Bitter sobs broke from the proud lips.
"I never knelt to any one before," Beatrice said; "I kneel to you, my sister. No one else can help me. You must see him for me, give him a letter from me, and tell him I am very ill. It is no untruth, Lily. I am ill, my brain burns, and my heart is cold with fear. Will you do this for me?"
"I would rather almost give you my life," said Lillian gently.
"Oh, do not say that, Lily! Do you know what there is at stake? Do you remember papa"s words--that, if ever he found one of us guilty of any deceit, or involved in any clandestine love affair, even if it broke his heart he would send the guilty one from him and never see her again? Think, darling, what it would be for me to leave Earlescourt--to leave all the magnificence I love so dearly, and drag out a weary life at the Elms. Do you think I could brook Lord Earle"s angry scorn and Lady Helena"s pained wonder? Knowing our father as you know him, do you believe he would pardon me?"
"I do not," replied Lily, sadly.
"That is not all," continued Beatrice. "I might bear anger, scorn, and privation, but, Lily, if this miserable secret is discovered, Lord Airlie will cease to love me. He might have forgiven me if I had told him at first; he would not know that I had lied to him and deceived him. I can not lose him--I can not give him up. For our mother"s sake, for my sake, help me, Lily. Do what I have asked!"
"If I do it," said Lillian, "it will give you but a few days" reprieve; it will avail nothing; he will be here again."
"I shall think of some means of escape in a few days," answered Beatrice wistfully. "Something must happen, Lily, fortune could not be so cruel to me; it could not rob me of my love. If I can not free myself, I shall run away. I would rather suffer anything than face Lord Airlie or my father. Say you will help me for my love"s sake! Do not let me lose my love!"
"I will help you," said Lillian; "it is against my better judgment--against my idea of right--but I can not refuse you. I will see the man, and give him your letter. Beatrice, let me persuade you.
You can not free yourself. I see no way--running away is all nonsense--but to tell Lord Earle and your lover; anything would be better than to live as you do, a drawn sword hanging over your heart.
Tell them, and trust to their kindness; at least you will have peace of mind then. They will prevent him from annoying you."
"I can not," she said, and the breath came gasping from her lips.
"Lillian, you do not know what Lord Airlie is to me. I could never meet his anger. If ever you love any one you will understand better.
He is everything to me. I would suffer any sorrow, even death, rather than see his face turned coldly from me."
She loosened her grasp of Lillian"s hands and fell upon the floor, weeping bitterly and pa.s.sionately. Her sister, bending over her, heard the pitiful words--"My love, my love! I can not lose my love!"
The pa.s.sionate weeping ceased, and the proud, sad face grew calm and still.
"You can not tell what I have suffered, Lily," she said, humbly. "See, my pride is all beaten down, only those who have had a secret, eating heart and life away, can tell what I have endured. A few more days of agony like this, and I shall be free forever from Hugh Fernely."
Her sister tried to soothe her with gentle words, but they brought no comfort.
"He will be here at nine," she said; "it is six now. I will write my letter. He will be at the shrubbery gate. I will manage so that you shall have time. Give him the note I will write, speak to him for me, tell him I am ill and can not see him. Shall you be frightened?"
"Yes," replied Lillian, gently; "but that will not matter. I must think of you, not of myself."
"You need not fear him," said Beatrice. "Poor Hugh, I could pity him if I did not hate him. Lily, I will thank you when my agony is over; I can not now."
She wrote but a few words, saying she was ill and unable to see him; he must be satisfied, and willing to wait yet a little longer.
She gave the letter to her sister. Lillian"s heart ached as she noted the trembling hands and quivering lips.
"I have not asked you to keep my secret, Lily," said Beatrice, sorrowfully.
"There is no need," was the simple reply.
Sir Harry and Lady Laurence dined that day at Earlescourt, and it was nearly nine before the gentlemen, who did not sit long over their wine, came into the drawing room. The evening was somewhat chilly; a bright fire burned in the grate, and the lamps were lighted. Sir Harry sat down to his favorite game of chess with Lady Helena; Lord Earle challenged Lady Laurence to a game at ecarte. The young people were left to themselves.
"In twenty years" time," said Lionel to Lillian, "we may seek refuge in cards; at present music and moonlight are preferable, Lily. You never sing to me; come to the piano now."
But she remembered the dreaded hour was drawing near.
"Pray excuse me," she begged; "I will sing for you presently."
He looked surprised; it was the first time she had ever refused him a favor.
"Shall we finish the folio of engravings?" he asked.
Knowing that, when once she was seated by his side, it would be impossible to get away, she again declined; but this time the fair face flushed, and the sweet eyes drooped.
"How guilty you look," he said. "Is there any mystery on hand? Are you tired of me? Or is there to be another important consultation over the wedding dresses?"
"I have something to attend to," she replied, evasively. "Get the folio ready--I shall not be long."
Beatrice, who had listened to the brief dialogue in feverish suspense, now came to the rescue, asking Lionel to give them the benefit of his clear, ringing tenor in a trio of Mendelssohn"s.
"My "clear, ringing tenor" is quite at your service," he said with a smile. "Lily is very unkind to me tonight."
They went to the piano, where Lord Airlie awaited them; and Lillian, looking at her small, jeweled watch--Lord Earle"s present--saw that it wanted three minutes to nine.
She at once quitted the room, un.o.bserved, as she thought; but Lionel saw her go.
No words can tell how distasteful and repugnant was the task she had undertaken. She would have suffered anything almost to have evaded it.
She, who never had a secret; she, whose every word and action were open as the day; she, who shrank from all deceit and untruth as from a deadly plague, to be mixed up with a wretched clandestine love affair like this! She, to steal out of her father"s house at night, to meet a stranger, and plead her sister"s cause with him! The thought horrified her; but the beautiful face in its wild sorrow, the sad voice in its pa.s.sionate anguish, urged her on.
Lillian went hastily to her own room. She took a large black shawl and drew it closely round her, hiding the pretty evening dress and the rich pearls. Then, with the letter in her hand, she went down the staircase that led from her rooms to the garden.
The night was dark; heavy clouds sailed swiftly across the sky, the wind moaned fitfully, bending the tall trees as it were in anger, then whispering round them as though suing for pardon. Lillian had never been out at night alone before, and her first sensation was one of fear. She crossed the gardens where the autumn flowers were fading; the lights shone gayly from the Hall windows; the shrubbery looked dark and mysterious. She was frightened at the silence and darkness, but went bravely on. He was there. By the gate she saw a tall figure wrapped in a traveling cloak; as she crossed the path, he stepped hastily forward, crying with a voice she never forgot:
"Beatrice, at last you have come!"
"It is not Beatrice," she said, shrinking from the outstretched arms.
"I am Lillian Earle. My sister is ill, and has sent you this."
Chapter x.x.xVI
Hugh Fernely took the letter from Lillian"s hands, and read it with a muttered imprecation of disappointment. The moon, which had been struggling for the last hour with a ma.s.s of clouds, shone out faintly; by its light Lillian saw a tall man with a dark, handsome face browned with the sun of warm climes, dark eyes that had in them a wistful sadness, and firm lips. He did not look like the gentlemen she was accustomed to. He was polite and respectful. When he heard her name, he took off his hat, and stood uncovered during the interview.
"Wait!" he cried. "Ah, must I wait yet longer? Tell your sister I have waited until my yearning wish to see her is wearing my life away."
"She is really ill," returned Lillian. "I am alarmed for her. Do not be angry with me if I say she is ill through anxiety and fear."
"Has she sent you to excuse her?" he asked, gloomily. "It is of no use. Your sister is my promised wife, Miss Lillian, and see her I will."
"You must wait at least until she is willing," said Lillian, and her calm, dignified manner influenced him even more than her words, as she looked earnestly into Hugh Fernely"s face.