Presently there was a knock at the door, and Mary went to open it. The servant whispered, and she returned at once.
"Mr. Meynell is here," she said, hesitating. "You will let me send him away?"
Alice Puttenham opened her eyes.
"I can"t see him. But please--give him some tea. He"ll have walked--from Markborough."
Mary prepared to obey.
"I"ll come back afterward."
Alice roused herself further.
"No--there is the meeting afterward. You said you were going."
"I"d rather come back to you."
"No, dear--no. I"m--I"m better alone. Good night, kind angel. It"s nothing"--she raised herself in the chair--"only bad nights! I"ll go to bed--that"ll be best. Go down--give him tea. And Mrs. Flaxman"s going with you?"
"No. Mother said she wished to go," said Mary, slowly. "She and I were to meet in the village."
Alice nodded feebly, too weak to show the astonishment she felt.
"Just time. The meeting is at seven."
Then with a sudden movement--"Hester!--is she gone?"
"I met her and the maid--in the village--as I came in."
A silence--till Alice roused herself again--"Go dear, don"t miss the meeting. I--I want you to be there. Good night."
And she gently pushed the girl from her, putting up her pale lips to be kissed, and asking that the little parlour-maid should be sent to help her undress.
Mary went unwillingly. She gave Miss Puttenham"s message to the maid, and when the girl had gone up to her mistress she lingered a moment at the foot of the stairs, her hands lightly clasped on her breast, as though to quiet the stir within.
Meynell, expecting to see the lady of the house, could not restrain the start of surprise and joy with which he turned toward the incomer. He took her hand in his--pressing it involuntarily. But it slipped away, and Mary explained with her soft composure why she was there alone--that Miss Puttenham was suffering from a succession of bad nights and was keeping her room--that she sent word the Rector must please rest a little before going home, and allow Mary to give him tea.
Meynell sank obediently into a chair by the open window, and Mary ministered to him. The lines of his strong worn face relaxed. His look returned to her again and again, wistfully, involuntarily; yet not so as to cause her embarra.s.sment.
She was dressed in some thin gray stuff that singularly became her; and with the gray dress she wore a collar or ruffle of soft white that gave it a slight ascetic touch. But the tumbling red-gold of the hair, the frank dignity of expression, belonged to no mere cloistered maid.
Meynell heard the news of Miss Puttenham"s collapse with a sigh--checked at birth. He asked few questions about it; so Mary reflected afterward.
He would come in again on the morrow, he said, to inquire for her. Then, with some abruptness, he asked whether Hester had been much seen at the cottage during the preceding week.
Mary reported that she had been in and out as usual, and seemed reconciled to the prospect of Paris.
"Are you--is Miss Puttenham sure that she hasn"t still been meeting that man?"
Mary turned a startled look upon him.
"I thought he had gone away?"
"There may be a stratagem in that. I have been keeping what watch I could--but at this time--what use am I?"
The Rector threw himself back wearily in his chair, his hands behind his head. Mary was conscious of some deep throb of feeling that must not come to words. Even since she had known it the face had grown older--the lines deeper--the eyes finer. She stooped forward a little.
"It is hard that you should have this anxiety too. Oh! but I _hope_ there is no need!"
He raised himself again with energy.
"There is always need with Hester. Oh! don"t suppose I have forgotten her! I have written to that fellow, my cousin. I went, indeed, to see him the day before yesterday, but the servants at Sandford declared he had gone to town, and they were packing up to follow. Lady Fox-Wilton and Miss Alice here have been keeping a close eye on Hester herself, I know; but if she chose, she could elude us all!"
"She couldn"t give such pain--such trouble!" cried Mary indignantly.
The Rector shook his head sadly. Then he looked at his companion.
"Has she made a friend of you? I wish she would."
"Oh! she doesn"t take any account of me," said Mary, laughing. "She is quite kind to me--she tells me when she thinks my frock is hideous--or my hat"s impossible--or she corrects my French accent. She is quite kind, but she would no more think of taking advice from me than from the sofa-cushion."
Meynell shrugged his shoulders.
"She has no b.u.mp of respect--never had!" and he began to give a half humorous account of the troubles and storms of Hester"s bringing up. "I often ask myself whether we haven"t all--whether I, in particular, haven"t been a first-cla.s.s bungler and blundered all through with regard to Hester. Did we choose the wrong governesses? They seemed most estimable people. Did we thwart her unnecessarily? I can"t remember a time when she didn"t have everything she wanted!"
"She didn"t get on very well with her father?" suggested Mary timidly.
Meynell made a sudden movement, and did not answer for a moment.
"Sir Ralph and she were always at cross-purposes," he said at last. "But he was kind to her--according to his lights; and--he said some very sound and touching things to me about her--on his death-bed."
There was a short silence. Meynell had covered his eyes with his hand.
Mary was at a loss how to continue the conversation, when he resumed:
"I wonder if you will understand how strangely this anxiety weighs upon me--just now."
"Just now?"
"Here am I preaching to others," he said slowly, "leading what people call a religious movement, and this homely elementary task seems to be all going wrong. I don"t seem to be able to protect this child confided to me."
"Oh, but you will protect her!" cried Mary, "you will! She mayn"t seem to give way--when you talk to her; but she has said things to me--to my mother too--"
"That shows her heart isn"t all adamant? Well, well!--you"re a comforter, but--"
"I mean that she knows--I"m sure she does--what you"ve done for her--how you"ve cared for her," said Mary, stammering a little.
"I have done nothing but my plainest, simplest duty. I have made innumerable mistakes; and if I fail with her, it"s quite clear that I"m not fit to teach or lead anybody."