They were alone, and eyed each other strangely.
"Sit down," said Grace, coldly.
"No, thank you," said Jael, firmly. "I shall not stay long after the way I have been received."
"And how do you expect to be received?"
"As I used to be. As a poor girl who once saved HIS life, and nearly lost her own, through being his true and faithful servant."
"Faithful to him, but not to me."
Jael"s face showed she did not understand this.
"Yes," said Grace, bitterly, "you are the real cause of my marrying Mr.
Coventry, whom I don"t love, and never can love. There, read that. I can"t speak to you. You look all candor and truth, but I know what you are: all the women in that factory knew about you and him--read that."
She handed her the anonymous letter, and watched her like an eagle.
Jael read the poison, and colored a little, but was not confounded.
"Do you believe this, Miss Carden?"
"I did not believe it at first, but too many people have confirmed it.
Your own conduct has confirmed it, my poor girl. This is cruel of me."
"Never mind," said Jael, resolutely. "We have gone too far to stop. My conduct! What conduct, if you please?"
"They all say that, when you found he was no more, you attempted self-destruction."
"Ah," cried Jael, like a wounded hare; "they must tell you that!" and she buried her face in her hands.
Now this was a young woman endowed by nature with great composure, and a certain sobriety and weight; so, when she gave way like that, it produced a great effect on those who knew her.
Grace sighed, and was distressed. But there was no help for it now.
She awaited Jael"s reply, and Jael could not speak for some time. She conquered her agitation, however, at last, and said, in a low voice, "Suppose you had a sister, whom you loved dearly--and then you had a quarrel with her, and neither of you much to blame, the fault lay with a third person; and suppose you came home suddenly and found that sister had left England in trouble, and gone to the other end of the world--would not that cut you to the heart?"
"Indeed it would. How correctly you speak. Now who has been teaching you?"
"Mrs. Little."
"Ah!"
"You HAVE a father. Suppose you left him for a month, and then came back and found him dead and buried--think of that--buried!"
"Poor girl!"
"And all this to fall on a poor creature just off a sick-bed, and scarcely right in her head. When I found poor Mr. Henry was dead, and you at death"s door, I crawled home for comfort, and there I found desolation: my sister gone across the sea, my father in the churchyard.
I wandered about all night, with my heavy heart and distraught brain, and at last they found me in the river. They may say I threw myself in, but it is my belief I swooned away and fell in. I wouldn"t swear, though, for I remember nothing of it. What does it prove against me?"
"Not much, indeed, by itself. But they all say you were shut up with him for hours."
"And that is true; ten hours, every day. He was at war with these trades, and his own workmen had betrayed him. He knew I was as strong as a man at some kinds of work--of course I can"t strike blows, and hurt people like a man--so he asked me, would I help him grind saws with his machine on the sly--clandestinely, I mean. Well, I did, and very easy work it was--child"s play to me that had wrought on a farm. He gave me six pounds a week for it. That"s all the harm we did together; and, as for what we said, let me tell you a first-rate workman, like poor Mr.
Henry, works very silently; that is where they beat us women. I am sure we often ground a dozen saws, and not a word, except upon the business.
When we did talk, it was sure to be about you. Poor lad, the very last time we wrought together, I mind he said, "Well done, Jael, that"s good work; it brings me an inch nearer HER." And I said, All the better, and I"d give him another hour or two every day if he liked. That very evening I took him his tea at seven o"clock. He was writing letters; one was to you. He was just addressing it. "Good-night, Jael," said he. "You have been a good friend to her and me.""
"Oh! did he say that? What became of that letter?"
"Upon my soul, he did; ay, and it was his last word to me in this world.
But you are not of his mind, it seems. The people in the factory! I know they used to say we were sweethearts. You can"t wonder at that; they didn"t know about you, nor any of our secrets; and, of course, vulgar folk like them could not guess the sort of affection I had for poor Mr.
Henry; but a lady like you should not go by their lights. Besides, I was always open with you. Once I had a different feeling for him: did I hide it from you? When I found he loved you, I set to work to cure myself. I did cure myself before your very eyes; and, after that, you ought to be ashamed of yourself to go and doubt me. There, now, I have made her cry."
Her own voice faltered a moment, and she said, with gentle dignity, "Well, I forgive you, for old kindness past; but I shall not sleep under this roof now. G.o.d bless you, and give you many happy days yet with this gentleman you are going to marry. Farewell."
She was actually going; but Grace caught her by the arm. "No, no, you shall not leave me so."
"Ay, but I will." And Jael"s eyes, so mild in general, began to sparkle with anger, at being detained against her will; but, generous to the last, she made no use of her great strength to get clear from Grace.
"You will not go, if you are the woman you were. I believe your words, I believe your honest face, I implore your forgiveness. I am the most miserable creature in this world. Pray do not abandon me."
This appeal, made with piteous gestures and streaming eyes, overpowered Jael Dence, and soon they were seated, rocking together, and Grace pouring out her heart.
Jael then learned, to her dismay, that Grace"s belief in Henry"s falsehood was a main cause of this sudden marriage. Had she believed her Henry true, she would have mourned him, as a widow, two years at least.
The unhappy young lady lamented her precipitation, and the idea of marrying Mr. Coventry to-morrow became odious to her. She asked Jael wildly whether she should not be justified in putting an end to her life.
Jael consoled her all she could; and, at her request, slept in the same bed with her. Indeed she was afraid to leave her; for she was wild at times, and said she would prefer to be married to that dead hand people said was at the Town hall, and then thrown into one grave with it.
"That"s the bridal I long for," said she.
In the morning she was calmer, and told Jael she thought she was doing right.
"I shall be neither more nor less wretched for marrying this poor man,"
said she: "and I shall make two people happy; two people that deserve the sacrifice I make."
So, after all, the victim went calmly.
Early in the morning came a letter from Dr. Fynes. He was confined by gout, and sorry to say the ceremony he had hoped to perform must be done by his curate.
Now this curate was quite a stranger to Grace, and indeed to most people in Hillsborough. Dr. Fynes himself knew nothing about him except that he had come in answer to his inquiry for a curate, had brought good letters of recommendation, and had shown himself acquainted with the learned doctor"s notes to Apollonius Rhodius; on which several grounds the doctor, who was himself a better scholar than a priest, had made him his curate, and had heard no complaints, except from a few puritanical souls. These he looked on as barbarians, and had calmly ignored them and their prejudices ever since he transferred his library from St. John"s College, Cambridge, to St. Peter"s Rectory, and that was thirty years ago.
This sudden subst.i.tute of an utter stranger for Dr. Fynes afflicted Grace Carden not a little, and her wedding-day began with a tear or two on that account. But, strange as it may appear, she lived to alter her mind, and to thank and bless Mr. Beresford for taking her old friend"s place on that great occasion.
But while the bride dressed for church, and her bridemaids and friends drove up, events were taking place to deal with which I must retrograde a step.
Jael Dence having gone to Woodbine Villa, Mrs. Little and her brother dined tete-a-tete; and the first question she asked was, "Why where is Jael?"
"Don"t you know? gone to Woodbine Villa. The wedding is to-morrow."
"What, my Jael gone to that girl"s wedding!" And her eyes flashed with fire.