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diff --git a/41275-0.txt b/41275-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c53fcde --- /dev/null +++ b/41275-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8187 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41275 *** + + MILES TREMENHERE. + + "For such a love, O Rachel! years are few, + and life is short!"--LOPEZ DE VEGA. + + BY ANNETTE MARIE MAILLARD. + + AUTHORESS OF "THE COMPULSORY MARRIAGE," "ZINGRA THE GIPSY," ETC., ETC. + + + IN TWO VOLUMES. + VOL. I. + + LONDON: + G. ROUTLEDGE & CO., FARRINGDON STREET. + 1853. + + M'CORQUODALE AND CO., PRINTERS, LONDON. + WORKS--NEWTON. + + + TO + ERASMUS WILSON, ESQ., F.R.S. + + IT IS ONE OF THE HIGHEST PRIVILEGES OF AUTHORSHIP, + TO BE ENABLED TO OFFER A PUBLIC TRIBUTE, + HOWEVER HUMBLE, + TO THOSE WHO CLAIM OUR RESPECT: + + THIS BOOK + + IS DEDICATED TO ONE--THE PATRON OF STRUGGLING TALENT, + THE FRIEND OF THE POOR-- + ONE, WHOSE FRIENDSHIP IS AN ESTEEMED HONOUR. + + THE AUTHORESS. + + + + +[Illustration: Departure of Tremenhere] + + + + +MILES TREMENHERE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +"Tick tack, tick tack, tick tack--for ever goes the large hall clock, +until my heart (imitative thing!) plays at pendulum with it! Seventeen +long years that clock has been the monitor of Time in this old house. It +commenced its career the day I came into this world, and, faithful to +its trust, not for one hour can I remember its pausing. They say it +ceased its vigilance one day; I do not remember it, but Aunt Dorcas once +told me--only once, for she cried so bitterly that I never liked asking +more about it. It was the one in which I became an orphan! My poor +mother died, and they stopped it because its ticking reminded them of +the day of my birth, when she bade them open her door to let her hear +the friend whose career commenced with my life--the friend who was to +lead me to be good and happy, warning me of every passing hour! Poor, +dear mamma! I wish I had known her--oh, how I wish that _now_!--for +though my aunts and uncle Juvenal are very kind and loving, yet 'tis not +like a mother's love, I feel that--I feel so much yearning for that +unknown thing; it must be so beautiful, but one step below divinity in +its hallowing power; and I, wicked girl, have been chiding the old hall +clock, which she had a fanciful thought to make my twin!" Here the girl +(for such was the speaker) paused awhile in her soliloquy; after a few +moments, she continued:--"But _'tis_ wearisome to sit for days and days, +with only the same routine of events which you have known for years; +even the variety of the past six months offers no amusement. The lawyer, +the parson, and the squire--the squire, the lawyer, and the parson--with +my aunts Dorcas, Sylvia, and uncle Juvenal, each one chanting the +praises of his or her pet. I daresay it is very wrong of me to think all +this; but I don't love them less, my dear aunts, my kind uncle. Oh! +especially him and aunt Dorcas; but I cannot like--rather I should say +_love_--the squire and the young clergyman, even for their sakes. I +didn't want to think of love yet; but they have set me thinking, and now +I am always dreaming of the sort of man I should like. If there be +heroes in the world I should like to find one--such a one as I _could_ +love, tall, handsome, dark, dark! Yes, dark raven hair, and Spanish +eyes, pale and thoughtful, especially"----Here the soliloquy was +disturbed by a shrill voice beneath the window, calling upwards from the +garden, "Minnie, Minnie, child!" + +"That's aunt Sylvia," said the soliloquist quietly. "I will not answer, +for if I do, I know she will want to go for a ramble somewhere, and we +shall assuredly meet the lawyer." + +The voice below continued its summons, but in the distance; the caller +evidently was seeking through the garden. + +"I wonder when my cousin Dora will come," said the Minnie of Sylvia's +seeking again. "And I wonder if she is _very_ handsome; they say +so:--though only three years older than myself, I was always afraid of +her, even as a child. She was so tall and commanding, though but a girl +of fifteen then--now she's twenty; and she looked so stern, with her +proud curling lip which never smiled; even at play, her play was queenly +and condescending. I see her now, when she was at her gymnastic +exercises; how graceful she looked flinging upwards the hoop, which +always returned unerringly to the stick, as if it durst not disobey her +will. _Mine_ often rebelled, and fell yards off; and, whilst I put +myself in a fever to catch it, _she_ was calm and pale, and if she +involuntarily sprang upwards to meet it, with what a calm grace she +lighted on the toe of one of her tiny feet with the obedient toy in her +keeping! There was pride even in that action, for her foot seemed to +disdain the earth. It was the only thing I disliked in Dora, her pride +as a child; it awed me. I hope it will not do so now. I want to love +her. We cannot love where we fear, and I hope she will love me whenever +she comes; and yet I feel so nervous at the thought of seeing her, +though"----Here another voice arose on the ear; this, too, came from +the garden. "Minnie, Minnie; where are you, Minnie?" it said. + +"That's my uncle Juvenal," whispered the girl, peeping through the +window, with its antique panes and narrow casement, "and he's not alone. +I guessed as much. How he _can_ like Marmaduke Burton, _the_ squire, I +cannot imagine." + +"Minnie," cried a soft voice, evidently in the direction of the great +hall clock, "are you up-stairs, dear?" + +"Dear aunt Dorcas," whispered the girl softly; "shall I go to her?" She +moved towards the door of her chamber. At that moment, from beneath her +window, arose a hum of voices, and Sylvia's shrilly tones called, +"Minnie;" then a man's, but a very weak one, and rougher accents, +syllabled her name; these latter ones not calling, but in conversation, +and they said, "Miss Dalzell." The one so anxiously sought sat down, and +laughed gently to herself. "My aunt and uncle, and their pets! Which +shall be mine? Whom shall I marry? Fate, direct me!" and, with a playful +air, she took up a bracelet of large coral from her table, and commenced +counting. "The last must be my choice, I suppose: let's see, coral! Whom +will you favour?" And thus she ran on, a bead for each name: "The +squire, the lawyer, the parson; the squire, the lawyer, the"--here the +string broke, and her lovers rolled in confusion on the floor! "Alas! +and alas!" she cried, with much gravity, surveying the scattered beads, +"none of them? Well, when I _have_ a lover, I'll string him on the +chords of my heart; and when they fail and let him down to earth, why, +_I_ shall be there too, in my grave, my heart's strings broken: that's +how _I_ understand love!" + +"My dear child, why did you not answer me?" asked a quiet-looking, +elderly woman, entering her room. "I have been seeking you every where." + +"Dear aunt Dorcas," said Minnie, throwing her arms tenderly round her +neck; "I was afraid to reply, for my uncle and aunt Sylvia are in the +garden--_not_ alone either--and they would have heard me." + +"Who is there with them at this early hour, dear?" As she spoke she +released the girl's arms, and seated her beside herself on a couch, +affectionately holding both her little white hands. + +"Oh!" rejoined Minnie, "that horrid Marmaduke Burton, and Mr. Dalby, the +lawyer; and I dislike them both so much, _as they appear now_." + +"How do you mean, child?" + +"Oh! why--as--as--lovers. No, not lovers--suitors." + +"Where's the distinction, Minnie?" asked her aunt, smiling. + +Minnie looked down and blushed; then, looking up half timidly in the +other's face, replied, "I think a man may take it into his head to pay +you attention, wishing to marry you, but he does not love you for all +that; and I think, if a man _really_ loved you, he wouldn't talk so much +about it. Mr. Burton says he's dying for love,"--here she smiled +roguishly, and peeped up in her aunt's face; "and he certainly has +nothing of death from grief about him!" + +"Well, the lawyer--what is your objection there?" + +"Oh, he's ten thousand times more objectionable! Mr. Burton is only a +commonplace squire, looking like one in his top-boots, talking like one, +and with a loud voice proclaiming himself lord of the manor, rooks, +hounds, horses, and whippers-in! I don't think he's a bad man, yet there +is something unreadable too about him, which debars confidence in his +goodness; but he's a very disagreeable person, always reminding me of +aunt Sylvia's glass of bark in the morning--an amiable invention, but +most unpleasant to the palate. But Mr. Dalby,--oh! he's quite another +thing!--_thing_ he is; too finical to be a man, too useless to be a +woman, he is a compound of mock sentiment and unamiability; he drawls +out his words, looking you sideways in the face, never giving you a +bold, earnest look; he treats you like a sugar-plumb, and seems afraid +of melting you by the fervour of a full-face regard, and he never has a +kind or charitable word for any one; he's an insinuating creature, but +not _in my case_, as he endeavours to be." + +"Hush, Minnie, you must not judge hastily or harshly." + +"I don't, dear aunt," and she loosed one gentle hand, and put her arm +round the other's neck; "but I have noticed so many unamiable traits in +his character--but aunt Sylvia thinks him perfection." + +"I suppose I must not now speak of my protegé--our young clergyman?" + +Minnie looked embarrassed. "Dearest aunty," she said at last, "I don't +want to marry; I'm very happy: why so earnestly seek for one to take me +away from you all? Mr. Skaife is sincere, I believe, in saying, he +likes me; I like him as an acquaintance, but I shouldn't like to marry +him. He's very good, kind, and charitable, I daresay; but I think he +wants that sacred fire which, in his sacred calling, makes the chilly +approach, to cheer themselves by the glowing warmth." + +"Oh, my dear child! your heart has not spoken, this is the truth; when +it speaks, may it be for a worthy object--that's all I pray. _I_ like +Mr. Skaife: for my sake, dear, try and do so likewise." + +Before a reply could be given, the bedroom door opened with fracas, and +aunt Sylvia suddenly appeared. She was totally different in appearance +to her sister. Dorcas was plump, good-tempered, meek-looking, about +forty-five years of age. Sylvia was some five years her senior; a +little, thin, sharp-faced woman--one whose very dress looked meagre; not +the richest brocade could appear rich on so shapeless an anatomy; it +would trail on the ground, limp, and disheartened from any attempt to +look well. She had the strangest eyes in the world--a dark, dingy, +chestnut brown, of which the pupil was certainly not larger than a pin's +head; thin nose, thin lips, thin hair, hands, and voice, completed aunt +Sylvia--with the addition of the very thinnest mind in the world. It was +like a screw-press; put any thing bulky within it, it was compressed +_instanter_ to a mummy, and thence doled out in such small particles, +that it was inevitably lost in the general mass of which aunt Sylvia was +formed. + +"I declare, Minnie," she whistled forth in her shrilly tone, "you would +provoke a saint; here have I been calling you at the top of my voice +this hour, and you must have heard me! Really, Dorcas, it is too bad; +you always encourage the child--you, too, must have heard me." + +"I have only been here a few moments," placidly answered her sister. + +"Then your conversation must have been most engrossing, for such +deafness to have fallen upon you!" and she looked suspiciously from one +to the other. + +"We were speaking of----" + +Before Minnie could complete her sentence, her door opened a third time, +and admitted uncle Juvenal. We will only say of him, that he was the +bond of union between the two sisters; not stout, not thin, not cross, +not quiet; older by three years than Dorcas, younger by two than Sylvia, +being forty-eight; prim, snuff-coloured, and contented, having but one +desire in the world--the one common to the three, to see Minnie a wife. +A warm discussion ensued between him and Sylvia, relative to some words +which had passed between the squire and doctor, fostered by their mutual +hopes of gaining Minnie, which hope was encouraged--nay, the niece +promised to each--by his patron and patroness. Now, Juvenal came to seek +the cause, and chide her propensity for loneliness; and while he and +Sylvia were warmly debating their disputed points, Dorcas and Minnie +crept out of the room, and the former gained the day this time, for she +and her niece, this latter with only her garden hat on, left the hall by +a side door, accompanied by Mr. Skaife, who had been quietly waiting--it +might have been by Dorcas's cognizance--in a shrubbery through which +they passed on a visit of benevolence. Juvenal and Sylvia, finding the +birds escaped, descended to the garden, when they discovered that the +same thing had occurred respecting the squire and lawyer; both had +disappeared. So the brother and sister sat down to talk it quietly over, +which terminated as all previous talkings on the same subject had done +before--by their completely disagreeing in their respective views, and +consequently falling out; in other words, having a violent quarrel. And +poor little Minnie--the subject of all these commotions--was quietly +walking towards the village with her aunt Dorcas, and _her_ selection of +a suitor, Mr. Skaife, who, to do him justice, was the most sincere lover +of the three; he cared but little whether Minnie were rich or poor, +provided she could be brought by any means to look smilingly upon him. +He was only a poor curate, 'twas true; but then some day he hoped to be, +perhaps, a bishop--Who might say? And in either or any case, he would +have chosen her to share all with him. Perhaps she had been correct in +saying he did not possess the sacred fire necessary for his calling; but +that fault lay to the account of his parents, who had possibly brought +him up to the church as a mere profession, when it should be a voluntary +choice. If, as she supposed, he did not possess the fire necessary for +martyrdom, if summoned to that glory, he certainly _did_ the fire of +love for the fair girl beside him; and while she wished he were any +thing but a lover, both for the sake of a certain pleasure she felt in +his company, and for her aunt's sake, he was wondering whether he ever +should win her?--when?--and how?--and in this mood they walked on. Many +long years before our tale commenced, a certain country gentleman named +Formby and his wife were the residents at Gatestone Hall, the fine +old-fashioned place we have just quitted; they were homely and +primitive, and withal majestic as the oak-panelled walls of the +hospitable home which gave a welcome to many a guest in that portion of +her Majesty's domains called Yorkshire, where the "canniness" of its +inhabitants consists most in the almost unparalleled method they +possess, of winning the way to the heart by kindness and genuine homely +hospitality, of which Mr. and Mrs. Formby were well-chosen +representatives. They had five children--four daughters and one son. +They never troubled themselves as to whether these would marry--that was +an affair of nature, and nature was handmaiden at Gatestone Hall. +However, art--or some adverse god or goddess--crept in, and marred her +course. Of five, only two obeyed her law. Juliana, the eldest, a fine +dashing girl, attracted the attention of the Earl of Ripley at a race +ball; and, six weeks afterwards, became his Countess. The youngest of +all, Baby, as they called her (Jenny was her name, to the amazement of +her family, which appeared impressed with the idea, that baby she was, +and ever would remain), married, at seventeen, a poor half-pay officer +for love; and true love it was. The little god likes poverty best, after +all; he generally nestles there, though the song says otherwise. The +only change this marriage made at the Hall was, the addition of another +inmate to its cheerful circle. Lieutenant Dalzell became located there +for seven months--very short ones they were, too--with his sweet, loving +wife; and there, poor fellow! he died of an old wound won in India, +which shattered an arm, and obliged him to quit the service. Poor Baby +cried like one; nothing could console her, not even the birth of Minnie +some months afterwards: so she cried herself into the pretty green +churchyard, beneath a yew-tree, beside Dalzell; for, poor girl!--almost +a child still when he died--begged so earnestly that they wouldn't shut +up her William in the cold stone family vault, but put him where the sun +might shine upon him, and the green grass grow, that he had a grave +under the bright canopy of heaven, and there, beside him, Baby lay; and +only that day, and the one of his death, did the old hall clock cease +its rounds by her desire. Then Mr. Formby soon followed, and his wife, +leaving three unmarried children, and these three we have seen as +bachelor and spinsters still. Whatever the two sisters may have thought +of matrimony, assuredly Juvenal had given it no part of his dreams by +day or night. _Their_ spinsterhood might have been involuntary of their +inclinations, but there was no law to prevent his asking; and, had he +done so, assuredly he might have had some one at all events, for, though +not a rich man, he was Lord of Gatestone, which would only pass away +from the grasp of himself or heirs should he die childless, of which +there seemed now every chance. Caps of every possible colour, like +fly-traps, were set to catch him, by all the spinsters and widows of +the neighbourhood; carriages of every description drove up to the Hall, +with inmates perfectly free, able, and willing; but when they left, the +only impression behind them was of their carriage-wheels on the +gravelled drive. Now all these attacks had become considerably +diminished, as time had shown their inefficacy. Strange to say, though +Juvenal had evinced no desire to marry on his own part, all his energies +(they were not legion) were called into play to effect an union for his +much-loved niece; and still stranger, that the three, loving her as they +did love her, should have one only thought in common, and be all equally +bent on the same scheme, which might probably separate her from them for +ever. But it is the course of a Christopher Columbian current in our +blood, to be always desirous of exploring some unknown territory. Such +was matrimonial ground to them, and they felt curious to watch its +effect upon others, personal experience being denied, or not desired by +themselves. Minnie was sadly perplexed among them;--they forced her to +think of marriage, when she otherwise would have been much more +innocently employed; and, unfortunately for them, she had not the +slightest idea of condensing all her thoughts on any one of those whom +they had chosen. The lawyer pressed her hand--the squire conferred the +same honour on her toe, as she stepped on his hand to mount her horse; +and the most sincere, as it is ever the case, stood half awkwardly +aloof, and sighed as he whispered to the winds, which blew it heaven +knows where--"Pretty Minnie Dalzell! I shall never win her; she's too +fair for a poor curate's home!" + +Pretty she certainly was, and fair--fair as the brightest lily tinged by +a sunbeam dancing across, but not staining, its purity. Such was the +tint that flew over her cheek, every moment new and changing; the +prettiest lip, such a short upper one that the mouth scarcely closed +upon teeth of shining whiteness, like a mother-of-pearl shell wet from +the spray, so fresh they looked. Her eyes were of dark violet, with +lashes and brows darker than the hair, the former so long and thick they +were like a setting round a gem; beautiful eyes, which you lost yourself +in looking into, wondering whence came the pure, clear light, which lent +them so much chaste fire--yet they were full of soul too. In the +forehead, the blue veins wandered like silvery streams through a daisied +meadow, giving life to all;--there was the bloom, grace, and poetry of +the rarest and brightest bouquet of flowers ever collected together, in +that noble brow, and in the ever-changing expression of her sweet face; +and above all, her coronet of magnificent hair clustered in rare +brightness;--it was not golden, yet it shone like it; nor flaxen--it had +too much _expression_ in it for that. It was such hair as only a +creature like Minnie could have. It seemed as if an angel had spun it in +the sun, and waved it by moonlight. 'Twas fair, chaste-looking hair, fit +for dew spirit's gems to hang upon. You took it in your hand, and it was +flossy as unspun silk, and this unbound fell to Minnie's heel, and yet +so pliant and soft, that her little hand could bind the mass round the +beautiful head with ease and grace. She was not tall, but about middle +height, perhaps a trifle more; slight, a mere fairy in figure, and the +springing foot scorned the earth like a flying gazelle. Talk of her +marrying a mere mortal--she should have lived when angels are said to +have loved the sons of men. The curate thought of this; so no wonder he +sighed, even encouraged as he was by----Aunt Dorcas. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +It was in the month of June, the early part, when May-flowers still +bloom, and the blossoming trees are not yet in full matronly beauty, but +in their bridal robes, with wreaths of flowers, like robes of dazzling +whiteness, that Minnie and her two companions walked on (for she loved +one and liked the other), her heart giving the rein to all her wild +Arab-colt thoughts of nobility and liberty. _She_ had nothing to +conceal; all was pure and beautiful in her mind, sunny and hopeful. They +were going to visit one of Aunt Dorcas's pensioners, and on Minnie's +pretty arm hung a basket of charitable gifts, truly such, for they were +appropriate to the wants of those for whom they were destined. Gifts of +thought and consideration, not merely donations from a full purse or +plentiful larder. On they journeyed, until a lane appeared before them; +the girl turned down it. + +"Stop, Miss Dalzell," cried Skaife hastily; "we had better cross the +path-field." + +"'Tis longer round," she rejoined; "aunt Dorcas will be tired, and this +is a favourite walk of mine," and she moved on. + +"You should obey your pastors and masters," he answered, smiling, and +yet he seemed embarrassed; "and, as one of the former, I don't +_command_, but may I ask you to cross the path-field, it looks so +inviting with its tall grass; and see, there's a pet of yours--a lark +rising upwards to allure you." + +"Aunty, will it be too far for you? No? then we will oblige our pastor." + +Skaife looked delighted as he assisted Aunt Dorcas over the stile. +Minnie was over like a sportive thistledown blown by roving breeze; +scarcely had she stepped on the other side of the stile when a little +girl followed her, passed, and stopped beside Mr. Skaife. + +"Oh, if you please, good sir," she said, "my mother saw you passing at +the end of the lane, and bade me run after you with this book; you left +it at poor sick Mary Burns's," and the child tendered a book. Both Aunt +Dorcas and Minnie stopped, Mr. Skaife was colouring and confused. "Thank +you," he answered, hurriedly taking it; "that will do." He endeavoured +to pass on. + +"And if you please, sir," continued the child, "mother bid me say, that +after you left Mary Burns at three this morning, she was so much +comforted by your kind words and reading, that she slept for hours, and +when she awoke promised mother never to try and kill herself again." + +"What is this, dear?" asked Minnie, placing a hand on the child's +shoulder. + +"Nothing, never mind, Miss Dalzell," said he; "let us continue our +walk." + +"No," answered she; "I am curious, I wish to know. What was it, dear?" + +"If you please, miss, poor Mary Burns tried to drown herself yesterday, +and Mr. Skaife jumped into the water and saved her, and he sat by her +all the day yesterday, and came again in the evening, and remained until +three this morning, comforting and praying to her, and----" + +"It was only my duty," he replied, now perfectly calm, and in a cold +tone. + +"_Now_ I understand," said Aunt Dorcas, "why you declined dining with us +yesterday;" she felt how much he self-sacrificed in not spending the +privileged hours of dinner near her niece, especially as he was seldom +invited by her brother. + +"Oh, Mr. Skaife!" cried Minnie, her eyes swimming, as she held out her +ungloved hand and grasped his; "forgive me. I have been a wicked, +wrong-judging girl. I said you did not possess the sacred fire necessary +for your calling; forgive me, you are following an example in meekness, +not arrogantly dictating one--forgive me!" + +Skaife could scarcely speak as he pressed her hand. + +"Now," she said almost gaily, to remove his embarrassment, "let me +follow up this wholesome lesson to myself by an exercise of charity: we +will go and see Mary Burns; come, dear aunt;" and once more she was at +the other side of the stile, and half-way down the lane with the child, +before they overtook her. Minnie and her aunt entered the humble bedroom +of poverty, alone. Mr. Skaife left them at the door of the cottage to +pay a visit in the neighbourhood. From a neighbour sitting there, to +take care of the paralytic mother of Mary Burns, they learned that the +unfortunate girl had been driven to attempt the dreadful act of the +previous day, on account of the cruel desertion of one who had led her +from the path of right; he led her into darkness, and left her there to +fight her way through shadows to the end of a dreary maze, without a +word to cheer, or a thread to guide her footsteps. There was no one to +tell her of a far off light, which with much seeking and sorrow she +assuredly would find. Nothing but despair around her, she flew to death, +a sad thing to meet in our unrepented sin! It was to this poor wounded +heart that Mr. Skaife brought life and balm. Though humbled and +sorrowing, the girl was hopeful now; she did not, however, allude to the +one whose desertion had maddened her. Aunt Dorcas forbore questioning +her too closely, seeing her evident desire to withhold her seducer's +name; and poor Minnie sat and wept. She had learned two lessons that +day: not to judge too hastily from a calm exterior, as in the case of +Mr. Skaife's warm heart, and that there are sorrows in this world +leading often to suicide or madness, hybrids of opposite +things--confidence and deceit. They quitted the cottage, promising to +see the unhappy girl shortly, and as Minnie bade her cheer up and not +despond, she leaned over the low pallet of misery, leaving a better gift +in the sight of Heaven than the purse she hid beneath the pillow--a +sister's tear over a fallen sister; for are we not all one large family? +and of children, too, ever learning something new--Earth our school, +Heaven our home--with glad faces to rejoice over our coming thither, +when our weary lessons here shall be over! Mr. Skaife joined them +outside, and, by mutual consent, none alluded to poor Mary Burns; but +Minnie turned smilingly to the young curate, and spoke more kindly than +she had ever done before, as he walked beside her, her aunt leaning upon +his arm. However, they parted from him before arriving at Gatestone, and +the aunt and niece entered the old hall together, to receive a double +fire of indignant reproaches from Sylvia and Juvenal, though the latter +was one who appeared ever more inclined to weep than scold; he became +whining and lacrymose when injured in any way; he did not stand up +boldly to fight his enemy; there was something decidedly currish in his +disposition. "I do think," he began, "that I am hardly treated as master +here; no one obeys or consults me; Dorcas goes out without saying where +she's going, taking Minnie with her; and Sylvia blames me for +supineness;--how can I help it?--and Marmaduke Burton blames me too, and +threatens never to come again." + +"Well, that wouldn't much signify," said Sylvia, bluntly. "I don't like +Mr. Burton; he's cunning and sarcastic; you would do much better to +attach yourself to Mr. Dalby, he _is_ a charming man." + +"I don't like Dalby," hazarded the wretched man in his thin voice; "he +has a significant manner of talking which makes me quite uncomfortable; +I always fancy some one is going to law with me, or that I shall be +forced into an unavoidable lawsuit." + +"Talking of that," said Dorcas, hoping to change the current a little, +as all was more or less directed against herself and niece for their +escapade, "does Mr. Burton say any thing more about his threatened suit +with his cousin, Miles Tremenhere?" + +"Dear me, no!" answered Sylvia; "Mr. Dalby says that affair is quite at +an end; this illegitimate cousin has wisely left the country; they never +hear even of him." + +"I sincerely pity him," replied Dorcas; "it was a sad affair, and his +father was much to blame, leaving him so long in ignorance of the truth; +it was most painful." + +"What's that, aunty?" asked Minnie. + +"Well, dear! the manor-house belonged some eight years since to a Mr. +Tremenhere, a cousin of the squire's, as they call him; this Tremenhere +had an only son, a very fine, noble-hearted young man, beloved indeed by +almost all, though very haughty to those he disliked. He attained his +twenty-first year; the rejoicings were great at the manor-house; you +were at school at the time; a month passed, and the father died; +scarcely was he in his grave, when Marmaduke Burton arrived, a distant +cousin of Miles's (the son), and disputed the property with him. After a +tedious and painful investigation and suit, as no proof could be +produced of Mr. Tremenhere's marriage with Miles's mother, whom he was +said to have married at Gibraltar, Miles lost the fortune, manor, all, +and quitted the country." + +"Poor Mr. Tremenhere!" said Minnie, much affected; "what a dreadful +thing for him! and where is he, aunt?" + +"No one knows, I believe, except it may be one or two persons, tenants +of his father's, who have boldly opposed Mr. Burton in every way for his +treachery, and upheld Miles Tremenhere." + +"Oh, that was nobly done!" cried the girl enthusiastically. + +"What do you mean by treachery?" exclaimed Juvenal and Sylvia in a +breath; both joined together in one common cause against Dorcas, who +indeed was only kin by name. + +"Well, I call it treacherous, mean, and wicked," she answered decidedly, +"his having been Miles's companion and playfellow from youth, and indeed +in the house but a few weeks before old Mr. Tremenhere's death; and +scarcely was the breath out of his body, when he put forth a legal claim +to the property as next heir, which claim had been prepared, as it was +proved, months before the old man's death." Minnie sat thoughtfully +listening, but her colour came and went, like the sun passing over a +landscape on a showery day. + +"It is very evident," said Sylvia sarcastically, "why you mention this +_now_ before the child--to disgust her with Marmaduke Burton; it is kind +and sisterly towards your brother, who desires the match." Sylvia gained +two things in this speech--she never spoke unadvisedly. She pointed out +the squire's position more forcibly to her niece; and also, by a +counter-stroke, enlisted her unseeing brother on her side. + +"Exactly so," whined he; "but that's always the way with Dorcas; she's +very cunning." + +"I'm sure dear aunt is not that," cried Minnie, starting up, her face +glowing, and putting an arm round her neck. + +"What business have you interfering?" exclaimed Sylvia; "you should +listen, and say nothing." + +"Aunt Sylvia," said the girl, calmly reseating herself, "as it seems all +this discussion is about me, I am forced to speak, and say, too, that +I'd die rather than ever marry Mr. Burton!" + +"That's your doing," rejoined Sylvia, nodding at her sister. "I'm sure +Juvenal has reason to be obliged to you; and as regards you, Minnie, I +sincerely wish you were married, for you are the cause of discussion and +dissension every day, not here alone, but between friends. There's +Marmaduke Burton and Mr. Dalby, who were inseparables until you returned +six months ago from school, and now they scarce speak civilly to one +another!" + +"Were they friends?" asked Minnie, opening her eyes, "Oh, then--" she +did not finish the sentence, but the curling lip spoke what she meant. + +"Can the child help that?" said Dorcas, deprecatingly. Sylvia felt as if +she had been an indiscreet general, and was on the point of retorting +with acrimony, when a step was heard on the gravel outside the window, +and one of the subjects of the recent debate walked in--the squire. + +"Here I am again," he said, familiarly leaning on the window-sill; "came +round through the shrubbery. Oh! Miss Dalzell," and he moved his hat, +"this is indeed a pleasure; one seldom sees you." + +Had love called up the blood from her heart to her cheek, a lover might +indeed have rejoiced in the glow; as it was, the bright flush, coloured +brow, cheek, all, and the lip curled, and eye fixed cold and stern, +shedding an icy hand of scorn over that young face, as she merely bowed +her head in reply. Marmaduke bit his lip, then turning to Dorcas, said, +blandly smiling, "And you too, Miss Dorcas, are a stranger; I trust I +see you well?" + +"Quite so, I thank you," she quietly rejoined, "Minnie and I have been +strolling out together." + +"Did you call upon Mrs. Lilly?" asked Sylvia. "I promised to do so: she +will think it unkind." + +"No," replied her sister; "we did not go near the village." + +"We went," said Minnie, raising her head boldly, "with Mr. Skaife, to +see a poor girl he saved from drowning herself yesterday." As she spoke, +somehow her eye fixed itself on the squire; her thought in doing so was, +to show him, at all events, no distaste on her part to the society of +another, however she might avoid _him_. Was it annoyance at this +decision of manner which made him turn so pale, and his voice tremble +slightly, as he inquired, "May I ask where?" + +"It was poor Widow Burns's daughter," answered Dorcas; "it is a sad +affair, but, thank Heaven, Mr. Skaife saved the poor girl's life!" + +"Shot! Shot!" called Burton, quitting the window on which he had been +leaning, and turning to seek his dog; "here, sir; come here; lie there!" +and the animal howled beneath the lash of his master's whip. When he +returned to the window he was calm as usual, cold and sinister in +appearance. + +"Won't you come in, Burton?" asked Juvenal, going to the window, which +looked over the wide-spreading lawn, with its old, majestic trees in +clusters, and the cattle browsing beneath them; "won't you come in?" + +"No, I thank you," he replied carelessly. "I merely strolled this way to +inquire about Miss Dalzell's health in person, as I have so seldom the +pleasure of finding her at home. Charity, that cold dame, has much to +answer for, in depriving us, as she does, of her society." + +"You would scarcely term her _cold_," answered Minnie, "had you +witnessed the gratitude of Mary Burns to-day, towards Mr. Skaife." + +"'Pon my word!" rejoined he, in a cold, cynical tone, "your parson, +Formby (he addressed himself to Juvenal), is a _preux chevalier_; +something new in the colour of his cloth!" + +"Is humanity new?--or his act unbecoming his calling?" quietly asked +Dorcas. + +"I am scarcely competent to answer you. _I_ have a great dislike to +display: things quietly done, in my opinion, look most meritorious." + +"Oh!----" Minnie began. + +"Pray, let us change the subject," said Sylvia angrily. "I'm tired of +your charities and drowned persons. It always happens that the one who +saves, manages most cleverly for his deed to be known where he thinks it +will benefit him." + +"For shame, Sylvia!" said Dorcas. + +"Of course," rejoined Burton, with an uncertain, uneasy glance, "you had +a pathetic account of the cause; the poverty, the----" + +"It was not _poverty_ alone," answered Dorcas; "but, with your +permission, we will drop the subject." + +"'Tis best," he replied carelessly; "these people are tenants of mine, +and, I fear, bearing no very good name: we must get rid of them." + +"Talking of that," asked Juvenal, "have you succeeded in ejecting that +fellow Weld?" + +"No; I fear it will be impossible. His lease is good, and was only just +renewed for twenty-one years when----" + +He paused: something withheld him from uttering the name of Tremenhere +that day: Minnie's speaking eyes were fixed upon him. + +"Ah! yes; I see," rejoined Juvenal; "it is very annoying." + +"The impertinence of a low fellow like that, must be galling," suggested +Sylvia. + +"What is he guilty of?" asked Dorcas, who was nearly as much in the dark +about many things as Minnie herself, associating as little as possible +with the squire or Mr. Dalby. + +"Why," answered her brother, "fancy the insolence of one of Burton's +tenants, whose grounds adjoin his own, who presumes to pass him without +even touching his hat; and had the audacity to try and raise a +subscription, to which he offered to give largely (for him--being only a +small farmer), to find out the impostor, Miles Tremenhere, and support +his claims in another suit to recover the manor-house!" + +"Such audacity, indeed," chimed in Sylvia, "in a low farmer!" + +"I wonder," said Minnie, looking up in seeming calmness, but the warm +heart beat, "whether the smooth-barked poplar has more sap in it than +the rough gnarled oak?" + +"Good gracious, child!" answered Sylvia tartly; "what do _you_ know +about trees?" + +"I was not thinking of _trees_, but _men_," rejoined the girl quietly. + +"Then what did you say 'trees' for?" asked Juvenal, surprised. + +"Because, uncle, they represented men to my thought. We know that +education and associations refine; but I wonder, whether the rougher +class of men was created nearer the slave or brute than the poplar of my +thought; whether men are slaves by birth, or to a superior force which +makes them such, and makes them bow even their free opinions in +subjection to a mightier, not better power." + +"Minnie, dear!" cried Dorcas taking her hand, startled by her unusual +warmth. + +"I see Miss Dalzell is rather ruffled to-day," said Burton, taking off +his hat; "so I will say adieu. Ladies, your servant; Miss Dalzell, I +kiss your hand, even though it smite me: Formby, will you give me a call +to-morrow?" and, without awaiting a reply, he whistled his dog, and +hurried away. It would be vain to attempt portraying all the +indignation lavished by Juvenal and Sylvia on their niece, who sat, +however, tolerably calm beneath the fire. She was used to these +discussions, and these perhaps, and the necessity of upholding her right +against being forced into an unhappy marriage, had made her more +thoughtful, and less girlish, with them than her age warranted; with +Dorcas, she was an innocent child, and this was her nature. With those +where she felt the necessity of calling her firmness into play, she +became almost a thoughtful woman; and while they discussed, Marmaduke +Burton's thin, tall, spare figure walked thoughtfully homewards, and the +narrow brow contracted still more over the small grey eye, which, with +the high Roman nose, gave him the appearance of a bird of prey. He was +only thirty, but looking some years older; he had assumed the dress of a +country squire with the assumption of that title, and one was as illegal +as the other, and sat as uneasily upon him. The top-boots seemed ashamed +of his thin legs, and shrunk from them. Those things generally grace the +jovial country gentleman, yeoman, or farmer; on Marmaduke Burton they +were as misplaced, as ringing a swine with gems, to give a homely +metaphor to a homely subject. There is one person at Gatestone to whom +we have not yet introduced our readers; let us hasten to repair the +omission. This personage is Mrs. Gillett, the housekeeper. All three, +Juvenal, Sylvia, and Dorcas, involuntarily bowed down to her opinion. +Why, it would be rather difficult to define, except, perhaps, that as a +matron she acted powerfully and sustainingly on these spinster and +bachelor minds. Whatever occurred to any of them, was immediately laid +before Mrs. Gillett to decide upon; she was the repository of all their +secrets, and, strange to say, never betrayed one to the other; she heard +all, kept all, and _agreed_ with all--consequently her position was both +difficult and dangerous. Sometimes she met with an unforeseen rock, one +of those we not unfrequently may have been called upon to pass over on +the beach going to or from a boat at low tide, covered with seaweed, +wet, slippery, and full of holes, in which the sea water has lodged. +Well, over one like this Mrs. Gillett often had to pass; she slid right +and left, sometimes her shoes filled with water as she stepped into a +hole; at one moment she was _nearly_ falling into the sea, but somehow +Mrs. Gillett got safe to the end of the rock, dripping and uncomfortable +'tis true; but she gained her boat, and put out to sea, the oars at full +play, and the sail at the prow, like snow in the sun, all 'taut,' as +sailors say, and 'bellying out' gallantly before the wind. To sum up her +character in a few words, she was the essence of a thousand weathercocks +infused into one. Even Minnie owned a sort of deference for this busily +employed dame; but this was scarcely to be wondered at, it had grown up +with her, and been originally engrafted on her childish mind by means +common and pleasant to childhood--namely, sweetmeats and sugarplums. +Mrs. Gillett had the very snuggest housekeeper's room in the world, +looking into the extensive kitchen-gardens at the back of the hall, and +thither flocked her votaries. She was a woman of nearly sixty, but +robust and active; no modern fashion had disturbed her style of dress; +her 'gownd,' as she still termed it, was three-quarters high, the +gathers behind were set out by what old-fashioned ladies term 'a pad,' +that is, a thing like a quarter of a yard cut off a sand-bag at the +bottom of a door; the whitest muslin handkerchief in the world was +pinned across her well-conditioned bust, confined close to the throat by +a brooch set round with pearls, containing a lock of the defunct Mr. +Gillett's hair; her cap was of lace like snow, high-crowned, ribbonless, +but with broad lace strings pinned _exactly_ in the centre by another +brooch smaller than the first--a sort of a hoop, the first, as she told +every one, that she had ever possessed. Storr and Mortimer might not +admire it, but she did. A white apron completed this attire, not a +Frenchified thing with pockets, but a genuine old English one, gored and +sloped, perfectly tight all round. As she sat in her high-backed chair +giving audience to her visiters, she was a picture. She was the only +person who had advocated the cause of matrimony to Juvenal--it was +dreadful to her the idea of the old place passing away to another branch +of the family. When her bones had been more capable of locomotion, she +had visited all the neighbouring housekeepers for miles, on some pretext +or another, to find a wife for Juvenal--but in vain. His bent was not +matrimony for himself, and he cared but little who should inhabit +Gatestone after his death. His sisters were strangely indifferent, too; +they did not like the place especially, and, should they survive him, +proposed residing on a small property of their own near Scarborough. +Thus all their united energies were directed towards the settlement of +their niece. She was their plaything, just as her poor mother had been +eighteen years before. Mrs. Gillett's advice was perfectly conscientious +when given; she only thought of the immediate case before her, without +reference to any other prior claim which might have been made on her +attention. Unlike Lot's wife, she never looked back; consequently, had +all followed her counsel, a strange confusion would necessarily have +ensued, where _all_ were bent on the same thing--to marry Minnie, and +each to his or her favourite. She sat in state, her hands crossed over +her portly figure as she leaned back in her chair, and before her sat +Juvenal. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +"Just so, Mrs. Gillett," he said; "just as you say. I am _not_ treated +like the master in my own house; no one consults or obeys me. As for my +niece, she opposes me in every possible way!" + +"Oh! that's a pity, I'm sure," said the commiserating listener, shaking +her head; "that shouldn't be, you know: it's very wrong." + +"So I tell her," continued he, "but she persists in it, and +unhesitatingly insults Marmaduke Burton before my face--something about +some trees; I don't exactly know what she meant, but _he_ did, and +walked away quite offended." + +"Trees?" asked Gillett, musingly; "trees? Ay, that must be it! When +Squire Burton came to the property, he was much in debt, they said, and +he cut down a lot of fine old oaks about the place: don't you call it to +mind, sir?" + +"To be sure I do," he answered, his hair almost on end at this solution +of Minnie's riddle--"What a wicked thing for a girl of her age to say, +on purpose to hurt his feelings, and I was so anxious for the match!" + +"I've always remarked," rejoined his companion, dropping her words one +by one sententiously, "that the children of military men have more devil +in them than others, more quarrelsome-like; depend upon it, 'tis what +they're brought up with." She spoke as if they were young cannibals, fed +upon the trophies of war around a blazing fire; as, says an old song +there, "Where my forefathers feasted on the blood of Christians." + +"Very likely!" ejaculated Juvenal, who was growing prosy and stultified +by her reasonings, and his own over-thinking. + +"And yet her father was a poor, maimed, one-armed man after all, not at +all like a soldier. I often wondered how Baby, poor child, could love +him!" + +Juvenal evidently thought that a son of Mars should, literally and of +necessity, be a man of _arms_. "But what's to be done with Minnie?" he +uttered thoughtfully. "It would be very dreadful were she to marry the +poor curate, or even the lawyer; for her own fortune is a mere trifle. +Almost all her mother's portion was spent in paying off Dalzell's debts. +I am living, and am obliged to live, quite up to my income; her aunts +can give her nothing until their death. What is to be done, Mrs. +Gillett? pray, advise me how to act?" + +"I'd lock her up," whispered Gillett, "and not let her see any one +else." + +"But myself?" he asked; "what good would that do?" + +"No, not you--the squire. Don't let her go about with her aunts. One +wants the lawyer to have her; t'other, the parson. Lock her up; it's +just the way to tame a high spirit, and make her like the man!" + +"Well, so I've thought too, Mrs. Gillett, but there would be a dreadful +outcry were I to attempt it. How is it to be done?" + +"Well, give her, say a month, to decide; and if she don't say Yes, then +do it, and she'll soon come to. You are her guardian, and have a right +to know what's best for her." + +"So I will! so I will! your reasoning is most excellent; but don't give +a hint to my sisters, or I shall have my scheme frustrated." + +"Not for the world, sir; and I again beg of you not to name _my_ advice +to any one, or I shall lose all the confidence of the others." + +"Rest perfectly satisfied, Mrs. Gillett; I have too sincere a respect +for your excellent counsels, to risk the loss of them owing to any fault +of mine;" and he whispered, rising, "Don't let any of them know I have +consulted you." + +This the dame cheerfully promised, and she faithfully kept her word. To +do her justice, Mrs. Gillett meant no harm--far from it. If, in the +almost torpid indifference of her heart towards others, there arose +sometimes another feeling, it was certainly to do good, not evil; but +there was predominant above all else, the love, the ambition of +domination, that heaven to the narrow-minded--she held the reins of +government of all; this was her glory, not calculating, or indeed +caring, how obtained; she was an unconsciously dangerous woman--in her +heart meaning no harm, certainly. Juvenal quitted her, resolved to watch +for and seize the first excuse given, to coerce Minnie to his wishes; +and a more erring path a man never selected. Minnie would do any +thing--might have been induced to take any step (not faulty), by +kindness, or from affection; but her spirit was of that nature which +would make her stoutly rebel against oppression. Mrs. Gillett smoothed +her white apron, puckered up her mouth, folded one hand over the other, +and composed herself to take her afternoon's nap; and Juvenal walked +away, strengthened in mind by his counsellor's advice, and like a +galvanic battery, full charged, prepared to electrify poor Minnie the +first moment they came in contact. In this state of affairs days went +by: Juvenal watched in vain for open rebellion; his niece was too well +occupied elsewhere, to give herself the trouble of opposing any +attention the squire might choose to pay her. When our minds are fixed +upon one object, minor things (even if they, under other circumstances, +would be considered evils) pass us by almost unnoticed. However, the +squire had paid only hurried visits to Gatestone since the day we last +saw him there: he seemed pre-occupied about something, and this apparent +coolness on his part, agonized Juvenal, who revenged himself by +persecuting Minnie, and interrupting every conversation, with either the +lawyer or curate, which he fancied possibly agreeable to her. But she, +with perfect indifference, smiled on, unruffled and gay. Minnie had +something better at heart. We have said she was a little self-willed; +and not all the angry expostulations of Sylvia, who had discovered it, +could prevent her visiting the cottage of Mary Burns, who now was +enabled to quit her bed. Accompanied by Dorcas, she went thither almost +every day, to speak comfort to, and fortify that unhappy girl in her +good resolutions. Dorcas was one of those sensible women, who, though +they would not plunge a young, pure mind in impurity, or familiarize it +with crime, yet deem it right and healthful to teach it the beauty of +virtue by its comparison with error, guardedly, advisedly, but +practically shown. Moreover, in this case it was a duty, and that Dorcas +inculcated above all else, to succour and strengthen those in affliction +or temptation. Poor Mary forbore to name her seducer, neither did either +seek to unveil this hidden corner of her heart: the wrong had been +done--how could it alter the case to know his name? The poor girl said, +"Oh, when I knew he had deceived, and never meant to marry me--when he +told me so, coldly and scornfully, I became mad; for that I must have +been, to seek death in my sin!" Then she told Minnie how she had been +brought up, almost entirely, for years at the manor-house, while Madame +Tremenhere (so she called her) lived: but this seemed wrung from her +heart; for, with the words, the clenched hands stiffened, so bitterly +she wrung them, and her lip sternly compressed itself together, to keep +back her tears. She was a girl of manners and bearing far superior to +her station; not decidedly pretty, but quiet, well-looking, and far +above what is termed "genteel." She was ladylike in tone and manner, +showing evidence of gentle teaching and association. Her mother had +once kept the village school; and when she became paralyzed, years +before, Mary had supported her by her work, plain and fancy, which she +disposed of in the neighbouring town, Harrogate, some six miles distant. +She was, at the time our tale commences, in her twenty-fifth year. +Dorcas had taken a deep interest in this girl, and was endeavouring, +through some friends in London, to obtain a situation there for her, +whither she might remove with her poor old unconscious mother. Juvenal +could not lock up Minnie, as Mrs. Gillett had advised him to do, for +visiting this lonely cottage, however much against his wishes, because +Dorcas was a consenting party: he could but grumble, and consult with +his old crony, the housekeeper, who advised him to bide his time; and he +too felt, at her foretelling, that that would soon come. "The Countess +of Ripley and Lady Dora will shortly arrive," she said, "and then Miss +Minnie can't run about as she does." He felt this, too, and waited. But, +in the mean time, his refractory niece sped almost daily to the Burns's +cottage, where, not unfrequently, her young, fresh voice paused in its +gentle, though almost childish, counsellings, or readings, to salute Mr. +Skaife, who came also to visit his poor parishioner; and (truth must be +spoken) a little self-interest attached itself to his visits, for he was +almost certain of meeting the one he sought and loved there. One day +they met as usual: Minnie was alone, Dorcas had not accompanied her: he +had preceded her in his arrival. When she entered the cottage she found +much tribulation there. Evidently, Mr. Skaife was in the confidence of +Mary Burns; it was natural he should be, as the one who had rescued her +from so fearful a death, and also, as her spiritual master, one she was +bound to respect. Minnie found the unhappy girl in a state of the most +fearful excitement. Acting upon what he had said, of their being +improper characters, an order had been brought them that morning by the +squire's steward, to quit the cottage of which he was landlord as soon +as possible. It seemed almost beyond the power of Mr. Skaife to control +the girl's emotion to the standard of reason. When Minnie entered, Mary +stood before her pale and speechless: she stood--yet she seemed almost +incapable of supporting the weight of her body, and, still greater than +that, some heavy affliction. For some moments she could not reply to the +other's kind question of, "What had occurred?" Mr. Skaife hastened to +reply:-- + +"Oh!" he said hastily, fixing his eye on the girl to subdue her bursting +feelings, as if he dreaded her giving utterance to something; "Mr. +Burton deems it advisable another tenant should have this cottage, and +'tis best thus; Mary must leave; absence from this place is necessary, +for many reasons. I have seen Miss Dorcas this morning, and she tells me +she has succeeded in obtaining an employment for this poor girl in town, +where she can support her mother, and in more healthful scenes and +occupations redeem the past, and forget----" + +"Forget!" she almost shrieked; "forget! and _now_ to-day, when I am +ordered away, and by----" + +"Hush!" interrupted the curate sternly; "remember you are called upon to +suffer; you have purchased that right, however cruelly administered to +you; it is only by pain inflicted that physicians heal." + +"Forgive me, Mr. Skaife," she cried, in a scarcely audible tone; "I have +merited all, but I am only human, and it is very hard to bring down the +spirit to subjection, more especially in my case, when----" + +"Hush!" he said again; and Minnie felt that her presence silenced the +girl's speech. + +"And must you leave this soon?" asked Minnie; "before my aunt has +arranged all for your departure?" + +"Yes," uttered Mary, through her half-closed teeth; "we are ordered to +quit now--at once--to-day!" and, despite her efforts, the excitement of +her previous manner again overcame her. "I am very wicked," she said at +last, in deep affliction and humility, "for I have deserved all; but oh! +Miss Dalzell, may Heaven keep you from ever suffering--though innocent, +as you must be, with your strong, pure mind--what I am enduring; even +guilty as I am, it is almost more than mere human force can bear up +against." + +"You have a kind, good friend here," answered Minnie, looking up in Mr. +Skaife's face; "one whose guidance has led you to better and surer hopes +than those you had relied upon. Think of this, and be comforted. You +will soon leave this, and meanwhile you shall not quit this cottage; _I_ +will ask Mr. Burton to permit you to remain; surely his steward acts +without his concurrence, and when he knows this man's order, he +will----" + +"He!" cried Mary; "he, Mar----, Mr. Burton, I mean!" + +"Pray, Miss Dalzell," exclaimed Mr. Skaife hastily, "drop this painful +subject--oblige me; leave all to me; and if I may without rudeness ask +it, abridge your visit to-day. I will see you this evening, and inform +you where this poor girl is removed to, for leave this she must." + +"Then I will go now," answered Minnie, moving towards the door. "May +I----" + +Before she could conclude her sentence, the cottage door was hastily +pushed open, and a man entered. Mary uttered a wild scream of surprise, +and, springing forward, grasped his hand in both of hers. "Miles," she +cried, as if doubting her sense of vision. "Miles, you, you +here!--forgive me," she uttered, dropping his hand, as if it blistered +hers in the contact, and, stepping back, "I forget myself always _now_, +Mr. Tremenhere. Oh, Heavens!" And she covered her face with her hands, +and burst into tears. + +"Miles--Miles still and ever--dear Mary!" exclaimed the man, putting his +arms around her fondly, and drawing her on his breast, quite unconscious +of, or indifferent to all observers. "Still, my girl, as when a better +than any now on earth sanctioned it." And his voice trembled, yet it was +a fine manly one too, and in keeping with the speaker's appearance. He +was tall, very tall, muscular in frame, but slight, dark-haired, with +dark earnest eyes; a rather projecting but perfect brow gave more depth +to them--it was shade above their intense fire; an aquiline nose of +chiselled outline, a mouth compressed and firm; all combined, made Miles +Tremenhere a portrait worthy the pencil of the most scrupulous of the +old masters. He was quite Spanish in style; for a complexion dark and +bronzed, gave colouring to that face of wild, half-savage beauty, from +its daring, haughty expression. A thick, dark moustache curled down +either side of the mouth, veiling, but not concealing, the line of its +speaking firmness, even in silence. He appeared quite unconscious of the +presence of any one but Mary, like a man accustomed to be alone and +friendless in a crowd. Minnie looked at him, in wonder at first at a +manly beauty she might have dreamed of, but never saw before; then a +sensation of bitter pain came over her, succeeded by the glow of maiden +shame when first brought in contact with guilt; for she fancied Mary's +seducer before her, and she felt shame for one of her sex who could thus +daringly avow it, as Mary's action seemed to do; she made an effort to +creep away, then turning her eyes towards Mr. Skaife, expecting to see +reprehension or anger on his countenance, she beheld a quiet, benevolent +smile cross his expressive, but not handsome, face. She stopped, feeling +in an instant that Mr. Tremenhere could not be the one who had wronged +the girl, for him to look thus. "Mary," continued Miles, still holding +her in his arms. "What dreadful thing is this I hear? I only arrived in +this neighbourhood yesterday night, and Weld, my ever true friend, told +me, to my horror, that you had been rescued from death by some one. +What, Mary, has your fine spirit become so daunted, that a little +poverty could grind it down to despair? Shame on you, my girl! You told +me, when things changed at the old place, that poverty should not quell +_you_; you bade me cheer up, and look to you for courage. Is this your +practice of that excellent theory, Mary?" + +While he was speaking, her head gradually turned from his gaze; in vain +he tried to force her eyes to meet his; she held her face downwards, +and, shrinking from his arms, dropped on her knees, bowed to earth in +bitterness, worse than any death could have been; she had yet to teach +this noble heart to despise her. What could death be compared with that? +He tried to raise her. "Come," he said with the gentleness of a woman, +"I did not mean to scold you; never be cast down with a few rough words +from a rough fellow like myself." + +A hand was on his arm; he started, so forgetful had he become of all +around, seeing only her, for her poor old mother sat in an arm-chair, +perfectly unconscious to all around in hearing, and stone blind--Miles +turned hastily--the smile had changed to a frown. "Mr. Tremenhere," said +Skaife, for 'twas his touch upon him, "do not let me startle or alarm +you," he hurriedly added, feeling the start. + +"Sir!" exclaimed the other proudly, "I neither know fear nor timidity," +and he shook his arm free from the clasp. + +"You mistake me," answered Skaife calmly; "though a stranger to you, +from report I well know, that, but--" he hesitated a moment in +confusion, not well knowing how to continue. + +The poor girl came to his aid, rising slowly, whilst her knees trembled +beneath her from emotion. She advanced a step; her first impulse of +rushing into Miles's arms was passed, and now she durst not touch even +his hand, but stood, and with a wave of her hand motioned to Skaife. + +"Miles," she said, "that is our curate, good, kind Mr. Skaife. But for +him, my poor mother would now have been childless, and probably in the +workhouse--_he_ rescued me!" At the thought of her old mother, +paralyzed, deaf, and blind, in that spectre-house of misery, the tears +dropped from her eyes, which were strained wide open, to try and see +through that crowding flood of despair. + +"I seldom offer my hand," exclaimed Tremenhere, at the same time +extending his towards Skaife, "it has been so often repulsed; but take +it now in warm thanks for what you have done for one, almost a sister." + +All coldness and pride were banished from that fine noble face; his +every feature lit up with the rich, bland smile, which left you almost +speechless with admiration, so exalted the expression became. Two worthy +of each other in heart and mind clasped hands warmly, and looking in +Skaife's face, Miles, whose wrongs had made him a keen observer of +countenance, ever dreading an enemy, with his hand gave a feeling of +friendship which time well matured. + +"Now, I remember," he added, "Weld spoke of your kindness; but my brain +was so bewildered I had forgotten it, and other harsh events to deal +with, prevented my coming over here last night, as I was assured of +Mary's safety by my good farmer friend where I am staying." + +"And now," said Skaife looking expressively at him, "will you accompany +me a short distance, merely across a couple of fields, whilst I offer my +protection as far as her own grounds, to Miss Dalzell." And he turned to +where Minnie stood, almost concealed by the curtains of the humble bed. + +"Miss Dalzell!" exclaimed Tremenhere; and again the first haughty +expression mantled his face with scorn. "Allow me to use the privilege +of my calling," said Skaife, "and take upon me what, as another, I might +not dare assume--the liberty of presenting you to one another,--Miss +Dalzell, Mr. Tremenhere." + +The latter raised his hat coldly, but respectfully, yet he seemed +annoyed at the meeting. + +"Honour Miss Dalzell, for _my_ sake," whispered poor Mary, well knowing +why he looked so troubled; "for she has come here day after day, as an +angel, to visit a suffering creature, and bring balm to a wretched +sinner." The last word was unheard by Miles; he stood beside Minnie, +whose face was covered by a deep blush. + +"This," he said, "has been a day of much surprise, if of sorrow too; I +came, expecting every hand and heart against me--every hand cold, every +heart stone; I have met two generous ones, or faces are sad traitors. +Forgive me, Miss Dalzell, but in your home, the bitterest against me, +the almost dwelling-place of Marmaduke Burton, my _worthy_ cousin, I +scarcely expected to find a bosom with human blood in it; a thousand, +and a thousand thanks for Mary's sake." + +"Mr. Tremenhere has been intimate with my thoughts for some time," +answered Minnie more calmly, "and believe me as friend, not foe." + +"Indeed!" and a bright glowing look was fixed in her face, "I never +dreamed of a personal friend at Gatestone, even in thought. This is +truly the prodigal's welcome home! May I accompany you and Mr. Skaife +across the two fields he named? I know them well! I may? Thank you; +Mary!"--He turned to the poor girl, and his face saddened as he +approached her, for she was weeping bitterly; the very floor seemed to +tremble with her emotion, as Skaife whispered lowly to her--"Mary, I +will return soon--soon, my girl; don't be so cast down, better times +will come for all. Hope, Mary; _I_ do to-day," and he grasped her +reluctant hand, "just a few moments, and I will return." + +Skaife whispered, "Remember your solemn promise to me, to Heaven. He +_must_ know all; cheer up, poor girl, I am sure he will only feel _pity_ +for you!" _Only_ pity where we were once loved and respected, is indeed +an icedrop on a burning surface, soon passed away, soon absorbed, and +not long even the memory of it left. + +Minnie, Tremenhere, and Skaife, passed out. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Tremenhere had two distinct characters; with those he disliked, he had +more than the coldness ascribed to Englishmen in general; there was +something almost despotic in his manner. With those to whom his +affections kindled, he was not alone gentleness itself, but forbearing, +bending, loving, the almost habitual frown quitted his face, and left it +youthful, bland, and joyous in expression. Poor Miles! he had suffered, +and been made to endure, keenly; he had been forced to graft suspicion +on a noble nature, and this destroyed the bud of much good fruit. There +was so much wild nature about him, that not unfrequently the usages of +society suffered from his bluntness; what he thought, he spoke freely. + +"Miss Dalzell knows, I presume," he said, as the three entered the +path-field, "my history--as I was--as I am?" + +"But slightly," she answered, rather embarrassed. + +"Well, 'tis best, perhaps, little known to one so young and pure as +yourself. It would show you a capability of vice in the human heart, +which you may never discover in your personal career--so better ignore +it; it might, too, tarnish your mind's purity, to see so dark a current +in a life's ocean; but what I wished to allude to, is this, when I +first saw you, and heard your name mentioned, it recalled you to me as +one whom I have recently heard of as the elected bride of my hopeful +cousin, Marmaduke Burton. My first thought of you was darker than +dislike--'twas contempt; no good, true heart could love that man for +himself." + +"Stop, Mr. Tremenhere," cried Skaife hastily, and in evidently painful +emotion. "Do not judge harshly what woman's weakness or love may lead +her to forget, or forgive, for herself or another." + +"Good heavens, Mr. Skaife!" cried Minnie, amazed and in almost horror; +"what do you suppose?" + +Skaife had forgotten her, he was thinking of another. Tremenhere stopped +suddenly, and flushed deeply, as he fixed his earnest eyes on her-- + +"Have I, can I have been mistaken? Has my own wary judgment in general, +deceived me this once? I thought," he almost uttered these last words to +himself, "no one could cheat my watchfulness now." + +"Mr. Tremenhere," exclaimed she in much embarrassment, yet anxious to +cast from her a garment so hateful as the one which should cloak her as +Burton's wife in his or any eyes, "I may be speaking boldly for a girl, +and to you, a stranger too, but I would not have any one suppose, much +less you, an injured man, that I can ever become your cousin's wife. Mr. +Skaife, pray assure Mr. Tremenhere you did not allude to me!" + +"Indeed," said Skaife, much puzzled by his own awkwardness, "I had +forgotten all present; I will explain my meaning to you," and he turned +to Miles. + +"Oh!" answered this man again, reassured in confidence, and smiling his +own peculiar smile on Minnie. "I ill deserve this kindness, this haste +to soothe my wounds. Believe me, they are deep and cankering when I +think of Burton, not for myself, but another. You have been so Christian +in kindness to poor Mary, that I could not bear, Miss Dalzell, to +associate any one I respected in even my thoughts with that traitor. +Thought," he continued, musingly, "is a gift of the soul; you will +inhabit mine, linked with that unfortunate girl, whom I much love." + +"Am I to understand," asked Skaife aside to him in surprise, "that you +know all?" + +"All?" and the other stared, astonished at the question to himself. +"Could any know it better? what else has again brought me to this place? +what drove me from it?" + +"Then, indeed, you are to be pitied, Mr. Tremenhere--deeply pitied; but +I feared something of this, from your emotion in the humble cottage we +have quitted." + +Skaife was playing with shadows of his own creating. He fancied +Tremenhere loved Mary, with whom he had been brought up from childhood; +and he also thought he (Tremenhere) knew all her painful story. Skaife's +last words demanded an explanation. Before the other could ask it, +Minnie uttered an exclamation, and over the stile, the last one, near +which they stood, struggled Mrs. Gillett--for struggle it was--whether +she should overcome the stile, or the stile lay her in the ditch. +However, she arrived safely on the side where stood the three, +smoothed her dress, settled her apron, picked up a patten which she had +dropped (she always carried these, even in the finest weather, to cross +the brooks on,) and then she looked up over her spectacles, which were +on the tip of her nose, and stood transfixed. At a glance she knew Miles +Tremenhere. Mrs. Gillett had one excellent quality--she was no +talebearer; she kept circumstances to herself; they only oozed out in +imperceptible drops in her counsellings, making her seem an OEdipus +for soothsaying and guessing. Her hearers were amazed when truths came +to light which she had foretold, without any seeming foreknowledge of +them: herein lay her strength and power over all. "Mussiful powers!" she +mentally said; "here's a pretty business! What am I to do with _him_?" +She was thinking of all the lovers for Minnie she had already on hand, +with their leaders. Skaife was the first to recover self-possession. +"Perhaps, Miss Dalzell," he said, "you will allow me"--he did not say +"us," for Mrs. Gillett was, perhaps, ignorant who Tremenhere was; he +might seem as a stranger to Minnie in her eyes--"to hand over my escort, +however unwillingly done, to Mrs. Gillett; and I and my friend (he +glanced at Miles) will continue our walk of business." + +But Tremenhere stepped boldly forward; something more than his usual +candour forbade disguise, even if practicable: "Mrs. Gillett," he said, +"you and I are old friends. Surely you remember the 'sweet youth,' as +you were used to call me when I visited Gatestone and your cosey room +there!" + +Mrs. Gillett shrunk back--she was on her slippery rock: had they been +alone, she would gladly have spoken to Miles, before witnesses she durst +not. She looked down, and, affecting not to hear, stooped, resting on +one toe to support her knee, on which, placing a patten, she very +assiduously begun tying its string. Miles laughed aloud: it was a cold, +contemptuous, unpained laugh. "Miss Dalzell," he said, lowly bowing, and +changing his tone to one of feeling, "I do indeed thank you for to-day, +for all your gentle words. Whenever I revisit this spot, here shall I +pause to salute the shade of one whose kindness will be ever present +with me." He was turning sadly away: "Good bye, Mr. Tremenhere," she +cried, extending her hand; "and when we meet again, may you be very +differently circumstanced to what you are to-day." + +He grasped her hand, and all the speeches ever formed could not have +been half so eloquent, as his tremulous "I thank you deeply and +sincerely, may your kind wish be heard;" and with a sigh, which we often +grant to sympathy, though refusing it to our own hardened feelings, he +turned away with Skaife, who shook Minnie kindly by the hand; it was a +parting of three very kindred spirits. As they walked off, Mrs. Gillett +rose from her occupation. "Your dear aunts sent me to meet you, +darling," she said, glancing round cautiously, "and I always like to +bring my pattens with me; I don't like damp grass, it don't agree with +my rheumatics." At that moment Tremenhere paused in his walk, and turned +round, as if irresolute whether to return, and perhaps say something +left unsaid. Mrs. Gillett saw it, and, once more stooping, she gave a +violent tug to her patten string; she had raised herself three inches +upon those kind of young stilts, which even yet old-fashioned country +folks wear. "Bless the tie!" she cried, bent nearly double, her back +curved like a boy at leap-frog; "bless the tie, it always comes undone, +or gets into a knot--I never see such strings!" Minnie saw nothing of +this; she could not have comprehended Mrs. Gillett's policy; then, too, +her thoughts were more knotted than even the patten tie;--who might +unweave and straighten them? Alas! a few moments will often entangle the +skein of our existence, knotting up hopes, fears, and cares, in one +unravelable mass. Tremenhere turned, and walked on; Minnie had seen the +action, and it troubled her, "What had he wished to say? would he tell +Skaife? could she serve him in any way? poor fellow--poor Miles +Tremenhere!" Every one knows the reputed relationship between friendship +and love; they have a family likeness, and are not unfrequently mistaken +for one another, till the latter pirouettes, and then we find the +arrowless quiver, (_they_ remain with us,) and the extended wings,--who +may clip them? + +"Your aunts were very anxious about you," continued Minnie's companion, +peering over her spectacles to read if the other had read _her_; "poor, +dear ladies, I'm sure it's a great blessing for you to have such +relations in your orphan state; and then your kind uncle, too, he is +more sensible, and judges better what's good for you than any, as in +course he should--in course he should," here she paused, and peeped at +the thoughtful girl. "The lawyer Mr. Dalby's very well," ran on Mrs. +Gillett, "and so is Mr. Skaife--oh, he's a pious young man! and his +sermons are quite edifying; but then, I've always remarked, your very +pious young men don't make _very_ good husbands, or happy homes. A man +should only think of his wife, and how can the clargy do that when +they're the fathers of the whole parish? and I'm sure Mr. Skaife has +enough to do hereabouts, for they are an ill broughtened-up set as ever +I met with, and, as his housekeeper says, when he isn't writin' his +sermons, he's _astonishing_ some one," (_query_, admonishing?) "Now, as +to marrying him, with all his occupation, it might do very well for Miss +Sylvia, or Miss Dorcas, but for a fine young lady like you, why, you +should have horses, and carriages, and servants at command, and be the +grandest lady in the neighbourhood. Then, as for Mr. Dalby, why, what +with latty_cats_, _re_jectments, and briefs, it's but little time _he'd_ +find to pay you proper attention." + +"Mrs. Gillett!" exclaimed Minnie, so suddenly that she almost frightened +her off her pattens, "don't you know Mr. Tremenhere? didn't you know him +as a boy?" + +"Bless me, Miss Minnie, what _are_ you talking of! don't speak of that +dreadful young man, Miss; it's unbecoming a modest young lady to know +there's such a person living." + +"Mrs. Gillett!" and the girl stood still in amazement. + +"To be sure," responded the woman, "he must be a bad character--wasn't +his mother? and how could he be good?--Don't a cat always have kittens?" + +"Mrs. Gillett," cried Minnie, again grasping her arm, and her eyes +looked deepest violet with emotion. "You would be a very wicked woman to +think what you say; that was Miles Tremenhere with Mr. Skaife. I pitied +him before knowing him, and now, if I could by any means see him +righted, I'd lend my hand to the good work, and I do hope some day he +may be at the manor-house again!" + +"That Mr. Tremenhere!" exclaimed the politic Gillett. "How boys _do_ +alter, to be sure!" She evaded replying to the other things said; it +would not do, too decidedly, to take any side of the question; the womb +of Time is very prolific--we never know what offspring it may produce. +They were in the shrubberies of Gatestone by this time; a few moments' +silence ensued, interrupted only by the click-clack of Mrs. Gillett's +pattens. + +"Mrs. Gillett, why will you wear those horrid things on the gravel +walks? you cut them up terribly," said a voice behind them. Minnie +turned, her companion stopped, and stooped to disencumber her feet of +their appendages, by which movement Juvenal nearly fell over her. She +was pitched forward on her hands and knees by the concussion, with a +scream; another picked her up--'twas the squire. Juvenal was evidently +cross, or he would not have spoken so disrespectfully to his matron +housekeeper. + +"I hope I see Miss Dalzell well?" said Burton, offering his hand. + +"Well, thank you," answered she, not appearing to notice it--he bit his +lip, and dropped beside her. + +"I really should like to know where you go every day--where you have +been this morning, Minnie?" asked her uncle crossly. + +"Shall I tell you, uncle?" she answered, and then, without giving +herself a moment to consider possible consequences to herself or others, +with the too hasty candour of a generous mind anxious to espouse the +weaker side, she continued, addressing herself this time to Marmaduke +Burton,--"I've been to Mary Burns's cottage, and there I met Mr. Skaife, +and your cousin, Mr. Burton, Mr. Tremenhere." Certainly she created an +effect; the squire tottered and became ghastly pale, Juvenal looked +amazed and annoyed. "What--together?" he cried. "How came that about? +Where is Mr. Tremenhere? and how dare you become acquainted with that +man?" + +"Your surprise equals mine," said Burton, recovering himself partially, +then added ironically--"Our young curate might do better composing his +sermons, than becoming bear-leader to an impostor, and a man of Mr. +Tremenhere's character. As _cousin_, Miss Dalzell, allow me to disavow +him; he is none such by law, and I have no desire to outstep any bounds +to claim that enviable distinction." + +"I only judge the law of humanity," she replied, in a slightly tremulous +tone; she began to be afraid of the storm of such passions as his face +bespoke working in his frame. "And no man should be condemned for the +faults--if faults there were--of his parents." + +"If faults there were," said Burton, echoing her words. "Allow me, Miss +Dalzell, to reject, in all politeness, the right your speech offers me, +of standing in Mr. Tremenhere's position. He or I am an impostor, a +claimant to an unjust title of proprietorship; besides, there are more +personal faults appertaining to that gentleman, at variance with my +ideas of honour." + +For an instant a doubt crossed her mind about Mary and Miles; could +Burton allude to this? But her heart repudiated the thought. + +"Did he become suddenly so wicked?" she calmly asked. "As boys +together--as men, indeed--up to the period of his father's death, had he +the deep hypocrisy to conceal all this?" + +"Miss Dalzell seems well informed of my history," he said, through his +half-closed teeth. "I cannot but feel flattered by the kind interest it +evinces in me." He bowed low. + +"Really, Minnie," said her uncle, "you have chosen a strange subject; +pray, drop it. How could you have become acquainted with that man? This +comes of your running about alone--it must be seen to, and quickly: Mrs. +Gillett!" The woman stepped forward at his call; and now she blessed her +forethought and policy in having ignored Tremenhere's identity! + +"Mrs. Gillett," said her master, while the other two walked on in +silence, "what do you know about this? You were with Miss Dalzell: where +did you find her, and how?" The woman was quite calm under this criminal +examination--she felt so sure of her innocence. + +"I know nothing of it, master," she said decidedly: "I met Miss Dalzell, +dear child, in the holly field; just as I stepped over the stile, my +patten came undone; I was busy settling it; I saw Mr. Skaife and another +gentleman, but I'm sure I couldn't swear to him; I never looked in his +face--it isn't my custom so to do to them above me, 'specially +gentlemen!" and she smoothed her virginal-looking apron, tied over her +modest heart with wide tape strings. + +Sylvia and Dorcas came out to meet the approaching group. "Where was the +child?" demanded the former at the top of her voice. Juvenal looked, and +was, much excited. "Mrs. Gillett found her," he replied, "with an +improper--a most improper--character!" + +"What a dreadful thing!" screamed Sylvia; "who was it?" + +Dorcas was by the girl's side, calmly speaking, and inquiring the cause +of her protracted stay, which had alarmed them. She knew, however, that +Minnie was not in any wilful harm, yet her affection made her fearful of +ill. We will leave them to their explanations, to which Mr. Burton was +not a witness, having taken his leave hastily of all. Poor Minnie had a +sad trial, and a severe lesson and lecture, the consequences of her warm +heart and candour--two things, bad guides in this world of brambles; +with these her garments would be, haplessly, frequently rent and +disfigured. + +We will ask our readers to step into the holly field with us, to where +we left Skaife and Miles Tremenhere, both of them walking back in deep +thought. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +From some ambiguous words dropped by Miles in the cottage, and during +Minnie's stay with them, it will be remembered that Skaife was impressed +with the idea that Tremenhere had, as a boy probably, loved Mary Burns, +who had been a _protegée_ of his mother's at the manor-house; and the +curate also thought that the other was aware of her sad fate. For some +time the silence was unbroken, then Miles, suddenly turning towards his +companion, said, like one awakening from a dream, "Pardon me, Mr. +Skaife, but I am an uncouth man, much alone, little in humanized +society; my chief companions are stocks and stones, and the native +inhabitants of wild nature; forgive me again, I had forgotten to thank +you, which I do most sincerely, for your kindness to poor Mary Burns, +and also to myself personally; few, indeed, would have had the courage +to notice, and be thus publicly seen with one at so low a discount as I +am in this neighbourhood." + +"Believe me sincere, when I assure you, Mr. Tremenhere," rejoined the +other, "that from all I have heard, and now seen, no one can more truly +deplore your misfortunes than I do." + +"Do you know them all?" + +"I think, I believe I do," hesitated the curate; he feared uttering +something painful. + +"Do you know that for upwards of twenty-one years I was brought up at +the manor-house, beloved by a father and mother, the best Heaven ever +formed--oh! especially the latter; I can scarcely speak of her now." He +paused, and seemed choking with emotion. "To be brief," he continued, +after a pause, "in one year I lost all; she died first, my father soon +followed her, and then, while my sorrow was still green, my cousin, +Marmaduke Burton, put in a claim for the property, on the ground of my +illegitimacy! I was stricken, I had not a word to offer, proof I had +none to the contrary; my father's marriage had taken place, for +_marriage there was_, at Gibraltar; my mother was Spanish, of not +exalted parentage, I believe,--from thence sprung the great difficulty +of proof. Only an obscure family to deal with, that ruffian Marmaduke +gained all--the property was tied up until the event should be known; I +had few wealthy friends--he, both friends and money. Most of my earlier +days had passed in studies abroad; I came only at stated periods to my +home--I was a stranger among my own countrymen;--he had secured himself +allies (I will not call them friends, of these he could have none); he +was assisted too, by a greater scamp than himself, a mean, cold-blooded +villain of the name of Dalby. In my bewilderment, my horror, at _her_ +name--my pure, holy mother's name--being dragged forward for public +scorn, I lost all nerve and power; then too, I was poor,--the result you +know. Mr. Skaife, I am a wanderer--_he_, in my halls; but all is not +lost yet. I may find my way to sunlight, even like the blind mole." + +"And, Mr. Burton," asked the other, hesitatingly, "was he not a frequent +visiter at the manor-house?" + +"Why man, the reptile was there as my friend and brother; whenever I +returned from my rambles, or school, in earlier days, 'twas 'Marmaduke' +and 'Miles' with us from boyhood's youngest hours; he was with me +_soothing_, when she, my mother, died--and there, too, when I put on my +orphan state of master and lord of the manor-house. A week afterwards +the long prepared claim was put in; the morning he left for that worthy +purpose, he shook me by the hand, and said as usual, 'Good bye old +fellow, we shall meet soon;' and we did--_in court_." + +"And it was at the manor he knew Mary Burns?" asked Skaife, deeply +affected. + +"Ay, at the old place she had been as companion, almost child to my +mother, from her childhood. Then when her old mother became paralyzed, +and lost her school, Mary went to reside with her in that cottage; but +it was comfortable then. My mother, and a little of her own industry in +fancy work, kept them. Alas, poor Mary! I loved her dearly, as ever man +loved a sister, she was so exemplary a girl under many trials." + +"I fancied," said Skaife, "I scarcely know why, but I fancied there had +been a warmer attachment." To his own surprise, he found himself +conversing with this almost stranger as with an old friend, so certain +is it, that kindred souls know no time, to limit their flight to meet +their fellow spirits. Tremenhere coloured even through the bronze of his +dark complexion; at the last words he was silent some moments, and then +said hastily, but not haughtily: "Mary was a playfellow, as a sister to +me--I never loved her," and he seemed desirous of changing the subject. +This proud man appreciated the other's qualities and his goodness; with +him he was no longer the cold, guarded person which circumstances had +made him generally in his intercourse with all. + +"It is a painful subject with you, I see," said Skaife, much embarrassed +how to proceed; "but my mind is greatly relieved on one point--I feared +you had loved this poor girl; that not having been the case, my duty is +easier, for one it is, to consult with you what had best be done for +her." + +"Yes, poor girl! I had for a moment lost sight of her case in other +thoughts--selfish ones, too--we are such mere automatons to our ruling +passions. Poor girl! I hear that hopeful cousin of mine has ordered them +to quit the cottage; so I presume they must--but where go? that's the +question. I am so hampered myself by other cares, I scarcely know how to +help them; could he not be prevailed upon to allow them to remain +another six months--what do you think?" + +Skaife's blood chilled within him; he felt like a disappointed man. Here +was the person who had known Mary from childhood, almost a brother, so +coolly wishing her to remain on the sufferance of Marmaduke Burton, as +he knew him, and believed the other too, equally enlightened on several +points. + +"No," he coldly said, "I do not think she can, or ought to remain under +circumstances; think of the dreadful crime she has almost committed, Mr. +Tremenhere,--suicide!" + +"True, but she has promised not to attempt that again. In our toiling +passage to the attainment of any object, we must drink many a bitter +draught. She must try and submit for a while, I fear, to a few +annoyances: poor Mary--what can I do?" + +"Pardon me, Mr. Tremenhere," answered Skaife in a cold but decided tone; +"with _my_ consent, as curate of this parish, she shall not remain. She +might not commit suicide; but men are strange creatures, and the woman +they cast from them to-day, they might kneel to, to-morrow, were she to +appear indifferent; this girl shall never know the temptation such an +act on his part might be." + +Tremenhere stopped as if transfixed by a bolt of iron, and stared in +speechless wonder in his companion's face. Skaife continued speaking, +mistaking the dark cloud of demoniacal expression crossing that handsome +face, for indignation towards himself for his free speech; for this he +little cared. + +"Mr. Burton's ardent, but heartless, pursuit of the girl till her ruin +ensued, proves a deeper motive, I fear, than passion; the same revenge +towards you, may urge----" He said no more. + +"Stop!" cried Miles, in a voice of thunder, and he grasped the other's +arm, and arrested his footsteps. His whole power of utterance above a +whisper seemed to have been expended in that one word; for his voice +became a mere breath like a dying man's, as he asked, while that strong, +robust frame tottered beneath his heart's weight in his agony, "Do I +understand you aright, that Mary Burns has been seduced, and by +Marmaduke Burton?" + +"Alas, yes! I thought you understood so from your words in that +cottage." Poor Skaife was pale with emotion; the other had not changed, +his blood stood still, only the muscles had given way beneath the blow. +There was a long silence; Miles still grasped his arm till it fell from +that clasp at last, powerless to hold it--they were near the stile +leading into the lane where Mary's cottage was situated. + +"Does Miss Dalzell know this?" inquired Miles, as if one thought, +rushing with the many through his brain, found an outlet. + +"The ruin, but not the man," answered Skaife. + +"God bless her, then!" burst from the suffering man's lips, and with +that blessing the blood flowed once more through his frame. It was as a +gush of molten lead, forcing its way outwards, burning as it rushed; his +face became dark and lurid, and his flashing eyes looked wildly forward. + +"I have not words to thank you with, for all you have done," he cried in +a hoarse, unnatural voice, grasping Skaife's hand. "We shall soon, very +soon, meet again;" and with one bound he cleared the stile, and almost +like thought stood before the terrified Mary Burns, who had sunk in a +chair when they departed, almost fainting, from fear of the result of +their conversation; and now she felt how well grounded that terror had +been when Miles strode into the cottage. She knew his ungovernable +passion when excited by injury or villainy in another--in her terror she +rose before him: "Miles!" she almost screamed. + +"Not Miles!" he cried, "but the spirit of his mother returned to condemn +you; an angel who breathed on you from her own pure lip, who strove to +instil her purity into your polluted soul--Devil's child!" and he +grasped her trembling arm--he was pitiless, scarcely human, in his rage +then--as he continued, "to hear such counsels, to breathe the atmosphere +of such a presence, and turn to your hell again! Could not even her +dying blessing, which fell united on both of us, cleanse you? Could you +find no fitter object for your impure love than him, the man who has +branded her memory with so foul a stain, who has driven her son, almost +your brother, forth, a beggar, and nameless! If there's one drop of +human blood in you, woman, shed it in tears for your baseness! Oh, +heavens!" and he looked fixedly forward like a man in a trance, "give me +power to call down on this creature the reward of her foul work!" + +"Do not curse me, Miles," she shrieked, dropping on her knees and +clasping them, "have mercy on me--have mercy on me!" + +It was a fearful picture on which the curate at that moment looked +unseen through the open door; _they_, in their agony, and the poor old +mother totally unconscious of all, some happy thoughts evidently +crossing her mind, for she was smiling, and endeavouring to rub her +paralyzed hands together at the joyous dream. Skaife involuntarily drew +back, and leaned against the door-post to keep away other witnesses, +should the voices within attract notice in the adjoining cottages. +Miles's hand was passed painfully over his face and brow--he had flung +his hat aside. + +"Have pity, Miles!" she cried, her eyes streaming with tears which +nearly choked her, as she clasped her hands, and kneeling, looked up to +where he stood, for he had shaken her off as she clung to him. "But if +you knew what dreadful struggles of nearly maddening power ground my +heart down to bitterness, and _revenge_," (she almost whispered the last +word,) "before I committed this fearful sin against myself, _you_, and, +far more than all, the memory of your sainted mother, you might find +some excuse. You cannot forget how my presumptuous heart, forgetting all +but her more than woman's kindness, dared to lose sight, from her +gentleness, of the distance between us, and loved you. You cannot forget +the day I dreamed you returned it, and boldly confessed mine; you were +calm, dignified, manly, and generous, when you said you never could +return it--that I had mistaken you, and you hoped myself, and when you +drew me to your heart with a _brother's_ love--Oh, may you never know +such humiliation as _I_ felt then, which turned to a blacker feeling +afterwards, fostered by him; for when you, for my sake, absented +yourself from home for months, you cannot know how this weak heart was +worked upon by _him_. He had seen all, guessed all; and, unsuspecting +his motives, I one day confessed the truth to him. From that hour he +became the friend, the comforter; he alone spoke hope to me--a hope his +every action discredited faith in. Then your mother died; events were +drawing to a close; you returned, no thought of love in your heart; I +repressed my mad affection for you, but I was weighed to earth by the +effort. I was but a girl of eighteen in a villain's hands, when the +downfall of all came; your father's death, your banishment----" + +"And did not all these sad events, Mary," and his voice was low and +trembling as he looked down upon the cowering woman, "soften your heart +to pity, not revenge? Our affections are not our own; we are not masters +of these but by many a hard struggle. I never could have loved you more +than as a sister: it was not pride, Mary; we have none of that with +those we love. I loved you very truly for your own sake, for the sake of +our happy days of childhood together, and for my mother's sake." As the +last words fell from him, the man, for a moment spirit-broken and +agonized, sunk down on a chair, and, leaning his head on his arm across +the table, wept like any woman over the ruin before him, and his memory +of another. He had not one selfish thought; he was iron for +himself,--for others, as a child at heart in love and gentleness. She +rose, and, creeping to his side, took the hand which, clenched in its +agony, rested on his knee, and, dropping on hers, she covered it with +tears and kisses. "Forgive me, Miles," she sobbed, "for you know not +all I endured of trial before I fell. He told me you had scoffed at my +love--to him. It was not the work of a day or hour; it is nearly eight +long years since you quitted this place; for more than four we have not +met; for less than that space I have been the guilty creature I now am!" + +Insensibly his hand unclenched and clasped her's; she continued sobbing +between each scarcely-articulate word, "When, by every artifice man +could employ, he led me to error; and, ever since, this most bitter +repentance. 'Twas done under the promise of making me his wife, to show +_you_ that _he_ appreciated my worth. And when he said you not only had +repulsed my love, but scorned it----" + +"He lied, Mary, he lied!" articulated the sorrowing man, looking up; +"from _me_ he never heard of our love; he must have divined it." + +"God help me!" she uttered, kissing his clasping hand, "for I have +suffered much; and it was my refusal (for years now) to continue in my +error, which has made him persecute me so of late. I told him last time +we met, that _I loved you still, and ever should_." These last words +were scarcely breathed. + +"Heaven help you, my poor girl!" cried Miles, looking at her as he +placed a hand gently on her head; "for what can that love bring +you?--Sorrow and disheartenment in every effort for existence; a log to +hamper every step of your pathway to independence! Rise up, Mary," and +he drew her on his heart; "come what may, my girl, these arms will +shelter you still from the cold, heartless world. I am richer now, +Mary, and to-morrow you and that poor old woman shall leave this place; +and once away, oh, then!----" He spoke the last words with a stern +resolution. + +"What, Miles?" and she clasped his clenched hand in her's, and gazed +terrified in his flashing eyes. + +"I'll return to my home abroad," he uttered, dropping them to conceal +_their_ speech, lest she should read aright. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +"I'm sure," said Sylvia Formby, rocking herself backwards and forwards +in her chair, about an hour after Minnie's return, "I don't know what +_can_ be done with this girl; she certainly is a dreadful cause of +anxiety to all, and especially to poor me!" She was one of those who +delighted in being miserable. One would really have imagined, from her +manner and conversation about her, that Minnie was one of the very worst +girls in existence--an unruly, impossible-to-govern creature. Aunt +Sylvia was in her own room; and opposite to her, shaking her head in +sorrowing sympathy, perched on the edge of a chair, sat Mrs. Gillett. + +"Young ladies is a dreadful responsibility," ejaculated the latter +guardedly, (it was safe speaking in general terms;) "all ar'n't as you +was, Miss Sylvia!" + +"I'm sure I don't know what _is_ to be done with my niece," continued +the other, unnoticing the compliment. "I feel some harm will happen to +her, if she be not married out of the way. What with your master's +obstinacy, and Miss Dorcas's dulness of comprehension, the girl will +assuredly be lost unless I exert myself." + +"In coorse, Miss," ventured the listener. + +"She never will marry the squire; that she positively asserts, and her +manner proves it. Then, Mr. Skaife--what is he? Only a poor curate, who +has just bread enough for himself, and nothing to spare; and she don't +like him. Now, Mr. Dalby has the whole patronage of the neighbourhood, +except Mr. Burton's, and he's a very charming man: what more can she +desire?" + +"And he'll have Squire Burton's business again, Miss; that's for +sartain, for they were seen walking together yesterday." + +"I don't exactly know how he lost it," said Sylvia. "Do you?" + +"All along _of_ Miss Minnie," was the response. "Mr. Dalby, when the old +squire died, Mr. Tremenhere, conducted the business for Mr. Burton; +indeed he had known the facts long before, they say--that is, the +servants say; howsomdever, since they both have been coming a-coortin' +Miss, they haven't been such friends. But I'll tell you what I think, +Miss Sylvia," here the sybil lowered her voice to a whisper--"and mind +I'm seldom wrong, and I wouldn't say this to any one but yourself--I +believe, if Miss isn't looked after, just for contrariness sake, if he +stays hereabouts, she'll get a-coortin' with that young Mr. Tremenhere!" + +"An illegitimate child!" shrieked the virtuous Sylvia, in horror. + +"Yes, Miss Sylvia, with him; and, as you say, it's dreadful, for he +hasn't a name in the world to call his own, except Miles, and what sort +of a _cognation_, as master calls it, is that for her to marry? He +hasn't his father's nor his mother's; he's a outlaw, and any one that +pleased might shoot him like a dog, I hear." + +Sylvia had only heard a portion of this sentence, the prophecy about +Miles and Minnie. She had extraordinary faith in the worldly +perceptiveness of Mrs. Gillett. She anxiously inquired the foundation +for the other's suspicion; but the good generalship of the matron +forbade any undue confidence respecting her reasons, merely contenting +herself with alarming her listener to the fullest extent of her powers, +by persisting in her belief, as arising _principally_, she laid a stress +on this word, thereby implying that she held back more cogent articles +for her belief, from the fact of Miss Minnie's own statement, that she +had been walking with this Miles Tremenhere, for to no one would this +very politic woman confess, that she had recognised him herself at a +glance. Mrs. Gillett was a very cautious person indeed, one of those +whose opinions would never choke them from a too hasty formation of +them, nor her words leave a bitterness in her mouth from an +inconsiderate utterance of them. She was a perfect reflector, throwing +her light upon others, and not suffering thereby herself. Minnie had a +sorry day of it; first, Sylvia had lectured her, then Juvenal, and +lastly, Dorcas commenced questioning, but this latter did it, as she +ever acted with her beloved niece, in kindness. As for the others, they +would fain have bent her to their separate wills; but Minnie had learned +to judge for herself coolly and dispassionately, else where would she +have been, occurring as it did, that all three had fixed upon a +different object for her husband? To Dorcas she was all affection, +rendering full justice to that aunt's interest in her, and correct +judgment; but it so happens that in affairs of the heart, our very +dearest and best friends are too frequently incapable of judging what +would be most conducive to our real happiness, though, in a mere worldly +point of view, they may be right. A little counsel, a little guidance, +and much sincere interest in our welfare, are the best methods after +all; _certainly not_ coercion, that makes us infallibly look with +premature dislike on the one for whom we are persecuted. + +"I do wonder, dear aunt," said Minnie to the one she loved so well, "why +you are so anxious to make me marry, never having done so yourself--how +is it?" + +The truth never crossed Minnie's mind. Dorcas looked down, and a pale +blush of something resembling shame crossed her cheek; then she looked +up with candour and affection. "My dear child," she said, "Sylvia would +not perhaps like my telling the exact truth, which is this, that in fact +no one ever asked either of us!" + +"Is it possible!" exclaimed her niece, amazed beyond measure. How could +she, worried as she was by an excess of suitors, guess the extraordinary +position of a woman who never had one? and aunt Dorcas had been +assuredly pretty, and still was very comely. "My dear aunt," she cried +again, after a silence of thought on both sides. "It must have been your +own fault. Oh! pray, endeavour to induce Sylvia to seek a husband for +herself, and leave me alone; or do make her busy herself for uncle, and +then you and I shall be at peace. I shouldn't like _you_ to marry. I'm +very selfish, dear aunt; but I should be so much afraid of losing your +love," and she fondly kissed her cheek. + +"I never shall now, dear Minnie; but when you marry, you will love +another better than me--I shall only be your aunt, and so it should be." + +"Do you know," answered her niece, fixing her sweet eyes upon her, "I +often think I never shall marry; I have heard so much about it, that the +subject has become quite distasteful to me." + +"Oh! you will change your mind, Minnie, when the one you can, and +_should_ love, comes." + +"What do you mean, aunt, by should love?" + +"There are those in the world we ought to guard our affections against; +their loss might bring misery." + +"Whom are they? would--would, now, supposing an impossible case--would +Mr. Tremenhere, if he loved me, be such a one?" + +"Why do you think of him, child?" and her aunt looked scrutinizingly in +her face. + +"Oh, because," answered the blushing Minnie, "he is the first stranger I +have met likely to enter into my ideas of such a case: all the constant +visitors here have the consent of some one of my relatives,--the mere +acquaintances I meet when we go any where, have nothing against them,--I +daresay, if I liked one of them, every one of you would, though perhaps +reluctantly, say 'yes;' but Mr. Tremenhere--he is different, poor +fellow! How I pity him! I do indeed, aunt, and he is so agreeable." + +The aunt, unworldly wise as she was, had fallen into a reverie; before +she aroused herself to reply, the sound of carriage-wheels without drew +her attention to the window. Minnie was the first there,--"Whom have we +here? two ladies!" Her aunt was beside her. + +"Why Minnie, these are your aunts, Lady Ripley and Dora!" exclaimed she. + +"That Dora!" cried her niece, as a tall handsome girl stepped from the +carriage; "how altered she is,--I wonder if she will know me?" and +though something like a chill had fallen on her heart at sight of her +cousin, she sprang across the room to meet her. It was not Dora's beauty +which had pained Minnie--she did not know what jealousy was then, +certainly, of mere personal charms--but it was the chilling influence of +pride which spoke in every movement of her cousin; even in the act of +stepping from her carriage, she looked like a priestess of that spirit, +following in her footsteps. As she entered the hall, Minnie--simple and +beautiful Minnie--stood half abashed before her. Dora's fine eyes were +wandering over the group, as she coldly returned the embraces of her +aunt Sylvia and Juvenal; at last they rested on Minnie, who had just +appeared,--the cold smile warmed, and the cousins were in each other's +arms. + +"Dear Minnie!" said Dora, "I have longed so much to see you," and she +embraced her tenderly. + +"I was afraid you would have forgotten me," answered the delighted girl. + +"Oh! I never forget those whom I have loved; I often have wished you +with me in Italy;" and her fine face, lit up with warmth and sincerity, +became perfectly beautiful. The girls sat down side by side, and hand in +hand, conversing, after Dora had duly embraced all. Lady Ripley was +different to the other members of her family. She appeared more like a +composition of all, with a cloak of pride over the whole, in which she +completely wrapped herself up; only now and then, when the cloak opened, +some of her realities slipped out. She had less of Dorcas than of either +of the others,--silly as Juvenal, worldly like Sylvia, and a little bit +of Dorcas's good-nature composed the whole. She had married, most +unexpectedly, one far above herself in rank and station. Not having had +time to familiarize herself with the position before entering upon it, +she plunged in, and became for awhile overwhelmed. The country +gentleman's daughter forgot the real dignity of the ladylike person, who +may pass without comment any where in the rank of countess, so suddenly +forced upon her; then, too, the Earl was one of the coldest, proudest +men in the world, and lived long enough to engraft a sufficient quantity +of the _vice_ of pride (when attached to mere station) upon his only +child's really noble nature, for a dozen scions of nobility. Lady Dora's +keen perception, as she grew up, readily detected the real from the +assumed; and having much loved, respected, and looked up to her father, +his vice became a virtue in her eyes,--a natural one; whereas her +mother's assumption of it, made her, without becoming undutiful, still +look upon her as a merely bad copy; consequently, her aunts and uncle +became sharers of her species of contempt. Indeed, she had carried that +impression away with her when she quitted them and England, three years +before, for Italy; and the knowledge of the world acquired since then, +had rather strengthened the feeling. Since that period she had lost her +father, and this keenly-felt loss hardened the girl's softer emotions. +She seemed incapable of any thing like warmth of affection; for, the +first ebullition of joy over on seeing Minnie, whom she really liked +better than any person almost in the world, she sat like a beautiful +statue, just warmed enough to life to speak and listen;--the face had +become colourless again, the smile cold and proud, and the haughty eyes +and haughtier brow, seemed to glance or bend with equal indifference on +all around her. She was perfect in her beauty as Minnie--one, was the +damask rose for richness, the other, the chaste lily; for when Dora's +colour rose, nothing could surpass that ripe sunset glow,--it was +magnificent from its eastern brightness and depth; whereas Minnie's +never became more than a beautiful blush, flitting and returning like a +swallow over a wave. Dora's hair was the very darkest chestnut, yet this +it was, a colour seldom seen, nothing resembling black nor brown, but +the exact colour of the nut itself, rich and mellow. Her eyes--there was +her charm of face, they were so dark and lustrous--_velvet eyes_, with +the sun shining on them; extravagant, too, for they expended their +glances right and left on all, not from a desire to slay her thousands, +but, like the donation of the rich and proud to the beggar, she flung +her gold away, not caring who might gather it up; it was flung from an +inexhaustible source of wealth--it was the natural love of expenditure, +inherent in the generous mind giving of its profusion. No one had ever +seen her move quickly, scarcely even as a child; when she rose from her +seat, she seemed to rise by some quiet galvanism, majestically, +gracefully, but without energy or effort; so it was with all; grace +presided over all--cold natural grace. Where her mother used violent +force to seem dignified, and often thus destroyed the lady, Dora without +a thought, so to seem, was an empress in majesty. Minnie was slight and +girlish, her cousin matured in form, though not too much so for her +height and bearing, with a waist the hand might almost have circled; one +curl on either side of her oval face fell quite to that slender waist in +unrestrained perfection, heavy and glossy, veiling, but not concealing +the beautiful, but strongly marked eyebrow. + +The cousins escaped as soon as possible to Minnie's room; there is a +natural restraint ever felt by the least checked before their +elders--girls have a language apart of their own. Alas! for the wintry +day, when the falling snow of worldly care chills the ideality of +thought, and brings to the lip only the sterner realities of life. The +two sat and talked of old days, even to them. Dora spoke of Italy, of +her father's death soon after she and Minnie parted, and the proud eyes +forgot their pride when nature bade them weep--how Minnie loved her +then! there was so much softness in _her_ nature. She folded her gentle +arms round Dora, and soothed her so lovingly, that the eyes looked up +upon her in gratitude and affection. Then, to divert her attention, +Minnie told her all her troubles--squire, parson, and lawyer; but she +did not breathe the name of Miles Tremenhere. He had so completely won +upon her sympathy, that she dreaded to hear Dora speak of him, either in +contempt, or else mere worldly policy; so they sat and talked, until +Lady Ripley summoned her daughter, by the voice of a French maid, "to +dress for dinner." + +"I am sure," whispered Aunt Sylvia to Mrs. Gillett on the stairs, when +she was retiring to bed that night, "I and Lady Ripley shall not agree +long, if she prolongs her stay; for 'tis quite absurd, Gillett, the idea +of her dressing in such a style for our quiet dinner, only ourselves, +and her annoyance because my niece, Lady Dora, refused to do the same! +It is putting notions of dress into Miss Minnie's head, which will make +her look down on every one here. I shall tell her so to-morrow; I always +like to give my candid opinion, though she mightn't like it!" + +"So I would, Miss," answered her agreeing listener. "For no one can be a +better judge of every thing than yourself; for I'm sure, as I say to +every body, 'just look at our Miss Sylvia, why, she's like a busy bee! +she's a pattern--that she is!'" + +Mrs. Gillett walked down the corridor, and, coming from her daughter's +room, she met Lady Ripley. + +"Ah, Gillett!" said that lady, patronisingly; "I'm glad to see you +looking so well." + +Gillett curtsied to the ground. "I'm sure, my lady," she replied, "it's +only the reflections of your ladyship's presence which make me look so; +for, as I've just been saying below, it is a pleasure to see a lady look +as you do, younger by years than you were, years ago, and know too, +what's due to herself, and dress every day as if she was going to court! +Ah! it's a pity the dear ladies, Miss Sylvia and Miss Dorcas, is so +plain in their ways; it's quite spoiling sweet Miss Minnie, who cares no +more for dress or state than if she had been born, if I may be so bold +as to say it of your ladyship's niece, in a poor cottage of a mother +always knitting woolly stockings!" + +"I must see what's to be done, Gillett," answered her ladyship in a +queenly tone; "I will have some serious conversation with my brother +about her to-morrow." + +"If your ladyship will please not to say I said any thing," whispered +the politic housekeeper. + +"I never quote other's opinions, my good woman," was the haughty reply, +as she sailed into her room, with a majestic "Good-night to you." + +"To think," soliloquized Gillett, as she toiled up a second flight of +stairs, "she should be so amazing proud now, when I remember her setting +herself off to the best advantage to attract the notice of our passan +then, the late recumbent!" There in an hour in every one's life, when he +or she is candid and natural; generally it falls between locking the +bedroom door at night, and snuffing out the candle--'tis an hour of +thoughtful soliloquy! + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +People are early in the country--"early to bed, early to rise." It was +just ten by Minnie's hall clock as Mrs. Gillett became confidential to +herself, and at that hour another person, some distance from Gatestone, +was struggling with the voices of nature and truth united, which rung +the word "shame" in his ears--this was the squire. He sat alone. All the +servants had retired; his own man even dismissed. He sat in a small +study adjoining his bedroom--not that he studied much, but the room had +so been planned and arranged, and so he left it. A few additions of his +own had been made, such as a brace of favourite pistols, a gun or two, +spurs, whips, fishing-rods, and their accompaniments; the books on their +neglected shelves were as silent memory. They spoke to no one; no one +sought or conversed with them; their thoughts were sealed within their +own breasts--like glowing eyes gazing on the sightless, no looks lit up +to meet their glances. Beautiful, cheering things, among which we might +live alone for ever, nor feel our loneliness. _Man_ would perhaps sink +off into drowsy rest; but the _soul_ creeping forth, cheered by the +stillness, could seek its companions in those leaves clinging together +with the damp of years, and live with them in long ages gone by, when +they were permitted to speak above the mere practical spirits of the +present day. Poetry was there in sorrowing maidenhood, as she glanced +upwards at an old mandolin with chords, suspended against the wall, the +loving once, now dumb suitor, who has sung her praises, and wooed her to +smile! It was strange that old mandolin should be still there: it was +the one on which Miles's mother had often played and sung to him in +infancy and boyhood! It was strange, then, that Marmaduke Burton should +sit, as he sat on that evening, facing it. While he turned over piles of +gloomy-looking papers and parchments, his brow was scowling, more so +than usual; his face, that cold, livid colour, which the warm heart +never avows as its index. At his feet lay an uncouth-looking bulldog; he +seldom was seen without this companion. Somehow, if the dog were absent, +Marmaduke became uneasy; cowards seldom rely upon themselves alone. +Every paper, as it passed through his hands, was carefully examined, and +then as carefully folded up and placed within a large drawer by his +side, evidently one of some old cabinet. "Nothing," he whispered to +himself. "Dalby said there was nothing--no proof; for, after all, I +would not have it on my conscience to say, I _knew_ there was proof, and +withheld it. 'Tis not for me to _search_ for writings or witnesses +_against_ myself," this was added after a thoughtful pause. After awhile +he continued, "Besides, it is scarcely probable that old Tremenhere ever +married that poor Spanish girl; those girls at Gibraltar are not of +very noted virtue. I should have been a fool indeed, to sit down quietly +and allow another to enjoy mine by right, from a mere idea of honour. +Had he succeeded, he would not have shared with me. I _did_ offer him a +competency," all this time he had been assorting the papers. "Nothing +here," he continued. "What's this? oh! a letter from old Tremenhere, +written after his mar--after his connection" (he corrected himself) +"with that woman Helene Nunoz, he, evidently being here, and she still +abroad, in Paris--eh? not Gibraltar. What says he?" For some moments he +attentively read. "I have seen two or three of his letters," he said +thoughtfully, "among old papers, and in all he speaks of one 'Estree.' +Who can he be? here it is again." He read aloud a passage, accentuating +every word, and dwelling on his own final comment thoughtfully for some +moments. "'Do you see D'Estree often? Is he kind as ever to my Helena? +his child, as he calls her. I should much like _ours_ to be christened +by him; might he not be induced to return with us?' This must have been +some clergyman or priest," was the thoughtful comment. At that moment +his dog arose uneasily from the carpet at his feet, and walked towards +the door. "What's the matter, Viper?" asked his master, starting +timidly. "Look to it, dog--good dog;" but the dog returned quietly to +its former place, and Marmaduke concluded the letter, which only spoke +of love, and regret at absence. In the concluding lines again Viper +moved to the door, and snuffed the air beneath the crevice. His master +grew uneasy; he watched the dog, and, while doing so, tore up the +letter he held, and flung it into a basket beneath the table. Viper +moved about whining, not in anger, but more in satisfaction and +impatience of restraint. The squire arose, and somewhat nervously +approached the door. These letters had unnerved him; his hand was on the +lock, the dog sprung up with pleasure; another hand turned the handle +from the outside, it opened, and Mary Burns entered. As she did so, the +dog fawned upon her. + +"I might have guessed it!" ejaculated Marmaduke, falling back and +scowling upon her. "Only you would Viper meet in such a manner; the +dog's faithful to old acquaintance, I see." She stood quite still, +silent, and very pale. "Down, poor animal, down!" she whispered at last +to the dog, which was jumping up to caress her hand. + +"I have yet to learn why you are here?" asked Marmaduke, sullenly, "and +how?" + +"I came to restore you this," she uttered, holding up a key in her hand; +"this will explain how I am here." + +"Oh, true! I had forgotten you came through the quiet gate leading by +the shrubbery; I trust the reminiscence of the past, which such a walk +must inevitably have awakened, procured you pleasure?" + +"Sneer on, Marmaduke Burton! I came prepared to suffer all to-night. I +came to restore you this, and also to implore a favour at your hands?" + +"At mine! what can I do for you? I thought the hour of solicitation had +passed between us--will you not be seated?" He offered her a chair; she +appeared choking with emotion; and yet, though almost powerless to +stand, waved her hand in token of dissent, as he pushed a seat towards +her, and merely laid one hand upon the back of it for support. + +"As you will," he said coldly, noticing the action; "and perhaps you +will pardon my asking you as much as possible to abridge this visit; you +see I am engaged." He pointed to the table of papers. + +"I come," she said at last with great effort, "to implore one favour at +your hands, as some mitigation of the deep remorse I feel. Miles +Tremenhere is here--I do beseech you," here she clasped her hands, "not +to make my burthen heavier to bear, by seeking to injure him farther." + +"Woman!" he cried, standing erect before her, "do you remember to whom +you are speaking? How have I injured him? Am I not heir--lawful +heir--here? I wish to hear no more; go, you have chosen to place a +barrier yourself between us--henceforth, 'tis as you have willed it. I +offered you independence and oblivion of all, away from this, and you +have refused, so you must take the consequences." + +"I beseech you!" she exclaimed again, not heeding his words, "to have +pity on that man, for the sake of his mother, who was one to me." + +"That is perceptible," he said scornfully, "in the good fruit of her +cultivation--vice seldom produces----" + +"Hold!" she cried, springing towards him, and grasping his arm; "revile +me as you will, but not her--she was pure as an angel, and you know it! +And I adjure you by the wrong you have done her son--to spare him now; +let him go in peace." + +"Woman, I bid you go," he cried, shaking her touch from him, "before my +patience becomes exhausted; what am I doing, or going to do to that man? +Let him go as he will, I shall not molest him unless he cross my path; +then woe betide him, whatever may be done, I'll do, nor ask whether he +be relative or stranger." + +"I only pray you," she continued, "should he seek you, as I fear he may, +to be temperate, remembering what you were to each other, what you are +in blood." She tried to soothe; had that not been the case, she would +have fearlessly spoken all her thought of his treachery. + +"Why do you think he will seek me?" he asked, and the eye, ever +uncertain in its glance, shrunk from her's. He began to dread a possible +meeting. + +"Because, because!" she hesitated a moment; then, by an effort over her +emotion, added more resolutely, "because he knows _all_, and Miles is +not one silently to pass over wrong to one he once loved and respected." + +"Oh, that's it--is it?" Rising, he advanced a step towards the trembling +woman; but suddenly paused, and hastily turned round. "What was that?" +he exclaimed, looking fixedly at a door behind him, at which Viper had +sprung growling. + +The study had two doors in it, one leading through the corridor--the one +by which Mary had entered; the other leading to a dressing-room, +adjoining Marmaduke's bedroom--it was at this one the dog lay growling. +"Curse that dog!" he cried angrily, "he makes one fanciful and nervous. +Did you hear any thing?" + +"Nothing," she rejoined, trembling with a strange tremor. + +Marmaduke turned paler too than even he generally was--it was a coward +pallor. Reaching a book from the table, he flung it at Viper, who +startled, but not cowed, sprung under the table, upsetting the basket as +he did so, which contained the torn papers; and then, as his master +turned away, he returned again to his post at the door, and commenced +scratching and growling at it. Marmaduke uttered a deep oath, and, +seizing the animal by the throat, hastily opened the door leading +towards the corridor, and flung him out. As he turned his back, a +sudden, uncontrollable impulse seized Mary to stoop, and, unseen by him, +grasp and conceal a paper which had fallen from the basket as Viper +upset it. She felt that any thing written by that man might be of value +to Miles; moreover, she saw how he (Marmaduke) had been employed with +old papers and parchments, which made the one she held possibly more +valuable. + +"Now," he said, closing the door, "let us have a few final words, and +then leave me; and if we meet again at your seeking, it will be a day of +sorrow to you. I wish to do you no injury, for I liked you once--do not +mistake," he hastily added, seeing she was about to speak; "I never +_loved_ you--no, that was man's right of speech when I said so; we are +bound to employ the same weapons others use against ourselves." + +"What do you mean?" + +"I mean lying and deceit. You never loved _me_--_I_ never had that +feeling for you; you have this evening shown me why you became mine. He +had loved you, and then forsook--revenge dictated the act which made you +give me a claim to call you mine; dislike to every thing fostering +affection for that impostor and base-born hound, made me resolve to win +you, and well have I succeeded! False to his affection for you, which +you have confessed, and thereby made me doubly glad in having ruined +you! false to me, if he so please it, I doubt not. Take back that garden +key, woman, how do you know but that this impostor may some day be +master here, and you require it for your secret visits to the +manor-house? Verily, you love the place! feline in your affections, 'tis +the place, not person, you care for!" As he concluded, he drew the +deep-drawn breath of a man suffocating with overwhelming thoughts, +bursting like deadly missiles from a shell, scattering death around; +for, as he discharged them forth, the woman, stricken with shame and +sorrow, cowered down, and buried her face in her hands. Marmaduke's deep +sigh, as he concluded, was echoed by one still deeper--it was a groan, +and came from the doorway leading into the dressing-room; he had but +time to turn half round, when a heavy hand was on his arm. + +"Unsay those words, 'impostor' and 'base-born hound,'" said Miles +Tremenhere ('twas he) beneath his breath; "or the world shall add the +other to them, and a _true_ one, 'avenger;'--as I am a living man this +night, unless you do, or you, or I shall not quit this room alive!" + +The presence even of that trembling woman imparted a feeling of +protection to Marmaduke's coward heart. By a sudden jerk he disengaged +his arm, and with one stride reached the opposite door. To think and do +had been the work of an instant, the coward's self-shield through +another. With a trembling hand he opened the door, and called "Viper," +and the dog sprang in. No word was needed; the brave brute knew all +enemies to his master, and a second spring would have brought him to +Miles's throat, had that man not, foreseeing treachery, been on his +guard. With one blow of his small, but muscular fist, he felled the +animal, and, before it could recover itself, his hand grasped its +throat; the woman shrieked--a true woman's heart is tender to every +living thing. "Spare it, Miles!" she cried. "Poor, faithful brute!" + +But Miles had no thought otherwise; while Marmaduke stood in a species +of panic, which rendered further effort for an instant vain, the other +strode to the door near which he stood, and, flinging the dog forth, +calmly turned the key, and placed it in his pocket. This act alarmed +Marmaduke; there is something to the cowardly man fearful in the calm of +a resolute one. He turned hastily to fly, his hand was on the lock of +the door leading to the corridor, but another's reached his before he +turned it, and, without one uttered word, he felt his nerveless grasp +withdrawn. The key grated in the lock beneath Miles's fingers; he saw +him, too, with perfect composure, look around, and then, a feat of +child's play to him, tear down the bell-rope, to prevent the possibility +of Marmaduke's summoning assistance; this done, Miles turned calmly +round to where his cousin stood. Mary had dropped, powerless to stand, +in a chair, and, with eyes distended by terror, watched every movement +of the quiet desperation Miles portrayed. + +"Now," he said, in untrembling resolution, as he fixed his eyes on his +cousin, the stern brow knit over their intense gaze, "retraction full, +and immediate!" + +"Of what?" asked the other, endeavouring to seem calm and unconscious. + +"Of 'impostor,' and 'base-born hound!'" + +"Do you call it a noble act, to enter, as you have done this evening +here, with the connivance of that traitress, and play eavesdropper?" +cried Marmaduke, endeavouring to evade the demand of _retraction_ of his +tongue's hasty aspersion. + +"Tis false, that too!" answered Miles. "I followed this girl, 'tis true; +I feared she might be again led to attempt suicide,--I saw her enter by +the shrubbery gate,--strangely enough, I, too, had purposed visiting you +this night by that entrance, to which I also have a key," (he held one +up as he spoke,) "mine, since when we often entered thereby together, +cousin Marmaduke. But I had intended my visit to have been made some +hours later, deeming that possibly the hospitable lord of the +manor-house might keep open house for his numerous friends, whose +pleasures I would not have interrupted for worlds. My business is of a +private nature; but, as she entered, I followed, and, knowing all the +intricacies of the old place, why, I came by the private stair to the +adjoining rooms; these rooms were mine!" + +The man's voice slightly trembled as he uttered these words; for, in +looking round, his eye rested on the old mandolin; it awakened a chord +in his heart, not like its own--broken. Marmaduke perceived this +emotion, and deemed it an advantage gained, not having seen whence arose +that softened tone; but Mary had seen, and her eye following his, the +tears gathered in a heavy cloud over her vision, as she looked up to the +thing to which she had often danced, a light-hearted child; for her +heart was now as powerless of joy as the mandolin of tone; error and +death had worked their will in stilling both. + +"I should like much to know why you are here? why you purposed coming?" +inquired Marmaduke, gaining courage. + +"Before I reply to that," answered Miles, himself once more, "I must +have retraction. I tell you so; so let it be quickly done, for she heard +it,--to her you shall unsay it, and then our interview must be alone." + +"I will not leave you, Miles," uttered the girl, clasping his hand, +which hung down, as she crept beside him; but he neither heard nor saw +her. + +"When I came to this neighbourhood again," said Miles, "it was not to +seek you; it was for one reason only--to visit in peace some old haunts, +old friends. I yet have a few left--on all, I found _your_ hand. He who +knew me from childhood, my father's respected tenant, you have striven +to drive forth--and, look there," he pointed to Mary; "this is your work +too, cowardly villain, to war with a woman, and urge her to destruction +by goading her to madness with falsehood and calumny; but this must pass +awhile. First you shall clear from your lip by retraction the words you +have said of my sainted mother; your act has, _for awhile_--mind I say +only _for awhile_--cast a slur upon her fame; but the lion only +slumbers, cousin Marmaduke--he will awake soon. But this night was the +first time you ever, in my hearing, uttered the words to blast her; +indeed, until to-night you have kept hidden from my vengeance. When you +commenced your worthy suit against me, after the first day you left +others to complete it, and fled, hidden like a reptile in sunlight,--you +came forth at night to spread your venom around; but for all that, a day +of retribution will come, only for to-night, I demand retraction." + +Marmaduke felt chilled: there was something fearful in Miles's resolute +calmness. + +"If," he said, yet not daring to look up, "you will go and take that +woman in peace (for I would not have it known, for many reasons, that +_she_ had been here,) I will say this, that I ought perhaps not to have +spoken before her of family affairs." + +"Man!" cried Miles, in a voice of thunder, "say all was a lie, an +invention; it will not take your devil-bought position here from you, +but retract every word _you shall_!" + +"Hush!" whispered Marmaduke, as the other strode towards him, putting up +his hands to ward off his coming; "hush! some one may hear us, and +report this visit." + +"Whom does he fear?" asked Miles, turning to Mary. + +"He fears lest Miss Dalzell should be informed, probably," uttered the +shrinking woman. + +"Miss Dalzell!" cried Miles, awakening as from a dream; "she will +_never_ become the wife of this man; it would be profaning a creature +stainless as the created day, before man made it blush for his sin; or +looks and words only rank as liars." + +Marmaduke glared on him, but durst not speak; he was awed by his +cousin's sternness. + +"Speak!" commanded Miles again impatiently; "I have yet a task to +perform before we part, so hasten this; she must not see the rest. Come, +man!" he uttered contemptuously, as the other visibly trembled, "speak +the words: I promise you, reckless as _I_ am of life, I have no purpose +of taking yours, _if you speak_." There was that about him which +terrified the other; it was the first time they had met out of court +since the suit. + +"I spoke hastily, angrily," stammered Marmaduke at last, his eyes bent +on the ground, one of his hands nervously turning a letter on the table, +the other in his bosom; "but this woman goaded me to it." + +"'Tis well," uttered Miles scornfully, "well done, to accuse another to +shield our own fault. You know my mother to have been pure as ever woman +was, only the _law_ wanted proof." + +"I believe she was a good woman," ejaculated the other, fearing some +snare before witnesses. + +"Fellow," cried Miles, seeing his hesitation, "I am not here to catch +you in your words: you have calumniated, you shall restore; you have +lied, you shall unlie. Do you not know in your heart that, though proof +be wanting, my mother was a wife?" He made a movement towards where his +cousin stood. + +"I believe it," fell from the lips of the awed coward; "but you know the +law will have----" + +"Enough!" exclaimed Miles, waving his hand contemptuously. "I have +devoted my life, with all its energies, to prove her to have been such, +not for the sake of the land and tenements around us, but to rebuild in +splendour an angel's darkened fame. Now, Mary, you have heard his +retraction, leave us awhile, I will rejoin you before you have quitted +the grounds." + +"Let me stay, I beseech you, Miles," she whispered, her frame trembling +with fear as he approached to put her forth. + +"There can be no secrets she may not hear," hazarded Marmaduke, in +terror himself at the idea of being alone with Miles. All the fear he +had experienced as a boy of the other, when as children they quarrelled, +stood before him, for Miles was of strong build, and great stature; he +seemed to tower above his cousin, though actually less in height. A +strange expression passed over Miles's face, as he looked from the one +to the other. + +"Well," he said, and a grim smile stole across his lip, and then +disappeared--a mere phantom--"perhaps it is just it should be so. The +man who honourably offends us, we meet in honourable fight; the cur +which, coward like, yelps at and tears our heels, what does it deserve? +A cur's chastisement," he added, not waiting for a reply. Before +Marmaduke had time to think, or the woman had time to rush between them, +Miles seized him by the collar, and at the same moment, drawing a +thickly knotted whip from his pocket, with all the force of his vigorous +arm, he applied the lash over the other's shoulders. Mary shrieked in +terror, and sunk fainting on her chair. + +"Howl like a hound in your craven fear!" shouted Miles, as his cousin +groaned and writhed beneath the lash, helpless in that strong hand. +"Come Mary, girl, look up; this is for your wrong, a coward's act--a +cur's punishment. There," he continued, flinging him almost lifeless +from him at last, and panting himself with the effort. "You'll remember +the first meeting with Miles Tremenhere;--one thing more," he took down +his mother's mandolin from its place. "Poor, senseless thing," he said, +"yet speaking words of love to me, you have been made to look on +desecrating words, deeds, and thoughts, in this man's presence. You have +lost your purity, like all of us, since _she_ left you!" In his +bitterness he forgot the suffering woman, who was weeping bitterly +beside him. "Desecrated no more, speechless henceforth, and mute to all +of the ruin around you!" he put the thing, which seemed as a breathing +creature to him, beneath his foot, and with one stamp of his heel it +flew into pieces. Crash after crash succeeded, until only a mass lay +without shape on the floor. Marmaduke was speechless with terror and +pain. + +"Come Mary, my girl, look up now!" said Miles, kindly taking her hand. +"I have avenged you as well as I can; he will not forget us--come!" + +And, almost carrying the terror-stricken girl, he passed out by the +corridor, carefully locking the door on the other side, to avoid +interruption, and so he quitted his own halls. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Minnie had been so severely lectured by all, about her too frequent +visits to the cottage of Mary Burns, and other rambles in thoughtful +loneliness, that she felt embarrassed how to act. We have seen Dora was +not yet wholly in her confidence; there was as yet a barrier of three +years' width between them, which she hesitated at overleaping at +once--it was one separating girlhood from womanhood. She had no one to +consult but herself, and in her great anxiety to know what had been +decided upon for this poor girl, in whom she felt so much interest, as +Mr. Skaife had informed her, that assuredly Tremenhere would decide +immediately something about her, she resolved to rise with the early +bird of morn, which rose to song and heaven beneath her windows, and +seek Mary's cottage. Only the gardener was at work, as she brushed the +dew off the smoothly turfed lawn, at six the morning, after Tremenhere's +meeting with his cousin, and bidding the man a kind good-morning, she +hastened through the shrubbery, then light as a fawn skimmed over the +path-fields, and reached Mary's cottage. The shutters were closed, and +all in stillness; but the hour was so early, that she hesitated about +awakening the inmates. For some moments she stood irresolute, and +walked round the spot. There is something in internal desolation, which +always leaves an outward trace on the features, as on an abode. +Something of this she felt; and at last gently rapped at the door--all +was silent; then she repeated it--and each time with the like result. +There was a latch, so she raised it, looked in, and then the cold truth +became apparent; the place was tenantless!--all gone, and not a vestige +left. Minnie stood in mute astonishment. How should she be enabled to +discover the girl's fate?--from Mr. Skaife, perhaps; and then a chill +came over her warm heart. Had this girl, whom she had so befriended, +quitted without one word to express gratitude, or resolution of +well-doing? and then, a something crossed her mind of regret. She should +have liked to see Miles Tremenhere once more; he was so manly under his +persecution by Marmaduke Burton. It is painful in our path through life +to have that path crossed by a vision which flits away, only leaving a +trace, and never again seen--such things often leave a memory for years. +Minnie walked sadly home. It is something very undeceiving to the young +heart--it's first lesson in worldly selfishness and ingratitude. She +felt Mary must be an ungrateful girl so to depart; and, thinking all +this, she walked up to her own room. No one had discovered her +departure; and an hour afterwards she descended to the breakfast +parlour, which looked over the beautiful lawn and flower-garden, and +there she found all the family waiting, except Lady Ripley, who always +breakfasted in her own room. The day passed in busy occupations to all, +yet amidst all she felt a chill at heart--the chill of disappointed +confidence. Many neighbouring families called to pay homage to Lady +Ripley; and the report was brought by more than one, that Mr. Burton was +seriously indisposed, and hints were thrown out of a hostile meeting +having taken place between the cousins, as it was known that desperate +character, (alas! for those no longer Fortune's favourites,) Miles +Tremenhere, had been seen in the neighbourhood. + +"It must have been late yesterday, then, if they met," said Juvenal, +"for Burton was here in the afternoon." + +"It is not known when it took place, but he has been confined to his bed +all day, and his lawyer, Dalby, sent for. Though Mr. Burton denies it +himself, there is every reason to suppose 'tis true," rejoined the +visiter. + +"Some means of ascertaining the fact should be resorted to, and such a +character banished the neighbourhood," said Sylvia, acrimoniously; "it +is a natural consequence of an ill-conducted mother, that the child +should be infamous." + +"Oh, aunt!" cried Minnie, "don't say such a wicked thing; for all say +Mrs. Tremenhere was good, and mild!" + +"Besides," said the peacemaker, Dorcas, "you should give her the benefit +of the doubt; many believe her to have been married, though proof was +wanting." + +"Always my good, charitable aunt," whispered Minnie, taking her hand +affectionately. + +"Ah! Lady Dora," exclaimed the visiter, rising as the other entered, "I +am charmed to see you here once more, and looking so lovely; and her +ladyship, too," continued the old dame, as Lady Ripley sailed into the +room after her daughter, "you are really as a sister, in appearance, to +your beautiful child!" + +This is one of the most pleasing compliments in the world to a mamma +with a grown-up daughter,--it deadens the sound of Time's wheels, as he +hurries his chariot onwards,--it is like laying down tan over that +rugged road of matronism, which has an ugly stage beyond, beginning with +"grand,"--Lady Ripley graciously received the compliment, and, smiling +blandly, slid into a corner of the sofa whereon the visiter sat. "There +always has been considered a great likeness existing between us," said +the Countess; "we were painted in full length in one picture at +Florence, and the likeness has been considered remarkable, by all +visiting Loughton Castle, whither I sent it. By the way, Dora, what was +the name of the artist, a very promising young man, whom I patronised at +the request of Lord Randolph Gray, who had taken him by the hand? I +always forget names." + +"Mamma, you should remember that," answered Lady Dora, and a slight +colour passed over her cheek; yet soon fled abashed before the stern, +proud eye, it was only momentary; "for we had a neighbour here, near my +aunt's, of the same name--Tremenhere." + +"Tremenhere!" cried several simultaneously; but Minnie's struck most +forcibly on Lady Dora's ear; she turned towards her, and, looking +fixedly upon her, said, "Do _you_ know Mr. Tremenhere, Minnie?" + +"Only since yesterday," answered she; "but before then I had learned to +pity him, but we cannot mean the same person: I do not think Mr. +Tremenhere is an artist." + +"How can you tell what he may, or may not be?" said Juvenal, crossly; +"I'm sure, after his unnatural conduct towards his cousin, you should +wonder at nothing." + +"Of course," said Lady Dora, quite composedly, "they cannot be the same +person; but I assure you, the Mr. Tremenhere we knew, was a +distinguished young artist, much sought after, though only an artist. Of +his family, we never inquired." + +"This is, in my opinion," said Lady Ripley, "the great error of society +abroad; and I fear it is creeping into English habits--the mixed nature +of society. This Mr. Tremenhere was received unquestioned, nay, sought +after every where, for his talents. + +"It is only the good old English families which know how to keep up +proper distinctions," chimed in Sylvia, to the accompaniment of an +approving "Assuredly," from the visiter. + +"I think _real_ talent should always be upheld--'tis a noble gift, to +which we owe homage," said the gentle Dorcas. + +Minnie smiled "yes," but did not like to utter her opinion too decidedly +before a stranger; besides, she was thinking. + +"What are you thinking of, Minnie?" whispered her cousin. + +"Of the narrow-mindedness of the world," she answered boldly. "I'd +rather see a man ennoble his name by good deeds or talents, than bear a +merely empty title--would you not, Dora?" + +"I think position should be upheld and respected," rejoined the other, +"or else we should become republican at once. I respect, revere genius; +but even that has, in my opinion, no right to overstep certain +barriers." Lady Dora Vaughan had been nurtured on family pride, which +digests badly, and chokes up many good things with its prejudice. + +Here the conversation took a different turn. Other persons called, and +the Tremenheres--one, or different individuals--were no more alluded to. +Even her cousin's presence, failed entirely to remove the weight from +Minnie's heart, she was so saddened by disappointment, and none came to +cheer or possibly explain--for Mr. Skaife even had not appeared. The +shades of evening set in, and she and her cousin were strolling together +in the various alleys and walks of the beautiful gardens round +Gatestone, and in that same half hour Mrs. Gillett sat in her +housekeeper's room, inhaling the odour of the garden into which it +looked. She had been trimming a cap--something had come over her mind--a +question of whether she should put a bow on the said cap, as +Mademoiselle Julie, the countess's French maid, had suggested, or leave +it alone. The war within herself, between the accustomed snowy lace and +a pink ribbon, had ended in a prostration of the nervous system, and +consequent sleep ensued. She was sitting opposite the window with the +cap in one hand, the ribbon in the other, when Morpheus seized upon her, +and she slept, and dreamed that she was a Maypole bedizened with +many-coloured ribbons, and the village girls dancing round her. "What +curious things one dreams!" to be sure, she exclaimed waking up at last; +and putting both articles on the table beside her, and she rubbed her +eyes, not yet half cleared from sleep. "How them peas do grow!" she +continued, gazing dizzily out of the window in the evening duskiness and +her own dreamy state. "Why, it seems only yesterday I was saying to John +Gardener that they never would pod; and now they darkens up this window, +there's no seeing out! Lauks-a-marcy!" she exclaimed, shrinking back in +her chair in terror, as a cluster of them, sticks and all, appeared to +her half-awakened sight to advance nearer, taking a human form as they +did so. "Lauks-a-marcy! what's a going to happen to us?" Her fears were +certainly not groundless, for the humanized peas drew close to the +window, stooped, and stepped in. The window of this room was on a level +with the walk outside; and through this, Minnie as a child, and even +Dora, had been in the habit of entering as by a door, for a chair +generally stood at it, which answered the purpose of a mere step to +enter by. + +"Good-evening, Mrs. Gillett," said Miles Tremenhere, as he did so with +perfect composure. "You would not speak to me last time we met; so I +have come to my old haunt, and as I was used to do when a boy, to have +some conversation with you." By an involuntary movement, without +uttering a word, she staggered to her feet, grasped her cap and ribbons +in her hand, and was making towards the door, but Tremenhere intercepted +her quietly before she was half-way there. "Stop," he said gently, +smiling as he spoke, "I don't mean to harm, or alarm you; listen quietly +to me, good Mrs. Gillett. Come, you cannot have quite forgotten the +sweet youth who has so often sat in this room with you; and i'faith, +too, I remember those hospitable cupboards" (and he glanced around) +"wherein I discovered many a treasure hidden for 'good Madame +Tremenhere's son,' as you were used to call me." A sigh half choked the +lighter tone as he spoke. Gillett stood still, and looked at him. She +was not a bad woman--far from it; but only a very politic one. She would +gladly have pleased all parties; but the peculiarity of the case +sometimes, as in Minnie's for instance--forbad it. + +"Lock the door," she whispered, pointing behind him; "then speak low, +and tell me what you want." Her commands were soon obeyed; and, like two +conspirators, they sat down in a corner and began talking. + +"You see, Master Miles," she whispered, "times is sadly changed, and I +am obliged to be friends with my betters; and, then you know that I +don't want to hurt your feelin's--but there have been queer tales about +your----" + +"Hush!" he said emphatically, grasping her hands, "not a word against +_her_. Mrs. Gillett, you know what she was to all--you know that the day +she died, this village had but one voice to bewail her--but one sentence +to mourn her with. 'Heaven gave her for awhile to shew what angels may +walk the earth'--this you know, Mrs. Gillett; and you _know_, too, that +she has been cruelly maligned. No," he cried, rising energetically, +forgetful of all necessity for secrecy, "as Heaven hears me, I do not +care for the loss of all, save that, in losing that, a mother's sacred +fame has been trampled upon." + +"There," cried Mrs. Gillett, following and taking his hand, not without +emotion; "sit down, I know it has been a sad cut-up for you; but times +will change, maybe, and you be better off, and all forgot." + +"Never!" he emphatically exclaimed. "A mothers wrongs should never be +forgotten by a son until washed away." + +"Talking of washing away," said his attentive listener; "there be a +rumour to-day, that summut happened up at the house last night; you +haven't done nothing of that sort to the squire, have you, Master +Miles?" + +"No," he replied, thoughtfully; "my great debt remains yet unpaid." + +"Well, I'm sure it's a pity," she added, "that all parties can't agree; +there be plenty for both on 'e up at the manor-house; and such friends +as you were as boys!" + +"Why didn't you speak to me yesterday, Mrs. Gillett?" he asked. "Were +you afraid of Miss Dalzell, or Mr. Skaife? Both seem to my judgment +good, excellent creatures, apart from the generality of the world, for +they did not fear the contact with a fallen man; but I suppose I must +not ask you----" He appeared to be seeking time or courage to speak his +more earnest motive in seeking her. + +"Well," said she at last, hesitatingly, "I must speak it out, though you +bid me not; so don't go to be offended, for I wouldn't hurt your +feelings for the world; but them as does wrong, brings much on their +children. You have been cruelly treated by your parents, to be left so +long in----" + +"Mrs. Gillett!" he cried, rising in agitation, "even from you, my old +friend, I cannot hear this. Do not let others lead your kind heart to do +wrong, even in thought; some day _all_ shall know my mother as I do, or +I will die in the struggle with her enemies." + +"Oh! don't do nothing of that sort," cried she, mistaking his meaning; +"getting killed a'n't the way to right her; and this I will say, that a +better lady never lived--and in the hearts of the poor; the best home to +have, after all. But it a'n't a thing I'm component to judge, Master +Miles; for foreigners, they say, don't see them things as we do." + +"Well," he replied, reseating himself, and passing his hand over his +brow; "let's change the subject, it always pains me; but _her_ day of +retribution will come--my sainted mother!" and involuntarily he raised +his hat, in reverential awe, as if an angel were looking down upon him. + +"Don't be cast down, Master Miles," said the woman, "and don't talk on +them miserable subj_ecs_, all in the dark here, as one may say; it makes +one oncomfortable and queer. Now, tell me, what do you want with me?" + +"I want to see Miss Dalzell. Can you manage that for me?" + +"Mussiful powers! no," she exclaimed, in surprise and horror. + +"It must be accomplished somehow, Mrs. Gillett; see her I _must_." + +"Well, if I didn't think so!" she said, thinking aloud of what she had +previously hinted to Sylvia. + +"Think what--what do you mean?" + +"Oh nothink, nothink--there, _do_ go; pray, do'e go!" she energetically +cried, alarmed at the phantom her imagination had conjured up. "It won't +do, depend upon it; _they_ would stir up the whole earth to find and +punish you, if you did it; for she's the darling of all, and they'd all +_ignite_ against you--lawyer, parson, squire, master, mississes, and +all!" + +"In the name of patience, my good Mrs. Gillett, what _do_ you mean?" he +asked laughing. + +"Why, I saw it--I said it--I knew it--though I ain't a Dippibus, as +master calls fortune-tellers; but don't go any farther--leave off where +you are!" and she crunched up her cap in her energy. + +"Are you mad?" he exclaimed, securing her reckless hands. "I tell you I +_must_ see Miss Dalzell, if only for a moment. I have a message for +her." + +Mrs. Gillett was rocking in her chair in agony; her position exceeded +any thing embarrassing she had ever conceived. What could she do? Here +she was locked in with a desperate man, who only said "must." How could +she ever reconcile this difficulty to practicable action? how bind this +wild horse to her daily care of every body's necessities? their calls +upon her to bear their burthens--her carrier's cart of packages--she was +in fearful perplexity. + +"Is there any thing so dreadful in my demand?" he asked. "Let it be +here, for five minutes. We met yesterday--you know we did, though you +would not recognise me. She will not refuse, I know." + +"Can't you say what you have to say through the passan, Master Miles," +she uttered at last, struggling for a straw. + +"No; I must see herself. Why do you fear me so much? Do you suppose I +would insult, or injure one, whom report says so good and kind--a woman, +too? Fie Mrs. Gillett--fie! to wrong me so much, the man you've known +from boyhood." + +"Oh! Master Miles, it ain't that--it ain't, indeed; but we oftentimes +harms without meaning it," and she looked meaningly at him. He seemed to +awaken as from a dream. + +"You cannot suppose," he cried, "that I, a poor outcast now, come here +to woo any woman; still less Miss Dalzell, whose whole family are my +bitterest enemies. I tell you no, Mrs. Gillett; I have no such thought. +From all I have heard--the little I saw of her yesterday, for the first +time--I respect, admire, and reverence Miss Dalzell, but more I never +shall now--I have another at heart." He alluded to his self-imposed task +of duty and love, to re-establish his mother's fame. + +"You a'n't deceiving me, Master Miles," she said looking up, mistaking +his meaning. + +"I solemnly assure you I am not." + +"Oh, then, there can be no harm, that I see!" she cried confidently. +Alas! poor Mrs. Gillett, she had but skin-deep knowledge of the human +heart. Not seeing that what we should avoid, we fly to--what hate, +generally love, if cast in our path--ties, vows, resolutions--all are +things created, but to be immolated on love's altar. + +"There she just is!" she exclaimed, looking from the window; "she's come +round by the shrubbery into the fruit-garden, and Lady Dora's with her." + +"Lady Dora!" he ejaculated, looking surprised, and going to the window. + +"Come back, Master Miles, do, come back," she cried; "I wouldn't have +Miss Minnie's cousin see you for the world, in here." + +"Is that Miss Dalzell's cousin?" he again asked, gazing from his corner +at the two wandering together at the end of a long walk. "Lady Dora +Vaughan, Lady Ripley's daughter,--true," he added after a pause, talking +aloud, "I have a faint memory of the name here; but boys do not +recollect these things as in after years; the name seemed familiar to me +in Italy." + +"Lauks!" exclaimed Mrs. Gillett, "have you met Lady Dora before?" + +"Yes," he answered hesitatingly; "but how is it, Mrs. Gillett, that I +never met her or Miss Dalzell here before?" Alas! the man was in old +familiar scenes, forgetting that eight long dreary years of exile had +been his. + +"Why, you see, Master Miles--and lauk, if I a'n't forgettin' too, +calling you Master--well, never mind, it's more homely: Miss Minnie will +be only seventeen come next month, and eight years have gone by +since----" + +"True, true!" he hastily answered, interrupting her, "and Miss Dalzell +was then but a little child"--he sighed, that man of eight-and-twenty +felt so old. + +"And Miss Minnie was seldom at home then. She lived almost entirely with +Lady Ripley, for her ladyship's child's sake; but you must have seen +her, too, Master Miles." + +"Yes," he said thoughtfully; "I now recall, at times, a pretty little +fairy thing flitting about the grounds and gardens when I came home; for +_then_ my first visit was ever here, to see you Mrs. Gillett, and good, +kind Miss Dorcas, and to teaze your master and Miss Sylvia with my +wilful spirits." + +"Lauk, yes!" said she sadly; and the memory of all brought the joyous +boy in so much bitter comparison with the outcast, saddened man, that +Mrs. Gillett, kind at heart, began to cry. + +"Come, come!" he said kindly taking her hand; "don't be sorrowful. I +thank you for those evidences that I am not forgotten by all." + +"Oh, not by me, Master Miles; but I've a hard card to play here amongst +'em all, and that hardens the heart--for they all want the same thing. +They all wish Miss Minnie to marry some one of their own choosing, and, +as I say, she can't be a bigamy, and marry all, so there's no use +wurrittin' her about it so." + +"And does she not love any one?" + +"Law bless you, no--not one more than t'other; my belief is, she likes +her black mare 'Jet' better nor any of them." + +Miles felt glad to hear this, for he had heard of none worthy of the +fair girl who had been poor Mary's Christian support in her trouble. +Even Skaife he did not deem fitting for that beautiful gem; she merited +a more gorgeous setting than a homely curate's home could be. She was no +longer as a stranger to his thought; he forgot the past eight bitter +years of his life, and remembered himself a boy again, looking on a +rosy, lovely child. Mrs. Gillett's doubts were all cleared away, and an +open path before her. Age, and the prejudices of others, had made her +regard Miles with fear, and almost aversion. Now the better influence of +woman's nature prevailed, and she remembered him only as the comely +youth she had once liked so much. Cranky people make others cross and +disagreeable. She was accustomed to nothing but complaints from Juvenal +and Sylvia, with a milder portion, in the way of advice required, by +Dorcas; and thus she had had all the juices of her nature drying up +beneath this fire of unhappy prognostications from all. With Miles she +became almost young again, and fearlessly promised to procure him the +desired interview, provided _no one knew it_, which he faithfully +promised they should not, from him; and, while they were consulting how +it should be accomplished, the girl herself advanced to the window with +her cousin. Miles drew back in a corner, and his heart beat for more +reasons than one. + +"Good-evening, Mrs. Gillett," said Lady Dora, in an affable tone. "You +really improve in good looks every time we meet." Poor Mrs. Gillett was +red as a peony with agitation, and could only utter, "Your ladyship's +very good to notice _me_!" + +"Gillett, dear," cried Minnie, in her girlish, ringing tone, "we are +coming in to have a chat with you; put a chair for us to step on!" + +"Not for the world, miss," almost shrieked the alarmed woman. "Oh dear! +no; maybe you'll hurt yourself." + +"Good gracious--no, Gillett! you know I always come in this way," and +she stooped as if to enter. + +"No, miss--oh dear, no!" continued the other, dragging away the chair in +her terror. "I never will consent; it mustn't be." + +"Are you mad?" exclaimed the amazed girl. The woman caught Miles's face; +he was smiling. Altogether her position was so critical, she became +doubly confused, and said something incoherent about "Lady Dora's +dignity." + +"I see what it is," said that lady. "Mrs. Gillett has forgotten the girl +she used to scold once; so, Minnie, we will sit outside here, and I will +make her better acquaintance as a woman," and the cousins, suiting the +action to the word, sat down each on a garden-chair, which they drew +close to the window. This was a thousand times worse than any position +she ever had been in; no blindness, no pattens, could save her here. +She was not a free agent--What would they say? what do? and besides, the +door was locked--should any one rap! It was the hour when the servants +generally required her advice or presence to prepare for supper; her +agony was intense. She durst not move lest Minnie should step in, using +her own chair for that purpose. Every possible thought crossed her mind +to terrify her--should Miles sneeze? and, in the midst of all this, +Minnie began-- + +"Now," she said, "Gillett, I've come to scold you for your cruelty +yesterday to poor Mr. Tremenhere." + +Mrs. Gillett was seized with a violent fit of coughing; could _any_ +subject more terrible under circumstances have been selected? Miles was +all attention. + +"You've a bad cough," said Lady Dora, kindly, for her; but she wanted +Minnie's homely warmth of speech. + +"Th-an-k you-r la-dy-ship, I ha-ve," coughed the woman. + +"You should be careful at your age," continued the other. "Colds are the +forerunners of all disease, they say." + +"So o-ur doc-tor tel-ls me," uttered the housekeeper, perplexed how to +keep up the cough; "and he sa-ys I sh-ou-l-d avoid dr-aughts!" + +"And here we are," cried the feeling Minnie, "keeping you in one." She +rose hastily. Mrs. Gillett began in all gratitude, thanking her lucky +star for taking them away, as she supposed that luminary so intended to +do; when, lo! at that instant, a hand tried the lock, then +rap--rap--rap, succeeded--then Sylvia's voice! The housekeeper was +nearly frantic. She hurried half-way to the door, then returned. Miles +stood perfectly still and composed. + +"I'll go round by the garden, Minnie," said Lady Dora, rising. "Don't +remain long with Mrs. Gillett," and she turned away with her slow, +majestic walk. Minnie put her chair in at the window, stepping in like a +cat upon it. Gillett indistinctly saw all this; she wrung her hands, +hurried to the assailed door, opened it, slipping through a crevice she +would have dreamed an impossible feat of performance an hour before, and +speaking loudly as she did so. + +"Oh! Miss Sylvia, I'm so flusterated I don't know what I'm a-doing of; +there's a strange cat come into my room, and gone into a fit--don't go +in!" she screamed, as the courageous Sylvia attempted to do so. "It will +bite, maybe! I'll lock it in; the window is open--it will go as it +comed, I daresay!" and, suiting the action to the word, she tremblingly +turned the key, which she had taken outside with her. Presence of mind +is woman's greatest gift. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +"They must settle it between them," she muttered to herself as she did +so. "After what he told me, I ain't afeard of him! And very fortunate it +is, to be sure, that he should be thinking of another, or else he'd be +sartain to fall in love with Miss Minnie, and _that_ wouldn't do!" And, +consoling herself in her error, she trotted down the passage after +Sylvia. + +"Gillett--Mrs. Gillett!" cried Minnie, flying across the room to the +closing door; "let me out!" + +But the door was locked in an instant. Sylvia had turned away, and +Gillett followed, blessing herself for the clever manner in which she +met poor Miles's wishes (for she really liked him,) without actually +compromising herself by arranging a meeting. Minnie turned, and was +going out by the window, as she had entered, wondering much at the +housekeeper's strange behaviour, when, in turning, she beheld Miles. She +started back, uttering a half scream. + +"Pray, do not be alarmed, Miss Dalzell," he said, advancing +courteously--"'tis I, Miles Tremenhere, here, and with Mrs. Gillett's +consent; may I speak a word to you?" + +"_You_ here, Mr. Tremenhere--and with Mrs. Gillett's connivance?" + +"I here, Miss Dalzell--you may indeed be amazed; but pray, pardon my +audacity, but I have something to tell you, for which reason I am here. +May I act most unceremoniously in your own house, and offer you a +chair?" + +She bowed as he did so, and seated herself, though in much perplexity of +thought. + +"I would speak to you," he said seriously, standing beside her, "of one +you take an interest in." + +"Mary Burns!" she cried. "Oh! pray be seated, and tell me of her. I went +to the cottage at six this morning, but it was vacant." + +"Did you, indeed!" he exclaimed, gazing in deep admiration upon the +lovely face raised to his in confidence and innocence. "I wish I had +divined that; how very good you are, Miss Dalzell!--this will much +gratify poor Mary, she is so crushed and bowed down." + +"Oh! do not say I am good; 'tis a sacred duty we owe a distressed fellow +creature. We should not trample upon the fallen, lest they rise against +us, and themselves in bitterness: where is she, Mr. Tremenhere?" + +But Tremenhere's thoughts had changed their current; might he not be +pardoned for seeking a motive to interest in his fate that young heart? +Within the last half hour he had been searching the haunts of memory, +and she had given him back a sunny day, ten long years gone by. + +"It is a great tax on a memory so young as yours, Miss Dalzell," he +said, without having even heard her question, "to ask it to look back +ten years; can you recall the time when you were seven years of age?" + +"Oh, well!" she answered unhesitatingly, as if she had known him all the +intervening space between that, and the present. "I had never quitted +home then, since when, I have been much at Loughton, with my cousin +Dora; but I remember that happy time well. I was a very, very joyous +child. They say, those kind of children know much and early trouble; but +I don't believe that--do you?" + +"Heaven keep you from it!" he energetically said, "_I_ was a _very_ +happy boy." + +Minnie looked up in his handsome face, and her bright blue eyes clouded +over--"Poor Miles Tremenhere!" she thought. + +"You used to ride," he continued, "on a pretty grey pony, and a large +dog always followed it." + +"Yes!" she answered amazed; "and old Thomas, my uncle's coachman, walked +beside me; but how do you know this, Mr. Tremenhere?" + +"One day," he replied, "a young man's horse ran away with him, in the +long lane skirting your grounds at Gatestone, and upset the grey pony +and its pretty burthen. As soon as he recovered the command of his +horse, he returned and found the little girl, not hurt, but very much +frightened; so he dismounted and took the pretty child on his knee, and +her little arms clung round his neck, as she assured him she was not +hurt. He often thought of that sweet girl, and her long flaxen curls; +but somehow, he lost her recollection, amidst the waves of the troubled +life he afterwards was doomed to. He only found it again, half an hour +ago; then he again saw, as now he sees in Memory's magic glass, that +sweet infant face, the little arms so confidently round his neck, and +the kiss she gave him on both cheeks. _I_ was that young man--man _even +then_,--_you_, that pretty loving child, Miss Dalzell." + +Minnie was rosy red to her very brow as he spoke of that kiss; then with +a native grace, all her own, she held out both her tiny hands, and all +smiles as he grasped them, said--"Oh, Mr. Tremenhere! I _do remember_ +it; I am so delighted we have met before this sad time to you; it gives +me a right to defend, and think well of you." + +What would Mrs. Gillett have said, had she seen Miles's dark moustache +pressed upon Minnie's lovely hands, in speechless gratitude? + +"I don't know how it happened," he said, after a moment's silence; "but +there was but little intimacy between our families. _I_ came frequently +here, but then I rambled every where; moreover, I had, and have, a +passion for my pencil, and strolled about the grounds, sketching every +thing, I had so many favourite old trees and sites here." + +"And do you sketch now? have you any of these? I should much like to see +them." + +"Yes, I sketch still, and, more than that, I paint, chisel my thoughts +in marble--all." + +"What a delicious pastime!" she cried, enthusiastically. + +"'Tis more than that to me," he answered, and a cloud passed over his +brow; "it is _now_ a profession to me--one ardently pursued, for a +motive hallows it!" + +"Your mother!" she uttered. + +"Thank you, for that good, sympathetic thought, Miss Dalzell. I may +freely speak to you--we are not strangers in soul--I feel _that_. Yes; +my mother--my good, pure, calumniated mother! I have vowed every energy +of my life to one cause--the re-establishment of her fame. Only money +can do it: I am poor: I have powerful and rich enemies to fight against; +but patience, if wealth is to be gained, I will win it; and then there +is not a corner of the wide world I will leave unsearched, till I prove +her to all, what I know her to be. Every thought of my soul is in this +good work." + +"Oh, may Heaven prosper so pure a wish!" she cried. "Would that I were +rich! I would say, Mr. Tremenhere, for the sake of a sister woman's +fame, let me join you in this holy deed." + +Minnie spoke in all the enthusiasm of her gentle, but energetic nature; +and as she desired, so would she have done, had fortune willed it. +Tremenhere's outcast heart was in fearful danger; had she sought through +all Cupid's quiver for an arrow the most deadly, she could not have +found one better, than this interest in his mother, to win Miles's +affections. For some moments they did not speak; he felt that the +weakness creeping over him must be checked. His cause was too sacred a +one to be relinquished, like a second Marc Anthony's, for woman's love. +And what Cleopatra could ever have ranked in power with Minnie Dalzell? +He felt this, and changed the subject, telling her that Mary and her +mother had that day quitted Yorkshire for London, to avoid persecution. +It was a delicate subject to touch upon to Minnie, therefore he did so +as lightly as possible; but not so much so but that she discovered, to +her increased horror of him, that Marmaduke Burton had been Mary's +betrayer. But time flew--it flies ever when we require its stay--it +flies, carrying with it our joys and smiles; and oh, how it lingers over +our tears! Bathed in them, its wings know no vigour or volition. Minnie +would gladly have remained longer; but she knew her absence would +shortly cause inquiry and search. Miles durst not solicit another +meeting; for how excuse the request? What interests had they in common, +now Mary was gone? Alas! none, which either might avow. Little as they +were acquainted, it was a moment of regret to each, when, without a word +asked of future hope, or promise given, Miles stepped through the +window, in the now deepened shades of evening--almost night. He could +but thank and bless her gentle heart, and say, how truly! that he never +should forget her kindness and confidence,--that he probably, on the +following day, should be far from Gatestone; but, at her request, he +would send some sketches to Mrs. Gillett for her, in memory of their +meeting; and one should be of their first one. Twice he turned to say +good-bye; and the last time he lingered, and lingered, over the little +white hand, on which the lip, though half in fear, fell at last; and he +bade Heaven bless her, for his mother's sake. She watched his tall +figure as he strode through the garden--then the night concealed him +from her view--she crept to the window and listened, but the footsteps +were lost on the turf; and here Mrs. Gillett turned the key in the door, +and entered. Minnie turned hastily round. + +"Is he gone?" asked the woman, in a whisper. + +"Yes," uttered Minnie sadly. "Poor man--poor creature! Oh, Gillett, what +a wicked man Marmaduke Burton is!" + +"Is he? Oh! may be not--he thinks he's right; may be he is, may be he +isn't--who can say?" Policy had stepped in again, her handmaiden. "One +thing I'm very glad of, Miss Minnie, that Mr. Miles is an engaged man." + +"Engaged!" cried the girl, surprised; "to whom?" + +"I don't know, but he solemnly assured me he was, or else be sure I +wouldn't have consented to his seeing you alone. People soon fall in +love--I know _I_ did with poor, dear Gillett; but I never knew it till +he fell out of the apple-tree, and dessicated his shoulder. And I'm +sure, when they strapped him down in the chair, to pull it back again, +(it was sadly put out,) I felt in such an agonized state, as if vultures +were feedin' on my vitals! Ah! that's true love, Miss Minnie--I hope you +may never know how sharp its tooth is, for it gnaws through every +barricade, as one may say." + +Minnie was in deep thought, thinking and wondering what sort of person +Miles loved: Was she dark?--fair? and, above all, did she love him _very +much_? She thought--indeed, she was sure--that she should love such a +man! In a very meditative mood, she entered the drawing-room. + +Miles sped away across fields, once his, to the homely farmer's, (Weld,) +where, we have said, he had taken up his abode. He, too, was in deep +cogitation; his mind filled with thoughts of Minnie. With an artist's +eye, he remembered every outline of her lovely face and form: there was +something so seraphic in it: for a while it obliterated all bitterer +memories--cousin, mother, all. Then, as he awoke from a day-dream of +what might _possibly_ have been, a double flood of indignation and +hatred rushed through his heart towards Marmaduke. "I would have +willingly shared all with him," he cried aloud, "so he had left me name, +and _her_ fame; with these I might _perhaps_ have won----" He paused. +"Lady Dora her cousin, too! strange I should never have thought of +_that_! But, then, 'tis ever so; we sit down contentedly under a happy +influence of sunlight, unquestioning whether it will last, or wherefore +it shines, whence it comes. _That_ would have been the maddest dream of +any. Proud! oh, Juno herself fabled Juno not prouder! There were many +things in that girl I could not fathom: Was she really so proud? or, Had +her heart a softer feeling beneath that mantle? or, Was it merely +woman's love of enchaining, which made her so gentle, yielding, _almost_ +loving, only to frown down upon the half-uttered hopes her manner gave +birth to? I remember the day she was leaving; I am not a vain man, but +assuredly there was a tear in her eye, and the hand, for the first +time, touched mine--how cold her's was! _That_ was vanity. Her manners +piqued me, her beauty dazzled; but I forgot her a week afterwards, and +worked at the statue for which she had been my model, as calmly as if no +line of it were drawn in vain imitation of her matchless grace. But I +forgot _her_!--could I forget Miss Dalzell?" He was silent for a long +time, and walked onward in thought. "I will leave this place," he said +at last, speaking aloud--that habit which denotes the lonely +man--speaking aloud, not to forget the _tone_ of a human voice. "I will +leave this, and then forget that sweet, fair face; I cannot allow my +heart the luxury even of that thought. I require all its energies--it +must be vigorous, Miles, vigorous, for it's worldly encounter, not +enervated by love! Pshaw! leave love to boys--I am a man--a sad, +stricken man--what have I to do with love? Why, my hair will be +silvering soon, and how might I mingle such, with those glorious wreaths +of golden shade, as she lay on my bosom! Away, away!" he cried, groaning +deeply. "This is a devil's vision, to tempt me aside, from duty to a +saint! What a beautiful thing nature is!" he continued, after a pause. +"What act of art, however gorgeous her colouring, could compete with +that one--so beautiful--so pure--so perfect--when Minnie Dalzell put her +two fair hands in childish confidence in mine!" Again he walked on in +silence, and as he entered Farmer Weld's door, he muttered, "I will +leave this place to-morrow!" + +The morrow rose. Does she in rising lay in her lap, and survey all the +deeds of the day? or is it an act at eve, when retiring? In either case, +how she must sigh over those of omission and commission, and regret that +she should be the involuntary parent of them all! She rose, and with her +Lady Dora, earlier than usual; she looked thoughtful, pale, and +irresolute. Were these caused by Minnie--who had spent two good hours +the previous night in her dressing-room, confiding to her cousinly ear +all about Miles Tremenhere? Dora had listened, and Minnie was too little +accustomed herself to conceal her feelings, to note the painful struggle +the other had, to be in seeming quite calm. Much she argued with +Minnie--mere cold, worldly motives, for not seeing Miles, for refusing +to do so _peremptorily_, should he seek her; as if Minnie could do any +thing in a peremptory manner, especially a thing calculated to wound +this fallen man! Dora found her resolute, however, in one way--not to do +so, but leave all to chance. He was going--she pitied him--always had +done so since she heard his story. She hated Marmaduke Burton--always +had--and would now, more than ever--_she would_. In vain Dora spoke of +position; he was rich, Minnie had nothing, and her aunts were resolved +she should settle near them. "Well, they cannot force me to marry at +all," answered she; "so I'll die an old maid, or rather live one first, +with dear aunt Dorcas." + +But Dora could gain no promise about Miles Tremenhere. + +"I may never seek him," said Minnie. "I'm not in love--oh! not at all; +but, if we _do_ meet, I will hold out my hand if the squire and all the +household are by to see! Has he not known me since I was seven years of +age? and do you think I am going to turn away from a friend because he +is poor? No, cousin dear, I wish I were a man, I'd fight for Miles +Tremenhere--poor fellow!" + +It is questionable whether, had she been one, she would have blushed so +deeply, and spoken so enthusiastically, though her generous nature would +have made her uphold the wronged. A handsome man is very dry fuel near a +young lady's warm heart--her enthusiasm soon glows into a blaze. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +Our readers must not suppose that Lady Dora Vaughan was in love with +Miles Tremenhere. The outcast of society could never find a cherished +home in a heart so proud as her's. True, we cannot always command our +feelings; but we can check them. Her's towards him were, more bordering +on hate than love--And why? because she had _nearly_ loved, and her +pride revolted so much against her weakness, that dislike towards the +object had followed; still, her sensations were far from agreeable. Do +as she might, she could not despise the man; she was bound to admire, +and even while doing so, feel that it would be worse than any marriage +with age or decrepitude (rank and wealth of course accompanying them,) +to love this noble-hearted man, simply because the laws of society +condemned him as an outcast, for his mother's supposed error. And this +frightful fault of pride, was the bane of a host of good qualities and +virtues in Lady Dora. It marred them all; making her seem worldly, cold, +and heartless, whereas a good, simple-minded mother would have created a +jewel of price in this girl. She had met Miles in Florence--met him +merely as an artist, whose rising talent entitled him to portray her +fine features for the admiration of posterity. As a very young man, when +wealth and position were his, Miles had studied painting as an art to +which inspiration called him. Sculpturing, too, he practised, but less +than the other. Perhaps it was, next to his mother's wrongs, the +severest blow of his unhappy fate, when he found himself driven from his +studio at the manor-house, where his happiest hours had been spent. He +had passed years of his life at different periods, since boyhood, in +Italy, and studied with the best masters. When his troubles seemed to +have quite overwhelmed him, after flinging back with scorn the hundred a +year his base cousin dared offer him--as indeed he would have done +thousands, from his, or any hand in charity--he had recourse to his +talents for support. He returned to Italy; and now every energy of his +genius was directed towards the acquirement of wealth, for the purpose +we have shown. This was the man Lady Dora had sat to; and, though she +did not admit the fact at Gatestone, she, but not her mother, had been +perfectly aware that he was the once master of the manor-house. Even +while under his pencil at Florence she had, struck by the name, sought +his confidence, which he freely gave her--only from her mother was it +withheld. Lady Dora never spoke of herself; imagining that every one +must know her rank and family, she merely spoke of having been at +Gatestone, and he inquired no farther. Under the mask with which pride +concealed the working of her features and heart, Lady Dora had warm +affections. Though she did not fully enter into the merits of +Tremenhere's case, neither did she believe that, had his mother been +innocent, he could be so much wronged; still she felt much sympathy for +one brought up in ignorance, so many years, and driven to the bitter +extremity, as she deemed it, of earning his existence; not knowing, that +the bread we honestly earn, is made sweeter to the palate, than that +which comes to us from parents and kindred--the cold household bread, +baked from our birth for us! The depth of thought, intelligence, and +something above any one she had ever met, made her involuntarily bow +before the commanding nature of this man. Of his plans or purposes she +knew nothing; merely supposing that, like hundreds of other artists, he +was earning his living. It was not to a girl like this one, that the +sacred motive of all his acts would be confided. Still it was impossible +to be thrown into the society of Lady Dora, and not admire her deeply, +especially a man like this; for he was too keen an observer--a +scrutinizer of all--not to perceive that under her pride lay feeling and +depth of soul. Insensibly this cold man began to watch for the days of +his visits at the Palazzo Nuovo, whither he went to complete the +portraits of herself, and the countess; but it was to his studio Lady +Dora came, accompanied by a waiting-woman, and sometimes her mother, to +mark the progress of her marble statue; and here, in his own home, his +household gods around him, Miles became so perfectly himself--at ease, +graceful, and courteous in manner, such as few could be, none surpass, +that insensibly Lady Dora felt her heart question her pride as to the +possibility of reconciliation; for with her they were two enemies at +open war--still she was not in love. Surrounded by admirers--sought +every where--chidden by her mother for her coldness--it was a bitter +pang to her, the discovery that this painter-sculptor, for such he was, +should give her heart an awakening start. At first she gave herself up +to the enjoyment of a new sensation; then, when she discovered how +dangerous the feeling might become, she drew back into her shell, which +lay outwardly cold and empty; whereas within beat a warm heart. +Tremenhere, however, guessed a part of the whole. There is a look, not +to be mistaken, in the downcast lid which lowers over the traitor +glance--there is the young blood, which will rush up rejoicing to the +cheek. No caution can check this tide, no dam limit its flow. More than +once her blush had made his heart question itself; and though that heart +acknowledged a warmer feeling than towards a mere acquaintance, still +it's joy was not full, the cup was not filled to overflowing, nor any +thing resembling it. Lady Dora had passed a sleepless night after the +conversation with Minnie. Minnie she had loved as a child--loved her now +as a girl; moreover, she was a part of herself, her flesh and +blood--degradation to one, would necessarily fall upon the other; and +knowing, as she knew the fascination of Miles, even acting upon +herself--the girl accustomed to society and adulation--she doubly +dreaded it in the case of an unsophisticated girl like her cousin. Lady +Dora, we have said, arose, it was about seven o'clock, a thing most +unusual for her to do. She dressed herself without the attendance of +her maid, and after a moment's thoughtful pause, put on a close +straw-bonnet and shawl, and, opening her door gently, crept down-stairs. +It will be remembered that Lady Dora had often been, as a child, a +resident at Gatestone; consequently, under the unavoidable influence of +Mrs. Gillett, the presiding goddess of the house. To her room, through +the gardens, Lady Dora resolved to go, as if accidentally in an early +walk, and implore her not to countenance in any way the +inter-communication of Minnie and Tremenhere. Poor Lady Dora quite +forgot, or disbelieved, that there is a communion of kindred spirits on +earth, and that vain is all earthly power to separate them. Thinking on +various things in deep cogitation, she skirted the gardens, passed +through the shrubbery, and was on the point of entering the +fruit-gardens leading to Mrs. Gillett's window, when she suddenly +paused. Through an opening of the majestic trees in the long walk called +the shrubbery, she saw in the distance a man's figure. He was slowly +walking in the holly-field before alluded to. She drew near the hedge +separating the grounds from this last named, and looked earnestly +through the interstices of the hedge; he was evidently strolling about, +on nothing especial bent. She paused in thought. "Was he, could he, be +expecting any one? if so----Surely not Minnie? oh, no! she was too +candid and retiring to deceive, or be guilty of such an act on so slight +an acquaintance." These questions answered, her decision was soon made; +it was far better to speak to him candidly, than through any servant +attain her object. Her pride made her sufficiently self-relying, and +placed her on too high a pedestal to fear, as a merely ordinary girl of +her age might have done. Thus resolved, she returned on her footsteps, +and walking hastily through the grounds, opened a small door leading to +the fields, and without further hesitation proceeded straight towards +the man, as matinal as herself; whom, at a glance, she had recognized, +as Tremenhere. He, too, had passed a restless night--a thing to him of +frequent occurrence; poor Miles had much to banish sleep from his +pillow, at all times. He never stayed to woo Morpheus, but rose at once, +however early it might be, in Aurora's reign. He had been up nearly two +hours, and something impelled him to visit this path, remembering that +one day's hour of waking, generally is succeeded by a parallel act, next +morning. Minnie had been across these fields at six the previous day, +and might she not do the like this? So much worth was his resolution to +quit the spot, and see her no more. His back was however, now turned +from Gatestone, and he sat upon a stile watching busy nature; he was too +sad to sing, or he would have united his voice with the tone of the +lark, and busy bee, as they rose above, or flew past him. No! he sat in +thought. Lady Dora's light step was unheard; it might have been a flying +hare's, 'twas so gently placed on the grass; a cough, however, startled +him, and then a cold untrembling. + +"Mr. Tremenhere, pardon my interruption of your reverie, but may I speak +to you?" + +"Good heavens! Lady Dora Vaughan!" and he was beside her. + +"You naturally feel astonished at my being here, Mr. Tremenhere," she +coldly said, after an obeisance of the body which placed a barrier like +the Jura mountains between them--"precipitately steep." "But I was +walking in the gardens, and perceiving you, have come without +hesitation, well assured that you can place no false construction on the +otherwise hazardous act." + +"Lady Dora must be fully aware that presumption, or self-appreciation +_above_ what I deserve, is not a fault of mine; what I am, I +know--_more_, I never shall seek to be." + +He was to the full as proud as herself in word and look; she felt his +meaning, and thought they stood _equal_ in mental strength; but his was +the real, sterling pride, grounded on uprightness of cause--hers, the +worldly thing, born by accident of birth; but, like many unreal things, +it looked as pure as the other to the eye. + +"Believe me, Mr. Tremenhere, I do full justice to you in all things. I +feel so much sympathy for a position so painful as yours, especially as +it must be here, in this neighbourhood." + +He merely bowed. She scarcely knew well how to enter upon the subject of +Minnie; even to her undaunted mind, it was a most difficult one. "May I +ask," she said at last, "without a seeming impertinence, foreign to my +thought, whether your stay will be greatly prolonged here?" + +He stood surprised; but, fixing his gaze upon her cold, impassive face, +he read nothing to point a suspicion of any personal interest on her +part. + +"May I inquire your ladyship's motive for the question? I shall then, +possibly, be better enabled to reply with brevity and decision to it, as +I presume the dew still lying on the grass, induces you naturally, to +abridge this visit, as much as possible, once its motive explained. I +regret I cannot offer a more agreeable place of rest, than the grassy +turf." + +"Thank you, Mr. Tremenhere. I like the country--its walks and +associations." + +"Indeed! I thought I remembered other opinions in Florence; but we all +are liable to change. Let us hope it may ever be for the better, as your +decision for the sweet country and rural nature decidedly is." + +"We will walk, if you please," she coldly replied, moving onwards. They +had been standing near the stile: there was another awkward pause. + +"Mr. Tremenhere," she said at length, hastily, "I was made acquainted +last evening by my cousin, Miss Dalzell, with her extraordinary meeting +with yourself. 'Tis of that I would speak." + +"Extraordinary! Lady Dora--why extraordinary? I naturally wished to see +an old acquaintance of boyhood, Mrs. Gillett. I have bad taste; but the +humble have often charms for me beyond many more sought after. Then I +had a message to give, which only Mrs. Gillett might be charged with; +then--I confess my audacity towards _your_ cousin, I had an earnest +desire once more to behold Miss Dalzell, and thank her for her candidly +expressed and warm sympathy with a _now_ disregarded man--one drooping, +but not _crushed_, Lady Dora." + +The woman's heart softened at this tone; it was one of so much noble +pride, and knowledge of his rights. Her voice was gentler as she said-- + +"Whatever your misfortunes may have been, or are at this moment, I most +sincerely----" + +He bowed, and interrupted her. "Your ladyship, I think, came here to +speak on some subject more interesting than my wrongs, I believe; pardon +me for reminding you of it." + +She bit her lip. She saw that every word uttered in the pride of her +heart at Florence, when he had almost dared to speak of love, was +remembered against her. + +"I thank you for recalling me to my immediate business in being here, +Mr. Tremenhere. I _know_ I am speaking to a man of the highest honour." + +"You only do me justice," he replied. "'Twas born with me from _both_ +parents." + +"I would speak to you of my cousin, Miss Dalzell, and implore you to +quit this neighbourhood, or else avoid any further meeting with her." +Lady Dora committed a grievous error. She should not have permitted such +a thought to intrude upon her, as the possibility of her cousin +degrading herself, as she deemed it would be, by any attachment to +Tremenhere; still less should she have allowed him to imagine such a +thing within the nature of probability, as Minnie ever returning any +affection of his. She had opened a door in his heart, difficult to +close again; certainly _she_ could not accomplish it. Naturally he asked +himself, "What had Miss Dalzell said of him, so much to alarm her +cousin?" And through that open gate passed many sweet hopes into the +lone man's heart. + +"May I ask," he said hastily, "whether your ladyship comes _from_ Miss +Dalzell thus requesting?" + +"You cannot imagine, sir," and she drew her proud figure up, "that my +cousin could be unwomanly enough to make so strange a request--implying +fear of herself? No; _I_ fear for her, only because she is a +warm-hearted girl. Her sympathies are awakened for you; her uncle and +aunts have chosen otherwise for her; a marriage with you would be most +distasteful to them _on that account_," she hastily added, to soften the +real meaning of her heart, which she had nearly betrayed in her haste. +She would not wilfully pain any one. "And by some unfortunate event you +have met. It is paying you a compliment to say I fear for her." + +"Paying _me_ a compliment," he sternly replied, "at the expense of one +whose memory I revere. Were I the acknowledged master of the +manor-house, my visits as a suitor would not be less pleasing than those +of my worthless cousin, Marmaduke Burton. As it is, Lady Dora Vaughan +ought to know how little there is to be feared from myself in attaching +any one; for, let my station be what it may, the heart knows of none, +and for one worthy of its love, will fearlessly speak. Thus, then, there +cannot really exist in your ladyship's mind the fear your words express. +You have _proved_ how, in all confidence, I may be trusted near +disengaged hearts; I will conclude some kinder motive impelled you to +seek me to-day--some old scenes to recall to memory--_together_ to speak +some friendly word, which will bear repetition--something in short of +the past; or a friend, to inquire about. All are well, I believe; were, +when I left. Lord Randolph Gray perfectly recovered from his fall, +though they say, from some hidden cause, sad at heart. Or it may be only +an artistic visit this,--has your ladyship's portrait grown pale? +Colours fade sometimes, however much we may have endeavoured to make +them proof against so great sacrilege, to a lovely original. Shall I +call, when in the neighbourhood of Loughton Castle, and retouch it? or +will your ladyship send it to the artist's studio in town? I wait your +commands." + +All this was uttered in a tone of _badinage_, leaving her abashed and +speechless. How she despised herself for having ever allowed a momentary +weakness of heart at Florence, to leave a dream on that man's mind that +she had almost loved him. How she hated him for having excited that +affection, and _now_ even forcing her to respect him. In her +self-abasement, she would have rejoiced in proving _him_ base, that she +might banish him, as she then could, from her thoughts. And, as the last +pain is ever keenest, she more than all else deplored her ill-advised +morning walk. She felt she had injured her cause, and, resolving to +abridge this meeting, also came to the decision of watching over Minnie, +and imploring her Aunt Dorcas to reason with her. How people hurry on +events by too much forethought, sometimes. + +"I fear," she answered, after a moment's pause, stopping in her walk +with a frigidity of manner which would have convinced many of their +first error in supposing she had even dreamed of love. But Tremenhere +was not a superficial observer. "I fear, Mr. Tremenhere, that you +totally mistake my meaning and intention. Lest a greater error than the +first should ensue, we will, if you please, stop here in our +conversation. I trust I misjudge my cousin's warm heart, and that it +will never lead her into an act which would deprive her of all her +friend's sympathy. Nay, do not take any personal offence; but she is too +unsophisticated to trust her own judgment in all things." + +"May I without offence say," said he, completely changing the +conversation, and smiling blandly, "that I regret much your ladyship's +portrait should have been entrusted to my care under the influence of a +more southern sky? Assuredly there can be nothing in nature to equal the +beauty of the dazzling English complexion!" And he gazed respectfully, +but admiringly on her glowing cheek. She certainly was beautiful at that +moment; many emotions combined to heighten the colouring of the fresh +morning air. Again she bit her lip. This man had beaten her; and not +alone doing it, but he knew he had done so, and made her feel it. She +merely bowed; and as they turned in their walk, finding herself near the +door entering Gatestone shrubbery, stopped. Then for the first time her +abased self-confidence made her dread lest any one should have seen her +with him. What would be thought, said, reported? And in this unenviable +state of mind, she took a cold, haughty leave of Tremenhere, who was +smiling, and courteous in the extreme. As he replaced his hat, he turned +away, and she hastily entered the grounds. Lady Dora almost forgot her +dignity enough to hurry towards the house; perhaps she would quite have +done so, had she seen Minnie concealed within the shrubs, with distended +eyes, full of wonder, and a little regret, earnestly watching her. Poor +girl! she did not know what to do or think. Her first movement had been +to join Dora; then one of delicacy withheld her--the other evidently +wished her visit unknown. Minnie had been matinal, too; and looking from +her window before descending, _not_ to seek Miles, but to walk in the +fresh garden among dew and flowers, she saw Dora pass out. Deeming the +other's motive like her own, she hastened her toilet, and just arrived +in the shrubbery as Dora joined Miles at the stile. Him she knew at a +glance; then her heart questioned, "What are they to each other?" She +knew they had met. Had she been confiding her admiration of him to one +who loved him? one perhaps beloved? She would ask Dora--no, she would +wait till they were alone--Dora would surely speak of the morning's +walk. So in this final decision Minnie paused, and, unseen by the other, +followed her to the house, where they shortly after met at breakfast. + +"Dora, you are late," said Minnie, as she entered the breakfast parlour. + +"Yes," was the reply, "we sleep well in country air." + +"She will tell me when we are alone," thought Minnie. And when that +occurred, and the other kept silence of lip, and looked so thoughtful, +Minnie felt sadly disappointed. Dora was not all candour, and her pure +nature sickened at the worldly lesson. A first deception where we +trusted, _often_ mars a life; at all events, it taints life's current, +and breeds suspicion--_frequently_, error, on our part. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +Some one else had also seen Lady Dora--this was Aunt Sylvia. This busy, +restless woman, had one decided affection--a love of gardening in all +its branches. Her greatest crony after Dame Gillett, was John Gardener, +as he had been surnamed, consequent upon his profession; for every thing +is a profession now,--the humble trade eschews its name to become such, +and professions, as they still are, are for the most part unmeaning +words and falsehoods. Sylvia loved a garden, every atom of it,--kitchen, +fruit, and flowers. She delighted in getting out _spudding_ in it, as +she termed it--a corruption of spading, we presume; but it was her own +coined word, and meant, digging, weeding, sowing, and planting, a +composite word of much meaning. This morning, like many others, she was +up, and busily inspecting some little green tips just bursting through +the earth, which she pronounced "loves of things;" when raising her +head, to push back the spectacles she had put on for a closer inspection +of her budding flowers, she saw Lady Dora pass through the little door +into the fields. Her niece had not perceived her; she was bent double +nearly, and in a grass-coloured muslin, which made her appear, in the +distance, like a heap of short, newly-mown turf on the lawn. Up she +jumped at this vision. "My niece, Lady Dora!" she exclaimed--even in +_thought_ she was "Lady Dora" to her--"where can she be going? I declare +the young ladies of the present day, have the oddest manner of creeping +about early in the morning; no good ever can come of it!" Thus +soliloquizing, she stole after her, and, to her amazement, saw a man in +the distance; who it was, she had not the slightest idea, not once +dreaming of Tremenhere. Startled at the responsibility of so great a +secret to herself alone, she hastened through the kitchen-garden to Mrs. +Gillett's window, and rapping hastily until she summoned that familiar +spirit to her aid, she imparted all her surprise to her no less +astonished ear. Mrs. Gillett was literally lost in wonder; for she at +once suspected that Tremenhere was the man, though she kept her +suspicions to herself. This, then, was his engagement to which he had +alluded; but how had it come about. She knew nothing about the portrait +and Florence, or all would have seemed clear as noonday. In deep +perplexity, with Sylvia's aid she mounted on a chair; and thus getting +into the garden, accompanied her to the end of it, where they might, +through the thick hedge on that side, see beyond. It was thus Minnie +escaped seeing them, or their observing her. + +"Can you imagine who the creature is?" (_man_ she meant,) Sylvia asked. + +"He's come a purpose!" ejaculated Gillett, pursuing her own private +thoughts, not heeding the other's question. + +"Who has come on purpose?" asked Sylvia, impatiently. + +"Why, he, miss--you know who I mean. Lauks-a-mercy me! here'll be a to +do! Lauks-a-mercy! and my lady, too!" + +"Good gracious, Mrs. Gillett! will you tell me what you mean? Will you +tell me what you mean?--who's that man?" + +"Why, Mr. Tremenhere, to be sure!" answered the other, amazed at the +question. Sylvia was silent. In the bottom of her heart she felt +something like pleasure; she hated all men, _pour cause_, as the French +so impressively say. She hoped some one would shoot this one for his +audacity--he deserved it; then, too, she even felt a something of +jealousy towards Lady Ripley, for marrying at all when she remained +single, and especially an earl. She had a sort of idea, that only a +certain quantum of mankind was by fate allotted to each family, and that +this one, by his exalted rank, had appropriated all, and bestowed it +upon only one--else, why were she and Dorcas single? In this mood of +mind, she rejoiced at any thing to lower Lady Ripley's pride, and +resolved silently to watch the course of events, and be guided by them +how to act. Accordingly she bound down Mrs. Gillett to profound secresy; +and, having watched the two separate at the garden gate, she entered the +house by the back-door, leaving her confidant more puzzled than ever +what to do, finding herself the repository of so many opposite secrets, +and fearing events, should they clash in any way. Sylvia noticed every +turn in Dora's countenance at breakfast, and, without surprise, listened +to a half-smothered sigh. All seemed as clear as day to her idea. There +was a private communication existing between Miles and Lady Dora; that +was why he had come so unexpectedly to the neighbourhood--she was the +magnet. She was in a mood to hate all--rejoice at any annoyance to +others; for it was a little wounding, after all the trouble she had +taken to bring about events, to see her pet, Mr. Dalby, quietly +resigning, as was the case, his pretensions to Minnie's hand. Dalby was +a prudent man, and, seeing the girl's evident repugnance towards +himself, wisely said, "I shall never succeed; if I pursue her, I shall +lose my friend--if I give her up at this stage of the affair, her +dislike is not so apparent to others, but that the squire should owe me +a debt of gratitude for withdrawing in his favour--I'll choose the +squire!" Accordingly he resigned, and was once more reinstated in +Marmaduke Burton's favour as one in whom he could trust. It was a +complete game of cross purposes with almost all, under cloak of which +the ones most interested passed comparatively unnoticed. One thing Lady +Dora had accomplished by her morning walk. Miles Tremenhere turned +thoughtfully away, and the result of his cogitations was a determination +to remain some short time longer at Farmer Weld's--he must do so--had he +not promised Minnie a sketch of Gatestone, and the surrounding scenery? +In common politeness he must remain; so "common politeness," like many +other things, bore the burthen which of right belonged to +another--"inclination." Some days passed away. Lady Ripley spoke of +shortly leaving for town. Dora had never spoken of her walk to Minnie, +and she, grieved and wounded at this reserve, firmly resisted all +manoeuvring on the other's part to discover her thoughts about +Tremenhere. Marmaduke Burton was a constant visitor: he paid court to +Lady Dora, in order (he thought) to pique Minnie. The fact was, Lady +Dora's species of hatred towards Tremenhere made her, even though he +could not see it, rejoice in showing favour to his rival cousin. This +gave a zest--a sort of dreamy hope to his attentions; though in reality +liking Minnie better, he would have preferred her proud, titled cousin: +this was the man's meanness. Juvenal rejoiced, for both were his nieces, +and, either way, his pet squire would be happily mated. Mr. Skaife was +absent from the village for a while; so Dorcas looked on, in happy +ignorance of much; whilst Sylvia, in the greatest error of any, held +consultations with Mrs. Gillett, whose mind was nearly distracted by +many confidences, and whose only consolation amidst all was, that, "most +fortunately, Master Tremenhere didn't love Miss Minnie, so she was safe; +and no blame could ever attach to her (Mrs. Gillett) for connivance in +their meetings!" + +Nearly two weeks passed thus, and Minnie sat alone in her own little +room, where we first saw her; but the door is bolted, and she is sitting +at the table in the centre of that room, on which several sketches in +crayon are displayed. One little white hand supports her head, which is +bent over these, and these represent, with a bold master-stroke, +"Gatestone," seen from north, south, east, and west. Then there are +sites and majestic trees, ruins and ivy-covered walls; all the most +beautiful views on the banks of the Nidd are spread before her, over +which her eyes wander; but the little white fingers close on one, and +she raises it up, and looks almost tenderly upon it. 'Tis the sketch of +a little girl on a pony, a large dog beside her, and leaning on the neck +of the former animal is a tall young man. "Very like him even now," +whispered she; "but what a little thing I was then! and to think he +should have remembered it! Poor, dear Miles Tremenhere!" and she pressed +the card-board to her lip. Was it the little girl's effigy she kissed? +in truth, we fear it must be owned such was not the case. Moreover, our +readers will perceive that Pity had strengthened her cause--he was +"dear" as well as "poor" now. Lady Dora had much suffered from the +various annoyances of her position: afraid to speak to Minnie, watching +all, dreading all, and enraged with herself for a contradiction of +feeling which would arise within her, despite every effort, when she +thought of Miles. His pride had conquered her's: she had been foiled, +and, in her discomfiture, she knew not where to seek comfort. Somehow, +she could not banish him from her thoughts. She and her mother had left +for a few days, on a visit near Ripon, and Gatestone had sunk into +seeming peace. No one watched Minnie, she was in outward appearance as +usual; but, while others planned for her, or permitted all care for the +present to rest, she was weaving her own fate, and not as a child +weaves, flowers: there were many thorns set within that band, which +would bind her, perhaps. Minnie, unwatched, walked and rode as usual; in +the latter case, with the fat old coachman as attendant, who had +followed her even in the time of the grey pony. Poor, old, half-blind +Thomas!--what knew he of love, or love's various ways? And when, one +day, Minnie left him in charge of her black mare at a wayside house, +after first dropping her at the ruins of an old castle, where she was +going to wander a while and sketch, some four miles from home--how could +he possibly guess that she would scarcely be seated on a moss-covered +stone, before another human being would be beside her, her hand gently +pressed in his? All this was very wrong, but the grey pony commenced it +years before. Early associations accomplish more in half an hour than +recent acquaintances in months: the childish heart takes an impression +freely. Minnie had become the little, fair baby thing again, whilst +conversing with Miles; and how or when they had met again, after the +evening in Mrs. Gillett's room, matters little; they met accidentally +_on her part_, and, like a child, she held out her hands rejoicing; and +it was not till more than one of these meetings had taken place, that +she discovered + + "I am now no more a 'child,' + And there's a gulf 'twixt thee and me!" + +And in making that discovery, she also awoke to the fact in her case--a +most unhappy one--that as a woman, she loved. To whom could she tell +that love? there was but one, Dora, and her secresy had engendered +coldness. In the candour of her heart she had asked Miles why Dora had +sought him that morning? but he merely attributed it to accident, and +Dora's silence, made her convinced some other motive had induced her to +seek him. Of his love towards herself she had no assurance--no +promise--no pledge. She met him this day because he asked her to do so, +to sketch with, and talk to him. More than once she had been on the +point of telling "dear aunt Dorcas" all--her heart abhorred deceit; but +then, when next she met Miles, he implored her so earnestly not to do +so, that her lips became sealed; besides, until this day the meetings +had been accidental--though hoped for, by her, watched for, by him. + +"Minnie Dalzell," he said, "think what I should be here, were I +prevented from seeing you; here I must remain a while. I have some +business which forces my stay, and none to speak with but Farmer Weld's +family; though good, excellent people, yet think how lost I should be +without 'Baby Minnie' and her sketch-book to superintend and correct?" + +And "Baby Minnie" feeling no harm to herself, certainly no wrong to +another--held her peace "for pity's sake." "Should he ever say any thing +more--more tender," she added, after a pause in her soliloquy, "then +I'll tell aunt Dorcas!" Was it policy on his part not to startle, till +he had secured, his timid bird? or was it that he really did not love +her, that kept him silent? A little of both. He was not _quite_ sure of +his own heart; it had been so bound up in the one great object of his +life, that he feared lest he were incapable of loving Minnie as she +should be loved; he was perfectly unselfish. Accustomed to deep +suffering, he would rather have gone, leaving his love untold, and +bearing even the charge, on her part, of being a mere trifler, than give +her only a half affection. It was true his heart bounded when they met, +and every moment in her absence was a thought of love for her. He walked +alone, and conversed alone, to the spirit at his side, ever present with +him; but he knew man's nature so completely under the control of his +passions, that for her sake he resolved to prove his own heart before he +offered it to her. If he felt he _ever_ could change, or love another, +then would he leave without awakening her to the knowledge of her own +affection, which he saw, but looked upon as a fledgling, which, by some +accident, might never take wing. + +"Again here!" she said, on the day we have spoken of, in the old ruin. +"Do you know this must terminate soon? Dora will return, and Mr. Skaife; +and when he is here, Aunt Dorcas generally accompanies me, with him to +escort us." + +"But not riding. She is not a horsewoman, you say?" + +"True; but Mr. Skaife, at her request, becomes my companion, then Dora +will be with me every day." + +"Do you mean, Miss Dalzell, that I am never to see you?" and something +like a sigh escaped him. + +"Oh! I hope not, indeed. I should feel grieved at so sad a termination +to our many pleasant hours together; but what can be done to smooth our +rugged path, for we cannot disguise from ourselves that a very rugged +one lies between us?" + +"I never forget that! Would to heaven I could remove it! Time +may--_will_, I should say," he cried, with energy; "but, to accomplish +that glorious end, I must toil--toil--toil, and far away from this +place, and----" he was going to say "you," he substituted "Yorkshire." + +"'Tis very hard that, when we have known one another from childhood----" + +"You forget I was a man _then_ even." + +"Well, then," she continued, "from _my_ childhood, that we should be +debarred from meeting freely; but why do you always correct me when I +say _our_ childhood? why are you so very anxious to make me remember +that you are so much older than myself?" + +"I say it, lest _I_ should forget it." + +"How do you mean? Where would be the harm?" + +He looked at her so deeply, that her eyes fell beneath his glance, and +she blushed. + +"Where is your sketch-book?" he hastily said, looking away from her +glowing face; but his eyes went lingeringly to other things. + +"You have it in your hand! What are you thinking of, Mi--, Mr. +Tremenhere?" she hastily substituted. + +The sketch-book fell from his hand, and he grasped hers involuntarily, +and the deep, dark eye grew full of passion, as it fixed itself on her +face. "Call me," he whispered, "by that half-uttered name, and I will +tell you why I always recall to my memory our difference of age." + +But she was silent, trembling, and incapable of speech. + +"_Do_ say it; pray, utter it this once, and I will dare to believe you +will not forget me--a poor, lonely man--when I go." + +"I shall never forget you, Miles Tremenhere," she answered, gravely +looking up. There was no blush or hesitation: there was only truth, and +its ever accompanying fearlessness. + +"Do you know, child," he exclaimed almost painfully, as he clasped her +hand convulsively, "what you are doing this day? You are bending a +strong, stern man, to womanly weakness; you are tearing every other +thought from my heart, to engraft yourself there. Minnie, I have dreaded +this moment; yet I had not the courage to fly you. I have said every +day, 'To-morrow;' and that morrow has never come in which I could quit +this neighbourhood." + +"Hush!" she cried in alarm, looking round; "I heard a footstep." Her +voice trembled with many emotions. + +"There's no one here," he answered, scarcely glancing round. "It was +perhaps my heart you heard beat; there are footfalls in that--those of +remorse for my weakness--those of my mother's spirit deserting me; for I +have sworn _only_ to think of her. And yet, Minnie, do you know, amidst +all this wild passion to-day, which your word, your utterance of my +name, has called forth, I am not _sure_ I truly love you! Were I certain +of that, nothing could ever reconcile me to a separation from you. I +would strain every nerve of my soul to make you love me; and, loving +thus, ask you to be mine--in toil and poverty perhaps--assured that +_nothing_ could surpass in misery, separation from each other." + +"Is your heart more difficult for you to read, than mine is for myself?" +she asked, looking up in child-like confidence. "Mine is an open page, I +_know_----" + +"Do not speak what you _think_ you read there, Minnie; hearts are +deceitful things, like words in dead tongues: we must search well, to +define the real signification of things written there. Love has a +counterfeit--passion. If I knew mine, purely, truly yours, worthy of +you--or if I knew you truly loved me--there is not that power on earth +which should part us!" + +"Surely," she whispered, in terror grasping his arm, "there is some one +in that archway, yonder--I heard a step!" + +"No, 'tis fancy," he replied, looking round; "my earnestness has +startled you, poor child--poor child, indeed, if you loved me!--an +outcast, a wanderer. Forget all we have been saying, Minnie," he added, +sorrowfully; "for be sure of this, if we _really_ love, or are to love, +some great event will call that affection to light--prove and hallow it; +for it will be based on esteem, else you had not trusted me so far, nor +I, been so confident towards you. Come, let us leave this old ruin; you +are terrified to-day. I will see you outside of its huge walls, and then +we must part; once on your black mare, with old Thomas beside you, you +will forget this. Let us go, child; why, you tremble still!" and, more +with fatherly care than aught else, he drew her arm beneath his own, +and they silently quitted the ruin. + +"Now, will you doubt my perspicacity again, Formby?" cried Marmaduke +Burton, stepping from beneath the dark archway, and dragging the half +alive Juvenal after him. "I told you they met in secret. I wish we could +have heard all they said." + +"I'm horror-stricken!" shivered Juvenal, with genuine truthfulness. +"What is to be done with her?" + +"Lock her up! we'll soon hunt him out of this neighbourhood. Come out +through this side-passage, my buggy's there; they must not know we heard +them yet!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +Minnie returned home at a quick gallop. She felt as if pursued by some +visionary being. Not once did she pause or look back, after the one +gentle wave of her hand to Miles, who stood statue-like, watching her, +beside the old ruin, as she passed. Even poor, old Thomas could not +extract a word from her, she flew so quickly homewards. On alighting +from "Jet," she hastened to her own room, and, throwing off the hat +which bound her brows, sat down to think, and thus she sat some silent +moments; then rising gently, as though she had held communing with some +spirit, she crept quietly about, as she changed her riding-suit for her +ordinary one. When this was accomplished, she opened her door, and +stealing down the passage, rapped at her aunt Dorcas's room. "Come in," +answered the quiet voice which ever fell soothingly on her ear, and +Minnie was in an instant beside her. A few desultory remarks passed +about her ride, where she had been, etc.; to these Minnie replied with +evident constraint. Dorcas at last noticed her manner, and, looking up +from a purse she was knitting, exclaimed, "My child, are you not well? +Why do you seem so much oppressed?" + +This was all the young heart required to unburthen itself. She flung her +arms round her aunt's neck, and burst into tears. "Dear, dear aunt!" she +sobbed; "forgive me--forgive Minnie--for deceiving you, though not for +long, dear aunt." + +"My child, what do you mean? Good heavens! what has occurred?" and she +folded her arms around her. + +"Aunt, I have wickedly deceived you," sobbed the girl still; "I--I----." +She was unable to continue for her tears. + +"Tell me, Minnie, my own dear child; I forgive you before knowing," +exclaimed the gentle woman. "I am sure you exaggerate some slight fault; +be calm, tell me all: what do you mean?" + +For some moments Minnie could not summon courage to reply; then at last, +by a supreme effort, she confessed her many accidental meetings with +Miles Tremenhere at first, and this one by appointment. + +"Dear Aunty," she whispered, "I know now how very wrong it has been; but +I feared telling you, lest you should betray me to the others. And +though I know you will be just, they would not perhaps, but by coercion, +endeavour to force me to their wills; they have spoken of such things, +and I couldn't bear that!" + +Dorcas was pained beyond measure. Her surprise left her speechless; for +the suspicions instilled into Juvenal's mind by Burton, were strangers +to her. Sylvia, we have seen, was on a wrong road altogether; thus, she +had been kept in complete ignorance. She durst scarcely question her +niece: she feared lest some new sorrow might come to light--some +positive engagement. In her alarm, she dreaded almost to hear that they +were married. Minnie mistook her silence, and, clasping her again in her +arms, besought her not to betray her. "I was so wretched in deceiving +you," she cried; "but do not let my uncle, or aunt Sylvia, know; and oh, +not Dora!" And she shuddered with a blind terror, not seeing the phantom +of her fear: "They will lock me up, and be unkind, and harsh--I know +they will; and then I will answer for nothing I may do!" + +"Minnie, Minnie--my child--my own child, do not say such things--there," +and she fondly kissed her; "be calm; you have done wrong, but no one +shall know it, so you promise me never to meet him again without my +knowledge." + +"I promise all, aunt--my mother; for indeed you have been one to the +motherless child. I never will conceal any thing again from you; and you +won't tell Dora?" + +"No one, Minnie; but why especially not Dora?" + +Minnie looked down in thought. "It is not my secret," she said at last, +looking in Dorcas's face; "but I will tell you, for I cannot understand +it." And she related the morning's meeting between the two. Dorcas +started! "Something of this Sylvia has hinted to me," she said; "how did +she know it? I paid little attention to it, she fancies so many things." + +"She must have been in the garden, too!" exclaimed Minnie. "It is a +strange mystery; for Dora professes to hate him, and is always speaking +against him to me." + +"Beware, my child!" said her aunt, sadly; "men, they say, are deceitful. +Take a lesson of what his father was; for we have _no proof_, however we +may believe his mother innocent. Then his cousin, Marmaduke Burton, is a +wicked, bad man." She thought of Mary Burns. "Wickedness often takes +root, as a canker in a family: this Miles Tremenhere----" + +"Oh!" cried Minnie, with a glowing face, "do not say he is a bad man, +dear aunt, for my sake;" and she grasped her hand, and the eye filled +with the tears of a noble soul defending an oppressed person: "he is all +goodness--worth. Think to what he has devoted himself; but you do not +know all." And here the quick tongue depicted all his wrongs--his labour +of duty and love, for his mother's sake. + +Dorcas sighed deeply. "Minnie," she said, "you love this man. Oh! +promise me to see him no more. If really he love you, he will struggle +for a good purpose _alone_. I will see him, and should he prove himself +hereafter worthy of you, you are a mere child; well, you can wait for +the proof of his affection, in his constancy." + +Much more was said. Dorcas was lost in perplexity how to act for the +best; she, the ignorant woman in all the affairs of the heart. One thing +she promised, to see and calmly listen to Tremenhere; she was too truly +just a woman to mar Minnie's happiness for any whim of her own. Much as +she would have wished Skaife to be her niece's choice, she resolved to +weigh all well; and if Tremenhere hereafter proved himself worthy of +the girl, to support their affections in every way. Still she hoped it +was a merely passing fancy, which would soon, in absence, be forgotten +by both; for he must shortly leave--this Minnie had assured her--and for +the present there was nothing to fear. In this mood she dismissed Minnie +fondly; and, closing her door, sat down to ruminate on what was to be +done. As a last resource, she determined to confide in the confidant of +all, Mrs. Gillett, and ask her advice; she, as a matron, might be +enabled to guide her more ignorant thoughts in such matters. But with +the worthy housekeeper her comfort was small. We have said that this +good woman made a point of never betraying the confidence of one person +to another; nevertheless, she reserved to herself the satisfaction of +casting forth on the troubled waters around her, her innuendoes, which, +as an invariable rule, troubled them still more. Thus she left Dorcas in +the most uncomfortable state of doubt and fear, above both of which +feelings there predominated a dread that Miles Tremenhere was a villain, +trifling, for some unworthy purpose, with the affections of both her +nieces, whom, by strange chance, he had become acquainted with. While +she sat with Mrs. Gillett, Minnie was above in her room, much happier +and light-hearted for the confidence she had made to her "dear aunty," +and full of love and faith in Tremenhere. Lady Ripley and her daughter +returned from Ripon, and thus diversified many gloomy thoughts and +fears, by their presence. Minnie and Dora warmly embraced. Minnie's +first movement was all delight at seeing her cousin again; and Dora, +the seemingly cold Dora, held her in her arms in one long embrace. But +it was an _awkward_ kiss--in the midst of it Minnie thought of +Tremenhere and her cousin! A kiss should be all self-absorbing; the +moment you are sufficiently collected to _think_, the embrace should +cease, for the fire is extinct, and only ashes remain on the lip. Both +girls simultaneously loosened their hold of one another, and turned +away. Somehow, both actions arose from one cause--Miles. Dinner was +over: Juvenal had been in a state of the greatest discomfort all the +time; he ate little or nothing, snapped at every one. Dorcas was +thoughtful; so was Minnie. Lady Ripley alone was in spirits; something +had pleased her on her journey; she had learned that Lord Randolph Gray, +whom she had mentally decided upon as Dora's husband, would shortly be +in town. Dora was calm, though rather pensively disposed, when suddenly +Sylvia awoke the bright blush in her cheek, and a displeased and amazed +frown on her brow, by remarking, "Dora, you look paler than when you +left us; I fear you have not taken your usually early walk before +breakfast." And before any one could reply, asked, as if the previous +sentence were allied to the latter question--"How far is it from +Gatestone to Ripon?--I mean to----Court, where you were staying?" + +"About ten miles, I think, are there not, Dora?" said Lady Ripley. + +"A mere canter for a gentleman before breakfast," observed Sylvia, +before the other could reply. Several looked embarrassed, for various +reasons. Lady Dora was deeply confused, and evidently still more annoyed +and amazed. Juvenal alone seemed a stranger to all conversation, only +busy with his own thoughts. Now and then he looked at his watch, then at +the door. At last, a horse's hoof sounded on the gravelled drive, +outside the window; the bell rung, and, a few moments afterwards, +Marmaduke Burton was ushered in. He looked paler than usual, and his +hand trembled as he shook hands with all, but Minnie, who merely bowed; +as she did so, he bit his lip, and a cold smile of triumph passed over +his face. At that moment, the servant opened the door. + +"If you please, sir," he said, addressing Burton, "the groom bade me say +'Viper' is not with your horse; and, as he always accompanies you, he +thought you must have lost him." + +"I have," answered the other, scowling malignantly; "he's dead!" + +"Dead!" exclaimed Juvenal. "Why, you had him to-day!" + +"True, Formby; never mind now--he's dead;" and he turned to Lady Dora, +and made some commonplace remark. + +Before we proceed further, we will step back to where Marmaduke Burton +quitted the manor-house that evening, followed by his dog, in the good +guardianship of which he had much faith. Juvenal had consulted with him +on the best plan to be pursued as regarded Minnie; and it had been +decided upon, that Marmaduke should drop in, as if accidentally, in the +evening, and that then her uncle should, thus fortified, lecture her +before "a friend of the family," on her great imprudence. This was the +very worst plan which could have been adopted with a girl of her spirit. +Any thing just, might have been accomplished by kindness; but bad +management, and too many to order and control, had deteriorated the +character of an else perfect creature. Minnie was a little headstrong +and wilful, having too much good sense blindly to submit to injustice. +Burton anticipated the results: he really loved her as much as he could +love; he thought, by judiciously taking her part, to win her +gratitude--a great step, when he saw her every feeling went against him; +and, should she be resolute in her rejection, from want of affection, or +even toleration of him, perhaps a feeling of shame to know, that he +might blight her good name elsewhere, by speaking of her secret meetings +with Miles, might weigh with her prudence. Any thing, so he gained her, +now more than ever, for he no longer could doubt a mutual attachment, +though, perhaps, not very firmly knit, between her and his cousin. Thus +ruminating, he quitted home on a bright summer's evening. The +manor-house was about three miles, by the road, from Gatestone. His +horse's rein was on its neck, his dog at the animal's heels, when +suddenly a man, in a turning in the road, stood before him. One glance +was sufficient for Marmaduke. Had he dared, he would have turned hastily +homewards again; something like shame withheld him. + +"Stop!" cried Miles, calmly standing before his horse's head, and +grasping the rein. "One word, cousin Marmaduke!" + +"Unhand the rein!" exclaimed the other, "or I will spur the animal over +you, fellow!" + +"Pshaw!" said Miles, contemptuously, "you'll but unhorse yourself; I +wish not to detain you long--a few brief words will suffice; do not be +alarmed, I have come without a cudgel to-night, so hear me quietly." + +"I swear to you!" cried Burton, though his voice slightly trembled with +an alarm Miles ever inspired him with. "Unless you loosen your hold, and +let me pass, I will do as I said--one prick of my rowel in his flank, +and this good servant of mine will pass over you; but I do not wish to +harm you." + +"No; or else you would bid your familiar there at your side, attack me!" + +Burton in his terror had forgotten Viper, who stood at his side, shewing +his range of huge tusks, ready at a word to spring upon Miles, whom he +knew for an enemy. Burton raised his hand in signal. + +"Stop him!" cried Miles, still grasping the horse firmly. "I would not +kill the brave brute, but I tell you I am prepared to do so--for hear me +you shall. I mean no violence, I have never interfered with you, save +when your coward acts obliged me; leave me in peace, and I will not war +with you, except on our day of retribution, _for it will come_--but I +have something to say to you to-day----" + +Before he could complete the sentence, at a quiet signal from his +master, Viper flew at his throat; at the same moment, Marmaduke gave +the rowel into the horse's flank, which sprang forward. This spring +threw Viper back, or else the day had been Burton's in flight, for the +dog aimed at the other's throat. Miles was firm, and on his guard +against treachery. The dog reeled with a blow from the horse's shoulder; +Miles drew the rein with a jerk, which almost brought the animal on his +haunches, and Marmaduke from his saddle. Quick as thought Miles drew a +small pocket-pistol from his bosom, and just as Viper was making a +second rush towards him, he shot him dead. Burton groaned with terror. +The horse made a mad effort to escape; then, finding the strong grasp on +his rein, stood still, trembling with fear. + +"Poor brute!" said Miles, putting back his pistol and looking at the +dead dog; "but 'tis better so, he might have been made to do some bad +deed some day, in bad hands. I thought he would be made your protector +again, so I came prepared. Now we are two--man to man--hear me." + +Burton could scarcely keep his seat from a coward fear, thus quite alone +with the man he had so much injured. + +"To-day," continued Miles, "you were in the old ruin by the river's +side--you and her uncle: I saw you, but she did not--for this, I +abridged her stay. I did not know your companion, till I watched you +creep forth, like a base hound as you are, ever working in secret and +darkness; and now, hear me--I love that girl--love her, as _I_ love and +hate, with all my soul, if all the powers of earth stood between us, +she shall be mine, or none other's. She does not yet know all my feeling +towards herself. I would not expend all the force of that affection in +one interview. I garner it up, like my hatred for you; and now I tell +you, that unsleeping as my hatred is, so is my love undying, and I will +accomplish both! What I have to say to you is, do not come between her +and me; you will not prevent, but you may cause her pain; and every hair +of her fair head is counted in my heart to hang loving thoughts upon, +and woe betide if the weight of one of these be lost to her in peace, +through you. Now I have said all I wished to say, you may go; but stay," +he added, again grasping the loosening rein, "remember, not by +counsellings of others, darken one moment of her life, neither watch, +report, nor seek her; yours she never will be, and I am here to avenge +any grief to her; I have more friends at Gatestone, perhaps, than you +think--now, go; and if you advise, let it be wisely done!" He dropped +the rein, and Marmaduke, who had vainly looked about, stealthily, hoping +for some friendly face, some one to witness against Miles for violence, +but all was silent, putting spurs to his horse, reached Gatestone. No +wonder, then, he looked pale with his cousin's words ringing in his +ears; especially those, "I have more friends at Gatestone, perhaps, than +you think." He was in a mood to utter every syllable in fear and +trembling before the person he had started from home with the intention +of confounding--namely, poor little Minnie. As he seated himself, he +caught Juvenal's eye, and made a sign which he intended for one +imploring silence. He was afraid of his shadow just then; but Juvenal +was not one of very vivid intellect--he saw the sign--he had been +awaiting the other's coming to speak. Thinking this the right moment, he +commenced. Marmaduke coughed--all went as encouragement into Juvenal's +ear; so, fixing his eyes on the thoughtful Minnie, he began in his +peculiarly nasal twang to give utterance to a speech he had been conning +over an hour before. + +"We are all friends here, Marmaduke Burton. I look upon you _already_ as +almost one of the family; therefore I choose you to be witness of my +just resentment, and firm resolution to have things amended. I see you +approve me," he added, catching Burton's grimace, and mistaking its +meaning. "You have blamed me, my friend, for supineness; you shall see +how resolute I can be!" + +All looked up in amazement; Sylvia fixed her eyes on Dora, who began, +even she, to feel uncomfortable. Such prefaces are like bats flying +round a room in some old house; every one fears them, not knowing on +whom they may alight. Minnie was most unconcerned of all, until her +uncle, pitching his voice in its most tenor and unpleasant key, +exclaimed--"Minnie Dalzell, I am addressing myself to you. This day I, +and my worthy friend Burton, were in the old ruin, when you, forgetting +all maiden modesty, left your horse and old Thomas, the coachman, to sit +upon a heap of ruins with----" + +"For mercy's sake, uncle, not before him!" almost shrieked Minnie, +springing up in terror of something, she scarcely knew what, and +glancing at Burton. + +"Brother, brother!" cried Dorcas, grasping his arm, herself pale with +anguish for her beloved niece; she knew Minnie better than any one else +did, and dreaded the consequences of this ill-advised exposure, which +would only harden a resolute mind, where reasoning and love might have +soothed, and turned away from its will. + +"But I will speak, Dorcas!" cried he. "I am advised to do so, and +publicly, to show her what people will think of her. Minnie, I say, was +sitting alone on a heap of ruins with that scoundrel, Miles Tremenhere, +this worthy man's base-born cousin." + +"Not base-born, uncle," cried Minnie, starting up again; she had dropped +on her chair. At these words she forgot all but Miles's sacred love for +his mother, who, by this slander of him, was doubly calumniated. "Not +base-born, uncle, though that man say it. His mother was as pure as my +own, or she had never given birth to so worthy a son!" then a sense of +her shame, before so many, coming over her, she sank on her chair, and, +covering her face, sobbed aloud. Dorcas clasped her in her arms; Dora, +too, though trembling, pressed her hands, as she drew them from the +face, which turned in maiden shame into Dorcas's neck. + +"Brother," cried Sylvia, with self-satisfied scorn, "you always are +discovering some wonder. You are wrong--quite wrong--as usual. _If_ +Minnie were there, 'twas wrong; but others are more to blame than she, +and, I make no doubt, _could_ explain, _if they would_." She glanced +angrily at Dora, who certainly was colouring, though without noticing +Sylvia's personality. Lady Ripley looked amazement on all. Juvenal was +completely thrown out; he had made up a complete discourse, questions, +answers, prayers, confessions, and final forgiveness--for he loved +Minnie dearly, in his little way. Marmaduke almost would have preferred +the lane and Miles's society, to this scene. There, he knew in his +heart, he had no actual violence to fear, for every day was not one of +retributive justice, as when his cousin avenged poor Mary Burns's case; +but here he dreaded some unseen trap, to draw him into something which +would bring Miles in revenge down upon him. + +"I ask you, Burton," cried the perplexed Juvenal, at length, "whether we +did not discover Minnie and your worthless cousin together? and whether +you did not suggest our following her, on the assurance that they +frequently met in secret? Come, speak out, Burton--they won't believe +me," whined the wretched man. Dora raised her fine eyes, and fixed them +intently upon the traitor. Lady Ripley rose. "Why--why," stammered +Burton, "this is a most unpleasant affair--a family one--I have no right +to be here. I would rather not reply," and he too rose. + +"Stay!" cried Lady Dora, looking very pale, but with much dignity, +placing herself in his way. "Mr. Burton has been chosen, or been +selected, most unadvisedly by my uncle, to hear accusations against my +dear cousin Minnie, who is, I am certain, innocent of all wrong. I am +called upon to confess the truth, now--that _I_ have sought, met, and +walked, early in the morning with Mr. Tremenhere. My motive for so doing +I will answer to my mother, and I _know_ him to be incapable of wrong +towards Minnie!" + +"But, pardon me, Lady Dora!" exclaimed the amazed Burton, gaining +courage from surprise. "You were assuredly not the person who met Mr. +Tremenhere to-day." + +"She wasn't here--she wasn't here!" cried the perplexed and heated +Juvenal, almost in a fit from anxiety. "She only returned home before +dinner." + +Minnie tried to speak. "Hush!" exclaimed Dora, taking her hand. "Do not +compromise yourself for me. You met him on my business. _I_ will explain +that satisfactorily, when I am bound so to do." + +"I knew it--I knew it!" cried the delighted Sylvia, rejoicing in her own +perspicacity. + +"She is taking my fault on herself," sobbed Minnie, with streaming eyes. +"I alone am to blame!" + +"Can any one understand this, or them?" asked Juvenal, almost whining. + +"Come, Lady Dora," said the mother, haughtily. "This requires +explanation elsewhere," and she sailed away, followed by Dora, who +stopped, however, first, and whispered softly to her cousin, as she +embraced her. "Do not betray yourself. _I_ have saved you this +time--_save yourself_ before it be too late." Poor Minnie was too weak +with weeping to reply; she could only press her hand. Dorcas too arose, +and, taking her niece fondly round the waist, led her away, and the door +closed on Marmaduke, Sylvia, and Juvenal, and these three decided that +it would be well if Lady Dora left. There was a mystery no one could +fathom. Sylvia then related Dora's morning walk, which certainly still +further obscured the affair, and then she too left the room, to consult +with Mrs. Gillett; and, when quite alone with Juvenal, no longer fearing +traitors, Marmaduke related his meeting with his cousin--the +threats--the acknowledgment of his love for Minnie, and thereupon these +two worthies decided; one, that it would be best to prevent any more +meetings by a little gentle coercion, and Juvenal at once resolved that +she should be locked up! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +"Hush!" said Dora, soothingly, some hours later, as she sat in Minnie's +room beside her, holding a hand in her own. "All will be fair and bright +soon, dear Minnie. Mr. Burton has been the mover in all this, to win +you; I think that man loves you, in truth I do." + +"And would _you_ counsel me," cried the sobbing girl, "to marry so +unworthy a creature?--this prying, mean, wicked man?" + +Dora was silent a moment, in embarrassed thought; then she looked up and +answered, though not at ease, evidently, "Why, he may seem many harsh +things now; jealous of his cousin, he knows scarcely which way to act. I +think you might be happy with him." + +"With Marmaduke Burton!" she exclaimed, and her tears dried up in her +starting eyes with wonder. "Marry him! I'd die sooner than even harbour +the thought a moment! Oh, Dora! can _you_ counsel me to so terrible a +thing?" + +"I do it, Minnie, to save you," her cousin replied, looking on the +ground, and half-sighing as she spoke. "I dread your being led into some +entanglement with--with--Mr. Tremenhere." + +"And if I loved him, Dora, what then?" + +"Oh, 'twould be a disgrace--an irretrievable, false step!" cried the +other in agitation. "Think what he is! A man without name, position, +character, perhaps--what do you know of him?" + +"And what do you know _against_ him, Dora?" asked Minnie, no longer +sobbing, but in a low, firm voice. + +"This--that, in my opinion, no honourable family should forget its +dignity, and become allied to a blighted name, a name with the stain +of----" + +"Do not say that!" exclaimed her cousin, rising with energy, and pacing +the room for an instant; then, as suddenly stopping before Dora, she +continued, "Do not so harshly, and I am sure unjustly, judge a +fellow-sister. 'Tis only in the hand of Time, the fate which may await +ourselves; perhaps, calumnies we may suffer from--innocent now, innocent +then, too. Dora, I love that man; I never knew how well, until I weighed +it by my tears. I love him the deeper for every one I have shed this day +for him!" + +Dora was very pale, and did not reply. + +Minnie continued: "Why do you hate him so much? Why did you seek him? +Dora, dear Dora, tell me that!" She knelt before her cousin, on a stool +at her feet, and, taking both hands, looked up in her face. + +For some moments Dora was painfully silent. "No," she thought, "I will +not tell her how weak I once was, in nearly loving him." This was the +war within her. "I met him," she said at last, aloud, evading the first +question, "because I feared you might love him. He bore the character, +in Florence, of a reckless man--such a man as you, my innocent cousin, +should not marry; I sought and begged him to quit this place and you!" + +"Oh!" cried Minnie, blushing at the picture before her mind's eye, "he +must have fancied I had spoken of him with love, and we had scarcely met +then, except as strangers. I hope he does not think this now. How could +you have sought him for such a motive as that?--how touch on so delicate +a subject?" + +"I feared nothing," answered Dora haughtily; "my own dignity prevented a +false construction being placed upon what I said or did. You are a child +in the ways of the world, and, in your innocence, might compromise +yourself, family, all, with this nameless man. I do not say any thing +personally against him, but _our_ name has ever been without stain; do +not you, Minnie, by a base alliance, stamp it with a reproach." + +"Dora," and the girl spoke low and impressively, "I may never, perhaps, +meet Miles Tremenhere again; I feel certain, if I do, that only trouble +will arise from it, for all seem against him, poor fellow; but this +believe, that, if I truly know myself--if that man love me, unless I +become his wife, I never will marry another; for he is so surrounded in +my heart by every noble sentiment, from his wrongs, and the holy mission +he has taken upon himself, that none other could hold the place in my +esteem which he does. Do you know, Dora, I thought you loved him, and +for that reason I dreaded my own heart's inclination towards him; now I +am assured you do not, I seek no longer to check my affections; for +though I may never be his wife, there can be no error in my love, for I +never shall marry another." + +Dora could not reply. The brow contracted--the cheek slightly flushed as +in scorn--and then she grew pale and calm. "It is useless speaking to +you," she said, after a thoughtful pause; "not now, at least--to-morrow +we will resume our conversation. I will leave you now, Minnie; I do not +wish my mother to know I have been here--she would question me, and I +wish this conversation unknown to her." She rose hastily, as if some +newly-formed plan impelled her to do so. "Good-night, dear cousin, and +pray, think of all I have said; 'tis fondly meant." + +"I know that well, Dora," answered Minnie, tenderly embracing her. Dora +seemed impatient to leave. Taking her taper in her hand, she hurried +down the passage, and rapped gently at Aunt Dorcas's room-door; first +assuring herself that Minnie's was closed. She remained for some time +with Aunt Dorcas, and, briefly relating her unsuccessful suit with her +cousin, implored Dorcas to act for her. Surely some motive more than +deep interest in Minnie guided her, though possibly unknown to herself; +for this anxiety and fear for consequences were far beyond the usual +forethought of a young girl. Such, generally, see all _couleur de rose_ +where two love, especially if young and handsome: futurity, interest, +etc., they leave to older hearts, to cause heart-ache and care. The +results were various next day, of all these plottings and consultations. +The first was, Lady Ripley, to her daughter's surprise, sent her word +early in the morning, by her maid, to prepare for their departure for +town. Truth to say, Lady Ripley was delighted to find a good excuse for +leaving Gatestone, where she had promised to remain a month longer. She +was anxious to return to town on Lord Randolph Gray's account, as we +have seen; and she made poor Minnie's imprudence the excuse. In vain +Lady Dora endeavoured to make her change her determination, urging the +necessity of some one to watch over Minnie. She felt terrified, +agitated, beyond expression, at the thought of leaving; but all her +efforts to remain were fruitless. Lady Ripley _would_ go; and she told +Juvenal, that Minnie's misconduct obliged her to remove her innocent +daughter from her influence, lest _her_ name should become in any way +compromised. This more than ever decided him on secluding Minnie in her +room, to mark his disapprobation. And, as this conversation took place +late the previous evening--in fact, while Dora was with Minnie--the +latter was not a little overwhelmed with shame and indignation, when +ordered next morning to "remain in her own room, until something should +be decided about her." Sylvia was furious--all her jealousy of Lady +Ripley broke forth in invectives against her intriguing daughter, as she +termed Dora. Dora implored for Minnie; Dorcas argued the imprudence, not +to say injustice, of so erroneous a step as thus degrading the girl in +all eyes; it would make her lose all self-respect, and only engender +recklessness. But Juvenal was like all fools--obstinate. Moreover, he +was backed by Marmaduke Burton, himself too short-sighted to foresee +the consequences which might ensue. He hoped by hypocritically +expressing his regret in some manner, by letter or personally, as +Juvenal promised _he_ should see her, to win at least a kind feeling +through gratitude. Narrow-minded persons reckon only naturally, to the +extent of their powers of reasoning. Minnie read him as she would an +open page, and despised him tenfold more, if possible, for his narrow +policy. Dora, in consternation and regret, took leave of the weeping +Minnie. Alas! those tears would soon be dried by the wrong course +pursued with her, and only give birth to silent resolution and suspicion +of all, even for awhile of her dearly loved aunt, Dorcas. Dora was gone; +Sylvia in earnest consultation with Mrs. Gillett, both agreeing that the +master of the house, and Minnie's guardian, to do as he willed with +her--was an idiot; for had not Lady Dora acknowledged that she alone was +in fault; and had they not both witnessed the lovers meeting? Poor +Minnie had been selected by them as a go-between. It was dreadful; but +Mrs. Gillett, with her usual caution, said but half what she really +thought, and in an after scene with Juvenal, though she pleaded for +Minnie's liberty, at the same time so impressed him with the idea of her +condemnation of all but himself--and this without any great deceit on +her part, for the last speaker always had most reason in Mrs. Gillett's +mind--that he fearlessly gave her free permission to visit Minnie, how +and when she pleased; indeed, the key of the rooms (for there was a +small music one where she was in the habit of practising, adjoining her +bedroom) was intrusted to the housekeeper's safe keeping. "I tell you, +Mrs. Gillett," he said, "it will do her good--one excellent lesson like +this will save the girl--she has grown very headstrong of late." + +Poor, blind Juvenal; his excellent lesson was as a stepping-stone to +many sorrows--a finger-post down a long dark lane hedged with care, like +thorns! Dorcas, as usual, did the most sensible thing of any of them. +She walked over quietly, and in a spirit of conciliation, to Farmer +Weld's, where Tremenhere was staying, and, requesting an interview, was +shown into the room where he sat, but not alone--to her great surprise +Mr. Skaife was his companion. Tremenhere rose in surprise, and some +slight confusion. Had the farmer himself been there, the entrance might +have been accomplished with more difficulty; as it was, only a servant +was in the outer hall (a sort of large, homely, perfect old English farm +kitchen) as she entered, and, innocent of wrong, shewed her in to where +the two sat. After the momentary movement of embarrassment, Tremenhere +offered her a chair, and in his own quiet gentlemanly manner, expressed +his pleasure, whatever the cause, at her visit. He knew she was Minnie's +almost mother, and he regarded her accordingly. Skaife rose, and coming +forward said, "You are doubtless surprised to meet me here, and +especially before visiting Gatestone. But I returned late last night, +and this morning called to see Mr. Tremenhere--whom I may call my +friend, I believe--in an affair interesting to both of us." + +"Do you mean Miss Dalzell?" exclaimed Dorcas in astonishment. + +"Oh, no!" answered Skaife, looking equally amazed at this abrupt +question--being, as he was, totally ignorant of the recent events; "I +allude to that poor girl, Mary Burns, whom I have placed in safety from +further insult, at the request of Mr. Tremenhere, as business prevented +his leaving this neighbourhood himself." + +"It is kindly and rightly done by both," said Dorcas, scarcely knowing +what she should next say--then added, without farther consideration of +how far it might be prudent to inform Tremenhere of all--"But I may be +pardoned for regretting that Mr. Tremenhere should not have been +occupied elsewhere, as the events of the past few days threaten more +painful results, I fear, than he anticipated when engaging in them." + +"Good heavens! what do you mean, madam?" he asked, starting up aghast. +Skaife sat like one petrified; something painful was paralyzing his +faculties; he could not speak at first. Tremenhere glanced at him, after +the first exclamation had escaped him. "I beg pardon," he said, in +agitation. "I should, perhaps, be an importunate witness. I will go," +and he prepared to do so. + +"No, stay; pray, remain, Mr. Skaife," cried Dorcas. "I am glad you are +here: you may perhaps exert your influence as a clergyman, as well as a +friend, with Mr. Tremenhere." + +Women who have never loved overlook and ignore many penalties attached +to such chains round the heart; they are like a felon's irons, +resounding with every step we take, and galling somewhere, especially +when but little hope is linked with them. Such was poor Skaife's case, +and something now whispered him, that that _little_ would soon be lost. +Her next words confirmed this fear; for, neither of them answering her +last speech, she continued hastily, as if resolved to utter all the +worst at once, addressing herself to Miles--"You are perhaps not aware, +Mr. Tremenhere, that your most imprudent--most unfortunate meetings of +late, with Miss Dalzell, have been discovered, and reported to all, but +first to her uncle and guardian--my brother." + +"I am aware of that," he articulated through his set teeth. + +Skaife felt cold at heart, and he felt, too, the blood deserting his +cheek. For an instant a movement of indignation arose against Miles, as +if he had deceived him; then the justice of the man triumphed, and +bitter as his regret, his awakening regret, was--for he felt some +painful revelation was about taking place--he exonerated the other from +all wrong towards himself, ignorant as he was of his affection for +Minnie, and, even if he had been acquainted with it, bound by no +friendship or honour to him, to act otherwise than his inclinations +dictated. + +"All is known," continued Dorcas, in a sad tone; "and my heaviest grief +is, that her uncle should have taken, I fear, so ill-advised a step as +the one of coercion with Minnie." + +"Coercion!" exclaimed both Miles and Skaife in a breath. + +"Yes; he has determined upon keeping her confined to her room, until +you, Mr. Tremenhere, shall have quitted the neighbourhood, as the only +means of separating you; but I fear he has done a rash thing with a girl +of Minnie's high spirit." + +Tremenhere rose hastily from his seat, and grasped the arm of his chair, +as if to subdue his feelings; he only ejaculated "Oh!" but there were +volumes of thought in that one word, and the resolute compression of his +stern lip, as he half-smiled. Dorcas was looking thoughtfully on the +ground. Skaife's eyes were fixed upon Tremenhere's face; he read his +fate there, if her affection equalled his, in intensity and firmness. +Tremenhere caught his eye, and, smiling in friendly confidence, as +seeming to say, "You shall know all," dropped silently into his chair. + +"I have come," said Dorcas, more composedly, "to ask, to implore you, +Mr. Tremenhere, by the friendship which no unfortunate circumstance has +banished from my thoughts--to leave this place, and forget any foolish +words which may have passed between you and Minnie. Believe me, all +pursuit will be vain--her uncle _never_ will consent." + +Skaife looked anxiously for the reply. Tremenhere rose +impetuously:--"Madam," he cried, "in what light am I to regard this +visit, with which you have honoured me?--as a friendly one, or as one +dictated by Mr. Formby?" + +"I come at my own heart's dictating," she answered meekly, "to one whom +I liked, even though a wayward, impetuous boy--to one whom I sincerely +pity; but whom, nevertheless, I cannot countenance as a suitor to my +niece." + +"As all these I gladly welcome you, except when bearing the last +prohibition," Tremenhere replied, as he took her hand gently, and +pressed his lip upon it with deep respect. "And, as Miss Dalzell's +much-loved aunt, I reverence you, dear madam; nevertheless, in all +candour, I must not deceive you. If Miss Dalzell love me, as I now +believe her to do, not all the uncles or guardians in the world, could +keep her so carefully but that my love and perseverance should reach, to +confirm her in her affection, by the assurance of mine, unalterably +hers!" + +"Unless I am in great error," said Skaife, after a moment's intense +thought, "the acquaintance between yourself and Miss Dalzell is of very +recent date?" + +"It cannot be of many weeks," answered Dorcas, clinging to the hope that +Skaife's words implied, of its being little matured. + +"What signifies date in love?" cried Tremenhere. "The heart rejects all +such. The brightest flowers are those blushing to light in half an +hour's sunshine!" + +"And they fade as soon!" ejaculated Dorcas. "Oh, pray, Mr. Tremenhere! +relinquish this mad thought; or leave here for awhile: let time decide +upon the durability of your affections." + +"And leave her," he cried, with a scornful laugh, "to the tender mercies +of a guardian, who, for so slight a seeming fault as half an hour passed +in an old ruin, with one she knew from childhood, can dare to use +violence towards her? Oh, no! Had you, dear madam, unadvisedly done so, +I would plead to your good sense and justice; but with men I war as a +man should. What I may do, I know not; but whilst Miss Dalzell is +confined on my account, and unjustly treated, I am bound by honour, as +well as love, to stay and defend her." + +"Then you knew one another long since?" said Skaife, sadly. With this +admission from Miles, he saw every hope fade for himself. + +"Oh, yes!" answered the other, and the voice grew gentle with the +thought of that fair child; "when yet she was but a baby girl--a fair, +flaxen-haired little thing; and, as we talked of those days together, +year after year like melting icebergs faded away, and we stood side by +side again in confidence and affection, with the sun shining upon us!" + +Skaife and Dorcas both simultaneously looked at each other; and the +looks said, "All is over--'tis vain wrestling with fate!" + +"Besides," continued Miles, as if reading their thoughts, "there is a +fate in all things. Our meeting has been one; it was so pre-ordained." + +"Do not let that urge you," said Skaife, in forlorn hope of influencing +him. "All things are not ordained at our birth; we may turn many evils +aside, though placed in our path, by decision; they are as temptations +and stumbling-blocks--rush on heedlessly, and they overthrow us--avoid +them, they will not follow, but, like daunted cowards, shrink back! This +temptation may be to lure you from a noble thought!" + +"By heavens! you do well to remind me of that; I had wellnigh +overlooked it!" exclaimed Miles, standing up in all the majesty of his +proud beauty. "This is a double incentive to win Miss Dalzell, to boldly +stand on the ground her generosity has awarded me; in winning her, I +shall struggle with redoubled energy to _prove_ myself what I _know_ I +am! Thank you, Skaife--thank you; and you, dear madam, pray bear in +mind, that whatever my acts may be, they shall be dictated in all true +affection towards your niece, so that you, the generous, Christian woman +towards myself, may approve me." + +"'Tis vain urging you more, Mr. Tremenhere," she said, rising; "I can +but now appeal to my niece's affection for me, and duty towards +herself." She curtsied, and was turning away. + +"Not thus," he cried, taking her hand. "Let the man be boy again, and +take the hand in friendship once never refused him; think that all which +may be done, will be done for Miss Dalzell's happiness. I do assure you +I have never told her I loved her, nor has she confessed her's; but I am +well-assured she has read mine, though _my_ hope may be too +presumptuous. Let this comfort you, dear madam--Miss Dalzell holds the +decision in her hands, it is not in mine!" + +A faint hope rushed to Dorcas's heart. Skaife had none. He looked upon +Miles, and felt she _must_ love so noble-minded a man, whose soul sat +upon his brow, to record its worth in open day. + +The men shook hands, Skaife promising to return soon; and, escorted by +him, Dorcas quitted the farm-house, leaving Tremenhere a prey to many +wild thoughts and schemes. + +This day, after a lengthened interview with Juvenal, to confirm him in +his severity and watchfulness, Marmaduke Burton quitted the manor-house. +Somehow he durst not remain after having told all to Juvenal. He +remembered Miles's threats, and so he quitted for awhile, leaving Dalby +to watch and report, as Juvenal also had promised to do; and, above all, +keep the refractory Minnie under lock and key! + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +We have said that Minnie was in a state of the greatest consternation +when made acquainted with her uncle's stern resolution of coercion. At +first she was too much pained to think--all power of reasoning had given +way before the shock; she felt overwhelmed with shame, shame of +herself--that much to be dreaded feeling in a young girl's heart. In +Minnie's, after the power of memory returned, it created a sense of deep +degradation, followed by recklessness--two dangerous things with which +to start in that new phase in existence--love; for the latter would make +her care little for consequences, the former bid her oppressed heart +cling with double affection to the bosom where her head might lie in +peace, love, and a true appreciation of her worth, and indignation for +her wrongs. She sat and reviewed all her conduct, and then her swelling +heart revolted against her uncle's injustice; for, in point of fact, she +had but _once_ met Tremenhere by consent, on the fatal day in which they +were discovered. We have seen their first acquaintance through Mr. +Skaife; then in Mrs. Gillett's room; subsequently, Miles had watched for +her, 'tis true: but she was innocent of all, except concealing these +meetings--and to whom confide them, knowing well how unpopular he was? +Once or twice he had met her even in her uncle's grounds, as she sat +sketching; he took pleasure in directing her pencil. Then, when he +proposed to sketch her favourite old ruin for her, if she would come, +what harm could she see in the request? It was a fact, he ever seemed +more, to her mind's eye, as a dear brother, friend, playfellow of +childhood, than a man to be shunned for love's sake. Without a dream of +harm, she went there; and it was that day, for the first time, that her +heart awoke to its real state, and her own danger. We have seen how she +flew, in confidence and love, to repose all in the bosom of her beloved +aunt. We say all this, because we would plead Minnie's case with prudes +and worldly-wise folks, who might shake their heads in grave +reprehension, or accuse her of more error than, in honest truth, she was +guilty of. All these scenes she reviewed in her quiet chamber; and then, +the deep sense of wrong and degradation overwhelming her, she dropped on +her knees, and, compressing her throbbing temples with her hands, wept +long and bitterly. She was as a statue mourning over itself, as the base +of its pedestal from which it had been rudely hurled in scorn and +derision by some senseless mob. In this mood Dorcas visited her, and +endeavoured to soothe, though even she blamed, her. Then Sylvia came, +and inveighed against her brother's mad blindness; for, "Had not Dora +confessed?--to be sure she had. Minnie was too good a girl to deceive +any one, or compromise herself by meeting this Tremenhere!" Whereupon, +Minnie, taking Dora's part, declared that she alone was to blame for +all. Sylvia's anger arose at this "mock sentimentality," as she termed +it. "It is positively absurd," she cried, "endeavouring to screen Dora! +All, but my foolish brother, know that you are quite innocent in this +affair. A pretty thing, indeed, to accuse yourself of so disgraceful, +unpardonable, indelicate an act, as privately meeting any man!" + +This certainly did not soothe her; but the crowning of all was when +Juvenal entered, and, reproaching her as a disgrace to them all, +declared she should not quit her room until she consented to marry +Marmaduke! Oh! then Minnie's spirit rebelled; she paced the room when he +was gone, and nothing scarcely could have been desperate enough to +satisfy her exasperation at that moment, by way of revenge! Poor girl, +revenge, like curses, sends its chickens home to roost! Thus passed the +first day, and the second something like it, and then evening came. +Juvenal, like other little bodies, was a great man in a brief temporary +power; he was master of Gatestone, and resolved to show all that he was +so. All this was Burton's counselling; consequently, when the second day +came, and Minnie still was obdurate, and firmly refused even to see +Marmaduke Burton, should he come, her uncle resolved to tighten her +chains, and so he forbade even Dorcas or Sylvia to see her, only Dame +Gillett and himself! Even the squire had confidence in the housekeeper, +he had made her frequent presents, for which she had been very grateful; +moreover, he knew she had favoured his suit with Minnie; he and +Juvenal--indeed all were more or less ignorant of her great error about +Miles's affections being placed on Lady Dora--and none knew that she had +not quite cast from her regards the "comely boy" Tremenhere. She +certainly urged _for_ Marmaduke, when she went to Minnie's room, and as +certainly did she ignorantly add fresh fuel to feed her love for his +cousin, by beguiling the time to the prisoner, relating how Master Miles +had come last night again to her room, frightening her out of her wits +for fear he should be seen, and how he was nearly mad himself to see +Minnie--poor young man! "just to speak, of course, of Lady Dora; and she +didn't think that lady had behaved well to him, and she pitied him from +the _very_ bottom of her heart," &c. &c. &c. Minnie was learning worldly +caution; she saw Mrs. Gillett's error. All her protestations to her aunt +Sylvia had been disregarded, in clearing her cousin of any imprudence, +and Mrs. Gillett was Sylvia's echo in all. She at first, from sheer +disheartenment, left this latter in her error, and then permitted her to +remain in it, as she seemed resolved to do so. This, too, Tremenhere was +doing, but with more active motives. Braving all risk the previous +evening to see Mrs. Gillett, and speaking of his love, incline this +woman to assist them to a meeting, provided Minnie would consent, he +found, after five minutes' conversation, on what an erroneous path the +housekeeper was walking, so he paused in his revelation of love. Might +not this serve him better than confiding the truth? Men are generally +less scrupulous than women in telling stories. Some rejoice in them; +for nothing would Minnie utter one wilfully--she abhorred them as mean, +and devil's snares too, ever leading somehow to sorrow; but Tremenhere +only thought of how to accomplish a meeting with her. Mrs. Gillett's +mistake might render it practicable; so he not only permitted her to +think him in love, and beloved by Dora, but favoured the deception of +judgment in every way! "Time will prove the real facts," he said to +himself. "It cannot injure Lady Dora; Mrs. Gillett I _know_ to be one to +confide in fearlessly, so let it pass!--'tis a straw of hope." + +We are not, reader, painting a _rara avis_ in Tremenhere; but a +noble-hearted, generous man--headstrong, full of wild passions--but +honourable in every dictate of his soul. Still, a mere mortal man, +driven to desperation by various causes; and resolved, however it might +be done, to _see_ Minnie, and know his fate from her own lips. If she +loved him--then all would be clear before him. Mrs. Gillett, however, +was too much alarmed then, to second any interview, but she gave him +leave to come again in the dusk; no one was near, and she pitied the +poor fellow! What _real_ woman is deaf to a tale of love and locksmiths? +if she can give nothing more, she awards her sincere sympathy. Mr. +Tremenhere left, and stealthily crept through the garden and shrubbery, +gaining the fields beyond unperceived. Next evening he again sallied +forth towards his confidant's. It must not be supposed that Mrs. Gillett +felt annoyed at being thus sought--far from it; it increased her +consequence, giving her _power_, which no one totally despises. She felt +sometimes as much embarrassed with all these various plots and plans in +hand, as a charioteer in a ring, driving a dozen wild horses at once. +The only thing to prevent concussion, was the keeping them well in hand, +with perfect self-possession; and these things she always kept in view. +Besides, she was not wronging her master's confidence in her: he was in +error, and she felt she should rather be obliging him, by removing all +fear about Miss Minnie, by favouring the loves of this man and Lady +Dora. On this evening, Tremenhere, at ten o'clock, was to bring her a +letter for Minnie, which she faithfully promised and purposed giving to +her; all relating to lady Dora, of course, understood. At a quarter to +ten, Miles stole through the shrubbery gate, of which she had given him +a key. It was a lovely starlight night in June--no moon to betray his +wandering--just light enough to lead him onward in safety. He closed the +gate, and stood for a moment looking around--then a lover's thought--a +perfect lover's one, arose in his mind, to go and look at Minnie's +window. We always like to know the aspect of such things, in such cases. +He had learned from Minnie herself, which were her's. In a few moments +he stood before them, on the soft turf, looking upwards. There was a +light within, but the window was open--'twas a lattice; for Gatestone +was not a modern built structure, but a good old family seat, like so +many we meet with in the north of England, especially in Yorkshire. It +was the sort of lattice window from which one could have fancied a dame +in the olden time, waving a snowy scarf to a departing warrior! Before +this comfortable-looking, homely window, hung a curtain. This side of +the house was facing the south, and a wide-spreading vine mingled with +the ivy on the wall, creeping around it. There are many cruel +temptations in life, thrown in our path. Now Tremenhere had merely, +lover-like, stolen round to look upon his "ladye's" window; but whilst +gazing upwards at it, something against the wall attracted his +attention. He drew nearer, cautiously. This temptation was a ladder, +which John Gardener had left, after nailing the vines. In an instant, a +thought--a desire, crept into Miles's heart; this was naturally, to make +use of this ladder! It was an impulse--an irresistible one. Cautiously +he moved it nearer Minnie's window, and crept half-way upwards. A voice +struck on his ear!--then another!--the first was Juvenal's, the last +Minnie's. This latter seemed scarcely able to articulate distinctly from +emotion. Some would have mounted higher, and listened. Miles's +conscience forbade this. Though tricking's all fair in love, he felt it +would not be strictly honourable; so down he crept again. The man's +voice rose--the woman's seemed scarcely a breath--then a door closed +violently, and all was for a moment still within that chamber, or +rather, the little music-room; for this it was. Then the voice rose +higher, and the girl was sobbing in her solitude and affliction. Juvenal +closed the door, locked it, and put the key in his pocket, sagely +shaking his head as he did so. "She shall never quit that room till she +consents to marry Burton!" he soliloquized, as he dropped step by step +ploddingly down stairs, nodding as he did so. "Burton was quite right," +he continued; "I have been too lenient--I'll be master now--it is just a +little obstinacy; of course, I must know better than she can what's for +her ultimate benefit. Her spirit will soon give in, and, as Burton +says," (Juvenal was like the assinine tribe, he wouldn't move without a +goad--Burton was his,) "she'll soon surrender; and as for that +Tremenhere, why he will tire in a short time, when he finds it +impossible to see her, and leave the neighbourhood. This good key in my +pocket," here he smiled and nodded in perfect contentment and peace, "I +defy him!" As _he_ uttered these last words, Tremenhere, regardless of +every thing but poor sobbing Minnie, pushed aside the curtain, and +darkened the casement before stepping in. She uttered a faint scream of +terror. + +"There you may scream!" cried Juvenal, who heard her; "but I shall not +let you out. Was there ever so obstinate a girl? Could any one have +believed it?" + +"Minnie, dear Minnie!" whispered Tremenhere, stepping in. "For Heaven's +sake, hush! 'tis I, Miles," and he clasped the hand of the terrified +girl. + +"Go--go!" she cried, releasing her hand, and retreating in breathless +alarm, she scarcely knew why. "Go! this is madness; it will ruin me +should they discover you. Oh! Mr. Tremenhere, pray, pray, leave me!" + +"Mr. Tremenhere!" he said sadly. "Is it indeed only this? Oh! then I +have done wrong in coming, and doubly wrong in causing you so much +suffering, which I am powerless to alleviate by my devotedness!" + +"You wrong me--you do wrong me, _Miles_!" she exclaimed, much agitated; +"but I am so overwhelmed with my uncle's cruelty, I scarcely know what I +say." + +As the word "Miles" fell from her lips, he was at her side, her hands in +both of his again, and his deep, loving eyes bent down upon the +trembling girl. "Do not speak again, if it should be to unsay that kind +word, Minnie," he whispered; "but let me look at you silent, and watch +the emotion on your face, whilst I tell you all I now can say. _That_ +emotion will be my best answer. Minnie dear--_dearest_, I love you. I +would not say these words when last we met; I feared lest I had mistaken +a wilder, more evanescent feeling for this all-absorbing one; but our +separation has proved me. I know myself. Had passion alone guided me, I +should not be here; _that_, with me, is fleeting as a star seeking the +sea; but my love--oh! this is as the sea itself. It may seem for a while +to roll outwards--lost in the world, as wave in wave; but it will flow +back to break upon its own shores, and go wherever I may, my love will +ever return to cast itself at your feet." + +"And what can this love avail us, Miles?" she whispered timidly, fearful +of saying too much. "We must part soon, and how may we ever hope to +meet, with so many to oppose us?" + +"Does this daunt you already?" he asked, smiling. "If you love me, I +fear nothing; this assurance is all I ask. Think well, dear girl, before +you reply; for I do not seek a mere confession of your heart's +prompting affections _now_. I ask you to ponder well, and say whether +you are sure, Minnie, that above every man you ever may see, you can +love me? whether, for my sake, you are willing, under all circumstances, +to share my fate?" + +"I have asked myself this, Miles," she said seriously, "before to-night; +I need not pause to weigh my own affections; I never shall love any man +as I love you." + +"Minnie," he whispered, for he trembled with emotion as he drew her +gently towards his supporting arm, "do not mistake your feelings, it +would be destruction to me; for my every thought is united to you. Do +not wreck them, as so many others have been wrecked in my sad fate. I am +wrong," he added, more joyously. "If you love me truly, when our lives +shall be one, O then, in that happiness I shall become another man, and +doubly energetic in my appointed task, for your dear sake, to raise you +where you should and shall be!" + +"I don't know how it is, Miles," she said seriously, for it seemed as if +the child had all departed, leaving a grave, thoughtful woman; "but I +never thought of love, as they say most young girls do; it was rather +distasteful to me, I heard so much about marriage until we met; and now, +my love for you has so much of reverence with it, I _know_ I never could +feel for another as I do for you." + +"Darling," he whispered, smiling, "I don't half like that word +'reverence'--you must not feel too much of that, or I shall dread the +disparity of our years as engendering fear, more than love: love, dear +child, should be all-confiding, all-fearless, childish, and innocent." + +"I do not fear you, Miles, believe me; but I love. I look upon you with +so many combined feelings, as brother, father--_all_ those affections +which I have never known, they seem to gather round you: how, then, can +I do otherwise than reverence you?" + +He was silent some moments; then, removing the arm which had clasped her +waist, he took her hand in both of his, and said seriously--"My ideas, +dearest, of what a wife should be, are perhaps more rigid than those of +the many, and how that wife should be won. There was a time, long ago, I +might perhaps, in the impetuosity of youth and prosperity, have urged +you to fly with me. _Now_, I would not do so; for, Minnie, though love +_at first_ may excuse all, there might come a time when the husband +would reflect. I am a very jealous man; do not let this alarm you. You +never would arouse it by act of yours, I feel assured; still, we are +mortal. Some day I might remember how I had won you, if you outstepped +the bounds of strict prudence, and this might raise the demon Suspicion +in my mind. You see how candid I am!" + +"I love you for it the better, Miles. Our love is not an ordinary one. +In wedding you, I espouse your sacred duty, to work hand in hand with +you, and urge you on, should a momentary lethargy overtake you. Such an +engagement should not be lightly accepted; for, in marrying you, I marry +a man of care, and heavy obligation." + +"Dearest Minnie, now I have no further fear; so let us speak of our +plans. I came to-night--'twas an impulse done without consideration, or +I should not have been here--for your fame's sake, lest a discovery +might be made. I will not come again; you must meet me elsewhere." + +"How, Miles?" she asked, smiling in his face; "you forget I am a +prisoner!" + +"I think I can arrange it, with the connivance of Dame Gillett. She----" +He had commenced this speech smiling; something, however, crossed his +mind. So pure was Minnie in his thought, so pure would he keep her, that +the idea of making her a party to his own little ruse with the +housekeeper, pained him. No; he preferred the risk of that woman +discovering the truth, rather than make Minnie do one thing, not clear +as noonday, _even had she consented_, which probably she would not. +"She," he said, correcting his first thought "likes me; I saw her last +evening; she permits me again to play the boy, and creep through that +pretty window, by which Minnie, too, has learned the way; I will induce +her to smuggle you down there." + +"Will she, do you think?" she asked joyously. + +"I hope so, and now for another point, my darling girl. My wife must be +boldly--manfully sought; secure of your love, I will ask your hand from +your uncle." + +"My uncle!" she exclaimed in terror. "He never will consent; he will be +doubly severe with me, urged on, I know, by Marmaduke Burton." + +"Confide in me, Minnie; this must be done. Let them not say of me, that +I came only in secret, afraid of the light. I have formed no plans; only +this first necessary act must be put in practice: let time decide the +rest. It was the assurance of your more than passing love, that I +required, before appealing to your relations. I do not doubt you now, so +my path is clear before me!" + +For some time longer he argued with her, before, in her terror, she +could see the necessity of this active measure; but when he showed her +how soon he should be obliged, by engagements elsewhere, to quit this +neighbourhood, and leave her, these circumstances, coupled with the +absence of Marmaduke Burton, induced her to give a trembling consent, on +condition that nothing should be hinted about their having met since her +incarceration. Time, which always flies when we are happy, warned them +to separate, and yet, with all his stoicism, when he turned towards the +window, his courage to leave her failed him. "I am weaker than I +thought, Minnie," he whispered, clasping her to his bosom, and kissing +the fair open brow, which blushed beneath his embrace; "for I know not +how to leave you in the great uncertainty of our meeting again soon. +What if I lost you!" and, at the thought, his strong frame trembled. "I +feel _that_ would make me more than a desperate man--a perfectly +reckless one! Child, how is it you have made me love you so well? how +have you brought life where every feeling seemed dead? Remember, Minnie, +when they urge, or, possibly, endeavour to coerce your will--remember +what you hold in your keeping, and be firm!" + +Minnie, in woman's weakness, wept, where he prayed. Weeping and prayers +are bad sponsors for an affection--they baptize it in sorrow! One more +embrace, and yet his dark eyes, clouding in trouble, could scarcely +withdraw from her uplifted face; he turned again and again, and when his +hand quitted hers, and his foot descended the ladder, he felt a +desolation _never_ felt before, not even when name and home were lost to +him! + +While Miles was thus pursuing the love which had sprung up in his heart, +amid so many weeds, one sweet choice flower, scattered there by +accident; his cousin Marmaduke was staying in Lancashire with an old +maiden aunt. All, that such are represented, when sketched by an +unloving pencil, and there he received daily reports from Juvenal, of +the progress of his suit by proxy with Minnie. We have said fear made +him quit the manor-house. People, when they scheme, trace out a +suppositious line over which all their personages pass in succession; +and they are sadly perplexed, when, by some most unforeseen +circumstance, they step out of the road. 'Tis like a railway carriage +running off the line; it frequently upsets all the others. It had never +entered into the calculation of either Marmaduke or Juvenal, that Miles +could in any manner hold converse or communication with Minnie, still +less, have the audacity _openly_ to seek her. Great then was the +consternation of both--for one knew it nearly as soon as the other--when +a letter arrived for Juvenal, written in manliness and dignity, before +which, both, though unacknowledged, bowed in respect; stating, that +well assured nothing could change either his love for Minnie, or her's +for himself, he wrote, imploring Juvenal to consent to their union. He +(Miles) had assured himself of her unalterable affection, the stronger +for the coercion to which they endeavoured to subject it; and he could +but implore her uncle and guardian, to consider how far he was acting in +love towards her, to oppose this; that assured as he was of his own +legitimacy, he only wanted time to prove it, until when he felt +convinced Minnie would be happier as an artist's wife; for such was the +profession he had made choice of, than as mistress of thousands, if they +were separated. He then apologized for a seeming vanity in speaking thus +positively; but he only quoted the words of lips incapable of speaking +untruthfully--hers. He had not wealth to offer; but an unblemished +name--_and this he would prove_--love unbounded, and the best wealth in +the world--that earned by those talents which are spirits' gifts, etc., +etc. We said, great was the consternation this letter aroused. Every +line was an enigma. How had they met? How communicated with one another? +Evidently they had done so, recently. Juvenal rushed off with the letter +to Minnie's room. She grew very pale--then she thought of Miles, and her +heart strengthened itself--it leaned on his love, and grew strong and +fearless. Unhesitatingly she confirmed all the letter said, adding more, +"That she never would marry another. She could not in honour; for all +her affections were his." But she obstinately refused to hint even how +they had communicated with one another. And Juvenal could only rail, +and declare, that "Now she _should_ marry Burton, and that right soon." +Thus saying, he double-locked the door, and hurried off to Mrs. Gillett. +Even with this evidence she would not believe that Minnie was the _real_ +object--'twas some trick! And she shook her head, as if she knew a great +deal more than she gave utterance to. All this drove Juvenal nearly mad; +like all persons of little mind, he was extremely curious; and this +feeling predominated over even his annoyance at her firm refusal to +marry Burton. He could not imagine how they had met. A ladder was the +last means of communication he should have dreamed of. From Mrs. Gillett +he flew to Sylvia, who joined in one common cause with him in perplexing +her brains. Between them, they settled the blame somehow on Dorcas; for +neither loved her--she was too unlike them. Sylvia blessed her own +prudence, which had never inclined her to the love of any man! How +easily we can abuse the thing which has never been offered to our +acceptance! And here Juvenal committed the two most grievous errors he +had yet been guilty of, in Minnie's case; he allowed Sylvia to visit +her, who, by her harshness and reviling of Miles, Dorcas, and all whom +the other loved or liked, only strengthened her love and resolution. +Dorcas, who might have led her, was forbidden to have access; for +Juvenal could be a tyrant when he pleased. The other error he committed, +was by Burton's advice, leaving Tremenhere's letter unanswered--a +contemptuous silence, which would raise a storm over his own head. This +evening Tremenhere did not wander under Minnie's window, but went +straight towards Mrs. Gillett's room, and in the beaten path, which lay +in an unbroken line before his mind's eye, without hesitation he +confessed to her, that her own error had induced his acquiescence about +Lady Dora, that now, by no crooked ways, would he win his wife--for wife +she should be; and he begged her to think of her young days, and of +those when he was a favoured guest at Gatestone, now, driven hence for +no fault of his own; and, in consideration of all these things, to +procure him an interview with Minnie. She could easily arrange it, by +bringing her to her room when all were at rest--for, by eleven o'clock, +Gatestone was generally in profound repose--quiet, at all events. Mrs. +Gillett was aghast at this confession. At first anger moved her; then +her woman's kinder nature arose triumphant, and she consented for +once--only once, to "do her best"--which meant, complete success, for +she had the entire confidence of Juvenal, and keys of the prisoner's +room. Mrs. Gillett was but a mere woman, though the oracle of so many; +and, as she looked upon the tall handsome man pleading so earnestly +before her, she could not resist him. She was not a woman to be bribed +by money; power and flattering of her talents did much, however! It had +been a day of great excitement to all; for Dorcas had sought Skaife, in +his double capacity as friend and curate of the parish, and implored him +to speak to and reason with her brother--_she_ feared _all_ from his +ill-advised conduct towards his niece. Skaife was manliness itself; he +felt much the loss of Minnie. Nevertheless, he never had permitted hope +to lead him much astray as regarded her affection for himself. Miles he +liked--their hearts kindled towards one another; and now, with every +wish to serve him, even at his own expense, he sought Juvenal. In vain, +however, he urged the injustice of condemning Tremenhere even if the law +had rejected him as heir to the manor-house, it was his parent's error, +if really he were illegitimate. + +"If," said Juvenal, in his shrillest tenor; "I tell you he is, and a +scamp into the bargain!" + +"Pardon me, Mr. Formby," said the other, mildly, "if I ask your +authority? I have made diligent inquiry before undertaking this +mediation between you; which, let me add, is not from any solicitation +of his. I say, I have made diligent inquiry; and Mr. Tremenhere, as son +and master, bore the highest character in the neighbourhood, and is now +spoken of by many with tears of regret." + +"If he were a respectable man," said the irate Juvenal, "why did he go +so often from home, and live many months together abroad?" + +"By his parents' wish, and with their full consent. He is an artist of +great and rising fame; his studio, until destroyed at the manor-house, +attested that, I understand." + +"This proves what I say!" cried the _liberal_-minded Juvenal; "no +gentleman would have turned painter; and it also proves he knew of his +illegitimacy, and was providing against his fall from a false +position." + +Skaife bit his lip to keep down the angry reply. He came to conciliate. +He said at last,-- + +"I cannot agree with you, Mr. Formby, but will not reply. I come now on +a mission of peace, and for, I conscientiously believe, the benefit of +all. Mr. Tremenhere is attached to Miss Dalzell--his affection is quite +returned," (his voice trembled as he said this;) "it is for you to +consider, as one loving her so well, how far you are acting kindly in +blighting those affections. I should not think Miss Dalzell one to love +lightly or unworthily. Think, too, to what extremities you may drive +them?" + +"I defy them--I defy them!" squealed the other; "I have her in +safety--she shall marry Marmaduke Burton; and in proof, I purpose +sending her to his aunt's care in Lancashire, where he is now staying." + +Juvenal unwittingly let this escape him. Skaife started in amazement and +agitation. + +"Surely!" he cried, unable to control his emotion, "you do not seriously +intend doing this? Pause awhile, and reflect, Mr. Formby, on your +niece's sufferings so undeserved; for she was, at most, guilty only of a +little pardonable imprudence. Mr. Tremenhere had known her as a child." + +"I thought," replied Juvenal coarsely, "that _you_ had been a suitor +yourself? All this seems very strange to me, and not at all clear. What +do you hope for by giving her to another?" and he glanced suspiciously +at him. + +Skaife coloured deeply; and, taking his hat from the table, said with +dignity, "I hope, Mr. Formby, for the approval of my own heart, in a +cause which I, as a clergyman, condemn, one of unjust oppression--pardon +me this intrusion!" He bowed quietly and quitted the room, leaving +Juvenal abashed, angry, and more resolved, from sheer annoyance and +petty spite, than ever. Skaife quitted in deep thought. He deemed it +better not to inform Tremenhere of what had escaped Juvenal--namely, his +intention of sending Minnie to Lancashire. It might not be true; it +would perhaps urge him to some act of desperation. Even Skaife was +ignorant of how the delinquents had met, which naturally made him more +cautious, suspecting, and truly, that Tremenhere's honour was a safer +barrier against his elopement with Minnie, than all her uncle's locks +and keys. On the evening of these events, Miles, as we have said, sought +Mrs. Gillett, whom, strange to say, no one suspected of being an +accessory, favourable to Tremenhere and Minnie. The clock struck eleven, +as the latter on tiptoe crept down the long passage after the trembling +Mrs. Gillett, who was completely bewildered between the enormity of the +deed she was committing, its responsibility, and her fear of being +caught. However, they reached her room in safety, and not even her +presence prevented Miles from clasping Minnie in his arms, as he called +her by his favourite appellation, "My darling child!" + +"Ay--child, child!" muttered Mrs. Gillett, shaking her head. "It's all +very well, calling her that; but if you only loved her as one, we +shouldn't be all of us in a peck of trouble!" + +"Forgive me, dear Mrs. Gillett," said Minnie, holding out one hand to +her, the other was clasped in Miles's, who looked down, all love and +devotion, on her lovely, smiling face, which, child-like, was lit up +with the present joy, forgetful of past or future care. + +"Mrs. Gillett," he said, "you will be the first to laugh and rejoice, +when you come with us to the Old Place yonder"--thus he always spoke of +the manor-house; "for I tell you again, _we shall return there in +gladness_!" + +"Ah! well may it be so, Master Miles; but I cannot just see how that is +to take place. He as is there, won't be so soon got out, and I shouldn't +speak against him neither; he's been civil enough to me, and master +wishes it; but there, Miss, don't; and there's been so much said one way +and the t'other lately, that I'm conglomerated, and don't know what to +say." + +"Gillett, you're a good soul!" exclaimed the happy Miles. + +"It's very well calling me so, but I don't know that I'm doing quite +right; but there, Master Miles, I cannot forget when you were a boy, and +used to come in at the window and steal my preserves, and laugh in my +face when you'd done so; and I don't think you're as bad as they say; +and though I do let you see her--poor, dear child!--don't go and steal +her as you did my----Lauks-a-marcy! what's that?" she cried alarmed, +changing her tone. The others started up in alarm. "Marciful luck! if it +a'n't master's voice and step a-comin' here!" and she flitted about, +wringing her hands in terror. There was a sofa in the room, and a large +housekeeper's cupboard; this was whence Miles had often pilfered in +olden times--well he knew it; it was the act of a moment, to draw Minnie +in, and close the door. Mrs. Gillett dropped, more dead than alive, on +the sofa as the door opened, and Juvenal cautiously peeped in, in his +dressing-gown, and, with only his head to be seen, scanned every corner +of the room. + +"Hist, Gillett," he whispered, as the terrified woman stared at him, +"it's only I. I've heard the strangest noises in the house--come, and +search with me;" and he walked cautiously in. "I always take a strong +cup of green tea the last thing going to bed," he whispered; "Mr. Burton +said it was a good thing to make one wakeful, and so I find it; one +cannot be too much so while that horrid man's in the neighbourhood. +(Minnie clasped Miles's hand.) But there's one blessing--my niece won't +be here much longer; I'll take her to Lancashire, to Miss Burton's, next +week; I've decided upon that! How scared you look, Mrs. Gillett! Have +you been disturbed, too? Good, faithful creature, that's why you are up +so late! Come, and help me search!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +Mrs. Gillett was destined to be placed in embarrassing circumstances in +her own room, as on a former occasion, so she was now afraid to move; +the window was open--what if she went out with Juvenal, and Minnie +should run away! Her blood ran cold at the thought. No, stay she must, +and risk any thing her master might say. She looked up, the key was in +the cupboard where the two were hidden--should Juvenal go there! Her +agony shewed itself on her countenance, which the other at last noticed. +"I have alarmed you," he said; "come, compose yourself; there is nothing +wrong, I trust; only I assuredly heard footsteps passing by my door, +then noises in the house." + +"Lauk, Sir!" exclaimed the woman, though still trembling; "it was that +green tea--it always gives one strange fancies." + +"Well, maybe so, Gillett, but it will do no harm to search; but first +let us shut down this window--it is not prudent to have it open so late, +and that man in the neighbourhood." + +"Marcy upon us!" she cried, impatiently, "one would really think, from +all the fuss made, that Mr. Tremenhere was an evil spirit, master, and +not a young man we all liked once." + +Juvenal stopped suddenly, and stared at her; then, turning round, walked +silently to the window and fastened it. His hand was stretched towards +the cupboard door, when a sharp clanging sound on the floor startled +him--he was any thing but brave; and the hour, the half-lighted room, +and assuredly not least, the cup of green tea, made him nervous. He +sprang round, "What was that?" he cried. + +"I heard nothing," she responded sulkily; now her first alarm had a +little subsided, a sort of dogged restlessness succeeded. Juvenal looked +on the floor, but so superficially that he did not notice a key which +had fallen from his pocket. "Come along!" he said, forgetting the +cupboard, "let us search the house--stop," he cried, putting his hand in +his pocket; "what have I done with the key of Miss Minnie's room? Oh! +here it is," and he took one from the table. "I just peeped in as I came +down--all was quite silent and secure there." + +"That's my key, master!" exclaimed Mrs. Gillett. + +"I beg your pardon, Gillett, I put it out of my hand when I came in," +and he pocketed it; and, a little better than the last one, which had +hung in the orifice, and thus fell out--Mrs. Gillett felt more +reconciled now the window was fastened; so leaving her light, and +following Juvenal, she quitted the room, locking the door carefully +after her, and withdrawing the key. As she did so, the cupboard door +opened, and Miles and his terrified companion stepped out. + +"Minnie," he said "reckon to me to-night all the degradation I have +felt; obliged to hide, for your sake, and that good woman's, like a +thief. I am indeed thankful to Heaven that he did not find me--it would +have crushed my heart." + +"I will weigh it against my affection, dear Miles," she said, "and you +will forget it." + +"What could he mean," he asked, suddenly, "by speaking of your journey +to Lancashire? Surely no such project is in view?" + +"I have not heard of it, Miles; it must be one of my uncle's sudden +fancies. He is always starting some unformed idea--oh! that could never +be intended!" and involuntarily she clung to him with dread. + +"May his good angel keep him from such thoughts, Minnie, dearest; for if +he should seriously intend, then I will answer for no good resolution of +mine resisting against so much wrong." + +"What do you mean, Miles? Don't look so stern--you terrify me." + +"Poor child!" he said tenderly, drawing her to a seat, "how you tremble. +In truth, Minnie, our love has been set in sorrow--grown in care; well, +it will be the stronger for it. Flowers are soon uprooted, weeds +tenacious, and difficult to tear from the earth. Minnie, have you +thought what we should do, if all gentle measures failed?" + +"I have not dared to do so," she whispered. + +"Neither have I until the last half-hour. Those words of your uncle +distract my mind, and excite thoughts. What, Minnie, if they should +thus seek to part us--what if force and tyranny be used? There would not +always be a Mrs. Gillett, perhaps, to help us--what should we do?" + +"Do not let us think of it, dear Miles, they never--my uncle would never +act so towards me." + +"Not of himself, perhaps; but he is in the hands of as dark-hearted a +man as ever lived, Marmaduke Burton. Promise me one thing to-night, dear +child--swear to me, that no power shall ever make you marry another." + +"Miles, it needs no oath; even the thought is as little tangible as +falling snow, which melts in the outstretched hand. I cannot even +imagine the possibility of losing you." + +"Thanks, darling--thanks, dear Minnie, for that assurance. Now will I +wait patiently; work heart and soul to win the favour of your friends; +defy fate and my worthless enemy; and, above all, be patient, and wait." + +How often do we make excellent resolutions, which we think nothing can +overthrow, and some mocking devil has already crumbled the rock on which +we built them, to sand! A step was heard in the passage; they rose +hastily, when Mrs. Gillett coughed, in signal of safety, as she turned +the key outside. As Miles arose, his foot struck against something on +the floor; he stooped, 'twas a key. A sudden thought, an impulse, urged +him to conceal it, unseen even by Minnie. At that moment the housekeeper +entered alone, and closing the door cautiously, locked it. + +"Now," she cried, as she did so, "never again--no, never, will I have +any thing to do with this affair; there's twice I have been nearly +caught. No, never again!" and she dropped, really exhausted from +emotion, into a chair. + +"My dear Gillett," coaxed Minnie, putting a hand on her shoulder, "don't +be angry; was it our fault that uncle came down? What shall we do +without you?" + +"You do not mean it--do you, Mrs. Gillett?" asked Miles, drawing a chair +near her, and trying to catch the hand she drew pettishly away. + +"Yes, but I do, though," she crossly answered; "and as for you, I really +don't think you have behaved so well to me; you deceived me about Lady +Dora, you----" + +"You deceived yourself, dear Mrs. Gillett. Come, be just." + +"Well, you didn't contradict me? No; I've been deceived, and nobody +cares for me. Who would have thought of master coming sneaking down at +this hour? drat his green tea!" and, as she spoke, she rose and began +searching every where, in her pockets, and on the table, chairs, +sofa--every place. Poor Minnie, half in despair, whispered Miles--"Don't +say any more to-night; she is cross: I know her humour. Leave her to +herself; it will be all right to-morrow." + +"What are you whispering about, Miss Minnie?" cried the crabbed woman, +turning towards where they stood, his hand clasping both hers. "Ugh!" +she continued, twisting away again, "it's all very pleasant, +love-making, I daresay. You don't care for me, or any thing else. I want +to know where's the key?" + +"What key?" asked the really innocent Minnie. + +"What key? why, the one of your door, to be sure. Musn't I lock you up? +and how are you to get in without the key?" + +Miles bit his lip to conceal a smile; he was quite resolved, unless in a +case of absolute necessity, to keep it--why? he had not asked himself. +Neither he nor Minnie felt the least alarm; they were again like two +children their trouble over, all smiles. + +"Can't you help me to search for it?" cried the almost crying Mrs. +Gillett; "it must be here somewheres." + +A silent search commenced; Miles enjoyed it, scarcely answering to +himself wherefore he felt so light-hearted. We often feel thus before +care and grief. All at once Mrs. Gillett uttered a cry between a groan +and a scream. "I have it--I have it!" she exclaimed, in agony. "It was +mine master took off the table! Oh, marciful! what am I to do now? +You're lost, Miss Minnie, if they find out that you have left your room; +they'll send you off before next week to Lancashire! We're all lost--all +of us! How are you to get in? you can't creep through the keyhole," and +she flung herself on the sofa in complete prostration of all power of +thought. + +"Tell me," said Miles, pale as death, and now the serious, anxious man +again, "is what you say true? Are they really going to send Minnie away +_there_?" + +"Well, there's no use disguising it. I thought I wouldn't tell you yet; +sorrow comes soon enough. Yes it is all settled," and Mrs. Gillett was +again her kind self. Poor Minnie began crying bitterly. Miles had been +on the point of giving up the key; when he heard this, he again restored +it to his pocket. He felt he might find friendly aid through it. +"Minnie, dearest," he said, enclosing the crying girl in his arms, +"don't weep _yet_, we have time before us. Trust to me, and my love +neither will desert nor fail you. You shall never go there. This is a +time _now_ to act, to meet force with the strength my great love for you +gives me. Come, Minnie, cheer up; don't let me leave you in tears." + +"Don't leave me!" she cried, clinging to him. "I have so strong a fear +upon me." + +He was trembling himself, and nearly overcome. By a great effort he +recovered himself; for, had he followed his heart's promptings, she +would have quitted all for him that night. He knew, he felt his power +over her, and trembled for his own resolution. + +"Oblige me, darling," he whispered, with quivering lips. "Return to your +room, confide in my unsleeping watchfulness over you; _you never shall +go to Lancashire_. In the last extremity, rely upon my being there to +save--_now_ I cannot, _will_ not; I should say, to do so, I should have +to reproach myself." She looked up, not knowing his meaning, in answer +to what her prayer had seemed to implore, namely, flight. She did not +know what she uttered, in her terror at the idea of separation. + +"It is all very well bidding her go to her room," chimed in Mrs. +Gillett; "but tell me how is it to be done?" + +"Search," he answered, now perfectly calm, though pale. "You must have +many keys--search, you will find one." + +In a moment, the woman shook bunch after bunch out of basket, pocket, +and cupboard. After a long and anxious examination, she selected three +as "likely ones," and, armed with these, crept up-stairs alone, to try +them first. + +"Dearest," whispered he hurriedly, after she left the room, "there are +things we must trust no one with--never name my visit to your room. I +might, possibly, come again thus, but I will not; I would not have your +fame endangered--oh, not even if by those visits I could win you! But do +this: look from your window at eleven to-morrow night, and I will devise +some means of communicating safely with you. I fear Gillett will serve +us no more; the poor woman is alarmed at possible consequences." + +"Hush! here she comes," ejaculated Minnie; and, as she spoke, the woman +came hastily in: there was joy on her countenance. + +"Come," she said, in a low tone, "I've found one; and, if they catch me +at these tricks again, they may leave me in the lurch!" She was +evidently addressing her thoughts to some invisible Fates. No entreaties +could move her obdurate determination--she was firm. + +Embarrassments chill the old heart, and quicken the young. The two +parted, as such a parting would naturally be, in the uncertainty of soon +meeting. Miles was turned out unceremoniously, first; and then the +tearful Minnie was taken up to her prison; and Mrs. Gillett promised +"to think it over, and see what could be done." And thus she left her to +her reflections, which were any thing but cheering. Poor girl! had her +mother lived, and been a good, sensible woman, the child would have been +like a lovely parterre, rich in beautiful flowers, from among which the +weeds had been judiciously eradicated. As it was, full of warm and +generous affections, they had been badly directed by contrary interests. +Her aunts and uncle all conceived, and justly, that they had an equal +right to her regard, duty, and obedience. Most unfortunately, all pulled +different ways. Juvenal and Sylvia wore her spirit by bad, peevish +tempers; only Dorcas could have supplied a mother's place, and her power +was almost neutralized by the other two. Thus, Minnie had grown up with +an independence of mind not often met with at her age. She loved Dorcas +dearly; but her keen perception made her perfectly alive to all the +absurdity of Juvenal and Sylvia. Her heart had nursed up almost all its +warmth of love, to cast the whole of it on one die--Tremenhere's faith +and love. She had, fortunately, chosen a worthy object, and yet one +unfitting herself in many ways. + +He was impassioned, impetuous, jealous: one to exact all from her; and +even then, when her soul lay bare before him, suspect that a warmer +affection might be found there, if he but knew the talisman which would +unlock the secret recesses of it. He had a want of confidence in +himself, which would cause him many a bitter hour. Had she loved and +married Skaife, her life would have been one of the most complete +happiness this earth could have afforded. As it was, her whole soul was +given to Tremenhere--he absorbed all. In the confidence of her young, +childish heart, she could conceal no part of it from him: she loved like +a slave, ready to obey him blindly in all things, unquestioning, +undoubting. He was her master, before whom she crouched in perfect +contempt of self, and hugged her chains. And this was the man they +threatened to separate her from! Though the mortal woman wept at her +oppression, the immortal soul laughed them to scorn!--they _could not_ +make her forget him! + +The day following these events, Miles had a long interview with Skaife, +to whom he had become deeply indebted in gratitude for his efforts in +his favour. A sincere friendship had sprung up between them, yet not +without some bitterness to Skaife, who could not yet eradicate Minnie's +thought from his heart. Though graven there in bitterness, he sincerely +wished to make her happy, and felt she would, in all human probability, +be so with Tremenhere--loving him, and so well beloved. But even this +desire of promoting her happiness, made him conscientiously refuse to +accede to a solicitation of Tremenhere's, namely, to perform a private +marriage between them. It will be seen this latter's resolutions were +fading away before the probable trouble before them--thus it occurred. +On leaving Minnie the evening they met, as we have seen, he walked +homeward in deep thought; the more he reflected upon her threatened +removal, the more he trembled for the result. He did not know her +sufficiently well--he deemed that, like most girls, though all +affection then, once removed--persecuted, threatened, coerced--her +spirit would give way, and she, perhaps, become the wife of his +cousin--Minnie, his Minnie! It was a spiritualized madness the thought; +for he felt it would haunt him even in the grave--that nothing could +throw a veil of oblivion over it. He had never spoken _half_ his +passionate love to her--he feared lest, in giving vent to it, it might +master and carry him away to some deed he afterwards should bitterly +regret--such, for instance, as eloping with her. His ideas of women, +were more than ordinarily rigid, in young men. He had thought and +suffered so much on his mother's account, in whose case, though he did +not for an instant suspect her virtue, still, he feared there had been +some imprudence--some laxity in necessary caution, to have created this +long, and as yet unavailing, search for proof of her marriage. He +fancied it had been private, or by some minister not of legal +ordination--he scarcely knew what to imagine. And yet, in the face of +all this--driven by the fear of losing Minnie, he implored Skaife to +marry them privately. + +"I have yet one more effort to make," he said, "to gain her uncle's +consent--if that fail me, then there will only be ourselves to rely +upon." + +"Knowing you as I do, even in this short space of time," answered +Skaife, "let me implore you _never_ to lead her, however slightly, from +the path of duty. I know--I am sure--it would rise in your heart against +her, some day." + +"I would not dream of it, except in an extreme case," said Tremenhere; +"but if they take her away, what will my position then be? _There_ she +will be under the eye of one--my cousin--who has the devil's cunning. +They will act upon her heart in every way. Poor child!--what would she +be in their hands?" + +"And what would your feelings then be, were she privately your wife? How +could you endure in absence all she would be made to suffer?" + +"I should have a security, Skaife. They could not force her; and we +could but acknowledge our union, even though before the time I myself +should wish to do so. I would be again master of the house yonder, +before I claimed her." + +"You are too sanguine, I fear, in your hopes. I do not for an instant +suspect your rights; but I do your power of proving them. There have +been too wily persons at work for you ever to discover the lost clue. +Seven years have passed, and, were Miss Dalzell your wife, could you +patiently wait and labour as many more--perhaps even then without +success--and leave her your unacknowledged wife?" + +"Pshaw!" replied Tremenhere impatiently, "you argue like a man--a +clergyman, bound to give good advice--and one who has never loved!" + +He was quite ignorant that the other had ever been a suitor of Minnie's. +Skaife looked fixedly at him--then, turning aside, choked down a sigh, +and answered with seeming calmness-- + +"Not as a mere clergyman by profession--bound to throw in his advice on +every occasion where there is an opportunity, for form's sake; but as a +sincere friend to both. Tremenhere, I beseech you, think well on all you +do respecting Miss Dalzell. _I_ believe her to possess strong +affections, and far more strength of mind than you give her credit for." + +"It may be so. I am sure she loves me now; but she is very young, and +ignorant of the world. How could she be certain of resisting the threats +and importunities of my enemies?" + +"If so weak, how would she be able to pass through the world, and its +many devious paths? How never swerve from the straight one? You wrong +her; believe me, she is stronger than you imagine in soul and mind." + +"Well, perhaps so--I hope so; but, as my wife, _I_ should ever be there +to sustain her." + +"Not always, perhaps. Depend upon it, a woman never shows her true +strength, of either virtue or forbearance, until she has to rely upon +herself _alone_. Much as I wish to oblige you, Tremenhere, my anxiety to +_serve_ both, is greater. I cannot be a party to any secret marriage. I +_know_ it would not be for the happiness of either." + +"Thank you, Skaife," answered the other, offering his hand in all +candour of heart. "I know whatever you do, is conscientiously done; so +now for my last hope. In peace, adieu!" And they parted. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +Juvenal sat in the library, concocting a letter to his counsellor and +friend, Burton, when the servant threw open the door, and announced "Mr. +Tremenhere." Juvenal was not a very courageous man, more especially +unsupported; the pen slid from his fingers, and he staggered to his +feet. "Stop!" he cried to the servant, but the voice was so faint that +the man did not hear it; then he made a sort of rush towards the bell, +but catching the other's calm, contemptuous smile, he stopped +irresolute. "Pardon me, Mr. Formby," said Miles quietly; "but I think +this interview were as well between ourselves: I see you are about +summoning witnesses." + +"Pray, sir," asked Juvenal, forcing an appearance of calmness most +foreign to his real state, "may I ask the motive of this intrusion?" + +"One," answered the other, "which I think scarcely merits so harsh a +term, Mr. Formby. I came to save you the trouble of answering a letter I +sent, presuming that, as a gentleman, you purpose doing so, even though +probably time has not permitted you to accomplish that intention yet." +Tremenhere's indignation overcame his prudence, when he found himself +in the presence of Minnie's persecutor. + +"Do you come here to insult me, sir?" asked Juvenal, amazed at this tone +and manner. + +"Pardon me, Mr. Formby; no. I was led away by an excusable surprise at +your want of courtesy towards one, with whom you were once on terms, at +all events, of harmony; one, myself, who has never, by any act, +forfeited his right to your good opinion." + +Juvenal was dreadfully embarrassed. He did not like summoning an +attendant to listen to perhaps a few unpleasant truths against himself; +he felt Tremenhere's cause was the just one. + +"Pray, sir," he said at last, "what do you call your unjustifiable +pursuit of my niece, Miss Dalzell?" + +"That is a recent crime in your eyes. I was alluding to a prejudice +against _poor_ Miles Tremenhere, who, as master of the manor-house, was +permitted to style himself your acquaintance at least; but it is not of +wrongs--of _past_ wrongs--I come to speak. I come, Mr. Formby, to you, +as Miss Dalzell's uncle and guardian, seeking an answer to my solicited +permission to address her as a suitor." + +"Your audacity surpasses all I ever heard of," cried Juvenal, bounding +from his chair, into which he had dropped. "It more than surpasses all I +have been told you were capable of." + +"By my worthy cousin, but you are wrong. I come in no insolence of tone +or manner, however your dislike may so construe them; but as gentleman +to gentleman--suitor, _accepted_ suitor by the lady, to solicit her +hand from her guardian." He stood calm and dignified as he spoke; he had +evidently set himself a task in this visit--one to go through, before +more decided steps, but with little hope of success. + +"My answer," said Juvenal, decidedly, though his tone was querulous and +weak, "is--that nothing shall ever induce me to consent to Miss +Dalzell's marriage with yourself!" + +"May I ask your reasons?" + +"I do not consider myself obliged to give any; one, however, I will +accord you--the lady is engaged." + +"Of that I am fully aware--irrevocably engaged." + +"If you mean to yourself," cried Juvenal, his anger mastering his fear, +"I tell you, I defy you--I forbid it. She shall never marry a nameless, +unprincipled man like yourself--one who could attack my friend, +Marmaduke Burton, in the ruffianly manner you have done." + +"Hush!" said the other, advancing with a soft, calm step; "not a breath +even against the dead. You term me a nameless man; that will be proved +incorrect some day soon, I hope." + +Juvenal shrunk back alarmed. "Keep back!" he cried, "or I will summon +aid." + +"Do not alarm yourself, Mr. Formby," said Tremenhere, retreating +contemptuously. "I would not touch, still less harm, any one dear to, or +allied to Miss Dalzell--rest well assured of that; for all I have done +to Marmaduke Burton, I would do it again in my just indignation. Did he +tell you all? Did he tell you of our first meeting in his apartment, +when I chastised the cowardly cur for his base seduction of one almost a +sister to me?" + +"_His_ seduction?" exclaimed Juvenal--"_your's_, you mean?" + +"_Mine!_" ejaculated Miles, under his breath from surprise at this +infamous charge. "Mine!--did he tell you this?" + +"Tell me?--yes! and you know it to be true; he spoke of it with regret, +and of your infatuation in guilt, in having taken the girl away to town, +where she awaits your coming--and it is to your base arms you would take +my innocent niece!" + +"'Tis false--false as his own black heart!" thundered Miles, and the red +blood mantled in his face, the eyes shot fire. "If this alone be the +cause of your _just_ dislike to me--believing this--if I _prove_ it +false, may I then hope to win Miss Dalzell at your hands?" + +In his heart, Juvenal did not believe this of Miles; he cared little who +had been the seducer of Mary Burns, but it suited his purpose to think +Miles guilty. + +"You cannot prove your innocence," he said; but his uncertain glance +shrank from the other's bold, steadfast one. + +"I can, and will, if that be the only barrier!" exclaimed the hopeful +man. "By the girl herself, Mr. Skaife, your sister Miss Dorcas +Formby--by many." + +"It could not alter my determination," stammered Juvenal. "I care little +about proving, or disproving it, as either way, I should never consent +to your marriage with my niece." + +Miles's foot beat impatient time on the floor, on which his gaze was +fixed, with the knitted brow above it. By an immense effort over +himself, he at last looked up, in appearance composed. "I came +resolved," he said, "to bear all, suffer any insult for her sake--I came +to conciliate if _possible_; and now, once and again, Mr. Formby, I ask +you to consent, or, if not that, give her her liberty; give me hope, and +I will make a name to win her with, better than any mere birth could +bring me; but _that_ too, I feel, I shall regain, and triumph over my +enemy. I will win wealth--all--only give me hope; you see I implore now, +for both our sakes." + +"Hope to you--liberty to her?" laughed Juvenal, ironically, encouraged +by Miles's softened tone. "I tell you she shall regain her liberty as +Marmaduke Burton's wife--only then." + +"You are resolved?--take time to consider." Miles's voice was low and +emphatic. + +"I need no consideration," answered the excited man; "my mind is +made-up, and my word pledged!" He felt in himself that Miles was too +noble for him to have personal violence to dread at his hands--he spoke +undauntedly. + +"Then, hear me!" said Miles, striding close to him, and whispering +hoarsely from intense feeling; "I, too, pledge you my word, that if you +and all the powers of earth leagued against it, Minnie Dalzell shall be +mine! Now, look to it. I have nothing now to restrain my impulse. I +have offered you every honourable proposition that man could offer; she +loves me--this I know; and war let it be between us, and the victory and +Minnie mine! So, look to it! You have driven me to my own resources--do +not hereafter blame either her or me!" + +"I defy you!--you can do nothing!" shouted Juvenal, rushing to the bell, +intending to order him out by a servant. Miles made no further reply, +but, striding to the door, went forth as if the meeting had been one in +all good fellowship. As he quitted the house, Juvenal stood petrified, +gazing after him. But the tall figure strode on, and never once turned +or hesitated. + +"He cannot--he cannot approach her!" said Juvenal confidently. "I'll +watch--Gillett shall watch; and next week I'll take her to Lancashire. +No one but Burton shall know the day, or my plans: and _then_ we can +indeed defy him!" And the self-confident man sat down to finish his +letter to Burton, resolved to mention Tremenhere's visit to no one else, +unless questioned about it. Days passed, and nothing had occurred to +arouse a suspicion in his mind that Miles was at work. He was not a man +to suspect the under-current of a stream, smooth on the surface. He was +planning, and another was watching. Even yet, Miles could not find +resolution to urge Minnie to an extreme step; they had not met since the +night in Mrs. Gillett's room, but they had _seen_ each other. The age of +romance will never quite expire, even in this one of matter-of-fact: +while Love exists, he will summon his own regal court around him, where +pure hearts are in his keeping, and their love-knots not gilded. Juvenal +never dreamed of watchings and wooings in those later hours of the +night, when even his green tea failed to keep him wakeful; and, in those +hours, Tremenhere stood beneath Minnie's window, and a cord from a +trembling hand was their telegraphic wire to speed their communications +from one to another. No one had seen Tremenhere since the day he quitted +Juvenal, who became impressed with the idea that he had quitted in +despair; but the cleverer general was quietly watching events from +Farmer Weld's, who was too true to him to betray his concealment to any +one. Even Mrs. Gillett thought he had left, and blessed her stars, and +every thing else of lucky influence, which had induced him to quit, for +now her mind was at rest. Only Burton suspected the truth; he knew +Miles's disposition too well, and, consequently, strongly urged Juvenal +to bring Minnie off, at a moment's notice, _at night_; and this the +other resolved to do. Dorcas had a long interview with Skaife, and a +certain want of energy in her character was gently censured by him, for +her leaving Minnie so long without even a line: "What can I do?" she +asked, irresolute; "my brother will not let me see her; I am waiting +quietly till his strange humour pass away." + +"And meanwhile you leave Miss Dalzell under, I must say, an +unwarrantable oppression, which will prey on her proud spirit, +unsupported, uncomforted. She will unquestionably think herself deserted +by all, and the consequences may be fatal." + +Skaife would not say more, or betray Miles even by a hint. Dorcas, +acting upon this advice, wrote to Minnie, and Mrs. Gillett bore it--but +the missive came too late. The girl's heart had brooded so long in +silence, and supposed neglect, which, as far as Dorcas was concerned, +had been want of decision, and that energy which might have brought +Juvenal to reason, for her every thought had been her niece's; but she +resigned herself too quietly to her brother's prohibition of visits. +Dorcas said to herself, "I'll wait patiently--his humour will +change--Minnie knows I love her." When, however, we are in trouble, a +little _assurance_ of affectionate watching is very comforting--silence +often breeds doubt--it did in Minnie's case. She was on one hand +persecuted by Juvenal and Sylvia, and unsupported on the other; 'tis +then not to be wondered at, if she threw all her confidence and +affection on the one who so well returned her love--Tremenhere; and her +aunt's letter fell cold, uncared for, from her hand, and the resolution +to act for herself grew only stronger. While she was in this state, +Tremenhere was silently watching all. When men are very much in love, +they are very like the fabled bucket, through which every drop of water +passed again as soon as drawn from the well. Juvenal had a pet +groom--his right-hand man in all things--his factotum, and he certainly +merited his master's confidence; but--he fell in love! and a sort of +Montague and Capulet affair it was with a dairymaid at, and poor +relation of, Farmer Weld's. This stout wench was in the confidence of +her master, and a firm adherent of Tremenhere's, so she listened to the +wooing of her lover, not from any persuasion of the little blind god, +but simply to know all that was passing at Gatestone. It is not from +evil propensities that servants always speak of their master's affairs, +but because persons not gifted with imagination, speak everyday facts; +thus groom Thomas, like the bucket in question, drew all from the well +of his master's heart, to moisten the greedy clay of woman's curiosity; +and, in return, he got chaff which blew away before the winds, of +service to no one. Thomas, too, was very wise in his own conceit, and +said to himself, "Poor gal, she's so much in love with me, she can't +keep nothing to herself!" and he posted off to his master with accounts +of letters received from Tremenhere from town, and, while he carried off +his winnowings, Sally trudged home with many a good oat-cake at his +expense. This continued about a week; and every night, owl-like, Miles +crept forth, and Minnie's soft voice whispered "Good-night, dearest!" as +she let down, and drew up their respective letters. + +One day Sally returned from an evening walk with Thomas, in a state of +much agitation; she learned from him that Mr. Dalby, the lawyer, was +always now closeted with his master, and that Thomas had been sent in +solemn secresy to Harrogate, to order a chaise and posters for the +following evening at eight; and his master had told him to be sure and +say nothing to _anybody_ about it, especially not to Miss Formby, or +Miss Dorcas, as he was going to take off Miss Dalzell to Lancashire at a +minute's notice; so all must be prepared, and he, Thomas, ready to go +with them--that a word in the house would ruin all! + +"Lor'!" ejaculated the really astonished Sally. + +"Ain't it fine?" said the man; "and won't Miss be taken by surprise? as +master says it's very wrong of her to fly in his face, as she does--in +coorse, he must know best what's good for her; and nobody sha'n't know +it from me, I'll take precious care of that!" and he rubbed his hands, +and winked knowingly. + +"And don't Miss Minnie suspect, think ye?" + +"Not she, nor nobody; it's all been done main clever, I can tell you; +and as the shay drives round to the front door, Master and Mr. Dalby +goes up and brings her down, and we postesses two posts, that there +mayn't be no row in this part, 'cause she might kick up a to-do at the +station, and Mr. Dalby goes part ways on the dicky with me!" + +"Does he?" said Sally, colouring at this treachery. "He's quite given up +young Miss himself, then?" + +"Oh, yes! from all I hears, and I'm pretty 'cute, he and the squire be +all in all; it's to Miss Burton's young miss be goin'." This latter +speech was uttered in a whisper. + +"Ah!" ejaculated Sally, in thought. + +"What be 'e thinkin' on?" asked Thomas, pressing the arm which reposed +on his own. "I guess you be thinkin' there won't be all this fuss when +we marries," etc., etc., etc. Here the amorous swain rushed off into a +maze of love's intricacies, little interesting to the reader, or indeed +to Sally, who took the earliest opportunity of finding the silken cord, +and getting out of it, leaving the cautious Thomas watching, in the +twilight, her buxom figure as she sped homewards. Red and excited she +entered the farm kitchen, and, flying up the stairs, tapped at a door, +and then bounced in. Tremenhere sat there, and not less than her own, +was his agitation, when she unloaded her budget; he thanked his faithful +messenger for her vigilance, and after a consultation with the homely +farmer, who was summoned to the room, this latter started off for +Harrogate, to discover if really the chaise had been ordered, as +reported. With some little manoeuvring he found out, beyond a doubt, +that it was a fact. What he then did--what they had mutually decided +upon--will be shortly seen. To have carried off Minnie at that late hour +would have been impracticable--How succeed? this was their first +thought, but no posters could be obtained as relays; there would be no +train to assist them so advanced in the night, for he could not see +Minnie to convey the intelligence until nearly midnight. To fly, and be +overtaken, were worse than all. Poor Miles paced his room in an agony of +mind nothing can paint; until that supreme moment he did not know how +dear Minnie was, all his energy seemed for a while crushed; he clenched +his hands, and the thick, knotted veins swelled in his forehead, as the +heaving breast sent the boiling blood to his brain. He cursed his own +folly, his scruples for waiting so long, now all these had disappeared; +present fears, future reflections on imprudence, all were cast aside: +he only saw Minnie separated from himself, in Marmaduke's and her +uncle's power, with Dalby to back them in villainy. He cared for nothing +which might be said, he forgot all his mother's wrongs, from perhaps a +want of strict prudence, (of error he never dreamed,) which had so long +upheld him in a resolution to only win _his_ wife before all the world, +and by all its most rigid laws of prudence and right. He sat down at +last, with his watch clutched in his hand, counting the weary moments +till he could visit Gatestone. A cold sweat hung on his brow, as he +thought some unforeseen event, impossible to conquer, might mar all, and +thus he sat, in the bitter agony of a lone heart, which, though it may +find kind, sympathizing friends, finds not one to comprehend all its +suffering--not one to speak as it would. As the weary hours crept by, he +was worn almost to woman's weakness; for at a moment when he needed all +to support himself in calmness, Farmer Weld, or perhaps Sally, would +enter his room, or the farmer's good dame, and by their well-meant, but +quiet reasoning, nearly drive his warm temperament frantic; it was not +only one fear he had, but dozens came crowding around him, for all was +cast on one chance. He could not say--"If this fail--well, to-morrow." + +No, there was no morrow for him if the project crumbled to earth. She +would be away under coercion and watchings, and these doubled, if they +discovered any attempt of his, even though it should prove abortive. In +this fearful state, he at last quitted the farm. The night air revived +him, and he felt calm as he stopped under Minnie's window; more +especially when her little white hand drew aside the curtain, and she +looked forth. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +The night passed--then succeeded morning--noon--and evening. Juvenal had +been very busy all day. Nobody but Dalby, who was closeted with him, and +the trusty Thomas, knew wherefore. The two first worthies had it all to +themselves; for Sylvia felt piqued with her recreant _protégé_ for +preferring interest to love. Dorcas disliked him much. It therefore was +not a very sociable dinner party that day at six, when the four sat down +together. We will leave them in their monosyllabic conversation, spiced +with occasional words of secret meaning between Juvenal and his guest, +and go up-stairs with Mrs. Gillett, to Minnie's room, when she entered +with the prisoner's dinner. The latter was sitting at a table; before +her was a casket, out of which all the little treasures of her young +life were taken, and spread on the table, and as she eyed them, her eyes +were swimming in tears; yet she looked flushed, and nervous. When +Gillett entered, she involuntarily sprang up, and turned pale, as in +terror. + +"Dear heart alive!" exclaimed the woman, "how very nervous you are, poor +child! And so I told master to-day, and he has promised you shall soon +be at liberty; so cheer up, there's a dear." She spoke very kindly; but +Minnie looked fixedly at her, to read if she too were plotting against +her. She was beginning that worst pain--suspicion of all. But poor +Gillett was white as snow in this affair; and thus Minnie read her +clear, kind look, and she stretched out her hand and clasped her's; and +with the act, tears rolled down her cheek. Juvenal, by Dalby's advice, +trusted no woman. This man had an instinctive dread and knowledge, that +the female heart is _generally_ too kind to unite in a wrong act, unless +the possessor be unworthy her sex. Man acts without thought often, and +consents without reflection, to a crooked deed of seeming uprightness. +Perhaps woman's natural love of diving into mysteries makes her fathom +all, and _then_ judge for herself. + +"Now, don't--there's a dear!" cried Mrs. Gillett, dropping on one knee, +and taking Minnie's hand in both of her's; "don't cry. I hate to see you +cry, Miss, indeed, I do; it always reminds me of your poor dear mamma; +she used to sit and cry, so silent like, till she went after the +captain." + +"Don't talk of her _now_, Gillett--my good Gillett!" whispered the girl, +shuddering; "I've been looking at her picture--see, here it is." She +took a miniature from the table, "And--and--don't you think she looks +frowningly upon me? I have thought so all day." + +"Lauk, dear! how can the picture change? There it is; and it can't look +sweeter, nor crosser--poor, dear lady!--she never looked cross on any +one." + +"Don't speak of her!" cried Minnie, in agony, dropping her head on the +woman's shoulder, and sobbing. + +"I told your uncle how it would be," said the other, trying to soothe +Minnie, as she would have done a child, by patting her back; "but come, +look up, it will all go right soon, you'll get out; and now, Master +Miles is gone (and I'm sure I'm glad of it) all will be as before, +and----" + +Minnie rose hastily, and stood looking at the woman, as if uncertain how +to act; her tears were burning on her cheeks--her lips opened to speak. +Then Miles's cautions came over her, and she turned away with a sigh. +Mrs. Gillett rose, and, smoothing down her apron, began laying the table +with perfect composure, and confidence that all would soon be well. +Suddenly Minnie approached, and, grasping her arm, said, so wildly that +the other herself stood transfixed, "Remember, Gillett--my good +Gillett--whatever may happen, they drove me to it. Do not let them say +all unchecked against me;--remind them how they locked me up--remind +Aunt Dorcas how she left me, and did not insist upon seeing, to comfort +me--remind them, that I only met Mr. Tremenhere once, wilfully, and that +he had known me as a little child--do not forget all this, Gillett, but +remind them often of it." And she burst into a passionate flood of +tears, and turned away. + +"Poor darling!" said the housekeeper, "they have been cruel; but it was +not their faults--Master listens to them as he shouldn't listen +to--Come, eat a bit of chicken--just a bit: I watched it cooking for you +myself--do, there's a dear!" But all her coaxing was vain. "I'll come +and sleep on the sofa in her room to-night," said Gillett to herself; +"she's low and narvous, poor child!" + +"What's that?" cried Minnie, stopping in her hurried walk round the +room. + +"Only the time, dear, striking; it's half-past six!" + +"The old hall clock!" whispered the girl--"my mother's clock--I wonder +if I shall ever hear it again after to-night! I hope I may--I hope to +Heaven I may!" And she slid gently on her knees, and raised her hands +upwards. Gillett stood looking on in amazement, not unmixed with deep +emotion. + +"Miss Minnie, dear, shall I stay, or go?" she whispered, touching her +arm. Minnie started up. + +"Go," she said, hurriedly, looking towards the door--"go, and don't tell +any one I have been agitated, or crying. Let me be quiet a short time, +and--and--Heaven bless you, dear Gillett, for all your kindness--I +_never_ shall forget it!" + +She threw her arms round the woman's neck, and kindly embraced her; +then, opening the door, said hurriedly, "Now, go, dear Gillett, and +leave me quiet awhile." + +The simple woman, without the slightest suspicion of harm, quitted the +room gently, and locked the door. Minnie stood one moment, with clasped +hands, listening, then turning round, she seemed, by a great effort, to +shake off all lethargy and doubt. Reverentially placing her mother's +picture, and a gift of aunt Dorcas's, in her bosom, she drew from her +pocket a key, and with hasty hands threw over her shoulders a shawl; +then, putting on her bonnet, she stood one instant in deep thought--it +was the final thought--one of war between resolution and doubt. + +Near the old stile, in the holly-field, stood Miles Tremenhere. He was +no longer the wild, excited man; a cold, stern resolution had replaced +all other emotions. He stood there, resolved _to do_, even now, by +force, should other means fail. It had been in vain he toiled with his +brain to arrange things otherwise: all had seemed to go against him, +trains, posters--all, and here he was, expecting Minnie at seven, +knowing that at eight she would leave with her uncle, if his scheme +failed. + +"But it will not," he said between his teeth; "she has the key; they +will be at table, and she can better escape down the stairs now than +earlier. Should she _not_ come, I will go up boldly and tear her from +their power!" + +He was desperate enough then to have attempted it. His face was cold and +damp with the dew of suspense, his eyes strained with watching the way +she should come; he had become so acutely wakeful, that he felt he could +have heard her cry for help even there; and as moment after moment +passed, and the heavy church clock in the distance chimed a quarter past +seven, he groaned aloud. "Only three quarters more, and _they_ will be +there for her. Minnie! oh, Minnie! if they tore you from me now, I +should smile on _any_ deed to recover you! She does not come!" + +He stood like a statue, only watching the way through the shrubbery. "I +will go up and claim her," he cried at last, in desperation. "Hush! were +those wheels? _theirs_, to complete their good work. Hush!" and he +listened, while his heart audibly beat. A hand was on his arm, and a +voice, weak and thrilling like a nestling bird's, whispered, "Miles, I +am here--let us go--'tis late--I have been seen." With the first word +and touch, a cry burst from him, and Minnie was in an embrace of iron. +What force might tear her from it? Outside the hedge a chaise was +waiting, and to this he almost carried the nearly fainting girl; they +had not far to drive, but a few short miles at the pace of their good +quadrupeds; and before the clock struck eight, Tremenhere's heart beat +wildly with rejoicing, beside his run-away bride, flying at the rate of +Gretna steam-power, and an express train, to the north. Eight o'clock +struck, and with the last stroke wheels were heard creaking on the +gravel at Gatestone. + +"Now, Dalby," said Juvenal, "the time's come, mind you are resolute; no +woman's work. I daresay she'll make a fuss, but it is for her ultimate +benefit, and besides I will not have my authority questioned." Sylvia +and Dorcas had retired, quite ignorant of all. "Tell Mrs. Gillett to +come here, and accompany us to Miss Dalzell's room," said Juvenal to the +footman. + +"I don't think Miss Dalzell has returned," said the man, innocently. +"She only went out a few minutes since!" Dalby started, but Juvenal was +quite composed. "You must be mistaken, Willis," he said. "Miss Dalzell +is in her room. You probably saw one of the other ladies. Send Mrs. +Gillett at once." + +"Oh, dear me! no, sir," responded the man. "I couldn't mistake my +mississes for Miss Minnie; she passed me in the hall with her bonnet on, +and said in her kind way, 'How d'ye do, Willis?' and I was so glad to +see her about again, that I watched her through the gardens." + +"Why the deuce didn't you mention this before?" exclaimed Dalby, +alarmed. He was the first to recover himself. + +"Well, sir," answered the man, trembling, "I thought master knew it. +'Twasn't for me to speak." + +"There's something wrong," cried Juvenal, tumbling over Dalby's chair in +his hurried rush towards the door. The other was half-way up-stairs, +muttering a deep oath. If Minnie were lost to his master Marmaduke +Burton, then would he be doubly a fool, having lost a good chance with +the girl, backed as he had been by Sylvia; and of course he should be +disgraced with the other. + +By this time the house was alarmed--Dorcas stood very pale, clasping her +cold hands together--Sylvia wouldn't believe it possible--and poor Mrs. +Gillett was lamenting loudly, as Juvenal with trembling hands opened the +door. There still was hope, for the door was well locked. All rushed in +in a body: every thing was as we have seen it, but Minnie--the dinner +untouched. How had she escaped? Not by the window, surely? No, that +could not be. Willis had met her in the passage, and 'twas this +unexpected meeting which had made her go round by the gardens instead of +the shrubbery. This was the only hour in which Miles saw a chance for +her escape, while all were at table. 'Twas a bold stroke; but it had +succeeded, like many a daring deed. + +"Gillett, you know something of this!" cried Sylvia, turning towards +her. Dorcas couldn't speak; she was crying bitterly; she guessed the +truth. "No, as I hopes for marcy!" exclaimed the housekeeper; "I know +nothing of it. I brought up her dinner, which you see, and she fell +a-crying, and seemed quite down-hearted. Oh, dear! oh, dear! what was it +she said, now?" and she tapped her forehead; "she told me to remind you +all of such a many things, and to think I should forget every one on +'em!" + +"Where could she have found a key?" asked Juvenal, suspiciously. + +"I don't know, I'm sure," answered Gillett, "here's mine," and she +turned the lock with it. Suddenly it flashed across her mind, the +confusion of keys in her room the night Juvenal came down, and Minnie +and Miles were concealed. She said nothing; but felt perfectly convinced +that one of them had taken a key away. At last, some one suggested that +she was perhaps in the gardens. _No one_ save Dorcas guessed the whole +truth. Juvenal and Sylvia felt certain she would be found. Dalby thought +so, too. Where could she go? Gillett was too much puzzled to think. Only +Dorcas _knew_ in her heart, that Miles was the instigator and partner of +her flight. All her thoughts now were, not to find her; she felt that +with a man so determined to organize, she was off and gone, but to +secure her happiness, and, if possible, bring all to a happy termination +and reconciliation. Gardens were searched--the house--grounds--all; but +not a trace remained--then the village. At last a lad was found who had +stood gaping at the chaise and posters in the lane, till the gentleman +and lady stepped in and "driv away;" so there was no longer room to +doubt. Dalby, hot with rage and disappointment, traced them to the +railroad, three miles distant, whence he and Juvenal started off in +pursuit. + +The chaise which was to have carried off their victim, helped them on +their errand--a rather galling reflection; for both Tremenhere and his +bride were away, and away, miles before them; they had neither of them +time to reflect on plans, on the future, which lay before them coiled +like a serpent, and perhaps as much to be dreaded. On they flew, and, as +the train stopped at each station, Minnie's heart sunk within her, +dreading somehow to see her uncle there, awaiting her; and in agony, she +clung to Miles, whose gentlest tones soothed the fair thing beside him, +with her already sorrowing, but not repenting head, hidden in his bosom. +At length the term of their journey drew to a close, they passed the +Border--with every moment now, her terror, and his anxiety, grew apace. +She could scarcely articulate; and, when a sudden whistle or stoppage +occurred, a scream involuntarily burst from her very soul; for the lip +was but the channel of utterance. But the Border was passed--the train +and its many alarms was left behind their flying steps, and they stood +side by side in a small room, awaiting the professional officiator in +such cases--clergyman, he cannot be called. Minnie looked round, and +felt how little idea of so sacred a tie as marriage, that little, low +room gave you. She turned timidly to Miles, who was gazing impatiently +at the door--she drew near him. + +"Miles--dearest," she whispered, laying a hand on his arm, "shall we not +be married again? This place carries no hallowing thoughts to the +heart." + +"My Minnie, you have echoed my intention--the moment we arrive in town, +we will doubly cement the sweet bonds of this day's forging!" + +Here the officiator entered. He was a serious, matter-of-fact-looking +man; he put on his spectacles, and scanned them closely; then, giving a +sort of grunt, intimating some sort of feeling best understood by +himself, he commenced-- + +"Stop!" cried Tremenhere; "I have forgotten a ring!" + +Minnie was trembling violently--every thing startled her. He saw this, +and, hastily glancing at his finger, said, "In such a cause, this will +but sanctify it!" and he drew off the circle of gold. "Minnie," he +whispered, "this was my mother's." + +"Oh, not that!" she cried, shrinking back. "It has been so ill-fated!" + +"You'd better not delay," suggested the man; "folks travel quickly +now-a-days, and I have _buzness_, too." + +"It will unite us the closer in our triumph over her enemies and ours, +my Minnie." + +She said no more, but a cold thrill passed over her as the ring made her +Tremenhere's wife. + +"Now ye're right," said the man, with a grim smile, which he intended to +be jocular; "an' tak' care on her, for she's a sonsy leddy--puir young +thing!" + +"Minnie--my wife--my child--my all!" whispered Miles, drawing her on his +heart. "Now we may defy them all, and fate--my own wife!" Even as he +spoke, the heart at that moment chilled: another might have felt glad in +the romance of their love and flight, Tremenhere choked down a sigh. He +would have given all he ever hoped to gain, to be standing with Minnie +in church, his licensed wife by friends, relatives, and, above all, the +rules of prudence and right. It was not his fault, these stern ideas; +circumstances had made him what he was. + +They are once more in the train, and speeding away from the Border, +towards town. Some twenty miles on their way, they stopped at a station +where a down train was waiting. Minnie drew hastily back, and turned +very pale: "My uncle," she whispered, "there--and Mr. Dalby!" She had +many a dark storm to encounter before they met again. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +Tremenhere had in nothing deceived Minnie. He told her that in marrying +him she wedded herself to an artist's struggles for fame, wealth, and +position: this home was all he had to offer her, cheered by his devoted +love. He was considered as one rising rapidly in the profession, but he +had much still to achieve before prosperity would crown his efforts. +Hitherto, he had saved every possible farthing for the great object of +his thoughts; now, he would have to toil with double energy, not to lose +sight of that, and support his wife also. But Minnie was so simple in +her tastes, so generous, thoughtful, and loving, that it seemed to her +another Paradise, their quiet little cottage in the out-skirts of town, +which Miles had succeeded in discovering, with a studio attached--or +rather, a large room, which he converted into one. True, the gardens +were not large and beautiful, like those at Gatestone; but then their +very smallness made every flower as a friend. Each morning there was the +matinal visit to be paid, the fresh buds on some favourite tree to be +counted; and as she bent over their stem, a loving eye looked down upon +her, a gentle hand clasped her small, snowy neck, and then she looked +up smiling, and the two went in to work. Her's was not very laborious, +yet she fancied it absolutely necessary to the performance of his task: +she mixed his colours, sorted his pencils, but, more frequently, leaned +over his shoulder, with one tiny hand buried among his raven curls, +which clustered, thick and glossy, in the nape of his neck. Thus she +would watch the progress of his "Aurora chasing the Shades of Night;" +which Aurora was a figure of angel lightness, with outstretched arms and +hands, skimming through the air, her long, wavy hair flying, in the +freshness of the morning breeze, like a cloud behind her; whilst before +her fled Shades, clad in dark robes spangled with fading stars, and +supported upon the clouds. It was a beautiful group, which Miles was +painting to order. We have said Minnie had most lovely hair, like floss +silk; when she unwove the plaits, it fell almost to her heel, not +heavily, but like a vapour; you passed your hand through it, and it +separated and floated in the air like a gossamer web. It was this +magnificent mass which Miles had copied for his Aurora. He loved to look +upon it; to a painter's eye it had an appearance of something spiritual. +In vain he endeavoured to do it justice; for more than once, in despair, +he had set all aside, and clasping his little wife in his arms, +exclaimed, as he embraced it and her, "My child, I never shall +accomplish this! Surely some sprite wove this veil, and will not allow +me to represent it with my poor pencil! Not the best _artiste en +cheveux_ ever known, shall ever distort these fair locks with his vile +grasp. I am almost jealous when the air plays with them! Minnie, 'tis +dreadful to suffer from jealousy! I hope you never may be a mother, +darling; I should almost hate my own child, lying on your breast!" + +"Hush, Miles!" she whispered, laying her hand on his mouth. "Do not +speak even of jealousy; 'tis so false a passion, ever leading astray, +ever leading us down some crooked path." + +"Why, my pretty reasoner, what do you know of jealousy?" and he drew her +close to his side, and smiled up in her face. + +"Oh! I guess it, dear, from all I have read of its influence, it leads +to so much error and bitterness; and----and----I will confess, dear +Miles," she added, looking down, "I felt a pang of it myself, when you +were absent the other day, in Sussex. I was wondering all day with whom +you were walking, talking, amusing yourself; and whether you once, even, +saw my spirit flit before your path!" + +Miles looked down thoughtfully, doubtingly, a moment, then, raising his +eyes, said carelessly--"You know, darling, why I went to Uplands Park. +Lord Randolph Gray wished me to come, whilst he was down there, to +choose a good light for my 'Aurora' when I have completed it, and also +to make some other artistic arrangements, which cannot but prove of +great service to me. My Minnie knows I am only an artist, obliged to +follow as a profession what was once only pleasure." + +"Well, are we not happy, Miles?--_I_ am--oh! very--very happy--perfectly +so, since my dear aunt Dorcas has been to see her naughty niece; and, +now, tell me all the persons you met at Uplands, for I knew there were +several there, and you have always found something else to talk of, when +I asked you." + +"Oh! I paid little attention, I was so much engaged; there were his +aunt, and several ladies, and----" + +"I wonder where Dora is?" cried Minnie, hastily, like a child flying +from one subject to another. "She has not answered my letter, and I +wrote as soon as we were married in town, and that is two months +since--'tis very unkind!" + +"What an old wife you are, Minnie!" he said fondly, not paying attention +to the other portion of her speech. + +"Never mind that, Miles; let us talk of Dora. Do you know, I was half +jealous of her; I thought you admired her; I thought two such could not +meet without loving." + +Despite his self-control, he coloured slightly, and merely ejaculated, +"Pshaw!" + +"I do declare, Miles, you are colouring! Well, I fancied my aunt Lady +Ripley, and Dora, were perhaps at Uplands." + +"What could make you think so?" he asked, slightly embarrassed. + +"Because I know my aunt wishes Dora to marry Lord Randolph Gray; and, as +so many ladies were there, I thought it probable she might be one." + +"Silly child!--silly little girl!" he said, evasively. "There--get such +foolish thoughts out of your head, and give me one more sitting, +darling, for this Aurorean veil of hair." + +All else was cast aside when Miles had to be pleased. She forgot Dora, +and every thing, and stood before him with her hair streaming back from +her fair, innocent face--that face was Miles's greatest torment in his +task. It was the very one he could have desired for his picture; but for +worlds he would not have laid it upon canvass for indifferent eyes to +look upon; in vain model after model sat to him--some were very lovely; +and when he thought his wish accomplished, and but a few finishing +touches were required to complete the face--nothing but the working up, +when no model was of further use, involuntarily--his pencil, faithful to +the memory of his heart, moulded the unfinished face with an imperfect +likeness of his beloved wife; and though he sighed whilst obliterating +it, yet nothing would have tempted him to expose that to a stranger's +gaze; perhaps, a questioning one, which would seek the original of so +perfect a creation. No, she was his--only his. Could he have insisted +upon such a thing without appearing absurd, she should never have +quitted the house, unless closely veiled--his was true, all-absorbing +affection. There was no selfish vain-glory in it; that feeling which +makes a man parade the object of his idolatry before the multitude, to +delight his ears with the hum of praise her beauty might elicit, and +from the pedestal of his exclusive right, look down in pitying +compassion on the multitude doing homage to her charms--nothing of this +could move Tremenhere, except to feel contempt. His was too noble a +nature to be gratified by the injury of others--he only asked to be left +in peace and seclusion with this fair being he had so hardly won. _He_, +for the cold heartless world, to toil for her, and with it--_she_, to +solace his hours of peace and most unworldly love. We will leave them +awhile, and step back to Gatestone. At the moment her successful flight +was no longer a mystery--the only one was, how she had escaped--there +were not wanting those to instil into Juvenal's mind an idea, that he +had an enemy on his hearth; and poor Dorcas was the suspected person. +She had favoured Minnie's escape, and not all her assurances to the +contrary, could remove the impression; and, when she expressed her +determination to visit Minnie, not the slightest shadow of doubt +remained. Little-minded persons must have an imaginary trouble, if they +do not possess a real one--they could not exist without something to +worry them to death. Dorcas was the living source of sorrow to Juvenal +and Sylvia; and, had she not been patience itself, _they_ would +assuredly have driven her into her grave by their unceasing fire of +innuendoes, when they actually abstained from open accusations. However, +she bore all placidly, and finally started, to the deep indignation of +both, for town, accompanied by Mr. Skaife. This latter had become +perfectly reconciled to Minnie's marriage. His love had not been that of +a Tremenhere, but a quiet, placid affection, much more like a _hothouse_ +friendship, than actual love, riper than an ordinary out-of-door feeling +of that genus. The moment he heard that she was positively a wife, he +choked down a little sigh, and from that instant she became the wife of +one he called friend--only a being to be much respected, and served in +every way in his power; and it was strange that Tremenhere, with all his +jealousy, so thoroughly read and appreciated the other's character, that +not the slightest feeling of that kind crossed his mind, on his and +Minnie's account. They met as brother and sister might have done; and +Tremenhere looked on and smiled, as Skaife clasped her hands--an action +he could not have borne from any other; for he had the purest, warmest, +Spanish blood in his veins, not one drop of his father's calm +English--he was all his mother's child. + +It would be impossible to give an adequate idea of the fury of Juvenal, +when he discovered that he and Dalby had arrived just an hour too late +to prevent Minnie's marriage. Dalby was bitterness itself, and in every +way fostered the feeling against the delinquents. Thus he made himself +agreeable to Juvenal, and _secured_ a footing at Gatestone; as he felt +rather uncertain how Marmaduke Burton might receive him, on his being +made acquainted with the discomfiture of himself and partisans, and the +good generalship of Tremenhere. But Burton could not afford to lose such +a man as Dalby; though he blamed him in no measured terms, still, in his +heart, he knew how difficult it was to daunt or overthrow his cousin. He +accused himself more than any one else, for leaving the spot, and thus +losing so great a battery against the enemy as his own cunning would +have proved. Now this battle was lost, there only remained one thing to +him--revenge; and this pale-faced spectre haunted his every thought. + +Great was Minnie's joy when she flung herself into her dear aunt's arms; +all former annoyance was forgotten; she only saw one she loved as a +mother, one whose face was wanting to cheer her home and hearth. As soon +as Tremenhere could so arrange it after their return, they had been +again, and more sacredly, married than in their Border marriage. Nothing +was wanting, then, to Minnie's happiness, but forgiveness; and this +Dorcas promised to lose no opportunity of obtaining. How happy the young +wife was, in showing all the mysteries of her home, her excellence as a +housekeeper, her garden, her fruits, all, to her aunt! Poor child! she +was so inexperienced in all, yet withal so very anxious to save every +possible expense, that the aim of Miles's life might not be lost sight +of. "Only look, dear aunty!" she cried, raising in her pretty fingers +the leaves which partially concealed some mellowing peach on the sunny +wall,--"did you ever see such beauties? We had none so fine at +Gatestone!" Poor child, once more! there was nothing good or fair but +where Miles existed--nothing could prosper unless beneath his eye. Alas, +for the days of sorrow! when the woman shall look back, after her weary +pilgrimage through life, and remember the one sunny spot of childhood, +where winter never came--all the year one summer in her memory, the +fruits and flowers in the gardens of which, were riper, and blossomed +fairer, than any elsewhere! It is the heart--the heart--the heart +beneath which they grow!--the heart all lightness and purity! + +Skaife, we have seen, accompanied Dorcas to town; and after the first +lecture on her imprudence had, as a matter of course, been duly +delivered by the latter, all settled down in perfect happiness; for even +Skaife almost ceased to remember that, in the man before him, he saw a +successful rival. Poor Dorcas would fain have remained longer than the +fortnight she had awarded herself; but she received such fulminating +letters from home, that the thing was impracticable; and so she left the +abode of love and peace, perfectly assured of the continuance of +Minnie's happiness, and promising to do all in her power to effect a +reconciliation. This would have been easily accomplished, if she had +only had Juvenal and Sylvia to deal with; but, unhappily, Dalby and the +latter were friends again, and the former had Marmaduke Burton to back +him up in all wickedness; though now, had the uncle and aunt +reasoned--"How could the affair be improved by anger?" they might have +acted differently. But there are some persons who never reason; +decidedly, these were of that class. + +We will now take our readers to Uplands Park, the day of Miles's +expected visit there by Lord Randolph Gray. Business in town had +detained this gentleman from that rendezvous of fashionable men, in the +month of August--Scotland. It was near the end of the following month, +and a select few were assembled for shooting, and its accompaniment of +flirtation, in a country-house, where there exists so much more _laissez +aller_ than in town. Lord Randolph's aunt, the Countess of Lysson, took +the head of the lady department at her bachelor nephew's. A word about +this nephew: He was one whose mould had assuredly not been broken when +he was born--there were hundreds like him; he was one in a _cornet_ of +comfits, very nice, but very insipid--the filling up of the world +between the good and bad. A good-natured man, in short, with plenty of +money. Some one persuaded him that he was, or ought to be, passionately +fond of pictures, because he was of yachting and other fashionable +amusements. Now, what possible connection could exist between these two, +except as far as mere fashion went, it would be difficult to define. +However, he was very fond of handsome women, and these are more or less +the subject of the pencil; consequently, on his return to town from +Italy, where he had seen much of Miles in society, as a rising artist, +he sought him out, and engaged his pencil on "The Aurora," before +alluded to. Besides, he had liked the man, and discovering that even at +home, men of talent were warmly received into society, he followed the +reading of others (for he possessed not one single original idea,) and +invited him cordially to his house. But the visit to Uplands was one +more of business than pleasure, else Miles would never have quitted +Minnie. No one was aware, of his mere acquaintances, that Tremenhere was +a man who had lost the position he had lost; he was known as a man of +good family and cultivated understanding--no one inquired beyond: +married or single--who cared to inquire? He was an agreeable companion, +and therefore many sought his society. When he arrived at Uplands, the +first person almost he met was Lady Dora, who was there with her mother. +Not all her self-possession checked the deep glow which over-spread her +cheek. It was half the suddenness of the meeting, and half indignant +pride, that he should have degraded her cousin, as she deemed it, to the +level of a mere artist's wife. They met in the drawing-room before +dinner. There were only two or three persons yet assembled, and these +were dowagers, sitting cosily beside a cheering wood-blaze, before the +lamps were lighted. It was a large comfortable room, and already the +rich crimson curtains fell before the windows. It had been a chilly, +rainy day; and Lady Dora, having passed some hours of it in the +billiard-room, now sat before one of Erard's most brilliant pianos, +playing desultory strains, as they occurred to her memory. Lady Lysson +had not yet appeared, nor Lady Dora's mother. Tremenhere stood an +instant in the doorway; he had been sitting in Lord Randolph's room with +him, ever since quitting the one assigned to him, after changing his +dress for dinner. His arrival had occurred, as those things do in +country houses--a matter of no moment, or object of inquiry to any one. +He came--sat in his host's room--dressed for dinner--descended to the +drawing-room--and, until Lady Dora looked up from her own thoughts, and +saw him at the door, no one knew an addition had taken place to the +circle assembled at Uplands. As he entered, the two dowagers raised +their eyes carelessly, and glanced over him. He was some gentleman, or +he wouldn't be there,--one of the common mould, doubtless. People always +take this for granted, till the lion slips out of the ass's skin in +which their imaginations clothe him, and shows his fangs and claws; +then folks either put themselves into a position of defence, or try to +cut his claws; but this latter is rather a dangerous game, unless, like +the picture of a celebrated artist, Monsieur Camille Roqueplan, the lion +become "_amoureux_," and then any thing may be done with him by the one +loved hand. + +We digress--Miles was an ass in the dowagers' eyes--one of their host's +mould; so they glanced him over, and, _sotto voce_, continued their +perforations in somebody's character. + +Lady Dora started, and coloured--then her fingers still strolled over +the keys like a breeze among flowers, calling forth sweet odours--or a +child in a garden, culling a single leaf of different buds, and +scattering them carelessly about; for she only played a strain here and +there, nothing through. + +"I hope Lady Dora is well?" asked Miles, gently, as he stood beside her. + +"Quite so, I thank you," she coldly replied, bowing over her hands, +which did not cease. + +Though Miles had keenly felt, without expressing it to Minnie, her +cousin's neglect, still he forbore speaking of it to her, lest it might +aggravate her pain, he was so watchful over this darling wife of his; +still he fancied some engagement, fashionable indolence, or absence from +home, occasioned it; any thing but the truth--wilful slight. He was +therefore not prepared for her reception of him; he stood a moment +silent, looking down on the flying fingers, and many thoughts creeping +over his mind, scarcely leaving a trace, but faintly shadowing an idea, +that this girl had loved him, her change of manner was so extraordinary +since their parting in Italy. "I was not aware," he said at last, in +commonplace phraseology, "that I should have the pleasure of meeting +with your ladyship here." He was working with homely tools to get at a +great truth--this girl's sentiments--they puzzled him; had she replied +in a natural manner, he would have sought no farther, convinced that his +impression had been erroneous. As it was, she answered with stern +pride-- + +"It must be a matter of perfect indifference to Mr. Tremenhere;" and, +ceasing her playing, she took her gloves, fan, and handkerchief from the +piano, and without condescending to award him one look, walked +majestically to the other end of the large room, and, seating herself on +an ottoman by the fire, commenced conversing with the dowagers. Miles +leaned an instant against the piano. A smile, half of contempt, and half +triumph, played over his proud lip. Servants entered at that instant +with lights. Quietly seating himself on the music-stool, he took up a +book from a side table, and turned its leaves; but his thoughts flew off +from pride and vexation to Minnie, his own quiet little cottage +fireside, and that fairy wife, singing like a joyous bird, to soothe his +weary spirit, when worn by a day's harassing. "Minnie--my own Minnie!" +he whispered to his heart, and the dark flashing eyes of the previous +moment, melted with the loving thoughts of her presence, and he forgot +Lady Dora, all, save herself. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +With the lights a few stragglers came dropping in,--one of the first was +Lady Lysson. This lady had much more of the foreigner than Englishwoman, +in both mind and manner, having lived many years abroad, where in fact +she had known Tremenhere, and was an ardent admirer of his genius. She +had a hasty, but most graceful manner; youthfulness of movement, not at +all unbecoming, though no longer young; at every step, every gesture, +you involuntarily said to yourself, "What a very charming girl she must +have been!" though really charming still, even at forty-five. Not the +least attraction was a sweet, half-lisping, slightly foreign accent, +perfectly natural; you felt that if she talked in her sleep, or walked, +or laughed, she would do all just as in her waking moments. She now +flitted into the room, and, spying a desolate-looking being on the +music-stool, tripped towards it, and, half dazzled by the lights, +shading her eyes with her hand, cried, "Who are you? what unfortunate +Robinson Crusoe have we on this isle? what, Mr. Tremenhere! this is +indeed an agreeable surprise; since when are you our guest?" + +"Since the last three hours, Lady Lysson," he replied cordially taking +the proffered hand, and the heart was in the clasp, to thank the +Samaritan who had not passed him by. Lady Dora coloured unseen, but it +was shame; her own soul blushed for the weakness of its mould of clay, +as she witnessed the generosity of another, and yet it was not all pride +which dictated her conduct--an unknown, unacknowledged feeling prompted +it. + +"And you are going to remain with us a week--I mean, all the time _my_ +reign lasts here?" asked Lady Lysson, gliding to a sofa beside his +stool. "There, sit down, Mr. Tremenhere, and let us have a little +pleasant vision of bygone days in sweet Florence--and how goes on your +painting? Are you very successful in town? You deserve to be so; +and--and--by the way, some old friends of your's are staying here--have +you seen them? Lady Ripley and her daughter. Is not that Lady Dora by +the fire? Lady Dora, my dear," and she gracefully waved her little +hand--raising her voice at the same time, "come here; here's an old +friend of yours, whom you will be delighted to meet again. For +shame--for shame!" she added, tapping his arm with her fan, "to bring +our horrible English coldness into my nephew's house. I, who am trying +to banish it for ever from our else unparalleled homes, and make all +cordial in meeting--regretful in parting--and not afraid to express +these feelings, as in the sweet South; and here I find one of my pet +_protégés_ crumbling my efforts to dust, and sitting cold and English on +his stool of formality, at the extreme end of my own court, and kind +friends in the distance--for shame! Dear Lady Dora, help me to scold +this refractory subject." + +Lady Dora was compelled to obey the summons; to do otherwise, would be +to betray herself. She rose; but the proud lip was compressed--the +nostril dilated with annoyance. "I have spoken to Mr. Tremenhere," she +said, in as indifferent a tone as she could command, and she seated +herself on the sofa beside Lady Lysson. Tremenhere bowed--he could +scarcely conceal a smile of satisfaction. Every triumph to himself, was +one to his little wife--his ever present magnet. "I have had the +pleasure of standing beside Lady Dora Vaughan's music-stool while she +drew forth some of the sweet strains she so well commands at will," he +said. Lady Dora fixed her haughty eyes upon him undauntedly, to read the +epigram, if one were intended--but he looked upon her with a cordial, +friendly smile. "He is no fool," she thought--"is he impervious to every +attack? I _hate_ this man," she could not think even; "I despise him." + +"Then, you wretches!" continued Lady Lysson, "why did you not take some +of the weight of a hostess' burthen off my shoulders, and enliven the +dreadful half-hour before dinner with some music? Mr. Tremenhere, I +command you to take me back to sweet Florence on one of those melodies +none can sing like yourself." + +There was an irresistible charm of nature about Lady Lysson, before +which art, constraint, and mere worldly formality, fled abashed, and +nature came forth from every breast around her, to play with its +fellow. Tremenhere threw off the cold, stern teaching of the world, and +laughed and talked again, the happy Miles of his father's home. Even +Lady Dora unbent, and condescended to ask him for one of the Tuscan airs +he sang so well. Unhesitatingly he turned round the stool on which he +sat, without rising, and running his hand over the keys, as one with old +familiar friends, he commenced, not with stentorian lungs, but in tones +scarcely to reach the fireside, so subdued they were, and yet certainly +to touch the heart of all who could hear them. He had nearly concluded +the second verse, when one of the ladies at the fire called Lady Lysson, +to decide some disputed point of genealogical origin. "One +instant--pray, don't cease!" she cried, rising to obey the summons. Lady +Dora would have given worlds to accompany her, but it could not, with +common politeness, have been accomplished; so she opened her fan, and, +with eyes fixed on the group at the fire, sat perfectly indifferent, in +seeming, to Miles and his _ariette_. The instant Lady Lysson rose, he, +without even a pause, ran his fingers over the ivory, changed the key +and air, having ceased singing in the middle of his verse; and, in a +still lower tone, as if breathing to himself, but perfectly distinctly, +commenced the hackneyed song of "My love and cottage near Rochelle." It +was so pointedly done, so _internally_ sung, (if we may so express it,) +that she could not but feel to whom he addressed it, and her fair, +neglected cousin Minnie stood, in her mind's eye, on the shore, watching +the receding vessel. + +"Mr. Tremenhere has a versatile taste," she said involuntarily. + +"Pardon me!" he replied, starting as if from a dream, and dropping his +hands from the instrument. "I was not aware Lady Dora was listening. +'Tis an old English song, speaking of home. We citizens of the world +should forget such places, especially in society. The heart, however, +turns there in thought, sometimes." + +He fixed his eyes on her, with the stern look of one judging her +severely. She dropped her's carelessly on the figures of her fan. He +rose, and moved a step towards the other group. A sudden impulse +impelled her to exclaim hastily, "Mr. Tremenhere!" He stopped, and +coldly turned towards her--"Can I oblige your ladyship in any thing?" + +"Mr. Tremenhere," she continued hastily, beneath her breath, while her +bosom swelled with her self-imposed task; "pray, be seated an instant, I +have a word to say to you." + +He bowed, and placing himself on the music-stool, awaited her next words +in cold silence. She leaned towards him; then glancing at the others +present, whose number was momentarily increasing, she whispered, moving +to give him place beside her, and pointing to it with her fan, "I wish +to speak confidentially to you." + +"Of yourself?" he asked, surprised, seating himself where she pointed. + +"No," she replied, drawing herself up in offended pride; "I should not +presume to trouble you with my personal affairs, Mr. Tremenhere." + +"You cannot wonder," he rejoined, "at my feeling the utmost surprise how +_mine_ can in any way interest your ladyship." + +"I would speak of my cousin," she faltered. + +"Oh!" and he smiled; "true--of _my wife_; it will scarcely astonish you +if I say, I had totally forgotten the relationship for the moment." + +"Let there be a truce of sarcasms," she said, hurriedly. "You judge me +harshly, I make no doubt; but there are many things which make this +union a most unfortunate, much to be regretted one." + +"Pardon me, Lady Dora Vaughan, not to those most interested. I can +boldly assert _my_ happiness is a realized dream of paradise: my only +sorrow, is in absence from the home Minnie makes such to me; and I think +I may venture to declare, that no sigh of regret ever quivers on her +lip. Those she justly prized have not forgotten her--Aunt Dorcas, for +one." + +"Yes, I am aware," she interrupted, with some confusion, "she has +visited you. Come Mr. Tremenhere," and she looked up less coldly in his +face, "make some allowances for my position; I am not quite my own +mistress. I----" + +"Lady Dora, my father was an old-fashioned man, and he had quaint +notions, you will say; he taught me that it was ungentlemanly not to +reply to a polite letter in all cases, and ungenerous in many." + +"I see," she said, haughtily, "I have a prejudiced judge. I will only +pursue this conversation sufficiently to ask a personal favour." + +"Name it. You shall, if possible, be obeyed." + +"'Tis--'tis;--in fact, no one here, except my mother, is aware of your +marriage. May I ask you to preserve it a secret?" + +He read her thought, and was resolved to bend her false pride to bare +itself before him. "I cannot see," he said, "in what my celibacy +interests any one here. There is no lady in love with me, or sighing for +leap-year to declare herself!" he laughed carelessly. + +"Mr. Tremenhere," she cried, "my meaning is this: I--my mother, too, is +most anxious that your union with Miss Dalzell should not be published. +These painful family _secrets_ are best preserved ever thus." The +blood-red spot of pride mantled on her cheek, and flashed from her eye. +He was speechless a moment; but what various passions passed over that +face then, all settled in one--utter contempt. These two persons were +the offspring of pride; but his proud spirit was the legitimate creation +of a noble mind, unjustly spurned and contemned; hers, that foul-named +thing whose father disowns it, whose mother blushes in shame as she +looks upon it. Tremenhere rose in all his soul's dignity, and stood +before her; her glance could not cross his--it shrunk, the unreal before +the real. + +"Lady Dora," he said, in his deep emphatic voice, "I have yet to learn +in how much I, the _legitimate_ son of Tremenhere of the manor, am +beneath Miss Dalzell of Gatestone, or those whom she calls kindred. +True, she is now but an artist's wife; but that artist will make his +name one to be respected by all;--he is working for a great end and +purpose. Rely upon it, till that purpose be accomplished, his wife, the +solace of all his best, happiest hours, will only keep her smiles to +cheer his home, and support him in many trials; she will not, either +from choice or necessity, lavish them on a cold, heartless society. +_There_, his path of toil and bitterness, full often, shall be alone. As +a flawless gem Minnie is to me; she needs no costly setting to prove her +worth. It is not in a world like yours--like mine--she shall be named, +to have one breath of slander dim her brightness now; but as surely as +you and I stand face to face this day, so surely shall the day of her +triumph come, and emanating from behind the cloud which now makes me so +deep a shadow over your path." His face worked with the energy of his +soul's anguish, at the thought even of his pure Minnie being dragged +forth a target for the world's scorn, and for his sake, who would gladly +shed his life's blood to save her one pang. He felt choking at the +thought. + +"So," he continued, with bitter irony, "you would have me as a tame lion +in a cage, to caress through the bars in all security; but the moment it +should dare dream of liberty, and, bursting its bonds, stand among you +free, for every arm to be raised against it--every hand to hold a weapon +to drive it back to slavery! I, Lady Dora, will be none such. I am proud +as yourself--proud of my name, _even as it is_; and I will yet make it +sound, with Fame's trumpet to herald it, unless the powers of hell +combine against me, and _then_ I will show Minnie to the world--not +before!" + +"Pardon me," she cried, looking very pale--her better genius had +triumphed; "pray, pardon me, Mr. Tremenhere; I did not mean to pain +you--I----" she was almost in tears. + +"Lady Dora," he sternly said, "you and I understand each other. You have +a noble heart; let not the blighting world profane it with its heartless +wisdom. _Your_ pride is the upas poison, withering all it touches: +_mine_ is spirit's right, riding on the winds which shall blast my +enemies, and uproot them like trees in a whirlwind,--'tis the pride of +love, too, which forbids my breathing the name of my beloved Minnie any +where, until I can proclaim her with a voice no one can still, as +Tremenhere's wife should be proclaimed! Rest satisfied," he +contemptuously added; "your pride will not be shaken from its pedestal +by the artist's wife!" He turned coldly away. + +"Mr. Tremenhere--Miles Tremenhere!" she whispered anxiously, half +rising; but he passed forward without hesitating, and joined the group +at the fire. + +"I saw you here discussing something with Lady Dora," cried the fair +hostess; "was it music, painting, or--not love, I hope? 'Tis a subject +best left unargued upon; it always reminds me of a game called 'cat's +cradle,' which I played when a child with a cousin of my own, and +through the loops of which, the fingers passed (for fingers, read +arguments and reasonings, Mr. Tremenhere,) until at last he was certain +to produce so incomprehensible a weaving of cord, that I could never +unloose it, and I was fain to sit down conquered. Don't play at 'cat's +cradle' with Lady Dora." + +"Your ladyship need be under no apprehension for the result, were I to +attempt it. Lady Dora's cleverness would undo any skein of mine." + +"I don't know that. Lady Dora, my dear; where is she? She has left the +room.----" + +'Twas true; but she returned shortly with her mother, who received Miles +with perfect good breeding as a mere acquaintance, which position he +accepted, nor desired more. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +This same evening two persons sat after dinner sipping their wine, in a +hotel at the West End: these were Marmaduke Burton and Dalby. We must +here introduce the latter as a totally different man to what we have +seen him in Yorkshire; he was one of those who possess a serpent +facility of slipping their skin, only that _he_ performed the operation +more than annually, and at will. He had crept into good society in town; +there, where an honest, upright lawyer could not have met the views of +his clients. Perhaps we are saying too much for some cases, for there +were many men of the highest principle who employed Dalby; he was a very +useful man, and being anxious to quit the country shortly, and practise +in town, he lost no opportunity of increasing his connection. Here he +was a perfectly different being; much of the formality of manner, +necessary in the country, where levity might not have suited the +homelier ideas of those seeking his aid, was thrown aside completely. He +knew all the lessees, managers, English and foreign, of all the +theatres, all the artists' studios, the actresses, models--all were +familiar to him. Did Mr. ---- want some fair one hastily summoned from +Paris, to appear unexpectedly on the boards of his theatre, and take +the town by surprise, Dalby was off, with just a carpet-bag, to France, +and before any one imagined it possible, he had returned with the fair +one, as in nine cases out of ten he succeeded. There was a bustling +manner about him, yet not disagreeable when he pleased, which carried +much before him. He took things for granted, and often left no room for +a person to say "No." Had he entreated, it might have been otherwise; +but he said--"Oh! you must do it, you know, my dear--it will be the +making of you;" and thus many a good engagement was relinquished for an +indifferent one, by some inexperienced, and often established actress, +because it suited Dalby's policy to oblige his employer. He cared for no +one but himself. Then he had a habit of loitering near the doors of +theatres, and many a lady, distressed by the non-appearance of her +carriage, was politely addressed by Dalby. More than once he had +unceremoniously, in such a case, appropriated a bachelor friend's +brougham, and, offering it as his own, received ten thousand thanks from +some fussy dowager on a wet evening, and a cordial invitation to her +house. A half-crown to the groom, and a--"If asked whose brougham it is, +say Mr. Dalby's," made him perfectly tranquil; to the real owner he +would say, (be it remembered, he always took care to select some man of +Lord Randolph's mould--a quiet, easygoing person--for his instrument to +be played upon,) "My dear fellow, a very particular client of mine, rich +as Croesus, missed her carriage, I have lent yours for ten +minutes--you don't mind?" + +"Oh! not in the least; let's stand here, and watch the girls get into +the carriages. By Jove! there's a pretty one, who can she be? Is it Lady +This? or Miss That?" etc., etc., etc. + +We give the reader a skeleton sketch of most conversations of the kind, +just to show how Dalby had got on so well; and, by means such as these, +he was factotum to half the needy of those kind of slaves in town, so no +wonder he resolved to relinquish quiet country practice. + +"Don't I tell you," said Burton, continuing a conversation, "that I had +no idea the fellow was coming. Gray made his acquaintance in Florence, +but I never imagined it would be continued in town; the fellow is making +his way every where--curse him!" and he ground his teeth bitterly. + +"We'll clip his wings," answered Dalby; "but it must be done through +her--she is his guiding star in all. If he lost her--well; he would soon +disappear from our path." + +"I hate that man, Dalby, yet I would not seriously injure him; but why +he, an artist, cannot return to Italy, seems astonishing to me--'tis his +proper field." + +"There are too many there; moreover, he has some scheme in hand I cannot +fathom. I discovered Mary Burns. She is residing in a very humble +cottage near Kentish Town; part of the house she lets furnished, and +ekes out an existence for herself and blind mother, by morning lessons +as governess. _He_ has established her thus." + +"And does--does"--he couldn't say Mrs. Tremenhere. "Does his wife ever +call there?" + +"I think so. I looked in at an hour when Mary was absent, having +ascertained when this was the case. I called as a stranger about lessons +for my daughter, and saw the old mother; but she is deaf, blind, and +half childish. She gave me little information. All she said was, 'Kind +friends--old friends, very kind; so Mary says.' I rely more on what I +elicited, guardedly, from the servant. I think more may be done there. +The girl has a downcast look and a fixed smile, which betoken one to be +perhaps bought. Some of these blind fools to their interest, are +faithful to their employers--what business has the hireling to look to +any thing but money?" + +"True--but don't trust her too soon." + +"No, nor by myself. I will set another to work, who knows only what I +tell him--one of the red waistcoat messengers. Tell him a woman's in the +case, and he will be alert and faithful. This girl said, a sweet fair +lady and tall gentleman called sometimes--these must be _the man_ and +his wife." + +"Well, I leave it in your hands. Fancy my being obliged to leave +Uplands! Fortunately, Gray, who is the most harum-scarum host in the +world, let the name escape only the day he was expected. Of course, I +could not stay and meet him; I told him we had had some discussion, and +that the contact would be unpleasant to both. The fellow has _nouse_ +enough to keep a still tongue. No one seems acquainted with former +facts; he is only known as a rising artist, of good family, they +think;--well, so he is on one side. I hinted no relationship, and begged +Gray to insinuate _from himself_, to the dozen assembled there, that we +had been on unfriendly terms, and thus prevent my name being mentioned." + +"Oh! that was best; it may be as well he should hear little of you, if +he could be persuaded somehow to take her there. Lady Dora might arrange +that, if she so pleased----" + +"My dear fellow, the oddest thing is, no one knows he is married! Lady +Ripley drew me aside, and asked as a personal favour, that I would say +nothing about the scandalous marriage of her niece--this before his +coming was known; how they got on, all of them, I know not." + +"Whew!" ejaculated Dalby, as if a thought struck him; "a bachelor, eh! +Then what do they suppose _her_ to be?" + +"Her existence is unknown to his mere acquaintances, for I sifted Gray; +he is like a sieve of wheat. I got all the corn, and threw the dust in +his own eyes. My amount of information is this--This Miles is a capital +fellow, not caring for any woman, else he were dangerous let loose +amongst them; so deucedly good-looking, even Lady Dora might notice +that; up to any thing--the best shot, horseman--all; so he's always +welcome at Uplands--every fellow likes him." + +"That is," said Burton, "as every man _likes_ the best shot, etc., who +cuts him out in all ways. So with these qualities, and the friends they +create for a man, get to work, Dalby, and let's hunt this impostor out +of the country." + +"We'll see," said the other, rubbing his hands. "I have an idea--crude, +'tis true; give me time. As your professional friend, I deem myself +called upon to meet your natural wishes, and get rid of a nuisance. Poor +fellow! we will award him Italy; why couldn't he go there?" and he +laughed contemptuously. + +These were the creatures Sylvia and Juvenal had selected for their +niece! Poor Minnie! no wonder she ran away. Reader, did you ever feel a +desire to be an atrocious villain for five minutes? To have all the +sentiments, ideas, schemes, and infamies, engendered in the minds of +such? Think how many thousand thoughts they have to which we are total +strangers! What a peep into another world it would be--a world of +novelties! Every spectre fancy, a mental Ethiop! + +We must not make Dalby so black as Burton; the one looked upon the +matter thus:--"Burton is my client; in my heart I believe Tremenhere +legitimate; but we have no proof--'tis not for me to seek for it. In my +client's interest I must try and get this fellow out of the country +quietly; it can best be done by means of his wife--make him jealous, and +he will carry her off to the antipodes. How may this be accomplished? I +must devise some plan;" but in thus coldly calculating, he never once +considered, that in raising a cause of jealousy in a man's mind, you +destroy his happiness--you brush the bloom from the peach, and it +quickly fades. A jealous man desecrates every thing by his suspicions; +turning the mysterious and beautiful vapour around her he loves, to mist +and gloom. Is she sad?--she is regretting some one; gay?--some secret +cause for joy exists; thoughtful?--'tis of another. He feels, in short, +like a man tied to a galvanized corpse; the form is there--the spirit +fled. + +Burton's motives were different to the others. He had a darker aim in +view; he had to be revenged on both--how? he cared little, so he +accomplished it. He well knew that Miles had suffered deepest wrong at +his hands, but who had the proof? not himself even. He had destroyed +every trace which might lead to it; he had been resolved not to seek it, +thus to be enabled to say to his accusing spirit, "'Tis false, I do not +_know_ it." How many like Burton trample awhile on conscience! + +We have shown the position of Mary Burns. When Minnie had been a short +time in town, she implored Miles to let her visit this poor girl; his +natural goodness of heart had been a little warped by the world. He had +become stern from the galling chain it threw around him, in the fault it +accused his mother of; he judged woman harshly;--this, even now, made +him frequently wish that Minnie had become his otherwise than by an +elopement. At first, he peremptorily refused to permit her to go there. +Minnie, in her soul's purity, looked amazed. "Why not?" she asked. + +"Why?--why? oh, because it is not a fitting place for you to go to," was +the reply. + +"Why not, dear Miles?" + +"Minnie, though you acted like an angel in visiting this poor girl in +the country, and supporting her in her sorrow, by leading her aright; +yet you must not forget that she has turned from the straight +road--though you may pity, you must not associate with her." + +She looked down silently some moments, then raising her full eyes to his +face said, laying one fair hand on his shoulder, "Miles, dear, don't you +believe Mary Burns to be a truly penitent woman?" + +"Most truly and sincerely so." + +"My dearest husband does not need me to recall to his mind our highest +example of pardoning in a like case, I am sure? Do not be worldly and +severe, my own love; think well, and from your own good heart, where +would unhappy woman be if every door and heart closed against her?" + +"My Minnie, my child, you are an angel!" he cried, clasping her to his +bosom. "What should I be without you?--a cold, worldly wretch like those +I associate with. I feared, darling, lest the censorious, ever hearing +of it, should class your imprudence in flying with me with her deeper +error. Forgive me, dearest, we will go and visit poor Mary; it will +cheer her." + +Our readers will see how the remembrance of his wife's fault ever +haunted him; 'tis true, even in his fondest moments it would steal like +a spectre across his mind. His adoration of her made this regret the +more intense, and weakened the entire confidence he otherwise would have +felt in her prudence--a thought beyond, never entered his imagination: +but, strange though it be, such is man, naturally a _little_ +self-conceited, and yet with all that, he cannot conceive that a woman +may do for one from affection, what not all the world beside might win +her to do for another! No, they cannot make this distinction; and thus +Miles fancied Minnie too gentle, too little self-confident, to be +perfectly relied upon, as he would have done on such a one as Lady Dora, +or Minnie herself, had she suffered all sooner than have fled with him. + +He was scarcely just; but this feeling was involuntary on his part, and, +though happily unknown to her, was the thorn which rankled in his flesh. +Together they visited Mary's neat little cottage, where a quiet, +peaceful hope seemed to dwell; a faint blush rose to her pale cheek as +they entered. She had been then living some few months respected by all, +her fault unknown, and the meeting with Miles and his wife seemed like a +momentary re-union with her error, and she blushed with shame and +disgust towards herself. She had not forgotten her fault, nor the +repentance due to it, but she had learned self-respect, and their +presence for an instant degraded her again; but all was softened to +peace in the kindness of both, and the deep interest evinced in her +prosperity. + +The first painful feeling passed, the interview was one of pleasure to +all. Minnie had, even as a girl herself, upheld this sinking one; Miles +had rescued her from shame, and placed her in comfort; and, as the girl +looked from one to the other, her eyes swam in grateful tears. A lady +and gentleman had been residing with her, and would return again +shortly, meanwhile she hoped to let her rooms to others; then she had +several pupils she visited at their own homes, and her poor dear mother +had now every comfort. These words she could scarcely utter for her +swelling tears of gratitude. With light hearts Tremenhere and Minnie +quitted, promising to return soon. As they turned away he grasped his +little wife's hand and said, "Thank you, dearest, for the happiness of +to-day; when can I ever pay you my debt for all, my Minnie?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +This chapter of digression was necessary, to show our readers the exact +position of all our various personages. We will now return to Miles at +Uplands; only, however, to state, that after another day passed there, +in necessary arrangements with the lordly master, he returned to town, +to the great dissatisfaction of this latter and Lady Lysson, with whom +he was a great favourite; but, beyond necessity, he never now associated +with those where Minnie was a stranger. He avoided the slightest +collision with Lady Dora, whose pride once more rose in the ascendant, +as she beheld his evident avoidance of her. He was strictly polite; but +no mortal could, from the manner of either, have imagined that they had +_nearly_ loved once, or that still Lady Dora remembered that feeling, +though in anger towards her own weakness--still less could the world +have supposed that he had married her favourite cousin--almost sister! +These are the secrets of life, hidden from a prying world, and festering +often from their bitterness in one's own heart. + +He left Uplands, and was once more beside his loving wife, whose every +thought had been his in absence. She was the model of what a wife +should be, when left alone. She did not, like too many, cry, "I am free +awhile; what shall I do, that I cannot when he is here?" Her thought +was, "What shall I do to please Miles when he returns--how surprise +him?" and the busy anxious heart sought through all its recesses to find +one, if possible, where a warmer thought might be hidden, than any he +had yet known, to welcome him with on his return. + +Men of intrigue have emissaries every where; they are never above a +little familiarity with servants of every description. These are their +best friends; for the ones money cannot purchase, may always be bought +by affability and kindness, and this without compromising one's self. +Dalby seldom was guilty of so unwary an act as this, except in extreme +cases. He found out all he wished to know adroitly; even the _purchased_ +were unaware they were selling secrets. It was through some channel of +this sort he discovered how soon Tremenhere left Uplands, and the same +day at dinner he was there. + +Lady Lysson did not like the man, but her nephew assured her he was a +capital fellow; above all, extremely useful; so she received him, and +attributed her personal antipathy to some flaw in her organ for +comprehending exactly what a capital fellow should be. Lady Dora and her +mother were beyond measure vexed. This former was hourly receiving +warnings enough, in an indirect way, to cure her of her false pride, +only they had not the effect of doing so; she did not yet see her fault. +To make a confidant of this man, neither dreamed of; and they came down +to dinner with the pleasant anticipation of hearing a dozen persons +wondering about Tremenhere's marriage, and of hearing all particulars +discussed and commented upon. They had decided upon braving the storm by +quietly disclaiming any acquaintanceship with his wife; and on that very +morning Lady Dora, under a better feeling than of late, had been asking +her mother to allow her to visit poor Minnie, when they returned to +town, but ineffectually. "We are forced to meet the _man_ occasionally," +said Lady Ripley, coldly, "but visiting one who has so disgraced her +family, is quite another thing!" + +Great was their surprise when Dalby bowed most respectfully, but +distantly to them, merely inquiring about their health. Still greater +was it, when, Lady Lysson speaking with regret of Tremenhere's absence, +the politic Dalby alluded to him as scarcely one with whose name he was +acquainted! They both mentally thanked him, and dinner passed off +delightfully. + +Lady Dora was not the affianced bride of Lord Randolph--true, he wished +her to be his--so did Lady Lysson--so did Lady Ripley; but three +affirmatives in this case, were conquered by one negative. Lady Dora +said, when he proposed to her, "We do not know one another sufficiently +yet;" and he was quite content to wait. Her beauty, position--all made +him desire to make her his wife; but in truth she was not a person to +inspire mad love in any one, except indeed, her despotic pride could +bend, and the woman be all woman; but as it was he took it very +calmly--she would be his some day, he presumed. But his love was not +that St. Vitus' genus which makes a man ever restless--hot and cold all +over, if another does but look at your love; or, like that deep-seated +affection which bound Lady Lysson at sixteen to her "cat's cradle" +cousin; and though a young lovely widow at twenty, deaf to every second +offer, not seeing the _possibility_ of calling another--husband. Neither +of these loves swayed Lord Randolph; it was a connubial and +well-disposed affection, which pulls its Templar nightcap well over its +ears, and falls asleep, perfectly assured of awaking as soon as ever it +shall be called upon to do so. + +The cloth is gone--the ladies are gone, and the gentlemen sit alone--a +cosey half-dozen. + +"So," said Dalby, at last, "I find Tremenhere, the artist, has been +here; did he make a long stay?" + +"No," answered somebody, "only a day; we were sorry he quitted so soon. +What a deuced pleasant, intelligent fellow he is!" + +"I think him very _hawnsome_," drawled a greyish-looking youth, like a +raw March morning. + +"By jingo, yes!" chimed a third; "if I were a woman, he is just the man +I'd fall over head and ears in love with." + +"Now, I don't think that," said the raw one, "he's too cold; and I don't +quite like his long moustache." + +"Well," retracted the second speaker, "perhaps I said too much; he +certainly is well-looking, but he wants style; and somehow the ladies +don't seem to admire him--they are the best judges." + +"I tell you what," exclaimed Lord Randolph; "I think him one of the +most distinguished-looking fellows I ever saw, and, were I in the +service, would give half my pay for his moustache; why, 'tis the most +perfect raven's wing I ever saw, and silky like his hair. My only +surprise is, that one has never heard of any love affair of his; and +here, as in Florence, he always moves in the best society." + +"Who is he?" asked an elderly epicure, waking up from a dream "in +memoriam" of the exquisite dinner his host had set before them. + +"Oh! a--nobody, I believe," answered some one. "A decent family, I have +heard, in the country; but then he is very unpresuming--that's one +thing." + +"Faith!" answered Lord Randolph, "he was sought after, courted, by every +one in Florence; but the fellow seemed to me to dislike society, like +one absorbed either by his art, or some secret preying thoughts." + +"Perhaps he was a _government spy_," drawled the one before alluded to. + +All this while Dalby had sat listening and smiling to himself; just what +he wanted. Lord Randolph at last noticed this, and exclaimed, +"Dalby--you who know every thing, I bet my life, know more than any of +us about Tremenhere." + +"How should I?" he answered evasively, to excite more curiosity on his +host's part. "By the way, has he finished your 'Aurora' yet?" He wished +them to think he was anxious to turn the subject. + +"No," replied Lord Randolph. "He says he cannot meet with a face to +please him for the goddess." + +"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Dalby, as if involuntarily. "That's too good a +joke!" + +"By Jove! you know something more than you tell us, Dalby. Come, man, +have it out; make a clean breast of it." + +"Pshaw, I know nothing! I only laughed at the idea of not finding a +lovely Aurorean face, even in London." + +"Come, that won't do," cried two or three; "you _do_ know +something--let's have it." + +Dalby thought a moment. To tell all these men would not do; he had +gained his point, in exciting Lord Randolph's curiosity. His very +hesitation said more than words. Finding himself rigorously attacked, he +affected to have done this to raise a storm of curiosity in their minds; +and, in the midst of their clamour, he quickly turned his eye on his +host, and, giving him a peculiar look of intelligence, said, "I assure +you, I know only this, that were I an engaged man, I should very much +hesitate in trusting my 'ladye-love' so near so fascinating a man." + +Lord Randolph gave a start; even little used as he was to solve enigmas, +he saw something was meant, and the look convinced him, for himself +alone. By a little _finesse_ he silenced the clamorous, and turned their +thoughts into another channel, and thus the after dinner passed. + +"Come, now," said Lord Randolph, as he and Dalby sat together in the +former's dressing-room, smoking a cigar, after every one else had +retired for the night, "tell me what you meant after dinner, about +Tremenhere. I confess that man, at home and abroad, has sorely puzzled +me." + +Dalby had well digested his plans, to obtain the concurrence in them +which he eventually hoped for from the other, it was necessary that he +should excite a feeling of pique against Miles; thus he went to his +worthy work, first having bound his listener to solemn secresy, on the +plea of personal interest in himself, making him guilty of an +unprofessional want of silence and caution; this obtained, he +began--"You know, perhaps, that Tremenhere is illegitimate?" + +"Not I--how the deuce should I?" + +"Well, then, he is. I should be unnecessarily exposing many painful +family secrets, to tell you what family he lays claim to kindred with; I +merely come to facts, which are true. He has been residing abroad some +years--by the way," he seemed as if suddenly enlightened by a thought, +though every word had been pre-conceived, "did he not meet Lady Dora +Vaughan in Florence?" + +"Yes; when I too met him," answered the other, not a little amazed at +this turn. + +"That, then, accounts for much." + +"What _can_ you mean, Dalby--pray, be quick?" actually Lord Randolph's +heart gave a little quiet jump. + +"Well then, in a few words, Lady Dora was recently in Yorkshire, and +there too Tremenhere was." + +"This has never been alluded to in my presence," said the listener, +uncomfortably. + +"Nor to one another, _perhaps_," emphasized Dalby. "I think there is a +coolness between them _now_." + +"By Jove! I said as much to Lady Dora, and she denied it rather angrily +and haughtily." + +The other smiled. "It was not so in Yorkshire. Her ladyship was as usual +kind, affable, and condescending, and this Tremenhere (mind I am +speaking my mind in all candour to your lordship) mistook it, I fear, +and acting thereupon, from what transpired, was rather presuming." + +"How? in what manner?" asked Lord Randolph with _hauteur_. "And how did +this occur? were they domiciled in one house?" + +"No, this made the matter more audacious, he had been driven from this +house, and used to enter surreptitiously through the grounds, and +intrude upon Lady Dora's privacy." + +"By George!" cried Lord Randolph, passing his hand through his hair, +(like a bird trying to smooth its ruffled feathers,) as if it stood on +end with horrified pride; "this comes of mixing in general society, as +they do abroad. I set my face against it then, but Lady Lysson liked it, +so I gave in; people should keep in their own class." + +"There certainly are some confoundedly presuming persons," chimed in +Dalby, not at all offended at what might have touched his sensitiveness, +had he possessed such a thing; but he was, grammatically speaking, "an +impersonal," taking nothing to himself. He made a pause here, wishing +the other to commence the next facet in the diamond he was cutting, +reserving to his own skill to polish each, according to the light +required for his scheme; it would be a precious gem worth setting when +he had completed it. + +"Lady Ripley and her daughter were staying at the former's brother's, +were they not? I have heard them speak of a homely Yorkshire family of +relatives, not known beyond their own grounds." + +"The same," answered Dalby, well pleased at the other's ignorance of the +Formby family--it furthered his plans. + +"And how did terminate?" + +"Oh! of course, as you may imagine; Tremenhere was expelled in a summary +manner, as her ladyship complained of the annoyance, and now I come to +the pith of my tale." Lord Randolph blew forth a long puff of smoke, and +drew nearer the fire; he was positively excited. "Remember," said the +other in a whisper, "I have your lordship's word that this shall be a +profound secret between us, happen what may." + +"I pledge you my sacred honour." + +"I will not mention names, but facts; this Tremenhere, under a quiet +exterior, is a libertine,--one who knows no such thing as honour by +practice, though it is a favourite theme of his. Enraged, I presume, by +Lady Dora's just repulsion of his impertinence, he carried off a most +lovely girl from the neighbourhood, to the distraction of her family, +and this girl is now residing with him near Chiswick." + +"By heavens!" exclaimed the other, "how one may be deceived! Had this +girl no brother?" + +"None; those kind of men know where they can in security work their +villanies, and when this man complained to you that he could meet with +no face worthy of his Aurora, I involuntarily thought of this girl, for +she is the perfection of beauty in fairness." + +"You know her?" + +"I have seen her often; pardon my concealing her name, for the sake of +her family." + +"Egad, Dalby, I should like to see this girl! I worship beauty; the +fellow deserves it at my hands for his impertinence to Lady Dora." + +Dalby had exactly cut his diamond as he had desired to do. "Should you?" +he said thoughtfully; "I will think how it may be done, but he is +deucedly jealous often." + +"Are they married?" asked Lord Randolph. + +"I have _heard_ so, but we hear many things which are untrue." It would +not have done to have said, Yes--for, though a fool, Lord Randolph was +not devoid of principle. + +"He is too jealous, at all events," continued the other, "to make her +'An Aurora' for others to gaze upon." + +"Is she then so beautiful?" asked his host eagerly. + +"I tell you this, my lord," was the emphatic reply. "I have seen much +beauty, many portraits--I cannot in honest truth except _even_ Lady +Dora--I never saw _any one_ to equal Mrs. Tremenhere, as they call her." + +"_By_ George!" exclaimed his lordship, throwing his cigar in the +fire--the words and action, spoke volumes of emotion, for him. + +Dalby saw his scheme had taken root; curiosity leads to more real +mischief than many another actual vice--he rose. + +"Don't go yet; here, smoke another cigar before you go: it is early--not +twelve." + +"My dear lord, I was up early; we hard-working men are unused to these +late hours of luxury. I am dead beat to-night," and he yawned +convulsively, for no sleep was near his brain; it was waking, and +watching every thing. He had done enough for one night; he would leave +his lordship food for reflection. He had several aims in view--to +revenge himself on Minnie, was one; but to serve Marmaduke, by driving +Tremenhere out of England, was the principal object, thus securing a +safe friend and patron to himself. This too, he did, with Lord Randolph, +who saw nothing of the wickedness of the plot or plotters. He was ready +to run into any mischief, for no particular motive, only from sheer +idleness; and he was in good hands to lead him astray. With Tremenhere, +he felt quite indignant; and firmly resolved, as soon as practicable, to +cut the fellow. He had ordered this "Aurora;" so he must take it. +Meanwhile, he would be very cool when they met, and let him comprehend +that any attention he had received had been condescension, not +equality. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +Two days after these events, the lady portion of visiters quitted +Uplands--some went one way, some another. Lady Lysson's chaperonage was +over, so she, too, quitted her bachelor nephew's, and left him to his +male companions, dogs and horses, for a while longer. Dalby remained, +and a worse than himself returned--Marmaduke Burton; worse too, that he +was more on an equality with their host than Dalby. He could work +openly; yet, too, the coward trembled lest Tremenhere should ever +discover his share in the nefarious plot--which plot we shall now permit +to work itself out, without further explanation. + +Lady Dora's better genius triumphed when she quitted Uplands. Something +remained painfully on her mind after her conversation with Miles. His +indignant pride debased her to her true littleness of conduct, and the +really good-nature, had it not been biased by a worldly mother, +triumphed; and one day her quiet, well-appointed brougham, which she +chose in preference to their britscha, as being less ostentatious, and +in better taste for her expedition, drove up to Tremenhere's pretty +cottage at Chiswick. Minnie was alone; he had gone to town on business. +She, all affection and forgiveness, had a singular memory in these times +of heartlessness and calculation; she always forgot the bad, and held a +bright sunny spot for the good deeds of all. In an instant she was in +Dora's arms, her own round the other's neck, and her bright face, +dimpling like a child's, and as innocent, held upwards for the kiss of +peace. + +"Dear, dear, Dora!" she cried, while on the setting of fringe which we +have spoken of round her soft eyes, hung gems of tears, like May morning +dew on hawthorn, "I knew you would come some day and see me." Here the +joyous tears burst forth. "And Miles thinks so too, I know; for, +whenever he returns, he always asks has any one called? well knowing no +one would so, unless it were you; and when I say, 'No one, dear,' he +takes me to his arms, and says, embracing me, 'Never mind, Minnie, I +always come back to you--never mind the world, dear child!' Oh! he is +_so_ kind, dearest Dora!" exclaimed the loving wife, "and I am so _very_ +happy!" + +"Long may it last, dear Minnie," said her cousin, as she returned the +caress; "I have been very cruel not to come sooner, but--but----" + +"Don't speak of it, dear Dora," cried Minnie, ever anxious to save +another any pain; "I know it was not your fault--my aunt wouldn't let +you; but, now you are here, _do_ stay all day, Miles will return at +five, 'tis scarcely two yet," and she drew her beside her on an ottoman, +and encircled her with her arms. + +"I cannot Minnie, mamma does not know I have come; I shall have to tell +her cautiously, for----" + +"Oh! I know, I know, I've been a very naughty girl, but why did they +lock me up? and why was my uncle going to take me to that odious Miss +Burton's? If he had confided in my honour, I _never_ should have ran +away." + +"Are you sure, Minnie--quite sure? Mr. Tremenhere is very persuasive, I +make no doubt, and handsome too; I think him much improved since his +marriage," she spoke constrainedly. + +"How do you know?" asked her cousin, amazed; "when did you see him--and +where?" + +"Did he not tell you," inquired the other, much confused, "I met him at +Uplands. Oh! I have perhaps done wrong in telling you." A strange +sensation, half triumph, half pleasure, shot through her heart; it was +one of those involuntary promptings of the evil one, which we cannot +always master. "Why," prompted this fiend, "did Tremenhere deceive his +wife? Dares he not trust himself to name me?" + +"Oh! I see it all!" cried that pure-hearted wife; "it is just like my +own dear Miles--he feared to pain me." She was sincere in this thought +_then_. + +"Come, Minnie," cried Lady Dora, hastily rising, "put on your bonnet, we +will have a quiet drive, we can then speak of all; I love a nice chat in +a cosy, half-sleepy, jog-trot pace--my country pace, I call it. Come, we +will go out for half an hour." She wished to break the thread of the +conversation, and have a little time to recover herself. + +"And then you will return with me, and remain?" + +"I don't promise; we shall see." + +The delighted Minnie was soon shawled and bonneted. It was a fine, clear +day, almost frosty; they drove on till they arrived at Kensington +Gardens; Minnie had told all, her flight, how accomplished--of her +happiness she needed not to speak; it breathed in every glance, every +tone, when his name fell from her lips. Dora more than once checked a +sigh--this might have been hers but for her pride; the soul whispered +this, the woman disavowed the thought; yet she had never loved him, or +she would have sacrificed all, and even then have sighed over the +poverty of the all she had to give. To check these thoughts, she drew +the check-string at Kensington Gardens. + +"Let us have a walk, Minnie," she cried suddenly; "the air is +refreshing." + +In an instant they were side by side, walking at a brisk pace through +the walks. Lady Dora turned off towards the Palace, to avoid any +rencontres. We often turn to avoid meeting something which is following +us. + +By chance, it so happened that Lord Randolph was riding down the road; +he recognized Lady Dora's brougham, inquired, and in less than five +minutes overtook her and her companion. What was to be done? Lady Dora +was scarlet; nothing could more have annoyed her than this. Introduce +her cousin she could not, as Mrs. Tremenhere; it would betray all. Had +she had time to think, it would have been infinitely better to have said +nothing than what she said. Pressing Minnie's arm, who, poor child, +thought all Dora did must be right, she said, "Miss Dalzell, Lord +Randolph Gray." Nevertheless, Minnie did start, and visibly; then a deep +flush rose, and added still more to her extreme beauty. He was perfectly +paralyzed. In overtaking Lady Dora, he expected in her companion to see +some familiar face. Here he met a person whose name even was unknown to +him; her confusion did not escape him either. Had they met before? Was +she an humble companion? But, no: he assuredly must have then seen her +before. And, to confirm him in the certainty of this not being the case, +this fair girl called the proud daughter of Lady Ripley "Dora," and +"dear Dora." She stood far below this latter in stature, though above +middle height; but there was a fairy grace, lightness, and exquisite +beauty about her, even his far-travelled eye had never before seen +equalled; and when she smiled, or laughed with her light, joyous, +modulated laugh, the face lit up so strangely bright, that she looked +like some inspired spirit. + +When a man or woman tries to be pleasant, he or she generally, not +_always_, is constrained, and seen to disadvantage. What with her +beauty, the surprise of the meeting, and curiosity about her, Lord +Randolph, never too brilliant, became downright enigmatical in speech, +which, together with her embarrassment, so annoyed Lady Dora, that, +hastily turning, she said-- + +"It is later than I imagined; let us return." + +"Return!" thought he; "but whither? I would give worlds to know. Oh! I +shall find out; doubtless she will often accompany Lady Dora; 'tis some +young friend, not 'out' yet. Shall I escort you?" he asked, after +handing them to the brougham. + +"'Tis useless--I thank you," answered Lady Dora, coldly; "we have a call +to make." He bowed, and they drove off. He sat round on his horse, +watching them out of sight; politeness forbade his following. It was an +immense relief to his half-affianced wife when they drove off; every +instant she had dreaded to hear Minnie talk of Miles: he was ever on her +lip. But though much pained and astonished at first at the untruth Dora +had told; afterwards, though still reprehending it, she felt assured her +cousin had done it for some good motive, so she held her tongue about +her husband. Miss Dalzell could not acknowledge one. + +"I thought it better to say you were a Miss Dalzell," said Lady Dora; +"men are so inquisitive. Who would have dreamed of meeting Lord Randolph +in Kensington Gardens? It was a fatality; I thought him still at +Uplands." + +"He said he was only in town for a day," suggested her cousin. + +"So much the better; he will forget all about you, and no one will know +you by that name, unless indeed----" She paused, looking greatly +annoyed, as Dalby and Marmaduke Burton crossed her mind. Minnie +questioned her; but turning the subject, they conversed about something +else until they reached home. Lady Dora had taken the precaution of +ascertaining whether they were followed. Minnie could not prevail upon +her to remain; she left her compliments for Tremenhere, and promised her +delighted cousin to return again soon. Lord Randolph had been found on +that road not without motive; he was going to Tremenhere's cottage on an +excuse, intending to see the reputed beauty, if possible. After the +meeting with Minnie, he changed his mind: "I will not go to-day," he +thought; "I shall be disgusted with any woman I could possibly see, +after this beautiful girl. I must find out who she is; she realized all +one's ideas of a fairy." Thus thinking, he turned his horse-homewards. + +When Tremenhere returned to his cottage, he was assailed by a variety of +feelings on hearing the events which had occurred during his absence. Of +Lady Dora's coming, he was pleased; it gratified Minnie, but he would +rather it had been done with her mother's cognizance, and in her +company. There was something galling in this secret visit, but he +forbore to say so to his little wife, she looked so joyous and happy; +not one word of annoyance that her cousin had so long deferred it, not a +harsh thought for even her aunt. All was forgiveness and sunshine in her +sweet face. + +"Verily, Minnie," said her enraptured husband, bending his fine eyes in +fondest love upon her, "you are not fit for this cold world; you must +live on a sunbeam, dearest, and be enwrapped at eve in the gorgeous +clouds fringed with gold, in which the day-god sinks to rest." + +"No, Miles," she answered laughing, her whole bright soul in his face, +robed in smiles and dimples; "_you_ shall be the day-god, rising at peep +of day, higher and higher until you arrive at meridian splendour, and +_then_ I will be the dial to mark your course, and live in your rays." + +"I will accept that position, darling, for then I shall know you only +live by my light. Minnie, Minnie, it would kill me to think any one even +approached your heart, where I must reign alone!" + +"How could that ever be possible?" she said, fondling his hand in both +her own, and then kissing it almost with reverence. + +"Now, tell me all about your drive," he inquired after a pause. Minnie +had reserved this for the last; somehow her woman's unerring wit told +even her unsophisticated nature, that it would pain Miles, and it +grieved her so much to see a cloud on his brow. Even with this +foresight, she was ill prepared for the annoyance which assailed him; he +was most indignant at Lady Dora's introducing Minnie as Miss Dalzell. +"In your position," he cried, "she should have been doubly guarded; +better not have named you at all, and to Lord Randolph Gray, of all +persons, I am sorely perplexed how to act." + +She tried as much as possible to soothe him, but there was a sting in +his heart--a sting of anticipated trouble arising out of this. He knew +Lord Randolph so well, that he felt convinced he would seek every +possible means of discovering who Minnie was: she was not a creature to +be passed in a crowd--her beauty was too rare and remarkable. He thought +at first of seeking him, and confiding the truth to him and his honour +for secresy. Well would it have been had he done so; this would have +shown the affair, when well explained, in a different light to the one +in which the other now viewed it. Had he known Marmaduke Burton and +Dalby were guests at Uplands, he would not have hesitated; but in +ignorance of much, he at last grew calmer under the erroneous idea that +perhaps Lord Randolph would think no more about her; besides, how could +he trace her--how hear any thing of her? And, to crown all, he knew the +other was leaving England on a tour in a month; so he resolved to let +matters take their natural course, and, comforted by Minnie's assurance +that his Lordship had not followed them, he dropped the subject, on her +promising to go out no more with Lady Dora, at present. + +Poor Tremenhere little imagined how much Lord Randolph really thought of +Minnie; that evening he called at Lady Ripley's, and to his surprise was +requested to enter a boudoir solely belonging to Lady Dora, where even +he had seldom been admitted. He found her sitting alone, evidently +awaiting his arrival. + +"Lord Randolph," she said with more cordiality than was usual on her +part, "I have a favour to solicit at your hands." + +"At mine?" he said, gallantly kissing the fair one she extended towards +him. "Thus let me thank the lovely messenger pleading to its companions. +I shall indeed esteem myself happy in obliging you in any way." + +"Thank you. Will you then do so by not naming to my mother, or indeed +any one, our rencounter to-day? I mean so far as regards Miss----" + +"Miss Dalzell?" he interrupted her in increased surprise. + +"I see you have a retentive memory," she answered, with slight +annoyance. She had hesitated at the name, hoping he might have forgotten +it. "The fact is, for the present, I do not wish even my mother to know +that I have seen Miss Dalzell." + +"Is the fair lady some fairy, destined to take the whole world by +surprise, in an unexpected, unannounced _début_ shortly?" he asked. + +"Decidedly not," she replied, vexed at the evident interest he +displayed; not from jealousy of the man, but fear, lest this interest +might lead to research. "Miss Dalzell," she continued, "will be shortly +leaving town for the Continent with her--friends." + +"Indeed! 'tis a pity; she would have been a constellation of the highest +order in our spherical circle, where so few beauties are seen, next +season." + +"She seems to have captivated you, Lord Randolph." + +"Captivated! no, my heart is not free," and he bowed conventionally to +the fair speaker; "but I thought her of rare beauty. By Heavens!" he +exclaimed, as a sudden idea struck him, "that dilatory fellow, +Tremenhere, complains that he cannot meet with a model for his +'Aurora'--I wish he could see Miss Dalzell! I wonder whether she would +sit to him? Pray, ask her, dear Lady Dora: does she live in town? I'll +speak to Tremenhere about it." He was forgetting every thing she had +been asking him. Lady Dora felt dreadfully embarrassed--her colour +rose. + +"Pray," she cried, "my lord, do not do a thing which would pain and +annoy me excessively. I have requested you to forget all about Miss +Dalzell, and you talk of her sitting for some foolish picture, and of +all men on earth to Mr. Tremenhere." + +Her last words awoke other thoughts in his mind. "I am very forgetful," +he answered. "Rest assured, Lady Dora, no one shall hear her name or the +meeting from me; but may I in return ask, why less to Mr. Tremenhere +than any other person?" + +"Oh!" she answered, evasively, "artists will dare any thing for a face +which exactly meets their wants and wishes. I _particularly_ desire all +which passed to-day, forgotten by you." + +"You shall be obeyed." + +"Some day possibly, you may know all; 'tis now a most painful mystery." + +"You may rely upon me," he replied. "And now, may I ask, as one _much_ +interested in you, Lady Dora, have you not recently met Mr. Tremenhere +in the country? I do not mean at Uplands--in Yorkshire?" + +In an instant her face became extremely pale, even to the lips, which +quivered; then indignant pride at his questioning drove back the blood +in flushing bounds. "Pardon me, my lord, I do not see the right you have +to question. I was in Yorkshire with my mother." + +"I too crave pardon," he replied, "for presuming too much on hopes for +the future. I see you did meet him; the rest is no stranger to my +knowledge--I am satisfied." + +There was a calm dignity about him which she had never before seen. She +would have given worlds to know what he alluded to--what he had heard. +But she durst not do so, even _her_ pride scarcely restrained her from +questioning; her mind was in a complete maze of fears. What could he +mean? Individually, his opinion was of not the slightest importance to +her, but, as transmitted perhaps by him to the world, it was altogether +different; yet what could she say? Already she felt humbled at having +been forced to ask so great a favour as silence from him; what was still +more remarkable in this interview was, that he made no attempt whatever, +beyond the most commonplace gallantry, to hint at his own suit, he +seemed absorbed in other thoughts, and these were occasioned by her +painful confusion at the mention of Tremenhere's name; and a bitter +feeling in consequence arose in his mind against him, for his supposed +impertinent presumption. There was a silence of a few minutes, broken at +last by her coldly saying, "I believe we may now abridge this meeting, +Lord Randolph--I have your promise of silence. You proposed visiting my +mother, I think? Allow me to have you announced. I will rejoin you in +the drawing-room shortly." So saying, she rang the bell. + +"You may rely upon my discretion," he said, partially recovering +himself. "And we will leave all to old Time, he unravels wonders and +mysteries; you will not deprive me a long time of the pleasure of your +society?" + +She merely bowed, and smiled constrainedly as the servant followed him +to the drawing-room, and announced him to Lady Ripley, who little +imagined all the events of that day. + +Man is a changeable, versatile animal, ever forgetful of the old for the +new, more perfectly comprehending the fable of "sour grapes," than any +other. + +"I dare say," said Lord Randolph to himself next day, "that this very +mysterious Miss Dalzell would not have proved half so pretty on second +sight; there must be something strange about her, or why this mystery? +There are days our eyes create beauty every where--yesterday was +doubtless one of these; were she really so lovely, and a friend of Lady +Dora's, some one must have seen and spoken of her, whereas I never heard +the name even in my life until yesterday. That fellow Tremenhere," he +continued after a thoughtful pause, "I should like to be revenged on his +insolence; it won't do to cut him without an excuse, he has given me +none, and he is a favourite in many circles where these artists hold a +certain sway. I always thought it bad taste to give them too much +liberty, and the event proves my just judgment." It will be seen that +Lord Randolph was rather _arrière_ in the more genial liberality of +opinion, generally prevalent. He was of the Lady Dora school, which +fosters absurd prejudices and deformities of mind, in the shape of +circumscribing and false pride, reminding one of a village, somewhere in +the Landes, whose inhabitants are all from birth afflicted with goîtres, +which hideous swelling of the throat becomes from habit a beauty in +their eyes; so much so, that 'tis told of them, that one day a healthy +person appearing among them in church, their minister bade them thank +God they were as they were, and not like that afflicted creature before +them! + +Lord Randolph's pride was in arms against the painter fellow, who had +dared raise a thought, as he imagined, towards Lady Dora; it was not +from any excessive love for her, but adherence to _caste_. In her +confusion, though it puzzled him at first, he finally thought he read +only indignation, and he awarded to himself the right, to lower his +presumption in some way. What fools we are to undertake perilous +journeys in the dark! + +The new idea banished the old: he almost forgot Miss Dalzell, and +resolved to go whither he had been going yesterday, as he mounted his +horse next morning--a fashionable morning--about two o'clock; so he +turned his horse's head towards Chiswick, where he knew Tremenhere +resided. He had never had occasion to call there before, having always +met him either at his club, in society, or his own (Lord Randolph's) +house. He was not quite certain of the cottage, but he inquired, and at +last a pretty little villa was pointed out to him as the one he sought. + +"I think the gentleman is not at home," said his informant, who looked +like a tradesman; "for I know him well, and I saw him walking towards +town an hour ago." + +This suited the other's views exactly; so, leaving his horse in charge +of a man who was loitering about, he walked quietly up to the cottage. +The front gate stood open; he walked through a prettily arranged +garden, filled with autumnal flowers, to the hall door, and rapped +gently. He came, like a good general, to surprise, not storm the +capital. A neat-looking girl answered the door. "Is Mr. Tremenhere at +home?" inquired the visiter. + +"No, sir," was the reply. "He will not return till this evening." + +"Very provoking!" exclaimed he; "I am leaving town, and wished +particularly to leave a message, or see him." + +The girl made no reply; she was not evidently accustomed to see many +visiters there. + +"Could I see any one to leave it with, or write a note?" he asked. + +"If you would please to step in, sir; I dare say you can write to +master," she said, drawing back. Lord Randolph wanted no further +invitation. In an instant he was following the girl down the passage. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +The girl threw open a door, and he entered; his heart was not quite free +from pulsation. He was not a man of adventure by nature--two or three +motives urged him to this one. The room was quietly, but _gracefully_ +furnished; the curtains were not of rich damask, neither were there rich +bronzes, _ormolu_, or tables to break one's neck over, or shiver to +atoms in the fall thereof half a dozen hideous idols, or Chinese cups +and saucers--no! it was not a company receiving-room, but the apartment +of a refined and domestic mind. The two generally unite, for they +emanate from our best mistress--Nature. The curtains and furniture were +of pale green chintz. There were a few choice flowers in a vase on the +table; one single dahlia, rich in colour, alone, like a queen in state +and beauty, in a rich Bohemian glass, on a centre table; and, like +attendant courtiers, in various smaller ones, were varied specimens +scattered about amidst books, pencils, half-finished bouquets, shewing +why they were there--for art to perpetuate nature. There were ottomans, +easy-chairs, and ladies' work; in short, home spoke to you in every +thing. There was an open piano, and music scattered about; and the +tables, piano, even to the frames of the mirrors, were of maple-wood. +Another door opened into a small conservatory with stained glass +windows--it was, in truth, a little paradise. A cheering fire enlivened +the whole--for though a fine day, it was chilly; yet the sun shone +without, and in the bright conservatory, where summer seemed still to +reign. "You can write a note here, sir, if you please," said the woman, +placing materials before him; "and when you have finished it, if you +will be good enough to ring the bell, I will return." Thus saying, and +not having a fear of those adventurous knights called London thieves +before her eyes, she withdrew quietly. Every thing there breathed peace, +even the placid servant. + +"What shall I write?" thought Lord Randolph. "What a fool I was, not to +ask to see the mistress of the house! it is not too late; by George, +I'll do so now!" He rose to touch the bell, a voice arrested his hand; +it was breathless, as if the owner had hurried; it came through the +conservatory, and a step, like a bounding roe, accompanied it. "Miles, +dear!" it cried, "have you forgotten any thing? I heard your rap. I was +at the end of the garden gathering violets,"--the step stopped suddenly, +"Oh, dear!" exclaimed the voice changing its tone, "I declare I've lost +them all out of my basket, hurrying to meet you! Come, and help me pick +them up!" There was an instant's silence, the visiter stood irresolute, +his eyes fixed on the conservatory door. "Miles!" called the voice +again; there was no reply, and in another instant Minnie, with eyes full +of hope and surprise, entered the room. A scream burst from her lips, +and her basket fell from her hands. Lord Randolph stood a moment +speechless. "Miss Dalzell!" he exclaimed at last; advancing like one +treading on fairy-land, so amazed he felt. Minnie was like a rose when +she entered, and her eyes looked almost black in their violet darkness +from exercise and excitement. Now she became pale and trembling, why, +she scarcely knew, 'twas perhaps presentiment. "Lord Randolph Gray!" she +ejaculated, "_you_ here!"--the very words implied deep fear of +consequences. + +"I certainly did not anticipate the happiness of meeting one so soon +again, whose memory has lived with me unfading since yesterday," he +answered with the ready gallantry of a man who deemed it could not but +be well received where he addressed it. There was admiration, not +respect in the phrase. Even unsophisticated Minnie felt this; but so +bewildered was she, that for the time she totally overlooked her actual +position as it must be in his eyes, thus, with Tremenhere, as Miss +Dalzell. "Do not let me alarm you," he continued courteously, seeing how +pale she had turned; "believe me, I am too much a gentleman in any way +to insult you. My meeting you again, though indeed I bless the good fate +which has produced it, has been purely accidental. I came to see Mr. +Tremenhere." + +"Then, my----" she checked the word uppermost, "cousin," scarcely +knowing why, "Lady Dora Vaughan," she substituted, "did not tell you +where I resided? I thought so for a moment, and wondered much, she was +so fearful yesterday, lest your lordship should follow us." + +"What can the connection between these women mean?" he thought, every +moment more perplexed. + +"Lady Dora is, I know, a girl of independent mind: has she known this +girl before her fall, and is she trying to reclaim her? If so, why walk +in public with her? Or, has she been sitting to this Tremenhere for a +portrait, and been brought in contact with this girl, and, charmed by +her manner, overlooked her position? But--oh no, no!--Lady Dora would +never act thus." It never struck him for an instant, the truth--Minnie's +marriage; the "Miss Dalzell," and confusion of Lady Dora, completely +refuted this idea. + +"Lady Dora," he answered, smiling more composedly, now resolved to leave +thought to absence, and enjoy the present pleasure of this unforeseen +good-luck, "is totally ignorant of my purposed visit here, which was +designed for Mr. Tremenhere on business." + +Minnie, too, was gradually becoming more composed, now his visit had so +natural a motive; she glided to an ottoman, and, pointing to a chair, +apologised for her previous rudeness in omitting to offer one, and +blaming her astonishment as cause of the remissness. Minnie was +guiltless of wrong any way; so, as a friend of both her cousin and +Miles, she conversed freely with her guest, whose admiration every +moment became more decided, and, in proportion, a species of mixed +jealousy and dislike towards Tremenhere, both for possessing such a +treasure, and the base means by which he had gained it--seduction. For, +with all his love of the fair sex, this was a crime in his eyes he would +have scorned. Poor Minnie forgot, in her own innocence, all about her +equivocal position, and he of course did not allude to it. He spoke of +Tremenhere, and she replied unreservedly as of her husband; but without +naming him as such. Lord Randolph did her justice in one respect; he saw +she was too simple in mind, and, strange contradiction! too pure in +thought, to be easily made to comprehend any thing like ordinary +flirtation. He, as a man of the world, though not a genius, at once +perceived that it would only be by gaining her affections she might be +won. He deemed it almost an act of justice to wrong the wronger; he +would have gloried in it! Lord Randolph was one of the many: he +possessed the genuine code of worldly morality--not a very safe bark to +sail to the end of life in. Much he said to her which she could not +comprehend; but he was Miles's friend, so she accepted his words as +meant in mere friendship. He could make himself agreeable when he +pleased; and she rejoiced in the meeting, hoping he would often call and +see Miles, who must like him; she knew they were friends. Something of +this she permitted him to understand. + +"I fear," he said, abstaining from giving her any name, "Tremenhere, +though a friend of mine, may not approve of my visits here; he has so +sedulously concealed his happiness from all." + +"Oh!" she answered, "that was on account of unfortunate family affairs, +which oblige us to live secluded; but I hope soon all will be cleared +away of annoyance--all forgiven--and then we may summon our friends to +rejoice with us." + +There was something so artless in her manner, that he involuntarily +seized her hand, and said in all sincerity, "From my soul I hope so, for +your sake!" + +At that moment he would have made any effort to restore an evidently +innocent girl at heart, to a different position; his only wonder was, +the longer he conversed with her, _how_ she could ever have fallen; and +every instant his impatience and disgust towards Tremenhere grew +stronger. And he looked with indignant feelings on the presumption of +the man who could, as he deemed he did, trample on this lovely girl as a +being beneath him, too much so to share his name. How falsely we may +judge others! and a wrong judgment is parent of many errors. At last he +rose to leave; he durst not then prolong his visit. As he did so, Minnie +inquired, "What message she should give Tremenhere?" + +"I think," he replied, "it were better not to name my visit, if I may +presume to dictate to you." + +"But," she said, smiling in all confidence, "you came to see him." + +"True; but I did not anticipate the extreme pleasure of meeting you. He +might be displeased." + +"Oh, no!" she answered in her former tone, "it cannot annoy him. I +feared so at first, as he wishes me not to see, or be seen, at present; +but when I tell him how your lordship came, he will see it could not +have been avoided. Besides, I told him of Lady Dora's introduction, and +our all walking together yesterday." + +"And what did he say?" asked the other, waking from surprise to +surprise. + +"Miles was very much annoyed with Lady Dora; he said, as a person +experienced in the world's opinions, she ought not to have presented me +to you, because----" She stopped, and coloured deeply, feeling it too +delicate a subject to enter upon with a stranger. She had been so +accustomed to speak of, hear of Lord Randolph as Dora's future husband, +that he had seemed as already a cousin to her, though, in point of fact, +almost a stranger. Poor Minnie had much worldly reserve to learn; +besides, she was speaking as she knew herself, not as he suspected her; +and there was nothing to awaken her rudely in his manner. She was as a +somnambulist, speaking in her sleep, to the wakeful. + +"Let me beg of you not to tell Tremenhere," he earnestly asked. + +"I never conceal a thought from him," was her reply; "how pass an hour +with him, and keep a secret in my heart? I should suffocate with the +weight of it alone." + +"I think I know Tremenhere better than even you can. Women rarely know +men, as their friends read them; for your own sake, let me earnestly +entreat secresy this once." + +His earnestness made her tremble, and become serious. "I do not +comprehend your lordship," she said with dignity; "have I done wrong in +conversing freely with you?" + +"Good heavens! no; I trust we may often thus converse again." + +"Then I shall tell Miles as soon as he returns; he cannot but approve my +receiving his friends with what courtesy I am mistress of. If I have +been wanting in due reserve, my lord may excuse it--I am but a country +bred girl." + +"But the most charming one I _ever_ met!" he warmly +exclaimed, endeavouring to seize her hand; but Minnie's delicacy had +taken the alarm, she drew back, and, laying her hand on the bell, said +quietly-- + +"Your lordship has no message to leave?" + +"None," he answered, slightly disconcerted by her sudden reserve--"I +cannot think of troubling you; I will write." + +The bell sounded beneath her fingers; with perfect composure she +curtsied. He durst not again attempt to take her hand, and he followed +the serious maid to the outer gate; there he turned, but no eye was +watching him, for Minnie had sunk on a seat, and was lost in memory, not +of the most agreeable sort, of many strange things her visitor had said, +which created an unpleasant sensation, and yet she could not tell where, +or why. Lord Randolph rode on in perplexed imaginings, too; she had left +an impression on his mind of pleasure and pain. The former, that +irresistible feeling we experience when gazing upon either a lovely +face, or lovely picture. The latter, was sorrow that so fair a shrine +should be desecrated; for, though a man of the world, he was no +libertine. He would rather at any time save a woman than lose her. If +he found her lost, irretrievably so, he followed the current of worldly +recklessness, and left moralizing to a more fitting occasion. Nothing +could have persuaded him that this girl had voluntarily chosen a life of +degradation--some arts, some entrapment, must have been used; and with +these thoughts in his mind he turned into Loundes Square, intending to +call upon Lady Dora. As he turned the corner of a street leading into +it, her ladyship's brougham passed him rapidly; the blinds were half +drawn down, as if she wished to avoid recognition, and she herself was +leaning back, reading a letter attentively. Evidently he had not been +noticed; for a moment he hesitated, and then, turning round, cantered +after her. Her groom drove on, however, at a rapid pace, and Lord +Randolph followed. "When she stops," he said to himself, "I'll join her; +she may be induced, perhaps, to tell me more about this unhappy girl." +But Lady Dora did not stop; and what at first had been done +unpremeditatedly, now became a sort of link in the mystery of the last +two days. Where could she be going alone at that rapid pace? Overtake +her he could not, without calling to her groom; so he followed about +twenty yards behind. At the corner of Charles Street, Soho, there was a +stoppage of carriages; hers passed, but his horse, being rather +spirited, made some demur before a coal-waggon; and, when he reached the +square, it was just in time to see Lady Dora enter the bazaar hastily, +with her veil down. To dismount, and leave his horse in a man's care, +occupied a few minutes more; then he too entered, with no idea but +one--of finding her ladyship occupied in shopping; and he deemed himself +very fortunate in having so excellent an opportunity of conversing with +her. + +We have said Lady Dora was reading a letter when Lord Randolph first saw +her; we will give its contents to our readers; she had received it by a +messenger an hour before. + +"Mr. Tremenhere presents his compliments to Lady Dora Vaughan; and +though he would not presume to intrude thus for any merely personal +business, yet as the husband of one allied so closely to Lady Dora, he +ventures to solicit half an hour's conversation about Minnie, and the +most unpleasant affair of yesterday. He dare not venture to intrude in +Loundes Square, but at three precisely, he will be in the Soho Bazaar; +and under these circumstances, hopes her ladyship will favour him, where +one dear to her is so nearly concerned." + +When Lord Randolph entered, it was to see Lady Dora and Miles Tremenhere +composedly ascending the stairs together--not arm in arm, but in close +converse. To turn, and bolt out of the bazaar, were the acts of an +instant--he was too proud to become a spy on their actions: that they +had met by appointment was evident. In a greater state of excitement +than before, he mounted his horse, and, riding to the opposite side of +the square, watched the door. Nearly half an hour elapsed, and then she +came out hurriedly alone, stepped in, and off drove the brougham again +at a quick pace. Two minutes afterwards Tremenhere came out; and, with +eyes bent on the ground in deep thought, turned through Charles into +Oxford Street. There is a natural envy in our hearts, which makes us +feel less kindly towards one superior to ourselves in every way, than we +should to one inferior; and were we judging between the two, assuredly +we would rather find a guilty flaw in the one than the other. Though +liking Tremenhere, Lord Randolph at once condemned him as every thing +that was bad; and deemed himself of wonderful perspicacity in reading +the intricate book before his mind's eye, thus:--By his power of +fascination and good looks, he had entangled both these women. (Dalby +had given him the clue.) Minnie he had lost, and by some inconceivable +means, drawn the proud Lady Dora into an acquaintance with her; and now +he was endeavouring, and from their private meeting it would seem +successfully, to accomplish some further end--marriage, of course--with +a woman too much in love, perhaps, to resist him. How else could he +account for the events before him? With all this in his mind, is it to +be wondered at that he felt the utmost disgust for Tremenhere? How to +act he knew not. As to quietly allowing these events to take their +present course, that was impossible--whom consult? Not Burton--he did +not like the man; nor Dalby--no _creature_--but a friend. So he went +off, and sought his young friend whom we have seen at Uplands--the +unfledged youth, whom we will call Mr. Vellumy; and between them the two +concocted as fatal a scheme as they could well have imagined; and done, +like many such another, with the best intention; for Mr. Vellumy, like +his friend, would rather do a good than a bad action--not that he was +one to repent in sackcloth and ashes if he accomplished a criminal one +by accident. He was "a good-intention" embodied, and stuck like a crow +on the top of a weathercock. He and Lord Randolph being bosom friends, +had run up together for two or three days from Uplands, leaving the +remaining guests at Liberty Hall to take care of themselves--bachelor +_sans ceremonie_. We will leave them awhile and follow Lady Dora, whose +brougham spun, in a short space like thought, down to Chiswick, and +stopped at Tremenhere's gate. He had, of course, not returned. Minnie +could scarce credit the evidence of her eyes when she saw her cousin +step out. + +"It is so kind--so very kind, dear Dora!" she exclaimed, embracing her, +"to return so soon." + +"I have but a few minutes to stay," answered the other, "for mamma will +wonder where I have been. But that I am not much controlled, she might +question and scold; for I have been out some time, Minnie," she added +hastily. "Do you know with whom I have been walking?" + +"I cannot guess, Dora." + +"There--read that--and see!" and she laid on her knee Miles's letter. +Minnie coloured deeply, and like a vision passed before her the +recollection of their meeting at Uplands, which he never mentioned. She +was not jealous; but it was like the sudden pain of a thorn, which makes +one wince and cry out--the flesh versus spirit; but when she read it, +the spirit conquered at once. + +"My dear husband," she said, "how he ever thinks of me! And what did he +say, Dora?" + +Dora then told her the substance of their conversation, and his +entreaties that she should seek an interview with Lord Randolph Gray, +and tell him the truth about his marriage, as it would come better from +her than from himself. If, however, she declined, he expressed his +determination to do so without delay, foreseeing possibly future +embarrassments from this unfortunate introduction. + +"I argued against it," she said; "but at last he convinced me I had not +acted prudently, and therefore, though much against my feelings, I must +explain all, and bind his lordship to secresy. It is a most unfortunate +circumstance altogether." + +Lady Dora, though too kind, when she permitted her heart sway, to pain +any one wilfully, was galled and wounded deeply in her pride by all +these events. How to tell Lord Randolph she knew not; and with +Tremenhere she admitted, it would better come from herself than from +him. "I shall probably see him to-night, or certainly to-morrow," she +added, "and then all shall be explained." + +While she was speaking, Minnie had fallen into a train of the most +intense thought; one coursing another through her brain. She was +beginning to understand much Randolph had said to her, and how tell +Miles? it would pain him. However, it would soon be explained to his +lordship, and then all would go smoothly. Poor Minnie! + +"Do you know, Dora," she said, looking up at last, seriously, "Lord +Randolph called here to-day?" + +"Here!" exclaimed her cousin, amazed. "Here! and how? on what pretence? +did you see him?" + +There was not a gleam of jealousy in this questioning. She cared little +to lose him for ever; it was his audacity, and consequences she thought +of. Minnie related every thing which passed. Though but a girl herself, +Lady Dora was one of the world, and saw much more than her simple cousin +did in this visit. Bitterly she blamed herself for her false step the +previous day, in introducing "Miss Dalzell;" now she indeed saw the +necessity of an explanation. + +"Of course," she said, "you do not intend telling Mr. Tremenhere of +this?" + +"Not tell Miles!" exclaimed Minnie in surprise. "How could I conceal it +from him?" + +"Minnie, you will be mad to do so!" answered her cousin, much agitated. +"Mr. Tremenhere, in his excited state, will see even more than was +meant, and I will answer for nothing." + +"Truth, dear Dora, always carries its own shafts to the heart. I cannot +conceal any thing from Miles; it would kill me to do so. Where should I +hide a secret from him? he reads my very soul; 'tis ever open before +him." + +"And do you wish, perhaps, for bloodshed? I cannot see where it will +terminate. Pray, let me explain all to his lordship first, then there +can be nothing to fear." + +Minnie justly argued, that Lord Randolph's visit had been made to her +husband, not knowing she was even there; but Dora overruled this. + +"Mr. Tremenhere," she said, "was in that excited state when speaking of +the possibility of insult to you, that if he know this to-day, he will +be capable of any thing. Pray, Minnie!--dear Minnie! promise me the +secret until to-morrow evening; I will come here then, and tell Mr. +Tremenhere myself, and he must acknowledge I did right. He will applaud +your good sense; whereas, if you tell, what can control his rage before +then?" + +Minnie began crying. The idea to her, of concealment from Miles, was so +dreadful, that she could not for a length of time overcome her +repugnance; but Dora so forcibly impressed upon her mind the dread of a +duel, that in the certainty of its only being for one day, and as no +untruth, only silence, was required, she consented; and Lady Dora, +embracing her cordially, with her own handkerchief dried the tearful +eyes, and left her, promising to return next evening, and in the +meanwhile see Lord Randolph, and disclose all to him. She had perfectly +arranged it herself, as we often do events; but quite overlooked such a +thing as fatality. + + +END OF VOLUME FIRST. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Miles Tremenhere, Vol 1 of 2, by +Annette Marie Maillard + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41275 *** |