In a few moments Cardo bounded up, three steps at a time, but not without fears as to the effect of Valmai"s revelation, for she had whispered to him as she had let him out at the front door:
"I am going up to tell him now."
"Well Ay never!" said the Captain, with pretended severity; "how dare you show your face to me after stealing may lil gel from under may very nose? Come here, you rascal, and shake hands over it! Wish you joy, may dear fellow! And the lil one, where is she? Come here, you lil fool! What are you hiding there for? Come and put your hand in your husband"s. There now! that"s something like it. And G.o.d bless you.
So you"re husband and wife, are ye?" looking critically from one to the other. "Well, ye"re a jolly good-looking pair! And so ye"re married, are ye?"
"With your permission, sir," said Cardo, laughing, "and with your blessing upon us. I am so thankful to feel I shall not be leaving Valmai without a friend when I sail."
"No, no, not without a friend. Ay"ll stick to her. But, look here, keep it all dark from old Finch!" And he seemed bursting with the importance and pleasure of his secret. "You go down to your tea, may dears; Ay ain"t going to be a selfish old uncle. No, no, go along with you, both of you, and send old Finch up to me. But look here!" he called after them, in a hoa.r.s.e whisper, "mum"s the word!"
The sun shone brilliantly, and the weather seemed to repent of its late burst of temper. Never had there been such a lovely September! Never had the harbour glistened so brightly in the sunshine, and never since he had broken his leg had the captain laughed so heartily or enjoyed himself so thoroughly as he did during the fortnight which followed, when Cardo read to him out of the newspaper and Valmai sang at her work about the house.
Captain Owen came in every day with news of the repairs.
"Well, Mr. Wynne," he said one morning, "I am happy to tell you we shall sail to-morrow afternoon."
Cardo"s heart sank, and Valmai turned very pale.
"Your cabin is being refitted to-day, and I shall be glad if you can come on board by four o"clock to-morrow afternoon. There"s every promise of fine weather. No more fogs, no more collisions, I hope."
"I"ll take care to be on board in good time," Cardo said.
"Tarnished if Ay won"t be awful dull without you!" said Captain Powell.
"He"s been as jolly, and as much at home here as you would yourself, Owen! He"s read to me and he"s brought me cigars, and always with a smile on his face; and Ay hope he"s bin comfortable here."
"Thoroughly, indeed," said Cardo. "I shall never forget the fortnight I have pa.s.sed under your roof."
"The lil gel has done her best, Ay know," said his host.
"A year I think you said you were going out for," said Captain Owen.
"Well, I hope to be away only eight or nine months; certainly not longer than a year," said Cardo.
And while the two old sea captains bade their last good-byes and good wishes to each other, Cardo slipped out to find Valmai, who had quietly disappeared.
She was sitting on the old red sofa in the little back parlour in an abandonment of grief.
"Oh! Cardo, Cardo, it has come! Now in reality it has come!"
Cardo drew her towards him.
"Cheer up, darling," he said. "You"ll be brave for my sake, won"t you?"
"Yes," she said, trying to check her sobs, "this is the last time I am going to be weak and childish. To-morrow I will be strong and brave and womanly. You will see, Cardo, a bright, courageous wife to cheer her husband at parting, and to bid him look forward with hope to meeting again. Oh! I know quite well what I ought to be."
"You are perfection in my eyes, f"anwylyd--that is what makes the parting with you so cruel. Gwynne Ellis was quite right when he said that it would be much harder to part with a wife of a week than a sweetheart of a year."
CHAPTER XI.
THE "BLACK DOG."
During the next few weeks, Cardo Wynne was generally to be seen pacing the deck of the _Burrawalla_, playing with the children or chatting with some of the pa.s.sengers. He walked up and down, with his hands sunk deep in his pockets, and cap tied firmly under his chin, for there was a pretty stiff breeze blowing, which developed later on in the voyage into the furious gales and storms which made that autumn so memorable for its numerous wrecks and casualties. Cardo was a great favourite on board, his frank and genial manner, the merry twinkle of his eye, and his tender politeness to the very old or the very young had won all hearts. With good-natured cheerfulness he entered into the plans and pastimes of the youthful part of the community, so that he had made a favourable impression upon all, from the cabin boy to the captain, and from the old general, who seldom left his berth, to the big black retriever, who was making his third voyage with his master to the Antipodes.
"Always a pleasant smile on his face when you speak to him," said one of the ladies to a friend one day; "but I think he has a rather sad look sometimes, when he is pacing up and down with his hands in his pockets."
"Yes," said the other, with a sentimental air, "I wonder what he is thinking of at those times! I"ll make love to the captain, and see if I can find out something about him, they seem very intimate. We must try and cheer him up, dear."
"He doesn"t seem to want much cheering up now," said her friend, as Cardo pa.s.sed them with two other young men, who were enjoying a story told by one of them, Cardo"s merry laugh being loudest and heartiest of the three. But--there was a sober, wistful look on his face sometimes which was not habitual to it, and as the days slipped on, he might often be seen, leaning over the side of the vessel with an anxious pucker on his forehead.
The parting with Valmai had, of course, been a trying ordeal. With the fervour of a first and pa.s.sionate love, he recalled every word she had spoken, every pa.s.sing shade of thought reflected on her face, and while these reveries occupied his mind, there was a tender look in the deep black eyes and a smile on his lips. But these pleasant memories were apparently often followed by more perplexing thoughts. One afternoon he had been standing for some time lost in a dream, while he looked with eyes that saw nothing over the heaving waters to the distant horizon, when the captain"s voice at his elbow recalled him to his surroundings.
"You are looking at the very point of the wind, the very eye of the storm."
"The storm!" said Cardo, starting; "are we going to have one?"
The captain looked critically in the direction towards which they were sailing.
"Dirty weather coming, I think."
"Yes, I see," said Cardo; "I had not noticed it before, though. How inky black the sky is over there! And the sea as black, and that white streak on the line of the horizon!"
"We shall have a bit of a toss," said the captain. "Couldn"t expect to get to Australia on a mill pond."
"Mill pond do you call the swells we have had the last few days?"
"Almost," replied the captain, leaving him unceremoniously, and shouting some orders to his crew.
Thus left, Cardo fell again into a deep reverie. Yes, it looked black before them! "But I have always wished to see a storm at sea, and if I only had Valmai with me, I should be joyous and exultant; but instead of that, I am alone, and have a strange foreboding of some evil to come. I can"t be well, though I"m sure I don"t know where I ail, for I feel alright, and I eat like a horse."
"Come, Mr. Wynne," said one of the ladies, who had marked his serious looks, "we must really call you to account! You have fallen into a brown study again. You must let us cheer you up. We can"t have the very life of the party losing his spirits. Now if you had left your wife at home, as Mr. Dawson has!"
"I have done that," said Cardo, "but I am not at all likely to fall into low spirits. I have never in my life known what that means; but a man, more especially a married man, must have his moments of serious thought sometimes."
"Yes, of course," said the lady, with a considerable diminution of interest in "the handsome Mr. Wynne!" "You have left your little ones too, I suppose?"
"No," said Cardo, laughing, "I have none."
"Ah, indeed, that"s a pity!" and she took the first opportunity of joining her friend, and telling her of her discovery.
Cardo continued to look out to sea. No, bad enough to leave Valmai, but "little ones"? Would that time ever come? and as he pondered, a fresh idea seemed to strike him. It was evidently a painful one, it stung him like the lash of a whip, and clenching his hands, and muttering something between his teeth, he roused himself hastily, and joined a party of young people, who were amusing themselves with the pranks of a little boy, who, delighted with the notice taken of him, strutted about and gave his orders, in imitation of the captain.
"Oh, here"s Mr. Wynne," said the little urchin, and in a moment he was lifted on to Cardo"s shoulder, whooping with delight, and for the next hour, the laugh was loudest and the fun most furious where Cardo and his little friend were located. Before long, however, the storm was upon them. Masts creaked and cordage rattled; the sails had been lowered, and everything made safe, and Captain Owen, standing on the bridge, looked energetic, and "fit" to fight with the storm-fiend. The ladies soon retired, and many of the gentlemen followed them below, some of the younger and hardier remaining on deck. Amongst them was Cardo, who watched the fury of the elements as the wind tore down upon them. Once, as the captain pa.s.sed him, he asked, "Is there any danger?" "I see none," was the laconic reply. It satisfied Cardo, and he gave himself up to watch the grandeur of the storm. It was natural that the thought of Valmai should enter his mind, and that he should long for her presence; but it was not natural that he, a young and healthy man, in the first flush of his manhood, should feel this strange depression, this dark cloud hanging over him, whenever he thought of his young wife. It was unlike Cardo. If his life had been devoid of any special interest or excitement, it had at least been free from care. Not even his lonely childhood, or his dull, old home had dimmed the brightness and elasticity of his spirits. He had never had a cobweb in his brain, and this haunting shadow which followed every sweet memory of his wife was beginning to rouse his resentment, and while the storm raged around him, and the ship ploughed her way through the seething waters, Cardo Wynne, set himself with manful determination to face the "black dog" which had haunted him lately; and somewhat in this groove ran his thoughts.
"Valmai, sweet Valmai, I have left her; it could not be helped. I will return to her on the wings of love as soon as I have fulfilled my father"s wishes." But a year--had he provided fully and properly for her happiness during that time? Money, amply sufficient, he had left in her uncle"s keeping for her, as she had firmly refused to accept it herself. "I shall not want it; I have plenty for myself. I have twenty gold sovereigns in my little seal purse at home, and I shall receive my next quarter"s allowance soon. No, no, Cardo, no money until we set up house-keeping," and he had acceded to her wishes; but had, unknown to her, left a cheque in her uncle"s keeping. "Why did I claim from her that promise of secrecy? What if circ.u.mstances might arise which would make it impossible for her to keep it?" He knew that having given her promise to him, she would rather die than break it.
He had acted the part of a selfish man, who had no thought, but of his own pa.s.sionate love; the possible consequences to her had not before occurred to his mind. But now, in the stress of the storm, while the thunder rolled above him, and the lightning flashed over the swirling waters, everything seemed clear and plain. He had done wrong, and he would now face the wrong. Their happy meeting at Fordsea, as blissful as it was unexpected, might be followed by times of trouble for Valmai--times when she would desire to make known her marriage; and he had left her with an embargo upon her only means of escape out of a difficulty. Yes, the path was plain, he would write to her and release her from her promise of secrecy. Better by far that his father should be angered than that Valmai should suffer. Yes, it was plain to him now; he had left the woman he loved in the anomalous position of a married woman without a husband. What trying scenes might she not pa.s.s through! What bitter fruits might not their brief happiness bear!