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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41740 ***
+
+BY THE SAME AUTHOR
+
+(_Leisure-Hour Series_)
+
+THE WOOING O'T
+
+WHICH SHALL IT BE?
+
+RALPH WILTON'S WEIRD.
+
+
+
+
+_LEISURE HOUR SERIES_
+
+RALPH WILTON'S WEIRD
+
+_A NOVEL_
+
+BY
+MRS. ALEXANDER
+
+AUTHOR OF "THE WOOING O'T" AND "WHICH SHALL IT BE?"
+
+[Illustration: Logo]
+
+NEW YORK
+HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
+1875
+
+
+JOHN F. TROW & SON, PRINTERS,
+205-213 EAST 12TH ST., NEW YORK.
+
+
+
+
+RALPH WILTON'S WEIRD.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+The yellow sunlight of a crisp October day was lighting up the faded
+though rich hangings, and the abundant but somewhat blackened gilding,
+of a large study or morning-room in one of the stately mansions of
+Mayfair, nearly fourteen years ago.
+
+Bookcases and escritoires, writing-tables and reading-tables more or
+less convenient, easy-chairs, print-stands furnished with well-filled
+portfolios, pictures, bronzes, all the signs and tokens of wealth, were
+there, but nothing new. An impress of extinct vitality was stamped upon
+the chamber and all it contained. The very fire burned with a dull,
+continuous glow, neither flaming nor crackling.
+
+On one side of this fire, his back to the light, in a high leathern
+chair, sat an old man. Originally slight in frame, he now looked
+attenuated. His blue, brass-buttoned coat, though evidently from the
+hands of an artist, hung loosely upon him. His thin gray hair was
+carelessly brushed back from a brow not high but peculiarly wide, a
+straight, refined nose, a square-cut chin, a thin-lipped, slightly cruel
+mouth, a tint of the deadliest pallor--all these combined to make his
+countenance at once attractive and repellent. There was a certain
+dignity in his attitude as he leaned against the side of the large
+chair, in which he was almost lost, one thin, small white hand resting
+on the arm of his seat, the other playing, in a manner evidently
+habitual, with a couple of seals hanging in by-gone fashion from a black
+ribbon.
+
+He was gazing at the fire, and listening to a meek looking semi-genteel
+young man, who, seated at a table with a neatly folded packet of papers
+before him, was reading aloud from a letter. But the lecture was
+interrupted.
+
+The door was thrown open by an archdeaconal butler, who announced, in a
+suppressed voice and impressive manner, "Colonel Wilton, my lord."
+
+Whereupon entered a soldierly looking man, above middle height, his
+broad shoulders and compact waist, duly displayed by an incomparably
+fitting frock-coat, closely buttoned, and worn with the indescribable
+carriage that life-long assured position and habitual command only can
+bestow. A bold, sunburnt, and somewhat aquiline face, a pair of
+eagle-like brown eyes, and plenty of red-brown wavy hair, whisker, and
+moustache, entitled the possessor to be termed by partial comrades "a
+good-looking fellow."
+
+The old nobleman stood up, and, raising his cold, steely, keen blue
+eyes, with an extension of his thin lips intended for a smile, held out
+his slight, fine hand.
+
+"I am glad to see Colonel Wilton," he said, in a low, sweet voice, which
+must have been peculiarly charming before age had thinned its
+tones.--"You may leave us, Mr. Robbins," he added; whereupon the young
+man at the writing-table took up his papers and departed.--"I am obliged
+to you," continued Lord St. George, "for obeying my summons so promptly;
+it was more than I expected, considering how often you must have been in
+town without calling upon your recluse kinsman."
+
+"My dear lord," said Colonel Wilton, with a frank smile, taking the
+chair placed for him, "I never thought a visit from me would be
+acceptable. I supposed that I must excite the natural aversion which is
+generally felt for junior and unendowed relatives, so I kept out of the
+way." Colonel Wilton's voice was not unlike his host's, though deeper
+and richer.
+
+"Unendowed or not, you are almost the only relative who has never asked
+me a favor," returned the old man.
+
+"Had I wanted anything I suppose I should have asked for it," said
+Colonel Wilton, good-humoredly; "but my ambition is professional, and
+fortune has favored me beyond my deserts."
+
+"You are a young colonel."
+
+"Only brevet."
+
+"Ay, I remember; you got your first step after that affair of the
+rifle-pits."
+
+"Exactly; then I volunteered for our second battalion when the mutiny
+broke out, saw a good deal of very unpleasant service, was slightly hit,
+got fever, more from fatigue than wounds, was ordered home on sick
+leave, and found my brevet awaiting me. I have just returned from the
+German baths--and now, my lord, I am at your service."
+
+"You want to know why I sent for you--you shall hear presently;" the old
+men paused abruptly. "You are like, and yet unlike, your father," he
+resumed; "you know, I suppose, that, although but first cousins, we
+might have been brothers, we hated each other so well?"
+
+"I have heard something of it," returned Wilton, coolly, though the
+smiling, frank expression passed from his face; "but I have lived so
+much among strangers that I am lamentably ignorant of the family
+hatreds."
+
+Lord St. George looked up, and played more rapidly with his seals. "I
+have been a broken man for many years," he resumed, after a short
+pause, "and latterly a complete recluse. Men are such knaves, and life
+is such a round of folly, amusement, and ambition, and 'lofty
+aspirations,' as modern scribblers have it, such dust and ashes, that I
+can with unusual truth say I am weary! I dare say you are wondering why
+I inflict this Jeremiad upon you--I hardly know myself; however, it is
+finished. I suppose you are aware that a very small portion of my
+property is attached to the title of St. George?"
+
+Colonel Wilton bowed, and listened with increasing interest. "My
+Worzelshire estates and Welsh mines," continued the old lord, "came to
+me through my mother, and are to dispose of as I choose. A ruined tower
+and some worthless moorland is all that will come by right to you. It is
+in my power to make you that most wretched of failures--a poor nobleman,
+or to bequeath you means to ruffle it with the best."
+
+"You must do as seems best in your eyes," said Colonel Wilton, with the
+same good-humored, well-bred independence which had characterized his
+manner all through the interview, when the peer stopped, as if for a
+reply.
+
+"I am by no means inclined to separate my property from my title--but it
+is all in my own hands--I have no claims upon me--no nearer relative
+than yourself. All that I have heard of you is tolerably creditable to
+the family name, and I am inclined to give you the means to keep up the
+old title. There is one point, however, on which I should like you to
+understand and conform to my wishes. You are, of course, aware of the
+circumstance which has blighted my life--the latter half of it?"
+
+Although it seemed impossible that any living cheek could be paler than
+Lord St. George's, it grew a shade more ghastly as he spoke.
+
+"Yes, yes," returned Colonel Wilton, with a sort of quick sympathy. "Do
+not, if possible, distress yourself by alluding to it."
+
+"I must, Ralph--I must!" It was the first time the viscount had called
+him by his name; and he continued, in a firm but low voice: "When my
+daughter, my only child, flung herself into an abyss of infamy by her
+disgraceful marriage, I at once and forever renounced her. Now I only
+care that the inheritors of my name and property may at least be free
+from the taint of inferior race: promise me you will marry a
+gentlewoman, a girl of some unblemished family, which, though they are
+few, can still be found--promise me this, and I will leave you all I
+possess."
+
+"My dear lord, it is not necessary to promise. Poor as I am, I should
+never dream of marrying a plebeian; but I would rather not marry for
+some years to come. I am little more than thirty; you must really leave
+me a longer spell of liberty."
+
+"All young men are alike," returned Lord St. George. "You put off the
+evil day until you are too old to see your children grow up, or to guide
+them, or be anything but a semi-living mummy, fit only to sign checks
+for other people to expend. Be ruled by me; accept my conditions, quit
+the army, spend the coming season among the best country-houses, pick
+out a suitable wife--as my heir, you _can_ choose--go into Parliament, a
+Crimean man will be well received by country constituencies, and you
+will be well before the world by the time I make way for you. I say
+nothing," added the old peer, with an air of courtly humility, "of the
+gratitude such a course would enlist from me personally. I have no claim
+of that description to urge upon you."
+
+"Your present intentions constitute a tolerable strong claim," replied
+Wilton, smiling. "At any rate I should be very happy to please you, and
+I heartily wish you could will away your title as your estates. However,
+on the subject of marriage, I can make _no_ promise; at present, the
+mere fact of being tied seems to me to outweigh all other advantages. I
+hope my bluntness does not offend you. I should be sorry to do so. You
+see, there is a strong dash of the Bohemian in my nature, though I am
+not without ambition, and I am quite aware that a penniless peer is a
+most unfortunate devil. Still I cannot make up my mind to matrimony.
+Nevertheless, apart from promises, I do not think any man can be more
+averse to the idea of marrying out of his own class than I am."
+
+There was a moment's pause, Lord St. George looking keenly at his
+companion.
+
+"I do not think you seem likely to commit so egregious an error; but it
+is impossible to rely on the prudence or common sense of any man; though
+you are certainly past the age when men will sacrifice much for women.
+So I must be content with probabilities."
+
+Another short pause, during which Colonel Wilton took up his hat, which
+he had laid on the carpet beside him.
+
+"Stay," said the old peer. "It is long since I have endured to see any
+of my own people, and the effort cost me something. Now you are here,
+tell me where are your sisters, your brother?"
+
+"My brother, poor fellow! he died of fever before he left college. My
+sisters are both married, the eldest to General Ogilvie--he is in
+command at Montreal--and Gertrude to the Dean of ----."
+
+"I remember hearing of the first marriage," returned Lord St. George. "I
+was then in Greece."
+
+He continued to ask for various persons, respecting very few of whom
+Colonel Wilton could give any information. Meantime the light was
+fading, and Lord St. George's visitor growing somewhat impatient.
+
+"You must forgive me, my lord, if I bid you good-morning. But when I
+received your message I had arranged to run down to Scotland to-night
+for some grouse-shooting, and I am to dine early with an old
+brother-officer before starting."
+
+"Then I must not detain you," replied Lord St. George, reluctantly. "I
+am glad I have seen you. I feel a little more satisfied about the future
+of my name and possessions. I wish you could meet my wishes completely.
+I am singularly without near relatives--singularly free from claims of
+any kind."
+
+Colonel Wilton had stood up as if in the act to go; he hesitated an
+instant, as his kinsman paused, and said, in a lower tone:
+
+"I presume, then, my cousin--your daughter--left no children?"
+
+"Do not dare to name her, sir!" cried the old man, fiercely, and
+grasping the arms of his chair with nervous, twitching fingers. "She has
+long ceased to live for me! She--the first woman in a long, unbroken
+line--that ever brought disgrace upon her name! Living or dead, I refuse
+all intelligence concerning her. Her children may exist, or not; the
+poorest beggar that crawls in the street is more to me!"
+
+"You have, certainly, a cruel disappointment to complain of, my lord,"
+said Wilton, gravely and firmly. "But the children would be sinless. You
+would not, I am sure, leave them to suffer poverty and--"
+
+"I would--I would! I would stamp out the spawn of such a viper!
+There--there, leave me. I believe you are an honest gentleman; but this
+subject you must never touch again. Good-morning, Ralph! Let me see you
+on your return from the north."
+
+Colonel Wilton promised that he would call, and pressing the thin, wan
+hand extended to him, left the room.
+
+
+About two hours later, a couple of gentlemen sat at dinner in a private
+room in Morley's Hotel. The cheese period had been reached, and the
+sharp edge of appetite blunted. One, who seemed the host, was Ralph
+Wilton; the guest was a tall, rugged-looking, bony man, with shaggy
+eye-brows and a large hooked nose, slightly bent to one side, small,
+sharp, dark-gray eyes, grizzled black hair, and a wide mouth, with a
+strong projecting under-jaw. This does not sound like the perfection of
+manly beauty, yet Major Moncrief was not a bad-looking man.
+
+"And when do you intend to join me, Moncrief?" said Colonel Wilton.
+
+"Not later than this day week."
+
+"I hope not. For I have no fancy for being alone in my glory."
+
+The conversation flowed somewhat intermittently until the waiter,
+placing wine and olives on the table, left the friends alone.
+
+"Help yourself," said Colonel Wilton, pushing the claret toward Major
+Moncrief. "Do you know, I have had an interview with that curious old
+hermit, Lord St. George, to-day?"
+
+"Indeed! How did that come about?"
+
+"I found a note from him at the club this morning, inviting me, very
+politely, to call any day after three. So, as I hope not to see London
+again for some months, I went at once."
+
+"You are his heir, are you not?"
+
+"To his barren title--yes; but he can will away his wealth as he likes.
+Poor old fellow! He had an only child, a lovely girl, I believe, and,
+after refusing some of the best matches in England, she ran off with an
+artist fellow who played the fiddle, or sang divinely, and the viscount
+never forgave her. I only know the general gossip, but I have been told
+she died in frightful poverty. I ventured to say a word in favor of the
+possible and probable children, and was soon pulled up for my pains.
+How idiotic women are, and yet how keen and hard at times! This cousin
+of mine was not so very young either; she must have been
+four-and-twenty."
+
+"Women are quite incomprehensible," ejaculated Moncrief.
+
+Colonel Wilton laughed.
+
+"Well, old St. George, it seems, sent for me to induce me to marry some
+'Clara Vere de Vere,' in order to secure the sacred title and acres from
+falling into the hands of a half-breed inheritor. However, though I
+would not acknowledge his suzerainty by giving him the promise he
+wanted, he may be tolerably sure I would never marry a second-rate
+woman. I do not mean to say I care for rank, but good blood is
+essential."
+
+"I do not fancy you are much of a marrying man."
+
+"No! not at present. I shall come to it some day. I have been too busy
+to have had an attack of the love-fever for a long time."
+
+"You were badly hit in that affair with Lady Mary," observed Moncrief.
+
+"Well--yes! But I made a rapid recovery. Then, matrimony would be a
+different matter. In short, if Lord St. George will just give me a year
+or two more of liberty, I dare say I shall be ready to present him with
+a bride of the desired pattern. I really have no democratic
+proclivities."
+
+"Ah ha, lad!" said Moncrief, in his unmistakable Scotch tones, "you must
+just 'dree your weird.'"
+
+"So must every one," returned Wilton, rising to fill his cigar-case from
+a box that stood upon the sideboard. "But I think I have survived the
+spooney period, and have sown my wild oats--not that I have had more
+than a mere handful to dispose of. On the whole, I have been a pattern
+man--eh, old fellow?"
+
+"Hum! There have been more extensive crops," returned the major,
+doubtfully. "Still, do not be too sure of yourself."
+
+"Oh, I am safe enough. And, besides," he continued, returning to the
+table and filling his glass, "I am very particularly anxious that Lord
+St. George should leave me something wherewith to regild the faded
+honors of his ancient peerage. I confess to a mortal dread of being a
+poor peer. If my old kinsman does not leave me his property, I will
+never adopt the title, but be plain 'Ralph Wilton' to the end of the
+chapter."
+
+"You might do worse," said Moncrief, dryly. "As I said before, you must
+'dree your weird.'"
+
+"Halloa!" cried Wilton, suddenly; "half-past seven, by Jove! I shall
+have a close shave to catch the train!" He rang the bell, ordered a cab;
+hastily donning his overcoat and thrusting his cigar-case into the
+breast-pocket, he shook hands heartily with his friend. "Good-by, old
+fellow; come as soon as you can, and let the moorland breeze sweep the
+cobwebs from your brain. You are too solemn by half for so good a
+comrade--good-by!"
+
+It was a very close shave; but Ralph Wilton was just in time. The bell
+had rung before he had taken his ticket, after seeing a favorite pointer
+properly disposed of. "Here you are, sir," cried a porter, opening the
+door of a carriage. Wilton jumped in, and the door was slammed. "Stop! I
+say, porter," he shouted, as he glanced at the only other occupant,
+thinking to himself, "An unprotected female! this is too formidable!"
+But his voice was drowned in the loud panting of the engine, and they
+were off. "It cannot be helped," he thought, and set about arranging
+himself as comfortably as he could.
+
+His companion was a young lady, he perceived, as his eyes became
+accustomed to the lamp-light. She was in black, and rather thinly clad
+for a night-journey. Her bonnet lay in the netting overhead. And a blue
+scarf was loosely tied over her head and ears. She seemed already
+asleep, though Wilton was dimly aware that she had opened a pair of
+large dark eyes to look at him. She was a serious drawback to the
+comfort of his journey. But for her he could make a bed of the
+cushions, and stretch himself at full length; but for her he could
+solace himself with unlimited cigars, and enjoy the freedom of
+loneliness. Thinking thus, he stooped forward to take up an evening
+paper he had snatched at the last moment, and his cigar-case fell from
+his pocket. His obnoxious fellow-traveller opened her eyes. "If you
+smoke," she said, "do not mind me; it may help me to sleep." With a
+slight shiver she closed her eyes again, apparently without hearing
+Wilton's thanks, while his unspoken maledictions on the ill chance that
+placed her in the same carriage were, in some mysterious way, silenced
+and arrested by the charm of a soft, sweet voice, delicate yet full,
+with a certain sadness in its tones, and an accent not quite English. "A
+gentlewoman, I imagine," thought Wilton, as he moved from his place to
+the centre seat opposite her to be nearer the light. There was something
+touching in the childlike abandonment of her attitude; her head lay back
+in the angle of the division she occupied; her face was very pale, and a
+dark shade under the eyes bespoke fatigue. Long black lashes fringed her
+closed eyes, curling back at the ends, and all of color was concentrated
+in her delicately-curved lips. Ralph Wilton could not help glancing from
+his paper to her face, and forming conjectures respecting her. Why did
+her people let so fair, so young a creature wander about by herself?
+But he was by no means old enough to adopt a fatherly view of so pretty
+a subject. She must be seventeen or eighteen--here his companion
+murmured in her sleep, and sighed deeply; while Wilton, with a sudden
+access of chivalrous modesty, reproaching himself for presuming upon her
+unconsciousness to scan so closely the tender, childlike face that lay
+hushed before him, withdrew to his original position. Here he tried to
+read, but the face and figure of the old recluse nobleman flitted
+between him and his paper, and the bittersweet of his tone sounded again
+in his ears--what depths of disappointment and mortification that old
+man must have fathomed! Well, worse endings might have come about than
+the union of Lord St. George's title and property in his (Ralph
+Wilton's) favor; and, if he ever inherited these good things, he would
+certainly look up his erring cousin's children. These meditations were
+varied by sundry glances at his companion, vague conjectures concerning
+her. How soft and gentle her mouth looked! Yet there was a good deal of
+power in the wide, smooth forehead and delicately but clearly marked
+dark-brown eyebrows. As Wilton looked he perceived her shiver, without
+waking, and make a sleepy effort to fold her shawl closer. The night was
+growing colder, and Wilton, observing a small portion of the window next
+his companion open, rose to shut it. In moving to accomplish this, he
+touched the slumberer's foot. She opened her eyes with a sleepy,
+startled look--great, dark, lustrous eyes, which seemed to banish the
+childlike expression of her face.
+
+"I beg your pardon," said Colonel Wilton; "but it is cold, and I thought
+you would like the window shut."
+
+"Oh, yes, thank you; it is very, very cold." She sat up and rubbed her
+hands together, tying the blue scarf closer round her head, and
+thrusting carelessly under it a heavy tress of very dark-brown hair,
+that had become loosened, with utter disregard of appearances, as if
+only desirous of rest. "I am so, so weary," she went on, "and I dream
+instead of sleeping."
+
+"That is probably because of your uneasy position," said Wilton. "If you
+will allow me to arrange the cushions for you, I think you may rest
+better--I am an old traveller."
+
+"You are very good," she returned, hesitatingly; "how do you mean?"
+
+"I will show you;" and he proceeded to make supports for one of the
+unoccupied cushions with a walking-stick and umbrella so as to form a
+couch, and then rolled up his plaid loosely for an _impromptu_ pillow.
+"Now," he said, with frank good-nature, "you can rest really; and, if
+you will wrap yourself in my cloak, I dare say you will soon forget you
+are in a railway-carriage."
+
+"Thank you very much," she replied. "How good of you to take so much
+trouble--and your plaid, too! You have left yourself nothing!"
+
+"Oh, I do not need anything! Take the cloak, and I wish you good-night."
+
+He checked an inclination to wrap it round her, lest she might think him
+too officious; and, smiling at the change in his own sentiments toward
+his fellow-traveller, withdrew to his original position.
+
+"At least you can smoke," said she, as she placed herself upon the couch
+he had improvised. "I really like the perfume of a cigar."
+
+Thus encouraged, Wilton drew forth his cigar-case and comforted himself
+with a weed, while he had the satisfaction of observing the perfect
+stillness of the rather shapeless mass of drapery made by his heavy
+cloak round the slender form slumbering beneath it. So they sped on into
+the night. Wilton's cigar was finished; he threw the end from the
+window. Gazing a moment at the dim, uncanny trees and hedges as they
+flew past with ghastly rapidity, and settling himself in his corner, he
+too tried to sleep for a long time in vain. The past--the possible
+future--the absolute present--his sudden interest in his companion,
+crowded and jostled each other in his thoughts, but gradually all became
+indistinct, and at last he slept.
+
+Uneasily, though--visions of struggles--of men and horses dying--of a
+desperate necessity to carry an order from the general to a remote
+division, and the utter impossibility of getting his horse to
+move--dreams like these distracted him; at last a heavy battery on his
+left opened fire, and he woke.
+
+Woke suddenly, completely, with a feeling that the end of everything was
+at hand. A noise of tearing and crashing filled his ears, mingled with
+shrieks and yells; the carriage heaved violently, first to one side, and
+then to the other, in which position it remained.
+
+As Wilton sprang to his feet, his fellow-traveller started quickly to
+hers; and, grasping his arm, exclaimed, with a certain despairing calm
+that struck him even in such a moment: "Is it--is it death?"
+
+He did not reply; but, holding on by the bar which supports the netting
+over the seats, he managed to open the door next him. It was on the
+upheaved side, and he found a heap of clay jammed under the step of the
+carriage.
+
+"Come," he exclaimed, "give me your hand!--lean on my shoulder--there is
+an open space beyond here."
+
+His fellow-traveller obeyed, silently and steadily. Instinctively
+Wilton groped his way across what seemed a truck laden with earth and
+stones, and assisted his companion down the opposite side on to the
+grass-grown border of the line, which was open, and only fenced by a low
+bank and hedge. Placing her in safety, he turned to look at the scene of
+fear and confusion. A few yards ahead lay the massive fragments of the
+two engines heaped together, the foremost carriage smashed to pieces and
+already blazing, having caught light from the guard's lamp, which had
+been overturned. Two other carriages, more or less injured, were, like
+the one he had just quitted, forced upon trucks laden with stone and
+clay. The passengers were scrambling over them, the women screaming, the
+men shouting directions and questions.
+
+"If you will stay here, I will go and see if I can be of any use,"
+exclaimed Wilton. "You are quite safe, and I will return as soon as I
+can."
+
+She murmured something in reply as he went forward.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Wilton found an indescribable scene of confusion when he came up to the
+overturned engine. The male passengers and some twenty navvies, who had
+been with the ballast train, were trying frantically to separate the
+burning carriages from the others by forcing them back; but, although
+the coupling irons were broken, the foremost carriages had been so
+violently dashed against the trucks that they had become too closely
+entangled to be stirred, and it seemed highly probable that the whole
+train would be consumed before any means could be devised for
+extinguishing the flames. Wilton's quick eye took in the difficulty in a
+moment, and noticed that the blazing van, having been the first to
+encounter the shock, had fallen on the side away from the ballast train,
+breaking the couplings and everything breakable as it crashed over. The
+next carriage had been forced upon the second truck, and the others more
+or less upon those nearest them, as they were farther from the actual
+collision. The unhappy guard had been dragged senseless from the
+_débris_; there was, therefore, no one to direct the willing but
+fruitless efforts of the volunteers. Seeing this, Wilton sprang upon the
+truck nearest him, and shouted, in clear, ringing tones:
+
+"Hold, men! you will never move that wreck! Your only chance to put out
+the flames is to smother it with the damp clay here. Get your shovels
+and picks--some of you jump up with the picks and loosen the stuff;
+another party be ready with the shovels to pile the clay over the fire."
+
+At the first sound of authoritative direction the men sprang to obey,
+and Wilton took as supreme command as if a party of his own pioneers
+were at his orders. The men worked with a will, as men generally do when
+intelligently and energetically commanded. It was a wild and not
+unpicturesque scene. At first the flames from the dry varnished wood
+streamed out upon the breeze, which, fortunately, was not high, though
+it sometimes sent wreaths of smoke and fire against the men who were
+toiling to extinguish it, and bringing out in strong relief the figure
+of Wilton, who had climbed upon the side of the carriage nearest the
+burning fragments, and, holding on with one hand, urged the working
+party with quick, commanding gestures. By the time the truck had been
+half emptied the fire was evidently arrested. Every now and then a jet
+of flame shot up to the sky; a few more minutes of fierce exertion and
+the enemy was got under, and Wilton descended from his post of
+observation to find a new authority on the scene, who was bustling about
+very actively. This was the master of a small station about half a mile
+farther up the line, scarcely to be seen from the fast and express
+trains, which never stopped there, but elevated by the present
+catastrophe into importance and authority. By his directions the guard
+and stoker, who were most injured, were removed to a small town at a
+little distance, where medical aid could be procured. Having discovered
+and liberated his yelping dog, Wilton sought what information he could
+from this official.
+
+"No, sir; there ain't much damage done. The stoker of the ballast train
+is hurt a good deal; but the guard is more stunned than hurt. No lives
+lost, thank God--only some bruises and a broken head. You see, it's
+getting late for night-travelling, and there wasn't a soul in the first
+carriage. How did it happen? You see, the ballast train was shunted here
+to wait till yours was past; but those pointsmen are overworked, and
+this here forgot to set back the points; so you see, right into the
+other engine," etc., etc.
+
+After mixing with the other passengers, and ascertaining what they
+intended to do, or if he could be of any use to them, Wilton bethought
+him of his lonely little travelling companion, and returned to seek
+her. She had advanced nearer the scene of action, and climbed up the low
+bank which here bordered the line, the better to see what was going on.
+
+"I am afraid you must think I was not coming back," said Wilton,
+offering his hand to help her down.
+
+"I saw you were well occupied," she said, touching it lightly as she
+descended.
+
+"By Jove! you are shivering with cold--and no wonder, without a cloak or
+plaid! Wait for a moment and I will bring you mine from our carriage."
+
+"Would you also be so kind as to bring my bonnet and a small travelling
+bag? I should have gone for them myself, only I could hardly stand."
+
+But Wilton was gone, and returned quickly. "There are but three other
+ladies," he said, assisting to wrap his plaid around her, "and they are
+going up to a small town or village about two miles off, to rest at the
+inn; and when they are refreshed, intend posting on to their
+destination, which is somewhere in this district. Would you like to go
+with them, or wait at a little station close to this, where a fresh
+train will be sent as soon as they can clear the line?"
+
+"Oh, I will go to the station. I am anxious to get on as soon as
+possible."
+
+"And so am I. I shall, therefore, remain there also, and shall be most
+happy to be of any use to you."
+
+"Thank you. Can I walk to this station at once?"
+
+"Certainly, if you will take my arm."
+
+"I feel I must to steady myself," she replied. "I did not know I was so
+much frightened and shaken. I feel ashamed."
+
+They walked on in silence for a few yards, and then Wilton asked if she
+was going much farther.
+
+"Yes," with a sigh, "a long way--over the Border to a place called
+Monkscleugh."
+
+"Indeed!" cried Wilton; "that is my destination also."
+
+She made no reply, and they accomplished the short distance in silence,
+save for a few friendly remarks and inquiries from Wilton. The station
+was almost deserted when they reached it; but the gaslight and a good
+fire were very welcome; and the station-master soon returned with the
+intelligence that they had collected more men, who were working hard to
+clear the line, and, that, as soon as it was passable, a fresh train
+would be sent on from A----.
+
+The station-master was a short man--broad without being stout--with a
+peculiarly weather-beaten aspect, his mouth screwed to one side, and one
+eye squeezed down to the other, as if in the habit of facing the sun's
+glare without adequate shelter. He spoke, too, in a _staccato_ style, as
+if some intermittent power pumped up his words.
+
+"I dare say this lady would be glad of a cup of tea or something," said
+Wilton, looking compassionately at the figure of his companion, who had
+drawn a chair to the fire, and sat down wearily, putting a small,
+well-booted foot upon the fender.
+
+"I have sent up to the village for refreshments, sir; but I am sorry to
+say I have nothing in the place. I generally go away for my meals."
+
+So saying, the station-master hurried off.
+
+"I do not feel to want anything but sleep," said the lady. "I have not
+had any for many nights, and I am scarce awake now. If I could but close
+my eyes, and rest."
+
+She raised them as she spoke to Wilton--such large, black-blue eyes, so
+heavy with fatigue, that his compassion for her evident exhaustion was
+naturally increased by the admiration they excited.
+
+"You really ought to take something, if we could get it," he said. "Such
+a shock must have been too much for you, though you showed remarkable
+pluck."
+
+"Yet I was dreadfully frightened," she replied, clasping her hands over
+one knee, and gazing dreamily into the fire. "I do not fear death so
+much as being hurt and helpless."
+
+"Well," said Wilton, cheerfully, "we must find a resting-place for you.
+There ought to be a lady's waiting-room even here." He rose and looked
+about as he spoke. "And so there is"--he opened a door on the right of
+the fireplace--"a very desolate-looking chamber. Still there is an
+uneasy-looking stuffed bench, and perhaps, with my cloak and plaid, you
+might manage to get an hour's sleep while we are waiting."
+
+"How good of you to think of all this!" she exclaimed, looking at him
+more attentively than she had yet done. "But it is dark--and see! the
+lock is broken. I do not think I should like to sleep with an open
+door."
+
+"Let me light the gas," said Wilton, turning the stiff tap and striking
+one of his fusees. "Now the only objection is the broken lock. I will
+mount guard outside, and, trust me, no one shall intrude upon you. What
+do you say?"
+
+"Many, many thanks. I will gladly lie down and try to sleep. Are _you_
+not weary?"
+
+"Not in the least. I would advise your trying to compose yourself at
+once; the others will be here soon, and will probably talk and make a
+row. By-the-way," interrupting himself, "would you like to telegraph to
+your friends that you are all right? I am going to do so myself."
+
+"Telegraph to my friends!" she replied, stopping and looking full at
+him, her large, dark, dewy eyes lighting up as a half-sad, half scornful
+smile dimpled her cheek. "It is not at all necessary; they will not
+distress themselves."
+
+She bent her head as Wilton held the door for her to pass through.
+Closing it after her, he returned to his seat by the fire, wondering at
+himself; for, though far too manly a man to adopt a tone of selfish
+indifference toward others, though he would have shown kindly
+consideration to a plain or an elderly woman in such circumstances, he
+was conscious of an extraordinary degree of interest and admiration for
+his quiet, undemonstrative fellow-traveller. She was so gentle, yet so
+indifferent; so simple and so self-possessed; evidently grateful to him
+for his attentions, and yet utterly regardless of him as a "good-looking
+fellow," or as anything save a civil travelling-companion. There was
+something marvellously attractive in the almost infantine sweetness of
+her mouth and delicate chin, and the contrast of her earnest, expressive
+eyes.
+
+"Who can she be?" asked Wilton of himself; "though quite unconventional,
+there is a high tone about her, poor little thing! It is as well she
+fell in with such a steady fellow as myself. I must see her safe to the
+end of her journey, and find out all about her before we part."
+
+His reflections were interrupted by an influx of some of the passengers,
+who now began to collect, having impeded the efforts of the railway
+officials as much as possible by their attempts to afford assistance;
+they were all exceedingly talkative and hungry, not to say hilarious,
+from the reaction of their escape. The refreshments which had been sent
+for had now arrived, and the little station looked quite crowded. In the
+midst of the buzz of voices, while all except Wilton were gathered round
+the table discussing the viands placed thereon, he observed the door of
+the ladies' room open gently and his _protégé_ appear, his cloak over
+one shoulder, and trailing behind. Wilton immediately went toward her.
+
+"I cannot sleep," she said; "I dozed a little just at first, but now I
+am quite awake and restless."
+
+"That's bad," returned Wilton. "Will you come in here and sit by the
+fire?"
+
+"Oh no!" shrinking back, "not among all those people."
+
+"Well, it would not be very pleasant; but shall you not be very cold?"
+
+"Not if you will still allow me to have your cloak."
+
+"Certainly; and I hope we shall not be kept much longer. Could we not
+get you a fire here?" and he walked in unceremoniously.
+
+"I do not think even you could manage that," she returned, with a quiet
+smile, as she placed herself at a table under the gaslight, and opened a
+large note-book, as if about to make some entries.
+
+"Not a strong-minded female taking notes, I hope," thought Wilton. "She
+is far too pretty for that."
+
+"No," said he, aloud, as he observed there was no fireplace. "With all
+the will imaginable, I cannot manage a fire; but can I do nothing more?
+I must insist on your taking some wine or tea. They are all devouring
+out there; and I have had some very tolerable brandy-and-water myself,"
+and Wilton beckoned a waiter to bring some refreshment.
+
+"I tell you what you could do for me," said the young lady, suddenly
+looking up more brightly than she had yet done; "make the station-master
+come in here and talk--ask him questions. Oh, you know what I mean!" she
+went on, with a sort of graceful petulance as Wilton looked at her in no
+small surprise, "anything to make him talk. There, I think I hear him in
+the next room; please to watch for him and bring him here. I will begin,
+you can follow me; when I say 'thank you,' send him away--there, please
+to catch him."
+
+Wilton, greatly wondering that the first signs of animation in his
+interesting companion should be aroused by so rugged and commonplace a
+subject, hastened to obey, and soon returned with the functionary.
+
+"Oh!" said the lady, bending her head with such a proud yet gracious
+air that the man involuntarily removed his hat. "Pray tell me, is there
+really no serious injury? I should be more satisfied were I assured by
+you."
+
+"Well, mum, I am happy to say there is no one much hurt to speak of,"
+etc., etc.
+
+"Is it long since you have had an accident before?" asked Wilton, not
+very well knowing how to proceed in compliance with a little private
+imperative nod from the fair inquisitor.
+
+The question was opportune, for it launched the station-master upon
+quite a flood of memories into which he rushed and talked for good ten
+minutes without intermission. How long he would have continued it is
+impossible to say, but one of the porters came to call him, as there was
+a telegraph from ----.
+
+Wilton followed to hear the news, and returned, after a short absence,
+with the intelligence that the expected train would not arrive for
+another hour.
+
+"That is long," replied the young lady, scarce lifting her head; then,
+as Wilton, a little mortified by her tone, turned to leave the room, she
+exclaimed, still looking down, "Stay one moment, if not inconvenient."
+
+"Certainly," and Wilton stood still for another minute or two.
+
+"There," she said, holding out the book, "is that like him?"
+
+Wilton took it and uttered an exclamation of surprise. On the page
+before him was a bold, rapid, admirable sketch of the station-master;
+all the characteristic lines and puckers were there, but slightly
+idealized.
+
+"This is first-rate! You are quite an artist."
+
+"I wish I was! Let me touch it a little more. What a capital face it
+is--so rugged, so humorous--yet so English; not the least bit
+picturesque. I shall work this into something some day."
+
+"Then I am right in supposing you an artist? May I look again?" said
+Wilton, sitting down beside her.
+
+"Oh, yes; you may look at my scratchings. This is my note-book. I like
+to draw everything--but, you see, most imperfectly."
+
+"I do not, indeed. I know very little of art, though I can sketch
+roughly--merely professional work--but you seem to me to have both
+genius and skill."
+
+"Some taste, scarce any skill."
+
+There was something quite genuine in her tone--not the least tinge of
+mock-modesty--as she turned over the pages, and touched them here and
+there, while her manner was singularly devoid of coquetry. Wilton might
+have been her grandfather for all of embarrassment or excitement his
+attentions caused.
+
+"And you can draw; perhaps you know these trees; they are not far from
+Monkscleugh."
+
+She showed him a group of beeches most delicately yet clearly drawn.
+
+"I do not know the neighborhood. I am going there for the first time.
+May I ask if you reside there?"
+
+"Yes, at present. Oh, you will find a great deal to sketch all
+about--especially by the river--and there is beauty, too, in the gray
+skies and rich brown moors; but how unlike the beauty of the sunny
+south!"
+
+"It is not necessary to ask which you like; your voice tells that," said
+Wilton.
+
+"And are you not fond of drawing?" she resumed, as if the subject had an
+irresistible attraction.
+
+"You would not look at such school-boy productions as mine," returned
+Wilton, smiling. "As I said before, they are mere rough professional
+drawings."
+
+"Professional! What is your profession?"
+
+This rather leading question was put with the most straightforward
+simplicity.
+
+"I am a soldier."
+
+"A soldier!"--looking very earnestly at him--"what a pity!"
+
+"Why?" asked Wilton, surprised, and a little nettled. "Soldiers are
+necessary evils."
+
+"But what evils! what symbols of deeper evils than themselves! I do not
+mean to say," interrupting herself with a sudden consciousness that her
+words were rude, while a delicate tinge of color came and went in her
+cheek, "that _you_ are bad or wicked; but it is so sad to think that
+such things, or people rather, should be necessary still."
+
+"No doubt it would be better for the world to be in an Arcadian or
+paradisiacal condition; but, as it is, I am afraid it will be a long
+time before we can dispense with fighting or fighting-men. However, you
+are right--war is a horrible thing, and I hope we shall have no more for
+a long time."
+
+"Alas! how dare we hope that, so long as it is in the power of three or
+four men to plunge three or four nations into such horrors?"
+
+"Ah, I see I have encountered a dangerous democrat," said Wilton,
+laughing; and, vaguely pleased to see her drawn out of her cool
+composure, he watched the varying color in her cheek while she was
+turning over the leaves of her sketch-book, seeming to seek for
+something. "Pardon me," said Wilton, after waiting for a reply, and
+determined to speak again, "but I imagine you are not English."
+
+"I scarcely know--yes, I believe I am." She spoke in her former quiet
+tone again.
+
+"In England all young ladies are conservative, at least all I have ever
+known," continued Wilton.
+
+"Conservative!--I have read that word often in the journals. Is it
+legitimacy, Church and state, and all that?"
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"Well, the young ladies I know--and they are but few--are very charming,
+very accomplished; but they know nothing, absolutely nothing. Is it not
+strange?"
+
+There was not the slightest approach to cynicism in her tone, but she
+looked at Wilton as if fully expecting him to share her wonder.
+
+"Is this the character of the young ladies of the unknown land into
+which I am about to plunge? I fancied Scotchwomen were educated within
+an inch of their lives."
+
+"I know English girls best. Some are very learned; have been taught
+quantities; they can tell the very year when printing was tried, and
+when Queen Elizabeth first wore silk stockings, and when every great
+pope was born; and they read French and German; and oh, I cannot tell
+all they can do and say. And yet--yet, they know nothing--they care for
+nothing--they lead such strange lives."
+
+"I suppose the lives of all girls are much alike," observed Wilton, more
+and more curious to find out some leading acts concerning his rather
+original companion. "But, as we are both bound for the same place,
+perhaps I may have some opportunity of communicating my observations on
+the intellectual status of the Monkscleugh young ladies?"
+
+"There is very little probability of such an event," said she, with an
+amused smile.
+
+"Then you do not reside at Monkscleugh?"
+
+"Within three miles of it."
+
+"I am going down to a shooting-lodge called Glenraven," hoping she would
+respond by naming her own abode.
+
+"Indeed! I know it; there are some lovely bits about there."
+
+"We shall be neighbors, then?"
+
+"Yes, in a certain sense. Here," she continued, turning over a fresh
+page of her book, "this is the outline of a very lovely brae and burn
+close to your abode."
+
+It was only a bit of broken bank; a stream, dotted with stones, lay
+below, with some mountain ash trees spreading their feathery foliage
+against the sky; but there were wonderful grace and beauty in the
+sketch. "This gives you a very faint idea of the reality," she resumed,
+in a low, soft tone, as if inwardly contemplating it. "The water is
+clear brown; it foams and chafes round these large black stones, and all
+sorts of delicious mosses and leaves lurk below the edge; and then ferns
+wave about the rocks on the brae, and there are gleams of purple heather
+and tufts of green, green grass, and behind here a great, wild, free
+hill-side. Oh, it is so quiet and dreamy there--delicious!"
+
+"And this delightful brae is near the lodge?" said Wilton, when she
+paused, after listening an instant in hopes she would speak on, there
+was such caressing sweetness in her voice.
+
+"No, not very near; almost a mile away, I think." She evidently knew the
+place well.
+
+"I hope you will continue to transfer the beauties of Glenraven after I
+become a dweller there."
+
+"Oh, yes; whenever I have time; to draw is my greatest pleasure."
+
+With all her frankness, he was not an inch nearer the discovery of her
+actual abode.
+
+"I suppose you do not live far from the scene of your sketch?"
+
+"Not far: Brosedale is quite a mile and a half on this side," touching
+the page with her pencil; "and the pathway to Monkscleugh goes over the
+brae."
+
+"Indeed! I imagine I have heard the name of Brosedale before."
+
+"Very likely; it is, I believe, the largest gentleman's seat in the
+neighborhood."
+
+"Yes, yes; I remember now: it belongs to Sir Peter Fergusson."
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"She cannot be his daughter," thought Wilton; "I suppose she must be
+the governess.--I understand he is quite the grand seigneur of
+Monkscleugh," he said aloud.
+
+"Well, I suppose so. He is a good little man--at least, whenever I see
+him he is very kind." After some further, but intermittent conversation,
+there was a sort of movement in the next room, and Wilton's companion
+begged him to go and see what was the matter.
+
+The matter was the arrival of the promised engine and train; so Wilton's
+conversation and inquiries were put an end to for the present.
+
+To his infinite disgust, when they resumed their places, a fat elderly
+man, a commercial traveller from Glasgow, intruded upon their
+_tête-à-tête_, and absorbed all the talk to himself. He was great in
+railway experiences, accidents included, and addressed a steady,
+unceasing flow of talk to Wilton, who burned to eject him summarily from
+the window.
+
+The young lady had sunk to sleep at last, carefully wrapped in Wilton's
+cloak, and the bagman, having exhausted either his powers or his
+subject, composed himself to slumber. But Wilton could not rest for a
+long time, and he seemed hardly to have lost consciousness before they
+stopped at Carlisle. Here the commercial traveller alighted, and
+Wilton's puzzling companion woke up.
+
+"We shall be at Monkscleugh in three-quarters of an hour," said Wilton;
+"can I be of any further use to you if your friends are not there to
+meet you, as may be the case?"
+
+"There will be no friends to meet me," she replied; "but I need trouble
+you no more: I go to the house of one of the Brosedale employés, who
+will send me on."
+
+"After a hair-breadth 'scape, such as ours," said Wilton, amused at his
+own unwonted bashfulness and difficulty in putting the question, "may I
+ask the name of my comrade in danger?"
+
+"My name?" with some surprise. "Oh, Ella--Ella Rivers."
+
+"And mine; do you not care to inquire?" said Wilton, bending forward to
+look into her eyes.
+
+"Yes," she said, slowly, with a slight sigh; "what is your name?"
+
+"Wilton."
+
+"Have you no other?--there is always more character in a Christian
+name."
+
+"Mine is Ralph."
+
+"Ralph--Ralph--I do not seem to understand it. Are you noble?"
+
+"No; simply Colonel Wilton."
+
+"Ah! a colonel is higher than a captain, and lower than a general?"
+
+"Just so."
+
+She relapsed into silence, scarcely responding to Wilton's endeavor to
+make her talk and turn her eyes upon him. He was surprised to find
+himself counting the minutes that remained before he should be compelled
+to lose sight of his curiously fascinating companion. The parting moment
+came all too quickly, and Wilton was obliged to say "Good-by."
+
+"I hope to have the pleasure of seeing you again," he said, politely.
+
+"There is nothing so unlikely," she returned, with a slight blush;
+"but," holding out her hand, "your kindness will always be a pleasant
+recollection."
+
+She bowed and turned away so decidedly that Wilton felt he must not
+follow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Major Moncrief was as good as his word, and joined his friend before the
+stipulated ten days had expired. Nor had time hung heavily on Wilton's
+hands. He was up early, and turned out every day to tramp through the
+heather, or among the wooded valleys of the picturesque country
+surrounding the lodge. He was an active pedestrian and a good shot;
+moreover, he went thoroughly into the pursuit or amusement that engaged
+him. The game-keeper pronounced him a real sportsman, but thought it
+rather odd that, whatever line of country they had beaten, or were going
+to beat, Colonel Wilton generally contrived to pass across the brae, or
+the path leading from Brosedale to Monkscleugh. The evening was
+generally spent in arranging and correcting his Crimean and Indian
+diaries, so, with the help of a couple of horses, which arrived under
+the care of his soldier servant, he had no lack of amusement and
+occupation. Nevertheless, he welcomed Moncrief very warmly.
+
+"You are a first-rate fellow for joining me so soon. It certainly is
+not good for man to live alone. These are capital quarters--lots of
+game, beautiful country, hospitable neighbors. Look here! I found these
+when I came in yesterday."
+
+So spoke Wilton, handing a card and a note to his friend as they drew
+near the fire after dinner.
+
+"Hum!--ah!--Sir Peter, or rather Lady Fergusson has lost no time,"
+returned the major, laying down the card, which was inscribed "Sir Peter
+J. Fergusson, Brosedale," and, opening the note, which bore a crest and
+monogram in lilac and gold, "her ladyship is anxious we should partake
+of the hospitality of Brosedale on Thursday next, '_sans cérémonie_.' I
+am to bring my friend Colonel Wilton."
+
+"Who are these people?" asked Wilton, as he peeled a walnut.
+
+"Oh, Sir Peter is a man who made a big fortune in China; a very decent
+little fellow. He married an Honorable widow with a string of daughters,
+who manages a happy amalgamation of her old and her new loves by styling
+herself the Honorable Lady Fergusson. Sir Peter bought a large estate
+here for a song when the Grits of Brosedale smashed up. I met the
+baronet in London at General Maclellan's, and my lady was monstrously
+civil; hoped to see me when I was in their neighborhood, and all that;
+but, of course, Wilton, you will not go? We did not come down here for
+polite society--it would be a bore."
+
+Wilton did not answer immediately. "I do not know," he said, at last.
+"It would not do to give such near neighbors the cold shoulder. We might
+be glad of them if we tire of each other. Suppose we go this time, and
+see what sort of neighbors we have?"
+
+Moncrief looked at his friend with some surprise. "As you like," he
+said. "I should have thought it anything but a temptation to you."
+
+"My dear fellow, the weather and the sport and the scenery have made me
+so confoundedly amiable that I am indisposed to say 'No' to any one."
+
+"Very well, I will write and accept; but if you think I am going to dine
+with every resident who chooses to enliven his dulness by entertaining
+two such choice spirits as ourselves, you are very much mistaken, my
+lad. I suppose you are anxious to prosecute your search for a wife, in
+obedience to that crotchety old peer."
+
+"Not I," returned Wilton, laughing; "and, if I were, I do not think it
+very likely I should find the desired article among the Honorable Lady
+Fergusson's daughters."
+
+"I believe Fergusson was married before," said the major, "in his
+earlier, humbler days, when he little thought he would reign in the
+stead of old Jammie Grits at Brosedale." Whereupon the major branched
+off into some local anecdotes, which he told with much dry humor. Wilton
+listened and laughed, but did not forget to put him in mind of the
+necessary reply to Lady Fergusson's invitation.
+
+The major was by no means well pleased at being obliged to dress after a
+severe day's work, for which he was not as yet in training; moreover, he
+was full fifteen years older than his friend, and at no period of his
+life possessed the fire, the eager energy which Wilton carried with him
+into every pursuit, even into every whim. So he grumbled through the
+purgatorial operation, and marvelled gloomily at Wilton's unusual
+readiness to rush into the inanities of a country dinner.
+
+As to Wilton, he felt quite angry with himself for the curious elation
+with which he mounted the dog-cart that was to convey them to Brosedale.
+He did not think there was so much boyish folly left in him; but, occupy
+himself as he might, he could not banish the haunting eyes of Ella
+Rivers. He could not forget the unconscious dignity of her question, "Is
+it death?" The full knowledge of danger, and yet no wild terror! There
+was a fascination about that insignificant stranger which, absurd and
+unreasonable though it was, he could not shake off. This effect was
+heightened by the peculiar, sad indifference of her manner. It was odd
+that he had never met her in any of his varied and extensive
+excursions. The weather had been beautiful, too--most favorable for
+sketching, but she had never appeared. If he could see her again, and
+disperse the species of mystery which formed part of her charm, by
+ascertaining who and what she was, he felt as if he could better break
+the spell. But all this was more vaguely felt than actually thought and
+acknowledged. Wilton would have laughed at any one who told him that his
+thoughts were all more or less pervaded by the quiet little girl who had
+shown such an unusual dislike to soldiers.
+
+The friends reached Brosedale just as Sir Peter hoped they would not be
+late. The house--which was an old one, so largely added to, altered, and
+improved, that scarcely any of the original could be traced--was very
+like all rich men's houses where the women have no distinctive
+taste--handsome, ornate, and commonplace. Lady Fergusson was a fine,
+well-preserved woman, richly dressed in silk and lace. She received
+Major Moncrief and his friend with much cordiality, and presented them
+to her daughters, Miss Helen and Miss Gertrude Saville, and also to a
+nephew and niece who were staying in the house.
+
+"My eldest daughter, who was with me when we had the pleasure of meeting
+you in town, is staying with her aunt, Lady Ashleigh, in Wiltshire,"
+said the hostess to Moncrief. "She is quite enthusiastic about
+archæology, and Ashleigh is in itself a treasure of antiquity."
+
+Miss Helen Saville was a grand, tall brunette, with rich red lips and
+cheeks, luxuriant if somewhat coarse black hair, and large, round black
+eyes, that looked every one and everything full in the face. Her sister
+was smaller, less dark, and in every way a faint copy of the great
+original. The niece was a plain girl, with good points, dressed
+effectively; and the nephew a young lieutenant in some hussar regiment,
+who considered himself bound to fraternize with Wilton. The latter was
+told off to take in Miss Saville by Sir Peter, a small man, whose
+close-clipped white whiskers looked like mutton-chop patterns thickly
+floured. He had a quiet, not to say depressed air, and a generally
+dry-salted aspect, which made Wilton wonder, as he stood talking with
+him before the fire, at the stuff out of which the conquerors of fortune
+are sometimes made.
+
+"What a beautiful country this is!" said Wilton to his neighbor, as his
+soup-plate was removed, and Ganymede, in well-fitting broadcloth, filled
+his glass.
+
+"Strangers admire it, but it is by no means a good neighborhood."
+
+"Indeed! I suppose, then, you are driven in upon your own resources."
+
+"Such as they are," with a smile displaying white but not regular
+teeth.
+
+"No doubt they are numerous. Let me see; what are a young lady's
+resources--crochet, croquet, and curates, healing the sick and feeding
+the hungry?"
+
+"Oh, I do none of those things. The crochet, croquet, and curates, are
+my sister's amusements, and I dislike both the sick and the hungry,
+although I have no objection to subscribe for them."
+
+"Ah! you are terribly destitute; and you do not ride, or I should have
+met you."
+
+"Yes, I am very fond of riding; but we have scarcely returned a week,
+and I have had a bad cold."
+
+"Perhaps you draw?" asked Wilton, approaching his object from afar.
+
+"No; I have always preferred music. None of us care for drawing, except
+my youngest sister."
+
+"Indeed!" (looking across the table), "that is a pleasant variety from
+the crochet, croquet, and curates."
+
+"No; not Gertrude--I mean Isabel. She is still in the school-room."
+
+"Ah! And I suppose sketches with her governess?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"As I imagined," thought Wilton, "my pretty companion is the governess.
+Perhaps she will be in the drawing-room when we go there. If so, I must
+lay the train for some future meeting."
+
+"Pray, Colonel Wilton, are you any relation to a Mr. St. George Wilton
+we met at Baden last summer? He was, or is, _attaché_ somewhere."
+
+"He has the honor of being my first cousin once removed, or my third
+cousin twice removed--some relation, at all events. I am not at all well
+up in the ramifications of the family."
+
+"Well, he is a very agreeable person, I assure you, quite a favorite
+with every one, and speaks all sorts of languages. There was a Russian
+princess at Baden, quite wild about him."
+
+"Is it possible? These fair barbarians are impressionable, however. I
+have met the man you mention years ago. We were at that happy period
+when one can relieve the overburdened heart by a stand-up fight, and I
+have a delightful recollection of thrashing him."
+
+Miss Saville laughed, and then said, "I hope you will be better friends
+when you meet again. I believe he is coming here next week."
+
+"Oh, I promise to keep the peace--unless, indeed, I see him greatly
+preferred before me," returned Wilton, with a rather audacious look,
+which by no means displeased Miss Saville, who was of the order of young
+ladies that prefer a bold wooer.
+
+While the talk flowed glibly at Sir Peter's end of the table, Lady
+Fergusson was delicately cross-examining Moncrief as to the social
+standing of his friend.
+
+"Try a little melon, Major Moncrief. Pray help yourself. That port is, I
+believe, something remarkable. And you were saying Colonel Wilton is
+related to that curious old Lord St. George. We met a cousin of his--his
+heir, in fact--abroad last year, a very charming young man."
+
+"Not his heir, Lady Fergusson, for my friend Ralph is the heir. I am
+quite sure of that."
+
+"Indeed!" returned Lady Fergusson, blandly. "I dare say you are right;"
+and her countenance assumed a softer expression while she continued to
+bestow most flattering attentions upon the rather obtuse major.
+
+The after-dinner separation seemed very long to Wilton, although he was
+a good deal interested by his host's observations upon Eastern matters;
+for Sir Peter was a shrewd, intelligent man; but at last they joined the
+ladies, and found their numbers augmented by a little girl of twelve or
+thirteen, and a rigid lady in gray silk, who was playing a duet with
+Miss Gertrude Saville. Wilton betook himself, coffee-cup in hand, to
+Miss Saville, who was turning over a book of photographs in a
+conspicuously-disengaged position.
+
+"I have had quite an interesting disquisition with your father on the
+East and China. He evidently knows his subject."
+
+"Sir Peter is not my father," said the young lady, with a tinge of
+haughtiness.
+
+"True. I forgot," apologetically. "Ah! that is your little
+artist-sister. I am very fond of children."
+
+"Are you? I am sure I am not, little tiresome, useless animals."
+
+"Human nature in the raw, eh!"
+
+"Yes; I prefer it dressed. Still, to quote an inelegant proverb, 'Too
+much cookery spoils the broth!' But some is quite essential. Here,
+Isabel, take my cup." The little girl approached and offered to take
+Wilton's.
+
+"No, not at any age could I permit such a thing," said he, laughing.
+"And so you are the artist in the house of Saville! Are you very fond of
+drawing?"
+
+"I used not to be until--" she began to reply, when her sister
+interrupted her.
+
+"Look, Isabel, Miss Walker wants you. Miss Walker (Hooky Walker, as my
+Cousin Jim calls her, because she has a hooked nose) is the governess. I
+think poor Isabel is a little afraid of her. She is awfully clever, and
+very slow."
+
+Wilton looked at her in deep disappointment; the mystery was growing
+more difficult. Perhaps after all, Ella Rivers did _not_ live at
+Brosedale! Now he recalled all she had said, he found she had not
+positively asserted that she lived there, or anywhere. Could it be
+possible that she had slipped from his grasp--that he would never see
+her again--was she only the wraith of a charming, puzzling girl? Pooh!
+what was it to him? His business was to enjoy three or four months'
+sport and relaxation. He was so far fortunate. His chum, Moncrief, had
+pitched on excellent shooting quarters for their joint occupation. His
+campaign had proved a very remedial measure, for he was quite clear of
+his debts, and the good intentions of Lord St. George formed a pleasing
+if uncertain perspective. So Wilton reflected, while Miss Helen Saville
+performed a _tarantella_ of marvellous difficulty, where accidentals,
+abstruse harmonious discords, and double shakes, appalled the listening
+ear. When it was finished, the audience were properly complimentary,
+which homage the fair performer disregarded with a cool and lofty
+indifference highly creditable to her training in the school of modern
+young-ladyism.
+
+"What an amount of study must be required to attain such skill!" said
+Wilton, as she returned to her seat near him. "Is it indiscreet to ask
+how many hours a day it took to produce all that?"
+
+"Oh, not so very many. When I was in the school-room, I practised four
+or five; now much less keeps me in practice. Are you fond of music,
+Colonel Wilton?"
+
+"Yes, I am extremely fond of it, in an ignorant way. I like old ballads,
+and soft airs, and marches, and all that low style of music suited to
+outside barbarians like myself." And Wilton, instinctively conscious
+that the brilliant Miss Saville admired him, bestowed a mischievous
+glance upon her as he spoke, not sorry, perhaps, to act upon the
+well-known principle of counter-irritation, to cure himself of the
+absurd impression made upon him by his chance encounter.
+
+"I understand," returned Miss Saville, a little piqued, as he had
+intended she should be. "You look upon such compositions as I have just
+played as a horrid nuisance."
+
+"Like a certain very bad spirit, I tremble and adore," said Wilton,
+laughing. "I have no doubt however, that you could charm my savage
+breast, or rouse my martial fire, with 'Auld Robin Gray' or 'Scots wha
+hae wi' Wallace bled.'"
+
+"No, I cannot," replied Miss Saville, haughtily. "Gertrude sings a
+little, and, I believe, can give you 'Auld Robin Gray,' if you ask her."
+
+"I shall try, at all events," said Wilton, amused at the slight
+annoyance of her tone, and rising to execute his purpose, when Helen,
+to his surprise, forestalled him by calling her sister to her very
+amiably, "Gertrude, will you sing for Colonel Wilton? I will play your
+accompaniment." So the desired ballad was sung, very correctly and quite
+in tune, but as if performed by some vocal instrument utterly devoid of
+human feeling.
+
+There was more music, and a good deal of talk about hunting
+arrangements; but Wilton was extremely pleased to be once more in the
+dog-cart, cigar in mouth, facing the fresh, brisk breeze, on their
+homeward way. The major, on the contrary, was in a far more happy frame
+of mind than at starting. He preferred hunting to shooting, and was
+highly pleased at the prospect of two days' hunting a week.
+
+"You are right, Moncrief," said Wilton, as they bowled away over the
+smooth, hard road; "these country dinners and family parties ought to be
+devoutly avoided by all sensible men."
+
+"I do not know," returned the mentor. "I think they are a very tolerable
+lot; and I fancy you found amusement enough with that slashing fine
+girl--you took very little notice of any one else, by Jove! I sometimes
+think I hate the lassies, they are such kittle cattle. Now, a woman
+that's 'wooed and married and a'' is safe, and may be just as pleasant."
+
+"I acknowledge the fact, but I object to the morality," returned
+Wilton, laughing.
+
+"You do? I was not aware of your regeneration."
+
+"Hallo!" cried Wilton. "There's some one in front there, just under the
+shadow of that beech-tree."
+
+"Yes, I thought I saw something. It's a child or a girl."
+
+Wilton, who was driving, did not answer, though he drew up suddenly, and
+made a movement as if to throw aside the plaid that wrapped his knees
+and spring down.
+
+"What are you about? are you daft, man?"
+
+"Nothing, nothing. I fancied--here, Byrne, look at this trace; it is
+loose."
+
+"Sure it's all right, sir."
+
+"Is it? Never mind." And Wilton, after casting an eager look up a
+pathway which led from the beech-tree into the grounds of Brosedale,
+gathered up the reins and drove rapidly home.
+
+
+It was about a week after the Brosedale dinner that Wilton had sallied
+forth, intending to ride over to Monkscleugh. He had nearly resigned the
+idea of ever encountering his fair fellow-traveller again, though he
+could not shake off the conviction that the slight dim figure which had
+flitted from out the shade of the beech-tree, across the moonlight, and
+into the gloom of the Brosedale plantations, was that of Miss Rivers.
+Still, it was most strange that she should be there at such an
+hour--half-past ten at least--rather too enterprising for a young lady.
+Yet, if Moncrief had not been with him, he would certainly have given
+chase, and satisfied himself as to the identity of the child or woman
+who had crossed their path.
+
+On this particular afternoon, however, Wilton's thoughts were occupied
+by the letters he had received that morning, one of which was from Lord
+St. George, who wrote to remind him of his promise to call when he
+passed through London again. The viscount also mentioned that a former
+friend of his, the Earl of D----, would be in his (Wilton's)
+neighborhood early in November, and would probably call upon him.
+
+Wilton smiled as he read this, remembering that the earl had three
+unmarried daughters. "A young gentleman," the writer continued, "calling
+himself St. George Wilton, left a card here some days ago, and was good
+enough to say that he would call again, which enabled me to forbid his
+admittance. He did repeat the attempt, when he told my valet, whom he
+asked to see, that he was going to Scotland, and would probably see
+Colonel Wilton, if I had any commands. I imagine my obliging namesake is
+a son of Fred Wilton, who was in the navy--but not exactly the type of
+an honest, simple sailor. I would advise you not to be on too cousinly
+terms. I have heard, even in my cell, of the young gentleman's
+diplomatic astuteness."
+
+Pondering on this epistle, and smiling at the sudden interest evinced
+toward him by the eccentric peer, Wilton rode leisurely toward
+Monkscleugh, enjoying the splendid golden evening tinge in the sky, the
+rich and varied hues of wood and moorland, when a sudden turn in the
+road brought him face to face with a slight, gray figure, wearing a
+wide-brimmed hat, and carrying a small parcel. In an instant all the
+half-scorned but potent longings, the vivid picture-like recollections
+of tones and glances, that had haunted him even while he laughed at
+himself for being pervaded by them--all these absurd fancies he had so
+nearly shaken off rushed back in a torrent, and made his pulses leap at
+the immediate prospect of solving many mysteries.
+
+He was dismounted and at her side in an instant. "I thought you had
+vanished--that I had lost you forever!" he exclaimed, with the sort of
+well-bred impetuosity peculiar to his manner; while, seeing that she
+made no motion to hold out her hand, he only lifted his hat.
+
+The faint color came to her cheek as she raised her eyes frankly to his,
+with a brighter, merrier smile than he had seen upon her lip before.
+"Nevertheless, I have not been very far away."
+
+"Have you been at Brosedale all the time--then how is it we have not
+met?"
+
+"I cannot tell; but I have been at Brosedale."
+
+Wilton threw the reins over his arm, and walked on beside her. "And are
+you all right again--recovered from your fright, and had sleep enough?"
+looking at her eagerly as he spoke, and noting the soft lustre of her
+eyes, the clear, pale cheek, the ripe red though not full lips, all so
+much fairer and fresher than when they parted.
+
+"Yes, I am quite well, and rested." A pause. She was apparently not
+inclined to talk more than she could help.
+
+"Do you know I quite expected to see you when I dined at Brosedale the
+other day--how was it you did not appear?"
+
+"What! did you expect to see me at dinner? Do you, then, think I am a
+much-disguised princess?"
+
+"Not so very much disguised," he replied, rather surprised at her tone.
+
+She raised her eyes fully to his, with a look half amused, half
+scornful. "You might dine many times at Brosedale without seeing me. Do
+you know that Sir Peter Fergusson was married before, and he has one
+son--a poor, crippled, often-suffering boy of thirteen, I think? Well,
+this boy can do very little to amuse himself; he does not care for
+study, but he loves pictures and drawing, so I was engaged about a year
+ago to be, not his governess--I am too ignorant--nor his companion--that
+would be a lady-in-waiting--but a _souffre douleur_ and teacher of
+drawing. I live with my poor boy, who is never shown to visitors; and we
+are not unhappy together."
+
+"I have heard of this son, but thought he was away; and you are always
+with him--very fortunate for him, but what a life for you!"
+
+"A far better life than many women have," she replied, softly, looking
+away from him and speaking as if to herself.
+
+"Still, it is an awful sacrifice!"
+
+She laughed with real, sweet merriment. "That depends on what has been
+sacrificed. And you," she went on, with the odd independence of manner
+which, had her voice been less soft and low, her bearing less gentle,
+might have seemed audacious, "do you like Glenraven? Have you found many
+lovely bits of scenery?"
+
+"I am charmed with the country; and, were I as fortunate as young
+Fergusson in a companion, I might even try my 'prentice hand at
+sketching."
+
+"If you will not try alone, neither will you even if Claude Lorraine
+came to cut your pencils."
+
+"I wish," said Wilton, "I had a chance of cutting yours."
+
+"But you have not," she returned, with a sort of indolent gravity not in
+the least coquettish, and a pause ensued. Wilton had seldom felt so
+adrift with any woman; perfectly frank and ready to talk, there was yet
+a strange half-cold indifference in her manner that did not belong to
+her fair youth, and upon which he dared not presume, though he chafed
+inwardly at the mask her frankness offered.
+
+"I suppose you are kept very much in the house with your--pupil?" asked
+Wilton.
+
+"Sometimes; he has been very unwell since I came back. But he has a
+pony-carriage, and he drives about, and I drive it occasionally; but it
+pains him to walk, poor fellow! He is interested in some things. He
+wished much to see you and hear about the Crimea and India."
+
+"I am sure," cried Wilton, with great readiness, "I should be most happy
+to see him or contribute to his amusement--pray tell him so from me."
+
+"No, I cannot," with a shake of the head; "Lady Fergusson is so very
+good she thinks everything wrong; and to walk upon a country-road with a
+great man like you would be worse than wrong--it would be shocking!"
+
+Wilton could not refrain from laughing at the droll gravity of her
+tone, though in some indefinable way it piqued and annoyed him.
+
+"Well, they are all out of the way--they have driven over to A----. Have
+they not?"
+
+"Yes, and therefore there was no one to send to Monkscleugh to choose
+some prints that Donald wanted very much for a screen we are making, so
+I went."
+
+"And so at last I had the pleasure of meeting you. I had begun to fear I
+should never have a chance of asking if you had recovered from your
+fright; for though no woman could have shown more pluck, you must have
+been frightened."
+
+"I was, indeed, and I do not think I am naturally brave; but I must bid
+you good-morning--my way lies through the plantations."
+
+"No, no! you must not send me adrift--are we not comrades? We have faced
+danger together; and I am sure you are not influenced by Lady
+Fergusson's views."
+
+"Lady Fergusson! pooh!"
+
+There was wonderful, airy, becoming grace in the pant which seemed to
+blow defiance like a kiss to the immaculate Lady Fergusson.
+"Nevertheless, I must say good-by, for your horse could not get through
+that."
+
+She pointed to a small swing-gate, which led from the road to a path
+across a piece of rough heath-grown ground, between the road and the
+woods.
+
+"Do you forbid me to escort you farther?" said Wilton, quickly.
+
+She thought an instant. "Were I going to walk along the road I should
+not," the faintest color stealing over her cheek as she spoke; "it is
+pleasant to talk with a new person sometimes, but I cannot alter my
+route."
+
+Wilton laughed, and, mounting rapidly, rode to the farther side of the
+wide waste border, where there was almost a small common; rousing up his
+horse he rushed him at the fence separating Sir Peter's land from the
+road, and landed safely within the boundary just as his companion passed
+through the gate.
+
+She gave a slight suppressed scream, and as he again dismounted and
+joined her she looked very pale.
+
+"How could you be so foolish as to do so!" she exclaimed, almost angry.
+"You have frightened me."
+
+"I am extremely sorry, but you can know little of country-life; any man
+accustomed to hunt, and tolerably mounted, could have done as much."
+
+She shook her head and walked on in silence, most embarrassing to
+Wilton. "I hope I have not displeased you," he said, earnestly, trying
+to look into her eyes; "but I thought I had your permission to accompany
+you a little farther."
+
+"Yes, but who could imagine you would commit such an eccentricity as to
+take a leap like that?"
+
+"I do not allow it was an eccentricity, I suppose you absolve me?"
+
+"_Absolvo te!_--and the horse also. What a beautiful horse; how gently
+he follows you! I should so much like to sketch him; I fear I do not
+sketch animals well; I do not catch their character. Oh! could I sketch
+him now!" stopping short, and speaking with great animation. "Ah! I am
+too unreasonable--how could I ask you?"
+
+The faint flitting flush that gave so much charm to her countenance, the
+sudden lighting up of her dark eyes with childlike eagerness, so unlike
+their usual expression of rather sad indifference, fascinated Wilton
+strangely; it was an instant before he replied, "Of course you shall
+sketch him; I have nothing to do, and am very glad to be of any service
+to you."
+
+"Thank you, thank you very much! See," as she hastily unfolded her
+parcel, "I had just bought a new sketch-book, and you have provided a
+frontispiece." She seated herself on one of the large gray stones that
+dotted the piece of ground they were crossing, and quickly pointed a
+pencil. "There, turn his head a little toward me--not quite so much;
+that will do."
+
+For some time Wilton stood still and silent, watching the small, white,
+deft fingers as they firmly and rapidly traced the outline, or put in
+the shading with broad, bold strokes; occasionally he quieted the horse
+with a word, while he stored his memory with the pretty graceful figure,
+from a tiny foot half-buried in the soft, short grass to the well-set,
+haughty head and neck. "It is curious," he thought; "here is a girl, in
+almost a menial position, with all the attributes of race, and a pair of
+eyes a king's daughter might pine to possess. Who can she be? What is
+her history? Why did she venture out alone when she ought to have been
+going to bed? I shall ask her." These ideas passed through Wilton's
+brain, although any clear continuity of thought was considerably impeded
+by the intermittent glimpses of a pair of full, deep-blue eyes,
+alternately upturned and downcast.
+
+Suddenly Wilton was ordered, "Look away--over your horse's neck;" and
+when, having preserved this position for several moments, he attempted
+to assume a more agreeable attitude, he was met with an eager "Pray be
+still for a little longer."
+
+At last he was released.
+
+"There," said his new acquaintance, "I will keep you no longer; you have
+been very kind. See, how have I done it?"
+
+Wilton looked eagerly at the page held out to him.
+
+"It is wonderfully good for so hasty a sketch," he said; "the head and
+foreleg are capital, and as far as I can judge, the likeness to the
+back of my head first-rate."
+
+"I can generally catch the likeness of people," she returned, looking at
+the page and touching it here and there.
+
+"Was that the reason you told me to look away?" asked Wilton, smiling.
+
+"No; I did not wish your face in my book." Then, coloring and looking
+up, "Not that I forget your kindness to me. No; but, you understand, if
+Lady Fergusson found Mr.--that is, Colonel--Wilton's face in my book it
+would be the most shocking--the superlative shocking! Ah, there is no
+word enormous enough for such a 'shocking!'" And she laughed low but
+merrily. Wilton found it catching and laughed too, though it puzzled him
+to reply. She went on, "You would have come in better for the picture
+had you had your soldier's dress on, holding the horse and looking thus;
+and then, with some bright coloring, it might have been called 'On the
+Alert,' or some such thing, and sold for a hundred pence. I have seen
+this sort of sketches often in picture-shops." She spoke quickly, as if
+to cover a slight embarrassment, as she put away her pencils and book.
+
+"Well, Miss Rivers, both Omar here and myself will be most happy to
+sit, or rather stand, for you whenever you like."
+
+"Ah, I shall never have another opportunity," she replied, walking
+toward the next fence and swing-gate, which led into the wood.
+
+"You threatened as much when I bade you good-by, that I was never to see
+you again, and yet we have met; so I shall not be utterly downcast by
+your present prophecy."
+
+She did not reply for a minute, and then exclaimed, "Suppose I were ever
+to succeed in making painting my career, would you, when you are a great
+nobleman--as Miss Saville says you will be--sit to me for your picture?
+And then we should have in the catalogue of the year's exhibition,
+'Portrait of the Earl--or Duke--of Blank, by Ella Rivers.'"
+
+"I can only say I will sit to you when and where you will."
+
+"Ah, the possibility of independent work is too charming! But I forget
+myself--what o'clock is it?"
+
+"Quarter to three," said Wilton, looking at his watch.
+
+"Then I have been out too long. See how low the sun is! What glorious
+sunset hues! But I must not stay. Oh, how I hate to go in! How I love
+the liberty of the open air--the free, unwalled space! I feel another
+being in the prison of a great house. If you met me there, you would
+not know me. I should not dare to look up; I should speak with bated
+breath, as if you were a superior. Can you fancy such a thing?"
+
+"No; the wildest stretch of my imagination could not suggest such an
+idea. But can you not keep out a little longer?" There was a strained,
+yearning look in her eyes that touched Wilton to the heart.
+
+"Impossible! My poor Donald will be cross and wretched. And you--you
+must go. I am foolish to have talked so much."
+
+"You must let me come a little farther; that fence up there is
+considerably stiffer than the last, but I think Omar will take it."
+
+"No, no, no!" clasping her hands.
+
+"Yet you are not easily frightened. A young lady that can venture on a
+moonlight ramble when less adventurous people are going to bed must have
+strong nerves."
+
+"Did you recognize me, then?" she interrupted, not in the least
+disturbed by his question, but offering no explanation of her appearance
+at such an hour. "Yes, I am not cowardly in some things. However, I must
+say good morning."
+
+"And you will not permit me come any farther?"
+
+"No!"--He felt her "no" was very earnest.--"Nay, more, I will stay here
+until I see you safe at the other side of that fence again."
+
+There was a quaint, unembarrassed decision in her tone that somewhat
+lessened the pleasure with which he heard her.
+
+"I assure you, it is not worth your while to watch so insignificant a
+feat of horsemanship; that fence is a nothing."
+
+"It does not seem so to me. It is possible an accident might happen, and
+then you would have no help. It would not be right to go on, and leave
+you to chance."
+
+"If you will, then, I shall not keep you long. But, Miss Rivers, shall
+you not want to visit Monkscleugh soon again? Have you abjured the
+picturesque braes of Glenraven? Is there no chance of another artistic
+talk with you?"
+
+"No! Scarcely any possibility of such a thing. Good-by! I am much
+obliged for the sketch you granted me. My good wishes!"--a slight,
+proudly-gracious bend of the head--"but go!" She stood with her parcel
+tightly held, not the slightest symptom of a shake of the hand; and,
+bold man of the world as he was, Wilton felt he must not presume to hold
+out his; he therefore sprung into the saddle, and was soon over the
+fence and on the road. He raised his hat, and received a wave of the
+hand in return.
+
+He remained there until she vanished through the gate, and then,
+touching his impatient horse with the heel, rode at speed to
+Monkscleugh, whence, having accomplished his errand, he made a
+considerable _détour_; so that evening had closed in, and the major was
+waiting for dinner when he reached the lodge.
+
+"Where have you been?" demanded his hungry senior. Wilton replied by an
+elaborate description of his progress, _minus_ the leading incident. The
+care he took to mislead his friend and mask his own movements was
+surprising almost to himself. Yet, as he reflected, what was there in
+the whole adventure to conceal? No harm, certainly. Nor was Moncrief a
+man who would jest coarsely, or draw wicked inferences. Still, it was
+impossible that he or any man could understand the sort of impression
+Ella (it was extraordinary how readily her name came to his mind) had
+made upon him, unless he knew her; and even then, what opinion would a
+cool, shrewd, common-sense fellow like Moncrief form? He (Wilton)
+himself was, he feared, an impressionable idiot, and, no doubt,
+exaggerated effects. Nevertheless, those soft, deep eyes, with their
+earnest, yearning expression, haunted him almost painfully. If he could
+see them again, perhaps the effect would wear off; and, without thinking
+of the consequences, he most resolutely determined to see her as soon as
+he could possibly manage to do so, without drawing down any
+unpleasantness on that curious, puzzling, _piquante_ girl. Major
+Moncrief little imagined the vivid gleams of recollection and conjecture
+which ever and anon shot athwart the current of his companion's ideas,
+as he took his part in a discussion on the probable future of the army
+in India with apparent interest, and even eagerness. The major's
+intelligence was keen so far as it went, but that was not far;
+therefore, though good comrades and excellent friends, they seldom
+agreed in opinion, Wilton's mental views being greatly wider: the result
+of the difference being that Moncrief considered Wilton "a fine fellow,
+but deucedly visionary--unpractical, in short," except in regimental
+matters; while Wilton spoke confidentially of the major as "a capital
+old boy, but blind as a bat in some directions."
+
+"Well, I maintain that we will never have such men again as the soldiers
+and diplomates trained under the old company. Why, even the officers of
+the humbler grade--the Jacobs and Greens, to say nothing of Edwards and
+a lot more--have very few equals in the queen's service."
+
+"True enough," replied Wilton, a little absently. "We have too much
+pipe-clay and red-tape." So spake he with his lips, while his brain was
+striving busily to solve the question, "What could have brought her out
+at night through the lonely woods? Was it possible that any motive less
+strong than an appointment with a lover could have braced a slight,
+nervous girl (for, though plucky, she is nervous) to such an
+undertaking? But, if she cared enough for any one to dare it, it would
+be worth braving a good deal to meet her." The picture suggested was
+rather fascinating, for the major exclaimed, "I say, Wilton, are you
+asleep?" and brought their discussion to an end.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+Another week passed rapidly over, assisted in its flight by two capital
+runs with the Friarshire hounds and a dinner at a neighboring magnate's,
+where Wilton made himself marvellously agreeable to Helen Saville, and
+promised to ride with her next day; but neither at luncheon nor in the
+house or grounds did he catch a glimpse of Ella Rivers; again she had
+totally disappeared.
+
+Miss Saville did not find Wilton so pleasant a companion, either during
+their ride or the luncheon which preceded it, as he had been at dinner
+the day before.
+
+The accomplished Miss Walker and her pupil joined the party, but no
+other junior member of the family.
+
+"What an infamous shame," thought Wilton, "not to let that poor boy have
+a little society!" However, Fortune was not quite inexorable. As Wilton
+rode up to the door on their return, intending to bid the young ladies
+under his escort good-by, he became aware of a small figure, with a
+large head and prominent eyes, standing on the threshold, supported by
+crutches, while a pony-carriage was just disappearing toward the
+stables.
+
+"What a nuisance!" said Helen to Gertrude. "I wonder what that boy
+wants?"
+
+"Well, Donald, you ought not to stay here after your drive. You will
+take cold," said Miss Saville.
+
+"Never you mind," retorted the boy, in a shrill, resentful voice. "I
+want to speak to Colonel Wilton."
+
+"To me?" said Wilton, coming forward.
+
+"Yes, I have asked them all to bring you to see me, and they won't. I
+believe they'd like to smother me altogether. Will you come and see me
+and Ella? I want to hear about a battle and lots of things."
+
+He spoke with a sort of querulous impetuosity.
+
+"I shall be most happy to rub up my recollections for your benefit,"
+said Wilton, good-humoredly, and taking the hand which the little
+cripple contrived to hold out to him.
+
+"When will you come? To-morrow?"
+
+"I am afraid I cannot," replied Wilton, remembering an engagement with
+Moncrief, and speaking with very genuine regret.
+
+"Well, the day after?"
+
+"Oh, don't tease, Donny," cried Gertrude Saville.
+
+"The first time Colonel Wilton comes over to luncheon I will ask him to
+come and talk to you," said Helen.
+
+"Colonel Wilton, will you just ask for me--Master Fergusson! In the old
+times, I would be 'Master of Brosedale.' I shall never see you if you do
+not."
+
+"Depend on my calling on you," returned Wilton, smiling.
+
+"And soon?"
+
+"Yes, very soon."
+
+Without another word, the unfortunate heir of so much wealth turned and
+limped into the hall with surprising rapidity.
+
+"How annoying!" cried Gertrude.
+
+"What an awful bore!" said Helen. "Really, Colonel Wilton, I am quite
+vexed that he should intrude himself upon you."
+
+"Why! I do not see anything vexatious in it."
+
+"You are too good. Do you know that boy is the bane of our existence?"
+
+"Do you wish me to shoot him?" asked Wilton, laughing. "I really cannot
+wait to do so at present, so good morning, though closing shades almost
+compel me to say good night."
+
+
+It was nearly a week before Wilton permitted himself to accept the
+invitation given him by the heir of Brosedale, and, in the interim, he
+dined at D---- Castle. The Ladies Mowbray were pleasant, unaffected
+girls, considerably less imposing and more simple than Helen Saville.
+
+"These are exactly the style of women to please Lord St. George,"
+thought Wilton, as he walked over to Brosedale a day or two after. "And
+very much the style to please myself formerly; but at present--no. I am
+wonderfully absorbed by this temporary insanity, which must not lead me
+too far." Musing in this strain, he reached the grand, brand-new house,
+where Lady Fergusson and her daughters received him in rich silk morning
+costumes, very becoming and tasteful, but, somehow, not so pleasant to
+his eye as the pretty, fresh print dresses of Lord D----'s daughters.
+
+Sir Peter came in to luncheon, which he did not always. His presence
+generally produced a depressing effect upon his fair step-daughters, and
+Wilton began to fear that no one would give him an opening to fulfil his
+promise to the crippled boy. At last he took the initiative himself;
+and, when Sir Peter paused in an exposition of the opium-trade, Wilton
+addressed Helen:
+
+"You must not let me break my promise to your brother--step-brother, I
+mean."
+
+"How! what!" exclaimed Sir Peter to his wife. "Has he seen Donald?" He
+spoke in a sharp, startled tone.
+
+"The young gentleman introduced himself to me at the entrance of your
+hospitable mansion the other day, and expressed a wish to hear my
+warlike experiences, so I promised to give him a _séance_."
+
+"You are very good," said Sir Peter, slowly, looking down. "Donald has
+but few pleasures, poor fellow!"
+
+After this, all the talk died out of the little baronet, and he soon
+rose and left the room.
+
+"Indeed!" cried Gertrude, as the door closed on her step-father, "Donald
+has tormented us ever since to know when you were coming to see him. You
+had better take Colonel Wilton to the school-room, Helen, and have done
+with it."
+
+"I am quite ashamed of troubling you, Colonel Wilton," said Lady
+Fergusson. "But that boy's whims are very absurd, and Sir Peter is very
+weak, I must say."
+
+"However, we have had quite a respite since little Miss Rivers came
+down," interrupted Helen Saville. "She manages him wonderfully. You
+cannot think what a curious pair they are together. You have seen
+Donald; and Miss Rivers, though not absolutely plain, is a cold,
+colorless little thing, generally very silent."
+
+"But she can tell stories delightfully," cried Isabella; "she makes
+Donald laugh and be quite good-humored for hours together."
+
+"I fear," interrupted the accomplished Miss Walker, "that, if my young
+charge is too much with Master Fergusson and his companion, her mind
+will be quite occupied with a very useless array of fairy tales and
+legends, more calculated to distort than to illustrate historic truth."
+
+"I am sure you are right, Miss Walker. Isabella, you must not go into
+Donald's room without Miss Walker's permission," remarked Lady
+Fergusson.
+
+"And she will never let me," said Isabella, with a very rebellious pout.
+
+"Well, well, let us get this visit over," cried Helen, rising. "I will
+see if he is in the house and visible."
+
+"You cannot think what a nuisance that poor boy was to my girls at
+first, and how well they bore with him, particularly Helen," said Lady
+Fergusson. "I am sure Miss Walker did the state great service when she
+found little Miss Rivers. She suits Donald wonderfully, though she is an
+oddity in her own way also."
+
+Miss Walker murmured something about "being happy," but her tone was
+melancholy and uncertain, as though she thought the introduction of an
+element at variance with historic truth was a doubtful good.
+
+Wilton made no direct reply; he was curious to ascertain if Miss Rivers
+had mentioned him, and anxious in any case to play into her hands.
+
+Helen Saville returned quickly.
+
+"Yes," she said, "Donald is at home, and will be highly pleased to see
+you."
+
+Wilton accordingly followed her through various well-warmed and carpeted
+passages to a handsome room on the sunny side of the house, which was
+the dwelling-place of the heir. Books and music, a piano,
+drawing-materials, globes, pictures, maps, all appliances for amusement
+and study, gave a pleasant aspect to the apartment. The boy was seated
+in a chair of elaborate make, furnished with a desk and candle-holder,
+and which could be raised or lowered to any angle. His crutch lay at
+hand, and he seemed engaged in drawing. He was plain and unattractive
+enough--a shrivelled-looking frame, a large head, wide mouth, projecting
+brow--all the characteristics of deformity. Even large and glittering
+eyes did not redeem the pale, wan face, over which gleamed a malign
+expression by no means pleasant to a stranger.
+
+"I thought you would never come," he exclaimed, bluntly, in a harsh,
+querulous voice, and holding out his hand.
+
+"You will accept me now I am here, I hope," said Wilton, smiling.
+
+"Oh, yes; I am very glad to see you."
+
+"You are an artist, I see?"
+
+"I hope to be one. Look here."
+
+Wilton approached his desk. A sketch lay upon it. A confused mass of
+figures, apparently intended for a desperate battle.
+
+"This," continued Donald, "is what I wanted you for. This is a study for
+a large picture in oils (I will begin it when I am a little stronger) of
+the battle of Balaklava. Nothing has ever been made of this subject, and
+I want to make something of it; so I thought you would just look at my
+sketch and see if I have caught an idea of the scene, and correct any
+inaccuracy that strikes you."
+
+"I should be most happy to help you," returned Wilton, looking
+hopelessly at the crowd of forms before him; "but I fear my capabilities
+are not quite equal to the task. In the first place, I was not in the
+Balaklava affair, and then one's recollections of a battle are not very
+clear."
+
+"If confusion is a true likeness, Donny's picture will be remarkably
+successful," said Miss Saville, with a grave manner. Her words brought a
+flush to the boy's pale brow.
+
+"I wish you would go away," he said, rudely and abruptly. "I can never
+talk about anything when you are by."
+
+"To hear is to obey," replied Miss Saville, rising; "only do not try
+Colonel Wilton's patience too much."
+
+"Go! go!" returned Donald, almost fiercely.
+
+Wilton could not refrain from smiling as she left the room.
+
+"I hate those Savilles!" cried Donald, observing it; "and so would you
+if you lived in the house with them."
+
+"That is a subject on which we shall never agree. Let us return to your
+picture," said Wilton, thinking what a thorough "sell" it would be if
+Ella Rivers never made her appearance; for, with all his surface easy
+good-nature, Wilton did not fancy sacrificing even a small share of his
+time to an ill-natured imp like this.
+
+"Look here! I have made this hussar grasp a lancer by the throat, and
+thrust a sword into his side. Will that do?"
+
+"I see. Well, hardly. You know both hussars and lancers were our men,
+therefore you must not make them fight; and here you have not the
+Russian uniform quite correctly. I think I have some sketches of the
+Russians that would help you. But is it not rather ambitious for such a
+youngster as yourself to aim at historical painting?"
+
+"That is what Ella says; but it is my only chance of fame." The word on
+his lips was suggestive of sadness, and Wilton looked at the frail
+form, the pallid face, the thin, tremulous, feverish fingers with
+compassion. Before he could reply, a door behind him opened softly. "Oh,
+come here, Ella!" cried Donald. Wilton turned quickly, and just caught a
+glimpse of a gray skirt vanishing. "Ella, come back! Ella! Ella!"
+screamed the boy, with a sort of angry impatience that would not be
+denied.
+
+"I am here, then," she said, reopening the door and coming in.
+
+Wilton felt his (not inexperienced) heart throb as she approached, her
+cheek warm with a soft, flitting blush, a slight smile upon her lips,
+but her large eyes grave and calm. It was the first time Wilton had seen
+her in-doors, and the delicate dignity of her look, especially the
+setting on of her head, charmed him. The excessive simplicity of her
+perpetual gray dress could not hide the grace of her slim, round form,
+and yet he could well imagine that the vulgar, common taste that looks
+for rich color and striking outline might consider the quiet moonlight
+beauty of this obscure girl something almost plain.
+
+Wilton greeted her silently as she approached, with a profound bow. She
+acknowledged him.
+
+"I did not know you had any one with you," she said to her pupil.
+
+"Do you know Colonel Wilton?" he asked, sharply.
+
+"He was in the train with me when the collision occurred," she replied
+quietly, the color fading away from her cheek, and leaving it very pale.
+
+"Why did you not tell me?"
+
+"There was nothing to tell, and you never asked me about my adventures."
+
+"This young gentleman is very ambitious," said Wilton, to change the
+subject. "He is designing to immortalize himself and the Six Hundred at
+once."
+
+"He will not have patience. I tell him that even the greatest genius
+must wait and work." She sighed as she spoke. "Besides, it is almost
+desecration for art to bestow itself on such a subject."
+
+"There!" cried the boy, passionately, "you always discourage me; you are
+cruel! Have I so much pleasure or hope that you should take this from
+me?"
+
+She rose from the seat she had taken and came to him, laying her hand on
+his shoulder with a wonderfully tender gesture. "I do not discourage
+you, _caro_! You have much ability, but you have scarcely fourteen
+years. Twenty years hence you will still be young, quite young enough to
+paint men tearing each other to pieces with immense success. Now, you
+must learn to walk before you can fly upon the wings of fame. Let us put
+this away."
+
+"No, you shall not. As to twenty years hence, do not talk of them to
+me!"
+
+The fierce, complaining tone passed from his voice, and he leaned back,
+raising his eyes to hers with a yearning, loving, sad expression that
+struck Wilton with strange jealousy. The boy was old for his years, and
+perhaps, unknown to himself, loved his gentle companion with more than
+brotherly love. The idea chafed him, and to banish it he spoke:
+
+"Why not make separate studies for your figures? It will practise your
+hand and make material for your picture. I will send you over the
+Russian views and figures I have; they will help you as to costume and
+scenery."
+
+There was a pause. Wilton was determined not to go away; and Donald, the
+fire gone from his eyes, his very figure limp, would not speak. At last,
+Miss Rivers, who was arranging a box of colors, said, "This
+gentleman--Colonel Wilton's suggestion is very good. Suppose you act
+upon it? And perhaps he will come again, and see how you go on."
+
+She looked at Colonel Wilton as she spoke, and he tried to make out
+whether she wished him to return, or to give him the opportunity of
+escape. Although not inclined to under-estimate himself, he came to the
+latter conclusion; but did not avail himself of it.
+
+"You have something more to show me, have you not!" he asked, kindly.
+
+"Yes; plenty much better," answered Ella Rivers for him; and, slipping
+away the fatal battle-scene, she replaced it with a portfolio full of
+sketches very unequal in merit. Ella quickly picked out the best, and
+Donald appeared to cheer up under the encouragement of Wilton's praise.
+
+"Show your sketch of 'Dandy,'" said the boy to Ella.--"She draws very
+well.--Bring your portfolio, Ella," he went on.
+
+"It is not necessary. You are keeping Colonel Wilton."
+
+"You are not, indeed. I rather fancy you wish to get rid of me, Miss
+Rivers."
+
+"Miss Rivers! Miss Rivers! How did you know her name?"
+
+"I? Oh, I have heard it several times! Your sister mentioned Miss Rivers
+to-day at luncheon."
+
+"Show your book, Ella, at all events."
+
+She went to a distant table, after a full, searching look at Colonel
+Wilton, and brought the book he well remembered.
+
+"Here is a capital likeness of my pony and my father's pet Skye. But,
+Ella, you have torn out a page--the first one. Why?"
+
+"Because it pleased me to do so." She spoke very composedly, but the
+color went and came faintly in her cheek.
+
+"Do tell me why, Ella?" with sharp, angry entreaty.
+
+"I will _not_, Donald! You are tyrannical."
+
+His eyes flashed, but he controlled himself.
+
+"Is not this capital?" he asked, holding out the book.
+
+"Very good--first-rate," returned Wilton, looking at two admirably drawn
+figures of a pony and dog.
+
+"It is better. I want to improve in animals," said Ella, looking down
+upon the page; and a little conversation ensued respecting this line of
+art, in which Donald took no share. Suddenly Ella looked at him. "You
+are ill! you are suffering!" she exclaimed, darting to his side, and
+putting her arm round his neck, while, pale as death and half fainting,
+he rested his head against her breast.
+
+"Pray bring me that phial and glass from the cabinet," she said,
+quickly. Wilton obeyed; he held the glass while she poured out the right
+quantity; he took the bottle again, while she held the glass to the poor
+boy's lips; he assisted to lower the wonderful chair till the weary head
+could be gently placed in a restful position, all without a word being
+exchanged; then Ella took the poor, thin hand in hers, and felt the
+pulse, and stroked it.
+
+Donald opened his eyes. "Ella, I am better; ask him to say nothing
+about it."
+
+"I will, dear Donald, I will."--Then, turning to Wilton, "Come, I will
+show the way." The moment they crossed the threshold she exclaimed, "It
+will be better to say nothing about it; Lady Fergusson would only come
+and make a fuss and torment him, so I troubled you instead of ringing;
+but I do not apologize. You would willingly help him, I am sure."
+
+"Yes, of course; but what a responsibility for you!"
+
+"Oh, I understand him, and I often see the doctor. Ah, what a life! what
+suffering! what a terrible nature! But I must not stay. You, you were
+prudent--that is--pooh! I am foolish. I mean to say, I am glad you
+scarcely appeared to know me. I say nothing of myself here; I am an
+abstraction, a machine, a companion! Good-by." For the first time she
+held out her hand with a gracious, queenly gesture. Wilton took and held
+it.
+
+"One moment," he said, quickly. "Shall I never have another chance of a
+word with you in the free air? Is there no errand to Monkscleugh that
+may lead to a rencontre?"
+
+"If I meet you," she said, "I will speak to you; but it is, and must be,
+a mere chance. Follow that corridor, turn to the left, and you will be
+in the hall. Good-by." She was gone.
+
+
+"Well, what sort of fellow is this cousin of yours? I suppose you met
+him last night? I never thought we should tumble into the trammels of
+polite society when I recommended these shootings to you. I have
+scarcely seen you the last ten days. What's come to you, lad?"
+
+So growled Moncrief one morning as he smoked the after-breakfast cigar,
+previous to turning out for a run with the "Friarshire."
+
+"Oh! St. George Wilton is rather an amusing fellow; he is tolerably
+good-looking, and has lots of small talk; one of those men who do not
+believe much in anything, I fancy, except self and self-interest, but
+for dear self-sake not disposed to rub other people the wrong way. He is
+a favorite with the ladies--cuts me out with the fair Helen."
+
+"Hum! I doubt that. I do not think you would let him if he tried; for of
+course _that's_ the attraction to Brosedale."
+
+"Is it?" returned Wilton, carelessly, as he prepared a cigar.
+
+"Yes; I know you think I am as blind as a mole, but I can see there is
+something that takes you to Brosedale. It's not Sir Peter, though he's
+the best of the lot. It's not my lady; and it cannot be that imp of a
+boy you are so fond of carrying pictures to--I suppose for a 'ploy to
+get into the interior, though they are sweet enough upon you without
+that; so it must be that girl."
+
+"Your reasoning is so admirable," returned Wilton, laughing
+good-humoredly, "that I should like to hear a little more."
+
+"Eh!" said the major, looking up at him curiously. "Well, my lad, I am
+only anxious for your own sake. Helen Saville is not the style of woman
+Lord St. George would like; the family are by no means _sans reproche;_
+and--I don't fancy her myself."
+
+"That is conclusive," replied Wilton, gravely. "But make your mind easy;
+I am not going to marry Helen Saville, nor do I think she expects me to
+do so."
+
+"What she expects, God knows, but there is something not all square
+about you, Wilton."
+
+"My dear fellow, do you want me to call you out?"
+
+"You must just go your own way, which, no doubt, you would in any case;
+but I am off on Monday next to pay my sister a visit. I have put her off
+from time to time, but I must go now."
+
+"By Jove, I shall be quite desolate! And will you not return, old
+fellow?"
+
+"I think not. At any rate, I shall not be able to come north again till
+near Christmas; and I hardly suppose you will be here then."
+
+"That depends," said Wilton, thoughtfully.
+
+"On what?" asked the major, quickly.
+
+"Oh! the sport--my own whims--the general attractions of the
+neighborhood."
+
+"----the attractions of the neighborhood!" cried Moncrief, profanely.
+"Why do you not make up to Lady Mary or Lady Susan Mowbray? They are
+nice girls and no mistake; just the very thing for you. But I am a fool
+to trouble myself about you; only I have always looked after you since
+you joined. However, you are old enough to take care of yourself."
+
+"Perhaps I ought to be, at any rate; and although I have somehow managed
+to 'rile' you, I have never forgotten, and never will forget, what a
+brick you have always been."
+
+Major Moncrief growled out some indistinct words, and went to the
+window; Wilton followed him. "You'll scarcely manage a run to-day;" he
+said; "the ground is very hard, and, if I am not much mistaken, there's
+a lot of snow up there," pointing to a dense mass of heavy drab clouds
+to windward.
+
+"No," returned Moncrief, uncertainly, "it is considerably milder this
+morning; besides, the wind is too high, and it is too early for snow."
+
+"Not in these latitudes; and it has been deucedly cold for the week
+past."
+
+"At any rate, I will go to the meet," said Moncrief, leaving the room.
+"What are you going to do?"
+
+"I shall not hunt to-day; I am going over to Monkscleugh."
+
+"Hum! to buy toys for the child?"
+
+"Yes," said Wilton, laughing. "But for to-day I am safe: Lady Fergusson
+and her fair daughter, attended by our diplomatic cousin, are going to
+Brantwood, where there is a coming-of-age ball, or some such high-jinks.
+They politely invited me to be of the party; but I resisted, Moncrief--I
+resisted!"
+
+"Did you, by George! That puzzles me."
+
+"By St. George, you mean. Why, you suspicious old boy, you do seem not
+satisfied; and yet Helen Saville will be away three or four days."
+
+"I'll be hanged if I can make you out!" said the major, and walked away.
+
+Wilton threw himself into an arm-chair and laughed aloud; then he turned
+very grave, and thought long and deeply. If Moncrief only knew where the
+real danger lay, and what it was! How was it that he had permitted this
+mere whim, half curiosity, half compassion, to grow into such
+troublesome proportions? He knew it was folly, and yet he could not
+resist! He had always felt interested and attracted by that strange
+girl whose mingled coldness and sweetness charmed and wounded him; but
+now, since he had seen her oftener, and listened to her voice, and heard
+the sudden but rare outbreaks of enthusiasm and feeling which would
+force themselves into expression, as if in spite of her will, he was
+conscious that his feelings were deepening into intense passion and
+tenderness.
+
+To catch a sympathetic look, a special smile, a little word to himself
+alone--such were the nothings watched for, sought, treasured, remembered
+by our patrician soldier. The vision of that poor, suffering boy leaning
+his head against Ella and clasped in her arms, seemed indelibly stamped
+upon his brain. It was constantly before him, though he fought gallantly
+against it.
+
+It seemed to have brought about a crisis of feeling. Before that, though
+touched, interested, curious, he was not absorbed; now, reason as he
+would, resist as he would, he could not banish the desperate longing to
+be in that boy's place just for once. In short, Wilton was possessed by
+one of those rare but real passions which, when they seize upon a man of
+his age, are infinitely more powerful, more dangerous, or, as the case
+may be, more noble, than when they partake of the eager effervescence of
+youth.
+
+And what was to be the end thereof?--so he asked himself as, starting
+from his seat, he paced the room.
+
+Ardently as he felt, he could not but acknowledge that to marry a girl,
+not only in a position little more than menial, but of whose antecedents
+he knew absolutely nothing--who, for some mysterious reason, did not
+seem to have a friend on earth--was a piece of folly he ought to be
+ashamed to commit. And yet to give her up--worse still, to leave her for
+some demure curate, some enterprising bagman to win, perhaps to trample
+upon? Impossible!
+
+What then? It must not be asserted that the possibility of some tie less
+galling and oppressive than matrimony never presented itself to Ralph
+Wilton's mind. He had known such conditions among his friends, and some
+(according to his lax but not altogether unpopular opinions) had not
+turned out so badly for any of the parties concerned; but in this case
+he rejected the idea as simply out of the question. He would no more
+dare breathe it to that obscure little girl than to a princess. It would
+be hard enough to win or rouse her to admit him as a lover, even on the
+most honorable terms. She seemed not to think such things existed for
+her. There was in her such a curious mixture of frankness and
+indifference, coldness, sweetness, all flecked with sparks of occasional
+fire, that Wilton could not help believing she had some uncommon
+history; and there were times when he felt that, if he but asked her,
+she would tell him everything he craved to know. Never had he met a
+woman (for, young as she was, she was eminently womanly) so utterly
+without coquetry. Her perfect freedom from this feminine ingredient was
+almost insulting, and a certain instinct warned him from attempting to
+break through the invisible barrier which her unconscious simplicity
+created. Yet all this restraint was becoming intolerable. At Brosedale
+he never saw her alone; out of it, he never saw her at all. The desire
+to know all about her, to impress her, to win her, and the struggling
+instinct of caste, the dread of making some false step that would ruin
+him in her estimation, tormented him almost into a fever.
+
+His long meditation ended in his ringing sharply, and ordering round the
+dog-cart to drive into Monkscleugh.
+
+"It's sure to snow, sir," said his servant.
+
+"Not yet, I think. At any rate, I shall take my chance."
+
+"Yes," he continued, half aloud, as the man disappeared, "I must make
+the attempt; and if I meet her--why, what will be, will be!" With this
+profoundly philosophic conclusion he proceeded to draw on an overcoat
+and prepare for his cold drive.
+
+The previous day, Wilton had managed, by a profound stratagem, to
+procure an interview with Donald, and for his pains found that young
+gentleman fearfully cross and rude, moreover alone: but, in the course
+of their short conversation, the heir of Brosedale confessed to being
+greatly enraged at the non-appearance of some fresh drawing-materials
+which had been forwarded from London, and of which no tidings could be
+heard; that "Dandy," his special pony, was ill or disabled, and no one
+was at liberty to go for them; so Ella had promised to walk over to
+Monkscleugh the next morning.
+
+Of course Wilton discovered that he, too, had "urgent private affairs"
+of his own to transact in the town, and, had it "rained elephants and
+rhinoceroses," he would have persevered.
+
+It was a still, cold morning. The bitter wind of the day before had
+fallen, and a kind of expectant hush pervaded the air. The man who stood
+at the horse's head, looked round him with a very dissatisfied air, not
+seeing the necessity for driving to Monkscleugh.
+
+However, the drive there was accomplished without any encounter, save
+with a barefooted lassie on her way to market. At first Wilton drove
+slowly, and then fast, and before they had reached the town the snow had
+begun, in large, slow flakes. In spite of its increasing density, he
+managed to call at the saddler's and the corn-factor's, and twice at
+the railway-station, but all in vain; so, with a muttered malediction on
+the weather, which had, no doubt, defeated the object of his expedition,
+he turned his horse's head toward home.
+
+"It's going to be a bad fall," he said to his servant, as they proceeded
+through the thickly-descending snow, which scarcely permitted them to
+see a yard right or left.
+
+"It is so, sir; and I wish we were home, or, anyhow, across the brae
+there, where the road turns to Brosedale."
+
+"Do you think we will lose the track?"
+
+"I'll be surprised if we do not, sir."
+
+"I fancy I shall be able to make it out," returned Wilton, and drove on
+as rapidly as he could in silence. Suddenly he pulled up. "Look," said
+he, "there--to the right. Do you not see something like a figure--a
+woman?"
+
+"Faith, it's only a big stone, sir!"
+
+"No--it moves!--Hallo!" shouted Wilton. "I think you are off the road."
+
+The figure stopped, turned, and came toward them. Wilton immediately
+sprang down and darted forward, exclaiming, "Miss Rivers! Good God! what
+weather for you! How fortunate I overtook you.--Come, let me assist you
+to reach my dog-cart. You must be nearly wet through."
+
+She put her hand on his offered arm. "It is indeed fortunate you came
+up. I had begun to feel bewildered." Nevertheless she spoke quite
+calmly, and accepted his aid to mount the dog-cart with perfect
+composure. As Wilton took his place beside her and gathered up the
+reins, after wrapping his plaid round her, he made up his mind very
+rapidly not to attempt the longer and more open route to Brosedale.
+
+He drove more slowly, taking good heed of the objects he could make out,
+and, to his great joy, recognized a certain stunted, gnarled oak, to the
+right of which lay Glenraven, and, having passed it, somewhat increased
+his speed.
+
+"It is scarcely wise to push on to Brosedale until this heavy fall is
+over. Besides, the Lodge is much nearer, and you ought not to be a
+moment longer than you can help in these wet clothes. I am afraid you
+must depend on the resources of our cook for dry garments."
+
+"My clothes are not so very wet, but my boots are. I wish we could have
+gone on to Brosedale; but, if it cannot be, I will not trouble you. This
+snow is too heavy to last very long."
+
+"Pray Heaven it may!" said Wilton inwardly.
+
+Here was the first gleam of good fortune that had visited him. Ella was
+to be all alone with him for two or three hours. Snow or no snow, he
+would manage that, at all events. All the Brosedale women away,
+Moncrief certain to be storm-stayed somewhere--what a glorious chance
+for a long, confidential talk, for the solving of many doubts, for the
+forging of some link that would bind this wild, free bird to him! The
+excessive delight and exaltation that made his heart bound roused him to
+the necessity of self-control, and he swore to himself that not a word
+or a look should escape him to offend or startle his prize.
+
+"How was it you ventured out on so unpromising a morning?" he asked, as
+they proceeded, stopping from time to time to make sure of the road.
+
+"Oh, Donald was so ravenous to get a parcel which he thought must be
+mislaid at Monkscleugh, that I promised to go over for it; and you know
+I love so much to be out. Still I do not think I should have attempted
+it, only a Mr. Wilton, who was going somewhere in the phaeton, offered
+to drive me to Monkscleugh. I thought it would snow, but I hoped to get
+back before it began. However, I was overtaken; and I fancy I should
+have wandered all day had you not found me."
+
+"I thought Wilton was going with Lady Fergusson to the _fête_ at
+Brantwood?"
+
+"He was; but he was to take up some one on the way."
+
+"He is a relation of mine," said Wilton, feeling marvellously crossed
+by the simple fact of St. George having discovered the hidden treasure
+as well as himself.
+
+"I suppose so; but he is quite unlike you."
+
+It would be hard to say, logically, why this comforted Colonel Wilton,
+but it did.
+
+"Hold hard, sir!" cried the groom, who was standing up and peering
+ahead. "You will be right against the gate." And Wilton found he was at
+home. Another moment and he pulled up at the door of the Lodge.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+"Send Mrs. McKollop here," cried Wilton, hastily and imperiously, to
+Major Moncrief's servant, who advanced to the door. "One of the
+Brosedale ladies has been caught in the snow, and is nearly wet
+through."
+
+He almost lifted Ella from the dog-cart as he spoke, and led her into
+the warm, comfortable hall. While he removed the plaid that wrapped his
+guest, the astonished Mrs. McKollop came quickly on the scene.
+
+"Eh, my word! but ye're wet!" she exclaimed. "Come wi' me, missee, and
+I'll see till ye; and you'd be the better of a drop of hot toddy
+yerse'f, colonel."
+
+"Oh, I shall be all right! Just look to Miss Rivers.--As soon as you
+have got rid of your wet things we will have luncheon," he added,
+addressing her. She bowed, and followed the portly Mrs. McKollop.
+
+"I hope there is some place fit to take a lady into," said Wilton to
+Major Moncrief's man, on whom the domestic arrangements devolved, for he
+was barely acquainted with Mrs. McKollop's name. This important
+functionary was attached to Glenraven Lodge, and let with the premises.
+To this species of serfdom she was by no means averse, for the system
+proved profitable, and, by a sort of mental inversion, she had grown to
+regard the temporary proprietors as her guests and vassals.
+
+"Yes, sir, I believe Mrs. McKollop keeps the top rooms pretty tidy."
+
+"Well, get luncheon, will you? I hope the fire is good." So saying,
+Wilton hastened to change his own damp clothes, and don a black velvet
+shooting-jacket. His toilet was completed, and he was fully a quarter of
+an hour in the dining-room before any one appeared. "Go and let Miss
+Rivers know luncheon is ready." A few minutes more, and the door opened
+to admit his guest. An expression of demure fun sparkled in her eyes as
+she came in, holding up the voluminous drapery of Mrs. McKollop's best
+dress--a strongly-pronounced Mac-something tartan, of bright red and
+green and yellow--which was evidently a world too wide for her slight
+waist. Above was the close-fitting gray jacket of her own dress, which
+had been saved from wet by her water-proof.
+
+"I trust you have been made tolerably comfortable?" said Wilton, placing
+a chair for her, while he glanced with much satisfaction at the
+fast-falling snow.
+
+"Your house-keeper has been so good," she replied, with her sweetest,
+frankest smile. "She exhausted all her resources to supply my wants,
+and, I think, would fain have made me come to luncheon in her best
+bonnet, which is the most wonderful thing you ever saw. It has feathers,
+and flowers, and currants in it."
+
+"I suppose carrots and turnips would be too much like the insignia of
+office. But you must be exhausted. Pray sit down and have some
+luncheon."
+
+"Thank you. I do feel rather hungry."
+
+It seemed almost incredible to be sitting _tête-à-tête_ with Ella, after
+all his dreams and efforts; but even more surprising was her quiet,
+unembarrassed manner. Had Wilton been her grandfather, she could not
+have eaten with more composure, and, it must be added, zest, showing a
+decided preference for cold game and sweets.
+
+"Let me recommend some hot wine-and-water," said Wilton, as she put down
+her knife and fork, after refusing a second supply of grouse.
+
+"Thank you, no. I never take wine; but, if I might ask for something?"
+
+"Certainly; anything within the resources of Glenraven and Mrs.
+McKollop."
+
+"Then may I have a cup of coffee?"
+
+Wilton immediately ordered it; and, when it came, his guest expressed
+high approval.
+
+"Ah! your people have learned how to make this in France."
+
+"From Frenchmen, at any rate. That was one accomplishment our servants
+picked up."
+
+"The coffee at Brosedale is so dead; it is not the least like coffee!
+This reminds me of Italy and France."
+
+"Then you have been a good deal abroad?"
+
+"Nearly all my life." A full stop; and Wilton felt he had led up neatly
+to the story of her past.
+
+"As you will take nothing more, suppose we go into the next room?" She
+rose, and then stopped.
+
+"Oh! I have lost Mrs. McKollop's shoe under the table." Wilton laughed,
+and assisted in the search.
+
+"I wish we had anything nearer the mark to offer you," he said, as he
+produced a huge, broad-soled thick shoe, tied on the instep. "They must
+fit you like snow-shoes."
+
+"There is a good deal of stocking to fill up with," she replied, as she
+managed to shuffle into the room on the opposite side of the hall, which
+was somewhat more ornamental than the one they left. Sundry sporting
+prints, a deer's head, various pipes, and plenty of writing-materials,
+with a splendid fire, and several comfortable easy-chairs, made it a
+pleasant apartment.
+
+"And you live here?" said Ella Rivers, moving round the room with some
+curiosity; "and you smoke very good cigars. I recognize the perfume."
+
+"I hope it is not very disagreeable?"
+
+"Disagreeable? Oh, no! I love it. But how it snows! There is no chance
+of my getting back till it abates."
+
+"Certainly not," returned Wilton, cheerfully, and adopting her easy,
+friendly tone. "So, pray sit down near the fire, and permit me to enjoy
+the fruit of my treasure-trove--I mean, a little talk with you."
+
+"Yes--it is very nice to talk over a good fire," she said, returning
+slowly from the window and seating herself in a large chair; "but I wish
+it would clear."
+
+"I suppose young Fergusson will be very anxious about you?" remarked
+Wilton, taking advantage of her steady gaze at the fire to study the
+graceful outline of her head, and ear, and neck, the pale, delicate oval
+of her face. There was a wonderfully-patrician look about this
+mysterious girl; how small and white were the hands she had carelessly
+clasped upon her knee! and, simple as were her manners, too, they were
+infinitely more refined than the superb Miss Saville's; and, at all
+events, he would have her all to himself for the next two hours.
+
+"Anxious about me?" she said, after a moment's silence; "not very. He
+will be anxious about his parcel (which, after all, I did not get), and
+vexed at my absence. But Donald is a strange boy. I know him."
+
+"He must be an ungrateful young dog," said Wilton, carefully averting
+his eyes as she turned to him. "You are so good to him."
+
+"It is not what you would call grateful, though he is very fond of
+me--that is, I have become a necessity to him; then he knows I am fond
+of him, and I believe no one else is, not even his father. Poor, poor
+fellow! Ah, how I feel for him!"
+
+"He cannot be a pleasant companion."
+
+"At times most unpleasant; then, again, wonderfully sympathetic, and so
+dependent that _I_ feel a great, strong, free creature, rich in youth,
+and health, and strength, all grand things that Sir Peter's gold cannot
+buy, and I can do anything for him. Then I forget the dark side of my
+own lot, and only see the wealth that nature has given me."
+
+"You are, indeed, wealthy!"
+
+"In some ways, yes; in others--" She stopped, shook her head, with a
+smile, half-sad, half-mocking, and resumed her gaze at the fire.
+
+There was a short pause, and Wilton said:
+
+"Still, to so bold a spirit as yours, it must be imprisonment, indeed;
+and I am not surprised that you seize every chance of momentary relief.
+But--forgive me if I am presumptuous--it was no ordinary courage that
+would take you so far afield that night I caught a glimpse of you
+retreating in the moonlight--no ordinary inducement that would tempt you
+to such a distance."
+
+"I had inducement enough," she returned, with a slight sigh. "Donald had
+been in one of his worst moods all day--one of his mean, suspicious
+tempers, and I could not persuade him to go to bed till late. Then, I
+opened the study window, and looked out to breathe and grow tranquil
+before I tried to sleep then the memory of the moonlight nights long
+ago, when I used to sit in a corner by the window, before the lamp was
+brought, and listen to my father talking (rather dreaming aloud--oh, so
+gloriously!) came over me with a wild, irresistible longing to be out in
+the free air, alone and standing upright before heaven, with things
+_really_ greater than myself about me--_such_ an intense longing that I
+sprang down the steps and away." As she said the last word she unclasped
+her hands and threw one out with a sudden, expressive gesture full of
+grace, and not without a certain dignity. "But I suppose to you it seems
+shocking?" And again she turned to the fire.
+
+"By no means!" exclaimed Wilton, eagerly. "Pray do not imagine me a
+slave to 'the shocking.' What you do seems right and natural in you to
+an extraordinary degree; but every one may not view matters as I do, and
+I confess I wished to escort you back, but dared not intrude--besides, I
+was not alone."
+
+"Escort me back!" she replied, with a low, sweet laugh of genuine
+merriment. "That would have put a climax to my misdoings, and also
+(pardon the rudeness) destroyed the sense of freedom. As it was, my
+outbreak was severely rebuked by Miss Walker, who was informed of my
+absence, and talked yards of sense and propriety before I escaped to
+bed. Ah, what a degrading _finale_ to a moment's outbreak into light and
+liberty! But I must not quarrel with Miss Walker. She is 'Madonna dell'
+Esperanza.'"
+
+There was a wonderful charm in her voice and manner, a curious mixture
+of softness and daring.
+
+"And pray why do you dignify that iron-gray woman with so romantic a
+title? I should not imagine her in the least hopeful."
+
+"She found me when I was at a very low ebb, and placed me with Donald."
+
+"Indeed! Then he ought to consider her his 'Dame de bon Secours.'"
+
+"He thinks I am fortunate."
+
+"And, when you found yourself so far from human aid that night, did you
+not feel uncomfortable?" resumed Wilton, hoping to lead her back to her
+reminiscences.
+
+"Yes. When I turned to go back the fire had nearly burnt out in my
+heart; but, you see, I have never been with women, so their fears are
+not mine. I fear what they may think of me when I act differently from
+them."
+
+"I suppose, then, you have numerous brothers?"
+
+"I have neither brother nor sister. My father--" She paused. "Ah, if you
+could have known my father! He was a great politician, a great
+philanthropist, a true man; and he was surrounded by men like himself,
+devoted to humanity. They were all very good to me--when they remembered
+my existence, which was not always, you know." A little arch smile, that
+made Wilton burn to tell her how irresistibly she absorbed his mind,
+heart, imagination!
+
+"Well, your father," said he, with wonderful composure, rising as he
+spoke to arrange the fire--"your father, I presume, adored you?"
+
+"Alas, no!" There was great forgiving tenderness in her voice. "He
+perhaps remembered me least of all; and when he did, I brought bitter
+thoughts. My mother, whom he adored, died when I was born; so you see I
+have been quite alone. Yet I grew to be of importance to him; for just
+before he died he told me to take her ring, which he had always worn,
+and wear it for both their sakes. See, there it is."
+
+She held out her right hand to show where it encircled her slender third
+finger.
+
+"Then you lived in Italy?" said Wilton, to lead her on.
+
+"Yes, my first memories are of Italy--a great, half-ruined villa on a
+hill-side near Genoa; and my nurse, a Roman woman, with such grand,
+black eyes. I used to love to look into them, and see myself in them.
+How she loved me and spoiled me! My father must have had money then, for
+he came and went, and seemed to me a great person; but I feared him,
+though he was gentle and beautiful, for he shunned me. Oh, yes, how
+noble he looked! None of the others were like him; and he was English on
+his father's side, so he said, when he told me to keep the name of
+Rivers; but we had many names: one in Italy, another in Paris, another
+in Germany. I did not like Paris. The first time we were there I had a
+_gouvernante_; she taught me a little and tormented me much; but still I
+do know French best. I can write it well; but, though I speak Italian
+and German, I cannot read or write either."
+
+She had again clasped her hands over her knee, and went on softly and
+dreamingly, as if to herself. Wilton still keeping silence, and gazing
+intently at the speaker, earnestly hoping nothing would interrupt or
+turn her from her spoken musing.
+
+"But you evidently learned to draw," he suggested, softly.
+
+"My father was a great artist--would have been acknowledged as a great
+artist had he not been gradually absorbed in schemes for raising the
+poor and ignorant and oppressed, for giving them political life. There
+were many artists among our friends, and all were willing to teach me
+and help me. To draw seemed to me as natural as to breathe, and if I
+ever had a moment of personal ambition it was to be a true, a recognized
+artist; but I had scarcely any. You, even you, patrician Englishman as
+you are!" turning to him with sudden animation, "you would have admired
+my father. He was my ideal of a true knight, so simple, so noble, so
+refined; with such a deep, fervent faith in his fellow-men. Of course,
+he and all our friends were hunted, proscribed; so I never knew a
+relation. And he, my father, never could bear to speak of my mother; so
+I only know from her picture that she was fair and sweet-looking."
+
+"What a strange, sad life for a girl!" said Wilton, with genuine
+sympathy.
+
+"Strange, but not sad. Oh, no! I was ignorant (I am ignorant, by your
+standard), and not a little neglected. But what delight it was to listen
+to the men my father knew, to hear the grand schemes they planned; the
+noble, tender pity for the suffering and oppressed; the real brotherhood
+they acknowledged to all mankind, and the zest of danger; for often a
+well-loved comrade was missing, and some never returned. Imprisonment in
+Italy or Prussia for a political offence is a serious matter.
+
+"The first time I ever won real notice from my father was at Naples.
+There was a man we loved much; he was called Diego--it was not his real
+name. He was very much suspected by the government. My father found out
+he was to be seized that day, and he knew not whom to trust to send him
+word; so I begged to be honored by his permission to carry the message,
+and I managed it all. I borrowed a costume from my maid's niece; I went
+alone on the Corso, and offered bunches of violets to every one--oh! I
+had heaps of _paoli_--till I met him and said the word, which sufficed."
+
+"You did this?" cried Wilton.
+
+"Yes; I had but thirteen years then. Oh! my father always noticed me
+after; and I would have dared much for that. Then we were in London, and
+in many places--we grew poorer and poorer. I think my father helped the
+cause largely. Two years ago we were in Paris, and then I saw my father
+was dying. There were very few of our clique there, for the emperor's
+spies were legion. I did not stop to think of fear or grief; I only
+wanted to keep him quiet and content to the last, for, you see"--with a
+sort of exultation very touching--"I was now very important to him--he
+thought more of me, and I have always believed it was in the hope of
+arranging some shelter, some refuge, for me that he came to London, now
+more than two years ago. Diego came to see us. He had a long talk with
+my father, who said to him, when he was going, 'Do your best for her
+sake!'
+
+"Two days after, Diego came again, and demanded to see my father alone.
+Presently there was a cry; they called me, and, when I went in, my
+father lay in Diego's arms, the blood streaming from his mouth. He died
+two days after." An instant's pause, and she resumed, quickly: "I was
+quite alone, and had but a few shillings. Poor Diego, how good he was!
+He did much for me. My father had a diamond ring; they sold it, and so
+things were paid for. Diego, poor fellow! he was rich then--he had five
+gold-pieces--sovereigns. He left me two. He was obliged to go away; he
+promised Mrs. Kershaw to come back for me, but he never came. He is no
+doubt imprisoned or killed."
+
+"Who was Mrs. Kershaw?" asked Wilton, huskily; "and how old is this
+Diego?"
+
+"Diego? Oh, fifty--sixty--I am not sure. Mrs. Kershaw is the landlady of
+the lodgings where my father died. Such a strange woman! Not unkind--at
+all events, to me. There was a lady in the rooms above ours who was very
+kind to me, and felt for me; and nearly five months after I was left
+quite alone. Miss Walker came to stay with this lady, and so they
+managed to have me engaged as companion to Donald. Ah, it was all so
+wretched! Nothing reconciled me to Brosedale but the scenery--that made
+me remember there was a world of life and beauty beyond Donald's study."
+
+She stopped, and leaning back, pressed both hands over her face, as if
+to shut out the present. Wilton scarce knew how to speak to her without
+saying too much. He had sufficiently delicate instincts to feel that he
+must not, when she was in such a mood, show, by the slightest
+indication, that he was her lover; nay, his deep sympathy made him for
+the moment forget the fair woman in the lonely, suffering girl.
+
+"And had none of your father's friends a wife or a sister with whom you
+might have taken shelter? Brosedale, under such circumstances, must have
+been a real _inferno_."
+
+"No; I have met one or two ladies abroad connected with our cause, and
+they were far away. But Brosedale was more astonishing than anything
+else. Miss Walker, who likes me, although I shock her every hour in the
+day, warned me of the respect I must show to 'miladi' and her daughters,
+and I never dreamed of disrespect toward them; but they were--they are
+so strange; they are so ignorant; they belong to the middle ages. When I
+spoke to them of the scenery, when I asked them questions about their
+country, when I addressed them as my fellow creatures, they were
+petrified--they were indignant; they went through a little comedy of
+insulted majesty, very droll, but not pleasant. Then I began to know
+what it is to believe that you are made of different clay from certain
+others of your fellows. Alas! what wide gulfs still yawn between man and
+man, and what precious things must be cast in before they are filled
+up!"
+
+"Well, and Donald--how did you get on with Donald?"
+
+"He was inclined to treat me like a petted animal; but, no! _Per
+Baccho!_ that should not be. I said, 'If you are good, you shall call me
+Ella, and I will call you Donald.' He replied, 'I am Master Fergusson;'
+and I said, 'Not so--it is too long. Besides, I am your superior in age
+and in knowledge, so between us there shall be kindness and freedom.'
+Now I mark my displeasure by calling him Master Fergusson. Ah! how
+astonished were Miss Walker and 'miladi,' but I laughed."
+
+"I am surprised he can bear you out of his sight," exclaimed Wilton,
+warmly, and checked himself; but she only noticed his words.
+
+"He does not like me to be away. I am often imprisoned for weeks. Last
+August I grew weak and languid; so Lady Fergusson gave me a holiday. I
+had nowhere to go but to Mrs. Kershaw's; then she was taken ill--a bad
+fever--so I nursed her, thankful to be of use. Then Donald summoned me
+back, and"--turning with the peculiar air of gracious acknowledgment
+which Wilton had before noticed, she added--"it was on my journey back I
+met you. Oh, how weary I was! I had been awake night after night. I was
+stupefied with fatigue, and you were so good. Could Death then have come
+to me in sleep, I should have held out my arms to him. Yet you see I was
+terrified at the idea of being hurt or torn when the train was overset."
+
+"You behaved like--like an angel, or rather like a true, high-souled
+woman."
+
+She laughed softly, and rising, attempted to walk to the window.
+
+"Ah!" she exclaimed, "I forgot my shoes;" then, resuming her seat, went
+on: "There, I have told you all my life. Why, I cannot say; but, if I
+have wearied you, it is your own fault. You listened as if you cared to
+hear, while to me it has been sad, yet sweet, to recall the past, to
+talk of my father to one who will not mock at his opinions--his dreams,
+if you will. But, ah! what dreams! what hopes! Thank God! he lived to
+know of Garibaldi's triumph--to see the papal throne tremble at the
+upheaval of Italy! These glimpses of light gladdened him at the last;
+for never was Christian martyr upheld by faith in a future world more
+steadfastly than my father by his belief in the political regeneration
+of this one. Yet I have, perhaps, forgotten myself in speaking so much."
+
+She turned toward Wilton as she spoke, and, placing her elbow on the arm
+of the chair, rested her chin in the palm of her hand, looking at him
+with the large, deep-blue eyes which had so struck him at first, her
+long lashes wet with tear drops, of which she was unconscious.
+
+"At least," said Wilton, "you must feel that no speaker ever riveted
+attention more than you have. As for the accuracy of the opinions so
+disinterestedly upheld, I neither combat nor assent to them. I can only
+think of you--so young, so alone?"
+
+It is impossible to say how much passionate sympathy he was about to
+express, when a sudden change in Ella Rivers's face made him stop and
+turn round. To his infinite annoyance there stood Major Moncrief, with
+the door in his hand, and an expression of utter blank astonishment on
+his countenance, his coat covered with fast-melting snow, and evidently
+just dismounted.
+
+"Hallo, Moncrief!" cried Wilton, his every-day, sharp senses recalled in
+a moment by this sudden, unwelcome apparition. "Wet to the skin, I
+suppose, like Miss Rivers"--a wave of the hand toward her--"and myself.
+I most fortunately overtook her half-way from Monkscleugh, and brought
+her here for shelter."
+
+"Oh!" ejaculated Moncrief: it sounded like a groan.
+
+"You have met my chum, Major Moncrief, have you not, Miss Rivers?"
+
+She shook her head. "You know I am always with Donald."
+
+"Oh, ah, I see!" muttered Moncrief. "No, I have never had the pleasure
+of meeting the young lady before; and so, Wilton, I will not interrupt
+you. I will go and change my clothes."
+
+"Interrupt!" said Ella, as he left the room. "What does he mean by
+interrupt? Who is he?--your uncle--your guardian?"
+
+"Do you think I require a guardian at my age?" replied Wilton, laughing,
+though greatly annoyed at Moncrief's tone.
+
+"How old are you?" asked Ella, but so softly and simply that the
+question did not seem rude.
+
+"Almost four and thirty; and, _en revanche_, how old are you?"
+
+"Almost twenty."
+
+"I should not have thought you so much: yet there are times you look
+more. However, Moncrief is an old brother-officer of mine; really a
+friend, but a queer fellow, a little odd."
+
+"I see; and I do not think he likes me to be here. Can I not go?" said
+Ella, starting up and making her way to the window, although she left a
+shoe behind her in her progress.
+
+"Not like you! More probably fascinated at first sight," returned
+Wilton, attempting to laugh off the impression she had received, though
+feeling terribly annoyed at Moncrief's manifestation. "And, as to
+returning, you cannot stir just yet; the snow has only just cleared off
+and may recommence."
+
+"Still I should so much like to return; and I am sure I could manage to
+walk very well."
+
+"I do not wish to be oppressively hospitable, so I will leave you for a
+moment to inquire what will be the best mode of reaching Brosedale."
+
+So saying, he quitted the room and followed Major Moncrief.
+
+He found that excellent soldier in his dressing-gown, and wearing a
+more "gruesome" expression than could be accounted for by his
+occupation, viz., sipping some scalding-hot whiskey-and-water.
+
+"Have you had anything to eat?" asked Wilton, amiably. "I believe
+luncheon is still on the table."
+
+"No, it is not," replied the major, curtly; "and I do not want anything.
+I had a crust of bread and cheese at that farmer's below the mill, so
+you can go back to your charming guest."
+
+"And you must come with me, Moncrief. Never mind the dressing-gown, man;
+it is quite becoming. You frightened Miss Rivers, you looked so 'dour'
+just now. I want her to see what a pleasant fellow you can be."
+
+"Thank you; I am not quite such a muff as to spoil a _tête-à-tête_."
+
+"Come, Moncrief, you know that is bosh. I overtook Miss Rivers as she
+was struggling through the snow, and I do not suppose you or any other
+man would have left her behind. Then I couldn't possibly pass my own
+gate in such a storm; besides, the poor girl was so wet. Be that as it
+may, you shall not be uncivil; so finish your grog, and come along."
+
+"Let me put on my coat. If I am to play propriety, I must dress
+accordingly. How in the name of Fortune did you come to know this Miss
+Rivers?" growled Moncrief.
+
+"Why, at Brosedale, of course. Whenever they dragged me in to see that
+poor boy she was there, and one can't be uncivil to a woman, and a
+pretty girl to boot."
+
+"Pretty!" ejaculated the major, thrusting himself with unnecessary
+vehemence into his coat. "I did not see much prettiness about her; she
+has big eyes, that's all."
+
+"Come and have another look then, and perhaps you will find it out,"
+said Wilton, pleasantly, as sorely against his will Moncrief followed
+him down stairs.
+
+"I have much pleasure in introducing two such admirable representatives
+of two great opposing systems. Major Moncrief is conservative among
+conservatives; Miss Rivers revolutionary among democrats!" said Wilton.
+
+"You say so for me; I myself scarce know enough to be anything," she
+replied, in a low tone, turning from the window at which she was
+standing when they entered, acknowledging the introduction and
+Moncrief's "boo," as he would have called it, by a slight, haughty
+courtesy, which even Mrs. McKollop's plaid dress did not spoil, as she
+spoke.
+
+"A young lady confessing ignorance on any subject is a _rara avis_
+nowadays," returned Moncrief, gloomily.
+
+Ella Rivers looked earnestly at him as he spoke, and then glanced, with
+a sort of mute appeal, to Wilton, who felt instinctively that, in spite
+of her composed, brave air, her heart was beating with sorrowful
+indignation at the major's unfriendly aspect.
+
+"You must know, Miss Rivers," said Wilton, with his pleasantest smile,
+longing all the time to fall upon and thrash desperately his good friend
+and comrade--"you must know that my friend Moncrief is the gloomy
+ascetic of the regiment, always available for the skeleton's part at the
+feast, that is, the mess, a terror to lively subs, and only cheerful
+when some one in a terrible scrape requires his help to get out of it;
+but one grows accustomed even to a skeleton. I have been shut up with
+him for nearly six weeks, and, you see, I have not committed suicide
+yet; but he is a first-rate old Bones after all!" (slapping the ungenial
+major on the shoulder).
+
+"Is he really unhappy?" asked Ella, with such genuine wonder and
+curiosity that the "dour" major yielded to the irresistible influences,
+and burst into a gracious laugh, in which Wilton joined, and the cloud
+which Moncrief brought with him was almost dispersed--not quite, for
+Ella was changed pale, composed, silent, with an evidently unconscious
+drawing to Wilton's side, that did not help to steady his pulse or cool
+his brain.
+
+"It is quite clear," said Miss Rivers, anxiously; "may I not return?
+for in another hour night will close. I must go!"
+
+"Certainly!" cried Wilton, who was feeling dreadfully bored by the
+flagging conversation and general restraint of Moncrief's presence;
+"your dress will be dry by this time, and while you put it on I will
+order the dog-cart. I will drive you over to Brosedale in half an hour,
+snow or no snow."
+
+"You--drive me--oh, no! I can walk quite well; I am not the least
+afraid. Do not come out again."
+
+"My dear Miss Rivers! allow you to walk alone? Impossible! Even this
+stern Bones, this incarnation of inexorable Fate, would not demand such
+a sacrifice.--Moncrief, ring the bell; summon Mrs. McKollop from the
+vasty deep to attend our fair guest.--You must know, Miss Rivers, my
+brother-in-arms is part proprietor of this sylvan lodge."
+
+"Then will he forgive my intrusion," said their guest, with an air so
+deprecating as to a man of his age, so certainly dignified as to
+herself, yet so simple withal, that the hidden spring of chivalry far
+down in the man's nature was struck and pushed to the surface all the
+more strongly for the depth of the boring.
+
+"You must think me 'a skeleton of the feast,' indeed, as Wilton has been
+good enough to describe me, if I were not ready to welcome the chance
+visit of a charming young lady; I am not quite so hopeless an old
+'Bones' as you both make out."
+
+"Bravo!" cried Wilton, highly pleased at his change of tone.
+
+"Thank you!" said Miss Rivers, simply; and then the door opened to admit
+Mrs. McKollop, who wore upon her arm a mass of drapery, and in her hand
+a very small pair of boots, evidently the garments she had been drying.
+
+"They are all nice an' weel aired, if you be going," said the benign
+ruler of the roost. "It's a wee bit clear just noo, but I'm thinking the
+frost is coming on, so the snaw will be harder by-an'-by; an' if the
+major don't mind having dinner an hour before his usual time, a drap o'
+hare soup and a cut out of a loin o' mountain mutton will warm ye up
+weel, an' mak' ye ready for the road," or, as she pronounced it, "rod."
+
+"Mrs. M'Kollop, you are a most sensible woman," said Wilton, gravely.
+Moncrief looked alarmed; and Miss Rivers merely observed, "I will come
+with you," and left the room, accompanied by the friendly cook. Wilton
+followed immediately, to give orders about the dog-cart, and Major
+Moncrief was left alone. He walked once or twice up and down the room
+with a troubled and irate expression; he then stirred the fire
+viciously, threw down the poker with a clang, and, drawing a chair close
+up, thrust his feet almost against the bars. How long he sat in gloomy
+reverie he knew not, but he was roused by the entrance of Wilton, who
+ushered in their guest, saying, "Miss Rivers wants to say good-by,
+Moncrief."
+
+"Yes, good-by!" said she, in her soft yet clear voice, which always
+seemed to fix attention. "Thank you--thank you both for your kind
+hospitality."
+
+With a slight, touching hesitation she held out her hand, and Moncrief
+took it with much politeness and an altered expression.
+
+"Good-by, then, as you will not stay for the hare soup and a cut of the
+mountain mutton. I hope you will not take cold. Have you nothing to put
+round your throat? You must have this muffler of mine, if you will
+condescend to wear it.--Jump up, Wilton. I will help Miss Rivers."
+
+So spoke the Major, in his joy to speed the parting guest. Wilton
+obeyed, somewhat amused, and they started. But the drive was a silent
+one on Miss Rivers's side; all Wilton's dexterous observations and
+thoughtful care could not win a look--scarce a word. "Does she regret
+she opened her heart to me?" he thought; and, as they neared the great
+house, he could not refrain from saying, "I shall often think of the
+interesting sketch you have given me of your wanderings in many lands,
+Miss Rivers, though I shall only speak of them to yourself."
+
+"Pray, pray, put it all out of your mind! I am half ashamed of having
+talked so much of myself. Think no more of it."
+
+"Suppose the subject will not be banished? I cannot. At least," resumed
+Wilton, after a moment's pause to tighten the reins of his self-control,
+"I shall look upon liberal politics with a new light, after the glimpse
+you have given me of their inner life."
+
+"If, when you have power, you will think of the people, I am not sorry I
+spoke." She said it very softly, almost sadly.
+
+"I shall look in to-morrow, to know if you are all right," he replied.
+
+They had now reached the entrance. Wilton sprang down, and, as Miss
+Rivers was muffled in plaids, nearly lifted her from the carriage,
+though with all the deference he would have shown a princess.
+
+"Good-by! I hope you will not be the worse."
+
+"Adieu!" For a moment she raised her eyes to his with a frank, kind
+glance, and vanished into the house.
+
+For a moment Wilton hesitated, then mounted the dog-cart, and drove back
+as fast as circumstances would allow. He was conscious of an angry,
+uncomfortable sensation toward Moncrief--a feeling that it would be a
+great relief to avoid dining with him--of a curious, uneasy strain of
+dissatisfaction with himself--with the routine of life--with
+everything! It was so infernally stupid, smoking and reading, or
+listening to Moncrief's prosings, all the evening; while that cranky,
+tiresome boy, Fergusson, would be talked to, and soothed, and petted by
+Ella Rivers. And she--would she wish to be back at Glenraven, telling
+the story of her simple yet stirring life to an absorbed listener? Yes,
+without a shadow of conceit he might certainly conclude that she would
+prefer an intelligent companion like himself to that cross-grained boy;
+but he had very little to nourish conceit upon in the recollection of
+the delightful _tête-â-tête_ he had enjoyed. Never before had he met a
+woman so free from the indescribable consciousness by which the gentler
+sex acknowledge the presence of the stranger. She must have been much in
+the society of men, and of men, too, who were not lovers. Yet stop! How
+much of her composure and frankness was due to the fact of her being
+already wooed and promised to one of those confounded _carbonari_
+fellows? The very idea made Wilton double-thong his leader--for tandem
+stages had been thought necessary--to the infinite surprise of his
+servant. However, he reached his destination at last, and as he threw
+off his plaid in the hall Mrs. McKollop's broad and beaming face
+appeared at a side-door.
+
+"Aweel, sir, din ye win ower a' right to Brosedale wi' the young leddy?
+I've been aye watching the weather; for I don't think she is just that
+strong. Eh, sir! but she is a bonnie bird--sae saft and kind! When she
+was going, after I had red up her things for her, she says, 'If you are
+as good a cook as you are a ladies' maid, I am sure Major Moncrief must
+be pleased with his dinners,' says she; an' wi' that she takes this
+neckerchief from her pretty white throat, and says she, so gentle and so
+grand, 'Wear this for me, Mrs. McKollop,' putting it round my neck her
+ainsel'. 'Think, whenever ye put it on,' says she, 'that I shall always
+remember your motherly care.' The bonnie bird! I'm thinking she has nae
+mither, or they wouldn't let her be worrit wi' that ill-faured,
+ill-tempered bairn at Brosedale."
+
+"I left Miss Rivers quite safe, I assure you, and, as far as I could
+observe, quite well, at the door," said Wilton, who had listened with
+much attention to this long speech, looking all the time at the pretty
+violet necktie held up in triumph by Mrs. McKollop, and conscious of a
+boyish but strong inclination to purchase it, even at a high premium,
+from the worthy house-keeper. "I am sure you did your best for our
+charming visitor."
+
+"That I did; an' I tauld her that it was a pleasure to cook for the
+colonel; for though she spoke of the major, it was aye _you_ she thocht
+on."
+
+"Oh, nonsense!" returned Wilton, good-humoredly, and he left the
+eloquent Mrs. McKollop, to join the moody Moncrief, with whom he
+exchanged but few remarks, till dinner thawed them. The evening passed
+much as usual, but neither mentioned their guest--a fact by no means
+indicating that she was forgotten by either.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Wilton was true to his intention, and rode over the next day to make the
+promised inquiry, when he had the pleasure of spending half an hour with
+Donald, but Ella Rivers never appeared. The boy was in one of his better
+moods, although that was a poor consolation.
+
+"I thought Ella was never coming back yesterday," he said, in his
+plaintive, querulous voice. "I could not make out whether she had been
+lost in the snow, or whether your cousin, that Mr. St. George Wilton,
+had run away with her. Oh! I had such a miserable day!--Miss Walker
+fussing in and out, and no one able to do anything for me! Where did you
+pick up Ella?"
+
+"On that piece of common half-way to Monkscleugh; and it is very
+fortunate I did so, or perhaps you might have been obliged to do without
+her for some time longer. I fear she would have lost her way
+altogether."
+
+"Oh, she knows the country, and has plenty of pluck."
+
+"Still, she might have been wandering about for hours, and I fancy she
+is not over strong."
+
+"She is well enough! Every one is well enough but me!"
+
+"I suppose," said Wilton, to change the subject, "the rest of your party
+return to-morrow?"
+
+"I am afraid they do! I wish they would stay away! They have taken me up
+disgustingly since _you_ came to see me. I was much happier alone with
+Ella! I don't mind _your_ coming--you are not a humbug; but I hate
+Helen, she is so insolent; and that cousin of yours is detestable. He is
+so conceited--so ready to make allowance for everyone. And then he
+always speaks Italian to Ella, and worries her; I know he does, though
+she will not tell me what he says."
+
+The boy's words struck an extraordinary pang to Wilton's heart. Had Ella
+met this diplomatic sprig in Italy? Had he the enormous advantage of
+having known her and her father in their old free wandering days? If so,
+why had she not mentioned him? The irrepressible answer to this sprang
+up with the query--whatever her antecedents, Ella spoke out of the
+depths of a true soul.
+
+"Well," exclaimed Wilton, while these thoughts revolved themselves, "if
+you do not like him, do not let him come in here. But I thought he was
+a universal genius, and an utterly fascinating fellow!"
+
+"The women think so," returned young Fergusson, with an air of superior
+wisdom, "but I think him a nuisance. Will you ring the bell, Colonel
+Wilton?"
+
+"What has become of Miss Rivers?" to the servant, who quickly appeared.
+"Tell her to come here."
+
+Though disposed to quarrel with the terms of the message, Wilton awaited
+the result with some anxiety. The reply was, "Miss Walker's compliments;
+Miss Rivers was hearing Miss Isabel read Italian, and she could not come
+just yet."
+
+"It is infamous!" exclaimed Donald, working himself into a fury. "They
+all take her from me--they don't care what becomes of me! Give me my
+crutches, James. I will go to the school-room myself; so I shall say
+good-by to you, Colonel."
+
+He dragged himself out of the room with surprising rapidity, and Wilton
+felt he must not stay.
+
+The rest of the day was rendered restless and uncomfortable by Donald's
+words. But Wilton, though of a passionate and eager nature, had also a
+strong will, and was too reasonable not to determine resolutely to
+banish the tyrannic idea which had taken such possession of his heart or
+imagination. He noticed, with mingled resentment and amusement, the
+sudden silence and reserve of his friend Moncrief on the subject of
+Brosedale and its inhabitants. What an absurd, strait-laced old Puritan
+he was growing! Wilton felt it would be a relief when he departed to pay
+his promised visit in the South. So, as the weather, after the memorable
+snow-storm, moderated, and proved favorable for sport, hunting and
+shooting were resumed with redoubled vigor, and the Major's solemn looks
+gradually cleared up.
+
+"I shall be rather in the blues here when you are gone," said Wilton, as
+they sat together the evening before the Major was to leave. "You have
+not been the liveliest companion in the world of late, still I shall
+miss you, old boy."
+
+The Major gave an inarticulate grunt, without removing his cigar from
+his lips.
+
+"So," continued Wilton, "as Lord D---- asks me over to dine and stay a
+few days while General Loftus and another Crimean man are there, I shall
+go; and perhaps I may look up the 15th afterwards; they are quartered at
+C----."
+
+"Do!" said the Major, emphatically, and with unusual animation. "There's
+nothing more mischievous than moping along and getting into the blue
+devils!--nothing more likely to drive a man to suicide or matrimony, or
+some infernal entanglement even worse! Go over to D---- Castle by all
+means--go and have a jolly week or two with the 15th; and, if you will
+take my advice, do not return here."
+
+"My dear Moncrief," interrupted Wilton coolly, for he was a little
+nettled at the rapid disposal of his time, "why should I not return
+here? What mischief do you fear for me? Don't turn enigmatical at this
+time of day."
+
+"What mischief do I fear? The worst of all--a _fair_ piece of mischief!
+Not so pretty, perhaps, but 'devilish atthractive,' as poor O'Connor
+used to say."
+
+Wilton was silent a moment, to keep his temper quiet. He felt
+unspeakably annoyed. Anything less direct he could have laughed off or
+put aside, but to touch upon such a subject in earnest galled him to the
+quick. To be suspected of any serious feeling toward Ella necessitated
+either appearing an idiot in the eyes of a man like Moncrief--an idiot
+capable of throwing away his future for the sake of a freak of
+passion--or as entertaining designs more suited to worldly wisdom, yet
+which it maddened him to think any man dared to associate with a
+creature that somehow or other had managed to establish herself upon a
+pedestal, such as no other woman had ever occupied, in his imagination.
+
+"I think," said he at last--and Moncrief was struck by the stern
+resentment in his tone--"I think that too much shooting has made you
+mad! What, in the name of Heaven, are you talking of? Do you think I am
+the same unlicked cub you took in hand twelve or fourteen years ago? If
+you and I are to be friends, let me find my own road through the jungle
+of life."
+
+"All right," said the Major, philosophically. "Go your own way. I wash
+my hands of you."
+
+"It is your best plan," returned Wilton, dryly; and the evening passed
+rather heavily.
+
+The next morning Major Moncrief took leave of his friend. They parted
+with perfect cordiality, and Wilton drove him over to Monkscleugh.
+
+It is by no means clear that the Major's well-meant warning did the
+least good. The vexation it caused helped to keep the subject working in
+Wilton's mind. Certain it was, that after returning from Monkscleugh and
+writing two or three letters, he took advantage of a fine wintry
+afternoon to stroll leisurely to the brae before mentioned, and beyond
+it, to the piece of border ground between the Brosedale plantations and
+the road, where he had held his horse for Ella Rivers to sketch; but all
+was silent and deserted, so he returned to dress and drive over to D----
+Castle.
+
+It was a pleasant party, and Wilton was a most agreeable addition. He
+felt at home and at ease with the Earl's kindly, well-bred daughters;
+and perhaps they would have been a little surprised, could they have
+read his thoughts, to find that he classed them as unaffected
+gentlewomen almost equal to the humble companion of Sir Peter
+Fergusson's crippled boy.
+
+Parties like this, of which Ralph Wilton formed one, are so much alike
+that it is unnecessary to describe the routine. The third day of his
+visit the Brosedale family came to dinner, and with them St. George
+Wilton. Notwithstanding Sir Peter's wealth and Lady Fergusson's fashion,
+invitations to D---- Castle were few and far between; nor did Ralph
+Wilton's position as a visitor in the house--a favored, honored
+guest--seem of small importance in Helen Saville's eyes.
+
+Wilton took her down to dinner, with a sort of friendly glow pervading
+his manner, well calculated to deceive the object of his attentions. He
+was dimly aware that, after all his reasoning, all his struggles for
+self-control, his dominant idea was that if Miss Saville was not the
+rose, she lived with her.
+
+"I have never seen you since the coming of age at Brantwood; you have
+been out when I called, and in when I rode about in search of you--in
+short, you have scarce cast me a crumb of notice since my polyglot
+cousin has taken up the running and left me nowhere," said Wilton, under
+the general buzz of talk, while the chief butler whispered a
+confidential query as to whether he would have hock or champagne.
+
+"If you will not come in search of the crumbs, you cannot expect to get
+them," said Miss Saville, looking boldly into his eyes with a smile.
+"Mamma asked you to dinner the day after our return, but in vain."
+
+"Ah! that day I knew we were to hunt with the ----, and I feared I
+should not be able to reach Brosedale in time for dinner. Now, tell me,
+how is everyone? Your sister--I mean the school-room one--I see my
+opposite neighbor is flourishing. How is young Fergusson?"
+
+"Isabel has a cold; but Donald has been wonderfully well. I think we
+cheer him up! Benevolence seems to run in your family, Colonel Wilton.
+You set the example, and Mr. St. George Wilton followed it up. Now, we
+are so anxious to amuse Donald that we congregate on wet, stormy
+mornings or afternoons in his room, and try to draw--are fearfully
+snubbed by the young heir! and silently endured by his little companion,
+who is such a strange girl! By the way your cousin seems to have known
+some of her clique abroad. He says they were a dreadful set of
+communists and freethinkers."
+
+"Indeed," he returned carelessly, as he raised his glass to his lips and
+made a mental note of the information. "And, pray, how much longer do
+you intend to foster my delightful relative in the genial warmth of
+Brosedale?"
+
+"As long as he likes to stay; but he talks of leaving next week."
+
+"Ah! he finds it difficult to tear himself away?"
+
+"That I know nothing about. How long do you remain here?"
+
+"Till the day after to-morrow."
+
+"Then you had better dine with us on the twentieth. I know mamma intends
+to ask you. The Brantwood party are to be with us, and some people we
+met at Scarborough last autumn."
+
+"Of course I shall be most happy."
+
+Now there was nothing Wilton hated more than dining at Brosedale; the
+artificial tone of the house was detestable, and he was always
+tantalized by knowing that although under the same roof with Ella, he
+had not the least chance of seeing her; nevertheless, he was impelled to
+go by a vague, unreasonable hope that some chance might bring about a
+meeting; and now as he had absolutely written to his old friends of the
+15th to say he would be with them the ensuing week, he felt ravenously
+eager to encounter the very danger from which he had determined to fly.
+But Helen Saville's hint had filled him with curiosity and uneasiness.
+It was as he feared. St. George Wilton and Ella Rivers had doubtless
+many experiences in common which both might prefer talking about in a
+tongue unfamiliar to the rest of the audience, for he did not, of
+course, attach any value to Donald's remark that Ella did not like the
+clever _attaché_. Why should she not like him? He looked across the
+table and studied his kinsman's face very carefully while Ellen Saville
+told him of a run she had enjoyed with the ----shire hounds while
+staying at Brantwood.
+
+St. George Wilton was occupied in the agreeable task of entertaining
+Lady Mary Mowbray, so his cousin could observe him with impunity. He was
+a slight, delicate-looking man, with high, aristocratic features, pale,
+with fair hair and light eyes, thin-lipped, and nominally near-sighted,
+which entitled him to use a glass. He wore the neatest possible
+moustaches and imperial, and when he smiled, which was not often (though
+his face was always set in an amiable key), he showed a row of very
+regular white teeth, but rather too pointed withal, especially the
+molars, which were slightly longer than the rest, and gave a somewhat
+wolfish, fang-like expression to that otherwise bland performance. His
+voice was carefully modulated, his accent refined, and his ease of
+manner the perfection of art. St. George Wilton, an ambitious poor
+gentleman, determined to push his way upwards and onwards, had no doubt
+sufficient experience to sharpen and harden his faculties. The struggle
+of such a career ought to be, and is invigorating; but there are
+ingredients which turn this tonic to poison--the greed for wealth and
+rank, the hunger for self-indulgence and distinction, the
+carefully-hidden envy that attributes the success of others to mere
+good-luck, and curses blind fortune while congratulating the competitor
+who has shot ahead--the gradually increasing tendency to regard all
+fellow creatures as stepping stones or obstacles--the ever-growing,
+devouring self which, after rejecting every joy that gladdens by
+reciprocity, slowly starves to death in the Sahara of its own creation.
+
+Although the cousins had seldom met before, they had heard of each
+other, forming their respective estimates from their special
+standpoints--St. George heartily despising Ralph, as a mere stupid,
+honest, pig-headed soldier, whose luck in coming somewhat to the front
+was a disgrace even to the whims of that feminine deity, Fortune. How
+such rapid promotion could be brought about without finesse, without
+tact, without anything more extraordinary than simple duty doing, was
+beyond the peculiar construction of St. George's mind to conceive. While
+Ralph scarcely bestowed any consideration whatever on his kinsman--he
+had heard of him as a clever, rising man, and also as a "keen hand;" but
+now he had acquired a sudden importance; and Ralph, as he gazed at the
+bland countenance opposite, and traced the hard lines under its set
+expression, laughed inwardly at the notion of extracting any information
+which St. George was disinclined to give.
+
+Nevertheless, when they joined the ladies, Wilton approached his cousin,
+and opened the conversation by inquiring for a mutual acquaintance, one
+of St. George's brother _attachés_; this naturally led to other topics,
+and their talk flowed easily enough. "I am told you were received by our
+eccentric relative, Lord St. George," said his namesake, at last;
+"rather an unusual event for him to see any one, I believe?"
+
+"Yes; he sent for me, or I should never have thought of presenting
+myself. He looks very old and worn--and not particularly amiable."
+
+"Well, he has had enough to sour him. How did he receive you?"
+
+"With tolerable civility."
+
+"He would not let me in! I wonder what he will do with all his property.
+If he dies intestate, I suppose you will inherit everything?"
+
+"I suppose so; but I strongly suspect he will not leave me a _sou_. I am
+not pliant enough; and that unfortunate daughter of his may have left
+children to inherit, after all. I fancy I heard she was dead."
+
+"So have I," said St. George. "Who did she marry?"
+
+"I believe a Spaniard--an adventurer, with fine eyes and a splendid
+voice; I forget the name. Old Colonel du Cane, who was about town in
+those days, remembers the affair and the scandal, but the whole thing is
+forgotten now. I wonder old St. George did not marry and cut out every
+one."
+
+"Unless he makes a very distinct will, you will have to spend a large
+slice of your fortune in defeating the pretenders who are sure to spring
+up."
+
+"Or you will," returned Wilton, laughing; "for he is as likely to leave
+it to one as the other, or to some charity."
+
+"To some charity? That is surely the last of improbabilities."
+
+"It is impossible to say," returned Wilton; and there was a short pause,
+during which he revolved rapidly in his own mind how he could best
+approach the topic uppermost in his mind. "How long do you stay at
+Brosedale?" he resumed abruptly, as St. George looked round, as if about
+to move away.
+
+"Perhaps a week longer. I have already paid a visitation, but the house
+is comfortable, the girls agreeable, and the _padrone_ unobtrusive."
+
+"If you had not been in such luxurious quarters, and enjoying such
+excellent sport, I should have asked you to try a day or two on the moor
+I have at Glenraven."
+
+"Thank you; I should have been most happy, but am engaged to Lord
+Parchmount after the twenty-fifth."
+
+"Did you ever meet any of Lady Fergusson's people, the Savilles she is
+so fond of talking about; I fancy there was a brother of hers in the
+--th Hussars?"
+
+"A brother of her former husband's, you mean. I don't believe Lady
+Fergusson ever had a brother or a father, or any blood tie of any kind,
+but sprang up full-blown, lovely, ambitious, aristocratic, at the touch
+of some magic wand; or, to come to a commonplace simile, in a single
+night's growth, like a toad-stool. She has been eminently successful
+too. What a catch Sir Peter was! Now, if that wretched boy were to
+die--for which consummation, no doubt, her ladyship devoutly prays--and
+Helen Saville would play her cards with the commonest discretion, she
+might secure the fortune for herself and her sisters; but she is a very
+uncertain person, a woman on whom no one could count." And St. George
+shook his head, as though he had given the subject mature consideration.
+
+"I suppose you have seen the son and heir?" asked Wilton.
+
+"Frequently. He dislikes me, and I am amused at the elaborate display he
+makes of it. I also like to air my Italian with his interesting little
+companion."
+
+"You knew her in Italy; I think Miss Saville said," remarked Wilton.
+
+"Knew her? Never. I fancy, from what she says, I have met some of the
+people her father associated with--a very disreputable set."
+
+"Sharpers and blacklegs, I suppose," said Wilton carelessly.
+
+"No; politically disreputable; dreamers of utopian dreams, troublesome
+items to governments; amiable men, who will make martyrs of themselves.
+You have no idea in England what a nuisance these fellows are; of course
+there are plenty of desperate fanatics mixed up with them. I do not
+remember the name of Rivers among those I have met, but I imagine that
+picturesque girl at Brosedale was among the better class. She really
+looks like a gentlewoman; with her knowledge of language and air of
+refinement she would make a charming travelling companion."
+
+As the accomplished _attaché_ uttered this with a soft arch smile, as
+though it were an infantine jest, he little thought what a large amount
+of self-control he called into action in his cousin's mind. To have
+seized him by the collar, and shaken him till he retracted the insulting
+words, would have been a great relief; to have rebuked him sternly for
+speaking lightly of a girl of whom he knew no evil, would have been some
+satisfaction; but modern manners forbade the first, and a due sense of
+the ridiculous the second. Control himself as Wilton might, he could not
+call up the answering smile which St. George expected, but instead
+stared at him with a fixed haughty stare, which, although rather
+unaccountable to its object, seemed sufficiently disagreeable to make
+him turn away and seek more congenial companionship.
+
+Wilton, too, talked and laughed, and played his part with a proper
+degree of animation; but a bruised, galled sensation clung to him all
+the evening. There is a large class of men for whom such a remark as St.
+George Wilton's would have been fatally destructive to the charm and
+romance enfolding an object of admiration. To find what is precious to
+them, common and unholy in the eyes of another, would destroy the
+preciousness and desecrate the holiness! But there is another, a
+smaller, though nobler and stronger class, whom the voice of the
+scoffer, scoff he never so subtly, cannot incite to doubt or
+disloyalty--to whom love is still lovely, and beauty still beautiful;
+although others apply different terms to what they have recognized as
+either one or the other. These are the men who see with their own eyes,
+and Wilton was one of them. It was with the sort of indignation a
+crusader might have felt to see an infidel handling a holy relic, that
+he thought of his cousin's careless words. Nay, more, reflecting that
+St. George was but one of many who would have thus felt and spoken of a
+girl to whom he dared not address a word of love lest it might check or
+destroy the sweet, frank friendliness with which she treated him, he
+asked himself again, what was to be the end thereof? Then he for the
+first time acknowledged to himself what he had often indistinctly felt
+before, that to tell her he loved her, to ask her to be his wife, to
+read astonishment, perhaps dawning tenderness, in her wonderful eyes, to
+hold her to his heart, to own her before the world, to shelter her from
+difficulty so far as one mortal can another, would be heaven to him!
+
+She had struck some deeper, truer chord in his nature than had ever been
+touched before; and his whole being answered; all that seemed impossible
+and insurmountable gradually faded into insignificance compared to his
+mighty need for that quiet, pale, dark-eyed little girl!
+
+The day after Wilton's return from D---- Castle, feeling exceedingly
+restless and unaccountably expectant, he sallied forth with his gun on
+his shoulder, more as any excuse than with any active sporting
+intentions. As he passed the gate into the road, a large half-bred
+mastiff, belonging to Sir Peter Fergusson, rushed up, and Wilton,
+knowing he was an ill-tempered brute, called his own dogs to heel, but
+the mastiff did not notice them; he kept snuffing about as though he
+had lost his master, and then set off in a long, swinging gallop toward
+Brosedale.
+
+Wilton, deep in thought, went on to the brae he so often visited in the
+commencement of his stay at Glenraven. He had not long quitted the high
+road, when he perceived a well-known figure, as usual clothed in gray,
+walking rather slowly before him, and looking wonderfully in accordance
+with the soft, neutral tints of sky and stones and hill-side--it was one
+of those still, mild winter days that have in them something of the
+tenderness and resignation of old age; and which, in our variable
+climate, sometimes come with a startling change of atmosphere
+immediately after severe cold. As he hastened to overtake her, Wilton
+fancied her step was less firm and elastic than usual; that her head
+drooped slightly as if depressed; yet there was a little more color than
+was ordinary in her cheek, and certainly an expression of pleasure in
+her eyes that made his heart beat when she turned at his salutation. She
+wore a small turban hat of black velvet, with a rosette in front, which
+looked Spanish, and most becoming to her dark eyes and pale, refined
+face.
+
+"At last, Miss Rivers! I thought you must have abjured this brae since
+Moncrief and myself became temporary proprietors. I began to fear I
+should never meet you out of doors again."
+
+"I have not been out for a long time alone," she replied; "but to-day
+some great man from London, a doctor, was to see poor Donald, and I was
+free for awhile, so I rambled away far up that hill-side. It was
+delightful--so still, so grave, so soft."
+
+"You have been up the hill," cried Wilton, infinitely annoyed to think
+he had been lounging and writing in the house when he might have had a
+long walk with his companion. "I wish I had been with you. I imagine it
+must double one's enjoyment of scenery to look at it with a thorough
+artist like yourself."
+
+Miss Rivers did not reply at once, but, after a moment's pause, asked,
+"Are you going out now to shoot?"
+
+"Well, yes--at least it is my first appearance to-day."
+
+"Would it be very inconvenient to you to walk back to Brosedale, or part
+of the way, with me?" She spoke with a slight, graceful hesitation.
+
+"Inconvenient! No, certainly not," returned Wilton, trying to keep his
+eyes and voice from expressing too plainly the joy her request gave him.
+"It is a charity to employ me. You know I have lost my chum, Major
+Moncrief, and I feel somewhat adrift. But I thought young Fergusson was
+better. Miss Saville said so."
+
+Miss Rivers shook her head. "They know nothing about it. He will never
+be better; but it is not because he is worse that this great doctor
+comes. He pays periodical visits. Donald always suffers; and I think he
+frets because his step-sisters and that cousin of yours come and sketch
+and talk in our room so often; it does him no good."
+
+"Am I wrong in interpreting your emphasis on '_that_ cousin of yours' as
+an unfavorable expression?"
+
+"Do you like him?" she asked, looking straight into his eyes.
+
+"No," replied Wilton, uncompromisingly; while he gave back her gaze with
+interest.
+
+"It is curious," she said, musingly, "for he never offends; he is
+accomplished; his voice is pleasant. Why do you not like him?"
+
+"I cannot tell. Why don't you?"
+
+"Ah! it is different. I--I am foolish, perhaps, to be so influenced by
+unreasoning instinct; but I fancy--I feel--he is not honest--not true.
+Are you really kinsmen?--of the same race, the same blood?"
+
+"Yes, I believe so! And may I infer from your question that you believe
+I am tolerably honest--beyond deserving to be intrusted with the forks
+and spoons, I mean?"
+
+"I do--I do, indeed." She spoke quite earnestly, and the words made
+Wilton's heart beat. Before, however, he had time to reply, a gentleman
+came round an angle of broken bank, crowned by a group of mountain ash,
+which in summer formed a very picturesque point, and to Wilton's great
+surprise he found himself face to face with St. George. Involuntarily he
+looked at Ella Rivers, but she seemed not in the least astonished;
+rather cold and collected. Suddenly it flashed into his mind that she
+had asked his escort to avoid a _tête-à-tête_ with the agreeable
+_attaché_, with a crowd of associated inferences not calculated to
+increase his cousinly regard. St. George raised his hat with a gentle
+smile.
+
+"I did not expect to have the pleasure of meeting you, Colonel, though I
+had intended paying you a visit. Miss Rivers, one has seldom a chance of
+finding you so far afield. I presume it is a favorable indication of the
+young laird's health that you can be spared to enjoy a ramble with
+Colonel Wilton."
+
+There was just the suspicion of a sneer about his lips as he spoke,
+which completed the measure of Wilton's indignation. But Miss Rivers
+replied with the most unmoved composure that Donald was as usual, and
+then walked on in silence. After a few remarks, very shortly answered by
+Wilton, the bland _attaché_ accepted his defeat.
+
+"Did you see a large brown dog along here? I had the brute with me this
+morning, and he has strayed. I do not like to return without him, for
+he is rather a favorite with Sir Peter."
+
+"Yes, I saw him just now further up the road, close to my gate,"
+returned Wilton quickly, without adding what direction the animal had
+taken.
+
+"Thank you. Then I will prosecute my search instead of spoiling your
+_tête-à-tête_"--with which parting shot St. George left them.
+
+For some paces Wilton and his companion walked on in silence. He stole a
+glance at her face; it was composed and thoughtful. "I suppose you were
+not surprised by that apparition? Perhaps it was a choice of the smaller
+evil that induced you to adopt a _tête-à-tête_ with me, instead of with
+him?" He looked earnestly for her reply.
+
+"It was," she said, without raising her eyes to his. "He passed me just
+now in the dog-cart with another gentleman, and I thought it possible he
+might return; so, as you have always been kind and friendly, I thought I
+might ask you to come with me."
+
+Another pause ensued, for Wilton's heated imagination conjured up an
+array of serious annoyances deserving the severest castigation, and he
+scarcely dared trust himself to speak, so fearful was he of checking her
+confidence, or seeming to guess too much of the truth. At last he
+exclaimed, with a sort of suppressed vehemence that startled Miss
+Rivers into looking at him quickly, "By heaven, it is too bad that you
+should be bored, in your rare moments of freedom, with the idle chatter
+of that fellow."
+
+"It is a bore, but that is all. It amuses him to speak Italian with
+me"--an expression of superb disdain gleamed over her face for an
+instant, and left it quiet and grave. "Though wonderfully civil, even
+complimentary, he conveys, more than any one I ever met, the hatefulness
+of class distinctions."
+
+"I feel deeply thankful for the doubt you expressed just now that he
+belonged to the same race as myself."
+
+"You are quite different; but I dare say you have plenty of the
+prejudices peculiar to your caste."
+
+"I wish you would undertake my conversion. It might not be so difficult.
+Your denunciation of soldiers has rung in my ears--no--rather haunted my
+imagination ever since you showed me your sketch-book in that desolate
+waiting-room."
+
+"I remember," said she, gravely. "No, I shall never convert you; even if
+I wrote a political thesis for your benefit." After a short pause, she
+resumed abruptly, "Do you know, I fear poor Donald has not much of life
+before him?"
+
+"Indeed! What induces you to think so?"
+
+"He is so weak, and feverish, and sleepless. He often rings for me to
+read to him in the dead of the night. And then, with all his ill temper
+and selfishness, he has at times such gleams of noble thought, such
+flashes of intellectual light, that I cannot help feeling it is the
+flicker of the dying lamp. I shall be profoundly grieved when his sad,
+blighted life is over. No one knows him as I do; and no one cares for me
+as he does. I have ventured to speak to Lady Fergusson, but she cannot
+or will not see, and forbids my addressing Sir Peter on the subject."
+
+"And if this unfortunate boy dies, what is to become of you?" asked
+Wilton, too deeply interested to choose his words, yet a little
+apprehensive lest he might offend.
+
+"I do not know; I have never thought," she replied, quite naturally. "I
+suppose I should go back to Mrs. Kershaw. She is fond of me in her way,
+especially since I nursed her through that fever."
+
+"And then," persisted Wilton, looking earnestly at her half-averted face
+with an expression which, had she turned and caught it, would probably
+have destroyed the pleasant, friendly tone of their intercourse.
+
+"I do not know; but I do not dread work. To do honest service is no
+degradation to me. I have always heard of work as the true religion of
+humanity. No. I have very little fear of the future, because, perhaps, I
+have so little hope."
+
+"You are a strange girl," exclaimed Wilton, with a certain degree of
+familiarity, which yet was perfectly respectful. "I fancy few men have
+so much pluck I dare say Lady Fergusson would not like to lose so
+charming a companion for her daughters."
+
+"Lady Fergusson does not think me at all charming; and Miss Saville does
+not like me, nor I her. But whether they like it or not, I shall not
+remain if Donald dies."
+
+"Mrs. Kershaw is the person in whose house your father died?" said
+Wilton softly, and in the same confidential tone their conversation had
+taken.
+
+Miss Rivers bent her head.
+
+"Where does she live?"
+
+"At Kensington."
+
+"Whereabouts? I know Kensington pretty well."
+
+"Oh! in H---- Street. There is a little garden in front, so it is called
+Gothic Villa, though there is very little that is Gothic about it." Here
+Miss Rivers stopped.
+
+"Yes!" exclaimed Wilton; "I see we are within the Brosedale boundaries;
+but you must not dismiss your escort yet; that diplomatic relative of
+mine may be on our heels."
+
+"Do not imagine I fear to encounter him," said she, with an arch smile.
+"I ought, perhaps, to apologize to you for taking you out of your way
+for so slight a cause; but even if a fly alights on one's brow or hand,
+the impulse is to brush it away."
+
+"Do not dismiss me so soon, however. I am going away the day after
+to-morrow, and may not see you again before I leave."
+
+"You are going! I am sorry." She spoke with a simple sincerity that at
+once charmed, and yet mortified him.
+
+"You have always seemed more like an old friend than a stranger," she
+continued; "and I shall miss you."
+
+"If I could be of the smallest use--the slightest comfort to you," said
+Wilton--his tones deepening unconsciously while he drew nearer to her,
+feeling still fearful of awakening any consciousness of the passionate
+feeling with which he regarded her--"I would willingly renounce my visit
+to A----; but I am only going there for a few days, and hope to return
+in time for some entertainment which is to take place in honor of Sir
+Peter's birthday."
+
+"Oh, yes; it was the same last year. A ball for the near neighbors and
+tenants and dwellers in the house. I had no heart to see the last, but I
+have promised Isabel to be present at this."
+
+"Indeed! then, pray, make another promise--to dance with me."
+
+"Yes; I will dance with you, if you remember about it, and come to claim
+me."
+
+"If!" repeated Wilton with eloquent emphasis; "If I am in life you will
+see me there, even though I risk another railway smash to keep the
+tryst."
+
+There was a fervor and depth in his voice beyond what the mere words
+required that struck his companion. She turned to him with a startled,
+wondering expression in her eyes, which met his fully for a moment, and
+then sank slowly, while a faint flitting blush came and went on her
+cheek, the sweet curved lips quivered, and an unmistakable look of pain
+and gravity stole over her face. Wilton was ready to curse his own want
+of self-control for thus disturbing her, and yet this touch of emotion
+and consciousness completed the potent spell she had laid upon him. He
+burned to complete with his lips the confession his eyes had begun, but
+he must not, dare not then; so, with an immense effort over himself, he
+managed to say somewhat at random, "I suppose they have a good
+band--good enough to dance to?"
+
+"Yes, I believe so;" and then again she stood still. "You have come
+quite far enough. I must say good-by. I do not wish to take you any
+further." She again raised her eyes to his with a sort of effort, but
+gravely and resolutely.
+
+"I obey," replied Wilton as gravely, all anxiety to win her back to her
+former easy, confidential tone; he raised his hat and looked in vain for
+a movement on her side to hold out her hand. "Then I may count on you
+for the first waltz at the birthday fête. I shall come for it, rest
+assured; so remember if you let St. George or any one else persuade you
+to break your promises, the results may be--fatal." He endeavored to
+assume a light tone, but could not judge of its effect, for Miss Rivers
+merely said in a low voice, "Good-by. I shall not forget."
+
+Wilton sought for another glance in vain. She bent her head as he stood
+aside to let her pass, and vanished quickly among the trees.
+
+The walk back was accomplished almost unconsciously, so deeply was
+Wilton absorbed in thought. Involuntarily he had torn away the veil
+which had hitherto hidden the real character of their intercourse from
+that proud, frank, simple girl, and how would she take it? With a woman
+of her calibre anything like indirectness, of parleying with generous
+impulses, would consign him to the limbo of her contempt; and the grand
+scorn of her face when she spoke of St. George Wilton amusing himself
+with her, flashed back upon him. Of that he could not bear to think, nor
+of giving her up and seeking safety in flight, nor of tormenting himself
+by hanging about her vaguely. There was but one way out of it all--wild,
+imprudent, insane as it must appear, even to decent worldlings like
+Moncrief--and that was to go in gallantly and dauntlessly for marriage
+at all risks. Wilton's pulses throbbed at the idea; once certain of
+himself and his motives, he felt that he could break down any barrier of
+reserve Ella Rivers might erect against him, and, at least, ascertain
+what were his chances, or if he had any.
+
+In this mood the next day's dinner at Brosedale was a great trial,
+though a slight increase of friendliness toward St. George, who had
+evidently held his tongue about their rencontre. All passed over
+serenely, and promising faithfully to return in time for the ball, he
+bid the Brosedale party "good-night." Not sorry to try his own
+impressions by the test of change, both of scene and company, he started
+for A---- the next morning.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+The annual entertainment at Brosedale was on an unusual scale this year.
+The house was full, and full of eligible people. Mr. St. George Wilton,
+it is true, had departed without laying himself and his diplomatic
+honors at Miss Saville's feet; but that accomplished young lady was
+upheld by the consciousness that his soldier-cousin would be there to
+fill his place, and would be no mean substitute.
+
+This celebration of Sir Peter Fergusson's birthday was instituted by his
+admiring wife, who found it useful as a sort of rallying point at a
+difficult season, and helped the family radiance to obliterate the
+whilom revered Grits of Brosedale; and Sir Peter, to whom money was no
+object, allowed himself to be flattered and fooled into this piece of
+popularity-hunting as "advisable" and the "right thing."
+
+Wilton dressed and drove over to Brosedale, in a mingled state of
+resolution and anxiety. Although he seemed as pleasant a companion, as
+good a shot, as bold a rider as ever to his Hussar hosts, he found
+plenty of time to think, to examine, and to torment himself. He had not
+reached his thirty-fifth year without a sprinkling of love affairs, some
+of them, especially of early date, fiery enough; but no previous fancy
+or passion had taken such deep hold upon him as the present one. Like
+many of the better sort of men, he looked on women as pretty, charming
+toys; to be kindly and honorably treated, cared for and protected, but
+chiefly created for man's pleasure, to give a certain grace to his
+existence when good, and to spoil it when wicked. A woman with
+convictions, with an individual inner life; a woman he could talk to, as
+to a friend, apart from her personal attraction; a woman who spoke to
+him as if love-making was not thought of between them; a woman to whom
+he dared not make love lest he should lose those delicious glimpses of
+heart and mind, so fresh, so utterly unconscious of their own
+charm--this was something quite beyond his experience. Then, to a true
+gentleman, her strangely forlorn, isolated position hedged her round
+with a strong though invisible fence; and the great difficulty of
+meeting her alone, of finding opportunities to win her, and rouse her
+from her pleasant but provoking ease and friendliness--all conspired to
+fan the steadily increasing fire. Occupy himself as he might, the sound
+of her voice was ever in his ear; her soft, earnest, fearless eyes
+forever in his sight. What a companion she would be, with her bright
+intelligence, her quick sympathy, her artistic taste! and through all
+this attraction of fancy and intelligence ran the electric current of
+strong passion, the intense longing to read love in her eyes, to feel
+the clasp of her slender arms, to hold her to his heart, and press his
+lips to hers! He had known many fairer women, but none before had
+stirred his deeper, better nature like this friendless, obscure girl, on
+whom he involuntarily looked with more of reverence than the haughtiest
+peeress had called forth; and come what might, he would not lose her for
+lack of boldness to face the possible ills of an unequal match.
+
+Wilton did not deceive himself as to the seeming insanity of such a
+marriage. He knew what Moncrief would say; what the world in which he
+lived would say--for that he cared little; but he looked ahead. He knew
+his means were limited for a man in his position; then there were good
+appointments in India and elsewhere for military men with administrative
+capacities and tolerable interest; and with Ella Rivers and plenty of
+work, home and happiness would exist anywhere, everywhere! Lord St.
+George! Ay; there lay a difficulty. However, he was certainly a
+perfectly free agent; but it went sorely against him to resign the
+prospect of wealth to support the rank which must come to him.
+Insensibly he had appropriated it in his mind since his interview with
+the old peer, and now he wished more than ever to secure it for Ella's
+sake. Whatever might be the obscurity of her origin, she would give new
+dignity to a coronet, if she would accept him. It was this "if" that lay
+at the root of the anxiety with which Wilton drove to Brosedale, and
+struggled to be lively and agreeable while the guests assembled, for he
+was unusually early. Who could foresee whether that wonderful
+unconsciousness which characterized Miss Rivers's manner might not be
+the result of a preoccupied heart? At the idea of a rival--a successful
+rival--Wilton felt murderous, while smiling and complimenting Miss
+Saville as they stood together in the music-room, where the first
+arrivals were received.
+
+"I thought St. George had left some time ago," he said, observing that
+gentleman approach.
+
+"He returned for the ball," replied Miss Saville, who was looking very
+handsome in a superb toilet. "He dances divinely. We could not have got
+on without him."
+
+"Dancing is a diplomatic accomplishment," said Wilton gravely. "I am
+told there used to be a competition ballet once a year at Whitehall, for
+which leave was granted at remote missions; but the advantages possessed
+by the Paris and Vienna _attachés_ over those in Vancouver's Land and
+the Cannibal Islands were so unfair that it has been discontinued;
+besides, old H---- is opposed to the graces."
+
+This speech permitted St. George to come up, and he immediately engaged
+the beautiful Helen for the first waltz.
+
+"I think we may as well begin, Helen," said Lady Fergusson; "we can make
+up two or three quadrilles. Come, Lord Ogilvie"--this to a fledgling
+lord, who had been caught for the occasion--"take Miss Saville to the
+ball-room."
+
+"Where is your youngest daughter, Lady Fergusson?" asked Colonel Wilton.
+"I suppose on such an occasion she is permitted to share the pomps and
+vanities. Eh?"
+
+"Oh, Isabel! She has already gone into the ball-room with Miss Walker;
+but I cannot permit you to throw yourself away on a school girl. Let me
+introduce you to--"
+
+"My dear Lady Fergusson, you must permit me the liberty of choice.
+Isabel or nothing," he interrupted.
+
+"Very well," said Lady Fergusson, with a slight, but pleased smile.
+
+Colonel Wilton offered his arm, and they proceeded to the ball-room. It
+was the largest of two large drawing-rooms, only separated by handsome
+columns. Cleared of furniture and profusely decorated with flowers, it
+was spacious and attractive enough to satisfy the wildest D----shire
+imagination, nor was it beneath the approval of the experienced
+Londoners staying in the house. At one end it opened on a large fragrant
+conservatory; here the band was stationed; the further end of the second
+drawing-room was an apartment devoted to refreshments, and again
+communicating with the conservatory by a glass-covered passage lined
+with tropical shrubs, lighted by soft, ground-glass lamps, and warmed to
+a delicious temperature. When Wilton entered the ball-room the first
+sets of quadrilles were being formed. He soon perceived Isabel standing
+beside her step-father, and Miss Walker, in festive attire, conversing
+with a learned-looking old gentleman in spectacles at a little distance.
+Wilton's heart failed him. Where was Ella Rivers? Had Donald insisted on
+keeping her a prisoner lest she might enjoy a pleasure he could not
+share?
+
+However, he asked the delighted school-girl to dance with a suitable air
+of enjoyment, and before the third figure had begun had extracted the
+following information.
+
+"Donald has been frightfully cross all day; he always is when we have a
+ball; and he has kept Miss Rivers so late! But I think she is ready now;
+she was to wait in the conservatory till Miss Walker went for her, as
+she could not very well come in alone."
+
+After which communication Miss Isabel Saville found her partner slightly
+absent, and given rather to spasmodic spurts of conversation than to
+continuous agreeability. In truth, the quadrille seemed very long. He
+watched Miss Walker carefully; she was still alone, and--if such a
+phrase could be applied to anything so rigid--fluttering amiably from
+one dowager to another among the smaller gentry invited once a year.
+
+"Now Colonel Wilton," said Lady Fergusson when the quadrille was over,
+"I will introduce you to a charming partner--an heiress, a belle--"
+
+"Do not think of it," he interrupted. "I have almost forgotten how to
+dance; you had better keep me as a reserve fund for the partnerless and
+forlorn."
+
+Wilton stepped back to make way for some new arrivals; still, no sign of
+Ella. Miss Walker was in deep conversation with a stout lady in maroon
+satin and black lace; she had evidently forgotten her promise; so,
+slipping through the rapidly-increasing crowd, Wilton executed a bold
+and skilful flank movement.
+
+Passing behind the prettily ornamented stand occupied by the musicians,
+just as they struck up a delicious waltz, he plunged into the
+dimly-lighted recesses of the conservatory in search of the missing
+girl. She was not there, so he dared to penetrate into the passage
+before mentioned, on which one or two doors opened; one of them was
+open, letting in a brilliant light from the room behind, and just upon
+the threshold stood Ella Rivers, with an expectant look in her eyes.
+Wilton paused in his approach, so impressed was he by her air of
+distinction. The delicate white of her neck and arms showed through her
+dress of black gauze; her dark brown, glossy hair braided back into wide
+plaited loops behind her small shell-like ear, and brought round the
+head in a sort of crown, against which lay her only ornament, a white
+camellia with its dark green leaves. As she stood thus, still and
+composed, waiting patiently, and looking so purely, softly, colorless,
+and fair, the quiet grace of her figure, the dusk transparency of her
+drapery, associated her in Wilton's fancy with the tender beauty of
+moonlight; but, as the thought passed through his brain, he stepped
+forward and accosted her.
+
+"I have come to claim the waltz you promised me, Miss Rivers."
+
+She started, and colored slightly. "Yes," she replied, "I am ready, as
+you have remembered. I am waiting for Miss Walker, who promised to come
+for me."
+
+"She is engaged with some people in the ball-room, so I ventured to
+come in her place."
+
+He bowed, and offered his arm as he spoke, with the utmost deference;
+and Miss Rivers, with one quick, surprised glance, took it in silence.
+
+"You remembered your promise to me?" asked Wilton, as they passed
+through the conservatory.
+
+"Scarcely," she replied, with a slight smile. "I did not think of it
+till you spoke."
+
+"And had I been a little later I should have found you waltzing with
+some more fortunate fellow?"
+
+"Yes, very likely, had any one else asked me. You see," apologetically,
+"I am very fond of dancing, and I know so few--or rather I know no
+one--so had you not come, and I had waited for you, I might never have
+danced at all."
+
+"But you _knew_ I would come," exclaimed Wilton, eagerly.
+
+Miss Rivers shook her head, raising her eyes to his with the first
+approach to anything like coquetry he had ever noticed in her, though
+playfulness would be the truer description.
+
+"You knew I would come," he repeated.
+
+"Indeed I did not."
+
+These words brought them to the ball-room, and as they stepped out into
+the light and fragrance of the bright, well-filled, decorated room,
+Wilton's companion uttered a low exclamation of delight.
+
+"How beautiful! how charming--and the music! Come, let us dance! we are
+losing time. Oh! how long it is since I danced! How glad I am you came
+for me!"
+
+Wilton tried to look into her eyes, to catch their expression when she
+uttered these words, but in vain--they were wandering with animated
+delight over the gay scene and whirling figures, while her hand, half
+unconsciously, was stretched up to his shoulder. The next moment they
+were floating away to the strains of one of Strauss's dreamy waltzes.
+
+"And where did you last dance?" asked Wilton, as they paused for breath.
+
+"Oh! at M----, under the great chestnut trees. There was an Austrian
+band there; and, although such tyrants, they make excellent music, the
+Austrians. It was so lovely and fresh that evening."
+
+"And who were your partners--Austrian or Italian?"
+
+"Neither; I only danced with Diego--dear, good Diego. Do not speak of
+it! I want to forget now. I want to enjoy this one evening--just this
+one."
+
+There was wonderful pathos in her voice and eyes; but Wilton only said,
+"Then, if you are rested, we will go on again." He could not trust
+himself to say more at that moment.
+
+When the dance was ended, Wilton, anxious to avoid drawing any notice
+upon his partner, led her at once to Miss Walker, and considerably
+astonished that lady by asking her for the next quadrille. For several
+succeeding dances he purposely avoided Ella, while he distributed his
+attentions with judicious impartiality; although he managed to see that
+she danced more than once, but never with St. George, who seemed to
+avoid her.
+
+At last, the move to supper was made, and, at the same time, a gay
+gallop was played, to employ the younger guests and keep them from
+crowding upon their elders while in the sacred occupation of eating.
+Seeing the daughters of the house deeply engaged, Wilton indulged
+himself in another dance with Ella. When they ceased, the room was
+wellnigh cleared.
+
+"Now, tell me," said Wilton--his heart beating fast, for he was resolved
+not to part with his companion until he had told her the passionate love
+which she had inspired--till he had won her to some avowal, or promise,
+or explanation--"tell me, have you had nothing all this time? No ice, or
+wine, or--"
+
+"Yes--an ice; it was very good."
+
+"And you would like another? Come, we are more likely to find it in the
+refreshment-room than at supper, and be less crowded too; unless your
+mind is fixed on game pie and champagne?" While he forced himself to
+speak lightly, he scarce heard his own spoken words, for listening to
+the burning sentences forming themselves in his brain, and for planning
+how to find some blessed opportunity of being alone with the fair girl,
+whose hand, as it rested on his arm, he could not help pressing to his
+side.
+
+"No, no," she exclaimed, smiling, "I do not care for game pie; but I
+should like an ice."
+
+"Then we will make for the refreshment-room." It was nearly empty, but
+not quite; one or two couples and a few waiters rendered it anything but
+a desirable solitude. However, Wilton composed himself as best he could
+to watch Ella eat her ice, while he solaced himself with a tumbler of
+champagne. "Who have you been dancing with?" he asked, trying to make
+her speak and look at him.
+
+"I do not know. One gentleman was introduced to me by Isabel; the other
+introduced himself. I liked him the best, although he is a soldier"--a
+laughing glance at Wilton--"and he says he knows you."
+
+"Oh! young Langley of the 15th, I suppose?"
+
+"He dances very badly--much worse than you do."
+
+"That is a very disheartening speech. I thought I rather distinguished
+myself this evening; but I suppose your friend Diego could distance me
+considerably."
+
+"You mean he danced better?"--pausing, with a spoonful of ice half-way
+to her lips. "Well, yes; you really dance very well; I enjoyed my dance
+with you; but Diego! his dancing was superb!"
+
+"Was he not rather old for such capering?"
+
+"Old! Ah, no. Diego never was, never will be, old! Poor fellow! You
+would like Diego, if you knew him."
+
+"You think so?"--very doubtfully--"however, we were not to talk about
+him. Let me take away your plate. And have you managed to enjoy your
+evening?"
+
+"Well, no"--looking up at him with wistful eyes--"that is the truth. It
+is so terribly strange and lonely, I was thinking of stealing away when
+you asked me for that galop."
+
+"Let us go and see Donald," exclaimed Wilton, abruptly rising. "His room
+opens on the other side of the conservatory, does it not?"
+
+"But he is not there; he is gone to bed."
+
+"Had he gone when you came away?"
+
+"No; but he was quite worn out with his own crossness, and is, I hope,
+fast asleep by this time."
+
+"Well, I am under the impression that he is still up."
+
+"Did any one tell you? How very wrong. He ought to be in bed. I shall
+go and see."
+
+"Yes; you had better. It is half past twelve! Let me go with you; I may
+be of some use."
+
+"Come, then," said she, frankly; and Wilton followed her, feeling that
+he was about to reap the reward of the self-control by which he had won
+back her confidence, which he feared his unguarded glance had shaken
+when they had last met.
+
+Ella Rivers walked quickly down the passage leading to the conservatory,
+now quite deserted, the band having gone to refresh, and crossed to a
+glass door, through which light still shone. "I do believe he is up. The
+lamp is still burning." She opened it and stepped in. Wilton followed,
+dexterously dropping the curtain as he passed through.
+
+"No; he is gone," said Ella, looking around. "I am so glad!"
+
+"So am I," exclaimed Wilton, most sincerely.
+
+"How quiet and comfortable the room looks," continued his companion,
+drawing off her gloves. "I shall not return to the ball; it is no place
+for me; so good-night, Colonel Wilton."
+
+"Not yet," he exclaimed, in a low, earnest tone. "Hear me first--I
+cannot help speaking abruptly--I dare not lose so precious an
+opportunity." He approached her as he spoke. She was standing by a
+large writing-table near the fire-place, where the last embers were
+dying out; she had just laid down her gloves, and, resting one hand upon
+the table, looked up with a wondering, startled expression. Her total
+unconsciousness of what was coming struck Wilton dumb for a moment; but
+he was naturally resolute, and had the advantage of having thoroughly
+made up his mind. "Although I have done my best to mask my feelings," he
+resumed, speaking rapidly, but with unmistakable emotion, "fearing to
+frighten you from the friendly confidence you have hitherto shown me, I
+cannot hide or suppress them any longer--I must tell you I love you! I
+must ask if there is a chance for me with you? I know it is audacious to
+address you thus when I have had so few opportunities of making myself
+known to you; but the great difficulty of seeing you, your peculiar
+position, the terrible uncertainty--"
+
+"Oh! hush, hush!" interrupted Ella, who had turned very pale, covering
+her eyes with one hand and stretching out the other as if to ward off a
+danger; "do not speak like that! Have I lost my only friend! I did not
+dream of this--at least I only once feared it, I--"
+
+"Feared," interrupted Wilton in his turn. "Why, am I lost? Are you
+pledged to some other man that you shrink from me? Speak, Ella! If it is
+so, why I must not force myself upon you. Speak to me! look at me!"
+And, in his intense anxiety to ascertain the truth, he drew her hand
+from her face and held it locked in both of his.
+
+"I pledged to anyone! no indeed"--raising her eyes, by a sort of
+determined effort, gravely, earnestly to his--"I never thought of such a
+thing!" she returned, trying to draw away her hand.
+
+"Then am I utterly unacceptable to you? You cannot form an idea of the
+intense love you have created, or you would not speak so coldly! Ella,
+there is no one to care for you as I do--no one to consult--no one to
+keep you back from me! If you do not care for me now, tell me how I can
+win you! do not turn away from me! I have much to explain--much to tell
+you--and I dare not detain you now lest we might be interrupted, but
+come to-morrow across the brae! I will be there every afternoon by the
+cairn until you can manage to come, if you will only promise. For God's
+sake do not refuse to hear me!" He bent over her, longing, yet not
+daring, to draw her to him.
+
+"Let my hand go," said Ella, in a low voice, and trembling very much.
+Wilton instantly released it. "Go to meet you! no, I must not--I will
+not." She stopped, and, pressing her hand against her heart, went on
+hurriedly--"I can hear no more; I will go away now! Ah! how sorry I
+am!" She moved toward a door opening into the house, but Wilton
+intercepted her.
+
+"You misunderstand me, though I cannot see why; but will you at least
+promise to read what I write? Promise this, and I will not intrude upon
+you any longer."
+
+"I will," she replied faintly. Wilton bowed and stepped back; the next
+instant he was alone.
+
+Alone, and most uncomfortable. He had in some mysterious manner offended
+her. He could understand her being a little startled, but--here one of
+those sudden intuitions which come like a flash of summer lightning,
+revealing objects shrouded in the dark of a sultry night, darted across
+his misty conjectures--he had not mentioned the words "wife" or
+"marriage." Could she imagine that he was only trifling with her? or
+worse? The blood mounted to his cheek as the thought struck him; and
+yet, painful as the idea was, it suggested hope. Her evident grief, her
+visible shrinking from the word "love," did not look like absolute
+indifference. She did not like to lose him as a friend, and she feared a
+possible loss of respect in his adopting the character of her lover.
+Then she had been so deeply impressed by the caste prejudices of the
+people around her, to say nothing of the possible impertinences of Mr.
+St. George Wilton, that it was not improbable she had cruelly
+misinterpreted his avowal. These reflections gave him the keenest pain,
+the most ardent longing to fly to Ella to pour out assurances of the
+deepest, the warmest esteem, but that was impossible for the present; he
+had nothing for it but to hook up the curtain again, and return to the
+ball-room, planning a letter to Ella, which should leave no shadow of
+doubt as to the sincerity and purity of his affection for her.
+
+But the sound of the music, the sight of the dancers, the effort to seem
+as if nothing had happened, was too much for his sell-control, and,
+excusing himself to his hostess, he was soon driving home, thankful to
+be out in the cold, fresh night air, which seemed to quiet his pulses
+and clear his thoughts. Cost him what it might, he would never give Ella
+up, unless she positively refused him, and of that he would not think.
+The slight and unsatisfactory taste of open love-making which he had
+snatched only served to increase the hunger for more. The indescribable,
+shrinking, despairing tone and gesture with which Ella cried, "Then I
+have lost you for my friend," was vividly present with him, and before
+he slept that night, or rather morning, he poured forth on paper all his
+love, his aspirations, that could be written. He did not, as
+letter-writing heroes generally do, sacrifice a hecatomb of note-paper.
+He knew what he wanted, and said it in good, terse, downright English,
+stamped with so much earnestness and honesty that it would have been a
+cold heart, much colder than Ella Rivers's, that could have read it
+unmoved. Then, like a sensible man--for in spite of the strong love fit
+upon him, and the rather insane line of conduct he had chosen to adopt,
+Wilton was a sensible fellow--he set himself to wait patiently till the
+following day, which might bring him a reply, or possibly a meeting with
+Ella herself, which he had most urgently entreated. That she would
+either write or come he felt sure, and so to while away the time he kept
+a half made appointment with some of his military friends, and enjoyed a
+sharp run over a stiff country with the D----shire hounds, and dined
+with the mess afterwards.
+
+He was, however, less composed next day when no letter reached him from
+Ella, and no Ella appeared at the tryst. The next day was stormy, with
+heavy showers, and the next was frosty--still no letter; still no
+Ella--and Wilton began to fret, and champ the bit of imperious
+circumstance with suppressed fury. If to-morrow brought no better luck
+he would endure it no longer, but make a bold inroad upon the fortress
+wherein his love--his proud, delicate darling--was held in durance vile.
+
+The weather was still bright and clear. A light frost lay crisp and
+sparkling on the short herbage and tufts of broom; the air was so
+still, that the rush of the river, as it chafed against the big black
+stones opposing its progress, could be heard at a considerable distance
+past the cairn, where a path very little frequented branched off to a
+remote hamlet over the wooded hill behind Glenraven. The low-lying
+country towards Monkscleugh lay mapped out in the rarefied air, which
+diminished distance and gave wondrous distinctness to all outlines. A
+delicious winter's day; all sounds mellowed to a sort of metallic music
+by the peculiar state of the atmosphere. But Wilton was in no mood to
+enjoy the beauties of nature. He was feverish with impatience as he
+walked to and fro behind the friendly shelter of the cairn, and noticed,
+in the odd, mechanical way with which the mind at certain crises seems
+excited into a species of double action, and while absorbed by the great
+motive can yet take in and imprint indelibly upon its tablets all the
+minute details of surrounding objects. He saw the picturesque roughness
+of a prostrate tree; he watched the shadow of the cairn stealing
+gradually further eastward; he noticed a little robin perching on a
+twig, that seemed to look at him without apprehension; he gazed at a
+couple of ragged, miserable goats who were feeding at a little distance,
+occasionally lifting up their heads to bleat at each other. Years after
+he could have described the position of these objects, though at the
+moment he was scarce conscious of them. "Ten minutes to three! If she is
+not here in ten minutes, I will walk on to Brosedale and find out why,"
+he muttered to himself, as he walked away once more toward the hill.
+When he turned he saw a slight figure, wrapped in a dark green plaid,
+standing beside the tree, in the place he had just quitted.
+Then--impatience, and doubt, and anger all swept away in a flood of
+delight--he sprang to meet her.
+
+"At last! I thought you would never come. And yet how good of you to
+grant my request. I have lived two years since I spoke to you."
+
+Ella smiled and colored, then turned very pale, and gently, but firmly,
+drew away the hand he had taken--looking on the ground all the time. "I
+could not come before," she said, in a low, unsteady voice. "To-day Sir
+Peter has taken Donald with him to D----." A pause. "I am afraid you
+thought me rude--unkind--but I scarcely understood you. I--" She stopped
+abruptly.
+
+"Do you understand me now?" asked Wilton, gravely, coming close to her,
+and resting one foot only on the fallen tree, while he bent to look into
+the sweet, pale face. "Have you read my letter?"
+
+"Yes; many times. It has infinitely astonished me."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"That you should ask so great a stranger to share your life--your name.
+To be with you always--till death. Is it not unwise, hasty?"
+
+"Many--most people would say so, who were not in love. I cannot reason
+or argue about it. I only know that I cannot face the idea of life
+without you. Nor shall anything turn me from my determination to win
+you, except your own distinct rejection."
+
+"Is it possible you feel all this--and for me?" exclaimed Ella, stepping
+back and raising her great, deep, blue, wondering eyes to his.
+
+"I loved you from the hour we first met," said Wilton, passionately.
+"For God's sake! do not speak so coldly. Are you utterly indifferent to
+me? or have you met some one you can love better?"
+
+"Neither," she replied, still looking earnestly at him. "I never loved
+any one. I have often thought of loving, and feared it! it is so solemn.
+But how could I love you? I have always liked to meet you and speak to
+you, still I scarcely know you; and though to me such things are folly,
+I know that to you and to your class there seems a great gulf fixed
+between us--a gulf I never dreamed you would span."
+
+"I do not care what the gulf, what the obstacle," cried Wilton, again
+possessing himself of her hand; "I only know that no woman was ever
+before necessary to my existence; high or low, you are my queen! Do not
+think I should have dared to express my feelings so soon, but for the
+enormous difficulty of seeing you--of meeting you. Then I feared that
+you might drift away from me. I am not wanting in pluck; but, by heaven!
+I never was in such a fright in my life as the other night when I began
+to speak to you."
+
+A sweet smile stole round Ella's lips and sparkled in her eyes as he
+spoke. "Ah! you are not going to be inexorable," he continued, watching
+with delight this favorable symptom; "if you are heart-whole I do not
+quite despair."
+
+"Colonel Wilton," she replied, again drawing away her hand, "take care
+you are not acting on a mere impulse."
+
+"You speak as if I were a thoughtless, inexperienced boy," he
+interrupted, impatiently. "You forget that I was almost a man when you
+were born; and as to reflecting, I have never ceased reflecting since I
+met you. Believe me, I have thought of everything possible and
+impossible, and the result is you must be my wife, unless you have some
+insuperable objection."
+
+"Oh, let me speak to you," she exclaimed, clasping her hands
+imploringly; "speak out all my mind, and do not be offended, or
+misinterpret me."
+
+"I will listen to every syllable, and stand any amount of lecturing you
+choose to bestow; but let us walk on toward the hill; you will take
+cold standing here."
+
+They moved on accordingly, Ella speaking with great, though controlled,
+animation--sometimes stopping to enforce her words with slight, eloquent
+gestures. Wilton's heart in his eyes, listening with his whole soul,
+slowly and meditatively pulling out his long moustaches.
+
+"Nature to nature," continued Ella. "I know I am not unworthy of you,
+even if you are all you seem. But are you quite sure you will always see
+as clearly through the outside of things as you do now? Ah! I have heard
+and read such sad, terrible stories of change, and vain regret for what
+was irremediable, that I tremble at the thought of what you might bring
+upon us both. Mind to mind, heart to heart, we are equals; but the
+accidents of our condition--just look at the difference between them. I
+am the veriest thistledown of insignificance. I scarce know who I am
+myself; and might not the day come when you will regret having
+sacrificed your future to a fancy, a whim? You might be too generous to
+say so, but do you think I should not know it? If I married you I would
+love you, and if I loved you there would not be a shadow on your heart,
+nor a variation in your mood that I should not divine. Do not ask me to
+love you. I fear it! I am quiet now; my life is not very sunny, but it
+is free from absolute pain. Be wise."
+
+"I am wise," interrupted Wilton; "most wise in my resolution to let
+nothing turn me from my purpose; and Ella--for I must speak to you as I
+think of you--do not suppose I am offering you a very brilliant lot when
+I implore you to be my wife. I am but indifferently off as a simple
+gentleman, and will be positively poor when I have higher rank. Still,
+if you will trust me--if you will love me--life may be very delicious.
+All that you have said only makes me more eager to call you my own. I am
+not afraid of changing. I have always been true to my friends--why not
+to my love? It is true that you must take me somewhat on my own
+recommendation; but is there no instinctive feeling in your heart that
+recognizes the sincerity of mine? I have listened to all you have said,
+and simply repeat--Will you be my wife, if you are free to be so?"
+
+"I will answer frankly, yes. Oh, stay, stay! _If_ after six months'
+absence you return and repeat the question--"
+
+"Six months' absence! You are not speaking seriously! Do you think I
+should consent to such banishment?"
+
+"You must, Colonel Wilton, both for your own sake and mine. I must be
+sure that the feelings you think so deep will stand some test; you
+ought to prove your real need of me by absence, by steeping yourself in
+the society of your own class--the women of your own class. I have a
+right to ask this."
+
+"By heaven!" cried Wilton, "you are utterly cold and indifferent, or you
+would not put me to so cruel a proof."
+
+Ella was silent, and tears stood in her eyes, while Wilton went on.
+"Think of six months! six months swept clean off the few years of youth
+and love and happiness we have before us! It is reckless waste! Hear me
+in turn; give up this purgatory! go back to your friendly landlady. I
+will meet you in London; in three or four weeks at the farthest we shall
+be man and wife. I have more than three months' leave unexpired; we will
+go away to Italy, or the south of France. Ella! I feel half-mad at the
+idea of such a heaven. Why do you not feel as I do?"
+
+"No, I must not, I will not," said she, turning very pale, and trembling
+excessively, but letting him hold her hand in both his. "I must insist
+upon your submitting to the test of absence, in justice to me."
+
+In vain Wilton implored and almost raged; she was evidently much shaken
+and disturbed, but still immovable. The utmost Wilton could win was the
+shortening his time of probation to three months, during which time he
+was not to write nor expect her to write. If, at the expiration of that
+period, he claimed her, she would be his. If he changed, he was simply
+to let the tryst go by unnoticed. The settlement of these preliminaries
+brought them very near the entrance of the Brosedale plantations,
+whither Ella had resolutely bent her steps. Finding his eloquence of no
+avail, Wilton was rather moodily silent.
+
+"You are angry; you think me unkind," said Ella, softly; "but however
+you decide you will yet thank me."
+
+"You do not feel as I do."
+
+"Perhaps not; yet do not think that it costs me nothing to say good-by.
+You always cheered me. I used to look for you when I came out to walk,
+and when you used to come and see Donald I always felt less alone."
+
+"If you feel all this, why do you banish me?"
+
+"Because it is wisest and kindest; and now good-by. Yes; do go! I want
+to be back in time to grow composed before Donald returns."
+
+"Dearest, you look awfully pale. I ought not to keep you; and yet I
+cannot part with you." He drew her to him most tenderly, irresistibly
+impelled to breathe his adieu on her lips.
+
+"No, no," she exclaimed, drawing back. "I dare not kiss you; a kiss to
+me would be a marriage bond; do not ask it; do not hold me." He felt
+how she trembled, and he released her.
+
+"One day, Ella, you will perhaps know how much I must love to obey you.
+So it must be good-by?"
+
+"Yes; and remember you leave me perfectly free. I say it with no
+arrogance or want of feeling, but if you do not return, I shall not
+break my heart. I shall rather rejoice that we have escaped a great
+mistake--a terrible sorrow--but if you do come back--" A soft blush
+stole over her cheek--a bright smile. Wilton gazed at her, waiting
+eagerly for the next words, but they did not come. "Whatever happens,"
+she resumed, "I shall always remember with pleasure, with respect, that
+for once you rose above the conventional gentleman into a natural, true
+man." She gave him her hand for a moment, then, drawing it away from his
+passionate kisses, disappeared in the fast increasing gloom of evening
+among the plantations.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+A bright, blustering March morning was shining, with a cold glitter over
+the square of the well-known B---- Barracks, in that pleasant, rackety
+capital, Dublin, nearly three months after the interview last recorded.
+Parade had just been dismissed, and the officers of the second battalion
+--th Rifles had dispersed to their various occupations or engagements,
+with the exception of a small group which gathered round an attractive
+fire in the mess-room, and discussed the military and club gossip of the
+hour.
+
+"Will you stay for the --th Dragoons' ball, on Thursday, Wilton?" said
+one of the younger men to our friend, who was reading a London paper,
+and dressed in mufti, evidently a guest.
+
+"And for St. Paddy's on the 17th?" asked the colonel. "It's a dazzling
+scene, and no end of fun."
+
+"I promised to dine with the mess of the --th Dragoons to-night,"
+returned Wilton; "and I think I should like to see their ball; but I
+must be in Scotland before the 17th, so must forego the humors of St.
+Patrick's. I see, colonel, my battalion was not to embark until the
+25th of February. They cannot reach England for another month. I have a
+great mind to exchange into the regiment that is gone out to relieve
+them. I do not like soldiering in England--there is always work to be
+done in India."
+
+The colonel elevated his brows.
+
+"My dear fellow, you are desperately energetic. I should have thought
+that, with your prospects, you had done work enough."
+
+"My prospects have nothing to do with it. I suppose there would be no
+difficulty in the matter?" continued Wilton, reflectively, more to
+himself than to his listener.
+
+"Difficulty! none whatever. The fighting is over, so no one will be
+afraid to stay at home; and I fancy there is a very uncomfortable
+transition-state before the Anglo-Indian world."
+
+"I shall ask for extension of leave; I don't fancy joining the depot."
+
+"How long is Moncrief to be away?"
+
+"He has three weeks' leave--urgent private affairs. I am sure to see him
+in town, though I shall only pass through," remarked Wilton, and
+relapsed into silence, scarcely hearing the arguments of his companion,
+who proved to demonstration that Wilton would be a fool to make any
+exchange, except, indeed, he could get a chance of returning to his old
+friends of the second battalion.
+
+Ralph Wilton was looking thinner and graver than formerly, and there was
+an expression of anxiety and irritation in his keen bold eyes. While the
+colonel argued, an orderly approached with letters, which his officer
+took, and, glancing at the addresses, handed two or three to Wilton.
+"This is from Moncrief," said he, opening an envelope directed in a
+remarkably stiff, legible hand--"forwarded from Athgarven. He is annoyed
+at missing me, and--" Here he stopped, and read on, with knit brows and
+fixed attention, then let the hand which held the letter drop, and stood
+wrapped in thought.
+
+"No bad news?" asked the colonel.
+
+"Yes--no," he returned, absently. "My dear colonel, I must leave you
+to-day. I must go up to town by this evening's mail."
+
+"This is very sudden. Can't you manage a day or two more? Why, you have
+only been three weeks with us."
+
+A few words from Wilton convinced his friend and host that, although
+indisposed to give a reason for his sudden move, its necessity was
+imperative.
+
+The passage in Major Moncrief's letter which had moved Wilton was as
+follows:
+
+"Town is very full; the club brimming over; dinners going
+a-begging--and, talking of dinners, I met our Monkscleugh acquaintance,
+Lady Fergusson, in Regent Street, yesterday. She was in deep mourning;
+it seems that unfortunate son and heir died about a month ago. Sir Peter
+is in great grief; the establishment at Brosedale broken up, and the
+whole family _en route_ for Germany. I wonder what has become of the
+pretty lassie you picked up in the snow! I was always afraid of your
+getting into some mess with her; but you have more sense than I gave you
+credit for."
+
+The Brosedale establishment broken up! and not a line--not a word--from
+Ella. Where had she gone? Did she wish to avoid him? In four days more
+the three months' absence prescribed by Ella would have expired, and now
+he was thrown off the scent. Had she sought and found any new
+employment? If in her heart she distrusted his constancy as much as she
+professed, she might have done so; or had she returned to that London
+landlady whom she had described on the memorable occasion of the
+snow-storm? Hold! he had noted the address somewhere. This led to a
+vehement search among his papers and memoranda; but in vain. Then he sat
+down and thought intensely. Kershaw?--yes, that was the name of the
+woman; and Gothic Villa the name of the house at Kensington; but the
+street, that he could not recall; nevertheless, he would not leave a
+corner of the "old court suburb" unexplored. With this resolution he
+started on his journey--the mere movement raised his spirits and
+invigorated him; anything was better than the silence and endurance of
+the last three months.
+
+He had parted with Ella Rivers in a mood curiously compounded of love,
+anger, slightly-mortified vanity, but deep admiration. He felt that she
+had a right to demand some test of a passion so sudden; and, without
+words, her grave candor had impressed upon him the conviction that, in
+asking her to share his life, he asked quite as much as he offered--a
+conviction not always clear to men, even when in love. Then the respect
+which her self-control, her noble simplicity, imposed upon him, deepened
+and elevated the character of his affection. Above all, she was still to
+be won. She had allowed him to hope; but he dared not flatter himself
+that she loved him--and how wonderfully he yearned for her love!--he was
+astonished at it himself. All life seemed empty and colorless without
+her. About three weeks after he had left Glenraven, he had written to
+let her know that he had accepted an invitation to Ireland, where he
+intended to make some stay and visit his former brother-officers,
+seizing gladly the excuse afforded by this change of locality; but he
+had quickly received the following reply:
+
+
+     "You must faithfully keep the promise you have given. Do not in any
+     way seek me for three or four months. Meantime, I am well and not
+     unhappy. Whether we meet again or not, I shall ever think of you
+     kindly. May the good God guide us to what is happiest and best for
+     both!
+
+     "Always your friend,
+     "ELLA RIVERS."
+
+
+The small, straight, firm writing was kissed again and again, even while
+he chafed against her firmness. This touch of the true magnet had drawn
+all the atoms of romance, of nobility, of perception of spiritual and
+intellectual light, which lay scattered, not sparingly, among the
+coarser material of the man, into symmetrical circles converging to one
+centre. He was softened and strengthened. He resolved to obey Ella to
+the letter; and his brother-officers noticed that Wilton was much more
+ready for balls and dinners and luncheon-parties than formerly; for his
+character had been rather that of a "reserved, quiet fellow, with a
+devil of a temper when roused." He was, nevertheless, a favorite, as
+straightforward, plucky men, who never "shirk their fences" in any
+sense, generally are. The neighborhood, too, where Wilton's visit was
+made, was unusually wealthy and aristocratic for Ireland, so that he
+had ample opportunities for "steeping" himself in the society of people
+of his own class. The result, however, was that the impression he had
+received sank deeper and more abidingly as time went on. And now, when
+this fresh difficulty arose, he sprang forward upon the search with all
+the eagerness of a sleuth-hound suddenly released from his chain.
+
+It was in the dim gray of a cold, drizzling morning that Wilton reached
+Morley's Hotel. After a bath and breakfast, he sallied forth, in search
+of Moncrief. During his long night-journey he had taken counsel with
+himself as to how he should proceed. He would learn Lady Fergusson's
+present address, and endeavor to ascertain from her what had become of
+Ella. How he was to accomplish this without rousing her ladyship's
+suspicions, he would leave to the inspiration of the moment; for it was
+no part of his scheme to unmask his movements until he could really fix
+his plans. This could not be done till he had seen Ella and received a
+renewal of her promise; or--terrible alternative--been rejected and
+overthrown! Her unaccountable silence was cruel, unfeeling, and a clear
+breach of faith. Why had she not written to announce so material a
+change of circumstances? Had any of the pestilent political crew that
+used to surround her father started up to exercise an evil influence?
+The idea fired him with indignation. He had so delighted in thinking of
+her as his alone--a hidden jewel, the lustre and value and beauty of
+which were for him only! Meditating thus, he reached the frugal major's
+lodgings, as he did not wish at present to confront the publicity of a
+club. But his friend had not yet emerged from the privacy of his
+chamber, and there was only a dingy back-parlor, a sort of general
+waiting-room, into which he could be shown. Wilton therefore wrote
+hastily on his card, "What is Lady Fergusson's address in town?" and
+sent it up to Moncrief; receiving it back again in a few minutes, with
+this inscription on the reverse; "Claridge's; but I think they are gone.
+Dine with me to-day at the club--seven, sharp."
+
+Leaving word that he could not dine with Major Moncrief, Wilton left the
+house in a state of irritability and depression, and bent his steps to
+Claridge's; early as it was, he might at least make inquiries there. A
+yawning porter, who was sweeping the hall, called a waiter, who informed
+him that "Sir Peter and Lady Fergusson, the Misses Saville and suite,"
+had started for Paris the day before.
+
+"And suite!" echoed Wilton; "I suppose that includes the governess?"
+
+"Yes, sir; there was a lady as went with the youngest lady in one of
+the hotel broughams; she was the governess."
+
+"Was she a tall, thin lady, with spectacles?"
+
+"Just so, sir."
+
+"No other lady with them?"
+
+"No, sir--none."
+
+Nothing more to be learned there! He was quite afloat. No clue to the
+girl who he had hoped would be, two days hence, his affianced bride,
+beyond the vague address, "Mrs. Kershaw, Gothic Villa, Kensington." He
+made his way slowly into Piccadilly and hailed a hansom. Kensington must
+be the scene of his research, and the sooner he plunged into it the
+better.
+
+How to begin occupied his thoughts as he bowled along. Shops, police,
+and postmen, seemed the most likely sources of information; failing
+these, he must manage to communicate with Miss Walker, who would
+certainly know Ella's whereabouts. However, he had great faith in
+himself; it was not the first time he had to hunt up a faint track,
+though the difficulties were of a far different character.
+
+"Here we are! Where to now, sir?" cried Cabby, through the hole at the
+top.
+
+"Oh! a--the nearest butcher's," said Wilton. "Bread and meat and tea,"
+he reflected, "the humblest landlady must require;" and, proud of his
+own reasoning powers, he dismissed the cab, never remembering--probably
+not knowing--the ready-money system, which, paying the amount and
+carrying off the article, "leaves not a wrack behind."
+
+The important and substantial butcher, struck by the lordly bearing of
+his interrogator, condescended to repeat the words "Gothic Villa" in
+several keys, as though the reiteration would evoke knowledge, but ended
+with, "Can't say I know any such place, sir.--Here, Smith"--to a
+blue-gowned assistant, with rolled-up sleeves, who was adding "one leg
+more" to an artistically arranged fringe of legs of mutton which adorned
+the cornice--"do you know anything of 'Mrs. Kershaw, Gothic Villa?'"
+
+"Kershaw!" replied the man, pausing--"I seems as if I do, and yet I
+don't."
+
+At this maddening reply, Wilton felt disposed to collar him and rouse
+his memory by a sound shaking.
+
+"The person I want lets lodgings; and is, I think, elderly."
+
+"No, I don't," repeated the butcher's assistant. "I know Gothic 'all."
+
+"Ay," struck in the master, "and Gothic 'Ouse and Gothic Lodge, but no
+willar. I know the place well, sir, and I don't think there is a Gothic
+Willer in it. P'r'aps it's lodge, not willer, you are looking for?"
+
+"Then who lives at these other Gothics?"
+
+"Oh, Mr. Reynolds, the great ironmonger, has the 'all; and the honorable
+Mrs. Croker lives at the lodge."
+
+"Well, neither of these names can possibly be converted into Kershaw. I
+am sorry I troubled you."
+
+"No trouble at all, sir."
+
+Patiently, though anxiously, Wilton went from butcher to baker, from
+baker to butterman, from butterman to milkshop, until he suddenly
+exclaimed at his own stupidity, as his eye was caught by a conspicuous
+brass plate bearing the inscription, "Mr. Mayers, Gas-Inspector." "By
+Jove!" cried Wilton, aloud, "that is the fellow to know every house in
+the parish. Why did I not think of a gas-inspector before?"
+
+He rang, and a smart young woman appeared at the door in a few moments.
+
+In his uncertainty whether he was speaking to the wife or the handmaid
+of Mayers, Wilton politely raised his hat, and asked if he could see the
+master of the house.
+
+"I am very sorry, sir, he is out, and will not be here till tea-time."
+
+"And when will that be?" asked the anxious querist, smiling blandly.
+
+"Oh, not till half-past five. Could I give any message?" replied the
+lady, much impressed by the grand air and chivalrous courtesy of her
+interlocutor.
+
+"I am afraid I must trouble Mr. Mayers myself. I shall not detain him
+beyond a moment or two, if he will be so good as to see me about
+half-past five."
+
+"Yes, sir; he will be in then and very happy to see you."
+
+"Perhaps you happen to know where Gothic Villa is in this neighborhood.
+I am looking for a Mrs. Kershaw, Gothic Villa."
+
+"Kershaw? Gothic Villa? No, indeed, I do not. I have very few
+acquaintances here; you see people are rather mixed in Kensington."
+
+"I will not keep you standing--at five-thirty, then," returned Wilton,
+raising his hat, and smiling as he said to himself, "Madame the
+gas-inspectress is exclusive. Such caricatures ought to cure the follies
+they travesty." He looked at his watch. Two hours and a half to spare.
+What should he do? Make any further search, or rely on the
+gas-inspector? Yes; he would be sure to know. So, after a moment's
+thought, he again called a hansom, and rattled back to the club; but
+Major Moncrief was not there. Hastily scribbling an invitation to
+breakfast next day, he went on to his hotel to snatch a mouthful of
+luncheon or dinner, or both, for he still hoped to spend the remainder
+of the evening exchanging vows, explanations--perhaps kisses--with Ella
+Rivers. He had by some unreasonable process of thought convinced himself
+that she could have taken refuge in no other haven than the somewhat
+unromantic dwelling of Mrs. Kershaw.
+
+As the half-hour struck, Wilton rang again at the gas-inspector's house.
+He was received by the same lady most graciously, and ushered into an
+oppressively smart front parlor, profusely decorated with
+anti-macassars, and mats, and table-covers.
+
+"Mr. Mayers will be here directly; he has only just come in. What a
+disagreeable day it has been--drizzle, drizzle, the whole time! I
+couldn't venture out," simpered Mrs. Mayers, who was disposed to improve
+the occasion by a little conversation with her "stylish visitor," as she
+described him to her husband. Wilton assented rather absently, and then,
+to his great relief, Mr. Mayers came in. After a few words of apology,
+Wilton put the oft-repeated question.
+
+"Kershaw, Gothic Villa?" repeated Mr. Mayers, meditating. "Yes, of
+course, I know wellnigh every house; and it so happened I was at Mrs.
+Kershaw's a week or ten days back. Why, it is in H---- Street, not far
+from Holland Park. You must turn right from this, then first to your
+right, and third to the left. Gothic Villa is down the end of the
+street, opposite a dead wall."
+
+With many thanks and apologies, Wilton bowed himself out, and walked
+away rapidly, his heart beating high at the idea of the meeting so near
+at hand.
+
+Gothic Villa was not a lively residence; and, what was worse, it looked
+untidy. The box borders looked as if lately trodden down in patches; the
+bell was broken, and the gate hung awry, refusing, after the fashion of
+crooked things, to do one thing or the other--to open wide or shut
+close. Wilton felt unutterably shocked at the melancholy, sordid aspect
+of the place. The bell being broken, he felt at a loss how to summon the
+garrison; but while he hesitated, two little girls, in short frocks,
+dingy stockings, and battered hats, came up bowling their hoops, and
+began rattling their hoop-sticks noisily against the railings, whereupon
+the front-door was flung suddenly wide open, and a grimy servant began
+to shout some objurgations to the juveniles.
+
+"Pray, does Mrs. Kershaw live here?" asked Wilton, advancing to the
+door.
+
+"No; there's no such name here."
+
+For a moment Wilton felt annihilated.
+
+"She used to live here?"
+
+"P'r'aps so; we've not been here above a week, and I wish we was out of
+it."
+
+"And do you know where Mrs. Kershaw is gone?"
+
+"No, that I don't."
+
+After a little talking, she suggested that "missus" might know; but that
+potentate, on being appealed to, confessed ignorance, stating, however,
+that "master" might know; but "master" was absent, and would not be back
+till to-morrow morning. More Wilton could not extract; and he most
+reluctantly left the long-sought villa, informing the inmates that he
+would call next day, hoping that "master" might be able to supply the
+desired information.
+
+Still, with unshaken perseverance, Wilton lingered about. He stopped the
+postman, but he had had no letter since the new people moved in for Mrs.
+Kershaw. She had very few letters at any time--still she had some. There
+was another postman that took the noonday delivery, he might know. When
+did he go round? Oh, from twelve to twelve-thirty. He might know, and he
+mightn't. Addresses were not given to the letter-carriers, but left at
+the district office.
+
+"Ah! then I may probably find this Mrs. Kershaw's whereabouts at the
+post-office?"
+
+"No, no, sir," said the man; "they won't give you no addresses at the
+office, and the letters is sent on to the district where the party has
+moved; so it's a chance if any of us knows."
+
+"At any rate, I shall be here to-morrow to meet the twelve o'clock man;
+meantime I am obliged to you."
+
+So saying, Wilton deposited a judicious tip in the carrier's willing
+hand, and made for the main road, hoping that a favorable report of him
+would be given to the other carrier, and predispose him to be
+communicative.
+
+It was long before Wilton forgot the oppressive monotony of that
+evening. He could not bring himself to seek out Moncrief. He would have
+him at breakfast, and that was bad enough. He strolled into the Adelphi,
+and felt savage at the pathos of the play, and the fun of the
+afterpiece. He left before it was finished, and returned to the
+coffee-room. He tried to sketch out an advertisement addressed to Mrs.
+Kershaw, but intended for Ella. He vexed himself with all kinds of
+conjectures, and finally retired, hoping for oblivion in sleep, which
+did not come for some weary hours; and his last waking thought was that
+to-morrow would be the 19th of March, the day of the tryst, which he had
+so often pictured to himself. And here he was in total ignorance of
+Ella's dwelling--not a step nearer to the desired interview. The
+following day was not much brighter than the one just described, and
+Wilton rose with an unspeakable loathing for breakfast and
+Moncrief--especially Moncrief.
+
+However, both had to be endured. The major was considerably puzzled by
+his entertainer's preoccupation and testiness. Every subject seemed
+distasteful, every person more or less offensive.
+
+"What's come to you, lad?" asked the old soldier. "Are you in debt
+again? I thought you had left that class of troubles behind you; and you
+seem to have been quiet and steady enough of late."
+
+"No, I am not in debt."
+
+"Well, I do not think you are in love; and love, or money, is at the
+bottom of most troubles--eh?"
+
+An inaudible muttering was the only reply.
+
+"A--idiot?" repeated the major, thinking he caught the sound. "No, by no
+means. I never said so, though there have been times when I was afraid
+you would act like one. Have you seen the viscount?"
+
+"No."
+
+"I suppose you are going to call on him?"
+
+"No, I am not."
+
+"Then you are rather an idiot. Why will you throw away fortune?"
+
+"I am not throwing it away. He is out of town."
+
+"Why don't you go and pay him a visit?"
+
+"I cannot; he has not asked me."
+
+"Not asked you--bosh!--"
+
+"Moncrief," interrupted Wilton, "will you take some more kidney, or ham,
+or coffee, or anything?"
+
+"No, thank you; I have breakfasted well."
+
+"Then go, will you? like a good fellow. You are partly right. I am in a
+pickle. You shall know all about it one of these days, but I cannot tell
+you just now. I have an appointment at--that is, I must be at Kensington
+at twelve."
+
+"At twelve! Bless my soul, man, it is scarcely half-past ten now."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+The afternoon of the same day was lowering, bleak, and drear, as a young
+girl, in a long black dress fitting close to her slight figure, and
+relieved at throat and wrists by a plaiting of white crape, entered a
+small sitting-room at the back of one of a row of brand-new residences
+in the cardboard, Tudor style, inlaid with colored bricks, and further
+relieved by oriel windows.
+
+The young lady carried a cup full of violets, and set it upon a table
+which had been moved into the window. It was crowded with materials for
+watercolor drawing. A very graceful design suited to a portfolio lay
+partly colored where the light fell strongest.
+
+The young lady, or rather Ella Rivers, stood looking at her work for a
+few minutes, and then sitting down, with a deep sigh, took up her brush,
+first bending lovingly over the violets until her face touched them.
+
+She was exceedingly pale--the pallor of thought and sorrow. Her eyes,
+which looked larger than they used--perhaps because she had grown
+thinner--had a weary, wistful expression, which gave pathos to the quiet
+sadness of her face and figure. The last month had tried her sorely. The
+sudden, fatal illness of Donald had caused her immense bodily fatigue
+and real sorrow. She had grown to love the afflicted, wayward boy, even
+more than she knew; and he could not bear her out of his sight, finally
+breathing his last in her arms. Then, not understanding the terms which
+existed between Wilton and the Fergusson family, Ella never doubted that
+he was aware from the first of poor Sir Peter's bereavement and the
+consequent removal of the family. His silence under such circumstances,
+the absence of any attempt to seek her out, was, to her, conclusive
+evidence that his sudden, violent affection for herself had passed away.
+Arriving at this conviction showed her how fondly, although
+unconsciously, she had hoped for his constancy. When Wilton astonished
+and agitated her by his unexpected avowal, she had most truly told him
+that she did not love him, that his truth or constancy was not essential
+to her happiness. His frank kindness, and the interest he had shown in
+her art and her conversation, had touched and diverted her. Feeling
+keenly the insurmountable barrier of caste, which her reason scornfully
+resented, the possibility of a man of his grade being her lover never
+crossed her mind. Moreover, the habits of her life accustomed her to
+men as companions, as friends, almost as playfellows, but never as
+lovers. Wilton was therefore to her at first an agreeable, intelligent,
+though mistaken man, blinded to the great truths of his age by his
+position and his profession, but who, under higher direction, might have
+been worthy the friendship of her father, Diego, and the rest of the
+exalted society who passed their lives propagating theories of political
+perfection and escaping the police.
+
+After the wonderful interview by the cairn, where he had shown that,
+although past the boy-lover period, he was ready to cast all
+consideration for rank and riches to the winds for her sake, she had
+estimated him very differently. From his first words of love she shrunk
+with an agony she could not express, so certain was she that they must
+mean insult; but when his letter told her the depth and sincerity of his
+affection, and she listened to the magic of his earnest pleading, she
+felt bewildered and almost frightened at the ardor of the feeling she
+had evoked. She could not quite believe him. She trembled at the idea of
+his hurrying into the irrevocable, which he might afterward regret; and
+the more she felt her heart inclined to yield, the more resolutely she
+held to her determination, for both their sakes, to test the reality of
+his affection.
+
+But when he was gone, when she was left alone with the memory of his
+persuasive voice--of his bold brown eyes, softened into tenderness--of
+the passion which glowed through the earnest respect of his
+manner--whatever of indifference she had felt or assumed in their
+interview fast faded away, or rather warmed into real interest, and
+trembling, half-fearful liking. Then the question of his constancy
+assumed an absorbing importance. The perpetual struggle in her mind to
+resist the delightful suggestions of hope kept the subject constantly
+before her; and the bitterest trial she had ever known was the gradual
+fading away of the hopes that had formed themselves in spite of her,
+when week after week slipped past and no tidings reached her from Ralph
+Wilton. Of course he knew that she must leave Brosedale, and must also
+know that under no circumstances would she take the first step toward
+the renewal of their intercourse.
+
+Working round this dreary circle of thought, she sat motionless, pencil
+in hand, too absorbed to notice the entrance of a woman of a certain
+age, who by her costume evidently aimed at the higher appellation of a
+lady. She wore a handsome plum-colored silk, a tint which appears to be
+the especial favorite of publicans' wives and aspiring landladies. Her
+head--a high, narrow, self-asserting sort of head--was perched on a
+long, thin neck, and adorned with a scanty screw of hair on the top,
+secured by a high tortoise-shell comb, while the front tresses were
+disposed in short, wiry ringlets, painfully suggestive of steel springs,
+and carefully regulated by ancient contrivances called side-combs. These
+locks vibrated when she moved; and as her walk was a succession of jerky
+sinkings and risings, the ringlets had an active time of it. Her
+features were regular and good, but somewhat neutralized by a faint
+expression of constantly turning up her nose, which was anything but
+_retroussé_, as if in contemptuous indignation at the futile efforts of
+the world in general to take her in. This personage paused as she was
+half across the little room, and looked very sharply at its occupant's
+profile, which was turned to her.
+
+"Anyways, you ain't breaking your heart with hard work," she exclaimed,
+in a tone which would have been painfully acute but for a slight
+indistinctness caused by a melancholy gap where pearly front teeth ought
+to have been.
+
+Ella started at her voice, and a large tear, which some time, unknown to
+her, had hung upon her eyelashes, fell upon the edge of her paper. She
+looked at it dismayed; half an inch nearer, and it would have played
+havoc with her colors. She hastily placed her handkerchief on the fatal
+spot, and, turning toward the speaker, said, absently: "Working! Yes,
+Mrs. Kershaw; I am succeeding tolerably with this design; I am quite
+interested in it."
+
+"And that is the reason you are crying over it--eh?"
+
+"Crying! Oh, no"--smiling a little sadly--"I am not crying."
+
+"Something very like it, then," said Mrs. Kershaw, advancing to the
+table and looking critically at Ella's work. "It's a queer thing," she
+remarked, with high-toned candor. "What is it for?"
+
+"Oh, the cover of a book, or--the back of a portfolio."
+
+"Well, I suppose it's my ignorance; but I can't see the beauty of it.
+Why, there's dozens and dozens of things just like that ready printed in
+all the shops; and you don't suppose hand-work can hold its own with
+machine-work? Why don't you paint a house, and a tree, and a
+cow--something sensible-like--that would set off a nice, handsome frame?
+I wouldn't mind buying such a picture myself; my first floor is a trifle
+naked for want of pictures."
+
+"O Mrs. Kershaw!" exclaimed Ella, smiling, this time more brightly, for
+she was amused at her friend's notions of art; "I assure you an original
+design is not to be despised. If I can but find favor with--"
+
+"Ay, that's just it. It would take a heap of bits of pictures to make a
+living. I must say I think you was a fool not to look out for something
+steady right off, when the ladies as could have recommended you was
+here; this will be hard work and poor work."
+
+"Nevertheless, I am determined to try it," said Ella, firmly, though
+sadly. "You cannot tell the imprisonment a great house is to me;
+besides, you forget poor Sir Peter Fergusson's generosity. I can afford
+to board with you for six or eight months, and then, if all my efforts
+to earn my bread by my art fail, I can still ask Miss Walker's help. I
+am not in your way, good friend, am I?"
+
+"Well, no. I am not that selfish, like many, as would try to keep you
+here when it would be better for you to be away; but you are not like
+other girls, the place is different when you are in it; and the trifle
+you pay is more than the trifle difference you make. It was about
+yourself--what is best for you--I was thinking."
+
+"Do not think of me," returned Ella, placing her elbow on the table and
+resting her head on her hand despondently; "I am so weary of myself."
+
+"Now there is something come to you quite different from what used to
+be. And you are that pale and thin, and don't eat nothing. There's some
+of those grandedees" (such was Mrs. Kershaw's pronunciation) "been
+talking nonsense, and you have been, and gone, and been fool enough to
+heed them, in spite of all the talking to I gave you before you went to
+Sir Peter's. They are all alike. If you was a hangel, with a wing
+sprouting out of each shoulder, and as beautiful as--as anythink, the
+poorest scrap of a gentleman among them that hadn't as much gumption as
+would earn a crust costermongering would laugh at the notion of putting
+a ring on your finger. No, no; as much love as you like without that. I
+knows 'em, the proud, upsetting, lazy lot, I do;" and Mrs. Kershaw
+stopped with a jerk, more for want of breath than lack of matter.
+
+"You need not distress yourself," returned Ella, with a smile of quiet
+scorn. "No one insulted me at Brosedale; and I _did_ keep your good
+advice in mind. I am depressed, nor can you wonder at it when you think
+of the sad scenes I went through with poor Donald."
+
+"Well, well, anyhow you won't open your mind to me, though I fancy I am
+your best friend, and your only friend into the bargain, though I say it
+as shouldn't," retorted Mrs. Kershaw, with some asperity.
+
+"You are, indeed," said Ella, sweetly. "So instead of quarrelling with
+me for not telling you a romantic tale, tell me some of your own
+affairs; any one about the rooms yet?"
+
+"I believe," said Mrs. Kershaw, a shade less severely--"I believe I'm
+let."
+
+This startling announcement did not in the least move Miss Rivers from
+her gravity; she merely observed, sympathetically, "I am very glad."
+
+"This morning, when you was out, a lady and gentleman called, and looked
+at the rooms, and made rather a stiff bargain. They said they would call
+again; but the gentleman gave me his card, and that looked like
+business."
+
+"I suppose so. I went over to Kensington this morning to see the
+postman. I thought it was as well to tell him our new address, in case
+there might be a letter for me."
+
+"A letter for you!" repeated Mrs. Kershaw, in a sharp key, with a sudden
+nod that set her ringlets dancing. "I thought Miss Walker knew we was
+moved."
+
+"She does; still it is possible some old friend--"
+
+"Hoh!" said Mrs. Kershaw, ironically. "Are you sure it ain't a new
+friend--a Scotch friend? I know I haven't no right to ask, but--"
+
+"Ah, suspicious one!" interrupted Ella, laughing. "If none of my
+father's old friends seek me out, no one else will."
+
+"There's the front-door bell!" cried Mrs. Kershaw, excitedly; "that's
+the lady and gent come back about my first floor"--a pause ensued, a
+rapid but heavy tread, and the opening of the door was heard.
+
+The next moment that of the room in which they were was flung violently
+open, and the "girl" announced a "gentleman for Miss Rivers."
+
+Whereupon a tall figure seemed to fill up the door-way, and for a moment
+Ella felt dizzy and blinded with astonishment, with mingled joy and
+terror, as Colonel Wilton entered and stood still.
+
+"Hoh!" said Mrs. Kershaw; "do you know this gentleman, or is he after
+the apartments?"
+
+"I know him. I--" faltered Ella.
+
+"Hoh!" again said Mrs. Kershaw, and, turning back, walked straight out
+of the room with dignity.
+
+Wilton closed the door after her, and, advancing to the agitated girl,
+exclaimed, with a tinge of sternness, "Ella, have you hid from me
+purposely?"
+
+"Hid from you? No; you knew where to find me when poor Donald died."
+
+"Which I first heard of in Ireland two days ago."
+
+"Two days ago!" faltered Ella, the truth dawning on her. "I thought you
+would have known of it directly. I thought you did not write because you
+did not wish to see me again. I--oh, listen to me, understand me!"
+clasping her hand with a restrained eagerness very impressive--"do not
+think I would willingly have caused you the slightest uneasiness from
+any petty idea of standing on my dignity; but, indeed, I was puzzled
+what to do, and then believing, as I did, that you must have been
+informed of Donald's death and the breaking up of Sir Peter's
+establishment, I concluded that you had changed your plans--your
+views--your--oh, I could not write to you! Do you not see I could not?"
+
+"I can only repeat that two days ago I did not know of that poor boy's
+death. And, but for a few words in a letter from Moncrief, I should have
+started for Monkscleugh to keep the tryst. Now, Ella, are you glad to
+see me? do you believe me?"--as he spoke Wilton took both her hands, and
+looked eagerly into the eyes so frankly, but gravely, raised to his.
+
+"I do believe you," said Ella, trying to speak steadily, and striving to
+hold back the tears that would well up, to suppress the wild throbbing
+of the heart which visibly heaved her bosom, to be calm, and mistress of
+herself in this crisis; but it was more than even her brave spirit could
+accomplish; the sudden change from darkness to light, from isolation to
+companionship, was too overwhelming; and yet she would not show the
+shattered condition of her forces. "I am glad to see you"--her lip
+quivered, great unshed tears, brimming over, hung sparkling on her long
+lashes as she spoke; and Wilton, gazing at the sweet face and slight,
+graceful figure, felt in his inmost soul the pathos of her controlled
+emotion.
+
+"By Heaven, Ella! you are not indifferent to me," he exclaimed. Drawing
+her to him, he raised her hands to clasp his neck; and, folding his arms
+round her, pressed her passionately to his heart. "My love, my life! why
+do you distrust me? Give me your heart! give me yourself. Are you ready
+to fulfil your more than half promise? I have kept the tryst. I have
+submitted to the test you have imposed; and now, what further barrier is
+there between me and happiness? Do you love me, Ella? Will you love me?"
+
+She did not attempt to move. She leaned against him, silently, trembling
+very much; at length she sighed deeply.
+
+"If you are quite sure of yourself," she almost whispered, "and not
+afraid of linking yourself with so isolated a creature as I am, I am
+ready to keep my word, as you have kept yours!"
+
+"And you love me?" asked Wilton, bending over her, hungering for her
+assurance.
+
+She extricated herself gently from him, still leaving her hand in his.
+
+"I will love you," she replied, looking away, and speaking thoughtfully.
+Then, suddenly turning, and meeting his eyes with a grand frankness, "I
+_do_ love you," she said, in her sweet, firm tones; "and I think you
+deserve my love! If you do not, out with love and life, and everything!
+I shall never believe more."
+
+She pressed her hands over her eyes, and for a moment Wilton's
+passionate longing to cover her mouth, her cheek, her brow, with kisses,
+was checked by the earnestness, the solemnity of her words; it was but a
+moment, the next she was in his arms, his lips clinging to hers as
+though he could never drink enough of their sweetness.
+
+"And how did you find me?" asked Ella, when at last she managed to
+withdraw from his embrace, and began to gather her drawing materials
+together as a diversion from the strange, sweet embarrassment of the new
+relations existing between them.
+
+Wilton replied by recapitulating the search he had made, up to the
+miserable night before.
+
+"When I arrived at Gothic Villa this morning," he went on, "I was
+considerably before the time of the second delivery; but at last I met
+the postman, and explained myself to him. 'Gothic Villa, Kershaw,' he
+repeated. 'Now that's curious. Not ten minutes ago I met a young lady
+what used to be at Gothic Villa, and she wanted to give me her new
+address, but I told her she must leave it at the district office.' You
+may guess the questions I put, and how I gathered that the young lady
+was yourself. He had a confused idea you said your abode was in Belinda
+Terrace, Notting Hill, and I have been for nearly the last three hours
+endeavoring to discover it. Finding there was no such place as Belinda
+Terrace, I tried my luck in Melina Crescent, and, after knocking and
+ringing at eleven doors, found the right one at last!"
+
+"Then had I walked down the street, instead of meeting the postman at
+the top of it, I should have met you," said Ella, pausing in her
+occupation, with her design in her hand.
+
+"Yes; and saved me three hours of torture," exclaimed Wilton. "What have
+you there? This is a very charming design; quite your own?"
+
+"Yes, quite. Some days ago I took a much smaller one to a shop in ----
+Street, and the man there gave me two pounds and two shillings for it.
+Then he asked me to bring him something else, larger and richer, so I
+have been trying to sketch something better."
+
+"My own darling," said Wilton, taking it from her; "this sort of thing
+is over now. No more work for you."
+
+"Why not?" she returned. "You say, dear friend, that you are not rich.
+If I am really to be your comrade through life, why may I not earn some
+money for us both? Life without work must be very dull."
+
+"When you are my wife, you will see such things are impossible," said
+Wilton, laying aside the sketch, and drawing her to his side on a
+little, hard, horsehair, lodging-house sofa. "I have so much to say, so
+much to urge on you, I hardly know where to begin."
+
+Whereupon he plunged into a rapid statement of his plans, his hopes,
+his strong conviction that, calmly and dispassionately considered, her
+position and his own rendered an immediate marriage absolutely and
+imperatively necessary. She had no one to consult, nor any protector to
+rely upon save himself, and the sooner he had a legal claim to be her
+protector the better. As to himself, no one had a right to interfere
+with him; nevertheless, there was an old man, a relative, who might make
+himself disagreeable if he had time. After marriage, all objections,
+interference, or meddlings, would be useless.
+
+"I have a favorite sister to whom I shall write at once," concluded
+Wilton, "but she is away in Canada. So, dearest, why should we submit to
+the discomfort of needless delay? I shall have a renewal of leave, but
+only for a couple of months, part of which must be spent in effecting an
+exchange into some regiment in India, or going there. You see there will
+be little left for the honeymoon. What do you say to this day week?"
+
+Wilton felt the hand he held suddenly tighten on his with a quick,
+startled pressure.
+
+"Yes," he went on; "there is no possible objection. You have been at
+least three weeks in this parish, which is, I believe, the legal
+requirement. There is, then, no impediment; and, though it seems very
+like urging you to take a leap in the dark, you must either trust me
+altogether or throw me over. We are too peculiarly situated to perform
+the cold-blooded ceremony of cultivating each other's acquaintance; we
+must do that, as I believe all people really do, after rather than
+before marriage. Besides, I am so desperately afraid of your melting
+away out of my grasp, as you had nearly done just now, that I am
+determined not to lose my hold."
+
+"Listen to me," said Ella, drawing away her hand and pressing it to her
+brow. "You mentioned a relative to whom your marriage might be painful.
+Do you owe this old man love and respect? I think, if you do, it is hard
+to those who feel they ought to be considered to find an utter stranger
+preferred."
+
+"Lord St. George has not the shadow of a claim on my love or respect,"
+returned Wilton, rising and pacing to and fro; "and if he had it would
+not influence me. Now that you have really consented to be my wife,
+nothing save death shall come between us."
+
+There was in his voice, and look, and gesture, such fire and resolution
+that a sudden sense of being in the presence of something stronger than
+herself thrilled Ella with a strange fear and pleasure. She closed her
+eyes, and her hands, that had clasped each other tightly, relaxed as she
+felt her life had passed from her own keeping into another's. Wilton,
+who had paused opposite her, saw how deeply she was moved.
+
+"Look at me, Ella!" he exclaimed, taking her hands in his--"look at me!
+You are too nobly frank to hesitate as to a day sooner or later in the
+fulfilment of your promise."
+
+She turned to him; and, with a wistful, earnest look straight into his
+eyes, said, in a low, firm voice:
+
+"So be it! I will keep my word when and where you like."
+
+Two days after, Major Moncrief, who had only seen Wilton once for a few
+minutes in the interim, awaited him by appointment at Morley's, where
+they they were to dine.
+
+"Why, what the deuce are you so desperately busy about?" asked the
+major, as Wilton hastily apologized for not having been ready to receive
+his friend.
+
+"Oh, I have a hundred things in hand. I have had to 'interview' my
+lawyer, and then I have been with Box and Brushwood about exchanging
+into a regiment under orders for India--and--but the rest after dinner."
+
+"Why, what are you up to now?" replied Moncrief, but not in the tone of
+a man that expects a direct reply.
+
+Dinner passed very agreeably, for Wilton was in brilliant spirits. Not
+for many a year had Moncrief see him so bright.
+
+"I believe this is the same room we dined in the day you started for
+Monkscleugh, and had the smash?" observed Moncrief, as the waiter,
+having placed dessert on the table, left the friends together.
+
+"It is," said Wilton, looking round. "That is rather curious; and I
+remember your saying, 'I must dree my weird.' Well, Moncrief, I have
+dreed it, and I asked you here to-day to tell you the history, and
+receive your blessing or malediction, as the case may be."
+
+Setting down his glass of port untasted, the major stared at his friend
+with an air of dismay and bewilderment.
+
+"Courage, man!" continued Wilton, laughing at his consternation; "I am
+not in debt--only in love, and going to be married on Thursday next."
+
+"To be married! You--who could not oblige your pleasant relative, Lord
+St. George, because of your invincible objection to lose your liberty?"
+
+"Well, the liberty is gone long ago; so my only plan is to surrender at
+discretion, or, rather, without discretion. You remember a young lady we
+met at Brosedale--the lassie, in short, whom I picked out of the snow?"
+
+"What! that pale-faced, dark-eyed little girl--young Fergusson's
+companion or drawing-mistress? Why, she was scarcely pretty."
+
+"Just so. Well, I am going to marry her on Thursday. Will you come to
+the wedding?"
+
+Wilton had poured out a bumper of claret as he spoke, and, with a
+slight, defiant nod, drank it off.
+
+"By ----!" exclaimed Moncrief, who did not generally use strong
+language; "I am astonished. When did you decide on this preposterous
+piece of foolery?"
+
+"I put things in train last December, but the date was not decided till
+two days ago."
+
+"Ha! I thought I smelt a rat just before I left Glenraven; but I never
+dreamed of anything so serious. You are the last man I should have
+accused of such idiotic weakness. Who is this girl?"
+
+"I do not know."
+
+"Who was her father?"
+
+"A political adventurer, I believe; but I really do not know."
+
+"Who are her friends?"
+
+"She has none."
+
+"And, my God! Wilton, are you going to link yourself for life to a woman
+you know nothing about--who may have a murderer for her father and a
+harlot for a mother--who may be an unprincipled adventuress herself, for
+aught you know?"
+
+"Go on," said Wilton, calmly. "I know you have a good deal more to say,
+and I am quite prepared to hear it."
+
+"Can you be such a besotted blockhead at this time of life, after having
+got over the wild-goose period, and not so badly either; when you have
+just been offered your first good chance, when a sensible marriage is so
+important, as to throw every consideration to the dogs for a madness
+that probably a month or two will cure, and leave you two-thirds of a
+lifetime to eat your heart out with useless regret? You know I do not
+pretend to despise women, or to talk cynical rot about them; they are
+generally good, useful creatures, and deucedly pleasant sometimes; but,
+God bless my soul, lad! they are of no real importance in a man's life.
+It is very essential to marry the right sort of girl, I grant--that is,
+a well-bred, healthy, good-looking lassie in your own grade of life, you
+will bring a good connection to back up your children; but to rush into
+matrimony--downright legal matrimony--with a creature that scarcely
+knows who she is herself, because, indeed, you think no other 'she' in
+creation so likely to suit you, is a pitiable piece of lunacy. Come! in
+the name of common-sense, of self-respect, be a man! Tell me how you
+stand with this girl, and let me see if I can't get you out of the
+scrape."
+
+"Have you quite done?" asked Wilton, leaning back in his chair without
+the slightest symptom of irritation.
+
+"I have."
+
+"Then hear me, Moncrief! I do not dispute a syllable you say. It is all
+unanswerable--just what I should say myself to another fellow on the
+brink of such a leap in the dark. Don't suppose I am blind to the
+apparent folly I am about to commit. But I'll do it! Nothing can hold me
+back! I shall not attempt to explain to you the sort of fascination Ella
+Rivers has had for me from the first moment we met; it would be speaking
+an unknown tongue, even if I could put it into language. But if her
+people were all you picture, by Heaven! I do not think I could give her
+up. Foolish lunatic--besotted as you choose to think me, I have full
+faith in the woman who will be my wife before five days are over. There!
+Consider the question 'to be or not to be' settled. Pity my idiotic
+folly as you will, but do not discard your old _protégé_. I want your
+advice on one or two points."
+
+"But, Wilton, I must--" began the major.
+
+"Don't," interrupted Wilton. "Remonstrance is sheer loss of time and
+breath; if you persist, I will leave you to finish your port alone."
+
+Moncrief succumbed, though with an ill grace, and Wilton proceeded to
+lay the question of exchange into a regiment already in India, or one
+about to proceed there, before his ancient mentor, and gradually drew
+him into better humor, especially as he noted that Wilton's professional
+ambition was by no means dulled or engulfed by the tide of passion that
+swept him away in another direction.
+
+"Well, I never thought I should find you looking forward contentedly to
+a life in India," said the major, after a long and animated talk, anent
+the _pros_ and _cons_ of Wilton's views; "you used to long for a stake
+in the 'old countrie.'"
+
+"Yes; but that was because Lord St. George put it into my head. Now,
+that is at an end."
+
+"Ah! just so--this infernal marriage! What do you intend to do with him,
+eh?"
+
+"I have not given it a thought--or, rather, scarcely a thought. I will
+marry first, and decide after. I tell you candidly, Moncrief, when first
+I made up my mind to risk everything, rather than part with Ella, I had
+a stupid, cowardly idea of a private marriage; but I soon gave that up;
+it was too deucedly ungentlemanlike; and then Ella would despise even a
+shadow of double-dealing! No; when we are married, and I have time, I
+will write to the old viscount, and--"
+
+"By George! this is too bad," cried the major, getting up and pacing
+the room in an agony. "Fortune, and fair prospects, and--and everything
+flung overboard, for the sake of a white-faced bit of a girl that you
+would forget in two months if you made the first stand. It's like giving
+up drink or cigars; the first week is the brunt of the battle!"
+
+"Don't talk blasphemy," returned Wilton, sternly; "nor waste time and
+breath."
+
+"Well, well!" resumed the rebuked major; "look here, do not be in too
+great a hurry to write to the old peer. I met St. George Wilton to-day;
+he told me Lord St. George was down at Brandestone, and very shaky;
+perhaps you had better not write to him till the honeymoon is over. O
+Lord! won't you be ready to cut your throat when you get his answer! But
+I trust he will die, and leave you the property in the meantime."
+
+"He will not do that," said Wilton, gravely. "But, tell me, what is St.
+George doing in town? I hate that fellow instinctively."
+
+"Oh, he was only passing through _en route_ to join some 'Lord knows
+who' at Cowes, to cruise somewhere in his yacht, and--Where are you
+going?"
+
+"Why, you will not take any more wine, and, as I have not seen Ella
+to-day, I thought I would just run down and bid her good-night. Come
+with me, old fellow, do! I'd take it as a real bit of good-fellowship;
+she would be so pleased. You may as well submit to the inevitable with a
+good grace."
+
+"Go with you to see this--ahem!--fascinating little witch? Not to get
+the step I've been waiting for these seven years."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+The extremely sudden and unorthodox character of Ella's nuptials was a
+source of irritation, not to say dismay, to the worthy Mrs. Kershaw. She
+took, upon the whole, a desponding and distrustful view of human nature;
+and, instead of meeting Ella's smiling, blushing account of Colonel
+Wilton's visit and her engagement to him, with effusive sympathy, she
+had nodded her head and knitted her brows, asked a dozen questions, and
+received the replies in ominous silence; at last spoke as follows:
+
+"Well, I hope it's all right" (the "hope" in italics), "but it's
+curious--very curious. Are you quite sure he is Colonel Wilton?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"Because he was frequently at Brosedale, and known to Sir Peter
+Fergusson."
+
+"Ay, to be sure, that's true! I suppose it's to be a private marriage.
+We must see that it is quite correct, for, high or low, a wife has her
+rights. What did he say about going to church?"
+
+"Oh! I scarcely know; something about my having been three weeks in the
+parish, and--"
+
+"Did he?" returned Mrs. Kershaw; a more satisfied expression stealing
+over her face. "That looks like business, only I trust and hope he has
+not a wife already."
+
+"What a fearful suspicion!" replied Ella, shuddering, while she smiled.
+"He was looked upon as an unmarried man at Brosedale, for I remember
+that Donald remarked that Miss Saville could find time to amuse him now,
+because Colonel Wilton condescended to visit him, and that he would be a
+peer, a nobleman, one day."
+
+"A peer! a lord! well, I never! Of all the queer turns, this is the
+queerest. Still, I would like to make sure that there is no hitch
+nowhere. But, bless your heart, no gentleman or nobleman would go to
+church with a girl unless he was all square."
+
+"I must trust him utterly, or not at all, he said. I do trust him," said
+Ella, softly, to herself, "even as he trusts me." She was sitting on the
+hearth-rug, gazing dreamily at a small but bright morsel of fire held
+together by fire-bricks.
+
+"Trust is a word I never liked," observed Mrs. Kershaw, who was sitting
+bolt upright in an easy chair. "Ready money, in everything, is my motto;
+still, I must say, this gentleman seems straightforward." Mrs.
+Kershaw's opinions had become visibly modified since the rank of her
+fair _protégé's_ intended had been revealed to her.
+
+"I think he is," said Ella, simply.
+
+"Anyhow, I will speak to him myself to-morrow," continued Mrs. Kershaw,
+"and let him know you have a friend to look after you as knows the
+world," she added, emphatically. Silence ensued; for, in truth, Ella was
+too glad of the cessation of Mrs. Kershaw's wiry voice to break it, when
+that lady burst out again with a jerk: "You'd best take my parlors--they
+ought to be thirty shillings a week, but I will give them to you for a
+guinea."
+
+"But why must I take them?" asked Ella.
+
+"Because-- Why, my patience, Miss Rivers, you are not going to turn
+stingy, and you going to be a great lady. Why must you take them?
+Because it is only decent and proper; there's scarce room to turn round
+in a three-cornered cupboard like this place. I'm sure a fine, handsome
+man like the colonel hasn't room to move here; and then for the wedding.
+This day week did you say? Why, whatever shall we do about wedding
+clothes? Still I wouldn't say nothing about putting off; you'd better
+strike while the iron is hot! But _have_ you thought of the wedding
+clothes, Miss Rivers?"
+
+"No, I do not want any. I have more clothes than I ever had in my life
+before."
+
+"I declare to goodness you are the strangest young girl--lady I mean--I
+ever met; so mean-spirited, in a manner of speaking, in one way, and no
+more knowing the value of money in another, than a half-saved creature!
+Why, you have nothing but blacks and grays."
+
+"And may I not marry in gray; but if it is right I shall be very pleased
+to have a pretty new dress and bonnet; I have quite money enough, you
+know."
+
+"Well, I must say it is aggravating that we can't have a regular spread,
+and carriages and favors; wouldn't that nasty, humbugging,
+stuck-up-thing, Mrs. Lewis, over the way, that is always insinuating
+that I haven't laid down new stair-carpeting because I couldn't spare
+the money--wouldn't she be ready to eat her own head off because she
+wouldn't be asked to step across?"
+
+But in spite of Major Moncrief and Mrs. Kershaw, Ralph Wilton had his
+way, and they were married on the appointed day. The major was so far
+mollified that he stood by his favorite "boy" on the memorable occasion;
+nay, more, with some hesitation he produced a pair of lump gold
+ear-rings, largely sprinkled with turquoise, as a small and appropriate
+gift to his friend's bride, when, to the dismay of all present, it was
+found that the pretty little ears they were destined to adorn had never
+been pierced.
+
+"It is no matter," said Ella, taking his hand in both hers, "I should
+rather keep them, just the very things you thought of, than let them be
+changed! You like me for his sake now; you may yet like me for myself."
+
+To this the major gravely replied that he did not doubt it, and watched
+her with observant eyes during the ceremony. The keen old soldier was
+touched and impressed by the steady composure of her manner, the low,
+clear music of her firm tones. It seemed to him as if she had considered
+the value of each vow, and then took it willingly; he was surprised when
+the service was concluded, and he again took her hand to find that,
+although outwardly calm, she was trembling from head to foot.
+
+They returned to Mrs. Kershaw's house, where that excellent housewife
+had provided a comfortable and appetizing luncheon--the major having the
+honor of escorting her back. "I can tell you, sir," he used to say in
+after-years, when recounting the episode, "I felt devilish queer when I
+handed the landlady into the brougham and took my place beside her. If
+she had been a buxom widow, or a gushing spinster, I could have stood it
+better; but she was such a metallic female! her hair curled up so
+viciously, and there was such a suspicious, contemptuous twist in her
+nose, as if she was perpetually smelling a rat, that I was afraid to
+speak to her. I know I made an ass of myself. I remember saying
+something about my friend's good luck, thinking to propitiate her, but
+she nearly snapped my head off, observing that time would show whether
+either of them was in luck or not."
+
+The luncheon, however, was duly appreciated by the mollified major, Mrs.
+Kershaw herself, and, we regret to add, the bridegroom, who was in
+radiant spirits. There was something contagious in his mood--something
+inspiriting in the joy that rioted in his bright brown eyes--even Mrs.
+Kershaw lit up under his influence, and for awhile forgot the suspicious
+character of the human race. But the repast was soon over. Wilton was
+anxious to catch the tidal train, and Ella went obediently to don her
+bonnet and travelling-gear.
+
+"Look at this, Moncrief," said Wilton, when they were alone, holding out
+a miniature in a slightly-faded morocco case; "it is a picture of Ella's
+father."
+
+Moncrief scrutinized it with much interest. An exquisitely painted
+portrait, it represented a dreamy, noble face, dark as a Spaniard, with
+black-blue eyes, closely resembling his daughter's, a delicately-cut,
+refined mouth, unshaded by moustache, and a trifle too soft for a man;
+the turn of the head, the whole bearing more than conventionally
+aristocratic, picturesquely grand.
+
+"There is no question about it, Wilton, this man looks every inch a
+gentleman. Have you any idea who the mother was?"
+
+"Not the most remote. I do not think Ella has an idea herself; she says
+she had a charming picture of her mother, but it disappeared soon after
+they came to London, and she has never been able to find it. She has a
+box full of letters and papers up stairs, and, when we return, I shall
+look through them and try to trace her father's history, just to satisfy
+my sister and yourself. Ella will always be the same to me, ancestry or
+no ancestry."
+
+"By-the-way, where are you going?" said the major.
+
+"Oh! to Normandy--to a little out-of-the-way place within a few miles
+from A----, called Vigères. There is very good salmon-fishing in the
+neighborhood, and we shall be quiet."
+
+"When shall you be back?"
+
+"I cannot tell; I suppose I must not take more than six weeks' holiday."
+
+"Well, I would not write to old St. George till you come back."
+
+"I am not sure about that; I--"
+
+"Here is Miss--I mean Mrs. Wilton," interrupted Moncrief.
+
+With sweet, grave simplicity, Ella offered a parting kiss to her
+husband's friend. Mrs. Kershaw stepped jauntily to open the door. A
+hearty hand-pressure from Moncrief, whose rugged countenance was
+sorrowfully sympathetic, and the newly-wedded pair were away.
+
+"Won't you step in, sir, and take another glass of wine?" said Mrs.
+Kershaw, with startling hospitality, to the uneasy major, who felt in
+comparative captivity, and by no means equal to the occasion.
+
+"No; I am much obliged to you," said the major, edging toward the door.
+
+"A little bit of pigeon-pie, or a mouthful of cheese, or a drop of stout
+to wind up with," persisted Mrs. Kershaw. "You may say what you like,
+there's nothing picks you up like a drop of stout."
+
+"No, I thank you; nothing more."
+
+"I hope everything was to the colonel's satisfaction?" resumed Mrs.
+Kershaw, with an angular smile.
+
+"He would have been hard to please if he had not been satisfied,"
+returned the major, with grovelling servility; and, taking up his hat,
+tried, by a flank movement, to get between the enemy and his line of
+retreat.
+
+"I am sure he is a real gentleman, and knows how to behave as sich. It
+is a pleasure to deal with liberal, right-minded people, what isn't
+forever haggling over sixpences and shillings. But, between you and me,
+sir, though I am none of your soft-spoken, humbugging sort, I never did
+meet the match of Miss Ella--Mrs. Wilton, I mean--she is that good and
+steady, a wearin' of herself to the bone for any one that wants. And for
+all the colonel's a fine man, and a pleasant man, and an open-handed
+man, if ever he takes to worriting or bla'guarding, I would help her
+through the divorce-court with the last shilling that ever I've scraped
+together rising early and working hard; you mind that."
+
+With these emphatic words, Mrs. Kershaw flung the door suddenly wide
+open, and the major, bowing, hastily shot into the street, with a
+rapidity more creditable to Mrs. Kershaw's eloquence than his own
+steadiness under fire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+Oh! the bliss of those early days! The strange sweetness of their new
+companionship! The weather, too, was propitious--balmy and mild, though
+spring was yet young, with unutterable freshness and hope in its breath
+and coloring. The delicious sense of safety from all intruders; the
+delight of being at home with Ella; of winning her complete confidence.
+Never before had Wilton tasted the joy of associating with a woman who
+was neither a toy nor a torment, but a true, though softer, comrade,
+whose every movement and attitude charmed and satisfied his taste, and
+whose quick sense of beauty, of character, and of the droll sides of
+things, gave endless variety to their every-day intercourse.
+
+Theirs was no mere fool's paradise of love and kisses. Sketching and
+fishing, the days flew by. Wilton had decided that the little inn at
+Vigères was too noisy and uncomfortable to be endured, and Ella had
+found lodgings in the house of a small proprietor, who sometimes
+accommodated lovers of the gentle craft, and, moreover, found favor in
+the eyes of the landlord and his bright-eyed, high-capped Norman cook
+and house-keeper, her fluent French and knowledge of foreign housewifery
+exciting admiration and respect. It was a straggling, gray-stone
+edifice, just outside the village, with a very untidy yard behind, and a
+less untidy garden in front, where a sun-dial, all mossed and
+lichen-covered, was half buried in great, tangled bushes of roses and
+fuchsias; on this a large, scantily-furnished _salon_ looked out, and
+beyond the garden on an undulating plain, with the sea and Mont St.
+Michel in the blue distance, with a dark mass of forest on the uplands
+to the south--a wide stretch of country, ever changing its aspect, as
+the broad shadows of the slow or quick-sailing clouds swept over it, or
+the level rays of the gradually lengthening sunset bathed it with the
+peculiar yellow, golden spring light, so different from the rich red
+tinge of autumn. Winding round the base of the abrupt hill on which
+Vigères, like so many Norman villages, was perched, was a tolerably
+large stream, renowned in the neighborhood, and, though left to take
+care of itself, still affording fair sport. It led away through a
+melancholy wood and some wide, unfenced pasturage, to the neglected
+grounds of a chateau, with the intendant of which, Wilton, aided by
+Ella, held many a long talk on farming, politics, and every subject
+under the sun.
+
+These rambles had an inexpressible charm--a mingled sense of freedom
+and occupation. Then the repose of evening, as night closed in; the
+amusement of watching Ella at her work or drawing; to lead her on to
+unconsciously picturesque reminiscences; to compare their utterly
+different impressions and ideas--for Ella was not self-opinionated;
+though frank and individual, she was aware her convictions were but the
+echo of those she had heard all her life, and she listened with the
+deepest interest to her husband's, even while she did not agree. These
+pleasant communings were so new to Wilton, so different from all his
+former experience, that perhaps time has seldom sped on so lightly
+during a honeymoon. Ella was utterly unconventional, and yet a
+gentlewoman to the core, transparently candid, and, if such a term can
+be permitted, gifted with a noble homeliness that made affectation, or
+assumption, or unreality of any kind, impossible to her. Whether she
+made a vivid, free translation from some favorite Italian poet at
+Wilton's request, or took a lesson from him in tying flies, or gave him
+one in drawing, or dusted their sitting-room, or (as Wilton more than
+once found her) did some bit of special cooking in the big, brown
+kitchen, while Manon looked on, with her hands in her apron-pockets,
+talking volubly, she was always the same--quiet, earnest, doing her very
+best, with the inexpressible tranquillity of a single purpose. Then the
+shy tenderness and grace of her rare caresses--the delicate reserve that
+had always something yet to give, and which not even the terrible ordeal
+of wedded intimacy could scorch up--these were elements of an
+inexhaustible charm--at least to a man of Wilton's calibre.
+
+It was evening--the evening of a very bright, clear day. Wilton had
+started early on a distant expedition, with a son of their host for a
+guide, and had returned to a late dinner. It had been too long a walk
+for Ella to undertake, and now she sat beside her husband under the
+window of their _salon_, in the violet-scented air of an April night, as
+it grew softly dusk. Wilton was enjoying pleasant rest, after just
+enough fatigue to make it welcome, and watching, with a lazy, luxurious
+sense of satisfaction, the movements of Ella's little deft fingers, as
+she twisted some red ribbon into an effective bow, and pinned it upon an
+edifice of lace, which Wilton could not quite make out.
+
+"What can that thing be for, Ella? You are not going to wear it?" he
+asked, at last.
+
+"Wear it? Oh, no! It is for Manon; she begged me to make her a Parisian
+cap. I advised her to keep to her charming Norman head-dress; but no!
+Monsieur le Curé's house-keeper has a cap from Paris, and Manon is not
+to be outdone; so she gave me the lace, and I contributed the ribbon.
+Do you know, this lace is very lovely? Look at it."
+
+"I suppose it is; but I am glad to find you admire lace; I was afraid
+you were above dress."
+
+"Indeed I am not; but I always liked--I had almost said loved--lace. I
+would prefer lace to jewels, if the choice were offered me. And then a
+hat or a bonnet is a source of joy, if they suit me."
+
+"And we have been here nearly a month--"
+
+"A month yesterday," observed Ella, softly, with a happy smile.
+
+"Time passes quickly in paradise," said Wilton, leaning caressingly
+toward his companion.--"But, I was going to say, we have been here a
+month, and you have never had a chance of shopping. It is a dear delight
+to shop, is it not?"
+
+"I do not know," replied Ella, laughing, and turning her work to view it
+on all sides. "I never had any money to spend in shops."
+
+"I should like to see you under fire--I mean in temptation. Suppose we
+go over to A---- for a day or two: that is the nearest approach to a
+dazzling scene we can manage?"
+
+"As you like; but, dear Ralph"--looking wistfully out over the
+garden--"I love this place, and am loath to take even a day from the few
+that remain to us here. I suppose we must soon leave for London?"
+
+"You would like to stay here always?"
+
+"No," returned Ella, "certainly not; stagnation would not suit either of
+us, though I deeply enjoy this sweet resting-place. It will soon be time
+to move on."
+
+"We have a fortnight still before us, so we will run over to A----
+to-morrow. Our host can lend us his _shandradan_, with that monstrous
+gray mare, to drive over there. I know you expressed a great wish to
+sketch some of those picturesque old towers as we came through, and you
+shall buy some lace if you like. I have had so much fishing that I shall
+come back with renewed zest after a short break."
+
+"Yes; I should greatly like to take some sketches in A----; but, as to
+buying lace, do you know we spend a quantity of money here--I am
+astonished and shocked to think how much?"
+
+"Then I am afraid I have been a very extravagant fellow, for I do not
+think I ever spent so little in the same space of time before. But,
+talking of money reminds me I must write to Lord St. George. I have
+forgotten all about him--all about every one except you, you little
+demure sorceress!"
+
+"Do not forget him, if he is old and a relation."
+
+"Well, I will write to him to-morrow. It is not much matter; he will
+never see my face again."
+
+"Because you married me?"
+
+"This is really a very picturesque place," said Ella as they strolled
+through the principal street of A----, and ascended the plateau, once
+adorned by a cathedral, "but, after all, there is more cheerfulness in
+English scenery. I miss the gentlemen's seats, the look of occupation,
+the sense of life that springs from individual freedom. Tyranny and want
+of cultivation--these are the real 'phantoms of fright.'"
+
+"Yes; we have never mistaken license for liberty in England," returned
+Wilton, with genuine John-Bullism.
+
+"Thanks to your early training," said Ella, smiling; "but if for
+centuries you had never been allowed to stand or walk without
+leading-strings, supports, restraints on the right hand and on the left,
+and had then been suddenly set free, with all accustomed stays wrenched
+from you, do you think you would not have stumbled and fallen like your
+neighbors?"
+
+"True, O queen! but why did not our neighbors begin to train themselves
+in time? They are of different stuff; there lies the key to the puzzle."
+
+"And in the might of circumstance," put in Ella. "You can never thank
+Heaven enough for your insular position; but there _is_ something in
+race."
+
+"No doubt of it. Look at this man coming toward us; you could never
+mistake him for anything but a Briton."
+
+"No, indeed!" exclaimed Ella; "and"--drawing a little near to him--"is
+it not your cousin, St. George Wilton?"
+
+"By Jove! you are right, Ella. What can bring him here?"
+
+The object of their remark was facing them as the colonel ceased to
+speak.
+
+"Ralph Wilton--Miss--" St. George stopped himself in his exclamation,
+and then continued, raising his hat with a soft but meaning smile, "I
+little thought I should encounter you in this remote region!"
+
+"Nor I you," returned Wilton, bluntly. "Mrs. Wilton and I have been
+staying near this, at a place called Vigères, where there is very
+tolerable fishing, and drove over this morning to look at this old town.
+What brings you so far from the haunts of men?"
+
+"The vagaries of an old woman, if it be not too irreverend to say so,"
+replied St. George, raising his hat again with profound respect as his
+cousin pronounced the words "Mrs. Wilton." "I have an aged aunt who, for
+some inscrutable reason, chooses to mortify her flesh and spare her
+pocket by residing here. I never dreamed I should meet with such a
+vision of happiness as--Mrs. Wilton and yourself in this fossilized
+place."
+
+There was just a slight, significant pause before the name "Mrs.
+Wilton," which caught her husband's ear, and it sounded to him like a
+veiled suspicion.
+
+"Where are you staying?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, at the Hôtel du Nord. My aunt wishes the pleasure of a visit from
+me, but declines to put me up."
+
+"We are just going to dine at your hotel," said Colonel Wilton, "and
+will be very happy if you will join us."
+
+St. George accepted his cousin's invitation with his best air of frank
+cordiality. It was a very pleasant dinner; nothing could be more
+agreeable than the accomplished _attaché_. His tone of cousinly courtesy
+to Ella was perfect; his air of well-regulated enjoyment positively
+exhilarating. Wilton never thought he should like his kinsman's society
+so much. Even Ella warmed to him comparatively, and, though more
+disposed to listen than to talk, contributed no small share to the
+brightness of the conversation.
+
+At last it was time to undertake the homeward drive to Vigères, some
+four or five miles up and down hill. While waiting for the
+remarkable-looking vehicle in which the journey was to be performed, St.
+George Wilton found a moment to speak with his cousin alone.
+
+"And it is a real _bona fide_ marriage, Ralph?"
+
+"Real as if the Archbishop of Canterbury had performed it, with a
+couple of junior officers to help him."
+
+St. George was silent, and affected to busy himself in preparing a
+cigar. Not even his trained self-control could enable him to command his
+voice sufficiently to hide the enormous contempt that such a piece of
+frantic insanity inspired.
+
+"So very charming a person as Mrs. Wilton," said he at last, blandly,
+"may well excuse the imprudence of a love-match; but let me ask, merely
+that I may know how to act, is it an open as well as a _bona fide_
+marriage? I mean, do you wish it concealed from our friend Lord St.
+George, because--"
+
+"Certainly not," interrupted Colonel Wilton. "I have not written to
+inform him of it, for he has left my last letter some months unanswered,
+and I did not think he cared to hear from me; but, as it is possible he
+may fancy I intended to make a secret of my marriage, I will write to
+him to-morrow."
+
+"It is not of much importance," said St. George, checking the dawning of
+a contemptuous smile. "Whatever view he takes of the subject will be
+inimical to your interests. Suppose I were to call upon him and explain
+matters? I start for London to-morrow morning."
+
+"I will not trouble you," said Wilton a little stiffly; and Ella,
+appearing at that moment in the door-way, the conversation took a
+different turn.
+
+"Draw your cloak closer, Ella," said her husband, as they proceeded
+homeward under the soft silver of a young May moon at the sober pace
+which was their steed's fastest; "there is a tinge of east in the wind.
+I began our acquaintance by wrapping you up, and I see I shall always be
+obliged to make you take care of yourself."
+
+"I take care of myself _now_," she replied, nestling nearer to him. "I
+did not think your cousin could be so agreeable," she continued.
+
+"Nor I," said Wilton, shortly.
+
+"Yet," resumed Ella, "I can never banish my first impression of him."
+
+"What was it?"
+
+"That he could always keep faith in the letter and break it in the
+spirit; that he could betray in the most polished manner possible,
+without ever committing any vulgar error that law or society could
+fasten upon."
+
+"Upon my soul, you have made a very nice estimate of the only member of
+your new family with whom you have come in contact. And where, pray,
+have you found such well-defined ideas of treachery? I did not think
+there was so much of this world's lore in that pretty little head. How
+did you learn it?"
+
+"Ah, treachery is a thing I have often known! The wonder is, as my
+father used to say, that, where so many powerful temptations surrounded
+us, poor political outcasts, so few proved false."
+
+"Yet you have not learned to be suspicious, Ella?"
+
+"Heaven forbid! No one who is _really_ true at heart ever _really_
+learns to be suspicious."
+
+Wilton fulfilled his intention the following day, and wrote a short,
+simple account of his marriage to Lord St. George, regretting that he
+should be a source of disappointment to him, and stating that he, of
+course, held him quite exonerated from any promise, implied or not,
+respecting his property.
+
+It was _quite_ a relief to him having accomplished this. He had now cut
+himself adrift from all chances of social preëminence; it remained to
+work up in his profession, and his thoughts naturally turned to India.
+Great changes, civil and military, were pending there; his own services
+had been recognized by men high in office; already the breath of the
+outer world had somewhat withered the loveliness of his Arcadia--it was
+time for him to be up and doing.
+
+"Ella! come here, darling. I am afraid we must go back to London and
+common life next week; so let us make an expedition to Mont St. Michel
+to-morrow. How does the tide serve?"
+
+Three or four happy days were spent in visiting the strange
+fortress-prison and Old-World picturesque little town of Granville; in
+delicious rambles and abundant sketching. Ella was absolutely excited by
+the wealth of subjects, all of a new character to her, which offered
+themselves for her pencil. But Wilton had exhausted his slender capacity
+for repose, and, having thoroughly enjoyed himself, was once more
+longing for active life.
+
+The day but one after their return from this brief expedition, a letter
+reached Wilton from the family solicitor. He had been out smoking, and
+talking of farming with the landlord; and Ella remarked, as he took the
+letter, that he exclaimed, as if to himself, "From old Kenrick! what can
+he want?" His countenance changed as he read: and then, throwing down
+the letter, he cried, "I wish to Heaven I had written to him before! He
+has passed away, doubting me!"
+
+"Who?" asked Ella, trembling with a sudden apprehension of evil.
+
+"Poor old St. George!--the old man of whom I have spoken to you."
+
+"Your marriage has not broken his heart, I trust?"
+
+"No; I am not sure he had a heart to break. But, Ella, you have turned
+pale, my own darling! Do not torment yourself; the living or dying of
+every one belonging to me can never affect my happiness with you; you
+are worth them all to me. But this letter--here, read it." And, passing
+one arm round her, Wilton held out the letter for her to peruse. "You
+see," he continued, "Kenrick (he is Lord St. George's solicitor and the
+Wiltons' solicitor generally) says he has died suddenly without a will.
+I am his heir-presumptive and nearest of kin--the only person entitled
+to act or to give directions. We must, therefore, start for London
+to-morrow. I will see Monsieur le Propriétaire, and settle with him at
+once."
+
+Ella sighed, and cast one long look out into the garden, where the bees
+were humming and the first roses blooming, and away over the variegated,
+map-like country beyond, with its distant, dim blue line of sea--a
+farewell look at the scene where she had tasted for the first time in a
+somewhat sad existence, the divine cup of full, fresh delight; then,
+holding her cheek to her husband's kiss, gently disengaged herself and
+went away to prepare for turning over a new leaf in the book of life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+"There is not the slightest use of making any search for a will. I know
+there is none. Lord St. George made me carefully destroy the last one he
+had executed only the day before his death. Indeed, he had given me
+instructions to draw up another so exceedingly inimical to your
+interests that I determined to be as slow as possible in carrying out
+his intentions. Now, his death intestate has left everything to you,
+Colonel Wilton--I beg pardon, my lord."
+
+So spoke Mr. Kenrick--a grave, well-bred, exceedingly professional
+man--as Wilton sat at the opposite side of his knee-hole table in the
+well-known office of Kenrick and Cole, Lincoln's Inn Fields, the morning
+after his arrival in London.
+
+"No; I prefer being Ralph Wilton still. I suppose I need not adopt the
+title if I do not like? We must remember, Kenrick, that poor St.
+George's daughter may be still alive, and may have a host of children."
+
+"That is certainly possible, though it is a possibility I had wellnigh
+forgotten. Forgive me for saying so, but I heartily wish you had been a
+little less impetuous. Six weeks' patience would have seen you possessed
+of ample means to support your title, and free to choose a wife where
+you liked."
+
+"Ay; but who could foresee the course of events? I could not have acted
+a double part with the poor old man, nor could I have postponed my
+marriage. In short, there is no use in discussing the question; tell me
+what Lord St. George said when he sent for you."
+
+"I found him," replied the lawyer, "looking terribly ill, although, as
+usual, accurately dressed and quite composed. I had, by his directions,
+brought with me the will he had executed a few months ago--a will
+bequeathing everything to you, Colonel Wilton. His first question was,
+'Have you heard that my heir has selected a wife at last?' I replied I
+had not; and he went on to say that you had at first concealed your
+marriage, but, having met Mr. St. George Wilton, and thinking
+concealment no longer necessary, you had written to him. He showed me
+your letter, and said he had a visit from your cousin, who gave him a
+true version of the affair, with much more that was not flattering, and
+need not be repeated. He then made me destroy the will in his presence,
+and gave me instructions to prepare another, by which he bequeathed his
+large property to the Foundling Hospital, adding a grim jest as to the
+probability of some of his own grandchildren profiting by the bequest. I
+must say, however, that he seemed principally affected by the apparent
+attempt to conceal your marriage."
+
+"That was never my intention," said Wilton, much disturbed, while he
+walked up and down. "But I wish to Heaven I had written to him at once!
+The fact is, I knew that I had cut myself off from him completely by my
+marriage, and thought it little mattered when I announced it. Then I
+forgot to write."
+
+"And most things, probably," said Mr. Kenrick, with a grave and slightly
+compassionate smile. "The next morning my late client was found by
+Saunders--his man, who has been so long with him--lying placidly on his
+bed, but life was quite extinct. He must have been dead some hours."
+
+"I cannot tell you, Kenrick, how confoundly sorry I am to have caused
+him this annoyance!"
+
+"His heart had long been in a very weak state," continued the lawyer,
+scarcely heeding the interruption; "and his death was certainly
+painless. It remains to discover his daughter's children."
+
+"Or herself," put in Wilton.
+
+"She is dead--I feel sure of that. I perfectly remember my father
+mentioning to me the terrible species of exultation with which Lord St.
+George heard that his only child was no more. That must be twenty years
+ago. I am under the impression that she left no family. If so, I shall
+be pleased to congratulate you, colonel, on a noble inheritance."
+
+Wilton took another turn to and fro. "I have never been used to wealth
+or finery," he said. "If I could dispense with the title, I should not
+care much. Tell me--does nothing hang on to the coronet?"
+
+"Well, I believe the rent of one farm; barely four hundred a year. But
+the house in S---- Square belongs to you. It was one of the 'bad'
+viscount's purchases; and though the late lord's father paid off the
+various mortgages with which it was loaded, he never alienated it from
+the direct line."
+
+"So much the better for me. And now, Kenrick, lose no time in taking
+proper steps to discover the daughter's children."
+
+"I will, of course; but I have a strong idea there are none."
+
+"Why?" asked Wilton.
+
+"Because we should have been sure to have heard of them. The father--a
+needy foreigner, by all accounts--would never have resisted the
+temptation to dip his fingers into such well-filled pockets as those of
+Lord St. George; and the application would have been through us, or
+referred to us. No, I cannot help thinking Madame or Mrs. de Monteiro
+left no children."
+
+"And I cannot help thinking she has. When is the funeral to take
+place?"
+
+"The day after to-morrow. Meantime, had you not better take up your
+residence in S---- Square? The house is yours, and probably everything
+in it."
+
+"No, Kenrick; I could not stand the house, nor could Mrs. Wilton, I am
+sure. I shall remain at the hotel where we now are. After the funeral we
+must examine the poor old man's letters and papers; we may find some
+clue to the real heir among them."
+
+Meantime an outline of the story began to be told at the clubs and
+dinner-tables, now throbbing with the convulsive life of the season.
+
+To the older members of society the name of Wilton had once been
+familiar, but Ralph had little beyond regimental renown and a high
+reputation at the Horse Guards. Now, however, that he was supposed to
+have inherited the estates as well as the title of Lord St. George,
+relatives and connections gathered round him "thick as leaves that fall
+in Valambrosa."
+
+Ella was at first bewildered, as well as surprised, at the numerous
+cards and polite inquiries for Lord and Lady St. George, until Wilton
+unfolded the whole history for her enlightenment, and expended some bad
+language on the annoyance of being thus saddled with a title he could
+not support. Still he was sufficiently alive to the necessity of his
+position to insist on his wife's supplying herself with proper and
+fashionable mourning at the most select milliner's he could find out.
+The result delighted him and appalled Ella. The garments were certainly
+becoming, but never in her simple life had she seen so much money paid
+for clothes.
+
+The operation of examining the papers and letters of one lately alert
+and ready to defend the privacy of his inner life is full of
+mournfulness. Even when the deceased has been neither well known nor
+loved, there is deep pathos in the silent appeal of death. All the
+secrets of the now empty "prison-house" lie bare and at the mercy of a
+successor, who may be the last to whom the released tenant would have
+exposed them. Although Ralph Wilton was far from being a sentimentalist,
+he felt this keenly when, assisted by Mr. Kenrick, he proceeded to
+examine the late viscount's escritoire, and various caskets, cabinets,
+and jewel-cases, in hopes of finding some trace of his possible
+successor. There lay, in profusion, the graceful trinkets bestowed with
+lavish hand on his wife and child, exquisite enamels, carved onyx clasps
+and brooches, costly fans, old-fashioned _bijouterie_--all the beautiful
+artistic trifles which accumulate in an ancient and wealthy family. The
+more important jewels were of course kept at the bank, but quantities of
+valuable nothings were scattered about the rooms--miniatures of fair
+women and lovely children, and one beautiful face in every stage of
+development, from an infant peeping out from its rich surrounding of
+lace and satin to a stately, gracious demoiselle in court dress. These
+portraits were all in rooms and cabinets the most distant, dust-covered,
+and evidently rarely opened. All bore somewhere about the frame the
+initials E. L. A., sometimes plain, sometimes entwined in a monogram.
+
+"These are all portraits of Miss St. George," said the lawyer, in the
+law tone they both unconsciously adopted. "You can scarcely wonder that
+such a marriage should almost have driven her father mad. He hardly
+thought royalty good enough for her."
+
+"What, in Heaven's name, made her throw herself away on a foreigner?"
+exclaimed Wilton. "How could she be so mad?"
+
+"Hum!" said Mr. Kenrick, dryly; "imprudent marriages are always
+incomprehensible, except to those that commit them."
+
+Wilton looked up for a moment, with a flash of indignation in his quick,
+brown eyes, which, passing rapidly away, gave place to a good-humored
+smile.
+
+"You are right," said he; "no outsiders can quite judge the force of our
+unreasoning reasons. You had better dine with us to-day, and let me
+present you to Mrs. Wilton."
+
+"I imagine she expects you to present me to Lady St. George."
+
+"You are mistaken. She is utterly indifferent to titles--more
+indifferent than I am; but you will dine with us?"
+
+"I shall be most happy."
+
+But they sought in vain; no trace existed of the viscount's erring
+daughter after the period of her disgraceful marriage. Of private
+correspondence very little remained, and it was decided to advertise for
+the information they wanted.
+
+"Let us have some talk with Saunders," suggested Wilton; "he was so much
+with Lord St. George that he may be able to give us some clue to what we
+want."
+
+The serious-looking valet was therefore summoned, and the lawyer shortly
+explained to him the state of affairs.
+
+"I believe there was an application of some kind made to my lord
+respecting his daughter," said he, slowly and reflectively; "but it was
+a long time back--nearly three years ago."
+
+"Tell us what you know about it," said Wilton.
+
+"It was in the summer time, just before we left for Scotland that year,
+and my lord was not very well, when one morning the hall-porter called
+me and said there was a foreign gentleman wanted to see my lord about a
+picture. I knew he expected one or two he had bought in Italy, a few
+weeks before, to be sent after him--the only thing he seemed to care
+about lately was art; so I went and spoke to the gentleman--for, though
+he was a queer-looking customer, he did not seem a common fellow. He
+spoke a sort of broken French, and said he was Italian (I can speak
+French, but not Italian,) and added that he had called to see Lord St.
+George about a picture. So, as he seemed quite fit to speak to my lord,
+I went and told him. He says, 'Show the fellow up.' I did so, and left
+them together. I waited outside, in case my lord should want me, and
+presently I heard them thundering at each other in Italian--not that my
+lord spoke very loud, but there was that in his voice as would make any
+man jump. Presently he rang very sharp; I went in and found him
+half-raised in his chair, holding on by the sides as if he would dig his
+fingers into them, as white as marble, and his eyes blazing fire. There
+was some torn paper lying at his feet, and a picture in an open case on
+the floor at a little distance. The foreign chap," continued the valet,
+warming into naturalness, "was standing looking at him with a dark frown
+on his face--the sort of murderous scowl those Italians can put on--and
+I went close up between them, lest he might draw a knife. 'Turn this
+scoundrel out!' says my lord; 'and mark him, Saunders; if you ever find
+him loitering about the place, hand him over to the police!' With that
+the foreigner gave an odd sort of smile, and said a few words in
+Italian, hissing them through his teeth. My lord's face changed as he
+listened, but he waved his hand toward the door; and the other, with a
+deep, low bow, walked out. My lord had a sort of fainting-fit, and I was
+a good deal taken up with him, but I kept the picture, thinking the
+Italian might come back for it; but he did not. I think it is a
+miniature of my lord's daughter, for it is very like all the other
+portraits."
+
+"But the pieces of torn paper," asked the lawyer, quickly--"did you not
+by accident see if anything was written on them, and what?"
+
+"Well, sir, as I was picking them up, I did see that the writing was
+English, though a foreign-looking hand; but all I could make out was,
+'Your only daughter's only child so soon to be an orphan.' Then my lord
+fainted away; and when I looked for them again the stupid girl had swept
+them up. I can bring you the picture, if you wish."
+
+"By all means," said Colonel Wilton; and the man left the room.--"I wish
+to Heaven," he continued, "he had kept the letter instead of the
+picture! We have portraits enough of the unhappy girl; the letter might
+have put us on the track of the heir or heiress. Do you think this
+Italian was the husband?"
+
+"Di Monteiro was, I believe, a Spaniard; but Saunders might mistake
+Spanish for Italian; and then the statement in the letter, 'the only
+child of his daughter so soon to be an orphan'--that might be by the
+death of either father or mother. But, no; it is quite twenty years
+since the mother died."
+
+Here the return of Saunders interrupted the lawyer's conjectures.
+
+"This is the picture," he said, unfolding it from some silver-paper in
+which it was carefully wrapped. The case of dark-purple leather had a
+foreign look; on opening it a lovely face, most exquisitely painted,
+appeared. It was unmistakably the same as that so frequently represented
+in the deserted chambers of the mansion; but changed and saddened and
+spiritualized in expression.
+
+"This is very beautiful," said Wilton, looking long and earnestly upon
+it. "Though evidently the same face as the others, there is something
+familiar to me in it which the others have not. I can fancy a man daring
+a good deal for such a woman as this! However, it brings us no clue. We
+must consult some of these wonderful detective fellows and try what can
+be done by extensive advertising. You must now feel satisfied that my
+poor cousin has left an heir or heiress."
+
+"Heiress, I trust," replied Kenrick. "A foreign Bohemian, with the
+recklessness of poverty, and perhaps Communist principles, would be a
+terrible representative of the house of Wilton; a woman would be less
+dangerous."
+
+"Nevertheless, quite as objectionable, unless caught very young; and,
+according to your account she must be past twenty. However, we can do no
+more to-day; and, by Jove, it is nearly six o'clock! Mrs. Wilton was to
+have met me in Kensington Gardens on her return from a visit at Notting
+Hill. I shall be scarcely in time to meet her. We dine at seven-thirty,
+and shall have the pleasure of seeing you?"
+
+"I shall be most happy; I am very anxious to have the honor of making
+Mrs. Wilton's acquaintance."
+
+"Well, then, will you be so good as to take charge of this picture? I
+see you have your inevitable black bag, and it is rather large for my
+pocket. Pray, bring it with you this evening. My wife is a true artist,
+and will be charmed with it."
+
+
+In these days of pressing occupation, it was a rich treat to Ella and
+Wilton to have an hour or two uninterruptedly together. A visit to some
+of the art exhibitions, to the opera, or to a good play, was sufficient
+to brighten whole days of comparative loneliness. Ella was eminently
+reasonable. She never tormented her husband to know why he was not in
+time, or indulged in querulousness if he was compelled to break an
+engagement. She knew he regretted it as much as she did, and was
+satisfied.
+
+On this occasion she had waited patiently, sitting under a tree near the
+Bayswater Gate for nearly a quarter of an hour before the sight of her
+husband's soldierly distinguished figure, approaching rapidly, made her
+heart leap for joy.
+
+"I am late! but I could not help it. And what have you been doing? How
+is the benevolent Mrs. Kershaw?"
+
+"Very well, indeed; but a little indignant because we did not take her
+'drawing-rooms,' which were vacant when we came to town, instead of
+going to be cheated, as she says, 'up _and_ down' at a hotel."
+
+"And what did you say?" asked Wilton, drawing his wife's hand through
+his arm as they strolled toward town.
+
+"Oh! I told her you had so much to do, that Melina Villas was too far
+away. But, O, dearest Ralph, I really think dear old Diego must have
+called there while we were in Normandy. Mrs. Kershaw was out,
+unfortunately, but the servant described a 'tall, black-looking
+gentleman, who had very little English.' He asked first for Mrs.
+Kershaw, and then for me. Now, no one could ask for me but Diego."
+
+"And, my darling, what is Diego like? is he a gentleman?" asked Wilton,
+rather doubtfully.
+
+"Yes, certainly, a gentleman; but not like you. He wears a velvet
+coat--it is charming when it is new; but he has not always money, then
+it gets shabby; I have seen it broken at the elbows; and he has a felt
+hat, oh! such a beautiful hat at first--but--I fear he sleeps in it
+sometimes, for it gets much bent. But, when Diego has his purse full,
+and new clothes, he is lovely! I have sketched him when they were new,
+and mended them when they were old. He is handsome, like a Salvator-Rosa
+brigand. You would think he could kill; and he is really as gentle and
+simple as a child. You are much more fierce yourself, Ralph"--looking up
+lovingly into his eyes, with very little fear in her own. "How I should
+like to see him again!" she continued; "if we meet, you must ask him to
+dinner."
+
+Wilton laughed heartily.
+
+"If we do meet, I shall; but he will be a curious guest. Let us have our
+distinguished cousin, St. George, to meet him."
+
+"Would it annoy you, Ralph, to have poor Diego to dinner?"
+
+"No, love; but don't ask him to live with us, I could not stand that."
+
+"Nor I," said Ella, quietly.
+
+Talking pleasantly, they enjoyed the sunshine of a lovely afternoon,
+till Wilton, looking at his watch, declared they would be late for
+dinner, and hailed a hansom.
+
+It was very gratifying to Wilton to observe the effect produced by Ella
+on the sedate Mr. Kenrick, who was an old-young man. Her unconsciousness
+of self gave her a high-bred composure; her perfect freedom from
+provincialism--the result of having acquired English almost as a foreign
+tongue--an air of refinement, and her natural, simple readiness to
+listen, only caring to speak when she really had something to say, gave
+a charm to her conversation which greatly impressed the cool,
+hard-headed man of business. However blind love may be, no man, unless
+below the average of intelligence, is so hoodwinked as not to see when
+other men think he has a good excuse for his imprudence or not.
+
+The gentlemen did not sit long after Ella had left them, and, on joining
+her, Mr. Kenrick observed, "I have brought the picture, Colonel Wilton,
+as it is your pleasure to be so called."
+
+And he handed a small parcel to Wilton, who, opening it, said, "Look at
+this, Ella."
+
+She was cutting the leaves of a book which Wilton had bought that
+morning, and, looking up quickly exclaimed, "Ah! how good of you! you
+have found my picture for me. Where did you find it?"
+
+"Your picture! what do you mean?" he asked.
+
+"The picture of my mother, which was lost."
+
+"You are under some mistake. I do not think you ever saw this before."
+
+"I have seen it all my life; it is my mother's picture."
+
+"Your mother's!" exclaimed Wilton and the lawyer together; "impossible."
+
+"Yet it is so. If you raise the frame here, at the side, you can take it
+out of the case, and you will find her name at the back--Elizabeth
+Louisa Adelaide di Monteiro--mine is formed from her initials of her
+Christian name."
+
+The lawyer and Wilton eagerly obeyed, and found the inscription as she
+had described.
+
+"This is very extraordinary!" exclaimed Wilton.
+
+"It appears, then," said Mr. Kenrick, "that, by a rare accident, you
+have married your own cousin, and Lord St. George's heiress. The title
+and estates are united."
+
+"How? What does he mean?" asked Ella.
+
+"Tell me, Ella, was Monteiro your father's name?"
+
+"Yes, one of them. His mother was a wealthy Spanish lady, his father an
+Englishman. He was partly brought up in Spain, by his mother's people,
+in her name; he was early an orphan, and, I imagine, very extravagant.
+Afterward, when immersed in politics, he found it more useful to use his
+father's name of Rivers. He was peculiarly averse to mention my mother.
+I never knew her family name. Her picture was always a sacred thing. My
+father, who might have been a great artist, painted it himself. Now,
+tell me, what do your questions mean?"
+
+Whereupon Wilton, holding her hand in his, told her, as shortly as he
+could, the strange story of her mother's marriage and disappearance; of
+the displeasure of her grandfather at his (Wilton's) disregard of his
+wishes in the choice of a wife; of the consequent destruction of the
+will, and the difficulty in which he and Mr. Kenrick found themselves as
+regarded the next-of-kin; with a running accompaniment from the lawyer
+touching the nature, extent, and peculiarities of the property inherited
+by the obscure little heroine of Wilton's railway adventure.
+
+"All this mine, which ought to have been yours," said Ella, when they
+were at last silent; "or, rather, yours through me--I do not seem able
+to understand or take it in."
+
+She pressed her hand to her brow.
+
+"Dearest, you believed in me, and loved me, when I was desolate and
+poor, and utterly insignificant; now I am thankful that I can bring you
+wealth; but oh! I gave you most when I gave you my whole heart!"
+
+
+_Extract of a letter to_ VISCOUNT ST. GEORGE, _from_ MAJOR MONCRIEF
+_--th Rifles_.
+
+"I shall certainly be with you on the 12th, if nothing unforeseen
+occurs. I feel exceedingly curious to see you in your new home, and to
+thank Lady St. George personally for the plenary absolution she has so
+kindly extended to me. I confess myself guilty of the cold-blooded
+worldliness you lay to my charge, while I acknowledge that few men have
+had a better excuse for a piece of extraordinary imprudence. If we were
+mere bundles of high-toned emotions, sympathies, and aspirations,
+marriages on your system might answer; but, being as we are, much more
+animal than spiritual, more self-seeking than sympathetic, is it wise to
+act on the impulse of a temporary brain or blood fever, which puts a
+certain set of fancies and desires in violent action for a time, only to
+be overtaken and swept away by the everlasting flow of every-day wants,
+ambitions, and motives, which always run their course, however
+excitement may blind us? But I am growing too profound for an old
+soldier; the upshot of the argument is that I stand to my opinion in a
+general sense; your extraordinary luck in no way touches it. But I most
+warmly rejoice in your good fortune; and, though I greatly regret your
+quitting the old regiment, I am not surprised that your new position
+necessitates the step. Yours is no common story; and I little thought,
+when I was 'taken prophetic' the day you 'interviewed' poor old St.
+George, that so fair a lot would be the ending of 'Ralph Wilton's
+Weird.'
+
+"Always your sincere friend,
+"A. MONCRIEF."
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Ralph Wilton's weird, by Mrs. Alexander
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41740 ***