When are you going away?"
"I go with Sir Frank Hale, miss. I am going to be the maid of his sister."
"I heard Sir Frank was leaving Colester," said Sybil, coldly, "and I think it is the best thing he can do. When does he go, Mrs Jeal?"
"In a week, miss. I have got a good situation, miss, and I do not want to be burdened with Pearl. She must go to an asylum."
"No, no! I shall take charge of her myself," said Sybil. "You leave her to me, Mrs Jeal, and I"ll look after her."
"Well, I might, miss; I"ll see." Then, after a pause, Mrs Jeal asked, "About that gentleman at your place, miss--will he stay long?"
"Only till the end of the week. I suppose you mean Lord Kilspindie?"
Mrs Jeal"s wicked eyes blazed. "Yes, I mean him," she said, and gave an unpleasant laugh. "Oh! so he goes at the end of the week! Well, miss, before I take up my situation with Miss Hale, I"ll come and see you about Pearl. If you could take her I should be glad, but you"ll find her a nuisance."
"I don"t think so," said Sybil, coldly. "When will you call?"
"After the departure of Lord Kilspindie," said Mrs Jeal, with another wicked look, and went into the house. Sybil departed, wondering why the woman had asked about Lord Kilspindie, and why she seemed afraid to meet him. Had she been clever enough, she might have guessed the truth. As it was the matter pa.s.sed out of her mind.
After this there were some very pleasant evenings at the Vicarage. Leo felt almost happy, in spite of his troubles. He could not as yet bring himself to tell Sybil that he could never marry her. Besides, he was hoping against hope that Raston would bring back some good news from London. Not, indeed, that he (Leo Haverleigh) was the lost son of Lord Kilspindie--that such good fortune should be his never entered Leo"s head--but that Pratt was not his father. Leo felt that he would rather be proved to be illegitimate, as Mrs Gabriel had told the vicar he was, than have such a father as the criminal, Pratt. Yet, at times he felt sorry for the man. It was certain that he had in him some good qualities. But whenever Leo thought of him as his father, he became enraged against him. The thing was too horrible.
Lord Kilspindie took wonderfully to Leo, and this the vicar was pleased to see. Owing to Leo"s want of an honest name, he could not bring himself to consent to the marriage, so he hoped that the Scotch lord might take a fancy to the young man and carry him off. Thus Sybil would be safe, and Leo would be provided for. Mr Tempest had evidently forgotten his own youth, or he would have remembered that loving hearts are not so easily severed. Leo and Sybil loved one another too well for aught to come between them.
On Sat.u.r.day night Raston returned. It was so late that Leo had not expected him, so they did not meet until the next morning. Then it was on the way to church.
"Well," Leo asked eagerly, "and what does my--what does Pratt say?"
"I"ll tell you after service," said Raston, hastily. "At present I can"t think of these things."
"But one word, Raston," urged Leo. "Is Pratt my father?"
"No," replied the curate, emphatically, "he is not." And before Leo could ask another question he ran off. Filled with joy at the intelligence, but much bewildered, Leo went to church to offer up thanks.
Kilspindie was also in church, and with Sybil, in the vicar"s pew. Mr Tempest allowed Raston to preach, as had been arranged, and took a very minor part in the service. Indeed, he did little else but read the lessons. The church was filled, as everyone was anxious to see Lord Kilspindie. Mrs Bathurst was there, wondering if his lordship could be induced to marry Peggy. She quite forgot that she had promised her daughter"s hand to the curate, and was already scheming to get at the old n.o.bleman. That he _was_ old did not matter to Mrs Bathurst. She would have sold her daughter to anyone, provided the match was a good one. And, curious to say, she would have considered that she had done her duty as a mother. Her moral nature was decidedly warped.
The service was almost over, and the church-wardens were handing round the bags for the collection when a sweet voice was heard singing in the distance. Everyone recognised the voice--it was Pearl"s--and the vicar, kneeling at the communion table, looked rather disturbed. He knew the eccentric ways of the girl, and he feared lest she might come in and distract the attention of the congregation. And his fears were fulfilled--Pearl, still singing, entered the church. The scandalised church-wardens would have kept her out, but that she bore something which made them open their eyes. The congregation also became aware of Pearl"s burden, and a gasp of astonishment went round. Still singing some wild, vague melody, the mad girl walked slowly up the aisle, bearing the sacred cup.
Lord Kilspindie did not see her until she was almost at the chancel steps. He then gave a cry of astonishment, in spite of the building and the occasion. Surely he might have been pardoned, for the fairy cup upon which depended the fortunes of the Grants glittered before his eyes. There was a dead silence. Everyone was too astonished to speak or move. The vicar himself was staring from the communion table at this miracle. But Raston, who had come down to receive the collection, stood quietly waiting till the girl reached him. She came up singing, placed the great gold cup in his hand and fell on her knees.
"The Master has forgiven Pearl," she said in a voice which could be heard all over the church. "_She_ is saved and the cup will be here to watch over for ever and ever. Amen. Amen." And she bowed her face in her hands.
Raston paused for a moment in hesitation and glanced at the vicar, then at Lord Kilspindie. Then he made up his mind, and walking up to the altar, placed the cup in its old position. And there it glittered, all gold and gems, with the sunlight striking down on it, until it became almost too glorious to look upon. Lord Kilspindie stared, with tears in his eyes. The cup would be his again and he would soon have his son. He never doubted but that the restoration of the one was the prelude to the discovery of the other.
Raston p.r.o.nounced the Benediction and the organ broke forth into jubilant music. Shortly the congregation streamed out. Everyone was much excited. The old n.o.bleman came out with Sybil, and they waited at the porch for the vicar. Leo also was with them.
Suddenly a woman broke through the crowd in the churchyard. It was Mrs Jeal, and she was seeking Pearl. In her haste she never noticed Lord Kilspindie, until she almost ran into his arms. Suddenly he saw her face, started, and made one stride forward to clutch her by the arm.
"The cup and then the heir!" he said loudly, while all looked on amazed.
"Janet Grant, where is my son, Lord Morven!"
CHAPTER XIX
A STORY OF THE PAST
Half-an-hour later and Lord Kilspindie was back in the Vicarage library with Janet Grant, or, as it may be more convenient to call her, Mrs Jeal. Mr Tempest was present, together with Leo and Mr Raston, and they had a.s.sembled to force the truth out of Mrs Jeal. This was no easy matter. All the evil in the woman was uppermost, and with her shawl wrapper round her tightly she sat there and defied them all.
"You may burn me, you may put me in prison," said Mrs Jeal, savagely, "but I won"t open my mouth."
"I"ll have you arrested unless you tell the truth," said Lord Kilspindie.
"Arrest me, then," snarled Mrs Jeal. "There"s a policeman handy, my lord."
"Why are you behaving like this, woman?" asked the vicar, sternly.
"Why!" she retorted violently. "Because I was badly treated by my lord there. I served him faithfully for many years, yet, in place of giving me the position to which I was ent.i.tled, he set another woman--a woman I hated--over my head. But I paid him out," she said revengefully. "Oh!
many a sad hour you have had, my lord! And many more you will have. I know where your son is; but I won"t tell. You have got back the cup, but the son, my Lord Morven," she sneered, "will remain in the humble position in which I have placed him."
"Something is gained," said Kilspindie. "You have revealed that my son is alive and well. I"ll get the rest out of you."
"Never!" Mrs Jeal shut her mouth with a snap and shook herself. "I"ll not speak another word!"
"What a wicked woman you are," said the vicar, sadly. Mrs Jeal"s eyes flashed a wicked glance at him, but, true to her determination, she held her peace. It seemed impossible to do anything with so p.r.o.nounced a vixen.
Hitherto Raston had been silent. Now he came forward. "I am able to deal with this matter," he said quietly, "and I have a way of making the woman speak."
Mrs Jeal shook her head and glared. The vicar and Kilspindie both looked at the curate. So did Leo. He was beginning to have a faint hope that the scene would end in the discovery that he was the rightful son of Lord Kilspindie. With an anxious face he sat in the corner and drank in eagerly every word which fell from Raston"s lips. Mrs Jeal maintained her self-imposed silence.
"Mr Tempest," said Raston, "when I asked you if I might go to London, I did not tell you my errand. I tell it to you now. It was to see the man known as Pratt."
"What!" exclaimed the vicar. "You saw that man!"
"Two days ago. He wrote asking me to see him, hinting that he had something to tell about the cup."
"Which he stole," said Kilspindie.
"No, my lord. Pratt did not steal the cup. He took the blame upon himself, so as to clear the name of my friend Haverleigh."
Both the old men looked at Leo, who winced.
"Are you sure of that?" asked the vicar. "Pratt wrote to Marton, remember."
"To take the blame upon himself. Quite so. But he was not guilty for all that. His record was so black when Marton unmasked him that he thought a crime more or less would not matter."
"But why should he shield Haverleigh?" asked Mr Tempest.