"Holyhead, 12 o"clock.
"Have thought better of it. It would be absurd to meet him. I start for town at once, and shall be at Boulogne to-morrow.
"Dudley."
She sat pondering over these words till the paper became blurred and blotted by her tears as they rolled heavily along her cheeks, and dropped with a distinct sound. She was not conscious that she wept.
It was not grief that moved her; it was the blankness of despair,--the sense of hopelessness that comes over the heart when life no longer offers a plan or a project, but presents a weariful road to be travelled, uncheered and dreary.
Till she had read these lines it never occurred to her that such a line of action was possible. But now that she saw them there before her, her whole astonishment was that she had not antic.i.p.ated this conduct on his part. "I might have guessed it; I might have been sure of it," muttered she. "The interval was too long; there were twelve mortal hours for reflection. Cowards think acutely,--at least, they say that in their calculations they embrace more casualties than brave men. And so he has "thought better of it,"--a strange phrase. "Absurd to meet him!" but not absurd to run away. How oddly men reason when they are terrified! And so my great scheme has failed, all for want of a little courage, which I could have supplied, if called on; and now comes my hour of defeat, if not worse,--my hour of exposure. I am not brave enough to confront it.
I must leave this; but where to go is the question. I suppose Boulogne, since it is there I shall join my husband;" and she laughed hysterically as she said it.
CHAPTER XXVI. A FAMILY PARTY
While the interview between Sir Brook and the Chief Baron lasted,--and it was a long time,--the anxiety of those below-stairs was great to know how matters were proceeding. Had the two old men, who differed so strongly in many respects, found out that there was that in each which could command the respect and esteem of the other, and had they gained that common ground where it was certain there were many things they would agree upon?
"I should say," cried Beattie, "they have become excellent friends before this. The Chief reads men quickly, and Fossbrooke"s nature is written in a fine bold hand, easy to read and impossible to mistake."
"There, there," burst in Haire,--"they are laughing, and laughing heartily too. It does me good to hear the Chief"s laugh."
Lendrick looked gratefully at the old man whose devotion was so unvarying. "Here comes Cheetor,--what has he to say?"
"My Lord will dine below-stairs to-day, gentlemen," said the butler; "he hopes you have no engagements which will prevent your meeting him at dinner."
"If we had, we "d soon throw them over," burst out Haire. "This is the pleasantest news I have heard this half-year."
"Fossbrooke has done it. I knew he would," said Beattie; "he"s just the man to suit your father, Tom. While the Chief can talk of events, Fossbrooke knows people, and they are sure to make capital company for each other."
"There"s another laugh! Oh, if one only could hear him now," said Haire; "he must be in prime heart this morning. I wonder if Sir Brook will remember the good things he is saying."
"I "m not quite so sure about this notion of dining below-stairs," said Beattie, cautiously; "he may be over-taxing his strength."
"Let him alone, Beattie; leave him to himself," said Haire. "No man ever knew how to make his will his ally as he does. He told me so himself."
"And in these words?" said Beattie, slyly.
"Yes, in those very words."
"Why, Haire, you are almost as useful to him as Bozzy was to Johnson."
Haire only caught the last name, and, thinking it referred to a judge on the Irish bench, cried out, "Don"t compare him with Johnston, sir; you might as well liken him to _me!_"
"I must go and find Lucy," said Lendrick. "I think she ought to go and show Mrs. Sewell how anxious we all are to prove our respect and regard for her in this unhappy moment; the poor thing will need it."
"She has gone away already. She has removed to Lady Lendrick"s house in Merrion Square; and I think very wisely," said Beattie.
"There "s some Burgundy below,--Chambertin, I think it is,--and Cheetor won"t know where to find it," said Haire. "I"ll go down to the cellar myself; the Chief will be charmed to see it on the table."
"So shall I," chimed in Beattie. "It is ten years or more since I saw a bottle of it, and I half feared it had been finished."
"You are wrong," broke in Haire. "It will be nineteen years on the 10th of June next. I "ll tell you the occasion. It was when your father, Tom, had given up the Solicitor-Generalship, and none of us knew who was going to be made Chief Baron. Plunkett was dining here that day, and when he tasted the Burgundy he said, "This deserves a toast, gentlemen," said he. "I cannot ask you to drink to the health of the Solicitor-General, for I believe there is no Solicitor-General; nor can I ask you to pledge the Chief Baron of the Exchequer, for I believe there is no Chief Baron; but I can give you a toast about which there can be no mistake nor misgiving,--I give you the ornament of the Irish Bar." I think, I hear the cheers yet. The servants caught them up, too, in the hall, and the house rang with a hip-hurrah till it trembled."
"Well done, Bozzy!" said Beattie. "I"m glad that my want of memory should have recalled so glorious a recollection."
At last Fossbrooke"s heavy tread was heard descending the stairs, and they all rushed to the door to meet him.
"It is all right!" cried he. "The Chief Baron has taken the whole event in an admirable spirit, and, like a truly generous man, he dwells on every proof of regard and esteem that has been shown him, and forgets the wrongs that others would have done him."
"The shock, then, did not harm him?" asked Lendrick, eagerly.
"Far from it; he said he felt revived and renovated. Yes, Beattie, he told me I had done him more good than all your phials. His phrase was, "_Your_ bitters, sir, leave no bad flavor behind them." I am proud to think I made a favorable impression upon him; for he permitted me not only to state my own views, but to correct some of his. He agrees now to everything. He even went so far as to say that he will employ his first half-hour of strength in writing to Lady Trafford; and he charges you, Beattie, to invite Lionel Trafford to come and pa.s.s some days here."
"_Viva!_" cried Haire; "this is grand news."
"He asks, also, if Tom could not come over for the wedding, which he trusts may not be long deferred,--as he said with a laugh, "At _my_ time of life, Sir Brook, it is best to leave as little as possible to _Nisi Prius._""
"You must tell me all these again, Sir Brook, or I shall inevitably forget them," whispered Haire in his ear.
"And shall I tell you, Lendrick, what I liked best in all I saw of him?"
said Sir Brook, as he slipped his arm within the other"s, and drew him towards a window. "It was the way he said to me, as I rose to leave the room, "One word more, Sir Brook. We are all very happy, and, in consequence, very selfish. Let us not forget that there is one sad heart here,--that there is one upstairs there who can take no part in all this joy. What shall we, what can we, do for her?" I knew whom he meant at once,--poor Mrs. Sewell; and I was glad to tell him that I had already thought of her. "She will join her husband," said I, "and I will take care that they have wherewithal to live on."
""I must share in whatever you do for her, Sir Brook," said your father; "she has many attractive qualities; she has some lovable ones. Who is to say what such a nature might not have been, if spared the contamination of such a husband?"
"I"m afraid I shocked, if I did not actually hurt him, by the way I grasped his hands in my grat.i.tude for this speech. I know I said, "G.o.d bless you for those words!" and I hurried out of the room."
"Ah, _you_ know him, sir!--_you_ read him aright! And how few there are who do it!" cried Haire, warmly.
The old Judge was too weak to appear in the drawing-room; but when the company entered the dining-room, they found him seated at the table, and, though pale and wasted, with a bright eye and a clear, fresh look.
"I declare," said he, as they took their places, "this repays one for illness. No, Lucy,--opposite me, my dear. Yes, Tom, of course; that is your place,--your old place;" and he smiled benignly as he said it. "Is there not a place too many, Lucy?"
"Yes, grandpapa. It was for Mrs. Sewell, but she sent me a line to say she had promised Lady Lendrick to dine with her."
The old Chief"s eyes met Fossbrooke"s, and in the glances they exchanged there was much meaning.
"I cannot eat, Sir Brook, till we have had a gla.s.s of wine together.
Beattie may look as reproachfully as he likes, but it shall be a b.u.mper.
This old room has great traditions," he went on. "Curran and Avonmore and Parsons, and others scarce their inferiors, held their tournaments here."
"I have my doubts if they had a happier party round the board than we have to-night," said Haire.
"We only want Tom," said Dr. Lendrick. "If we had poor Tom with us, it would be perfect."
"I think I know of another too," whispered Beattie in Lucy"s ear. "Don"t you?"
"What soft nonsense is Beattie saying, Lucy? It has made you blush,"
said the Chief. "It was all my fault, child, to have placed you in such bad company. I ought to have had you at my side here; but I wanted to look at you."