"Now, John, do be quiet. There is not an idiot in the land who won"t talk of Agriculture."
"We have got to stick by the land, Maude."
"The land will take care of itself. If thou wouldst only send for thy son, and have a little talk with him, he might let some light and wisdom into thee."
"I have nothing to say on such subjects to Edgar Atheling--not a word."
"If thou goest to Parliament, thou mayst have to "say" to him, no matter whether thou wantest to or not; that is, unless thou art willing to let Edgar have both sides of the argument."
"What tom-foolery art thou talking?"
"I am only telling thee that Edgar is as like to go to Parliament as thou art."
"To be sure--when beggars are kings."
"Earl Grey will seat him--or Lord Durham; and I would advise thee to study up things a bit. There are new ideas about, John; and thou wouldst look foolish if thy own son had to put any of thy mistakes right for thee."
"I suppose, Maude, thou still hast a bit of faith left in the Bible.
And I"ll warrant thou knowest every word it says about children obeying their parents, and honouring their parents, and so on. And I can remember thee telling Edgar, when he was a little lad, about Absalom going against his father, and what came of it; now then, is the Bible, as well as the Const.i.tution, a ruin? Is it good for nothing but to be pitched into limbo, or to be "reformed"? I"m astonished at thee!"
"The Bible has nothing to do with politics, John. I wish it had!
Happen then we would have a few wise-like, honest politicians. The Bible divides men into good men and bad men; but thou dividest all men into Tories and Radicals; and the Bible has nothing to do with either of them. I can tell thee that. Nay, but I"m wrong; it does say a deal about doing justice, and loving mercy, and treating your neighbour and poor working-folk as you would like to be treated yourself. Radicals can get a good deal out of the New Testament."
"I don"t believe a word of what thou art saying."
"I don"t wonder at that. Thou readest nothing but the newspapers; if thou didst happen to read a few words out of Christ"s own mouth, thou wouldst say, "Thou never heardest the like," and thou wouldst think the man who quoted them wrote them out of his own head, and call him a Radical. Get off to thy bed, John. I can always tell when thou hast been drinking Rudby"s port-wine. It is too heavy and heady for thee.
As soon as thou art thyself again, I will tell thee what a grand son thou art the father of. My word! If the Duke gives thee a seat at his mahogany two or three times a year, thou art as proud as a peac.o.c.k; now then, thy son Edgar is hob-n.o.bbing with earls and lords every day of his life, and they are proud of his company."
The Squire laughed boisterously. "It is time, Maude," he said, "I went to my bed; and it is high time for thee to wake up and get thy head on a feather pillow; then, perhaps, thou will not dream such raving nonsense."
With these scornful words he left the room, and Mrs. Atheling rose and put away her knitting. She was satisfied with herself. She expected her mysterious words to keep the Squire awake with curiosity; and in such case, she was resolved to make another effort to reconcile her husband to his son. But the Squire gave her no opportunity; he slept with an indifferent continuity that it was useless to interrupt. Perhaps there was intention in this heavy sleep, for when he came downstairs in the morning he went at once to seek Kate. He soon saw her in the herb garden; for she had on a white dimity gown, and was standing upright, shading her eyes with her hands to watch his approach. A good breeze of wind from the wolds fluttered her snowy skirts, and tossed the penetrating scents of thyme and marjoram, mint and pennyroyal upward, and she drew them through her parted lips and distended nostrils.
"They are so heavenly sweet!" she said with a smile of sensuous pleasure. "They smell like Paradise, Father."
"Ay, herbs are good and healthy. The smell of them makes me hungry. I didn"t see thee last night, Kitty; and I wanted to see thee."
"I was so tired, Father. It was a day to tire any one. Was it not?"
"I should say it was," he replied with conscious diplomacy. "Now what part of it pleased thee best?"
"Well, Mr. North"s visit was of course wonderful; and Lord Exham"s visit was very pleasant. I enjoyed both; but Mr. North"s news was so very surprising."
"To be sure. What dost thou think of it?"
"Of course, Edgar is on the other side, Father. In some respects that is a pity."
"It is a shame! It is a great shame!"
"Nay, nay, Father! We won"t have "shame" mixed up with Edgar. He is in dead earnest, and he has taken luck with him. Just think of our Edgar being one of Lord Durham"s favourites, of him speaking all over England and Scotland for Reform. Mr. North says there is no one like him in the drawing-rooms of the Reform ladies; and no one like him on the Reform platforms; and he was made a member of the new Reform Club in London by acclamation. And Earl Grey will get him a seat in Parliament next election."
"Who is this Mr. North?"
"Why, Father! You heard him speak, and you "threw" him down on the Green, you know."
"_Oh! Him!_ Dost thou believe all this palaver on the word of a travelling mountebank?"
"He is not a travelling mountebank. I am sure he is a gentleman. You shouldn"t call a man names that you have "thrown" fairly. You know better than that."
"I know nothing about the lad. And he does not seem to have told thee anything about himself. As for thy mother--" and then he hesitated, and looked at Kate meaningly and inquiringly.
"Mother liked him. She liked him very much indeed. He brought both mother and me a ring from Edgar," and she put out her hand and showed the Squire the little gold circle.
"Trumpery rubbish!" he said scornfully. "It didn"t cost half a crown.
Give it to me, and I will get thee a ring worth wearing,--sapphires or rubies."
"I would not part with it for loops and hoops of sapphires and rubies.
Edgar sent it as a love-token; he wants his money for n.o.bler things than rubies--but, dear me! you can"t buy love for any money. Oh, Father!
I do wish you would be friends with Edgar."
"My little la.s.s, I cannot be friends with any one if he goes against the land, and the King, and the Const.i.tution. I am loyal straight through; up and down to-day, and to-morrow, and every day; and I can"t bear traitors,--men that would sell their country for a bit of mob power or mob glory. All of Edgar"s friends and neighbours are for the King and the Laws; and it shames me and pains me beyond everything to have a rascal and a Radical in my family. The Duke and his son are finger and thumb, buckle and belt; and Edgar and I ought to be the same. And it stands to reason that a father knows more than his own lad of twenty-six years old. What dost thou think of Lord Exham?"
The question was asked at a venture; but Kate had no suspicion, and she answered frankly, "I think very well of him. He talked mostly of politics; but every one does that. It was pleasant to see him at our tea-table again."
"To be sure. So he stayed to tea?"
"Yes; did not mother tell you?"
"Nay, we were talking of other things. What does he look like?"
"I think he is much improved."
"Well, he ought to be. He must have learned a little, and he has seen a lot since we saw him. Come, let us go and find out what kind of a breakfast mother can give us. I am hungry enough for two."
So Kate lifted the herbs which she had cut into her garden ap.r.o.n, and cruddling close to her father"s side, they went in together, with the smell of the thyme and marjoram all about them. Mrs. Atheling drew it in as they entered the parlour, and then turned to them with a smile. The Squire went to her side, and promptly kissed her. It was one of his ways to ignore their little tiffs; and this morning Mrs. Atheling was also agreeable. She looked into his eyes, and said:
"Why, John! are you really awake. You lay like the Seven Sleepers when I got up, and I said to myself, "John will sleep the clock round," so Kate and I will have our breakfasts."
"Nay, I have too much to look after, Maude." Then he turned the conversation to the farms, and talked of the draining to be done, and the meadows to be left for gra.s.s; but he eschewed politics altogether, and, greatly to Mrs. Atheling"s wonder, never alluded to the information she had given him about their son Edgar. Did he really think she had been telling him a made-up story? She could not otherwise understand this self-control in her curious lord. However, sometime during the morning, Kate told her about the conversation in the herb garden; then she was content. She knew just where she had her husband; and the little laugh with which she terminated the conversation was her expression of conscious power over him, and of a retaliation quite within her reach.
CHAPTER FOURTH
THE DAWN OF LOVE
There is always in every life some little part which even those dearer than life to us cannot enter. Kate had become conscious of this fact. She hoped her mother would not talk of Lord Exham; for she did not as yet understand anything about the feelings his return had evoked. She would have needed the uncertain, enigmatical language which comes in dreams to explain the "yes" and the "no" of the vague, trembling memories, prepossessions, and hopes which fluttered in her breast.