"What is the matter, Clara? Have you turned conveyancer, and detected some informality?"
"No, dearest Uncle. But I want you to cancel this. I cannot allow you so to rob your children."
I will not say what he called me in his surprise and delight. It seemed to me quite uncalled for; I had only done what my conscience told me was just. But as for accepting my offer--he would not hear of it twice.
"Darling, it would be wrong. It would be downright robbery; and no plea whatever for it, on the score of paternal duty. You are the proper heir, the child of the elder son, the true representative of our ancient family. All the rest is a quibble and quirk, of which, even without your countless benefits, I never intended to take advantage. And my children are, by the mother"s side, of a family older even than ours--so far as that nonsense goes--and are heirs to wealth compared to which--if it only be rightly worked--these Vaughan estates are nothing. All I ask you is to do a thing which I am sure you would do without asking--to a.s.sist them, if what I have left them is spent before they prove their claims. Here is a letter to Count Gaffori; that excellent man is still alive; and here are the certificates, and my own brief deposition, which I have begged a neighbouring magistrate to come to-day and attest; here is my Lily"s Spalla, and perhaps other relics are in my son"s possession. Lastly, here are two more letters, one to my old friend Peter Green, who has now much influence in that part of Corsica, the other to James McGregor, once my messmate at Lincoln"s Inn, now an acute and rising Counsel, and a leading authority upon munic.i.p.al law. Take all these, my darling, if you will so far oblige me; for I fear my lovely daughter--isn"t she lovely, Clara?"
"The loveliest girl in all the world; and what is far more important, the sweetest, and the best."
"Yes, if you had searched the kingdom, you could not have brought me such another love. But ah! you should have seen her mother! However, I fear the sweet pet is a little careless and random, as her father used to be. At any rate, I prefer entrusting this great budget to your brave and honest hands; at least until my son comes here to claim it. The deposition you shall have, when attested."
"But, Uncle, surely you had better keep it all yourself. No fear of Mrs. Daldy now."
"No, my darling; but these things must not be buried with me."
There was something in his eyes which made me start with terror. But he smiled so sweetly that my terror fled.
"And now, my child, about yourself. Though you have found me another daughter, I look upon you as the eldest; and I venture to speak to you, as a father would. Is it as my Lily tells me? Is it true--G.o.d grant it may be--that you love my son, my Lily"s son, Henry Conrad? Why don"t you answer me, darling? Tell the truth like a real Vaughan. Surely you are not ashamed of him." And he laid his hand on my head. My tears fell fast; and my heart was in a tempest.
"Yes, Uncle," at last I answered, frightened for his suspense, and looking him full in the face, "Yes, Uncle, I do--I mean at least I did--love him very much at one time."
"With all your heart, as we Vaughans love; with all your heart, poor darling?"
"Yes, Uncle," I sobbed, in bitter humiliation; "none of my heart is left me."
"Thank G.o.d! what blest news for his mother! My Harry is the happiest fellow alive."
"But, Uncle, he does not think so, he--he--doesn"t perceive his blessedness." A flash of my old self-irony came even through my anguish.
"Oh, I have heard all that. But surely you know the absurd mistake he made."
"Indeed, I cannot guess it. Is it my place to do that?"
"Of course it is; when you are in the light, and he is all in the dark.
Whom did that kidnapper believe himself to have murdered?"
"You, Uncle, of course."
"And whose child then does he suppose you to be; if he heard of your existence, as he is sure to have done?"
"Merciful G.o.d, I see it all! And how bitterly I have wronged him, my own n.o.ble Conrad!"
My poor weak Uncle had to manage me, all by himself, in my terrible hysterics. Frightened as he was, for he never before had to deal in that way with a nature resembling mine, he would not even ring for help, lest I should betray my secret to other ears than his own. When at last I came to myself, he kissed me tenderly, and said:
"My poor dear child, remember--when you may be glad to think of it--that whether I see my n.o.ble boy or not, I shall die now in perfect happiness.
n.o.ble he must be, or Clara could not love him. It would have been the pet scheme of my heart, if I could have had a voice in it. And here it is done without me! How often have I longed and yearned that he could only see you, as you waited day and night by my pestilential bed, that he could only know the tale of your troubles and devotion. At my death, the generation so visited from heaven expires; and you three darlings start anew, with all things in your favour. Now mind that the good old Signor"s directions are complied with, and that Harry, if he lives here, abandons the Corsican property to his sister Lily. Promise me this, my Clara."
"Of course I will, dear Uncle--I mean, so far as my influence goes. And he will then be bound to do so under the deed-poll, if I understood you aright. But perhaps he has quite forgotten me now."
"Of course he thinks himself bound to avoid you. But I have written to set him right, and to bring him as soon as possible. And now about--about that horrible--"
"Ah, yes. If I had the right, I would even let him go. My feeling has changed from fierce hatred to utter contempt. And surely his vengeance is satisfied now."
"No, Clara. It will flame more wildly than ever the moment he learns his mistake, and my final triumph over him. Has he any idea where our Lily is?"
"As yet, he can have none. If old Cora went to Albert Street last evening, she would learn nothing from Mrs. Shelfer, I took care of that, except that Lily had been there, and was gone again. The old woman does not speak English enough to attempt to cross-examine. She loves poor Lily, I know, but will be satisfied with the belief that the child had gone to her brother"s. And as for that monster, even if he relents, he will be too proud to inquire."
"What had my poor child done, that the brute turned her out, and struck her?"
"Nothing, I believe, beyond defending her brother Conrad, as she always did. I suppose I may call him "Conrad," Uncle?"
"Yes, my dear, it is his true name, chosen by his mother. Where are you going so hastily?"
"To London at once. For your sake, Uncle dear, I must not think of sparing him. I must have him in custody to-night. I would have avoided it, if I could for a thousand reasons; but there is no alternative."
"Yes there is. In two days I shall be beyond his reach. Don"t ask me what I mean. To-day is Thursday. Promise only to let him go free till Sat.u.r.day."
"I will. But I must go to London. I cannot rest quiet here."
My Uncle"s face brightened beautifully. And he took my hand in his.
"I know what you mean, my darling. You intend to discover my Harry, for fear of any mishap. I will let you go, dear; though the house seems empty without you, its truthful and graceful mistress. But you must not go alone. It is not right for a beautiful girl, however self-possessed and dignified, especially one of your station, to rove about unattended."
"Only one man ever insulted me, Uncle, I mean in a serious way, and he never did it again."
"It does not matter. The example is bad, and all men are not gentlemen.
Mrs. Fletcher shall go with you, and our pretty Lily keep house. But I have an especial reason, and a most powerful one, for wishing that you should be here. Don"t go till to-morrow, my darling; I am so well to-day, and I must see you once at your own table, with my daughter and me for your guests."
"Oh, Uncle, I hope so a thousand times. I will stop till the morning, if you have set your heart upon it."
"I have indeed. You may go in the morning by the first train, and be back to-morrow night. Will you promise?"
Though I could not understand his motive, and he was pleased to conceal it, I promised all he asked. Then I told him all the story of Conrad and the accident, how he saved my mother"s life and mine, with the courage and skill of a true-born mountaineer. My Uncle was moved to tears, not only at the gallantry of his son, but also by the joy of discovering that all the obligations lay not upon one side. I also wept at finding that Lily had never heard of it. Conrad"s lofty nature scorned to narrate its own achievements. When, after that adventure, he discovered who we were, he avoided us because he believed that his father had slain mine. It was not till a later date, when he became of age--as the Corsicans reckon manhood[#]--that Lepardo Della Croce told him all he knew of his history, dwelt on the foul shame wrought to the Della Croce by his bigamist father, and tried in vain to force on him the awful oath of Vendetta. The youth had too much English blood in his heart to accept the black inheritance. Thenceforth he could not bear the sight of the man who had killed, as they both supposed, his father, although, in his wrath for his mother"s wrongs and his own, he would not resent the deed. What marvel then that he spurned me, and was maddened with himself, at finding that he, the illegitimate, was in love with me, his legitimate sister? But now, we are only half-cousins, and nature has never misled us.
[#] _i.e._ the age of twenty.
All that evening, my Uncle was in the most glorious spirits, and I am not sure that Lily and I were very far behind him. He played us all sorts of boyish tricks, and we made reprisals with girlish ones, till Lily"s joyous laughter rang halfway clown the corridor. I had dressed her with especial care, and she did look such a love! But it was all too sudden, and far too sweet to last. My Uncle indeed seemed quite beside himself, more gladsome than nature allows us to be with impunity. Then the vein dried all of a sudden, and the mind flowed the opposite way.
He made his beautiful daughter, who, though not much of a sophist, had a soul that thrilled to music, he made her play the soft Corsican airs, that seem to weep as they breathe, and which she had learned from old Cora. He knew them all; how well he knew them, his face turned from the light betrayed. The depth of melodious sadness, the touch of some nervine chord, which knew not its own existence, and starts to be known and appreciated, as might an unconscious poet, and more than all the trembling spread of the feelers of the heart, these are the proofs of nature"s presence in music or in poetry.
Then he begged me to play some of the sweet and simple melodies of Wales. These he declared, and I had already perceived it, these were born of the self-same spirit, though not so highly intensified, as the Corsican romances.
Finally, he told us many a moving tale of his Lily; tales a man is loth to tell to those with whom he expects to live. How she was loved, and how she seemed to love everybody, and pretty answers she made to those who praised her beauty, and more than words or kisses, the loving things she did, the elegance of self-denial, and the innocence of merit.
That night, that memorable night, we stayed up more than two hours over his proper time for going to bed. He seemed so sad to part, that I could not bear to hurry him. One thing he told me which I was glad to hear.
"Clara, darling, I have taken a liberty with your house. This afternoon, I wrote by the London post, for Annie Franks to come back again to-morrow, if she will, as an especial favour to me."