The sorrow faded away from his face; a vexed look succeeded. Why had she left him so hastily? Could she not have spared him a few moments wherein to express his regret. Was she angry? No, he could not think so, her temper appeared unruffled, and her face wore its usual soft and sweet expression.
As Frances advanced to his side he impatiently sprang on his horse and cantered off, but Frances thought as she stood listening to his horse"s receding steps on the hard frosty ground, that ere long the canter sounded in her ears far more like a gallop.
Some twenty minutes later, as Amy was returning home through the lane, her attention was drawn towards a horseman going at headlong speed across the distant fields. The children wondered who it could be, but Amy never wondered at all; she knew well enough.
"It is your uncle," she said.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE MYSTERIOUS LIGHT.
"Still further on she crept with trembling feet, With hope a friend, with fear a foe to meet; And there was something fearful in the sight And in the sound of what appear"d to-night; For now, of night and nervous terror bred, Arose a strong and superst.i.tious dread; She heard strange noises, and the shapes she saw Of fancied beings bound her soul in awe."
CRABBE.
But few of the party returned home in the very best of spirits, or appeared to have enjoyed their afternoon"s pleasure on the ice. Charles scarcely raised his eyes during dinner, or addressed a word to any one.
Anne was infinitely disgusted at his inattention and dulness, having made up her mind during Mr. Hall"s absence to thoroughly enjoy herself, being in no fear of a look from those earnest eyes of his, as she rattled away almost heedless of what fell from her lips, or hazarded trifling, thoughtless remarks.
Frances" face, if possible, wore a more scornful expression than usual; she was inwardly chafing at her want of tact and judgment in giving way to temper, and allowing Charles to see that Amy was the cause of it.
That thought vexed her proud spirit beyond measure, and although to all appearance she was calm and self-possessed, yet inwardly her heart trembled with angry pa.s.sions, and her mind was filled with forebodings and dim shadowings of the future and what it would reveal to her.
Was it possible she could be supplanted by another, and that other no proud beauty like herself, but a governess! The thought was gall and wormwood to her. It was not only her pride that was touched. No; as I have said before, she loved her cousin with all the love of that proud, and to all appearance, cold heart. Should he not love her in return?
Yes, he must. He should never be Amy"s. Never! And she pressed her lips together and contracted the delicately-pencilled brows at the bare supposition. She would not believe--could not--that in so short a time his heart was another"s. It was merely a liking, not love, and it must be her care to prevent the latter.
What right had he in the school-room? What was he doing there when she entered so inopportunely?
Ah! she had never guessed that secret yet, or found out the theft of the "Holy work," or her heart would have been even sorer than it was, and her thoughts more bitter and revengeful towards Amy.
Frances had never been thwarted; all had as yet gone smoothly with her; the bare possibility of the one great object in life--her love--being unvalued only made her the more determined to succeed. She had no softness, no gentleness of nature; her love was fierce and strong--headlong in its course; like a torrent it swept along, and carried away all and everything that impeded its course. There was no calm, no sunshine, no breaking of the heavy clouds; all was storm--would be until the end might be gained, and then--even then, there was a question if the troubled, angry spirit would be quiet, or at rest, or ever satisfied.
Charles did not re-enter the drawing room after dinner. "Gone for a smoke or prefers the company of Bob," was Alfred"s ungracious rejoinder when his sister questioned him; so retiring to an ottoman in a far-off corner, Frances wrapt herself up in her thoughts, or, as Anne remarked, made herself as disagreeable as she could by refusing to join in any one game or amus.e.m.e.nt proposed. After fruitless attempts to strike up a flirtation with somebody, Anne walked off to bed, thinking a quiet chat with her sister was preferable to the dulness below.
As she reached the first landing on her way up stairs, a gust of cold wind from the sudden opening of the hall door made her pause and look round; and presently Mr. Hall"s voice reached her: very pleasant and cheery she thought it sounded, and she could not resist the temptation of peeping over, just to see how he looked after his cold ride.
Yes, there he was, close by the fire, full in the light of the lamp, shaking himself like a large dog, his thick hair in a shocking tangled ma.s.s, but this was nothing unusual.
Anne smiled. "What a figure he is!" thought she, "such a great unwieldy creature!" and then half turned, as if to retrace her steps, but woman-like, fearful lest he should guess why she returned, magnanimously went on, but on reaching her own room, no Julia was there to unburden her vexations to, or talk herself into a more congenial mood with.
"She plays me this trick every night," said she, taking off her dress and throwing a shawl round her shoulders; then stirring up the fire into a blaze, she sat down and reviewed in her own mind the events of the day and the evening"s dulness.
Some minutes slipped by; and then, whether she grew tired of being alone in that large room or vexed at her sister"s prolonged absence she determined on going in quest of her.
Springing up, away she went to Miss Tremlow"s room, and receiving no reply to her repeated knocks for admission, cautiously opened the door and went in, expecting to find her sister.
Miss Tremlow was disrobed for the night, and had tied a large yellow handkerchief round her head, the only symptom of a cap being the huge border overshadowing her small thin face like a pall; while one or two curl-papers--Miss Tremlow wore her hair in ringlets--made themselves guiltily perceptible here and there. Anne burst out laughing.
"My goodness, Miss Tremlow! how extraordinary you look," exclaimed she.
"Do you always dress yourself out in this style when you have a cold?"
"A cold, Miss Anne? I have no cold."
"Then why on earth have you decked yourself out with that handkerchief.
Oh! I know, you are afraid of thieves, and think the sight will frighten them. Well, you are not far wrong there."
"No such thing; I am subject to rheumatism, so take every precaution against it," replied Miss Tremlow stiffly, not exactly knowing whether to feel offended or not.
"Of course, quite right," replied Anne, not daring to raise her eyes until Miss Tremlow turned her back, and then the corner of the bright handkerchief stood out so oddly over the high-crowned cap, while a border almost as wide and stiffly starched as the front one drooped from under it, that the incentive to mirth was irresistible, and Anne laughed again.
"I cannot help it, indeed I cannot," said she, as the lady"s now angry face met her gaze. "It is of no use looking so vexed, you should not make such a figure of yourself."
"You had better go to bed, Miss Anne," said Miss Tremlow sharply, opening the door.
And very submissively Anne went out of the room, but instead of going to bed, bent her steps towards the school-room, and there found the object of her search; her sister with Miss Neville.
"Such a sc.r.a.pe as you have led me into, Mag," began she, still laughing, and drawing a chair near the two round the fire. "Of course I thought you were in that queer sick creature"s room. What a fright she has made of herself with her head tied up in that yellow handkerchief, enough to make any one laugh."
"I hope, Anne, you did not," replied her sister.
"Then hope no such thing, for I laughed outright, and so would Miss Neville, I am sure. I defy even that sober Mr. Hall to have stood it,"
and again Anne laughed at the bare recollection. "It"s all your fault, Mag, had you gone quietly to bed as you ought, I should never like the Caliph have roamed abroad in search of adventure."
"Why did you come up to bed so soon?" asked Julia.
"So soon! I am sure I never spent so dull an evening; I suppose people"s hearts were frozen as well as their toes with coming in contact with the ice. As to Frances, she behaved abominably, and turned the cold-shoulder to everybody. If it is to be like this every evening, I would far rather have the "short commons" of home than the dainty fare here."
"For shame, Anne! What will Miss Neville think?"
"Think that I am in a bad temper, that"s all. Isabella might have tried to amuse us a little; but no, she only thought of self, sitting so cosily flirting with Mr. Vavasour. How I do dislike that man! I am sure he is no good, and no one seems to know who he is. I do wish that handsome Captain Styles were here. Do you remember last year, what fun we used to have? We never had a dull evening then," and Anne sighed, and looked so comically sad that Julia and Amy both laughed.
"It is just as well he is not here," replied the former. "And as for Mr. Vavasour, everyone knows how intimate old Mr. Vavasour and Mr.
Linchmore"s father were."
"Yes; but that gives no clue as to who young Mr. Vavasour is."
Who Vavasour"s parents were had never transpired. All he himself knew was, that he had been left an orphan at an early age, and entrusted to Mr. Vavasour. The utmost care had been bestowed on his education; no pains, no money had been spared.
Mr. Vavasour was an eccentric, pa.s.sionate old bachelor, fond and proud of his adopted son, or, as some supposed, his own son; but this latter was mere idle surmise. He was certainly treated and regarded by the servants and even friends as such; and yet they had not a shadow of proof that he was so.
It must not be imagined that Robert rested calmly, or made no attempts to obtain a clue to his history, and clear up the doubt under which his proud, impatient spirit chafed. He did. He battled and waged war at times against the other"s will, when the weight became more intolerable than he could bear; but only to meet with stern rebuffs, and a will as determined as his own. In that one particular, the two resembled each other; not otherwise. In outward form they were unlike.
It was after one of these battles, in which as usual Robert was vanquished, that wounded to the quick by the other"s violence, and seeing the hopelessness of ever moving that iron will, Robert left the only home he had ever known, and went abroad.
After that nothing went right. The old man fretted, grew more and more exacting to those about him, and gave way more frequently to violent fits of rage. There was no Robert to act as mediator, or control and subdue him; and few were surprised to hear of his almost sudden death.
He bequeathed not only his forgiveness but his wealth to Robert, who only returned in time to follow him to the grave.