"To my sister. Ever since this trouble has come upon me I have longed for a sister"s love, and now I think I will go to her I will tell her all my troubles, and ask her to help me to find employment."
"Perhaps she has never heard of you--what do I know?--and perhaps she will spurn you when she hears your story. If she does, come back to old Nance, my dear; her arms will always be open to receive you. Yes, begin the world again. Caton pawb! you are only twenty now You have your life before you; you may marry, child, in spite of all that has happened."
"_Nance!_" said Valmai, and the depth of reproach and even injury in her voice made plain to Nance that she must never suggest such a thing again.
"Don"t be angry with me, my dear!"
"Angry with you! No, I am only thinking how little you know--how little you know. But where shall I find my sister? You said once you had her address, where is it?"
"Oh, anwl! I don"t know. Somewhere in the loft--" and Nance looked up at the brown rafters. "I haven"t seen it for twenty years, but it"s sure to be there, I remember, then somebody wrote it out for me, and I tied it up with a packet of other papers. They are in an old teapot on the top of the wall under the thatch, just there, my child, over the door. You must get the ladder and go up. It is many a long year since I have climbed up there."
But Valmai"s agile limbs found no great difficulty in reaching the brown boards which lay loosely across the rafters.
"Now, straight along, my dear."
"It is very dark, but I have found it," and coming down the ladder backwards, she placed the cracked and dust-begrimed teapot on the table. "Oh, how brown and faded the papers are! Nance, what is this?
I do believe it is your marriage certificate!"
"Very likely, my dear, and you will find the bill for my husband"s funeral, too; and a pattern of my scarlet "mantell," the one I nursed my children in; oh! I thought a lot of that, and here it is still, you see, folded over my shoulders."
"What is this? You had bad ink, but I think it must be the address.
Let me see, here is "Mrs. Besborough Power.""
"I knew it was a hard, long name," said the old woman.
""Carne," but the last word, oh, Nance, what is it? It begins with M o, and ends with r e--r e is the end of the shire, of course.
Merionithshire? No, it is M o, so must be Monmouthshire or Montgomeryshire, stay, there is a t in the middle. Mrs. Besborough Power, Carne--I will try Carne anyway," and next day she wrote to her sister addressing the letter:
Miss Gwladys Powell, c/o Mrs. Besborough Power, Carne, Montgomeryshire.
In a few days her letter was returned.
"Not known," said Valmai; "then we have not read the address aright. I will go myself, Nance. I will go next week." And the following days were occupied with arrangements for her departure and Nance"s comfort during her absence.
On one of these latter days Mr. Francis came in.
"I am glad you have come to-day," said Valmai, holding out her hand.
"I wanted to thank you before I left for all your kindness to me, and to ask you to continue to see Nance sometimes."
"Are you going to leave us, then?" said the young man, in a disappointed tone.
He had felt deeply interested in the girl who bore her desertion and sorrow with such patience, and had unconsciously been looking forward to a continuance of the friendship begun between them.
"You are not going away for long, I hope?"
"Yes, for long; possibly for ever, except for a hasty visit to Nance sometimes I shall trust her to you, Mr. Francis, and I hope you will be as kind to her as you have been to me."
"Certainly I will; but do not talk of kindness. It has been a great privilege to me, and a pleasure to know you, and I hope in the future if I can be of any service to you, you will let me know."
Valmai took out her purse nervously, she hesitated to speak of remuneration to this kind friend.
"You are not going to wound me," he said, gently laying his hand on her purse, "by offering to pay me?"
"No, no," said Valmai; "only for the future, for your care of Nance."
"There will be nothing much to do for her, I think; just a call in pa.s.sing and a few cheering words, and _they_ don"t cost much." And he rose to go.
"Good-bye, then," said Valmai. "I shall never forget your kindness."
"Good-bye," said Mr. Francis, holding her hand for a moment. He seemed about to say something more, but changed his mind, and abruptly left the house.
The next day was Valmai"s last in Nance"s cottage. She rose early, and, after her simple breakfast, put on her white hat, and, kissing the old woman tenderly, said:
"I am going out for a few hours; there are one or two people I want to see--Peggi Bullet, and Shon, the s.e.xton. Then I am going to cross the Rock Bridge."
She did not tell Nance that her chief object was to pay a last visit to her old haunts by the Berwen. After making all arrangements with Peggi Bullet and Shon, she took her way across the bridge. The year that had pa.s.sed since Cardo had left her, with its varied experiences and trials, the bitter sense of loneliness and desertion, the pains and the delights of motherhood, the desolation and sorrow of bereavement, all had worked a change in the simple girl"s character, that now surprised even herself, and she thankfully realised that her troubles had at all events generated a strength which enabled her to act for herself and attend to matters of business which had before been unapproachable mysteries to her. She shrank a little as she met the bold, admiring gaze of a knot of sailors, who stood at the door of the Ship Inn, where she explained to the buxom landlady that she wanted the car to meet her at the Rock Bridge on the following morning at ten.
"Yes, miss fach, and Jackie will drive you safe; but, indeed, there"s long time since we saw you! You never come to see us now, and there"s many warm hearts on this side the Rock Bridge as on the island, I can tell you."
"Yes, indeed, I know, and I thank you all," said Valmai, as she went out again into the sunshine.
The sailors were gone now, and she was free to make her way over the golden sands so often trodden by her and Cardo.
Every boulder, every sandy nook, every wave that broke, brought its own sad memories.
She turned up the path by the Berwen, which led to the old church, carefully avoiding even a glance at the tangled path on the other side of the river, which she and Cardo had made their own.
Pale and dry-eyed, she pressed her hands on her bosom as if to still the aching throbbing within. Every step that brought her nearer to the old church increased the dull aching that weighed her down; but still she pressed on, longing, yet dreading, to see the spot on which she and Cardo had made their vows together on that sunny morning which seemed so long ago.
As she entered the porch, she disturbed the white owl, who emerged from the ivy with a flap of her great wings, and sailed across the Berwen.
The worm-eaten door of the church stood wide open. Entering the aisle with light footsteps, she approached the altar rails. The light was very dim in the chancel, as every year the ivy grew thicker over the windows. Surely in that dark corner within the rails some black object stood, something blacker and darker than the shadow itself, and she stood still for a moment, startled. Yes, there was a sound of heavy breathing and the rustling of paper. She drew nearer, even close to the altar rails, and, as her eyes became accustomed to the dim light, she saw a man, who stooped over a musty, tattered book.
The sound of her footstep attracted his attention, and as he rose from his stooping position, Valmai recognised the marble face and the black eyebrows of the "Vicar du."
He was looking at one of the leaves in the old registry book, and for a moment as he raised his eyes to the silent, white figure before the altar, he took her for a ghostly visitant; but Valmai, with a sudden inrush of recognition, clasped her hands, a faint exclamation escaped her lips, and the "Vicare du" knew it was no spirit who stood trembling before him. For a moment both were speechless--then pointing to the page before him, he asked in a husky voice, "What is the meaning of this?" and from beginning to end he read, with this strange hoa.r.s.eness in his voice, the entry of his son"s marriage to Valmai. Not a word escaped him, not even the date, nor the names of the witnesses. Then he turned his black eyes upon her once more, and repeated his question.
"What is the meaning of this? I have heard of your shame, of your dishonour--of the disgraceful way in which you have entrapped my poor boy. But what is this farce enacted here? How dare you enter the House of G.o.d and forge this ridiculous statement? Where is my son, whom you have lured to destruction?"
Valmai was shaken like a reed by this sudden and unexpected meeting, and the outburst of feeling exhibited by the "Vicare du" awoke in her own heart such a tumult of doubt and suspense, that she could no longer restrain the tears which for days she had kept in check; long, silent sobs heaved her bosom, she covered her face with her hands, and the tears trickled through her fingers, but she made no answer.
"Speak, girl," said the Vicar, "have you nothing to say for yourself?
no excuse to make for your conduct? My son and I lived in perfect happiness together until you came to this neighbourhood; now you have led a young man on to his ruin and broken the heart of an old man--for this," he said, tapping the register with a trembling finger, "this is a lie--a forgery--a foolish piece of deceit, not worth the paper on which it is written!"
Still Valmai spoke not a word. Oh, what happiness it would have been to throw herself at the old man"s feet, and to confess everything, here, where Cardo and she had plighted their troth--to have told him of her ignorance of his fate, of her distracted longing for his return.
Surely, surely he would have forgiven her! She was torn with conflicting feelings. But, no! Had she borne the contempt and scorn of all her acquaintances and friends to break down now, and disclose her secret to the man of all others from whom Cardo desired to keep the knowledge of it? No, she would die rather than divulge it--and with an earnest prayer for strength she remained silent, for in silence alone she had taken refuge since her troubles had come upon her.
"Speak, girl, I implore you! Tell me, is this true?" His voice trembled, and he came a step nearer to her. "Tell me that it is true, and I will forgive you and him, for I shall then have a hope that his love for you will bring him home, though he has no love for me." And completely overcome by his feeling"s he dropped on his knees by the table, and, leaning his head on his arms, broke into a torrent of tears. "Oh, Cardo, Cardo, my boy!" he cried. "Come back to me."