She kissed him; her nerves were agitated by strong mental excitement.
He attributed it to her recent attack of illness, but could not help asking, while he caressed her:
"What"s that? Despise you?"
It may have been that Caroline felt then, that to speak of something was to forfeit something. A light glimmered across the dewy blue of her beautiful eyes. Desire to breathe it to him, and have his loving aid: the fear of forfeiting it, evil as it was to her, and at the bottom of all, that doubt we choose to encourage of the harm in a pleasant sin unaccomplished; these might be read in the rich dim gleam that swept like sunlight over sea-water between breaks of clouds.
"Dear Van! do you love her so much?"
Caroline knew too well that she was shutting her own theme with iron clasps when she once touched on Evan"s.
Love her? Love Rose? It became an endless carol with Evan. Caroline sighed for him from her heart.
"You know--you understand me; don"t you?" he said, after a breathless excursion of his fancy.
"I believe you love her, dear. I think I have never loved any one but my one brother."
His love for Rose he could pour out to Caroline; when it came to Rose"s love for him his blood thickened, and his tongue felt guilty. He must speak to her, he said,--tell her all.
"Yes, tell her all," echoed Caroline. "Do, do tell her. Trust a woman utterly if she loves you, dear. Go to her instantly."
"Could you bear it?" said Evan. He began to think it was for the sake of his sisters that he had hesitated.
"Bear it? bear anything rather than perpetual imposture. What have I not borne? Tell her, and then, if she is cold to you, let us go. Let us go.
I shall be glad to. Ah, Van! I love you so." Caroline"s voice deepened.
"I love you so, my dear. You won"t let your new love drive me out? Shall you always love me?"
Of that she might be sure, whatever happened.
"Should you love me, Van, if evil befel me?"
Thrice as well, he swore to her.
"But if I--if I, Van Oh! my life is intolerable! Supposing I should ever disgrace you in any way, and not turn out all you fancied me. I am very weak and unhappy."
Evan kissed her confidently, with a warm smile. He said a few words of the great faith he had in her: words that were bitter comfort to Caroline. This brother, who might save her, to him she dared not speak.
Did she wish to be saved? She only knew that to wound Evan"s sense of honour and the high and chivalrous veneration for her s.e.x and pride in himself and those of his blood, would be wicked and unpardonable, and that no earthly pleasure could drown it. Thinking this, with her hands joined in pale dejection, Caroline sat silent, and Evan left her to lay bare his heart to Rose. On his way to find Rose he was stopped by the announcement of the arrival of Mr. Raikes, who thrust a bundle of notes into his hand, and after speaking loudly of "his curricle," retired on important business, as he said, with a mysterious air. "I "m beaten in many things, but not in the article Luck," he remarked; "you will hear of me, though hardly as a tutor in this academy."
Scanning the bundle of notes, without a reflection beyond the thought that money was in his hand; and wondering at the apparition of the curricle, Evan was joined by Harry Jocelyn, and Harry linked his arm in Evan"s and plunged with extraordinary spontaneity and candour into the state of his money affairs. What the deuce he was to do for money he did not know. From the impressive manner in which he put it, it appeared to be one of Nature"s great problems that the whole human race were bound to set their heads together to solve. A hundred pounds--Harry wanted no more, and he could not get it. His uncles? they were as poor as rats; and all the spare money they could club was going for Mel"s Election expenses. A hundred and fifty was what Harry really wanted; but he could do with a hundred. Ferdinand, who had plenty, would not even lend him fifty. Ferdinand had dared to hint at a debt already unsettled, and he called himself a gentleman!
"You wouldn"t speak of money-matters now, would you, Harrington?"
"I dislike the subject, I confess," said Evan.
"And so do I" Harry jumped at the perfect similarity between them. "You can"t think how it bothers one to have to talk about it. You and I are tremendously alike."
Evan might naturally suppose that a subject Harry detested, he would not continue, but for a whole hour Harry turned it over and over with grim glances at Jewry.
"You see," he wound up, "I"m in a fix. I want to help that poor girl, and one or two things--"
"It "s for that you want it?" cried Evan, brightening to him. "Accept it from me."
It is a thing familiar to the experience of money-borrowers, that your "last chance" is the man who is to accommodate you; but we are always astonished, nevertheless; and Harry was, when notes to the amount of the largest sum named by him were placed in his hand by one whom he looked upon as the last to lend.
"What a trump you are, Harrington!" was all he could say; and then he was for hurrying Evan into the house, to find pen and paper, and write down a memorandum of the loan: but Evan insisted upon sparing him the trouble, though Harry, with the admirable scruples of an inveterate borrower, begged hard to be allowed to bind himself legally to repay the money.
""Pon my soul, Harrington, you make me remember I once doubted whether you were one of us--rather your own fault, you know!" said Harry. "Bury that, won"t you?"
""Till your doubts recur," Evan observed; and Harry burst out, "Gad, if you weren"t such a melancholy beggar, you"d be the jolliest fellow I know! There, go after Rosey. Dashed if I don"t think you"re ahead of Ferdinand, long chalks. Your style does for girls. I like women."
With a chuckle and a wink, Harry swung-off. Evan had now to reflect that he had just thrown away part of the price of his bondage to Tailordom; the mention of Rose filled his mind. Where was she? Both were seeking one another. Rose was in the cypress walk. He saw the star-like figure up the length of it, between the swelling tall dark pillars, and was hurrying to her, resolute not to let one minute of deception blacken further the soul that loved so true a soul. She saw him, and stood smiling, when the Countess issued, shadow-like, from a side path, and declared that she must claim her brother for a few instants. Would her sweet Rose pardon her? Rose bowed coolly. The hearts of the lovers were chilled, not that they perceived any malice in the Countess, but their keen instincts felt an evil fate.
The Countess had but to tell Evan that she had met the insolvent in apples, and recognized him under his change of fortune, and had no doubt that at least he would amuse the company. Then she asked her brother the superfluous question, whether he loved her, which Evan answered satisfactorily enough, as he thought; but practical ladies require proofs.
"Quick," said Evan, seeing Rose vanish, "what do you want? I"ll do anything."
"Anything? Ah, but this will be disagreeable to you."
"Name it at once. I promise beforehand."
The Countess wanted Evan to ask Andrew to be the very best brother-in-law in the world, and win, unknown to himself, her cheerful thanks, by lending Evan to lend to her the sum of one hundred pounds, as she was in absolute distress for money.
"Really, Louisa, this is a thing you might ask him yourself," Evan remonstrated.
"It would not become me to do so, dear," said the Countess, demurely; and inasmuch as she had already drawn on Andrew in her own person pretty largely, her views of propriety were correct in this instance.
Evan had to consent before he could be released. He ran to the end of the walk through the portal, into the park. Rose was not to be seen. She had gone in to dress for dinner. The opportunity might recur, but would his courage come with it? His courage had sunk on a sudden; or it may have been that it was worst for this young man to ask for a loan of money, than to tell his beloved that he was basely born, vile, and unworthy, and had snared her into loving him; for when he and Andrew were together, money was not alluded to. Andrew, however, betrayed remarkable discomposure. He said plainly that he wanted to leave Beckley Court, and wondered why he didn"t leave, and whether he was on his head or his feet, and how he had been such a fool as to come.
"Do you mean that for me?" said sensitive Evan.
"Oh, you! You"re a young buck," returned Andrew, evasively. "We common-place business men-we "re out of our element; and there"s poor Carry can"t sit down to their dinners without an upset. I thank G.o.d I"m a Radical, Van; one man"s the same as another to me, how he"s born, as long as he"s honest and agreeable. But a chap like that George Uplift to look down on anybody! "Gad, I"ve a good mind to bring in a Bill for the Abolition of the Squirearchy."
Ultimately, Andrew somehow contrived to stick a hint or two about the terrible dinner in Evan"s quivering flesh. He did it as delicately as possible, half begging pardon, and perspiring profusely. Evan grasped his hand, and thanked him. Caroline"s illness was now explained to him.
"I"ll take Caroline with me to-morrow," he said. "Louisa wishes to stay--there "s a pic-nic. Will you look to her, and bring her with you?"
"My dear Van," replied Andrew, "stop with Louisa? Now, in confidence, it"s as bad as a couple of wives; no disrespect to my excellent good Harry at home; but Louisa--I don"t know how it is--but Louisa, you lose your head, you"re in a whirl, you"re an automaton, a teetotum! I haven"t a notion of what I"ve been doing or saying since I came here. My belief is, I "ve been lying right and left. I shall be found out to a certainty: Oh! if she"s made her mind up for the pic-nic, somebody must stop. I can only tell you, Van, it"s one perpetual vapour-bath to me.
There "ll be room for two in my trousers when I get back. I shall have to get the tailor to take them in a full half."
Here occurred an opening for one of those acrid pleasantries which console us when there is horrid warfare within.
"You must give me the work," said Evan, partly pleased with his hated self for being able to jest on the subject, as a piece of preliminary self-conquest.
"Aha!" went Andrew, as if the joke were too good to be dwelt on; "Hem"; and by way of diverting from it cleverly and naturally, he remarked that the weather was fine. This made Evan allude to his letter written from Lymport, upon which Andrew said: "tush! pish! humbug! nonsense! won"t hear a word. Don"t know anything about it. Van, you"re going to be a brewer. I say you are. You"re afraid you can"t? I tell you, sir, I"ve got a bet on it. You"re not going to make me lose, are you--eh? I have, and a stiff bet, too. You must and shall, so there"s an end. Only we can"t make arrangements just yet, my boy. Old Tom--very good old fellow--but, you know--must get old Tom out of the way, first. Now go and dress for dinner. And Lord preserve us from the Great Mel to-day!"
Andrew mumbled as he turned away.
Evan could not reach his chamber without being waylaid by the Countess.
Had he remembered the sister who sacrificed so much for him? "There, there!" cried Evan, and her hand closed on the delicious golden whispers of bank-notes. And, "Oh, generous Andrew! dear good Evan!" were the exclamations of the gratified lady.