He was walking one evening on the terrace. The western sunbeams, lingering on the grand old building, brightened it into beauty. Flowers, trees, and shrubs were all in their fullest loveliness. Presently Sir Oswald, leaning over the bal.u.s.trade of the terrace, saw Pauline sketching in the grounds below. He went to her, and looked over her shoulder. She was just completing a sketch of the great western tower of the Court; and he was struck with the vivid beauty of the drawing.
"You love Darrell Court, Pauline?" he said, gently.
She raised her face to his for a minute; the feud between them was forgotten. She only remembered that he was a Darrell, and she his nearest of kin.
"I do love it, uncle," she said, "as pilgrims love their favorite shrine. It is the home of beauty, of romance, the cradle of heroes; every stone is consecrated by a legend. Love is a weak word for what I feel."
He looked at the glowing face, and for a few moments a doubt a.s.sailed him as to whether he had done right in depriving this true Darrell of her inheritance.
"But, Pauline," he said, slowly, "you would never have----"
She sprang from her seat with a quickness that almost startled him. She had forgotten all that had happened; but now it all returned to her with a bitter pang that could not be controlled.
"Hush, Sir Oswald!" she cried, interrupting him; "it is too late for us to talk about Darrell Court now. Pray do not misunderstand me; I was only expressing my belief."
She bent down to take up her drawing materials.
"I do not misunderstand you, child," he said, sadly. "You love it because it is the home of a race you love, and not for its mere worth in money."
Her dark eyes seemed to flash with fire; the glorious face had never softened so before.
"You speak truly," she said; "that is exactly what I mean."
Then she went away, liking Sir Oswald better than she had ever liked him in her life before. He looked after her half-sadly.
"A glorious girl!" he said to himself; "a true Darrell! I hope I have not made a mistake."
Lady Darrell made no complaint to her husband of Pauline; the girl gave her no tangible cause of complaint. She could not complain to Sir Oswald that Pauline"s eyes always rested on her with a scornful glance, half-humorous, half-mocking. She could not complain of that strange power Miss Darrell exercised of making her always "feel so small." She would gladly have made friends with Miss Darrell; she had no idea of keeping up any species of warfare; but Pauline resisted all her advances. Lady Darrell had a strange kind of half-fear, which made her ever anxious to conciliate.
She remarked to herself how firm and steadfast Pauline was; there was no weakness, no cowardice in her character; she was strong, self-reliant; and, discerning that, Lady Darrell asked herself often, "What will Pauline"s vengeance be?"
The question puzzled her far more than she would have cared to own. What shape would her vengeance a.s.sume? What could she do to avoid it? When would it overtake her?
Then she would laugh at herself. What was there to fear in the wildly-uttered, dramatic threats of a helpless girl? Could she take her husband from her? No; it was not in any human power to do that. Could she take her wealth, t.i.tle, position, from her? No; that was impossible.
Could she make her unhappy? No, again; that did not seem to be in her power. Lady Darrell would try to laugh, but one look at the beautiful, proud face, with its dark, proud eyes and firm lips, would bring the coward fear back again.
She tried her best to conciliate her. She was always putting little pleasures, little amus.e.m.e.nts, in her way, of which Pauline never availed herself. She was always urging Sir Oswald to make her some present or to grant her some indulgence. She never interfered with her; even when suggestions from her would have been useful, she never made them. She was mistress of the house, but she allowed the utmost freedom and liberty to this girl, who never thanked her, and who never asked her for a single favor.
Sir Oswald admired this grace and sweetness in his wife more than he had ever admired anything else. Certainly, contrasted with Pauline"s blunt, abrupt frankness, these pretty, bland, suave ways shone to advantage. He saw that his wife did her best to conciliate the girl, that she was always kind and gracious to her. He saw, also, that Pauline never responded; that nothing ever moved her from the proud, defiant att.i.tude she had from the first a.s.sumed.
He said to himself that he could only hope; in time things must alter; his wife"s caressing ways must win Pauline over, and then they would be good friends.
So he comforted himself, and the edge of a dark precipice was for a time covered with flowers.
The autumn and winter pa.s.sed away, spring-tide opened fair and beautiful, and Miss Hastings watched her pupil with daily increasing anxiety. Pauline never spoke of her disappointment; she bore herself as though it had never happened, her pride never once giving way; but, for all that, the governess saw that her whole character and disposition was becoming warped. She watched Pauline in fear. If circ.u.mstances had been propitious to her, if Sir Oswald would but have trusted her, would but have had more patience with her, would but have awaited the sure result of a little more knowledge and experience, she would have developed into a n.o.ble and magnificent woman, she would have been one of the grandest Darrells that ever reigned at the old Court. But Sir Oswald had not trusted her; he had not been willing to await the result of patient training; he had been impetuous and hasty, and, though Pauline was too proud to own it, the disappointment preyed upon her until it completely changed her. It was all the deeper and more concentrated because she made no sign.
This girl, n.o.ble of soul, grand of nature, sensitive, proud, and impulsive, gave her whole life to one idea--her disappointment and the vengeance due to it; the very grandeur of her virtues helped to intensify her faults; the very strength of her character seemed to deepen and darken the idea over which she brooded incessantly by night and by day. She was bent on vengeance.
CHAPTER XXVII.
SIR OSWALD"S DOUBTS.
It was the close of a spring day. Lady Hampton had been spending it at Darrell Court, and General Deering, an old friend of Sir Oswald"s, who was visiting in the neighborhood, had joined the party at dinner. When dinner was over, and the golden sunbeams were still brightening the beautiful rooms, he asked Sir Oswald to show him the picture-gallery.
"You have a fine collection," he said--"every one tells me that; but it is not only the pictures I want to see, but the Darrell faces. I heard the other day that the Darrells were generally acknowledged to be the handsomest race in England."
The baronet"s clear-cut, stately face flushed a little.
"I hope England values us for something more useful than merely handsome faces," he rejoined, with a touch of _hauteur_ that made the general smile.
"Certainly," he hastened to say; "but in this age, when personal beauty is said to be on the decrease, it is something to own a handsome face."
The picture-gallery was a very extensive one; it was wide and well lighted, the floor was covered with rich crimson cloth, white statues gleamed from amid crimson velvet hangings, the walls were covered with rare and valuable pictures. But General Deering saw a picture that day in the gallery which he was never to forget.
Lady Hampton was not enthusiastic about art unless there was something to be gained by it. There was nothing to excite her cupidity now, her last niece being married, so her ladyship could afford to take matters calmly; she reclined at her ease on one of the crimson lounges, and enjoyed the luxury of a quiet nap.
The general paused for a while before some of Horace Vernet"s battle-pieces; they delighted him. Pauline had walked on to the end of the gallery, and Lady Darrell, always anxious to conciliate her, had followed. The picture that struck the general most were the two ladies as they stood side by side--Lady Darrell with the sheen of gold in her hair, the soft l.u.s.ter of gleaming pearls on her white neck, the fairness of her face heightened by its dainty rose-leaf bloom, her evening dress of sweeping white silk setting off the graceful, supple lines of her figure, all thrown into such vivid light by the crimson carpet on which she stood and the background of crimson velvet; Pauline like some royal lady in her trailing black robes, with the ma.s.sive coils of her dark hair wound round the graceful, haughty head, and her grand face with its dark, glorious eyes and rich ruby lips. The one looked fair, radiant, and charming as a Parisian coquette; the other like a Grecian G.o.ddess, superb, magnificent, queenly, simple in her exquisite beauty--art or ornaments could do nothing for her.
"Look," said the general to Sir Oswald, "that picture surpa.s.ses anything you have on your walls."
Sir Oswald bowed.
"What a beautiful girl your niece is!" the old soldier continued. "See how her face resembles this of Lady Edelgitha Darrell. Pray do not think me impertinent, but I cannot imagine, old friend, why you married, so devoted to bachelor life as you were, when you had a niece so beautiful, so true a Darrell, for your heiress. I am puzzled now that I see her."
"She lacked training," said Sir Oswald.
"Training?" repeated the general, contemptuously. "What do you call training? Do you mean that she was not experienced in all the little trifling details of a dinner-table--that she could not smile as she told graceful little untruths? Training! Why, that girl is a queen among women; a n.o.ble soul shines in her grand face, there is a royal grandeur of nature about her that training could never give. I have lived long, but I have never seen such a woman."
"She had such strange, out-of-the-way, unreal notions, I dared not--that is the truth--I dared not leave Darrell Court to her."
"I hope you have acted wisely," said the general; "but, as an old friend and a true one, I must say that I doubt it."
"My wife, I am happy to say, has plenty of common sense," observed Sir Oswald.
"Your wife," returned the general, looking at the sheen of the golden hair and the shining dress, "is pretty, graceful, and amiable, but that girl has all the soul; there is as much difference between them as between a golden b.u.t.tercup and a dark, stately, queenly rose. The rose should have been ruler at Darrell Court, old friend."
Then he asked, abruptly:
"What are you going to do for her, Sir Oswald?"
"I have provided for her," he replied.
"Darrell Court, then, and all its rich revenues go to your wife, I presume?"