"Yes--one will do."
And, while Cardo busied himself with the candle and matches, and drew down the blinds, his father fumbled amongst his papers and coughed awkwardly.
"Sit down, Cardo. I have something to say to you which I have been wanting to say for some time, and which I hope will give you pleasure."
Cardo said nothing, his attention being rivetted upon his father"s countenance; the marble face seemed whiter than usual, the deep shadows round the eyes darker and--was it fancy?--or were the lips whiter?
"What is it, father?" said Cardo, at last pitying the old man"s evident nervousness; "no bad news, I hope?"
"Bad news!" said the Vicar, with a forced smile, which disclosed a row of large and rather yellow teeth. "Didn"t I say I hoped it would please you?"
"Yes, I forgot, sir."
"Well, it is this: you live a very quiet, monotonous life here, and though it has many advantages, perhaps to a young man it would also appear to have many drawbacks. You have lately had Mr. Gwynne Ellis"s company, which I am glad to see you have thoroughly appreciated. I should have been annoyed, had it been otherwise, considering that it was not without some change of my usual domestic ways that I was able to arrange this little matter for you. I own I should not like you to imbibe all his ideas, which I consider very loose and unconst.i.tutional; but on the whole, I have liked the young man, and shall be sorry when he leaves, more particularly as he pays well."
Cardo winced. "I am very happy working on the farm, and if I have appeared discontented, my looks have belied me."
"No, no," said his father, tapping with his finger on the open page before him. "No! you seem to have a fund of animal spirits; but I am quite aware that your life is uneventful and dull, and I think a young man of your er--er--" (he was going to say "prospects," but thought that would not be politic), "well, a young man of your position should see a little of the world."
"My position is that of a farmer, sir, and few farmers can afford to travel about and see the world."
"Certainly not, certainly not; and for heaven"s sake don"t run away with the idea that I can afford it any better than other poor vicars or farmers; but knowing that you have a 100 pounds a year of your own, Cardo, which, by the by, you never spend much of, and which I am glad to hear you are already beginning to save up, I thought it well to suggest to you a little holiday, a little break in your occupation."
"Once for all, sir, I have no wish to travel, so do not trouble your head about me; I am perfectly contented and happy."
There was a moment"s silence, except for the Vicar"s tapping fingers, and when he next spoke there was a little shake in his voice and a little droop in his straight back.
"Well," he said at length, "if that is the case, I need not expect you to accede to my proposals. When a young man is contented and happy, it is not to be expected he will alter his mode of life to please an old man."
"And that man his father! Indeed it is," said Cardo, standing up and taking his favourite att.i.tude, with his elbow on the mantelpiece. "Why do you keep me at arm"s length? Why do you not tell me plainly what I can do for you, father? There is nothing I would not do, nothing I would not sacrifice, that is--" and he made a mental reservation concerning Valmai.
"That is--nothing except what I am about to ask you, I suppose?" said the old man.
The words were not amiable. They might have angered another man; but Cardo detected a tremor in the voice and an anxious look in the eyes which softened their asperity.
"What do you want me to do, sir?"
"In plain words, I want you to go to Australia."
"Australia!" gasped Cardo. "In heaven"s name, what for, sir?"
"I have often told you that some day I would wish you to go to Australia, Cardo. If you cannot afford your own expenses, I will help you In fact--er--er--I will place funds at your disposal which shall enable you to travel like a gentleman, and to reap every advantage which is supposed to accrue from travel and seeing the world."
Cardo way speechless from astonishment, not so much at the idea of banishment to the Antipodes--for his father had sometimes, though at long intervals, hinted at this idea--but at the unusual coolness with which he had alluded to such a lavish expenditure of money; and as he looked at his father with an earnest, inquiring gaze, the old man seemed to shrink under the scrutiny.
At last, turning away from the table, and placing both hands on his knees, he continued in an altered tone:
"Sit down again, Cardo, and I will tell you the story of my life, and then you shall tell me whether you will go to Australia or not."
His son sat down again and listened eagerly. He had always longed to hear something of his father"s early life; he had always rebelled against the cold barrier of mystery which seemed to enshroud him and separate him from his only son.
"Well, to begin at the beginning," said the Vicar, fixing his eyes on one spot on the carpet, "there was a time when I was young--perhaps you can hardly realise that," he said suddenly, looking up; "but strange as it may seem to you, it is a fact. I once was young, and though never so gay and light-hearted as you still I was happy in my own way, and fool enough to expect that life had for me a store of joys and pleasures, just as you do now. I was doomed, of course, to bitter disappointment, just as you will be. Well, I had one trouble, and that was the fear that I might be appointed to a curacy which would take me away from my old home, and I was greatly relieved when I was appointed to this living through the influence of an old friend of my father"s.
When I entered upon my new duties, I found the old church filled with a hearty and friendly congregation; but soon afterwards that Methodist Chapel was built on the moor, and that rascal Essec Powell became its minister, and from that day to this he has been a thorn in the flesh to me. My father died about a year after I was ordained, and I found the old house rather lonely with only Betto, who was then young, to look after my domestic affairs. My farm I found a great solace. About this time I met your mother, Agnes Powell. Her uncle and aunt had lately come to live in the neighbourhood, accompanied by their daughter Ellen and their niece--your mother. The two girls were said to be wealthy, and seemed to be as much attached to each other as though they had been sisters. I don"t remember much about Ellen Vaughan"s appearance, in fact I scarcely noticed her, for I had fallen pa.s.sionately in love with Agnes Powell. Are you listening, Caradoc?"
"Yes, indeed, sir," he said breathlessly, "I have thirsted for this knowledge so long."
"You have! well, then, listen. I loved your mother with a frantic mad devotion, though I killed her."
Cardo started.
"Yes, I killed her; not by a cruel blow, or murderous attack, but quite as surely and as cruelly. I told you I had not your gay and lively disposition. I might have added that I was sensitive and suspicious to an intense degree, and from my first acquaintance with your mother until the day I married her, I was always restless and uneasy, hating and fearing every man who approached her."
He reached a gla.s.s of water which stood on the table, and, having drunk some, looked again at his son.
"You see, Caradoc, if I have withheld this information from you long, I am telling you everything now. Just about this time my brother Lewis, who had for some years been settled in Scotland to learn farming, came home to Brynderyn, although I, being the elder son, was the owner of the place. Lewis had a small annuity settled upon him. As I was on the eve of being married, he was much interested in my affairs, and spoke of his admiration of Agnes in such glowing terms, that I felt, and, I fear, showed some resentment. However, as he was well acquainted with my suspicious nature, he was not offended, but laughed me out of my doubts for the time--for the time," he repeated, again fixing his eyes on the spot on the carpet. "Bear in mind, Cardo, through every word of this history, that the suspicion and mistrust of my nature amounted almost to insanity. I see it now, and, thank G.o.d, have conquered it in some measure. Well, we were married. Lewis was my groomsman, and Ellen Vaughan was the bridesmaid. It was a very quiet wedding, as Mrs. Vaughan was in very bad health--in fact, she died soon after our marriage, and Agnes seemed to feel the loss of her aunt so acutely that I was jealous and angry, and she saw that I was so, and endeavoured to hide her tears, poor child! poor child! I don"t think her uncle ever liked me, or approved of our marriage. Happily he had no control over Agnes"s fortune, or I believe she would never have had a penny of it; but I think he might have trusted me there, for I have nursed it--yes and doubled it," he mumbled, as though forgetting he was speaking to anyone but the carpet. "Well, let me see--where was I?"
"But my mother, sir?" interrupted Cardo; "tell me something about her--was she pretty?"
"Yes, she was beautiful, very lovely, with a foreign Spanish look in her eyes--you have the same, I think, Cardo. There was a tradition of Spanish blood in the family."
"And had she a Spanish temper, sir? quick and hasty, I mean."
"No, no, quite the contrary; a sweet and amiable temper, but certainly with a good deal of pride, which resented a suspicion like a blow," and the old man sighed heavily. "My brother Lewis made his home at Brynderyn, while he was looking about for some suitable opening for his farming operations, and here in the midst of my newly-found happiness, with hope and love shedding their beams around me, I allowed the first insidious entrance of the serpent of distrust and jealousy of my wife into my heart. My brother Lewis was very unlike me in appearance and disposition, being of a frank and genial manner, and trustful to a fault. I think you inherit that trait from him; be careful of it, Caradoc, or you will be cheated by every man you meet. Not that I would have you follow my example--G.o.d forbid! but there is a happy mean, a safe path between these two traits of character."
The Vicar was beginning to enjoy the recital of his long past troubles, and the thought flashed through his mind that he would have lightened his burden had he sooner confided in his son. The conduct which seemed so black and stained, when brooded over alone in his study, did not seem quite so heinous when put into plain words and spread out in the light.
"Well," he continued, "in spite of my jealous temper, the first few months of our wedded life were very happy, and it was not until I had begun to notice that a very intimate friendship existed between my young wife and my brother, that my suspicions were aroused with regard to them; but once alive to this idea, every moment of my life was poisoned by it. I kept a close but secret watch upon their actions, and soon saw what I considered a certain proof that the love they felt for each other was more than, and different to, that which the relationship of brother and sister-in-law warranted. Betto noticed it, too, for she has ever been faithful and true to me. She came to me one day, and seriously advised me to get rid of my brother Lewis, refusing to give any reason for her advice; but I required no explanation. You say nothing, Caradoc, but sit there with a blacker look on your face than I have ever seen before."
"I am listening, father, and waiting for some excuse for your jealous suspicions."
"I have very little to give but you shall have the story in its naked truth. I was devotedly attached to my brother; from childhood we had been all in all to each other, and the difference in our dispositions seemed only to cement more closely the bond of union between us; but now my love seemed turned to hatred, and I only waited to make my fears a certainty to turn him out of my house. Although I was anxious to hide my suspicions for a time, I could not refrain from sneering taunts about men who spent a life of idleness while others worked. Lewis opened his blue eyes in astonishment, and his frank, open countenance wore a hurt and puzzled look; but he did not go. He bore my insults, and yet haunted the house, and lingered round the west parlour, now shut up, but where your mother always sat. I found it impossible to hide entirely from Agnes my doubts of her love, and I soon saw that my involuntarily altered manner had made a corresponding change in hers.
The proud spirit within her was roused, and instead of endeavouring to soothe my suspicions, and show me my mistake, she went on her way apparently unheeding, holding her head high, and letting me form my own opinion of her actions. I ought to have told you that her uncle had been so annoyed at her marriage with me that he had forbidden her to enter his doors again; and of this I was not sorry, though it roused my anger so much that I added my injunctions to the effect that if she wished to please me she would break off all acquaintance with her cousin, Ellen Vaughan. This, however, she would not promise to do, and it was the first beginning of the rift, which afterwards widened into a chasm between us. Her cousin also was too much attached to her to be easily alienated from her, and the two girls met more frequently than either her uncle or I were aware of. There was another girl, too--I forget her name--but she was a sister of Essec Powell"s. Agnes and she had been schoolmates and bosom friends, and they were delighted to meet here by accident, and I soon found that my wife continually resorted to Essec Powell"s house to pour out her sorrows into the bosom of her friend; but this I could not allow. To visit the house of my bitterest enemy--to make a friend of his sister, was a glaring impropriety in a clergyman"s wife, and I cannot even now feel any compunction at having put a stop to their intercourse--if, indeed, I succeeded in doing so.
A cold cloud seemed to have fallen between me and your mother; and as for my brother, we scarcely spoke to each other at meals, and avoided each other at all other times. Still Lewis stayed on, with that puzzled look on his face, and still Agnes went through her daily duties with a proud look and a constrained manner.
"Poor Betto looked anxiously from one to the other of us, and I kept my still and silent watch. My heart was breaking with distrust of my wife, and hatred of my brother; but I never spoke of my failing trust in them both. I brooded upon it night and day, and my life became a h.e.l.l upon earth.
"One day in the early spring, about a month before you were born, Caradoc, I had been to a funeral at the old church; and hearing of the serious illness of a parishioner who lived on the high road to Abersethin, I followed the path on the left side of the Berwen, and as I neared the bridge which crosses the valley on the top, I suddenly came upon Agnes, who was sitting on a boulder by the side of the brook, and as I approached I saw her dry her eyes hurriedly. She rose from her seat, and her colour came and went as she looked at me. I longed to take her in my arms and press her to my heart, for she looked pale and sorrowful."
An exclamation from Cardo interrupted him.
"It pains you, Caradoc--it pains me--it pained me then--it will pain me as long as I have any being. I may be forgiven hereafter, but it cannot cease to pain me.
""Agnes," I said, "are you not straying very far from home?"
""I came for a walk," she answered; "it is a lovely day!"
""I did not know you could walk so far," I said. "Last evening when I asked you to come down to the sh.o.r.e with me, you said it was too far!"