Jane McCray did not speak, but her comely face was raised to her husband"s, and a few bright tears fell from her eyes as she returned his loving kiss.
"I should be a happy woman if it were not for that poor bairn," said Jane. "She believes it, though I scolded her, and told her how cruel and false it all was, and that my own dear, sweet lady--"
"Hoot, la.s.sie! ye"re getting excited. The puir child has said "yes" to his lordship at last, and they"re to be married. Marriages air made in heaven, la.s.sie, so let"s hope it"s all for the best."
"For the best!" sobbed Jane McCray, wringing her hands. "Oh!
Alexander, dear husband! can"t we stop it, for I foresee all sorts of misery and unhappiness for them both in the days to come; and it"s cruel--cruel to force the poor child!"
"Nay, my la.s.sie, but it is na force. She is only giving way to Sir Mooray"s wishes, and if my laird here were a proper man, I wad na say a word. But there, he"s gane to town for some days--till the wedding time, noo--and the sooner its ower the better. Peter tells me that the puir bairn met young Norton, when they were oot laist, and he tried to speak to her, but she turned her head, and cantered on."
Jane groaned, and wrung her hands. "I wish I was in my grave, sooner than see it all come to pa.s.s," she sobbed.
"Weel, it"s perhaps a sair potion to swaller, Jenny; but be a woman.
What does the puir bairn say?"
"Say? Nothing; only goes about the place pale and wan, with her poor heart breaking," said the housekeeper; "and when that creature--"
"Hoot, la.s.sie! what creature?" said McCray.
"That popinjay lord," said Jane scornfully. "When--"
"Gude save us, la.s.sie! dinna ye ken yer catechism: "order yersel" lowly and reverently to a" yer betters;" and that"s na ordering yersel" lowly and reverently."
"When I"ve seen him take hold of her, as if she was his property that he had bought, and stroke her hair and kiss her, the poor thing has shuddered; and once she struggled from him, and came to me to take care of her--for she only sees him with me in the room--and as soon as he"d gone she sobbed, as if her heart would break."
"Puir bairn," said McCray; "but he"s gane noo, and she"ll ha"e a respite."
"Respite, indeed!" said his wife angrily. "It puts me in mind of the old time--over five-and-twenty years ago--when my poor dear lady was all low and desponding because, at the wish of old Master and Mrs Elstree, she had accepted Sir Murray; and there she was with her cousin, Mrs Norton, you know, sobbing her poor eyes--I mean heart--away. I declare, whether it"s wrong or right, Alexander, that if that poor young man--no!
poor? nonsense: he"s better off a deal than my fine lord, and as brave as he"s high--"
"That"s a true word, la.s.sie," said McCray, who was having his evening pipe and tumbler of whisky and water, his day"s duties being ended.
"If that Mr Norton came to me and asked me to help him to run away with the child, I"d help him to the best of my power."
"Nay--nay--nay! your tongue"s gane wild, la.s.sie."
"Wouldn"t you, then?" said Mrs McCray.
"Weel, I"ll na say," said the cautious Scot. "Ye see, la.s.sie, there"s for and against; and in spite of a" ye say about crule suspeeshons, I think, as I said before, that it"s our duty to all we know to haud our peace and let matters tak" their course."
And matters were taking their course rapidly; for as time pa.s.sed on, Brace Norton roamed the lanes like the ghost of his former self; but never once did he meet poor Isa.
The wedding-day was fixed, and the dresses were ordered, and once more Merland was to be the scene of festivity and rejoicing. After the wedding Lord and Lady Maudlaine, people said, were to start for the Continent, and Sir Murray intended to go alone to Italy to reside, while the Castle was to be the home of my lord and my lady.
"And you"ll have fine doings there, I suppose," said one of two strange men who had come down to stay at old Chunt"s inn--surveyors they said they were, perhaps connected with the working on the marsh.
"Yes," said Chunt, who was stout now, and hardly ever left his chair; "the Castle will be again what it ought to be, for the new master, they say, can make the shiners fly. I see he"s come down again."
"Yes," said one of the men, taking his pipe from his month; "I see he"s come down."
"Ah, you know him, do you?" said Chunt.
"Know him? Well, so far as having him pointed out to me goes, I know him. Fine thing for him, they say."
"Bless you," said Chunt, "I believe there"s no end to the money he"ll have; but I hope it"ll be a happy marriage, that"s all I"ve got for to say." And in spite of people trying to draw Chunt out, that _was_ all he had to say, and he tightened his lips for fear another word should escape. "Wanted, eh?" said Chunt--"I"m coming," and he waddled out to speak to a new-comer.
"How do, sir? Post-chaise and pair, sir. Oh, yes, sir; any time you like. You"ll give your orders? Thanky, sir."
Mr Chunt waddled back as his visitor departed, and one of the frequenters of the bar asked who that gentleman was.
"That gent?" said Chunt. "Oh! that"s Master Brace Norton."
Book 2, Chapter XXVIII.
PREPARATIONS.
The day before the wedding, and traces everywhere at Merland village of the grand doings to come, even a score of white-smocked navvies, with their rolled-up trousers, great laced boots, and huge stolid faces, stopping to stare about, after a morning"s freak, consisting of four hours" neglect of work, and the consumption of endless pots of beer and pipes of tobacco in Chunt"s tap-room; but they were soon off to their work cutting the great drain through the peat, where the wind and horse mills were busy pumping out the water.
"Some people"s allus a" enjoying o" themselves, and having feasts,"
growled one peat-stained giant.
"Ah!" said another, taking his pipe out of his mouth to spit. "I should just like to come back and spoil all their fun!" But half an hour after, like the rest of his fellows, he was delving away, cutting the soft peat in great bricks, and heaving them out of the cutting, as he worked off his superabundant beer.
But there was misery at Merland Castle, and more than once Jane McCray, sobbing, told her husband that she had thought it would have broken her heart when she saw poor dejected, wounded, pale John Gurdon, and gave him the money, and wished him a happy future, when he broke down, and cried like a child at receiving treatment he said he had never deserved; but it was nothing to this, seeing that poor wasted child waiting for the hours to pa.s.s before she was condemned to what would be like a death in life.
For half-hysterical at times, an impression seemed to have come upon Isa Gernon that she would be fetched away, that even against her own will she would be saved from the fate that awaited her, and she started up, and listened, and looked from her window again and again for what did not come. Dresses were tried on, trunks were packed, presents poured in, bouquets, jewels, everything to give eclat to the proceedings; but Isa seemed to see nothing but one upbraiding face ever before her, reproaching her for her cruelty--a cruelty which she nerved herself by saying was but duty.
Brace Norton knew all, even the time at which the wedding would take place; but he uttered no complaint, only wandered about hour after hour, telling himself that to-morrow all would be at an end, ending by reproaching himself for his inaction. Towards afternoon, he strolled out towards the marsh, and smiled bitterly a fierce, angry smile, as he saw the men busily cutting their way with the great drain towards the pit, from which he had saved the bride of the ensuing day.
"Would we had died there together," he said, bitterly; and then he stooped, and picked a bunch of the forget-me-nots so abundant there, and tied them with one of the thin rushes from the ma.s.s at his feet. An hour after, enclosed in an envelope, they were laid on Isa"s dressing-table, where she found them, and as had wept of old her mother, she had wept, for she guessed from whence that simple bouquet had come.
She kissed them, held them to her breast, and then sank upon her knees, sobbing hysterically for the love she felt that, in spite of all revelations, she could not crush down, for she thought she was alone.
But it was not so, for Jane McCray had entered unperceived, and started and turned pale as she saw the tiny flowers and the envelope in which they had arrived.
"True-blue," she said aloud, for her thoughts had reverted to the past; and then, trembling with superst.i.tious dread, "Miss Isa," she said, "throw those flowers away--they"re fatal, and bring nothing but misery and despair to those who wear them. All those long years ago, and it seems only yesterday that your poor mamma brought a bunch from the marsh. If he has sent you those, it was cruel and heartless of him, at such a time."
And angry with the maid who must have brought them, Jane made as if to take them from her mistress"s hand; but she stopped half way, trembling more than ever, as she saw Isa press the simple blossoms to her breast with both hands, her head thrown back, her blue-veined eyelids closed, and her lips moving rapidly--for there, on her knees, she was invoking Heaven"s blessing on the sender, and praying for strength to carry her through her trials.
Jane"s anger had pa.s.sed away, when, after a few minutes, she a.s.sisted Isa to a couch; for there was something in the poor girl"s face that troubled her, and kept her hovering round as from a strange kind of fascination.
Was she going to be ill? Had her poor nerves been drawn too tightly?
And would they snap beneath the unfair tension? At one time it seemed to Jane McCray, when Isa started up as if listening, that there would be no wedding the next morning.
But the preparations went on, and Sir Murray entertained a select party at dinner. My lord, the Viscount, was in excellent spirits, and paid frequent visits to the decanters. Certainly, a week had pa.s.sed since the money was due, but then he had written to Braham, telling him of the day of the wedding; and the money-lender had sent a congratulatory reply, to say that it was "all right," and that he very much regretted his inability to attend himself.
The second course was on the table, and McCray was busy handing the wine to the various guests, when a footman, who had just entered the room, pulled him by the sleeve.
"Gude-sake, man!" he exclaimed, testily, "ye"ll make that wine as thick as mood!" when, hearing the man"s whisper, he set the decanter down upon the floor, and ran out.
Isa had sent to excuse herself, for she was, indeed, too ill with excitement; and, at Jane"s earnest solicitation, she had gone to lie down, to fall into a broken slumber, filled with troubled dreams, and all connected with the coming day. Again and again she was being led to the church, when Brace seemed to s.n.a.t.c.h her away and hold her to his breast: but when she tried to clasp him in return, he faded, as it were, away, and there was nothing there: then they were wandering together by the marsh, picking the true-blue forget-me-nots; but each flower seemed weeping for their sorrows; and at last the soft, treacherous earth seemed to give way, and they were plunged together in the black, strangling water, to sink lower, lower, lower, till all was blinding and dark; but his arms were tightly round her now, his lips were to hers, and he was breathing words of love--of love, and holy love--to her, telling her that they would part no more; that there should be no more misery, no more watching and weeping; but that their parents" sorrows should be succeeded by the sunshine of their joy; and, returning his caresses from the depth of her heart, she shrieked aloud, for she was rudely awakened to the misery of the present; for, apparently wild with excitement, Jane rushed into the room, caught her for a moment in her arms, to kiss her, almost fiercely, and then throwing her rudely back upon the couch--