Esther was in the kitchen alone, reading a French romance, and she opened the door and invited him in.
He scoffed at her book, and as the talk went on, upbraided her for her vanity. Finally he told her that he wanted her to change. "Of course, I am a brute to say so," he added. "I ought to say you are perfect.
Another man would, perhaps; I can"t bear to see you going the way of the foolish women who spoil men"s lives."
Mortification and anger filled Esther"s mind, and when Felix got up to say he was going, she returned his "good-bye" without even looking at him.
Only, when the door closed she burst into tears. She revolted against his a.s.sumption of superiority.... Did he love her one little bit, and was that the reason why he wanted her to change? But Esther was quite sure she could never love anyone who was so much of a pedagogue and a master.
Yet, a few weeks later, and Esther accepted willingly when Felix proposed a walk for the first time together. That same afternoon he told her that she was very beautiful, and that he would never be rich: he intended going away to some manufacturing town to lead the people to better things and this meant a life of poverty.
Something Esther said made Felix ask suddenly, "Can you imagine yourself choosing hardship as the better lot?"
"Yes, I can," she answered, flushing over neck and brow. They walked home very silently after that. Felix struggling as a firm man struggles with a temptation, Esther struggling as a woman struggles with the yearning for some expression of love.
On the day of the election a mob of miners, primed with liquor by an unscrupulous agent of Transome"s, came into the town to hoot the Tory voters; and as the disturbance increased, Felix knowing that Mr. Lyon was away preaching went round to the minister"s house to rea.s.sure Esther.
"I am so thankful to see you," she said eagerly. He mentioned that the magistrates and constables were coming and that the town would be quieter. His only fear was that drinking might inflame the mob again.
Again Felix told her of his renunciation of the ordinary hopes and ambitions of men, and at the same time tried to prove that he thought very highly of her. He wanted her to know that her love was dear to him, and he felt that they must not marry--to do so would be to ruin each other"s lives.
When Felix went out into the streets in the afternoon, the crowd was larger and more mischievous. The constables were quite unable to cope with the mob, the polling booth was closed for the day, and the magistrates had sent to the neighbouring town of Duffield for the military.
There were proofs that the predominant will of the crowd was in favour of Transome for several shops were attacked and they were all of them "Tory shops."
Felix was soon hotly occupied trying to save a wretched publican named Spratt from the fury of the crowd. The man had been dragged out into the streets, and Felix had got as near him as he could when a young constable armed with a sabre rushed upon him. It was a choice of two evils, and quick as lightning Felix frustrated him, the constable fell undermost and Felix got his weapon. Tucker did not rise immediately, but Felix did not imagine that he was much hurt, and bidding the crowd follow him tried to lead them away from the town. He hoped that the soldiers would soon arrive, and felt confident that there would be no resistance to a military force.
Suddenly a cry was raised, "Let us go to Treby Manor," the residence of Sir Maximus Debarry, whose son was the Tory candidate.
From that moment Felix was powerless, and was carried along with the rush. All he could hope to do was to get to the front terrace of the house, and a.s.sure the inmates that the soldiers would arrive quickly.
Just as he approached a large window he heard the horses of the troopers, and then came the words, "Halt! Fire!" Before he had time to move a bullet whizzed, and pa.s.sed through Felix Holt"s shoulder--the shoulder of the arm that bore the sabre.
Felix fell. The rioters ran confusedly, like terrified sheep.
It was a weary night for Felix, and the next day his wound was declared trivial, and he was lodged in Loumford Jail. There were three charges against him; that he had a.s.saulted a constable, that he had committed manslaughter (Tucker was dead from spinal concussion), and that he had led a riotous onslaught on a dwelling house.
Four other men were arrested, one for theft, and three others for riot and a.s.sault.
_III.--The Trial_
A great change took place in the fortunes of Esther in the interval between the riot and the opening of the a.s.sizes. It was found that she, and not Harold Transome, was the rightful owner of the Transome estates.
For Esther"s real name was Bycliffe and not Lyon, and she was the step-daughter only of the minister. Mr. Lyon had found Esther"s mother, a French woman of great beauty, in dest.i.tution--her husband, an Englishman, lying in some unknown prison. This Englishman was a Bycliffe--and heir to the Transome property, and on the proof of his death Mr. Lyon, knowing nothing of Bycliffe"s family, married his widow, who, however, died while Esther was still a tiny child. Not till the time of the election did Esther learn that her real father was dead.
Mr. Transome"s lawyer--Jermyn--was fully aware of the claim of the Bycliffes, but knew they were powerless without money to enforce the claim, and that Esther and her step-father alike were ignorant of all the facts. It was only when Harold Transome, on his return, quarrelled with Jermyn on the management of the estates, and, after the Election (which Transome lost) threatened him with a law-suit, that Jermyn turned round and told Harold the truth. At the same time, another lawyer, formerly in Jermyn"s confidence, thought the more profitable course could be found in throwing Jermyn over, and wrote to Esther informing her of her inheritance.
Harold Transome decided to act openly. With his mother, he drove to the minister"s house and Mrs. Transome persuaded Esther to come and stay at Transome Court. Both mother and son found Esther to their liking, and it appeared to Harold that marriage with Esther would be a happy conclusion to the divided claim to the property. He was rich, and the Transome (or Bycliffe) property was heavily enc.u.mbered.
The Transomes, Esther and Mr. Lyon all agreed that no law-suit over the property should take place.
But while Esther stayed at Transome Court she never forgot her friend in prison. Mr. Lyon had visited Felix, and Esther herself obtained an interview with him just before the a.s.sizes began.
She had grown conscious that Harold Transome was making love to her, that Mrs. Transome really desired her for a daughter-in-law, and it seemed to her as she waited with the minister in the cheerless prison room, that she stood at the first and last parting of the ways.
Soon the door opened, and Felix Holt entered.
"Miss Lyon--Esther!" and her hand was in his grasp. He was just the same--no, something inexpressibly better, because of the distance and separation, which made him like the return of morning.
"Take no heed of me, children," said Mr. Lyon. "I have some notes to make." And the old man sat down at a window with his back to them, writing with his head bent close to the paper.
Felix had heard of Esther"s change of fortune and felt sure she would marry Harold Transome. It was only when the time for parting came that he could bring himself to say:
"I had a horrible struggle, Esther. But you see I was right. There was a fitting lot in reserve for you." Esther felt too miserable for tears to come. She looked helplessly at Felix for a moment, then took her hands from his, and turning away mutely, said, "Father, I am ready--there is no more to say."
"Esther."
She heard Felix say the word, with an entreating cry, and went towards him swiftly. He clasped her, and they kissed each other.
When the trial came on Esther went under Mrs. Transome"s protection to the court.
The case against Felix looked very black when the prosecution closed.
Various respectable witnesses swore to the prisoner"s leadership of the mob, to his fatal a.s.sault on Tucker, and to his att.i.tude in front of the drawing-room window at the Manor.
Felix then gave a concise narrative of his motives and conduct on the day of the riot, and explained that in throwing the constable down he had not foreseen the possibility of death ensuing. It was a good, straightforward speech, not without a touch of defiant independence, which did the prisoner little good with judge or jury.
Mr. Lyon and Harold Transome both gave evidence in favour of Felix, stating that the prisoner had often expressed his hatred of rioting, and had protested with indignation against the treating that went on during the election by some of the Radical agents.
One or two witnesses were called who swore that Felix had tried to lead the mob in the opposite direction to Treby Manor, and it was understood that the case for the defence was closed.
Then it came to Esther that she must speak if Felix was to be saved.
There had been no witness to tell what had been his behaviour just before the riot. There was time, but not too much time.
Before Harold Transome was aware of Esther"s intention she was on her way to the witness-box.
A sort of gleam shot across the face of Felix Holt, and anyone close to the prisoner would have seen that his hand trembled, for the first time, at Esther"s beautiful aspect. There was no blush on her face: she stood, divested of all personal consideration whether of vanity or shyness, and gave her story as if she had been making a confession of faith.
She knew Felix Holt well, she said. He came to see her on the day of the election, and told her he feared the men might collect again after drinking. "It was the last thing he would have done to join in riot or to hurt any man, if he could have helped it. He could never have had any intention that was not brave and good."
When she was back in her place Felix could not help looking towards her, and their eyes met in one solemn glance.
Esther stayed in court till the end. She heard the verdict, "Guilty of Manslaughter," followed by the judge"s sentence, "Imprisonment for four years." But so great was the impression made by Esther"s speech that a pet.i.tion to the Home Secretary was at once set on foot by the leading men of the county.
_IV.--Felix and Esther_
One April day, when the sun shone on the lingering raindrops, Lyddy was gone out, and Esther chose to sit in the kitchen. She was not reading, but st.i.tching, and as her fingers moved nimbly, something played about her lips like a ray.