The sea was crooning behind him over the half-buried rocks. He stood again on the brink with his poor worn face turned to the sky. He had come to the end of his reasoning. The tired brain had ceased to grapple with the cruel problem that had so tortured it. He knew now what he would do to help d.i.c.ky. And somehow the doing did not seem hard to him, somehow he did not feel afraid.
One step back and the cliff fell away behind him. Yet for a s.p.a.ce he went neither forward nor back. It was as though he waited for a word of command, some signal for release. The first star was gleaming very far away like a lamp lighted in a distant city. His eyes found it and dwelt upon it with a wistful wonder. He had always loved the stars.
He was not angry or troubled any more. All resentment, all turmoil, had died out of his heart for ever. That strange peace had closed about him again, and the falling night held no terrors. Rather it seemed to spread wings of comfort above him. And always the crooning of the sea was like a voice that softly called him.
It came very suddenly at the last--the sign for which he waited. Someone had begun to mount the cliff-path, and--though he was out of sight--he heard a low, summoning whistle in the darkness. It was d.i.c.ky"s whistle.
He knew it well. d.i.c.ky was coming to look for him.
For a second every pulse--every nerve--leaped to answer that call.
For a second he stood tense while that surging power within him sprang upwards, and in sheer amazing fire of sacrifice consumed the earthly impulse.
Then it was over. His arms went wide to the night. Without a cry, without a tremor, he flung himself backwards over the gra.s.sy edge.
The crooning sea and the overhanging cliff m.u.f.fled the sound of his fall.
And no one heard or saw--save G.o.d Who seeth all.
CHAPTER VIII
THE MESSAGE
From the day that Juliet relinquished her perpetual vigil, the improvement in Vera Fielding was almost uninterrupted. She recovered her strength very slowly, but her progress was marked by a happy certainty that none who saw her could question. She still leaned upon Juliet, but it was her husband alone who could call that deep content into her eyes which was gradually finding a permanent abiding-place in her heart. The nearness of death had done for them what no circ.u.mstance of life had ever accomplished. They had drawn very close together in its shadow, and as they gradually left it behind the tie still held them in a bond that had become sacred to them both. It was as if they had never really known each other till now.
All Vera"s arrogance had vanished in her husband"s presence, just as his curt imperiousness had given place to the winning dominance which he knew so well how to wield. "You"ll do it for me," was one of his pet phrases, and he seldom uttered it in vain. She gave him the joyful sacrifice of love newly-awakened.
"I wonder if we shall go on like this when I"m well again," she said to him on an evening of rose-coloured dusk in early August when he was sitting by her side with her long thin hand in his.
"Like what?" said Edward Fielding.
She smiled at him from her pillow. "Well, spoiling each other in this way. Will you never be overbearing and dictatorial? Shall I never be furious and hateful to you again?"
"I hope not," he said. "In fact, I think not."
He spoke very gravely. She stirred, and in a moment her other hand came out to him also. He clasped it closely. Her eyes were shining softly in the dusk.
"You are--so good to me, Edward--my darling," she said.
His head was bent over her hands. "Don"t!" he muttered huskily.
Her fingers closed on his. "Edward, will you tell me something?" she whispered.
"I don"t know," he said.
"Yes, but I want you to. I"d rather hear it from you. The doctors don"t think I shall ever be fit for much again, do they?"
She spoke steadily, with a certain insistence. He looked up at her sharply, with something of a glare in his eyes.
"You"re not going to die--whatever they say!" he declared in a fierce undertone.
"No--no, of course not!" She spoke soothingly, still smiling at him, for that barely checked ferocity of his sent rapture through her soul.
"Do you suppose I"d be such an idiot as to go and die just when I"m beginning to enjoy life? I"m not the puny heroine of a lachrymose novel. I hope I"ve got more sense. No, dear, what I really meant was--was--am I ever going to be strong enough--woman enough--to give you--what you want so much?"
"Vera--my dear!" He leaned swiftly to her, his arm pillowed her head.
"Do you suppose--do you really suppose--I"d let you jeopardize your sweet life--after this--after this?"
He was holding her closely to him, and though a little spasm of breathlessness went through her she gave herself to him with a pulsing gladness that thrilled her whole being. It was the happiest moment she had ever known.
"Oh, Edward," she said, "do you--do you really feel like that?"
His cheek was against her forehead. He did not speak for a few seconds.
Then, with something of an effort, "Yes," he said. "It"s like that with me now, my dear. I"ve been through--a good deal--these last days. Now I"ve got you back--please G.o.d, I"ll keep you!"
She pressed her face against him. "Ah, but Edward, you know you"ve always wanted--"
"Oh, d.a.m.n my wants!" he broke in impatiently. "I don"t want anything but you now."
She raised her lips to kiss his neck. "That"s the loveliest thing you ever said to me, darling," she said, with a throb in her voice. "I love being an invalid--with you to spoil me. But--if you"ll promise--promise--promise--to love me quite as much--if I get well, I will get well--really well--for your sake."
Again she was panting. He felt it as he held her, and after a moment or two very tenderly he laid her back.
"G.o.d bless you, my dear!" he said. "You needn"t be afraid. I"ve learnt my lesson, and I shan"t forget it."
"The lesson of love!" she murmured, holding his hand against her thumping heart.
"Yes. Juliet began the teaching. A wonderful girl that. She seems to know everything. I wonder where she learnt it."
"She is wonderful," Vera agreed thoughtfully. "I sometimes think she has had a hard life. She says so little about herself."
"She has moved among a fairly rapid lot," observed the squire. "Lord Saltash is intimate enough to call her by her Christian name."
"Does he ever talk about her?" asked Vera, interested.
"Not much," said the squire.
"You think he is fond of her at all?"
"I don"t know. He doesn"t see much of her. I haven"t quite got his measure yet. He isn"t the sort of man I thought he was anyway."
"Then it wasn"t true about Lady Joanna Farringmore?" questioned Vera.
Fielding hesitated. "I don"t know," he said again. "I have a suspicion that that report was not entirely unfounded. But however that may be, she isn"t with him now."
"You don"t think she is--on board the yacht?" suggested Vera.
"No, I don"t. The yacht is being done up for a voyage. A beautiful boat from all accounts. He is very proud of her. I am to go over her with him one of these days, when she"s ready--which will be soon."