"Go away?" she cried, in the liveliest dismay. "You cannot do so, when the Stavelys are coming purposely to see you! It would be beyond anything!"
"It could be accounted for. I could be taken ill in Vienna, or suffer a serious accident-something very bad! No one would think it odd of Evelyn to go to me immediately!"
"Well, of all the hare-brained notions! Next you will say that no one would think it odd of me to remain in England under such circ.u.mstances!"
"Come with me!" he invited, pure mischief in his face.
It was reflected in hers. "Oh, how amusing it would be!" she said involuntarily. Then she shook her head. "No, we couldn"t do it, Kit. Only think what a hobble we should all be in when Evelyn came back! He wouldn"t know what had become of me, and he would be bound to search for me all over. That would fling the cat amongst the pigeons!
Dearest, there is nothing for it but to make the best of it. And I must tell you that I have already done so-the best I could, at all events."
"It won"t do, Mama, Cressy and I should be thrown together in a way that must inevitably lead to a degree of intimacy which on all counts is to be avoided. Good G.o.d, that"s why I left London-so that she should not become better acquainted with me!"
"Yes, and I perfectly understand how vexatious it is for you to be obliged to remain strictly upon your guard. But it won"t be as bad as you antic.i.p.ate! By the most amazing stroke of fortune I found Cosmo waiting for me in Hill Street when I returned from visiting Lady Stavely!"
"Cosmo?" he repeated blankly.
"Yes, Kit: Cosmo! " replied her ladyship, in a tone of determined patience. "My brother Cosmo-your uncle Cosmo! Dearest, must you stand like a stock? You cannot have forgotten him!"
"No, of course I haven"t forgotten him! But why you should think it a stroke of fortune to have found him in Hill Street is a matter quite beyond my comprehension!"
"Now, that," said his mama triumphantly, "shows that you are much more shatterbrained than I am! Because Cosmo is the very thing we need! And Emma, too, of course. My dear, he must have been sent by providence-which is a thing that frequently happens, I find, when one is in flat despair: like my recalling in the very nick of time, when I thought myself wholly ruined, that I might very well apply to Edgbaston for a loan. Naturally, when I was being driven home from Mount Street, I was racking my brain to think how, at this season, to a.s.semble a party here, which I perceived was most necessary on your account, Kit: to save you from being thrown entirely into Cressy"s company. I couldn"t hit on anyone, except, of course, poor Bonamy, because even if there had been more time at my disposal-and one can"t invite people all in a quack, you know, unless they are relations, or very close friends-no one wants to be in the country during the summer! Unless one is the sort of person who wishes to go on a tour, to observe mountains, and gorges, and the beauties of nature, which is the most exhausting and uncomfortable thing imaginable, I do a.s.sure you Kit! I cannot describe to you the miseries I endured when your father made me accompany him to Scotland once. I dare say it was all very fine, but when one has been jolted over abominable roads, and forced to put up at the most primitive inns, besides having to walk for miles and miles, one is in no case to admire scenery."
"Do I understand, Mama," said Kit, in a failing voice, "that you have invited Cosmo, and my aunt, to come and stay at Ravenhurst?"
"To be sure I have!" she replied, with a brilliant smile. "And it was exactly what he hoped I should do! At least, I fancy he meant to wheedle me into inviting him to visit us in Brighton, but you know what a nip-cheese he is, Kit! if he can but contrive to live at rack and manger somewhere he is content! In general, he goes to Baverstock in the summer, but it seems that he cannot do so this year, because your Aunt Baverstock won"t have him. I must say, one can"t blame her for not wanting him and poor Emma to be running tame about the house for weeks on end, however detestable one may think her. I have always avoided inviting them myself, though not as rudely as Amelia. But in this instance they are the very persons we need! Only consider, dearest! We scarcely ever see them, so they won"t know you from Evelyn; and they play whist! For chicken-stakes, too, which will exactly suit Lady Stavely. So I told Cosmo he might come-I mean, I invited him and Emma to come, and I said that we should be delighted to welcome Ambrose as well. He may serve to entertain Cressy, perhaps."
"I"ve nothing to say against having my uncle and aunt to stay: in fact, it"s a good notion, love; but the last time I saw my cousin Ambrose he was the most odious little bounce I ever met in my life!" said Kit, entering a most ungrateful caveat.
"Yes, wasn"t he?" agreed her ladyship, quite unruffled. "But he was only a schoolboy then, after all! I dare say he may have improved. In any event, we are obliged to have him as well, because Cosmo says he means to keep him under his eye during the whole of the Long Vacation, poor boy, and not give him another groat to spend until he goes up to Oxford again in October, on account of his having run monstrously into debt.
Or so Cosmo says, but I dare say it is no such thing, and he owes no more than a few hundreds. But what with that, and his having been rusticated last term, it does sound as if he must have improved, doesn"t it? I don"t know why he was rusticated-Cosmo primmed up his mouth when I asked him, so I collect there had been petticoat dealings-but I do know that you and Evelyn were, at the end of one Hilary term, and even your papa only thought it a very good joke!"
Mr Fancot, regarding her with a fascinated eye, drew an audible breath. "No, Mama, I do not think it sounds as if he must have improved! On the contrary, it sounds as if he were growing to be a pretty loose fish! And let me inform you, love, that when Evelyn and I were sent down for the rest of the term, it was not because of petticoat dealings!
Merely one of our hoaxes-as a matter of fact, the best rig we ever ran!"
"Well, never mind, dear one!" she said placably. "No doubt it is just as you say! I merely thought that if he is got into debt he does at least sound as if he were more of a Cliffe than Cosmo, who is such a scratch that one can"t help but wonder whether he is not a changeling! It doesn"t signify: indeed, we must hope that Ambrose hasn"t improved too much, because it would never do if Cressy were to develop a tendre for him. You do perceive that things won"t be so very bad, don"t you?"
"To be sure!" he responded, with suspicious alacrity. "You have behaved in the nackiest way, Mama, so that all we have to do now is to hope that Lady Stavely will find my uncle and aunt so intolerably boring that she will rapidly bring her visit to a close."
She rose, and picked up her hat from the table. Brushing Kit"s chin with its plumes, she retorted: "On the contrary, there is a great deal more to be done-though I know very well you won"t concern yourself with the preparations that must be made, horrid creature that you are! And though I dare say Lady Stavely will think Cosmo and Emma dead bores, she will be pleased to see Bonamy, don"t you agree? She has been acquainted with him for ever, and he is a very fine whist-player!"
Kit gasped. "Good G.o.d, I thought that was nothing but a bubble! You don"t mean to tell me you"ve really persuaded Ripple to leave Brighton to come into the country, which he dislikes quite as much as you do, and play chicken-whist with a griffin like Lady Stavely?"
She lifted a saucy eyebrow at him. "What makes you suppose there was any need of persuasion, Master Rudesby?"
"I beg your pardon, Mama! But this is devotion indeed!"
She chuckled. "Yes, but the truth is that he is excessively good-natured, besides having been in the habit for years and years of thinking he loves me better even than his dinner. He doesn"t, of course, but I never let him suspect that I know it. Which reminds me that I must take care to see that his favourite dishes are set before him. Yes, and to speak to the cook about sending to Brighton every day to procure fresh fish. Then, since we are at Ravenhurst, I think we must hold a Public Day, which we didn"t last year, because of being in mourning for Papa. Oh, dear, what a vast quant.i.ty of things "must be attended to! I shouldn"t wonder at it if I were prostrate by the time our guests arrive!"
For the following few days the household was certainly plunged into a vortex of activity, but my lady"s part in all the preparations was confined to issuing a great many contradictory orders, forming and abandoning several ineligible plans for the entertainment of her guests, and sending the under-servants on errands which were afterwards discovered to have been unnecessary. Tempers became frayed, but no one bore my lady the least ill-will, so charmingly did she give her orders, and so prettily did she thank anyone who performed a service for her. Instead,-and until Kit put his foot down, sternly informing the senior members of the staff that he wished to hear no more complaints from any of them-the London servants and the resident-servants blamed each other for every mistake or hitch that occurred; and a state of guerrilla warfare raged in the Room and in the Hall. The only two people to remain unaffected were Miss Rimpton, who held herself loftily aloof from any matter which did not immediately concern the care of my lady"s wardrobe and her exquisite person; and the cook, who listened with the greatest civility to his mistress"s orders and reminders, and continued to rule his kingdom exactly as he thought fit.
During this mercifully brief period of stress Kit was afforded a closer view of his parent"s extravagance than had ever before been granted him. Before her arrival he had been surprised to discover that the smart new barouche which he encountered in the avenue was one of her latest acquisitions. It was drawn by a pair of good-looking bays; and the coachman, drawing up, and touching his hat, told him that he was just bringing them in after their daily exercise. Kit, mentally a.s.sessing the turn-out at 300, or more, was startled, for not only did he know that Lady Denville owned another, and even smarter, barouche, in which she was driven about London, but also that there were several carriages in the coach-house at Ravenhurst, one of which was a comfortable landaulet. It was later explained to him, by Challow, that since landaulets were now considered to be dowdy it was not to be expected that my lady would ride in one, even when staying in the country. Upon Kit"s venturing to suggest to his mama that it was really a trifle wasteful to have purchased a second expensive carriage and pair merely for her use during her short and infrequent visits to Ravenhurst, she a.s.sured him that he was quite mistaken; and proved, to her own satisfaction, if not to his, that it was by far more economical to keep a second barouche and pair (with her own second coachman) at Ravenhurst, than to go to the trouble and expense of bringing her town equipage down to Suss.e.x.
Since she had been a.s.sailed before leaving Hill Street by one of her fortunately rare fits of housewifely fervour, Mrs Norton, and Mr Dawlish, my lady"s extremely competent cook, were astonished, and considerably affronted, by the arrival of the carrier, who disgorged from his ponderous wagon a staggering number of cases, which were found to contain, amongst other household necessities, forty-eight pounds of wax lights, and two casks of Genuine Spermaceti Oil, from the firm of Barret, of St James"s, Hay-market; two Westphalian hams; several pounds of Hyson tea, Superfine Vanilla, and Treble-refined Sugar, from Peter Le Moine, at the sign of the Green Canister, in King Street; a large quant.i.ty of wafers, from Gunter"s; and half-a-dozen strange but obviously costly pieces of furniture, presently identified by her ladyship as flower-stands, which she had happened to catch sight of on one of her shopping expeditions, and had instantly recognized as being Just the Thing for Ravenhurst. She explained the purchase of the candles and the groceries to Kit on very reasonable grounds: how could she have been sure that Mrs Norton, who had been for so short a period housekeeper at Ravenhurst, had laid in a sufficient store of these commodities? Furthermore, she had been reared in the belief that true economy lay in buying the best, and as it was her ineradicable conviction that the best could only be obtained in London, or in Paris, the merest common sense had prompted her to make good possible deficiencies in Mrs Norton"s cupboards and stillroom. But since Mrs Norton prided herself on her competence and foresight her sensibilities were seriously ruffled, until Lady Denville explained, with her most engaging smile, that she had ordered all these groceries only because she knew how vexatious it was to be obliged to provide for guests at a moment"s notice, and had been determined to spare her housekeeper as much trouble as she could. Mr Dawlish, far better acquainted with his mistress, received her excuses with a polite bow, but said that he preferred to make his own wafers-though the ones sent by Gunter would serve very well for the Public Day-and that if her ladyship would be so obliging as to furnish him with the name and direction of the firm from which she had ordered a turtle he would write immediately to cancel the order, having already made his own arrangements for the delivery of a fine turtle at Ravenhurst.
Further, that he had personally selected, and brought from London with him, one York and one Westphalian ham, which he ventured to think would meet all requirements.
"Only, what does her ladyship wish me to do with all that Spermaceti Oil, my lord?"
asked the hara.s.sed Mrs Norton. "There"s not an oil-lamp in the house, barring the one that hangs in the kitchen, and Common Oil is what we burn in that, not Spermaceti, at seven shillings and sixpence the gallon!"
Having dealt as well as he could with this and other vexed questions, Mr Fancot was faced with the task of convincing his parent that to send one of the grooms to Hill Street for the purpose of obtaining from Mrs Dinting, or from Brigg, the hundreds of invitation cards she had forgotten to bring with her to Ravenhurst, and which would be discovered in the second drawer of her desk-or, failing that cache, in one of five other hiding-places-would be very much more costly than to order new ones from a Brighton stationer. He succeeded, but not without difficulty, Lady Denville being a little hurt by his failure to recognize her effort towards economy. It remained only for him to drop a tactful hint in the ear of the steward, to the effect that the scrawled directions received from my lady"s bedchamber, while, banked up by lace-edged pillows, she consumed a light breakfast, should be brought to him before being carried out; and to approve the various bills of fare laid before him by Mr Dawlish. That artist, quick to perceive that my lord-doubtless because he contemplated marriage-had reformed his careless habits, lost no time in turning this improvement to good account. No one was more devoted to her ladyship; no one knew better what dishes to set before her to tempt her capricious appet.i.te; no one was more willing to work himself to death in her interests; but (as he informed Mrs Norton, in a moment of condescension) when it came to planning a series of handsome dinners he preferred to lay his proposals before my lord, who, far from turning them topsy-turvy, and demanding game birds that were not in season in place of as tender a pair of turkey poults as anyone could wish for, could be trusted to cast no more than a cursory glance over the bills of fare before signifying his approval of them. However, said Mr Dawlish indulgently, there was no call for Mrs Norton to get into the fidgets: when she had been acquainted with my lady for as long as he had she would know that her starts never lasted above a day or two.
So, indeed, it proved. By the time the first guests arrived on Tuesday my lady was herself again, her final activity having been to drift through the flower-gardens, holding up a parasol to protect her complexion from the sun, and pointing out to the head gardener the blooms she wished to see in her six new containers. The effect was all that she had been sure it would be, for the gardener was expert in flower-arrangement; and since she watched him at work, several times choosing, and handing to him, a spray from the basket held by one of his satellites, and proffering a number of suggestions, she was convinced, by the end of the morning, that she had filled all the containers herself, with only a little a.s.sistance from him.
The first arrivals were the Hon. Cosmo and Mrs Cliffe, and Mr Ambrose Cliffe, their sole surviving offspring. They came in a somewhat antiquated travelling chariot, drawn by one pair of horses: a circ.u.mstance which caused my lady to exclaim: "Good G.o.d, Cosmo, did you hire that shocking coach, or is it your own? I wonder you will be seen in such a Gothic affair!"
Mr Cliffe, who was a tall, spare man, some few years older than his sister, replied, as he dutifully kissed her cheek, that post-charges were too heavy for his modest purse.
"We are not all of us as fortunately circ.u.mstanced as you, my dear Amabel," he said.
"Nonsense!" responded her ladyship. "I dare say your purse is fatter than mine, for you never spend a groat out of the way. It is quite abominable of you to have brought poor Emma here, jumbling and jolting in a horrid old coach which strongly reminds me of the one Grandpapa had, and which always made Grandmama sea-sick! Dear Emma, how much I pity you, and how glad I am to see you-though not looking as stout as one would wish! I shall take you up to your bedchamber immediately, and see you laid down to rest before dinner."
Mrs Cliffe, a flaccid woman, with weak blue eyes, and a sickly complexion, responded, with an indeterminate smile, and in a curiously flat voice, that she was pretty well, except for a slight headache.
"I shouldn"t wonder at it if every inch of you ached!" said her ladyship, shepherding her into the house.
"Oh, no, indeed! If only Ambrose may not have caught cold!"
"My dear Emma, how could he possibly have done so on such a day as this?"
"His const.i.tution is so delicate," sighed Mrs Cliffe. "He was sitting forward, too, and I am persuaded there was a draught. Perhaps if he were to swallow a few drops of camphor-I have some in my dressing-case-"
"If I were you I wouldn"t encourage him to quack himself!" said Lady Denville frankly.
"No, dear, but your sons are so remarkably healthy, are they not?" said Mrs Cliffe, looking at her with faint compa.s.sion.
But as her ladyship was not one of those mothers who considered that delicacy of const.i.tution conferred an interesting distinction on her children, the compa.s.sion was wasted. She said blithely: "Yes, thank goodness! They never ail, though they did have the measles, and the whooping-cough, when they were small. They may have had chicken-pox too, but I can"t remember it."
Mrs Cliffe admired her lovely sister-in-law, but she could not help feeling that she must be a very heartless parent to have forgotten such an event in the lives of her sons.
Perhaps Cosmo was right, when he said that Amabel cared for nothing but fashionable frivolities. But when Lady Denville presently left her, comfortably reposing on a day-bed, with a shawl cast lightly over her feet, a handkerchief soaked with her ladyship"s very expensive eau-de-cologne in her hand, and the blinds drawn to shut out the sunshine, she decided that no one so kind and so attentive could be heartless, however fashionable she might be.
Meanwhile, Kit had led his uncle and his cousin into one of the saloons on the ground floor where various liquid refreshments of a fortifying nature awaited them.
Although an engrained parsimony prompted Cosmo to stock his own cellar with indifferent wine, his palate was not so vitiated that he did not know good wine from bad.
After a sniff, and an appreciative sip, his expression became almost benign, and he said, with a nod at Kit: " Ah! "
"A very tolerable sherry, coz!" said Ambrose, not to be outdone.
"Much you know about it!" said his father scornfully. "Sherry, indeed! This is some of the Mountain-Malaga your uncle laid down-let me see!-ay, it must be thirteen or fourteen years ago! It wants another year or two yet, Denville, to be at its prime, for the longer the Spanish Mountain wines are allowed to mature the better they become. But it is very potable! Alas, what is now being sold as Malaga is a travesty of the Mountain wines I drank in my youth!" He took another sip, and favoured his nephew with a smile.
"I collect, my dear boy, that I shall shortly be called upon to offer you my felicitations.
Very right! very proper! I live out of the world nowadays, but I understand that Miss Stavely is an unexceptionable female: I look forward to making her acquaintance. Your dear mother tells me that the match has Brumby"s approval, so I must suppose that Miss Stavely"s portion is handsome?"
"I regret, sir, that I can give you no information on that point, since I have no ideas what her portion may be," said Kit, regarding him with disfavour.
Cosmo looked shocked, but said, after a moment"s reflection: "But it is not to be supposed that your uncle Brumby would favour the match if it were not so! To be sure, you were born to all the comfort of a handsome fortune, Denville, but it must cost a great deal of money-a very great deal of money!-to maintain an establishment such as this, and the house in London, to say nothing of the little place you own in Leicestershire. Then, too, your father, I dare say, made suitable provision for your brother, and that must mean a considerable diminution of your income."
"As though Denville wasn"t full of juice!" muttered young Mr Cliffe into his winegla.s.s.
Happily, Cosmo did not hear this interpolation. He seemed to take almost as much interest in his nephew"s financial situation as in his own; and continued, for as long as it took him to drink three gla.s.ses of Malaga, to speculate on the probable yield of my lord"s estates; the number of servants needed to keep so large a mansion in order; the cost of maintaining such extensive flower-gardens; and the extortionate rates demanded for houses in Mayfair. To do him justice, his interest, and his energetic plans for the reduction of his nephew"s expenses, were entirely altruistic: he had nothing to gain; but almost as much as he liked to save money for himself did he like to evolve plans whereby other people"s money could be saved. He was listened to politely by his nephew, and by his son with a mixture of rancour and embarra.s.sment. That young gentleman, as soon as Cosmo had left the room, was so ill-advised as to beg Kit not to pay any heed to him. "He always talks as if he was purse-pinched-it"s his way! It"s bad enough when he starts that tug-jaw at home, but when he does it in company it"s beyond anything!"
Kit was not unsympathetic, for he could readily perceive that to a nineteen-year-old, unsure of himself, yet anxious to be thought all the go., Cosmo must be a severe trial; but he thought his cousin"s speech extremely unbecoming, and somewhat pointedly changed the subject. It was to no avail. Ambrose continued to animadvert bitterly and at length on his father"s shortcomings until Kit lost patience, and told him roundly that his complaints did him no credit. "I don"t wonder at it that my uncle should have taken your doings in snuff! Lord, could you find nothing better to do at Oxford than to visit the fancy-houses? As for rustication, let me tell you, c.a.w.ker, that Eve-" He caught himself up, and swiftly altered the word he had been about to utter-"that even Kit and I weren"t rusticated because we had got into the petticoat line! In our day we left such stuff to the baggagery! As for boasting of having given some wretched ladybird a slip on the shoulder-"
"I didn"t boast of it!" blurted out Mr Cliffe, blushing fierily. "I only said-"
"Oh, yes, you did!" said Kit grimly. "And if I were you I"d keep mum for that, halfling!"
Much discomposed, Ambrose muttered: "Well, you"re no saint, Denville! Everyone knows that!"
"No, and nor am I a Queer Nab, which is what you"ll be, if you don"t take care!" said Kit, with cheerful brutality. He laughed suddenly. "Come, don"t be such a gudgeon, Ambrose! You are making me forget I"m your host."
"Well, considering they still talk of the things you and Kit did, when you was up, it"s the outside of enough for you to be pinching at me! " said Ambrose, much injured.
"Do they? Famous!" said Kit, his eyes lighting with sudden laughter. "I"ll swear they don"t say, though, that we wasted our time chasing the white-ap.r.o.ns!"
9.
On the following day, towards the end of the afternoon, the Dowager Lady Stavely arrived at Ravenhurst, in an even more antiquated and ponderous travelling chariot than Mr Cliffe"s, and accompanied by her granddaughter, her abigail, and her personal footman. Mr Fancot, notwithstanding his expressed wish to put as many miles as possible between himself and any member of the Stavely family, greeted their appearance on the scene with as much pleasure as was compatible with his fear that he might, in an unguarded moment, betray himself. For this, twenty-four hours spent in the company of his maternal relations were largely responsible. What Lady Denville mendaciously described as a cosily conversable evening had been followed by a singularly boring, and, at times, difficult day. Cosmo, himself the owner of a modest estate, had chosen, when civilly asked to say what he would like to do, to ride round his nephew"s acres. During this expedition, on which Kit had felt himself bound to escort him, he had asked a great many pertinent questions to which Kit, who, as a younger son, had never concerned himself with the management or the revenue of his father"s property, was hard put to it to answer. He was obliged to endure a homily from his uncle, who perceived, with regret, that report had not lied when it described the Sixth Lord Denville as a frippery young man, wholly abandoned to frivolity. Fortunately for the absent Evelyn"s reputation, Mr Cliffe retired to the library after a substantial nuncheon, spread a handkerchief over his face, and sank into profound and audible slumber. Kit was left with the task of trying to entertain his cousin: no easy one, since young Mr Cliffe"s sole desire was, as he expressed it, to take a bolt to Brighton. Asked what he wanted to do in Brighton, he replied vaguely that they might go for a toddle on the promenade, or perhaps take a look-in at a billiards-saloon. But as Kit, in the existing circ.u.mstances, was determined to give this haunt of fashion a wide berth; and would have shrunk, under any circ.u.mstances, from being seen in the company of a would-be dandy who presented to his jaundiced eye all the appearance of a counter-c.o.xcomb, this scheme was blocked at the outset. Kit said that it behoved him to be on hand when the Stavelys arrived; and that if Ambrose wanted to play billiards on a summer"s afternoon there was a very good table at Ravenhurst. In the end, as Ambrose said that he didn"t know that he really wished to play billiards, he drove him upstairs to change his tightly fitting coat, his dove-coloured pantaloons, and his cut Venetian waistcoat for attire more suited to the country, and bore him off to shoot rabbits. Ambrose went unwillingly, saying, with a nervous laugh, that he was not a crack shot, like his cousin; but after he had been forcibly dissuaded from carrying his fowling-piece at an extremely dangerous angle, and had been given a lesson in how to load and fire it he forgot his affectations, and began to enjoy himself. He was much relieved to find his cousin so good-natured, for he stood in secret awe of Evelyn, remembering a previous visit to Ravenhurst, as a schoolboy, when Evelyn, finding that he had neither the taste nor the apt.i.tude for any form of sport, regarded him with contempt, and soon shrugged him off. It seemed to him that the pa.s.sage of time had greatly improved Evelyn; and presently, emboldened by the patient encouragement he received, he confided that he rather thought he would like to be able to shoot well. "Only the thing is, you see, that I never had the opportunity to learn, because m"father ain"t a sporting cove."
Realizing for the first time that Ambrose had grown up under disadvantages he had never himself experienced, Kit was inspired to suggest that while he was at Ravenhurst he should place himself in the hands of the head gamekeeper, who would be delighted to have a pupil to school. The idea took well; and as the proposal was shortly followed by a shot which accounted for one of a gathering of unwary rabbits Ambrose trod back to the house immensely set up in his own conceit, as convinced that he had aimed at that particular rabbit as he was that in less than no time he would be acknowledged by all to be a famous shot.
Half-an-hour after they had reached the house again, and just as Kit came downstairs, having changed his rough coat, his breeches, and his long gaiters for more formal attire, the Dowager Lady Stavely"s impressive chariot was at the door and Norton, aided by my lady"s footman, and with two of his own satellites in support, was tenderly handing her down from it. Kit arrived on the scene in time to hear the blistering reproof she addressed to her helpers: he gathered that her mood was unamiable, and was not surprised to be greeted with a pungent criticism of the state of the lane which led from the pike-road to the main gates. "However," she conceded magnanimously, "you have a very tolerable place here-very tolerable indeed! I was never here before, so I"m glad to have seen it." Her sharp eyes scanned the variegated facade. "H"m, yes! I do not call it splendid, but a very respectable seat. You should root up all those rhododendrons beside the avenue: nasty, gloomy things! I can"t abide "em!"
"But think how beautiful they are when they are in bloom, ma"am!" said Cressy, who had just alighted from the carriage.
"All but the shabby-genteels are in London then, so much good do they do one!"
said Lady Stavely sweepingly. She saw that her hostess was coming down the wide, shallow stone steps, and nodded to her. "How-de-do? I"ve been telling Denville he should root up those rhododendrons on the avenue: they make it too dark."
"Yes, don"t they?" agreed Lady Denville. "Like descending into h.e.l.l; only then, of course, one comes out into open ground, which is such an agreeable surprise. Let me take you into the house, ma"am: the sun is quite scorching!"
The Dowager uttered a cackle of amus.e.m.e.nt. "Thinking of your complexion, are you? When you get to be my age you won"t care a rush for it. We used to lay crushed strawberries on our faces, to clear the sunburn. Slices of raw veal, too, against wrinkles.
Not that I ever did so: messy, I call it! I dare say you use all manner of newfangled lotions, but they don"t do you any more good than the old-fashioned remedies did us."
Lady Denville, who nightly applied distilled water of green pineapples to her exquisite countenance, and protected it during the day with Olympian Dew, replied without a blink that that was very true; and guided her guest towards the steps, offering the support of her arm. This was refused, the Dowager stating that she preferred the services of her footman. She also, stated, when it was suggested to her that she might like to be conducted immediately to her bedchamber, that she was an old woman, and in no state to drag herself up any more stairs until she had recovered her breath and what little energy remained to her.
"Then you shall come into the Blue saloon, which is delightfully cool, ma"am,"
responded Lady Denville, with unabated good-humour. "I"ll tell them to make tea, and that will revive you."
"Well, it won"t, for I shan"t drink it!" said the Dowager. "I"ll take a cup of tea after dinner, but I won"t maudle my inside with it at this time of day! What I could fancy- but it"s of no consequence if you have none!-is a gla.s.s of negus."
"To be sure! how stupid of me!" exclaimed Lady Denville, directing a look of agonized inquiry at her butler.
"Immediately, my lady!" he said, rising magnificently to the occasion.
Cressy, still standing at the foot of the steps, raised ruefully smiling eyes to Kit"s face, and said softly: "She is tired, you know, and that always makes her knaggy! I am so sorry! But she will be better presently."
An answering smile was in his eyes as he said: "I"ve a strong notion that somewhere-in one of the lumber-rooms, I fancy-there is a carrying-chair that was used by my grandfather, when he became crippled with the gout. Do you think-?"
"I do not! " she replied, on a choke of laughter. "The chances are that she would take it as an insult. It will be best to leave her to your mother"s management: depend upon it, she will charm her out of the mops! I think she would charm the most ill-natured person imaginable, don"t you? And Grandmama is not that-truly!"
"Certainly not! A most redoubtable old lady, who instantly won my respect! Now, what would you like to do? Shall I hand you over to Mrs Norton, to be escorted to your bedchamber, or will you take a turn on the terrace with me?"
"Thank you! I should like to do that. I caught glimpses on the avenue of what I think must be a lake, and longed to get a better view of it."
"That may be had from the terrace," he said, offering his arm. "I wish you might have seen it when the rhododendrons were in full bloom, however! Even your grandmama would own that their reflection in the water, on a sunny day, makes up for their gloominess now!"
"You wrong her, Denville! Nothing would prevail upon her to do so!" She turned her head, looking at him a little shyly, yet openly. "I wish you will tell me if this visit of ours is-is quite what you wanted?"
He replied immediately: "How could it have been otherwise?"
"Oh, easily! It was a stupid question to ask you, for you were obliged to give me a civil answer! The thing is that I have a lowering suspicion that Grandmama forced Lady Denville to invite us."
"I believe it was she who hit upon the notion, but I can a.s.sure you that Mama was delighted with it. Can you doubt that I too am delighted?"
"Well, yes!" she replied unexpectedly. "The thought has teased me that although I told you that I had not perfectly made up my mind, I didn"t ask you to tell me whether you, perhaps, had misgivings too. When you left London, it occurred to me-I could not help wondering if-Oh, dear, my tongue is tying itself into knots! You see, I do understand how very awkward it must be for you, if you are wishing you had never offered for me! So don"t stand on points, but tell me if you feel we should not suit, and leave it to me to settle the matter-which, I promise you, I can do, without the least fuss or noise!"
He put his hand over hers, as it lay on his arm. "That is very kind and thoughtful of you!" he said gravely.
"Well, I know how difficult it is for gentlemen to cry off," she explained. "It has always seemed to me to be monstrously unjust, too, for you may quite as easily make a mistake as we females are held to do so frequently!"
"Very true! That is to say, I haven"t yet had occasion to consider the matter, but I feel sure you are right."