She had done her best to resist him, and she had answered in those merciful words.
The effect was visible, perilously visible, as he rose from his knees.
Her one chance of keeping the distance between them, on which she had been too weak to insist, was not to encourage him by silence. Abruptly, desperately, she made a commonplace inquiry about his proposed voyage.
"Tell me," she resumed, "where are you going when you leave England?"
"Oh, to find money, dear, if I can--to pick up diamonds, or to hit on a mine of gold, and so forth."
The fine observation of Iris detected something not quite easy in his manner, as he made that reply. He tried to change the subject: she deliberately returned to it. "Your account of your travelling plans is rather vague," she told him. "Do you know when you are likely to return?"
He took her hand. One of the rings on her fingers happened to be turned the wrong way. He set it in the right position, and discovered an opal.
"Ah! the unlucky stone!" he cried, and turned it back again out of sight. She drew away her hand. "I asked you," she persisted, "when you expect to return?"
He laughed--not so gaily as usual.
"How do I know I shall ever get back?" he answered. "Sometimes the seas turn traitor, and sometimes the savages. I have had so many narrow escapes of my life, I can"t expect my luck to last for ever." He made a second attempt to change the subject. "I wonder whether you"re likely to pay another visit to Ireland? My cottage is entirely at your disposal, Iris dear. Oh, when I"m out of the way, of course! The place seemed to please your fancy, when you saw it. You will find it well taken care of, I answer for that."
Iris asked who was taking care of his cottage.
The wild lord"s face saddened. He hesitated; rose from his chair restlessly, and walked away to the window; returned, and made up his mind to reply.
"My dear, you know her. She was the old housekeeper at--"
His voice failed him. He was unable, or unwilling, to p.r.o.nounce the name of Arthur"s farm.
Knowing, it is needless to say, that he had alluded to Mrs. Lewson, Iris warmly commended him for taking care of her old nurse. At the same time, she remembered the unfriendly terms in which the housekeeper had alluded to Lord Harry, when they had talked of him.
"Did you find no difficulty," she asked, "in persuading Mrs. Lewson to enter your service?"
"Oh, yes, plenty of difficulty; I found my bad character in my way, as usual." It was a relief to him, at that moment, to talk of Mrs. Lewson; the Irish humour and the Irish accent both a.s.serted themselves in his reply. "The curious old creature told me to my face I was a scamp. I took leave to remind her that it was the duty of a respectable person, like herself, to reform scamps; I also mentioned that I was going away, and she would be master and mistress too on my small property. That softened her heart towards me. You will mostly find old women amenable, if you get at them by way of their dignity. Besides, there was another lucky circ.u.mstance that helped me. The neighbourhood of my cottage has some attraction for Mrs. Lewson. She didn"t say particularly what it was--and I never asked her to tell me."
"Surely you might have guessed it, without being told," Iris reminded him. "Mrs. Lewson"s faithful heart loves poor Arthur"s memory--and Arthur"s grave is not far from your cottage."
"Don"t speak of him!"
It was said loudly, peremptorily, pa.s.sionately. He looked at her with angry astonishment in his face. "You loved him too!" he said. "Can you speak of him quietly? The n.o.blest, truest, sweetest man that ever the Heavens looked on, foully a.s.sa.s.sinated. And the wretch who murdered him still living, free--oh, what is G.o.d"s providence about?--is there no retribution that will follow him? no just hand that will revenge Arthur"s death?"
As those fierce words escaped him, he was no longer the easy, gentle, joyous creature whom Iris had known and loved. The furious pa.s.sions of the Celtic race glittered savagely in his eyes, and changed to a grey horrid pallor the healthy colour that was natural to his face. "Oh, my temper, my temper!" he cried, as Iris shrank from him. "She hates me now, and no wonder." He staggered away from her, and burst into a convulsive fit of crying, dreadful to hear. Compa.s.sion, divine compa.s.sion, mastered the earthlier emotion of terror in the great heart of the woman who loved him. She followed him, and laid her hand caressingly on his shoulder. "I don"t hate you, my dear," she said. "I am sorry for Arthur--and, oh, so sorry for You!" He caught her in his arms. His grat.i.tude, his repentance, his silent farewell were all expressed in a last kiss. It was a moment, never to be forgotten to the end of their lives. Before she could speak, before she could think, he had left her.
She called him back, through the open door. He never returned; he never even replied. She ran to the window, and threw it up--and was just in time to see him signal to the carriage and leap into it. Her horror of the fatal purpose that was but too plainly rooted in him--her conviction that he was on the track of the a.s.sa.s.sin, self devoted to exact the terrible penalty of blood for blood--emboldened her to insist on being heard. "Come back," she cried. "I must, I will, speak with you."
He waved his hand to her with a gesture of despair. "Start your horses," he shouted to the coachman. Alarmed by his voice and his look, the man asked where he should drive to. Lord Harry pointed furiously to the onward road. "Drive," he answered, "to the Devil!"
THE END OF THE FIRST PERIOD
THE SECOND PERIOD
CHAPTER XIII
IRIS AT HOME
A LITTLE more than four months had pa.s.sed, since the return of Iris to her father"s house.
Among other events which occurred, during the earlier part of that interval, the course adopted by Hugh Mountjoy, when Miss Henley"s suspicions of the Irish lord were first communicated to him, claims a foremost place.
It was impossible that the devoted friend of Iris could look at her, when they met again on their way to the station, without perceiving the signs of serious agitation. Only waiting until they were alone in the railway-carriage, she opened her heart unreservedly to the man in whose clear intellect and true sympathy she could repose implicit trust. He listened to what she could repeat of Lord Harry"s language with but little appearance of surprise. Iris had only reminded him of one, among the disclosures which had escaped Mr. Vimpany at the inn. Under the irresistible influence of good wine, the doctor had revealed the Irish lord"s motive for remaining in his own country, after the a.s.sa.s.sination of Arthur Mountjoy. Hugh met the only difficulty in his way, without shrinking from it. He resolved to clear his mind of its natural prejudice against the rival who had been preferred to him, before he a.s.sumed the responsibility of guiding Iris by his advice.
When he had in some degree recovered confidence in his own unbiased judgment, he entered on the question of Lord Harry"s purpose in leaving England.
Without attempting to dispute the conclusion at which Iris had arrived, he did his best to alleviate her distress. In his opinion, he was careful to tell her, a discovery of the destination to which Lord Harry proposed to betake himself, might be achieved. The Irish lord"s allusion to a new adventure, which would occupy him in searching for diamonds or gold, might indicate a contemplated pursuit of the a.s.sa.s.sin, as well as a plausible excuse to satisfy Iris. It was at least possible that the murderer might have been warned of his danger if he remained in England, and that he might have contemplated directing his flight to a distant country, which would not only offer a safe refuge, but also hold out (in its mineral treasures) a hope of gain. a.s.suming that these circ.u.mstances had really happened, it was in Lord Harry"s character to make sure of his revenge, by embarking in the steamship by which the a.s.sa.s.sin of Arthur Mountjoy was a pa.s.senger.
Wild as this guess at the truth undoubtedly was, it had one merit: it might easily be put to the test.
Hugh had bought the day"s newspaper at the station. He proposed to consult the shipping advertis.e.m.e.nts relating, in the first place, to communication with the diamond-mines and the goldfields of South Africa.
This course of proceeding at once informed him that the first steamer, bound for that destination, would sail from London in two days" time.
The obvious precaution to take was to have the Dock watched; and Mountjoy"s steady old servant, who knew Lord Harry by sight, was the man to employ.
Iris naturally inquired what good end could be attained, if the antic.i.p.ated discovery actually took place.
To this Mountjoy answered, that the one hope--a faint hope, he must needs confess--of inducing Lord Harry to reconsider his desperate purpose, lay in the influence of Iris herself. She must address a letter to him, announcing that his secret had been betrayed by his own language and conduct, and declaring that she would never again see him, or hold any communication with him, if he persisted in his savage resolution of revenge. Such was the desperate experiment which Mountjoy"s generous and unselfish devotion to Iris now proposed to try.
The servant (duly entrusted with Miss Henley"s letter) was placed on the watch--and the event which had been regarded as little better than a forlorn hope, proved to be the event that really took place. Lord Harry was a pa.s.senger by the steamship.
Mountjoy"s man presented the letter entrusted to him, and asked respectfully if there was any answer. The wild lord read it--looked (to use the messenger"s own words) like a man cut to the heart--seemed at a loss what to say or do--and only gave a verbal answer: "I sincerely thank Miss Henley, and I promise to write when the ship touches at Madeira." The servant continued to watch him when he went on board the steamer; saw him cast a look backwards, as if suspecting that he might have been followed; and then lost sight of him in the cabin. The vessel sailed after a long interval of delay, but he never reappeared on the deck.
The ambiguous message sent to her aroused the resentment of Iris; she thought it cruel. For some weeks perhaps to come, she was condemned to remain in doubt, and was left to endure the trial of her patience, without having Mountjoy at hand to encourage and console her. He had been called away to the south of France by the illness of his father.
But the fortunes of Miss Henley, at this period of her life, had their brighter side. She found reason to congratulate herself on the reconciliation which had brought her back to her father. Mr. Henley had received her, not perhaps with affection, but certainly with kindness.
"If we don"t get in each other"s way, we shall do very well; I am glad to see you again." That was all he had said to her, but it meant much from a soured and selfish man.
Her only domestic anxiety was caused by another failure in the health of her maid.
The Doctor declared that medical help would be of no avail, while Rhoda Bennet remained in London. In the country she had been born and bred, and to the country she must return. Mr. Henley"s large landed property, on the north of London, happened to include a farm in the neighbourhood of Muswell Hill. Wisely waiting for a favourable opportunity, Iris alluded to the good qualities which had made Rhoda almost as much her friend as her servant, and asked leave to remove the invalid to the healthy air of the farm.
Her anxiety about the recovery of a servant so astonished Mr. Henley, that he was hurried (as he afterwards declared) into granting his daughter"s request. After this concession, the necessary arrangements were easily made. The influence of Iris won the goodwill of the farmer and his wife; Rhoda, as an expert and willing needlewoman, being sure of a welcome, for her own sake, in a family which included a number of young children. Miss Henley had only to order her carriage, and to be within reach of the farm. A week seldom pa.s.sed without a meeting between the mistress and the maid.
In the meantime, Mountjoy (absent in France) did not forget to write to Iris.
His letters offered little hope of a speedy return. The doctors had not concealed from him that his father"s illness would end fatally; but there were reserves of vital power still left, which might prolong the struggle. Under these melancholy circ.u.mstances, he begged that Iris would write to him. The oftener she could tell him of the little events of her life at home, the more kindly she would brighten the days of a dreary life.
Eager to show, even in a trifling matter, how gratefully she appreciated Mountjoy"s past kindness, Iris related the simple story of her life at home, in weekly letters addressed to her good friend. After telling Hugh (among other things) of Rhoda"s establishment at the farm, she had some unexpected results to relate, which had followed the attempt to provide herself with a new maid.
Two young women had been successively engaged--each recommended, by the lady whom she had last served, with that utter disregard of moral obligation which appears to be shamelessly on the increase in the England of our day. The first of the two maids, described as "rather excitable," revealed infirmities of temper which suggested a lunatic asylum as the only fit place for her. The second young woman, detected in stealing eau-de-cologne, and using it (mixed with water) as an intoxicating drink, claimed merciful construction of her misconduct, on the ground that she had been misled by the example of her last mistress.
At the third attempt to provide herself with a servant, Iris was able to report the discovery of a responsible person who told the truth--an unmarried lady of middle age.
In this case, the young woman was described as a servant thoroughly trained in the performance of her duties, honest, sober, industrious, of an even temper, and unprovided with a "follower" in the shape of a sweetheart. Even her name sounded favourably in the ear of a stranger--it was f.a.n.n.y Mere. Iris asked how a servant, apparently possessed of a faultless character, came to be in want of a situation.
At this question the lady sighed, and acknowledged that she had "made a dreadful discovery," relating to the past life of her maid. It proved to be the old, the miserably old, story of a broken promise of marriage, and of the penalty paid as usual by the unhappy woman. "I will say nothing of my own feelings," the maiden lady explained. "In justice to the other female servants, it was impossible for me to keep such a person in my house; and, in justice to you, I must most unwillingly stand in the way of f.a.n.n.y Mere"s prospects by mentioning my reason for parting with her."