At last the wind abated; and after a wearisome calm, a light breeze came, and the schooner crept homeward.
Phoebe restrained herself for several days; but at last she came back to the subject; this time it was in an apologetic tone at starting. "I know you think me a foolish woman," she said; "but my poor Reginald could never resist a pretty face; and she is so lovely; and you should have seen how he turned when she came in to my place. Oh, sir, there has been more between them than you know of; and when I think that he will have been in England so many months before we get there, oh, doctor, sometimes I feel as I should go mad; my head it is like a furnace, and see, my brow is all wrinkled again."
Then Staines tried to comfort her; a.s.sured her she was tormenting herself idly; her husband would perhaps have spent some of the diamond money on his amus.e.m.e.nt; but what if he had? he should deduct it out of the big diamond, which was also their joint property, and the loss would hardly be felt. "As to my wife, madam, I have but one anxiety; lest he should go blurting it out that I am alive, and almost kill her with joy."
"He will not do that, sir. He is no fool."
"I am glad of it; for there is nothing else to fear."
"Man, I tell you there is everything to fear. You don"t know him as I do; nor his power over women."
"Mrs. Falcon, are you bent on affronting me?"
"No, sir; Heaven forbid!"
"Then please to close this subject forever. In three weeks we shall be in England."
"Ay; but he has been there six months."
He bowed stiffly to her, went to his cabin, and avoided the poor foolish woman as much as he could without seeming too unkind.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Mrs. Staines made one or two movements--to stop Lord Tadcaster--with her hand, that expressive feature with which, at such times, a sensitive woman can do all but speak.
When at last he paused for her reply, she said, "Me marry again! Oh! for shame!"
"Mrs. Staines--Rosa--you will marry again, some day."
"Never. Me take another husband, after such a man as I have lost! I should be a monster. Oh, Lord Tadcaster, you have been so kind to me; so sympathizing. You made me believe you loved my Christopher, too; and now you have spoiled all. It is too cruel."
"Oh! Mrs. Staines, do you think me capable of feigning--don"t you see my love for you has taken you by surprise? But how could I visit you--look on you--hear you--mingle my regrets with yours; yours were the deepest, of course; but mine were honest."
"I believe it." And she gave him her hand. He held it, and kissed it, and cried over it, as the young will, and implored her, on his knees, not to condemn herself to life-long widowhood, and him to despair.
Then she cried, too; but she was firm; and by degrees she made him see that her heart was inaccessible.
Then at last he submitted with tearful eyes, but a valiant heart.
She offered friendship timidly.
But he was too much of a man to fall into that trap. "No," he said: "I could not, I could not. Love or nothing."
"You are right," said she, pityingly. "Forgive me. In my selfishness and my usual folly, I did not see this coming on, or I would have spared you this mortification."
"Never mind that," gulped the little earl. "I shall always be proud I knew you, and proud I loved you, and offered you my hand."
Then the magnanimous little fellow blessed her, and left her, and discontinued his visits.
Mr. Lusignan found her crying, and got the truth out of her. He was in despair. He remonstrated kindly, but firmly. Truth compels me to say that she politely ignored him. He observed that phenomenon, and said, "Very well then, I shall telegraph for Uncle Philip."
"Do," said the rebel. "He is always welcome."
Philip, telegraphed, came down that evening; likewise his little black bag. He found them in the drawing-room: papa with the Pall Mall Gazette, Rosa seated, sewing, at a lamp. She made little Christie"s clothes herself,--fancy that!
Having ascertained that the little boy was well, Philip, adroitly hiding that he had come down torn with anxiety on that head, inquired with a show of contemptuous indifference, whose cat was dead.
"n.o.body"s," said Lusignan crossly. Then he turned and pointed the Gazette at his offspring. "Do you see that young lady st.i.tching there so demurely?"
Philip carefully wiped and then put on his spectacles.
"I see her," said he. "She does look a little too innocent. None of them are really so innocent as all that. Has she been swearing at the nurse, and boxing her ears?"
"Worse than that. She has been and refused the Earl of Tadcaster."
"Refused him--what! has that little monkey had the audacity?"
"The condescension, you mean. Yes."
"And she has refused him?"
"And twenty thousand a year."
"What immorality!"
"Worse. What absurdity!"
"How is it to be accounted for? Is it the old story? "I could never love him." No; that"s inadequate; for they all love a t.i.tle and twenty thousand a year."
Rosa sewed on all this time in demure and absolute silence.
"She ignores us," said Philip. "It is intolerable. She does not appreciate our politeness in talking at her. Let us arraign her before our sacred tribunal, and have her into court. Now, mistress, the Senate of Venice is a.s.sembled, and you must be pleased to tell us why you refused a t.i.tle and twenty thousand a year, with a small but symmetrical earl tacked on."
Rosa laid down her work, and said quietly, "Uncle, almost the last words that pa.s.sed between me and my Christopher, we promised each other solemnly never to marry again till death should us part. You know how deep my sorrow has been that I can find so few wishes of my lost Christopher to obey. Well, to-day I have had an opportunity at last. I have obeyed my own lost one; it has cost me a tear or two; but, for all that, it has given me one little gleam of happiness. Ah, foolish woman, that obeys too late!"
And with this the tears began to run.
All this seemed a little too high-flown to Mr. Lusignan. "There," said he, "see on what a straw her mind turns. So, but for that, you would have done the right thing, and married the earl?"
"I dare say I should--at the time--to stop his crying."
And with this listless remark she quietly took up her sewing again.
The sagacious Philip looked at her gravely. He thought to himself how piteous it was to see so young and lovely a creature, that had given up all hope of happiness for herself. These being his real thoughts, he expressed himself as follows: "We had better drop this subject, sir.