Then came a vigorous pull at the bell, followed by subdued whistling of the air of this apposite but vulgar ditty. It was not after so indecorous a fashion that the Professor"s visitors were wont to approach him, and he could not resist the temptation to steal softly across the turf past the library windows and see who might be the author of all this disturbance. His curiosity was rewarded by a full-length view of a handsome, merry-looking young fellow in undress cavalry uniform, who himself happened to be peeping round the corner at that moment, and who at once advanced, saying: "Oh, how do you do?
Canon Stanwick isn"t it? My mother asked me to leave this note for you as I pa.s.sed--Mrs. Annesley, you know. She says you and she are old friends."
"I am much obliged to you, sir," said the Professor in his grave voice, taking the note. "Pray come in."
"Can"t, thanks," answered the other; "I must be off to barracks. See you this afternoon on the cricket-ground though, I hope. We"ve got a great match on--garrison against the county. We shall be awfully licked of course; but everybody will be up there, and it"s something to do. Very glad to see you if you"ll come to our tent. You"ll find my mother there; the note"s to tell you all about it. Good-bye for the present."
And with that this unceremonious young man clanked away, leaving the Professor, who had not looked on at a cricket match for a matter of thirty years, much amused. The note ran as follows:
Deanery, Lichbury: Thursday.
"Dear Canon Stanwick,--I hope, if you are disengaged this afternoon, you will join our party on the cricket-ground, and give me the opportunity, which I sought in vain last night, of having a little talk with you. I am obliged to leave to-morrow morning, and I am so very anxious to have a few words with you before I go _about my son_, who is quartered here. Do come, and
"Believe me most sincerely yours,
"Julia Annesley."
"Oh, by all means," said the Professor, who had a solitary man"s habit of thinking aloud. "I shall feel rather like a fish out of water among all those people; but never mind, I"ll go. Only I can"t think why you should want to talk to me about your son."
Perhaps the Professor was still a little in the dark as to this point, even after a long interview with Mrs. Annesley; though he certainly could not complain of any want of candor upon the lady"s part. The Lichbury cricket-ground is justly celebrated both for its extent and for the beauty of its situation, and the numerous matches of which it is the scene during the summer season are always well attended. The Professor made his way through a double line of carriages and drags, feeling and looking very much like a man who has suddenly emerged from a dark room upon a crowded thoroughfare. The confused din raised by a large concourse of people, mingled with the strains of the military band which was in attendance, and the shouts of eager partisans of garrison or county, bewildered him; and it was only after repeated inquiries that he succeeded in reaching the entrance of the cavalry tent, where he stood for a minute blinking in the sunshine, and trying with shortsighted eyes to distinguish among the a.s.semblage of gayly dressed ladies seated there the one of whom he was in search. But if he did not see her, she very soon saw him, and came forward, holding out a tiny pair of beautifully gloved hands.
"_How_ good of you to come!" she exclaimed. "Suppose we take a turn round the ground; then we can talk quietly."
She was a bright, alert little woman, her gray hair, which was drawn straight up from her forehead, contrasting oddly with her still youthful complexion, and giving her somewhat of the appearance of an eighteenth-century _marquise_. The Professor was not quite sure whether he ought to offer her his arm or not, but finally deciding that this was unnecessary, made a grab at his shapeless felt hat, and muttered, "Delighted, I"m sure." He was a little embarra.s.sed in the presence of his former love, whose first words showed that she, for her part, had no such foolish feeling.
"Is it not strange that we should meet again at Lichbury after all these years?" she began. "I have often thought of you, and often felt sorry." She paused and sighed. "One does not expect men to take things so seriously--generally, you know, it is the men who forget, and the women who suffer; but I suppose you are different. And I have spoilt your life!"
The Professor smiled. He was thinking that most people would hardly describe his life as having been a spoilt one; he was thinking, too, that the Julia who had caused him so much mental anguish in years gone by was quite another person from the complacent little lady who was trying to make apologies for her. He rather wished she would drop the subject; but he said nothing, and Mrs. Annesley resumed:
"You ought to hate me--I quite feel that; but doesn"t some clever person say somewhere that we never hate those who have injured us, only those whom we have injured? I have injured you dreadfully; but for all that, I want to make friends--and to ask a favor of you into the bargain." She concluded her sentence with a little laugh and a side glance from eyes which had done much execution in their day.
"I am sure I shall be very glad if I can serve you in any way," said the Professor simply; "and I think we may very well agree to let bygones be bygones. It was something about your son, you said?"
"Ah, yes, poor fellow!" sighed Mrs. Annesley; "I can"t tell you how anxious and distressed I am about him. He is quartered here with his regiment, the 27th Lancers, and he absolutely refuses to leave the service, though, as of course you know, he succeeded to a very large property when he came of age."
"He is still very young," remarked the Professor. "I should think another year or two of soldiering would do him no harm."
"But it is absurd for a man with three large country houses to live in barracks. I want him to marry and settle down. I want him--only this is strictly between ourselves--to marry Violet Cecil. She is such a charming girl, and so pretty--don"t you think so?"
"Is she?" asked the Professor. "I scarcely know her."
"But you and Mr. Cecil were always such great friends, I thought."
"We had not met for many years until I came down here, and I have only seen Miss Cecil once. I did not notice her particularly."
"How funny of you! But I remember that you were never very observant.
Well, I was going to tell you about poor Bob--oh! there he is. I should like so much to introduce him to you."
"He introduced himself to me this morning," observed the Professor, smiling.
"Oh, did he? Well, I could not introduce him _now_, at any rate," said Mrs. Annesley, meaningly.
The Professor adjusted his gla.s.ses, and following the direction of her gaze, made out his visitor of the morning, who had exchanged his uniform for a suit of cricketing flannels, and who was pacing along by the side of a tall, fine-looking woman with dark hair. The young man wore a downcast look, and his evident unwillingness to raise his eyes seemed to show that he was conscious of his mother"s vicinity.
"Oh, I see!" said the Professor, with a perspicacity which did him credit.
"Yes; isn"t it dreadful? What any man can find to admire in such a woman I can"t conceive."
"She is handsome and--very well dressed," hazarded the Professor, after another survey of the lady"s retreating form.
"Well dressed!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Mrs. Annesley, throwing up her hands. "If you can say that, you would say anything. Pale blue satin and imitation lace--good gracious! But of course you don"t understand these things."
"Certainly," the Professor agreed, "I am no judge of such matters. But who is this lady?"
"Ah, who indeed? That is exactly what n.o.body knows. She is a Mrs.
Harrington--at least, that is what she calls herself; and I believe she is one of those dreadful harpies who follow regiments about all over the world and ruin poor young men--or rather, rich young men. She is not exactly disreputable, I am told; I only wish she were!--No, I didn"t mean that--I forgot you were a clergyman. I beg your pardon, I"m sure."
"Don"t mind me," said the Professor. "And so you are afraid that she will marry your son?"
"I can"t bear to say so; but it does look terribly like it, and I am so powerless. I have no influence over Bob, and it is impossible for me to remain down here; I have all my other children to look after, you know. Of course it would never do to breathe a word to the Cecils; otherwise they might be able to save him, for I am sure he is really fond of Violet. It struck me that perhaps you might give me a helping hand."
"I will most gladly, if I can," replied the Professor; "but I confess I don"t at present see what I can do."
"I am sure you could influence him in a quiet way; and then you might try to throw him as much as possible with the Cecils. You will have plenty of opportunities of doing that, if you look for them. And perhaps you would be very kind and write me a line every now and then to tell me how matters are going."
The Professor shook his head and said he feared Mrs. Annesley was leaning upon a broken reed. Nevertheless, he promised to do his best; and promises with him always meant a good deal. For the sake of old days he was willing to do Mrs. Annesley a kindness; for the young man"s own sake he would gladly have disappointed the harpy; finally, he thought he would be rendering no small service to his friend Cecil, if he could bring about a marriage between the daughter of that not very wealthy country gentleman and one of the richest bachelors in England. The only question was how to set about achieving so desirable a result. He debated this problem for some time after Mrs. Annesley had been called away from his side by other acquaintances, and he was still standing with his hands behind his back, frowning meditatively, when Mr. Cecil, a fresh-colored squire, who lived within a few miles of Lichbury, caught sight of him and greeted him warmly.
"Hollo, Stanwick! who"d have thought of seeing you on the cricket-ground? This is an unexpected honor for the club."
"I didn"t come here to look at the cricket; I came to see a very old friend of yours and mine--Mrs. Annesley," the Professor explained.
"Ah, to be sure! How time does go on! Do you remember what a pretty girl she was, and how desperately in love we all were with her? You were as hard hit as any of us, if I recollect rightly. In fact, I believe she was engaged to you in a sort of a way, wasn"t she?"
"In a sort of a way--yes."
"And then she threw you over because she wanted to be rich and fashionable and all that. Well, well! she has had her reward. Have you seen her often since those days?"
"Never until yesterday."
"You don"t say so! You can hardly have recognized one another, did you? Both you and she have got on in life and got on in the world since you parted. Julia is a leader of society, and mixes freely with d.u.c.h.esses, which satisfies her soul; and you are one of the celebrities of the day. It now only remains for me to get a prize for my pig, and then we shall all three have reached the highest distinctions attainable in our respective walks in life."
"Yes, yes," murmured the Professor dreamily; and presently he quoted in an undertone, "What shadows we are, and what shadows we pursue!"
"I"ll be hanged if anybody shall call my pig a shadow!" returned Mr.
Cecil, laughing, as he walked away. And then the Professor strolled slowly back to the quiet Precincts and "The Rise of the Papacy."
II.