They see him in the far distances of the sunlit hills, in the mysteries of the unfathomed ocean, and their ears are opened to the message that he brings; for they know that in all beauty--be it of earth, or sea, or sky, or human souls--there is something indestructible, immortal, and that those who have once looked upon it shall never see death. Such of us as make our dwelling-place in the world of the three dimensions, grow weary of the sameness and the staleness of it all, and drearily echo the Preacher"s _Vanitas vanitatum_; but such of us as have entered into the fourth dimension, and have caught glimpses of the ideal which is concealed in all reality, do not trouble ourselves over the flight of time, for we know we have eternity before us; and so we are content to wait patiently and joyfully, in sure and certain hope of that better thing which, without us, can not be made perfect.
It was with pride and pleasure that Mr. and Mrs. Bateson received their guests. The double announcement that Christopher was the lost heir of the Farringdons (for Elisabeth had insisted on his making this known), and that he was about to marry Elisabeth, had given great delight all through Sedgehill. The Osierfield people were proud of Elisabeth, but they had learned to love Christopher; they had heard of her glory from afar, but they had been eye-witnesses of the uprightness and unselfishness and n.o.bility of his life; and, on the whole, he was more popular than she. Elisabeth was quite conscious of this; and--what was more--she was glad of it. She, who had so loved popularity and admiration, now wanted people to think more of Christopher than of her.
Once she had gloried in the thought that George Farringdon"s son would never fill her place in the hearts of the people of the Osierfield; now her greatest happiness lay in the fact that he filled it more completely than she could ever have done, and that at Sedgehill she would always be second to him.
"Deary me, but it"s like old times to see Master Christopher and Miss Elisabeth having tea with us again," exclaimed Mrs. Bateson, after Caleb had asked a blessing; "and it seems but yesterday, Mrs. Hankey, that they were here talking over Mrs. Perkins"s wedding--your niece Susan as was--with Master Christopher in knickers, and Miss Elisabeth"s hair down."
Mrs. Hankey sighed her old sigh. "So it does, Mrs. Bateson--so it does; and yet Susan has just buried her ninth."
"And is she quite well?" asked Elisabeth cheerfully. "I remember all about her wedding, and how immensely interested I was."
"As well as you can expect, miss," replied Mrs. Hankey, "with eight children on earth and one in heaven, and a husband as plays the trombone of an evening. But that"s the worst of marriage; you know what a man is when you marry him, but you haven"t a notion what he"ll be that time next year. He may take to drinking or music for all you know; and then where"s your peace of mind?"
"You are not very encouraging," laughed Elisabeth, "considering that I am going to be married at once."
"Well, miss, where"s the use of flattering with vain words, and crying peace where there is no peace, I should like to know? I can only say as I hope you"ll be happy. Some are."
Here Christopher joined in. "You mustn"t discourage Miss Farringdon in that way, or else she"ll be throwing me over; and then whatever will become of me?"
Mrs. Hankey at once tried to make the _amende honorable_; she would not have hurt Christopher"s feelings for worlds, as she--in common with most of the people at Sedgehill--had had practical experience of his kindness in times of sorrow and anxiety. "Not she, sir; Miss Elisabeth"s got too much sense to go throwing anybody over--and especially at her age, when she"s hardly likely to get another beau in a hurry. Don"t you go troubling your mind about that, Master Christopher. You won"t throw over such a nice gentleman as him, will you, miss?"
"Certainly not; though hardly on the grounds which you mention."
"Well, miss, if you"re set on marriage you"re in luck to have got such a pleasant-spoken gentleman as Master Christopher--or I should say, Mr.
Farringdon, begging his pardon. Such a fine complexion as he"s got, and never been married before, nor nothing. For my part I never thought you would get a husband--never; and I"ve often pa.s.sed the remark to Mr. and Mrs. Bateson here. "Mark my words," I said, "Miss Elisabeth Farringdon will remain Elisabeth Farringdon to the end of the chapter; she"s too clever to take the fancy of the menfolk, and too pale. They want something pink and white and silly, men do."
"Some want one thing and some another," chimed in Mrs. Bateson, "and they know what they want, which is more than women-folks do. Why, bless you! girls "ll come telling you that they wouldn"t marry so-and-so, not if he was to crown "em; and the next thing you hear is that they are keeping company with him, and that no woman was ever so happy as them, and that the man is such a piece of perfection that the President of the Conference himself isn"t fit to black his boots."
"You have hit upon a great mystery, Mrs. Bateson," remarked Christopher, "and one which has only of late been revealed to me. I used to think, in my masculine ignorance, that if a woman appeared to dislike a man, she would naturally refuse to marry him; but I am beginning to doubt if I was right."
Mrs. Bateson nodded significantly. "Wait till he asks her; that"s what I say. It"s wonderful what a difference the asking makes. Women think a sight more of a sparrow in the hand than a covey of partridges in the bush; and I don"t blame them for it; it"s but natural that they should."
"A poor thing but mine own," murmured Christopher.
"That"s not the principle at all," Elisabeth contradicted him; "you"ve got hold of quite the wrong end of the stick this time."
"I always do, in order to give you the right one; as in handing you a knife I hold it by the blade. You so thoroughly enjoy getting hold of the right end of a stick, Betty, that I wouldn"t for worlds mar your pleasure by seizing it myself; and your delight reaches high-water-mark when, in addition, you see me fatuously clinging on to the ferrule."
"Never mind what women-folk say about women-folk, Miss Elisabeth," said Caleb Bateson kindly; "they"re no judges. But my missis has the right of it when she says that a man knows what he wants, and in general sticks to it till he gets it. And if ever a man got what he wanted in this world, that man"s our Mr. Christopher."
"You"re right there, Bateson," agreed the master of the Osierfield; and his eyes grew very tender as they rested upon Elisabeth.
"And if he don"t have no objection to cleverness and a pale complexion, who shall gainsay him?" added Mrs. Hankey. "If he"s content, surely it ain"t n.o.body"s business to interfere; even though we may none of us, Miss Elisabeth included, be as young as we was ten years ago."
"And he is quite content, thank you," Christopher hastened to say.
"I think you were right about women not knowing their own minds,"
Elisabeth said to her hostess; "though I am bound to confess it is a little stupid of us. But I believe the root of it is in shyness, and in a sort of fear of the depth of our own feelings."
"I daresay you"re right, miss; and, when all"s said and done, I"d sooner hear a woman abusing a man she really likes, than see her throwing herself at the head of a man as don"t want her. That"s the uptake of all things, to my mind; I can"t abide it." And Mrs. Bateson shook her head in violent disapproval.
Mrs. Hankey now joined in. "I remember my sister Sarah, when she was a girl. There was a man wanted her ever so, and seemed as cut-up as never was when she said no. She didn"t know what to do with him, he was that miserable; and yet she couldn"t bring her mind to have him, because he"d red hair and seven in family, being a widower. So she prayed the Lord to comfort him and give him consolation. And sure enough the Lord did; for within a month from the time as Sarah refused him, he was engaged to Wilhelmina Gregg, our chapel-keeper"s daughter. And then--would you believe it?--Sarah went quite touchy and offended, and couldn"t enjoy her vittles, and wouldn"t wear her best bonnet of a Sunday, and kept saying as the sons of men were lighter than vanity. Which I don"t deny as they are, but that wasn"t the occasion to mention it, Wilhelmina"s marriage being more the answer to prayer, as you may say, than any extra foolishness on the man"s part."
"I should greatly have admired your sister Sarah," said Christopher; "she was so delightfully feminine. And as for the red-headed swain, I have no patience with him. His fickleness was intolerable."
"Bless your heart, Master Christopher!" exclaimed Mrs. Bateson, "men are mostly like that. Why should they waste their time fretting after some young woman as hasn"t got a civil word for them, when there are scores and scores as has?"
Christopher shook his head. "I can"t pretend to say why; that is quite beyond me. I only know that some of them do."
"But they are only the nice exceptions that prove the rule," said Elisabeth, as she and Christopher caught each other"s eye.
"No; it is she who is the nice exception," he replied. "It is only in the case of exceptionally charming young women that such a thing ever occurs; or rather, I should say, in the case of an exceptionally charming young woman."
"My wedding dress will be sent home next week," said Elisabeth to the two matrons; "would you like to come and see it?"
"Indeed, that we should!" they replied simultaneously. Then Mrs. Bateson inquired: "And what is it made of, deary?"
"White satin."
Mrs. Hankey gazed critically at the bride-elect. "White satin is a bit young, it seems to me; and trying, too, to them as haven"t much colour."
Then cheering second thoughts inspired her. "Still, white"s the proper thing for a bride, I don"t deny; and I always say "Do what"s right and proper, and never mind looks." The Lord doesn"t look on the outward appearance, as we all know; and it "ud be a sight better for men if they didn"t, like Master Christopher there; there"d be fewer unhappy marriages, mark my words. Of course, lavender isn"t as trying to the complexion as pure white; no one can say as it is; but to my mind lavender always looks as if you"ve been married before; and it"s no use for folks to look greater fools than they are, as I can see."
"Certainly not," Christopher agreed. "If there is any pretence at all, let it be in the opposite direction, and let us all try to appear wiser than we are!"
"And that"s easy enough for some of us, such as Hankey, for instance,"
added Hankey"s better half. "And there ain"t as much wisdom to look at as you could put on the point of a knife even then."
So the women talked and the men listened--as is the way of men and women all the world over--until tea was finished and it was time for the guests to depart. They left amid a shower of heartfelt congratulations, and loving wishes for the future opening out before them. Just as Elisabeth pa.s.sed through the doorway into the evening sunshine, which was flooding the whole land and turning even the smoke-clouds into windows of agate whereby men caught faint glimmerings of a dim glory as yet to be revealed, she turned and held out her hands once more to her friends. "It is very good to come back to you all, and to dwell among mine own people," she said, her voice thrilling with emotion; "and I am glad that Mrs. Hankey"s prophecy has come true, and that Elisabeth Farringdon will be Elisabeth Farringdon to the end of the chapter."
THE END