My father, I thought, was dozing, but was not sure; and being a good deal in awe of him--a natural consequence of seeing so little of him--I did not venture either to waken him, or to leave the room without his permission.
There are two doors in that room. I was standing irresolutely near that which is next the window, when the other opened, and the long whiskers and good-humoured, sensible face of portly Wynne Williams, the town-clerk and attorney of Cardyllion, entered. My father awoke, with a start, at the sound, and seeing him, smiled and extended his hand.
"How d"ye do, Williams? It"s so good of you to come. Sit down. I"m off to-morrow, so I sent you a note. Try that sherry; it is better than I thought. And now I must tell you, that old scoundrel, Rokestone, is going to foreclose the mortgage, and they have served one of the tenants at Darlip with an ejectment; that"s more serious; I fancy he means mischief there also. What do you think?"
"I always thought he might give us annoyance there; but Mandrick"s opinion was with us. Do you wish me to look after that?"
"Certainly. And he"s bothering me about that trust."
"I know," said Mr. Wynne Williams, with rather gloomy rumination.
"That fellow has lost me--I was reckoning it up only a day or two ago--between five and six thousand pounds in mere law costs, beside all the direct mischief he has done me; and he has twice lost me a seat in the House--first by maintaining that pet.i.tion at King"s Firkins, a thing that must have dropped but for his money; he had nothing on earth to do with it, and no motive but his personal, fiendish feelings; and next by getting up the contest against me at Shillingsworth, where, you know, it was ten to one; by Heavens! I should have had a walk over. There is not an injury that man could do me he has not done. I can prove that he swore he would strip me of everything I possessed. It is ever so many years since I saw him--you know all about it--and the miscreant pursues me still relentlessly. He swore to old Dymock, I"m told, and I believe it, that he would never rest till he had brought me to a prison. I could have him before a jury for that. There"s some remedy, I suppose, there"s some protection? If I had done what I wished ten years ago, I"d have had him out; it"s not too late yet to try whether pistols can"t settle it. I wish I had not taken advice; in a matter like that, the man who does always does wrong. I daresay, Williams, you think with me, now it"s a case for cutting the Gordian knot?"
"I should not advise it, sir; he"s an old man, and he"s not afraid of what people say, and people know he has fought. He"d have you in the Queen"s Bench, and as his feelings are of that nature, I"d not leave him the chance--I wouldn"t trust him."
"It"s not easy to know what one should do--a miscreant like that. I hope and pray that the curse of----"
My father spoke with a fierce tremble in his voice, and at that moment he saw me. He had forgotten that I was in the room, and said instantly:
"You may as well run away, dear; Mr. Williams and I have some business to talk over--and tiresome business it is. Good night, darling."
So away I went, glad of my escape, and left them talking. My father rang the bell soon, and called for more wine; so I suppose the council sat till late. I joined Laura Grey, to whom I related all that had pa.s.sed, and my decision on the question, which was, to remain with her at Malory. She kissed me, and said, after a moment"s thought:
"But will they think it unkind of you, preferring to remain here?"
"No," I said; "I think I should be rather in the way if I went; and, besides, I know papa is never high with any one, and really means what he says; and I should feel a little strange with them. They are very kind, and love me very much, I know, and so do I love them; but I see them so little, and you are such a friend, and I don"t wish to leave this place; I like it better than any other in all the world; and I feel at home with you, more than I could with any one else in the world."
So that point was settled, and next day papa took leave of me very affectionately; and, notwithstanding his excited language, I heard nothing more of pistols and Mr. Rokestone. But many things were to happen before I saw papa again.
I remained, therefore, at Malory, and Laura Grey with me; and the shadow of Mr. Carmel pa.s.sed the window every evening, but he did not come in to see us, as he used. He made inquiries at the door instead, and talked, sometimes for five minutes together, with Rebecca Torkill. I was a little hurt at this; I did not pretend to Laura to perceive it; but in our walks, or returning in the evening, if by chance I saw his tall, thin, but graceful figure approaching by the same path, I used to make her turn aside and avoid him by a detour. In so lonely a place as Malory the change was marked; and there was pain in that neglect. I would not let him fancy, however, that I wished, any more than he, to renew our old and near acquaintance.
So weeks pa.s.sed away, and leafy May had come, and Laura Grey and I were sitting in our accustomed room, in the evening, talking in our desultory way.
"Don"t you think papa very handsome?" I asked.
"Yes, he is handsome," she answered; "there is something refined as well as clever in his face; and his eyes are fine; and all that goes a great way. But many people might think him not actually handsome, though very good-looking and prepossessing."
"They must be hard to please," I said.
She smiled good-naturedly.
"Mamma fell in love with him at first sight, Rebecca Torkill says," I persisted, "and mamma was not easily pleased. There was a gentleman who was wildly in love with her; a man of very old family, Rebecca says, and good-looking, but she would not look at him when once she had seen papa."
"I think I heard of that. He is a baronet now; but he was a great deal older than Mr. Ware, I believe."
"Yes, he was; but Rebecca says he did not look ten years older than papa, and _he_ was very young indeed then," I answered. "It was well for mamma she did not like him, for I once heard Rebecca say that he was a very bad man."
"Did you ever hear of mamma"s aunt Lorrimer?" I resumed, after a little pause.
"Not that I recollect."
"She is very rich, Rebecca says. She has a house in London, but she is hardly ever there. She"s not very old--not sixty. Rebecca is always wondering whom she will leave her money to; but that don"t much matter, for I believe we have more than we want. Papa says, about ten years ago, she lived for nothing but society, and was everywhere; and now she has quite given up all that, and wanders about the Continent."
Our conversation subsided; and there was a short interval in which neither spoke.
"Why is it, Laura," said I, after this little silence, "that you never tell me anything about yourself, and I am always telling you everything I think or remember? Why are you so secret? Why don"t you tell me your story?"
"My story; what does it signify? I suppose it is about an average story.
Some people are educated to be governesses; and some of us take to it later, or by accident; and we are amateurs, and do our best. The Jewish custom was wise; every one should learn a mechanic"s business. Saint Paul was a tent-maker. If fortune upsets the boat, it is well to have anything to lay hold of--anything rather than drowning; an hospital matron, a companion, a governess, there are not many chances, when things go wrong, between a poor woman and the workhouse."
"All this means, you will tell me nothing," I said.
"I am a governess, darling. What does it matter what I was? I am happier with you than ever I thought I could be again. If I had a story that was pleasant to hear, there is no one on earth I would tell it to so readily; but my story---- There is no use in thinking over misfortune,"
she continued; "there is no greater waste of time than regretting, except wishing. I know, Ethel, you would not pain me. I can"t talk about those things; I may another time."
"You shan"t speak of them, Laura, unless you wish it. I am ashamed of having bothered you so," I kissed her. "But, will you tell me one thing, for I am really curious about it? I have been thinking about that very peculiar-looking old gentleman, who wore a chocolate-coloured great-coat, and met us in the Mill Walk, and talked to you, you remember, on the Sunday we returned from church that way. Now, I want you to tell me, is that old man"s name Rokestone?"
"No, dear, it is not; I don"t think he even knows him. But isn"t it time for us to have our tea? Will you not make it, while I put our books up in the other room?"
So I undertook this office, and was alone.
The window was raised, the evening was warm, and the sun by this time setting. It was the pensive hour when solitude is pleasant; when grief is mellowed, and even a thoughtless mind, like mine, is tinged with melancholy. I was thinking now of our recluse neighbour. I had seen him pa.s.s, as Miss Grey and I were talking. He still despatched those little notes about the inmates of Malory; for mamma always mentioned, when she wrote to me, in her wanderings on the Continent, that she had heard from Mr. Carmel that I was well, and was out every day with my governess, and so on. I wondered why he had quite given up those little weekly visits, and whether I could have unwittingly offended him.
These speculations would recur oftener than perhaps was quite consistent with the disdain I affected on the subject. But people who live in cities have no idea how large a s.p.a.ce in one"s thoughts, in a solitude like Malory, a neighbour at all agreeable must occupy.
I was ruminating in a great arm-chair, with my hand supporting my head, and my eyes fixed on my foot, which was tapping the carpet, when I heard the cold, clear voice of Mr. Carmel at the window. I looked up, and my eyes met his.
CHAPTER V.
THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK.
Our eyes met, I said; they remained fixed for a moment, and then mine dropped. I had been, as it were, detected, while meditating upon this capricious person. I daresay I even blushed; I certainly was embarra.s.sed. He was repeating his salutation, "How d"ye do, Miss Ware?"
"Oh, I"m very well, thanks, Mr. Carmel," I answered, looking up; "and--and I heard from mamma on Thursday. They are very well; they are at Genoa now. They think of going to Florence in about three weeks."
"I know; yes. And you have no thoughts of joining them?"
"Oh! none. I should not like to leave this. They have not said a word about it lately."
"It is such a time, Miss Ethel, since I had the pleasure of seeing you--I don"t mean, of course, at a distance, but near enough to ask you how you are. I dared not ask to see you too soon, and I thought--I fancied--you wished your walks uninterrupted."
I saw that he had observed my strategy; I was not sorry.
"I have often wished to thank you, Mr. Carmel; you were so very kind."