ELLEAN.
[_In an undertone to_ MRS. CORTELYON.] Never mind. Not now, dear--not to-night.
AUBREY.
Eh?
MRS. CORTELYON.
[_To_ ELLEAN _aloud._] Child, run away and take your things off. She doesn"t look as if she"d journeyed from Paris to-day.
AUBREY.
I"ve never seen her with such a colour.
[_Taking_ ELLEAN"S _hands._
ELLEAN.
[_To_ AUBREY, _in a faint voice._] Papa, Mrs. Cortelyon has been so very, very kind to me, but I--I have come home.
[_She goes out._
AUBREY.
Come home! [_To_ MRS. CORTELYON.] Ellean returns to us, then?
MRS. CORTELYON.
That"s the very point I put to you in my letters, and you oblige me to travel from Paris to Willowmere on a warm day to settle it. I think perhaps it"s right that Ellean should be with you just now, although I---- My dear friend, circ.u.mstances are a little altered.
AUBREY.
Alice, you"re in some trouble.
MRS. CORTELYON.
Well--yes, I _am_ in trouble. You remember pretty little Mrs.
Brereton who was once Caroline Ardale?
AUBREY.
Quite well.
MRS. CORTELYON.
She"s a widow now, poor thing. She has the _entresol_ of the house where we"ve been lodging in the Avenue de Friedland. Caroline"s a dear chum of mine; she formed a great liking for Ellean.
AUBREY.
I"m very glad.
MRS. CORTELYON.
Yes, it"s nice for her to meet her mother"s friends. Er--that young Hugh Ardale the papers were full of some time ago--he"s Caroline Brereton"s brother, you know.
AUBREY.
No, I didn"t know. What did he do? I forget.
MRS. CORTELYON.
Checked one of those horrid mutinies at some far-away station in India, marched down with a handful of his men and a few faithful natives, and held the place until he was relieved. They gave him his company and a V.C. for it.
AUBREY.
And he"s Mrs. Brereton"s brother?
MRS. CORTELYON.
Yes. He"s with his sister--_was_, rather--in Paris. He"s home--invalided. Good gracious, Aubrey, why don"t you help me out?
Can"t you guess what has occurred?
AUBREY.
Alice!
MRS. CORTELYON.
Young Ardale--Ellean!
AUBREY.
An attachment?
MRS. CORTELYON.
Yes, Aubrey. [_After a little pause._] Well, I suppose I"ve got myself into sad disgrace. But really I didn"t foresee anything of this kind. A serious, reserved child like Ellean, and a boyish, high-spirited soldier--it never struck me as being likely. [AUBREY _paces to and fro thoughtfully._] I did all I could directly Captain Ardale spoke--wrote to you at once. Why on earth don"t you receive your letters promptly, and when you do get them why can"t you open them? I endured the anxiety till last night, and then made up my mind--home! Of course, it has worried me terribly. My head"s bursting. Are there any salts about? [AUBREY _fetches a bottle from the cabinet and hands it to her._] We"ve had one of those hateful smooth crossings that won"t let you be properly indisposed.
AUBREY.
My dear Alice, I a.s.sure you I"ve no thought of blaming you.
MRS. CORTELYON.
That statement always precedes a quarrel.
AUBREY.