Mr Brandon bowed.
"And now," continued the old lady, "I am going to put the case into your hands. The man is, evidently, a good-for-nothing scoundrel, and has probably spent the little money that her miserable father left her. It"s a clear case of desertion, and there should be no trouble at all in getting the divorce."
Mr Brandon looked down upon the floor of the porch, and smiled. This was a pretty case, he thought, to put into his hands. Here was a marriage which was the strongest protection in the promotion of his own plan, and he was asked to annul it. "Very good," thought Mr Brandon, "very good."
And he smiled again. But he was an old-fashioned gentleman, and not used to refuse requests made to him by ladies. "I will look into it, madam,"
said he. "I will look into it, and see what can be done."
"Something must be done," said the old lady; "and the right thing too.
How long do you intend to stay here?"
"I thought of spending the night, madam, as my horse and myself are scarcely in condition to continue our journey to-day."
"Stay as long as you like," said Mrs Keswick. "I turn n.o.body from my doors, even if they belong to the Brandon family. I want you to talk to my niece, and get all you can out of her about this thing, and then you can go to work and blot out this contemptible marriage as soon as possible."
"The first thing," said Mr Brandon, "will be to talk to the lady."
This reply being satisfactory to Mrs Keswick, Uncle Isham was called to take the horse and attend to him, while the master was invited into the house.
Mr Brandon first met Mrs Null at supper time, and her appearance very much pleased him. "It is not likely," he said to himself, "that the man lives who would willingly give up such a charming young creature as this." They were obliged to introduce themselves to each other, as the lady of the house had not yet appeared. After a while Letty, who was in attendance, advised them to sit down as "de light bread an" de batter-bread was gittin" cole."
"We could not think of such a thing as sitting at table before Mrs Keswick arrives," said Mr Brandon.
"Oh, dar"s no knowin" when she"ll come," said the blooming Letty. "She may be h"yar by breakfus time, but dar ain"t n.o.buddy in dis yere worl"
kin tell. She"s down at de bahn now, blowin" up Plez fur gwine to sleep when he was a sh.e.l.lin" de cohnfiel" peas. An" when she"s got froo wid him she"s got a bone to pick wid Uncle Isham "bout de gyardin". "Tain"t no use waitin" fur ole miss. She nebber do come when de bell rings. She come when she git ready, an" not afore."
Mr Brandon now felt quite sure that it was the intention of his hostess not to break bread with one of his family, and so he seated himself, Mrs Null taking the head of the table and pouring out the tea and coffee.
"It has been a long time, madam, since you were in this part of the country," said the old gentleman, as he drew the smoking batter-bread toward him and began to cut it.
"Yes," said Mrs Null, "not since I was a little girl. I suppose you have heard, sir, that Aunt Keswick and my father were on very bad terms, and would not have anything to do with each other?"
"Oh, yes," said Mr Brandon, "I have heard that."
"But my father is not living now, and I am down here again."
"And your husband? He did not accompany you?" said Mr Brandon.
"No," replied Mrs Null, very quickly. "We were both very sorry that it was not possible for him to come with me."
Mr Brandon"s spirits began to rise. This did not look quite like desertion. "I have no doubt you have a very good husband. I am sure you deserve such a one," he said with the air of a father, and the purpose of a lawyer.
"Good!" exclaimed Mrs Null, her eyes sparkling.
"He couldn"t be better if he tried! Will you have sweet milk, or b.u.t.termilk?"
"b.u.t.termilk, if you please," said Mr Brandon. "Of course your aunt was delighted to have you with her again."
"Oh," said Mrs Null, with a laugh, "she was not at home when I arrived, but when she returned nothing could be too good for me. Why, she had been here scarcely half an hour, and hadn"t taken off her sun-bonnet, before she told me I was to marry Junius and we two were to have this farm."
"A very pleasant plan, truly," said Mr Brandon.
"But then, you see," continued the young girl, "Mr Null stood dreadfully in the way of such an arrangement; and when Aunt Keswick heard about him you can"t imagine what a change came over her."
"Oh, yes I can; yes I can," exclaimed Mr Brandon--"I can imagine it very well."
"But she didn"t give up a bit," said Mrs Null. "I don"t think she ever does give up."
"You are right, there," said Mr Brandon, "quite right. But what does she propose to do?"
"I don"t know, I"m sure; but she said I had no right to marry without the consent of my surviving relatives, and that she was going to look into it. I can"t think what she means by that."
Mr Brandon made no immediate answer. He gave Mrs Null some damson preserves, and he took some himself, and then he helped himself to a great hot roll, from a plate that Letty had just brought in, and carefully opening it he b.u.t.tered it on the inside, and covered one-half of it with the damson preserves. This he began slowly to eat, drinking at times from the foaming gla.s.s of b.u.t.termilk at the side of his plate, from which the coffee-cup had been removed. When he had finished the half roll he again spoke. "I think, my dear young lady, that your aunt is desirous of having your marriage set aside."
"How can she do that?" exclaimed the girl, her face flushing. "Has she been talking to you about it?"
"I cannot deny that she has spoken to me on the subject," he answered, "I being a lawyer. But I will say to you, in strict confidence, please, that if you and your husband are sincerely attached to each other there is nothing on earth she can do to separate you."
"Attached!" exclaimed Mrs Null. "It would be impossible for us to be more attached than we are. We never have had the slightest difference, even of opinion, since our wedding day. Why, I believe that we are more like one person than any married couple in the world."
"I am very glad to hear it," said Mr Brandon, finishing his b.u.t.termilk--"very glad indeed. And, feeling as you do, I am certain that nothing your aunt can say will make any impression on you in regard to seeking a divorce."
"I should think not!" said Mrs Null, sitting up very straight. "Divorce indeed!"
"I fully uphold you in the stand you have taken," said Mr Brandon. "But I beg you will not mention this conversation to your aunt. It would only annoy her. Is your cousin expected here shortly?"
"I believe so," she said. "To be sure, my aunt left the house the last time he came, but she has his address, and has written for him. I think she wants us to get acquainted as soon as possible, so that no time will be lost in marrying us after poor Mr Null is disposed of."
"Very good, very good," said Mr Brandon with a laugh. "And now, my dear young friend, I want to give you a piece of advice. Stay here as long as you can. Your aunt will soon perceive the absurdity of her ideas in regard to your husband, and will cease to annoy you. Make a friend of your cousin Junius, whom I know and respect highly; and he certainly will be of advantage to you. Above all things, endeavor to thoroughly reconcile him and Mrs Keswick, so that she will cease to oppose his wishes, and to interfere with his future fortune. If you can bring back good feeling between these two, you will be the angel of the family."
"Thank you," said Mrs Null, as they rose from the table.
The next morning, after Mr Brandon and Mrs Null had breakfasted together, the mistress of the house, having apparently finished the performance of the duties which had kept her from the breakfast-table, had some conversation with her visitor. In this he repeated very little of what he had said to the younger lady the night before, but he a.s.sured Mrs Keswick that he had discovered that it would be a very delicate thing to propose to her niece a divorce from her husband, a thing to which she was not at all inclined, as he had found.
"Of course not! of course not!" exclaimed Mrs Keswick. "She can"t be expected to see what a wretched plight she has got herself into by marrying this straggler from n.o.body knows where."
"But, madam," said Mr Brandon, "if you worry her about it, she will leave you, and then all will be at an end. Now, let me advise you as your lawyer. Keep her here as long as you can. Do everything possible to foster friendship and good feeling between her and Junius; and to do this you must forget as far as possible all that has gone by, and be friendly with both of them yourself."
"Humph!" said the widow Keswick. "I didn"t ask you for advice of that sort."
"It is all a part of the successful working of the case, madam," said Mr Brandon. "A thorough good feeling must be established before anything else can be done."
"I suppose so," said the old lady. "She must learn to like us before she begins to hate him. And how about your niece? Are you going to send her down here to help on in the good feeling?"
"I have not brought my niece into this affair," replied Mr Brandon, with dignity.
"Well, then, see that you don"t," was the widow Keswick"s reply. And the interview terminated.
When Mr Brandon rode away on his good horse Albemarle, he looked at the post of the road gate from which he was lifting the latch by means of the long wooden handle arranged for the convenience of riders, and said to himself: "John Keswick was a good man, but I don"t wonder he came out here and shot himself. It is a great pity though that it wasn"t his wife who did it, instead of him. That would have been a blessing to all of us. But," he added, contemplatively, as he closed the gate, "the people in this world who ought to blow out their brains, never do."