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If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The blood of the vampire - -Author: Florence Marryat - -Release Date: June 10, 2022 [eBook #68277] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Emmanuel Ackerman and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from - scanned images of public domain material from the Google - Books project.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLOOD OF THE -VAMPIRE *** - - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: - - Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. - - Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=. - - Text in Small Caps has been converted to ALL CAPS. - - The Table of Contents was created by the Transcriber - and is placed in the public domain. - - A number of typographical errors have been corrected. - A detailed list of the corrections and changes that were - made to the text can be found at the end of the ebook. - - - - - EACH VOLUME SOLD SEPARATELY. - - - COLLECTION - OF - BRITISH AUTHORS - - TAUCHNITZ EDITION. - - VOL. 3245. - - THE BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE. - - BY - FLORENCE MARRYAT. - - IN ONE VOLUME. - - LEIPZIG: BERNHARD TAUCHNITZ. - - PARIS: LIBRAIRIE C. REINWALD, 15, RUE DES SAINTS-PÈRES. - - PARIS: THE GALIGNANI LIBRARY, 224, RUE DE RIVOLI, - AND AT NICE, 48, QUAI ST. JEAN BAPTISTE. - - _This Collection - is published with copyright for Continental circulation, but - all purchasers are earnestly requested not to introduce the - volumes into England, or into any British Colony._ - - - - - COLLECTION - - OF - - BRITISH AUTHORS - - TAUCHNITZ EDITION. - - VOL. 3245. - - THE BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE. - - BY - FLORENCE MARRYAT. - - IN ONE VOLUME. - - - - -TAUCHNITZ EDITION. - -By the same Author, - - - LOVE’S CONFLICT 2 v. - FOR EVER AND EVER 2 v. - THE CONFESSIONS OF GERALD ESTCOURT 2 v. - NELLY BROOKE 2 v. - VÉRONIQUE 2 v. - PETRONEL 2 v. - HER LORD AND MASTER 2 v. - THE PREY OF THE GODS 1 v. - LIFE OF CAPTAIN MARRYAT 1 v. - MAD DUMARESQ 2 v. - NO INTENTIONS 2 v. - FIGHTING THE AIR 2 v. - A STAR AND A HEART 1 v. - THE POISON OF ASPS 1 v. - A LUCKY DISAPPOINTMENT 1 v. - “MY OWN CHILD” 2 v. - HER FATHER’S NAME 2 v. - A HARVEST OF WILD OATS 2 v. - A LITTLE STEPSON 1 v. - WRITTEN IN FIRE 2 v. - HER WORLD AGAINST A LIE 2 v. - A BROKEN BLOSSOM 2 v. - THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL 2 v. - THE FAIR-HAIRED ALDA 2 v. - WITH CUPID’S EYES 2 v. - MY SISTER THE ACTRESS 2 v. - PHYLLIDA. 2 v. - HOW THEY LOVED HIM 2 v. - FACING THE FOOTLIGHTS (WITH PORTRAIT) 2 v. - A MOMENT OF MADNESS, ETC. 1 v. - THE GHOST OF CHARLOTTE CRAY, ETC. 1 v. - PEERESS AND PLAYER 2 v. - UNDER THE LILIES AND ROSES 2 v. - THE HEART OF JANE WARNER 2 v. - THE HEIR PRESUMPTIVE 2 v. - THE MASTER PASSION 2 v. - SPIDERS OF SOCIETY 2 v. - DRIVEN TO BAY 2 v. - A DAUGHTER OF THE TROPICS 2 v. - GENTLEMAN AND COURTIER 2 v. - ON CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE 2 v. - MOUNT EDEN. 2 v. - BLINDFOLD 2 v. - A SCARLET SIN 1 v. - A BANKRUPT HEART 2 v. - THE SPIRIT WORLD 1 v. - THE BEAUTIFUL SOUL 1 v. - AT HEART A RAKE 2 v. - HANNAH STUBBS 1 v. - THE DREAM THAT STAYED 2 v. - A PASSING MADNESS 1 v. - - - - - THE BLOOD - OF THE VAMPIRE - - BY - - FLORENCE MARRYAT, - - AUTHOR OF - “LOVE’S CONFLICT,” “A PASSING MADNESS,” ETC. - - _COPYRIGHT EDITION._ - - LEIPZIG - - BERNHARD TAUCHNITZ - - 1897. - - - - -TABLE OF CONTENTS - - - page - CHAPTER I 5 - CHAPTER II 21 - CHAPTER III 36 - CHAPTER IV 52 - CHAPTER V 65 - CHAPTER VI 87 - CHAPTER VII 106 - CHAPTER VIII 123 - CHAPTER IX 137 - CHAPTER X 156 - CHAPTER XI 178 - CHAPTER XII 196 - CHAPTER XIII 212 - CHAPTER XIV 230 - CHAPTER XV 248 - CHAPTER XVI 269 - CHAPTER XVII 285 - CHAPTER XVIII 304 - - - - -THE BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - -It was the magic hour of dining. The long Digue of Heyst was almost -deserted; so was the strip of loose, yellow sand which skirted its -base, and all the _tables d’hôtes_ were filling fast. Henri, the -youngest waiter of the Hôtel Lion d’Or, was standing on the steps -between the two great gilded lions, which stood rampant on either side -the portals, vigorously ringing a loud and discordant bell to summons -the stragglers, whilst the ladies, who were waiting the commencement of -dinner in the little salon to the side, stopped their ears to dull its -clamour. Philippe and Jules were busy, laying white cloths and glasses, -etc., on the marble tables in the open balcony, outside the _salle -à manger_, where strangers to the Hotel might dine _à la carte_, if -they chose. Inside, the long, narrow tables, were decorated with dusty -geraniums and fuchsias, whilst each cruet stand had a small bunch of -dirty artificial flowers tied to its handle. But the visitors to the -Lion d’Or, who were mostly English, were too eager for their evening -meal, to cavil at their surroundings. The Baroness Gobelli, with her -husband on one side, and her son on the other, was the first to seat -herself at table. The Baroness always appeared with the soup, for she -had observed that the first comers received a more generous helping -than those who came in last. No such anxiety occupied the minds of Mrs. -Pullen and her friend Miss Leyton, who sat opposite to the Baroness -and her family. They did not care sufficiently for the _potage aux -croutons_, which usually formed the beginning of the _table d’hôte_ -dinner. The long tables were soon filled with a motley crew of English, -Germans, and Belgians, all chattering, especially the foreigners, as -fast as their tongues could travel. Amongst them was a sprinkling of -children, mostly unruly and ill-behaved, who had to be called to order -every now and then, which made Miss Leyton’s lip curl with disgust. -Just opposite to her, and next to Mr. Bobby Bates, the Baroness’s son -by her first marriage, and whom she always treated as if he had been a -boy of ten years old, was an unoccupied chair, turned up against the -table to signify that it was engaged. - -“I wonder if that is for the German Princess of whom Madame Lamont is -so fond of talking,” whispered Elinor Leyton to Mrs. Pullen, “she said -this morning that she expected her this afternoon.” - -“O! surely not!” replied her friend, “I do not know much about -royalties, but I should think a Princess would hardly dine at a public -_table d’hôte_.” - -“O! a German Princess! what is that?” said Miss Leyton, with a curled -lip again, for she was a daughter of Lord Walthamstowe, and thought -very little of any aristocracy, except that of her own country. - -As she spoke, however, the chair opposite was sharply pulled into -place, and a young lady seated herself on it, and looked boldly (though -not brazenly) up and down the tables, and at her neighbours on each -side of her. She was a remarkable-looking girl--more remarkable, -perhaps, than beautiful, for her beauty did not strike one at first -sight. Her figure was tall but slight and lissom. It looked almost -boneless as she swayed easily from side to side of her chair. Her skin -was colourless but clear. Her eyes were long-shaped, dark, and narrow, -with heavy lids and thick black lashes which lay upon her cheeks. Her -brows were arched and delicately pencilled, and her nose was straight -and small. Not so her mouth however, which was large, with lips of a -deep blood colour, displaying small white teeth. To crown all, her -head was covered with a mass of soft, dull, blue-black hair, which was -twisted in careless masses about the nape of her neck, and looked as if -it was unaccustomed to comb or hairpin. She was dressed very simply in -a white cambric frock, but there was not a woman present, who had not -discovered in five minutes, that the lace with which it was profusely -trimmed, was costly Valenciennes, and that it was clasped at her throat -with brilliants. The new-comer did not seem in the least abashed by -the numbers of eyes which were turned upon her, but bore the scrutiny -very calmly, smiling in a sort of furtive way at everybody, until the -_entrées_ were handed round, when she rivetted all her attention upon -the contents of her plate. Miss Leyton thought she had never seen any -young person devour her food with so much avidity and enjoyment. She -could not help watching her. The Baroness Gobelli, who was a very -coarse feeder, scattering her food over her plate and not infrequently -over the table cloth as well, was nothing compared to the young -stranger. It was not so much that she ate rapidly and with evident -appetite, but that she kept her eyes fixed upon her food, as if she -feared someone might deprive her of it. As soon as her plate was empty, -she called sharply to the waiter in French, and ordered him to get her -some more. - -“That’s right, my dear!” exclaimed the Baroness, nodding her huge head, -and smiling broadly at the new-comer; “make ’em bring you more! It’s an -excellent dish, that! I’ll ’ave some more myself!” - -As Philippe deposited the last helping of the _entrée_ on the young -lady’s plate, the Baroness thrust hers beneath his nose. - -“’Ere!” she said, “bring three more ’elpings for the Baron and Bobby -and me!” - -The man shook his head to intimate that the dish was finished, but the -Baroness was not to be put off with a flimsy excuse. She commenced to -make a row. Few meals passed without a squabble of some sort, between -the Hotel servants and this terrible woman. - -“Now we are in for it again!” murmured Miss Leyton into Mrs. Pullen’s -ear. The waiter brought a different _entrée_, but the Baroness insisted -upon having a second helping of _tête de veau aux champignons_. - -“_Il n’y a plus, Madame!_” asseverated Philippe, with a gesture of -deprecation. - -“What does ’e say?” demanded the Baroness, who was not good at French. - -“There is no more, mein tear!” replied her husband, with a strong -German accent. - -“Confound their impudence!” exclaimed his wife with a heated -countenance, “’ere, send Monsieur ’ere at once! I’ll soon see if we’re -not to ’ave enough to eat in ’is beastly Hotel!” - -All the ladies who understood what she said, looked horrified at -such language, but that was of no consequence to Madame Gobelli, who -continued to call out at intervals for “Monsieur” until she found -the dinner was coming to an end without her, and thought it would be -more politic to attend to business and postpone her feud till a more -convenient occasion. The Baroness Gobelli was a mystery to most people -in the Hotel. She was an enormous woman of the elephant build, with a -large, flat face and clumsy hands and feet. Her skin was coarse, so -was her hair, so were her features. The only things which redeemed -an otherwise repulsive face, were a pair of good-humoured, though -cunning blue eyes and a set of firm, white teeth. Who the Baroness -had originally been, no one could quite make out. It was evident that -she must have sprung from some low origin from her lack of education -and breeding, yet she spoke familiarly of aristocratic names, even -of Royal ones, and appeared to be acquainted with their families and -homes. There was a floating rumour that she had been old Mr. Bates’s -cook before he married her, and when he left her a widow with an only -child and a considerable fortune, the little German Baron had thought -that her money was a fair equivalent for her personality. She was -exceedingly vulgar, and when roused, exceedingly vituperative, but -she possessed a rough good humour when pleased, and a large amount of -natural shrewdness, which stood her instead of cleverness. But she was -an unscrupulous liar, and rather boasted of the fact than otherwise. -Having plenty of money at her command, she was used to take violent -fancies to people--taking them up suddenly, loading them with presents -and favours for as long as it pleased her, and then dropping them as -suddenly, without why or wherefore--even insulting them if she could -not shake them off without doing so. The Baron was completely under her -thumb; more than that, he was servile in her presence, which astonished -those people, who did not know that amongst her other arrogant -insistences, the Baroness laid claim to holding intercourse with -certain supernatural and invisible beings, who had the power to wreak -vengeance on all those who offended her. This fear it was, combined -with the fact that she had all the money and kept the strings of the -bag pretty close where he was concerned, that made the Baron wait upon -his wife’s wishes as if he were her slave. Perhaps the softest spot in -the Baroness’s heart was kept for her sickly and uninteresting son, -Bobby Bates, whom she treated, nevertheless, with the roughness of a -tigress for her cub. She kept him still more under her surveillance -than she did her husband, and Bobby, though he had attained his -nineteenth year, dared not say Boo! to a goose, in presence of his -Mamma. As the cheese was handed round, Elinor Leyton rose from her seat -with an impatient gesture. - -“Do let us get out of this atmosphere, Margaret!” she said in a low -tone. “I really cannot stand it any longer!” - -The two ladies left the table, and went out beyond the balcony, to -where a number of painted iron chairs and tables were placed on the -Digue, for the accommodation of passing wayfarers, who might wish to -rest awhile and quench their thirst with _limonade_ or lager beer. - -“I wonder who that girl is!” remarked Mrs. Pullen as soon as they were -out of hearing. “I don’t know whether I like her or not, but there is -something rather distinguished-looking about her!” - -“Do you think so?” said Miss Leyton, “I thought she only distinguished -herself by eating like a cormorant! I never saw anyone in society -gobble her food in such a manner! She made me positively sick!” - -“Was it as bad as that?” replied the more quiet Mrs. Pullen, in -an indifferent manner. Her eyes were attracted just then by the -perambulator which contained her baby, and she rose to meet it. - -“How is she, Nurse?” she asked as anxiously as if she had not parted -from the infant an hour before. “Has she been awake all the time?” - -“Yes, Ma’am, and looking about her like anything! But she seems -inclined to sleep now! I thought it was about time to take her in!” - -“O! no! not on such a warm, lovely evening! If she does go to sleep in -the open air, it will do her no harm. Leave her with me! I want you to -go indoors, and find out the name of the young lady who sat opposite to -me at dinner to-day, Philippe understands English. He will tell you!” - -“Why on earth do you want to know?” demanded Miss Leyton, as the -servant disappeared. - -“O! I don’t know! I feel a little curious, that is all! She seems so -young to be by herself!” - -Elinor Leyton answered nothing, but walked across the Digue and stood, -looking out over the sea. She was anticipating the arrival of her -_fiancé_, Captain Ralph Pullen of the Limerick Rangers, but he had -delayed his coming to join them, and she began to find Heyst rather -dull. - -The visitors of the Lion d’Or had finished their meal by this time, -and were beginning to reassemble on the Digue, preparatory to taking a -stroll before they turned into one of the many _cafés-chantants_, which -were situated at stated intervals in front of the sea. Amongst them -came the Baroness Gobelli, leaning heavily on a thick stick with one -hand, and her husband’s shoulder with the other. The couple presented -an extraordinary appearance, as they perambulated slowly up and down -the Digue. - -She--with her great height and bulk, towering a head above her -companion, whilst he--with a full-sized torso, and short legs--a large -hat crammed down upon his forehead, and no neck to speak of, so that -the brim appeared to rest upon his shoulders--was a ludicrous figure, -as he walked beside his wife, bending under the weight of her support. -But yet, she was actually proud of him. Notwithstanding his ill-shaped -figure, the Baron possessed one of those mild German faces, with pale -watery blue eyes, a long nose, and hair and beard of a reddish-golden -colour, which entitled him, in the estimation of some people, to be -called a handsome man, and the Baroness was never tired of informing -the public that his head and face had once been drawn for that of some -celebrated saint. - -Her own appearance was really comical, for though she had plenty of -means, her want of taste, or indifference to dress, made everyone stare -at her as she passed. On the present occasion, she wore a silk gown -which had cost seventeen shillings a yard, with a costly velvet cloak, -a bonnet which might have been rescued from the dustbin, and cotton -gloves with all her fingers out. She shook her thick walking-stick in -Miss Leyton’s face as she passed by her, and called out loud enough for -everyone to hear: “And when is the handsome Captain coming to join you, -Miss Leyton, eh? Take care he ain’t running after some other gal! ‘When -pensive I thought on my L.O.V.E.’ Ha! ha! ha!” - -Elinor flushed a delicate pink but did not turn her head, nor take any -notice of her tormentor. She detested the Baroness with a perfectly -bitter hatred, and her proud cold nature revolted from her coarseness -and familiarity. - -“Tied to your brat again!” cried the Baroness, as she passed Margaret -Pullen who was moving the perambulator gently to and fro by the handle, -so as to keep her infant asleep; “why didn’t you put it in the tub as -soon as it was born? It would ’ave saved you a heap of trouble! I often -wish I had done so by that devil Bobby! ’Ere, where are you, Bobby?” - -“I’m close behind you, Mamma!” replied the simple-looking youth. - -“Well! don’t you get running away from your father and me, and winking -at the gals! There’s time enough for that, ain’t there, Gustave?” she -concluded, addressing the Baron. - -“Come along, Robert, and mind what your mother tells you!” said the -Herr Baron with his guttural German accent, as the extraordinary trio -pursued their way down the Digue, the Baroness making audible remarks -on everybody she met, as they went. - -Margaret Pullen sat where they had left her, moving about the -perambulator, whilst her eyes, like Elinor’s, were fixed upon the -tranquil water. The August sun had now quite disappeared, and the -indescribably faint and unpleasant odour, which is associated with the -dunes of Heyst, had begun to make itself apparent. A still languor had -crept over everything, and there were indications of a thunderstorm -in the air. She was thinking of her husband, Colonel Arthur Pullen, -the elder brother of Miss Leyton’s _fiancé_, who was toiling out in -India for baby and herself. It had been a terrible blow to Margaret, -to let him go out alone after only one year of happy wedded life, but -the expected advent of her little daughter at the time, had prohibited -her undertaking so long a journey and she had been compelled to remain -behind. And now baby was six months old, and Colonel Pullen hoped to be -home by Christmas, so had advised her to wait for his return. But her -thoughts were sad sometimes, notwithstanding. - -Events happen so unexpectedly in this world--who could say for certain -that she and her husband would ever meet again--that Arthur would -ever see his little girl, or that she should live to place her in her -father’s arms? But such a state of feeling was morbid, she knew, and -she generally made an effort to shake it off. The nurse, returning -with the information she had sent her to acquire, roused her from her -reverie. - -“If you please, Ma’am, the young lady’s name is Brandt, and Philippe -says she came from London!” - -“English! I should never have guessed it!” observed Mrs. Pullen, “She -speaks French so well.” - -“Shall I take the baby now, Ma’am?” - -“Yes! Wheel her along the Digue. I shall come and meet you by and by!” - -As the servant obeyed her orders, she called to Miss Leyton. - -“Elinor! come here!” - -“What is it?” asked Miss Leyton, seating herself beside her. - -“The new girl’s name is Brandt and she comes from England! Would you -have believed it?” - -“I did not take sufficient interest in her to make any speculations on -the subject. I only observed that she had a mouth from ear to ear, and -ate like a pig! What does it concern us, where she comes from?” - -At that moment, a Mrs. Montague, who, with her husband, was conveying -a family of nine children over to Brussels, under the mistaken -impression, that they would be able to live cheaper there than in -England, came down the Hotel steps with half a dozen of them, clinging -to her skirts, and went straight up to Margaret Pullen. - -“O! Mrs. Pullen! What is that young lady’s name, who sat opposite to -you at dinner? Everybody is asking! I hear she is enormously rich, and -travelling alone. Did you see the lace on her dress? Real Valenciennes, -and the diamond rings she wore! Frederick says they must be worth a lot -of money. She must be someone of consequence I should imagine!” - -“On the contrary, my nurse tells me she is English and her name is -Brandt. Has she no friends here?” - -“Madame Lamont says she arrived in company with another girl, but they -are located at different parts of the Hotel. It seems very strange, -does it not?” - -“And it sounds very improper!” interposed Elinor Leyton, “I should -say the less we have to say to her, the better! You never know what -acquaintances you may make in a place like this! When I look up and -down the _table d’hôte_ menagerie sometimes, it makes me quite ill!” - -“Does it?” rejoined Mrs. Montague, “I think it’s so amusing! That -Baroness Gobelli, for instance----” - -“Don’t mention her before me!” cried Miss Leyton, in a tone of disgust, -“the woman is not fit for civilised society!” - -“She is rather common, certainly, and strange in her behaviour,” said -Mrs. Montague, “but she is very good-natured. She gave my little Edward -a louis yesterday. I felt quite ashamed to let him take it!” - -“That just proves her vulgarity,” exclaimed Elinor Leyton, who had not -a sixpence to give away, herself, “it shows that she thinks her money -will atone for all her other shortcomings! She gave that Miss Taylor -who left last week, a valuable brooch off her own throat. And poor -payment too, for all the dirty things she made her do and the ridicule -she poured upon her. I daresay this _nouveau riche_ will try to curry -favour with us by the same means.” - -At that moment, the girl under discussion, Miss Brandt, appeared on the -balcony, which was only raised a few feet above where they sat. She -wore the same dress she had at dinner, with the addition of a little -fleecy shawl about her shoulders. She stood smiling, and looking at -the ladies (who had naturally dropped all discussion about her) for -a few moments, and then she ventured to descend the steps between -the rampant gilded lions, and almost timidly, as it seemed, took -up a position near them. Mrs. Pullen felt that she could not be so -discourteous as to take no notice whatever of the new-comer, and so, -greatly to Miss Leyton’s disgust, she uttered quietly, “Good evening!” - -It was quite enough for Miss Brandt. She drew nearer with smiles -mantling over her face. - -“Good evening! Isn’t it lovely here?--so soft and warm, something like -the Island, but so much fresher!” - -She looked up and down the Digue, now crowded with a multitude of -visitors, and drew in her breath with a long sigh of content. - -“How gay and happy they all seem, and how happy I am too! Do you know, -if I had my will, what I should like to do?” she said, addressing Mrs. -Pullen. - -“No! indeed!” - -“I should like to tear up and down this road as hard as ever I could, -throwing my arms over my head and screaming aloud!” - -The ladies exchanged glances of astonishment, but Margaret Pullen could -not forbear smiling as she asked their new acquaintance the reason why. - -“O! because I am free--free at last, after ten long years of -imprisonment! I am telling you the truth, I am indeed, and you would -feel just the same if you had been shut up in a horrid Convent ever -since you were eleven years old!” - -At the word “convent”, the national Protestant horror immediately -spread itself over the faces of the three other ladies; Mrs. Montague -gathered her flock about her and took them out of the way of possible -contamination, though she would have much preferred to hear the rest of -Miss Brandt’s story, and Elinor Leyton moved her chair further away. -But Margaret Pullen was interested and encouraged the girl to proceed. - -“In a convent! I suppose then you are a Roman Catholic!” - -Harriet Brandt suddenly opened her slumbrous eyes. - -“I don’t think so! I’m not quite sure what I am! Of course I’ve had any -amount of religion crammed down my throat in the Convent, and I had to -follow their prayers, whilst there, but I don’t believe my parents were -Catholics! But it does not signify, I am my own mistress now. I can be -what I like!” - -“You have been so unfortunate then as to lose your parents!” - -“O! yes! years ago, that is why my guardian, Mr. Trawler, placed me -in the Convent for my education. And I’ve been there for ten years! -Is it not a shame? I’m twenty-one now! That’s why I’m free! You see,” -the girl went on confidentially, “my parents left me everything, and -as soon as I came of age I entered into possession of it. My guardian, -Mr. Trawler, who lives in Jamaica,--did I tell you that I’ve come from -Jamaica?--thought I should live with him and his wife, when I left the -Convent, and pay them for my keep, but I refused. They had kept me -too tight! I wanted to see the world and life--it was what I had been -looking forward to--so as soon as my affairs were settled, I left the -West Indies and came over here!” - -“They said you came from England in the Hotel!” - -“So I did! The steamer came to London and I stayed there a week before -I came on here!” - -“But you are too young to travel about by yourself, Miss Brandt! -English young ladies never do so!” said Mrs. Pullen. - -“I’m not by myself, exactly! Olga Brimont, who was in the Convent with -me, came too. But she is ill, so she’s upstairs. She has come to her -brother who is in Brussels, and we travelled together. We had the same -cabin on board the steamer, and Olga was very ill. One night the doctor -thought she was going to die! I stayed with her all the time. I used to -sit up with her at night, but it did her no good. We stopped in London -because we wanted to buy some dresses and things, but she was not able -to go out, and I had to go alone. Her brother is away from Brussels at -present so he wrote her to stay in Heyst till he could fetch her, and -as I had nowhere particular to go, I came with her! And she is better -already! She has been fast asleep all the afternoon!” - -“And what will you do when your friend leaves you?” asked Mrs. Pullen. - -“O! I don’t know! Travel about, I suppose! I shall go wherever it may -please me!” - -“Are you not going to take a walk this evening?” demanded Elinor Leyton -in a low voice of her friend, wishing to put a stop to the conversation. - -“Certainly! I told nurse I would join her and baby by-and-by!” - -“Shall I fetch your hat then?” enquired Miss Leyton, as she rose to go -up to their apartments. - -“Yes! if you will, dear, please, and my velvet cape, in case it should -turn chilly!” - -“I will fetch mine too!” cried Miss Brandt, jumping up with alacrity. -“I may go with you, mayn’t I? I’ll just tell Olga that I’m going out -and be down again in five minutes!” and without waiting for an answer, -she was gone. - -“See what you have brought upon us!” remarked Elinor in a vexed tone. - -“Well! it was not my fault,” replied Margaret, “and after all, -what does it signify? It is only a little act of courtesy to an -unprotected girl. I don’t dislike her, Elinor! She is very familiar and -communicative, but fancy what it must be like to find herself her own -mistress, and with money at her command, after ten years’ seclusion -within the four walls of a convent! It is enough to turn the head of -any girl. I think it would be very churlish to refuse to be friendly -with her!” - -“Well! I hope it may turn out all right! But you must remember how -Ralph cautioned us against making any acquaintances in a foreign hotel.” - -“But I am not under Ralph’s orders, though you may be, and I should not -care to go entirely by the advice of so very fastidious and exclusive -a gentleman as he is! My Arthur would never find fault with me, I am -sure, for being friendly with a young unmarried girl.” - -“Anyway, Margaret, let me entreat you not to discuss my private affairs -with this new _protégée_ of yours. I don’t want to see her saucer eyes -goggling over the news of my engagement to your brother-in-law!” - -“Certainly I will not, since you ask it! But you hardly expect to keep -it a secret when Ralph comes down here, do you?” - -“Why not? Why need anyone know more than that he is your husband’s -brother?” - -“I expect they know a good deal more now,” said Margaret, laughing. -“The news that you are the Honourable Elinor Leyton and that your -father is Baron Walthamstowe, was known all over Heyst the second -day we were here. And I have no doubt it has been succeeded by the -interesting intelligence that you are engaged to marry Captain Pullen. -You cannot keep servants’ tongues from wagging, you know!” - -“I suppose not!” replied Elinor, with a _moue_ of contempt. “However, -they will learn no more through me or Ralph. We are not ‘’Arry and -’Arriet’ to sit on the Digue with our arms round each other’s waists.” - -“Still--there are signs and symptoms,” said Margaret, laughing. - -“There will be none with us!” rejoined Miss Leyton, indignantly, as -Harriet Brandt, with a black lace hat on, trimmed with yellow roses, -and a little fichu tied carelessly across her bosom, ran lightly down -the steps to join them. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - -The Digue was crowded by that time. All Heyst had turned out to enjoy -the evening air and to partake in the gaiety of the place. A band was -playing on the movable orchestra, which was towed by three skinny -little donkeys, day after day, from one end of the Digue to the other. -To-night, it was its turn to be in the middle, where a large company -of people was sitting on green painted chairs that cost ten centimes -for hire each, whilst children danced, or ran madly round and round -its base. Everyone had changed his, or her, seaside garb for more -fashionable array--even the children were robed in white frocks and -gala hats--and the whole scene was gay and festive. Harriet Brandt -ran from one side to the other of the Digue, as though she also had -been a child. Everything she saw seemed to astonish and delight her. -First, she was gazing out over the calm and placid water--and next, -she was exclaiming at the bits of rubbish in the shape of embroidered -baskets, or painted shells, exhibited in the shop windows, which were -side by side with the private houses and hotels, forming a long line of -buildings fronting the water. - -She kept on declaring that she wanted to buy that or this, and -lamenting she had not brought more money with her. - -“You will have plenty of opportunities to select and purchase what you -want to-morrow,” said Mrs. Pullen, “and you will be better able to -judge what they are like. They look better under the gas than they do -by daylight, I can assure you, Miss Brandt!” - -“O! but they are lovely--delightful!” replied the girl, -enthusiastically, “I never saw anything so pretty before! Do look at -that little doll in a bathing costume, with her cap in one hand, her -sponge in the other! She is charming--unique! _Tout ce qu’il y a de -plus beau!_” - -She spoke French perfectly, and when she spoke English, it was with a -slightly foreign accent, that greatly enhanced its charm. It made Mrs. -Pullen observe: - -“You are more used to speaking French than English, Miss Brandt!” - -“Yes! We always spoke French in the Convent, and it is in general use -in the Island. But I thought--I hoped--that I spoke English like an -Englishwoman! I _am_ an Englishwoman, you know!” - -“Are you? I was not quite sure! Brandt sounds rather German!” - -“No! my father was English, his name was Henry Brandt, and my mother -was a Miss Carey--daughter of one of the Justices of Barbadoes!” - -“O! indeed!” replied Mrs. Pullen. She did not know what else to say. -The subject was of no interest to her! At that moment they encountered -the nurse and perambulator, and she naturally stopped to speak to her -baby. - -The sight of the infant seemed to drive Miss Brandt wild. - -“O! is that your baby, Mrs. Pullen, is that really your baby?” she -exclaimed excitedly, “you never told me you had one. O! the darling! -the sweet dear little angel! I love little white babies! I adore them. -They are so sweet and fresh and clean--so different from the little -niggers who smell so nasty, you can’t touch them! We never saw a baby -in the Convent, and so few English children live to grow up in Jamaica! -O! let me hold her! let me carry her! I _must_!” - -She was about to seize the infant in her arms, when the mother -interposed. - -“No, Miss Brandt, please, not this evening! She is but half awake, and -has arrived at that age when she is frightened of strangers. Another -time perhaps, when she has become used to you, but not now!” - -“But I will be so careful of her, pretty dear!” persisted the girl, “I -will nurse her so gently, that she will fall to sleep again in my arms. -Come! my little love, come!” she continued to the baby, who pouted her -lips and looked as if she were going to cry. - -“Leave her alone!” exclaimed Elinor Leyton in a sharp voice. “Do you -not hear what Mrs. Pullen says--that you are not to touch her!” - -She spoke so acridly, that gentle Margaret Pullen felt grieved for the -look of dismay that darted into Harriet Brandt’s face on hearing it. - -“O! I am sorry--I didn’t mean--” she stammered, with a side glance at -Margaret. - -“Of course you did not mean anything but what was kind,” said Mrs. -Pullen, “Miss Leyton perfectly understands that, and when baby is used -to you, I daresay she will be very grateful for your attentions. But -to-night she is sleepy and tired, and, perhaps, a little cross. Take -her home, Nurse,” she went on, “and put her to bed! Good-night, my -sweet!” and the perambulator passed them and was gone. - -An awkward silence ensued between the three women after this little -incident. Elinor Leyton walked somewhat apart from her companions, as -if she wished to avoid all further controversy, whilst Margaret Pullen -sought some way by which to atone for her friend’s rudeness to the -young stranger. Presently they came across one of the _cafés chantants_ -which are attached to the seaside hotels, and which was brilliantly -lighted up. A large awning was spread outside, to shelter some dozens -of chairs and tables, most of which were already occupied. The windows -of the hotel salon had been thrown wide open, to accommodate some -singers and musicians, who advanced in turn and stood on the threshold -to amuse the audience. As they approached the scene, a tenor in evening -dress was singing a love song, whilst the musicians accompanied his -voice from the salon, and the occupants of the chairs were listening -with rapt attention. - -“How charming! how delightful!” cried Harriet Brandt, as they reached -the spot, “I never saw anything like this in the Island!” - -“You appear never to have seen anything!” remarked Miss Leyton, with a -sneer. Miss Brandt glanced apologetically at Mrs. Pullen. - -“How could I see anything, when I was in the Convent?” she said, -“I know there are places of entertainment in the Island, but I was -never allowed to go to any. And in London, there was no one for me -to go with! I should so much like to go in there,” indicating the -_café_. “Will you come with me, both of you I mean, and I will pay for -everything! I have plenty of money, you know!” - -“There is nothing to pay, my dear, unless you call for refreshment,” -was Margaret’s reply. “Yes, I will go with you certainly, if you so -much wish it! Elinor, you won’t mind, will you?” - -But Miss Leyton was engaged talking to a Monsieur and Mademoiselle -Vieuxtemps--an old brother and sister, resident in the Lion d’Or--who -had stopped to wish her Good-evening! They were dear, good old people, -but rather monotonous and dull, and Elinor had more than once -ridiculed their manner of talking and voted them the most terrible -bores. Mrs. Pullen concluded therefore, that she would get rid of -them as soon as courtesy permitted her to do so, and follow her. With -a smile and a bow therefore, to the Vieuxtemps, she pushed her way -through the crowd with Harriet Brandt, to where she perceived that -three seats were vacant, and took possession of them. They were not -good seats for hearing or seeing, being to one side of the salon, and -quite in the shadow, but the place was so full that she saw no chance -of getting any others. As soon as they were seated, the waiter came -round for orders, and it was with difficulty that Mrs. Pullen prevented -her companion purchasing sufficient liqueurs and cakes to serve double -the number of their company. - -“You must allow me to pay for myself, Miss Brandt,” she said gravely, -“or I will never accompany you anywhere again!” - -“But I have lots of money,” pleaded the girl, “much more than I know -what to do with--it would be a pleasure to me, it would indeed!” - -But Mrs. Pullen was resolute, and three _limonades_ only were placed -upon their table. Elinor Leyton had not yet made her appearance, and -Mrs. Pullen kept craning her neck over the other seats to see where she -might be, without success. - -“She cannot have missed us!” she observed, “I wonder if she can have -continued her walk with the Vieuxtemps!” - -“O! what does it signify?” said Harriet, drawing her chair closer to -that of Mrs. Pullen, “we can do very well without her. I don’t think -she’s very nice, do you?” - -“You must not speak of Miss Leyton like that to me, Miss Brandt,” -remonstrated Margaret, gently, “because--she is a great friend of our -family.” - -She had been going to say, “Because she will be my sister-in-law before -long,” but remembered Elinor’s request in time, and substituted the -other sentence. - -“I don’t think she’s very kind, though,” persisted the other. - -“It is only her manner, Miss Brandt! She does not mean anything by it!” - -“But you are so different,” said the girl as she crept still closer, -“I could see it when you smiled at me at dinner. I knew I should like -you at once. And I want you to like me too--so much! It has been the -dream of my life to have some friends. That is why I would not stay in -Jamaica. I don’t like the people there! I want friends--real friends!” - -“But you must have had plenty of friends of your own age in the -Convent.” - -“That shows you don’t know anything about a convent! It’s the very last -place where they will let you make a friend--they’re afraid lest you -should tell each other too much! The convent I was in was an Ursuline -order, and even the nuns were obliged to walk three and three, never -two, together, lest they should have secrets between them. As for us -girls, we were never left alone for a single minute! There was always -a sister with us, even at night, walking up and down between the rows -of beds, pretending to read her prayers, but with her eyes on us the -whole time and her ears open to catch what we said. I suppose they were -afraid we should talk about lovers. I think girls do talk about them -when they can, more in convents than in other places, though they have -never had any. It would be so dreadful to be like the poor nuns, and -never have a lover to the end of one’s days, wouldn’t it?” - -“You would not fancy being a nun then, Miss Brandt!” - -“_I_--Oh! dear no! I would rather be dead, twenty times over! But they -didn’t like my coming out at all. They did try so hard to persuade -me to remain with them for ever! One of them, Sister Féodore, told -me I must never talk even with gentlemen, if I could avoid it--that -they were all wicked and nothing they said was true, and if I trusted -them, they would only laugh at me afterwards for my pains. But I don’t -believe that, do you?” - -“Certainly not!” replied Margaret warmly. “The sister who told you so -knew nothing about men. My dear husband is more like an angel than a -man, and there are many like him. You mustn’t believe such nonsense, -Miss Brandt! I am sure you never heard your parents say such a silly -thing!” - -“O! my father and mother! I never remember hearing them say anything!” -replied Miss Brandt. She had crept closer and closer to Mrs. Pullen as -she spoke, and now encircled her waist with her arm, and leaned her -head upon her shoulder. It was not a position that Margaret liked, nor -one she would have expected from a woman on so short an acquaintance, -but she did not wish to appear unkind by telling Miss Brandt to move -further away. The poor girl was evidently quite unused to the ways -and customs of Society, she seemed moreover very friendless and -dependent--so Margaret laid her solecism down to ignorance and let her -head rest where she had placed it, resolving inwardly meanwhile that -she would not subject herself to be treated in so familiar a manner -again. - -“Don’t you remember your parents then?” she asked her presently. - -“Hardly! I saw so little of them,” said Miss Brandt, “my father was a -great doctor and scientist, I believe, and I am not quite sure if he -knew that he had a daughter!” - -“O! my dear, what nonsense!” - -“But it is true, Mrs. Pullen! He was always shut up in his laboratory, -and I was not allowed to go near that part of the house. I suppose he -was very clever and all that--but he was too much engaged in making -experiments to take any notice of me, and I am sure I never wanted to -see him!” - -“How very sad! But you had your mother to turn to for consolation and -company, whilst she lived, surely?” - -“O! my mother!” echoed Harriet, carelessly. “Yes! my mother! Well! -I don’t think I knew much more of her either. The ladies in Jamaica -get very lazy, you know, and keep a good deal to their own rooms. The -person there I loved best of all, was old Pete, the overseer!” - -“The overseer!” - -“Of the estate and niggers, you know! We had plenty of niggers on the -coffee plantation, regular African fellows, with woolly heads and -blubber lips, and yellow whites to their eyes. When I was a little -thing of four years old, Pete used to let me whip the little niggers -for a treat, when they had done anything wrong. It used to make me -laugh to see them wriggle their legs under the whip and cry!” - -“O! don’t, Miss Brandt!” exclaimed Margaret Pullen, in a voice of pain. - -“It’s true, but they deserved it, you know, the little wretches, always -thieving or lying or something! I’ve seen a woman whipped to death, -because she wouldn’t work. We think nothing of that sort of thing, -over there. Still--you can’t wonder that I was glad to get out of the -Island. But I loved old Pete, and if he had been alive when I left, -I would have brought him to England with me. He used to carry me for -miles through the jungle on his back,--out in the fresh mornings and -the cool, dewy eves. I had a pony to ride, but I never went anywhere, -without his hand upon my bridle rein. He was always so afraid lest I -should come to any harm. I don’t think anybody else cared. Pete was -the only creature who ever loved me, and when I think of Jamaica, I -remember my old nigger servant as the one friend I had there!” - -“It is very, very sad!” was all that Mrs. Pullen could say. - -She had become fainter and fainter, as the girl leaned against her -with her head upon her breast. Some sensation which she could not -define, nor account for--some feeling which she had never experienced -before--had come over her and made her head reel. She felt as if -something or someone, were drawing all her life away. She tried to -disengage herself from the girl’s clasp, but Harriet Brandt seemed -to come after her, like a coiling snake, till she could stand it no -longer, and faintly exclaiming: - -“Miss Brandt! let go of me, please! I feel ill!” she rose and tried -to make her way between the crowded tables, towards the open air. As -she stumbled along, she came against (to her great relief) her friend, -Elinor Leyton. - -“O! Elinor!” she gasped, “I don’t know what is the matter with me! I -feel so strange, so light-headed! Do take me home!” - -Miss Leyton dragged her through the audience, and made her sit down on -a bench, facing the sea. - -“Why! what’s the matter?” demanded Harriet Brandt, who had made her way -after them, “is Mrs. Pullen ill?” - -“So it appears,” replied Miss Leyton, coldly, “but how it happened, you -should know better than myself! I suppose it is very warm in there!” - -“No! no! I do not think so,” said Margaret, with a bewildered air, “we -had chairs close to the side. And Miss Brandt was telling me of her -life in Jamaica, when such an extraordinary sensation came over me! I -can’t describe it! it was just as if I had been scooped hollow!” - -At this description, Harriet Brandt burst into a loud laugh, but Elinor -frowned her down. - -“It may seem a laughing matter to you, Miss Brandt,” she said, in the -same cold tone, “but it is none to me. Mrs. Pullen is far from strong, -and her health is not to be trifled with. However, I shall not let her -out of my sight again.” - -“Don’t make a fuss about it, Elinor,” pleaded her friend, “it was my -own fault, if anyone’s. I think there must be a thunderstorm in the -air, I have felt so oppressed all the evening. Or is the smell from -the dunes worse than usual? Perhaps I ate something at dinner that -disagreed with me!” - -“I cannot understand it at all,” replied Miss Leyton, “you are not -used to fainting, or being suddenly attacked in any way. However, if -you feel able to walk, let us go back to the Hotel. Miss Brandt will -doubtless find someone to finish the evening with!” - -Harriet was just about to reply that she knew no one but themselves, -and to offer to take Mrs. Pullen’s arm on the other side, when Elinor -Leyton cut her short. - -“No! thank you, Miss Brandt! Mrs. Pullen would, I am sure, prefer to -return to the Hotel alone with me! You can easily join the Vieuxtemps -or any other of the visitors to the Lion d’Or. There is not much -ceremony observed amongst the English at these foreign places. It would -be better perhaps if there were a little more! Come, Margaret, take -my arm, and we will walk as slowly as you like! But I shall not be -comfortable until I see you safe in your own room!” - -So the two ladies moved off together, leaving Harriet Brandt standing -disconsolately on the Digue, watching their departure. Mrs. Pullen had -uttered a faint Good-night to her, but had made no suggestion that -she should walk back with them, and it seemed to the girl as if they -both, in some measure, blamed her for the illness of her companion. -What had she done, she asked herself, as she reviewed what had passed -between them, that could in any way account for Mrs. Pullen’s illness? -She liked her so much--so very much--she had so hoped she was going to -be her friend--she would have done anything and given anything sooner -than put her to inconvenience in any way. As the two ladies moved -slowly out of sight, Harriet turned sadly and walked the other way. She -felt lonely and disappointed. She knew no one to speak to, and there -was a cold empty feeling in her breast, as though, in losing her hold -on Margaret Pullen, she had lost something on which she had depended. -Something of her feeling must have communicated itself to Margaret -Pullen, for after a minute or two she stopped and said, - -“I don’t half like leaving Miss Brandt by herself, Elinor! She is very -young to be wandering about a town by night and alone!” - -“Nonsense!” returned Miss Leyton, shortly, “a young lady who can make -the voyage from Jamaica to Heyst on her own account, knocking about in -London for a week on the way, is surely competent to walk back to the -Hotel without your assistance. I should say that Miss Brandt was a very -independent young woman!” - -“Perhaps, by nature, but she has been shut up in a convent for the best -part of her life, and that is not considered to be a good preparation -for fighting one’s way through the world!” - -“She’ll be able to fight her own battles, never fear!” was Elinor’s -reply. - -Just then they encountered Bobby Bates, who lifted his cap as he -hurried past them. - -“Where are you going so fast, Mr. Bates?” said Elinor Leyton. - -“I am going back to the Hotel to fetch Mamma’s fur boa!” he answered. - -They were passing a lighted lamp at the time, and she noticed that the -lad’s eyes were red, and his features bore traces of distress. - -“Are you ill?” she enquired quickly, “or in any trouble?” - -He halted for a minute in his stride. - -“No! no! not exactly,” he said in a low voice, and then, as if the -words came from him against his will, he went on, “But O! I do wish -someone would speak to Mamma about the way she treats me. It’s -cruel--to strike me with her stick before all those people, as if I -were a baby, and to call me such names! Even the servant William laughs -at me! Do all mothers do the same, Miss Leyton? Ought a man to stand it -quietly?” - -“Decidedly not!” cried Elinor, without hesitation. - -“O! Elinor! remember, she is his mother,” remonstrated Margaret, “don’t -say anything to set him against her!” - -“But I was nineteen last birthday,” continued the lad, “and sometimes -she treats me in such a manner, that I can’t bear it! The Baron dare -not say a word to her! She swears at him so. Sometimes, I think I will -run away and go to sea!” - -“No! no! you mustn’t do that!” called Miss Leyton after him, as he -quickened his footsteps in the direction of the Lion d’Or. - -“What an awful woman!” sighed Mrs. Pullen. “Fancy! striking her own son -in public, and with that thick stick too. I believe he had been crying!” - -“I am _sure_ he had,” replied her friend, “you can see the poor fellow -is half-witted, and very weakly into the bargain. I suppose she has -beaten his brains to a pap. What a terrible misfortune to have such a -mother! You should hear some of the stories Madame Lamont has to tell -of her!” - -“But how does she hear them?” - -“Through the Baron’s servant William, I suppose. He says the Baroness -has often taken her stick to him and the other servants, and thinks no -more of swearing at them than a trooper! They all hate her. One day, -she took up a kitchen cleaver and advanced upon her coachman with it, -but he seized her by both arms and sat her down upon the fire, whence -she was only rescued after being somewhat severely burned!” - -“It served her right!” exclaimed Margaret, laughing at the ludicrous -idea, “but what a picture she must have presented, seated on the -kitchen range! Where can the woman have been raised? What sort of a -person can she be?” - -“Not what she pretends, Margaret, you may be sure of that! All her fine -talk of lords and ladies is so much bunkum. But I pity the poor little -Baron, who is, at all events, inoffensive. How can he put up with such -a wife! He must feel very much ashamed of her sometimes!” - -“And yet he seems devoted to her! He never leaves her side for a -moment. He is her walking stick, her fetcher and carrier, and her -scribe. I don’t believe she can write a letter!” - -“And yet she was talking at the _table d’hôte_ yesterday of the Duke of -This and the Earl of That, and hinting at her having stayed at Osborne -and Windsor. Of course they are falsehoods! She has never seen the -inside of a palace unless it was in the capacity of a char-woman! Have -you observed her hair? It is as coarse as a horse-tail! And her hands! -Bobby informed me the other day that his Mamma took nines in gloves! -She’s not a woman, my dear! She’s a female elephant!” - -Margaret was laughing still, when they reached the steps of the Lion -d’Or. - -“You are very naughty and very scandalous, Elinor,” she said, “but you -have done me a world of good. My unpleasant feelings have quite gone. I -am quite capable of continuing our walk if you would like to do so.” - -“No such thing, Madam,” replied Miss Leyton. “I am responsible for your -well-doing in Arthur’s absence. Upstairs and into bed you go, unless -you would like a cup of coffee and a chasse first. That is the only -indulgence I can grant you.” - -But Mrs. Pullen declined the proffered refreshment, and the two ladies -sought their rooms in company. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - -The next morning dawned upon a perfect August day. The sun streamed -brightly over every part of Heyst, turning the loose dry yellow sand -(from end to end of which not a stone or boulder was to be seen), -into a veritable cloth of gold. The patient asses, carrying their -white-covered saddles, and tied to stakes, were waiting in a row for -hire, whilst some dozen Rosinantes, called by courtesy, horses, were -also of the company. The sands were already strewn with children, their -short petticoats crammed into a pair of bathing-drawers, and their -heads protected by linen hats or bonnets, digging away at the dry sand -as if their lives depended on their efforts. The bathing-machines, -painted in gay stripes of green, red, blue, or orange, were hauled -down, ready for action, and the wooden tents, which can be hired for -the season at any foreign watering place, were being swept out and -arranged for the day’s use. - -Some of the more pretentious ones, belonging to private families, -were surmounted by a gilt coronet, the proud possession of the Comte -Darblaye, or the Herr Baron Grumplestein--sported flags moreover of -France or Germany, and were screened from the eyes of the vulgar, by -lace or muslin curtains, tied up with blue ribbons. On the balcony of -the Lion d’Or, where the visitors always took their breakfast, were -arranged tables, piled with dishes of crevettes, fresh from the sea, -pistolets, and beautiful butter as white and tasteless as cream. It -was a delight to breakfast on the open balcony, with the sea breeze -blowing in one’s face, and in the intervals of eating prawns and bread -and butter, or perusing the morning papers, to watch the cheerful scene -below. - -The Baroness was there, early of course. She, and her husband, and the -ill-used Bobby, occupied a table to themselves, whence she addressed -her remarks to whomever she chose, whether they wished to listen, or -not, and the Baron shelled her crevettes and buttered her pistolets -for her. Margaret and Elinor were rather later than usual, for Mrs. -Pullen had not passed a good night, and Miss Leyton would not have her -disturbed. - -Harriet Brandt was there as they appeared, and beside her, a pale, -unhealthy-looking young woman, whom she introduced as her friend, and -travelling companion, Olga Brimont. - -“Olga did not wish to come down. She thought she would lie another day -in bed, but I made her get up and dress, and I was right, wasn’t I, -Mrs. Pullen?” - -“I think the fresh air will do Mademoiselle Brimont more good than the -close bedroom, if she is strong enough to stand it!” replied Margaret, -with a smile. “I am afraid you are still feeling weak,” she continued, -to the new-comer. - -“I feel better than I did on board the steamer, or in London,” said -Mademoiselle Brimont. She was an under-sized girl with plain features, -and did not shew off to advantage beside her travelling companion. - -“Did you suffer so much from sea-sickness? I can sympathise with you, -as I am a very bad sailor myself!” - -“O! no! Madame, it was not the _mal de mer_. I can hardly tell you -what it was. Miss Brandt and I occupied a small cabin together, and -perhaps, it was because it was so small, but I did not feel as if I -could breathe there--such a terrible oppression as though some one -were sitting on my chest--and such a general feeling of emptiness. It -was the same in London, though Miss Brandt did all she could for me, -indeed she sat up with me all night, till I feared she would be ill -herself--but I feel better now! Last night I slept for the first time -since leaving Jamaica!” - -“That is right! You will soon get well in this lovely air!” - -They all sat down at the same table, and commenced to discuss their -rolls and coffee. Margaret Pullen, glancing up once, was struck by -the look with which Harriet Brandt was regarding her--it was so full -of yearning affection--almost of longing to approach her nearer, to -hear her speak, to touch her hand! It amused her to observe it! She -had heard of cases, in which young unsophisticated girls had taken -unaccountable affections for members of their own sex, and trusted -she was not going to form the subject for some such experience on -Miss Brandt’s part. The idea made her address her conversation more to -Mademoiselle Brimont, than to her companion of the evening before. - -“I suppose you and Miss Brandt were great friends in the Convent,” she -said. - -“O! no, Madame, we hardly ever saw each other whilst there, except in -chapel. There is so much difference in our ages, I am only seventeen, -and was in the lower school, whilst Miss Brandt did hardly any lessons -during the two last years she spent there. But I was very glad to have -her company across to England. My brother would have sent for me last -year, if he could have heard of a lady to travel with me!” - -“Are you going on to join your brother soon?” - -“He says he will fetch me, Madame, as soon as he can be spared from his -business. He is my only relation. My parents died, like Miss Brandt’s, -in the West Indies.” - -“Well! you must be sure and get your looks back before he arrives!” -said Margaret, kindly. - -The head waiter now appeared with the letters from England, amongst -which was one for Miss Leyton in a firm, manly handwriting, with a -regimental crest in blue and gold upon the envelope. Her face did not -change in the least as she broke the seal, although it came from her -_fiancé_, Captain Ralph Pullen. Elinor Leyton’s was an exceptionally -cold face, and it matched her disposition. She had attractive -features;--a delicate nose, carved as if in ivory--brown eyes, a fair -rose-tinted complexion, and a small mouth with thin, firmly closed -lips. Her hair was bronze-coloured, and it was always dressed to -perfection. She had a good figure too, with small hands and feet--and -she was robed in excellent taste. She was pre-eminently a woman for -a man to be proud of as the mistress of his house, and the head of -his table. She might be trusted never to say or do an unladylike -thing--before all, she was cognisant of the obligations which devolved -upon her as the daughter of Lord Walthamstowe and a member of the -British aristocracy. But in disposition she was undoubtedly cold, -and her _fiancé_ had already begun to find it out. Their engagement -had come about neither of them quite knew how, but he liked the idea -of being connected with an aristocratic family, and she was proud of -having won a man, for whom many caps had been pulled in vain. He was -considered to be one of the handsomest men of his generation, and she -was what people called an unexceptional match for him. She was fond of -him in her way, but her way was a strange one. She called the attitude -she assumed towards him, a proper and ladylike reserve, but impartial -spectators, with stronger feelings, would have deemed it indifference. - -However, like the proverbial dog in the manger, whether she valued -her rights in Captain Pullen or not, Miss Leyton had no intention of -permitting them to be interfered with. She would have died sooner than -admit that he was necessary to her happiness,--at the same time she -considered it due to her dignity as a woman, never to give in to his -wishes, when they opposed her own, and often when they did not. - -She displayed no particular enthusiasm when they met, nor distress when -they parted--neither was she ever troubled by any qualms lest during -their frequent separations, he should meet some woman whom he might -perchance prefer to herself. They were engaged, and when the proper -time came they would marry--meanwhile their private affairs concerned -no one but themselves. In short, Elinor Leyton was not what is termed -“a man’s woman”--all her friends (if she had any) were of her own sex. - -Having perused her letter, she refolded and replaced it in its envelope -without a glance in the direction of Mrs. Pullen. Margaret thought she -had a right to be informed of her brother-in-law’s movements. She had -invited Miss Leyton to accompany her to Heyst at his request, and any -preparations which might be requisite before he joined them, would have -to be made by herself. - -“Is that from Ralph? What does he say?” she enquired in a low voice. - -“Nothing in particular!” - -“But when may we expect him at Heyst?” - -“Next week, he says, in time for the _Bataille des Fleurs_!” - -“Are you not pleased?” - -“Of course I am!” replied Elinor, but without a sparkle or blush. - -“O! if it were only my Arthur that were coming!” exclaimed Margaret, -fervently, “I should go mad with joy!” - -“Then it is just as well perhaps that it is _not_ your Arthur!” -rejoined her companion, as she put the letter into her pocket. - -“Now, Bobby,” announced the strident tones of the Baroness Gobelli from -the other side of the balcony, “leave off picking the shrimps! You’ve -’ad more than enough! Ain’t bread and butter good enough for you? -What’ll you want next?” - -“But, Mamma,” pleaded the youth, “I’ve only had a few! I’ve been -shelling Papa’s all this time!” - -“Put ’em down at once, I say!” reiterated the Baroness, “’ere William, -take Bobby’s plate away! He’s ’ad plenty for this morning!” - -“But I haven’t begun yet. I’m hungry!” remonstrated Bobby. - -“Take ’is plate away!” roared the Baroness. “’Ang it all! Can’t you -’ear what I say?” - -“Mein tear! mein tear!” ejaculated the Herr Baron in a subdued voice. - -“Leave me alone, Gustave! Do you suppose I can’t manage my own son? He -ain’t yours! ’E’d make ’imself ill if I didn’t look after him. Take ’is -plate away, at once!” - -The man-servant William lifted the plate of peeled shrimps and bread -and butter from the table, whilst Bobby with a very red face rose from -his seat and rushed down the steps to the beach. - -“He! he! he!” cackled the Baroness, “that’ll teach ’im not to fiddle -with ’is food another time! Bobby don’t care for an empty belly!” - -“What a shame!” murmured Margaret, who was nothing if she was not a -mother, “now the poor boy will go without his breakfast.” - -Presently, William was to be seen sneaking past the Hotel with a parcel -in his hands. The Baroness pounced upon him like a cat upon a mouse. - -“William!” she cried from the balcony, “what ’ave you got in your -’and?” - -“Summat of my own, my lady!” - -“Bring it ’ere!” - -The man mounted the steps and stood before his mistress. He held a -parcel in his hands, wrapped up in a table napkin. - -“Open that parcel!” said the Baroness. - -“Indeed, my lady, it’s only the shrimps as Master Robert left behind -him and I thought they would make me a little relish on the sands, my -lady!” - -“Open that parcel!” - -William obeyed, and disclosed the rolls and butter and peeled shrimps -just as Bobby had left them. - -“You were going to take ’em down to Bobby on the beach!” - -“No, indeed, my lady!” - -“Confound you, Sir, don’t you lie to me!” exclaimed the Baroness, -shaking her stick in his face, “I’ve ways and means of finding out -things that you know nothing of! Throw that stuff into the road!” - -“But, my lady----” - -“Throw it into the road at once, or you may take your month’s warning! -’Ang it all! are you the mistress, or am I?” - -The servant threw a glance of enquiry in the direction of the Herr -Baron but the Herr Baron kept his face well down in his plate, so after -a pause, he walked to the side, and shook the contents of the napkin -upon the Digue. - -“And now don’t you try any more of your tricks upon me or I’ll thrash -you till your own mother won’t know you! You leave Bobby alone for the -future, or it’ll be the worst day’s work you ever did! Remember that!” - -“Very good, my lady!” replied William, but as he left the balcony he -gave a look at the other occupants, which well conveyed his feelings on -the subject. - -“I should not be surprised to hear that that woman had been murdered by -her servants some day!” said Margaret to Elinor Leyton. - -“No! and I should not be sorry! I feel rather like murdering her -myself. But let us go down to the sands, Margaret, and try to find the -disconsolate Bobby! I’m not afraid of his mother if William is, and if -he wants something to eat, I shall give it him!” - -They fetched their hats and parasols, and having left the Hotel by a -side entrance, found their way down to the sands. It was a pretty sight -there, and in some cases, a comical one. The bathing-machines were -placed some sixty or more feet from the water, according to the tide, -and their occupants, clad in bathing-costumes, had to run the gauntlet -of all the eyes upon the beach, as they traversed that distance in -order to reach the sea. To some visitors, especially the English ones, -this ordeal was rather trying. To watch them open a crevice of the -machine door, and regard the expectant crowd with horror;--then after -some hesitation, goaded on by the cries of the bathing women that -the time was passing, to see them emerge with reluctant feet, sadly -conscious of their unclothed condition, and of the unsightly corns and -bunions which disfigured their feet--to say nothing of the red and -blue tint which their skin had suddenly assumed--was to find it almost -impossible to refrain from laughter. The very skinny and knuckle-kneed -ones; the very fat and bulging ones; the little fair men who looked -like Bobby’s peeled shrimps, and the muscular black and hairy ones -who looked like bears escaped from a menagerie,--these types and many -others, our ladies could not help being amused at, though they told -each other it was very improper all the time. But everybody had to -pass through the same ordeal and everybody submitted to it, and tried -to laugh off their own humiliation by ridiculing the appearance of -their neighbours. Margaret and Elinor were never tired of watching the -antics of the Belgians and Germans whilst they were (what they called) -bathing. The fuss they made over entering two feet of water--the way -in which they gasped and puffed as they caught it up in their hands -and rubbed their backs and chests with it--the reluctance with which -the ladies were dragged by their masculine partners into the briny, -as if they expected to be overwhelmed and drowned by the tiny waves -which rippled over their toes, and made them catch their breath. And -lastly, when they were convinced there was no danger, to see them, men -and women, fat and thin, take hands and dance round in a ring as if -they were playing at “Mulberry Bush” was too delightful. But if one -bather, generally an Englishman, more daring than his fellows, went in -for a good swim, the coast-guardsmen ran along the breakwater, shouting -“Gare, gare!” until he came out again. - -“They are funnier than ever to-day,” remarked Margaret, after a while, -“I wonder what they will say when they see Ralph swimming out next -week. They will be frightened to death. All the Pullens are wonderful -swimmers. I have seen Anthony Pennell perform feats in the water that -made my blood run cold! And Ralph is famous for his diving!” - -The topic did not appear to interest Elinor. She reverted to the -subject of Anthony. - -“Is that the literary man--the cousin?” - -“Yes! Have you not met him?” - -“Never!” - -“I am sure you would like him! He is such a fine fellow! Not such a -‘beauty man’ as Ralph, perhaps, but quite as tall and stalwart! His -last book was a tremendous success!” - -“Ralph has never mentioned him to me, though I knew he had a cousin of -that name!” - -“Well!--if you won’t be offended at my saying so--Ralph has always been -a little jealous of Anthony, at least so Arthur says. He outstripped -him at school and college, and the feeling had its foundation there. -And anyone might be jealous of him now! He has shewn himself to be a -genius!” - -“I don’t like geniuses as a rule,” replied Elinor, “they are so -conceited. I believe that is Bobby Bates sitting out there on the -breakwater! I will go and see if he is still hungry!” - -“Give the poor boy a couple of francs to get himself a breakfast in -one of the restaurants,” said Margaret, “he will enjoy having a little -secret from his terrible Mamma!” - -She had not been alone long before the nurse came up to her, with the -perambulator, piled up with toys, but no baby. Margaret’s fears were -excited at once. - -“Nurse! nurse, what is the matter? Where is the baby?” she exclaimed in -tones of alarm. - -“Nothing’s the matter, Ma’am! pray don’t frighten yourself!” replied -the servant, “it’s only that the young ladies have got baby, and -they’ve bought her all these toys, and sent me on to tell you that they -would be here directly!” - -The perambulator was filled with expensive playthings useless for an -infant of six months’ old. Dolls, woolly sheep, fur cats, and gaily -coloured balls with a huge box of chocolates and caramels, were piled -one on the top of the other. But Mrs. Pullen’s face expressed nothing -but annoyance. - -“You had no right to let them take her, Nurse--you had no right to let -the child out of your sight! Go back at once and bring her here to me! -I am exceedingly annoyed about it!” - -“Here are the young ladies, Ma’am, and you had better lay your orders -on them, yourself, for they wouldn’t mind me,” said the nurse, somewhat -sullenly. - -In another minute Harriet Brandt, and Olga Brimont had reached her -side, the former panting under the weight of the heavy infant, but with -her face scarlet with the excitement of having captured her. - -“O! Miss Brandt!” cried Margaret, “you have given me such a fright! You -must never take baby away from her nurse again, please! As I told you -last night, she is afraid of strangers, and generally cries when they -try to take her! Come to me, my little one!” she continued, holding out -her arms to the child, “come to mother and tell her all about it!” - -But the baby seemed to take no notice of the fond appeal. It had -its big eyes fixed upon Miss Brandt’s face with a half-awed, -half-interested expression. - -“O! no! don’t take her away!” said Harriet, eagerly, “she is so good -with me! I assure you she is not frightened in the least bit, are you, -my little love?” she added, addressing the infant. “And nurse tells me -her name is Ethel, so I have ordered them to make her a little gold -bangle with ‘Ethel’ on it, and she must wear it for my sake, darling -little creature!” - -“But, Miss Brandt, you must not buy such expensive things for her, -indeed. She is too young to appreciate them, besides I do not like you -to spend so much money on her!” - -“But why shouldn’t I? What am I to do with my money, if I may not spend -it on others?” - -“But, such a quantity of toys! Surely, you have not bought all these -for my baby!” - -“Of course I have! I would have bought the whole shop if it would have -pleased her! She likes the colours! Little darling! look how earnestly -she gazes at me with her lovely grey eyes, as if she knew what a little -beauty I think her! O! you pretty dear! you sweet pink and white baby!” - -Mrs. Pullen felt somewhat annoyed as she saw the dolls and furry -animals which were strewn upon the sands, at the same time she was -flattered by the admiration exhibited of her little daughter, and the -endearments lavished upon her. She considered them all well deserved -(as what mother would not?)--and it struck her that Harriet Brandt must -be a kindhearted, as well as a generous girl to spend so much money on -a stranger’s child. - -“She certainly does seem wonderfully good with you,” she observed -presently, “I never knew her so quiet with anybody but her nurse or -me, before. Isn’t it marvellous, Nurse?” - -“It is, Ma’am! Baby do seem to take surprisingly to the young lady! -And perhaps I might go into the town, as she is so quiet, and get the -darning-wool for your stockings!” - -“O! no! no! We must not let Miss Brandt get tired of holding her. She -is too heavy to be nursed for long!” - -“Indeed, indeed she is not!” cried Harriet, “do let me keep her, Mrs. -Pullen, whilst nurse goes on her errand. It is the greatest pleasure to -me to hold her. I should like never to give her up again!” - -Margaret smiled. - -“Very well, Nurse, since Miss Brandt is so kind, you can go!” - -As the servant disappeared, she said to Harriet, - -“Mind! you give her to me directly she makes your arm ache! I am more -used to the little torment than you are.” - -“How can you call her by such a name, even in fun? What would I not -give to have a baby of my very own to do what I liked with? I would -never part with it, night nor day, I would teach it to love me so much, -that it should never be happy out of my sight!” - -“But that would be cruel, my dear! Your baby might have to part with -you, as you have had to part with your mother!” - -At the mention of her mother, something came into Miss Brandt’s eyes, -which Margaret could not define. It was not anger, nor sorrow, nor -remorse. It was a kind of sullen contempt. It was something that made -Mrs. Pullen resolve not to allude to the subject again. The incident -made her examine Harriet’s eyes more closely than she had done before. -They were beautiful in shape and colour, but they did not look like -the eyes of a young girl. They were deeply, impenetrably black--with -large pellucid pupils, but there was no sparkle nor brightness in them, -though they were underlaid by smouldering fires which might burst forth -into flame at any moment, and which seemed to stir and kindle and then -go out again, when she spoke of anything that interested her. There was -an attraction about the girl, which Mrs. Pullen acknowledged, without -wishing to give in to. She could not keep her eyes off her! She seemed -to hypnotise her as the snake is said to hypnotise the bird, but it was -an unpleasant feeling, as if the next moment the smouldering fire would -burst forth into flame and overwhelm her. But watching her play with, -and hearing her talk to, her baby, Margaret put the idea away from -her, and only thought how kindly natured she must be, to take so much -trouble for another woman’s child. It was not long before Miss Leyton -found her way back to them, and as her glance fell upon Harriet Brandt -and the baby, she elevated her eyebrows. - -“Where is the nurse?” she demanded curtly. - -“She has gone to the shops to see if she can get some darning-wool, -and Miss Brandt was kind enough to offer to keep baby for her till she -returns. And O! Elinor, look what beautiful toys Miss Brandt has bought -her! Isn’t she too kind?” - -“Altogether too kind!” responded Elinor. “By the way, Margaret, I found -our friend and transacted the little business we spoke of! But he says -his Mamma has ordered him to remain here, till she comes down to see -him bathe, and dry him, I suppose, with her own hands! And do I not -descry her fairy feet indenting the sands at this very moment, and -bearing down in our direction?” - -“You could hardly mistake her for anything else!” replied Mrs. Pullen. - -In another minute the Baroness was upon them. - -“Hullo,” she called out, “you’re just in time to see Gustave bathe! -He looks lovely in his bathing costume! His legs are as white as your -baby’s, Mrs. Pullen, and twice as well worth looking at!” - -“Mein tear! mein tear!” remonstrated the Baron. - -“Don’t be a fool, Gustave! You know it’s the truth! And the loveliest -feet, Miss Leyton! Smaller than yours, I bet. Where’s that devil, -Bobby? I’m going to give ’im a dousing for his villainy this morning, I -can tell you! Once I get ’is ’ead under water, it won’t come up again -in a hurry! I expect ’e’s pretty ’ungry by this time! But ’e don’t -get a centime out of me for cakes to-day. I’ll teach ’im not to stuff -’imself like a pig again. Come, Gustave! ’ere’s a machine for you! Get -me a chair that I may sit outside it! Now, we’ll ’ave some fun,” she -added, with a wink at Mrs. Pullen. - -“Let us move on to the breakwater!” said Margaret to Elinor Leyton, and -the whole party got up and walked some little distance off. - -“Ah! you don’t hoodwink me!” screamed the Baroness after them. “You’ve -got glasses with you, and you’re going to ’ave a good squint at -Gustave’s legs through ’em, I know! You’d better ’ave stayed ’ere, like -honest women, and said you enjoyed the sight!” - -“O! Margaret!” said Miss Leyton, with a look of horror, “if it had -not been for the _Bataille de Fleurs_ and ... the other thing ... I -should have said, for goodness’ sake, let us move on to Ostende or -Blankenburghe, with the least possible delay. That woman will be the -death of me yet! I’m sure she will!” - -Notwithstanding which, they could not help laughing in concert, a -little later on, to see the unwilling Bobby dragged down by William to -bathe, and as he emerged from his machine, helpless and half naked, to -watch his elephantine mother chase him with her stout stick in hand, -and failing to catch him in time, slip on the wet sand and flounder in -the waves herself, from which plight, it looked very much as though her -servant instead of rescuing her, did his best to push her further in, -before he dragged her, drenched and disordered, on dry land again. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - -The Baroness Gobelli’s temperament was as inconsistent as her dress. -Under the garb of jocose good-humour, which often degenerated to -horse-play, she concealed a jealous and vindictive disposition, which -would go any lengths, when offended, to revenge itself. She was wont -to say that she never forgot, nor forgave an injury, and that when she -had her knife (as she termed it) in a man, she knew how to bide her -time, but that when the time came, she turned it. These bloodthirsty -sentiments, coupled with an asseveration which was constantly on her -lips, that when she willed the death of anyone, he died, and that she -had powers at her command of which no one was aware but herself, -frightened many timid and ignorant people into trying to propitiate so -apparently potent a mortal, and generally kow-towing before her. To -such votaries, so long as they pleased her, Madame Gobelli was used -to shew her favour by various gifts of dresses, jewelry, or money, -according to their circumstances, for in some cases she was lavishly -generous, but she soon tired of her acquaintances and replaced them by -fresh favourites. - -The hints that she gave forth, regarding herself and her antecedents, -were too extraordinary to gain credence except from the most ignorant -of her auditors, but the Baroness always spoke in parables, and left -no proof of what she meant, to be brought up against her. This proved -that if she were clever, she was still more cunning. The hints she -occasionally gave of being descended from Royal blood, though on the -wrong side of the blanket, and of the connection being acknowledged -privately, if not publicly, by the existing members of the reigning -family, were received with open mouths by people of her own class, -but rejected with scorn by such as were acquainted with those whom -she affected to know. It was remarkable also, and only another proof -that, whatever her real birth and antecedents, the Baroness Gobelli -was unique, that, notwithstanding her desire to be considered noble -by birth if not by law, she never shirked the fact that the Baron was -in trade--on the contrary she rather made a boast of it, and used to -relate stories bringing it into ridicule with the greatest gusto. The -fact being that Baron Gobelli was the head of a large firm of export -bootmakers, trading in London under the name of Fantaisie et Cie, -the boots and shoes of which, though professedly French, were all -manufactured in Germany, where the firm maintained an enormous factory. -The Baroness could seldom be in the company of anyone for more than -five minutes without asking them where they bought their boots and -shoes, and recommending them to Fantaisie et Cie as the best makers -in London. She wanted to be first in everything--in popularity, in -notice, and in conversation--if she could not attract attention by her -personality, she startled people by her vulgarity--if she could not -reign supreme by reason of her supposed birth, she would do so by boots -and shoes, if nothing else--and if anybody slighted her or appeared to -discredit her statements, he or she was immediately marked down for -retaliation. - -Harriet Brandt had not been many days in Heyst before the Baroness had -become jealous of the attention which she paid Mrs. Pullen and her -child. She saw that the girl was attractive, she heard that she was -rich, and she liked to have pretty and pleasant young people about her -when at home--they drew men to the house and reflected a sort of credit -upon herself--and she determined to get Harriet away from Margaret -Pullen and chain her to her own side instead. The Baroness hated Miss -Leyton quite as much as Elinor hated her. She was quick of hearing -and very intuitive--she had caught more than one of the young lady’s -uncomplimentary remarks upon herself, and had divined still more than -she had heard. She had observed her sympathy with Bobby also, and that -she encouraged him in his boyish rebellion. For all these reasons, she -“had her knife” into Miss Leyton, and was waiting her opportunity to -turn it. And she foresaw--with the assistance perhaps of the Powers of -Darkness, of whose acquaintance she was so proud--that she would be -enabled to take her revenge on Elinor Leyton through Harriet Brandt. - -But her first advances to the latter were suavity itself. She was not -going to frighten the girl by shewing her claws, until she had stroked -her down the right way with her _pattes de velours_. - -She came upon her one morning, as she sat upon the sands, with little -Ethel in her arms. The nurse was within speaking distance, busy with -her needlework, and the infant seemed so quiet with Miss Brandt and she -took such evident pleasure in nursing it, that Mrs. Pullen no longer -minded leaving them together, and had gone for a stroll with Miss -Leyton along the Digue. So the Baroness found Harriet, comparatively -speaking, alone. - -“So you’re playing at nursemaid again!” she commenced in her abrupt -manner. “You seem to have taken a wonderful fancy to that child!” - -“She is such a good little creature,” replied Harriet, “she is no -trouble whatever. She sleeps half the day!” - -Miss Brandt had a large box of chocolates beside her, into which she -continually dipped her hand. Her mouth, too, was stained with the -delicate sweetmeat--she was always eating, either fruit or bonbons. She -handed the box now, with a timid air, to the Baroness. - -“Do you care for chocolate, Madame?” she asked. - -The Baroness did not like to be called “Madame” according to the French -fashion. She thought it derogated from her dignity. She wished everyone -to address her as “my lady,” and considered she was cheated out of her -rights when it was omitted. But she liked chocolate almost as well as -Harriet did. - -“Thank you! I’ll ’ave a few!” she said, grabbing about a dozen in -her huge hand at the first venture. “What a liking for candies the -Amurricans seem to ’ave introduced into England! I can remember the -time when you never saw such a thing as sweets in the palace--I -don’t think they were allowed--and now they’re all over the place. I -shouldn’t wonder if Her Majesty hasn’t a box or two in her private -apartments, and as for the Princesses, well!--” - -“The Palace!--Her Majesty!”--echoed Miss Brandt, opening her dark eyes -very wide. - -“As I tell ’em,” continued the Baroness, “they won’t ’ave a tooth left -amongst the lot of ’em soon! What are you staring at?” - -“But--but--do you go to the Queen’s palace?” demanded Harriet, -incredulously, as well she might. - -“Not unless I’m sent for, you may take your oath! I ain’t fond enough -of ’em for all that; besides, Windsor’s ’orribly damp and don’t suit me -at all. But you mustn’t go and repeat what I tell you, in the Hotel. It -might give offence in high places if I was known to talk of it. You see -there’s some of ’em has never seen me since I married the Baron! Being -in trade, they thought ’e wasn’t good enough for me! I’ve ’eard that -when Lady Morton--the dowager Countess, you know--was asked if she ’ad -seen me lately, she called out loud enough for the whole room to ’ear, -‘Do you mean the woman that married the boot man? No! I ’aven’t seen -’er, and I don’t mean to either!’ Ha! ha! ha! But I can afford to laugh -at all that, my dear!” - -“But--I don’t quite understand!” said Harriet Brandt, with a bewildered -look. - -“Why! the Baron deals in shoe-leather! ’Aven’t you ’eard it? I suppose -we’ve got the largest manufactory in Germany! Covers four acres of -ground, I give you my word!” - -“Shoe-leather!” again ejaculated Harriet Brandt, not knowing what to -say. - -“Why, yes! of course all the aristocracy go in for trade now-a-days! -It’s the fashion! There’s the Viscountess Gormsby keeps a bonnet-shop, -and Lord Charles Snowe ’as a bakery, and Lady Harrison ’as an old -curiosity-shop, and stands about it, dusting tables and chairs, all -day! But how can you know anything about it, just coming from the West -Indies, and all those ’orrid blacks! Ain’t you glad to find yourself -amongst Christians again?” - -“This is the first time I ever left Jamaica,” said Miss Brandt, “I was -born there.” - -“But you won’t die there, or I’m much mistaken! You’re too good to be -wasted on Jamaica! When are you going back to England?” - -“Oh! I don’t know! I’ve hardly thought about it yet! Not while Mrs. -Pullen stays here, though!” - -“Why! you’re not tied to ’er apron-string, surely! What’s she to you?” - -“She is very kind, and I have no friends!” replied Miss Brandt. - -The Baroness burst into a coarse laugh. - -“You won’t want for friends, once you shew your face in England, I -can tell you. I’d like to ’ave you at our ’ouse, the Red ’Ouse, we -call it. Princess--but there, I mustn’t tell you ’er name or it’ll go -through the Hotel, and she says things to me that she never means to -go further--but she said the other day that she preferred the Red ’Ouse -to Windsor! And for comfort, and cheerfulness, so she may!” - -“I suppose it is very beautiful then!” observed Harriet. - -“You must judge for yourself,” replied the Baroness, with a broad -smile, “when you come to London. You’ll be your own mistress there, I -suppose, and not so tied as you are here! I call it a shame to keep you -dancing attendance on that brat, when there’s a nurse whose business it -is to look after ’er!” - -“O! but indeed it is my own wish!” said the girl, as she cuddled the -sleeping baby to her bosom, and laid her lips in a long kiss upon -its little mouth. “I asked leave to nurse her! She loves me and even -Nurse cannot get her off to sleep as I can! And it is so beautiful to -have something to love you, Madame Gobelli! In the Convent I felt so -cold--so lonely! If ever I took a liking to a girl, we were placed in -separate rooms! It is what I have longed for--to come out into the -world and find someone to be a friend, and to love me, only me, and all -for myself!” - -Madame Gobelli laughed again. - -“Well! you’ve only got to shew those eyes of yours, to get plenty of -people to love you, and let you love them in return--that is, if the -men count in your estimation of what’s beautiful!” - -Harriet raised her eyes and looked at the woman who addressed her! - -There was the innocence of Ignorance in them as yet, but the slumbering -fire in their depths proved of what her nature would be capable, when -it was given the opportunity to shew itself. Hers was a passionate -temperament, yearning to express itself--panting for the love which it -had never known--and ready to burst forth like a tree into blossom, -directly the sun of Desire and Reciprocity shone upon it. The elder -woman, who had not been without her little experiences in her day, -recognised the feeling at once, and thought that she would not give a -fig for the virtue of any man who was subjected to its influence. - -“I don’t think that you’ll confine your attentions to babies long!” -quoth the Baroness, as she encountered that glance. - -“How do you know?” said her young companion. - -“Ah! it’s enough that I _do_ know, my dear! I ’ave ways and means of -knowing things that I keep to myself! I ’ave friends about me too, who -can tell me everything--who can ’elp me, if I choose, to give Life and -Fortune to one person, and Trouble and Death to another--and woe to -them that offend me, that’s all!” - -But if the Baroness expected to impress Miss Brandt with her hints of -terror, she was mistaken. Harriet did not seem in the least astonished. -She had been brought up by old Pete and the servants on her father’s -plantation to believe in witches, and the evil eye, and “Obeah” and the -whole cult of Devil worship. - -“I know all about that,” she remarked presently, “but you can’t do me -either good or harm. I want nothing from you and I never shall!” - -“Don’t you be too sure of that!” replied Madame Gobelli, nodding her -head. “I’ve brought young women more luck than enough with their lovers -before now--yes! and married women into the bargain! If it ’adn’t been -for me, Lady--there! it nearly slipped out, didn’t it?--but there’s a -certain Countess who would never ’ave been a widow and married for the -second time to the man of ’er ’eart, if I ’adn’t ’elped ’er, and she -knows it too! By the way, ’ow do you like Miss Leyton?” - -“Not at all,” replied Harriet, quickly, “she is not a bit like Mrs. -Pullen--so cold and stiff and disagreeable! She hardly ever speaks to -me! Is it true that she’s the daughter of a lord, as Madame Lamont -says, and is it that makes her so proud?” - -“She’s the daughter of Lord Walthamstowe, but that’s nothing. They’ve -got no money. ’Er people live down in the country, quite in a beggarly -manner. A gal with a fortune of ’er own, would rank ’eads and ’eads -above ’er in Society. There’s not much thought of beside money, -nowadays, I can tell you!” - -“Why does she stay with Mrs. Pullen then? Are they any relation to each -other?” demanded Harriet. - -“Relation, no! I expect she’s just brought ’er ’ere out of charity, and -because she couldn’t afford to go to the seaside by ’erself!” - -She had been about to announce the projected relationship between -the two ladies, when a sudden thought struck her. Captain Ralph -Pullen was expected to arrive in Heyst in a few days--thus much she -had ascertained through the landlady of the Lion d’Or. She knew by -repute that he was considered to be one of the handsomest and most -conceited men in the Limerick Rangers, a corps which was noted for its -good-looking officers. It might be better for the furtherance of her -plans against the peace of Miss Leyton’s mind, she thought, to keep her -engagement to Captain Pullen a secret--at all events, no one could say -it was her business to make it public. She looked in Harriet Brandt’s -yearning, passionate eyes, and decided that it would be strange if -any impressionable young man could be thrown within their influence, -without having his fidelity a little shaken, especially if affianced to -such a cold, uninteresting “bit of goods” as Elinor Leyton. Like the -parrot in the story, though she said nothing, she “thought a deal” and -inwardly rumbled with half-suppressed laughter, as she pictured the -discomfiture of the latter young lady, if by any chance she should find -her _fiancé’s_ attentions transferred from herself to the little West -Indian. - -“You seem amused, Madame!” said Harriet presently. - -“I was thinking of you, and all the young men who are doomed to be -slaughtered by those eyes of yours,” said the Baroness. “You’d make -mischief enough amongst _my_ friends, I bet, if I ’ad you at the Red -’Ouse!” - -Harriet felt flattered and consciously pleased. She had never received -a compliment in the Convent--no one had ever hinted that she was -pretty, and she had had no opportunity of hearing it since. - -“Do you think I am handsome then?” she enquired with a heightened -colour. - -“I think you’re a deal worse! I think you’re dangerous!” replied her -new friend, “and I wouldn’t trust you with the Baron any further than I -could see you!” - -“O! how can you say so?” exclaimed the girl, though she was pleased all -the same to hear it said. - -“I wouldn’t, and that’s the truth! Gustave’s an awful fellow after the -gals. I ’ave to keep a tight ’old on ’im, I can tell you, and the more -you keep out of ’is way, the better I shall be pleased! You’ll make a -grand match some day, if you’re only sharp and keep your eyes open.” - -“What do you call a grand match?” asked Harriet, as she let the nurse -take the sleeping child from her arms without remonstrance. - -“Why! a Lord or an Honourable at the very least! since you ’ave -money of your own. It’s money they’re all after in these times, you -know--why! we ’ave dooks and markisses marrying all sorts of gals from -Amurrica--gals whose fathers made their money in oil, or medicine, -or electricity, or any other dodge, so long as they made it! And why -shouldn’t you do the same as the Amurrican gals? You have money, I -know--and a goodish lot, I fancy--” added the Baroness, with her -cunning eyes fixed upon the girl as if to read her thoughts. - -“O! yes!” replied Harriet, “Mr. Trawler, my trustee, said it was too -much for a young woman to have under her own control, but I don’t know -anything about the value of money, never having had it to spend before. -I am to have fifteen hundred pounds every year. Is that a good deal?” - -“Quite enough to settle you in life, my dear!” exclaimed the Baroness, -who immediately thought what a good thing it would be if Miss Brandt -could be persuaded to sink her capital in the boot trade, “and all -under your own control too! You are a lucky young woman! I know -’alf-a-dozen lords,--not to say Princes--who would jump at you!” - -“Princes!” cried Harriet, unable to believe her ears. - -“Certainly! Not English ones of course, but German, which are quite -as good after all, for a Prince is a Prince any day! There’s Prince -Adalbert of Waxsquiemer, and Prince Harold of Muddlesheim, and Prince -Loris of Taxelmein, and ever so many more, and they’re in and out of -the Red ’Ouse, twenty times a day! But don’t you be in an ’urry! Don’t -take the first that offers, Miss Brandt! Pick and choose! Flirt with -whom you like and ’ave your fun, but wait and look about you a bit -before you decide!” - -The prospect was too dazzling! Harriet Brandt’s magnificent eyes -were opened to their widest extent--her cheeks flushed with -expectation--both life and light had flashed into her countenance. Her -soul was expanding, her nature was awakening--it shone through every -feature--the Baroness had had no idea she was so beautiful! And the -hungry, yearning look was more accentuated than before--it seemed as if -she were on the alert, watching for something, like a panther awaiting -the advent of its prey. It was a look that women would have shrunk -from, and men welcomed and eagerly responded to. - -“I should like to go and see you when I go to England--very much!” she -articulated slowly. - -“And so you shall, my dear! The Baron and me will be very glad to ’ave -you on a visit. And you mustn’t let that capital of yours lie idle, -you know! If it’s in your own ’ands, you must make it yield double to -what it does now! You consult Gustave! ’E’s a regular business man and -knows ’ow many beans make five! ’E’ll tell you what’s best to be done -with it--’e’ll be a good friend to you, and you can trust ’im with -everything!” - -“Thank you!” replied the girl, but she still seemed to be lost in -a kind of reverie. Her gaze was fixed--her full crimson lips were -slightly parted--her slender hands kept nervously clasping and -unclasping each other. - -“Well, you are ’andsome and no mistake!” exclaimed the Baroness. “You -remind me a little of the Duchess of Bewlay before she was married! -The first wife, I mean--the second is a poor, pale-faced, sandy-’aired -creature. (’Ow the Dook can stomach ’er after the other, I can’t make -out!) The first Duchess’s mother was a great flame of my grandfather, -the Dook of--however, I mustn’t tell you that! It’s a State secret, and -I might get into trouble at Court! You’d better not say I mentioned it.” - -But Harriet Brandt was not in a condition to remember or repeat -anything. She was lost in a dream of the possibilities of the Future. - -The bell for _déjeuner_ roused them at last, and brought them to their -feet. They resembled each other in one particular ... they were equally -fond of the pleasures of the table. - -The little Baron appeared dutifully to afford his clumsy spouse the -benefit of his support in climbing the hillocks of shifting sand, which -lay between them and the hotel, and Miss Brandt sped swiftly on her way -alone. - -“I’ve been ’aving a talk with that gal Brandt,” chuckled the Baroness -to her husband, “she’s a regular green-’orn and swallows everything -you tell ’er. I’ve been stuffing ’er up, that she ought to marry a -Prince, with ’er looks and money, and she quite believes it. But she -ain’t bad-looking when she colours up, and I expect she’s rather a warm -customer, and if she takes a fancy to a man, ’e won’t well know ’ow to -get out of it! And if he tries to, she’ll make the fur fly. Ha! ha! ha!” - -“Better leave it alone, better leave it alone!” said the stolid German, -who had had more than one battle to fight already, on account of his -wife’s match-making propensities, and considered her quite too clumsy -an artificer to engage in so delicate a game. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - -There was a marked difference observable in the manner of Harriet -Brandt after her conversation with the Baroness. Hitherto she had been -shy and somewhat diffident--the seclusion of her conventual life and -its religious teachings had cast a veil, as it were, between her and -the outer world, and she had not known how to behave, nor how much she -might venture to do, on being first cast upon it. But Madame Gobelli’s -revelations concerning her beauty and her prospects, had torn the veil -aside, and placed a talisman in her hands, against her secret fear. - -She was beautiful and dangerous--she might become a Princess if she -played her cards well--the knowledge changed the whole face of Nature -for her. She became assured, confident, and anticipatory. She began -to frequent the company of the Baroness, and without neglecting her -first acquaintances, Mrs. Pullen and her baby, spent more time in the -Gobelli’s private sitting-room than in the balcony, or public salon, a -fact for which Margaret did not hesitate to declare herself grateful. - -“I do not know how it is,” she confided to Elinor Leyton, “I rather -like the girl, and I would not be unkind to her for all the world, but -there is something about her that oppresses me. I seem never to have -quite lost the sensation she gave me the first evening that she came -here. Her company enervates me--I get neuralgia whenever we have been a -short time together--and she leaves me in low spirits and more disposed -to cry than laugh!” - -“And no wonder,” said her friend, “considering that she has that -detestable school-girl habit of hanging upon one’s arm and dragging one -down almost to the earth! How you have stood it so long, beats me! Such -a delicate woman as you are too. It proves how selfish Miss Brandt must -be, not to have seen that she was distressing you!” - -“Well! it will take a large amount of expended force to drag Madame -Gobelli to the ground,” said Margaret, laughing, “so I hope Miss Brandt -will direct that portion of her attention to her, and leave me only the -residue. Poor girl! she seems to have had so few people to love, or to -love her, during her lifetime, that she is glad to practise on anyone -who will reciprocate her affection. Did you see the Baroness kissing -her this morning?” - -“I saw the Baroness scrubbing her beard against Miss Brandt’s cheek, if -you call that ‘kissing’?” replied Elinor. “The Baroness never kisses! I -have noticed her salute poor Bobby in the morning exactly in the same -manner. I have a curiosity to know if it hurts.” - -“Why don’t you try it?” said Margaret. - -“No, thank you! I am not so curious as all that! But the Gobellis and -Miss Brandt have evidently struck up a great friendship. She will be -the recipient of the Baroness’s cast-off trinkets and laces next!” - -“She is too well off for that, Elinor! Madame Lamont told me she has a -fortune in her own right, of fifteen hundred a year!” - -“She will want it all to gild herself with!” said Elinor. - -Margaret Pullen looked at Miss Leyton thoughtfully. Did she really mean -what she said, or did her jealousy of the West Indian heiress render -her capable of uttering untruths? Surely, she must see that Harriet -Brandt was handsome--growing handsomer indeed, every day, with the pure -sea air tinting her cheeks with a delicate flush like the inside of a -shell--and that her beauty, joined to her money, would render her a -tempting morsel for the men, and a formidable rival for the women. - -“I do not think you would find many people to agree with your opinion, -Elinor!” she said after a pause, in answer to Miss Leyton’s last remark. - -“Well! I think she’s altogether odious,” replied her friend with a toss -of her head, “I thought it the first time I saw her, and I shall think -it to the last!” - -It was the day that Captain Ralph Pullen was expected to arrive in -Heyst and the two ladies were preparing to go to the station to meet -him. - -“The Baroness has at all events done you one good turn,” continued Miss -Leyton, “she has delivered you for a few hours from your ‘Old Man of -the Sea.’ What have you been doing with yourself all the morning! I -expected you to meet me on the sands, after I had done bathing!” - -“I have not stirred out, Elinor. I am uneasy about baby! She does not -seem at all well. I have been waiting your return to ask you whether I -had not better send for a doctor to see her. But I am not sure if there -is such a thing in Heyst!” - -“Sure to be, but don’t send unless it is absolutely necessary. What is -the matter with her?” - -The nurse was sitting by the open window with little Ethel on her lap. -The infant looked much the same as usual--a little paler perhaps, but -in a sound sleep and apparently enjoying it. - -“She does not seem ill to me,” continued Elinor, “is she in any pain?” - -“Not at all, Miss,” said the nurse, “and begging the mistress’s pardon, -I am sure she is frightening herself without cause. Baby is cutting two -more teeth, and she feels the heat. That’s all!” - -“Why are you frightened, Margaret?” asked Miss Leyton. - -“Because her sleep is unnatural, I am sure of it,” replied Mrs. Pullen, -“she slept all yesterday, and has hardly opened her eyes to-day. It is -more like torpor than sleep. We can hardly rouse her to take her bottle -and you know what a lively, restless little creature she has always -been.” - -“But her teeth,” argued Elinor Leyton, “surely her teeth account for -everything! I know my sister, Lady Armisdale, says that nothing varies -so quickly as teething children--that they’re at the point of death one -hour and quite well the next, and she has five, so she ought to know!” - -“That’s quite right, Miss,” interposed the nurse, respectfully, “and -you can hardly expect the dear child to be lively when she’s in pain. -She has a little fever on her too! If she were awake, she would only be -fretful! I am sure that the best medicine for her is sleep!” - -“You hear what Nurse says, Margaret, but if you are nervous, why -not send for a doctor to see her! We can ask Madame Lamont as we go -downstairs who is the best here, and call on him as we go to the -station, or we can telegraph to Bruges for one, if you think it would -be better!” - -“O! no! no! I will not be foolish! I will try and believe that you -and Nurse know better than myself. I will wait at all events until -to-morrow.” - -“Where has baby been this morning?” - -“She was with Miss Brandt on the sands, Miss!” replied the nurse. - -“Since you are so anxious about Ethel, Margaret, I really wonder that -you should trust her with a stranger like Miss Brandt! Perhaps she let -the sun beat on her head.” - -“O! no, Elinor, Nurse was with them all the time. I would not let Miss -Brandt or anyone take baby away alone. But she is so good-natured and -so anxious to have her, that I don’t quite know how to refuse.” - -“Perhaps she has been stuffing the child with some of her horrid -chocolates or caramels. She is gorging them all day long herself!” - -“I know my duty too well for that, Miss!” said the nurse resentfully, -“I wouldn’t have allowed it! The dear baby did not have anything to eat -at all.” - -“Well! you’re both on _her_ side evidently, so I will say no more,” -concluded Miss Leyton, “At the same time if _I_ had a child, I’d -sooner trust it to a wild beast than the tender mercies of Miss Brandt. -But it’s past four o’clock, Margaret! If we are to reach the _entrepôt_ -in time we must be going!” - -Mrs. Pullen hastily assumed her hat and mantle, and prepared to -accompany her friend. They had opened the door, and were about to leave -the room when a flood of melody suddenly poured into the apartment. It -proceeded from a room at the other end of the corridor and was produced -by a mandoline most skilfully played. The silvery notes in rills and -trills and chords, such as might have been evolved from a fairy harp, -arrested the attention of both Miss Leyton and Mrs. Pullen. They had -scarcely expressed their wonder and admiration to each other, at the -skilful manipulation of the instrument (which evinced such art as -they had never heard before except in public) when the strings of the -mandoline were accompanied by a young, fresh contralto voice. - -“O! hush! hush!” cried Elinor, with her finger on her lip, as the rich -mellow strains floated through the corridor, “I don’t think I ever -heard such a lovely voice before. Whose on earth can it be?” - -The words of the song were in Spanish, and the only one they could -recognise was the refrain of, “Seralie! Seralie!” But the melody was -wild, pathetic, and passionate, and the singer’s voice was touching -beyond description. - -“Some professional must have arrived at the Hotel,” said Margaret, “I -am sure that is not the singing of an amateur. But I hope she will not -practise at night, and keep baby awake!” - -Elinor laughed. - -“O! you mother!” she said, “I thought you were lamenting just now that -your ewe lamb slept too much! For my part, I should like to be lulled -to sleep each night by just such strains as those. Listen, Margaret! -She has commenced another song. Ah! Gounod’s delicious ‘Ave Maria.’ How -beautiful!” - -“I don’t profess to know much about music,” said Margaret, “but it -strikes me that the charm of that singing lies more in the voice than -the actual delivery. Whoever it is, must be very young!” - -“Whoever it proceeds from, it is charming,” repeated Elinor. “How Ralph -would revel in it! Nothing affects him like music. It is the only -thing which makes me regret my inability to play or sing. But I am -most curious to learn who the new arrival is. Ah! here is Mademoiselle -Brimont!” she continued, as she caught sight of Olga Brimont, slowly -mounting the steep staircase, “Mademoiselle, do you happen to know -who it is who owns that lovely voice? Mrs. Pullen and I are perfectly -enchanted with it!” - -Olga Brimont coloured a little. She had never got over her shyness of -the English ladies, particularly of the one who spoke so sharply. But -she answered at once, - -“It is Harriet Brandt! Didn’t you know that she sang?” - -Miss Leyton took a step backward. Her face expressed the intensest -surprise--not to say incredulity. - -“Harriet Brandt! Impossible!” she ejaculated. - -“Indeed it is she,” repeated Olga, “she always sang the solos in the -Convent choir. They used to say she had the finest voice in the Island. -O! yes, it is Harriet, really.” - -And she passed on to her own apartment. - -“Do _you_ believe it?” said Elinor Leyton, turning almost fiercely upon -Mrs. Pullen. - -“How can I do otherwise,” replied Margaret, “in the face of -Mademoiselle Brimont’s assertion? But it is strange that we have heard -nothing of Miss Brandt’s talent before!” - -“Has she ever mentioned the fact to you, that she could sing?” - -“Never! but there has been no opportunity. There is no instrument here, -and we have never talked of such a thing! Only fancy her possessing so -magnificent a voice! What a gift! She might make her fortune by it if -she needed to do so.” - -“Well! she ought to be able to sing with that mouth of hers,” remarked -Miss Leyton almost bitterly, as she walked into the corridor. She was -unwilling to accord Harriet Brandt the possession of a single good -attribute. As the ladies traversed the corridor, they perceived that -others had been attracted by the singing as well as themselves, and -most of the bedroom doors were open. Mrs. Montague caught Margaret by -the sleeve as she passed. - -“O! Mrs. Pullen, what a heavenly voice! Whose is it? Fred is just mad -to know!” - -“It’s only that girl Brandt!” replied Elinor roughly, as she tried to -escape further questioning. - -“Miss Brandt! what, the little West Indian! Mrs. Pullen, is Miss Leyton -jesting?” - -“No, indeed, Mrs. Montague! Mademoiselle Brimont was our informant,” -said Margaret. - -But at that moment their attention was diverted by the appearance of -Harriet Brandt herself. She looked brilliant. In one hand she carried -her mandoline, a lovely little instrument, of sandal-wood inlaid with -mother-of-pearl,--her face was flushed with the exertion she had gone -through, and her abundant hair was somewhat in disorder. Mrs. Montague -pounced on her at once. - -“O! Miss Brandt! you are a sly puss! We have all been -delighted--enchanted! What do you mean by hiding your light under a -bushel in this way? Do come in here for a minute and sing us another -song! Major Montague is in ecstasies over your voice!” - -“I can’t stop, I can’t indeed!” replied Miss Brandt, evidently pleased -with the effect she had produced, “because I am on my way down to dear -Madame Gobelli. I promised to sing for her this afternoon. I was only -trying my voice to see if it was fit for anything!” - -She smiled at Mrs. Pullen as she spoke and added, - -“I hope I have not disturbed the darling baby! I thought she would be -out this lovely afternoon!” - -“O! no! you did not disturb her. We have all been much pleased, and -surprised to think that you have never told us that you could sing!” - -“How could I tell that anyone would care about it?” replied Harriet, -indifferently, with a shrug of her shoulders. “But the Baron is very -musical! He has a charming tenor voice. I have promised to accompany -him! I mustn’t delay any longer! Good afternoon!” - -And she flew down the stairs with her mandoline. - -“It is all the dear Baroness and the dear Baron now, you perceive,” -remarked Elinor to Mrs. Pullen, as they walked together to the -railway-station, “you and the baby are at a discount. Miss Brandt is -the sort of young lady, I fancy, who will follow her own interests -wherever they may lead her!” - -“You should be the last to complain of her for that, Elinor, since you -have tried to get rid of her at any cost,” replied her friend. - -Captain Ralph Pullen arrived punctually by the train which he had -appointed, and greeted his sister-in-law and _fiancée_ with marked -cordiality. - -He was certainly a man to be proud of, as far as outward appearance -went. He was acknowledged, by general consent, to be one of the -handsomest men in the British Army, and he was fully aware of the -fact. He was tall and well built, with good features, almost golden -hair; womanish blue eyes, and a long drooping moustache, which he was -always caressing with his left hand. He regarded all women with the -same languishing, tired-to-death glance, as if the attentions shewn -him by the _beau sexe_ had been altogether too much for him, and the -most he could do now was to regard them with an indolent, worn-out -favour, which had had all the excitement, and freshness, and flavour -taken out of it long before. Most women would have considered his -method of treatment as savouring little short of insult, but Elinor -Leyton’s nature did not make extravagant demands upon her lover, and -so long as he dressed and looked well and paid her the courtesies due -from a gentleman to a gentlewoman, she was quite satisfied. Margaret, -on the other hand, had seen through her brother-in-law’s affectations -from the first, and despised him for them. She thought him foolish, -vain, and uncompanionable, but she bore with him for Arthur’s sake. She -would have welcomed his cousin Anthony Pennell, though, with twice the -fervour. - -Ralph was looking remarkably well. His light grey suit of tweed was -fresh and youthful looking, and the yellow rose in his buttonhole was -as dainty as if he had just walked out of his Piccadilly club. He was -quite animated (for him) at the idea of spending a short time in Heyst, -and actually went the length of informing Elinor that she looked “very -fit”, and that if it was not so public a place he should kiss her. Miss -Leyton coloured faintly at the remark, but she turned her head away and -would not let him see that she was sorry the place was so public. - -“Heyst seems to have done you both a lot of good,” Captain Pullen went -on presently, “I am sure you are fatter, Margaret, than when you were -in Town. And, by the way, how is the daughter?” - -“Not very well, I am sorry to say, Ralph! She is cutting more teeth. -Elinor and I were consulting whether we should send for a doctor to see -her, only this afternoon.” - -“By the way, I have good news for you, or you will consider it so. Old -Phillips is coming over to join us next week.” - -“Doctor Phillips, my dear old godfather!” exclaimed Margaret, “O! I -_am_ glad to hear it! He will set baby to rights at once. But who told -you so, Ralph?” - -“The old gentleman himself! I met him coming out of his club the other -day and told him I was coming over here, and he said he should follow -suit as soon as ever he could get away, and I was to tell you to get a -room for him by next Monday!” - -“I shall feel quite happy about my baby now,” said Mrs. Pullen, “I -have not much faith in Belgian doctors. Their pharmacopœia is quite -different from ours, but Doctor Phillips will see if there is anything -wrong with her at once!” - -“I hope you will not be disappointed with the Hotel visitors, Ralph,” -said Elinor, “but they are a terrible set of riff-raff. It is -impossible to make friends with any one of them. They are such dreadful -people!” - -“O! you mustn’t class them all together, Elinor,” interposed Margaret, -“I am sure the Montagues and the Vieuxtemps are nice enough! And _du -reste_, there is no occasion for Ralph even to speak to them.” - -“Of course not,” said Captain Pullen, “I have come over for the sake -of your company and Margaret’s, and have no intention of making the -acquaintance of any strangers. When is the _Bataille de Fleurs_? Next -week? that’s jolly! Old Phillips will be here by that time, and he and -Margaret can flirt together, whilst you and I are billing and cooing, -eh, Elinor?” - -“Don’t be vulgar, Ralph,” she answered, “you know how I dislike that -sort of thing! And we have had so much of it here!” - -“What, billing and cooing?” he questioned. But Elinor disdained to make -any further remark on the subject. - -The appearance of Ralph Pullen at the _table d’hôte_ dinner naturally -excited a good deal of speculation. The English knew that Mrs. Pullen -expected her brother-in-law to stay with her, but the foreigners -were all curious to ascertain who the handsome, well-groomed, -military-looking stranger might be, who was so familiar with Mrs. -Pullen and her friend. The Baroness was not behind the rest in -curiosity and admiration. She was much before them in her determination -to gratify her curiosity and make the acquaintance of the new-comer, -whose name she guessed, though no introduction had passed between them. -She waited through two courses to see if Margaret Pullen would take -the initiative, but finding that she addressed all her conversation to -Captain Pullen, keeping her face, meanwhile, pertinaciously turned from -the party sitting opposite to her, she determined to force her hand. - -“Mrs. Pullen!” she cried, in her coarse voice, “when are you going to -introduce me to your handsome friend?” - -Margaret coloured uneasily and murmured, - -“My brother-in-law, Captain Pullen--Madame Gobelli.” - -“Very glad to see you, Captain,” said the Baroness, as Ralph bowed to -her in his most approved fashion, “your sister thought she’d keep you -all to ’erself, I suppose! But the young ladies of Heyst would soon -make mincemeat of Mrs. Pullen if she tried that little game on them. We -’aven’t got too many good-looking young men ’ereabouts, I can tell you. -Are you going to stay long?” - -Captain Pullen murmured something about “uncertain” and “not being -quite sure”, whilst the Baroness regarded him full in the face with a -broad smile on her own. She always had a keen eye for a handsome young -man! - -“Ah! you’ll stay as long as it suits your purpose, won’t you? I expect -you ’ave your own little game to play, same as most of us! And it’s a -pretty little game, too, isn’t it, especially when a fellow’s young -and good-looking and ’as the chink-a-chink, eh?” - -“I fancy I know some of your brother officers, Mr. Naggett, and Lord -Menzies, they belong to the Rangers, don’t they?” continued Madame -Gobelli, “Prince Adalbert of Waxsquiemer used to bring ’em to the -Red ’Ouse! By the way I ’aven’t introduced you to my ’usband, Baron -Gobelli! Gustave, this is Captain Ralph Pullen, the Colonel’s brother, -you know. You must ’ave a talk with ’im after dinner! You two would -’it it off first-rate together! Gustave’s in the boot trade, you know, -Captain Pullen! We trade under the name of Fantaisie et Cie! The best -boots and shoes in London, and the largest manufactory, I give you my -word! You should get your boots from us. I know you dandy officers are -awfully particular about your tootsies. If you’ll come and see me in -London, I’ll take you over the manufactory, and give you a pair. You’ll -never buy any others, once you’ve tried ’em!” - -Ralph Pullen bowed again, and said he felt certain that Madame was -right and he looked forward to the fulfilment of her promise with the -keenest anticipation. - -Harriet Brandt meanwhile, sitting almost opposite to the stranger, -was regarding him from under the thick lashes of her slumbrous eyes, -like a lynx watching its prey. She had never seen so good-looking and -aristocratic a young man before. His crisp golden hair and drooping -moustaches, his fair complexion, blue eyes and chiselled features, -were a revelation to her. Would the Princes whom Madame Gobelli had -promised she should meet at her house, be anything like him, she -wondered--_could_ they be as handsome, as perfectly dressed, as -fashionable, as completely at their ease, as the man before her? Every -other moment, she was stealing a veiled glance at him--and Captain -Pullen was quite aware of the fact. What young man, or woman, is not -aware when they are being furtively admired? Ralph Pullen was one of -the most conceited of his sex, which is not saying a little--he was -_accomblé_ with female attentions wherever he went, yet he was not -_blasé_ with them, so long as he was not called upon to reciprocate -in kind. Each time that Harriet’s magnetic gaze sought his face, his -eyes by some mystical chance were lifted to meet it, and though all -four lids were modestly dropped again, their owners did not forget the -effect their encounter had left behind it. - -“’Ave you been round Heyst yet, Captain Pullen,” vociferated Madame -Gobelli, “and met the Procession? I never saw such rubbish in my life. -I laughed fit to burst myself! A lot of children rigged out in blue and -white, carrying a doll on a stick, and a crowd of fools following and -singing ’ymns. Call that Religion? It’s all tommy rot. Don’t you agree -with me, Mrs. Pullen?” - -“I cannot say that I do, Madame! I have been taught to respect every -religion that is followed with sincerity, whether I agree with its -doctrine or not. Besides, I thought the procession you allude to a very -pretty sight. Some of the children with their fair hair and wreaths of -flowers looked like little angels!” - -“O! you’re an ’umbug!” exclaimed the Baroness, “you say that just to -please these Papists. Not that I wouldn’t just as soon be a Papist as -a Protestant, but I ’ate cant. I wouldn’t ’ave Bobby ’ere, brought up -in any religion. Let ’im choose for ’imself when ’e’s a man, I said, -but no cant, no ’umbug! I ’ad a governess for ’im once, a dirty little -sneak, who thought she’d get the better of me, so she made the boy -kneel down each night and say, ‘God bless father and mother and all -kind friends, and God bless my enemies.’ I came on ’em one evening and -I ’ad ’im up on his legs in a moment. I won’t ’ave it, Bobby, I said, -I won’t ’ave you telling lies for anyone, and I made ’im repeat after -me, ‘God bless father and mother and all kind friends, and d--n my -enemies.’ The governess was so angry with me, that she gave warning, -he! he! he! But I ’ad my way, and Bobby ’asn’t said a prayer since, -’ave you, Bobby?” - -“Sometimes, Mamma!” replied the lad in a low voice. Margaret Pullen’s -kind eyes sought his at once with an encouraging smile. - -“Well! you’d better not let me ’ear you, or I’ll give you ‘what for’. I -’ate ’umbug, don’t you, Captain Pullen?” - -“Unreservedly, Madame!” replied Ralph in a stifled voice and with an -inflamed countenance. He had been trying to conceal his amusement for -some time past, greatly to the disgust of Miss Leyton, who would have -had him pass by his opposite neighbour’s remarks in silent contempt, -and the effort had been rather trying. As he spoke, his eyes sought -those of Harriet Brandt again, and discovered the sympathy with -his distress, lurking in them, coupled with a very evident look of -admiration for himself. He looked at her back again--only one look, but -it spoke volumes! Captain Pullen had never given such a glance at his -_fiancée_, nor received one from her! It is problematical if Elinor -Leyton _could_ make a telegraph of her calm brown eyes--if her soul (if -indeed she had in that sense a soul at all) ever pierced the bounds -of its dwelling-place to look through its windows. As the dessert -appeared, Margaret whispered to her brother-in-law, - -“If we do not make our escape now, we may not get rid of her all the -evening,” at which hint he rose from table, and the trio left the -_salle à manger_ together. As Margaret descended again, equipped for -their evening stroll, she perceived Harriet Brandt in the corridor also -ready, and waiting apparently for her. She took her aside at once. - -“I cannot ask you to join us in our walk this evening, Miss Brandt,” -she said, “because, as it is the first day of my brother’s arrival, we -shall naturally have many family topics to discuss together!” - -For the first time since their acquaintance, she observed a sullen look -creep over Harriet Brandt’s features. - -“I am going to walk with the Baron and Baroness, thank you all the -same!” she replied to Margaret’s remark, and turning on her heel, -she re-entered her room. Margaret did not believe her statement, but -she was glad she had had the courage to warn her--she knew it would -have greatly annoyed Elinor if the girl she detested had accompanied -them on that first evening. The walk proved after all to be a very -ordinary one. They paraded up and down the Digue, until they were tired -and then they sat down on green chairs and listened to the orchestra -whilst Ralph smoked his cigarettes. Elinor was looking her best. She -was pleased and mildly excited--her costume became her--and she was -presumably enjoying herself, but as far as her joy in Captain Pullen -went, she might have been walking with her father or her brother. The -conscious looks that had passed between him and Harriet Brandt were -utterly wanting. - -They began by talking of home, of Elinor’s family, and the last news -that Margaret had received from Arthur--and then went on to discuss -the visitors to the Hotel. Miss Leyton waxed loud in her denunciation -of the Baroness and her familiar vulgarity--she deplored the ill fate -that had placed them in such close proximity at the _table d’hôte_, and -hoped that Ralph would not hesitate to change his seat if the annoyance -became too great. She had warned him, she said, of what he might expect -by joining them at Heyst. - -“My dear girl,” he replied, “pray don’t distress yourself! In the first -place I know a great deal more about foreign hotels than you do, and -knew exactly what I might expect to encounter, and in the second, I -don’t mind it in the least--in fact, I like it, it amuses me, I think -the Baroness is quite a character, and look forward to cultivating her -acquaintance with the keenest anticipations.” - -“O! _don’t_, Ralph, pray don’t!” exclaimed Miss Leyton, fastidiously, -“the woman is beneath contempt! I should be exceedingly annoyed if you -permitted her to get at all intimate with you.” - -“Why not, if it amuses him?” demanded Margaret, laughing, “for my part, -I agree with Ralph, that her very vulgarity makes her most amusing as a -change, and it is not as if we were likely to be thrown in her way when -we return to England!” - -“She is a _rara avis_,” cried Captain Pullen enthusiastically, “she -certainly must know some good people if men like Naggett and Menzies -have been at her house, and yet the way she advertises her boots and -shoes is too delicious! O! dear yes! I cannot consent to cut the -Baroness Gobelli! I am half in love with her already!” - -Elinor Leyton made a gesture of disgust. - -“And you--who are considered to be one of the most select and -fastidious men in Town,” she said, “I wonder at you!” - -Then he made a bad matter worse, by saying, - -“By the way, Margaret, who was that beautiful girl who sat on the -opposite side of the table?” - -“The _what_,” exclaimed Elinor Leyton, ungrammatically, as she turned -round upon the Digue and confronted him. - -“He means Miss Brandt!” interposed Margaret, hastily, “many people -think that she is handsome!” - -“No one could think otherwise,” responded Ralph. “Is she Spanish?” - -“O! no; her parents were English. She comes from Jamaica!” - -“Ah! a drop of Creole blood in her then, I daresay! You never see such -eyes in an English face!” - -“What’s the matter with her eyes?” asked Elinor sharply. - -“They’re very large and dark, you know, Elinor!” said Mrs. Pullen, -observing the cloud which was settling down upon the girl’s face, “but -it is not everybody who admires dark eyes, or you and I would come off -badly!” - -“Well, with all due deference to you, my fair sister-in-law,” replied -Ralph, with the stupidity of a selfish man who never knows when he is -wounding his hearers, “most people give the preference to dark eyes -in women. Anyway Miss Brandt (if that is her name) is a beauty and no -mistake!” - -“I can’t say that I admire your taste,” said Elinor, “and I sincerely -hope that Miss Brandt will not force her company upon us whilst you -are here. Margaret and I have suffered more than enough already in -that respect! She is only half educated and knows nothing of the -world, and is altogether a most uninteresting companion. I dislike her -exceedingly!” - -“Ah! don’t forget her singing!” cried Margaret, unwittingly. - -“Does she sing?” demanded the Captain. - -“Yes! and wonderfully well for an amateur! She plays the mandoline -also. I think Elinor is a little hard on her! Of course she is very -young and unformed, but she has only just come out of a convent where -she has been educated for the last ten years. What can you expect of -a girl who has never been out in Society? I know that she is very -good-natured, and has waited on baby as if she had been her servant!” - -“Don’t you think we have had about enough of Miss Harriet Brandt?” said -Elinor, “I want to hear what Ralph thinks of Heyst, or if he advises -our going on to Ostende. I believe Ostende is much gayer and brighter -than Heyst!” - -“But we must wait now till Doctor Phillips joins us,” interposed -Margaret. - -“He could come after us, if Ralph preferred Ostende or Blankenburghe,” -said Elinor eagerly. - -“My dear ladies,” exclaimed Captain Pullen, “allow me to form an -opinion of Heyst first, and then we will talk about other places. This -seems pleasant enough in all conscience to me now!” - -“O! you two are bound to think any place pleasant,” laughed Margaret, -“but I think I must go in to my baby! I do not feel easy to be away -from her too long, now that she is ailing. But there is no need for you -to come in, Elinor! It is only just nine o’clock!” - -“I would rather accompany you,” replied Miss Leyton, primly. - -“No! no! Elinor, stay with me! If you are tired we can sit in the -balcony. I have seen nothing of you yet!” remonstrated her lover. - -She consented to sit in the balcony with him for a few minutes, but she -would not permit his chair to be placed too close to hers. - -“The waiters pass backward and forward,” she said, “and what would they -think?” - -“The deuce take what they think,” replied Captain Pullen, “I haven’t -seen you for two months, and you keep me at arms’ length as if I should -poison you! What do you suppose a man is made of?” - -“My dear Ralph, you know it is nothing of the kind, but it is quite -impossible that we can sit side by side like a pair of turtle doves in -a public Hotel like this!” - -“Let us go up to your room then?” - -“To my bedroom?” she ejaculated with horror. - -“To Margaret’s room then! she won’t be so prudish, I’m sure! Anywhere -where I can speak to you alone!” - -“The nurse will be in Margaret’s room, with little Ethel!” - -“Hang it all, then, come for another walk! Let us go away from the -town, out on those sand hills. I’m sure no one will see us there!” - -“Dear Ralph, you must be reasonable! If I were seen walking about Heyst -alone with you at night, it would be all over the town to-morrow.” - -“Let it be! Where’s the harm?” - -“But I have kept our engagement most scrupulously secret! No one knows -anything, but that you are Margaret’s brother-in-law! You don’t know -how they gossip and chatter in a place like this. I could never consent -to appear at the public _table d’hôte_ again, if I thought that all -those vulgarians had been discussing my most private affairs!” - -“O! well! just as you choose!” replied Ralph Pullen discontentedly, -“but I suppose you will not object to _my_ taking another turn along -the Digue before I go to bed! Here, garçon, bring me a chasse! -Good-night, then, if you will not stay!” - -“It is not that I _will_ not--it is that I _cannot_, Ralph!” said Miss -Leyton, as she gave him her hand. “Good-night! I hope you will find -your room comfortable, and if it is fine to-morrow, we will have a nice -walk in whichever direction you prefer!” - -“And much good that will be!” grumbled the young man, as he lighted his -cigarette and strolled out again upon the Digue. - -As he stood for a moment looking out upon the sea, which was one -mass of silvery ripples, he heard himself called by name. He looked -up. The Gobellis had a private sitting-room facing the Digue on the -ground floor, and the Baroness was leaning out of the open window, and -beckoning to him. - -“Won’t you come in and ’ave a whiskey and soda?” she asked. “The Baron -’as ’is own whiskey ’ere, real Scotch, none of your nasty Belgian -stuff, ’alf spirits of wine and ’alf varnish! Come along! We’ve got a -jolly little parlour, and my little friend ’Arriet Brandt shall sing to -you! Unless you’re off on some lark of your own, eh?” - -“No! indeed,” replied Ralph, “I was only wondering what I should do -with myself for the next hour. Thank you so much! I’ll come with -pleasure.” - -And in another minute he was seated in the company of the Baron and -Baroness and Harriet Brandt. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - -The day had heralded in the _Bataille de Fleurs_ and all Heyst was _en -fête_. The little furnished villas, hired for the season, were all -built alike, with a balcony, on the ground floor, which was transformed -into a veritable bower for the occasion. Villa Imperatrice vied with -Villa Mentone and Villa Sebastien, as to which decoration should be the -most beautiful and effective, and the result was a long line of arbours -garlanded with every sort of blossom. From early morning, the occupants -were busy, entwining their pillars with evergreens, interspersed with -flags and knots of ribbon, whilst the balustrades were laden with -growing flowers and the tables inside bore vases of severed blooms. -One balcony was decorated with corn, poppies and _bluets_, whilst -the next would display pink roses mixed with the delicate blue of -the sea-nettle, and the third would be all yellow silk and white -marguerites. The procession of _charrettes_, and the _Bataille_ itself -was not to commence till the afternoon, so the visitors crowded the -sands as usual in the morning, leaving the temporary owners of the -various villas, to toil for their gratification, during their absence. -Margaret Pullen felt sad as she sat in the hotel balcony, watching -the proceedings on each side of her. She had intended her baby’s -perambulator to take part in the procession of _charrettes_, and had -ordered a quantity of white field-lilies with which to decorate it. -It was to be a veritable triumph--so she and Miss Leyton had decided -between themselves--and she had fondly pictured how lovely little Ethel -would look with her fluffy yellow hair, lying amongst the blossoms, but -now baby was too languid and ill to be taken out of doors, and Margaret -had given all the flowers to the little Montagues, who were trimming -their mail-cart with them, in their own fashion. As she sat there, with -a pensive, thoughtful look upon her face, Harriet Brandt, dressed in a -costume of grass-cloth, with a broad-brimmed hat, nodding with poppies -and green leaves, that wonderfully became her, on her head, entered the -balcony with an eager, excited appearance. - -“O! Mrs. Pullen! have you seen the Baroness?” she exclaimed. “We are -going to bathe this morning. Aren’t you coming down to the sands?” - -“No! Miss Brandt, not to-day. I am unhappy about my dear baby! I -am sure you will be sorry to hear that she has been quite ill all -night--so restless and feverish!” - -“O! she’ll be all right directly her teeth come through!” replied -Harriet indifferently, as her eyes scanned the scene before them. -“There’s the Baroness! She’s beckoning to me! Good-bye!” and without a -word of sympathy or comfort, she rushed away to join her friends. - -“Like the way of the world!” thought Margaret, as she watched the girl -skimming over the sands, “but somehow--I didn’t think she would be so -heartless!” - -Miss Leyton and her _fiancé_ had strolled off after breakfast to take a -walk, and Mrs. Pullen went back to her own room, and sat down quietly -to needlework. She was becoming very anxious for Doctor Phillips’ -arrival; had even written to England to ask him to hurry it if -possible--for her infant, though not positively ill, rejected her food -so often that she was palpably thinner and weaker. - -After she had sat there for some time, she took up her field glasses, -to survey the bathers on the beach. She had often done so before, -when confined to the hotel--it afforded her amusement to watch their -faces and antics. On the present occasion, she had no difficulty in -distinguishing the form of the Baroness Gobelli, looking enormous -as, clad in a most conspicuous bathing costume, she waddled from her -machine into the water, loudly calling attention to her appearance, -from all assembled on the sands, as she went. The Baron, looking little -less comical, advanced to conduct his spouse down to the water, whilst -after them flew a slight boyish figure in yellow, with a mane of dark -hair hanging down her back, which Margaret immediately recognised as -that of Harriet Brandt. - -She was dancing about in the shallow water, shrieking whenever she made -a false step, and clinging hold of the Baron’s hand, when Margaret -saw another gentleman come up to them, and join in the ring. She -turned the glasses upon him and saw to her amazement that it was -her brother-in-law. Her first feeling was that of annoyance. There -was nothing extraordinary or improper, in his joining the Baroness’s -party--men and women bathed promiscuously in Heyst, and no one thought -anything of it. But that Ralph should voluntarily mix himself up with -the Gobellis, after Elinor’s particular request that he should keep -aloof from them, was a much more serious matter. And by the way, -that reminded her, where was Elinor the while? Margaret could not -discern her anywhere upon the sands, and wondered if she had also been -persuaded to bathe. She watched Captain Pullen, evidently trying to -induce Miss Brandt to venture further into the water, holding out both -hands for her protection,--she also saw her yield to his persuasion, -and leaving go of her hold on the Herr Baron, trust herself entirely to -the stranger’s care. Mrs. Pullen turned from the window with a sigh. -She hoped there were not going to be any “ructions” between Ralph and -Elinor--but she would not have liked her to see him at that moment. -She bestowed a silent benediction, “not loud but deep” on the foreign -fashion of promiscuous bathing, and walked across the corridor to -her friend’s room, to see if she had returned to the Hotel. To her -surprise, she found Miss Leyton dismantled of her walking attire, -soberly seated at her table, writing letters. - -“Why! Elinor,” she said, “I thought you were out with Ralph!” - -The young lady was quite composed. - -“So I was,” she answered, “until half an hour ago! But as he then -expressed his determination to bathe, I left him to his own devices -and came back to write my letters.” - -“Would he not have preferred your waiting on the sands till he could -join you again?” - -“I did not ask him! I should think he would hardly care for me to watch -him whilst bathing, and I am sure I should not consent to do so!” - -“But everybody does it here, Elinor, and if you did not care to go down -to the beach, you might have waited for him on the Digue.” - -“My dear Margaret, I am not in the habit of dancing attendance upon -men. It is their business to come after me! If Ralph is eager for -another walk after his dip, he can easily call for me here!” - -“True! and he can as easily go for his walk with any stray acquaintance -he may pick up on the sands!” - -“O! if he should prefer it, he is welcome to do so,” replied Elinor, -resuming her scribbling. - -“My dear Elinor, I don’t think you quite understand Ralph! He has -been terribly spoilt, you know, and when men have been accustomed to -attention they will take it wherever they can get it! He has come over -here expressly to be with you, so I think you should give him every -minute of your time. Men are fickle creatures, my dear! It will take -some time yet to despoil them of the idea that women were made for -their convenience.” - -“I am afraid the man is not born yet for whose convenience I was made!” - -“Well! you know the old saying: ‘Most women can catch a man, but it -takes a clever woman to keep him.’ I don’t mean to insinuate that -you are in any danger of losing Ralph, but I think he’s quite worth -keeping, and, I believe, you think so too!” - -“And I mean to keep him!” replied Miss Leyton, as she went on writing. - -Margaret did not venture to give her any further hints, but returned to -her own room, and took another look through her spyglass. - -The bathers in whom she was interested had returned to their machines -by this time, and presently emerged, “clothed and in their right -minds,” Miss Brandt looking more attractive than before, with her long -hair hanging down her back to dry. And then, that occurred which she -had been anticipating. Captain Pullen, having taken a survey of the -beach, and seeing none of his own party there, climbed with Harriet -Brandt to where they were high and dry above the tide, and threw -himself down on the hot, loose sand by her side, whilst the Baron and -Baroness with a laughing injunction to the two young people, to take -care of themselves, toiled up to the Digue and walked off in another -direction. - -When they all met at _déjeuner_, she attacked her brother-in-law on the -subject. - -“Have you been bathing all this while?” she said to him, “you must have -stayed very long in the water!” - -“O! dear no!” he replied, “I wasn’t in above a quarter of an hour!” - -“And what have you been doing since?” - -“Strolling about, looking for you and Elinor!” said Captain Pullen. -“Why the dickens didn’t you come out this lovely morning?” - -“I could not leave baby!” cried Margaret shortly. - -“And I was writing,” chimed in Elinor. - -“Very well, ladies, if you prefer your own company to mine, of course I -have nothing to say against it! But I suppose you are not going to shut -yourselves up this afternoon!” - -“O! no. It is a public duty to attend the _Bataille de Fleurs_. Have -you bought any confetti, Ralph?” - -“I have! Miss Brandt was good enough to show me where to get them, and -we are well provided. There is to be a race between lady jockeys at the -end of the Digue too, I perceive!” - -“What, with horses?” - -“I conclude so. I see they have railed in a portion of ground for the -purpose,” replied Captain Pullen. - -“’Ow could they race without ’orses?” called out the Baroness. - -Harriet Brandt did not join in the conversation, but she was gazing -all the while at Ralph Pullen--not furtively as she had done the day -before, but openly, and unabashedly, as though she held a proprietary -right in him. Margaret noticed her manner at once and interpreted it -aright, but Miss Leyton, true to her principles, never raised her eyes -in her direction and ignored everything that came from that side of the -table. - -Mrs. Pullen was annoyed; she knew how angry Elinor would be if she -intercepted any telegraphic communication between her lover and Miss -Brandt; and she rose from the table as soon as possible, in order to -avert such a catastrophe. She had never considered her brother-in-law -a very warm wooer, and she fancied that his manner towards Miss Leyton -was more indifferent than usual. She took one turn with them along -the Digue to admire the flower-bedecked villas, which were in full -beauty, and then returned to her nursery, glad of an excuse to leave -them together, and give Elinor a chance of becoming more cordial and -affectionate to Ralph, than she had yet appeared to be. The lovers had -not been alone long, however, before they were waylaid, to the intense -disgust of Elinor, by Harriet Brandt and her friend, Olga Brimont. - -Still further to her annoyance, Captain Pullen seemed almost to welcome -the impertinent interference of the two girls, who could scarcely have -had the audacity to join their company, unless he had invited them to -do so. - -“The _charrettes_ are just about to start!” exclaimed Harriet. “O! -they are lovely, and such dear little children! I am so glad that the -_Bataille de Fleurs_ takes place to-day, because my friend’s brother, -Alfred Brimont, is coming to take her to Brussels the day after -to-morrow!” - -“Brussels is a jolly place. Mademoiselle Brimont will enjoy -herself there,” said Ralph. “There are theatres, and balls and -picture-galleries, and every pleasure that a young lady’s heart can -desire!” - -“Have you been to Brussels?” asked Harriet. - -“Yes! when I was a nasty little boy in jacket and trousers. I was -placed at Mr. Jackson’s English school there, in order that I might -learn French, but I’m afraid that was the last thing I acquired. The -Jackson boys were known all over the town for the greatest nuisances in -it!” - -“What did you do?” - -“What did we _not_ do? We tore up and down the rue Montagne de la -Cour at all hours of the day, shouting and screaming and getting into -scrapes. We ran up bills at the shops which we had no money to pay--we -appeared at every place of amusement--and we made love to all the -school-girls, till we had become a terror to the school-mistresses.” - -“What naughty boys!” remarked Miss Brandt, with a side glance at Miss -Leyton. She did not like to say all she thought before this very stiff -and proper young English lady. “But Captain Pullen,” she continued, -“where are the confetti? Have you forgotten them? Shall I go and buy -some more?” - -“No! no! my pockets are stuffed with them,” he said, producing two -bags, of which he handed Harriet one. Her thanks were conveyed by -throwing a large handful of tiny pieces of blue and white and pink -paper (which do duty for the more dangerous chalk sugar-plums) at -him and which covered his tweed suit and sprinkled his fair hair and -moustaches. He returned the compliment by flying after her retreating -figure, and liberally showering confetti upon her. - -“O! Ralph! I do hope you are not going to engage in this horse-play,” -exclaimed Elinor Leyton, “because if so I would rather return to the -Hotel. Surely, we may leave such vulgarities to the common people, -and--Miss Harriet Brandt!” - -“What nonsense!” he replied. “It’s evident you’ve never been in Rome -during the Carnival! Why, everyone does it! It’s the national custom. -If you imagine I’m going to stand by, like a British tourist and stare -at everything, without joining in the fun, you’re very much mistaken!” - -“But is it fun?” questioned Miss Leyton. - -“To me it is! Here goes!” he cried, as he threw a handful of paper -into the face of a passing stranger, who gave him as good as she had -got, in return. - -“I call it low--positively vulgar,” said Miss Leyton, “to behave so -familiarly with people one has never seen before--of whose antecedents -one knows nothing! I should be very much surprised if the mob behaved -in such a manner towards me. Oh!” - -The exclamation was induced by the action of some young _épicier_, or -hotel _garçon_, who threw a mass of confetti into her face with such -violence as almost for the moment to blind her. - -“Ha! ha! ha!” roared Ralph Pullen with his healthy British lungs, as he -saw her outraged feelings depicted in her countenance. - -“I thought you’d get it before long!” he said, as she attempted to -brush the offending paper off her mantle. - -“It has not altered my opinion of the indecency of the custom!” she -replied. - -“Never mind!” he returned soothingly. “Here come the _charrettes_.” - -They were really a charming sight. On one cart was drawn a boat, -with little children dressed as fishermen and fisherwomen--another -represented a harvest-field, with the tiny haymakers and -reapers--whilst a third was piled with wool to represent snow, on the -top of which were seated three little girls attired as Esquimaux. The -mail-carts, and perambulators belonging to the visitors to Heyst were -also well represented, and beautifully trimmed with flowers. The first -prize was embowered in lilies and white roses, whilst its tiny inmate -was seated in state as the Goddess Flora, with a wreath twined in her -golden curls. The second was taken by a gallant Neapolitan fisherman -of about four years old, who wheeled a mail cart of pink roses, in -which sat his little sisters, dressed as angels with large white wings. -The third was a wheel-barrow hidden in moss and narcissi, on which -reposed a Sleeping Beauty robed in white tissue, with a coronal of -forget-me-nots. - -Harriet Brandt fell into ecstasies over everything she saw. When -pleased and surprised, she expressed herself more like a child than a -young woman, and became extravagant and ungovernable. She tried to kiss -each baby that took part in the procession, and thrust coins into their -chubby hands to buy bonbons and confetti with. Captain Pullen thought -her conduct most natural and unaffected; but Miss Leyton insisted that -it was all put on for effect. Olga Brimont tried to put in a good word -for her friend. - -“Harriet is very fond of children,” she said, “but she has never seen -any--there were no children at the Convent under ten years of age, so -she does not know how to make enough of them when she meets them. She -wants to kiss every one. Sometimes, I tell her, I think she would like -to eat them. But she only means to be kind!” - -“I am sure of that!” said Captain Pullen. - -“But she should be told,” interposed Elinor, “that it is not the custom -in civilised countries for strangers to kiss every child they meet, any -more than it is to speak before being introduced, or to bestow their -company where it is not desired. Miss Brandt has a great deal to learn -in that respect before she can enter English Society!” - -As is often the case when a woman becomes unjust in abusing another, -Miss Leyton made Captain Pullen say more to cover her discourtesy, -than, in other circumstances, he would have done. - -“Miss Brandt,” he said slowly, “is so beautiful, that she will have -a great deal forgiven her, that would not be overlooked in a plainer -woman.” - -“That may be _your_ opinion, but it is not mine,” replied Miss Leyton. - -Her tone was so acid, that it sent him flying from her side, to battle -with his confetti against the tribe of Montagues, who fortunately for -the peace of all parties, joined their forces to theirs, and after some -time spent on the Digue, they returned, a large party, to the Hotel. - -It was not until they had sat down to dinner, that they remembered they -had never been to see the lady jockey race. - -“He! he! he!” laughed Madame Gobelli, “but _I_ did, and you lost -something, I can tell you! We ’ad great difficulty to get seats, but -when we did, it was worth it, wasn’t it, Gustave?” - -“_You_ said so, mein tear!” replied the Baron, gravely. - -“And you _thought_ so, you old rascal! don’t you tell me! _I_ saw -your wicked eyes glozing at the gals in their breeches and boots! -There weren’t any ’orses, after all, Captain Pullen, but sixteen gals -with different-coloured jackets on and top boots and tight white -breeches--such a sight you never saw! Gustave ’ere did ’ave a treat! -As for Bobby, when I found we couldn’t get out again, because of the -crowd, I tied my ’andkerchief over ’is eyes, and made him put ’is ’ead -in my lap!” - -“Dear! dear!” cried Ralph, laughing, “was it as bad as that, Madame?” - -“Bad! my dear boy! It was as bad as it could be! It’s a mercy you -weren’t there, or we shouldn’t ’ave seen you ’ome again so soon! There -were the sixteen gals, with their tight breeches and their short racing -jackets, and a fat fellow dressed like a huntsman whipping ’em round -and round the ring, as if they were so much cattle! You should ’ave -seen them ’op, when he touched ’em up with the lash of ’is whip. I -expect they’ve never ’ad such a tingling since the time their mothers -smacked ’em! There was a little fat one, there! I wish you could ’ave -seen ’er, when ’e whipped ’er to make ’er ’urry! It was comical! She -’opped like a kangaroo!” - -“And what was the upshot of it all? Who won?” asked Ralph. - -“O! I don’t know! I got Gustave out as soon as I could! I wasn’t going -to let ’im spend the whole afternoon, watching those gals ’opping. -There were ’is eyes goggling out of ’is ’ead, and his lips licking each -other, as if ’e was sucking a sugar-stick--” - -“Mein tear! mein tear!” interposed the unfortunate Baron. - -“You go on with your dinner, Gustave, and leave me alone! _I_ saw you! -And no more lady jockey races do you attend, whilst we’re in this -Popish country. They ain’t good for you.” - -“I’m very thankful that I have been saved such a dangerous experiment,” -said Captain Pullen, “though if I thought that you would tie your -handkerchief over my eyes, and put my head in your lap, Madame, I -should feel tempted to try it as soon as dinner is over!” - -“Go along with you, you bad boy!” chuckled the Baroness, “there’s -something else to see this evening! They are going to ’ave a procession -of lanterns as soon as it’s dark!” - -“And it is to stop in front of every hotel,” added Harriet, “and the -landlords are going to distribute bonbons and gâteaux amongst the -lantern-bearers.” - -“O! we must not miss that on any account!” replied Captain Pullen, -addressing himself to her in reply. - -Margaret and Elinor thought, when the time came, that they should be -able to see the procession of lanterns just as well from the balcony -as when mingled with the crowd, so they brought their work and books -down there, and sat with Ralph, drinking coffee and conversing of all -that had occurred. The Baroness had disappeared, and Harriet Brandt had -apparently gone with her--a fact for which both ladies were inwardly -thankful. - -Presently, as the dusk fell, the procession of lanterns could be seen -wending its way from the further end of the Digue. It was a very pretty -and fantastical sight. The bearers were not only children--many grown -men and women took part in it, and the devices into which the Chinese -lanterns had been formed were quaint and clever. Some held a ring -around them, as milkmaids carry their pails--others held crosses and -banners designed in tiny lanterns, far above their heads. One, which -could be seen topping all the rest, was poised like a skipping-rope -over the bearer’s shoulders, whilst the coloured lanterns swung inside -it, like a row of bells. The members of the procession shouted, or -sang, or danced, or walked steadily, as suited their temperaments, and -came along, a merry crowd, up and down the Digue, stopping at the -various hotels for largesse in the shape of cakes and sugar-plums. - -Ralph Pullen found his eyes wandering more than once in the direction -of the Baroness’s sitting-room, to see if he could catch a glimpse of -her or her _protégée_ (as Harriet Brandt seemed to be now universally -acknowledged to be), but he heard no sound, nor caught a glimpse of -them, and concluded in consequence that they had left the hotel again. - -“Whoever is carrying that skipping-rope of lanterns seems to be in a -merry mood,” observed Margaret after a while, “for it is jumping up and -down in the most extravagant manner! She must be dancing! Do look, -Elinor!” - -“I see! I suppose this sort of childish performance amuses a childish -people, but for my own part, I think once of it is quite enough, and am -thankful that we are not called upon to admire it in England!” - -“O! I think it is rather interesting,” remarked Margaret, “I only wish -my dear baby had been well enough to enjoy it! How she would have -screamed and cooed at those bright-coloured lanterns! But when I tried -to attract her attention to them just now, she only whined to be put -into her cot again. How thankful I shall be to see dear Doctor Phillips -to-morrow!” - -The procession had reached the front of the Hotel by this time, and -halted there for refreshment. The waiters, Jules and Phillippe and -Henri, appeared with plates of dessert and cakes and threw them -indiscriminately amongst the people. One of the foremost to jump and -scramble to catch the falling sweetmeats was the girl who carried the -lantern-skipping rope above her head, and in whom Ralph Pullen, to his -astonishment, recognised Harriet Brandt. There she was, fantastically -dressed in a white frock, and a broad yellow sash, with her magnificent -hair loose and wreathed with scarlet flowers. She looked amazingly -handsome, like a Bacchante, and her appearance and air of abandon, sent -the young man’s blood into his face and up to the roots of his fair -hair. - -“Surely!” exclaimed Margaret, “that is never Miss Brandt!” - -“Yes! it is,” cried Harriet, “I’m having the most awful fun! Why don’t -you come too? I’ve danced the whole way up the Digue, and it is so -warm! I wish the waiters would give us something to drink! I’ve eaten -so many bonbons I feel quite sick!” - -“What will you take, Miss Brandt?” asked Captain Pullen eagerly, -“_limonade_ or soda water?” - -“A _limonade_, please! You _are_ good!” she replied, as he handed her -the tumbler over the balcony balustrades. “Come along and dance with -me!” - -“I cannot! I am with my sister and Miss Leyton!” he replied. - -“O! pray do not let _us_ prevent you,” said Elinor in her coldest -voice; “Margaret was just going upstairs and I am quite ready to -accompany her!” - -“No, no, Elinor,” whispered Mrs. Pullen with a shake of her head, “stay -here, and keep Ralph company!” - -“But it is nearly ten o’clock,” replied Miss Leyton, consulting her -watch, “and I have been on my feet all day! and feel quite ready for -bed. Good-night, Ralph!” she continued, offering him her hand. - -“Well! if you two are really going to bed, I shall go too,” said -Captain Pullen, rising, “for there will be nothing for me to do here -after you’re gone!” - -“Not even to follow the procession?” suggested Miss Leyton, with a -smile. - -“Don’t talk nonsense!” he rejoined crossly. “Am I the sort of man to go -bobbing up and down the Digue amongst a parcel of children?” - -He shook hands with them both, and walked away rather sulkily to his -own quarter of the hotel. But he did not go to bed. He waited until -some fifteen minutes had elapsed, and then telling himself that it -was impossible to sleep at that hour, and that if Elinor chose to -behave like a bear, it was not his fault, he came downstairs again and -sauntered out on the sea front. - -It was very lonely there at that moment. The procession had turned and -gone down to the other end again, where its lights and banners could be -seen, waving about in the still summer air. - -“Why shouldn’t the girl jump about and enjoy herself if she chooses,” -thought Ralph Pullen. “Elinor makes no allowances for condition or age, -but would have everyone as prim and old-maidish as herself. I declare -she gets worse each time I see her! A nice sort of wife she will make -if this kind of thing goes on! But by Jingo! if we are ever married, -I’ll take her prudery out of her, and make her--what? The woman who -commences by pursing her mouth up at everything, ends by opening it -wider than anybody else! There’s twice as much harm in a prude as in -one of these frank open-hearted girls, whose eyes tell you what they’re -thinking of, the first time you see them!” - -He had been strolling down the Digue as he pondered thus, and now -found himself meeting the procession again. - -“Come and dance with me,” cried Harriet Brandt, who, apparently as -fresh as ever, was still waving her branch of lanterns to the measure -of her steps. He took her hand and tried to stop her. - -“Haven’t you had about enough of this?” he said, “I’m sure you must be -tired. Here’s a little boy without a lantern! Give him yours to hold, -and come for a little walk with me!” - -The touch of his cool hand upon her heated palm, seemed to rouse all -the animal in Harriet Brandt’s blood. Her hand, very slight and lissom, -clung to his with a force of which he had not thought it capable, and -he felt it trembling in his clasp. - -“Come!” he repeated coaxingly, “you mustn’t dance any more or you will -overtire yourself! Come with me and get cool and rest!” - -She threw her branch of lanterns to the boy beside her impetuously. - -“Here!” she cried, “take them! I don’t want them any more! And take me -away,” she continued to Ralph, but without letting go of his hand. “You -are right! I want--I want--rest!” - -Her slight figure swayed towards him as he led her out of the crowd, -and across a narrow street, to where the road ran behind all the houses -and hotels, and was dark and empty and void. The din of the voices, and -the trampling of feet, and the echo of the songs still reached them, -but they could see nothing--the world was on the Digue, and they were -in the dusk and quietude together--and alone. - -Ralph felt the slight form beside him lean upon his shoulder till their -faces almost touched. He threw his arm about her waist. Her hot breath -fanned his cheek. - -“Kiss me!” she murmured in a dreamy voice. - -Captain Pullen was not slow to accept the invitation so confidingly -extended. What Englishman would be? He turned his face to Harriet -Brandt’s, and her full red lips met his own, in a long-drawn kiss, -that seemed to sap his vitality. As he raised his head again, he felt -faint and sick, but quickly recovering himself, he gave her a second -kiss more passionate, if possible, than the first. Then the following -whispered conversation ensued between them. - -“Do you know,” he commenced, with his head close to hers, “that you are -the very jolliest little girl that I have ever met!” - -“And you--you are the man I have dreamt of, but never seen till now!” - -“How is that? Am I so different from the rest of my sex?” - -“Very--very different! So strong and brave and beautiful!” - -“Dear little girl! And so you really like me?” - -“I love you,” said Harriet feverishly, “I loved you the first minute we -met.” - -“And I love you! You’re awfully sweet and pretty, you know!” - -“Do you really think so? What would Mrs. Pullen say if she heard you?” - -“Mrs. Pullen is not the keeper of my conscience. But she must not hear -it.” - -“O! no! nor Miss Leyton either!” - -“Most certainly not Miss Leyton. She is a terrible prude! She would be -awfully shocked!” - -“It must be a secret,--just between you and me!” murmured the girl. - -“Just so! A sweet little secret, all our own, and nobody else’s!” - -And then the fair head and the dark one came again in juxtaposition, -and the rest was lost in--Silence! - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - -Doctor Phillips had not been in the Hôtel Lion d’Or five minutes before -Margaret Pullen took him upstairs to see her baby. She was becoming -terribly anxious about her. They encountered Captain Ralph Pullen on -the staircase. - -“Hullo! young man, and what have _you_ been doing to yourself?” -exclaimed the doctor. - -He was certainly looking ill. His face was chalky white, and his eyes -seemed to have lost their brightness and colour. - -“Been up racketing late at night?” continued Doctor Phillips. “What is -Miss Leyton about, not to look after you better?” - -“No, indeed, Doctor,” replied the young man with a smile, “I am sure my -sister-in-law will testify to the good hours I have kept since here. -But I have a headache this morning--a rather bad one,” he added, with -his hand to the nape of his neck. - -“Perhaps this place doesn’t agree with you--it was always rather famous -for its smells, if I remember aright! However, I am going to see Miss -Ethel Pullen now, and when I have finished with her, I will look after -you!” - -“No, thank you, Doctor,” said Ralph laughing, as he descended the -stairs. “None of your nostrums for me! Keep them for the baby!” - -“He is not looking well,” observed Doctor Phillips to Margaret, as they -walked on together. - -“I don’t think he is, now you point it out to me, but I have not -noticed it before,” replied Margaret. “I am sure he has been living -quietly enough whilst here!” - -The infant was lying as she had now done for several days past--quite -tranquil and free from pain, but inert and half asleep. The doctor -raised her eyelids and examined her eyeballs--felt her pulse and -listened to her heart--but he did not seem to be satisfied. - -“What has this child been having?” he asked abruptly. - -“Having, Doctor? Why! nothing, of course, but her milk, and I have -always that from the same cow!” - -“No opium--no soothing syrup, nor quackeries of any kind?” - -“Certainly not! You know how often you have warned me against anything -of the sort!” - -“And no one has had the charge of her, except you and the nurse here? -You can both swear she has never been tampered with?” - -“O! I think so, certainly, yes! Baby has never been from under the eye -of one or the other of us. A young lady resident in the hotel--a Miss -Brandt--has often nursed her and played with her, but one of us has -always been there at the time.” - -“A Miss--what did you say?” demanded the doctor, sharply. - -“A Miss Brandt--a very good-natured girl, who is fond of children!” - -“Very well then! I will go at once to the pharmacien’s, and get a -prescription made up for your baby, and I hope that your anxiety may -soon be relieved!” - -“O! thank you, Doctor, so much!” exclaimed Margaret “I knew you would -do her good, as soon as you saw her!” - -But the doctor was not so sure of himself. He turned the case over and -over in his mind as he walked to the chemist’s shop, wondering how such -a state of exhaustion and collapse could have been brought about. - -The baby had her first dose and the doctor had just time to wash and -change his travelling suit before they all met at the dinner-table. - -Here they found the party opposite augmented by the arrival of Monsieur -Alfred Brimont, a young Brussels tradesman, who had come over to Heyst -to conduct his sister home. He was trying to persuade Harriet Brandt to -accompany Olga and stay a few days with them, but the girl--with a long -look in the direction of Captain Pullen--shook her head determinedly. - -“O! you might come, Harriet, just for a few days,” argued Olga, “now -that the _Bataille de Fleurs_ is over, there is nothing left to stay -for in Heyst, and Alfred says that Brussels is such a beautiful place.” - -“There are the theatres, and the Parc, and the Quinçonce, and -Wauxhall!” said young Brimont, persuasively. “Mademoiselle would enjoy -herself, I have no doubt!” - -But Harriet still negatived the proposal. - -“Why shouldn’t we make up a party and all go together,” suggested the -Baroness, “me and the Baron and Bobby and ’Arriet? You would like it -then, my dear, wouldn’t you?” she said to the girl, “and you really -should see Brussels before we go ’ome! What do you say, Gustave? We’d -go to the Hôtel de Saxe, and see everything! It wouldn’t take us more -than a week or ten days.” - -“Do as you like, mein tear,” acquiesced the Baron. - -“And why shouldn’t you come with us, Captain?” continued Madame Gobelli -to Ralph. “You don’t look quite the thing to me! A little change would -do you good. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! ’Ave you been -to Brussels?” - -“I lived there for years, Madame, and know every part of it!” he -replied. - -“Come and renew your acquaintance then, and take me and ’Arriet about!! -The Baron isn’t much good when it comes to sight-seeing, are you, -Gustave? ’E likes ’is pipe and ’is slippers too well! But you’re young -and spry! Well! is it a bargain?” - -“I really could not decide in such a hurry,” said Ralph, with a glance -at Margaret and Elinor, “but we might all go on to Brussels perhaps, a -little later on.” - -“I don’t think you must buoy up the hopes of the Baroness and Miss -Brandt with that idea,” remarked Miss Leyton, coldly, “because I am -sure that Mrs. Pullen has no intention of doing anything of the sort. -If you wish to accompany Madame Gobelli’s party, you had better make -your arrangements without any reference to us!” - -“All right! If you prefer it, I will,” he answered in the same -indifferent tone. - -“_Who_ is that young lady sitting opposite, with the dark eyes?” -demanded Doctor Phillips of Mrs. Pullen. - -“The same I spoke to you of, upstairs, as having been kind to -baby--Miss Harriet Brandt!” - -“I knew a Brandt once,” he answered. “Has she anything to do with the -West Indies?” - -“O! yes! she comes from Jamaica! She is an orphan, the daughter of -Doctor Henry Brandt, and has been educated in the Ursuline Convent -there! She is a young lady with an independent fortune, and considered -to be quite a catch in Heyst!” - -“And you and Miss Leyton are intimate with her?” - -“She has attached herself very much to us since coming here. She has -few friends, poor girl!” - -“Will you introduce me?” - -“Miss Brandt, my friend, Doctor Phillips, wishes for an introduction to -you.” - -The usual courtesies passed between them, and then the doctor said, - -“I fancy I knew your father, Miss Brandt, when I was quartered in -Jamaica with the Thirteenth Lances. Did he not live on the top of the -Hill, on a plantation called Helvetia?” - -“That was the name of our place,” replied Harriet, “but I left it when -I was only eleven. My trustee, Mr. Trawler, lives there now!” - -“Ah! Trawler the attorney! I have no doubt he made as much out of the -property as he could squeeze.” - -“Do you mean that he cheated me?” asked Harriet, naïvely. - -“God forbid! my dear young lady. But he was a great crony of your -father’s, and a d--d sharp lawyer, and those sort of gentry generally -feather their own nest pretty well, in payment of their friendship.” - -“He can’t do me any harm now,” said Harriet, “for I have my property in -my own hands!” - -“Quite right! quite right! that is, if you’re a business woman,” -rejoined the doctor. “And are you travelling all by yourself?” - -Harriet was about to answer in the affirmative, when the Baroness took -the words out of her mouth. - -“No, Sir, she ain’t! She came over with her friend, Mademoiselle -Brimont, and now she’s under my chaperonage. She’s a deal too ’andsome, -ain’t she? to be travelling about the world alone, with her money-bags -under her arm. My name’s the Baroness Gobelli,--this is my ’usband, -Baron Gustave Gobelli, and this is my little boy, Bobby Bates--by my -first ’usband, you’ll understand--and when you return to London, if you -like to come and see Miss Brandt at our ’ouse--the Red ’Ouse, ’Olloway, -we shall be very pleased to see you!” - -“I am sure, Madame, you are infinitely kind,” replied Doctor Phillips -gravely. - -“Not at all! You’ll meet no end of swells there, Prince Loris of -Taxelmein, and Prince Adalbert of Waxsquiemer, and ’eaps of others. But -all the same we’re in trade, the Baron and I--and we’re not ashamed of -it either. We make boots and shoes! Our firm is Fantaisie et Cie, of -Oxford Street, and though I say it, you won’t find better boots and -shoes in all London than ours. No brown paper soles, and rotten uppers! -Not a bit of it! It’s all genuine stuff with us. You can take any boot -out of the shop and rip it to pieces, and prove what I say! The best -materials, and the best workmen, that’s our principle, and it answers. -We can’t make ’em fast enough!” - -“I have no doubt of it,” again gravely responded the old doctor. - -“Ah! you might send some of your patients to us, Doctor, and we’ll pay -back by recommending you to our friends. Are you a Gout man? Prince -Adalbert ’as the gout awfully! I’ve rubbed ’is feet with Elliman’s -Embrocation, by the hour together, but nothing gives ’im relief! Now -if you could cure ’im your fortune would be made! ’E says it’s all the -English climate, but _I_ say it’s over-eating, and ’e’d attend more to -a medical man, if ’e told ’im to diet, than ’e will to me!” - -“Doubtless, doubtless!” said the Doctor, in a dreamy manner. He seemed -to be lost in a reverie, and Margaret had to touch his arm to remind -him that the meal was concluded. - -She wanted him to join the others in a promenade and see the beauties -of Heyst, but he was strangely eager in declining it. - -“No! no! let the youngsters go and enjoy themselves, but I want to -speak to you, _alone_.” - -“My dear doctor, you frighten me! Nothing about baby, I hope!” - -“Not at all! Don’t be foolish! But I want to talk to you where we -cannot be overheard.” - -“I think we had better wait till the rest have dispersed then, and go -down upon the sands. It is almost impossible to be private in a hotel -like this!” - -“All right! Get your hat and we will stroll off together.” - -As soon as they were out of earshot, he commenced abruptly, - -“It is about that Miss Brandt! You seem pretty intimate with her! You -must stop it at once. You must have nothing more to do with her.” - -Margaret’s eyes opened wide with distress. - -“But, Doctor Phillips, for what reason? I don’t see how we could give -her up now, unless we leave the place.” - -“Then leave the place! You mustn’t know her, neither must Miss -Leyton. She comes of a terrible parentage. No good can ever ensue of -association with her.” - -“You must tell me more than this, Doctor, if you wish me to follow your -advice!” - -“I will tell you all I know myself! Some twelve or thirteen years ago I -was quartered in medical charge of the Thirteenth Lances, and stationed -in Jamaica, where I knew of, rather than knew, the father of this girl, -Henry Brandt. You called him a doctor--he was not worthy of the name. -He was a scientist perhaps--a murderer certainly!” - -“How horrible! Do you really mean it?” - -“Listen to me! This man Brandt matriculated in the Swiss hospitals, -whence he was expelled for having caused the death of more than one -patient by trying his scientific experiments upon them. The Swiss -laboratories are renowned for being the foremost in Vivisection and -other branches of science that gratify the curiosity and harden the -heart of man more than they confer any lasting benefit on humanity. -Even there, Henry Brandt’s barbarity was considered to render him -unfit for association with civilised practitioners, and he was expelled -with ignominy. Having a private fortune he settled in Jamaica, and set -up his laboratory there, and I would not shock your ears by detailing -one hundredth part of the atrocities that were said to take place under -his supervision, and in company of this man Trawler, whom the girl -calls her trustee, and who is one of the greatest brutes unhung.” - -“Are you not a little prejudiced, dear Doctor?” - -“Not at all! If when you have heard all, you still say so, you are not -the woman I have taken you for. Brandt did not confine his scientific -investigations to the poor dumb creation. He was known to have decoyed -natives into his Pandemonium, who were never heard of again, which -raised, at last, the public feeling so much against him, that I am -glad to say that his negroes revolted, and after having murdered him -with appropriate atrocity, set fire to his house and burned it and all -his property to the ground. Don’t look so shocked! I repeat that I am -_glad_ to say it, for he richly deserved his fate, and no torture could -be too severe for one who spent his worthless life in torturing God’s -helpless animals!” - -“And his wife--” commenced Margaret. - -“He had no wife! He was never married!” - -“Never married! But this girl Harriet Brandt--” - -“Has no more right to the name than you have! Henry Brandt was not -the man to regard the laws, either of God or man. There was no reason -why he should not have married--for that very cause, I suppose, he -preferred to live in concubinage.” - -“Poor Harriet! Poor child! And her mother, did you know her?” - -“Don’t speak to me of her mother. She was not a woman, she was a fiend, -a fitting match for Henry Brandt! To my mind she was a revolting -creature. A fat, flabby half-caste, who hardly ever moved out of her -chair but sat eating all day long, until the power to move had almost -left her! I can see her now, with her sensual mouth, her greedy eyes, -her low forehead and half-formed brain, and her lust for blood. It -was said that the only thing which made her laugh, was to watch the -dying agonies of the poor creatures her brutal protector slaughtered. -But she thirsted for blood, she loved the sight and smell of it, she -would taste it on the tip of her finger when it came in her way. Her -servants had some story amongst themselves to account for this lust. -They declared that when her slave mother was pregnant with her, she was -bitten by a Vampire bat, which are formidable creatures in the West -Indies, and are said to fan their victims to sleep with their enormous -wings, whilst they suck their blood. Anyway the slave woman did not -survive her delivery, and her fellows prophecied that the child would -grow up to be a murderess. Which doubtless she was in heart, if not in -deed!” - -“What an awful description! And what became of her?” - -“She was killed at the same time as Brandt, indeed the natives would -have killed her in preference to him, had they been obliged to choose, -for they attributed all the atrocities that went on in the laboratory -to her influence. They said she was ‘Obeah’ which means diabolical -witchcraft in their language. And doubtless their unfortunate -child would have been slaughtered also, had not the overseer of the -plantation carried her off to his cabin, and afterwards, when the -disturbance was quelled, to the Convent, where, you say, she has been -educated.” - -“But terrible as all this is, dear Doctor, it is not the poor girl’s -fault. Why should we give up her acquaintance for that?” - -“My dear Margaret, are you so ignorant as not to see that a child -born under such conditions cannot turn out well? The bastard of a -man like Henry Brandt, cruel, dastardly, Godless, and a woman like -her terrible mother, a sensual, self-loving, crafty and bloodthirsty -half-caste--what do you expect their daughter to become? She may seem -harmless enough at present, so does the tiger cub as it suckles its -dam, but that which is bred in her will come out sooner or later, and -curse those with whom she may be associated. I beg and pray of you, -Margaret, not to let that girl come near you, or your child, any more. -There is a curse upon her, and it will affect all within her influence!” - -“You have made me feel very uncomfortable, Doctor,” replied Mrs. -Pullen. “Of course if I had known all this previously, I would not have -cultivated Miss Brandt’s acquaintance, and now I shall take your advice -and drop her as soon as possible! There will be no difficulty with Miss -Leyton, for she has had a strange dislike to the girl ever since we -met, but she has certainly been very kind to my baby--” - -“For Heaven’s sake don’t let her come near your baby any more!” cried -Doctor Phillips, quickly. - -“Certainly I will not, and perhaps it would be as well if we moved on -to Ostende or Blankenburghe, as we have sometimes talked of doing. It -would sever the acquaintance in the most effectual way!” - -“By all means do so, particularly if the young lady does not go to -Brussels, as that stout party was proposing at dinner time. What an -extraordinary person she appears to be! Quite a character!” - -“That is just what she is! But, Doctor, there is another thing I should -like to speak to you about, concerning Miss Brandt, and I am sure I may -trust you to receive it in the strictest confidence. It is regarding -my brother-in-law, Ralph Pullen. I am rather afraid, from one or two -things I have observed, that he likes Miss Brandt--O! I don’t mean -anything particular, for (as you know) he is engaged to be married to -Elinor Leyton and I don’t suspect him of wronging her, only--young men -are rather headstrong you know and fond of their own way, and perhaps -if you were to speak to Ralph--” - -“Tell me plainly, has he been carrying on with this girl?” - -“Not in the sense you would take it, Doctor, but he affects her company -and that of the Gobellis a good deal. Miss Brandt sings beautifully, -and Ralph loves music, but his action annoys Elinor, I can see that, -and since you think we should break off the intimacy----” - -“I consider it most imperatively necessary, for many reasons, and -especially in the case of a susceptible young man like Captain Pullen. -She has money, you say--” - -“Fifteen hundred a year, so I am told!” - -“And Miss Leyton has nothing, and Ralph only his pay! O! yes! you are -quite right, such an acquaintanceship is dangerous for him. The sense -of honour is not so strong now, as it was when I was a boy, and gold -is a powerful bait with the rising generation. I will take an early -opportunity of talking to Captain Pullen on the subject.” - -“You will not wound his feelings, Doctor, nor betray me?” - -“Trust me for doing neither! I shall speak from my own experience, as I -have done to you. If he will not take my advice, you must get someone -with more influence to caution him about it. I hardly know how to make -my meaning clear to you, Margaret, but Miss Brandt is a _dangerous_ -acquaintance, for all of you. We medical men know the consequences -of heredity, better than outsiders can do. A woman born in such -circumstances--bred of sensuality, cruelty, and heartlessness--cannot -in the order of things, be modest, kind, or sympathetic. And -she probably carries unknown dangers in her train. Whatever her -fascinations or her position may be, I beg of you to drop her at once -and for ever!” - -“Of course I will, but it seems hard upon her! She has seemed to crave -so for affection and companionship.” - -“As her mother craved for food and blood; as her father craved for -inflicting needless agony on innocent creatures, and sneered meanwhile -at their sufferings! I am afraid I should have little faith in Miss -Brandt craving for anything, except the gratification of her own -senses!” - -They were seated on the lower step of the wooden flight that led from -the Digue to the sands, so that whilst they could see what went on -above them, they were concealed from view themselves. - -Just then, Harriet Brandt’s beautiful voice, accompanied by the silvery -strains of the mandoline, was heard to warble Gounod’s “Marguerite” -from the open window of the Baroness’s sitting-room. Margaret glanced -up. The apartment was brilliantly lighted--on the table were bottles -of wine and spirits, with cakes and fruit, and Madame Gobelli’s bulky -form might be seen leaning over the dishes. She had assembled quite -a little party there that night. The two Brimonts were present, -and Captain Pullen’s tall figure was distinctly visible under the -lamplight. Harriet was seated on the sofa, and her full voice filled -the atmosphere with melody. - -“There’s something like a voice!” remarked the old doctor. - -“That is the very girl we have been talking of!” replied Mrs. Pullen. -“I told you she had a lovely voice, and was an accomplished musician.” - -“Is that so?” said Doctor Phillips, “then she is still more dangerous -than I imagined her to be! Those tones would be enough to drag any man -down to perdition, especially if accompanied by such a nature as I -cannot but believe she must have inherited from her progenitors!” - -“And see, Doctor, there is Ralph,” continued Margaret, pointing out -her brother-in-law! “I left him with Miss Leyton. He must have got -rid of her by some means and crept up to the Gobellis. He cannot go -for _them_. He is so refined, so fastidious with regard to people in -general, that a woman like the Baroness must grate upon his feelings -every time she opens her mouth, and the Baron never opens his at all. -He can only frequent their company for the sake of Harriet Brandt! I -have seen it for some time past and it has made me very uneasy.” - -“He shall know everything about her to-morrow, and then if he will not -hear reason--” Doctor Phillips shrugged his shoulders and said no more. - -“But surely,” said his companion, “you do not think for a moment that -Ralph could ever seriously contemplate breaking his engagement with -Elinor Leyton for the sake of this girl! O! how angry Arthur would be -if he suspected his brother could be guilty of such a thing--_he_, who -considers that a man’s word should be his bond!” - -“It is impossible to say, Margaret--I should not like to give an -opinion on the subject. When young men are led away by their passions, -they lose sight of everything else--and if this girl is anything like -her mother, she must be an epitome of lust!” - -“O! you will speak to Ralph as soon as ever you can,” cried Margaret, -in a tone of distress. “You will put the matter as strongly before him -as possible, will you not?” - -“You may depend on my doing all I can, Margaret, but as there seems no -likelihood of my being able to interview the young gentleman to-night, -suppose you and I go to bed! I feel rather tired after my passage over, -and you must want to go back to your baby!” - -“Doctor,” said Margaret, in a timid voice, as they ascended the hotel -staircase together, “you don’t think baby _very_ ill, do you?” - -“I think she requires a great deal of care, Margaret!” - -“But she has always had that!” - -“I don’t doubt it, but I can’t deny that there are symptoms about her -case that I do not understand. She seems to have had all her strength -drawn out of her. She is in the condition of a child who has been -exercised and excited and hurried from place to place, far beyond what -she is able to bear. But it may arise from internal causes. I shall be -better able to judge to-morrow when my medicine has had its effect. -Good-night, my dear, and don’t worry. Please God, we will have the -little one all right again in a couple of days.” - -But he only said the words out of compassion. In his own opinion, the -infant was dying. - -Meanwhile, Harriet having finished her songs, was leaning out of the -window with Ralph Pullen by her side. She wore an open sleeve and as he -placed his hand upon her bare arm, the girl thrilled from head to foot. - -“And so you are determined _not_ to go to Brussels,” he whispered in -her ear. - -“Why should I go? You will not be there! The Baroness wants to stay for -a week! What would become of me all that time, moping after you?” - -“Are you sure that you _would_ mope? Monsieur Brimont is a nice young -man, and seems quite ready to throw himself at your feet! Would he not -do as well, _pro tem_?” - -Harriet’s only answer was to cast her large eyes upwards to meet his -own. - -“Does that mean, ‘No’?” continued Captain Pullen. “Then how would it -do, if _I_ joined you there, after a couple of days? Would the Baroness -be complaisant, do you think, and a little short-sighted, and let us -go about together, and show each other the sights of the town?” - -“O! I’m sure she would!” cried Harriet, all the blood in her body -flying into her face, “she is so very kind to me! Madame Gobelli!” she -continued, turning from the window to the light, “Captain Pullen says -that if you will allow him to show us the lions of Brussels, he will -come and join us there in a couple of days--” - -“If I find I can manage it!” interposed Ralph, cautiously. - -“Manage it! Why, of course you can manage it,” said the Baroness. -“What’s to ’inder a young man like you doing as ’e chooses? You’re not -tied to your sister’s apron-string, are you? Now mind! we shall ’old -you to it, for I believe it’s the only thing that will make ’Arriet -come, and I think a week in Brussels will do us all good! You’re not -looking well yourself, you know, Captain Pullen! You’re as white as -ashes this evening, and if I didn’t know you were such a good boy, I -should say you’d been dissipating a bit lately! He! he! he!” - -“The only dissipating I have indulged in, is basking in the sunshine of -your eyes, Madame!” replied Ralph gallantly. - -“That’s a good ’un!” retorted the Baroness, “it is more likely you’ve -been looking too much in the eyes of my little friend ’ere. You’re a -couple of foxes, that’s what you are, and I expect it would take all my -time to be looking after you both! And so I suppose it’s settled, Miss -’Arriet, and you’ll come with us to Brussels after all!” - -“Yes, Madame, if you’ll take charge of me!” said Miss Brandt. - -“We’ll do that for a couple of days, and then we’ll give over charge. -Are we to engage a room for you, Captain, at the Hôtel de Saxe?” - -“I had better see after that myself, Madame, as the date of my coming -is uncertain,” replied Ralph. - -“But you _will_ come!” whispered Harriet. - -“Need you ask? Would I not run over the whole world, only to find -myself by your side? Haven’t you taken the taste out of everything else -for me, Harriet?” - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - -Doctor Phillips was a man of sixty, and a bachelor. He had never -made any home ties for himself, and was therefore more interested in -Margaret Pullen (whose father had been one of his dearest friends) than -he might otherwise have been. He feared that a heavy trial lay before -her and he was unwilling to see it aggravated by any misconduct on the -part of her brother-in-law. He could see that the young man was (to -say the least of it) not behaving fairly towards his _fiancée_, Elinor -Leyton, and he was determined to open his eyes to the true state of -affairs with regard to Harriet Brandt. He spent a sleepless night, -his last visit to Margaret’s suffering child having strengthened his -opinion as to her hopeless condition, and he lay awake wondering how -he should break the news to the poor young mother. He rose with the -intention of speaking to Ralph without delay, but he found it more -difficult to get a word with him than he had anticipated. The Gobelli -party had decided to start with the Brimonts that afternoon, and -Captain Pullen stuck to them the entire morning, ostensibly to assist -the Baroness in her preparations for departure, but in reality, as -anyone could see, to linger by the side of Miss Brandt. Miss Leyton -perceived her lover’s defalcation as plainly as the rest, but she was -too proud to make a hint upon the subject, even to Margaret Pullen. She -sat alone in the balcony, reading a book, and gave no sign of annoyance -or discomfiture. But a close observer might have seen the trembling of -her lip when she attempted to speak, and the fixed, white look upon her -face, which betrayed her inward anxiety. It made Margaret’s kind heart -ache to see her, and Dr. Phillips more indignant with Ralph Pullen than -before. - -The party for Brussels had arranged to travel by the three o’clock -train, and at the appointed time the doctor was ready in the balcony -to accompany them to the _entrepôt_. There were no cabs in Heyst, the -station being in the town. Luggage was conveyed backwards and forwards -in hand carts drawn by the porters, and travellers invariably walked -to their destination. The Baroness appeared dressed for her journey, -in an amazing gown of blue velvet, trimmed with rare Maltese lace, -with a heavy mantle over it, and a small hat on her head, which made -her round, flat, unmeaning face, look coarser than before. She used -the Herr Baron as a walking-stick as usual, whilst Harriet Brandt, in -a white frock and large hat shading her glowing eyes under a scarlet -parasol, looked like a tropical bird skimming by her side, with Captain -Pullen in close attendance, carrying a flimsy wrap in case she -should require it before she reached her journey’s end. The Brimonts, -following in the rear, were of no account beside their more brilliant -and important friends. - -Ralph Pullen did not look pleased when he saw Doctor Phillips join the -party. - -“Are you also going to the _entrepôt_?” he exclaimed, “what can you -find to interest you there?--a dirty little smutty place! I am going -just to help the ladies over the line, as there is no bridge for -crossing.” - -“Perhaps I am bent on the same errand,” replied the doctor, “do you -give me credit for less gallantry than yourself, Pullen?” - -“That’s right, Doctor,” said the Baroness, “and I’ve no doubt you’ll be -very useful! My Bobby ain’t any manner of good, and the Baron ’as so -many traps to carry that ’e ’asn’t got an arm to spare. I only wish you -were coming with us! Why don’t you make up your mind to come over with -Captain Pullen the day after to-morrow, and ’ave a little ’oliday?” - -“I was not aware that Captain Pullen _was_ going to Brussels, madame! I -fancy he will have to get Miss Leyton’s consent first!” - -At the mention of Miss Leyton’s name in connection with himself, Ralph -Pullen flushed uneasily, and Harriet Brandt turned a look of startled -enquiry upon the speaker. - -“O! ’ang Miss Leyton!” retorted the Baroness, graphically, “she surely -wouldn’t stop Captain Pullen’s fun, just because ’e’s staying with ’is -sister-in-law! I should call that very ’ard. You can’t always tie a -young man to ’is relations’ apron-strings, Doctor!” - -“Not always, madame!” he replied, and dropped the subject. - -“You wouldn’t let Miss Leyton or Mrs. Pullen keep you from me!” -whispered Harriet, to her cavalier. - -“Never!” he answered emphatically. - -They had reached the little station by this time, and the porters -were calling out vociferously that the train was about to start -for Brussels, so that in the hurry of procuring their tickets, and -conveying the ladies and the luggage across the cinder-besprinkled -line, to where the train stood puffing to be off, there was no more -time to exchange sentimentalities, or excite suspicion. The party -being safely stowed away in their carriage, Ralph Pullen and Doctor -Phillips stood on the wooden platform with their hats off, bowing their -farewells. - -“Mind you don’t put off your coming after Thursday!” screamed the -Baroness to Ralph, as she filled up the entire window with her bulky -person, “we shall expect you by dinner-time! And I shall bespeak a -room for you, whether you will or no! ’Arriet ’ere will break ’er -’eart if you don’t turn up, and I don’t want the responsibility of ’er -committing suicide on my ’ands!” - -“All right! all right!” responded Ralph, pretending to turn it off as a -joke, “None of you shall do that on my account, I promise you!” - -“O! well! I ’ope you’re going to keep your word, or we shall come back -to ’Eyst in double quick time. Good-bye! Good-bye!” and kissing her fat -hand to the two gentlemen, the Baroness was whisked out of Heyst. - -Ralph looked longingly after the departing line of carriages for a -minute, and then crossed the line again to the road beyond. - -Doctor Phillips did not say a word till they were well clear of the -station, and then he commenced, - -“Of course you’re not in earnest about following these people to -Brussels.” - -“Why should I not be? I knew Brussels well as a lad, and I should enjoy -renewing my acquaintance with the old town.” - -“In proper company perhaps, but you can hardly call that party a fit -one for you to associate with!” - -“You’re alluding to the Baron and Baroness being in trade. Well! as -a rule I confess that I do not care to associate intimately with -bootmakers and their friends, but one does things abroad that one -would not dream of doing in England. And for all her vulgarity, Madame -Gobelli is very good-natured and generous, and I really don’t see that -I lower my dignity by being on friendly terms with her whilst here!” - -“I was not alluding to Madame Gobelli, though I do not think that -either she or the Brimonts are fit companions for a man who belongs -to the Limerick Rangers, or is engaged to marry the daughter of Lord -Walthamstowe. Neither do I admire the spirit which would induce you -to hobnob with them in Heyst, when you would cut them in Bond Street. -But as far as I know the Baron and his wife are harmless. It is Miss -Harriet Brandt that I would caution you against!” - -A quick resentment appeared on Ralph Pullen’s features. His eyes -darkened, and an ominous wrinkle stood out on his brow. - -“And what may you have to say of Miss Brandt?” he demanded, coldly. - -“A great deal more than you know, or can possibly imagine! She is not a -fit person for Elinor Leyton to associate with, and consequently, one -whom it is your duty to avoid, instead of cultivating.” - -“I think you exceed _your_ duty, Doctor, in speaking to me thus!” - -“I am sorry you should think so, Pullen, but your anger will not deter -me from telling you what is in my mind. You must not forget how old a -friend I am of both sides of your family. Your brother Arthur is one -of my greatest chums, and his wife’s father was, without exception, -my dearest friend--added to this, I am on intimate terms with the -Walthamstowes. Knowing what I do, therefore, I should hold myself -criminal if I left you in ignorance of the truth concerning this young -woman.” - -“Are you alluding, may I ask, to Miss Brandt?” - -“I am alluding to the girl who calls herself by that name, but who is -in reality only the bastard daughter of Henry Brandt, one of the most -infamous men whom God ever permitted to desecrate this earth, and his -half-caste mistress.” - -“Be careful what you say, Doctor Phillips!” said Ralph Pullen, with -ill-suppressed wrath gleaming in his blue eyes. - -“There is no need to be, my dear fellow, I can verify everything I -say, and I fear no man’s resentment. I was stationed in Jamaica with -my regiment, some fifteen years ago, when this girl was a child of six -years old, running half naked about her father’s plantation, uncared -for by either parent, and associating solely with the negro servants. -Brandt was a brute--the perpetrator of such atrocities in vivisection -and other scientific experiments, that he was finally slaughtered on -his own plantation by his servants, and everyone said it served him -right. The mother was the most awful woman I have ever seen, and my -experience of the sex in back slums and alleys has not been small. -She was the daughter of a certain Judge Carey of Barbadoes by one of -his slave girls, and Brandt took her as his mistress before she was -fourteen. At thirty, when I saw her, she was a revolting spectacle. -Gluttonous and obese--her large eyes rolling and her sensual lips -protruding as if she were always licking them in anticipation of her -prey. She was said to be ‘Obeah’ too by the natives and they ascribed -all the deaths and diseases that took place on the plantation, to her -malign influence. Consequently, when they got her in their clutches, -I have heard that they did not spare her, but killed her in the most -torturing fashion they could devise.” - -“And did the British Government take no notice of the massacre?” - -“There was an enquiry, of course, but the actual perpetrator of the -murders could not be traced, and so the matter died out. The hatred -and suspicion in which Brandt had been held for some time, had a great -effect upon the verdict, for in addition to his terrible experiments -upon animals--experiments which he performed simply for his own -gratification and for no use that he made of them in treating his -fellow creatures--he had been known to decoy diseased and old natives -into his laboratory, after which they were never seen again, and it was -the digging up of human bones on the plantation, which finally roused -the negroes to such a pitch of indignation that they rose _en masse_, -and after murdering both Brandt and his abominable mistress, they set -fire to the house and burned it to the ground. There is no doubt but -that, if the overseer of the plantation, an African negro named Pete, -had not carried off the little girl, she would have shared the fate of -her parents. And who can say if it would not have been as well if she -had!” - -“I really cannot see what right you have to give vent to such a -sentiment!” exclaimed Captain Pullen. “What has this terrible story got -to do with Miss Brandt?” - -“Everything! ‘When the cat is black, the kitten is black too!’ It’s the -law of Nature!” - -“I don’t believe it! Miss Brandt bears no trace in feature or character -of the parentage you ascribe to her!” - -“Does she not? Your assertion only proves your ignorance of character, -or characteristics. The girl is a quadroon, and she shews it distinctly -in her long-shaped eyes with their blue whites and her wide mouth and -blood-red lips! Also in her supple figure and apparently boneless -hands and feet. Of her personal character, I have naturally had no -opportunity of judging, but I can tell you by the way she eats her -food, and the way in which she uses her eyes, that she has inherited -her half-caste mother’s greedy and sensual disposition. And in ten -years’ time she will in all probability have no figure at all! She will -run to fat. I could tell that also at a glance!” - -“And have you any more compliments to pay the young lady?” enquired -Captain Pullen, sarcastically. - -“I have this still to say, Pullen--that she is a woman whom you -must never introduce to your wife, and that it is your bounden duty -to separate her, as soon as possible, from your _fiancée_ and your -sister-in-law!” - -“And what if I refuse to interfere in a matter which, as far as I can -see, concerns no one but Miss Brandt herself?” - -“In that case, I regret to say that I shall feel it _my_ duty, to -inform your brother Colonel Pullen and your future father-in-law, Lord -Walthamstowe of what I have told you! Come, my dear boy, be reasonable! -This girl has attracted you, I suppose! We are all subject to a woman’s -influence at times, but you must not let it go further. You must break -it off, and this is an excellent opportunity to do so! Your sister’s -infant is, I fear, seriously ill. Take your party on to Ostende, and -send the Baroness a polite note to say that you are prevented from -going to Brussels, and all will be right! You will take my advice--will -you not?” - -“No! I’ll be hanged if I will,” exclaimed the young man, “I am not a -boy to be ordered here and there, as if I were not fit to take care -of myself. I’ve pledged my word to go to Brussels and to Brussels I -shall go. If Miss Leyton doesn’t like it, she must do the other thing! -She does not shew me such a superfluity of affection as to prevent the -necessity of my seeking for sympathy and friendship elsewhere.” - -“I am sorry to hear you speak like that, Pullen. It does not augur well -for the happiness of your married life!” - -“I have thought more than once lately, that I shall not be married at -all--that is to Miss Leyton!” - -“No! no! don’t say so. It is only a passing infidelity, engendered by -the attraction of this other girl. Consider what your brother would -say, and what Lord Walthamstowe would think, if you committed the -great mistake at this late hour, of breaking off your engagement!” - -“I cannot see why my brother’s opinion, or Lord Walthamstowe’s -thoughts, should interfere with the happiness of my whole life,” -rejoined Ralph, sullenly. “However, let that pass! The question on the -_tapis_ is, my acquaintance with Miss Brandt, which you consider should -be put a stop to. For what reason? If what you bring against her is -true, it appears to me that she has all the more need of the protection -and loyalty of her friends. It would be cowardly to desert a girl, just -because her father and mother happened to be brutes. It is not _her_ -fault!” - -“I quite allow that! Neither is it the fault of a madman that his -progenitors had lunacy in their blood, nor of a consumptive, that his -were strumous. All the same the facts affect their lives and the lives -of those with whom they come in contact. It is the curse of heredity!” - -“Well! and if so, how can it concern anyone but the poor child herself?” - -“O! yes, it can and it will! And if I am not greatly mistaken, Harriet -Brandt carries a worse curse with her even than that! She possesses -the fatal attributes of the Vampire that affected her mother’s -birth--that endued her with the thirst for blood, which characterised -her life--that will make Harriet draw upon the health and strength of -all with whom she may be intimately associated--that may render her -love fatal to such as she may cling to! I must tell you, Pullen, that -I fear we have already proofs of this in the illness of your little -niece, whom, her mother tells me, was at one time scarcely ever out of -Miss Brandt’s arms. I have no other means of accounting for her sudden -failure of strength and vitality. You need not stare at me, as if you -thought I do not know what I am talking about! There are many cases -like it in the world. Cases of persons who actually feed upon the lives -of others, as the deadly upas tree sucks the life of its victim, by -lulling him into a sleep from which he never wakens!” - -“Phillips, you must be mad! Do you know that you are accusing Miss -Brandt of murder--of killing the child to whom she never shewed -anything but the greatest kindness. Why! I have known her carry little -Ethel about the sands for a whole afternoon.” - -“All the worse for poor little Ethel! I do not say she does harm -intentionally or even consciously, but that the deadly attributes of -her bloodthirsty parents have descended on her in this respect, I have -not a shadow of doubt! If you watch that young woman’s career through -life, you will see that those she apparently cares for most, and clings -to most, will soonest fade out of existence, whilst she continues to -live all the stronger that her victims die!” - -“Rubbish! I don’t believe it!” replied Ralph sturdily. “You medical -men generally have some crotchet in your brains, but this is the most -wonderful bee that ever buzzed in a bonnet! And all I can say is, that -I should be quite willing to try the experiment!” - -“You _have_ tried it, Pullen, in a mild form, and it has had its effect -on you! You are not the same fellow who came over to Heyst, though by -all rules, you should be looking better and stronger for the change. -And Margaret has already complained to me of the strange effect this -girl has had upon her! But you must not breathe a suspicion to her -concerning the child’s illness, or I verily believe she would murder -Miss Brandt!” - -“Putting all this nonsense aside,” said Ralph, “do you consider -Margaret’s baby to be seriously ill?” - -“Very seriously. My medicines have not had the slightest effect upon -her condition, which is inexplicable. Her little life is being slowly -sapped. She may cease to breathe at any moment. But I have not yet had -the courage to tell your sister the truth!” - -“How disappointed poor Arthur will be!” - -“Yes! but his grief will be nothing to the mother’s. She is quite -devoted to her child!” - -By mutual consent, they had dropped the subject of Harriet Brandt, and -now spoke only of family affairs. Ralph was a kind-hearted fellow under -all his conceit, and felt very grave at the prospect held out in regard -to his baby niece. - -The fulfilment of the prophecy came sooner than even Doctor -Phillips had anticipated. As they were all sitting at dinner that -evening, Madame Lamont, her eyes over-brimming with tears, rushed -unceremoniously into the _salle à manger_, calling to Margaret. - -“Madame! Madame! please come up to your room at once! The dear baby is -worse!” - -Margaret threw one agonised glance at Doctor Phillips and rushed from -the room, followed by himself and Elinor Leyton. The high staircase -seemed interminable--more than once Margaret’s legs failed under her -and she thought she should never reach the top. But she did so all too -soon. On the bed was laid the infant form, limp and lifeless, and -Martin the nurse met them at the door, bathed in tears. - -“Oh! Ma’am!” she cried, “it happened all of a minute! She was lying on -my lap, pretty dear, just as usual, when she went off in a convulsion -and died.” - -“Died, died!” echoed Margaret in a bewildered voice, “Doctor Phillips! -_who_ is it that has died?” - -“The baby, Ma’am, the dear baby! She went off like a lamb, without a -struggle! O! dear mistress, do try to bear it!” - -“Is my baby--_dead_?” said Margaret in the same dazed voice, turning to -the doctor who had already satisfied himself that the tiny heart and -pulse had ceased to beat. - -“No! my dear child, she is not dead--she is living--with God! Try to -think of her as quite happy and free from this world’s ill.” - -“O! but I _wanted_ her so--I _wanted_ her,” exclaimed the bereaved -mother, as she clasped the senseless form in her arms, “O! baby! baby! -why did you go, before you had seen your father?” - -And then she slid, rather than sank, from the bedside, in a tumbled -heap upon the floor. - -“It is better so--it will help her through it,” said Doctor Phillips, -as he directed the nurse to carry the dead child into Elinor Leyton’s -room, and placed Margaret on her own bed. “You will not object, Miss -Leyton, I am sure, and you must not leave Mrs. Pullen to-night!” - -“Of course I shall not,” replied Elinor; “I have been afraid for days -past that this would happen, but poor Margaret would not take any -hints.” - -She spoke sympathetically, but there were no tears in her eyes, and she -did not caress, nor attempt to console her friend. She did all that was -required of her, but there was no spontaneous suggestion on her part, -with regard either to the mother, or the dead child, and as Doctor -Phillips noted her coolness, he did not wonder so much at Ralph’s being -attracted by the fervour and warmth of Harriet Brandt. - -As soon as poor Margaret had revived and had her cry out, he -administered a sleeping draught to her, and leaving her in charge of -Elinor Leyton, he went downstairs again to consult Captain Pullen as to -what would be the best thing for them to do. - -Ralph was very much shocked to hear of the baby’s sudden death, and -eager to do all in his power for his brother’s wife. There was no -Protestant cemetery in Heyst, and Doctor Phillips proposed that they -should at once order a little shell, and convey the child’s body either -to Ostende or England, as Margaret might desire, for burial. The sooner -she left the place where she had lost her child, he said, the better, -and his idea was that she would wish the body to be taken to Devonshire -and buried in the quiet country churchyard, where her husband’s father -and mother were laid to sleep. He left Ralph to telegraph to his -brother in India and to anyone the news might concern in England--also -to settle all hotel claims and give notice to the Lamonts that they -would leave on the morrow. - -“But supposing Margaret should object,” suggested Ralph. - -“She will not object!” replied the Doctor, “she might if we were not -taking the child’s body with us, but as it is, she will be grateful to -be thought, and acted, for. She is a true woman, God bless her! I only -wish He had not seen fit to bring this heavy trial on her head!” - -Not a word was exchanged between the two men about Harriet Brandt. -Ralph, remembering the hint the doctor had thrown out respecting her -being the ultimate cause of the baby’s illness, did not like to bring -up her name again--felt rather guilty with respect to it, indeed--and -Doctor Phillips was only too glad to see the young man bestirring -himself to be useful, and losing sight of his own worry in the trouble -of his sister-in-law. Of course he could not have refused, or even -demurred, at accompanying his party to England on so mournful an -errand--and to do him justice, he did not wish it to be otherwise. -Brussels, and its anticipated pleasures, had been driven clean out -of his head by the little tragedy that had occurred in Heyst, and -his attitude towards Margaret when they met again, was so quietly -affectionate and brotherly that he was of infinite comfort to her. She -quite acquiesced in Doctor Phillips’ decision that her child should be -buried with her father’s family, and the mournful group with the little -coffin in their midst, set out without delay for Devonshire. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - -Harriet Brandt set off for Brussels in the best of spirits. Captain -Pullen had pledged himself to follow her in a couple of days, and had -sketched with a free hand the pleasure they would mutually enjoy in -each other’s company, without the fear of Mrs. Pullen, or Miss Leyton, -popping on them round the corner. Madame Gobelli also much flattered -her vanity by speaking of Ralph as if he were her confessed lover, and -prospective _fiancé_, so that, what with the new scenes she was passing -through, and her anticipated good fortune, Harriet was half delirious -with delight, and looked as “handsome as paint” in consequence. - -Olga Brimont, on the contrary, although quietly happy in the prospect -of keeping house for her brother, did not share in the transports -of her Convent companion. Alfred Brimont, observed, more than once, -that she seemed to visibly shrink from Miss Brandt, and took an early -opportunity of asking her the reason why. But all her answer was -conveyed in a shrug of the shoulders, and a request that he would not -leave her at the Hotel de Saxe with the rest of the party, but take her -home at once to the rooms over which she was to preside for him. In -consequence, the two Brimonts said good-bye to the Gobellis and Harriet -Brandt at the Brussels station, and drove to their apartments in the -rue de Vienne, after which the others saw no more of them. The Baroness -declared they were “a good riddance of bad rubbish,” and that she had -never liked that pasty-faced Mademoiselle Brimont, and believed that -she was jealous of the brilliancy and beauty of her dear ’Arriet. The -Baroness had conceived one of her violent, and generally short-lived, -fancies for the girl, and nothing, for the time being, was too good -for her. She praised her looks and her talents in the most extravagant -manner, and told everyone at the Hotel that the Baron and she had known -her from infancy--that she was their ward--and that they regarded her -as the daughter of the house, with various other falsehoods that made -Harriet open her dark eyes with amazement, whilst she felt that she -could not afford to put a sudden end to her friendship with Madame -Gobelli, by denying them. Brussels is a very pretty town, full of -modern and ancient interest, and there was plenty for them to see and -hear during their first days there. But Harriet was resolved to defer -visiting the best sights until Captain Pullen had joined them. - -She went to the concerts at the Quinçonce and Wauxhall, and visited -the Zoological Gardens, but she would not go to the Musée nor the -Académie des Beaux Arts, nor the Cathedral of Sainte Gudule, whilst -Ralph remained in Heyst. Madame Gobelli laughed at her for her -reticence--called her a sly cat--said she supposed they must make up -their minds to see nothing of her when the handsome Captain came to -Brussels--finally sending her off in company of Bobby to walk in the -Parc, or visit the Wiertz Museum. The Baroness was not equal to much -walking at the best of times, and had been suffering from rheumatism -lately, so that she and the Baron did most of their sight-seeing in -a carriage, and left the young people to amuse themselves. Bobby was -very proud to be elected Miss Brandt’s cavalier, and get out of the way -of his formidable Mamma, who made his _table-d’hôte_ life a terror to -him. He was a well-grown lad and not bad-looking. In his blue eyes and -white teeth, he took after his mother, but his hair was fair, and his -complexion delicate. He was an anæmic young fellow and very delicate, -being never without a husky cough, which, however, the Baroness seemed -to consider of no consequence. He hardly ever opened his mouth in -the presence of his parents, unless it were to remonstrate against -the Baroness’s strictures on his appearance, or his conduct, but -Harriet Brandt found he could be communicative enough, when he was -alone with her. He gave her lengthy descriptions of the Red House, -and the treasures which it contained--of his Mamma’s barouche lined -with satin--of the large garden which they had at Holloway, with its -greenhouses and hot-houses, and the numbers of people who came to visit -them there. - -“O! yes!” rejoined Harriet, “the Baroness has told me about them, -Prince Adalbert and Prince Loris and others! She said they often came -to the Red House! I should like to know them very much!” - -The youth looked at her in a mysterious manner. - -“Yes! they do come, very often, and plenty of other people with them; -the Earl of Watherhouse and Lord Drinkwater, and Lady Mountacue, and -more than I know the names of. But--but--did Mamma tell you _why_ they -come?” - -“No! not exactly! To see her and the Baron, I suppose!” - -“Well! yes! for that too perhaps,” stammered Bobby. “But there is -another reason. Mamma is very wonderful, you know! She can tell people -things they never knew before. And she has a room where--but I had -better not say any more. You might repeat it to her and then she would -be so angry.” The two were on their way to the Wiertz Museum at the -time, and Harriet’s curiosity was excited. - -“I will not, I promise you, Bobby,” she said, “what has the Baroness in -that room?” - -Bobby drew near enough to whisper, as he replied, - -“O! I don’t know, I daren’t say, but horrible things go on there! Mamma -has threatened sometimes to make me go in with her, but I wouldn’t for -all the world. Our servants will never stay with us long. One girl told -me before she left that Mamma was a witch, and could raise up the dead. -Do you think it can be true--that it is possible?” - -“I don’t know,” said Harriet, “and I don’t want to know! There are -no dead that _I_ want to see back again, unless indeed it were dear -old Pete, our overseer. He was the best friend I ever had. One night -our house was burned to the ground and lots of the things in it, and -old Pete wrapped me up in a blanket and carried me to his cabin in -the jungle, and kept me safe until my friends were able to send me to -the Convent. I shall never forget that. I should like to see old Pete -again, but I don’t believe the Baroness could bring him back. It wants -‘Obeah’ to do that!” - -“What is ‘Obeah,’ Miss Brandt?” - -“Witchcraft, Bobby!” - -“Is it wicked?” - -“I don’t know. I know nothing about it! But let us talk of something -else. I don’t believe your Mamma can do anything more than other -people, and she only says it to frighten you. But you mustn’t tell her -I said so. Is this the Wiertz Museum? I thought it would be a much -grander place!” - -“I heard father say that it is the house Wiertz lived in, and he left -it with all his pictures to the Belgian Government on condition they -kept it just as it was.” - -They entered the gallery, and Harriet Brandt, although not a great -lover of painting in general, stood enwrapt before most of the -pictures. She passed over the “Bouton de Rose” and the sacred paintings -with a cursory glance, but the representation of Napoleon in Hell, -being fed with the blood and bones of his victims--of the mother in -a time of famine devouring her child--and of the Suicide between his -good and evil angels, appeared to absorb all her senses. Her eyes -fixed themselves upon the canvasses, she stood before them, entranced, -enraptured, and when Bobby touched her arm as a hint to come and look -at something else, she drew a long breath as though she had been -suddenly aroused from sleep. Again and again she returned to the same -spot, the pictures holding her with a strange fascination, which she -could not shake off, and when she returned to the Hotel, she declared -the first thing she should do on the following morning, would be to -go back to the Wiertz Museum and gaze once more upon those inimitable -figures. - -“But such ’orrid subjects, my dear,” said the Baroness, “Bobby says -they were all blood and bones!” - -“But I like them--I _like_ them!” replied Harriet, moving her tongue -slowly over her lips, “they interest me! They are so life-like!” - -“Well! to-morrow will be Thursday, you know, so I expect you will have -somebody’s else’s wishes to consult! You will ’ave a letter by the -early post, you may depend upon it, to say that the Captain will be -with us by dinner-time!” - -Harriet Brandt flushed a deep rose. It was when the colour came into -her usually pale cheeks, and her eyes awakened from their slumbers and -sparkled, that she looked beautiful. On the present occasion as she -glanced up to see Bobby Bates regarding her with steadfast surprise and -curiosity, she blushed still more. - -“You’ll be ’aving a fine time of it together, you two, I expect,” -continued the Baroness facetiously, “and Bobby, ’ere, will ’ave to -content ’imself with me and his Papa! But we’ll all go to the theatre -together to-morrow night. I’ve taken five seats for the Alcazar, which -the Captain said was the house he liked best in Brussels.” - -“How good you are to me!” exclaimed Harriet, as she wound her slight -arms about the uncouth form of the Baroness. - -“Good! Nonsense! Why! Gustave and I look upon you as our daughter, and -you’re welcome to share everything that is ours. You can come and live -altogether at the Red ’Ouse, if you like! But I don’t expect we shall -keep you long, though I must say I should be vexed to see you throw -yourself away upon an army Captain before you have seen the world a -bit!” - -“O! don’t talk of such a thing, pray don’t!” said the girl, hiding -her face in the Baroness’s ample bosom, “you know there is nothing as -yet--only a pleasant friendship.” - -“He! he! he!” chuckled Madame Gobelli, “so that’s what you call a -pleasant friendship, eh? I wonder what Captain Pullen calls it! I -expect we shall ’ear in a few days. But what ’e thinks is of no -consequence, so long as _you_ don’t commit yourself, till you’ve looked -about you a little. I do want you to meet Prince Adalbert! ’Is ’air’s -like flax--such a nice contrast to yours. And you speaking French so -well! You would get on first-rate together!” - -Bobby did not appear to like this conversation at all. - -“I call Prince Adalbert hideous,” he interposed. “Why! his face is as -red as a tomato, and he drinks too much. I’ve heard Papa say so! I am -sure Miss Brandt wouldn’t like him.” - -“’Old your tongue,” exclaimed the Baroness, angrily, “’Ow dare you -interrupt when I’m speaking to Miss Brandt? A child like you! What -next, I wonder! Just mind your own business, Bobby, or I’ll send you -out of the room. Go away now, do, and amuse yourself! We don’t want any -boys ’ere!” - -“Miss Brandt is going into the Parc with me,” said Bobby sturdily. - -“Ah! well, if she is going to be so good, I ’ope you won’t worry ’er, -that’s all! But if you would prefer to come out in the carriage with -the Baron and me, my dear, we’ll take a drive to the Bois de Cambres.” - -“All right, if Bobby can come too,” acquiesced Harriet. - -“Lor! whatever do you want that boy to come with us for? ’E’ll only -take up all the room with ’is long legs.” - -“But we mustn’t leave him alone,” said the girl, kindly, “I shouldn’t -enjoy my drive if we were to do so!” - -The lad gave her a grateful glance through eyes that were already moist -with the prospect of disappointment. - -“Very well then,” said Madame Gobelli, “if you will ’ave your own way, -’e may come, but you must take all the trouble of ’im, ’Arriet, mind -that!” - -Bobby was only too happy to accompany the party, even in these -humiliating circumstances, and they all set out together for the Bois -de Cambres. The next day was looked forward to by Harriet Brandt as -one of certain happiness, but the morning post arrived without bringing -the anticipated notice from Ralph Pullen that he should join them as -arranged in the afternoon. The piteous eyes that she lifted to the -Baroness’s face as she discovered the defalcation, were enough to -excite the compassion of anyone. - -“It’s all right!” said her friend, across the breakfast table, “’E said -’e would come, so there’s no need of writing. Besides, it was much -safer not! ’E couldn’t stir, I daresay, without one of those two cats, -Mrs. Pullen or Miss Leyton, at ’is elbow, so ’e thought they might find -out what ’e was after, and prevent ’is starting. Say they wanted to -leave ’Eyst or something, just to keep ’im at their side! You mark my -words, I’ve means of finding out things that you know nothing of, and -I’ve just seen it written over your ’ead that ’e’ll be ’ere by dinner -time, so you can go out for your morning’s jaunt in perfect comfort!” - -Harriet brightened up at this prophecy, and Bobby had never had a -merrier time with her than he had that morning. - -But the prophecy was not fulfilled. Ralph Pullen was by that time -in England with his bereaved sister-in-law, and the night arrived -without the people in Brussels hearing anything of him. He had not -even written a line to account for his failure to keep his engagement -with them. The fact is that Captain Pullen, although as a rule most -punctilious in all matters of courtesy, felt so ashamed of himself -and the folly into which he had been led, that he felt that silence -would be the best explanation that he had decided to break off the -acquaintanceship. He had no real feeling for Harriet Brandt or anybody -(except himself)--with him “out of sight” was “out of mind”--and the -sad occurrence which had forced him to return to England seemed an -excellent opportunity to rid himself of an undesirable entanglement. -But Harriet became frantic at the nonfulfilment of his promise. Her -strong feelings could not brook delay. She wanted to rush back to Heyst -to demand the reason of his defalcation--and in default of that, to -write, or wire to him at once and ascertain what he intended to do. But -the Baroness prevented her doing either. - -“Look ’ere, ’Arriet!” she said to the girl, who was working herself up -into a fever, “it’s no use going on like this! ’E’ll come or ’e won’t -come! Most likely you’ll see ’im to-morrow or next day, and if not, -it’ll be because ’is sister won’t let ’im leave ’er, and the poor young -man doesn’t know what excuse to make! Couldn’t you see ’ow that Doctor -Phillips was set against the Captain joining us? ’E went most likely -and told Mrs. Pullen, and she ’as dissuaded her brother from coming -to Brussels. It’s ’ard for a man to go against ’is own relations, you -know!” - -“But he should have written,” pleaded Harriet, “it makes me look a -fool!” - -“Not a bit of it! Captain Pullen thinks you no fool. ’E’s more likely -to be thinking ’imself one. And, after all, you know, we shall be going -back to ’Eyst in a couple more days, and then you can ’ave ’im all to -yourself in the evenings and scold ’im to your ’eart’s content!” - -But the girl was not made of the stuff that is amenable to reason. She -pouted and raved and denounced Ralph Pullen like a fury, declaring she -would not speak to him when they met again,--yet lay awake at night all -the same, wondering what had detained him from her side, and longing -with the fierceness of a tigress for blood, to feel his lips against -her own and to hear him say that he adored her. Bobby Bates stood by -during this tempestuous time, very sorrowful and rather perplexed. He -was not admitted to the confidence of his mother and her young friend, -so that he did not quite understand why Harriet Brandt should have so -suddenly changed from gay to grave, just because Captain Pullen was -unable to keep his promise to join them at Brussels. He had so enjoyed -her company hitherto and she had seemed to enjoy his, but now she bore -the gloomiest face possible, and it was no pleasure to go out with her -at all. He wondered if all girls were so--as capricious and changeable! -Bobby had not seen much of women. He had been kept in the schoolroom -for the better part of his life, and his Mamma had not impressed him -with a great admiration for the sex. So, naturally, he thought Harriet -Brandt to be the most charming and beautiful creature he had ever seen, -though he was too shy to whisper the truth, even to himself. He tried -to bring back the smiles to her face in his boyish way, and the gift of -an abnormally large and long _sucre de pomme_ really did achieve that -object better than anything else. But the defalcation of Captain Pullen -made them all lose their interest in Brussels, and they returned to -Heyst a day sooner than they had intended. - -As the train neared the station, Harriet’s forgotten smiles began to -dimple her face again, and she peered eagerly from the windows of the -carriage, as if she expected Ralph Pullen to be on the platform to -meet them. But from end to end, she saw only cinders, Flemish country -women with huge baskets of fish or poultry on their arms, priests in -their _soutanes_ and broad-brimmed hats, and Belgians chattering and -screaming to each other and their children, as they crossed the line. -Still, she alighted with her party, expectant and happy, and traversed -the little distance between the _entrepôt_ and the Hotel, far quicker -than the Baroness and her husband could keep up with her. She rushed -into the balcony and almost fell into the arms of the _proprietaire_, -Madame Lamont. - -“Ah! Mademoiselle!” she cried, “welcome back to Heyst, but have you -heard the desolating news?” - -“What news?” exclaimed Harriet with staring eyes and a blanched cheek. - -“Why! that the English lady, _cette Madame, si tranquille, si -charmante_, lost her dear _bébé_ the very day that Mademoiselle and -Madame la Baronne left the Hotel!” - -“Lost,” repeated Harriet, “do you mean that the child is _dead_?” - -“Ah! yes, I do indeed,” replied Madame Lamont, “the dear _bébé_ was -taken with a fit whilst they were all at dinner, and never recovered -again. _C’était une perte irréparable!_ Madame was like a creature -distracted whilst she remained here!” - -“Where is she then? Where has she gone?” cried Harriet, excitedly. - -“Ah! that I cannot tell Mademoiselle. The dear _bébé_ was taken -away to England to be buried. Madame Pullen and Mademoiselle Leyton -and Monsieur Phillippe and _le beau Capitaine_ all left Heyst on the -following day, that is Wednesday, and went to Ostende to take the boat -for Dover. I know no more!” - -“Captain Pullen has gone away--he is not here?” exclaimed Miss Brandt, -betraying herself in her disappointment. “Oh! I don’t believe it! -It cannot be true! He has gone to Ostende to see them on board the -steamer, but he will return--I am sure he will?” - -Madame Lamont shrugged her shoulders. - -“Monsieur paid everything before he went and gave _douceurs_ to all the -servants--I do not think he has any intention of returning!” - -At that juncture the Baron and Baroness reached the hotel. Harriet flew -to her friend for consolation. - -“I cannot believe what Madame Lamont says,” she exclaimed; “she -declares that they are all gone for good, Mrs. Pullen and Miss Leyton -and Captain Pullen and the doctor! They have returned to England. But -he is sure to come back, isn’t he? after all his promises to meet us in -Brussels! He couldn’t be so mean as to run off to England, without a -word, or a line, unless he intended to come back.” - -She clung to Madame Gobelli with her eyes wide open and her large mouth -trembling with agitation, until even the coarse fibre of the Baroness’s -propriety made her feel ashamed of the exhibition. - -“’Ould up, ’Arriet!” she said, “you don’t want the ’ole ’ouse to -’ear what you’re thinking of, surely! Let me speak to Madame Lamont! -What is all the row about, Madame?” she continued, turning to the -_proprietaire_. - -“There is no ‘row’ at all, Madame,” was the reply, “I was only telling -Mademoiselle Brandt of the sad event that has taken place here during -your absence--that that _chère_ Madame Pullen had the great misfortune -to lose her sweet _bébé_, the very day you left Heyst, and that the -whole party have quitted in consequence and crossed to England. I -thought since Mademoiselle seemed so intimate with Madame Pullen and -so fond of the dear child, that she would be _désolée_ to hear the sad -news, but she appears to have forgotten all about it, in her grief at -hearing that the _beau Capitaine_ accompanied his family to England -where they go to bury the _petite_.” - -And with rather a contemptuous smile upon her face, Madame Lamont -re-entered the _salle à manger_. - -“Now, ’Arriet, don’t make a fool of yourself!” said the Baroness. “You -’eard what that woman said--she’s laughing at you and your Captain, and -the story will be all over the Hotel in half an hour. Don’t make any -more fuss about it! If ’e’s gone, crying won’t bring ’im back. It’s -much ’arder for Mrs. Pullen, losing her baby so suddenly! I’m sorry for -’er, poor woman, but as for the other, there’s as good fish in the sea -as ever came out of it!” - -But Harriet Brandt only answered her appeal by rushing away down the -corridor and up the staircase to her bedroom like a whirlwind. The girl -had not the slightest control over her passions. She would listen to -no persuasion, and argument only drove her mad. She tumbled headlong -up the stairs, and dashing into her room, which had been reserved for -her, threw herself tumultuously upon the bed. How lonely and horrible -the corridor, on which her apartment opened, seemed. Olga Brimont, Mrs. -Pullen, Miss Leyton, and Ralph, all gone! No one to talk to--no one -to walk with--except the Baroness and her stupid husband! Of course -this interpreted simply, meant that Captain Pullen had left the place -without leaving a word behind him, to say the why or wherefore, or hold -out any prospect of their meeting again. Of course it was impossible -but that they must meet again--they _should_ meet again, Harriet -Brandt said to herself between her closed teeth--but meanwhile, what -a wilderness, what a barren, dreary place this detestable Heyst would -seem without him! - -The girl put her head down on the pillow, and taking the corner of -the linen case between her strong, white teeth, shook it and bit it, -as a terrier worries a rat! But that did not relieve her feelings -sufficiently, and she took to a violent fit of sobbing, hot, angry -tears coursing each other down her cheeks, until they were blurred and -stained, and she lay back upon the pillow utterly exhausted. - -The first dinner bell rang without her taking any notice of it, and -the second was just about to sound, when there came a low tap at her -bedroom door. At first she did not reply, but when it was repeated, -though rather timidly, she called out, - -“Who is it? I am ill. I don’t want any dinner! I cannot come down!” - -A low voice answered. - -“It is _I_, dear Miss Brandt, Bobby! May I come in? Mamma has sent me -to you with a message!” - -“Very well! You can enter, but I have a terrible headache!” said -Harriet. - -The door opened softly, and the tall lanky form of Bobby Bates crept -silently into the room. He held a small bunch of pink roses in his -hand, and he advanced to the bedside and laid them without a word on -the pillow beside her hot, inflamed cheek. They felt deliciously cool -and refreshing. Harriet turned her face towards them, and in doing so, -met the anxious, perturbed eyes of Bobby. - -“Well!” she said smiling faintly, “and what is your Mamma’s message?” - -“She wishes to know if you are coming down to dinner. It is nearly -ready!” - -“No! no! I cannot! I am not hungry, and my eyes are painful,” replied -Harriet, turning her face slightly away. - -The lad rose and drew down the blind of her window, through which the -setting sun was casting a stream of light, and then captured a _flacon_ -of eau de Cologne from her toilet-table, and brought it to her in his -hand. - -“May I sit beside you a little while in case you need anything?” he -asked. - -“No! no! Bobby! You will want your dinner, and your Mamma will want -you. You had better go down again at once, and tell her that if my head -is better, I will meet her on the Digue this evening!” - -“I don’t want any dinner, I could not eat it whilst you lie here sick -and unhappy. I want to stay, to see if I can help you, or do you any -good. I wish--I _wish_ I could!” murmured the lad. - -“Your roses have done me good already,” replied Harriet, more brightly. -“It was sweet of you to bring them to me, Bobby.” - -“I wish I had ten thousand pounds a year,” said Bobby feverishly, “that -I might bring you roses, and everything that you like best!” - -He laid his blonde head on the pillow by the side of hers and Harriet -turned her face to his and kissed him. - -The blood rushed into his face, and he trembled. It was the first time -that any woman had kissed him. And all the feelings of his manhood -rushed forth in a body to greet the creature who had awakened them. - -As for Harriet Brandt, the boy’s evident admiration flattered and -pleased her. The tigress deprived of blood, will sometimes condescend -to milder food. And the feelings with which she regarded Captain Pullen -were such as could be easily replaced by anyone who evinced the same -reciprocity. Bobby Bates was not a _beau sabreur_, but he was a male -creature whom she had vanquished by her charms, and it interested her -to watch his rising passion, and to know that he could never possibly -expect it to be requited. She kissed and fondled him as he sat beside -her with his head on the pillow--calling him every nice name she could -think of, and caressing him as if he had been what the Baroness chose -to consider him--a child of ten years old. - -His sympathy and entreaties that she would make an effort to join them -on the Digue, added to his lovelorn eyes, the clear childish blue of -which was already becoming blurred with the heat of passion, convinced -her that all was not lost, although Ralph Pullen _had_ been ungrateful -and impolite enough to leave Heyst without sending her notice, and -presently she persuaded the lad to go down to his dinner, and inform -the Baroness that she had ordered a cup of tea to be sent up to her -bedroom, and would try to rise after she had taken it, and join them -on the Digue. - -“But you will keep a look-out for me, Bobby, won’t you?” she said in -parting. “You will not let me miss your party, or I shall feel so -lonely that I shall come straight back to bed!” - -“Miss you! as if I would!” exclaimed the boy fervently, “why, I shall -not stir from the balcony until you appear! O! Miss Brandt! I love you -so. You cannot tell--you will never know--but you seem like part of my -life!” - -“Silly boy!” replied Harriet, reproachfully, as she gave him another -kiss. “There, run away at once, and don’t tell your mother what we’ve -been about, or she will never let me speak to you again.” - -Bobby’s eyes answered for him, that he would be torn to pieces before -he let their precious secret out of his grasp, as he took his unwilling -way down to the _table d’hôte_. - -“Well! you _’ave_ made a little fool of yourself, and no mistake,” -was the Baroness’s greeting, as Harriet joined her in the balcony an -hour later, “and a nice lot of lies I’ve ’ad to tell about you to Mrs. -Montague and the rest. But luckily, they’re all so full of the poor -child’s death, and the coffin of white cloth studded with silver nails -that was brought from Bruges to carry the body to England in, that -they ’ad no time to spare for your tantrums. Lor! that poor young man -must ’ave ’ad enough to do, I can tell you, from all accounts, without -writing to you! Everything was on ’is ’ands, for Mrs. Pullen wouldn’t -let the doctor out of ’er sight! ’E ’ad to fly off to Bruges to get the -coffin and to wire half over the world, besides ’aving the two women -to tow about, so you mustn’t be ’ard on ’im. ’E’ll write soon, and -explain everything, you may make sure of that, and if ’e don’t, why, we -shall be after ’im before long! Aldershot, where the Limerick Rangers -are quartered, is within a stone’s throw of London, and Lord Menzies -and Mr. Nalgett often run over to the Red ’Ouse, and so can Captain -Pullen, if he chooses! So you just make yourself ’appy, and it will be -all right before long.” - -“O! I’m all right!” cried Harriet, gaily, “I was only a little startled -at the news, so would anyone have been. Come along, Bobby! Let us walk -over the dunes to the next town. This cool air will do my head good. -Good-bye, Baroness! You needn’t expect us till you see us! Bobby and I -are going for a good long walk!” - -And tucking the lad’s arm under her own, she walked off at a tremendous -pace, and the pair were soon lost to view. - -“I wish that Bobby was a few years older,” remarked the Baroness -thoughtfully to her husband, as they were left alone, “she wouldn’t -’ave made a bad match for him, for she ’as a tidy little fortune, and -it’s all in Consols. But perhaps it’s just as well there’s no chance -of it! She ain’t got much ’eart--I couldn’t ’ave believed that she’d -receive the news of that poor baby’s death, without a tear or so much -as a word of regret, when at one time she ’ad it always in ’er arms. -She quite forgot all about it, thinking of the man. Drat the men! -They’re more trouble than they’re worth, but ’e’s pretty sure to come -after ’er as soon as ’e ’ears she’s at the Red ’Ouse!” - -“But to what good, mein tear,” demanded the Baron, “when you know he is -betrothed to Miss Leyton?” - -“Yes! and ’e’ll marry Miss Leyton, too. ’E’s not the sort of man to -let the main chance go! And ’Arriet will console ’erself with a better -beau. I can read all that without your telling me, Gustave. But Miss -Leyton won’t get off without a scratch or two, all the same, and that’s -what I’m aiming at. I’ll teach ’er not to call me a female elephant! -I’ve got my knife into that young woman, and I mean to turn it! -Confound ’er impudence! What next?” - -And having delivered herself of her feelings, the Baroness rose and -proceeded to take her evening promenade along the Digue. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - -The Red House at Holloway was, like its owner, a contradiction and -an anomaly. It had lain for many years in Chancery, neglected and -uncared-for, and the Baroness had purchased it for a song. She was -very fond of driving bargains, and sometimes she was horribly taken -in. She had been known to buy a house for two thousand pounds for a -mere caprice, and exchange it, six months afterwards, for a dinner -service. But as a rule she was too shrewd to be cheated, for her income -was not a tenth part of what she represented. When she had concluded -her bargain for the Red House, which she did after a single survey -of the premises, and entered on possession, she found it would take -double the sum she had paid to put it into proper repair. It was a -very old house of the Georgian era standing in its own grounds of -about a couple of acres, and containing thirty rooms, full of dust, -damp, rats, and decay. The Baroness, however, having sent for a couple -of workmen from the firm, to put the tangled wilderness which called -itself a garden, into something like order, sent in all her household -gods, and settled down there, with William and two rough maid servants, -as lady of the Manor. The inside of the Red House presented an -incongruous appearance. This extraordinary woman, who could not sound -her aspirates and could hardly write her own name, had a wonderful -taste for old china and pictures, and knew a good thing from a bad -one. Her drawing-room was heaped with valuables, many of them piled on -rickety tables which threatened every minute to overturn them upon the -ground. The entrance hall was dingy, bare, and ill-lighted, and the -breakfast-room to the side was furnished with the merest necessities. -Yet the dressing-table in the Baroness’s sleeping apartment was draped -in ruby velvet, and trimmed with a flounce of the most costly Brussels -lace, which a Princess might not have been ashamed to wear. The bed was -covered with a _duvet_ of the thickest satin, richly embroidered by -her own hand, whilst the washing-stand held a set of the commonest and -cheapest crockery. Everything about the house was on the same scale; -it looked as though it belonged to people who had fallen from the -utmost affluence to the depths of poverty. Harriet Brandt was terribly -disappointed when she entered it, Bobby’s accounts of the magnificence -of his home having led her to expect nothing short of a palace. - -The Baroness had insisted on her accompanying them to England. She -had taken one of her violent fancies to the girl, and nothing would -satisfy her but that Harriet should go back with her husband and -herself to the Red House, and stay there as long as she chose. - -“Now look ’ere,” she said in her rough way, “you must make the Red -’Ouse your ’ome. Liberty ’All, as I call it! Get up and go to bed; go -out and come in, just when you see fit--do what you like, see what you -like, and invite your friends, as if the ’ouse was your own. The Baron -and I are often ’alf the day at the boot shop, but that need make no -difference to you. I daresay you’ll find some way to amuse yourself. -You’re the daughter of the ’ouse, remember, and free to do as you -choose!” - -Harriet gladly accepted the offer. She had no friends of her own to -go to, and the prospect of living by herself, in an unknown city, was -rather lonely. She was full of anticipation also that by means of the -Red House and the Baroness’s influence, she would soon hear of, or see, -Captain Pullen again--full of hope that Madame Gobelli would write -to the young man and force him to fulfil the promises he had made to -her. She did not want to know Prince Adalbert or Prince Loris--at the -present moment, it was Ralph and Ralph only, and none other would fill -the void she felt at losing him. She was sure there must be some great -mistake at the bottom of his strange silence, and that they had but to -meet, to see it rectified. She was only too glad then, when the day for -their departure from Heyst arrived. Most of the English party had left -the Lion d’Or by that time. The death of Mrs. Pullen’s child seemed -to have frightened them away. Some became nervous lest little Ethel -had inhaled poisonous vapours from the drainage--others thought that -the atmosphere was unhealthy, or that it was getting too late in the -year for the seaside, and so the visitors dwindled, until the Baroness -Gobelli found they were left alone with foreigners, and elected to -return to England in consequence. - -Harriet had wished to write to Captain Pullen and ask for an -explanation of his conduct, but the Baroness conjured her not to do so, -even threatened to withdraw her friendship, if the girl went against -her advice. The probabilities were, she said, that the young man was -staying with his sister-in-law wherever she might be, and that the -letter would be forwarded to him from the Camp, and fall into the hands -of Mrs. Pullen, or Miss Leyton. She assured Harriet that it would be -safer to wait until she had ascertained his address, and was sure that -any communication would reach him at first hand. - -“A man’s never the worse for being let alone, ’Arriet,” she said. -“Don’t let ’im think ’e’s of too much consequence and ’e’ll value you -all the more! Our fellows don’t care for the bird that walks up to the -gun. A little ’olesome indifference will do my gentleman all the good -in the world!” - -“O! but how _can_ I be indifferent, when I am burning to see him -again, and to hear why he never wrote to say that he could not come -to Brussels,” exclaimed Harriet, excitedly. “Do you think it was all -falsehoods, Madame Gobelli? Do you think that he does not want to see -me any more?” - -Her eyes were flashing like diamonds--her cheeks and hands were burning -hot. The Baroness chuckled over her ardour and anxiety. - -“He! he! he! you little fool, no, I don’t! Anyone could see with ’alf -an eye, that he took a fancy for you! You’re the sort of stuff to stir -up a man and make ’im forget everything but yourself. Now don’t you -worry. ’E’ll be at the Red ’Ouse like a shot, as soon as ’e ’ears we’re -back in London. Mark my words! it won’t be long before we ’ave the ’ole -lot of ’em down on us, like bees ’umming round a flower pot.” - -After this flattering tale, it was disheartening to arrive in town on -a chilly September day, under a pouring rain, and to see the desolate -appearance presented by the Red House. - -It was seven in the evening before they reached Holloway, and drove up -the dark carriage drive, clumped by laurels, to the hall door. - -After the grand description given by Bobby of his Mamma’s barouche -lined with olive green satin, Harriet was rather astonished that they -should have to charter cabs from the Victoria Station to Holloway, -instead of being met by the Baroness’s private carriage. But she -discovered afterwards that though there was a barouche standing in -the coach-house, which had been purchased in a moment of reckless -extravagance by Madame Gobelli, there were no horses to draw it, and -the only vehicle kept by the Baroness was a very much patched, not to -say disreputable looking Victoria, with a spavined cob attached to it, -in which William drove the mistress when she visited the boot premises. - -The chain having been taken down, the hall door was opened to them -by a slight, timid looking person, whom Harriet mistook for an upper -housemaid. - -“Well, Miss Wynward,” exclaimed the Baroness, as she stumped into the -hall, “’ere we are, you see!” - -“Yes! my lady,” said the person she addressed, “but I thought, from not -hearing again, that you would travel by the night boat! Your rooms are -ready,” she hastened to add, “only--dinner, you see! I had no orders -about it!” - -“That doesn’t signify,” interrupted the Baroness, “send out for a steak -and give us some supper instead! ’Ere William, where are you? Take my -bag and Miss Brandt’s up to our rooms, and, Gustave, you can carry the -wraps! Where’s that devil Bobby? Come ’ere at once and make yourself -useful! What are you standing there, staring at ’Arriet for? Don’t you -see Miss Wynward? Go and say ‘’ow d’ye do’ to ’er?” - -Bobby started, and crossing to where Miss Wynward stood, held out his -hand. She shook it warmly. - -“How are you, Bobby?” she said. “You don’t look much stronger for your -trip. I expected to see you come back with a colour!” - -“Nonsense!” commenced the Baroness testily, “what rubbish you old maids -do talk! What should you know about boys? ’Ow many ’ave _you_ got? -’Ere, why don’t you kiss ’im? You’ve smacked ’im often enough, _I_ -know!” - -Miss Wynward tried to pass the coarse rejoinder off as a joke, but it -was with a very plaintive smile that she replied, - -“I think Bobby is growing rather too tall to be kissed, and he thinks -so too, don’t you, Bobby?” - -Bobby was about to make some silly reply, when his Mamma interrupted -him, - -“Oh! does he? ’E’ll be wanting to kiss the gals soon, so ’e may as -well practise on you first! Come! Bobby, do you ’ear what I say? Kiss -’er!” - -But Miss Wynward drew up her spare figure with dignity. - -“No! my lady!” she said quietly, “I do not wish it!” - -“He! he! he!” giggled the Baroness, as she commenced to mount the -stairs, “’e ain’t old enough for you, that’s what’s the matter! Come -along, ’Arriet, my dear! I’m dog-tired and I daresay you’re much the -same! Let us ’ave some ’ot water to our rooms, Miss Wynward!” - -Harriet Brandt was now ushered by her hostess into a bedroom on the -same floor as her own, and left to unpack her bundles and boxes as -she best might. It was not a badly furnished room, but there was too -much pomp and too little comfort in it. The mantelshelf was ornamented -with some rare old Chelsea figures, and a Venetian glass hung above -them, but the carpet was threadbare, and the dressing-table was -inconveniently small and of painted deal. But as though to atone for -these discrepancies, the hangings to the bed were of satin, and the -blind that shaded the window was edged with Neapolitan lace. Harriet -had not been used to luxuries in the Convent, but her rooms in the Lion -d’Or had been amply provided with all she could need, and she was a -creature of sensual and indolent temperament, who felt any rebuff, in -the way of her comfort, terribly. - -There was an un-homelike feeling in the Red House and its furniture, -and a coldness in their reception, which made the passionate, excited -creature feel inclined to sit down and burst into tears. She was on -the very brink of doing so, when a tap sounded on the door, and Miss -Wynward entered with a zinc can of hot water, which she placed on the -washing-stand. Then she stood for a moment regarding the girl as though -she guessed what was in her mind, before she said, - -“Miss Brandt, I believe! I am so sorry that the Baroness never wrote -me with any certainty regarding her arrival, or things would have been -more comfortable. I hope you had a good dinner on board!” - -“No!” said Harriet, shaking her head, “I felt too ill to eat. But it -does not signify, thank you!” - -“But you are looking quite upset! Supper cannot be ready for another -hour. I will go and make you a cup of tea!” - -She hurried from the room again, and presently returned with a small -tray on which was set a Sèvres cup and saucer and Apostle teaspoon, -with an earthenware teapot that may possibly have cost sixpence. But -Harriet was too grateful for the tea to cavil whence it came, and -drinking it refreshed her more than anything else could have done. - -“Thank you, thank you so much,” she said to Miss Wynward, “I think the -long journey and the boat had been too much for me. I feel much better -now!” - -“It is such a melancholy house to come to when one is out of sorts,” -observed her companion, “I have felt that myself! It will not give you -a good impression of your first visit to London. Her ladyship wrote me -you had just come from the West Indies,” she added, timidly. - -“Yes! I have not long arrived in Europe,” replied Harriet. “But I -thought--I fancied--the Baroness gave me the idea that the Red House -was particularly gay and cheerful, and that so many people visited her -here!” - -“That is true! A great many people visit here! But--not such people, -perhaps, as a young lady would care for!” - -“O! I care for every sort,” said Harriet, more gaily, “and you,--don’t -you care for company, Miss Wynward?” - -“I have nothing to do with it, Miss Brandt, beyond seeing that the -proper preparations are made for receiving it. I am Bobby’s governess, -and housekeeper to the Baroness!” - -“Bobby is getting rather tall for a governess!” laughed Harriet. - -“He is, poor boy, but his education is very deficient. He ought to have -been sent to school long ago, but her ladyship would not hear of it. -But I never teach him now. He is supposed to be finished!” - -“Why don’t you find another situation then?” demanded Harriet, who was -becoming interested in the ex-governess. - -She was a fragile, melancholy looking woman of perhaps five-and-thirty, -who had evidently been good-looking in her day and would have been so -then but for her attenuation, and shabby dress. But she was evidently a -gentlewoman, and far above the menial offices she appeared to fill in -the Red House. She gazed at Harriet for a minute in silence after she -had put the last question to her, and then answered slowly: - -“There are reasons which render it unadvisable. But you, Miss Brandt, -have you known the Baroness before?” - -“I never saw her till we met at Heyst and she invited me here,” replied -the girl. - -“O! why did you come? Why did you come?” exclaimed Miss Wynward, as she -left the room. - -Harriet stood gazing at the door as it closed behind her. _Why had -she come?_ What an extraordinary question to ask her! For the same -reason that other people accepted invitations to them by their -friends--because she expected to enjoy herself, and have the protection -of the Baroness on first entering English society! But why should this -governess--her dependant, almost her servant--put so strange a question -to her? Why had she come? She could not get it out of her mind. She was -roused from her train of speculation by hearing the Baroness thumping -on the outside panels of her door with her stick. - -“Come along,” she cried, “never mind dressing! The supper’s ready at -last and I’m as ’ungry as an ’unter.” - -Hastily completing her toilet, Harriet joined her hostess, who -conducted her down to a large dining-room, wrapt in gloom. The two -dozen morocco chairs ranged against the wall, looked sepulchral by -the light of a single lamp, placed in the centre of a long mahogany -table, which was graced by a fried steak, a huge piece of cheese, -bread and butter, and lettuces from the garden. Harriet regarded the -preparations for supper with secret dismay. She was greedy by nature, -but it was the love of good feeding, rather than a superfluity of food, -that induced her to be so. However, when the Baron produced a couple -of bottles of the very best Champagne to add to the meal, she felt her -appetite somewhat revive, and played almost as good a knife and fork -as the Baroness. Bobby and Miss Wynward, who as it appeared, took her -meals with the family, were the only ones who did not do justice to the -supper. - -The lad looked worn-out and very pale, but when Miss Wynward suggested -that a glass of champagne might do him good, and dispel the exhaustion -under which he was evidently labouring, his mother vehemently opposed -the idea. - -“Champagne for a child like ’im,” she cried, “I never ’eard of such -a thing. Do you want to make ’im a drunkard, Miss Wynward? No! thank -you, there ’ave been no ’ard drinkers in _our_ family, and ’e shan’t -begin it! ’Is father was one of the soberest men alive! ’E never took -anything stronger than toast and water all the time I knew ’im.” - -“Of course not, your ladyship,” stammered Miss Wynward, who seemed in -abject fear of her employer, “I only thought as Bobby seems so very -tired, that a little stimulant----” - -“Then let ’im go to bed,” replied Madame Gobelli. “Bed is the proper -place for boys when they’re tired! Come, Sir, off to bed with you, -at once, and don’t let me ’ear anything more of you till to-morrow -morning!” - -“But mayn’t I have some supper?” pleaded Bobby. - -“Not a bit of it!” reiterated the Baroness, “if you’re so done up that -you require champagne, your stomach can’t be in a fit state to digest -beef and bread! Be off at once, I say, or you’ll get a taste of my -stick.” - -“But, my lady--” said Miss Wynward, entreatingly. - -“It’s not a bit of good, Miss Wynward, I know more about boys’ insides -than you do. Sleep’s the thing for Bobby. Now, no more nonsense, I -say--” - -But Bobby, after one long look at Harriet Brandt, had already quitted -the room. This episode had the effect of destroying Miss Wynward’s -appetite. She sat gazing at her plate for a few minutes, and then with -some murmured excuse of its being late, she rose and disappeared. The -Baroness was some time over her meal, and Harriet had an opportunity -to examine the apartment they sat in, as well as the dim light allowed -her to do. The walls were covered with oil paintings and good ones, -as she could see at a glance, whilst at the further end, where narrow -shelves were fixed from the floor to the ceiling, was displayed the -famous dinner service of Sèvres, for which the Baroness was said to -have bartered the two thousand lease of her house. - -Harriet glanced from the pictures and the china upon the walls to -the steak and bread and cheese upon the table, and marvelled at the -incongruity of the whole establishment. Madame Gobelli who, whilst at -the Lion d’Or, had appeared to think nothing good enough for her, was -now devouring fried steak and onions, as if they had been the daintiest -of fare. But the champagne made amends, on that night at least, for the -solids which accompanied it, and the girl was quite ready to believe -that the poverty of the table was only due to the fact that they had -arrived at the Red House unexpectedly. As they reached the upper -corridor, her host and hostess parted with her, with much effusion, -and passing into their own room, shut the door and locked it noisily. -As Harriet gained hers, she saw the door opposite partly unclose to -display poor Bobby standing there to see her once again. - -He was clothed only in his long night-shirt, and looked like a lanky -ghost, but he was too childish in mind to think for one moment that his -garb was not a suitable one for a lover to accost his mistress in. She -heard him whisper her name as she turned the handle of her own door. - -“Why, Bobby,” she exclaimed, “not in bed yet?” - -“Hush! hush!” he said in a low voice, “or Mamma will hear you! I -couldn’t sleep till I had seen you again and wished you good-night!” - -“Poor dear boy! Are you not very hungry?” - -“No, thanks. Miss Wynward is very kind to me. She has seen after that. -But to leave without a word to you. That was the hard part of it!” - -“Poor Bobby!” ejaculated Harriet again, drawing nearer to him. “But you -must not stay out of bed. You will catch your death of cold!” - -“Kiss me then and I will go!” - -He advanced his face to the opening of the door, and she put her lips -to his, and drew his breath away with her own. - -“Good-night! good-night!” murmured Bobby with a long sigh. “God bless -you! good-night!” and then he disappeared, and Harriet entered her own -room, and her eyes gleamed, as she recognised the fact that Bobby also -was going to make a fool of himself for her sake. - -The next morning she was surprised on going downstairs at about nine -o’clock, to find a cloth laid over only part of the dining table, and -breakfast evidently prepared for one person. She was still gazing at it -in astonishment, and wondering what it meant, when Miss Wynward entered -the room, to express a hope that Miss Brandt had slept well and had -everything that she required. - -“O! certainly yes! but where are we going to have breakfast?” - -“Here, Miss Brandt, if it pleases you. I was just about to ask what you -would like for your breakfast.” - -“But the Baron and Baroness--” - -“O! they started for the manufactory two hours ago. Her ladyship is a -very early riser when at home, and they have some four miles to drive.” - -“The manufactory!” echoed Harriet, “do you mean where they make the -boots and shoes?” - -“Yes! There is a manufactory in Germany, and another in England, where -the boots and shoes are finished off. And then there is the shop in -Oxford Street, where they are sold. The Baron’s business is a very -extensive one!” - -“So I have understood, but what good can Madame Gobelli do there? What -can a woman know about such things?” - -Miss Wynward shrugged her shoulders. - -“She looks after the young women who are employed, I believe, and keeps -them up to their work. The Baroness is a very clever woman. She knows -something about most things--and a good deal that were better left -unknown,” she added, with a sigh. - -“And does she go there every morning?” - -“Not always, but as a rule she does. She likes to have a finger in the -pie, and fancies that nothing can go on properly without her. And she -is right so far that she has a much better head for business than the -Baron, who would like to be out of it all if he could!” - -“But why can’t he give it up then, since they are so very rich?” -demanded Harriet. - -Miss Wynward regarded her for a moment, as if she wondered who had -given her the information, and then said quietly, - -“But all this time we are forgetting your breakfast, Miss Brandt! What -will you take? An egg, or a piece of bacon?” - -“O! I don’t care,” replied Harriet, yawning, “I never can eat when I am -alone! Where is Bobby? Won’t he take his breakfast with me?” - -“O! he had his long ago with his Mamma, but I daresay he would not mind -a second edition, poor boy!” - -She walked to the French windows which opened from a rustic porch to -the lawn, and called “Bobby! Bobby!” - -“Yes, Miss Wynward,” replied the lad in a more cheerful tone than -Harriet remembered to have ever heard him use before, “what is it?” - -“Come in, my dear, and keep Miss Brandt company, whilst she takes her -breakfast!” - -“Won’t I!” cried Bobby, as he came running from the further end of the -disorderly garden, with a bunch of flowers. - -“They are for you!” he exclaimed, as he put them into Harriet’s hand, -“I gathered them on purpose!” - -“Thank you, Bobby,” she replied. “It _was_ kind of you!” - -She felt cheered by the simple attention. For her hostess to have -left her on the very first morning, without a word of explanation, -had struck her as looking very much (notwithstanding all the effusive -flattery and protestations of attachment with which she had been laden) -as if she were not wanted at the Red House. - -But when her morning meal was over, and she had been introduced to -every part of the establishment under the chaperonage of Bobby--to the -tangled, overgrown garden, the empty stables, Papa’s library, which -was filled with French and German books, and Mamma’s drawing-room, -which was so full of valuable china that one scarcely dared move freely -about it--the burning thirst to see, or hear something of Ralph Pullen -returned with full force upon Harriet, and she enquired eagerly of Miss -Wynward when her hostess might be expected to return. - -Miss Wynward looked rather blank as she replied, - -“Not till dinner time, I am afraid! I fancy she will find too much to -enquire about and to do, after so long an absence from home. I am so -sorry, Miss Brandt,” she continued, noting the look of disappointment -on the girl’s face, “that her ladyship did not make this plain to you -last night. Her injunctions to me were to see that you had everything -you required, and to spare no trouble or expense on your account. But -that is not like having her here, of course! Have you been into the -library? There are some nice English works there, and there is a piano -in the drawing-room which you might like to use. I am afraid it is not -in tune, on account of the rain we have had, and that I have not opened -it myself during the Baroness’s absence, and indeed it is never used, -except to teach Bobby his music lessons on, but it may amuse you in -default of anything else.” - -“O! I daresay I shall find something to amuse myself with,” replied -Harriet rather sullenly, “I have my own instrument with me, and my -books, thank you! But is no one likely to call this afternoon, do you -think?” - -“This afternoon,” echoed Miss Wynward, “are you expecting any of your -own friends to see you?” - -“O! no! I have no friends in England,--none at least that know I have -returned from Heyst. But the Baroness told me--she said the Red House -was always full of guests--Prince Adalbert and Prince Loris, and a lot -of others--do you think they may come to-day to see her?” - -“O! not in September,” replied her companion, “it is not the season -now, Miss Brandt, and all the fashionable people are out of town, at -the foreign watering-places, or shooting in the country. Her ladyship -could never have intended you to understand that the people you have -mentioned would come here at any time except between May and July! They -_do_ come here then--sometimes--but not I expect, as _you_ think--not -as friends, I mean!” - -“Not as _friends_! What as, then?” demanded Harriet. - -“Well!” returned Miss Wynward, dubiously, “many of them have business -with her ladyship, and they come to see her upon it! I generally -conduct them to her presence, and leave them alone with her, but that -is all I see of them! They have never come here to a party, or dinner, -to my knowledge!” - -“How very extraordinary!” cried Harriet. “What do they come for then?” - -“The Baroness must tell you that!” replied the other, gravely, “I am -not in her confidence, and if I were, I should not feel justified in -revealing it.” - -This conversation drove Harriet to her room to indite a letter to -Captain Pullen. If she were to be deprived of the society of dukes -and princes, she would at least secure the company of one person -who could make the time pass pleasantly to her. As she wrote to him, -rapidly, unadvisedly, passionately, her head burned and her heart was -fluttering. She felt as if she had been deceived--cheated--decoyed -to the Red House under false pretences, and she was in as much of a -rage as her indolent nature would permit her to be. The revelations of -Miss Wynward had sunk down into her very soul. No parties, no dinners, -with princes handing her into the dining-room and whispering soft -nothings into her ears all the time! Why had Madame Gobelli so often -promised to console her for the loss of Captain Pullen by this very -means, and it was a dream, a chimera, they only came to the Red House -on business--business, horrid unromantic word--and were shut up with -the Baroness. _What_ business, she wondered! Could it be about boots -and shoes, and if so, why did they not go to the shop, which surely -was the proper place from which to procure them! The idea that she had -been deceived in this particular, made her write far more warmly and -pleadingly perhaps, than she would otherwise have done. A bird in the -hand was worth two in the bush--Harriet was not conversant with the -proverb, but she fully endorsed the sentiment. When her letter was -written and addressed to the Camp at Aldershot, and she had walked out -with Bobby to post it in the pillar box, she felt happier and less -resentful. At all events she was her own mistress and could leave the -Red House when she chose, and take up her abode elsewhere. A hot sun -had dried the garden paths and grass, and she spent the rest of the -afternoon wandering about the unshaven lawn with Bobby, and lingering -on the rotten wooden benches under the trees, with the boy’s arm round -her waist, and his head drooping on her shoulder. - -Bobby was blissfully happy, and she was content. If we cannot get -caviare, it is wise to content ourselves with cod’s roe. They spent -hours together that afternoon, until the dusk had fallen and the hour -of dining had drawn nigh. They talked of Heyst and the pleasures they -had left behind them, and Harriet was astonished to hear how manly were -some of Bobby’s ideas and sentiments, when out of sight of his Mamma. - -At last, the strident tones of the Baroness’s voice were heard echoing -through the grounds. Harriet and Bobby leaped to their feet in a moment. - -“’Ere, ’Arriet! Bobby! where are you? You’re a nice son and daughter to -’ide away from me, when I’ve been toiling for your benefit all the day.” - -She came towards them as she spoke, and when Harriet saw how fatigued -she looked, she almost forgave her for leaving her in the lurch as she -had done. - -“I suppose you thought we were both dead, didn’t you?” she continued. -“Well, we are, almost. Never ’ad such a day’s work in my life! Found -everything wrong, of course! You can’t turn your back for five minutes -but these confounded workmen play old ’Arry with your business! I sent -off ten fellows before I’d been in the factory ten minutes, and fined -as many girls, and ’ave been running all over London since to replace -’em. It’s ’ard work, I can tell you!” - -She plumped down upon the rotten seat, nearly bringing it to the -ground, as she spoke, and burst out laughing. - -“You should ’ave seen one man, you would ’ave died of laughing! ‘Get -out,’ I said to ’im, ‘not another day’s work do you do ’ere!’ ‘Get out -of the factory where I’ve worked for twenty years?’ ’e said, ‘Well, -then, I shan’t, not for you! If the governor ’ad said so, it might be -a different thing, but a woman ’as no right to come interfering in -business as she knows nothing about!’ ‘That’s the way the wind lies,’ -I replied, ‘and you want a man to turn you out! We’ll soon see if a -woman can’t do it!’ and I took my stick and laid it on his back till -he holload again. He was out of the place before you could say Jack -Robinson! ‘’Ow will that do?’ I said to the others, ‘who else wants a -taste of my stick before ’e’ll go!’ But they all cleared out before I -’ad done speaking! I laughed till I was ill! But come along, children! -It’s time for dinner!” As they returned to the house, she accosted -Harriet, - -“I ’ope you’ve amused yourself to-day! You’ll ’ave to look after -yourself whenever I’m at the factory! But a ’andsome gal like you won’t -want long for amusement. We’ll ’ave plenty of company ’ere, soon! Miss -Wynward,” she continued, as they entered the dining-room, “Mr. Milliken -is coming to-morrow! See that ’is room is ready for ’im!” - -“Very good, my lady!” replied Miss Wynward, but Harriet fancied she did -not like the idea of Mr. Milliken staying with them. - -The dinner proceeded merrily. It was more sumptuous than the day -before, consisting of several courses, and the champagne flowed freely. -Harriet, sitting at her ease and thoroughly enjoying the repast, -thought that it atoned for all the previous inconvenience. But a -strange incident occurred before the meal was over. The Baron, who -was carver, asked Bobby twice if he would take some roast beef, and -received no answer, which immediately aroused the indignation of the -Baroness. - -“Do you ’ear what your father is saying to you, Bobby?” she cried, -shrilly. “Answer ’im at once or I’ll send you out of the room! Will you -’ave some beef?” - -But still there was no reply. - -“My lady! I think that he is ill,” said Miss Wynward in alarm. - -“Ill! Rubbish!” exclaimed the Baroness. Being so coarse-fibred and -robust a woman herself, she never had any sympathy with delicacy or -illness, and generally declared all invalids to be humbugs, shamming in -order to attract the more attention. She now jumped up from her seat, -and going round to her son’s chair, shook him violently by the shoulder. - -“’Ere, wake up! what are you about?” she exclaimed, “if you don’t sit -up at once and answer your father’s question, I’ll lay my stick about -your back!” - -She was going to put her argument into effect, when Harriet prevented -her. - -“Stop! stop! Madame Gobelli!” she exclaimed; “can’t you see, he has -fainted!” - -It was really true! Bobby had fainted dead away in his chair, where he -lay white as a sheet, with closed eyes, and limp body. Miss Wynward -flew to her pupil’s assistance. - -“Poor dear boy! I was sure he was not well directly he entered the -house,” she said. - -“Not well!” replied the Baroness, “nonsense! what should ail ’im? ’Is -father was one of the strongest men on God’s earth! He never ’ad a -day’s illness in ’is life. ’Ow should the boy, a great ’ulking fellow -like ’im, ’ave got ill?” - -She spoke roughly, but there was a tremor in her voice as she uttered -the words, and she looked at Bobby as though she were afraid of him. - -But as he gradually revived under Miss Wynward’s treatment, she -approached nearer, and said with some tenderness in her tones, - -“Well! Bobby, lad, and ’ow do you feel now?” - -“Better, Mamma, thank you! only my head keeps going round!” - -“Had I not better help him up to his bed, my lady?” asked Miss Wynward. - -“O! yes! but I ’ope ’e isn’t going to make a fool of ’imself like this -again, for I don’t ’old with boys fainting like hysterical gals!” - -“I couldn’t help it, Mamma!” said Bobby faintly. - -“O! yes! you could, if you ’ad any pluck! You never saw _me_ faint. Nor -Gustave either! It’s all ’abit! Trundle ’im off to bed, Miss Wynward. -The sooner ’e’s there, the better!” - -“And I may give him a little stimulant,” suggested Miss Wynward -timidly, recalling the scene of the evening before, “a little champagne -or brandy and water--I think he requires it, my lady!” - -“O! yes! Coddle ’im to your ’eart’s content, only don’t let me ’ear of -it! I ’ate a fuss! Good-night, Bobby! Mind you’re well by to-morrow -morning!” - -And she brushed the lad’s cheek with her bristly chin. - -“Good-night!” replied Bobby, “good-night to all!” as he was supported -from the room on the arm of Miss Wynward. - -The Baroness did not make any further remarks concerning her son, but -Harriet noticed that her appetite disappeared with him, and declaring -that she had tired herself too much to eat, she sat unoccupied and -almost silent for the remainder of the meal. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - -Mr. Alexander Milliken arrived punctually upon the morrow. - -He was a tall, gaunt, weak-kneed man, with a prominent nose and eyes -that required the constant use of glasses. Harriet Brandt could not at -first determine his relationship to the Baroness, who received him with -one of the rough kisses she was wont to bestow on Bobby and herself. - -He established himself in the Red House as if he had been a member -of the family, and Harriet frequently surprised him engaged in -confidential talk with their hostess, which was immediately stopped on -her arrival. She perceived that Miss Wynward had an evident dislike for -the new-comer, and never addressed him but in the most formal manner -and when it was strictly necessary. The Baroness did not go so often to -the manufactory after Mr. Milliken’s arrival, but often shut herself -up with him in a room with locked doors, after which Mr. Milliken -would be much occupied with secretarial work, writing letters with his -short-sighted eyes held close to the paper. He was a source of much -curiosity to Harriet Brandt, but he need not have been. He was only -that very common and unclean animal--the jackal to Madame Gobelli’s -lion. - -He was poor and she was rich, so he did all the dirty work which -she was unable, or afraid, to do for herself. Mr. Milliken called -himself an author and an actor, but he was neither. On account of his -accidental likeness to a popular actor, he had once been engaged to -play the part of his double at a West-end theatre, but with the waning -of the piece, Mr. Milliken’s fame evaporated, and he had never obtained -an engagement since. His assumed authorship was built on the same -scale. He had occasionally penned anonymous articles for newspapers, -which had been inserted without pay, but no one in the literary or -any other world knew him by name or by fame. Of late he had attached -himself to Madame Gobelli, writing her letters for her (of doing which -she was almost incapable), and occasionally dabbling in dirtier work, -which she was too cunning to do for herself. Miss Wynward could have -told tales of abusive epistles which had been sent through his hand to -people, whom the Baroness considered had offended her--of anonymous -letters also, which if traced would have landed them both in the County -Court. But Mr. Milliken was out at elbows. He found it very convenient -to hang about the Red House for weeks together, to the saving of his -pocket--receiving douceurs sometimes in actual coin of the realm at -the hands of his benefactress, and making himself useful to her in any -way in return. Lately, notwithstanding her grand promises to Harriet -Brandt of introductions to lords, and princes, the Baroness had thought -it would be a very good thing for her favourite jackal if the young -heiress took a fancy for him, and gave him full leave in consequence -to go in and conquer if he could. She would praise his appearance and -his qualities to the girl, before his very face--calling attention -to the fact of what a clever creature he was, and what a fine figure -he possessed, and how well he was connected, and advising her in her -coarse fashion to cultivate his acquaintance better. She even descended -to having visions in the broad daylight, and prophesying the future, -for them both. - -“’Arriet!” she would suddenly exclaim, “I see a man standing be’ind -you!” - -“O! gracious!” the girl would reply, jumping in her seat, “I wish you -would not say such things, Madame!” - -“Rubbish! Why shouldn’t I say ’em, if they’re there? Stop a bit! Let me -see ’im plainly! ’E’s got dark ’air, slightly sprinkled with grey--a -fine nose--deep-set eyes, with bushy eyebrows--no ’air on ’is face--a -tall figure, and long ’ands and feet! ’E’s living in this world too! Do -you know anybody that answers to the description?” - -“No!” replied the girl, though she recognised it at once as being meant -for Mr. Milliken. - -“Well! if you don’t know ’im now, you will before long, but it’s my -belief you’ve met. And mark my words! you and ’e will be closely -connected in life! I shouldn’t wonder if ’e turns out to be your future -’usband!” - -“O! nonsense!” exclaimed Harriet, trying to speak lightly, “I’m not -going to marry anybody, thank you, Madame Gobelli, unless it’s one of -the princes you promised to introduce me to.” - -“O! princes are all rubbish!” replied the Baroness, forgetting her -former assertions, “they’ve none of them got any money, and yours -wouldn’t go far enough for ’em. _They_ want a gal with something like -five thousand a year at ’er back. I’d rather ’ave an Englishman any -day, than a dirty little German prince!” - -But Harriet Brandt was not the sort of woman to be forced into an -intimacy against her will. Born under an hereditary curse, as she -undoubtedly had been, and gifted with the fatal propensity of injuring, -rather than benefiting those whom she took a fancy for, she was an -epicure in her taste for her fellow creatures, and would not have -permitted Mr. Alexander Milliken to take a liberty with her, had he -been the last man left upon the earth. She avoided his society as much -as it was possible to do, without being rude to her hostess, but as -the Baroness was continually calling her to her side, it was difficult -to do so. Meanwhile the days went on very differently from what she -had anticipated when coming to the Red House. Bobby was languid and -indifferent to everything but hanging about the place where she might -have located herself--sitting on the sofa beside her, with his heavy -head on her shoulder, and his weak arm wound about her waist. Miss -Wynward feared he must have contracted some species of malaria at -the seaside, and Harriet could see for herself that the lad was much -altered from the time when they first met--the Baroness alone, either -from ignorance or obstinacy, declaring that nothing ailed him but -laziness, and she would give him the stick if he didn’t exert himself -more. Sometimes Harriet took him out with her--for a drive into the -country, or to a concert or _matinée_ in London, but what was that -compared to the entertainment of Royalty and Aristocracy, which she -had been promised. And she had not heard a word from Captain Pullen, -though her first letter of appeal had been succeeded by two or three -more. Such a rebuff would have driven another girl to despondency -or tears, but that was not the effect it had on Harriet Brandt. If -you throw a bone to a tigress and then try to take it away, she does -not weep--she fights for her prey. Harriet Brandt, deprived of the -flatteries and attentions of Captain Pullen, did not weep either, but -set her pretty teeth together, and determined in her own mind that -if she were to give him up she would know the reason why. She was -reckless--she did not care what she did to obtain it, but she would -learn the truth of his defalcation if she travelled down to Aldershot -for the purpose. She was in this mood one day, when the maidservant who -answered the door came to tell her that a lady was in the drawing-room, -and desired to see her. The Baroness had gone out that afternoon and -taken Mr. Milliken with her, so that Harriet was alone. She eagerly -demanded the name of her visitor. - -“The lady didn’t give me her name,” replied the servant, “but she asked -if Miss Brandt was at home, plain enough!” - -“Go back and say that I will be with her in a minute!” said Harriet. - -She had decided in her own mind that the stranger must be Margaret -Pullen, bringing her, doubtless, some news of her brother-in-law. She -only stayed to smoothe her hair, which was rather disordered from Bobby -laying his head on her shoulder, before, with a heightened colour, she -entered the drawing-room. What was her surprise to encounter, instead -of Mrs. Pullen, Miss Leyton--Miss Leyton, who had been so reserved and -proud with her at Heyst, and who even though she had sought her out at -the Red House, looked as reserved and proud as before. Harriet advanced -with an extended hand, but Elinor Leyton did not appear to see the -action, as she coldly bowed and sank into her chair again. - -Harriet was rather taken aback, but managed to stammer out, - -“I am very glad to see you, Miss Leyton! I thought you and Mrs. Pullen -had forgotten all about me since leaving Heyst.” - -“We had not forgotten, Miss Brandt,” replied Elinor, “but we had a -great deal of trouble to encounter in the death of Mrs. Pullen’s -baby, and that put everything else for a while out of our minds. -But--but--lately, we have had reason to remember your existence more -forcibly than before!” - -She spoke slowly and with an evident effort. She was as agitated as it -was in her nature to be the while, but she did not show it outwardly. -Elinor Leyton had at all times the most perfect command over herself. -She was dressed on the present occasion with the utmost neatness and -propriety, though she had left her home labouring under a discovery -which had pierced her to the very soul. She was a woman who would have -died upon the scaffold, without evincing the least fear. - -“Reason to remember my existence!” echoed Harriet, “I do not understand -you.” - -“I think you soon will!” said Elinor, as she took three letters from -her hand-bag and laid them on the table, “I do not think you can fail -to recognise that handwriting, Miss Brandt!” - -Harriet stooped down and read the address upon the envelopes. They were -her own letters to Captain Pullen. - -“How did you get these?” she demanded angrily, as she seized them in -her hand. “Is thieving one of your proclivities, Miss Leyton?” - -“No, Miss Brandt, thieving, as you elegantly put it, is not one of my -proclivities! But Captain Pullen has been staying in the house of my -father, Lord Walthamstowe, at Richmond, and left those letters behind -him--thrown in the empty grate just as they are, a proof of how much he -valued them! One of the housemaids, whilst setting his room in order -after his departure, found them and brought them to me. So I determined -that I would return them to your hands myself!” - -“And have you read them?” demanded Harriet. - -“I have read them! I considered it my duty!” - -“Your duty!” replied the other, scornfully, “what duty is there in a -mean, dishonourable action like that? What right had you to interfere -with things that don’t belong to you? These letters concern myself and -Captain Pullen alone!” - -“I deny that, Miss Brandt! They concern me quite as much, if not -more--Captain Pullen is my affianced husband! We are to be married in -the spring!” - -“I don’t believe it!” cried Harriet, starting to her feet. “A woman who -would read letters not addressed to her, would say anything! You are -_not_ engaged to be married to Captain Pullen!” - -“Indeed! And on what grounds do you refuse to believe my statement?” - -“Because he made love to me all the time he was in Heyst! Because he -used to kiss me and tell me again and again that I was the only woman -who had ever touched his heart! Because he had arranged to follow the -Baroness’s party to Brussels, only to be near me, and he would have -done so, had _you_ not prevented him!” - -Her great eyes were blazing with indignation and mortified vanity--her -slender hands were clenched--she looked as if she were about to spring -upon her rival and tear her to pieces--whilst Miss Leyton sat there, -calm and collected--and smiled at her ravings. - -“You are quite mistaken,” she said after a pause, “I have never -mentioned your name to Captain Pullen--I had no idea, until those -letters fell into my hands, that he had so far forgotten what -he owes to me, as to address you in any terms but those of mere -acquaintanceship. But now that I _do_ know, it must of course be put a -stop to at once and for ever! It was to tell you so, that I came here -this afternoon.” - -“Put a stop to! Do you imagine that I am going to give up Captain -Pullen at your request? You are vastly mistaken!” - -“But you must--you _shall_!” exclaimed Elinor, getting (for her) quite -excited. “He is engaged to marry me, and I will not allow him to keep -up any communication with you! My decision is final, and you will be -good enough to respect it!” - -“Your decision is _final_!” cried Harriet in mocking tones. “Oh! -indeed, is it? And what about Ralph’s decision? Does that count for -nothing? What if Ralph refuses to give me up?” - -Elinor rose to her feet, trembling with indignation at the other’s -boldness. - -“You shall not call him ‘Ralph’,” she exclaimed. “How dare you speak of -a man who is nothing to you, in such familiar terms?” - -“But _is_ he nothing to me?” retorted Harriet, “and am I nothing to -him? We must have that question answered first. Ralph told me to call -him by his name, and he calls me Hally. How can you prevent our doing -so? He loves me--he has told me so--and I shall write to him as often -as I choose--yes! and I will take him from you, if I choose, and keep -him into the bargain! What do you say to that?” - -“I say that you are a bold, brazen girl, not fit for me to associate -with, and that I refuse to be contaminated by your presence any longer! -Let me go!” - -She made an effort to gain the door, as she spoke, but Harriet barred -her exit. - -“No, no, Miss Leyton,” she said, “you don’t come here to insult me, and -then leave before you have heard all I have to say to you! In the first -place your assurance to-day is the first I ever heard of your being -engaged to marry Captain Pullen. _He_ didn’t take the trouble to make -it public. He never mentioned you except to say what a cold, reserved, -unpleasant nature you had, and how impossible it would be for a man -with any human feeling to get on with you! That is what _he_ thought! -And he said it too, when he had his arm round my waist, and his face -close to mine. And now he has come to England, I suppose he is afraid -to carry on with me any more, for fear that you should hear of it! But -I don’t mean to let him off so easily, I can tell you! He shall answer -those letters, which you _say_ he threw away in the grate, but which -you are just as likely to have pilfered from his desk, before he is -many days older!” - -“You cannot _make_ him answer them,” said Elinor, proudly, “whatever -you may affirm!” - -“Not on paper perhaps, but by word of mouth! I will take them back to -him at Aldershot, and see whether he can deny what I have told when he -is face to face with me!” - -“Surely!--surely!--you would never proceed to so unmaidenly an -extremity,” exclaimed Elinor, losing sight for a moment of her -indignation in her horror at the idea. “You must not think of such a -thing! You would create a scandal in the Camp! You would be despised -for it ever after!” - -“I can take care of myself!” replied Harriet, boldly, “you need not -fear for me! And if even you _do_ get your own way about this matter, -you will have the satisfaction all your married life of knowing that -your husband was a coward and a traitor to you, even during your -engagement, and that you will never be able to trust him further than -you can see him, to the end! If you can care for such a husband, take -him, for I’m sure I wouldn’t. But he shall answer to me for all that!” - -“Oh! Miss Brandt, let me go, pray let me go!” said Elinor in a tone of -such unmistakeable pain, that the other involuntarily drew back, and -let her push her way past her to the door. - -As Miss Leyton disappeared, Harriet Brandt commenced to pace up and -down the length of the drawing-room. It was not the swaying walk of -disappointment and despair; it was determined and masterful, born of -anger and a longing for revenge. All the Creole in her, came to the -surface--like her cruel mother, she would have given over Ralph Pullen -to the vivisecting laboratory, if she could. Her dark eyes rolled in -her passion; her slight hands were clenched upon each other; and her -crimson lips quivered with the inability to express all she felt. -Bobby, glancing in upon her from the French windows which opened on -the garden, crept to her side and tried to capture her clenched hands, -and to keep her restless body still. But she threw him off, almost -brutally. At that moment she _was_ brutal. - -“Leave me alone,” she exclaimed impatiently, “don’t touch me! Go away!” - -“O! Hally,” the boy replied, sympathetically, “what is the matter? Has -anyone offended you? Let me know! Let me try to comfort you! Or tell me -what I shall do to help you.” - -“_Do!_” cried the girl, contemptuously, “what could you do?--a baby -tied to your mother’s apron-string! Leave me to myself, I say! I -don’t want you, or anyone! I want to be alone! Boys are of no use! It -requires a _man_ to revenge a woman’s wrong!” - -The lad, after one long look of bitter disappointment, walked quietly -away from the spot, and hid his grief in some sequestered part of the -garden. Hally despised him--she, who had kissed him and let him lay his -head upon her shoulder and tell her all his little troubles--said he -was of no use, when she stood in need of help and comfort! When, if she -only knew it, he was ready to stand up in her defence against twenty -men, if need be, and felt strong enough to defeat them all! But she had -called him a baby, tied to his mother’s apron-strings. The iron entered -into his very soul. - -Meanwhile, Elinor Leyton, having blindly found her way out of the Red -House, hailed a passing hansom, and gave the driver directions to take -her to a certain number in Harley Street, where Margaret Pullen was -staying with her godfather, Doctor Phillips. She knew no one else to -whom she could go in this great trouble, which made her feel as if her -life had suddenly been cut in two. Yet she made no outward moan. Most -young women having kept a bold front, as she had done, towards the -enemy, would have broken down, as soon as they found themselves alone. -But Elinor Leyton was not in the habit of breaking down. As soon as -she had started for her destination, she leaned her head upon the back -of the cab, closed her eyes and set her teeth fast together. Her face -grew deadly pale, and an observer would have noted the trembling of her -lips, and the ball which rose and fell in her throat. But she uttered -no sound, not even a sigh--her misery was too deep for words. - -Since she had returned to London, Margaret Pullen had stayed with -Doctor Phillips, for he had insisted that it should be so. The -telegram which had conveyed to Colonel Pullen the news of his little -daughter’s death, had been answered by one to say that he had applied -for immediate leave, and should join his wife as soon as he received -it. And Margaret was now expecting his arrival, every day--almost -every hour. She looked very sad in her deep mourning dress, as she -came forward to greet Elinor, but as soon as she caught sight of her -visitor’s face, she forgot her own trouble in her womanly sympathy for -her friend. - -“My dear Elinor!” she exclaimed, “what has brought you to town? You -have bad news for me--I can read it in your eyes. Nothing wrong with -Ralph, I hope!” - -She kissed the girl affectionately, and held her hand, but Elinor did -not answer. She turned her white face towards her friend, and bit her -lips hard, but the words would not come. - -“You are suffering, my poor dear,” went on Margaret, tenderly, as she -made her sit down, and removed her hat and cloak. “Can’t you trust me -with your trouble? Haven’t I had enough of my own? Ah! cry, that’s -better. God sends us tears, in order that our hearts may not break! And -now, what is it? Is anyone ill at home?” - -Elinor shook her head. The tears were rolling slowly one by one, down -her marble cheeks, but she jerked them away as they came, as though it -were a shame to weep. - -After a long pause, she swallowed something in her throat and commenced -in a husky voice: - -“It concerns Ralph, Margaret! He has been untrue to me! All is over -between us!” - -“Oh! surely not!” said Margaret, “have you had a full explanation with -him? Who told you he had been untrue? Has Ralph asked for a release -from his engagement?” - -“No! but he shall have it!” - -She then went on to tell the story of the finding of Harriet Brandt’s -letters in Captain Pullen’s grate--and of the interview she had had -with the girl that afternoon. - -“She did not attempt to deny it,” continued Elinor. “On the contrary -she declared that he had made love to her all the time he was at -Heyst--that he had said she was the only woman who had ever touched his -heart, and that no man with human feelings could be happy with such a -cold, reserved nature as mine! And if you could see her letters to him, -Margaret--I wish I had not given them to her, but she snatched them -from my hand--they were _too_ dreadful! I never read such letters from -a woman to a man. I did not know they could be written.” - -“But, Elinor, it strikes me that all this time, you have only heard one -side of the question. What does it signify what Miss Brandt may say? -The only thing of importance to you is, what Ralph will say.” - -“But there were her letters--they told their own story! They were full -of nothing but ‘dearests’ and ‘darlings,’ and reminders of how he had -embraced her in one place, and what he had said to her in another--such -letters as I could not write to a man, if it were to save my life!” - -“I can quite understand that! Miss Brandt and you possess two totally -different natures. And cannot you understand that a girl like that, -half educated, wholly ignorant of the usages of society, with a -passionate undeveloped nature and a bold spirit, might write as you -have described her doing, against the wishes of the recipient of her -letters? You say that Ralph threw her epistles in the grate just as -they were. Does that look as if he valued them, or felt himself to be -guilty concerning their reception?” - -“But, Margaret, you know he _did_ make himself conspicuous with the -Gobellis and Miss Brandt at Heyst! I think everyone noticed their -intimacy!” - -“I noticed it also, and I was very sorry for it, but, Elinor, my dear, -it was partly your own fault! You were so much opposed to the idea of -your engagement to Ralph being made public, that I feared it might -lead to some _contretemps_. And then,” she continued gently, “don’t be -offended if I say that your reserve with him, and your objection to -anything like love-making on his part is in itself calculated to drive -a young man to society he cares less for!” - -“But--but--still--I love him!” said poor Elinor, with a tremendous -effort. - -“I know you do,” replied Margaret, kissing her again, “and better and -more faithfully, perhaps, than half the women who show their love so -openly--yet, men are but men, Elinor, and as a rule they do not believe -in the affection which is never expressed by caresses and fond words.” - -“Well! whether I have been right or wrong, it is over now,” said Miss -Leyton, “and Ralph can go to Miss Brandt or anyone else he chooses -for amusement. I shall never stand in his way, but I cannot brook an -affront, so I shall write and release him from his promise to me at -once!” - -“No, no, Elinor, you must not do anything so rash! I beg--I implore -you, to do nothing, until Ralph has had an opportunity of denying the -charges brought against him by this girl. They may be utterly untrue! -She may be simply persecuting him. Depend upon it, you have only to -ask him for an explanation of those letters, and everything will be -satisfactorily cleared up.” - -“You have more belief in him than I have, Margaret. Miss Brandt has -great confidence in her cause. She told me that she had not only taken -him from me, but she meant to keep him, and expressed her intention of -going down to Aldershot and confronting Ralph with the letters she had -written him!” - -At this intelligence, Margaret grew alarmed for her friend’s peace of -mind. - -“No! no! that must never be,” she exclaimed, “that girl must not be -permitted to make a scandal in the Camp, and get your name perhaps -mixed up with it! It must be prevented.” - -“I fancy you will find that a difficult task,” said Elinor; “she seems -the most determined young woman I have ever come across. She became so -vehement at last, that she frightened me, and I was only too glad to -get out of the house.” - -“Elinor,” said Mrs. Pullen suddenly, “will you leave this matter in my -hands to settle in my own way?” - -“What do you intend to do? See Miss Brandt yourself? I advise you not! -She will only insult you, as she did me.” - -“No! I shall not see her myself, I promise you that, but I will send a -proper ambassador to interview Miss Brandt and the Baroness. This sort -of thing must not be allowed to go on, and unless Ralph comes forward -to second the girl’s assertions (which I am sure he will never do), -she and her friend Madame Gobelli must be made to understand that if -they don’t behave themselves, the law will be called into requisition -to enforce obedience. I should not be at all surprised if the Baroness -were not at the bottom of all this.” - -“At anyrate, it has ruined my life!” said Elinor, mournfully. - -“Nonsense! my dear girl, no such thing! It is only an unpleasant -episode which will soon be forgotten. But let it make you a little -more careful for the future, Elinor. Ralph is a very conceited man. He -has been spoilt by the women all his life, ‘_pour l’amour de ses beaux -yeux_.’ He has been used to flattery and attention, and when he doesn’t -get it he misses it, and goes where it is to be found. It is rather a -contemptible weakness, but he shares it in common with most of his sex, -and you have promised, remember, to take him for better or worse!” - -“Not yet, thank goodness!” retorted Elinor, with something of her -usual spirit. “He and father got talking together about the marriage, -the other day, when he was down at Richmond, and fixed it, I believe, -for the spring, but they will have to unfix it again now, if I am not -mistaken.” - -“No such thing,” replied Margaret, “and now you have consented--have -you not?--to leave the settlement of this other affair in my hands.” - -“If you wish it, Margaret! But, remember, no compromise! If Ralph has -really promised this girl what she says, let him keep his promises, for -I will have none of him. And now I must go home or they will wonder -what has become of me!” - -Margaret was not sorry to see her depart, for she was most anxious to -summon Anthony Pennell, her husband’s cousin, to her aid, and ask his -advice as to what was best to be done in the circumstances. - -She had great faith in Anthony Pennell, not only in his genius, which -was an accepted thing, but in his good sense, which is not usually -found associated with the higher quality. He was a man of about thirty, -with a grand intellect--a sound understanding--a liberal mind, and -a sympathetic disposition. He had been originally intended for the -Bar, but having “taken silk,” and made a most promising debut, he had -suddenly blossomed into an author, and his first novel had taken London -by storm. - -He had accomplished the rare feat of being lifted up at once on the -waves of public opinion and carried over the heads of all his fellows. - -Since his first success, he had continued writing--had given up the law -in consequence--and was now making a large and steady income. - -But Anthony Pennell’s great charm lay in his unassuming manner -and modest judgment of his own work. His triumphs were much more -astonishing to him than to his friends. In person, he was less handsome -than his cousin Ralph Pullen, but much more manly looking, having been -a distinguished athlete in his College days, and still finding his -best recreation on the cricket field and the golf ground. He was very -fair, with a white skin, embrowned here and there by sun and outdoor -exercise--short, curly hair--a fine figure, standing six foot high, and -the bluest of blue eyes. He was smoking in his own chambers late that -afternoon, when he received a telegram from Margaret Pullen, “Can you -come over this evening?” and as soon as he had changed his lounging -coat, he obeyed her summons. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - -Anthony Pennell was a very fresh, pleasant, and good-looking -presentment of a young English gentleman, as he entered the room where -Margaret was sitting with Doctor Phillips that evening. It had been -arranged between them beforehand, that as little as need be should -be confided to him of Harriet Brandt’s former history. All that was -necessary for him to know, was the danger that threatened to blast the -future happiness of Ralph Pullen and Elinor Leyton. - -“Well! Mrs. Pullen,” he said, as he shook hands cordially with Margaret -and the doctor, “and what important business is it, that you want to -consult me upon? I thought, at the very least, that I should meet my -cousin Arthur here!” - -“If I had had Arthur, perhaps I should not have needed you,” replied -Margaret, with a faint smile. “But really, Mr. Pennell, I am in want of -advice sorely, and the Doctor agreed with me that you would be the best -person to whom I could apply!” - -“I am at your service, Madam!” said the young man, gaily, as he seated -himself. - -Then she told him the story of Harriet Brandt--how Ralph had met her at -the Lion d’Or, and devoted his time to her--and how she was persecuting -him with letters, and had threatened to follow him to the Camp and -interview him there. - -“And it must be put a stop to, you know, Mr. Pennell,” she concluded, -“not only for Ralph’s sake and Elinor’s, but for the sake of the -Walthamstowes and my husband. I am sure that Arthur would be -exceedingly annoyed at any scandal of that sort, and especially as Lord -Walthamstowe is so old a friend of his family!” - -Anthony Pennell had looked very grave during her recital. After a pause -he said, - -“Are you sure that Ralph has not given this young lady good cause to -run after him?” - -“I think not--I hope not! There was very little amusement in Heyst, and -this girl, and the people with whom she is now staying--a Baron and -Baroness Gobelli, they call themselves--were amongst the visitors to -the Lion d’Or. Miss Leyton is rather a stickler for the proprieties, -and used to refuse to walk out with Ralph alone in the evenings, and -I was too much occupied with my poor darling baby to accompany them,” -said Margaret, in a faltering voice, “so Ralph took to going to the -Baroness’s private rooms instead, and became intimate with Miss Brandt!” - -“You acknowledge then, that he _was_ intimate with her!” - -“I think he must have been--because it appears that he had agreed to -join their party at Brussels, when--when--my great trouble obliged him -to return to England with us instead.” - -“Did you know this young lady, Mrs. Pullen?” - -“I did, and at one time I was rather intimate with her, that is, before -the Baroness took her up, when she passed almost all her time with -them.” - -“She is, I suppose, very attractive in person?” - -“O! dear no, not at all!” cried Margaret, with a woman’s dull -appreciation of the charms of one of her own sex, “she has fine eyes, -and what men would, I suppose, call a good figure, but no complexion -and an enormous mouth. Not at all pretty, but nice-looking at -times,--that is all!” - -“Clever?” said Pennell, interrogatively. - -“I do not think so! She had just come out of a Convent school and was -utterly unused to society. But she has a very good voice and plays well -on the mandoline!” - -“Ladies are not always the best judges of their own sex,” remarked -Anthony, turning to Doctor Phillips, “what do _you_ say, Doctor? -Had you an opportunity of appraising Miss Brandt’s beauties and -accomplishments for yourself?” - -“I would rather say nothing, Mr. Pennell,” replied the Doctor. “The -fact is, I knew her parents in the West Indies, and could never believe -in anything good coming from such a stock. Whatever the girl may be, -she inherits terrible proclivities, added to black blood. She is in -point of fact a quadroon, and not fit to marry into any decent English -family!” - -“O! dear!” exclaimed Mr. Pennell laconically. - -“And how do you expect me to help you?” he enquired, after a pause. - -“I want you to see the Baroness, or Miss Brandt, and tell them that -this girl must cease all communication with Captain Pullen,” said -Margaret, “tell them that he is engaged to marry Miss Leyton--that the -marriage is fixed to take place next spring, and that the Walthamstowe -family will be excessively annoyed if any scandal of this sort occurs -to break it off.” - -“Do they not know that such an engagement exists?” - -“No! that is the unfortunate part of it! Elinor Leyton is so absurdly -scrupulous that she will not have the fact made public, and forbade -me to tell Miss Brandt about it! Elinor went to the Red House where -Miss Brandt is staying this morning and had a most stormy interview -with her. She came here afterwards in a most distressed state of mind. -Harriet Brandt had told her that she had secured Ralph Pullen and meant -to keep him--that he had told her he loved her--and that Miss Leyton -was too cold and prudish a nature for any man to be happy with! Of -course Elinor was terribly upset. She seldom shows her feelings, but it -was quite impossible for her to disguise them to-day. I begged her to -leave the matter in my hands, and she consented to do so. That is why I -telegraphed for you.” - -“It is rather an awkward predicament!” said Anthony Pennell, -thoughtfully, “you will forgive me for saying, Mrs. Pullen, that Ralph -is so very likely to have done this sort of thing, that I feel one -might be treading on very delicate ground--in fact, putting one’s foot -in it--by interfering. You know what Ralph is--selfish and indolent and -full of vanity. He considers it far too much trouble to make love (as -it is called) to a woman, but he will accept any amount of love that is -offered him, so long as it gives him no trouble. If this Miss Brandt -is all that you and the doctor here say of her, she may possibly have -drawn Ralph on, and taken his languid satisfaction as proof that he -agreed to all she said and did. But it will make the _dénouement_ just -as unpleasant. Besides, how will Ralph himself take my interference in -the matter? He may have some designs on this girl--some ideas in the -future connected with her--and will ask what business I had to come -between them.” - -“O! no! Did I not tell you that he had left her letters in his grate!” - -“That might be part of his indolent carelessness, or they may have been -left there by design, as a means of breaking the ice between himself -and Miss Leyton. Is not he, after all, the most proper person to appeal -to? Why not wait till your husband returns, and let him speak to his -brother?” - -“I am so afraid in that case, that Ralph might consider that he had -gone too far with Miss Brandt, and honour demanded that he should marry -her! And, Mr. Pennell, Doctor Phillips could tell you things, if he -chose, to prove to you that Harriet Brandt is not a fit wife for any -decent man.” - -Anthony Pennell thought again for a few minutes--sitting silent with -his hand caressing his smooth chin. Then he said: - -“If you are very much bent on my doing what I can in this matter, I see -only one way to accomplish it. I must enter the Red House under a flag -of truce. Did you know this Baroness Gobelli? Can you tell me what sort -of woman she is? I never heard the name before!” - -“She is quite a character,” replied Margaret; “I believe her husband -_is_ a German Baron, but she was a Mrs. Bates, and is an extraordinary -Baroness. A strange mixture also, of vulgarity and refined tastes. She -drops all her aspirates, yet talks familiarly of aristocratic and royal -titles, she dresses like a cook out on Sundays, and yet has a passion -for good paintings and old china.” - -At the last words, Anthony Pennell pricked up his ears. - -“A passion for old china!” he exclaimed, “then there must be some good -in her! Cannot you give me an introduction to the Red House on the plea -that I am a connoisseur and am desirous of seeing her collection?” - -“Of course I can, but how can you approach these people in amity, with -a censure of Miss Brandt’s conduct in your hand? Madame Gobelli is -infatuated with Harriet Brandt! I was telling poor Elinor only this -afternoon, that I should not be at all surprised if she were at the -bottom of all this unpleasantness.” - -“She could not be at the bottom of anything unless Ralph had given -her cause,” replied Mr. Pennell, who had never had a good opinion of -his cousin’s straightforward dealing, “and however it may turn out, -I should think he would have a heavy reckoning to settle with Miss -Leyton! This is not the first time, remember! You have not forgotten -the trouble Arthur had to get him out of that scrape with the -laundress’s girl at Aldershot, the year before last!” - -“Yes! Arthur told me about it,” replied Margaret. “But you are going to -help us, this time, Mr. Pennell, are you not?” - -“In so far as procuring an introduction to the Baroness, and taking -my opportunity to let her know the true state of affairs with Miss -Leyton, yes,” said Mr. Pennell, “but there, my responsibility must -cease. Should Ralph have committed himself in writing, or anything of -that sort, you must promise to let them fight it out their own way. I -daresay there will be no trouble about the matter. I can see how it -has occurred at a glance. Ralph has been merely amusing himself with -the girl, and she has taken his philandering in earnest. But I wish he -would leave that sort of thing off. It will ruin his married life if -he does not!” - -“Yes! indeed, and Elinor Leyton really loves him, more, I am sure, than -he imagines. She declared this afternoon, that if it were not put a -complete stop to, she should break off her engagement. And I think she -would be right!” - -“So do I,” acquiesced Anthony Pennell. “Well! if these people are -ordinarily decent, they will, as soon as they hear the truth, prevent -their young friend interfering with another woman’s rights. Write me -the introduction, Mrs. Pullen, and I will pay the Red House a visit -as soon as its owner gives me leave. And now let us talk of something -pleasanter. How soon do you expect Arthur to arrive?” - -“Any day,” replied Margaret, “and I am longing so for him to come!” - -“Of course you are! Will he remain long in England?” - -“Only a few weeks! He has taken three months’ leave. Then, I shall -return with him to Hosur.” - -“And you like the idea of India?” - -“O! anything--anything--to find myself with him again,” she answered -feverishly. - -The conversation turned upon more indifferent subjects, and armed with -the note of introduction to the Baroness, Anthony Pennell presently -took his leave. He did not like the task imposed upon him, and he -hardly knew how he should set about it, but on consideration he -thought he could do no harm by having a look at the young lady, who -had taken the fancy of his fickle-minded cousin Ralph, and leaving his -future action to be decided by the interview. He sat down therefore -before turning into bed, and wrote a note to the Baroness, enclosing -the introduction from Mrs. Pullen, and asking permission to call and -inspect her rare collection of china, of which he had heard so much. - -His letter reached the Red House on the following morning, at an -unfortunate moment, when Madame Gobelli was giving full display to the -worst side of her eccentric character. - -The Baroness was not a lover of animals, either dogs or horses. She was -merciless to the latter and the former she kicked whenever they came in -her way. It was considered necessary, however, for the safety of the -Red House, that it should be guarded by a watch-dog, and a miserable -retriever, which answered to that name, lived in a rotten cask in -the stable yard. This unhappy animal, which had neither sufficient -food, exercise, nor straw to lie on, was in the habit of keeping up -a continuous baying at night, in remonstrance at the cruelty of its -treatment, which was a cause of annoyance to the neighbours, who had -often written to the Baroness about it in vain. - -On the morning in question, a Captain Hill, who lived on one side of -the Red House, with his parents, sent in his card to Madame Gobelli and -asked for an interview. She admitted him at once. She liked men of all -sorts, and particularly if they were young and she could kiss them with -impunity, under the pretence that she was old enough to be their mother. - -She therefore welcomed Captain Hill quite amiably. She came in from the -garden to receive him, attired in a Genoa velvet dress that trailed -half a yard on the damp ground behind, and a coarse Zulu hat perched -on her large bullet head. She was attended by Harriet Brandt, who had -been making a tour of the premises with her, and was always eager to -see anybody who might call at the Red House. Miss Wynward also, who was -dusting the china with a feather brush as the visitor was announced, -continued her occupation, and without apologising for doing so, or -asking leave. - -Harriet had not yet been able to determine the exact place which this -lady held in the Baroness’s household, for she was treated as one of -the family, and yet degraded at times to the position of a servant. - -The Baroness expected her to cook, or dust rooms, or darn stockings, -or do anything required of her, whilst she introduced her to all her -friends as if on a perfect equality with themselves. As she entered -the drawing-room through one of the French windows, she shook hands -familiarly with Captain Hill, and introduced him to both her companions. - -“Well!” she went on, “and so you’ve come to see us at last! I thought -you were going to live and die in that tumble-down old place of yours, -without so much as a shake of the ’and! I ’ope you’re all well at ’ome!” - -The stranger did not seem to know how to receive these civilities. He -had not seated himself, but stood in the centre of the room with his -hat in his hand, as though he found a difficulty in stating his errand -at the Red House. - -“Take a chair,” said Madame Gobelli in her rough way, “there’s enough -and to spare, and my young friend ’ere won’t eat you!” - -Still Captain Hill deliberated about accepting her offer. - -“Thank you,” he commenced, “but I shall not detain you above a few -moments. I came to speak to you about your dog, Madame Gobelli. My -parents are both very old, and my mother especially delicate--indeed, I -fear that she may never rise from her bed again!” - -Here his voice faltered a little, but quickly recovering himself he -went on, - -“She sleeps very little, and that little has now become impossible to -her on account of the incessant barking of your yard dog. I am here -to-day by the wish of my mother’s medical attendant, Doctor Parker, to -tell you that the noise is seriously affecting her health, and to beg -that you will adopt some measures to have the annoyance stopped.” - -As the Baroness understood the reason for which her neighbour had -called upon her, her countenance palpably changed. The broad smile -faded from her face and was replaced by an ominous frown. If there was -one thing which she resented above another, it was being called to -task for any disturbance in her household. Without taking any notice -apparently of Captain Hill’s complaint, she turned to Miss Wynward and -said, - -“Miss Wynward, come ’ere! Does that dog bark at night?” - -“Sometimes, my lady,” replied the governess dubiously. - -“I don’t believe it! You’re lying! ’Arriet, does Nelson ever bark so as -to disturb anyone?” - -“He barks whenever there is a ring at the bell, or a stranger enters -the grounds, Madame,” said Harriet, with politic evasion. - -“Oh! I assure you he does more than that!” interposed the visitor, -“the poor animal howls without ceasing. Either he is ill, or the -servants do not give him sufficient food!” - -But at this censure cast upon her domestics whom she bullied from -morning till night, the Baroness’s uncontrolled temper burst forth. - -“’Ow dare you come ’ere,” she exclaimed loudly, “and bring false -accusations against my servants? No one in this ’ouse is kept short of -food. What do you mean--a rubbishing fellow like you--by coming ’ere, -and accusing the Baron of starving ’is animals? There’s more money -spent upon our animals, I bet, than goes in your poverty-stricken -’ouse-’old in a year!” - -Captain Hill was now offended, as he well might be. - -“I do not know what knowledge you may possess of the exigencies of my -parents’ household, Madam,” he replied, “but what I came here to tell -you is this--that from whatever cause it may arise, the howling and -whining of your dog is a public nuisance and it must be stopped!” - -“Must, must!” exclaimed Madame Gobelli, shaking her stick at him, “and -pray ’oo’s to make me stop it?” - -“_I_ will,” said Captain Hill, “the noise is endangering the life of my -mother, and I shall insist upon the animal being destroyed, or taken -elsewhere. If you cannot take a friendly hint--if you have so callous -a nature that the sufferings of an aged and invalid lady cannot excite -your sympathy, the law shall teach you that, whatever you may fail to -feel, you cannot annoy your neighbours with impunity!” - -“Fine neighbours indeed!” cried the Baroness, her whole face trembling -and contorted with passion. “A beggarly lot of half-pay officers and -retired parsons! I’ll soon see if you’ll be allowed to come riding the -’igh ’orse over me! Confound your impudence! Do you know ’oo I am?” - -“A Billingsgate fishwoman, I should imagine, from your language! -Certainly not a gentlewoman!” said Captain Hill, his eyes blazing with -his wrath. - -“’Ang you! I’ll soon teach you ’ow to insult a lady that’s connected -with Royalty!” - -At that, the stranger burst into a derisive laugh. - -“Down the back stairs!” he muttered to himself, but Madame Gobelli -caught the words. - -“Get out of my ’ouse,” she cried. “’Ere, Miss Wynward, see this fellow -out at the front door, and never you let ’im in again, or I’ll give you -a month’s warning! Down the back stairs indeed! Confound you! If you -don’t clear out this very minute, I’ll lay my stick across your back! -You’ll make me destroy my dog, will you, and just because your trumpery -mother don’t like ’is barking! Go ’ome and tell ’er to ’old ’er own -row! And you accuse my servants of not giving ’im enough to eat. You’d -be glad enough to see ’is dinner on your own table once or twice a -week. Out with you, I say--out with you at once, and don’t let me see -your ugly mug and your carroty ’ead in ’ere again, or I’ll set the dog -you don’t like upon you.” - -Captain Hill had turned white as a sheet with anger. - -“You’ll hear more of this, Madam, and from my solicitor next time,” he -said. “Heartless, unfeeling woman! How can you call yourself a mother, -when you have no pity for a son’s grief at his mother’s illness? Pray -God you may not have occasion to remember this morning, when you have -to part from your own son!” - -He rushed from the room as he spoke, and they heard the hall door slam -after him. For a minute after he left, there was a dead pause between -the three women. His last words seemed to have struck the Baroness as -with a two-edged sword. She stood silent, staring into vacancy, and -breathing hard, whilst Harriet Brandt and Miss Wynward regarded each -other with furtive dismay. The silence was broken by Madame Gobelli -bursting into a harsh laugh. - -“I don’t fancy ’e will show ’is face in my ’ouse again, in an ’urry,” -she exclaimed. “It was as good as a play to watch ’im, trying to brave -it out! Confound ’is old mother! Why don’t she die and ’ave done -with it! I’ve no patience with old people ’anging on in that way, -and worrying the ’ole world with their fads! Well! what is it?” she -continued to a maid who brought her a letter. - -“By the post, my lady!” - -The Baroness broke the seal. There was such a look of scare upon her -features, that some people might have thought she was glad to have -anything to do that should hide it from her companions. The letter was -from Anthony Pennell, whose name was familiar to her, as to all the -world. - -As she finished its perusal, her manner entirely altered. The broad -smile broke out on her countenance--her eyes sparkled--one would have -thought she could never be in anything but a beaming good temper. - -“’Olloa! ’Arriet!” she exclaimed, “’ere’s news for you! ’Oo do you -think this letter’s from?” - -“How can I guess?” replied the girl, though her thoughts had flown at -once to Ralph Pullen. - -“From Mr. Anthony Pennell, the great author, you know, and own cousin -to that rapscallion, Captain Pullen! Now we shall ’ear all about the -’andsome Captain! Mr. Pennell says ’e wants to come ’ere and see my -china, but I know better! ’E’s bringing you a message from ’is cousin, -mark my words! I can see it written up be’ind you!” - -Harriet’s delicate face flushed with pleasure at the news. - -“But why shouldn’t Captain Pullen have come himself?” she asked, -anxiously. - -“I can’t tell you that! Perhaps ’e is coming, be’ind the other, and -this is only a feeler! There’s wheels within wheels in these big -families, sometimes, you know, and the Pullens are connected with a -lot of big-wigs! But we’ll ’ave some news, anyway! You just sit down, -my dear, and write Mr. Pennell a pretty note in my name--you write a -prettier ’and than I do--and say we shall be very pleased to see ’im -to-morrow afternoon, if convenient, and I ’ope ’e will stay to dinner -afterwards and be introduced to the Baron--will you?” - -“O! yes, of course, Madame, if you wish it!” replied the girl, smiles -dimpling her face at the thought of her triumph over Elinor Leyton. - -“Now, Miss Wynward, we must ’ave a first-rate dinner to-morrow for Mr. -Pennell, and you and Bobby ’ad better dine at one o’clock, or you’ll -spoil the table. Let me see! We’ll ’ave----” - -But turning to enforce her orders, the Baroness discovered that Miss -Wynward had quitted the room. - -“Why! where ’as the woman gone? Did you see ’er leave the room, -’Arriet?” - -“I did not! I was too much occupied listening to you,” replied the girl -from the table, where she was inditing the answer to Anthony Pennell’s -note. - -“’Ere, Miss Wynward! Miss Wynward!” screamed the Baroness from the open -door, but no reply came to her call. - -“I must go and see after ’er!” she said, as she stumped from the room, -as intent upon procuring a good dinner for one young man, as she had -been in insulting the other, and turning him from her doors. - -Meanwhile Captain Hill, hot and angry, was striding away in the -direction of his own home, when he heard a soft voice calling his name -in the rear. He turned to encounter the spare, humiliated form of Miss -Wynward. - -“Captain Hill,” she ejaculated, “I beg your pardon, but may I speak to -you for a moment?” - -Recognising her as having been in the room, when the Baroness had so -grossly insulted him, he waited rather coldly for her to come up with -him. - -“Don’t think me impertinent or interfering,” faltered Miss Wynward, -“but I was so shocked--so distressed--I could not let you go without -saying how grieved and sorry I am!” - -“I do not quite understand you,” replied Captain Hill. - -“O! yes, surely, did you not see me in the room just now! I felt as if -I should die of shame! But if you knew what it is to be dependent--to -be unable to speak or to expostulate--you would guess perhaps----” - -“Yes! Yes! I think I can understand. But pray don’t distress yourself -about it! It was my own fault! I should have addressed her first -through my solicitor. But I thought she was a gentlewoman!” - -“It is her temper that gets the better of her,” said Miss Wynward in an -apologetic tone, “she is not always so bad as she was this morning!” - -“That is fortunate for the world at large,” replied Captain -Hill, gravely. “I could have forgiven her vulgarity, but not her -heartlessness. I can only think that she is a most terrible woman.” - -“That is what everybody says,” answered his companion, “but she will -admit of no remonstrance. She _will_ have her own way, and the Baron -is as powerless to refrain her, as you, or I. But that she should -so insult a gentleman like yourself, even descending to oaths and -personalities--O! I cannot tell you how much I felt it--how ashamed I -was, and how anxious that you should not confound me with anything the -Baroness said, or did!” - -“Indeed,” said Captain Hill, holding out his hand, “you need have no -fear on that score. I hope I know a gentlewoman when I see her! But -tell me, since your eyes are open to all this, how is it that a lady -like yourself can stay under the roof of so terrible a person? There -are plenty of other situations to be had! Why do you not leave her, and -go elsewhere?” - -He was struck by the look of mingled anxiety and fear with which she -regarded him. - -“O! Captain Hill, there are reasons that are difficult to explain--that -I could not tell to anyone on so short an acquaintance. But the -Baroness possesses great power--she could ruin me, I believe she could -_kill_ if she chose!” - -“She threatens you then!” - -“Yes!” came from Miss Wynward’s lips, but in almost a whisper. - -“Well! this is hardly the time and place to discuss such a question,” -said Captain Hill, “but I should much like to see more of you, Miss -Wynward! If you have any time at your disposal, will you come over and -see my old mother? She is quite confined to her room, but I know it -would please her to have a quiet talk with you!” - -A light glistened in Miss Wynward’s washed-out eyes, and a smile stole -over her countenance. - -“Do you really mean it, Captain Hill?” - -“I never say anything that I do not mean,” he answered, “I am sure both -my parents would be glad to give you their advice, and my dear father, -who is a clergyman, though past an active ministry, may be able to be -of use to you in a more practical way. At anyrate, you will come and -see us. That is a bargain!” and he held out his hand to her again in -farewell. - -“O! I will--I will, indeed,” exclaimed Miss Wynward, gratefully, “and -thank you so very much for the permission. You have put a little hope -into my life!” - -She seized the hand he proffered her, and kissed it, as an inferior -might have done, and then hurried back to the Red House, before he had -had time to remonstrate with her on the proceeding. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - - -When Anthony Pennell received the Baroness’s invitation, penned in the -delicate foreign handwriting of Harriet Brandt, he accepted it at once. -Being out of the season, he had no engagement for that evening, but -he would have broken twenty engagements, sooner than miss the chance, -so unexpectedly offered him, of meeting in an intimate family circle, -the girl who appeared to have led his cousin Ralph’s fancy astray. He -pictured her to himself as a whitey-brown young woman with thick lips -and rolling eyes, and how Ralph, who was so daintily particular where -the _beau sexe_ was concerned, could have been attracted by such a -specimen, puzzled Anthony altogether. The knowledge that she had money -struck him unpleasantly, for he could think of no other motive for -Captain Pullen having philandered with her, as he evidently had done. -At anyrate, the idea that there was the least chance of allying herself -with their family, must be put out of her head, at once and for ever. - -Mr. Pennell amused himself with thinking of the scare he should create -at the dinner table, by “springing” the news of Ralph’s intended -marriage upon them, all at once. Would the young lady have hysterics, -he wondered, or faint away, or burst into a passion of tears? He -laughed inwardly at the probability! He felt very cruel over it! He had -no pity for the poor quadroon, as Doctor Phillips had called her. It -was better that she should suffer, than that Elinor Leyton should have -to break off her engagement. And, by Margaret Pullen’s account, Miss -Brandt had been both defiant and insulting to Miss Leyton. She must be -a brazen, unfeeling sort of girl--it was meet that she paid the penalty -of her foolhardiness. - -It was in such a mood that Anthony Pennell arrived at the Red House at -five o’clock in the afternoon, that he might have the opportunity to -inspect the collection of china that had gained him an entrance there. - -The Baroness had promised to be home in time to receive him, but he -was punctual and she was not. Harriet Brandt was loitering about the -garden, which was still pleasant enough on fine days in the middle of -September, when the news that Mr. Pennell was in the drawing-room was -brought to her by Miss Wynward. Harriet had been very eager to meet -Anthony Pennell--not because she was pining after his cousin, but -because her feminine curiosity was strong to discover _why_ Ralph had -deserted her, and if he had been subjected to undue influence to force -him to do so. But now that the time had come, she felt shy and nervous. -Suppose he, Mr. Pennell, had seen Miss Leyton meanwhile, and heard all -that had taken place between them, when she visited the Red House. And -suppose he should take Miss Leyton’s part! Harriet’s mind was full of -“supposes” as she turned to Miss Wynward and said, - -“O! I can’t go and receive him, Miss Wynward! Mr. Pennell has come to -see the Baroness, not me! Cannot you entertain him until she comes -home? She will not be long now!” - -“Her ladyship’s last words to me, Miss Brandt, were, that if she had -not returned from the factory by the time Mr. Pennell arrived, you were -to receive him and give him afternoon tea in her stead! I hope you will -do as her ladyship desired!” - -“Well! I suppose I must then,” replied Harriet, screwing up her mouth, -with a gesture of dissatisfaction, “but do send in the tea, quickly, -please!” - -“It shall be up, Miss Brandt, as soon as I can get back to make it! -Mr. Pennell seems a very pleasant gentleman! I wouldn’t mind if I were -you!” - -Miss Wynward hurried back to the house, as she spoke, and Harriet -walked slowly over the lawn towards the drawing-room windows. - -Anthony Pennell, who had been bending over some rare specimens of old -Chelsea, looked up suddenly as she approached, and was struck dumb with -admiration. She had improved wonderfully in looks since she had been in -Europe, though the women who lived with her continually, were slow to -perceive it. Her delicate complexion had acquired a colour like that of -a blush rose, which was heightened by contrast with her dark, glowing -eyes, whilst her hair, by exposure to the rays of the sun, had caught -some of its fire and showed ruddily, here and there, in streaks of -auburn. Her figure, without having lost its lissom grace, was somewhat -fuller, and her manner was altogether more intelligent, and less -_gauche_ than it had been. But the dark eyes were still looking for -their prey, and the restless lips were incessantly twitching and moving -one over the other. She was beautifully dressed that evening--she had -not been in London for a month, without finding a way to spend her -money--and Anthony Pennell, like most artistic natures, was very open -to the influence of dress upon a woman. Harriet wore a frock of the -palest lemon colour, cut quite plain, but perfect in every line and -pleat and fold, and finished off at the throat with some rare lace, -caught up here and there with tiny diamond pins. - -“By Jove! what a beautiful girl!” was Mr. Pennell’s inward ejaculation -as he saw her drawing nearer the spot where he stood. It was strange -that his first judgment of Harriet Brandt should have been the same -as that of his cousin, Ralph Pullen, but it only proves from what -a different standpoint men and women judge of beauty. As Harriet -walked over the grass, Anthony Pennell noted each line of her swaying -figure--each tint of her refined face--with the pretty little hands -hanging by her side, and the slumbrous depths of her magnificent eyes. -He did not, for one moment, associate her with the idea which he had -formed of the West Indian heiress who was bent on capturing his cousin -Ralph. He concluded she was another young friend who might be partaking -of the Baroness’s hospitality. He bowed low as she entered through the -open French window looking as a Georgian or Cashmerian houri might have -looked, he thought, if clad in the robes of civilisation. Harriet bowed -in return, and said timidly, - -“I am so sorry that Madame Gobelli is not here to receive you, but -she will not keep you waiting more than a few minutes, I am sure. She -particularly said that she would not be later than five o’clock.” - -“She has left a very charming substitute in her place,” replied -Pennell, with another bow. - -“I believe you have come to see the china,” continued Harriet, “I do -not know much about it myself, but Miss Wynward will be here in a -minute, and she knows the name of every piece, and where it came from!” - -“That will be eminently satisfactory,” rejoined Anthony Pennell, “but -I happen to be a connoisseur in such things myself. I have one or two -charming bits of old Sèvres and Majolica in my chambers, which I think -the Baroness would like to see if she will honour me with a visit -to my little place. A lonely bachelor like myself must take up some -hobby, you know, to fill his life, and mine happens to be china. Madame -Gobelli appears to have some lovely Chelsea there. I would like to -steal one or two of those groups on the cabinet. Will you hold the door -open for me, whilst I run away with them?” - -At this sally, Harriet laughed, and Mr. Pennell thought she looked even -handsomer when she laughed than when she was pensive. - -“Here is the tea!” she cried nervously, as Miss Wynward appeared with -the tray. “O! Miss Wynward, surely Madame cannot be much longer now! -Have you looked down the road to see if she is coming?” - -“The carriage has just turned into the stable yard,” replied Miss -Wynward, and in another minute, the doorway was filled with the ample -proportions of the Baroness. - -“’Olloa! Mr. Pennell, and so you’ve stolen a march upon me!” was her -first greeting, “’ow are you?” extending her enormous hand, “’ave you -been looking at the china? Wait till I’ve ’ad my tea; I’ll show you one -or two bits that’ll make your mouth water! It’s my ’obby! I used to -save my pocket money when I was a little gal to buy china. I remember -my grandfather, the Dook of--but there, I ’aven’t known you long enough -to let you into family secrets. Let’s ’ave our tea and talk afterwards! -I ’ope ’Arriet ’as entertained you well!” - -“This young lady--” commenced Anthony Pennell, interrogatively. - -“To be sure, Miss ’Arriet Brandt! ’Asn’t she introduced ’erself to you? -She’s like a daughter of the ’ouse to us! We look upon ’er as one of -our own, Gustave and me! Miss Brandt from Jamaica! And she knew your -cousin, Captain Pullen, too, at Heyst, we all did, and we’re dying to -’ear what ’as become of ’im, for ’e’s never shown ’is face at the Red -’Ouse!” - -The murder was out now, and Harriet waited tremblingly for the result! -What did Mr. Pennell know? What would he say? - -But Mr. Pennell said nothing--he was too much startled to speak. -_This_, Harriet Brandt--this lovely girl, the quadroon of whom both -Doctor Phillips and Mrs. Pullen had spoken so disparagingly?--of whom -they had said that she was not fit to be the wife of any decent man? -Oh! they must be fools and blind--or he was dreaming! The Baroness was -not slow to see the look upon his face and to interpret it rightly. - -“Are you surprised? You needn’t look so incredulous! I give you my word -that this is ’Arriet Brandt--the same young lady that knew Mrs. Pullen -and her brother-in-law and Miss Leyton over at Heyst. What sort of a -character ’ave they been giving ’er be’ind ’er back?” - -“Indeed, I assure you, Madame--” commenced Mr. Pennell, deprecatingly. - -“You needn’t take the trouble to tell any tarradiddles about it! I can -see it in your face! I didn’t think much of that cousin of yours from -the beginning; ’e’s got a shifty sort of look, and as for that cold -bit of goods, Miss Leyton, well, all I say is, God ’elp the man that -marries ’er, for she’s enough to freeze the sun himself! But I liked -Mrs. Pullen well enough, and I was sorry to ’ear that she ’ad lost ’er -baby, for she was quite wrapt up in it! But I daresay she’ll soon ’ave -another!” - -Without feeling it incumbent on him to enter into an argument as to the -probability of the Baroness’s last suggestion, Anthony Pennell was glad -of the digression, as it gave him an opportunity of slurring over the -dangerous subject of Ralph Pullen’s character. - -“The loss of her child was a very great blow to my poor cousin,” he -replied, “and she is still suffering from it, bitterly. Else, I have no -doubt that you would have seen something of her--and the others,” he -added in a lower tone. After a slight interval, he ventured to raise -his eyes and see how the girl opposite to him had taken what was said, -but it did not appear to have made much impression on her--she was, on -the contrary, gazing at him with that magnetic glance of hers as though -she wanted to read into his very soul. - -“Don’t go and say that I want to see ’em,” said the Baroness as, having -devoured enough cake and bread and butter to feed an ordinary person -for a day, she rose and led the way into another room. “I don’t want to -see anybody at the Red ’Ouse that doesn’t want to come, and I ’aven’t -expected the ladies. But as for Captain Pullen, ’oo made an engagement -to follow our party to Brussels, and then never took the trouble to -write a line to excuse ’imself for breaking ’is word, why, I say ’e’s a -jerry sneak, and you may tell ’im so if you like! _We_ didn’t want ’im. -’E proposed to come ’imself, and I engaged ’is room and everything, and -then ’e skedaddled without a word, and I call it beastly be’aviour. -You mustn’t mind my plain speaking, Mr. Pennell. I always say what I -think! And I would like to break my stick over Captain Pullen’s back -and that’s the truth.” - -They were walking along the passage now, on their way to the Baron’s -library--the Baroness in front with her hand leaning heavily on -Pennell’s shoulder, and Harriet lingering a little behind. Anthony -Pennell pondered awhile before he replied. Was this the time to -announce Ralph’s intended marriage. How would the girl behind them take -it? - -He turned slightly and looked at her face as the thought passed through -his mind. Somehow the eyes that met his reassured him. He began to -think it must be a mistake--that she did not care for Ralph as much as -Mrs. Pullen had supposed--that she was only offended perhaps (as her -hostess evidently was) by the curt and uncivil manner in which he had -treated them both. So he replied, - -“I have not the slightest excuse to make for my cousin’s conduct, -Madame Gobelli. It appears to me that he has treated you with very -scant civility, and he ought to be ashamed of himself. But as you know, -his little niece’s death was very sudden and unexpected, and the least -he could do was to escort his sister-in-law and Miss Leyton back to -England, and since then----” - -“Well! and what since then?” demanded the Baroness, sharply. - -“Lord Walthamstowe and he have come to an arrangement,” said Pennell, -speaking very slowly, “that his marriage with Miss Elinor Leyton shall -take place sooner than was at first intended. The Limerick Rangers -are under orders for foreign service, and Captain Pullen naturally -wishes to take his wife out with him, and though, of course, all this -is no excuse for his omitting to write you a letter, the necessary -preparations and the consequent excitement _may_ have put his duty out -of his head. Of course,” he continued, “you know that Ralph is engaged -to marry Miss Leyton?” - -“I ’eard something of it,” replied the Baroness reluctantly, “but one -never knows what is true and what is not. Anyway, Captain Pullen didn’t -give out the news ’imself! ’E seemed ’appy enough without Miss Leyton, -didn’t ’e, ’Arriet?” - -But turning round to emphasise her words, she found that Harriet had -not followed them into the library. Whereupon she became confidential. - -“To tell you the truth, Mr. Pennell,” she continued, “’e just be’aved -like a scoundrel to our little ’Arriet there. ’E ran after the gal all -day, and spent all ’is evenings in our private sitting-room, gazing -at ’er as if ’e would eat ’er, whilst she sang and played to ’im. ’E -never said a word about marrying Miss Leyton. It was all ‘’Ally, ’Ally, -’Ally’ with ’im. And if the gal ’adn’t been a deal too clever for ’im, -and wise enough to see what a vain zany ’e is, she might ’ave broken -’er ’eart over it. The conceited jackanapes!” - -“But she has not fretted,” said Anthony Pennell eagerly. - -“Not she! I wouldn’t let ’er! She’s meat for Captain Pullen’s master! -A gal with fifteen ’undred a year in ’er own ’ands, and with a pair of -eyes like that! Oh! no! ’Arriet can pick up a ’usband worth two of your -cousin any day!” - -“I should think so indeed,” replied Mr. Pennell fervently, “I have -heard Mrs. Pullen mention Miss Brandt, but she did not prepare me for -meeting so beautiful a girl. But I can hardly wonder at my cousin -running away from her, Madame Gobelli. Knowing himself to be already -engaged, Miss Brandt must have proved a most dangerous companion. -Perhaps he found his heart was no longer under his own control, and -thought discretion the better part of valour. You must try and look -upon his conduct in the best light you can!” - -“Oh! well! it don’t signify much anyway, for ’e’s no miss at the Red -’Ouse, I can tell you, and ’Arriet could marry to-morrow if she chose, -and to a man worthy of ’er. But now you must look at my Spode.” - -She walked up to a tall cabinet at one end of the room, which was piled -with china, and took up a fragile piece in her hands. - -“Do you see that?” she said, turning up the plate and showing the -mark upon the bottom, “there it is, you see! There’s the M. These -five pieces are said to be the oldest in existence. And here’s a cup -of Limoges. And that’s Majolica. Do you know the marks of Majolica? -They’re some of the rarest known! A cross on a shield. The first real -bit of china I ever possessed was a Strasbourg. Have you ever seen any -Dutch Pottery--marked with an A.P.? I picked that up at an old Jew’s -shop in the market in Naples. And this Capo di Monte, strange to say, -in a back alley in Brighton. There’s nothing I like better than to grub -about back slums and look for something good. Some of my best pieces -’ave come out of pawnbrokers’ shops. That plate you’re looking at is -old Flemish--more than two ’undred years, I believe! It came out of the -rag market at Bruges. There used to be first-rate pickings to be ’ad at -Bruges and Ghent and in Antwerp some years ago, but the English ’ave -pretty well cleared ’em out.” - -“I never saw a better private collection, Madame Gobelli,” said Anthony -Pennell, as he gloated over the delicate morsels of Sèvres and Limoges -and Strasbourg. “The Baron should have had an old curiosity and -bric-a-brac establishment, instead of anything so prosaic as boots and -shoes.” - -“O! I couldn’t ’ave ’ad it!” exclaimed the Baroness, “it would ’ave -gone to my ’eart to sell a good bargain when I ’ad made it! My cups -and saucers and plates and teapots are like children to me, and if I -thought my Bobby would sell ’em when I was gone, I believe I should -rise from my grave and whack ’im.” - -The woman became almost womanly as her eyes rested lovingly on her -art treasures. It seemed incongruous to Pennell, to watch her huge -coarse hands, with their thick stumpy fingers and broad chestnut nails, -fingering the delicate fabric with apparent carelessness. Cup after cup -and vase and plate she almost tossed over each other, as she pushed -some away to make room for others, and piled them up on the top of one -another, until he trembled lest they should all come toppling down -together. - -“You are more used to handle these treasures than I am,” he remarked -presently, “I should be too much afraid of smashing something, to move -them so quickly as you do.” - -“I never broke a bit of china in my life,” returned the Baroness -energetically. “I’ve broken a stick over a man’s back, more than once, -but never ’ad an accident with my plates and dishes. ’Ow do you account -for that?” - -“You must have a flow of good luck!” said Mr. Pennell, “I am so -fearful for mine that I keep all the best under glass!” - -“I ’ave more friends to ’elp me than perhaps you know of,” said the -Baroness, mysteriously, “but it ain’t only that! I never let a servant -dust it! Miss Wynward does it, but she’s too much afraid to do more -than touch ’em with the tip of her feather brush. They come to me -sometimes and complain that the china is dirty. ‘Let it be dirty,’ I -say, ‘_that_ won’t break it, but if you clean it, you will!’ Ha! ha! -ha!” - -At that moment Harriet Brandt entered the room, moving sinuously across -the carpet as a snake might glide to its lair. Anthony Pennell could -not take his eyes off that gliding walk of hers. It seemed to him the -very essence of grace. It distracted all his attention from the china. - -“The Baron has just come in,” observed Harriet to her hostess. - -“Oh! well! come along and leave the rest of the china till after -dinner,” said Madame Gobelli. “Gustave likes to ’ave ’is dinner as soon -as ’e comes ’ome.” - -She thrust her arm through that of Anthony Pennell, and conducted -him to the dining-room, where the Baron (without having observed the -ceremony of changing his coat or boots) was already seated just as he -had come in, at the table. He gave a curt nod to the visitor as Mr. -Pennell’s name was mentioned to him, and followed it up immediately -by a query whether he would take fish. Mr. Pennell sat out the meal -with increasing amazement at every course. He, who was accustomed, in -consequence of his popularity, to sit at the tables of some of the -highest in the land, could liken this one to nothing but a farmhouse -dinner. Course succeeded course, in rapid succession, and there was -no particular fault to find with anything, but the utter want of -ceremony--the mingling of well-known and aristocratic names with the -boot and shoe trade--and the way in which the Baron and Baroness ate -and drank, filled him with surprise. The climax was reached when Mr. -Milliken, who was late for dinner, entered the room, and his hostess, -before introducing him to the stranger, saluted him with a resounding -smack on either cheek. - -Pennell thought it might be his turn next, and shuddered. But the wine -flowed freely, and the Baroness, being in an undoubted good humour, -the hospitality was unlimited. After dinner, the Baron having settled -to sleep in an armchair, Madame Gobelli proposed that the party should -amuse themselves with a game of “Hunt the slippers.” - -She was robed in an expensive satin dress, but she threw herself down -on the ground with a resounding thump, and thrusting two enormous feet -into view, offered her slipper as an inducement to commence the game. - -Pennell stood aloof, battling to restrain his laughter at the comical -sight before him. The Baroness’s foot, from which she had taken the -shoe, was garbed in a black woollen stocking full of holes, which -displayed a set of bare toes. But, apparently quite unaware of the -ludicrous object she presented, she kept on calling out for Harriet -Brandt and Miss Wynward to come and complete the circle at which only -Mr. Milliken and herself were seated. But Harriet shrank backwards and -refused to play. - -“No! indeed, Madame, I cannot. I do not know your English games!” she -pleaded. - -“Come on, we’ll teach you!” screamed Madame Gobelli, “’ere’s Milliken, -’e knows all about it, don’t you, Milliken? ’E knows ’ow to look for -the slipper under the gal’s petticoats. You come ’ere, ’Arriet, and sit -next me, and Mr. Pennell shall be the first to ’unt. Come on!” - -But Miss Brandt would not “come on”. She remained seated, and declared -that she was too tired to play and did not care for _les jeux -innocents_, and she had a headache, and anything and everything, before -she would comply with the outrageous request preferred to her. - -Madame Gobelli grumbled at her idleness and called her disobliging, but -Anthony admired the girl for her steadfast refusal. He did not like to -see her in the familiar society of such a woman as the Baroness--he -would have liked still less to see her engaged in such a boisterous and -unseemly game as “Hunt the slipper.” - -He took the opportunity of saying, - -“Since you are disinclined for such an energetic game, Miss Brandt, -perhaps you would oblige me by singing a song! I should so much like to -hear the mandoline. Mrs. Pullen has spoken to me of your efficiency on -it.” - -“If Madame Gobelli wishes it, I have no objection,” replied Harriet. - -“Oh! well! if you are all going to be so disagreeable as not to play a -good game,” said the Baroness, as Mr. Milliken pulled her on her feet -again, “’Arriet may as well sing to us! But a good romp first wouldn’t -’ave done us any ’arm!” - -She adjourned rather sulkily to a distant sofa with Mr. Milliken, -where they entertained each other whilst Harriet tuned her mandoline -and presently let her rich voice burst forth in the strains of “Oh! -ma Charmante.” Anthony Pennell was enchanted. He had a passion for -music, and it appealed more powerfully to him than anything else. He -sat in rapt attention until Harriet’s voice had died away, and then he -implored her to sing another song. - -“You cannot tell what it is for me, who cares more for music than for -anything else in this world, to hear a voice like yours. Why! you will -create a perfect _furore_ when you go into society. You could make your -fortune on the stage, but I know you have no need of that!” - -“Oh! one never knows what one may have need of,” said Harriet gaily, as -she commenced “Dormez, ma belle”, and sang it to perfection. - -“You must have had a very talented singing-master,” observed Pennell -when the second song was finished. - -“Indeed no! My only instructress was a nun in the Ursuline Convent -in Jamaica. But I always loved it,” said the girl, as she ran over -the strings of her mandoline in a merry little tarantelle, which made -everyone in the room feel as if they had been bitten by the spider from -which it took its name, and wanted above all other things to dance. - -How Pennell revelled in the music and the performer! How he longed to -hear from her own lips that Ralph’s treatment had left no ill effects -behind it. - -When she had ceased playing, he drew nearer to her, and under the -cover of the Baroness’s conversation with Mr. Milliken and the Baron’s -snores, they managed to exchange a few words. - -“How can I ever thank you enough for the treat you have given me!” he -began. - -“I am very glad that you liked it!” - -“I was not prepared to hear such rare talent! My experience of young -ladies’ playing and singing has not hitherto been happy. But you have -great genius. Did you ever sing to Mrs. Pullen whilst in Heyst?” - -“Once or twice.” - -“And to my cousin, Ralph Pullen?” - -“Yes!” - -“I cannot understand his having treated the Baroness with such scant -courtesy. And you also, who had been kind enough to allow him to enjoy -your society. You would not have found me so ungrateful. But you have -heard doubtless that he is going to be married shortly!” - -“Yes! I have heard it!” - -“And that has, I suppose, put everything else out of his head! Perhaps -it may be as well, especially for his future wife. There are some -things which are dangerous for men to remember--such as your lovely -voice, for example!” - -“Do you think so?” Harriet fixed her dark eyes on him, as she put the -question. - -“I am sure it will be dangerous for me, unless you will give me leave -to come and hear it again. I shall not be able to sleep for thinking -of it. Do you think the Baroness will be so good as to enrol me as a -visitor to the house?” - -“You had better ask her!” - -“And if she consents, will you sing to me sometimes?” - -“I am always singing or playing! There is nothing else to do here. The -Baron and Baroness are almost always out, and I have no company but -that of Bobby and Miss Wynward. It is terribly dull, I can tell you. I -am longing to get away, but I do not know where to go.” - -“Have you no friends in England?” - -“Not one, except Mr. Tarver, who is my solicitor!” - -“That sounds very grim. If you will let me count myself amongst your -friends, I shall be so grateful.” - -“I should like it very much! I am not so ignorant as not to have heard -your name and to know that you are a celebrated man. But I am afraid I -shall prove a very stupid friend for you.” - -“I have no such fear, and if I may come and see you sometimes, I shall -count myself a very happy man.” - -“I am generally alone in the afternoon,” replied Miss Brandt, -sophistically. - -In another minute Mr. Pennell was saying good-night to his hostess and -asking her permission to repeat his visit at some future time. - -“And if you and Miss Brandt would so far honour me, Madame Gobelli, as -to come and have a little lunch at my chambers in Piccadilly, I shall -feel myself only too much indebted to you. Perhaps we might arrange a -_matinée_ or a concert for the same afternoon, if it would please you? -Will you let me know? And pray fix as early a date as possible. And I -may really avail myself of your kind permission to come and see you -again. You may be sure that I shall not forget to do so. Good-night! -Good-night, Baron! Good-night, Miss Brandt!” and with a nod to Mr. -Milliken he was gone. - -“Ain’t ’e a nice fellow? Worth two of that conceited jackanapes, ’is -cousin,” remarked the Baroness as he disappeared, “what do you think of -’im, ’Arriet?” - -“Oh! he is well enough,” replied Miss Brandt with a yawn, as she -prepared also to take her departure, “he is taller and broader and -stronger looking than Captain Pullen--and he must be very clever into -the bargain.” - -“And ’e never said a word about ’is books,” exclaimed Madame Gobelli, -“only fancy!” - -“No! he never said a word about his books,” echoed Harriet. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - - -Anthony Pennell had promised to let Margaret Pullen hear the result -of his visit to the Red House, and as he entered her presence on the -following evening, she saluted him with the queries, - -“Well! have you been there? Have you seen her?” - -To which he answered soberly, - -“Yes! I have been there and I have seen her!” - -“And what do you think of her? What did she say? I hope she was not -rude to you!” - -“My dear Mrs. Pullen,” said Pennell, as he seated himself, and prepared -for a long talk, “you must let me say in the first place, that I should -never have recognised Miss Brandt from your description of her! You led -me to expect a _gauche_ schoolgirl, a half-tamed savage, or a juvenile -virago. And I am bound to say that she struck me as belonging to none -of the species. I sent your note of introduction to Madame Gobelli, -and received a very polite invitation in return, in accordance with -which I dined at the Red House yesterday.” - -“You _dined_ there!” exclaimed Margaret with renewed interest. “Oh! do -tell me all about it, from the very beginning. What do you think of -that dreadful woman, the Baroness, and her little humpty Baron, and did -you tell Miss Brandt of Ralph’s impending marriage?” - -“My dear lady, one question at a time, if you please. In the first -place I arrived there rather sooner than I was expected, and Madame -Gobelli had not returned from her afternoon drive, but Miss Harriet -Brandt did the honours of the tea-table in a very efficient manner, and -with as much composure and dignity as if she had been a duchess. We had -a very pleasant time together until the Baroness burst in upon us!” - -“Are you chaffing me?” asked Margaret, incredulously. “What do you -really think of her?” - -“I think she is, without exception, the most perfectly beautiful woman -I have ever seen!” - -“_What!_” exclaimed his companion. - -She had thrown herself back in her armchair, and was regarding him -as if he were perpetrating some mysterious joke, which she did not -understand. - -“How extraordinary; how very extraordinary!” she exclaimed at length, -“that is the very thing that Ralph said of her when they first met.” - -“But why extraordinary? There are few men who would not endorse the -opinion. Miss Brandt possesses the kind of beauty that appeals to the -senses of animal creatures like ourselves. She has a far more dangerous -quality than that of mere regularity of feature. She attracts without -knowing it. She is a mass of magnetism.” - -“O! do go on, Mr. Pennell! Tell me how she received the news you went -to break to her!” - -“I never broke it at all. There was no need to do so. Miss Brandt -alluded to the magnificent Captain Pullen’s marriage with the greatest -nonchalance. She evidently estimates him at his true value, and does -not consider him worth troubling her head about!” - -“You astonish me! But how are we to account then for the attitude -she assumed towards Miss Leyton, and the boast she made of Ralph’s -attentions to her?” - -“Bravado, most likely! Miss Leyton goes to the Red House all aflame, -like an angry turkey cock, and accuses Miss Brandt of having robbed her -of her lover, and what would you have the girl do? Not cry Peccavi, -surely, and lower her womanhood? She had but one course--to brave it -out. Besides, you have heard only one side of the question, remember! I -can imagine Miss Leyton being very ‘nasty’ if she liked!” - -“You forget the letters which Miss Brandt wrote to Ralph and which were -found in his empty grate at Richmond!” - -“I do not! I remember them as only another proof of how unworthy he is -of the confidence of any woman.” - -“Really, Mr. Pennell, you seem to be all on Miss Brandt’s side!” - -“I am, and for this reason. If your ideas concerning her are -correct, she displayed a large amount of fortitude whilst speaking -of your brother-in-law yesterday. But my own belief is, that you are -mistaken--that Miss Brandt is too clever for Ralph, or any of you--and -that she cares no more for him in that way than you do. She considers -doubtless that he has behaved in a most ungentlemanly manner towards -them all, and so do I. I did not know what excuse to make for Ralph! I -was ashamed to own him as a relation.” - -“Harriet Brandt _did_ then confide her supposed wrongs to you!” - -“Not at all! When she mentioned Ralph’s name, it was like that of any -other acquaintance. But when she was out of the room, the Baroness -told me that he had behaved like a scoundrel to the girl--that he had -never confided the fact of his engagement to her, but run after her -on every occasion, and then after having promised to join their party -in Brussels, and asked Madame Gobelli to engage his room for him, he -left for England without even sending her a line of apology, nor has he -taken the least notice of them since!” - -“Ah! but you know the reason of his sudden departure!” cried Margaret, -her soft eyes welling over with tears. - -“My dear Mrs. Pullen,” said Anthony Pennell, sympathetically, “even -at that sad moment, Ralph might have sent a telegram, or scratched a -line of apology. We have to attend to such little courtesies, you know, -even if our hearts are breaking! And how can you excuse his not having -called on them, or written since? No wonder the Baroness is angry. She -did not restrain her tongue in speaking of him yesterday. She said she -never wished to see his face again.” - -“Does she know that Elinor went to the Red House?” - -“I think not! There was no mention of her name!” - -“Then I suppose we may at all events consider the affair _une chose -finie_?” - -“I hope so, sincerely! I should not advise Master Ralph to show his -face at the Red House again. The Baroness said she longed to lay her -stick across his back, and I believe she is quite capable of doing so!” - -“Oh! indeed she is,” replied Margaret, smiling, “we heard a great many -stories of her valour in that respect from Madame Lamont, the landlady -of the Lion d’Or. Has Miss Brandt taken up her residence altogether -with Madame Gobelli?” - -“I think not! She told me her life there was very dull, and she should -like to change it.” - -“She is in a most unfortunate position for a young girl,” remarked -Margaret, “left parentless, with money at her command, and in a strange -country! And with the strange stigma attached to her birth--” - -“I don’t believe in stigmas being attached to one’s birth,” returned -Pennell hastily, “the only stigmas worth thinking about, are those we -bring upon ourselves by our misconduct--such a one, for instance, as my -cousin Ralph has done with regard to Miss Brandt! I would rather be in -her shoes than his. Ralph thinks, perhaps, that being a stranger and -friendless she is fair game--” - -“Who is that, taking my name in vain?” interrupted a languid voice at -the open door, as Captain Pullen advanced into the room. - -Margaret Pullen started and grew very red at being detected in -discussing her brother-in-law’s actions, but Anthony Pennell, who was -always ruffled by his cousin’s affected walk and drawl, blurted the -truth right out. - -“_I_ was,” he replied, hardly touching the hand which Captain Pullen -extended to him, “I was just telling Mrs. Pullen of the high estimation -in which your name is held at the Red House!” - -It was now Ralph’s turn to grow red. His fair face flushed from chin to -brow, as he repeated, - -“The Red House! what Red House?” - -“Did they not mention the name to you? I mean the residence of Madame -Gobelli. I was dining there yesterday.” - -“Dining there, were you? By Jove! I didn’t know you were acquainted -with the woman. Isn’t she a queer old party? Baroness Boots, eh? Fancy -your knowing them! I thought you were a cut above that, Anthony!” - -“If the Gobellis were good enough for you to be intimate with in Heyst, -I suppose they are good enough for me to dine with in London, Ralph! I -did not know until last evening, however, that you had left them to pay -for your rooms in Brussels, or I would have taken the money over with -me to defray the debt.” - -Ralph had seated himself by this time, but he looked very uneasy and as -if he wished he had not come. - -“Did the old girl engage rooms for me?” he stammered. “Well! you know -the reason I could not go to Brussels, but of course if I had known -that she had gone to any expense for me, I would have repaid her. Did -she tell you of it herself?” he added, rather anxiously. - -“Yes! and a good many more things besides. As you have happened to come -in whilst we are on the question, I had better make a clean breast of -it. Perhaps you have heard that Miss Leyton has been to the Red House -and had an interview with Miss Brandt!” - -“Yes! I’ve just come from Richmond, where we’ve had a jolly row over -it,” grumbled Ralph, pulling his moustaches. - -“Your family all felt that sort of thing could not go on--that it -must end one way or the other--and therefore I went to the Red House, -ostensibly to view Madame Gobelli’s collection of china, but in reality -to ascertain what view of the matter she and Miss Brandt took--and to -undeceive them as to your being in a position to pursue your intimacy -with the young lady any further.” - -“And what the devil business have you to meddle in my private affairs?” -demanded Captain Pullen rousing himself. - -“Because, unfortunately, your mother happened to be my father’s -sister,” replied Pennell sternly, “and the scrapes you get in harm me -more than they do yourself! One officer more or less, who gets into a -scrape with women, goes pretty well unnoticed, but I have attained a -position in which I cannot afford to have my relations’ names bandied -about as having behaved in a manner unbecoming gentlemen.” - -“Who dares to say that of me?” cried Ralph angrily. - -“Everybody who knows of the attention you paid Miss Brandt in Heyst,” -replied Anthony Pennell, boldly, “and without telling her that you were -already engaged to be married. I do not wonder at Miss Leyton being -angry about it! I only wonder she consents to have any more to do with -you in the circumstances.” - -“O! we’ve settled all that!” said Ralph, testily, “we had the whole -matter out at Richmond this afternoon, and I’ve promised to be a good -boy for the future, and never speak to a pretty woman again! You need -not wonder any more about Elinor! She is only glad enough to get me -back at any price!” - -“Yes? And what about Miss Brandt?” enquired Pennell. - -“Is she worrying about this affair?” asked Captain Pullen, quickly. - -“Not a bit! I think she estimates your attentions at their true value. -I was alluding to the opinion she and her friends must have formed of -your character as an officer and a gentleman.” - -“O! I’ll soon set all that right! I’ll run over to the Red House and -see the old girl, if you two will promise not to tell Elinor!” - -“I should not advise you to do that! I am afraid you might get a warm -reception. I think Madame Gobelli is quite capable of having you soused -in the horse-pond. You would think the same if you had heard the names -she called you yesterday.” - -“What did she call me?” - -“Everything she could think of. She considers you have behaved not only -in a most ungentlemanly manner towards her, but in a most dishonourable -one to Miss Brandt. She particularly told me to tell you that she never -wished to see your face again.” - -“Damn her!” exclaimed Captain Pullen, wrathfully, “and all her boots -and shoes into the bargain. A vulgar, coarse old tradesman’s wife! How -dare she----” - -“Stop a minute, Ralph! The Baroness’s status in society makes no -difference in this matter. You know perfectly well that you did wrong. -Let us have no more discussion of the subject.” - -Captain Pullen leaned back sulkily in his chair. - -“Well! if I _did_ flirt a little bit more than was prudent with an -uncommonly distracting little girl,” he muttered presently, “I am sure -I have had to pay for it! Lord Walthamstowe insists that if I do not -marry Elinor before the Rangers start for Malta the engagement shall be -broken off, so I suppose I must do it! But it is a doosid nuisance to -be tied up at five-and-twenty, before one has half seen life! What the -dickens I am to do with her when I’ve got her, I’m sure I don’t know!” - -“O! you will find married life very charming when you’re used to it!” -said Pennell consolingly, “and Miss Leyton is everything a fellow could -wish for in a wife! Only you must give up flirting, my boy, or if I -mistake not, you’ll find you’ve caught a tartar!” - -“I expect to have to give up everything,” said the other with a sour -mouth. - -As soon as he perceived a favourable opportunity, Anthony Pennell rose -to take his leave. He did not wish to quarrel with Ralph Pullen about -a girl whom he had only seen once, at the same time he feared for his -own self-control, if his cousin continued to mention the matter in so -nonchalant a manner. Pennell had always despised Captain Pullen for his -easy conceit with regard to women, and it seemed to him to have grown -more detestably contemptible than before. He was anxious therefore to -quit the scene of action. But, to his annoyance, when he bade Margaret -good-evening, Ralph also rose and expressed his wish to walk with him -in the direction of his chambers. - -“I suppose you couldn’t put me up for the night, old chappie!” he said -with his most languid air. - -“Decidedly not!” replied Pennell. “I have only my own bedroom, and I’ve -no intention of your sharing it. Why do you not go back to Richmond, or -put up at an hotel?” - -“Doosid inhospitable!” remarked Captain Pullen, with a faded smile. - -“Sorry you think so, but a man cannot give what he does not possess. -You had better stay and keep your sister-in-law company for a little -while. I have work to do and am going straight home!” - -“All right! I’ll walk with you a little way,” persisted Ralph, and the -two young men left the house together. - -As soon as they found themselves in the street, Captain Pullen attacked -his cousin, eagerly. - -“I say, Pennell, what is the exact direction of the Red House?” - -“Why do you want to know?” enquired his companion. - -“Because I feel that I owe the Baroness a visit. I acknowledge that I -was wrong not to write and make my apologies, but you must know what it -is--with a deuce of a lot of women to look after, and the whole gang -crying their eyes out, and everything thrown on my shoulders, coffin, -funeral, taking them over from Heyst to England, and all--it was enough -to drive everything else out of a man’s head. You must acknowledge -that.” - -“You owe no excuses to me, Pullen, neither do I quite believe in them. -You have had plenty of time since to remedy your negligence, even if -you did forget to be courteous at the moment!” - -“I know that, and you’re quite right about the other thing. I had more -reasons than one for letting the matter drop. You are a man and I can -tell you with impunity what would set the women tearing my eyes out. -I _did_ flirt a bit with Harriet Brandt, perhaps more than was quite -prudent in the circumstances--” - -“You mean the circumstance of your engagement to Miss Leyton?” - -“Yes and No! If I had been free, it would have been all the -same--perhaps worse, for I should not have had a loophole of escape. -For you see Miss Brandt is not the sort of girl that any man could -marry.” - -“Why not?” demanded Pennell with some asperity. - -“Oh! because--well! you should hear old Phillips talk of her and her -parents. They were the most awful people, and she has black blood in -her, her mother was a half-caste, so you see it would be impossible -for any man in my position to think of marrying her! One might get a -piebald son and heir! Ha! ha! ha! But putting all that aside, she is -one of the demndest fascinating little women I ever came across--you -would say so too, if you had seen as much of her as I did--I can’t tell -you what it is exactly, but she has a drawing way about her, that pulls -a fellow into the net before he knows what he is about. And her voice, -by Jove!--have you heard her sing?” - -“I have, but that has nothing to do that I can see with the subject -under discussion. You, an engaged man, who had no more right to -philander with a girl, than if you had been married, appear to me to -have followed this young lady about and paid her attentions, which -were, to say the least of them, compromising, never announcing the -fact, meanwhile, that you were bound to Miss Leyton. After which, you -left her, without a word of explanation, to think what she chose of -your conduct. And now you wish to see her again, in order to apologise. -Am I right?” - -“Pretty well, only you make such a serious matter out of a little fun!” - -“Well, then, I repeat that if you are wise, you will save yourself the -trouble, Ralph! Miss Brandt is happily too sensible to have been taken -in by your pretence of making love to her. She estimates you at your -true value. She knows that you are engaged to Elinor Leyton--that you -were engaged all the time she knew you--and, I think, she rather pities -Miss Leyton for being engaged to you!” - -But this point of view had never presented itself before to the -inflated vanity of Ralph Pullen. - -“_Pities_ her!” he exclaimed, “the devil!” - -“I daresay it seems incomprehensible to you that any woman should not -be thankful to accept at your hands the crumbs that may fall from -another’s table, but with regard to Miss Brandt, I assure you it is -true! And even were it otherwise, I am certain Madame Gobelli would not -admit you to her house. You know the sort of person she is! She can be -very violent if she chooses, and the names she called you yesterday, -were not pretty ones. I had much trouble, as your relative, to stand -by and listen to them quietly. Yet I could not say that they were -undeserved!” - -“O well! I daresay!” returned Ralph, impatiently. “Let us allow, for -the sake of argument, that you are right, and that I behaved like a -brute! The matter lies only between Hally Brandt and myself. The old -woman has nothing to do with it! She never met the girl till she went -to Heyst. What I want to do is to see Hally again and make my peace -with her! You know how easily women are won over. A pretty present--a -few kisses and excuses,--a few tears--and the thing is done. I -shouldn’t like to leave England without making my peace with the little -girl. Couldn’t you get her to come to your chambers, and let me meet -her there? Then the Baroness need know nothing about it!” - -“I thought you told us just now, that you had had a reconciliation with -Miss Leyton on condition that you were to be a good boy for the future. -Does that not include a surreptitious meeting with Miss Brandt?” - -“I suppose it does, but we have to make all sorts of promises -where women are concerned. A nice kind of life a man would lead, -if he consented to be tied to his wife’s apron-strings, and never -go anywhere, nor see anyone, of whom she did not approve. I swore -to everything she and old Walthamstowe asked me, just for peace’s -sake,--but if they imagine I’m going to be hampered like that, they -must be greater fools than I take them for!” - -“You must do as you think right, Pullen, but I am not going to help you -to break your word!” - -“Tell me where the Red House is! Tell me whereabouts Hally takes her -daily walks!” urged Captain Pullen. - -“I shall tell you nothing--you must find out for yourself!” - -“Well! you are damned particular!” exclaimed his cousin, “one would -think this little half-caste was a princess of the Blood Royal. What is -she, when all’s said and done? The daughter of a mulatto and a man who -made himself so detested that he was murdered by his own servants--the -bastard of a----” - -“Stop!” cried Pennell, so vehemently that the passers-by turned their -heads to look at him, “I don’t believe it, and if it is true, I do not -wish to hear it! Miss Brandt may be all that you say--I am not in a -position to contradict your assertions--but to me she represents only a -friendless and unprotected woman, who has a right to our sympathy and -respect.” - -“A friendless woman!” sneered Captain Pullen, “yes! and a doosid -good-looking one into the bargain, eh, my dear fellow, and much of your -sympathy and respect she would command if she were ugly and humpbacked. -O! I know you, Pennell! It’s no use your coming the benevolent -Samaritan over me! You have an eye for a jimper waist and a trim ancle -as well as most men. But I fancy your interest is rather thrown away in -this quarter. Miss Brandt has a thorny path before her. She is a young -lady who will have her own way, and with the glorious example of the -Baroness the way is not likely to be too carefully chosen. To tell the -truth, old boy, I ran away because I was afraid of falling into the -trap. The girl wishes intensely to be married, and she is not a girl -whom men will marry, and so--we need go no further. Only, I should not -be surprised if, notwithstanding her fortune and her beauty, we should -find Miss Harriet Brandt figuring before long, amongst the free lances -of London.” - -“And you would have done your best to send her there!” replied Anthony -Pennell indignantly, as he stopped on the doorstep of his Piccadilly -chambers. “But I am glad to say that your folly has been frustrated -this time, and Miss Brandt sees you as you are! Good-night!” and -without further discussion, he turned on his heel and walked upstairs. - -“By Jove!” thought Ralph, as he too went on his way, “I believe old -Anthony is smitten with the girl himself, though he has only seen her -once! That was the most remarkable thing about her--the ease with -which she seemed to attract, looking so innocent all the while, and -the deadly strength with which she resisted one’s efforts to get free -again. Perhaps it is as well after all that I should not meet her. I -don’t believe I could trust myself, only speaking of her seems to have -revived the old sensation of being drawn against my will--hypnotised, I -suppose the scientists would call it--to be near her, to touch her, to -embrace her, until all power of resistance is gone. But I do hope old -Anthony is not going to be hypnotised. He’s too good for that.” - -Meanwhile Pennell, having reached his rooms, lighted the gas, threw -himself into an armchair, and rested his head upon his hands. - -“Poor little girl!” he murmured to himself. “Poor little girl!” - -Anthony Pennell was a Socialist in the best and truest sense of the -world. He loved his fellow creatures, both high and low, better than -he loved himself. He wanted all to share alike--to be equally happy, -equally comfortable--to help and be helped, to rest and depend upon -one another. He knew that the dream was only a dream--that it would -never be fulfilled in his time, nor any other; that some men would -be rich and some poor as long as the world lasts, and that what one -man can do to alleviate the misery and privation and suffering with -which we are surrounded, is very little. What little Pennell could -do, however, to prove that his theories were not mere talk, he did. -He made a large income by his popular writings and the greater part -of it went to relieve the want of his humbler friends, not through -governors and secretaries and the heads of charitable Societies, but -from his own hand to theirs. But his Socialism went further and higher -than this. Money was not the only thing which his fellow creatures -required--they wanted love, sympathy, kindness, and consideration--and -these he gave also, wherever he found that there was need. He set -his face pertinaciously against all scandal and back-biting, and -waged a perpetual warfare against the tyranny of men over women; the -ill-treatment of children; and the barbarities practised upon dumb -animals and all living things. He was a liberal-minded man, with a -heart large enough and tender enough to belong to a woman--with a -horror of cruelty and a great compassion for everything that was -incapable of defending itself. He was always writing in defence of -the People, calling the attention of those in authority to their -misfortunes; their evil chances; their lack of opportunity; and their -patience under tribulation. For this purpose and in order to know them -thoroughly, he had gone and lived amongst them; shared their filthy -dens in Whitechapel, partaken of their unappetising food in Stratford; -and watched them at their labour in Homerton. His figure and his kindly -face were well-known in some of the worst and most degraded parts of -London, and he could pass anywhere, without fear of a hand being lifted -up against him, or an oath called after him in salutation. Anthony -Pennell was, in fact, a general lover--a lover of Mankind. - -And that is why he leant his head upon his hand as he ejaculated with -reference to Harriet Brandt, “Poor little girl.” - -It seemed so terrible in his eyes that just because she was friendless, -and an orphan, just because her parents had been, perhaps, unworthy, -just because she had a dark stream mingling with her blood, just -because she needed the more sympathy and kindness, the more protection -and courtesy, she should be considered fit prey for the sensualist--a -fit subject to wipe men’s feet upon! - -What difference did it make to Harriet Brandt herself, that she was -marked with an hereditary taint? Did it render her less beautiful, -less attractive, less graceful and accomplished? Were the sins of the -fathers ever to be visited upon the children?--was no sympathetic -fellow-creature to be found to say, “If it is so, let us forget it! It -is not your fault nor mine! Our duty is to make each other’s lives as -happy as possible and trust the rest to God.” - -He hoped as he sat there, that before long, Harriet Brandt would find a -friend for life, who would never remind her of anything outside her own -loveliness and loveable qualities. - -Presently he rose, with a sigh, and going to his bookcase drew thence -an uncut copy of his last work, “God and the People.” It had been a -tremendous success, having already reached the tenth edition. It dealt -largely, as its title indicated, with his favourite theory, but it was -light and amusing also, full of strong nervous language, and bristling -every here and there, with wit--not strained epigrams, such as no -Society conversationalists ever tossed backward and forward to each -other--but honest, mirth-provoking humour, arising from the humorous -side of Pennell’s own character, which ever had a good-humoured jest -for the oddities and comicalities of everyday life. - -He regarded the volume for a moment as though he were considering if it -were an offering worthy of its destination, and then he took up a pen -and transcribed upon the fly leaf the name of Harriet Brandt--only her -name, nothing more. - -“She seems intelligent,” he thought, “and she may like to read it. Who -knows, if there is any fear of the sad destiny which Ralph prophesies -for her, whether I may not be happy enough to turn her ideas into a -worthier and more wholesome direction. With an independent fortune, how -much good might she not accomplish, amongst those less happily situated -than herself! But the other idea--No, I will not entertain it for a -moment! She is too good, too pure, too beautiful, for so horrible a -fate! Poor little girl! Poor, poor little girl!” - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - - -The holiday season being now over, and the less fashionable people -returned to town, Harriet Brandt’s curiosity was much excited by the -number of visitors who called at the Red House, but were never shewn -into the drawing-room. As many as a dozen might arrive in the course of -an afternoon and were taken by Miss Wynward straight upstairs to the -room where Madame Gobelli and Mr. Milliken so often shut themselves -up together. These mysterious visitors were not objects of charity -either, but well-dressed men and women, some of whom came in their -own carriages, and all of whom appeared to be of the higher class of -society. The Baroness had left off going to the factory, also, and -stayed at home every day, apparently with the sole reason of being at -hand to receive her visitors. - -Harriet could not understand it at all, and after having watched two -fashionably attired ladies accompanied by a gentleman, ascend the -staircase, to Madame Gobelli’s room, one afternoon, she ventured to -sound Miss Wynward on the subject. - -“Who were the ladies who went upstairs just now?” she asked. - -“Friends of the Baroness, Miss Brandt!” was the curt reply. - -“But why do they not come down to the drawing-room then? What does -Madame Gobelli do with them in that little room upstairs? I was passing -one day just after someone had entered, and I heard the key turned in -the lock. What is all the secrecy about?” - -“There is no secrecy on my part, Miss Brandt. You know the position I -hold here. When I have shewn the visitors upstairs, according to my -Lady’s directions, my duty is done!” - -“But you must know why they come to see her!” - -“I know nothing. If you are curious on the subject, you must ask the -Baroness.” - -But Harriet did not like to do that. The Baroness had become less -affectionate to her of late--her fancy was already on the wane--she -no longer called the attention of strangers to her young friend as -the “daughter of the house”--and Harriet felt the change, though she -could scarcely have defined where it exactly lay. She had begun to feel -less at home in her hostess’s presence, and her high spirit chafed at -the alteration in her manner. She realised, as many had done before -her, that she had out-stayed her welcome. But her curiosity respecting -the people who visited Madame Gobelli upstairs was none the less. She -confided it to Bobby--poor Bobby who grew whiter and more languid ever -day--but her playful threat to invade the sacred precincts and find -out what the Baroness and her friends were engaged upon, was received -by the youth with horror. He trembled as he begged her not to think of -such a thing. - -“Hally, you mustn’t, indeed you mustn’t! You don’t know--you have no -idea--what might not happen to you, if you offended Mamma by breaking -in upon her privacy. O! don’t, pray don’t! She can be so terrible at -times--I do not know what she might not do or say!” - -“My dear Bobby, I was only in fun! I have not the least idea of doing -anything so rude. Only, if you think that I am frightened of your Mamma -or any other woman, you are very much mistaken. It’s all nonsense! No -one person can harm another in this world!” - -“O! yes, they can--if they have _help_,” replied the boy, shaking his -head. - -“Help! what help? The help of Mr. Milliken, I suppose! I would rather -fight him than the Baroness any day--but I fear neither of them.” - -“O! Hally, you are wrong,” said the lad, “you must be careful, indeed -you must--for my sake!” - -“Why! you silly Bobby, you are actually trembling! However, I promise -you I will do nothing rash! And I shall not be here much longer now! -Your Mamma is getting tired of me, I can see that plainly enough! She -has hardly spoken a word to me for the last two days. I am going to ask -Mr. Pennell, to advise me where to find another home!” - -“No! no!” cried the lad, clinging to her, “you shall not leave us! Mr. -Pennell shall not take you away! I will kill him first!” - -He was getting terribly jealous of Anthony Pennell, but Harriet laughed -at his complaints and reproaches as the emanations of a love-sick -schoolboy. She was flattered by his feverish longing for her society, -and his outspoken admiration of her beauty, but she did not suppose -for one moment that Bobby was capable of a lasting, or dangerous, -sentiment. - -Mr. Pennell had become a familiar figure at the Red House by this time. -His first visit had been speedily succeeded by another, at which he -had presented Harriet Brandt with the copy of his book--an attention, -which had he known it, flattered her vanity more than any praises of -her beauty could have done. A plain woman likes to be told that she -is good-looking, a handsome one that she is clever. Harriet Brandt -was not unintelligent, on the contrary she had inherited a very fair -amount of brains from her scientific father--but no one ever seemed -to have found it out, until Anthony Pennell came her way. She was a -little tired of being told that she had lovely eyes, and the most -fascinating smile, she knew all that by heart, and craved for something -new. Mr. Pennell had supplied the novelty by talking to her as if -her intellect were on a level with his own--as if she were perfectly -able to understand and sympathise with his quixotic plans for the -alleviation of the woes of all mankind--with his Arcadian dreams of -Liberty, Equality and Fraternity,--and might help them also, if she -chose, not with money only, but by raising her own voice in the Cause -of the People. Harriet had never been treated so by anyone before, and -her ardent, impetuous, passionate nature, which had a large amount of -gratitude in its composition, fixed itself upon her new friend with a -vehemence which neither of them would find it easy to overcome--or to -disentangle themselves from. Her love (eager to repair the void left -by the desertion of Captain Pullen) had poured itself, by means of -looks and sighs and little timid, tender touches upon Anthony Pennell -like a mountain torrent that had burst its bounds, and he had been -responsive--he had opened his arms to receive the flood, actuated -not only by the admiration which he had conceived for her from the -first, but by the intense, yearning pity which her loneliness and -friendlessness had evoked in his generous, compassionate nature. In -fact they were desperately in love with each other, and Harriet was -expecting each time he came, to hear Anthony Pennell say that he -could no longer live without her. And Bobby looked on from a little -distance--and suffered. The next time that Mr. Pennell came to see her, -Harriet confided to him the mystery of the upstairs room, and asked his -opinion as to what it could possibly mean. - -“Perhaps they are people connected with the boot trade,” suggested -Anthony jestingly, “does Madame keep a stock of boots and shoes up -there, do you think?” - -“O! no! Mr. Pennell, you must not joke about it! This is something -serious! Poor Bobby grew as white as a sheet when I proposed to make a -raid upon the room some day and discover the mystery, and said that his -mother was a terrible woman, and able to do me great harm if I offended -her!” - -“I quite agree with Bobby in his estimate of his Mamma being a terrible -woman,” replied Mr. Pennell, “but it is all nonsense about her being -able to harm you! _I_ should soon see about that!” - -“What would you do?” asked Harriet, with downcast eyes. - -“What would I _not_ do to save you from anything disagreeable, let -alone anything dangerous. But the Baroness is too fond of you, surely, -to do you any harm!” - -Harriet pursed up her lips. - -“I am not so sure about her being fond of me, Mr. Pennell! She used to -profess to be, I know, but lately her manner has very much altered. She -will pass half a day without speaking a word to me, and they have cut -off wine and champagne and everything nice from the dinner table. I -declare the meals here are sometimes not fit to eat. And I believe they -grudge me the little I consider worthy my attention.” - -“But why do you stay here, if you fancy you are not welcome?” asked -Pennell, earnestly, “you are not dependent on these people or their -hospitality.” - -“But where am I to go?” said the girl, “I know no one in London, and -Miss Wynward says that I am too young to live at an hotel by myself!” - -“Miss Wynward is quite right! You are far too young and too beautiful. -You don’t know what wicked men and women there are in the world, who -would delight in fleecing an innocent lamb like you. But I can soon -find you a home where you could stay in respectability and comfort, -until--until----” - -“Until _what_,” asked Harriet, with apparent ingenuousness, for she -knew well enough what was coming. - -They were seated on one of those little couches made expressly for -conversation, where a couple can sit back to back, with their faces -turned to one another. Harriet half raised her slumbrous black eyes as -she put the question, and met the fire in his own. He stretched out his -arms and caught her round the waist. - -“Hally! Hally! you know--there is no need for me to tell you! Will you -come home to me, dearest? Don’t ever say that you are friendless again! -Here is your friend and your lover and your devoted slave for ever! My -darling--my beautiful Hally, say you will be my wife--and make me the -very happiest man in all the world!” - -She did not shrink from his warm wooing--that was not her nature! Her -eyes waked up and flashed fire, responsive to his own; she let her head -rest on his shoulder, and turned her lips upwards eagerly to meet his -kiss, she cooed her love into his ear, and clasped him tightly round -the neck as if she would never let him go. - -“I love you--I love you,” she kept on murmuring, “I have loved you from -the very first!” - -“O! Hally, how happy it makes me to hear you say so,” he replied, “how -few women have the honesty and courage to avow their love as you do. My -sweet child of the sun! The women in this cold country have no idea of -the joy that a mutual love like ours has the power to bestow. We will -love each other for ever and ever, my Hally, and when our bodies are -withered by age, our spirits shall still go loving on.” - -He--the man whose whole thoughts hitherto had been so devoted to the -task of ameliorating the condition of his fellow-creatures, that he had -had no time to think of dalliance, succumbed as fully to its pleasures -now, as the girl whose life had simply been a ripening process -for the seed which had burst forth into flower. They were equally -passionate--equally loving--equally unreserved--and they were soon -absorbed in their own feelings, and noticed nothing that was taking -place around them. - -But they were not as entirely alone as they imagined. A pale face full -of misery was watching them through one of the panes in the French -windows, gazing at what seemed like his death doom, too horribly -fascinated to tear himself away. Bobby stood there and saw Hally--_his_ -Hally, as he had often fondly called her, without knowing the meaning -of the word--clasped in the arms of this stranger, pressing her lips -to his, and being released with tumbled hair and a flushed face, only -to seek the source of her delight again. At last Bobby could stand -the bitter sight no longer, and with a low moan, he fled to his own -apartment and flung himself, face downward on the bed. And Anthony -Pennell and Harriet Brandt continued to make love to each other, until -the shadows lengthened, and six o’clock was near at hand. - -“I must go now, my darling,” he said at last, “though it is hard to -tear myself away. But I am so happy, Hally, so very, very happy, that I -dare not complain.” - -“Why cannot you stay the evening?” she urged. - -“I had better not! I have not been asked in the first instance, and if -what you say about the Baroness’s altered demeanour towards yourself be -true, I am afraid I should find it difficult to keep my temper. But we -part for a very short time, my darling! The first thing to-morrow, I -shall see about another home for you, where I can visit you as freely -as I like! And as soon as it can ever be, Hally, we will be married--is -that a promise?” - -“A promise, yes! a thousand times over, Anthony! I long for the time -when I shall be your wife!” - -“God bless you, my sweet! You have made my future life look all -sunshine! I will write to you as soon as ever I have news and then you -will lose no time in leaving your present home, will you?” - -“Not an instant that I can help,” replied Harriet, eagerly; “I am -longing to get away. I feel that I have lost my footing here!” - -And with another long embrace, the lovers parted. As soon as Anthony -had left her, Harriet ran up to her room, to cool her feverish face and -change her dress for dinner. She was really and truly fond of the man -she had just promised to marry, and if anything could have the power -to transform her into a thinking and responsible woman, it would be -marriage with Anthony Pennell. She was immensely proud that so clever -and popular a writer should have chosen her from out the world of women -to be his wife, and she loved him for the excellent qualities he had -displayed towards his fellow men, as well as for the passionate warmth -he had shewn for herself. She was a happier girl than she had ever -been in all her life before, as she stood, flushed and triumphant, in -front of her mirror and saw the beautiful light in her dark eyes, and -the luxuriant growth of her dusky hair, and the carmine of her lips, -and loved every charm she possessed for Anthony’s sake. She felt less -vexed even with the Baroness than she had done, and determined that she -would not break the news of her intended departure from the Red House, -that evening, but try to leave as pleasant an impression behind her as -she could! And she put on the lemon-coloured frock, though Anthony was -not there to see it, from a feeling that since he approved of her, she -must be careful of her appearance for the future, to do justice to his -opinion. - -Madame Gobelli appeared to be in a worse temper than usual that -evening. She stumped in to the dining-room and took her seat at table -without vouchsafing a word to Harriet, although she had not seen -her since luncheon time. She found fault with everything that Miss -Wynward did, and telling her that she grew stupider and stupider each -day, ordered her to attend her upstairs after dinner, as she had some -friends coming and needed her assistance. The ex-governess did not -answer at first, and the Baroness sharply demanded if she had heard her -speak. - -“Yes! my lady,” she replied, slowly, “but I trust that you will excuse -my attendance, as I have made an engagement for this evening!” - -Madame Gobelli boiled over with rage. - -“Engagement! What do you mean by making an engagement without asking my -leave first? You can’t keep it! I want you to ’elp me in something and -you’ll ’ave to come!” - -“You must forgive me,” repeated Miss Wynward, firmly, “but I cannot do -as you wish!” - -Harriet opened her eyes in amazement. Miss Wynward refusing a request -from Madame Gobelli. What would happen next? - -The Baroness grew scarlet in the face. She positively trembled with -rage. - -“’Old your tongue!” she screamed. “You’ll do as I say, or you leave my -’ouse.” - -“Then I will leave your house!” replied Miss Wynward. - -Madame Gobelli was thunderstruck! Where was this insolent menial, who -had actually dared to defy her, going? What friends had she? What -home to go to? She had received no salary from her for years past, but -had accepted board and lodging and cast-off clothes in return for her -services. How could she face the world without money? - -“You go at your peril,” she exclaimed, hoarse with rage, “you know what -will ’appen to you if you try to resist me! I ’ave those that will ’elp -me to be revenged on my enemies! You know that those I ’ate, _die_! And -when I ’ave my knife in a body, I turn it! You ’ad better be careful, -and think twice about what you’re going to do.” - -“Your ladyship cannot frighten me any longer,” replied Miss Wynward, -calmly, “I thank God and my friends that I have got over that! Nor do I -believe any more in your boasted powers of revenge! If they are really -yours, you should be ashamed to use them.” - -“Gustave!” shrieked the Baroness, “get up and put this woman from the -door. She don’t stop in the Red ’Ouse another hour! Let ’er pack up ’er -trumpery and go! Do you ’ear me, Gustave? Turn ’er out of the room!” - -“Mein tear! mein tear! a little patience! Miss Wynward will go quietly! -But the law, mein tear, the law! We must be careful!” - -“Damn the law!” exclaimed the Baroness. “’Ere, where’s that devil -Bobby? Why ain’t ’e at dinner? What’s the good of my ’aving a ’usband -and a son if neither of ’em will do my bidding!” - -Then everyone looked round and discovered that Bobby was not at the -table. - -“Where’s Bobby?” demanded the Baroness of the servant in waiting. - -“Don’t know, I’m sure,” replied the domestic, who like most of Madame -Gobelli’s dependents, talked as familiarly with her as though they had -been on an equality. “The last time I saw ’im was at luncheon.” - -“I will go and look for him,” said Miss Wynward quietly, as she rose -from table. - -“No! you don’t!” exclaimed the Baroness insolently, “you don’t touch my -child nor my ’usband again whilst you remain under this roof. I won’t -’ave them polluted by your fingers. ’Ere, Sarah, you go upstairs and -see if Bobby’s in ’is room. It’ll be the worse for ’im if ’e isn’t.” - -Sarah took her way upstairs, in obedience to her employer’s behest, and -the next minute a couple of shrieks, loud and terrified, proceeded from -the upper story. They were in Sarah’s voice, and they startled everyone -at the dinner table. - -“Oh! what is that?” exclaimed Harriet, as her face grew white with fear. - -“Something is wrong!” said Miss Wynward, as she hastily left the room. - -The Baroness said nothing, until Miss Wynward’s voice was heard calling -out over the banisters, - -“Baron! will you come here, please, at once!” - -Then she said, - -“Gustave! ’elp me up,” and steadying herself by means of her stick, she -proceeded to the upper story, accompanied by her husband and Harriet -Brandt. They were met on the landing by Miss Wynward, who addressed -herself exclusively to the Baron. - -“Will you send for a doctor at once,” she said eagerly, “Bobby is very -ill, very ill indeed!” - -“What is the matter?” enquired the stolid German. - -“It’s all rubbish!” exclaimed Madame Gobelli, forcing her way past the -ex-governess, “’ow can ’e be ill when ’e was running about all the -morning? ’Ere, Bobby,” she continued, addressing the prostrate figure -of her son which was lying face downward on the bed, “get up at once -and don’t let’s ’ave any of your nonsense, or I’ll give you such a -taste of my stick as you’ve never ’ad before! Get up, I say, at once -now!” - -She had laid hold of her son’s arm, and was about to drag him down upon -the floor, when Miss Wynward interposed with a face of horror. - -“Leave him alone!” she cried, indignantly. “Woman! cannot you see what -is the matter? Your son has left you! He is _dead_!” - -The Baroness was about to retort that it was a lie and she didn’t -believe it, when a sudden trembling overtook her, which she was -powerless to resist. Her whole face shook as if every muscle had lost -control, and her cumbersome frame followed suit. She did not cry, -nor call out, but stood where the news had reached her, immovable, -except for that awful shaking, which made her sway from head to foot. -The Baron on hearing the intelligence turned round to go downstairs -and dispatch William, who was employed in the stables, in search of -a medical man. Miss Wynward took the lifeless body in her arms and -tenderly turned it over, kissing the pallid face as she did so--when -Harriet Brandt, full of mournful curiosity, advanced to have a look -at her dead playmate. Her appearance, till then unnoticed, seemed to -wake the paralysed energies of the Baroness into life. She pushed the -girl from the bed with a violence that sent her reeling against the -mantelshelf, whilst she exclaimed furiously, - -“Out of my sight! Don’t you dare to touch ’im! This is all _your_ -doing, you poisonous, wicked creature!” - -Harriet stared at her hostess in amazement! Had she suddenly gone mad -with grief? - -“What do you mean, Madame?” she cried. - -“What I say! I ought to ’ave known better than to let you enter an -’ouse of mine! I was a fool not to ’ave left you be’ind me at Heyst, to -practise your devilish arts on your army captains and foreign grocers, -instead of letting you come within touch of my innocent child!” - -“You are mad!” cried Harriet. “What have I done? Do you mean to -insinuate that Bobby’s death has anything to do with me?” - -“It is _you_ ’oo ’ave killed ’im,” screamed the Baroness, shaking her -stick, “it’s your poisonous breath that ’as sapped ’is! I should ’ave -seen it from the beginning. Do you suppose I don’t know your ’istory? -Do you think I ’aven’t ’eard all about your parents and their vile -doings--that I don’t know that you’re a common bastard, and that your -mother was a devilish negress, and your father a murderer? Why didn’t I -listen to my friends and forbid you the ’ouse?” - -“Miss Wynward!” said Harriet, who had turned deadly white at this -unexpected attack, “what can I say? What can I do?” - -“Leave the room, my dear, leave the room! Her ladyship is not herself! -She does not know what she is saying!” - -“Don’t I?” screamed Madame Gobelli, barring the way to the door, “I -am telling ’er nothing but the truth, and she doesn’t go till she ’as -’eard it! She has the vampire’s blood in ’er and she poisons everybody -with whom she comes in contact. Wasn’t Mrs. Pullen and Mademoiselle -Brimont both taken ill from being too intimate with ’er, and didn’t the -baby die because she carried it about and breathed upon it? And now she -’as killed my Bobby in the same way--curse ’er!” - -Even when reiterating the terrible truth in which she evidently -believed, Madame Gobelli showed no signs of breaking down, but stood -firm, leaning heavily on her stick and trembling in every limb. - -Harriet Brandt’s features had assumed a scared expression. - -“Miss Wynward!” she stammered piteously, “Oh! Miss Wynward! this cannot -be true!” - -“Of course not! Of course not!” replied the other, soothingly, “her -ladyship will regret that she has spoken so hastily to you to-morrow.” - -“I shan’t regret it!” said the Baroness sturdily, “for it is the truth! -Her father and her mother were murderers who were killed by their own -servants in revenge for their atrocities, and they left their curse -upon this girl--the curse of black blood and of the vampire’s blood -which kills everything which it caresses. Look back over your past -life,” she continued to Harriet, “and you’ll see that it’s the case! -And if you don’t believe me, go and ask your friend Dr. Phillips, for -’e knew your infamous parents and the curse that lies upon you!” - -“Madame! Madame!” cried Miss Wynward, “is this a moment for such -recrimination? If all this were true, it is no fault of Miss Brandt’s! -Think of what lies here, and that he loved her, and the thought will -soften your feelings!” - -“But it don’t!” exclaimed the Baroness, “when I look at my dead son, I -could kill ’er, because she has killed ’im.” - -And in effect, she advanced upon Harriet with so vengeful a look that -the girl with a slight cry, darted from the room, and rushed into her -own. - -“For shame!” said Miss Wynward, whose previous fear of the Baroness -seemed to have entirely evaporated, “how dare you intimidate an -innocent woman in the very presence of Death?” - -“Don’t you try to browbeat me!” replied the Baroness. - -“I will tell you what I think,” said Miss Wynward boldly, “and that -is, that you should blush to give way to your evil temper in the face -of God’s warning to yourself! You accuse that poor girl of unholy -dealings--what can you say of your own? You, who for years past -have made money by deceiving your fellow creatures in the grossest -manner--who have professed to hold communication with the spiritual -world for their satisfaction when, if any spirits have come to you, -they must have been those of devils akin to your own! And because I -refused to help you to deceive--to take the place of that miserable -cur Milliken and play cheating tricks with cards, and dress up stuffed -figures to further your money-getting ends, you threatened me with loss -of home and character and friends, until, God forgive me, I consented -to further the fraud, from fear of starving. But now, thank Heaven, I -have no more fear of you! Yes! you may shake your stick at me, and -threaten to take my life, but it is useless! _This_,” pointing to the -dead boy upon the bed, “was the only tie I had to the Red House, and as -soon as he is dressed for his grave, I shall leave you for ever!” - -“And where would you go?” enquired the Baroness. The voice did not -sound like her own; it was the cracked dry voice of a very old woman. - -“That is no concern of yours, my lady,” replied Miss Wynward, as -she prepared to quit the room. “Be good enough to let me pass! The -inexcusable manner in which you have insulted that poor young lady, -Miss Brandt, makes me feel that my first duty is to her!” - -“I forbid you--” commenced Madame Gobelli in her old tone, but the -ex-governess simply looked her in the face and passed on. She made the -woman feel that her power was gone. - -Miss Wynward found Harriet in her own room, tossing all her possessions -into her travelling trunks. There was no doubt of her intention. She -was going to leave the Red House. - -“Not at this time of night, my dear,” said Miss Wynward, kindly, “it is -nearly nine o’clock.” - -“I would go if I had to walk the street all night!” replied Harriet, -feverishly. - -Her eyes were inflamed with crying, and she shook like an aspen leaf. - -“Oh! Miss Wynward, such awful things to say! What could she mean? What -have I done to be so cruelly insulted? And when I am so sorry for poor -Bobby too!” - -She began to cry afresh as she threw dresses, mantles, stockings, and -shoes one on the top of the other, in her endeavour to pack as quickly -as possible. - -“Let me help you, dear Miss Brandt! It is cruel that you should be -driven from the house in this way! But I am going too, as soon as the -doctor has been and dear Bobby’s body may be prepared for burial. It is -a great grief to me, Miss Brandt; I have had the care of him since he -was five years old, and I loved him like my own. But I am glad he is -dead! I am glad he has escaped from it all, for this is a wicked house, -a godless, deceiving and slanderous house, and this trouble has fallen -on it as a Nemesis. I will not stay here a moment longer now he has -gone! I shall join my friends to-morrow.” - -“I am glad you have friends,” said Harriet, “for I can see you are not -happy here! Do they live far off? Have you sufficient money for your -journey? Forgive my asking!” - -Miss Wynward stooped down and kissed the girl’s brow. - -“Thank you so much for your kind thought, but it is unnecessary. You -will be surprised perhaps,” continued Miss Wynward, blushing, “but I am -going to be married.” - -“And so am I,” was on Harriet’s lips, when she laid her head down on -the lid of her trunk and began to cry anew. “Oh! Miss Wynward, what did -she mean? Can there be any truth in it? Is there something poisonous in -my nature that harms those with whom I come in contact? How can it be? -_How_ can it be?” - -“No! no! of course not!” replied her friend, “Cannot you see that it -was the Baroness’s temper that made her speak so cruelly to you? But -you are right to go! Only, where are you going?” - -“I do not know! I am so ignorant of London. Can you advise me?” - -“You will communicate with your friends to-morrow?” asked Miss Wynward -anxiously. - -“Oh! yes! as soon as I can!” - -“Then I should go to the Langham Hotel in Portland Place for to-night -at all events! There you will be safe till your friends advise you -further. What can I do to help you?” - -“Ask Sarah or William to fetch a cab! And to have my boxes placed on -it! There is a _douceur_ for them,” said Harriet, placing a handsome -sum in Miss Wynward’s hand. - -“And you will not see the Baroness again?” asked her companion. - -“No! no! for God’s sake, no. I could not trust myself! I can never look -upon her face again!” - -In a few minutes the hired vehicle rolled away from the door, bearing -Harriet Brandt and her possessions to the Langham Hotel, and Miss -Wynward returned to the room where Bobby lay. Madame Gobelli stood -exactly where she had left her, gazing at the corpse. There were no -tears in her eyes--only the continuous shaking of her huge limbs. - -“Come!” said Miss Wynward, not unkindly, “you had better sit down, and -let me bring you a glass of wine! This terrible shock has been too much -for you.” - -But the Baroness only pushed her hand away, impatiently. - -“Who was that driving away just now?” she enquired. - -“Miss Brandt! You have driven her from the house with your cruel and -unnecessary accusations. No one liked Bobby better than she did!” - -“Has the doctor arrived?” - -“I expect so! I hear the Baron’s voice in the hall now!” - -Almost as she spoke, the Baron and the doctor entered the room. The -medical man did what was required of him. He felt the heart and pulse -of the corpse--turned back the eyelids--sighed professionally, and -asked how long it was since it had happened. - -He was told that it was about an hour since they had found him. - -“Ah! he has been dead longer than that! Three hours at the least, maybe -four! I am afraid there must be an inquest, and it would be advisable -in the interests of science to have a post mortem. A great pity, a -fine grown lad--nineteen years old, you say--shall probably detect -hidden mischief in the heart and lungs. I will make all the necessary -arrangements with the Baron. Good evening!” - -And the doctor bowed himself out of sight again. - -“It is quite true then,” articulated the Baroness thickly. “He is gone!” - -“Oh! yes, my lady, he is gone, poor dear boy! I felt sure of that!” - -“It is quite certain?” - -“Quite certain! The body is already stiffening!” - -The Baroness did not utter a sound, but Miss Wynward glancing at her, -saw her body sway slowly backwards and forwards once or twice, before -it fell heavily to the ground, stricken with paralysis. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - - -Doctor Phillips was a great favourite with the _beau sexe_. He was so -mild and courteous, so benevolent and sympathetic, that they felt sure -he might be trusted with their little secrets. Women, both old and -young, invaded his premises daily, and therefore it was no matter of -surprise to him, when, whilst he was still occupied with his breakfast -on the morning following Harriet Brandt’s flight from the Red House, -his confidential servant Charles announced that a young lady was -waiting to see him in his consulting room. - -“No name, Charles?” demanded the doctor. - -“No name, Sir!” replied the discreet Charles without the ghost of a -smile. - -“Say that I will be with her in a minute!” - -Doctor Phillips finished his cutlet and his coffee before he rose from -table. He knew what ladies’ confidences were like and that he should -not have much chance of returning to finish an interrupted meal. - -But as he entered his consulting room, his air of indifference changed -to one of surprise. Pacing restlessly up and down the carpet, was -Harriet Brandt, but so altered that he should hardly have recognised -her. Her face was puffy and swollen, as though she had wept all night, -her eyelids red and inflamed, her whole demeanour wild and anxious. - -“My dear young lady--is it possible that I see Miss Brandt?” the doctor -began. - -She turned towards him and coming up close to his side, grasped his -arm. “I must speak to you!” she exclaimed, without further preliminary, -“you are the only person who can set my doubts at rest.” - -“Well! well! well!” he said, soothingly, for the girl looked and spoke -as though her mind were disordered. “You may rely that I will do all I -can for you! But let us sit down first!” - -“No! no!” cried Harriet, “there is no time, I cannot rest; you must -satisfy my mind at once, or I shall go mad! I have not closed my eyes -all night--the time was interminable, but how could I sleep! I seemed -to be torn in pieces by ten thousand devils!” - -“My dear child,” said Doctor Phillips, as he laid his hand on hers and -looked her steadily in the face, “you are over-excited. You must try to -restrain yourself.” - -He went up to a side table and, pouring out some cordial, made her -drink it. Harriet gulped it down, and sank back exhausted in a chair. -She was weak and worn-out with the excitement she had passed through. - -“Come! that is better,” said the doctor, as he saw the tears stealing -from beneath her closed eyelids, “now, don’t hurry yourself! Keep quiet -till you feel strong enough to speak, and then tell me what it is that -brings you here!” - -The allusion appeared to stir up all her misery again. She sat upright -and grasped the doctor by the arm as she had done at first. - -“You must tell me,” she said breathlessly, “you must tell me all I want -to know. They say you knew my father and mother in Jamaica! Is that -true?” - -The old doctor began to feel uncomfortable. It is one thing to warn -those in whom you are interested against a certain person, or persons, -and another to be confronted with the individual you have spoken of, -and forced to repeat your words. Yet Doctor Phillips was innocent of -having misjudged, or slandered anyone. - -“I _did_ know your father and mother--for a short time!” he answered -cautiously. - -“And were they married to each other?” - -“My dear young lady, what is the use of dragging up such questions -now? Your parents are both gone to their account--why not let all that -concerned them rest also?” - -“No! no! you forget that I live--to suffer the effects of their -wrong-doing! I _must_ know the truth--I will not leave the house until -you tell me! Were they married? Am I a--a--bastard?” - -“If you insist upon knowing, I believe they were not married--at least -it was the general opinion in the Island. But would not Mr. Tarver be -the proper person to inform you of anything which you may wish to know?” - -Harriet seized his hand and carried it to her forehead--it was burning -hot. - -“Feel that!” she exclaimed, “and you would have me wait for weeks -before I could get any satisfaction from Mr. Tarver, and not then -perhaps! Do you think I could live through the agony of suspense. I -should kill myself before the answer to my letter came. No! you are the -only person that can give me any satisfaction. Madame Gobelli told me -to ask you for the truth, if I did not believe her!” - -“Madame Gobelli,” reiterated the doctor in surprise. - -“Yes! I was staying with her at the Red House until last night, and -then she was so cruel to me that I left. Her son Bobby is dead, and she -accused me of having killed him. She said that my father was a murderer -and my mother a negress--that they were both so wicked that their own -servants killed them, and that I have inherited all their vices. She -said that it was _I_ who killed Mrs. Pullen’s baby and that I had -vampire blood in me, and should poison everyone I came in contact with. -What does she mean? Tell me the truth, for God’s sake, for more depends -upon it than you have any idea of.” - -“Madame Gobelli was extremely wrong to speak in such a manner, and I -do not know on what authority she did so. What can she know of your -parents or their antecedents?” - -“But you--you--” cried Harriet feverishly, “what do _you_ say?” - -Doctor Phillips was silent. He did not know what to say. He was not -a man who could tell a lie glibly and appear as if he were speaking -the truth. Patients always guessed when he had no hope to give them, -however soothing and carefully chosen his words might be. He regarded -the distracted girl before him for some moments in compassionate -silence, and then he answered: - -“I have said already that if a daughter cannot hear any good of her -parents, she had better hear nothing at all!” - -“Then it is true--my father and mother were people so wicked and so -cruel that their names are only fit for execration. If you could have -said a good word for them, you would! I can read that in your eyes!” - -“The purity and charity of your own life can do much to wipe out the -stain upon theirs,” said the doctor. “You have youth and money, and the -opportunity of doing good. You may be as beloved, as they were----” - -“Hated,” interposed the girl, “I understand you perfectly! But what -about my possessing the fatal power of injuring those I come in -contact with! What truth is there in that? Answer me, for God’s sake! -Have I inherited the vampire’s blood? Who bequeathed to me that fatal -heritage?” - -“My dear Miss Brandt, you must not talk of such a thing! You are -alluding only to a superstition!” - -“But have I got it, whatever it may be?” persisted Harriet. “Had I -anything to do with the baby’s death, or with that of Bobby Bates? I -loved them both! Was it my love that killed them? Shall I always kill -everybody I love? I _must_ know--I _will_!” - -“Miss Brandt, you have now touched upon a subject that is little -thought of or discussed amongst medical men, but that is undoubtedly -true. The natures of persons differ very widely. There are some born -into this world who nourish those with whom they are associated; they -_give out_ their magnetic power, and their families, their husbands or -wives, children and friends, feel the better for it. There are those, -on the other hand, who _draw_ from their neighbours, sometimes making -large demands upon their vitality--sapping their physical strength, and -feeding upon them, as it were, until they are perfectly exhausted and -unable to resist disease. This proclivity has been likened to that of -the vampire bat who is said to suck the breath of its victims. And it -was doubtless to this fable that Madame Gobelli alluded when speaking -to you.” - -“But have I got it? Have I got it?” the girl demanded, eagerly. - -The doctor looked at her lustrous glowing eyes, at her parted feverish -lips; at the working hands clasped together; the general appearance of -excited sensuality, and thought it was his duty to warn her, at least -a little, against the dangers of indulging such a temperament as she -unfortunately possessed. But like all medical men, he temporised. - -“I should certainly say that your temperament was more of the _drawing_ -than the _yielding_ order, Miss Brandt, but that is not your fault, -you know. It is a natural organism. But I think it is my duty to warn -you that you are not likely to make those with whom you intimately -associate, stronger either in mind or body. You will always exert a -weakening and debilitating effect upon them, so that after a while, -having sapped their brains, and lowered the tone of their bodies, you -will find their affection, or friendship for you visibly decrease. You -will have, in fact, _sucked them dry_. So, if I may venture to advise -you I would say, if there is any one person in the world whom you most -desire to benefit and retain the affection of, let that be the very -person from whom you separate, as often as possible. You must never -hope to keep anyone near you for long, without injuring them. Make it -your rule through life never to cleave to any one person altogether, or -you will see that person’s interest in you wax and wane, until it is -destroyed!” - -“And what if I--marry?” asked Harriet, in a strained voice. - -“If you insist upon my answering that question, I should advise you -seriously _not_ to marry! I do not think yours is a temperament fitted -for married life, nor likely to be happy in it! You will not be -offended by my plain speaking, I hope. Remember, you have forced it -from me!” - -“And that is the truth, medically and scientifically--that I must not -marry?” she repeated, dully. - -“I think it would be unadvisable, but everyone must judge for himself -in such matters. But marriage is not, after all, the ultimatum of -earthly bliss, Miss Brandt! Many married couples would tell you it -is just the reverse. And with a fortune at your command, you have -many pleasures and interests quite apart from that very over-rated -institution of matrimony. But don’t think I am presuming to do more -than advise you. There is no real reason--medical or legal--why you -should not choose for yourself in the matter!” - -“Only--only--that those I cling to most nearly, will suffer from the -contact,” said Harriet in the same strained tones. - -“Just so!” responded the doctor, gaily, “and an old man’s advice to you -is, to keep out of it as he has done! And now--if there is anything -more--” he continued, “that I can do for you----” - -“Nothing more, thank you,” replied the girl rising, “I understand it -all now!” - -“Will you not see your old friend, Mrs. Pullen, before you go?” asked -the doctor. “She and her husband are staying with me!” - -“Oh! no, no,” cried Harriet, shrinking from the idea, “I _could_ not -see her, I would rather go back at once!” - -And she hurried from the consulting-room as she spoke. - -Doctor Phillips stood for a while musing, after her departure. Had -he done right, he thought, in telling her, yet how in the face of -persistent questioning, could he have done otherwise? His thoughts were -all fixed upon Ralph Pullen and the scenes that had taken place lately -with him, respecting this girl. He did not dream she had an interest -in Anthony Pennell. He did not know that they had met more than once. -He thought she might still be pursuing Ralph; still expecting that he -might break his engagement with Miss Leyton in order to marry herself; -and he believed he had done the wisest thing in trying to crush any -hopes she might have left concerning him. - -“A most dangerous temperament,” he said to himself as he prepared to -receive another patient, “one that is sufficient to mar a man’s life, -if not to kill him entirely. I trust that she and Captain Pullen -may never meet again. It was evident that my remarks on marriage -disappointed the poor child! Ah! well, she will be much better without -it!” - -And here the discreet Charles softly opened the door and ushered in -another lady. - -An hour later, Anthony Pennell, who had projected a visit to the Red -House that afternoon, received a note by a commissionaire instead, -containing a few, hurried lines. “Come to me as soon as you can,” it -said, “I have left Madame Gobelli. I am at the Langham Hotel, and very -unhappy!” Needless to say that ten minutes after the reception of this -news, her lover was rushing to her presence, as fast as hansom wheels -could take him. - -He was very desperately and truly in love with Harriet Brandt. Like -most men who use their brains in fiction, his work, whilst in course -of progression, occupied his energies to such an extent that he had -no time or thought for anything else. But the burden once lifted, the -romance written, the strain and anxiety removed, the pendulum swung -in the other direction, and Anthony Pennell devoted all his attention -to pleasure and amusement. He had been set down by his colleagues as -a reserved and cold-blooded man with regard to the other sex, but he -was only self-contained and thoughtful. He was as warm by nature, as -Harriet herself, and once sure of a response, could make love with -the best, and as he flew to her assistance now, he resolved that if -anything unpleasant had occurred to drive her from the Red House, and -launch her friendless on the world, he would persuade her to marry him -at once, and elect him her protector and defence. - -His fair face flushed with anticipation as he thought of the joy it -would be to make her his wife, and take her far away from everything -that could annoy or harass her. - -Having arrived at the Langham and flung a double fare to the -cab-driver, he ran up the high staircase with the light step of a -boy, and dashed into Harriet’s private room. The girl was sitting, -much as she had done since returning from her interview with the -doctor--silent, sullen, and alone, at war with Heaven and Destiny and -all that had conduced to blight the brightest hopes she had ever had. - -“Hally, my darling, why is this?” exclaimed Pennell, as he essayed to -fold her in his arms. But she pushed him off, not unkindly but with -considerable determination. - -“Don’t touch me, Tony!--don’t come near me. You had better not! I might -harm you!” - -“What is the matter? Are you ill? If so, you know me too well to -imagine that I should fear infection.” - -“No! no! you do not understand!” replied Harriet, as she rose from her -seat and edged further away from him, “but I am going to tell you all! -It is for that I sent for you!” - -Then, waving him from her with her hand, she related the whole story -to him--what the Baroness had accused her of, and what Doctor Phillips -had said in confirmation of it, only that morning. Pennell had heard -something of it before, through Margaret Pullen, but he had paid no -attention to it, and now, when Harriet repeated it in detail, with -swollen eyes and quivering lips, he laughed the idea to scorn. - -“Pooh! Nonsense! I don’t believe a word of it,” he exclaimed, “it is -a parcel of old woman’s tales. Phillips should be ashamed of himself -to place any credence in it, far more to repeat it to you! Hally, my -darling! you are surely not going to make yourself unhappy because of -such nonsense. If so, you are not the sensible girl I have taken you -for!” - -“But, Tony,” said the girl, still backing from his advances, “listen to -me! It is not all nonsense, indeed. I know for myself that it is true! -Having been shut up for so many years in the Convent dulled my memory -for what went before it, but it has all come back to me now! It seems -as if what Madame Gobelli and Doctor Phillips have said, had lifted a -veil from my eyes, and I can recall things that had quite escaped my -memory before. I can remember now hearing old Pete say, that when I -was born, I was given to a black wet nurse, and after a little while -she was taken so ill, they had to send her away, and get me another, -and the next one--_died_! Pete used to laugh and call me the puma’s -cub, but I didn’t know the meaning of it, then. And--Oh! stop a moment, -Tony, till I have done--there was a little white child, I can see her -so plainly now. They called her little Caroline, I think she must have -belonged to the planter who lived next to us, and I was very fond of -her. I was quite unhappy when we did not meet, and I used to creep -into her nursery door and lie down in the cot beside her. Poor little -Caroline! I can see her now! So pale and thin and wan she was! And one -night, I remember her mother came in and found me there and called -to her husband to send the ‘Brandt bastard’ back to Helvetia. I had -no idea what she meant, but I cried because she sent me home, and I -asked Pete what a bastard was, but he would not tell me. And,” went on -Harriet in a scared tone, “little Caroline _died_! Pete carried me on -his shoulder to see the funeral, and I would not believe that Caroline -could be in the narrow box, and I struck Pete on the face for saying -so!” - -“Well! my darling! and if you did, are these childish reminiscences to -come between our happiness? Why should they distress you, Hally? Madame -Gobelli’s insolence must have been very hard to bear--I acknowledge -that, and I wish I had been by to prevent it, but you must make excuses -for her. I suppose the poor creature was so mad with grief that she did -not know what she was saying! But you need never see her again, so you -must try to forgive her!” - -“But, Anthony, you do not understand me! What the Baroness said was -_true_! I see it now! _I killed Bobby!_” - -“My dearest, you are raving! _You killed Bobby!_ What utter, utter -folly! How could you have killed Bobby?” - -Harriet passed her hand wearily across her brow, as if she found it too -hard to make her meaning plain. - -“Oh! yes, I did! We were always together, in the garden or the house! -And he used to sit with his head on my shoulder and his arm round my -waist, I should not have allowed it! I should have driven him away! But -he loved me, poor Bobby, and it will be the same, Doctor Phillips says, -with everybody I love! I shall only do them harm!” - -“Hally! I shall begin to think in another moment that you are ill -yourself--that you have a fever or something, and that it is affecting -your brain!” - -“There was a sister at the Convent, Sister Theodosia, who was very -good to me when I first went there,” continued the girl in a dreamy -voice, as if she had not heard his words; “and she used to sit with -me upon her lap for hours together, because I was sad. But she grew -ill and they had to send her away up to the hill, where they had their -sanatorium. That made the fourth in Jamaica!” - -“Now! I will not have you talk any more of this nonsense,” said -Pennell, half annoyed by her perseverance, “and to prove to you what a -little silly you are to imagine that everyone who falls ill, or dies, -or who comes within the range of your acquaintance, owes it to your -influence, tell me how it is that your father and mother, who must have -lived nearer to you than anybody else, did not fall sick and die also.” - -“My parents saw less of me than anybody,” replied Harriet, sadly, “they -were ashamed of their ‘bastard’, I suppose! But old Pete loved me, and -took me with him everywhere, and he didn’t get sick,” she concluded, -with a faint smile. - -“Of course not! See! what rubbish you have been talking--making -yourself and me unhappy for nothing at all! So now let me take you in -my arms and kiss the remembrance of it away!” - -He was about to put his suggestion into execution, but she still shrank -from him. - -“No! no! indeed you must not! It is all true! I cannot forget Olga -Brimont, and Mrs. Pullen, and the baby, and poor Bobby! It is true, -indeed it is, and I have been accursed from my birth.” - -And she burst into a torrent of passionate tears. - -Pennell let her expend some of her emotion, before he continued, - -“Well! and what is to be the upshot of it all!” - -“I must part from you,” replied the girl, “Indeed, indeed I must! I -cannot injure you as I have done others! Doctor Phillips said I was not -fit for marriage--that I should always weaken and hurt those whom I -loved most--and that I should draw from them, physically and mentally, -until I had sapped all their strength--that I have the blood of the -vampire in me, the vampire that sucks its victims’ breaths until they -die!” - -“Doctor Phillips be damned!” exclaimed Pennell, “what right has he -to promulgate his absurd and untenable theories, and to poison the -happiness of a girl’s life, with his folly? He is an old fool, a -dotard, a senseless ass, and I shall tell him so! Vampire be hanged! -And if it were the truth, I for one could not wish for a sweeter death! -Come along, Hally, and try your venom upon me! I am quite ready to run -the risk!” - -He held out his arms to her again, as he spoke, and she sank on her -knees beside him. - -“Oh! Tony! Tony! cannot you read the truth? I love you, dear, I love -you! I never loved any creature in this world before I loved you. I did -not know that it was given to mortals to love so much! And my love has -opened my eyes! Sooner than injure you, whom I would die to save from -harm, I will separate myself from you! I will give you up! I will live -my lonely life without you, I _could_ do that, but I can never, never -consent to sap your manhood and your brains, which do not belong to me -but to the world, and see you wither, like a poisoned plant, the leaves -of which lie discoloured and dead upon the garden path.” - -Never in the course of their acquaintanceship had Harriet Brandt seemed -so sweet, so pathetic, so unselfish to Anthony Pennell as then. If he -had resolved not to resign her from the first, he did so a thousand -times more now. He threw his arms around her kneeling figure and -lowered his head until it lay upon the crown of her dusky hair. - -“My darling! my darling! my own sweet girl!” he murmured, “our -destinies are interwoven for ever! No one and nothing shall come -between us! You cannot give me up unless you have my consent to doing -so. I hold your sacred promise to become my wife, and I shall not -release you from it!” - -“But if I harmed you?” she said fearfully. - -“I do not believe in the possibility of your harming me,” he replied, -“but if I am to die, which is what I suppose you mean, I claim my right -to die in your arms. But whenever it happens, you will have neither -hastened, nor retarded it!” - -“Oh! if I could only think so!” she murmured. - -“You must! Why cannot you trust my judgment as much as that of Madame -Gobelli or old Phillips--a couple of mischief-makers. And now, Hally, -when shall it be?” - -“When shall ‘what’ be?” she whispered. - -“You know what I mean as well as I do! When shall we be married? We -have no one to consult but ourselves! I am my own master and you are -alone in the world! These things are very easily managed, you know. I -have but to go to Doctors’ Commons for a special license to enable us -to be married at a registrar’s office to-morrow. Shall it be to-morrow, -love?” - -“Oh! no! no! I could not make up my mind so soon!” - -“But why not? Would you live in this dull hotel all by yourself, Hally?” - -“I do not know! I am so very unhappy! Leave me, Anthony, for God’s -sake, leave me, whilst there is time! You do not know the risk you may -be running by remaining by my side! How can I consent to let you, whom -I love like my very life, run any risk for my sake! Oh! I love you--I -love you!” cried the impassioned girl, as she clung tightly to him. -“You are my lord and master and my king, and I will never, _never_ be -so selfish as to harm you for the sake of my own gratification. You -must go away--put the seas between us--never see me, never write or -speak to me more--only save yourself, my beloved, save yourself!” - -He smiled compassionately, as he would have smiled at the ravings of -a child, as he raised her from her lowly position and placed her in a -chair. - -“Do you know what I am going to do, little woman?” he said cheerfully. -“I am going to leave you all alone to think this matter over until -to-morrow. By that time you will have been able to compare the opinions -of two people who do not care a jot about you, with those of mine who -love you so dearly. Think well over what they have said to you, and -I have said to you, and you have said to me! Remember, that if you -adhere to your present determination, you will make both yourself and -me most unhappy, and do no one any good. As for myself, I venture to -say that if I lose you my grief and disappointment will be so great, -that, in all probability, I shall never do any good work again. But be -a sensible girl--make up your mind to marry me, and give the lie to -all this nonsense, and I’ll write a book that will astonish the world! -Come, Hally, is it to be ruin or success for me?--Ruin to spend my life -without the only woman I have ever cared for, or success to win my -wife and a companion who will help me in my work and make my happiness -complete?” - -He kissed her tear-stained face several times, and left her with a -bright smile. - -“This time to-morrow, remember, and I shall come with the licence in my -pocket.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - - -Doctor Phillips did not meet Margaret and her husband until luncheon -time and then they were full of an encounter which they had had during -their morning walk. - -“Only fancy, Doctor!” exclaimed Margaret, with more animation than -she had displayed of late, “Arthur and I have been shopping in Regent -Street, and whom do you think we met?” - -“I give it up, my dear,” replied the doctor, helping himself to cold -beef. “I am not good at guessing riddles.” - -“Ralph and Elinor! They had just come from some exhibition of pictures -in New Bond Street, and I never saw them so pleased with each other -before. Ralph was looking actually ‘spooney’, and Elinor was positively -radiant.” - -“_Souvent femme varie_,” quoted Doctor Phillips, shrugging his -shoulders. - -“Oh! but, Doctor, it made Arthur and me so glad to see them. Elinor is -very fond of Ralph, you know, although she has shewn it so little. And -so I have no doubt is he of her, and there would never have been any -unpleasantness between them, if it had not been for that horrid girl, -Harriet Brandt.” - -“It is not like you, my dear Margaret, to condemn anyone without a -hearing. Perhaps you have not heard the true case of Miss Harriet -Brandt. Although I am glad that Ralph has disentangled himself from -her, I still believe that he behaved very badly to both the young -ladies, and whilst I am glad to hear that Miss Leyton smiles upon him -again, I think it is more than he deserves!” - -“And I agree with you, Doctor,” interposed Colonel Pullen, “I have -never seen this Miss Brandt, but I know what a fool my brother is with -women, and can quite understand that he may have raised her hopes just -to gratify his own vanity. I have no patience with him.” - -“Well! for Miss Leyton’s sake let us hope that this will be his last -experience of dallying with forbidden pleasures. But what will you say -when I tell you that one of my visitors this morning has been the young -lady in question--Miss Brandt!” - -“Harriet Brandt!” exclaimed Margaret, “but why--is she ill?” - -“Oh! no! Her trouble is mental--not physical.” - -“She is not still hankering after Ralph, I hope.” - -“You are afraid he might not be able to resist the bait! So should I -be. But she did not mention Captain Pullen. Her distress was all about -herself!” - -“Oh! do tell me about it, Doctor, if it is not a secret! You know I -have a kind of interest in Harriet Brandt!” - -“When she does not interfere with the prospects of your family,” -observed the doctor, drily, “exactly so! Well, then, the poor girl is -in great trouble, and I had very little consolation to give her! She -has left Madame Gobelli’s house. It seems that the old woman insulted -her terribly and almost turned her out.” - -“Oh! that awful Baroness!” cried Margaret; “it is only what might have -been expected! We heard dreadful stories about her at Heyst. She has an -uncontrollable temper and, when offended, a most vituperative tongue. -Her ill-breeding is apparent at all times, but it must be overwhelming -when she is angry. But how did she insult Miss Brandt?” - -“You remember what I told you of the girl’s antecedents! It appears -that the Baroness must have got hold of the same story, for she cast it -in her teeth, accusing her moreover of having caused the death of her -son.” - -“Madame Gobelli’s son? What! Bobby--Oh! you do not mean to say that -Bobby--is _dead_?” - -“Yes! There was but one son, I think! He died yesterday, as I -understood Miss Brandt. And the mother in her rage and grief turned -upon the poor girl and told her such bitter truths, that she rushed -from the house at once. Her visit to me this morning was paid in -order to ascertain if such things were true, as the Baroness, very -unjustifiably I think, had referred her to me for confirmation.” - -“And what did you tell her?” - -“What could I tell her? At first I declined to give an opinion, but she -put such pertinent questions to me, that unless I had lied, I saw no -way of getting out of it. I glossed over matters as well as I could, -but even so, they were bad enough. But I impressed it upon her that she -must not think of marrying. I thought it the best way to put all idea -of catching Captain Pullen out of her mind. Let him once get safely -married, and she can decide for herself with regard to the next. But -at all hazards, we must keep Ralph out of her way, for between you -and me and the post, she is a young woman whom most men would find it -difficult to resist.” - -“Oh! yes! she and Ralph must not meet again,” said Margaret, -dreamingly. Her thoughts had wandered back to Bobby and Heyst, and all -the trouble she had encountered whilst there. What despair had attacked -her when she lost her only child, and now Madame Gobelli--the woman she -so much disliked--had lost her only child also. - -“Poor Madame Gobelli!” she ejaculated, “I cannot help thinking of her! -Fancy Bobby being--_dead_! And she used to make him so unhappy, and -humiliate him before strangers! How she must be suffering for it now! -How it must all come back upon her! Poor Bobby! Elinor will be sorry to -hear that he is gone! She used to pity him so, and often gave him fruit -and cakes. Fancy his being dead! I cannot believe it.” - -“It is true, nevertheless! But it is the common lot, Margaret! Perhaps, -as his mother used to treat him so roughly, the poor lad is better off -where he is.” - -“Oh! of course, I have no doubt of that! But he was all she had--like -me!” said Margaret, with her eyes over-brimming. Her husband put his -arms round her, and let her have her cry out on his shoulder. - -Then, as he wiped her tears away she whispered, - -“Arthur, I should like to go and see her--the Baroness, I mean! I can -sympathise so truly with her, I might be able to say a few words of -comfort!” - -“Do as you like, my darling,” replied Colonel Pullen, “that is, if you -are sure that the woman won’t insult you, as she did Miss Brandt!” - -“Oh! no! no! I am not in the least afraid! Why should she? I shall only -tell her how much I feel for her own our common loss----” - -She could not proceed, and the doctor whispered to the Colonel. - -“Let her do as she wishes! The best salve for our own wounds is to try -and heal those of others.” - -Margaret rose and prepared to leave the room. - -“I shall go at once,” she said, “I suppose there is no chance of my -meeting Harriet Brandt there!” - -“I think not! She told me she had left the Red House for good and all, -but she did not say where she was staying! Though, after all, I think -she is in most want of comfort of the two.” - -“Oh! no!” replied Margaret, faintly, “there is no grief like that -of--of--” She did not finish her sentence, but left the room hastily in -order to assume her walking things. - -“Will she ever get over the loss of her child?” demanded Colonel -Pullen, gloomily. The doctor regarded him with a half-amused surprise. - -“My dear fellow, though it is useless to preach the doctrine to a -bereaved mother, the loss of an innocent baby is perhaps the least -trying in the category of human ills. To rear the child, as thousands -do, to be unloving, or unsympathetic, or ungrateful, is a thousand -times worse. But it is too soon for your dear wife to acknowledge it. -Let her go to this other mother and let them cry together. It will do -her all the good in the world!” - -And the doctor, having finished his luncheon, put on his top-coat and -prepared to make a round of professional calls. - -Margaret came back ready for her visit. - -“I shall not offer to go with you, darling,” said the Colonel, “because -my presence would only be inconvenient. But mind you keep the cab -waiting, or you may find some difficulty in getting another in that -district. What address shall I give the driver?” - -“First to our florist in Regent Street that I may get some white -flowers.” - -In another minute she was off, and in about an hour afterwards, she -found herself outside the Red House, which looked gloomier than ever, -with all the blinds drawn down. Margaret rang the front door bell, -which was answered by Miss Wynward. - -“Can I see Madame Gobelli?” commenced Margaret, “I have just heard the -sad news, and came to condole with her!” - -Miss Wynward let her into the hall and ushered her into a side room. - -“You will excuse my asking if you are a friend of her ladyship’s,” she -said. - -“I can hardly call myself a friend,” replied Margaret, “but I stayed -with her in the same hotel at Heyst last summer, and I knew the dear -boy who is dead. I was most grieved to hear of his death, and naturally -anxious to enquire after the Baroness. But if she is too upset to see -me, of course I would not think of forcing my presence upon her!” - -“I don’t think her ladyship would object to receiving any friend, but I -am not sure if she would recognise you!” - -“Not recognise me? It is not three months since we parted.” - -“You do not understand me! Our dear boy’s death was so sudden--I have -been with him since he was five years old, so you will forgive my -mentioning him in such a fashion--that it has had a terrible effect -upon his poor mother. In fact she is paralysed! The medical men think -the paralysis is confined to the lower limbs, but at present they are -unable to decide definitely, as the Baroness has not opened her lips -since the event occurred.” - -“Oh! poor Madame Gobelli!” cried Margaret, tearfully, “I felt sure she -loved him under all her apparent roughness and indifference!” - -“Yes! I have been with them so long, that I know her manner amounted at -times to cruelty, but she did not mean it to be so! She thought to make -him hardy and independent, instead of which it had just the opposite -effect! But she is paying bitterly for it now! I really think his death -will kill her, though the doctors laugh at my fears!” - -“I--I--too have lost my only child, my precious little baby,” replied -Margaret, encouraged by the sympathetic tenderness in the other woman’s -eyes, “and I thought also at first that I must die--that I could not -live without her--but God is so good, and there is such comfort in -the thought that whatever we may suffer, our darlings have missed all -the bitterness and sin and disappointments of this world, that at -last--that is, sometimes--one feels _almost_ thankful that they are -safe with Him!” - -“Ah! Madame Gobelli has not your hope and trust, Madam!” said Miss -Wynward, “if she had, she would be a better and happier woman. But I -must tell you that she is in the same room as Bobby! She will not be -moved from there, but lies on the couch where we placed her when she -fell, stricken with the paralysis, gazing at the corpse!” - -“Poor dear woman!” exclaimed Margaret. - -“Perhaps you would hardly care to go into that room!” - -“Oh! I should like it! I want to see the dear boy again! I have brought -some flowers to put over him!” - -“Then, what name shall I tell her ladyship?” - -“Mrs. Pullen, say Margaret Pullen whose little baby died at Heyst--then -I think she will remember!” - -“Will you take a seat, Mrs. Pullen, whilst I go upstairs and see if I -can persuade her to receive you?” - -Margaret sat down, and Miss Wynward went up to the chamber which had -once been Bobby’s. On the bed was stretched the body of the dead boy, -whilst opposite to it lay on a couch a woman with dry eyes, but palsied -limbs, staring, staring without intermission at the silent figure which -had once contained the spirit of her son. She did not turn her head as -Miss Wynward entered the room. - -“My lady,” she said, going up to her, “Mrs. Pullen is downstairs and -would like to see you! She told me to say that she is Margaret Pullen -whose baby died in Heyst last summer, and she knew Bobby and has -brought some flowers to strew over his bed. May she came up?” - -But she received no answer. Madame Gobelli’s features were working, but -that was the only sign of life which she gave. - -“Mrs. Pullen is so very sorry for your loss,” Miss Wynward went on, -“she cried when she spoke of it, and as she has suffered the same, I -am sure she will sympathise with you. May I say that you will see her?” - -Still there was no response, and Miss Wynward went down again to -Margaret. - -“I think you had better come up without waiting for her consent,” she -said, “if seeing you roused her, even to anger, it would do her good. -Do you mind making the attempt?” - -“No,” replied Margaret, “but if the Baroness gets very angry, you must -let me run away again. I am quite unequal to standing anything like a -scene!” - -“You will have but to quit the room. Whatever her ladyship may say -she cannot move from her couch. She attacked poor Miss Brandt most -unwarrantably last evening, but that was in the first frenzy of her -grief. She is quite different now!” - -“Poor woman!” again ejaculated Margaret, as she followed Miss Wynward, -not without some inward qualms, to the presence of Madame Gobelli. But -when she caught sight of the immovable figure on the couch, all her -fear and resentment left her, overcome by a mighty compassion. She -went straight up to the Baroness and bending down tenderly kissed her -twitching face. - -“Dear Madame,” she said, “I am--we all are--so truly sorry for your -grievous loss. It reminds me of the bitter time, not so long ago, you -may remember, when I lost my darling little Ethel, and thought for the -while that my life was over! It is so hard, so unnatural, to us poor -mothers, to see our children go before ourselves! I can weep with you -tear for tear! But do remember--try to remember--that he is safe--that -though you remain here with empty arms for a while, death can no more -take your boy from you, than a veil over your face can take God’s light -from you. He is there, dear Madame Gobelli--just in the next room with -the door closed between you, and though I know full well how bitter -it is to see the door closed, think of the time when it will open -again--when you and I will spring through it and find, not only our -dear Bobby and Ethel, but Christ our Lord, ready to give them back into -our arms again!” - -The Baroness said nothing, but two tears gathered in her eyes and -rolled down her flabby cheeks. Margaret turned from her for a minute -and walking up to the bed, knelt down beside it in prayer. - -“Dear Christ!” she said, “Thou Who knowest what our mothers’ hearts are -called upon to bear, have pity on us and give us Thy Peace! And open -our eyes that we may gather strength to realise what our dear children -have escaped by being taken home to Thee--the sin, the trouble, the -anxiety, the disappointment--and make us thankful to bear them in their -stead, and give us grace to look forward to our happy meeting and -reunion in the Better Land.” - -Then she rose and bent over the dead boy. - -“Dear Bobby!” she murmured, as she kissed the cold brow, and placed the -white blossoms in his hands and round his head. “Good-bye! I know how -happy you must be now, in company with the spirits of all those whom we -have loved and who have gone home before us--how grateful you must feel -to the dear Redeemer Who has called you so early--but don’t forget your -poor mother upon earth! Pray for her, Bobby,--never cease to ask our -dear Lord to send her comfort and peace and joy in believing. For His -own dear sake. Amen!” - -When she turned again, the Baroness’s cheeks were wet with tears and -she was stretching forth her arms towards her. - -“Oh!” she gasped, as Margaret reached her side, “I am a godless -woman--I am a godless woman!” - -“No! no! my dear friend, we are none of us godless,” replied Margaret, -“we may think we are, but God knows better! We may forsake Him, but He -never forsakes us! We should never be saved if we waited till we wanted -to be so. It is _He_ Who wants _us_--that is our great safeguard! He -wanted our two dear children--not to spite us, but to draw us after -them. Try to look at it in that light, and then Bobby’s death will -prove your greatest gain.” - -“I am a godless woman,” repeated the Baroness, “and this is my -punishment!” pointing to the bed. “I loved him best of all! My ’eart is -broken!” - -“So much the better, if it was a hard heart,” rejoined Margaret, -smiling. “Who was it that said, ‘If your heart is broken, give the -pieces to Christ and He will mend it again’? Never think of Bobby, dear -Madame Gobelli, except as with Christ--walking with Him, talking with -Him, learning of Him and growing in grace and the love of God daily! -Never disassociate the two memories, and in a little while you would -hate yourself if you could separate them again. God bless you! I must -go back to my husband now!” - -“You will come again?” said the Baroness. - -“I am afraid I shall have no time! We sail for India on Saturday, but I -shall not forget you. Good-bye, Bobby,” she repeated, with a last look -at the corpse, “remember your mother and me in your prayers.” - -As Miss Wynward let her out of the Red House, she remarked, - -“I could never have believed that anyone could have had so much -influence over her ladyship as you have, Mrs. Pullen. I hope you will -come again.” - -“I shall not be able to do so. But Madame Gobelli will have you to talk -to her! You live here altogether, do you not?” - -“I have lived here for many years, but I am on the point of leaving. -Bobby was my only tie to the Red House, or I should have gone long ago.” - -“But now that the Baroness is so helpless surely you will delay your -departure until she no longer needs you.” - -“I shall not leave her until she has secured a better woman in my -stead. But to tell you the truth, I am going to be married, Mrs. -Pullen, and I consider my first duty is towards my future husband and -his parents who are very old!” - -“Oh! doubtless! May I ask his name?” - -“Captain Hill! He lives in the next house to this--Stevenage! You are -surprised, perhaps, that a man who has been in the army should marry a -poor governess like myself. That is his goodness. I know that I am worn -and faded and no longer young--thirty-three on my last birthday--but -he is good enough to care for me all the more for the troubles I have -passed through. Mine has been a chequered life, Mrs. Pullen, but I have -told Captain Hill everything, and he still wishes to make me his wife! -I ought to be a happy woman for the future, ought I not?” - -“Indeed yes,” said Margaret, heartily, “and I sincerely hope that you -may be so! But I can’t help thinking of poor Madame Gobelli! Is the -Baron good to her?” - -“Pretty well!” answered Miss Wynward, “but he is very stolid and -unsympathetic! It is strange to think that her heart must have been -bound up in that boy, and yet at times she was positively cruel to him!” - -“It has all been permitted for some good purpose,” said Margaret, as -she bade her farewell, “perhaps her remorse and self-accusation are the -only things which would have brought her down upon her knees.” - -She returned home considerably saddened by what she had seen, but in -three days she was to accompany her husband to India, and in the bustle -of preparation, and the joy of knowing that she was not to be separated -from him again, her heart was comforted and at peace. Never once during -that time did she give one thought to Harriet Brandt. Miss Wynward had -hardly mentioned her name, and no one seemed to know where she had -gone. The girl had passed out of their lives altogether. - -Margaret only regretted one thing in leaving England--that she had not -seen Anthony Pennell again. Colonel Pullen had called twice at his -chambers, but had each time found him from home. Margaret wanted to put -in a good word for the Baroness with him. She thought perhaps that he -might see her, after a while, and speak a few words of comfort to her. -But she was obliged to be content with writing her wishes in a farewell -letter. She little knew how hardened Anthony Pennell felt, at that -moment, against anyone who had treated the woman he loved in so harsh a -manner. - -Harriet Brandt spent the time, after her lover had left her to think -over and decide upon their mutual fate, in walking up and down the -room. She was like a restless animal; she could not stay two moments -in the same place. Even when night fell, and the inhabitants of the -Langham Hotel had retired to rest, she still kept pacing up and down -the room, without thinking of undressing herself or seeking repose, -whilst her conscience wrestled in warfare with her inclinations. Her -thoughts took her far, far back to the earliest remembrance of which -her mind was capable. She thought of her hard, unfeeling, indifferent -father--of her gross, flabby, sensual mother--and shuddered at the -remembrance! What had _she_ done?--she said to herself--wherein had -_she_ sinned, that she should have been cursed with such progenitors? -How had they _dared_ to bring her into the world, an innocent yet -hapless child of sin--the inheritor of their evil propensities--of -their lust, their cruelty, their sensuality, their gluttony--and worst -of all, the fatal heritage that made her a terror and a curse to her -fellow-creatures? How dared they? _How dared they?_ Why had God’s -vengeance not fallen upon them before they had completed their cruel -work, or having accomplished it, why did He not let her perish with -them--so that the awful power with which they had imbued her, might -have been prevented from harming others? - -Harriet thought of little Caroline; of her two nurses; of Sister -Theodosia--of Mrs. Pullen’s baby; of Bobby Bates; until she felt as -though she should go mad. No! no! she would never bring that curse upon -her Beloved; he must go far away, he must never see her again, or else -she would destroy herself in order that he might escape! - -But if she persuaded Anthony to consent to her wishes--if she insisted -upon a total separation between them, what would become of her? What -should she do? She had no friends in England; Madame Gobelli had -turned against her--she was all alone! She would live and die alone. -How should she ever get to know people, or to obtain an entrance to -Society. She would be a pariah to the end of her life! And if she -did surmount all these obstacles, what would be the result, except -a repetition of what had gone before? Strangers would come to know -her--to like her--would grow more intimate, and she would respond to -their kindness--with the same result. They would droop and fail, die -perhaps, like Bobby and the baby--find out that she was the cause, and -shun her ever after. - -“Oh! God!” cried Harriet in her perplexity and anguish, “I am accursed! -My parents have made me not fit to live!” - -She passed that night through the agonies of Death--not the death -that overtakes the believer in a God and a Future--but the darkness -and uncertainty that enwraps the man who knows he is full of sin and -yet has no knowledge that His Lord has paid his debt to the uttermost -farthing--the doubt and anxiety that beset the unbeliever when he is -called upon to enter the dark Valley. The poor child saw her destiny -entangling her as in a net--she longed to break through it, but saw no -means of escape--and she rebelled against the cruel lot that heredity -had marked out for her. - -“Why am _I_ to suffer?” she exclaimed aloud; “I have youth and health -and good looks, and money--everything, the world would say, calculated -to make my life a pleasant one, and yet, I am tortured by this awful -thought--that I must keep aloof from everybody, that I am a social -leper, full of contagion and death! Doctor Phillips said that the more -I loved a person, the more I must keep away from him! It is incredible! -unheard-of! Could he have had any motive in saying such a thing?” - -The remembrance of her flirtation with Ralph Pullen recurred to her -mind, and she seized it, as a drowning man clutches at a straw. - -“Was it a plant, after all? Did the old man want to put me off the -track of Captain Pullen? Margaret Pullen is staying in the house--he -said so--had she asked him to get rid of me if possible? After all, -am I torturing myself by believing the story of my fatal power to be -true, when it was only a ruse to get rid of me? The Baroness said -the same thing, but she was mad about poor Bobby and would have said -anything to annoy me--and, after all, what does it amount to? The -baby died in teething--heaps of babies do--and Bobby was consumptive -from the first--I have heard Miss Wynward say so, and would have died -anyway, as he grew to be a man and had larger demands made upon his -physical strength. And for the others--what happened to them, happens -to all the world. It is _fortune de guerre_; people drop every day like -rotten sheep;--everyone might accuse himself of causing the death of -his neighbour. I have been frightening myself with a chimera. Anthony -said so, and he must know better than I! And I can’t give up Tony--_I -can’t, I can’t, I can’t!_ It is of no use thinking of it! Besides, he -wouldn’t let me! He would never leave me alone, until I had consented -to marry him, so I may as well do it at the first as at the last.” - -But the tide of triumphant feeling would be succeeded by a wave of -despondency, which threatened to upset all her casuistry. - -“But if--_if_--it should be true, and Anthony should--should--Oh! God! -Oh! God! I dare not think of it! I will kill myself before it shall -occur.” - -When the morning dawned it found her quite undecided--lamenting her -unfortunate fate one instant, and declaring that she could never give -up her lover the next. She tore off her clothes and took a cold bath, -and re-robed herself, but she was looking utterly ill and exhausted -when Pennell burst in upon her at eleven o’clock. - -“Well, darling,” he exclaimed, “and have you made up your mind by this -time? Which death am I to die?--suffocated in your dear embrace, or -left to perish of cold and hunger outside?” - -“O! Tony,” she cried, throwing herself into his arms, “I don’t know -what to say! I have not closed my eyes all night, trying to decide what -will be for the best. And I am as far off as ever--only I can never, -_never_ consent to do anything that shall work you harm!” - -“Then I shall decide for you,” exclaimed her lover, “and that is that -you make me and yourself happy, and forget all the rubbish these people -have been telling you! Depend upon it, whatever they may have said was -for their own gratification, and not yours, and that they would be -quick enough to accept the lot that lies before you, were it in their -power!” - -“I have been so lonely and friendless all my life,” said Harriet, -sobbing in his arms, “and I have longed for love and sympathy so much, -and now that they have come to me, it is hard, Oh! _so_ hard, to have -to give them up.” - -“So hard, Hally, for _me_, remember, as well as yourself, that we will -not make the attempt. Now, I want you to place yourself in my hands, -and start for Paris to-night!” - -“To-night?” she cried, lifting such a flushed, startled, happy face -from his breast, that he had no alternative but to kiss it again. - -“Yes! to-night! What did I tell you yesterday--that I should come with -the ring and the license in my pocket! I am as good as my word, and -better--for I have given notice to the registrar of marriages in my -district, that he is to be ready for us at twelve o’clock to-day. Am I -not a good manager?” - -“Tony! Tony! but I have not made up my mind!” - -“I have made it up for you, and I will take no refusal! I have -calculated it all to a nicety! Married at twelve--back here at one for -lunch--a couple of hours to pack up, and off by the four o’clock train -for Dover--sleep at the Castle Warden, and cross to-morrow to Paris! -How will that do, Mrs. Pennell, eh?” - -“Oh! ought I to do it, ought I to do it?” exclaimed Harriet, with a -look of despair. - -“If you don’t I’ll shoot myself. I swear it!” - -“No! no! darling, don’t say that! It is of you alone that I am -thinking! God forgive me if I am doing wrong, but I feel that I cannot -refuse you! Take me and do with me as you think best.” - -After which it came to pass, that Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Pennell started -in very high spirits for Dover, by the four o’clock train that -afternoon. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - - -A fortnight afterwards, the married couple found themselves at Nice. -Much as has been said and sung of the _lune de miel_, none ever -surpassed, if it ever reached, this one in happiness. Harriet passed -the time in a silent ecstasy of delight. Her cup of bliss was filled -to overflowing; her satisfaction was too deep for words. To this girl, -for whom the world had been seen as yet only through the barred windows -of a convent--who had never enjoyed the society of an intellectual -companion before; who had viewed no scenery but that of the Island; -seen no records of the past; and visited no foreign capital--the first -weeks of her married life were a panorama of novelties, her days one -long astonishment and delight. - -She could not adore Anthony Pennell sufficiently for having afforded -her the opportunity of seeing all this, and more especially of feeling -it. The presents he lavished upon her were as nothing in her eyes, -compared to the lover-like attentions he paid her; the bouquets of -flowers he brought her every morning; the glass of lemonade or milk he -had ready to supply her need when they were taking their excursions; -the warm shawl or mantle he carried on his arm in the evenings, lest -the air should become too chilly for her delicate frame after sunset. -Money Harriet had no need of, but love--love she had thirsted for, as -the hart thirsts for the water-streams, yet had never imagined it could -be poured out at her feet, as her husband poured it now. - -And Pennell, on the other hand, though he had been much sought after -and flattered by the fair sex for the sake of the fame he had acquired -and the money he made, had never lost his heart to any woman as he had -done to his little unknown wife. He had never met anyone like Hally -before. She combined the intelligence of the Englishwoman with the -_espièglerie_ of the French--the devotion of the Creole with the fiery -passion of the Spanish or Italian. He could conceive her quite capable -of dying silently and uncomplainingly for him, or anyone she loved; -or on the other hand stabbing her lover without remorse if roused by -jealousy or insult. - -He was hourly discovering new traits in her character which delighted -him, because they were so utterly unlike any possessed by the women of -the world, with whom he had hitherto associated. He felt as though he -had captured some beautiful wild creature and was taming it for his own -pleasure. - -Harriet would sit for hours at a time in profound silence, -contemplating his features or watching his actions--crouched on the -floor at his feet, until he was fain to lay down his book or writing, -and take to fondling her instead. She was an ever-constant joy to him; -he felt it would be impossible to do anything to displease her so long -as he loved her--that like the patient Griselda she would submit to -any injustice and meekly call it justice if from _his_ hand. And yet -he knew all the while that the savage in her was _not_ tamed--that at -any moment, like the domesticated lion or tiger, her nature might -assert itself and become furious, wild and intractable. It was the -very uncertainty that pleased him; men love the women of whom they are -not quite certain, all the more. From Nice they wandered to Mentone, -but the proximity of the Monte Carlo tables had no charm for Anthony -Pennell. He was not a speculative man: his brain was filled with better -things, and he only visited such places for the sake of reproduction. -Although the autumn was now far advanced, the air of Mentone was too -enervating to suit either of them, and Pennell proposed that they -should move on to Italy. - -“I must show you Venice and Rome before we return home, Hally,” he -said, “and when I come to think of it, why should we return to England -at all just yet? Why not winter in Rome? Richards is always advising -me to take a good, long holiday. He says I overwork my brain and it -reacts upon my body--what better opportunity could we find to adopt his -advice? Hitherto I have pooh-poohed the idea! Wandering over a foreign -country in solitary grandeur held no charms for me, but with you, my -darling, to double the pleasure of everything, any place assumes the -appearance of Paradise! What do you say, little wife? Shall we set up -our tent South until the spring?” - -“Don’t you feel well, Tony?” asked Harriet, anxiously. - -“Never better in my life, dear! I am afraid you will not make an -interesting invalid out of me. I am as fit as a fiddle. But I fancy -my next novel will deal with Italy, and I should like to make a few -notes of the spots I may require to introduce. It is nothing to take me -away from you, darling. We will inspect the old places together, and -your quick eye and clear brain shall help me in my researches. Is it a -settled thing, Hally?” - -“O! yes, darling!” she replied, “anywhere with you! The only place I -shall ever object to, will be the one where I cannot go with you.” - -“That place does not exist on this earth, Hally,” said Pennell, “but -if you are willing, we may as well start to-morrow, for if we leave it -till too late, we shall find all the best winter quarters pre-engaged.” - -He left the room, as she thought rather hurriedly, but as he gained the -hotel corridor he slightly staggered and leaned against the wall. He -had told his wife that he was quite well, but he knew it was not the -truth. He had felt weak and enervated ever since coming to Mentone, but -he ascribed it to the soft mild atmosphere. - -“Confound this dizziness!” he said inwardly, as the corridor swam -before his eyes, “I think my liver must be out of order, and yet I -have been taking plenty of exercise. It must be this mild moist air. -Heat never did agree with me. I shall be glad to get on. We shall find -Florence cold by comparison.” - -He descended to the bureau and announced his intention of giving up his -rooms on the morrow, and then ordered a carriage and returned to take -Hally out for a drive. - -In Florence they procured rooms in a grand old palazzo, furnished -with rococo chairs and tables, placed upon marble floors. Harriet was -charmed and astonished by the ease with which they got everything _en -route_, as though they possessed Aladin’s lamp, she told Pennell, and -had but to wish to obtain. - -“Ah! Hally!” said her husband, “we have something better than the -genie’s lamp--we have money! _That_ is the true magician in this -century. I am very thankful that you have a fortune of your own, my -dearest, because I know that whatever happens, my girl will be able to -hold her own with the world!” - -Harriet grew pale. - -“What _could_ happen?” she stammered. - -“My silly little goose, are we immortal?” he replied, “I make a -first-rate income, my dear, but have not laid by enough as yet to leave -you more than comfortably off, but with your own money----” - -“Don’t speak of it, pray don’t speak of it!” she exclaimed, with ashen -lips, and noting her distress, Pennell changed the subject. - -“You are a lucky little woman,” he continued, “I wonder what some -people would give to possess your income--poor Margaret Pullen for -instance.” - -“Why Mrs. Pullen in particular, Tony? Are they poor?” - -“Not whilst Colonel Pullen is on active service, but he has nothing -but his pay to depend upon, and whilst he can work, he must. Which -means a residence in India, and perhaps separation from his wife and -children--if he should lose his health, a compulsory retirement; and -if he keeps it, toiling out there till old age, and then coming home -to spin out the remainder of his life on an inadequate pension. A man -who accepts service in India should make up his mind to live and die in -the country, but so many accidents may prevent it. And at the best, it -means banishment from England and all one’s friends and relations. Poor -Margaret feels that severely, I am sure!” - -“Has Mrs. Pullen many relations then?” - -“She has a mother still living, and several brothers and sisters, -besides her husband’s family. What a sweet, gentle woman she is! She -was kind to you, Hally, was she not, whilst you were abroad?” - -By mutual agreement they never spoke of Heyst, or the Red House, or -anything which was associated with what Pennell called his wife’s -infatuation regarding herself. - -“Yes! she was very kind--at first,” replied Harriet, “until--until--it -all happened, and they went to England. Oh! do not let us talk of it!” -she broke off suddenly. - -“No! we will not! Have you unpacked your mandoline yet, Hally? Fetch -it, dear, and let me hear your lovely voice again! I shall get you to -sing to me when I am in the vein for composing! You would bring me all -sorts of beautiful ideas and phantasies!” - -“Should I? should I?” exclaimed the girl joyfully. “Oh! how lovely! -I should do a part of your work then, shouldn’t I, Tony?--I should -inspire you! Why, I would sing day and night for that!” - -“No! no! my bird, I would not let you tire yourself! A few notes now -and then--they will help me more than enough. I must draw from you for -my next heroine, Hally! I could not have a fairer model!” - -“Oh! Tony!” - -She rushed to him in the extremity of her delight and hid her face upon -his breast. - -“I am not good enough, not pretty enough! Your heroines should be -perfect!” - -“I don’t think so! I prefer them to be of flesh and blood, like you!” - -He stooped his head and kissed her passionately. - -“Hally! Hally!” he whispered, “you draw my very life away!” - -The girl got up suddenly, almost roughly, and walked into the next room -to fetch her mandoline. - -“No! no!” she cried to herself with a cold fear, “not that, my God, not -that!” - -But when she returned with the instrument, she did not revert to the -subject, but played and sang as usual to her husband’s admiration and -delight. - -They “did” Florence very thoroughly during the first week of their stay -there, and were both completely tired. - -“I must really stay at home to-morrow,” cried Hally one afternoon on -returning to dinner, “Tony, I am regularly fagged out! I feel as if I -had a corn upon every toe!” - -“So do I,” replied her husband, “and I cannot have my darling knocked -up by fatigue! We will be lazy to-morrow, Hally, and lie on two sofas -and read our books all day! I have been thinking for the last few days -that we have been going a little too fast! Let me see, child!--how long -have we been married?” - -“Six weeks to-morrow,” she answered glibly. - -“Bless my soul! we are quite an old married couple, a species of Darby -and Joan! And have you been happy, Hally?” - -The tears of excitement rushed into her dark eyes. - -“_Happy!_ That is no word for what I have been, Tony; I have been in -Heaven--in Heaven all the while!” - -“And so have I,” rejoined her husband. - -“I met some nuns whilst I was out this morning,” continued Hally, “the -sisters of the Annunciation, and they stopped and spoke to me, and -were so pleased to hear that I had been brought up in a convent. ‘And -have you no vocation, my child?’ asked one of them. ‘Yes! Sister,’ I -replied, ‘I have--a big, strong, handsome vocation called my husband.’ -They looked quite shocked, poor dears, at first, but I gave them a -subscription for their orphan schools--one hundred francs--and they -were so pleased. They said if I was sick whilst in Florence, I must -send for one of them, and she would come and nurse me! I gave it as a -thanksgiving, Tony--a thanksgiving offering because I am so very happy. -I am not a good woman like Margaret Pullen, I know that, but I love -you--_I love you!_” - -“Who said that you were not a good woman?” asked Pennell, as he drew -her fondly to his side, and kissed away the tears that hung on her dark -lashes. - -“Oh! I know I am not. Besides, you once said that Margaret Pullen was -the best woman you had ever known.” - -“I think she is very sweet and unselfish,” replied Pennell musingly, -“she felt the loss of her infant terribly, Doctor Phillips told me, but -the way in which she struggled to subdue her grief, in order not to -distress others, was wonderful! Poor Margaret! how she mourns little -Ethel to this day.” - -“Don’t! _don’t!_” cried Harriet in a stifled voice, “I cannot bear to -think of it!” - -“My darling, it had nothing to do with you! I have told you so a -thousand times!” - -“Yes! yes! I know you have--but I loved the little darling! It is -dreadful to me to think that she is mouldering in the grave!” - -“Come, child, you will be hysterical if you indulge in any more -reminiscences! Suppose we go for a stroll through the Ghetto or some -other antiquated part of Florence. Or shall we take a drive into the -country? I am at your commands, Madam!” - -“A drive, darling, then--a drive!” whispered his wife, as she left him -to get ready for the excursion. - -It was three hours before they returned to their rooms in the old -palazzo. Harriet was dull and somewhat silent, and Anthony confessed to -a headache. - -“I am not quite sure now,” he said, as they were dining, “whether -a trip to Australia or America would not do us both more good than -lingering about these mild, warm places. I think our constitutions -both require bracing rather than coddling. Australia is a grand young -country! I have often contemplated paying her a visit. What would you -say to it, Hally?” - -“I should enjoy it as much as yourself, Tony! You so often have a -headache now! I think the drainage of these southern towns must be -defective!” - -“Oh! shocking! They are famous for typhoid and malarial fevers. They -are not drained at all!” - -“Don’t let us stay here long then! What should I do if you were to fall -ill?” - -“You are far more liable to fall sick of the two, my darling,” returned -her husband, “I do not think your beautiful little body has much -strength to sustain it. And then what should _I_ do?” - -“Ah! neither of us could do without the other, Tony!” - -“Of course we couldn’t, and so we will provide against such a -contingency by moving on before our systems get saturated with miasma -and mistral. Will you sing to me to-night, Hally?” - -“Not unless you very much wish it! I am a little tired. I feel as if I -couldn’t throw any expression into my songs to-night!” - -“Then come here and sit down on the sofa beside me, and let us talk!” - -She did as he desired, but Pennell was too sleepy to talk. In five -minutes he had fallen fast asleep, and it was with difficulty she could -persuade him to abandon the couch and drag his weary limbs up to bed, -where he threw himself down in a profound slumber. Harriet was also -tired. Her husband was breathing heavily as she slipped into her place -beside him. His arm was thrown out over her pillow, as though he feared -she might go to sleep without remembering to wish him good-night! She -bent over him and kissed him passionately on the lips. - -“Good-night, my beloved,” she whispered, “sleep well, and wake in -happiness!” - -She kissed the big hand too that lay upon her pillow and composed -herself to sleep while it still encircled her. - -The dawn is early in Florence, but it had broken for some time before -she roused herself again. The sun was streaming brightly into the -long, narrow, uncurtained windows, and everything it lighted on was -touched with a molten glory. Harriet started up in bed. Her husband’s -arm was still beneath her body. - -“Oh! my poor darling!” she exclaimed, as though the fault were her own, -“how cramped he must be! How soundly we must have slept not to have -once moved through the night!” - -She raised Tony’s arm and commenced to chafe it. How strangely heavy -and cold it felt. Why! he was cold all over! She drew up the bedclothes -and tucked them in around his chin. Then, for the first time, she -looked at his face. His eyes were open. - -“Tony, Tony!” she exclaimed, “are you making fun of me? Have you been -awake all the time?” - -She bent over his face laughingly, and pressed a kiss upon his cheek. - -How stiff it felt! My God! what was the matter? Could he have fainted? -She leapt from the bed, and running to her husband’s side, pulled down -the bedclothes again and placed her hand upon his heart. The body was -cold--cold and still all over! His eyes were glazed and dull. His -mouth was slightly open. In one awful moment she knew the truth. Tony -was--_dead_! - -She stood for some moments--some hours--some months--she could not -have reckoned the time, silent and motionless, trying to realise what -had occurred. Then--as it came upon her, like a resistless flood which -she could not stem, nor escape, Harriet gave one fearful shriek which -brought the servants hurrying upstairs to know what could be the -matter. - -“I have killed my husband--I have killed him--it was I myself who did -it!” was all that she would say. - -Of course they did not believe her. They accepted the unmeaning words -as part of their mistress’s frenzy at her sudden and unexpected loss. -They saw what had happened, and they ran breathlessly for a doctor, who -confirmed their worst fears--the Signor was dead! - -The old palazzo became like a disturbed ant-hill. The servants ran -hither and thither, unknowing how to act, whilst the mistress sat by -the bedside with staring, tearless eyes, holding the hand of her dead -husband. But there were a dozen things to be done--half a hundred -orders to be issued. Death in Florence is quickly followed by burial. -The law does not permit a mourner to lament his Dead for more than -four-and-twenty hours. - -But the signora would give no orders for the funeral nor answer any -questions put to her! She had no friends in Florence--for ought they -knew, she had no money--what were they to do? At last one of them -thought of the neighbouring Convent of the Annunciation and ran to -implore one of the good sisters to come to their mistress in her -extremity. - -Shortly afterwards, Sister Angelica entered the bedroom where Harriet -sat murmuring at intervals, “It is _I_ who have killed him,” and -attempted to administer comfort to the young mourner. But her words -and prayers had no effect upon Harriet. Her brain could hold but one -idea--she had killed Tony! Doctor Phillips was right--it was she who -had killed Margaret Pullen’s baby and Bobby Bates, and to look further -back, little Caroline, and now--now, her Tony! the light of her life, -the passion of her being, the essence of all her joy--her hope for -this world and the next. She had killed him--_she_, who worshipped -him, whose pride was bound up in him, who was to have helped him and -comforted him and waited on him all his life--she had killed him! - -Her dry lips refused to say the words distinctly, but they kept -revolving in her brain until they dazed and wearied her. The little -sister stood by her and held her hand, as the professional assistants -entered the death chamber and arranged and straightened the body for -the grave, finally placing it in a coffin and carrying it away to a -mortuary where it would have to remain until buried on the morrow, but -Harriet made no resistance to the ceremony and no sign. She did not -even say “Good-bye” as Tony was carried from her sight for ever! Sister -Angelica talked to her of the glorious Heaven where they must hope that -her dear husband would be translated, of the peace and happiness he -would enjoy, of the reunion which awaited them when her term of life -was also past. - -She pressed her to make the Convent her refuge until the first agony -of her loss was overcome--reminded her of the peace and rest she would -encounter within the cloisters, and how the whole fraternity would -unite in praying for the soul of her beloved that he might speedily -obtain the remission of his sins and an entrance into the Beatific -Presence. - -Harriet listened dully and at last in order to get rid of her -well-intentioned but rather wearisome consoler, she promised to do all -that she wished. Let the sister return to the Convent for the present, -and on the morrow if she would come for her at the same time, she -might take her back with her. She wanted rest and peace--she would be -thankful for them, poor Harriet said--only to-night, this one night -more, she wished to be alone. So the good little sister went away -rejoicing that she had succeeded in her errand of mercy, and looking -forward to bearing the poor young widow to the Convent on the morrow, -there to learn the true secret of earthly happiness. - -When she had gone and the old palazzo was quiet and empty, the -bewildered girl rose to her feet and tried to steady her shaking limbs -sufficiently, to write what seemed to be a letter but was in reality a -will. - -“I leave all that I possess,” so it ran, “to Margaret Pullen, the wife -of Colonel Arthur Pullen, the best woman Tony said that he had ever -met, and I beg her to accept it in return for the kindness she showed -to me when I went to Heyst, a stranger. Signed, HARRIET PENNELL.” - -She put the paper into an envelope, and as soon as the morning had -dawned, she asked her servant Lorenzo to show her the way to the -nearest notary in whose presence she signed the document and directed -him to whom it should be sent in case of her own death. - -And after another visit to a _pharmacien_, she returned to the palazzo -and took up her watch again in the now deserted bedchamber. - -Her servants brought her refreshments and pressed her to eat, without -effect. All she desired, she told them, was to be left alone, until the -sister came for her in the afternoon. - -Sister Angelica arrived true to her appointment, and went at once to -the bedchamber. To her surprise she found Harriet lying on the bed, -just where the corpse of Anthony Pennell had lain, and apparently -asleep. - -“_Pauvre enfant!_” thought the kind-hearted nun, “grief has exhausted -her! I should not have attended to her request, but have watched with -her through the night! _Eh, donc! ma pauvre_,” she continued, gently -touching the girl on the shoulder, “_levez-vous! Je suis là._” - -But there was no awakening on this earth for Harriet Pennell. She had -taken an overdose of chloral and joined her husband. - -When Margaret Pullen received the will which Harriet had left behind -her, she found these words with it, scribbled in a very trembling hand -upon a scrap of paper. - -“Do not think more unkindly of me than you can help. My parents have -made me unfit to live. Let me go to a world where the curse of heredity -which they laid upon me may be mercifully wiped out.” - - -THE END. - - -PRINTING OFFICE OF THE PUBLISHER. - - - - - November 1897. - - Tauchnitz Edition. - - Latest Volumes: - - The Ways of Life. - Two New Stories by =Mrs. Oliphant=. - 1 vol. - - Uncle Bernac. - A New Novel by =A. Conan Doyle=. - 1 vol. - - Dear Faustina. - A New Novel by =Rhoda Broughton=. - 1 vol. - - Mrs. Crichton’s Creditor. - A New Novel by =Mrs. Alexander=. - 1 vol. - - Poor Little Bella. - A New Novel by =F. C. Philips=. - 1 vol. - - One Man’s View. - A New Novel by =Leonard Merrick=. - 1 vol. - - A Fountain Sealed. - A New Novel by =Walter Besant=. - 1 vol. - - Lying Prophets. - A New Novel by =Eden Phillpotts=. - 2 vols. - - Ziska. - A New Novel by =Marie Corelli=. - 1 vol. - - The Manxman. - A New Novel by =Hall Caine=. - 2 vols. - - The Ancestors of Peter Atherly, etc. - New Tales by =Bret Harte=. - 1 vol. - - The Martian. - A New Novel by =George du Maurier=. - 2 vols. - - An Altruist, etc. - A New Work by =Ouida=. - 1 vol. - - A Spotless Reputation. - A New Novel by =Dorothea Gerard=. - 1 vol. - - Castle Meadow. - A New Novel by =Emma Marshall=. - 1 vol. - - The Coming of Chloe. - A New Novel by Mrs. =Hungerford=. - 1 vol. - - Old Mr. Tredgold. - A New Novel by Mrs. =Oliphant=. - 2 vols. - - The Jessamy Bride. - A New Novel by =Frank Frankfort Moore=. - 1 vol. - - Barbara, - Lady’s Maid and Peeress. - A New Novel by Mrs. =Alexander=. - 1 vol. - - Margaret Ogilvy. - A New Work by =J. M. Barrie=. - 1 vol. - - -_The Tauchnitz Edition is to be had of all Booksellers and Railway -Libraries on the Continent, price M 1,60. or 2 francs per volume. A -complete Catalogue of the Tauchnitz Edition is attached to this work._ - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: - - frontmatter: moved one page (beginning of publisher’s list of - Latest Volumes) to the end and joined with the rest - of the list for continuity - - page 10: ‘dared not say Bo!’ changed to ‘dared not say Boo!’ - - page 53: ‘and generally kow-tooing’ changed to ‘and generally - kow-towing’ - - page 80: joined paragraphs of the same person speaking removing - closing quotation mark at ‘The governess was so angry’ - - page 124: ‘carrying a flimsey wrap’ changed to ‘carrying a flimsy - wrap’ - - page 202: ‘return with him to Hoosur’ changed to ‘return with him - to Hosur’ - - page 227: ‘who care more’ changed to ‘who cares more’ - - page 285: ‘CHAPTER XVI’ changed to ‘CHAPTER XVII’ - - page 285: ‘it it had not been for that’ changed to ‘if it had - not been for that’ - - page 317: ‘she returned to the Palazzo’ changed to ‘she returned - to the palazzo’ for uniformity - - along with a few silent corrections to punctuation. 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