There was the Lady Blanche Mortlake in the splendor of her young womanhood, beyond a doubt. Gone were all traces of her spiritual childhood, except, perhaps, in the shadows of the mouth; but more than fulfilled were the promises of her mind. a.s.suredly, the woman had been as brilliant and gifted as she had been restless and pa.s.sionate. She wore her very pearls with arrogance, her very hands were tense with eager life, her whole being breathed mutiny.
Orth turned abruptly to Blanche, who had transferred her attention to the picture.
"What a tragedy is there!" he exclaimed, with a fierce attempt at lightness. "Think of a woman having all that pent up within her two centuries ago! And at the mercy of a stupid family, no doubt, and a still stupider husband. No wonder--To-day, a woman like that might not be a model for all the virtues, but she certainly would use her gifts and become famous, the while living her life too fully to have any place in it for yeomen and such, or even for the trivial business of breaking hearts." He put his finger under Blanche"s chin, and raised her face, but he could not compel her gaze. "You are the exact image of that little girl," he said, "except that you are even purer and finer. She had no chance, none whatever. You live in the woman"s age. Your opportunities will be infinite. I shall see to it that they are. What you wish to be you shall be. There will be no pent-up energies here to burst out into disaster for yourself and others. You shall be trained to self-control--that is, if you ever develop self-will, dear child--every faculty shall be educated, every school of life you desire knowledge through shall be opened to you. You shall become that finest flower of civilization, a woman who knows how to use her independence."
She raised her eyes slowly, and gave him a look which stirred the roots of sensation--a long look of unspeakable melancholy. Her chest rose once; then she set her lips tightly, and dropped her eyes.
"What do you mean?" he cried, roughly, for his soul was chattering.
"Is--it--do you--?" He dared not go too far, and concluded lamely, "You mean you fear that your mother will not give you to me when she goes--you have divined that I wish to adopt you? Answer me, will you?"
But she only lowered her head and turned away, and he, fearing to frighten or repel her, apologized for his abruptness, restored the outer picture to its place, and led her from the gallery.
He sent her at once to the nursery, and when she came down to luncheon and took her place at his right hand, she was as natural and childlike as ever. For some days he restrained his curiosity, but one evening, as they were sitting before the fire in the hall listening to the storm, and just after he had told her the story of the erl-king, he took her on his knee and asked her gently if she would not tell him what had been in her thoughts when he had drawn her brilliant future. Again her face turned gray, and she dropped her eyes.
"I cannot," she said. "I--perhaps--I don"t know."
"Was it what I suggested?"
She shook her head, then looked at him with a shrinking appeal which forced him to drop the subject.
He went the next day alone to the gallery, and looked long at the portrait of the woman. She stirred no response in him. Nor could he feel that the woman of Blanche"s future would stir the man in him. The paternal was all he had to give, but that was hers forever.
He went out into the park and found Blanche digging in her garden, very dirty and absorbed. The next afternoon, however, entering the hall noiselessly, he saw her sitting in her big chair, gazing out into nothing visible, her whole face settled in melancholy. He asked her if she were ill, and she recalled herself at once, but confessed to feeling tired. Soon after this he noticed that she lingered longer in the comfortable depths of her chair, and seldom went out, except with himself. She insisted that she was quite well, but after he had surprised her again looking as sad as if she had renounced every joy of childhood, he summoned from London a doctor renowned for his success with children.
The scientist questioned and examined her. When she had left the room he shrugged his shoulders.
"She might have been born with ten years of life in her, or she might grow up into a buxom woman," he said. "I confess I cannot tell. She appears to be sound enough, but I have no X-rays in my eyes, and for all I know she may be on the verge of decay. She certainly has the look of those who die young. I have never seen so spiritual a child. But I can put my finger on nothing. Keep her out-of-doors, don"t give her sweets, and don"t let her catch anything if you can help it."
Orth and the child spent the long warm days of summer under the trees of the park, or driving in the quiet lanes. Guests were unbidden, and his pen was idle. All that was human in him had gone out to Blanche. He loved her, and she was a perpetual delight to him. The rest of the world received the large measure of his indifference. There was no further change in her, and apprehension slept and let him sleep. He had persuaded Mrs. Root to remain in England for a year. He sent her theatre tickets every week, and placed a horse and phaeton at her disposal. She was enjoying herself and seeing less and less of Blanche. He took the child to Bournemouth for a fortnight, and again to Scotland, both of which outings benefited as much as they pleased her. She had begun to tyrannize over him amiably, and she carried herself quite royally. But she was always sweet and truthful, and these qualities, combined with that something in the depths of her mind which defied his explorations, held him captive. She was devoted to him, and cared for no other companion, although she was demonstrative to her mother when they met.
It was in the tenth month of this idyl of the lonely man and the lonely child that Mrs. Root flurriedly entered the library of Chillingsworth, where Orth happened to be alone.
"Oh, sir," she exclaimed, "I must go home. My daughter Grace writes me--she should have done it before--that the boys are not behaving as well as they should--she didn"t tell me, as I was having such a good time she just hated to worry me--Heaven knows I"ve had enough worry--but now I must go--I just couldn"t stay--boys are an awful responsibility--girls ain"t a circ.u.mstance to them, although mine are a handful sometimes."
Orth had written about too many women to interrupt the flow. He let her talk until she paused to recuperate her forces. Then he said quietly:
"I am sorry this has come so suddenly, for it forces me to broach a subject at once which I would rather have postponed until the idea had taken possession of you by degrees--"
"I know what it is you want to say, sir," she broke in, "and I"ve reproached myself that I haven"t warned you before, but I didn"t like to be the one to speak first. You want Blanche--of course, I couldn"t help seeing that; but I can"t let her go, sir, indeed, I can"t."
"Yes," he said, firmly, "I want to adopt Blanche, and I hardly think you can refuse, for you must know how greatly it will be to her advantage.
She is a wonderful child; you have never been blind to that; she should have every opportunity, not only of money, but of a.s.sociation. If I adopt her legally, I shall, of course, make her my heir, and--there is no reason why she should not grow up as great a lady as any in England."
The poor woman turned white, and burst into tears. "I"ve sat up nights and nights, struggling," she said, when she could speak. "That, and missing her. I couldn"t stand in her light, and I let her stay. I know I oughtn"t to, now--I mean, stand in her light--but, sir, she is dearer than all the others put together."
"Then live here in England--at least, for some years longer. I will gladly relieve your children of your support, and you can see Blanche as often as you choose."
"I can"t do that, sir. After all, she is only one, and there are six others. I can"t desert them. They all need me, if only to keep them together--three girls unmarried and out in the world, and three boys just a little inclined to be wild. There is another point, sir--I don"t exactly know how to say it."
"Well?" asked Orth, kindly. This American woman thought him the ideal gentleman, although the mistress of the estate on which she visited called him a boor and a sn.o.b.
"It is--well--you must know--you can imagine--that her brothers and sisters just worship Blanche. They save their dimes to buy her everything she wants--or used to want. Heaven knows what will satisfy her now, although I can"t see that she"s one bit spoiled. But she"s just like a religion to them; they"re not much on church. I"ll tell you, sir, what I couldn"t say to any one else, not even to these relations who"ve been so kind to me--but there"s wildness, just a streak, in all my children, and I believe, I know, it"s Blanche that keeps them straight.
My girls get bitter, sometimes; work all the week and little fun, not caring for common men and no chance to marry gentlemen; and sometimes they break out and talk dreadful; then, when they"re over it, they say they"ll live for Blanche--they"ve said it over and over, and they mean it. Every sacrifice they"ve made for her--and they"ve made many--has done them good. It isn"t that Blanche ever says a word of the preachy sort, or has anything of the Sunday-school child about her, or even tries to smooth them down when they"re excited. It"s just herself. The only thing she ever does is sometimes to draw herself up and look scornful, and that nearly kills them. Little as she is, they"re crazy about having her respect. I"ve grown superst.i.tious about her. Until she came I used to get frightened, terribly, sometimes, and I believe she came for that. So--you see! I know Blanche is too fine for us and ought to have the best; but, then, they are to be considered, too. They have their rights, and they"ve got much more good than bad in them. I don"t know! I don"t know! It"s kept me awake many nights."
Orth rose abruptly. "Perhaps you will take some further time to think it over," he said. "You can stay a few weeks longer--the matter cannot be so pressing as that."
The woman rose. "I"ve thought this," she said; "let Blanche decide. I believe she knows more than any of us. I believe that whichever way she decided would be right. I won"t say anything to her, so you won"t think I"m working on her feelings; and I can trust you. But she"ll know."
"Why do you think that?" asked Orth, sharply. "There is nothing uncanny about the child. She is not yet seven years old. Why should you place such a responsibility upon her?"
"Do you think she"s like other children?"
"I know nothing of other children."
"I do, sir. I"ve raised six. And I"ve seen hundreds of others. I never was one to be a fool about my own, but Blanche isn"t like any other child living--I"m certain of it."
"What _do_ you think?"
And the woman answered, according to her lights: "I think she"s an angel, and came to us because we needed her."
"And I think she is Blanche Mortlake working out the last of her salvation," thought the author; but he made no reply, and was alone in a moment.
It was several days before he spoke to Blanche, and then, one morning, when she was sitting on her mat on the lawn with the light full upon her, he told her abruptly that her mother must return home.
To his surprise, but unutterable delight, she burst into tears and flung herself into his arms.
"You need not leave me," he said, when he could find his own voice. "You can stay here always and be my little girl. It all rests with you."
"I can"t stay," she sobbed. "I can"t!"
"And that is what made you so sad once or twice?" he asked, with a double eagerness.
She made no reply.
"Oh!" he said, pa.s.sionately, "give me your confidence, Blanche. You are the only breathing thing that I love."
"If I could I would," she said. "But I don"t know--not quite."
"How much do you know?"
But she sobbed again and would not answer. He dared not risk too much.
After all, the physical barrier between the past and the present was very young.
"Well, well, then, we will talk about the other matter. I will not pretend to disguise the fact that your mother is distressed at the idea of parting from you, and thinks it would be as sad for your brothers and sisters, whom she says you influence for their good. Do you think that you do?"
"Yes."
"How do you know this?"