"Is not Stephen at home?" she asked, as Ducie settled herself comfortably for their meal; "I thought Stephen was at home."
"No, he isn"t. He went to Kendal three days ago about his fleeces.
Whitney"s carpet-works have made him a very good offer. Did not the squire speak of it?"
"No."
"Well he knew all about it. He met Steve, and Steve told him. The squire has been a little queer with us lately, Charlotte. Do you know what the trouble is? I thought I would have you up to tea, and ask you; so when Sandal was up here this morning, I said, "Let Charlotte come, and have a cup of tea with me, squire, I"d be glad." And he said, "When?" And I said, "This afternoon. I am fair lonely without Steve." And he said, "I"m agreeable. She"ll be glad enough to come." And I said, "Thank"ee, squire, I"ll be glad enough to see her." But what _is_ the matter, Charlotte? The squire has been in his airs with Steve ever so long."
Then Charlotte"s face grew like a flame; and she answered, in a tone of tender sadness, "Father thinks Steve loves me; and he says there is no love-line between our houses, and that, if there were, it is crossed with sorrow, and that neither the living nor the dead will have marriage between Steve and me."
"I thought that was the trouble. I did so. As for the living, he speaks for himself; as for the dead, it is your grandmother Sandal he thinks of. She was a hard, proud woman, Charlotte. Her two daughters rejoiced at their wedding-days, and two out of her three sons she drove away from their home. Your father was on the point of going, when his brother Launcie"s death made him the heir. Then she gave him a bit more respect, and for pretty Alice Morecombe"s sake he stayed by the old squire. Ten years your mother waited for William Sandal, Charlotte."
"Yes, I know."
"Do you love Steve, Charlotte? I am Steve"s mother, dear, and you may speak to me as if you were talking to your own heart. I would never tell Steve either this way or that way for any thing. Steve would not thank me if I did. He is one of them that wants to reach his happiness in his own way, and by his own hand. And I have good reasons for asking you such a question, or I would not ask it; you may be sure I have, that you may."
Charlotte had put down her cup, and she sat with her hands clasped upon her lap, looking down into it. Ducie"s question took her by surprise, and she was rather offended by it. For Charlotte Sandal had been taught all the reticences of good society, and for a moment she resented a catechism so direct and personal; but only for a moment. Before Ducie had done speaking, she had remembered that nothing but true kindness could have prompted the inquiry. Ducie was not a curious, tattling, meddlesome woman; Charlotte had never known her to interfere in any one"s affairs. She had few visitors, and she made no calls. Year in and year out, Ducie could always be found at home with herself.
"You need not tell me, dear, if you do not know; or if you do not want to tell me."
"I do know, Ducie; and I do not mind telling you in the least. I love Stephen very dearly. I have loved him ever since--I don"t know when."
"And you have always had as good and as true as you have given. Steve is fondly heart-grown to you, Charlotte. But we will say no more; and what we have said is dropped into my heart like a stone dropped into deep water."
Then they spoke of the rector, how he was failing a little; and of one of the maids at Seat-Sandal who was to marry the head shepherd at Up-Hill; and at last, when there had been enough of indifferent talk to effectually put Steve out of mind, Ducie asked suddenly, "How is Harry, and is he doing well?"
This was a subject Charlotte was glad to discuss with Ducie. Harry was a great favorite with her, and had been accustomed to run to Up-Hill whenever he was in any boyish sc.r.a.pe. And Harry was _not_ doing well.
"Father is vexed and troubled about him, Ducie," she answered. "Whenever a letter comes from Harry, it puts every thing wrong in the house.
Mother goes away and cries; and Sophia sulks because, she says, "it is a shame any single one of the family should be allowed to make all the rest uncomfortable.""
"Harry should never have gone into the army. He hasn"t any resisting power, hasn"t Harry. And there is nothing but temptation in the army.
Dear me, Charlotte! We may well pray not to be led into the way of temptation; for if we once get into it, we are no better off than a fly in a spider"s web."
She was filling the two empty cups as she spoke, but she suddenly set down the teapot, and listened a moment. "I hear Steve"s footsteps. Sit still, Charlotte. He is opening the door. I knew it was he."
"Mother! mother!"
"Here I am, Steve."
He came in rosy and wet with his climb up the fellside; and, as he kissed his mother, he put out his hand to Charlotte. Then there was the pleasantest stir of care and welcome imaginable; and Steve soon found himself sitting opposite the girl he loved so dearly, taking his cup from her hands, looking into her bright, kind eyes, exchanging with her those charming little courtesies which can be made the vehicles of so much that is not spoken, and that is understood without speech.
But the afternoons were now very short, and the happy meal had to be hastened. The clouds, too, had fallen low; and the rain, as Ducie said, "was plashing and pattering badly." She folded her own blanket-shawl around Charlotte; and as there was no wind, and the road was mostly wide enough for two, Steve could carry an umbrella, and get her safely home before the darkening.
How merrily they went out together into the storm! Steve thought he could hardly have chosen any circ.u.mstances that would have pleased him better. It was quite necessary that Charlotte should keep close to his side; it was quite natural that she should lift her face to his in talking; it was equally natural that Steve should bend towards Charlotte, and that, in a moment, without any conscious intention of doing so, he should kiss her.
She trembled and stood still, but she was not angry. "That was very wrong, Steve. I told you at the harvest-home what father said, and what I had promised father. I"ll break no squares with father, and you must not make me do so."
"I could not help it, Charlotte, you looked so bewitching."
"Oh, dear! the old, old excuse, "The woman tempted me," etc."
"Forgive me, dear Charlotte. I was going to tell you that I had been very fortunate in Kendal, and next week I am going to Bradford to learn all about spinning and weaving and machinery. But what is success without you? If I make every dream come to pa.s.s, and have not Charlotte, my heart will keep telling me, night and day, "_All for nothing, all for nothing_.""
"Do not be so impatient. You are making trouble, and forespeaking disappointment. Before you have learned all about manufacturing, and built your mill, before you are really ready to begin your life"s work, many a change may have taken place in Sandal-Side. When Julius comes at Christmas I think he will ask Sophia to marry him, and I think Sophia will accept his offer. That marriage would open the way for our marriage."
"Only partly I fear. I can see that squire Sandal has taken a dislike, and your mother was a little high with me when I saw her last."
"Partly your own fault, sir. Why did you give up the ways of your fathers? The idea of mills and trading in these dales is such a new one."
"But a man must move with his own age, Charlotte. There is no prospect of another Stuart rebellion. I cannot do the queen"s service, and get rewarded as old Christopher Sandal did. And I want to go to Parliament, and can"t go without money. And I can"t make money quick enough by keeping sheep and planting wheat. But manufacturing means money, land, influence, power."
"Father does not see these things as you do, Steve. He sees the peaceful dales invaded by white-faced factory-hands, loud-voiced, quarrelling, disrespectful. All the old landmarks and traditions will disappear; also simple ways of living, calm religion, true friendships. Every good old sentiment will be gauged by money, will finally vanish before money, and what the busy world calls "improvements." It makes him fretful, jealous, and unhappy."
"That is just the trouble, Charlotte. When a man has not the spirit of his age, he has all its unhappiness. But my greatest fear is, that you will grow weary of waiting for _our hour_."
"I have told you that I shall not. There is an old proverb which says, "Trust not the man who promises with an oath." Is not my simple word, then, the best and the surest hope?"
Then she nestled close to his side, and began to talk of his plans and his journey, and to antic.i.p.ate the time when he would break ground upon Silver Beck, and build the many-windowed factory that had been his dream ever since he had began to plan his own career. The wind rose, the rain fell in a down-pour before they reached the park-gates; but there was a certain joy in facing the wet breeze, and although they did not loiter, yet neither did they hurry. In both their hearts there was a little fear of the squire, but neither spoke of it. Charlotte would not suppose or suggest any necessity for avoiding him, and Steve was equally sensitive on the subject.
When they arrived at Seat-Sandal the main entrance was closed, and Stephen stood with her on the threshold until a man-servant opened slowly its ponderous panels. There was a bright fire burning in the hall, and lights were in the sconces on the walls. Charlotte asked Steve to come in and rest a while. She tried to avoid showing either fear or hurry, and Steve was conscious of the same effort on his own part; but yet he knew that they both thought it well none of the family were aware of her return, or of his presence. She watched him descend the dripping steps into the darkness, and then went towards the fire. An unusual silence was in the house. She stood upon the hearthstone while the servant rebolted the door, and then asked,--
"Is dinner served, Noel?"
"It be over, Miss Charlotte."
So she went to her own room. It was chilly and dreary. The fire had been allowed to die down, and had only just been replenished. It was smoking also, and the candles on her toilet-table burned dimly in the damp atmosphere. She hurriedly changed her gown, and was going down-stairs, when a movement in Sophia"s room arrested her attention. It was very unusual for Sophia to be up-stairs at that hour, and the fact struck her significantly. She knocked at the door, and was told rather irritably to "Come in."
"Dear me, Sophia! what is the matter? It feels as if there were something wrong in the house."
"I suppose there is something wrong. Father got a letter from Harry by the late post, and he left his dinner untouched; and mother is in her room crying, of course. I do think it is a shame that Harry is allowed to turn the house upside down whenever he feels like it."
"Perhaps he is in trouble."
"He is always in trouble, for he is always busy making trouble. His very amus.e.m.e.nts mean trouble for all who have the misfortune to have any thing to do with him. Julius told me that no man in the "Cameronians"
had a worse name than Harry Sandal."
"Julius! The idea of Julius talking badly about our Harry, and to you! I wonder you listened to him. It was a shabby thing to do; it was that."
"Julius only repeated what he had heard, and he was very sorry to do so.
He felt it to be conscientiously his duty."
"Bah! G.o.d save me from such a conscience! If Julius had heard any thing good of Harry, he would have had no conscientious scruples about silence; not he! I dare say Julius would be glad if poor Harry was out of his way."
"Charlotte Sandal, you shall not say such very unladylike, such unchristianlike, things in my room. It is quite easy to see _whose_ company you have been in."
"I have been with Ducie. Can you find me a sweeter or better soul?"
"Or a handsomer young man than her son?"