pin, "you are the daintiest, thorniest thing I ever +touched. You're like the roses I gave you this morning, all colour, +sweetness and scent, and--thorns."</p> + +<p class="normal">Whereat they both laughed as they made their way to the ideal spot for +lovers. To their surprise and discomfiture they found it already +occupied by Margaret Muir, who was looking sentimentally out to sea +with the Reverend Patrick Bryce's arm round her waist.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Meg!" cried Marmaduke, aghast.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, Marmaduke! Why? How did you come?" wailed his sister, jumping up +and looking round as if for escape.</p> + +<p class="normal">The Reverend Patrick Bryce, however, stood his ground. He was a small +spare man of about fifty, dapper and spruce, his curling grey hair +having the appearance of a wig under his low crowned hat, his clear, +starched clerical bands natty to a degree.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Captain Marmaduke Muir, I presume," he said, with a bow of a marquis. +"I regret much exposing my dear Miss Margaret Muir to this +unpleasantness, but I beg you to believe that, as my affianced wife, I +am ready to defend her to the uttermost."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke looked from one to the other of the delinquents.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You don't mean to say, Meg," he said at last, "that you wish to marry +the minister?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The very idea seemed to him preposterous, absurd; he almost laughed at +it.</p> + +<p class="normal">The Reverend Patrick Bryce gave her no time for reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She not only desires to marry me, sir, but she is going to do so, +please God, before long. Yes, sir, I propose to take her away from a +demoralising atmosphere, and give her, to the utmost of my power, the +love and affection she deserves."</p> + +<p class="normal">He looked very gallant as he made his little speech, and Marmaduke +acknowledged to himself that he played the gentleman well. Still, he +turned again to his sister in incredulity.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can't do it, Meg. To begin with, if the Baron----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Baron Drummuir, sir, will have nothing to say to it," interrupted the +little minister once more. "The Honourable Margaret Muir is of age, +and if she chooses to marry a man of birth equal to her own--I do not +care to boast of my ancestry, sir, but Bryce and Bruce are the same, +and my family tree shows Robert of Scotland to be my immediate +ancestor--she is at liberty to do so."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is for Lord Drummuir to decide," said Marmaduke grimly. "Of +course, I shall tell him, Meg, what I've seen."</p> + +<p class="normal">Margaret clasped her hands in entreaty.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, please, don't, Duke--please, please!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Margaret," interrupted the minister sharply, "oblige me by not +entreating your brother to silence. Let him speak if he chooses. We +are not ashamed of ourselves."</p> + +<p class="normal">All this time Mdlle. Le Grand had been watching the scene with her +sharp eyes, and her acute little brain had been working out any +advantage to herself. Now she saw her way and slipped forward with a +smile.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Marmaduke," she said, as the two men stood glaring at each +other, "live and let live is a valuable motto. You must remember that +Margaret can also tell on us. Silence on both sides is the best way +out of the difficulty. Don't you think so, Miss Muir?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Margaret gave a frightened look at her brother.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, Duke," she cried, "you don't mean to say you----"</p> + +<p class="normal">Fantine Le Grand interrupted her with perfect aplomb.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That has nothing to do with it, my dear young lady; but you know as +well as I do what would happen if your father got wind of this +excursion of ours. So, as I said, silence is wise. Don't you agree +with me, sir?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The Reverend Patrick Bryce once more made the bow of a marquis.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I reserve the right to speak if I choose----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And so do I," she retorted sweetly, "only we won't choose. Come, +Marmaduke, it is time we were going back. Had we not better take your +sister with us? It will look better--for both sides."</p> + +<p class="normal">And here she gave a delightful tinkle of a laugh.</p> + +<p class="normal">She kept up the rôle so well on the return journey that simple +Margaret Muir was quite fascinated, and when, artfully, the suggestion +was made that Marmaduke should see his sister home to the Dower House, +the latter took the occasion to remark, as the former had hoped she +would, on her surprise at finding Mdlle. Le Grand so agreeable and so +well mannered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She is very charming," replied Marmaduke, a trifle gloomily, "and +very clever."</p> + +<p class="normal">He felt vaguely that he had been played with, and that he had had no +more responsibility in the game than a pawn at chess. He felt also +that the compact of silence with his sister brought imaginings nearer +to reality.</p> + +<p class="normal">And the idea of that six months on the Continent was a temptation; +anyhow, he would have another go at the old man first.</p> + +<p class="normal">If he still refused--well, on his head be it!</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_01.8" href="#div1Ref_01.8">CHAPTER VIII</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">Days are long to a man and a woman when one of them passionately +desires the other, for every instant counts, every moment spells +success or failure. And Fantine Le Grand, with her almost lifelong +experience of intrigue, was not one to let the grass grow under her +feet. So when, two days later, Marmaduke ran over the quadrangle to +beg a favour of Marrion Paul, most of his scruples had disappeared, +and, for the time, at any rate, he was an admiring lover, eager to do +anything and everything for the woman of the moment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can, quite well, if you like, Marrion," he pleaded. "It would +only be for a day or two, till Josephine could put her foot to the +ground again. And Mdlle. Le Grand--she has been very much maligned, +Marmie--is perfectly charming. Now do. It isn't often I ask you to do +anything for me, is it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion Paul had opened her eyes at the proposition, which was briefly +that, during the temporary disablement of Mdlle. Le Grand's French +maid, she should go over and take her place. She had been on the point +of refusal when that "for me" startled her. Was it possible that he +could count that woman's convenience his own? She hesitated, but only +for a second.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will do what I can for you, Captain Duke," she said.</p> + +<p class="normal">In an instant all the old charm, all the old <i>camaraderie</i> came to his +voice--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I knew you would, Marmie. I told her so. You're a real friend, you do +such a lot of things for me." Then he in his turn hesitated, looked +confused, and finally spoke: "I had such odd dreams that night--the +night we danced, you know. I dreamt that you helped me up the stairs +and--and put me to bed like a baby." He paused. "Did you, really, +Marmie?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The colour rushed to her face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aye, Captain Duke, I did. Andrew was ill and you were drunk."</p> + +<p class="normal">Her straightforward candour abashed him beyond words.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm sorry," he said at last, so humbly that her heart melted within +her. Then he added, with a sudden influx of joyousness, "But I'm +really going to turn over a new leaf. I'm going to cut and run before +long and let my father stew in his own juice."</p> + +<p class="normal">She caught him up instantly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your father's your father, Mr. Duke, and you're the heir to the old +barony. You mustn't forget that. It's laid on you, and it's not to be +put aside."</p> + +<p class="normal">He paused as he was going, vexedly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm not going to put it aside, Marmie. I am only going to make the +best of a bad bargain. If the old lord won't give me the money for my +majority, I'm not going to stick on here getting drunk to please him."</p> + +<p class="normal">There was distinct virtue in the last phrase, and Marmie smiled. And +as she looked in the old clothes drawer for some black silk-frilled +aprons which her mother had worn when she was maid to the first Lady +Drummuir, she told herself that Duke was nothing but--as he had +said--a big baby, and that, no matter what the dancing-woman might be +like, she, Marrion, was glad to be in a position where she could see +for herself what was going on.</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked very demure, very uncompromising and upright, therefore, +when that same afternoon, attired after a little coloured sketch of +her mother as maid, she stood waiting for Fantine Le Grand to come up +and dress for dinner. Yet, even so, the latter's instant and quite +unpremeditated remark was--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Captain Muir did not tell me you were so good-looking."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a revelation to Marrion's quick wits, but she was ready in +reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Maybe he never looked to see, ma'am," she said demurely, "having his +eyes busy with prettier things."</p> + +<p class="normal">Fantine Le Grand laughed easily and her manner changed to more +familiarity at once.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know which side your bread is buttered, my girl. So much the +better. Now I wonder how much use you will be?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was six years at the dressmaking, madam," replied Marrion, "and the +forewoman gave me all the touching-up work; she said I had a good hand +for folds."</p> + +<p class="normal">Fantine gave a relieved sigh.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then you're not quite a bumpkin, but I suppose you can't do hair?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can, a little," said Marrion; "I learnt just a wee while in +Perragier's shop in Edinburgh. The foreman wanted me to stop, but I +don't care for the business."</p> + +<p class="normal">All of which was absolutely true; for the hairdresser who had offered +her gold for her russet hair had afterwards offered her his heart and +hand. What is more he had hardly yet withdrawn his offer, and only +that morning the post had brought her a long and friendly letter +enclosing a sachet and a most particular account of how he had dressed +the hair of all the Edinburgh celebrities in the latest fashion for +the last big ball.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm thinking," she went on deftly, "that the new Sevigné style would +just suit madam, if she will allow me to try. There will be time to +change if it doesn't please."</p> + +<p class="normal">Five minutes later Fantine Le Grand, in pink wrapper, was watching in +the glass Marrion's fingers curling and twisting and combing and +puffing. And Marrion was watching the glass also, a half inherited, +half acquired perception of what was beautiful and becoming aiding her +lack of practice.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear girl," said Fantine delighted, when Marrion stepped back, her +task completed, "you're an artist! It makes me look ten years younger. +You must come with me." She paused and gave a little conscious laugh. +"Anyhow, you are much better than Josephine, and so I shall tell +Captain Muir."</p> + +<p class="normal">Apparently she did, for Marrion, meeting him by chance that evening on +the stairs, had to draw back from his outstretched hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hang it all," he said, almost boisterously, "I forgot you were a +servant here! Do you ever forget your p's and q's, I wonder? I wish +you would sometimes. Anyhow, you have made her look quite divine, and +she says she means to ask you to take the place permanently."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is very kind of <i>her</i>," replied Marrion, accenting the pronoun; +but Marmaduke was too absorbed to notice it. Only that afternoon he +had had his final attack on his father's purse-strings, and had come +down to the library where Jack Jardine and Peter were smoking, white +with rage.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's all up!" he said. "The old man--I'll never call him father +again--insulted me beyond bearing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I warned you, Duke," began Peter; "he isn't half recovered yet."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And do you think I've got time to waste until my precious parent +takes enough colchicum and nitre to kill a horse, all because he +guzzles and swills? No. As I told him, Pringle won't wait over the +week, so--so I'm making other arrangements. I shall have to ask you, +Jack, to raise two hundred pounds to clinch the bargain when I meet +Pringle. I don't know how the devil you do it, but you always do."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, I always do," assented Jardine a trifle wearily; "but you know, +Duke, it would be wiser to raise the two thousand pounds at once and +have done with it. If Pitt and Peter here were to join in a <i>post +obit</i>, and I were to back it----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thanks!" said Marmaduke curtly. "I only asked for two hundred pounds, +and you can put that in the bill, can't you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes," assented Jardine again wearily, "I can put it in the bill"</p> + +<p class="normal">When Marmaduke had gone out of the room Peter crossed over to the fire +and knocked the ashes out of his pipe.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wonder what he has got in his head," he remarked thoughtfully. +"It's something to do with Fantine, <i>alias</i> Fanny Biggs, I'm sure."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Fantine?" echoed Jack Jardine. "Why, of course, anyone can see that +Marmaduke has been trying to get to the right side of her. I advised +him to do so. And she, of course--by that scoundrel Compton's advice, +I expect--has been trying to make the peer jealous in order to get rid +of Marmaduke!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Peter burst out laughing.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Look here, Jack, you're excellent as a man of business, but you're a +mole with women, you old bachelor! I could tell you a thing or two, +but I won't--it's too amusing." And he strolled out of the room +chuckling to himself.</p> + +<p class="normal">Over in the keep-house, Marrion Paul felt that she, also, could tell a +thing or two, even after the brief experience of being maid to Fantine +Le Grand; but she did not find it amusing. On the contrary, it sent +her about her new work with a frown in her eyes that were keen for +every sign.</p> + +<p class="normal">The day had been a troublous one. The old peer, up for the first time, +had been so irritable that the whole household was upset. Fantine Le +Grand, indeed, coming up for her usual late afternoon rest, had +professed herself so outwearied by a protracted penance in milord's +private room that she bade Marrion give her a double dose of her +sleeping draught and tell the butler she was not coming down to +dinner. She would have a dainty little supper in her boudoir at ten +o'clock, and till then did not wish to be disturbed. Being thus set +free, Marrion was going home when, as she passed the stairway leading +to the room which Marmaduke had occupied and where Andrew Fraser still +kept some of his master's spare things, she heard a noise as of +someone shifting boxes. Running up to see what it was, she found +Andrew busy packing up.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aye, we're awa' the morn's morn," he replied cheerfully to her query, +"and blythe am I that the finest gentleman in the Queen's army will +run no more danger o' bein' ruined by a whore-woman and an auld, auld +man, as s'ould be thinkin' o' his grave an' the Last Day."</p> + +<p class="normal">Despite a sudden catch at her heart, his hearer acquiesced calmly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aye, it's well he's goin! But where is it to?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"To Edinbro'. He's an appointment tae meet Major Pringle the morrow's +morn aboot the exchange."</p> + +<p class="normal">"An' when he's comin' back?" asked Marrion sharply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I heard no tell o' returnin', and I'm thinkin' not. Ye see the +exchange he tell't me was settled into the auld regiment."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then his father----" she interrupted.</p> + +<p class="normal">Andrew shook his head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's no the auld lord. They had just a fearfu' stramash aboot it. It +will be Jack Jardine again, puir fallow! He always manages it somehow. +Well, he'll hae his reward at the Judgment, though I'm thinkin' he'll +hae to wait till then for a reckoning."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Maist o' us have to do that, Andry," said Marrion grimly, and then +her face, looking into the hard, honest, homely face before her, +softened; "an' you, abune all, abune all, my lad," she added, as she +went on her way.</p> + +<p class="normal">Andrew Fraser hesitated for a second, then followed fast.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank ye for that, my dear," he said hoarsely at the foot of the +stairway, "it makes it easier. An' I'll wait--aye, I'll wait till +then, never fear, Marrion!"</p> + +<p class="normal">His outstretched hand was in hers as they stood gazing into each +other's eyes, his very love forgot in the flood of friendship which +surged through their hearts and brains, when Miss Margaret Muir, fresh +from an afternoon among the rocks with her gallant little parson, came +whistling and calling to her dogs through the keep-gate. She had spent +so many long years of her life without one touch of glamour and +romance that, now it had come to her at last, the whole world seemed +transfigured into a place full to the brim of lovers and their lasses. +So in an instant the sight of those two set her becking and smiling.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good luck to you both!" she called. "Good luck, good luck! After all, +Marrion, you see you will be asking Mr. Bryce to get you cried."</p> + +<p class="normal">Andrew, shamefaced and confused, escaped up the stairs, but Marrion +stood her ground boldly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There'll be scant time, Miss Marg'ret," she said, not without some +scorn, "for Andrew is away with his master the morn, and Captain Duke +says he will not be coming back."</p> + +<p class="normal">Her hearer turned visibly pale. Ever since the rencontre on the rocks +Margaret had been haunted by a fear lest Marmaduke should break the +half-formulated compact of mutual silence. And now this news of his +unexpected departure sent a thousand wild conjectures to her mind. +Had he quarrelled with his father over the woman? Had he in revenge +told----</p> + +<p class="normal">"Going away!" she gasped. "I didn't know. Surely it's very sudden! +Why? Can my father have found out about Mdlle. Le Grand----" Then +realising her slip, she went on hurriedly, "But it is all nonsense +about Duke's saying he will not come back. The boys always say that +when there is a quarrel; but father forgets, and so do they, as you +know quite well, Marrion. And it's only right that it should be so, +for after all he is their father, isn't he?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aye, Miss Marg'ret," replied Marrion gravely, "my Lord Drummuir is +the present holder o' the barony, an' Captain Marmaduke is the heir to +it if the Master has no son; so that settles it outright."</p> + +<p class="normal">Margaret Muir looked at her with a sort of wistful surprise.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You put things very plain, Marrion," she said, "but you always were a +sensible girl; and, being what you are, your grandfather's +granddaughter--you--you belong to Drummuir, as it were."</p> + +<p class="normal">When she had passed on whistling and calling to her dogs, Marrion Paul +stood echoing those last words in her heart. Yes, she belonged to +Drummuir; but over and above that inherited loyalty there was a +passion of protection for Duke himself. He must not be harmed in any +way.</p> + +<p class="normal">Was there indeed anything between him and the painted woman she was +serving?</p> + +<p class="normal">Before she wakened her for the dainty supper at ten o'clock that +evening Marrion stood looking at the sleeping face, all its charm of +<i>espièglerie</i> gone, the mouth cruel, the lines about the eyes hard and +set.</p> + +<p class="normal">No, whatever came, that woman should not have the spoiling of Duke's +life! Not that there could be much fear since he was leaving the next +day.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_01.9" href="#div1Ref_01.9">CHAPTER IX</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">No danger!</p> + +<p class="normal">The thought--such an ill-considered thought, it seemed--recurred to +Marrion Paul as she held a slip of crumpled paper in her hand and read +its slight contents over and over again.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had found it on the floor of the room where Andrew Fraser had +packed up his master's spare things. There had been heaps of other +papers on the floor, when, during the time that Fantine Le Grand was +on duty with the old lord, Marrion, more to still thought than from +necessity, had set herself the task of clearing up and making tidy; +but this one showed her Duke's handwriting, and, half mechanically, +she had reached down to pick it up. And then? Women, as a rule, have +not nearly so hard and fast a rule of conventional honour as men on +such points, so she had smoothed it out and read--</p> + +<p class="normal">Evidently a memorandum made to help out a memory excellent in its way, +but random, careless.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Write for rooms at Cross-keys. Order trap from Crow; 9.30, copse by +avenue gate."</p> + +<p class="normal">She drew in her breath and considered, her thoughts punctuated by the +rapid beating of her heart.</p> + +<p class="normal">The Cross-keys? That was the inn where the south coach stopped, and +where the ferry road branched off; she could almost see it from her +window across the estuary on the edge of the moorland. What did +Marmaduke want with rooms there? And the trap from the Crow? That was +the little inn down in the back purlieus of the town. For whom was +that trap wanted? And why not order from the big posting hotel as +usual?</p> + +<p class="normal">Then in an instant a solution flashed upon her. Marmaduke had not +really gone by the afternoon coach; or, if he had, so far, was to +return that night to the Cross-keys, and the trap was to take Fantine +Le Grand to him by the bridge road!</p> + +<p class="normal">The beating of her heart steadied itself. She folded up the paper and +put it in her pocket, her vehement determination, somehow or another, +to frustrate this plan almost forgotten for the time in wonder at the +chance which had brought to her this knowledge.</p> + +<p class="normal">The paper must have fallen out of the pocket of some coat Andrew had +been packing up--how easily it might not so have fallen! How easily +she might not have noticed it! A facile wonder obscured real thought, +and, as usual in such sudden crises, concrete determination hid itself +under one general determination to frustrate the machinations of the +enemy, if possible. She did not even ask herself how this was to be +done; all she told herself was that it <i>must</i> be done.</p> + +<p class="normal">So, rousing to a sense that afternoon was passing to evening, and that +it was time for her to be in attendance at the castle, she went +thither, feeling vaguely that if it was necessary to kill the woman, +even that must be done, sooner than she should be allowed to hamper +Marmaduke's young life.</p> + +<p class="normal">Fantine Le Grand had not yet come up from her daily duty of amusing +Lord Drummuir, so Marrion mechanically began, as usual, to prepare for +the evening's toilette, She found all the valuables gone from the +jewel-case, and, after a hasty search, discovered them in a tiny +valise, ready packed hidden away behind laces and ribbons in a drawer.</p> + +<p class="normal">So she had been right. Fantine Le Grand meant to give them the slip. +Ere she had time to consider a fretful voice came from the boudoir.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Marrion, Marrion! I do hope the girl's there. Just like 'em if she +isn't. Ah," as Marrion appeared at the door, "for heaven's sake, girl, +take off my shoes and bring me my dressing-gown! That wretched old man +has worn me out. I shall be fit for nothing! Oh, lord, it was too +bad--nothing would please him! What o'clock is it? Six o'clock! Good +gracious, I shall hardly have time before dinner! I won't go down; +there's no one to go down for now Marmaduke's gone. Lord, what a +relief it will be! Tell them to bring dinner up here at eight and give +me my sleeping drops. Not too much, as I don't want to sleep too long; +but I have such a headache, I shan't be fit for anything without a +rest."</p> + +<p class="normal">Fantine Le Grand did not see her attendant's face. Had she done so, +she would have been startled. The colour had left it, every feature +was set and hard. For she had found the clue. Even if an overdose +killed the woman, she must be made to sleep sound.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, madam," she replied, "but a rest will take your headache away, I +hope."</p> + +<p class="normal">She poured out the narcotic without a tremble, doubling the double +dose. It was a risk, of course; but risks must be run.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is very strong--how much did you give me?" asked Fantine, as, +with a sigh of content, she snuggled down under the <i>duvet</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Only as much as was necessary," replied Marrion steadily.</p> + +<p class="normal">Her heart was hard as the nether millstone. She waited in the boudoir +till the soft regular breathing told her Fantine was asleep, then, +giving orders in passing that her mistress did not wish to be +disturbed, she made her way back to her own room at the keep-house in +order to mature further plans. In this she was hampered by ignorance +as to what she had to frustrate. It would have been easy to walk down +to the Crow and countermand the trap, but for aught she knew to the +contrary, Marmaduke might be awaiting Mdlle. Le Grand there; so she +judged it better to adhere as far as possible to what she did know, +and this pointed to someone taking the trap, as ordered--whether to +the Cross-keys or not, mattered little--and meeting Marmaduke. The +very idea stirred her blood! Of course she must do it. She must go and +beg him--nay, force him to reconsider an action which would for ever +ruin him with his father.</p> + +<p class="normal">The colour came back to her face, the light to her eyes, with this +decision, and her mind was busy at once with precautions.</p> + +<p class="normal">The Cross-keys, she knew, was held by new people who would not be +likely to know her; still she must do her best to avoid recognition. +To begin with she must secure retreat. She looked down the estuary, +then at low tide, and little more than a still pool with a faint +stream in it, and saw no boat at the further side. That, however, +could easily be remedied. The castle boat lay this side, and it would +not take her half an hour to row it over and swim back.</p> + +<p class="normal">By this time it was full seven o'clock, the shadows were lengthening +and everyone at the castle would be busy with dinner. Now was her +opportunity. Ten minutes afterwards in her bathing suit, but wrapped +in her plaid, and with a lighted lantern at the bottom of the boat, +for she remembered it would be dark on the return journey, she was +pulling with long vigorous strokes to the little pier of seaweed-grown +slippery rocks. To fasten the boat to the outermost ring on the shore, +so that she could get at it at all tides, and hang the lantern over +the bows as a guide to the whereabouts, did not take her long. That +done, she folded the plaid away, placed it in the stern sheets, and +slipped over the side like a seal.</p> + +<p class="normal">So much, then, was done. She must now go and carry up Fantine Le +Grand's supper and then prepare herself to take the latter's place.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was relieved to find all well. Fantine lay comfortably snuggled +up, very dead asleep it is true, but breathing quietly and regularly, +and Marrion, with a lighter heart, for all it was still hard as the +nether millstone, closed the door on her, secure that no interruption +was likely to come from that side.</p> + +<p class="normal">And now to disguise herself so as to pass muster with the driver of +the coach, should he happen to be an acquaintance. This was easy +enough. High heels, silk stockings, a little lace, a furbelow or two, +and a big black silk cloak go far in semi-darkness, and all these were +to be found in her mother's wardrobe.</p> + +<p class="normal">Having time to spare, indeed, Marrion spent it, half-eagerly, +half-reluctantly, in seeing how near she could bring herself to the +daintinesses of modern fashion. And she so far succeeded that, as she +went away from the looking-glass, her face showed radiant, as of a +girl going to her first ball. Unconfessed, the thought was there that +Marmaduke would see her so, possibly in the discarded brocades worn by +his own mother in her youth; anyhow, in the garments of his own class.</p> + +<p class="normal">So, with the ample cloak round her, its hood drawn over the shining +hair piled in the latest fashion, she made her way to the copse by the +avenue gate. The chariot with two horses was in waiting; the driver, +touching his hat, asked if there was no luggage. She answered no, +stepped in, and they were off. Evidently the man had his orders, for +they skirted the town and crossed the river by the lower and older +bridge. This lengthened the journey by some two miles; so much the +better. It would be quite dark by the time they arrived at the +Cross-keys. Hitherto Marrion's mind had been fully occupied with action. +Now, in this hour's drive, she had time to think of what would happen +when she met Marmaduke, and her heart sank a little. Not that she was +afraid of him or of herself, but it was all so strange, so unlike real +life. Then in a flash came the memory of that dawn-tide swim of +theirs! That was not common, trivial, everyday life either. They two +had somehow the trick of escaping from that sometimes. Why not now?</p> + +<p class="normal">The day had been brilliantly fine and warm, but with the sun setting, +clouds had gathered and lay dark and threatening on the horizon, +though the moon rode unobscured high in the heavens. A few spots of +heavy rain fell in great splashes, and the bustling landlady of the +Cross-keys, as she came to the door, was full of congratulations that +madam had escaped the thunderstorm which was evidently brewing. +Meantime, Captain Muir, who had not expected his lady quite so soon, +was away in the kennels to see if some medicine which he--kindly +gentleman--had prescribed for a puppy ill of distemper had bettered +the poor beastie; but he would be back syne and the rooms were ready.</p> + +<p class="normal">This was a relief to Marrion as it ensured that their meeting would be +private; so she followed the landlady upstairs, the latter asking if +Mrs. Muir would rather a cup of tea, or to go to bed at once, since +she would have to be up so early to catch the first coach south.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion, as she refused both suggestions, felt startled at the Mrs. +Muir. Was it possible that there was to be more than a mere intrigue? +In Scotland one did not pose so easily as married--unless indeed +Marmaduke was reckless--he was so, often----</p> + +<p class="normal">She glanced round the bedroom into which she was shown, recognising +that some of the luggage in it must be a woman's, then passed into the +sitting-room adjoining. The fire had lately been lit, doubtless with a +view to a sudden chilliness foretelling the coming storm, and the +flames of its crackling wood danced on the walls, making the two +lighted candles on the table unnecessary. Half mechanically she blew +them out, and with a sombre, almost stern face, stood watching the +blazing sticks.</p> + +<p class="normal">Suddenly a cheerful well-known voice rose below.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The puppy's much better, Mrs. McTavish. What, my wife has come? +That's all right."</p> + +<p class="normal">My wife! For an instant Marrion's head whirled. Was she too late? No. +Confused memories of what in Scotland constituted an irregular +marriage sent a flood of crimson to her face as she realised that Duke +had all unwittingly acknowledged her as his "wife" before witnesses. +His footsteps coming up the stairs two steps at a time steadied her; +but what followed shook her to her very foundations. Unheeding of her +feeble "Duke" as he opened the door, he was across the room holding +her in his arms and passionately kissing her averted face, her neck, +her hair.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is good," he whispered. "Now for a splendid honeymoon!"</p> + +<p class="normal">For a second she yielded; then she wrenched herself from him and faced +him fairly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're making a mistake, Captain Muir," she said sharply, "I am only +Marrion Paul."</p> + +<p class="normal">She would have liked to add "your friend"; but she dared not. At the +moment she knew she was far more than that.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Marmie!" he echoed stupidly. "Marmie!"</p> + +<p class="normal">At first he was too surprised for more; then he drew himself up and +stared at her angrily.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What the deuce are you doing here?" he said at last, adding hastily, +as possibilities struck him, "Did she send you? Is she ill?"</p> + +<p class="normal">In her long drive the girl had gone over and over the coming +interview, settling what she would say, but the sudden solicitude of +his tone swept all her preparations away. Did he then really care? If +so, nothing but the naked truth would be any use.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No," she replied calmly, only her tightly interlaced fingers showing +the tension of her mind and body. "She is quite well. I gave her a +double dose of her sleeping drops to prevent her coming. I came +instead because I wanted to speak to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">The flickering firelight showed sheer anger on the young man's +face--sheer brutal anger.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because you wanted to take her place, eh?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She gave a little sort of sob. What would she not have given to take +it? The very intensity of her desire made her pass the insult by.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is no use being angry," she said quietly. "I came to try and make +you hear reason. You may as well listen. She can't come to-night, and +surely, meanwhile, we can sit down and talk it over--as friends!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"We used to be friends, I admit," he replied coldly; "but if you are +going to presume on friendship as you appear to have done, the sooner +the farce ends the better."</p> + +<p class="normal">For all that he sat down, his bold eyes taking in every detail of her +altered appearance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your dress suits you," he jibed. "I suppose you put it on to----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I had to put it on," she interrupted; "I had to pass muster. I didn't +want to set the town talking. You know, as well as I, that it wasn't +easy--it wasn't pleasant."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No one asked you to do it," he replied, "and I wonder how you had +the--the cheek!" Then suddenly he laughed; he could not help it. The +whole business tickled him and his eyes took on a certain admiration. +"It beats cock-fighting, my dear," he went on. "No one but you would +have dared to do it. But it won't do, Marmie. You don't understand. +That old man--I won't call him my father, Marmie--won't give me the +two thousand pounds for my majority. Fantine Le Grand has shown me how +to get it, and I----" He paused; in sober truth now he came to think +of the plan for so getting it, the less it appealed to him.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion waited a second, then said--</p> + +<p class="normal">"How?"</p> + +<p class="normal">There was no reason why he should have answered her categorically, but +he did; perhaps at the back of his mind was a desire to know what she +thought of it. He gave a forced laugh.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We are to dance for it. Oh, I know all the stuff that's talked about +dancing men and women, but we would go abroad! I should get leave of +absence for six months on urgent private affairs, and no one would be +a bit the worse."</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>You</i> would!" commented Marrion briefly.</p> + +<p class="normal">There was a world of scornful criticism in the words.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, dash it all," cried Marmaduke, "a man can't always ride the high +horse! And you've put me in the deuce of a hole, though I suppose you +meant well. You see, I can't wait for her now, as I must see Pringle +tomorrow; but I can come back again," he added complacently, "and I +will."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then you mean to--to marry--that woman?" put in Marrion.</p> + +<p class="normal">He rose angrily and began to pace up and down the room. In sober truth +once more, now that he was away from Fantine Le Grand's allurements, +he had begun to wonder if he were not paying rather dearly for his two +thousand pounds.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course I do; it's in the bond, and I'm a man of my word. And +you've no right to call her that woman. She is far better than you +think, and I am very fond of her, very fond of her indeed!" He stopped +opposite Marrion with a certain defiance. The blaze of the fire had +died down; it was almost dark, save for a red glow on their faces. "Of +course," he went on, "I ought to be deucedly angry with you, Marmie; +but somehow I'm not, and if you will only take her a note from me----"</p> + +<p class="normal">She started to her feet passionately.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A note!" she echoed, her voice vibrating with scorn. "Oh, Duke, Duke, +sometimes I wonder if you can understand?--if any man ever +understands? I came here, risking all, everything for you; you've been +the sun in my heaven ever since I can remember; you've always been +something very bright and very far away that is not to be touched or +harmed. Yes, I come here to beg you not to ruin yourself body and +soul, and you ask me to take a note!"</p> + +<p class="normal">A sudden flash of lightning from the storm, now nigh at hand, lit up +the room for a second, and showed her to him standing white and rigid +like some accusing angel.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You say you're fond of her, but you're not. I tell ye you're no fond +of her, Duke; ye ken na what love is--an' I do--for I love the verra +ground you tread on, the verra things you've touched----"</p> + +<p class="normal">Her voice, which in the extremity of her passion had forgotten its +acquired accent, failed; she sank back to her seat, and, throwing her +arms out over the table, buried her face in them.</p> + +<p class="normal">And a great silence fell between them, man and woman.</p> + +<p class="normal">At last he laid his hand on her shoulder, and spoke humbly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I beg your pardon, Marmie; I did not understand, But I'm not worth +it, child. Let me go my way----"</p> + +<p class="normal">She pulled herself together.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's time I was going home," she said, unsteadily.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can't go in this storm," he put in relieved, as all men are, that +the mental storm was over, "you'd better stop here for the night. +I"--he went to the fire and deliberately lit the candles, as if, with +their light, to bring things back to normal again--"I--I'll find a bed +somewhere, and you can stop----"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion interrupted him hastily.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, no, I must go! Folk will wonder. The boat is on this shore. I can +easily slip over."</p> + +<p class="normal">He walked to the window and looked out.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's raining cats and dogs; you can't go!" he said masterfully. "You +stop here like a good girl, and I'll go and settle up something for +myself."</p> + +<p class="normal">He left the room and for one second she stood irresolute. Should she +stop? He had called her his wife, would doubtless call her so again to +the landlady, and if she stopped--if she stopped----</p> + +<p class="normal">Then, with a little sob, she caught up her cloak and ran downstairs. +The night was dark, but the moon shone fitfully between rifts in the +clouds. The rain, coming in gusts with the wind, had ceased for a +moment. She drew the hood of her cloak over her head and ran swiftly +past the lighted windows of the bar, thinking she had escaped; but a +moment after she heard swift steps following her own and, turning to +look, saw Marmaduke, hatless, coatless, in pursuit.</p> + +<p class="normal">The instinct of the chase awoke in her in a second; she doubled off +the white road behind the shelter of a low beech copse.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Marmie, Marmie, stop, I tell you! Don't be a little fool!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Easy to say that. But it was he was the fool, not she. If she kept in +such cover as there was she might reach the boat before him--she must! +In the old days she had run as quick as he; and she knew where the +boat was and he didn't.</p> + +<p class="normal">She tucked her petticoats high above the knee like any Leezie Lindsay +and ran as for dear life. If she had failed in her mission--and had +she?--she would not fail here. That last double had been successful. +His cry of "Marmie, Marmie, don't be so foolish, dear!" sounded quite +far off--like the wail of a plover.</p> + +<p class="normal">Now it came nearer. Perhaps he had seen the lantern she had left to +guide her own steps to the boat. If so, she had no time to lose, as he +would make straight for it, and so must she, forsaking the bend to +avoid a peat bog, and braving the moss hags even in the dark. Anyhow, +she was lighter than he, and would not sink so deep; though, after the +long spell of fine weather, the bog could not be very bad. And this +was the worst part of it. With the ease of long practice she jumped +lightly from hag to hag, sparing no time to look round for the figure +behind her, though she knew it must be perilously near; for that +instinct of the chase was as strong in him, perhaps stronger, than it +was in her. Her cheeks were flushed, her eye was bright, her heart +beat high, despite her breathlessness, and she knew that his did so +also. Briefly they had both forgotten everything save their +determination to have their own way.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Marmie, you little devil, stop, I tell you!" came his voice close +behind her. Then a splash, a loud "damnation," told her that he had +missed his hag.</p> + +<p class="normal">That would give her time. She redoubled her speed, raced to the shore, +and, not pausing to unfasten the boat, waded through the water, almost +swimming the last bit, to where it rode at anchor on the outgoing +tide. Clambering over the side she set to work at once to unknot the +rope from the bow-ring. Not a second too soon, for Marmaduke, after a +minute's delay, due to his flounder and an unavailing search for the +shore ring, had found it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Got you!" he cried joyfully, but he spoke too soon. The rope, undone, +gave easy way to his strong pull, and the boat, with Marrion laughing +in the bows, drifted slowly out from the shore.</p> + +<p class="normal">He stood looking at her, the useless rope in his hand. By the light of +the moon, now riding serene overhead (for the brief summer storm had +passed the zenith and now lay to the south, a dense bank of black +quivering every now and again with throbs of summer lightning), he +could see her tall and white, for her cloak had long since been flung +aside, and heart-whole admiration possessed him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Marmie," he cried, "hold up--or, by God, I'll swim after you. I want +to speak to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">She took an oar, stopped her way by holding on to one of the submerged +seaweed-covered rocks of the boat-pier and waited.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why did you run away? Why wouldn't you stop?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She gave him the truth squarely and fairly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because I should have passed as your wife, and if I had chosen I +might----" She hesitated, and he relieved her by a low whistle.</p> + +<p class="normal">"By Jove!" he said slowly, almost absently. "I didn't think of that, +but"--he hesitated, in his turn--"but I thought, Marmie, you said +you--you loved me!"</p> + +<p class="normal">His voice lingered and lowered in altogether distracting fashion.</p> + +<p class="normal">She turned hastily to the other oar, and let the blade drop into the +water with a splash.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aye," she said, "that's why! For see, you--you've got to be Lord +Drummuir!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Her words silenced him. He watched her scull away, a dark shadow in +the darkling water. Then his voice rang out to her as it were from +very far off.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Flash the light to me, Marmie, dear, when you get to the other side. +I'll wait till I see you're safe."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_01.10" href="#div1Ref_01.10">CHAPTER X</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">Broad sunlight showed through the chinks of the drawn curtains when +Fantine Le Grand awoke. She lay yawning for a minute or two, content +to be still drowsy. Then memory returned, and she was out of bed in a +second and at the window. The lawns lay dewy, a late blackbird was +tugging away at an inadvertent worm, and shrill on the morning air +rose the sound of Davie Sim's pipes playing "Hey! Johnnie Cope, are ye +waukin' yet?" as he came up from the keep to strut through the +corridors of the castle. It must be eight o'clock! And--what had +happened? How had she come to sleep so long? She passed swiftly, being +quick of thought, to the dressing-table and took up the bottle of +sleeping drops. It was half empty.</p> + +<p class="normal">Almost before she had time to realise this, and what it might possibly +mean, a knock came to the door, and Marrion Paul, opening it, came +into the room with a can of hot water.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had been there at the earliest possible moment to satisfy herself +that all was right, so she was not surprised to see Fantine Le Grand +on foot. The look on the latter's face, however, the bottle in her +hand, gave warning of what was to come, and it came instantly short +and sharp, for Fantine had plenty of wit.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why did you give me what you did?" she asked imperiously.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion Paul set down the water-can and faced her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because I wanted to prevent you from joining Captain Muir at the +Cross-keys," she replied quietly. It was waste of time, she felt, to +beat about the bush with this woman, the solid truth was her best +weapon.</p> + +<p class="normal">It proved so for the moment. Fantine utterly taken aback retired into +personal injury.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You might have killed me," she began, almost whimperingly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Maybe," interrupted Marrion, "but I had to risk it--an' it's no hurt +you----"</p> + +<p class="normal">A sense of outrage came to her victim.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not hurt me, indeed! And why had you to risk it? Are you Captain +Muir's keeper? His mistress you are, of course; but if you think +you've succeeded you're very much mistaken. I shall join him by the +coach to-morrow instead of to-day. And you may thank your stars that, +as I don't want any fuss just now, you'll get scot free of your +attempt to murder me. Now go! I never want to see your face again. +Josephine will manage somehow, I've no doubt."</p> + +<p class="normal">She pointed to the door, and Marrion, going down the wide stairs, felt +relieved that that, at least, was over. The interview also had given +her a clue as to what must be her next step. Mdlle. Le Grand had said +that fuss would be inconvenient; for that reason, therefore, a fuss +must be made. Hitherto she had hesitated between taking a further and +still more active part in stopping the intrigue, or leaving the matter +to Marmaduke's own good sense, which, removed from Fantine's personal +influence, might surely be trusted. He could not want to marry the +woman. It was the two thousand pounds he wanted. Marrion on her way to +the keep-house made up her mind to risk everything by an appeal to the +old lord; it would, at any rate, put a spoke in the woman's wheel for +a time, and prevent her getting away to Marmaduke at once; it would, +at any rate, make a fuss.</p> + +<p class="normal">As a matter of fact, more fuss was facing Marrion than she had +bargained for, since the first thing she saw on entering the +keep-house was her step-grandmother seated at the table sipping a cup +of tea she had just made for herself.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was an unpleasant surprise, as she had not been expected home so +soon, and Marrion bit her lip with vexation at the sight of her. After +laying elaborate plans to avoid even the sight of one she despised and +detested, it was bitter to find her established as mistress in the +house. So anger kept her silent and Mrs. Sim, whilom Penelope of the +castle, said no word either. She simply rose theatrically and +stretched a dramatic finger across the table. So standing she showed +like a wide extinguisher, the knob of which was formed by her head. +This was still small and, so far as the upper part of the face was +concerned, unmarred by fat, but obesity began on the double chin and +went on increasing from shoulder to waist, from waist to hip, till the +flounce of a wide petticoat completed the base of the triangle. Her +hair of bright orange-red was untouched by grey, and the china-blue of +her hard eyes startled you by the intensity of their colour in a face +otherwise somewhat tallowy.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ye hizzie!" she said at last, in a deep contralto voice. "I wonder ye +have the face to stan' there disgracin' the honest hearth o' an honest +man! Awa wi' you, ye baggage, afore yer faither comes to beat you frae +the door."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion had stood with open mouth before this sudden onslaught; now +she recovered herself and said haughtily--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do not understand." In her heart of hearts, however, she told +herself that this woman knew of last night's happenings.</p> + +<p class="normal">Penelope Sim gave a snort and sat down again to sipping her tea.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Div' ye no understand?" she asked scornfully. "Then I'll tell ye. A +lassie that goes tae spend the night wi' a man in a strange hottle is +no ane to share an honest woman's home. An' so I'll tell yer faither. +Shame upon ye, Marrion Paul!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps you'll oblige me, Mrs. Sim, by holding your tongue," retorted +Marrion superbly. "I did not spend the night with any man, and if you +say I did, you lie!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My certy!" cried Penelope, her face flaming. "So I'm a liar, am I? I +tell you I saw you wi' my own eyes at the Cross-keys----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And what might you be doing there?" put in Marrion. "No good, +likely."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Penelope's voice began to rise.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm no goin' to bandy words wi' you, Marrion Paul, ye're no worth it. +But here comes your gran'faither; give your lip to him, if ye like. Ye +sall no give it to me, a decent, married woman!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Decent!" echoed Marrion scornfully, and would have gone on to heaven +knows what of indignant criticism had not the entry of her grandfather +tied her tongue for she was fond of him, with all his faults, and he +represented to her the only family life she had ever known.</p> + +<p class="normal">So she stood defiant as Penelope of the castle, gloating over her own +newly acquired propriety, held forth on what she had seen from the +bar-parlour of the Cross-keys.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Grandfather," she said at last, "you know me better than she does. Do +you think I would do such a thing?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ask her," broke in the shrilled contralto voice, "ask her, gudeman, +if she was at the Cross-keys last night. I tell you she was, dressed +up fine like a lady--an' the things lyin' yet in her room, for I went +to see. Aye, ask her if she was there wi' a young spark--they tell't +me it was Captain Duke, but that I'll never believe----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You may believe what you like!" put in Marrion fiercely. "But I'll +tell you the truth, grandfather. I was at the Cross-keys last night, +and I did see Captain Duke, but it was no harm I was after."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hark to her!" shrilled Penelope. "She was there, and for no harm! Out +o' the house with her, Davie Sim, or your wedded wife will find her +way out hersel'."</p> + +<p class="normal">Here Davie who, man-like, had looked from one to the other of the two +women, uncertain of approbation or reprobation, shook his head and +began mumblingly--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I never thocht, Marrion, to praise God your poor mother is in her +grave, but if she'd lived to see this day----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Leave my mother alone, please grandfather," said Marrion, passion in +voice and manner. "If you choose to judge me by that cast-off +creature, do so! But there's no need to quarrel about it. You know I +would not sleep under the same roof with her----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hark to her, hark to her, an' me as gude a wife as ever stepped. Are +ye goin' tae put up wi' that, Davie Sim?" whimpered Penelope.</p> + +<p class="normal">Once more the master of the house looked as though he would speak, but +a wave of Marrion's hand stopped him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So I shall leave this evening, and if what I've done is a disgrace to +you, you have the remedy in your own hands--you can hold your tongues. +So that ends it!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She made her way past them and up the stairs, feeling a trifle dazed. +This unlooked-for recognition complicated matters for herself; but did +not alter her determination to risk all in order to get Marmaduke out +of the hands of Fantine Le Grand.</p> + +<p class="normal">So she packed up her things, leaving all the treasures of her +childhood and her mother's, unlocked in drawers and cupboards, and +sitting down on her bed by the window took her last look out over the +rugged coast she had watched so often by storm and shine, by night and +by day. And as she looked with lack-lustre, preoccupied eyes her +thoughts were busy, not with the past but with the new life that was +opening out before her; since, come what might, she realised that +never again would she be simple Marrion Paul, old Davie Sim's +granddaughter. To begin with, if she knew aught of Penelope, +reputation was gone. Women of that sort were pitiless, and, in +addition, her grandfather's wife desired nothing more than to +make Drummuir and all belonging to it an impossibility for her +step-granddaughter. Then she, Marrion, had definitely set herself the +task of defending Marmaduke, and heaven only knew how far that might +take her. For one thing, in view of Penelope's curiosity, she must +make sure that Marmaduke had not left anything incriminating behind +him at the Cross-keys. It would be so like him to write Captain the +Honourable Marmaduke Muir and Mrs. Muir in the visitor's book!</p> + +<p class="normal">The idea made her smile tenderly, even while she took a mental note +that it must be seen to.</p> + +<p class="normal">So, going down, while it was yet early, to order a handcart to +take her slight luggage to the coach office, she came upon a castle +stable-boy, who was a distant admirer of hers, riding to the +Cross-keys with a note.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's frae the dancin' woman," said the lad, with a broad grin, "an' +she guve me a golden soverin' to take it quick; an' I've to leave +anither at the Crow."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can deliver that one," said Marrion cheerfully, "for I'm goin' yon +way."</p> + +<p class="normal">So, note in hand, she made her way to the Crow, and by a dexterous +question or two elicited the fact that, as on the previous night, a +carriage was ordered to be in waiting at half-past nine. If all went +well, therefore, she might hope to avail herself of it. She did not, +however, anticipate exactly what she meant to do--her plans were +fluid, so much depending on the success of her next step. It was an +overwhelmingly bold one, and she shivered visibly as she sat waiting +for an answer to her request to be allowed an interview with his +lordship.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm right sure his lordship wad see me," she pleaded with Dewar, the +valet, who in common with all the men-servants at the castle, had an +approving eye on her good looks, "did he ken what I cam' about; +and"--she added, with a laugh that was a challenge--"I'm no sae +ill-looking but he might be blythe to see me forbye business."</p> + +<p class="normal">"An' that's God's truth, my dear," replied Dewar gallantly, "sae I'll +see what I can do."</p> + +<p class="normal">Fortune favoured him, for Fantine Le Grand being in an evil, reckless +temper had just sent to say she had a headache and could not come to +amuse his lordship, who, up and dressed to receive her as usual, was +cursing and swearing at womankind in the abstract, and therefore, not +unwilling to have a concrete specimen on which to vent his ill-humour.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion Paul, consequently, found herself without delay facing the +heavy figure in the big padded chair. One foot swathed in flannels lay +on a leg-rest, and the large hand that clasped the lion-head knobs of +the armchair showed swollen and disfigured by gout; still there was +something dignified, almost regal, in the pose of the man; while his +face--Marrion, despite her thumping heart, as she looked above the +treble chin to the open forehead, felt that here, when all was said +and done, was kinship with Marmaduke.</p> + +<p class="normal">And she for her part pleased the old man's eye also. She had not +dressed herself for the occasion, but stood in her usual striped +petticoat and bed-gown with a green tartan shoulder shawl of the Muir +tartan and a snood of tartan ribbon to match in the red bronze coils +of hair.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So you're Marrion Paul?" he said, his keen clear blue eyes taking in +every point of her person. "I haven't seen you to speak to since you +were so high. You're a devilish good-looking girl. Come and give me a +kiss, my lass."</p> + +<p class="normal">To his surprise, amusement, and approval she stepped forward instantly +and obeyed. The touch of her cool lips on his seemed to stagger him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't object to kisses--hey?" he said, as she remained standing close +beside him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why should I, Drummuir," she replied quietly, "when you've kenned me +since I was a baby in arms."</p> + +<p class="normal">He burst into one of his guffaws of rough laughter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hey? What? One for the old reprobate! Sit down, my dear, and tell me +what you want."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's about Mr. Marmaduke, sir," she began, her voice shaking a +little.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hey? What? Has that young devil been--no, I beg your pardon, my dear, +you're not that sort. Trust a man who's kicked over the traces a bit +to know an honest horse when he sees one. You take my word for it; the +best judge of a good woman is a bad man. Well, what of Duke?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The mere abbreviation of the name was encouraging. She felt that to +attempt a bargain, even to beg for patience, would be a mistake. She +simply took her courage in both hands and told him all she knew. He +sat, his unwieldy body impassive as some carven image, one strong +emotion after another sweeping over the mobile face that held so much +laughter in every line that Time had graven on it. Only once or twice +he interrupted her when, fearing she was too lengthy, she began to cut +out details. Then his quick "Let's have it all; don't you know, you're +as good as a play. Beat the immortal wizard all to bits! Don't +skip"--brought her back to the accessories of her tale. When she had +finished he sat and looked at her for a second.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you say Duke let you go as you came? Well, he was a d----d young +fool; that's all I've got to say! I wouldn't in his place. Even +now--my God, what a Lady Drummuir you'd make, if it wasn't for the +curse of class! I'll turn Socialist before I die." He paused, and his +blue eyes narrowed. "Now, why have you come and told me all this?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She had her answer ready, and all fear of the old man having vanished +she gave him the truth boldly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because I want payment. I've put it into your power to stop Mdlle. +Fantine----"</p> + +<p class="normal">His whole face changed in a second, an expression of sheer devilish +anger took possession of it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You leave that alone!" he thundered. "I can settle that business for +myself."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was the first mistake she had made, and she became more wary.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I want payment," she went on, "because I've risked everything +for--for Duke. My father's turned me out of his house and +Penelope----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Damn Penelope!" broke in his lordship complacently. "Having no virtue +of her own, she's deuced careful about other people's. And so Duke +really contemplated marrying Fantine in order to make two thousand +pounds by dancing. Confound the boy! He can dance, I'll allow; but it +was a big price to pay. And the idea of my son dancing for money! He +must have been hard put to it, even to entertain the idea." He bent +those blue eyes of his suddenly on her. "And so you want me to give +Duke the two thousand pounds myself, do you? Of course you do! Trust a +woman who is in love asking for the moon." He paused a moment and gave +a little laugh. "Heaps of women have asked me to be a saint, my dear, +but I never could compass virtue. However, you've given me as good a +morning's entertainment as ever I had in my life; and what's more +you've given me an opportunity of as fine an afternoon's amusement." +Here he chuckled wickedly, then added, "Shall I give you the cheque or +send it direct?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She felt staggered at his indifference. She had expected to brave his +anger and have perchance to threaten him with what she knew of +Fantine's plans for the evening; but, here, with scarce an argument, +she found herself successful. In truth she had not gauged accurately +the phenomenal malice as well as the almost incredible good nature of +the man.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You must send it, my lord," she said swiftly. "There is no need to +say anything about all this."</p> + +<p class="normal">He frowned in a second.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you mean to dictate to me, my good girl?" he asked fiercely. +"You'd better leave the business in my hands. I'll settle it to my own +satisfaction. Come back at six o'clock and you shall be made +acquainted with my decision."</p> + +<p class="normal">He rang the hand-bell on the table beside him and when Dewar entered, +said carelessly:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Show the young woman out; and, Dewar, tell Penelope to come and +see me at two o'clock. And, Dewar, send a message to the Manse and +tell that jackanapes of a parson Bryce that I want to confess my +sins or something of that sort. Tell him I'm ill--dying, if you +like--anything--and I want him as soon as he can come. Do you +understand?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, my lord," replied Dewar discreetly, though he was considerably +mystified; but everyone in the castle knew there was but one way of +receiving Lord Drummuir's orders, acquiescence and obedience.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_01.11" href="#div1Ref_01.11">CHAPTER XI</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">An hour or so afterwards Fantine Le Grand coming in from a ramble on +the rocks, whither she had gone despite her pretended headache, in +order to quiet her nerves for what she foresaw was to be a stand-up +fight between her and Marrion, found old Lord Drummuir in possession +of her boudoir. He was in his wheeled-chair, but was looking +remarkably spruce in a blue coat with brass buttons, an immaculate +white stock and frill, and his gouty foot was swathed in kersey to +match the breeches he wore. His ruddy face was all smiles, but there +was a vicious look in the blue eyes that reminded her of a horse about +to kick.</p> + +<p class="normal">And kick he did with a force that left her breathless.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've come to tell you," he said, "that we are going to be married +this evening."</p> + +<p class="normal">She recoiled as if from a blow.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, don't be foolish and make a fuss," he continued, as she gave a +little cry, "or you won't look well in your wedding-dress!" So far he +had gone lightly; but now he settled down to a decision of voice and +manner that was positively terrifying to the woman in its intensity. +"I tell you I won't have any fuss, and I know everything. Marrion Paul +told it me from start to finish, and I don't want to hear any more +about it, if you please!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The mock politeness of the last finished her. She was ill-bred, not +over brave, and reverting to her early upbringing she burst into a +torrent of abuse of the viper, the hussy who was no better than she +should be, who, if Penelope at the keep-house was to be believed--and +she had seen her but now--had----</p> + +<p class="normal">So far Lord Drummuir had let her storm; now he stopped her +impatiently.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know what Penelope says," he snarled, "and I shall be sorry for her +when she hears what I have to say. And I know you, Fanny, down to the +ground. You're not a bad sort, but you are getting old. Look in the +glass, you foolish woman, and you'll see I'm right. But you suit me +and I mean to have you. There's an end of it."</p> + +<p class="normal">She summoned up a little courage.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And supposing I won't! I am a free woman."</p> + +<p class="normal">He lowered his brows and his words cut like a knife.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't tell lies! You're not free. You think I paid your debts. I +wasn't such a fool till I had you fast. Look here, when I heard all +about this midsummer madness with Marmaduke--the d----d impertinence +of trying to inveigle my son into posturing at the Courts of Europe +for pennies almost made me give you your <i>congé</i>, miss, I can tell +you--I sent for Compton. You think I don't know what he is to you; but +I do. If he'd known of this business, I'd have kicked you both out. +But he didn't, poor devil; he was flabbergasted. So I saw it was all +your fault and I determined to punish you, and I'm going to do it my +own way. Now, don't look like a frightened hare; I never touched a +woman save in the way of kindness all my life, and we'll get on all +right once we're married; so the sooner the better."</p> + +<p class="normal">She sat and looked at him, dabbing her eyes with her handkerchief. The +bald truth of it all took words from her, and her one feeling was that +she could cheerfully have strangled Marrion Paul for her courage and +straightforwardness.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My wedding-dress isn't ready," she sobbed at last futilely, and the +old man leant back in his chair and roared with laughter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"By Gad, Fan," he bawled, "you're a woman, and no mistake; so don't +make those eyes of yours too red with crying. Remember, you're not so +young as you were. And as for this little <i>penchant</i> of yours for +Marmaduke, why, God bless my soul, my dear, you've had dozens such +episodes, and so have I, by Gad, so we'll suit each other down to the +ground. Now, if you will please ring the bell for Dewar, I'll leave +you to prepare--six o'clock sharp. I've told the gardeners to send you +some orange blossoms from the houses and to decorate the hall. My +daughters will be your bridesmaids."</p> + +<p class="normal">When his wheeled-chair had gone the effect of his brutal +determination, his colossal masterfulness, did not pass with it. That +remained, and Fantine Le Grand gave in to it helplessly. The old man +had said very little; on the whole he had been wonderfully polite, but +she knew she was trapped, and that she might as well try to fly as to +escape from his watchful eye, his unscrupulous power.</p> + +<p class="normal">And, after all, it was but a return to the old plans; so after a while +she followed Lord Drummuir's advice and dried her eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You ought to think yourself deuced lucky," growled Colonel Compton, +when he came in, after a time full of alarm and recriminations. "If +anyone had told me the old man would take it so quietly I wouldn't +have believed it. I expected he would have kicked us both out into the +gutter, and then where should we be? And such a mad idea, too! The +Honourable Marmaduke Muir as a public dancer--preposterous!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It would only have been for six months and under an assumed name," +interrupted Fantine defiantly; but all initiative was passing from +her. She felt like clay in the hands of the potter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Twaddle!" insisted Colonel Compton. "I can only think you were +insane. The fact is, my dear Fanny, you're getting old and your ankles +wouldn't stand the hacking about of a dancer's life. That is why we +agreed on your becoming Lady Drummuir, and you ought to be very much +obliged to the old man for letting you off so easily."</p> + +<p class="normal">This, combined with the reiterated allusions to her age, was too much +for patience. Fantine jumped up and stamped her foot in impotent +anger.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Easily?" she echoed. "Can't you see the malice of the man? He is +making us all feel fools. He is doing all the harm he can. I tell you +he is enjoying himself thoroughly."</p> + +<p class="normal">She was perfectly right. Lord Drummuir had not felt so young for +years. At that moment, after disposing of Penelope in a way that +reached the very marrow of the unseen bones hidden under that +extinguisher of fat, he was facing, with a special licence in his +hand, the dapper little figure of the Reverend Patrick Bryce, who, +called on some pretext of illness, found himself confronted with an +order to solemnise a marriage that same evening.</p> + +<p class="normal">The countenance of the small divine was a study in outraged dignity; +that of Lord Drummuir one of supercilious toleration--the toleration +of a cat for the unavailing efforts of a mouse to escape its +paralysing captor.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Am I to understand, sir, that you refuse to carry out this special +licence at a perfectly appropriate time and place?" said the latter, +his voice even but deliberate. "If so, I must ask you for your reasons +in writing, that I may forward them with my complaint." He waited a +moment, then went on: "You were appointed by the Crown to this charge. +A parishioner of yours in possession of a legal licence calls upon you +to perform the duties of your office. You refuse, and I refuse to +accept your refusal. That, I think, summarises the position between +us. But let me remind you, my good sir, that nothing short of reliable +information of cause or just impediment can justify a minister of the +Church of Scotland in refusing to do the duty for which he is paid by +the State. And if, sir, the licence of this house shocks you--as I am +told it does--I think this endeavour of a man and a woman to keep +within the bounds of so-called respectability should meet your +approval. Briefly, my dear sir, you have not a leg to stand upon, and +I demand your services at six o'clock this evening."</p> + +<p class="normal">The little minister rose and made him a courtly bow.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It shall be as your lordship wishes; but I reserve to myself the +right of showing to your lordship that special licences can be used +for, as well as against, the Church."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Wonder where he gets his manners from," commented Lord Drummuir to +himself, as the trim figure bowed itself out. "Father must have been +someone's valet, I suppose; and that reminds me of Marmaduke's girl. +She's true blue, somehow."</p> + +<p class="normal">So he sat down, filled from top to toe with a wicked elation at his +own success in upsetting everybody's plans, and indited the following +epistle to his son, as a sort of top note to his manœuvres:</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"<span class="sc">Dear Boy</span>,--You will be glad to hear that Fantine Le Grand becomes +Lady Drummuir this evening at six o'clock. We have agreed that this is +better than hunting two thousand pounds through the capitals of +Europe, even in company with you. So that is settled. For the rest, I +enclose a cheque for two thousand pounds on my bankers. You owe this +to Marrion Paul, who is worth the whole batch of you put together. I +cannot conceive how you were such a confounded ass as not to see this, +but to let her slip through your fingers and leave the poor girl to +face the insults of the neighbours, as she is doing; for, of course, +her escapade is the talk of the town. My dear Marmaduke, I am ashamed +of you!--Your affectionate father, <span class="sc">Drummuir</span>. + +<p class="normal">"Your step-mamma sends you her duty." +<br> + +<p class="normal">He chuckled over the production which he calculated told enough to +rouse anger and not enough to satisfy curiosity, and which, while +being a regular facer, left the relations between them much as they +were.</p> + +<p class="normal">After which he had himself wheeled to the big hall where the ceremony +was to take place, and amused himself vastly by superintending +decorations and mystifying Peter, who came in from a day after wild +duck, to find the house upside down. It was the sort of situation in +which his lordship revelled, and he became almost lachrymose over +reminiscences of the past with Jack Jardine, who never moved a muscle, +but took the ceremony as a matter of course. Only when Peter, less +experienced, asked him what the deuce the old man meant by playing the +goat at a moment's notice, he shook his head solemnly, and replied--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your father is a very remarkable man, Peter, a very remarkable man +indeed."</p> + +<p class="normal">So at the appointed hour the wheeled-chair took its place, its +occupant duly bedecked with the white flower of a blameless life in +his buttonhole, before the improvised sort of altar which bore on it a +beautiful bunch of late roses; and the Reverend Patrick Bryce with a +colour in his usually pale cheeks sailed in very stiff in his starched +bands and rustling academical black robes and took his place before +it. The bride, composed and cheerful, looking quite virginal in white +and orange blossoms, appeared on the arm of Colonel Compton and +followed by her bridesmaids, also in white. There were, however, but +two of them, for Margaret Muir boldly stalked in separately, attired +in a fine new purple gown, and took a place sedately beside Jack +Jardine, who stared at her incredulously; for her father's eyes were +upon her and scowling disapproval at her disobedience to his commands. +She seemed quite indifferent to this, and nodded an encouraging smile +to her sisters, who, poor souls, were the only people who showed by +their red eyes and general emotion that the occasion was serious and +not a mere farce.</p> + +<p class="normal">So curtly, baldly, shorn of every unnecessary word, every touch of +sentiment, the simple formula binding those two sinners in the most +holy of bonds went swiftly on, until the Reverend Patrick Bryce closed +the register in which Peter, as his father's best man, and Jack +Jardine, as family friend, had duly attested the marriage, and stepped +down to where Lord Drummuir's chair stood with the new-made Lady +Drummuir beside it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My part in this pitiable travesty being ended, sir," he said, with a +dignified bow, "I take my leave. Before I do so, however, I wish to +introduce my wife to you and acquaint you with my marriage--also by +special licence--to your daughter. Margaret, my dear!" he added, +raising his voice, "oblige me by saying farewell to your father. It is +the last time you are likely to see him."</p> + +<p class="normal">For a second the figure in the purple gown hesitated and gave an +agonised glance at her sisters in white; then with her eyes fixed on +the small dignified figure of the man to whom she had unreservedly +given her whole large heart, her courage returned, she walked forward, +her head held high, and faced her father. He was purple with rage, and +looked as if he would have a fit.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you mean to tell me," he stuttered, "that you have married +that--that jackanapes?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Her face flushed, her temper was up in a second, and matched his own.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, sir; I have married an honourable gentleman of birth equal to my +own! It is more than you can say of your bride's----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Margaret, Margaret!" came the little parson's warning voice; for, be +Lord Drummuir's faults what they may, he was still her father.</p> + +<p class="normal">But she would have none of it, she was going to have her say for the +first and last time of her life; so she went on while the old lord +listened, a sort of wicked approval in his eyes. He had not known she +was so much his daughter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And I married him without asking your consent, because I knew you +never would have given it, and I am of age----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, my dear, a bit long in the tooth!" broke in the old man +viciously.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very," she replied; "but not so old a bride as you are a groom. I'm +thirty-six, and, as you said yourself, if I choose to get married by +special licence, provided there's no cause or just impediment, no +one--not even the nearest and dearest--have a right to object. Isn't +that what he said?" she added, in appeal.</p> + +<p class="normal">The Reverend Patrick Bryce looked at his lordship and his lordship +looked at him. Then suddenly came one of the rough, rude gaffaws.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You've caught a tartar, parson!" chuckled the old man. "Take her, and +be d----d to you both for a couple of fools. I'll leave you to be +angry, if you like; this is my wedding-day and I want to be jolly. +Here, Davie--Davie Sim, where the devil are you with your pipes? Skirl +up 'Muir's Matching.' Now, my lady."</p> + +<p class="normal">And as the wheeled-chair moved off accompanied by white satin and +orange blossoms he looked round to the purple robe with almost boyish +malice in his eye.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Take the parson's arm and come along, Meg. You may as well get a good +send off from the castle and have your share of the family wedding +march, since it is little else you'll be getting from the Muirs of +Drummuir."</p> + +<p class="normal">That evening, after the newly made Lady Drummuir had been dismissed to +her own rooms with the injunction to remember her new honours, and not +to stand any cursed nonsense from any one, and the old man, regardless +of gout, sat drinking one glass of port after another on the ground +that, having got royally drunk at his three previous weddings, he was +not going to treat his fourth with less consideration--Jack Jardine, +somewhat breathless after all the disturbing and inexplicable events +of the day, shook his head and said once more--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your father is a remarkable man--a very remarkable man!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very," assented Peter. "Now I wonder what Marrion Paul had to do with +it all!"</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_01.12" href="#div1Ref_01.12">CHAPTER XII</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">Marrion Paul herself failed to answer that question. When she had +returned at six o'clock to the castle--having spent the intervening +time down by the seashore in order to avoid Penelope--she had been +completely taken aback by the sudden development of affairs, wondering +if she were in any way responsible for what had happened.</p> + +<p class="normal">But a single look at the old lord's face, as he was wheeled in to take +his place at the marriage ceremony, made her realise that the unwieldy +body, instinct with malice and controlled by autocratic unassailable +will, held every inmate of Drummuir Castle, herself included, as +puppets in the hollow of its gouty hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">A sudden unreasoning desire to get away from that influence, an +extreme distaste at the part she had played in the serio-comic tragedy +filled her. She envied the Reverend Patrick Bryce his independence, +and it was with real relief that, according to her plan, she found +herself once more rumbling to the Cross-keys in the chaise from the +Crow.</p> + +<p class="normal">This should be her last departure from the conventional. Now that +Duke's safety from the dancing woman's wiles had been secured, she had +time to blame for his supineness; and he, of course, when he heard of +the marriage, was not likely to forgive her. Thus they were quits!</p> + +<p class="normal">So be it. She could return to her dressmaking and never see him again. +He had his majority, and, born soldier as he was, had his chance.</p> + +<p class="normal">Not knowing, for certain, under what name Fantine Le Grand had +engaged her room for the night, she was wary with the landlady of the +Cross-keys and felt relieved when she was shown into a less +pretentious room than the one she had been in the night before. Her +vigil--and she knew it would be a long one ere the house was quiet +enough to allow of her slipping down to the office to see if Marmaduke +had written anything in the visitors' book--would have been harder in +surroundings so full of keen memory. What a fool she had been! Why had +she been so frank with him? The hot blood mounted to her very temples +at the thought of it even while she felt angry with herself that it +should be so. After all, she was not quite as the other douce country +folk; there was something in her blood that was different; something +that rebelled against the tyranny of that bloated old man, sitting +like a spider in his web, imposing his wicked will upon all by sheer +force of character.</p> + +<p class="normal">Yet he had behaved well to her, and he was terribly, horribly like +Duke.</p> + +<p class="normal">So she sat raging, her head aching, till it was time to do the last +bit of trickery, as it seemed to her now. Yet it must be done; for if +Marmaduke had been indiscreet, Penelope, in her pryings, which were +certain, would be sure to find it out. It was not, however, till +between two and three--that time when even the ostlers at an inn +sleep--that it was safe for her to steal downstairs to the visitors' +book. Even so, Boots lay snoring on a sofa in the office. But her task +did not take long. There, as she had foreseen, was Marmaduke's +unmistakable writing in the words "Captain the Honourable and Mrs. +Marmaduke Muir." Below, as if as witnesses, two commercial travellers +had written their name and address. She had brought a sharp penknife +with her, so, in less than a minute, the page was removed, the +corresponding one in the quire pulled out, and the book closed again +without trace of any removal. She gave a sigh of relief when she +reached her bedroom again, and, folding up the written sheet, placed +it in her purse. Then, after burning the other, she lay down and tried +to sleep. But unsuccessfully, though she felt outwearied to an +altogether unusual degree. The arrival of the early coach was a +relief. She took her seat in it, hoping the fresh air would drive away +her <i>malaise</i>; but it did not.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're no feelin' just the thing, miss," said a sympathetic bagman as +he got out to stretch his legs at a change of horses. "Try just a wee +sup of whisky; its awful inspirin'."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion, smiling, shook her head. By this time she was beginning to +wonder if, despite her usual hardiness, she had got a chill the night +before.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was past eight in the evening ere Edinburgh was reached, and, +anxious to be housed as soon as possible, she left her box at the +coach office and made her way giddily to her old lodgings where the +landlady had agreed to keep her belongings until her return from her +holiday. They were up a common stair that echoed and re-echoed to the +slam of the street door and her own wavering steps. The rooms were +high up and more than once Marrion had to pause for breath, and when +at last she rang she had to lean against the door, to recover herself. +There was no answer. She rang again and waited--waited an interminable +time, until someone coming down the common stair said briefly--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ye're wastin' yer time, mum. Mistress McGillivray's deid."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dead!" she echoed feebly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aye, last week, and the polis hae lockit up the place till the heirs +be known," replied the man, as he passed on, rousing the echoes again.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion followed him, realising that she must seek another lodging. +Easy in a way, yet difficult, since in that quarter of the old town +many of the houses were not over-respectable. Still it was only for a +night, and bed she must have as soon as possible. So she closed with +an exorbitant offer in cash of a fairly clean attic made by a +loose-lipped lady who smelt rather of whisky, and five minutes later, +having locked herself in, threw herself, still half-dressed, on the +truckle bed.</p> + +<p class="normal">There the landlady next morning, having placidly unlocked the +door with a master key, found her, flushed, breathless and +delirious--briefly, down with a sharp attack of pneumonia. Infirmaries +and district nurses being not as yet, Mother Gilchrist, as her +<i>clientèle</i> called her, coolly took possession of her lodger's purse, +sent for an apothecary doctor from round the corner, and thereinafter +treated the patient with a certain amount of rough kindness, sending +some of her other lodgers, girls with haggard faces and loose hair, to +sit with her, and going up occasionally with water-gruel and still +more watery beef-tea. But Marrion Paul was strong, and so, after a +fortnight's struggle in the valley, she came out of it wan and +emaciated, and lay looking at a bit of torn paper on the wall, that +all through her fever dreams had flapped like a sail in a boat in +which she and Duke were drifting out to sea, and wondering how much of +what she remembered was true and how much dreams.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must get up," she said suddenly, when Mother Gilchrist appeared in +company with water-gruel. "And will you give me my purse, please? I +put it under my pillow, I think, but it isn't there."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mother Gilchrist laughed a loose-lipped laugh and produced the purse +from her pocket.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yon's the purse, my dearie; but there's naethin' in it the now. What +wi' rent an' doctors an' physic, forby nursin', what else is to be +expectit?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmie stared aghast.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But there was nigh ten pun' in till't," she protested.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's just awfie expensive bein' ill," replied Mother Gilchrist +calmly. "Ye can hae the reckonin' later on. Meanwhile, tak yer +nourishment like a good lammie."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What's ten pun' to you one way or another," continued the exemplar of +youth, when Marmie, up for the first time, returned to the charge. +"You've gotten a paper in yon purse that's worth a guid deal tae +you, my lass, if it's written in the man's own write--an' if ye can +prove----"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion interrupted her in an angry flash.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're making a mistake. It has nothing to do wi' me. An' I wouldn't +prove if I could."</p> + +<p class="normal">She paused, feeling she was contradicting herself.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Lord sakes," retorted Mother Gilchrist, "ye needna loup down a body's +throat! An', anyhow, a lassie wi' such hair as you've gotten needna +look for ten pounds."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion, still weakened body and soul by her illness, thought almost +regretfully of her hairdresser.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aye," she assented languidly, "they'd give me that for it; but I +should feel bad if it were cut off, shouldn't I?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mother Gilchrist burst into a cackling laugh.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's more ways, my lammie, o' makin' money by hair than by +shearin' it off like a sheep's fleece," she said meaningly.</p> + +<p class="normal">But the meaning did not come home to Marmie until one of the rather +bedraggled girls in cheap finery let her into the secret of the house. +They paid Mother Gilchrist a certain sum for board and lodging, and on +the whole she was kind to them. Anyhow, they had to lump it, as most +of them were in debt to her. However, there was always the chance of a +stroke of luck, especially when one was new to the business and had +such hair as Marrion had.</p> + +<p class="normal">That same afternoon Marrion managed to creep round to the coach +office. She intended to get her box and pawn some of her things--even +the little brilliant brooch of her father's--so as to keep her in +decent lodgings till she could find employment in some dressmaking +concern. She would not go back to her old employers, for her address +there was known and she wanted to lose herself; for a while at any +rate.</p> + +<p class="normal">But Fate was against her. Failing a claimant the box had been sent +back whence it came, as the only address to be found on it was +Drummuir Castle, Drum. Nor was her call at her old landlady's more +successful. The flat was still locked up; so she came back utterly +wearied and disheartened, to be met by a demand for more money from +Mother Gilchrist, who looked at her as one looks at a rat caught in a +trap. She had miscalculated with Marrion, however; and in an instant +the latter made up her mind. She must get out of the present quagmire +without delay. Yet she did not wish to make herself known to the +friends she had in Edinburgh, because during the past fortnight her +desire to lose herself--to get away once and for all from Drummuir and +all that Drummuir entailed--aye, even Duke---had been strengthening. +But she could sell her hair. Mother Gilchrist, arguing from other +girls, was calculating she would not; but she would find she was +mistaken. She might think it safe enough to let a girl without a penny +in her pocket go out alone, but she would find herself wrong.</p> + +<p class="normal">That night Marrion slept the sleep of the just, and it was one +o'clock--for the gun had just fired from the castle--next day when, +with a curiously light heart, she walked out of the most fashionable +hairdresser's shop in Prince's Street. She had eschewed her old +admirer's for obvious reasons, but she had found no difficulty in her +bargain; and if her heart was light, her purse was heavy. She was +free, at any rate, of Mother Gilchrist and her kind; she was free also +of any necessity for recalling the past. She would make her own future +in life.</p> + +<p class="normal">As she passed through the shop heavily veiled, for she would run no +risk of recognition, a group of fashionably dressed young men were +daffing over <i>pommade hongroise</i> with an attractive young person +behind the counter, but they took no notice of the somewhat shabbily +dressed figure which passed out and went westward. With money in her +pocket Marrion's plans began to formulate rapidly. She would not stop +in Edinburgh; she would go to some place where the fear of recognition +would not constantly be with her. So she would go--whither?</p> + +<p class="normal">She pondered the question idly, heedless of Fate behind her in the +shape of one of those fashionably dressed young men, who, two minutes +after Marrion had passed through the shop, had burst out after her, +leaving his companions still looking with admiration at a great pile +of red-brown hair which the proprietor of the shop, hugely delighted +with his bargain, had brought in for these privileged customers to +see.</p> + +<p class="normal">So she had not long for freedom. Ere she had reached Frederick Street +a detaining hand was on her arm and a joyous voice in her ears--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Marmie! I knew it must be you! I have been looking for you +everywhere."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Duke," she said feebly as she looked round. And as she did so, the +distant Calton Hill blocking the blue slopes of Arthur's Seat, the +wonderful blending of town and country which makes Edinburgh seem an +epitome of human life, was lost to her eyes; she only saw his face, +<i>insouciant</i>, smiling, yet full of affection. The douce commonsensical +world in which she had resolved to live was gone; she was among the +stars again, in a different existence, herself a different being. Yet +even as she realised this she realised that she was alone. He had not +found his wings to follow her.</p> + +<p class="normal">Yet he was prompt; without pause he hailed a passing cab, put her into +it unresisting, gave the order Pentland Hotel, and as he seated +himself beside her reached out a hand with glad delight in the clasp +of its warm fingers to find her own.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where are we going, Duke?" she asked, with a sort of sob in her +effort to keep herself to normal.</p> + +<p class="normal">"To have lunch, my dear!" he replied joyously. "You look as if you +wanted it. And we haven't much time to spare, for the train starts for +Glasgow at 2.30 and we must go by it, for my leave is up and I have to +get back to Ayr by to-morrow. I'm in command of the detachment there."</p> + +<p class="normal">The certitude of his words roused instant resentment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must ask you to excuse me," she said peremptorily. "Will you stop +the cab, Captain Muir?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, my dear," he replied, quite pathetically, "I must speak to you +somehow, and this is my only chance. Do come, Marmie, at any rate, to +lunch."</p> + +<p class="normal">The simplicity of his plea disarmed her again, and the hotel being +reached at that moment she allowed him to take her on his arm up +the steps after the fashion of the day. But once in the private +sitting-room, which, with lunch for two as quick as possible, he had +commanded in a lordly voice as he entered, his manner changed again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Take off that veil and bonnet, will you, please," he said abruptly. +"I want to see what that brute has dared to do."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion looked at him startled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, yes," he continued, "I know! That's how I found you. When the man +brought in that pile of hair to show those young cubs--faugh! it makes +me sick to think of them fingering it--I knew it must be yours; no one +else has hair like it. Marmie! Marmie! why did you let him do it--the +grovelling, money-grubbing beast!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Once again his anger appeased her, and she replied: "I wanted the +money."</p> + +<p class="normal">He groaned.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you got me the two thousand pounds! Oh! yes, the old man--curse +him!--told me all about it, and how that harridan Penelope---- But +never mind that now, though, you see, we have plenty to talk about. +When----"</p> + +<p class="normal">She had removed her bonnet and now stood a trifle defiant.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It will grow again!"</p> + +<p class="normal">But he had passed from his vexation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, Marmie, surely you've been ill? You are so thin, so pale, +child--what has been the matter?" he exclaimed, all his innate +kindness coming uppermost. "Here, sit down; you look as if you were +going to faint"--he rang the bell violently. "I don't believe you've +had anything to eat! Here! Tell the housekeeper to send up a cup of +soup--beef-tea, if she has got it--at once, and--and some toast," he +called out loudly, after the retreating waiter. Then he came to stand +by Marrion and say in an almost tragic voice, "I owe you a lot, +Marrion Paul, and I'm going to pay it back, by gad! I am!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She tried to laugh and failed, feeling she would cry if she spoke. So +she took her soup when it came and afterwards, as he eat his lunch, +they talked and argued.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now look here, my dear," he said at last in his old, rather +flamboyant, most masterful manner, "you tell me you don't want to stop +in Edinburgh, and you tell me you have plenty of money in your purse. +But one thing you haven't got at present--strength to work. I can see +you haven't, and you have done an immense amount for me, and--well, +I'm dashed if I am going to leave you as you are to face things alone. +So that settles it. I must get back to Glasgow now. You come with me +so far. I promise you, Marmie, I will not--well, annoy you in any +way. See a doctor, and--and do as you like. Only I swear to you, my +dear, if you won't be reasonable I'll break my leave and stop here, +and--and----"</p> + +<p class="normal">His boyish face broke into mischief; he came towards her with hands +outstretched, frank, absolutely devoid of all save pure affection.</p> + +<p class="normal">In a way, it cut her to the heart as she acquiesced.</p> + +<p class="normal">The ride to Glasgow, first-class, with all the alacrity of guards and +porters consequent on Marmaduke's lordly ways and tips, was rather an +agreeable novelty; so also was the obsequiousness of the hotel where +he left her, saying he would be round to see her ere he started for +Ayr next morning.</p> + +<p class="normal">Before he came, however, a rather well-known doctor arrived somewhat +to her annoyance, the more so because his verdict was startling. A +sharp attack of pneumonia, which mercifully had not killed her, had +left both lungs enfeebled. At least six weeks' complete rest, care, +and good food, and, if possible, sea air would be necessary to make +them normal; but given these desiderata perfect recovery was assured.</p> + +<p class="normal">Six weeks! Marrion, despite her full purse, was aghast, and Marmaduke, +coming in with his usual breezy vitality, found her depressed. He was +in uniform, and it was the first time she had seen him so, with all +the accessories, as it were, of his young manhood about him, from the +glitter of his plaid brooch to the pipe-clay on his white gaiters, for +Andrew Fraser would have scorned to have aught astray in his master's +kit.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have had rather bad news," she began dolefully; but he checked her +with a comprehending smile.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know," he replied, "I was waiting for the pill-doc's verdict +downstairs. But it's perfectly easy, my dear. The sea is simply +splendid at Ayr. I'm off there in quarter of an hour; but I'm going to +leave Andrew Fraser here to bring you down later on. If I can't find +you a suitable lodging before you come you can get one for yourself +next day. And if you do run short of money, you can always come to me, +can't you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She shook her head, but the tears were in her eyes.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_01.13" href="#div1Ref_01.13">CHAPTER XIII</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">Andrew Fraser stood at attention watching a couple of figures, a man +and a woman, who for the last hour had been dredging a sea-pool with a +landing net as if they were boy and girl. He had watched them at it +often in the last six weeks, and, honest, straight-forward fellow as +he was, had wondered how they managed to treat each other with such +perfect unconsciousness that they were man and woman. So far as his +master was concerned, that might be, for Andrew was shrewd enough to +see the difference between friendship and passion; but, if anyone was +ever heart-wholly in love, Marrion Paul was that person. You could see +it in her face; yet it never seemed to influence her actions. The +perception of this made Andrew vaguely afraid of her; it put a sort of +damper on his own passion for her, since such self-control was not +natural; it was barely human.</p> + +<p class="normal">Hour after hour, the simple soul would tell himself, those two would +play themselves like a couple of weans. Three or four times a week the +major would, after the morning parades were over, drive out in his +tilbury--Andrew perched in the tiny back seat--and spend his afternoon +at the little inn which was also the ferry-house over the Doon river +where Marrion lodged. Sometimes the two would go out sailing together, +but more often they amused themselves on the shore, as they were doing +now, dredging for sea things or catching miller's thumbs. It was +childish, but--Andrew's lean, anxious face puckered with confused +thought as he turned to a sound which he knew would bring with it a +more commonsensical outlook on the situation than he, with his +passionate love for the woman concerned, his passionate affection for +the man, could bring to bear on it. It was the click of busy knitting +needles, and they belonged to the landlady of the "Plough." She was a +thoroughly good, kindly, healthy woman, whose views were strictly +conventional on all subjects appertaining to the relations between +the sexes; and as these in those days--and even now, for the most +part--were that sex was the only possible tie between two spirits if +they happened to be living for the time being, one in a male body, the +other in a female--they were not likely to approve of the dredgers of +sea-treasures.</p> + +<p class="normal">"When are yon two gaun to be marriet?" she asked firmly. She was a +just woman, and having seen no signs of wrong-doing was willing to +believe the best.</p> + +<p class="normal">Andrew hesitated.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm thinkin'," he replied slowly, "that they are no considering +marriage."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then they aught tae think shame tae themsels," retorted the landlandy +severely. "Her week's up the morrow's morn, an' I'll just tell her she +canna stop in my house. It's just clean redeeklus."</p> + +<p class="normal">Andrew flushed up.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's no need for you to say aught, ma'am," he protested eagerly. +"She's leavin', anyhow. Ye ken she only came for her health and that's +re-established. It would only hurt the lassie--and--and do harm, +mayhap."</p> + +<p class="normal">The landlady looked at him and sniffed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The lassie, as you ca' her--will take no hairm from what I sall say +to her, an' she'd be the better to give up moithering about wi' +majors, and tak' up wi' a gude, God-fearin' man like yersel'."</p> + +<p class="normal">And with that she carried the click of her knitting-pins back into the +inn, leaving Andrew Fraser battling with his own heart. Aye, surely, +surely, it would be better, more seemly, more discreet.</p> + +<p class="normal">But there they were coming up from the beach like happy children.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then I'll bring a boat along at one to-morrow," said the major, as he +climbed into the tilbury. "I can't get away before, and we'll try and +get to the Craig. It's eighteen miles south, so if this north-west +wind holds good we shall have plenty of time, shan't we?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Plenty of time!" echoed Marrion happily.</p> + +<p class="normal">But she had been happy every day of those six weeks, and even now, +though the hair money was running short, and she knew she must be up +and doing in a few days, she would not, could not, think of the +future. Sufficient to the day was the evil and the good thereof.</p> + +<p class="normal">Half an hour after Marmaduke's departure, however, she came out of the +inn-parlour with a heightened colour. It had been no use attempting to +explain the position to the landlady, it was foolish to mind what she +had said; the more so as, automatically, that position must end in a +day or two; still it was disturbing!</p> + +<p class="normal">In this early September the twilights were long and the sky was still +golden high up to the zenith. She threw a shawl over her head and, +taking a boat, sculled herself across the ferry for a calming walk +down the coast-line.</p> + +<p class="center" style="font-size:90%">"The banks and braes of bonny Doon!"</p> + + +<p class="continue">The song kept echoing in her head. How pinchbeck it all was, that love +of which men sung--</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="i6">"But my false lover stole the rose,<br> +But, ah, he left the thorn wi' me!"</p> +</div> + +<p class="continue">That was a man's view of it. He came, he saw, he conquered. Then he +could ride away leaving a thorn behind him. But why? She laughed aloud +as she thought of her own passionate love for Duke, a love nothing +could touch, a love that was unsoilable, unassailable, untouchable!</p> + +<p class="normal">It was dark ere she returned and then someone tall and soldierly rose +out of the shadows of the little sitting-room of the inn which she +used as her own. For an instant her heart leapt. Then she saw it was +Andrew Fraser.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There's nothing wrong, is there?" she asked hastily.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm no that sure," he replied unsteadily, and then his outstretched +hands found hers, warm almost compelling in their fierce yet tender +clasp.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Marrion, Marrion, my dear," he said hoarsely, "ye're bringing wae +into yure life! Oh, dinna draw away frae me, I'm not come to tell ye I +love you; <i>that's</i> sure! You know that, Marrion, if you know anything. +But listen! You cou'dna marry me. That's sure, too; d'ye think I can't +feel that, too, Marrion? Right through to the very cauld core o' my +heart, an' it's cauld, Marrion--it's deathly cauld!" He paused, and +the girl in his passionate hold shivered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It makes me cauld, too, Andry," she half-sobbed, "deathly cauld. +You're meybe worth more than he is, but--but I canna help myself."</p> + +<p class="normal">Andrew's voice grew firmer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"An' I canna help it either, my dear. But if ye canna marry me, why +sou'd you not marry him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She shook her head. "I willna tie him down," she interrupted hoarsely. +"I willna do him harm!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's no harm!" he urged. "See you, lassie; would ye rather hae a Lord +Drummuir wi' a wife like yersel', or a Lord Drummuir like to the auld +man at the Castle now? I'm no sayin', mind you, that he wad be just as +his father, but--well, I hae lived wi' the major these eight years, +and I ken fine he needs a guide--why, my dear, since ye cam here, he's +away to his bed like a lad to sleep like a child; an' there's a +play-actin' woman at the theaytre in Glasgi' that had laid hands on +him and thocht she'd got him; but he's just escapit the snare like a +bird from a fowler. Sae ye might do good, not harm." There was a +pause.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ye mean well, Andry," she said softly, "but--but he hasn't really +asked me to--to marry him."</p> + +<p class="normal">Andrew turned aside wearily.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Has he no?" he replied. "Weel, that may be your fault, lassie; ye can +keep a man at arm's length wi' a smilin' face, as I know tae my cost."</p> + +<p class="normal">A sudden realisation of the man's self-sacrificing devotion came to +her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"An' ye've come to tell me this," she almost whispered, "to tell me to +your cost! Oh, Andry, Andry, yere love is greater than mine!"</p> + +<p class="normal">A sort of half sob came from the darkness.</p> + +<p class="normal">"God bless ye for that, Marrion--God bless ye for that, my dear!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The scalding tears were in her eyes as she raised them from her hiding +hands to look for him; but he had gone. The shadows were empty.</p> + +<p class="normal">The morning rose still and serene save for the puffing of the westerly +wind that ruffled the blue sea with tiny white-crested waves. The +Ayrshire coast stretching south lay green and yellow with ripe corn in +little bays and promontories--far away like a faint cloud the cliffs +of Ailsa Craig showed almost translucent.</p> + +<p class="normal">An ideal day indeed for a sail!</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion, her mind still disturbed by her landlady's half-threatening +remonstrances and by Andrew's pathetic appeal to the same conventional +outlook, turned with relief to the prospect of her afternoon's +holiday; probably the last one she would have, since she had made up +her mind to leave for work next day.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a good deal past one when Marmaduke, in rather an evil temper, +ran the pleasure-boat into the little pier where she was ready +waiting. He looked less buoyant than usual and apologised for being +late. All the fishing fleet were out, he said, and he had waited in +vain to get a man.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not that that matters!" he added, recovering himself, as he helped +her in. "You are as good as a man any day, Marmie."</p> + +<p class="normal">And yet, when, after a three hours' sail before the wind, they +reached the Craig, and, mooring the boat, climbed to the westering +cliffs beneath which the waves set a frill of white lace, he fairly +startled her by saying suddenly:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Marmie, I've made up my mind; I am going to marry you. I've thought +over everything from start to finish, and I'm certain it is the best +thing for both of us. Now, my dear girl, let me have my say for once; +you shall have yours by-and-by. I'm not going to talk of what you did +for me with my father. I'm not sure yet, you see, whether I am vexed +or grateful. A man doesn't like to be exactly--well--herded; but you +did it; and that intolerable vixen Penelope--but I won't talk about +her either. Then there's the hair business," he eyed her ruefully, +though in truth, now that the ends began to curl, the shearing was no +such dis-sight, "that also was my fault; and now"--he paused, and a +red flush of anger rose to his brow--"the goody-goodies in Ayr +apparently won't let you alone, and one of the youngsters this morning +tried to cut a joke; but I won't talk of that either. The long and +short of it is, Marmie, that you and I have got to get married. +And"--his voice changed to almost affection--"you know, dear, what you +stand for with me--for everything that I know to be really worth +having--everything that--well--I ought to be and am not. For it's the +old story, Marmie, I'm Tristram Shandy and you are the Shorter +Catechism, so--so come and help me, won't you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">With his voice in her ears she sat for a moment looking out westwards. +A low bank of cloud had obscured the horizon, the sun just thinking of +sinking behind it shone with unearthly brilliance over the sea, over +him, over herself. Then she disengaged her hand from his gently, and, +rising, stood on the extreme verge of the cliff, looking down into the +dazzling, shifting green of the waves. Would it, after all, be so +great a plunge downwards? She had often imagined the choice coming to +her. Suddenly she spoke:</p> + +<p class="normal">"There is no need for--for Tristram Shandy to be--to be bound up with +the Shorter Catechism, is there? The two could help each other without +the binding, couldn't they? And then"--her voice had the break of +half-tears, half-laughter in it--"you see Tristram Shandy would be +free--free to marry." She had been so intent on her own words, her +eyes looking out far beyond that dark horizon that she had not +realised he had risen to stand beside her; but now his arm about +her waist, his face bent caressingly to hers, quite overset her +self-control, she turned with a sob and buried her face on his breast. +"Oh, Duke, Duke!" she cried. "I mustn't, I daren't harm you!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He held her to him and kissed her again and again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You won't harm me," he said exultantly. "Of course I shan't be able +to noise our marriage abroad just now, so you will have plenty of time +to prepare for your future position."</p> + +<p class="normal">All the glamour, all the glitter seemed gone from the world; she drew +herself away from him and smiled at him tenderly, feeling glad that he +had failed apparently to realise the magnitude of her offer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You must give me time to think, Duke," she said.</p> + +<p class="normal">He looked a little offended.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, take it, by all means; only if you won't marry me we must give up +being friends, for I'm not such a cad as to let a girl like you lose +her character over me--but I expect I shall go to the devil, all the +same."</p> + +<p class="normal">They were very silent when they set sail once more. They had intended +to tack along the coast to a village where Andrew had been told to +await them with the tilbury; but after one or two attempts to make way +against a momentarily increasing wind, Marmaduke, with a rapid glance +at that arc of black cloud which had by now overcast the zenith, +remarked briefly:--</p> + +<p class="normal">"We are in for it, I fear, and had better run for Girvan. Wait till I +am ready, Marmie, then take her round sharp."</p> + +<p class="normal">Even as he spoke the gust of a coming squall struck them, the boat +heeled over, and but for skill both at tiller and sheet, might have +overset.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's a mercy you can steer," he said, a minute or two later, as by a +deft giving way the boat over-rode a following seventh wave; "but if +you keep your head there's no harm done."</p> + +<p class="normal">So they flew before the rapidly rising gale, which, as it rose, +shifted from north-west to nor'-nor'-by-west and threatened to drive +them down the coast.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We shall have to tack to make Girvan," he said sharply, "and it's +best to do it before the full fury of the storm touches us. It looks +ugly out there."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmie nodded.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'll take my time from you," she replied, "but don't hurry; we shall +get into a slacker bit in a minute or two."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now!" came his voice.</p> + +<p class="normal">The helm went round with all her young strength, but the boat hung for +a second, a following wave took her broadside on, there was a crash, +and Marmaduke was overboard. For one dreadful second Marrion's heart +stood still; the next she realised he had still the sheet-rope in his +hand, and, bringing the boat up sideways to him, he had his hand on +the gunwale and was clambering in.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That was a narrow shave," he said, with a brilliant smile. "Now, +Marmie, as the yard has gone, there's nothing for it but let the sail +fill as it can or can't. It will steady us, anyhow. So I'll tie the +sheet and take the tiller. You'd better sit at my feet--see, here's my +coat--rubbish, put it on, I tell you! I don't think we shall make +Girvan, but I--I think I can run her ashore further down. If not----" +He stooped and kissed her.</p> + +<p class="normal">That was all; but whether the next hour was a nightmare or a heavenly +dream Marrion Paul in after years never could decide. The great waves +rushing past the little boat, the half-dismasted sail bellying out +over the uplifted bows, scarce seen in the gathering darkness, their +figures in the stern, close--ah! so close together, she resting +against his knees, with upturned face on his, one arm round his waist, +the other, round his feet sheltering him as best she could with the +coat he had insisted on her taking. And he? He seemed to her as the +archangel Michael might have seemed, as he sat courageous, alert, +bending down once or twice, after a stiffer struggle, to touch her +hair with his lips, and almost laugh his confidence.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Getting along nicely, Marmie. We may have to swim for it--but it has +got to be done!"</p> + +<p class="normal">At last there came a roar ahead of breakers on a beach.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's sand, I think, so off with your boots and everything else you +can!" he called above the roar. "No, don't--ah, thank you, now I can +kick them off! Be ready, child, and hold on to me. We sink or swim +together!"</p> + +<p class="normal">So she stood beside him for a minute or two, her skirts thrown aside, +her bare arms ready for a forward drive. Then came a faint grating, a +shock as the boat, heeled round by his strong arm, struck broadside on +on the sand and pitched them forward nearer the land into the +breakers. There was a terrific back draw, and Marrion felt as if her +arms would be torn out of the sockets; but Marmaduke's grip upon her +was as iron; then he was on his feet, then, with a cry--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Run--run for all you're worth!" He half-dragged her beyond the whole +awful onslaught of the sea. Another wild struggle, another forward +run, and they were safe on the sandy shore, with low moorland around +them. Then for the first time he began, manlike, to fuss over +discomfort.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You must get out of this as soon as may be," he exclaimed, as they +stood in the full blast of the biting wind. "I see a light over +yonder. Let's run for it, it will keep you warm."</p> + +<p class="normal">He held out his hand and together they ran, the bruised leaves of the +bog myrtle as they sped over the moor sending their clean aromatic +odour into the night air.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Better than last time," he said, with a laugh. "By Jove, I did get +deep into the bog that time! It's better in couples."</p> + +<p class="normal">So, once again those two, caught by the glamour of pure life, raced on +almost forgetful of past danger and present discomfort.</p> + +<p class="normal">The light proved to be from a shepherd's hut, where they found warmth +and shelter, a sup of porridge, and some milk. It was four good miles +to Girvan by a bad road, and that made a retreat thither impossible in +the teeth of such a furious gale as was now raging; so the old +shepherd, after providing Marrion with a petticoat of his dead wife's +and a plaid of his own, proposed to retreat to an outhouse and leave +the cottage to his uninvited guests. Marmaduke, however, negatived the +proposal. His wife, he said, would be the better of a good sleep, +while he must be off at daybreak to Girvan in order to get a +conveyance; so she could lie down in the bed-place and he and the +shepherd could just snoozle by the fire. Which they did.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion, wide awake at first, her nerves all athrill, listened to +their even voices for a time, then watched them asleep in their +chairs, the firelight on their placid faces, and finally fell asleep +herself, to wake with bright sunlight streaming into the little +cottage.</p> + +<p class="normal">A scribbled note in pencil awaited her from Marmaduke. He might be +away some time; she was not to expect him till she saw him.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was early afternoon when he did return in an open chaise and four +with postillions.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The road is very bad," he explained airily, "and I've brought you +some clothes. You'd better go and put them on, as we ought to start at +once."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You ought not----" she began hastily at her first glance at the +milliner's box. "You really----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear girl," he replied, with a charming smile, "mayn't I see you +dressed for once as you ought to be dressed!"</p> + +<p class="normal">There was no alternative with the postillions waiting, and as she put +on the things he had brought she was forced into admitting he had good +taste.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You do look nice!" he cried, joyous as a child, as he handed her into +the chaise.</p> + +<p class="normal">The next instant they were off, the grey horses with their red-coated +postillions lending quite a bridal appearance to the couple behind +them, for Marmaduke was also very spruce, though he was wearing his +left hand tucked into the roll collar of his coat. Something in the +look of the arm, now she had time for observation, made Marrion say +suddenly--</p> + +<p class="normal">"You hurt yourself?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He nodded.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dislocated my wrist--you see that first wave was an awful jerk. So I +had to get back to the regimental surgeon to get it sorted and get my +three days' leave."</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked at him startled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What for?" she asked quickly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For our honeymoon, dear," he replied, his kindly, handsome +affectionate face bent close to hers. "Don't look so alarmed, Marmie, +it had to be after what you and I went through together yesterday; we +can't get away from each other, even if we would."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But----" she began.</p> + +<p class="normal">At that instant the cross road on which they had been merged into a +turnpike, and with a swerve the grey horses turned to the right.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But me no buts!" he cried gaily. "We are on the south road, not the +north." Then he suddenly grew grave. "And God bless you, dear, for all +you've done for me and will do for me in the years to come!"</p> + +<p class="normal">That turn south had brought them face to face with the glorious line +of coast fading away into a golden mist. Far out on the wide expanse +of sea the same soft September mist lay like a veil, hiding--what?</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion Paul, sitting hand-in-hand with the one love of her life, did +not even ask the question; for all things, everything, seemed +swallowed up in a golden glory.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke's voice roused her, joyous, confident.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And I've got a wedding present for you. I wouldn't give it you +before. You see you are such a wilful customer, I was afraid you +mightn't get into the chaise."</p> + +<p class="normal">Half-mechanically she opened the case he laid on her lap. It contained +two very long, very thick plaits of red-brown hair, each held together +by an entwined monogram of M's in brilliants. She looked at him and he +looked at her in affectionate raillery.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now!" he cried joyously. "You'll be fit to be seen. You didn't think, +did you, I was going to let your hair be appraised by those young +fools? So that day we left Edinburgh--you remember I nearly missed the +train--I raced back to that beast of a hairdresser. I didn't know till +then, Marmie, it was so valuable; but it was well worth it. Then I had +it set." He paused, aware of some jarring note, and added, "You do +like it, dear, don't you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion, sitting with her long coils of hair in her lap, felt somehow +that the glamour had gone from the gold of earth and sky.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course I like it," she said, making an effort, "but--but why the +diamonds?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because I like diamonds and I like you to look well. I--I suppose you +couldn't twist 'em up somehow now, could you? The postillions won't +see."</p> + +<p class="normal">She removed her bonnet and deftly coiled the long plaits about her +shapely head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm afraid it's not very neat," she said solidly.</p> + +<p class="normal">But he was more than satisfied.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You look divine!" he cried exultantly. "More like other people, you +know; and I dare say it is mean of me, but your close crop always made +me feel bad, because you know I was really the cause of it. So now we +start fair, don't we?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Quite fair," she answered, with a smile. He was such a child. Yet +some of the glamour had gone.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>END OF BOOK I.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_02.0" href="#div1Ref_02.0">BOOK II</a></h2> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_02.1" href="#div1Ref_02.1">CHAPTER I</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Peter Muir wishes to know if he can see you, ma'am," said the +servant.</p> + +<p class="normal">The woman seated at a table by the window in the small drawing-room of +a tiny house in one of the back streets of Belgravia laid down her +work and rose. It was Marrion Paul; but she was seven years older and +neither face nor figure had quite the same buoyant youthfulness. +Indeed, as she crossed to the fireplace a distinct limp was apparent. +Still her face had gained in beauty, and the masses of her red bronze +hair glinted bright as ever. Those seven years of life had been hard +in some ways; but they had been happy in others--happy most of all in +that Marmaduke Muir was well and content.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion drew an easy-chair to the fire and closed the window, knowing +her visitor to be chilly. She did the latter with reluctance, for the +late November sunshine shone golden in the narrow street, and the +somewhat mews-laden atmosphere of those back purlieus of fashionable +houses was sweetened as it filtered through the wide boxes of trailing +musk which made the little house with the brass plate bearing its +legend,</p> + + +<p class="center"><span class="sc">Mrs. Marsden</span><br> +<i>Layettes</i></p> + + +<p class="continue">look quite countrified and summerlike.</p> + +<p class="normal">Peter Muir, coming in languidly, complaining of the cold, slipped into +the easy-chair as one accustomed to it. He also was older, his weak +face showed signs of recent ill-health; but he was otherwise the loose +knit, errant, yet dandified figure he had been. Dressed in the height +of the fashion, his blue-and-white bird's eye bow and stiff stand up +collar seemed the most striking parts of his personality.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This place is the only peaceful spot in all the town," he sighed. "I +often wish I were back in the little room upstairs where you nursed me +so patiently."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And your brother, Major Marmaduke," she put in kindly, "don't forget +him, Mr. Peter. If it hadn't been for him, I don't believe you would +have lived."</p> + +<p class="normal">Peter Muir fingered his nails nervously.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, I don't suppose I should. You see, it was all Vienna. It's the +devil of a place for a young fellow, especially if he has got no +money--and we never have any, have we? But that is really the reason +why I've dropped in to have a quiet talk with you, so I thought I +would come in the morning, in case Marmaduke----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I haven't seen your brother for ten days," she interrupted quietly. +"I believe he has been away hunting in Hampshire, hasn't he?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Peter Muir went on fingering his nails.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes," he said at last, "part of the time." Then he suddenly burst +out--"I don't know why we should beat about the bush, you and I. You +were a perfect Providence to me, Marmie; I used to call you that, you +know, when I was so ill and the doctors swore that D.T. must end in an +asylum. Duke means a lot to both of us, doesn't he? And it's about him +I want to speak. You've noticed, of course, that he is hipped and out +of spirits, haven't you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No one could help noticing that," she replied coldly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And he says it is because the old man of the sea at the Castle won't +give him the money to purchase the colonel's step, I suppose?" asked +the young man tentatively.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is the case, I believe," she replied, even more coldly. "There +was the same difficulty about the majority."</p> + +<p class="normal">Peter Muir laughed and looked at her quizzically.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've often wondered how that was done," he said. "But this time it +isn't quite fair on the baron. To give the devil his due, I believe he +is quite ready to fork out the money if Marmaduke will only promise to +marry within the year. You see the question of succession is becoming +acute. There is no chance of an heir to the barony from Pitt. And +I--I--well, let's out with it! I've dished myself with the peer as +well as with Providence. It's my damned own fault, of course, but +there it is. And it isn't as if there was not a real picture man in +the family whose sons should do credit to the Castle."</p> + +<p class="normal">He had run on rapidly, and now paused to look at his companion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And does the Major refuse to accept the conditions?" she asked +quietly. "I wonder why?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Peter Muir felt distinctly injured by her calm.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So do I, and I was wondering if----"</p> + +<p class="normal">She stopped him with a gesture of her hand, which sent all his +conventional decorum to the right-about, and left him, a man, before +her a woman--left him, instead of an elaborate detective, a reluctant +admirer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Peter," she said, smiling, "don't wonder! It is very kind of you +to come and tell me the truth--kind also to try and find me out; but, +believe me, I do not stand in your brother's way. It is two years +since Major Muir first brought you here to me, a milliner living by +her work only. All that while he and I have been good friends--nothing +more. I had no claim to be anything else. Does that satisfy you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Peter Muir held out a hot, damp, but enthusiastic hand to meet her +cool, wholesome one.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm not quite sure if it does," he said, in a manner suddenly and to +her painfully reminiscent of Marmaduke. "You've been a good sight more +to him than any friend has been to me, worse luck! Perhaps if I had +had someone like you in a peaceful little room like this--but +Marmaduke always had the devil's own luck. However, you are not +angry, are you? Only I thought it right to put you up to the ropes in +case----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"There is no in case about it," she interrupted quickly. "I--I make no +claim." She rose, passed to the window, and looked out. "Has Lord +Drummuir any--any special selection for his future daughter-in-law?" +she asked, and the young man at the fireplace jiggled the seals in his +pocket amusedly.</p> + +<p class="normal">He knew a thing or two, he imagined, about women.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not so far as I am aware of, at <i>present</i>," he replied, negligently; +"but the consent is a trifle urgent, for the colonelcy will be going +ere long. He ought to make up his mind soon and come with me to a +roaring New Year at the Castle--it's always a bachelor party--and it +may be his last chance. So, if you could say a word or two--you have +more influence over Marmaduke----"</p> + +<p class="normal">She flashed round suddenly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I used to have some," she corrected. "However, thanks very many. Now +let us talk of something else."</p> + +<p class="normal">After her visitor had gone Marrion Paul, who called herself Mrs. +Marsden on the door-plate, threw the window wide with an air of relief +and sat down once more to her work. It was an infant's cap of almost +incredibly fine stitchings and embroideries; the kind of cap which, +perched on slender, white, much-beringed hands would give tremors of +delightful anticipation to rich young wives awaiting motherhood. On +the table were strewn other tiny habiliments dainty and delicate +beyond compare; for Mrs. Marsden's layettes were renowned. Nothing +crude, nothing out of place came from her skilful hands; all things +bore the indefinable stamp of absorbing care and almost divine hope +that the little unknown atom of life to come should have garments +worthy of its mission.</p> + +<p class="normal">The truth being that, as she worked, her mind always held at the back +of it the memory of a certain box upstairs in which lay the first baby +clothes she had ever made--clothes laboured at day by day in a perfect +heaven of happiness for her child and Duke's, the poor little dear +which had lost its life in the effort to save hers after that terrible +accident.</p> + +<p class="normal">It had not been Duke's fault, though he had reproached himself +bitterly at first; but that had been more because of her consequent +lameness. For to a man a dead baby does not count for much--not even +if no other follows it--at least not to a man like Marmaduke, so +light-hearted, so affectionate, so free from all carping cares and +thoughts.</p> + +<p class="normal">No, it had been her fault from the beginning. She should have held her +own as she had done for his good in so many other ways before and +since. And now, after these years of freedom, was the tie between +them--the unreal tie which ought never to have existed--to hold him +back from taking his rightful place in life?</p> + +<p class="normal">Suddenly she folded up the tiny cap, putting it by with a wistful +little smile and a pat against happier thoughts, went upstairs, put on +her bonnet, and, leaving word she would not be back till late, passed +out into the street. One thing was certain, she must avoid seeing +Marmaduke until her mind was indelibly fixed, and there was always a +chance he might drop in to see her.</p> + +<p class="normal">London in those days was a dreary spot for anyone requiring a quiet +place wherein to look Fate in the face; but Marrion knew her way to +two places where she could secure peace and quiet--the National +Gallery and the reading-room of the British Museum. She had often +spent long hours in the former, not moving from place to place, but +seated before some masterpiece, scarce seeing it, yet vaguely learning +something from it which had been missing in her life; but to-day she +chose the latter, as being farther away, and it was time she wished to +kill--time in which it was possible to hear the familiar step on the +stairs, perhaps to be greeted by some affectionate jest that stockings +were not mended or that new handkerchiefs required marking. She smiled +as she thought of those seven long years during which she had kept +this man as comfortable and as tidy as she could, during which she had +managed for him as well as any woman could have managed, and tried to +imagine the estimation in which such devotion would be held by the +wives and mothers for whose infants she worked. She was a constant +reader at the Museum, having, when she came to London, set herself +deliberately to gain what she had perforce missed in her life, so she +found a place, sent in her slip for a book, and was soon apparently +studying it. But she was not even thinking. In the great crises of +life one does not weigh pros and cons; decision comes from outside to +those who recognise that there is something beyond one's own +individual life. It is those who do not see, who fail to recognise the +spiritual plane, who cannot distinguish good from evil, evil from +good, who err past forgiveness. And from the moment Marrion Paul had +heard of the condition on which old Lord Drummuir would buy the +colonelcy she had known she must face him again. The only question was +when, and how.</p> + +<p class="normal">The sooner the better. She would inquire about the journey on her way +home.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was dark ere she arrived there with a long list of startings and +arrivals in her hand, and a new sense of elation in her heart--the +elation of the born fighter at yet another chance of battle.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The Major was here asking for you, ma'am, about five o'clock," said +the maidservant, "and he said if you could let him have two or three +white ties to-night he would be obliged, as he is going into the +country early to-morrow."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion laughed. So much the better for her plans.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Take a hot iron to the dining-room," she said, "and set the +lace-board. You can take the ties round to his lodgings after supper."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_02.2" href="#div1Ref_02.2">CHAPTER II</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">Seven years had not improved old Lord Drummuir's temper, neither had +it softened the arrogance of his sway over the household. Marrion +realised this in a second, as, entering the study under the name of +Mrs. Marsden--a lady who, according to the footman, was--"Oh, yes, +sir, quite young, and yes, sir, quite good-looking!" and who had +private business with his lordship, she found herself instantly +recognised by three pairs of eyes. One the occupant of the familiar +wheel-chair, the others those of my lady and Penelope. The sight of +the latter was unexpected, for though Marrion knew her grandfather had +died the previous year she had not heard of Penelope's reinstallation +as confidential attendant to my lady. It was not an arrangement likely +to occur to anyone out of Drummuir Castle; but there all things were +possible.</p> + +<p class="normal">In the instant's pause which followed on her entrance Marrion had time +to note that the old man had changed but little. His face had lost +somewhat of its colour, but the look of absolute domineering power was +strong as ever. My lady had grown stout--the very idea of a <i>fandango</i> +was far from her now--and the colour had come to her face in +unbecoming fashion. Penelope, on the other hand, had grown thinner, +and in her black dress looked prim propriety.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, young woman?" began his lordship.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a signal for indignant protest from those two.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Drummuir," shrilled the lady, "if you speak to that creature I must +leave the room!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Penelope's answering assent was audible in a snort.</p> + +<p class="normal">The old man fixed them with a stony stare.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was just about to ask you to do so, my dear," he said, with suave +politeness. "Penelope, open the door for your mistress."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion, as mechanically she stepped aside towards the window to let +them pass out, felt that nothing was altered. The spider was master of +his web still, every stick and stone of the old place existed by this +old man's wicked will. And it was this heritage she had set herself to +gain for the man she loved! A spasm of repugnance shot through her.</p> + +<p class="normal">Yet surely the place itself was glorious. Her glance speeding +northwards took in the same old familiar view that had been visible +from her window in the keep-house; the grey northern sea trending +away, round promontory and point, the cliffs looking so strangely red +compared with the white hills, the white moors--for snow lay thick +everywhere. In those long years of London life she seemed to have +forgotten that snow could be so white. "Though your sins be as +scarlet, they shall be white as snow." The words recurred to her +irrelevantly.</p> + +<p class="normal">The old man's voice roused her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are not so good-looking as you were; and you limp. How's that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I had an accident," she replied briefly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And why do you call yourself Mrs. Marsden?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because it is the name I have gone by for some years."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ever since I last saw you--eh?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ever since you last saw me--nearly," she corrected. Then there was +silence.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well," he said at length, "what is it all about? You have come for +money, I suppose--women always do. Tell the truth solidly please, I've +no time to waste."</p> + +<p class="normal">The sneer in his words was intolerable.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, I have come for money," she replied, "because your son, Major +Marmaduke Muir, married me six years ago. I've brought proofs with +me."</p> + +<p class="normal">If he wanted the truth he had got it. Bitter as she was, however, the +sudden whiteness of the old man's face made her sorry for him. There +was something more than anger here. That turned him purple; yet his +words were resentful, nothing more.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then he is a damned fool!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You didn't write so to him seven years ago, Lord Drummuir," she +began.</p> + +<p class="normal">"H'm, so he showed you the letter, did he? No, you behaved well +then--and, by God, I made them dance!" The recollection seemed to +please; then a sudden thought evidently struck him. "Any children?" he +asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">She shook her head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"One--a boy--died. Major Muir had an accident in the tilbury. The +child," she paused, her eyes on the far stretches of dazzling white +snow, "it--it ransomed my life. I shall never have another." Then with +a rush all she had come to say sprang to mind and lips, she held out +her hands appealingly. "Lord Drummuir, I wish you would let me tell my +story!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Eh, what?" he replied peevishly. "Well, curse it all, I've been +plagued by the gout and those two virtuous frumps for seven months, +for Jack Jardine has the jaundice, and you were deuced amusing last +time. But, don't stop over there--makes me cold to think of you. Sit +there, by the fire, and take off your bonnet; you look better without +it. Women with good hair shouldn't wear bonnets."</p> + +<p class="normal">She sat down as he bade her, feeling inclined to cry, he reminded her +so much of Marmaduke.</p> + +<p class="normal">He would not spare her any details; it seemed an amusement to him to +hear of her doubts, her scruples, and he laughed aloud when she told +him how two years ago she had dismissed her lover.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why?" he sneered. "Come, out with it!"</p> + +<p class="normal">His hard clear eyes peered into hers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because I didn't want to injure him, and I don't want to injure him +now," she replied. "I haven't come to claim my rights as his wife."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then what the devil do you want, my lady?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I want you to do as you did before and give him the money to buy his +colonelcy. If you will do this I will never claim to be his wife. He +shall be as free, as far as I am concerned, to marry whom you choose."</p> + +<p class="normal">Lord Drummuir sat looking at her with hard clear eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And if I don't," he said at last, "are you going to threaten me with +this bogus marriage, for it may be bogus for all I know--eh, what?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion felt that the supreme moment had come; she must stake her all.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No," she answered quietly. "To show you I threaten nothing, there are +my marriage lines. Burn them if you will!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She sat quite still while the old man, with fingers that trembled +visibly, unfolded the paper she gave him. There was no mistaking its +worth. In Marmaduke's bold black writing were the words--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I, Marmaduke Muir, second son of Baron Drummuir, of Drummuir Castle, +hereby acknowledge Marrion Paul as my lawful wife." Underneath in her +finer writing was her own acknowledgment of her tie to Marmaduke.</p> + +<p class="normal">The old man, for all he had had no hopes of escape, was wary.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You give this up because you know he, my fool of a son, has a +counterpart, eh? That's about it, I expect?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion flushed to the very roots of her hair, but she spoke calmly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, your son has the counterpart----" she began.</p> + +<p class="normal">The old man burst into one of his sudden rude guffaws.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ha, ha, ha! And you thought you'd take in the old fox, my fine +madam!" he said, then paused before the passion of her face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you will listen you will believe me. I could claim to be his wife +now if I chose. I do not choose. I prefer that he should lead the life +he loved, that he should marry and bring you the heir for which--for +which you would sell your soul, you poor old man! But Marmaduke is a +soldier born; if he misses this chance he will be a disappointed man. +As like as not he will never marry, even though he knows I've set him +free. But send him this money, and I swear to you the counterpart +shall be destroyed. What shall I swear by? I swear by the poor dead +baby!" She paused. "Marmaduke said he was so like you. I never saw +him. I was too near death."</p> + +<p class="normal">Her voice trailed away to monotony. The old man sat staring at her, an +odd tremor in his face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I swear it shall be destroyed," she continued. "I--I have very great +influence over your son; he--he will do what I ask."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then why the devil are you giving him up, and your prospects here? +They're not to be sneezed at by a woman like you!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The phrase nettled her. She rose and stood beside him strong and +steady.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Lord Drummuir," she said sarcastically, "I know you to be clever and +I thought, being a gentleman, that you might have seen the truth and +spared me the pain of that question. I will answer it, however. It is +cause your son never loved me. He is very, very fond of me. He has +been so ever since we were boy and girl together. And I have been of +great use to him. But I could not bring love into his life, and I +could not bring him a child. So it did not seem worth while; I could +only stand aside."</p> + +<p class="normal">There was a pause. The old man's face had grown sharp and paler; there +was uncertainty even in the cruel lines about the mouth.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You're rather an extraordinary young woman," he remarked coolly; +"might have made your fortune on the stage. Wish I'd met you there!" +He grinned. "But now to business. You have the whip hand, of course--I +admit that. Now, if I give you--or that fool, my son, it's the same +thing--the money for this paper, you promise to make him destroy his +counterpart."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I promise," she replied eagerly. "I can make him do most things----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Except love you," interrupted the old man, with a horrible sneer; but +the next instant his gouty hand, trembling a little, was outstretched +to her in deprecation. "Excuse me, that should not have been said. +Well, you know as well as I do that this game is a real confidence +trick. You must have heaps of evidence up your sleeve if you chose to +bring it forward. But I'll chance that. I haven't seen many of your +sort in my life. If I had, I mightn't have been the cursed cripple I +am; but I've had a rattlin' good life of it and I don't regret +anything--except having begot Pitt. So we will come to terms. I will +send the colonelcy money to Marmaduke on condition that he consents to +marry within the year. Is that agreed?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Agreed," she said firmly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In that case perhaps you'll oblige me by ringing the bell."</p> + +<p class="normal">She did so, but when the valet appeared, instead of the curt order to +show her out Marrion had expected, the old man commanded the instant +production of cake and wine.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nonsense!" he growled decisively to her protestations. "It is +devilish cold. You haven't on warm enough clothes, and you don't leave +this house without bite or sup, if only because your father Paul was a +deuced good servant to my poor brother. Good fellow was Paul--always +suspicioned he was a gentleman--think now he must have been. +Here"--the valet had come and gone, leaving the tray on the +table--"pour yourself out a glass of port. Won't get better anywhere, +I'll go bail. Only half a binn left, so I shall finish that before I +die, thank God! Now," he eyed her narrowly, "drink to the health of +Marmaduke Muir's son, the heir to Drummuir!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The room seemed to spin round for a moment. Then without a quiver she +drank the health, put down her glass and turned to the door. Just as +she reached it the old man said--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good-bye. I'm damned sorry that little chap of yours died; he would +have been game, anyhow."</p> + +<p class="normal">She gave back one sudden grateful look, and the memory of what she saw +remained with her till the day of her death. The pearly whiteness of +the snow outside showing behind the mountain of diseased flesh swathed +in scarlet flannel, the gouty hands in the act of tearing up the paper +they had been holding, a cruel smile in the old grey eyes, despite the +words which had just fallen from the cruel lips.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow."</p> + +<p class="normal">The phrase recurred and recurred as she tramped her way down the beech +avenue. There were many gaps in it now. How many trees would be left +when Marmaduke's heir came to his own?</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_02.3" href="#div1Ref_02.3"> III</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">The swing doors leading to the smoking-room of the fashionable club in +London fell back with a slightly louder thud than usual, and more than +one occupant of the room looked up--looked up, however, to smile, for +the newcomer was a universal favourite. It was Marmaduke Muir, fresh +from one of his many disappearances, for he was quartered at the new +camp of Aldershot and his London visits were generally but a passing +flash on his way to find sport in the counties. At seven-and-thirty he +showed almost more youthful than he had done at seven-and-twenty, for +he was thinner, more alert, and the laughter in his face seemed to +belong to him more absolutely. For the rest he was handsome beyond +compare, and dressed faultlessly in a taste that had sobered itself +from those early days in England when Marrion Paul had found him +<i>flamboyant</i>. There was still a slight exuberance in the carnation in +his buttonhole and the immense size of the cigar he drew out of his +case; but the case itself was simple, and there was a simplicity about +his whole bearing which disarmed criticism.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What you b'in after, old chap?" said an occupant of an armchair, +laying down the "Illustrated London News," in which he had been +reading the pros and cons of beard and moustachios as against clean +shaving. He felt his own chin doubtfully as he looked at Marmaduke's +upper lip; but then he, of course, was a soldier.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Killin' somethin', I bet," yawned another. "What was it, Duke?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not ladies, anyhow," put in a third. "Our Adonis is a regular +misogynist; and yet, just look at his letters--faugh! they make the +place smell like Truefitt's."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Better than your fags, anyhow, Mac!" laughed Marmaduke, as he took +the pile of notes and letters which the attendant had brought in on a +salver. Then, as he threw himself into the most comfortable chair +vacant, he held up half the bundle with a gay--"Anyone like them? +They're all invitations, I expect, and I have to go back to-night!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And moneylenders, Muir! Don't forget Moses!" put in the man he had +called Mac.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not so many of them either," retorted Marmaduke, "as you know Jack +Jardine keeps us going. God bless him!" he added cheerfully.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here, hand us over a few, Major!" said a callow youth who lived to +envy the more fashionable habitués.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No go, Smithers!" remarked another youth less sallow; "even Nathan +couldn't make you up to his form."</p> + +<p class="normal">But Marmaduke, after a hasty glance at the superscriptions, had +dexterously flung a dozen or so of letters into the applicant's tall +hat, which was obstructing the way between his chair and the next. One +smaller than the rest which Marmaduke had overlooked flew over it and +lay on the carpet. It was directed in an uneducated hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hullo, pretty milliner, eh, Duke?" said Mac, taking it up and opening +it. "No, no, fair play, you gave it----"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke, standing over him, blushed like a girl as he glanced at the +writing.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's nothing, Mac," he began.</p> + +<p class="normal">But Mac was not to be put off in a moment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Respekted and Honerd Sir'--can't spell, anyhow," he read out. "'The +money as you scent save my wife an' children from blank +starvayshion"'--he turned round and looked at Marmaduke reproachfully. +"And you owe me five pounds, you d----d Christian philanthropist."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke Muir gave an apologetic laugh.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The poor devil was in my regiment once--and as for the five pounds, +here you are. I had a stroke of luck down in Norfolk at loo----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Save you from 'blank starvayshion,' eh, Mac?" growled a man who also +owed money in the same quarter, whereat there was a general laugh, for +Major Macdonald was known to be near.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke, opening his letters rapidly, put most of them into the +waste-paper basket. Invitations from people he scarcely knew to balls +and dances, others to festivities past and gone. Some few he put in +his pocket, and one he sat and stared at as he smoked his cigar. +Luncheon--one o'clock--there was plenty of time; and Louisa +Marchioness of Broadway was the most amusing old lady in town. An old +friend of his father's, too, though that wasn't in her favour. Still +she was interested in the family, and had always been particularly +kind to him.</p> + +<p class="normal">An hour later, therefore, he sat waiting his hostess' appearance in +the tiny drawing-room of one of that row of tiny houses which, till a +very few years ago, stood back from Knightsbridge Road, separated from +it by a tiny secluded carriage-drive of their own and opening out with +little narrow strips of back gardens to the park. He was seated at the +window, but it seemed to him as if he were close to the roaring fire; +indeed, all things were close to each other in the small room where +the big, central, mid-Victorian table, with its broidered tablecloth, +solitary vase of flowers, and besprinkling books of beauty seemed to +monopolise all space. One of these same books of beauty lay open at a +simpering bottlenecked portrait subscribed in a fine feminine hand, +"Louisa Broadway." It always did; the servant had orders to that +effect.</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>À la bonheur, monsieur!</i>" came a voice from the door. It was the +most ancient thing about Louisa Marchioness of Broadway. All else was +open to manipulation and the manipulation was good. She did not, +however, dye her hair. Spiteful folk said it was because powder had +been the fashion when she was in the heyday of her beauty; but she was +a very clever lady, and doubtless she realised how much more real a +make-up seems when toned to white hair than to dark. As it was, the +effect was still charming, and her figure was that of a girl of +eighteen.</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>A moi l'honneur</i>," quoth Marmaduke gallantly, as he advanced to kiss +the old lady's outstretched hand and lead her to a chair.</p> + +<p class="normal">In a certain set at that time there was a fashion for interpolating +French into English--one of the signs of the coming war which was +darkening the horizon of Europe.</p> + +<p class="normal">So they sat and talked lightly of it, and of the Prince Consort's +unpopularity, and the coming opening of the King's new Royal Palace of +Westminster, which are now, forgetfully and conveniently, called the +Houses of Parliament, until luncheon was announced, and Marmaduke had +to pilot his hostess down the narrow stairs--a difficult task which he +felt would have been far easier had he carried her. And with the +thought came in a rush that delight in freedom, that fresh enjoyment +of the unconventional, which always made him remember Marrion Paul. It +sobered him a little and he talked with more effort. Not that it +mattered, since his hostess was all sparkle and wit. And the luncheon +itself was everything that could be desired. Marmaduke, a bit of an +epicure in personal matters, found the snug little horse-shoe table, +with its curve to the fire so that you could feel the warmth while you +looked out of the window, very conducive to comfort, for you sat +undisturbed by servings behind you. All that went on in front, and you +could see what was handed to you without fear of ricking your neck or +getting the gravy spilt over your clothes. The <i>menu</i>, too, if sparse, +was super-excellent. In her youth Louisa Broadway had been +Ambassadress at various European Courts; she was a <i>gourmet</i> of +distinction, so it was quite a complacent Marmaduke who at her +invitation, after the servant left the room, turned his chair to the +fire and joined his hostess in a glass of Madeira.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And now for business," she said, while her face took on a new +expression which obscured the paint and the prettiness, and left it +wise yet kindly--wise with the wisdom of a worldly old age. "Now, you +don't suppose, do you, young man, that I asked you here to give you a +good lunch--you'll admit you have had one, I presume--and talk to you +about things that don't really matter a brass farthing to either of +us? For what do you care about the Houses of Parliament, and what do I +care about scandals--I have had plenty--<i>de trop</i>, in fact! No, I +brought you here to introduce you to my grand-niece--Sibthorpe's +youngest daughter. She will be here immediately, and I want you to +marry her."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Really, Lady Broadway!" flustered Marmaduke.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rather crude, I admit," continued his hostess, "but I object to +beating about the bush, especially when I want to get inside. The fact +is, Marmaduke, I have heard from your father----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is good of you to read his letters; they are not----" began the +son stiffly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't be silly, my dear lad," went on the old woman, "your father has +his faults, but he was quite as good-looking as a young man as you +are--at any rate, I thought so. Now, he wants you to marry, and he has +every reason to wish it. It is the only chance of an heir to the +title, for Peter's last escapade has about finished his hopes in that +quarter."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can't discuss----" began Marmaduke very stiff.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, yes, you can!" went on the old lady imperturbably. "We +are <i>en petit comité</i>, and I'll confess to being old, very +old, old enough to be your great-grandmother. Now, Marmaduke, +a great-great-grandmother--did I put in the two greats the +first time?--can talk over things more sensibly than even a +great-great-grandfather. You see, my dear, she has passed through it +all and left it all behind her. And so, my dear child--I nursed you as +a baby, remember--why don't you marry? Or perhaps you are married +already?"</p> + +<p class="normal">There was an exquisite lightness of raillery in the suggestion which +absolutely barred offence, and there was kindness in the keen old +eyes. Nevertheless, Marmaduke was uncomfortably aware that they took +in his sudden flush. She gave him no time for interruption, however, +and went on airily--</p> + +<p class="normal">"For all I know the heir may already be in existence!" Here Marmaduke +asserted himself with great dignity. "My dear madam, if I had any +children I should acknowledge them!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Louisa Lady Broadway smiled gently. She had gained one piece of +knowledge, anyhow. The obstruction, if there was one, was a childless +wife.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am glad to hear it, my dear, but I knew you had a good heart, or I +wouldn't have risked speaking to you. I wouldn't do as much for one in +a thousand. Now, my dear, I am nearly eighty years old, and I +understand things as perhaps few women do understand them. I don't +expect many men have lived to be your age without forming ties of some +kind, especially if they live in Scotland, Marmaduke"--the thrust went +home again, she thought--"but money does a lot, especially when there +are no children. A good round annuity means much when a man is not +well off, as you are, and has probably to wait for many years ere he +falls into money--as you have, for Pitt is the heir, of course. But +your father would find the cash----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"If he would find the money to pay for my colonelcy," burst in +Marmaduke, "it would be better than setting people to find out mare's +nests! I don't mean to be rude, Lady Broadway; you are very kind, but +I really can't discuss----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think you can," interrupted Louisa Broadway in her turn, +"especially if it is not a question of mere money, and money is, I +believe, a very small matter to some people--to you, for instance, +Marmaduke! You never think of it, do you, so long as you've got +it?--ha, ha! But there are other considerations. To begin with, I +believe that when there are no children a marriage should +automatically become null and void. And apart from that I don't +believe that any woman who really loves a man would ever stand in his +light or prevent him from doing his duty. I am sure if I had had no +children, and Broadway----" The illustration, however, was beyond even +her powers of fiction, and the opening of the door brought relief. +"Oh, here is the young lady! Amabel, let me introduce Major Marmaduke +Muir. Major Muir, Lady Amabel Sibthorpe. I expect you are kindred +spirits, as you are both such outdoor people."</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl, who had rushed in somewhat unceremoniously, looked up +frankly into Marmaduke's blue eyes. There was undisguised admiration +in her glance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, yes," she said, "I've always wanted to know Major Muir since I +saw him punish a horrid little boy in the park for bullying his dog!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke, as he made his bow, felt that the clever old lady with the +painted face was very clever indeed. She had gauged her man +completely. Most people on the task would have supplied him with a +befrilled fashionable beauty; the sort of woman with whom he flirted, +who amused him, attracted him, tempted him. But this joyous, buoyant +girl, with good-breeding in every line and feature----</p> + +<p class="normal">No, Louisa Lady Broadway had made a mistake; she had reminded him of +Marrion Paul.</p> + +<p class="normal">So, after the shortest interval compatible with his rôle of charming +young man, he took his leave and went fuming back to his lodgings in +Duke Street, which he kept as a <i>pied-à-terre</i> for himself and Peter. +The latter was out, so Marmaduke went straight up to his bedroom to +change his London things for his uniform, since he had to report +himself on arrival at Aldershot. There was plenty of time, but he +meant to go round by Marrion's first. He had not seen her for over ten +days, and----</p> + +<p class="normal">Despite an anger at interference which had grown instead of +diminishing, old Lady Broadway's words, "a woman who loves a man will +never stand in his light or prevent him from doing his duty," would +keep recurring to his mind. It was exactly what Marrion had said to +him scores and scores of times. Curious, two such different women +having precisely the same views. Not that they mattered. He had his +own. Still, half-mechanically when he was dressed he took out of his +despatch-box a small packet of papers, and, opening one of the +envelopes, began to read the contents. One sheet was the excerpt from +the visitors' book at the Cross-keys Inn where he had written "Captain +the Honourable Marmaduke and Mrs. Muir." He smiled at it bitterly, +wondering whether, if he had relied on that, as Marrion had begged +him, he should have felt as bound as he did now. With a shrug of his +shoulders he folded it again and thrust it back into the envelope. The +other sheet was a counterpart of the paper which Marrion Paul had, +unknown to him, given to his father. He sat staring at it almost +stupidly until a knock came to the door, when he hastily replaced it +and put the bundle in his breast-pocket. The new-comer was Andrew +Fraser, and he carried a letter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was roond tae the club, sir," he said, with a salute, "as I thocht +it might be o' importance seein' it was frae the castle; but you was +awa."</p> + +<p class="normal">The man's face was as ever, full of devotion and duty. The past seven +years had brought him many an anxiety, many an agony, but he had stuck +by the two beings he loved best on earth with a steadfastness beyond +all praise.</p> + +<p class="normal">"All right, Andrew," replied his master cheerily, "pack up, will you, +and take the things to the station. I'm going round by Mrs. +Marsden's."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very well, sir," replied the servant quietly.</p> + +<p class="normal">He had been discretion itself all these years, ever since Marrion had +come to him one day and told him the truth, that she was married. If +she had not so told him, what would he have done? His simple soul +could never answer the question.</p> + +<p class="normal">Meanwhile, Marmaduke in a cab was reading his father's epistle, which +ran thus--</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"<span class="sc">My Dear Marmaduke</span>,--I believe you are my son, so I expect you to give +this letter your earnest consideration. As you are aware there is no +heir to the title or estate. I had the misfortune to beget a creature +who calls himself the Master of Drummuir and is not the master of +anything. Then there is Peter, a promising boy whom you have ruined by +providing him with an attachéship at Vienna, a place which did for his +uncle whom he greatly resembles. The accounts of the physician +concerning his health are simply disastrous. He has narrowly escaped +an asylum for life. This being so, it is imperative that you shall +marry and produce an heir for the estate. I see by various letters of +yours (unanswered) that you are again in want of money to purchase +your promotion to colonel. It is a nefarious, a reprehensible swindle +which should be abolished, and to which I should never yield were it +not that I wish to strike a bargain with you--namely, I will purchase +your colonelcy, if you will consent at once to seek out a suitable +wife and marry her within the year. If you accede to this most +reasonable request I will send a cheque to your bankers and I shall +expect to see you--and Peter also if he is really sane--here for +Christmas.</p> + +<p style="text-indent:50%">"Yours truly,</p> + +<p style="text-indent:60%">"<span class="sc">Drummuir</span>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"P.S.--Let me tell you, sir, that it is deuced dull here with those +two virtuous frumps, my Lady and Penelope. They were more amusing when +they were young. But if you come--and why shouldn't you?--we'll have a +regular rouser."</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke read this letter over twice. It was the kindest, most +reasonable one he had ever had from his father. And the postscript +touched him. Its very frankness made him realise what life must now be +to one who in his youth had been "quite as good-looking as you are."</p> + +<p class="normal">Old Lady Broadway's words recurred to him as he stood at the little +door with its brass name-plate waiting for admission. And if he got +his colonelcy and the command of the regiment? If there was going to +be war?</p> + +<p class="normal">But was there going to be war? He felt a little as if he had to face +an enemy as he ran upstairs two steps at a time.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_02.4" href="#div1Ref_02.4">IV</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">But upstairs all was peace, and Marrion, the light of the lamp on her +bronze hair, beautiful as ever, looked up from her work, her face +bright with pleasure.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, there you are! I was expecting you, for Andrew was round this +afternoon and told me you were in town."</p> + +<p class="normal">He did not go up to her or greet her; only smiled content and sank +into the easy-chair placed between where she sat and the fire. The big +table wheeled cosily into the corner was littered with lace and +muslin. He took up a small pinafore and looked at it distastefully.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wish you wouldn't work so hard," he said suddenly, "and I hate to +see you busy over those things; it reminds me----" he broke off.</p> + +<p class="normal">She laid down the little frock she was embroidering on the instant, +and went to kneel beside him; for her insight into this man's moods +was complete, and she felt what was coming.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And it reminds me too, Duke. That is why I love it. I have told you +so often it was nobody's fault; if anybody's, mine."</p> + +<p class="normal">He shook his head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can't make me believe that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But it is true. See here, Duke, I ought never to have allowed you to +bind yourself. It put me in a false position. I was too anxious to +please, too anxious to pay you back the gift, as it were, so I did +what I ought not to have done. I thought of you, not of the child. But +what is the use of going over it all again? It is past and done with."</p> + +<p class="normal">He sat with his hands between his knees for a minute, looking at the +fire.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, I am sorry the poor little chap died."</p> + +<p class="normal">It gave her the opening she needed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is what your father said when I told him," she said quietly.</p> + +<p class="normal">He stared at her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My father!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, Duke, I have been to see him again. He was quite kind. Sit still +and I will tell you everything."</p> + +<p class="normal">And she told him though she saw his face grow stern and angry.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You had no business to do it," he said, when she finished. "Can't you +even leave me to manage my own affairs? I didn't interfere with yours +when you broke away and set up on your own, did I?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have been very good to me, Marmaduke," she replied, with a catch +in her voice, "and I've tried to be as good to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">The memory of many a helping hand, of long years in which this woman's +companionship had been an anchor to him, came to appease his easy +nature.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, it is no use being angry," he said at last; "the thing's done. +And you really destroyed your lines?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your father tore them up. He quite agreed with me that as I had no +children, and there was no chance of one--at any rate, of a living +one--that I was bound to release you. And I am bound. I refuse to be +your wife."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And if I claim you?" he said swiftly, resentment in his voice. She +smiled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall still refuse you, then in three years we shall be +automatically divorced."</p> + +<p class="normal">"In Scotland only. You are very clever, my dear, but you forget some +things."</p> + +<p class="normal">His deft diversion, however, had done its work, the subject was no +longer personal.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is impossible," he continued. "I can't leave you in the lurch."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You don't. Look at it clearly, please. Since we agreed to +separate----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I never agreed," he put in angrily. "I was quite ready to fulfil----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The bond," she interrupted a trifle bitterly, "and I wasn't or +couldn't. But ever since then--and before then, too--before you came +home, I kept myself. And I'm quite rich, Duke. I have money in the +bank. There is no fear for me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it all money?" he said tragically, gloomily.</p> + +<p class="normal">She laid her hand lightly on his knee; the touch thrilled her through +and through, but he sat unmoved, looking at the fire.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can give me all you have ever given me still, dear," she said; +"there is no reason why we should not continue to be friends."</p> + +<p class="normal">There was a long pause. Then she began again--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I promised your father you would destroy the counterpart. Duke, it is +far better done. You will feel free, and you don't, somehow, now, +though I hoped you would. And I shall be glad. A woman who loves a man +cannot bear to stand in the way of his doing his duty--and this is +your duty----"</p> + +<p class="normal">He turned to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Just what that old harridan said. Curious you two should agree--and +you're so different!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What old harridan?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Lady Broadway. She has been at me, too. Why can't you women leave a +man alone? She wants me to marry her niece, Lady Amabel."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion felt a sudden spasm of elemental jealousy. Self-sacrifice was +exhilarating in the abstract, in the concrete it was painful.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did--did you see her?" she asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes--nice little girl. But--but if this is to be, how will you manage +about Andrew? You had to tell him, if you remember."</p> + +<p class="normal">She remembered right well; remembered how even the man's fidelity to +his master, his devotion to her, would not stand the strain of what he +thought wrong-doing. The difficulty had occurred to her before, but +she set it aside now as of small importance in comparison with the +destruction of the paper.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ill manage Andrew," she replied, "if you will only----"</p> + +<p class="normal">He stood up tall and strong and curiously antagonistic.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are always managing, Marmie. Some day you'll find you've made a +mistake. But if you will have it so, I happen to have the paper with +me." He took out his pocket-book and handed her an envelope. "You can +do as you like with it. Oh, it is the right one!" he added +impatiently. "I was looking at it just now. I am not always a fool!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She paused in a half-unconscious search induced by her knowledge of +Marmaduke's careless habits. The contents of the envelope, half-pulled +out, showed her the printed heading "Cross-keys Inn." She thrust them +back hurriedly and dropped the whole into the fire. It flamed up +showing his face full of irritation, hers of decision. They watched it +flame, fade, sparkle out. Then he turned away.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You've made me feel a scoundrel somehow," he said, "but I suppose I +shall get over it in time."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You've no right to say that," she flared out. "You've no right to put +that thought into my life. We have done our duty."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, don't let's part in anger, anyhow," he said kindly. "I shan't +see you for some time. I'm on duty, and then I shall go north for +Christmas, and then----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you will get your colonelcy," she added.</p> + +<p class="normal">He smiled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, I shall get it, thanks to you again. Ah, Marmie, Marmie, it's no +use your trying to unbind Tristram Shandy and the Shorter Catechism! +We were mixed up together right away in the beginning of things, and +we shall be mixed up in the end, you'll see. Now I must be off. +Good-bye!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He held out his hand. She took it and gripped it fast, every fibre of +her athrill with the dear touch. Her whole soul seemed for the second +to crave for him, for his presence always. And he was going away, out +of her life for ever. For she was wiser than he was. She knew that her +talk of continued friendship was a sham; one of the many baits she +laid so often to get her own way. Ah, how weary she was of cutting and +contriving Dame Nature's plain, honest web! Well, she would have to do +it no longer; it would be another's task. But there was one thing he +had said which was not to be endured, which could not be allowed to +pass.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good-bye," she said, "and don't please feel like a scoundrel. You +never did a better deed in your life. You have done your duty like an +honest gentleman, and--and I'm proud of you!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's something, anyhow," he said, and was gone.</p> + +<p class="normal">She sat down and began stitching away at a little gown she was making. +It had to be finished that night, for the christening of the infant +for whom it had been bespoken was on the morrow. And the task soothed +her. For the more ordinary parts she had apprentices during the day +who worked downstairs, but all the distinctive features of the +marvellously delicate little garments came from her own clever +fingers. That evening, as she worked away at a tiny wreath of +snowdrops for another woman's child, every atom of her went out in +unavailing regret for the little life that had gone to save her own. +She was not worth it--nothing was worth it. Those men--father and +son--might say "I am sorry the little chap died!" but did they, could +they, would they, realise what it meant to a woman that something very +precious, something which she was bound to protect, for which she +ought to have given her heart's blood, had given her its own instead?</p> + +<p class="normal">Well, she had paid for it since to the uttermost farthing. She had no +illusions. Marmaduke had gone out of her life for ever.</p> + +<p class="normal">Not entirely, however, for at Christmas time one of his long breezy +letters came to her--for Marmaduke was a great letter-writer--telling +her about all her old friends in the neighbourhood; a charming, +cheerful epistle, full of awed wonder at the extreme stoutness and +sanctity of "stepmamma" and the rigorous respectability of Penelope.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For the first time in my life," he wrote, "I feel sorry for the old +man, and I begin to think we did right, Marmie. In fact, I'm sure we +did."</p> + +<p class="normal">Her lip hardened as she read. Undoubtedly they had done right, but----</p> + +<p class="normal">She sewed harder than ever, wishing that the whole thing was settled +and done with. Then there would be no more letters to bring pain.</p> + +<p class="normal">Fate, however, had other things in store for her, for just after the +New Year Andrew Fraser appeared in her small drawing-room. He came in, +tall, gaunt, hard-featured as ever, stood at the door and saluted, as +he had done ever since Marrion in self-defence had told him that she +and his master were fast married.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Back so soon!" she cried. "I thought the major was to be longer at +the castle."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He is the colonel now," returned Andrew gloomily, "an' we are awa tae +Portsmouth the day. But I cam', Marrion, tae tell ye that the domed +fowk in the ha' at Drummuir were sayin' 'he was tae get marriet tae +Lady Amabel.' An' that canna be.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"Lady Amabel," echoed Marrion, glad in a way of a surprise which +enabled her to make a diversion, at any rate, for a time. "He didn't +say anything. I thought it was to be a bachelor party."</p> + +<p class="normal">Andrew snorted a vexed denial.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sma' count o' that! The auld peer had gotten Lady Penrigg, the +railway man's wife, tae gi' him countenance wi' the gentry, and +there was the Marchioness o' Broadway and the young leddy--a nice, +straight-speakin' girlie. An' it was a' decent and God-fearin' with +curlin' and skatin' and sleighin' an' songs an' forfeits in the +evenin'. Dewar, my lord's valet, tell't me he had never heard the +Baron swear sae awfie as he did when he got tae his own room o' +nichts. It jest turned him cauld. But it was lying on the poor falla's +stummick a' day. Hoo'ever I didna come for that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And the major--I mean the colonel," interrupted Marrion hastily, "did +he enjoy himself?"</p> + +<p class="normal">It was an unwise remark, for it hastened what she wished to avoid.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ower much, mayhap," put in Andrew, taking a step nearer her, his +little grey eyes looking at her with pathetic earnestness. "Marrion, +my dear," he went on, "I've helt ma tongue a' these years, relying on +your word that ye had your lines safe. Not that they matter sae much, +since I can swear to yer bein' man and wife--aye, and mayhap bring +ithers tae swear it, too. But I'm no satisfied, an' that's God's +truth. Ye ken fine that by a' the laws o' God and man ye're bound +together, an' surely ye're no seekin' to get past the responsibility +that ye took upon yersels?"</p> + +<p class="normal">There was something merciless in the stern solid figure before her; +but Marrion had courage, and faced her task.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sit down, Andrew, and let me explain," she began, but he stood to +attention more rigidly, and with a forecast of failure in her mind she +went through the whole set of arguments she had used with success on +Marmaduke. But here she had different metal to weld.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ye took it upon yersels," he reiterated. "It was the Lord's doin' +that the poor wee bairnie didna live. It's ill tryin' tae get the +better o' Providence."</p> + +<p class="normal">The hopelessness of influencing him made her at last try an appeal to +his personal devotion to her; but his reply sent her crimson to her +very heart-strings.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's neither here nor there, Marrion. If ye was twenty times free +by yere ain makin', I wadna take yer love at a gift."</p> + +<p class="normal">The most she could get out of him was a promise to wait and say +nothing till there was more than mere servants'-hall gossip to go by. +He left her wearied and vexed, sorry that she had not been able to get +him to hear reason, yet knowing that she was sure of her own ground, +since, if she and Duke both refused to acknowledge marriage there +could be no possible claim by anyone else. Only to take up this ground +would, she foresaw, make Andrew into an enemy. Besides, it would be a +confession of failure on her part, and the years had brought so much +success to her in all her managements that the idea of defeat, even in +a small thing, was irksome.</p> + +<p class="normal">So for a day or two more she sat and worked while all the noise of +London was deadened by the snow which defied man's effort to remove. +In her quiet little street she felt as if she were wrapped away in a +white winding sheet from all the interests of the world--waiting, +waiting, waiting. It would come at last, of course. The <i>Court +Journal</i> would have the announcement of an impending marriage in high +life. Then, if Andrew were still inflexible, she must tell him he had +no power. And then--and then--and then?</p> + +<p class="normal">Her mind busied itself in plans, in conjectures, more from habit than +from any hope of action; for in her heart of hearts she knew, and she +was always telling herself, that she had said good-bye to Duke for +ever.</p> + +<p class="normal">Yet, as has been said, Fate had willed otherwise. Less than a week +after Andrew's visit, she stood up, her heart beating, at a well-known +step coming up two stairs at a time, and there was Duke! A Duke such +as she had always dreamt he should be--radiant, rejoicing--a perfect +specimen of manly beauty. He was in the full-dress uniform of his +Highland regiment, and he flung his bonnet in among the laces and +muslins, as if the whole world were his.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We're off to Constantinople to-morrow," he said joyously, "and I +had to come and say good-bye. Oh, my dear, my dear, what a relief it +is--every way!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She gasped.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But war--war hasn't been declared yet!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And won't be for another two months," he interrupted, "but for all +that we are sending our troops. It's kept secret, of course, but my +regiment is in it. It seems too good to be true!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And--and Lady Amabel?" asked Marrion, a grip at her heart.</p> + +<p class="normal">He laughed joyously.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No harm done. You see the War Office told me when I got the colonelcy +this was up, and it wouldn't have been fair. So we were very good +friends. She is a dear little girl, and if I come home--but that's to +be seen. Now, ah, how glad I am to be free!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The words cut deep, spoiling the relief at Marrion's heart; but, after +all, why should he not be glad? He was going to do a man's work.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm glad you have the colonelcy," she said soberly; it was the only +consolation she could find for herself.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Glad!" he echoed. "I should think I was! It's been the dream of my +life. And do you know the old man was really quite reasonable about +it. We talked the thing over, and I told him what we had done, and +were prepared to do--or rather not to do. Of course he was in a fury +about the foreign service, but he saw I couldn't shirk, so I've +promised and vowed everything he wanted. And now"--his eyes shone, +content seemed to radiate from him--"I feel, Marmie, as if I were +beginning a new life. I've only had to obey orders hitherto, and +deuced stupid many of them have seemed to me; but now I am head and +the men are splendid--they'd follow me anywhere. So--so we are going +to do something, I expect."</p> + +<p class="normal">The light in his eyes had steadied, he took up his bonnet, then stood +for a moment looking at her, the embodiment of a soldier of fortune +going out, careless, to seek adventure.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you, my dear," he said doubtfully, "are you sure you can manage?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Quite sure," she replied cheerfully. "Perhaps I shan't stop here. I +may want to see the world, too."</p> + +<p class="normal">He laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I believe you'd like to don boy's clothes like Rosalind and follow me +to the wars! By Jove, what a Rosalind you'd make!"</p> + +<p class="normal">His happy carelessness hurt.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You forget I am lame," she said, a trifle bitterly.</p> + +<p class="normal">His face fell.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That isn't kind," he protested, "not at the last! Don't send me away +feeling that I have been a ruffian to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">Her composure gave way then. With a little cry she put her arms round +his neck and kissed him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have nothing to reproach yourself with, my dear, my dear! +Go!--forget all about women! Go! You've done your best, so fight your +best!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He gave her back her kiss as he might have given it to his sister.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, Marmie," he said, "I'm beginning to think we really did the +right thing, for we can be friends all the same; for the present, at +any rate."</p> + +<p class="normal">His mixture of wisdom and foolishness made her smile at him, as some +mothers might smile at a high-spirited boy, and she watched his +martial figure go swinging down the street, its flamboyance +admissible, admirable, and told herself it was good that he was free +both of herself and Lady Amabel.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_02.5" href="#div1Ref_02.5">V</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">He sent her a letter from Malta, a very long letter crossed and +recrossed. Evidently time had hung heavy on hand once the wonders of +being on a steamship had passed. "It will revolutionise war," he +wrote, "if we can rely on getting reinforcements regularly. It was +different when we had to count on hurricanes and doldrums." And he had +a quick eye for weak points in the armour. "Here we are after eleven +days' hard steam, and here, so far as any one knows, we are likely to +remain. Nothing seems to have been arranged for a forward movement; +neither has any provision been made for the hunger of fifteen thousand +troops plumped down on a practically desert island. However, they say +a cattle transport is immediately expected from Alexandria, so we +should have enough beef. Meanwhile, the recent order that neither +officers nor men should appear out of uniform gives colour and variety +to the streets of Valetta; notably when they are tramped by Yours +affectionately."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was not till late in April that he could send her his impressions +of Gallipoli.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Take the dilapidated out-houses of a real old English farmyard, add +to them every seedy, cracked, ricketty, wooden structure to be found +in our slums, with a sprinkling of Thames-side huts, and tumble them +all down higgledy-piggledy on a bare round hill sloping to the sea, +scatter about a few slender white minarets, and you have the town--a +place without shade, without water, without food. We can, of course, +do the Kilkenny cat trick, but is it not astounding, is it not +incredible, that such mistakes should be made? However, an +enterprising entrepreneur from Smyrna (Jew, of course) is transforming +a battered old ruin into a 'Restaurant de l'Armée Auxiliare' as the +legend runs, done with a thumb in lamp-black!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Already "considerable difference of opinion" existed as to the choice +of Gallipoli as the headquarters of the army, and the mere watering +"of thirty-five thousand troops" presented difficulty.</p> + +<p class="normal">And always and always came the same refrain of chafed patience at +being enmeshed in the mistakes of others. "The stores sent for the +commissariat are beneath contempt. I let out at the quartermaster for +the filthy stuff he was serving out, and he assured me it was the best +he could get. Conningsby of the Hussars tells me half the bales of hay +sent out as forage have centres of wood shavings. Why isn't someone +hanged?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion Paul, as she read these two effusions, felt vaguely that the +gilt was wearing off the gingerbread. The man's buoyant hopes were +being dashed by the ineptitude of those above him. It was a pity, for +she knew, none better, that underneath all his boyish lightheartedness +Marmaduke Muir had the knack of making men obey him and follow him. +She pictured him leading his regiment into fight and she could see it, +mastered, dominated, held in hand by that cheerful voice, that merry +face.</p> + +<p class="normal">She waited some time for the next bulletin and when it came it was +short. "The devil's own snowstorm greeted our arrival here--Scutari. +I've seldom seen it worse in Aberdeenshire. The north wind blew big +guns, we were unable to disembark, and half of us--including yours +truly--were sea-sick. Doing nothing, even without enough to eat, +doesn't suit Marmaduke Muir. The barracks here are huge; they will +hold eighteen thousand troops, they say. I know one unit of a +thousand--only about seven hundred and fifty I fear now--that would be +right glad to go anywhere else; anywhere where there was something to +be done. Nigh four months since we left Portsmouth, and, for all the +use I've been, I might as well have enjoyed the trout-fishing on the +Don."</p> + +<p class="normal">That was the third of the slender envelopes marked "From the British +Army in the East" which reached her.</p> + +<p class="normal">The next was sealed with a black seal and was full of pious +reflections upon death; for the news of his elder brother Pitt's +demise had just reached Marmaduke and roused his sense of +responsibilities. "In times like these," he wrote, "one feels the +impotence of man--and woman also," he added, "though you, my dear +Marrion, had a wonderful knack of clarifying the muddles. Andrew does +not darn my stockings half so well as you did."</p> + +<p class="normal">But the beauties of Varna got the better of his reflections and he +drew a picture of it that filled Marrion with doubts and delight. "It +is as beautiful as Scotland--the lakes stretching away into the +scarped woody hills, the sea--so calm that the clouds reflected seem +to sail on it--almost motionless on the shore. The green sward down to +the very edge of the lakes, carpeted with flowers, especially with +irises. They call it the flower of death in India, and I noticed an +evening mist, thick enough almost to be called a fog, rising at sunset +from the low levels and enveloping the town. It did not augur well for +health. As for the town itself, words fail. It is Gallipoli over again +with fewer drains and more filth. Yet to look at it in the clear +sunlight, it is the new Jerusalem. And there are angels in it, Marmie; +the sort of angels you love. I really think these little Turks and +Turkesses are the prettiest children I ever saw. Their little yellow +faces and big brown eyes make one think of Rubens' cherubs seen +through smoked glasses like an eclipse! And an eclipse of most things +it is often for the poor little beggars. At Kustendji, the other day, +Hyde Parker found a couple of pure babies on the battlefield where the +Russians had been bombarding. They're the pets of his frigate now; but +there are dozens of them who have no such luck, and dozens more, I +expect, who die of sheer hunger because we locusts of war eat up +everything. There will be ninety thousand of us here before long, and +for how long? God knows! Five months and nothing done! I wonder how +you would stand it? But it wouldn't happen if you were at the head of +affairs. You'd manage somehow. I feel it in my bones. And, joking +apart, women would be very useful out here. We are going to have a lot +of sick to begin with, and then the misery of the poor folk in town +and village is appalling. However, I suppose England must have time to +turn round and yawn before she wakes up to anything."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion Paul got that letter early one June morning. She laid it down +among the muslins and laces and went to the window. The street was +empty, but she saw, as clearly as if he had really been there, +Marmaduke Muir's buoyant figure going forth to war, full of hope and +confidence.</p> + +<p class="normal">She never took long making up her mind; and, absolutely without ties +as she was, there were few factors to be considered. Her business was +such a personal one that she had only herself to consult. She had +money and to spare in the bank. Finally, within her heart was the same +spirit of adventure, the same disregard of conventionalities which had +always attracted her in Marmaduke.</p> + +<p class="normal">Last of all his stockings were not adequately mended.</p> + +<p class="normal">She laughed aloud at the whimsical thought, for she had no intention +of thrusting herself upon him. But she could be near at hand, and she, +at any rate, need not turn round and yawn before she realised that +women could help.</p> + +<p class="normal">So quietly, methodically, she set matters in train to get all the work +she had in hand speedily finished. She wrote declining a few orders +that had come in, and then set off with one of her daintiest little +creations to see the wife of the Turkish ambassador, who happened to +be one of her customers.</p> + +<p class="normal">But, indeed, as Mrs. Marsden, of the "<i>Layettes</i>," she could command +plenty of backstairs influence.</p> + +<p class="normal">The result being that in less than a week she was stepping into the +Dover boat on her way to Marseilles, that being the quickest route to +Constantinople. She carried with her credentials from the ambassador's +family, which she meant to use, if necessary, though she hoped to be +able to do without them, as anything in the nature of publicity might +prevent her carrying out her plan of reaching Varna without Marmaduke +being aware of the fact. As a precaution she wrote to him the day she +left, telling him not to expect further news from her for a few weeks +as she had decided on attempting a cure for her lameness, which a +clever young hospital doctor had advised, but which involved a long +rest.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had engaged her passage to Constantinople by a small Turkish +mailboat which sailed between Marseilles and the Black Sea. She did +this partly from desire to avoid her fellow-countrymen and the +possibility of recognition or notice, but more because the voyage +would give her an opportunity of learning a few words of Turkish and +of becoming acquainted at least with the husk of Turkish ways. She had +brought a grammar with her, and was laboriously learning perfectly +useless phrases, when something occurred which sent books to the +right-about and plunged her at once into the work she had hoped almost +beyond hope to be able to reach. Cholera, at that time sweeping +erratically through Europe, broke out among the steerage passengers. A +mother died, leaving her month-old baby to be cared for as best it +could. Marrion claimed it, thus became acquainted with the ship's +surgeon and was his right hand in the sharp, decisive epidemic that +followed. It was one of those shipboard epidemics when every hour +brings a new case, until suddenly, with some change of wind or course, +the sickness ceases as it came, mysteriously. They were off the coast +of Candia when the little Turk doctor, who had passed at a French +medical school, made an elaborate bow, laid his hand on his heart, and +said, "Madame, <i>je suis votre serviteur</i>." The few convalescents lying +about in the scuppers murmured the same thing in Turkish, making +Marrion realise that what she had set herself to do was possible, if +only she could get footing amongst the people. She decided finally on +consulting her new friend, the little surgeon.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Varna!" he echoed. "So madame desires Varna! That is strange, since, +being in quarantine, we shall not be allowed to stop at +Constantinople. We must go on straight to Varna, where the disease +already is."</p> + +<p class="normal">She caught in her breath.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not bad, I hope?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of the troops I know little," he said, "but the townsfolk have +suffered terribly. It is semi-starvation. Hein!" lie interrupted +himself hastily, and slapped his baggy trousers, "there is an old man +there--a cripple--one of the old school of medicine that knows +nothing. He has a sort of hospital where folk die decently. If I were +to tell him the use you were, and that you had your own stores of +Europe medicines"--for Marrion had spent a considerable sum in fitting +herself out for the part she hoped to play--"he might like your help. +You have plenty of money?"</p> + +<p class="normal">His little sharp eyes were alight with interest.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have plenty of money," replied Marrion promptly, "and I mean to +spend it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then you may consider it settled," said the surgeon. "Old Achmet is a +sort of relation of mine. I come of a physician family; but I warn you +the presence of an English lady in Varna will not pass unnoticed."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall dress as a Turkish lady," remarked Marrion, with a smile. "I +had thought of that. The <i>yashmak</i> is very convenient."</p> + +<p class="normal">The little Turk laughed in high good humour.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The dress will become madame. She will have many admirers; but I will +be the first."</p> + +<p class="normal">So it was settled lightly, but, as the little steamer puffed and +panted over the blue Archipelago where the blue islands lay scattered +like so many shadows, Marrion Paul felt somehow as if the net of Fate +were closing in on her. There was the scent of Death in the air.</p> + +<p class="normal">She felt it almost overwhelmingly when, on the first night of her +arrival at Varna, she stood on the ricketty wooden verandah of the +half-ruined house which had been found for her, looking out over the +long line of inland lakes that in the past month had gained from the +intruders whose white tents showed everywhere the dismal name of "Lake +of Death." A white miasma rose from it, hiding the level green fields +which in the sunset had glowed purple-red with the meadow saffron. +Everything had gone smoothly. The old <i>hakim</i> Achmet had gripped on +the hope of money, and Marrion Paul, who had remained on board the +steamer until all negotiations had been made, had simply stepped into +the dinghy in her Turkish dress and been carried with due privacy to +the house chosen for her. Mercifully, the ship's surgeon--who was +delighted at his importance as entrepreneur--had been impressed by +Marrion's appearance, and, arguing therefrom the length of her purse, +had fixed on a villa which had once belonged to a pasha of some sort. +It stood high among cypresses on the Devna road, but, by a steep +descent, was close to the worse slums of the town.</p> + +<p class="normal">So, as Marrion stood, trying to realise her position, it seemed +impossible, unreal that she should be within touch of Marmaduke--if he +were still there--if he were not dead. An indefinable sense of tragedy +impending--tragedy that was not all grief, but which, by very excess +of joy, of glory, of intensity, transcended the normal and so became +almost fearful, seemed to hang round her. She ate the Turkish supper +provided for her by the large fat shrill-voiced woman she found in +charge; she lay down in the Turkish quilt arranged for her on a wooden +bed and tried to leave all questionings for the morrow; but she could +not sleep. The cry of the <i>muezzin</i> from a minaret hard by divided the +night into set portions. She lay and listened to it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>Al-sul-lah to khair un mun nun nu</i>."</p> + +<p class="normal">She knew what it meant--"Prayer is better than sleep." But she seemed +unable to do either the one or the other.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mercifully, again, the night was not long. Far away over the sea in +the east the dawn began to break golden. It lit up the scarped hills +above the woody slopes and slowly, like a white curtain, the mists of +the valley lifted, showing the shiny levels of the inland lakes. Below +her, at her feet, beyond the vine pergola set with purpling bunches of +grapes that jutted against the blue distance, lay the town, a packed +mass of red-tiled roofs and shingled outhouses, incoherent, barely +cognisable. There lay her work; not over yonder where, like little +heaps of lime, the white bell-tents outlined every hill.</p> + +<p class="normal">Hark, the world was waking! From every side sounded the réveillé, +echoing and re-echoing among the hills.</p> + +<p class="normal">How many men had died that night whose ears would never more hear the +call to duty! Was Marmaduke one of them?</p> + +<p class="normal">Yes, the shadow of death lay on everything; but at least they were +together in it.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_02.6" href="#div1Ref_02.6">VI</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">But even that poignant question as to whether Marmaduke lived or did +not live lost its arresting power before what she saw when, guided by +the <i>hakim</i> Achmet, she threaded the maze of lanes and alleys which +still formed the real Varna. The quays, it is true, had been widened +and glorified. Along them gay restaurants and <i>cafés chantants</i> were +to be found, filled with reckless soldiers and still more reckless +courtesans. A wide street had been hacked through tenement houses and +lined with tawdry shops which catered for all and every luxury that +can give a moment's pleasure to idle men. And there were plenty of +them here, waiting, waiting still for that expedition of one hundred +thousand soldiers to the Crimea, of which for months past the English +papers had been full. Outwardly, therefore, so far as a fringe of +welcome and a passage through it to the hills beyond went, Varna was +what folk boasted it had become, a cosmopolitan town; but within, down +by the back wharves and the sodden sea-alleys, round by the crushed-in +closes and stifling courts, it was old, rotten, kept from utter +putrefaction by the hot sun which, while it bred flies, dried up the +muck of many men. The <i>hakim's</i> hospital was in the wide courtyard of +a mosque, one of the few air-holes left to the seething city; and +Marrion Paul never forgot her first sight of the sunlit square set +round with the dead and dying. The stench was unspeakable, and as she +stooped over the first patient she saw that the sheet which covered +him was alive with vermin. Achmet himself, a hunchback with a +high-featured, intolerant face, seemed to think that sitting in the +middle of the courtyard reciting his beads and exhorting the inmates +to have patience and trust in God, was the best treatment he could +offer. Mayhap it was, since half the forms that lay moaning on the +stones were doomed to death. That night, when Marrion returned to her +cypress-set villa, the first thing she did was to cut off her +beautiful hair close to her head, and as she laid the great tresses +away she thought once more of Marmaduke. She must find out about him +when she had time, but that day and the next she had her work cut out +for her. "Maryam Effendi" they had already learnt to call her, and old +Achmet, with a daily stipend of so many piastres, was content to let +her have her way. But there were other places besides the mosque +hospital where some fifty men groaned and died, or groaned and got +better, that were surcharged with misery and death. Hovels where +babies tugged vainly at their dead mother's breasts and old women sat +starving silently. It was among these that after a day or two Maryam +Effendi was busiest. She settled to her work bravely, increasing her +stock of Turkish rapidly and gaining for herself sufficient friends +and aid to enable her to enlarge her sphere of usefulness. One of +these was big fat "Heart's Darling," as her solitary servant was +called, who, transferring domestic duties to an unspeakable drudge she +produced, took up the duties of interpreter on the strength of some +slight knowledge of French.</p> + +<p class="normal">And Fate was so far kind to Marrion that she had little trouble in +finding out the news she desired to hear. A sort of local rag in +French and English was published in which, for equivalent of a penny, +she learnt that Marmaduke's regiment was still camped six miles out +among the hills and that he was still in command. From her verandah +she could actually see the very place where he must be. Once, indeed, +as she was hurrying along the quay in the ordinary dress of the +Turkish gad-about woman she caught a sight of Andrew Fraser, tall, +gaunt, serious as usual, looking on distastefully at one of the many +drunken rows that occurred every day. The temptation to go up and +speak to him was great, but she stuck to her plan and passed on. +When she had really done something she would write and tell Marmaduke +she was at hand, but not till then. Possibly, had she seen him instead +of Andrew Fraser she might not have been so firm; for a glance would +have shown her that she could have been of use. In truth, the +inaction, the constant fret of feeling that all initiative is +of no avail, was beginning to tell on Marmaduke Muir. He also +looked down of an evening on the white pall that covered the Lake of +Death, and wondered--without one shadow of fear, but from simple +curiosity--whether the levels of life would meet his eyes again. And +they seemed such low levels now! Yes, he had missed something in his +life! What was it? These, however, were very secret thoughts. To the +little coterie of careless men of which he was the centre, he was, as +ever, the mainspring of everything. Even the divisional commander +sought his sympathy as day after day the orders for the front tarried, +and day after day the regimental chaplain grew busier and busier. For +cholera was rampant in the camps as in the town, and every evening the +"Dead March in Saul" echoed out through the hills and over the purple +crocuses.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nothing will stop it, sir," said the young colonel quietly, "except +orders for Sebastopol. The men are dead sick of waiting and so am I; +that is the truth."</p> + +<p class="normal">And still the orders lingered on the way. The waiting army did its +best to pass the time. Marmaduke took to tying flies, and thereinafter +thrashed the hill streams with ill success. And he played cricket with +the men, though it was ill finding a proper pitch on the steep +hill-side where they were encamped; and he had to keep his men from +those low levels as much as he could, being rewarded for his care by +the fact that his battalion suffered less from the scourge than any +other. Though this was not to be wondered at, seeing that it was +commanded by one whose cheery youth and strength seemed to defy Fate.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The Cornel's face is mair tae the purpose nor your pills, doctor," +said a young recruit fighting his best for life. "I'll just tak a sup +o' it, if ye please, and leave tither alane for fowk as likes them."</p> + +<p class="normal">Yet that same face often showed a touch of weariness in it when, after +his wont, Marmaduke would climb the hill behind his hut in order to +smoke his solitary after-breakfast cigar at the foot of a scarp whence +the most astounding view of God's world was to be had. Hills and still +more hills. Seas and still more seas; lakes and still more lakes. +Flowers and still more flowers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is the inaction, Mac," he said to his old friend of the regimental +club one day after mess dinner. They had been perforce laughing at the +plight of a braw Hielandman who had been brought up to orderly-rooms +that day from the general guard, clad in Zouave trousers and jacket, +kepi and all complete; only the chequered hose of his own uniform +remaining to betray the drunken bout on which he had been engaged.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I noo 'im by 'is legs, sir," said the sergeant solemnly, "so I +brought 'im along."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ton my soul, I can't help sympathising with the poor beggars," he +went on. "Why the devil can't they give the men something to do +besides getting drunk? Here is the tenth of August and, so far as I +can see, I might be off grouse-shooting on the twelfth. Good Lord, +what wouldn't I give to be on Braemore with my dogs! They're the +best----"</p> + +<p class="normal">And he began, in true sportsman style, over the virtues of his +setters; whereat others joined in with tales of their own. So, +heartened up, they all repaired to Marmaduke's favourite vantage +ground to finish their cigars.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a perfect evening. The day had been hot, but with the sun +setting a little cool sea-breeze had sprung up which seemed to freshen +even the very flowers that had flagged with the sun's heat. They sat, +growing more and more silent as the day died down; and, indeed, what +lay before their eyes was sufficient to make most men hold their +peace; for it was beautiful exceedingly. The far Euxine fading grey +into a pearl-grey sky. Overhead and behind them the rose-pink pennons +of the departing sun floating on the unfathomable clearness of space. +Within the bay great ships of war showed, half-hidden in the evening +haze which turned the squalid city into dreamland.</p> + +<p class="normal">Close at hand lay innumerable little hills and ravines thrown in sharp +shade and shine that trended away on all sides to the long line of +lakes over whose purpling levels a fine veil of vapour was rising +softly, swiftly.</p> + +<p class="normal">Truly a dream-picture, unreal in its absolute beauty, its perfect +peace.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's the <i>Agamemnon</i>, I expect," said one pointing with his cigar +to a big vessel that, rounding the promontory to the south, began to +cross the bay, leaving a great trail of smoke behind her. "I wonder if +she is coming in?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Looks like it," said another, "only they weren't sure. Anyhow, we've +company to-night. Look down there by the second wharf. There's another +trail--some steamer is making fast!"</p> + +<p class="normal">All eyes turned to where a thin column of smoke showed, rising high +then drifting westwards over the town.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Burning bad coal whatever," assented Mac. "Why, it's getting bigger!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke, watching intently, suddenly started up.</p> + +<p class="normal">"By George, it is odd! I believe--by heavens, gentlemen, it is a +fire!"</p> + +<p class="normal">They all followed his example. And now there could be no doubt. With +amazing rapidity the cloud darkened, deepened, then in the departing +daylight showed dusky red. And there--flashing up suddenly came a +great fork of flame. Marmaduke looked round on the others.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The town is tinder," he said briefly, "and the magazines---- We had +best be off!"</p> + +<p class="normal">There was no need for more. In truth there was danger. The wind blew +westwards. There were no fire-engines, so every man might be wanted.</p> + +<p class="normal">And now the sound of fire alarms on the men-of-war echoed out +stridently, and boatload after boatload of blue-jackets, armed with +pumps and pipes, shot from every ship. Almost before Marmaduke was on +his horse, after ordering fatigue parties to come on at the double, +streams of water were pouring on the burning houses. To no purpose. +The fire had originated in a wine and oil shop and both burnt +fiercely. By the time he reached the town but one word was on the lips +of every responsible officer--"The magazines!" They were full up. On +them depended the possibility of the attack on Sebastopol; on them +therefore hung the fortunes of war. They stood still far from the +blazing town, but it burnt like the matchwood it was, and between them +and it lay, as it were, nothing but fresh tinder ready to take fire at +a spark.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Those houses should come down, sir," suggested Marmaduke to a +general, and almost before assent answered him, had sprung to organise +the work. But ramshackle, tumbledown though the wooden piers and +pilasters seemed, they were curiously strong, needing time for +destruction. Hawsers were brought ashore to facilitate the job and +parties told off to each house. Three hundred soldiers--mostly +French--lay to manfully on one of the ropes, pulling for all they were +worth, when just as the house they were tackling began to totter a +loud explosion came from within. And, lo! the only two men left on +that rope were Marmaduke and a young French officer who clicked his +heels together and stood to the salute with a merry "<i>Mes compliments, +mon Colonel!</i>"</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>À vous, Monsieur le Capitaine!</i>" returned Marmaduke laughing, as he +rallied the men.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's not the magazines, boys!" he called. "We've to save that yet. +Yo-ho--heave ahoy!"</p> + +<p class="normal">They set to again with a will; but the flames gained ground every +instant and the densely dark cloud of smoke drifting over the +magazines showed alive with ominous shoals of sparks.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mac!" shouted Marmaduke, as he worked like a demon, when his major +came hurrying past with another fatigue party. "Get hold of someone +and suggest the commissariat blankets; there are bales and bales of +them somewhere. Put them on the magazine roofs, soak 'em with water. +Tell the blue-jackets----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"All right, sir!" shouted back the major.</p> + +<p class="normal">And thereon came blankets, bales on bales of them, and blue-jackets +swarming up and over everything, and jets of water turned from their +useless work on houses that would burn, to keep those blankets sodden.</p> + +<p class="normal">The din was deafening. The inhabitants, swept out of their houses, +stood huddled in the streets and kept up a constant wail. The bugle +calls rang out here, there, and everywhere, and above the roar and +crackle could be heard voices in urgent exhortation--"All together, +men! The blue-jackets are laughing at you!" "Heave away, I say, boys, +show the land-lubbers how to do it!" Or shriller, more passionate--"<i>A +moi, mes enfants! Les Anglais nous regardent!</i>"</p> + +<p class="normal">Once there came a sudden pause. The red flare of the conflagration +changed to brilliant blue.</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>Milles tonnerres!</i>" cried the French soldiers sadly, as they +recommenced work. "<i>Ahé, le bon eau-de-vie!</i>" Their commissariat +canteen store had gone.</p> + +<p class="normal">So through the long night they worked, fighting the flames with their +hands for the most part. Fatigue party after fatigue party poured into +the town and one strong man after another lay down exhausted on the +quays and begged someone to cool him with water.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was just as a faint lightening over the sea in the east showed dawn +was nigh that Marmaduke, wiping the sweat from his blackened forehead, +said--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think that's done with. The magazines are safe now!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes," said a man near him, "up here it's almost over. But they've got +it still down there, by the dock wharves, poor devils!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marmaduke, whose every thought and look had hitherto been for the +magazines, turned to the lower part of the town.</p> + +<p class="normal">"By Jove, they have!" he cried. "Here, men, follow me!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let me go, sir," put in a subaltern. "You must be done--and they +should all be out of their houses by now."</p> + +<p class="normal">He might as well have saved his breath. Marmaduke, careless of +fatigue, was racing to danger again. And here it was greater. The two +or three story ramshackle houses almost closed in upon each other, and +in one burnt-out street he had to pass through, a charred beam almost +finished him. But he raced on; and here there was evidence that the +fire had been faced with some method. Houses had been pulled down, the +inhabitants ordered to certain open spaces, and as he neared the spot +where the tenements almost overhung the water's edge, a double line of +men were passing buckets. There were only two houses left in the +street; one was in flames, the other, overhanging the water, must soon +go. Seeing the hopelessness of saving it, or indeed the use, since +evidently those were the occupants who, with shrill cries and excited +gestures, were watching the destruction of their property, he was +about to seek work elsewhere when a big fat woman almost overset him +in her eagerness to find his feet. To these she clung, shrieking at +the top of her voice--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Maryam Effendi! Maryam Effendi! <i>Elle est là, elle est là! Sauvez +le--Sauvez le</i>----"</p> + +<p class="normal">He would have been at a loss even to grasp the last words had not a +figure shown at that moment on the roof of the burning house. It was +the figure of a tall woman in white and the flare of the flames showed +that she carried a baby in her arms.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My God!" he muttered under his breath, for there seemed no +possibility of escape.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Maryam Effendi! Maryam Effendi!" wailed the crowd, adding in mixed +French and Turkish--"She has the child! Ah, the brave woman! She has +the child!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Aye, she had it, and she meant to hold it, too! A brave woman indeed! +Pausing for a second in her perilous effort to pass from one roof to +the other, she pulled off her veil, wrapped it round the child, and +knotted it high above her shoulders. Then, hands and knees, set +herself to her task. But the flames were almost too quick for her. And +forked tongues licked at her feet; the next instant she was beyond +them and, straightening herself, walked rapidly over a level strip. +And now from below, where even Marmaduke stood arrested, helpless, +watching another's fight for life, came a soft wail of horror. The +last house had caught fire from below, the flames were surging +upwards, the thin shingle roof might be gone any moment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Jump, for God's sake, jump!" cried Marmaduke, his voice vibrant with +awful dread. "Jump, we'll catch you, somehow!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Even as he spoke he felt the uselessness of his appeal to one who +could not understand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tell her to jump--we'll catch her!" he added dully, knowing there was +no time, for already ominous crackings rose from the flames that +mounted higher and higher.</p> + +<p class="normal">But that familiar voice had reached the ears of the woman clinging her +way for dear life, and tightened her hold upon the ridge-pole that was +her only hope. No, she would not die yet! She would not die with that +voice in her ears!</p> + +<p class="normal">A faint shudder came from the crowd below as, with a crash, the roof +fell in. A fainter moan of relief followed, as the woman with her pack +still showed standing on the crossway beam of a balcony that overhung +the water. A great tongue of flame shot out at her, but at the instant +she raised her joined hands above her head and dived--a flash of white +lit up by the red flare--into deep water.</p> + +<p class="normal">"By heaven, what pluck!" muttered Marmaduke as, without a second's +delay, he plunged from the wharf and swam, with quick overhand +strokes, to where the woman had disappeared. He was just preparing to +dive after her when she came up close beside him.</p> + +<p class="normal">One look was sufficient.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Marmie!" he cried. "God in heaven, am I dreaming? Marmie!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes--yes," she gasped impatiently, for owing to the weight she +carried her dive had been prolonged. "The child's head--see that it is +out of water!"</p> + +<p class="normal">In a second he was cool, self-reliant.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your hands on my shoulders, please. That will raise you--I must swim +round--the burning wood."</p> + +<p class="normal">In truth every instant a fierce hiss, a cloud of steam close to them +showed where some blazing fragment had fallen to be extinguished.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you all right?" he called over his shoulder, as with powerful +strokes he made for a further wharf.</p> + +<p class="normal">"All right; but please be quick--the child----"</p> + +<p class="normal">How like Marmie--always the child--the child. He swam on, feeling +bewildered but, he knew not why, desperately happy.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't understand," he began, when at last they stood dripping side +by side, and the baby, being unloosed from its wrappings, was found to +be none the worse.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will tell you directly," she said. "I must just give the child back +to its mother; it is quite a tiny thing. Then you can walk up to my +house over yonder and get your clothes dried."</p> + +<p class="normal">But the stifling air of the streets soon scorched up the moisture, and +Marmaduke protested against anything but a cup of hot coffee--which +fat "Heart's Delight" bustled away to prepare--while those two stood +and talked on the verandah. Below them lay the town, still smoking; +still--as a puff of dawn wind blew the embers to redness--sending out +a shower of sparks, or even a forked tongue of flame. The smell of +burning filled their nostrils, the memory of a great escape filled +their minds. And beyond that, under and deeper than that, stretched +the atmosphere of death and disease, of constant danger, in which they +had both been living for so long. It is an atmosphere which invariably +brings with it, to the wholesome mind and body, a feeling of revolt +against such limitations, a distaste of all things that pertain to +decay: a keen appetite for those that belong to life.</p> + +<p class="normal">And the dawn-light grew as they stood talking. She had bidden him +begone, had urged as a reason that he must remember his health. +Cholera might be bad on the hills, but it was deadly in the city. And +he had laughed back that caution was a bit late to a man who had seen +six strong men die that very morning. The poor devils seemed to like +his being there. Now he----</p> + +<p class="normal">"I should only want <i>you</i>, Marmie," he said. And she had looked at him +in sudden wonder.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must go now if I'm to be in time for parade," he admitted at last. +"Good-night--no, good-morrow, my heart's delight!"</p> + +<p class="normal">For an instant she held he was joking with the fat coffee-bringer's +name; then she gave a quick tremulous cry--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Duke! what--what do you mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He laughed a little low, happy laugh, sank on his knees beside her, +and clasped her tight in his arms.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Only that I love you--only that I've found you--no, I've found myself +for ever and ever and ever!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He buried his face in the loose folds of her dress and so they +remained for a second. Then she slipped through his hold to her knees +also, and they knelt looking into each other's eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">The sun rising slowly, majestically, out of the sea shone upon their +shining faces. Vaguely, as in a glass, darkly the twain had passed to +one; they were nearer the Great Unity.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Duke," whispered Marmie, with a faint shiver, "I think I'm afraid!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And I," he said joyously, finding her lips, "feel as if I never could +be afraid again--never--never--never!"</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_02.7" href="#div1Ref_02.7">VII</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"Duke," she said, for at least the twentieth time, "I keep wondering +how it came about."</p> + +<p class="normal">He spent all his spare time now--it was not much--in the vine pergola, +and he was picking out the ripe grapes from a bunch as he answered +her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't. I had been thinking about you a lot; and then I was +tired--really done!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What an excuse for falling in love," she protested half-vexedly; "but +I should like to know."</p> + +<p class="normal">He came over to her and put his arm round her waist.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How can I tell, sweetest? I had been thinking, as I said, a lot about +you--and missing a lot--stockings, and all that"--his smile was charm +itself; "then, when I saw your dear old head bob up all shaven and +shorn!" he kissed it deliberately, and she laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For all that," she persisted, "I should like to understand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dearest dear," he replied, "you are such a beggar for wanting to +know and understand. Now I, my dear Marmie--I'm too happy to want to +know anything! I'm content with what I have--and you are content, too, +you know you are!"</p> + +<p class="normal">There was no denying the fact. Content, indeed, was no word for the +feeling that you were rapt away from the very possibility of care. +There, in the very shadow of the grave, overlooking the Lake of Death, +those two lovers found their joy enhanced by the uncertainty of life.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was chief mourner at six funerals this morning," Marmaduke would +say sadly. "As fine fellows as ever stepped. Sometimes I wonder, +darlingest, if I ought to come to you----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can bring no more harm to me than I am in already," she would +reply. "I am in the thick of it here. Indeed, I was wondering if I +ought to let you come."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let me!" he would echo derisively. "As if you could stop me."</p> + +<p class="normal">And in truth there was no gainsaying him, for Marmaduke, easy-going as +a friend, was an imperious lover.</p> + +<p class="normal">After he left her in the dawnings Marrion would take out the pocket +Shakespeare she had brought with her and, sitting out under the +purpling vines, read how the immortal lovers parted.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am content so thou wouldst have it so."</p> + +<p class="normal">She had never before realised that so lay the very essence of love. No +plannings, no cuttings, no contrivings. All things simplified, +clarified.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a wonderful fortnight. The fire, after a brief recrudescence, +died down, leaving the slums of the city in ruins, but purified. So +cholera, most mysterious of diseases, abated, disappeared from the +town; and even in the camps, exposed to the miasma of the Lake of +Death, was shorn of half its terrors. And there was a stir as of +coming life in the military backwaters. Marmaduke, his face alight, +would say that the one thing needful to perfect happiness must be +close at hand; for that was the curious thing about finding yourself +in love--you wanted to be up and doing all the time.</p> + +<p class="normal">And so one day when, instead of Marmaduke, Andrew Fraser--long since +let into the secret of Maryam Effendi--appeared with a note, Marrion +tried to echo Romeo's words without any reservations, and to be +content if he would have it so. For the note ran as follows:</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"<span class="sc">Heart's Delight</span>,</p> + +<p style="text-indent:5%">"The news has come! We are off to the Crimea. I feel that for the +first time in my life I am going to have my chance--or, rather, we are +going to have our chance, for I shall take you with me, never fear. I +wish, dear, your real body were, small enough to go into my knapsack, +but the heart that beats under this uniform coat is large enough to +hold your love. I must be very busy, but I will find time in a day or +two for perfect happiness.</p> + +<p style="text-indent:50%">"Yours ever,</p> + +<p style="text-indent:60%">"<span class="sc">Marmaduke</span>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"P.S.--I must get you to box my ears before I go. It will keep me +straight and make me what England expects.--M. M.</p> + +<p class="normal">"P.P.S.--Andrew says he is taking my stockings for you to mend. +Forgive us poor men bodies.--M."</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">So she sat darning the stockings and trying to prevent a sinking at +the heart.</p> + +<p class="normal">From her verandah she could see the bustle and stir in the camp. The +next day one of the meadow stretches lay bare of tents. So the work of +embarkation must be close at hand. Aye, the bay was thronged with +transports! There was a sound of drums and fifes in the air. What room +for love and peace when war and strife were afoot? But any moment now +might bring Marmaduke, and that was enough for the present.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was on the fourth day, when she was beginning to wonder if possibly +he had not found time, that an orderly appeared with a note. It was +not from Duke; it was from Andrew.</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"<span class="sc">Dear Madam</span>,</p> + +<p style="text-indent:5%">"Please come. I have sent the Colonel's charger. He will carry a lady. +He is very ill."</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">She turned soul-sick as she read.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is he--is the Colonel very ill?" she asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Verra ill indeed, m'm. It's the co-lira, and they're sayin' he's like +to dee--God forbid it!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Like to die!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Well, it was best to know the truth. She put on her European dress and +started, remembering as she rode through the flower-set meadows how +they had planned this visit to his hut. How she should spend the day +there and be introduced to his friends. For though they never spoke of +the future or the past, living only in the present heaven, Marmaduke +had evidently never considered the possibility of separation and she +had been content to let such possibilities slide.</p> + +<p class="normal">And now? She bit her lip to keep it from quivering as Andrew met her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He's lying in the arbour, m'm. And he's no worse, anyway."</p> + +<p class="normal">Yes, there he was, lying--such a long length--on his camp-bed covered +with his plaid. Lying under the arbour of Jonah's gourd, about which +he had chattered so gaily as being a laughing-stock to the other +officers, though they dearly loved to sit in its shade. The ripe fruit +hung scarlet amid the yellowing leaves. It seemed to throw the blue +pallor of his face into louder warning that Death was in grips with +Life.</p> + +<p class="normal">She knelt beside the bed and took his hand without one word. She had +seen too many cholera cases to hope for speech, but the eyelids +quivered and the fingers closed on hers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How long?" she asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Since yesterday morning. He would not give in--we were to move +to-night, ye see----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why didn't you----?" Words failed her for reproach.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He wouldna let me send. I'm thinking he was afraid for ye."</p> + +<p class="normal">There was a long pause. Her heart was full of regret, of bitterness. +Afraid for her--oh, Duke, Duke!</p> + +<p class="normal">"And he has everything?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aye, everything! The doctor will be here again the now."</p> + +<p class="normal">He came and found his patient better. He opened his eyes and smiled. +Collapse had gone, the following fever had laid hold on him. Would his +heart stand it? All that day he lay in something like sleep--quiet, so +long as his hand could find that other hand. Once or twice she caught +a whispered word of command and once, urgent, came a call for +reinforcements. His mind was at battle--far, far from her. About an +hour before sunset he turned his head and looked at her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've done it," he said faintly; "I've done it!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The doctor came in many a time and oft. The orderlies were always +doing something; but her part was to hold his hand until the last. She +saw it coming clearly; she knew that it must be so.</p> + +<p class="normal">Someone in the arbour suggested a clergyman, and they sent to fetch +one.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He will be too late," half-whispered a voice.</p> + +<p class="normal">Was it hers? Too late! As if it mattered? As if He who made----</p> + +<p class="normal">Hark! A bird singing. It had come in after the fruit--perhaps he had +fed it, for he loved God's creatures--and now not five yards from +where he lay it was giving its heart out in full-throated song.</p> + +<p class="normal">Hush! Listen! Listen!--it seemed to say.</p> + +<p class="normal">The still figure was growing more still.</p> + +<p class="normal">The slow breathing grew slower.</p> + +<p class="normal">The touch of these cold fingers on hers grew colder.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then their feeble clasp had gone, but the bird sang on.</p> + +<p class="normal">She rose unsteadily, drew the plaid over his face, and left the tent. +She did not seem to realise the presence of others.</p> + +<p class="normal">Andrew ran after her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Marrion, Marrion, whaur are ye gaun? Ye poor, poor thing!" he +whispered hoarsely in the extremity of his bewildered grief. "Bide a +wee, and I'll see ye haim."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am going to walk home," she said dully. "It will do me good. I +must--I must do something--and I must be alone."</p> + +<p class="normal">So she walked over the meadows, crushing the drifts of purple +colchicum under her feet. What had he called the flower of death? Ah, +the iris! That would come in the spring. It would flower on his grave +perhaps. And all the time she felt his cold hand on hers, she heard +the bird's full song. How he would have loved to hear it! Perhaps he +had.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was dark ere she reached the vine pergola where they had been so +happy, and she started when a tall officer in Highland costume came +towards her. Was it all a bad dream? Was she waking to find him still +her own? But he was only the bearer of a kindly message from the +regiment to say that the colonel was to be buried at dawn, and that if +Mrs. Marsden----</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who told you I was Mrs. Marsden?" she asked sharply. "Andrew Fraser?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The officer bowed and went on.</p> + +<p class="normal">"As one of the colonel's oldest friends, would care----"</p> + +<p class="normal">She shook her head. She was grateful. It was a kind thought. But +Colonel Muir was Colonel Muir and everybody loved him--he would have +enough friends.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Madam," said the young officer, with a break in his voice, "when we +lower him into his solitary grave--he is to be buried on the hill +above his tent where he sat so often--we shall all know that the +finest fellow in the regiment, nay, in the whole army, has gone from +us."</p> + +<p class="normal">She lay that night, her face crushed into the pillow without a sob. +Only once or twice she whispered to herself.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, Duke, Duke, I'm glad I made you happy--so glad--so glad!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She was up betimes to take her stand on a neighbouring hill, where, +unobserved, she could watch him laid to his rest. Not a tent was to be +seen; the battalion had shifted quarters during the night; the forward +march to which he had looked with such longing had begun, and he----</p> + +<p class="normal">Close by the belt of forest trees she could see his dismantled hut; a +heap of packed baggage piled close by with a sentry on guard beside +it. But the arbour hid what it held. So, as the sun rose, the leaden +beat of the Dead March rose, as the regiment, followed by detachments +from all and every regiment in Varna, drew up in a lane to let the +artillery with a gun-carriage draped with the colours pass up.</p> + +<p class="normal">Just his coat, his plaid, his sword, his bonnet, that was all. And +after him his grey Arab--the one she had ridden--fully dressed. That +was Andrew on the one side, and the other three? Generals, she +supposed, by their uniforms.</p> + +<p class="normal">What a crowd of officers! And the men, marching so slowly to the +muffled beat! Would they never reach the grave?</p> + +<p class="normal">At last. Now there were some words of command--heard vaguely as +inarticulate cries--the long procession formed up, massed itself into +a hollow square.</p> + +<p class="normal">They must be reading the service now.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Being dead yet liveth--yet liveth--yet liveth----"</p> + +<p class="normal">She held fast to that, as her eyes travelled where his had so often +rested in content--thank God for that--in sheer content.</p> + +<p class="normal">So, as she looked at the wide expanse of hill and valley, lake and +sea, those half-heard words of his came back to memory--"I've done +it--I have done it!"</p> + +<p class="normal">What had he done?</p> + +<p class="normal">The sharp rattle of musketry roused her. Again, again! The Last Post +had been set. The last honour paid.</p> + +<p class="normal">A minute's pause. Then the bands struck up their regimental marches, +orders followed sharp and incisive. So with a swing the men stepped +out, only a little knot of officers remaining to see the grave filled +in. She must wait till they had gone. Shifting her position to one of +greater ease, she rested her aching head upon a tussock of sweet thyme +that was shaded by a rugged scarp of rock.</p> + +<p class="normal">And so, wearied out with her sleepless night, with utter despair and +misery she dozed off, sinking deeper and deeper into slumber, all +grief forgotten, peaceful as a child. The long hours passed, yet still +she slept.</p> + +<p class="normal">When she awoke it was almost sun-setting. Over the far sea, shadowy +outlines and still more shadowy trails of smoke told that the argosy +of an army had started for the Crimea. Not a tent was to be seen. They +had folded their white wings and gone. Already the populace had +cleared away all that had been left behind. The hill-sides showed bare +without a trace of humanity. His very hut had disappeared, the arbour +was broken down, its scarlet fruits rifled. Only on the mossy plateau +below the scarp at her feet lay a heap of stones.</p> + +<p class="normal">Her heart gave a great throb. She had not thought of that, but a cairn +was meet and fitting. And how many men of his regiment had gone there, +even amid their busy-ness, to throw one stone for the sake of their +love and respect!</p> + +<p class="normal">She must throw one, too; at least, she could do that!</p> + +<p class="normal">Her composure was almost terrible. She picked up a little moss-grown +quartz pebble, and, going down, laid it where she judged those folded +hands of his must rest.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's my heart, Duke!" she said. "It's cold--cold as a stone."</p> + +<p class="normal">Steps behind her made her turn. It was Andrew Fraser, his lean face +all blistered with the tears he had shed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My puir lammie!" he said. "I thocht I might find you here when you +werna at the hoose, and the woman was wae to know what had become o' +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">The very warmth of his sympathy roused antagonism.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was just going back. Do you want me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He looked at her almost pitifully.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It'll be no comfort tae you to ken that I'm as fu o' grief as you, +Marrion. But I had tae see ye before we left. I got leave till the +last. Oh, my lassie, is there naethin' I can do for you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She shook her head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nothing, Andrew, except hold your tongue. The past is gone for ever!"</p> + +<p class="normal">And as she walked down the hill with him her clasped hands bit into +each other with bitter strength. Was it for this she had planned and +protected? But, thank God, she had made him happy at the last!</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_02.8" href="#div1Ref_02.8">VIII</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">In after years the next four days appeared to Marrion as a blank. She +went on with her work, she shed no tears except when she was asleep. +She did not even think. In the late evenings, when work was over, she +would ride or drive to where the Highlanders' camp had stood and sit +silent for an hour or two on the cairn about Marmaduke's grave, doing +nothing. She brought no flowers, the sight of his grave gave her no +more poignant grief. Indeed, often as she looked out eastwards over +the sea, with all the glorious trending of sunlit, sun-shadowed hills +and dales towards it, she would feel calmly that he would have admired +it as much as she did.</p> + +<p class="normal">Yet underneath all her calm lurked a regret that grew with the days.</p> + +<p class="normal">He had been left behind, and he had been so eager to go. Even those +last words of his--"I have done it"--were poor comfort.</p> + +<p class="normal">So, confusedly, out of this regret and the memory of those other words +of his--"I have found you, or rather I have found myself, for ever and +ever and ever"--arose the idea of getting to the Crimea herself, if +she could. She could at least follow the fortunes of the regiment of +which he had been so fond, so proud. Besides, home had no call for +her. She had no ties there and the prospect of a long life without +them was appalling. Far better to die out here as he had died. But the +interest of Varna had passed. The tragedy of the fire had ousted the +tragedy of disease and starvation. The cholera had ceased, the city +was almost depopulated, so the problem of many mouths and no food had +disappeared.</p> + +<p class="normal">Once the idea of following the regiment presented itself to her it +became an obsession. She made up her mind that if it could be +compassed she would do what she could for its brave men; then if death +did not intervene--which she hoped it might--she could come back to +where Duke lay and tell him she had carried him in her heart all the +way. So she set to work to think out the means. Her shaven and shorn +head--as he had called it--might facilitate matters; for she might +pose as a youth of one of the many uncouth peoples gathered round by +greed of gain. Varna was a polyglot place, and she knew enough Turkish +now to render English unnecessary.</p> + +<p class="normal">While still nebulous, however, her plans were suddenly settled for her +by the arrival in port of the very Turkish mail steamer in which she +had sailed from Marseilles. The little doctor naturally enough called +on his <i>protégée</i>, full of the fine reports he had heard of her from +old Achmet. The ship had been requisitioned and he was on his way to +Eupatoria with medical stores for the Turkish contingent, which +expected to land there. The opportunity seemed too good to be lost. +She begged him to arrange for her to go so far, pointing out that she +had proved her capacity for usefulness. After a few demurs he +consented. She left everything standing in Varna and three days +afterwards found herself surveying the beach at Kalamita Bay, a few +miles south of Eupatoria, which had been taken the night before by the +expedition without the exchange of a shot. It was a shingly beach or +bar but a few feet wide, behind which lay a long, narrow, sedge-set +lake of salt water. From this rose, with deafening clamour, thousands +upon thousands of wild fowl alarmed by the unaccustomed presence of +man, their wailing cries almost drowning the long surge of the sea +upon the shingly beach and the oaths and confusion inseparable from +the disembarkation of so many troops. Beyond this salt lake rose a +high bank of red clay serrated by many small ravines, while over this +again the wide plain, dotted with cattle, corn-ricks, and farmhouses, +showed a land where supplies should be plentiful. In the far distance +could be seen, dimly blue, the hills behind Sebastopol, which lay some +seven and twenty miles to the south. In deference to the little +doctor's recommendation she remained on board and was thus free to +watch the humour and difficulties of the disembarkation. Both were +numerous. The heavy surf made the passage of boats to the shore +dangerous, but the blue-jackets were over the sides almost before they +could foot bottom, and, aided by those landed before--who, naked as +the day they were born, rushed into the sea to help--generally +succeeded in beaching their cargo high and dry. To little purpose, so +far as the men were concerned, since it was "off uniform" in a second, +and into the water to help the next arrivals. Luckily the day was +sultry and warm. The landing of the cavalry horses presented the +greatest difficulty, for even after confinement on shipboard the dry +shingle was not sufficient bait to induce them to walk the plank +alone; so that they had to be ridden, and as three out of six went +souse into the sea it was provocative of much merriment--for even in +those days the British soldier was light-hearted. The men, therefore, +wrung their wet clothes out cheerfully, and the horses dried +themselves by rolling in the patches of sun-baked sand, for the day +was glorious. Yet the discomfort was hard, the work harder; but, +despite it all, Thomas Atkins found time to nickname the Crim-Tartar +population who came down, curious but friendly, to view the scene, by +the strangely inappropriate and colourless appellation of "Joey," one +which nevertheless stuck firm all through the Crimean War.</p> + +<p class="normal">So the day passed; but the afternoon promised a storm, and Marrion was +anxious to get on shore and make arrangements, if she could, for +stopping there. As she was watching she saw a gig going ashore to the +Old Fort with a woman in it--a woman who was received with plaudits by +the whole army. At the time she could not conceive who it could be, +though she afterwards found out it was the Countess of Erroll. The +incident, however, gave her courage; she persuaded the little doctor +to allow her to land, and, accompanied by him and in her Turkish +dress, she found a night's lodging in one of the nearest farm-houses. +Nor had she to pay for it overmuch, for the Crim-Tartarians were +kindly, honest folk ready to welcome brothers and sisters of Islam. +Indeed, they looked upon the new-comers as a possible deliverance from +Russian rule. It was lucky this was so, thought Marrion, as with the +sinking of day a violent storm of wind and rain swept the beach, +drenching the fifty thousand men who were without tents. They dug +holes for themselves in the shingle, spread their greatcoats atop, and +joked away discomfort even though death stalked among them and the +terrible scourge, cholera, they hoped they had left behind them, +claimed not a few victims before morning.</p> + +<p class="normal">They were cheerful as ever, nevertheless, next day while the work of +disembarkation went on. Marrion watched it from afar, finding a Varna +friend or two in the Turkish contingent, but sheering off from the +regiment for fear of recognition--especially by Andrew Fraser. She was +not ready for that yet. So three days passed and it was not till the +nineteenth that the army of some fifty thousand men moved on towards +Sebastopol. About a third of the way thither the enemy was said to be +strongly entrenched on the banks of the Alma river. Why he had not +attacked during the confusion of disembarkation was a subject of much +comment, and all agreed it must be because the position they held on +the river was supposed to be impregnable. Why, therefore, leave it?</p> + +<p class="normal">"We shall see," said Lord Raglan succinctly.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was an old man, as indeed were almost all the leaders in the +Crimean War, but he was full of the fire of youth.</p> + +<p class="normal">The march was a gay one despite the fact that it was over stony barren +steppes; but the hares that started up so often seemed made to be +chivied, when, confused, they got between the men's legs, and many a +warrior strung one secretly under his knapsack against a savoury +supper. And songs were sung, the "Tipperary" of the time, and jokes +made with "Joey" who, all along the line, came out affably, ready to +trade.</p> + +<p class="normal">But the sight of the red Alma cliffs that had to be stormed on the +morrow sobered some, and Marrion, from another farmhouse where she had +obtained shelter, watched the evening sun redden them still more, and +thought of the blood that would be shed on them tomorrow with sick +loathing.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was grey dawn when she rose, slipped on a youth's dress she had +brought with her, and, packing a few necessaries in a small bundle, +waited for the réveillé. But none came. On that fateful morning of the +20th September, 1854, the whole force of twenty thousand British +bayonets and sabres assembled in silence. For a watchful enemy awaited +them beyond the sluggish tortuous river that wound its way to the sea +amid sparse vineyards. Far away to the right the horizon of open sea +showed a massing of grey hulks and twinkling lights. That was the +Fleet ready to aid as it could. Further afield, beyond the debouching +of the cliffs, seven thousand Turkish troops prevented a flank attack. +Then came the French twenty thousand face to face with the most +formidable part of the cliff nearest the sea. After that the British. +Marrion, through her spy-glass, could see the Highlanders standing, +their faces set and determined. This was to be their first brush with +the enemy, and many of them had waited for it so long. Eight months +since Duke had brought her news of battle in the little London house! +And now he lay in his solitary grave while his men fought.</p> + +<p class="normal">Still silence. It was past nine o'clock now, and the troops stood +motionless as if on parade. Here and there, in low scrub on the +opposite bank, an enemy's battery showed, ready no doubt for instant +action on the firing of the first shot. And, every now and then, +bayonet-points and the heads of men seen for a second or two against +the sky-line, told of infantry ready to receive attack. But there were +no skirmishers, no attempt to force on strife.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No possible advance there," said the Chief of the Staff at the war +council that was being held in the open, as he pointed on the map to +the cliffs facing the sea. "I wish there were, for, so far as I can +see, Menschikoff has left it unguarded."</p> + +<p class="normal">A Colonel of the Zouaves looked critically at the contours, then +turned to the Marquis St. Arnaud--</p> + +<p class="normal">"My children are good climbers, sir; may we not try?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"They shall," replied the French Commander-in-Chief. So the attack was +ordered. On the extreme right, the French were to throw out +skirmishers, tackle the cliff, charge over the first narrow plateau, +and so, up the next bank, reach the plain above. Then, when the attack +in flank had really commenced, the British would deliver a frontal +one.</p> + +<p class="normal">As he rode back to his own lines the Marquis St. Arnaud paused to +take the British salute with the words, "I hope you will fight well +to-day." To which came rapid reply in a voice from the 56th +Regiment--"Don't you know we will?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Whereat in long rolling reverberations from company to company, from +battalion to battalion, rose a deafening cheer. It was the first sound +of the battle of the Alma.</p> + +<p class="normal">And hark! A disconnected rattle of rifle shots! The skirmishers are +out among the rocks; and now, like goats up invisible paths, their +full red pantaloons redder than the red clay, the Zouaves show in +single file--here, there, everywhere like streamlets of blood. +Incredible pluck! Astounding agility! But they are up. The first +vantage ground is gained; they pause to collect the skirmishers and +sound the <i>pas de charge</i>--that muffled pulse beat that, throbbing +destruction, grows louder and louder and louder, drowning all but +sheer lust of blood.</p> + +<p class="normal">On they go, only to receive the fire from a Russian battery posted +above.</p> + +<p class="normal">So the advance goes on, but it goes slower. That salvo on the Zouaves +opened the ball, and now, trundling among the ranks of the British, +come round shot and shrapnel, dealing death and disablement.</p> + +<p class="normal">The <i>pas de charge</i> continues, but it is perforce slow. "Pass the +order to lie down," says Lord Raglan; and, obedient, though straining +at the leash, the British troops lie down while the enemy's shot fall +among them still dealing death and disablement at every round.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How goes the French attack?" he queries hastily, as an aide-de-camp +dashes up at 1.50 p.m.</p> + +<p class="normal">"They are across and up, sir, but not sufficiently established to +warrant our starting."</p> + +<p class="normal">Lord Raglan fumes. His blood was up, his men were being shot at +without reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Give the order for general advance," he said, staking all, rashly +enough, on the hazard of brave troops; but if he staked rashly he +staked wisely. The serried masses of men rose with ringing cheers, +dashing on through a belt of fire from the opposite heights, +floundered somehow through the river, and paused for a second to take +breath in the vineyards below the steeps. But formation had been lost. +It was sheer onslaught. At the head of the advance rode Lord Raglan +himself, regardless of the gaps in his Staff. Sir George Brown, +leading the Light Division, goes down in a cloud of dust before a +Russian battery. "Go on, 23rd," he shouts; "I'm all right, but be sure +I'll remember this day, boys!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Further to the left Colin Campbell in front of the Highlanders calls +back to them: "Keep yere fingers frae the triggers, men, till ye're +within a yaird o' them." And they did. Colin Campbell's horse is down +under him, but he is up again charging a battery on foot and calling +to the Guards who came up in support, "We want nane but Hie'land +bonnets here." But the Guards were firm. Steady, in even line, without +a waver in the black bearskins, they came on resistless, making one +man in the Light Division mutter under his breath, "D---- them, +wasting time in dressing up as if they were on a parade ground!" For +all that they had stormed the right end of the most powerful battery +almost before the Highlanders had got in on the left. A few minutes +later the 1st and 2nd divisions crowned the crest. The French, finding +their objective, turned their own guns upon the flying enemy. There +were a few faint struggles by the infantry, a few more rounds of +artillery, and the Russians were in full flight, leaving over four +thousand dead and wounded on the battlefield. So Alma's heights were +won, but at a cost which saddened the victory; for out of a total of +fourteen thousand British troops employed, one thousand four hundred, +or one in ten, were dead or wounded. The French had suffered as much, +so General Canrobert's face was grave as he rode up at the close of +the day to exclaim: "I ask of Fortune but this! May I command an +English corps for three short weeks, then could I die happy." And the +English commander's voice was graver still as he replied: "I could not +command a French corps. They would outpace me." And in truth the +Zouaves' rapid, flame-like spread from crag to crag, their ceaseless +fusillade meanwhile, had been all-astonishing and had paralysed the +foe completely. But now the laurel wreath of victory was fading, the +cypress garland of death was taking its place. It had been a three +hours' hand to hand infantry battle, and the late September sun was +sinking when the living turned to look after their fallen comrades, +for in those days ambulance corps were in their infancy and Red Cross +was not. The wounded soldier lay as he fell, dying, mayhap for want of +care, even for a drink of water. There were hundreds such upon the +heights they had won, as Marrion Paul, taking advantage of the fast +coming darkness, began her round. She was provided with water, brandy, +a few simple ligaments and bandages. At Varna she had had not a few +wounded Turkish soldiers from the Danube in old Achmet's hospital; but +this was different. There the wounds seemed a disease; here you felt +the keen horror of cold steel and rifle bullet close at hand; you +realised the futility, the wickedness of it. She avoided the salients +where the dead and wounded lay thickest, for there help was already +being given, and men were going to and fro with stretchers; but in one +or two of the little gullies she found someone to tend until, darkness +closing, she became more brave, and lighting the little lamp with +which she had provided herself, she ventured more into the open. Here +it was pitiful; the dead lay in clusters, their faces as a rule +upturned to the stars. The stretcher-bearers had come and gone, +leaving behind those to whom they were useless--as yet. She knelt +beside one dead man and wiped away a blood stain from his forehead. He +had been orderly once to Duke. Poor soul! Some woman would doubtless +wish she had been in her, Marrion's, place. And now the whole hillside +was lit up by wandering lights, the lights of men searching for their +bosom friends, for their officers. But there were other lights, too, +though she did not think of them as different--the lights of the +pilferers, the carrion crows, who crept about to rifle dead men's +pockets. There were more of them here on the level where the dead and +wounded Russians lay in heaps; some, supported by the bodies of +others, remained still in the attitude of firing, their rifles still +in their hands, their faces curiously peaceful. Well, they had died +doing their duty.</p> + +<p class="normal">A faint call came from a man who lay, his head half-resting on the +breast of a dead comrade. She turned to him at once, throwing her +lamp-light on his face. Extraordinarily good-looking, so young, so +near death. She saw these things at a glance, guessing he was +shot through the lungs as his breath came in soft pitiful gasps. +She knelt to offer him a drink, but he shook his head. Evidently +his eyes were already dim, for he whispered in broken English: +"Good--gentlemens--take--take--my heart." She leaned closer to catch +his words, thinking bitterly as she did so that he took her for his +enemy--his enemy--while her whole heart was going out in pity for such +as he.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't understand," she said tenderly. "Your heart--what do you +mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My heart," he gasped painfully--"here!" And his limp arm, lying +helplessly beside him, crooked itself in supreme effort, and the hand +fell on his breast.</p> + +<p class="normal">A sudden comprehension came to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You want me to take something from your heart?"</p> + +<p class="normal">His dim eyes smiled faintly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes--good gentlemens," he whispered; it was almost a sigh, but it +held content. "Take--give!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She understood now, though a faint shiver through the young body told +her that the speaking soul had gone. Here again was Love transcending +Death! Quietly she laid down the head she had been supporting, closed +the eyes, and opening the grey tunic began her search, her mind rapt +away from her surroundings by thoughts of Duke. Her hand had just +found a thin chain, when a rough clutch was laid on her shoulder and +she was wrenched to her feet with such force that the chain giving way +left her standing with something hanging from her hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Caught in the act!" said a rough voice. "Shoot the young devil, +sergeant!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Something cold touched her forehead. Her heart gave a great bound. Was +this death--oh, Duke--Duke!</p> + +<p class="normal">The flash of a bull's-eye lantern turned full on her showed her face +deadly pale but firm.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hold hard!" cried another voice hastily. "The fellow carries a +water-bottle--of our pattern, too! Give the devil his due, Mac."</p> + +<p class="normal">She could see faintly now. They were Highlanders; a search party +evidently, and the blood rushed back to heart and face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm doing no harm!" she cried hotly. "He asked me--to take and +give--his heart."</p> + +<p class="normal">At her first word the cold nozzle of the revolver had left her +forehead.</p> + +<p class="normal">"By God!" came in a murmur; but for the most part the little group of +men were startled out of speech and stood staring at the figure before +them, holding out in apology what it held.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was only a pinchbeck locket with a woman's face in it--a pinchbeck +locket in the form of a heart.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What the devil are you doing here in that kit, you young oaf?" said +an angry voice at last. "I as nearly shot you as a carrion crow as +ever----" It paused; something in the situation seemed to bring +silence. The stars overhead, the dead lover at their feet, the tall, +slim mysterious figure holding out the symbol of something that had +survived death.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You had better go on, Mac," said the voice that had advised caution, +finally breaking the stillness. "I will use this young fool's lantern +and that will make two search parties. We have little time to spare. +I'll see him safe. You'd better take the orderlies with you. They have +appliances and will know what to do. I can manage."</p> + +<p class="normal">"As you please, doctor," came the reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">When they had gone the man they had called doctor took up Marrion's +lantern and seemed to examine its light, turning it finally full on +his face; and suddenly he spoke.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs. Marsden----" Marrion could not avoid a start.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs. Marsden!" she echoed faintly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes. You don't recognise me evidently. Indeed, I doubt if you ever +saw me, but I was with poor Muir when he died. Andrew Fraser had to +tell me--something--before I would let you come, and your face and +hair aren't easily forgotten. I guess why you are here; but it isn't +safe--in fact, it's impossible; but if you will go back now and come +to my hospital--Dr. Forsyth--in English dress, please--I think I can +settle you to work--something that will prevent your being taken for a +Crim-Tartar thief," he added grimly. "It's lucky I have a good memory +for faces."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't think I should have cared," said Marrion, but he took no +notice of her defiance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"As for this poor chap," he knelt down beside the Russian and laid his +hand over the heart. "Dead as a door nail, ceased to beat--wonder +where he wanted to send it. Is there a name at the back?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion bent to the light.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A name and an address."</p> + +<p class="normal">The doctor jumped up lightly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Being dead he yet speaketh," he remarked cheerfully. "Now if you will +please go back I will go on. We have to find poor Grant; he was last +seen on the crest leading his men, with Andrew Fraser--the colonel's +servant, you remember--just behind him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Andrew!" exclaimed Marrion, with a sort of sob. "Is he killed, too?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Killed or missing," called Dr. Forsyth, as he turned away to rejoin +his party.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_02.9" href="#div1Ref_02.9">IX</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">The scene which met Marrion's eyes when soon after daybreak she went +over to the hospital tents beggars description. The wounded, many of +them as yet untended, lay almost in heaps, stretcher-bearers were +hurrying along, slipping on the clotted blood from many wounds, +carrying those who had been seen to and could be moved to the boats +for removal to Scutari. There was a low inarticulate wail of moaning +in the air, broken by sudden screams of pain. Two or three women were +busy giving water, trying to soothe pain, and now and again a doctor +with bare arms incarnadined with blood passed hurriedly to more work.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is worse than I expected," said Dr. Forsyth over his shoulder to +Marrion. "Do what you can, will you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">And she did, wondering vaguely that she had not noticed that curious +face when she had first seen it; the eyes alone were so unlike any she +had ever seen before--greeny gold, with a dark rim round the iris. A +hawk's eye, surely!</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs. Marsden, I want you," came an imperative voice half an hour +later, "follow me."</p> + +<p class="normal">He was there again, and she followed him blindly into a small tent.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The ambulance and stores have been left behind somewhere," he said +bitterly. "God damn them! We have no chloroform left--they only served +us out a thimbleful, though Simpson demonstrated its absolute +necessity seven years ago--curse the lot--and now a case has just come +in. It's life or death and the others won't touch it, but I will. See +here, I was with Esdaile in India and I know it can be done. If only I +haven't the seats of the scornful by me--I think you'll believe--you +haven't your face for nothing, and I must have help. Give it me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He held out his thin nervous hands, so strangely full of grip, as he +spoke; his eyes found hers and held them.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will give you what I can," she said at once.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That's right!" he replied, his buoyancy back in an instant. "But you +will need all your nerve, I tell you. Now help me to get the poor +fellow into position."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let me die, doctor," moaned the patient, who lay on the doctor's +truckle bed. "It is agony to move."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, it isn't!" replied Dr. Forsyth firmly. "You are making a mistake. +You have no pain, at least not much, and you are going to lose it +altogether soon. There! That's more comfortable, isn't it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He was busy now arranging knives and instruments on a clean towel.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I've put them in the order I shall want them," he whispered, "and +don't be in a hurry--I shall want time. Now I'm going to mesmerise +him. You'll see he will pass into a deep sleep and feel no pain--none +at all."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was almost as if he were assuring himself that it would be so. An +atmosphere of quiet confidence seemed to emanate from him.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion found herself watching his passes with absolute faith, +listening to the quiet monotonous voice with absolute belief.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now you are really feeling better--you are inclined to sleep--if you +close your eyes you will go to sleep."</p> + +<p class="normal">On and on went the voice insistently. The breathing grew slower, less +convulsive; the eyelids closed, and all the time the doctor's face was +as the face of the Angel of Death--kind, but relentless.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now we can begin," he said at last, resuming his quick decision. "You +won't faint, will you?" he added doubtfully, with a glance at +Marrion's pale cheek.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't think so," she replied; "but <i>that</i> seemed to hurt here." She +swept her hand across her forehead.</p> + +<p class="normal">He scanned her narrowly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Umph!" he said, half to himself. "You'll make an excellent <i>aide</i>, I +expect. So now to business."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was an awful operation. One impossible while consciousness +remained; but possible enough with the absolute stillness and lack of +hurry that unconsciousness brings.</p> + +<p class="normal">And so far it was successful.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He will sleep for some hours yet," said Dr. Forsyth, as he sorted his +implements. "You needn't stay with him all the time. Make yourself +useful elsewhere, but look in and bring me word when he wakes."</p> + +<p class="normal">There was not one word of thanks; only as he left the tent he paused +to say--</p> + +<p class="normal">"The lad was a great favourite of the colonel's. I'm glad we saved +him."</p> + +<p class="normal">All that day Marrion lived in a dream of death; but those words went +with her. Yes, she was glad she had helped to save the lad, but how +much had she helped?</p> + +<p class="normal">Three full days passed before she could get an answer to that +question. Days of grim determination to keep her head--not to give way +as some, even of the men, gave way. It was like living in a shambles. +She thought, amazed at the poverty of her own imagination, on the +dread with which she had first viewed the heights of Alma. But +this--this was inconceivable, unutterably beastly! Vaguely she felt +glad that Duke had been spared it, and with the thought of the singing +bird that had sung its little heart out in joy as he lay dying, the +first tears she had shed for him came to her eyes. And she worked on +with a lighter heart, until the first press and rush was over, till +the dead had been buried, the less severe cases shipped off, and tents +found for the others.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then Dr. Forsyth sent for her. She found him in his tent. The lad whom +they had saved had been removed to a larger one and was doing well. +Though the flap was open, the tent was shadowy and the doctor's eyes +looked curiously light as he sat on the bed and motioned her to a seat +beside him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have done very well, Mrs. Marsden," he said shortly, "and I think +you will do better. Now I am going to teach you some of the tricks of +the trade, and in the next action you will be able to work on your +own. Only don't talk about it. I believe all the doctors and most of +the men would rather die than be mesmerised; but then they never saw +Esdaile's hospital. I have."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But perhaps I shan't be able," began Marrion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, you will," he interrupted steadily, "and to begin with I am +going to call you by your right name, please. Marrion Paul."</p> + +<p class="normal">She flushed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did Andrew----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nothing of the sort. My dear woman, I'm an Aberdeenshire man. Long +years ago, when I was a lad, I was at Drummuir and I saw your +father--possibly you also. No?--His was a face and figure you can't +easily forget. And I know the story. I heard Andrew, the Drummuir's +henchman, call you Marrion; your extraordinary likeness to your +father supplied the cues. And I was right, you see." His face was all +smiles at his own perspicacity. "Now, my mother was a Pole and I +believe your father was one. And that admixture seems favourable to a +certain force of character. You've always managed people--at least, I +guess so--and it is just that trick of suggestion that you require for +management--at least, so I think--that I want. Anyhow, we will try. +For the present the tyranny is overpast. We have wormed our way +through <i>sans</i> everything; but the next action will be as bad, perhaps +worse. I think the letters we have written home about the scandalous +state of affairs may have had some effect--God knows! We British sleep +through a lot of bad dreams, but help can't be here in time. And the +stores they are landing! My God, if you could see them! Rotten +biscuits, putrid meat, drugs unusable! How the devils in hell will +kow-tow to the contractors when they get them as past-masters of +damnation. Anyhow, in the immediate future we have to depend on +ourselves, and if I can depend on you----" he looked at her and once +more stretched out those thin capable hands of his. "Come, is it a +bargain?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She could not but say "Yes," and from that day he treated her as a +professor might treat his pupil--kindly, but autocratically.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are the only person who ever made me obey orders," she said, +half-resentfully one afternoon when he had driven her to rest in his +tent.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Better for you if it had happened before," he replied curtly. "You +strike me as a woman who has managed too much. Do you know how old I +am?" he asked suddenly.</p> + +<p class="normal">Seated as he was just outside the hut so that he could talk to her +within, he looked strangely young, but the grey hair and bronzed +wrinkles about his clean shaven face made her venture rather against +her own judgment--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Fifty."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sixty-five," he replied.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You don't look forty-five," she put in.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No. That is because I never look ahead. I take what comes. If you +believe, as I do, in a Divinity that shapes our ends, it's waste of +time to hew. I learnt that early in life. You haven't learnt it yet. +Well, now I've got to go and cut a man's leg off."</p> + +<p class="normal">And he went, leaving her wondering if he was right. All her life had +been spent in keeping Duke for the heirship of Drummuir, and now he +lay in his solitary grave at Varna. The pity of it was coming home to +her.</p> + +<p class="normal">So after a few days, with a tent provided for her, she rode in a +baggage waggon towards Sebastopol. Cholera had begun again badly. The +fillip which the idea of campaigning and free fighting had given to +men jaded by hot weather and the discomforts of Varna was passing off. +As they neared the Russian town supplies were less easily obtainable, +and the commissariat was conspicuous by its inefficiency. The army, +meanwhile, starting on the 23rd, had found itself brought up seriously +at the next river. The enemy had established a work at the entrance +which made it impossible to use the bay, as had been hoped, for a +base. There was nothing for it but to change plans and act promptly. +And here, mercifully, was no delay, no mistakes. Forsaking the +seacoast the whole force plunged boldly into the mountains, marching +by compass, without road, without guides. Much of the way lay through +dense forest--there was no water; but, heartened up by a small brush +with a wandering division of the enemy, the men struggled on cheerful +as ever, up hill, down dale, during a long and toilsome march from +dawn till after nightfall on the 25th. But then came solace. On the +sea-coast below them--secure, unprepared--lay the town and harbour of +Balaklava, seven miles to the east of Sebastopol. They had +circumvented the enemy, they had taken him round the corner! But there +must be no cheering. Quiet as mice they lay among the barberry scrub, +waiting for the dawn of the 26th. And then there was nothing to be +done save to walk down and take possession--take possession of both +sea and land, for, punctual to the moment, her Majesty's ship +<i>Agamemnon</i> sailed into the harbour, decks clear, guns ready for +action--a stroke of luck due to young Maxse who, arriving at the +Commander-in-Chief's with despatches the evening before, volunteered +to brave the forest again by night and tell his Admiral to come round +as sharp as he could.</p> + +<p class="normal">So when the hospital tents and such medical stores as there were +arrived from Kalamita Beach they found the troops elated and pleased +with their new quarters. As is generally the way after a move, cholera +abated, almost disappeared, and for a time the weather was good.</p> + +<p class="normal">Trench work began at once, yet progressed but slowly. Whether, as some +say, from lack of implements or from slackness in command, the French +had placed thirty-three siege guns before the English had finished +their fifteenth; and the doctor, coming in from a long round, would +shake his head and say that the business would be a longer one than +people thought.</p> + +<p class="normal">And what was to be done with winter coming on--blankets wearing out, a +shortage of drugs, and the very ambulance-waggons still lying +forgotten on Kalamita Beach?</p> + +<p class="normal">He used to watch the ships sailing in so gaily to the harbour and say +calmly, "I wonder what filth, what fraud, they bring?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Still, even he grunted satisfaction over the news that Britain was +beginning to discover that all was not well with the Crimean +expedition--that there was talk of sending out nurses and more +doctors. So for nigh three weeks comparative peace reigned. There were +no shambles, and Marrion had time to pick up many wrinkles of nursing +from her patron; he taught her how to bring sleep for one thing, the +first duty of those who tend the sick. She had time also for regret. +Nothing had been heard of Andrew Fraser, though Captain Grant's body +had been duly found. It seemed to her as if the last link with the old +life had gone, and one day in sudden confidence she said as much to +the doctor. Again he shook his head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear good woman," he remarked, "no one ever gets away from their +past. It is what the Easterns call '<i>karma</i>.' You have to dree your +weird for it always."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Even if it is not bad?" asked Marrion, feeling hurt at the very idea +that a life in which she was conscious of no self-seeking should be a +curse to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know," he replied, half-closing his strange eyes, "you may +have done something shocking. It is quite possible."</p> + +<p class="normal">She wondered, afterwards, what had induced her to tell him what she +had done; but these strange fits of confidence are one of the +psychological puzzles of humanity. Tell him she did, however, while he +sat looking out over the sea with his veiled eyes, for they were +sitting on the heights and the whole panorama of Sebastopol, the +Allied Fleets, and the investing forces lay before them.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What would you have done if Colonel Muir had lived?" he asked briefly +when she had finished.</p> + +<p class="normal">She blushed a little.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have often wondered," she began.</p> + +<p class="normal">"People who play Providence ought not to wonder. Well, I am glad he +died happy. That, at any rate, is to your credit." So he rose and left +her.</p> + +<p class="normal">The days passed rapidly, full to the brim of work, and every day +brought her more and more admiration for the courage and cheeriness of +the men, more and more resentment at the ghastly way in which they +were treated by the authorities at home. Boots had already given out, +none were available in store, and in a whole officers' mess only one +subaltern had a holeless pair. And he was the son of a widow who had +half-ruined herself by sending her darling the two separate boots of a +pair by letter post. She would have held it worth more, could she have +seen his face of pride among his comrades.</p> + +<p class="normal">On the night of the 18th of October a diversion arose which, when it +was over, caused much amusement.</p> + +<p class="normal">A party of sappers and miners, losing their way, fell into a Russian +picket, which, possessed by the idea of a general assault, +incontinently skedaddled into the town and raised the alarm, thereby +causing much beating of drums and bugle calls. The Allied armies, +alarmed in their turn, instantly stood to arms, while gun after gun +boomed from the city forts, echoing and re-echoing among the +reverberating rocks. After an hour or two, however, the gunners seemed +to recognise that they were only, so to speak, shooting at their own +shadows or echoes, and gradually peace reigned, broken by roars of +laughter round many a camp fire.</p> + +<p class="normal">But on the 25th something serious happened which brought the shambles +close once more. To the Turkish contingent had been assigned the +redoubts which protected the heights behind the entrenchments. On the +morning of the 25th the Russians, numbering some twenty thousand +troops, after following the same route by which the Allies had reached +Balaklava, appeared unexpectedly before these redoubts. The Turks +abandoned them without striking a blow and fled down the valley to the +plain in sheer panic. Nor did a volley from the 93rd Highlanders, +hastily formed up, stop them. For a short while confusion and courage +were conspicuous. The British, taken unawares, fought like heroes. +Finally there followed the famous Light Cavalry Charge of which the +French general, watching it, said "<i>C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est +pas la guerre</i>." By whose fault the order was given for a deed which +will stir the blood at every English heart even at the day of doom, +Heaven only knows. The man who brought it was the first to fall. +Briefly told--it needs no grand words--it amounted to this. Six +hundred men and horses charged uselessly, desperately, defiantly, +<i>because they were told to do so</i>, down an open valley exposed to a +cross fire from guns posted on either side of them, and to a frontal +fire from the evacuated and abandoned forts. The charge commenced at +11.10. It was barely 11.35 when a hundred and sixty men, many of them +wounded, rode back, having done what they were told to do. The rest +lay on the held.</p> + +<p class="normal">But it was a victory for all that, and when night came, bringing an +hour or two of rest to Marrion, she spent it in going round with a +revolver she borrowed from Dr. Forsyth and putting wounded horses out +of their pain.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't forget to give them their password," he said, as he gave the +weapon to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked at him uncomprehending. "I forgot you hadn't lived in the +East," he went on, with a smile. "Say 'In the name of the Most +Merciful God' before you shoot."</p> + +<p class="normal">Once again there were tears in her eyes. She was learning much of this +strange man who looked on death so lightly, yet spent himself in +striving to evade it.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a busy time again after Balaklava; she had barely time to +think, scarcely time to rest. Yet ever and always, when her mind +travelled beyond the immediate present, those words with which Dr. +Forsyth had replied to her story came back to remembrance--</p> + +<p class="normal">"People who play Providence ought not to wonder."</p> + +<p class="normal">Was he right, she wondered, and then was ashamed of her own wondering.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will have to rest a little more," said the doctor to her one day +when she had been helping him. "You were quite wobbly just now. You +will be of no use, you know, unless you pull yourself together." And +he narrowed his eyes perplexedly. "You are not living in the present +somehow--you're reaching out to the future. Why?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why should I--what can the future hold for me! I will take a blue +pill."</p> + +<p class="normal">He grunted dissatisfaction, but was too busy to say more. Yet what he +said was true. She began to catch herself wondering, wondering. The +present was all-engrossing, of course; how could it be anything else +when she could do what she could do for the poor lads?--his poor lads, +who were so brave, so cheery. And then her mind would become vagrant, +and she would wake up from dreams with a start.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was one day just before Inkerman, the 10th of November, that Dr. +Forsyth came to her and said:</p> + +<p class="normal">"I want you. It's over at the cavalry hospital."</p> + +<p class="normal">His eyes seemed to her stranger than ever, and when she came out of +her tent to join him he glanced at her, then said brusquely:</p> + +<p class="normal">"You've forgotten to put on that diamond brooch of yours--the P.P. +one. Don't you remember when the sun glints on it, it's useful?"</p> + +<p class="normal">It was true. Often and often the eyes that had been asked to fix their +gaze on it had become full of dreams, and then slept.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stupid of me," she replied lightly. "I'll put it on!"</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_02.10" href="#div1Ref_02.10">X</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">The Cavalry Hospital was a little way out of the town, a quaint old +place with oleanders and orange trees set in tubs outside its white +verandahs. As they drove thither Dr. Forsyth told her something of the +case in which he wanted her help. It was a prisoner, presumably an +officer, but he refused name or rank. He had been found two days after +the battle, lying, with one leg smashed to bits, under his dead horse +in a little ravine. How he had lived was a marvel, for he was quite an +old man; but, not only had he done so, he had also retained +consciousness, and had addressed those who found him in perfect +English, congratulating them courteously on their marvellous exploit, +and saying he was proud to have crossed swords with them.</p> + +<p class="normal">A game old fellow, worthy of his hospital nickname "The General." He +had actually begged, before they moved him, that someone would be good +enough to search in the holster of the dead horse beside him for a +gold snuffbox which he had been unable to reach, and the lack of which +had, he asserted, been his greatest discomfort.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He has been snuffing away ever since," added the doctor, "so perhaps +he was right, for his leg was almost too crushed to belong to him. We +took it off at once; but now gangrene is setting in and if he is to be +saved we must have it off higher up. And the others won't risk it. He +is old--heart weak--and they say won't stand chloroform. I am going to +try. I've told him and he will take the risk. A good old chap, worth +saving. I don't believe he is a Russian. I think he is a Pole, and +blood is thicker than water."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion's first look at the patient as he lay propped up by pillows in +the small room whither he had been carried made her agree with the +doctor.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a fine old face, curiously reminiscent of someone she had seen +somewhere, with its hint of ruddiness beneath the grey of the hair and +its bold bright daring look. And he was very tall; his long length +almost outstretched the trestle bed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good morning, doctor!" he said, with a courteous salute which +included Marrion, and with a perfect English accent. "You have brought +your nurse, I see. Are we to begin at once?"</p> + +<p class="normal">There was no anxiety in his voice; only gentle raillery.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not quite yet, General," replied Dr. Forsyth. "I want you to have a +rest and sleep first. You are looking a bit tired; and your pulse"--he +stopped to feel it--"is tired, too. So I've brought Nurse Paul to sit +with you. She is a curiously soporific person. I shall be back before +very long," he added, more to her than to the patient.</p> + +<p class="normal">Left alone, Marrion went up to the bed, smoothed the rough pillows, +straightened the coarse blanket, which was all the bedding Balaklava +could produce, and said quietly--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, if you will close your eyes I believe you would sleep."</p> + +<p class="normal">But those sea-blue eyes--whose did they resemble?--someone she had +seen somewhere--remained wide, and watched her narrowly as she +returned to seat herself in the only chair. It was set full in the +sunlight, which showed her tall, slender, yet strong in her dark stuff +dress, a white handkerchief almost hiding her bright hair and pinned +to place by the little brilliant brooch beneath her chin. Truly those +keen eyes were over-watchful, and she was about again to suggest sleep +when his voice, full of insistent command, startled her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where did you get that brooch?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She replied at once with the truth.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It belonged to my father."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed--who was he?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He was a valet; but if you would only close your eyes I think you +would go to sleep."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you think so? I don't."</p> + +<p class="normal">His eyes showed more awake than ever; there was a hint of a smile on +the handsome old face.</p> + +<p class="normal">Still there was silence for full five minutes, and Marrion was just +about to make further suggestion of sleep when once more the voice +rose--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Will you please give me my snuff-box?--it is under my pillow +somewhere."</p> + +<p class="normal">She drew it out. A plain gold box with--her startled eyes caught the +old face--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes!" he said, and his voice had a jeer in it. "'P.P.,' as you see. +That is my name. So you are Marrion Sim's child--and I suppose mine. +Queer, isn't it, how these old stories crop up when one had almost +forgotten them?" He scanned her face narrowly. "Now you are angry. +Why should you be? Your mother was my wife, I suppose. At least, I +hadn't any other then. I have sons now"--his voice softened as he +spoke--"yes, sons to come after me when I am gone, as I shall be soon, +for that gay doctor of yours can't conquer Fate; and it is Fate that +has brought me here!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He lay looking at her with a certain kindly curiosity, while she, +startled out of herself, tried to realise that this was her +father--the father she had condemned and despised all her life.</p> + +<p class="normal">It seemed almost as if he saw into her thoughts, for his next words +touched them.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps it was cruel to leave her as I did; but I had no choice. If +you have anything belonging to us in you, you'll understand what the +call of the master means. And young Muir was never my master. He +befriended me, helped me to escape Siberia; but the other---- There's +a perfect passion of loyalty in our family which you may or may not +understand." He paused and a shiver of assent ran through Marrion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I--I think I do understand," she said, in a low voice.</p> + +<p class="normal">Yes, from the very beginning, as a small child, this passion of +protection, of loyalty, had been hers. Strange legacy from an unknown +father! He smiled content.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Glad to hear it. You're not a bit like your mother--you're like me, +and your brothers--half-brothers, I mean. So I had to go. It was just +after the break up of Europe and Napoleon, when half the political +refugees came to their own again--and he did amongst others. So I had +to go." Again he paused, and for the first time Marrion felt the touch +of kinship between them. He had to go; that was just it! She had had +to be loyal to Duke. "You are not in the least like your mother," he +said again suddenly, "you are like us." Yet again he paused. "Have you +anything you can give me to drink?" he asked. "I have something to say +to you, and I feel--limp."</p> + +<p class="normal">She gave him a restorative and he brisked up. Time was passing, but +she had learnt many things during the last month and knew that +physical rest would be impossible until the mental rest was assured.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't talk too much," she said. "I think I shall understand--what is +it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"This box," he said. "It holds--my credentials. There is a false +top--see, you press this spring--so."</p> + +<p class="normal">As he spoke the lid appeared to part in two, disclosing a folded piece +of paper.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't read it now--but it will tell you everything. I was on secret +service and it was of importance no one should know. It is of +importance still. If I hadn't met you I should have said nothing. But +now--you'll do me this good turn, I expect--for, after all, I am your +father."</p> + +<p class="normal">A cynical smile curved his lips, his blue eyes met hers in a +challenge.</p> + +<p class="normal">Almost staggered by the strangeness of what was happening, Marrion was +yet aware of something deep down in her which gave instant response to +this claim upon her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes," she said quietly, "I will do what you wish--father."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am obliged--daughter," he replied lightly. "Of course it is for +your eye alone. And now for heaven's sake give me some more of that +drink. I feel quite exhausted." He lay back smiling at her. "It is +better here," he remarked, "than in the north of Scotland." Then after +a pause, "I suppose I ought not to have married your mother; but she +was charming and it was very dull." After that he closed his eyes and +slept. The doctor, coming in after an hour, found him still sleeping, +while Marrion sat beside the bed holding the gold snuffbox in her +hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">He bent over the slumbering face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't think there will be any operation," he said quietly. "The +others were right. His mind has ceased to insist upon his body +surviving and so there is rest. It is well."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion looked up into his wise face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How did you guess?" she asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">He shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There was no guess," he replied; "you remember I had seen your +father. Then your extraordinary likeness. When by chance I saw the +famous snuff-box yesterday it became a certainty. For a day I decided +to say nothing. Then I saw the old chap was fighting death--putting a +strain on himself about something, and I thought you had better have +your innings."</p> + +<p class="normal">He did not ask any questions and she was grateful.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps you would like to stay," he added gently. "I don't think he +will wake again."</p> + +<p class="normal">And he did not. As the sunlight faded from the room the old man's +breathing became slower and ceased.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion stood looking down on him for a moment before she called for +aid. All the time she had been watching she had been thinking, +thinking; but she had arrived at nothing. Only deep down in her was a +glad feeling of inheritance--a consciousness that the dead man had +given her something, something that she held in trust.</p> + +<p class="normal">Was it only the gold snuff-box, she wondered vaguely, as, back in her +own tent, she touched the spring.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The bearer of this, Prince Paul Pauloffski----" She sat staring at +the words.</p> + +<p class="normal">Prince Paul Pauloffski was her father. Then she was gentle born. Then +she need not--</p> + +<p class="normal">With a rush all the things she need not have done crushed in on her. +She buried her face in the pillow as she sat on the edge of her bed +and muttered--</p> + +<p class="normal">"People who play Providence!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Of a truth the wise man with the strange eyes was right. Your past was +<i>karma</i>. You could not escape from it.</p> + +<p class="normal">After a time she sat up and began to decipher the rest. It was in +French, the <i>lingua franca</i> of Eastern diplomacy. Noble-born, poor, +devoted, daring. That was the essence of the credentials. The other +paper simply gave the address of the ancestral home and that of two +sons in the army. A memorandum as to keys and papers filled up the +back of the latter. She replaced them, shut down the spring again, +then, remembering she could show no right to the snuff-box for which +inquiry was sure to be made, took them out again. Nothing, somehow, +seemed to matter now. She had made her mistake, she must suffer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have all you want?" asked Doctor Forsyth, as she handed him +the box, and she flushed scarlet. Sometimes he seemed to her too +clever--he found out everything, everything!</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you," she replied frigidly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because--well, if you would like to possess it, I could buy it in for +you at the auction. The poor old general is--is unidentified, +remember."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, he is unidentified," she assented, remembering her father's +wishes, "but I should like to have it all the same."</p> + +<p class="normal">He brought it to her a day or two after. "That's your fee," he said +lightly, "you've earned it well."</p> + +<p class="normal">And he would take no refusal; so she replaced the papers in the secret +compartment and put the box away in her satchel against--what? That +future which was now always filling her mind. The present seemed +hardly to touch her at all. The doctor looked at her critically more +than once, but he said nothing.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then came Inkerman. It was on the 5th of November--almost three +months, Marrion told herself, since that wonderful day when Duke's +love had come to her amid flame and fire.</p> + +<p class="normal">It had been a disturbed night. A noise as of tumbrils had been heard +about the city. Was it possible that the enemy was taking advantage of +the dense night fog to run in commissariat or even ammunition? Nothing +could be done, however, save wait. So as the laggard day broke, the +advanced pickets looked keenly ahead. To no purpose. An impenetrable +wall of grey mist shut out all beyond a yard or two. Their very +comrades looked like shadows of men.</p> + +<p class="normal">"London partickler," remarked one sentry, stamping his feet to keep +out the chill, for it had been raining all night.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not yeller enough, save down Chelsea way. My Gawd! I wish I was +ther," replied the next.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wish I wurr anywhere but eight thousand strong on the heights of +Inkerman," put in an Irishman. "Begorra, I've bin dhrier in a bog!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"An' I've been wetter in the watter after the trooties on Don side," +evened an Aberdeenshire man sturdily. "Mush me, it's weary wark!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"An' thim ringing joy-bells for to spite us!" joked the Irishman, as +on the cold night air a carillon from every church in the city rang +out, echoing amongst the little scrub and wood-set ravines that went +to make up the valley of Inkerman. "Will it be a weddin', likely? +Begorra, I'd loose off me rifle as a salute if the powdther was dry!"</p> + +<p class="normal">So through the early dawn the pickets, outwearied, wet through, +beguiled the time. And though the dawn brought light, the mist lay +thicker than ever. Thick and grey the colour of a Russian's coat.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dods, mon!" cried the Aberdeenshire man suddenly, "what's yon?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Yon was indeed a Russian coat, not one but many, emerging out of the +fog not ten yards away.</p> + +<p class="normal">A sharp volley of musketry followed on the instant. The pickets may +have been sodden, but they were no cowards. They fought desperately, +retreating inch by inch, the alarm of their rifles telling that sixty +thousand Russians were on them surging through the newly awakened camp +of eight thousand. It was everyone to the rescue. Not one regiment or +two, but every available man. Then followed eight long hours of such +desperate fighting as, till then, had never been seen. It was not a +battle--it was a hundred battles in one; for every little ravine had +its opposing armies, cut off from the rest by the enveloping mist. +Again and again the grey line would advance a yard or two, covered by +its superior fire; again and again a ringing British cheer and the +point of the bayonet would drive it back a yard or two. Sometimes the +fight became a <i>mêlée</i> in which the British officers, dealing havoc +with their revolvers or swords, cut their way through the dense masses +of the enemy. No generalship was possible, each man fought for +himself, his Queen, his country, and wrote on the page of history a +record of undying pluck and almost incredible personal courage. But +the battle of Inkerman is, truly, beyond description. It was a day of +countless deeds of daring, of despairing rallies and desperate +assaults in the glens, the brushwood glades, the torrent beds of the +valley of the Tchernaya river. None knew how the balance swayed and +shifted. But a few were aware of the aid given in the nick of time by +the six thousand French troops who arrived at the double. None knew +whose was the victory till from the Russian ranks came the bugles of +retreat. And then, as the mist lifted, the whole hillside showed +strewn with corpses. But the eight thousand had kept at bay the sixty +thousand. Round Sandbag battery, from which the Guards were driven, +and which they retook four separate times, lay fifteen thousand +Russian dead, mute evidence of the hand to hand, back to back, +relentless tenacity with which the Household Brigade eventually fought +their way out of the surrounding masses of the foe. A little further, +where a single regiment held at bay over nine thousand Russians, the +broken stocks of the rifles showed how, when ammunition was gone, the +fight still continued.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Will anyone be kind enough to lift me off my horse?" said old General +Strangways, when riding to an exposed position in the hope of being +able to see something of what his men were doing, a shell literally +blew off his leg. And someone lifted him down doubtless; but there +were eight generals to be seen to, and close on a hundred and fifty +officers.</p> + +<p class="normal">As the official despatches read--</p> + +<p class="normal">"It does not do to dwell upon the aspect of the battlefield." True, +indeed, when out of the eight thousand some two thousand six hundred +lay dead or wounded among the fourteen thousand Russians for whom they +had accounted.</p> + +<p class="normal">Even Doctor Forsyth's pale, composed face grew paler, less composed, +and Marrion acting as his <i>aide</i> could scarcely get through the awful +days. She could not work as she wished to work, but neither could she +rest. Her whole being seemed to go out in one vast pity for the world, +a vast desire to protect, to recreate.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am sorry my hand shook," she said, almost pitifully to the doctor, +when she held she had failed to give him all the help she should have +done over a young lad who had been brought in badly hurt. "But he +seemed so very young. It made me think of the time when all these poor +boys were babies in their mothers' arms, warm, secure, sheltered."</p> + +<p class="normal">He looked at her gravely.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You did very well," he said. "Not quite so well as usual, perhaps; +but better than others. For all that, I am going to send you for a +rest--only a week or two," he added hastily, seeing her face set +in denial. "And it's as useful as anything else. You know there are +quite a lot of soldiers' wives down in the town. There ought not +to be, of course, but there are---- Why, there is one, at least, +in the camp! And one, an Irishwoman, has just died with her third +baby--shock--husband killed. And there is no one to see to them and +others. You'd better go--you--you like children."</p> + +<p class="normal">To tell the truth Marrion felt a strange gladness at the thought of +them, and the very idea of holding the newborn scrap of humanity in +her arms was enthralling.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For a week," she demurred. "You see I haven't been sleeping well."</p> + +<p class="normal">So down by the sea in a house built on the very rocks of the harbour +she went back to woman's normal life and rested for a while.</p> + +<p class="normal">For the first time she had leisure to notice the beauties of the +cliff-set coast, of which the bay was a mere shallow curve. The +vessels lying at the roads bobbed and swayed when the wind ruffled the +water, almost as if they had been at sea. But it was fine to see them +there; ships of the line, merchantmen, gun-boats, mail-steamers, all +coming and going. When the two elder children were asleep, Marrion +would wrap the infant in a blanket and go and sit on the rocks in the +sunshine, watching the boats go backwards and forwards to the shore, +and thinking of the far-off Aberdeenshire days when she could pull an +oar with any man. The harbour itself, a mere inlet, was crammed with +vessels of all descriptions; you could scarcely distinguish one from +the other, but the thirty outside showed bravely.</p> + +<p class="normal">"They say the anchorage is very treacherous," remarked Doctor Forsyth, +when he came to see how she was getting on, one evening. "I hear that +a captain of one of the transports has reported it dangerous; and has +been reprimanded for his trouble. He may have a chance of proving +himself right, for the barometer is going down steadily, I'm told; and +there is an uncanny feel in the air."</p> + +<p class="normal">That was about six o'clock in the evening. But the night was calm, +warm for the time of the year. It was in the small hours of the 14th +that someone relieving watch on one of the ships looked again at the +barometer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My God!" he exclaimed, "it has fallen two inches in the watch."</p> + +<p class="normal">Something was astir and the something came with appalling suddenness, +almost before the light spars could be shipped and things made taut. +And then? What was it? No storm ever seen equalled this boiling +cauldron of a sea, this furious blast of bitter wind that lashed the +waves of foam and sent them in driving clouds far over the heights. +The hawsers, the anchor chains, the cables strained and wrenched and +strained, while brave men, looking at the wicked rocks seen dimly by +the breaking dawn, knew that their only chance of life lay in the +holding of their anchors. An American ship was the first to go. She +drifted swiftly to the cliffs and disappeared, timbers and crew. The +next to follow was the ship whose captain had given the warning. It +made a brief fight for life. The port anchor held--masts, rigging, +were cut away. To no purpose. The cable parted, she drifted broadside +to the cliff, crashed against it once, twice. A few men were carried +by the breakers up the rocks, bruised, mangled. The captain himself +was crushed between the rocks and the ship, as he hung from a +life-line thrown by those on shore. Another and another and another +ship followed in quick succession. The roar of the tempest, the +crashing of timbers, the howling of the wind, the noise of the engines +straining full speed ahead to hold their anchorage against the storm, +drowned all outcry; the terror, the dismay, the despair of it passed +as it were in silence. Within the inlet harbour one vessel crashed +against the next and so, huddled in heaps, they drifted to pile +themselves in shivered hulks upon the shore. Helpless to help, +powerless to save, the spectators clinging like limpets to stone walls +and stanchions looked on while one after another the brave ships which +but the day before had seemed to spurn the waves in their pride were +beaten, buffeted, engulfed, submerged in the seething cauldron of surf +and spray and mad, infuriated billows, answering to the challenge of +the wind. The <i>Prince</i>, the finest vessel in the bay, new built, +powerfully engined, held out the longest. There were hopes for her, +but the sea willed otherwise. Slowly, slowly the anchor dragged, and +five minutes after she struck not a vestige of the good ship remained. +Meanwhile on shore the hurricane had brought disaster untold. Houses +were roofless, tents swept bodily into the deep ravines with their +occupants. It was noon ere the wind abated somewhat, allowing stock to +be taken of the damage. Far out at sea could be seen the hulls of the +vessels that had weathered the storm, mostly disabled, mastless; but +it was known that five-and-twenty vessels had gone down with +practically all on board.</p> + +<p class="normal">As the tempest subsided the bodies of the drowned were dashed by the +breakers against the rocks or cast up in tiny creeks upon the beach.</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion had taken her charges to a place of safety, the house she was +in being too exposed; and then, thinking she might help, went down to +the harbour. The waves still ran dangerously high, and over on the +farther side Englishmen were busy with lifeboats, rescuing some of the +crews of the smaller ships which, having held their anchors so far, +were still in imminent danger of going down. As she passed a knot of +local fishermen on her way to where apparently help might be required, +her eyes followed theirs and she realised to her horror that they were +calmly looking at a man--a mere boy--who about sixty yards from the +shore was clinging to a stationary spar, part doubtless of some +submerged craft. His face was clearly visible, the agonised appeal +vitalising its exhaustion, its pallor. Only for a few minutes more +could that grip hold! She was alert in an instant.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Go!" she cried vehemently in Russian. "Quick! A boat is there! +Quick--save--for Christ's sake, save!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Urged more by her actions than her words, the men fell in with them. +Ready hands, besides her practised ones, ran down the boat.</p> + +<p class="normal">But then, no one stirred! It was not an impossible task, it was only +dangerous. That, however, was enough. Why should they risk their lives +to save an unknown lad--a mere boy? But it was that very youth which +appealed to the woman, who stood for an instant with bitter anger at +her heart.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Curse you for cowards!" she cried as she sprang in and seized the +oars. The boat, already afloat, shot out from the shore by her weight. +The next instant she had the oars in and was fighting for her +life--and his. For his--yes, fighting, fighting, fighting for life to +something unknown. She set her teeth and dreamed with the appalling +swiftness of dreams of the far Northern sea. Yes, she was afloat on it +with Duke--no! it was Duke she had to save. It was Duke, or someone +belonging to Duke, who clung to that spar now so close, so close----</p> + +<p class="normal">On shore, a man passing along a quay hard by saw her, and ran down +with an oath.</p> + +<p class="normal">Almost there--almost! She glanced behind her, saw the young face; but +only for a second. The hold of the clenched hands relaxed, the head +fell back, the body slid into the water. Too late!</p> + +<p class="normal">No, not too late! Without one instant's hesitation Marrion was over +the side, keeping the oar in her left hand as she leapt.</p> + +<p class="normal">Now she had gripped something floating for a second and was on the +surface again, rising within arm's grip of the oar.</p> + +<p class="normal">In her ears a thousand voices seemed whispering--Safe, safe, safe! You +are the saviour, the creator, the protectress.--She struck out boldly. +Then a huge breaker took her to its breast and held her fast.</p> + +<p class="normal">When she came to herself she was lying on a bed and looking round she +realised that she was in the very room of the cavalry hospital where +her father had died. It had been the nearest place, she supposed. The +sunlight was streaming in. She was quite alone. Doubtless everyone was +busy--they always were.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then on a table within reach she saw a cup of milk and a glass. A +paper lay beside them. Scrawled on it, very large, was this advice--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Take these and go to sleep again!"</p> + +<p class="normal">It was Doctor Forsyth's writing and with a sense of safety she obeyed.</p> + +<p class="normal">When she roused again it was evening; the room was almost dark, but a +figure stood at the window. In an instant remembrance came back to her +and raised a curiosity which had doubtless been lying dormant, as she +had been, for nigh six-and-thirty-hours.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did I save the boy?" she asked suddenly in a loud strong voice.</p> + +<p class="normal">Doctor Forsyth, for it was he, smiled as he walked up to the bed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I really cannot say, my dear lady, whether you saved him or not. You +did your best, anyhow, and the same wave washed you both ashore." He +had been feeling her pulse as he spoke. "All right," he continued, "I +fancy you can get up if you choose. And you will be a bit busy, for +the mail steamer goes to-morrow and you should take the first +opportunity of getting home."</p> + +<p class="normal">She stared at him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Home!" she echoed. "I am not going home. I want to work--and I should +like to die out here. What is there for me to do at home?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Doctor Forsyth hesitated a moment. He was ciphering out conclusions. +The reason he had to give her was one which must, despite its joy, +give pain. Better therefore to speak out while her mind was still too +confused to grasp the immensity of either.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear lady," he said, and his voice was gentleness itself, "I must +deny all your statements. You are going home. You do not want to die +out here, and you will have plenty to do at home looking after"--he +paused--"the colonel's child."</p> + +<p class="normal">He turned and left her voiceless, but athrill to her finger-tips, +wondering why she had not guessed it before.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then with a rush came remembrance. "People who play Providence----"</p> + +<p class="normal">She gave a moan and turned her face to the wall.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_02.11" href="#div1Ref_02.11">XI</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">When Marrion arrived in England just before Christmas she found a +white world of snow. But it seemed to her not so white, so pure, so +chill as that soft pall which had lain on Marmaduke Muir's grave on +the Balkan heights, when, stopping at Varna on her way home on purpose +to visit it, she had found it unrecognisable under the heavy snow. For +the winter of '54-'55 was the severest on record, even in those +southern mountains.</p> + +<p class="normal">There had seemed no room there for her tears, her remorse, her pitiful +plaint to be forgiven for trying to play Providence. So she had come +away more stunned than ever.</p> + +<p class="normal">After all her long years of self-sacrifice to find that every step she +had taken was a mistake was bitter indeed; but to realise that if the +child lived--and this time she meant to ensure that there should be no +ransom of her life--she would have deprived Marmaduke's child of its +birthright was agony.</p> + +<p class="normal">Yet there was no escape. Even if Andrew Fraser had been +forthcoming--and no news of him had come since Alma's heights were +won--she still would not have made a claim. That was over and done +with. She had promised the old man none should be made, she had +persuaded Duke to do the same, and they must stand by their word.</p> + +<p class="normal">She brooded and brooded over this until once more self-sacrifice +became an obsession with her. Not even for the sake of his child +should Duke's honour be smirched. Besides it might be a girl, and then +it would not matter so much. Besides, and this clinched the question, +even with Andrew it would be hard to prove a marriage; for during +those few short years she had not troubled to act as a wife. The +knowledge that she was married had been enough for both her and Duke; +she had always been known as Mrs. Marsden. A lawsuit would be +dreadful--was unthinkable.</p> + +<p class="normal">No, she could do nothing to rectify her past mistakes. She must dree +her weird--she could not get away from her past. In that, as in all +things else, the doctor had been right. When the time came nearer she +would follow his advice and go to Edinburgh to the man who had +invented chloroform. Doctor Forsyth had said he was kind. She would +tell him her story and beg him to let her die and save the child.</p> + +<p class="normal">Meanwhile, there was the gold snuff-box, and it meant more to her now +than when it was given. It meant that there would be someone kin to +the child--someone who, perhaps, if her life was taken as toll, would +look after it. She must try while there was yet time; that was her +first charge.</p> + +<p class="normal">She set to work at once, therefore, to arrange for a visit to Poland. +The extraordinary likeness to her father of which he himself had +spoken, which Doctor Forsyth had noticed, and which she also had seen, +was too valuable an asset to be wasted. Yes, she would go over to the +ancestral house, give the gold snuff-box into safe keeping, and ask, +even beg, for recognition. Even if her father had been a widower, one +of the sons might be married, there might be a woman with a pitiful +heart to listen and sympathise. But ere she went she must write to +Peter Muir. To begin with, she could assure him that his brother had +been well looked after. And then she had nothing, positively nothing, +of Marmaduke's; and Peter, knowing the care she had lavished on him +all those years, might give her something. The ring he had always worn +was what she craved most. In those long ago days, though there was not +so very much difference in their heights, what he wore on his little +finger had fitted her second. It had been too large for her third when +he had wanted her to wear it in place of a plain gold band; so she had +bidden him wear it instead--little tender memory which seemed so +precious now.</p> + +<p class="normal">So she wrote in the fine slanting caligraphy of the day a somewhat +stilted little letter asking for what she wanted as a favour, not a +demand, since "though I have a claim, I have no right."</p> + +<p class="normal">In reply she received a friendly note.</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"<span class="sc">Dear Marrion</span>,</p> + +<p style="text-indent:5%">"If you will come and see me I will give you the ring, <i>and something +else</i>."</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">She had sent her letter to Peter's club, but this was dated from a +house in Palace Yard. So she went there. It was a fine old house. A +footman opened the door, a butler advanced to meet her, a majordomo +out of livery stood half-way up the stairs. Very different this from +the old days when the two brothers had been more or less out at elbows +all the time; but now, of course, Peter was heir to the estates.</p> + +<p class="normal">She found him, looking wretchedly ill, in a most luxurious study, and +his weak face lit up at the sight of her in the friendliest of +fashions.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sit down in a comfortable chair," he said, and there was a querulous +note in his voice. "Really, in times like these, when, as the +paraphrase runs, 'days are dark and friends are few,' and 'gathering +clouds' are the normal outlook, it is a duty to be comfortable and +bring up the average. When Marmaduke was--was here--he was for ever at +me for extravagance. Hated the Jews and used to borrow from old Jack +Jardine instead. Paid off something, but not all, I'm afraid; and +Pitt, the virtuous Pitt--he owed him thousands. However, as I was +saying, it's a duty nowadays to be comfortable, so I've any amount of +<i>post-obits</i> out--to say nothing of kites. They're always coming back +wanting a longer string or a new tail. But I don't care. The old man +may outlast me, and anyhow I can't live long; so it's a short life and +a merry one."</p> + +<p class="normal">Looking at his hectic flush and with a damp cold of his hands fresh on +the touch of hers Marrion did not feel inclined to combat his easy +philosophy.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And your father?" she asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">Peter shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p class="normal">"As usual, only more so." He paused and spoke more seriously. "Of +course Marmaduke's death cut him to the quick. But I won't speak of +that--I can't. He was the only one--and I believe it was the same with +the Baron. He showed it in anger. Won't see or hear of me, yet I'd do +my best for him. 'Pon my soul, that old man has been the curse of all +our lives."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion sat silent. In a way it was true. The old spider had enticed +more flies than he knew of into his net. But for her desire that +Marmaduke should not fall foul of his father----</p> + +<p class="normal">But that way lay madness. She was beginning to learn that she could +scarcely trust her own judgment. The whole thing was so pitiful that +reason seemed impossible.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And may I have the ring?" she asked, in order to change the <i>venue</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can have that, and a good deal more besides," replied Peter Muir, +giving her a queer look as he rose to go to a despatch-box that lay on +the table and which Marrion recognised as Marmaduke's.</p> + +<p class="normal">"When this thing came home," he continued, searching in it. "Oh, +here is the ring!" (He handed it to her, and she thrilled at the +touch of it, as she would have thrilled to the touch of the man who +had worn it.) "I did not look over the papers very carefully--I +hadn't the heart; but when I was looking for that ring yesterday, I +found--something--which interests you."</p> + +<p class="normal">He held out an envelope and she took it indifferently; few things +really interested her nowadays. It was addressed to Major Muir at his +club, and a vague wonder as to what it could contain crossed her mind +as she took out the paper it contained.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then she sat silent staring at it helplessly, for it was Duke's +counterpart of their marriage bond which she thought she had seen +burnt to ashes on that night when Marmaduke had said, "You have made +me feel like a scoundrel!"</p> + +<p class="normal">How idle, how unreal this world was! Could one be sure of anything? +Could one be certain that everything was not a dream?</p> + +<p class="normal">Peter's voice roused her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course it doesn't make much difference to us now. Marmaduke left a +very few pounds, and your third as wife wouldn't amount to anything. +But there is his portion when the peer dies, and I can't see why my +young oaf of a cousin who will come in eventually should have it; for +even if I outlive my father I shall have enough for my time. And you +were--well, you were a brick to Marmaduke--and to me, too. You always +denied this marriage: but I had a notion it was only denial. There is +no reason, therefore, why you shouldn't use this--it is proof positive +of marriage, and if I were you I would. You are the only survivor and +therefore have the action; besides, it would annoy the old man +extremely, and, upon my soul, he deserves all he can get."</p> + +<p class="normal">He had struck the wrong chord. To Marrion, absorbed in the one +enthralling question as to whether Marmaduke had known of this +survival or whether he had not, the suggestion that she was the sole +arbiter came as a shock.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We agreed," she said slowly, "to annul the marriage. He thought--I +know he thought--this paper had been burnt; and it doesn't make any +difference to our intention that it wasn't. And then we promised, we +both promised your father no claim should ever be made. Because Duke +is dead is that any reason----"</p> + +<p class="normal">She rose suddenly, walked to the fireplace, and threw the envelope and +its contents on the fire.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is what Duke meant," she muttered to herself helplessly.</p> + +<p class="normal">Peter Muir watched her with a half-cynical, half-admiring smile.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, you know best, my dear. And, of course, I personally would +never let you come to want." The capable woman looked at him, the +incapable man, with wondering tolerance. "Still, I must say I am +disappointed. I should like to have seen the governor's face when you +sprang it upon him. Remember he is the villain of the piece and, as I +said, deserves everything he can get."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That may be," replied Marrion, "but can't you see we were all at +fault? And we have to pay for it. We must--you can't get rid of the +past."</p> + +<p class="normal">She said the words over and over to herself, and it was not till she +reached her lodgings that she realised fully that the past had claimed +the future. Yet what else could she have done? If she had only known +what Duke would have said! Had he found out the paper, or had he not? +Was that the reason why in those short ten days of heaven he had +never, never, never alluded to the past? And yet that heavenly present +had become the past too, and had stretched out into the future. Had +she been taken by surprise? Had she made another mistake?</p> + +<p class="normal">She threw herself on her bed and cried quite foolishly, until +perforce, being physically unable to cry any more, her mind reasserted +itself and thought came again.</p> + +<p class="normal">One thing seemed clear. She could not possibly tell what Duke knew or +did not know; she could not be sure what he would have thought; and +she would have no more of trying to impose her views on him.</p> + +<p class="normal">That being so, the only person who had any say in the matter was Lord +Drummuir. For the sake of the heir he might absolve her of the +promise. But the child might be a girl, it might not live. Finally she +began to cry again softly, silently; the tears that count for utter +soul-weariness. And in truth she was weary--the one thing that seemed +clear being that she had failed; that she had mismanaged everything, +that everything seemed in a hopeless tangle. She was, in sober truth, +very near the limit of perfect sanity when, with a passport secured +through Peter Muir's Vienna influence, she started for Krakowitz, the +village on the Russian side of the Carpathians, near which the +Pauloffski estates lay. It was a difficult journey--one which she had +judged rightly had better be undertaken at once; but the change did +her good, and she was almost herself again before it came to a +conclusion; yet as the sledge with its tinkling bells and four horses +toiled up the last hill or two she felt depression come upon her +again. The outlook, supremely beautiful, was still melancholy to a +degree. Snow, snow everywhere. The towering peaks, the valleys, the +pine forests all burdened with it, like Marmaduke's grave had been. A +light burden, but so cold--so deathly cold!</p> + +<p class="normal">As the sledge dashed up the steep narrow drive and the pine trees that +swept their snow layered branches overhead some of their burden fell +in soft masses on Marrion's furs.</p> + +<p class="normal">The driver turned round with a smile and said in Russian:</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is absolution from sin, Excellency."</p> + +<p class="normal">Curious answer to her thoughts, and with the answer came a +remembrance, "Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white +as snow."</p> + +<p class="normal">And the remembrance brought confidence. Perhaps, after all, the tangle +consequent on her playing Providence might be going to be straightened +out.</p> + +<p class="normal">The front door of the unpretentious tower, with a building like a barn +built on to it, that stood magnificently on a little plateau +overlooking the valley with a faint glimpse of plain beyond, was wide +open, and at it, standing against, but not leaning upon the pilaster, +was the most striking figure of a woman Marrion thought she had ever +seen. Extreme old age had set its mark on the lined face, with thin +white hair drawn under a lace lappet; but the figure was that of a +girl of twenty. Extraordinarily tall, massive in proportion, but +upright as a dart and with activity in every curve and line.</p> + +<p class="normal">The lady gave a dignified bow as Marrion, still closely veiled as +protection from the bitter cold, came up the steps.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Princess Pauloffski?" she asked tentatively in French, for it was +impossible to think the figure that of a servant.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am Princess Pauloffski," was the dignified reply in slightly +guttural French.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Might I speak with you for a few minutes?" continued Marrion +nervously.</p> + +<p class="normal">The Princess smiled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, you are English! My son Paul was a long time in England or +Scotland," she replied in better English than her French. "You must be +cold; come in and take off your wraps."</p> + +<p class="normal">A few rapid words in the country dialect sent driver and sledge round +to the stables while Marrion, with an unforeseen thrill of pleasure, +recognised that this beautiful old princess must be her grandmother.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was looking for my sons and daughters who are dead," said her +hostess quietly as she led the way into the house. "The dead always +come back with the snow--and I have so many."</p> + +<p class="normal">Despite the warmth of the wide passage heated by a huge stove Marrion +felt a slight shiver run through her. How had her grandmother learnt +to speak of the dead as if they were alive?</p> + +<p class="normal">As she passed on to a sitting-room where a great fire of pine logs was +burning on an open hearth Marrion removed her veil and threw off her +heavy fur cloak.</p> + +<p class="normal">So, as she came out of the dark passage into the sunlight that +streamed through the sitting-room windows, she stood revealed. The +effect was not nearly as startling as she had anticipated, but it was +far more overwhelming.</p> + +<p class="normal">The old face lit up with sudden pleasure, the thin old hands were +stretched out--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Sacha!" she said. "Darling, after all these years! And you never came +before. Paul did--and he was your twin--though he has only just gone, +Sacha! I have wanted you so often."</p> + +<p class="normal">The tears sprang to Marrion's eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dear lady," she said, taking the outstretched hands and holding their +chilliness of age in her warm clasp, "I am not Sacha. I am Paul's +daughter!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Princess Pauloffski drew back and passed her hand over her eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Excuse me. I forget. I live so much alone and my dead come to see me +so often when there is snow. But if you are not Sacha----" She took a +step forward and scanned her visitor narrowly. "You say you are Paul's +daughter--an English daughter--did he then marry over there? For it is +true you are his daughter--even his twin was not more like. Come, sit +down, child, and tell me how you come by Paul Pauloffski's face?"</p> + +<p class="normal">It was almost incredible! Marrion as she obeyed her grandmother's +gesture felt inexpressible relief. Here there was no haggling, no +questioning. She was taken literally on her face value. It was a haven +of rest.</p> + +<p class="normal">Together they sat on the quaint old settle as if they had known each +other for years, while Marrion told her tale. She produced the golden +snuff-box, with its glittering monogram, and laid it in the old +Princess's lap; but she merely glanced at it. Her chilly old hands +were busy detaining the hand that had laid it there--the hand that was +still alive.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, Paul is dead," she murmured, half to herself. "Sacha died first +when she was so beautiful, like you. And Paul's wife died, and now his +two sons are gone; there is none left but me, and I am very old. And +now you come--tell me more, child!"</p> + +<p class="normal">And Marrion went on with the story. It was like a dream to be sitting +there in the streaming sunlight heart to heart as it were with someone +of whose very existence she had been unaware but one short half-hour +before.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Was he a commoner or noble?" asked the old princess quickly, when +Marrion mentioned her marriage.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He had no title then," began the latter.</p> + +<p class="normal">The old fingers tightened their curiously protecting clasp.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then you are still Princess Pauloffski! I am glad," was interrupted +with satisfaction. "We of this house do not change our names when we +marry beneath us, as I did; for, my dear, this, the soil"--she +waved her other hand in an all-embracing gesture--"was my father's, +and my father's father's. My husband was a good kind man. I loved +him--but---- Go on, child."</p> + +<p class="normal">And Marrion went on.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, God be praised!--God in His High Heaven be praised!" cried the +old Princess exultantly. "And you here--braving the cold, spending +your life!" She seized a little brazen bell that lay on the table +beside her and rang it violently. A very old maid-servant appeared, +and was addressed volubly in patois. But that many orders were given +Marrion judged by the frequent bob curtsey of the domestic who finally +trotted out in great haste.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not one word more, darling!" cried the old woman, forgetful of +everything save abounding sympathy. "Quick, to the fire! Toast your +feet--so! Lean back on the cushions! Make yourself quite comfortable. +Remember you have to think of someone besides yourself." She dragged +an armchair closer to the hearth with all the strength of youth. She +bustled the cushions to shape; she removed Marrion's hat and finally +kissed her softly on the forehead with a murmured, "God bless you +both!"</p> + +<p class="normal">It was too much. Marrion dissolved into slow quiet tears. For the +first time since Doctor Forsyth had told her why she must go home she +felt really that she was blessed amongst women--yea, amongst women +like this one!</p> + +<p class="normal">"But you don't know!" she half sobbed. "You haven't looked to see. I +may be an impostor."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not with that face, dearie," beamed the old Princess. "Cry on! The +tears will warm your heart. It has been cold, I expect, and little +ones don't thrive when the heart above them is cold. Ah, here comes +Magda with the posset!"</p> + +<p class="normal">And Marrion drank something hot and spicy and delicious while the +mistress discoursed to the old serving-maid and the old serving-maid +finally fell at Marrion's feet and positively worshipped her.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was all so bewildering, so unexpected, that Marrion just lay back +and let the slow tears trickle down her cheeks in quiet orderly +fashion. The puzzledom, the regrets of the last few months, seemed to +vanish. For a while, in stress of these new emotions, she forgot even +her grief for Duke.</p> + +<p class="normal">But as the two women, the old and the young one, sat and talked after +the sledge had been sent away, and Marrion had been simply commanded +to remain for at least a week to rest, there was enough of grief and +to spare in their conversation, besides Marmaduke's death--over which +the Princess was vaguely sympathetic--since, though he had been a +British soldier, he had, by the decree of Providence, not drawn his +sword as an enemy. And Marrion had been as an angel of mercy healing +Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics without distinction. Had she not +closed the eyes of her own father?</p> + +<p class="normal">"I knew that he was dead," said the firm old voice, "though he was +only reported as missing; for he came back as the children of this old +house always do come back to see it once more. Alexis and Danish both +came also--they were fine young fellows, and I wept when the news +came; but they died as Pauloffskis should die, fighting for the +master. And I have wept--dear heart! how I have wept to think that +never again would a real son of the real race rule over the barren +acres; for, see you, there are no near collaterals. The Pauloffski men +die young, fighting, as my sons and grandsons died. But now"--she +clasped her hands ecstatically--"now there will be an heir."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Supposing it is a girl," suggested Marrion, half laughing, half +crying.</p> + +<p class="normal">The old woman swept her hands out in an indignant unconcern.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What matters it? A child is ever a child! Ever a chip of the old +block, ever a fresh root of an old race. We have no Salic law here in +Russia. A princess is as a prince; mayhap better for the old acres, as +she does not spend so much money!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion, accustomed to the rigid rules made by men, listened amazed +and interested; but indeed every word that fell from Princess +Pauloffski's lips seemed to tighten the bond between them.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had often wondered when she found herself--as she had done so +often--at loggerheads with her <i>milieu</i> whether she was like her +father. Now she knew that she had inherited even her faults from this +strange weird old woman who lived a lonely life amongst the pine +forests, who saw dead people and yet ruled her domains with absolute +despotism. Marrion had never had a really intimate woman friend +before. She found one here, and, as if by magic, all her doubts and +fears vanished. There was but one thing she kept to herself, and that +was the possible difficulty which might arise in proving the future +little Prince or Princess Pauloffski's title, if legal proof of his or +her parents' marriage was not forthcoming. But it was only a possible +difficulty. For all she knew in this land where women seemed to stand +equal with men, a right coming to a child through its mother might be +inalienable. She did not know. She did not care to ask. For the time +being, she was happy as never before in all her life she had been +happy. The ten days' paradise with Duke had not been of this world. +But even so it had been restless. The happiness had been felt. Here +one did not think, did not feel. One was content.</p> + +<p class="normal">So she wandered with the old Princess, her grandmother--who, though +she was past eighty, still walked like a girl--through the pine woods. +She visited the peasants' cottages where, after voluble discoursings, +the women always fell at her feet and worshipped her. She came back to +frugal meals and quiet evenings, when the Princess would discourse +over every subject under the sun; for she was a great reader and +brought a shrewd feminine wit to bear on most problems. And the most +startling thing about it was that never for one instant did she admit +the slightest inferiority due to her sex.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Men think so," she would say, "but they are wrong. By nature they are +hunters and fighters and thinkers. It is the women who manage the +affairs. It will be better for the world when this is recognised."</p> + +<p class="normal">In those days this was rank heresy, and even Marrion hesitated to +admit its truth. But the most remarkable thing about her grandmother +was the stable youthfulness of her outlook. Nothing seemed to affect +it. Death itself made way for her strong personality.</p> + +<p class="normal">So the days passed to weeks, the weeks to more than a month, and +Marrion still lingered. A very different heritage this from the +storm-set cliffs, the rich fields of Aberdeenshire. And a different +ancestress this from the wild, wicked old man, spinning his +spider's-web round his very children.</p> + +<p class="normal">Should she, after all, go and ask him to let her break her promise for +the sake of the heir? Would it not be better to let the heirship of +evil slip, and choose the heirship of good?</p> + +<p class="normal">The question was still undecided when, after many delays, she set foot +on English ground again. And then the first thing to meet her eyes in +the newspaper was the death of Marmaduke, sixteenth Baron Drummuir. +There was a whole column about his many virtues; a vague reference to +"sprightly youth" summing up his vices. The article ended thus: "The +title descends to the late peer's third son Peter, who, we regret to +learn, is in a very delicate state of health. None of the late lord's +sons having any issue, the heir presumptive is a distant cousin, etc."</p> + +<p class="normal">Marrion felt vaguely relieved. Unless Andrew Fraser turned up--and he, +she knew, if he saw Marmaduke's child, would move heaven and earth to +establish his claim to the title--she was quit of Drummuir. But had +she any right to be quit of it? The old arguments for and against came +back; she began to worry over them once more, especially when the +verdict of the Edinburgh specialist to whom she told her tale with +passionate assurances that a child's life was always more valuable +than a woman's, came succinctly and to the point.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In this case, my dear lady, the question does not appear to me to +enter. With care I see no reason why both should not survive."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was something of a shock, for it materialised many doubts, many +difficulties.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_02.12" href="#div1Ref_02.12">XII</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">The spring had passed to early summer when Marrion, with her little +son in her arms, sat in a sheltered nook among the cliffs on the +Aberdeenshire coast, looking northwards over the curved sea-line +towards the promontory some fifteen miles away, on which she knew the +old castle of Drummuir stood as it had stood for centuries. But she +could not see it with her physical eyes, and even in her mental ones +it bulked but little.</p> + +<p class="normal">For the great protective possession of motherhood had overwhelmed her, +and her very regret and remembrance of Marmaduke only made her hug her +child closer--as his, and hers.</p> + +<p class="normal">At first when she realised that life spread before both her and the +little Marmaduke she had agonised over the thought that by her own act +she had deprived him of his birthright; but by degrees she became more +content as she persuaded herself that that fateful envelope could +scarcely have remained in Marmaduke's despatch-box without his +knowledge. Yet he had never mentioned it. If he had repented of the +action which at the time he had said made him feel like a scoundrel he +could have amended it. And he had not done so. Never, never had he +breathed one word to show that he held her, whom he had so tardily +learnt to love, as his wife.</p> + +<p class="normal">And here in her chain of reasoning she always stopped; for she knew--how +could she help knowing?--that if he had lived--if--if---- Always that +if, and if life had to be lived, it must be set aside. And life had to +be lived.</p> + +<p class="normal">This brought her back to the child in her arms, and she dreamt happily +enough of the future.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was not as if the boy had no home. As long as Princess Pauloffski +ruled over the pine woods, the quaint homely farmhouses, and the +devoted peasants, little Marmaduke would have more than welcome; for +every week brought ecstatic letters from that entrancing personality +which had already made such a mark on Marrion's character. In a way +she felt that she had never understood her own womanhood until she had +met with the all-embracing femininity of the brave, wise, old mind +which seemed to hold a grip of the whole world in its very isolation +and solitude.</p> + +<p class="normal">Yes, the child could have no better home; and even when the +commanding, lovable figure passed, it might be that he would remain as +heir.</p> + +<p class="normal">So Marrion was in a fever to have the child there, yet at the back of +her mind was a vague regret; and she had chosen the little +Aberdeenshire fishing village as the place for her convalescence +because from it she could see the view of her childhood and +girlhood--see right away to Rattray Head and beyond it----? The North +Pole!</p> + +<p class="normal">She was not afraid of being recognised. Fifteen miles in the country +effaces all familiarity, and she kept much to herself, taking the +child down with her day after day, to some sheltered sandy nook, where +in the hot June weather she could sit and dream--rather idly, it must +be confessed, for the sheer delight of living to have a living child +had absorbed her mind. So the days passed, until for the last time she +carried it down to her favourite beach.</p> + +<p class="normal">The dry warm sand was a perfect cradle for the child. She scraped a +little hollow in it at her feet, laid her treasure down, and sat on a +boulder beside it, in absolute worship. The waves, always restless on +the North Sea, tinkled a lullaby on the rocks hard by.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was roused by the sound of a footstep. So few folk ever passed +that she looked up surprised. Then she gave a glad cry and stood up +holding out both hands; for it was Andrew Fraser. He also held out a +hand, for one empty sleeve of his coat was pinned to his breast. He +came rapidly towards her, seemingly unobservant of the child, till +within a few feet of her. Then he stopped dead and stared at what lay +at her feet.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I didna know," he said, brokenly at last. "They didna say---- God, +but I'm glad, Marrion! Oh, Marrion, I'm glad!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Then without waiting to greet her he knelt down for a closer look. +"He's a real Drummuir," he went on ecstatically, "and he is Drummuir! +Ah," he added, a trifle irrationally, "that the colonel could ha' +lived to see little Lord Drummuir!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Something gripped at Marrion's heart.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't let us speak of that now, Andrew," she said hastily. "I want to +know--everything--your poor arm----"</p> + +<p class="normal">But Andrew for the time being was entranced.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's me," he said, "is wanting to know! And how old will he be? And +why did the doctor fellow no tell me when he tauld me aboot you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">It was not easy to beguile him from the subject, but bit by bit +Marrion got from him a sparse account of how, he had been a Russian +prisoner, how he had lost his arm, had been exchanged as disabled, and +in Balaklava had come across Doctor Forsyth, who had given him an +address in Edinburgh where he would be sure to hear of Marrion. How it +was a doctor fellow who had been too busy to do more than supply him +with the name of the village, whither he had come to find----</p> + +<p class="normal">Here Marrion, recognising that all roads must lead to the one point, +took heart of grace and said gently--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Me and my child. It has made me very happy, Andrew. And I am so glad +you found me to-day, for I am going away to-morrow."</p> + +<p class="normal">Andrew stood up.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Goin' whaur?" he asked sharply. "Tae Drummuir? An' why are ye not +there the now?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because I have no right there, Andrew," she replied, feeling herself +tremble, despite the boldness of her words.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ye may have nane, woman," he broke in sternly, "but your child has +the right to all! Are ye gain' tae steal it frae him? An' it's +foolishness tae talk your way; ye ken fine that before God and man +ye're the colonel's wife!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That may be," she retorted, "but as I told you long ago there is no +legal proof of it--and I do not choose--I have settled what I think +right, and I can have no interference."</p> + +<p class="normal">"An' is it what <i>you</i> wish that is tae take the birthright from an +innocent wean that canna speak for himself?" burst in Andrew +passionately. "I tell ye, Marrion, that neither you nor the +colonel--God rest him for a brave gentleman--have any right tae order +yon poor scrap o' God's makin'. I tell ye he was born to be Drummuir +o' Drummuir, an' Drummuir o' Drummuir he'll be till the last trump!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He paused, breathless with anger and resentment while Marrion stood +speechless, the babe between them lying placidly asleep.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But Andrew----" she began helplessly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I'll no thole it," he continued, his whole ugly face aflame +with an emotion which made it almost beautiful. "See here, Marrion +Muir--for that you are--I've lived my life thinkin' ye were abune me, +but ye'll be beneath me if ye steal the very name from that poor +bairn. But ye sall not do it. I'll awa to Peter Muir and tell him----"</p> + +<p class="normal">The threat roused her and she turned on him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can do as you like, Andrew; but it will be no use. You can't do +anything without me. I wish you would be reasonable and listen! We +promised--the colonel and I promised--we both promised--and we +promised each other----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ye had na the right tae promise!" he interrupted fiercely. "An' I'll +hear nae mair o' your woman's clatter. Yon babe's my master's son an' +Lord Drummuir, sae I doff ma cap to him."</p> + +<p class="normal">Which he did in the stateliest fashion, and then stalked away without +another word, leaving Marrion confronted with a host of new +difficulties.</p> + +<p class="normal">She lifted the child up and carried him back to her lodgings, feeling +she could do nothing to save the situation. There was little hope of +getting Andrew to listen to--no, not to reason, that had long ceased +to have any part in the strange catalogue of mistakes--but to listen +to what she had to say.</p> + +<p class="normal">And what had she to say? Her mind began laboriously on the past, +counting her own mistakes. Why had she done this? Why had she done +that? It was fear that had made her do everything--fear of the old man +who sat like a spider in his web, the old man whom his own son had +wished her to anger, because he had been throughout the villain of the +piece! But would he have been so if she had given him the chance?</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am sorry the little chap died; he would have been game."</p> + +<p class="normal">The memory of those parting words stung her to the quick. What a fool +she had been I Why had she not gone at once to Lord Drummuir and told +him the truth? She had meant to do so, but she had been too late--too +late! Well, there was no use crying over spilt milk.</p> + +<p class="normal">So she sat going over and over the whole thing again, and yet again, +until late in the evening the little lassie of the lodgings brought +her a message that a man who was lying at Mistress McMurdo's was +feelin' ill and would like to see her just for a little. The child +being asleep she slipped over to the cottage to find Andrew Fraser +once more a prey to his old enemy, tropical fever--a quaint, insistent +enemy which, after lying low for years, will seize advantage of any +disturbance of mind or body to reassert itself.</p> + +<p class="normal">So there he was, as she had seen him before, trembling and shaking, +with a glitter in his eyes and a flush on his face, lying huddled up +under his military cloak on the sofa. Once again he slipped his feet +apologetically to the ground as he saw her and essayed to stand +straight--a pathetic sight, his body weak, his mind strong--so strong!</p> + +<p class="normal">"I'm sorry, ma'am," he said, with studied ceremony, "if I, was +over-heated the day, for you're my master's wife. But it's no oorsels, +ye see. It's just Providence, an' we daurna play Providence. It's +dangerous work. Sae I couldna help it, ma'am. The wean's Drummuir o' +Drummuir----"</p> + +<p class="normal">And there he was going over the old ground again and again.</p> + +<p class="normal">She could but try to soothe him and leave him, knowing in her +heart of hearts that nothing she could say would ever move him one +hair's-breadth from what he thought right.</p> + +<p class="normal">She spent a restless night; she could scarcely do otherwise.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you gaun to steal the very name frae the puir bairn?" was +sufficient to keep her awake. Once more she found herself in a +maelstrom of doubt. Wearied out, the first blink of dawn rising clear +and lucent over the dark sea seemed to her a godsend. She crept out of +her bed leaving the child asleep, and, dressing herself, wrapped a +cloak about her, and so seating herself on a rock at the very edge of +the cliff within earshot of the cottage where she lodged, set herself +once more to watch the peaceful coming of light, which had so often +brought her wisdom.</p> + +<p class="normal">So had it looked that dawning when she and Duke--ah! always, always +she and Duke! How curiously Fate had joined them. Yet she had +disregarded Fate's handiwork even while she had told herself she had +been aiding it.</p> + +<p class="normal">Far over in the east the light was growing. So it had grown that +morning when she and Duke swam----</p> + +<p class="normal">She seemed to feel his arm on her shoulders, the touch of her arm on +his neck, the cold kiss of the bitter sea stinging soul and body to +new joyous life. She saw his happy face alight with laughter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Look! Isn't it worth it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Yes, it had been worth it, well worth it! And even as on that distant +June morning while she looked, the restless dark horizon of the sea +seemed to melt and soften, and the path of radiant gold sent by the +first ray of the rising sun seemed to touch her feet and bring her +answer--</p> + +<p class="normal">Yes, life was well worth it indeed!</p> + +<p class="normal">Who was she to cavil at what Fate had done? Who was she to worry over +what she thought she had done? Comprehension came to her, she saw a +clear and ordered sequence in which even her mistakes bore their +fitting fruit. Life seemed to hold no cares, no errors, no +animosities.</p> + +<p class="normal">What was it Duke had said about taking too much wine that night?</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shan't do it again, but I shouldn't have had this perfectly +stunning time if I hadn't, should I?"</p> + +<p class="normal">So it was in her life. She had had joy through her mistakes. She and +her Love had been alone in the Great Sea of Time battling with the +waves as best they could.</p> + +<p class="normal">Nothing else mattered. They might be waifs on that sea, but they were +together.</p> + +<p class="normal">She slipped to her knees and watched the sun rise. Over how many +mistakes, how many wasted minutes and opportunities and lives!</p> + +<p class="normal">Wasted? No--not wasted. Even mistakes had their appointed place. Even +the old man who had made the castle over yonder a spider's-web of evil +was part of the Great Plan.</p> + +<p class="normal">Slowly the light grew. The cottages below in the tiny fishing village +began to send up thin blue threads of smoke. The figure of a man or a +woman began to pass along the narrow causeway. And someone came up the +steps towards her cottage, then paused, seeing her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ye'll be Mistress Marsden likely," he said, "for I've no seen ye +before. There's a saxpence tae pay, but ye can gie it to the lassie +for me till I come back."</p> + +<p class="normal">The postman handed her a letter as he spoke and went on his way, for +his round was a long one.</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked at the envelope curiously. The original address was almost +undecipherable, being defaced with innumerable new ones, or brief +notices, "Gone away;" "Try so and so."</p> + +<p class="normal">Still the name was hers. A bill likely, sent to her old London address +and forwarded to the Crimea and back again. Twice, so it seemed to her +as she tried to decipher the postmarks.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then she opened it, noting with a vague spasm of memory that a curious +embossed presentment of foxhounds in full cry ran right across the +flap. Where had she seen that device before?</p> + +<p class="normal">Surely on some envelope that Marmaduke--</p> + +<p class="normal">The writing too was vaguely familiar. The writing of a person with +brains, but strangely shaky and irregular:</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"<span class="sc">Dear Madam</span>,</p> + +<p style="text-indent:5%">"Since my son Marmaduke has chosen to deprive me of the possibility of +an heir by dying--not even on the field of battle--out at Varna, I +return the enclosed. I don't know why I kept it. To have a hold over +the young man at bottom, I expect. Perhaps for other reasons. One +doesn't often meet women of your description. Anyhow, I haven't.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can now claim your position and dowry, which my d----d cousin can +very well afford to pay.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Besides, you are worth providing for; more, at any rate than my Lady +and Penelope, and I have done that. So I die quits; except for my son +Peter. Why didn't he get cholera instead of Marmaduke? I could have +spared him.</p> + +<p style="text-indent:50%">"Yours,</p> + +<p style="text-indent:5%">"<span class="sc">Drummuir</span>."</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">The enclosure was the copy of the marriage lines which she thought she +had seen the old lord in the act of destroying as she had left the +room.</p> + +<p class="normal">Yes, across the middle fold the beginning of a tear slit the paper.</p> + +<p class="normal">She sat with the letter in her hand until the cry of a child made her +rise hastily and go to her task of motherhood.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_02.13" href="#div1Ref_02.13">L'ENVOI</a></h2> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"And you mean to say," said Peter Muir, when he had heard her tale, +"that knowing this imp," he looked at the child she carried, "who is +to turn me out, was on the way you burnt that paper found in +Marmaduke's despatch-box? I give up. Thank God one does not often meet +women of your description!"</p> + +<p class="normal">But as he spoke he was looking in the child's face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He will be the image of his father," he remarked at last, "and, dash +it all! but I am glad, yes, glad he's here!" Then, with a shrug of his +shoulders, he turned away. "It will be a sell for the Jews, I'm +afraid, though it serves the horse-leeches very well right!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It need not be a sell at all," replied Marrion. "The child shall have +the title--he must have that--but not one penny of the money shall he +take till the debts are paid, Mr. Peter! I know the law. I have +studied it to find out where I stand; and you are the boy's natural +guardian. I"--she spoke bitterly--"am only the mother. I have no +say. But I am going to buy freedom from you. Live here--promise me +that--use the monies as your own. Keep the old place up for the child; +but I will take him for myself. I will bring him up away from the evil +traditions of this old house, and when he comes back to it, a man +grown, he will be different--even from his father--even, I hope, from +me!"</p> + +<p class="normal">So she said then, but as the years passed little Lord Drummuir came +more than once to visit his invalid uncle, for Peter, away from the +excitements of town life, defied the doctors for a time. And from the +Carpathian pine woods the little lad travelled more than once to a +solitary cairn on the Balkan hills by the side of which Andrew +Fraser--who never ceased rejoicing that his plain speaking had shown +Marrion the wickedness of stealing the bairn's name--would tell him +marvellous tales of the dead colonel, his father, and of his prowess +in every way.</p> + +<p class="normal">The honest fellow had but one care. The double title was the fly in +the honey-pot, and when the old Princess would ask, "Where is Prince +Pauloffski?" Andrew would invariably reply: "Lord Drummuir is waiting +on his mother."</p> + +<p class="normal">Thus the game of life went on and it was well worth it.</p> + +<p class="normal">But perhaps, as Marrion often told herself, the honours lay with one +who in that life had been the curse of his family.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr class="W20"> +<h5>BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD ENGLAND</h5> +<br> +<br> +<br> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Marmaduke, by Flora Annie Steel + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARMADUKE *** + +***** This file should be named 39857-h.htm or 39857-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/8/5/39857/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by +Google Books (University of California) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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/license + + +Title: Marmaduke + +Author: Flora Annie Steel + +Release Date: May 29, 2012 [EBook #39857] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARMADUKE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by +Google Books (University of California) + + + + + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + 1. Page scan source: + http://books.google.com/books?id=RWkpAQAAIAAJ + (University of California) + + 2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. + + + + + + + Marmaduke + + + + + + + Marmaduke + + + + By + + Flora Annie Steel + + Author of + "On the Face of the Waters," "A Sovereign Remedy," + "King-Errant," etc. + + + + + New York + Frederick A. Stokes Company + Publishers + 1917 + + + + + + + _Printed in Great Britain_ + + + + + + BOOK I. + + + + + CHAPTER I + + +"Hello, Davie! Is that you, Davie Sim?" cried a joyous young voice; +then it changed suddenly, with a verve which showed pure delight in +the unfamiliar yet familiar dialect, from correct English to the +broadest Aberdeenshire accent. "Eh, mon, ye're joost the same ow'd tod +o' a pease-bogle wi' yer bonnet ajee, an' a crookit mou'; yen hauf +given tae psaulm singin' and tither tae pipe-blawing!" The voice +paused a bit breathlessly as if it had exhausted itself over the +unwonted exercise, then went on in slightly less aggressive Doric. +"Well, I'm blythe to see you lookin' sae weel. An' is that tall lass +Marrion?" + +An easy gallantry came to his tones as the speaker, a fine young +fellow of obviously military bearing, turned to a girl who stood very +still by the window. + +"By gad," the young man went on with the same easy condescension, "you +have grown into a pretty girl! Give us a kiss, my dear; you know you +used to be fond of 'Mr. Duke' in the----" + +Then suddenly silence fell between the two young people. Something in +the tall still figure by the window seemed to abash the tall figure +making its way easily towards it, and left them looking at each other +critically. + +They were as fine a couple physically as God ever made to come +together as man and woman. They were almost alike in stature and +strength--she slightly the smaller--and both seemed equal in abounding +health, though he was florid and she somewhat pale with the pallor of +the thick creamy skin that goes with red-bronze hair. + +She spoke at last, the thin curves of her mouth clipping her words +sharply. + +"There's mony to tell me yon and crave kisses since you an' me was +hafflins together, Mr. Duke," she said coolly. "I beg yer pardon, +Captain Marmaduke!" + +The Honourable Captain Marmaduke Muir, second son of the sixteenth +Baron Drummuir of Drummuir, home on leave after an absence of ten +years on foreign service, looked at the grand-daughter of his father's +head piper and general majordomo as if considering anger. He was too +good looking to be accustomed to such rebuffs from pretty girls, +especially when they were manifestly beneath him in station. Then +suddenly he laughed. The years had fled, and he was a boy again in +fast fellowship with a small hoyden of a girl; a girl four years his +junior, but infinitely his superior in common sense; a girl who had +kept him out of many a scrape and who hadn't scrupled on occasion to +box his ears, young master though he was. With a sudden flash of +memory the occasion came back to him, and he saw himself, a strong lad +of fourteen, wading a swollen stream with the ten-year-old girlie on +his back, a string of handsome trouties he had been catching hanging +like a tail from his hands clasped behind his burden. He heard the +agonised cry in mid-stream, "They're slippin', Maister Duke, they're +slippin'! Let me down till I hoosen them up!" He heard the stiff +reply: "Let 'em slip; I'll no let ye down tae soak ye through!" And +then the woeful battle of wills that ensued, while the trouties +slipped from the string one by one. A battle which ended in a sobbing +girlie ankle deep in water, an empty string, and a defiant lad with +young crimson ears. He felt his mature ones tingle with amusement at +the recollection, and at the recognition that the girlie was as ready +of resentment as ever. + +"Ods bobs, Marmie!" he cried, his face full of mischief. "It seems +you've no forgotten the whaur-aboots of my lugs," and his hands went +up to his face as if to protect them. + +The girl crimsoned. + +"I begged your pardon then, Captain Marmaduke, and I beg it again if +I've offended----" she began defiantly. + +He interrupted her with an absolutely charming smile, a deference that +was unanswerable. + +"And I beg yours for remembering what I should have forgotten. So we +are quits and can surely shake hands on it like the good friends we +always were, and"--here his voice took on additional charm--"always +will be. Of that I am sure." + +His bold blue eyes were on hers frankly, and she gave him back his +look steadily. So they stood, shapely hand in shapely hand, for a +second. Then his left fingers caught at hers and felt the first one +inquisitively. + +"Hullo, seamstress, that's new?" he queried, evidently pleased with +his own cleverness in detection. + +Marrion Paul drew her hand away sharply. + +"I've been at the dressmaking in Edinbro' these six years since +grandfather married," she replied coldly. + +Marmaduke looked at Davie Sim incredulously. + +"What, Davie! You old reprobate, who the deuce did you get to marry +you?" + +There was no answer. Possibly Davie did not hear, for he was rootling +round the kitchen fire with the poker--a most unnecessary task that +sweltering June day. Perhaps, also, it was flame-reflection which made +his face show red under the wide Tam o' Shanter bonnet he invariably +wore in his own house; why it would be difficult to say, except that +outside the precincts of home he was for ever doffing it before +somebody or another. For Davie Sims had been born hereditary servitor +to the Drummuir family, and had every intention of dying in the same +position. + +"He married Penelope from the castle," came Marrion's voice +relentlessly, "and his lordship gave her away." + +"The devil he did," remarked the young man helplessly to both pieces +of information, after a moment's pause due evidently to mingled +outrage and amusement. "Well," he added, in male defiance of the +woman's point of view, "I expect she makes him an excellent wife." + +"Most excellent!" assented Marrion, with a curl of her lip. "So, as +she happens to be gone on a visit, I have come back to stay a while--a +little while--with grandfather." + +Her diction, bar the one slight slip, was as free from provincialism +as his own, and Marmaduke Muir looked at her appreciatively. She was +different from the hoyden he had left. Perhaps in Edinburgh she had +gone in for classes. And she was better looking too, though much too +tall for a woman. Then her mouth, though passable in its thin decided +curves, was far too wide for beauty. + +Still, she was altogether sufficiently pleasant to look upon for +Marmaduke to feel it necessary for him to charm. Not that either by +nature or art he was a lady-killer. To do him justice, he would have +felt just the same had the attraction been male or neuter. Simply he +always desired to please what was pleasant to himself, and his tastes +were catholic. + +So he said almost sentimentally: + +"Well, I am very glad you're here. We shall be able to spend our +birthdays together as we used to in the old times. Eighteenth of June! +Waterloo day! Good heavens, I can scarcely believe that I shall be +thirty tomorrow, and you?" He positively blushed, for in the year 1848 +it was almost indecent for an unmarried woman to be six-and-twenty. +Marrion, however, had no such qualms. + +"Twenty-six," she said calmly; perhaps she knew she did not look it. + +"Anyhow," he went on hastily, as if to escape from an unwelcome fact, +"I have brought you a present from foreign parts." He had not even +thought of one; in fact, he had only given his old playmate a passing +remembrance, wondering whom she had married; but he knew his boxes +contained enough trifles for the home folk to enable him to spare one, +and he could no more help trying to charm than he could help +breathing. "And now," he added, "I must be off. Tell me, Davie, like a +good soul, where I am likely to find his lordship this time of day. +I'm cursed early," he continued a bit ruefully, "but that's the worst +of me. I'm always in such a devil of a hurry." + +"You came across the ferry?" asked Marrion sympathetically. + +He turned to her at once. + +"Yes. It was the first coach. I wouldn't wait for the later one. And +then when I got to the Cross Keys and saw the old place over the +water, I wouldn't wait to go round by the bridges. So Andrew--you +remember Andrew Fraser, of course?--'pon my soul, he's been a +first-class orderly ever since he joined, and I don't know what I +should have done without him; nursed me like a mother when I'd fever +and all that sort of thing--a real honest good chap. Well, he got out +the valise and carried it down the ferry road. I didn't know, you see, +that the ferry was disused; but we luckily found someone's boat--and +here I am--too soon!" + +"I'm thinkin'," said Davie Sim, with caution, "that his lordship at +this hour will, mayhap, be inspec'in' the pigstyes." + +"Pigstyes!" echoed Marmaduke theatrically. "Say not so! Dash it all, I +can't do prodigal in a pigstye! I demand a byre and a fatted calf. +Well, I suppose I had better ring at the front door and ask the butler +if my Lord Drummuir is at home like any orra' stranger. So--ta, ta, +for the present!" + +He waved an easy hand to Marrion as he passed out. She hesitated a +second, then followed him into the sunlit courtyard and called-- + +"Captain Duke!" + +He turned, looking so handsome and debonnaire that her purpose almost +wavered. Why should she pour gall and wormwood into his cup of life +before circumstances made the bitter inevitable? Still, since it had +to come, and that shortly, it was as well he should be prepared for +it. So much depended on the relations between him and his father that +it was better he should not be taken unawares. + +"If you are wanting to see his lordship the now," she said, her +phrasing astray once more under pressure of other thoughts, "you wad +find him in the south avenue. He was there when I came frae the town +the now, cutting away at yen of the big beech trees." + +"Cutting at a big beech tree! What the deuce do you mean?" queried +Marmaduke incredulously. + +She replied calmly, conclusively. + +"Just that he must hae gotten a letter from your brother the Master. +It aye angers him so that he orders out the men with the hatchets. +It's as well you should know." + +He stood staring at her. It was no news to him, of course, even though +mails had been infrequent during those ten years, that there was an +open breach between his father and the heir, nor was he unaware of his +father's savage temper; that, and the impossibility of getting a +decent allowance to enable him to live in England being responsible +for those same ten years of foreign service. But distance softens +shadows; besides, the very idea that a man could go and cut down +historical trees just to spite another man was foreign to Marmaduke's +nature. + +"Oh, curse the whole lot!" he broke out at last. "Upon my soul I'll go +back to the East--it isn't half a bad place--or wouldn't be if one +only had a little tin--besides, I must get the money for my majority." + +His words, following his impulsive thoughts, made Marrion smile +indulgently. + +"I wouldn't if I was you, Mr.--I mean Captain Duke," she remarked, +with a twinkle in her eye. "Mayhap, my lord will bury the hatchet now +you're home, if ye don't anger him." She looked pretty with that +half-mischievous smile, and the sight cheered Marmaduke instantly. + +"What a wise lassie you always were, Marmie," he said, with wilful +charm, "and what a lot of scrapes you've gotten me out of, and what a +lot you'd get me out of, if you were only bound up with me like the +Shorter Catechism was by mistake with Tristram Shandy--d'you remember? +Good lord, I've forgotten my duty to my neighbour! However, here goes, +and I'll do my best not to anger the baron! You see, I must get the +money for my majority," he added, half to himself, as he spun round on +his heel rather dramatically. + +In fact, there was no denying it, the Honourable Marmaduke Muir was a +trifle flamboyant as he swaggered across the courtyard which led from +the old keep of Drummuir Castle to the southern and modern portion of +the building. Marrion Paul watched the figure with a certain distaste. +Perhaps, she thought, it was only the ultrafashionable dress, the all +too palpable fit-out of a smart military tailor, eager for a bill, +that clashed with the grim old walls. Inside he had seemed much the +same as she remembered him. Kindly, affectionate, not over wise, but +charming, absolutely charming. And, after all, who was she to judge a +gentleman born? That question was a hard one to answer. Her mother had +undoubtedly been Maggie Sim, old Sim's daughter, who had been maid to +the first Lady Drummuir. But her father had been Paul, the foreign +valet, whom Lord Drummuir's younger brother had brought over with him +when he was invalided from the diplomatic service. A very decent, +respectable sort of chap, as old Sim admitted even while he objected +strongly to his daughter's marriage. Not without reason it turned out, +since Paul, after tending his sick master with unremitting care and +resource until his death, disappeared the day of the funeral, leaving +his young wife expecting her first child. And he had never been heard +of since. That Mrs. Paul should pine away and die early was, the folk +about said, only to be expected, for Paul, despite his foreign birth, +had been a man to be regretted--a man who had a way with him which his +daughter had inherited. She, however, would never hear a word in his +favour, and nothing made her more angry than to find in herself little +traits of character unaccountable to her sturdy Scots upbringing. + +So she told herself that she was no judge of what a gentleman's dress +or deportment should be, and turned at the sound of a footstep coming +through the archway of the keep behind her to greet the newcomer with +a more effusive welcome than she would otherwise have given the young +man who came towards her carrying a valise on his shoulder. He set +down his burden and grasped her outstretched hand in a sort of +transport. + +"Ah, Marrion--Marrion, my lass!" he cried. "God, but it's gude to see +you once mair!" + +The words summed him up from the crown of his head to the tips of his +toes. You might have spent long hours in analysing Andrew Fraser's +mind and body at that particular moment, and you would have got no +nearer the mark, since for the time being existence was sheer gladness +because of the sight of a woman. + +"And I've brocht him safe home as ye bade me when I joined. Ye'll have +seen him yerself. He's fine, isn't he?" + +There was a world of pride in his tone; the pride of the +soldier-servant who is responsible for the smartness of his master's +outturn. + +"Aye!" assented Marrion, grimly recognising that the figure before her +was more to her mind in some ways than the other which had gone +swaggering through the quadrangle. This one was broader in the chest, +simpler in its ugly angular face and small pathetic-looking blue eyes, +and simple--oh, so irritatingly simple!--in the devotion writ large in +its every look, its every intonation. + +"Well, I'm glad you're both home safe," she said, putting the barrier +of refined speech between them. Then a resentment, of which she was +innately ashamed even while she yielded to it, made her add: "And I +suppose you've brought home a wife on the strength of the regiment?" + +Andrew Fraser stared for a second, then shouldered his valise again +deftly-- + +"Ye ken fine, Marrion Paul," he said sternly, as he went on, "that +there never was but ae woman in the wurrld for me, an' never will be." + +And so he left her feeling small and mean. + +She watched him across the courtyard following on his master's steps. +A fine figure of a man. No swagger there, nothing to clash with the +grey old walls. + +But that made no difference, no difference at all. That was the worst +of it. + + + + + CHAPTER II + + +Marmaduke Muir had meanwhile found his familiar way through the low +arch which, piercing the extreme corner of the eastern side of the +quadrangle, formed the connecting link between the older part of +Drummuir Castle and the new. For the rest, this eastern wall showed +blank save for a loophole or two. It was, in effect, simply the back +wall of what in Scotland is called the square; that is, the +continuation of stables, cow-houses and woodsheds which appertain +to a country mansion in the north. It had evidently been built as a +wind-screen to the western wing, which, overlooking the river, had +been the residential portion of the house before the southern wing had +been added to close in the quadrangle. Altogether it was a fine old +place, magnificently situated in the slight hollow which dipped +between the high old red sandstone cliffs of the Aberdeenshire coast, +and the lower yet still high old red sandstone cliffs which for a mile +or two formed the eastward bank of the river Drum. Standing still on +the grass-plot in the centre of the courtyard a quick ear could detect +two water sounds--the rhythmic roll of the waves of the North Sea on +the one hand, and the incessant rush of the running river on the +other. + +Marmaduke did not pause to listen. He only felt a thrill of pride in +the beauty of the stern old place before he passed through the arch +into totally different surroundings. Here were wide well-kept lawns, +beds of rhododendrons, then somewhat of a novelty, and in those +northern climes ablaze with blossom this middle June. Further afield +lay a typical East Aberdeenshire landscape of rolling arable land set +with square plantations of wood and dotted at sparse intervals with +solid grey granite farm-houses. Behind him, despite its wide portico +and Grecian balustrade, the new wing of the old castle looked stern +and stubborn as the rest. + +He stood for a moment on the curving flight of massive steps and drew +in a long breath of satisfaction; for right in front of him stretched +something that once seen could never be forgotten. People came from +far for a sight of the great beech avenue of Drummuir. And what they +went out for to see was worth the seeing. + +A cathedral aisle, not made by hand, solemn, serene. Soft sunlight +filtering through a vaulted roof of leaves, wide spandrils of brown +branches sweeping to wide arch from the pillars of the mighty tree +trunks--a tessellated pavement of shade and shine. + +He had seen the sight a thousand times, yet it brought now, as it had +always brought, a vague wonder as to the long years since those giant +beeches had sent their first feeler into Mother Earth's bosom. But, as +ever, after the manner of such idle human wonders when confronted with +the permanence of what men class as lower life, it passed, contentedly +unsatisfied, to a flood of remembrance. How frightened he had been as +a little chap when his nurse had dragged him home to bed--dark, lonely +bed!--through those solemn shadows in the gloaming. He had changed, +but the avenue had not. It was just the same. No, hardly! There was +more shafted sunlight in the distance surely? And that rasping sound +in the air--what was it? + +Surely a cross-cut saw at work! Then Marmie had as usual told the +truth. His father must be cutting down one of the historic beech +trees, and there was no need to ring and ask for Lord Drummuir--no +need at all! He was to be found as usual ungovernable, insensate, +intolerant. A whole youth of rebellion stormed through Marmaduke +Muir's mind as, at quick march, he fumed down to where the shameful +deed was being done. + +From far he could see it was in full swing. The team of horses ready +to give the final pull, the stays to other trees, the whole +paraphernalia of destruction including the cluster of workmen busy +round the doomed tree. And see! Safe to windward--aye, you bet, safe, +jolly safe!--the knot of spectators gathered round a bath-chair. That +held his father, of course. And the others? They would not be the old +sycophants possibly, but they would be of the same kidney. A woman, +too! Not his half-sisters--they, poor souls, would be weeping in the +dower house over the injury to their brother the heir and to the +heirloom beech! And it would not be Penelope--she had been handed over +to Davie Sim. By Jupiter, it was too bad! He quickened his pace, +fretted by the rush of bitter resentment; then paused suddenly-- + +Hist! The melodious whistle of a blackbird overhead ceased, and a +little rustling sound asserted itself above the constant burring of +the saw. The squirrels were leaping from branch to branch. + +"Look to yersels--look to yersels! She's yieldin'! Stan' clear for +your life. Stan' clear! She yieldin'!" + +The cry rose none too soon. There was an instant's hurry, then an +instant's intense silence, on which came a sharp crack like a +pistol-shot, as the fine old tree, less tough than men had reckoned +it, tilted slowly as if uncertain which way to seek its grave. So +while men held their breath it stood arrested, defiant; then with a +roar and a rush, a swish of sweeping branches, a surging of green +leaves, it sank like the tumultuous onrush of some mighty wave, to +fall a confused tumbling heap of shade and shine upon the kindly earth +exactly where the wit of man had destined it to lie. + +A noisy clapping of hands and a high-pitched feminine laugh rose from +about the bath-chair; but, ere the applause ceased, a young accusing +figure positively flaming with wrath had sprung forward, leaped upon +the sawn root of the fallen tree, and so framed as with a halo by the +new-cut bole--which measured over seven feet in diameter--bawled out +in a voice quivering with sheer passion: + +"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, sir! Go home to bed, you +miserable old gouty cripple; you've done enough mischief for one day!" + +Marmaduke was given to being dramatic, but he had never been more +effective than at that moment. He stood his ground like a young +avenging angel, secretly elated at having done the business thoroughly +well and defied his father, despite Marrion Paul's advice. He almost +smiled at the thought of her dismay. Meanwhile, the face of the old +man in the bath-chair had grown positively purple with anger, and the +colour did not improve the heavy contours of chin, double chin, treble +chin, which melted over the high white stock. Yet, barring this +exuberant fleshiness, the face was not a bad face. It had indeed its +measure of good looks, being not unlike Marmaduke's own. The bald +head, if a trifle small, was well shaped, the blue eyes clear, if a +trifle cold, and the lips, cruel enough in their heavy curves, had +evidently done a deal of laughing in their day to judge by the lines +about them. Altogether a strong, sensible face; but arrogant, +intolerant to a degree, especially now when its owner was listening to +the defiance of his son--a son dependent on him for every farthing +beyond his miserable pay as a captain in His Majesty's forces--a son +who---- + +For a moment Baron Drummuir looked as if he must have a fit; then he +laughed--a great rude, rough guffaw. + +"'Pon my soul," he chuckled, "it's as good as a play! So it's you, is +it, you young fool? How the deuce did you get here at this time of +day? We didn't expect you for another two hours, so I decided business +first"--he waved carelessly to the fallen tree--"and pleasure--that's +you, jackanapes--afterwards. Eh, what! Hey!" + +This calm reception of his insults completely took the starch out of +them and poor Marmaduke, who, standing on his pedestal, could think of +nothing further to say save to mumble something about the short cut by +the old ferry road. + +The baron, as he loved to be called, chuckled again. + +"Good boy--anxious as all that to see his poor old dad. And came in +the nick of time to see me kill my fatted calf"--he waved to the +fallen tree again. "I've killed it nicely, haven't I? And"--here a +flicker of pure hatred passed across the fleshy face--"the devil take +the man who made me do it!" + +His father's expression re-aroused Marmaduke's anger. + +"You curse yourself by saying that, sir," he burst out; "for God knows +you always do what you want--nobody makes you." + +Once again the old man took the starch out of the young one. + +"Smart!" he said coolly. "Demned smart, my dear boy! I wonder you +don't get on better in life than you do, judging by your constant but +fruitless appeals to my cash-box. But get down off your high horse, +there's a good lad--you look like some damned play-acting fool up +there--and give your old dad a paw; the left one, young ass, the left! +Can't you see my right is all bandaged up with the most infernal fit +of my old enemy I've had since last Christmas? All that Perigord-pie +old Hare sent me. I'll baste his fat liver for him when he comes +to-morrow. Lordy lord! Puts me in mind, Marmaduke, of the old days +when your mother--she was the best of the three--used to say to you, a +little lad, 'The right hand, my dearie. The right hand, my lovie.' And +you never could remember. You were a bit of a dullard, but fine and +strong and handsome. Not like that cursed skunk, Master Pitt--but +there, don't let's mar the harmony of the occasion, eh, Jack?" He +turned to a small man with somewhat of a weasel face who stood beside +him listening devoutly, as were all the group. "You remember Jack +Jardine, don't you, Duke?" + +"Slightly," smiled the young man, grasping the other's hand and +shaking it violently. "One of the few pleasant reminiscences, sir, I +have of Drummuir Castle." He echoed his father's reckless disregard of +other folks' feelings with superb indifference and gave back the old +man's critical look coolly. + +The latter laughed. + +"Just what I was at his age--eh, what? Lordy lord, Jack, how we +smashed all the lamp-posts in Dodston and told the provost to send the +policeman with the bill! Ha, ha! and old cat Carnegie sitting in the +hearse with her skirts up to her knees going to the Hunt ball when +we'd commandeered every other conveyance in the town. Ha, ha! how the +pretty little lassies showed their sandalled ankles, bless 'em, trying +to keep their dresses clear of coffins. But I am forgetting. Sandalled +ankles reminds me--eh, Fantine? Come here, my dear. I must present you +to my second son, Captain--he wants to be a major, I'm told--Marmaduke +Muir. Marmaduke, make your due respects to Mdlle. Fantine Le Grand, +your future stepmother!" + +The dainty little figure, which till then had been standing with one +tiny, much-beringed hand resting on the back of the bath-chair, its +inquisitive, almost colourless grey eyes taking in the minutest detail +of the scene, took a step forward and prepared to make a full-flounced +curtsey. But Marmaduke was too quick, too prompt in his perceptions. +He grasped the situation and the little lady in a second. The general +pinkness of complexion and furbelows, the jimpness of the long trim +waist, the uncompromising bands of black velvet, the showers of fair +ringlets. His hat was off with a flourish, he also took a step forward +to meet the curtsey, but, bending with a "grand air" that did him +infinite credit, gave the powdered face a resounding kiss. + +The recipient let loose a decorous shriek outwardly; within it was +easy to see amused acquiescence. Once again old Lord Drummuir looked +as though he would have a fit. + +"You dashed young scoundrel," he spluttered. + +Marmaduke held his head very high. + +"Excuse me, sir," he said, "if I've done wrong; but you said she--I +beg pardon, Mdlle. Fantine Le Grand"--his eyes flashed into hers +boldly and met a smile--"was to be my stepmamma, so I thought----" + +"Oh, the devil take your thoughts," growled his father, but his lips +twitched suspiciously. Then suddenly he burst out once again into +one of his rude, rough guffaws. "Regular chip of the old block, hey, +Jack? Well, Fan, I dare say you don't mind. Haven't too long, you +know, of such gay young sparks, for as soon as I'm about again he +shall dance at your wedding. Now, for heaven's sake, don't let's +stop chattering here! I've got to see my daughters and I want to talk +to my son. No, no, you jackanapes, keep away just now! My gout's +cursed, the road is cursed, and my temper will be cursed too; so I +should likely disinherit you before we got on to the lawn. Fan shall +stop by me. I won't have you gallivanting with my son, d'ye hear? He's +a good-looking chap, confound him, but you've got to pay for the +title, my lady! Have a care, blockhead! Didn't you see that stone? +Don't let it hurt your pretty little feet, Fan." + +Marmaduke, dropping behind with Jack Jardine, gave a fierce sigh as he +watched the little cavalcade move off amid this running fire of curses +and kindliness. + +"Is it all just as it used to be, Jack?" he asked helplessly. + +The little man cleared his throat. + +"A little worse perhaps. Your father is a very remarkable man, +Marmaduke--a very remarkable man!" + + + + + CHAPTER III + + +Anyone who had seen Lord Drummuir ten minutes after Jack Jardine's +remark must have echoed it, for a more complete _volte face_ of +manner, speech, and apparently temperament than that which overtook +the baron in the dower house could not be imagined. Still in his +bath-chair, which Marmaduke had dutifully pushed in through the French +windows on to the green-grounded, cabbage-rosed drawing-room carpet, +he beamed round on his daughters and their chaperon with a paternal +affection which was almost pathetic. The Honourable Miss Muirs were +three in number and they had all greeted their younger half-brother +with reserved kisses. But then everything they did was reserved. Miss +Mary, the eldest, was reserved even about her tendency to grow stout, +which, all things considered, was the strongest interest in her life. +Miss Elizabeth, the second, a very elegant looking woman, was equally +reserved about her undoubted intellect, while Miss Margaret, a great +tall, strapping figure with all her father's force of character and +all his soundness of constitution, held both in check, except when she +managed a lonely walk with her dogs in the woods. Then her voice would +ring out deep and true, and at the crack of her whip every puppy +within miles would come in contentedly to heel. + +Her father liked her the least, probably because of the contrast +between her and his ricketty male heir, so in the shabby Victorian +drawing-room she generally sat mumchance, showing up badly against her +sisters' exquisite manners. For no one knew better than Lord Drummuir +what a gentlewoman should be, and therefore he had been extremely +particular about his daughters' education. To what end, heaven alone +knew, since they lived on, year after year, in the dower house, +occasionally visiting in stately fashion the late minister's wife +(though this distraction was no longer theirs owing to the State +appointment of a bachelor to the living), and, very occasionally, +seeing some of their father's older and more respectable friends. In +regard to this, however, and to kindred matters no grand Turk could +have been more autocratic than was Lord Drummuir. So he sat and +discoursed on Shakespeare and the musical glasses, on his delight at +seeing his dearest boy again, leading the latter on to detail some of +the more instructive portions of his foreign life, until the full +half-hour which he daily bestowed on his daughters was up. Then with +the utmost punctuality he took out his watch, said he feared he must +be off, and congratulated himself and the three young ladies on a +charming conversation. + +"You are too good, papa," replied the young ladies, as they deposited +a decorous kiss on his bald head. So they stood and watched the +bath-chair roll along the lawn till it reached the turn by the +rhododendrons which hid it from view, and then they waved their +handkerchiefs. And the baron waved his in return, thereinafter using +it to mop his forehead relievedly, while he ejaculated, "Thank God, +that's over!" + +Whereat Marmaduke smiling, the old man went on serenely. + +"Never forget, my boy, how to treat women of good character. The other +comes naturally, but I'm damned if I ever forgot my manners with a +really good woman. And you will find it pays, Duke, it pays. So now +have not you got some bit of spice, or an _on dit_ to amuse the old +man with? Curse me, but I lead a miserable life here, tied down by +this infernal complaint; but I am paying now for the follies and +indiscretions of youth. Confound you, Marmaduke, you might think of +your poor old father's joints and not rush your fences in that way!" + +"I beg your pardon, sir," replied Marmaduke, meekly glad of the turn +he had given the conversation by deploying the bath-chair into the +gravel walk; for, in good truth, he had no great relish for spicy +stories. Not that he was a prig, but that he had been born a +sportsman, to whom indoor life was dull and irksome. So he welcomed +another interruption in the shape of a young man who came hastily down +the path to meet them. + +"Why, I believe it's Peter!" he cried joyously, and the next minute +was shaking hands with his young half-brother, the fruit of Lord +Drummuir's third but not last marriage; for his wives never lived +long, except the first, who had lingered for years, only giving him +useless daughters. "Why, Peter, how you've grown!" remarked Marmaduke +unnecessarily, seeing he had been away ten years. + +"So've you--you're a giant beside the rest of us, except Meg! Pitt and +I----" The lad pulled himself up sharp. "Well, I say, sir, we must +have a rousin' night to celebrate Duke's return!" + +Marmaduke, looking at the slender, fair-haired youth with a weak mouth +and an excited manner, thought he had probably roused too much. +Instinctively, therefore, since he had often been drunk himself--it +was the fashion of the time--he changed the subject again to one that +had come uppermost in the old familiar surroundings. + +"I say, how about the grouse? Is it to be a good year?" + +His eyes as he spoke almost yearned over a swelling purpled horizon +curve which told where the best moors in that part of Aberdeenshire +were to be found. + +Five minutes after the old lord, still in his bath-chair, was +discoursing in the most animated and amiable fashion about sport past +and present and to come, while his two sons, one of them sprawling on +the lawn, joined in amicably. + +So amicably that Mdlle. Fantine Le Grand, watching them from her +boudoir windows, turned to a man who was lounging in a chair reading +the papers, and said-- + +"This sort of thing won't do, Compton. That young man is too +charming." + +The man to whom she spoke did not look up. He went on reading, as he +said-- + +"You don't often find them too charming, Fan!" + +"Don't be a fool, Tom," she replied curtly, coming to sit beside him. +"You know quite well what I mean. Young men of that sort always are in +debt; besides, I've heard the old man say something about money for a +majority. Now the estate's entailed, so payments of that sort must +come out of what I mean to be mine--and I won't have it!" + +"Sound common sense, Fan," said her companion, yawning; "but you are +always in such a hurry to begin. Wait a few days and see how the land +lies first. You've always the best of weapons in your hand." + +"What's that?" + +"Jealousy. The old man is as jealous as old boots. Once make him fancy +young Marmaduke is sweet on you, and he goes to the right-about." + +Fantine sat back and laughed. + +"You are always so comforting, Tom." + +He rose and put down his paper. + +"Always ready to help, my dear; but you remember our compact--half +shares when the old man dies." + +"He'll be good for another ten years if I marry him," she called after +her late companion, as he strolled out of the room. + +Then she sat down and faced facts. In truth she was getting tired of +her _role_ of _premiere danseuse_ at a London theatre. Perhaps, she +even admitted, she was a trifle too old for the agile cutting of +capers. She felt vaguely that she would like to draw in her horns and +let her waist out, and she was quite ready to take Lord Drummuir as a +means of satisfying both ambitions. In her way she was neither bad nor +unkind, simply egotistic to a degree. In this last episode of an +eventful career which seldom outlasts the age of forty, she had +deliberately played for semi-respectability, and had only come down to +stay at Drummuir Castle under the wing of an impeccable _duenna_. Not +that the fact had in the least imposed on the old lord. He was shrewd +enough to know Miss Fanny Biggs, or, as she chose to style herself, +Mdlle. Fantine Le Grand, down to the ground. But it was something to +have someone to dance for him (as she did to distraction), when he had +a fit of the gout and look quite deucedly pretty at all times. So the +bargain was made. A title in exchange for amusements. But Fantine Le +Grand looked beyond the old man's life; she looked for comfortable +widowhood. So she wandered again to the window and watched the family +trio on the lawn. It was far too filial for her tastes. Tom Compton, +so-called Colonel of Irregulars, one of her oldest friends, had been +right. Jealousy would be a good card to play. And then she laughed +suddenly at the recollection of Marmaduke's filial salute. He was +better-looking than his father must have been at his age, but, +according to the latter, he was "a chip of the old block." So he would +be easy prey. + +Meanwhile, Colonel Compton having joined the group on the lawn, the +conversation had drifted round to politics, and the old lord, being an +ardent Whig, had waxed fast and furious on the enormities of the +Tories. A perfectly innocent subject, but one which did not interest +Marmaduke, who thereupon drifted away to find Jack Jardine, from whom +he hoped to hear the truth as to his father's present relations with +the heir, the Master, and also--though this interested him less, since +it was to a certain degree patent--with Mdlle. Le Grand. So, as they +sat smoking Fubaurg's tobacco out of long clay pipes after the fashion +of the times, they discussed the situation. + +"You ask how the breach has widened," said Jack Jardine. "Well, I +don't think it has done so abnormally. It has been going on ever since +poor Pitt turned out such a weakling. You know the family history. +After he married Lady Helen, whom he shouldn't have married because +she too, poor soul, was, as it were, doomed to disease, though she was +a duke's daughter and so, satisfied his lordship's pride--a miserable +story, Duke, a miserable story. Well, there was one disappointment +about an heir after another, as you know, Duke, and it hit home into +the peer--for he is no fool. Put it briefly, though he is quite ready +to tell you he is suffering from the indiscretions of youth while he +is in torments with the gout, and at the same time supping every night +on broiled foxes' tongues and mulled claret, he can't bear to see the +results in Pitt. He hates him because he hasn't the physique to carry +on the name. He is a very remarkable man, Duke, is your father." + +"Very," assented the young man grimly. "I wish the devil he wasn't." + +"That's why I, and all the rest of us who have Drummuir interests at +heart, are so glad you've come home. You're presumptive heir now, and +to all intents and purposes you're 'apparent.' And you're straight and +strong, thanks to your poor mother. So we look to you to keep up the +honour of the name. I believe if you play your cards well, you might +easily oust Miss Fanny Biggs, or Mdlle. Fantine----" + +Marmaduke burst into a laugh. + +"Thank you," he said; "that is most succinct! I needn't ask any more. +But does the old man really mean to marry her?" + +Jack Jardine nodded. + +"Would have done it three months ago but for the gout. And she isn't +really so bad, but devilish sly; and that man Compton, whom the peer +has taken up with over the railway business, is in with her." He gave +a sigh and knocked the ashes out of his pipe. "I've my work cut out +for me, Duke, I can tell you." + +There was a slight pause, and then Marmaduke said curiously-- + +"I've often wondered, Jack, why you, who by your brains could have +made your own way, have been contented to stick on in this cursed old +place among us cursed people, letting us youngsters call you Jack and +borrow money from you. By the way, I shouldn't have been able to come +home if you hadn't sent me that last hundred pounds." + +Jack Jardine said nothing; then he walked to the window. + +"You may as well know, Duke, it may help you to steer your way. It is +because I, a poor lawyer, loved your mother--not before, but after she +became Lady Drummuir! Of course she never guessed; but I helped her to +try and keep your father straight. She led an awful life----" + +"You needn't tell me that!" broke in Marmaduke, fiercely. + +"Yet your father didn't mean ill to her. Anyhow, I tried to help her, +and so I suppose it became a habit. Love is a queer thing, Duke!" + +"I believe it is," said Marmaduke, magisterially, "but it has not come +my way yet," and he added joyously, "I hope it won't for some years to +come, for I like enjoying myself." + +Apparently he did; for as the summer evening began to close in on +Drummuir Castle and the menkind, with only Mdlle. Fantine and her +_duenna_ to represent the opposite sex, gathered in the huge +dining-room to attack a heavy dinner which would have sufficed for a +regiment, he was the life and soul of the party, and ate through the +_menu_ with a relish which aroused regret and admiration in the old +lord. + +"Dash it all," he bawled, "why can't I eat soup, fish, top and bottom +and four sides through five courses like that dashed youngster of +mine, who puts it on to his shoulders instead of his waist like I do?" + +And when the claret began to circle round faster and faster Marmaduke +never let it pass; so that when, with sweet decorum, Mdlle. Fantine +and her _duenna_ prepared to withdraw, he nearly killed the Skye +terrier in his flamboyant haste to open the door. Nay, more! He +followed them into the corridor for an instant. What passed there none +saw, but he returned to his seat with flushed cheeks and throbbing +veins, feeling vaguely that the battle of wits had begun. + +Of what followed his memory was confused. He remembered that outside +the windows the summer twilight was still flooding the green lawns, +while humanity inside, after guzzling itself stupid with rich food, +was trying to grow witty over the boozing of mulled claret and +whisky-toddy. They began, of course, with the young queen's health, +and went on methodically till they came to the good old Scotch toast: +"Here's to oorsels. Wha' better? Damn few!" After this, which seemed +to afford general satisfaction, they proceeded to particularise, and +Marmaduke had a dim recollection of someone proposing "The future +Commander-in-Chief, coupled with the name of Captain Marmaduke Muir." + +But whether he replied, or whether the effort to rise and do so was +too much for him and he rolled under the table, he could not say. + +Certain it is that on that first night of his return to the home of +his fathers Marmaduke Muir was hopelessly drunk. + +Certain also that he erred in company, the only sober man being Jack +Jardine, who invariably sought the shelter of the table at an early +period and lay there comfortably, his head on a buffet, listening to +the commiserations on his weak head until he fell asleep, to wake when +the carouse was over, and see that the gentlemen's gentlemen sorted +their respective masters to their respective beds. + + + + + CHAPTER IV + + +Marrion Paul sat in the semi-darkness of the summer night waiting for +her grandfather to return from his duties at the Castle. She did not +generally do so, for he was apt to be late; but on this, the first day +of Captain Duke's return, sleep would have been out of the question +until she heard something of the evening. For she did not mince +matters with herself; those six years of independent life in Edinburgh +had opened her eyes to the world, and the first sight of Marmaduke +Muir had told her that the long ten years had not changed her at all; +that he was as much the sun in her heaven as he had been in the old +childish days. The sun in her heaven, and something more superadded to +those olden times. + +Then the day had been disturbing. Everyone had come to her praising +the Captain's looks and ways and general charm; to all of which she +had replied coolly, feeling the while in a perfect quiver of gladness. +Miss Margaret had been the hardest to damp when she had appeared in +the afternoon with the sporting dogs and a stout crop in her hand on +her way to take them a scramble over the rocks and round by the lower +bay. + +"Oh, Marrion!" she cried enthusiastically. "Saw you ever the like? +Elizabeth says he's like the Apollo Belvidere!" + +"I am not knowing the gentleman," protested Marrion distantly. "But +Captain Duke has grown to a fine figure. But has Miss Muir seen Andrew +Fraser? He's twice the man he was when he went away." + +It was a false move on Marrion's part, for it brought on her instantly +the hearty reply-- + +"I'm glad to hear it, Marmie; so I suppose we will be having you cried +in the kirk before long. Duke says he has been most faithful." + +Whereupon the speaker called to her dogs in a stentorian voice worthy +her father's, cracked her whip scientifically, and strode away for an +hour or two's freedom. For the atmosphere of the dower house was +stifling, and there was always a chance of meeting the Rev. Patrick +Bryce on the sands below the rocks, where he went always to compose +his sermons, with which the reverend gentleman had no little +difficulty. Not because he was stupid, but because he found it +laborious to reconcile his own views with those of his flock; they, +however, being inclined to be lenient with one who had earned for +himself the nickname of "the bonny parson," and who was known to be +the best shot and fisherman in the district. For this reason he would +have been welcome at the Castle, but for his unswerving outspoken +protest against its general behaviour. + +Marrion, meanwhile, finding more peace as the day died down, took +to wandering at the far side of the quadrangle listening to the +distant sounds of revelry; her hands, as she walked, busy with her +knitting-pins--after the fashion of Scotchwomen in those days--going +faster and faster as her thoughts grew hotter over what she knew was +happening at the other side of the blank wall. Guzzling and boozing! +First the masters, then the men-servants, while away in the back +premises the scullerymaids and kitchenmaids were working hard. It was +a shame, a burning shame; but if ever she had a son she would see to +it that he was different. + +But she never would have a son; anyhow, not Andrew Fraser's, be he +ever so sober, so upright. That was the worst of it. With an impatient +sigh she hurried outside the keep door to stand and watch the last +faintly flushed clouds of sunset in the nor'-west fade over the +darkling stretches of moorland. + +It must be nigh twelve of the clock, for eastwards, over the darkling +stretches of the sea, a faint lightening of the horizon, which held +such a hint of restlessness even in its shadow, told where the sun +would soon rise again. For in those high northern latitudes there is a +bare two hours' darkness in a summer night. + +Twelve o' the clock, and after that would be their birthday. +Well, good luck to him wherever he went! Some day he must be the +laird--Baron Drummuir. Nothing to hinder that must come into his +life--nothing! + +The faithfulness of inherited service was in her blood. She recognised +this and sometimes wondered if her own devotion to the honour and +welfare of the House of Drummuir was not stronger even than her +grandfather's; possibly because her father, by all repute, had been a +faithful servant, too; such things are not to be escaped. + +She was aroused from her thoughts by a wavering step in the +quadrangle, and returned to meet her grandfather in the expansive +stage of intoxication. + +"Aye, my lass," he went on, when he had wept a few easy tears over her +goodness in sitting up for him, "it was just a gran' nicht. The pipes +seemed fey and I blawed at them till we was baith like to burst. An' +my lord, he was for havin' oot the biggest bottle o' pickled foxes' +tongues, an' he devilled them himsel' in a chaffin' dish afore them +all, an' they a' drunk wi' mirth an' guid claret. Jock, the butler, +was tellin' me--there was twal o' them--that they were drinkin' thirty +bottles o' the best, forbye sixteen tum'lers of hot whisky-toddy, the +Sheriff and the Lord Provost had, honest gentlemen, to their lane--an' +there wud be no 'hoot-toots' where the Shirra was concerned! Then the +laird o' Balbuggo--he has a weak head, yon man, was for ridin' hame +and was no to be hindered frae it; sae Captain Duke an' anither young +spark jest perched his saddle to the loupin'-on-stane and pit the guid +man to it. An' there he sat tittuping away his lane for an hour or sae +quite blythe, till they tell't him he was at Balbuggo, and he just aff +an' awa tae his bed like a lammie." + +"And Captain Duke?" asked the girl, with scorn in her voice, pity in +her heart, despite the irrepressible smile in her eyes. "Was he drunk, +too?" + +Old Davie winked solemnly. + +"Aye, that was he--he was fair fou--but," he added carefully; "he took +his cups real well! Not like Mr. Peter, that syne gets tae sickness +and----" + +"Gran'father," cried the girl passionately, interrupting him, "it's +gettin' late! You must away to your bed, or you'll no be up the morn +to pipe 'Hey! Johnnie Cope, are ye waukin' yet?' I'll see to the +doors." + +"No be up?" contended the old man. "I tell ye if the arkaungel +Gabbriel was tae soun' his trump any day at half-after seven, he'd +find Davie Sims--aye, and his forbears an' descendants--skirling awa' +at that same tune up an' dune a' the passages in Drummuir Castle tae +wake the gentlefolk! Aye, that wad he"--here he began stumbling up the +stair with his candle held at an angle of forty-five--"though it's +hard on a body that's had tae pipe to the deil ower nicht to think o' +his duty tae the sluggard." + +Here his maunderings became unintelligible, and the girl he left +turned to the closing of the house, her heart hot as fire with +indignation, chill as ice with scorn. + +What else was there to expect? Like father, like son! When she had +drawn the bolts she went up to her own room and flung its little +window wide. The full moon shone round like a shield, and by its light +she could see the whole wild coast stretching northwards from Drumkirk +Point to Rattray Head. And after that? The North Pole, of course! Dear +inaccessible region to all but the strong, the single of heart, the +men who could command others--and themselves. + +She scarcely knew what it was that she raged against as slowly, +methodically, she began to undress. The little brilliant or paste +brooch, she knew not which, formed of two crossed p's which was the +only relic she possessed of her dead father, arrested her for a +second. What sort of a man had he been really, she wondered, and what +sort of a son would hers be when she had one? + +She flung the tiny bauble from her impatiently, so stood for a second +drawn up to her full height, her bare arms crossed, her shapely hands +clasping their smooth roundness; then, with a sudden sob, she realised +what had come to her, and, throwing herself face downwards on her bed, +lay for a minute or two still as the dead. Then as suddenly she sat up +again with a world of puzzled wonder in her strained eyes. + +"I canna think," she murmured, "what gars' me love him so, but I do, +and there's an end o' it." + +Possibly; but such knowledge as that which had just burst over her +like a storm does not make for quiet sleep. She told herself a +thousand and one wise things, but the hours slipped by, bringing at +last a conviction of hopelessness. She would be better up than +pretending to rest, so she went to stand at the window once more. + +The flush of coming day was clear now in the northeast, the flood-tide +of the full moon lay mysterious in the embrace of the rocks. Ere long +the rising sun would send battalions on battalions of shining golden +ripples to storm the estuary and climb the shadowy cliff on which the +castle stood--where he lay drunk! + +Ah, well! That would not spoil the beauty of it all, which she had so +often seen, and the nip of the salt North Sea might check her silly +desire for him. The room felt stifling; she would be better outside. + +So, slipping on her swimming-dress of coarse white flannel blanketing +(for ever since those childish days when she and Duke had done +everything in common she had been an expert swimmer), she threw a +plaid round her, and made her way through the keep gateway to the +rocks below. There was no breeze, the tide must be at its height +almost, and there was the spent moon, pale with its long night-watch, +hanging on the grey sky of dawn. Ah, these were the things worth +having--the others could be set aside with joy! + +Ere five minutes were over, breathless from her fierce driving strokes +through the water, she had turned over on her back, and, face to the +skies, was trying to imagine she was floating thitherwards. The gulls, +wakened by the coming light, skimmed over her in their quest for food. +The little pointed wavelets that rose and fell, marking the course of +the river stream, made a fine, sobbing, tinkling noise in her ears. + +Full flood-tide! + +She laughed aloud in the joy of it; then, rolling over again, struck +out for the opposite shore. Higher up the estuary there was a little +sheltered bay whence she could watch the panorama of dawn. When she +drew herself out of the water on to a convenient rock the air struck +warm, and the stone beneath her had scarce lost yester-sun's heat. It +would be a perfect day--if anything over hot, for a faint opalescence +already lay on sea and sky. + +As she sat waiting for the first rays of the sun to "skim the sea with +flying feet of gold," she unplaited her russet hair, which had become +loosened, and, combing out its long length with her fingers, prepared +to plait it up again. + +Suddenly a voice startled her. + +"A beauteous mermaid, by Jove! Fair lady----" + +The theatrical intonation did not deceive her. She slipped like any +seal into the water, and so protected looked back to see Marmaduke +Muir. He was still in his over-night's dress-clothes, but their utter +disarray made them more consonant with his occupation, for he held a +salmon-rod in his hand, a creel had unfastened his ruffled shirt at +the neck, and he had evidently torn off his stiff stock for more ease, +and kicked away his pumps for firmer foothold on the rocks. His face +showed no sign of last night's carouse, and Marrion, looking at it, +could not but confess that some sins leave no mark on a man. Ere she +could utter a word, his surprise found speech. + +"Why, Marmie!" Then in a half-awed tone he added: "What beautiful hair +you've got, my dear!" + +"Aye," she replied imperturbably, feigning perfect calm, "it's fine! +Folk is aye tellin' me o' 't. The hairdresser in Edinbro' was offering +me a lot for it." + +He sat down on the rocks above where she lay swaying with the long +roll of the distant waves outside the bar, her hands holding to the +seaweed. + +"Goth and Vandal! But you didn't let him have it. Wise Marmie, but +then you always were wisdom itself! I remember----" + +He was becoming vaguely sentimental, so she brought him back to earth +with a round turn. + +"You'll no have been gettin' any fish the morn?" she queried. + +"No fish!" he echoed loftily. "What do you call that?" + +He pulled out of his creel a seven-inch burnie and laid it with pomp +on the rocks. Then their young laughter echoed out into the dawn. + +"But I got a hold on another," he went on, keen as a boy. "A real good +one--as big as any I ever got in the castle pool--perhaps bigger. You +see they were talking of the fishing yesterday and they all said it +was no good. Not enough water. So I didn't intend to try; but--well, +you see, my dear, I got drunk last night--I did--and I woke up about +half an hour ago with a beastly headache. So then I thought I'd go out +and see if the fish weren't moving, and as they'd put me to bed in my +clothes--I must have been horrid drunk, and Andrew, you see, was away +with his people--I just took one of Peter's rods and ferried myself +over in the boat. It's up yonder. I'll take you back in it, if you +like." + +The idea was preposterous. Marrion imagined herself arriving at the +castle, where the servants were ever early astir, in her bathing dress +with the Captain! So she hastily drew a red herring across the trail. + +"And was the fish real big, Captain Duke?" she asked. + +"Big! I tell you it was the biggest I, or, for the matter of that, +anyone else ever caught in the castle pool." + +"Fish are aye big when they are in the water, I'm thinking," she cast +back at him, as, loosing her seaweed hold, she struck out. + +He sprang up. + +"You're not going to try and cross now!" he cried, pointing to where +in mid-stream a wide oily streak told that tide and river were flowing +out fast. "The ebb is at its strongest. Marmie, don't be a fool!" + +She gave a quick glance forward, then looked back to smile farewell. + +"Aye, it's strong, but I've done it before now. There's no fear for +me, Captain Duke." + +So saying she turned her head upstream, seeing indeed that she would +have to be careful not to be swept past her bearings when she got to +mid-channel; so she did not see Marmaduke tear off his creel, his +coat, and waistcoat, and, in thin ruffled shirt and kersey breeches, +launch himself into the water. But his tremendous underwater strokes +soon brought him up almost beside her to shake his curly head like a +retriever. She looked at him startled and quickened her strokes, +whereupon he changed to overhand and ranged up beside her without +effort. + +"Where did you learn yon?" she asked, more for something to break a +silence which made her heart beat than from curiosity. "You usen't to +swim that way." + +"In the Indies," he replied, laughing. "I must teach it to you; but it +isn't much good in currents. By Jove, how jolly this is. Why the deuce +did I take the boat? I say--look out! I feel the trend of the stream." + +Small doubt of that. They were through the backwater and in another +minute would be in the full of outgoing river and outgoing tide. The +opposite bank seemed slipping past them rapidly. Duke changed his +stroke instantly and ranged up beside Marrion. + +"It will be easier together," he said, passing his hand over her +shoulder, and obediently she passed hers over his. + +"Now then, together!" he cried. "And if you tire you know what to do; +and keep time, there's a good girl." + +So they struck off, the forward lunge of his long legs aiding hers, +that were so far behind in strength. Thus they battled the stream +shoulder to shoulder, almost cheek to cheek, her long loose hair +sweeping across him, until the worst of it was over and the girl would +fain have loosed her grip and turned shorewards definitely. + +"Not yet!" he laughed. "Let's swim out to sea a bit! Look--isn't it +worth it?" + +Aye, worth everything else in the world. Far out in the east over that +restless horizon the first ray of the sun had tipped, sending a +widening, radiant path of pure gold to meet them. It shone on her +red-brown hair, turning it to bronze; it shone in their blue eyes, +turning them to sapphires; and it shone on their wholesome, happy +faces, transfiguring them out of all semblance to beings of dingy +earth and purifying them from all mortal taint. They were freed souls +swimming in the vasty ether, all around them the dawn of a new day. + +So they went on and on, till suddenly Duke veered their course +shorewards with one guiding stroke. + +"I shall tire you out," he said softly, and his freed hand, as he +disentangled her hair from his neck, lifted the shiny strands to his +lips for a second. "You have got such jolly hair, Marmie! I wonder you +don't wear it down your back. None of the fellows could resist you +then." + +Their faces were away from the dawn now and hers already had a cloud +on it. + +"I'm going to the big rock. I left my shawl there," she said, +directing her course towards it. + +Duke followed suit in silence. Suddenly he said-- + +"I can't think how I was such a fool as to get drunk last night. It +shan't occur again; but, you know, I shouldn't have had this perfectly +stunning time if I hadn't, should I? We must repeat it every morning, +Marmie, mustn't we?" + +"Weather permitting," she replied, almost bitterly. "But it's no often +sae comfortable to be in the water as it is this morning, Mr. Duke." + +"Ah, you should have been with me in the Indies! You could stop in all +day. You're not feeling cold, I hope?" + +Cold! With every pulse in her body clamouring for sheer joy in his +presence. + +"I'll no be cold when I get my shawl," she said calmly; then, seeing +him turn, called quickly-- + +"You're no going across again, Mr. Duke, it isn't safe!" + +"Didn't I tell you so from the beginning, eh? No; of course I'm not. +I'm going to swim up the side to the steps and send the ghillie for +the boat." + +She watched the rhythmic spluttering of his overhand stroke past the +point. He would be home before her, she thought, as somewhat wearily +she climbed the rocks to the keep. It had been a real joy. In all her +life, long or short, she would never forget it. + +That was the pity of it, for the memory might become a pain. + + + + + CHAPTER V + + +Marmaduke Muir's repentances, like many of his virtues and vices, were +apt to be evanescent. So the next week, it is to be feared, saw many a +lapse from his intention that drunkenness should not occur again. In +truth it needed a strong will to be sober in Drummuir Castle. The old +lord himself had a head which nothing could upset, and though he went +to his bed groaning with gout, no one could have said his wits were in +the least astray. Now Marmaduke had to a certain extent inherited this +toleration of alcohol, a fact which at once gratified his father and +set the old sinner to the graceless task of inciting his son to more +and more glasses of good claret, champagne, and port in order to see +how far the inheritance went. And Marmaduke, partly because he was +anxious to ingratiate himself with his irascible parent and partly +from sheer _joie de vivre_, fell in with the old man's whim. In +reality it meant much to him that he should get to the right side of +his father. He had a chance of his majority if only fifteen hundred +pounds odd could be found over and above the regulation purchase +money. It was a big price; but the vacancy was in a crack Highland +regiment and the majority would give him almost the certainty of +commanding in the future. + +"The peer has never done anything for me in his life," he said angrily +to Jack Jardine. "I've gone into a West India regiment. I've lived on +my pay--and your allowance, old chap. By the way, I do wish you'd make +up accounts between us. We three brothers must owe you a lot already, +and though we've all given our _post obits_ on the property when the +old man dies, I myself don't like it. Worries me when I have a +headache, you know!" + +Jack Jardine smiled. The proposition for a clear account had been made +many times in the past ten years, sometimes by one brother, sometimes +by another--but generally by Marmaduke--without in any way altering +the relative positions of creditor and debtor. So he set the point +aside. + +"Why should you have a headache, Duke?" he began as a prelude to a +sermon on sobriety he had been meditating for some days; but +Marmaduke's candour took the words out of his mouth. + +"Not the least reason in life, Jack, except that I want and will +have my majority, and I _must_ keep straight with the peer till I get +the money. Look here, I'll tackle the old man to-morrow, and if I +succeed I'll cut and run. I don't drink anywhere else, Jack, I don't +indeed--not, I mean to say, _drink_." + +Looking at the speaker's clear, almost boyish, face his hearer could +well believe it. + +"Your father is suffering a lot from the gout just now," he said, +dubiously. + +"And he'll go on suffering as long as I'm here, and he wants to make +me drunk," retorted Marmaduke, whose perceptions were by no means +dense, "so the sooner it's over the better for both of us!" + +Accordingly the very next day when, in accordance with his usual +custom, he wheeled his parent to the paternal visit to the dower +house, Marmaduke broached the subject of finance on the way back. It +was not a very auspicious moment, for the old gentleman had been made +at once irritable and pious by an unwary allusion on the part of his +youngest daughter, Margaret, to the new minister of the parish, the +Reverend Patrick Bryce. Now the reverend gentleman in question was at +the time Lord Drummuir's _bete noire_. To begin with, he had been +presented to the living by the Crown, and the Barons of Drummuir had +for generations claimed the right themselves. Evil thinking people, +indeed, said that it was this fact which made the old man so +wholehearted an advocate of that disruption in the Church of Scotland +which was then rending the country in twain. People talked of little +else, except railways, and on that point Lord Drummuir held the most +conservative of views. They would, he said, not without truth, play +the devil with country society and make it impossible for a nobleman +to travel in comfort. But no one who knew his lordship ever asked for +consistency in his opinions. He simply held them with a tenacity that +was perfectly appalling. So the mere mention of the Reverend Patrick +Bryce's name, with the addition of a fine blush on his daughter's face +when she discovered her slip of the tongue, had put him into a white +heat of politeness and piety. + +"I am surprised at you, Margaret," he said. "I should prefer your +having nothing to do even with the school feasts of a man who, denying +the headship of the church to the Almighty, continues to batten on the +loaves and fishes of--of--and has the cursed impudence to find fault +with other people's meat and drink, too," he added, fiercely. + +Despite this, Marmaduke, who had inherited no little of his father's +obstinacy, took the opportunity of the bath-chair reaching the finest +point of the view to say with a great show of courage-- + +"By the way, sir, don't you think it's about time to send that money +for my majority? Pringle is rather in a hurry to retire, and the price +may run up if we don't act soon." + +His lordship rather admired this home thrust without warning, but he +was on his guard at once and cleared his throat for a speech. + +"It's a positive disgrace to our army, and so I told poor Brougham the +last time I saw him, that promotion should not only go by purchase but +that private individuals should have power to fill their pockets with +the proceeds of further extortion. It is a kind of simony; it is the +sale of valour, of one's country's good!" + +Lord Drummuir was a noted orator when he chose, even in those days +when everyone could string words together into high-sounding phrases, +and when Edmund Burke's foaming fulminations were held up to the young +as models of eloquence; but Marmaduke was obdurate. + +"Possibly, sir," he interrupted, "but I want to do it. You see, sir," +he warmed with his subject, "I'll be dashed if I've troubled you much +in the last ten years--now have I? You've made me an allowance on +which I couldn't live in a gentlemanly way at home. So I've exchanged +again and again for foreign service, going down and down till I've +landed in the West Indies. And now I have this chance of getting back +to my old regiment, to a soldier's life that is worth having----" + +"No soldier's life is worth having. If you will be kind enough to +remember, I objected from the first to the army," interrupted the old +man, with icy politeness. + +Marmaduke groaned aloud. + +"Oh, don't let us go back so far as that, sir. The thing's done, and +practically you have to decide now whether you're going to wreck my +fortune or make it." + +Lord Drummuir took out his pocket-handkerchief solemnly. + +"And this is what I am asked to do, when my physicians insist on +absolute rest of body and mind. I am asked to consider, to take all +the responsibility. No, Marmaduke, you are old enough to decide for +yourself!" + +"Then you wish me to go back to that miserable hole?" began the young +man vehemently. + +"I am informed on the best authority that the climate of the West +Indies has sensibly improved of late years," remarked his lordship, +imperturbably. "The discovery of the cinchona plant----" + +"Damn the cinchona plant!" burst out Marmaduke. But at that instant a +silvery artificial little laugh rose behind them and Mdlle. Fantine Le +Grand appeared tripping over the grass with the daintiest of sandalled +feet. + +She had again been watching father and son from her window, and after +a week's hesitation she had suddenly decided that something must be +done to stop what seemed to be growing confidence. She had hitherto +played with the plan of arousing the old man's jealousy, confining +herself to half-hearted flirtations with Marmaduke, who, also on the +watch, had fallen in with the amusement quite pleasantly. But that +morning Colonel Compton had spoken out his fears. + +"You'll have to look to your p's and q's, Fan, or that youngster will +be running away with some of the peer's loose cash. And as the estate +is strictly entailed that won't suit us. I overheard that weasel, Jack +Jardine, talking to the captain about the purchase of his majority, so +you had better look sharp." + +The words echoed in her brain as she had stood watching father and son +in an apparently amicable conversation which clinched her decision. +The result being her appearance before the two conspirators, +provocative to the very tilt of her carefully held pink parasol. + +"Oh, pardon," she began, in the stage French accent she affected in +society, "but I mean not to disturb! Only the filial picture of milor +and his too charming son was irresistible to poor me--so _sans +famille_." + +She did not look in the least forlorn, and Lord Drummuir's clear, +wicked old eyes, that had seen to the bottom of so many evil things, +took her in from head to foot, and his clear wicked old brain +considered what she would be at. Then he chuckled softly, thinking he +had found out. + +"No apologies needed, dear little Fan," he said affectionately; "you +are almost one of the family already, so we've no secrets. Marmaduke +and I were just discussing the purchase of his majority. It will take +more than two thousand five hundred pounds, I'm afraid, won't it, dear +boy?--what with the regulation and non-regulation figures. A big sum, +my dear, a big sum. It will make a hole in what's available for +wedding presents, eh, little woman?" + +He looked at her with amused malevolence, thinking he had settled her +hash; for little Fan was not the woman to flirt with a man who was to +do her out of a farthing. And Fantine's eyes were steel as she made a +little curtsey. + +"Who, my lord," she warbled tenderly, "could regret money spent in +such a good cause? Pardon," she added, remembering her accent, "was +that not right said? I mean that Marmaduke"--her voice cooed the +name--"is welcome to all zat I could give to him." + +The baron burst into a huge rough guffaw. + +"Come, that is a real good 'un!" he cried, highly amused. "I declare +you're as good as a play. But it's not settled yet." Here he glanced +at his son, keen to tantalise him too, and with reckless devilry +sowing the seeds of evil broadcast. "I shall have to choose between +diamonds for my wife and promotion for my son. Meanwhile, my lady, +don't get your pretty little feet damp on the grass. Remember you have +to dance to us to-night. Ogilvie and all the good fellows for miles +round are coming to see you, and you mustn't be a failure." + +When the bath-chair and its wheezy occupant had been handed over to +the valet, Fantine Le Grand and Marmaduke lingered on the steps +together in silence. + +"You have not yet seen me dance?" she said, suddenly. "Well, you shall +see me this evening! I will dance for you alone, monsieur." + +His eyes laughed into hers boldly. + +"It is a bargain, mademoiselle; but I shall ask for more, I warn you." + +"_Dieu merci_," she said, with a tiny shrug of her shoulders, "you +must not ask too much!" + +So with provocative laughter she fled up the steps with the prettiest +of little glissades and disappeared, leaving Marmaduke gratified at +the impression he had evidently made, and with a certain new +admiration for the demure daintiness of Mademoiselle Fantine. His +father, devil take him, hadn't a bad taste. + +He said nothing of all this, however, to Jack Jardine when he raged +for a full hour over his father's absolute lack of human sympathy. + +"Why only yesterday," he stormed, "he signed a cheque for one thousand +pounds because he wanted to pose as the patron of these dispossessed +parsons. It isn't moral, it isn't Christian. He doesn't care if he +ruins me body and soul. Anyhow, I've done with him for ever." + +"Then you will leave at once?" suggested Jack Jardine. + +In truth he was anxious to get the young man away from temptation as +soon as possible, and he knew well that in the end he himself would +have somehow or another to negotiate the money for the majority. + +"No," replied Marmaduke. "I'm going to stop on for a bit." + +And he set his nether lip hard. He was not going to give a cheek to +the enemy. He meant to hit back if he could. If his father couldn't +spare two thousand pounds because he wanted to spend it on a dancing +woman, he might find himself in the position of not having the dancing +woman on whom to spend it. He, Marmaduke, would have a try at it, +anyhow. It was mean and horrible, of course, but so was the old man. +He began it. + +Peter Muir, coming in yawning, exclaimed at his brother's face. + +"What's up, Duke?" he asked. "You look in the devil of a temper." + +"So I am," retorted Duke. "And so would you be if you had the spunk to +ask anything of the baron. But you haven't, you see." + +"Phew!" said Peter. "So you've been attacking the money bags. I could +have told you it was no go. That's why I learnt picquet of that +Italian count the governor got hold of last year and sent about his +business when he had rooked him of a thou! Now I can get a guinea or +two off everybody who comes in to the house--except you, Jack. You +never will play." + +"I don't wish to add to your pocket-money, Peter; you've too much +already," replied Jack Jardine sternly. "Ah, I've heard of your +beguiling that wretched girl!" + +"Not for the first time, old man," put in Peter. "You shouldn't talk +about things you don't understand; and a fellow must have some +amusement in this cursed hole, especially when the river is low. But +for the life of me, Duke, I can't see why you shouldn't go on half pay +and stop at home a bit. We should have some fine fun together, and I'd +teach you picquet, if you like." + +Marmaduke stood gazing at his young brother for a second or two +angrily. Then his face softened, he went over to him and laid his +hands on his shoulders, and so remained looking down on the weak +effeminate face. + +"You're talking what they call 'bosh' at school, Peter. You're not a +bit content here. How could you be? Give it up and come along with me +when I go. The old man doesn't deserve to have a son." + +Peter wriggled himself away from his brother's hold. + +"I don't really see why you should go." + +"Don't you? Well, I'll tell you. Because I'm a soldier born and bred. +I don't suppose I shall die on the field of glory, but I shall have a +try at it. And I mean to have my majority in my old regiment if I have +to forge the old man's name to get it." + +With that he gloomed away and loafed about, irritated at all things +and everything, even at the preparations that were being made for the +festivities of the evening, for these necessitated his being turned +out of his comfortable room in order to accommodate some of the +guests. + +"Where are they putting me?" he asked angrily of Andrew Fraser, whom +he found, very long and lank in consequence of repeated attacks of +malarial fever, busy packing up his dressing things. + +"It will be tae whatten they used to ca' the 'Agaepemoan' in the old +lord's young days, sir," replied Andrew. "Jest yon big room wi' the +outside stair in the west wing close to the keep, sir. 'Tis a bonny +eneuch room with a fire to it, an' Marrion Paul has ben reddin' it up +a' day." + +Marrion Paul! The name came as a relief and a regret, for he had not +seen her--not anyhow for speech--since their dawn-tide swim together. +Now the mere memory of it in its coolness and freshness and beauty +calmed his irritation, and half aimlessly he strolled across the +quadrangle to inspect his new quarters. She might be there still. +Apparently she was, for a sound of determined sweeping came down the +stairway. + +"Hullo, Marmie, is that you?" he cried joyously, bounding up the steps +two at a time. + +"Aye, Mr. Duke, it's me," replied the figure with the broom +laconically. + +Certainly it was a nice comfortable room with the fire blazing and the +casement window, still somewhat hung with cobwebs, set wide to the +summer sunshine. Marmaduke passed to it and looked out. Beneath him, +far down the slanting red cliffs dotted here and there with sombre +pines, lay the castle pool, and over yonder to the right were the +rocks on the other side where he had found Marmie combing her hair +like any mermaid. It was hidden now under a most unbecoming dust +kerchief; still the memory was pleasant. + +"I say, Marmie," he remarked, "that swim of ours was stunning, wasn't +it?" + +"It's aye nice in the dawning," replied Marrion comfortably. "I've +been out twice since then, and I'm no saying which I enjoyed the +maist." + +Marmaduke made a wry face. + +"You look as if I were interrupting your work," he said tenderly. + +"So you are, Captain Duke," she assented calmly. He clapped his hands +to his ears in mock alarm, and with a laugh raced headlong downstairs, +calling back half-way that 'Andry' would have his work cut out for him +getting his master to bed if so be the latter had had a glass too +much. + +When he had gone Marrion ceased sweeping and rested her cheek on the +broom handle for a bit. + +He--there was but one he in her life and she faced the fact +quietly--did not look so well as he did at first, but of that Andrew +Fraser had warned her. He had, in fact, told her of many things which +otherwise she would not have known, for she had seen much of him in +the last week. The racket of the noisy servants' hall, the whole +dissolute life of masters and men up at the castle had not been to his +taste, and he had taken to going over to the keep-house for quiet, if +not for peace. But even that was coming to him by degrees as he +realised the utter hopelessness of his love for Marrion. But he +realised also that if she was not for him neither was she for any +other man--except one; and that was impossible. So, indeed, he had +told her plainly but a day or two before, when half-dazed with fever +and ague which had attacked him suddenly, in the keep-house. + +She had insisted on his lying down in her grandfather's room, and when +she went in to bring him a cup of hot tea he had slipped his feet to +the ground apologetically, and sitting up, a lank figure among the +blankets, his small pathetic eyes full of fever, had laid a hot hand +on hers and said-- + +"I'll no be troubling you again, Marrion. I canna help loving you and +you canna help loving him. It's no oorsels, ye see. It's just +Providence; sae we must just both thole it." + +She had stood silent, startled by the sudden attack for a second; then +she had said gravely-- + +"Aye, Andry, we must just thole it." + +Since then a strange confidence as to Marmaduke's sayings and doings +had sprung up between the two, and even at dinner-time that very day +he had told of his master's irritability. + +"Things have gone ajee," he remarked, "an' I'm thinkin' it's the money +for the majority. But what's filthy lucre to health?--and sure as +death the captain is no what he was. Gin' it wad make him quit yon bad +auld man an' the whore-woman he is takin' to wife, I'd be heart glad." + +For Andrew Fraser, being acquainted with his Bible, did not mince +words. Neither did Marrion; but having more wits than Andrew she +appraised the evils more reasonably, yet with more prejudice. Lord +Drummuir was Lord Drummuir, and therefore in a way must be accepted; +but the woman was different. + +Marrion Paul's eyebrows levelled themselves to a straight bar as she +went on with her work. + + + + + CHAPTER VI + + +The company had roared over a broad farce; for Lord Drummuir, when he +entertained his neighbours, did so with a lavish hand, and thought +nothing of importing a theatrical company from the nearest big town. A +coach and four went for them and took them back, full up with supper +and good wine. This particular one was not up to much, but they did +well enough, as his lordship said, for the country bumpkins; and the +real entertainment was yet to come. + +It was a pretty little miniature, this theatre which Lord Drummuir had +fitted up in the days of his youth, though Marmaduke, as he sat in the +sham Royal box into which his father's armchair had been wheeled, +thought it smelt a little musty and fusty. + +But even his laughter had been long and loud. And now there was a +pause during which the noisy band of four--a cornet, a fiddle, a +'cello, and an oboe--hustled up their instruments and music and +disappeared. Marmaduke, with the fine instincts for art he had +inherited from his father, and which still made the latter a gourmet +and not a gourmand of all good things, felt relieved. Then suddenly a +thin thread of sound, vibrant, musical--just a whing like the whing of +a mosquito on a hot Indian night--made itself more felt than heard. It +seemed to thrill the air, to go further and thrill the heart-strings. +Marmaduke leant forward expectantly as the curtains drew up slowly on +a background of pale pink velvet hanging in loose folds to a pale pink +velvet floor. And the musty fustiness had gone! That was attar of +roses, pale pink roses like the pale pink _mise-en-scene_. And hark, +the thread of sound changed to two! It became rhythmic, louder! A +guitar? No; it must be a Hungarian zither. Marmaduke, thoroughly +roused, thrilled through to the marrow of his bones as he waited. Bent +on conquest, he had dressed with the greatest care; from head to foot +he was perfection. Expectant as he was, he was yet prepared to be +critical; but one glance at the figure which, after peeping with +roguish face between the velvet folds, stole out on tiptoe to the very +footlights, then stood, finger on lip, as if imploring silence for an +escapade, told him he was in the presence of a past mistress in her +art, and he sat back prepared for enjoyment. + +And La Fantine, as she had been called, had brought pleasure to many +men. She was looking her best, dainty to a degree. The footlights, +with the larger possibilities of powder and paint, had restored her +youth, and her dress was entrancing. Short clouds of pale pink tulle +scarcely veiled with gossamer black lace, all set and sparkling with +dewdrops of paste diamonds. How they glittered and disappeared, +twinkling one moment like stars amid the diaphanous black lace wings +she wore on her head, then sinking to shadow again as she moved. + +And heavens, how she moved! The zither thrilled louder and Marmaduke +sat entranced, for their eyes had met and he realised that she was +keeping her promise--she was dancing for him, for him alone. Like most +young and vital creatures dancing was sheer delight to him, and the +very precision of the black lace-shod, sandalled feet was pure joy to +him. And now the rhythm grew faster and faster; she was like a mad +butterfly drunk with honey from the waiting flowers. + +The desire of the eyes does not take long to flame up and flare, and +Marmaduke felt quite dizzy as he joined in the burst of applause when, +with a final pirouette, the _danseuse_ kissed her hand to the +audience. Or was it to him? + +"Never saw La Fantine dance better, Drum," remarked a thin old man, a +relic of the past youth when he and the bridegroom expectant had +roystered about together, "except, perhaps, that time, you remember, +when she danced the _fandango_ with that South American fellow +she----" + +He paused, remembering that this incident in Mdlle. Le Grand's career +had best not be mentioned under present circumstances. + +"The _fandango?_" put in Marmaduke, afire. "I should like to see her +dance that. It's the finest dance in the world. I learnt it in Cuba." + +"Hullo, Drum," said the old buck, "here's a chance! Your son says he +can dance the _fandango_. Here's a chance. Let's have it. They'd make +a handsome couple." + +Marmaduke blushed up to the ears; why, he knew not. Then he said +stiffly-- + +"I'd rather not, Sir John." + +The refusal was opportune for the _fandango_; it roused the old man's +arrogance. + +"Why not, sir?" he asked angrily. "You'd never get a better partner. +Here, Fantine, my dear," he added, raising his voice, "this oaf of a +boy of mine says he can dance the _fandango!_ Show him he can't, +there's a good girl!" + +"I will do my leetle best, milor," she replied, with a maliciously +provocative smile that would have incited anyone of spirit to action. + +"I am at mademoiselle's command for tuition," said Marmaduke, with a +fine bow. + +His head was ringing, his pulses bounding. He was divided between +anger and delight, between a desire to teach the little devil and his +father a lesson, and keen pleasure at the thought of the coming dance. + +A minute after he stood making his bow beside La Fantine. + +"Do you really know it?" she had whispered. + +"Better than you do," he had whispered back brutally. "I've danced it +in the pot-houses of Habana." + +Then it would be a trial of skill between them! She nodded to the +zither player to begin, striking the strings with loud full-blooded +notes that vibrated and thrilled through the little theatre and came +back to aid the growing clamour of the music. It was grace and grace, +suppleness and suppleness at first; then by degrees something fiercely +beautiful, profoundly, almost overwhelmingly, appealing to the senses. +The audience sat spellbound, while to those two there grew an +absorbing forgetfulness of all save that they two, man and woman, were +playing each with the other. Suddenly, when that reckless +forgetfulness seemed to have reached its climax, the woman faltered +for a second, turned to her companion. + +"Don't you know the rest?" he whispered softly. "Come on, I'll teach +it you." + +Half-hypnotised by his look, his manner, she followed his lead. +The music, bewildered, ignorant, failed, came to a full stop. +But it was not needed. Those two danced to the music of the spheres. +The coarse sensuality of this earth had passed. This was the +refined super-sensuality of a world of art, of sentiment. It was +self-renunciation divorced from its real meaning, and when finally, +with La Fantine's heart pressed to his, he laid his burning lips to +hers, a great silence like a sigh came to the whole audience. It was +broken by Lord Drummuir's stentorian voice-- + +"You--you d----d young scoundrel! This is too much----" + +Marmaduke looked up jubilant. + +"It's in the original dance, isn't it, Mademoiselle Le Grand?" + +"I--I believe it is," she faltered uncertainly. She had met with her +match, and that she knew. + +"A most remarkable performance," said Sir John, with unction. "I'll +tell you what it is, young man. You two would be the talk of London if +you could persuade Mdlle. Fantine----" he paused again, coughed, and +added precipitately, "Really, my dear Drum, you are to be +congratulated on such a son, and such a future wife! Inimitable, quite +inimitable! You'll never feel the least dull in the long winter +evenings. Ah, Mdlle. Fantine, _mes compliments!_ I have not seen you +for years; not since----" here once more he pulled himself up short, +and Lord Drummuir, beguiled from wrath by his ever-ready sense of +humour, burst in a loud guffaw. + +"Look here, Johnnie," he cried, "hold your tongue and don't splay that +old foot of yours about any more. Winter evenings be dashed! Marmaduke +is going back to his Cuban partners, and little Fanny here is going to +make my gruel, aren't you, Fan? Meanwhile, let's come and have some +supper." + +So they supped outrageously, and the noise of their laughter echoed +out over the quadrangle, where Marrion Paul sat at her door listening +for Marmaduke's step. She had promised to call Andrew Fraser the +moment she heard it; Andrew, who for two hours had been shivering and +shaking with ague under the spare-room blankets, and had now +apparently fallen asleep, secure in Marrion's promise to rouse him on +his master's appearance. + +She had been up twice to see that the captain's room was in order, and +like any valet had laid out everything that would be required for the +night. So, leaving the candles alight, she had come down to stand at +the door of the keep-house again and watch the slow whirling stars +almost stupidly, and wonder what had best be done at once to keep Duke +friends with his father, and at the same time to get him away from the +godless crew up at the castle. + +A staggering step and Marmaduke's voice joyously thick saying-- + +"All right, James, you needn't come any further. I can find my way +now. Good-night. Andrew--where the deuce are you, Andrew? Why weren't +you waiting?" sent her in haste to fulfil her promise. But the hot fit +had this time had a firmer grip on Andrew than either she or he had +expected, and she found him lying with closed eyes half-unconscious. +And though he roused at her touch it was only to mutter: "Let me be, +mother! I'm no goin' to the schule the day. I wunna; let me be, I +say!" + +Marrion, seeing he was useless, laid a wet cloth on his head and +returned to her station by the door. It was a dark night and she could +see nothing. Neither could she hear anything. + +What had happened? Had Marmaduke managed the stairs by himself? If so, +well and good. He could be left to his own devices, and serve him very +well right! The candles were in a safe place. But if he had fallen by +the way, he would be out all night. Serve him right also! Her lips +curled with scorn, and she was about to go in and close the door when +she remembered that the kitchen girls shaking their mats in the +quadrangle in the early morning would see him if he were lying there. +If it were men it would not have mattered, but that girls should see +and snigger was unbearable. She must go and make sure this would not +happen. Taking the lantern--for it was pitch dark--she made her way to +the foot of the stair. He was lying with his head on the lowest step, +as he had fallen, sleeping peacefully. The cool night air had +completed the work of wine, and so doubtless he would sleep for hours. +But he must not; that disgrace must be avoided. Kneeling beside him +she shook him violently by the shoulder; he roused a little, but not +much, and as he sank back to renewed slumber she looked helpless for a +moment, then angry. It was too bad! He must be roused somehow. She +lifted her hand and gave him a good smart blow on the cheek. + +The effect was magical. + +"Marmie," he murmured dazedly, then sat up and said confusedly, "What +is it, my dear?" + +"You've got to get up and go to your bed, Mr. Duke," she replied. +"Come, be quick about it." + +He stumbled to his feet obediently. + +"Certainly, certainly! No objection whatever," he said thickly; but +when by the light of the lantern he saw the stairs he gave a silly +laugh, and said amiably: "Quite impossible, I 'sure you. Where's +Andrew?" + +"Andrew is not here, Mr. Duke," she replied firmly. "I'll help you up. +Hold on to the rail with your right hand; I'll see to you." + +He delivered himself into her strong grip, body and soul, and so, with +a few stumbles, they reached the top of the stairs. Here she hesitated +a moment, then led him on. + +"Sit you down on your bed, Duke. I'll help you off with your coat. +Ye'll sleep better without it. An' now kick off yer pumps," she went +on calmly, a sort of fierce motherhood possessing her, "an' I'd better +loosen yer stock; 'tis tight enough to suffocate ye." + +He acquiesced in all, sinking to sleep without a word almost before +she had finished her ministrations. Then, taking a plaid that hung +over a chair, she covered him over and prepared to go. But regret, +anger, outraged affection were too strong for her. She flung herself +on her knees beside the bed and buried her face on his unconscious +breast. + +"Ah, Duke, Duke," she moaned, "how can ye! Ah, Duke, Duke, you +mustn't, you shall not spoil your life--you shall not, you shall not!" + +After a time calm came to her, and, drawing a chair to the side of the +bed, she sat down on it and, clasping her hands tight together, forced +herself to think of the future. But again and again she caught herself +comparing those two unconscious faces--Andrew's all flushed with +fever, Duke's all flushed with wine. Yet comparisons were useless +before Fate. She stood up at last, crossed the room, blew out the +candles, shut the door, and went downstairs, certain but of one thing, +that somehow she was bound by the very greatness of her love to stand +between Duke and danger. + +Her grandfather was home, and snoring. Andrew she found better and +beginning to fret over his inability to serve his master. + +"Dinna fash yersel," she said kindly. "I heard James bring him over a +while back, and he'll have seen to him." + +So, absolutely outwearied, she went to her bed, to sleep at once and +dream that Duke had thanked her and gone away from the godless +household never to return. But Duke, meanwhile, was dreaming about +wonderful white arms that had left powder on his coat and wonderful +red lips that he had kissed boldly, defying the world. + + + + + CHAPTER VII + + +It was not only Marrion Paul whose night had been disturbed. Lord +Drummuir, brought thereto by many days' indiscretions, Perigord pie at +supper, and perchance his hot though transient anger at the finale to +the _fandango_, fell a victim to the sharpest attack of gout he had +had since Christmas and kept his side of the house awake with his +curses on things in general, and his valet in particular. + +And, on the other side of the south wing, Fantine Le Grand, _alias_ +Fanny Biggs, sat till dawn, staring at herself in the looking-glass +and ciphering out the effect of something, new yet old, which had +unexpectedly come into her life. She had sent her maid to bed, but +felt no inclination for her own, until the disturbing element had been +thoroughly reckoned with; for she was eminently practical and shrewd. + +So she sat, her elbows on the dressing-table, her fingers cramped in +her loosened hair, taking stock of the pretty painted face which had +been the loadstar of her life. It was beginning to show age. She had +admitted that to herself for some time past, and had told herself it +was time for her to draw in her horns. But now had come this +disturbing factor. Only that morning she had remorselessly plotted to +turn Marmaduke out of the house by fair means or foul. Now she was +clear-sighted enough to admit that she would much rather keep him +beside her. + +Strange that one dance, one delicious abandonment of herself to his +directions should have revived her youth--made her think of the gouty +old man with positive loathing. + +"You are a fool," she murmured to her reflection in the glass; but the +reflection answered back--"It is your last chance. Why miss it?" + +She thought and thought, only one thing coming to her with certainty. +To play with Marmaduke, as she had proposed to do, would be to play +with fire. Was she prepared for this? + +At last, wearied out, she rose, poured out a double dose of sleeping +drops, and put off further considerations for the morning, since no +matter at what decision she arrived, she could not afford to be +haggard. She woke, late as usual, to feel, with the usual buoyancy +of perfect health and practically no conscience, that she had been +making a mountain out of a molehill; but the first glance at the +breakfast-table laid in her little boudoir sent a thrill through her +which reminded her that there were indeed pitfalls ahead. For on it +lay a huge bunch of red, red roses, tied together somewhat clumsily +with a red silk officer's scarf, and in it was tucked away a boyish +note: "Excuse tie, I hadn't any other ribbon. Hope you aren't tired +after our wonderful dance. My love to you." + +So it was real, tangible; and something must be settled one way or the +other. She frowned over her breakfast and then, untying the bouquet, +disposed the roses about the room, since Lord Drummuir, of whose +illness she had not yet heard, might come in at any moment. The tie +she set aside, its fate being not yet decided. + +After a while Colonel Compton, as usual, lounged in, a cigar in his +mouth. + +"By George, Fan," he said admiringly, "that was a treat you gave us +last night! Upon my soul, if I'd known you had so much spunk left in +you, I'd never have advised your going on the shelf! If you could only +get that young fellow as a co, you'd take the town by storm." + +"Should I?" she answered, with a half yawn; but her mind seized +instantly on a new idea. + +"Of course you would," he went on, "and I've done a bit of +_impresario_ work in my time. Marks, if he'd seen it, would have +offered you fifty sovs a night on the spot. The old man is no mean +judge, and you saw how it angered him." + +She burst into a little laugh. + +"But he soon got over it. You see he has a sense of humour; if he +hadn't, I could not stand him, I really couldn't!" + +"Don't know about getting over it. He's down to-day with a real bad +fit of the gout----" + +"Is he?" she remarked coolly. "Then I shall have a holiday." As she +said the words her mind travelled over the possibilities of even a few +days. "Compton," she said suddenly, "I never quite understand the +position of affairs in regard to Drummuir's sons. The estate's +entailed, isn't it?" + +"Heir male of the body," replied the colonel. "That is why I warned +you to look out lest Marmaduke should worm money out of his father. So +long as the old man lives you're all right; but when he dies you will +only have the cash and the savings--and the title. The rest all goes +to Pitt--after him, as he has no children, and isn't likely to have +any--to Marmaduke as heir presumptive. After him to Peter, but +Marmaduke is sure to marry; he's really a very good-looking +fellow----" + +She interrupted him curtly; she did not need to be told that. + +"Thanks. I quite understand, only I wished to be sure." + +She passed to the window and looked out. Peter, as usual surrounded +by a perfect pack of silly, silky spaniels--they suited him exactly +with his wide weak mouth, long fair hair, and general exuberance of +dress--was on the lawn talking to Marmaduke. The latter looked up, saw +her, and bowed. She kissed her hand to him and returned to her seat, +her mind still confused, but her will steady. + +"Well," she said lightly, "I suppose by and by I shall have to go in +and cheer up my fiance, but I shan't be sorry for a few days' +holiday." + +She told Marmaduke so also when she appeared, exquisite and dainty, +declaring that, as she was useless at home, since his father, poor +dear, could not even bear the sight of her for more than five minutes, +she thought it would be a fine opportunity to see a little more of the +place than she had hitherto been able to; and would Marmaduke tell her +where to go. + +The result of which innocent interrogatory being that in the full +glory of a summer afternoon, the sea calm as a mill pond, Marmaduke +found himself sitting in a boat as it drifted idly beneath the old red +sandstone cliffs facing the North Sea with his arm round La Fantine's +waist and a curious mixture of desire and disdain in his heart. + +"You see, my dear boy," she was saying, "I dare say you think ill of +me." + +"I don't, I don't indeed!" he protested. + +"Well, you did think ill of me," she continued, with a heavenly smile; +"but I really have all the Christian virtues. That is the worst of it. +I hate giving pain, or seeing people suffer. And I like doing my best +for people, if I can. Now my proposition sounds rather impossible, +but it really is quite feasible. I'm not going to talk about our +feelings, Duke. We both of us remember last night, so we will leave +them out of the question. But you are a young man, you have a future +before you--that is to say, if you play your cards properly. You want +to be a soldier----" + +"I don't mean to be anything else," interrupted Marmaduke decidedly, +"so your plan of my making money by dancing with you is out of the +question." + +"Not on six months' sick leave, under an assumed name? Now, Duke, +listen and don't interrupt. If you and I join forces and run away from +here, I will engage to get the money for your majority. I tell you any +manager would advance two thousand on the _fandango_ alone--or Jack +Jardine could finance one half--as he always does, and I the other. +Then you could join, get leave, disappear, have a real stunning six +months with me--London, Paris, Vienna perhaps. You don't know what the +life is like, Duke--and I'm not jealous or exacting. I like to amuse +myself, and so should you." + +He looked at her admiringly. + +"What an imagination you have!" he said. "And you settle everything so +quickly. You remind me----" And here the thought of Marrion Paul made +him suddenly shift back to the thwart and begin to scull once more. +"We are nearing the current," he said apologetically, "and she needs +steering--and so do I!" he added, with a charming smile, "so go on, +please, with your imaginations." + +She gave him a sharp look, saw he had still some fight left in him, +and like a good fisherman let him have his head a bit. + +"Of course it is all imagination," she assented, "and it depends on +whether you think it worth while to pay the price I ask for all this. +I am five years older than you are, Duke" (in reality she was fifteen, +but under a rose-lined sun hat years disappear), "but I am still +attractive." + +She said the word so cunningly that he laid on his oars and bent +forward till his burning eyes were close to hers. + +"Attractive!" he echoed. "You're more than that, and you know it--at +any rate, I do!" + +"I am glad of it," she assented, "for it makes it easier for both of +us; but, as I said, I don't want to dwell on our feelings, they are +too recent to be--er--reliable. It is purely as business that I put it +to you. I want to get back to the old life, if I can do it with any +chance of success. Last night showed me I could. But I also want to be +Lady Drummuir. You want to get your majority, and also--there is no +use in mincing words--to spite your father for not giving you the +money. Now all these desires can be combined----" + +The grating of the keel on a shingly shore interrupted her, and +Marmaduke stood up, shipped his oars, and held out both his hands. + +"Let's leave it for the time, little lady, or you'll persuade me out +of my persuasion that you're right. There's the most ideal spot for +lovers just round that rock. Let's go there and forget everything and +everybody except that I am the most delightful man in the world, and +you are the most delightful--and attractive--woman!" + +The hint of artificiality in his tone made her frown, but there was +frank sensual admiration in his look as he set her down after lifting +her from the boat. + +"I think," he said softly, as he held out a finger bleeding from the +prick of a pin, "you are the daintiest, thorniest thing I ever +touched. You're like the roses I gave you this morning, all colour, +sweetness and scent, and--thorns." + +Whereat they both laughed as they made their way to the ideal spot for +lovers. To their surprise and discomfiture they found it already +occupied by Margaret Muir, who was looking sentimentally out to sea +with the Reverend Patrick Bryce's arm round her waist. + +"Meg!" cried Marmaduke, aghast. + +"Oh, Marmaduke! Why? How did you come?" wailed his sister, jumping up +and looking round as if for escape. + +The Reverend Patrick Bryce, however, stood his ground. He was a small +spare man of about fifty, dapper and spruce, his curling grey hair +having the appearance of a wig under his low crowned hat, his clear, +starched clerical bands natty to a degree. + +"Captain Marmaduke Muir, I presume," he said, with a bow of a marquis. +"I regret much exposing my dear Miss Margaret Muir to this +unpleasantness, but I beg you to believe that, as my affianced wife, I +am ready to defend her to the uttermost." + +Marmaduke looked from one to the other of the delinquents. + +"You don't mean to say, Meg," he said at last, "that you wish to marry +the minister?" + +The very idea seemed to him preposterous, absurd; he almost laughed at +it. + +The Reverend Patrick Bryce gave her no time for reply. + +"She not only desires to marry me, sir, but she is going to do so, +please God, before long. Yes, sir, I propose to take her away from a +demoralising atmosphere, and give her, to the utmost of my power, the +love and affection she deserves." + +He looked very gallant as he made his little speech, and Marmaduke +acknowledged to himself that he played the gentleman well. Still, he +turned again to his sister in incredulity. + +"You can't do it, Meg. To begin with, if the Baron----" + +"Baron Drummuir, sir, will have nothing to say to it," interrupted the +little minister once more. "The Honourable Margaret Muir is of age, +and if she chooses to marry a man of birth equal to her own--I do not +care to boast of my ancestry, sir, but Bryce and Bruce are the same, +and my family tree shows Robert of Scotland to be my immediate +ancestor--she is at liberty to do so." + +"That is for Lord Drummuir to decide," said Marmaduke grimly. "Of +course, I shall tell him, Meg, what I've seen." + +Margaret clasped her hands in entreaty. + +"Oh, please, don't, Duke--please, please!" + +"Margaret," interrupted the minister sharply, "oblige me by not +entreating your brother to silence. Let him speak if he chooses. We +are not ashamed of ourselves." + +All this time Mdlle. Le Grand had been watching the scene with her +sharp eyes, and her acute little brain had been working out any +advantage to herself. Now she saw her way and slipped forward with a +smile. + +"My dear Marmaduke," she said, as the two men stood glaring at each +other, "live and let live is a valuable motto. You must remember that +Margaret can also tell on us. Silence on both sides is the best way +out of the difficulty. Don't you think so, Miss Muir?" + +Margaret gave a frightened look at her brother. + +"Ah, Duke," she cried, "you don't mean to say you----" + +Fantine Le Grand interrupted her with perfect aplomb. + +"That has nothing to do with it, my dear young lady; but you know as +well as I do what would happen if your father got wind of this +excursion of ours. So, as I said, silence is wise. Don't you agree +with me, sir?" + +The Reverend Patrick Bryce once more made the bow of a marquis. + +"I reserve the right to speak if I choose----" + +"And so do I," she retorted sweetly, "only we won't choose. Come, +Marmaduke, it is time we were going back. Had we not better take your +sister with us? It will look better--for both sides." + +And here she gave a delightful tinkle of a laugh. + +She kept up the role so well on the return journey that simple +Margaret Muir was quite fascinated, and when, artfully, the suggestion +was made that Marmaduke should see his sister home to the Dower House, +the latter took the occasion to remark, as the former had hoped she +would, on her surprise at finding Mdlle. Le Grand so agreeable and so +well mannered. + +"She is very charming," replied Marmaduke, a trifle gloomily, "and +very clever." + +He felt vaguely that he had been played with, and that he had had no +more responsibility in the game than a pawn at chess. He felt also +that the compact of silence with his sister brought imaginings nearer +to reality. + +And the idea of that six months on the Continent was a temptation; +anyhow, he would have another go at the old man first. + +If he still refused--well, on his head be it! + + + + + CHAPTER VIII + + +Days are long to a man and a woman when one of them passionately +desires the other, for every instant counts, every moment spells +success or failure. And Fantine Le Grand, with her almost lifelong +experience of intrigue, was not one to let the grass grow under her +feet. So when, two days later, Marmaduke ran over the quadrangle to +beg a favour of Marrion Paul, most of his scruples had disappeared, +and, for the time, at any rate, he was an admiring lover, eager to do +anything and everything for the woman of the moment. + +"You can, quite well, if you like, Marrion," he pleaded. "It would +only be for a day or two, till Josephine could put her foot to the +ground again. And Mdlle. Le Grand--she has been very much maligned, +Marmie--is perfectly charming. Now do. It isn't often I ask you to do +anything for me, is it?" + +Marrion Paul had opened her eyes at the proposition, which was briefly +that, during the temporary disablement of Mdlle. Le Grand's French +maid, she should go over and take her place. She had been on the point +of refusal when that "for me" startled her. Was it possible that he +could count that woman's convenience his own? She hesitated, but only +for a second. + +"I will do what I can for you, Captain Duke," she said. + +In an instant all the old charm, all the old _camaraderie_ came to his +voice-- + +"I knew you would, Marmie. I told her so. You're a real friend, you do +such a lot of things for me." Then he in his turn hesitated, looked +confused, and finally spoke: "I had such odd dreams that night--the +night we danced, you know. I dreamt that you helped me up the stairs +and--and put me to bed like a baby." He paused. "Did you, really, +Marmie?" + +The colour rushed to her face. + +"Aye, Captain Duke, I did. Andrew was ill and you were drunk." + +Her straightforward candour abashed him beyond words. + +"I'm sorry," he said at last, so humbly that her heart melted within +her. Then he added, with a sudden influx of joyousness, "But I'm +really going to turn over a new leaf. I'm going to cut and run before +long and let my father stew in his own juice." + +She caught him up instantly. + +"Your father's your father, Mr. Duke, and you're the heir to the old +barony. You mustn't forget that. It's laid on you, and it's not to be +put aside." + +He paused as he was going, vexedly. + +"I'm not going to put it aside, Marmie. I am only going to make the +best of a bad bargain. If the old lord won't give me the money for my +majority, I'm not going to stick on here getting drunk to please him." + +There was distinct virtue in the last phrase, and Marmie smiled. And +as she looked in the old clothes drawer for some black silk-frilled +aprons which her mother had worn when she was maid to the first Lady +Drummuir, she told herself that Duke was nothing but--as he had +said--a big baby, and that, no matter what the dancing-woman might be +like, she, Marrion, was glad to be in a position where she could see +for herself what was going on. + +She looked very demure, very uncompromising and upright, therefore, +when that same afternoon, attired after a little coloured sketch of +her mother as maid, she stood waiting for Fantine Le Grand to come up +and dress for dinner. Yet, even so, the latter's instant and quite +unpremeditated remark was-- + +"Captain Muir did not tell me you were so good-looking." + +It was a revelation to Marrion's quick wits, but she was ready in +reply. + +"Maybe he never looked to see, ma'am," she said demurely, "having his +eyes busy with prettier things." + +Fantine Le Grand laughed easily and her manner changed to more +familiarity at once. + +"You know which side your bread is buttered, my girl. So much the +better. Now I wonder how much use you will be?" + +"I was six years at the dressmaking, madam," replied Marrion, "and the +forewoman gave me all the touching-up work; she said I had a good hand +for folds." + +Fantine gave a relieved sigh. + +"Then you're not quite a bumpkin, but I suppose you can't do hair?" + +"I can, a little," said Marrion; "I learnt just a wee while in +Perragier's shop in Edinburgh. The foreman wanted me to stop, but I +don't care for the business." + +All of which was absolutely true; for the hairdresser who had offered +her gold for her russet hair had afterwards offered her his heart and +hand. What is more he had hardly yet withdrawn his offer, and only +that morning the post had brought her a long and friendly letter +enclosing a sachet and a most particular account of how he had dressed +the hair of all the Edinburgh celebrities in the latest fashion for +the last big ball. + +"I'm thinking," she went on deftly, "that the new Sevigne style would +just suit madam, if she will allow me to try. There will be time to +change if it doesn't please." + +Five minutes later Fantine Le Grand, in pink wrapper, was watching in +the glass Marrion's fingers curling and twisting and combing and +puffing. And Marrion was watching the glass also, a half inherited, +half acquired perception of what was beautiful and becoming aiding her +lack of practice. + +"My dear girl," said Fantine delighted, when Marrion stepped back, her +task completed, "you're an artist! It makes me look ten years younger. +You must come with me." She paused and gave a little conscious laugh. +"Anyhow, you are much better than Josephine, and so I shall tell +Captain Muir." + +Apparently she did, for Marrion, meeting him by chance that evening on +the stairs, had to draw back from his outstretched hand. + +"Hang it all," he said, almost boisterously, "I forgot you were a +servant here! Do you ever forget your p's and q's, I wonder? I wish +you would sometimes. Anyhow, you have made her look quite divine, and +she says she means to ask you to take the place permanently." + +"It is very kind of _her_," replied Marrion, accenting the pronoun; +but Marmaduke was too absorbed to notice it. Only that afternoon he +had had his final attack on his father's purse-strings, and had come +down to the library where Jack Jardine and Peter were smoking, white +with rage. + +"It's all up!" he said. "The old man--I'll never call him father +again--insulted me beyond bearing." + +"I warned you, Duke," began Peter; "he isn't half recovered yet." + +"And do you think I've got time to waste until my precious parent +takes enough colchicum and nitre to kill a horse, all because he +guzzles and swills? No. As I told him, Pringle won't wait over the +week, so--so I'm making other arrangements. I shall have to ask you, +Jack, to raise two hundred pounds to clinch the bargain when I meet +Pringle. I don't know how the devil you do it, but you always do." + +"Yes, I always do," assented Jardine a trifle wearily; "but you know, +Duke, it would be wiser to raise the two thousand pounds at once and +have done with it. If Pitt and Peter here were to join in a _post +obit_, and I were to back it----" + +"Thanks!" said Marmaduke curtly. "I only asked for two hundred pounds, +and you can put that in the bill, can't you?" + +"Yes," assented Jardine again wearily, "I can put it in the bill" + +When Marmaduke had gone out of the room Peter crossed over to the fire +and knocked the ashes out of his pipe. + +"I wonder what he has got in his head," he remarked thoughtfully. +"It's something to do with Fantine, _alias_ Fanny Biggs, I'm sure." + +"Fantine?" echoed Jack Jardine. "Why, of course, anyone can see that +Marmaduke has been trying to get to the right side of her. I advised +him to do so. And she, of course--by that scoundrel Compton's advice, +I expect--has been trying to make the peer jealous in order to get rid +of Marmaduke!" + +Peter burst out laughing. + +"Look here, Jack, you're excellent as a man of business, but you're a +mole with women, you old bachelor! I could tell you a thing or two, +but I won't--it's too amusing." And he strolled out of the room +chuckling to himself. + +Over in the keep-house, Marrion Paul felt that she, also, could tell a +thing or two, even after the brief experience of being maid to Fantine +Le Grand; but she did not find it amusing. On the contrary, it sent +her about her new work with a frown in her eyes that were keen for +every sign. + +The day had been a troublous one. The old peer, up for the first time, +had been so irritable that the whole household was upset. Fantine Le +Grand, indeed, coming up for her usual late afternoon rest, had +professed herself so outwearied by a protracted penance in milord's +private room that she bade Marrion give her a double dose of her +sleeping draught and tell the butler she was not coming down to +dinner. She would have a dainty little supper in her boudoir at ten +o'clock, and till then did not wish to be disturbed. Being thus set +free, Marrion was going home when, as she passed the stairway leading +to the room which Marmaduke had occupied and where Andrew Fraser still +kept some of his master's spare things, she heard a noise as of +someone shifting boxes. Running up to see what it was, she found +Andrew busy packing up. + +"Aye, we're awa' the morn's morn," he replied cheerfully to her query, +"and blythe am I that the finest gentleman in the Queen's army will +run no more danger o' bein' ruined by a whore-woman and an auld, auld +man, as s'ould be thinkin' o' his grave an' the Last Day." + +Despite a sudden catch at her heart, his hearer acquiesced calmly. + +"Aye, it's well he's goin! But where is it to?" + +"To Edinbro'. He's an appointment tae meet Major Pringle the morrow's +morn aboot the exchange." + +"An' when he's comin' back?" asked Marrion sharply. + +"I heard no tell o' returnin', and I'm thinkin' not. Ye see the +exchange he tell't me was settled into the auld regiment." + +"Then his father----" she interrupted. + +Andrew shook his head. + +"It's no the auld lord. They had just a fearfu' stramash aboot it. It +will be Jack Jardine again, puir fallow! He always manages it somehow. +Well, he'll hae his reward at the Judgment, though I'm thinkin' he'll +hae to wait till then for a reckoning." + +"Maist o' us have to do that, Andry," said Marrion grimly, and then +her face, looking into the hard, honest, homely face before her, +softened; "an' you, abune all, abune all, my lad," she added, as she +went on her way. + +Andrew Fraser hesitated for a second, then followed fast. + +"Thank ye for that, my dear," he said hoarsely at the foot of the +stairway, "it makes it easier. An' I'll wait--aye, I'll wait till +then, never fear, Marrion!" + +His outstretched hand was in hers as they stood gazing into each +other's eyes, his very love forgot in the flood of friendship which +surged through their hearts and brains, when Miss Margaret Muir, fresh +from an afternoon among the rocks with her gallant little parson, came +whistling and calling to her dogs through the keep-gate. She had spent +so many long years of her life without one touch of glamour and +romance that, now it had come to her at last, the whole world seemed +transfigured into a place full to the brim of lovers and their lasses. +So in an instant the sight of those two set her becking and smiling. + +"Good luck to you both!" she called. "Good luck, good luck! After all, +Marrion, you see you will be asking Mr. Bryce to get you cried." + +Andrew, shamefaced and confused, escaped up the stairs, but Marrion +stood her ground boldly. + +"There'll be scant time, Miss Marg'ret," she said, not without some +scorn, "for Andrew is away with his master the morn, and Captain Duke +says he will not be coming back." + +Her hearer turned visibly pale. Ever since the rencontre on the rocks +Margaret had been haunted by a fear lest Marmaduke should break the +half-formulated compact of mutual silence. And now this news of his +unexpected departure sent a thousand wild conjectures to her mind. +Had he quarrelled with his father over the woman? Had he in revenge +told---- + +"Going away!" she gasped. "I didn't know. Surely it's very sudden! +Why? Can my father have found out about Mdlle. Le Grand----" Then +realising her slip, she went on hurriedly, "But it is all nonsense +about Duke's saying he will not come back. The boys always say that +when there is a quarrel; but father forgets, and so do they, as you +know quite well, Marrion. And it's only right that it should be so, +for after all he is their father, isn't he?" + +"Aye, Miss Marg'ret," replied Marrion gravely, "my Lord Drummuir is +the present holder o' the barony, an' Captain Marmaduke is the heir to +it if the Master has no son; so that settles it outright." + +Margaret Muir looked at her with a sort of wistful surprise. + +"You put things very plain, Marrion," she said, "but you always were a +sensible girl; and, being what you are, your grandfather's +granddaughter--you--you belong to Drummuir, as it were." + +When she had passed on whistling and calling to her dogs, Marrion Paul +stood echoing those last words in her heart. Yes, she belonged to +Drummuir; but over and above that inherited loyalty there was a +passion of protection for Duke himself. He must not be harmed in any +way. + +Was there indeed anything between him and the painted woman she was +serving? + +Before she wakened her for the dainty supper at ten o'clock that +evening Marrion stood looking at the sleeping face, all its charm of +_espieglerie_ gone, the mouth cruel, the lines about the eyes hard and +set. + +No, whatever came, that woman should not have the spoiling of Duke's +life! Not that there could be much fear since he was leaving the next +day. + + + + + CHAPTER IX + + +No danger! + +The thought--such an ill-considered thought, it seemed--recurred to +Marrion Paul as she held a slip of crumpled paper in her hand and read +its slight contents over and over again. + +She had found it on the floor of the room where Andrew Fraser had +packed up his master's spare things. There had been heaps of other +papers on the floor, when, during the time that Fantine Le Grand was +on duty with the old lord, Marrion, more to still thought than from +necessity, had set herself the task of clearing up and making tidy; +but this one showed her Duke's handwriting, and, half mechanically, +she had reached down to pick it up. And then? Women, as a rule, have +not nearly so hard and fast a rule of conventional honour as men on +such points, so she had smoothed it out and read-- + +Evidently a memorandum made to help out a memory excellent in its way, +but random, careless. + +"Write for rooms at Cross-keys. Order trap from Crow; 9.30, copse by +avenue gate." + +She drew in her breath and considered, her thoughts punctuated by the +rapid beating of her heart. + +The Cross-keys? That was the inn where the south coach stopped, and +where the ferry road branched off; she could almost see it from her +window across the estuary on the edge of the moorland. What did +Marmaduke want with rooms there? And the trap from the Crow? That was +the little inn down in the back purlieus of the town. For whom was +that trap wanted? And why not order from the big posting hotel as +usual? + +Then in an instant a solution flashed upon her. Marmaduke had not +really gone by the afternoon coach; or, if he had, so far, was to +return that night to the Cross-keys, and the trap was to take Fantine +Le Grand to him by the bridge road! + +The beating of her heart steadied itself. She folded up the paper and +put it in her pocket, her vehement determination, somehow or another, +to frustrate this plan almost forgotten for the time in wonder at the +chance which had brought to her this knowledge. + +The paper must have fallen out of the pocket of some coat Andrew had +been packing up--how easily it might not so have fallen! How easily +she might not have noticed it! A facile wonder obscured real thought, +and, as usual in such sudden crises, concrete determination hid itself +under one general determination to frustrate the machinations of the +enemy, if possible. She did not even ask herself how this was to be +done; all she told herself was that it _must_ be done. + +So, rousing to a sense that afternoon was passing to evening, and that +it was time for her to be in attendance at the castle, she went +thither, feeling vaguely that if it was necessary to kill the woman, +even that must be done, sooner than she should be allowed to hamper +Marmaduke's young life. + +Fantine Le Grand had not yet come up from her daily duty of amusing +Lord Drummuir, so Marrion mechanically began, as usual, to prepare for +the evening's toilette, She found all the valuables gone from the +jewel-case, and, after a hasty search, discovered them in a tiny +valise, ready packed hidden away behind laces and ribbons in a drawer. + +So she had been right. Fantine Le Grand meant to give them the slip. +Ere she had time to consider a fretful voice came from the boudoir. + +"Marrion, Marrion! I do hope the girl's there. Just like 'em if she +isn't. Ah," as Marrion appeared at the door, "for heaven's sake, girl, +take off my shoes and bring me my dressing-gown! That wretched old man +has worn me out. I shall be fit for nothing! Oh, lord, it was too +bad--nothing would please him! What o'clock is it? Six o'clock! Good +gracious, I shall hardly have time before dinner! I won't go down; +there's no one to go down for now Marmaduke's gone. Lord, what a +relief it will be! Tell them to bring dinner up here at eight and give +me my sleeping drops. Not too much, as I don't want to sleep too long; +but I have such a headache, I shan't be fit for anything without a +rest." + +Fantine Le Grand did not see her attendant's face. Had she done so, +she would have been startled. The colour had left it, every feature +was set and hard. For she had found the clue. Even if an overdose +killed the woman, she must be made to sleep sound. + +"Yes, madam," she replied, "but a rest will take your headache away, I +hope." + +She poured out the narcotic without a tremble, doubling the double +dose. It was a risk, of course; but risks must be run. + +"That is very strong--how much did you give me?" asked Fantine, as, +with a sigh of content, she snuggled down under the _duvet_. + +"Only as much as was necessary," replied Marrion steadily. + +Her heart was hard as the nether millstone. She waited in the boudoir +till the soft regular breathing told her Fantine was asleep, then, +giving orders in passing that her mistress did not wish to be +disturbed, she made her way back to her own room at the keep-house in +order to mature further plans. In this she was hampered by ignorance +as to what she had to frustrate. It would have been easy to walk down +to the Crow and countermand the trap, but for aught she knew to the +contrary, Marmaduke might be awaiting Mdlle. Le Grand there; so she +judged it better to adhere as far as possible to what she did know, +and this pointed to someone taking the trap, as ordered--whether to +the Cross-keys or not, mattered little--and meeting Marmaduke. The +very idea stirred her blood! Of course she must do it. She must go and +beg him--nay, force him to reconsider an action which would for ever +ruin him with his father. + +The colour came back to her face, the light to her eyes, with this +decision, and her mind was busy at once with precautions. + +The Cross-keys, she knew, was held by new people who would not be +likely to know her; still she must do her best to avoid recognition. +To begin with she must secure retreat. She looked down the estuary, +then at low tide, and little more than a still pool with a faint +stream in it, and saw no boat at the further side. That, however, +could easily be remedied. The castle boat lay this side, and it would +not take her half an hour to row it over and swim back. + +By this time it was full seven o'clock, the shadows were lengthening +and everyone at the castle would be busy with dinner. Now was her +opportunity. Ten minutes afterwards in her bathing suit, but wrapped +in her plaid, and with a lighted lantern at the bottom of the boat, +for she remembered it would be dark on the return journey, she was +pulling with long vigorous strokes to the little pier of seaweed-grown +slippery rocks. To fasten the boat to the outermost ring on the shore, +so that she could get at it at all tides, and hang the lantern over +the bows as a guide to the whereabouts, did not take her long. That +done, she folded the plaid away, placed it in the stern sheets, and +slipped over the side like a seal. + +So much, then, was done. She must now go and carry up Fantine Le +Grand's supper and then prepare herself to take the latter's place. + +She was relieved to find all well. Fantine lay comfortably snuggled +up, very dead asleep it is true, but breathing quietly and regularly, +and Marrion, with a lighter heart, for all it was still hard as the +nether millstone, closed the door on her, secure that no interruption +was likely to come from that side. + +And now to disguise herself so as to pass muster with the driver of +the coach, should he happen to be an acquaintance. This was easy +enough. High heels, silk stockings, a little lace, a furbelow or two, +and a big black silk cloak go far in semi-darkness, and all these were +to be found in her mother's wardrobe. + +Having time to spare, indeed, Marrion spent it, half-eagerly, +half-reluctantly, in seeing how near she could bring herself to the +daintinesses of modern fashion. And she so far succeeded that, as she +went away from the looking-glass, her face showed radiant, as of a +girl going to her first ball. Unconfessed, the thought was there that +Marmaduke would see her so, possibly in the discarded brocades worn by +his own mother in her youth; anyhow, in the garments of his own class. + +So, with the ample cloak round her, its hood drawn over the shining +hair piled in the latest fashion, she made her way to the copse by the +avenue gate. The chariot with two horses was in waiting; the driver, +touching his hat, asked if there was no luggage. She answered no, +stepped in, and they were off. Evidently the man had his orders, for +they skirted the town and crossed the river by the lower and older +bridge. This lengthened the journey by some two miles; so much the +better. It would be quite dark by the time they arrived at the +Cross-keys. Hitherto Marrion's mind had been fully occupied with action. +Now, in this hour's drive, she had time to think of what would happen +when she met Marmaduke, and her heart sank a little. Not that she was +afraid of him or of herself, but it was all so strange, so unlike real +life. Then in a flash came the memory of that dawn-tide swim of +theirs! That was not common, trivial, everyday life either. They two +had somehow the trick of escaping from that sometimes. Why not now? + +The day had been brilliantly fine and warm, but with the sun setting, +clouds had gathered and lay dark and threatening on the horizon, +though the moon rode unobscured high in the heavens. A few spots of +heavy rain fell in great splashes, and the bustling landlady of the +Cross-keys, as she came to the door, was full of congratulations that +madam had escaped the thunderstorm which was evidently brewing. +Meantime, Captain Muir, who had not expected his lady quite so soon, +was away in the kennels to see if some medicine which he--kindly +gentleman--had prescribed for a puppy ill of distemper had bettered +the poor beastie; but he would be back syne and the rooms were ready. + +This was a relief to Marrion as it ensured that their meeting would be +private; so she followed the landlady upstairs, the latter asking if +Mrs. Muir would rather a cup of tea, or to go to bed at once, since +she would have to be up so early to catch the first coach south. + +Marrion, as she refused both suggestions, felt startled at the Mrs. +Muir. Was it possible that there was to be more than a mere intrigue? +In Scotland one did not pose so easily as married--unless indeed +Marmaduke was reckless--he was so, often---- + +She glanced round the bedroom into which she was shown, recognising +that some of the luggage in it must be a woman's, then passed into the +sitting-room adjoining. The fire had lately been lit, doubtless with a +view to a sudden chilliness foretelling the coming storm, and the +flames of its crackling wood danced on the walls, making the two +lighted candles on the table unnecessary. Half mechanically she blew +them out, and with a sombre, almost stern face, stood watching the +blazing sticks. + +Suddenly a cheerful well-known voice rose below. + +"The puppy's much better, Mrs. McTavish. What, my wife has come? +That's all right." + +My wife! For an instant Marrion's head whirled. Was she too late? No. +Confused memories of what in Scotland constituted an irregular +marriage sent a flood of crimson to her face as she realised that Duke +had all unwittingly acknowledged her as his "wife" before witnesses. +His footsteps coming up the stairs two steps at a time steadied her; +but what followed shook her to her very foundations. Unheeding of her +feeble "Duke" as he opened the door, he was across the room holding +her in his arms and passionately kissing her averted face, her neck, +her hair. + +"This is good," he whispered. "Now for a splendid honeymoon!" + +For a second she yielded; then she wrenched herself from him and faced +him fairly. + +"You're making a mistake, Captain Muir," she said sharply, "I am only +Marrion Paul." + +She would have liked to add "your friend"; but she dared not. At the +moment she knew she was far more than that. + +"Marmie!" he echoed stupidly. "Marmie!" + +At first he was too surprised for more; then he drew himself up and +stared at her angrily. + +"What the deuce are you doing here?" he said at last, adding hastily, +as possibilities struck him, "Did she send you? Is she ill?" + +In her long drive the girl had gone over and over the coming +interview, settling what she would say, but the sudden solicitude of +his tone swept all her preparations away. Did he then really care? If +so, nothing but the naked truth would be any use. + +"No," she replied calmly, only her tightly interlaced fingers showing +the tension of her mind and body. "She is quite well. I gave her a +double dose of her sleeping drops to prevent her coming. I came +instead because I wanted to speak to you." + +The flickering firelight showed sheer anger on the young man's +face--sheer brutal anger. + +"Because you wanted to take her place, eh?" + +She gave a little sort of sob. What would she not have given to take +it? The very intensity of her desire made her pass the insult by. + +"It is no use being angry," she said quietly. "I came to try and make +you hear reason. You may as well listen. She can't come to-night, and +surely, meanwhile, we can sit down and talk it over--as friends!" + +"We used to be friends, I admit," he replied coldly; "but if you are +going to presume on friendship as you appear to have done, the sooner +the farce ends the better." + +For all that he sat down, his bold eyes taking in every detail of her +altered appearance. + +"Your dress suits you," he jibed. "I suppose you put it on to----" + +"I had to put it on," she interrupted; "I had to pass muster. I didn't +want to set the town talking. You know, as well as I, that it wasn't +easy--it wasn't pleasant." + +"No one asked you to do it," he replied, "and I wonder how you had +the--the cheek!" Then suddenly he laughed; he could not help it. The +whole business tickled him and his eyes took on a certain admiration. +"It beats cock-fighting, my dear," he went on. "No one but you would +have dared to do it. But it won't do, Marmie. You don't understand. +That old man--I won't call him my father, Marmie--won't give me the +two thousand pounds for my majority. Fantine Le Grand has shown me how +to get it, and I----" He paused; in sober truth now he came to think +of the plan for so getting it, the less it appealed to him. + +Marrion waited a second, then said-- + +"How?" + +There was no reason why he should have answered her categorically, but +he did; perhaps at the back of his mind was a desire to know what she +thought of it. He gave a forced laugh. + +"We are to dance for it. Oh, I know all the stuff that's talked about +dancing men and women, but we would go abroad! I should get leave of +absence for six months on urgent private affairs, and no one would be +a bit the worse." + +"_You_ would!" commented Marrion briefly. + +There was a world of scornful criticism in the words. + +"Oh, dash it all," cried Marmaduke, "a man can't always ride the high +horse! And you've put me in the deuce of a hole, though I suppose you +meant well. You see, I can't wait for her now, as I must see Pringle +tomorrow; but I can come back again," he added complacently, "and I +will." + +"Then you mean to--to marry--that woman?" put in Marrion. + +He rose angrily and began to pace up and down the room. In sober truth +once more, now that he was away from Fantine Le Grand's allurements, +he had begun to wonder if he were not paying rather dearly for his two +thousand pounds. + +"Of course I do; it's in the bond, and I'm a man of my word. And +you've no right to call her that woman. She is far better than you +think, and I am very fond of her, very fond of her indeed!" He stopped +opposite Marrion with a certain defiance. The blaze of the fire had +died down; it was almost dark, save for a red glow on their faces. "Of +course," he went on, "I ought to be deucedly angry with you, Marmie; +but somehow I'm not, and if you will only take her a note from me----" + +She started to her feet passionately. + +"A note!" she echoed, her voice vibrating with scorn. "Oh, Duke, Duke, +sometimes I wonder if you can understand?--if any man ever +understands? I came here, risking all, everything for you; you've been +the sun in my heaven ever since I can remember; you've always been +something very bright and very far away that is not to be touched or +harmed. Yes, I come here to beg you not to ruin yourself body and +soul, and you ask me to take a note!" + +A sudden flash of lightning from the storm, now nigh at hand, lit up +the room for a second, and showed her to him standing white and rigid +like some accusing angel. + +"You say you're fond of her, but you're not. I tell ye you're no fond +of her, Duke; ye ken na what love is--an' I do--for I love the verra +ground you tread on, the verra things you've touched----" + +Her voice, which in the extremity of her passion had forgotten its +acquired accent, failed; she sank back to her seat, and, throwing her +arms out over the table, buried her face in them. + +And a great silence fell between them, man and woman. + +At last he laid his hand on her shoulder, and spoke humbly. + +"I beg your pardon, Marmie; I did not understand, But I'm not worth +it, child. Let me go my way----" + +She pulled herself together. + +"It's time I was going home," she said, unsteadily. + +"You can't go in this storm," he put in relieved, as all men are, that +the mental storm was over, "you'd better stop here for the night. +I"--he went to the fire and deliberately lit the candles, as if, with +their light, to bring things back to normal again--"I--I'll find a bed +somewhere, and you can stop----" + +Marrion interrupted him hastily. + +"No, no, I must go! Folk will wonder. The boat is on this shore. I can +easily slip over." + +He walked to the window and looked out. + +"It's raining cats and dogs; you can't go!" he said masterfully. "You +stop here like a good girl, and I'll go and settle up something for +myself." + +He left the room and for one second she stood irresolute. Should she +stop? He had called her his wife, would doubtless call her so again to +the landlady, and if she stopped--if she stopped---- + +Then, with a little sob, she caught up her cloak and ran downstairs. +The night was dark, but the moon shone fitfully between rifts in the +clouds. The rain, coming in gusts with the wind, had ceased for a +moment. She drew the hood of her cloak over her head and ran swiftly +past the lighted windows of the bar, thinking she had escaped; but a +moment after she heard swift steps following her own and, turning to +look, saw Marmaduke, hatless, coatless, in pursuit. + +The instinct of the chase awoke in her in a second; she doubled off +the white road behind the shelter of a low beech copse. + +"Marmie, Marmie, stop, I tell you! Don't be a little fool!" + +Easy to say that. But it was he was the fool, not she. If she kept in +such cover as there was she might reach the boat before him--she must! +In the old days she had run as quick as he; and she knew where the +boat was and he didn't. + +She tucked her petticoats high above the knee like any Leezie Lindsay +and ran as for dear life. If she had failed in her mission--and had +she?--she would not fail here. That last double had been successful. +His cry of "Marmie, Marmie, don't be so foolish, dear!" sounded quite +far off--like the wail of a plover. + +Now it came nearer. Perhaps he had seen the lantern she had left to +guide her own steps to the boat. If so, she had no time to lose, as he +would make straight for it, and so must she, forsaking the bend to +avoid a peat bog, and braving the moss hags even in the dark. Anyhow, +she was lighter than he, and would not sink so deep; though, after the +long spell of fine weather, the bog could not be very bad. And this +was the worst part of it. With the ease of long practice she jumped +lightly from hag to hag, sparing no time to look round for the figure +behind her, though she knew it must be perilously near; for that +instinct of the chase was as strong in him, perhaps stronger, than it +was in her. Her cheeks were flushed, her eye was bright, her heart +beat high, despite her breathlessness, and she knew that his did so +also. Briefly they had both forgotten everything save their +determination to have their own way. + +"Marmie, you little devil, stop, I tell you!" came his voice close +behind her. Then a splash, a loud "damnation," told her that he had +missed his hag. + +That would give her time. She redoubled her speed, raced to the shore, +and, not pausing to unfasten the boat, waded through the water, almost +swimming the last bit, to where it rode at anchor on the outgoing +tide. Clambering over the side she set to work at once to unknot the +rope from the bow-ring. Not a second too soon, for Marmaduke, after a +minute's delay, due to his flounder and an unavailing search for the +shore ring, had found it. + +"Got you!" he cried joyfully, but he spoke too soon. The rope, undone, +gave easy way to his strong pull, and the boat, with Marrion laughing +in the bows, drifted slowly out from the shore. + +He stood looking at her, the useless rope in his hand. By the light of +the moon, now riding serene overhead (for the brief summer storm had +passed the zenith and now lay to the south, a dense bank of black +quivering every now and again with throbs of summer lightning), he +could see her tall and white, for her cloak had long since been flung +aside, and heart-whole admiration possessed him. + +"Marmie," he cried, "hold up--or, by God, I'll swim after you. I want +to speak to you." + +She took an oar, stopped her way by holding on to one of the submerged +seaweed-covered rocks of the boat-pier and waited. + +"Why did you run away? Why wouldn't you stop?" + +She gave him the truth squarely and fairly. + +"Because I should have passed as your wife, and if I had chosen I +might----" She hesitated, and he relieved her by a low whistle. + +"By Jove!" he said slowly, almost absently. "I didn't think of that, +but"--he hesitated, in his turn--"but I thought, Marmie, you said +you--you loved me!" + +His voice lingered and lowered in altogether distracting fashion. + +She turned hastily to the other oar, and let the blade drop into the +water with a splash. + +"Aye," she said, "that's why! For see, you--you've got to be Lord +Drummuir!" + +Her words silenced him. He watched her scull away, a dark shadow in +the darkling water. Then his voice rang out to her as it were from +very far off. + +"Flash the light to me, Marmie, dear, when you get to the other side. +I'll wait till I see you're safe." + + + + + CHAPTER X + + +Broad sunlight showed through the chinks of the drawn curtains when +Fantine Le Grand awoke. She lay yawning for a minute or two, content +to be still drowsy. Then memory returned, and she was out of bed in a +second and at the window. The lawns lay dewy, a late blackbird was +tugging away at an inadvertent worm, and shrill on the morning air +rose the sound of Davie Sim's pipes playing "Hey! Johnnie Cope, are ye +waukin' yet?" as he came up from the keep to strut through the +corridors of the castle. It must be eight o'clock! And--what had +happened? How had she come to sleep so long? She passed swiftly, being +quick of thought, to the dressing-table and took up the bottle of +sleeping drops. It was half empty. + +Almost before she had time to realise this, and what it might possibly +mean, a knock came to the door, and Marrion Paul, opening it, came +into the room with a can of hot water. + +She had been there at the earliest possible moment to satisfy herself +that all was right, so she was not surprised to see Fantine Le Grand +on foot. The look on the latter's face, however, the bottle in her +hand, gave warning of what was to come, and it came instantly short +and sharp, for Fantine had plenty of wit. + +"Why did you give me what you did?" she asked imperiously. + +Marrion Paul set down the water-can and faced her. + +"Because I wanted to prevent you from joining Captain Muir at the +Cross-keys," she replied quietly. It was waste of time, she felt, to +beat about the bush with this woman, the solid truth was her best +weapon. + +It proved so for the moment. Fantine utterly taken aback retired into +personal injury. + +"You might have killed me," she began, almost whimperingly. + +"Maybe," interrupted Marrion, "but I had to risk it--an' it's no hurt +you----" + +A sense of outrage came to her victim. + +"Not hurt me, indeed! And why had you to risk it? Are you Captain +Muir's keeper? His mistress you are, of course; but if you think +you've succeeded you're very much mistaken. I shall join him by the +coach to-morrow instead of to-day. And you may thank your stars that, +as I don't want any fuss just now, you'll get scot free of your +attempt to murder me. Now go! I never want to see your face again. +Josephine will manage somehow, I've no doubt." + +She pointed to the door, and Marrion, going down the wide stairs, felt +relieved that that, at least, was over. The interview also had given +her a clue as to what must be her next step. Mdlle. Le Grand had said +that fuss would be inconvenient; for that reason, therefore, a fuss +must be made. Hitherto she had hesitated between taking a further and +still more active part in stopping the intrigue, or leaving the matter +to Marmaduke's own good sense, which, removed from Fantine's personal +influence, might surely be trusted. He could not want to marry the +woman. It was the two thousand pounds he wanted. Marrion on her way to +the keep-house made up her mind to risk everything by an appeal to the +old lord; it would, at any rate, put a spoke in the woman's wheel for +a time, and prevent her getting away to Marmaduke at once; it would, +at any rate, make a fuss. + +As a matter of fact, more fuss was facing Marrion than she had +bargained for, since the first thing she saw on entering the +keep-house was her step-grandmother seated at the table sipping a cup +of tea she had just made for herself. + +It was an unpleasant surprise, as she had not been expected home so +soon, and Marrion bit her lip with vexation at the sight of her. After +laying elaborate plans to avoid even the sight of one she despised and +detested, it was bitter to find her established as mistress in the +house. So anger kept her silent and Mrs. Sim, whilom Penelope of the +castle, said no word either. She simply rose theatrically and +stretched a dramatic finger across the table. So standing she showed +like a wide extinguisher, the knob of which was formed by her head. +This was still small and, so far as the upper part of the face was +concerned, unmarred by fat, but obesity began on the double chin and +went on increasing from shoulder to waist, from waist to hip, till the +flounce of a wide petticoat completed the base of the triangle. Her +hair of bright orange-red was untouched by grey, and the china-blue of +her hard eyes startled you by the intensity of their colour in a face +otherwise somewhat tallowy. + +"Ye hizzie!" she said at last, in a deep contralto voice. "I wonder ye +have the face to stan' there disgracin' the honest hearth o' an honest +man! Awa wi' you, ye baggage, afore yer faither comes to beat you frae +the door." + +Marrion had stood with open mouth before this sudden onslaught; now +she recovered herself and said haughtily-- + +"I do not understand." In her heart of hearts, however, she told +herself that this woman knew of last night's happenings. + +Penelope Sim gave a snort and sat down again to sipping her tea. + +"Div' ye no understand?" she asked scornfully. "Then I'll tell ye. A +lassie that goes tae spend the night wi' a man in a strange hottle is +no ane to share an honest woman's home. An' so I'll tell yer faither. +Shame upon ye, Marrion Paul!" + +"Perhaps you'll oblige me, Mrs. Sim, by holding your tongue," retorted +Marrion superbly. "I did not spend the night with any man, and if you +say I did, you lie!" + +"My certy!" cried Penelope, her face flaming. "So I'm a liar, am I? I +tell you I saw you wi' my own eyes at the Cross-keys----" + +"And what might you be doing there?" put in Marrion. "No good, +likely." + +Mrs. Penelope's voice began to rise. + +"I'm no goin' to bandy words wi' you, Marrion Paul, ye're no worth it. +But here comes your gran'faither; give your lip to him, if ye like. Ye +sall no give it to me, a decent, married woman!" + +"Decent!" echoed Marrion scornfully, and would have gone on to heaven +knows what of indignant criticism had not the entry of her grandfather +tied her tongue for she was fond of him, with all his faults, and he +represented to her the only family life she had ever known. + +So she stood defiant as Penelope of the castle, gloating over her own +newly acquired propriety, held forth on what she had seen from the +bar-parlour of the Cross-keys. + +"Grandfather," she said at last, "you know me better than she does. Do +you think I would do such a thing?" + +"Ask her," broke in the shrilled contralto voice, "ask her, gudeman, +if she was at the Cross-keys last night. I tell you she was, dressed +up fine like a lady--an' the things lyin' yet in her room, for I went +to see. Aye, ask her if she was there wi' a young spark--they tell't +me it was Captain Duke, but that I'll never believe----" + +"You may believe what you like!" put in Marrion fiercely. "But I'll +tell you the truth, grandfather. I was at the Cross-keys last night, +and I did see Captain Duke, but it was no harm I was after." + +"Hark to her!" shrilled Penelope. "She was there, and for no harm! Out +o' the house with her, Davie Sim, or your wedded wife will find her +way out hersel'." + +Here Davie who, man-like, had looked from one to the other of the two +women, uncertain of approbation or reprobation, shook his head and +began mumblingly-- + +"I never thocht, Marrion, to praise God your poor mother is in her +grave, but if she'd lived to see this day----" + +"Leave my mother alone, please grandfather," said Marrion, passion in +voice and manner. "If you choose to judge me by that cast-off +creature, do so! But there's no need to quarrel about it. You know I +would not sleep under the same roof with her----" + +"Hark to her, hark to her, an' me as gude a wife as ever stepped. Are +ye goin' tae put up wi' that, Davie Sim?" whimpered Penelope. + +Once more the master of the house looked as though he would speak, but +a wave of Marrion's hand stopped him. + +"So I shall leave this evening, and if what I've done is a disgrace to +you, you have the remedy in your own hands--you can hold your tongues. +So that ends it!" + +She made her way past them and up the stairs, feeling a trifle dazed. +This unlooked-for recognition complicated matters for herself; but did +not alter her determination to risk all in order to get Marmaduke out +of the hands of Fantine Le Grand. + +So she packed up her things, leaving all the treasures of her +childhood and her mother's, unlocked in drawers and cupboards, and +sitting down on her bed by the window took her last look out over the +rugged coast she had watched so often by storm and shine, by night and +by day. And as she looked with lack-lustre, preoccupied eyes her +thoughts were busy, not with the past but with the new life that was +opening out before her; since, come what might, she realised that +never again would she be simple Marrion Paul, old Davie Sim's +granddaughter. To begin with, if she knew aught of Penelope, +reputation was gone. Women of that sort were pitiless, and, in +addition, her grandfather's wife desired nothing more than to +make Drummuir and all belonging to it an impossibility for her +step-granddaughter. Then she, Marrion, had definitely set herself the +task of defending Marmaduke, and heaven only knew how far that might +take her. For one thing, in view of Penelope's curiosity, she must +make sure that Marmaduke had not left anything incriminating behind +him at the Cross-keys. It would be so like him to write Captain the +Honourable Marmaduke Muir and Mrs. Muir in the visitor's book! + +The idea made her smile tenderly, even while she took a mental note +that it must be seen to. + +So, going down, while it was yet early, to order a handcart to +take her slight luggage to the coach office, she came upon a castle +stable-boy, who was a distant admirer of hers, riding to the +Cross-keys with a note. + +"It's frae the dancin' woman," said the lad, with a broad grin, "an' +she guve me a golden soverin' to take it quick; an' I've to leave +anither at the Crow." + +"I can deliver that one," said Marrion cheerfully, "for I'm goin' yon +way." + +So, note in hand, she made her way to the Crow, and by a dexterous +question or two elicited the fact that, as on the previous night, a +carriage was ordered to be in waiting at half-past nine. If all went +well, therefore, she might hope to avail herself of it. She did not, +however, anticipate exactly what she meant to do--her plans were +fluid, so much depending on the success of her next step. It was an +overwhelmingly bold one, and she shivered visibly as she sat waiting +for an answer to her request to be allowed an interview with his +lordship. + +"I'm right sure his lordship wad see me," she pleaded with Dewar, the +valet, who in common with all the men-servants at the castle, had an +approving eye on her good looks, "did he ken what I cam' about; +and"--she added, with a laugh that was a challenge--"I'm no sae +ill-looking but he might be blythe to see me forbye business." + +"An' that's God's truth, my dear," replied Dewar gallantly, "sae I'll +see what I can do." + +Fortune favoured him, for Fantine Le Grand being in an evil, reckless +temper had just sent to say she had a headache and could not come to +amuse his lordship, who, up and dressed to receive her as usual, was +cursing and swearing at womankind in the abstract, and therefore, not +unwilling to have a concrete specimen on which to vent his ill-humour. + +Marrion Paul, consequently, found herself without delay facing the +heavy figure in the big padded chair. One foot swathed in flannels lay +on a leg-rest, and the large hand that clasped the lion-head knobs of +the armchair showed swollen and disfigured by gout; still there was +something dignified, almost regal, in the pose of the man; while his +face--Marrion, despite her thumping heart, as she looked above the +treble chin to the open forehead, felt that here, when all was said +and done, was kinship with Marmaduke. + +And she for her part pleased the old man's eye also. She had not +dressed herself for the occasion, but stood in her usual striped +petticoat and bed-gown with a green tartan shoulder shawl of the Muir +tartan and a snood of tartan ribbon to match in the red bronze coils +of hair. + +"So you're Marrion Paul?" he said, his keen clear blue eyes taking in +every point of her person. "I haven't seen you to speak to since you +were so high. You're a devilish good-looking girl. Come and give me a +kiss, my lass." + +To his surprise, amusement, and approval she stepped forward instantly +and obeyed. The touch of her cool lips on his seemed to stagger him. + +"Don't object to kisses--hey?" he said, as she remained standing close +beside him. + +"Why should I, Drummuir," she replied quietly, "when you've kenned me +since I was a baby in arms." + +He burst into one of his guffaws of rough laughter. + +"Hey? What? One for the old reprobate! Sit down, my dear, and tell me +what you want." + +"It's about Mr. Marmaduke, sir," she began, her voice shaking a +little. + +"Hey? What? Has that young devil been--no, I beg your pardon, my dear, +you're not that sort. Trust a man who's kicked over the traces a bit +to know an honest horse when he sees one. You take my word for it; the +best judge of a good woman is a bad man. Well, what of Duke?" + +The mere abbreviation of the name was encouraging. She felt that to +attempt a bargain, even to beg for patience, would be a mistake. She +simply took her courage in both hands and told him all she knew. He +sat, his unwieldy body impassive as some carven image, one strong +emotion after another sweeping over the mobile face that held so much +laughter in every line that Time had graven on it. Only once or twice +he interrupted her when, fearing she was too lengthy, she began to cut +out details. Then his quick "Let's have it all; don't you know, you're +as good as a play. Beat the immortal wizard all to bits! Don't +skip"--brought her back to the accessories of her tale. When she had +finished he sat and looked at her for a second. + +"And you say Duke let you go as you came? Well, he was a d----d young +fool; that's all I've got to say! I wouldn't in his place. Even +now--my God, what a Lady Drummuir you'd make, if it wasn't for the +curse of class! I'll turn Socialist before I die." He paused, and his +blue eyes narrowed. "Now, why have you come and told me all this?" + +She had her answer ready, and all fear of the old man having vanished +she gave him the truth boldly. + +"Because I want payment. I've put it into your power to stop Mdlle. +Fantine----" + +His whole face changed in a second, an expression of sheer devilish +anger took possession of it. + +"You leave that alone!" he thundered. "I can settle that business for +myself." + +It was the first mistake she had made, and she became more wary. + +"I want payment," she went on, "because I've risked everything +for--for Duke. My father's turned me out of his house and +Penelope----" + +"Damn Penelope!" broke in his lordship complacently. "Having no virtue +of her own, she's deuced careful about other people's. And so Duke +really contemplated marrying Fantine in order to make two thousand +pounds by dancing. Confound the boy! He can dance, I'll allow; but it +was a big price to pay. And the idea of my son dancing for money! He +must have been hard put to it, even to entertain the idea." He bent +those blue eyes of his suddenly on her. "And so you want me to give +Duke the two thousand pounds myself, do you? Of course you do! Trust a +woman who is in love asking for the moon." He paused a moment and gave +a little laugh. "Heaps of women have asked me to be a saint, my dear, +but I never could compass virtue. However, you've given me as good a +morning's entertainment as ever I had in my life; and what's more +you've given me an opportunity of as fine an afternoon's amusement." +Here he chuckled wickedly, then added, "Shall I give you the cheque or +send it direct?" + +She felt staggered at his indifference. She had expected to brave his +anger and have perchance to threaten him with what she knew of +Fantine's plans for the evening; but, here, with scarce an argument, +she found herself successful. In truth she had not gauged accurately +the phenomenal malice as well as the almost incredible good nature of +the man. + +"You must send it, my lord," she said swiftly. "There is no need to +say anything about all this." + +He frowned in a second. + +"Do you mean to dictate to me, my good girl?" he asked fiercely. +"You'd better leave the business in my hands. I'll settle it to my own +satisfaction. Come back at six o'clock and you shall be made +acquainted with my decision." + +He rang the hand-bell on the table beside him and when Dewar entered, +said carelessly: + +"Show the young woman out; and, Dewar, tell Penelope to come and +see me at two o'clock. And, Dewar, send a message to the Manse and +tell that jackanapes of a parson Bryce that I want to confess my +sins or something of that sort. Tell him I'm ill--dying, if you +like--anything--and I want him as soon as he can come. Do you +understand?" + +"Yes, my lord," replied Dewar discreetly, though he was considerably +mystified; but everyone in the castle knew there was but one way of +receiving Lord Drummuir's orders, acquiescence and obedience. + + + + + CHAPTER XI + + +An hour or so afterwards Fantine Le Grand coming in from a ramble on +the rocks, whither she had gone despite her pretended headache, in +order to quiet her nerves for what she foresaw was to be a stand-up +fight between her and Marrion, found old Lord Drummuir in possession +of her boudoir. He was in his wheeled-chair, but was looking +remarkably spruce in a blue coat with brass buttons, an immaculate +white stock and frill, and his gouty foot was swathed in kersey to +match the breeches he wore. His ruddy face was all smiles, but there +was a vicious look in the blue eyes that reminded her of a horse about +to kick. + +And kick he did with a force that left her breathless. + +"I've come to tell you," he said, "that we are going to be married +this evening." + +She recoiled as if from a blow. + +"Now, don't be foolish and make a fuss," he continued, as she gave a +little cry, "or you won't look well in your wedding-dress!" So far he +had gone lightly; but now he settled down to a decision of voice and +manner that was positively terrifying to the woman in its intensity. +"I tell you I won't have any fuss, and I know everything. Marrion Paul +told it me from start to finish, and I don't want to hear any more +about it, if you please!" + +The mock politeness of the last finished her. She was ill-bred, not +over brave, and reverting to her early upbringing she burst into a +torrent of abuse of the viper, the hussy who was no better than she +should be, who, if Penelope at the keep-house was to be believed--and +she had seen her but now--had---- + +So far Lord Drummuir had let her storm; now he stopped her +impatiently. + +"I know what Penelope says," he snarled, "and I shall be sorry for her +when she hears what I have to say. And I know you, Fanny, down to the +ground. You're not a bad sort, but you are getting old. Look in the +glass, you foolish woman, and you'll see I'm right. But you suit me +and I mean to have you. There's an end of it." + +She summoned up a little courage. + +"And supposing I won't! I am a free woman." + +He lowered his brows and his words cut like a knife. + +"Don't tell lies! You're not free. You think I paid your debts. I +wasn't such a fool till I had you fast. Look here, when I heard all +about this midsummer madness with Marmaduke--the d----d impertinence +of trying to inveigle my son into posturing at the Courts of Europe +for pennies almost made me give you your _conge_, miss, I can tell +you--I sent for Compton. You think I don't know what he is to you; but +I do. If he'd known of this business, I'd have kicked you both out. +But he didn't, poor devil; he was flabbergasted. So I saw it was all +your fault and I determined to punish you, and I'm going to do it my +own way. Now, don't look like a frightened hare; I never touched a +woman save in the way of kindness all my life, and we'll get on all +right once we're married; so the sooner the better." + +She sat and looked at him, dabbing her eyes with her handkerchief. The +bald truth of it all took words from her, and her one feeling was that +she could cheerfully have strangled Marrion Paul for her courage and +straightforwardness. + +"My wedding-dress isn't ready," she sobbed at last futilely, and the +old man leant back in his chair and roared with laughter. + +"By Gad, Fan," he bawled, "you're a woman, and no mistake; so don't +make those eyes of yours too red with crying. Remember, you're not so +young as you were. And as for this little _penchant_ of yours for +Marmaduke, why, God bless my soul, my dear, you've had dozens such +episodes, and so have I, by Gad, so we'll suit each other down to the +ground. Now, if you will please ring the bell for Dewar, I'll leave +you to prepare--six o'clock sharp. I've told the gardeners to send you +some orange blossoms from the houses and to decorate the hall. My +daughters will be your bridesmaids." + +When his wheeled-chair had gone the effect of his brutal +determination, his colossal masterfulness, did not pass with it. That +remained, and Fantine Le Grand gave in to it helplessly. The old man +had said very little; on the whole he had been wonderfully polite, but +she knew she was trapped, and that she might as well try to fly as to +escape from his watchful eye, his unscrupulous power. + +And, after all, it was but a return to the old plans; so after a while +she followed Lord Drummuir's advice and dried her eyes. + +"You ought to think yourself deuced lucky," growled Colonel Compton, +when he came in, after a time full of alarm and recriminations. "If +anyone had told me the old man would take it so quietly I wouldn't +have believed it. I expected he would have kicked us both out into the +gutter, and then where should we be? And such a mad idea, too! The +Honourable Marmaduke Muir as a public dancer--preposterous!" + +"It would only have been for six months and under an assumed name," +interrupted Fantine defiantly; but all initiative was passing from +her. She felt like clay in the hands of the potter. + +"Twaddle!" insisted Colonel Compton. "I can only think you were +insane. The fact is, my dear Fanny, you're getting old and your ankles +wouldn't stand the hacking about of a dancer's life. That is why we +agreed on your becoming Lady Drummuir, and you ought to be very much +obliged to the old man for letting you off so easily." + +This, combined with the reiterated allusions to her age, was too much +for patience. Fantine jumped up and stamped her foot in impotent +anger. + +"Easily?" she echoed. "Can't you see the malice of the man? He is +making us all feel fools. He is doing all the harm he can. I tell you +he is enjoying himself thoroughly." + +She was perfectly right. Lord Drummuir had not felt so young for +years. At that moment, after disposing of Penelope in a way that +reached the very marrow of the unseen bones hidden under that +extinguisher of fat, he was facing, with a special licence in his +hand, the dapper little figure of the Reverend Patrick Bryce, who, +called on some pretext of illness, found himself confronted with an +order to solemnise a marriage that same evening. + +The countenance of the small divine was a study in outraged dignity; +that of Lord Drummuir one of supercilious toleration--the toleration +of a cat for the unavailing efforts of a mouse to escape its +paralysing captor. + +"Am I to understand, sir, that you refuse to carry out this special +licence at a perfectly appropriate time and place?" said the latter, +his voice even but deliberate. "If so, I must ask you for your reasons +in writing, that I may forward them with my complaint." He waited a +moment, then went on: "You were appointed by the Crown to this charge. +A parishioner of yours in possession of a legal licence calls upon you +to perform the duties of your office. You refuse, and I refuse to +accept your refusal. That, I think, summarises the position between +us. But let me remind you, my good sir, that nothing short of reliable +information of cause or just impediment can justify a minister of the +Church of Scotland in refusing to do the duty for which he is paid by +the State. And if, sir, the licence of this house shocks you--as I am +told it does--I think this endeavour of a man and a woman to keep +within the bounds of so-called respectability should meet your +approval. Briefly, my dear sir, you have not a leg to stand upon, and +I demand your services at six o'clock this evening." + +The little minister rose and made him a courtly bow. + +"It shall be as your lordship wishes; but I reserve to myself the +right of showing to your lordship that special licences can be used +for, as well as against, the Church." + +"Wonder where he gets his manners from," commented Lord Drummuir to +himself, as the trim figure bowed itself out. "Father must have been +someone's valet, I suppose; and that reminds me of Marmaduke's girl. +She's true blue, somehow." + +So he sat down, filled from top to toe with a wicked elation at his +own success in upsetting everybody's plans, and indited the following +epistle to his son, as a sort of top note to his man[oe]uvres: + + +"Dear Boy,--You will be glad to hear that Fantine Le Grand becomes +Lady Drummuir this evening at six o'clock. We have agreed that this is +better than hunting two thousand pounds through the capitals of +Europe, even in company with you. So that is settled. For the rest, I +enclose a cheque for two thousand pounds on my bankers. You owe this +to Marrion Paul, who is worth the whole batch of you put together. I +cannot conceive how you were such a confounded ass as not to see this, +but to let her slip through your fingers and leave the poor girl to +face the insults of the neighbours, as she is doing; for, of course, +her escapade is the talk of the town. My dear Marmaduke, I am ashamed +of you!--Your affectionate father, DRUMMUIR. + +"Your step-mamma sends you her duty." + + +He chuckled over the production which he calculated told enough to +rouse anger and not enough to satisfy curiosity, and which, while +being a regular facer, left the relations between them much as they +were. + +After which he had himself wheeled to the big hall where the ceremony +was to take place, and amused himself vastly by superintending +decorations and mystifying Peter, who came in from a day after wild +duck, to find the house upside down. It was the sort of situation in +which his lordship revelled, and he became almost lachrymose over +reminiscences of the past with Jack Jardine, who never moved a muscle, +but took the ceremony as a matter of course. Only when Peter, less +experienced, asked him what the deuce the old man meant by playing the +goat at a moment's notice, he shook his head solemnly, and replied-- + +"Your father is a very remarkable man, Peter, a very remarkable man +indeed." + +So at the appointed hour the wheeled-chair took its place, its +occupant duly bedecked with the white flower of a blameless life in +his buttonhole, before the improvised sort of altar which bore on it a +beautiful bunch of late roses; and the Reverend Patrick Bryce with a +colour in his usually pale cheeks sailed in very stiff in his starched +bands and rustling academical black robes and took his place before +it. The bride, composed and cheerful, looking quite virginal in white +and orange blossoms, appeared on the arm of Colonel Compton and +followed by her bridesmaids, also in white. There were, however, but +two of them, for Margaret Muir boldly stalked in separately, attired +in a fine new purple gown, and took a place sedately beside Jack +Jardine, who stared at her incredulously; for her father's eyes were +upon her and scowling disapproval at her disobedience to his commands. +She seemed quite indifferent to this, and nodded an encouraging smile +to her sisters, who, poor souls, were the only people who showed by +their red eyes and general emotion that the occasion was serious and +not a mere farce. + +So curtly, baldly, shorn of every unnecessary word, every touch of +sentiment, the simple formula binding those two sinners in the most +holy of bonds went swiftly on, until the Reverend Patrick Bryce closed +the register in which Peter, as his father's best man, and Jack +Jardine, as family friend, had duly attested the marriage, and stepped +down to where Lord Drummuir's chair stood with the new-made Lady +Drummuir beside it. + +"My part in this pitiable travesty being ended, sir," he said, with a +dignified bow, "I take my leave. Before I do so, however, I wish to +introduce my wife to you and acquaint you with my marriage--also by +special licence--to your daughter. Margaret, my dear!" he added, +raising his voice, "oblige me by saying farewell to your father. It is +the last time you are likely to see him." + +For a second the figure in the purple gown hesitated and gave an +agonised glance at her sisters in white; then with her eyes fixed on +the small dignified figure of the man to whom she had unreservedly +given her whole large heart, her courage returned, she walked forward, +her head held high, and faced her father. He was purple with rage, and +looked as if he would have a fit. + +"Do you mean to tell me," he stuttered, "that you have married +that--that jackanapes?" + +Her face flushed, her temper was up in a second, and matched his own. + +"No, sir; I have married an honourable gentleman of birth equal to my +own! It is more than you can say of your bride's----" + +"Margaret, Margaret!" came the little parson's warning voice; for, be +Lord Drummuir's faults what they may, he was still her father. + +But she would have none of it, she was going to have her say for the +first and last time of her life; so she went on while the old lord +listened, a sort of wicked approval in his eyes. He had not known she +was so much his daughter. + +"And I married him without asking your consent, because I knew you +never would have given it, and I am of age----" + +"Yes, my dear, a bit long in the tooth!" broke in the old man +viciously. + +"Very," she replied; "but not so old a bride as you are a groom. I'm +thirty-six, and, as you said yourself, if I choose to get married by +special licence, provided there's no cause or just impediment, no +one--not even the nearest and dearest--have a right to object. Isn't +that what he said?" she added, in appeal. + +The Reverend Patrick Bryce looked at his lordship and his lordship +looked at him. Then suddenly came one of the rough, rude gaffaws. + +"You've caught a tartar, parson!" chuckled the old man. "Take her, and +be d----d to you both for a couple of fools. I'll leave you to be +angry, if you like; this is my wedding-day and I want to be jolly. +Here, Davie--Davie Sim, where the devil are you with your pipes? Skirl +up 'Muir's Matching.' Now, my lady." + +And as the wheeled-chair moved off accompanied by white satin and +orange blossoms he looked round to the purple robe with almost boyish +malice in his eye. + +"Take the parson's arm and come along, Meg. You may as well get a good +send off from the castle and have your share of the family wedding +march, since it is little else you'll be getting from the Muirs of +Drummuir." + +That evening, after the newly made Lady Drummuir had been dismissed to +her own rooms with the injunction to remember her new honours, and not +to stand any cursed nonsense from any one, and the old man, regardless +of gout, sat drinking one glass of port after another on the ground +that, having got royally drunk at his three previous weddings, he was +not going to treat his fourth with less consideration--Jack Jardine, +somewhat breathless after all the disturbing and inexplicable events +of the day, shook his head and said once more-- + +"Your father is a remarkable man--a very remarkable man!" + +"Very," assented Peter. "Now I wonder what Marrion Paul had to do with +it all!" + + + + + CHAPTER XII + + +Marrion Paul herself failed to answer that question. When she had +returned at six o'clock to the castle--having spent the intervening +time down by the seashore in order to avoid Penelope--she had been +completely taken aback by the sudden development of affairs, wondering +if she were in any way responsible for what had happened. + +But a single look at the old lord's face, as he was wheeled in to take +his place at the marriage ceremony, made her realise that the unwieldy +body, instinct with malice and controlled by autocratic unassailable +will, held every inmate of Drummuir Castle, herself included, as +puppets in the hollow of its gouty hand. + +A sudden unreasoning desire to get away from that influence, an +extreme distaste at the part she had played in the serio-comic tragedy +filled her. She envied the Reverend Patrick Bryce his independence, +and it was with real relief that, according to her plan, she found +herself once more rumbling to the Cross-keys in the chaise from the +Crow. + +This should be her last departure from the conventional. Now that +Duke's safety from the dancing woman's wiles had been secured, she had +time to blame for his supineness; and he, of course, when he heard of +the marriage, was not likely to forgive her. Thus they were quits! + +So be it. She could return to her dressmaking and never see him again. +He had his majority, and, born soldier as he was, had his chance. + +Not knowing, for certain, under what name Fantine Le Grand had +engaged her room for the night, she was wary with the landlady of the +Cross-keys and felt relieved when she was shown into a less +pretentious room than the one she had been in the night before. Her +vigil--and she knew it would be a long one ere the house was quiet +enough to allow of her slipping down to the office to see if Marmaduke +had written anything in the visitors' book--would have been harder in +surroundings so full of keen memory. What a fool she had been! Why had +she been so frank with him? The hot blood mounted to her very temples +at the thought of it even while she felt angry with herself that it +should be so. After all, she was not quite as the other douce country +folk; there was something in her blood that was different; something +that rebelled against the tyranny of that bloated old man, sitting +like a spider in his web, imposing his wicked will upon all by sheer +force of character. + +Yet he had behaved well to her, and he was terribly, horribly like +Duke. + +So she sat raging, her head aching, till it was time to do the last +bit of trickery, as it seemed to her now. Yet it must be done; for if +Marmaduke had been indiscreet, Penelope, in her pryings, which were +certain, would be sure to find it out. It was not, however, till +between two and three--that time when even the ostlers at an inn +sleep--that it was safe for her to steal downstairs to the visitors' +book. Even so, Boots lay snoring on a sofa in the office. But her task +did not take long. There, as she had foreseen, was Marmaduke's +unmistakable writing in the words "Captain the Honourable and Mrs. +Marmaduke Muir." Below, as if as witnesses, two commercial travellers +had written their name and address. She had brought a sharp penknife +with her, so, in less than a minute, the page was removed, the +corresponding one in the quire pulled out, and the book closed again +without trace of any removal. She gave a sigh of relief when she +reached her bedroom again, and, folding up the written sheet, placed +it in her purse. Then, after burning the other, she lay down and tried +to sleep. But unsuccessfully, though she felt outwearied to an +altogether unusual degree. The arrival of the early coach was a +relief. She took her seat in it, hoping the fresh air would drive away +her _malaise_; but it did not. + +"You're no feelin' just the thing, miss," said a sympathetic bagman as +he got out to stretch his legs at a change of horses. "Try just a wee +sup of whisky; its awful inspirin'." + +Marrion, smiling, shook her head. By this time she was beginning to +wonder if, despite her usual hardiness, she had got a chill the night +before. + +It was past eight in the evening ere Edinburgh was reached, and, +anxious to be housed as soon as possible, she left her box at the +coach office and made her way giddily to her old lodgings where the +landlady had agreed to keep her belongings until her return from her +holiday. They were up a common stair that echoed and re-echoed to the +slam of the street door and her own wavering steps. The rooms were +high up and more than once Marrion had to pause for breath, and when +at last she rang she had to lean against the door, to recover herself. +There was no answer. She rang again and waited--waited an interminable +time, until someone coming down the common stair said briefly-- + +"Ye're wastin' yer time, mum. Mistress McGillivray's deid." + +"Dead!" she echoed feebly. + +"Aye, last week, and the polis hae lockit up the place till the heirs +be known," replied the man, as he passed on, rousing the echoes again. + +Marrion followed him, realising that she must seek another lodging. +Easy in a way, yet difficult, since in that quarter of the old town +many of the houses were not over-respectable. Still it was only for a +night, and bed she must have as soon as possible. So she closed with +an exorbitant offer in cash of a fairly clean attic made by a +loose-lipped lady who smelt rather of whisky, and five minutes later, +having locked herself in, threw herself, still half-dressed, on the +truckle bed. + +There the landlady next morning, having placidly unlocked the +door with a master key, found her, flushed, breathless and +delirious--briefly, down with a sharp attack of pneumonia. Infirmaries +and district nurses being not as yet, Mother Gilchrist, as her +_clientele_ called her, coolly took possession of her lodger's purse, +sent for an apothecary doctor from round the corner, and thereinafter +treated the patient with a certain amount of rough kindness, sending +some of her other lodgers, girls with haggard faces and loose hair, to +sit with her, and going up occasionally with water-gruel and still +more watery beef-tea. But Marrion Paul was strong, and so, after a +fortnight's struggle in the valley, she came out of it wan and +emaciated, and lay looking at a bit of torn paper on the wall, that +all through her fever dreams had flapped like a sail in a boat in +which she and Duke were drifting out to sea, and wondering how much of +what she remembered was true and how much dreams. + +"I must get up," she said suddenly, when Mother Gilchrist appeared in +company with water-gruel. "And will you give me my purse, please? I +put it under my pillow, I think, but it isn't there." + +Mother Gilchrist laughed a loose-lipped laugh and produced the purse +from her pocket. + +"Yon's the purse, my dearie; but there's naethin' in it the now. What +wi' rent an' doctors an' physic, forby nursin', what else is to be +expectit?" + +Marmie stared aghast. + +"But there was nigh ten pun' in till't," she protested. + +"It's just awfie expensive bein' ill," replied Mother Gilchrist +calmly. "Ye can hae the reckonin' later on. Meanwhile, tak yer +nourishment like a good lammie." + +"What's ten pun' to you one way or another," continued the exemplar of +youth, when Marmie, up for the first time, returned to the charge. +"You've gotten a paper in yon purse that's worth a guid deal tae +you, my lass, if it's written in the man's own write--an' if ye can +prove----" + +Marrion interrupted her in an angry flash. + +"You're making a mistake. It has nothing to do wi' me. An' I wouldn't +prove if I could." + +She paused, feeling she was contradicting herself. + +"Lord sakes," retorted Mother Gilchrist, "ye needna loup down a body's +throat! An', anyhow, a lassie wi' such hair as you've gotten needna +look for ten pounds." + +Marrion, still weakened body and soul by her illness, thought almost +regretfully of her hairdresser. + +"Aye," she assented languidly, "they'd give me that for it; but I +should feel bad if it were cut off, shouldn't I?" + +Mother Gilchrist burst into a cackling laugh. + +"There's more ways, my lammie, o' makin' money by hair than by +shearin' it off like a sheep's fleece," she said meaningly. + +But the meaning did not come home to Marmie until one of the rather +bedraggled girls in cheap finery let her into the secret of the house. +They paid Mother Gilchrist a certain sum for board and lodging, and on +the whole she was kind to them. Anyhow, they had to lump it, as most +of them were in debt to her. However, there was always the chance of a +stroke of luck, especially when one was new to the business and had +such hair as Marrion had. + +That same afternoon Marrion managed to creep round to the coach +office. She intended to get her box and pawn some of her things--even +the little brilliant brooch of her father's--so as to keep her in +decent lodgings till she could find employment in some dressmaking +concern. She would not go back to her old employers, for her address +there was known and she wanted to lose herself; for a while at any +rate. + +But Fate was against her. Failing a claimant the box had been sent +back whence it came, as the only address to be found on it was +Drummuir Castle, Drum. Nor was her call at her old landlady's more +successful. The flat was still locked up; so she came back utterly +wearied and disheartened, to be met by a demand for more money from +Mother Gilchrist, who looked at her as one looks at a rat caught in a +trap. She had miscalculated with Marrion, however; and in an instant +the latter made up her mind. She must get out of the present quagmire +without delay. Yet she did not wish to make herself known to the +friends she had in Edinburgh, because during the past fortnight her +desire to lose herself--to get away once and for all from Drummuir and +all that Drummuir entailed--aye, even Duke---had been strengthening. +But she could sell her hair. Mother Gilchrist, arguing from other +girls, was calculating she would not; but she would find she was +mistaken. She might think it safe enough to let a girl without a penny +in her pocket go out alone, but she would find herself wrong. + +That night Marrion slept the sleep of the just, and it was one +o'clock--for the gun had just fired from the castle--next day when, +with a curiously light heart, she walked out of the most fashionable +hairdresser's shop in Prince's Street. She had eschewed her old +admirer's for obvious reasons, but she had found no difficulty in her +bargain; and if her heart was light, her purse was heavy. She was +free, at any rate, of Mother Gilchrist and her kind; she was free also +of any necessity for recalling the past. She would make her own future +in life. + +As she passed through the shop heavily veiled, for she would run no +risk of recognition, a group of fashionably dressed young men were +daffing over _pommade hongroise_ with an attractive young person +behind the counter, but they took no notice of the somewhat shabbily +dressed figure which passed out and went westward. With money in her +pocket Marrion's plans began to formulate rapidly. She would not stop +in Edinburgh; she would go to some place where the fear of recognition +would not constantly be with her. So she would go--whither? + +She pondered the question idly, heedless of Fate behind her in the +shape of one of those fashionably dressed young men, who, two minutes +after Marrion had passed through the shop, had burst out after her, +leaving his companions still looking with admiration at a great pile +of red-brown hair which the proprietor of the shop, hugely delighted +with his bargain, had brought in for these privileged customers to +see. + +So she had not long for freedom. Ere she had reached Frederick Street +a detaining hand was on her arm and a joyous voice in her ears-- + +"Marmie! I knew it must be you! I have been looking for you +everywhere." + +"Duke," she said feebly as she looked round. And as she did so, the +distant Calton Hill blocking the blue slopes of Arthur's Seat, the +wonderful blending of town and country which makes Edinburgh seem an +epitome of human life, was lost to her eyes; she only saw his face, +_insouciant_, smiling, yet full of affection. The douce commonsensical +world in which she had resolved to live was gone; she was among the +stars again, in a different existence, herself a different being. Yet +even as she realised this she realised that she was alone. He had not +found his wings to follow her. + +Yet he was prompt; without pause he hailed a passing cab, put her into +it unresisting, gave the order Pentland Hotel, and as he seated +himself beside her reached out a hand with glad delight in the clasp +of its warm fingers to find her own. + +"Where are we going, Duke?" she asked, with a sort of sob in her +effort to keep herself to normal. + +"To have lunch, my dear!" he replied joyously. "You look as if you +wanted it. And we haven't much time to spare, for the train starts for +Glasgow at 2.30 and we must go by it, for my leave is up and I have to +get back to Ayr by to-morrow. I'm in command of the detachment there." + +The certitude of his words roused instant resentment. + +"I must ask you to excuse me," she said peremptorily. "Will you stop +the cab, Captain Muir?" + +"But, my dear," he replied, quite pathetically, "I must speak to you +somehow, and this is my only chance. Do come, Marmie, at any rate, to +lunch." + +The simplicity of his plea disarmed her again, and the hotel being +reached at that moment she allowed him to take her on his arm up +the steps after the fashion of the day. But once in the private +sitting-room, which, with lunch for two as quick as possible, he had +commanded in a lordly voice as he entered, his manner changed again. + +"Take off that veil and bonnet, will you, please," he said abruptly. +"I want to see what that brute has dared to do." + +Marrion looked at him startled. + +"Oh, yes," he continued, "I know! That's how I found you. When the man +brought in that pile of hair to show those young cubs--faugh! it makes +me sick to think of them fingering it--I knew it must be yours; no one +else has hair like it. Marmie! Marmie! why did you let him do it--the +grovelling, money-grubbing beast!" + +Once again his anger appeased her, and she replied: "I wanted the +money." + +He groaned. + +"And you got me the two thousand pounds! Oh! yes, the old man--curse +him!--told me all about it, and how that harridan Penelope---- But +never mind that now, though, you see, we have plenty to talk about. +When----" + +She had removed her bonnet and now stood a trifle defiant. + +"It will grow again!" + +But he had passed from his vexation. + +"Why, Marmie, surely you've been ill? You are so thin, so pale, +child--what has been the matter?" he exclaimed, all his innate +kindness coming uppermost. "Here, sit down; you look as if you were +going to faint"--he rang the bell violently. "I don't believe you've +had anything to eat! Here! Tell the housekeeper to send up a cup of +soup--beef-tea, if she has got it--at once, and--and some toast," he +called out loudly, after the retreating waiter. Then he came to stand +by Marrion and say in an almost tragic voice, "I owe you a lot, +Marrion Paul, and I'm going to pay it back, by gad! I am!" + +She tried to laugh and failed, feeling she would cry if she spoke. So +she took her soup when it came and afterwards, as he eat his lunch, +they talked and argued. + +"Now look here, my dear," he said at last in his old, rather +flamboyant, most masterful manner, "you tell me you don't want to stop +in Edinburgh, and you tell me you have plenty of money in your purse. +But one thing you haven't got at present--strength to work. I can see +you haven't, and you have done an immense amount for me, and--well, +I'm dashed if I am going to leave you as you are to face things alone. +So that settles it. I must get back to Glasgow now. You come with me +so far. I promise you, Marmie, I will not--well, annoy you in any +way. See a doctor, and--and do as you like. Only I swear to you, my +dear, if you won't be reasonable I'll break my leave and stop here, +and--and----" + +His boyish face broke into mischief; he came towards her with hands +outstretched, frank, absolutely devoid of all save pure affection. + +In a way, it cut her to the heart as she acquiesced. + +The ride to Glasgow, first-class, with all the alacrity of guards and +porters consequent on Marmaduke's lordly ways and tips, was rather an +agreeable novelty; so also was the obsequiousness of the hotel where +he left her, saying he would be round to see her ere he started for +Ayr next morning. + +Before he came, however, a rather well-known doctor arrived somewhat +to her annoyance, the more so because his verdict was startling. A +sharp attack of pneumonia, which mercifully had not killed her, had +left both lungs enfeebled. At least six weeks' complete rest, care, +and good food, and, if possible, sea air would be necessary to make +them normal; but given these desiderata perfect recovery was assured. + +Six weeks! Marrion, despite her full purse, was aghast, and Marmaduke, +coming in with his usual breezy vitality, found her depressed. He was +in uniform, and it was the first time she had seen him so, with all +the accessories, as it were, of his young manhood about him, from the +glitter of his plaid brooch to the pipe-clay on his white gaiters, for +Andrew Fraser would have scorned to have aught astray in his master's +kit. + +"I have had rather bad news," she began dolefully; but he checked her +with a comprehending smile. + +"I know," he replied, "I was waiting for the pill-doc's verdict +downstairs. But it's perfectly easy, my dear. The sea is simply +splendid at Ayr. I'm off there in quarter of an hour; but I'm going to +leave Andrew Fraser here to bring you down later on. If I can't find +you a suitable lodging before you come you can get one for yourself +next day. And if you do run short of money, you can always come to me, +can't you?" + +She shook her head, but the tears were in her eyes. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII + + +Andrew Fraser stood at attention watching a couple of figures, a man +and a woman, who for the last hour had been dredging a sea-pool with a +landing net as if they were boy and girl. He had watched them at it +often in the last six weeks, and, honest, straight-forward fellow as +he was, had wondered how they managed to treat each other with such +perfect unconsciousness that they were man and woman. So far as his +master was concerned, that might be, for Andrew was shrewd enough to +see the difference between friendship and passion; but, if anyone was +ever heart-wholly in love, Marrion Paul was that person. You could see +it in her face; yet it never seemed to influence her actions. The +perception of this made Andrew vaguely afraid of her; it put a sort of +damper on his own passion for her, since such self-control was not +natural; it was barely human. + +Hour after hour, the simple soul would tell himself, those two would +play themselves like a couple of weans. Three or four times a week the +major would, after the morning parades were over, drive out in his +tilbury--Andrew perched in the tiny back seat--and spend his afternoon +at the little inn which was also the ferry-house over the Doon river +where Marrion lodged. Sometimes the two would go out sailing together, +but more often they amused themselves on the shore, as they were doing +now, dredging for sea things or catching miller's thumbs. It was +childish, but--Andrew's lean, anxious face puckered with confused +thought as he turned to a sound which he knew would bring with it a +more commonsensical outlook on the situation than he, with his +passionate love for the woman concerned, his passionate affection for +the man, could bring to bear on it. It was the click of busy knitting +needles, and they belonged to the landlady of the "Plough." She was a +thoroughly good, kindly, healthy woman, whose views were strictly +conventional on all subjects appertaining to the relations between +the sexes; and as these in those days--and even now, for the most +part--were that sex was the only possible tie between two spirits if +they happened to be living for the time being, one in a male body, the +other in a female--they were not likely to approve of the dredgers of +sea-treasures. + +"When are yon two gaun to be marriet?" she asked firmly. She was a +just woman, and having seen no signs of wrong-doing was willing to +believe the best. + +Andrew hesitated. + +"I'm thinkin'," he replied slowly, "that they are no considering +marriage." + +"Then they aught tae think shame tae themsels," retorted the landlandy +severely. "Her week's up the morrow's morn, an' I'll just tell her she +canna stop in my house. It's just clean redeeklus." + +Andrew flushed up. + +"There's no need for you to say aught, ma'am," he protested eagerly. +"She's leavin', anyhow. Ye ken she only came for her health and that's +re-established. It would only hurt the lassie--and--and do harm, +mayhap." + +The landlady looked at him and sniffed. + +"The lassie, as you ca' her--will take no hairm from what I sall say +to her, an' she'd be the better to give up moithering about wi' +majors, and tak' up wi' a gude, God-fearin' man like yersel'." + +And with that she carried the click of her knitting-pins back into the +inn, leaving Andrew Fraser battling with his own heart. Aye, surely, +surely, it would be better, more seemly, more discreet. + +But there they were coming up from the beach like happy children. + +"Then I'll bring a boat along at one to-morrow," said the major, as he +climbed into the tilbury. "I can't get away before, and we'll try and +get to the Craig. It's eighteen miles south, so if this north-west +wind holds good we shall have plenty of time, shan't we?" + +"Plenty of time!" echoed Marrion happily. + +But she had been happy every day of those six weeks, and even now, +though the hair money was running short, and she knew she must be up +and doing in a few days, she would not, could not, think of the +future. Sufficient to the day was the evil and the good thereof. + +Half an hour after Marmaduke's departure, however, she came out of the +inn-parlour with a heightened colour. It had been no use attempting to +explain the position to the landlady, it was foolish to mind what she +had said; the more so as, automatically, that position must end in a +day or two; still it was disturbing! + +In this early September the twilights were long and the sky was still +golden high up to the zenith. She threw a shawl over her head and, +taking a boat, sculled herself across the ferry for a calming walk +down the coast-line. + + + "The banks and braes of bonny Doon!" + + +The song kept echoing in her head. How pinchbeck it all was, that love +of which men sung-- + + + "But my false lover stole the rose, + But, ah, he left the thorn wi' me!" + + +That was a man's view of it. He came, he saw, he conquered. Then he +could ride away leaving a thorn behind him. But why? She laughed aloud +as she thought of her own passionate love for Duke, a love nothing +could touch, a love that was unsoilable, unassailable, untouchable! + +It was dark ere she returned and then someone tall and soldierly rose +out of the shadows of the little sitting-room of the inn which she +used as her own. For an instant her heart leapt. Then she saw it was +Andrew Fraser. + +"There's nothing wrong, is there?" she asked hastily. + +"I'm no that sure," he replied unsteadily, and then his outstretched +hands found hers, warm almost compelling in their fierce yet tender +clasp. + +"Marrion, Marrion, my dear," he said hoarsely, "ye're bringing wae +into yure life! Oh, dinna draw away frae me, I'm not come to tell ye I +love you; _that's_ sure! You know that, Marrion, if you know anything. +But listen! You cou'dna marry me. That's sure, too; d'ye think I can't +feel that, too, Marrion? Right through to the very cauld core o' my +heart, an' it's cauld, Marrion--it's deathly cauld!" He paused, and +the girl in his passionate hold shivered. + +"It makes me cauld, too, Andry," she half-sobbed, "deathly cauld. +You're meybe worth more than he is, but--but I canna help myself." + +Andrew's voice grew firmer. + +"An' I canna help it either, my dear. But if ye canna marry me, why +sou'd you not marry him?" + +She shook her head. "I willna tie him down," she interrupted hoarsely. +"I willna do him harm!" + +"It's no harm!" he urged. "See you, lassie; would ye rather hae a Lord +Drummuir wi' a wife like yersel', or a Lord Drummuir like to the auld +man at the Castle now? I'm no sayin', mind you, that he wad be just as +his father, but--well, I hae lived wi' the major these eight years, +and I ken fine he needs a guide--why, my dear, since ye cam here, he's +away to his bed like a lad to sleep like a child; an' there's a +play-actin' woman at the theaytre in Glasgi' that had laid hands on +him and thocht she'd got him; but he's just escapit the snare like a +bird from a fowler. Sae ye might do good, not harm." There was a +pause. + +"Ye mean well, Andry," she said softly, "but--but he hasn't really +asked me to--to marry him." + +Andrew turned aside wearily. + +"Has he no?" he replied. "Weel, that may be your fault, lassie; ye can +keep a man at arm's length wi' a smilin' face, as I know tae my cost." + +A sudden realisation of the man's self-sacrificing devotion came to +her. + +"An' ye've come to tell me this," she almost whispered, "to tell me to +your cost! Oh, Andry, Andry, yere love is greater than mine!" + +A sort of half sob came from the darkness. + +"God bless ye for that, Marrion--God bless ye for that, my dear!" + +The scalding tears were in her eyes as she raised them from her hiding +hands to look for him; but he had gone. The shadows were empty. + +The morning rose still and serene save for the puffing of the westerly +wind that ruffled the blue sea with tiny white-crested waves. The +Ayrshire coast stretching south lay green and yellow with ripe corn in +little bays and promontories--far away like a faint cloud the cliffs +of Ailsa Craig showed almost translucent. + +An ideal day indeed for a sail! + +Marrion, her mind still disturbed by her landlady's half-threatening +remonstrances and by Andrew's pathetic appeal to the same conventional +outlook, turned with relief to the prospect of her afternoon's +holiday; probably the last one she would have, since she had made up +her mind to leave for work next day. + +It was a good deal past one when Marmaduke, in rather an evil temper, +ran the pleasure-boat into the little pier where she was ready +waiting. He looked less buoyant than usual and apologised for being +late. All the fishing fleet were out, he said, and he had waited in +vain to get a man. + +"Not that that matters!" he added, recovering himself, as he helped +her in. "You are as good as a man any day, Marmie." + +And yet, when, after a three hours' sail before the wind, they +reached the Craig, and, mooring the boat, climbed to the westering +cliffs beneath which the waves set a frill of white lace, he fairly +startled her by saying suddenly: + +"Marmie, I've made up my mind; I am going to marry you. I've thought +over everything from start to finish, and I'm certain it is the best +thing for both of us. Now, my dear girl, let me have my say for once; +you shall have yours by-and-by. I'm not going to talk of what you did +for me with my father. I'm not sure yet, you see, whether I am vexed +or grateful. A man doesn't like to be exactly--well--herded; but you +did it; and that intolerable vixen Penelope--but I won't talk about +her either. Then there's the hair business," he eyed her ruefully, +though in truth, now that the ends began to curl, the shearing was no +such dis-sight, "that also was my fault; and now"--he paused, and a +red flush of anger rose to his brow--"the goody-goodies in Ayr +apparently won't let you alone, and one of the youngsters this morning +tried to cut a joke; but I won't talk of that either. The long and +short of it is, Marmie, that you and I have got to get married. +And"--his voice changed to almost affection--"you know, dear, what you +stand for with me--for everything that I know to be really worth +having--everything that--well--I ought to be and am not. For it's the +old story, Marmie, I'm Tristram Shandy and you are the Shorter +Catechism, so--so come and help me, won't you?" + +With his voice in her ears she sat for a moment looking out westwards. +A low bank of cloud had obscured the horizon, the sun just thinking of +sinking behind it shone with unearthly brilliance over the sea, over +him, over herself. Then she disengaged her hand from his gently, and, +rising, stood on the extreme verge of the cliff, looking down into the +dazzling, shifting green of the waves. Would it, after all, be so +great a plunge downwards? She had often imagined the choice coming to +her. Suddenly she spoke: + +"There is no need for--for Tristram Shandy to be--to be bound up with +the Shorter Catechism, is there? The two could help each other without +the binding, couldn't they? And then"--her voice had the break of +half-tears, half-laughter in it--"you see Tristram Shandy would be +free--free to marry." She had been so intent on her own words, her +eyes looking out far beyond that dark horizon that she had not +realised he had risen to stand beside her; but now his arm about +her waist, his face bent caressingly to hers, quite overset her +self-control, she turned with a sob and buried her face on his breast. +"Oh, Duke, Duke!" she cried. "I mustn't, I daren't harm you!" + +He held her to him and kissed her again and again. + +"You won't harm me," he said exultantly. "Of course I shan't be able +to noise our marriage abroad just now, so you will have plenty of time +to prepare for your future position." + +All the glamour, all the glitter seemed gone from the world; she drew +herself away from him and smiled at him tenderly, feeling glad that he +had failed apparently to realise the magnitude of her offer. + +"You must give me time to think, Duke," she said. + +He looked a little offended. + +"Oh, take it, by all means; only if you won't marry me we must give up +being friends, for I'm not such a cad as to let a girl like you lose +her character over me--but I expect I shall go to the devil, all the +same." + +They were very silent when they set sail once more. They had intended +to tack along the coast to a village where Andrew had been told to +await them with the tilbury; but after one or two attempts to make way +against a momentarily increasing wind, Marmaduke, with a rapid glance +at that arc of black cloud which had by now overcast the zenith, +remarked briefly:-- + +"We are in for it, I fear, and had better run for Girvan. Wait till I +am ready, Marmie, then take her round sharp." + +Even as he spoke the gust of a coming squall struck them, the boat +heeled over, and but for skill both at tiller and sheet, might have +overset. + +"It's a mercy you can steer," he said, a minute or two later, as by a +deft giving way the boat over-rode a following seventh wave; "but if +you keep your head there's no harm done." + +So they flew before the rapidly rising gale, which, as it rose, +shifted from north-west to nor'-nor'-by-west and threatened to drive +them down the coast. + +"We shall have to tack to make Girvan," he said sharply, "and it's +best to do it before the full fury of the storm touches us. It looks +ugly out there." + +Marmie nodded. + +"I'll take my time from you," she replied, "but don't hurry; we shall +get into a slacker bit in a minute or two." + +"Now!" came his voice. + +The helm went round with all her young strength, but the boat hung for +a second, a following wave took her broadside on, there was a crash, +and Marmaduke was overboard. For one dreadful second Marrion's heart +stood still; the next she realised he had still the sheet-rope in his +hand, and, bringing the boat up sideways to him, he had his hand on +the gunwale and was clambering in. + +"That was a narrow shave," he said, with a brilliant smile. "Now, +Marmie, as the yard has gone, there's nothing for it but let the sail +fill as it can or can't. It will steady us, anyhow. So I'll tie the +sheet and take the tiller. You'd better sit at my feet--see, here's my +coat--rubbish, put it on, I tell you! I don't think we shall make +Girvan, but I--I think I can run her ashore further down. If not----" +He stooped and kissed her. + +That was all; but whether the next hour was a nightmare or a heavenly +dream Marrion Paul in after years never could decide. The great waves +rushing past the little boat, the half-dismasted sail bellying out +over the uplifted bows, scarce seen in the gathering darkness, their +figures in the stern, close--ah! so close together, she resting +against his knees, with upturned face on his, one arm round his waist, +the other, round his feet sheltering him as best she could with the +coat he had insisted on her taking. And he? He seemed to her as the +archangel Michael might have seemed, as he sat courageous, alert, +bending down once or twice, after a stiffer struggle, to touch her +hair with his lips, and almost laugh his confidence. + +"Getting along nicely, Marmie. We may have to swim for it--but it has +got to be done!" + +At last there came a roar ahead of breakers on a beach. + +"It's sand, I think, so off with your boots and everything else you +can!" he called above the roar. "No, don't--ah, thank you, now I can +kick them off! Be ready, child, and hold on to me. We sink or swim +together!" + +So she stood beside him for a minute or two, her skirts thrown aside, +her bare arms ready for a forward drive. Then came a faint grating, a +shock as the boat, heeled round by his strong arm, struck broadside on +on the sand and pitched them forward nearer the land into the +breakers. There was a terrific back draw, and Marrion felt as if her +arms would be torn out of the sockets; but Marmaduke's grip upon her +was as iron; then he was on his feet, then, with a cry-- + +"Run--run for all you're worth!" He half-dragged her beyond the whole +awful onslaught of the sea. Another wild struggle, another forward +run, and they were safe on the sandy shore, with low moorland around +them. Then for the first time he began, manlike, to fuss over +discomfort. + +"You must get out of this as soon as may be," he exclaimed, as they +stood in the full blast of the biting wind. "I see a light over +yonder. Let's run for it, it will keep you warm." + +He held out his hand and together they ran, the bruised leaves of the +bog myrtle as they sped over the moor sending their clean aromatic +odour into the night air. + +"Better than last time," he said, with a laugh. "By Jove, I did get +deep into the bog that time! It's better in couples." + +So, once again those two, caught by the glamour of pure life, raced on +almost forgetful of past danger and present discomfort. + +The light proved to be from a shepherd's hut, where they found warmth +and shelter, a sup of porridge, and some milk. It was four good miles +to Girvan by a bad road, and that made a retreat thither impossible in +the teeth of such a furious gale as was now raging; so the old +shepherd, after providing Marrion with a petticoat of his dead wife's +and a plaid of his own, proposed to retreat to an outhouse and leave +the cottage to his uninvited guests. Marmaduke, however, negatived the +proposal. His wife, he said, would be the better of a good sleep, +while he must be off at daybreak to Girvan in order to get a +conveyance; so she could lie down in the bed-place and he and the +shepherd could just snoozle by the fire. Which they did. + +Marrion, wide awake at first, her nerves all athrill, listened to +their even voices for a time, then watched them asleep in their +chairs, the firelight on their placid faces, and finally fell asleep +herself, to wake with bright sunlight streaming into the little +cottage. + +A scribbled note in pencil awaited her from Marmaduke. He might be +away some time; she was not to expect him till she saw him. + +It was early afternoon when he did return in an open chaise and four +with postillions. + +"The road is very bad," he explained airily, "and I've brought you +some clothes. You'd better go and put them on, as we ought to start at +once." + +"You ought not----" she began hastily at her first glance at the +milliner's box. "You really----" + +"My dear girl," he replied, with a charming smile, "mayn't I see you +dressed for once as you ought to be dressed!" + +There was no alternative with the postillions waiting, and as she put +on the things he had brought she was forced into admitting he had good +taste. + +"You do look nice!" he cried, joyous as a child, as he handed her into +the chaise. + +The next instant they were off, the grey horses with their red-coated +postillions lending quite a bridal appearance to the couple behind +them, for Marmaduke was also very spruce, though he was wearing his +left hand tucked into the roll collar of his coat. Something in the +look of the arm, now she had time for observation, made Marrion say +suddenly-- + +"You hurt yourself?" + +He nodded. + +"Dislocated my wrist--you see that first wave was an awful jerk. So I +had to get back to the regimental surgeon to get it sorted and get my +three days' leave." + +She looked at him startled. + +"What for?" she asked quickly. + +"For our honeymoon, dear," he replied, his kindly, handsome +affectionate face bent close to hers. "Don't look so alarmed, Marmie, +it had to be after what you and I went through together yesterday; we +can't get away from each other, even if we would." + +"But----" she began. + +At that instant the cross road on which they had been merged into a +turnpike, and with a swerve the grey horses turned to the right. + +"But me no buts!" he cried gaily. "We are on the south road, not the +north." Then he suddenly grew grave. "And God bless you, dear, for all +you've done for me and will do for me in the years to come!" + +That turn south had brought them face to face with the glorious line +of coast fading away into a golden mist. Far out on the wide expanse +of sea the same soft September mist lay like a veil, hiding--what? + +Marrion Paul, sitting hand-in-hand with the one love of her life, did +not even ask the question; for all things, everything, seemed +swallowed up in a golden glory. + +Marmaduke's voice roused her, joyous, confident. + +"And I've got a wedding present for you. I wouldn't give it you +before. You see you are such a wilful customer, I was afraid you +mightn't get into the chaise." + +Half-mechanically she opened the case he laid on her lap. It contained +two very long, very thick plaits of red-brown hair, each held together +by an entwined monogram of M's in brilliants. She looked at him and he +looked at her in affectionate raillery. + +"Now!" he cried joyously. "You'll be fit to be seen. You didn't think, +did you, I was going to let your hair be appraised by those young +fools? So that day we left Edinburgh--you remember I nearly missed the +train--I raced back to that beast of a hairdresser. I didn't know till +then, Marmie, it was so valuable; but it was well worth it. Then I had +it set." He paused, aware of some jarring note, and added, "You do +like it, dear, don't you?" + +Marrion, sitting with her long coils of hair in her lap, felt somehow +that the glamour had gone from the gold of earth and sky. + +"Of course I like it," she said, making an effort, "but--but why the +diamonds?" + +He laughed. + +"Because I like diamonds and I like you to look well. I--I suppose you +couldn't twist 'em up somehow now, could you? The postillions won't +see." + +She removed her bonnet and deftly coiled the long plaits about her +shapely head. + +"I'm afraid it's not very neat," she said solidly. + +But he was more than satisfied. + +"You look divine!" he cried exultantly. "More like other people, you +know; and I dare say it is mean of me, but your close crop always made +me feel bad, because you know I was really the cause of it. So now we +start fair, don't we?" + +"Quite fair," she answered, with a smile. He was such a child. Yet +some of the glamour had gone. + + + + END OF BOOK I. + + + + + + BOOK II + + + + + CHAPTER I + + +"Mr. Peter Muir wishes to know if he can see you, ma'am," said the +servant. + +The woman seated at a table by the window in the small drawing-room of +a tiny house in one of the back streets of Belgravia laid down her +work and rose. It was Marrion Paul; but she was seven years older and +neither face nor figure had quite the same buoyant youthfulness. +Indeed, as she crossed to the fireplace a distinct limp was apparent. +Still her face had gained in beauty, and the masses of her red bronze +hair glinted bright as ever. Those seven years of life had been hard +in some ways; but they had been happy in others--happy most of all in +that Marmaduke Muir was well and content. + +Marrion drew an easy-chair to the fire and closed the window, knowing +her visitor to be chilly. She did the latter with reluctance, for the +late November sunshine shone golden in the narrow street, and the +somewhat mews-laden atmosphere of those back purlieus of fashionable +houses was sweetened as it filtered through the wide boxes of trailing +musk which made the little house with the brass plate bearing its +legend, + + + MRS. MARSDEN + _Layettes_ + + +look quite countrified and summerlike. + +Peter Muir, coming in languidly, complaining of the cold, slipped into +the easy-chair as one accustomed to it. He also was older, his weak +face showed signs of recent ill-health; but he was otherwise the loose +knit, errant, yet dandified figure he had been. Dressed in the height +of the fashion, his blue-and-white bird's eye bow and stiff stand up +collar seemed the most striking parts of his personality. + +"This place is the only peaceful spot in all the town," he sighed. "I +often wish I were back in the little room upstairs where you nursed me +so patiently." + +"And your brother, Major Marmaduke," she put in kindly, "don't forget +him, Mr. Peter. If it hadn't been for him, I don't believe you would +have lived." + +Peter Muir fingered his nails nervously. + +"No, I don't suppose I should. You see, it was all Vienna. It's the +devil of a place for a young fellow, especially if he has got no +money--and we never have any, have we? But that is really the reason +why I've dropped in to have a quiet talk with you, so I thought I +would come in the morning, in case Marmaduke----" + +"I haven't seen your brother for ten days," she interrupted quietly. +"I believe he has been away hunting in Hampshire, hasn't he?" + +Peter Muir went on fingering his nails. + +"Yes," he said at last, "part of the time." Then he suddenly burst +out--"I don't know why we should beat about the bush, you and I. You +were a perfect Providence to me, Marmie; I used to call you that, you +know, when I was so ill and the doctors swore that D.T. must end in an +asylum. Duke means a lot to both of us, doesn't he? And it's about him +I want to speak. You've noticed, of course, that he is hipped and out +of spirits, haven't you?" + +"No one could help noticing that," she replied coldly. + +"And he says it is because the old man of the sea at the Castle won't +give him the money to purchase the colonel's step, I suppose?" asked +the young man tentatively. + +"That is the case, I believe," she replied, even more coldly. "There +was the same difficulty about the majority." + +Peter Muir laughed and looked at her quizzically. + +"I've often wondered how that was done," he said. "But this time it +isn't quite fair on the baron. To give the devil his due, I believe he +is quite ready to fork out the money if Marmaduke will only promise to +marry within the year. You see the question of succession is becoming +acute. There is no chance of an heir to the barony from Pitt. And +I--I--well, let's out with it! I've dished myself with the peer as +well as with Providence. It's my damned own fault, of course, but +there it is. And it isn't as if there was not a real picture man in +the family whose sons should do credit to the Castle." + +He had run on rapidly, and now paused to look at his companion. + +"And does the Major refuse to accept the conditions?" she asked +quietly. "I wonder why?" + +Peter Muir felt distinctly injured by her calm. + +"So do I, and I was wondering if----" + +She stopped him with a gesture of her hand, which sent all his +conventional decorum to the right-about, and left him, a man, before +her a woman--left him, instead of an elaborate detective, a reluctant +admirer. + +"Mr. Peter," she said, smiling, "don't wonder! It is very kind of you +to come and tell me the truth--kind also to try and find me out; but, +believe me, I do not stand in your brother's way. It is two years +since Major Muir first brought you here to me, a milliner living by +her work only. All that while he and I have been good friends--nothing +more. I had no claim to be anything else. Does that satisfy you?" + +Peter Muir held out a hot, damp, but enthusiastic hand to meet her +cool, wholesome one. + +"I'm not quite sure if it does," he said, in a manner suddenly and to +her painfully reminiscent of Marmaduke. "You've been a good sight more +to him than any friend has been to me, worse luck! Perhaps if I had +had someone like you in a peaceful little room like this--but +Marmaduke always had the devil's own luck. However, you are not +angry, are you? Only I thought it right to put you up to the ropes in +case----" + +"There is no in case about it," she interrupted quickly. "I--I make no +claim." She rose, passed to the window, and looked out. "Has Lord +Drummuir any--any special selection for his future daughter-in-law?" +she asked, and the young man at the fireplace jiggled the seals in his +pocket amusedly. + +He knew a thing or two, he imagined, about women. + +"Not so far as I am aware of, at _present_," he replied, negligently; +"but the consent is a trifle urgent, for the colonelcy will be going +ere long. He ought to make up his mind soon and come with me to a +roaring New Year at the Castle--it's always a bachelor party--and it +may be his last chance. So, if you could say a word or two--you have +more influence over Marmaduke----" + +She flashed round suddenly. + +"I used to have some," she corrected. "However, thanks very many. Now +let us talk of something else." + +After her visitor had gone Marrion Paul, who called herself Mrs. +Marsden on the door-plate, threw the window wide with an air of relief +and sat down once more to her work. It was an infant's cap of almost +incredibly fine stitchings and embroideries; the kind of cap which, +perched on slender, white, much-beringed hands would give tremors of +delightful anticipation to rich young wives awaiting motherhood. On +the table were strewn other tiny habiliments dainty and delicate +beyond compare; for Mrs. Marsden's layettes were renowned. Nothing +crude, nothing out of place came from her skilful hands; all things +bore the indefinable stamp of absorbing care and almost divine hope +that the little unknown atom of life to come should have garments +worthy of its mission. + +The truth being that, as she worked, her mind always held at the back +of it the memory of a certain box upstairs in which lay the first baby +clothes she had ever made--clothes laboured at day by day in a perfect +heaven of happiness for her child and Duke's, the poor little dear +which had lost its life in the effort to save hers after that terrible +accident. + +It had not been Duke's fault, though he had reproached himself +bitterly at first; but that had been more because of her consequent +lameness. For to a man a dead baby does not count for much--not even +if no other follows it--at least not to a man like Marmaduke, so +light-hearted, so affectionate, so free from all carping cares and +thoughts. + +No, it had been her fault from the beginning. She should have held her +own as she had done for his good in so many other ways before and +since. And now, after these years of freedom, was the tie between +them--the unreal tie which ought never to have existed--to hold him +back from taking his rightful place in life? + +Suddenly she folded up the tiny cap, putting it by with a wistful +little smile and a pat against happier thoughts, went upstairs, put on +her bonnet, and, leaving word she would not be back till late, passed +out into the street. One thing was certain, she must avoid seeing +Marmaduke until her mind was indelibly fixed, and there was always a +chance he might drop in to see her. + +London in those days was a dreary spot for anyone requiring a quiet +place wherein to look Fate in the face; but Marrion knew her way to +two places where she could secure peace and quiet--the National +Gallery and the reading-room of the British Museum. She had often +spent long hours in the former, not moving from place to place, but +seated before some masterpiece, scarce seeing it, yet vaguely learning +something from it which had been missing in her life; but to-day she +chose the latter, as being farther away, and it was time she wished to +kill--time in which it was possible to hear the familiar step on the +stairs, perhaps to be greeted by some affectionate jest that stockings +were not mended or that new handkerchiefs required marking. She smiled +as she thought of those seven long years during which she had kept +this man as comfortable and as tidy as she could, during which she had +managed for him as well as any woman could have managed, and tried to +imagine the estimation in which such devotion would be held by the +wives and mothers for whose infants she worked. She was a constant +reader at the Museum, having, when she came to London, set herself +deliberately to gain what she had perforce missed in her life, so she +found a place, sent in her slip for a book, and was soon apparently +studying it. But she was not even thinking. In the great crises of +life one does not weigh pros and cons; decision comes from outside to +those who recognise that there is something beyond one's own +individual life. It is those who do not see, who fail to recognise the +spiritual plane, who cannot distinguish good from evil, evil from +good, who err past forgiveness. And from the moment Marrion Paul had +heard of the condition on which old Lord Drummuir would buy the +colonelcy she had known she must face him again. The only question was +when, and how. + +The sooner the better. She would inquire about the journey on her way +home. + +It was dark ere she arrived there with a long list of startings and +arrivals in her hand, and a new sense of elation in her heart--the +elation of the born fighter at yet another chance of battle. + +"The Major was here asking for you, ma'am, about five o'clock," said +the maidservant, "and he said if you could let him have two or three +white ties to-night he would be obliged, as he is going into the +country early to-morrow." + +Marrion laughed. So much the better for her plans. + +"Take a hot iron to the dining-room," she said, "and set the +lace-board. You can take the ties round to his lodgings after supper." + + + + + CHAPTER II + + +Seven years had not improved old Lord Drummuir's temper, neither had +it softened the arrogance of his sway over the household. Marrion +realised this in a second, as, entering the study under the name of +Mrs. Marsden--a lady who, according to the footman, was--"Oh, yes, +sir, quite young, and yes, sir, quite good-looking!" and who had +private business with his lordship, she found herself instantly +recognised by three pairs of eyes. One the occupant of the familiar +wheel-chair, the others those of my lady and Penelope. The sight of +the latter was unexpected, for though Marrion knew her grandfather had +died the previous year she had not heard of Penelope's reinstallation +as confidential attendant to my lady. It was not an arrangement likely +to occur to anyone out of Drummuir Castle; but there all things were +possible. + +In the instant's pause which followed on her entrance Marrion had time +to note that the old man had changed but little. His face had lost +somewhat of its colour, but the look of absolute domineering power was +strong as ever. My lady had grown stout--the very idea of a _fandango_ +was far from her now--and the colour had come to her face in +unbecoming fashion. Penelope, on the other hand, had grown thinner, +and in her black dress looked prim propriety. + +"Well, young woman?" began his lordship. + +It was a signal for indignant protest from those two. + +"Drummuir," shrilled the lady, "if you speak to that creature I must +leave the room!" + +Penelope's answering assent was audible in a snort. + +The old man fixed them with a stony stare. + +"I was just about to ask you to do so, my dear," he said, with suave +politeness. "Penelope, open the door for your mistress." + +Marrion, as mechanically she stepped aside towards the window to let +them pass out, felt that nothing was altered. The spider was master of +his web still, every stick and stone of the old place existed by this +old man's wicked will. And it was this heritage she had set herself to +gain for the man she loved! A spasm of repugnance shot through her. + +Yet surely the place itself was glorious. Her glance speeding +northwards took in the same old familiar view that had been visible +from her window in the keep-house; the grey northern sea trending +away, round promontory and point, the cliffs looking so strangely red +compared with the white hills, the white moors--for snow lay thick +everywhere. In those long years of London life she seemed to have +forgotten that snow could be so white. "Though your sins be as +scarlet, they shall be white as snow." The words recurred to her +irrelevantly. + +The old man's voice roused her. + +"You are not so good-looking as you were; and you limp. How's that?" + +"I had an accident," she replied briefly. + +"And why do you call yourself Mrs. Marsden?" + +"Because it is the name I have gone by for some years." + +"Ever since I last saw you--eh?" + +"Ever since you last saw me--nearly," she corrected. Then there was +silence. + +"Well," he said at length, "what is it all about? You have come for +money, I suppose--women always do. Tell the truth solidly please, I've +no time to waste." + +The sneer in his words was intolerable. + +"Yes, I have come for money," she replied, "because your son, Major +Marmaduke Muir, married me six years ago. I've brought proofs with +me." + +If he wanted the truth he had got it. Bitter as she was, however, the +sudden whiteness of the old man's face made her sorry for him. There +was something more than anger here. That turned him purple; yet his +words were resentful, nothing more. + +"Then he is a damned fool!" + +"You didn't write so to him seven years ago, Lord Drummuir," she +began. + +"H'm, so he showed you the letter, did he? No, you behaved well +then--and, by God, I made them dance!" The recollection seemed to +please; then a sudden thought evidently struck him. "Any children?" he +asked. + +She shook her head. + +"One--a boy--died. Major Muir had an accident in the tilbury. The +child," she paused, her eyes on the far stretches of dazzling white +snow, "it--it ransomed my life. I shall never have another." Then with +a rush all she had come to say sprang to mind and lips, she held out +her hands appealingly. "Lord Drummuir, I wish you would let me tell my +story!" + +"Eh, what?" he replied peevishly. "Well, curse it all, I've been +plagued by the gout and those two virtuous frumps for seven months, +for Jack Jardine has the jaundice, and you were deuced amusing last +time. But, don't stop over there--makes me cold to think of you. Sit +there, by the fire, and take off your bonnet; you look better without +it. Women with good hair shouldn't wear bonnets." + +She sat down as he bade her, feeling inclined to cry, he reminded her +so much of Marmaduke. + +He would not spare her any details; it seemed an amusement to him to +hear of her doubts, her scruples, and he laughed aloud when she told +him how two years ago she had dismissed her lover. + +"Why?" he sneered. "Come, out with it!" + +His hard clear eyes peered into hers. + +"Because I didn't want to injure him, and I don't want to injure him +now," she replied. "I haven't come to claim my rights as his wife." + +"Then what the devil do you want, my lady?" + +"I want you to do as you did before and give him the money to buy his +colonelcy. If you will do this I will never claim to be his wife. He +shall be as free, as far as I am concerned, to marry whom you choose." + +Lord Drummuir sat looking at her with hard clear eyes. + +"And if I don't," he said at last, "are you going to threaten me with +this bogus marriage, for it may be bogus for all I know--eh, what?" + +Marrion felt that the supreme moment had come; she must stake her all. + +"No," she answered quietly. "To show you I threaten nothing, there are +my marriage lines. Burn them if you will!" + +She sat quite still while the old man, with fingers that trembled +visibly, unfolded the paper she gave him. There was no mistaking its +worth. In Marmaduke's bold black writing were the words-- + +"I, Marmaduke Muir, second son of Baron Drummuir, of Drummuir Castle, +hereby acknowledge Marrion Paul as my lawful wife." Underneath in her +finer writing was her own acknowledgment of her tie to Marmaduke. + +The old man, for all he had had no hopes of escape, was wary. + +"You give this up because you know he, my fool of a son, has a +counterpart, eh? That's about it, I expect?" + +Marrion flushed to the very roots of her hair, but she spoke calmly. + +"Yes, your son has the counterpart----" she began. + +The old man burst into one of his sudden rude guffaws. + +"Ha, ha, ha! And you thought you'd take in the old fox, my fine +madam!" he said, then paused before the passion of her face. + +"If you will listen you will believe me. I could claim to be his wife +now if I chose. I do not choose. I prefer that he should lead the life +he loved, that he should marry and bring you the heir for which--for +which you would sell your soul, you poor old man! But Marmaduke is a +soldier born; if he misses this chance he will be a disappointed man. +As like as not he will never marry, even though he knows I've set him +free. But send him this money, and I swear to you the counterpart +shall be destroyed. What shall I swear by? I swear by the poor dead +baby!" She paused. "Marmaduke said he was so like you. I never saw +him. I was too near death." + +Her voice trailed away to monotony. The old man sat staring at her, an +odd tremor in his face. + +"I swear it shall be destroyed," she continued. "I--I have very great +influence over your son; he--he will do what I ask." + +"Then why the devil are you giving him up, and your prospects here? +They're not to be sneezed at by a woman like you!" + +The phrase nettled her. She rose and stood beside him strong and +steady. + +"Lord Drummuir," she said sarcastically, "I know you to be clever and +I thought, being a gentleman, that you might have seen the truth and +spared me the pain of that question. I will answer it, however. It is +cause your son never loved me. He is very, very fond of me. He has +been so ever since we were boy and girl together. And I have been of +great use to him. But I could not bring love into his life, and I +could not bring him a child. So it did not seem worth while; I could +only stand aside." + +There was a pause. The old man's face had grown sharp and paler; there +was uncertainty even in the cruel lines about the mouth. + +"You're rather an extraordinary young woman," he remarked coolly; +"might have made your fortune on the stage. Wish I'd met you there!" +He grinned. "But now to business. You have the whip hand, of course--I +admit that. Now, if I give you--or that fool, my son, it's the same +thing--the money for this paper, you promise to make him destroy his +counterpart." + +"I promise," she replied eagerly. "I can make him do most things----" + +"Except love you," interrupted the old man, with a horrible sneer; but +the next instant his gouty hand, trembling a little, was outstretched +to her in deprecation. "Excuse me, that should not have been said. +Well, you know as well as I do that this game is a real confidence +trick. You must have heaps of evidence up your sleeve if you chose to +bring it forward. But I'll chance that. I haven't seen many of your +sort in my life. If I had, I mightn't have been the cursed cripple I +am; but I've had a rattlin' good life of it and I don't regret +anything--except having begot Pitt. So we will come to terms. I will +send the colonelcy money to Marmaduke on condition that he consents to +marry within the year. Is that agreed?" + +"Agreed," she said firmly. + +"In that case perhaps you'll oblige me by ringing the bell." + +She did so, but when the valet appeared, instead of the curt order to +show her out Marrion had expected, the old man commanded the instant +production of cake and wine. + +"Nonsense!" he growled decisively to her protestations. "It is +devilish cold. You haven't on warm enough clothes, and you don't leave +this house without bite or sup, if only because your father Paul was a +deuced good servant to my poor brother. Good fellow was Paul--always +suspicioned he was a gentleman--think now he must have been. +Here"--the valet had come and gone, leaving the tray on the +table--"pour yourself out a glass of port. Won't get better anywhere, +I'll go bail. Only half a binn left, so I shall finish that before I +die, thank God! Now," he eyed her narrowly, "drink to the health of +Marmaduke Muir's son, the heir to Drummuir!" + +The room seemed to spin round for a moment. Then without a quiver she +drank the health, put down her glass and turned to the door. Just as +she reached it the old man said-- + +"Good-bye. I'm damned sorry that little chap of yours died; he would +have been game, anyhow." + +She gave back one sudden grateful look, and the memory of what she saw +remained with her till the day of her death. The pearly whiteness of +the snow outside showing behind the mountain of diseased flesh swathed +in scarlet flannel, the gouty hands in the act of tearing up the paper +they had been holding, a cruel smile in the old grey eyes, despite the +words which had just fallen from the cruel lips. + +"Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow." + +The phrase recurred and recurred as she tramped her way down the beech +avenue. There were many gaps in it now. How many trees would be left +when Marmaduke's heir came to his own? + + + + + CHAPTER III + + +The swing doors leading to the smoking-room of the fashionable club in +London fell back with a slightly louder thud than usual, and more than +one occupant of the room looked up--looked up, however, to smile, for +the newcomer was a universal favourite. It was Marmaduke Muir, fresh +from one of his many disappearances, for he was quartered at the new +camp of Aldershot and his London visits were generally but a passing +flash on his way to find sport in the counties. At seven-and-thirty he +showed almost more youthful than he had done at seven-and-twenty, for +he was thinner, more alert, and the laughter in his face seemed to +belong to him more absolutely. For the rest he was handsome beyond +compare, and dressed faultlessly in a taste that had sobered itself +from those early days in England when Marrion Paul had found him +_flamboyant_. There was still a slight exuberance in the carnation in +his buttonhole and the immense size of the cigar he drew out of his +case; but the case itself was simple, and there was a simplicity about +his whole bearing which disarmed criticism. + +"What you b'in after, old chap?" said an occupant of an armchair, +laying down the "Illustrated London News," in which he had been +reading the pros and cons of beard and moustachios as against clean +shaving. He felt his own chin doubtfully as he looked at Marmaduke's +upper lip; but then he, of course, was a soldier. + +"Killin' somethin', I bet," yawned another. "What was it, Duke?" + +"Not ladies, anyhow," put in a third. "Our Adonis is a regular +misogynist; and yet, just look at his letters--faugh! they make the +place smell like Truefitt's." + +"Better than your fags, anyhow, Mac!" laughed Marmaduke, as he took +the pile of notes and letters which the attendant had brought in on a +salver. Then, as he threw himself into the most comfortable chair +vacant, he held up half the bundle with a gay--"Anyone like them? +They're all invitations, I expect, and I have to go back to-night!" + +"And moneylenders, Muir! Don't forget Moses!" put in the man he had +called Mac. + +"Not so many of them either," retorted Marmaduke, "as you know Jack +Jardine keeps us going. God bless him!" he added cheerfully. + +"Here, hand us over a few, Major!" said a callow youth who lived to +envy the more fashionable habitues. + +"No go, Smithers!" remarked another youth less sallow; "even Nathan +couldn't make you up to his form." + +But Marmaduke, after a hasty glance at the superscriptions, had +dexterously flung a dozen or so of letters into the applicant's tall +hat, which was obstructing the way between his chair and the next. One +smaller than the rest which Marmaduke had overlooked flew over it and +lay on the carpet. It was directed in an uneducated hand. + +"Hullo, pretty milliner, eh, Duke?" said Mac, taking it up and opening +it. "No, no, fair play, you gave it----" + +Marmaduke, standing over him, blushed like a girl as he glanced at the +writing. + +"It's nothing, Mac," he began. + +But Mac was not to be put off in a moment. + +"'Respekted and Honerd Sir'--can't spell, anyhow," he read out. "'The +money as you scent save my wife an' children from blank +starvayshion"'--he turned round and looked at Marmaduke reproachfully. +"And you owe me five pounds, you d----d Christian philanthropist." + +Marmaduke Muir gave an apologetic laugh. + +"The poor devil was in my regiment once--and as for the five pounds, +here you are. I had a stroke of luck down in Norfolk at loo----" + +"Save you from 'blank starvayshion,' eh, Mac?" growled a man who also +owed money in the same quarter, whereat there was a general laugh, for +Major Macdonald was known to be near. + +Marmaduke, opening his letters rapidly, put most of them into the +waste-paper basket. Invitations from people he scarcely knew to balls +and dances, others to festivities past and gone. Some few he put in +his pocket, and one he sat and stared at as he smoked his cigar. +Luncheon--one o'clock--there was plenty of time; and Louisa +Marchioness of Broadway was the most amusing old lady in town. An old +friend of his father's, too, though that wasn't in her favour. Still +she was interested in the family, and had always been particularly +kind to him. + +An hour later, therefore, he sat waiting his hostess' appearance in +the tiny drawing-room of one of that row of tiny houses which, till a +very few years ago, stood back from Knightsbridge Road, separated from +it by a tiny secluded carriage-drive of their own and opening out with +little narrow strips of back gardens to the park. He was seated at the +window, but it seemed to him as if he were close to the roaring fire; +indeed, all things were close to each other in the small room where +the big, central, mid-Victorian table, with its broidered tablecloth, +solitary vase of flowers, and besprinkling books of beauty seemed to +monopolise all space. One of these same books of beauty lay open at a +simpering bottlenecked portrait subscribed in a fine feminine hand, +"Louisa Broadway." It always did; the servant had orders to that +effect. + +"_A la bonheur, monsieur!_" came a voice from the door. It was the +most ancient thing about Louisa Marchioness of Broadway. All else was +open to manipulation and the manipulation was good. She did not, +however, dye her hair. Spiteful folk said it was because powder had +been the fashion when she was in the heyday of her beauty; but she was +a very clever lady, and doubtless she realised how much more real a +make-up seems when toned to white hair than to dark. As it was, the +effect was still charming, and her figure was that of a girl of +eighteen. + +"_A moi l'honneur_," quoth Marmaduke gallantly, as he advanced to kiss +the old lady's outstretched hand and lead her to a chair. + +In a certain set at that time there was a fashion for interpolating +French into English--one of the signs of the coming war which was +darkening the horizon of Europe. + +So they sat and talked lightly of it, and of the Prince Consort's +unpopularity, and the coming opening of the King's new Royal Palace of +Westminster, which are now, forgetfully and conveniently, called the +Houses of Parliament, until luncheon was announced, and Marmaduke had +to pilot his hostess down the narrow stairs--a difficult task which he +felt would have been far easier had he carried her. And with the +thought came in a rush that delight in freedom, that fresh enjoyment +of the unconventional, which always made him remember Marrion Paul. It +sobered him a little and he talked with more effort. Not that it +mattered, since his hostess was all sparkle and wit. And the luncheon +itself was everything that could be desired. Marmaduke, a bit of an +epicure in personal matters, found the snug little horse-shoe table, +with its curve to the fire so that you could feel the warmth while you +looked out of the window, very conducive to comfort, for you sat +undisturbed by servings behind you. All that went on in front, and you +could see what was handed to you without fear of ricking your neck or +getting the gravy spilt over your clothes. The _menu_, too, if sparse, +was super-excellent. In her youth Louisa Broadway had been +Ambassadress at various European Courts; she was a _gourmet_ of +distinction, so it was quite a complacent Marmaduke who at her +invitation, after the servant left the room, turned his chair to the +fire and joined his hostess in a glass of Madeira. + +"And now for business," she said, while her face took on a new +expression which obscured the paint and the prettiness, and left it +wise yet kindly--wise with the wisdom of a worldly old age. "Now, you +don't suppose, do you, young man, that I asked you here to give you a +good lunch--you'll admit you have had one, I presume--and talk to you +about things that don't really matter a brass farthing to either of +us? For what do you care about the Houses of Parliament, and what do I +care about scandals--I have had plenty--_de trop_, in fact! No, I +brought you here to introduce you to my grand-niece--Sibthorpe's +youngest daughter. She will be here immediately, and I want you to +marry her." + +"Really, Lady Broadway!" flustered Marmaduke. + +"Rather crude, I admit," continued his hostess, "but I object to +beating about the bush, especially when I want to get inside. The fact +is, Marmaduke, I have heard from your father----" + +"It is good of you to read his letters; they are not----" began the +son stiffly. + +"Don't be silly, my dear lad," went on the old woman, "your father has +his faults, but he was quite as good-looking as a young man as you +are--at any rate, I thought so. Now, he wants you to marry, and he has +every reason to wish it. It is the only chance of an heir to the +title, for Peter's last escapade has about finished his hopes in that +quarter." + +"I can't discuss----" began Marmaduke very stiff. + +"Oh, yes, you can!" went on the old lady imperturbably. "We +are _en petit comite_, and I'll confess to being old, very +old, old enough to be your great-grandmother. Now, Marmaduke, +a great-great-grandmother--did I put in the two greats the +first time?--can talk over things more sensibly than even a +great-great-grandfather. You see, my dear, she has passed through it +all and left it all behind her. And so, my dear child--I nursed you as +a baby, remember--why don't you marry? Or perhaps you are married +already?" + +There was an exquisite lightness of raillery in the suggestion which +absolutely barred offence, and there was kindness in the keen old +eyes. Nevertheless, Marmaduke was uncomfortably aware that they took +in his sudden flush. She gave him no time for interruption, however, +and went on airily-- + +"For all I know the heir may already be in existence!" Here Marmaduke +asserted himself with great dignity. "My dear madam, if I had any +children I should acknowledge them!" + +Louisa Lady Broadway smiled gently. She had gained one piece of +knowledge, anyhow. The obstruction, if there was one, was a childless +wife. + +"I am glad to hear it, my dear, but I knew you had a good heart, or I +wouldn't have risked speaking to you. I wouldn't do as much for one in +a thousand. Now, my dear, I am nearly eighty years old, and I +understand things as perhaps few women do understand them. I don't +expect many men have lived to be your age without forming ties of some +kind, especially if they live in Scotland, Marmaduke"--the thrust went +home again, she thought--"but money does a lot, especially when there +are no children. A good round annuity means much when a man is not +well off, as you are, and has probably to wait for many years ere he +falls into money--as you have, for Pitt is the heir, of course. But +your father would find the cash----" + +"If he would find the money to pay for my colonelcy," burst in +Marmaduke, "it would be better than setting people to find out mare's +nests! I don't mean to be rude, Lady Broadway; you are very kind, but +I really can't discuss----" + +"I think you can," interrupted Louisa Broadway in her turn, +"especially if it is not a question of mere money, and money is, I +believe, a very small matter to some people--to you, for instance, +Marmaduke! You never think of it, do you, so long as you've got +it?--ha, ha! But there are other considerations. To begin with, I +believe that when there are no children a marriage should +automatically become null and void. And apart from that I don't +believe that any woman who really loves a man would ever stand in his +light or prevent him from doing his duty. I am sure if I had had no +children, and Broadway----" The illustration, however, was beyond even +her powers of fiction, and the opening of the door brought relief. +"Oh, here is the young lady! Amabel, let me introduce Major Marmaduke +Muir. Major Muir, Lady Amabel Sibthorpe. I expect you are kindred +spirits, as you are both such outdoor people." + +The girl, who had rushed in somewhat unceremoniously, looked up +frankly into Marmaduke's blue eyes. There was undisguised admiration +in her glance. + +"Oh, yes," she said, "I've always wanted to know Major Muir since I +saw him punish a horrid little boy in the park for bullying his dog!" + +Marmaduke, as he made his bow, felt that the clever old lady with the +painted face was very clever indeed. She had gauged her man +completely. Most people on the task would have supplied him with a +befrilled fashionable beauty; the sort of woman with whom he flirted, +who amused him, attracted him, tempted him. But this joyous, buoyant +girl, with good-breeding in every line and feature---- + +No, Louisa Lady Broadway had made a mistake; she had reminded him of +Marrion Paul. + +So, after the shortest interval compatible with his role of charming +young man, he took his leave and went fuming back to his lodgings in +Duke Street, which he kept as a _pied-a-terre_ for himself and Peter. +The latter was out, so Marmaduke went straight up to his bedroom to +change his London things for his uniform, since he had to report +himself on arrival at Aldershot. There was plenty of time, but he +meant to go round by Marrion's first. He had not seen her for over ten +days, and---- + +Despite an anger at interference which had grown instead of +diminishing, old Lady Broadway's words, "a woman who loves a man will +never stand in his light or prevent him from doing his duty," would +keep recurring to his mind. It was exactly what Marrion had said to +him scores and scores of times. Curious, two such different women +having precisely the same views. Not that they mattered. He had his +own. Still, half-mechanically when he was dressed he took out of his +despatch-box a small packet of papers, and, opening one of the +envelopes, began to read the contents. One sheet was the excerpt from +the visitors' book at the Cross-keys Inn where he had written "Captain +the Honourable Marmaduke and Mrs. Muir." He smiled at it bitterly, +wondering whether, if he had relied on that, as Marrion had begged +him, he should have felt as bound as he did now. With a shrug of his +shoulders he folded it again and thrust it back into the envelope. The +other sheet was a counterpart of the paper which Marrion Paul had, +unknown to him, given to his father. He sat staring at it almost +stupidly until a knock came to the door, when he hastily replaced it +and put the bundle in his breast-pocket. The new-comer was Andrew +Fraser, and he carried a letter. + +"I was roond tae the club, sir," he said, with a salute, "as I thocht +it might be o' importance seein' it was frae the castle; but you was +awa." + +The man's face was as ever, full of devotion and duty. The past seven +years had brought him many an anxiety, many an agony, but he had stuck +by the two beings he loved best on earth with a steadfastness beyond +all praise. + +"All right, Andrew," replied his master cheerily, "pack up, will you, +and take the things to the station. I'm going round by Mrs. +Marsden's." + +"Very well, sir," replied the servant quietly. + +He had been discretion itself all these years, ever since Marrion had +come to him one day and told him the truth, that she was married. If +she had not so told him, what would he have done? His simple soul +could never answer the question. + +Meanwhile, Marmaduke in a cab was reading his father's epistle, which +ran thus-- + + +"MY DEAR MARMADUKE,--I believe you are my son, so I expect you to give +this letter your earnest consideration. As you are aware there is no +heir to the title or estate. I had the misfortune to beget a creature +who calls himself the Master of Drummuir and is not the master of +anything. Then there is Peter, a promising boy whom you have ruined by +providing him with an attacheship at Vienna, a place which did for his +uncle whom he greatly resembles. The accounts of the physician +concerning his health are simply disastrous. He has narrowly escaped +an asylum for life. This being so, it is imperative that you shall +marry and produce an heir for the estate. I see by various letters of +yours (unanswered) that you are again in want of money to purchase +your promotion to colonel. It is a nefarious, a reprehensible swindle +which should be abolished, and to which I should never yield were it +not that I wish to strike a bargain with you--namely, I will purchase +your colonelcy, if you will consent at once to seek out a suitable +wife and marry her within the year. If you accede to this most +reasonable request I will send a cheque to your bankers and I shall +expect to see you--and Peter also if he is really sane--here for +Christmas. + + "Yours truly, + + "DRUMMUIR. + +"P.S.--Let me tell you, sir, that it is deuced dull here with those +two virtuous frumps, my Lady and Penelope. They were more amusing when +they were young. But if you come--and why shouldn't you?--we'll have a +regular rouser." + + +Marmaduke read this letter over twice. It was the kindest, most +reasonable one he had ever had from his father. And the postscript +touched him. Its very frankness made him realise what life must now be +to one who in his youth had been "quite as good-looking as you are." + +Old Lady Broadway's words recurred to him as he stood at the little +door with its brass name-plate waiting for admission. And if he got +his colonelcy and the command of the regiment? If there was going to +be war? + +But was there going to be war? He felt a little as if he had to face +an enemy as he ran upstairs two steps at a time. + + + + + CHAPTER IV + + +But upstairs all was peace, and Marrion, the light of the lamp on her +bronze hair, beautiful as ever, looked up from her work, her face +bright with pleasure. + +"Ah, there you are! I was expecting you, for Andrew was round this +afternoon and told me you were in town." + +He did not go up to her or greet her; only smiled content and sank +into the easy-chair placed between where she sat and the fire. The big +table wheeled cosily into the corner was littered with lace and +muslin. He took up a small pinafore and looked at it distastefully. + +"I wish you wouldn't work so hard," he said suddenly, "and I hate to +see you busy over those things; it reminds me----" he broke off. + +She laid down the little frock she was embroidering on the instant, +and went to kneel beside him; for her insight into this man's moods +was complete, and she felt what was coming. + +"And it reminds me too, Duke. That is why I love it. I have told you +so often it was nobody's fault; if anybody's, mine." + +He shook his head. + +"You can't make me believe that." + +"But it is true. See here, Duke, I ought never to have allowed you to +bind yourself. It put me in a false position. I was too anxious to +please, too anxious to pay you back the gift, as it were, so I did +what I ought not to have done. I thought of you, not of the child. But +what is the use of going over it all again? It is past and done with." + +He sat with his hands between his knees for a minute, looking at the +fire. + +"Well, I am sorry the poor little chap died." + +It gave her the opening she needed. + +"That is what your father said when I told him," she said quietly. + +He stared at her. + +"My father!" + +"Yes, Duke, I have been to see him again. He was quite kind. Sit still +and I will tell you everything." + +And she told him though she saw his face grow stern and angry. + +"You had no business to do it," he said, when she finished. "Can't you +even leave me to manage my own affairs? I didn't interfere with yours +when you broke away and set up on your own, did I?" + +"You have been very good to me, Marmaduke," she replied, with a catch +in her voice, "and I've tried to be as good to you." + +The memory of many a helping hand, of long years in which this woman's +companionship had been an anchor to him, came to appease his easy +nature. + +"Well, it is no use being angry," he said at last; "the thing's done. +And you really destroyed your lines?" + +"Your father tore them up. He quite agreed with me that as I had no +children, and there was no chance of one--at any rate, of a living +one--that I was bound to release you. And I am bound. I refuse to be +your wife." + +"And if I claim you?" he said swiftly, resentment in his voice. She +smiled. + +"I shall still refuse you, then in three years we shall be +automatically divorced." + +"In Scotland only. You are very clever, my dear, but you forget some +things." + +His deft diversion, however, had done its work, the subject was no +longer personal. + +"It is impossible," he continued. "I can't leave you in the lurch." + +"You don't. Look at it clearly, please. Since we agreed to +separate----" + +"I never agreed," he put in angrily. "I was quite ready to fulfil----" + +"The bond," she interrupted a trifle bitterly, "and I wasn't or +couldn't. But ever since then--and before then, too--before you came +home, I kept myself. And I'm quite rich, Duke. I have money in the +bank. There is no fear for me." + +"Is it all money?" he said tragically, gloomily. + +She laid her hand lightly on his knee; the touch thrilled her through +and through, but he sat unmoved, looking at the fire. + +"You can give me all you have ever given me still, dear," she said; +"there is no reason why we should not continue to be friends." + +There was a long pause. Then she began again-- + +"I promised your father you would destroy the counterpart. Duke, it is +far better done. You will feel free, and you don't, somehow, now, +though I hoped you would. And I shall be glad. A woman who loves a man +cannot bear to stand in the way of his doing his duty--and this is +your duty----" + +He turned to her. + +"Just what that old harridan said. Curious you two should agree--and +you're so different!" + +"What old harridan?" + +"Lady Broadway. She has been at me, too. Why can't you women leave a +man alone? She wants me to marry her niece, Lady Amabel." + +Marrion felt a sudden spasm of elemental jealousy. Self-sacrifice was +exhilarating in the abstract, in the concrete it was painful. + +"Did--did you see her?" she asked. + +"Yes--nice little girl. But--but if this is to be, how will you manage +about Andrew? You had to tell him, if you remember." + +She remembered right well; remembered how even the man's fidelity to +his master, his devotion to her, would not stand the strain of what he +thought wrong-doing. The difficulty had occurred to her before, but +she set it aside now as of small importance in comparison with the +destruction of the paper. + +"Ill manage Andrew," she replied, "if you will only----" + +He stood up tall and strong and curiously antagonistic. + +"You are always managing, Marmie. Some day you'll find you've made a +mistake. But if you will have it so, I happen to have the paper with +me." He took out his pocket-book and handed her an envelope. "You can +do as you like with it. Oh, it is the right one!" he added +impatiently. "I was looking at it just now. I am not always a fool!" + +She paused in a half-unconscious search induced by her knowledge of +Marmaduke's careless habits. The contents of the envelope, half-pulled +out, showed her the printed heading "Cross-keys Inn." She thrust them +back hurriedly and dropped the whole into the fire. It flamed up +showing his face full of irritation, hers of decision. They watched it +flame, fade, sparkle out. Then he turned away. + +"You've made me feel a scoundrel somehow," he said, "but I suppose I +shall get over it in time." + +"You've no right to say that," she flared out. "You've no right to put +that thought into my life. We have done our duty." + +"Well, don't let's part in anger, anyhow," he said kindly. "I shan't +see you for some time. I'm on duty, and then I shall go north for +Christmas, and then----" + +"And you will get your colonelcy," she added. + +He smiled. + +"Yes, I shall get it, thanks to you again. Ah, Marmie, Marmie, it's no +use your trying to unbind Tristram Shandy and the Shorter Catechism! +We were mixed up together right away in the beginning of things, and +we shall be mixed up in the end, you'll see. Now I must be off. +Good-bye!" + +He held out his hand. She took it and gripped it fast, every fibre of +her athrill with the dear touch. Her whole soul seemed for the second +to crave for him, for his presence always. And he was going away, out +of her life for ever. For she was wiser than he was. She knew that her +talk of continued friendship was a sham; one of the many baits she +laid so often to get her own way. Ah, how weary she was of cutting and +contriving Dame Nature's plain, honest web! Well, she would have to do +it no longer; it would be another's task. But there was one thing he +had said which was not to be endured, which could not be allowed to +pass. + +"Good-bye," she said, "and don't please feel like a scoundrel. You +never did a better deed in your life. You have done your duty like an +honest gentleman, and--and I'm proud of you!" + +"That's something, anyhow," he said, and was gone. + +She sat down and began stitching away at a little gown she was making. +It had to be finished that night, for the christening of the infant +for whom it had been bespoken was on the morrow. And the task soothed +her. For the more ordinary parts she had apprentices during the day +who worked downstairs, but all the distinctive features of the +marvellously delicate little garments came from her own clever +fingers. That evening, as she worked away at a tiny wreath of +snowdrops for another woman's child, every atom of her went out in +unavailing regret for the little life that had gone to save her own. +She was not worth it--nothing was worth it. Those men--father and +son--might say "I am sorry the little chap died!" but did they, could +they, would they, realise what it meant to a woman that something very +precious, something which she was bound to protect, for which she +ought to have given her heart's blood, had given her its own instead? + +Well, she had paid for it since to the uttermost farthing. She had no +illusions. Marmaduke had gone out of her life for ever. + +Not entirely, however, for at Christmas time one of his long breezy +letters came to her--for Marmaduke was a great letter-writer--telling +her about all her old friends in the neighbourhood; a charming, +cheerful epistle, full of awed wonder at the extreme stoutness and +sanctity of "stepmamma" and the rigorous respectability of Penelope. + +"For the first time in my life," he wrote, "I feel sorry for the old +man, and I begin to think we did right, Marmie. In fact, I'm sure we +did." + +Her lip hardened as she read. Undoubtedly they had done right, but---- + +She sewed harder than ever, wishing that the whole thing was settled +and done with. Then there would be no more letters to bring pain. + +Fate, however, had other things in store for her, for just after the +New Year Andrew Fraser appeared in her small drawing-room. He came in, +tall, gaunt, hard-featured as ever, stood at the door and saluted, as +he had done ever since Marrion in self-defence had told him that she +and his master were fast married. + +"Back so soon!" she cried. "I thought the major was to be longer at +the castle." + +"He is the colonel now," returned Andrew gloomily, "an' we are awa tae +Portsmouth the day. But I cam', Marrion, tae tell ye that the domed +fowk in the ha' at Drummuir were sayin' 'he was tae get marriet tae +Lady Amabel.' An' that canna be.' + +"Lady Amabel," echoed Marrion, glad in a way of a surprise which +enabled her to make a diversion, at any rate, for a time. "He didn't +say anything. I thought it was to be a bachelor party." + +Andrew snorted a vexed denial. + +"Sma' count o' that! The auld peer had gotten Lady Penrigg, the +railway man's wife, tae gi' him countenance wi' the gentry, and +there was the Marchioness o' Broadway and the young leddy--a nice, +straight-speakin' girlie. An' it was a' decent and God-fearin' with +curlin' and skatin' and sleighin' an' songs an' forfeits in the +evenin'. Dewar, my lord's valet, tell't me he had never heard the +Baron swear sae awfie as he did when he got tae his own room o' +nichts. It jest turned him cauld. But it was lying on the poor falla's +stummick a' day. Hoo'ever I didna come for that." + +"And the major--I mean the colonel," interrupted Marrion hastily, "did +he enjoy himself?" + +It was an unwise remark, for it hastened what she wished to avoid. + +"Ower much, mayhap," put in Andrew, taking a step nearer her, his +little grey eyes looking at her with pathetic earnestness. "Marrion, +my dear," he went on, "I've helt ma tongue a' these years, relying on +your word that ye had your lines safe. Not that they matter sae much, +since I can swear to yer bein' man and wife--aye, and mayhap bring +ithers tae swear it, too. But I'm no satisfied, an' that's God's +truth. Ye ken fine that by a' the laws o' God and man ye're bound +together, an' surely ye're no seekin' to get past the responsibility +that ye took upon yersels?" + +There was something merciless in the stern solid figure before her; +but Marrion had courage, and faced her task. + +"Sit down, Andrew, and let me explain," she began, but he stood to +attention more rigidly, and with a forecast of failure in her mind she +went through the whole set of arguments she had used with success on +Marmaduke. But here she had different metal to weld. + +"Ye took it upon yersels," he reiterated. "It was the Lord's doin' +that the poor wee bairnie didna live. It's ill tryin' tae get the +better o' Providence." + +The hopelessness of influencing him made her at last try an appeal to +his personal devotion to her; but his reply sent her crimson to her +very heart-strings. + +"That's neither here nor there, Marrion. If ye was twenty times free +by yere ain makin', I wadna take yer love at a gift." + +The most she could get out of him was a promise to wait and say +nothing till there was more than mere servants'-hall gossip to go by. +He left her wearied and vexed, sorry that she had not been able to get +him to hear reason, yet knowing that she was sure of her own ground, +since, if she and Duke both refused to acknowledge marriage there +could be no possible claim by anyone else. Only to take up this ground +would, she foresaw, make Andrew into an enemy. Besides, it would be a +confession of failure on her part, and the years had brought so much +success to her in all her managements that the idea of defeat, even in +a small thing, was irksome. + +So for a day or two more she sat and worked while all the noise of +London was deadened by the snow which defied man's effort to remove. +In her quiet little street she felt as if she were wrapped away in a +white winding sheet from all the interests of the world--waiting, +waiting, waiting. It would come at last, of course. The _Court +Journal_ would have the announcement of an impending marriage in high +life. Then, if Andrew were still inflexible, she must tell him he had +no power. And then--and then--and then? + +Her mind busied itself in plans, in conjectures, more from habit than +from any hope of action; for in her heart of hearts she knew, and she +was always telling herself, that she had said good-bye to Duke for +ever. + +Yet, as has been said, Fate had willed otherwise. Less than a week +after Andrew's visit, she stood up, her heart beating, at a well-known +step coming up two stairs at a time, and there was Duke! A Duke such +as she had always dreamt he should be--radiant, rejoicing--a perfect +specimen of manly beauty. He was in the full-dress uniform of his +Highland regiment, and he flung his bonnet in among the laces and +muslins, as if the whole world were his. + +"We're off to Constantinople to-morrow," he said joyously, "and I +had to come and say good-bye. Oh, my dear, my dear, what a relief it +is--every way!" + +She gasped. + +"But war--war hasn't been declared yet!" + +"And won't be for another two months," he interrupted, "but for all +that we are sending our troops. It's kept secret, of course, but my +regiment is in it. It seems too good to be true!" + +"And--and Lady Amabel?" asked Marrion, a grip at her heart. + +He laughed joyously. + +"No harm done. You see the War Office told me when I got the colonelcy +this was up, and it wouldn't have been fair. So we were very good +friends. She is a dear little girl, and if I come home--but that's to +be seen. Now, ah, how glad I am to be free!" + +The words cut deep, spoiling the relief at Marrion's heart; but, after +all, why should he not be glad? He was going to do a man's work. + +"I'm glad you have the colonelcy," she said soberly; it was the only +consolation she could find for herself. + +"Glad!" he echoed. "I should think I was! It's been the dream of my +life. And do you know the old man was really quite reasonable about +it. We talked the thing over, and I told him what we had done, and +were prepared to do--or rather not to do. Of course he was in a fury +about the foreign service, but he saw I couldn't shirk, so I've +promised and vowed everything he wanted. And now"--his eyes shone, +content seemed to radiate from him--"I feel, Marmie, as if I were +beginning a new life. I've only had to obey orders hitherto, and +deuced stupid many of them have seemed to me; but now I am head and +the men are splendid--they'd follow me anywhere. So--so we are going +to do something, I expect." + +The light in his eyes had steadied, he took up his bonnet, then stood +for a moment looking at her, the embodiment of a soldier of fortune +going out, careless, to seek adventure. + +"And you, my dear," he said doubtfully, "are you sure you can manage?" + +"Quite sure," she replied cheerfully. "Perhaps I shan't stop here. I +may want to see the world, too." + +He laughed. + +"I believe you'd like to don boy's clothes like Rosalind and follow me +to the wars! By Jove, what a Rosalind you'd make!" + +His happy carelessness hurt. + +"You forget I am lame," she said, a trifle bitterly. + +His face fell. + +"That isn't kind," he protested, "not at the last! Don't send me away +feeling that I have been a ruffian to you." + +Her composure gave way then. With a little cry she put her arms round +his neck and kissed him. + +"You have nothing to reproach yourself with, my dear, my dear! +Go!--forget all about women! Go! You've done your best, so fight your +best!" + +He gave her back her kiss as he might have given it to his sister. + +"Yes, Marmie," he said, "I'm beginning to think we really did the +right thing, for we can be friends all the same; for the present, at +any rate." + +His mixture of wisdom and foolishness made her smile at him, as some +mothers might smile at a high-spirited boy, and she watched his +martial figure go swinging down the street, its flamboyance +admissible, admirable, and told herself it was good that he was free +both of herself and Lady Amabel. + + + + + CHAPTER V + + +He sent her a letter from Malta, a very long letter crossed and +recrossed. Evidently time had hung heavy on hand once the wonders of +being on a steamship had passed. "It will revolutionise war," he +wrote, "if we can rely on getting reinforcements regularly. It was +different when we had to count on hurricanes and doldrums." And he had +a quick eye for weak points in the armour. "Here we are after eleven +days' hard steam, and here, so far as any one knows, we are likely to +remain. Nothing seems to have been arranged for a forward movement; +neither has any provision been made for the hunger of fifteen thousand +troops plumped down on a practically desert island. However, they say +a cattle transport is immediately expected from Alexandria, so we +should have enough beef. Meanwhile, the recent order that neither +officers nor men should appear out of uniform gives colour and variety +to the streets of Valetta; notably when they are tramped by Yours +affectionately." + +It was not till late in April that he could send her his impressions +of Gallipoli. + +"Take the dilapidated out-houses of a real old English farmyard, add +to them every seedy, cracked, ricketty, wooden structure to be found +in our slums, with a sprinkling of Thames-side huts, and tumble them +all down higgledy-piggledy on a bare round hill sloping to the sea, +scatter about a few slender white minarets, and you have the town--a +place without shade, without water, without food. We can, of course, +do the Kilkenny cat trick, but is it not astounding, is it not +incredible, that such mistakes should be made? However, an +enterprising entrepreneur from Smyrna (Jew, of course) is transforming +a battered old ruin into a 'Restaurant de l'Armee Auxiliare' as the +legend runs, done with a thumb in lamp-black!" + +Already "considerable difference of opinion" existed as to the choice +of Gallipoli as the headquarters of the army, and the mere watering +"of thirty-five thousand troops" presented difficulty. + +And always and always came the same refrain of chafed patience at +being enmeshed in the mistakes of others. "The stores sent for the +commissariat are beneath contempt. I let out at the quartermaster for +the filthy stuff he was serving out, and he assured me it was the best +he could get. Conningsby of the Hussars tells me half the bales of hay +sent out as forage have centres of wood shavings. Why isn't someone +hanged?" + +Marrion Paul, as she read these two effusions, felt vaguely that the +gilt was wearing off the gingerbread. The man's buoyant hopes were +being dashed by the ineptitude of those above him. It was a pity, for +she knew, none better, that underneath all his boyish lightheartedness +Marmaduke Muir had the knack of making men obey him and follow him. +She pictured him leading his regiment into fight and she could see it, +mastered, dominated, held in hand by that cheerful voice, that merry +face. + +She waited some time for the next bulletin and when it came it was +short. "The devil's own snowstorm greeted our arrival here--Scutari. +I've seldom seen it worse in Aberdeenshire. The north wind blew big +guns, we were unable to disembark, and half of us--including yours +truly--were sea-sick. Doing nothing, even without enough to eat, +doesn't suit Marmaduke Muir. The barracks here are huge; they will +hold eighteen thousand troops, they say. I know one unit of a +thousand--only about seven hundred and fifty I fear now--that would be +right glad to go anywhere else; anywhere where there was something to +be done. Nigh four months since we left Portsmouth, and, for all the +use I've been, I might as well have enjoyed the trout-fishing on the +Don." + +That was the third of the slender envelopes marked "From the British +Army in the East" which reached her. + +The next was sealed with a black seal and was full of pious +reflections upon death; for the news of his elder brother Pitt's +demise had just reached Marmaduke and roused his sense of +responsibilities. "In times like these," he wrote, "one feels the +impotence of man--and woman also," he added, "though you, my dear +Marrion, had a wonderful knack of clarifying the muddles. Andrew does +not darn my stockings half so well as you did." + +But the beauties of Varna got the better of his reflections and he +drew a picture of it that filled Marrion with doubts and delight. "It +is as beautiful as Scotland--the lakes stretching away into the +scarped woody hills, the sea--so calm that the clouds reflected seem +to sail on it--almost motionless on the shore. The green sward down to +the very edge of the lakes, carpeted with flowers, especially with +irises. They call it the flower of death in India, and I noticed an +evening mist, thick enough almost to be called a fog, rising at sunset +from the low levels and enveloping the town. It did not augur well for +health. As for the town itself, words fail. It is Gallipoli over again +with fewer drains and more filth. Yet to look at it in the clear +sunlight, it is the new Jerusalem. And there are angels in it, Marmie; +the sort of angels you love. I really think these little Turks and +Turkesses are the prettiest children I ever saw. Their little yellow +faces and big brown eyes make one think of Rubens' cherubs seen +through smoked glasses like an eclipse! And an eclipse of most things +it is often for the poor little beggars. At Kustendji, the other day, +Hyde Parker found a couple of pure babies on the battlefield where the +Russians had been bombarding. They're the pets of his frigate now; but +there are dozens of them who have no such luck, and dozens more, I +expect, who die of sheer hunger because we locusts of war eat up +everything. There will be ninety thousand of us here before long, and +for how long? God knows! Five months and nothing done! I wonder how +you would stand it? But it wouldn't happen if you were at the head of +affairs. You'd manage somehow. I feel it in my bones. And, joking +apart, women would be very useful out here. We are going to have a lot +of sick to begin with, and then the misery of the poor folk in town +and village is appalling. However, I suppose England must have time to +turn round and yawn before she wakes up to anything." + +Marrion Paul got that letter early one June morning. She laid it down +among the muslins and laces and went to the window. The street was +empty, but she saw, as clearly as if he had really been there, +Marmaduke Muir's buoyant figure going forth to war, full of hope and +confidence. + +She never took long making up her mind; and, absolutely without ties +as she was, there were few factors to be considered. Her business was +such a personal one that she had only herself to consult. She had +money and to spare in the bank. Finally, within her heart was the same +spirit of adventure, the same disregard of conventionalities which had +always attracted her in Marmaduke. + +Last of all his stockings were not adequately mended. + +She laughed aloud at the whimsical thought, for she had no intention +of thrusting herself upon him. But she could be near at hand, and she, +at any rate, need not turn round and yawn before she realised that +women could help. + +So quietly, methodically, she set matters in train to get all the work +she had in hand speedily finished. She wrote declining a few orders +that had come in, and then set off with one of her daintiest little +creations to see the wife of the Turkish ambassador, who happened to +be one of her customers. + +But, indeed, as Mrs. Marsden, of the "_Layettes_," she could command +plenty of backstairs influence. + +The result being that in less than a week she was stepping into the +Dover boat on her way to Marseilles, that being the quickest route to +Constantinople. She carried with her credentials from the ambassador's +family, which she meant to use, if necessary, though she hoped to be +able to do without them, as anything in the nature of publicity might +prevent her carrying out her plan of reaching Varna without Marmaduke +being aware of the fact. As a precaution she wrote to him the day she +left, telling him not to expect further news from her for a few weeks +as she had decided on attempting a cure for her lameness, which a +clever young hospital doctor had advised, but which involved a long +rest. + +She had engaged her passage to Constantinople by a small Turkish +mailboat which sailed between Marseilles and the Black Sea. She did +this partly from desire to avoid her fellow-countrymen and the +possibility of recognition or notice, but more because the voyage +would give her an opportunity of learning a few words of Turkish and +of becoming acquainted at least with the husk of Turkish ways. She had +brought a grammar with her, and was laboriously learning perfectly +useless phrases, when something occurred which sent books to the +right-about and plunged her at once into the work she had hoped almost +beyond hope to be able to reach. Cholera, at that time sweeping +erratically through Europe, broke out among the steerage passengers. A +mother died, leaving her month-old baby to be cared for as best it +could. Marrion claimed it, thus became acquainted with the ship's +surgeon and was his right hand in the sharp, decisive epidemic that +followed. It was one of those shipboard epidemics when every hour +brings a new case, until suddenly, with some change of wind or course, +the sickness ceases as it came, mysteriously. They were off the coast +of Candia when the little Turk doctor, who had passed at a French +medical school, made an elaborate bow, laid his hand on his heart, and +said, "Madame, _je suis votre serviteur_." The few convalescents lying +about in the scuppers murmured the same thing in Turkish, making +Marrion realise that what she had set herself to do was possible, if +only she could get footing amongst the people. She decided finally on +consulting her new friend, the little surgeon. + +"Varna!" he echoed. "So madame desires Varna! That is strange, since, +being in quarantine, we shall not be allowed to stop at +Constantinople. We must go on straight to Varna, where the disease +already is." + +She caught in her breath. + +"Not bad, I hope?" + +"Of the troops I know little," he said, "but the townsfolk have +suffered terribly. It is semi-starvation. Hein!" lie interrupted +himself hastily, and slapped his baggy trousers, "there is an old man +there--a cripple--one of the old school of medicine that knows +nothing. He has a sort of hospital where folk die decently. If I were +to tell him the use you were, and that you had your own stores of +Europe medicines"--for Marrion had spent a considerable sum in fitting +herself out for the part she hoped to play--"he might like your help. +You have plenty of money?" + +His little sharp eyes were alight with interest. + +"I have plenty of money," replied Marrion promptly, "and I mean to +spend it." + +"Then you may consider it settled," said the surgeon. "Old Achmet is a +sort of relation of mine. I come of a physician family; but I warn you +the presence of an English lady in Varna will not pass unnoticed." + +"I shall dress as a Turkish lady," remarked Marrion, with a smile. "I +had thought of that. The _yashmak_ is very convenient." + +The little Turk laughed in high good humour. + +"The dress will become madame. She will have many admirers; but I will +be the first." + +So it was settled lightly, but, as the little steamer puffed and +panted over the blue Archipelago where the blue islands lay scattered +like so many shadows, Marrion Paul felt somehow as if the net of Fate +were closing in on her. There was the scent of Death in the air. + +She felt it almost overwhelmingly when, on the first night of her +arrival at Varna, she stood on the ricketty wooden verandah of the +half-ruined house which had been found for her, looking out over the +long line of inland lakes that in the past month had gained from the +intruders whose white tents showed everywhere the dismal name of "Lake +of Death." A white miasma rose from it, hiding the level green fields +which in the sunset had glowed purple-red with the meadow saffron. +Everything had gone smoothly. The old _hakim_ Achmet had gripped on +the hope of money, and Marrion Paul, who had remained on board the +steamer until all negotiations had been made, had simply stepped into +the dinghy in her Turkish dress and been carried with due privacy to +the house chosen for her. Mercifully, the ship's surgeon--who was +delighted at his importance as entrepreneur--had been impressed by +Marrion's appearance, and, arguing therefrom the length of her purse, +had fixed on a villa which had once belonged to a pasha of some sort. +It stood high among cypresses on the Devna road, but, by a steep +descent, was close to the worse slums of the town. + +So, as Marrion stood, trying to realise her position, it seemed +impossible, unreal that she should be within touch of Marmaduke--if he +were still there--if he were not dead. An indefinable sense of tragedy +impending--tragedy that was not all grief, but which, by very excess +of joy, of glory, of intensity, transcended the normal and so became +almost fearful, seemed to hang round her. She ate the Turkish supper +provided for her by the large fat shrill-voiced woman she found in +charge; she lay down in the Turkish quilt arranged for her on a wooden +bed and tried to leave all questionings for the morrow; but she could +not sleep. The cry of the _muezzin_ from a minaret hard by divided the +night into set portions. She lay and listened to it. + +"_Al-sul-lah to khair un mun nun nu_." + +She knew what it meant--"Prayer is better than sleep." But she seemed +unable to do either the one or the other. + +Mercifully, again, the night was not long. Far away over the sea in +the east the dawn began to break golden. It lit up the scarped hills +above the woody slopes and slowly, like a white curtain, the mists of +the valley lifted, showing the shiny levels of the inland lakes. Below +her, at her feet, beyond the vine pergola set with purpling bunches of +grapes that jutted against the blue distance, lay the town, a packed +mass of red-tiled roofs and shingled outhouses, incoherent, barely +cognisable. There lay her work; not over yonder where, like little +heaps of lime, the white bell-tents outlined every hill. + +Hark, the world was waking! From every side sounded the reveille, +echoing and re-echoing among the hills. + +How many men had died that night whose ears would never more hear the +call to duty! Was Marmaduke one of them? + +Yes, the shadow of death lay on everything; but at least they were +together in it. + + + + + CHAPTER VI + + +But even that poignant question as to whether Marmaduke lived or did +not live lost its arresting power before what she saw when, guided by +the _hakim_ Achmet, she threaded the maze of lanes and alleys which +still formed the real Varna. The quays, it is true, had been widened +and glorified. Along them gay restaurants and _cafes chantants_ were +to be found, filled with reckless soldiers and still more reckless +courtesans. A wide street had been hacked through tenement houses and +lined with tawdry shops which catered for all and every luxury that +can give a moment's pleasure to idle men. And there were plenty of +them here, waiting, waiting still for that expedition of one hundred +thousand soldiers to the Crimea, of which for months past the English +papers had been full. Outwardly, therefore, so far as a fringe of +welcome and a passage through it to the hills beyond went, Varna was +what folk boasted it had become, a cosmopolitan town; but within, down +by the back wharves and the sodden sea-alleys, round by the crushed-in +closes and stifling courts, it was old, rotten, kept from utter +putrefaction by the hot sun which, while it bred flies, dried up the +muck of many men. The _hakim's_ hospital was in the wide courtyard of +a mosque, one of the few air-holes left to the seething city; and +Marrion Paul never forgot her first sight of the sunlit square set +round with the dead and dying. The stench was unspeakable, and as she +stooped over the first patient she saw that the sheet which covered +him was alive with vermin. Achmet himself, a hunchback with a +high-featured, intolerant face, seemed to think that sitting in the +middle of the courtyard reciting his beads and exhorting the inmates +to have patience and trust in God, was the best treatment he could +offer. Mayhap it was, since half the forms that lay moaning on the +stones were doomed to death. That night, when Marrion returned to her +cypress-set villa, the first thing she did was to cut off her +beautiful hair close to her head, and as she laid the great tresses +away she thought once more of Marmaduke. She must find out about him +when she had time, but that day and the next she had her work cut out +for her. "Maryam Effendi" they had already learnt to call her, and old +Achmet, with a daily stipend of so many piastres, was content to let +her have her way. But there were other places besides the mosque +hospital where some fifty men groaned and died, or groaned and got +better, that were surcharged with misery and death. Hovels where +babies tugged vainly at their dead mother's breasts and old women sat +starving silently. It was among these that after a day or two Maryam +Effendi was busiest. She settled to her work bravely, increasing her +stock of Turkish rapidly and gaining for herself sufficient friends +and aid to enable her to enlarge her sphere of usefulness. One of +these was big fat "Heart's Darling," as her solitary servant was +called, who, transferring domestic duties to an unspeakable drudge she +produced, took up the duties of interpreter on the strength of some +slight knowledge of French. + +And Fate was so far kind to Marrion that she had little trouble in +finding out the news she desired to hear. A sort of local rag in +French and English was published in which, for equivalent of a penny, +she learnt that Marmaduke's regiment was still camped six miles out +among the hills and that he was still in command. From her verandah +she could actually see the very place where he must be. Once, indeed, +as she was hurrying along the quay in the ordinary dress of the +Turkish gad-about woman she caught a sight of Andrew Fraser, tall, +gaunt, serious as usual, looking on distastefully at one of the many +drunken rows that occurred every day. The temptation to go up and +speak to him was great, but she stuck to her plan and passed on. +When she had really done something she would write and tell Marmaduke +she was at hand, but not till then. Possibly, had she seen him instead +of Andrew Fraser she might not have been so firm; for a glance would +have shown her that she could have been of use. In truth, the +inaction, the constant fret of feeling that all initiative is +of no avail, was beginning to tell on Marmaduke Muir. He also +looked down of an evening on the white pall that covered the Lake of +Death, and wondered--without one shadow of fear, but from simple +curiosity--whether the levels of life would meet his eyes again. And +they seemed such low levels now! Yes, he had missed something in his +life! What was it? These, however, were very secret thoughts. To the +little coterie of careless men of which he was the centre, he was, as +ever, the mainspring of everything. Even the divisional commander +sought his sympathy as day after day the orders for the front tarried, +and day after day the regimental chaplain grew busier and busier. For +cholera was rampant in the camps as in the town, and every evening the +"Dead March in Saul" echoed out through the hills and over the purple +crocuses. + +"Nothing will stop it, sir," said the young colonel quietly, "except +orders for Sebastopol. The men are dead sick of waiting and so am I; +that is the truth." + +And still the orders lingered on the way. The waiting army did its +best to pass the time. Marmaduke took to tying flies, and thereinafter +thrashed the hill streams with ill success. And he played cricket with +the men, though it was ill finding a proper pitch on the steep +hill-side where they were encamped; and he had to keep his men from +those low levels as much as he could, being rewarded for his care by +the fact that his battalion suffered less from the scourge than any +other. Though this was not to be wondered at, seeing that it was +commanded by one whose cheery youth and strength seemed to defy Fate. + +"The Cornel's face is mair tae the purpose nor your pills, doctor," +said a young recruit fighting his best for life. "I'll just tak a sup +o' it, if ye please, and leave tither alane for fowk as likes them." + +Yet that same face often showed a touch of weariness in it when, after +his wont, Marmaduke would climb the hill behind his hut in order to +smoke his solitary after-breakfast cigar at the foot of a scarp whence +the most astounding view of God's world was to be had. Hills and still +more hills. Seas and still more seas; lakes and still more lakes. +Flowers and still more flowers. + +"It is the inaction, Mac," he said to his old friend of the regimental +club one day after mess dinner. They had been perforce laughing at the +plight of a braw Hielandman who had been brought up to orderly-rooms +that day from the general guard, clad in Zouave trousers and jacket, +kepi and all complete; only the chequered hose of his own uniform +remaining to betray the drunken bout on which he had been engaged. + +"I noo 'im by 'is legs, sir," said the sergeant solemnly, "so I +brought 'im along." + +"Ton my soul, I can't help sympathising with the poor beggars," he +went on. "Why the devil can't they give the men something to do +besides getting drunk? Here is the tenth of August and, so far as I +can see, I might be off grouse-shooting on the twelfth. Good Lord, +what wouldn't I give to be on Braemore with my dogs! They're the +best----" + +And he began, in true sportsman style, over the virtues of his +setters; whereat others joined in with tales of their own. So, +heartened up, they all repaired to Marmaduke's favourite vantage +ground to finish their cigars. + +It was a perfect evening. The day had been hot, but with the sun +setting a little cool sea-breeze had sprung up which seemed to freshen +even the very flowers that had flagged with the sun's heat. They sat, +growing more and more silent as the day died down; and, indeed, what +lay before their eyes was sufficient to make most men hold their +peace; for it was beautiful exceedingly. The far Euxine fading grey +into a pearl-grey sky. Overhead and behind them the rose-pink pennons +of the departing sun floating on the unfathomable clearness of space. +Within the bay great ships of war showed, half-hidden in the evening +haze which turned the squalid city into dreamland. + +Close at hand lay innumerable little hills and ravines thrown in sharp +shade and shine that trended away on all sides to the long line of +lakes over whose purpling levels a fine veil of vapour was rising +softly, swiftly. + +Truly a dream-picture, unreal in its absolute beauty, its perfect +peace. + +"That's the _Agamemnon_, I expect," said one pointing with his cigar +to a big vessel that, rounding the promontory to the south, began to +cross the bay, leaving a great trail of smoke behind her. "I wonder if +she is coming in?" + +"Looks like it," said another, "only they weren't sure. Anyhow, we've +company to-night. Look down there by the second wharf. There's another +trail--some steamer is making fast!" + +All eyes turned to where a thin column of smoke showed, rising high +then drifting westwards over the town. + +"Burning bad coal whatever," assented Mac. "Why, it's getting bigger!" + +Marmaduke, watching intently, suddenly started up. + +"By George, it is odd! I believe--by heavens, gentlemen, it is a +fire!" + +They all followed his example. And now there could be no doubt. With +amazing rapidity the cloud darkened, deepened, then in the departing +daylight showed dusky red. And there--flashing up suddenly came a +great fork of flame. Marmaduke looked round on the others. + +"The town is tinder," he said briefly, "and the magazines---- We had +best be off!" + +There was no need for more. In truth there was danger. The wind blew +westwards. There were no fire-engines, so every man might be wanted. + +And now the sound of fire alarms on the men-of-war echoed out +stridently, and boatload after boatload of blue-jackets, armed with +pumps and pipes, shot from every ship. Almost before Marmaduke was on +his horse, after ordering fatigue parties to come on at the double, +streams of water were pouring on the burning houses. To no purpose. +The fire had originated in a wine and oil shop and both burnt +fiercely. By the time he reached the town but one word was on the lips +of every responsible officer--"The magazines!" They were full up. On +them depended the possibility of the attack on Sebastopol; on them +therefore hung the fortunes of war. They stood still far from the +blazing town, but it burnt like the matchwood it was, and between them +and it lay, as it were, nothing but fresh tinder ready to take fire at +a spark. + +"Those houses should come down, sir," suggested Marmaduke to a +general, and almost before assent answered him, had sprung to organise +the work. But ramshackle, tumbledown though the wooden piers and +pilasters seemed, they were curiously strong, needing time for +destruction. Hawsers were brought ashore to facilitate the job and +parties told off to each house. Three hundred soldiers--mostly +French--lay to manfully on one of the ropes, pulling for all they were +worth, when just as the house they were tackling began to totter a +loud explosion came from within. And, lo! the only two men left on +that rope were Marmaduke and a young French officer who clicked his +heels together and stood to the salute with a merry "_Mes compliments, +mon Colonel!_" + +"_A vous, Monsieur le Capitaine!_" returned Marmaduke laughing, as he +rallied the men. + +"It's not the magazines, boys!" he called. "We've to save that yet. +Yo-ho--heave ahoy!" + +They set to again with a will; but the flames gained ground every +instant and the densely dark cloud of smoke drifting over the +magazines showed alive with ominous shoals of sparks. + +"Mac!" shouted Marmaduke, as he worked like a demon, when his major +came hurrying past with another fatigue party. "Get hold of someone +and suggest the commissariat blankets; there are bales and bales of +them somewhere. Put them on the magazine roofs, soak 'em with water. +Tell the blue-jackets----" + +"All right, sir!" shouted back the major. + +And thereon came blankets, bales on bales of them, and blue-jackets +swarming up and over everything, and jets of water turned from their +useless work on houses that would burn, to keep those blankets sodden. + +The din was deafening. The inhabitants, swept out of their houses, +stood huddled in the streets and kept up a constant wail. The bugle +calls rang out here, there, and everywhere, and above the roar and +crackle could be heard voices in urgent exhortation--"All together, +men! The blue-jackets are laughing at you!" "Heave away, I say, boys, +show the land-lubbers how to do it!" Or shriller, more passionate--"_A +moi, mes enfants! Les Anglais nous regardent!_" + +Once there came a sudden pause. The red flare of the conflagration +changed to brilliant blue. + +"_Milles tonnerres!_" cried the French soldiers sadly, as they +recommenced work. "_Ahe, le bon eau-de-vie!_" Their commissariat +canteen store had gone. + +So through the long night they worked, fighting the flames with their +hands for the most part. Fatigue party after fatigue party poured into +the town and one strong man after another lay down exhausted on the +quays and begged someone to cool him with water. + +It was just as a faint lightening over the sea in the east showed dawn +was nigh that Marmaduke, wiping the sweat from his blackened forehead, +said-- + +"I think that's done with. The magazines are safe now!" + +"Yes," said a man near him, "up here it's almost over. But they've got +it still down there, by the dock wharves, poor devils!" + +Marmaduke, whose every thought and look had hitherto been for the +magazines, turned to the lower part of the town. + +"By Jove, they have!" he cried. "Here, men, follow me!" + +"Let me go, sir," put in a subaltern. "You must be done--and they +should all be out of their houses by now." + +He might as well have saved his breath. Marmaduke, careless of +fatigue, was racing to danger again. And here it was greater. The two +or three story ramshackle houses almost closed in upon each other, and +in one burnt-out street he had to pass through, a charred beam almost +finished him. But he raced on; and here there was evidence that the +fire had been faced with some method. Houses had been pulled down, the +inhabitants ordered to certain open spaces, and as he neared the spot +where the tenements almost overhung the water's edge, a double line of +men were passing buckets. There were only two houses left in the +street; one was in flames, the other, overhanging the water, must soon +go. Seeing the hopelessness of saving it, or indeed the use, since +evidently those were the occupants who, with shrill cries and excited +gestures, were watching the destruction of their property, he was +about to seek work elsewhere when a big fat woman almost overset him +in her eagerness to find his feet. To these she clung, shrieking at +the top of her voice-- + +"Maryam Effendi! Maryam Effendi! _Elle est la, elle est la! Sauvez +le--Sauvez le_----" + +He would have been at a loss even to grasp the last words had not a +figure shown at that moment on the roof of the burning house. It was +the figure of a tall woman in white and the flare of the flames showed +that she carried a baby in her arms. + +"My God!" he muttered under his breath, for there seemed no +possibility of escape. + +"Maryam Effendi! Maryam Effendi!" wailed the crowd, adding in mixed +French and Turkish--"She has the child! Ah, the brave woman! She has +the child!" + +Aye, she had it, and she meant to hold it, too! A brave woman indeed! +Pausing for a second in her perilous effort to pass from one roof to +the other, she pulled off her veil, wrapped it round the child, and +knotted it high above her shoulders. Then, hands and knees, set +herself to her task. But the flames were almost too quick for her. And +forked tongues licked at her feet; the next instant she was beyond +them and, straightening herself, walked rapidly over a level strip. +And now from below, where even Marmaduke stood arrested, helpless, +watching another's fight for life, came a soft wail of horror. The +last house had caught fire from below, the flames were surging +upwards, the thin shingle roof might be gone any moment. + +"Jump, for God's sake, jump!" cried Marmaduke, his voice vibrant with +awful dread. "Jump, we'll catch you, somehow!" + +Even as he spoke he felt the uselessness of his appeal to one who +could not understand. + +"Tell her to jump--we'll catch her!" he added dully, knowing there was +no time, for already ominous crackings rose from the flames that +mounted higher and higher. + +But that familiar voice had reached the ears of the woman clinging her +way for dear life, and tightened her hold upon the ridge-pole that was +her only hope. No, she would not die yet! She would not die with that +voice in her ears! + +A faint shudder came from the crowd below as, with a crash, the roof +fell in. A fainter moan of relief followed, as the woman with her pack +still showed standing on the crossway beam of a balcony that overhung +the water. A great tongue of flame shot out at her, but at the instant +she raised her joined hands above her head and dived--a flash of white +lit up by the red flare--into deep water. + +"By heaven, what pluck!" muttered Marmaduke as, without a second's +delay, he plunged from the wharf and swam, with quick overhand +strokes, to where the woman had disappeared. He was just preparing to +dive after her when she came up close beside him. + +One look was sufficient. + +"Marmie!" he cried. "God in heaven, am I dreaming? Marmie!" + +"Yes--yes," she gasped impatiently, for owing to the weight she +carried her dive had been prolonged. "The child's head--see that it is +out of water!" + +In a second he was cool, self-reliant. + +"Your hands on my shoulders, please. That will raise you--I must swim +round--the burning wood." + +In truth every instant a fierce hiss, a cloud of steam close to them +showed where some blazing fragment had fallen to be extinguished. + +"Are you all right?" he called over his shoulder, as with powerful +strokes he made for a further wharf. + +"All right; but please be quick--the child----" + +How like Marmie--always the child--the child. He swam on, feeling +bewildered but, he knew not why, desperately happy. + +"I don't understand," he began, when at last they stood dripping side +by side, and the baby, being unloosed from its wrappings, was found to +be none the worse. + +"I will tell you directly," she said. "I must just give the child back +to its mother; it is quite a tiny thing. Then you can walk up to my +house over yonder and get your clothes dried." + +But the stifling air of the streets soon scorched up the moisture, and +Marmaduke protested against anything but a cup of hot coffee--which +fat "Heart's Delight" bustled away to prepare--while those two stood +and talked on the verandah. Below them lay the town, still smoking; +still--as a puff of dawn wind blew the embers to redness--sending out +a shower of sparks, or even a forked tongue of flame. The smell of +burning filled their nostrils, the memory of a great escape filled +their minds. And beyond that, under and deeper than that, stretched +the atmosphere of death and disease, of constant danger, in which they +had both been living for so long. It is an atmosphere which invariably +brings with it, to the wholesome mind and body, a feeling of revolt +against such limitations, a distaste of all things that pertain to +decay: a keen appetite for those that belong to life. + +And the dawn-light grew as they stood talking. She had bidden him +begone, had urged as a reason that he must remember his health. +Cholera might be bad on the hills, but it was deadly in the city. And +he had laughed back that caution was a bit late to a man who had seen +six strong men die that very morning. The poor devils seemed to like +his being there. Now he---- + +"I should only want _you_, Marmie," he said. And she had looked at him +in sudden wonder. + +"I must go now if I'm to be in time for parade," he admitted at last. +"Good-night--no, good-morrow, my heart's delight!" + +For an instant she held he was joking with the fat coffee-bringer's +name; then she gave a quick tremulous cry-- + +"Duke! what--what do you mean?" + +He laughed a little low, happy laugh, sank on his knees beside her, +and clasped her tight in his arms. + +"Only that I love you--only that I've found you--no, I've found myself +for ever and ever and ever!" + +He buried his face in the loose folds of her dress and so they +remained for a second. Then she slipped through his hold to her knees +also, and they knelt looking into each other's eyes. + +The sun rising slowly, majestically, out of the sea shone upon their +shining faces. Vaguely, as in a glass, darkly the twain had passed to +one; they were nearer the Great Unity. + +"Duke," whispered Marmie, with a faint shiver, "I think I'm afraid!" + +"And I," he said joyously, finding her lips, "feel as if I never could +be afraid again--never--never--never!" + + + + + CHAPTER VII + + +"Duke," she said, for at least the twentieth time, "I keep wondering +how it came about." + +He spent all his spare time now--it was not much--in the vine pergola, +and he was picking out the ripe grapes from a bunch as he answered +her. + +"I don't. I had been thinking about you a lot; and then I was +tired--really done!" + +"What an excuse for falling in love," she protested half-vexedly; "but +I should like to know." + +He came over to her and put his arm round her waist. + +"How can I tell, sweetest? I had been thinking, as I said, a lot about +you--and missing a lot--stockings, and all that"--his smile was charm +itself; "then, when I saw your dear old head bob up all shaven and +shorn!" he kissed it deliberately, and she laughed. + +"For all that," she persisted, "I should like to understand." + +"My dearest dear," he replied, "you are such a beggar for wanting to +know and understand. Now I, my dear Marmie--I'm too happy to want to +know anything! I'm content with what I have--and you are content, too, +you know you are!" + +There was no denying the fact. Content, indeed, was no word for the +feeling that you were rapt away from the very possibility of care. +There, in the very shadow of the grave, overlooking the Lake of Death, +those two lovers found their joy enhanced by the uncertainty of life. + +"I was chief mourner at six funerals this morning," Marmaduke would +say sadly. "As fine fellows as ever stepped. Sometimes I wonder, +darlingest, if I ought to come to you----" + +"You can bring no more harm to me than I am in already," she would +reply. "I am in the thick of it here. Indeed, I was wondering if I +ought to let you come." + +"Let me!" he would echo derisively. "As if you could stop me." + +And in truth there was no gainsaying him, for Marmaduke, easy-going as +a friend, was an imperious lover. + +After he left her in the dawnings Marrion would take out the pocket +Shakespeare she had brought with her and, sitting out under the +purpling vines, read how the immortal lovers parted. + +"I am content so thou wouldst have it so." + +She had never before realised that so lay the very essence of love. No +plannings, no cuttings, no contrivings. All things simplified, +clarified. + +It was a wonderful fortnight. The fire, after a brief recrudescence, +died down, leaving the slums of the city in ruins, but purified. So +cholera, most mysterious of diseases, abated, disappeared from the +town; and even in the camps, exposed to the miasma of the Lake of +Death, was shorn of half its terrors. And there was a stir as of +coming life in the military backwaters. Marmaduke, his face alight, +would say that the one thing needful to perfect happiness must be +close at hand; for that was the curious thing about finding yourself +in love--you wanted to be up and doing all the time. + +And so one day when, instead of Marmaduke, Andrew Fraser--long since +let into the secret of Maryam Effendi--appeared with a note, Marrion +tried to echo Romeo's words without any reservations, and to be +content if he would have it so. For the note ran as follows: + + +"HEART'S DELIGHT, + +"The news has come! We are off to the Crimea. I feel that for the +first time in my life I am going to have my chance--or, rather, we are +going to have our chance, for I shall take you with me, never fear. I +wish, dear, your real body were, small enough to go into my knapsack, +but the heart that beats under this uniform coat is large enough to +hold your love. I must be very busy, but I will find time in a day or +two for perfect happiness. + + "Yours ever, + + "MARMADUKE. + +"P.S.--I must get you to box my ears before I go. It will keep me +straight and make me what England expects.--M. M. + +"P.P.S.--Andrew says he is taking my stockings for you to mend. +Forgive us poor men bodies.--M." + + +So she sat darning the stockings and trying to prevent a sinking at +the heart. + +From her verandah she could see the bustle and stir in the camp. The +next day one of the meadow stretches lay bare of tents. So the work of +embarkation must be close at hand. Aye, the bay was thronged with +transports! There was a sound of drums and fifes in the air. What room +for love and peace when war and strife were afoot? But any moment now +might bring Marmaduke, and that was enough for the present. + +It was on the fourth day, when she was beginning to wonder if possibly +he had not found time, that an orderly appeared with a note. It was +not from Duke; it was from Andrew. + + +"DEAR MADAM, + +"Please come. I have sent the Colonel's charger. He will carry a lady. +He is very ill." + + +She turned soul-sick as she read. + +"Is he--is the Colonel very ill?" she asked. + +"Verra ill indeed, m'm. It's the co-lira, and they're sayin' he's like +to dee--God forbid it!" + +"Like to die!" + +Well, it was best to know the truth. She put on her European dress and +started, remembering as she rode through the flower-set meadows how +they had planned this visit to his hut. How she should spend the day +there and be introduced to his friends. For though they never spoke of +the future or the past, living only in the present heaven, Marmaduke +had evidently never considered the possibility of separation and she +had been content to let such possibilities slide. + +And now? She bit her lip to keep it from quivering as Andrew met her. + +"He's lying in the arbour, m'm. And he's no worse, anyway." + +Yes, there he was, lying--such a long length--on his camp-bed covered +with his plaid. Lying under the arbour of Jonah's gourd, about which +he had chattered so gaily as being a laughing-stock to the other +officers, though they dearly loved to sit in its shade. The ripe fruit +hung scarlet amid the yellowing leaves. It seemed to throw the blue +pallor of his face into louder warning that Death was in grips with +Life. + +She knelt beside the bed and took his hand without one word. She had +seen too many cholera cases to hope for speech, but the eyelids +quivered and the fingers closed on hers. + +"How long?" she asked. + +"Since yesterday morning. He would not give in--we were to move +to-night, ye see----" + +"Why didn't you----?" Words failed her for reproach. + +"He wouldna let me send. I'm thinking he was afraid for ye." + +There was a long pause. Her heart was full of regret, of bitterness. +Afraid for her--oh, Duke, Duke! + +"And he has everything?" + +"Aye, everything! The doctor will be here again the now." + +He came and found his patient better. He opened his eyes and smiled. +Collapse had gone, the following fever had laid hold on him. Would his +heart stand it? All that day he lay in something like sleep--quiet, so +long as his hand could find that other hand. Once or twice she caught +a whispered word of command and once, urgent, came a call for +reinforcements. His mind was at battle--far, far from her. About an +hour before sunset he turned his head and looked at her. + +"I've done it," he said faintly; "I've done it!" + +The doctor came in many a time and oft. The orderlies were always +doing something; but her part was to hold his hand until the last. She +saw it coming clearly; she knew that it must be so. + +Someone in the arbour suggested a clergyman, and they sent to fetch +one. + +"He will be too late," half-whispered a voice. + +Was it hers? Too late! As if it mattered? As if He who made---- + +Hark! A bird singing. It had come in after the fruit--perhaps he had +fed it, for he loved God's creatures--and now not five yards from +where he lay it was giving its heart out in full-throated song. + +Hush! Listen! Listen!--it seemed to say. + +The still figure was growing more still. + +The slow breathing grew slower. + +The touch of these cold fingers on hers grew colder. + +Then their feeble clasp had gone, but the bird sang on. + +She rose unsteadily, drew the plaid over his face, and left the tent. +She did not seem to realise the presence of others. + +Andrew ran after her. + +"Marrion, Marrion, whaur are ye gaun? Ye poor, poor thing!" he +whispered hoarsely in the extremity of his bewildered grief. "Bide a +wee, and I'll see ye haim." + +"I am going to walk home," she said dully. "It will do me good. I +must--I must do something--and I must be alone." + +So she walked over the meadows, crushing the drifts of purple +colchicum under her feet. What had he called the flower of death? Ah, +the iris! That would come in the spring. It would flower on his grave +perhaps. And all the time she felt his cold hand on hers, she heard +the bird's full song. How he would have loved to hear it! Perhaps he +had. + +It was dark ere she reached the vine pergola where they had been so +happy, and she started when a tall officer in Highland costume came +towards her. Was it all a bad dream? Was she waking to find him still +her own? But he was only the bearer of a kindly message from the +regiment to say that the colonel was to be buried at dawn, and that if +Mrs. Marsden---- + +"Who told you I was Mrs. Marsden?" she asked sharply. "Andrew Fraser?" + +The officer bowed and went on. + +"As one of the colonel's oldest friends, would care----" + +She shook her head. She was grateful. It was a kind thought. But +Colonel Muir was Colonel Muir and everybody loved him--he would have +enough friends. + +"Madam," said the young officer, with a break in his voice, "when we +lower him into his solitary grave--he is to be buried on the hill +above his tent where he sat so often--we shall all know that the +finest fellow in the regiment, nay, in the whole army, has gone from +us." + +She lay that night, her face crushed into the pillow without a sob. +Only once or twice she whispered to herself. + +"Ah, Duke, Duke, I'm glad I made you happy--so glad--so glad!" + +She was up betimes to take her stand on a neighbouring hill, where, +unobserved, she could watch him laid to his rest. Not a tent was to be +seen; the battalion had shifted quarters during the night; the forward +march to which he had looked with such longing had begun, and he---- + +Close by the belt of forest trees she could see his dismantled hut; a +heap of packed baggage piled close by with a sentry on guard beside +it. But the arbour hid what it held. So, as the sun rose, the leaden +beat of the Dead March rose, as the regiment, followed by detachments +from all and every regiment in Varna, drew up in a lane to let the +artillery with a gun-carriage draped with the colours pass up. + +Just his coat, his plaid, his sword, his bonnet, that was all. And +after him his grey Arab--the one she had ridden--fully dressed. That +was Andrew on the one side, and the other three? Generals, she +supposed, by their uniforms. + +What a crowd of officers! And the men, marching so slowly to the +muffled beat! Would they never reach the grave? + +At last. Now there were some words of command--heard vaguely as +inarticulate cries--the long procession formed up, massed itself into +a hollow square. + +They must be reading the service now. + +"Being dead yet liveth--yet liveth--yet liveth----" + +She held fast to that, as her eyes travelled where his had so often +rested in content--thank God for that--in sheer content. + +So, as she looked at the wide expanse of hill and valley, lake and +sea, those half-heard words of his came back to memory--"I've done +it--I have done it!" + +What had he done? + +The sharp rattle of musketry roused her. Again, again! The Last Post +had been set. The last honour paid. + +A minute's pause. Then the bands struck up their regimental marches, +orders followed sharp and incisive. So with a swing the men stepped +out, only a little knot of officers remaining to see the grave filled +in. She must wait till they had gone. Shifting her position to one of +greater ease, she rested her aching head upon a tussock of sweet thyme +that was shaded by a rugged scarp of rock. + +And so, wearied out with her sleepless night, with utter despair and +misery she dozed off, sinking deeper and deeper into slumber, all +grief forgotten, peaceful as a child. The long hours passed, yet still +she slept. + +When she awoke it was almost sun-setting. Over the far sea, shadowy +outlines and still more shadowy trails of smoke told that the argosy +of an army had started for the Crimea. Not a tent was to be seen. They +had folded their white wings and gone. Already the populace had +cleared away all that had been left behind. The hill-sides showed bare +without a trace of humanity. His very hut had disappeared, the arbour +was broken down, its scarlet fruits rifled. Only on the mossy plateau +below the scarp at her feet lay a heap of stones. + +Her heart gave a great throb. She had not thought of that, but a cairn +was meet and fitting. And how many men of his regiment had gone there, +even amid their busy-ness, to throw one stone for the sake of their +love and respect! + +She must throw one, too; at least, she could do that! + +Her composure was almost terrible. She picked up a little moss-grown +quartz pebble, and, going down, laid it where she judged those folded +hands of his must rest. + +"That's my heart, Duke!" she said. "It's cold--cold as a stone." + +Steps behind her made her turn. It was Andrew Fraser, his lean face +all blistered with the tears he had shed. + +"My puir lammie!" he said. "I thocht I might find you here when you +werna at the hoose, and the woman was wae to know what had become o' +you." + +The very warmth of his sympathy roused antagonism. + +"I was just going back. Do you want me?" + +He looked at her almost pitifully. + +"It'll be no comfort tae you to ken that I'm as fu o' grief as you, +Marrion. But I had tae see ye before we left. I got leave till the +last. Oh, my lassie, is there naethin' I can do for you?" + +She shook her head. + +"Nothing, Andrew, except hold your tongue. The past is gone for ever!" + +And as she walked down the hill with him her clasped hands bit into +each other with bitter strength. Was it for this she had planned and +protected? But, thank God, she had made him happy at the last! + + + + + CHAPTER VIII + + +In after years the next four days appeared to Marrion as a blank. She +went on with her work, she shed no tears except when she was asleep. +She did not even think. In the late evenings, when work was over, she +would ride or drive to where the Highlanders' camp had stood and sit +silent for an hour or two on the cairn about Marmaduke's grave, doing +nothing. She brought no flowers, the sight of his grave gave her no +more poignant grief. Indeed, often as she looked out eastwards over +the sea, with all the glorious trending of sunlit, sun-shadowed hills +and dales towards it, she would feel calmly that he would have admired +it as much as she did. + +Yet underneath all her calm lurked a regret that grew with the days. + +He had been left behind, and he had been so eager to go. Even those +last words of his--"I have done it"--were poor comfort. + +So, confusedly, out of this regret and the memory of those other words +of his--"I have found you, or rather I have found myself, for ever and +ever and ever"--arose the idea of getting to the Crimea herself, if +she could. She could at least follow the fortunes of the regiment of +which he had been so fond, so proud. Besides, home had no call for +her. She had no ties there and the prospect of a long life without +them was appalling. Far better to die out here as he had died. But the +interest of Varna had passed. The tragedy of the fire had ousted the +tragedy of disease and starvation. The cholera had ceased, the city +was almost depopulated, so the problem of many mouths and no food had +disappeared. + +Once the idea of following the regiment presented itself to her it +became an obsession. She made up her mind that if it could be +compassed she would do what she could for its brave men; then if death +did not intervene--which she hoped it might--she could come back to +where Duke lay and tell him she had carried him in her heart all the +way. So she set to work to think out the means. Her shaven and shorn +head--as he had called it--might facilitate matters; for she might +pose as a youth of one of the many uncouth peoples gathered round by +greed of gain. Varna was a polyglot place, and she knew enough Turkish +now to render English unnecessary. + +While still nebulous, however, her plans were suddenly settled for her +by the arrival in port of the very Turkish mail steamer in which she +had sailed from Marseilles. The little doctor naturally enough called +on his _protegee_, full of the fine reports he had heard of her from +old Achmet. The ship had been requisitioned and he was on his way to +Eupatoria with medical stores for the Turkish contingent, which +expected to land there. The opportunity seemed too good to be lost. +She begged him to arrange for her to go so far, pointing out that she +had proved her capacity for usefulness. After a few demurs he +consented. She left everything standing in Varna and three days +afterwards found herself surveying the beach at Kalamita Bay, a few +miles south of Eupatoria, which had been taken the night before by the +expedition without the exchange of a shot. It was a shingly beach or +bar but a few feet wide, behind which lay a long, narrow, sedge-set +lake of salt water. From this rose, with deafening clamour, thousands +upon thousands of wild fowl alarmed by the unaccustomed presence of +man, their wailing cries almost drowning the long surge of the sea +upon the shingly beach and the oaths and confusion inseparable from +the disembarkation of so many troops. Beyond this salt lake rose a +high bank of red clay serrated by many small ravines, while over this +again the wide plain, dotted with cattle, corn-ricks, and farmhouses, +showed a land where supplies should be plentiful. In the far distance +could be seen, dimly blue, the hills behind Sebastopol, which lay some +seven and twenty miles to the south. In deference to the little +doctor's recommendation she remained on board and was thus free to +watch the humour and difficulties of the disembarkation. Both were +numerous. The heavy surf made the passage of boats to the shore +dangerous, but the blue-jackets were over the sides almost before they +could foot bottom, and, aided by those landed before--who, naked as +the day they were born, rushed into the sea to help--generally +succeeded in beaching their cargo high and dry. To little purpose, so +far as the men were concerned, since it was "off uniform" in a second, +and into the water to help the next arrivals. Luckily the day was +sultry and warm. The landing of the cavalry horses presented the +greatest difficulty, for even after confinement on shipboard the dry +shingle was not sufficient bait to induce them to walk the plank +alone; so that they had to be ridden, and as three out of six went +souse into the sea it was provocative of much merriment--for even in +those days the British soldier was light-hearted. The men, therefore, +wrung their wet clothes out cheerfully, and the horses dried +themselves by rolling in the patches of sun-baked sand, for the day +was glorious. Yet the discomfort was hard, the work harder; but, +despite it all, Thomas Atkins found time to nickname the Crim-Tartar +population who came down, curious but friendly, to view the scene, by +the strangely inappropriate and colourless appellation of "Joey," one +which nevertheless stuck firm all through the Crimean War. + +So the day passed; but the afternoon promised a storm, and Marrion was +anxious to get on shore and make arrangements, if she could, for +stopping there. As she was watching she saw a gig going ashore to the +Old Fort with a woman in it--a woman who was received with plaudits by +the whole army. At the time she could not conceive who it could be, +though she afterwards found out it was the Countess of Erroll. The +incident, however, gave her courage; she persuaded the little doctor +to allow her to land, and, accompanied by him and in her Turkish +dress, she found a night's lodging in one of the nearest farm-houses. +Nor had she to pay for it overmuch, for the Crim-Tartarians were +kindly, honest folk ready to welcome brothers and sisters of Islam. +Indeed, they looked upon the new-comers as a possible deliverance from +Russian rule. It was lucky this was so, thought Marrion, as with the +sinking of day a violent storm of wind and rain swept the beach, +drenching the fifty thousand men who were without tents. They dug +holes for themselves in the shingle, spread their greatcoats atop, and +joked away discomfort even though death stalked among them and the +terrible scourge, cholera, they hoped they had left behind them, +claimed not a few victims before morning. + +They were cheerful as ever, nevertheless, next day while the work of +disembarkation went on. Marrion watched it from afar, finding a Varna +friend or two in the Turkish contingent, but sheering off from the +regiment for fear of recognition--especially by Andrew Fraser. She was +not ready for that yet. So three days passed and it was not till the +nineteenth that the army of some fifty thousand men moved on towards +Sebastopol. About a third of the way thither the enemy was said to be +strongly entrenched on the banks of the Alma river. Why he had not +attacked during the confusion of disembarkation was a subject of much +comment, and all agreed it must be because the position they held on +the river was supposed to be impregnable. Why, therefore, leave it? + +"We shall see," said Lord Raglan succinctly. + +He was an old man, as indeed were almost all the leaders in the +Crimean War, but he was full of the fire of youth. + +The march was a gay one despite the fact that it was over stony barren +steppes; but the hares that started up so often seemed made to be +chivied, when, confused, they got between the men's legs, and many a +warrior strung one secretly under his knapsack against a savoury +supper. And songs were sung, the "Tipperary" of the time, and jokes +made with "Joey" who, all along the line, came out affably, ready to +trade. + +But the sight of the red Alma cliffs that had to be stormed on the +morrow sobered some, and Marrion, from another farmhouse where she had +obtained shelter, watched the evening sun redden them still more, and +thought of the blood that would be shed on them tomorrow with sick +loathing. + +It was grey dawn when she rose, slipped on a youth's dress she had +brought with her, and, packing a few necessaries in a small bundle, +waited for the reveille. But none came. On that fateful morning of the +20th September, 1854, the whole force of twenty thousand British +bayonets and sabres assembled in silence. For a watchful enemy awaited +them beyond the sluggish tortuous river that wound its way to the sea +amid sparse vineyards. Far away to the right the horizon of open sea +showed a massing of grey hulks and twinkling lights. That was the +Fleet ready to aid as it could. Further afield, beyond the debouching +of the cliffs, seven thousand Turkish troops prevented a flank attack. +Then came the French twenty thousand face to face with the most +formidable part of the cliff nearest the sea. After that the British. +Marrion, through her spy-glass, could see the Highlanders standing, +their faces set and determined. This was to be their first brush with +the enemy, and many of them had waited for it so long. Eight months +since Duke had brought her news of battle in the little London house! +And now he lay in his solitary grave while his men fought. + +Still silence. It was past nine o'clock now, and the troops stood +motionless as if on parade. Here and there, in low scrub on the +opposite bank, an enemy's battery showed, ready no doubt for instant +action on the firing of the first shot. And, every now and then, +bayonet-points and the heads of men seen for a second or two against +the sky-line, told of infantry ready to receive attack. But there were +no skirmishers, no attempt to force on strife. + +"No possible advance there," said the Chief of the Staff at the war +council that was being held in the open, as he pointed on the map to +the cliffs facing the sea. "I wish there were, for, so far as I can +see, Menschikoff has left it unguarded." + +A Colonel of the Zouaves looked critically at the contours, then +turned to the Marquis St. Arnaud-- + +"My children are good climbers, sir; may we not try?" + +"They shall," replied the French Commander-in-Chief. So the attack was +ordered. On the extreme right, the French were to throw out +skirmishers, tackle the cliff, charge over the first narrow plateau, +and so, up the next bank, reach the plain above. Then, when the attack +in flank had really commenced, the British would deliver a frontal +one. + +As he rode back to his own lines the Marquis St. Arnaud paused to +take the British salute with the words, "I hope you will fight well +to-day." To which came rapid reply in a voice from the 56th +Regiment--"Don't you know we will?" + +Whereat in long rolling reverberations from company to company, from +battalion to battalion, rose a deafening cheer. It was the first sound +of the battle of the Alma. + +And hark! A disconnected rattle of rifle shots! The skirmishers are +out among the rocks; and now, like goats up invisible paths, their +full red pantaloons redder than the red clay, the Zouaves show in +single file--here, there, everywhere like streamlets of blood. +Incredible pluck! Astounding agility! But they are up. The first +vantage ground is gained; they pause to collect the skirmishers and +sound the _pas de charge_--that muffled pulse beat that, throbbing +destruction, grows louder and louder and louder, drowning all but +sheer lust of blood. + +On they go, only to receive the fire from a Russian battery posted +above. + +So the advance goes on, but it goes slower. That salvo on the Zouaves +opened the ball, and now, trundling among the ranks of the British, +come round shot and shrapnel, dealing death and disablement. + +The _pas de charge_ continues, but it is perforce slow. "Pass the +order to lie down," says Lord Raglan; and, obedient, though straining +at the leash, the British troops lie down while the enemy's shot fall +among them still dealing death and disablement at every round. + +"How goes the French attack?" he queries hastily, as an aide-de-camp +dashes up at 1.50 p.m. + +"They are across and up, sir, but not sufficiently established to +warrant our starting." + +Lord Raglan fumes. His blood was up, his men were being shot at +without reply. + +"Give the order for general advance," he said, staking all, rashly +enough, on the hazard of brave troops; but if he staked rashly he +staked wisely. The serried masses of men rose with ringing cheers, +dashing on through a belt of fire from the opposite heights, +floundered somehow through the river, and paused for a second to take +breath in the vineyards below the steeps. But formation had been lost. +It was sheer onslaught. At the head of the advance rode Lord Raglan +himself, regardless of the gaps in his Staff. Sir George Brown, +leading the Light Division, goes down in a cloud of dust before a +Russian battery. "Go on, 23rd," he shouts; "I'm all right, but be sure +I'll remember this day, boys!" + +Further to the left Colin Campbell in front of the Highlanders calls +back to them: "Keep yere fingers frae the triggers, men, till ye're +within a yaird o' them." And they did. Colin Campbell's horse is down +under him, but he is up again charging a battery on foot and calling +to the Guards who came up in support, "We want nane but Hie'land +bonnets here." But the Guards were firm. Steady, in even line, without +a waver in the black bearskins, they came on resistless, making one +man in the Light Division mutter under his breath, "D---- them, +wasting time in dressing up as if they were on a parade ground!" For +all that they had stormed the right end of the most powerful battery +almost before the Highlanders had got in on the left. A few minutes +later the 1st and 2nd divisions crowned the crest. The French, finding +their objective, turned their own guns upon the flying enemy. There +were a few faint struggles by the infantry, a few more rounds of +artillery, and the Russians were in full flight, leaving over four +thousand dead and wounded on the battlefield. So Alma's heights were +won, but at a cost which saddened the victory; for out of a total of +fourteen thousand British troops employed, one thousand four hundred, +or one in ten, were dead or wounded. The French had suffered as much, +so General Canrobert's face was grave as he rode up at the close of +the day to exclaim: "I ask of Fortune but this! May I command an +English corps for three short weeks, then could I die happy." And the +English commander's voice was graver still as he replied: "I could not +command a French corps. They would outpace me." And in truth the +Zouaves' rapid, flame-like spread from crag to crag, their ceaseless +fusillade meanwhile, had been all-astonishing and had paralysed the +foe completely. But now the laurel wreath of victory was fading, the +cypress garland of death was taking its place. It had been a three +hours' hand to hand infantry battle, and the late September sun was +sinking when the living turned to look after their fallen comrades, +for in those days ambulance corps were in their infancy and Red Cross +was not. The wounded soldier lay as he fell, dying, mayhap for want of +care, even for a drink of water. There were hundreds such upon the +heights they had won, as Marrion Paul, taking advantage of the fast +coming darkness, began her round. She was provided with water, brandy, +a few simple ligaments and bandages. At Varna she had had not a few +wounded Turkish soldiers from the Danube in old Achmet's hospital; but +this was different. There the wounds seemed a disease; here you felt +the keen horror of cold steel and rifle bullet close at hand; you +realised the futility, the wickedness of it. She avoided the salients +where the dead and wounded lay thickest, for there help was already +being given, and men were going to and fro with stretchers; but in one +or two of the little gullies she found someone to tend until, darkness +closing, she became more brave, and lighting the little lamp with +which she had provided herself, she ventured more into the open. Here +it was pitiful; the dead lay in clusters, their faces as a rule +upturned to the stars. The stretcher-bearers had come and gone, +leaving behind those to whom they were useless--as yet. She knelt +beside one dead man and wiped away a blood stain from his forehead. He +had been orderly once to Duke. Poor soul! Some woman would doubtless +wish she had been in her, Marrion's, place. And now the whole hillside +was lit up by wandering lights, the lights of men searching for their +bosom friends, for their officers. But there were other lights, too, +though she did not think of them as different--the lights of the +pilferers, the carrion crows, who crept about to rifle dead men's +pockets. There were more of them here on the level where the dead and +wounded Russians lay in heaps; some, supported by the bodies of +others, remained still in the attitude of firing, their rifles still +in their hands, their faces curiously peaceful. Well, they had died +doing their duty. + +A faint call came from a man who lay, his head half-resting on the +breast of a dead comrade. She turned to him at once, throwing her +lamp-light on his face. Extraordinarily good-looking, so young, so +near death. She saw these things at a glance, guessing he was +shot through the lungs as his breath came in soft pitiful gasps. +She knelt to offer him a drink, but he shook his head. Evidently +his eyes were already dim, for he whispered in broken English: +"Good--gentlemens--take--take--my heart." She leaned closer to catch +his words, thinking bitterly as she did so that he took her for his +enemy--his enemy--while her whole heart was going out in pity for such +as he. + +"I don't understand," she said tenderly. "Your heart--what do you +mean?" + +"My heart," he gasped painfully--"here!" And his limp arm, lying +helplessly beside him, crooked itself in supreme effort, and the hand +fell on his breast. + +A sudden comprehension came to her. + +"You want me to take something from your heart?" + +His dim eyes smiled faintly. + +"Yes--good gentlemens," he whispered; it was almost a sigh, but it +held content. "Take--give!" + +She understood now, though a faint shiver through the young body told +her that the speaking soul had gone. Here again was Love transcending +Death! Quietly she laid down the head she had been supporting, closed +the eyes, and opening the grey tunic began her search, her mind rapt +away from her surroundings by thoughts of Duke. Her hand had just +found a thin chain, when a rough clutch was laid on her shoulder and +she was wrenched to her feet with such force that the chain giving way +left her standing with something hanging from her hand. + +"Caught in the act!" said a rough voice. "Shoot the young devil, +sergeant!" + +Something cold touched her forehead. Her heart gave a great bound. Was +this death--oh, Duke--Duke! + +The flash of a bull's-eye lantern turned full on her showed her face +deadly pale but firm. + +"Hold hard!" cried another voice hastily. "The fellow carries a +water-bottle--of our pattern, too! Give the devil his due, Mac." + +She could see faintly now. They were Highlanders; a search party +evidently, and the blood rushed back to heart and face. + +"I'm doing no harm!" she cried hotly. "He asked me--to take and +give--his heart." + +At her first word the cold nozzle of the revolver had left her +forehead. + +"By God!" came in a murmur; but for the most part the little group of +men were startled out of speech and stood staring at the figure before +them, holding out in apology what it held. + +It was only a pinchbeck locket with a woman's face in it--a pinchbeck +locket in the form of a heart. + +"What the devil are you doing here in that kit, you young oaf?" said +an angry voice at last. "I as nearly shot you as a carrion crow as +ever----" It paused; something in the situation seemed to bring +silence. The stars overhead, the dead lover at their feet, the tall, +slim mysterious figure holding out the symbol of something that had +survived death. + +"You had better go on, Mac," said the voice that had advised caution, +finally breaking the stillness. "I will use this young fool's lantern +and that will make two search parties. We have little time to spare. +I'll see him safe. You'd better take the orderlies with you. They have +appliances and will know what to do. I can manage." + +"As you please, doctor," came the reply. + +When they had gone the man they had called doctor took up Marrion's +lantern and seemed to examine its light, turning it finally full on +his face; and suddenly he spoke. + +"Mrs. Marsden----" Marrion could not avoid a start. + +"Mrs. Marsden!" she echoed faintly. + +"Yes. You don't recognise me evidently. Indeed, I doubt if you ever +saw me, but I was with poor Muir when he died. Andrew Fraser had to +tell me--something--before I would let you come, and your face and +hair aren't easily forgotten. I guess why you are here; but it isn't +safe--in fact, it's impossible; but if you will go back now and come +to my hospital--Dr. Forsyth--in English dress, please--I think I can +settle you to work--something that will prevent your being taken for a +Crim-Tartar thief," he added grimly. "It's lucky I have a good memory +for faces." + +"I don't think I should have cared," said Marrion, but he took no +notice of her defiance. + +"As for this poor chap," he knelt down beside the Russian and laid his +hand over the heart. "Dead as a door nail, ceased to beat--wonder +where he wanted to send it. Is there a name at the back?" + +Marrion bent to the light. + +"A name and an address." + +The doctor jumped up lightly. + +"Being dead he yet speaketh," he remarked cheerfully. "Now if you will +please go back I will go on. We have to find poor Grant; he was last +seen on the crest leading his men, with Andrew Fraser--the colonel's +servant, you remember--just behind him." + +"Andrew!" exclaimed Marrion, with a sort of sob. "Is he killed, too?" + +"Killed or missing," called Dr. Forsyth, as he turned away to rejoin +his party. + + + + + CHAPTER IX + + +The scene which met Marrion's eyes when soon after daybreak she went +over to the hospital tents beggars description. The wounded, many of +them as yet untended, lay almost in heaps, stretcher-bearers were +hurrying along, slipping on the clotted blood from many wounds, +carrying those who had been seen to and could be moved to the boats +for removal to Scutari. There was a low inarticulate wail of moaning +in the air, broken by sudden screams of pain. Two or three women were +busy giving water, trying to soothe pain, and now and again a doctor +with bare arms incarnadined with blood passed hurriedly to more work. + +"It is worse than I expected," said Dr. Forsyth over his shoulder to +Marrion. "Do what you can, will you?" + +And she did, wondering vaguely that she had not noticed that curious +face when she had first seen it; the eyes alone were so unlike any she +had ever seen before--greeny gold, with a dark rim round the iris. A +hawk's eye, surely! + +"Mrs. Marsden, I want you," came an imperative voice half an hour +later, "follow me." + +He was there again, and she followed him blindly into a small tent. + +"The ambulance and stores have been left behind somewhere," he said +bitterly. "God damn them! We have no chloroform left--they only served +us out a thimbleful, though Simpson demonstrated its absolute +necessity seven years ago--curse the lot--and now a case has just come +in. It's life or death and the others won't touch it, but I will. See +here, I was with Esdaile in India and I know it can be done. If only I +haven't the seats of the scornful by me--I think you'll believe--you +haven't your face for nothing, and I must have help. Give it me?" + +He held out his thin nervous hands, so strangely full of grip, as he +spoke; his eyes found hers and held them. + +"I will give you what I can," she said at once. + +"That's right!" he replied, his buoyancy back in an instant. "But you +will need all your nerve, I tell you. Now help me to get the poor +fellow into position." + +"Let me die, doctor," moaned the patient, who lay on the doctor's +truckle bed. "It is agony to move." + +"No, it isn't!" replied Dr. Forsyth firmly. "You are making a mistake. +You have no pain, at least not much, and you are going to lose it +altogether soon. There! That's more comfortable, isn't it?" + +He was busy now arranging knives and instruments on a clean towel. + +"I've put them in the order I shall want them," he whispered, "and +don't be in a hurry--I shall want time. Now I'm going to mesmerise +him. You'll see he will pass into a deep sleep and feel no pain--none +at all." + +It was almost as if he were assuring himself that it would be so. An +atmosphere of quiet confidence seemed to emanate from him. + +Marrion found herself watching his passes with absolute faith, +listening to the quiet monotonous voice with absolute belief. + +"Now you are really feeling better--you are inclined to sleep--if you +close your eyes you will go to sleep." + +On and on went the voice insistently. The breathing grew slower, less +convulsive; the eyelids closed, and all the time the doctor's face was +as the face of the Angel of Death--kind, but relentless. + +"Now we can begin," he said at last, resuming his quick decision. "You +won't faint, will you?" he added doubtfully, with a glance at +Marrion's pale cheek. + +"I don't think so," she replied; "but _that_ seemed to hurt here." She +swept her hand across her forehead. + +He scanned her narrowly. + +"Umph!" he said, half to himself. "You'll make an excellent _aide_, I +expect. So now to business." + +It was an awful operation. One impossible while consciousness +remained; but possible enough with the absolute stillness and lack of +hurry that unconsciousness brings. + +And so far it was successful. + +"He will sleep for some hours yet," said Dr. Forsyth, as he sorted his +implements. "You needn't stay with him all the time. Make yourself +useful elsewhere, but look in and bring me word when he wakes." + +There was not one word of thanks; only as he left the tent he paused +to say-- + +"The lad was a great favourite of the colonel's. I'm glad we saved +him." + +All that day Marrion lived in a dream of death; but those words went +with her. Yes, she was glad she had helped to save the lad, but how +much had she helped? + +Three full days passed before she could get an answer to that +question. Days of grim determination to keep her head--not to give way +as some, even of the men, gave way. It was like living in a shambles. +She thought, amazed at the poverty of her own imagination, on the +dread with which she had first viewed the heights of Alma. But +this--this was inconceivable, unutterably beastly! Vaguely she felt +glad that Duke had been spared it, and with the thought of the singing +bird that had sung its little heart out in joy as he lay dying, the +first tears she had shed for him came to her eyes. And she worked on +with a lighter heart, until the first press and rush was over, till +the dead had been buried, the less severe cases shipped off, and tents +found for the others. + +Then Dr. Forsyth sent for her. She found him in his tent. The lad whom +they had saved had been removed to a larger one and was doing well. +Though the flap was open, the tent was shadowy and the doctor's eyes +looked curiously light as he sat on the bed and motioned her to a seat +beside him. + +"You have done very well, Mrs. Marsden," he said shortly, "and I think +you will do better. Now I am going to teach you some of the tricks of +the trade, and in the next action you will be able to work on your +own. Only don't talk about it. I believe all the doctors and most of +the men would rather die than be mesmerised; but then they never saw +Esdaile's hospital. I have." + +"But perhaps I shan't be able," began Marrion. + +"Yes, you will," he interrupted steadily, "and to begin with I am +going to call you by your right name, please. Marrion Paul." + +She flushed. + +"Did Andrew----" + +"Nothing of the sort. My dear woman, I'm an Aberdeenshire man. Long +years ago, when I was a lad, I was at Drummuir and I saw your +father--possibly you also. No?--His was a face and figure you can't +easily forget. And I know the story. I heard Andrew, the Drummuir's +henchman, call you Marrion; your extraordinary likeness to your +father supplied the cues. And I was right, you see." His face was all +smiles at his own perspicacity. "Now, my mother was a Pole and I +believe your father was one. And that admixture seems favourable to a +certain force of character. You've always managed people--at least, I +guess so--and it is just that trick of suggestion that you require for +management--at least, so I think--that I want. Anyhow, we will try. +For the present the tyranny is overpast. We have wormed our way +through _sans_ everything; but the next action will be as bad, perhaps +worse. I think the letters we have written home about the scandalous +state of affairs may have had some effect--God knows! We British sleep +through a lot of bad dreams, but help can't be here in time. And the +stores they are landing! My God, if you could see them! Rotten +biscuits, putrid meat, drugs unusable! How the devils in hell will +kow-tow to the contractors when they get them as past-masters of +damnation. Anyhow, in the immediate future we have to depend on +ourselves, and if I can depend on you----" he looked at her and once +more stretched out those thin capable hands of his. "Come, is it a +bargain?" + +She could not but say "Yes," and from that day he treated her as a +professor might treat his pupil--kindly, but autocratically. + +"You are the only person who ever made me obey orders," she said, +half-resentfully one afternoon when he had driven her to rest in his +tent. + +"Better for you if it had happened before," he replied curtly. "You +strike me as a woman who has managed too much. Do you know how old I +am?" he asked suddenly. + +Seated as he was just outside the hut so that he could talk to her +within, he looked strangely young, but the grey hair and bronzed +wrinkles about his clean shaven face made her venture rather against +her own judgment-- + +"Fifty." + +"Sixty-five," he replied. + +"You don't look forty-five," she put in. + +"No. That is because I never look ahead. I take what comes. If you +believe, as I do, in a Divinity that shapes our ends, it's waste of +time to hew. I learnt that early in life. You haven't learnt it yet. +Well, now I've got to go and cut a man's leg off." + +And he went, leaving her wondering if he was right. All her life had +been spent in keeping Duke for the heirship of Drummuir, and now he +lay in his solitary grave at Varna. The pity of it was coming home to +her. + +So after a few days, with a tent provided for her, she rode in a +baggage waggon towards Sebastopol. Cholera had begun again badly. The +fillip which the idea of campaigning and free fighting had given to +men jaded by hot weather and the discomforts of Varna was passing off. +As they neared the Russian town supplies were less easily obtainable, +and the commissariat was conspicuous by its inefficiency. The army, +meanwhile, starting on the 23rd, had found itself brought up seriously +at the next river. The enemy had established a work at the entrance +which made it impossible to use the bay, as had been hoped, for a +base. There was nothing for it but to change plans and act promptly. +And here, mercifully, was no delay, no mistakes. Forsaking the +seacoast the whole force plunged boldly into the mountains, marching +by compass, without road, without guides. Much of the way lay through +dense forest--there was no water; but, heartened up by a small brush +with a wandering division of the enemy, the men struggled on cheerful +as ever, up hill, down dale, during a long and toilsome march from +dawn till after nightfall on the 25th. But then came solace. On the +sea-coast below them--secure, unprepared--lay the town and harbour of +Balaklava, seven miles to the east of Sebastopol. They had +circumvented the enemy, they had taken him round the corner! But there +must be no cheering. Quiet as mice they lay among the barberry scrub, +waiting for the dawn of the 26th. And then there was nothing to be +done save to walk down and take possession--take possession of both +sea and land, for, punctual to the moment, her Majesty's ship +_Agamemnon_ sailed into the harbour, decks clear, guns ready for +action--a stroke of luck due to young Maxse who, arriving at the +Commander-in-Chief's with despatches the evening before, volunteered +to brave the forest again by night and tell his Admiral to come round +as sharp as he could. + +So when the hospital tents and such medical stores as there were +arrived from Kalamita Beach they found the troops elated and pleased +with their new quarters. As is generally the way after a move, cholera +abated, almost disappeared, and for a time the weather was good. + +Trench work began at once, yet progressed but slowly. Whether, as some +say, from lack of implements or from slackness in command, the French +had placed thirty-three siege guns before the English had finished +their fifteenth; and the doctor, coming in from a long round, would +shake his head and say that the business would be a longer one than +people thought. + +And what was to be done with winter coming on--blankets wearing out, a +shortage of drugs, and the very ambulance-waggons still lying +forgotten on Kalamita Beach? + +He used to watch the ships sailing in so gaily to the harbour and say +calmly, "I wonder what filth, what fraud, they bring?" + +Still, even he grunted satisfaction over the news that Britain was +beginning to discover that all was not well with the Crimean +expedition--that there was talk of sending out nurses and more +doctors. So for nigh three weeks comparative peace reigned. There were +no shambles, and Marrion had time to pick up many wrinkles of nursing +from her patron; he taught her how to bring sleep for one thing, the +first duty of those who tend the sick. She had time also for regret. +Nothing had been heard of Andrew Fraser, though Captain Grant's body +had been duly found. It seemed to her as if the last link with the old +life had gone, and one day in sudden confidence she said as much to +the doctor. Again he shook his head. + +"My dear good woman," he remarked, "no one ever gets away from their +past. It is what the Easterns call '_karma_.' You have to dree your +weird for it always." + +"Even if it is not bad?" asked Marrion, feeling hurt at the very idea +that a life in which she was conscious of no self-seeking should be a +curse to her. + +"I don't know," he replied, half-closing his strange eyes, "you may +have done something shocking. It is quite possible." + +She wondered, afterwards, what had induced her to tell him what she +had done; but these strange fits of confidence are one of the +psychological puzzles of humanity. Tell him she did, however, while he +sat looking out over the sea with his veiled eyes, for they were +sitting on the heights and the whole panorama of Sebastopol, the +Allied Fleets, and the investing forces lay before them. + +"What would you have done if Colonel Muir had lived?" he asked briefly +when she had finished. + +She blushed a little. + +"I have often wondered," she began. + +"People who play Providence ought not to wonder. Well, I am glad he +died happy. That, at any rate, is to your credit." So he rose and left +her. + +The days passed rapidly, full to the brim of work, and every day +brought her more and more admiration for the courage and cheeriness of +the men, more and more resentment at the ghastly way in which they +were treated by the authorities at home. Boots had already given out, +none were available in store, and in a whole officers' mess only one +subaltern had a holeless pair. And he was the son of a widow who had +half-ruined herself by sending her darling the two separate boots of a +pair by letter post. She would have held it worth more, could she have +seen his face of pride among his comrades. + +On the night of the 18th of October a diversion arose which, when it +was over, caused much amusement. + +A party of sappers and miners, losing their way, fell into a Russian +picket, which, possessed by the idea of a general assault, +incontinently skedaddled into the town and raised the alarm, thereby +causing much beating of drums and bugle calls. The Allied armies, +alarmed in their turn, instantly stood to arms, while gun after gun +boomed from the city forts, echoing and re-echoing among the +reverberating rocks. After an hour or two, however, the gunners seemed +to recognise that they were only, so to speak, shooting at their own +shadows or echoes, and gradually peace reigned, broken by roars of +laughter round many a camp fire. + +But on the 25th something serious happened which brought the shambles +close once more. To the Turkish contingent had been assigned the +redoubts which protected the heights behind the entrenchments. On the +morning of the 25th the Russians, numbering some twenty thousand +troops, after following the same route by which the Allies had reached +Balaklava, appeared unexpectedly before these redoubts. The Turks +abandoned them without striking a blow and fled down the valley to the +plain in sheer panic. Nor did a volley from the 93rd Highlanders, +hastily formed up, stop them. For a short while confusion and courage +were conspicuous. The British, taken unawares, fought like heroes. +Finally there followed the famous Light Cavalry Charge of which the +French general, watching it, said "_C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est +pas la guerre_." By whose fault the order was given for a deed which +will stir the blood at every English heart even at the day of doom, +Heaven only knows. The man who brought it was the first to fall. +Briefly told--it needs no grand words--it amounted to this. Six +hundred men and horses charged uselessly, desperately, defiantly, +_because they were told to do so_, down an open valley exposed to a +cross fire from guns posted on either side of them, and to a frontal +fire from the evacuated and abandoned forts. The charge commenced at +11.10. It was barely 11.35 when a hundred and sixty men, many of them +wounded, rode back, having done what they were told to do. The rest +lay on the held. + +But it was a victory for all that, and when night came, bringing an +hour or two of rest to Marrion, she spent it in going round with a +revolver she borrowed from Dr. Forsyth and putting wounded horses out +of their pain. + +"Don't forget to give them their password," he said, as he gave the +weapon to her. + +She looked at him uncomprehending. "I forgot you hadn't lived in the +East," he went on, with a smile. "Say 'In the name of the Most +Merciful God' before you shoot." + +Once again there were tears in her eyes. She was learning much of this +strange man who looked on death so lightly, yet spent himself in +striving to evade it. + +It was a busy time again after Balaklava; she had barely time to +think, scarcely time to rest. Yet ever and always, when her mind +travelled beyond the immediate present, those words with which Dr. +Forsyth had replied to her story came back to remembrance-- + +"People who play Providence ought not to wonder." + +Was he right, she wondered, and then was ashamed of her own wondering. + +"You will have to rest a little more," said the doctor to her one day +when she had been helping him. "You were quite wobbly just now. You +will be of no use, you know, unless you pull yourself together." And +he narrowed his eyes perplexedly. "You are not living in the present +somehow--you're reaching out to the future. Why?" + +She laughed. + +"Why should I--what can the future hold for me! I will take a blue +pill." + +He grunted dissatisfaction, but was too busy to say more. Yet what he +said was true. She began to catch herself wondering, wondering. The +present was all-engrossing, of course; how could it be anything else +when she could do what she could do for the poor lads?--his poor lads, +who were so brave, so cheery. And then her mind would become vagrant, +and she would wake up from dreams with a start. + +It was one day just before Inkerman, the 10th of November, that Dr. +Forsyth came to her and said: + +"I want you. It's over at the cavalry hospital." + +His eyes seemed to her stranger than ever, and when she came out of +her tent to join him he glanced at her, then said brusquely: + +"You've forgotten to put on that diamond brooch of yours--the P.P. +one. Don't you remember when the sun glints on it, it's useful?" + +It was true. Often and often the eyes that had been asked to fix their +gaze on it had become full of dreams, and then slept. + +"Stupid of me," she replied lightly. "I'll put it on!" + + + + + CHAPTER X + + +The Cavalry Hospital was a little way out of the town, a quaint old +place with oleanders and orange trees set in tubs outside its white +verandahs. As they drove thither Dr. Forsyth told her something of the +case in which he wanted her help. It was a prisoner, presumably an +officer, but he refused name or rank. He had been found two days after +the battle, lying, with one leg smashed to bits, under his dead horse +in a little ravine. How he had lived was a marvel, for he was quite an +old man; but, not only had he done so, he had also retained +consciousness, and had addressed those who found him in perfect +English, congratulating them courteously on their marvellous exploit, +and saying he was proud to have crossed swords with them. + +A game old fellow, worthy of his hospital nickname "The General." He +had actually begged, before they moved him, that someone would be good +enough to search in the holster of the dead horse beside him for a +gold snuffbox which he had been unable to reach, and the lack of which +had, he asserted, been his greatest discomfort. + +"He has been snuffing away ever since," added the doctor, "so perhaps +he was right, for his leg was almost too crushed to belong to him. We +took it off at once; but now gangrene is setting in and if he is to be +saved we must have it off higher up. And the others won't risk it. He +is old--heart weak--and they say won't stand chloroform. I am going to +try. I've told him and he will take the risk. A good old chap, worth +saving. I don't believe he is a Russian. I think he is a Pole, and +blood is thicker than water." + +Marrion's first look at the patient as he lay propped up by pillows in +the small room whither he had been carried made her agree with the +doctor. + +It was a fine old face, curiously reminiscent of someone she had seen +somewhere, with its hint of ruddiness beneath the grey of the hair and +its bold bright daring look. And he was very tall; his long length +almost outstretched the trestle bed. + +"Good morning, doctor!" he said, with a courteous salute which +included Marrion, and with a perfect English accent. "You have brought +your nurse, I see. Are we to begin at once?" + +There was no anxiety in his voice; only gentle raillery. + +"Not quite yet, General," replied Dr. Forsyth. "I want you to have a +rest and sleep first. You are looking a bit tired; and your pulse"--he +stopped to feel it--"is tired, too. So I've brought Nurse Paul to sit +with you. She is a curiously soporific person. I shall be back before +very long," he added, more to her than to the patient. + +Left alone, Marrion went up to the bed, smoothed the rough pillows, +straightened the coarse blanket, which was all the bedding Balaklava +could produce, and said quietly-- + +"Now, if you will close your eyes I believe you would sleep." + +But those sea-blue eyes--whose did they resemble?--someone she had +seen somewhere--remained wide, and watched her narrowly as she +returned to seat herself in the only chair. It was set full in the +sunlight, which showed her tall, slender, yet strong in her dark stuff +dress, a white handkerchief almost hiding her bright hair and pinned +to place by the little brilliant brooch beneath her chin. Truly those +keen eyes were over-watchful, and she was about again to suggest sleep +when his voice, full of insistent command, startled her. + +"Where did you get that brooch?" + +She replied at once with the truth. + +"It belonged to my father." + +"Indeed--who was he?" + +"He was a valet; but if you would only close your eyes I think you +would go to sleep." + +"Do you think so? I don't." + +His eyes showed more awake than ever; there was a hint of a smile on +the handsome old face. + +Still there was silence for full five minutes, and Marrion was just +about to make further suggestion of sleep when once more the voice +rose-- + +"Will you please give me my snuff-box?--it is under my pillow +somewhere." + +She drew it out. A plain gold box with--her startled eyes caught the +old face-- + +"Yes!" he said, and his voice had a jeer in it. "'P.P.,' as you see. +That is my name. So you are Marrion Sim's child--and I suppose mine. +Queer, isn't it, how these old stories crop up when one had almost +forgotten them?" He scanned her face narrowly. "Now you are angry. +Why should you be? Your mother was my wife, I suppose. At least, I +hadn't any other then. I have sons now"--his voice softened as he +spoke--"yes, sons to come after me when I am gone, as I shall be soon, +for that gay doctor of yours can't conquer Fate; and it is Fate that +has brought me here!" + +He lay looking at her with a certain kindly curiosity, while she, +startled out of herself, tried to realise that this was her +father--the father she had condemned and despised all her life. + +It seemed almost as if he saw into her thoughts, for his next words +touched them. + +"Perhaps it was cruel to leave her as I did; but I had no choice. If +you have anything belonging to us in you, you'll understand what the +call of the master means. And young Muir was never my master. He +befriended me, helped me to escape Siberia; but the other---- There's +a perfect passion of loyalty in our family which you may or may not +understand." He paused and a shiver of assent ran through Marrion. + +"I--I think I do understand," she said, in a low voice. + +Yes, from the very beginning, as a small child, this passion of +protection, of loyalty, had been hers. Strange legacy from an unknown +father! He smiled content. + +"Glad to hear it. You're not a bit like your mother--you're like me, +and your brothers--half-brothers, I mean. So I had to go. It was just +after the break up of Europe and Napoleon, when half the political +refugees came to their own again--and he did amongst others. So I had +to go." Again he paused, and for the first time Marrion felt the touch +of kinship between them. He had to go; that was just it! She had had +to be loyal to Duke. "You are not in the least like your mother," he +said again suddenly, "you are like us." Yet again he paused. "Have you +anything you can give me to drink?" he asked. "I have something to say +to you, and I feel--limp." + +She gave him a restorative and he brisked up. Time was passing, but +she had learnt many things during the last month and knew that +physical rest would be impossible until the mental rest was assured. + +"Don't talk too much," she said. "I think I shall understand--what is +it?" + +"This box," he said. "It holds--my credentials. There is a false +top--see, you press this spring--so." + +As he spoke the lid appeared to part in two, disclosing a folded piece +of paper. + +"Don't read it now--but it will tell you everything. I was on secret +service and it was of importance no one should know. It is of +importance still. If I hadn't met you I should have said nothing. But +now--you'll do me this good turn, I expect--for, after all, I am your +father." + +A cynical smile curved his lips, his blue eyes met hers in a +challenge. + +Almost staggered by the strangeness of what was happening, Marrion was +yet aware of something deep down in her which gave instant response to +this claim upon her. + +"Yes," she said quietly, "I will do what you wish--father." + +"I am obliged--daughter," he replied lightly. "Of course it is for +your eye alone. And now for heaven's sake give me some more of that +drink. I feel quite exhausted." He lay back smiling at her. "It is +better here," he remarked, "than in the north of Scotland." Then after +a pause, "I suppose I ought not to have married your mother; but she +was charming and it was very dull." After that he closed his eyes and +slept. The doctor, coming in after an hour, found him still sleeping, +while Marrion sat beside the bed holding the gold snuffbox in her +hand. + +He bent over the slumbering face. + +"I don't think there will be any operation," he said quietly. "The +others were right. His mind has ceased to insist upon his body +surviving and so there is rest. It is well." + +Marrion looked up into his wise face. + +"How did you guess?" she asked. + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"There was no guess," he replied; "you remember I had seen your +father. Then your extraordinary likeness. When by chance I saw the +famous snuff-box yesterday it became a certainty. For a day I decided +to say nothing. Then I saw the old chap was fighting death--putting a +strain on himself about something, and I thought you had better have +your innings." + +He did not ask any questions and she was grateful. + +"Perhaps you would like to stay," he added gently. "I don't think he +will wake again." + +And he did not. As the sunlight faded from the room the old man's +breathing became slower and ceased. + +Marrion stood looking down on him for a moment before she called for +aid. All the time she had been watching she had been thinking, +thinking; but she had arrived at nothing. Only deep down in her was a +glad feeling of inheritance--a consciousness that the dead man had +given her something, something that she held in trust. + +Was it only the gold snuff-box, she wondered vaguely, as, back in her +own tent, she touched the spring. + +"The bearer of this, Prince Paul Pauloffski----" She sat staring at +the words. + +Prince Paul Pauloffski was her father. Then she was gentle born. Then +she need not-- + +With a rush all the things she need not have done crushed in on her. +She buried her face in the pillow as she sat on the edge of her bed +and muttered-- + +"People who play Providence!" + +Of a truth the wise man with the strange eyes was right. Your past was +_karma_. You could not escape from it. + +After a time she sat up and began to decipher the rest. It was in +French, the _lingua franca_ of Eastern diplomacy. Noble-born, poor, +devoted, daring. That was the essence of the credentials. The other +paper simply gave the address of the ancestral home and that of two +sons in the army. A memorandum as to keys and papers filled up the +back of the latter. She replaced them, shut down the spring again, +then, remembering she could show no right to the snuff-box for which +inquiry was sure to be made, took them out again. Nothing, somehow, +seemed to matter now. She had made her mistake, she must suffer. + +"You have all you want?" asked Doctor Forsyth, as she handed him +the box, and she flushed scarlet. Sometimes he seemed to her too +clever--he found out everything, everything! + +"Thank you," she replied frigidly. + +"Because--well, if you would like to possess it, I could buy it in for +you at the auction. The poor old general is--is unidentified, +remember." + +"Yes, he is unidentified," she assented, remembering her father's +wishes, "but I should like to have it all the same." + +He brought it to her a day or two after. "That's your fee," he said +lightly, "you've earned it well." + +And he would take no refusal; so she replaced the papers in the secret +compartment and put the box away in her satchel against--what? That +future which was now always filling her mind. The present seemed +hardly to touch her at all. The doctor looked at her critically more +than once, but he said nothing. + +Then came Inkerman. It was on the 5th of November--almost three +months, Marrion told herself, since that wonderful day when Duke's +love had come to her amid flame and fire. + +It had been a disturbed night. A noise as of tumbrils had been heard +about the city. Was it possible that the enemy was taking advantage of +the dense night fog to run in commissariat or even ammunition? Nothing +could be done, however, save wait. So as the laggard day broke, the +advanced pickets looked keenly ahead. To no purpose. An impenetrable +wall of grey mist shut out all beyond a yard or two. Their very +comrades looked like shadows of men. + +"London partickler," remarked one sentry, stamping his feet to keep +out the chill, for it had been raining all night. + +"Not yeller enough, save down Chelsea way. My Gawd! I wish I was +ther," replied the next. + +"I wish I wurr anywhere but eight thousand strong on the heights of +Inkerman," put in an Irishman. "Begorra, I've bin dhrier in a bog!" + +"An' I've been wetter in the watter after the trooties on Don side," +evened an Aberdeenshire man sturdily. "Mush me, it's weary wark!" + +"An' thim ringing joy-bells for to spite us!" joked the Irishman, as +on the cold night air a carillon from every church in the city rang +out, echoing amongst the little scrub and wood-set ravines that went +to make up the valley of Inkerman. "Will it be a weddin', likely? +Begorra, I'd loose off me rifle as a salute if the powdther was dry!" + +So through the early dawn the pickets, outwearied, wet through, +beguiled the time. And though the dawn brought light, the mist lay +thicker than ever. Thick and grey the colour of a Russian's coat. + +"Dods, mon!" cried the Aberdeenshire man suddenly, "what's yon?" + +Yon was indeed a Russian coat, not one but many, emerging out of the +fog not ten yards away. + +A sharp volley of musketry followed on the instant. The pickets may +have been sodden, but they were no cowards. They fought desperately, +retreating inch by inch, the alarm of their rifles telling that sixty +thousand Russians were on them surging through the newly awakened camp +of eight thousand. It was everyone to the rescue. Not one regiment or +two, but every available man. Then followed eight long hours of such +desperate fighting as, till then, had never been seen. It was not a +battle--it was a hundred battles in one; for every little ravine had +its opposing armies, cut off from the rest by the enveloping mist. +Again and again the grey line would advance a yard or two, covered by +its superior fire; again and again a ringing British cheer and the +point of the bayonet would drive it back a yard or two. Sometimes the +fight became a _melee_ in which the British officers, dealing havoc +with their revolvers or swords, cut their way through the dense masses +of the enemy. No generalship was possible, each man fought for +himself, his Queen, his country, and wrote on the page of history a +record of undying pluck and almost incredible personal courage. But +the battle of Inkerman is, truly, beyond description. It was a day of +countless deeds of daring, of despairing rallies and desperate +assaults in the glens, the brushwood glades, the torrent beds of the +valley of the Tchernaya river. None knew how the balance swayed and +shifted. But a few were aware of the aid given in the nick of time by +the six thousand French troops who arrived at the double. None knew +whose was the victory till from the Russian ranks came the bugles of +retreat. And then, as the mist lifted, the whole hillside showed +strewn with corpses. But the eight thousand had kept at bay the sixty +thousand. Round Sandbag battery, from which the Guards were driven, +and which they retook four separate times, lay fifteen thousand +Russian dead, mute evidence of the hand to hand, back to back, +relentless tenacity with which the Household Brigade eventually fought +their way out of the surrounding masses of the foe. A little further, +where a single regiment held at bay over nine thousand Russians, the +broken stocks of the rifles showed how, when ammunition was gone, the +fight still continued. + +"Will anyone be kind enough to lift me off my horse?" said old General +Strangways, when riding to an exposed position in the hope of being +able to see something of what his men were doing, a shell literally +blew off his leg. And someone lifted him down doubtless; but there +were eight generals to be seen to, and close on a hundred and fifty +officers. + +As the official despatches read-- + +"It does not do to dwell upon the aspect of the battlefield." True, +indeed, when out of the eight thousand some two thousand six hundred +lay dead or wounded among the fourteen thousand Russians for whom they +had accounted. + +Even Doctor Forsyth's pale, composed face grew paler, less composed, +and Marrion acting as his _aide_ could scarcely get through the awful +days. She could not work as she wished to work, but neither could she +rest. Her whole being seemed to go out in one vast pity for the world, +a vast desire to protect, to recreate. + +"I am sorry my hand shook," she said, almost pitifully to the doctor, +when she held she had failed to give him all the help she should have +done over a young lad who had been brought in badly hurt. "But he +seemed so very young. It made me think of the time when all these poor +boys were babies in their mothers' arms, warm, secure, sheltered." + +He looked at her gravely. + +"You did very well," he said. "Not quite so well as usual, perhaps; +but better than others. For all that, I am going to send you for a +rest--only a week or two," he added hastily, seeing her face set +in denial. "And it's as useful as anything else. You know there are +quite a lot of soldiers' wives down in the town. There ought not +to be, of course, but there are---- Why, there is one, at least, +in the camp! And one, an Irishwoman, has just died with her third +baby--shock--husband killed. And there is no one to see to them and +others. You'd better go--you--you like children." + +To tell the truth Marrion felt a strange gladness at the thought of +them, and the very idea of holding the newborn scrap of humanity in +her arms was enthralling. + +"For a week," she demurred. "You see I haven't been sleeping well." + +So down by the sea in a house built on the very rocks of the harbour +she went back to woman's normal life and rested for a while. + +For the first time she had leisure to notice the beauties of the +cliff-set coast, of which the bay was a mere shallow curve. The +vessels lying at the roads bobbed and swayed when the wind ruffled the +water, almost as if they had been at sea. But it was fine to see them +there; ships of the line, merchantmen, gun-boats, mail-steamers, all +coming and going. When the two elder children were asleep, Marrion +would wrap the infant in a blanket and go and sit on the rocks in the +sunshine, watching the boats go backwards and forwards to the shore, +and thinking of the far-off Aberdeenshire days when she could pull an +oar with any man. The harbour itself, a mere inlet, was crammed with +vessels of all descriptions; you could scarcely distinguish one from +the other, but the thirty outside showed bravely. + +"They say the anchorage is very treacherous," remarked Doctor Forsyth, +when he came to see how she was getting on, one evening. "I hear that +a captain of one of the transports has reported it dangerous; and has +been reprimanded for his trouble. He may have a chance of proving +himself right, for the barometer is going down steadily, I'm told; and +there is an uncanny feel in the air." + +That was about six o'clock in the evening. But the night was calm, +warm for the time of the year. It was in the small hours of the 14th +that someone relieving watch on one of the ships looked again at the +barometer. + +"My God!" he exclaimed, "it has fallen two inches in the watch." + +Something was astir and the something came with appalling suddenness, +almost before the light spars could be shipped and things made taut. +And then? What was it? No storm ever seen equalled this boiling +cauldron of a sea, this furious blast of bitter wind that lashed the +waves of foam and sent them in driving clouds far over the heights. +The hawsers, the anchor chains, the cables strained and wrenched and +strained, while brave men, looking at the wicked rocks seen dimly by +the breaking dawn, knew that their only chance of life lay in the +holding of their anchors. An American ship was the first to go. She +drifted swiftly to the cliffs and disappeared, timbers and crew. The +next to follow was the ship whose captain had given the warning. It +made a brief fight for life. The port anchor held--masts, rigging, +were cut away. To no purpose. The cable parted, she drifted broadside +to the cliff, crashed against it once, twice. A few men were carried +by the breakers up the rocks, bruised, mangled. The captain himself +was crushed between the rocks and the ship, as he hung from a +life-line thrown by those on shore. Another and another and another +ship followed in quick succession. The roar of the tempest, the +crashing of timbers, the howling of the wind, the noise of the engines +straining full speed ahead to hold their anchorage against the storm, +drowned all outcry; the terror, the dismay, the despair of it passed +as it were in silence. Within the inlet harbour one vessel crashed +against the next and so, huddled in heaps, they drifted to pile +themselves in shivered hulks upon the shore. Helpless to help, +powerless to save, the spectators clinging like limpets to stone walls +and stanchions looked on while one after another the brave ships which +but the day before had seemed to spurn the waves in their pride were +beaten, buffeted, engulfed, submerged in the seething cauldron of surf +and spray and mad, infuriated billows, answering to the challenge of +the wind. The _Prince_, the finest vessel in the bay, new built, +powerfully engined, held out the longest. There were hopes for her, +but the sea willed otherwise. Slowly, slowly the anchor dragged, and +five minutes after she struck not a vestige of the good ship remained. +Meanwhile on shore the hurricane had brought disaster untold. Houses +were roofless, tents swept bodily into the deep ravines with their +occupants. It was noon ere the wind abated somewhat, allowing stock to +be taken of the damage. Far out at sea could be seen the hulls of the +vessels that had weathered the storm, mostly disabled, mastless; but +it was known that five-and-twenty vessels had gone down with +practically all on board. + +As the tempest subsided the bodies of the drowned were dashed by the +breakers against the rocks or cast up in tiny creeks upon the beach. + +Marrion had taken her charges to a place of safety, the house she was +in being too exposed; and then, thinking she might help, went down to +the harbour. The waves still ran dangerously high, and over on the +farther side Englishmen were busy with lifeboats, rescuing some of the +crews of the smaller ships which, having held their anchors so far, +were still in imminent danger of going down. As she passed a knot of +local fishermen on her way to where apparently help might be required, +her eyes followed theirs and she realised to her horror that they were +calmly looking at a man--a mere boy--who about sixty yards from the +shore was clinging to a stationary spar, part doubtless of some +submerged craft. His face was clearly visible, the agonised appeal +vitalising its exhaustion, its pallor. Only for a few minutes more +could that grip hold! She was alert in an instant. + +"Go!" she cried vehemently in Russian. "Quick! A boat is there! +Quick--save--for Christ's sake, save!" + +Urged more by her actions than her words, the men fell in with them. +Ready hands, besides her practised ones, ran down the boat. + +But then, no one stirred! It was not an impossible task, it was only +dangerous. That, however, was enough. Why should they risk their lives +to save an unknown lad--a mere boy? But it was that very youth which +appealed to the woman, who stood for an instant with bitter anger at +her heart. + +"Curse you for cowards!" she cried as she sprang in and seized the +oars. The boat, already afloat, shot out from the shore by her weight. +The next instant she had the oars in and was fighting for her +life--and his. For his--yes, fighting, fighting, fighting for life to +something unknown. She set her teeth and dreamed with the appalling +swiftness of dreams of the far Northern sea. Yes, she was afloat on it +with Duke--no! it was Duke she had to save. It was Duke, or someone +belonging to Duke, who clung to that spar now so close, so close---- + +On shore, a man passing along a quay hard by saw her, and ran down +with an oath. + +Almost there--almost! She glanced behind her, saw the young face; but +only for a second. The hold of the clenched hands relaxed, the head +fell back, the body slid into the water. Too late! + +No, not too late! Without one instant's hesitation Marrion was over +the side, keeping the oar in her left hand as she leapt. + +Now she had gripped something floating for a second and was on the +surface again, rising within arm's grip of the oar. + +In her ears a thousand voices seemed whispering--Safe, safe, safe! You +are the saviour, the creator, the protectress.--She struck out boldly. +Then a huge breaker took her to its breast and held her fast. + +When she came to herself she was lying on a bed and looking round she +realised that she was in the very room of the cavalry hospital where +her father had died. It had been the nearest place, she supposed. The +sunlight was streaming in. She was quite alone. Doubtless everyone was +busy--they always were. + +Then on a table within reach she saw a cup of milk and a glass. A +paper lay beside them. Scrawled on it, very large, was this advice-- + +"Take these and go to sleep again!" + +It was Doctor Forsyth's writing and with a sense of safety she obeyed. + +When she roused again it was evening; the room was almost dark, but a +figure stood at the window. In an instant remembrance came back to her +and raised a curiosity which had doubtless been lying dormant, as she +had been, for nigh six-and-thirty-hours. + +"Did I save the boy?" she asked suddenly in a loud strong voice. + +Doctor Forsyth, for it was he, smiled as he walked up to the bed. + +"I really cannot say, my dear lady, whether you saved him or not. You +did your best, anyhow, and the same wave washed you both ashore." He +had been feeling her pulse as he spoke. "All right," he continued, "I +fancy you can get up if you choose. And you will be a bit busy, for +the mail steamer goes to-morrow and you should take the first +opportunity of getting home." + +She stared at him. + +"Home!" she echoed. "I am not going home. I want to work--and I should +like to die out here. What is there for me to do at home?" + +Doctor Forsyth hesitated a moment. He was ciphering out conclusions. +The reason he had to give her was one which must, despite its joy, +give pain. Better therefore to speak out while her mind was still too +confused to grasp the immensity of either. + +"My dear lady," he said, and his voice was gentleness itself, "I must +deny all your statements. You are going home. You do not want to die +out here, and you will have plenty to do at home looking after"--he +paused--"the colonel's child." + +He turned and left her voiceless, but athrill to her finger-tips, +wondering why she had not guessed it before. + +Then with a rush came remembrance. "People who play Providence----" + +She gave a moan and turned her face to the wall. + + + + + CHAPTER XI + + +When Marrion arrived in England just before Christmas she found a +white world of snow. But it seemed to her not so white, so pure, so +chill as that soft pall which had lain on Marmaduke Muir's grave on +the Balkan heights, when, stopping at Varna on her way home on purpose +to visit it, she had found it unrecognisable under the heavy snow. For +the winter of '54-'55 was the severest on record, even in those +southern mountains. + +There had seemed no room there for her tears, her remorse, her pitiful +plaint to be forgiven for trying to play Providence. So she had come +away more stunned than ever. + +After all her long years of self-sacrifice to find that every step she +had taken was a mistake was bitter indeed; but to realise that if the +child lived--and this time she meant to ensure that there should be no +ransom of her life--she would have deprived Marmaduke's child of its +birthright was agony. + +Yet there was no escape. Even if Andrew Fraser had been +forthcoming--and no news of him had come since Alma's heights were +won--she still would not have made a claim. That was over and done +with. She had promised the old man none should be made, she had +persuaded Duke to do the same, and they must stand by their word. + +She brooded and brooded over this until once more self-sacrifice +became an obsession with her. Not even for the sake of his child +should Duke's honour be smirched. Besides it might be a girl, and then +it would not matter so much. Besides, and this clinched the question, +even with Andrew it would be hard to prove a marriage; for during +those few short years she had not troubled to act as a wife. The +knowledge that she was married had been enough for both her and Duke; +she had always been known as Mrs. Marsden. A lawsuit would be +dreadful--was unthinkable. + +No, she could do nothing to rectify her past mistakes. She must dree +her weird--she could not get away from her past. In that, as in all +things else, the doctor had been right. When the time came nearer she +would follow his advice and go to Edinburgh to the man who had +invented chloroform. Doctor Forsyth had said he was kind. She would +tell him her story and beg him to let her die and save the child. + +Meanwhile, there was the gold snuff-box, and it meant more to her now +than when it was given. It meant that there would be someone kin to +the child--someone who, perhaps, if her life was taken as toll, would +look after it. She must try while there was yet time; that was her +first charge. + +She set to work at once, therefore, to arrange for a visit to Poland. +The extraordinary likeness to her father of which he himself had +spoken, which Doctor Forsyth had noticed, and which she also had seen, +was too valuable an asset to be wasted. Yes, she would go over to the +ancestral house, give the gold snuff-box into safe keeping, and ask, +even beg, for recognition. Even if her father had been a widower, one +of the sons might be married, there might be a woman with a pitiful +heart to listen and sympathise. But ere she went she must write to +Peter Muir. To begin with, she could assure him that his brother had +been well looked after. And then she had nothing, positively nothing, +of Marmaduke's; and Peter, knowing the care she had lavished on him +all those years, might give her something. The ring he had always worn +was what she craved most. In those long ago days, though there was not +so very much difference in their heights, what he wore on his little +finger had fitted her second. It had been too large for her third when +he had wanted her to wear it in place of a plain gold band; so she had +bidden him wear it instead--little tender memory which seemed so +precious now. + +So she wrote in the fine slanting caligraphy of the day a somewhat +stilted little letter asking for what she wanted as a favour, not a +demand, since "though I have a claim, I have no right." + +In reply she received a friendly note. + + +"DEAR MARRION, + +"If you will come and see me I will give you the ring, _and something +else_." + + +She had sent her letter to Peter's club, but this was dated from a +house in Palace Yard. So she went there. It was a fine old house. A +footman opened the door, a butler advanced to meet her, a majordomo +out of livery stood half-way up the stairs. Very different this from +the old days when the two brothers had been more or less out at elbows +all the time; but now, of course, Peter was heir to the estates. + +She found him, looking wretchedly ill, in a most luxurious study, and +his weak face lit up at the sight of her in the friendliest of +fashions. + +"Sit down in a comfortable chair," he said, and there was a querulous +note in his voice. "Really, in times like these, when, as the +paraphrase runs, 'days are dark and friends are few,' and 'gathering +clouds' are the normal outlook, it is a duty to be comfortable and +bring up the average. When Marmaduke was--was here--he was for ever at +me for extravagance. Hated the Jews and used to borrow from old Jack +Jardine instead. Paid off something, but not all, I'm afraid; and +Pitt, the virtuous Pitt--he owed him thousands. However, as I was +saying, it's a duty nowadays to be comfortable, so I've any amount of +_post-obits_ out--to say nothing of kites. They're always coming back +wanting a longer string or a new tail. But I don't care. The old man +may outlast me, and anyhow I can't live long; so it's a short life and +a merry one." + +Looking at his hectic flush and with a damp cold of his hands fresh on +the touch of hers Marrion did not feel inclined to combat his easy +philosophy. + +"And your father?" she asked. + +Peter shrugged his shoulders. + +"As usual, only more so." He paused and spoke more seriously. "Of +course Marmaduke's death cut him to the quick. But I won't speak of +that--I can't. He was the only one--and I believe it was the same with +the Baron. He showed it in anger. Won't see or hear of me, yet I'd do +my best for him. 'Pon my soul, that old man has been the curse of all +our lives." + +Marrion sat silent. In a way it was true. The old spider had enticed +more flies than he knew of into his net. But for her desire that +Marmaduke should not fall foul of his father---- + +But that way lay madness. She was beginning to learn that she could +scarcely trust her own judgment. The whole thing was so pitiful that +reason seemed impossible. + +"And may I have the ring?" she asked, in order to change the _venue_. + +"You can have that, and a good deal more besides," replied Peter Muir, +giving her a queer look as he rose to go to a despatch-box that lay on +the table and which Marrion recognised as Marmaduke's. + +"When this thing came home," he continued, searching in it. "Oh, +here is the ring!" (He handed it to her, and she thrilled at the +touch of it, as she would have thrilled to the touch of the man who +had worn it.) "I did not look over the papers very carefully--I +hadn't the heart; but when I was looking for that ring yesterday, I +found--something--which interests you." + +He held out an envelope and she took it indifferently; few things +really interested her nowadays. It was addressed to Major Muir at his +club, and a vague wonder as to what it could contain crossed her mind +as she took out the paper it contained. + +Then she sat silent staring at it helplessly, for it was Duke's +counterpart of their marriage bond which she thought she had seen +burnt to ashes on that night when Marmaduke had said, "You have made +me feel like a scoundrel!" + +How idle, how unreal this world was! Could one be sure of anything? +Could one be certain that everything was not a dream? + +Peter's voice roused her. + +"Of course it doesn't make much difference to us now. Marmaduke left a +very few pounds, and your third as wife wouldn't amount to anything. +But there is his portion when the peer dies, and I can't see why my +young oaf of a cousin who will come in eventually should have it; for +even if I outlive my father I shall have enough for my time. And you +were--well, you were a brick to Marmaduke--and to me, too. You always +denied this marriage: but I had a notion it was only denial. There is +no reason, therefore, why you shouldn't use this--it is proof positive +of marriage, and if I were you I would. You are the only survivor and +therefore have the action; besides, it would annoy the old man +extremely, and, upon my soul, he deserves all he can get." + +He had struck the wrong chord. To Marrion, absorbed in the one +enthralling question as to whether Marmaduke had known of this +survival or whether he had not, the suggestion that she was the sole +arbiter came as a shock. + +"We agreed," she said slowly, "to annul the marriage. He thought--I +know he thought--this paper had been burnt; and it doesn't make any +difference to our intention that it wasn't. And then we promised, we +both promised your father no claim should ever be made. Because Duke +is dead is that any reason----" + +She rose suddenly, walked to the fireplace, and threw the envelope and +its contents on the fire. + +"That is what Duke meant," she muttered to herself helplessly. + +Peter Muir watched her with a half-cynical, half-admiring smile. + +"Well, you know best, my dear. And, of course, I personally would +never let you come to want." The capable woman looked at him, the +incapable man, with wondering tolerance. "Still, I must say I am +disappointed. I should like to have seen the governor's face when you +sprang it upon him. Remember he is the villain of the piece and, as I +said, deserves everything he can get." + +"That may be," replied Marrion, "but can't you see we were all at +fault? And we have to pay for it. We must--you can't get rid of the +past." + +She said the words over and over to herself, and it was not till she +reached her lodgings that she realised fully that the past had claimed +the future. Yet what else could she have done? If she had only known +what Duke would have said! Had he found out the paper, or had he not? +Was that the reason why in those short ten days of heaven he had +never, never, never alluded to the past? And yet that heavenly present +had become the past too, and had stretched out into the future. Had +she been taken by surprise? Had she made another mistake? + +She threw herself on her bed and cried quite foolishly, until +perforce, being physically unable to cry any more, her mind reasserted +itself and thought came again. + +One thing seemed clear. She could not possibly tell what Duke knew or +did not know; she could not be sure what he would have thought; and +she would have no more of trying to impose her views on him. + +That being so, the only person who had any say in the matter was Lord +Drummuir. For the sake of the heir he might absolve her of the +promise. But the child might be a girl, it might not live. Finally she +began to cry again softly, silently; the tears that count for utter +soul-weariness. And in truth she was weary--the one thing that seemed +clear being that she had failed; that she had mismanaged everything, +that everything seemed in a hopeless tangle. She was, in sober truth, +very near the limit of perfect sanity when, with a passport secured +through Peter Muir's Vienna influence, she started for Krakowitz, the +village on the Russian side of the Carpathians, near which the +Pauloffski estates lay. It was a difficult journey--one which she had +judged rightly had better be undertaken at once; but the change did +her good, and she was almost herself again before it came to a +conclusion; yet as the sledge with its tinkling bells and four horses +toiled up the last hill or two she felt depression come upon her +again. The outlook, supremely beautiful, was still melancholy to a +degree. Snow, snow everywhere. The towering peaks, the valleys, the +pine forests all burdened with it, like Marmaduke's grave had been. A +light burden, but so cold--so deathly cold! + +As the sledge dashed up the steep narrow drive and the pine trees that +swept their snow layered branches overhead some of their burden fell +in soft masses on Marrion's furs. + +The driver turned round with a smile and said in Russian: + +"That is absolution from sin, Excellency." + +Curious answer to her thoughts, and with the answer came a +remembrance, "Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white +as snow." + +And the remembrance brought confidence. Perhaps, after all, the tangle +consequent on her playing Providence might be going to be straightened +out. + +The front door of the unpretentious tower, with a building like a barn +built on to it, that stood magnificently on a little plateau +overlooking the valley with a faint glimpse of plain beyond, was wide +open, and at it, standing against, but not leaning upon the pilaster, +was the most striking figure of a woman Marrion thought she had ever +seen. Extreme old age had set its mark on the lined face, with thin +white hair drawn under a lace lappet; but the figure was that of a +girl of twenty. Extraordinarily tall, massive in proportion, but +upright as a dart and with activity in every curve and line. + +The lady gave a dignified bow as Marrion, still closely veiled as +protection from the bitter cold, came up the steps. + +"Princess Pauloffski?" she asked tentatively in French, for it was +impossible to think the figure that of a servant. + +"I am Princess Pauloffski," was the dignified reply in slightly +guttural French. + +"Might I speak with you for a few minutes?" continued Marrion +nervously. + +The Princess smiled. + +"Ah, you are English! My son Paul was a long time in England or +Scotland," she replied in better English than her French. "You must be +cold; come in and take off your wraps." + +A few rapid words in the country dialect sent driver and sledge round +to the stables while Marrion, with an unforeseen thrill of pleasure, +recognised that this beautiful old princess must be her grandmother. + +"I was looking for my sons and daughters who are dead," said her +hostess quietly as she led the way into the house. "The dead always +come back with the snow--and I have so many." + +Despite the warmth of the wide passage heated by a huge stove Marrion +felt a slight shiver run through her. How had her grandmother learnt +to speak of the dead as if they were alive? + +As she passed on to a sitting-room where a great fire of pine logs was +burning on an open hearth Marrion removed her veil and threw off her +heavy fur cloak. + +So, as she came out of the dark passage into the sunlight that +streamed through the sitting-room windows, she stood revealed. The +effect was not nearly as startling as she had anticipated, but it was +far more overwhelming. + +The old face lit up with sudden pleasure, the thin old hands were +stretched out-- + +"Sacha!" she said. "Darling, after all these years! And you never came +before. Paul did--and he was your twin--though he has only just gone, +Sacha! I have wanted you so often." + +The tears sprang to Marrion's eyes. + +"Dear lady," she said, taking the outstretched hands and holding their +chilliness of age in her warm clasp, "I am not Sacha. I am Paul's +daughter!" + +Princess Pauloffski drew back and passed her hand over her eyes. + +"Excuse me. I forget. I live so much alone and my dead come to see me +so often when there is snow. But if you are not Sacha----" She took a +step forward and scanned her visitor narrowly. "You say you are Paul's +daughter--an English daughter--did he then marry over there? For it is +true you are his daughter--even his twin was not more like. Come, sit +down, child, and tell me how you come by Paul Pauloffski's face?" + +It was almost incredible! Marrion as she obeyed her grandmother's +gesture felt inexpressible relief. Here there was no haggling, no +questioning. She was taken literally on her face value. It was a haven +of rest. + +Together they sat on the quaint old settle as if they had known each +other for years, while Marrion told her tale. She produced the golden +snuff-box, with its glittering monogram, and laid it in the old +Princess's lap; but she merely glanced at it. Her chilly old hands +were busy detaining the hand that had laid it there--the hand that was +still alive. + +"Yes, Paul is dead," she murmured, half to herself. "Sacha died first +when she was so beautiful, like you. And Paul's wife died, and now his +two sons are gone; there is none left but me, and I am very old. And +now you come--tell me more, child!" + +And Marrion went on with the story. It was like a dream to be sitting +there in the streaming sunlight heart to heart as it were with someone +of whose very existence she had been unaware but one short half-hour +before. + +"Was he a commoner or noble?" asked the old princess quickly, when +Marrion mentioned her marriage. + +"He had no title then," began the latter. + +The old fingers tightened their curiously protecting clasp. + +"Then you are still Princess Pauloffski! I am glad," was interrupted +with satisfaction. "We of this house do not change our names when we +marry beneath us, as I did; for, my dear, this, the soil"--she +waved her other hand in an all-embracing gesture--"was my father's, +and my father's father's. My husband was a good kind man. I loved +him--but---- Go on, child." + +And Marrion went on. + +"Now, God be praised!--God in His High Heaven be praised!" cried the +old Princess exultantly. "And you here--braving the cold, spending +your life!" She seized a little brazen bell that lay on the table +beside her and rang it violently. A very old maid-servant appeared, +and was addressed volubly in patois. But that many orders were given +Marrion judged by the frequent bob curtsey of the domestic who finally +trotted out in great haste. + +"Not one word more, darling!" cried the old woman, forgetful of +everything save abounding sympathy. "Quick, to the fire! Toast your +feet--so! Lean back on the cushions! Make yourself quite comfortable. +Remember you have to think of someone besides yourself." She dragged +an armchair closer to the hearth with all the strength of youth. She +bustled the cushions to shape; she removed Marrion's hat and finally +kissed her softly on the forehead with a murmured, "God bless you +both!" + +It was too much. Marrion dissolved into slow quiet tears. For the +first time since Doctor Forsyth had told her why she must go home she +felt really that she was blessed amongst women--yea, amongst women +like this one! + +"But you don't know!" she half sobbed. "You haven't looked to see. I +may be an impostor." + +"Not with that face, dearie," beamed the old Princess. "Cry on! The +tears will warm your heart. It has been cold, I expect, and little +ones don't thrive when the heart above them is cold. Ah, here comes +Magda with the posset!" + +And Marrion drank something hot and spicy and delicious while the +mistress discoursed to the old serving-maid and the old serving-maid +finally fell at Marrion's feet and positively worshipped her. + +It was all so bewildering, so unexpected, that Marrion just lay back +and let the slow tears trickle down her cheeks in quiet orderly +fashion. The puzzledom, the regrets of the last few months, seemed to +vanish. For a while, in stress of these new emotions, she forgot even +her grief for Duke. + +But as the two women, the old and the young one, sat and talked after +the sledge had been sent away, and Marrion had been simply commanded +to remain for at least a week to rest, there was enough of grief and +to spare in their conversation, besides Marmaduke's death--over which +the Princess was vaguely sympathetic--since, though he had been a +British soldier, he had, by the decree of Providence, not drawn his +sword as an enemy. And Marrion had been as an angel of mercy healing +Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics without distinction. Had she not +closed the eyes of her own father? + +"I knew that he was dead," said the firm old voice, "though he was +only reported as missing; for he came back as the children of this old +house always do come back to see it once more. Alexis and Danish both +came also--they were fine young fellows, and I wept when the news +came; but they died as Pauloffskis should die, fighting for the +master. And I have wept--dear heart! how I have wept to think that +never again would a real son of the real race rule over the barren +acres; for, see you, there are no near collaterals. The Pauloffski men +die young, fighting, as my sons and grandsons died. But now"--she +clasped her hands ecstatically--"now there will be an heir." + +"Supposing it is a girl," suggested Marrion, half laughing, half +crying. + +The old woman swept her hands out in an indignant unconcern. + +"What matters it? A child is ever a child! Ever a chip of the old +block, ever a fresh root of an old race. We have no Salic law here in +Russia. A princess is as a prince; mayhap better for the old acres, as +she does not spend so much money!" + +Marrion, accustomed to the rigid rules made by men, listened amazed +and interested; but indeed every word that fell from Princess +Pauloffski's lips seemed to tighten the bond between them. + +She had often wondered when she found herself--as she had done so +often--at loggerheads with her _milieu_ whether she was like her +father. Now she knew that she had inherited even her faults from this +strange weird old woman who lived a lonely life amongst the pine +forests, who saw dead people and yet ruled her domains with absolute +despotism. Marrion had never had a really intimate woman friend +before. She found one here, and, as if by magic, all her doubts and +fears vanished. There was but one thing she kept to herself, and that +was the possible difficulty which might arise in proving the future +little Prince or Princess Pauloffski's title, if legal proof of his or +her parents' marriage was not forthcoming. But it was only a possible +difficulty. For all she knew in this land where women seemed to stand +equal with men, a right coming to a child through its mother might be +inalienable. She did not know. She did not care to ask. For the time +being, she was happy as never before in all her life she had been +happy. The ten days' paradise with Duke had not been of this world. +But even so it had been restless. The happiness had been felt. Here +one did not think, did not feel. One was content. + +So she wandered with the old Princess, her grandmother--who, though +she was past eighty, still walked like a girl--through the pine woods. +She visited the peasants' cottages where, after voluble discoursings, +the women always fell at her feet and worshipped her. She came back to +frugal meals and quiet evenings, when the Princess would discourse +over every subject under the sun; for she was a great reader and +brought a shrewd feminine wit to bear on most problems. And the most +startling thing about it was that never for one instant did she admit +the slightest inferiority due to her sex. + +"Men think so," she would say, "but they are wrong. By nature they are +hunters and fighters and thinkers. It is the women who manage the +affairs. It will be better for the world when this is recognised." + +In those days this was rank heresy, and even Marrion hesitated to +admit its truth. But the most remarkable thing about her grandmother +was the stable youthfulness of her outlook. Nothing seemed to affect +it. Death itself made way for her strong personality. + +So the days passed to weeks, the weeks to more than a month, and +Marrion still lingered. A very different heritage this from the +storm-set cliffs, the rich fields of Aberdeenshire. And a different +ancestress this from the wild, wicked old man, spinning his +spider's-web round his very children. + +Should she, after all, go and ask him to let her break her promise for +the sake of the heir? Would it not be better to let the heirship of +evil slip, and choose the heirship of good? + +The question was still undecided when, after many delays, she set foot +on English ground again. And then the first thing to meet her eyes in +the newspaper was the death of Marmaduke, sixteenth Baron Drummuir. +There was a whole column about his many virtues; a vague reference to +"sprightly youth" summing up his vices. The article ended thus: "The +title descends to the late peer's third son Peter, who, we regret to +learn, is in a very delicate state of health. None of the late lord's +sons having any issue, the heir presumptive is a distant cousin, etc." + +Marrion felt vaguely relieved. Unless Andrew Fraser turned up--and he, +she knew, if he saw Marmaduke's child, would move heaven and earth to +establish his claim to the title--she was quit of Drummuir. But had +she any right to be quit of it? The old arguments for and against came +back; she began to worry over them once more, especially when the +verdict of the Edinburgh specialist to whom she told her tale with +passionate assurances that a child's life was always more valuable +than a woman's, came succinctly and to the point. + +"In this case, my dear lady, the question does not appear to me to +enter. With care I see no reason why both should not survive." + +It was something of a shock, for it materialised many doubts, many +difficulties. + + + + + CHAPTER XII + + +The spring had passed to early summer when Marrion, with her little +son in her arms, sat in a sheltered nook among the cliffs on the +Aberdeenshire coast, looking northwards over the curved sea-line +towards the promontory some fifteen miles away, on which she knew the +old castle of Drummuir stood as it had stood for centuries. But she +could not see it with her physical eyes, and even in her mental ones +it bulked but little. + +For the great protective possession of motherhood had overwhelmed her, +and her very regret and remembrance of Marmaduke only made her hug her +child closer--as his, and hers. + +At first when she realised that life spread before both her and the +little Marmaduke she had agonised over the thought that by her own act +she had deprived him of his birthright; but by degrees she became more +content as she persuaded herself that that fateful envelope could +scarcely have remained in Marmaduke's despatch-box without his +knowledge. Yet he had never mentioned it. If he had repented of the +action which at the time he had said made him feel like a scoundrel he +could have amended it. And he had not done so. Never, never had he +breathed one word to show that he held her, whom he had so tardily +learnt to love, as his wife. + +And here in her chain of reasoning she always stopped; for she knew--how +could she help knowing?--that if he had lived--if--if---- Always that +if, and if life had to be lived, it must be set aside. And life had to +be lived. + +This brought her back to the child in her arms, and she dreamt happily +enough of the future. + +It was not as if the boy had no home. As long as Princess Pauloffski +ruled over the pine woods, the quaint homely farmhouses, and the +devoted peasants, little Marmaduke would have more than welcome; for +every week brought ecstatic letters from that entrancing personality +which had already made such a mark on Marrion's character. In a way +she felt that she had never understood her own womanhood until she had +met with the all-embracing femininity of the brave, wise, old mind +which seemed to hold a grip of the whole world in its very isolation +and solitude. + +Yes, the child could have no better home; and even when the +commanding, lovable figure passed, it might be that he would remain as +heir. + +So Marrion was in a fever to have the child there, yet at the back of +her mind was a vague regret; and she had chosen the little +Aberdeenshire fishing village as the place for her convalescence +because from it she could see the view of her childhood and +girlhood--see right away to Rattray Head and beyond it----? The North +Pole! + +She was not afraid of being recognised. Fifteen miles in the country +effaces all familiarity, and she kept much to herself, taking the +child down with her day after day, to some sheltered sandy nook, where +in the hot June weather she could sit and dream--rather idly, it must +be confessed, for the sheer delight of living to have a living child +had absorbed her mind. So the days passed, until for the last time she +carried it down to her favourite beach. + +The dry warm sand was a perfect cradle for the child. She scraped a +little hollow in it at her feet, laid her treasure down, and sat on a +boulder beside it, in absolute worship. The waves, always restless on +the North Sea, tinkled a lullaby on the rocks hard by. + +She was roused by the sound of a footstep. So few folk ever passed +that she looked up surprised. Then she gave a glad cry and stood up +holding out both hands; for it was Andrew Fraser. He also held out a +hand, for one empty sleeve of his coat was pinned to his breast. He +came rapidly towards her, seemingly unobservant of the child, till +within a few feet of her. Then he stopped dead and stared at what lay +at her feet. + +"I didna know," he said, brokenly at last. "They didna say---- God, +but I'm glad, Marrion! Oh, Marrion, I'm glad!" + +Then without waiting to greet her he knelt down for a closer look. +"He's a real Drummuir," he went on ecstatically, "and he is Drummuir! +Ah," he added, a trifle irrationally, "that the colonel could ha' +lived to see little Lord Drummuir!" + +Something gripped at Marrion's heart. + +"Don't let us speak of that now, Andrew," she said hastily. "I want to +know--everything--your poor arm----" + +But Andrew for the time being was entranced. + +"It's me," he said, "is wanting to know! And how old will he be? And +why did the doctor fellow no tell me when he tauld me aboot you?" + +It was not easy to beguile him from the subject, but bit by bit +Marrion got from him a sparse account of how, he had been a Russian +prisoner, how he had lost his arm, had been exchanged as disabled, and +in Balaklava had come across Doctor Forsyth, who had given him an +address in Edinburgh where he would be sure to hear of Marrion. How it +was a doctor fellow who had been too busy to do more than supply him +with the name of the village, whither he had come to find---- + +Here Marrion, recognising that all roads must lead to the one point, +took heart of grace and said gently-- + +"Me and my child. It has made me very happy, Andrew. And I am so glad +you found me to-day, for I am going away to-morrow." + +Andrew stood up. + +"Goin' whaur?" he asked sharply. "Tae Drummuir? An' why are ye not +there the now?" + +"Because I have no right there, Andrew," she replied, feeling herself +tremble, despite the boldness of her words. + +"Ye may have nane, woman," he broke in sternly, "but your child has +the right to all! Are ye gain' tae steal it frae him? An' it's +foolishness tae talk your way; ye ken fine that before God and man +ye're the colonel's wife!" + +"That may be," she retorted, "but as I told you long ago there is no +legal proof of it--and I do not choose--I have settled what I think +right, and I can have no interference." + +"An' is it what _you_ wish that is tae take the birthright from an +innocent wean that canna speak for himself?" burst in Andrew +passionately. "I tell ye, Marrion, that neither you nor the +colonel--God rest him for a brave gentleman--have any right tae order +yon poor scrap o' God's makin'. I tell ye he was born to be Drummuir +o' Drummuir, an' Drummuir o' Drummuir he'll be till the last trump!" + +He paused, breathless with anger and resentment while Marrion stood +speechless, the babe between them lying placidly asleep. + +"But Andrew----" she began helplessly. + +"But I'll no thole it," he continued, his whole ugly face aflame +with an emotion which made it almost beautiful. "See here, Marrion +Muir--for that you are--I've lived my life thinkin' ye were abune me, +but ye'll be beneath me if ye steal the very name from that poor +bairn. But ye sall not do it. I'll awa to Peter Muir and tell him----" + +The threat roused her and she turned on him. + +"You can do as you like, Andrew; but it will be no use. You can't do +anything without me. I wish you would be reasonable and listen! We +promised--the colonel and I promised--we both promised--and we +promised each other----" + +"Ye had na the right tae promise!" he interrupted fiercely. "An' I'll +hear nae mair o' your woman's clatter. Yon babe's my master's son an' +Lord Drummuir, sae I doff ma cap to him." + +Which he did in the stateliest fashion, and then stalked away without +another word, leaving Marrion confronted with a host of new +difficulties. + +She lifted the child up and carried him back to her lodgings, feeling +she could do nothing to save the situation. There was little hope of +getting Andrew to listen to--no, not to reason, that had long ceased +to have any part in the strange catalogue of mistakes--but to listen +to what she had to say. + +And what had she to say? Her mind began laboriously on the past, +counting her own mistakes. Why had she done this? Why had she done +that? It was fear that had made her do everything--fear of the old man +who sat like a spider in his web, the old man whom his own son had +wished her to anger, because he had been throughout the villain of the +piece! But would he have been so if she had given him the chance? + +"I am sorry the little chap died; he would have been game." + +The memory of those parting words stung her to the quick. What a fool +she had been I Why had she not gone at once to Lord Drummuir and told +him the truth? She had meant to do so, but she had been too late--too +late! Well, there was no use crying over spilt milk. + +So she sat going over and over the whole thing again, and yet again, +until late in the evening the little lassie of the lodgings brought +her a message that a man who was lying at Mistress McMurdo's was +feelin' ill and would like to see her just for a little. The child +being asleep she slipped over to the cottage to find Andrew Fraser +once more a prey to his old enemy, tropical fever--a quaint, insistent +enemy which, after lying low for years, will seize advantage of any +disturbance of mind or body to reassert itself. + +So there he was, as she had seen him before, trembling and shaking, +with a glitter in his eyes and a flush on his face, lying huddled up +under his military cloak on the sofa. Once again he slipped his feet +apologetically to the ground as he saw her and essayed to stand +straight--a pathetic sight, his body weak, his mind strong--so strong! + +"I'm sorry, ma'am," he said, with studied ceremony, "if I, was +over-heated the day, for you're my master's wife. But it's no oorsels, +ye see. It's just Providence, an' we daurna play Providence. It's +dangerous work. Sae I couldna help it, ma'am. The wean's Drummuir o' +Drummuir----" + +And there he was going over the old ground again and again. + +She could but try to soothe him and leave him, knowing in her +heart of hearts that nothing she could say would ever move him one +hair's-breadth from what he thought right. + +She spent a restless night; she could scarcely do otherwise. + +"Are you gaun to steal the very name frae the puir bairn?" was +sufficient to keep her awake. Once more she found herself in a +maelstrom of doubt. Wearied out, the first blink of dawn rising clear +and lucent over the dark sea seemed to her a godsend. She crept out of +her bed leaving the child asleep, and, dressing herself, wrapped a +cloak about her, and so seating herself on a rock at the very edge of +the cliff within earshot of the cottage where she lodged, set herself +once more to watch the peaceful coming of light, which had so often +brought her wisdom. + +So had it looked that dawning when she and Duke--ah! always, always +she and Duke! How curiously Fate had joined them. Yet she had +disregarded Fate's handiwork even while she had told herself she had +been aiding it. + +Far over in the east the light was growing. So it had grown that +morning when she and Duke swam---- + +She seemed to feel his arm on her shoulders, the touch of her arm on +his neck, the cold kiss of the bitter sea stinging soul and body to +new joyous life. She saw his happy face alight with laughter. + +"Look! Isn't it worth it?" + +Yes, it had been worth it, well worth it! And even as on that distant +June morning while she looked, the restless dark horizon of the sea +seemed to melt and soften, and the path of radiant gold sent by the +first ray of the rising sun seemed to touch her feet and bring her +answer-- + +Yes, life was well worth it indeed! + +Who was she to cavil at what Fate had done? Who was she to worry over +what she thought she had done? Comprehension came to her, she saw a +clear and ordered sequence in which even her mistakes bore their +fitting fruit. Life seemed to hold no cares, no errors, no +animosities. + +What was it Duke had said about taking too much wine that night? + +"I shan't do it again, but I shouldn't have had this perfectly +stunning time if I hadn't, should I?" + +So it was in her life. She had had joy through her mistakes. She and +her Love had been alone in the Great Sea of Time battling with the +waves as best they could. + +Nothing else mattered. They might be waifs on that sea, but they were +together. + +She slipped to her knees and watched the sun rise. Over how many +mistakes, how many wasted minutes and opportunities and lives! + +Wasted? No--not wasted. Even mistakes had their appointed place. Even +the old man who had made the castle over yonder a spider's-web of evil +was part of the Great Plan. + +Slowly the light grew. The cottages below in the tiny fishing village +began to send up thin blue threads of smoke. The figure of a man or a +woman began to pass along the narrow causeway. And someone came up the +steps towards her cottage, then paused, seeing her. + +"Ye'll be Mistress Marsden likely," he said, "for I've no seen ye +before. There's a saxpence tae pay, but ye can gie it to the lassie +for me till I come back." + +The postman handed her a letter as he spoke and went on his way, for +his round was a long one. + +She looked at the envelope curiously. The original address was almost +undecipherable, being defaced with innumerable new ones, or brief +notices, "Gone away;" "Try so and so." + +Still the name was hers. A bill likely, sent to her old London address +and forwarded to the Crimea and back again. Twice, so it seemed to her +as she tried to decipher the postmarks. + +Then she opened it, noting with a vague spasm of memory that a curious +embossed presentment of foxhounds in full cry ran right across the +flap. Where had she seen that device before? + +Surely on some envelope that Marmaduke-- + +The writing too was vaguely familiar. The writing of a person with +brains, but strangely shaky and irregular: + + +"DEAR MADAM, + +"Since my son Marmaduke has chosen to deprive me of the possibility of +an heir by dying--not even on the field of battle--out at Varna, I +return the enclosed. I don't know why I kept it. To have a hold over +the young man at bottom, I expect. Perhaps for other reasons. One +doesn't often meet women of your description. Anyhow, I haven't. + +"You can now claim your position and dowry, which my d----d cousin can +very well afford to pay. + +"Besides, you are worth providing for; more, at any rate than my Lady +and Penelope, and I have done that. So I die quits; except for my son +Peter. Why didn't he get cholera instead of Marmaduke? I could have +spared him. + + "Yours, + + "DRUMMUIR." + + +The enclosure was the copy of the marriage lines which she thought she +had seen the old lord in the act of destroying as she had left the +room. + +Yes, across the middle fold the beginning of a tear slit the paper. + +She sat with the letter in her hand until the cry of a child made her +rise hastily and go to her task of motherhood. + + + + + L'ENVOI + + +"And you mean to say," said Peter Muir, when he had heard her tale, +"that knowing this imp," he looked at the child she carried, "who is +to turn me out, was on the way you burnt that paper found in +Marmaduke's despatch-box? I give up. Thank God one does not often meet +women of your description!" + +But as he spoke he was looking in the child's face. + +"He will be the image of his father," he remarked at last, "and, dash +it all! but I am glad, yes, glad he's here!" Then, with a shrug of his +shoulders, he turned away. "It will be a sell for the Jews, I'm +afraid, though it serves the horse-leeches very well right!" + +"It need not be a sell at all," replied Marrion. "The child shall have +the title--he must have that--but not one penny of the money shall he +take till the debts are paid, Mr. Peter! I know the law. I have +studied it to find out where I stand; and you are the boy's natural +guardian. I"--she spoke bitterly--"am only the mother. I have no +say. But I am going to buy freedom from you. Live here--promise me +that--use the monies as your own. Keep the old place up for the child; +but I will take him for myself. I will bring him up away from the evil +traditions of this old house, and when he comes back to it, a man +grown, he will be different--even from his father--even, I hope, from +me!" + +So she said then, but as the years passed little Lord Drummuir came +more than once to visit his invalid uncle, for Peter, away from the +excitements of town life, defied the doctors for a time. And from the +Carpathian pine woods the little lad travelled more than once to a +solitary cairn on the Balkan hills by the side of which Andrew +Fraser--who never ceased rejoicing that his plain speaking had shown +Marrion the wickedness of stealing the bairn's name--would tell him +marvellous tales of the dead colonel, his father, and of his prowess +in every way. + +The honest fellow had but one care. The double title was the fly in +the honey-pot, and when the old Princess would ask, "Where is Prince +Pauloffski?" Andrew would invariably reply: "Lord Drummuir is waiting +on his mother." + +Thus the game of life went on and it was well worth it. + +But perhaps, as Marrion often told herself, the honours lay with one +who in that life had been the curse of his family. + + + + + + * * * * * + BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD ENGLAND + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Marmaduke, by Flora Annie Steel + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARMADUKE *** + +***** This file should be named 39857.txt or 39857.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/8/5/39857/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by +Google Books (University of California) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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