Cecily had acquiesced in all the lawyers did, had signed papers at request, had allowed herself to be invested with the property, saluted with the t.i.tle, enthroned in the fullest manner. So far then she had accepted her cousin"s sacrifice and the transformation of her own life.
Yet through and in spite of all this she maintained, even to the extreme of punctiliousness, the air of being a visitor at Blent. She was not exactly apologetic to the servants, but she thanked them profusely for any special personal service they might perform for her; she made no changes in the order of the household; when Mina--always busy in her friend"s interest--suggested re-arrangement of furniture or of curios, Cecily"s manner implied that she was prepared to take no such liberties in another man"s house. It would have been all very well-bred if Harry had put his house at her disposal for a fortnight. Seeing that the place was her own and that she had accepted it as being her own, Mina declared that her conduct was little less than an absurdity. This a.s.sertion was limited to Mina"s own mind; it had not been made to the offender herself. The fear she had felt of Harry threatened to spread to his successor; she did not feel equal to a remonstrance. But she grew gradually into a state of extreme irritation and impatience. This provisional, this ostentatiously provisional, att.i.tude could not be maintained permanently. Something must happen one way or the other. Now what was it to be? She could not pretend to guess. These Tristrams were odd folk. There was the same blood in Cecily as had run in Addie Tristram"s veins. On the other hand the Gainsboroughs seemed to have been ordinary. Was this period of indecision or of suspended action a time of struggle between the Tristram in Cecily and the Gainsborough?
Mina, on the look-out for entertainment, had no doubt which of the two she wished to be victorious; the Gainsborough promised nothing, the Tristram--well--effects! The strain made Mina excited, restless, and at times exceedingly short with Major Duplay.
The neighborhood waited too, but for the end of Lady Tristram"s mourning, not of her indecision. As a result of much discussion, based on many rumors and an incredible number of authentic reports, it was settled that at the end of six months Blent was to be thrown open, visitors received, and a big house-warming given. A new era was to begin. Splendor and respectability were to lie down together. Blent was to pay a new homage to the proprieties. Miss Swinkerton was strongly of opinion that bygones should be allowed to be bygones, and was author of a theory which found much acceptance among the villas--namely, that Lady Tristram would consider any reference to her immediate predecessor as inconsiderate, indeed indelicate, and not such as might be expected to proceed from lady-like mouths.
"We must remember that she"s a girl, my dear," Miss S. observed to Mrs Trumbler.
"She must know about it," Mrs Trumbler suggested. "But I dare say you"re right, Miss Swinkerton."
"If such a thing had happened in my family, I should consider myself personally affronted by any reference to the persons concerned."
"The Vicar says he"s sadly afraid that the notions of the upper cla.s.ses on such subjects are very lax."
"Not at all," said Miss S. tartly. Really she needed no instruction from the Vicar. "And as I say, my dear, she"s a girl. The ball will mark a new departure. I said so to Madame Zabriska and she quite agreed with me."
Mrs Trumbler frowned pensively. "I suppose Madame Zabriska has been a widow some time?" she remarked.
"I have never inquired," said Miss S. with an air of expecting applause for a rare discretion.
"I wonder what Mr Harry will do! The Vicar says he must be terribly upset."
"Oh, I never professed to understand that young man. All I know is that he"s going abroad."
"Abroad?"
"Yes, my dear. I heard it in the town, and Madame Zabriska said she had no doubt it was correct."
"But surely Madame Zabriska doesn"t correspond----?"
"I don"t know, my dear. I know what she said." She looked at Mrs Trumbler and went on with emphasis: "It doesn"t do to judge foreigners as we should judge ourselves. If I corresponded with Mr Tristram it would be one thing; if Madame Zabriska--and to be sure she has n.o.body to look after her; that Major is no better than any silly young man--chooses to do so, it"s quite another. All I say is that, so far as Blent is concerned, there"s an end of Mr Tristram. Why, he hasn"t got a penny piece, my dear."
"So I heard," agreed Mrs Trumbler. "I suppose they won"t let him starve."
"Oh, arrangements are made in such cases," nodded Miss S. "But of course nothing is said about them. For my part I shall never mention either Mr Tristram or the late Lady Tristram to her present ladyship."
Mrs Trumbler was silent for a while; at last her mouth spoke the thoughts of her heart.
"I suppose she"ll be thinking of marrying soon. But I don"t know anybody in the neighborhood----"
"My dear, she"ll have her house in town in the season. The only reason the late Lady Tristram didn"t do so was---- Well, you can see that for yourself, Mrs Trumbler!"
"What must the Ivers think about it! What an escape! How providential!"
"Let us hope it"ll be a lesson to Janie. If I had allowed myself to think of position or wealth, I should have been married half a dozen times, Mrs Trumbler."
"I dare say you would," said faithful Mrs Trumbler. But this a.s.sent did not prevent her from remarking to the Vicar that Miss S. sometimes talked of things which no unmarried woman could be expected really to understand.
It will be observed that the Imp had been alleviating the pangs of her own perplexity by a dexterous ministering to the delusions of others.
Not for the world would she have contradicted Miss S."s a.s.sertions; she would as soon have thought of giving that lady a plain and unvarnished account of the late Monsieur Zabriska"s very ordinary and quite reputable life and death. No doubt she was right. Both she and the neighborhood had to wait, and her efforts did something to make the period more bearable for both of them. The only sufferer was poor Mr Gainsborough, who was driven from Blentmouth and the curiosity shop by the sheer terror of encountering ladies from villas who told him all about what his daughter was going to do.
The outbreak came, and in a fashion as Tristram-esque as Mina could desire, for all that the harbinger of it was frightened little Mr Gainsborough, more frightened still. He came up the hill one evening about six, praying Mina"s immediate presence at Blent. Something had happened, he explained, as they walked down. Cecily had had a letter--from somebody in London. No, not Harry. She must see Mina at once. That was all he knew, except that his daughter was perturbed and excited. His manner protested against the whole thing with a mild despair.
"Quick, quick!" cried the Imp, almost making him run to keep up with her impatient strides.
Cecily was in her room--the room that had been Addie Tristram"s.
"You"ve moved in here!" was Mina"s first exclamation.
"Yes; the housekeeper said I must, so I did. But----" She glanced up for a moment at Addie"s picture and broke off. Then she held up a letter which she had in her hand. "Do you know anything of Lord Southend?" she asked.
"I"ve heard Mr Iver and Mr Neeld speak of him. That"s all."
"He writes to say he knew Lady Tristram and--and Harry, and hopes he"ll know me soon."
"That"s very friendly." Mina thought, but did not add, that it was rather unimportant.
"Yes, but it"s more than that. Don"t you see? It"s an opening." She looked at her friend, impatient at her want of comprehension. "It makes it possible to do something. I can begin now."
"Begin what?" Mina was enjoying her own bewilderment keenly.
"How long did you think I could stand it? I"m not made of--of--of soap!
You know Harry! You liked him, didn"t you? And you knew Lady Tristram!
I"ve slept in this room two nights and----"
"You haven"t seen a ghost?"
"Ghost! Oh, don"t be silly. I"ve lain here awake, looking at that picture. And it"s looked at me--at least it seemed to. "What are you doing here?" That"s what it"s been saying. "What are you doing here?"
No, I"m not mad. That"s what I was saying myself. But the picture seemed to say it."
There was a most satisfactory absence of Gainsborough about all this.
"Then I go into the Long Gallery! It"s no better there!" Her hands were flung out despairingly.
"You seemed to have settled down so well," murmured Mina.
"Settled down! What was there to do? Oh, you know I hadn"t! I can"t bear it, Mina, and I won"t. Isn"t it hard? I should have loved it all so, if it had been really mine, if it had come to me properly. And now--it"s worse than nothing!" She sat back in her chair with her face set in a desperate unhappiness.
"It is yours; it did come to you properly," Mina protested. Her sympathy tended always toward the person she was with, her sensitive mind responding to the immediate appeal. She thought more of Cecily now than of Harry, who was somewhere--vaguely somewhere--in London.
"You say that?" cried Cecily angrily. "You, Harry"s friend! You, who fought and lied--yes, lied for him. Why did you do all that if you think it"s properly mine? How can I face that picture and say it"s mine? It"s a detestable injustice. Ah, and I did--I did love it so."
"Well, I don"t see what you"re to do. You can"t give it back to Mr.
Tristram. At least I shouldn"t like to propose that to him, and I"m sure he wouldn"t take it. Why, he couldn"t, Cecily!"
Cecily rose and walked restlessly to the window.
"No, no, no," she said fretfully. She turned abruptly round to Mina.
"Lord Southend says he"d be glad to make my acquaintance and have a talk."