"Ye see, Pa.s.son, this is what all my trouble"s about;"--she said-- "Fancy "avin" to unpack all these grand clothes, and sort "em as they comes, not knowin" whether they mayn"t fall to bits in our "ands, some of "em bein" fine as cobwebs, an" such body linen as was never made for any mortal woman in St. Rest, all lace an" silk an"
little ribbins! When the trunks arrived an" we got "em into the "all, I felt THAT faint, I do a.s.sure ye! For me to "ave to unpack an" open "em, and take out all the things inside,--ah, Pa.s.son, it"s an orful "sponsibility, seein" there"s jewels packed among the dresses quite reckless-like, rubies an" sapphires an" diamants, somethin" amazin", and we"ve taken a reg"lar invent"ry of them all lest somethin" might be missin", for the Lord He only knows whether there might not be fifty thousand pounds of proputty in one of them little kicketty boxes, all velvet and satin, made just as if they was sweetmeats, only when ye looks inside ye sees a sparklin" stone glisterin" at ye, and ye know it"s wuth a fortune! I do a.s.sure ye, Pa.s.son, I"ve never seen such things in all my life! Miss Maryllia must be mortal extravagant, for there"s enough in one o" them boxes to feed the whole village of St. Best for several years. Ah! Pa.s.son, I do a.s.sure ye, I"ve thought of Scripter many a time this mornin"; "Whose adornin" let it be the adornin" of a meek and quiet spirit,"
which is a hornament and no mistake!"
Walden made no remark. It never even occurred to him just then that Mrs. Spruce was unconsciously rendering in her own particular fashion the text he had chosen for the next day"s sermon. Never in all his life before had he experienced such strongly mingled sensations of repulsion and interest as at that moment. With a kind of inward indignation, he asked himself what business he had to be there looking curiously into a woman"s room, littered with all the fripperies and expensive absurdities of a woman"s apparel? Above all, why should he be so utterly ridiculous and inconsequential in his own mind as to find himself deeply fascinated by such a spectacle? In all the years he had pa.s.sed with his sister, so long as she had lived, he had never seen such a bewildering disorder of feminine clothes. He had never had the opportunity of noting the pathetic difference existing between the toilette surroundings of a woman who is strong and well, and of one who is deprived of all natural coquetry by the cruel ravages of long sickness and disease.
His sister, beautiful even in her incurable physical affliction, had always borne that affliction more or less in mind, and had attired herself with a severely simple taste,--her bedroom, where she had had to pa.s.s so many weary hours of suffering, had been a model of almost Spartan-like simplicity, and her dressing-table was wont to be far more conspicuous for melancholy little medicine-phials than for flashing, silver-stoppered cut-gla.s.s bottles, exhaling the rarest perfumes. Then, since her death, Walden had lived so entirely alone, that the pretty vanities of bright and healthy women were quite unfamiliar to him.
The present glittering display of openly expressed frivolity seemed curiously new, and vaguely alarming. He was angry with it, yet in a manner attracted. He found himself considering, with a curious uneasiness, two small nondescript pink objects that were lying on the floor at some distance from each other. At a first glance they appeared to be very choice examples of that charming orchid known as the "Cypripedium,"--but on closer examination it was evident they were merely fashionable evening shoes. Again and again he turned his eyes away from them,--and again and again his glance involuntarily wandered back and rested on their helpless-looking little pointed toes and ridiculously high heels. Considered from a purely "sanitary" point of view, they were the most wicked, the most criminal, the most absolutely unheard-of shoes ever seen. Why, no human feet of the proper size could possibly get into them, unless they were squeezed---
"Yes, squeezed!"--repeated Walden inwardly, with a sense of unreasonable irritation; "All the toes cramped and the heels pinched--everything out of joint and distorted--false feet, in fact, like everything else false that has to do with the modern fashionable woman!"
There they lay,-apparently innocent;--but surely detestable, nay even Satanic objects. He determined he would have them removed-- picked up--cast out--thrust into the nearest drawer, anywhere, in fact, provided they were out of his stern, clerical sight. Mrs.
Spruce was continuing conversation in brisk tones, but whether she was addressing him, or the buxom young woman, who, under her directions was shaking out or folding up the various garments taken out of the various boxes, he did not know, and, as a matter of fact, he did not care. She sounded like Tennyson"s "Brook," with a "Men may come and men may go, but I go on for ever" monotonousness that was as depressing as it was incessant.
He determined to interrupt the purling stream.
"Mrs. Spruce," he began,--then hesitated, as she turned briskly towards him, looking like a human clothes-prop, with both fat arms extended in order to keep well away from contact with the floor a gauzy robe sparkling all over with tiny crystalline drops, which, catching the sunbeams, flashed like little points of flame.
"Beggin" your pardon, Pa.s.son, did you speak?"
"Yes. I think you should not let anything lie about, as, for example,--those--" and he pointed to the objectionable shoes with an odd sense of discomfiture; "They appear to be of a delicate colour and might easily get soiled."
Mrs. Spruce peered round over the sparkling substance she held, looking like a very ancient and red-faced cherub peeping over the rim of a moonlit cloud.
"Well, I never!" she exclaimed; "What a hi you have, Pa.s.son! What a hi! Now them shoes missed me altogether! They must have dropped out of some of the dresses we"ve been unfoldin", for the packin"s quite reckless-like, and ain"t never been done by no trained maid. All hustled-bustled like into the boxes anyhow, as if the person what had done it was in a mortal temper or hurry. Lord! Don"t I know how people crams things in when they"s in a rage! Ah! Wait till I get rid of all these diamants," and she waddled to the deep oak wardrobe, which stood open, and carefully hung the glittering garment up by its two sleeveholes on two pegs,--then turned round with a sigh. "It"s orful what the world"s coming to, Pa.s.son Walden,- -orful! Fancy diamants all sewed on to a gown! I wouldn"t let my Kitty in "ere for any amount of money! She"d be that restless and worritin" and wantin" the like things for "erself, and the mortal mischief it would be, there"s no knowin"! Why, the first "commercial" as come round "ere with "is pack and "is lies, would get her runnin" off with "im! Ah! That"s jes" where leddies makes such work for Satan"s hands to do; they never thinks of the envy and jealousy and spite as eats away the "arts of poor gels what sees all these fine things, and ain"t got no chance for to have them for theirselves!" Here, sidling along the floor, she picked up the pink shoes to which Walden had called her attention, first one and then the other. "Well! Call them shoes! My Kitty couldn"t get her "and into "em! And as for a foot fittin" in! What a foot! It can"t be much bigger"n a baby"s. Well, well, what a pair o" shoes!"
She stood looking at them, a fat smile on her face, and Walden moved uneasily from the threshold.
"I"ll leave you now, Mrs. Spruce," he said; "You have plenty to do, and I"m in the way here."
"Well, now, Pa.s.son, that do beat me!" said Mrs. Spruce plaintively; "I thought you was a-goin" to help us!"
"Help you? I?" and Walden laughed aloud; "My dear woman, do you think I can unpack and unfold ladies" dresses? Of all the many incongruous uses a clergyman was ever put to, wouldn"t that be the most impossible?"
"Lord love ye, Pa.s.son Walden, I ain"t askin" ye no such thing;"
retorted Mrs. Spruce; "Don"t ye think it! For there"s nothin" like a man, pa.s.son or no pa.s.son, for makin" rumples of every bit of clothes he touches, even his own coats and weskits, and I wouldn"t let ye lay hands on any o" these things to save my life. Why, they"d go to pieces at the mere sight of yer fingers, they"re so flimsy! What I thought ye might do, was to be a witness to us while we sorted them all. It"s a great thing to have a man o" G.o.d as a witness to the likes o" this work!"
Again Walden laughed, this time with very genuine heartiness, though he did wish Mrs. Spruce would put away the troublesome pink shoes which she still held, and to which he found his eyes still wandering.
"Nonsense! You don"t want any witness!" he said gaily; "What are you thinking about, Mrs. Spruce? When Miss Vancourt is here, all you have to do is to go over every item of her property with her, and see that she finds it all right. If anything is missing, it"s not your fault."
"If anythink"s missing," echoed Mrs. Spruce in sepulchral tones, "then the Lord knows what we"ll do, for it"ll be all over, so far as we"re consarned! Beggars in the street"ll be kings to us. Pa.s.son, I reckon ye doesn"t read the newspapers much, does ye?"
"Pretty fairly," responded Walden still smiling; "I keep myself as well acquainted as I can with what is going on in the world."
"Does ye now?" And Mrs. Spruce surveyed him admiringly. "Well, now, I shouldn"t have thought it, for ye seems as inn"cent as a babby I do a.s.sure ye; ye seems jes" that. But mebbe ye doesn"t get the same kind o" newspapers which we poor folks gets--reg"ler weekly penny lists o" murders, soocides, railway haccidents, burgul"ries, fires, droppin"s down dead suddint, struck by lightnin" and collapsis, with remedies pervided for all in the advertis.e.m.e.nts invigoratin" to both old and young, bone and sinew, brain and body, whether it be pills, potions, tonics, lotions, ointment or min"ral waters. Them"s the sort o" papers we gets, or rather the "Mother Huff" takes "em all in for us, an" the "ole village drinks the "orrors an" the medicines in with the ale. Ah! It"s mighty edifyin", Pa.s.son, I do a.s.sure ye--and many of us goes to church on Sundays and reads the "orrors an"
medicines in the arternoon, and whether we remembers your sermon or the "orrors an" medicines most, the Lord only knows! But it"s in them papers I sees how fine leddies goes on nowadays, and if they misses so much as a two-and-sixpenny "airpin, some of "em out of sheer spite, will "aul a gel up "fore the p"lice and "ave "er in condemned cells in no time, so that ye see, Pa.s.son, if so be Miss Maryllia counts over the sparkling diamants and one"s lost, we"ll all be brought "fore Sir Morton Pippitt as county mag"strate afore we"ve "ad time to look at our breakfasts. Wherefore, I sez, why not "ave a man o" G.o.d as witness?"
"Why not, indeed!" returned Walden, playfully; "but your "man of G.o.d" won"t be me, Mrs. Spruce! I"m off! I congratulate you on your preparations, and I think you are doing everything splendidly! If Miss Vancourt does not look upon you as a positive treasure, I shall be very much mistaken! Good afternoon!"
"Pa.s.son, Pa.s.son!" urged Mrs. Spruce; "Ye baint goin" already?"
"I must! To-morrow"s Sunday, remember!"
"Ah!--that it is!" she sighed, "And my mind sorely misgives me that I never asked the new servants whether they was "Igh, Low or Roman.
It fairly slipped my memory, and they seemed never to think of it themselves. Why didn"t they remind me, Pa.s.son?--can you answer me that? Which it proves the despisableness of our naturs that we never thinks of the religious sides of ourselves, but only our wages and stummicks. Wages and stummicks comes fust, and the care of the Lord Almighty arterwards. But, there, there!--we"re jest a perverse and stiffnecked generation!"
Walden turned away. Mrs. Spruce, at last deciding to resign her hold of the pink shoes, over whose pointed toes she had been moralising, gave them into the care of the rosy-cheeked Phyllis, who was a.s.sisting her in her labours, and followed her "man of G.o.d" out to the landing.
"Do ye reely think we"re doin" quite right, and that we"re quite safe, Pa.s.son?" she queried, anxiously.
"You"re doing quite right, and you"re quite safe," replied Walden, laughing. "Go on in your present path of virtue, Mrs. Spruce, and all will be well! I really cannot wait a moment longer. Don"t trouble to come and show me out,--I know my way!"
He sprang down the broad stairs as lightly as a boy, leaving Mrs.
Spruce at the summit, looking wistfully after him.
"It"s a pity he couldn"t stay!" she murmured, dolefully; "There"s a lace petticut which must be worth a fortune!--I"d have liked "im to see it!"
But Walden was beyond recall. On reaching the bottom of the staircase he had turned into the picture gallery, a long, lofty room panelled with Jacobean oak on both sides and hung with choice canvases, the work of the best masters, three or four fine Gainsboroughs, Peter Lelys and Romneys being among the most notable examples. At one end of the gallery a close curtain of dark green baize covered a picture which was understood to be the portrait of the Mrs. Vancourt who had never lived to see her intended home. The late Squire had himself put up that curtain, and no one had ever dared to lift it. Mrs. Spruce had often been asked to do so, but she invariably refused, "not wishin" to be troubled with ghosteses of the old Squire," as she frankly explained. Facing this, at the opposite end, hung another picture, disclosed in all its warm and brilliant colouring to the light of day,--the picture of Mary Elia Adelgisa de Vaignecourt, who, in the time of Charles the Second had been a noted beauty of the "merry monarch"s" reign, and whose counterfeit presentment Mrs. Spruce had styled "the lady in the vi"let velvet." John Walden had suddenly taken a fancy to look at this portrait though for ten years he had known it well.
He walked up to it now slowly, studying it critically as the light fell on its rich colouring. The painted lady had a wonderfully attractive face,--the face of a child, piquante, smiling and provocative,--her eyes were witching blue, with a moonlight halo of grey between the black pupil and the azure iris,--her mouth, a trifle large, but pouting in the centre and curved in the "Cupid"s bow" line, suggested sweetness and pa.s.sion, and her hair,--but surely her hair was indescribable! The painter of Charles the Second"s time had apparently found it difficult to deal with,--for there was a warm brown wave there, a tiny reddish ripple behind the small ear, and a flash of golden curls over the white brow, suggestive of all the tints of spring and autumn sunshine. Habited in a riding dress of velvet the colour of a purple pansy, Mary Elia Adelgisa held her skirt, white gauntleted gloves, and riding whip daintily in one hand,--her hat, a three-cornered piece of coquetry, lay ready for wear, on a garden-seat hard by,--a blush rosebud was fastened carelessly in her close-fitting bodice, which was turned back with embroidered gold revers, and over her head, great forest trees, heavy with foliage, met in an arch of green. John Walden stood for a quiet three minutes, studying the picture intently and also the superscription: "Mary Elia Adelgisa de Vaignecourt, Born May 1st, 1651: Wedded her cousin, Geoffrey de Vaignecourt, June 5th, 1671: Died May 30th, 1681."
"Not a very long life!" he mused: "All the Vaignecourts, or Vancourts, have died somewhat early."
He let his eyes rest again on the portrait lingeringly.
"Mary Elia! I wonder if her descendant, "Maryllia," is anything like her?"
Slowly turning, he went out of the picture gallery, across the hall and into the garden, where the faithful Nebbie was waiting for him, amid a company of pigeons who were busy picking up what they fancied from the gravelled path, and who were utterly unembarra.s.sed by the constant waggings of the terrier"s rough tail. And he walked somewhat abstractedly through the old paved court, past the unsympathetic sun-dial, and out through the great gates, which were guarded on either side by stone griffins, gripping in their paws worn shields decorated with defaced tracings of the old Vaignecourt emblems. Clematis clasped these fabulous beasts in a dainty embrace, winding little tendrils of delicate green over their curved claws, and festooning their savage-looking heads with large star-like flowers of white and pale mauve, and against one of the weather- beaten shields an early flowering red rose leaned its perfumed head in blushing crimson confidence. Halting a moment in his onward pace, Walden paused, and looked back at the scene regretfully.
"Dear old place!" he said half aloud; "Many and many a happy hour have I pa.s.sed in it, loving it, reverencing it, honouring its every stone,--as all such relics of a chivalrous and gracious past deserve to be loved, reverenced and honoured. But I fear,--yes!--I fear I shall never again see it quite as I have seen it for the past ten years,--or as I see it now! New days, new ways! And I am not progressive. To me the old days and old ways are best!"
VI
"And the blessing of G.o.d Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you and remain with you always!"
So prayed John Walden, truly and tenderly, stretching out his hands in benediction over the bent heads of his little congregation, which responded with a fervent "Amen."
Service was over, and the good folks of St. Rest wended their gradual way out of church to the full sweet sound of an organ voluntary, played by Miss Janet Eden, who, as all the village said of her, "was a rare "and at doin" the music proper." Each man and woman wore their Sunday best,--each girl had some extra bit of finery on, and each lad sported either a smart necktie or wore a flower in his b.u.t.tonhole, as a testimony to the general festal feeling inspired by a day when ordinary work is set aside for the mingled pleasures of prayer, meditation and promiscuous love-making.
The iconoclasts who would do away with the appointed seventh day of respite from the hard labours of every-day life, deserve hanging without the mercy of trial. A due observance of Sunday, and especially the English country observance of Sunday, is one of the saving graces of our national const.i.tution. In the large towns, a growing laxity concerning the "keeping of the seventh day holy," is plainly noticeable, the pernicious example of London "smart" society doing much to lessen the old feeling of respect for the day and its sacredness; but in small greenwood places, where it is still judged decent and obedient to the laws of G.o.d, to attend Divine worship at least once a day,--when rough manual toil is set aside, and the weary and soiled labourer takes a pleasure in being clean, orderly and cheerfully respectful to his superiors, Sunday is a blessing and an educational force that can hardly be over-estimated.
In such a peaceful corner as St. Rest it was a very day of days.
Tourists seldom disturbed its tranquillity, the "Mother Huff"
public-house affording but sorry entertainment to such parties; the motor-bicycle, with its detestable noise, insufferable odour and dirty, oil-stained rider in goggled spectacles, was scarcely ever seen,--and motor-cars always turned another way on leaving the county town of Riversford, in order to avoid the sharp ascent from the town, as well as the still sharper and highly dangerous descent into the valley again, where the little mediaeval village lay nestled. Thus it was enabled to gather to itself a strangely beautiful halcyon calm on the Lord"s Day,--and in fair Spring weather like the present, dozed complacently under the quiet smile of serene blue skies, soothed to sleep by the rippling flow of its ribbon-like river, and receiving from hour to hour a fluttering halo of doves" wings, as these traditional messengers of peace flew over the quaint old houses, or rested on the gabled roofs, spreading out their snowy tails like fans to the warmth of the sun. The churchyard was the recognised meeting-place for all the gossips of the village after the sermon was over and the blessing p.r.o.nounced,--and the brighter and warmer the weather, the longer and more desultory the conversation.
On this special Sunday, the worthy farmers and their wives, with their various cronies and confidants, gathered together in larger groups than usual, and lingered about more than was even their ordinary habit. Their curiosity was excited,--so were their faculties of criticism. The new servants from the Manor had attended church, sitting all together in a smart orderly row, and suggesting in their neat spick-and-span attire an unwonted note of novelty, of fashion, of change, nay, even of secret and suppressed society wickedness. Their looks, their att.i.tudes, their whisperings, their movements, furnished plenty of matter to talk about,--particularly as Mrs. Spruce had apparently "given herself airs" and marshalled them in and marshalled them out again, without stopping to talk to her village friends as usual,--which was indeed a veritable marvel,- -or to vouchsafe any information respecting the expected return of her new mistress, an impending event which was now well known throughout the whole neighbourhood. Oliver Leach, the land agent, had arrived at the church-door in an open dog-cart, and had sat through the service looking as black as thunder, or as Bainton elegantly expressed it: "as cheerful as a green apple with a worm in it." Afterwards, he had driven off at a rattling pace, exchanging no word with anyone. Such conduct, so the village worthies opined, was bound to be included among the various signs and tokens which were ominous of a coming revolution in the moral and domestic atmosphere of St. Rest.